From the Database: Annual #1

The Mighty Doc Stalwart Annual #1 (August, 1983)

War Amid the Stars

Summary: Far in another galaxy, within the cosmic battlecruiser “The Starkiller”, the evil Dark Knight Kordon receives a vision; a great hero from another galaxy will lead to his destruction. He summons four bounty hunters: Gat Parmetheon, the mummy-like former soldier Tenkar, Dyson the navigator, and the snarky assassin drone Traver-MX, giving them their mission: they must hunt down and kill Doc Stalwart.

    In our galaxy, Doc Stalwart hurtles through space in a prototype starship. He reports back to Colonel Hudson Roberts, mission commander, that the test flight to Mars is going well, but then the sensors go off. A wormhole has opened nearby, and it’s suddenly pulling at the ship. He tries to escape but fails, and his ship is drawn into the wormhole.

    In that other galaxy, Doc emerges from the other end of the wormhole. He calls for aid, and immediately is set upon by a group of dark talon interceptors. They report that they serve Dark Knight Kordon, and he must surrender or die. He refuses, and they shoot his ship down. He crash lands on a dusty planet called Toonine.

    Emerging from his ship, he is attacked by three bounty hunters: he is able to quickly defeat Traver-MX, Dyson, and Tenkar, but is stunned and taken hostage by Gan Parmetheon. He awakes in a prison of “the Starkiller”, with Dark Knight Kordon standing beyond. Kordon asks why Doc Stalwart is there, and Doc Stalwart replies that fate has sent him. Doc challenges Kordon to a duel. Kordon accepts.

    They have a sword fight with ‘laser swords’, which Doc Stalwart wins. Kordon pretends to surrender, but when he tries to stab Doc in the back, he is killed by the four bounty hunters, who resent working for him. The crew cheers that Doc has saved them from his evil control, and they help him to get back home.

    Doc Stalwart returns home, showing off the medal he received for saving the galaxy. Colonel Roberts gives him one from earth as well. The issue ends with a huge award ceremony.

First Appearances: Only appearance of characters that would soon receive cease and desist orders, and would not appear again. Colonel Hudson Roberts would become a minor recurring background character, often mentioned whenever reference to military intervention appeared, but he would not appear again in panel.

Historical Note: Byron John’s contract had given him complete autonomy over Doc Stalwart’s series of comics. When shareholders of New Stalwart Press pressured him to create a set of stories borrowing elements of the most popular film series of the time, he refused. The publisher realized that his contract did not specify ‘any’ comics stories, only the 'official series'. Therefore, another creator named Lief Roberts was hired to create a one-off publication as Mighty Doc Stalwart Annual #1.

    Byron John learned about this as the books were being shipped, and (not for the first time) threatened to quit the series altogether. Fortunately, Mighty Doc Stalwart Annual #1 was universally lambasted, resulted in a legal battle that was settled out of court, and became one of the most reviled stories among Doc Stalwart fandom. Despite the fact that he had included the character of Hudson Roberts based on his own father, who was the commander of McCartan Army Base, Lief Roberts would cite this as a low point in his early career. Byron John received a public apology, and unsold copies of the annual were shredded. This has resulted in a large collector demand for this annual, which is now one of the rarer modern books featuring Doc Stalwart.

    However, elements of the story lingered, and Gat Parmetheon became something of a popular character despite having only two lines of dialogue in the whole book (“Let me disintegrate him.” and “Target acquired.”). Seeds were in place for what would become the second series that Stalwart Press would launch two years later with much greater success: Sky Stalwart: the Girl who Fell From Earth.