A Marvel Comic Was Printed With The Ashes of Its Creator

There are certain creators pour their blood, sweat and tears into their work. Maybe it’s a creator-owned passion project that they’ve silently been toiling away at for years. Perhaps it’s that coveted DC or Marvel Comics superstar that they’ve always dreamed of writing. Either way, there are the projects that one throws himself or herself into without abandon. And yet, there is only one creator who decided to literally throw himself into his work in the literal sense. And that creator is none other than Mark Gruenwald and his work on Squadron Supreme.

Mark Gruenwald was a writer and editor at Marvel Comics during the 80s and 90s. He was most famous for his nearly 10-year run on Captain America. Among other things, he brought Red Skull back from the dead after a long absence and created the characters U. S. Agent, Crossbones and Red Guardian, all all of whom have either already been introduced or soon will be introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Gruenwald was most proud of his seminal work on the 12-issue Squadron Supreme maxiseries. In fact, he was so proud of his work, that he requested in his will that his ashes be mixed in with the ink for the series in the printing process for the first collected edition of the comic book, printed in 1997. As it says in the Introduction by his widow Catherine Gruenwald, “Yes, the pages you are about to turn contain the actual particles of the Gru. It can truly be said that he ‘threw himself into his work.’ as no one before or after will be able to do. He was an original, even someone absurdly macabre, and he always got a kick out of playing with our preconceived notions about the afterlife and the spirits.”

Squadron Supreme is Marvel Comics’ response to the DC Comics’ Bronze age Justice League of America. Each member of the Justice League at the time had their own analog in the Squadron. Superman became Hyperion, Wonder Woman became Power Princess, Batman became Nighthawk, etc. And just as the team itself was a pastiche of the JLA, the maxiseries was a deconstruction of superheroes in a real-world setting before Watchmen. (A 12-issue series deconstructing the super-hero by using another company’s characters… why does that sound so familiar?) In it, Earth’s most powerful heroes decide the only way to save the human race from itself is by taking over the world themselves and becoming benevolent dictators. Themes of freedom vs. safety, moral ambiguity, and the real life effects of mind-control are all touched upon. 

There have been several iterations of the Squadron Supreme, but Mark Gruenwald’s version is a testament to his creativity and passion.Squadron Supreme is, simply put, Mark Gruenwald’s magnum opus, and it was way ahead of its time. Preceding even The Dark Knight Returns, Squadron Supreme addresses issues that wouldn’t become mainstream in comic books for a decade or more. It’s an underappreciated classic and will be forever linked with its eccentric writer.