This video [from Strange Brain Parts] does a deep dive into the origin, history and tragic, exploitative decline of The Elementals, created by Bill Willingham and published by Comico from 1984-1997.The initial volume of The Elementals was a foundational work for Steve and I during our early Villains & Vigilantes superhero games back in the day, because of the Bill Willingham connection to the game.
He wrote - and illustrated - two of the system's first adventure modules: Death Duel With The Destroyers and The Island of Doctor Apocalypse. Several characters from these scenarios would then appear in The Elementals.
It was only later that I discovered that Villains & Vigilantes' co-creator Jack Herman also wrote some issues on The Elementals.
The first edition of V&V came out in 1979, followed by a revised and improved edition in 1982.
Around that time, the game's creators Jack Herman and Jeff Dee were onboard to create a back-up feature for Willingham’s Elementals, when it was coming out from Texas Comics, but the company dissolved and Bill moved Elementals to Comico.
In a 2011 interview with Ain't It Cool News, Jack explains that his feature would have been based on "my first original V&V character, a superhero-versus-supernatural-horror sort of thing".
When Elementals took off at Comico, Bill Willingham started looking around for in-universe support features. Jack's submitted a story which was turned into a full-length issue and he began writing for the title regularly.
Again, quoting the 2011 interview, Jack said: "So, here's this guy who is now rightfully recognized as one of the best comics writers in America, and I was writing scripts for him!"
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| The Elementals Fight Saddam Hussein, Elementals #17, May 1991, script by Jack Herman, pencils by Mike Leeke, inks by Dan Schaefer, colours by Julia Lacquement, and letters by Pat Williams |