Pittsburgh in Comics
by Wayne Wise
Most people, whether they read comics and graphic novels or not, are aware of the fictional cities that superheroes live in. Everyone knows Superman lives in Metropolis and grew up in Smallville, and who can’t identify Gotham as Batman’s city? Thanks to movies and television the public is discovering the more obscure corners of the DC Universe, like Star City, Blue Valley, and Nanda Parbat. In the Marvel Universe, while fictional places, like the Black Panther’s home country of Wakanda exist, there has always been an attempt to mirror the "real world,” with most of their characters congregating in New York City.
But what about Pittsburgh? Does the Steel City exist in the fantastic worlds of superheroes and science fiction? Do we ever get a shout out in the funny pages? The answer is yes, more often than you might think. What follows, while not comprehensive, is a list of some of the most memorable appearances of Pittsburgh in comics.
1. Buck Rogers, 2429 AD (January 7, 1929)
In the very first Buck Rogers comic strip we see Buck in "An abandoned mine near Pittsburgh, PA,” where he succumbs to a strange gas, placing him in suspended animation for next five hundred years. He awakens in a strange future world where he goes on fantastic adventures. The comic strip was based on the original short story Armageddon 2419 A.D by Philip Francis Nowlan, published in August, 1928 in the science fiction pulp anthology magazine Amazing Stories. Instead of Pittsburgh it was set in Wyoming Valley, PA on the other side of the state. If the comic strip is to be believed, Buck is currently sleeping somewhere underground right now, not far from here.
2. Captain Marvel Adventures #39 (September 1944)
The original Captain Marvel, now popularly known as SHAZAM for legal reasons that are too complicated to go into here, first appeared in Whiz Comics #2, cover dated February, 1940. Originally published by Fawcett Comics until they went out of business in 1954, Captain Marvel was one of the most successful superheroes of the Golden Age era of Comic Books, regularly outselling Superman. Captain Marvel’s adventures took place in a more whimsical world than most superheroes, with magic and villainous telepathic worms being regular features. But Captain Marvel took one trip to the smoky streets of Pittsburgh.
In The Man Who Inherited Pittsburgh young Billy Batson, the human identity of Captain Marvel, travels to Pittsburgh where he discovers Josh Dovey living in an area of town called Slum Corners. His brother Flintlock Dovey is buying Slum Corners and wants to evict him. Billy discovers that William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, gave the entire city of Pittsburgh to the Dovey family and Josh holds the long-forgotten deed. Before they can do anything about it Flintrock and a pair of goons show up with the legal paperwork to evict Josh. Billy and Josh stay at the William Penn Hotel.
As part of his visit to the Steel City Billy, who is a radio host, has agreed to an interview on KDKA. On air he announces, “Folks, according to this ancient deed, William Penn left the city of Pittsburgh entirely to the family of Josh Dovey. Everything in the city belongs to him!” The document holds up in court and Josh Dovey now owns the city. Flintrock had wanted the deed to turn up, but thought he would be the heir. The only thing to do now is to murder his brother Josh. After a final confrontation at Forbes Field, Josh is rescued. He then forgives Flintrock and relinquishes his claim to the city, keeping only his little home in Slum Corners.
3. Journey into Mystery #118 (July 1965)
The star of Journey into Mystery was the Mighty Thor (and eventually the book would be renamed after him). In a previous adventure, Thor’s magical hammer, Mjolnir, had been damaged in battle with the Destroyer. Mjolnir was originally forged by the Dwarves of Nidavellir in Asgard out of the fictional metal Uru, but Thor had been exiled on Earth. Where could he find forges powerful enough to fix Mjolnir? Pittsburgh, of course.
“I knew that here in the great blast furnaces of Pittsburgh I would find a giant forge to mend my hammer!” Thor cries out, in typical, melodramatic Thor fashion. “Thor did in an hour what would have taken us months,” a steelmaker says. Another one answers, “I can almost believe that he is the God of Thunder.”
4. Avengers #192 and #193 (February 1980)
Things didn’t work out so well for one of those steelworkers. Nearly fifteen years later we discover the fate of Joseph Conroy in a pair of stories titled Peril in Pittsburgh and Battleground Pittsburgh respectively. Conroy still tells the story of the time he saw Thor at the mill. “I was shift foreman that night. An’ when the Thunder God left, I found this tiny chip o’ Uru what’d flaked off. I been carrying it as a good luck piece ever since.” It ended up not being very lucky for him.
Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Simon Williams (Wonder Man) are in Pittsburgh to inspect the Paretta steel Mill, when, through foul play, Conroy falls into a vat of fiery liquid metal. Due to the magic of the Uru metal (and of comic books), Conroy is resurrected as a being made of molten steel. Though Inferno, as the creature is called, retains the memories of Conroy, it is motivated by revenge and goes on a rampage. The rest of the Avengers arrive, engaging in battle with the creature on the Liberty Bridge and the Duquesne Incline. Eventually, Inferno finds the man who threw him into the vat, who reveals he was following the orders of Vince Paretta, owner of the plant. Inferno kills him then heads to the Paretta home on Mount Washington. The Avengers overhear Paretta confessing to using the steel mill to launder money for organized crime. Captain America shouts to Paretta that he will be taken into custody as soon as Inferno is stopped. Apparently this is enough for the creature. Inferno, still carrying the memories of Conroy, wades into the Three Rivers where he drowns, apparently deciding that justice is more important than revenge.
5. Firestorm, The Nuclear Man #1 (March 1978)
Firestorm’s original series only ran five issues, victim of a massive cutback in DC product that has become known as the DC Implosion. It was revived in 1982 as The Fury of Firestorm (later called Firestorm: the Nuclear Man). Teenager Ronnie Raymond and his professor Martin Stein are fused together in a nuclear accident. When they become Firestorm, Stein’s consciousness rides along in Ronnie’s mind, providing a conscious, as well as the scientific knowledge necessary to use their powers effectively. Upon graduation from high school, Ronnie enrolls in college in Pittsburgh, where Stein had been hired as a professor. Though it is never referred to as The University of Pittsburgh it is certainly implied.
6. Amazing Spider-Man #292 (September 1987)
In a story called Growing Pains Mary Jane Watson, the fiancĂ©e of Peter Parker, travels to Pittsburgh to confront her past before being able to accept his proposal. She had fled her family and moved to New York where she became a party girl, in part to escape the darkness of her past. Her mother had relocated in Pittsburgh along with MJ’s sister Gayle. Their father followed, and after the death of his wife, became involved in criminal activities, stealing rare manuscripts and selling them for profit. MJ discovers that Gayle has been coerced into helping him.
Peter follows, of course, and always short of money, decides to swing into town from the airport instead of paying cab fare, which leads to scenes of him over Mellon Square and the Cathedral of Learning (where there is absolutely no place tall enough for that webline to attach to, based on the angle we see it). Peter and Mary Jane take a stroll at the Point, then head to Duquesne Univerity, where Gayle works. While there he is, of course, attacked by one of his enemies, engineer Spencer Smythe, and his deadly robotic Spider-Slayer. The ensuing battle takes place on the Liberty Bridge and up the Duquesne Incline, where Spider-Man seems surprised to find a neighborhood on Mount Washington. Spider-Man defeats the Spider-Slayer, Mary Jane stops her father and gets a lighter sentence for Gayle. On the way back to New York City Mary Jane realizes it is time to stop living in the past and start creating a future. She says "Yes” to Peter’s proposal in the Pittsburgh International Airport. As a footnote, comic book legend Steve Ditko, the original artist for Spider-Man, was born and raised in nearby Johnstown.
7. Star Brand #1 (October 1986)
Pittsburgh native Jim Shooter sold his first comic book script to DC Comics when he was thirteen years old. He continued as a writer for both DC and Marvel until finally rising to the position of Editor-in-chief at Marvel in 1976 at the age of twenty-five. 1986 was the 25th anniversary of the launch of Fantastic Four in 1961. To celebrate, Shooter created an entirely new imprint called the New Universe. While published by Marvel, these stories were to take place in a completely separate continuity outside of the established Marvel Universe. It was to be modeled more closely on the real world, with Shooter writing the flagship character and title, Star Brand.
Kenneth Connell is a car mechanic from Shooter’s hometown of Pittsburgh. While biking through the Laurel Highlands he stumbles across an old man with a tattoo on his arm that he refers to as the Star Brand, a source of "unlimited power.” He places Connell under hypnosis and bequeaths the Star Brand to him. When Connell awakens the old man is dead. Kenneth now has super strength and he can fly. There are no immediately recognizable landmarks in the first issue, but Kenneth lives in a "southwest suburb of Pittsburgh,” works in Dormont, and has a friend in West Mifflin. As Star Brand he was the most powerful superhero in the New Universe. As we will see in the next entry, things didn’t work out so well for Kenneth, Jim Shooter, or for Pittsburgh.
8. The Pitt (December 1987)
Jim Shooter was a powerful and controversial editor at Marvel. He reigned over a successful era of growth and expansion, bringing benefits to creators that they had never had before in an industry that was traditionally hostile to the rights of those who created its content. He also exerted tight editorial control, many times at odds with the very same creators he championed. It’s safe to say he was not well-liked by many of them during his tenure. In a company shakeup, Shooter was fired from Marvel on April 15, 1987.
The New Universe struggled on without him. In December, 1987, a one shot comic called The Pitt was released. In it Kenneth Connell releases the power of the Star Brand, accidentally destroying Pittsburgh and it’s suburbs, killing half a million people, and leaving a crater fifteen miles deep. This event led to the eventual cancellation of the entire New Universe line. The choice of Pittsburgh was not accidental. It was Shooter’s hometown after all, and it’s destruction was meant as a final "and the horse you rode in on, Jim,” as one creator purportedly said at the time.
In 2019 in Avengers Vol 8, #18 we see Blur, a character from the New Universe who now resides in the Marvel Universe, look out wistfully over Pittsburgh from Mount Washington, a view that no longer exists where he is from.
9. Walking Dead #171 (2017) and #179 (2018)
It’s no secret that the incredibly successful Walking Dead franchise owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to hometown hero George Romero and Night of the Living Dead. It took 171 issues but Pittsburgh finally appeared in the comic. A wide angle double page spread shows characters riding horses over the Roberto Clemente Bridge into an abandoned Pittsburgh. The character Michonne shouts a line taken directly from the 1985 film Day of the Dead, "Hello! Is anyone there?”. While in the city they meet new character Princess. In issue #179 they ride back through town on their way home.
10. Pittsburgh (2019)
Lovingly written and drawn by Pittsburgh native Frank Santoro, Pittsburgh is a graphic novel that captures the gritty heart of our city. It is the true story of his family, told in an honest voice, brave in his ability to reveal secrets, heartbreaks, dysfunctions, and his own role in this drama. The city is more than just a backdrop, though. The character of Pittsburgh in the 70s and 80s informs every piece of this story. The neighborhoods, the factory and steel mill mindset, and the multicultural backdrop of our immigrant city comes through on every page. His drawings are at times scratchy and impressionistic, conveying the sometimes hazy nature of memory. But, his bold color palette, seemingly at odds with the gray smoky atmosphere of the steel city, give credence to the vividness and impact of these memories. Unlike the other entries here there are no superheroes here, just the everyday heroes of our city.
Honorable Mentions:
Infamous Iron Man #6 (March 2017) – Dr. Doom, now claiming to be a hero, engages in battle on Forbes Avenue in Oakland. SHIELD Commander Sharon Carter, onboard the helicarrier, says, "If he hurts Primanti Brothers I’m going to kill him.”
100 Bullets #40 (January 2003) – In this dark Crime Noir series two characters have a shadowy meeting on one of the bridges downtown.
Batman and Robin Eternal 1 (December 2015) – There is a weird scene at Gotham University featuring the Tower of Enlightenment, that is such an obvious stand-in for the Cathedral of Learning that I’m going to count it.
Earth 2: Society #5 (October 2015) – This is another reach, but there’s a bar in "Midwest City” called Gooski’s, just like the place in Polish Hill. That’s just way too specific to be coincidental.
And last but not least in the 1970s Funny Animal comic Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew (February 1982) by Scott Shaw! (His exclamation point, not mine), there is a super strong, metal covered character named Pig Iron, from Piggsburgh, who got his powers in much the same way poor Joseph Conroy became Inferno. Pig Iron has been featured on AnthroCon t-shirts.
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