Huntsman (Heroic Publishing)
Encyclopedia
Huntsman is the adopted crime fighting identity of Donald Hunter, and is a member of the League of Champions
. He was originally based on a character named Marksman created by Bruce Harlick for the role-playing game
Champions
.
in 1986-87. At this point he still used the alias The Marksman and last name Henderson from his role-playing game origins. Since Eclipse was unwilling to continue publishing the Champions, writer Dennis Mallonee used his own company, Hero Comics, to launch a Champions unlimited series. A few months after, Hero gave the Huntsman his own monthly series, still as The Marksman. Mallonee offered the book to veteran role-playing game writer(but first-time comic writer) Steve Perrin, while Pete McDonnell penciled and (after a pinch-hit from Jim Janes on #1) Jeff Albrecht did inks.
The Marksman series actually came about due to a mistake. Hero Comics assumed that he would be the most popular of the Champions, and even asked readers to vote for which Champion should get their own series after work on The Marksman #1 was already underway, confident he would win. In fact, as Mallonee admitted after the series launch, the Marksman came in a distant third in popularity, after Flare
and Icestar.
Reader response to the creative team was positive, but the fact remained that the character was not popular enough to hold his own series, and The Marksman was the worst-selling of the four titles in the Hero Comics lineup. The series was shortly dropped to bimonthly status. Half a year later, Hero Comics's financial troubles forced them to cancel most of their lineup, including The Marksman. Officially the series had only run five issues, but a Marksman annual was published at roughly the same time #6 had been scheduled to appear, and its contents were what would have been issues #6 and 7. The character continued to appear in Champions for a few more months, until Hero Comics folded.
Two years later, Innovation Comics helped Dennis Mallonee revive the Champions series, now titled The League of Champions, for three issues. After that, "The Marksman" was again out of action for a short while, but the black-and-white boom of the early 90s allowed Hero Comics to revive under the name Heroic Publishing. At the request of Bruce Harlick, Heroic changed the character's name to The Huntsman in order to differentiate him from Harlick's original character. The Huntsman regularly featured in The League of Champions, including a three-part solo story which ran as a back-up in issues #5-7. He was also a back-up feature in Rose #1-4, a flipping of his own series, in which Rose had held the back-up feature.
featuring the Marksman appears on the cover of the 1982 book The Super Suppliment! Champions II by Bruce Harlick.
An illustration by Mike Witherby of the Marksman being overrun by villains appears on the cover of the 1984 book Enemies III.
League of Champions
The League of Champions is super hero team based in San Francisco and published by Heroic Publishing.The group first appeared in a six issue mini-series published by Eclipse Comics in 1986 called simply "Champions", written by Dennis Mallonee with pencils by Carol Lay and Chris Marrinan...
. He was originally based on a character named Marksman created by Bruce Harlick for the role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Champions
Champions (role-playing game)
Champions is a role-playing game published by Hero Games that is designed to simulate and function in a four-color superhero comic book world. It was created by George MacDonald, Steve Peterson, Bruce Harlick, and Ray Greer....
.
Publication History
The comic book incarnation of the Huntsman first appeared in the six-issue Champions limited series, published by Eclipse ComicsEclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
in 1986-87. At this point he still used the alias The Marksman and last name Henderson from his role-playing game origins. Since Eclipse was unwilling to continue publishing the Champions, writer Dennis Mallonee used his own company, Hero Comics, to launch a Champions unlimited series. A few months after, Hero gave the Huntsman his own monthly series, still as The Marksman. Mallonee offered the book to veteran role-playing game writer(but first-time comic writer) Steve Perrin, while Pete McDonnell penciled and (after a pinch-hit from Jim Janes on #1) Jeff Albrecht did inks.
The Marksman series actually came about due to a mistake. Hero Comics assumed that he would be the most popular of the Champions, and even asked readers to vote for which Champion should get their own series after work on The Marksman #1 was already underway, confident he would win. In fact, as Mallonee admitted after the series launch, the Marksman came in a distant third in popularity, after Flare
Flare (comics)
Flare is a superhero whose adventures are published by Heroic Publishing. The character was originally created by Stacy Thain for a superhero role-playing game called Champions. She appeared in the six-issue run of the Champions comic published by Eclipse Comics, then in several of her own books...
and Icestar.
Reader response to the creative team was positive, but the fact remained that the character was not popular enough to hold his own series, and The Marksman was the worst-selling of the four titles in the Hero Comics lineup. The series was shortly dropped to bimonthly status. Half a year later, Hero Comics's financial troubles forced them to cancel most of their lineup, including The Marksman. Officially the series had only run five issues, but a Marksman annual was published at roughly the same time #6 had been scheduled to appear, and its contents were what would have been issues #6 and 7. The character continued to appear in Champions for a few more months, until Hero Comics folded.
Two years later, Innovation Comics helped Dennis Mallonee revive the Champions series, now titled The League of Champions, for three issues. After that, "The Marksman" was again out of action for a short while, but the black-and-white boom of the early 90s allowed Hero Comics to revive under the name Heroic Publishing. At the request of Bruce Harlick, Heroic changed the character's name to The Huntsman in order to differentiate him from Harlick's original character. The Huntsman regularly featured in The League of Champions, including a three-part solo story which ran as a back-up in issues #5-7. He was also a back-up feature in Rose #1-4, a flipping of his own series, in which Rose had held the back-up feature.
Appearances in popular culture
An illustration by Mark WilliamsMark London Williams
Mark London Williams is an American author, playwright, journalist, and creator of the young adult time travel series Danger Boy.-Biography:As a journalist, Williams has written for Variety, Los Angeles Times online, Los Angeles Business Journal, Moving Pictures Magazine and others. He was...
featuring the Marksman appears on the cover of the 1982 book The Super Suppliment! Champions II by Bruce Harlick.
An illustration by Mike Witherby of the Marksman being overrun by villains appears on the cover of the 1984 book Enemies III.