Midnight Tales #18, May 1976
Wayne Howard studied as an assistant under Wally Wood and then went full-on Wood with his creator driven book Midnight Tales which lasted 18 issues in the early mid -70s.
(The Iron Man is the final story in the final issue of the series. No relation to Tony Stark.)
And, of all of Woody’s assistants, Howard made no bones about his referential approach to Wood’s style.
The comic was a unique creation at Charlton (or anywhere, actually) and featured nearly exclusive Howard-drawn stories. Charlton promoted Howard’s concept on the cover — and in the fan press and at conventions.
A young African American in an industry still mostly dominated by (older) white men, Howard himself was a unique member of the comics creative community. He was known to be somewhat shy, and he was also known for conservative views, again a striking contrast to many of his industry peers.
When Howard left comics, he rarely spoke about his work; He passed away at the much too early age of 58 in 2007.
