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Larry Hama (; born June 7, 1949) is an American comic book writer, artist, actor, and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series , based on the Hasbro . He has also written for the series Wolverine, , and Elektra. He co-created the character Bucky O'Hare with Michael Golden, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
In October 2024, Hama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
High-school classmate Ralph Reese, who had become an assistant to famed EC and Marvel artist Wally Wood, helped Hama get a similar job at Wood's Manhattan studio. Hama assisted on Wood's comic strips Sally Forth and Cannon, which originally ran in Military News and Overseas Weekly and were later collected in a series of books. During this time, he also had illustrations published in such magazines as Esquire and Rolling Stone, and Reese and he collaborated on art for a story in the underground comix-style humor magazine Drool #1 (1972). Through contacts made while working for Wood, Hama began working at comic-book and commercial artist Neal Adams' Continuity Associates studio; with other young contemporaries there, including Reese, Frank Brunner and Bernie Wrightson, Hama became part of the comic-book inker gang credited as the "Crusty Bunkers." His first known work as such is on the Alan Weiss-penciled "Slaves of the Mahars" in DC Comics' Weird Worlds #2 (Nov. 1972).
Hama began penciling for comics a year-and-a-half later, making an auspicious debut succeeding character co-creator Gil Kane on the feature "Iron Fist" in Marvel Premiere, taking over with the martial arts superhero's second appearance and his next three stories (#16-19, July-Nov. 1974). He went on to freelance for start-up publisher Atlas/Seaboard (writing and penciler the first two issues of the sword & sorcery series Wulf the Barbarian, writing the premiere of the science fiction/horror fiction Planet of Vampires); some penciling work on the seminal independent comic book Big Apple Comix #1 (Sept. 1975); and two issues of the jungle-hero book Ka-Zar before beginning a long run at DC Comics.
At DC, Hama became an editor of the titles Wonder Woman, Mister Miracle, Super Friends, and The Warlord, and the TV-series licensed property Welcome Back, Kotter from 1977 to 1978. He then joined Marvel as an editor in 1980.
He also played a role in the 1976 M*A*S*H episode "The Korean Surgeon" and a Saturday Night Live spoof of Apocalypse Now. However, though he had made a living as an actor for roughly a year, Hama ultimately discarded his acting career, explaining, "I always basically saw myself as an artist, not as anything else."
Hama also wrote the majority of the G.I. Joe action figures' —short biographical sketches designed to be clipped from the G.I. Joe and Cobra Command cardboard packaging. In 2007 these filecards were reprinted in the retro packaging for the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero 25th Anniversary line.
Hama said in 1986 that G.I. Joe had an unexpected female following due to such strong female characters as Cover Girl, Lady Jaye, and Scarlett (whose personality was based upon his wife). "Most of the girls that write in with say that the reason they like the comic is that the women characters are simply part of the team. They’re not treated as any different from the other team members. They don't go around with their palms nailed to their foreheads. They’re competent, straightforward, and they go ahead and get the job done. They also participate emotionally. They have their likes and dislikes. They’re not ill-treated and they're not running around being worrywarts."Archive of . Comics Interview #37 (month n.a., 1986), via JoeGuide.com Retrieved January 9, 2011
Hasbro sculptors sometimes used real people's likenesses when designing its action figures. In 1987, Hasbro released the Tunnel Rat action figure. The character is an explosive ordnance disposal specialist, whose likeness was based on Hama.
In 2006, Hama returned to his signature characters with the Devils Due Publishing miniseries G.I. Joe Declassified, which chronicled the recruitment of the squad's first members by General Hawk. In 2007, the company added the spin-off series Storm Shadow, written by Hama and penciled by Mark A. Robinson, which ceased publication with issue 7.
In December 2007, Hasbro released 25th-anniversary comic-book figure two-packs that featured original stories by Hama. These new Hasbro-published issues were designed to take place between the panels of the Marvel series.
In September 2008, IDW Publishing announced a new line of G.I. Joe comics with one series, G.I. Joe Origins, to be primarily written by Hama. He wrote the first five issues, as the series was originally intended to be a miniseries, and returned to write four more issues (including #19, which was a Snake Eyes "silent issue") over the course of the book's 23-issue run. IDW later revived the Marvel Comics continuity with Hama taking the helm of , picking up where the Marvel series left off with issue #155 1/2.
In June 2023, Skybound announced the continuation of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero at Image Comics. This would continue on from the IDW run, starting with issue #301.
He also was an editor on Peter Porker, The Spectacular Spider-Ham from 1983–1987.
Hama wrote the 16-issue Marvel series (Aug. 1989 - Sept. 1990), concerning the adventures of John Doe, an American ninja and Special Forces commando in an alternate reality in which World War III is sparked after the world's nuclear weapons stockpiles are all destroyed. Hama also edited a relaunch of Marvel's black-and-white comics magazine Savage Tales, overseeing its change from sword-and-sorcery to men's adventure. Other comics Hama has written include Wolverine, Before the Fantastic Four: Ben Grimm and Logan, The Punisher War Zone, and the X-Men brand extension Generation X for Marvel; and Batman stories for DC Comics. His run on Wolverine lasted over seven years, starting with issue #31 and ending with #118. He wrote filecards for Hasbro's line of sci-fi/police action figures, C.O.P.S. 'n' Crooks.
While working at Neal Adams' Continuity Associates, Hama co-developed a series he and comic book artist Michael Golden first created in 1978, Bucky O'Hare, the story of a green Anthropomorphism rabbit and his mutant mammal sidekicks in an intergalactic war against space amphibians. Bucky O'Hare went on to become a comic, cartoon, video game, and toy line.
Hama is credited as a writing consultant on the 2004 independent animated film The Easter Egg Adventure and he also contributed scripts to the second season of the animated series Robotboy.
In 2006, Osprey Publishing announced that Hama had been commissioned to write for their "Osprey Graphic History" series of comic books about historical battles, including the titles The Bloodiest Day—Battle of Antietam, and Surprise Attack—Battle of Shiloh (both with artist Scott Moore) and Fight to the Death: Battle of Guadalcanal and Island of Terror—Battle of Iwo Jima (with artist Anthony Williams).
In February 2008, Devil's Due Publishing published Spooks, a comic book about a U.S. government antiparanormal investigator/task force. Hama created the military characters and R.A. Salvatore the monster characters. Devil's Due Publishing press release: "Special San Diego Comic-Con Announcement", July 36 2007 He was also the writer of DDP's Barack the Barbarian series, a Conan the Barbarian parody starring U. S. President Barack Obama.
On September 19, 2012, Hama released his three-part vampire novel entitled The Stranger. "The Stranger: Part One (Kindle Edition)". Amazon.com. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
On December 17, 2012, Hama portrayed himself in a Christmas-themed episode of the Adult Swim series Robot Chicken. In 2014, Hama began working with award-winning filmmaker Mark Cheng on an original film project, called Ghost Source Zero. The film was distributed by Sony Pictures in 2018.
In August 2014, Red Giant Entertainment announced that Hama would be writing the company's new Monster Isle monthly series debuting that November.
On October 11, 2024, the Harvey Awards announced that Hama was one of five comics creators to be inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame at the 36th annual Harvey Awards ceremony on October 18 at the New York Comic Con. The other four inductees were Arthur Adams, Akira Toriyama, Sergio Aragonés, and John Buscema. Hama reacted to the accolade by stating, "I am deeply honored to be inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame. I first met Harvey Kurtzman in 1966, when as a student at the High School of Art and Design, I would visit the office of HELP! magazine. He and art director Terry Gilliam were extremely kind to this nerdy fanboy cartoonist wannabe, and opened flat-file drawers to show me original art by R. Crumb, Willy Elder, John Severin, Jack Davis, and many others. His open, welcoming nature made me feel that my goals were not as unreachable as I feared them to be.”
Bibliography
As writer
Continuity Comics
Dark Horse Comics
DC Comics
Devil's Due Publishing
IDW Publishing
Image Comics
Marvel Comics
Other publishers
As artist
As writer and artist
As editor
Notes
External links
Categories: 1949 Births, Living People, 20th-century American Writers, 20th-century American Male Writers, 21st-century American Writers, 21st-century American Male Writers, United States Army Personnel Of The Vietnam War, American Military Personnel Of Japanese Descent, Place Of Birth Missing, G.i. Joe, American Writers Of Japanese Descent, People From Manhattan, Marvel Comics People, Marvel Comics Writers, Dc Comics People, High School Of Art And Design Alumni, United States Army Soldiers, Inkpot Award Winners, American Comic Book Editors
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