mid-Seventies, he was in the process of simplifying his art. Like Alex Toth before him, Chaykin was learning that less is better. The first time I realized he was doing this was Monark Starstalker, which showed a Toth influence that I previously hadn't noticed in Chaykin's art."

Look at Chaykin's very first Cody Starbuck story in Star Reach #1 (came out in '74; probably drawn sometime between '72 to '74). Then look at his second Cody Starbuck story in Star Reach #4 (came out around March '76, roughly a few months before Monark Starstalker). Check out the difference in style! Heavy, simplified blocks of black, instead of all that scratchy, Adams-ish, Kaluta-ish stuff from earlier in his career. The man was studying Toth, primarily, and it shows. These maybe the first stories of Chaykin's that I really enjoyed for the art, thanks to that Toth influence.

As far as the comic book versions of The Prisoner: At first, the creative team was supposed to be Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. But after watching some 16mm episodes at Wolfman's home, Gene said something along the line of "What's the big deal? It's just a guy on an island!" So then it became Wolfman and Gil Kane, but then Wolfman had to drop out due to being too busy (and I think Kane wasn't working too fast on the pencils). Finally, the team became Englehart, with Joe Staton doing uncredited layouts and Gil Kane finishes. Then Englehart left Marvel, but the last thing he did the night before he