IF YOU LIVE IN PITTSBURGH, GET OUT. NOW. WHILE YOU STILL CAN.
Sometimes weird comic book things find me. This is a story about something super weird and random that just so happens to be about my hometown, Pittsburgh.
A while back, I was digging for dollar books at New Dimension Comics, and I see these books with THE PITT in the top left corner:
What in the world is this? What is The Star Brand? What is NEW UNIVERSE? The rabbit hole I went down while leaning against a table lined with comic book long boxes led me to not only buying these two books you see above, but also developing a very strong urge to learn more.
In an earlier issue, I talked about Amazing Spider-Man #292—a fun tale about Peter Parker doing Spider-Man things in Pittsburgh. I’m always fascinated when pop culture mentions Pittsburgh, so this was something I knew I had to get into. But I had no idea that not only did THE PITT storyline exist, but it was kind of a big deal when it did.
So, there’s this massive storyline in Star Brand where Pittsburgh gets straight-up nuked off the map by a guy trying to get rid of his powers. This isn’t your typical superhero story. This is a full-on disaster story. The main character, Ken Connell, who’s basically a human nuclear reactor thanks to the Star Brand, tries to dump his powers on an old airplane, and boom—Pittsburgh is wiped off the map. And when I say gone, I mean Red Wedding gone. The city, the people, OMG gone.
Sometimes Marvel has this “reset button” where everything goes to shit, but then everyone gets saved. Nope. The whole thing is treated like a real-world disaster. Hundreds of thousands dead. Pittsburgh, or rather “The Pitt” now, is just a massive crater. And Ken, our Star Brand friend? He’s stuck in the middle of this wreckage, realizing he just made the biggest mistake of his life. Good times.
This storyline all comes together in a one-shot graphic novel called, you guessed it, THE PITT. I know I say this a lot, but me being a lunatic, not only did I buy a reader copy of it, but I bought this:
Big thanks to Geoff for shedding some light on why Pittsburgh was chosen—and for sharing the juicy rumor that it was all a dig at Jim Shooter. Shooter, the driving force behind Marvel’s New Universe, tried to create a more grounded, realistic superhero world, though it never quite took off with fans or creators.
Now, here’s the fun part—Shooter was a polarizing figure. Known for his strict editorial style, he wasn’t exactly sipping from a “World’s Best Boss” mug in the Marvel offices. And his hometown? Pittsburgh. The very same Pittsburgh that gets wiped off the map in The Pitt. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe not. The line between editorial decisions and personal jabs can get a little blurry—and I’m here for it.
So, when The Pitt hit the shelves and Pittsburgh was obliterated thanks to Ken Connell’s mishap with the Star Brand, fans couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Was this just a dramatic plot twist, or a sly jab at Shooter? By 1987, Shooter’s time at Marvel was winding down, and let’s just say he wasn’t exactly leaving on a high note.
The idea that Marvel writers symbolically blew up their boss’s hometown is just too delicious to ignore. Whether it was a coincidence or a sneaky parting shot, one thing’s for sure—Pittsburgh went up in flames, and here I am still talking about it in 2024.
Oh, one last really cool part – there is a map that shows all of the destruction in the book. And they actually list Penn Hills (the suburb of Pittsburgh Geoff and I grew up in) in the map!
If this wasn’t a shining example of what Key To Me is all about, I don’t know what is.
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I know in my last issue I mentioned I would write about the Ed Piskor Legacy Comic Convention – for those that have no idea what I am talking about, Ed Piskor recently took his own life. His work and his show, Cartoonist Kayfabe, meant so much to me and I am still really too sad about the whole thing to put everything into words.
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