One of the great joys of working in comics is getting to hang out with a lot of creative people. As comics are Frankensteined together out of their various parts, you have access to fun stuff that never makes its way into print – notes, sketches, doodles, penciled pages, rough drafts, color tests, model sheets, costume designs, etc. Sometimes in the heat of production an artist will do something really funny that gets passed around from desk to desk and much laughter ensues.

Malibu Comics’ Editor-in-Chief Chris Ulm was one of the founders of the Ultraverse (it was his idea, if anyone asks) and he was also the co-creator of Rune with Barry Windsor-Smith. They envisioned Rune as the UV’s ultimate villain, a vampire of sorts who would be to the Ultraverse what Galactus was to the Marvel Universe and what Darkseid was to the DC Universe.

Rune starred in his own comic, guest-starred in others, and fought both Conan and the Silver Surfer. Not too shabby for an upstart neck-biter. One of the things the Ultraverse had going for it was a strong licensing department. There were a couple of people in the office who were always out hustling up licensing partners for t-shirts, watches, pins and more. That led to a little creative fun from Rune artist Barry Windsor-Smith and his inker Alex Bialy. They sent this little fax to Chris Ulm with their humorous pitch for a potential licensing partner. For the first time outside of the Malibu offices, you can now see the Toy That Should Have Been Made: The Rune Pez Dispenser, the first in a new product line of “vampire Pez” or possibly “comic book Pez.” Enjoy!

(Rune © Marvel Comics)