Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities 60's Marvel Re-Reading Project

Thought I'd pass on some comments about my 60's Marvel re-reading.
Isn't it funny how some things age well-- and some things DON'T?

THOR #143-144 -- MAGNIFICENT. That says it. Vince Colletta must have
been taking on too much work, because while he started "And Soon Shall
Come The Enchanters", a few pages in, Bill Everett took over (and got
sole credit). While I had the feeling in earlier episodes that Sif
might have been based on Diana Rigg, in these, it really seems that
Balder & Sif were based on Richard Burton & Liz Taylor!! The
Enchanters were indeed an awesome menace-- but I'll TELL you where
those idiots went wrong-- when their leader went to face Odin alone,
while the other 2 decided to go to Earth to track down Thor & his
friends. What fools! If the 3 of them had tackled Odin, Asgard
might well have been under new management. As it was, when the
battle with Odin went on, the power of the others was cut off-- and 3
against 2, it was just no contest. Meanwhile, TALES OF ASGARD is just
better than ever-- and WAY better in color than in the ESSENTIAL book
I also have. It was a kick to see Volstagg come to the rescue. Maybe
he's NOT just all talk after all? (Though I loved the scene where he
says to the devious woman, "Flee? Art though mad? SHOW ME THE WAY!"
--or words to that effect.)

FANTASTIC FOUR #66-67 -- Unfortunately, I only have the MGC reprints
of these, and the one for #67 is REALLY fuzzy (barring the full-page
spread and the last page). I might not have noticed anything "off"
here, if I hadn't read the infamous article about this story in TJKC.
It doesn't seem like anything's wrong with part 1, though I do wonder
what might have gotten lost via Stan's dialogue that got Jack so
incensed he threw up his hands while doing part 2. The guys at the
"Citadel of Science" seem like fairly decent guys in part 1-- but in
part 2, they're flat out EVIL, bent on world domination, and more than
once are referred to in the dialogue as "murderers". HUH? You know, I
wound up wondering if the "HIM" 2-parter some time later in THOR may
not have been part of the plot leftover from the never-done 2nd HALF
of this story (assuming it was originally intended as a 4-parter).
After all the build-up, wouldn't it have seemed a LOT more natural for
"Him" to decide that Alicia should be his mate, and for the THING to
go completely into a berzerker rage (since he was already hafway there
to begin with)??? Oh, Stan... OY.

STRANGE TALES #160-161 -- In retrospect, THIS is right where Jim
Steranko started to "lose it". Oh, sure, the art was great, but you
know, the storytelling somehow wasn't as good as it was for the
entirety of the "Hydra" epic. He began to rely too much on gimmicks
with the camera angles, plot twists, etc., and not enough on just
good, solid, well-constructed plotting. Then there's the "small"
matter of Fury, in flashback, going into action in one of those
form-fitting body-suits, many months before he ever wore one for the
first time-- AND, this one's insulated against electric floors and the
like, which the one he wore in the "Hydra" story wasn't. Are we SURE
when he plotted this story it was SUPPOSED to be a flashback?? Also,
thumbing thru George Olshevsky's STRANGE TALES index book from the
late 70's, I find myself agreeing with his suggestion that the "REAL"
Yellow Claw was the one behind the invasion, AND much of what
followed-- but that he was replaced by a robot while escaping during
the raid on his "Sky Dragon" months later. After all, he mentioned in
the dialogue that he was using robot duplicates! It's only the Dr.
Doom 2-page finale shot that makes NO F****** SENSE at all!!! (Too
many drugs, Jim???)

Meanwhile, Dan Adkins makes his debut on Dr. Strange in mid-story,
taking Doc to an alien planet (or is it a planet in an alien
dimension-- I can't tell!). The art looks a lot like Wally Wood here,
except with bigger panels than Wood tended to use, and not quite as
flashy. Cool stuff-- but BOY was this storyline rambling by now!
Because of the defeat of Dormammu, Umar was unleashed-- to defeat her,
Doc unleashed Zom, causing her to flee. But to defeat Zom, Doc wound
up unleashing "latent evil" into the world-- which drew the attention
of the Living Tribunal, causing Zom to flee back to wherever he came
from, never to be seen again (as far as I know). Doc convinced the
Living Tribunal to give HIM a chance to banish the "latent evil"
before wiping Earth from existence, but it found its way into dozens
of potential magicians, who freed & summoned Baron Mordo, who wound up
exiling Doc to this alien landscape where he (and Victoria Bentley)
confront Nebulos... It's like a DARK SHADOWS storyline the way it
keeps mutating.

TALES TO ASTNISH #95-96 -- Bill Everett's back on Subby, but is now
inked by Vince Colletta. Their styles are similar-- they are-- but
Colletta's NOWHERE near as good on inks as Everett. To make matters
worse, my MSH reprints are not only fuzzy, they're cutting 3 pages of
Subby PER EPISODE! How is it supposed to make sense? Hulk, meanwhile,
looks pretty with Marie Severin on art-- but the High Evolutionary has
clearly lost his marbles since departing Earth. The story ends with
him evolving himself into an ultimate future being-- devolving his
New-Men back to their animal forms-- and sending Hulk home, with no
memory of it every having happened. (Which makes me wonder how the guy
wound up coming back for an endless number of low-end sequels? But
that's Marvel for you...)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #4 -- man, this really sucked. It was like
MARVEL TEAM-UP before the fact-- of a HUMAN TORCH team-up, but nowhere
near as good as when Dick Ayers was doing them. A foretaste of what
was to come in the 70's. Sad.

TALES OF SUSPENSE #93-94 -- Titanium Man returns again, bigger than
ever, with less personality than ever. Sigh. I'm a little bugged by
the "team-up" between Communist Russians and Chinese, since history
has shown how much they HATED each other. Frank Giacoia's (or
whoever-- heh) inks are getting less slick (less sign of Joe Giella),
and then Dan Adkins takes over, and HIS inks, surprisingly, aren't too
sharp, either. I know Gene Colan is often near-impossible to ink for
many, but this feels like a last-minute rush job. I guess Giacoia blew
the deadline AGAIN-- and Adkins (like Ayers before on DD) wound up
looking bad because of it.

Meanwhile, I'm staring at these Jack Kirby C.A. pages and wondering--
are we SURE these inks are by Joe Sinnott??? 'Cause they don't quite
looks the same as what I'm seeing in FANTASTIC FOUR at the same time.
Which prompts me to ask-- did Joe ever use assistants in the 60's? I
found it bizarre that Kirby should do 2 stories at the SAME TIME about
scientists trying to creat a superior being who then goes out of
control and menaces the ones who made him-- how very "Frankenstein".
In one instance, it was the Citadel of Science and "HIM"-- in this
case, it was the revived A.I.M. and... MODOK. (No clue that MODOK is
an acronym at this point.)

AVENGERS ANNUAL #1 -- Don Heck does a bang-up job on this, as Roy pays
tribute to Gardner Fox's JSA and JLA by splitting the group up into
separate chapters to fight menaces around the world. But somehow, each
of these menaces seem less impressive, as instead of taking whole
stories to get beaten, this time out it takes a few pages. That even
goes for Ultimo, who comes out of ANOTHER volcano, only to be buried
BY it. Deja vu? The Mandarin mentions "finding" the android-- but I
can't tell if Roy Thomas meant he recovered him and fixed him, or
something else. Every bit of Ultimo's 1st story made the case that the
Mandarin created Ultimo himself-- but in later years, it was
"revealed" that this was NOT true, and that it was actually an
ancient ALIEN construct that The Mandarin found and used for his own
purposes. I wonder if they didn't get the idea from this one bit of
dialogue here? Sadly, George Roussos, while being MUCH better than Don
Heck on inks (and a much better fit with Heck than he ever was with
Kirby), doesn't make the finished art look as impressive as it should
have been. Oh well.

DAREDEVIL #33 -- Just re-read this a few minutes ago. Man, is this
BAD. The whole "Mike Murdock" thing is just plain stupid. About the
only thing going for this book at this point is Gene Colan's art, and
now, John Tartaglione is dragging it down!! OY.

X-MEN #36-37 -- Ross Andru makes his Marvel debut on these 2 issues.
George Roussos murders the art in the 1st one. But that's nothing. DON
HECK utterly destroys it in the 2nd. Good grief. Roy spends an entire
issue having the X-Men trying to figure out how to get plane fare to
Switzerland so they can go rescue Professor X. Next, the commercial
airliner they're on is almost destroyed by uncaring baddies out to get
just them. The plot of this issue-- the group put on trial for crimes
against evil mutants, while several of their arch-enemies are in
attendance-- seems to have been the basis for the 2nd-rate FANTASTIC
FOUR cartoon, "The Tribunal".

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #53 -- "Enter: Dr. Octopus" shows Stan's running
out of ideas. He's been using "Enter..." in too many titles lately.
This is some of the BEST inks I have EVER seen from Mike Esposito-- he
REALLY makes a damn good team with John Romita. This episode was the
basis for the 2nd Doc Ock cartoon, "The Terrible Triumph Of Dr.
Octopus", from the demonstration of "The Nullifier" and subsequent
fight, to his almost blowing Spidey to atoms with a bomb in a
riverfront shack. But apart from that, they changed everything else.
Gwen goes to the demo with Pete (and his science professor), Ock
DOESN'T get the Nullifier (yet), it's an electronic device, NOT an
anti-missile-missile. When he threatens to drop it, it'll "injure
dozens"-- in the cartoon, it would have BLOWN UP half the city! (Man--
that makes the Doc Ock in the cartoon EVEN MORE DANGEROUS than the one
in the comics!) Harry's back to scowling, though we're not sure why,
and Flash is in uniform, and smiling too much for an ape like him.
MJ's the same-- bless her-- but Gwen... this just ain't right. On Stan's orders, John is drawing Gwen to look like a blonde version of MJ. It's hard to tell them apart. I have a hard time believing this is the same girl at all from only 6 issues before. I finally figured out who Gwen was probably based on, and now, I can't see ANY evidence of it in her face! And you know... I've long considered THIS part of the run the "best-ever" for Spidey. And I'm barely tolerating it. Is it just me? Have I gotten SO sick of Spider-Man that even the "good" stuff isn't doing it for me anymore? Or was this stuff never as good in the first place as I once thought?


Henry

Our stories continue...

TALES TO ASTONISH #97 -- This is probably the exact point where I felt
like both Subby & Hulk started rambling. Roy Thomas switched "his"
artists around. He wanted John Buscema on AVENGERS, so Don Heck took
over X-MEN, and Werner Roth suddenly was on Sub-Mariner! The Plunderer
has a run-in with the Swamp Men, and Skull Island is destroyed, while
Subby saves the leader of the Swamp Men and a feast is held in his
honor. (The feast, unfortunately, was one of the scenes CUT from the
MARVEL SUPER-HEROES reprint. Lucky I got myself a copy of TTA #97 real
cheap a couple years back!) I keep thinking I might be able to take
the Plunderer & his men more seriously if they'd had the more "pirate"
outfits Jack Kirby intended, instead of these generic "super-villain"
suits John Romita designed back in DAREDEVIL. (I mean, what's with the
CAPES???)

And, while Atlantis falls under the mistaken impression that Namor has
allied himself with The Plunderer, that rat Major Talbot stumbles onto
the lair of The Living Lightning, just as the leader of this criminal
gang is convincing The Hulk that they're his "friends". Oy! At this
point, it seems Talbot wants Hulk out of the way more because he's a
romantic rival than a public menace.


TALES OF SUSPENSE #95 -- "If A Man Be Stone" has a THOR villain, The
Grey Gargoyle, attack Stark Industries, so he can steal a weapon that
will allow him to defeat Thor. So, in his eyes, Iron Man's nothing
more than a momentary distraction. Sheesh! Jasper Sitwell shows up, on
direct orders from Nick Fury, and now Tony Stark has to deal with this
skinny underage over-achiever. Gene Colan somehow makes him look a lot
younger than he ever was in SHIELD-- as if he were still in high
school! Stark has no idea who he is when they meet, which seems wrong,
as I'd SWEAR Stark was there in the Heli-Carrier shaking Sitwell's
hand over a year earlier. (Maybe he just repressed the memory?) The
first time I read this, I found the minor "crossover" intriguing, as
it seems the very moment that Iron Man almost got killed by the GG was
when Doc Ock decided to attack the factory over in ASM #55 (and nobody
but Spidey figured out he'd do it). I mean, what are the odds?

"A Time To Die-- A Time To Live" has Steve Rogers out on his first
offical "date" with Agent 13-- and he STILL never finds out her name!
I'm reminded of one of the later episodes of GET SMART, when someone
asks Max, "Why do you call your wife 99?" "Because I don't know her
name!" Steve wants to propose, 13 lets her career get in the way... so
STEVE quits HIS job! Does this make any sense? It seems rather
contrived to me-- especially the abrupt bit where he lets the
newspapers know what his "real" identity is under the mask. You get
the feeling he didn't think this through. Nick Fury & Dugan turn up,
and Nick-- as drawn by Kirby & Sinnott-- is his old self, square jaw
and unshaved. Makes you wonder if the "Burt Lancaster" Fury that Jim
Steranko was drawing over in STRANGE TALES might be an imposter!


DAREDEVIL #34 -- "To Squash A Beetle" has this former Human Torch
baddie (who has a really inflated opinion of himself) decide to unmask
DD on television. It reminds me of the the 1st Joker story on the
BATMAN tv series, which is probably fitting, as the tone of this
series is one that just cannot be taken seriously.

I know I have the reprint of DD ANNUAL #1... but it's misplaced at the
moment. (Grrrrrrrrrrr.)


X-MEN #38 -- "The Sinister Shadow Of... Doomsday!" brings us real
close to the climax of Roy Thomas' "Factor Three" story. And once
again, in the middle of a multi-parter, they've played "musical
artists" as Ross Andru is replaced by new regular Don Heck, along with
his recent AVENGERS inker George Roussos. It's a HUGE improvement
over the Andru issues (especially the previous one which Heck inked so
badly), but still only serviceable. Meanwhile, Werner Roth is back--
in the back-- beginning the brand-new "Origins" series. Inks are by
newcomer John Verpoorten, who does some solid, bang-up work. We
finally get to see how Prof. X got involved with those guys from the
government-- who were a little too quick on the draw for my tastes. It
also suggests that putting together the X-MEN was equal parts altruism
and government conspiracy. If the Feds were involved in even a small
way from the word go, WHY has the group had so much trouble since they
went public?? "Consistent" this book AIN'T.


THOR #146 -- "If The Thunder Be Gone" has Thor working for... oh it's
almost too painful to say it... The Circus of Crime. The Ringmaster
(who reminds me a bit of Hans Conreid-- or maybe David Carridine, heh)
gives him a "Thor" costume to fit the name he's using. Princess
Python asks him what his "real" name is, and he says some things are
best left unsaid. Oh, the ignominity! They put on a show, and NOBODY
in the audience is aware that they're really "The Circus Of Crime".
They must have records by now-- how is this possible? They pull off
their big crime-- but it goes arry, and Thor comes out of the trance
he was in, as the bullet go flying. Sif & Balder are unable to help,
while Odin merely ponders his son must go thru his "pennance". Hmm.

In the back, Kirby's teamed with Joe Sinnott on the new INHUMANS
"Origins" series. As one might expect, the art is spectacular, as we
look back into the dim recesses of history. This advanced race of
scientists create an island refuge away from the savage primitive humans, known as "Atillan"-- makes me wonder if there's any possible
connection with the "Atlantis" seen in TALES OF ATLANTIS (the back-up
in SUB-MARINER). I'm wishing I had all of these. Unfortunately, I'm
missing a few, and they were not included in the ESSENTIAL THOR
reprint book.


Henry

THE AVENGERS #46 -- "The Agony And The Anthill" has Jan hire a
chauffer, carelessly bring him inside the Mansion with her where he
can scout out its security, and not check references enough to realize
he's Hank's old enemy, The Human Top. Except, as part of Roy Thomas'
overall make-over of the book, he's got a new costume & name--
Whirlwind. The Galactus-like head-vanes look to me like they'd get in
the way of his "spinning" power. How does he DO that without getting
dizzy, anyway? It's finally suggested that his power may be from his
being a mutant. Had to be something, I guess. I still think he's one
of the dumbest villains in Marvel history. Strangely, Quicksilver
doesn't remember him, even though he CLOBBERED the guy in F.F. ANNUAL
#3. George Roussos has been replaced by Vince Colletta... par for the
course?

Meanwhile, Pietro's impatience with "humans" is growing, and Hercules
decides to shave off his beard. For good or not, Roy was clearly out
to make THE AVENGERS his!


STRANGE TALES #163 -- "And The Dragon Cried Death!" features one of
Steranko's coolest covers yet, with a jet black bakcground somehow
reminiscent of many 1950's Marvel books. For once, I can see no hint
of Joe Giella in Frank Giacoia's inks (heh). The "plot"-- such as it
is-- is more complex, convoluted, and confusing that anything we've
ever seen in SHIELD before, and frankly, repeated readings, while
making it more understandable, are NOT improving it in my eyes one
bit. And, we get 2 deadly cliffhangers in 2 episodes. Nick must be
slipping.

"Three Faces Of Doom" manages, with some rather spectacular sci-fi
landscape backdrops courtesy of Dan Adkins, to pretty much wrap up the
long and convoluted MESS that started when Umar appeared, was driven
off by Zom, who ran off due to The Living Tribunal, who wanted to
toast the Earth due to the "latent evil" that resulted in, among other
things, Baron Mordo's return. Earth was saved, Nebulos was wiped out,
but the action still hasn't stopped, as now Strange must travel to the
"world of nightmares" where Victoria Bentley was banished. The entire
run of Dr. Strange from Ditko's departure to the very last issue of
STRANGE TALES runs without any breaks, though the upcoming "science
vs. sorcery" arc kind of acts as a bookend to the "Kaluu" sequence
that started it all.


TALES TO ASTONISH #98 -- "To Destroy The Realm Eternal" is the most
convouted, confused Subby episode yet. Confusion and misunderstanding
are the names of the game, as Subby is believed a traitor by his own
people, a US submarine thinks Atlantis is shooting at them, and The
Plunderer, who started the whole mess, loses his sub, but manages to
escape in the mess. By episode's end, Atlantis officially declares war
on the surface world, while Namor is injured & unconscious. Oy.
(Having 3 pages of this MISSING from my reprint isn't helping, either.)

"The Puppet And The Power" has Hulk attack Ross's missile base, and
the Legions of the Living Lightning move in for a take-over. Love-sick
Talbot keeps thinking Hulk is a "traitor" somehow, and for the
cliffhanger, Betty's dumped in a cell with a sleeping Hulk, who's
about to awaken. Doesn't the guy know Betty's the ONE person Hulk
would NEVER hurt?


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #55 -- "Doc Ock Wins!" was the very 1st Spidey
comic I ever owned-- even if it was missing half the cover. The story
is beginning to show its cracks, but overall, it remains one of the
BEST episodes from the entire Romita run. Nearly every panel in this
book seems worthy of being a pin-up, and it was one of those panels I
re-used as part of the cover of my SPIDER-MAN 1968 music comp. We
haven't seen Spidey so PISSED since ASM #32, as he does his all to
track down Ock, who is more arrogant than ever. It ends is a
magnificent showdown at Stark Industries (where, Stan tells us, Iron
Man is laying somewhere, "mortally wounded"). And then Stan pulls the
"amnesia" card. AUGH! It probably didn't bother me so much back then,
but by the mid-70's, I'd seen virtually every single TV series play
that card (CANNON did it twice!) and swore I would NEVER write an
"amnesia" story. (I still haven't!) Of course, at 8 years old, the end
of this issue frustrated me... It was bad enough when TV shows had
2-parters, which were often difficult for me to see both halves of. I
wasn't used to comic-books ending with "TO BE CONTINUED!" What a
rotten thing to do to kids!!!


TALES OF SUSPENSE #96 -- "The Deadly Victory" opens with Stan once
again treating a deadly serious situtation like it's a joke ("I faw
down an' go boom"). Jasper saves IM's life, then gets himself turned
to stone. But while it supposedly takes an hour to wear off, he's up
and running again in what, the way the story reads, can't have been
more than 5 minutes later. WHAT th'...? IM just barely manages to
defeat the Grey Garygoyle, but his power's giving out, and he
collapses. At which point, Jasper, talking outloud to himself as he
always seems to do, says, "Even though it's completely AGAINST
ORDERS..." WHAT th'...? A couple of issues away from the SHIELD
series, and Stan has the guy not only being more annoying than ever,
but acting in violation of SHIELD regulations? (That's Stan for you.)
Will Jasper REMOVE IM's helmet, to "save" his life, and find out his
identity in the process? (Not bloody likely...)

"To Be Reborn" has a slew of imitation Captain Americas trying to take
the place of the newly-retired Cap, and all become the target of an
open contract on Steve Rogers! (Why they didn't try to kill Cap
BEFORE he quit being Cap is anybody's guess.) Fury & Dugan are on
hand again, and by story's end, Steve realizes he can't give up part
of what he is. I dunno... even with Kirby at the helm, this seems just
as DUMB as ASM #50! (WHY did he let the public know his secret
identity again???)


X-MEN #39 -- "The Fateful Finale" at last brings to a conclusion the
overlong "Factor Three" story. Did we ever learn why the group was
called "Factor Three"? Never mind... Russians shoot at half the
X-team, even though seconds before they saved their lives... back
home, the group rejoins just in time to find out the "Mutant Master"
was really an alien from another planet out to turn all of Earth into
a radioactive wasteland where no humans OR mutants could survive, and
momentarily, the evil mutants join forces with the not-so-evil ones.
At the end, Marvel Girl gives everyone new costumes-- this time, each
with its own color scheme, so at last, they're all "individuals". I
wish I could say Don Heck's art or storytelling was inspired, but I
can't. He just doesn't seem to fit on X-MEN the way he did on
AVENGERS. (Maybe Roy should have left Don where he was, and gotten
John Buscema to draw the X-MEN???) Vince Colletta's inks only make it
worse... and I'll be honest, I'm reading this from the 1974 reprint in
X-MEN #87, where the printing and line reproduction is ABOMINABLE!!!
Yes, ABOMINABLE!!! I can't believe the original art looked nearly this
bad. Inexplicably, the 5-page "Origins" episode was replaced in the
reprint with a 5-page Steve Ditko sci-fi story. WHY???


MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #12 -- which brings us to, "THE COMING OF CAPTAIN
MARVEL!" I've already reviewed this atrocity at great length elsewhere
(ask me, I'll run my comments again). I will say that this time, it's
VERY obvious to me which parts Frank Giacoia did not ink-- they look
TOO GOOD. This includes the cover, which I'm SURE was Joe Giella's
work. NICE lines. I've always liked that cover, and always recall
being very disappointed that the scene depicted on it-- alien envoy
arrives on Earth to stunned looks of populace-- NEVER appeared
anywhere in the issue, or anywhere in the ENTIRE SERIES for that
matter. That just ain't right.

I also see that, like THOR, DAREDEVIL, X-MEN and AVENGERS, MSH's
cover-dates are one month behind the rest of the MU. This went on 'til
1969, but still, I keep wondering... WHY?

This is interesting stuff since I've never read much of the old silver age Marvel output. I still have a feeling that even the worst of it would entertain me much more than 95% of their current output. Please go on!

THOR #147 -- "The Wrath Of Odin" reminds me that I'm reaching a point where Marvel had many of their best-ever covers... even if the writing was slipping. In this case, it's deceiving-- it looks like Odin is cheering Loki on as he tries to destroy Thor, but in fact, Odin is just PISSED in general that Thor, then Loki, then Balder & Sif all openly defied his orders! Thor is ARESTED... threatens a cellmate who tried to prove something, then let out on bail, paid by... who else? Loki. This is just not right. After the monumental build-up to the Crusher Creel story where Loki actually tried to overthrow Odin, and was exiled for it, Odin is letting him off the hook just too soon and too easily. And sure enough, within PAGES, he's back at it again, trying his worst to kill his step-brother.

In the back, a flashback into the history of The Inhumans shows the Kree Sentry-- a different color and several feet shorter than we last saw him-- reveal to the scientifically-advanced race that their genetic advancement was a direct result of Kree tampering. I've seen this discussed heavily in THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine, and it seems Stan Lee's dialogue completely contradicted Jack Kirby's plot, resulting in most of the last page's dialogue not making any sense!! Oy. (The Kirby-Sinnott are sure looks great, though.)


AVENGERS #47 -- "Magneto Walks The Earth" has the X-Men's main villain escaping his alien captor (The Stranger) and making it back to Earth for the 2nd time, with his annoying lackey, The Toad, in tow. (WHY is this happenning here instead of in this month's X-MEN?) We're introduced to Dane Whitman, scientist who's out to make up for the crimes of his relative (as Roy Thomas reveals the villainous Black Knight actually DID get killed when he fell off his flying horse back in SUSPENSE #73). Cap announces he plans to resign (even though in his own series, he's already changed his mind about his earlier resignation-- the continuity between books was becoming a bit confused by this point). Quicksilver & The Scarlet Witch respond to a call to go this castle, which turns out to be from Magneto, wanting them to rejoin his "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants". You'd think they would have let the rest of their team know where there were going, or brought reinforcments... As John Buscema settles in for a steady run (more or less), George Tuska is on inks, and in truth, their 2 styles seem to be fighting for attention!


STRANGE TALES #164 -- With a Dr. Strange story titled "Nightmare!", you'd think his oldest foe was returning. NOPE! Instead, he finds himself transported across space to a "world of nightmares", where he encounters a giant slug (I was reminded of an ASTRO BOY cartoon for some reason), and a cave filled with scientific equipment, run by "Yandroth, Scientist Supreme", who announces he's decided to make Victoria Bentley his "queen" and intendes to rule several planets-- including, eventually-- Earth. This sets up the rest of the 5-parter. Dan Adkins' art is stunning, if a little stiff in places.

"When Comes Black Noon" has Fury rescued from death by "Ultimate Annihilator" by Suwan, who yanked him away via a trans-dimensional warp machine. She quickly transports him again to the SHIELD barber shop, where he collapses (just before they lock up and turn away a customer who looks just like James Bond...!). The medic tells Fury he needs intense rest and recuperation, or it could mean more black-outs, or even death! But Fury goes on the next handy mission anyway, without telling anyone how bad off he's really doing. Before you know it, Fury's tracked a Yellow Claw agent to the Claw & Voltzmann themselves, only to find they're all aboard the mammoth "Sky Dragon", miles above NYC! Fury's overcome, strapped directly below the weapon, and it's only minutes before all of Manhattan (and Fury) will be wiped off the face of the Earth!!! (ALL, just to prove a point!)


FANTASTIC FOUR #70 -- "When Fall The Mighty" (hey, that was an Iron man story title!) has Reed, Johnny, and a band of NYC cops track down The Mad Thinker to his lair, and following a pitched battle, Reed single-handedly clobbers the bum. But it's not over, as the mind-altered Ben is still intent on MURDER, and finds them before long. The trio make it to The Baxter Building, where Reed struggles to get Ben under a "mento-wave" machine that MIGHT put him to rights... while, in jail, The Thinker activates his 12-foot tall Android, and, crushing everything in its path, it makes its way to The Baxter Building where it walks straight up the outside wall toward their HQ. (Makes you wonder why The Thinker didn't just take the easy way out and use this sucker in the first place!) Hearing a noise, Sue rushes into Reed's lab, just in time to see Reed, Johnny & Ben all on the floor unconscious-- as the android enters thru the massive hole it's knocked in the outside wall. "TO BE CONCLUDED"??? Nothing much "new" about the story, but the storytelling and art alone set this head and shoulders above 95% of all other comics being done at the time. And the climax isn't until next time! Whoa.


TALES TO ASTONISH #99 -- "When The Monster Wakes" has Hulk, sure enough, assure Betty he'd never hurt HER... which just pisses off the Lightning Lord. He tries to kill Hulk, but only succeeds in turning him back to Bruce Banner (you'd think a device like that would be a handy thing for the Army to keep their hands on, wouldn't you?). Before he can try to kill Banner, Talbot escapes and turns the tables, while repeatedly accusing Banner of being "responsible" for all that's happened, and deliberately in league with the baddies. An ANGRY Banner deliberately uses the Gamma Machine (which Ross conveniently had re-built from his plans!) to turn back to the Hulk-- and goes all out to destroy the Lightning's mountain base. WHOA. Why the Army mistakenly believed "nobody could have survived that blast" after all this time is beyond me... (Unfortunately, my MSH reprint is missing 2 pages of this story, but it didn't seem to hurt it... to much.)

"When Falls The Holocaust" has Sub-Mariner trying to stop his own people from using an untried, experimental "Hurricane Inducer" on the misguided US submarine. It's just one collossal misunderstanding after another, as the Navy thinks Atlantis attacked first, the Atlanteans think their "liege" has turned traitor, and so on. In the end, the US sub thinks the hostilities were called off and leave, the Atlanteans think Sub-Mariner saved their lives but died in the process. (Gee, that's 2 anti-heroes in the same comic, both believed dead by the end of their episodes.) Dan Adkins is back on full art, and it's stunning as usual. (If only my MSH reprint wasn't missing 2 pages of this story, as well.)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #56 -- "Disaster!" (gee, that's 2 titles Stan reused from earlier Iron Man stories in the SAME month!) has Spidey, with amnesia, conned into thinking he's Doc Ock's partner-- or lackey-- or something. His instincts keep telling him different, but he's too confused-- or dumb-- to take heed. Meanwhile, Gwen, Harry, May & Anna are all very concerned that nobody's heard from Peter in days, while MJ shows off the latest headline and announces, "Have you seen JJ's latest rumor rag? Looks like Flash will have to find a new idol!" In what should be his moment of ultimate triumph, Jameson is PISSED that he doesn't have a single photo to gloat over. "It's a Communist plot-- to DRIVE ME BATTY!" (That's one of my favorite lines... especially as JJJ doesn't need anyone to "drive" him batty.)

Spidey robs a military base, but leaves behind the map with Ock's hideout on it. The army arrives, and in a genuine instance of being hoisted on his own petard, the stolen Nullifier SHUTS DOWN Ock's mechanical arms!!! YEAH!!! As a last resort, he rants and raves and threatens and pushes his "partner" to take out the Army-- but Spidey just tells Colonel Jameson (the only one who always believed he was innocent) that they were never partners. Sadly, Stan's soap-opera MANIA knows no bounds, and instead of anything resembling a neat wrap-up, Spidey swings away-- a fugitive-- still with NO idea who he is. I HATED this ending when I first read it. (I should have. It took me 6 YEARS to track down the next issue!)

I should really change the heading, since I've now gotten to the Jan'68 issues...

TALES OF SUSPENSE #97 -- "The Coming Of Whiplash" has Jasper trying to use a tiny explosive device to remove Iron Man's helmet, so he can get him medical help. Geez. Meanwhile, Stark's ne'er-do-well cousin, Morgan, last seen in the only episode written by Al Hartley (I always LIKED that one!), turns up on a gambling ship run by The Maggia (Marvel's version of the MAFIA-- 'ey! Dey ain't no such-a t'ing, you gots it?). Losing and claiming he'll pay back as soon as his luck turns (yeahg, right), he's next in line for "meeting" Whiplash-- who's capable of cutting thru solid steel. YIKES!!! he's saved by a news flash about Iron Man's current state-- and convinces them HE can bring IM to them, for which they're happy to cancel his debt. He does so, not realizing IM just needed electricity, and gets some from-- of all places-- the cigarette lighter in the back seat of Morgan's car. As IM begins to revive, he finds himself up against this month's new menace. (One of the few, Marvel was really doing a lot of "grudge matches" right around here.)

It's funny-- if Tony Stark looks like Errol Flynn, cousin Morgan Stark is a dead ringer for Brian Donlvey, who often played baddies (DESTRY RIDES AGAIN) but also played scientist Prof. Bernard Quatermass (THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT, etc.).


Meanwhile, the knowledge of Steve Roger's secret identity has continued to plague him as hit men continue to come out of the woodwork trying to score big by knocking him off. The NYC cops suggest he leave town while they wrap up some big syndicate, and by a coincidence, he's contacted by-- get this-- The Black Panther!-- who sends a magneto aero-car to fetch him, and asks for his help in some matter which is somhow connected to Cap-- but he doesn't give any more details. The Kirby-Sinnott art is STUNNING, especially the last page shot of the flying car (with Cap) zooming above NYC.


THOR #148 -- "Let There Be Chaos" has the infuriated Odin strip Loki, Balder and Sif of their Godly powers! Realizing it would now be a fair fight, Loki begs off, threatening he'll return as soon as he has the upper hand again. While the trio of good guys order fast-food delivered to Dr. Blake's office (and marvel at the wonders of "television", so similar to Odin's own mystical viewer), Loki puts out the call to a longtime ally, Karnilla Queen of the Norns, to grant him Asgardian powers so he may destroy his step-brother. Things go astray when an ugly, brutal and arrogant criminal known as The Wrecker, running fro the cops, happens upon the scene, and, figuring Loki must be another crimninal like himself, decides to break in and steal the other guy's loot. Loki gets clobbered by this mere mortal, and while The Wrecker is trying on Loki's horned helmet, Karnilla appears to grant "Loki" the power he asked for. ZAP!! I laughed out loud when I read this scene the first time!! It was so FUNNY, to see this devious, evil, scheming megalomaniac brought down by a lowly mortal, then have his plans thwarted abruptly by a case of mistaken identity! Next thing, the "new improved" Wrecker goes on a city-wide rampage, it gets on the news, and the 3 Asgardian heroes race to the scene. But-- just as he'd done with Loki, the Wrecker uses his newfound magic to send Balder & Sif "back where they came from". Odin merely comments, "SO, thou hast RETURNED!" But while Thor begins to get the beating of his life, Odin will hear no arguments, saying, for the 2nd time in 3 issues, that Thor must endure his "pennance". Geez. Some father.

Unfortunately, I only have this in the ESSENTIAL reprint, which doesn't include the Inhumans back-ups. (Darn!)


THE AVENGERS #48 -- "The Black Knight Lives Again!" has George Tuska, now returned to Marvel "for good", fill in on full art. Not bad! Dane Whitman takes up the mantle as the 3rd "Black Knight" (following Sir Percy and his bad-guy uncle), who goes off to warn The Avengers that Magneto's on the loose. But instead, the moment they see him coming, they assume the worst and attack in force. The battle goes on for page after page until, finally, they realize-- OOPS!-- it's not the same guy Giant-Man fought back when, except by now, he's too PISSED to wanna work with them. (Who wouldn't be?) I'm afraid this sort of behavior-- a contrived hero-vs.-hero fight, epitomizes some of the worst traits of the Marvel Universe, and this wasn't done with anything near the finesse as in earlier such instances. All in all, a rather frustrating debut for a new hero.


STRANGE TALES #165 -- Things reach a climax in "Behold The Savage Sky" as Dugan, who's been following Nick's progress from a distance, decides to ATTACK-- with the full force of the SHIELD Heli-Carrier and their "Suicide Squad", who board The Yellow Claw's Sky Dragon like "buccaneers of old". What a fight! The Claw is forced to use his mental energy to fend off several agents, which weakens him, and then decides to unleash his "Duplikeds" so he can make his escape. Sure enough, SHIELD men grab several different Claws, while Fury goes after the one he believes is the real one, since Voltzmann told him the guy was heading for the aircraft hanger to make his escape. This is an important point to keep in mind... When Fury catches up with the guy, he's "all armor-- even his face". The "all-armor" Claw beats Fury near to a pulp, then speaks, saying he'll return as SHIELD's conqueror, before flying off in the small aircraft.

Now... while the ENDING (and epilogue) of this epic revealed that The Yellow Claw was really a ROBOT (sorry to anyone who hasn't read these before), in George Olshevsky's STRANGE TALES index, he suggests that it was the real Claw all along, until THIS episode, where the real Claw escaped, while Fury followed one of his "Duplikeds". You know-- that makes a LOT more sense to me than what Steranko sugested 2-3 months later!!! A "clue" might be that before he disappeared, the "real" Claw had thought balloons-- after, not. (But then, I believe we saw thought balloons in ST #167, so... who knows for sure?)

"The Mystic And The Machine" continues Dr. Strange's battle against Yandroth, Scientist Supreme. Dan Adkins art continues to be stunning, as Doc escape death-traps, locates Victoria Bentley, but then confronts one of the clunkiest-looking robots of the late 60's-- "Voltorr" (or, as he was renamed in the next issue, "Voltorg").


FANTASTIC FOUR #71 -- "And So it Ends" finally brings the Mad Thinker 4-parter to its climax. After the 2 previous episodes, WHO could have imagined that the best fight scenes weren't until THIS installment? In 2 consecutive full-page spreads, we see Sue enter Reed's lab (in close-up), followed by a reverse shot of Reed, Ben & Johnny unconscious on the floor as The Thinker's 12-FOOT-TALL android stalks straight toward Sue. HOLY COW!!! She uses one of Reed's weapons to drive it back, and it also manages to wake up Ben, who-- good thing!-- is his old self again! "IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!" Ben sends the Android right thru the wall, but while Sue collapses, Reed mistakenly thinks Ben is trying to hurt her. Johnny joins in, but Sue manages to convince them Ben's telling the truth about the "robot"-- especially when it comes back for a return match. As Reed gets Sue to safety, Ben AND Johnny are taken out, and it's up to Reed to stop the android! This, he does-- just barely-- by tricking it into the NEGATIVE ZONE-- and for once, Reed DOESN'T get sucked in to a near-death himself. (I guess he must have gotten a better handle on the safety controls by now...) Crystal shows up (they really could have used her help in the fight), and as she, Johnny & Ben race to see how things are, Reed announces he and Sue are "cutting out". The end of the FF-- AGAIN??? (I had to wait 10 years before I found out how this cliffhanger turned out...)


TALES TO ASTONISH #100 -- "Let There Be Battle!" could have easily been titled "Mayhem Over Miami!", as the cover shows Hulk & Sub-Mariner fighting it out with the familiar vacation skyline in the background. Art for this long-awaited crossover (you can't really call it a "team-up") is by Marie Severin AND Dan Adkins, and what a great team them make! Marie strikes me as doing really great versions of BOTH characters, and this is her first time on Subby. Now, in the spirit of "sequels", "retreads", "rematches" and "grudge matches", just as The Mad Thinker came back in FF, here it's... The Puppet Master. OY!!! (Didn't this guy team up with The Thinker to fight the X-MEN and the FF once?) Out for revenge-- which seems to be the ONLY thing he's EVER after in ALL of his stories-- The Puppet Master gets control of The Hulk, makes him dig himself out of the rubble he was buried under last ish, clobber Rick Jones (making everyone, Gen. Ross and Betty included, feel there's "no hope" for him now), and then go after Sub-Mariner, who the villain wants revenge on for wrecking his plans in the past. You know, if these guys focused more on having successful crime careers and less on seeking out heroes for revenge, maybe they wouldn't get clobbered so often. Anyway, Namor, STILL outcast by his people (and for something Vashti & Dorma MISTAKENLY believed-- how ironic, and STUPID can you get?) thinks Hulk might make a good ally-- 2 "outcasts" together. But instead, Hulk attacks, and keeps attacking, and the fight goes on for most of the 22 pages. It finally ends only when The Puppet Master is accidentally flooded by a tidal wave (if ONLY he'd actually gotten killed this time) and Hulk turns back to Banner, leaving Subby wondering what that was all about. Nice art, nicely-told story, but the story itself, not really that much to brag about.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #57 -- "The Coming Of Ka-Zar" has Spidey, still with amnesia, stealing food and sleeping in Grand Central Terminal. Meanwhile, Ka-Zar (last seen in DAREDEVIL) comes to the States to talk with his lawyer (why the lawyer didn't go to England is beyond me). Jameson is PISSED that his son refused to arrest Spider-Man, and goes to see the jungle lord, and with some difficulty (Ka-Zar does not like his manner) convinces him Spidey is a public menace. Here we go again. Spidey asks Col. Jameson (and Capt. Stacy, who's with him) for help, but even telling them he has no memory only seems to confuse everyone, including Gwen, who seems more upset and concerned for the missing Peter (who, thanks to Harry, is now believed to have been KIDNAPPED by Spidey). Before long, Ka-Zar gets into ANOTHER fight with a good-guy (he seems to have a bad habit of that) and before anyone can figure who might have won, Zabu (the sabre-toothed pussycat) leaps in, and it winds up with Ka-Zar hauling an unconscious Spidey out of the park lake.

This is the first of the Don Heck issues (well, really, the 2nd, after ANNUAL #3). It looks nice... "BUT". I'm guessing, by the time-frame, that it was the SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN b&w magazine that over-loaded Romita's schedule (he did both of them, right?). So Romita cut back to layouts on the main book, they got Don Heck to do the finished pencils (like so many of those SHIELD episodes Kirby laid out), and Mike Esposito continued on inks. It looks WAY better than the last Heck-Esposito Iron Man ep. in SUSPENSE #72, but still... NOT having Romita do finished pencils OR inks is dragging it down, maybe not much, but enough to make it less than the all-time "classic" art of the preceding issues. I'm really noticing where Romita did full pencils (faces in close-ups) and which ones were pencilled by Heck.


TALES OF SUSPENSE #98 -- "The Claws Of The Panther" has Cap arrive in Wakanda, team with The Black Panther, discover a giant killer satellite is being tested and is capable of destroying any city it's aimed at (I'm reminded of the aura surrounding The Death Star in STAR WARS!), and, after both heroes get caught in a lion-trap, Cap discovers the one in charge is... Baron Zemo. (What, ANOTHER old and/or dead villain back for a return match??) The Kirby-Sinnott art is stellar! The cover appears to be inked by old-time C.A. artist Syd Shores, who would take over from Sinnott next month while Sinnott took over from Frank Giacoia on S.H.I.E.L.D.

"The Warrior And The Whip" has Iron Man, desperately low on power, trying to fend off Whiplash, while Jasper Sitwell contacts Fury to get the lowdown on Morgan Stark, hoping to find out where IM and/or Tony Stark are. FUNNIEST scene in the comic is when a slew of gorgeous women arrive, and Jasper asks, "Do you know Mr. Stark?" "I'll say-- we're his girlfriends." "ALL of you?" "Of course not! The rest couldn't make it." After this goes on for a bit, Jasper, exasperated, says, "NO man can have that many girlfriends-- it's practically UN-AMERICAN!" I'm guessing Jasper was meant to fill the "humor" gap left by the absence of Happy & Pepper (who seem to have disappeared since getting married). This wound up being Stan Lee's last IM episode, as the next month ex-Warren horror writer-editor Archie Goodwin would step in.


THOR #149 -- "When Falls A Hero!" has Thor, sans his Immortal powers, fighting The Wrecker, who IS imbued with Asgardian magic. What a brutal knock-down drag-out. Loki steals Odin's mystic viewing gem, and flees to the country of the Norns, just as Balder & Sif are desperately trying to convince Odin that Thor is in much more danger than he believes. Finding the gem missing, they immediately figure it's Loki's doing, and set out to the Norn country to find Loki and the gem. But back on Earth, it looks like Thor may be finished...

"Silence Or Death" has a flashback to when Black Bolt had a reunion with his royal family, including an 8-year-old Crystal. His "mad" brother goes all out to force him to speak, knowing how destuctive BB's power is, as he sees it as the only way to prove that HE, rather than BB, should be ruler. (Ask anyone-- "mental illness" doesn't go away just because you want it to!) The Kirby-Sinnott art is great, but fans on the letters pages seem to want "Tales Of Asgard" to return soon.


THE AVENGERS #49 -- "Mine Is The Power" has Magneto cart Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to the UN-- just so he can "prove" to Quicksilver that humans are the enemy, and he should rejoin the evil "Brotherhood". OY. What's left of the Avengers (Goliath, Wasp & Hawkeye) turn up, but before you know it, Magneto causes a guard to graze Wanda's head with a bullet, sending Pietro into a rage at all humans, including his own team members. (Idiot.) It just all seems so badly-done, and contrived. Meanwhile, Hercules confronts one of the Titans, who's responsible for all of the Olympians to be missing from their mountaintop. John Buscema does full art this time, and while it's nice, the figure-work seems as over-blown as Roy Thomas' dialogue. It's like watching a BAD episode of ST:TNG, decades before-the-fact.


STRANGE TALES #166 -- "Nothing Can Halt Voltorg!" has Dr. Strange trying to fend off the clunkiest robot of the late 60's, courtesy of George Tuska & Dan Adkins. (Although it appeared in one panel in the previous issue, I can't shake the feeling that Tuska, not Adkins, designed this thing!) By some weird coincidence, Strange uses a spell that creates multiple images of himself to fool the robot-- exactly as Iron Man had done to fool Whiplash! (I wonder if both writers saw the late-60's SPIDER-MAN cartoon with Electro and the fun house with all the mirrors?) Strange barely takes out the robot, Yandroth escapes via matter teleporter with Victoria Bentley, Strange follows... but somehow winds up back at Stonehenge, where he sees, floating in the air, the face of his (dead?) mentor, The Ancient One!

"If Death Be My Destiny" has Fury pursuing the Yellow Claw's fleeing airship, and clinging to its hull as it get sucked down underwater by an artificially-created waterspout. There he finds The Claw's secret HQ, breaks in and makes his way thru a series of death-trap laden twisting corridors. Meanwhile, Jimmy Woo is captured, and before a protesting Suwan, The Claw plans to use a freezing machine to "polarize" him to death. Just then Fury breaks in, and as he struggles with The Claw, Suwan frees Jimmy-- only to be hit by the freezing ray herself! Overcome with grief, Jimmy vows vengeance on BOTH the Claw AND Nick Fury!!!

If Tuska's DS art seemes a step backwards, Steranko jumps several steps ahead this time, with some VERY wild layouts, including one page set up like a maze (a motif later reused in a Paul Gulacy MASTER OF KUNG FU story), another where half the page seems upside-down, and finally a shot of Fury that takes up the entire vertical 1/3rd of a page next to several smaller panels (the figure was later reused for the cover corner boxes). With JOE SINNOTT on the inks, Steranko's art NEVER looked better!!! (Until next month...)


FANTASTIC FOUR #72 -- As Reed & Sue head out of town by train, Johnny, Ben & Crystal wonder what to do next.... until The Watcher appears. Although he is not permitted to interfere (YEAH-- RIGHT!!!) he has come to warn them that The Silver Surfer intends to attack all of mankind! It seems the longer he's imprisoned on Earth, the more SS has gotten it into his head that while it could be a paradise, man is so full of greed, envy, ambition, evil, etc. that it will never be-- UNLESS, he thinks, they can be united by a common enemy-- and he foolishly decides to take the job. So, a world-wide rampage ensues, with only the Torch & The Thing (and Reed, once The Watcher clues him in as well) to stop him. Meanwhile, Gen. Ross (not named, but who else could it be?) decides to use a "Solar Shark" missile to defeat the Surfer. Almost inexplicably, Reed figures that it is in fact the only thing that can stop the Surfer-- and HE decides to stop the missile, rather than the Surfer! The missile does succeed-- not unlike Dr. Doom-- in draining most of the Surfer's cosmic energy away, before Ben sends it off-course to explode in the upper atmosphere. The Surfer suddenly comes to his senses, realizes not all humans are hopeless, thanks them for helping him to see this, and departs. Ben describes him now as "just a regular guy on a flyin' surfboard". I forget if this severe de-powering-- which seemed to be in answer to some fan letters protesting his excessive power levels-- was permanent or not. The one thing that bothers me is, after all the destruction he caused, you can't tell me every country on Earth won't be gunning for the guy now!!! (THIS is a happy ending???)

Also, while Reed took part in the adventure without hesitation, there's no hint as to if he plans to renege on his "cutting out" plans, or not. This issue featured some of the best Kirby-Sinnott art ever, especially some of the shots of the Surfer, one of which, a full-page shot, I'm SURE was turned into a poster at some point (and if not, it should have been).

On the letters page, one reader ponders whether Marvel has past its zenith and is now on the decline, while Stan feels the best is yet to come. (YEAH-- RIGHT!!!)

TALES TO ASTONISH #101 -- "Where Walk The Immortals!" has Loki turn Banner back into the Hulk and transport him to the Rainbow Bridge, hoping he'll cause such a ruckus that Odin will be too distracted to notice that Thor's life is in deadly peril. WOW! First time I read this, I had NO IDEA it tied in the the same month's THOR, in which Thor get beaten close to death by The Wrecker. This must take place before Loki steals Odin's viewing gem. Hogun, Fandral & Volstagg, who've been missing from the THOR book for awhile, show up here, entertaining as always. They figure out Hulk's not evil, and decide to see an Oracle for help, but on the way there, Loki strikes again, turning Hulk into Banner in mid-leap-- over a bottomless pit! (Yipes!)

"And Evil Shall Beckon" has Namor haunted my half-memories of an old foe, and going in search of the past near the ruins of the original Atlantean city near Antarctica. His own people prepare to wander in search of yet another new home, as their present city was destroyed by The Plunderer (and the US submarine). The big surprise this episode was the return of Gene Colan, this time teamed with Dan Adkins, who does the most stunning job on inks Colan has ever received on this series!


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #58 -- "To Kill A Spider-Man" has Spidey's memory return. Ka-Zar offers to help him clear his name, but is then distracted by Zabu's altercation with the police. Meanwhile, STILL pissed, Jameson gets a call from Professor Smythe, who's built a new robot to track Spider-Man. Against even his own instincts, JJJ agrees to put up money for it, but once it gets going, he becomes disturbed by what are clearly MURDEROUS intentions on Smythe's part! Smythe's not out for justice-- he just wants revenge! And when JJJ calls him on it, he just calls Jameson a hypocrite.

It appears John Romita did a lot less this time out, apparently feeling Don Heck could handle the job more on his own. Over Romita's layouts, the Heck-Esposito art is probably the BEST Heck's work has looked in well over a year-- but it still feels like it's dragging the book down compared to when Romita was doing full art or full pencils.


TALES OF SUSPENSE #99 -- "At The Mercy Of The Maggia" has Iron Man knock out Whiplash before falling unconsious himself. The Maggia's "Big M" wants IM's armor studied, and turns on a deadly laser beam aimed at his helmet to get things going. Jasper, meanwhile, breaks every speeding law on the books getting his hands on Morgan Stark, who was about to flee the country, then sneaks aboard the gambling ship to find Iron Man. But that's when things go REALLY crazy, as an A.I.M. sub attacks the ship, intent on rebuilding their organization's rep by first taking out a rival crime gang. Archie Goodwin makes his Marvel debut here, but so far all I can say is it's serviceable.

"The Man Who Lived Twice" has Cap & The Black Panther as prisoners of Baron Zemo, desperate to stop his plans to use his orbitting death ray to blackmail the world into submission with threats of total destruction. Meanwhile, Agent 13 shows up undercover, just in time to receive orders to kill the heroes-- one of which is the man she loves!

The art this issue was a real surprise all-round. Johnny Craig took over inking Gene Colan-- and his very precise, refined, "CLEAN" inks seem rather at odds with Colan's style. Even more jarring, Syd Shores-- who illustrated Captain America in the 1940's-- takes over inking Kirby, and while it has an interesting look, it seems a TOTAL clash of styles! (Oddly enough, Shores would ink about a year of Colan on DAREDEVIL some time later on.)


MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #13 -- "Where Stalks The Sentry" gets MY vote for the WORST Marvel Comic of the year-- maybe more. Between Mar-Vell's long soliloquys, suspicion on the part of the motel manager, army guards, base security chief Danvers, the murderous actions of his own commanding officer, and the utterly pointless destructive behavior of the Kree Sentry (which-- guess what-- is still intact AND alive, thus negating the entire purpose of his mission on Earth!), just about every bit of dialogue in this story is extrememly PAINFUL to read. I hate to say it, but this is really some of the worst stuff I've EVER read from Roy Thomas. (I mean, WHAT is this obsession with the "odd-looking briefcase"? I'd expect stuff like this if I was reading a comedy-- but this ISN'T FUNNY!!) And to make matters worse, in a month where Gene Colan's getting some offbeat inking, this is the rock-bottom, courtesy of Paul Reinman, who does quite possibly the worst inking job I have EVER seen over Colan's pencils. OY!

Between Archie Goodwin (on Iron Man), Don Heck (on Spider-Man) and Syd Shores (on Captain America), I couldn't help but think, what a SHAME it was that these 3 particular guys didn't, somehow, get on THIS series, all together, right here. They did what was in my opinion the single BEST episode of CM (before Jim Starlin came along), and had they been in on the series near the start, it might have actually turned into something good a LOT sooner than it did.

IRON MAN AND SUB-MARINER #1 -- "The Torrent Without---The Tumult Within" is part 4 (of 5) of the IM / Maggia / Whiplash / A.I.M. story. IM's trapped as the gambling ship begins to sink, but manages to get free and give himself a full recharge! It's mostly chaos to the end, when he's captured-- again-- this time by a ray from the A.I.M. sub. Some days...

"Call Him Destiny, Or Call Him Death" has Sub-Mariner confront "Destiny", one of the worst-designed villains of this era. The guy apparently knew Namor's father, Leonard McKenzie, and was in some way involved in the cataclysm that destroyed the Antarctican home of Namor's people (sometime in the late 50's when he had amnesia). Overall, very little about this story sticks in my mind... and I JUST re-read it!!

This one-shot wound up having Gene Colan art cover-to-cover. He got some interesting inks around here, but nothing here really seemed to fit. Johnny Craig's razor-thin lines would be a much better fit over George Tuska a few months later, and Frank Giacoia, on Subby, would have looked better doing Iron Man. (Or Captain America, which was inked this month by Syd Shores-- who later turned out to be a much better inker for Colan on DAREDEVIL. Go figure.)


THE INCREDIBLE HULK #102 -- The "1st" issue of The Hulk's solo book (honest!) has the 2nd half of his Asgard adventure. He's rescued from sure death by The Enchantress & The Executiuoner (of all people!), who are planning ANOTHER revolt against Odin with the Troll army (who, after the recent Troll War, obviously don't know when to quit). Thor's trio of pals, meanwhile, consult Oldar The Oracle, who reveals Hulk's ORIGIN (lotta those going around about this time). When the Trolls attack, Hulk strikes back against them, proving his valor. But after Odin saves Hulk's life, he wakes up and mistakenly thinks the All-Father's about to attack. Fandral pleads in Hulk's favor, and Odin, who gets pissed too fast himself, banishes Hulk back to Earth.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #100 -- "This Monster Unmasked" finishes out the 4-part Zemo story. Doesn't it seem strange for characters to be given their own "solo" books in the MIDDLE of ongoing storylines? Cap finds out Agent 13 is working undercover, and with the Black Panther, they barely hold off Zemo's hordes until he reveals "Zemo" is not the genuine article (his mask was loose rather than glued on tight), but Zemo's pilot instead. His own men kill him for "betraying" their trust! Then, with no one left to pay them (they didn't think that through, did they?) they give up. With the protective force field cut off, SHIELD is able to destroy the orbitting death ray (shades of RETURN OF THE JEDI), and Cap reccomends The Panther replace him in The Avengers. It's never quite explained why he didn't wanna go back, but things are confusing enough over there without Cap being in 2 books at the same time.

Syd Shores' inks are outright bizarre-- I'd call 'em "impressionistic". At times I'm left wondering what the heck I'm looking at? Still, the Kirby-Shores art has its fans.


THOR #151 -- "To Rise Again!" has Sif-- now trapped in the form of The Destroyer-- realize that Karnilla tricked her, as Thor is trying his best to take out the killing machine, not knowing his beloved's life force is encased within it! Meanwhile, Ulik the Troll returns (perhaps spurred on by the attempted 2nd Troll War in HULK #102 ?) and attacks Karnilla. Balder offers to help, but only if she frees him and promises not to attack Asgard again. This, she does, but one's left wondering if part of it isn't that she seems to find Balder attractive. (She, meanwhile, reminds me of either Joan Crawford or Betty Davis-- depending on the panels.)


STRANGE TALES #168 -- "Exile" neatly wraps up not only Dr. Strange's battle against Yandroth, Scientist Supreme, but the entire long-running never-ending sequence that has been going on ever since Bill Everett took over from Steve Ditko! Dan Adkins' art is better than ever, as Strange is forced to send Yandroth plummetting into an endless abyss from which he will never die or recover, defeats the dream-dimension apparaitions, and return to Earth with Victoria bentley in tow before The Ancient One can doze off. With memory of her ordeal fading fast, Strange's mentor tells him he can take a "well-deserved" rest. Nice that at least ONE of the anthology titles brought things to a close with its final issue!

"Today Earth Died" has Fury dictating a letter to Jimmy Woo, inviting him to become a member of SHIELD... when he gets a message about a UFO, which appears benign but turns out to be world-threatening. Or, it would be, except Fury was having a bad dream. According to the dialogue, it seems The Claw, his men AND Suwan were all robots. Fury speculates if they were the same ones Jimmy met in the 50's-- or not. I prefer to think... not. And I also prefer the idea that they weren't robots until halfway into "Behold The Savage Sky", either. Too bad nobody at Marvel in later stories ever seemed to think along those lines. GREAT art by Steranko & Sinnott, but otherwise, this episode was just "filler".


FANTASTIC FOUR #74 -- "When Calls Galactus" no doubt is a story that infuriates many long-time fans, as it goes along with the "returning baddie" theme that seems to have over-run Marvel at this point and brings back the one baddie who by rights NEVER should have come back to Earth... Galactus. Bereft of his herald, The Silver Surfer, big G seems to be having so much trouble finding another planet suitable for eating, he's contemplating GOING BACK ON HIS WORD about never attacking Earth again. Did we really need this? He contacts the Surfer, offering to put all behind them if he'll rejoin him. While he misses soaring the spaceways, the Surfer feels Galactuis will just continue eating inhabitted planets. So instead, he goes into hiding. OY. The bulk of the issue has Ben, Johnny & Reed fighting THE PUNISHER (no, not that one!), G's robot servant, until the end, when Johnny mentions the Surfer said something about there being "worlds within worlds".

The art on this is-- as always-- the best there ever was. The story? EHH. Knowing the behind-the-scenes differences of opinions that went on here (and later), this story strikes me as one COLLOSAL missed opportunity. Just 2 issues earlier, the Surfer was bemoaning mankind's tendencies toward self-destruction, he made himself mankind's #1 enemy, and lost the bulk of his "cosmic power" in the process. Having Galactus come back and offer reconcilliation, it seems to me, would have been a PERFECT chance for the Surfer to rejoin big G, get the HELL off this miserable planet, regain his full power, and determine to spend the future only leading Galactus to NON-inhabited planets! BUT NOOOOOOOOO! The reason this never happened is clear... Stan was planning to give the Surfer his own book, with John Buscema on the art. Reading this FF issue, it seems we still have Kirby's Surfer-- who, it came out years later, was an innocent, naive being created whole by Galactus. But Stan had other ideas in mind-- namely, that the Surfer was once a human who gave up his humanity to save his planet. So, instead of a nearly-immortal being who had "always" been by Galactus' side (and his absence would make some sense of this story), instead, he's an ex-human who's only been serving big G for an undisclosed number of years. Makes a farce out of Galactus' having so much trouble finding suitable sustenance, doesn't it?

These are cool prof! Keep 'em coming!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #60 -- "O, Bitter Victory" has Spidey fighting a losing battle against The Kingpin, getting hurt and winding up with double-vision. He barely escapes, and as a result, Captain Stacy winds up a victim of the brainwashing machine. He discounts MJ's story of a backstage fight, then at home, is cold toward Peter-- then attacks him when Peter says the cops might be interested in what he knows. Gwen walks in just in time to mistake Pete defending himself as "attacking" her helpless father, and says she never wants to see him again. And of course, HE can't bring himself to tell her what's really going on (idiot). Stacy mentions Pete's supicions, causing The Kingpin to order his men to KILL Parker! They miss him, and just bust up Harry's apartment. Later, he snaps pics of Stacy helping some mobsters to loot files at City Hall, and Jameson prints the pics (with Peter's name prominently listed under-- is he trying to get Parker killed??). Naturally, Gwen sees the pics, and Pete's credit, and only blames Pete more while refusing to acknowledge something really bad is going on with her father!

I had the impression Romita did more faces in this issue, at least on the main characters. Nice stuff, but I still would have preferred "pure" Romita.

This is the issue where Pete very over-dramatically realises he loves Gwen. Sigh. I feel sorry for MJ. I liked her so much better...


IRON MAN #1 -- "Alone Against A.I.M." finally brings this 5-part mess to a conclusion. Shellhead's taken to A.I.M.'s island fortress (nowhere near as classy as Hydra's island fortress had been) and by the end of the story, thwarts the plans of the A.I.M. scientist who wanted to become their new leader, AND blows up the entire HQ in the process! Meanwhile, Jasper rescues this classy lady who'd shown up earlier at Stark Industries from drowning when the Maggia gambling ship goes down, and Nick Fury & Dugan can't believe their eyes when she shows interest in Jasper (and he returns it!). But it is too good to be true-- the lady, Whitney Frost, is in reality "Big M" of the Maggia-- and she plans to use Jasper to get her hands on Stark's technology.

Gene Colan wraps up his UNBROKEN run of Iron Man with a 4-page retelling of IM's origin. There's no hint in the comic that this is his last, but I guess having CAPTAIN MARVEL bumped up to monthly was too much for Gene's schedule. Too bad he didn't stick around here instead...


THE AVENGERS #51 -- "In The Clutches Of The Collector" brings back one of the most annoying, obsessive alien villains, as he once more plans to put together a "collection" of Avengers. In the end, his spaceship (and a huge chunk of his "precious" collection!) is blown to atoms, and the team finally hears from the missing Cap, who asks them to accept his new friend, The Black Panther, as his replacement. Not bad, but just average.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #101 -- "When Wakes The Sleeper" continues the "grudge match" kick Kirby's been on lately, as he brings back The Red Skull (we do get to see how he escapes his last "death") and introduces a 4TH "Sleeper". This one's capable of altering its molecular density (sort of like The Vision-- before-the-fact) and acts as a "living volcano". Nobody-- not the Skull or his men-- can seem to control the thing, and he & Cap are nearly killed as it begins its rampage of "revenge". The Skull's island fortress (what, ANOTHER ONE??) in the Florida keys is destroyed in the process, making at least 3 neo-Nazi islands that have been wiped off the face of the Earth in less than a year (2 in the same MONTH!).

Syd Shores' inks are MUCH sharper this time, suggesting he either "adjusted" to the smaller art page size by here, or they were really having problems with their stats & printing in the previous issue. Shores gives the book an almost "Golden Age" feel to is, and rumor has it he was being geared up to replace Kirby-- until Stan decided he just didn't like his style on the book. Meanwhile, Agent 13 shows up just in time for Nick Fury-- looking more his old self than usual (Shores makes him look like he just crawled out of a foxhole!) --to tell her it looks like Cap failed his mission, and may be dead. (to be continued)

Prof, you forgot to do Avengers #50, a favorite of mine.

Didn't Colan take over Dr. Strange around this time, too?

I don't think Colan was particularly well-suited to Iron Man, but the rest for the rest of Goodwin's IM run was terrible, especially the issues that Johnny Craig pencilled (which is a shame, because Craig's art on the 50s EC Comics was excellent; in fairness, he was hardly the only industry veteran who couldn't adapt to the Marvel house style.) It's good that Goodwin's entire IM run is now available cheap in Essential Iron Man Vols. 2 and 3 -- if ever there was a case of good scripts rising above bad art...


I really like Buscema's art in this issue. Tuska is the credited inker, but it's gotta be someone else -- it looks similar, though not quite as good, to Buscema-inks-himself in #49-50.

I think what happened was, I forgot to post a day's worth of reviews here-- including AVENGERS #50. I did 'em... they're just not here (oops).

DR. STRANGE was a few months later. I'm trying to read these in order, which is tricky as several series the cover date was one month out of synch with the rest-- and stayed that way until 1969! Roy's growing cross-over mania in AVENGERS didn't help.

It's SO noticeable that, right after the 2-part "HIM" story, Jack Kirby began doing almost nothing but returning villains / sequels / grudge matches. The "new" villains from that period tended to be lesser creations by other artists.

I have only a handful of Goodwin IRON MAN issues. I wanted to get more, but the popularity of the later runs by Michelinie-Layton and Busiek-Chen, combined with them never having been reprinted (they are now) drove the Goodwin-Tuska issues WAYYYYYYYYY up in price. (When a Lee-Kirby-Sinnott F.F. is going for $20 and a Tuska I.M. is going for $80-- something AIN'T right.) Goodwin's a favorite writer of mine, and I was frankly shocked at HOW DAMN GOOD Johnny Craig's inks over Tuska were-- he may be the best inker for Tuska, ever. For whatever reason, Goodwin never stayed at any series for long... EXCEPT on IRON MAN. So I was baffled at how BAD I thought what I read of his run was. "Everybody" seems to disagree with me on this-- you're the first person who feels the way I do.

Archie's 8 episodes of VAMPIRELLA remain, to this day, my favorites in that entire series. Shame he didn't stay on it a LOT longer. Also, Archie's ONE episode of CAPTAIN MARVEL made everyone else who ever touched the book (except for Jim Starlin) look like rank amateurs by comparison. And to think, he was kicked off the book before his single issue ever went to the printers... (because Stan hoped Roy Thomas could "save" it, and, Gil Kane REALLY WANTED to do it). Archie's HERO FOR HIRE was fabulous-- though, I think, Englehart did even better.

Here they are (I think)...


THOR #150 -- "Even In Death" begins with The Wrecker believing Thor is dead-- or dying. When Hela, The Goddess Of Death actually shows up, it sure looks like the bad guy's right! Thor argues the point (something just not done) and, in spirit form, watches The Wrecker's rampage continue. Meanwhile, Balder & Sif encounter Karnilla, Queen of the Norns, who puts Balder to sleep and then tricks Sif into "saving" Thor-- by inhabiting the shell of The Destroyer, which she has uncovered!! She does so-- beating the CRAP out of the baddie, but just then, Thor's spirit re-enters his body and arises, and all he sees is a murderous engine of destruction heading his way-- and Sif, within, is unable to speak to tell him the truth!

I just found out earlier today that a few months before this was when Marvel switched over to the smaller size bristol board they've used since, and a lot of older artists (pencillers and inkers) had trouble adjusting. This may explain the rougher-than-usual linework I saw across the board for a couple months there!


THE AVENGERS #50 -- "To Tame A Titan!" has the last 3 remaining members go off to find Hercules, never dreaming he's in the Underworld, where his own father Zeus asks if it's HIS fault all the Olympian Gods are trapped there! (Nice guy!) Being he's half-human, Hercules is able to escape the banishment (via Zeus' help) and return to Earth to battle the Titan, Typhon, and soon Hawkeye, Ant-Man & Wasp join in. After, Hercules accepts Zeus' invitation to return to Olympus, and leaves The Avengers, who are now more determined than ever to get to the bottom of what happened to Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. John Buscema again supplies full art, and overall it's not a bad issue, though as usual, some of the dialogue wears badly on me.


DAREDEVIL #38 -- "The Living Prison" picks up in the middle of a "mind-swapping" story-- between D.D. and Dr. Doom (who's done this sort of thing before, with Reed Richards). D.D. tries to warn the F.F. what's happened, then figures the only way he can "force" Doom to reverse the situation is by using his guise as Doom to declare war on all of Latveria's neighbors! Knowing the only way to stop this is to put things right, Doom does, D.D. destroys the machine, then goes on his way... while Doom himself now contacts the F.F. to tell them that "Dr. Doom" is on his way to attack them. Nice guy. I managed to pick this up some years ago, the only issue from this point I currently have.


FANTASTIC FOUR #73 -- "The Flames Of Battle" picks up where DD #38 left off. The F.F. lay in wait for "Dr. Doom", and don't give poor D.D. a second to explain what's really going on. After getting the Torch soaked by a water tower, D.D. is surprised when Spider-Man shows up, offering to help (he knows what it's like to be attacked by heroes-- seeing as he just went a couple rounds with Ka-Zar in his own book!). Spidey runs off and finds Thor-- de-powered, and in the middle of his clash with The Wrecker. It takes some time to convince him, but before you know it, it's a free-for-all between Reed, Johnny, Ben, D.D., Spidey & Thor. I dunno... it LOOKS nice, but frankly, I thought this was one of the DUMBEST hero-vs-hero fights I've EVER seen. Aren't these people supposed to have more intelligence than this??? It finally takes Sue to break it up, as she caught Doom on TV making a public address from Latveria. Sheesh.

I first read this in a reprint in the 70's (the reproduction is pretty fuzzy), but this was the first time I was ever able to read both the DD and FF parts back-to-back. It does make a LITTLE more sense this way. Meanwhile, it say Thor's appearance here is "during" THOR #150, but a quick flip reveals the only break in the action is somewhere in THOR #149. Oh well, that's only one issue off!

Jack Kirby's Spider-Man, on the other hand, reminds me a LOT of the one on the 1967 cartoon show! (Mike Royer worked on a number of those.)


STRANGE TALES #167 -- "Armageddon" begins with Jimmy Woo allowing the audience to catch their breath as he eulogized the dead Suwan, as Fury races to stop The Yellow Claw. A moment later, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE, as, in a 4-page spread (!!!!) SHIELD's Suicide Squad attacks for the 2nd time in 3 issues, invading the Claw's underwater hideout via their brand-new "Dreadnaught"-- named after the Hydra robot no doubt, but inspired by the Hydra "thru-the-ground tank". It's a scene right out of the last half-hour of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (which came out right before Steranko did this), and it truly is one of the wildest actions scenes ever put on paper. The Claw escapes to hyperspace, Fury follows, a mental combat ensues (thanks to SHIELD giving Fury a mental-wave projector of his own), and then-- out of nowhere-- Fury pulls out Baron Strucker's "Satan Claw" (WHERE the hell was he hiding it???) and splits open The Claw's armor, only to find... he's a robot. Aw, nuts.

Now... considering 2 issues earlier, The Yellow Claw unleashed robots to cover his escape, it would be a very clever twist for Fury to have pursued one of the robots for 2 whole issues. But when we turn the page, we find... DR. DOOM and a computer complex chess-master robot called "The Prime Mover" observing everything from afar. I could deal with this. But the dialogue reveals that Doom was supposedly behind EVERYTHING that went on for the entire story-- which is just TOO MUCH!! I mean...NO F***** way!!! I've had decades to think this over, and frankly, considering this was the greatest Yellow Claw story ever, the last 2 pages just undermines it too much. It doesn't make any sense. Why would Doom try to destroy NYC-- anonymously??? He calls it a "diversion". I call it B***S***. His ego is too big to act in a behind-the-scenes manner like this. (Put another way-- just what was Steranko smoking when he did those last 2 pages???) Had it simply been Doom observing from afar, and considering his own future schemes, I could have accepted that. Had it been The Claw watching from afar, and ending the whole shebang with a very "Fu Manchu"-like statement, "The world shall hear from me again!", that would have been even better! As it is... I prefer at this point to IGNORE the dialogue on those pages. I mean, looking at 'em, Doom looks MORE like a robot than the robot Claw did.

George Olshevsky suggested the scenario involving the real Claw being replaced in his STRANGE TALES index. I believe it was also suggested somewhere that after The Claw was replaced, you stopped seeing thought balloons. Well, in this issue, therte were thought balloons for one panel... Had they been merely word balloons, it would have gone on to support the theory. I doubt it's anything Steranko ever had in mind. But like I said, the ending is just SO "off", looking at it now, I prefer to interpret it the way I do. OH well. In any case, this was probably the BEST Steranko-Sinnott artwork EVER. What a team they made!!!

"This Dream--This Doom" reveals The Ancient One is alive-- and faked his own death so Dr. Strange could defeat Zom some issues before. Together, they fly back to the Himalayas, and though exhausted, search for the missing Victoria Bentley. They find her in a dimension of dreams, and after a rescue attempt fails, Strange has to enter the dimension himself-- knowing that if his mentor falls asleep, he's screwed! Strange confronts Yandroth, but is distracted by a giant lizard behomoth and a pair of Viking warriors out of time gone mad. As Doc attempts to save all their lives, Yandroth merely aims a GUN-- and prepares to pull the trigger!

As Steranko's page layouts went completely nuts last month and this, Dan Adkins decided to follow suit, laying out most of this issue in a series of "overlapping photos". He even did a 2-page spread consisting of one huge image overlapped by multiple smaller panels, VERY similar to how Steranko laid out the entire OUTLAND movie adaptation (except Adkins did it here FIRST!!). This is some of my favorite Adkins art ever, and I'm beginning to think in the long run his story makes more sense than the SHIELD episode. How bizarre is that?

This was my first-ever issue of STRANGE TALES, my first SHIELD and DR. STRANGE episodes-- what a place to come in! It was also the 1st Marvel Comic I ever got my hands on that had a full cover. And the screwy thing is, my brother found it-- laying on the ground-- under a park bench! A decade later, it was the last issue I managed to get a back-issue copy of. I wanted a 2nd one so I could lay out the entire 4-page spread. I bet that's why copies were in such short supply!

And here's the other one...!


I'd say I'd just about reached the exact moment in Marvel history when Spider-Man became less of a character and more of a "franchise"...

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #59 -- "The Brand Of The Brainwasher" has Spidey dodging cops in order to sneak into the hospital to visit his Aunt May. Doing so works wonders for her, but the Doctor mentions Pete's considered a "missing person". He goes to the Police, who wind up grilling him for info on Spider-Man, who (because of a mistaken belief on Harry Osborn's part) is supposed to have "kidnapped" Pete. He figures, "Okay, that's my story, and I'm sticking with it." Pete blames Spidey's amnesia for "Spidey's" behavior, and says he's not bad like so many seem to think. Pete meets Captain Stacy, who invites him home to talk about Spider-Man, who he's been "studying" for years. But when Gwen sees Pete, she throws herself at him, and that's all the "talking" for that night. The two go to meet the gang, and Harry mentions that MJ is not there because she got a job-- as a go-go-dancer!

Now, because Lee & Romita NEGLECTED to leave a gap ANYWHERE in this entire run of ASM, it's been determined over the years that at least 2 (or more) appearances of Spidey take place RIGHT here, between panels. So that's how I read the stories this time!


THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1 -- "Lo, This Monster!" marks Jim Mooney's debut at Marvel, and on Spidey, apparently doing pencils, inks & graytones over Romita layouts. Some of it's nice, some of it's a bit stiff, some of it seems almost too "cutesy". As with a lot of the Romita issues, some characters seem to be smiling too much of the time. I haven't been able to tell if Romita's "recasting" of Gwen was based on anyone in particular, but Mooney's version is a bit rounder in the face, and reminds me of a young Melissa Joan Hart! I like the art here much better than the story, about a crooked politician (VERY crooked) who's using hired gunmen and a 10-foot-tall "monster" created by a resident mad scientist to attack his own campaign, to make himself look "honest". All are taken in (especially JJJ, who's selling more papers since backing the guy) except for Pete & Captain Stacy. When Jameson lets it slip that Stacy is trying to investigate the candidate, Stacy becomes targetted for murder by monster! But Spidey intervenes, leads the hulking killer to campaign HQ, and before you know it, candidate, mad scientist & creature are all dead, and Jameson plans to blame Spider-Man for it all in his next rag. (sigh)

The fact that Gwen is getting serious about Pete, Harry seems now closer to MJ, and Captain Stacy is involved definitely places this story after Pete's "return"-- but there were no breaks after that, either, so for continuity fanatics, it fits between panels of the "Brainwasher" story-- even though there's no mention of MJ's working on the political campaign in that story, and no mention of the go-go dancing job in this one. (With the kind of tight continuity Stan seemed to be aiming for, HOW the hell did he let this slip by like this??)

The back of the book surprised me. I bought this in late 1979-- about the time I found my 1st comic-book shop. Read it once, not again until yesterday. By comparison, I taped all 52 episodes of the 1967 SPIDER-MAN cartoon in the early 80's and have watched them dozens of times since.

Now, when Ralph Bakshi & Gray Morrow started their run on the show (with episode 21) the first thing they did was "THE ORIGIN OF SPIDERMAN". It was my first exposure to the story, and I always thought for a TV adaptation it was fairly authentic, though there were clearly quite a few changes to "update" it a bit.

Guess what? I was wrong. That cartoon was, in fact, the single MOST AUTHENTIC adaptation EVER done on that show!!! About 75% of the dialogue AND narration was used VERBATIM! It's like almost WORD-FOR-WORD!

They just used the "wrong" version... which had been published right around the time they did the cartoon. In early 1968, Stan Lee apparently wanted to retell the origins of most of his characters, to coincide with giving them their own books. With Spidey, he did it in the B&W magazine.

To tell the truth... I think the art in the cartoon was BETTER. More "mood". This would be the 3rd time Larry Lieber drew a Spider-Man story, and the 2nd time Bill Everett inked one. I can't see ANY evidence of Everett lines-- but if he ALSO did the graytones, that could explain why he might have used a different style.

Still, I think it's a shame they never got Gray Morrow to do a Spider-Man comic.


MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #14 -- "The Reprehensible Riddle Of The Sorcerer!" involves a man with mental powers who spends years studying to develop them, then gets megalomaniacal about it and decides to "prove" his power to the world by-- how else? --destroying Spider-Man. (sigh) First he causes Spidey to be in intense pain, then he directs him to come to New Orleans (during Mardi Gras-- WHEN ELSE??) so he can be defeated by a "Synthetic Man". He makes the mistake of sending a Spidey "voodoo doll" to "general delivery", and when the Post Office tries to return it, somehow the ringing of his doorbell while he's hooked up to a brain-amplifier machine is enough to cause some kind of overload, killing the "Sorcerer" and sending his "Synthetic Man" on a one-way walk off a pier. (SIGH)

This story marks the Marvel (and Spidey) debut of Ross Andru-- who, years later, would do a run of MARVEL TEAM-UP and a much longer run of ASM. It's inked by Bill Everett, and in this case, their 2 styles work well together, while seeming to fight for attention. (Any awkward figure shots, it's clearly Andru's work-- static close-ups, Everett's work stands out.) This was clearly done quite some time before it was published, because Andru was still drawing the "original" Gwen (the one who looked like Lauren Bacall). Looking only at the art, there's NO clue as to who is dating who at the time, but Stan's dialogue (no doubt added-- or altered-- just before publication) has Gwen with Pete, and Harry with MJ. Like SPEC.#1, continuity experts have determined this takes place around the same time as the "Brainwasher" story.

Nothing really outstanding about this. I just find it odd that 3 Spider-Man comics came out within a few months of each other, and John Romita-- who helped MAKE the character Marvel's #1 seller-- did NOT do even full pencils on ANY of them.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #59 (part 2) -- Someone's using a go-go bar to lure politicians so they can be brainwashed into doing whatever a mysterious crime-boss wants them to-- like letting crooks out of jail, etc. There's this unnamed scientist who built the machine who seems to have stepped out of a Jerry Lewis movie (THE NUTTY PROFESSOR), and the unknowing person who stuns people into submission (with a tricked-up camera flash-bulb) is... MJ. The gang shows up, along with Gwen's father and a host of city officials, and when Capt. Stacy disappears into the back room, Spidey goes looking for trouble... and finds it... in the form of-- The KINGPIN! (uh oh!)

I first read this when it was reprinted in the early 70's in MARVEL TALES, and not long after, I happened to catch the 3rd-season SPIDER-MAN cartoon, "The Big Brainwasher", that was based on this. It's really one of the most fun episodes of that very uneven season, though it had a few quirks of its own. Namely, they made MJ a blonde; they gave her a thick Brooklyn accent (it just didn't seem right to me somehow); they made Stacy MJ's UNCLE; and they completely changed his appearance (even though he appeared in 2 other cartoons looking like he was supposed to). Also, they left out about 3/4ths of the 3-part comic-book story, BUT, tacked on the climax of ASM #52-- which had been left out when they adapted THAT story a year earlier! Talk about confusion!

As for the comic, I know Stan was hell-bent on making Pete & Gwen an item, no matter what countless fans (and John Romita) may have felt, but MY favorite scene in the story is when MJ gets grabbed as a shield by a gunman, Spidey rescues her, and as he dashes off, she asks, "Do you have any brothers?" Don Heck & Mike Esposito continue to do very good work here (definitely some of Don's best from this period), but I can't help wonder how much better still the book might have looked if Romita had done pencils instead of just layouts.

SUB-MARINER #1 -- "Years Of Glory--Day of Doom" has "Destiny", one of the worst-designed villains of this period, ranting over the now-helpless Namor (buried under a ton of ice). Most of the book is taken up with a long retelling of Namor's origin-- just the kind of thing Roy Thomas is far too obsessed with. I hate to say it, but the debut of John Buscema doesn't help, but only seems to make matters worse. This gets my vote for the WORST comic of the month. And to make it worse, my 1979 reprint is missing 3 pages of story.


THE INCREDIBLE HULK #103 -- "And Now... The Space Parasite" has Odin unceremoniously dump Hulk smack in Times' Square, and another manhunt is on. Rick Jones actually tries to kill Bruce Banner, feeling he's beyond hope, but can't bring himself to do it. Betty Ross tries to help, but just then, an alien being shows up intent on absorbing Hulk's life-force-- a sort of space vampire without the fangs or blood-letting. Gary Friedrich's dialogue is more coherent than usual, and the Marie Severin-Frank Giacoia art is the nicest thing about the book. Other than that, just average.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 -- "Out Of The Holocaust-- A Hero" has Mar-Vell spending the entire issue fighting the Kree Sentry. Despite his being a Kree officer, the first thing out of its semi-robotic mouth is a challenge to prove if he's friend or foe, even though it KNOWS he's a "Man of The Kree" (a phrase repeated 3 times in one story, to increasing annoyance). By story's end, CM is thought of as a hero by the army base, while Col. Yon-Rogg contacts the Imperial Minister to have him declared officially a traitor! However... Yon-Rogg is informed that they've been watching, they KNOW he deliberately set off the Sentry, and while they supposedly don't care about Mar-Vell, they warn him that any further interference in the mission will not be tolerated. MUCH later developments made this scene more interesting (and sensible) than it was when it was written-- because (if memory serves), Archie Goodwin revealed that the entire mission was set up as part of an elaborate plan by Ronan The Accuser and the Imperial Minister to OVERTHROW the Supreme Intelligence. But there's no hint of that here.

Roy Thomas' dialogue continues to be annoying (especially in the scene with the motel manager and the "strange-looking suitcase"). Gene Colan's art is magnificent, to say the least. The real surprise this issue is the inks. Who would have ever guessed-- Vince Colletta takes over, and he's a HUGE improvement!!! Apparently, around this time, Stan Lee asked Vince to start using bolder lines-- like Joe Sinnott-- and it seems he took the advice. This is some of the BEST-looking Colletta inks from this period (assuming it was Vince, and not one of his assistants...)


THOR #152 -- "The Dilemma Of Dr. Blake" has Balder force Karnilla to free Sif from The Destroyer, saving Sif's life. Karnilla then yanks Thor away from Earth, and he arrives in time to see Balder fighting Ulik. Thor steps in, and before long, Ulik's sent falling down a bottomless chasm (that's gotta hurt... eventually!). Thor & Sif are overjoyed to be reunited, while Karnilla admits regret that Balder does not find her attractive (being she's evil incarnate, he says it wouldn't be proper). And Ulik finds himself in a mysterious crystal cavern, and sees... something. What, we'll find out soon.

Odd glitch with this one: the cover bears the title, "The Wrath of The Warrior"-- which makes much more sense, as Dr. Don Blake DOES NOT APPEAR anywhere in this comic!!! (NEXT time. Somebody slipped up.)


THE AVENGERS #52 -- "Death Calls For The Arch-Heroes" has Roy Thomas's slow reworking of the team continue with the arrival of The Black Panther, who's suddenly sporting a different face-mask-- one that makes him look more like Batman (his mouth and jaw are exposed). In a scene almost right out of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, he turns up at the scene of a murder, and becomes the police's prime suspect! In this case, the victims are Hawkeye, Goliath & The Wasp. But the culprit is really a new baddie called The Grim Reaper, who, it turns out, is the brother of Simon Williams-- the late Wonder Man-- and he blames them for Simon's death (rather than Zemo, whose cohorts had just turned up in SUSPENSE). Not a bad issue, though between Thomas & Buscema, "overblown" seems to be the key word.

Oh, and I almost forgot-- the 3 Avengers WEREN'T dead-- yet-- and recover, before accepting The Panther onto the team.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #1 -- "Who Is Scorpio?" introduces a new villain, and is told in a multi-layered fashion that makes the readers wonder which of several different suspects --if any, or all-- may be the true identity of the guy who seems hell-bent on murdering Fury. He goes on about "vengeance"-- for what, we don't know, and mentions "The Parable Of Doom"-- a phrase used previously by Baron Strucker! If the intention was to tie this in with Strucker and Hydra, we'll never know. The guy is blown to atoms at the end. Not that that seems to stop most villains. The Steranko-Sinnott art continues to be some of the best ever seen on the series, and I can tell you, one MUST see the original comics to fully appreciate the "special effects", as the recent reprint collection did a TERRIBLE job on the reproduction.


DR. STRANGE #169 -- "The Coming Of Dr. Strange" has the Doc sleeping off the weariness of his many long battles recently, while pondering how much longer his mentor will be around before he has to face all the evil in the various dimensions on his own. Continuing the recent trend of retold origins, Roy Thomas (master of retold origins) and Dan Adkins do a FANTASTIC job on this one. I wouldn't say it's better than the Stan Lee-Steve Ditko original version, but Adkins continues to do some of the BEST art Marvel was publishing from this period. And I have to admit, this issue was one of the BEST jobs Thomas did on dialogue. Something else else about DR. STRANGE must bring out the best in him (sort of like CONAN).


FANTASTIC FOUR #75 -- "Worlds Within Worlds" mostly concerns the FF fighting for their lives agaist the power of Galactus, until Reed convinces big G they will find the Silver Surfer for him. SS, meanwhile, has shrunk himself to microscopic size and found an entirely sub-atomic universe in the the slide sample of Reed's microscope. Reed reveals he has the means to follow, and intends to.

Really nice art this time, but unfortunately, I've got the MGC reprint, which is fuzzy-- and missing 2 pages of story!


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #61 -- "What A Tangled Web We Weave" has Stacy telling Gwen he "must" obey commands given him, but he doesn't know why. They try to skip town, Spidey finds Kingpin thugs at their house, then returns to the Gloom Room and finds a piece of equipment they left behind-- with Osborn Industries' label on it. Sure enough, that's where Kingpin & his flunky, "Winkler" are hiding out, the slightly mad doctor being an employee of Harry's dad. MJ is seen NOT smiling for the first time since her intro, when she discovers the go-go bar is closed, she's out of a job-- and they didn't PAY her!!! (The FIENDS!) Kingpin's thugs nab Stacy & Gwen at the airport, bring them to the chemical factory, and intend on using the brainwashing machine on Stacy again, when Spidey arrives. Big fight follows, Winkler gets killed, the machine destoryed, Kingpin escapes via helicopter, and Osborn helps out, and clears Stacy of any wrong-doing. But he was hurt in the fight, and his recent obsession with the Green Goblin (who turned up on a news documentary) suggest bad things ahead.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #102 -- "The Sleeper Strikes" has Agent 13 forcing Nick Fury to tell her Cap is really alive (he wanted to keep her out of it), and she winds up pushing her way into Cap's mission to stop the robotic 4th Sleeper. Good thing, too, as it turns out the crystalline "key" of The Red Skull's is activated by emotions-- and it winds up being Agent 13's emotions that seal the doom of the seemingly-indestructible machine. The Skull, meanwhile, has a reunion with a group of Nazis known as "The Exiles", and joins them at their base-- ANOTHER island fortress set up before the end of WW2. (How many is that by now?) Seeing Cap now has a girlfriend, he plans to use her to destroy his enemy.

The Kirby-Shores art continues to be interesting-- if bizarre. The slowly-developing Cap-Agent 13 romance is coming along nicely and quite naturally. I could easily see them going on missions togther as a regular thing from here, and I kinda wonder why that didn't quite happen. (Oh well, I suppose some fans might say, once Jack Kirby leaves a series, nothing that happens afterward really "counts".)

Why are you being so harsh on poor John? I think all eight Sub-Mariner issues that he drew look great. Who inked #1, Frank Giacoia or Dan Adkins?

I'm enjoying your reviews, Prof, though I remember reading only a few of these stories. I'm sure I read more, as I was also reading the Spider-Man and FF reprints in Marvel Tales and Marvel's Greatest Comics during the '70s. I also read some of the X-Men reprints you describe.

But what strikes me is your point about how so many of these old stories don't hold up. You might be interested in reading this article , which takes a very negative view of Silver Age Marvels. How negative? The author describes them as "crap."

(This is not an ignorant fan rant, by the way; it's from a site that bills itself as a scholarly and literacy organization.)

I don't completely agree with him, but I do see his point. Many of the Marvels of that period lacked a certain finesse and the characters often displayed less intelligence than their DC counterparts. Marvel seemed to be going more for the gut-reaction--watching Hulk smash!--without worrying about logic.

As a fan who grew up on the '70s Marvels (Englehart's Avengers, etc.), I was disappointed when I read the earlier stories for the first time. I think somewhat later I appreciated the universal themes of alienation and frustration at doing the right thing and either not being recognized or having it blow up in the hero's face, as often happened in Silver Age Marvels.

As an obvious fan of Silver Age Marvels, what is your reaction to the article?

CAPTAIN MARVEL #2 -- "From The Void of Space Comes... The Super Skrull!" is one of the better issues from this part of the run. Somehow, dragging The Skrulls into it, and giving them a long-time conflict with The Kree added a lot, perhaps by balancing the self-importance the Kree seem to give themselves (despite their obvious psychological deficiencies). The Skrull Emperor see a "MAN OF THE KREE" (a phrase repeated so much I wanna strangle the scripter) on Earth, and wants to know why. So he sends for the previously-exiled Super Skrull, offering him whatever he wants if the mission is a success. (Of course, what he wants is the Emperor's daughter-- as a stepping-stone to the throne.) Roy Thomas' ANNOYING sub-plot about the motel manager continues as the guy tries to deliver Mar-Vell's "funny-looking suitcase" to the base commander, thereby proving he's somg kind of enemy spy. But en route, The Super-Skrull attacks. CM gets into it, but is beaten, and as he's being hauled away as a prisoner, that "suitcase" has begun a countdown to a nuclear detonation. It makes you wonder about the Kree who design their own equipment.

Gene Colan's art continues to be stunning, but the real surprise continues to be Vince Colletta-- or, WHOEVER he may have working as an assistant doing MOST of these pages! I'm reminded of quite a few of the later episodes of TALES OF ASGARD, which just looked too different-- and far too much better-- than the rest of a given issue of THOR. Some pages in here scream "Colletta", they're pretty miserable, but most of them are so CLEAN and SLICK, that even done in a similar style, I can't believe it's just the work of one guy having really good and really bad days.


THOR #153 -- "But Dr. Blake Can Die" has Sif injured by Loki, and Thor must become his human alter-ego to save her life. I get the feeling THIS is the story that should have been called "The Dilemma Of Dr. Blake" (not the previous issue where he didn't appear at all). Sif is saved, Thor is about to thrash Loki, but just then, Odin intervenes, stopping the fight as he claims a far greater danger is threatening all of Asgard. What can it be? It seems Ulik, way down in that pit where he fell, may be the first to find out...


X-MEN #45 -- "When Mutants Clash" has the team captives of Magneto, and trying to both break free and warn The Avengers of the baddie's plans. At this point, Gary Friedrich has taken over from Roy Thomas, and now Don Heck is only supplying layouts-- finished pencils being done by Werner Roth! It's a strange combination. Heck's storytelling is much better (and more dynamic) than Roth's, but I've always considered Roth's version of the team to be the "definitive" one. So maybe it's the best arrangement-- even if the only evidence of Heck's work is when you squint. This leads straight into THE AVENGERS, but as it wasn't included in the ESSENTIAL AVENGERS volume I have, what a heck of a break I just happened to have this as a 1975 reprint in X-MEN #93!


THE AVENGERS #53 -- "In Battle Joined" is one long confusing convoluted mess as Magneto manipulates things so The Avengers won't trust the X-Men, The 2 teams fight it out, and then we learn The Avengers weren't really fooled after all but played things so Magneto would be fooled to think they were. (SAY WHAT?) Throughout the story, Magneto is repeatedly so rude and overbearing and insulting to his faithful lackey The Toad, that the ugly little guy finally can take no more. As the island fortress (ANOTHER one??) gets destroyed, The Toad flees with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch in tow-- but does so in a "non-metallic" airship that Magneto is unable to latch onto, and, in one of the most unconvincing final scenes outside of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, appears to fall to his death! (Yeah, right.)

Between Roy Thomas's often-annoying dialogue and John Buscema's stretched all-over-the-place figure work, I'm beginning to think the main difference between Buscema's art & Gil Kane's art is Buscema's is a bit prettier.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #2 -- "So Shall Ye Reap... Death" begins with Jimmy Woo in a deadly fun house which turns out to be a final test for new SHIELD agents. Fury seems to be the only one who isn't having second thoughts about him joining, but en route to California, their jet is shot out of the sky over a volcanic isle. There they find a long-missing Nobel Prize winning scientist who's got plans to wipe all life out and replace it with new life in 100 years, after the devastation he intends has passed. Meanwhile, a movie crew is shooting a film about a giant ape, and unexpectedly come to Fury's aid. The visuals are cool as usual, but Steranko's storytelling here is more awkward, confusing and stilted than any previous issue. Maybe if he wasn't trying to cram an "epic" into 20 pages... (Unfortunately, THIS is probably the issue that later SHIELD creative teams most tried to emulate. Oy!)


DOCTOR STRANGE #170 -- "To Dream-- Perchance To Die" has Doc, still recuperating in Tibet, find his mentor the victim of his old enemy-- Nightmare-- who has entered the real world and impersonated Hamir the Hermit. It's a cool if "minor" story, the best feature once again being Dan Adkins' spectacular art.


FANTASTIC FOUR #76 -- "Stranded In Sub-Atomica" is really a misleading title, as the FF deliberately go there in search of the Silver Surfer, and do not lose their way even by story's end. Ben & Johnny repeatedly ignore Reed's orders and attack the Surfer to no good end,, and then at one point a robotic servant of Psycho-Man (last seen in FF ANNUAL #5) attacks, and it's only observing how desperate they are to save Earth that makes the Surfer realize he must give up his new-found "freedom" and return to Galactus. Because-- in TOTAL VIOLATION of his own sworn oath in FF #50-- Galactus, somehow unable to find another planet to eat without his herald, is planning to destroy the Earth! This just seems so forced and contrived re-reading it now. Reed's desire to locate and defeat the menace of Psycho-Man (on the loose since his prevous appearance) actually is the most interesting, compelling part of the story.

This is the only section of this 4-parter I have an original issue of. Good thing I have at least this, the reproduction quality's pretty fuzzy on the MGC reprint, and, it's missing 2 pages of the story!


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #62 -- "Make Way For... Medusa!" has the lady with the long, long hair come to NYC on a mission to learn if "humans" are ready to accept her people, or not. First thing she does is nearly knock a swinging Spidey out of the sky, then cause a panic on the streets. But things take a bizarre twist when the owner of a hairspray company wants to use her as the model in his new ad campaign. The guy reminds me of that movie director way back in the 1st Green Goblin story-- in other words, a real NUT. Meanwhile, Pete stops by Gwen's but she "never wants to speak to him again"-- and he, incredibly, STILL can't find a way to explain things to her. After he leaves, her Dad, recovering from the earlier brainwashing, says, "I thought you said he was... the one?" A bit later, Medusa, bored, leaves, and the ad guy goes nuts, telling Spidey she's "threatened to destroy the city" (SAY WHAT??). He tries to talk, ANOTHER stupid fight erupts, but when Spidey realizes what's really going on, says HE'LL take care of the ad guy, and does-- telling the press how "completely uncontrollable" Medusa was, which costs the guy his job (why can't this ever happen to JJJ?). As Medusa departs, she declares her people will "never" have anything to do with "humans"!

As the story ends, MJ shows up, saying she heard Pete has finally "come to his senses" about Gwen... but he's too depressed, and she suddenly realizes he actually MISSES Gwen. (Poor MJ...)

The Heck-Esposito art continues over Romita layouts. Nice stuff. I STILL wish Romita had done it all himself.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #103 -- "The Weakest Link" has Steve & Sharon Carter (he finally knows her name!!!) on a date at a fancy resturant, when some neo-Nazis storm the palce and make off with her. Reporting to their ruthless leader, The Red Skull, one of them describes how her "tall blonde escort" was stunned before he could do anything. The Skull is PISSED!!! --and chews the guy out, informing him that the "escort" was CAPTAIN AMERICA-- who he had a chance to KILL, and didn't! This is the problem with blindly-obedient underlings, he thinks-- sometimes they can can't think at all!

With SHIELD's help, Cap single-handedly invades The Skull's latest island fortress (HOW MANY does this guy have???), home of "The Exiles"-- a group of Nazis who escaped the Allies at the end of WW2. Some were children, now grown to adult nastiness. Others are old men-- and what an UGLY, SICK bunch they are!! Cap, captured & imprisoned, finds Sharon, the two escape... but it's exactly what The Skull wanted, as he's secretly placed a strip of "nuclear tape" on the back of Cap's neck, which he can DETONATE any time he wants! Holy cow!

The Kirby-Shores art continues to thrill, strange as it is. I'm just glad to see that Kirby still manages to include humor in his stories. What gets me is how these "Exiles" believe they're the "only ones" who deserve to rule with the entire world as their slaves... as if their fellow neo-Nazis in HYDRA, led by Baron Strucker (the ones who revived The Skull from hibernation in the first place) just didn't matter. Talk about an overblown sense of self-importance!


CAPTAIN MARVEL #3 -- "From The Ashes of Defeat" wastes almost a third of the issue on flashbacks, as The Super-Skrull probes Mar-Vell's mind to learn the details of his mission on Earth. CM escapes-- just barely-- and-- just barely-- makes it back to his orbitting spaceship, "The Helion" (name revealed for 1st time). Yon-Rogg hoped he'd die in space and save him any more worries about their rivalry... then refuses CM's request to return to Earth, until CM contacts the Imperial Minister directly, who's convinced only because the Kree DON'T want the Skrulls establishing themselves on Earth, no matter how "unimportant" it is.

The Skrull impersonaltes CM and gains access to the missile base, hoping to get his hands on the Kree's "ultimate weapon"-- the Sentry-- but CM attacks, and manages to beat him with The Skrull's own power of super-hypnosis! A flick of a switch-- which none but a Kree could have done-- de-activates the bomb, saving all. Overall, one of the better episodes so far.

The inks continue to be AMAZINGLY clean and slick-- except for a few pages in the 2nd half, which only reinforces my belief that there were 2 different guys inking this book, and the "good" pages WEREN'T done by Colletta! (Now if only I knew who it was!)

THOR #154 -- "To Wake The Mangog" -- Last time I re-read this was when I bought the ESSENTIAL book. This time, I dug out the TREASURY edition. WHOA! What visuals! I don't think I realized just how many inter-related plot-threads were going on when this thing "started". In my index, I'd listed the previous storyline as a 9-parter, followed by this 4-parter-- but there really isn't a break in the momentum. I suppose it could be viewed as a 13-parter!! Odin has stopped the Thor-Loki battle. Hela returns, and shows Thor what he's giving up by not coming with her, and he sees a vision of Valhalla, where warriors happily fight endless battles, including his old foe Harokin. But Thor rejects it, feeling battle must be for something, not just the sake of itself. Sif, recovering in the hospital, is greeted by Dr. Blake, and this time she knows exactly who he is. Ulik, in his blind arrogance, has unleashed a monstrous entity known as the Mangog-- who appears to be a menace to "all who live". On reaching Asgard, Loki finds everyone preparing for battle, but doesn't care. He figures, Odin will handle it. Guess again! Odin is SLEEPING! This means... as of now, Loki is on the throne! (And he intends to STAY there. Yeah, right.) Karnilla threatens to make Balder one of the "Legion of the Lost" if he doesn't return her love, while he says love not freely given is a travesty! (How true) Thor encounters some "drop-outs", and tells them philosophically that when things get their worst, THAT's the time to dig in and fight for what's right. Free of the pit, Ulik wishes he were dead-- rather than having unleashed Mangog. Watch out, Asgard!!!

Kirby has been running non-stop here with the action for 10 consecutive issues now, and appears to be building toward a crescendo. But we're not there yet! Wow.


THE AVENGERS #54 -- "And Deliver Us From-- The Masters Of Evil" sees a re-forming of the team's opposite number. Initially, the MoE were all counterparts of the good guys, each one a villain of a particular hero. In this case, we have Klaw, who's the Black Panther's arch-enemy; Whirlwind is Giant-Man's; but what are The Melter (Iron Man's foe) and Radioactive Man (Thor's foe) doing here? What's funny is when The Black Knight shows up-- and they don't seem to realize (at first) that he's NOT their old member with a new costume! In fact, he went undercover to get the goods on them, having received his uncle's invitation, but somehow they figure it out before long. What gets complex is when the Avengers' butler-- Jarvis-- BETRAYS the secrets of their updated security systems to the baddies, then appears to be the one in charge in the first place (rather than this weird-looking robot calling itself "The Crimson Cowl"...)

The part that I don't get (among other things) is how Jan, being an Avenger, could hire a chauffer without doing a proper investigation of the guy. I mean, having a known super-villain posing as your driver just makes her look STUPID-- and nothing in all the Lee-Kirby-Heck-Ayers episodes of her & Hank's old series ever suggested such a thing to me.


DAREDEVIL #42 -- "Nobody Laughs At The Jester" begins a multi-parter which I just happen to have every episode of! It starts out with a would-be actor who's been laughed off the stage and degraded as being a comedian's stooge, who wants the "laughs" to now be at everyone else's expense. Costumed identity created, crime wave started, and you have the Marvel Universe's answer to Cesar Romero's Joker! Meanwhile, it seems Karen & Foggy are upset with Matt (again!), this time because he doesn't seem to be reacting to-- get this-- the DEATH of his brother Mike, alias Daredevil. What they don't know is, Mike doesn't exist-- Matt made him up! I'm STILL shaking my head at the outrageous absurdity of this already long-running sub-plot. Next, to confuse things, we have the crooked politician who appeared in SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1 (still on sale several months later), who decides it would be a good idea to hire The Jester to "convince" Foggy to drop out of the race for the D.A.'s office. Which he does, by kidnapping Matt. Matt, with his usual quick-thinking (heh) tells everyone that before he "died", Daredevil secretly trained his own replacement! And whatta ya know, at The Jester's hideout, Matt disappears, and the "new" Daredevil appears. Someone-- please-- tell me how this guy is SO STUPID he didn't figure out Matt & DD are one and the same??? Anyway, DD chases The Jester across town to the politician's home, only to find the guy's dead (which readers of SPEC. SM #1 would have already known). Matt realizes, "there must always be a DD", but The Jester's still on the loose.

Dan Adkins inks Gene Colan this time, and unless my eyes (and the printing) are playing tricks on me, it looks like it took him half the issue to figure out how the hell to ink Gene's pencils! The 2nd half of the book ain't bad at all-- but the 1st is just awful. It really looks like someone else's work, but then everyone always says Colan is a real challenge to ink properly.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #3 -- "Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill!" starts out with the most outrageous opening sequence yet, as, under a Scottish legend poem, a man is stalked on the moors-- followed by a 2-page spread with the title taking up all of page 2, and the man being attacked INSIDE the letters, which double as panels! After that, we find Fury in Scotland to visit an old army buddy who he finds has been murdered, an old castle, a group of suspects, legends, curses, a group of psychic investigators, a sword-wielding ghost, a glowing "hell-hound"-- and something else, hidden in a secret chamber of a stone tower. All in all, the issue serves as a tribute to the Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound Of The Baskervilles"; THE AVENGERS tv show episode "Castle D'Eath"; and, Simon & Kirby's CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS episode "The Phantom Hound Of Cardiff Moor" (from C.A. #10 / Jan'42). The latter tribute goes right down to the 2-page title spread with the multiple tiny panels, a design motif Steranko repeated to great extent in his adaptation of the movie OUTLAND.

Dan Adkins does some of the best inks ever for Steranko (outside of Joe Sinnott) and the look is, not surprisingly, uncannily similar to the later teaming of Paul Gulacy and Adkins on MASTER OF KUNG FU. The layouts, however, do get rather confusing, and exist more to dazzle the audience than anything else, almost at the complete expense of advancing the plot. This story, I think, would have greatly benefitted from being a 2-parter, with everything after the "revelation" near the end being one long action sequence. (But then, Moench & Gulacy wound up doing almost exactly that in MOKF #30-31.)

I actually read this story some 8 years after reading Arnold Drake & Frank Springer's take-off on it in NOT BRAND ECCH #11-- "Dark Moon Rise, Heck Hound Hurt!" --and I gotta say, perverse as it is, I prefer the "comedy" version! (To date, that's the only story from NBE to be reprinted anywhere.)


DR. STRANGE #171 -- "In The Shadow Of Death" has Doc transport Victoria Bentley from England to NYC, so she can aid him with a certain spell (given him by The Ancient One) to locate the long-missing Clea. Though disappointed he wasn't interested in HER, Victoria quickly agrees to help, and the two find themselves transported to another mysterious, utterly bizarre dimension, facing various perils, and finally confronting-- to Strange's horror-- The Dread Dormammu!

Tom Palmer makes his Marvel debut on this comic, and what might surprise longtime fans, it's as penciller, under Dan Adkins' inks. After quite a run of full Adkins art, I must admit, this issue's a bit of a come-down. It's "nice"-- it's just nowhere as spectacular and impressive as any of the previous Adkins-pencilled episodes have been. My impression from various interviews over the years, is that Adkins finally found it just too difficult to keep doing all those layouts (and, presumably, the plotting that went with them), and decided to "drop back" to just inks-- which no doubt explains how he was able to ink 4 COMICS in the same month! (I'm guessing he made more money doing this.)

Roy Thomas apparently admitted over the years that he had trouble coming up with material for the series as well, which may explain why his run so far has consisted of a retelling of the origin story, and the returns of 2 old villains-- Nightmare and Dormammu.


FANTASTIC FOUR #77 -- "Shall Earth Endure?" has some of the most spectacular Kirby-Sinnott art ever (which makes me wish I had the original comic instead of just the MGC reprint). The story follows 2 threads: the FF battle Psycho-Man in the micro-world, and the Surfer finds Galactus another planet to eat just before he was about to destroy the Earth. Unfortunately... I found I was disappointed with BOTH endings. The FF beat Pyshco-Man, then "force" him to transport them back home. THAT'S IT? All that trouble, and they let the guy go? Meanwhile, the Surfer finds Galactus a planet, then asks for his "freedom"-- but big G refuses, and drops the Surfer back down on Earth, so that he will "always" know where he is, when he needs him. GOOD GRIEF. I figured the original reason for the Surfer's banishment on Earth was because he "broke" with his master. Now, we find, Galactus wants to be able to use hius services anytime he wants-- "even though he may not return for millennia". This just feels-- SO-- WRONG. To me, the whole story felt like it was building up to the Surfer rejoining Galactus, and from now on, only leading him to uninhabited worlds. This situation not only makes Galactus seem petty, but also bordering on HELPLESS. He can't find worlds on his own??? Also, the part about "millenia" would suggest he only has to eat a planet once every how many hundreds or thousands of years. So how do we explain his turning up again at Earth about every 3 years???

It's pretty obvious to me this entire mess serves only one purpose-- the SILVER SURFER solo book, which debuted the SAME month as this episode.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #5 -- "The Parents Of Peter Parker" has a nice John Romita cover which seems to pay tribute to THE TIME TUNNEL. Under that, Larry Lieber follows up the previous year's Annual (and the retold origin in SPECTACULAR #1) with this 40-pager that finally looks into the untold story of who Peter's mom & dad were. He finds an old newspaper clipping that tells how they died in a plane crash-- and were suspected of being traitors to the country! Shocked by this, he gets help from the FF and flies to the Middle East to track down anyone who can remember what happened from 20 years earlier. He uncovers a spy ring, run by The Red Skull (him again-- REALLY?) and the truth that his parents were actually working for the State Department as double-agents, and were framed as "traitors" when the truth about them was found out by the baddies. He breaks up the spy ring, and is overjoyed to find out he's "cleared" his parents' reputation... even if he doesn't actually have any hard evidence and never does anything with the knowledge.

Larry's art, inked by Mike Esposito (touch-ups by Romita) is a major step up from the previous year. All the same, something about this book feels "off". Somehow, it doesn't feel like it's part of the "real" Marvel Universe-- it's almost as if the Grantray-Lawrence SPIDER-MAN wandered into a comic-book by accident. Then there's the details-- like the airship he borrows from Reed Richards, which the dialogue describes as a "SHIELD prototype" Reed is testing for them, which is clearly the magnetic aircar given Reed by The Black Panther! Next we have The Red Skull-- no mention of his current antics in CAPTAIN AMERICA #101-104 with The Sleeper or The Island of the Exiles. And there's this thing about him running the spy ring for 20 years, and having done so "after the war". I'm sure someone else pointed this out before. Near as I can figure, the "Red Skull" in this comic is NOT the real one-- but is actually the one who appeared in the early-50's CAPTAIN AMERICA revival, who fought the "1950's Captain America", who later turned up in Steve Englehart's debut on that series. But there's no hint of that here! That was all figured out long after-the-fact.

I think the dialogue is the kicker here. Too much of this just DOES NOT feel like Stan Lee. I know Larry Lieber preferred doing things on his own-- plotting, pencilling, dialogue. Given "the Marvel Method", many pencillers contributed most of ALL of some plots. I suspect not only did Larry plot this book entirely on his own, he also DIALOGUED it as well. But the credits don't tell you that!


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #63 -- "Wings In The Night" reveals The Vulture-- the REAL one-- is still alive! He busts his imposter out of prison, goes on for pages about how his anger & hatred gave him the renewed will to live, how he used Blackie's prison-break to cover his own, and how he's looking forward to his "revenge". Despite all this, "Blackie" is just TOO STUPID to realize what the guy's up to, and is convinced the old guy "needs" him, and therefore, HE's gonna be in charge, not the evil genius who created these anti-gravity wings. WRONG. The original Vulture beats "Blackie" within an inch of his life, and neither cares who gets hurt in the battle (not even a small child onm a balcony who almost falls to his death before Spidey saves him). You know, the part I can't figure is, if the original Vulture SNUCK OUT of the prison infirmary and ESCAPED... how come it wasn't on the news? Do Stan & John expect us to believe NOBODY NOTICED???

But meanwhile... Gwen's still angry at Pete (and still in love with him), and Pete still can't bring himself to tell her the truth, and is now worried because her Dad has asked him to lunch. En route, Pete-- who injured his arm in a fall duriing the rain the night before-- see the fight, and hopes the two baddles might "polish each other off". But a visit to The Bugle has JJJ dragging him to the rooftop to take pictures, which is how he happened to be there to save the endangered child. Unfortunately, it also drew his old enemy's attention-- and with "Blackie" back in the arms of the law, the still-injured Spidey now has to fight one of his oldest, and meanest, foes.

The usual job from Stan, John, Don & Mike. I think both Pete & Gwen are stupid, and the one guy in the book at this point I really admire, Gwen's father, is someone I wish had stuck around a LOT longer.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #104 -- "Slave Of The Skull" starts out with Cap fighting some SHIELD L.M.D.s, then succumbing to a mysterious pain (in the neck). Seems either Stan or Jack didn't tell us everything last issue. Not only did SHIELD not bomb Exile Island, but that "nuclear tape" is not a bomb itself, but electronically connected to an atomic bomb which The Red Skull planted in a major city-- then let the authorities know about it, because he's so confident there's NO WAY they can de-activate it! To prevent mass destruction and murder, The Skull forces Cap to return to Exile Island, where each of his morally-diseased comrades can have their own crack at him. Cap goes, knowing it's the only way to give SHIELD time to deactivate that a-bomb. He takes terrible punishment, and before the episode's over his costume begins to look like Doc Savage's. But The Skull waits too long-- and finds the bomb HAS been shut down! He and his followers FLEE the island just as SHIELD is storming the beaches (as if it were D-Day), leaving behind all their soldiers as if they meant nothing (well, these guys ARE Nazis, so...). Cap's free, the city's safe, Steve & Sharon are reunited-- but that Nazi BASTARD and his ilk are still on the loose! (Grrrrrrr.)

Syd Shores was MIA this time-- apparently inking Gene Colan's debut on "TALES OF THE WATCHER". I wish they hadn't done this-- I much prefer if they switch teams BETWEEN stories, not DURING one. Filling in is Dan Adkins-- who apparently has a LOT more time on his hands now that he's no longer plotting & pencilling DR. STRANGE. I'm not sure which team looks stranger to me-- Kirby-Shores or Kirby-Adkins. But one thing I'm sure of-- anyone who's a fan of Mike Royer's inks over Kirby should take a look at this issue. This may be the 1st time in the late 60's that fans got to see ther "real" Kirby, completely unaltered!!!


SILVER SURFER #1 -- "The Origin Of The Silver Surfer" is a 38-page epic detailing the past life of The Surfer, when he was a human known as "Norrin Radd", who lived on a highly-advanced planet where everyone had lost all ambition, since all life was too easy for them. Only he seems different, and longs for "adventure". He gets it when his planet is endangered by GALACTUS. When their only defense winds up destroying half their civilization but leaves big G's ship untouched, only Norrin Radd steps up to confront the alien menace single-handedly. When Galactus mentions "If I had a herald, someone to find me uninhabited planets..." Norrin takes the bait and volunteers his services. Of course, almost from one page to another, we jump ahead to the scene where he led big G to Earth, even KNOWING it was inhabited... which just seems it total violation of the spirit of that earlier story to me.

Legend has it, Jack Kirby was planning to reveal the Surfer's origin at the end of the Surfer-Galactus-Psycho-Man 4-parter, when to his shock, he found out John Buscema was pencilling the 1st issue of this book. Reportedly, it pissed him off so much, he refused to come up with any new ideas for Stan to "steal" away from him any more. I know that over the years, Stan has always talked about how "proud" he is of this series-- but it always seemed pretty depressing to me. Which may explain why it never generated the kind of sales Stan hoped it would.

I have 2 reprints of this: SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, and ESSENTIAL SILVER SURFER. The 1st is in color, but it's very obvious the linework reproduction is much better in the ESSENTIAL book. Unfortunately, that doesn't have the back-up story, which SOOOMC does. (Still reading that one.... next time!)

SILVER SURFER #1 (part 2) -- "The Wonder Of The Watcher" has a re-telling of The Watcher's origin (previously told in TALES OF SUSPENSE #53-- I think). His people are so advanced they feel they can do anything, and some of them want to help other races also achieve great heights-- partly to help, but partly so their own praises will be sung. They find a planet they offer unlimited atomic energy to, help them develop it, then set off to see more of the universe. On their way home, they stop back at the planet they "helped"... only to find it a ruined shambles, having been destroyed in an atomic war, first among its own people, then with another planet they tried to wipe out before THEY could wipe THEM out first. Sheesh. The few survivors curse the aliens who brought this on them before they were ready for it, and The Watcher's people decided it would NEVER happen again, and they spend the rest of eternity apart from other races, only watching, never interfering (well, most of the time... heh).

Gene Colan did a spectacular job on this, as did inker Syd Shores, who really has a great feel for Colan's pencils. Shores was Colan's "mentor" when he first started in the biz, and it's fitting that they should be teamed here. There's a lot of inkers from the Golden Age with similar styles, very intricate, ornate fine lines (Everett, Shores, Heck, Colletta) and Shores seems to be one of the best matches for Colan yet seen. I do wish the scheduling of this hadn't meant that Shores should jump off of CAPTAIN AMERICA one episode before the end of a 4-parter where he inked the other 3 episodes. I also wish I had the original of this, as the reprint in SON OF ORIGINS lost a lot of the fine detail.

This story-- apparently-- may have served as the inspiration for part of the DOCTOR WHO story "UNDERWORLD" which revealed WHY the Time Lords also have a standard "non-interference" policy, as they, too, once "helped" a less civilized planet and it led to the destruction of an entire planet.

Next issue, we're promised a revival of the Tales Of The Watcher series.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #4 -- "The Alien And The Amphibian" has CM soliloquizing as if he were Hamlet, dealing with the assistant motel manager "Hal" (who bears a suspicious resemblance to DC's Hal Jordan), then watch a missile launch containing some bacterialogical warfare experiments. Yon-Rogg deliberately sets the missile off-course so it crashes near NYC, then orders CM to not let anyone interfere, as he wishes to see how Earthmen can cope with having an entire city of people wiped out (THE BASTARD!!!).

It gets real complicated here... over in his own book, Sub-Mariner has been fighting this villain named Destiny, and now, Namor has had a change of heart about surface-men, wants help from the Fantastic Four, and in the process, hopes to "prove" he wants peace, not war. When he learns of the missile, he figures to save NYC, thus saving the FF (who he needs help from), and prove what a good guy he is. But under orders, CM is forced to attack Namor-- even though he really wants to save NYC as well! (Could anyone but Roy Thomas have concocted such a mess?) In the end, the city's saved, Namor's pissed, and CM may be branded a traitor-- even though, to the "humans", it looks like Namor was the baddie and HE was the "hero". Oy.

The Colan-Colletta team's okay this time, though the "action" pages are much better rendered than the "soap-opera" pages. Maybe Vince was as bored by them as I was? Inexplicably, ALL 3 members of the creative team would depart after this issue. Is that any way to get a still-new series going?


THOR #155 -- "Now Ends The Universe" has everyone Asgardian worried about "Ragnarok"-- the end of all things-- and it seems The Mangog is the gonna be the cause of it. Thor gets Sif out of the hospital, and the pair return home, only to find Loki on the throne. He's already sent Fandral, Hogun & Volstagg to face the menace, now it's Thor's turn, though he urges his beloved to stay behind and guard The Odinsword-- which appears to be Mangog's target. (In the past, legend had it, if The Odinsword were drawn, it would be a sign that the end of the uiniverse was at hand. Somehow, in this story, this has been re-interpreted to mean that if you DRAW it, that will CAUSE the end of the universe. I'm not sure that's what Jack Kirby had in mind when he introduced the thing many issues earlier.)

An entire outpost is wiped out, but not before a fierce battle, during which it seems Asgard's weaponry is a bit more "modern" than one might think. By the time Thor arrives, all is in ruins, and he finds his 3 friends trapped under a rock cage. As he tries to free them, he's suddenly grabbed by the Mangog. HOLY S***!!!

The art, as usual, is MAGNIFICENT. Vince Colletta's on a real "slick" kick here, and someone on the letters page actually accuses him of trying to be "Joe Sinnott". I dunno, whatever's going on, it looks GREAT. I have 3 printings of this-- the ESSENTIAL book, the TREASURY EDITION, and the original comic!


THE AVENGERS #55 -- "Mayhem Over Manhattan" has the new Masters Of Evil discover that Jarvis is only a stooge-- it's really the robot, Ultron-5, who's behind everything. It plans to blackmail NYC with nuclear destruction (man, who'd wanna live in NYC in the Marvel Universe??) and kill the heroes after, which somewhat frustrates the other villains. The Black Knight steps in to the rescue, frees the heroes, big fight erupts, but both Whirlwind & Ultron-5 escape. The heroes still don't realize their rescuer is NOT the villain who was a MoE member way back, but no longer view him as a threat and he goes on his way. In a very contrived scene, Jarvis "explains" his motivations, and The Wasp forgives him. She's really getting WAY too lenient with this kind of thing, isn't she?

Longtime SUPERMAN and LEGION inker George Klein makes his return to Marvel this issue (unseen since FF #1-2), and while George Tuska had been doing a bang-up job on the inks, if anything, Klein over Buscema is even BETTER! This may be the BEST John Buscema's art has ever looked up to this point. That's one thing I really notice about this period-- if the writing at Marvel, overall, was really slipping, the art from this period is some of the BEST, ever.

Tuska took over the pencils on IRON MAN this month (with issue #5), and I don't believe he ever inked for Marvel again. Too bad, he was really good at it!


DAREDEVIL #43 -- "In Combat With Captain America" has Matt heartbroken. It seems now that Foggy has Debbie Harris in his life, Karen is frustrated that Matt refuses to acknowledge that he loves her as much as she loves him-- and has decided to leave the firm, "forever" (oh brother). Working out in his private gym and swinging over the city doesn't seem to help, until he stops a robbery involving medical radioactive isotopes... which, because of the way he got his radar-sense super-power, affects his mind... It seems Captain America is participating in an "exhibition" for charity at Madison Square Garden, and just as the first contender is entering the ring, DD shows up, stomps the guy, then visciously attacks Cap! At first, Cap thinks it's a joke-- then maybe this guy's an imposter-- but once he figures it isn't he's wondering what the heck's going on? The fight goes on and on, getting more brutal, until it moves out into the streets, at which point the effects of the isotope wear off, and DD is suddenly wondering what the HELL he's doing there? He skips, and Cap, trying to be diplomatic, figures "He must have had his reasons", then tells onlookers "They wanted a fight-- they GOT one!" Overall, one more dumb excuse to have 2 heroes bashing each other.

The highlight of this issue, of course, is Gene Colan's art. He's really at home on this book, especially with DD in costume, swinging, jumping, fighting. Vince Colletta begins a run on the book as inker, and so far his work is TERRIFIC! I'm guessing that he switched from CM to DD, though I wonder what all this "musical artists" is about.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #4 -- "And Now It Begins" must have shocked fans. The Bullpen page promised the return of Scorpio. Instead, Roy Thomas & Frank Springer (fresh off of DC's SECRET 6) fill in, re-telling the story of how Fury joined SHIELD from STRANGE TALES #135. Springer's art is something to see-- his inking is somewhat similar to Syd Shores, only moodier, and he does aircraft like nobody's business. (I get the feeling somebody should have tapped him to draw BLACKHAWK-- he's have been a natural.) On the other hand, he never quite seems to get Fury right. Roy Thomas once again gets to induldge his passion for retelling origin stories (I'm guessing Stan was wondering why this story didn't appear in NF #1), though, of course, it's nowhere near as good as the Kirby-Lee original version. It would seem Steranko blew the deadline-- maybe writing, pencilling & coloring 20 pages a month plus a cover was just too much for him? But he did supply an INCREDIBLE cover-- which, over the years, has been-- ahem-- "paid tribute to" by a growing number of other artists.

The cover text, by the way, is a misnomer. It says "SHIELD Origin Issue". NOPE. There never was a SHIELD origin issue-- until FURY #1 (May'94). From that dark, horrible period of Marvel, that was a rare exception-- one DAMN good comic-book!!


DOCTOR STRANGE #172 -- "I, Dormammu" has Doc at the mercy of his arch-enemy! Roy Thomas spends 4 pages on flashbacks, retelling their "final" battle in which Eternity and Dormammu both appeared to be destroyed, and Doc was only saved with the help of The Ancient One. The flashback continues as Dormammu reveals how he survived-- thrust into the unknown dimension, where he quickly siezed power from the creatures living there. By a wild coincidence-- it seems this was the SAME dimension that the "spell of vanishment" sent Clea to-- and so, she's been his prisoner ever since, and has now served as bait to lure Strange there. Planning to conquer Earth, Dormammu summons his sister Umar-- this is the first time we ever get to see the two of them together-- and while she claims to have faithfully watched over "his" domain in his absence, he knows better. Meanwhile, although his power was drained in the previous episode, Doc's cloak of levitation and the Eye of Agamotto are still powered-up-- and he uses it to get his power back from Dormammu's underling who stole his power in the first place. Reunited at last with the girl who won his heart, Doc then sends both Clea and the heartbroken Victoria back to Earth. As Dormammu and his army of demons prepare to invade Earth's dimension, Doc appears to challenge him to a duel.

Not bad. But the real highlight here is the art. One of the GREATEST art teams in the history of the biz made its debut in this issue, as Gene Colan (having departed CAPTAIN MARVEL) joins forces with newcomer Tom Palmer (who proves he's MUCH better suited as an inker than he was as a penciller). I find it interesting that Palmer's ink style is very similar to Frank Springer's (in this month's NICK FURY), and I wonder if maybe Springer might have been one of Palmer's inspirations. In any case, Colan was getting some FANTASTIC inks around this time, from Colletta, from Shores, and now this. I've seen tons of Colan-Palmer art over the years, and in spite of that, I'm STILL stunned looking over this 1st collaboration again. Roy Thomas has said he never quite felt like he knew what he was doing on this book. Maybe with art like this, he didn't have to!


FANTASTIC FOUR #78 -- "The Thing No More" has Ben once more morose about being stuck as The Thing. Reed makes another stab at curing him, but says it's a "one-way street". If he wants to become the Thing again, he'll NEVER be able to be Ben Grimm again. Meanwhile, The Wizard is let out of jail (SOMEONE explain this one to me!!!) and the Daily Bugle has a news story with a headline reading "Vows revenge on FF" (don't parole boards take a DIM VIEW of that kind of attitude???). With a pair of "power gloves", he single-handedly attacks the FF in their HQ, seconds after Ben takes the "cure", so he's no help and is almost killed in the fight. I was a bit delighted when Johnny single-handedly beat the guy-- considering Wiz started out as a Torch baddie. My fave bit in the story is Johnny, kneeling over the defeated Wiz, holding up his weapons and saying, "Who wants to buy some used gloves?" But the Wizard ESCAPES-- vowing to return for more vengeance when they least expect it-- and while he was considered one of their deadliest enemies in the past, Reed doesn't seem too concerned. WHAT th'...??

Jack Kirby spends a lot of this "rematch" issue more or less giving readers a "tour" of the Baxter Building. We get to see the aircraft hangar, complete with Fantasti-Car (when WAS the last time they used that thing?), the Monitor Room (ditto?) and other areas. If there wasn't much "original" about this story, at LEAST it really LOOKED damn good! The FF's HQ may never have looked better than it did in this issue. I just wish I had the original comic instead of this fuzzy MGC reprint (which was missing 2 pages of story).

I've had a hard time trying to nail down The Wizard, as between Kirby, Ayers & Sinnott, his appearance keeps changing. He was one ugly dude in his debut, then in his 2nd appearance, I swore he was a dead ringer for actor Ron Perlman (who wasn't around back then). Since then, some episodes he's reminded me of Basil Rathbone or Vincent Price. In this one, I SWEAR he looks like Gary Oldman!! (who also wasn't around back then.) If they ever feature this guy in a FF movie, maybe they should really consider one of those guys I mentioned (who are still around) to play him.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #64 -- "The Vulture's Prey" is essentially one long FIGHT SCENE!! (Talk about "grudge matches".) The Vulture relentlessly attacks an already-wounded Spider-Man, while nearby JJJ, Robertson and some poor schmuck photog watch helpless, with JJJ naturally hoping Spidey gets clobbered. When Joe's injured because of the fight, Jameson NATURALLY blames Spidey-- what an A**H***!! In the end, Spidey falls to the street, but manages to damage The Vulture's control circuits, forcing him to flee while he still can. But Spidey collapses on the sidewalk, as a crowd circles-- like vultures-- eager to UNMASK him-- "at last". (Huh? Has the populace of NYC been wanting to see one of its heroes unmasked and destroyed all this time?)

Meanwhile, at Anna Watson's house, her niece MJ shows up looking for Peter (hope springs eternal?). Her aunt almost doesn't recognize her, as she's had her hair CUT real short and all curled. I guess she must have figured, if Gwen was gonna steal HER hairdo, she might as well find another one. This was apparently done on Stan's orders. Too many readers kept wanting Pete & MJ together, so he had Romita make her look "less pretty". SHEESH! I dunno. I prefer the straight hair & bangs, but even this way, I STILL prefer MJ to Gwen. As, apparently, a lot of other readers did as well. Gwen's Dad, meanwhile, tells her he remembers everything now, and Pete "never" attacked him-- he was only trying to help. She cries tears of joy, relieved to hear this... but why didn't she just believe it in the FIRST place? (grumble...)

As usual, Romita-Heck-Esposito do a bang-up job. More than most, this issue, taking place entirely in broad daylight, reminds me of one of the Grantray-Lawrence SPIDER-MAN cartoons (which were still in reruns at the time), and this carries over to the story title, which was first used on the show, not the comic! This was the last issue for both Heck & Esposito. I'm really wondering why they had all this jumping-around of artists right then.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #105 -- "In The Name Of Batroc" starts out with Cap watching a documentary about his WW2 days that a producer is hoping he'll narrate... but it serves to remind him (again!) of Bucky's death, and he suddenly feels that he must "never" allow such a thing to happen again-- and so, he decides he must get Sharon Carter out of his life. WTF??? Months of slow, careful, painful building up of this relationship, and from one issue to the next they're gonna DUMP it? I sense the hand of Stan Lee here, as Jack Kirby, clearly pissed about the SILVER SURFER book, apparently told Stan that HE could start supplying plots from here on out. Instead of a new multi-part epic, we have 3 returning baddies (Batroc, Swordsman, The Living Laser), a single-issue story, and, REALLY BAD SOAP-OPERA!! This is the kind of thing that made AMAZING SPIDER-MAN a lot less enjoyable for me than it might have been...

Anyway, a bomb that can destroy NYC with vibrations has been smuggled into town, and Cap has to find it before it goes off, or, falls into the hands of anyone else. As Batroc is getting paid to find it for some foreign power, half the issue is one long fight scene! Nobody in comics draws fight scenes better than Jack Kirby... it's just that, by now, you kinda wish there was "more" than just that.

Art is once again by Kirby & Dan Adkins. It was confirmed on this month's DR. STRANGE letter column that Adkins decided to focus on inks for awhile. I miss his doing full art, but he brings class and style wherever he goes-- although, not every penciller he's teamed with is as appropriate a match as others. It's funny how, with Adkins being a protoge of Wally Wood, you might expect his inks over Kirby to somewhat resemble those on the SKY MASTERS newspaper strip. Instead, I'm reminded, more than anything, of Mike Royer's work with Kirby. In other words, while this came out in 1968, it LOOKS like more like Kirby's work from the 70's.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #5 -- "The Mark Of The Metazoid" makes the Marvel debut of Arnold Drake, creator of THE DOOM PATROL and DEADMAN and writer of many other books including JERRY LEWIS, BOB HOPE, BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY, etc. I wish I could say CM was among his better efforts, but frankly, he had his work cut out for him-- and an uphill battle to turn this mess of a series into something. After running in circles for all of Roy's run, Arnold cuts to the chase and has Yon-Rogg bring Mar-Vell up on charges, specifically of being "un-Kree". Because of Mar-Vell's sterling military record, Ronan The Accuser decides "not to decide", but to let his future actions dictate his guilt or innocence. The annoying sub-plot with the motel manager is handled by Mar-Vell suggesting to use Kree technology to wipe the man's memories of any suspicions he had. Those aren't the only suspicions, as missile base security chief Carol Danvers demands to know why there isn't a single photo of missile expert "Walt Lawson" in his files, and his glib answers only make her more suspicious.

Meanwhile, a convicted Russian "traitor" has submitted to a scientific experiment to turn him into a creature-- a "Metazoid"-- capable of surviving on alien planets. He's been promised he'll be turned back into his human form (or, at least, they'll begin research to see if it can be done-- SHEESH), if he further kidnaps a noted US missile expert and brings him back to Russia. Who else? Walt Lawson. And so, as "Lawson" is sneaking into the hospital to wipe the memories of the injured motel manager, what looks like a creature from another planet attacks. Can this guy's luck get any worse?

I know for a fact that Drake is a sci-fi fan, and the "Metazoid" story seems to me very much to be a tribute to an episode of THE OUTER LIMITS. If only he wasn't weighted down with all these bad sub-plots and bad soap-opera that keep getting in the way.

The art this time really had me shaking my head. I'm becoming more and more attuned to certain artists' styles, and while I hadn't figured it out before, on this, my 3rd time reading this book, I've come to the conclusion there were no less than 3 inkers working over Don Heck's pencils! The splash (and possible page 4) look to me to be the work of Frank Giacoia. Pages 2-3 look totally different-- much smoother, a close-up of Mar-Vell far more "sensitive" than the rest of the book-- I'm figuring it's Frank's buddy, Joe Giella. The rest of the book is a horrid, scratchy, rushed-looking mess. This, I'm sure, is the work of the only guy who actually got listed in the credits-- John Tartaglione. Here's what I THINK happened. As on many other occasions (as has been reported in a number of interviews in recent years), Giacoia got the book, ran late, Giella pitched in to help, but they saw they were running too late, so the rest of it went to Tartaglione, who did most of it-- probably rushing as he went to beat the strict printer's deadline-- and he got the credit, or should I say, the "blame" for the results. Oy...

Ever since I read these a few years ago, I've been complaining about how badly Tartag murdered Heck's art. I do think he wasn't the right inker for Heck by any means. But at least on this issue, I can see WHY it turned out so bad.

Heck, by the way, struck me as doing better "storytelling" than Colan-- and the interior of "The Hellion" (the Kree starship) looks much more interesting than anything Gene did in his 6 episodes on the series.


MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #16 -- "The Phantom Eagle" sees the debut of Herb Trimpe's WW1 flying ace (no relation to the character created by Mark Swayze and published by Fawcett in the 1940's). I wish I could say this was terrific, but I'm afraid the art struck me as being 3rd-rate (Trimpe got much better in the arly 70s) and Gary Friedrich's dialogue is only average. Fearful of reprisals against his family back in Germany, a flyer refuses to join the US military, but when a German derigible carrying an entire squardon of Fokkers decides to attack NYC, he goes into action in disguise. He single-handedly takes out the zeppelin, but his best friend (and romantic rival) winds up falling to his death, which he blames himself for, as the guy only joined the air corps despite an earlier injury because HE refused to.

MSH alternated around this time between introducing new characters and spotlighting existing ones. The Phantom Eagle is probably the least-successful of the features that headlined the book. He later returned in THE INCREDIBLE HULK #135 (Jan'71) thanks to a time-travel story involving Kang The Conqueror (art once more by Trimpe), and then, very strangely, turned up in the modern day in GHOST RIDER #12 (Jun'75) as a GHOST, in a story plotted & pencilled by Frank Robbins.


THE AVENGERS #56 -- "Death be Not Proud" has Captain America call the team to meet him at Dr. Doom's castle, where they use the abandoned time machine (heck of a thing for someone to just leave laying around unguarded, isn't it??) to go back and discover if Bucky REALLY died, or not. By adjusting the machine a certain way, they appear in the past as invisible phantoms, but when The Wasp, who's controlling it, inexplicably dozes off (!!) they materialize, just in time to free a captive Cap & Bucky, but then disappear just before the bomb goes off that killed Cap's young partner.

Once again, Roy Thomas indulges his mania for flashbacks, and this one includes a sequence where John Buscema redoes several Jack Kirby panels from AVENGERS #4. Among his recurring annoying dialogue habits are uses of the phrase "so-called" and "man-mountain". The thing with Bucky would seem to be a natural follow-up to this month's issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, but oddly, that's never mentioned here!


THE AVENGERS ANNUAL #2 -- "And Time, The Rushing River" / "The Avengers Must Die" marks the 2nd time Don Heck returns for an ANNUAL, only this time, he's brought his X-MEN team-mates with him. So Heck supplies only layouts, while the pencils are by Werner Roth & inks by Vince Colletta. Vince has been doing some franky stellar work around this time. Sadly, this issue ISN'T an example of that.

Returning from the past, the team finds their aircraft missing, and on reaching NYC, wonder why everyone's giving them the evil eye. In their HQ they're shocked to confront the ORIGINAL Avengers-- Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Giant-Man and Wasp-- still wearing their old outfits, even thought it soon becomes apparent this is their "present", not "past". It comes out that while time-travelling, Rama-Tut ran into some disturbances in the time-stream, and decided to take the name of "The Scarlet Centurion". He then visited The Avengers right after the events of AVENGERS #2 (just before Hulk quit!), and "convinced" them (with the aid of some brain-washing equipment) that the only way to "save" Earth was to eliminate all other super-powered figures. And so, the heroes become tyrants, and attack & imprison the F.F., X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil and others (and quite a few bad guys while they're at it, almost by default). Although it never quite makes sense, the Centurion was also responsible for making The Wasp doze off, thereby somehow altering the timestream-- and, for planting the "obsession" about Bucky in Cap's mind in the first place. And when the team "returns", the now murder-crazed "heroes" are bent on their destruction. Well, the day is saved... but even though I just re-read this, it was so badly done, I can't remember the details! Suffice to say, the timestream is restored, nobody remembers what happened, and The Scarlet Centurion now "never existed"-- he just went straight to the future to become Kang The Conqueror. I wish I could have enjoyed this more, but this gets my vote for possibly the worst comic of the month. (Oh well, can't win 'em, all.)


DAREDEVIL #44 -- "I, Murderer" (gee, that's the 2nd time in a month somebody paid tribute to "I, Robot") has The Jester, worried his identity might eventually be uncovered, hit on the scheme of having himself MURDERED publicly by Daredevil, who will be blamed for it. Is this guy NUTS, or what? Incredibly, after turning up at a police station in his "civilian" identity and claiming he'll "unmask" DD on top of the George Washington Bridge at midnight, DD shows up, a fight erupts, and with news cameras rolling, the guy dives into the river (where no one knows he has a small one-man submarine waiting for him). To all watching, it appears DD deliberately killed an innnocent man! And Foggy, not trusting this "new" DD, figures it must be true. At the end, Jester appears, clobbers DD, and turns him over to the police, to "prove" what a good guy he is. (What, ALL THOSE robberies he pulled, they're just gonna overlook???)

I can tell somebody had problems with the stat machine this month. Some pages half the lines are missing; the last page, all the lines are twice as fat as they should be; the rest, Vince Colletta does a terrific job. Gene Colan clearly had a BALL on this issue, knocking out some of the most dazzling visuals yet seen on this series. if the writing seems half-baked (if that), the art makes you not wanna care. For no apparent reason, this month they changed the cover logo, to a square-looking "DARE-" on top of "DEVIL". Can't say it was any kind of imporvement, and it didn't last.

THOR #156 -- "The Hammer And The Holocaust" has Thor fighting a desperate, awe-inspiring battle against The Mangog, who plans to destroy all existence by drawing The Odinsword and signalling the coming of Ragnarok. Back in Asgard, the chief minister tries to advise Loki, but the god of evil is too absorbed in his own schemes to listen to advice. He plans to hold back assaulting the Mangog until he's SURE Thor is dead; he also plans to make sure that Odin never wakes from his recuperative Odin-sleep; and when the time is right, he plans to call for aid from Karnilla the Norn Queen so their combined magic will defeat the beast. He also counts on help from his own personal legions... that is, until the few of them still left alive show up on his doorstep, pleading for safety, the bulk of their forces having been destroyed by the Mangog while it was en route to Asgard! Meanwhile, The Recorder arrives, is led to Sif, and together, they stand guard at the Odinsword. She feels if Thor is killed, she won't care if she loses her own life. Fandral, Hogun & Vostagg, freed from their rock prison, fear all is lost, but Thor stirs them to have more courage. Balder continues to fight for his life against Karnilla's legion, as she feels his spurning her love is more important than the destruction of all that is. And finally, despite a noble stalling effort, the Mangog catches up with Thor-- AGAIN. Is this to be THE END???

This reminds me of what some have said about DOCTOR WHO 4-parters-- that part 3 tends to be "filler", just a lot of characters running in circles waiting for the big finale next time. But no matter. The art and storytelling are SPECTACULAR and MAGNIFICENT beyond all belief! Surely this is some of the most exciting Kirby-Colletta art ever witnessed. I do find myself wondering, did anyone involved in this actually consider this might be the "end" of the series?


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #5 -- "Whatever Happened To Scorpio?" begins with Nick & Val having breakfast at his apartment (what is this, an episode of TV's THE AVENGERS ?) as Val reads Nick's horoscope, which says, "Beware, someone from your past will return today." Nick goes off alone and consults with a shady underworld type named "Pickman" (a dead ringer for actor Robert Morley), for help locating someone (he doesn't say who), having to do with something he can't involve SHIELD with. Pickman sneaks into a mysterious building, and discovers that someone has gotten their hands on top-secret SHIELD documents, which would be priceless on the black market to any spy. Fury, meanwhile, gets a message to investigate a warehouse... and drives straight into a deadly, cosmic-powered trap of SCORPIO!! His car demolished, Nick unconscious, the villain (now sporting an entirely different outfit) reveals he survived the explosion in NF #1 via the "solar force" of his "Zodiac Key" (the effect on the previous page would seem to bear this out). Scorpio makes a mask of Nick's face, and takes his place, then arrives at a special SHIELD warehouse outfitted to test the latest model of L.M.D. (a follow-up to last month's issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, it would seem). But what nobody else realizes is, the "L.M.D." is really a drugged Nick, who can't speak, and who must face the deadly obstacle course meant to test a robot. Barely surviving, Fury manages to escape the danger room, tackles his doppleganger, and is about to get shot by an unwitting Val when Pickman finds a secret way into the building-- and gets shot instead! Fury chases after his foe, who tears off his face mask and reveals his identity to a shocked Nick-- seconds before getting mowed down by a hail of SHIELD gunfire. After, standing on the pier, Nick wonders if he's seen the last of his murderous foe...

After a string of questionable stories with increasingly bizarre writing, NF #5 is a return to form. By a mile, this is my favorite issue of Nick's own book. The art is among Steranko's best-ever, between the drawing, the page layouts, various design elements & "special effects". And surprisingly, this book also features the BEST inks I have ever seen from John Tartaglione! Dozens of book with dodgy or downright miserable inks, but somehow he must have been really inspired this time, because I could hardly believe how DAMN GOOD it looked once I realized who'd finished the art.

The contents of the story probably remain a question to many fans & pros alike. The "clues" continue from NF #1 as to Scorpio's identity. Was he Julio Scarlotti, the race-car driver? The letters page says YES-- but questions if that was really him, or only "one of his many identities". Was he Jimmy Woo? I've read this MANY times over the years, and only this week finally noticed the bit of dialogue where Val says "Jimmy called to say he'd be late." As with NF #1, he's not around, and some SHIELD agents were worried about his vow of vengeance in STRANGE TALES #166. Several other clues point to something more personal. Once again, Nick talks about his family. When Scorpio is putting on his disguise, he thinks, "...and I AM Fury-- and who is to say I'm not?" When the disguised Scorpio enters the warehouse, he says "I might have a twin brother nobody knows about." And during the fight, he thinks of Nick, "He always was the LUCKY one..." All of which makes me REALLY wish Steranko had done a 3rd installment of this storyline. Tragically, this was it.

More than a year later, shortly after Fury was apparently killed in the last issue of the book, Roy Thomas stepped in to solve the mystery. In that story, we find that under the mask of Scorpio was... Nick Fury, who faked his own death to infiltrate a crime cartel named "Zodiac" (what else?) and kidnapped the Avengers JUST so he could get their help taking out the gang. (What, he couldn't have asked nicely?) In Roy's story, it appears very much that Scorpio was in fact KILLED at the end of NF #5-- and Nick reveals that it was his brother, Jake, under the mask. But Roy gave NO details, NO explanation. Maybe he hoped Steranko would fill in the details eventually.... he never did.

It wasn't until 7 years later that David Kraft & Keith Giffen FINALLY started filling in the details in DEFENDERS #46-50. According to them, the "real" Scorpio was Count Julio Scarlotti, the race car driver AND a charter member of ZODIAC. And unlike Roy's story (and Steranko's), Scarlotti WAS killed in that massive explosion at the end of NF #1-- and replaced by Jake Fury in NF #5, who only claimed to be the same baddie. I wonder what Steranko might have thought of all this?

The "real" details-- or what passes for them-- would not be finally explained until FURY #1 came out in 1992. One of these days, I gotta re-read that comic...


DOCTOR STRANGE #173 -- "While a World Awaits" has Doc single-handedly (well, almost) trying to stand off The Dread Dormammu-- reportedly more powerful than he ever was before-- and his army of other-dimensional monstrous followers-- from storming the portal to Earth's dimension and invading the helpless planet. Dormammu orders his sister Umar to stay behind in the "Unknown" dimension, as only HE can rule over the Dark Dimension (and Earth). Back on Earth, a former colleage of Doc's storms his house-- demanding to see him, and claiming he will not leave until he has convinced Strange to give up his life as a "charlatan" and take a position as a medical "consultant" (something he refused WAY back in the Lee-Ditko origin story). Following a mental message from Doc, Clea & Victoria join forces to send Dormammu a mental suggestion, which causes him to invade Earth's dimension, just as Strange blocks the portal, leaving him on his own. In some fashion, Dormammu invading Earth-- in direct violation of his OWN "sacred vow" not to do so-- somehow drains him of his own power, and he's forced to flee back to his real home in the Dark Dimension, where, he vows, he'll never rest until he finds a way to avenge himself. Exhausted, Strange returns home to confront his doctor colleague, who, despite his earlier words, easily gives up any hope that Strange will ever come to his senses to "help humanity". Roy's narration suggests (in typical Roy Thomas fashion) that Doc can never excape the eternal loneliness of his existence... WHAT, with not 1 but 2 gorgeous babes waiting for him in the next room??? Is he KIDDING???

The Bullpen page raves about the art team of Gene Colan & Tom Palmer, saying "If ever a pair of artists were BORN to work together". OHHHHH yeah!!! Boy does this book look INCREDIBLE!!! I didn't mention it before, but Colan-Palmer redesigned Clea's outfit a bit, and now she's wearing what appears to be a "fishnet" body-suit. YUM. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the cover-- by Dan Adkins, oddly enough. He inked Gene's cover last time, but next issue it's Colan-Palmer all the way. These stories took a LONG time to get reprinted. I've had the originals since the late 70's. (Though, I admit, I haven't re-read them SINCE then. Well, I'm making up for it now!)


FANTASTIC FOUR #79 -- "A Monster Forever?" has great art, cover-to-cover... but I'm really wondering about the story. Ben goes on a date with Alicia, terrified that she won't love him as "normal, dull" Ben Grimm. Meanwhile, the police are ransacking the HQ of The Mad Thinker, and find a very human-looking "Android"-- which comes to life, begins talking non-stop (it's as bad as its creator, referring to itself as "his greatest creation") and goes on a rampage to find the source of a strange signal it senses. Inexplicably, Ben has brought The Wizard's "power-gloves" with him to the restuarant, and, just as inexplicably, THOSE are the source of the signal the "Android-Man" is picking up. It's mission-- to DESTROY whoever holds the gloves. HUH? First Ben gets swatted aside, then it goes for Alicia, who of course can't see what's going on. Ben, thinking a sudden surge of energy is what turned him back to Ben, figures another one will turn him back into The Thing. He puts on the gloves, activates them... and BAM! The Thing wipes up the place with that freakin' android. Johnny arrives too late to help, and is concerned that Ben is The Thing again. Ben tells him, don't sweat it, he PLANNED it this way.

Apart from this being another one of those "the guy with the affliction will NEVER be cured" things (which over the decades, got VERY tiresome over in THE INCREDIBLE HULK), something about this issue just doesn't "feel" right to me. I've read in several issues of THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR how, around this period, Kirby would plot one thing, and Lee would script SOMETHING ELSE entirely. Like how, in the INHUMANS back-up in THOR, the story with the Kree Sentry had an entirely different meaning from what Kirby intended by the time Lee got done putting words down. I don't believe I've ever read about this issue that way, but I have a strong suspicion something like that may have happened here.

For one thing, WHY is Ben carrying the Wizard's gloves? WHAT possible purpose, subconscious or other, could he have, unless it was, as suggested on the last page, that he "planned" to use them to turn back to The Thing? If I go purely by the pictures, and ignore the dialogue, I might think that Ben, now "helpless", going on a date with his sweetie, might have taken those babies along for PROTECTION! After all, The Wizard almost single-handedly beat 3/4ths of the FF using those gloves. Surely, Ben might have thought he could use 'em the same way?

Second, WHAT's with The Mad Thinker? NEVER before had he created an android with a human face-- nor one that could talk. That 12-foot-tall monstrosity from FF #70-71 sure as hell seemed like his "ultimate creation" to me-- not THIS ugly sucker. And how-- or WHY-- could it POSSIBLY be attracted by a signal from The Wizard's gloves? I mean... WTF??? As The Wizard was on the loose just last issue, it would make much more sense to me if it was The Wizard's hideout the police were raiding, while searching for him, and ran across one of his recent experiments. If the "Android-Man" were a creation of The Wizard, it would make PERFECT SENSE for it to be drawn to whoever had the gloves-- and destroy them.

Following the above hypothesis, I'd say that what Kirby intended was for Ben to try using the gloves-- but somehow, it backfired, turning him into The Thing again. Not expecting this, he'd be PISSED-- and lay out that bastard android the way he did.

Sometimes I think certain Stan Lee comics oughta have their dialogue replaced...


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #65 -- "The Impossible Escape" has an unconscious Spidey saved from a mob wanting to unmask him by Captain Stacy, who has him shipped by ambulance to a prison hospital. Gwen searches for the missing Peter, who disappeared from the rooftop while taking photos. Spidey wakes up, begins to recover, and suddenly finds himself in the middle of a prison-break, with cons using Stacy as a hostage! He bluffs them ito thinking he doesn't care about Stacy, and tells them "Now THIS is what we're gonna do..." He knocks out the lights, and begins picking off the cons one by one in the dark... until an emergency generator kicks in, he tells Stacy to duck, and clobbers the ring-leader. Stacy says he KNEW Spidey wasn't bad, and offers to testify in his behalf when it comes to a hearing. But Spidey declines to stick around, and hi-tails it for home, where he knows a worried Aunt May is wondering why he hasn't called for so long.

A brief sub-plot involves Harry, worried about his Dad, who's been "sick" lately, and getting worse any time Spider-Man or The Green Goblin is mentioned (is that the sort of thing that comes up in common conversation very often?). Harry's so upset, he completely ignores MJ, who calls him a "real drag". You KNOW Harry's upset. MJ's dressed like a HOOKER in this episode, and he doesn't even notice!!!

John Romita continues on layouts, but the new art "team" is JIM MOONEY, "the" SUPERGIRL artist, and fresh off SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1. With Romita doing touches-ups on faces to maintain consistency, the big difference in the art is that Mooney manages to make everything look so dark, "moody", and even "spooky"! Apart from Romita's earlier solo work (or that with Esposito), this part of the run contains some of my all-time favorite Spidey art. What's interesting is, almost the exact same time Mooney replaced Heck & Esposito in the comics, Grantray-Lawrence went belly-up and were replaced by the new Krantz Films studio on the cartoons-- with Gray Morrow doing the designs & layouts. So on 2 fronts at once, Spidey suddenly got a whole lot "spookier".

And speaking of the SPIDER-MAN cartoon show, this comic wound up being adapted only about a year after it came out as the 2nd season finale, "To Cage A Spider" (ep.38). The intro made a lot less sense (without the lead-in with The Vulture), but overall it followed this fairly closely and I see even contained some of Stan's dialogue verbatim. Not to mention, some terrific "crime drama" style music that sounds like it would have been at home on THE UNTOUCHABLES. That cartoon marked the first (of 3) appearances on the show of Stacy, though oddly enough, he was married, and talked on the phone with his wife-- rather than his daughter.

IRON MAN #6 -- "Vengeance-- Cries The Crusher!" has a villain who by rights should never have come back from the dead come back from the dead. Seems that "Professor" from some un-named Spanish Commmunist country (but let's just call it Cuba, heh) after becoming so heavy he fell straight THRU the Earth's crust, found himself in Tyrannus' underground city, by which point the effect of the ray wore off. Somehow he managed to tunnel his way back to the surface, then forced the spies who brought him to the US in the first place to take him to NYC again-- at which point, he sank their boat, then invaded Stark Industries-- AGAIN. (Can you say... "REMATCH"??) The Crusher wants the weapon Iron Man used on him-- so he can use it on Iron Man, and make HIM know what it feels like to be trapped miles beneath the Earth. While this is going on, Whitney Frost ("Big M" of the Maggia) is wrapping Jasper Sitwell around her finger, trying to get her hands on Stark's secrets. She becomes a prisoner of The Crusher, at which point the only way IM can stop Jasper from getting himself killed trying to save her is to clobber the poor schlep. IM causes the weapon to explode, then manages to fly off with his super-heavy foe in tow, until, due to his own struggling, he falls into the ocean... and sinks like the stone he is. Back at the plant, Jasper wants no apology, he's feeling embarrassed enough as it is. And Whitney, she's getting confused, as she's starting to have feelings for Jasper a crime boss in her position shouldn't be having.

By this point, someone decided Johnny Craig wasn't cutting it as Gene Colan's replacement on pencils. Instead, after he'd been bouncing around for many months, George Tuska finally got himself a STEADY GIG as a penciller, and, as they said on the Bullpen page, "in a fit of inspiration", Craig was teamed up with him as inker. WOW! I thought Craig's precise, razor-sharp lines were all wrong for Colan-- but on Tuska, it's a match made in heaven. Over the decades I've read countless books pencilled by George "blunt instrument" Tuska, and far too many of them had inferior inks (often by Esposito or Colletta). But Tuska-Craig is something else! All the same, I'm not really crazy about the plotting, but I guess you can't have everything. I'm now well into Marvel's period of "expansion", and a number of their top-rank artists have been replaced with 2nd-tier guys. It's not that I haven't enjoyed some of Tuska's work over the years, but even some of the letters around this time were saying his art was "too cartoony" compared to both Heck AND Colan.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #106 -- "Cap Goes Wild!" has Cap fighting some Chinese agents who are out to steal the technical specs on SHIELD's latest L.M.D. (seem to be a lot of those going around the last few months). They get away, and the next thing you know, a shadier-than-usual SHIELD agent is showing Cap a movie about his exploits in WW2-- in which he's shown to be ruthlessly killing an unarmed prisoner! Wanting to get to the bottom of this, he flies to Hollywood to confront the producer of the questionable flick. Unknown to him, the head of the tiny Infinity Studios has struck a deal with the same foreign power. For enough money to make a big-budget sci-fi film, all he has to do is stand aside as Captain America is murdered by a lookalike enemy L.M.D., who'll then take his place and ruin his reputation. Turns out the guy's doing it so he'll have money his brother needs for an operation-- but the other brother wants nothing of the scheme! As Cap winds up fighting for his life against the murderous Steve Rogers robot, the sick brother steps in, allowing Cap a needed break while getting killed in the process. The L.M.D. suddenly self-destructs-- and that shady SHIELD guy turns up to tell Cap it was an "untried" model they deliberately let the Chinese steal the specs for. You know, this may be the first example I can think of of a much "darker" side to SHIELD that other writers would expand on far too much in the 70's & 80's. If so, I'm guessing this was Stan's story, not Jack's. I just CAN'T see Jack Kirby EVER dumping "real world" shades of gray onto any of "HIS" heroes.

Frank Giacoia returns to ink Kirby on this issue, and it continues to be obvious just how much Kirby's art keep changing.


SILVER SURFER #2 -- "When Lands The Saucer" has Norrin Radd seeking a place on Earth he can live in peace with the humans, but everywhere he goes, it's mistrust. In the Balkans, from "villagers" who think he's a demon from hell, in NYC, it's people who remember how he attacked the world only a few months earlier. Next thing, an alien spacecraft approaches, containing lizard-like members of "The Brotherhood Of Badoon". They claim to be here in friendship, but a female prisoner reveals they're really out to conquer the Earth (get in LINE, man!). They decide to "toy" with The Surfer, and attack him in the skies over NYC. Because the Saucer is invisible, nobody believes The Surfer's claims they're being invaded; and once the fight starts, everyone think's HE's attacking the city on his own! Before long, the Air Force gets involved, and he tricks them into firing missiles which wind up chasing the Badoon off the Earth. But as far as mankind is concerned, HE's the menace-- and when he tries to bring the injured female prisoner to safety, he's accused of trying to kill her. Some days you can't win...

The John Buscema-Joe Sinnott art's pretty impressive, but Stan Lee's plot & dialogue really get tiring after awhile. Did anyone REALLY want a book where the hero was so miserable ALL the time back then??

The Badoon would return in Arnold Drake's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY series-- though it would take some years before anyone got that going past its initial episode.


INCREDIBLE HULK ANNUAL #1 -- "A Refuge Divided" has The Hulk stumble upon The Inhumans' city, somewhere in Europe... SAY WHAT?? According to the Inhumans' back-up series in THOR, their original home was on an island; in FANTASTIC FOUR, it was somewhere in the Andes. Did Gary Friedrich bother to read those episodes at all, or was he just makin' it all up as he went?

Anyway, what we have here is a complex story where a group of renegade Inhuamsn are sentenced to imprisonment in another dimension for trying to overthrown Black Bolt's power. His brother, Maximus, decides to take advantage of it to recruit them to his cause, since HE still wants to take over. The Hulk finds himself imprisoned with the renegades, who spend much of the story trying to convince him they're his "friend" as he keeps repeating he has "never" had any friends (shows what he thinks of Rick Jones, don't it?). Between Hulk & Maximus, the group manages to escape, then Hulk gets into a running battle with the city defenses, when all HE's trying to do is get outta town! The renegades finally seem to convince Hulk to join with them, and deep underground he helps Maximus get his hands on something that could, potentially, destroy the entire planet (way to GO!). But it backfires, and the renegades are captured again... only Hulk, feeling betrayed, won't stand for it. HE wants to clobber them FIRST! Gorgon tells the guards to stand back, maybe they'll all just destroy each other. It's only when Black Bolt arrives that he finally realizes The Hulk is an innocent in all this, and offers him friendship. Hulk realizes THIS person could be trusted-- but as everyone else in the city already hates him, he leaves, once more frustrated & lonely.

Marie Severin & Syd Shores do a bang-up job on this. The credits say "and almost the whole blamed bullpen", but frankly, the only other inkers whose work I can make out is Frank Giacoia (and maybe Joe Giella). It's possible there's some Everett or Colletta in here as well, and maybe even some Romita or Severin, but if so, I'd guess it's only on touch-ups, not whole pages.

Overall, this was overlong, and not very memorable. Perhaps the best part of the book was the cover by Jim Steranko, showing a struggling Hulk straining under the heavy weight of his own rock-like logo. For some reason, the face was replaced by Marie Severin, but she swore it was on Stan's orders! I believe Marie did a cover for this herself, but it was only used on a foreign reprint.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #6 -- "In The Path Of Solam" begins with Mar-Vell engaged in a periodic battle simulation as part of a medical exam. Naturally, Yon-Rogg orders it cranked up to the max, far past safety limits, and Una can only comply as he's the C.O. For the 2nd episode in a row, Arnold Drake has added an extra complexity to Yon-Rogg's motivations. He's not just jealous of Mar-Vell because of Una, he's also jealous of him militarily and maybe even politically. This guy isn't just love-sick, he's also power-mad! Somehow, that makes him a better villain in my eyes.

Down on Earth, "Walt Lawson" is asked to consult on a bizarre experiment involving solar power, and as a Kree (in disguise) he recognizes the very deadly danger it presents-- but can't do anything about it for fear of revealing his true identity, and of incurring the wrath of his already-murderous C.O. When a giant monster is unleashed as a result of the experiment, nobody at the base questions it when "Captain Marvel" shows up to help, and seems to know just how to stop the thing. The base commander's grateful, but Yon-Rogg only wants his death all the more.

John Tartaglione did a somewhat better job on the inks this time than last issue, which only strengthens my feeling that the previous issue he was trying to beat someone else's blown deadline. Even so, he could have been TRACING Don Heck's lines, the way this resembles Don's own really bad inks from AVENGERS #32-37. I just feel that for a science-fiction book, they really should have had much slicker inks than this, and the overall look is just dragging everything down. On the upside, Drake's dialogue isn't annoying like Roy Thomas' was, and the "big story" seems to be moving forward a bit more than it had been before.


THOR #157 -- "Behind Him Ragnarok" has The Mangog FINALLY reach Asgard, and draw the Odinsword!!! Horrors!! Along the way, The Legion of the Dead awakens due to Balder's nobility, and Karnilla is forced to allow all of them to leave, though she's heartbroken knowing the only man she ever loved may never be hers. Loki runs for the hills, as Thor tells him that if Asgard falls, there will be NO safety for him anywhere. And, as all seems on the verge of total destruction, Thor unleashes a gigantic storm-- which has the effect of safely WAKING his sleeping father, Odin, who reveals that The Mangog's power was all an illusion-- for his race was not dead, but in fact imprsioned in his living form. As he'd done earlier with Thor himself, Odin declares that Mangog's people's "pennance" is over, and he returns the entire race to life, to live in peace, as the destructive creature fades away to nothingness. The danger is passed, all hail to Odin!

I dunno... it sure seems like an out-of-left-field ending to me. And what about ALL those Asgardians who got killed trying to stop that monster? Was THAT all part of Odin's plan as well?

Oh well, at least the Kirby-Colletta art is stellar. The covers confuse me a bit... between THOR #156 & 157, it seems as if the covers could have been reversed. The cover of #156 has Thor and his friends defending the Odinsword, a scene which takes place in #157. On the other hand, the cover of #157 shows Thor grabbed by The Mangog, which takes place in both issues, but is almost identical to the first page of #156. On the other hand, with all the fire and destruction in the background of #157's cover, I guess it made for a better "finale" cover.

Was this intended at any point to actually END the THOR series? We may never know for sure... but if it was, someone certainly changed their mind at the last minute.


THE AVENGERS #57 -- "Behold... The Vision!" has a mysterious super-powered artificial man try to kill The Wasp-- then the rest of the team-- before revealing he's been programmed to do that by their robotic enemy, Ultron. Taking them to his underground hideout (hidden in a deserted ruins in the middle of the city), they quickly find themselves captured and about to be killed... until The Vision (as Jan called him) escapes to confront his "creator"-- before destroying him! The group still has NO idea why Ultron wants them all dead. And all that's left is pieces, but the head is notably missing.

The first time I read the ESSENTIAL AVENGERS reprints, I got the feeling that THIS issue was the one where, FINALLY, Roy Thomas came into his own. Somehow, all the pieces finally fall into place here, and the book begins to feel like Roy has managed to make it his own. John Buscema & George Klein are superb on every page, and even Roy's dialogue is less annoying than usual.

Roy, with his great love for all things "Golden Age", had originally wanted to bring back the Golden Age Vision (a character created by Jack Kirby who was a lot like DC's Spectre, only less defined). This would explain the "clouds" on the cover, as the original Vision always appeared in our dimension via smoke. Stan Lee preferred he go the Gardner Fox route instead, and create a NEW character with the same name. And, as "androids" were "in" about that time, that's what we got. I find it interesting, re-reading all these stories in chronological sequence now, that several elements that Roy used in this story had already been used in other stories over the previous months-- something that tends to be forgotten if one only looks at THE AVENGERS. The Fourth Sleeper (in CAPTAIN AMERICA #101-102), for example, could alter its density and walk thru solid objects.

Funny thing about this story... a few months down the line, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA featured am android called Red Tornado, named after a Golden Age hero, who was created by a villain to kill the JLA-- but who turned on his evil inventor instead, and then joined the group. That doesn't seem like it could REALLY be a "coincidence"... could it??

The "Behold...The Vision!" cover to Avengers # 57 is a masterpiece. It's so beautiful yet so moody and sinister. Buscema and Klein really outdid themselves. That cover, which I first saw in the Marvel 50th Anniversary hardcover from the early 90s, is what led me to read The Avengers in the first place.

DAREDEVIL #45 -- "The Dismal Dregs Of Defeat" has D.D. spending the entire 20 pages on the run from the cops, trying to get back home to switch back to Matt Murdock, and running into police dragnets everywhere he goes. At one point, he knocks out some poor schlep and takes his overcoat (leaving money in the guy's pants to pay for it), then hops a subway. But what are the odds-- The Jester turns up on the SAME subway, and the hunt is on again. He finally gets caught and tossed in jail, where some con decides it'd be a good idea to find out what's under the mask. (Gee, didn't this just happen the month before in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #65?)

Gene Colan continues to have a blast, and Vince Colletta's not doing bad either.


X-MEN #49 -- "Who Dares Defy... The Demi-Men" begins when The Angel visits The Mansion, closed down now that Professor X is dead and the team has split up, and find that Cerebro has automatically activated on finding a massive reading of mutant activity. A group of mutants are pooling together to form an army, apparently under the command of someone called Mesmero. While this is going on, Bobby befriends a girl named Lorna Dane, who it turns out has green hair. A group of Mesmero's thugs attack, but strangely, bow down to worship at Lorna's feet. WHAT the heck is going on here? (More, what does the title refer to, as the phrase "Demi-Men" appears NOWHERE in the 15 pages of the story?)

"A Beast Is Born" continues the X-MEN ORIGINS series by giving us the background on Hank McCoy's parents; his father worked at a nuclear research facility, and helped shut it down during a dangrous accident.

Art on the lead series is Don Heck (co-plot & layouts), Werner Roth (pencils) and John Tartaglione (inks); the back-up features Roth & John Verpoorten. Both nice, but nothing really special. Of special note is the cover-- by Jim Steranko!! I'm still trying to figure out what the heck that big "mask" is supposed to be. It looks a bit like Mesmero, but it's colored red instead of green...

Arnold Drake is clearly setting up the reformation of the team, having walked in on what may have been the series all-time low point. But nothing here is really that impressive.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #6 -- "Doom Must Fall" has an asteroid pulled out of its orbit and heading for a collission that will destroy all life on Earth. Fury and an ace SHIELD pilot race to the Andes to track the source of whatever is pulling the giant rock our way, and find the hidden base of "The Others" a group of exiles from another dimension who escaped tyranny, and now wish to return home-- but the only way they can do it is by recreating the cataclysm that allowed them to escape. That it means the death of an entire planet doesn't faze them, so Fury has no choice but to stop them. Turns out his pilot is actually one of them, brainwashed into forgetting his own identity so as to spy on the "humans" all these years. Nothing seems to be able to stop the baddies, and things look utterly hopeless... until their gigantic spacecraft veers off-course and hits the asteroid. Fury figures he must have gotten thru to the "humanity" of his pilot after all.

Not counting NICK FURY #4 (the origin flashback issue), the post-Steranko era really begins here. Roy Thomas plots, Archie Goodwin dialogues, and full art in by Frank Springer, whose aircraft continues to be very impressive, much more so than his people. If I have any problem, it's that too many stories from this point try too hard to imitate the kind of writing Steranko did in issues #1-3, with dazzling art trying to make up for disjointed plotting, and cramming way too much story into only 20 pages. It's like a Will Eisner SPIRIT story on steroids-- or something. Steranko supplies the very Wally Wood-like cover of Fury in space in front of an exploding Earth-- an image that has been paid tribute to on an issue of ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, and possibly, the cover of Yes's album FRAGILE.


DOCTOR STRANGE #174 -- "The Power And The Pendulum" has Doc receive a call for help from a fellow mystic in England, and he decides to hop a plane there to conserve his power. As Wong helps Clea acclimate to Earth (she has trouble understanding that's it's not a good idea to use magic openly!), Doc and Victoria Bentley pay a visit to a mysterious castle, and soon find themselves in the grip of yet another ambitious madman. This one's made a pact with a demon called "Satannish", who's agreed to give him power & fame for one year, which he may keep permanently ONLY if he can find someone to take his place. A desperate battle ends when the baddie finds Doc used a spell to accelerate time-- and Satannish calls in the debt earlier than the guys expected! Moral: NEVER make a deal with the devil-- or any reasonable faccimile.

The Thomas-Colan-Palmer team continues to dazzle. This is good stuff!!


FANTASTIC FOUR #80 -- "Where Treads The Living Totem" has Wyatt Wingfoot ask for help with a problem he found visiting his tribe while on vacation from college. Despite waiting for Sue to give birth, Reed quickly agrees to go, and the three speed off in their pogo-plane. Wyatt finds something he can't bring himself to believe-- "Tomazooma, The Totem Who Walks", or, as it calls itself, "The Death Who Walks". A giant in the form of his tribe's ancient legends is determined to destroy everyone and everything in its path, but Wyatt's uncle discovers that the oil company who's been trying to buy their land is in fact an agent of the Soviet Union. He passes on help from the military, feeling it's his tribe's responsibility to take care of what is really a big disguised ROBOT. With Wyatt's help, Reed manages to dispatch the machine, and feels sorry that the tribe's belief in their legend has been destroyed. But the Chief says not a bit of it, as in the distance they see, in a haze, a gigantic form wandering away. The Chief says Tomazooma WAS there, ready to help, until he saw it wasn't needed, and he now returns to where he came from, until his help is summoned again.

The Kirby-Sinnott art is stellar, as usual, though I wish I had the original of this instead of this very fuzzy MGC reprint. Funny thing, in some panels, the design of Tomazaooma makes me think this would have made a great Saturday morning cartoon.


FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #6 -- "Let There Be... Life!" finds Sue & her baby endangered because of the cosmic radiation in their blood, and Reed decides he must deliberately enter The Negative Zone to find something that may act as an "antidote". Naturally, Ben & Johnny insist on going along, and this time, they take backpacks which serve as propulsion thru the alien space. It's clear Reed has continued to work on the "safety locks" leading to the other universe portal, and I found myself wondering, how much of what he built actually exists in "our" universe, and how much in the "other" one?

Before long, the trio run afoul of a big, bat-winged man-sized insect named "Annihilus", who calls himself "The Death Who Walks" (wait a minute, I thought that was Tomazooma??). This viscious creature takes pleasure in destroying all life it runs across, as it somehow feels it's the only way to insure its own "immortality". Captured and thrust into an arena, Reed recognizes the "cosmic control rod" the alien wears may be the very thing he's searching for that could save Sue (talk about a wild coincidence!!). After a fierce battle, Annihiulus is knocked out, Reed swipes the rod, and the three make a run for it, as Reed finds the rod can be used to channel mental energy to power a vehicle, as well as individual flight. Annihilus sets after them in a "gunship", blowing them out of the sky. Reed sokmehow manages to return the favor, then is horrified to find they're all trapped in the "debris belt" where he almost got killed TWICE before! (Stan's editorial notes only mention one previous episode, but my memory's probably better than his.) Once Reed realizes he can siphon off some of the rod's power (into a capsule he conveniently brought with him on his quest), he works a trade-- the jet-backpacks for the rod. The four go their separate ways, the three heroes all hoping they never run into Annihiulus again. (In the Marvel Universe? FAT CHANCE!) Back home, following more than the usual tension, Sue gives birth, and the media goes wild.

In some ways, this was a majhor turning point for the FF. On the one hand, Reed & Sue are now parents. On the other, Annihiulus was one of the last "major" characters created by Jack Kirby for the series (or Marvel in general). After this, it was mostly a series of "rematches", which probably made Stan Lee happy. After all, he probably figured fans love to see bad guys come back, and it's probably a lot easier to "write" when you don't have to come up with any "new" ideas.

The Kirby-Sinnott art is spectacular-- as always, puncutated by several full-page shots, and a 2-page spread featuring one of Kirby's photo-collages. Some fans in recent years have expressed a wish that Marvel could find a way to re-photograph these things, and reprint them IN COLOR, as opposed to B&W, which was the only way they could be back when the stories were originally done.

Inexplicably, Kirby's magnificent cover was replaced on the 70's "GIANT-SIZE" reprint by a Buckler-Sinnott cover, which just didn't cut it somehow, and was made worse by word balloons (probably by Roy Thomas) which said "Annihilus! He's BACK!", suggesting the story was a sequel, not a reprint of his original appearance.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #66 -- "The Madness of Mysterio" has Spidey's old foe escaped from prison and ready for revenge! This is a pure "grudge match" with nothing else to get in the way. Well, almost. Pete recovers his clothes & camera from the rubble on the roof of The Daily Bugle, finds JJJ turns him away (though Jameson almost immediately finds his staff photo screwed the job over), is low on cash and has to sell his motorcycle... but then he runs into Gwen, who tells him her Dad explained everything, and suddenly, despite all his troubles, all seems right with the world. Her Dad, meanwhile, has lunch with Joe Robertson, trading notes about Spidey, who's saved both their lives, and who they both suspect knows them personally. Joe also says he'd love to convince JJJ he's wrong, but his hatred is "almost psychotic". (What does he mean, "ALMOST"?? The guy needs psychiatric help-- BAD!!!) Harry's Dad is still missing, and we find he has become The Green Goblin again-- though his memory has not entirely returned yet. As Pete goes to visit Aunt May, he hears a cry of terror, crashes in thru the front door, and finds she's watching the TV-- on which, Mysterio is threatening to DESTROY the entire city, if his arch enemy doesn't come to face him, "At a place only we know". Determined to make his Aunt feel safer, Spidey races to "the place we had our first battle"-- the now-abandoned tv studio. (NOT true. That would be The Brooklyn Bridge! The TV studio was where he first DEFEATED Mysterio. I guess Stan's memory really IS that bad!!)

I love this... Spidey crashes in, and his foe says, "So soon, Spider-Man? Why in such a hurry to face your final waterloo? Or do you HAVE to rush because you RENT that corny costume by the HOUR?" A fight ensues, Mysterio shows Spidey a table-top model of an amusement park, aims a strange "weapon" at him, Spidey gets dizzy... and on regaining his sense, looks up, and sees, to his disbelief-- that he's now 6 inches tall, on the table, with a gigantic Mysterio looming over him, bragging how "In the last remaining minutes left you, you will never know what has really happened to you, or how, or why!"

Definitely one of my favorites. My earier mistake-- Don Heck & Mike Esposito returned here for ONE more episode, and it's one of their best. I guess If John Romita somehow wasn't able to handle full art or even full pencils, at least they had some decent guys around to pick up the slack. Not long after I first read this (in the 70's MARVEL TALES reprint), I found out it had been adapted for one of the 3rd-season episodes of the cartoon show. While most of the sub-plots were removed, the main action was left pretty much intact, right down to using some of Stan's dialogue VERBATIM! So when I re-read this, I can really "hear" the characters speaking in my head. The strange thing about that cartoon... I suspect the dialogue was recorded at Grantray-Lawrence just before they went belly-up, as it was one of the FEW 10-minute cartoons done by Krantz Films in NYC. Also, it was unusual for Krantz to feature actual super-villains from the comics. Further, there's a line where Spidey refers to Mysterio as "bowl-head", which makes sense in the comic, but NOT the cartoon. For, in some utterly bizarre, inexplicable reason, Gray Morrow COMPLETELY redesigned Mysterio for the cartoon! Instead of the Steve Ditko outfit that would have looked at home in a DR. STRANGE story, Morrow came up with a guy in a business suit, smoking a cigarette in a long holder, with shell-rimmed glasses, green skin and orange hair! I think someone once suggested he looked a bit like Roman Polansky on psychedelics. In any case, both the comic and cartoon remain among my faves.

"The "Behold...The Vision!" cover to Avengers # 57 is a masterpiece. It's so beautiful yet so moody and sinister. Buscema and Klein really outdid themselves. That cover, which I first saw in the Marvel 50th Anniversary hardcover from the early 90s, is what led me to read The Avengers in the first place."

Yep, that is a great one! It's funny that many years after I first saw it (in a TREASURY edition reprint, I believe), I found out the clouds were there because Roy wanted it to be the Golden Age Vision. But if it had been, I'm not sure how the story might have gone.

IRON MAN #7 -- "The Maggia Strikes" turns out to be one complex story from Archie Goodwin & George Tuska. "Big M"'s goons insist she mount the raid on Stark's plant, even as she's feeling regret for ever having started a criminal career, and how it will hurt Jasper. The Gladiator, fresh from multiple defeats at the hands of Daredevil, pushes his way into things, figuring he can re-establish his rep, and maybe push "Big M" (Whitney Frost) out before long. Meanwhile, Tony Stark can't believe it when Jasper is so lovesick he actually blurts out some classified security info to his girlfriend Whitney-- who Tony's beginning to get suspicious of. Later, he has a meeting with Janice Cord-- daughter of a late rival of his who hated him bitterly and was killed recently. Tony's offering to buy out her father's company for a very reasonable sum. However, it's at this point The Maggia makes their move, and grabs Tony, Janice and her business advisor hostage. Tony learns his supicions about Whitney were justified, as she leads the raid personally, without even a hint of disguise. The Gladiator wants to fight Iron Man, but for this to happen, Tony has to put his life and the others at risk-- to ESCAPE! He does, the fight's on, but before you know it, his repulsor rays get damaged, leaving us with a tense cliffhanger.

When I got my hands on this (and a few other issues from this part of the run), these stories had not yet been reprinted-- which after several decades, really started to seem absurd, considering the multitude of later stories involving Whitney Frost, The Maggia, etc. It's crazy that many fans have grown up reading "sequels" without ever being able to read the "originals". Which, combined with the popularity of a few later runs (notably those by David Michelinie & Bob Layton, and Kurt Busiek & Sean Chen), helped jack up the prices of these back-issues much higher than it seemed reasonable to me. I managed to get these fairly cheap, but I've seen them going for as much as $80 apiece!! --which is really nuts, when you consider Lee-Kirby-Sinnott F.F. issues from the same period were going from $10-20. (I wonder if the prices have come down not that these have finally made it to both ESSENTIALS and MASTERWORKS?)


CAPTAIN AMERICA #107 -- "If The Past Be Not Dead---" has Cap apparently having nightmares & hallucinations about WW2 and Bucky, who keeps saying, "How could you save so many but let ME die??" Steve's now seeing a shrink, a tall, very large Central-European looking guy with a handlebar moustache and a bad haircut named "Dr. Faustus" (you'd think with a name like that anybody would get suspicious). Faustus-- OF COURSE-- is an enemy spy, out to break Cap as none before him have-- psychologically. (His henchmen ask, why don't we just shoot him while we have the chance? NO! He does not WORK that way! BWA-HAHA!) Things reach a critical point when, after taking the Doctor's presciption pills, Steve wakes up having aged decades overnight. But it's a con-- he had SHIELD examine the pills, and had them work up a mask and gloves so he'd look old-- before clobbering the ones responsible. Faustus boldly tries to tackle him single-handedly. That turns out to be a waste of time...

Between the title and the "Bucky's dead!" theme, this story feels like the work of Stan Lee. I wonder who was mostly responsible for Dr. Faustus, Lee or Kirby? In either event, he's one of the last new villains Kirby would do in a Cap mag until the mid-70's. Syd Shores returns to inks, somehow a lot slicker than before-- perhaps he's gotten the hang of the smaller art board size? There's a rumor that Stan was grooming Shores to take over from Kirby, but somehow it never happened, as apparently Lee decided at some point he just wasn't happy with the "look".


CAPTAIN MARVEL #7 -- "Die, Town, Die!" has Mar-Vell ONCE AGAIN undergoing intense scrutiny by Yon-Rogg and Ronan The Accuser, back on their homeworld, having been transported there by some faster-than-light teleportation beam (shades of DC's Adam Strange!). Still unable to prove he's a traitor, Ronan orders a "test"-- Mar-Vell must use a toxic poison to kill everyone in a small town of his choosing. Returning to Earth orbit, then to Earth, Mar-Vell is just in time to save Carol Danvers from a murderous attack by Yon-Rogg, who wants her snooping stopped at all costs. Yon-Rogg then has Una view her lover and the Earth-woman together, trying to destroy her faith in him. Thru all this, Yon-Rogg's megalomania keeps growing, and he doesn't even seem to consider Una an important part of his ambitions anymore!

Things get real strange when Arnold Drake brings in Quasimodo (no explanation for how this "living computer" is alive and kicking after FF ANNUAL #5) who had developed the inexplicable power to control all mechanical devices-- even rifles, which fly out their wielder's hands. (Never mind how Superman can fly-- somebody try explaining THIS phenomona!!) CM winds up battling him, and it spills over into-- of all things-- an amusement park inhabited by animatronic "people". Una sabotaged the viewer just long enough for Yon-Rogg to miss part of the action, and by the time he gets it going again, he witnesses CM destroy Quasimodo-- and apparently, EVERYONE in this "small town". Frustrated that his arch-rival is still in the clear, Yon-Rogg is simultaneously stunned that Mar-Vell actually managed to slaughter that many "people". (Little does he know...)

As with so many episodes before, it takes almost halfway into the issue before this month's main story finally kicks in. I find myself wishing they'd have either focused on the "big" story, or else done these "smaller" stories better. At any rate, it's interesting to compare Don Heck's work in here to that in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Over there, he was working under John Romita's layouts, Mike Esposito's inks, and Romita's touch-ups. So it looked nice, but it was hard to see any "Heck" at all. Here, Heck's storytelling is obvious, making me wonder how it might have been if HE had been doing the plotting over on ASM. The problem, as with the 2 previous issues, is John Tartaglione seems to be adding nothing. Judging by those AVENGERS issues Don inked himself, it looks as though Tartaglione could be just TRACING Don's pencils. I look at some of these pages, and I find myself thinking, I could have done a better job on the inks!!


THOR #158 -- "The Way it Was" starts out with what many consider one really UGLY cover (Marie Severin and some incredibly rushed-looking Colletta inks), followed by some rather static Kirby pages and average-at-best Colletta inks. On the letters pages, for months, a controversy had been building, concerning Thor's history. It seems when the series started, the concept was, Don Blake was a surgeon with a lame leg, who found the hammer of Thor, and became the Thunder God. But then they started introducing Loki, Odin, etc. etc... and at some point, the concept seemed to change, and it became that we were reading about the "real" Thor. Which made many question, WHO was Don Blake? Was he real or not? If he was real, did he somehow replace the "real" Thor, and if so, what happened to him? Well, this issue tackles that question HEAD-ON! Actually, the bulk of the issue is a reprint of the very 1st episode from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83, right down to the Joe Sinnott inks (his inks are on most of the pages, and he's not even mentioned in the credits! Nor is Larry Lieber, who wrote the dialogue for that episode.)

By the issue's end, Thor himself is wondering, WHO is he really? Interestingly enough, one of the readers on the letters page pretty much spells out EXACTLY what the truth is... as would be revealed in the following issue.

While it's possible this issue was put together to give Jack Kirby extra time to do the FF ANNUAL, it's also been speculated that he had been planning on actually destroying Asgard and killing off all (or most) of the cast, and taking the book and its "GODS" in an entirely "NEW" direction. But then, he changed his mind at the last second, and insisted Stan Lee start doing more of the plotting himself. I think at this point, THOR was one of the only books left that hadn't had a retelling of the "origin" story-- so, in this case, we got a REPRINT-- and in the next issue, a major reinterpretation of same.


DAREDEVIL #46 -- "The Final Jest" has DD sneak out of his cell, disguise himself as a doctor, and get out jail just before anyone wises up. He buys a bum's clothes in a trade, and makes it back to the office, claiming he got "mugged". Back home, in his private gym, he finally feels the weight of the world lift... and realizes he recognizes the after-shave of the guy he ran into on that subway (and the voice that went with it) belongs to the guy he was supposed to have "KILLED" on the George Washington Bridge! Putting 2 and 2 together, he figures out what's been going on, and hatches an outrageous scheme to clear his name. Next thing, The Jester turns on THE TONIGHT SHOW, and sees-- HIMSELF-- telling Johnny "And that's how I beat Daredevil." Incensed that anyone would try stealing his glory, he races to the TV studio to confront his imposter-- who, of course, is DD. A fierce fight ends when The Jester is unmasked-- on LIVE TV-- and everyone watching (including the NYC Police) recognize him as the who whose "murder" DD was accused of. They cart The Jester off, telling DD, "Great job. Sorry about the mix-up." Hilarious!!

Now if only they didn't have this incredibly stupid and annoying sub-plot about Karen Page having left Matt because he refused to get serious and get married, and how Debbie Harris knows where she is but promised not to tell, and how Foggy thinks Matt is nuts (clearly he is!!!), and how Matt is thinking how lucky Foggy is to have someone like Debbie, and he hopes he never loses her... Well, at that point, the first thing that crossed my mind was, HE DID-- eventually-- in an incredibly painful, humiliating, degrading fashion-- THANK YOU, DENNY O'NEIL. But that was a lot of years down the line.

George Klein steps in on inks, and does one of the SLICKEST jobs this book has seen since Wally Wood!! Whatta guy.


X-MEN #50 -- "City Of Mutants" opens with a recap of last issue's finale, as a group of "latent mutants" (again the term "Demi-Men" is never once used) captures The X-Men and Lorna Dane, and ship them off to a futuristic town in the southwestern desert run by an army of mutants under the command of Mesmero, a desciple of the "late" Magneto. Jean, via her newfound telepathy (a "gift" from the "late" Professor X?) realizes their best bet to recue Bobby is to allow themselves to be captured. Using a "genetic accelerator", Mesmero activates Lorna's latent mutant ability-- magnetism-- and reveals she's actually the DAUGHTER of Magneto! Ordering her to attack, she does-- but it's Mesmero's goons she takes out. Just as it looks like the tables are turning, to everyone's shock-- Magneto turns up apparently very much alive.

So, the team's back together, it looks like they may have a potential new member, we have a great new menace, and it also looks like their arch-enemy is back for more. (Well, Fu Manchu never stayed dead either...) The big visual shock this issue begins on the cover-- a spectacular illo by Jim Steranko, who also did the pencils for the lead story, and, designed a BRAND-NEW LOGO, which is still being used to this day!!! (The fact that DAREDEVIL's logo also changed 2 months earlier makes me wonder if Steranko might have designed that one as well.)

Steranko has gone on record saying he doesn't consider this issue (and the next one) part of his "resume", probably because HE didn't write it-- or ink it-- or, I'm guessing-- COLOR it, either. The figure work's nice, but John Tartaglione doesn't do HALF the job he did on NICK FURY #5 two months before. There's a couple spots that look like they would have contained "special effects", but didn't, which is one of the reasons I suspect someone else colored this. Arnold Drake mentioned in an interview he had a lot of respect for Steranko as an artist, but I do find myself wondering how he wrote this-- "Marvel style", or full script?

The funny thing about this story (well, one of many, but I'll get to the rest later), considering the much-later revelations about Magneto and his supposed history as a "Holocaust" survivor, is how the mutants in this "City" of theirs all give each other NAZI salutes!


"This Boy-- This Bombshell" covers Hank McCoy's early life from toddler to high school football hero. He winds up single-handedly stopping a gang trying to steal stadium receipts, and comes to the attention of some other criminals with much bigger ambitions. Ohhh boy... Werner Roth & John Verpoorten supply some "nice" art here, though I admit, in spots, I almost thought I was reading a "DC".

NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #7 -- "Hours Of Madness, Day of Death" is Archie Goodwin's sole solo outing on this series. Investigating agents who have been drugged & killed, Fury winds up the latest victim, and spents most of the issue stumbling around trying to hook up with SHIELD so they can give him an antidote to save his life, and so he can finger the culprits responsible. He has a mid-town run-in with Dugan, Gabe & Jimmy Woo (nice to see they're remembered again), but hallucinates and thinks they're old enemies attacking. He eventually gets help from a "sister of mercy"-- who almost winds up becoming a victim along with Nick when the bad guys catch up with them. Rescued at the last minute by the Heli-Carrier's vortex beam, Nick still almost buys it when the SHIELD medic giving him the "antidote" turns out to be the ring-leader of the spies.

Frank Springer does a nice job with wild layouts, but his Fury still doesn't seem like the "real" one (either Jack's OR Jim's).


DOCTOR STRANGE #175 -- "Unto Us... The Sons Of Satannish" reveals an entire cult beneath the streets of NYC following the same demon the guy in the last issue made that deal with, and their leader, Azmodeus, is watching Doc & Clea's every move. The happy couple wander the city, Doc still trying to explain to her that she can't go displaying her magic like she used to back home. Fighting off an attack during a cab-ride to her apartment, Doc races home afterwards, only realizing that the cabbie knows Clea's whereabouts-- and soon finds the poor guy in a trance. Clea, meanwhile, is pulled into an alley by Azmodeus, who claims to be a "friend". YEAH-- RIGHT.

The Thomas-Colan-Palmer teams continues to dazzle. On the letters page, some readers express missing Dan Adkins greatly, though Colan is definitely picking up admirers. And someone actually says they think Roy Thomas "finally learned how to write" on this series. Between this and The Vision's debut on AVENGERS, it would seem that Thomas has finally managed a jump in quality!


FANTASTIC FOUR #81 -- "Enter-- The Exquisite Elemental" has Crystal donning an "FF" uniform and suggesting she take Sue's place now that the new Mom has a baby to watch after. Reed says he'll have to think about it... Meanwhile, The Wizard, as he promised, has created a new set of power gloves, and immediately attacks the group, drawing them away from their HQ this time. Johnny flies out on his own, followed by Reed, Ben & Crys in the Fantasti-Car (which we haven't seen in ages!). The fight takes half the issue, during which time Crystal takes every opportunity to show just what an asset to the team she can be, both in power and strategy. (Strong, pretty, AND smart!) The Wizard can't believe this "mere girl" is beating him so thoroughly, and only barely escapes at the end after falling into the river and swimming away. For the 2nd time in a row, Reed seems less than concerned, but now happily welcome's Johnny's girl to the team.

As always-- the Kirby-Sinnott art is a wonder to behold. One of these days, I just gotta get my hands on an original comic. This MGC reprint is just too fuzzy.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #67 -- "To Squash A Spider" concludes the Mysterio 2-parter as Spidey spends most of his time running and fighting for his life in what appears to be a incredibly-detailed (and extremely DEADLY) table-top amusement park. The sub-plots continue: Norman Osborn now remembers he's the Green Goblin, and wants revenge, but doesn't remember on who; JJJ is pissed that nobody has word or pics of Spider-Man OR Mysterio; Joe calls up Stacy again for another chat; and Joe's son Randy turns up (making his debut) with some problem his Dad tells him to share with him. Back at the tv studio, Spidey gets tired of running and wondering why Mysterio keeps vanishing whenever he gets close, and bets everything that it's ALL an illusion. This proves correct-- Spidey HASN'T been shrunk to 6 inches, it's a full-sized deadly amusement park (presumably built inside the tv studio as a "film set"), and he finds the regular-sized Mysterio running the show inside the parachute jump tower. After clobbering the bum, Spidey can't help but gloat, and his foe asks him, "Just call the cops, OKAY?"

Jim Mooney returns for his 3rd episode, and begins what turned out to be quite a run on the series, doing pencils & inks over Romita layouts. NICE, dark, "moody" stuff.


THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #2 -- "The Goblin Lives!" has "the gang" watching a lecture on crime by Captain Stacy, which focuses on Spidey & The Green Goblin. BAD idea-- as it's the final straw that sends Norman Osborn over the edge, and causes his memories of BEING The Green Goblin to finally return. He returns home, and invites Pete, Harry, Gwen & MJ to a "party"-- at which he can barely restrain himself from revealing to everyone the TRUTH about himself and Peter Parker. Pete manages to set a fire in the next room and sneak away, followed by Osborn as now all facade is brushed aside. The entire 2nd half of the book is dedicated to one LONG battle between Spider-Man and The Green Goblin, who's determined not only to kill his foe, but also reveal his identity to his Aunt May! (The BASTARD!!!) It's a "hallucinogenic" pumpkin that finally turns the tables, as once Spidey overcomes its effects, he realizes it may be hs only way out of this mess. Sure enough, he uses it on The Goblin-- who's mind is so tormented by visions he tears the Goblin costume off, and within minutes, can't seem to remember anything about Spider-Man. Pete helps him back to the hospital, where Harry soon arrives. At the end, Pete walks off with both Gwen AND Mary Jane on his arms, and though MJ thinks it's a hoot, inwardly Pete isn't in the mood for celebrating.

As if the continuity between SPECTACULAR and AMAZING wasn't confusing enough last time, the first half of this issue aparently winds its way in and out of SEVERAL consecutive issues of ASM, as Norman slowly regains his memory. Once he gets it all back, the rest of the story can only fit right after the Mysterio 2-parter. The 2nd issue was printed in color, but it must have been a late decision, as the early pages have MUCH more line-rendering detail, suggesting it was gonna be B&W before someone changed their mind. Tragically, I only have this as the 1973 ANNUAL reprint, which has, apparently, a LOT of pages missing, and some narration at the start and end morbidly talking about the death of Gwen Stacy and The Green Goblin in ASM #121-122 (thank you, Roy Thomas!!!). I'd love to see what this looked like originally when it was magazine-sized.

Some other fan not long ago (I think) suggested that, in a better world, this would have been the LAST Green Goblin story, ever. Spidey worried for almost 2 years that he might get his memory back, and here he did-- then, lost it again. It was a well-told story. There was NO NEED to tell it again-- but they brought him back TWICE more, before killing him off. One of countless reasons I'm beginning to wish the Marvel Universe had just come to a stop when Jack Kirby left the company.


IRON MAN #8 -- "A Duel Must End" reveals the "origin" of "Big M", as we see how Whitney Frost grew up living a charmed life, a girl who had everything-- until the man she thought was her father died, and she met her REAL father-- Count Nefaria. Once word of her family's crime connections reached her fiancee, he left her, causing her in despair to go along with her father's ambitions to train her to take over his criminal empire. Because this was never reprinted for decades, I spent many many years reading stories about her without ever having read this important story.

Anyway, The Maggia's raid on Stark Enterprises continues, Iron Man manages to get Janice Cord & her lawyer to safety, then head for the factory, where a free-for-all erupts between him, The Maggia goons, The Gladiator-- and Jasper Sitwell & a squad of security men (the ones who were gassed turning out to have been a squad of L.M.D.s!). It seems ever since Whitney started getting so inquisitive about Stark's security, Jasper got suspicious of her, and decided to let it play out so he could nab the whole mob. (Stark sure is surprised to learn this!!) But Whitney escapes at the end, because Jasper can't bring himself to shoot her in the back... something Stark understands, only too well.

The Goodwin-Tuska-Craig team continues, and on the letters page several fans rave about what a big improvement Tuska-Craig are over solo Craig, or even Craig inking Colan.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #108 -- "The Snares Of The Trapster" sees Cap in a really dangerous workout session, before being interrupted by another SHIELD man, who tells him Sharon Carter's disappeared while on assignment. Knowing Cap would be interested, he hands him a homer, which indicates she's still alive. Racing to find her in a slum building scheduled for demolition, he finds she's a prisoner of The Trapster, who's trying to get his hands on some secrets Sharon was transporting. A fight takes up half the issue, during which The Trapster is repeatedly confounded that his super-powered glue keeps disolving too soon. After revealing The Red Skull was paying him to get ahold of the secrets, the baddie is thoroughly beaten-- and Cap discovers the "prisoner" was really an L.M.D. (another one???) whose programming has shut down now that the real objective (learning the Skull was involved) has been accomplished. While a fake Sharon was imprisoned all this time, the real Sharon was using chemicals to water down the baddie's glue. She tells Cap she really wanted his help anyway, as she knew he had the best chance of beating the guy.

After 2 issues in a row of Steve stupidly deciding he wanted Sharon out of his life, last issue he seemed desperate to find her again, and this time, he has. Is this nearly-schizo behavior the fault of Stan Lee, or Jack Kirby? We may never know, though as Steve's "I must get her out of my life" only really manifested itself in the DIALOGUE, I think we can make a good guess. (Bad Stan! BAD!!!)

Syd Shores continues to kick A** on the inks, in some panels giving the art a quality almost similar to Gene Colan's art (wild as that sounds, considering it's Kirby).

Something else else I forgot to mention... isn't it funny that in 2 Lee-Kirby comics in the SAME month, we see returns of The Wizard AND the Trapster? Medusa is up for next month's FF (along with the rest of The Inhumans), but I wonder what the Sandman was doing about this time?

This is the only post-Annihilus issue of the Lee/Kirby FF that I like. Considering how super-heroines were generally portrayed at the time (by TWO generations of writers), it's a pleasant surprise how kick-ass Crystal is here, and it's especially pleasant because it reminds me of the Crystal from the early 90s Avengers; it's just a shame that it took more than 20 years before Crystal was written right again.

I'm at a point in my re-reading project where the art is still about the best Marvel ever had-- but the writing is slipping overall. As Kirby got more frustrated and insisted Lee do more of the plotting, I think it just got worse. Like, Kirby spent so much time putting Steve Rogers & Sharon Carter together. Right about this time, Lee (presuambly) starts putting in the dialogue that Steve feels he should get Sharon out of his life. WTF?? (As it's been said in THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, there's more and more instances where if you only look at the pictures, and ignore the dialogue, you're getting 2 completely different comics!)

The slow evolution of Johnny Storm, from young hothead (heh) to ladies' man, to his unfortunate detour down the road of Doris Evans (why, WHY did he ever go out with that one???) and then, right after Reed & Sue's wedding, when he found Crystal... wow. One article I read pointed out how in the early FF, the book had Reed-- "the older brainy type"-- as the traditional hero. But after he got married, Johnny became the hero of the book-- the "new, younger generation" who lived more by his heart than his brain. The Johnny-Crystal relationship is by far one of the high points of the later Kirby run. BREAKING THEM UP was the stupidest thing anyone may have ever done on that book (and that's saying something), and screams "bad soap opera"-- in other words, "Stan Lee" to me. His protoge, Roy Thomas, had the bad habit of following Stan's lead in all the WORST things. Having Crystal marry Pietro... WHAT THE F*** were they thinking?????

It's no surprise that, for me, the early 70's was a very bad time for Marvel's "60's" books. It was the new, fresh series that were really fun to read-- like GHOST RIDER, HERO FOR HIRE, MASTER OF KUNG FU, etc.

Who knows how different Marvel history might have been if Kirby had been happier by the end of the 60's, and stuck around in the 70's?

We might have seen the Asgardian gods killed off and replaced by the New Gods. That would have been cool, because post-Kirby, the only good Thor was Simonson's IMO; otherwise, it's been one of the most self-cannibalizing books at Marvel.

I was just picturing the other day, if Thor-- and Sif!!-- had been the only ones left alive after the Mangog pulled the Odinsword. It might have been Johnny Storm, The Fantasti-Car and Rick Jones' Teen Brigade we saw racing down that "Zoomway". And picture Thor, in his blue outfit and big red cape, being the "last survivor" of a destroyed world (sound familiar?) wanting to touch base with those in "Supertown" as they'd be the closest to the home he once knew and lost. And of course, let's not forget Kirby already had a hero who regularly carried a shield who'd be sure to get involved...


See... John Byrne and his B***S*** notwithstanding, I ALWAYS had the impression that the "NEW GODS" were just that-- NEW. Not having existed for thousands of years already, and certainly, Scott Free NOT having been on Earth for 200 years before we met him in MISTER MIRACLE #1. (What a load...) So I discount about 90% of what every writer since Kirby has ever done on those characters.


To this day, I've never read more than the tiniest handful of post-Kirby THORs from the early 70's. I came in around 1973, right when Conway & Buscema (and Buckler) brought back Hercules, Pluto, The Destroyer, intro'd The Firelord, brought back Galactus, Ego, then got into that whle thing with Loki leading an army to conquer Earth. Before long, Odin decided HE needed to "learn humility" (NO S***!!!) and deliberately blanked out his memory to walk among men as a human, got involved with the Egyptian Gods, and (behind the scenes) got kidnapped by some aliens from the furthest reaches of space while Mangog-- somehow-- returned to takle his place in disguise. (HUH???) Then followed Len Wein's overlong "Odinquest", etc...

Some of that was nice, but after THOR #300, it plummetted to new lows even I could not believe... until, finally, Simonson was given a chance to do something with it. I guess it was like CAPTAIN MARVEL, just before Friedrich & Starlin took over. Things got so bad, they figured, do what you want-- how can it hurt???

SILVER SURFER #3 -- "The Power And The Prize!" / "Duel In The Depths" begins with the Surfer using his power to heal the woman who was victimized by The Badoon in the previous issue. But the whole time, the cops are trying to kill him, thinking he's trying to kill HER! It gets to him so much, he goes on a mild rampage, "Day The Earth Stood Still" style, bringing technology everywhere to a halt, before calming down. All this comes to the attention of this "demon of the lower depths"-- Mephisto, who decides he cannot abide someone so "pure" and "good" and "noble" getting in the way of the world where so many of those who people his nether-realm come from. Wanting to find a weak spot, he travels to Zenn-La, and urges Shall-Bal to make the trip to Earth to be reunited with her beloved. She does, but soon becomes a pawn in Mephisto's game to turn The Surfer into his slave. It goes on and on and on, until finally, Mephisto whisks Shalla-Bal back to her home planet. On the one hand, The Surfer is glad that now she's safe, but on the other, he may never see her again.

I wonder what was going on that 2 different manifestations of Satan turned up in Marvel books within a month or two of each other-- Mephisto here, and Satannish in DR. STRANGE. Sattanish is the lesser-known of the two, but he sure seemed more "traditional" and scary to me. The John Buscema-Joe Sinnott art is, if anything, even more spectacular than before. I may not be crazy about the stories, but the art's sure nice to look at. Between certain quotes in some of his scripts, comments on the Bullpen page, and this entire issue, Stan Lee seems to be on some kind of a "Jesus" kick, in this case with the Surfer filling in for Jesus and Mephisto filling in for Satan-- especially in the scene where he "tempts" him with riches, and power, and women. Some fans in various mags wrote in to complain, accusing him of pushing a Christian agenda (and here, I thought Lee was JEWISH!). I kinda wonder what kind of reaction this sort of thing might generate nowadays?


SUB-MARINER #8 -- "In The Rage Of Battle" has Namor's foe Destiny-- or, Paul Destine, dead from his own power, and the helmet he wore, which drove him insane in the first place, in the hands of the authorities, who want it taken to a place of safety where it can be studied safely. On hearing this, Namor is outraged-- he feels if the thing isn't destroyed, or hidden back where it was in the first place, it could prove dangerous enough to start it up all over again. The Thing is called in to transport the helmet, so, naturally, HALF the issue is dedicated to a Thing-Sub-Mariner fight. It gets more and more destructive on both sides (Ben really gets irresponsible without the rest of the FF backing him up), until a very old friend of Namor's-- "Mrs. Prentiss"-- shows up and pleads for him to just stop destroying buildings and leave! He wants to talk, but she disappears, and he takes the helmet and goes. As it turns out, it was Betty Dean-- much older, and sad to see the man she once loved so deeply again for only such a brief moment, especially as he hasn't aged a day while she has.

It seems that despite his perpetual hot-headedness, Namor continues to be some kind of babe-magnet, as we have 3 women in this one issue who he means a lot to-- Dorma, injured in a previous issue, Diane, a new surface-woman friend, and Betty Dean, who was a regular in his series in the 40's AND 50's. The Buscema-Adkins art is nice, but I could really have done without another pointless hero-vs.-hero fight.


THE AVENGERS #58 -- "Even An Android Can Cry" has Iron Man, Captain America & Thor turn up to help weigh the decision of whether The Vision should be made a member of the team. The problem is, he has no memory of his origin... or, he doesn't until he makes a concerted effort to dig back thru his memory banks. And what a twisted, convoluted, far-fetched story it is. It seems Hank Pym, after baby-sitting Diablo's Dragon Man, became interested in artificial life, and began doing some crude experiments on his own. He build a small robot, but was shocked when it suddenly turned itself on, and in a matter of minutes went from speaking like a baby to a full-grown intellectual adult. But this "adult" was of a definitely HOMICIDAL variety, and wanted to KILL its "father". FOR NO APPARENT REASON. Not satisfed with its then-current state, it deliberately induced partial amnesia in Pym, ordered him to board up his house inthe suburbs, then split-- returning later to "complete its own creation". Having done so, it became ULTRON-5, attacked the team several times, and then, in some mysterious fashion, created some artificial life of its own, in the form of The Vision-- as seen in the previous issue. And it seems the guy has the "brain patterns" of Simon Williams-- alias "Wonder Man"-- which were recorded for future reference just before he died. (HUH???) NONE of this makes any sense-- AT ALL-- but the team accepts it, and The Vision, who walks off, is overwhelmed with emotion.

It sure seems to me there ought to be some as-yet-unexplained story behind HOW in the hell a scientist who specialized in one field could tinker around building a robot which would come to SENTIENT LIFE, and go on a murderous rampage. Allusions to "Frankenstein" aside, it just seems to me there almost has to be more to it than that... yet, after DECADES, I don't believe anyone ever delved into it, and each time Ultron returns for another bout makes me shake my head more than the last time. (Even The Red Tornado got a better-thought-out origin than this... EVENTUALLY.)

If nothing else, the John Buscema-George Klein art may be some of the best ever seen in the series yet. I'm definitely seeing better art than writing in general from Marvel at this point.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #8 -- "And Fear Shall Follow" has Arnold Drake kick things into high gear! We meet the Aakon, a yellow-skinned alien race who are deadly enemies of The Kree-- who have engine trouble and land on the Moon's dark side for repairs. But Yon-Rogg, seeking GLORY (BWA-HA-HA!) orders an attack, almost getting his sorry self killed in the process! Though he's tried repeatedly to kill Mar-Vell and spent this entire manouever knocking every move the guy makes, Mar-Vell-- in what can only be considered a feat of pure STUPIDITY-- saves the guy's life, then leaves another officer in charge of the ship until he or Yon-Rogg takes command again.

As if that weren't enough... trying to fulfill a promise to Carol Danvers to look into the mysterious background of Dr. Walt Lawson (a bizarre assignment as you can get, considering the guy's DEAD and Mar-Vell has been impersonating him for quite some time now), Mar-Vell finds Lawson has a fancy, expensive mountain-side house and laboratory, a secret lab, and evidence of something HUGE he must have been building. "What were you UP to, Lawson?" he asks rhetorically. The answer comes soon. Of all the people Mar-Vell could have impersonated, it seems Walt Lawson was a renegade scientist, backed by a criminal gang called "The Organization", whose "Number One" (no relation to "Number One" of Hydra or The Secret Empire) had him build a giant robot assassin who could take out any potential enemies. But it gets stranger! The robot, which has not turned up in all this time, suddenly does-- and it seems it was programmed, for some inexplicable kind of "test run"-- to KILL Lawson (not realizing he was its creator). This is so wild, so out-of-left-field, yet so creative, it positively blows my mind.

So of course-- what happens? We wind up with a free-for-all between Mar-Vell, Organization hoods (out to find Lawson who they suspect has skipped with their money), the killer robot, and the Aakon. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed...

On top of all this, Vince Colletta returns, and for the 2nd time on this series, his taking over on inks proves a MAJOR IMPROVEMENT! (Who'da thunk it?) Colletta often overpowers whatever artist he's inking over, but in this case, as it was with Gene Colan, it's in a "good" way. As he was on THOR for some issues where some fan accused him of trying to be "Joe Sinnott", his inks here are much slicker and bolder than his usual, allowing Don Heck (YEAH-- Don Heck!) to shine. It's almost too bad these 2 guys weren't on this book from the very 1st episode.


THOR #159 -- "The Answer At Last!" has Don Blake letting his mind drift, and it appears Thor enters Asgard-- but is it reality, or just a dream? Odin knows what he wants to know-- and at long last lays out the facts. In long days past, following a peace treaty, a young a headstrong Thor wandered into Niffelheim to bring down a dangerous bird-creature, not caring that he was violating their land and Odin's treaty. Fighting breaks out, Odin has Balder drag Thor back home, and before long, Odin tells his son that the one thing he's really lacking in, which he cannot possibly learn AS a God, is humility. And so, in an instant, Thor finds himself transformed into a frail mortal, "Don Blake", as he enters medical school, with NO memory of being Thor, and under a spell whose nature makes him never question why he has no memory of his own past as Blake! Years went by, and he became a healer, helping others for the sake of helping, until eventually he came across the hammer, hidden in a cave by Odin who knew he'd find it there. At last, he realizes, he always was Thor, and his heart is glad.

The Kirby-Colletta art is the usual brilliance, though less slick than some recent issues. Someone pointed out that having Mangog turn out to be a creation of an Odin-spell, and Don Blake also turning out to be the creation of an Odin-spell, was a good example of thematic consistency-- but that, if it was, it seems to have gone right over Stan Lee's head. Oh well!


DAREDEVIL #47 -- "Brother, Take My Hand" has DD goes to Viet Nam to entertain the troops, and his biggest fan is a wounded soldier who's on the verge of losing his sight. Back home, we find the guy was an ex-cop, framed of taking a bribe by some gangsters. Taking the advice of social worker Karen Page (so THAT's where she's been hiding) he hires Matt Murdock to clear his name. The gangsters don't like the idea, and try to make sure it never gets to trial-- until DD-- in the dark-- convinces them that his client can more than take care of himself! After, Matt reveals that he, too, is blind, which gives the guy renewed hope that his life isn't over after all.

The Colan-Klein art continues to be gorgeous and slick, while the cover sports a new variation of the previous DARE- DEVIL logo. Stan Lee was apparently proud of this story, as he picked it for inclusion in SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, which is where I have it reprinted.


X-MEN #51 -- "The Devil Had a Daughter" has one huge fight between The X-Men and Magneto and his mutant army in the southwest desert "City of Mutants". As some have pointed out, without Professor X, the team, and in particular, Cyclops and Marvel Girl, have really come into their own! I've never seen Scott so aggressive, and angry, being really fed up with Magneto and all his murderous evil C***. With overwhelming odds, the team is lucky to escape, though Magneto's legs get paralyzed when a pile of scrap metal falls on him (can you say "IRONY"???). Iceman is pissed that Cyclops feels he's "too involved" emotionally with Lorna Dane, who appears to have sided with her father Magneto, and he storms out. (Gee, it's the early Johnny Storm Human Torch thing all over again!) Scott reveals he has a "plan", but doesn't give details... and a couple days later, a mysterious, powerful new entity, "Eric The Red", turns up at the City of Mutants, shouting out a challenge to Magneto.

I'm wondering where Mesmero was while all this was going on. But the main point of interest is the art. The credit actually reads, "Do we really have to tell you?", but it's obvious it's Jim Steranko. Well, barely. John Tartaglione, who did such a wonderful job on NICK FURY #5 (almost shockingly good) does an equally MISERABLE job here, and the closest thing it reminds me of was that issue of MASTER OF KUNG FU when Paul Gulacy's pencils were murdered by the inks of Sal Trapani. (That's just what it looks like!!) I strongly suspect Arnold Drake supplied Steranko with a very detailed, written plot, if not a finished script, as the designs of the pages are almost "normal" given who the guy was drawing them, and the pacing and storytelling is almost completely different from anything Steranko did before this, or after. For whatever reason, this would be his last X-MEN issue (#2 of 2, collect 'em all) and on the Bullpen page Stan has already announced Steranko's already working on something "even better!"


"The Lure Of The Beast-Nappers" has this criminal gang trying to blackmail Hank McCoy into working for them, by kidnapping his parents and threatening their lives. (That's not cricket, old chap!) Meanwhile, Cylcops, Iceman and Angel (whose origin we haven't seen yet) have become aware of the situation, and are preparing to step in.

This here's an example of how some artists' styles mesh better-- or worse-- than others. Once again, John Tartaglione is on the inks, but over Werner Roth, it looks GREAT! Go figure.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #8 -- "This Speaks Supremus" has another would-be world-conqueror assassinating spy agency leaders worldwide, causing riots, and planning to use a dangerous drug to bend people's minds to his will. Even further, he plans to use genetic experimentation on the people of the world, to turn them into slaves to do his bidding. Business as usual for SHIELD, but this guy's pretty demented about it. After botching a murder attempt on Fury (and not realizing it), Fury follows clues to the Rock Of Gibraltar where he confronts the villain in "The Caves Of Hercules", where he's surrounded by tons of machinery and a small army of mutated zombies. With a little help, Fury wins out. Another "quickie" epic in only 20 pages.

This feels more like a "fill-in" than NICK FURY #4 was. Stan's "old friend" from Florida, Ernie Hart, supplied the script (it almost sounds like he may have done it full-script style), and although Frank Springer's on the art, 4 pages in the middle were pencilled by Herb Trimpe (who would return later) and all of it's inked by John Tartaglione. Funny enough, JT murders Springer's work, but Trimpe's art he makes look better than usual at this point of the game. Go figure. The cover, solo by Springer, is GREAT, the best part of the book by far, and features a one-time-only altered logo. I wonder what was going on that they were playing around with their logo designs so much during these few months here? Overall, one of my least-favorite issues of the run.


DR. STRANGE #176 -- "O Grave Where Is Thy Victory?" has Doc trying to find Clea, who's been abducted by Azmodeus, leader of The Sons Of Satannish. (Sure are a lot of "Devil"-themed baddies running around right here!) He eventually finds her, and becomes their prisoner as well. Along the way, he finds a gravestone in a cemetary with HIS name on it. Gee, you think somebody's trying to tell him something?

Although one reader complained that Gene Colan had no place on this book, the majority opinion seems to be that he's the best thing to happen since... well, Dan Adkins, and Tom Palmer's inks are positively MIND-BLOWING!! Gene's gotten some really decent inks around this time, but the Colan-Palmer teaming just puts everything else to shame!! The letters pages has a promo for the next issue, featuring 2 different character designs, and the question, "Will the REAL Dr. Strange please stand up?" (It seems to me Roy Thomas is on a kick to try and change the books he's working on to more make them "his own".)


FANTASTIC FOUR #82 -- "The Mark Of The Madman" has Crystal wanting to ask her family's permission to officially join the team, but when Lockjaw arrives, he's brought some Alpha-Primitives with him, who make off with her! Johnny's PISSED, and next thing, he, Reed & Ben are racing by ICBM to The Inhumans' "Great Refuge". It's return bout time again, as Maximus The Mad has somehow used mind-bending gas to overthrow his brother and once more take over as ruler. Maybe this guy should get another hobby...? The FF arrive, but before long, wind up prisoners, as Maximus prepares to use another of his patented giant gun thingies against all of mankind (haven't we seen this BEFORE??), this one designed to affect will-power and turn everyone on the planet into his willing slaves. (Hey, wait a minute, that's the 2nd time this month someone pulled that stunt!)

Kirby & Sinnott are MAGNIFICENT as always (it almost gets boring to say it, but it's true!). Stan Lee may well have plotted this, as there's virtually nothing new or original about it at all. His infamous poor memory also slips up BIG-TIME, when the FF arrive at the hidden land, and comment on the remains of "The Great Barrier", which they destroyed, and Stan's narration mentions this was when the FF helped to "free" the Inhumans. WRONG!!! Black Bolt destroyed the barrier-- the FF weren't even around when it happened! Geez, for a guy who claims to have "written" these books, you'd THINK at least Stan could keep a MAJOR PLOT POINT like that straight!! The funny thing is, the first time I read this story, I never noticed this error, and there's a good reason for that. See, I have this in both the original printing, and the 70's MGC reprint. The MGC version is missing 2 pages, for some reason they had to get Joe Sinnott to re-pencil and ink the cover FROM SCRATCH (you can tell, Ben looks totally different), and all the art, INCLUDING the brand-new cover, the lineweork was fuzzy! (How the HELL do you wind up with fuzzy linework on an original printing of art?? MAN, is their stat machine lousy!!) Well, in the reprint, that one panel had one of the word balloons and Stan's narration changed, to "correct" Stan's blatent mistake. I wonder how many instances there are where things could make a LOT more sense if somebody just changed or deleted a few of Stan's words? I bet they left it with the mistake intact in all subsequent reprints, though... too bad.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #68 -- "Crisis On The Campus" begins a new long-running storyline. For no reason that makes sense to me this time out, The Kingpin wants to get his hands on a mysterious stone tablet which scientists worldwide have been trying to decipher. Does he see it as a way to power? Or does he just plan on ransoming it for a huge sum? We never find out, and it seems kind of outside the jurisdiction of a gang boss. Oh well. Despite the recent Green Goblin story not possibly fitting anywhere except between this story and the previous issue, twice in the episode mention is made of Mysterio (well, to be fair, NOBODY outside Spidey even knew The Goblin had returned-- how ignominious for him!). At school, there's a demonstration going on concerning the Dean's plans to turn an exhibition hall into lodging for alumni, while low-rent housing for students is much more needed. Joe's son Randy gets involved, as does a friend of his named Josh, who at one point is throwing so much "ATTITUDE!!" around, he even winds up calling Pete "Whitey". (OH yeah. This guy's been reading "How to Win Friends And Influence People", no doubt about it.) Just as things turn heated, Kingpin turns up, so of couse Spidey turns up, big fight, which ends with the demonstrators hauled away by the cops as if THEY had something to do with the theft, while Kingpin gets away, driving off as Spidey follows. (Gee, kinda like a scene from one of those 2 Kingpin cartoons appearances.)

There's a funny thing, in one scene, Kingpin pushes Pete aside, saying "Stand aside, I've no time to waste on juveniles." This is almost identical to a scene 2 issues earlier, when Mysterio shoved Pete aside saying "Stand aside, I've no time to waste on nobodies." Except this time, Kingpin senses something-- "power"-- but doesn't know what to make of it. It makes Pete nervous for a monent, that's for sure. The layout of the panel appears closer to that used in the Mysterio cartoon when they did that scene than the one in the Mysterio comic-book episode. (Does it seem Stan is repeating himself more and more lately?)

I really dig Jim Mooney's art here. He's listed as "illustrator"-- John Romita is credited with "storyboards". They really make a good team.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #109 -- "The Hero That Was" has Nick Fury visiting Steve Rogers, who's reminiscing about his days in WW2. Before you know it, we're witness to ANOTHER origin story being retold, this one from way back in 1941-- or 1965, take yer pick. Jack Kirby wound up drawing 3 different versions of the same story, in any event! A few minor details are changed-- it's "Professor Reinstein" again as it was in '41 (it was "Erskine" in '65), and we have injections and "vita-rays", where the '41 version had Steve drink the chemical. A later retelling would include all 3, which I guess makes sense.

Syd Shores does another bang-up job, giving the book what many fans describe as a real "retro" look. Although Jack Kirby had been wanting to do other things for quite some time, again and again he kept coming back to this series. Well, this would prove, at last, to be the FINAL issue of his 2nd run (not counting a "fill-in" a few months down the line). It's interesting that, many years later, John Byrne's final issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA would also be a retelling of his origin (although, in his case, it wasn't PLANNED that way-- I think.) The letters page promo reads, "In The Shadow of Bucky", which hints at yet more dwelling on this whole "Bucky's dead!" thing which by now was really getting old.

NOT BRAND ECCH #11 -- This was the only issue of this I got back when (without a cover), the fact that it had a parody of a "famous monster" movie as the lead story probably had a lot to do with it.

"KING KONK '68" deals with Hollywood's thing for doing updated remakes of old classic films. Of course, this was 8 years before Dino DeLaurentiis actually did HIS version! In this one, the cast includes Liz & Dick, and Hugh Hefner, not to mention half the superheroes of the Marvel Universe (or parodies of them, in any case). I've often said Roy Thomas has no sense of humor, and judging by 99-9/10th of his output, that would seem true, yet he proves me wrong with this single story, illustrated by Tom Sutton & Marie Severin. The scene where Konk walks past The Baxter Building and then Avengers Mansion seems to have "inspired" an almost identical visual in the monstrously-stupid American "GODZILLA" movie decades later.

"Look...out the window! I, the Visage, see a giant ape's foot!" "What be-eth so unusual about that?" "We're on the 17th floor!" And of course, my favorite line involves Goliath... "...and some nut TOLD me that Konk was climbin' the CHRYSLER Building! Ever since I lost my own series, I get nothin' but BUM STEERS!" A lot of the jokes in here make a lot more sense to me now than they did back then, strangely enough, considering how much they related to the time it came out.

"Super-Hero Daydreams" features a scene that has always stuck with me, a little kid in the local store harrassed by the owner, who bellows, "HEY! You gonna READ 'em or BUY 'em?" Marie Severin supplied both the art AND script, with nice inks by John Tartaglione, who, like several inkers whose work I haven't liked over the years, seems MUCH better suited for "humor" art than "superhero" stuff.

"Dark Moon Rise, Heck Hound Hurt!" is another major highlight for me, as Arnold Drake and then-current SHIELD artist Frank Springer (with inks by Tom Sutton) parody Jim Steranko's NICK FURY #3, and as I read this some 8 years before reading the original, I've always preferred the parody to the "straight" version! The infamous 2-page title spread features a huge image of Snoopy chewing his way thru some bagpipes as their Scottish owner cringes nearby. My favorite bit is when "Knock Furious" rushes to crash thru a door, only to have the butler open it one second before he hits. As he dashes thru the room out-of-control (like a hard-boiled Inspector Clouseau), he yells, "What pea-brained, sieve-headed, vacuum-skulled idiot opened that D-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-R?" The villain of the piece turns out to be "Colonel Von Twothreefour", and as Arnold puts it, his plan is "simplicity itself, but we must complicate it because jaunty JIM STERANKO loves long, wordy captions." The story ends when Furious attacks Arnold Drake & Frank Springer in their office for dumping too many cruel, brutal torturous dangers on him. As he walks off thru a graveyard, he says, "ANOTHER job well done-- another BLOW struck for freedom and decency and western democracy and baseball and drive-in movies and American womanhood and the return of the FIVE-CENT chocolate bar!" To date, this is the ONLY feature from NBE to be reprinted, and on a trip to NYC, I had Arnold sign it for me.

Other highlights include "How To be A Comic-Book Artist" (by Marie Severin, uncredited), "Prince No More, The Sunk-Mariner" (Drake & Sutton parody politics with a race between Subby and Aqualung-Man, with "Floyd Britches" as a write-in candidate), and "The Amazing Spidey-Man" (Drake, Severin & Tartaglione look at fame & fortune in the super-hero biz).


Somebody needs to collect & reprint this stuff... if they can do a decent job reproducing the art! (The 1984 "Dark Moon Rise" reprint in CAPTAIN AMERICA SPECIAL EDITION #2 kinda sucked on that score.)

THE AVENGERS #59 -- "The Name Is... Yellowjacket!" has a new hero debut, catching crooks for the cops who aren't sure whether to thank him or clock him one for his "attitude". He then shows up at The Mansion, wanting to become a member. This would be "nerve" enough, but then the guy CLAIMS he "polished off" Goliath. SAY WHAT?? It's flashback time as we see a big fight between Goliath & Yellowjacket, the latter using shrinking gas on the former, leaving him helpless without his ant-communication headgear, at the non-existent mercy of the insects. Before long, he kidnaps The Wasp, and in a truly bizarre moment, plants one on her. When the team finally tracks them down, they're casually walking out of City Hall... and Jan tells everyone to back off, because she's planning to MARRY the guy.

I suppose if ever an AVENGERS comic felt like one had walked into an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, this is it. Or maybe it's like a super-hero version of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR, come to think of it, because "Yellowjacket" comes across one HELL of a lot like "Buddy Love". I guess that should have been the tip-off to anyone reading this when it came out. I had the "surprise" ruined for me by reading later stories first. Oh well. The Buscema-Klein team continues to do some of the best art yet.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #9 -- "Between Hammer And Anvil" continues the craziness from last time with the Aakon attacking CM, Carol Danvers personally investigating Walt Lawson's motel room, the self-repairing giant killer robot kidnapping her, "King Kong" style, the cops asking Lawson if he knows what's going on, and Yon-Rogg continuing to needle Una about Mar-Vell's "attachment" to the Earth woman. Carol can't understand why the robot wants to kill Lawson if he built it, but then "Cyberex" (as it's now suddenly calling itself) doesn't know who its creator is. CM scribbles a Kree code onto Lawson's address book, and when the Aakon get their hands on it (thinking its a secret Kree code book) for the 2nd episode in a row a free-for-all erupts between them and the giant robot, who senses Lawson's DNA on the book. The Aakon are chased off, and this time, CM makes sure he destroys the robot. Carol wants to thank him, and Una is now in tears at the apparent attraction going on between the two.

This period of the series is often put down by some fans, but I find Arnold Drake's plotting much more involved and creative, his dialogue isn't annoying like the previous 2 writers, and the Heck-Colletta art has been consistently good, making me wish these 3 guys had been in on the series' creation. (Of course, Heck-Shores was EVEN BETTER, but that hadn't happened yet...)


MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #18 -- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: "Earth Shall Overcome" introduces a new series by Arnold Drake & Gene Colan. A thousand years in the future, the Solar System has been colonized by Earthmen genetically evolved to suit each planet. A Jovian, "Charlie-27", is returning from a lone outpost, when he discovers his entire planet has been overrun by The Brotherhood Of The Badoon (introduced in SILVER SURFER #2). Using a matter-transmitter to get to another planet, he meets up with Martinex, a crytalline Plutonian, and together they travel to Earth, where they meet Captain Vance Astro-- a spaceman from the 20th Century who survived a thousand-year journey in suspended animation, and Yondo, a "primitive" alien who uses "yaka" arrows that obey his command whistles. Driven by rumors of a "free colony", they escape and band together, determined to create an uprising to free the entire system from Badoon tyranny.

When I first read Arnold's CAPTAIN MARVEL issues, I found myself wishing he'd been in on the creation of that series, as it might not have been so wrong-headed from the start if he had. I forgot he actually created his own sci-fi series for Marvel. Clearly, GotG is Marvel's "answer" to DC's LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES-- science-fiction crossed with a team of super-heroes. And with a typical "Marvel" slant, it's a "negative"-based, or "problem"-based series. There were a LOT of those in the 60's, from THE FUGITIVE to THE INVADERS and so on. Set up a premise, an overall "problem", and you have a big ongoing "epic". The problem with too many of these kind of series is, they often don't ever reach a conclusion to their big "epic". The problem with THIS one was, after this initial episode, it took another 5 YEARS before anyone touched it again! This probably had more to do with Drake's abrupt departure from Marvel a few months down the line. At any rate, Steve Gerber was the writer who finally picked up the ball, and eventually wrote some 13 comics with the GUARDIANS, from MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE to THE DEFENDERS to their own series in MARVEL PRESENTS. The "Earth under control of aliens" plot would get reused in Marvel's KILLRAVEN / WAR OF THE WORLDS in AMAZING ADVENTURES-- and that series is still left hanging, unfinished!

Mike Esposito does a fairly nice job on the inks... but compared to some of the inking Gene Colan had been getting around this time (Jack Abel, Frank Giacoia, Joe Giella, Vince Colletta, George Klein, Bill Everett, TOM PALMER) it seems 2nd-rate.


THOR #160 -- "And Now... Galactus!" begins a new storyline of truly "epic proportions" (as Mr. Han said in ENTER THE DRAGON). Tana Nile returns to Earth, seeking Thor's help, and while he's a mite suspicious, he goes along. Meanwhile, The Recorder give Odin the rundown on himself, then leaves as he senses he's needed. Sif, sensing great trouble, wishes to be with her love, but Odin says NO! (Tsk.) Out in space, we find a "debris area", all that's left of a destroyed planetary system, and a fleet of refugees fleeing the area, searching for a new home. Man. It's like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, 9 years early! These pages are spectacular. I mean, I think Jack Kirby should have been doing SPACE GHOST for Hanna-Barbera, if Alex Toth "hated" it as much as he claimed. Anyway, before you know it, a battle breaks out between the cause of the destruction-- GALACTUS-- and Ego, The Living Planet. A collossal explosion erupts, and Tana Nile's spaceship is caught in the brunt of it, sending Thor adrift in space.

Kirby may have been cruising on auto-pilot on FANTASTIC FOUR, with Stan Lee supplying plots that consisted of rematches with old villains, but here on THOR, he seems to still be hitting on all cylinders. It's true, most of the characters involved here are making returning appearances, but there's such an epic scope to this, I don't mind a bit. Some characters and concepts are WORTH bringing back, WORTH exploring and expanding on, and that's what looks like is going on here. Anyone who's ever put down Vince Colletta's inks (and usually for very good cause) should take a look at this issue. WOW. Assuming that's him and not an assistant, the man could do DAMN GOOD WORK when he felt like it.


THE AVENGERS #60 -- "...Till Death Do Us Part" has almost every hero in the Marvel Universe (including Spidey, though he's wanted by the cops right now) turn up for the wedding of Yellowjacket & The Wasp. There's resentment and suspicion all-round, until another problem rears its ugly head, when the catering service turns out to be... oh no... it can't be... don't say it... OH MY GOD! The Ringmaster and his Circus Of Crime! These idiots have the nerve to show up, intent on rebuilding their rep by knocking off every hero in the city, and they figure they'd start with THOR, who ruined their last plan. These guys couldn't take out Thor on his own-- and they expect to tackle The Avengers-- AND The Fantastic Four-- AND Spider-Man, Daredevil, Dr. Strange, etc... I'm sorry, that's not ambitious, that's just stupid. AND suicidal. And yet, they seem to be making headway... UNTIL Princess Python's snake wraps itself around The Wasp, at which point her brand-new hubby seems to go into a convulsive fit. SURPRISE! Under that costume and bad attitude, it was Goliath all along, suffering from a case of temporary schizophrenia. (Oh, yeah, like amnesia before this wasn't bad enough. Great going, Roy!) Those circus clowns (and the rest of the circus types, heh) don't stand a chance. After it's all over, Jan tells Hank that despite the circumstances, they are STILL definitely legally married-- she looked it up. From the moment he kissed her last issue, she knew all along. After wanting to get hitched to Hank for so very long, she saw her chance and wasn't gonna turn it down, no matter what!

Oh, I almost forgot-- the guy they wanted to get back at, Thor, didn't even make it to the wedding. I guess he was on his way to the other side of the galaxy at the time... (tsk!)

George Klein must have been getting over-worked, because he missed this issue, and Mike Esposito filled in. That's 2 Esposito-inked books I've seen this month. I guess after being replaced on ASM by Jim Mooney, he needed the work. Nice. Not as good as Klein, but not bad.


X-MEN #52 -- "Twilight Of The Mutants" concludes the 4-parter with "Erik The Red" fighting Mesmero and his goons, only to inform Lorna Dane he wishes to join forces with Magneto-- provided, the guy makes HIM his 2nd-in-command! This pisses Mesmero, to say the least. But before long, we discover that it's all a con-- as "Erik" is really Cyclops in disguise. As his fellow team-mates sneak into the city and prepare a trap for the evil mutants, unexpectedly Iceman arrives and stumbles into it. It turns out when Bobby stormed out, he went to Lorna's home town and did some checking, and he reveals to Lorna that she's been lied to-- Magneto is NOT her real father, he only wanted to use her! (I guess after the Whitney Frost story in IRON MAN, having 2 nice girls get corrupted by evil fathers they never knew would be redundant.) Marvel Girl faces down Mesmero one-on-one (she's really come into her own lately), and Magneto beats a hasty retreat, blowing up the entire "City" as he leaves. The X-Men escape, but we don't know if Mesmero-- or anyone else-- did, or not. Back home, everyone's amused at how Bobby's "recovery" may take a long, long time, now that he's got Lorna looking after his health.

It all ends a bit too fast, too pat, but that's what they get with only 15 pages for the lead story. Don Heck & Werner Roth return to do nice, solid work, each one's strengths used to best advantage (Heck's storytelling & layouts, Roth's pretty drawings). Even John Tartaglione does 10 times better over Roth than he did on Steranko-- who I bet a LOT of people wished had done this. I dunno. When I think of X-MEN in the 60's, to me, Werner Roth is "the" X-MEN artist. I kinda wish all 4 parts of this 4-parter had been done by the same guys-- either would have been more consistent than having Heck & Royer on parts 1 & 4 and Steranko on parts 2 & 3.

"Deception" seems to be the key operating word on this story. Mesmero cons Lorna Dane into thinking she's Magneto's daughter, and when Magneto arrives halfway in, he goes along with it. Cyclops cons both into thinking he's an evil mutant out for power. I suppose, in retrospect, what happened later makes some sort of sense. Apparently, some people were bothered that Arnold Drake never showed how Magneto escaped death back in AVENGERS #53 (4 months before he returned). There may have also been a feeling that he wasn't acting quite like himself in these 3 issues. And so, 5 months after he escaped this time, when we saw him again, in hiding with Mesmero (I guess he DID make it out, never mind that his lord and master tried to kill him with everyone else), we found out Magneto had somehow been replaced by a ROBOT. 5 months later, we learned the reason the Sentinels couldn't find him was because the guy who teamed with Mesmero was a robot in the first place! WHAT th'...?? You think that's bad? 10 YEARS later, we found out who built the robot-- but never found out WHY! This is why writers should not work at contradicting other writers' stories... it just makes everything too complicated & confusing!! In this case, it's as if several people worked in unison to give Arnold Drake the finger.

The Crimes Of the Conquistador" reprises the last couple scenes from Hank's story, in which he finds his parents prisoners of a villain out to use him to help steal vital atomic components. After he does so, the guy informs him he plans to PERMANENTLY hold his parents hostage, to ensure his continued obediance. (The BASTARD!) But the story, by Drake, Roth & Verpoorten (NICE inks!!) isn't over yet.

NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #9 -- "The Name Of The Game Is... Hate!" brings back a villain I bet nobody ever expected to see again-- The Hate Monger! Marvel always said back then, "Dead is DEAD!" and this guy was shot very dead, no question. But he's back again anyway, and with NO explanation (only a hint). Fury pays a visit to his Doctor, in such a hurry he's still wearing his "scuba suit". An assassin aiming for him kills the Doc instead, and the guy escapes in an aircraft maked with a big "H". Somehow Fury figures this stands for "Hate Monger" rather than "Hydra", and the hunt is on. An arial dogfight (MAN, does Frank Springer draw COOL aircraft!!!) winds up in a South American jungle-- apparently inhabited by dinosaurs. (What is this, NICK FURY #2 all over again??) Fury lands in yet ANOTHER underground complex (there seem to be so many of those lately) and confronts the Hate-Monger, who reveals he has a huge "brain bank" containing the actual brains of "all" his top men from WW2 (this does suggest something about his own survival), and an arsenal of nuclear missiles with which he plans to wipe out the population of the entire Earth so HIS people can then take over. (Shades of Hydra, and Centurius, and...) The dinosaurs, it turns out, are merely illusion, created by the Psyche-Magnitron, the same device seen earlier in one of Roy Thomas' AVENGERS issues. H-M's top man feels his ethics have been betrayed, and shoots his boss-- who turns out to be Adolph Hitler under the hood (again???). We also learn the long-missing Laura Brown did indeed join SHIELD-- and was here undercover on assignment. The group barely escapes before the entire place is blown to pieces (don't you hate it when that happens?), leaving all wondering if the original Hate-Monger was really Hitler-- or was this one-- or...

I gotta say, as much grief as I give him (and rightly so), Gary Friedrich made the BEST debut of any writer on this series since Jaunty Jim. In a single issue, he brought back the bulk of the supporting cast, and re-established SHIELD's main goal as an anti-terrorist organization, whose focus, more often than not, involves neo-Nazis. If there's any gripe, it's that like the previous several issues, he felt the need to wrap this story up in only 20 pages. The up side is, the Hate Monger storyline did at least continue for another 2 issues, but each one stands on its own as a totally separate chapter. Not that that's a bad thing, but given the "epic" level of the menace involved, the way it was done destroyed any sense of momentum or "continuity". I suppose one could look at these 3 issues as a "trilogy"-- if you were the sort who does that thing. Sadly, it was DOWNHILL all the way after this. Who'd a thunk it?


DR. STRANGE #177 -- "The Cult And The Curse" has Doc & Clea thrust helpelssly into some nether-dimension while Azmodeus plans to make use of The Book Of The Vishanti. (You know, I can really see where CHARMED was influenced big-time by this series!) But Doc has something up his sleeve (so to speak). It seems when he was in that graveyard, he had a premonition things might not go his way, so prepared a couple of spells in advance. He HID his cloak of levitation in the cemetary, and made the Amulet-- the eye of Agamotto-- invisible. He also cast a spell so the Book would transport itself to The Ancient One's retreat in Tibet. So for all his efforts, Azmodeus still has nothing to show for it. He bumps off his own men (see what happens when you join Devil-worship cults?), and magicaly changes his appearance to disguise himself as Dr. Strange, then heads off to Tibet. Doc uses the eye to escape, but finds his way back to Earth blocked because of the peculiar nature of Azmodeus' disguise spell. Simple answer-- Doc CHANGES HIS OWN appearance, and returns to Earth with Clea looking like a masked superhero version of himself! (Another "make-over" courtesy of Roy Thomas!) The outfit is somewhat reminiscent of Howard Keltner's fanzine character, Dr. Weird-- who dates back to 1944 (when he started out as a tribute to Mr. Justice, himself a swipe of The Spectre), though Dr. Weird made his public "debut" in STAR-STUDDED COMICS #1-- a few months before Dr. Strange debuted in STRANGE TALES #111. Leave it to the "fanboy" at heart...! Sometime after this, Jim Starlin, before turning pro, would do some DR. WEIRD comics, and change his costume so it looked more like the one Gene Colan came up with here! (Full-circle!)

Strange confronts "himself", and Azmodeus all too quikcly gives away the game (which The Ancient One suspected anyway). His mentor tells him he can't help, as Doc has to protect the Earth on his own now, and Strange fully understands. Before things go on too long, Azmodeus suffers a HEART ATTACK (there's something you don't see everyday with bad guys), but before he croaks, utters an incantation he found in the Book. Under the hood, Strange is surprised to find... wait for it... Dr. Benton! Yes! His old colleague-- the guy who was such a pain-in-the-ass nagging him to give up his life as a "charlatan" and get back to "helping mankind" was really a Satanist all along. I laughed out loud when I read this. It was such a clever twist, and I somehow DIDN'T see it coming! Anyway, things aren't over yet, as that spell the guy read has unleashed Ymir & Surtur, the twin giants of Frost & Fire banished by Odin in TALES OF ASGARD. "To be continued".

Gene Colan & Tom Palmer continue to blow my mind with the visuals, but Roy Thomas is also doing some of his best work ever on this run as well. I actually wrote him a fan letter the other day (for a comic that came out 39 YEARS ago) because I enjoyed it so much. It's a shame the series didn't last too long-- or that, when it did come back, nobody here came back with it. By today's standards, its sales would probably make it a huge hit.


FANTASTIC FOUR #83 -- "Shall Man Survive?" has the FF seemingly imprisoned in an escape-proof room which no amount of effort of Ben or Johnny's part is able to damage. But then, Reed figures it's all an illusion, since Maxiumus used a mind-bending effect to overpower his own people. In a scene possibly inspired by the 3rd-year STAR TREK episode "Specte Of The Gun", Reed has the three of them concentrate on it not being real-- and the room disappears! Now free, they set out to rout Maximus. Black Bolt uses his own destructive speech power to free his family, and Gorgan smashes the Hypno-Gun to rubble. Maximus and his band of followers (most introduced in HULK ANNUAL #1 a few months back) all flee in a rocket-ship. I found this ending rather disappointing, but at least there was some "progression", as this was the first time BB's brother actually fled, rather than be merely imprisoned-- AGAIN.

As usual, the Kirby-Sinnott art is spectacular, more so than usual. Maybe Kirby was trying to make up for the less-than-inspired stories by cranking out art that would go a long way toward making you not notice?

I read part 1 of this in the 70's MGC reprint. I never read part 2 until my friend Kevin got me a copy of the original comic at a comics convention, about 2 years ago! That's a HECK of a long time to wait between chapters!! Thanks, man.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #69 -- "Mission: Crush The Kingpin!" has Spidey pursue The Kingpin to his hideout, where the baddies wait in the dark for him to enter. But spider-sense comes to the rescue! Spidey makes up a web-dummy and puts his "shirt" on it, then tosses it thru the window into a hail of gunfire. (Those bullet-holes are gonna be tough to get out...) Big fight erupts, and in the end, the cops close in and nab The Kingpin-- who, just for spite, tells them Spider-Man is his "partner" and will get away with the Tablet. Sure enough, as Spidey is trying to return the Tablet to the cops, they open fire, causing him to say maybe he should BE a "menace" from now on.

Meanwhile, the cops think the demonstrators were in on the robbery, and a 2nd demonstration starts to free those arrested in the 1st one. Gwen Stacy tells them getting themselves arrested isn't gonna help anyone, and when someone calls the missing Pete a coward, she slaps his face! When her Dad asks what's upset her, he also asks "Are you angry because you think it might be true?"

The scene with the "web-dummy" later turned up in the 3rd-season SPIDER-MAN cartoon, "The Big Brainwasher", making 3 different ASM stories they used as parts of that thing! Jim Mooney is really kicking ass on the art (over Romita's "storyboards"), and his rendition of Gwen in this issue, with such a temper (like we haven't seen in some time) is beginning to remind me of a young Ellen Foley! Stan was so proud of this particular episode (despite it being just one part of a much-bigger storyline), he decided to include it in the 1978 reprint collection, MARVEL'S GREATEST SUPER-HERO BATTLES.


IRON MAN #10 -- "Once More... The Mandarin!" follows the previous issue (of which, the reprint I have has gotten mis-placed-- GRRR!) by having The Mandarin correctly guess Iron Man and Tony Stark are one and the same. He concocts some FAKED photographs of Stark consorting with Soviet spies, and distributes copies to the news media. Stark, on a date with Janice Cord (she's surprised by how much she's getting to like him) is shocked when news-hounds confront him about the pics. He flees the scene, which only makes them more suspicious, so he can have SHIELD check out the pics. As it happens, all of them are of actual meetings which took place when Iron Man was known to be in action, so, in theory, his only "alibi" would be to reveal his secret I.D. to the world. And he AIN'T gonna do that, so... next thing, because of his persistent "no comment", the Feds pull his contracts, his factory's shut down, and SHIELD, which can't operate without his backing, tracks him down demanding answers. (It's tough when the guy who's set up a "SPY" organization is better at keeping secrets than they are.) What a complicated mess!

Archie Goodwin is piling on the plots twists at such rapid-fire speed it's surprising anyone can follow this story. George Tuska's art contains more "realistic" panels in a few spots this time (it's almost as if he's trying to "do" Gene Colan a bit), while Johnny Craig's inks are among the BEST to ever grace Tuska's pages. Even so, someone on the letters page complained the book was starting to look "too cartoony".


CAPTAIN AMERICA #110 -- "No Longer Alone!" begins a "new era" in Cap's life when he runs into the Hulk-- being chased by the Army-- and Rick Jones-- who tries to calm his green buddy down, but to no avail. Knocked out in the action, Rick recovers back at Avengers Mansion, as Cap thinks he must "never" be around The Hulk again until or unless the monster is brought under control. On waking, Rick finds one of Bucky Barnes' suits in the closet and tries it on-- perfect fit. Then CAP has a fit, saying, "You must NEVER wear that costume!" Rick's fed up with the soap-opera, and always being brushed aside, and his words must get to Cap, because after YEARS of putting it off, he FINALLY agrees to let Rick become his new partner. Just then, an alarm goes off, and the pair trail it to an underground water-supply pumping station, where they find... HYDRA!!!

Yep, for the first time since Nick Fury sunk Hydra Island, the would-be world-conquering neo-Nazi outfit is back, this time bent on contaminating NYC's water supply. Led by "Madame Hydra", who sports a slinky, skin-tight leather outfit, they almost succeed, but Cap & Rick just barely drive them off. Though Rick feels he screwed things up, Cap assures him he came through his "baptism of fire" like a man.

At last, Stan Lee found somebody to take over this series from Jack Kirby-- and it was JIM STERANKO! No doubt smarting from the X-MEN debacle, I'm guessing JS may have insisted on Joe Sinnott as inker, 'cause that's who he got here. Even more than NICK FURY #5, this story is a real return to form, and the BEST writing Steranko did since the Hydra epic-- and with Sinnott, it's possibly his BEST artwork, EVER!

Although the Bullpen pages claimed "Written by Stan Lee!" anyone should be able to easily tell it's Steranko ALL THE WAY here-- even if the credits give NO CLUE as to who did what. (That's what happens when the Editor gets himself listed FIRST.) Among other things, Stan had a pathological dislike for "kid sidekicks", hence his resistence all this tme to actually letting Cap & Rick team up. But Steranko's a big Kirby fan-- in particular of his 1940's work. His anatomy is more similar to Kirby's 40's comics than his 60's stuff, and part of this story-- the 2-page center-spread in particular-- was apparently inspired by the story "Spy Ambush" from CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #10 (Jan'42), the SAME issue which featured "The Phantom Hound Of Cardiff Moor" which he paid tribute to in NICK FURY #3. So Steranko had no problem letting Rick finally live up to the promise from AVENGERS #4 several years earlier. This story proved so popular it was reprinted in MARVEL SUPER ACTION #12 in 1979, the CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY tpb in 1979, and the CAPTAIN AMERICA COLLECTOR'S EDITION hardback from England in 1981. It looked like things were off to a GLORIOUS start!!! (Too bad it didn't last that long...)


SILVER SURFER #4 -- "The Good, The Bad And The Uncanny" has Loki, frustrated that Thor is still alive, eager to find someone he can use to kill his foster brother. He uses a spell to scan the Earth for its most powerful denizens, and runs across The Surfer. Seeing how Mephisto tried and failed to "tempt" him, Loki decides HE'LL succeed, through deviousness (his specialty). First he challenges the Surfer to a fight, then claims he's of no value since he won't fight, and Loki "needs" someone to save all of mankind from the terrible "menace" of Thor, who's preparing for combat. (He sure is, after Loki openly let it be known he plans to KILL Thor!) Using his sorcery to let the Surfer slip thru the barrier and arrive at Asgard, the Surfer is invited to dine with Thor and his comrades. He thinks at first this guy CAN'T be the menace Loki claims, until Loki-- repeatedly-- influences his mind and the actions of others until he becomes convinced it must be true. You saw this coming-- big fight! All through it Thor tries to figure out WHAT's going on, WHY is this guy doing all this, until it finally slips out that Loki is the reason he's there. Having his scheme revealed, Loki shunts the Surfer back to Earth before any "evidence" against him can come forth. And so, we're back to square one. Again.

I can tell this must take place right between the Mangog and Galactus stories, as Loki is really pissed at the way things worked out in the first, and Thor headed for deep space in the second. Also, Joe Sinnott inking Steranko on CAPTAIN AMERICA meant this book needed a new inker, and sees the Marvel debut of one of its longest-standing regular artists-- SAL BUSCEMA! John's younger brother joins him here, and while for the longest time I thought Sal was just starting out here, he'd actually been in the biz for well over a decade by this point, working for other companies. Many consider Sal to be John's "best" inker, and while I may not agree with that, he certainly does a terrific job here, actually being truer to John's pencils than most, while giving them a "sharper" edge than John himself.

The art is among the most spectacular John Buscema ever did, and surely was a prelude to John's long, LONG run of the THOR series once Jack Kirby left Marvel for DC. But story-wise, it's rather frustrating, and flat. I'm afraid, like too many comics from this point, it looks great, but there just isn't that much there. This was reprinted in MARVEL'S GREATEST SUPERHERO BATTLES (1978), which I dug out so I could re-read it in color. Strangely enough, while the rendering on the Surfer in every panel screams for it, nobody added any blues to his "silver" coloring-- he was left just solid black & white! (And this, from Simon & Schuster?)


CAPTAIN MARVEL #10 -- "Die, Traitor!" as you might guess by the title, brings things to a head. Mar-Vell is ordered to investigate "Number One" of "The Organization", the guy for whom the late Walt Lawson built the killer robot for, as they might prove helpful if the Kree decides to attack mankind. Carol invites Lawson to dinner, so she can grill him for info in a nicer way, but en route, they're attacked by The Organization, bent on killing Lawson for apparently betraying them. Carol is captured, but "Lawson" escapes, only to turn up as Captain Marvel, who tries to ingratiate himself into "Number One"s confindence. But once Carol escapes (due to his help) the guy realizes Marvel's not on the level, and before long, Number One and his entire "Organization" is taken out. Of course, THIS, at last, gives Yon-Rogg all the excuse he needs to have Mar-Vell EXECUTED as a traitor. Una, though heartbroken that her man is "involved" with the Earth woman, goes to warn him, but is sidetracked by the hit squad. By the time she recovers, the have him lined up in front of a firing squad. MAN, that was FAST!!!

After 5 issues in a row of trying to build things up here, I get the sneaky feeling Arnold Drake was either told to "wrap this up quickly", or decided to on his own. No way to be sure. The whole sub-plot with The Organization, which added so many extra levels of mystery & deviousness to the long-dead Walt Lawson, is brought to a fast end, and I don't believe they EVER turned up again, so we never got to learn anything more about them (like, were they in any way connected with Hydra, whose M.O. theirs resembled). Apart from Carol, none of the other Earth-bound supporting cast turns up here, though with the issue as crammed as it was, I guess that's understandable. I suppose a lot of readers were getting fed up with all the wheels-spinning regarding the missile base, Carol, Lawson, and the whole Organization sub-plot, when the Yon-Rogg bent on murdering his own officer sub-plot was still sitting there waiting to go somewhere. I just wonder where Arnold might have gone with it, had he been given a chance, because although he was credited for the next 2 issues, I have good reason to believe THIS was his last episode on the book!

Sadly, even Vince Colletta turned in a less-than-stellar job this time. It was still better than the average stuff he did in the 70's, but none of the "slick" line he used on the last 2 issues (or on many recent issues of THOR) were visible here. After this, things took a utterly inexplicable, bizarre turn-- and not for the better.

THOR #161 -- "Shall A God Prevail?" has Thor & The recorder rescued by The Wanderers, homeless aliens who seek vengeance against Galactus for destroying their worlds. Thor winds up aiding Ego, The Living Planet, and together they successfully chase off the world-eater! After, Ego alters the face of his surface and invites The Wanderers to live there in peace. Only the fact that Galactus is "still on the loose" darkens anyone's mood.

Magnificent, spectacular, mind-blowing... though I wonder if this might have been "wrapped up" a bit too quickly. As I'm reading these for the 2nd time now, I really should dig out the JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR issue that focused on this period, as it seems a LOT of what Jack Kirby was doing was altered, edited, re-arranged, etc. etc. before the published issues saw the light of day.


X-MEN #53 -- "The Rage Of Blastaar" has Marvel Girl using one of Professor X's machines to try an experiment to boost her mental powers... and inadvertently, it opens a hole into The Negative Zone, where an angry, revenge-driven Blastaar (from FF #62-63) slips thru. The rest of the issue is one long pointless fight scene, until Marvel Girl again uses the machine, this time, apparently, killing the other-dimensional alien.

As "Cyclops: Wanted Dead Or Alive" was advertised last month, clearly this is a last-minute fill-in, though if somebody blew a deadline or if they just wanted to show off this particular story is anyone's guess. This marks the US debut of Barry Smith, who'd been doing a lot of pin-ups and stuff for the UK reprint books. The art is obviously very Kirby-inspired, but crude, simple, RAW, almost amateurish, on a fanzine-level in quality. Wait. That's not the worst part. The worst part is, the writing on this issue is REALLY bad. Did Arnold Drake REALLY write this? The dialogue is worse than usual, though I can still-- barely-- make out his trademark...

...hesitations between word balloons (he has the strangest, most unnatural way of break up sentences between balloons, it's very distinct). Maybe it's just supposed to be "character development", but Arnold's Cyclops is alot more smart-alecky than he'd ever been before (is this what happens when Professor X is out of the way?). And Blastaar just doesn't seem himself, either. The plot is virtually non-existent, and for a "sequel" to such a classic FF story, this really bites. If you're gonna bring a villain back, at least they should have a story that makes doing so worth it. (Maybe the plot was 100% Smith's and Arnold just added the words?)

"Welcome To The Club, Beast!" finishes the Conquistador story, with Hank's parents rescued, the baddie caught, the entire town's memories of Hank having special abilities ERASED (is that going just too far??) and The Beast joining the X-Men. As low-key as the Roth-Verpoorten art may be, it's still far more "professional" than the lead story was.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #10 -- "Twas the Night before Christmas" has Fury mugged on his way home, then finding Laura Brown waiting for him to celebrate the holidays. But a call from SHIELD puts that on hold, and up in the Heli-Carrier, he finds Jasper Sitwell spending his 2 days off from Stark Enterprises hanging around trying to be helpful. (I suppose after the Whitney Frost thing, he wanted to stay busy.) It seems The Hate-Monger has threatened to kill everyone in NYC with a poison gas bomb, launched from an orbitting laboratory (that looks like a poor cousin to the Space Station in 2001). WHY Nick Fury goes on a mission to stop the guy SINGLE-HANDEDLY is never addressed. Was everyone else at home with their families and no time to call them in? Is he just suicidal? Anyway, he's caught and stuck in a "pilot's seat" of the missile containing the gas-bomb, then launched downward, while a pair of The Hate-Monger's aircraft follow it down to make sure it hits its target. But on the way, a mysterious object buzzes by at unbelieveable speed, causing one of the aircraft to go off-course, hit the missile, and make the bomb go off so high in the atmosphere it dissipates harmlessly before it ever reaches the city. Fury finds a parachute, and before you know it, he's back home to finish celebrating with Laura-- all the while wondering if maybe there IS a Santa Claus?

Though we saw The Hate-Monger killed DEAD for the 2nd time last issue, he (or someone in his costume) is back this time. I suspect this is a different guy, because this one doesn't seem to have a moustache. After nearly killing every person in New York, you'd think they would have knocked that space station out of the sky-- but there's not even a hint! Is SHIELD really that badly under-budgeted at this point?? Johnny Craig inked this issue, and as with the episodes of Iron Man where he inked Gene Colan, he does a fine, professional job, but his incredibly precise, razor-sharp lines are just totally clashing with Frank Springer's art, and considering Frank's own inks, teaming up these 2 guys is just a waste of BOTH their talents! The Hate-Monger's poison-gas-from-space plot was reused almost verbatim as the climax of the 1979 movie MOONRAKER.

This is one of the few SHIELD episodes from this period to ever be reprinted, in MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #8 (1975), a "Christmas" special.


DR. STRANGE #178 -- "...With One Beside Him" has Doc travel to England to enlist the aid of Victoria Bentley. It seems (if this point was mentioned last time, I missed it), the only ones who know how to reverse the spell that freed Ymir & Surtur are the other members of The Sons Of Satannish-- and Azmodeus didn't so much KILL them as banish them to the dimension of Tiborro (last seen in a Steve Ditko episode!). And the only safe way to go there and return is with the help of another mystic, or one with mystic powers, of sorts. Victoria's having a party, and who happens to turn up but The Black Knight-- in costume-- and his magical sword makes him a better candidate for this mission than Doc's English lady-friend, so BK gets recruited fast. One dimension-hop and one fierce battle later, The "Sons" are rescued, though it takes some more fighting to "convince" them to help!

Thomas-Colan-Palmer are really in a groove here. This isn't really one of their best issues, but it's still better than 90% of the comics Marvel put out this month. WOW!


THE AVENGERS #61 -- "Some Say The World Will End In Fire... ...Some Say In Ice!" opens with a pair of full-page title spreads showcasing Ymir & Surtur. Dr. Strange shows up at Avengers Mansion seeking additional help and soon The Vision, Hawkeye & The Black Panther join him. It seems between episodes, The Black Knight was seriously injured, and the only one who can save him is Doc-- who's nervous, because he hasn't used his hands for a surgical procedure since his car accident many years before! But BK pulls thru, and soon (in the tradition of Gardner Fox), the quartet breaks into teams, one to face Surtur in Antarctica, the other to face Ymir in Africa, each giant demon causing weather patterns to reverse what they normally are. The heroes are merely a stall, while Doc can put the reversal spell into action. At the climactic moment, Surtur (and his foes) are transported to Africa, and the 2 giant demons' power cancel each other out, sending both of them back to where Odin originally banished them!

Roy Thomas, John Buscema & George Klein are really on a roll here. The usual annoying traits of Roy's dialogue have nearly disappeared at this point, and Buscema-Klein are just KICKING ASS, Buscema's figure-work and storytelling vastly improved from when he started on the book, and Klein giving it a sharp, precise polish that captures Buscema's own style better than most, but "cleaner". This is a team that really should have stayed together a LOT longer than they did!

I originally bought DR. STRANGE #178 along with the rest of that run, in the late 70's. I got the 2nd half here about 15 years later. This is the first time I managed to read both parts of the story together in one sitting!


FANTASTIC FOUR #84 -- "The Name Is Doom!" has the FF "returning home" in a bizarre "gyro-ship" given them by Black Bolt, and passing thru Tibet, when they're intercepted by a squad of fighter-planes from SHIELD. Nick Fury tells them they've run across a "secret army"-- of robots-- and suspect Dr. Doom to be behind it. Though in a hurry to see his wife & new baby again, Reed agrees to help. Next thing, driving a car into Latveria, they're attacked, captured, knocked unconscious... and wake up in a luxury apartment. (Say what?) All around them, the citizens of Latveria bid them welcome, and have a "Fantastic Four" celebration day. But when, to prove a point, Reed makes a dash for the border, he's knocked back by its hi-tech defenses, and a TV image of Doom tells him, NOBODY ever leaves Latveria. You either be happy... or you DIE!

It's funny, in another comic, a reader this very month suggested Marvel do a take-off of the tv show, THE PRISONER, and the reply said "Marvel prefers to come up with its own plots". Then how do you explain this one, which is OBVIOUSLY a "tribute" to THE PRISONER ? The idea of Doom being such a "robot" specialist, I don't remember ever coming up in the FF before, though Jim Steranko did introduce the idea in STRANGE TALES #167. Is it safe to assume that Nick Fury & co. may have figured out by this point who built the robot Yellow Claw? (If so, it's never made clear.)

Something else else early in this issue really bugged me. There's no need to have tied this issue into the last one, and it's a bad habit of Stan's. As they pass thru Tibet, the natives refer to the "mysterious city" of the Inhumans, "to the north". NOWHERE in the previous 2 issues-- or in ANY previous comics, period-- was it ever once hinted that The Great Refuge of the Inhumans was in The Himalayas! It had always been in The Andes!! (Well, except for HULK ANNUAL #1 a few months earlier, when Gary Friedrich had it in Central Europe. You SEE why I think he took too many drugs??) I think Reed was just taking that gyro-ship out on a round-the-world test-drive, and Stan NEEDLESSLY tied it in, and FORGOT where The Great Refuge was supposed to be!! After all, just 2 issues before, Stan also FORGOT that it was Black Bolt who freed his people from "The Great Barrier", not Reed & co. It seems to me Stan could have really used an editor...!

What to say about Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott's art? IT'S THE BEST-- PERIOD!!!


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #70 -- "Spider-Man Wanted!" has Pete hide the stolen tablet-- which the cops now think HE stole-- in his apartment, while he tries to figure out what to do next. Gwen is clearly pissed when he meets her, but to his shock, says she'll wait until he's ready to tell her what's going on. He can hardly believe it-- she actually TRUSTS him! (It seems so unlike her... heehee) Meanwhile Kingpin ESCAPES from jail, sets a trap for Spidey which he naturally falls into, big fight starts, but then Jameson shows up, gets in the way, a mysterious WOMAN in a limo shows up, and tells Kingpin to get in, which he does, and as THEY get away, Spidey can just take no more from his psychotic tormenter, and closes in on Jameson-- who, in a panic, faints dead away, leaving Ned Leeds to ask, "What did you DO to him?" (How annoying and stupid can one reporter be?) Spidey flees, worried that he may have actually become the menace JJJ always said he was. Oy.

Not too crazy about this one... but at least JIM MOONEY's art (over Romita's layouts) continue to dazzle.


IRON MAN #11 -- "Unmasked!" concludes the latest (and leastest) Mandarin story, as Tony Stark uses a SHIELD L.M.D.-- of himself-- to meet with reporters, while he confronts The Mandarin. Infuriated that his entire scheme to bring down Stark is in jeopardy, The Mandarin goes to the mountain shack where "Stark" is meeting with reporters, with IM following close behind. As the LMD collapses (its job done) IM has to beat his foe before the guy realizes he's been had. He does, the entire place blows up, and IM and Janice (who showed up just in time to temporarily become a hostage-- AGAIN) escape, not sure the baddie is dead this time, either. But there's still a major problem, as medics haul away the "dead" Tony Stark to a hospital, unable to detect a heartbeat, and now IM has to figure a way to get out of this before EVERYBODY figures out he's really Tony Stark.

Goodwin-Tuska-Craig, if anything, were a pretty consistent team, knocking out issue after issue with hardly a fill-in to be seen. I appreciate that. I just wish they'd been a little more "inspired". I'm afraid I'll never see Tuska as anything more than 2nd-rate, and of all the comics I've read by Goodwin, this one series-- the one he stayed on the longest-- seems the least-inspired.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #111 -- "Tomorrow You Live Tonight I Die" has Cap ambushed by Hydra goons in an arcade. Later, he tries to teach Rick some fighting manoevers, but Rick's so overwhelmed by the "shadow" of Bucky Barnes, he wonders if he'll ever measure up. Later, a drugged card arrives for Cap, Rick gets it, and he gets kidnapped by Hydra goons... BUT NOT FOR LONG! Cap tracks them down to the waterfront, does battle with a "Mankiller" robot, realizes he never should have given up his "secret identity" (it's too easy for his enemies to track him down, knowing he's Steve Rogers)... and the last thing we see, is the figure of Cap, diving off a rooftop into the river, STRAIGHT THRU a hail of Hydra gunfire!!! (It's "Scorpio" all over again!) The cops scour the water, and find his bullet-hole-ridden uniform-- as well as, strangely, a face-mask in the image of Steve Rogers, which suggests that "Steve Rogers" may have been a FAKE identity! What th'...?

I'll put it simply. This is Jim Steranko's MASTERPIECE. Of his entire comics output, this single issue may be the single greatest episode he ever produced. The Steranko-Sinnott team was the best his art ever looked, he did some terrific multi-panel "effects" in here, an incredibly dynamic 2-page spread, and one of his best covers yet-- which included a new logo, basically reusing the design for the one from SILVER SURFER. The new logo would be used, off and on, for decades after.

Oh yeah, and right in the middle of the story, there was a panel where we see silhouettes of Cap & Rick superimposed over a big movie screen as they watch films. I KNEW I'd seen that in some Steranko comic! I just swiped the idea a couple weeks ago for one of my own pages without even looking it up. Thanks, Jim!

SUB-MARINER #11 -- "The Choice And The Challenge" had me walking into the middle of a 2-parter involving "Cap'n Barracuda", a modern-day pirate with a beard, an eyepatch, and a terrible habit of speaking as if he stepped out of some 18th-Century pirate movie. As this episode starts, Namor, trying to get his hands on ANOTHER "helmet" (I had to check elsewhere to find out it was the Serpent Crown of Lemuria, not Destiny's helmet) is suddenly faced with the "choice" of capturing Barracuda, OR, stopping an atomic torpedo from wiping out a US Destroyer. Though he has no great feelings for surface-men of any stripe, he goes to stop the torpedo, which explodes near the Destroyer anyway, with a decidedly "normal" (NON-atomic) warhead. (Tricked again!) Unfortunately-- for everyone involved (especially the readers), the next 3/4ths of the comic is one long fight between Namor and the US Navy, who believe HE set off the explosion, trying to destroy them. And, as usual with his "Imperius Rex" attitude, we get over and over "The fools will not listen!"-- as he keeps clobbering people one after another. (sigh) What a WASTE of a good character.

Meanwhile, Barracuda breaks into a naval base and steals a device which can redirect the course of torpedos by remote control. As he's making off with it, he accidentally turns it on, causing a torpedo meant for Subby to instead take out HIS OWN submarine! The Navy, SUDDENLY realizing, hey, maybe Namor was on the level, try to get his attention that things are okay, but by this point, he's just pissed, and heading out to sea to get to Lemuria (for next issue).

According to the Bullpen page, John Buscema decided to focus all his energy on THE AVENGERS and SILVER SURFER, and so Marie Severin stepped in to take over SUB-MARINER, starting with #9. So how come Gene Colan drew issues #10-11? This issue is terribly uninspired, and somehow screams "rush job" to me. Also, George Klein, who made such a good team with Gene on DAREDEVIL #46 (the only one of those I've seen), here makes all the figures look like they're made out of rubber-- except for pages where there's almost no detail at all. I was extremely disappointed with this issue. Something else else wasn't right here.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #11 -- "Rebirth!" has Mar-Vell saved from the Kree firing squad by-- incredibly-- the last few remaining Aakon warriors, still seeking revenge for the death of the C.O. caused by Yon-Rogg. Everything's out in the open now, with Mar-Vell & Yon-Rogg no longer putting on any pretenses, it's just a matter of who can kill the other one first now. But then Una is hit by a stray shot, and Mar-Vell abandons the fight to get her help. But... that doesn't happen. Instead, he STEALS a moon-rocket from the Cape. But before long, Una dies... and he lands on an asteroid to create a monument for her. As he departs, his stolen spaceship is grabbed by The Hellion's tractor-beam, and hurled at faster-than-light-speeds into the furthest reaches of space. After about 100 days alone, he's pulled into the orbit of a tiny planetoid, and encounters a bizarre alien that calls itself "ZO", who claims to have somehow engineered everything that has happened to him. He screams this is madness (NO KIDDING!) but "ZO" offers him REVENGE-- if he'll serve him. Mar-Vell agrees, and "ZO" then imbues him with all manners of super-powers, whic allow him to destroy the unbreakable wrist-monitor Yon-Rogg has always kept track of him with, as well as the power to fly faster than light-speeds (SAY WHAT????). Mar-Vell gladly says he'll serve "ZO", once Yon-Rogg has paid for his crimes.

This is a tough one. I suppose I should point out this was advertised as "a new storyline", and in fact, is the first of a 6-part "story arc" involving this "ZO"-- thing. The first time I read this, I couldn't believe what I was seeing-- and in retrospect, that was the right reaction. This issue, strangely enough, is rather similar to Jim Starlin's "Metamorphosis" episode 4-1/2 years later-- except Starlin did it at least 10 TIMES BETTER. Mar-Vell meets ultra-power alien entity who grants him great power. Beyond that, the issues could hardly be less alike.

After 6 issues of Arnold Drake introducing all kinds of interesting elements to the proceedings, this issue goes COMPLETELY NUTS. I gotta be honest. I DON'T BELIEVE Arnold wrote this. It feels nothing like his previous 6 issues, but it feels EXACTLY like the 3 issues credited to Gary Friedrich. As they changed writer & artist when Arnold & Don Heck came on, I think it's perfectly believeable that they did it again here. Arnold does have this noticeable quirk of breaking sentences up in the oddest place between word balloons, and I did find that here in the first 5 pages... but once he steals the moon-rocket, not again. This suggests to me that Arnold may have written the first 5 pages... and then gotten KICKED OFF the book. Hey, Arnold once wrote an episode of DEADMAN for which he was neither paid nor credited-- this could be the reverse of that, him getting credit ("BLAME"??) for work that wasn't his.

The Bullpen page says Dick Ayers was getting tired of doing both SGT. FURY and CAPT. SAVAGE, and wanted a break, so Stan "switched books" between him and Don Heck. What the hell is Don, a ping-pong ball that he can be bounced around like this? Can there be any more indignities they could toss at him? A couple issues down the line, some readers said they couldn't believe Ayers did such a BAD job as he did here-- there's no detail, no feeling, the storytelling is just BAD. And Vince Colletta doesn't help one bit. His brief foray into "slicker" rendering is GONE now, he's back to just thin, scratchy lines. So this issue LOOKS bad, FEELS bad, READS bad, and makes NO F****** SENSE at all!!!

5 issues down the line, Archie Goodwin wound up somehow writing the concluding episode of this storyline... and MADE it make sense. If you read this one in light of what Archie wrote, just about everything in this episode takes on a completely different meaning than what Friedrich apparently intended. Archie did such a good job, he ALMOST convinces you it was "always meant to be this way". But I don't buy it. I think Stan didn't get along with Drake (politics were involved), he kicked him off the book, brought in Friedrich, told him to do something "different" in the hopes that a radical shake-up might save the thing, except Friedrich didn't know what he was doing, and concocted this rambling, incoherent MESS. No question. THIS gets my vote for the WORST comic Marvel put out that month-- if not that WHOLE YEAR. (The Barry Smith cover is nice, buit doesn't help much. Too bad HE didn't draw this issue. As crude & raw as his art was at the time, it would have been a big improvement.)


THOR #162 -- "Galactus Is Born" has Thor & The Recorder returned at high-speed by Ego to Rigel, where Thor pleads that The Recorder has "life" and should not be "shut off" now that his mission's over. In a flash, Thor then returns to Asgard, where Odin & co. are still concerned about the looming menace of Galactus. Using his mystic power, Odin peels back the curtain of time and they witness the "first" planet Galactus ever attacked, which was being invaded by aliens. The locals activate a "birthing chamber" and unleash whatever unknown being was inside it-- which turns out to be Galactus, who takes out the invaders, then the entire planet that "awoke" him, as living energy is what he needs in great supply. Although this new info still leaves countless questions unanswered, Thor is called to other matters, as Sif has gone to Earth-- and disappeared. Meanwhile, Balder is tormented, as it seems he HAS, against all his better judgment and wishes, fallen in love with Karnilla, his sworn enemy.

This is a "nice" issue, but somehow comes across as "filler". I understand Stan Lee tampered with it-- A LOT-- before it saw print-- and the story readers got to see may have had almost nothing to do with anything Jack Kirby intended when he drew it. For one thing, there's a full-page shot of a destroyed city in here that, to my eyes, appears to be HALF of a 2-page shot of a destroyed city-- the other half appearing in the following issue! WHAT th'...? Strange things were going on behind-the-scenes...


THE AVENGERS #62 -- "The Monarch And The Man-Ape" has The Black Panther "rescue" himself & his comrades from the freezing wastes caused by Ymir, and zip them by aircraft to his "hidden" land of Wakanda, where they're met by gunfire. It seems T'Challa's "old friend", M'Baku, who he left in charge while he went to America, has gotten power-hungry, and during a feast, drugs his "visitors". On awakening, The Panther sees his "friend" garbed in the "forbidden garb" of the White Gorilla, and calling himself The Man-Ape! A fight is on to see which will rule the kingdom, as M'baku is determined to kill his king, take control, wipe out all the advances of technology and return the land to its original, primitive state. Things don't work out that way, and as M'baku winds up buried under the rubble of the Panther statue, T'Challa laments that M'baku was an "anacrhonism" who couldn't deal with change.

Like the last few, this issue is GLORIOUS. Roy Thomas, John Buscema and George Klein, all at their PEAKS!!! Nearly every panel is worthy of being a pin-up, and Roy's keeping his usual bad writing habits under control. I have this as a reprint in JUNGLE ACTION #5 (1973), where it was touted as the "beginning" of the new Black Panther solo series. HAH! That actual series began in the following issue, kind of absurd to "start" a series with a reprint. Anyway, the art reproduction in that was MUCH better than in the MARVEL SUPER ACTION reprints of AVENGERS from 7 years later. Go figure. I actually read this years before either half of the "Fire And Ice" 2-parter, and the opening pages left me wondering about that for quite a long time. I didn't read the stories in sequence until I got ahold of the ESSENTIAL AVENGERS volume. But it's way better in color!


X-MEN #54 -- "Wanted: Dead Or Alive-- Cyclops!" introduces Scott's never-before-mentioned younger brother Alex, who's graduating from high school, and apparently has no knowledge that both he and Scott are mutants. That changes quickly when a gang of thugs decked out in "Egyptian" outfits tries to kidnap him, led by a baddie called "The Pharaoh"-- who claims to posess "magical" powers, but is obviously a mutant like the X-Men. Alex is proud to learn his brother is leader of the group, but before long a 2nd kidnap attempt proves more successful. Cyclops faces off against The Pharaoh in a museum's "Egyptian" wing, but is knocked unconscious. On awakening, he finds Alex gone, and the cops are accusing HIM of KILLING the Pharaoh! Figuring Alex might have done it and run off, Scott escapes the cops, and now a city-wide manhunt is on for him. Abruptly, we cut to an underground cavern Cyclops is searching, where he runs into-- the Pharaoh, still alive, and arrogant as hell!

Now THIS was a return to form. I was beginning to think Arnold Drake had lost it, as none of his X-MEN issues up to here really "felt" like his work. This does, and also reminds me a lot of the earlier Thomas-Roth issues, except Drake actually did have the team fighting a mutant menace. Apart from introducing Alex' brother, Arnold also gives us a new baddie who seems to be Marvel's "answer" to the BATMAN tv-show villain, King Tut-- only with super-powers.

I kinda wonder why this issue appeared a month late. Did they just really wanna show off the Barry Smith fill-in? Or was this episode somehow running late? I think that's a legit question, as Werner Roth is missing from the credits. George Olshevsky's index lists him as "uncredited", but looking over the art, it looks to ME as if it's just Heck & Colletta, and after Don did layouts for 7 previous issues, I'd almost have to guess he did the same here, with Vince Colletta doing pencils AND inks ("finishes"), as he's much more overpowering than usual here. Some might think that a bad thing, but this issue "feels" more on-track than the last several, and that includes the ones done by Jim Steranko AND Barry Smith.

"The Million Dollar Angel" begins the origin of Warren Worthington, the perfect little rich kid who had no fear of heights and kept giving his parents worries every time he'd climb trees and such. He became a star athlete at the private school they sent him to, but at one point suddenly discovered he was growing WINGS out of his back, and found a way to get himself a private room so no one would find out. During a fire, he put on a disguise and saved several lives by pretending to be "an angel"-- I guess the name stuck. Some fellow students are determined to find out who the guy with the wings is.

As usual, Drake, Roth & Colletta (him again?) do a solid job all-round. Unfortunately, without warning, this would be Arnold Drake's last X-MEN issue, as sales were apparently in a bad state, and Stan Lee got Roy Thomas to come back in a desperate effort to "save" it.

NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #11 -- "The 1st Million Megaton Explosion" is Marvel's answer to STAR TREK's "The Way To Eden"-- in other words, a hippie-youth culture episode. Laura Brown drags Nick to a rock concert, which is interrupted when The Hate-Monger, still aboard his orbitting space station, targets his hate-ray on the crowd, who try to lynch "the old guy" (Fury). Soon after, the band ("The 1st Million Megaton Explosion") appears on Sullivan, but instead of singing, give a speech, sparking a young "revolution". Next thing, New York City is turned over the the young people, and a nuclear missile base in New Jersey (NEW JERSEY?) is taken over. "LBJ" is given an ultimatum-- turn over control of the country, or they launch the missiles. Fury convinces the Pres to let him use one of NASA's moon rockets to reach the space station, and for the 2nd month in a row, he single-handedly takes on The Hate-Monger on his home ground. This time, there seem to be very few thugs around, and before long, Fury gets into a fight with the guy, one-on-one, ending when the neo-Nazi is hit square in the face, can't see where he's going, runs thru the wrong door... and finds himself accidentally stepping out an airlock. OOPS!!!!!

The hate-ray shut off, things back to normal, LBJ gives amnesty to all the young people since it weren't their fault. Back at his pad, Nick tells Laura, it's Frank Sinatra and Benny Goodman for him for now on!

Frank Springer's back on full art this time, a big improvement over Springer-Craig. But in the space of a mere 3 episodes, Gary Freidrich has gone from inspired to average to nearly-incoherent. WHAT the heck happened with this guy? I didn't mind the "hippie youth culture" plot, or the rock & roll disco stuff. It was other things. Like wasting 4 whole pages at the beginning to show off a fictional gatefold record LP jacket (the back cover of which contains a tribute to the finale of PLANET OF THE APES). Like, HOW COME The Hate-Monger's space station was still up there, and hadn't been blown out of the sky when he tried to kill everyone in NYC the issue before? Like, HOW COME Nick has to ask LBJ for a NASA rocket to reach the space station, when he used a SHIELD "self-orbitting" craft last issue? (Sure, he left that one behind, but are you gonna tell me SHIELD only has one?) And like, with an organization as big as SHIELD is, and in as important a position of leadership as Nick is, WHY does Nick keep going on these one-man suicide missions??? I MEAN COME ON!!!

Last time I noted the "death gas from space" plot had been reused in the 1979 movie MOONRAKER. Well, the same goes for this month's climax when the guy running the space station steps out the airlock. I think it's pretty safe to say MOONRAKER screenwriter Christopher Wood was a SHIELD fan. Wouldn't you?


DR. STRANGE #179 -- "The Wondrous World Of Dr. Strange" may be Marvel's 1st-ever "Dreaded Deadline Doom" reprint, taken from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2. It was Steve Ditko's only Spidey-Dr. Strange team-up (his 2 big strips colliding, what a great match!), and apparently appeared here because Gene Colan got the flu. (AGAIN? but that trick never works!) Me, I would have thought he missed the deadline because he was "filling in" on SUB-MARINER for 2 issues. But what do I know? Barry Smith supplied a new cover. I guess it makes sense. Ditko didn't even draw Doc on the original cover! (I wonder why that was?) Now see, if I were in charge of reprint collections, anytime this story would see print, I'd include both the Ditko cover AND the Smith cover. I think there's been a lot of cool "new" covers slapped on reprinted stories over the years, but some fans (like me) may have skipped some of those books, because they already had the stories. And where else are those covers gonna get reprinted?


FANTASTIC FOUR #85 -- "Within This Tortured Land" reveals that the FF have been drugged, then brainswashed, so their minds won't allow them to rebel and use their powers. Meanwhile, Doom tests his latest indestructible robots, and the next test is to destroy an "entire village"-- the one he's got the FF imprisoned in (as well as ALL of its regular population!!). So much for wanting to gloat over his victory for years to come. Also, so much for any sense of loyalty to "his" own people. Not only has this "robot" fixation come out of nowhere (and Jim Steranko), but Doom is just becoming a cold-blooded mass-murderer.

Meanwhile, a brief sub-plot shows Sue house-hunting, realizing crowded neighborhoods wouldn't be safe (for the neighbors!), and finding a strange, abandoned, out-of-the-way, futuristic house built into the ground in some woods. You know, this thing of introducing sub-plots sometimes MONTHS before the next story starts, which became industry standard by the 70's, may be one of the most annoying traits anybody ever picked up from Jack Kirby. Or daytime soaps. I really hate when they do this.

It's starting to hit the fan as several different readers on the letters page all point out that Stan blew it with the bit about WHO rescued The Inhumans from the barrier, and WHERE the Great Refuge is located. I swear, these last several months, I'm seeing more and more of these kind of blatent, obvious, AMATEURISH mistakes-- all coming from "The Man", Marvel's "fearless leader", the "writer" and "author" and "creator" of all their characters and series.... HE says, repeatedly. Is it safe to say he got really FULL of himself here, started to believe his own hype, and didn't even notice how he was screwing up more and more as time went by, especially now that his #1 guy-- Jack Kirby-- was insisting that Stan actually start doing more of the work he'd been claiming to do all along? (MMMMM-- could be!)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #71 -- "The Speedster And The Spider" finds Pete feeling at the end of his wits. He gives the tablet to Stacy, then splits (doesn't want to guy to recognize his voice, even under the mask). Then, Joe Robertson-- who's been forced to fill in for JJJ while the nut is in the hospital-- raves about Pete's pics of The Kingpin, which PROVE Spidey AND the students are innocent, and pays Pete more for the pics than Jameson EVER did! Now Spidey's off the hook, Pete can send Aunt May to Florida again, and start paying his share of the rent. (WHAT rent? His roomie Harry gets the place for FREE from his Dad! Doesn't Stan even read HIS OWN comics anymore?)

In this month's X-MEN, readers complained that Magneto's return from the dead wasn't properly explained-- and no mention was made of the missing Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad. WELL, whatta ya know, all 3 turn up here, and all 3 feel they've gotten a bum rap, being "forced" to do Magneto's bidding. Pietro races to the city, intent on contacting the Avengers to explain things. But they're in AFRICA (man, this issue makes so much more sense re-reading it within the context of all these other books!). So, instead of hanging around to wait (I guess a "speedster" isn't known for patience) he runs across a newspaper calling Spidey a crook-- and decides to clear his own name by bringing Spidey to "justice". AUGH! Another STUPID, pointless hero vs. hero fight. This one goes on almost half the issue, until Spidey gets the drop on Pietro, and in the process saves his life, making the guy think, hey, maybe he's NOT bad. Jameson, meanwhile, goes into a hysterical FIT when he sees the latest Bugle. "I don't care WHAT the photos show-- he's GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!" This SOB doesn't need a physician-- he needs a strait-jacket. Seriously.

This was one of 4 issues of ASM I got at my very 1st NYC convention, which I bought because I didn't have them in reprint form. For some reason, this issue and the next one WEREN'T reprinted in MARVEL TALES in the early 70's when they should have been. The next issue appeared in ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS-- still a stupid reason not to have included it neatly in the regular reprint run. This issue, I dunno if it was ever reprinted back then. But at least I got it. But it's taken me 30 YEARS to finally re-read the damned thing IN SEQUENCE! Having re-read the related X-MEN and AVENGERS issues also in sequence made it make even more sense. Considering it wasn't really that hot...

Jim Mooney does a nice Scarlet Witch... for all of a few pages. (NO Gwen or MJ this time! Aww...)


CAPTAIN AMERICA #112 -- "Lest We Forget" has Tony Stark at Avengers Mansion, filling for Cap (has ANYBODY told this to Roy Thomas??), getting the news that Cap's dead, and it's his job to plan the memorial service, and "close his file". The rest of the issue has Stark (apparently) reminiscing about Cap's history in WW2 and in the 60's, giving us what for TV would be known as an "all-flashback" episode. Except, this one's got all-new art. Legend has it, Jack Kirby was called back to do this at the last minute, and knocked it out OVER A WEEKEND. That's 10 PAGES a DAY!!! Holy cow! Somehow, George Tuska got the inking job (though I think John Romita inked the cover), and this issue has a really rough, raw look to it. Like a cross between Dan Adkins and Syd Shores inks over Kirby, only without the finesse of either.

WHY was this done? Stan says it seemed a good idea, to give readers a break from the shocking events of the previous issue, and let them catch their breath before the big conclusion next month. Some have said Steranko was playing things so close to the deadline, Stan thought it would be a good idea to give him more time. After all, he'd already proven he couldn't seem to do an entire book on a monthly basis (see NICK FURY and X-MEN). SOME have said that Steranko did not blow any deadline-- but that Stan didn't like the ending Jim wrote for the 3rd episode. Stan, apparently, felt such a connection to Cap's book, he just couldn't bring himself to step back and "only" act as editor-- he had to stick his hand in more than that. Hence the "vague" credits which do not say Stan was either editor OR writer-- and left readers guessing for decades. Anyway, the rumor was, Steranko was forced to change the ending, and re-do some of the pages in the process, which is what blew the deadline (if such a thing happened at all). And this led to Steranko quitting the book after only 3 issues, when he'd planned to stay around a LOT longer. NICE GOIN', STAN!


CAPTAIN MARVEL #12 -- "The Moment Of-- The Man-Slayer!" replays the final scene from the previous issue, as "ZO" grants CM vast powers, including teleportation, and illusion-casting, then sets him on his path to revenge against Yon-Rogg, who destroyed his career, wrecked the mission, and murdered his love. Cap stops back at the asteroid, where Una's EXPOSED body is preserved in the vaccum of space, then briefly haunts Yon-Rogg, but doesn't kill him or destroy The Hellion-- he wants to come up with something really fitting that will make the guy suffer. So instead, he returns to his hotel room, then heads for the base. The C.O. is convinced with that "Lawson" is a bad egg since his latest disappearance, and now both CM and "Lawson" are to be arrested-- or shot on sight-- whichever. Just as base guards are about to arrest "Lawson", a 10-foot red plastic robot-- "The Man-Killer"-- shows up to attack the base. (AGAIN? but that trick never works!) Despite being now a wanted man, CM fights the robot to defend the base, then, after it mysteriously collapses, he changes back to "Lawson"-- and teleports away before the guards can nab him.

Meanwhile... The Black Widow, on assignment for SHIELD, finds another spy ring, led by some mysterious guy in a chair whose face we never see. This mysterious baddie is the Man-Killer's creator. The Widow interfered with the remote controls, which allowed CM to defeat the robot. But this sub-plot comes out of nowhere, and goes nowhere fast.

For the 2nd issue in a row, Dick Ayers does some of the WORST layouts and "storytelling" I've ever seen in all of 60's Marvel. This guy did such a wonderful job on GIANT-MAN and HUMAN TORCH-- why are his layouts so TERRIBLE here? Syd Shores stepped in to replace Vince Colletta, and his inks are a HUGE improvement. But it seems such a WASTE, incredible inks over CRAP pencils. Also, I've been convinced that Gary Friedrich (who wrote the 3 issues after this) wrote this issue, NOT Arnold Drake, as credited... but now I'm not so sure. It's really hard to tell. I see Arnold's trademark break-up of sentences between balloons, but I KNOW Arnold is a better writer than this. His first 5 (or so) episodes of CM were better than the ones Stan Lee & Roy Thomas did. So WHY is this book so TERRIBLY written? Is it just the effect of "The Marvel Method", where a "writer" is at the mercy of the "penciller" (who's really doing a big bulk of the plotting)? Is it that Dick Ayers was just a complete mis-fit on this book, and had NO IDEA what he was doing? Is it that Stan stuck his nose in and made things even more confusing, possibly de-railing whatever Arnold originally had in mind and forcing this insane, confusing, directionless MESS on everyone? All I know is, I paid $3.50 for my copy of this book some years ago... and STILL feel it was way too much! For the 2nd month in a row, this get my vote for WORST MARVEL of the month.

Something else else I forgot to mention before... C.A. #112 featured the first mention in the 60's of "the original Ringmaster"-- that description strongly suggesting the 2 villains weren't the same guy. But they look so much alike, they could have been father and son!

Also, after spending years playing around with their cover designs and finally coming up with one I consider the best they ever had, the Dec'68 covers started SCREWING with perfection when they shoved the book's title (along with price, number & date) ABOVE the little corner pic. It looked so much better before...and it would only get worse as time went on.


SILVER SURFER #5 -- "--And Who Shall Mourn For Him?" is the most rambling plot Stan has come up with yet. SS steals a new device Reed Richards has been experimenting with (he couldn't have ASKED?) hoping it'll free him from Galactus' invisible barrier. Nope. After crashing, he wakes up in a cabin of Al Harper, a black scientist who knows what it's like to be judged "different" because of appearance. He offers to help the Surfer find a way thru the barrier, but money's a problem. The Surfer tries to "disguise" himself as a human and find a job at an employment agency, but with no job history, no Social Security number, no references, and his pale white skin that would "frighten" people, it's no go. He considers robbing a bank, but puts the money back. Then he finds an illegal casino, and by careful manipulation of molecules while throwing dice, wins a bundle-- which the crooks running the place immediately try to STEAL back. Harper comes up with a device which may "fool" the barrier by disguising the Surfer's atomic structure, but the experiment attracts the attention of The Stranger-- that all-powerful, omnipotent, genocidal alien who, ONCE AGAIN, has decided that Earthmen are potentially too dangerous to the rest of the universe, and must be wiped out. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY'S PROBLEM??? Rather than flee Earth, the Surfer warns Harper, who goes to the various authorities (police, FBI, Army, etc) and is laughed at by all. He then comes up with a device to find the bomb The Stranger planted-- but is first harrassed, then pursued by some unbelieveably STUPID average citizens who first "wanna know what's that thing, man?", then think he's some kind of danger himself. Harper manages to defuse the bomb, but at the cost of his own life. The bomb was designed that way-- and his self-sacrifice convinces The Stranger that mankind deserves another chance. Why doesn't somebody just KILL this bastard and be done with it? (Some all-powerful beings are just TOO STUPID to live.)

The John Buscema-Sal Buscema art is top-notch, but Stan Lee's story just annoyed me in too many ways to list. Also, with all the tight continuity going on, I'd like to know where the heck Reed Richards and Ben Grimm's appearance here fits into their own continuity-- OR, why Reed, who's married, is sharing a bathroom with Ben! (There's GOTTA be more than one bathroom in the entire Baxter Building!!!


SUB-MARINER #12 -- "A World Against Me" has Subby pursueing Karthoon thru the Panama Canal on their way to sunken Lemuria (somewhere in the Pacific), to stop evil ruler Naga from getting his hands on the Serpent Crown of Lemuria-- which, it turns out, is what "Destiny" had all along. (You couldn't tell under its outer casing-- sort of like The Maltese Falcon, I suppose!) Subby gets over-powered, then drugged, but in Naga's palace it wears off, and soon he faces off against the evil ruler, who uses the Crown's power to create an illusion of a giant foe with crab-like hands for him to battle. After, Namor wrecks the throneroom, but in the rubble sees Lady Dorma-- DEAD because of his handiwork! Is her lifeless body another illusion-- or the real thing?

This issue was a complete turn-around for me from the previous one. Many feel John Buscema did great work on this series, and while I tend to see some of it almost as a "warm-up" for the much-later CONAN, I don't think he really "fit" on Subby. And Gene Colan's an even worse fit! But Marie Severin-- AHH, now SHE really does fit the character, and the series. I'd rank her just under Bill Everett as one of the best SUB-MARINER artists, ever! Between the way she draws, and the way she lays out the pages (storytelling), and who knows how much of the actual "plot" she contributes, everything about this issue just "feels" so right! It's a shame I have so few issues from this point-- especially as I'm still missing the conclusion of this over-long "crown" storyline.


THOR #163 -- "Where Dwell The Demons" has Thor return to Earth, in search of the missing Sif, run across an army convoy, and a strange "Time Funnel" in the center of NYC, into which the army says Sif disappeared. Thor follows, and quickly finds his lady, in the hands of huge-eared "Mutates"-- demons in the service of Pluto, Lord of the Underworld! (Long time no see!) And entire city block with a scientific research complex has been transported to another time, where Thor & Sif find a city in ruins, and somewhere in one of the buildings, a strange "coffin"-like object opens, containing a familiar-looking man-sized "cocoon".

This issue's okay, and definitely looks way better in color (I have the original as well as the ESSENTIAL volume). But there's some odd things about it. When I read this the 2nd time (in the B&W volume), I couldn't shake the feeling this was somehow intended for one of Jack's "Fourth World" stories-- had he wound up doing them for Marvel, instead of holding them back for DC. The circular "Time Funnel" reminds me of a "Boom Tube". The "Mutates", also referred to as demons, remind me of "Para-Demons". And in this equation, Pluto seems to fill "Darkseid"s slot! (Picture Superman instead of Thor and you see what I mean.) Also, there's this full-page shot of Thor & Sif wandering thru a destroyed city... which looks to me like the 2nd HALF of a 2-page spread, the first half of which appeared in the previous issue! Was that sequence intended as part of Galactus' origin, but then the story was changed? MAYBE. There doesn't seem to be much sense to having Thor & co. transported to the future... the remains of ANOTHER PLANET destroyed in a war might have been the original intention (Apokalips???).

As usual, Kirby & Colletta do a bang-up job.


THE AVENGERS #63 -- "And In This Corner... Goliath!" begins with a missile-shaped aircraft (which seems to have a "smilie-face" built into its design) on its way to crashing into Avengers Mansion. Turns out it's another one of The Black Panther's aircraft-- but has gone out of control FOR NO APPARENT REASON (and none was ever given in this entire issue). Barely landing safely, Hawkeye feels useless (his bow-string broke-- also for no apparent reason). Hank & Jan are back from their honeymoon, but on doctor's orders, Hank is giving up his Goliath identity, and sticking with Yellowjacket, as it seems his growing may have partially caused his temporary schizophrenia, while shrinking seems to be okay. The group gets a call from Nick Fury, saying The Black Widow's disappeared in the Caribbean, and they rush to find her, but make Hawkeye stay behind because he's "too emotionally involved". (WHAT IS their problem???)

Hawkeye then gets a personal (if brief) message from Natasha, telling him the earlier call was a fake-- and he figures out she's really in Coney Island! He decides to rescue her solo-- and in a bizarre fit of inspiration, takes Hank's "more powerful" shrinking potion-- and dons his "new" Goliath costume (the one Jan made for Hank for their honeymoon-- NO WONDER it looks kinda "kinky"), and before long, he's fighting some 15-foot-tall android. The villains of the piece turn out to be Egghead (Ant-Man's old foe), The Puppet Master (OH NOT HIM again!) and The Thinker ("who some call MAD!!!"). They're working on some grand scheme that threatens the entire world, which, I guess, is a decent reason for bringing The Mad Thinker back. I suppose it also serves to "explain" the scene in CAPTAIN MARVEL #12 involving The Black Widow and WHOEVER it was who built "The Man-Slayer" (The Mad Thinker seems a good guess...), though that episode is NEVER mentioned here. (You'd think it woulda been!)

I forgot to mention, AVENGERS also got a new logo last time. The "classic" logo, which had been on the book since #1, was suddenly replaced with a curving one (that reminds me of the "Supermarionation" logo from some of Gerry Anderson's tv shows) with the word "MIGHTY" added. Was this a slap at MIGHTY CRUSADERS (from Archie) or MIGHTY HEROES (the cartoon show)? Seems to me this book stood out better without those kind of confusing comparisons.

After doing such a magnificent job over the last batch of issues, John Buscema is GONE, replaced by Gene Colan, who once again seems to have a "thing" for drawing "giants" (Ultimo, The Sentry, The Leviathan, etc...). Now he gets to draw a giant hero, and one who'd look at home in a "leather club". And I wonder if this also didn't help cause Gene to miss DR. STRANGE #179. (Having a reprint issue couldn't have helped that book's overall sales, either...) After saying in the Bullpen page that Buscema dropped off SUB-MARINER to focus on SILVER SURFER and AVENGERS, now he's gone from AVENGERS, because Stan got him to take over doing layouts on... AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Huh??? WTF was John Romita doing that he was too busy EVEN to do "just" layouts???

It sure seems to me something crazy was going on at Marvel around here, because this "musical artists" thing was getting out of hand, with Don Heck moving to CAPTAIN SAVAGE, Dick Ayers on CAPTAIN MARVEL, Marie Severin on SUB-MARINER, Gene Colan on AVENGERS, John Buscema on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, Jim Steranko on CAPTAIN AMERICA... and it wasn't over yet!!!

MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #19 -- KA-ZAR, THE JUNGLE MASTER: "My Father, My Enemy" is the 1st-ever solo outing for Marvel's half-witted Tarzan rip-off character. Well, that's how he seems to me, anyway. Back in England, we find Ka-Zar's brother "Edgar" (I thought it was "Parnival"-- but what kind of name is that anyway?) is OUT OF JAIL ON PAROLE. Now wait a minute... this guy was damn near singlehandedly responsible for destroying Prince Namor's Atlantis and starting a war between the US and the Atlanteans, and was last seen in a sub that got blown up... (if memory serves). How did he get in jail, let alone, after all that, how did he get out ON PAROLE? The parole board system in the Marvel Universe must have some SEVERE problems to be having all these super-villains running around scot free.

"Ka-Zar" (Kevin Plunder) has apparently "given up" the title to his estate (so WHY is he still hanging around there?) and brother Edgar ("The Plunderer") is plotting every way he knows to have him run off, or killed, or both. A neighbor lady and her father interests Ka-Zar briefly (after he intrerfered with the local "sport" of fox-hunting), but before long a race is on back to The Savage Land. Edgar wants to get control of the strange destructive mineral element discovered by their father, but needs the other half of an amulet to unlock the chamber it's kept in-- and Ka-Zar left his half back in Antarctica. It's chaos once everybody (including the lady and her father) show up, especially once the older gent gets killed trying to defend his daughter. Before he died, the guy tried to write a message in the dirt, indicating that Ka-Zar's father was NOT the villain he's been led to believe-- only EDGAR is really a villain-- but Edgar wipes the message out before it can be read (shades of Dr. Zaius in PLANET OF THE APES).

Under a nice cover by Barry Smith & Herb Trimpe (2 guys who are "doing" Jack Kirby's style), the interior art is by George Tuska and, surprisingly, Sid Greene, who gives it a nice, "polished" look. (The lady Ka-Zar takes a liking to looks really pretty, something I don't see that often in Tuska art.) Unfortunately, the "storytelling" is very choppy and at times nearly incoherent. Arnold Drake & Steve Parkhouse are both listed as writers. I might guess Arnold came up with the plot and Steve did the dialogue, except the first few pages do bear Arnold's "trademark" style of dialogue, so maybe Arnold plotted the whole thing, but got replaced on dialogue some pages in. Poor guy, he never could seem to get a foothold at Marvel, and for the most part, kept getting saddled with the "2nd rate" artists. I wish I could say I enjoyed this, but it just seems a waste of paper.

The biggest problem I have with most of these early Ka-Zar appearances, frankly, is his entire background, origin, and family relations. "The Plunderer" is a villain who gets old-- fast, and the way he goes around the first half of this story, as if he somehow weren't a full-blown maniacal career criminal, is exasperating. Why is this guy on the loose, let alone even still alive???


X-MEN #55 -- "The Living Pharaoh!" picks up right where the previous episode left off, with "The Pharaoh" having faked his own death (even the police finally noticed the body is missing!) and intent on having Cyclops either join his power-mad schemes, or die. Both Scott & Alex are shipped to Egypt as prisoners, but thanks to Jean's mental connection, the X-Men are in pursuit, and catch up with the baddies shortly after they reach the Pyramids. Big fight breaks out, but suddenly, "The Living Pharaoh" (as his men have now started calling him-- who knows why) feels weak, and Scott realizes he's been defeated by Alex-- who has abruptly exhibited a MUTANT power of his own!

Damn shame Arnold Drake got kicked off this book, here he introduces Scott's brother Alex, and a whole "Egyptian" villain and setting-- he LOVED anything to do with Ancient Egypt-- and he doesn't get to finish the story. Roy Thomas comes back without missing a beat. In recent months on DR. STRANGE and AVENGERS, Roy's often-annoying dialogue finally got under control, and he continues doing a better job here on X-MEN as well. There is a noticeable difference to my eyes in the art between this issue and the previous one-- the drawing and the rendering of the characters is much "cleaner" (except for the last 3 pages, where I'm guessing Vince Colletta was running out of time and had to rush to beat the deadline), which suggests to me that Werner Roth did NOT pencil last issue's story, as he did here. (The credits WERE right.) Depending on your own personal taste, it's either a good or bad thing, but this would turn out to be Roth's LAST outing on the lead strip. I think it's a shame that Roth kept getting replaced when, by rights, they should have just left him on the book. It would have been a lot more "consistent", and who knows, maybe sold better that way.

"Where Angels Dare To Tread" continues the origin of The Angel, who's gotten himself one really spiffy costume (I like it BETTER than any other costume he's ever worn in the series up to this point!) and started calling himself "The Avenging Angel". No deep soul-searching here-- this guy's got a super-power, he decides to use it to help society by fighting crime. Were that more "gifted" people felt so socially-committed. Anyway, Professor X detects a new mutant in the area, he sends his team to recruit the guy, but Angel says he's strictly solo-- and nobody tells him what to do!

Thomas picks up where Drake left off, Roth continues the usual solid job, and this month sees the Marvel debut of Sam Grainger, who'd done a lot of work in fanzines before this (including STAR-STUDDED COMICS) and would, years later, also wind up doing inks on the revived X-MEN series, working over Dave Cockrum!


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #12 -- "Hell Hath No Fury" has Nick on the run from SHIELD after being accused of consorting with enemy agents while out of the country for 2 days. A "security" man, Agent Rickard, says he doesn't like what he sees and suggests Fury oughta be replaced. Next thing, Fury's a wanted man. Rickard turns out to be an "agent" alright-- of HYDRA! With Fury out of the way, they figure SHIELD will be in chaos. They send a couple of killers in a helicopter with SHIELD markings on it to take Fury out, but only wind up splattered all over the landscape themselves, which tells Fury somebody else is involved and playing very dirty. Val won't say why she supposedly didn't back up Fury's story, and he accuses her of running "as soon as things got too serious" between them. Gabe catches up with Fury, but after some friendly info exchange, Fury gets the drop on him. He finally catches up with Rickard, who decides to kill Fury outright, but gets it instead. It's clearly self-defense-- but Dugan shows up arresting Fury for Rickard's MURDER!

The first time I read this, this became my FAVORITE post-Steranko SHIELD issue. Barry Smith, who did such an awful job on X-MEN #53, is still very raw here. The layouts are dodgy (but creative), the drawing is rough, and the inks (by both Smith himself and Sid Greene-- but I can't tell who did what) don't help. But the writing is what grabs me. Steve Parkhouse-- who contributed to that KA-ZAR story, and years later teamed with Dave Gibbons on some incredible DOCTOR WHO stories-- brings back the "human" feeling for Fury, Val, Gabe, etc. that Steranko occasionally hinted at in between his hi-tech antics, and which almost every writer since seemed to have completely forgotten in their mad dash to imitate Steranko's WORST stylistic excesses! That something that looks THIS bad, this AMATEURISH-- we're talking FANZINE-level quality here, folks!-- should read THIS GOOD is really saying something about the potential of the people involved, and the possible future of this book-- had they stayed.

Tragically... Barry Smith's green card ran out right after this, and he had to skip the country back to England! He did wind up doing a LOT of work for Marvel before too long... but the deadline on this book apparently couldn't wait, and the next issue, NOBODY involved with this one came back to continue what started out as such a really GREAT story. (Strangely enough, the basic plot of this would be redone as the 1st issue of NICK FURY VS. SHIELD in the late 80's by Bob Harras & Paul Neary-- but Harras would use about 10 times as many words and not do one-TENTH as good of a job. Man, I HATED that mini-series with a passion!!! It was an INSULT to the memory of everything Kirby, Lee, Steranko and others had done back here in the 60's.)

You know, it just hit me that Smith, Parkhouse & Greene-- all 3-- worked in some capaticy on MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #19 and NICK FURY #12. I wonder if Parkhouse-- as a writer-- may have been responsible for that? Ever since I learned about the "de facto editor" thing, where writers put together their own art teams-- I begin to notice more stuff like this.


DR. STRANGE #180 -- "Eternity Eternity" opens with Doc, not knowing where he is or how he got there-- confronted by an image of "Eternity", who says of course he wasn't destroyed by that clash with Dormammu back when. (In an editorial footnote, Stan gets the issue # WRONG. Man, he was REALLY SLIPPING around this time!!) In the vision, Eternity changes into Nightmare (him again-- and so soon?), who threatens to eliminate the gap between reality and his dream plane of existence. Doc is abruptly woken up by Wong, who reminds him he has a date with Clea. The two meets, and she gets her first experience with "snow". The pair heads to Times' Square to celebrate the new year, running into a "journalist" friend of Doc's, Tom Wolfe, when they arrive. As the clock strikes midnight, a pterodactyl appears and crashes, followed by several other dinosaurs, each much larger than any real dinos ever were. Doing his best to save the crowd, Doc finds it's the work of Nightmare-- who has, somehow, actually imprisoned Etrernity, the "embodiment of time itself". Nightmare challenges Strange to a "final" battle, to the death-- and Doc accepts! To be continued.

Another extremely well-done, mind-blowing issue, about a third of which is made up of full-page panels. Man, are Gene Colan & Tom Palmer on a roll!! Page 2 of this story was turned into a day-glo black-light poster, which I've had on my wall for a lot of years now. The only "excess" of Roy's this time is Wolfe's cameo (it's almost as annoying as when celebrities appear as themselves on sitcoms) but for the most part, a terrific, solid issue. I've seen the cover Gene drew for this issue that went unused-- it was a bit too confusing, I think. Stan replaced it with a collage, made up of a STEVE DITKO Eternity (from STRANGE TALES #146), a Gene Colan Doc (a panel from a recent issue), and a photo of Manhattan. COOL cover!!! Something else else odd that struck me was, I've read Stan preferred not having 2 covers with the same basic color scheme in the same month, or 2 months in a row. Both DR. STRANGE and NICK FURY this month had white backgrounds. Though, I doubt anyone ever confused the two.


FANTASTIC FOUR #86 -- "The Victims" has Doom, as his killer robots are about to wipe out the entire helpless village, announce that they have gone "temporarily out of control", and any villages who might accidentally get killed will be considered "heroes of the country" afterwards. WHAT A BASTARD!!! Meanwhile, he thinks on how when he designed the robots (which actually are out-of-control) he built into them a weakness, which only he knows-- but he wants the FF to die before Reed can figure out what that weakness is. The brain-washing slowly wears off, and their powers return, but hardly soon enough. Infuriated when Reed uses one of his own hidden devices to throw the robots into deep water (that's their weakness-- they're too heavy to swim) Doom detonates a huge pile of explosives he hid under the village, just as his ex-Nazi underling Hauptmann reminds him of "his people". For an instant, Doom thinks twice-- SAY WHAT? After all his mass-murdering intentions??-- but too late, and the village is toast. Except... for one area where all the people have gathered, which was protected by an invisible force field. Hey, whatta ya know, Sue got Fury to tell her where her hubby was, and she showed up to single-handedly save the day! GO, SUE! Ben's happy she showed, too-- as he says, she's the only one who can keep Reed from talking everyone to death.

GREAT art (though a full-page shot of Doom seems uncalled for), but I'm wondering about Doom's inconsistent behavior. I guess that's to be expected when you're a power-mad despot like him-- or, when 2 guys are writing a book, not 1.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #72 -- "Rocked By The Shocker" brings back another Romita villain, who breaks into Stacy's home to steal the stone tablet-- because he read about Stacy having it in the papers. SAY WHAT? Pete learns The Shocker's on the loose again, and goes after him as Spidey. Shocker gets away, but not before Pete plants a "spider-tracer" on him (gee, long time since he used one o' those), and he rushes to the train station to see Aunt May & Anna Watson off to Florida. While there, he sees a Bugle headline saying how Spidey risked his life to fight the Shocker... and I'm left wondering, HOW did that paper get out in such a short time? (Somebody is not thinking things thru here!!!) Flash returns for a visit, once again insults Pete (he says it's a "joke"), Pete gets pissed, then Gwen gets pissed at Pete! (WHY does he bother with this girl??) The simplest thing is to tackle The Shocker again, who's pulling an armored car heist when he arrives. Spidey clobbers the Shocker, but then gets SHOT at by one of the guards! When the guy finds both the Shocker and all the money safe and sound around the corner, he openly wonders "Gee, how come nobody trusts that guy?" (Yeah-- he says this, AFTER SHOOTING at him himself. How stupid are some people?)

Talk about a shock-- Stan Lee YANKED John Buscema off AVENGERS, which was in the middle of one of its BEST RUNS EVER, so he could take over layouts ("storytelling") on ASM. John Romita is now back on pencils, but without having to do the "hard" work he always says gave him such headaches, while Jim Mooney, who'd been doing such a WONDERFUL job on pencils & inks, drops back to just inks. THIS is an improvement?? With Romita drawing, Mooney inking, and Romita, presumably, doing touch-ups inks, it may not LOOK that different, but the storytelling IS different (you can really tell if you squint, heh) and the book just FEELS different. I dunno. Sometimes I wish Romita had just worked AT HOME like most Marvel artists, and done FULL ART (or at least layouts AND pencils) and done it for a long, long time instead of all this "musical artists" CRAP.

This issue was NOT reprinted as part of the early-70's MARVEL TALES run, as it appeared instead in ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS. Somebody screwed something up in there, because Stan's near-incoherent intro describes an entirely different episode, one with Electro. Also, ONE page of this appeared in the 1st MARVEL TREASURY EDITION, just to have a "sample" of Buscema layouts.


IRON MAN #13 -- "Captives Of The Controller" is the 2nd half of a story (I'm missing the 1st half) involving a villain who used to work for Cord Industries ("exploited" is the word he uses) who became crippled, and then found a way, by using special "discs" attached to people's foreheads, to turn them into mindless zombies, channel their bodily energies into him, and make him super-strong and unbeatable. As "The Controller", he's already got dozens of victims under his sway, including Janice Cord, and only his armor saved Iron Man from becoming another one. Loading up a railroad car with his transmitting equipment, and a stock of "slaves", he heads for NYC, where he intends to turn the entire city into his human power supply, which will make him completely unbeatable. Nick Fury informs IM he intends to take out the railroad car before it reaches the city, but IM says if the victims are "disconnected" forcibly it'll kill them. Fury gives him a deadline and wishes him luck. With Jasper's help, the car with the equipment is disconnected-- and left behind-- as IM and the Controller slug it out on the still-moving train, until they get far enough away that he runs out of power-- freeing his victims. Lucky break.

Not one of my favorite issues in a run that isn't a fave of mine in the first place. I first ran across the Controller several years later when, I think, Gerry Conway brought him back. I didn't like him as a villain there, or here. I guess Archie Goodwin's doing an "okay" job on the writing, but that's as far as I'll go. George Tuska & Johnny Craig are doing "okay" on the art, though at this point I'm wondering what's with all these odd-shaped panels. Apart from the splash page, there isn't a single straight rectancular panel in this entire issue!!!

I paid "only" $10.00 for this some years ago, and still felt ripped off.

The suspense is over...


CAPTAIN AMERICA #113 -- "The Strange Death Of Captain America" begins with a news report on Cap's murder by Hydra agents, and the strange fact of a "Steve Rogers" face mask being found, suggesting that it was a fake identity. We see the "origin" of Madame Hydra-- a refugee in war-torn Europe, who hides a "disfigured" right side of her face under all that hair. (Rumors of Dr. Doom only having one tiny scratch may have been misplaced; judging by the reflection in one panel, I'd say Madame Hyrda was the one with "only" one tiny scratch!) The Avengers gather for the wake, and Nick Fury gives the eulogy. Rick Jones is too shattered to speak. Suddenly, gas knocks everyone out, and the undertakers are revealed to be Hydra agents, bent on wiping out all their enemies at once-- by BURYING them in a cemetary! (Holy Edgar Allan Poe!!) Rick folows, but they get the drop on him...

SUDDENLY!!!!!-- out of the darkness the roar of a motorcycle cuts the night, and CAPTAIN AMERICA-- still alive-- tears into the scene! Cap & Rick fight the Hydra goons, the highly-explosive gasolene in his bike taking out most of them. A pair of heat-seeking hunter missiles miss the heroes when they dive into an open grave, and Madame Hydra winds up being their target instead. Cap & Rick are back in business-- and as Cap says, he now has a "secret identity" again.

This is probably Steranko's 2ND all-time best issue ever. For whatever reason (schedule? artistic preference?) Tom Palmer replaced Joe Sinnott on this issue as inker. As I noticed before he even debuted, some of the panels remind me a bit of Syd Shores' work (was Palmer inspired by Shores?). But something else I NEVER noticed before-- and I've read this one maybe a DOZEN times over the years-- is how Steranko & Palmer in quite a few panels strongly emulate the line-rendering style of WILL EISNER, whose page layouts and storytelling Steranko had already been using since his debut on SHIELD. What's funny is the way Steve is in "disguise" for half the issue, in an overcoat and hat-- very much like Denny Colt as THE SPIRIT-- and the 2nd half of the issue takes place in a cemetary-- it could have been "Wildwood" for all I know! Amazing that I never picked up on this before!

I'm STILL not clear on the details as to exactly why this episode was a month late... or what changes, if any, Stan Lee may have forced on Jim Steranko's story... or WHY, for that matter, Jim's intended long run ENDED right here. DAMN! 3 whole issues??? It just doesn't seem right. This was the LAST full comic Steranko ever did for Marvel. What a WASTE of so much talent.

Incidentally, the cover, showing Rick grieving at the base of a statue of Cap, was paid tribute to by Tom Sutton 2 years later, in EERIE #32 (Mar'71), when he swiped the pose of "Cap" for the splash page of "Crime Crusher".

Finally, does this new "secret identity" thing even make any sense at all? What's anyone gonna think the next time the by-now well-known face of Steve Rogers appears? That he's the "real" Steve Rogers and Cap was someone else? I dunno... if I was Hydra, I'd shoot the guy anyway, JUST to cover my bases.

The creative line-up chaos of the last few issues would contnue a bit longer...


CAPTAIN MARVEL #13 -- "Traitors Of Heroes?" has both CM and "Walt Lawson" wanted men (good luck, considering one's dead and other is impersonating him!). Mar-Vell adopts a new disguise (white beard) but it doesn't last long. At the base, The Man-Slayer repairs itself (gee, JUST like that robot the real Lawson built) and goes on another rampage. Despite being a wanted man, Mar-Vell goes into action AGAIN to stop the robot-- which has developed its own personality, not to mention a heavy dose of confusion. "Though I do not understand my mission-- nothing will prevent me from accomplishing it!" Man-- sounds like the writers on the book in general! The base guards start shooting at CM, he teleports away... to The Hellion. He finds the Kree ship has docked with a gigantic Kree supply support ship, stocking The Hellion up for a long, extended stay in Earth's orbit. What th'...? CM used the supply ship to help him get back aboard his old "home", then confronts Yon-Rogg. But despite wanting revenge so badly, he hesitates, and Yon-Rogg gets the drop on him, bemoaning as he does how much he HATES Mar-Vell, how JEALOUS he is of him, how much it "HURT" him to see his "beloved" Una with his hated rival all this time. And then he lets slip that he has the technology onboard to bring her back to life. SAY WHAT?? Before this can go on any further, Yon-Rogg points out that Carol Danvers is in danger again, so CM races to rescue her, beating that pesky robot for good this time. She now knows he does care for her-- but as the guards close in, she wonders, how can she turn him over to them now?

Gary Friedrich & Frank Springer suddenly took over this issue (whether Freidrich actually may have written part of all of the last 2 issues I'm still trying to figure out). WHY they suddenly jumped ship from NICK FURY is beyond me-- the last couple months Stan Lee has been playing an insanely chaotic game of "musical artists". On my 3rd reading of this issue, I must say this one seems more COHERENT than the last 2 (by a mile!!) but then Friedrich started off better than others on SHIELD and that fell apart pretty quick. Frank Springer is a HUGE improvement over Dick Ayers (I'm still flabbergasted at how BAD a job he did on the 2 previous issues). And, Vince Colletta, back again, does a REALLY damn good job on the inks. The only thing is, Springer is by far his own best inker-- so WHY was Stan getting other people to ink his art? As good as Johnny Craig and Vince Colletta were, solo Springer, I'M SURE, would have been far better. Tragically, starting right here, Frank Springer was one more artist who became just a "cog" in Marvel's assembly-line, NEVER really doing the kind of work he was capable of again, despite being with them for many, many years to come. DAMN SHAME.

No mention of the Black Widow this time-- or who built The Man-Slayer. Exasperating! I can only infer, by BW's appearance in THE AVENGERS, that The Man-Slayer must have been built by Egghead... or maybe The Mad Thinker (robots & androids are his stock in trade). You'd just THINK it would have been mentioned here-- somewhere!!! (Wouldn't you?)

The chaos isn't over yet...


THOR #164 -- "Lest Mankind Fall!" has Balder go to Earth just in time for Thor, Sif, Pluto, his "Mutates", and the atomic research building to all be returned to Earth from the far future. When they emerge from The Time Funnel, BIG FIGHT with the army commences!! Other than Odin still pondering about Galactus, and pushing Balder into battle to help ease his soul (in torment over Karnilla), there's not much to say about this one... except, ZEUS, brother of Pluto, turns up, reminding his evil sibling of "THE COVENANT"!!! Zeus rules the heavens, Pluto rules the underworld-- PERIOD!! And so, all these world-conquering ambitions of his are blown away to nothing, and all is back to normal. Another rushed, unsatisfying ending.

You can SEE why this entire 2-parter feels like it was intended for a "NEW GODS" story, before Kirby decided not to give his new characters to Marvel (and to Stan, who he no doubt felt would SCREW THEM OVER the way he did "Him", Silver Surfer, etc...).


X-MEN #56 -- "What Is... The Power?" sees the Marvel debut of NEAL ADAMS. The guy can draw, but his "storytelling" is, if anything, more confusing than Steranko's at times. The Pharaoh's men lay in wait in a "tomb" (it looks like the Temple of Abu Simbel to me) and get ahold of Alex again. Encased in a chamber which cuts off all cosmic rays, The Pharaoh-- who tells him their mutant powers are somehow "linked"-- now soaks up more power than ever, and grows to gigantic size (gee, seems like Gene Colan should have been drawing this story... heh). He fights the heroes single-handedly, until Alex, on the verge of suffocating (no air in that chamber), by force of will, manages to blast his way free. "The Living Collossus" becomes weak again, shrinks back to normal size, and the temple collapses to rubble. But Alex emerges from the ashes-- glowing with energy, which he says he can't control!

And so, ONCE AGAIN, Don Heck, after doing a bang-up job on a series, gets KICKED OFF in favor of a "flashier" artist, who isn't necessarily as good a "storyteller". (He was replaced by Gene Colan on IRON MAN; John Buscema on AVENGERS; Jim Steranko on X-MEN; Dick Ayers on CAPTAIN MARVEL; oh wait, that last one doesn't make sense...) And this time, Werner Roth, the one really "dependable" artist on this book (he'd been around since Jack Kirby was still doing the layouts) was kicked off WITH him. Tragic-- that kind of lack of respect for so much good work. While many in later years (including longtime X-MEN writer Chris Claremont) seem to worship the ground Neal Adams walked on and feel the book "didn't get good" until he arrived with THIS issue, fans at the time were divided. Quite a few letters were already saying Roth was the "only" guy for the book, that Steranko's style "didn't fit" the book. Before long, some would be complaining that Adams was drawing "complete strangers" who looked nothing like the characters they'd grown to know and love!

"The Flying A-Bomb" concludes the Angel's origin. Thomas, Roth & Sam Grainger do another fine job. Grainger's inks are almost over-powering, but his style seems to be such a PERFECT fit for Roth, I can't help but wish he'd gotten on the book a lot earlier. Looking at these panels today, I'm suddenly realizing just how over-powering Grainger's inks were-- when he was working with Dave Cockrum many years later! Either Grainger OR Tom Palmer (who inked Neal Adams on the lead feature) could easily have raised the level of the Heck-Roth art to something grander than it had been. Instead, they were brushed aside by "flash"-- and "arrogance".


FANTASTIC FOUR #87 -- "The Power And The Pride" have the FF (Reed, Ben, Johnny, Crystal and Sue-- wait, that's FIVE!) assault Doom's castle. But en route, the girls fall into a trap door and are whisked inside the castle, where, after a few confrontations with the guards, enter a posh room and find Doom standing at the far end of a dining room table loaded up with food. (It's a scene that would be paid tribute to 11 years later in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK-- right down to the exact same camera-angle!) The artist hired to do Doom's portrait suggests he & Hauptmann escape, but Hauptmann, "loyal" to his master, instead goes to REPORT this outburst! (What a suck-up!) The FF confront Hauptmann in an art gallery, and as he attempt to use a flame-thrower on them (to prove how "loyal" he is), Doom, who was preparing to strike the heroes down with a sonic burst from his keyboard organ, instead kills Hauptmann, feeling the "irreplacable" art treasures mean more to him than any victory. And so, "bored" with "the game", he tells Sue they're all free to leave-- there will be another time.

THIS IS AN ENDING??? I kinda wonder whose idea this was... Oh well. Last month Joe Sinnott's inks seemed a bit "off" in spots, but this issue he's back in form, with some of the sharpest, slickest, cleanest inks ever (and that's really saying something for him!). Gorgeous issue-- but somewhat disappointing story. Strangely enough, via the dumb luck of back-issue buying, THIS was the 1st part of this 4-parter I actually read. Then, I got parts 2 & 3--though I forget in what order. A friend who went to Chicago got me part 1, just about the time the ESSENTIAL book came out. I may have re-read the entire story in B&W-- but this is the first time I managed to read all 4 parts, in order, in color!

CAPTAIN MARVEL #14 -- "When A Galaxy Beckons" has Carol Danvers pleading with Mar-Vell to turn himself over to the base authority, so he can "stand trial" and clear himself of the charge of treason (for his ill-advised THEFT of a moon rocket!). The base guards are itching to shoot first, ask questions later. Meanwhile... (as if this book didn't have enough confusing side-plots already) Tony Stark, aboard a commercial jet-liner, becomes the latest victim of The Puppet Master (OH GOD, NO, not him again!!!), who orders him to go to the Cape and destroy Captain Marvel. It's part of a 3-way plot between Puppet Master, The Mad Thinker and Egghead (all 3 seen together in last month's AVENGERS) to take over the world. I can only figure CM is known because of that magazine article "Heroes Or Traitors" last time, but if he's a wanted man, WHY would the villain think the guy is hanging around the Cape as its unofficial protector? Well... HE IS, so when a mind-controlled Iron Man arrives, BIG HERO FIGHT commences. (Did we really need another one of those?) It goes on for quite some time, until... Tony has a HEART ATTACK. The villain, frustrated "for the last time!" at having his plans go wrong, hurls one of his puppets in anger at a control panel, which explodes... apparently killing him in the process. (But I know he returns sooner or later, so-- no such luck.)

Despite Carol being seriously wounded during the fight, Mar-Vell teleports himself outta there-- to deep space, where "ZO!" berates him for "wasting time" (no kidding) and not getting his revenge on Yon-Rogg (no kidding) and now feels it's Mar-Vell's time to do his bidding, so he orders him to teleport himself all the way back to the Kree homeworld, while he prepares to fill CM in on what's called for. Good idea, as CM at one point was yelling loudly for someone, anyone to "tell me what I should do!" I think this "ZO!" being really affected his mind.

"Rambling" is a good way to describe the direction this book has taken. So many of Gary Friedrich's comics seem like they start out with good intentions but then he gets lost along the way... Strangely enough, the last 2 issues actually do read better than the last 2 credited to Arnold Drake (I'm STILL not sure if Drake actually wrote those or if Friedrich did). The art by Springer & Colletta is much better than Ayers & Colletta, but it seems to be a waste of Springer's talent to have anybody else inking him, especially as Colletta's faces are turning very "cartoony" here. I was missing this episode the first time I read the series, so the jump from the previous issue to the following one made NO SENSE whatsoever to me. When I did get ahold of it, it only made SLIGHTLY more sense. I think.

Incidentally, I forgot to mention it before, but while CM was apparently in space for "100 days" during his out-of-control flight, since his return to Earth every reference to his disappearance has suggested he was only gone a couple days. Which suggests SOMETHING other than what we saw was really going on in "Rebirth!" Was this planned from the start, or are these guys just makin' it up as they go? (I lean toward the latter... How could anyone PLAN to do stories written this badly?) The last several pages, the layouts change drastically, from normal rectangles to odd-shaped expansive panels. Was this done just to reflect the change of locales, or did they switch artists in mid-issue? Gary Friedrich was credited with doing the layouts for the following issue himself-- and I wonder if maybe he didn't start doing so near the end of this one?

This was-- among other things-- the middle of a 3-parter that started in SUB-MARINER #14 (which I don't have) and AVENGERS #64 (which I only got when the ESSENTIAL volume came out). Over the years, I've really come to hate this kind of "intrusive" cross-over that just interrupts the whole flow of whatever's going in in every book it takes place in. This may be one of the earliest examples of that. I don't like it back here, either.


THE AVENGERS #64 -- "Like A Death Ray From The Sky!" has an entire small midwestern town OBLITERATED by a death-ray fired from an orbitting space station. (ANOTHER one? First The Red Skull, then The Hate-Monger, now this!) Of all people, the one issueing ultimatums is Egghead-- the former Ant-Man villain. (ANT-MAN, for cryin' out loud!!) At the mansion, the group returns from their wild-goose chase to find Hawkeye has now become "Goliath II". Racketeer Barney Barton arrives with a story of how his mob was invited to join with Egghead, The Mad Thinker & The Puppet Master, but turned them down... and all but he were killed for it. He wants to be a "hero" for once-- and the group left wondering what connection he seems to have with Hawkeye's past. Big fight breaks out onboard the space station, and in the chaos, Barton winds up getting killed... and it's then we find out he was Hawkeye's brother.

Several things bug me about this story. For one, Roy's "annoying" dialogue problem is returning. For another, after all this trouble, Egghead apparently escapes at the end. I mean COME ON! For another, how did such a small-time villain as Egghead manage to built his own SPACE STATION? I could understand it better if this turned out to be The Hate-Monger's station that he "simply" took over-- the designs were similar-- but that shouldn't be up there (unless the US government decided to take it over for their own use-- considering how extrememly difficult it is to get one of those things up there in the first place). Then there's the art. Gene Colan & George Klein do a nice job, but Gene just seems totally wrong for this book. And there's NO WAY I believe that arrow-shaped spacecraft is any kind of design of The Black Panther's. NO WAY! Gene's ideas about spacecraft design are more old-fashioned than Wally Wood's-- but they don't have Wood's finesse. They should have gotten Jack Kirby in and asked him to come up with a design Gene could use.

I wonder how this issue would have looked if John Buscema had done it?


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #73 -- "The Web Closes" has Spidey sneak into Stacy's house (something even Stacy objects to) so he can ask him about the stolen tablet. (Man, is this sub-plot dragging on!) Stacy tells Spidey that The Shocker had a girlfriend-- an "exotic dancer"-- who may know where The Shocker stashed the thing. Without bothering to get her name (for a crime-fighter, he's got a lot to learn) he races off to the area she lives, and luckily his spider-sense clues him in to trouble, because he finds the girl being menaced by "Man-Moutain Marko", a hulking enforcer for The Maggia. (That's MAFIA in Marvel Universe terms.) Spidey spends most of the issue fighting the guy, and though he looks like an Elvis wannabe on steroids, he seems as unstoppable as The Rhino or The Kingpin. Meanwhile... JJJ's out of the hospital, and wants to tear Joe Robertson a new one for making Spidey a hero in the Bugle's headlines. Joe says Jameson can write all the editorials he wants, it's his paper, but if he wants him to DISTORT the news, he better finds himself another managing editor! JJJ does a quick turn-around and says he "accepts" Joe's "apology". Joe's son Randy accuses Jameson of being a racist, but Joe tells him racism has NOTHING to do with it, and the sooner people of all colors realize what and who the "real" enemies are, the better. Marko escapes after forcing Spidey to save the dancer's life, and later, Pete is worried when he tries to contact Dr. Connors in Florida about a summer job (which would be so convenient as Aunt May's down there on vacation), only to find 2 unknown goons made off with the Doc. And, in New York, Connors is brought before Silvermane, one of the Maggia's most senior leaders, who's taken over the top spot (since Whitney Frost blew it in IRON MAN, I guess), and he wants Connors' help-- along with the Kingpin's man Wilson (who he had spring from prison) to decipher the secret of the tablet. Connors is worried, of course, that he might turn back into the Lizard. (AGAIN? but that trick never works!)

The way the credits are written this time, I'm wondering if John Romita did ANYTHING on the art (other than touch-ups on faces) at all? Jim Mooney's listed as "illustrator", which sounds like more than just "pencils", and the layouts are again by John Buscema, who's okay, but there's just something "missing". The fact that 75% of the issue consists of 4-panel pages only makes this episode fly by feeling as though there was hardly any "story" in it at all! If I hadda guess, I'd say Romita came up with the basic plot, Buscema supplied the rest while doing layouts, Mooney did pencils & inks, Romita did touch-ups, and Lee wrote the dialogue. There's no way to be sure, but I think that's a pretty good estimation of what probably went on here. Most of the issue comes across as so "average" it's almost painful. Surprisingly, the JJJ-Joe-Randy scene-- the only one done in 6-panel pages-- is BY FAR the best writing in the book. Via personal experience, I've seen people throw the "racism" word around when it doesn't even enter into a picture-- usually as a cheap easy dodge to avoid facing whatever the "real" problems at hand are. Was this Stan's work, or was it basically Romita's? Whoever was responsible, I give them credit for it-- it can be a DANGEROUS thing to throw around, especially if innocent people wind up getting hurt over it.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #114 -- "The Man Behind The Mask" starts off with the LAMEST spash page I've seen in any 60's Marvel to date. Coming right after Jim Steranko's 3 issues, it's a shock-- and a slap-in-the-face. With his "secred identity" restored-- or at least, with the world believing "Steve Rogers" is "dead" (I'm not sure I understand this either way), Cap feels he must change his life, and remove himself from anything that could connect him with "Steve Rogers". He even avoids Avengers mansion, though The Black Panther, seeing him walking by, recognizes him by his body language alone. In costume, Cap goes to the SHIELD barber shop, where Fury tells him Sharon Carter violated orders on her latest mission and is now in deep trouble. Taking on a building full of gangsters, Sharon goes thru the motions, the whole time looking like she's gonna fall apart emotionally because-- after all-- Steve's "dead"! (THIS is one of Fury's "best" agents??) Cap-- followed by Fury and his men-- show up in time, and Sharon gets more gushy & emotional than Gwen Stacy. (Like we really needed this!) But then-- so like a guy from the 40's-- he asks her to quit her job, she refuses, and he walks off, in search of a new life. WTF??? Turned down by every hotel except the lowest & sleaziest (no baggage, no i.d., no references... he's not thinking this "new identity" thing through, IS he?), he finally settles in for some depressing soul-searching... when, out of nowhere, THE RED SKULL shows up-- armed once again with (GASP!) The COSMIC CUBE!!! (uh oh...!!!)

I know it's tough to follow in some people's footsteps. Replacing Kirby's a tough one. Replacing Steranko's a really tough one. But THIS... this issue is just BAD. The first time I read it, 30 years ago, I plowed thru it so fast on my way to the next issue (I bought about 50 issues in one shot at a convention in NYC), I probably didn't have time to notice how bad it was. Visual details sparse-- characterization way off-- plot developments totally non-sensical... WHAT the hell is this? I mean, apart from anything else... there's NO WAY Jack Kirby would have had the Steve-Sharon relationship go this way. NO WAY!! Kirby had Sharon as a tough, capable agent, and a devoted girlfriend. But Stan Lee keeps pushing things into "bad soap-opera" territory. OY!

Stan asked John Romita if he could take over C.A. But Romita was already loaded up with SPIDER-MAN. Their solution? To get someone else to do the layouts, from Stan & John's plots. Thus, John Buscema was YANKED off THE AVENGERS (in the middle of oe of the best runs the book ever had) to do layouts for SPIDER-MAN. It looked nice-- but it didn't "feel" right. Well, something I didn't notice before... I don't believe Romita actually DREW this issue! I see his storytelling-- but NO HINT of his drawing. After about 16 or 17 issues of doing layouts (with Heck & Esposito, with Mooney, with Buscema & Mooney), I think that's exactly what Romita did here-- despite how BIG his name and Stan's are in the credits-- LAYOUTS. What didn't hit me before-- probably because it was in such little tiny type-- this issue was longtime Cap artist SAL BUSCEMA's debut on the series! Sal clearly did pencils AND inks (over Romita's layouts). It looks "nice"-- for Sal-- but if it was supposed to be "Romita" art, it falls terribly short of being so.

It seems so strange... Considering The Avengers turn up in this issue, I'd say it would have been better to get JOHN Buscema to draw this, and just left John Romita on SPIDER-MAN. (Someone stop Stan Lee before he "edits" again!!!!)


SILVER SURFER #6 -- "Worlds Without End" has The Surfer hit on the idea that Galactus' barrier may not exist in the future. So, he zips around Earth faster and faster until he exceeeds light-speed and time-warps to the future. But there, he finds Earth destroyed and lifeless. He travels back to Zenn-La, only to find the same thing. Planet after planet, lifeless wastes... until he runs across some really miserable aliens who try to kill him, for their master, "The Overlord". Before long, he's a prisoner, and finds The Overlord is a 10-foot-tall alien whose made it his mission in life to "rule, conquer and destroy" all life ("rule" and "destroy" seem at odds with each other... but never mind). Because he's run out of plot ideas, Stan's "origin" for The Overlord is he's a mutant, who's parents were affected in an accident at an atomic research plant (how many times have we heard this one before?) whose son grew to monstrous size and power, and proved indestructible and unstoppable. One thing led to another, he took over his own planet, created a fleet to do the same with other planets, along the way wiping out most life wherever he went. The Surfer realizes the "only" way to stop this abomination against life is to go BACK in time and prevent the accident from happening. Which, incredibly, he does. There was no hint as to what planet or time the accident took place, but he's there in a flash. At the end, he's once more in Earth orbit, wondering if if it was all a dream or not. GREAT. A "dream" story and we're not even SURE if it was one or not??

With every episode of this I read, it's more and more obvious why this book wasn't that popular. Talk about relentlessly downbeat... Seems this would have gone over better in the 90's. But then, considering the state of the comics industry, it probably had more sales back then than it would have now!

Kinda like the Dodge Ram line of pick-up trucks... Well which is it, "dodge" or "ram"?

Neat synopses, prof... makes me glad my interest in CM's series didn't kick in until around #18 or so, definitely with Starlin and #25-33. Now I'm in no rush to buy up earlier back-issues...

And Surfer... He always worked better as a guest-star/supporting character than a solo lead, IMHO, at least in his earliest incarnations. And this is coming from someone who LOVED his 90's solo series, up through issue #100 or so...

THOR #165 -- "Him!" has Thor, Sif & Balder enter the scientific research building and discover "Him" (from FF #66-67). A flashback alerts the readers that The Watcher, doing research in space, accidentally caught the guy in his "space trap", and as the guy protected himself by forming a new "cocoon", The Watcher felt the best way to make up for his mistake was to "return" Him to Earth... (Somehow this entire thing seems utterly contrived... but whatever.) Him still has no interest in interacting with Earth creatures, and will leave for space once more... but decides he's "lonely", wants a mate, and Sif will do. SAY WHAT?? Him flees to space with Sif, Thor & Balder pursue... Meanwhile, Odin still searches for info about Galactus (there's just something "not right" about the way this sub-plot if being handled, I can feel it). And, Karnilla enlists the aid of "Hagg", a cronish underling. Just as Thor & Balder have caught up with Him & Sif, Haag and some demons appear to drag Balder back to Karnilla, who just doesn't wanna take "no" for an answer. Thor & Balder manage to fight off the sorcerous types... but when they're done, notice that Him & Sif have vanished-- AGAIN! Thor swears he shall wreak a vengeance on Him like none he has ever wreaked before!!!

I do wonder about this story. The whole thing of Him being back on Earth, and making off with Sif, AND Thor going into a murderous rage (more next issue) just seems contrived. The 1st time I read this, I couldn't shake the feeling that part of this plot may have been leftover from the 2nd HALF of the intended 4-parter in the FF. It would have made a lot more sense to me to have Ben go berzerk about Him making off with Alicia-- from a scientific complex. (You see what I mean?)

Kirby's art's fine as usual, but Colletta's inks are back to just "average". Oh well.


THE AVENGERS #65 -- "Mightier Than The Sword?" has Egghead hire The Swordsman to defeat and bring him Hawkeye (for reasons I've already forgotten!) and "Giant-Man" (who was his old foe). Using an electronic pass-key he's had since AVENGERS #20 (and you mean to tell me they NEVER CHANGED the security codes???), he breaks in, challenges Hawkeye (now Goliath II), but the stupidest thing happens. ALL of the Avengers wind up in a fight with each other, as they try to tackle The Swordsman as a team, but "Goliath" keeps knocking them aside, as HE wants to do it on his own. (How STUPID can some characters be?) Clint really screwed up by doing this, because once the dust cleared, Swordsman somehow managed to cause him to shrink back to normal size, unconscious, at which point the baddie made off with him easy. Back at the hideout, Egghead & Swordsman then get into a fight (was there something in the air that day?), partly because Egghead isn't sure "Hawkeye" and "Goliath" are really the same person or not (neither one of them having figured out that "Giant-Man" is now "Yellowjacket"-- still back at Avengers Mansion). In the end, "Goliath II" manages to beat both baddies, which was really overdue, if you ask me.

We find in this issue that both Clint & his brother Barney joind the carnival at the same time. When Clint found The Swordsman was embezzling, he wanted nothing of the scheme, and nearly got killed for it. His brother, frustrasted at Clint's attitude, saying "We could have been on easy street!", ran off, became a racketeer, and the two never saw each other until the day Barney came back, tried to be a hero for once, and got killed for his efforts. So Clint finally beating The Swordsman not only proved he had become better than his "teacher", he also brought to justice the guy responsible for steering his brother toward crime.

Gene Colan's joined by Sam Grainger this time-- Grainger really seems to be getting around fast at this point. It's "nice"-- maybe not as nice as Colan-Klein-- but Gene just doesn't "fit" on this book. Oh well, this would be his last issue for many, many years, in any case.


X-MEN #57 -- "The Sentinels Live!" kicks things into even higher gear than last time. Lorna Dane, wallowing around her apartment (in costume for no apparent reason) laments her slowly fading powers... until she's attacked & kidnapped by a pair of SENTINELS, those mind-numbingly STUPID robots from X-MEN #14-16. Meanwhile, in Egypt, Iceman brings the cops, but on seeing "The Pharaoh" / "The Living Monolith" is really "Professor Abdulah"-- Egypt's foremost archeologist-- the chief cop suddenly has trouble believing their story, especially once the Prof accuses Alex of being the "real" menace. When he decides to arrest EVERYBODY and sort it out back at the station, Alex loses control, a fight breaks out, Alex runs off into the darkness, at which point Cyclops gets PISSED and lets loose! (The team really doesn't seem to have a good track record with the authorities, do they?) On seeing Lorna is missing and her apartment's been ransacked, Iceman & Beast head back to the States to try and find her, only to run into a police ambush! They escape-- barely-- and back at Scott's apartment are wondering WHY the cops are after them, when they turn on the TV and discover a Federal Judge has gone a rampage against "the mutant menace", in cahoots with Larry Trask-- the SON of the horribly misguided scientist who built those STUPID Sentinels in the first place-- who announces to the world, "The Sentinels Live!"

You'd think the world would realize this Trask guy was unstable himself, but I guess when somebody wants to stack the deck in favor of the "witch-hunters", they won't worry too hard about logic in a story like this. I first read this in X-MEN ANNUAL #2, and also have it in a UK hardbound reprint book. I suppose the art is "nice" in its way, but somehow, everything about Neal Adams' work just seems "too intense" for me. It reminds me of SPACE:1999 and the way Commander Koenig seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown every single episode. This, of course, is EXACTLY what Chris Claremont seemed to be going for during his ENTIRE long, long, long run on X-MEN and its endless spin-offs in the late 70's, 80's, and beyond. As with the 1st Sentinels story, all the actions of Trask and co. run totally in defiance of existing laws, civil rights, etc. etc. I've often thought this is the kind of story you could get away with doing maybe ONCE-- twice, at the MOST! But Claremont & co. kept bringing these DAMNED robots back again and again and AGAIN so many times, it went way past ridiculous.

"The Female Of The Species", though billed as part of the "Origins of the X-Men" series, is really more of a "spotlight feature". Jean Grey / Marvel Girl spends 5 delightful pages talking directly to the readers, showing off her powers. After the lead story, one might think this 5-pager was in the wrong book! Ex-staffer Linda Fite wrote it (to give it a "woman's" perspective-- as Stan described it in the most nauseating, condescending fashion imagineable), while Werner Roth may have never looked better, under the inks of Sam Grainger. On the last page, especially, I was reminded that, to me, Roth's Jean Grey is THE DEFINITIVE version-- and I can't get over how much his Jean resembles actress Famke Jansen, who played her in the movies DECADES later!! (Good casting!) Sadly (or not, depending on your POV), we would never get Jean's "origin" in this run. This was the last installment of the "Origins", and the last episode Werner Roth ever did on the series. Damn shame. But nice way to go out! I wish all his episodes had looked this good.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #13 -- "The Super-Patriot!" has a guy in a red-white-and-blue costume (NO, not him!) holding a rally in which he claims there are "traitors" in the government, and "traitors" in SHIELD. Fury-- a fugitive-- watches, as SHIELD attacks, trying to arrest "The Super-Patriot", who has refused to appear before a Senate investigating committee. In flashback, we see how Dugan arrested Fury for the "murder" of Rickard (who framed Fury and then tried to kill HIM), and is helped to escape by Laura Brown. Later, Fury's mugged, but saved by Gabe Jones, who clues him into another Super-Patriot rally-- at the UN. The mugger turns out to be a Super-Patriot agent, who's told to keep an eye on Fury. But then we find the agent is really Jasper Sitwell in disguise, who tries to arrest Fury. Fury gets the drop on him, and steals Jasper's disguise. At the UN, a barge attacks, intent on destroying the "haven for traitors", when SHIELD shows up. BIG FIGHT commences. Despite being a wanted man, Fury tackles The Super-Patriot himself, who trips and falls to his death (awful careless of him eh?). Before they can arrest him, Fury unmasks the guy, and sees... HIS OWN FACE!

Apart from a few details, there seemed to be an almost total "disconnect" between this episode and the previous one. Both Smith & Parkhouse went back to England, and Gary Friedrich came back, even less coherent than before. Herb Trimpe, who'd helped out on NICK FURY #8 (for 2 pages) returns to become the book's new regular penciller, and is joined by newcomer Sam Grainger. While everybody else seemed to be trying to "do" Steranko, the art this time is more in line with Kirby-- though far more "cartoony" than anything Kirby ever did on the series. I loved the story in the previous issue so much, it was a tragedy-- or should that be travesty-- at the way it was "continued" here. More surprises to come next time. (Oh, joy!)


DR. STRANGE #181 -- "If A World Should Die Before I Wake..." has Doc accept Nightmare's challenge, but he does it in front of a crowd. Instead of using one of his usual spells to wipe their memories, Doc wanders off, thinking he'll "worry about my secret identity later." WHAT is WRONG with this guy?? (Is that what being in love does to a hero??) Doc spends the hour Nightmare has allotted him with Clea, until he's whisked-- physically (for the 1st time)-- into the Nightmare World. Doc battles Nightmare's army of demons, until his foe somehow manages to take control of his amulet-- and uses it against Doc! As Clea & Wong watch via a mystic scanner, it looks bad for our side!

Once again Roy Thomas proves he's much better with "other-worldly" characters than "real" people, as every time he focuses on "normal" New Yorkers, the scenes are annoying as hell. Like that crowd when he faces Nightmare. A man says, "He must have something to do with those monsters! Are we just gonna let him walk outta here?" A woman says, "Why should we stop him? He hasn't done anything?" And another guy says, "He said his name was DR. STRANGE! We'll REMEMBER that name!" (You just DIDN'T have stuff like this in the DC Universe!) Or later, when a pair of IDIOTS decide to pelt him with a snowball-- JUST FOR THE FUN of it. Oy. Dr. Strange did NOT used ot have any worries about his "identity". He was actually WELL-KNOWN as a practitioner of magic in his earliest stories. So why all this worry about people knowing who he is lately??

Gene Colan blew my mind once again with this episode. There are several pages in here worthy of being turned into pin-ups. Tom Palmer also did his usual astonishingly-good inks, though I have the strongest feeling that he had help this time. Pages 1 and 9 look to me like they were done by Wally Wood!! (The woman's fur coat on page 1, Doc's face in the top panels and the hat in the last panels of page 9 were the tip-offs for me.)

Prof, just to let you know I’ve been trying to read along while I can. As I’ve mentioned to you before, I grew up on the Silver Age Marvels as my father was a Marvel Zombie as a kid and bought them all off the stands. I basically read only Silver Age Marvels from ages 9-12 before reading other eras and other companies. So, as I’ve said, its by far my favorite era of all, and I can go on and on about why it’s the best era ever in comics. Mainly, I’ve just been too tired and busy with work and real life (damn wedding planning) to get the enthusiasm to comment. I’m of the opinion that the lifeblood of message boards are (A) speculation and (B) reviews both critical and full of praise, but I need to be in the right frame of mind to read critiques on my favorite stories (though your obvious love for this age shines through and its refreshing to read reviews from someone with such a vast knowledge of all the various titles).

But, getting to my point, your above post here is just so cool and interesting that I can’t help but want to see it expanded on! I’ve read a bunch of graet articles in the Jack Kirby Collector detailing what Kirby may have been hoping to do with Asgard in terms of the New Gods, and the idea of Thor & Sif surviving (with Thor almost like Superman in that sense) and how Marvel could have had their own Forever People based on previous characters is fascinating.

Also, I’ve read the entire Thor run extensively, and I don’t think it was quite that bad until the period post #300 – pre-Walt (which was its lowest point in its history). The 70’s were an odd time for comics but generally Thor was pretty enjoyable. Some stories dragged on, while some showed real flashes of brilliance. I don’t think it’s the same quality as Kirby’s run, but its certainly not that bad. I actually planned on rereading all the Thor’s sometime soon.

I always found the Shocker’s girlfriend kind of interesting, mainly because she was so funny and because this might be the first exotic dancer my 9 year old eyes ever saw. I have a list of characters I’d try to slip into stories if I could ever be the writer of Amazing Spider-Man (basically my one true writing dream), and she’s at the top of the list

"your obvious love for this age shines through and its refreshing to read reviews from someone with such a vast knowledge of all the various titles"

Thanks! Someone at the Masterworks board a few weeks ago accused me of tearing every comic to pieces, but I try to be fair. Some comics really are damn good. Some... the flaws get worse with time, and I'm seeing more now than I ever did. It's almost scary to be able to see what's wrong, but also to KNOW WHY. (And frustrating that guys who don't seem to know what they're doing are getting paid to be that bad, but nobody will hire me.)

I've read a lot about NEW GODS in TJKC, but not lately... The above speculation was mostly my own, based on re-reading these books as I go. I believe NEW GODS, FOREVER PEOPLE and MISTER MIRACLE would still have been all new characters. But JIMMY OLSEN... that's where I had fun speculating. That was like the "crossover" book, introducing Kirby's new ideas to the "regular" DCU. What cracks me up is when I realize how much of it actually manages to capture the "standard" JO format-- "Jimmy joins a biker gang", "Jimmy turns green", etc. But when Kirby does it, instead of "YAWN!" it's "WOW!!!" I figured Rick Jones would be the "obvious" equivalent, especially with The Guardian / Captain America involved. I think it was that "Pluto" story that really got me thinking. It just "feels" like it was supposed to Darkseid, a Boom Tube, and an army of Para-Demons, and Apokalips, not Earth's far future. (WHY was Pluto in the far future anyway?? I don't get it!) And when Zeus mentioned "The Covenant!" --well...


"I always found the Shocker’s girlfriend kind of interesting, mainly because she was so funny and because this might be the first exotic dancer my 9 year old eyes ever saw."

Just think, if the Gloom Room A Go-Go hadn't closed down so soon, MJ might have gone on to become an "exotic dancer".

Joey Q might've left their marriage intact then.

FANTASTIC FOUR #88 -- "A House There Was!" has the FF check out that mysterious, futuristic house built mostly underground in a deserted area. Although Reed has strong reservations about it-- he suspects something's not "kosher" about the place!!-- Sue somehow manages to talk him into buying it, and before you know it, they move in. He really let his instincts get ignored-- bad choice. After having run-ins with highly-dangrous "security" devices, Reed & Sue both lose their sight-- an unexplained malady which had been occuring to other people in the area-- and that's when they find out the place was built by... The Mole Man.

GREAT art-- Jack's sense of design goes wild again, and Joe Sinnott's in top, top form. But so-so-story. Reed is made to look like an idiot (for not trusting his instincts, for trying to hard "not to alarm Sue"-- when SHE's not only his wife, but a member of the team). I guess it's nice to see The Mole Man return to "his" book, after guesting in others for a few years. But after this story, each further "return bout" just got more tiresome. Like far too many villains in the Marvel Universe.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #74 -- "If This Be Bedlam!" has Spidey on the point of exhaustion as he tries to track down Marko, the stolen tablet, Curt Connors & his family (who've been kidnapped by The Maggia). It seems Silvermane, their aging leader, suspects the tablet's secret involves biology- hence the Doc's snatch. Pete stops into school long enough to be the target for derision for being non-communicative (gee, just like the old days), and Gwen's the only one who stands up for him. Harry is particularly annoying, as he's been wishy-washy in his opinions from day one! Under repeated threats of death, Connors works out the secret, and puts together a formula-- which Silvermane drinks, with Marko the whole time protesting "Don't do it! It's a trick!" Silvermane collapse, Marko attacks the Doc, but then turns to see his boss-- restored to his former youth!

John Romita returns to layouts, and the book is the better for it. Jim Mooney continues doing pencils & inks, and wonderfully. I believe the main reason he never did his own layouts here was because he preferred working with full scripts (GOOD LUCK getting those from Stan or Johnny-- heh). I found it interesting that when Connors made his 2nd appearance on the '67 cartoons, rather than bring back The Lizard, they did a story involving "The Fountain of Youth"-- and now they're doing one here, sort of. The whole time, Marko seems out to prove he's the most brain-dead villain in Spidey history, and somehow, everything about this set of stories reminds me of the quality of writing I used to do BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL. (Maybe these were among my inspirations?)


CAPTAIN AMERICA #115 -- "Now Begins The Nightmare!" has The Red Skull-- armed with The Cosmic Cube, send Cap from one end of the universe to another, trying to "break" him. It's revealed the Cube was found by some villagers following a volcanic eruption, and used to alleviate poverty-- which grabbed the attention of The Exiles' agents, who moved it to steal it. At SHIELD HQ and Avengers Mansion, Rick tries to find out where Cap has disappeared to, and gets no answers. Sharon gives him attitude, saying "Cap and I are both professionals"-- making Rick wonder if Cap hasn't "dumped" him. (I SWEAR, there seems to be a gay undercurrent to this whole Rick Jones thing...) The Skull teleports Sharon to the hotel room Steve's taken, and she's unaware that he's also SWITCHED bodies-- or something-- so that he now looks like Cap, and vice-versa.

And so, another sci-fi cleche is hit... Last issue, when the Avengers all had cameos, it seemed to me it would have made more sense for John Buscema to be drawing CAPTAIN AMERICA, not AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Stan must have realized this after-the-fact, as this month, Romita & Buscema swapped books! Now, Romita's back where he belongs, and Buscema is on Cap. But comparing this issue to any given issue of SILVER SURFER, the art is so drastically different, it's obvious to me (even if the credits give NO CLUE to it) what's going on here. As he did last month with Spidey, and as Romita's been doing for 2 years now (including last issue), Buscema-- despite being credited as "illustrator"-- did LAYOUTS. His brother Sal did the pencils & inks, his 2nd issue in that capacity. Somehow... it doesn't seem to do a real service to either Buscema. And it wouldn't last, either. (5 issues in a row changing pencillers-- and we still have one more to go!! What the heck was going on with Stan at this point???)


THOR #166 -- "A God Berserk!" has Thor, enraged, seeking "VENGEANCE!!!", use his hammer to follow Him & Sif, with Balder in tow. Thor batters Him into submission, until Him forms a new coccoon and heads for deep space, at which point Thor finally comes to hs senses. Sif says Him meant no harm, only acted as a child might do. Elsewhere, Haag tells Karnilla (who kinda looks like Shannen Doherty in this episode, she'd be a good fit if Karnilla ever showed up in a movie) that Balder has indeed fallen for her, but his sense of duty is stronger than his feelings of love. She plans to use magic to change that... Odin, who witnessed the brutal fight, declares Thor "guilty" of allowing "WARRIOR MADNESS!" to overcome him, and he must therefore pay the price. With a huge ship built to search for Galactus, he decides Thor must be its sole pilot.

An average issue at best. Colletta's inks are back to 2nd-rate (3rd-rate?) and the quality of his lines reminds me more of his typical output from the 70's more than what he's been doing lately. A shame. Also, Stan seems to have run out of ideas. The phrase "Warrior Madness" must have been used OVER a dozen times in this episode-- I can't imagine anyone not being bored sick of reading it by the end of the issue. And, as before, I can't get over the feeling that this story wold have made more sense had it been used in FANTASTIC FOUR #68-69, with Ben going berzerk over Him abducting Alicia from the "Beehive" scientific complex. This is only strengthened when I realize that in FF #69, Ben DID go berzerk!!! --in a story that many fans derided as being a "retread". Maybe THAT story would have made more sense, too, if it had featured Him instead of The Mad Thinker? (It's like there's a whole "alternate universe" full of stories that might have been, instead of what we got.)


THE AVENGERS #66 -- "Betrayal!" has Thor & Iron Man back with the group (never mind the schedule conflict with Thor's series), aboard the SHIELD Heli-Carrier, taking part in a test of a new metal alloy called "Adamantium", which is apparently indestructible, and can only be worked with a "moleculer manipulator". The scientist involved is actually worried that the metal is so strong, as he's afraid of what might happen if it falls into the wrong hands. I guess anybody could see what would happen next... The Vision immediately falls under some remote power, defeats each Avenger who crosses his paths, and steals the samples of the metal. Sure enough, "Ultron-6" appears-- reborn, and now built with indestructible metal. Oy!

After 3 issues of Gene Colan, Barry Smith-- now working from his home in England-- steps in, inked by Syd Shores. It's an interesting combo, and Smith's work has certainly improved tremendously in only a few months. Not so thrilled with the story, though. Somehow, Ultron has always been one of my LEAST-favorite Avengers villains, partly because his whole origin and rationale makes so little sense to me, and partly because writers over the years have just been so insistent on bringing him/it back over and over and OVER again.


X-MEN #58 -- "Mission: Murder!" has the group realize they're in for the fight of their lives, as there's a Federal Commission set up to fight "the mutant menace", and other countries seem to be following suit! As one TV newsman says, "Sounds familar, doesn't it?" (an obvious reference to "The Jewish Problem" before WW2). Iceman's captured, is reunited with Lorna, and finds Alex is wearing a suit, designed by his captor, and using a name supplied by same-- "Havok". Meanwhile, Mesmero is captured, and in the process, finds out that for months, he's been serving a "Magneto" who was only a ROBOT! When Banshee gives himself up, only to attack once he's inside the moutain HQ of The Sentinels, it "proves" to Larry Trask that all mutants deserve only one thing-- and orders the robots to KILL all the prisoners! Judge Chalmers tears off Larry's amulet, which his father told him to always wear-- and suddenly, The Sentinels disregard his orders, saying HE is a mutant as well!

This story is just too intense for its own good, and Neal Adams' art, while nice to look at, has some of the most confusing "storytelling" ever seen in a Marvel Comic. The bit with Magneto was obviously a response to readers' complaints about his portrayal in the "City of Mutants" story being somewhat "off", and while it's suggested that the real Magneto was behind the robot duplicate, this is NEVER explained, in fact, much later stories would contradict that idea. It's frightening to think people would ever listen to someone like Larry Trask, let alone give him the kind of backing and support he seems to have here (something repeated in the 2nd X-MEN movie), as with every new scene he becomes more obviously obsessed and unhinged. (He kinda looks like Anthony Perkins a bit in this issue.. as in, "Norman Bates".) With the "Origins" series dropped, the lead series returns to full-length episodes. Even so, the pacing of this feels like this should have been more than a 3-parter, there was just too much involved and the whole thing feels "rushed".

On the letters pages, there seems to be a hate-fest going on for Arnold Drake's writing-- now that he's gone. Quite a turn-around, as when he was on the book, quite a few fans complimented him on giving Scott & Jean more character development than they'd ever gotten before.

FANTASTIC FOUR #89 -- "The Madness Of The Mole Man" is basically one issue-long fight between the FF and The Mole Man, in his specially-built "house", which serves as a "test-run" for his new equipment which can broadcast "blinding" rays that can cause people to lose their sight. He plans to mass-produce these, bring the world to its knees, and then send his army of Subterraneans to the surface to conquer the entire Earth. Nice guy. Reed manages to get The Mole Man's staff away from him, but is seriously injured in the process. Sue goes berzerk, and as the baddie is fighting her off, he claims "It was HIS fault, not mine! It's NEVER my fault!" He also claims "all" he ever wanted was to walk under the sun again... WHO IS HE KIDDING??? They eventually beat the guy, and Ben manages with some effort to revive Reed, who immediately begins talking non-stop to Ben's dismay...

Meanwhile, out in space, a Skrull spaceship is headed for Earth, intent on capturing a "slave" for "the games". Uh huh. WHY does Jack keep inserting these things in the middle of a story? It just breaks up the momentum...

Once again, GREAT art, so-so story. And it doesn't quite end here... and only gets worse next time. OY.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #75 -- "Death Without Warning!" has Marko not believing his eyes, as his boss, Silvermane, is once again a young man-- and even more arrogant than Marko. Spidey coerces info from some "numbers" men and locates Maggia HQ, just in time to take a beating from the newly-restored Silvermane. Caesar Cicero, frustrated that his chance to become the new "Big M" may be passing him by, tries to convince Marko it's all a trick. Meanwhile, Connors turns into The Lizard (AGAIN??) and escapes. Spidey eventually finds Mrs. Connors & Billy and gets them to safety, but Silvermane's hope for "eternal youth" seems to go astray, as he keeps getting younger and younger and younger until... well, it looks like he just disappears, but that would be silly, wouldn't it? I don't understand why Spidey should appear so dismayed by it (in the story AND on the cover) but I guess Stan just wanted to make some use of a dramatic title, even if we're not sure it's the truth or not.

Romita (layouts) & Mooney (pencils & inks) do their usual great job. I do wonder how John Romita might have fared if he'd been teamed with a "writer" who actually was more interested in contributing more substatially to the proceedings?


CAPTAIN AMERICA #116 -- "Far Worse Than Death!" (2 stories with "death" in the title in the same month?) has Sharon believing "Cap" that "The Red Skull" has lost his mind and is no longer a threat... and so they walk out, and he tells her he'll go back to make sure the guy's taken into custody. (SHE's not thinking too clear, obviously-- this behavior should have tipped her to something not being right.) The Skull (in Cap's body) uses The Cosmic Cube to teleport Cap (in The Skull's body) to a research station, where the security guys immediately start shooting at "The Red Skull". This gives NEW REGULAR PENCILLER Gene Colan (!!!) a chance to spend at least a THIRD of the issue on a high-speed car chase on the highway. WOW! Who needs "plot" when you can have "action" like this? Cap reaches Avengers Mansion, but NOBODY there believes him-- both Yellowjacket & Goliath II being particularly combative. (I mean, you'd THINK with ALL the tme Cap spent with Hank Pym & Clint Barton, he'd have been able to think of SOMETHING to say that would convince them he wasn't who he appeared to be! Then again, it might have helped if he TOOK OFF THAT DAMNED SKULL MASK!!!) Meanwhile, the Teen Brigade helps Rick locate "Cap", but when he finds him, "Cap" tells him to get lost-- what help does he need from some useless teenager? Rick takes the hint, saying he'll "never" take that kind of abuse again... (oh yeah?) The Skull decides to teleport Cap again-- this time, to the Isle of Exiles-- who he had just recently "betrayed" (that's not how I remember it, but then Stan's known for his memory lapses), figuring they'll polish off "The Skull" the first chance they get.

Well, after half a year of chaos on the art front, it must have been a real surprise when, of all people, Gene Colan took over the book, stepping in for a nice LONG consistent run! And wonder of wonders-- he's joined by Joe Sinnott on inks, who also decided to stick around. WOW! After the way guys like Syd Shores & Tom Palmer were able to bring Gene's complex, shaded pencils to life in inks, it's almost a shock to see someone with such a "clean" style tackle the job-- but like Jack Abel before him (and Wally Wood later on), Sinnott proves he can ink just about ANYBODY and make it look GREAT! Looking over these pages, especially the ones with the car chase, I wondered why Gene never tackled SHIELD. Seems he would have been a natural on such a "real world" series (especially after Frank Springer's issues).


SILVER SURFER #7 -- "The Heir Of Frankenstein!" has your typical mad scientist and hunchbacked assistant trying to bring life to the dead, failing, confrontations with fearful villagers, and the intrusion of a silver alien on a surfboard. HUH? Where'd HE come from? Oh yeah-- it's his book. In a follow-up to the "Dr. Doom" incident, Frankenstein sees the Surfer as his opportunity to gain power, and tries to get on his good side. But having been stung before, the Surfer's more cautious. Not that it helps him. Before long, the Dr. (who's so skinny he reminds me a bit of John Carridine-- especially with that moustache) convinces the Surfer he's found a cure for war & greed-- but "needs" his help to test the equipment. But what he really does is create an exact DUPLICATE of the Surfer-- in a scene out of the STAR TREK episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (right down to the lump of lifeless clay), except THIS Surfer is EVIL, and Frankenstein's servant. After ordering it to kill the original, the Dr. sends it out to spread terror in the village. But the Surfer's not so easy to kill, he flies after his carbon-copy, and a lengthy fight commences, from the village to outer space to the middle of New York (where the Air Force gets a report that "The Surfer" has staged another "unprovoked attack"). As the villagers once more try to attack the castle, and Frankenstein prepares to commit mass-murder, his sidekick Borgo (who's been called just about every single name in the book that Stan Lee could come up with in one issue) can finally take no more, and to cries of, "I WARNED you you would go too far!" he sends himself and the Doc plunging to their deaths. In NYC, the Surfer manages to drain the very life-energy out of his duplicate, sending him to oblivion... and at that point, the fighter jets attack. ZIP! Back to space, lamenting that he's risked so much "to protect those who hate me the most".

This was actually my very first exposure to John Buscema's art (not to mention Sal buscema's inks). By 1969, spies, superheroes and sci-fi were on their way "out", and "monsters" were on their way "in". My Mom was a huge fan of Boris Karloff, FRANKENSTEIN and monsters in general, and I'm pretty sure she picked this one up for me based solely on the story title. Strange that THIS should be my 1st "Frankenstein" comic, as well as my 1st SILVER SURFER comic. I'd seen the guy on the 1967 FANTASTIC FOUR cartoon, and he turned up in NOT BRANC ECCH #11, but this was the 1st "real" comic-book story I ever read with the guy. I guess the best way to describe this is, excessively melodramatic and "over the top". Every panel, every camera-angle, every pose, so intense, so extreme, so in-your-face, and not the slightest hint of humor anywhere. Also, apart from the Surfer, there doesn't appear to be one character anywhere in this book who's more than one-dimensional. I thought "Stan Lee" liked to created 3-dimensional characters-- and villains who were complex enough to be at least partly sympathetic. NOT this guy!!! This Dr. Frankenstein (we never learn his first name) holds everyone but himself, including his ancestor (who, on film, looks like an aging Boris Karloff from the movie HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN) in utter contempt, and plans nothing short of conquering the world-- if he can ever get his experiments to work. Re-reading this now, Frankenstein & Borgo reminded me a bit, personality-wise, of Dr. Mantan & Ygor from the ROCKET ROBIN HOOD cartoons (and the 1969 SPIDER-MAN remake, "Phantom From The Depths Of Time"), only those guys were actually FUNNY. These two are more "pathetic".


"I, The Gargoyle" has The Watcher tell the story of Adam Swan, a talented, successful composer & singer, who's also a philanthropist, who's terribly miserable & lonely, because of his extreme physical ugliness. Turned down by every woman on the planet (I'm sure it must have seemed that way) he volunteers to pilot a one-way drilling mission to reach the center of the Earth, saying it'll be "the best thing that ever happened to me". But once there, he finds an underground civilization, where because of the dim light, people "see" less with their eyes and more with their hearts. His accomplishments as a keyboardist quickly win them over, and when he radios the surface, he says he's "found Heaven".

I forgot all about Howard Purcell coming back to Marvel to do this series. It's funny, the page layouts remind me of Gene Colan's-- who did the 1st installment back in SS #1. The overall themes reminded me of The Mole Man from FANTASTIC FOUR #1 (Nov'61). (Funny HE should be making a return engagement over there this very month-- coincidence? MAYBE NOT.) I see that this story was actually a redo of one by Steve Ditko from AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #12 (May'62). I guess that makes this a retread twice-over!

I consider this arc the best of all the Ultron stories ever told. Steve Englehart had the potential to top it when he introduced the giant Ultron who crashed the wedding of Crystal and Quicksilver. Unfortunately, it was crossover with Fantastic Four, and the FF's then-writer Gerry Conway gave us a very unsatisfying resolution where little Franklin Richards acted as a deus ex machina. That really should have been the last Ultron story, IMO. The Ultron story from the late 90s is one of the few Busiek Avengers stories I sort-of like, but Busiek made the mistake of making Ultron so powerful that no ending could possibly feel right -- as it was, Hank Pym beating Ultron to death with some device that looked like an energized plastic dumbbell certainly didn't feel right.

Avengers # 66-67 have my favorite Barry Smith art. Smith, Keith Giffen, and John Romita, Jr. are all artists who I think were best when their infulences were showing, and when they developed their own styles, they were just horrible.

I definately agree, that is indeed the best Ulron story ever told. His earlist appearances from the new Master of Evil, to the Vision to this story have always made me like the villain, though like most arch-nemesis in comics, the sheer amount of bad stories with him in the 70's-90's have dilluted what made the character so special in the beginning.

"Avengers # 66-67 have my favorite Barry Smith art. Smith, Keith Giffen, and John Romita, Jr. are all artists who I think were best when their infulences were showing, and when they developed their own styles, they were just horrible."

Keith Giffen's "problem", to me, has beren that he keeps changing from one style to another to another, each time doing a BAD impersonation of yet another artist's style. If he'd stuck to one style maybe he could have developed it. His 2 issues of SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP (done about a year apart) showed tremendous growth, from awful to very interesting (and with a heavy Kirby influence). The "Scorpio" story in DEFENDERS was when I started to like his work, and judging from the unpublished pages in FOOM he was already beginnning to move away from Kirby to something else... but blew the deadline 2 months in a row and was FIRED off the book. Since then, it seems almost every 12 months his art goes thru another identity change... I really prefer when he's just doing layouts, and they get "real" illustratrors to do the pretty pictures.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #15 -- "That Zo Might Live... ...A Galaxy Must Die!" get my vote for the WEIRDEST comic Marvel put out in all of 1969. Unlike those I've noted as being their "worst" comics of a given month, this is not necessarily a bad thing... just utterly bizarre! Picking up from last time, "ZO!", that mysterious, shapeless, ultimate all-powerful ("HE SAID!") cosmic entity spends half the issue showing Mar-Vell images of the history of Earth, images of Heaven and Hell, images of "Tam-Bor", a strange pagan God worshipped by a cult on Zenn-La, the homeworld of the Kree (named for the first time in this issue), and then explains that the Tam-Bor idol is somehow a monstrous center of magnetic energy, powered by the energy of Zenn-La itself, which may soon pull every planet in the galaxy out of their orbits, unless Zenn-La is destroyed!! Never mind how insanely absurd this sounds... Mar-Vell would prefer to find a way to destroy the idol WITHOUT obliterating his own homeworld. He's teleported there, instantly pursued by "The Accuser Patrol", and just when he takes over their craft, the whole thing gets swallowed up by an even bigger ship, piloted by Tam-Bor cultists! WHOA!

What a wild, wild ride.The first half of this issue is like a replay of "Rebirth"-- itself seemingly a tribute to the "star-gate" trip from 2001: A SPACE ODDYSSEY-- except this time, it's done much, much better. This is one of the reasons I so strongly suspect Gary Friedrich wrote the bulk of "Rebirth", not Arnold Drake. Both issues ramble from one thing to another, lots of interesting ideas never really handled as good as they might be. The art is a trip in itself. The issue was laid out by Friedrich himself-- and I wonder if he didn't do all or parts of the previous ones (at the very least, the last few pages of the previous issue). The art is by Tom Sutton-- his 1st "serious" job following a lot of work on NOT BRAND ECCH-- and Dan Adkins, who does possibly the slickest inks ever seen on the series. Considering both Sutton & Adkins were fans of Wally Wood (Adkins having worked as one of his assistants on a lot of projects), the look of this issue might be described as "Wally Wood on drugs". The "psychedelic" sequences are truly mind-blowing, and our first substantial views of the Kree homeworld, Zenn-La, are nothing short of AMAZING!!! Damn! Why couldn't this book have looked like this from the beginning?? This also gets my vote for the BEST art ever on the series-- so far.

Throughout the entire story, Mar-Vell keeps doubting, wondering if "ZO!" is who and what he really claims to be. One scene has him asking, "If he's so all-powerful, why does he need ME to do this thing for him?" It's just like in STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER 2 decades later when Kirk asks, "What does God want with a Starship?" Considering I was MISSING the next issue when I first read these issues, I was left hanging, because there was NO CLUE, no explanation whatsoever in issue #17. But there would be-- in #16. The big question in my ind is, is what we see next issue what Drake and/or Friedrich planned-- or not? The letters page this time is full of insightful, detailed criticism of almost everything Arnold Drake & Gary Friedrich did up to this point, and readers are promised that "all" will be cleared up by the new regular writer, Archie Goodwin-- and they're asked to have some patience, because they figure it's gonna take more than just one issue to straigthen out the tangled mess that Mar-Vell's career has become by this point. They also mention that Don Heck "couldn't stay away" and will be returning next issue as well. Considering he was the most coherent "storyteller" on the series, I can't understand why he missed 5 issues in a row here...

Almost forgot-- Marie Severin does a terrific cover on this-- under some of the most bizarre coloring! (Wonder if that was her doing, or someone else?)


THE AVENGERS #67 -- "We Stand At... Armageddon!" has the team fighting Ultron-6, who is now rebuilt out of "indestructible" Adamantium alloy. The Vision figures out that when Ultron built him, he included deep in his programming a command to restore the robot at an opportune point if he ever got destroyed. Now, feeling used, The Vision is determined to make up for it by going one-on-one with his creator, and to make sure that only one of them walks away alive. But Dugan & the SHIELD boys are tired of waiting for news on the stolen metal, and not knowing about Ultron, invade the underground complex, and open fire on The Vision! This is the worst possible timing, as Ultron is about to set off some kind of nuclear explosion and wipe out all of New York City.

Barry Smith teamed with George Klein this time, and the results are much slicker than last month. Smith's storytelling is less confusing than, say, Frank Springer's, or Neal Adams', and Klein's inks really remind one of Kirby-Sinnott-- or at least, Kirby-Stone. His people still look a bit generic-- I think it'd be hard to tell some of them apart if not for their costumes. The ongoing plot in NICK FURY is mentioned, though the timing seems a bit off, as they say Nick Fury is a "fugitive" and by the time this came out, apparently, he was already in custody. Oh well. The story continues next issue, and I'm wondering WHY Smith didn't stick around to do all 3 parts. (I hate when they change artists in the middle of a story.)


X-MEN #59 -- "Do Or Die, Baby!" (listed as "The Last X-Men" on the cover) has the team's aircraft blown out of the sky as they approach The Sentinels' mountain HQ. Cyclops, Marvel Girl & Beast survive, make it inside, just in time to see a Sentinel craft arrive with new prisoners-- the long-missing Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch & Toad! Taking out the Sentinel, the 2 trios swap clothes, allowing Scott, Jean & Hank to catch further Sentinels off-balance. Larry Trask discovers his father found out he had the power of clairvoyance, and became obsessed with imprisoning all other mutants for fear they'd tried to "use" his son (as Magneto certainly would have tried to). But his identity as a mutant now revealed, those STUPID Sentinel robots will no longer obey him-- BUT, they are determined to follow his LAST command before his mutant-ness was revealed. (Some computer brains are just TOO STUPID to "live"!!) And so, they're bent on exterminating all mutants, until Scott takes a tip from Judge Chalmers (injured trying to protect them), and pits "logic" against them. In a scene out of a bad STAR TREK episode, Scott argues that the source of all mutation should be the Sentinel's target-- and so, en masse, ALL of them lift off and head for... the Sun. (I SAID those robots were really, really stupid!!!)

At the end, Alex' power gets out of control, he explodes again, but is still alive, and they contact a doctor to look him over. However, "Dr. Lykos" (whoever he is) seems to be almost as sinister as The Sentinels.

Once again, I can't shake the feeling that this story was far too big in scope, far too ambitious, to be handled in a "mere" 3 episodes. and after all he caused, I don't even recall if Larry Trask ever turned up again. You'd think he would have tried to make up for his actions from a feeling a guilt-- unless he wound up spending all his time with a shrink (given the way he switched from intended mass-murderer to saying, "No! I never wanted that!" between panels. "Stable", he apparently wasn't. On the letters page and the Bullpen page, a lot is made of the long-reaching plans of Roy Thomas & Neal Adams, apparently Roy was really hyped up about getting Neal on this book. It's almost a shame, because I can't shake the feeling Neal would have been a much better fit on SHIELD, especially as Don Heck & Werner Roth were really starting to kick ass before they both got kicked off this series. Neal's illos are impressive, but much of his figure-work is awkward and his storytelling is often confusing.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #14 -- "Nick Fury... A Day In The Life" has Nick under observation by SHIELD, as we discover the entire "Super-Patriot" episode was ALL in Nick's mind!! (A "dream" episode-- intentional last month, or did Gary Friedrich change his mind because last issue was just that ridiculous?) They take Nick back to his NYC apartment, where he wakes up to Val bringing him breakfast. It all seems like another tribute to THE PRISONER (which Jack Kirby already did a few months back in FANTASTIC FOUR). Nick survives repeated attempts on his life in his apartment, on the street, in his car (which someone sabotaged!) before finally having to parachute down to the Heli-Carrier. The Gaffer spews out all the Jewish sarcasm his can muster, complaining about how Fury destroyed the car he gave him (again!), then shows off a new flying motorcycle. The psychiatrist in charge of observing Fury continues to maintain that Fury is a traitor, and he'll prove it... until Dugan reveals they found out Rickard (who Fury killed) was working for HYDRA-- and had "several meetings" with the Doctor before dying. We're not sure if this was only a bluff or not, but it does the trick, and the Doc reveals HE's working for HYDRA, too, before trying (and failing) to kill Fury yet again. He actually manages to escape, which somehow doesn't bother anyone (there's way too much of this going on in the Marvel Universe lately-- bad guys getting away and nobody seeming to care all that much) as all are just happy that Fury's rep in in the clear again. Fury himself wonders why The Super-Patriot had his own face-- apparently not yet realizing it was only a dream...

Overall, this was a huge improvement over the previous issue, which wouldn't have been too difficult. I still wish Steve Parkhouse & Barry Smith had managed to do the entire story, as their opening episode was so much better than the 2 that followed. The Herb Trimpe-Sam Grainger team are really trying their best to kick Jack Kirby-style ass here, the photo-background as Nick's Ferrarri flys over NYC the only hint of "Steranko" influence at all. I'm convinced that with a better writer, Trimpe & Grainger could have done some impressive work here. As it is, it's too many drastic changes in too short a time for anyone's good.


DR. STRANGE #182 -- "And Juggernaut Makes Three!" has Clea & Wong watching Doc's seeming defeat by Nightmare in the Dream Dimension. But Doc's not out yet, as he manages to contact someone who's currently trapped in another dimension-- the X-MEN foe, Juggernaut (whose powers somehow derive from Cytorrak). This cross-over seems as out-of-place as when Man-Thing crossed paths with Shang-Chi, but that's Roy Thomas for you. Doc cons Juggernaut into thinking he's the guy's way back to Earth, and while the two baddies are coming to blows, Doc makes his escape, getting his cloak & amulet back under his control. Juggernaut realizes he's been had (he never was the sharpest tack) and the 2 baddies decide to double-team Doc, when ETERNITY steps into the fray. Doc is outright amused by the very thought that the awesome, omnipotent being he risked his life to "save" turns out to have never really been a prisoner in the first place, but merely allowed the arrogant Nightmare to believe so. And now, in payment for his earlier attack (shades of Dormammu), Eternity unleashes his power on the baddies... and, almost as an afterthought, neatly deposits Doc back home on Earth.

Back in his sanctum, Doc sees a telegram delivered while he was fighting for his life, and Wong tells him the name on the envelope has changed since its arrive, from "Dr. Stephen Strange" to "Dr. Stephen Sanders". Doc instantly knows it was the work of Eternity, who knew Doc was looking to find a "new identity" for himself. After endless millennia, for the first time ever, Doc thinks, Eternity actually "cared".

As usual, the artwork of Gene Colan & Tom Palmer is absolutely mind-blowing on every single page. I swear, these 2 guys were WASTING their time in the 70's doing the awful, downbeat, pointless TOMB OF DRACULA series-- they should have been doing DR. STRANGE all along! The letters page reveals that Palmer has been doing the coloring since #175 as well, one more reason these issues look like nothing else on the stands at the time. I still don't "get" this whole fixation Roy Thomas has with "having" to give Doc a "secret identity", as Doc was always a "public figure" people would come to for help, even if most didn't believe what he was into was anything more than mumbo-jumbo. The other bothersome thing this time out is the addition to the cover logo of the words "MASTER OF BLACK MAGIC". Come ON, Roy!!! Doc hasn't had that as part of his description since the first few episodes!! (That's what you get with a writer who is absolutely obsessed with "origins" and the earliest periods of any given series, almost to the exclusion of what's gone on ever since.)


FANTASTIC FOUR #90 -- "The Skrull Takes A Slave!" is either the 3rd part of the Mole Man story, or, part 1 of the new Skrull story (although it really started last month!). It's nicely done, but I keep wishing they would keep one story separate from another. Anyway, the FF are trying to straighten things out in the underground "house", but Mole Man, still unbelievably arrogant, manages to escape! Reed points out the "irony" that he hasn't committed any "crimes", and there's no crime in "trying to conquer the Earth". While this mind-boggling NONSENSE is sinking in, MM destroys the house by remote-control, the FF barely escaping in time. Meanwhile, the Skrull arrives on Earth, disguises his spaceship and himself, and heads for the city to locate The Thing. Disguised as Reed, he cons Ben into following him, claiming evidence of "an alien invasion" (no kidding!). At the spaceship, the alien reveals his identity, overpowers Ben, and the two head into deep space, as "the games" are "about to begin".

As usual, GREAT art, and a story that, like I said, would have come across a lot better if they hadn't overlapped 2 separate storylines this way. (But that's my opinion.) Stan makes another bonehead blunder this time when some of the dialogue is clearly intended to be Johnny & Crystal, even though in the pictures it's obviously Reed & Sue! (HOW do you make a mistake like that??) The thing that bugs me the most about this issue is the way not only The Mole Man made his escape, but the way Reed doesn't seem bothered by it. This is a repeat of what happened with The Wizard-- TWICE!! And let's not forget the Dr. Doom 4-parter. With Reed's sense of "justice", I can't imagine him really not caring this way. It feels too much like Stan Lee's "liberal" attitudes about "sympathetic" villains overwhelming common sense and getting in the way of how a story should have really played itself out.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #76 -- "The Lizard Lives!" has The Lizard on the rampage again, and Spider-Man promising Mrs. Connors & her son Billy that he'll do all he can to help and try not to hurt the guy, who in his reptile form doesn't remember that he's Curt Connors. Joe Robertson & Captain Stacy are still trying to figure out what makes Spidey tick, and Stacy would like to talk with Pete about what he knows, since he's taken so many photos of the guy. Gwen wonders if Pete's seeing another girl, since he keeps being so secretive and disappearing all the time, but he tells he hopes to be able to explain things to her soon. (Oh really?) Spidey catches up with The Lizard, big fight commences, and just as Spidey is getting an idea how he can stop The Lizard... The Human Torch shows up. Oh joy.

John Buscema's back again, and John Romita isn't even listed in the credits this issue! It's possible he did some tounch-ups on faces (seems like he always was) but it's hard to tell. Jim Mooney continues doing the bulk of the work (pencils & inks) but the storytelling is Buscema, who is focusing mostly on 4-panel pages these days. The result is, you get thru 20 pages, and you feel like you've only had 10. Not much story! Come to think of it, a lot of Marvels were getting like that around here.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #117 -- "The Coming Of... The Falcon!" has Cap-- in the Red Skull's body-- fighting for his life against The Exiles, those perverted Nazi types the Skull trained, used, then betrayed & left marooned on this tropical island. Cap gets some help from Sam Wilson and his falcon Redwing. It seems the native New Yorker answered an advert for a bird trainer and hunter, but once he arrived found the ad was a con-- these guys don't hire you, they only make prisoners and slaves of people! (How they posted an ad when they're stuck on the island is never explained-- what, readers should expect Stan Lee to actually think things thru when he's writing a comic?) At this point Cap has finally figured out he should take off the Skull mask, and uses some improvised make-up to alter his appearance (though why he should bother, when nobody on the island has ever seen The Skull's real face is another question never addressed.) Cap trains Sam in unarmed combat, and by the issue's end, Sam fashions a costume for himself, becoming-- The Falcon! (No relation to the 1940's detective character, of course.)

Back in NYC, The Skull (in Cap's body-- and costume) checks into a swank hotel and is mobbed by adoring fans. On the one hand, the hotel staff are surprised, as Cap never seemed a glory-hound before. On the other, he also tends to talk DOWN to people, including his fans, treating them like "mindless rabble". You'd THINK somebody might have figured something was wrong there...

The huge gaping plotholes in this book tend to be glossed over by thbe fact that Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott's artwork is SO good, SO gorgeous, I give this issue my vote for BEST-LOOKING Marvel Comic of the month!! In his "disguise", Cap (in the Skull's body) looks a bit like Hugh O'Brien, but Sam Wilson is a dead ringer for Muhammad Ali! I never got that from any later renditions of him, but as Gene was the 1st artist to ever draw the guy, I put a lot of stock in what I see here.


SUB-MARINER #17 -- "From The Stars, The Stalker!" reminds me of a KULL story, as Namor faces trouble from a scheming high priest who claims to speak directly with "the gods", and somehow "the people" all listen to the guy. Of course, he's planning to steal the throne, and invents a dangerous "quest" for Namor to go on with Neptune's Trident (which, oddly enough, looks nothing like it did when Gene Colan was drawing this series), and so Namor travels back to the site of the original Atlantis and visits his mother's grave. But then he's attacked by an alien from space-- who, it turns out, is in league with that pesky high priest-- and, unknown to the priest, plans to drain all water from the face of the Earth to restore his dying planet. If it's not one thing, it's another...

The art this time is credited to Marie Severin & "Jay Hawk"-- who, unless my eyes are deceiving me, is really Jim Mooney-- doing pencils over Marie's layouts (I wonder if she was really pressed for time this month?). Inks are credited to "Joe Gaudioso"-- another alias for Mike Esposito! It's strange whenever they get 3 artists working in a relay-race like this, as none of their styles really tends to shine like it might otherwise. All the same, Marie's Namor remains one of my favorites, and the depictions of the old Atlantean ruins are quite spectacular (though the bright glaring coloring doesn't help add any mood to it at all). Unfortunately, I don't have the rest of this story... one of these days!


CAPTAIN MARVEL #16 -- "Behind The Mask of Zo!" has CM captured by a group of very short armored guys guarding the "Tam-Bor" idol-- until he breaks free and gets inside. There, he finds it's no ancient or natural artifcat, but man-made Kree technology of recent vintage. Ronan The Accuser appears intent on executing him as a "traitor", and CM notes he seems to be taking too much pleasure in it to be merely a matter of "duty".
Suddenly, a "Super-Sentry" appears-- an advanced model used by the Kree Supreme Intelligence only in time of urgent danger to the entire empire-- and it accuses Ronan of being a traitor! CM manages to disable the "Tam-Bor" magnetic device, Ronan disappears in an explosion, and The Super-Sentry transports CM back to Hala-- the Kree Homeworld-- to face The Supreme Intelligence, who, to Mar-Vell's utter shock, is not out to prosecute him, but claims he was only a "pawn" in a game of deceit. The real "traitor", it seems, is Zarak-- The Imperial Minister-- who hated the Supreme Intelligence's "liiberal" policies and wanted to overthrow him. Zarak, it turns out, deliberately sent the Kree's most honored warrior-- Mar-Vell-- on the mission to Earth, along with his insane rival, Yon-Rogg, KNOWING it would drive Mar-Vell into the position he's in. And it further comes out that the "endless" voyage CM took in "Rebirth" wasn't quite so-- and the world he wound up on was in fact an artificial moon used for mind-warping experiments which have been outlawed for centuries. Not only that, that supposed alien being, "ZO!", was really Zarek all along, who, together with Ronan-- who was looking for an excuse to get revenge on Earth for his earlier defeat there-- planned to make Mar-Vell the scapegoat in an elaborate hoax involving the cult of Tam-Bor. Talk about head-spinning! Zarek tries to destroy the Supreme Intelligence with a negative energy globe, but Mar-Vell intervenes. In the end, The Supreme Intelligence reveals his chamber was much better-protected than any knew, and both Zarek & Ronan have been taken into custody. Only Yon-Rogg remains to be taken care of, but Mar-Vell requests to go after the guy himself, rather than allow Earth to be destroyed from a distance just to kill one traitor. The S.I. realizes Mar-Vell DOES have some loyalties to Earth, but lets it slide, though he says because of it, he'll never advance beyond the rank of "Captain", and gives him a brand-new uniform, to honor him as no longer being a "mere" Kree soldier. All seems well-- AT LAST!!!-- until, en route to Earth, CM is suddenly pulled into the Negative Zone!! (What th'...???)

Back on Earth, a delirious Carol Danvers leaves the hospital just before some FBI guys arrive, is mobbed by reporters outside, and then "rescued" by... Yon-Rogg. Uh oh...

This was the last of these early issues I got my hands on a few years ago, and boy did it blow my mind! In ONE single issue, writer Archie Goodwin managed to tie up or explain EVERY loose end, EVERY mystery, EVERY non-sensical so-called plot thread that was introduced earlier by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Arnold Drake & Gary Friedrich, and he did it SO well, he almost could fool you into thinking it was "always" supposed to turn out this way from the beginning! But I don't believe it... Archie surely proved right here he had a much better inclination for science-fiction than super-heroes, as I'd rate this one issue as better than all of his IRON MAN issues combined. In addition, my favorite storyteller on the series so far, Don Heck, returned and did his best job ever-- combined with Syd Shores, who supplied Don with by far the BEST inks he ever got on this book! This issue gets my vote for the BEST ISSUE of CM to date, by a mile-- and also the best-written Marvel of the month!

Which makes what happened next all the more tragic... and infuriating... Although Archie, Don & Syd were apparently supposed to be the "new regular team"-- the letters page the issue before asked readers' patience for Archie to clear things up-- all 3 guys were KICKED OFF the series, and before this issue even got to the printers! It seems Stan Lee-- who set up this MESS in the first place-- got cold feet, felt the book needed "drastic" changes in a desperate attempt to "save" it-- and this happened to coincide with Gil Kane-- fresh from GREEN LANTERN-- coming over to Marvel, and really wanting to do Marvel's "sci-fi superhero" as he had DC's. And so, it was put into motion that Roy Thomas, Gil Kane & Dan Adkins (who inked CM #15) should take over in #17, and the last few pages of this issue reflect those last-minuite decisions. OY! The "change" in the direction of the book was so drastic, virtually NOTHING that happened in this episode was even hinted at next month, which left me confused when I was missing this one.

All the same, when I read thbis story, I found myself looking at it as the grand finale of what turned out to be an 18-PART "origin" story for Captain Marvel! Whoa.


THE AVENGERS #68 -- "...And We Battle For The Earth!" has Ultron about to wipe out NYC in a nuclear explosion... until The Vision uses the last of his energy to destroy the deadly equipment from the inside. Ultron escapes, and the team contacts the scientist at SHIELD who developed the Adamantium alloy, and discover-- sure enough-- the "molecular arranger" was also stolen when the metal was-- and nobody noticed it until now. Hank Pym contacts The Black Panther (fighting off some invaders to his country back home) to ask for some vibranium, and hatches a plan to trap the murderous robot. The inventor of Adamantium speaks at the U.N. to alert the world of the deadly threat, while Ultron plans to kidnap him and drain his mind for knowledge which will enable him to create an army of indestructible yet mindless, subservient robots with which he can wipe out all of mankind. Ultron attacks the U.N. during the speech, and uses the mind-drain equipment on the scientist, only to be shocked by the thoughts he's accessing. A cone of vibranium encases Ultron just as he self-destructs, and it's revealed that Hank disguised himself as the scientist, then had Jan hypnotize him so he wouldn't know, as well as implant a post-hypnotic suggestion which only Ultron would pick up on-- a thought so shocking, so totaly alien to Ultron's nature and being, it wound up destroying him-- "Thou shalt not kill."

The new art team of Sal Buscema (fresh from 2 issues of CAPTAIN AMERICA, though few seemed to notice) and Sam Grainger (who's really been kicking ass around Marvel lately) debut. It's sort of "John Buscema lite", which I guess isn't a bad thing. While less spectacular than Barry Smith, I'd say the storytelling is a lot clearer. I was surprised re-reading this how close the theme of Ultron, an artificial intelligence who became aware abruptly and instantly went homicidal for no apparently reason, and wanted to wipe out ALL life on Earth, so closely reflected the much-later TERMINATOR movies. It's amazing how many things wind up in movies that were in comics earlier-- but the comics usually aren't credited as source material. I kinda wish this had been Ultron's last appearance. It would have been a fitting "finale".


X-MEN #60 -- "In The Shadow Of... Sauron!" has Scott & Jean drop off Alex with a Dr. Lykos, who seems to be more psychiatrist than physician. And he's got a secret-- ever since his father took him to an expedition near Antarctica where they were attacked by a swarm of Pterodactls (must have been near Ka-Zar's "Savage Land"), he's had this uncanny thing where he drains life energy from other beings. In fact, like a drug addict, he needs to-- more and more as time goes by. Having been an associate of Charles Xavier years earlier, he gets the idea that draining the energy of a mutant would really do it for him, and wouldn't you know, Alex ("Havok") is one of the most powerful around.

Back at the Mansion, the team has a work-out in The Danger Room, while Jean & Lorna (who, after her recent kidnapping by Sentinels, feels she no longer has a "home" and belongs with the team) watch in amusement, as Lorna tells Jean she's "no one's girl" (oh, what will Bobby think?). When reports of a "winged" menace suggest a mutant may be the cause, Warren gets pissed, dig out his OLD costume (only seen in the "Origins" episodes) and spouts another annoying Roy Thomas-ism when he says (for the 2nd time!) "...a guy who USED to be called The Avenging Angel!" Good grief. Over the city, he quickly finds the winged menace-- in reality, Dr. Lykos, transformed into a half-man, half-pterodactyl-- and calling himself the most "evil" name he could come up with (due to his obsession with the book "Lord of the Rings"), "Sauron".

I keep hearing about Neal Adams' "drawing mistakes". I saw one this time! On page 3, when the X-Men take off in some sort of flying craft, the landing gear has the wheels rotated 90 from how they should be. HOW do you MAKE a mistake like that??? Otherwise, the book looks fine, and some of the colors (which Neal was also doing) are really outstanding, though as usual, much of the "storytelling"-- especially in the Danger Room sequence-- is very difficult to follow.


FANTASTIC FOUR #91 -- "The Thing-- Enslaved!" spends most of the issue with Ben, on an outlying planet in The Skrull Empire, where due to their earlier fascination with a captive Earth gangster, has been transformed into a duplicate of prohibition-era Chicago! One of the "gangsters" (a Skrull in disguise) even looks and talks like Edward G. Robinson. It seems these "gangsters" pit "slaves" against each other in deadly combats (in which apparently nobody survives) to determine border disputes and decide who takes over who else's "territory". Ben remains helpless, and finds himself imprisoned with Torgo-- a robot captive-- who is scheduled to fight Ben to the death. Back on Earth, Reed has learned Ben was taken to an open field by a cabbie, with another man who looked exactly like Reed. As Ben seems to have "vanished off the face of the Earth", Reed concludes he was captured by a Skrull!

Great Kirby-Sinnott art as usual. This story manages to pay tribute to at least 2 STAR TREK episodes at the same time-- "A Piece Of The Action" (the one about the gangster planet) and "The Gamesters Of Triskellion" (captives pitted against each other in fights to the death). "Fun" stuff-- I guess- though taken with the earlier "PRISONER" tribute, it does seems someone may have been running out of fresh ideas here. Even so, leave it to Jack Kirby to borrow ideas from someone else, and do it in such a way that it's so well-done you don't mind!


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #77 -- "In The Blaze Of Battle!" has Spidey & The Human Torch fighting The Lizard-- and each other-- as Spidey keeps trying to get the Torch to butt out so he can defeat The Lizard on his own, and The Torch just refuses to "run" from a battle. This stupidity goes on until Spidey claims his "spider-sonic hearing" detected trouble at The Baxter Building, and The Torch flies off, not knowing he's been had! In a warehouse, Spidey uses some chemicals to dehydrate The Lizard, and sure enough, it causes him to change back to Curt Connors. Connors & his family hardly know how to thank Spidey, and he leaves, everything having gone his way (for once), though he's not looking forward to seeing The Torch anytime soon.

This issue effectively wraps up a 10-part sequence that began all the way back when The Kingpin decided to steal the mysterious stone tablet from the University. It's been non-stop since then, and it's nice when they finally get back to taking a breather between stories. Once again, layouts are by John Buscema (once again using mostly 4 panels to a page), pencils & inks by Jim Mooney, and presumably John Romita doing touch-ups on faces. The way the credits are written, it's hard to tell who did what exactly, but that goes for Stan Lee as well (who wrote the credits), as he keeps listing himself as "author", even though the chances are Romita & Buscema BOTH had much more to do with the plot than Stan did.

SILVER SURFER #8 -- "Now Strikes The Ghost!" has Mephisto return, still wanting the Surfer's soul, and drawing from limbo the cursed spirit of "The Flying Dutchman". Mephisto offers the guy his only chance at peace if he'll pledge his soul to Mephisto, and bring him the Surfer's soul as well, by force. Soaring over Manhattan in an ancient sailing ship is sure to attract attention, and before long, the Surfer is drawn into a fight...

MAN is this villain one ugly sucker! Beginning this issue, Dan Adkins replaced Sal Buscema on inks, no doubt because Sal got busy doing pencils for THE AVENGERS. Also, without warning, someone decided to make the book a normal-sized monthly (supposedly based on "readers's requests", but I dunno) and this 40-page story was CUT in half just before printing, rather than be paced a bit different to make it a "normal" 2-parter.


SILVER SURFER #9 -- "To Steal The Surfer's Soul" has The Surfer fight The Flying Dutchman above Manhattan while Mephisto watches. At one point, the Dutchman threatens a woman's life if the Surfer won't pledge his soul to Mephisto, but this only makes the Surfer use his cosmic power in a more awesome fashion to attack the guy without hitting the hostage. He also feels genuine compasion and pity for the guy... and surprisingly, because of the curse he'd been under for centuries, this was the ONLY thing that could free his soul to go to its eternal rest! As a result, Mephisto loses TWO souls.

Not much to say about this. They're just not grabbing me at all.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #118 -- "The Falcon Fights On!" has Cap (in the Skull's body, and with his face disguised) and The Falcon (Sam Wilson) take on The Exiles, while The Skull watches via the Cosmic Cube. Meanwhile, Rick Jones continues to feel sorry for himself, which is a pretty sad spectacle. At one point, the Skull considers injuring dozens of Cap's over-zealous fans, but stops himself because he realizes using the Cube in that fashion will make people realize it may not be the real Cap. Finally impatient, he decides to step in personally to deal the final defeat to his enemy...

While not quite as stunning as last issue, the art by Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott continues to dazzle. The letters pages seem split over the Rick Jones thing, with quite a few readers feeling it was a serious mistake to ever have him dress up in Bucky's uniform. Stan Lee must have felt the same way-- making it all the more obvious that Jim Steranko was the one who wrote those 3 issues (#110, 111, 113), NOT Stan, though he refuses to admit it! It's curious that Stan seemed hell-bent on NOT having Sharon Carter become Cap's new partner (after all the work Jack Kirby did to set that up), and NOT having Rick Jones being Cap's new partner (despite Jim Steranko's best efforts), but he liked the idea of Sam Wilson becoming his new partner. I guess it was the times...


CAPTAIN MARVEL #17 -- "And A Child Shall Lead You!" has The Supreme Intelligence apparently communicating with Mar-Vell telepathically while he's trapped in The Negative Zone. Observing out world, he watches Rick Jones, who's feeling immensely sorry for himself, as he leaves Avengers' Mansion, tosses away his Avengers Priority Card (!!!), and hitches a ride to... nowhere in particular. Once there, he sees a ghostly image of Captain America, and although he realizes it can't be the real Cap, follows it over hills and into a cave, where he finds statues of alien creatures, an alien laboratory, and a pair of shiny wrist-bands-- which he puts on, and, following a mental command, slaps them together. In an instant, Mar-Vell is back on Earth-- but Rick Jones is stuck in the Negative Zone! While the two can communicate telepathically, Rick isn't the least bit happy about it. But before either has time to think, who should show up, wanting the "Nega-Bands", but Colonel Yon-Rogg. After a brief fight, he flees in a Kree shuttle, then tosses what looks like Carol Danvers out the hatch into Mar-Vell's arms. He realizes too late it's really a bomb, but the Nega-Bands protect him, even as they've given him the power of flight among others to replace all the powers granted him by Zarek, apparently lost when he was pulled into the Negative Zone. Switching places with Rick again, Rick now feels some sort of "merging" has taken place-- and he now feels overwhelmed with the desire to seek vengeance on Yon-Rogg, even if it takes the rest of his life (which it might-- the narrator suggests-- OH YEAH???).

This issue presents a violent shock to the readers, as after promising Archie Goodwin, Don Heck & Syd Shores as the "new regular team", and asking readers' patience to let Archie have a few issues to clear up earlier plot threads, ALL 3 guys were replaced in this issue! In their place were Roy Thomas (returning because Stan Lee felt things had gotten so bad he felt his right-hand guy might be the "only" one to fix it), Gil Kane (fresh from GREEN LANTERN, apparently really hot to do this series), and Dan Adkins (who inked Tom Sutton 2 issues before-- but try as he might, I think he's out of his league here). The sequence where Rick finds the cave is clearly a tribute to the classic origin sequence where Billy Batson finds the cave with the statues of "7 Deadly Sins" before being granted the power of Captain Marvel (the REAL one, not this new fella). It's only the latest element ripped from some other series tacked onto Mar-Vell, and it may be the most painful one to bear. While I found Roy's earlier work on this series extremely annoying at times, that was nothing compared to this. There's so much narration and self-indulgent and awkward dialogue, I'd have to rate this as one of the worst writing jobs of Roy's I have ever had to suffer through. Gil Kane, inspired by the dynamics of Jack Kirby's art, had spent several years slowly altering his own style, and his "new" style really explodes in this issue. Anatomy is stretched all over the place, the layouts are reminiscent of Neal Adams', the faces are downright ugly, none of them recognizable as the characters readers knew from other artists' work (without the costumes you'd never be able to tell who half these people are). And poor Dan Adkins-- despite having such a slick, sharp, "clean" style, Kane's pencils are just TOO extreme. It would have taken Wally Wood himself to make these pages look really good-- or Joe Sinnott at the very least. The results, at least to my eyes are, HORRIBLE plotting, HORRIBLE layouts, HORRIBLE pencils, and REALLY HORRIBLE dialogue!!! Stan Lee actually thought this would somehow be an improvement?

After getting my hands on CM #16 by Goodwin, Heck & Shores, I realized just how RIPPED OFF readers had actually been by this abrupt change. I wonder how it might have been if those 3 guys had been able to stick around and finally pull the series together into something coherent-- instead of having it PULLED APART into a total mess.


THE AVENGERS #69 -- "Let The Game Begin" has Tony Stark in the hospital on the verge of death, awaiting a heart specialist who may be able to save his life. But meanwhile, The Growing Man (from THOR #140) suddenly turns up, kidnaps Stark, and the team tries to save him, only to have all of them pulled into the far future to face Kang The Conqueror. The Black Panther, already one of his "guests", suggests they listen, as the fate of the entire planet rests with them helping their longtime arch-enemy. Kang has been approached by The Grandmaster, some kind of immortal omnipotent being, who has offered him the power to restore his beloved Ravonna to life-- if he'll just play a "simple" game. But if he loses, all life on Earth is forfeit. Who the hell does this guy think he is? Anyway, with the stakes being so high, The Avengers quickly agree, and suddenly find themselves facing a quartet of villains-- Dr. Spectrum, Hyperion, Nighthawk, and The Whizzer-- collectively, The Squadron Supreme.

This first of 3 parts introduces Marvel's villainous counterparts of DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA! As the JLA had faced the "Earth-2" Justice Society (some of whom were dopplegangers for the "Earth-1" heroes) and the "Earth-3" Injustice League Of Earth (villain dopplegangers of the heroes), here Roy Thomas-- who's always been a bigger DC fan than a Marvel fan (ironic, ain't it?) gets a chance to have fun with further alternate-universe copies (ahem, tributes) to some of his favorite heroes-- Green Lantern, Superman, Batman & The Flash. Only a Golden Age fanboy at the time might have realized that Marvel already had their own character called "The Whizzer", back in the 1940's. These characters-- or further dopplegangers of THEM-- would continue far beyond this initial "tribute". Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger continue a bang-up job, solid, sharp, if not generally spectacular.


X-MEN #57 -- "Monsters Also Weep" has the team spend half the issue fighting Sauron (half-man, half pterodactl-- sort of a fore-runner to DC's MAN-BAT) over, around and under the Pulaski Skyway (that's what it looks like to me). When Sauron suddenly begins to change back to human form, Dr. Lykos, he uses his hypnotic power to make The Angel carry him back to his office. The team later finds Angel at their mansion, with no memory of what happened, possibly hypnotized, and figure Dr. Lykos, who uses hypno-therapy, mighty be the guy to help. (And they NEVER connect that Lykos might be the one who did this to the Angel? GEEZ!) At his office, Lykos finds Tanya, his longtime love, has arrived. She wonders who the "intruders" are when the X-Men arrive to pick up Alex-- who, "drained" of excess power, is feeling great. But then Tanya's controlling father also arrives (gee, it's like Grand Central Terminal), more determined than ever that his daughter will NEVER marry Lykos, despite how much both love each other. Before long, as Sauron again, he attacks her father, but realizing how evil he becomes in that form, decides he must stay away from Tanya at all costs, and flies all the way to Tierra Del Fuego, where he was born, and where he encountered the flying reptiles in the first place. Tanya follows, and, fighting off the urge to drain HER life energy, he plunges off a cliff to his apparent death, as the X-Men, who followed, prevent her from also falling to her doom.

Well THAT was depressing, wasn't it? Reader reviews seem to be 100% positive to Adams' debut on the series, several hailing him as one of the best artists to ever work for Marvel. Roy seems geared up for what he hopes will be a long, productive run on the book. No question, it was impressive... shame it didn't last all that long.


NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #15 -- "The Assassination Of Nick Fury" has Hydra hire the services of "Bulls-Eye" (no relation to the later DAREDEVIL villain) to bump off Fury. They plan to attack en masse as soon as he's dead, determined it'll be one organization or the other who's wiped out. However, they also have Bulls-Eye follow Fury all over town while he's on a date with Laura Brown, despite knowing where Fury will be when he plans to kill him. The reason for this is the planned major assault, and their intention that during the massive attack, their paid hit-man will also get bumped in the cross-fire. Poor egotistical FOOL that he is, he never latches onto this, and wastes his entire afternoon following Fury around from rooftops, as if he was Daredevil or somebody. Must have been awful worn out by the time they reached Central Park, the Country Joe & The Fish concert, and the assassination. Fury's shot in the back-- Laura's horrified-- the Hydra leader suddenly, abruptly decides NOT to stage the assault (what th'...???) and Dugan personally shoots Bulls-Eye, who hung around too long, and was stupid enough to get into a gunfight with a whole squad of SHIELD agents. Dugan wonders if there's any pieces to pick up, as Fury appears to be dead.

Gary Friedrich, Herb Trimpe & Sam Grainger were getting some rave reviews on the letters page. All 3 appeared set to do a nice, long, productive run. The inclusion of a full-page cutaway view of HYDRA HQ with all its weaponry & such (in the tradition of Jack Kirby's cutaway views of same, and the Baxter Building in FANTASTIC FOUR) reveal they put a lot of time and thought into this, and clearly had big plans. But it was NOT to be! Several pages before the end of the issue, Trimpe was suddenly replaced by Dick Ayers, whose pages just don't cut it. About the same point in the story was where the HYDRA leader changes his mind-- and after saying several pages earlier, "There's NO turning back now!" (Oh YEAH???) These 2 things taken together strongly suggest a sudden LAST-MINUTE change to the ending of the issue. For, while there is NO hint on the letters page, this turned out to be the LAST issue of the series. I don't know what was originally planned, but I doubt this issue was supposed to end the way it did. The fate of Fury was revealed in THE AVENGERS #72 (Jan'70), 2 months later.


DR. STRANGE #183 -- "They Walk By Night" has Doc answer the telegram from an old colleague, Kenneth Ward. Although Clea asks him not to go, and wishes for a "normal" life (what IS it with "girlfriends" and certain writers who make them get so whiny like that all of a sudden?) he can't turn down a request for help. On arrival, and making sure he uses his new "Dr. Sanders" identity (which Eternity gave him, and which only he, Clea & Wong realize was not "always" his "real name"), Stephen finds his old colleague suffereing from amnesia, with no recollection of sending the telegram, and surrounded by a trio of somewhat-menacing-seeming attendants. Doc eventually finds his friend had discovered some ancient statues sculpted in bizarre, monstrous forms, and a miniature statue, which he brought back home to study. Now, it seems the 3 men watching over him are really disciples of "The Undying Ones", and want the statue back at all costs. Doc manages to defeat them, but finds Ward has died. He vows he'll get to the bottom of this mystery, whatever it takes.

This story, a tribute to H.P.Lovecraft and his "Cthulu" stories, is the first of 3 parts. However, while the last page promises "The Searchers" next time, just as with NICK FURY, this turned out to be DR. STRANGE's last issue, as the book was cancelled abruptly with no warning, no hint on the letters page! I can only figure Marvel's big expansion earlier in 1968 must have stretched its fans' buying powers to the limit, and eventually sales began dropping off. Reports have it that X-MEN was also slated for cancellation, but saved-- at least for awhile-- due to the arrival of Neal Adams. (I wonder if Adams had gotten on NICK FURY instead, if that book might have lasted longer, instead of X-MEN?) Gene Colan & Tom Palmer's art continues to be spectacular, although with the complex story and more panels this time, a bit less pin-up worthy. Even so, several pages, including the splash, would have made great posters. I have 2 printings of this story-- the original, and the reprint in ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS Vol.1 (2005). Both follow-up chapters would appear in that, as well as the DAY OF THE DEFENDERS one-shot (2001). The story continued in SUB-MARINER #22 (Feb'70) and concluded in THE INCREDIBLE HULK #126 (Apr'70). This 3-parter effectively "inspired" the later creation of THE DEFENDERS in 1971.

Well, I can tell this project is winding down. As I close in on the end of 1969, among the annoying changes in the books in general, they messed with the corner box format, shoving the title, etc. above the art (I liked it better before); they eliminated the cool full-page house ads at the back, replacing them with a 1/3rd-page house ad in the middle; then they cut the Bullpen page with checklist to half a page, and shoved that in the middle; now the letters pages have been cut to 1 page, and shoved somewhere in the middle. You know, they're REALLY intrusive there! I like reading letters, but AFTER the story. Now I have to flip back thru the book to find the letters after I'm done. Over the years, Marvel has done this several times, and every time it's been stupid. I'd say the editor of the line was really losing his way around here. Damn shame.


TOWER OF SHADOWS #1 -- "At The Stroke Of Midnight" has a couple arrive at an old dark mansion in the middle of the night in search of its late owner's wealth. Marie married Lou Fowler only for his money, and got him to murder his uncle. But she keeps harping on how spineless he is. Lou, meanwhile, is terrified of the house, and stories that his uncle had somehow found a "doorway into time". On finding the dead man's hidden jewels, Marie proclaims herself a "queen"-- when suddenly, a hidden door opens upon a sight out of the French Revolution, as a blood-thirsty mob awaits the king & queen-- while the executioner standing next to the guillotine is Lou's uncle!

Many Marvel fans don't realize, or don't want to admit, but the real glory days of their 60's super-heroes WERE the 60's. And despite occasional flashes of brilliance here and there, they've NEVER really recaptured those initial bursts of pure inspiration. Maybe most series should only run so long... then go into perpetual reruns (reprints) like "classic" TV shows. US comics didn't have the kind of comprehensive, mass reprint collections like they do now back in the 60's... they just kept going on and on, unless they were cancelled, usually without warning in the middle of a storyline. Anyway, I'd say Marvel's "classic" super-hero line was winding down about here... and the "new" era hadn't really begun yet. But the 1st tentative hint of that new era appeared right here.

TOWER OF SHADOWS was, depending on your POV, either Marvel's attempt to revive the EC horror format, or Stan Lee's first stab at trying to compete directly with Jim Warren's horror anthologies (CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA). I only have this one story from the 1st issue, reprinted in CAPTAIN AMERICA SPECIAL EDITION #1 (Feb'84), because it was "written & illustrated by STERANKO". No ambiguity like on the 3 CAPTAIN AMERICA stories-- Stan's listed as "editor" this time, though I understand he stuck his nose in and tampered with some of Jim's narratrion blocks, which painfully annoyed Steranko, as he wrote the words very carefully & specifically to FIT PRECISELY into alloted spaces, considering the words to be part of the entire design, not "just" words added after-the-fact. Nice work in only 7 pages-- though these kind of things can get too formulaic after awhile. That may partly explain why both TOWER OF SHADOWS and CHAMBER OF DARKNESS (2 bi-monthlies, they just couldn't do ONE book, they always HAVE to try flooding the market and over-taxing their fan's budgets) began including reprints of old material before too long. At one point, a few years down the line, at the height of the "horror" boom (after the Comics Code had been re-written and relaxed) Stan proudly proclaimed Marvel had become "#1!!" in the horror comics field. In sales-- maybe. But he NEVER really beat Jim Warren in quality. Stan had just become the new Martin Goodman at that point...

Steranko did a really innovative, eye-catching cover (and logo) for TOS-- but Stan rejected it, feeling it "went too far", and it was replaced with a "standard" cover by John Romita. The art's not bad, but the overall design, especially that logo in the BIG OVAL doesn't stand out to make me wanna buy the thing. Steranko's version is posted at Nick Simon's SILVER AGE MARVEL site. Compare...
http://www.samcci.comics.org/misc/towershad01.jpg
http://www.samcci.comics.org/misc/tower1-orig-cropped.jpg


FANTASTIC FOUR #92 -- "Ben Grimm, Killer!" has Ben forced to take part in "training" to fight in the Skrull's "great games". It's like a scene out of DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS or SPARTACUS, only with sci-fi elements added. Back on Earth, Reed prepares to go into space to find Ben, and gets into an argument with Sue, who he flat-out does not want coming with them, as she's a mother now, and he feels her place is with their son. The games begin, as Skrulls-- all looking like prohibition-era gangsters from Earth's past-- pile into an exact replica of a 1930's movie house. Well, except for the arena of death in the front. It's at this point Ben finds why none of the "slaves" has a choice, as the Skrulls have a device which can send their planets zooming out of orbit, if they decide to get out of line. GEEZ!!! As the episode ends, we see Reed, Johnny & Crystal, aboard their captive flying saucer, heading for space.

GREAT art, and no complaints about the story. Well, except for ONE thing. Reed refers to the flying saucer he uses as having been captured from The Skrulls the first time they battled them (in FF #2). Nooooo!!! That was a totally different design, and there was no evidence-- ever-- that Reed took posession of their ship. The flying saucer is CLEARLY the one from Planet X (see FF #7), something I've remembered ever since I first saw the thing sitting in storage in The Baxter Building in a reprint of FF #11! Stan is just making one bonehead error after another at this point. You know, it's obvious why he skipped town and fled to Hollywood about the time Jim Shooter became Editor-In-Chief. Shooter INSISTED that EVERY writer "must" work with an Editor, and further, that in any disputes, the Editor ALWAYS has the final say. PERIOD. I don't think Stan could have stood for that... and he really could have used the "help".

I wonder if anyone ever bothered to correct the dialogue in any subsequent reprints? (I kinda wish they would...)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #78 -- "The Night Of The Prowler" has Spidey-- in the dark-- get assaulted by some guy who wants to use the pay phone while he's trying to call Gwen. He lifts the guy up with one hand-- not even straining-- and the guy runs off, never even realizing who he was bothering. But Gwen's "busy"-- talking with Flash Thompson. (!!) Later, Pete wanders the streets heading for her neighborhood, and happens to see Gwen AND Flash in the coffee house-- talking. She wants to know how Pete was in high school. Flash says Pete always used to disappear at the first sign of trouble, so everyone figured he was "chicken". But Gwen can't believe this. Meanwhile, Pete thinks he's LOST Gwen to Flash, and continues wandering... right thru a pair of biker-looking hoods (like that scene in the retold origin!). With a casual swing of his arm, he knocks them both for a loop, saying "Up against the WALL, you creeps!" This truly HILARIOUS scene is only spoiled when Pete gets worried that someone might figure out his "secret", and he runs off.

Meanwhile, Hobie Brown, aspiring inventor, working as a window-washer, is frustrated at not getting any "breaks". He's come up with devices that could make his job much safer, but nobody's interested. When Jameson hassles him for daydreaming, Hobie's boss happens by, and a three-way argument ensues. Hobie QUITS-- and Jameson actually shows some stunning integrity by knocking the other guy for his comment about "your type". Hobie hatches a scheme to get some attention by creating a costumed identity as "The Prowler"-- but figures he could "go into action" much quicker if he were a super-villain, and so he plans to rob a payroll, then return it as himself and become a "hero". Wouldn't you know... Pete picks that moment to turn up at The Bugle and actually try asking JJJ for an advance (CLEARLY not thinking straight!!), just as "The Prowler" is making off with the Bugle's payroll. As Jameson rushes into the room, Pete realizes he CAN'T let the guy see him in action... what to do?

I really appreciated the 2 humorous scenes in this story. I've often thought SPIDER-MAN could have been a much more "fun" and "enjoyable" book than it ever was if it hadn't been for its RELENTLESS emphasis on keeping everyone as miserable as possible, in the worst bad soap-opera tradition. John Buscema returns again on layouts, with illustrations once again by Jim Mooney. I love Mooney's work here-- he does night scenes so well, and his Gwen is a DOLL (yeah, I said it, even though I don't particularly care for her, even here). There seemed to be a growing amount of "civil rights" awareness in this series, between Joe Robertson, his son, the situation at the college earlier, and now Hobie. I have to figure this is John Romita's influence, even though he's not even listed in the credits this time! (Did he contribute to the plot? Heck-- did STAN???) Funny enough, John's SON is listed in the credits this time-- as having suggested "The Prowler" in the first place!

The one thing I must say that feels "off" this time is Flash. I just CANNOT believe for one minute this is the same guy who appeared in the first 40 issues!! I know some people "mature" as they grow older... but some DON'T. Some NEVER do. I can't believe a bonehead neanderthal like Flash would EVER have "grown up" this much. It just doesn't seem true to life to me.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #119 -- "Now Falls The Skull!" concludes this 6-parter by having The Red Skull realize he can't allow others to kill Cap-- he must do it himself! First, he wills himself back into his costume & skull mask-- then teleports Cap (still in disguise, go figure) & The Falcon to his castle in Germany, where he & Hitler once planned to rule the world. (He thinks how Hitler is dead now... I wonder if he ever knew about The Hate-Monger?) On arrival, he puts Redwing in a cage, then restores Cap to his own body-- and costume. It's a great moment when Sam looks, astonished, and says-- "You're Captain America!" But Cap says all that matters is beating the Skull. It's a pretty hopless battle... UNTIL...!

Over the last few issues, we've seen these repeated brief cut-aways to MODOK and his A.I.M. followers-- now wearing blue uniforms instead of yellow ones. He's been obsessed with The Cosmic Cube, determined that if they can't use their greatest creation, no one will! We discover this time how he survived his apparent death in TALES OF SUSPENSE #94 (a mental force field did the trick) and now he uses a "catholite block"-- sort of an alternate version of the CC-- to MELT the Cosmic Cube at long-distance. Just before it's gone, the Skull uses it to teleoprt himself to safety. Walking off into the sunset together (just like in a western), Cap tells The Falcon, "We beat him-- with a little help from fate."

I dunno. I think, even though they built up to it for at least 3 issues, the ending STILL seems contrived and out-of-left field. And I'm getting sick of all these villains just escaping at the end, with the heroes not seeming to be concerned about it. These last few issues have certainly been a shining example of "style" over "substance". The art by Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott is GORGEOUS, and makes it easy to gloss over the lack of any really involved writing. Sort of like watching YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE. The only criticism I have is the way Gene draws The Red Skull's mask-- it just isn't scary, and seems more shapeless than usual. Oh well.


SILVER SURFER #10 -- "A World He Never Made!" opens with Shalla Bal en route to Earth in a spaceship built by one her planet's few remaining "ambitious" types. She senses he's "cruel and evil", and he wants to prove to her that The Surfer is dead-- or has forgotten her-- so she will agree to marry him! On Earth, The Surfer saves the lives of a suicidal jumper and a police officer, but is still generally under suspicion (having once attacked the entire planet is kinda hard to be forgiven for). He "disguises" himself in clothes again and at random puts down in some Central American country, immediately becoming the target of aggresive "shoot-first" soldier types, who barged into this once-peaceful country, took it over and turned it into a hellhole. A local girl tries to help him, is arrested for it, and when he goes to rescue her, the real shooting starts.

The usual gloomy, downbeat stuff. Lee, Buscema & Adkins continue. I wish I could say it was magic. 'Fraid not. I have this in ESSENTIAL SILVER SURFER, and either the story only has 19 pages, or they somehow left the last page out of the reprint. OY!


THE INCREDIBLE HULK #121 -- "Within This Swamp, There Stirs... A Glob!" begins with Hulk plummetting toward Florida just as a missile is being launched. When he's spotted on radar, the base personnel "abort"-- blowing up the missile and sending Hulk toward the swampland. Before long, General Ross, his daughter, Major Talbot & a strike force are combing the swamp, hell-bent on destroying the "monster" for all time. Despite Betty's pleas about "the man she loves", her father asserts there is NO trace of humanity left in him. Meanwhile, Hulk, who's become even less intelligent than he used to be (and that's really saying something) moans about how "they never leave me alone" and how he wishes he had a friend (guess he shouldn't have chased Rick Jones off the way he did, eh?), and frustrated, takes it out on some cannisters... which just happen to contain radioactive waste. They mix in the swamp, with the corpse of an escaped convict, creating a monstrous swamp-creature. With the barest trace of its former memories, it mistakes Betty for a long-dead loved one, makes off with her, and soon "The Glob" and Hulk are having it out. As The Glob sinks into the slime (the radioactivity causing it now to disolve!) Hulk SAVES Betty's life, then wanders off. With his daughter safe, Ross suddenly feels she was "all that really mattered", and takes his task-force home. (HUH?)

YAWN. This series hasn't been the same since Jack Kirby stopped doing the plots & layouts. It looked nice under Marie Severin, but now, Herb Trimpe's doing full art, and while he's looked good under certain inkers, he's never been his own best inker, and in either case, he wouldn't really reach his peak until a few more years down the road. Meanwhile, Roy Thomas seems to be making these even less enjoyable to read than Gary Friedrich was. The whole "Why can't they leave Hulk alone?" thing got so tired so fast, and it went on for more than a decade. Hulk hasn't even reached the near-mindless child-like levels he would a bit later, but he's downright pathetic to read, and I can't find anything sympathetic or interestig about the supporting cast either at this point. I have this one reprinted in MARVEL TREASURY EDITION #17 (1978), along with 3 other "monster of the month" stories.

Perhaps the only really notable thing about this one is The Glob-- Roy's tribute to The Heap, a Golden Age swamp-monster character (of sorts), who would before long also inspire the long-running SWAMP THING and the equally long-running MAN-THING. Both are better names than "Glob", at any rate.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #18 -- "Vengeance Is Mine!" has Yon-Rogg, still hiding out in that Kree outpost cave, ranting outloud to himself about how he plans to kill Mar-Vell once and for all. He's somehow been able to keep track of all of Mar-Vell's movements, includig his involvement with Rick Jones. After Mar-Vell saves the life of a driver who fell asleep at the wheel of his car, Rick stops at a coffee shop and winds up sitting in on the music set. After a heckler causes a brief fight, Rick's accosted by "Mordecai P. Boggs", a self-important music promoter who'd like to become Rick's manager-- but he isn't interested. Next thing, Mar-Vell says he's suddenly aware that Yon-Rogg is back at the cave-- and he goes there for what turns out to be their FINAL confrontation!

Yon-Rogg-- who's suddenly sporting eye-shadow & a Snidely Whiplash moustache (what the...?) uses a "Psyche-Magnitron"-- another "forbidden" piece of Kree technology- to create a "Mandroid", a robot normally used for executing Kree traitors. Mar-Vell manages to get it to damage the machine that created it, and so he & Yon-Rogg have it out one-on-one. Carol, still a prisoner, sees that Mar-Vell is trying to save both her planet and his own (as Yon-Rogg, now an outcast himself, apparently has ambitions to overthrow the Kree Supreme Intelligence). She gets injured by a stray shot, and Mar-Vell carries her out of the cave just as the Psyche-Magnitron explodes, destroying everything in the cave, including Yon-Rogg. Mar-Vell trades atoms with Rick, who immediately collapses from exhaustion.

And so, the Yon-Rogg sub-plot FINALLY reaches its conclusion. Rather than any feeling of triumph, it feels more like an afterthought, and in the wake of the sweeping changes in direction, look & tone of the series, it feels less like something they built up to as an embarrassment that needed to be swept under the carpet as quickly as possible, so the book could move on to other, "better" things. The plotting seems to ramble from one thing to another with almost no connection, the anatomy is awkward, the faces ugly, and the dialogue annoying as can be. And on top of that... Gil Kane, due to a personal emergency, was replaced on the 2nd half of this episode by John Buscema. Don Heck was kicked off the series for THIS? I can't help but feel this is a series thrashing around not realizing that's it's already dying.

Perhaps the strangest item of note in this issue is the way Roy's good friend Gerry Conway (perhaps at Roy's suggestion?) took the situation with Carol, the Kree cave, and the Psyche-Magnitron, years later, to create something Marvel was decidedly NOT known for in the 60's-- a female "spin-off" character-- MS. MARVEL. Not even a hint of it here, though...


THOR #170 -- "The Thunder God And The Thermal Man!" has Thor return to Earth to find Manhattan evacuated (say WHAT?) and the army, along with his friends Balder, Fandral, Hogun & Volstagg, fighting off a seemingly-indestructible radioactive robot called "The Thermal Man", who was apparently created by The Red Chinese & shipped here to destroy "Democracy". Uh huh. After a special missile-- reportedly given to the US by the Reds, as they realized they created something too dangerous for even themselves to control-- seems to take out the robot, Thor switched to Don Blake to tend some wounded soldiers. Meanwhile, Karnilla whisks Thor's injured friends to her side, enraging Loki, who swears they are no longer allies, and he shall remember this day! Thor, finding the robot has recovered, creates a tidal wave which not only drives it out of the city, but all the way to the far Arctic, where, like Captain America in times past, it shall be frozen, immobile, "for all time". Uh huh.

It seems Martin Goodman issued an "edict" around this time calling for more "complete-in-one-issue" stories, and this may be one of the results. Jack Kirby was getting fed up with his position, as not only had Stan Lee repeatedly interfered with his plans for certain characters, but Marvel's new mamagement had refused to negotiate his contract, giving him a "sign it or get out" attitude, apparently totally unaware that Kirby was the ONE guy who had essentially CREATED everything they bought when they got the company from Goodman! I point this out because Jack's drawing-- as well as his storytelling-- is beginning to get "rougher" by the month. This issue reminds me of some of the later Kirby-Shores CAPTAIN AMERICAs, only not as stylish. George Klein, who took over briefly from Vince Colletta on inks, had suddenly PASSED AWAY (and so soon after getting married-- what a tragedy!) and it's possible Bill Everett took over on this issue at the VERY last minute. While the backgrounds are certainly more "accurate" than what Colletta used to do, the figure work shows none of the finesse from Everett's earlier works. Time and again I've noticed when really good inkers do lousy jobs, it often has to do with last-minute assignments. I suspect this was another of those.

But it's the storytelling that really bugs me the most. The whole issue seems choppy, it doesn't have the normal "flow" of a typical Kirby book, and the dialogue-- MY GOD!! --what's with the dialogue?? It's so "flat"-- almost every line seems to just exist to explain what's going on, with no style, no personality, no ZING. Between the visuals and the dialogue, this looks and feels like a Saturday Morning cartoon show. And not in a good way.

To make it worse, John Romita & John Verpoorten did the cover. This isn't like one of John's wonderful, classic, illustrative, "realistic" SPIDER-MAN covers. Nope. This looks more like a cartoon as well-- the sort of thing Romita did far too much of in the 70's, when he spent more time as Stan's "go-to" guy than as a "real" artist. Kirby having moved his family to California apparently made it less convenient for Stan to replace a cover he didn't like than when he was able to grab Jack when he'd stop in to drop off pages, and this sort of thing began to happen more often. Criminal!

In another matter, I keep trying to figure out who Karnilla reminds me of. She keeps looking different, and this time, I'm reminded of either Joan Crawford, or Judith Anderson.

It's sad to see a book past it peak and heading downhill. I'd say this was the "worst" THOR since the 3 episodes done by Robert Bernstein & Joe Sinnott (in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #94-96).

THE AVENGERS #70 -- "When Strikes The Squadron Sinister!" begins with Kang trying to have The Grandmaster bumped off-- and failing. On Earth, Thor, Captain America & Goliath II are joined by Iron Man, who they somewhat eye with suspicion, wondering where he was the whole time Tony Stark was on the verge of dying. (Little do they know... I guess he made quick recovery!) They see visions of The Squadron Sinister, and in the tradition of Gardner Fox's JSA & JLA, go off to 4 different points, each to battle a specific opponent (who seems all-too-well matched). We learn each villain's "origin"-- their lives having been retroactively time-altered to create their villainous identities by The Grandmaster. Captain America fights Nighthawk at the Statue of Liberty-- which NH actually tries to STEAL! Iron Man fights Dr. Spectrum at the Taj Mahal, and discovers the baddie's "power prism" is sentient. Thor fights Hyperion at The Sphinx, and learns the baddie's home planet was the 1st atom destroyed by an atom-smasher, and he looks forward to Earth getting the same treatment. Goliath fights The Whizzer at Big Ben-- except their fight is interrupted when The Black Knight shows up, wondering what's going on, and saying how this is "his" turf. OH boy... Because BK interfered, The Grandmaster says he may be responsible for the destruction of Earth. Before they're whisked back to the future, Goliath grabs BK's magic sword, and, humilated, BK swears he'll find a way to follow The Avengers and help.

Nice solid job by Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger. Sal was way better back here when he was still doing full pencils, and getting decent inkers. Roy Thomas' story is an interesting exercise in almost pure plot, with very little getting in the way. So much so, I realized by the episode's end that virtually every character involved seemed to have the same personality or speech pattern... Oh well, you win some...


X-MEN #62 -- "Strangers... In A Savage Land" has Angel recover from his earlier brain-wahsing, and go to Tierra Del Fuego in search of Dr. Lykos, who he realizes is Sauron. Once there, he runs into Lykos' girlfriend, who tells him the X-Men are searching for Sauron's body, which plunged off a cliff at the end of the previous issue. But while searching down a deep, deep hole in the ice, he runs into an entire flock of pteranodons, and winds up near death! Elsewhere, the X-Men run across hordes of dinosaurs, and suddenly discover Ka-Zar-- and the fact that his "Savage Land" jungle, which exists underground beneath the ice of Antarctica, extends far north of the continent itself. He tells them to be silent, and flee while they can, as he's chasing after some strange mutant-type creatures. They get the drop on him, the X-Men save his life, but he seems to show no gratitude. Angel, meanwhile, is rescued by a tall, slender, white-haired scientist in some sort of exo-skeleton outfit, who uses some hi-tech equipment to save Angel's life. He's known by his creates as "The Creator", and claims to be a scientist interested in mutants, and has been locating and "rescuing" mutants who live in the Savage Land. He accuses Ka-Zar of trying to destroy him, and Angel says since the guy saved his life, he'll do whatever he can to straighten things out, even if it means butting heads with the rest of the X-Men! But as soon as Angel flies off, The Creator's entire demeanor changes, and he smiles at the thought that Angel will give him time to complete his plans, which somehow involve conquest of the entire Earth! And he mentions, "I guess clothes do make the man..." as we see him place his hand on a very familiar red helmet... MAGNETO's!!!

The change-over from Don Heck & Werner Roth to Neal Adams was surely as shocking and radical a complete make-over as that of the change from Grantray-Lawrence (with Mike Royer & co.) to Krantz Films (with Ralph Bakshi & Gray Morrow) on the 60's SPIDER-MAN cartoons. But once you get past the "What the hell is THIS??" reaction, before long the "new" team is really making a lot of headway toward turning the book into their own. I'd say this was probably the best "new" episode yet. This may be the best rendition to date, both in art & writing, of Ka-Zar, who I've frankly found very annoying in just about every appearance up to this one. (And I LIKE Tarzan-- I just don't like this wannabe!) The letters pages have been discussing the revelation that the "Magneto" in Arnold Drake's "City of Mutants" storyline was only a robot, and looking forward to seeing the return of the "real" one. They got their wish here. What amazes me is, this was the first time we EVER saw Magneto without his helmet-- it must have really been a surprise when you got to the last page. And without it, especially in certain panels, he looks almost EXACTLY like Ian Mckellan, who played the character in the 3 live-action X-MEN movies! (Somebody on those was doing their research.) So much so, I could "hear" the actor's voice in my head as I read his dialogue. Also on the letters page, Roy mentions he'd "promised" to eliminate continued stories (to whom? the readers? or Martin Goodman?) but says some stories really call for more than one issue. The "ban" on continued stories would not last that long. One unfortunate thing I'm reminded of here is, Roy Thomas & Neal Adams never got around to explaining where the "Magneto" robot came from-- who built it, or why. It would wind up being a plot thread left hanging for over a decade.


FANTASTIC FOUR #93 -- "At The Mercy of Torgo!" has Ben finally face Torgo in the "Arena Of Death" (as it's called on the cover). Meanwhile, Reed, Johnny & Crystal, abord the flying saucer, run across a Skrull saucer, attack, board it, and force its pilot to tell them Ben's location. Before long, and now disguised as "gangsters", the trio show up on Kral, the Skrull "gangster" planet, and make their way to the "Great Games". Without warning, a blast takes out the machine that can send planets out of orbit, and Ben is wonderfully shocked to see his friends came all the way across space to find him. Without the machine-- blasted to atoms by Crystal-- there is NOTHING to keep the slaves in line-- and they quickly revolt against their murderous Skrull "masters". The Four head for home, Ben looking forward to a lot of sleep...

Joe Sinnott, who's been inking 2 books a month lately, apparently asked Stan for a short vacation, and the result was Frank Giacoia stepping in to do the inks. It's kinda raw, and I find myself wishing Joe could have held out one more month, until this entire 4-parter was finished. The odd thing is, near as I can tell, Joe DID ink the figure of Crystal on page 1, and the close-up of her at the bottom of page 2-- probably before giving the pages back. Stan continues the mistake of having Reed talk about the "stolen" flying saucer as being of Skrull origin. I don't care if it looks exactly like another saucer in the same story-- that saucer came from Planet X in FF #7, and the Skrull ships in FF #2 looked nothing like it! Stan REALLY needed an editor...


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #79 -- "To Prowl No More" begins when Peter Parker JUMPS backwards thru a glass window and falls to his apparent death-- because he couldn't figure any other way of getting away from Jameson & switching to Spidey so he could fight the Prowler. Crazy. On the roof, the two battle, and Spidey's only barely beaten when The Prowler uses some gas jets against him. Feeling more beaten by the fact that he lost Gwen-- and to Flash Thompson (little does he know!!), he goes home and collapses, after telling JJJ and Joe that Spidey "saved" him. (Jameson, of course, only wonders if he managed to get any pictures while he was out there. IDIOT!!) Hobie Brown, meanwhile, is distraught, thinking how it made NO sense for that guy to go out the window-- he never touched him-- and he never counted on being accused of murder! But then, like so many before him, he thinks, if he can beat Spider-Man and turn HIM over to the cops, maybe it can square things. (This is in spite of the fact that Stacy cleared Spider-Man of any charges against him several issues ago. At least, I thought he did... Let's call it sloppy writing.) Pete runs into Gwen and tells her he hope she has a lot of fun hanging out with Flash. She just stares, in disbelief! Later, Spidey tracks down The Prowler in the diamond district, appearing to rob a place, but really trying to set a "trap". BIG mistake. This time, Spidey beats him, and how, then unmasks him-- and, surprisingly, listens to his story. As nothing was actually stolen, and nobody hurt, he tells him to go back to his girl Mindy. At least he has the chance to "get off" the treadmill Spidey seems stuck on...

Not bad. Not great, but not bad. John Buscema continues on plot & layouts, Jim Mooney on pencils & inks. John Romita may have contributed some plot and touch-ups, but if he did, he's not even listed in the credits. I have this in the '75 MARVEL TALES reprint, which is missing 2 pages (and I have no idea what may be missing or how it may be hurting the story by being missing), and also has an altered cover. On this one, instead of Pete crashing thru the window, Spidey crashes thru the window. Which makes the "shocked" look on Jameson's face totally non-sensical.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #120 -- "Crack Up On Campus!" has Cap & Falcon, in Harlem, bidding farewell, Cap go to the SHIELD barber shop to find out where Sharon is, Fury use a "sleeper couch" to fill Cap in on a job he'd like him to do, and Steve-- using the made-up-that-second new identity of "Roger Stevens"-- apply for a job as a Phys.Ed. coach at a college that's having trouble with student protests. The ring-leader of these is issueing demands to the faculty that are beyond anything even remotely reasonable, and students and faculty alike are getting angry at his increasing disruptions. What no one realizes is, the guy is under the influence-- not of drugs-- but of an A.I.M. mind-controlling ray, as Modok wants to get his hands on one of the professors, who's a specialist in nuclear formula. When another protest turns into a KIDNAPPING, Cap steps in and chases down the baddies, as the rabble-rouser, his mind cleared at last, gives him a helping hand. After, he & the faculty come to friendly terms, and back at SHIELD HQ, Fury asks Cap why he didn't keep the Phys. Ed. Coach job. Cap replies, "It's too rough for an old war-horse like me!"

This one's a mixed bag. Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott continue to shine on every page, though not as much as the previous issues. On page 2, a Harlem resident hollers out, "Hey, Captain America & The Falcon! What a team they make!" Which is absurd-- because at this point, NOBODY has heard of "The Falcon" yet!! At SHIELD HQ, I'm wondering... WHEN did Nick Fury begin to engage in casual BRAIN-WASHING of his friends?? Is THIS what happens when Jack Kirby AND Jim Steranko are both out of the picture?? This would be a precursor of many, many bad times for SHIELD characters ahead in the 70's. Much of the dialogue of the college students is just annoying-- even being aware of the period-- and it's deplorable how far AIM and Modok have fallen when they're reduced to being involved in plots like this! Even the coloring is in question. Last month, the AIM guys wore blue. This month, their helmets are magenta. Martin Goodman's edict to eliminate continued stories kicked in for Cap right here. There would be about 11 episodes in a row, all single-issue stories, and with expansive art like Gene Colan's, that really hurt the book overall.

I'm also wondering what the HECK happened on the last page. The 2-panel humorous "tag" scene with Cap & Fury is clearly the work of JOHN ROMITA-- not Colan & Sinnott. What th'...??


SUB-MARINER #20 -- "In The Darkness Dwells Doom!" has Namor, his gills "surgically closed" by aliens from space (last time), unable to return to the sea, stuck in NYC, and pursued by the army. Until he stumbles into the Latverian Embassy. His "old friend" (NOT REALLY!!) Dr. Doom saw him and saw an easy mark, and gave him "diplomatic" sanctuary. While he says "We are natural allies", trying to put aside his earlier ruthless murderous betrayal (in FF #6!), he really wants the use of Namor's undersea legions to help him conquer the planet. While Namor thinks it over, Doom has his lackeys remove every drop of water from the embassy, knowing Namor will only get weaker the longer he's deprived of it. But when the inevitable fight breaks out, Namor finds a way to set the place ON FIRE-- and while they can't enter the Embassy itself, the NYC firemen do fire their hoses thru the windows, unknowingly restoring Namor to full strength, which he uses to escape.

I have this as a reprint in-- of all things-- GIANT-SIZE SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP #1 (1975). I suppose it's not bad... it's just generally unpleasant, and not a "fun" read at all. Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Johnny Craig all seem to be just going thru the paces, and this story would begin a long "tradition" of having Namor & Doom cross paths with each other, sort-of team-up, and fight each other, over and over and over. It was already tired when they did it here. I really could have done without the entirety of SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP. What was Roy thinking???

SILVER SURFER #11 -- "O' Bitter Victory" begins with the invading army's HQ being blasted by the Surfer as he rescues the rebel girl. They turn their attack on the spaceship just arriving from Zenn-La. Shalla Bal bails out, saying her life no longer matters since she saw the man she loved in the arms of another woman! (I KNEW there was page missing from the end of the previous story! Blasted ESSENTIAL book!) Yarro Gort (I had to look it up, none of these characters' names are sticking in my mind at all), the evil, ambitious alien scientist, talks his way out of a firing squad by offering the invaders advanced scientific weapons, while the thug in charge says he'll decide what to do about "the girl" later. The "General" in charge claims he invaded the country to bring peace, and all must learn to "love"-- or DIE! (Well there's a psychotic mind at work...) Before it's over, the rebels attack, the Surfer protects them, Shalla Bal is seriously injured, the leaders of the invaders are blown to atoms, the invading army flees the country, and the Surfer repairs the spaceship so his beloved can receive medical help back on their home world.

There hardly seems to be a likeable character in here. At least, NONE of the baddies appear to have even the slightest sympathetic sides to them. Stan Lee, John Buscema & Dan Adkins just seem to be going thru the paces. It's just not an entertaining series at all. What more might have been done had Buscema been allowed to do the kinds of stories Steve Englehart & co. did in the 80's-- OUT IN SPACE??? And as if that wasn't bad enough, Stan reused a title he already had in an issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.


CAPTAIN MARVEL #19 -- "The Mad Master Of The Murder Maze!" has Rick wake up, switch to Mar-Vell-- who, BETWEEN panels, apparently gets Carol Danvers medical help (if I hadn't read the narration carefully I'd never have known what happened to her!), then fly Rick to a city, where he goes in search of an apartment & a job, and gets turned down repeatedly. Until he answers an ad for "Midas Towers", a futuristic building run by an eccentric guy who welcomes Rick but doesn't tell him outright what the "job" entails. After settling in, strange, frightening incidents begin to occur, and eventually, it comes out the guy running the place is using it and its occupants as part of a monstrous "scientific experiment" to "prove" people can be reduced to paranoid, fearful animals in certain conditions. Rick switches with CM, who does what he can to save lives and evacuate the building, but the paranoia is such that everybody's suspicious of HIM, figuring HE must be the one behind their troubles! It comes to a head when an Auschwitz survivor gives his life while shutting down the systems, which sends the inventor into a mental tailspin, as this somehow "ruined" his experiment.

This was the most unpleasant issue of this series to date-- and considering some of what came before, that's really saying something. According to the letters page, Roy Thomas plotted the bulk of #17, he & Gil Kane each did about 50-50 on #18, and this episode was almost entirely Kane's plot. I shoulda known. Kane seems to have a "thing" for characters on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Although the page layouts are as wild as Neal Adams, the drawing-- especially the faces-- continues to be downright "ugly", in spite of Dan Adkins' attempts to "slick" everything up. It appears the Thomas-Kane-Adkins team did 5 issues (4-1/2 if you count Buscema's fill-in in #18), but without warning (we've seen a lot of this lately!) the series was CANCELLED right here. I'd say, 3 issues TOO LATE.


THE AVENGERS #71 -- "Endgame!" has Yellowjacket, The Black Panther & The Vision fighting the 1940's versions of Sub-Mariner, Captain America & The Human Torch in Nazi-occupied Paris. Meanwhile, The Black Knight summons up the spirit of his ancestor, who somehow manages to transport him by magic to the 41st Century. There, he frees the other Avengers. When Kang's team wins, he's about to choose the power of "life" to restore the comatose Princess Ravonna-- until all the Avengers appear to take him on, at which point he chooses the power of "death" instead. The Black Panther, not being one of them, is curiously unaffected, and The Grandmaster sends all the heroes back to their own time, as Kang has now lost his one brief chance to revive his beloved, because the hate in his heart was stronger than the love. The team finally makes The Black Knight an official member.

Not bad. This still feels more like a DC comic than a Marvel. It's strange that when he got the chance, Roy never did much with the JLA-- and focused almost all of his attentions on the JSA on their WW2 stories. Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger are doing "nice" work here-- VERY nice, for Sal-- but it all seems too "cartoony" to me, somehow, and NOT in the kind of "cartoony" way Kirby or Heck were known for. The 3 "Timely"-era heroes featured here together effectively inspired the later creation of THE INVADERS series, and in fact, INVADERS ANNUAL #1 featured an episode that retold this story from their POV-- and had to go to excessive "fanboy" lengths in order to "explain" such minor insignificant details as Cap using his triangular shield, and Namor wearing the wrong swim trunks. (I'm NOT making this up!!!) Come to think of it, that episode might have "worked" a lot better for me-- if they'd gotten Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger to do the art.


X-MEN #63 -- "War In The World Below!" has the Angel catch up with The X-Men & Ka-Zar, and for once, they actually talk things thru without having a big, stupid hero-vs-hero fight. (Maybe we would have if they had more pages...) It soon becomes clear who's not on the up-and-up when the swamp men and the mutants both attack the heroes with intents of murder, and even Ka-Zar actually admits he's glad the X-Men are on his side. (Hey, maybe there's hope for this half-retarted jungle-dude after all?) Once they reach the base of "The Creator", they learn he's really Magneto-- and the BIG fight is on! It comes out he is not "rescuing and training" mutants from the jungle-- he's been kidnapping natives and using technology to CREATE new mutants to rule the world with. We learn that after seeming to plunge to his death in AVENGERS #53, Magneto really burrowed underground, finding a huge sytem of caves there, and explored it, until he eventually reached the Savage Land. Because the equipment he's using is so delicate, he's been wearing an exo-skeleton that actually limits his magnetic powers. This has the drawback of making it more difficult for him ot fight his old enemies. And, in a replay of a scene from "City Of Mutants" (in which we now know he was never actually involved), a huge amount of machinery crumbles on top of him, seeming to cause his death... (NOT bloody likely!) The "new" mutants all begin to change back to their original forms, and are probably the happier for it, while the X-men lament that they can't simply get rid of their own powers...

Another great job by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams & Tom Palmer. Roy's dialogue is still annoying in spots, but nowhere near as much as some comics he's done. The Angel is now sporting a new costume-- white with light blue trim-- which is the 3rd outfit he's gone thru in only a handful of books. (The one he started with, which Jean supplied him some time back, was by ar the WORST of the lot.) It's interesting that the angle of Magneto using technology to artificially create mutants turned up in the 1st live-action X-MEN movie-- although it had dire side-effects in that story. Stan inserts a footnote about Magneto's seeming death having happned "in issue #53". I thought that sounded wrong... until I realized he meant AVENGERS #53, not X-MEN #53. He's just slipping more and more...

If nothing else, this issue is probably my favorite appearance to date of Ka-Zar, and I find myself wishing Neal Adams had done a series of HIS adventures! He really seemed to have a thing for "jungle".


THOR #172 -- "The Immortal And The Mind-Slave!" has Dr. Jim North seem help from Dr. Don Blake. It seems ruthless millionnaire "Kronin Krask" has kidnapped Jane Foster, and is using her to force North to perform a highly dangerous and illegal "experiment". As Blake seems to be the only one who knows how to contact Thor for help, North sought him out. Thinking on how Odin ("in his wisdom") sent Jane to Dr. North after failing to become an Immortal (the two are very much in love now), Thor speeds to aid the woman he once loved. Attacked on arrival, Thor becomes the "victim" in an experiment which is designed to switch minds between 2 bodies. (Oh, NOT another one of those!!!) Krask is dying-- and he refuses to accept his fate! North is forced to work the equipment or Jane will die. But once he does, the "spirit" forms of Thor & Krask battle for control-- and Krask loses, and promptly bites the big one. Thor, who reveals he was never really helpless, comforts the couple, saying they're both blameless of any wrong-doing, for they acted out of love.

Not bad. Not great, but not bad. A lot is made on the cover and splash page about "the return of Jane Foster!" but there doesn't seem enough emotional content between her & Thor to warrant it. Also, it's hard to recognize her, as Kirby's art has changed so much by here, and Bill Everett's inks are somewhat inconsistent throughout the issue. Some panels are magnificent, with lots of fine-line rendering that are his trademark, while others seem crude, rough & rushed. Was he being truer to Kirby in those instances, or just desperate to beat a deadline? One panel shows a woman walking thru a building lobby who stands out from everything else in the book, because she's SO beautiful, and so UN-Kirby-looking, she appears to have stepped out of a Bill Everett solo comic. Someone on the letters page strongly requests the return of Vince Colletta-- but apparently, he was busy doing "romance" comics for "another company" at this point, though he's "welcome back anytime he wants". What's really astonishing is if you look over the entire run of THOR and see just HOW MANY consecutive issues Colletta did, it's almost some kind of record in 60's Marvel terms, up there with Joe Sinnott on the F.F. More comics should have that kind of long-term consistency.

This was better than the last one I read, but nowhere near as inspired as the single-issue stories around the time of the Ulik & Enchanters epics. Jack Kirby seems to be marking time, as is Stan Lee.


FANTASTIC FOUR #94 -- "The Return Of The Frightful Four!" has Reed & Sue finally announce they've come up with a name for the baby... Franklin (named after Sue & Johnny's late father) Benjamin (named after... you know who). Ben gets all emotional in one of the nicest scenes this book has had in YEARS. But meanwhile... that perrennial homicidal scientific rescidivist-- The Wizard-- has found a way to eavesdrop on the FF, and plans to get his REVENGE!!! on them (what-- AGAIN???) and The Sandman, and The Trapster, who are all too willing (and all too STUPID!) plan to go along with it, especially once Trapster brings Madame Medusa into it. (SAY WHAT???) According to Trapster, once she heard they were going after the FF, she was eager to tag along. Uh HUH.

Reed & Sue, unwilling to give up their dangerous life, have opted to hire a "child-rearing specialist" for their son, and travel by newly-modifed Fantasti-Car (the side pieces removed, a pair of bubble-domes added for travel in bad weather) to the large and downright spooky-looking Victorian house of Agatha Harkness. She's been "in retirement" for some time, but felt she coudln't turn down this job once she learned who the parents were. Due to the bad storm that came up, she offers to let them all stay the night... and during the night, the OTHER F.F. break in, bent on capturing-- then "disposing of" their opposite numbers. At which point, Medusa attacks her "team-mates", revealing she only came along as a way of keeping an eye on them and making sure nothing happened to her REAL friends! However, before long, she, Ben & Johnny are all captured, while Reed & Sue are trapped in their room! But when the Terrible Three (heh) head toward Agatha's room... HELL breaks loose. LITERALLY. And they don't know what hit them. When the Trapster's glue abruptly disolves, the heroes rush in to find Agatha, safe, and insisting they "not disturb the baby". Ben gives her a funny look, and she responds with a strange smile, saying, "You might almost think I was a WITCH!"

A really FUN story. After they've been making solo appearances around the Marvel Universe, I guess it was nice to see the "evil FF" reunited here. The Wizard (who kinda looks like actor Sid Haig in this episode-- I swear, his appearance keeps changing almost every story he's in) continues his insane obsessive behavior. So brilliant, yet so STUPID. He could do anything he wanted, or STEAL anything he wanted, and probably get away with it, yet he keeps attacking the FF, as if he really WANTS to get beaten to a pulp! There's just something seriously wrong with that guy. At least Sandman & Trapster we can excuse-- neither one's too bright in the first place, they're used to tagging along as "lackeys" on someone else's crimes. Medusa's a curious one. She had a run-in with the evil FF (well, the other 3 of them) in MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #15 (Jul'68), which I've misplaced (again!), and I'm having trouble remembering how things went in that story. I doubt Stan or Jack ever read it for reference. Suffice to say, she fools these guys so easily, it's obvious none of them are as bright as they'd like to think they are. I like it when they all get free of the glue traps-- the way she hollers out Johnny's name, it reminds me that for one fleeting moment, back in FF #44, there was a hint there could be some major attraction between her & Johnny. Before he met her SISTER, of course. Here, she's worried about Crystal, but finds she stayed behind in NYC on this trip. (Odd, but what the hey.) I figure, she probably has come to care about Johnny now as a brother, since he & her sister are so much in love.

Hmm... well, no doubt about it, I guess. This gets my vote for BEST comic of the month!

THE AVENGERS #72 -- "Did You Hear The One About Scorpio?" predicts Roger Stern's use of THE INCREDIBLE HULK as a place to finish stories from cancelled books when it featured threads from 2 recently-cancelled books in the same issue: NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD, and CAPTAIN MARVEL! Rick Jones, thinking he might find a job with SHIELD, goes to Nick Fury's apartment (HOW did he know where it was?), and sees Scorpio there. He changes places with Captain Marvel, who gives chase, but the baddie gets away, though he finds a list of 3 names the guy dropped. Racing to Avengers Mansion, he runs into Cap, who's surprised to see him, and who tries to explain it WASN'T him who told Rick to get lost, but The Red Skull disguised as him. Inside, Rick joins the team, who are meeting because 3 top city officials have disappeared in the same evening. Waiting for a video-call from Fury, they get one from Dugan instead, who tells them Fury is DEAD! --and relates the events of NICK FURY #15. The call is suddenly cut into by Scorpio, and next thing, the entire group is knocked out, and wake up as prisoners. (Gee, just like a JLA story!) Scorpio is revealed to be not a solo operative, but one member of a 12-person crime cartel, named-- what else?-- ZODIAC. The 11 other members-- most in really silly-looking costumes (seriously) come forward, announcing their plans to kill the Avengers, then make their "power plays" in various capitals around the country. But the team is suddenly freed, big fight breaks out, and "Scorpio" is revealed to be... Nick Fury. Despite an impressive free-for-all, "Aries" grabs "the key to the Zodiac" and uses it so the ENTIRE GANG makes a clean getaway. Fury reveals that back in NICK FURY #5, he learned that Scorpio was really his brother Jake-- and after he disapeared, Fury went to Jake's apartment, went thru his things, and began POSING as Scorpio, in order to get the goods on ZODIAC. Further, whenever he was missing, a SHIELD L.M.D. would take his place-- and one of those times was when-- "by luck"-- he happened to ditch Laura Brown in the middle of the rock concert, so the L.M.D. got "killed", not Fury. (Kinda of fitting that the entire NICK FURY series should both begin AND end with an L.M.D. getting killed by an assassin.) Everything that happened this night was Fury's fault, getting The Avengers to "help" him nail ZODIAC. Which they bungled, but whatever. Cap tells Rick he's "handier to have around than I imagined, partner!" But Rick begs off, figuring he's got other things to care care of-- which may take "forever" (there goes Roy again...).

I actually got this issue on its own, quite a few years back, because I wanted to next chapter of the "Scorpio" story. Later, when I was collecting CAPTAIN MARVEL, it was lucky I already had this one-- though CM only appears in a couple of pages. (His appearance on the cover is misleading, as he never meets the group until much later.) Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger do another solid job here, though once again, on the "cartoony" side, but some of the faces definitely look "off-model", The Wasp and Rick Jones in particular. This is at least the 2nd time lately that Nick Fury has over-stepped the boundaries of friendship, heroic fellowship, whatever you wanna call it, by MANIPULATING people into doing things he wants. I just DON'T see this as something either Jack Kirby OR Jim Steranko would ever have done. The CIA may be sneaky, but SHIELD isn't-- and Nick Fury, if anything, is the most straight-ahead guy imagineable. This "off" characterization, unfortunately, would plague the character for the rest of his existence. Rick Jones' involvement in the story seems forced & awkward, and it's clear the only reason he's here right now is because "his" book just got cancelled abruptly! The entire situation regarding Rick, Captain America and Captain Marvel just seems awkward bad writing to me, what some these days might call "editorial fiat". I doubt any of it would have happened if Stan Lee hadn't so completely interfered with Jim Steranko's plans for CAPTAIN AMERICA.

I still wonder about Scorpio. What DID Steranko really have in mind? To read it here, it seems Jake Fury was Scorpio-- in both NICK FURY #1 & 5-- and it would appear he was killed at the end of #5. But there is NO explanation for WHY he wanted Nick dead, how he got involved with a crime cartel, or what the heck "The Parable of Doom" was that was mentioned in NF #1. Steranko apparently planned to follow-up on it in CAPTAIN AMERICA-- but those plans fell through when he left the book after only 3 issues. This story seems like mostly a quick-and-easy (and complicated & contrived) way of sweeping the whole mess under the carpet, while introducing a whole new group of villains, most of whom NEVER got anything even remotely resembling fleshed-out personalities. As it happens, David Kraft & Keith Giffen brought back Jack Fury as Scorpio in THE DEFENDERS #48-50, and revealed that Count Julio Scarlotti was in fact the "real" Scorpio in NICK FURY #1, and he did in fact DIE. Jake took over in #5, lied about being the same guy and having "escaped" the explosion in #1 (no doubt to throw off suspicion about who he really was), and also survived the gunfire at the end of #5. While this seems to have contradicted the work of 2 previous writers, it was also one of the BEST-WRITTEN stories of that period, and certainly better worked-out than the issues it took its inspiration from. The full, detailed truth about Jake Fury, and the formation of SHIELD, would not be revealed until FURY #1 in 1992-- again, one of the very few genuinely good books to come out from Marvel at that time.

And finally... after all the trouble Fury went thru-- and put The Avengers thru-- ZODIAC escaped. The entire gang! This was a well-thought-out plan? OY.


X-MEN #64 -- "The Coming Of Sunfire!" has the team detect a new, very powerful mutant in the area, and find "Sunfire", who first destroys a Japanese monument for peace between countries, then tries to destoy the US Capitol building. We learn his origin, how his mother died from radiation from the Hiroshima a-bomb blast, and how his uncle has spent his entire life fanning his hatred for all Americans, while his father became a diplomat dedicated to peace. While trying to stop the destruction of the Capitol, Sunfire's uncle winds up shooting his father, and he kills his uncle in return. Realizing his life has been wasted up to this point, his father begs him to put his hatred aside, before he dies. The X-Men, seeing the danger is over, leave, thinking maybe they'll be able to recruit the NEXT mutant they find...

Powerful drama, if a bit over-the-top. The real highlight of this issue, for me, was the return of Don Heck. YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, Don Heck! Neal Adams was having trouble keeping up with the monthly deadline, so they got the guy they KICKED OFF the book to come back for a fill-in. The layouts continue to be pretty wild, but Don's layouts were getting that way long before Adams arrived. Man, what a storyteller! Don seems more inspired than usual this time out. But the best thing here is, Don gets some of the BEST inks of his career from Tom Palmer. DAMN! This guy can make anybody look better than they usually do! I seriously believe that if Tom Palmer had gotten on the book, with Heck & Werner Roth, that it might not have been cancelled when it was. Repeatedly switching artists is always a bad thing.

This is one of the few single-issue stories around this time that really "works" for me. Maybe it's because Don's better at that sort of thing than some of the "flashier" artists? (I wonder why Roy-- yeah, Roy-- never got Heck & Palmer together on an issue of THE AVENGERS?)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #80 -- "On The Trail Of... The Chameleon!" begins when Harry-- and Flash-- stop by to explain things to Pete about Gwen. After nearly decking the source of his high-school torment, Pete calms down and realizes he mis-read the whole situation, then calls Gwen to apologize. He meets her at the Midtown Museum, which is promptly robbed, when the special exhibit there had security being handed by Captain Stacy! Jameson, who was apparently sponsoring the exhibit, tries to tear Stacy a new one, while Stacy says he was at home-- asleep-- the whole time! Pete figures out it's the work of one of his oldest foes-- The Chameleon, and hatches a plan to nab the guy, which Joe Robertson is only too happy to help with. After highly publicizing a huge bond transaction, Spidey barges into the meeting room, hoping to bluff the baddie into revealing himself. All he gets is a raving Jameson, who keeps getting n the way of security guards. Outside the building, Spidey waits, then attacks, when he sees the one person he knows HAD to be The Chameleon-- Peter Parker! After unmasking the baddie, Spidey tells the cops EXACTLY what happened, including at the museum (thereby clearing Stacy of any suspicions), then runs off as Jameson is wondering HOW he knew the guy couldn't be Parker?

John Buscema continues on plot & layouts, Jim Mooney on pencils & inks, while John Romita's back in the credits, this time listed as "art consolidator" (what the HELL does that mean??). I suppose he also contribued plot & touch-ups. I have to admit, for the first time, I can actually believe that bonehead Flash is actually growing up. Maybe Buscema & Mooney are just better at portraying it than Romita was earlier. It's good that Pete & "Gwendy" (what a sickening nickname!) are making sense again, though I miss MJ. It's also nice to see Jameson becoming the target of some very called-for put-downs. The guy is a NUTCASE! This story, overall, actually reminded me of one of the SPIDER-MAN cartoons from Grantray-Lawrence (even if it's so dark it LOOKS more like one of the Krantz Films episodes), what with a plot so tightly told and wrapped up, and The Chameleon disguising himself as Pete (something the cartoon doppleganger, "Charles Cameo" did in the episode "DOUBLE IDENTITY"). Are they watching the cartoons for story ideas now?

The one thing about this issue that bugs me is the villain himself. All these years, I'm still left wondering. Who-- or WHAT-- is this guy? That CAN'T be his real "face" under the disguises-- can it? How would his "disguises" work over a "face" that has NO FEATURES? Is this guy even human-- or some kinda space alien-- or what? Was he EVER given a real name? Sheesh.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #121 -- "The Coming Of... The Man-Brute!" begins with ex-convict scientist Silas X. Cragg, who's obsessed with Captain America, who was responsible for his spending time in jail. The one thing in the whole world he wants is revenge, and he decides to recreate the much-publicised experiment that created Cap to create a "superman" of his own. He searches the Bowery-- intent on finding someone who's already a powerful specimen, and also filled with lots of anger, and doesn't take long before finding a suitable subject. Before you know it, back at his lab, the experiment works. Cragg then contacts The Avengers, saying he's looking to get Cap to appear at an orphanage to put on an exhibition. Cap, never turning down an invite like that, shows up-- and abruptly, BIG FIGHT erupts-- but this guy means it! As the Sister in charge tries to get the kids to safety, one breaks in and actually tries to tackle "The Man-Brute". Whereupon, the guy suddenly runs off, returning to Cragg's lab, saying he wants nothing more to do with him. There he was, fighting the most decent guy he ever met, and this one boy risked his life to help-- and as it turns out, the boy was his SON! Cragg winds up getting fried by the electrical aparatus in his lab-- EXACTLY what happened to the Nazi assassin who killed Cap's creator! Talk about poetic justice. Later, after checking SHIELD files, Cap's able to track down the dead Cragg, but The Man-Brute-- who promises himself to "never again" use his power that way, disappears back where he came from, passing by Cap on the street without a word.

Nice little story. It was interesting how the baddie getting fried so closely mirrored the scene in C.A. #1 way back when. I question the time-frame-- twice it's mentioned Cap put this guy away "15 years ago"-- what, when he was in suspended animation? (Hmm-- maybe it was that OTHER guy who did it! Wouldn't that be funny?) It occurs to me that having Cragg pick that particular orphanage-- which just happened to have The Man-Brute's son at it-- is almost too big of a coincidence. But where would stories be without those? While thumbing thru Fury's files, Cap runs across photos of Rick & Sharon. As nothing is indicated in the dialogue at all, one can only imagine Cap may be lamenting the fact that, lately, his life has returned to the "nothing but action" sort it was back when his solo series first resumed in TALES OF SUSPENSE. (Well, sure, considering Stan Lee's interference seems to have chased both Rick AND Sharon out of the book for the most part...) Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott continue to do DAZZLING work.

I wonder if "The Man-Brute" (we never learn his real name) ever turned up again? It seems to me a guy in his position could have forged a nice career as a professional wrestler...


SILVER SURFER #12 -- "Gather, Ye Witches!" has a witch coven in Stonehenge performing a ritual. Its leader, "Sir Nigel", is obsessed with power, and determined to "prove" to the world that his dabbling in the mystic arts is not only real, but should make him worthy or ruling the planet. Considering how just about every mystic who ever appeared in DR. STRANGE (now cancelled) was bent on hiding their powers from the world, I think this guy is misguided right from the get-go. When the Surfer fails in his latest attempt to crash "the barrier" and falls to Earth nearby, Sir Nigel sees him as his chance. He takes the Surfer home with him, then, after pretending friendship (not again) drugs him, then uses him as the focus for another "summoning". And this time-- somehow-- they somehow manage to magically teleport-- of all things-- The Abomination-- who's been a prisoner on a far alien world by The Stranger, ever since he fought The Hulk back in TALES TO ASTONISH. Of course, the guy wants nothing to do with Sir Nigel, no way's he's gonna "serve" the guy, he's got his OWN world-conquering agenda, and promptly sets off to destroy part of a large city, so people will know not to mess with him. (Again, I suspect his thinking is dodgy on that point.) Not wanting anything to do with humans and their devious ways, the Surfer is nontheless drawn into battle, manages to defeat the Abomination, then deposits him back with Sir Nigel's coven-- telling them to send the guy BACK where they summoned him from! He flies off... I wonder if they actually managed it? Talk about a loose end.

One more story with merely "acceptable" art and one-dimensional characters. How long can this thing go on? (I KNOW... it was just a rhetorical question!)

Re: AVENGERS# 72

I became a big fan of Zodiac when they next appeared in AVENGERS # 120-122. Unfortunately, their first appearance does nothing to set them up as formidable villains. In fact, they are just sort of there and the costumes do look silly. (Bob Brown, the later artist, did an impeccable job of making Zodiac look menacing and weird.)

Of course, Zodiac was just one problem with # 72, which is a mess of an issue. I think it's a sterling example of too many plot threads and not enough space to develop a coherent story.

Bob Brown is often overlooked-- I think, at least partly, because he usually got 2nd-rate or inappropriate inks. I've seen him inked by Paul Gulacy (DAREDEVIL #108) and Dave Cockrum (AVENGERS #126) and in both instances... WOW! He may be one of the earliest instances I can think of where some pencillers got much betters inks at DC than Marvel.

Unfortunately, Martin Goodman's edict about single-issue stories (which Stan says were his idea on the Bullpen pages) hit right then. For a few months, everything had not enough pages to be developed.

I'm pretty sure my 1st exposure to ZODIAC was in those Englehart-Brown issues as well! There's a whole set of issues I'm hitting right now where Roy's stories feel more like "DC" comics than "Marvel". (If not for Uncle Mortie, Roy probably would have spent his entire career at DC!)

THE AVENGERS #73 -- "The Sting Of The Serpent" has The Black Panther return to the States, just as the racist militant group, The Sons Of The Serpent (from AVENGERS #32-33 / Sep-Oct'66), are on the move again. Outspoken black talk show host Montague Hale is attacked, his show is pulled off the air, and he then appears as a guest on the Dan Dunn show, who's as aggressively pro-white as Hale is pro-black. Also on the show is singer Monica Lynne, who prefers focusing on her career to worrying about politics. Because race is such an issue, The Panther requests to tackle this problem alone, and the team gives him 24 hours. After saving Monica from an attack, he tracks down some Serpent members at the docks, takes one of their places, and finds himself aboard their snake-like submarine. Until he fails to recite their oath as "identification"-- and is unmasked!

Race relations was a hot topic when this came out, and Roy does a better-than-average job on the story. The big surprise this time out is the art, which was pencilled by Frank Giacoia! It's a really refreshing change after several issues of Sal Buscema, as Giacoia's storytelling is a lot more varied and interesting, including one panel that has 10 small panels of the Panther stalking with no dialogue! (A couple panels of this are blatent Kirby swipes.) Teamed with Sam Grainger, this is some of the nicest art from this period. Frank's notorious slowness must have kept him from doing this too often, for while he did come back for a 2nd issue, it wouldn't be until 14 months later. He must have really dsug the Black Panther-- that later issue spotlighted him as well! Monica Lynne, introduced here, became a long-running part of THE BLACK PANTHER series under writer Don McGregor.


X-MEN #65 -- "Before I'd Be Slave..." begins with some of the worst ego-posturing imagineable when the team returns home exhausted and finds Alex & Lorna (both in costume) barking orders and acting as if they run the place. An alien race, the Z'Nox, who live only to conquer, and who control the movements of their entire planet like a giant spaceship, are heading for Earth, bent on dragging all of humanity with them as slaves. This outrageous "sci-fi" concept (an obvious tribute to the planet Mongo from FLASH GORDON) is given weight when they learn Professor X is alive-- having FAKED his own death, with the help of Changeling (he only had months to live and took the Prof's place to make up for his past crimes) and Jean (who had to LIE to her friends about it the whole time!!) in order to "prepare" for the Z'Nox's onslaught. He spends hours training the team like neve before, until a confrontation between Z'Nox & SHIELD causes him to move up his timetable. Sending the X-Men into space on a completely hopeless mission-- they're really no more than a delaying action-- the Professor sends out his mind across the entire planet, linking up with countless people of good will, who believe in life and freedom, not evil and slavery, and channels the mind-power of all these people AT ONCE at the aliens, who, completely overwhelmed, are forced to flee to another part of the galaxy! The Z'Nox advance scouts who the team fought destroy their own craft, as Scott suggests they "couldn't continue to live with what they were."

I think in modern terms, this issue is when the X-MEN "jumped the shark". After consistently maintaining that Professor X was DEAD and NOT coming back, we find he's still alive. All those issues of "character growth" get jetissoned as everybody starts just taking orders again. More, he sends the team against a menace which threatens the ENTIRE PLANET, something the combined might of every nation on Earth and all the super-heroes on Earth would have a hard time tackling. And, thanks to the current "single-issue story" edict, all this happens in a mere 20 PAGES, when it feels like it should have taken at least 2-- or 3-- issues to handle properly! On top of that, Roy Thomas had a one-week vacation, causing him to miss this issue, which is why Denny O'Neil filled in. Did O'Neil-- or Thomas-- have a hand in plotting this, or was it-- as Neal Adams has suggested about his entire run-- all Neal's idea? The dialogue-- especially on the first 5 pages (before we find out Prof. X is alive) is truly worse than anything Roy ever did on this book, and the rest is just so cold-blooded, I'd swear I was reading a DC Comic, not a Marvel. Having to CRAM so much plot into one issue doesn't help Adams' style, either, and I believe he used more panels on some pages than I have ever seen him use anywhere else. Oh yeah-- and that story title just SUCKS.

On top of that, Stan Lee apparently decided it would be a good idea to have Marie Severin start to draw or do layouts for most of Marvel's covers around this time. Marie did a lot of nice covers-- this ISN'T one of them. It's awful, it's awkward, it's got a word balloon, a long caption and the story title (too many words on a cover became THE trend of 70's covers), and perhaps worst of all, the monster on the cover isn't what Neal Adams apparently drew in the story. But rather than fix the cover, someone redrew the monster on the inside to match the cover. Neal Adams, reportedly, was so PISSED by all of this (including O'Neil's dialogue AND being replaced by Don Heck the month before), he QUIT the book right here. I guess that was the final straw, considering I've heard X-MEN was on the verge of cancellation, but given a reprieve, when Adams got on it. The next issue would be its LAST.

Man, the 60's are coming to a crashing end-- arent' they??


FANTASTIC FOUR #95 -- "Tomorrow, World War Three!" has a new villain, "The Monocle", on the payroll of some unnamed foreign power, determined to assassinate some speakers at the U.N. Building, hoping to set off WW3, and a nuclear holocaust, which those behind him will ride out in underground bunkers, before coming out to rule the helpless planet that's left. (Is this a HYDRA scheme? It sure sounds like it! But we never find out.) Because the FF has been asked to provide security (really outside their line, isn't it??) The Monocle sets out to get them out of the way, which he does by knocking the Fantasti-Car out of the sky (Reed & Sue wind up in the river), causing a tenement building to collapse (Ben does his best to save lives) and shooting a variety of billboards and water towers (Johnny's spends time trying to keep people from getting hurt). In the midst of this, we find that the reason Medusa turned up last ish was because Black Bolt has requested Crystal return to her family-- and she isn't taking "no" for an answer. SAY WHAT? Medusa tells Johnny this will be a test of his love for her sister-- and if he can't handle it, it's best he finds out now. Crystal tells him, "WAIT for me, Johnny-- I'll come BACK to you!", but it's small consolation to him. Examining the damage to the F-Car, Reed determines the type of weapon used, creates a counter-weapon, and turns up at the U.N. just in time to stop the murder scheme. QUICK wrap-up.

Not bad overall, though this insistence on single-issue stories across-the-board is really beginning to bite. The Monocle reminds me in appearance of "The Sinister Prime Minister" from the '67 SPIDER-MAN cartoon, though he was only in it for money. The only part of this issue that really bugs me is the whole Crystal sub-plot. It comes totally out of left field, and considering what went on with Sharon Carter over in CAPTAIN AMERICA, I'd say it's very probably all the work of Stan Lee, who in a bad soap-opera way just LOVES to keep his characters as miserable as possible. HOW much trouble would it have been for Medusa to have explained WHY BB asked for Crystal to come home? Considering how long these people have known each other by here, this is just a BAD characterization, BAD, contrived writing! It's a really sore thumb on what otherwise could have been a pretty decent issue, especially when I consider some of the STUNNING visuals Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott provided (AS USUAL!!!). The shot of the waterfront, especially, caught my eye-- Jack had to have used reference on that one.


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #81 -- "The Coming Of The Kangaroo!" has this book hit a new low in villains when a Aussie whose specialty is high leaps turns up, on the run from an attempted murder charge and escaping from authorities trying to deport him back to stand trial. Meanwhile, Pete races so hard to meet Aunt May at Penn Station, he's sweating & flustered when he arrives, causing her to determine he's "sick" and MUST come home with her RIGHT NOW! At her apartment, she insists he stay in bed, and he wonders how he'd ever explain this situation to Gwen? (By simply telling the truth, maybe?) When "The Kangaroo" (we never learn his real name) tries to steal some money from a courier and winds up with a vial that, unknown to him, contains a deadly bacteria, it gets on the news, and Spidey races to find him, leaving a "web-dummy" behind to fool May. While an overlong fight progresses, May walks in, finds the dummy and prompty faints. Spidey manages to get the vial, the Kangaroo hops away (there sure are a LOT of villains getting away scot free lately!!), and the authorities wonder if Spider-Man didn't try to steal the vial for HIMSELF (man, this NEVER happens to the other heroes). On returning home, Pete's scared out of his wits until May revives, then feels horrible about himself, as his actions have now caused her to think she's losing her faculties.

I have 2 copies of this-- the original comic (missing the cover!) and the '75 MARVEL TALES issue (which is missing 2 pages; they combined panels from 4 of the pages into 2). On the letters page, someone suggests Spidey could use a friend to confide in, possibly an older woman who could "mother" him-- as opposed to May, who is "smothering" him! It sure seems to me Pete could handle situations like this a lot better by just proving to May he's "grown up" now-- but I'm afraid I can relate to his situation all too well (and my own problem with a parent was somebody who wasn't NEARLY as nice as May is). Another reader suggests Gwen should get bitten the way Pete was, and become a "Spider-Woman". Gee, 7 years before we actually wound up with one... John Buscema apparently HATED doing this series, and hated every character in it, and in particular, threatened to QUIT if May turned up in any of the stories. This may explain that long vacation in Florida. It may also explain why John Romita came back NEXT issue, considering what went on here. JJJ actually has a FUNNY scene in this episode (for once), when Spidey swings by his window, he rants and raves about how he's doing it "in broad daylight" and how nobody "respects the law"-- then accidentally drops his cigar which he had "specially smuggled in from Cuba"-- saying "It's all Spider-Man's fault!"

The credits don't even try to describe who did what this time; they just list Stan Lee, John Buscema, Jim Mooney, John Romita and Artie Simek. I'm guessing, as usual, it's Romita on plot, Buscema on layouts (from what in hear, Romita spent so much time on plotting & doing "thumbnails", Buscema may not have been contributing anything at all!), Mooney on pencils AND inks, and Romita again on touch-ups. It amazes me that I never realized Mooney was ALMOST doing full art all this time before. Looking at these pages, it's so obvious to me now. I bet it would have been a lot simpler if somebody had just given him a typed script...


IRON MAN #22 -- "From This Conflict... Death!" has IM racing to aid Eddie March, an ex-fighter he had take his place as Iron Man, before learning the guy had a blood clot in his brain which could prove fatal if he ever fought again. It seems Tony survived a heart operation involving synthetic tissues, but became so afraid his body might reject it, he put out the word that the "real" IM had become injured and needed a replacement. Now, March is taking a savage beating from the NEW Crimson Dynamo, neither willing to say uncle. Tony gets Eddie to a hospital, where it's touch-and-go. Meanwhile, the TITANIUM MAN-- still alive after that fracas in Viet Nam-- arrives, once more taking orders from the Commies, and his mission is to drag Alex Nevsky back to Mother Russia so he can once again serve "his" country. Considering Alex fled Russia specifically because of the disgrace (and persecution) the original CD's defeat brought down on his family and all his associates (Alex had been Professor Vanko's assistant in the old days), he's not in a hurry to comply. Alex has been working at Janice Cord's factory, building the new CD suit, and wants revenge against Stark AND Iron Man, and had been using Janice as part of his schemes-- until-- HE claims-- he fell in love with her for real. When Titanium Man shows up, he tries to get Janice to safety. Iron Man, misreading the situation (with good reason, to be fair), butts in, and before you know it, Titanium Man unleashes his high-voltage electric beam-- the VERY weapon that almost killed Pepper back in SUSPENSE #82-83-- but Janice isn't so lucky. As Tony cradles her in his arms, she dies... IM manages to polish off Titanium Man (at least, for now) by leaving him in the river with his circuits burned out, while Alex escapes, vowing vengeance on Iron Man for being responsible for the death of the woman he loved.

What a complex mess! Man, Archie Goodwin should could CRAM a lot into 20 pages!! This is some of the most powerful, exciting stuff I've seen from George Tuska, who I see is back to using rectangular panels again. Joe Gaudioso-- alias Mike Esposito (heh) does one of his better jobs on this as well. The splash panel was so dynamic, I'm reminded I actually swiped it for one of my own comics, back in the late 70's! I'm also reminded that George "blunt instrument" Tuska could also draw very pretty girls when he put his mind to it-- in between some of the more hard-hitting and raw-looking panels. The one I can't figure is page 19, where most of the detail on Titanium Man's costume DISAPPEARS for all 7 panels-- then comes back on page 20. Wha' hoppen? Did someone else pencil that page-- or ink it? Anybody? Oddly enough, a couple of those small panels look like the poses were SWIPED from Gene Colan panels (in the 2nd Titanium Man storyline), which I can believe, as several of the flashback panels relating the original Crimson Dynamo appear to be have been swiped direct from Don Heck poses.

So much tends to get made of the death of Gwen Stacy, but a lot of readers usually forget she was FAR from the first regular to go in such a sudden, pointless manner. (Wouldn't you know, for more than 20 years, this episode was my ONLY exposure to Janice Cord?)

One of these days, I suppose, I gotta get ahold of ALL the issues from this period I'm missing... I don't have another issue of IRON MAN until #47. And, between the very popular later runs by Michelinie & Layton, and Busiek & Chen, and the fact that until quite recently NONE of these issues had EVER been reprinted, the cost of back issues from this period shot up WAY more than concurrent issues of FANTASTIC FOUR. When Tuska is going for 4 TIMES more than Kirby, you know something ain't right.


CAPTAIN AMERICA #122 -- "The Sting Of the Scorpion!" follows up that panel from last issue where Steve looked at pics of Rick & Sharon, and has him wandering the streets, lost in thought, pondering the meaning and direction (or lack thereof) of his life. Is there a place in modern America for a guy who still believes in "the establishment"? Further, is fighting crime and/or evil all there is for him? Following a nightmare in which Sharon was in danger, Steve sets out to visit SHIELD again, to see if he can contact her. Speaking of which... Sharon's on an assignment to nail a local spy ring. They, in turn, have found out about her, and have hired The Scorpion-- freshly paroled from jail-- to bump her off. By DUMB LUCK, he runs across Steve on the street, and soon, Cap is on his trail. BIG FIGHT commences. The spies nab Sharon, figure the Scorpion must have bungled things at his end, and next thing, Cap clues SHIELD in on the spies HQ-- all the while unaware that Sharon is their prisoner! He leaves before she can get his attention, and as a cabbie drives him away, Cap thinks that "his girl" seems to have forgotten he even exists.

Once again, Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott's art go a long way toward smoothing over the fact that this series hasn't been big on "plot" lately. Stan must have really loved Gene's work, because by all accounts, all they ever had were brief "story conferences", after which Stan let Gene do almost whatever he wanted without any hassles or changes. (Makes you wish he'd treated Jim Steranko the same way...)

It's only a minor point, and not really related to this comic much, but it does seem to me Stan "farming out" villains from one book to another, while giving the idea of a "cohesive" comics "universe", in some ways has been hurting some books. So many of Spider-Man's best villains have been turning up elsewhere (like The Scorpion, here), he's been having to deal with 3rd-stringers in his own title too much lately!

Oh yeah-- "STING OF THE SCORPION" was the title of the 2nd-season opener on the 60's SPIDER-MAN cartoons. I'm beginning to suspect more and more that Stan was running out of ideas, and watching the cartoon show to find some! (Among other things, there's too many titles being reused lately. Also, there's 2 titles with the word "Sting" in it the same month. That ain't right!)


SILVER SURFER #13 -- "The Dawn of The Doomsday Man!" has the U.N., the news media, and the Surfer, all worked up because of a robot known as "The Doomsday Man". It seems a group of scientists involved in the space program decided man would need "help" when he reached other planets, and designed & built this virtually INDESTRUCTIBLE, heavily-armed robot. But it was SO dangerous, they became fearful of what might happen if it should turn against them. (Heck of a time for it to occur to them.) So they buried it in an inescapable bunker on a desert island, "for all time"-- but now, due to some Earth tremors, they've detected it's moving on its own, and might break free at any time. While various U.N. delegates argue endlessly (the one from Russia doing no more than referring to every single thing any American says as "an imperialist trick"), the Surfer, who'd been following the news, and for no accountable reason decides to get involves, goes to the U.N., interrupts the meeting, and takes the lead scientist with him TO the island, so the guy can find a way to shut the robot down. Once there, he suspects the guy has NOT been telling the whole truth (HEY! You mean for once, the Russian delegate was RIGHT??). It seems there is also a COBALT bomb on the island, and the scientist really wanted to get his hands on that-- so that he could BLACKMAIL the entire world into submitting to his will! Geez. The Surfer winds up sinking the robot down a bottemless pit, then sending the bomb into space to explode harmlessly. Having saved THE ENTIRE PLANET, he immediately becomes, once again, the target of incessant suspicion, as a crowd of New Yorkers all think maybe HE had tried to use the bomb for his own purposes.

Man. It's like SPIDER-MAN, squared. This guy can't get any respect from anyone. And this story is so overrun with cleches, and one-dimensional characters, it's almost unreadable. And having to CRAM so much into 20 pages isn't helping either. John Buscema's style is such that, for him, "expansive" is a good thing. When he's forced to CRAM 6-- or 9 (!!!) panels onto a page, everything that makes his style "work" is taken away, and the results are just awful.


SUB-MARINER #22 -- "The Monarch And The Mystic!" has Namor, in a glass helmet, return to Atlantis so his scientists can operate and restore his gills to operative status so he can breath underwater again. (I learn via flashback it was "The Stalker"'s people who did this to him.) As he's recovering, he's contacted-- in a dream-- by DR. STRANGE, who needs his help to battle a menace to the entire world-- "The Undying Ones". Quickly travelling to Boston, he dons surface clothes and goes to the home of Kenneth Ward, introducing himself as "MacKenzie". (Nobody-- NOBODY but Roy Thomas would have him do such a thing!) Meeting the late man's daughter Joella, he fends off the attack of a monstrous beast, then goes to a nearby graveyard, where he finds an idol that Ward took from the Himalayas, then hid when he realized it was a "gateway" to another dimension thru which The Undying Ones hope to return to take back Earth, which they ruled eons ago. It's at that point Doc appears, revealing "Joella" is one of the Undying Ones in disguise, and soon both Doc & Namor are sucked thru the dimensional opening into a full-scale battle with The Undying Ones. Namor realizes the danger facing all of Earth, and decides to stay and ensure its safety, but Strange tosses him back thru the opening, which seals, with Doc trapped on the other side. As he leaves to return home, Namor realizes that the entire world owes a debt to Dr. Strange.

Roy, Marie Severin & Johnny Craig did a real bang-up job on this one. I love Marie's Subby, I feel she's one of the artists most-suited for him and his series (up there with Everett & Kirby). It's good to see a sub-plot like Namor not being able to breath underwater get taken care of before too many issues have gone by. This issue shares with AVENGERS #72 the way that Roy used it to follow up on a storyline from a recently-cancelled mag. In this case, it's the 2nd part of his H.P. Lovecraft tribute from DR. STRANGE #183. While things got straightened out for Namor, it looks like Strange got royally screwed this time around... but that wouldn't last long! Fortunately, Roy continued the story only 2 months later, in INCREDIBLE HULK #126. Both this issue and that one were reprinted in DAY OF THE DEFENDERS (2001), while all 3 parts were reprinted in ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS Vol.1 (2005), as this was the first time Doc teamed up with either Subby or Hulk. Good thing, the only one I have the original comic of was part 1. I do wish the 2001 reprint had included the covers, as it's one of my all-time favorites from Marie Severin, featuring Namor, kneeling down in a graveyard, as the "ghostly" form of Doc Strange rises behind him, the copy reading, "Dr. Strange lives-- but will the Sub-Mariner??"

I missed one somehow... oops!

SUB-MARINER #21 -- "Invasion From The Ocean Floor!" has Namor, weakened & unable to breathe underwater, stuck in Manhattan, pursued by the Army, who mistakenly believe he was in league with the aliens who tried to steal Earth's water supply. (They're not thinking that idea thru very well, are they?) Although Namor has specifically given orders for his people NOT to attack the surface world, Lady Dorma decides to do just that, and take an armed force to NYC to demand the release of their Prince. Namor takes refuge in the apartment of Diane Arliss (sister of Tiger Shark), and on her suggestion tries to contact the F.F.-- but Ben hangs up figuring it's one more "crank call". The cops, tapping her phone (isn't that illegal?) figure out he's there, and soon a free-for-all is in progress. Lord Seth, who had earlier gone into self-exile thinking he'd failed Namor and caused his death, had just returned, and finding his Prince is still alive, eagerly joins the raiding party. When things look like they're going wrong, Seth uses the Horn Of Proteus (from F.F. #4) to call several giant reptiles from the ocean depths to attack. Namor, still wanting peace, strikes back at the monsters, causing some Navy men to wonder "Whose side is he on, anyway?" Realizing his mistake, and that it almost cost Dorma's life (who he secretly loves), Seth uses the Horn again to lure the beasts back to the depths-- at the cost of his own life. As Namor prepares to go home at last, he views the Battery Park area, which is in flames!

Roy Thomas, Marie Severin & Johnny Craig strike again! I'm reminded of the confusion with the Atlanteans, the US Navy, and The Plunderer (HOW did that guy ever get off on any kind of "parole" after starting a war between 2 countries??), but somewhat less confusing. I wish I had more issues from this period, as I find Diane Arliss intriguing (and considering the high death toll in the history of this book, I'm wondering if she's still around). This recurring trouble between Namor & the Army, Police, etc. gets tiring after DECADES of it. You'd THINK the ruler of an entire kingdom would have developed better "diplomatic" skills by now. (I think that's why Namor worked better in the old days, as a "loose cannon" rather than as an undersea "King Kull".) All this is under one of Marie Severin's FINEST covers, an image of Namor zipping over the heads of his baffled armada, while Manhattan crumbles & burns in the background. The cover was briefly featured in the History Channel documentary COMIC BOOK SUPER-HEROES UNMASKED, as an example of comics "predicting" things like "9-11".
http://www.comics.org/coverview.lasso?id=23242&zoom=4


THOR #174 -- "The Carnage Of The Crypto-Man!" has Thor, lured by "Illusion Beams" while flying over NY, and hit by a "Hypno-Stun Ray", by a scientist named Jasper Whyte, who uses a device to drain off half of Thor's natural power, and use it to power a robot he's built which he calls "The Crypto-Man" (for NO apparent reason). He's another one of those embittered, frustrated types who's bent on "showing them all!", and he sees the robot as the first of an army that will "dominate the world". (Haven't we heard THIS too many times before?) Thor finds out what's going on when the guy's mother turns up at Dr. Blake's office telling him her son's disappeared, and right after, the cops call asking if he can contact Thor about this robot that's started destroying the city... Soon, we get a pretty spectacular fight scene going. When the robot heads for the the city's new Atomic Power plant, Thor reminds Jasper that his own mother will be one of the victims if the thing isn't stopped! (Oops!) Turning his control beam on the robot, Jasper succeeds, at the cost of his own life. Thor, his full power restored, later gives what comfort to Mrs. Whyte as he can as Dr. Blake.

No epic classic, but not bad either. I'd say this is a LOT better than many of these single-issue stories I've read around this time lately, and the art by Kirby & Everett has come up a few notches, especially in the scene of Thor flying over the city (Everett does every bit of detail in Kirby's complex cityscapes that Vince Colletta tended to simplify & gloss over, and he makes that hammer really look rugged), and the 2 pages where the robot comes to life. I have NO idea after reading this WHY the robot's called "The Crypto-Man". Is the fact that it's a mystery supposed to be a joke? (cryptology-- get it?) Or was this supposed to be a SUPERMAN villain that Jack came up with a half-year too early? the one thing I DON'T like about the issue is the cover. It's signed "Kirby & Everett". But, I'd SWEAR Marie Severin designed it. No knock at Marie-- but this is JACK KIRBY's book! Stan started getting Marie to do a LOT of other people's covers, a very bad trend that continued all thru the 70's with periods of John Romita, Gil Kane, etc. doing countless covers that should have been done by the interior artists, and it took her away from SUB-MARINER, which she was so GOOD at (just as it took Romita away from SPIDER-MAN). Sometimes Stan Lee's editorial decisions just drive me UP A WALL!!!


THE AVENGERS #74 -- "Pursue The Panther!" has The Black Panther a prisoner of The Sons Of The Serpent, a FAKE Panther committing crimes, the two racist talk-show hosts continuing to argue on the air, apparently trying to incite a race war, and The Avengers being challenged to "arrest" the Panther or be considered in cahoots with him! What a mess. The team tracks down the fake, but has a much harder time of it than one might think, and he gets away. Later, as The Serpents are about to "unmask" The Panther on TV, the team sneaks into the building quietly, locates the REAL Panther, and frees him, just as the fake is "proving" on national TV how hateful and racist he is. It then turns out there's 2 "Supreme Serpents"-- as under the masks, we find BOTH "rival" talk show hosts, whose hate-filled banter has been nothing but part of their mutual scheme to gain ultimate power. When the dust clears, both Monica Lynne & The Panther feel the need to be more socially conscious.

NICE issue, all round. The highlight here is the return of JOHN BUSCEMA!! Apparently, after hating every issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN he was 'forced' to do layouts on, and threatening to quit if Aunt May showed up (which she did in ASM #81), John followed thru on his word, and so, after 11 months of Colan, Smith, brother Sal & Giacoia, he's back, now teamed with TOM PALMER. Whoa!!! Apparently, when Neal Adams quit X-MEN, Roy decided that Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger were too good a team to break up, so he switched BOTH guys onto X-MEN, and in turn put Palmer on here. The results are STUNNING. As it happens, over the years, Tom Palmer may well have inked more issues of AVENGERS than any other inker, and it all started right here. The 1st issue of AVENGERS I ever bought had Buscema & Palmer on it, and for many years, I was under the impression they had done many more issues together than they had... In fact, they wound up doing more issues (and more consecutively) when they reunited in the 80's. But for now, this begins John's 2nd run on the book, and the new "era" is off to a stunning start!

Roy did an okay job here. My one complaint might be the scene when The Vision is searching the city, for as he begins to descend right thru the sidewalk, the people around him come across as some of the STUPIDEST I've ever seen in a comic, as when one of them yells, "STOP 'im, man!" (WHY???) and "Why didn't he say anything? Why??" (Why SHOULD he??). Come to think of it, this feels a LOT like what's been going on in SILVER SURFER, making me wonder how much of this is Roy's work and how much is John's. On the other hand, I loved the bit where Jan, flying over some buildings, refers to herself as "the poor man's Tinker Bell". (She's so CUTE!!! John & Tom draw her SO much better than Sal & Sam!)

I believe John Buscema cut back to layouts, leaving Tom Palmer to do "finishes" before too long-- but this issue, at least, looks like full Buscema pencils to me. Either way... WOW!!!


DAREDEVIL #62 -- "Quoth The Nighthawk, "Nevermore!"" has DD interrupted while stopping a crime by Nighthawk-- the guy from The Squadron Sinister (in AVENGERS #69-70). DD feels woozy, Nighthawk stops the criminals, and suggests in a rather loutish way that maybe it's time DD retired. As it turns out, bored millionaire playboy Kyle Richmond (Marvel's answer to... YOU know) called up Matt Murdock with an anoymous tip, figuring he'd contact his friend Daredevil; then drugged DD as they passed so DD would look bad and Nighthawk would look good. His scheme is to become popular-- then maybe run for political office. He didn't even care about the crooks-- he let 'em go as soon as DD was out of the way! Not exactly your ideal picture of crime-fighting heroism, is he? At the office, Karen (who found out Matt & DD are one and the same some time ago) laments that Matt doesn't give up his life of crime-fighting to be "the man I fell in love with" (OH BROTHER). Later, DD tracks down Nighthawk, in the middle of stopping another crime (having figured out what drug was used on him, and giving himself the antidote!), then tricks the guy into confessing over a radio loud-speaker that everything he's been doing is to con "the sheep" who now look up to him. (It's like that scene in the movie UHF when Kevin McCarthy insulted every single person who lived in his town-- over the air-- without realizing it!) Nighthawk flees, already threatening revenge, and almost gets run down by a subway train, but gets away scot free... something that has just been happening far too often of late in Marvel books. (That kind of thing can erode people's faith in the criminal justice system!)

I see Roy Thomas has taken over from Stan by this point, which no doubt explains his bringing in one of his baddies from AVENGERS. In addition, Gene Colan's hero & mentor Syd Shores is on the inks, and it's spectacular! They really made a great match, as Shores' intricate fine-line rendering (so much more refined than those of, say, Vince Colletta) are a perfect match for Colan's equally-intricate shaded pencils. I know they did about a year-and-a-half together on this book, I just wish I had ANY of them in the original printing. I'm missing so many issues of DD right now, and only have this story because it was reprinted in GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #5 (Nighthawk, reformed, being a regular in that book in the 70's).


X-MEN #66 -- "The Mutants And The Monster" has Professor X in a coma after using his brain-power to save the entire planet (last time). In his weak delirium the only thought they can get out of his is "The Hulk", and the deduce it may be scientist Bruce Banner that Xavier feels can help. And so they go to Las Vegas, and have a run-in with Greenskin. Jean knocks him unconscious, causing him to turn back to Banner, but as they try to question him, the Army shows up, warning the "stinkin' muties" to get out of their way if they don't want trouble. Banner remembers discussing a project with Xavier, the results of which are at one of his "secret labs", but the tension of the situation makes him turn back into the Hulk and storm off. When the Army finds the X-Men have also run off, they immediately conclude "They were in cahoots-- just like we figured!" (Man, how STUPID can some people be?) The trail leads to a nearby mountain, and an underground lab, from which Angel grabs a piece of equipment he hopes is what they need. The Hulk, who only wanted to be left alone, just stands there as they fly off, while they figure that, if only unconsciously, Banner must have led them to exactly where they needed to go. Back home, the device works, the Prof. is out of the coma, and feeling optimistic about their future, and all the work that needs doing.

On the letters page, it's revealed that this is the LAST issue of X-MEN, as sales didn't warrant it continuing. At least, unlike NICK FURY and DR. STRANGE, they must have seen it coming. The story's not bad, overall-- except for the parts involving the Hulk-- and the Army-- where it's a toss-up as to who's more stupid. The surprise is the art. I knew Neal Adams was gone after last issue, but it seems to me the "obvious" guy to have filled in here-- again-- would have been Don Heck, who did such a GREAT job on #64. Nope. Instead, we got Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger, the 2 guys who did 5 issues of AVENGERS in a row. Grainger looked all set to become the regular inker on this book before Neal Adams & Tom Palmer arrived. Now, with Adams gone, and with Buscema off SPIDER-MAN and back on AVENGERS, I'm guessing Roy must have figured Sal & Sam made too good a team to break up, and moved them over to the "back-up team". I can't shake the feeling that for most of its 60's run, X-MEN was sort of like what THE DEFENDERS was in the 70's-- the "2nd-level" team. The book that's somehow never really great, but you don't expect it to be-- just "fun" to read. And, as it happens, THE artist I most associate with THE DEFENDERS was Sal Buscema, who drew the book with writers Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart AND Steve Gerber. Never really great, but somehow, never really bad either. And Sal & Sam Grainger REALLY made a terrific team. I'd say this issue actually looked BETTER than their issues of AVENGERS, as they seemed to do just about every character "right", certainly (to my eyes), "better" (or more "on-model") than Adams & palmer were. With ONE major exception.

There's one thing I always remember about Sal's long run on DEFENDERS. In all those issues, he had the opportunity to draw just about every single character in the entire Marvel Universe, and he did most of them pretty well. With ONE major exception. The Hulk. Sal's Hulk is TERRIBLE. I think he just CAN'T draw the guy right! (It happens-- Don Heck could NEVER draw Sub-Mariner "right", either!) So, it was with sickening irony that, when Herb Trimpe got replaced on THE INCREDIBLE HULK, of all people to take his place, they got Sal-- who wound up doing more issues on the book than anybody has ever done before or since! Sheesh. That said, it's no surprise that every panel The Hulk appears in this issue drags it down quite a few notches. I wonder how Sal & Sam might have made out in the long run if X-MEN hadn't been cancelled right here?

Other than that, the only other annoying thing is this Iceman-Lorna Dane-Havok "triangle". Iceman & Lorna were a really cute, happy couple when Arnold Drake was on the book. No sooner does Roy turn up, Lorna starts having a "women's lib attitude" complex, which seemed (even with the short time she'd been around) totally out of character, and left field. Then she starts mooning over Havok... Okay, I guess it happens. But this has been dragging on for MONTHS on end!! If she doesn't wanna be considered Bobby's girlfriend anymore (which she definitely HAD been!) WHY doesn't she just TELL him straight to his face and get it over with? I have 3 words for this: "bad soap opera". OY.

All this is under a (not that bad) Marie Severin cover. WHY didn't Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger do the cover?? STOP Stan Lee before he edits again!!!