Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities 70's Marvel Re-Reading Project

AMAZING ADVENTURES #17 (Mar'73) -- "Birth Of The Beast!" Okay, this is a strange one. Sales on The Beast series were just not there, so the series was cancelled with AA #16. (Maybe they could have avoided that if its run in AA had been intended as a self-contained "tryout" run, and, if they hadn't kept changing inkers with EVERY episode!) A new series loosely inspired by H.G. Wells' "War Of The Worlds" had been scheduled to replace it, and in fact Roy Thomas & Neal Adams had had it in the planning stages for-- apparently-- almost 2 YEARS! But despite this extrememly long stretch, when the first episode was finally scheduled, Neal STILL managed to blow the deadline! And so, at the last minute, someone decided to fill out this issue of AA with a reprint of The Beast's origin. What makes this a bit confusing is that the story originally appeared in X-MEN #48-53 (Sep'68-Feb'69). The 30 pages of these 6 back-up episodes were whittled down to a mere 18, and 2 NEW pages plus a new cover were created to present it. The reprint pages were by Arnold Drake, Werner Roth, John Verpoorten & John Tartaglione; the 3 new pages were by Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin & Mike Esposito. Man, it seems Jim Starlin was everywhere this year!

If one already had the original comics, would it be worth buying this one just for 3 new pages? Maybe not... unless you were either a real Beast of Starlin "completeist". I would hope that if anyone ever does a reprint collection of these stories that they'd bother to include these pages. They are kinda nice... (I only paid 60 cents for my copy!)

MARVEL FEATURE #8 (Mar'73) -- "Prelude To Disaster!" Near as I can tell, here's what happened (UH oh...). Craig Russell did his 1st Dr. Strange episode this month in MARVEL PREMIERE #7-- his ONLY Dr. Strange episode around this time, come to think of it-- and as a result, totally BLEW the deadline on what was supposed to be his 2nd Ant-Man (& Wasp) episode. I wonder whose fault that was??? So, the first 2 pages are by Craig Russell, the next half-page, the last page of the issue, and the cover, are all by Jim Starlin. (Man, he DOES get around, don't he?) The cover was inked by Mike Esposito, the interiors by Jimmy Janes. He didn't do much work for Marvel, but he did some pencilling on DC's LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES years later, as well as some for Warren Publishing. He's also worked as an actor, including at least one episode of Nick Cuti's direct-to-video CAPTAIN COSMOS series!

So, this issue starts out with Ant-Man being menaced by The Wasp-- who has mutated into an actual wasp-woman-thing, bent on killing him. Then we get 16-1/2 pages worth of the original 18 pages of "The Creature From Cosmos!" from TALES TO ASTONISH #44 (Jun'63). Then, on the last page, we get a one-panel recap of Ant-Man's career, followed by a recap of the cliffhanger from the PREVIOUS episode! For a series that only comes out every 2 months, this one isn't going anywhere fast, is it?

Just to add to the confusion, the credits in the comic refer to the "flashback" story as being by "Stan Lee & Jack Kirby". But it's not that simple. To make it worse, someone at the GCD says (and I quote): "by Ernie Hart and Don Heck (mistakenly credited to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby)". That's wrong, too! What it should actually say is, the plot was by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby (probably more Kirby than Lee, as usual), the dialogue was by Ernie Hart (listed as "H.E. Huntley") and the INKS are by Don Heck!!! I mean, come on, clearly, somebody can't tell the difference between Kirby & Heck-- and I know what an overpowering inker Heck can be! By the way, I'm giving Stan the benefit of the doubt when it comes to plot contribution, because this was early enough in the 60's that I feel he probably WAS still contributing on that end. It wasn't until mid-'1965 that he got so busy and had so many competent "storytellers" working for him that he was able to cut back and let THEM do all the work for him-- though he NEVER seemed to STOP taking credit-- or PAY-- for it. I guess that's what you get when you're the boss.

It sure seems to me this series would have been a lot better if each episode had been self-contained. This "ongoing soap-opera" format can really cause problems, especially if it's not a monthly, you keep changing creative teams, and members of your creative team wind up doing more than one book and blowing deadlines. Oh wait-- that's all of the above here!

MARVEL PREMIERE #7 (Mar'73) -- "The Shadow Of The Starstone!" Dr. Strange realizes that to stop the "age-old abominations" that wait to strike in the service of Shuma-Gorath, he must go to Stonehenge at once. Wong says he & Clea will follow as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, in the English town of Penmallow, Henry Gordon arrives as his late uncle Jed's home, "Witch House". He's greeted by the housekeeper, Blondine, and finds the study filled with books on magic & necromancy. He reads about Shuma-Gorath-- then finds a huge watery footprint in the hallway, and on the beach, a huge gem with a "shadow" trapped inside it. He wonders if the people of the area once worshipped the beings described in the book, and the following day, he & Blondine go scuba-diving and discover the sunken ruins of Kalumesh-- and are set upon by a huge beast, Dagoth! At that moment, Dr. Strange is flying by overhead, and seeing the empty boat, senses danger, and soon is underwater battling Dagoth. He rescues the pair, and back at Witch House, learns about the cult that existed there. But the "starstone" takes control of them, as well as the nearby villagers, and Dagoth appears, intent on taking those who do not worship him down to Kalumesh as sacrifices! Clea & Wong arrive just then, and Clea uses a spell to awaken Stephen from the trance. Another fierce battle erupts, which succeeds in sending Dagoth back to the nether-world he was summoned from. But on returning to Witch House, they discover the entire house is alive-- and a trap!

The long, rambling Robert E. Howard-inspired Shuma-Gorath epic continues, this being part 5 of 8, and the 3rd of 4 episodes written by Gardner Fox. Nearly a third of the story focuses entirely on Henry Gordon & Blondine, making one almost forget this was a Dr. Strange story! On the letters page, the general feeling is that the art has been dragging down Fox's work, especially as DS is considered the "most difficult strip" ever to come from Marvel. For the 3rd episodes in a row (and 4th time out of 5) another new artist tries his hand at it-- Craig Russell. While Russell's Ant-Man work bore at least a trace of his later distinctive style, here his work is almost entirely buried under the inks of Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt! I could probably identify each of these guys' styles if I set my mind to it-- suffice to say, Hunt's is clearly the smoothest, Esposito's the roughest, and Giacoia is just plain the most overpowering, the work looking more like Giacoia than anything else. I also detected ONE page inked by Craig Russell himself (page 13, of course), making this book a real mish-mash.

2 interestring things stand out about Russell's work here-- on page 12, the last panel is the only time in recent memory where someone clearly paid tribute to a visual effect from Steve Ditko. (It would take me decades and looking at very clear original printings of Ditko at his very best before I realized that Ditko had apparently had a bigger influence on Russell's style than I ever imagined.) Also, the very first words of dialogue on the splash page are, "What is it that DISTURBS you, Stephen?" This was the title of Russell's DR. STRANGE graphic novel from 1997-- that CAN'T be a coincidence! Over the years, Russell would return periodically to contribute to the series, but never on any long-term substantial basis.

The cover-- inexplicably-- is by Mike Ploog, and if anything, it's a bigger misfit than Sam Kweskin's art was 2 issues earlier. In addition, it appears that by Russell doing this episode, he totally blew the deadline on this month's Ant-Man story in MARVEL FEATURE #8. Which brings up the question-- why did this happen??

I keep wanting to enjoy these episodes, but between Fox's overly-complex and stiff dialogue, the ever-changing and inappropriate art, and the use of REH mythology rather than Doc's own (something at least one reader complained about next time), they haven't been making it easy for me.

HERO FOR HIRE #7 (Mar'73) -- "Jingle Bombs!" While at Noah's clinic, Cage sees a man dressed in 19th Century clothes beating a newsboy for over-charging --and claims his name is "Marley". Noah warns Cage that reporter Phil Fox has been around again, wanting to do a story about the clinic, and doesn't seem to understand what "no" means. Luke & Claire take a romantic walk in the snow, and run into a crazy Viet Nam vet who's packing a machine-gun. Angered, Cage says, "Ain't NEVER gonna be NO peace on Earth if all the SMALL people keep tryin' to act like BIG people-- and the BIG people keep tryin' to act like GOD!" Unknown to him, both men he's fought are the same man-- who seems to be testing Cage for some unknown purpose. Later, Luke & Claire celebrate at a bar-- until closing time. "Lady's tryin' to TELL us somethin', Claire! FIGURIN' these things all part'a bein' a SUPER-HERO!" As she starts to ask about his background, they're suddenly assaulted by a man in futuristic clothes, packing a laser gun, and demanding to see their authorization to be on the streets. Cage realizes all 3 men are the same, and a fight turns into a chase which ends in another fight in a dark alley. As Cage drags his unconscious attacker out to hand him over to the cops, he assures them, "HONEST, now-- we weren't SPARKIN' back there!"

But only minutes later, Cage finds the cops assaulted, and the "schizo" escaped! He follows a trail thru the snow until he loses him, then asks a street-corner Santa for help... his mistake! Cage awakens chained up in an apartment, his attacker now dressed like a medieval executioner, who salutes him for being a "bright spot in a dismal world". A crazed WW2 vet and former member of the S.S., he stole components of a disassembled atomic bomb in preparation for the day when the world, which had not learned anything from the war, would eventually destroy itself. He wanted to prove how bad things were, as in "the old days", a paperboy being attacked would draw a crowd-- no one but Cage raised a hand. He felt it might be just a fluke, hence the later attacks, which Cage compares to "Christmas past, present & future." "I hadn't THOUGHT of it quite like that. You're SMARTER than people THINK you are, aren't you, Cage?" He figures by blowing up Manhattan, a nuclear war will be set off, which will destroy the whole planet. Cage tries to talk him out of it, but the madman says, "I only BROUGHT you here because we men who know the TRUTH should die TOGETHER!" A distraction by something in the chimney gives Cage just enough time to break free and clobber the maniac. After, a would-be thief falls out of the chimney, saying he'd cased the joint for weeks and nobody was ever home-- who think there'd be someone there on a holiday?

No doubt about it-- the 1973 issues of HERO FOR HIRE were, to me, the all-time high point in the book's history. Steve Englehart, George Tuska & Billy Graham were THE team for this book. It's a shame it ever had to end! Even with something I normally dislike in the extreme-- a Christmas story-- they wind up doing one of my favorites. Billy Graham once again does the cover solo, and while the scene isn't QUITE in the book (it shows the villain actually managing to set the bomb off), I don't mind.

There's a slowly-building continuity, as Luke & Claire slowly get closer, she wanting to know more about him, he wanting to avoid that issue. The unseen Phil Fox is a continuing problem; he seems to have been a likely inspiration for Jack McGee in the late-70's HULK tv series (Hollywood can't seem to resist the urge to "mix and match" with source materials). Englehart manages to fill the book with so warmth & character humor, it makes a perfect balance to the hard-hitting violence & brutality that George Tuska does so well-- and which Billy Graham gives so much mood and "feeling" to. There were so many comics that Tuska worked on over the years I realy didn't care for, but every issue of HERO FOR HIRE he did is a joy. It's so rare when a really special creative team comes together, one wishes it could remain in place for a long time. I think in some ways, The first 16 or so issues of HERO FOR HIRE are almost like the 1st short season of BATMAN in 1966-- a brief moment of magic, which later episodes never managed to recapture, and always suffered in comparison to.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #25 (Mar'73) -- "A Taste Of Madness!" Mar-Vell is attacked in an alley by a trio who appear alien in origin. Before he can learn anything, they teleport away. Elsewhere, watching the proceedings on a viewscreen, a mysterious figure, "Masterlord", orders "Operation Kree Crusher". A policeman shoots Professor Savannah dead-- then arrests Rick Jones for the murder, which his girlfriend Lou-Ann (Savannah's niece) says Rick did! Rick swaps places with Mar-Vell, who is suddenly attacked by Ronan The Accuser, then Megaton, then Colonel Yon-Rogg, The Hulk, Zarek, The Metazoid, an Aakon warrior, The Sub-Mariner-- each blinking out and replaced with the next-- until he sees Rick Jones, and collapses. It turns out his attackers were really a pair of shape-changing Skrulls-- Skragg, and The Super-Skrull, who put a "Psycho-Probe" helmet on Rick. They discover that the photon-ray machine Savannah has used caused a change in Mar-Vell's metabolism, which allows him to convert sunlight into energy, which is halved when the sun is down. But Rick takes off the helmet, saying his mind was never really wiped out-- and a quick change has Mar-Vell clobbering the Super-Skrull. The battle rages until the "police station" (really an abandoned warehouse) is destroyed, and the 2 Skrulls flee. Rick, angered at the murder of Savannah, is even more angry as Lou-Ann's betrayal, and is intent on finding out the answers.

The cover says, "NEW! The greatest BATTLE-ISSUE ever!" as all of Mar-Vell's old foes seem to attack at once. Sure it's misleading-- but it also does sum up the action in the story (more or less). Following 3 of the most disappointing issues in the history of Marvel Comics up to this point (and considering how BAD this series was before that, that's really saying something), the new team of Jim Starlin & Mike Freidrich make their debut here. It's really a question of how much did Friedrich do here, because while he's listed first and for "story", so much of what Jim Starlin is doing seems to be all his own ideas, I can't help but question the accuracy of that credit.

Anyway, while readers may not have known it (though some may surely have suspected), this initial CM episode was actually the 2nd chapter in Starlin's "big epic". The identity of Masterlord, revealed next time, would clue people in on this. From really bad writing and 3rd-rate artwork, the book suddenly had probably the BEST writing AND artwork it had ever had. Not only did Starlin & Friedrich touch on CM's entire history up to this point (I had no idea who most of those old foes were until I got ahold of all of the earlies issues over the last 10 years), they also did some fast "house-cleaning" by getting rid of the very recent Prof. Savannah, a character who both by personality and his very name was an embarrassment. Chic Stone inked this initial episode, though you'd be hard-pressed to recognize his style. Stone once said in an interview, shortly before he passed away, that he felt it was an inker's job to capture the style of a penciller, not alter it. It appears he succeeded quite well here. On the other hand, Joe Sinnott inked the cover... and BOY does it make me wish he'd done the entire book!

The original storyline in Marvel's CAPTAIN MARVEL (18 issues worth) was poorly-conceived, and chaotically handled. After it was wrapped up, nobody seemed to have the slightest idea of what to do with the guy, outside of his involvement in the Skrull-Kree War, which was essentially a sequel to the original story, right down to having Ronan as one of the main villains. While it might not be evident from this one issue, Jim Starlin had a vast, far-reaching epic to tell, and unlike the first one, which sputtered and meandered almost from the word go, his would build slowly and relentlessly. MAN were these good comics!!!

Darn, I keep missing these!

THE DEFENDERS #4 (Feb'73) -- "The New Defender!" Having returned from the other dimension without enabling The Silver Surfer to escape Earth, the rescued Barbara has gone insane, and The Hulk is really pissed about it! He leaps off with her to a nearby castle, and, feeling he's let everyone down, Doc asks Namor for advice on what to do next. They follow the Hulk, but once inside the castle, are transported somewhere else, and become prisoners of The Executioner, who has gained magical powers in this other realm. In a dungeon they find Barbara, Bruce Banner, and with them, The Black Knight and The Enchantress! He tells the story of how she escaped from Zeus' imprisonment (following THE AVENGERS #100) and magically enlisted his help to get The Executioner away from her rival, Casiolena. But their mission failed. Needing someone of her own sex to escape, The Enchantress casts a spell on Barbara, transforming her into The Valkyrie, who smashes out of the dungeon with ease. Big fight commences, ending with The Enchantress taking out Casiolena. As she prepares to leave with her longtime companion, The Black Knight objects-- due to her spell, he loves her, and plans to remove HIS "rival". But instead, she turns him to STONE! The Valkyrie takes charge of his winged horse, Aragorn, and the group returns to Earth, where, to their surprise, The Valkyrie says she wants to become a Defender. Namor tells her, "This isn't The Avengers!"

Elsewhere, the Omegatron counts down the last 9/100ths of a second before it destroys all of Earth...

Steve Englehart continues to prove what a master of "continuity" he is, much of this issue following up on long-dangling plot-threads started much earlier by Roy Thomas. But unlike Gerry Conway, who often picked up on Thomas' plots and dragged them into depressing pits, Englehart actually takes the various characters in directions that often seem natural, sometimes unexpected, and usually entertaining, tending to do better than Thomas' "stiffness" seemed capable of.

The situation with Barbara goes back to SUB-MARINER #22 (Feb'70); the one between The Black Knight & The Enchantress started back in THE AVENGERS #84 (Jan'71); and the bit with The Omegatron has been hanging since MARVEL FEATURE #1 (Dec'71). The Enchantress first appeared in THE AVENGERS #83 (Dec'70), but that was a different person, merely The Enchantress in disguise. Though it was not readily apparent here, this was the "real" Enchantress, and the details behind her story would take a very long time coming. I suppose this is fitting, as she's virtually the female equivalent of Thor, and his "origin" story took over 6 years to be revealed. Her introduction here is also following a trend toward bringing in new longtime characters to a group in a book's 4th issue-- it happened with Green Arrow in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, and Captain America in THE AVENGERS! With The Silver Surfer essentially only "on loan" to this book, it seems Steve wanted someone else to regularly fill out the ranks, and if there was one thing they were missing at this point, it was having a female member. Unlike The Avengers, this team's resident woman would be every bit as physically strong as several of her team-mates!

It was very refreshing to see the often omnipotent-seeming Dr. Strange actually defer to Namor's judgement early in this episode. I can't imagine any member of, for example, The Fantastic Four doing that!

Englehart & Sal Buscema were busy doing 2 books at the same time here (the other one being CAPTAIN AMERICA), and while Cap's book was consistently the better of the two, this one remains interesting in its own way. Both books did tend to suffer from rotating inkers. In his first 4 issues, Sal was inked by Frank Giacoia, John Verpoorten, Jim Mooney, and, this time, Frank McLaughlin. At least McLaughlin somehow managed to stick around longer than most; he inked issues #4, 5, 6, 8 & 9. Sal's Hulk, never a fave of mine, seems "darker" in attitude under him.

THE AVENGERS #110 (Apr'73) -- "...And Now Magneto!" Wanda receives word from Pietro that he's alive, and planning to marry Crystal. The happiness is interrupted when Wanda shares her news of being in love with The Vision-- which Pietro absolutely forbids!!! Right after, the communications screen activates on its own, and the group sees images of Prof. Xavier, his mansion a shambles. Thor remembers him from X-MEN #9 (Jan'65) and the group races to his aid. En route, Cap consoles Wanda that deciding between The Vision or Pietro would be Pietro's choice, not Wanda's. Thor recalls his great love for Jane Foster-- which didn't endure. Iron Man recalls the women in his life, and thinks none of his relationships were as strong as that of Wanda & The Vision. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Hawkeye stops in to see The Black Widow, but only finds her chauffer Ivan at home. The Avengers find The X-Men unconscious, and are soon attacked by-- of all things-- dinosaurs! Wanda realizes the one behind it is Magneto, who, disguised in one of The Angel's costumes, took the mutant team unawares in the dark, and quickly overpowers The Avengers as well, making off with them in their own aircraft! Left behind in the rubble, Thor, Vision & The Black Panther vow there's no place on Earth he'll escape from them!

Despite Steve Englehart's nice character bits & continuity references, I'm afraid this strikes me as just another "average" issue. Don Heck does his 3rd of 5 issues, this time inked by Frank Giacoia & Mike Esposito, who seem to be teaming up on quite a few issues around this time (no doubt because Giacoia was notorious when it came to running late on deadlines). The look of the pages, as a result, is rather inconsistent, and I'd say the pages Giacoia did (if I'm guessing right) are the better of the two (although, given it's Giacoia, there may be a 3rd, uncredited inker helping out on "his" pages). I'm afraid that in general, when it comes to a book like this, Don Heck really needs a slick, powerful inker to "sharpen up" his work, and none of these guys are it. Meanwhile, the cover, by Gil Kane (and Giacoia or Esposito-- or both-- it's hard to tell!) is just a collection of awkward-looking bodies stretched all over the place. What can I say, "graceful" is not a word I could ever associate with Kane's figure-work.

Englehart continues to keep The X-Men in the spotlight-- in The Beast series in AMAZING ADVENTURES, The Beast poppin up in THE INCREDIBLE HULK, and now the whole team here. This would continue for some time, and it makes it seems kind of odd that Englehart wasn't involved when the X-Men got their own series again.

This is a rather awkward 3-parter, and the 2nd installment is in next month's DAREDEVIL...

FANTASTIC FOUR #133 (Apr'73) -- "Thundra At Dawn!" New Year's Eve in Times' Square, and apart from Ben & Alicia, the rest of the FF are being gloomy... until Thundra appears high atop a clock tower, to publicly challenge The Thing to a battle at Shea Stadium, in 3 days' time, and to ensure he'll show up, she kidnaps Alicia! At the Frightful Four's hideout inside an abandoned water tower, The Sandman ponders why do they need Alicia, and Thundra is angry that he should even insinuate such a thing. The Wizard reminds his comrades that for now, they need Thundra-- but that will soon change... A packed house sees the fight begin, but soon feel cheated of their money when Thundra tosses Ben right over the stadium's wall! ("Some days it just don't pay to get out of bed.", he thinks.) The fight continues at the site of the NY World's Fair, Ben refusing to concede no matter how weary he feels, until Reed uses a cannon-shaped device to temporarily turn The Thing back into Ben Grimm. Thundra, feeling cheated, dashes off, saying it would be "unfeminine" to injure a "weakling man". Alicia runs to Ben, saying Thundra forced her team-mates to release her. Elsewhere, Sandman, Trapster & Wizard are infuriated by Thundra's "incomprehensible logic of fair play", and Wiz vows "NO ONE makes fools of the Frightful Four!"

This was the 2nd time (at least) that Roy Thomas set a fight in Times' Square on New Year's Eve, the last time being in DR. STRANGE #180 (May'69).

The mystery behind the 7-foot blonde amazon continues. We still don't know WHY she's determined to defeat Ben, but if the whole idea was her doing so publicly, in front of countless witnesses, she sure blew that big-time the moment she hurled him out of the park! Also, I still can't see WHY she's hanging around with those degenerate recidivists-- or even why they're still on the loose. (Oh yeah-- I forgot-- this is The Marvel Universe! Almost NOBODY ever seems to do jail time here...)

Ramona Fradon, famous for her long run on DC's AQUAMAN, makes possibly her only art appearance for Marvel here, filling in for John Buscema, and the results are rather interesting. I don't quite like her Thundra as well as Buscema's, but she seems to imbue her Thing with a lot of character and humor. Although Joe Sinnott's inks give the book a consistency of look, Fradon's figure work is a bit looser, "funkier" and even slightly "goofier" than usual. They make a wonderful combo, and it seems to me she would have been a good fit when The Thing got his own series again (before too long!). Too bad it never happened.

I'm surprised there was no mention of the F.B.I. in this story... isn't kidnapping a Federal offense, even in the M.U.???

Gerry Conway steps into the breach this time, as it's announced on the letters page that Roy Thomas has become too busy to continue on the FF regularly, despite it being one of his favorite books for many years. Roy plotted this issue, Gerry did the dialogue; next time Gerry would fly solo, and it would be his job (eventually) to clear up the Thundra mystery that Roy started.

Buscema & Sinnott supply a nice cover this time-- but funny thing, Joe forgot to ink the lightning bolt down the side of Thundra's pants! (The colorist had to pick up the slacks... ooh!)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #119 (Apr'73) -- "The Gentleman's Name Is Hulk" Worried about Aunt May living in Doc Ocks' mansion, Pete gets an urgent letter from Jean Pierre Rimbaud-- her lawyer-- asking him to come to Canada. When The Hulk is sighted in that area, he cons Jameson into footing plane fare. After stopping at Rimbaud's office and finding him out, he latches onto the military convoy (led by General Ross, in Canada to help the locals tackle The Hulk), and sure enough, soon finds the convoy attacked by greenskin. Before long, Hulk tries to destroy a dam to keep the soldiers from pursuing, Spidey tries to save it, and finds himself underwater beneath tons of collapsing rock!

Oh joy. Just what the world needed-- another Spidey-Hulk fight. I can't figure why Aunt May would have a lawyer in Canada. The guy's secretary, Miss Delon, is a cutie-- but Pete almost seems to be flirting with her-- or at least, responding to her flirting. Gee, he's only been away from Gwen a few hours here. Harry, apparently, collapses during this story. I say "apparently" because it's referred to in the 2nd part of the story, but the reprint I have, in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #12 (1978) appears to be missing 5-- or 6-- of the 20 pages!! Geez. And while the art is essentially John Romita all the way (apart from Tony Mortellaro on backgrounds, uncredited), someone else entirely did the splash page in the Annual. (Actually, it could be Romita who drew it, but he SURE didn't ink it. It looks more like Dave Hunt to me, but it's hard to tell.) John Byrne supplies a new cover for the ANNUAL. Not bad-- but not great.

IRON MAN #57 (Apr'73) -- "Strike!" A mysterious figure, "Gene Kahn", claims that Tony Stark is "selling out" his company by sharing his recent environmental developments with Communist countries. In the midst of a company strike, where IM is burned in effigy, Pepper Hogan shows up needing a job, and Tony's thrilled to have his old secretary back. Elsewhere, Kahn tells his men that after years of hating Communists, he's realized he can use their own tactics to gain his ends-- and plans to have "all the workers of America" as his pawns. But Iron Man crashes his office-- and discovers Kahn is really The Mandarin! IM is stunned to find out his old enemy once more has his rings, lost while fighting The Inhumans (see AMAZING ADVENTURES #3-4 / Nov'70-Jan'71). Kahn tells his foe of how he had tried to add The Eye Of Yin-- sole momument of a race of sorcerers from ancient days-- to his power, but was thwarted when Black Bolt stole his rings from him, buried them and fused the ground solid. Fighting depression, he studied more The Yin Tomes, which told of their gaining their powers from a "race of demons"-- who he realized were of the same interstellar race as Axonn-Karr, from whose spaceship he originally gained the rings! Returning after so many years to the lost valley, he found the spaceship still intact, and studying the ship's log, learned of another crucial piece of equipment, a headband, which would allow one to control the rings by remote-control. Doing so, he commanded them to free themselves from their imprisonment, which they did, and flew to his presence! Finding they still functioned, he once more vowed to bring the entire planet under his command. Getting into another battle, in which The Mandarin used both his karate skills and his rings, IM soon realizes the rings are somehow more powerful than they'd been before. The Mandarin is wearing the headband-- which not only amps up the rings' power, but also allows him to control what he calls his "eleventh ring"-- The Unicorn!

What a blast this was. I had read very few Mandarin stories when I got ahold of this, but I had read his origin from TALES OF SUSPENSE #62 (Feb'65), and here I got to read a sequel to it. Steve Gerber was apparently "filling in" for a few issues for Mike Friedrich (who was relocating to California at the time), and at the end of the flashback, Roy Thomas says doing the sequence "blew poor Steve's mind", and so they took the chance to include a panel detailing the powers of EACH of the 10 rings, and suggests readers save it for future reference. George Tuska did a terrific job on this issue, inked by Mike Esposito & Frank Giacoia-- and, I suspect, Frank's pal Joe Giella may have had a hand in there as well (no doubt on the BEST-looking pages). One reader suggests Marvel drop the cramped 3-sided cover borders, and it's noted they've already done just that, and now wish they had even more room. I originally read part 2 of this first, then got this issue after-the-fact. It's nice to re-read these in the right order.

As I noted somewhere else, The Unicorn was the only one of the quintet from X-MEN #22-23 who didn't appear in CAPTAIN AMERICA #158-159-- and next issue, we'd find out why.

In the several years since Pepper's departure, Tony (and this book) has tried to move on-- in many ways unsuccessfully, it seems. It's funny that after reading several reprints back in the early 70's, that I should start reading the "current" book just at the point where an old cast member like this should come back. I suppose that's made me feel for most of these years that all those issues I never got to read didn't really count that much. From IRON MAN #55-up, I have an unbroken run of the book going all the way up to #275.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #160 (Apr'73) -- "Enter: Solarr!" Cap & Falcon take on a group leftover from The Cowled Commander's crime wave, but after Capt takes out 5 to 1 of his baddies, Falcon starts to feel down. He realizes that he hasn't done much about making friends-- or getting a girl-- and when he sees Leila with Rafe again, he goes after her. Leila, much to Rafe's extreme annoyance, is happy to see The Falcon giving her attention, and goes off with him, as Rafe says, "He's gonna pay!" On a rooftop, Leila happy exclaims, "OOO-EEE! I always KNEW you had it in you, Falc, but I didn't 'spect it to get OUT!" She tells him he should ditch Cap, or he'll just be playing "native bearer" to his "great white hunter".

Meanwhile, a costumed man calling himself "Solarr, Spawn of the Sun" robs a bank and fries several guards using intense heat powers. In flashback, we see how Silas King found himself in the desert when his van broke down, and somehow survived heat that should have killed him. After, he discovered he had sun-derived powers. "Soon the EARTH will be MINE!" he vows. Cap shows up and they battle. In the midst of it, The Falcon shows up, but Cap is doing so well on his own, a bystander says "This one time" he can just sit it out-- but Sam wonders if it'll only be this one time. He swings off without saying a word. Cap pursues him, wanting to talk things out, and passes by Sharon's apartment, not knowing she's packed her bags and has left a note saying, "I will never see you again, please don't try to find me." WHAT th'...???

Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema & Frank McLaughlin do another solid job. If there's one thing that indicates this is the 70's, apart from Solarr's long hair, it's the violence level when he used his powers against innocent people. I just can't picture those scenes being in a 60's book. Leila is still a questionable choice for female companionship in my eyes-- I mean, she ditches a guy she's with right in the middle of what appears to be a date-- then starts telling the guy she went off with how he should live his life. HONESTLY! How do some men put up with behavior like that? On the other hand, the thing with Sharon is, if anything, even more inexplicable and uncalled for. All she & Steve have gone thru to get to the point where they are, and now, without a word of warning or explanation, she just leaves a note saying not to try following her? COME ON!!!

The nice cover-- marred by 3 word balloons (Roy or Steve?) is by Alan Weiss & Frank Giacoia. From 2 different sources, it seems Gil Kane was involved (layout?), though I can hardly see any indication of that, and it wouldn't surprise me if about half of it was inked by Joe Giella as well.

SUB-MARINER #60 (Apr'73) -- "The Invasion Of New York!" Realizing Namor may never take back the throne while his confidence is down, Lord Vashti enlists the unlikely aid of Lorvex, the mercenary who caused the current problem in the first place, putting the future of Atlantis above any petty personal concerns. Lorvex decides to "do what he can", figuring there'll be bounty if they invade the surface world, plus, Tamara might realize HE was the one who rescued her, not Namor. (Oh, this is not good!) Lorvex supervises building of new warcraft, while Namor reminds everyone their mission is to rescue Tamara-- they are not to attack unless attacked first. And so, the new fleet-- in the shapes of giant lobsters, octopus, and other sea-creatures, invaded Manhattan-- but all without hurting anyone. When Namor arrives at the U.N. Building, he discovers that Lorvex has already freed Tamara and flown off with her, against his orders. Lorvex then tells Namor his own men have taken control of the fleet, and at his command, they will destroy all of New York City, even though it would mean an all-out war. Namor attacks, and Lorvex orders his men to attack the city. As destruction mounts, Namor realizes its his own fault for underestimating Lorvex's brutality. He then hurls the mercenary into the sea, and orders the fleet to return to Atlantis. But before he returns himself, he goes to the U.N. and addresses them, saying that by seizing a citizen of Atlantis, it is THEY who committed an act of war. Back in Atlantis, Namor explains to Tamara that his people will never strike first-- and to his relief, a communication from the surface reveals the decision not to launch an offensive against them. Namor realizes where his place must be-- and takes back the crown.

The 3-issue Tamara sequence concludes, much more impressively than the previous issue might have indicated. The create team is the same, with one notable exception. Once again, Bill Everett supplied the plot, Sam Kweskin the layouts, and Steve Gerber the dialogue. The difference this time is the return of Jim Mooney on pencils & inks. On this series, Mooney had already inked John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Ross Andru, George Tuska & Marie Severin. Doing "finished art" over Sam Kweskin may have been the most impressive his work has looked here so far! If Bill Everett was unable to continue on the art, it would have been really nice to see this team remain in place. Kweskin uses some very unusual, oddball panel shapes-- like on the splash page, where he turns the curved armrest of Namor's throne into one side of a gutter between panels-- or page 5, where the gutters between the 3 panels curve and sweep like waves of the ocean. The last panel on page 9, where Namor flies over New York, the buildings are done with such stunning detail, it's as good as anything Marie Severin did during her run on the book a couple years earlier.

This was far from the first time Namor-- or Atlantlis en masse-- invaded New York, but there was a big difference this time. During Roy Thomas' run on the book, there was a lot of lip service paid to Namor wanting peace between Atlantis and the surface world-- but something always went wrong, things never worked out, events always seemed to take worse and worse turns. NOT this time. At last, in the hands of Namor's creator, it seems he may have finally "grown up"-- and grown into-- his position as Prince of Atlantis. IT'S ABOUT TIME. I really enjoyed the stories when he was on his own-- at least, the ones after he met Namorita. It was definitely a period of rebirth & recovery for Namor. I wouldn't have minded if it had gone on a lot longer. But it does seem inevitable that Atlantis NEEDS its ruler-- being without him seems to lead to nothing but one disaster after another. I have no idea if Namor taking back the throne was Everett's idea, but I guess if anyone was gonna do it, it deserved to be him. I only wish he could have been around a LOT longer to see where he might have taken things in the long run.

Rich Buckler & Joe Sinnott contribute a nice cover showing the invasion, even if the figures of the surface-people are a bit "stiff" (it's that Neal Adams influence on Buckler showing). It would have been better without the 2 word balloons, and if the top of the cover hadn't been cut off by the logo area being bordered off. (The production department strikes again.) Many years later, Buckler would pencils a 12-issue mini-series that would recount Namor's entire career, written by-- who else?-- Roy Thomas (master of retreading old stories). I'd rather read the originals!

I got this one a few years ago for $4.50. What a bargain!

THE INCREDIBLE HULK #162 (Apr'73) -- "Spawn of The Flesh-Eater!" General Ross receives permission of the Canadian government to use his "Hulkbusters" to tackle The Hulk within their country-- despite being asked "If your troops are so EFFECTIVE, General, then WHY is the Hulk "loose in our neck of the woods"?" Elsewhere, The Hulk is confused (as always), only remembering he was trying to find Betty-- not knowing she's in Canada on her honeymoon with Glenn Talbot! He's attacked by some hunters, then accused by a girl, Marie, of being "the Wendigo" and killing her brother Paul. Hulk says lots of people have hated him, but he shouldn't be hated for something he didn't do-- and promises to help her find her brother, if someone will help point the way. Before long, he's fighting a huge, hairy white monster. Mostly by luck, he manages to rescue its intended victim (Wendigo's a flesh-eater) and takes him back to the others, only to learn the man isn't Paul-- but his friend, Georges Baptise. Georges tells how he, Paul and another man, Henri (who was mortally wounded), were trapped in a cave without supplies, and Georges awoke to find Paul had resorted to cannibalism. And, according to local legend, as a result of this, he became a Wendigo! Thinking maybe Paul can still be saved, Hulk goes after him, and gets into an even bigger battle with the monster, which appears as strong as Hulk is. But the monster side eventually takes over, and Paul is gone. Hulk laments that with all his power, he could do nothing to help the man-- not realizing he's in the same boat himself.

This is 4 issues into Steve Englehart's run on the book, which lasted just a little over a year. It's not brilliant stuff by any means, but for this book it's not particularly bad, either. Steve seemed to spend most of his run having the Hulk fight big monsters, but also moved the books sub-plots along a bit here and there. In one major instance, he has Glenn & Betty finally get married, Bruce Banner pretty much being a lost cause ever since the "Doc Sampson" incident (HULK #142). The Hulk also turns up in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #119-120, in Canada, and judging by Ross' meeting with the Canadian government in this issue, I'd say that 2-parter probably takes place after this story. I'm not big on Canadian folklore, but apparently the Wendigo is Canada's answer to Bigfoot, with a supernatural twist. The Wendigo eventually returned in HULK #180-181 (a story more infamous for the introduction of Wolverine). A Wendigo was also the focus of an early episode of CHARMED, with one of the Halliwell sisters turning into one, albeit temporarily. (They're witches, it makes sense they'd be able to overcome a supernatural problem.)

I bet a lot of fans were devastated by the departure of John Severin, who I suspect was doing a lot more than just "inking" during his year on the book. I've heard some fans complain that Severin was 'wasting" his time at Marvel being forced mainly to bring "3rd-rate pencillers" up to snuff. I suppose that's one way of looking at it. His replacement, for a nice consistent stretch (11 issues in a row!) was Sal Trapani. I've never heard anyone raving about HIS work, and for good reason-- he always seems to me to be a 3rd-rate inker. Matching him with Trimpe here could have been the equivalent, later on, of putting Sal Buscema & Mike Esposito together (when one was doing just layouts and the other was doing very rushed, half-baked inks), but somehow, this issue actually looks MUCH BETTER than the bulk of the earlier issues where Trimpe was inking himself. Go figure. There was a slow evolution in Trimpe's artwork, and it strikes me, looking back at all this old stuff, that he actually got MUCH better around 1973. His work can definitely be described as "cartoony"-- almost a Saturday-morning take-off on Jack Kirby's style-- but the work he did in 1973-74 strikes me as being his "peak" period. Hell of a thing, that it took him this long to get this good-- and then, just 2 years later, he began a long, slow slide down that I don't think he ever really recovered from. Ah well.

Hard to tell if Steve or Roy Thomas wrote the cover copy-- the blurb is over-wordy and the 2 balloons totally contradict events in the story. Also, blocking off the logo area from the rest manages to cramp the art, even without the 3-sided banner. I got this as a back-issue, but luckily, only paid 50 cents for it!

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #25 (Apr'73) -- "The Mirrors Of Kharam-Akkad" In Makkalet, the high priest, Khamam-Akkad, learns that Conan was on the palace grounds, and he didn't know it-- because he's been too preoccupied with The Mirror of Tuzun-Thune. He relates a story to "The Tarim Incarnate" of how thousands of years earlier, King Kull was lured by a wizard using the mirror who wanted to kill Kull and sieze his throne (all all-too-common type of occurance). Over the ages, the mirror went from one owner to another until Kharam-Akkad got it, but it's haunted him ever since, with an image of himself, dead, a victim of Conan! He orders guards to arrest Conan, who flees thru the palace gardens, only to run into the King (who he knocks aside) and the Queen, who he cannot bring himself to strike-- resulting in his own capture. The King insists the city is not safe for her anymore, but she refuses to leave his side. Outside the city, Yezdigerd notes the city's allies from Pah-Dishah have fled the city, and after consulting his priests, who speak of "The Hour of The Griffin", decides the time has come to attack the city in force. Conan awakes before the mirror, and sees an image of himself dead-- before huge octopus-like tentacles reach from with the mirror to drag him into it. The captain of the guard feels such action within the Temple of the Tarim is blasphemy, and urges Conan to fight back! --until the high priest strikes him down from behind. Conan breaks loose, grabs a sword and hacks the tentacles to pieces, before facing off against Kharam-Akkad himself. As Yezdigerd's forces move on the city, Conan slays the high priest, then sees the image in the mirror matches the truth in front of it.

John Buscema makes his debut on CONAN, some 2-1/2 years after Roy Thomas had originally hoped he would. This issue was inked by Sal Buscema, who stayed mostly true to John's pencils, and John Severin, who inked the "flashback" sequence featuring Kull and Brule The Slayer. Severin had been inking his sister's pencils on KULL THE CONQUEROR at this time, and this issue came between KULL #7 & 8. Oddly enough, this same month, Kull also made an appearance in SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS #3, "The Valley Of The Worm", which had art by Gil Kane & Ernie Chan. Perhaps overworked with pencilling work (on CAPTAIN AMERICA and THE DEFENDERS), this was Sal's last issue on inks-- and next month would see Ernie Chan take over, marking the first of a long stretch of Buscema & Chan on CONAN.

This entire issue was inspired, in part, by the REH Kull story, "The Mirrors Of Tuzun Thune".

Roy Thomas describes how Stan Lee asked him how he thought it would go, having Buscema replace Barry Smith, and Roy's reply was he felt the book would probably get fewer awards-- but sell a lot more copies! This proved to be true.

This issue was the 6th installment in the Makkalet war, and the person who caused the entire mess was finally out of the way. I still find it questionable as to what the heck his motives were. What he did possibly hope to gain by kidnapping "The Tarim Incarnate"? Is it possible he somehow knew that Conan would be among those who would attack the city as a result? If his entire goal was to get his hands on Conan, it's ironic as the very act of having Conan arrested and dragged into the temple was what brought about his own downfall! And the entire city has had to pay for his wizardly folly. The whole mess would be brought to a conclusion next month.

The cover-- NOT reprinted in CHRONICLES OF CONAN Vol.4-- was a nice one by Gil Kane & Ralph Reese. Looks to me like Reese should have been inking Kane a lot more often! No word balloons, only a title blurb at the bottom, though the logo area was cut off, slightly cramping the art. The half-naked girl cringing in front of the mirror, however, was NOT in the story. I doubt anyone complained!

HERO FOR HIRE #8 (Apr'73) -- "Crescendo!" Cage is pissed as he figures several incidents where would-be clients have been offed may be related. As some slick-looking dude tries to hire him, he sees one of the thugs who escaped earlier, and gives chase. Caught in an alley, the thug tries to knife Luke, but that don't work! The cries of a neighbor distracts him just enough for the thug to make his escape, while the woman tells her husband, "Oooh-- such a qviet, FRIENDLY schvartze boy-- you should have seen him, Julius! Vot a DOLL!" (I love this dialogue!) At the clinic, Luke gets Claire to mend his shirt, telling her, "Eyes on the work!" When she asks "Who was your seamstress this time LAST year?" he replies, "My BUTLER, I think." and kisses her. The slick dude returns and Cage finally takes his job when he's offered $200 to track down 4 men who stole some company secrets (at least, that's what the guy said). On tracking them down, he finds them armed with lazer guns-- and, it turns out they're really ROBOTS disguised as humans! Wanting more info, Cage tracks down his employer at the Latverian Embassy-- only to find the guy works for DR. DOOM! "C'mon, man-- NOBODY walks around with a TIN CAN on his face and jive name like THAT!" Doom asks, "Did you expect to gain SUPERHUMAN POWERS and stay within your LIMITED world of petty HOODLUMS and petty CRIMES?" With Doom's help, Cage locates the robots, and finds himself in a fight for his life. With no choice but to destroy his foes, Cage triumphs, but is pissed at being put in such a position. It only gets worse when he returns to the Empbassy, and finds Doom has left the country-- without paying his bill! "I'm COMIN' for you, Doom! SOMEHOW, SOMEWAY-- Luke Cage is gonna NAIL YOU TO THE WALL!"

And so, HERO FOR HIRE makes its first step into the rest of the Marvel Universe. Man, I love this book. Steve Englehart puts so much character in, some with the story, some with the dialogue. And I LOVE the art! George Tuska & Billy Graham make such a terrific team. The art is at once powerful, dynamic, and yet "cartoony"-- in a good, "Golden Age" kinda way. There's a few panels in this issue (including the splash page, pages 4 & 5) which contain even more shading than usual, and close insprection suggests it's zip-a-tone work. I can't be sure if that's Graham's work, or the colorist, Andrea Hunt (what a surprise to see colorists starting to get credited on the splash pages now!). Ond unusual thing about Graham's ink renderings, in a lot of cases it would seem obvious for there to be a 2nd color for shading, but there isn't-- and it works fine with a flat color. Anybody re-coloring this for a reprint ought to follow Graham's linework, though. I know I would!

I'll say it again-- this is HERO FOR HIRE at its PEAK. It's a shame the creative team on this book didn't stick around a LOT longer than they did. And, in general, I miss Billy Graham. He left us all way too soon.

And to think, I got this one as a back-issue for just 50 cents!

MARVEL TEAM-UP #8 (Apr'73) -- "The Man-Killer Moves At Midnight!" After attacking Spider-Man to prove she can handle herself (great incentive to team-up with her, huh?), The Cat asks his help to track down The Man-Killer, a powerful woman who murdered a politician in Chicago, and who she feels may "destroy all that women have fought for". Katrina Luisa Van Horn started out as an olympic skier-- until a rash act by a male egotist cost him his life, and her the use of her legs. "Rebuilt" by a radical militant group, she became a costumed criminal. Returning to the group's HQ, she winds up killing one of its leaders, who refuses to be pushed around by a woman! Spidey & the Cat wind up fighting with Man-Killer and the militant group who are trying to sabotage the city's power plant. Man-Killer's insane rage is shattered when The Cat reveals that the militants were backed by A.I.M.-- a group of MEN-- and her mind seems to just snap.

As usual with Gerry Conway, the story's no great shakes. THE highlight of this issue is the artwork of JIM MOONEY, who becomes the 3rd person to pencil this series. Mooney had already inked Ross Andru on MTU #2 & 7, but this was the first time Mooney pencilled Spider-Man since ASM #87 (Aug'70) and he's been missed. Mooney, a longtime DC Comics veteran, apparently didn't feel like plotting stories himself, which explains why John Romita was supplying the stories on those episodes, even on issues he didn't actually do pencils or layouts on. But by this point, most writers working for Marvel were following the "Marvel Method" in a far more honest way that Stan Lee tended to, actually doing their own WRITING, and supplying pencillers with detailed plots before-hand. As good as an inker as Mooney is, I much prefer when he's pencilling-- or doing full art, as here. I've always found it strange that in all the years he worked for Marvel, he did so little of his own pencilling.

This story came out in between THE CAT #3 & 4, making it the 4th of her 5 appearances as that character. Sadly, THE CAT was cancelled with the 4th issue, and Greer Nelson next appeared a year-and-a-half later in another identity-- Tigra The Were-Woman, in MARVEL CHILLERS #2 (Dec'75). Her Cat costume, however, did turn up with someone else using it, only 2 months later, in THE AVENGERS #144 (Feb'76).

The cover, apparently by John Romita & Jim Mooney (Mooney can be so over-powering at times it's hard to tell) is marred, on top of the general bad logo area design, by no less than 4 word balloons and a overly-wordy blurb, the anger & angst in the balloons' dialogue spewing from The Cat screaming to me that it's editor Roy Thomas' work. (He just can't have 2 heroes teaming up without the threat of one of them tearing the other apart barely concealed below the surface.)

THE DEFENDERS #5 (Apr'73) -- "World Without End?" The Valkyrie walks the streets of NYC, pondering how she only seems to exist because of The Enchantress, who has fled to another dimension. Attacked by hooded enemies of Dr. Strange, she fights them off before he comes to her aid. At his house, Valkyrie points out that Clea would like to see her gone, and Strange suggests she seek out Namor & The Hulk and "make peace with them". Namor, visiting his cousin, tells Val his needs are the opposite of hers-- as he desires no human contact outside of 'Nita & Betty Prentiss. But then he vanishes in a flash of light, and Val uses Doc's gems to guide her to the Hulk, 'Nita in tow. Hulk, who also wishes to be left alone, also vanishes-- and the trail leads to a strange lighthouse surrounded by an invisible barrier. Her magic sword managed to cut thru the barrier, and Val & 'Nita find themselves confronting The Omegatron, the huge computer built by the long-dead scientist Yandroth. Namor & The Hulk are under its control, and they attack-- until the computer announces the time has come to destroy the entire Earth, and changes form into a giant, robotic image of its creator. While The Omegatron was indestructible in its computer form, the robot proves otherwise. Hulk, still wanting to be left alone, leaps away-- but Namor says he feels differently now, and agrees to accompany Val back to Doc's house in New York.

After the Omegatron sub-plot was hanging in the background for all these months, it's a susprise to see it dealt with without Dr. Strange's help! I think this was the first time Namorita was drawn by anyone other than Bill Everett. Sal Buscema, inked by Frank McLaiughlin, does an average job on her. So far, the writing-- and art on this book have remained "average"-- not great, but not bad. (At least, if I ignore the way Sal draws The Hulk.)

The cover, which has the logo area blocked off (why do they do that?) is, as usual, marred by 3 word balloons, and I can just TELL it's Roy Thomas's work. "Your world is doomed--" "--when I SPEAK MY NAME!" "Then you'll NOT speak it, monster-- NOT EVER!" The blurb reads: "CRY: YANDROTH!" (It was becoming a bad habit for the title blurb to never match the actual story title...)

MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #9 (Apr'73) -- "The Snakes Crawl At Night.." As Snake-Dance watches, Ghost Rider plunges into Copperhead Canyon. Meanwhile, concern is rising that Johnny Blaze has diaappeared, and Roxanne figures he must have gone to the Canyon. Mr. Casey gets Sam Silvercloud to drive her out there, and en route, he begins telling her how his people are ready to fight the government for the land that was rightfully given them. At which point, he suddenly ties her up! (What IS it with this girl?) At the bottom of the canyon, GR faces Satan, who admits he's responsible for GR surviving the plunge-- and that due to his power, GR is incapable of dying-- until that moment Satan manages to obtain Johnny's soul for his own! A copter pilot gives Johnny a ride back to town. While the Indian tribe prepares Roxy for a ritual sacrifice, GR puts on the latest stunt-show. Mis-timing a jump because his mind's on the now-missing Roxy, he crashes and hits a wall, in full view of the stunned audience, who are even more stunned when he survives the crash! Spying Sam in the arena, he gets after him, and learns where Roxy is. In a more spectacular replay of the earlier scene at the Satanic Church (SPOTLIGHT #6), GR rescues Roxy from the sacrifice, but not before she suffers from snake-bites. GR races off with her, threatening vengeance if she dies. Sam asks, "The girl is CERTAIN to die! What will we do now, Snake-Dance? What?"

Another issue, another cliff-hanger... this series hasn't had a clean break at the end of an episode since the 1st story in SPOTLIGHT #5! Gary Friedrich's still here, but after 4 issues, Mike Ploog departed, replaced by Tom Sutton. Over on The Beast series in AMAZING ADVENTURES, Sutton suffered thru a different inker on ever episode he drew. The trend would continue here. After 1 issue inked by Ploog, 2 by Frank Chiaramonte, and 1 by Jim Mooney, Sutton's 1st episode wound up being inked by Chic Stone. Now, Stone's been a favorite of mine from the mid-60's. Nearly every book he inked during his year at Marvel back then was a classic-- especially when he was teamed with Jack Kirby. But in the 70's, Stone would often be teamed with pencillers whose styles were not such a good match. In this case, although his inks seem as good as usual, his style and Sutton's seem to really be clashing badly. My favorite inkers for Sutton on The Beast were Syd Shores & Jim Mooney. Someone else may have felt the same way, as both would wind up inking Sutton on GHOST RIDER before he left.

Ploog supplies another cool cover, which features the blurb "The Bride Of The Serpent God!" With all the other text on this thing, at least they kept it down to just 1 word balloon.

SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL #3 (Apr'73) -- "The Moon Of The Fear-Bulls!" Shanna fights & kills a crocodile, in "self-defense" (trying to save Patrick's life when he got trapped under a falling tree-limb). Later, a native tells her a cape buffalo has destroyed his village. She follows its trail and is almost killed by an elephant trap, before running into a strange tribe of primitive white men who speak an unknown language. Going with them, she learns they're descended from refugees of Crete, who fled deep into Africa to escape invading Norsemen. Their people worshipped the buffalo, but one day a fallen meteorite that glowed with a strange energy caused one of the buffalo to mutate and grow. At some point, the "bull-priest" seemed to become infected by the glowing and went mad-- before becoming a dictator and causing much violence & damage to their city. She learns the "priest" is really a deposed dictator from a West African country, who plan to use the "fear-bulls" to win back his former position of power. A battle breaks out, with the dictator's forces being overcome, but with both him and the rightful king dying in the process.

Another "average" issue. I suppose there was some potential here, but between Carol Sueling's writing, Ross Andru's pencils & Vince Colletta's inks, it just wasn't that impressive. John Buscema & Joe Sinnott supplied this issue's cover, and even THAT wasn't too hot. (The 4 word balloons didn't help, either.) It's like, somebody wanted to do a female "Tarzan"-- or an updated version of "Sheena"-- and they just didn't put enough thought, or work, or care into it. Of the 3 "women's" books that started about the same time, SHANNA is the only one that lasted 5 issues, and the only one (mostly due to her later appearances) that I managed to track down.

Some might say that "jungle" comics have had their day, but I don't believe that. Lately, I've been reading no less than 3 different runs of the TARZAN newspaper strip online-- dailies by John Celardo, and Sundays by Russ Manning and Gray Morrow. Both Sunday runs are INCREDIBLE, especially the Manning strips from the late 60's-early 70's, but even the Celardo strips are more inspired than the SHANNA comic-books. It's obvious you just need the "right" people on such a project, and at this point, Marvel didn't have them. One of the Manning TARZAN stories I've read had to do with a city whose occupants descended from refugees from Ancient Rome-- clearly an inspiration for this issue's story.

A few years back, Frank Cho (of the incredibly hilarious LIBERTY MEADOWS) did a new SHANNA mini-series which had much more exciting writing and ASTOUNDINGLY good art. Unfortunately, that "Shanna" had nothing to do with THIS one. And, it basically did a retread of JURASSIC PARK III, which I didn't care for much in the first place. I'm kind of surprised after all this time that nobody has actually bothered to do any kind of revival (or, God help us, "update") of SHEENA. (Apart from the 1984 Tanya Roberts movie, which by most accounts, was nearly-unwatchable.)

DOC SAVAGE #4 (Apr'73) -- "The Hell-Diver!" Doc battles the "Silver Death's-Head" gang, who've murdered a wealthy ship-builder, Commodore Winthrop, and kidnapped his secretary, Lorna Zane, along with 3 of Doc's aides-- Monk, Ham & Long Tom. With the "help" of Rapid Race & Hugh McCoy-- 2 obnoxious guys who are competing for Lorna's affections-- he rescues his friends, tackles members of the gang (who find Doc's vest is bullet-proof) and discovers the gang has interest on the waterfront. Back at the "Hidalgo Trading Company"-- Doc's warehouse-- they board The Hell-Diver, his own specially-designed submarine, and head into the East River. Before long, they encounter another sub, and find themselves engaged in an underwater frogman battle! Defeating the baddies, Doc unmasks the leader, Bedford Burgess Gardner-- who turns out not to really exist, as he was nothing but a disguise for the real villain, Hugh McCoy, who invented "Gardner" and pretended to work for him so if his schemes fell apart, the police would waste time searching for a non-existent criminal.

This was the 2nd half of an adaptation of "DEATH IN SILVER". Steve Englehart did a decent (if cramped) job on the adaptation, as did penciller Ross Andru. I'm finding I'm enjoying Andru's work on DOC SAVAGE more than I ever did on MARVEL TEAM-UP, SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL or AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, none of which he ever really seemed suited for. Aiding him immensely this time out is Tom Palmer, who adds so much "mood" to the look of things it's a joy to look at. Palmer also inked Gil Kane's cover, and it's SO GOOD I wish Kane & Palmer had teamed up a lot more often.

Reportedly, when DOC SAVAGE #1 was done, the intention was to "update" the stories to the present day, but by the 2nd issue this was abandoned in favor of setting the adaptations in the 1930's when they originally took place. This is certainly reflected this issue, with the cars, the fashions, various bits of technology, and for anyone who might be easily confused, mention on the splash page of "Action as you like it-- set in the 1930's". Doc's pointless (and buttonless) vest has been replaced with a bullet-proof one (with buttons) but he's still walking around without a SHIRT! That's just so tacky in a "1970's" way-- as if Monk's excessively-long hair.

One other sore point this time is page 17-- a fantastic full-page shot of the underwater battle-- where Steve Englehart fell into the "Stan Lee" trap of HAVING to plaster not one but TWO uncalled-for narrative blurbs praising the art, which only wind up getting in the way of the art. OY! (It would have made such a good pin-up, too...)

Of the 4 2-parters they did on this series, this was the only one that managed to have both halves done by the SAME creative team. It's a shame they couldn't manage to keep the same writer, penciller & artist on consistently, especially with only a bi-monthly schedule. I also feel it would have been better if they'd have had at LEAST 3 issues to adapt the novels, but to do that properly, the book should have been on a monthly schedule. (Then again, Don McGregor did a 13-part Black Panther serial in JUNGLE ACTION, which came out on a bi-monthly schedule. That must have been HELL for readers!!)