Professor H Reads Comics: May 1967

(Continued from April 1967)

Once again, NO reviews so far this month yet.

STRANGE TALES 156
cover by MARIE SEVERIN

"THE TRIBUNAL!"

Synopsis:
"Bronson" is set to take Laura to a medical facility (the one on the Heli-Carrier being damaged in the earlier battle) in the "Dyna-Soar", a brand-new aircraft whose design is based and improved upon from the captured HYDRA saucer. No sooner does he depart than Fury's quarters are blasted to bits, apparently killling him! "Bronson" changes course and heads for "Hydra Island", an artificial, futuristic, hi-tech fortress somewhere in the Pacific, then resumes his guise as Supreme Hydra. He then announces to the world that he's placed a "Death Spore" bomb onboard the Heli-Carrier, which will unleash a deadly plague upon the entire Earth and cannot be de-activated! Any country that surrenders within one hour will be spared its effects. He also plans to stage a fake "trial" for Laura, as an example to all who would defy him. Unknown to him, Fury is alive, having suspected Bronson from the start, and was hiding onboard the Dyna-Soar, in order to discover HYDRA's plans and the location of their base. But after taking on several HYDRA thugs, Fury is captured, and on awakening, discovers the true identity of the Supreme Hydra is none other than Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, his old enemy from WW2!!!

Indexer notes:
Part 7 of 9. See various issues of SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS for earlier appearances of Baron Strucker. 24 years had elapsed between Fury & Strucker's last meeting and this one. Shortly after this comic's publication, the 007 film YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE would reveal the identity of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s "Number One", Ernst Stavros Blofeld; Donald Pleasence's onscreen appearance, bald with an odd, monocle-shaped scar, is so similar to Strucker's it does not seem possible to be a coincidence!
(8-15-07)

"UMAR WALKS THE EARTH!"

Synopsis:
Umar arrives in NYC! The Ancient One sends Strange to a "world beyond all worlds", a "time beyond all time", to "the legendary Amphora", a large vase guarded by firey demons, in order to free Zom, a being so powerful he was imprisoned by Eternity himself. Umar destroys Strange's house, then forcibly summons The Ancient One directly thru the center of the Earth itself. Strange unleashes Zom, then goads him into pursueing him to Earth. The Ancient One lures Umar to Stonehenge, the very spot on which he defeated Dormammu in "the dim, half-forgotten past". For the 2nd time, Strange surprises Umar-- but this time, she flees for her life, back to The Dark Dimension, where Zom can never find her! Zom had been bound by "the chains of living bondage" by Dormammu (before Eternity imprisoned him), and so he seeks vengeance. But with Umar gone, he turns his anger against Strange & his mentor...

Indexer notes:
Part 10 of 22; part 6 of Umar sequence; part 1 of Zom sequence. Umar comes to Earth for 1st time.
(8-15-07)

FANTASTIC FOUR 62
cover by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia