STRANGE TALES 161
cover by JIM STERANKO
Synopsis:
At the Baxter Building, Reed Richards & Ben Grimm save Cap from falling to his death. Fury barely saves himself by catching onto the Statue's crown. Reed creates an "Electro-Amplifier Rifle" to overcome the invaders, and sends Ben in an experimental saucer to the Clay Substation near Syracuse to tap into its power. Fury tries to destroy the Id-Paralyzer (which is shaped like a giant scorpion), but is overcome and tossed into the bay. Cap arrives just in time to save him, and Reed's weapon activates just in time to stop the invaders, cutting off all power on the East Coast in the process. Fury then blows up the Id-Paralyzer. Back in the present, Jimmy Woo tells Fury he believes the man behind it all was The Yellow Claw. In a hidden, underground base, The Yellow Claw, his niece Suwan & his ally Von Voltzmann eavesdrop on the conversation, as The Claw speaks of his "infallable" scheme-- "The Second Doom".
Indexer notes:
Part 3 of 9. ("Project: Blackout! Part II"). Yellow Claw, Suwan & Von Voltzmann's previous appearance in THE YELLOW CLAW #4 (April 1957). Flashback apparently takes place between STRANGE TALES #145-146, TALES OF SUSPENSE #78-79 and FANTASTIC FOUR #51-52 (all cover-dated June-July 1966). Though none could have realized it, the name of The Claw's plan was a clue to the truth behind the entire story. The Yellow Claw's new metal skull-cap is identical to the one worn by the villain "Ironhead" (Tom Reese) in the Matt Helm film MURDERERS' ROW (1966).
(8-15-2007)
"AND A SCOURGE SHALL COME UPON YOU!"
Synopsis:
Mordo exiles Strange to "The World Of the Million Perils", then sets about restoring some of the magic to his new coven. Lost in some distant galaxy (a real change from the usual other dimension), Strange suffers temporary memory loss, then faces a nameless beast within a hollow sphere. He senses some intelligent force is controlling all that goes on around him. Back on Earth, Victoria Bentley, freed of the evil, remembers how Strange saved her life in the past, and realizes what a menace Mordo is. But just then, she finds herself being hurled between worlds, wondering if it's Mordo's doing. Strange hears a cry for help, and discovers Victoria-- being menaced by a gigantic ant! After saving her, the two face Nebulos, "Lord of the Planets Perilous", a bizarre alien creature, who claims they are part of some "sublime plan" of his...
Indexer notes:
Part 15 of 22; part 4 of the Living Tribunal sequence. Between Jim Steranko & Dan Adkins, both series in STRANGE TALES now have artists partly inspired by Wally Wood. Several panels based closely on Steve Ditko panels. 1st appearance of Nebulos.
(8-15-2007)
"THE SECOND DOOM"
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???)
(5-15-2008)
"AND A SCOURGE SHALL COME UPON YOU!"
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.
(5-15-2008)
"THE SECOND DOOM"
Oh, god. This is the REAL mess. Whether the whole thing comes across disjointed, or the dialogue seems stilted, or the art artwork seems stiff, is completely irrelevent. I was never quite sure what to make of this thing... until I read an article written by J. David Spurlock, in which it was revealed that, when Jim Steranko wrote this, it was NOT supposed to be a FLASHBACK. My initial reaction to learning this, of course, was... "WHAT?????"
There is SO much in this story that would make perfect sense, if it wasn't. There is SO MUCH in this story that DOESN'T make sense, if it is. Just for example... Fury in a tight jumpsuit. And not the black one he wore when he infiltrated Hydra Island (of which a big deal was made that he'd never worn an outfit quite like that one before). This one was orange-- and it was INSULATED against electric shocks, which, the one he wore on Hydra Island WASN'T. You upgrade your equipment, you don't DOWNGRADE it. And then there was the E.S.P. Division, which had been destroyed at a certain point, but was up-and-running here. And there was Nick Fury teaming up with Captain America. The ONLY possible way for this to make sense as a flashback, would be if it took place DIRECTLY after the episode where Fury & Cap fought the A.I.M. android in Avengers Mansion. And that's the kind of "cram it in between these 2 panels" kind of continuity that became a nightmare in the 70s.
It's clear this was turned into a flashback AFTER the entire episode had already been written & illustrated. WHY was this done? I can just picture it. It's that spectre known as "EDITORIAL INTERFERENCE". Somebody got a "cute" idea (NOT!!!!!). Set the entire series of events during the 1965 NYC blackiout, in fact, let's have this story "explain" how that blackout happened. But the problem is, apart from the extreme continuity problems doing this CAUSED (because obviously, it was done after-the-fact, rather than PLANNED OUT IN ADVANCE to do such a thing) the story's "connection" to the 1965 NYC blackout is slim bordering on non-existent. In fact, it only crops up in ONE-- SINGLE-- block of narrative text, on that full-page spread near the end. A block of text which is SO jumbled, SO confusing, SO difficult to follow, that's it's one of the worst examples of "bad writing" I've ever seen. Or bad EDITING. Or both.
The kicker, as it happens, came quite recently. I ran across a design sketch that Wally Wood had done for DAREDEVIL for a character he'd never got around to using, and it struck me that it looked an awful lot like the "mysterious soldiers" who turned up in Steranko's 2-part "Project Blackout" story. I didn't think much of it at first, because I knew most of Wood's ideas wound up getting used in various books, and I knew Steranko was a huge Wood fan (as well as being a fan of Kirby and Eisner). But recently, looking back over that sketch, I noticed something that had completely escaped me before. The name of that character Wood came up with was... "BLACKOUT". I can imagine how fitting it would be to have a DD villain who would cause the entire city to be plunged into darkness, where only a BLIND man could operate. But in this case... it suddenly became even more obvious to me. Steranko WAS using Wood's villain. His editor saw it, and THAT-- MUST be where the idea to tie it in with the 1965 NYC blackout came from.
I can just picture in my mind how this happened...
"Hey, JIM! I've got a GREAT idea!!!!"
"CHRIST, Stan-- what the HELL is it NOW???"
Some "editors" should just stay the F*** away from some people's work, and let them do their damn jobs.
And people wonder why Jim Steranko left comics after such a short time.
(4-20-2015)
"AND A SCOURGE SHALL COME UPON YOU!"
It matters not who fills in the word balloons. It's no wonder Raymond Marais, Jim "007" Lawrence, and Denny O'Neil didn't stick around long. After all, DAN ADKINS was actually getting credited for the stories. Which makes perfect sense, as outside of comics, he was mostly a SCIENCE-FICTION artist. What's a sci-fi guy doing on DR. STRANGE? That's a good question.
Adkins was also a longtime Wally Wood assistant / protoge. And Wood was known for having said, NEVER draw what you can swipe. Illustrators do it all the time. Mac Raboy (CAPTAIN MARVEL JR., FLASH GORDON) did it all the time. Why Dan Adkins should get called to the carpet for it-- and CONTINUE to get bad-mouthed for it, decades later-- is a bit of a mystery.
Personally, my own theory has to do with the very fact that he WAS getting credited (AND THEREFORE, PAID!!!) for WRITING. He was rocking the boat. In 60s Marvel, it was mostly REQUIRED for "artists" to do their own writing. They just weren't getting credit or pay for it. (This goes for anytime "ye editor" was involved. When he WASN'T doing dialogue, all of a sudden, the REAL writers could actually get paid for work they were already doing. This is also EXACTLY how Jim Steranko was able to start doing his own dialogue. He probably objected to that ONE episode where Roy Thomas wrote dialogue, but got paid for HIS story.)
(4-25-2015)
FANTASTIC FOUR 67
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
After his "editor" totally screwed over his story in the previous episode, writer Jack Kirby threw his hands up and cut an intended 4-parter down to 2 parts. It may look nice, but the published comic makes nearly no sense. And while some fans complained about how the following 4 issues were a "retread" of previously-done stories, they probably didn't realize the motivating force was of a guy ANGRY AS HELL at his "boss".
(4-23-2015)
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 "ye editor"s dialogue that got Kirby 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... OY.
(5-15-2008)
“WHEN OPENS THE COCOON!”
Ah, the contentious tale. "For those who came in late..." (as Lee Falk used to say when starting a new PHANTOM story in the papers), Jack Kirby had been doing quite a few 4-parters, and apparently felt quite comfortable with that length (kinda like the bulk of Tom Baker's run on DOCTOR WHO). By the looks of it, he was planning another one right here. He'd heard about Steve Ditko's OBSESSION with Ayn Rand's "Objectivism" business, and decided he wanted to write a story in which he totally DEBUNKED it.
But Kirby's "editor" DIDN'T understand it. AT ALL. It's like when Arkoff & Nicholson went over to Roger Corman while he was making "THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER" and, utterly confused, asked him, "WHERE'S THE MONSTER?" Corman, thinking quickly, told them... "The HOUSE-- is the monster." And then he included a line in the script, which Vincent Price told him "This doesn't make any sense!" about the house being "alive", which Corman assured him, "That line-- allows us to MAKE the picture."
Unfortunately, Kirby did not have this kind of control, seeing as he was working with a pathological Hollywood-style "script doctor" who INSISTED on making changes to whatever he was doing AFTER-THE-FACT, and always, EVERY TIME, for the worse. In this case, the "editor" completely MURDERED the intent of Part 1, which got Kirby so DISGUSTED, he ended things with Part 2.
And then, he spent the next 4 issues doing what was probably the greatest "grudge match" in all of 60's Marvel. Which I never noticed (until James Robert Smith pointed it out to me), involved Ben trying to MURDER HIS BOSS. Tells you a lot about how Kirby felt, doesn't it?
By the way... if you wanna see what the 2nd HALF of this intended 4-parter was supposed to be like... check out the SEQUEL in THOR #165-166 (Jun-Jul'69). And as you read, just substitute, in your mind, BEN for Thor, and ALICIA for Sif. It makes MUCH more sense that way. NO S***.
(3-3-2014)
TALES TO ASTONISH 96
cover by DAN ADKINS
"Hulk is not really the main character of this story"
This became the normal state of affairs beginning with the period when Marie Severin started writing the series. In modern terms, the Hulk's "character arc" ENDED with the 3 John Buscema episodes, where he finished off Jack Kirby's "big story" that had been going since HULK #1. Gil Kane's excessively nasty & violent 4 episodes were an uncalled-for interlude clearly designed to overturn what could otherwise have been a "happy ending", so that instead, we would get an endless, ongoing series of meaningless encounters with bad guys and monsters. NOTHING of any real improtance happened in the series from here on out. It was just "there".
We'll never really know how interesting HULK could have been back then, because Kirby's "editor" was quite relentless in destroying the character's personality via his lame-A** dialogue, dumbing him down to the point where it just becomes impossible to give a S*** about the guy. Typical "Hollywood" behavior (think Dr. Watson, Tarzan, Frankenstein). Examples of Kirby's liner notes that have turned up show a LOT more going on in that green head, but unfortunately, almost none of it made it into the published books. A real crime against "art", and writing.
(5-15-2015)
"SOMEWHERE STANDS... SKULL ISLAND!"
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?
(5-15-2008)
"WHAT HAVE I CREATED?"
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...)
(5-15-2008)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 53
cover by JOHN ROMITA
This issue shows "ye editor"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 "ye editor"s orders, Romita 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?
(5-15-2008)
"ENTER: DR. OCTOPUS"
The beginning of the end (okay, maybe that's premature but hear me out). Here begins a 4-parter that has John Romita (the "real" one) at the PEAK of his game. The art is FANTASTIC, and it's only a shame that to this day nobody outside of Romita himself wants to say that HE was writing the stories himself. Spidey's NUMBER ONE arch-enemy returns, more dangerous and maniacal than ever. Does it bother anybody that Norman Osborn, who was a rotten crook from day one, got sympathy, just because he picked up a case of amnesia, while Otto Octavius, who started out a decent man, gets NONE, since that accident turned him CRIMINALLY INSANE???
This story was adapted as the 2nd Doc Ock cartoon on the 1967 SPIDER-MAN show, "The Terrible Triumph Of Dr. Octopus". The cartoon goes up to the climax of this issue, where Spidey is almost (!!!) caught in a bomb-blast trap meant for him... then, goes off in a completely different (and sadly, disappointing) direction. The cartoon turned the "Nullifier" (an interesting idea for a gadget) into a mere bomb, and the highlight of the tv version was when Ock holds it out the window and threatens to DROP it on the city-- and Spidey says, "He's JUST the guy to do it!!"
Meanwhile... the destruction of Gwen Stacy continues right here. When she was first introdeuced, her creator, Steve Ditko, had her as a somewhat severe-looking, strong-willed, conceited, self-serving B****. I never liked her. It was only after I watched the Howard Hawks version of "THE BIG SLEEP" about 8 or 9 times that I suddenly realized that Gwen, very likely, was based on "Vivian Rutledge" in that film, played by Lauren Bacall. I never liked HER, either. But she WAS an interesting character. Given time, I feel sure Ditko could have shown Gwen to be an "interesting", if not always likable, person.
But once Ditko left, all that went OUT the window. Overnight, Gwen (and Harry, and to a lesser extent, Flash) had their personalities CHANGED. They became nicer, less UNLIKABLE people. It wasn't a slow, natural evolution brought on by events in a series of stories. It was all at once. Because, while Romita had the job of WRITING the book, his "back-seat driver" editor kept telling him what to change. You see, he was married to a BOSSY blonde. And he wanted Pete and the blonde (Gwen) together. It didn't matter if it didn't make sense for the characters. That was easy. CHANGE the characters. He told Romita to "make Gwen nicer." So he did. At least she still LOOKED the same... for the most part.
But a year later, he told Romita "make Gwen PRETTIER". So... he DID. By the time Jim Mooney came along (in SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #1), Gwen almost started to look like she'd have fit in an ARCHIE comic.
Another problem with this story is, while it was a 4-parter, it didn't END there. Part 4 ended on a cliffhanger. The issue after that also ended on a cliffhanger. And the issue after THAT, also ended on a cliffhanger!!! To make things worse, there were several other stories that should have easily fit between stories, but instead, fanatical fans have had to figure out WHICH PANELS of WHICH ISSUES they could possibly fit between, all because the "continuity" got TOO TIGHT, and yet TOO SLOPPY at the same time.
Anyway, anyone coming into this should enjoy it while they can. JOHN ROMITA did full pencils for all 4 chapters. After that... he was pulled away for other things, and had to cut back to "layouts" and "touch-ups". What a crime. But, no less than NOT crediting Romita for the writing he was doing.
I guess in his case it didn't hurt as much as it did for Jack Kirby...since Romita was collecting a FULL SALARY for being in the office 40 hours a week.
(4-24-2015)
TALES OF SUSPENSE 94
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
"THE TRAGEDY AND THE TRIUMPH!"
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.
(5-15-2008)
"IF THIS BE... MODOK!"
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.)
(5-15-2008)
THOR 145
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
Not long after the Troll war and a relative "good" period between Thor & Odin, this thing comes along. Odin, PISSED beyond all belief at having his rule of Asgard challenged by The Enchanters, lets it be known to all Asgard how he can be merciful-- but also how he can be VENGEANCE personified!!! And at that moment, when he calls his warriors home from Earth, Thor has the temerity (stupidity?) to wanna argue. GEEZ. So OF COURSE, instead of the 3 of them (Thor, Sif, Balder) being "Abandoned On Earth" (as the title and "next issue" bit the previous month would have had us believe), instead, ONLY Thor is "abandoned". THIS is what he gets for putting his life at risk? This is what he gets for a momentary slip of the tongue? OY.
Some of my least-favorite Kirby baddies turn up-- AGAIN!!!-- in the form of the Ringmaster and his Circus Of Crime. Did Kirby (or his "editor") have some special love for the circus of something, to keep using them so often? What a pack of losers! Wouldn't you think they'd have criminal records miles long by now and be forced by law enforcement authorities to either be spending long terms in jail, or finding some other profession by now? Also, has anybody ever established one way or the other if this guy is the SAME villain Cap fought back in 1941-- or maybe that guy's son or something? (Same face, same outfit, same M.O.-- I mean, come on!)
Sadly, TALES OF ASGARD reaches "THE END!". This last epic would make a great stand-alone movie, in the tradition of Harryhausen's SINBAD flicks.
(5-16-2008)
THE AVENGERS 45
cover by John Buscema & Vince Colletta
"BLITZKRIEG IN CENTRAL PARK!"
I thing this issue may have been the birth of INFINITY INC. Half the book, everybody just stands around and talks and talks and... geez. They also seem to be playing musical inkers around here. Vince Colletta got on AVENGERS, while George Roussos got on X-MEN. Dan Adkins got on Iron Man, while Frank Giacoia did F.F. ANNUAL #5 and Nick Fury, and Joe Sinnott did Captain America. Was there something funny going on to cause all this?
(5-16-2008)
DAREDEVIL 33
cover by Gene Colan & John Tartaglione
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.
(5-15-2005)
X-MEN 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".
(5-15-2008)
GHOST RIDER 6
cover by Dick Ayers & Vince Colletta
"??"
(Continued in November 1967)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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