NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD 3
cover by JIM STERANKO
Synopsis:
Murder on the moors brings Nick to investigate the death of an old army friend. He finds mystery, a trio of psychic detectives, a huge dog, and more than meets the eyes...
Indexer notes:
Tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound Of The Baskervilles", mixed with a bit of the John Lucarotti AVENGERS episode, "Castle De'ath". Parodied in NOT BRAND ECHH #11 (December 1968). Also pays tribute to Simon & Kirby's "The Phantom Hound Of Cardiff Moor" from CAPTAIN AMERICA #10 (January 1942), including the 2-page title spread. Mycroft based on Peter Cushing; Rampson based on Robert Urquhart; Angus based on Boris Karloff.
(2007)
This starts out with the most outrageous opening sequence yet, as, under a Scottish legend poem, a man is stalked on the moors-- followed by a 2-page spread with the title taking up all of page 2, and the man being attacked INSIDE the letters, which double as panels! After that, we find Fury in Scotland to visit an old army buddy who he finds has been murdered, an old castle, a group of suspects, legends, curses, a group of psychic investigators, a sword-wielding ghost, a glowing "hell-hound"-- and something else, hidden in a secret chamber of a stone tower. All in all, the issue serves as a tribute to the Sherlock Holmes story "The Hound Of The Baskervilles"; THE AVENGERS tv show episode "Castle D'Eath"; and, Simon & Kirby's CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS episode "The Phantom Hound Of Cardiff Moor" (from C.A. #10 / Jan'42). The latter tribute goes right down to the 2-page title spread with the multiple tiny panels, a design motif Steranko repeated to great extent in his adaptation of the movie OUTLAND.
Dan Adkins does some of the best inks ever for Steranko (outside of Joe Sinnott) and the look is, not surprisingly, uncannily similar to the later teaming of Paul Gulacy and Adkins on MASTER OF KUNG FU. The layouts, however, do get rather confusing, and exist more to dazzle the audience than anything else, almost at the complete expense of advancing the plot. This story, I think, would have greatly benefitted from being a 2-parter, with everything after the "revelation" near the end being one long action sequence. (But then, Moench & Gulacy wound up doing almost exactly that in MOKF #30-31.)
I actually read this story some 8 years after reading Arnold Drake & Frank Springer's take-off on it in NOT BRAND ECCH #11-- "Dark Moon Rise, Heck Hound Hurt!" --and I gotta say, perverse as it is, I prefer the "comedy" version! (To date, that's the only story from NBE to be reprinted anywhere.)
(5-23-2008)
DR. STRANGE 171
cover by DAN ADKINS
This has Doc transport Victoria Bentley from England to NYC, so she can aid him with a certain spell (given him by The Ancient One) to locate the long-missing Clea. Though disappointed he wasn't interested in HER, Victoria quickly agrees to help, and the two find themselves transported to another mysterious, utterly bizarre dimension, facing various perils, and finally confronting-- to Strange's horror-- The Dread Dormammu!
Tom Palmer makes his Marvel debut on this comic, and what might surprise longtime fans, it's as penciller, under Dan Adkins' inks. After quite a run of full Adkins art, I must admit, this issue's a bit of a come-down. It's "nice"-- it's just nowhere as spectacular and impressive as any of the previous Adkins-pencilled episodes have been. My impression from various interviews over the years, is that Adkins finally found it just too difficult to keep doing all those layouts (and, presumably, the plotting that went with them), and decided to "drop back" to just inks-- which no doubt explains how he was able to ink 4 COMICS in the same month! (I'm guessing he made more money doing this.)
Roy Thomas apparently admitted over the years that he had trouble coming up with material for the series as well, which may explain why his run so far has consisted of a retelling of the origin story, and the returns of 2 old villains-- Nightmare and Dormammu.
(5-23-2008)
FANTASTIC FOUR 77
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
This has some of the most spectacular Kirby-Sinnott art ever (which makes me wish I had the original comic instead of just the MGC reprint). The story follows 2 threads: the FF battle Psycho-Man in the micro-world, and the Surfer finds Galactus another planet to eat just before he was about to destroy the Earth.
Unfortunately... I found I was disappointed with BOTH endings. The FF beat Psycho-Man, then "force" him to transport them back home. THAT'S IT? All that trouble, and they let the guy go? Meanwhile, the Surfer finds Galactus a planet, then asks for his "freedom"-- but big G refuses, and drops the Surfer back down on Earth, so that he will "always" know where he is, when he needs him. GOOD GRIEF.
I figured the original reason for the Surfer's banishment on Earth was because he "broke" with his master. Now, we find, Galactus wants to be able to use his services anytime he wants-- "even though he may not return for millennia". This just feels-- SO-- WRONG. To me, the whole story felt like it was building up to the Surfer rejoining Galactus, and from now on, only leading him to uninhabited worlds. This situation not only makes Galactus seem petty, but also bordering on HELPLESS. He can't find worlds on his own??? Also, the part about "millenia" would suggest he only has to eat a planet once every how many hundreds or thousands of years. So how do we explain his turning up again at Earth about every 3 years???
It's pretty obvious to me this entire mess serves only one purpose-- the SILVER SURFER solo book, which debuted the SAME month as this episode.
(5-23-2008)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 5
cover by JOHN ROMITA
This has a nice John Romita cover which seems to pay tribute to THE TIME TUNNEL. Under that, Larry Lieber follows up the previous year's Annual (and the retold origin in SPECTACULAR #1) with this 40-pager that finally looks into the untold story of who Peter's mom & dad were. He finds an old newspaper clipping that tells how they died in a plane crash-- and were suspected of being traitors to the country! Shocked by this, he gets help from the FF and flies to the Middle East to track down anyone who can remember what happened from 20 years earlier. He uncovers a spy ring, run by The Red Skull (him again-- REALLY?) and the truth that his parents were actually working for the State Department as double-agents, and were framed as "traitors" when the truth about them was found out by the baddies. He breaks up the spy ring, and is overjoyed to find out he's "cleared" his parents' reputation... even if he doesn't actually have any hard evidence and never does anything with the knowledge.
Larry's art, inked by Mike Esposito (touch-ups by Romita) is a major step up from the previous year. All the same, something about this book feels "off". Somehow, it doesn't feel like it's part of the "real" Marvel Universe-- it's almost as if the Grantray-Lawrence SPIDER-MAN wandered into a comic-book by accident. Then there's the details-- like the airship he borrows from Reed Richards, which the dialogue describes as a "SHIELD prototype" Reed is testing for them, which is clearly the magnetic aircar given Reed by The Black Panther! Next we have The Red Skull-- no mention of his current antics in CAPTAIN AMERICA #101-104 with The Sleeper or The Island of the Exiles. And there's this thing about him running the spy ring for 20 years, and having done so "after the war". I'm sure someone else pointed this out before. Near as I can figure, the "Red Skull" in this comic is NOT the real one-- but is actually the one who appeared in the early-50's CAPTAIN AMERICA revival, who fought the "1950's Captain America", who later turned up in Steve Englehart's debut on that series. But there's no hint of that here! That was all figured out long after-the-fact.
I think the dialogue is the kicker here. Too much of this just DOES NOT feel like Marvel's "editor". I know Larry Lieber preferred doing things on his own-- plotting, pencilling, dialogue. Given "the Marvel Method", many pencillers contributed most or ALL of some plots. I suspect not only did Larry plot this book entirely on his own, he also DIALOGUED it as well. But the credits don't tell you that!
(5-23-2008)
Although this has a November cover date, it appears the best (if not only) place this fits in continuity, is in between ASM #62-63.
(9-8-2018)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 63
cover by JOHN ROMITA
This reveals The Vulture-- the REAL one-- is still alive! He busts his imposter out of prison, goes on for pages about how his anger & hatred gave him the renewed will to live, how he used Blackie's prison-break to cover his own, and how he's looking forward to his "revenge". Despite all this, "Blackie" is just TOO STUPID to realize what the guy's up to, and is convinced the old guy "needs" him, and therefore, HE's gonna be in charge, not the evil genius who created these anti-gravity wings. WRONG. The original Vulture beats "Blackie" within an inch of his life, and neither cares who gets hurt in the battle (not even a small child on a balcony who almost falls to his death before Spidey saves him). You know, the part I can't figure is, if the original Vulture SNUCK OUT of the prison infirmary and ESCAPED... how come it wasn't on the news? Did Romita and his editor expect us to believe NOBODY NOTICED???
But meanwhile... Gwen's still angry at Pete (and still in love with him), and Pete still can't bring himself to tell her the truth, and is now worried because her Dad has asked him to lunch. En route, Pete-- who injured his arm in a fall during the rain the night before-- sees the fight, and hopes the two baddles might "polish each other off". But a visit to The Bugle has JJJ dragging him to the rooftop to take pictures, which is how he happened to be there to save the endangered child. Unfortunately, it also drew his old enemy's attention-- and with "Blackie" back in the arms of the law, the still-injured Spidey now has to fight one of his oldest, and meanest, foes.
The usual job from John, Don, Mike and the regular clown in the office. I think both Pete & Gwen are stupid, and the one guy in the book at this point I really admire, Gwen's father, is someone I wish had stuck around a LOT longer.
(5-23-2008)
IRON MAN 4
cover by JOHNNY CRAIG
CAPTAIN AMERICA 104
cover by Jack Kirby & Dan Adkins
This starts out with Cap fighting some SHIELD L.M.D.s, then succumbing to a mysterious pain (in the neck). Seems either Kirby or his editor didn't tell us everything last issue. Not only did SHIELD not bomb Exile Island, but that "nuclear tape" is not a bomb itself, but electronically connected to an atomic bomb which The Red Skull planted in a major city-- then let the authorities know about it, because he's so confident there's NO WAY they can de-activate it! To prevent mass destruction and murder, The Skull forces Cap to return to Exile Island, where each of his morally-diseased comrades can have their own crack at him. Cap goes, knowing it's the only way to give SHIELD time to deactivate that a-bomb. He takes terrible punishment, and before the episode's over his costume begins to look like Doc Savage's. But The Skull waits too long-- and finds the bomb HAS been shut down! He and his followers FLEE the island just as SHIELD is storming the beaches (as if it were D-Day), leaving behind all their soldiers as if they meant nothing (well, these guys ARE Nazis, so...). Cap's free, the city's safe, Steve & Sharon are reunited-- but that Nazi BASTARD and his ilk are still on the loose! (Grrrrrrr.)
Syd Shores was MIA this time-- apparently inking Gene Colan's debut on "TALES OF THE WATCHER". I wish they hadn't done this-- I much prefer if they switch teams BETWEEN stories, not DURING one. Filling in is Dan Adkins-- who apparently has a LOT more time on his hands now that he's no longer plotting & pencilling DR. STRANGE. I'm not sure which team looks stranger to me-- Kirby-Shores or Kirby-Adkins. But one thing I'm sure of-- anyone who's a fan of Mike Royer's inks over Kirby should take a look at this issue. This may be the 1st time in the late 60's that fans got to see the "real" Kirby, completely unaltered!!!
(5-23-2008)
SILVER SURFER 1
cover by John Buscema & Joe Sinnott (and Frank Giacoia)
This is a 38-page epic detailing the past life of The Surfer, when he was a human known as "Norrin Radd", who lived on a highly-advanced planet where everyone had lost all ambition, since all life was too easy for them. Only he seems different, and longs for "adventure". He gets it when his planet is endangered by GALACTUS. When their only defense winds up destroying half their civilization but leaves big G's ship untouched, only Norrin Radd steps up to confront the alien menace single-handedly. When Galactus mentions "If I had a herald, someone to find me uninhabited planets..." Norrin takes the bait and volunteers his services. Of course, almost from one page to another, we jump ahead to the scene where he led big G to Earth, even KNOWING it was inhabited... which just seems it total violation of the spirit of that earlier story to me.
Legend has it, Jack Kirby was planning to reveal the Surfer's origin at the end of the Surfer-Galactus-Psycho-Man 4-parter, when to his shock, he found out John Buscema was pencilling the 1st issue of this book. Reportedly, it pissed him off so much, he refused to come up with any new ideas for "ye editor" to "steal" away from him any more. I know that over the years, "ye editor" has always talked about how "proud" he is of this series-- but it always seemed pretty depressing to me. Which may explain why it never generated the kind of sales "ye editor" hoped it would.
I have 2 reprints of this: SON OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, and ESSENTIAL SILVER SURFER. The 1st is in color, but it's very obvious the linework reproduction is much better in the ESSENTIAL book. Unfortunately, that doesn't have the back-up story, which SOOOMC does. (Still reading that one.... next time!)
(5-23-2008)
"THE WONDER OF THE WATCHER!"
This has a re-telling of The Watcher's origin (previously told in TALES OF SUSPENSE #53-- I think). His people are so advanced they feel they can do anything, and some of them want to help other races also achieve great heights-- partly to help, but partly so their own praises will be sung. They find a planet they offer unlimited atomic energy to, help them develop it, then set off to see more of the universe. On their way home, they stop back at the planet they "helped"... only to find it a ruined shambles, having been destroyed in an atomic war, first among its own people, then with another planet they tried to wipe out before THEY could wipe THEM out first. Sheesh. The few survivors curse the aliens who brought this on them before they were ready for it, and The Watcher's people decided it would NEVER happen again, and they spend the rest of eternity apart from other races, only watching, never interfering (well, most of the time... heh).
Gene Colan did a spectacular job on this, as did inker Syd Shores, who really has a great feel for Colan's pencils. Shores was Colan's "mentor" when he first started in the biz, and it's fitting that they should be teamed here. There's a lot of inkers from the Golden Age with similar styles, very intricate, ornate fine lines (Everett, Shores, Heck, Colletta) and Shores seems to be one of the best matches for Colan yet seen. I do wish the scheduling of this hadn't meant that Shores should jump off of CAPTAIN AMERICA one episode before the end of a 4-parter where he inked the other 3 episodes. I also wish I had the original of this, as the reprint in SON OF ORIGINS lost a lot of the fine detail.
This story-- apparently-- may have served as the inspiration for part of the DOCTOR WHO story "UNDERWORLD" which revealed WHY the Time Lords also have a standard "non-interference" policy, as they, too, once "helped" a less civilized planet and it led to the destruction of an entire planet.
Next issue, we're promised a revival of the Tales Of The Watcher series.
(5-30-2008)
SUB-MARINER 4
cover by John Buscema & Frank Giacoia
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 106
cover by Marie Severin & Frank Giacoia
CAPTAIN MARVEL 4
cover by Gene Colan & Vince Colletta
This has CM soliloquizing as if he were Hamlet, dealing with the assistant motel manager "Hal" (who bears a suspicious resemblance to DC's Hal Jordan), then watch a missile launch containing some bacterialogical warfare experiments. Yon-Rogg deliberately sets the missile off-course so it crashes near NYC, then orders CM to not let anyone interfere, as he wishes to see how Earthmen can cope with having an entire city of people wiped out (THE BASTARD!!!).
It gets real complicated here... over in his own book, Sub-Mariner has been fighting this villain named Destiny, and now, Namor has had a change of heart about surface-men, wants help from the Fantastic Four, and in the process, hopes to "prove" he wants peace, not war. When he learns of the missile, he figures to save NYC, thus saving the FF (who he needs help from), and prove what a good guy he is. But under orders, CM is forced to attack Namor-- even though he really wants to save NYC as well! (Could anyone but Roy Thomas have concocted such a mess?) In the end, the city's saved, Namor's pissed, and CM may be branded a traitor-- even though, to the "humans", it looks like Namor was the baddie and HE was the "hero". Oy.
The Colan-Colletta team's okay this time, though the "action" pages are much better rendered than the "soap-opera" pages. Maybe Vince was as bored by them as I was? Inexplicably, ALL 3 members of the creative team would depart after this issue. Is that any way to get a still-new series going?
(05/30/08)
“THE ALIEN AND THE AMPHIBIAN!” (Thomas / Colan / Colletta)
Roy really got on my nerves with this episode. Mar-Vell spents the first 2 pages acting like Hamlet, bemoaning his current situation, then wastes a page-and-a-half chatting with the motel manager’s nephew Hal (who resembles Hal Jordan—is this shameless referencing of other comics never to end?). This is followed by a page of flashbacks, and a page of awkward dialogue with a cab driver. At the missile base, more time is wasted with Carol being suspicious of Lawson. Things don’t even start to get interesting until page 7, when we see Prince Namor swimming underwater, which gives Roy a chance to catch readers up on recent events in SUB-MARINER. Any editor on-the-ball would have cut the first 6 pages of this thing! Guess Marvel's "editor" was over-worked and under-manned as usual.
The REAL story starts on page 8, where deadly bacteria is about to be rocketed into space as an experiment. Unless my eyes deceive me, the scientist working on the project is Gene himself, giving himself a cameo in the comic! For the 2nd time in 6 issues, a missile goes off-course, this time thanks to Yon-Rogg, who’s decided to perform an experiment of his own, to gauge human susceptibility to germ warfare, and gotten his superiors’ permission to carry it out. (Perhaps he was getting BORED orbiting in that ship up there?)
Namor seeks the help of the F.F. in NYC to find a baddie plaguing him in his own book. When he finds out about the bacteria, he decides finding it will save NY, and the F.F., and help prove he wants to make peace with the surface again. Mar-Vell wants to find the bacteria as well, but gets a secret message from Yon-Rogg that “no one” must interfere with its release! And thereby sets up the latest—and lamest—“hero vs. hero” battle in the Marvel Universe yet! Mar-Vell WANTS Namor to save NYC, but has to make it LOOK like he’s fighting him so his C.O. won’t get suspicious. Considering this is the SAME C.O. who’s been trying to kill him, should he even care by this point?
Colletta’s inks vary greatly in quality. The splash page is terrific, but the first half of the book is awful. It gets much better when the fight starts, suggesting Vince found the earlier sequence as BORING as I did!
The last panel sums it up. “How ironic that-- in the eyes of any who WITNESSED the struggle—I’ll seem the HERO—and Namor, the would-be KILLER! It’s almost a joke! To the EARTHMEN, Captain Marvel is a HERO-- to his merciless fellow KREE, an expendable SECRET AGENT--! And, to HIMSELF… perhaps the most tormented being in two far-flung GALAXIES--!” After awful dialogue like that-- you’d never believe, it got MUCH WORSE after this!
Fred didn’t have this one, nor did Fat Jack’s in Philly. It being a crossover with Sub-Mariner probably led to it being harder to find than the rest. But my friend Mitch had it, and sold me his copy for $7.50.
Be here NEXT time… for the REST of the story!
(KLORDNY article / 11-6-2003)
THOR 155
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
This has every Asgardian worried about "Ragnarok"-- the end of all things-- and it seems The Mangog is the gonna be the cause of it. Thor gets Sif out of the hospital, and the pair return home, only to find Loki on the throne. He's already sent Fandral, Hogun & Volstagg to face the menace, now it's Thor's turn, though he urges his beloved to stay behind and guard The Odinsword-- which appears to be Mangog's target. (In the past, legend had it, if The Odinsword were drawn, it would be a sign that the end of the universe was at hand. Somehow, in this story, this has been re-interpreted to mean that if you DRAW it, that will CAUSE the end of the universe. I'm not sure that's what Jack Kirby had in mind when he introduced the thing many issues earlier.)
An entire outpost is wiped out, but not before a fierce battle, during which it seems Asgard's weaponry is a bit more "modern" than one might think. By the time Thor arrives, all is in ruins, and he finds his 3 friends trapped under a rock cage. As he tries to free them, he's suddenly grabbed by the Mangog. HOLY S***!!!
The art, as usual, is MAGNIFICENT. Vince Colletta's on a real "slick" kick here, and someone on the letters page actually accuses him of trying to be "Joe Sinnott". I dunno, whatever's going on, it looks GREAT. I have 3 printings of this-- the ESSENTIAL book, the TREASURY EDITION, and the original comic!
(5-30-2008)
THE AVENGERS 55
cover by John Buscema & George Roussos
This has the new Masters Of Evil discover that Jarvis is only a stooge-- it's really the robot, Ultron-5, who's behind everything. It plans to blackmail NYC with nuclear destruction (man, who'd wanna live in NYC in the Marvel Universe??) and kill the heroes after, which somewhat frustrates the other villains. The Black Knight steps in to the rescue, frees the heroes, big fight erupts, but both Whirlwind & Ultron-5 escape. The heroes still don't realize their rescuer is NOT the villain who was a MoE member way back, but no longer view him as a threat and he goes on his way. In a very contrived scene, Jarvis "explains" his motivations, and The Wasp forgives him. She's really getting WAY too lenient with this kind of thing, isn't she?
Longtime SUPERMAN and LEGION inker George Klein makes his return to Marvel this issue (unseen since FF #1-2), and while George Tuska had been doing a bang-up job on the inks, if anything, Klein over Buscema is even BETTER! This may be the BEST John Buscema's art has ever looked up to this point. That's one thing I really notice about this period-- if the writing at Marvel, overall, was really slipping, the art from this period is some of the BEST, ever.
Tuska took over the pencils on IRON MAN this month (with issue #5), and I don't believe he ever inked for Marvel again. Too bad, he was really good at it!
(5-30-2008)
DAREDEVIL 43
cover by Gene Colan (rejected)
Matt is heartbroken. It seems now that Foggy has Debbie Harris in his life, Karen is frustrated that Matt refuses to acknowledge that he loves her as much as she loves him-- and has decided to leave the firm, "forever" (oh brother). Working out in his private gym and swinging over the city doesn't seem to help, until he stops a robbery involving medical radioactive isotopes... which, because of the way he got his radar-sense super-power, affects his mind... It seems Captain America is participating in an "exhibition" for charity at Madison Square Garden, and just as the first contender is entering the ring, DD shows up, stomps the guy, then visciously attacks Cap! At first, Cap thinks it's a joke-- then maybe this guy's an imposter-- but once he figures it isn't he's wondering what the heck's going on? The fight goes on and on, getting more brutal, until it moves out into the streets, at which point the effects of the isotope wear off, and DD is suddenly wondering what the HELL he's doing there? He skips, and Cap, trying to be diplomatic, figures "He must have had his reasons", then tells onlookers "They wanted a fight-- they GOT one!" Overall, one more dumb excuse to have 2 heroes bashing each other.
The highlight of this issue, of course, is Gene Colan's art. He's really at home on this book, especially with DD in costume, swinging, jumping, fighting. Vince Colletta begins a run on the book as inker, and so far his work is TERRIFIC! I'm guessing that he switched from CM to DD, though I wonder what all this "musical artists" is about.
(5-30-2008)
X-MEN 47
cover by Don Heck & John Tartaglione
"I, THE ICEMAN"
(Continued in September 1968)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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