NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD 1
cover by JIM STERANKO
Synopsis:
Fury sneaks into an island fortress, only to get shot in the back. Surprise! It's an L.M.D., and the shooter is the real Fury! But on examination, Dugan informs Fury the L.M.D.'s been shot 4 times, not 3-- which means, someone tried to assassinate him! The only clue is a tiny badge with a "Scorpio" symbol on it. In San Francisco, comic Flip Mason's on the run from gambling debts. In Kansas City, racketter Mitch Hackett looks forward to joining the mob. In NYC, Fury & Val walk in the rain. At the Monza Autodrome, Count Julio Scarlotti wins a race-- and we see he has a Scorpio tattoo on his wrist. Days later in Nevada, Fury helps test an "EPB G-System" (Entrope Phase Barrier Guard System), a force field which is hoped may one day protect entire armies. As SHIELD prepares one final test (with an H-Bomb!) we see the tech firing the missile has a Scorpio tattoo on his wrist. Fury suddenly realizes the EPB's down, and nobody answers his comm. He races across the desert to a rocket sled used by NASA to escape as the missile descends on the spot he was relaxing. At the U.S. Government Research Center in Las Vegas, everyone's been put to sleep with gas by Scorpio-- when Fury arrives via motorcycle! As the hooded villain speaks of vengeance and "The Parable Of Doom", Fury wonders who the HELL this guy is? Nearby, a mobster mistakes Mason for Hackett and gives him a suitcase of money. Mason takes it, thinking all his problems are gone! Hackett arrives wondering where his suitcase is (not realizing it actually contains a time-bomb), and a gunfight erupts. The two fights intersect paths, and Hackett winds up shooting Scorpio's escape craft, causing it to go up in an explosive fireball, of which Val says, "No one could live through that!" As Mason is about to call his wife, the bomb goes off.
Indexer notes:
Mystery continues in NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #5 (October 1968). Scorpio's mention of "The Parable Of Doom" seems to suggest a connection with Baron Strucker (see STRANGE TALES #156 / May 1967). However, neither Jim Steranko or Roy Thomas followed up on this obvious clue.
(2007)
DR. STRANGE 169
cover by DAN ADKINS
Marvel's editor seemed obsessed with characters having to have origin stories. I have the strongest feeling that Steve Ditko was never interested in even doing one for Dr. Strange, and only did one after 9 other episodes had been created, on the direction of his editor. Some of the details of that story, I've been told, were swiped from Jack Kirby's origin of the earlier Dr. Droom. But those details parallel those of the even earlier origin of Mandrake The Magician, as well as elements of the even earlier Frank Capra film, "LOST HORIZON" (1937). In any case, Ditko never referenced the origin story again in his entire run on his character, but later writers seem obsessed by that ONE story, perhaps because its creation was the ONE thing in Ditko's run that he had the least interest in, and which went against the grain for the character Ditko was writing!
Nobody in Marvel history has ever been more obsessed with origin stories, however, than Golden Age fanboy Roy Thomas. While Thomas did a brief stint writing dialogue over Ditko's stories in STRANGE TALES #143-144 (April-May 1966), he didn't get around to actually writing his own Dr. Strange stories until THIS issue... which, perhaps due to editorial pressure, or perhaps just because it's what turns him on the most, is an expanded RE-TELLING of the origin story from STRANGE TALES #115 (December 1963).
For the previous year, Dan Adkins had been writing the stories on the series, while others did the dialogue. Here, presumably, he steps back a bit, and we have an early example of what most consider "The Marvel Method"-- a "writer" supplying a loose or detailed plot, an "artist" expanding said story at the art stage, and the "writer" coming back to do dialogue. With the recent expansion of the line, particularly having 3 split books split up into 6 solo books-- most of them were doing origin retellings. Of all of them, I rank THIS as the finest. If you're going to redo a classic story, this is the way to do it.
Adkins' art had been nothing short of spectacular over his entire Dr. Strange run, and with 20 pages instead of 11 (or, in this case, the 8 that Ditko used), the trend continues.
(9-4-2018)
FANTASTIC FOUR 75
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 61
cover by John Romita & Don Heck
IRON MAN 2
cover by JOHNNY CRAIG
CAPTAIN AMERICA 102
cover by Jack Kirby & Syd Shores
SUB-MARINER 2
cover by John Buscema & Joe Giella
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 104
cover bv Marie Severin & Frank Giacoia
Here's a neat trick... I'm writing a review of a book I've NEVER read. But, what the hey. A certain "editor" never read the books he was WRITING, so maybe we're even. Following a generic space alien, this issue drags in an existing villain. But not a HULK villain. In fact, not any Jack Kirby villain at all. NO! This time, it's a JOHN ROMITA villain-- from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!
You know, it's one thing to have characters-- heroes-- and even villains-- turn up in each other's books. But this was an example of ONE hero's rogues gallery being raided, and the villain SWITCHING heroes, on a more-or-less permanent basis. The Rhino debuted in ASM #41 & 43 (October & December '66). He then turned up in 2 1st-season episodes of the Grantray-Lawrence SPIDER-MAN tv series-- "HORNS OF THE RHINO"-- one of only TWO full-length stories that year (and the only episode that year to feature Aunt May), and "THE GOLDEN RHINO", a 10-min. sequel. So Rhino was, by this point, no doubt WELL-known to any fans who were watching the TV cartoons.
So it was about 5-6 months later, he turns up in THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Why didn't he have a return-bout in ASM? Who can say? Apparently, HULK was short-handed on baddies (something that Jack Kirby never seemed to have a problem with-- gee, why do you suppose that was??), and someone probably figured that for his next "professional wrestling" bout, he was much more in HULK's weight-class than Spidey's.
The thing is, after this, Rhino effectively BECAME a "Hulk villain", making multiple return appearances here. This even included a "Doc Samson" solo story that was illustrated by George Tuska.
Spidey seemed to have this problem a lot. The Ox, Electro, The Scorpion and much later, The Kingpin, all became DAREDEVIL villains. But I guess Rhino was WAY ABOVE D.D.'s weight class...
(12-16-2013)
CAPTAIN MARVEL 2
cover by Gene Colan & Bill Everett
This is one of the better issues from this part of the run. Somehow, dragging The Skrulls into it, and giving them a long-time conflict with The Kree added a lot, perhaps by balancing the self-importance the Kree seem to give themselves (despite their obvious psychological deficiencies). The Skrull Emperor sees a "MAN OF THE KREE" (a phrase repeated so much I wanna strangle the scripter) on Earth, and wants to know why. So he sends for the previously-exiled Super Skrull, offering him whatever he wants if the mission is a success. (Of course, what he wants is the Emperor's daughter-- as a stepping-stone to the throne.) Roy Thomas' ANNOYING sub-plot about the motel manager continues as the guy tries to deliver Mar-Vell's "funny-looking suitcase" to the base commander, thereby proving he's somg kind of enemy spy. But en route, The Super-Skrull attacks. CM gets into it, but is beaten, and as he's being hauled away as a prisoner, that "suitcase" has begun a countdown to a nuclear detonation. It makes you wonder about the Kree who design their own equipment.
Gene Colan's art continues to be stunning, but the real surprise continues to be Vince Colletta-- or, WHOEVER he may have working as an assistant doing MOST of these pages! I'm reminded of quite a few of the later episodes of TALES OF ASGARD, which just looked too different-- and far too much better-- than the rest of a given issue of THOR. Some pages in here scream "Colletta", they're pretty miserable, but most of them are so CLEAN and SLICK, that even done in a similar style, I can't believe it's just the work of one guy having really good and really bad days.
(original KLORDNY article)
THOR 153
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
This has Sif injured by Loki, and Thor must become his human alter-ego to save her life. I get the feeling THIS is the story that should have been called "The Dilemma Of Dr. Blake" (not the previous issue where he didn't appear at all). Sif is saved, Thor is about to thrash Loki, but just then, Odin intervenes, stopping the fight as he claims a far greater danger is threatening all of Asgard. What can it be? It seems Ulik, way down in that pit where he fell, may be the first to find out...
(5-23-2008)
DAREDEVIL 41
cover by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia
X-MEN 45
cover by John Buscema & George Tuska
This has the team captives of Magneto, and trying to both break free and warn The Avengers of the baddie's plans. At this point, Gary Friedrich has taken over from Roy Thomas, and now Don Heck is only supplying layouts-- finished pencils being done by Werner Roth! It's a strange combination. Heck's storytelling is much better (and more dynamic) than Roth's, but I've always considered Roth's version of the team to be the "definitive" one. So maybe it's the best arrangement-- even if the only evidence of Heck's work is when you squint. This leads straight into THE AVENGERS, but as it wasn't included in the ESSENTIAL AVENGERS volume I have, what a heck of a break I just happened to have this as a 1975 reprint in X-MEN #93!
(5-23-2008)
"AND THE MOB CRIED, VENGEANCE!"
(no review yet)
THE AVENGERS 53
cover by John Buscema & George Tuska
This is one long confusing convoluted mess as Magneto manipulates things so The Avengers won't trust the X-Men, the 2 teams fight it out, and then we learn The Avengers weren't really fooled after all but played things so Magneto would be fooled to think they were. (SAY WHAT?) Throughout the story, Magneto is repeatedly so rude and overbearing and insulting to his faithful lackey The Toad, that the ugly little guy finally can take no more. As the island fortress (ANOTHER one??) gets destroyed, The Toad flees with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch in tow-- but does so in a "non-metallic" airship that Magneto is unable to latch onto, and, in one of the most unconvincing final scenes outside of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, Magneto appears to fall to his death! (Yeah, right.)
Between Roy Thomas's often-annoying dialogue and John Buscema's stretched all-over-the-place figure work, I'm beginning to think the main difference between Buscema's art & Gil Kane's art is Buscema's is a bit prettier.
(5-23-2008)
(Continued in July 1968)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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