NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD 4
cover by JIM STERANKO
Synopsis:
HYDRA repeatedly tries to murder Nick Fury before he can recruited to head SHIELD. The agent in charge of the operation, Agent L, is executed for his failure by Agent H. After reminiscing about his days in WW2, Fury meets Tony Stark, who introduces him to the SHIELD board of directors, then shows him a film detailing HYDRA's operations. After Fury uncovers a bomb in the room and dispatches it, along with the spy who planted it, he realizes the danger facing the free world and takes the job.
Indexer notes:
Frank Springer's 1st Marvel work. Springer had previously done SECRET SIX #1-2 (May-July 1968) for DC and "PHOEBE ZEIT-GEIST" in the magazine EVERGREEN REVIEW. Expanded (and lackluster) retelling of the story from STRANGE TALES #135 (August 1965), following the retold origins in IRON MAN #1, CAPTAIN AMERICA #100, THE INCREDIBLE HULK #102, SUB-MARINER #1 and DR. STRANGE #169. Roy Thomas mistakenly refers to the leader as "Supreme Hydra", when in most episodes of the original serial he was referred to as "Imperial Hydra" (hinting at his connection with Imperial Industries International).
(9-14-2007)
This must have shocked fans. The Bullpen page promised the return of Scorpio. Instead, Roy Thomas & Frank Springer (fresh off of DC's SECRET 6) fill in, re-telling the story of how Fury joined SHIELD from STRANGE TALES #135. Springer's art is something to see-- his inking is somewhat similar to Syd Shores, only moodier, and he does aircraft like nobody's business. (I get the feeling somebody should have tapped him to draw BLACKHAWK-- he'd have been a natural.) On the other hand, he never quite seems to get Fury right. Roy Thomas once again gets to induldge his passion for retelling origin stories (I'm guessing "ye editor" was wondering why this story didn't appear in NF #1), though, of course, it's nowhere near as good as the Jack Kirby original version. It would seem Steranko blew the deadline-- maybe writing, pencilling & coloring 20 pages a month plus a cover was just too much for him? But he did supply an INCREDIBLE cover-- which, over the years, has been-- ahem-- "paid tribute to" by a growing number of other artists.
The cover text, by the way, is a misnomer. It says "SHIELD Origin Issue". NOPE. There never was a SHIELD origin issue-- until FURY #1 (May'94). From that dark, horrible period of Marvel, that was a rare exception-- one DAMN good comic-book!!
(5-30-2008)
More info keeps coming to light as time goes by. I forget where I read this, but...
The "editor" (note quotation marks, heehee) asked Frank Springer-- fresh from "SECRET SIX"-- what book he'd like to do? Springer said, NICK FURY. So Roy Thomas wrote a 3rd-rate redo of the debut issue (which WASN'T really an "origin" story, like the cover said). Steranko told the guy, if you interrupt my run, it'll drive readers away, and he'd quit. The "editor" CALLED HIS BLUFF. Steranko WASN'T BLUFFING.
(3-2-2014)
As a final (?) comment... Steranko was such a high-energy workaholic, he NEVER blew a deadline in his life. The alleged story about him blowing deadlines on NF #4 and CAP #112 are just more examples of how Marvel's editor has made a career of bad-mouthing people who worked for him, when HE himself was really the problem.
(9-10-2018)
Read Frank Springer's RAVEN adaptation!
Read Frank Springer's RED DEATH adaptation!
DR. STRANGE 172
cover by Gene Colan & Dan Adkins
This has Doc at the mercy of his arch-enemy! Roy Thomas spends 4 pages on flashbacks, retelling their "final" battle in which Eternity and Dormammu both appeared to be destroyed, and Doc was only saved with the help of The Ancient One. The flashback continues as Dormammu reveals how he survived-- thrust into the unknown dimension, where he quickly siezed power from the creatures living there. By a wild coincidence-- it seems this was the SAME dimension that the "spell of vanishment" sent Clea to-- and so, she's been his prisoner ever since, and has now served as bait to lure Strange there. Planning to conquer Earth, Dormammu summons his sister Umar-- this is the first time we ever get to see the two of them together-- and while she claims to have faithfully watched over "his" domain in his absence, he knows better. Meanwhile, although his power was drained in the previous episode, Doc's cloak of levitation and the Eye of Agamotto are still powered-up-- and he uses it to get his power back from Dormammu's underling who stole his power in the first place. Reunited at last with the girl who won his heart, Doc then sends both Clea and the heartbroken Victoria back to Earth. As Dormammu and his army of demons prepare to invade Earth's dimension, Doc appears to challenge him to a duel.
Not bad. But the real highlight here is the art. One of the GREATEST art teams in the history of the biz made its debut in this issue, as Gene Colan (having departed CAPTAIN MARVEL) joins forces with newcomer Tom Palmer (who proves he's MUCH better suited as an inker than he was as a penciller). I find it interesting that Palmer's ink style is very similar to Frank Springer's (in this month's NICK FURY), and I wonder if maybe Springer might have been one of Palmer's inspirations. In any case, Colan was getting some FANTASTIC inks around this time, from Colletta, from Shores, and now this. I've seen tons of Colan-Palmer art over the years, and in spite of that, I'm STILL stunned looking over this 1st collaboration again. Roy Thomas has said he never quite felt like he knew what he was doing on this book. Maybe with art like this, he didn't have to!
(5-30-2008)
FANTASTIC FOUR 78
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
This has Ben once more morose about being stuck as The Thing. Reed makes another stab at curing him, but says it's a "one-way street". If he wants to become the Thing again, he'll NEVER be able to be Ben Grimm again. Meanwhile, The Wizard is let out of jail (SOMEONE explain this one to me!!!) and the Daily Bugle has a news story with a headline reading "Vows revenge on FF" (don't parole boards take a DIM VIEW of that kind of attitude???). With a pair of "power gloves", he single-handedly attacks the FF in their HQ, seconds after Ben takes the "cure", so he's no help and is almost killed in the fight. I was a bit delighted when Johnny single-handedly beat the guy-- considering Wiz started out as a Torch baddie. My fave bit in the story is Johnny, kneeling over the defeated Wiz, holding up his weapons and saying, "Who wants to buy some used gloves?" But the Wizard ESCAPES-- vowing to return for more vengeance when they least expect it-- and while he was considered one of their deadliest enemies in the past, Reed doesn't seem too concerned. WHAT th'...??
Jack Kirby spends a lot of this "rematch" issue more or less giving readers a "tour" of the Baxter Building. We get to see the aircraft hangar, complete with Fantasti-Car (when WAS the last time they used that thing?), the Monitor Room (ditto?) and other areas. If there wasn't much "original" about this story, at LEAST it really LOOKED damn good! The FF's HQ may never have looked better than it did in this issue. I just wish I had the original comic instead of this fuzzy MGC reprint (which was missing 2 pages of story).
I've had a hard time trying to nail down The Wizard, as between Kirby, Ayers & Sinnott, his appearance keeps changing. He was one ugly dude in his debut, then in his 2nd appearance, I swore he was a dead ringer for actor Ron Perlman (who wasn't around back then). Since then, some episodes he's reminded me of Basil Rathbone or Vincent Price. In this one, I SWEAR he looks like Gary Oldman!! (who also wasn't around back then.) If they ever feature this guy in a FF movie, maybe they should really consider one of those guys I mentioned (who are still around) to play him.
(5-30-2008)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 64
cover by JOHN ROMITA
This is essentially one long FIGHT SCENE!! (Talk about "grudge matches".) The Vulture relentlessly attacks an already-wounded Spider-Man, while nearby JJJ, Robertson and some poor schmuck photog watch helpless, with JJJ naturally hoping Spidey gets clobbered. When Joe's injured because of the fight, Jameson NATURALLY blames Spidey-- what an A**H***!! In the end, Spidey falls to the street, but manages to damage The Vulture's control circuits, forcing him to flee while he still can. But Spidey collapses on the sidewalk, as a crowd circles-- like vultures-- eager to UNMASK him-- "at last". (Huh? Has the populace of NYC been wanting to see one of its heroes unmasked and destroyed all this time?)
Meanwhile, at Anna Watson's house, her niece MJ shows up looking for Peter (hope springs eternal?). Her aunt almost doesn't recognize her, as she's had her hair CUT real short and all curled. I guess she must have figured, if Gwen was gonna steal HER hairdo, she might as well find another one. This was apparently done on "ye editor"s orders. Too many readers kept wanting Pete & MJ together, so he had Romita make her look "less pretty". SHEESH! I dunno. I prefer the straight hair & bangs, but even this way, I STILL prefer MJ to Gwen. As, apparently, a lot of other readers did as well. Gwen's Dad, meanwhile, tells her he remembers everything now, and Pete "never" attacked him-- he was only trying to help. She cries tears of joy, relieved to hear this... but why didn't she just believe it in the FIRST place? (grumble...)
As usual, Romita-Heck-Esposito do a bang-up job. More than most, this issue, taking place entirely in broad daylight, reminds me of one of the Grantray-Lawrence SPIDER-MAN cartoons (which were still in reruns at the time), and this carries over to the story title, which was first used on the show, not the comic! This was the last issue for both Heck & Esposito. I'm really wondering why they had all this jumping-around of artists right then.
(5-30-2008)
IRON MAN 5
cover by George Tuska & Johnny Craig
CAPTAIN AMERICA 105
cover by Jack Kirby (rejected)
(alterations by JOHN ROMITA)
This starts out with Cap watching a documentary about his WW2 days that a producer is hoping he'll narrate... but it serves to remind him (again!) of Bucky's death, and he suddenly feels that he must "never" allow such a thing to happen again-- and so, he decides he must get Sharon Carter out of his life. WTF??? Months of slow, careful, painful building up of this relationship, and from one issue to the next they're gonna DUMP it? I sense the hand of "Ye Editor" here, as Jack Kirby, clearly pissed about the SILVER SURFER book, apparently told he boss that HE could start supplying plots from here on out. Instead of a new multi-part epic, we have 3 returning baddies (Batroc, Swordsman, The Living Laser), a single-issue story, and, REALLY BAD SOAP-OPERA!! This is the kind of thing that made AMAZING SPIDER-MAN a lot less enjoyable for me than it might have been...
Anyway, a bomb that can destroy NYC with vibrations has been smuggled into town, and Cap has to find it before it goes off, or, falls into the hands of anyone else. As Batroc is getting paid to find it for some foreign power, half the issue is one long fight scene! Nobody in comics draws fight scenes better than Jack Kirby... it's just that, by now, you kinda wish there was "more" than just that.
Art is once again by Kirby & Dan Adkins. It was confirmed on this month's DR. STRANGE letter column that Adkins decided to focus on inks for awhile. I miss his doing full art, but he brings class and style wherever he goes-- although, not every penciller he's teamed with is as appropriate a match as others. It's funny how, with Adkins being a protoge of Wally Wood, you might expect his inks over Kirby to somewhat resemble those on the SKY MASTERS newspaper strip. Instead, I'm reminded, more than anything, of Mike Royer's work with Kirby. In other words, while this came out in 1968, it LOOKS like more like Kirby's work from the 70's.
(6-1-2008)
SUB-MARINER 5
cover by John Buscema & Frankk Giacoia
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 107
cover by Marie Severin &Frank Giacoia
(alterations by JOHN ROMITA)
CAPTAIN MARVEL 5
cover by Don Heck & Dan Adkins
This issue features the Marvel debut of Arnold Drake, creator of THE DOOM PATROL and DEADMAN and writer of many other books including JERRY LEWIS, BOB HOPE, BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY, etc. I wish I could say CM was among his better efforts, but frankly, he had his work cut out for him-- and an uphill battle to turn this mess of a series into something. After running in circles for all of Roy's run, Arnold cuts to the chase and has Yon-Rogg bring Mar-Vell up on charges, specifically of being "un-Kree". Because of Mar-Vell's sterling military record, Ronan The Accuser decides "not to decide", but to let his future actions dictate his guilt or innocence. The annoying sub-plot with the motel manager is handled by Mar-Vell suggesting to use Kree technology to wipe the man's memories of any suspicions he had. Those aren't the only suspicions, as missile base security chief Carol Danvers demands to know why there isn't a single photo of missile expert "Walt Lawson" in his files, and his glib answers only make her more suspicious.
Meanwhile, a convicted Russian "traitor" has submitted to a scientific experiment to turn him into a creature-- a "Metazoid"-- capable of surviving on alien planets. He's been promised he'll be turned back into his human form (or, at least, they'll begin research to see if it can be done-- SHEESH), if he further kidnaps a noted US missile expert and brings him back to Russia. Who else? Walt Lawson. And so, as "Lawson" is sneaking into the hospital to wipe the memories of the injured motel manager, what looks like a creature from another planet attacks. Can this guy's luck get any worse?
I know for a fact that Drake is a sci-fi fan, and the "Metazoid" story seems to me very much to be a tribute to an episode of THE OUTER LIMITS. If only he wasn't weighted down with all these bad sub-plots and bad soap-opera that keep getting in the way.
The art this time really had me shaking my head. I'm becoming more and more attuned to certain artists' styles, and while I hadn't figured it out before, on this, my 3rd time reading this book, I've come to the conclusion there were no less than 3 inkers working over Don Heck's pencils! The splash (and possible page 4) look to me to be the work of Frank Giacoia. Pages 2-3 look totally different-- much smoother, a close-up of Mar-Vell far more "sensitive" than the rest of the book-- I'm figuring it's Frank's buddy, Joe Giella. The rest of the book is a horrid, scratchy, rushed-looking mess. This, I'm sure, is the work of the only guy who actually got listed in the credits-- John Tartaglione. Here's what I THINK happened. As on many other occasions (as has been reported in a number of interviews in recent years), Giacoia got the book, ran late, Giella pitched in to help, but they saw they were running too late, so the rest of it went to Tartaglione, who did most of it-- probably rushing as he went to beat the strict printer's deadline-- and he got the credit, or should I say, the "blame" for the results. Oy...
Ever since I read these a few years ago, I've been complaining about how badly Tartag murdered Heck's art. I do think he wasn't the right inker for Heck by any means. But at least on this issue, I can see WHY it turned out so bad.
Heck, by the way, struck me as doing better "storytelling" than Colan-- and the interior of "The Hellion" (the Kree starship) looks much more interesting than anything Gene did in his 6 episodes on the series.
(6-1-2008)
MARVEL SUPER-HEROES 16
cover by HERB TRIMPE
This sees the debut of Herb Trimpe's WW1 flying ace (no relation to the character created by Mark Swayze and published by Fawcett in the 1940's). I wish I could say this was terrific, but I'm afraid the art struck me as being 3rd-rate (Trimpe got much better in the early 70s) and Gary Friedrich's dialogue is only average. Fearful of reprisals against his family back in Germany, a flyer refuses to join the US military, but when a German derigible carrying an entire squardon of Fokkers decides to attack NYC, he goes into action in disguise. He single-handedly takes out the zeppelin, but his best friend (and romantic rival) winds up falling to his death, which he blames himself for, as the guy only joined the air corps despite an earlier injury because HE refused to.
MSH alternated around this time between introducing new characters and spotlighting existing ones. The Phantom Eagle is probably the least-successful of the features that headlined the book. He later returned in THE INCREDIBLE HULK #135 (Jan'71) thanks to a time-travel story involving Kang The Conqueror (art once more by Trimpe), and then, very strangely, turned up in the modern day in GHOST RIDER #12 (Jun'75) as a GHOST, in a story plotted & pencilled by Frank Robbins.
(6-1-2008)
THOR 156
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
This has Thor fighting a desperate, awe-inspiring battle against The Mangog, who plans to destroy all existence by drawing The Odinsword and signalling the coming of Ragnarok. Back in Asgard, the chief minister tries to advise Loki, but the god of evil is too absorbed in his own schemes to listen to advice. He plans to hold back assaulting the Mangog until he's SURE Thor is dead; he also plans to make sure that Odin never wakes from his recuperative Odin-sleep; and when the time is right, he plans to call for aid from Karnilla the Norn Queen so their combined magic will defeat the beast. He also counts on help from his own personal legions... that is, until the few of them still left alive show up on his doorstep, pleading for safety, the bulk of their forces having been destroyed by the Mangog while it was en route to Asgard! Meanwhile, The Recorder arrives, is led to Sif, and together, they stand guard at the Odinsword. She feels if Thor is killed, she won't care if she loses her own life. Fandral, Hogun & Vostagg, freed from their rock prison, fear all is lost, but Thor stirs them to have more courage. Balder continues to fight for his life against Karnilla's legion, as she feels his spurning her love is more important than the destruction of all that is. And finally, despite a noble stalling effort, the Mangog catches up with Thor-- AGAIN. Is this to be THE END???
This reminds me of what some have said about DOCTOR WHO 4-parters-- that part 3 tends to be "filler", just a lot of characters running in circles waiting for the big finale next time. But no matter. The art and storytelling are SPECTACULAR and MAGNIFICENT beyond all belief! Surely this is some of the most exciting Kirby-Colletta art ever witnessed. I do find myself wondering, did anyone involved in this actually consider this might be the "end" of the series?
(6-2-2008)
THE AVENGERS 56
cover by John Buscema & George Klein
This has Captain America call the team to meet him at Dr. Doom's castle, where they use the abandoned time machine (heck of a thing for someone to just leave laying around unguarded, isn't it??) to go back and discover if Bucky REALLY died, or not. By adjusting the machine a certain way, they appear in the past as invisible phantoms, but when The Wasp, who's controlling it, inexplicably dozes off (!!) they materialize, just in time to free a captive Cap & Bucky, but then disappear just before the bomb goes off that killed Cap's young partner.
Once again, Roy Thomas indulges his mania for flashbacks, and this one includes a sequence where John Buscema redoes several Jack Kirby panels from AVENGERS #4. Among his recurring annoying dialogue habits are uses of the phrase "so-called" and "man-mountain". The thing with Bucky would seem to be a natural follow-up to this month's issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, but oddly, that's never mentioned here!
(6-1-2008)
THE AVENGERS ANNUAL 2
cover by John Buscema & Frank Giacoia
"THE AVENGERS MUST DIE!"
This marks the 2nd time Don Heck returns for an ANNUAL, only this time, he's brought his X-MEN team-mates with him. So Heck supplies only layouts, while the pencils are by Werner Roth & inks by Vince Colletta. Vince has been doing some franky stellar work around this time. Sadly, this issue ISN'T an example of that.
Returning from the past, the team finds their aircraft missing, and on reaching NYC, wonder why everyone's giving them the evil eye. In their HQ they're shocked to confront the ORIGINAL Avengers-- Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Giant-Man and Wasp-- still wearing their old outfits, even thought it soon becomes apparent this is their "present", not "past". It comes out that while time-travelling, Rama-Tut ran into some disturbances in the time-stream, and decided to take the name of "The Scarlet Centurion". He then visited The Avengers right after the events of AVENGERS #2 (just before Hulk quit!), and "convinced" them (with the aid of some brain-washing equipment) that the only way to "save" Earth was to eliminate all other super-powered figures. And so, the heroes become tyrants, and attack & imprison the F.F., X-Men, Spider-Man, Daredevil and others (and quite a few bad guys while they're at it, almost by default). Although it never quite makes sense, the Centurion was also responsible for making The Wasp doze off, thereby somehow altering the timestream-- and, for planting the "obsession" about Bucky in Cap's mind in the first place. And when the team "returns", the now murder-crazed "heroes" are bent on their destruction. Well, the day is saved... but even though I just re-read this, it was so badly done, I can't remember the details! Suffice to say, the timestream is restored, nobody remembers what happened, and The Scarlet Centurion now "never existed"-- he just went straight to the future to become Kang The Conqueror. I wish I could have enjoyed this more, but this gets my vote for possibly the worst comic of the month. (Oh well, can't win 'em, all.)
(6-1-2008)
"AVENJERKS ASSEMBLE!"
Another parody story. Nothing memorable that comes to mind...
(9-10-2018)
DAREDEVIL 44
cover by Gene Colan & Jim Steranko
This (gee, that's the 2nd time in a month somebody paid tribute to "I, Robot") has The Jester, worried his identity might eventually be uncovered, hit on the scheme of having himself MURDERED publicly by Daredevil, who will be blamed for it. Is this guy NUTS, or what? Incredibly, after turning up at a police station in his "civilian" identity and claiming he'll "unmask" DD on top of the George Washington Bridge at midnight, DD shows up, a fight erupts, and with news cameras rolling, the guy dives into the river (where no one knows he has a small one-man submarine waiting for him). To all watching, it appears DD deliberately killed an innnocent man! And Foggy, not trusting this "new" DD, figures it must be true. At the end, Jester appears, clobbers DD, and turns him over to the police, to "prove" what a good guy he is. (What, ALL THOSE robberies he pulled, they're just gonna overlook???)
I can tell somebody had problems with the stat machine this month. Some pages half the lines are missing; the last page, all the lines are twice as fat as they should be; the rest, Vince Colletta does a terrific job. Gene Colan clearly had a BALL on this issue, knocking out some of the most dazzling visuals yet seen on this series. If the writing seems half-baked (if that), the art makes you not wanna care. For no apparent reason, this month they changed the cover logo, to a square-looking "DARE-" on top of "DEVIL". Can't say it was any kind of improvement, and it didn't last.
(6-1-2008)
X-MEN 48
cover by DON HECK (rejected)
"YOURS TRULY, THE BEAST"
Do you notice the number of rejected of seriously altererd covers just keeps increasing? What the HELL was going on in "ye editor"s alleged mind, anyway?
It's no wonder John Romita didn't have time to do FULL ART on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN like he should have been.
(9-10-2018)
(Continued in October 1968)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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