December 1969

(Continued from November 1969)

I don't know what happened here exactly, but I had NO reviews for this month from 2007.  I wouldn't have any reviews on this page right now at all, except I went back even further into my KLORDNY files, and found the ones I'd done for CAPTAIN MAR-VELL in 2004.


FANTASTIC FOUR  93
cover by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia

"AT THE MERCY OF TORGO!"


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  79
cover by JOHN ROMITA

"TO PROWL NO MORE!"


IRON MAN  20
cover by GEORGE TUSKA

"WHO SERVES LUCIFER?"


CAPTAIN AMERICA  120
cover by Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott

"CRACK UP ON CAMPUS!"


SILVER SURFER  11
cover by John Buscema & Dan Adkins

"O, BITTER VICTORY!"


SUB-MARINER  20
cover by John Buscema & Johnny Craig

"IN THE DARKNESS DWELLS DOOM!"


THE INCREDIBLE HULK  122
cover by HERB TRIMPE

"THE HULK'S LAST FIGHT"


CAPTAIN MARVEL  19
cover by Gil Kane & Dan Adkins

"THE MAD MASTER OF THE MURDER MAZE!"

Rick wakes up, CM flies to a nearby city, and Rick goes looking for a job and an apartment.  Answering an ad, he becomes a tenant at Minos Towers, a futuristic building run by Dr. Cornelius Webb, a sociologist writing a book on human behavior.  Webb has a fascination with rats in mazes, and before you know it, the tenants of the building find the entire complex is one gigantic rat-maze, with them as the “rats” in an experiment of Webb’s to “prove” that people can be scientifically reduced to cowering animals-- before he kills them all.  CM manages to save the lives of most of the tenants, despite some overdone suspicion of theirs, and Webb’s mind appears to snap by the end.  Overall, a sordid, pointless little melodrama.

According to the letters page, this nerve-wracking episode was entirely the idea of Gil Kane.  WHY am I not surprised?  For the last 30 years of his career, Kane’s work seemed to focus on high-tension nightmares and characters on the edge of nervous breakdowns.  What WAS the guy’s problem?

There was no clue anywhere in the issue-- but CM was cancelled with this issue.  So much for drastic overhauls.

Mitch had this one for $ 3.50.  Thanks, man!
     (7-2-2004  /  originally published in KLORDNY #138)

It continues to blow my mind that die-hard Marvel fanatics ("card-carrying MMMS members") insist that the 5 issues by Thomas, Kane & Adkins were "GREAT!!!!!", when I view them as UTTER CRAP compared to the one issue by Goodwin, Heck & Shores that immediately preceded it.  Readers were ROBBED of what could have been a VASTLY-better run because "ye editor" blinked at the crucial moment, and he felt that Roy Thomas-- a vastly-INFERIOR writer, could somehow do better to "save" the book.
     (10-28-2018)


THOR  171
cover by Jack Kirby & Bill Everett

"THE WRATH OF THE WRECKER!"


THE AVENGERS  71
cover by Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger

"ENDGAME!"


DAREDEVIL  59
cover by Gene Colan & Syd Shores

"THE TORPEDO WILL GET YOU IF YOU DON'T WATCH OUT"


X-MEN  63
cover by Neal Adams & Tom Palmer

"WAR IN THE WORLD BELOW!"

(Continued in January 1970)

All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa

November 1969

(Continued from October 1969)

I don't know why I only reviewed 3 comics from this month, but so be it...

NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD  15
cover by Herb Trimpe & Sam Grainger

"THE ASSASSINATION OF NICK FURY!"

Synopsis:
HYDRA Number 72 hires the services of Bulls-eye, a paid assassin, to kill Nick Fury.  Fury is concerned that 3 CIA operatives have been killed, and feels SHIELD could handle the investigation better than they could.  Fury picks up Laura for a date, and as they drive, they're followed all over town by Bulls-eye.  Number 72 plans to turn NYC into a "bloody battleground" within the hour following Fury's death.  Fury & Laura attend a concert by Country Joe & The Fish in Central Park, when Bulls-eye strikes!  Abruptly, Number 72 decides this would be the moment SHIELD would expect HYDRA to strike-- and changes his plans!  Instead, SHIELD converges on Central Park, and corner Bulls-eye, who decides to shoot it out with them.  Dugan shoots Bulls-eye dead, then ponders if there's any pieces of SHIELD left to pick up...

Indexer notes:
Bulls-eye's only appearance; not related to the Marv Wolfman villain from DAREDEVIL #131 (March 1976).  Following Number 72's instructions, Number 72 inexplicably wastes energy running all over NYC following Fury, even though he knew in advance where his target would be later in the day!  Equally baffling is his wearing a brightly-colored costume while trying to escape from the scene of a murder.  Last episode.  Nick Fury turns up alive 2 months later in THE AVENGERS #72 (January 1970).
     (9-15-2007)

Hydra hires the services of "Bulls-Eye" (no relation to the later DAREDEVIL villain) to bump off Fury.  They plan to attack en masse as soon as he's dead, determined it'll be one organization or the other who's wiped out.  However, they also have Bulls-Eye follow Fury all over town while he's on a date with Laura Brown, despite knowing where Fury will be when he plans to kill him.  The reason for this is the planned major assault, and their intention that during the massive attack, their paid hit-man will also get bumped in the cross-fire.  Poor egotistical FOOL that he is, he never latches onto this, and wastes his entire afternoon following Fury around from rooftops, as if he was Daredevil or somebody.  Must have been awful worn out by the time they reached Central Park, the Country Joe & The Fish concert, and the assassination.  Fury's shot in the back-- Laura's horrified-- the Hydra leader suddenly, abruptly decides NOT to stage the assault (what th'...???) and Dugan personally shoots Bulls-Eye, who hung around too long, and was stupid enough to get into a gunfight with a whole squad of SHIELD agents.  Dugan wonders if there's any pieces to pick up, as Fury appears to be dead.

Gary Friedrich, Herb Trimpe & Sam Grainger were getting some rave reviews on the letters page.  All 3 appeared set to do a nice, long, productive run.  The inclusion of a full-page cutaway view of HYDRA HQ with all its weaponry & such (in the tradition of Jack Kirby's cutaway views of same, and the Baxter Building in FANTASTIC FOUR) reveal they put a lot of time and thought into this, and clearly had big plans.  But it was NOT to be!  Several pages before the end of the issue, Trimpe was suddenly replaced by Dick Ayers, whose pages just don't cut it.  About the same point in the story was where the HYDRA leader changes his mind-- and after saying several pages earlier, "There's NO turning back now!"  (Oh YEAH???)  These 2 things taken together strongly suggest a sudden LAST-MINUTE change to the ending of the issue.  For, while there is NO hint on the letters page, this turned out to be the LAST issue of the series.  I don't know what was originally planned, but I doubt this issue was supposed to end the way it did.  The fate of Fury was revealed in THE AVENGERS #72 (Jan'70), 2 months later.
     (7-4-2008)


FANTASTIC FOUR  92
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"BEN GRIMM, KILLER!"


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  78
cover by JOHN ROMITA

"THE NIGHT OF THE PROWLER!"


IRON MAN  19
cover by ??

"WHAT PRICE LIFE?"


CAPTAIN AMERICA  119
cover by ??

"NOW FALLS THE SKULL!"


SILVER SURFER  10
cover by ??

"A WORLD HE NEVER MADE!"


SUB-MARINER  19
cover by ??

"SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL STING-RAY!"


THE INCREDIBLE HULK  121
cover by ??

"WITHIN THE SWAMP, THERE STIRS... A GLOB!"


CAPTAIN MARVEL  18
cover by Gil Kane & Dan Adkins

"VENGEANCE IS MINE!"

Yon-Rogg returns to the underground cave Kree Outpost, and plots his revenge on CM, pondering how CM could be trapped in the Negative Zone if anything happened to Rick Jones.  Out on the open highway, CM saves a driver who fell asleep at the wheel, and wonders if somehow Yon-Rogg was responsible, but this is never revealed.  In a small town Rick sits in playing music at a coffee house, gets into a fight with a heckler, and meets Mordecai P. Boggs, a music promoter with a resemblance to W.C. Fields.  Rick’s too busy being angry & sorry for himself to be interested.  From his vantage point in the Negative Zone, CM discovers Yon-Rogg’s whereabouts, and hurries there to rescue the Carol Danvers, who’s been a prisoner since #16.  Using a Kree device called the Psyche-Magnitron, Yon-Rogg creates out of thin air a Mandroid, which are used to execute Kree traitors.  During the ensueing fight, Carol realizes that CM is fighting to save 2 worlds, as Yon-Rogg still plans to overthrow the Kree government.  The Mandroid fails, and during a hand-to-hand struggle a stray shot hits Carol (NOT AGAIN!!!).  Somehow the Magnitron overloads and CM barely manages to rescue Carol, seconds before an explosion destroys the outpost and buries Yon-Rogg for all time.  After putting the unconscious Carol down, CM trades places with Rick, who quickly succumbs to exhaustion and collapses in the desert.

So-- at last-- Yon-Rogg is dead.  Ho hum.  But Carol & Rick’s fates are left up in the air.  While far less convoluted than the previous one, this issue has nothing special about it, and the resolution of a 18-issue sub-plot feels more anticlimactic than anything else.  While Goodwin gloried in bringing a multitude of sub-plots to a spectacular conclusion, this feels more like just trying to sweep something under the rug as quickly as possible so the book can move on.  Reportedly, Gil Kane co-plotted this episode with Roy, although ironically, he only pencilled the first half.  Longtime pro and Marvel regular John Buscema stepped in to draw the 2nd half of the issue.  Had he been the regular artist since last issue (at least) perhaps more could be said, but while his half is “nicer” than Kane’s, nothing about it seems particularly inspired or impressive.

Oddly enough, in a completely convoluted sort of way, this issue had a direct connection with the much-later “spin-off” series, MS. MARVEL, which starred Carol Danvers.  But nothing here would have given that indication.

Fred had this for $9.00-- probably because it was in better condition than some of the others.
     (7-2-2004  /  review originally published in KLORDNY #138)

THOR  170
cover by Jack Kirby & ??  (rejected)

cover by John Romita & John Verpoorten

"THE THUNDER GOD AND THE THERMAL MAN!"

You know, it's bad enough when "ye editor" makes John Romita do uncalled-for alterations on other people's art... but when yoiu have him getting Romita to do a 2nd-RATE cover to replace a much-better Jack Kirby cover, it realy brings into question whether or not he actually was the ALLEGEDLY "great" editor his fans insist he was.
     (10-27-2018)


THE AVENGERS  70
cover by ??

"WHEN STRIKES THE SQUADRON SINISTER!"


DAREDEVIL  58
cover by ??

"SPIN-OUT ON FIFTH AVENUE"


X-MEN  62
cover by ??

"STRANGERS... IN A SAVAGE LAND!"


DR. STRANGE  183
cover by Gene Colan & Tom Palmer

"THEY WALK BY NIGHT!"

Doc answers the telegram from an old colleague, Kenneth Ward.  Although Clea asks him not to go, and wishes for a "normal" life (what IS it with "girlfriends" and certain writers who make them get so whiny like that all of a sudden?) he can't turn down a request for help.  On arrival, and making sure he uses his new "Dr. Sanders" identity (which Eternity gave him, and which only he, Clea & Wong realize was not "always" his "real name"), Stephen finds his old colleague suffereing from amnesia, with no recollection of sending the telegram, and surrounded by a trio of somewhat-menacing-seeming attendants.  Doc eventually finds his friend had discovered some ancient statues sculpted in bizarre, monstrous forms, and a miniature statue, which he brought back home to study.  Now, it seems the 3 men watching over him are really disciples of "The Undying Ones", and want the statue back at all costs.  Doc manages to defeat them, but finds Ward has died.  He vows he'll get to the bottom of this mystery, whatever it takes.

This story, a tribute to H.P.Lovecraft and his "Cthulu" stories, is the first of 3 parts.  However, while the last page promises "The Searchers" next time, just as with NICK FURY, this turned out to be DR. STRANGE's last issue, as the book was cancelled abruptly with no warning, no hint on the letters page!  I can only figure Marvel's big expansion earlier in 1968 must have stretched its fans' buying powers to the limit, and eventually sales began dropping off.  Reports have it that X-MEN was also slated for cancellation, but saved-- at least for awhile-- due to the arrival of Neal Adams.  (I wonder if Adams had gotten on NICK FURY instead, if that book might have lasted longer, instead of X-MEN?)  Gene Colan & Tom Palmer's art continues to be spectacular, although with the complex story and more panels this time, a bit less pin-up worthy.  Even so, several pages, including the splash, would have made great posters.  I have 2 printings of this story-- the original, and the reprint in ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS Vol.1 (2005). Both follow-up chapters would appear in that, as well as the DAY OF THE DEFENDERS one-shot (2001).  The story continued in SUB-MARINER #22 (Feb'70) and concluded in THE INCREDIBLE HULK #126 (Apr'70).  This 3-parter effectively "inspired" the later creation of THE DEFENDERS in 1971.
     (7-4-2008)

(Continued in December 1969)

All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa

October 1969

(Continued from September 1969)

FANTASTIC FOUR  91
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"THE THING ENSLAVED!"

Most of the issue is spent with Ben, on an outlying planet in The Skrull Empire, where due to their earlier fascination with a captive Earth gangster, has been transformed into a duplicate of prohibition-era Chicago!  One of the "gangsters" (a Skrull in disguise) even looks and talks like Edward G. Robinson.  It seems these "gangsters" pit "slaves" against each other in deadly combats (in which apparently nobody survives) to determine border disputes and decide who takes over who else's "territory".  Ben remains helpless, and finds himself imprisoned with Torgo-- a robot captive-- who is scheduled to fight Ben to the death.  Back on Earth, Reed has learned Ben was taken to an open field by a cabbie, with another man who looked exactly like Reed.  As Ben seems to have "vanished off the face of the Earth", Reed concludes he was captured by a Skrull!

Great Kirby-Sinnott art as usual.  This story manages to pay tribute to at least 2 STAR TREK episodes at the same time-- "A Piece Of The Action" (the one about the gangster planet) and "The Gamesters Of Triskellion" (captives pitted against each other in fights to the death).  "Fun" stuff-- I guess- though taken with the earlier "PRISONER" tribute, it does seems someone may have been running out of fresh ideas here.  Even so, leave it to Jack Kirby to borrow ideas from someone else, and do it in such a way that it's so well-done you don't mind!
     (7-3-2008)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  77
cover by JOHN ROMITA

"IN THE BLAZE OF BATTLE!"

Spidey & The Human Torch fight The Lizard-- and each other-- as Spidey keeps trying to get the Torch to butt out so he can defeat The Lizard on his own, and The Torch just refuses to "run" from a battle.  This stupidity goes on until Spidey claims his "spider-sonic hearing" detected trouble at The Baxter Building, and The Torch flies off, not knowing he's been had!  In a warehouse, Spidey uses some chemicals to dehydrate The Lizard, and sure enough, it causes him to change back to Curt Connors.  Connors & his family hardly know how to thank Spidey, and he leaves, everything having gone his way (for once), though he's not looking forward to seeing The Torch anytime soon.

This issue effectively wraps up a 10-part sequence that began all the way back when The Kingpin decided to steal the mysterious stone tablet from the University.  It's been non-stop since then, and it's nice when they finally get back to taking a breather between stories.  Once again, layouts are by John Buscema (once again using mostly 4 panels to a page), pencils & inks by Jim Mooney, and presumably John Romita doing touch-ups on faces.  The way the credits are written, it's hard to tell who did what exactly, but that goes for "ye editor" as well (who wrote the credits), as he keeps listing himself as "author", even though the chances are Romita & Buscema BOTH had much more to do with the story than "ye editor" did.
     (7-3-2008)


IRON MAN  18
cover by GEORGE TUSKA

"EVEN HEROES DIE"


CAPTAIN AMERICA  118
cover by Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott
     (alterations by JOHN ROMITA)

"THE FALCON FIGHTS ON!"

Cap (in the Skull's body, and with his face disguised) and The Falcon (Sam Wilson) take on The Exiles, while The Skull watches via the Cosmic Cube.  Meanwhile, Rick Jones continues to feel sorry for himself, which is a pretty sad spectacle.  At one point, the Skull considers injuring dozens of Cap's over-zealous fans, but stops himself because he realizes using the Cube in that fashion will make people realize it may not be the real Cap.  Finally impatient, he decides to step in personally to deal the final defeat to his enemy...

While not quite as stunning as last issue, the art by Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott continues to dazzle.  The letters pages seem split over the Rick Jones thing, with quite a few readers feeling it was a serious mistake to ever have him dress up in Bucky's uniform.  "Ye editor" must have felt the same way-- making it all the more obvious that Jim Steranko was the one who wrote those 3 issues (#110, 111, 113), NOT "ye editor", though he refuses to admit it!  It's curious that "ye editor" seemed hell-bent on NOT having Sharon Carter become Cap's new partner (after all the work Jack Kirby did to set that up), and NOT having Rick Jones being Cap's new partner (despite Jim Steranko's best efforts), but he liked the idea of Sam Wilson becoming his new partner.  I guess it was the times...
     (7-4-2008)


SILVER SURFER  9
cover by John Buscema & Dan Adkins

"...TO STEAL THE SURFER'S SOUL!"

The Surfer fights The Flying Dutchman above Manhattan while Mephisto watches.  At one point, the Dutchman threatens a woman's life if the Surfer won't pledge his soul to Mephisto, but this only makes the Surfer use his cosmic power in a more awesome fashion to attack the guy without hitting the hostage.  He also feels genuine compasion and pity for the guy... and surprisingly, because of the curse he'd been under for centuries, this was the ONLY thing that could free his soul to go to its eternal rest!  As a result, Mephisto loses TWO souls.

Not much to say about this.  They're just not grabbing me at all.
     (7-4-2008)


SUB-MARINER  18
cover by Marie Severin & Mike Esposito
     (alteratins by JOHN ROMITA)
"SIDE BY SIDE WITH TRITON!"


THE INCREDIBLE HULK  120
cover by HERB TRIMPE
"ON THE SIDE OF THE EVIL INHUMANS"


CAPTAIN MARVEL  17
cover by Gil Kane & Dan Adkins

"AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD YOU!"

The Supreme Intelligence apparently communicates with Mar-Vell telepathically while he's trapped in The Negative Zone.  Observing out world, he watches Rick Jones, who's feeling immensely sorry for himself, as he leaves Avengers' Mansion, tosses away his Avengers Priority Card (!!!), and hitches a ride to... nowhere in particular.  Once there, he sees a ghostly image of Captain America, and although he realizes it can't be the real Cap, follows it over hills and into a cave, where he finds statues of alien creatures, an alien laboratory, and a pair of shiny wrist-bands-- which he puts on, and, following a mental command, slaps them together.  In an instant, Mar-Vell is back on Earth-- but Rick Jones is stuck in the Negative Zone!  While the two can communicate telepathically, Rick isn't the least bit happy about it.  But before either has time to think, who should show up, wanting the "Nega-Bands", but Colonel Yon-Rogg.  After a brief fight, he flees in a Kree shuttle, then tosses what looks like Carol Danvers out the hatch into Mar-Vell's arms.  He realizes too late it's really a bomb, but the Nega-Bands protect him, even as they've given him the power of flight among others to replace all the powers granted him by Zarek, apparently lost when he was pulled into the Negative Zone.  Switching places with Rick again, Rick now feels some sort of "merging" has taken place-- and he now feels overwhelmed with the desire to seek vengeance on Yon-Rogg, even if it takes the rest of his life (which it might-- the narrator suggests-- OH YEAH???).

This issue presents a violent shock to the readers, as after promising Archie Goodwin, Don Heck & Syd Shores as the "new regular team", and asking readers' patience to let Archie have a few issues to clear up earlier plot threads, ALL 3 guys were replaced in this issue!  In their place were Roy Thomas (returning because "ye editor" felt things had gotten so bad he felt his right-hand guy might be the "only" one to fix it), Gil Kane (fresh from GREEN LANTERN, apparently really hot to do this series), and Dan Adkins (who inked Tom Sutton 2 issues before-- but try as he might, I think he's out of his league here).  The sequence where Rick finds the cave is clearly a tribute to the classic origin sequence where Billy Batson finds the cave with the statues of "7 Deadly Sins" before being granted the power of Captain Marvel (the REAL one, not this new fella).  It's only the latest element ripped from some other series tacked onto Mar-Vell, and it may be the most painful one to bear.  While I found Roy's earlier work on this series extremely annoying at times, that was nothing compared to this.  There's so much narration and self-indulgent and awkward dialogue, I'd have to rate this as one of the worst writing jobs of Roy's I have ever had to suffer through.  Gil Kane, inspired by the dynamics of Jack Kirby's art, had spent several years slowly altering his own style, and his "new" style really explodes in this issue.  Anatomy is stretched all over the place, the layouts are reminiscent of Neal Adams', the faces are downright ugly, none of them recognizable as the characters readers knew from other artists' work (without the costumes you'd never be able to tell who half these people are).  And poor Dan Adkins-- despite having such a slick, sharp, "clean" style, Kane's pencils are just TOO extreme.  It would have taken Wally Wood himself to make these pages look really good-- or Joe Sinnott at the very least.  The results, at least to my eyes are, HORRIBLE plotting, HORRIBLE layouts, HORRIBLE pencils, and REALLY HORRIBLE dialogue!!!  "Ye editor" actually thought this would somehow be an improvement?

After getting my hands on CM #16 by Goodwin, Heck & Shores, I realized just how RIPPED OFF readers had actually been by this abrupt change.  I wonder how it might have been if those 3 guys had been able to stick around and finally pull the series together into something coherent-- instead of having it PULLED APART into a total mess.
     (7-4-2008)


THOR  169
cover by Jack Kirby & George Klein and JOHN ROMITA

"THE AWESOME ANSWER!"


THE AVENGERS  69
cover by Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN"

Tony Stark is in the hospital on the verge of death, awaiting a heart specialist who may be able to save his life.  But meanwhile, The Growing Man (from THOR #140) suddenly turns up, kidnaps Stark, and the team tries to save him, only to have all of them pulled into the far future to face Kang The Conqueror.  The Black Panther, already one of his "guests", suggests they listen, as the fate of the entire planet rests with them helping their longtime arch-enemy.  Kang has been approached by The Grandmaster, some kind of immortal omnipotent being, who has offered him the power to restore his beloved Ravonna to life-- if he'll just play a "simple" game.  But if he loses, all life on Earth is forfeit.  Who the hell does this guy think he is?  Anyway, with the stakes being so high, The Avengers quickly agree, and suddenly find themselves facing a quartet of villains-- Dr. Spectrum, Hyperion, Nighthawk, and The Whizzer-- collectively, The Squadron Sinister.

This first of 3 parts introduces Marvel's villainous counterparts of DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA!  As the JLA had faced the "Earth-2" Justice Society (some of whom were dopplegangers for the "Earth-1" heroes) and the "Earth-3" Injustice League Of Earth (villain dopplegangers of the heroes), here Roy Thomas-- who's always been a bigger DC fan than a Marvel fan (ironic, ain't it?) gets a chance to have fun with further alternate-universe copies (ahem, tributes) to some of his favorite heroes-- Green Lantern, Superman, Batman & The Flash.  Only a Golden Age fanboy at the time might have realized that Marvel already had their own character called "The Whizzer", back in the 1940's.  These characters-- or further dopplegangers of THEM-- would continue far beyond this initial "tribute".  Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger continue a bang-up job, solid, sharp, if not generally spectacular.
     (7-4-2008)


DAREDEVIL  57
cover by Gene Colan & Syd Shores
     (alterations by JOHN ROMITA)

"IN THE MIDST OF LIFE"


X-MEN  61
cover by NEAL ADAMS

"MONSTERS ALSO WEEP!"

The team spends half the issue fighting Sauron (half-man, half pterodactl-- sort of a fore-runner to DC's MAN-BAT) over, around and under the Pulaski Skyway (that's what it looks like to me).  When Sauron suddenly begins to change back to human form, Dr. Lykos, he uses his hypnotic power to make The Angel carry him back to his office.  The team later finds Angel at their mansion, with no memory of what happened, possibly hypnotized, and figure Dr. Lykos, who uses hypno-therapy, mighty be the guy to help.  (And they NEVER connect that Lykos might be the one who did this to the Angel?  GEEZ!)  At his office, Lykos finds Tanya, his longtime love, has arrived.  She wonders who the "intruders" are when the X-Men arrive to pick up Alex-- who, "drained" of excess power, is feeling great.  But then Tanya's controlling father also arrives (gee, it's like Grand Central Terminal), more determined than ever that his daughter will NEVER marry Lykos, despite how much both love each other.  Before long, as Sauron again, he attacks her father, but realizing how evil he becomes in that form, decides he must stay away from Tanya at all costs, and flies all the way to Tierra Del Fuego, where he was born, and where he encountered the flying reptiles in the first place.  Tanya follows, and, fighting off the urge to drain HER life energy, he plunges off a cliff to his apparent death, as the X-Men, who followed, prevent her from also falling to her doom.

Well THAT was depressing, wasn't it?  Reader reviews seem to be 100% positive to Adams' debut on the series, several hailing him as one of the best artists to ever work for Marvel.  Roy seems geared up for what he hopes will be a long, productive run on the book.  No question, it was impressive... shame it didn't last all that long.
     (7-4-2008)

(Continued in November 1969)

All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa

September 1969

(Continued from August 1969)

NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD  14
cover by Herb Trimpe & Sam Grainger

"NICK FURY... A DAY IN THE LIFE"

Synopsis:
Aboard the Heli-Carrier, the "Psycho-Projector" is used on Fury, to put him thru his paces while unconscious and learn what's really going on in his mind.  It turns out EVERYTHING involving "The Super-Patriot" was just a dream!  Later, with no knowledge of this, Fury wakes up back in his NY apartment, where Val has a morning Alka-Seltzer waiting for him.  His new secretary, Agent Huff, contacts him to let him know the Munitions Department wants him for a briefing.  But someone has sabotaged his apartment, and TWICE he barely escapes death!  Elsewhere, HYDRA agent Number 72 plots Fury's death.  Fury skips breakfast, then is ambushed on the way to his car.  En route to the Heli-Carrier, a fault develops in one of the anti-grav wheels of his Ferarri, causing him to bail out and parachute to land.  The Gaff nags Fury about taking better care of things like the car he just destroyed, then shows off a new flying motorcycle!  The whole time, Fury's under observation by Dugan, Gabe, Val & "Dr. Sammartino", who continues to claim Fury is a traitor.  But Dugan counters by saying he found out the dead agent Rickard was really working for HYDRA, which caused the Dr. to blow his cover!  All bets off, he goes after Fury, but thanks to the intervention of Huff, is stopped-- but escapes.  Fury thanks Huff for her help, but in the back of his mind wonders why the Super-Patriot looked like him?

Indexer notes:
Part 3 of 3.  HYDRA double-agent inexplicably called "Dr. Kraus" by a lab-tech on page 2 and "Dr. Sammartino" by Gabe Jones on page 16!  Since Kraus is a German name and he's a HYDRA agent, it's probably his real one (suggesting the lab-tech was also a double-agent who slipped up!).  Number 72 bears a striking resemblance to "Don Cabellero", the 1st of Baron Strucker's fake identities (see STRANGE TALES #150-152 / November 1966-January 1967), suggesting he based his false identity on Number 72, another member of his organization!  3rd car of Fury's to be destroyed; this one had only been around since NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #8 (January 1969).  HYDRA returns next issue, but new plot begins.
     (9-15-2007)

Nick is under observation by SHIELD, as we discover the entire "Super-Patriot" episode was ALL in Nick's mind!!  (A "dream" episode-- intentional last month, or did Gary Friedrich change his mind because last issue was just that ridiculous?)  They take Nick back to his NYC apartment, where he wakes up to Val bringing him breakfast.  It all seems like another tribute to THE PRISONER (which Jack Kirby already did a few months back in FANTASTIC FOUR).  Nick survives repeated attempts on his life in his apartment, on the street, in his car (which someone sabotaged!) before finally having to parachute down to the Heli-Carrier.  The Gaffer spews out all the Jewish sarcasm his can muster, complaining about how Fury destroyed the car he gave him (again!), then shows off a new flying motorcycle.  The psychiatrist in charge of observing Fury continues to maintain that Fury is a traitor, and he'll prove it... until Dugan reveals they found out Rickard (who Fury killed) was working for HYDRA-- and had "several meetings" with the Doctor before dying.  We're not sure if this was only a bluff or not, but it does the trick, and the Doc reveals HE's working for HYDRA, too, before trying (and failing) to kill Fury yet again.  He actually manages to escape, which somehow doesn't bother anyone (there's way too much of this going on in the Marvel Universe lately-- bad guys getting away and nobody seeming to care all that much) as all are just happy that Fury's rep in in the clear again.  Fury himself wonders why The Super-Patriot had his own face-- apparently not yet realizing it was only a dream...

Overall, this was a huge improvement over the previous issue, which wouldn't have been too difficult.  I still wish Steve Parkhouse & Barry Smith had managed to do the entire story, as their opening episode was so much better than the 2 that followed.  The Herb Trimpe-Sam Grainger team are really trying their best to kick Jack Kirby-style ass here, the photo-background as Nick's Ferrarri flys over NYC the only hint of "Steranko" influence at all.  I'm convinced that with a better writer, Trimpe & Grainger could have done some impressive work here.  As it is, it's too many drastic changes in too short a time for anyone's good.
     (7-1-2008)


DR. STRANGE  182
cover by Gene Colan & Tom Palmer

"AND JUGGERNAUT MAKES THREE!"

Clea & Wong watch Doc's seeming defeat by Nightmare in the Dream Dimension.  But Doc's not out yet, as he manages to contact someone who's currently trapped in another dimension-- the X-MEN foe, Juggernaut (whose powers somehow derive from Cytorrak).  This cross-over seems as out-of-place as when Man-Thing crossed paths with Shang-Chi, but that's Roy Thomas for you.  Doc cons Juggernaut into thinking he's the guy's way back to Earth, and while the two baddies are coming to blows, Doc makes his escape, getting his cloak & amulet back under his control.  Juggernaut realizes he's been had (he never was the sharpest tack) and the 2 baddies decide to double-team Doc, when ETERNITY steps into the fray.  Doc is outright amused by the very thought that the awesome, omnipotent being he risked his life to "save" turns out to have never really been a prisoner in the first place, but merely allowed the arrogant Nightmare to believe so.  And now, in payment for his earlier attack (shades of Dormammu), Eternity unleashes his power on the baddies... and, almost as an afterthought, neatly deposits Doc back home on Earth.

Back in his sanctum, Doc sees a telegram delivered while he was fighting for his life, and Wong tells him the name on the envelope has changed since its arrive, from "Dr. Stephen Strange" to "Dr. Stephen Sanders".  Doc instantly knows it was the work of Eternity, who knew Doc was looking to find a "new identity" for himself.  After endless millennia, for the first time ever, Doc thinks, Eternity actually "cared".

As usual, the artwork of Gene Colan & Tom Palmer is absolutely mind-blowing on every single page.  I swear, these 2 guys were WASTING their time in the 70's doing the awful, downbeat, pointless TOMB OF DRACULA series-- they should have been doing DR. STRANGE all along!  The letters page reveals that Palmer has been doing the coloring since #175 as well, one more reason these issues look like nothing else on the stands at the time.  I still don't "get" this whole fixation Roy Thomas has with "having" to give Doc a "secret identity", as Doc was always a "public figure" people would come to for help, even if most didn't believe what he was into was anything more than mumbo-jumbo.  The other bothersome thing this time out is the addition to the cover logo of the words "MASTER OF BLACK MAGIC".  Come ON, Roy!!!  Doc hasn't had that as part of his description since the first few episodes!!  (That's what you get with a writer who is absolutely obsessed with "origins" and the earliest periods of any given series, almost to the exclusion of what's gone on ever since.)
     (7-1-2008)


FANTASTIC FOUR  90
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"THE SKRULL TAKES A SLAVE!"

This is either the 3rd part of the Mole Man story, or, part 1 of the new Skrull story (although it really started last month!).  It's nicely done, but I keep wishing they would keep one story separate from another.  Anyway, the FF are trying to straighten things out in the underground "house", but Mole Man, still unbelievably arrogant, manages to escape!  Reed points out the "irony" that he hasn't committed any "crimes", and there's no crime in "trying to conquer the Earth".  While this mind-boggling NONSENSE is sinking in, MM destroys the house by remote-control, the FF barely escaping in time.  Meanwhile, the Skrull arrives on Earth, disguises his spaceship and himself, and heads for the city to locate The Thing.  Disguised as Reed, he cons Ben into following him, claiming evidence of "an alien invasion" (no kidding!).  At the spaceship, the alien reveals his identity, overpowers Ben, and the two head into deep space, as "the games" are "about to begin".

As usual, GREAT art, and a story that, like I said, would have come across a lot better if they hadn't overlapped 2 separate storylines this way.  (But that's my opinion.)  "Ye editor" makes another bonehead blunder this time when some of the dialogue is clearly intended to be Johnny & Crystal, even though in the pictures it's obviously Reed & Sue!  (HOW do you make a mistake like that??)  The thing that bugs me the most about this issue is the way not only The Mole Man made his escape, but the way Reed doesn't seem bothered by it.  This is a repeat of what happened with The Wizard-- TWICE!!  And let's not forget the Dr. Doom 4-parter.  With Reed's sense of "justice", I can't imagine him really not caring this way.  It feels too much like "Ye editor"s "liberal" attitudes about "sympathetic" villains overwhelming common sense and getting in the way of how a story should have really played itself out.
     (7-1-2008)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  76
cover by JOHN ROMITA

"THE LIZARD LIVES!"

The Lizard is on the rampage again, and Spider-Man promises Mrs. Connors & her son Billy that he'll do all he can to help and try not to hurt the guy, who in his reptile form doesn't remember that he's Curt Connors.   Joe Robertson & Captain Stacy are still trying to figure out what makes Spidey tick, and Stacy would like to talk with Pete about what he knows, since he's taken so many photos of the guy.  Gwen wonders if Pete's seeing another girl, since he keeps being so secretive and disappearing all the time, but he tells he hopes to be able to explain things to her soon.  (Oh really?)  Spidey catches up with The Lizard, big fight commences, and just as Spidey is getting an idea how he can stop The Lizard... The Human Torch shows up.  Oh joy.

John Buscema's back again, and John Romita isn't even listed in the credits this issue!  It's possible he did some touch-ups on faces (seems like he always was) but it's hard to tell.  Jim Mooney continues doing the bulk of the work (pencils & inks) but the storytelling is Buscema, who is focusing mostly on 4-panel pages these days.  The result is, you get thru 20 pages, and you feel like you've only had 10.  Not much story!  Come to think of it, a lot of Marvels were getting like that around here.
     (7-3-2008)


IRON MAN  17
cover by George Tuska & Johnny Craig
     (alterations by JOHN ROMITA)

"THE BEGINNING OF THE END"


CAPTAIN AMERICA  117
cover by Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott
     (alterations by JOHN ROMITA)

"THE COMING OF... THE FALCON!"

Cap-- in the Red Skull's body-- fights for his life against The Exiles, those perverted Nazi types the Skull trained, used, then betrayed & left marooned on this tropical island.  Cap gets some help from Sam Wilson and his falcon Redwing.  It seems the native New Yorker answered an advert for a bird trainer and hunter, but once he arrived found the ad was a con-- these guys don't hire you, they only make prisoners and slaves of people!  (How they posted an ad when they're stuck on the island is never explained-- what, readers should expect "ye editor" to actually think things thru when he's writing a comic?)  At this point Cap has finally figured out he should take off the Skull mask, and uses some improvised make-up to alter his appearance (though why he should bother, when nobody on the island has ever seen The Skull's real face is another question never addressed.)  Cap trains Sam in unarmed combat, and by the issue's end, Sam fashions a costume for himself, becoming-- The Falcon!  (No relation to the 1940's detective character, of course.)

Back in NYC, The Skull (in Cap's body-- and costume) checks into a swank hotel and is mobbed by adoring fans.  On the one hand, the hotel staff are surprised, as Cap never seemed a glory-hound before.  On the other, he also tends to talk DOWN to people, including his fans, treating them like "mindless rabble".  You'd THINK somebody might have figured something was wrong there...

The huge gaping plotholes in this book tend to be glossed over by thbe fact that Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott's artwork is SO good, SO gorgeous, I give this issue my vote for BEST-LOOKING Marvel Comic of the month!!  In his "disguise", Cap (in the Skull's body) looks a bit like Hugh O'Brien, but Sam Wilson is a dead ringer for Muhammad Ali!  I never got that from any later renditions of him, but as Gene was the 1st artist to ever draw the guy, I put a lot of stock in what I see here.
     (7-3-2008)


SILVER SURFER  8

cover by John Buscema & Dan Adkins

"NOW STRIKES THE GHOST!"

Mephisto returns, still wanting the Surfer's soul, and drawing from limbo the cursed spirit of "The Flying Dutchman".  Mephisto offers the guy his only chance at peace if he'll pledge his soul to Mephisto, and bring him the Surfer's soul as well, by force.  Soaring over Manhattan in an ancient sailing ship is sure to attract attention, and before long, the Surfer is drawn into a fight...

MAN is this villain one ugly sucker!  Beginning this issue, Dan Adkins replaced Sal Buscema on inks, no doubt because Sal got busy doing pencils for THE AVENGERS.  Also, without warning, someone decided to make the book a normal-sized monthly (supposedly based on "readers's requests", but I dunno) and this 40-page story was CUT in half just before printing, rather than be paced a bit different to make it a "normal" 2-parter.
     (7-4-2008)



SUB-MARINER  17
cover by Marie Severin & Mike Esposito

"FROM THE STARS, THE STALKER!"

This reminds me of a KULL story, as Namor faces trouble from a scheming high priest who claims to speak directly with "the gods", and somehow "the people" all listen to the guy.  Of course, he's planning to steal the throne, and invents a dangerous "quest" for Namor to go on with Neptune's Trident (which, oddly enough, looks nothing like it did when Gene Colan was drawing this series), and so Namor travels back to the site of the original Atlantis and visits his mother's grave.  But then he's attacked by an alien from space-- who, it turns out, is in league with that pesky high priest-- and, unknown to the priest, plans to drain all water from the face of the Earth to restore his dying planet.  If it's not one thing, it's another...

The art this time is credited to Marie Severin & "Jay Hawk"-- who, it turns out, was really Jack Katz—perhaps doing pencils over Marie's layouts (I wonder if she was really pressed for time this month?).  Inks are credited to "Joe Gaudioso"-- another alias for Mike Esposito!  It's strange whenever they get 3 artists working in a relay-race like this, as none of their styles really tends to shine like it might otherwise.  All the same, Marie's Namor remains one of my favorites, and the depictions of the old Atlantean ruins are quite spectacular (though the bright glaring coloring doesn't help add any mood to it at all).  Unfortunately, I don't have the rest of this story... one of these days!
     (7-3-2008)


THE INCREDIBLE HULK  119
cover by HERB TRIMPE
     (alterations by JOHN ROMITA)

"AT THE MERCY OF MAXIMUS THE MAD"


CAPTAIN MARVEL  16
cover by Don Heck & Syd Shores

"BEHIND THE MASK OF ZO!"

CM is captured by a group of very short armored guys guarding the "Tam-Bor" idol-- until he breaks free and gets inside.  There, he finds it's no ancient or natural artifcat, but man-made Kree technology of recent vintage.  Ronan The Accuser appears intent on executing him as a "traitor", and CM notes he seems to be taking too much pleasure in it to be merely a matter of "duty".

Suddenly, a "Super-Sentry" appears-- an advanced model used by the Kree Supreme Intelligence only in time of urgent danger to the entire empire-- and it accuses Ronan of being a traitor!  CM manages to disable the "Tam-Bor" magnetic device, Ronan disappears in an explosion, and The Super-Sentry transports CM back to Hala-- the Kree Homeworld-- to face The Supreme Intelligence, who, to Mar-Vell's utter shock, is not out to prosecute him, but claims he was only a "pawn" in a game of deceit.  The real "traitor", it seems, is Zarak-- The Imperial Minister-- who hated the Supreme Intelligence's "liiberal" policies and wanted to overthrow him.  Zarak, it turns out, deliberately sent the Kree's most honored warrior-- Mar-Vell-- on the mission to Earth, along with his insane rival, Yon-Rogg, KNOWING it would drive Mar-Vell into the position he's in.  And it further comes out that the "endless" voyage CM took in "Rebirth" wasn't quite so-- and the world he wound up on was in fact an artificial moon used for mind-warping experiments which have been outlawed for centuries.  Not only that, that supposed alien being, "ZO!", was really Zarek all along, who, together with Ronan-- who was looking for an excuse to get revenge on Earth for his earlier defeat there-- planned to make Mar-Vell the scapegoat in an elaborate hoax involving the cult of Tam-Bor.  Talk about head-spinning!  Zarek tries to destroy the Supreme Intelligence with a negative energy globe, but Mar-Vell intervenes.  In the end, The Supreme Intelligence reveals his chamber was much better-protected than any knew, and both Zarek & Ronan have been taken into custody.  Only Yon-Rogg remains to be taken care of, but Mar-Vell requests to go after the guy himself, rather than allow Earth to be destroyed from a distance just to kill one traitor.  The S.I. realizes Mar-Vell DOES have some loyalties to Earth, but lets it slide, though he says because of it, he'll never advance beyond the rank of "Captain", and gives him a brand-new uniform, to honor him as no longer being a "mere" Kree soldier.  All seems well-- AT LAST!!!-- until, en route to Earth, CM is suddenly pulled into the Negative Zone!!  (What th'...???)

Back on Earth, a delirious Carol Danvers leaves the hospital just before some FBI guys arrive, is mobbed by reporters outside, and then "rescued" by... Yon-Rogg.  Uh oh...

This was the last of these early issues I got my hands on a few years ago, and boy did it blow my mind!  In ONE single issue, writer Archie Goodwin managed to tie up or explain EVERY loose end, EVERY mystery, EVERY non-sensical so-called plot thread that was introduced earlier by "ye editor", Roy Thomas, Arnold Drake & Gary Friedrich, and he did it SO well, he almost could fool you into thinking it was "always" supposed to turn out this way from the beginning!  But I don't believe it...  Archie surely proved right here he had a much better inclination for science-fiction than super-heroes, as I'd rate this one issue as better than all of his IRON MAN issues combined.  In addition, my favorite storyteller on the series so far, Don Heck, returned and did his best job ever-- combined with Syd Shores, who supplied Don with by far the BEST inks he ever got on this book!  This issue gets my vote for the BEST ISSUE of CM to date, by a mile-- and also the best-written Marvel of the month!

Which makes what happened next all the more tragic... and infuriating...  Although Archie, Don & Syd were apparently supposed to be the "new regular team"-- the letters page the issue before asked readers' patience for Archie to clear things up-- all 3 guys were KICKED OFF the series, and before this issue even got to the printers!  It seems "ye editor"-- who set up this MESS in the first place-- got cold feet, felt the book needed "drastic" changes in a desperate attempt to "save" it-- and this happened to coincide with Gil Kane-- fresh from GREEN LANTERN-- coming over to Marvel, and really wanting to do Marvel's "sci-fi superhero" as he had DC's.  And so, it was put into motion that Roy Thomas, Gil Kane & Dan Adkins (who inked CM #15) should take over in #17, and the last few pages of this issue reflect those last-minuite decisions.  OY!  The "change" in the direction of the book was so drastic, virtually NOTHING that happened in this episode was even hinted at next month, which left me confused when I was missing this one.

All the same, when I read this story, I found myself looking at it as the grand finale of what turned out to be an 18-PART "origin" story for Captain Mar-Vell!  Whoa.
     (7-3-2008)


THOR  168
cover by Jack Kirby & George Klein

"GALACTUS FOUND!"


THE AVENGERS  68
cover by Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger

"...AND WE BATTLE FOR THE EARTH!"

Ultron is about to wipe out NYC in a nuclear explosion... until The Vision uses the last of his energy to destroy the deadly equipment from the inside.  Ultron escapes, and the team contacts the scientist at SHIELD who developed the Adamantium alloy, and discover-- sure enough-- the "molecular arranger" was also stolen when the metal was-- and nobody noticed it until now.  Hank Pym contacts The Black Panther (fighting off some invaders to his country back home) to ask for some vibranium, and hatches a plan to trap the murderous robot.  The inventor of Adamantium speaks at the U.N. to alert the world of the deadly threat, while Ultron plans to kidnap him and drain his mind for knowledge which will enable him to create an army of indestructible yet mindless, subservient robots with which he can wipe out all of mankind.  Ultron attacks the U.N. during the speech, and uses the mind-drain equipment on the scientist, only to be shocked by the thoughts he's accessing.  A cone of vibranium encases Ultron just as he self-destructs, and it's revealed that Hank disguised himself as the scientist, then had Jan hypnotize him so he wouldn't know, as well as implant a post-hypnotic suggestion which only Ultron would pick up on-- a thought so shocking, so totally alien to Ultron's nature and being, it wound up destroying him-- "Thou shalt not kill."

The new art team of Sal Buscema (fresh from 2 issues of CAPTAIN AMERICA, though few seemed to notice) and Sam Grainger (who's really been kicking ass around Marvel lately) debut.  It's sort of "John Buscema lite", which I guess isn't a bad thing.  While less spectacular than Barry Smith, I'd say the storytelling is a lot clearer.  I was surprised re-reading this how close the theme of Ultron, an artificial intelligence who became aware abruptly and instantly went homicidal for no apparently reason, and wanted to wipe out ALL life on Earth, so closely reflected the much-later TERMINATOR movies.  It's amazing how many things wind up in movies that were in comics earlier-- but the comics usually aren't credited as source material.  I kinda wish this had been Ultron's last appearance.  It would have been a fitting "finale".
     (7-3-2008)


DAREDEVIL  56
cover by Gene Colan & George Klein

"AND DEATH CAME RIDING"


X-MEN  60
cover by Neal Adams & Tom Palmer

"IN THE SHADOW OF... SAURON!"

Scott & Jean drop off Alex with a Dr. Lykos, who seems to be more psychiatrist than physician.  And he's got a secret-- ever since his father took him to an expedition near Antarctica where they were attacked by a swarm of Pterodactls (must have been near Ka-Zar's "Savage Land"), he's had this uncanny thing where he drains life energy from other beings.  In fact, like a drug addict, he needs to-- more and more as time goes by.  Having been an associate of Charles Xavier years earlier, he gets the idea that draining the energy of a mutant would really do it for him, and wouldn't you know, Alex ("Havok") is one of the most powerful around.

Back at the Mansion, the team has a work-out in The Danger Room, while Jean & Lorna (who, after her recent kidnapping by Sentinels, feels she no longer has a "home" and belongs with the team) watch in amusement, as Lorna tells Jean she's "no one's girl" (oh, what will Bobby think?).  When reports of a "winged" menace suggest a mutant may be the cause, Warren gets pissed, dig out his OLD costume (only seen in the "Origins" episodes) and spouts another annoying Roy Thomas-ism when he says (for the 2nd time!) "...a guy who USED to be called The Avenging Angel!"  Good grief.  Over the city, he quickly finds the winged menace-- in reality, Dr. Lykos, transformed into a half-man, half-pterodactyl-- and calling himself the most "evil" name he could come up with (due to his obsession with the book "Lord of the Rings"), "Sauron".

I keep hearing about Neal Adams' "drawing mistakes".  I saw one this time!  On page 3, when the X-Men take off in some sort of flying craft, the landing gear has the wheels rotated 90 degrees from how they should be.  HOW do you MAKE a mistake like that???  Otherwise, the book looks fine, and some of the colors (which Neal was also doing) are really outstanding, though as usual, much of the "storytelling"-- especially in the Danger Room sequence-- is very difficult to follow.
     (7-3-2008)

(Continued in October 1969)

All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa