NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD 9
cover by FRANK SPRINGER
Synopsis:
While at a doctor's appointment, Fury is the target of an assassin, who misses him but hits the doctor instead. Escaping via aircraft, Fury recognizes the "H" symbol and realizes The Hate-Monger is somehow back in action. After rendezvousing at the Heli-Carrier, Fury, Dugan, Jimmy & Gabe pursue the aircraft & wind up in an aeriel dogfight. After shooting down the enemy jet, they follow, only to find themselves in a bizarre prehistoric landscape filled with dinosaurs! Fury plunges into an gigantic underground laboratory and comes face-to-face with The Hate-Monger, who reveals the other SHIELD agents are really victims of the "Psychotron", which is creating illusions in their minds. The Hate-Monger plans to use nuclear missiles to "deal a death-blow to every nation on Earth", and also shows him a "Brain-Bank" chamber containing the "active brains" of all his former advisors and associates, whose mentalities live on even while their bodies are long dead. All looks lost until Dr. Kaupfman, who believed his "Feuhrer" wanted to "save humanity from itself", realizes his plan was really only one of "sheer revenge", and shoots the Hate-Monger-- revealing another Adolph Hitler under the hood! Kaupfman's assistant turns out to be the long-missing Laura Brown in disguise, now working for SHIELD, and she, Fury & the others barely escape as Kaupfman blows the entire complex sky-high.
Indexer notes:
Part 1 of 3. 2nd appearance of Hate-Monger; previous app. in FANTASTIC FOUR #21 (December 1963). Laura Brown last appeared in STRANGE TALES #159 (August 1967).
(9-15-2007)
This story brings back a villain I bet nobody ever expected to see again-- The Hate Monger! Marvel always said back then, "Dead is DEAD!" and this guy was shot very dead, no question. But he's back again anyway, and with NO explanation (only a hint). Fury pays a visit to his Doctor, in such a hurry he's still wearing his "scuba suit". An assassin aiming for him kills the Doc instead, and the guy escapes in an aircraft maked with a big "H". Somehow Fury figures this stands for "Hate Monger" rather than "Hydra", and the hunt is on. An arial dogfight (MAN, does Frank Springer draw COOL aircraft!!!) winds up in a South American jungle-- apparently inhabited by dinosaurs. (What is this, NICK FURY #2 all over again??) Fury lands in yet ANOTHER underground complex (there seem to be so many of those lately) and confronts the Hate-Monger, who reveals he has a huge "brain bank" containing the actual brains of "all" his top men from WW2 (this does suggest something about his own survival), and an arsenal of nuclear missiles with which he plans to wipe out the population of the entire Earth so HIS people can then take over. (Shades of Hydra, and Centurius, and...) The dinosaurs, it turns out, are merely illusion, created by the Psyche-Magnitron, the same device seen earlier in one of Roy Thomas' AVENGERS issues. H-M's top man feels his ethics have been betrayed, and shoots his boss-- who turns out to be Adolph Hitler under the hood (again???). We also learn the long-missing Laura Brown did indeed join SHIELD-- and was here undercover on assignment. The group barely escapes before the entire place is blown to pieces (don't you hate it when that happens?), leaving all wondering if the original Hate-Monger was really Hitler-- or was this one-- or...
I gotta say, as much grief as I give him (and rightly so), Gary Friedrich made the BEST debut of any writer on this series since Jaunty Jim. In a single issue, he brought back the bulk of the supporting cast, and re-established SHIELD's main goal as an anti-terrorist organization, whose focus, more often than not, involves neo-Nazis. If there's any gripe, it's that like the previous several issues, he felt the need to wrap this story up in only 20 pages. The up side is, the Hate Monger storyline did at least continue for another 2 issues, but each one stands on its own as a totally separate chapter. Not that that's a bad thing, but given the "epic" level of the menace involved, the way it was done destroyed any sense of momentum or "continuity". I suppose one could look at these 3 issues as a "trilogy"-- if you were the sort who does that thing. Sadly, it was DOWNHILL all the way after this. Who'd a thunk it?
(6-14-2008)
DR. STRANGE 177
cover by Gene Colan & Tom Palmer
Doc & Clea are thrust helpelssly into some nether-dimension while Azmodeus plans to make use of The Book Of The Vishanti. (You know, I can really see where CHARMED was influenced big-time by this series!) But Doc has something up his sleeve (so to speak). It seems when he was in that graveyard, he had a premonition things might not go his way, so prepared a couple of spells in advance. He HID his cloak of levitation in the cemetary, and made the Amulet-- the eye of Agamotto-- invisible. He also cast a spell so the Book would transport itself to The Ancient One's retreat in Tibet. So for all his efforts, Azmodeus still has nothing to show for it. He bumps off his own men (see what happens when you join Devil-worship cults?), and magically changes his appearance to disguise himself as Dr. Strange, then heads off to Tibet. Doc uses the eye to escape, but finds his way back to Earth blocked because of the peculiar nature of Azmodeus' disguise spell. Simple answer-- Doc CHANGES HIS OWN appearance, and returns to Earth with Clea looking like a masked superhero version of himself! (Another "make-over" courtesy of Roy Thomas!) The outfit is somewhat reminiscent of Howard Keltner's fanzine character, Dr. Weird-- who dates back to 1944 (when he started out as a tribute to Mr. Justice, himself a swipe of The Spectre), though Dr. Weird made his public "debut" in STAR-STUDDED COMICS #1-- a few months before Dr. Strange debuted in STRANGE TALES #111. Leave it to the "fanboy" at heart...! Sometime after this, Jim Starlin, before turning pro, would do some DR. WEIRD comics, and change his costume so it looked more like the one Gene Colan came up with here! (Full-circle!)
Strange confronts "himself", and Azmodeus all too quickly gives away the game (which The Ancient One suspected anyway). His mentor tells him he can't help, as Doc has to protect the Earth on his own now, and Strange fully understands. Before things go on too long, Azmodeus suffers a HEART ATTACK (there's something you don't see everyday with bad guys), but before he croaks, utters an incantation he found in the Book. Under the hood, Strange is surprised to find... wait for it... Dr. Benton! Yes! His old colleague-- the guy who was such a pain-in-the-ass nagging him to give up his life as a "charlatan" and get back to "helping mankind" was really a Satanist all along. I laughed out loud when I read this. It was such a clever twist, and I somehow DIDN'T see it coming! Anyway, things aren't over yet, as that spell the guy read has unleashed Ymir & Surtur, the twin giants of Frost & Fire banished by Odin in TALES OF ASGARD. "To be continued".
Gene Colan & Tom Palmer continue to blow my mind with the visuals, but Roy Thomas is also doing some of his best work ever on this run as well. I actually wrote him a fan letter the other day (for a comic that came out 39 YEARS ago) because I enjoyed it so much. It's a shame the series didn't last too long-- or that, when it did come back, nobody here came back with it. By today's standards, its sales would probably make it a huge hit.
(6-14-2008)
FANTASTIC FOUR 83
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
The FF are seemingly imprisoned in an escape-proof room which no amount of effort of Ben or Johnny's part is able to damage. But then, Reed figures it's all an illusion, since Maxiumus used a mind-bending effect to overpower his own people. In a scene possibly inspired by the 3rd-year STAR TREK episode "Spectre Of The Gun", Reed has the three of them concentrate on it not being real-- and the room disappears! Now free, they set out to rout Maximus. Black Bolt uses his own destructive speech power to free his family, and Gorgan smashes the Hypno-Gun to rubble. Maximus and his band of followers (most introduced in HULK ANNUAL #1 a few months back) all flee in a rocket-ship. I found this ending rather disappointing, but at least there was some "progression", as this was the first time BB's brother actually fled, rather than be merely imprisoned-- AGAIN.
As usual, the Kirby-Sinnott art is spectacular, more so than usual. Maybe Kirby was trying to make up for the less-than-inspired stories by cranking out art that would go a long way toward making you not notice?
I read part 1 of this in the 70's MGC reprint. I never read part 2 until my friend Kevin got me a copy of the original comic at a comics convention, about 2 years ago! That's a HECK of a long time to wait between chapters!! Thanks, man.
(6-14-2008)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 69
cover by JOHN ROMITA
Spidey pursues The Kingpin to his hideout, where the baddies wait in the dark for him to enter. But spider-sense comes to the rescue! Spidey makes up a web-dummy and puts his "shirt" on it, then tosses it thru the window into a hail of gunfire. (Those bullet-holes are gonna be tough to get out...) Big fight erupts, and in the end, the cops close in and nab The Kingpin-- who, just for spite, tells them Spider-Man is his "partner" and will get away with the Tablet. Sure enough, as Spidey is trying to return the Tablet to the cops, they open fire, causing him to say maybe he should BE a "menace" from now on.
Meanwhile, the cops think the demonstrators were in on the robbery, and a 2nd demonstration starts to free those arrested in the 1st one. Gwen Stacy tells them getting themselves arrested isn't gonna help anyone, and when someone calls the missing Pete a coward, she slaps his face! When her Dad asks what's upset her, he also asks "Are you angry because you think it might be true?"
The scene with the "web-dummy" later turned up in the 3rd-season SPIDER-MAN cartoon, "The Big Brainwasher", making 3 different ASM stories they used as parts of that thing! Jim Mooney is really kicking ass on the art (over Romita's "storyboards"), and his rendition of Gwen in this issue, with such a temper (like we haven't seen in some time) is beginning to remind me of a young Ellen Foley! "Ye editor" was so proud of this particular episode (despite it being just one part of a much-bigger storyline), he decided to include it in the 1978 reprint collection, MARVEL'S GREATEST SUPER-HERO BATTLES.
(6-14-2008)
IRON MAN 10
cover by George Tuska & Frank Giacoia
This follows the previous issue (of which, the reprint I have has gotten mis-placed-- GRRR!) by having The Mandarin correctly guess Iron Man and Tony Stark are one and the same. He concocts some FAKED photographs of Stark consorting with Soviet spies, and distributes copies to the news media. Stark, on a date with Janice Cord (she's surprised by how much she's getting to like him) is shocked when news-hounds confront him about the pics. He flees the scene, which only makes them more suspicious, so he can have SHIELD check out the pics. As it happens, all of them are of actual meetings which took place when Iron Man was known to be in action, so, in theory, his only "alibi" would be to reveal his secret I.D. to the world. And he AIN'T gonna do that, so... next thing, because of his persistent "no comment", the Feds pull his contracts, his factory's shut down, and SHIELD, which can't operate without his backing, tracks him down demanding answers. (It's tough when the guy who's set up a "SPY" organization is better at keeping secrets than they are.) What a complicated mess!
Archie Goodwin is piling on the plots twists at such rapid-fire speed it's surprising anyone can follow this story. George Tuska's art contains more "realistic" panels in a few spots this time (it's almost as if he's trying to "do" Gene Colan a bit), while Johnny Craig's inks are among the BEST to ever grace Tuska's pages. Even so, someone on the letters page complained the book was starting to look "too cartoony".
(6-14-2008)
CAPTAIN AMERICA 110
cover by JIM STERANKO
Synopsis:
Cap runs across the Hulk on a rampage in NYC. As the Army tries to stop him, Rick Jones warns him how uncontrollable he can be. The Hulk escapes, and Cap vows Rick must never put himself in danger until the monster can be tamed. Back at Avengers Mansion, Rick finds Bucky Barnes' old uniform, and rejects Cap's protests against wearing it. After putting him off for years, Cap finally accepts Rick officially as his new partner! Almost immediately, they uncover a plot by HYDRA to contaminate the city's water supply. After a series of battles, the HYDRA goons are driven off, and Cap tells Rick he survived his "baptism of fire"-- like a man!
Indexer notes:
Part 1 of 3. 1st appearance of Madame Hydra. James Bond had faced a "Madame Spectra" in the 007 newspaper strip story "The Spy Who Loved Me" in THE DAILY EXPRESS (December 18, 1967-October 3, 1968); see JAMES BOND 007 #[7] (Titan Books, August 2005). Last previous appearance of HYDRA in STRANGE TALES #159 (July 1967); its subsidiary, A.I.M., had effectively split off to become a separate organization and continued to crop up in the Nick Fury, Captain America & Iron Man series. Cap had first asked Rick to be his partner back in THE AVENGERS #4 (March 1964), but kept hemming and hawing over it for almost 5 years! The sequence in the sewers is strikingly similar to the one in "Spy Ambush" in CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #10 (January 1942). The Spirit had also once faced a female villain who planned to poison NYC's water supply in an early story.
(8-17-2007)
A "new era" begins in Cap's life when he runs into the Hulk-- being chased by the Army-- and Rick Jones-- who tries to calm his green buddy down, but to no avail. Knocked out in the action, Rick recovers back at Avengers Mansion, as Cap thinks he must "never" be around The Hulk again until or unless the monster is brought under control. On waking, Rick finds one of Bucky Barnes' suits in the closet and tries it on-- perfect fit. Then CAP has a fit, saying, "You must NEVER wear that costume!" Rick's fed up with the soap-opera, and always being brushed aside, and his words must get to Cap, because after YEARS of putting it off, he FINALLY agrees to let Rick become his new partner. Just then, an alarm goes off, and the pair trail it to an underground water-supply pumping station, where they find... HYDRA!!!
Yep, for the first time since Nick Fury sunk Hydra Island, the would-be world-conquering neo-Nazi outfit is back, this time bent on contaminating NYC's water supply. Led by "Madame Hydra", who sports a slinky, skin-tight leather outfit, they almost succeed, but Cap & Rick just barely drive them off. Though Rick feels he screwed things up, Cap assures him he came through his "baptism of fire" like a man.
At last, "ye editor" found somebody to take over this series from Jack Kirby-- and it was JIM STERANKO! No doubt smarting from the X-MEN debacle, I'm guessing JS may have insisted on Joe Sinnott as inker, 'cause that's who he got here. Even more than NICK FURY #5, this story is a real return to form, and the BEST writing Steranko did since the Hydra epic-- and with Sinnott, it's possibly his BEST artwork, EVER!
Although the Bullpen pages claimed "Written by S*** L**!" anyone should be able to easily tell it's Steranko ALL THE WAY here-- even if the credits give NO CLUE as to who did what. (That's what happens when the Editor gets himself listed FIRST.) Among other things, "ye editor" had a pathological dislike for "kid sidekicks", hence his resistence all this time to actually letting Cap & Rick team up. But Steranko's a big Kirby fan-- in particular of his 1940's work. His anatomy is more similar to Kirby's 40's comics than his 60's stuff, and part of this story-- the 2-page center-spread in particular-- was apparently inspired by the story "Spy Ambush" from CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #10 (Jan'42), the SAME issue which featured "The Phantom Hound Of Cardiff Moor" which he paid tribute to in NICK FURY #3. So Steranko had no problem letting Rick finally live up to the promise from AVENGERS #4 several years earlier. This story proved so popular it was reprinted in MARVEL SUPER ACTION #12 in 1979, the CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY tpb in 1979, and the CAPTAIN AMERICA COLLECTOR'S EDITION hardback from England in 1981. It looked like things were off to a GLORIOUS start!!! (Too bad it didn't last that long...)
(6-14-2008)
SILVER SURFER 4
cover by John Buscema & Sal Buscema
Loki, frustrated that Thor is still alive, is eager to find someone he can use to kill his foster brother. He uses a spell to scan the Earth for its most powerful denizens, and runs across The Surfer. Seeing how Mephisto tried and failed to "tempt" him, Loki decides HE'LL succeed, through deviousness (his specialty). First he challenges the Surfer to a fight, then claims he's of no value since he won't fight, and Loki "needs" someone to save all of mankind from the terrible "menace" of Thor, who's preparing for combat. (He sure is, after Loki openly let it be known he plans to KILL Thor!) Using his sorcery to let the Surfer slip thru the barrier and arrive at Asgard, the Surfer is invited to dine with Thor and his comrades. He thinks at first this guy CAN'T be the menace Loki claims, until Loki-- repeatedly-- influences his mind and the actions of others until he becomes convinced it must be true. You saw this coming-- big fight! All through it Thor tries to figure out WHAT's going on, WHY is this guy doing all this, until it finally slips out that Loki is the reason he's there. Having his scheme revealed, Loki shunts the Surfer back to Earth before any "evidence" against him can come forth. And so, we're back to square one. Again.
I can tell this must take place right between the Mangog and Galactus stories, as Loki is really pissed at the way things worked out in the first, and Thor headed for deep space in the second. Also, Joe Sinnott inking Steranko on CAPTAIN AMERICA meant this book needed a new inker, and sees the Marvel debut of one of its longest-standing regular artists-- SAL BUSCEMA! John's younger brother joins him here, and while for the longest time I thought Sal was just starting out here, he'd actually been in the biz for well over a decade by this point, working for other companies. Many consider Sal to be John's "best" inker, and while I may not agree with that, he certainly does a terrific job here, actually being truer to John's pencils than most, while giving them a "sharper" edge than John himself.
The art is among the most spectacular John Buscema ever did, and surely was a prelude to John's long, LONG run of the THOR series once Jack Kirby left Marvel for DC. But story-wise, it's rather frustrating, and flat. I'm afraid, like too many comics from this point, it looks great, but there just isn't that much there. This was reprinted in MARVEL'S GREATEST SUPERHERO BATTLES (1978), which I dug out so I could re-read it in color. Strangely enough, while the rendering on the Surfer in every panel screams for it, nobody added any blues to his "silver" coloring-- he was left just solid black & white! (And this, from Simon & Schuster?)
(6-14-2008)
SUB-MARINER 10
cover by Gene Colan & Dan Adkins
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 112
cover by Herb Trimpe & Dan Adkins
CAPTAIN MARVEL 10
cover by Marie Severin & John Verpoorten
As you might guess by the title, this episode brings things to a head. Mar-Vell is ordered to investigate "Number One" of "The Organization", the guy for whom the late Walt Lawson built the killer robot for, as they might prove helpful if the Kree decides to attack mankind. Carol invites Lawson to dinner, so she can grill him for info in a nicer way, but en route, they're attacked by The Organization, bent on killing Lawson for apparently betraying them. Carol is captured, but "Lawson" escapes, only to turn up as Captain Marvel, who tries to ingratiate himself into "Number One"s confidence. But once Carol escapes (due to his help) the guy realizes Marvel's not on the level, and before long, Number One and his entire "Organization" is taken out. Of course, THIS, at last, gives Yon-Rogg all the excuse he needs to have Mar-Vell EXECUTED as a traitor. Una, though heartbroken that her man is "involved" with the Earth woman, goes to warn him, but is sidetracked by the hit squad. By the time she recovers, the have him lined up in front of a firing squad. MAN, that was FAST!!!
After 5 issues in a row of trying to build things up here, I get the sneaky feeling Arnold Drake was either told to "wrap this up quickly", or decided to on his own. No way to be sure. The whole sub-plot with The Organization, which added so many extra levels of mystery & deviousness to the long-dead Walt Lawson, is brought to a fast end, and I don't believe they EVER turned up again, so we never got to learn anything more about them (like, were they in any way connected with Hydra, whose M.O. theirs resembled). Apart from Carol, none of the other Earth-bound supporting cast turns up here, though with the issue as crammed as it was, I guess that's understandable. I suppose a lot of readers were getting fed up with all the wheels-spinning regarding the missile base, Carol, Lawson, and the whole Organization sub-plot, when the Yon-Rogg bent on murdering his own officer sub-plot was still sitting there waiting to go somewhere. I just wonder where Arnold might have gone with it, had he been given a chance, because although he was credited for the next 2 issues, I have good reason to believe THIS was his last episode on the book!
Sadly, even Vince Colletta turned in a less-than-stellar job this time. It was still better than the average stuff he did in the 70's, but none of the "slick" line he used on the last 2 issues (or on many recent issues of THOR) were visible here. After this, things took a utterly inexplicable, bizarre turn-- and not for the better.
(6-14-2008)
THOR 161
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
Thor & The Recorder are rescued by The Wanderers, homeless aliens who seek vengeance against Galactus for destroying their worlds. Thor winds up aiding Ego, The Living Planet, and together they successfully chase off the world-eater! After, Ego alters the face of his surface and invites The Wanderers to live there in peace. Only the fact that Galactus is "still on the loose" darkens anyone's mood.
Magnificent, spectacular, mind-blowing... though I wonder if this might have been "wrapped up" a bit too quickly. As I'm reading these for the 2nd time now, I really should dig out the JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR issue that focused on this period, as it seems a LOT of what Jack Kirby was doing was altered, edited, re-arranged, etc. etc. before the published issues saw the light of day.
(6-17-2008)
DAREDEVIL 49
cover by Gene Colan & George Klein
X-MEN 53
cover by Barry Smith (rejected)
cover by Barry Smith & Mike Esposito
Marvel Girl uses one of Professor X's machines to try an experiment to boost her mental powers... and inadvertently, it opens a hole into The Negative Zone, where an angry, revenge-driven Blastaar (from FF #62-63) slips thru. The rest of the issue is one long pointless fight scene, until Marvel Girl again uses the machine, this time, apparently, killing the other-dimensional alien.
As "Cyclops: Wanted Dead Or Alive" was advertised last month, clearly this is a last-minute fill-in, though if somebody blew a deadline or if they just wanted to show off this particular story is anyone's guess. This marks the US debut of Barry Smith, who'd been doing a lot of pin-ups and stuff for the UK reprint books. The art is obviously very Kirby-inspired, but crude, simple, RAW, almost amateurish, on a fanzine-level in quality. Wait. That's not the worst part. The worst part is, the writing on this issue is REALLY bad. Did Arnold Drake REALLY write this? The dialogue is worse than usual, though I can still-- barely-- make out his trademark...
...hesitations between word balloons (he has the strangest, most unnatural way of break up sentences between balloons, it's very distinct). Maybe it's just supposed to be "character development", but Arnold's Cyclops is a lot more smart-alecky than he'd ever been before (is this what happens when Professor X is out of the way?). And Blastaar just doesn't seem himself, either. The plot is virtually non-existent, and for a "sequel" to such a classic FF story, this really bites. If you're gonna bring a villain back, at least they should have a story that makes doing so worth it. (Maybe the plot was 100% Smith's and Arnold just added the words?)
"WELCOME TO THE CLUB, BEAST!"
This finishes the Conquistador story, with Hank's parents rescued, the baddie caught, the entire town's memories of Hank having special abilities ERASED (is that going just too far??) and The Beast joining the X-Men. As low-key as the Roth-Verpoorten art may be, it's still far more "professional" than the lead story was.
(6-17-2008)
(Continued in March 1969)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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