NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD 13
cover by Herb Trimpe & Sam Grainger
Synopsis:
On the run from SHIELD, Fury witnesses what appears to be a political rally, staged by someone called "The Super-Patriot", who advocates taking the country back from "traitors" within the government! SHIELD arrives in force to arrest him for refusing a Federal court order to appear for questioning, and an open gun-battle erupts in the sky over Manhattan! Fury thinks back to his earlier arrest, when Dugan refused to believe that Rickard was a spy, and then Laura Brown passed him a "sonic disintegrator ring" which he used to escape. Gabe interrupts someone trying to mug Fury, then lets him know The Super-Patriot is planning to strike at the U.N. An undercover agent for The Super-Patriot reports that Fury is still a fugitive, and therefore no threat; he then tracks Fury down and corners him, revealing he's really Jasper Sitwell in disguise! But Fury turns the tables and trades places with Jasper, showing up at the U.N. just as The Super-Patriot is about to destroy the U.N. building! SHIELD shows up, a total free-for-all erupts, and trying to escape, The Super-Patriot accidentally trips and falls to his death! About to be arrested again, Fury takes off the villain's mask... only to find his own face underneath!
Indexer notes:
Part 2 of 3. Plot this issue makes an almost total disconnect from previous episode; the "logic" behind this is explained in Part 3. Abrupt departure of Barry Smith & replacement by Herb Trimpe coincides with the book becoming bi-monthly with this issue.
(9-15-2007)
A guy in a red-white-and-blue costume (NO, not him!) holds a rally in which he claims there are "traitors" in the government, and "traitors" in SHIELD. Fury-- a fugitive-- watches, as SHIELD attacks, trying to arrest "The Super-Patriot", who has refused to appear before a Senate investigating committee. In flashback, we see how Dugan arrested Fury for the "murder" of Rickard (who framed Fury and then tried to kill HIM), and is helped to escape by Laura Brown. Later, Fury's mugged, but saved by Gabe Jones, who clues him into another Super-Patriot rally-- at the UN. The mugger turns out to be a Super-Patriot agent, who's told to keep an eye on Fury. But then we find the agent is really Jasper Sitwell in disguise, who tries to arrest Fury. Fury gets the drop on him, and steals Jasper's disguise. At the UN, a barge attacks, intent on destroying the "haven for traitors", when SHIELD shows up. BIG FIGHT commences. Despite being a wanted man, Fury tackles The Super-Patriot himself, who trips and falls to his death (awful careless of him eh?). Before they can arrest him, Fury unmasks the guy, and sees... HIS OWN FACE!
Apart from a few details, there seemed to be an almost total "disconnect" between this episode and the previous one. Both Smith & Parkhouse went back to England, and Gary Friedrich came back, even less coherent than before. Herb Trimpe, who'd helped out on NICK FURY #8 (for 2 pages) returns to become the book's new regular penciller, and is joined by newcomer Sam Grainger. While everybody else seemed to be trying to "do" Steranko, the art this time is more in line with Kirby-- though far more "cartoony" than anything Kirby ever did on the series. I loved the story in the previous issue so much, it was a tragedy-- or should that be travesty-- at the way it was "continued" here. More surprises to come next time. (Oh, joy!)
(6-26-2008)
DR. STRANGE 181
cover by Gene Colan & Tom Palmer
Doc accepts Nightmare's challenge, but he does it in front of a crowd. Instead of using one of his usual spells to wipe their memories, Doc wanders off, thinking he'll "worry about my secret identity later." WHAT is WRONG with this guy?? (Is that what being in love does to a hero??) Doc spends the hour Nightmare has allotted him with Clea, until he's whisked-- physically (for the 1st time)-- into the Nightmare World. Doc battles Nightmare's army of demons, until his foe somehow manages to take control of his amulet-- and uses it against Doc! As Clea & Wong watch via a mystic scanner, it looks bad for our side!
Once again Roy Thomas proves he's much better with "other-worldly" characters than "real" people, as every time he focuses on "normal" New Yorkers, the scenes are annoying as hell. Like that crowd when he faces Nightmare. A man says, "He must have something to do with those monsters! Are we just gonna let him walk outta here?" A woman says, "Why should we stop him? He hasn't done anything?" And another guy says, "He said his name was DR. STRANGE! We'll REMEMBER that name!" (You just DIDN'T have stuff like this in the DC Universe!) Or later, when a pair of IDIOTS decide to pelt him with a snowball-- JUST FOR THE FUN of it. Oy. Dr. Strange did NOT used ot have any worries about his "identity". He was actually WELL-KNOWN as a practitioner of magic in his earliest stories. So why all this worry about people knowing who he is lately??
Gene Colan blew my mind once again with this episode. There are several pages in here worthy of being turned into pin-ups. Tom Palmer also did his usual astonishingly-good inks, though I have the strongest feeling that he had help this time. Pages 1 and 9 look to me like they were done by Wally Wood!! (The woman's fur coat on page 1, Doc's face in the top panels and the hat in the last panels of page 9 were the tip-offs for me.)
(6-26-2008)
FANTASTIC FOUR 88
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
The FF checks out that mysterious, futuristic house built mostly underground in a deserted area. Although Reed has strong reservations about it-- he suspects something's not "kosher" about the place!!-- Sue somehow manages to talk him into buying it, and before you know it, they move in. He really let his instincts get ignored-- bad choice. After having run-ins with highly-dangrous "security" devices, Reed & Sue both lose their sight-- an unexplained malady which had been occuring to other people in the area-- and that's when they find out the place was built by... The Mole Man.
GREAT art-- Jack's sense of design goes wild again, and Joe Sinnott's in top, top form. But so-so-story. Reed is made to look like an idiot (for not trusting his instincts, for trying too hard "not to alarm Sue"-- when SHE's not only his wife, but a member of the team). I guess it's nice to see The Mole Man return to "his" book, after guesting in others for a few years. But after this story, each further "return bout" just got more tiresome. Like far too many villains in the Marvel Universe.
(6-26-2008)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 74
cover by JOHN ROMITA
Spidey is on the point of exhaustion as he tries to track down Marko, the stolen tablet, Curt Connors & his family (who've been kidnapped by The Maggia). It seems Silvermane, their aging leader, suspects the tablet's secret involves biology- hence the Doc's snatch. Pete stops into school long enough to be the target for derision for being non-communicative (gee, just like the old days), and Gwen's the only one who stands up for him. Harry is particularly annoying, as he's been wishy-washy in his opinions from day one! Under repeated threats of death, Connors works out the secret, and puts together a formula-- which Silvermane drinks, with Marko the whole time protesting "Don't do it! It's a trick!" Silvermane collapse, Marko attacks the Doc, but then turns to see his boss-- restored to his former youth!
John Romita returns to layouts, and the book is the better for it. Jim Mooney continues doing pencils & inks, and wonderfully. I believe the main reason he never did his own layouts here was because he preferred working with full scripts (GOOD LUCK getting those from "ye editor" or Johnny-- heh). I found it interesting that when Connors made his 2nd appearance on the '67 cartoons, rather than bring back The Lizard, they did a story involving "The Fountain of Youth"-- and now they're doing one here, sort of. The whole time, Marko seems out to prove he's the most brain-dead villain in Spidey history, and somehow, everything about this set of stories reminds me of the quality of writing I used to do BACK IN HIGH SCHOOL. (Maybe these were among my inspirations?)
(6-26-2008)
IRON MAN 15
cover by George Tuska & Johnny Craig
CAPTAIN AMERICA 115
cover by Marie Severin & Frank Giacoia
The Red Skull-- armed with The Cosmic Cube-- sends Cap from one end of the universe to another, trying to "break" him. It's revealed the Cube was found by some villagers following a volcanic eruption, and used to alleviate poverty-- which grabbed the attention of The Exiles' agents, who moved it to steal it. At SHIELD HQ and Avengers Mansion, Rick tries to find out where Cap has disappeared to, and gets no answers. Sharon gives him attitude, saying "Cap and I are both professionals"-- making Rick wonder if Cap hasn't "dumped" him. (I SWEAR, there seems to be a gay undercurrent to this whole Rick Jones thing...) The Skull teleports Sharon to the hotel room Steve's taken, and she's unaware that he's also SWITCHED bodies-- or something-- so that he now looks like Cap, and vice-versa.
And so, another sci-fi cleche is hit... Last issue, when the Avengers all had cameos, it seemed to me it would have made more sense for John Buscema to be drawing CAPTAIN AMERICA, not AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. "Ye editor" must have realized this after-the-fact, as this month, Romita & Buscema swapped books! Now, Romita's back where he belongs, and Buscema is on Cap. But comparing this issue to any given issue of SILVER SURFER, the art is so drastically different, it's obvious to me (even if the credits give NO CLUE to it) what's going on here. As he did last month with Spidey, and as Romita's been doing for 2 years now (including last issue), Buscema-- despite being credited as "illustrator"-- did LAYOUTS. His brother Sal did the pencils & inks, his 2nd issue in that capacity. Somehow... it doesn't seem to do a real service to either Buscema. And it wouldn't last, either. (5 issues in a row changing pencillers-- and we still have one more to go!! What the heck was going on with "ye editor" at this point???)
(6-26-2008)
SUB-MARINER 15
cover by Marie Severin & Joe Sinnott
(alterations by JOHN ROMITA)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 117
cover by HERB TRIMPE
THOR 166
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
(alterations by JOHN ROMITA)
Thor, enraged, seeking "VENGEANCE!!!", use his hammer to follow Him & Sif, with Balder in tow. Thor batters Him into submission, until Him forms a new coccoon and heads for deep space, at which point Thor finally comes to hs senses. Sif says Him meant no harm, only acted as a child might do. Elsewhere, Haag tells Karnilla (who kinda looks like Shannen Doherty in this episode, she'd be a good fit if Karnilla ever showed up in a movie) that Balder has indeed fallen for her, but his sense of duty is stronger than his feelings of love. She plans to use magic to change that... Odin, who witnessed the brutal fight, declares Thor "guilty" of allowing "WARRIOR MADNESS!" to overcome him, and he must therefore pay the price. With a huge ship built to search for Galactus, he decides Thor must be its sole pilot.
An average issue at best. Colletta's inks are back to 2nd-rate (3rd-rate?) and the quality of his lines reminds me more of his typical output from the 70's more than what he's been doing lately. A shame. Also, "ye editor" seems to have run out of ideas. The phrase "Warrior Madness" must have been used OVER a dozen times in this episode-- I can't imagine anyone not being bored sick of reading it by the end of the issue. And, as before, I can't get over the feeling that this story would have made more sense had it been used in FANTASTIC FOUR #68-69, with Ben going berzerk over Him abducting Alicia from the "Beehive" scientific complex. This is only strengthened when I realize that in FF #69, Ben DID go berzerk!!! --in a story that many fans derided as being a "retread". Maybe THAT story would have made more sense, too, if it had featured Him instead of The Mad Thinker? (It's like there's a whole "alternate universe" full of stories that might have been, instead of what we got.)
(6-26-2008)
THE AVENGERS 66
cover by John Buscema & Sam Grainger
Thor & Iron Man are back with the group (never mind the schedule conflict with Thor's series), aboard the SHIELD Heli-Carrier, taking part in a test of a new metal alloy called "Adamantium", which is apparently indestructible, and can only be worked with a "moleculer manipulator". The scientist involved is actually worried that the metal is so strong, as he's afraid of what might happen if it falls into the wrong hands. I guess anybody could see what would happen next... The Vision immediately falls under some remote power, defeats each Avenger who crosses his paths, and steals the samples of the metal. Sure enough, "Ultron-6" appears-- reborn, and now built with indestructible metal. Oy!
After 3 issues of Gene Colan, Barry Smith-- now working from his home in England-- steps in, inked by Syd Shores. It's an interesting combo, and Smith's work has certainly improved tremendously in only a few months. Not so thrilled with the story, though. Somehow, Ultron has always been one of my LEAST-favorite Avengers villains, partly because his whole origin and rationale makes so little sense to me, and partly because writers over the years have just been so insistent on bringing him/it back over and over and OVER again.
(6-26-2008)
DAREDEVIL 54
cover by GENE COLAN
X-MEN 58
cover by NEAL ADAMS
The group realize they're in for the fight of their lives, as there's a Federal Commission set up to fight "the mutant menace", and other countries seem to be following suit! As one TV newsman says, "Sounds familar, doesn't it?" (an obvious reference to "The Jewish Problem" before WW2). Iceman's captured, is reunited with Lorna, and finds Alex is wearing a suit, designed by his captor, and using a name supplied by same-- "Havok". Meanwhile, Mesmero is captured, and in the process, finds out that for months, he's been serving a "Magneto" who was only a ROBOT! When Banshee gives himself up, only to attack once he's inside the moutain HQ of The Sentinels, it "proves" to Larry Trask that all mutants deserve only one thing-- and orders the robots to KILL all the prisoners! Judge Chalmers tears off Larry's amulet, which his father told him to always wear-- and suddenly, The Sentinels disregard his orders, saying HE is a mutant as well!
This story is just too intense for its own good, and Neal Adams' art, while nice to look at, has some of the most confusing "storytelling" ever seen in a Marvel Comic. The bit with Magneto was obviously a response to readers' complaints about his portrayal in the "City of Mutants" story being somewhat "off", and while it's suggested that the real Magneto was behind the robot duplicate, this is NEVER explained, in fact, much later stories would contradict that idea. It's frightening to think people would ever listen to someone like Larry Trask, let alone give him the kind of backing and support he seems to have here (something repeated in the 2nd X-MEN movie), as with every new scene he becomes more obviously obsessed and unhinged. (He kinda looks like Anthony Perkins a bit in this issue.. as in, "Norman Bates".) With the "Origins" series dropped, the lead series returns to full-length episodes. Even so, the pacing of this feels like this should have been more than a 3-parter, there was just too much involved and the whole thing feels "rushed".
On the letters pages, there seems to be a hate-fest going on for Arnold Drake's writing-- now that he's gone. Quite a turn-around, as when he was on the book, quite a few fans complimented him on giving Scott & Jean more character development than they'd ever gotten before.
(6-26-2008)
(Continued in August 1969)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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