FANTASTIC FOUR 87
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
The FF (Reed, Ben, Johnny, Crystal and Sue-- wait, that's FIVE!) assault Doom's castle. But en route, the girls fall into a trap door and are whisked inside the castle, where, after a few confrontations with the guards, enter a posh room and find Doom standing at the far end of a dining room table loaded up with food. (It's a scene that would be paid tribute to 11 years later in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK-- right down to the exact same camera-angle!) The artist hired to do Doom's portrait suggests he & Hauptmann escape, but Hauptmann, "loyal" to his master, instead goes to REPORT this outburst! (What a suck-up!) The FF confront Hauptmann in an art gallery, and as he attempt to use a flame-thrower on them (to prove how "loyal" he is), Doom, who was preparing to strike the heroes down with a sonic burst from his keyboard organ, instead kills Hauptmann, feeling the "irreplacable" art treasures mean more to him than any victory. And so, "bored" with "the game", he tells Sue they're all free to leave-- there will be another time.
THIS IS AN ENDING??? I kinda wonder whose idea this was... Oh well. Last month, Joe Sinnott's inks seemed a bit "off" in spots, but this issue he's back in form, with some of the sharpest, slickest, cleanest inks ever (and that's really saying something for him!). Gorgeous issue-- but somewhat disappointing story. Strangely enough, via the dumb luck of back-issue buying, THIS was the 1st part of this 4-parter I actually read. Then, I got parts 2 & 3--though I forget in what order. A friend who went to Chicago got me part 1, just about the time the ESSENTIAL book came out. I may have re-read the entire story in B&W-- but this is the first time I managed to read all 4 parts, in order, in color!
(6-23-2008)
Thinking back about this, this "game" business-- not unlike the obsession with robots-- seems a follow-up to the last 2 pages of STRANGE TALES #167, which, I now strongly suspect was TAMPERED with by the "editor". More and more, I feel it's a shame that fans may NEVER know exactly what the REAL writers (Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko) intended, because their "BOSS" kept SCREWING with things. Keep reading these reviews! It only gets worse and WORSE over the next couple of years' worth of books I'm covering here.
(10-17-2018)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 73
cover by JOHN ROMITA
Spidey sneaks into Stacy's house (something even Stacy objects to) so he can ask him about the stolen tablet. (Man, is this sub-plot dragging on!) Stacy tells Spidey that The Shocker had a girlfriend-- an "exotic dancer"-- who may know where The Shocker stashed the thing. Without bothering to get her name (for a crime-fighter, he's got a lot to learn) he races off to the area she lives, and luckily his spider-sense clues him in to trouble, because he finds the girl being menaced by "Man-Moutain Marko", a hulking enforcer for The Maggia. (That's MAFIA in Marvel Universe terms.) Spidey spends most of the issue fighting the guy, and though he looks like an Elvis wannabe on steroids, he seems as unstoppable as The Rhino or The Kingpin. Meanwhile... JJJ's out of the hospital, and wants to tear Joe Robertson a new one for making Spidey a hero in the Bugle's headlines. Joe says Jameson can write all the editorials he wants, it's his paper, but if he wants him to DISTORT the news, he better finds himself another managing editor! JJJ does a quick turn-around and says he "accepts" Joe's "apology". Joe's son Randy accuses Jameson of being a racist, but Joe tells him racism has NOTHING to do with it, and the sooner people of all colors realize what and who the "real" enemies are, the better. Marko escapes after forcing Spidey to save the dancer's life, and later, Pete is worried when he tries to contact Dr. Connors in Florida about a summer job (which would be so convenient as Aunt May's down there on vacation), only to find 2 unknown goons made off with the Doc. And, in New York, Connors is brought before Silvermane, one of the Maggia's most senior leaders, who's taken over the top spot (since Whitney Frost blew it in IRON MAN, I guess), and he wants Connors' help-- along with the Kingpin's man Wilson (who he had sprung from prison) to decipher the secret of the tablet. Connors is worried, of course, that he might turn back into the Lizard. (AGAIN? but that trick never works!)
The way the credits are written this time, I'm wondering if John Romita did ANYTHING on the art (other than touch-ups on faces) at all? Jim Mooney's listed as "illustrator", which sounds like more than just "pencils", and the layouts are again by John Buscema, who's okay, but there's just something "missing". The fact that 75% of the issue consists of 4-panel pages only makes this episode fly by feeling as though there was hardly any "story" in it at all! If I hadda guess, I'd say Romita came up with the story, Buscema supplied the layouts, Mooney did pencils & inks, Romita did touch-ups, and "ye editor" wrote the dialogue. There's no way to be sure, but I think that's a pretty good estimation of what probably went on here. Most of the issue comes across as so "average" it's almost painful. Surprisingly, the JJJ-Joe-Randy scene-- the only one done in 6-panel pages-- is BY FAR the best writing in the book. Via personal experience, I've seen people throw the "racism" word around when it doesn't even enter into a picture-- usually as a cheap easy dodge to avoid facing whatever the "real" problems at hand are. Was this "ye editor"s work, or was it really Romita's? Whoever was responsible, I give them credit for it-- it can be a DANGEROUS thing to throw around, especially if innocent people wind up getting hurt over it.
(6-25-2008)
IRON MAN 14
cover by JOHNNY CRAIG
CAPTAIN AMERICA 114
cover by JOHN ROMITA
This issue starts off with the LAMEST spash page I've seen in any 60's Marvel to date. Coming right after Jim Steranko's 3 issues, it's a shock-- and a slap-in-the-face. With his "secret identity" restored-- or at least, with the world believing "Steve Rogers" is "dead" (I'm not sure I understand this either way), Cap feels he must change his life, and remove himself from anything that could connect him with "Steve Rogers". He even avoids Avengers mansion, though The Black Panther, seeing him walking by, recognizes him by his body language alone. In costume, Cap goes to the SHIELD barber shop, where Fury tells him Sharon Carter violated orders on her latest mission and is now in deep trouble. Taking on a building full of gangsters, Sharon goes thru the motions, the whole time looking like she's gonna fall apart emotionally because-- after all-- Steve's "dead"! (THIS is one of Fury's "best" agents??) Cap-- followed by Fury and his men-- show up in time, and Sharon gets more gushy & emotional than Gwen Stacy. (Like we really needed this!) But then-- so like a guy from the 40's-- he asks her to quit her job, she refuses, and he walks off, in search of a new life. WTF??? Turned down by every hotel except the lowest & sleaziest (no baggage, no i.d., no references... he's not thinking this "new identity" thing through, IS he?), he finally settles in for some depressing soul-searching... when, out of nowhere, THE RED SKULL shows up-- armed once again with (GASP!) The COSMIC CUBE!!! (uh oh...!!!)
I know it's tough to follow in some people's footsteps. Replacing Kirby's a tough one. Replacing Steranko's a really tough one. But THIS... this issue is just BAD. The first time I read it, 30 years ago, I plowed thru it so fast on my way to the next issue (I bought about 50 issues in one shot at a convention in NYC), I probably didn't have time to notice how bad it was. Visual details sparse-- characterization way off-- plot developments totally non-sensical... WHAT the hell is this? I mean, apart from anything else... there's NO WAY Jack Kirby would have had the Steve-Sharon relationship go this way. NO WAY!! Kirby had Sharon as a tough, capable agent, and a devoted girlfriend. But "ye editor" keeps pushing things into "bad soap-opera" territory. OY!
"Ye editor" asked John Romita if he could take over C.A. But Romita was already loaded up with SPIDER-MAN. Their solution? To get someone else to do the layouts, from "ye editor"s & John's plots. Thus, John Buscema was YANKED off THE AVENGERS (in the middle of oe of the best runs the book ever had) to do layouts for SPIDER-MAN. It looked nice-- but it didn't "feel" right. Well, something I didn't notice before... I don't believe Romita actually DREW this issue! I see his storytelling-- but NO HINT of his drawing. After about 16 or 17 issues of doing layouts (with Heck & Esposito, with Mooney, with Buscema & Mooney), I think that's exactly what Romita did here-- despite how BIG his name and "ye editor"s are in the credits-- LAYOUTS. What didn't hit me before-- probably because it was in such little tiny type-- this issue was longtime Cap artist SAL BUSCEMA's debut on the series! Sal clearly did pencils AND inks (over Romita's layouts). It looks "nice"-- for Sal-- but if it was supposed to be "Romita" art, it falls terribly short of being so.
It seems so strange... Considering The Avengers turn up in this issue, I'd say it would have been better to get JOHN Buscema to draw this, and just left John Romita on SPIDER-MAN. (Someone stop "ye editor" before he "edits" again!!!!)
(6-25-2008)
SILVER SURFER 6
cover by John Buscema & Frank Giacoia
The Surfer hits on the idea that Galactus' barrier may not exist in the future. So, he zips around Earth faster and faster until he exceeeds light-speed and time-warps to the future. But there, he finds Earth destroyed and lifeless. He travels back to Zenn-La, only to find the same thing. Planet after planet, lifeless wastes... until he runs across some really miserable aliens who try to kill him, for their master, "The Overlord". Before long, he's a prisoner, and finds The Overlord is a 10-foot-tall alien whose made it his mission in life to "rule, conquer and destroy" all life ("rule" and "destroy" seem at odds with each other... but never mind). Because he's run out of plot ideas, "Ye editor"s "origin" for The Overlord is he's a mutant, who's parents were affected in an accident at an atomic research plant (how many times have we heard this one before?) whose son grew to monstrous size and power, and proved indestructible and unstoppable. One thing led to another, he took over his own planet, created a fleet to do the same with other planets, along the way wiping out most life wherever he went. The Surfer realizes the "only" way to stop this abomination against life is to go BACK in time and prevent the accident from happening. Which, incredibly, he does. There was no hint as to what planet or time the accident took place, but he's there in a flash. At the end, he's once more in Earth orbit, wondering if if it was all a dream or not. GREAT. A "dream" story and we're not even SURE if it was one or not??
With every episode of this I read, it's more and more obvious why this book wasn't that popular. Talk about relentlessly downbeat... Seems this would have gone over better in the 90's. But then, considering the state of the comics industry, it probably had more sales back then than it would have now!
(6-25-2008)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 116
cover by HERB TRIMPE
SUB-MARINER 14
cover by Marie Severin & Frank Giacoia
CAPTAIN MARVEL 14
cover by Frank Springer & Vince Colletta
(alteration by JOHN ROMITA)
Carol Danvers pleads with Mar-Vell to turn himself over to the base authority, so he can "stand trial" and clear himself of the charge of treason (for his ill-advised THEFT of a moon rocket!). The base guards are itching to shoot first, ask questions later. Meanwhile... (as if this book didn't have enough confusing side-plots already) Tony Stark, aboard a commercial jet-liner, becomes the latest victim of The Puppet Master (OH GOD, NO, not him again!!!), who orders him to go to the Cape and destroy Captain Marvel. It's part of a 3-way plot between Puppet Master, The Mad Thinker and Egghead (all 3 seen together in last month's AVENGERS) to take over the world. I can only figure CM is known because of that magazine article "Heroes Or Traitors" last time, but if he's a wanted man, WHY would the villain think the guy is hanging around the Cape as its unofficial protector? Well... HE IS, so when a mind-controlled Iron Man arrives, BIG HERO FIGHT commences. (Did we really need another one of those?) It goes on for quite some time, until... Tony has a HEART ATTACK. The villain, frustrated "for the last time!" at having his plans go wrong, hurls one of his puppets in anger at a control panel, which explodes... apparently killing him in the process. (But I know he returns sooner or later, so-- no such luck.)
Despite Carol being seriously wounded during the fight, Mar-Vell teleports himself outta there-- to deep space, where "ZO!" berates him for "wasting time" (no kidding) and not getting his revenge on Yon-Rogg (no kidding) and now feels it's Mar-Vell's time to do his bidding, so he orders him to teleport himself all the way back to the Kree homeworld, while he prepares to fill CM in on what's called for. Good idea, as CM at one point was yelling loudly for someone, anyone to "tell me what I should do!" I think this "ZO!" being really affected his mind.
"Rambling" is a good way to describe the direction this book has taken. So many of Gary Friedrich's comics seem like they start out with good intentions but then he gets lost along the way... Strangely enough, the last 2 issues actually do read better than the last 2 credited to Arnold Drake (I'm STILL not sure if Drake actually wrote those or if Friedrich did). The art by Springer & Colletta is much better than Ayers & Colletta, but it seems to be a waste of Springer's talent to have anybody else inking him, especially as Colletta's faces are turning very "cartoony" here. I was missing this episode the first time I read the series, so the jump from the previous issue to the following one made NO SENSE whatsoever to me. When I did get ahold of it, it only made SLIGHTLY more sense. I think.
Incidentally, I forgot to mention it before, but while CM was apparently in space for "100 days" during his out-of-control flight, since his return to Earth every reference to his disappearance has suggested he was only gone a couple days. Which suggests SOMETHING other than what we saw was really going on in "Rebirth!" Was this planned from the start, or are these guys just makin' it up as they go? (I lean toward the latter... How could anyone PLAN to do stories written this badly?) The last several pages, the layouts change drastically, from normal rectangles to odd-shaped expansive panels. Was this done just to reflect the change of locales, or did they switch artists in mid-issue? Gary Friedrich was credited with doing the layouts for the following issue himself-- and I wonder if maybe he didn't start doing so near the end of this one?
This was-- among other things-- the middle of a 3-parter that started in SUB-MARINER #14 (which I don't have) and AVENGERS #64 (which I only got when the ESSENTIAL volume came out). Over the years, I've really come to hate this kind of "intrusive" cross-over that just interrupts the whole flow of whatever's going in in every book it takes place in. This may be one of the earliest examples of that. I don't like it back here, either.
(6-25-2008)
THE AVENGERS 64
cover by Gene Colan & George Klein
An entire small midwestern town is OBLITERATED by a death-ray fired from an orbitting space station. (ANOTHER one? First The Red Skull, then The Hate-Monger, now this!) Of all people, the one issueing ultimatums is Egghead-- the former Ant-Man villain. (ANT-MAN, for cryin' out loud!!) At the mansion, the group returns from their wild-goose chase to find Hawkeye has now become "Goliath II". Racketeer Barney Barton arrives with a story of how his mob was invited to join with Egghead, The Mad Thinker & The Puppet Master, but turned them down... and all but he were killed for it. He wants to be a "hero" for once-- and the group left wondering what connection he seems to have with Hawkeye's past. Big fight breaks out onboard the space station, and in the chaos, Barton winds up getting killed... and it's then we find out he was Hawkeye's brother.
Several things bug me about this story. For one, Roy's "annoying" dialogue problem is returning. For another, after all this trouble, Egghead apparently escapes at the end. I mean COME ON! For another, how did such a small-time villain as Egghead manage to built his own SPACE STATION? I could understand it better if this turned out to be The Hate-Monger's station that he "simply" took over-- the designs were similar-- but that shouldn't be up there (unless the US government decided to take it over for their own use-- considering how extrememly difficult it is to get one of those things up there in the first place). Then there's the art. Gene Colan & George Klein do a nice job, but Gene just seems totally wrong for this book. And there's NO WAY I believe that arrow-shaped spacecraft is any kind of design of The Black Panther's. NO WAY! Gene's ideas about spacecraft design are more old-fashioned than Wally Wood's-- but they don't have Wood's finesse. They should have gotten Jack Kirby in and asked him to come up with a design Gene could use.
I wonder how this issue would have looked if John Buscema had done it?
(6-25-2008)
Note: This has a cover-date of "MAY" on it, yet it continues direct FROM 2 other issues, both of which have a "JUN" cover date. You see what I mean? This is one of several books where the cover-dates are one month "OFF" from most of them!
(10-17-2018)
THOR 165
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta
Thor, Sif & Balder enter the scientific research building and discover "Him" (from FF #66-67). A flashback alerts the readers that The Watcher, doing research in space, accidentally caught the guy in his "space trap", and as the guy protected himself by forming a new "cocoon", The Watcher felt the best way to make up for his mistake was to "return" Him to Earth... (Somehow this entire thing seems utterly contrived... but whatever.) Him still has no interest in interacting with Earth creatures, and will leave for space once more... but decides he's "lonely", wants a mate, and Sif will do. SAY WHAT?? Him flees to space with Sif, Thor & Balder pursue... Meanwhile, Odin still searches for info about Galactus (there's just something "not right" about the way this sub-plot if being handled, I can feel it). And, Karnilla enlists the aid of "Hagg", a cronish underling. Just as Thor & Balder have caught up with Him & Sif, Haag and some demons appear to drag Balder back to Karnilla, who just doesn't wanna take "no" for an answer. Thor & Balder manage to fight off the sorcerous types... but when they're done, notice that Him & Sif have vanished-- AGAIN! Thor swears he shall wreak a vengeance on Him like none he has ever wreaked before!!!
I do wonder about this story. The whole thing of Him being back on Earth, and making off with Sif, AND Thor going into a murderous rage (more next issue) just seems contrived. The 1st time I read this, I couldn't shake the feeling that part of this plot may have been leftover from the 2nd HALF of the intended 4-parter in the FF. It would have made a lot more sense to me to have Ben go berzerk about Him making off with Alicia-- from a scientific complex. (You see what I mean?)
Kirby's art's fine as usual, but Colletta's inks are back to just "average". Oh well.
(6-26-2008)
THE AVENGERS 65
cover by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia
(alterations by JOHN ROMITA)
Egghead hires The Swordsman to defeat and bring him Hawkeye (for reasons I've already forgotten!) and "Giant-Man" (who was his old foe). Using an electronic pass-key he's had since AVENGERS #20 (and you mean to tell me they NEVER CHANGED the security codes???), he breaks in, challenges Hawkeye (now Goliath II), but the stupidest thing happens. ALL of the Avengers wind up in a fight with each other, as they try to tackle The Swordsman as a team, but "Goliath" keeps knocking them aside, as HE wants to do it on his own. (How STUPID can some characters be?) Clint really screwed up by doing this, because once the dust cleared, Swordsman somehow managed to cause him to shrink back to normal size, unconscious, at which point the baddie made off with him easy. Back at the hideout, Egghead & Swordsman then get into a fight (was there something in the air that day?), partly because Egghead isn't sure "Hawkeye" and "Goliath" are really the same person or not (neither one of them having figured out that "Giant-Man" is now "Yellowjacket"-- still back at Avengers Mansion). In the end, "Goliath II" manages to beat both baddies, which was really overdue, if you ask me.
We find in this issue that both Clint & his brother Barney joind the carnival at the same time. When Clint found The Swordsman was embezzling, he wanted nothing of the scheme, and nearly got killed for it. His brother, frustrasted at Clint's attitude, saying "We could have been on easy street!", ran off, became a racketeer, and the two never saw each other until the day Barney came back, tried to be a hero for once, and got killed for his efforts. So Clint finally beating The Swordsman not only proved he had become better than his "teacher", he also brought to justice the guy responsible for steering his brother toward crime.
Gene Colan's joined by Sam Grainger this time-- Grainger really seems to be getting around fast at this point. It's "nice"-- maybe not as nice as Colan-Klein-- but Gene just doesn't "fit" on this book. Oh well, this would be his last issue for many, many years, in any case.
(6-26-2008)
DAREDEVIL 53
cover by Gene Colan & George Klein
X-MEN 57
cover by NEAL ADAMS
Things kick into even higher gear than last time. Lorna Dane, wallowing around her apartment (in costume for no apparent reason) laments her slowly fading powers... until she's attacked & kidnapped by a pair of SENTINELS, those mind-numbingly STUPID robots from X-MEN #14-16. Meanwhile, in Egypt, Iceman brings the cops, but on seeing "The Pharaoh" / "The Living Monolith" is really "Professor Abdulah"-- Egypt's foremost archeologist-- the chief cop suddenly has trouble believing their story, especially once the Prof accuses Alex of being the "real" menace. When he decides to arrest EVERYBODY and sort it out back at the station, Alex loses control, a fight breaks out, Alex runs off into the darkness, at which point Cyclops gets PISSED and lets loose! (The team really doesn't seem to have a good track record with the authorities, do they?) On seeing Lorna is missing and her apartment's been ransacked, Iceman & Beast head back to the States to try and find her, only to run into a police ambush! They escape-- barely-- and back at Scott's apartment are wondering WHY the cops are after them, when they turn on the TV and discover a Federal Judge has gone a rampage against "the mutant menace", in cahoots with Larry Trask-- the SON of the horribly misguided scientist who built those STUPID Sentinels in the first place-- who announces to the world, "The Sentinels Live!"
You'd think the world would realize this Trask guy was unstable himself, but I guess when somebody wants to stack the deck in favor of the "witch-hunters", they won't worry too hard about logic in a story like this. I first read this in X-MEN ANNUAL #2, and also have it in a UK hardbound reprint book. I suppose the art is "nice" in its way, but somehow, everything about Neal Adams' work just seems "too intense" for me. It reminds me of SPACE:1999 and the way Commander Koenig seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown every single episode. This, of course, is EXACTLY what Chris Claremont seemed to be going for during his ENTIRE long, long, long run on X-MEN and its endless spin-offs in the late 70's, 80's, and beyond. As with the 1st Sentinels story, all the actions of Trask and co. run totally in defiance of existing laws, civil rights, etc. etc. I've often thought this is the kind of story you could get away with doing maybe ONCE-- twice, at the MOST! But Claremont & co. kept bringing these DAMNED robots back again and again and AGAIN so many times, it went way past ridiculous.
"HE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES"
Though billed as part of the "Origins of the X-Men" series, is really more of a "spotlight feature". Jean Grey / Marvel Girl spends 5 delightful pages talking directly to the readers, showing off her powers. After the lead story, one might think this 5-pager was in the wrong book! Ex-staffer Linda Fite wrote it (to give it a "woman's" perspective-- as "ye editor" described it in the most nauseating, condescending fashion imagineable), while Werner Roth may have never looked better, under the inks of Sam Grainger. On the last page, especially, I was reminded that, to me, Roth's Jean Grey is THE DEFINITIVE version-- and I can't get over how much his Jean resembles actress Famke Jansen, who played her in the movies DECADES later!! (Good casting!) Sadly (or not, depending on your POV), we would never get Jean's "origin" in this run. This was the last installment of the "Origins", and the last episode Werner Roth ever did on the series. Damn shame. But nice way to go out! I wish all his episodes had looked this good.
(6-26-2008)
(Continued in July 1969)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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