FANTASTIC FOUR 97
cover by Marie Severin, Jack Kirby & John Verpoorten
Reed & co., while on vacation, investige "Lost Lagoon" where ships have been sinking. As they cruise thru the water in a special mini-craft loaned from the Navy, a scaly green figure swims in the background. On the beach, girls flock to Johnny, but he feels, after Crystal, what other girl could he ever feel that way about? The mysterious creature uses a chemical to change its form to a human, as it poses as a "dolphin trainer" at the local aquarium. Reed asks the oddly silent guy if he'll act as a guide, but once underwater, the creature wrecks their craft, and Ben barely manages to get Reed & Johnny into an underground cave. Back in his natural form, the creature tangles with the threesome, until they see he's been repairing a shell-shaped spacecraft-- which then lifts off, taking him (and his mate) back to the stars.
A cute twist on THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (mixed with THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US), as well as IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE (for the "temporarily stranded on Earth" plot). We get to see the more human side of the group as Johnny plays with Franklin, and Reed gets romantic with Sue. On the downside... I'm trying to figure out WHY the "monster" could speak while in human form-- but only while he was alone-- and never spoke one word while he was around anyone Earth (maybe he couldn't speak English and what we read was "translated" for the readers? --a simple footnote would have clarified that!). But WHY would Reed "hire" a guide who never spoke a word-- and how could they communicate? Also, it's never mentioned, but Reed must have been using 2 completely different undersea craft in this story-- the one at the beginning is MUCH smaller than the one wrecked later in the story.
Joe Sinnott's absent for the 3rd issue in less than a year, with Frank Giacoia filling in again. I once again see evidence of Joe Giella's helping out, notably on pages 5, 6, 15 & 19 (and possibly faces on a few others). The difference between the 2 guys' styles is quite noticeable, and it's kinda silly that Giella NEVER got credited on the multitude of Marvel Comics he worked on in the late 60's-early 70's. (Meanwhile, John Verpoorten inked the cover, which was laid out by Marie Severin.)
(7-15-2008)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 83
cover by JOHN ROMITA
A new racketeer is planning to take over The Kingpin's territory, since the big man's been "in hiding" ever since his last tangle with Spidey. Spidey gets in the middle of a battle, but once he realizes it's two rival gangs out to hurt each other, he leaves in the middle happy to have some photos to sell. We meet Vanessa-- the classy wife of The Kingpin (who reminds me of some European royalty), as she's upset over the news that their son Richard appears to have died in a skiing accident in the Alps. Jameson chisels Pete's price down again. At the airport, the gang sends Flash on his way back to the Army, with both MJ and Gwen going all-out to make their own boyfriends jealous. Later, Pete & Gwen are almost killed when a car runs a truck off the road and it topples over on top of both of them. Only his super-strength saves them both, and she winds up in the hospital. PISSED OFF, Spidey follows the tracer he tossed at the offending car to The Schemer's lair, where a big fight pretty well wrecks the whole place. The villain gets away, but at least he feels he "paid them back". Racing to the hospital, he gets there just in time for Gwen to get on her high horse again about how he "cared so much he wasn't around". Her Dad tries to console him by saying "Most females tend to think with their emotions", and Pete once again wonders if it isn't time he told Gwen the truth.
Another solid issue. John Romita definitely is the only guy who should be doing this book-- even if it's just the layouts. The art this time, however, suffers because Jim Mooney turned up missing-- replaced by MIKE ESPOSITO! This isn't the same Romita-Esposito team that worked such visual wonders 30 issues back. Romita's continuing to do layouts-- which means, Esposito is doing both pencils AND inks, just as he did briefly on THE INCREDIBLE HULK series when Jack Kirby was doing the layouts. Romita's around to pick up the slack touching up faces, but overall, this entire issue has a "rough", "crude" look about it compared to the last several YEARS. Without Romita doing full pencils, I'm afraid this isn't quite cutting it. Still, it's way, WAY better than when Esposito was inking Ross Andru several years later. That art got so bad I eventually stopped buying the book...
The overall ban on single-issue stories seems to have been lifted, as this is the first of a 3-parter. Stories should always be as long or as short as they need to be, and not have lengths dictated arbitrarily by editorial decisions.
(7-15-2008)
IRON MAN 24
cover by Marie Severin & Sam Grainger
CAPTAIN AMERICA 124
cover by Marie Severin & Joe Sinnott
Cap tackles more AIM thugs (remember when these guys were all scientists under those hoods?). 2 of them get away, and MODOK has one of them killed, the other chooses instead to participate in the "cyborg" experiment. Several years before DEATHLOK THE DEMOLISHER, we see a guy turned into a half-man, half-machine. Cap visits Fury again, and asks him to take Sharon off the active field agent roster, and give her a desk job. Overjoyed to see him again, Sharon agrees to his wishes. MODOK sends The Cyborg out to rob a bank, then when he returns, tells him "Throw the money away! It means nothing!" (What a waste-- plus, destroying cash is a Federal offense!) Sharon gives Cap a message from Fury-- then finds out it didn't come from Fury, meaning she sent her man into a trap! Racing to the scene to warn him, she's captured by The Cyborg JUST as Cap arrives, and stumbles into a series of death-traps. When he manages to escape and destroy The Cyborg, he winds up pissed at Fury and Sharon for "lying" to him-- not realizing the only reason she was there was to try and save his life!
This whole single-issue story thing is beginning to get wearing. Rather than an epic slowly building to a climax, all these short little incidents with MODOK and AIM are beginning to feel like watching THE FUGITIVE, where the "main plot" never seems to get anywhere. The current portrayal of Sharon is really beginning to bug me, as Jack Kirby spent a lot of time & effort creating and building a strong female character, and the second he stopped contributing to the plots, the whole thing spun around into a lame soap-opera, with Sharon slowly becoming another over-emotional weak-willed "girl" incapable of expressing what's really on her mind. The scene where she finds out Fury wasn't the one who radioed for Cap also made no sense-- since she had the perfect opportunity RIGHT THEN to tell Fury something was wrong, and HE could have warned Cap. This is what I call "bad soap opera" writing.
I'm also wondering what's going on with the colorist(s). It seems every episode, those AIM clowns are wearing different helmets. This issue, they went from purple to magenta beween scenes!
Gene Colan & Joe Sinnott are continuing to do BEAUTIFUL work here... but now, Marie Severin is doing GENE's covers for him! Plus, the cover has 2 word baloons and 2 wordy captions. WHAT was "ye editor" THINKING???
(7-15-2008)
SILVER SURFER 15
cover by Marie Severin & Joe Sinnott
The Surfer goes to a clothing store and get fitted for a suit, for which he transmutes a fancy ashtray into pure gold as payment. Wondering why he didn't think of them before (a good question-- bad writing?) he goes to see The Fantastic Four, hoping maybe THEY can help him escape from Earth. When he arrives, they're talking with an Army General, who's asking them to "get the Surfer". Feeling that even his "friends" are betraying him now, The Surfer races off, with The Human Torch in pursuit, and we get one long, tedious, boring extended chase & fight sequence... which ends when some soldiers corner him, he almost causes Johnny to get run over by a subway train, and THEN, finds out NASA was hoping he might be of some help to their space program. Feeling like dirt, he flies off, realizing that this time, he was the one who misjudged others.
I take it back about the last issue. THIS one's much worse. Everyone seems to be just going thru the motions, nobody seems to talk like "real" humans... and from the dialogue, it seems to me "ye editor" simply CANNOT figure out whether The Surfer is some "alien" with no notion of humanity, or a guy who was human once who just wants to go back home. I mean it, the dialogue is AWFUL, and it's like the writer is getting 2 completely different views of the character mixed up between panels. The Bullpen page reveals "ye editor" has instituted a new "guest-star policy", which means a lot of characters are making uncalled-for appearances in each other's books. This strikes me as an editor desperately grasping for something, anything, to improve sagging sales. The cover-- by Marie Severin (NOT Buscema) has 2 blurbs-- "Battling The Human Torch!" and "See The Surfer attacked by The Torch!". How redundant can you get?? You'd think simply putting "The Flame And The Fury" on there would have been better-- and classier. OY.
(7-15-2008)
SUB-MARINER 24
cover by John Buscema & Johnny Craig
Namor is a prisoner of his longtime enemy, Warlord Krang, who's teamed up with Dr. Dorcas (from SUB-MARINER #5-6) to create a new super-powed menace, Orca, The Human Killer Whale. Orca commands a heard of killer whales to attack a group of escaping Atlanteans and kill them all, except for Lady Dorma, who they want as a prisoner. But who should just happen along but Tiger Shark, the earlier "creation" of Dorcas, who agrees to help Dorma & Lord Vashti (who's in a bad way), IF she'll agree to be his bride! (Oh-- the CAD!!) She does, he does, and soon he's put in charge of Atlantis' defenses, just as Krang attacks, with Namor chained to the body of a killer whale, to prevent their being fired on. But Tiger Shark only sees it as an opportunity to eliminate a rival, and orders the attack, which winds up freeing Namor from the chains! Namor, recovered, tells Dorma she did the honorable thing (mighty level-headed of him-- FOR A CHANGE!). Back at the battle, Tiger Shark sees another chance to polish off Namor, and "make a deal" with Krang-- but while Namor's temporarily out of it, Orca only sees his "master" about to be attacked-- and so Dorcas' 2 "creations" go head-to-head-- until an undersea tremor buries them BOTH! With Tiger Shark apparently dead, Dorma is freed of her promise, and Namor takes her in his arms, vowing to face whatever challenges to come together.
What a GREAT issue!!! With Marie Severin yanked off the series to do covers for everybody else's books, John Buscema returns to fill-in, and does the most MAGNIFICENT job I believe he ever did on this series. This time, inks are supplied by Jim Mooney, and the results are STUNNING. I can really see the difference between the art here and their collaboration on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, where Buscema only did layouts. I swear, Roy Thomas & John Buscema really do make a terrific team. This issue better than most really captures the grandeur of an "undersea Kull" series, something all too rare in a book that often got derailed by focusing on annoying trivia or uncalled-for tragedy.
Funny thing about the art this time... Warlord Krang & Dr. Dorcas wound up reminding me a LOT of Ming The Merciless and an evil version of Dr. Zarkov-- which makes me think John Buscema really should have tackled FLASH GORDON as some point (or at least, STAR WARS). Also, in one panel Namor reminds me of Robert Taylor (who starred in IVANHOE).
I'm surprised. This comic gets my vote for BEST Marvel of the month!
(7-15-2008)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 126
cover by HERB TRIMPE
An unconscious Bruce Banner is taken to "Cliff-House", a spooky hangout for a man named Van Nyborg, who is one of the followers of The Undying Ones. With the aid of Jack & Barbara Norris (who joined his cult for kicks but are now having second thoughts), they intend to send The Hulk to another dimension to battle "The Night-Crawler", who guards the gateway between Earth and the realm where his masters are, trapped, and bent on returning to conquer the Earth. Banner manages to restrain himself from changing, until Barbara defies Van Nyborg, and is hurled into the other dimension as well. With someone else's life now in danger, The Hulk quickly emerges, and a collasal battle begins, which winds up destroying The Night-Crawler's entire realm. All 3 find themselves in The Undying Ones' dimension, which The Night-Crawler intends to take for his own. There, we find Dr. Strange, who's been trapped for months, intent on keeping The Undying Ones from reclaiming Earth. Barbara decides to replace him between the "mystic poles", and because of her sacrifice, Strange and The Hulk are able to return to Earth, The Undying Ones now trapped for another millennium in their dimension. Strange welcomes Banner as a friend, then says maybe the world no longer needs him, and it's time for him to just be Stephen Strange again, medical consultant.
Though there is not a CLUE on the cover, this is the 3rd part of a story that began in DR. STRANGE #183 and continued in SUB-MARINER #22. Suffice to say, each part, due to changes in artists, was less impressive than the one before. It's a heck of a come-down from Gene Colan & Tom Palmer to Marie Severin & Johnny Craig, to finally, Herb Trimpe. According to the Bullpen page, they had actually been getting hate mail begging for them to replace Trimpe on THE HULK with someone, just about anyone else! Kinda sad. I must admit, his work back here is even more cartoony and "rough" than I was used to seeing, and I can only conclude he got a lot better as the 70's went on-- especially when they got some appropriate inkers to team up with him, especially Jack Abel who brought a real gleam & polish that just wasn't there before.
As for the story, I actually had a hard time following it. Dr. Strange barely turns up at all until the last few pages, and his sudden decision to quit being mankind's protector and become a "medical consultant" (something he had brushed off since long before becoming a magician in the first place) seems totally out of left field, and seems more related to his book having been cancelled than any natural character development. Oh well. THE HULK was never one of Marvel's best-written books to begin with.
This loose 3-parter did later insapire the creation of THE DEFENDERS, which featured Dr. Strange & The Hulk (and, in some periods, Sub-Mariner), and this issue in particular featured the debut of Jack & Barbara Norris, 2 characters who wound up being very long-running supporting characters in that book. This was reprinted in both DAY OF THE DEFENDERS (2001) and ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS Vol.1 (2005).
(7-15-2008)
THOR 175
cover by JACK KIRBY (rejected)
This is what happens when the publisher and his running-lap-dog "editor" spend 3 whole YEARS trying to "run off" their BEST man. The story feels like a retread of a retread, the storytelling isn't that inspired, and frankly, the dialogue (by "some clown in the office") is COMPLETELY flat and lifeless. I have no doubt that had Kirby been allowed to write HIS OWN DIALOGUE for the story he wrote himself, it would have been TEN TIMES more inspired than this.
The final kibosh was REPLACING an actual Jack Kirby cover with one done by Marie Severin. I love Marie and her work-- but the lying thieving scumbag "editor" should have had a baseball bat taken to his head over this kind of decision, having Marie do covers for ALL the books regardless of who was doing the insides.
Highlights of the book are the depictions of Karnilla and Sif. They remind me of a young Joan Crawford, and Diana Rigg. A lot of the art seems "rough", but they DON'T, putting the lie to ANYONE foolish enough to claim or insist that "Kirby couldn't draw beautiful women". To be fair, this is helped along by the inks of BILL EVERETT.
The plot, wherein Loki assembles an army of "evil" to attack while Odin is ONCE AGAIN in the "Odinsleep" (which allows him to remain immortal), and then the ENTIRE loyal army of Asgard BOWS down to Loki the moment he puts on Odin's ring, reminds me of the one plot point of the "BLACK PANTHER" movie I found seriously problematic. That being, REALLY STUPID "rules" involved in a monarchy, that would ever allow an entire country to just fall in line with whatever SICK, EVIL SCUMBAG gets in charge, despite breaking every rule in the book, and clearly NOT having the best interests of the country at heart.
As an aside, WHY does Karnilla say "'Tis so ordained" as her only explanation for the eternal emnity between Asgard and her kindgom? Some people obviously need to wake up and start THINKING for themselves.
(6-7-2018)
THE AVENGERS 75
cover by John Buscema & Tom Palmer
Quicksilver FINALLY returns to his own book, and in his hot-headed way, gets on the wrong side of just about everybody from Jarvis to Goliath II to EVEN Captain America-- before explaining that his sister, The Scarlet Witch, is in peril. THAT gets Clint's attention (he used to have a thing for her, briefly, when he first joined the team). It seems, while searching for some means to restore Wanda's mutant power (which disappeared mysteriously), with the help of The Toad, they run across an ancient volume hidden in a "cloister", which somehow opens a dimensional gateway, thru which steps "Arkon The Magnificent", the most powerful warrior of an entire planet of warriors, whose world is in danger of slowly dying as the "energy ring" that surrounds it disintegrates. Finding that nuclear explosions from Earth have been revitalizing his planet, but only temporarily, Arkon decides that one collosal blast will ensure his planet's survival for centuries to come-- even if it means the total destruction of all life on Earth! And it looks like he's determined to see that it happens...
It occurs to me around this time that Roy Thomas' run on THE AVENGERS must have been the only book somehow excempt from the "one-issue story" edict. And with good reason-- HOW would you do single-issue stories with a cast this large and make them worth reading at all? John Buscema & Tom Palmer are working WONDERS on the art, and it's clear that John is having a blast. Somehow Roy & John mesh far better on this series than "ye editor" & John ever did on SILVER SURFER, and no matter how wild the plot, how grandiose the set of events, somehow John makes you just believe in it. I think the long absence of Wanda & Pietro has been hurting both the series and the characters, and it's nice to FINALLY see them back where they belong. Arkon, meanwhile, appears to be almost a science-fictional warm-up for CONAN THE BARBARIAN, between the muscles, the long hair, the loin cloth-- not to mention it's Roy & John doing the guy. Arkon turned up in quite a few stories over the years, but I never read these early stories until the ESSENTIAL volume came out. What surprised me on reading this was how much he seemed to resemble "Boltan"-- the #1 warrior on a planet of warriors-- who happens to carry a big shield and a whole set of LIGHTNING-BOLT weapons that he hurls-- from the 1968 SPIDER-MAN cartoon, "THUNDER RUMBLE". The main difference in appearance is Boltan had a beard and a helmet with horns on it (looking like an alternate-universe bad-guy version of Thor), but Arkon's helmet, with its sort-of "bird-wings" shape, does kind of evoke that. With all the "original" material that turned up on cartoons based on Marvel characters, it always cracks me up when it appears some of Marvel's writers began to borrow ideas from the cartoons, instead of the other way round!
(7-14-2008)
DAREDEVIL 63
cover by Marie Severin & Frank Giacoia
(Continued in April 1970, Pt. 2)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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