FANTASTIC FOUR 104
cover by John Romita & John Verpoorten
As Magneto holds the armed forces at bay with his greatly-increased power, the FF and Sub-Mariner have teamed up to defeat him. Reed has to remind the perrenial hothead that Dorma's life is at stake (don't you hate when "heroes" look that stupid?) and he convinces Namor to pretend to go along with Magneto to gain time. Back at the HQ, Reed is chewed out by Nixon for failing to stop the menace. As Namor's troops swarm the streets, rounding up stray residents, Magneto puts Sue & Dorma on display in glass cylinders, and has "his" troops invade the Baxter Building. Reed finally attacks Magneto with an "electronic converter" which turns Magneto's own power back on himself, trapping him in a cone-shaped energy prison. Despite their mutual victory, Namor tells Reed they can "never" be friends as long as air-breathers hate and distrust all who are different. He takes his people and returns to Atlantis.
Once again, the general plot isn't bad-- but the execution is AWFUL beyond imagination. John Romita's storytelling is stiff, overly melodramatic, while the art itself by contrast is far too "cartoony". And "ye editor"s dialogue is just DREADFUL. Has this guy completely forgotten how to write natural-sounding, believeable dialogue? Just a tiny example-- Crystal telling Reed "I will not fail you!" I've just re-read every appearance of her since her debut, and this girl does NOT talk like that! It's like writing all those issues of SILVER SURFER has permanently damaged "ye editor"s writing skills. Flipping over this entire 3-parter, I also noticed that Jack Kirby NEVER designed any Atlantean cruisers like the ones Romita drew. John's look like badly-designed kids' toys from some cheap manufacturer, compared to the imaginative craft Kirby came up with. The cover sums up exactly how bad this issue is. For the 2nd time in 3 issues, the entire FF (plus Sub-Mariner) have their BACKS to the readers, and there's 4 very awkward, "flat"-sounding word balloons: "ATTACK me and those you love most will DIE!" "NOTHING must stop us!" "We have NO CHOICE..." "The HUMAN RACE is at stake!", all above the title "The Conqueror Says Die!" Someone at Marvel seems to have decided it was a good idea for the "titles" on the covers to NOT match the ones on the story inside. And all this under that ugly "FAT" F.F. logo. How can a series that had been so great sink to such depths so fast?
Hey, was this the 1st time Magneto was ever captured by the authorities? If so, I suppose you could say his menacing all of NYC here and being captured for it served as part of the inspiration for the 1st X-MEN movie! (Except, the movie was about 100 times better than this. How often does THAT happen?)
(7-25-2008)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 90
cover by Gil Kane & John Romita
Spidey barely escape alive... and plants a tracer on Ock's arms. On the street, bruised & dizzy, he runs into Captain Stacy, before collapsing. A cop helps Stacy get Pete back to his house, where he wakes up to the site of Gwen. I gotta say, having John Romita doing the inking, Gwen looks better than she has in some time. (At least, more "on-model" somehow.) Stacy's not looking so hot... Back home, Pete shows off his skill as a budding scientist (something he used to do a LOT on the 1st season of the cartoon show), by coming up with something specifically designed to beat Ock. Halfway thru the issue, he finds him, and ANOTHER long, brutal fight scene starts. This time it goes in Spidey's favor, because he sprays the arms with a chemical that actually disrupts the mental connection with their master, and they begin to attack HIM! But in the ensuing chaos, a chimney is broken off a building, and almost falls on top of some little kid who's watching the fight... until Stacy pushes him out of the way, and gets hit himself. Forgetting everything, Spidey races to help Stacy, and tries to get him to a hospital. As he does so, the crowd-- who were STUPID enough to be watching the fight so close (WHERE was that kid's mother? NOWHERE to be seen!!!) all somehow think it's Spidey's fault Stacy got clobbered. On a rooftop, Stacy says he has to tell him something. He says Gwen will have no one now-- "No one, Peter, except you. be good to her son. She loves you-- so very much." Stacy dies, and Pete realizes that Stacy may have ALWAYS known his secret-- but kept it to himself. Now he wonders, what will Gwen think if she learns her father died "because of-- me?"
Talk about over-blown melodrama. This was COMPLETELY uncalled-for. I feel this is the EXACT point where AMAZING SPIDER-MAN "jumped the shark" as they say. NOT when Gwen died-- here. For 3 years they built up this thing with Stacy, and just when it looks like Pete might FINALLY have someone he could really confide in, who might help him become a more confidant, mature, grown-up person, WHAM. It's "Uncle Ben" ALL OVER AGAIN. This is just SO wrong. The "great tragedy" that set up Spider-Man career as a crime-fighter was the death of Uncle Ben. When Steve Ditko did the 3-part "Master Planner" story in ASM #31-33, most of the story revolved around whether Aunt May might ALSO die. Because of GREAT, MONUMENTAL effort of Spidey's part-- SHE DIDN'T! It really would have been too much if she had. It was a real turning point in the guy's life and career. It was magnificent. There's a reason it's considered such a great story. Now, THIS thing comes along-- and just destroys it all. I can't say for sure, but it's quite possible that, if I had been reading these when they came out, I might well have STOPPED buying the book, right here... permanently. (As it is, I never "met" Stacy until a few years after he was so pointlessly killed... so going thru all these in reprints, in the mid-70's, didn't have quite the same impact on me.)
All this would be bad enough... having the public somehow think it was Spidey's fault, just turned the whole series into a dark nightmare that just never wanted to end.
And you know what's REALLY stupid? 3 issues of Doc Ock on the loose... and we NEVER see him captured by the cops at the end! I don't even know if he WAS captured by the cops. I read 5 issues in one sitting (no kidding) and the next 2 issues, there was NO mention of it. Everybody blames Spidey, WHAT ABOUT DOC OCK?? That's just unforgiveably SLOPPY writing. It's such a damn shame, because the way Pete screwed up the guy's control of those arms, it could easily have been his greatest TRIUMPH, something that might finally make the world (and the cops) realize what a real "hero" he was. Instead... we got C***.
The cover, a redo of one of the interior panels, with Spidey carrying Stacy up the wall as the crowd shouts, "It's all his fault! He's a murderer!" was okay. They REALLY should have reused it on THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN STACY reprint (2000) instead of the stiff, completely style-less cover supplied by Sean Chen. I loved that guy's work on IRON MAN, but that cover just SUCKS. It's like a BAD imitation of Frank Miller-- if you know what I mean. At least the quality of the line reproduction inside was much better than it had been in earlier years.
(7-28-2008)
IRON MAN 31
cover by SAL BUSCEMA
CAPTAIN AMERICA 131
cover by Marie Severin & Joe Sinnott
This opens with one of the better covers from this period: Cap, tied to a giant clock, while the villain gloats, and "Bucky" races to help. The blurb reads, "NO! Your eyes are NOT DECEIVING you!! Don't Dare Miss: 'BUCKY REBORN!" Below, a 2nd blurb reads, "In this issue: Learn the true identity of THE HOOD!" In a twisted sort of way, this issue has a special place in my memory, because it was the 1st issue of this series I ever got new when it came out! I was still some years away from getting any comics on a regular basis, so it's quite possible the cover really grabbed me. Of course, it gave the impression that The Hood had been around for some time, when really, he'd only been introduced-- and badly-- in the previous issue. But I knew who Bucky was (thanks to the reprints in AVENGERS ANNUAL #3), so I'm sure I wanted to see what was up.
The Hood studies photos of Cap, looking for some clue, some idea that might bring about his downfall. A pic of Cap & Bucky inspires him... He begins scouring gyms looking for someone athletic with the right look and approximate age, who might fool Cap into thinking his dead partner was still alive. He's astonished to find just the person he's looking for, and rather quickly-- and not only does he look almost exactly as Bucky might, years later, but he has amnesia, causing him to wonder, "What if he really IS-- the long-lost Bucky Barnes?" In a San Francisco coffee shop, the bike-travelling Cap hears a news report that Bucky Barnes has been found alive, and he races to the seaside home of the man who "found" him. There, the Hood is subjecting "Bucky" to intense brainwashing, having him repeat over and over, "I am Bucky Barnes. I am Bucky Barnes." All this build-up seems a waste, as no sooner does Cap enter the darkened house, when he faces Baron Strucker, "the ex-Nazi master Of Weapons!" Cap THEN sees "Bucky", who appears in a trance, and his continual concern about the young man distracts him enough for Strucker to over-power him and strap him to the face of a giant clock. When the big hand reaches 12, Cap will be electocuted! But Cap appeals to "Bucky", urging him to put everything out of his mind-- except ATTACKING--now! Which he does, freeing Cap, who clobbers Strucker. As they stand over the fallen man, the youth repeats "I am Bucky Barnes." Cap replies, "Maybe-- just maybe-- you are!"
First off, this issue is another example of how Gene Colan's art often stands as a masterful triumph of "style" over "substance". Many times, Gene's visuals are so powerful, so dynamic, they make you forget-- or not notice-- if the story you're reading actually makes any sense or not. I keep comparing it to watching the movie YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, one of the most visually-spectacular "007" films ever made. Long a favorite of mine, in recent years I've really noticed how every time I watch it, the flaws in the story become more and more apparent. So it gets worse on repeated viewings, not better (as, say, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE-- possibly the best-written "007" film ever-- does.) I don't know how much of this story is a result of "ye editor"-- or Gene Colan-- but Gene was definitely inspired. It's some of his best storytelling from this period, not a bad panel anywhere. And you know what? Dick Ayers did a DAMN good job on the inks, too! Oh, sure, at least half-a-dozen other inkers might have done it better-- but I have no complaints about the art here. (Meanwhile, Marie Severin & Joe Sinnott's cover is outstanding as well.)
We only met The Hood in the previous issue. We don't know who he is, of why he wants Cap dead. He seems really obsessed with it. He hatches this scheme rather abruptly-- then, even he can't believe his luck when he not only finds someone who looks like Bucky that fast-- but the guy has no memories. It's a case of "too good to be true". (AND IT IS!) Cap never questions the news story about Bucky being "found"-- there were no details. Even The Avengers wanted to know who the guy in the red-white-and-blue costume they found floating in the ocean was before they accepted it as fact! "I know it's IMPOSSIBLE-- It MUST be some sort of TRICK!" But of course, he goes anyway. And after all this build-up, when we expect him to find "Bucky" and somehow get taken in by him, instead, the villain just turns on the light and faces Cap. On the RIGHT-HAND page, where the surprise is BLOWN for readers, who see "Baron Strucker" before they ever get a chance to endure the suspense of the previous page on the left. BONEHEAD blunder!!!
I had never seen or heard of Baron Strucker before when I first read this. In fact, it's becoming more and more frustrating that to this day, I have never read even one of Baron Strucker's appearances in SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMAODOS. But I do have every one of his appearances in the Nick Fury, Agent Of SHIELD series in STRANGE TALES. Strucker was not only leader of a Nazi commando squad, and part-time concentration camp recreational director (as Arnold Drake might have put it, heh), he was one of the chief architects of HYDRA, who at least twice at this point made major bids to CONQUER the entire planet! HYDRA, whose scientific division A.I.M. split off by itself and, like the main organization, has been a recurring menace to civilization ever since. Strucker, who, when he masqueraded as A.I.M.'s "Grand Imperator", was personally responsible for locating, reviving and recruiting The Red Skull-- who has been a MAJOR menace to world peace EVER SINCE! Strucker DIED, along with every single other person on Hydra Island, when their "Death Spore" biological warfare bomb-- which could NOT be defused-- detonated inside their impenetrable barrier. There is NO explanation for his being alive here! In fact, there is NO mention of HYDRA or AIM! And WHY would Strucker have an obsession with killing Captain America-- who he never met? If this had been a story about Nick Fury, I could see it, but CAP? WHAT th'...???
It also seems to me, if The Hood-- or whoever-- wanted to lure Cap into a trap, a news story alone would have sufficed. There was NO NEED to go thru all the trouble of finding a "Bucky Barnes"-- especially as "Bucky" didn't do much except sit there in a trance for most of the time.
Again-- Gene's art & storytelling is SO good, you don't really worry about it while you're reading. It's only after that you're left wondering, "WAIT a minute..." Of course, the blurb at the bottom of the past page doesn't help: "Next: THE HOAX and the HORROR!" If that doesn't mean something's NOT on the up-and-up, I don't know what does.
Incidentally, The Hood's line, "He shall be the first to see me-- WITHOUT my hood!" would take on MUCH greater significance-- 9-1/2 YEARS later. But if "ye editor" or Gene had any deeper thoughts on it when they did this, there's no hint of it here. (OR next issue.)
(7-25-2008)
SUB-MARINER 31
cover by SAL BUSCEMA
THE INCREDIBLE HULK 133
cover by Herb Trimpe & Bill Everett
THOR 182
cover by John Buscema & Joe Sinnott
THE AVENGERS 82
cover by Marie Severin (layout), John Buscem & Tom Palmer
Manhattan is invaded by a mercenary army, a force field preventing troops from entering, and 4 of The Avengers-- Thor, Quicksilver, Iron Man & Captain America, prisoners of the group they were trying to track down-- ZODIAC! Their leader, Aries, is demanding a ransom of one BILLION dollars, or he will exterminate every person in the city! The team that went west, Goliath, Vision & Scarlet Witch, are stuck outside the city, as are the FF, while Spider-Man, as Peter Parker, is looking after his Aunt May and trying to keep her from watching the news and finding out what's going on. Apparently, the only super-heroes in all of Manhattan still on the loose are The Black Panther and Daredevil-- who team up AGAIN (following their adventure in DAREDEVIL #69 last month) to tackle Aries. In retaliation, and to make an example of them, Aries announces he will execute the 4 captive Avengers, and herds helpless captive residents into a sports arena to force as many people to witness it as possible! (What a cold-blooded bastard!) Matt Murdock causes a disruption, Aries decides he'll be killed with the others, but Matt manages to damage the device holding the other heroes helpless, and next thing, it's a free-for-all. As Aries tries to escape, Thor blasts his aircraft to atoms, and his mercenary army is quickly captured.
Back at Avengers Mansion, the entire team confers, and discovers that the 3 separate missions they went on were all in fact related, as Van Lunt was using the Indian land to build & train the mercenary army, while the Thunderbolt gang DD & BP fought were also hooked up with Zodiac. As he leaves, DD compares the situation to the story of blind men trying to describe an elelphant... but only The Panther gets the reference.
An extremely ambitious story-- it's amazing Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Tom Palmer were able to pull this off in only 19 pages! Of course, the whole thing really took 4 issues-- 3 of this series, plus the issue of DAREDEVIL. It also tied together several previous issues involving Van Lunt & Zodiac, who had basically done next-to-nothing in their initial appearance. Only Aries appeared in this episode, but that still left a huge menace laying around loose, considering there's at least 10 other members still unaccounted for. Having the team split off to tackle 3 different missions simultaneously was just the latest tribute to the Justice Society Of America by that eternal Golden Age fanboy, Roy Thomas! (It wouldn't be the last-- to say the least!)
The only thing that lets this issue down is the cover-- which has no less than 6 (6!!!) word balloons, and 2 blurbs, one of which says "Guest-starring Daredevil!" --as if readers couldnt' SEE him right there. "Ye editor" said he'd instituted a "new policy!" of heroes making guest-appearances in each other's books, I guess this was one more example of such shameless cross-promotion.
(7-26-2008)
DAREDEVIL 70
cover by Marie Severin & Joe Sinnott
(alterations by HERB TRIMPE)
(Continued in November 1970, Pt. 2)
All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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