View Full Version : "Classic Comics" reveiw thread
This thread is for anyone who reads a comic story (either in original or reprint) that's at least, say, 20 years old and wants to comment on it and/or recommend it to others.
I'll start with Conan the Barbarian #53 ("Brothers of the Blade"), which recently appeared in the latest TPB reprinting the original Marvel Conan series. This particular issue would have been originally published around 1974 or so.
One of the many strengths of this series was John Buscema's art and one of the best things about his art was his ability to illustrate a really cool fight scene. In this issue, Conan is part of a band of mercenaries that's hired to (among other things) kidnap a noblewoman who's traveling from one city-state to another for an arranged marriage.
Conan has to fight the woman's bodyguards, a trio of brothers who have each had a different part of their body replaced with a weapon. The fight is beautifully presented. First, it's well-drawn. Buscema's anatomy, facial expressions and poses are all excellent. Second, the fight follows a logical progression. This is something a lot of modern comics fail to capture--the individual panels in a modern fight scene are often just random carnage without any logic to it. But here, you can follow the moves of each of the combatants and understand the tactics they were using at any one point. You had a picture of the whole scene in your mind--where the characters were in relation to each other at any one time. It's great stuff and something I wish more artists nowadays would pay attention to. Marvel's Conan series presents some of the best fight choreography in comics and this issue is a prime example of this.
Marvel Two-in-One #21:
Back in the 1970s, Marvel Comics briefly acquired the rights to do comic stories with Doc Savage, one of the best pulp magazine heroes from the 1930s. Marvel gave him his own short-lived comic (as well as a black-and-white magazine), but they also had him guest star in some other books. Marvel quite properly kept Doc in the 1930s rather than modernizing him, which meant getting him into a team-up with a modern hero could be tricky. An interesting Spider Man story, for instance, featured Doc dealing with an alien threat in the first part of the story and Spidey cleaning up some loose ends 40 years later in the second part.
In Marvel Two-in-One #21, a villain named Blacksun does some complex time manipulations, which allows Doc and his assistants to team up with Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm. What follows is a reasonably good fight scene, in which Black Sun is defeated and everyone is returned to their proper times. The writer was Bill Mantlo, who was a good, solid writer who understood the Marvel universe and was pretty good at nifty plot twists.
This issue, though, is a little disappointing. Blacksun's back story takes up a big chunk of the story, so Doc Savage and Ben are only together for a short time. We learn that Doc is one of Ben's heroes, but they spend the rest of the time battling the bad guy so nothing is built on this before they are seperated. This was a story that really should have been a two-parter. The plot and the action stuff are fine, but the missed opportunity at more personal interaction between Doc and Ben leaves a hole in the story. What could have been classic becomes merely good.
One interesting side-note: The newly published Essential Marvel Two-in-One does not reprint this story. It's left out without explanation, even though the next issue starts with Ben and Johnny dealing with loose ends left over from the fight with Blacksun. I assume this is because Marvel no longer holds the comic-book rights to Doc Savage and is not allowed to reprint it.
"Half an Evil" from Batman #234
This is a classic Batman story that, in the space of 15 pages, portrays Batman as a detective, a skilled hand-to-hand fighter, a perceptive judge of his opponents and an escape artist. It was written by Denny O'Neil, who was one of the best Batman writers of the Bronze Age. The artist was Neal Adams--who was one of the best Batman artists of the same era.
The plot involves Two-Face, with Harvey Dent stealing several apparently unrelated objects before setting a 19th Century sailing ship adrift and sinking it.
Why? At first it makes no sense, but Batman--using old fashioned deductive reasoning--figures it out and is waiting to confront Two-Face at the end.
This is great stuff and it shows that a well-written single issue story can equal an extended story arc in quality. Some tales need to be short stories (not novels) to work dramatically.
It's all from a time when Batman was a well-rounded character who did more than act like a jerk and ask Oracle to figure everything out for him. He thinks like a detective--he beats up a few minions--he escapes from a trap--and he uses Harvey's coin-flipping mania against him to catch the villain at the end.
Doesn't anyone else want to do a "classic" comics review? Gee whiz, I gotta do all the work around here!!! ;)
Ignatz_Mouse
01/23/2006, 16:18
I've been putting stuff like this on my blog. But I also haven't reviewed anything that old yet.
I do have a writeup of the Imaginary Stories TPB on another forum. I'll go grab it.
Ignatz_Mouse
01/23/2006, 16:21
DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories
Writers: Many
Artists: Many
Price: 19.99
If you are a Marvel-Vs-DC guy, then this is exactly the book likely to push you one way or the other. These stories are mainly from the Superman books (although there are a couple of Batman stories, a Flash story, and a Captain Marvel story. As such, they are also mostly from the 60's, when Superman comics were very odd indeed. Superman comics from this era were a weird mix of science-fantasy, simplistic moral tales, and romance comics. Often, characters whould express their heartache and anguish in a thought balloon with a tearful expression. The closest Marvel got to this style was very early Spider-Man. In any case, fair warning. But if you enjoy the silliness that results from Lois Lane's pining for Superman yet disdaining Clark, while Superman chuckles to himself over the fact that she's fooled by a pair or glasses (or jsut as likely, reminds himself that he must never marry, lest his enemies attack!), then this is a book for you.
The premise of the collection is Imaginary Stories. THis was an era where the point of many stories was do something wild, and then somehow manage to get things back to the status quo by the end of the book. These comics are not about battles and combat, they're about contrivance. The Imaginary Story was a device that allowed the writers to do something different-- Lois fianlly marries Clark (unheard of in the 60's), Superman dies, or Batman's parents were never killed. Much like Elseworlds, only these would just pop up in a title from time to time unannounced.
I've read about half the book so far, and it really delivers the 60's charm that it advertises on the cover (whereupon Jimmy Olsen is being treated like a yo-yo my an alien while Lois serves two Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and others chocolate cake). Two stories feature Superman getting married, and another one has Supergirl marrying Jimmy Olsen. This one in particular is a hoot-- Supergirl gets red-kryptonite-induced amnesia and power-loss and falls for Jimmy, then recovers her memory and has to figure out how to break it to him.
The book also features some more serious stories. The Death of Superman (not the 90's Doomsday story) is touching and tragic, particularly against the cornball era in which it came out. The Captain Marvel tale, from 1946, speculates on what woud happen if a global nuclear war broke out. Very somber.
Other stories are more like what-if scenarios that aren't really played for humor or tragedy, just interesting tales. At least two of them revolve around a hero having his secret ID exposed.
All in all, a fun book from a simpler time. Full of contradictions and very orchestrated stories, yet withing that framework a great read. Recommended for people (like me) who like that sort of thing.
Maniac_nmt
01/23/2006, 17:56
Doesn't anyone else want to do a "classic" comics review? Gee whiz, I gotta do all the work around here!!! ;)
What am I, chopped liver?
What am I, chopped liver?
Not at all. More like ground liver. ;)
I have been enjoying your daily "Dic-k Tracy" postings.
DC Comics Presents #93:
"That's the way the Heroes Bounce" with Superman and the "Elastic Four."
Who are the Elastic Four, you ask? All the stretchy guys in the DC Universe: Plastic Man, Elongated Man, Elatiic Lad (Jimmy Olson) and Malleable Man.
Unless you've read this issue, you're now wondering who the heck Malleable Man is. He's actually the bad guy. Now stay with me--this gets a little weird:
Malleable Man was in the same gang as Eel O'Brien when Eel has the bullet wound/chemical spill accident that gives him stretching powers. He deduces that Eel is Plastic Man and that he must have gotten his powers in that accident. So he recreates the accident (yes, he shoots himself in the shoulder and then spills toxic chemicals over himself). It works, giving him stretchy powers also.
Then he uses a mind-control potion to gradually gain control over the other three stretchy guys. His motive? Well, Jimmy Olson knows where the Fortress of Solitude is; Plastic Man can take the form of a hot-air baloon to fly them all there; and all four of them can use their stretchy powers to get in through the giant key-hole. Then Malleable Man can rob the Fortress of its treasures. I'm not sure why he needs Ralph along as well, but there you go.
It's an undeniably brilliant plan. Well, okay, actually it's a silly plan. But this is a deliberately silly story. If you go with the silliness and just enjoy the images of stretchy guys chasing each other and fighting each other and "accidentally" getting in Superman's way a couple of times, then you'll have fun. The frame of Ralph stretching out his fingers and wrapping them around a gang of gunmen alone makes the story worthwhile. This is a nice break from heart-breaking angst and world-threatening supervillains and overly serious comics that have often forgotton how to just have fun from time to time.
In the early 1970s, Archie Goodwin briefly took over as editor of DC Comics’ war books. At the time, there were three books that featured continuing characters: Our Army at War had Sgt. Rock, G.I. Combat featured the Haunted Tank, and Our Fighting Forces had the Losers.
For years, all of these books had been written almost exclusively by Robert Kanigher, who had also created all the featured characters. His work had always been good and often excellent, but Goodwin made a change that help elevate all three of these books to a new level.
Kanigher usually did not worry about internal historical continuity in his war books. One month, Sgt. Rock would be fighting in France. The next week, he’d be in North Africa, which would place the story two years earlier in historical reality. Yet a character introduced in the France story would still pop up in the North African story line.
This never hurt the books, since the individual stories were strong and the art work (usually by Joe Kubert or Russ Heath) was absolutely superb. But in 1972, Goodwin decided they should try out some multi-issue story arcs.
Goodwin himself took over the Haunted Tank, sending Jeb Stuart and his crew on an ill-conceived raid that kept them trapped behind enemy lines for a half-dozen issues. The Losers, still written by Kanigher and drawn by John Severin, went on a mission to Africa and ended up in a series of inter-connected adventures that took them across the Sahara.
Kanigher and Russ Heath (possibly the single most underrated artist in comic history) took Sgt. Rock on his own personal Odyssey. Starting in Our Army at War #256, Rock is detached from his beloved Easy Company in Europe and sent on temporary assignment to Burma, where he’s given a squad of newly promoted sergeants to train. His trainees are suspicious of him at first, but Rock earns their respect as he teaches them to balance aggressive action with watching out for the men under their command.
The story really begins in OAAW #257. The B-17 flying Rock back to Europe is caught by anti-aircraft fire and crashes on a Japanese-held island. Rock is the only survivor. Building a hang-glider out of the remains of the bomber, he manages to destroy the anti-aircraft gun that was hidden in a cliff-side cave.
This issue shows the sort of thematic tight-rope that Kanigher always walked in his war stories. First, the story is full of real human moments, most especially when Rock vainly tried to save the screaming crewmen inside the burning bomber. But at the same time, it was filled with pure comic-book action. Rock builds a hang-glider out of the remains of the bomber, for heaven’s sake. Looked at objectively, it doesn’t get any sillier than that.
But it doesn’t seem silly in context with the story as a whole. The sense of humanity that Kanigher built into the story is the main reason, of course, but Russ Heath’s art work is a big part of it as well. With his understanding of human anatomy, his dynamic portrayal of violence, his technically accurate portrayal of vehicles and weapons and his cinematic shifting of perspective from panel to panel, he could give any sort of action sequence a sense of reality and urgency. No matter how silly it might be when compared to real life, it works beautifully in the comics.
OAAW #258 starts with Rock adrift in the Pacific in a rubber raft. Washing up on another island, he’s forced into an uneasy alliance with a Japanese Marine also stranded there. Together, they launch a raft and put back out to sea. But their alliance comes to a bloody end when they spot a boat in the distance. Tragically, only after the Japanese has been fatally wounded, does Rock see the boat is an abandoned PT Boat.
OAAW #259 has Rock rescued by an American hospital ship. Once again, Kanigher’s strong sense of humanity comes to the forefront while Rock helps care for the wounded, and again when several of the walking wounded decide they are sick of war and take over the ship, determined to find an island paradise somewhere. Rock does not approve of their action, but he doesn’t condemn them either, knowing what they’ve all been through.
But when they come across an island where invading U.S. Marines are being slaughtered on the beach, the mutineers find they can’t turn their backs on their countrymen. They and Rock enter the fray and help turn the tide.
OAAW #260 involves Rock and his companions blowing up a Japanese gun emplacement that’s about to open up on a second wave of landing craft. But when they return to the beach, they learn that some Japanese civilians are hiding in a cave near the top of a cliff. With a young prisoner as a translator, they climb up to try to get the civilians to surrender. But the civilians, including a mother clutching her child, begin to leap to their deaths. They’ve been told that the Americans will torture them if they are captured. (This, by the way, is drawn straight from history. Civilians often did commit suicide because of this propaganda and those that did try to surrender were often gunned down by Japanese soldiers.)
The moment where Rock, who was always so stoic in the midst of combat, turns to the young prisoner in an absolute panic, screaming at him to tell the civilians they won’t be hurt, is quite possible the single-best Sgt. Rock moment ever and one of the most emotionally affecting sequences in any comic ever.
The next issue was a story out of continuity with the rest of the story arc. It picks up again in OAAW #262, with Rock finally coming home to Easy Company. He finds another Sergeant has been put in charge while he was Missing in Action. Rock finds himself a spare wheel in his own outfit. He learns the new guy lost his entire command before coming to Easy and still has nightmares about this. The new guy is given a chance to redeem himself, though, giving his life to save Easy Company in the story’s climax. Rock is home and in command again, but the war goes on.
Overall, this was a wonderful story arc, both in terms of writing and art, well-worth finding and reading.
Giant-Sized Spider Man #2
The Bruce Lee-inspired Martial Arts craze of the 1970s spilled over into comics as well as other aspects of pop culture. A lot of the characters created to feed this genre were good ones and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, was one of the best.
Shang-Chi combined the martial arts with a comic book-pulp fiction atmsophere by making him the son of Fu Manchu, the master criminal created by Sax Rohmer in a series of early 20th Century adventure novels. Shang had turned against his father and regularly foiled Fu’s schemes of world domination. Well-choreographed martial arts battles were combined with killer robots, death rays, genetically mutated monsters and full-scale battles between cadres of heavily armed troops.
Of course, it wasn’t long before Shang-Chi crossed paths with other denizens of the Marvel Universe. In Giant-Size Spider Man #2, from about 1974, he met Spider Man. The fast-paced story, written by comic book great Len Wein, begins with Fu Manchu tricking the each hero into believing the other was planning on sabotaging a power station. This led to a really nifty running fight between the two through the station. They soon figure out they’ve been tricked, of course, and team up to stop Fu from erecting a mind control devise atop the Empire State Building.
To a large degree, this story is very predictable. It follows the traditional comic book plot device of having two heroes fight each other before teaming up, followed by the equally traditional stopping-the-villain-in-the-nick-of-time bit.
But the story works fine anyways. Traditional plot devices, in the hands of a good writer, can be a strength rather than a weakness and Len Wein tells the story well, endowing it with its fair share of excitement and suspense. He also understood both Shang-Chi’s and Spider Man’s personalities, keeping the pair nicely in character throughout the book.
All this is helped by Ross Andru’s art. Andru was one of the standard Spider Man artists after John Romita, Sr. left and he always did a bang-up job. This book in particular shows how well he could illustrate a fight scene, moving the action along in an exciting and logical manner. The scene in which Shang and Spidey both take a dive off the top of the Empire State Building in order to beat Fu Manchu to the bottom is particularly well staged.
Here's a list of the classic comic reprint stuff that both Marvel and DC is coming out with over the next few months.
I've listed just the relatively affordable stuff, so I haven't included any oof the $50 Archives or Masterworks.
March 29:
Essential Nova (I never read Nova, but it was created and written by Marv Wolfman, so that's a point in its favor.)
4/5:
The Dark Phoenix Saga (One of the best comic stories ever. I always thought it was one of the best stories ever dealing with moral responsibility and what defines true heroism.)
Showcase Presents: Teen Titans (This reprints the original 1960s run.)
4/12:
Iron Man: Demon in the Bottle (Tony Stark's first battle with alchoholism is wrapped around a pretty strong story introducing villainous businessman Justin Hammer and has some nifty fight scenes)
4/19:
Fantastic Four Visionaires: George Perez, volume 2 (If it's drawn by Perez, it's gotta be good.)
4/26:
Marvel Milestones: Beast & Kitty (Reprints the issue where Hank McCoy turned furry. Also, Kitty's fairy tale version of the X-Men from the Claremont years.)
5/3:
Essential Classic X-Men, Volume 2 (Includes the first appearances of Banshee and Polaris.)
Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 4 (Continues the reprints of the original JLA/JSA team-ups. This one will include a two-parter that also involves the Legion of Super Heroes.)
5/17:
Showcase Presents: The Haunted Tank (DC always did the best war books, especially with Joe Kubert and Russ Heath providing the art.)
6/7:
Essential Fantastic Four, Volume 5 (Lee and Kirby's greatest work continues. Their work on F.F. is quite simply the best comic book stuff ever.)
6/14:
Showcase Presents: Superman volume 2 (continues a run from a very creative time Superman's Pre-Crisis history, where a lot of new elements to his mythology were introduced.)
6/21:
Champions Classics, volume 1 (The first 11 issues of the Champions. The oddest hero group ever--who had absolutely no good reason to form a group. But it was fun in part just for that reason.)
6/28: Marvel Milestones: Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid (Two issues of early '60s westerns.)
7/5: Showcase Presents: Elongated Man (Okay, this guy is happily married to a nice-lookin' wife, he's a skilled detective who regularly uses deductive reasoning to solve crimes AND he's got a superpower. I want to be Ralph Dibny--well, I want to be Pre-Crisis Ralph, anyways.)
7/26--Batman Chronicles, Volume 2 (Continuing the reprints of the original stories from Detective and Batman in chronological order. It's a neat idea and the 30s/40s Batman stories hold up better than nearly anything else from that era.)
Godzilla #1 - #24
It was the purest geek idea ever. Marvel gets the rights to do a comic book of Godzilla and, rather than do something with a seperate continuity, they simply drop him down into the middle of the Marvel Universe.
Writer Doug Moench and artist Herb Trimpe seemed to have thought the implications of this through pretty thoroughly, then began to have fun with it. So when Godzilla shows up in Alaska and starts whip-snapping the Alaskan pipeline around, well naturally a SHIELD helicarrier gets dispatched to deal with him. Poor Dum Dum Dugan is in charge of the operation and spends the next two years in a constant state of frustration as he tries to find some way of dealing with the mutant lizard.
The connection to the Marvel Universe continues through each issue. When Godzilla attacks San Francisco, the Champions help drive him off. A little bit into the seiries, Dum Dum suddenly slaps his forehead with a "why didn't I think of this before" and orders that someone get in touch with Hank Pym as soon as possible. Soon after, Godzilla's getting squirted with several tons of Pym's shrink gas.
But even a pint-sized Godzilla is trouble. Getting loose in the sewers of New York, he has an epic fight with a rat. He begins to slowly grow again and is maybe 20 feet tall when he throws down with Ben Grimm in the Museum of Natural History. Smothered unconscious by Mr. Fantastic, he's then tossed through Doctor Doom's time machine, on the assumption that he'll be happier back in a prehistoric age. This leads to first a fight against Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur, then a team-up with them against some evil cave men.
Godzilla's radioactive nature causes the time machine to eventually sling-shot him, now full-sized again, back to modern Time Sqaure. Some problems just won't go away. At least not until the book is cancelled, which happens after SHIELD and the Avengers manage to lure Godzilla out into the Atlantic.
This series is a lot of fun for any Godzilla/comic fan, combining the big guy with the comic book world in ways that make comic book sense and maintains Marvel continuity. Trimpe's art is good and holds up well in the recently published "Essential Godzilla" despite the loss of color. The only misstep in the series is a kid (the nephew of a Japanese scientist whose brought in by SHIELD as a Godzilla expert) who keeps whining undendlingly to everyone about how Godzilla isn't evil and shouldn't be hurt. The little snot is a walking advertisement for the need to spank children.
But despite this, the series remains entertaining throughout its entire run.
The only misstep in the series is a kid (the nephew of a Japanese scientist whose brought in by SHIELD as a Godzilla expert) who keeps whining undendlingly to everyone about how Godzilla isn't evil and shouldn't be hurt. The little snot is a walking advertisement for the need to spank children.
But despite this, the series remains entertaining throughout its entire run.
Maybe he mistook Godzilla for Gamera (the friend of all children, specially if they're boys wearing short-shorts)
;)
Detective Comics #572
This was Detective's 40th Anniversary issue (not the 40th Anniversary of Batman, which was still a couple of years away. Remember that Batman didn't appear until Detective Comics #27.)
To celebrate the occasion, the double-sized issue featured a multi-chapter story involving Batman and several other detective characters from the DC Universe. Slam Bradley, a hard-boiled P.I. character who appeared in Detective Comics #1 was brought back after a long absence. Older but still tough, he becomes involved in a kidnapping case that turns out to involve several decendents of Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes' archenemy).
Then the story shifts to London, where Ralph Dibney--the Elongated Man--chases some bad guys attempting to steal something from 221 B Baker Street. Ralph finds papers containing the history of a previously unknown Holmes case.
Then we get a flashback that gives us the details of this case, where Holmes and Watson foil a plot by Moriarty to assassinate Queen Victoria.
Back in the present, Batman and Robin are now also involved and all the various characters meet in London. Through detective work and deductive reasoning, they uncover a modern plot by a decendent of Moriarty to assassinate the present-day Queen.
The climax involves Batman getting a bit of help from a certain famous detective--now very old but still the best there is.
The whole story is very well-done. The plot moves along briskly, with plenty of action, but the characters are given a chance to show their skills as detectives as well. (The Holmes flashback is more action-oriented than the majority of the original Conan Doyle stories, but Holmes still shows off his powers of deduction and the addition of more action is appropriate to the comic book format.)
It's all balanced very nicely, with nothing seeming contrived and the themes of classic detecive work and superhero action are meshed together smoothly. Batman, Ralph and Bradley all get their moments to shine and no one of them overshadows the others.
A different artist did each chapter, something that has been distracting in other comics. But here, each chapter is sufficiantly self-contained to make the different artistic styles work effectively in terms of drama and the overall flow of the story.
This was a fun comic, written and drawn by comic book professionals who respected the genres they were dealing with and who knew how to effectively tell a good story.
"Back to the Klondike," from Four Color Comics #456
In 1947, artist/writer Carl Barks created Uncle Scrooge McDuck in story called Christmas on Bear Mountain. The wealthy but incredibly stingy Uncle Scrooge served as the plot device to set up an adventure for Donald Duck along with Huey, Dewey and Louie.
But Scrooge struck a chord with readers. Barks took the character and ran with it, creating some of the most imaginative and entertaining comic stories from the late Forties and throughout the Fifties.
It took a few tries to refine Scrooge's character. An early story, "The Magic Glass," told us that Scrooge's wealth comes from owning a magic hourglass. Though this is a wonderful story (involving an adventure in the Sahara Desert to retrieve the hourglass after it is stolen), Barks soon set this idea aside. Scrooge, it eventually developed, had earned every single penny now sitting in his impregnable Money Bin through hard work. He'd been "tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties."
And though now getting on in years, he was still tough and smart. In story after story, he protected his wealth from thieves such as the Beagle Boys or took Donald and the nephews on wild adventures in search of hdden treasures.
"Back to the Klondike" is one of the best Scrooge stories, highlighting all the important aspects of Scrooge's personality withn the context of yet another entertaining adventure.
As the story opens, Scrooge is having serious memory problems, even forgetting who Donald is. A doctor prescribes memory pills, which work so well that Scrooge remembers a cache of gold he'd buried in the Klondike years ago when he first struck it rich as a prospector.
So Scrooge, Donald and the nephews are off to the Klondike to recover the gold. Over the course of the story, we meet Glittering Goldie, a former saloon owner with whom Scrooge developed a love/hate relationship during the gold-rush days. There's a series of gags based on Scrooge's refusal to take his memory pills (hey, they cost a whole ten cents each---they're too valuable to swallow) and a set of mini-adventures involving a grizzly bear and a swarm of mosquitoes.
We get a flashback to Scrooge's days as a young prospector (and a nifty sequence in which we get to see him whip a dozen or so guys in a barfight). We get examples of Scrooge's greed and penny-pinching, but also an ending that shows he has a heart of gold hidden under his tough exterior.
What's really good about this story (and about the bulk of Barks' work on Scrooge and Donald Duck) is the bizarre thematic balance struck by these stories. On the one hand, these are "funny animal" stories, with talking ducks and dogs involving one sight gag after another. On the other hand, Barks' art was, well, realistic and the sense of real adventure he maintained was always palpable. The stories are both funny and exciting. The characterizations are both comedic and (on occassion) genuinely emotional. "Back to the Klondike," recently reprinted in a trade paperback and so easily available, is one of the best examples of this. In an industry that has given us the work of so many talented artists and writers, Carl Barks holds a comfortable spot amongst the best of the best. He, like Scrooge, was tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties.
SIDENOTE: The trade paperback "The Life and Times of Uncle Scrooge," by Dan Rosa, is a series of 12 issues dealing with key moments in Scrooge's life, from when he earned his first dime as a shoe shine boy in Scotland to his first adventure side-by-side with Donald and the boys. Rosa took hints dropped by Barks in various orginal Scrooge stories to fill out the old skinflint's biography. Rosa is a worthy successor to Barks, with the same talent for balancing humor and adventure. This is one of the best trades ever and should be considered required reading.
By the way, if anyone else wants to post recommendations of classic stuff here, please do so. You don't need to post a full review unless you want to. Just identify the classics you think others might enjoy reading.
FANTASTIC FOUR #90-93:
Here’s a story that I don’t think would have been as much fun if anyone but Jack Kirby had been doing the art.
Ben Grimm is lured into the countryside by a Skrull slaver-trader posing as Reed Richards. He’s gassed unconscious, loaded into a flying saucer and flown to a Skrull-controlled planet.
Once there, he discovers that the Skrull society on that planet have adopted an 1920s Chicago Gangster-motif. All the Skrulls have assumed human form, dressing in pin-striped suits and living in 1920s-style buildings. They carry .45 automatic pistols and Tommy guns (though these weapons actually fire powerful laser blasts). They drive cars appropriate to the gangster-era, those these vehicles can also fly if need be.
It turns out that the ruling class among the Skrulls have divided the planet into territories. Disputes over ownership of territory are settled by betting on gladiatorial combat, in which powerful aliens kidnapped from different planets are pitting against each other. Ben, who is bought by one of the more prominent Skrull gangsters, is matched up against a sentient robot named Torgo.
Meanwhile, Reed deduces Ben’s location. He, Johnny and Crystal (who is filling in for Sue) follow Ben and, after sneaking into the arena disguised in 1920s-garb, help him bust out. They ignite a gladiator revolt while they’re at it.
I don’t want to get into the argument over whether Stan Lee or Jack Kirby had the greatest creative influence over the FF. In the end, I have enormous respect for the storytelling skills of both men. But I would bet money that it was Kirby who came up with this particular plot. The chance to combine several disparate types of imagery (old-time gangsters, science fiction gadgetry, alien monsters) into a coherent whole just seems completely Kirbyish to me.
Then again, maybe it was Stan’s idea, with him confident that Jack could pull it off visually. In either case, it was an enormously entertaining story. The art is indeed more fun than a barrel of Skrulls pretending to be monkeys. The story nicely emphasizes the loyalty and love that exists between the members of the FF, as well as providing nifty action sequences. And Crystal looks cute as a button dressed as a 20s-era gun moll/flapper.
PS: Many fellow geeks will, of course, recognize this story’s similarity to the original-series Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action,” which also involved an alien society that modeled itself after Earth gangsters. Did Jack or Stan see this episode and borrow an idea, or is it just a coincidence? Also, a plot point in the FF story involves forcing the gladiators to fight by threatening to blow up their home worlds with a death ray. A 1st season animated “Justice League” episode used this same device a few years ago. Probably another coincidence, but once again, who knows?
negativsteve
07/05/2006, 14:49
Defenders 52-54
The Defenders, Marvel's greatest "Non-Team," fight their greatest menace ever, publicity. "Dollar" Bill, their self-appointed press agent, does an unflattering unauthorized documentary about the team; the kicker is that he ends it by telling the world about the Defenders non-team status, and that anyone that proclaims themselves to be a Defender is instantly a part of the team.
The Defenders wake up the next morning to discover about 2 dozen superheroes on their lawn, ranging from the Avengers-level guys (Hercules, Jack-of_hearts) to guys not even worthy of a Marvel Universe entry (Captain Ultra, Prowler). Worse still, there are teams of supervillains rampaging though Manhatten, also claiming to be Defenders, Hilarity ensues.
I don't know if this arc is necessarily a classic, but it is one of my favorites. Goofy storyline, a lot of cameos, a lot of battling, and they even snuck in a plot point that would cause a lot of problems down the line. (Shocker using Kyle Richmond's name to scam millions from the stock market.)
Of the many great bits crammed into this storyline, my favorite is the panel featuring Jack-of-Hearts and Captain Ultra arguing as to who has the uglier costume.
"Ambush" from Two-Fisted Tales #21 (1951)
When people remember the EC comics of the 1950s, their thoughts seem to most often jump to Tales from the Crypt and the other horror books. This is really too bad, since looking back over a half-century, the horror books are somewhat overrated, while EC's other comics were always good and often excellent. From science fiction to adventure to suspense to avaition stories--EC offered some of the best non-superhero stories ever produced. Their stable of artists included Wally Wood, John Severin, Reed Crandall and other greats of the era.
Two-Fisted Tales concentrated on adventure stories. It featured four 8-page stories each issue, compactly and effectively telling stories running the gamut from ancient Rome to pirates to spies to the Old West. These stories were short, but they had a coherent beginning, middle and ending, and usually included some really nice bits of characterizations.
For much of its 24-issue run, TFT (along with another EC book, Frontline Combat) concentrated on war stories, usually set in the then-contemporary Korean conflict. "Ambush" is one of these stories, following a squad of American soldiers as they are ambushed and pinned down by North Korean troops.
If you examine just the plot, you find a well-constructed but fairly basic last-stand story. The Americans are gradually whittled down as they defend themselves against a superior force. One of them tries to go for help, but doesn't make it. Finally, the last two men must take a desperate gamble in order to survive. There's an ironic twist in the last panel involving one of the soldier's good luck charm. (Editors Harvey Kurtzman and William Gaines were hopeless in love with ironic twists.)
What lifts this story above the merely good is Jack Davis art work. Davis is now best remembered for his many years on Mad Magazine, but he had a good eye for adventure stories as well. He begins the story with a panel taking up two-thirds of the page--an establishing shot that show the American jeeps driving towards enemy troops occupying the high-ground along the side of the road. Immediately, we understand the tactical situation, which creates a sense of real danger.
After a couple of panels to allow one soldier to explain his good luck charm (thus setting up the twist at the end), the ambush begins. Pages 2 and 3 are non-stop, with both jeeps damaged and three of the eight men killed. This sequence includes another long shot, updating the overall tactical situation for the reader. We understand that these men are in it deep, pinned down with no practical way of fighting back.
Pages 4, 5 and 6 each end with the death of one more soldier. It's a neat little trick that gives the story an effective sense of pacing. It keeps the suspense high as the story builds to its conclusion.
The last two pages cover the action-packed finale and includes the twist about the good luck charm. Once again, Davis expertly choreographs the fight scenes, giving us a sense of desperation while still providing us with the information we need to follow the action logically. It's fast-moving without seeming as if it's suffering from ADD--everything we need to know is there. The EC comics of the 1950s were models of the short-story format for comic books, with "Ambush" being one of many good examples of this.
Death Of Gwen Stacy, over in ASM, has to be the top classic storyline. The repurcussions are still felt today. The only problem I've had with it was the death of the Green Goblin, and tho he's back, the way he was brought back wasn't that great. The worse thing to come of it was the recent retcon where it turns out she had babies by Norman. Ewww.
But, on the whole, that was a great story and to this very day, people will talk about it, debate how she died and who exactly killed her. Tho it's been shown that Norman takes credit for it, still, gotta wonder.
Another classic story was the origin of The Red Hood over in Batman. Who knew it'd be the Joker? Great storyline and that ending was certainly a surprise.
Adventure Comics #318: “The Mutiny of the Legionnaires” (March 1964)
Edmund Hamilton’s writing career stretched back to the golden days of the pulp magazines, where he wrote epic science fiction tales for Weird Tales and other publications. One of his creations was Captain Future, who righted wrongs across the galaxy with the help of a robot, a shape-changing android and a disembodied brain.
In other words, he was writing stuff with a comic book sensibility before there was a comic book sensibility. When the pulps died out, he began working for DC. He was a perfect fit for the Legion of Superheroes.
“Mutiny” begins with the Legion helping to evacuate a planet that’s about to explode. Sun boy, despite suffering from fatigue and overwork, is determined to lead the mission. He and a team of fellow Legionnaires load the planet’s inhabitants onto a giant space ark.
But Sun Boy makes a navigational error and the ark enters a dangerous area of space. When Cosmic Boy points out the error, Sun Boy accuses him of mutiny and uses robot assistants to toss him in the brig. When the other Legionnaires object, Sun Boy threatens to generate enough heat to blow up the ark unless they agree to abandon ship. He puts them on a small lifeboat with no food or radio and only a little bit of fuel.
The bulk of the story consists of the Legionnaires figuring out how to survive. By thinking their situation through carefully and using their various powers in clever ways, they are able to planet-hop to several locations and deal with a number of dangers. Finally, using fuel pods salvaged from an ancient wrecked space ship, they catch up with the ark.
The ark is caught in a meteor storm and Sun Boy has gone catatonic. The Legionnaires bring the ark to safety. Sun Boy is examined by a doctor and discovered to be suffering from “space fatigue.” The story ends when he is cured.
When this story was published, the comics revolution taking place over at Marvel hadn’t yet spilled over to DC. While Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were dealing with real-life problems and emotions, DC’s characters were still relatively two-dimensional.
But that didn’t mean they were without value. Writers like Hamilton, Otto Binder, Gardner Fox and E. Nelson Bridwell were building up an ever-growing mythology in the DC Universe with a rapidly expanding cast of characters. While the stories were driven by plot rather than in-depth characterizations, these plots were self-consistent and often very clever.
Hamilton put together fun Legion stories by coming up with endless variations on how the characters could work together in clever ways. In “Mutiny,” each of the castaway Legionnaires has his or her moment to shine. The story builds a sincere level of tension by showing them think their way—step-by-step—out of a seemingly hopeless situation. While the story does not have the level of true emotion that Marvel books of the time (Fantastic Four, Spider Man) had, it worked on its own level. It still entertains today, so it must have been doing something right.
Turok, Son of Stone:
Four Color #596 & Four Color #656
Dinosaurs are cool. Find an excuse—any excuse—to put a dinosaur in a story and, by golly, I’m there. Most young boys go through a “dinosaurs are cool” phase when they’re about 8 years old or so and I never did grow out of mine. (Though I am reasonably convinced that girls probably don’t have cooties, so I did grow up in some ways.)
Turok, Son of Stone ran for 130 issues over a 26-year period. Published first by Dell and later by Gold Key, Turok was a Native American from Pre-Columbian times who (along with his young friend Andar) finds himself trapped in a hidden valley populated by cavemen and prehistoric monsters.
I was already a Turok fan when as a kid when I ran across his 1954 origin story reprinted in a Golden Comics Digest. I remember being quite taken by the difference in tone between the original and what was being done with the character several decades later.
The Turok stories I was familiar with were set in a valley of apparently infinite size. No matter how far Turok and Andar traveled in their quest to find a way out, they always ran across yet another tribe of cavemen and yet another swamp or desert or patch of jungle they hadn’t seen before. The stories had no internal continuity beyond the characters and settings—the individual issues could be read in any order without changing a thing.
This wasn’t bothersome—since the individual stories were pretty cool in of themselves. Like all Dell/Gold Key stuff, they had really nifty, dynamic painted covers (even if the internal art was sometimes mediocre) and the stories were well-constructed and fast moving. And, hey, they had dinosaurs in them. Lots and lots of dinosaurs.
But the first two issues of Turok, reprinted together in the Golden Comics Digest, had a definite continuity. Turok and Andar were wandering around the drought-stricken Southwest. Climbing down a deep cave in search of water, they become lost in the twisting corridors. They find a river and, after encounters with piranha and a giant cave bear, come out in the hidden valley.
They have a narrow escape from several dinosaurs and soon discover a tribe of cavemen. They also discover the existence of a poison plant and figure out how to extract the poison and coat their arrow heads with the stuff. This gives them an effective weapon of mass destruction against the huge reptiles.
They befriend the cavemen and begin teaching them how to use bows. But circumstances lead them to again lose their way in dark caverns and thus lose touch with their new friends. They end up in another part of the valley populated by a tribe of more advanced Indians and animals left over from the Ice Age. (Mammoths, sabertooths, etc.) They end up involved in an adventure with this new tribe and, as the story ends, seem to have found a home among them.
Though the characters and general themes were the same as later Turok works, the original story had more of a sense of a coherent epic, with a definite beginning and ending. It didn’t spoil more modern Turok stories for me, but the earlier stuff did strike me (both then and now) as better. The art by Rex Maxon (best known at that time for his work on a daily Tarzan newspaper strip) was effective. There’s a couple of very, very good panels late in the story, for instance, where a wounded mammoth is brought down by a pack of sabertooth tigers. No one knows for sure now who wrote it, but the plot is strong and what little we see of the cultures of the valley tribes is interesting and well-thought-out. Turok and Andar are forced to use their brains as well as their skill as archers continually through the story, making them very interesting protagonists.
I’ve never had opportunity to read the very early stories from when Turok got his own regular series after the initial two books. From an internet site about the character, I’ve learned the book continued with this continuity for at least a couple of more issues, then the two protagonists began their endless quest across the now infinite valley.
Perhaps this was necessary—if the valley remained of reasonable size and population, the writers would run out of interesting story fodder long before a quarter century had passed.. And, of course, the book always remained fun. But a part of me will always remain fond of the Turok story that never was—where perhaps an earthquake opened the two sections of the hidden valley to each other; the dinosaurs began to intermingle with the Ice Age monsters; and the cavemen interact with and perhaps even go to war with the Ice Age Indians—all with poor Turok and Andar trapped in the middle.
DaJabberwocky
07/26/2006, 01:34
Turok, Son of Stone:
Four Color #596 & Four Color #656
Dinosaurs are cool. Find an excuse—any excuse—to put a dinosaur in a story and, by golly, I’m there. Most young boys go through a “dinosaurs are cool” phase when they’re about 8 years old or so and I never did grow out of mine.
Absolutely. Any comic that involved dinosaurs was at the top of my list at that age. I couldn't wait to find out what type of 'honker' Turok and Andar would come across in the next issue.
DaJabberwocky's Back Issue Review:
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #161 (Nov 1973)
'The Olsen Experiment' by Leo Dorfman and Kurt Schaffenberger
Jimmy 'Mr Action' Olsen investigates an abandoned biochemical weapons arsenal. While snooping around, he accidentally releases 'invisible sub-atomic particles', part of a secret government weapon called Destruction. Destruction is capable of destroying any man-made material and Jimmy has become infected with it. When Jimmy returns to Metropolis, the city begins to disintegrate. Superman transports Jimmy to a raft at sea in order to prevent the destruction of civilization. While Superman searches for a way to decontaminate Jimmy, he discovers that even his Kryptonian-made uniform is beginning to disintegrate. It seems as if 'Mr Action' will have to spend the rest of his days in exile, when Superman discovers a clue...
Read Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #161 to find out what happens in 'The Olsen Experiment'
'The Face of a Nightmare' by David George and Kurt Schaffenburger
Jimmy is seen kissing a wrinkled, gray-haired woman - his girlfriend Lucy Lane! Mistaken for his mother, Lucy runs away in shame. It seems Lucy contracted a disease while in South America; she was discovered feverishly wandering the jungle. A potion from a native doctor saved her life, but caused her face to age. Now devastated, Lucy tells Jimmy to continue his life without her; its too painful seeing him. She wants to devote her life to to finding cures to mankind's diseases, and she assists a doctor at the hospital who is 'experimenting with DNA'. A few days later, Jimmy hears a news bulletin about a fire at the hospital. He rushes to the scene and sees Lucy enter the burning building in search of a missing child. Jimmy rushes in only to find...
Read Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #161 to find out what happens in 'The Face of a Nightmare'
Happy reading!
-DaJabberwocky
There's some good classic comic reprint stuff coming out from both Marvel and DC over the next few months.
Here's some of the more affordable volumes:
Aug. 16: Essential Luke Cage vol. 2: Includes his team-up with Iron Fist and the formation of Heroes for Hire.
Batman Chronicles #2: The second volume reprinting Batman's original Golden Age adventures from both Batman and Detective Comics in chronological order.
Aug. 23: Green Lantern: Greatest Stories Ever Told: Includes some nifty stories from both the Golden Age and Silver Age, as well as a smattering of more modern stuff.
Aug. 30: Showcase Batman #1: Silver Age Batman stories.
Sept. 20: Essential Thor #3: Some of Jack Kirby's most imaginitive artwork appeared in Thor during this run.
Sept. 27: Showcase Challengers of the Unknown #1: Still more Jack Kirby, featuring a series he created for DC in the 1950s.
Oct. 4: Dr. Strange vs. Dracula: A great story from '70s era Strange/Dracula crossover.
Oct. 18: Showcase Phantom Stranger #1: The original stories of one of the spookier superheroes.
Nov. 22: Showcase Unknown Soldier #1: DC's war books from the 1970s were consistently excellent.
WEIRD WESTERN TALES #52-53
It's interesting to note the difference between Marvel's Western heroes and those who lived in the DC Universe.
Marvel's gunslingers (who, for simplicity's sake, I will refer to as Marvels) were basically superheroes. They didn't have superpowers, but were pretty much all fast draws and nearly unbeatable in a hand-to-hand brawl. Most had code names: Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Phantom Rider. Several of them--such as Two Gun Kid--had secret identities.
Also, the Marvels would--through the occasional time travel story--openly interact with present day Marvel superheroes. Both the original and the West Coast Avengers spent time in the Old West, working alongside the Western heroes to foil villains such as Kang the Conquerer.
Even when on their own, the Marvels would sometimes go up against the odd superpowered threat. Rawhide Kid, for instance, once fought an alien invader that looked like a walking totem pole.
Over in DC, the Western heroes they had during the '40s and '50s had largely faded away after the resurgance of superhero comics. But in the 1970s, DC began introducing new characters into their version of the Old West. Scarred bounty hunter Jonah Hex was the best of these, but others (El Diablo, Bat Lash, Scalphunter) were also worth reading about.
DC's Old West was more "realistic" than Marvel, influenced more by Sergio Leone than by superheroes. (In fact, if Jonah Hex had been made into a movie in the 1970s, Clint Eastwood would literally been the only possible actor who could have played him.) They were gritty and violent--with these traits balanced out by three-dimensional characterizations and solid writing.
Neither approach to the Old West--DC or Marvel--is better than the other. Both produced many entertaining stories. But today we'll look a little more closely at one of DC's efforts.
Weird Western Tales 52 & 53 (from 1979) featured Scalphunter. Scalphunter's real name was Brian Savage, a white man raised by the Kiowas and now an outcast from both societies. Written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Dick Ayers, it was typical of the sort of intelligent storytelling being done by DC within the Western genre at the time.
One of the interesting features of the Scalphunter stories was that they were set during the Civil War (rather than after, as most Westerns are). In these issues, Scalphunter is approached by smooth-talking gambler Bat Lash, who tells him they've both been invited to Washington by a beautiful Northern spy.
Once in the capital, though, they find they've become involved in a plot to kill President Lincoln. This sets the stage for a fast-moving conspiracy story in which the following happens: Bat Lash apparently double-crosses Scalphunter; a fun fight scene takes place atop (and then within) a half-finished Washington Monument; a last minute rescue or two is pulled off; and our protagonist and our 16th president engage in an arm-wrestling contest. And it's all done with a firm grasp of history--the leader of the conspiracy to kill Lincoln, for instance, is initially a surprise, but it actually does make historical sense when the motivations are explained. The skillful writing is complemented nicely by Dick Ayers' art, with the action sequences all choroegraphed effectively.
We never really seem to tire of stories set in the Old West--it seems to be the perfect setting for believably combining the realistic with the mythological. Today, DC has once again given Jonah Hex his own book, while Marvel has been doing a lot of one-shot Western specials. In one way or another, the cowboy always seems to remain with us.
don't forget, Jonah Hex did a bit of time travel himself, once or twice, if you include his run in with "Access" during the Marvel/DC cross-overs in the early 90's. He was also in the future in another tale.
don't forget, Jonah Hex did a bit of time travel himself, once or twice, if you include his run in with "Access" during the Marvel/DC cross-overs in the early 90's. He was also in the future in another tale.
True. I was generalizing to an extent. But overall, DC's Western characters back in the 1970s lived in a fairly realistic Old West where superhero or fantasy elements only rarely intruded.
Well, I've done superheroes, war, westerns, Disney and dinosaurs. I'm kinda stuck at the moment for what comic book to make the subject for my next classic review.
It's a safe bet it won't be a romance comic. <shudders at the thought of having to read one.> Other than that, I have no idea what to do next.
:ermm:
DaJabberwocky
08/04/2006, 15:26
We never really seem to tire of stories set in the Old West--it seems to be the perfect setting for believably combining the realistic with the mythological. Today, DC has once again given Jonah Hex his own book, while Marvel has been doing a lot of one-shot Western specials. In one way or another, the cowboy always seems to remain with us.
Interesting how DC combined the interest in westerns and the sci-fi craze in the 50s and 60s. I have a few Silver Age issues of Tomahawk and he fights some type of alien or monster in every one. As you pointed out, by the 70s the DC western had changed to grittier, hard-edged stories. Still, DC managed to combine western and mystery genres, with Weird Western Tales - one of DC's esoteric Bronze Age titles.
Interesting how DC combined the interest in westerns and the sci-fi craze in the 50s and 60s. I have a few Silver Age issues of Tomahawk and he fights some type of alien or monster in every one. As you pointed out, by the 70s the DC western had changed to grittier, hard-edged stories. Still, DC managed to combine western and mystery genres, with Weird Western Tales - one of DC's esoteric Bronze Age titles.
One of the fun things about comics is their tendency to combine disparate genres into single stories--such as the futuristic Legion of Superheroes having a witch on the team. Another Bronze Age example of this sort of thing was Weird War, that slapped together war stories (mostly WWII) with straight horror and fantasy elements.
I think I just decided what to review next.
WEIRD WAR #14--
As I said in the last post, one of the really fun things about comics is their tendency to find ways of weaving elements of very different genres into the same stories.
Of course, war stories and horror tales really aren't that far apart. In both genres, the main characters have to suffer violent death or some other hideous fate--or at least be threatened with it--in order to move the plot along. So perhaps the two genres go together naturally. They certainly did in the best Weird War stories.
DC's Weird War series from the 1970s was an anthology book. Like most such books, it was somewhat uneven--it certainly had its share of weak stories. It took soldiers--usually just average ground-pounders--and threw them into situations featuring supernatural or science fiction elements. Most of the stories were set in World War II, though an occasional foray farther into the past or the future was not unusual. Usually, there were two or three short stories per issue, though occasionally one story would be book-length. The series also had some of the consistently best cover illustrations of the decade.
The 14th issue was one of the book-length ones. Featuring clean, solid art by Tony DeZuniga, it starts off at Pearl Harbor, just before the Japanese attack. An American Army Sergeant named McBride discovers his Japanese wife (named Tsuko) has been kidnapped by her father. The father always disapproved of the marriage to an American. Rushing to the father's export-business warehouse, McBride finds the place deserted. The dad confronts him with a pistol and the news that Tsuko has been taken to his yacht to go back to Japan.
McBride jumps the father and two shots ring out. The next thing the soldier knows, he's standing over his own body (Tsuko's dad is dead as well.) Death comes for him, but outside the attack on Pearl Harber has begun. Yelling that he still has a job to do, McBride runs away from Death.
Soon, poor Tsuko is killed as well, giving her life to save an American pilot from Japanese guns. Are the two young lovers seperated forever? Well, one of the many soldiers saved by mysterious appearances of either McBride or his wife during the course of the war is convinced that they are eventually reunited.
It's a good, well-plotted ghost story with several sincerely eerie moments, given added verisimilitude by little details that help set each successive chapter at definite point in real-life World War II history. DeZuniga, who would soon be bringing weirdness to the Old West via the original Jonah Hex stories, also takes care to portray uniforms, equipment and weapons accurately. (Though he does show a Japanese sailor with an American hand grenade on his belt. Oh, well.)
DaJabberwocky
08/16/2006, 19:43
Nice review Kal, and for one of my favorite DC 70s titles. Thanks!
Nice review Kal, and for one of my favorite DC 70s titles. Thanks!
I appreciate the complement.
Future reviews I'm planning include:
Kamandi: Last Boy on Earth (a three-part story involving a dolphin/killer whale war.)
Action Comics #500
Haunted Tank when written by Archie Goodwin
Avengers: Kree-Skrull War
The Shadow (1970s DC series)
I'm also open to any suggestions on stuff to review. Everyone please remember that anyone is welcome to post reviews/recommendations of classic comics (defined as being at least 20 years old) on this post.
Kamandi: Last Boy on Earth #21-23
Kamandi was one of several projects Jack Kirby launched when he was at DC during the 1970s, along with the Demon, the New Gods and OMAC. Given wide creative freedom, Kirby was jumping into the past, the future and off into other dimensions and galaxies to come up with new story ideas.
Kirby’s imaginative, kinetic artwork is always fun to look at, regardless of the subject matter, but he was at his best when he had room to get as science-fictiony as possible. Kamandi was set in the future, after some never-explained catastrophe had destroyed civilization. Now intelligent animals ruled the Earth, while most humans had been reduced to sub-intelligence and dropped quite a few notches down the food chain. The series gave Kirby a chance to draw everything from bipedal wolves armed with machine guns to futuristic vehicles to giant, mutated monsters. It was, in other words, a near-perfect world for him to play in.
Poor Kamandi, a fashion-challenged teenager and one of the few intelligent humans left, wandered from one location to another and regularly got himself into an awful lot of trouble. In the three issues we’ll be discussing, he becomes a soldier in a war between dolphins and killer whales.
The action picks up in the first panel, along the shore of a sea where most of the Midwestern USA used to be, with Kamandi getting involved in a fight to protect a dolphin named Inspector Zeel. Menaced soon after that by a giant crab, Kamandi opts to join up with Zeel for mutual protection.
Zeel is being carried in a water-filled container by his inarticulate human body guard. The companions must trek across a radioactive landscape, where they are attacked by Neanderthals and Zeel is almost killed. Finally, they reach “Seaway,” the underwater home of the dolphins.
Kamandi learns that the dolphins are at war with the killer whales. Both sides use humans as soldiers. After a young dolphin who befriended Kamandi is killed, the Last Boy on Earth decides to himself join the fight. He soon finds himself trying to track down “The Red Baron,” an enemy human who uses his underwater craft to perform deadly hit-and-run raids.
Kirby was not a perfect writer. He could come up with fantastic plots that had their own internal logic, but his characterizations were always pretty basic and his dialogue was often a little stilted. But this particular story, along with nearly everything else he did as both writer and artist, is still fun to read.
Why? It was a combination of two things. First, his fast-paced plots and the ideas behind them were always solid. He could keep layering one fantastic idea on top of another and still have it all make story-sense in the end. In the first issue of this Kamandi story, for instance, he starts with a sea-side battle involving sword-wielding humans pouring out of a submersible craft, then moves on to a giant mutant crab, then to a stampede of giant frogs, then to a tribe of nine-foot-tall Neanderthal men, then to a giant insect forcing its way through a radioactive barrier. And all this fit quite nicely into a 20-page story.
Second, his art work is arguably the best ever in comics. It’s so good it makes you want to beat up anyone who doesn’t think so. Everything from the design of the armor and weapons used by the human soldiers to the dolphins’ underwater civilization to the Red Baron’s attack vehicle just oozes with a sense of pure fun. A two-page splash illustration of Kamandi, being pulled on water skis by a pair of dolphins, trying to nail the Red Baron with a spear gun, is alone enough to make the whole story worthwile.
DaJabberwocky
08/25/2006, 02:12
Kamandi: Last Boy on Earth #21-23
Kamandi was one of several projects Jack Kirby launched when he was at DC during the 1970s, along with the Demon, the New Gods and OMAC. Given wide creative freedom, Kirby was jumping into the past, the future and off into other dimensions and galaxies to come up with new story ideas.
And the Forever People and Mister Miracle, too!
Kamandi was set in the future, after some never-explained catastrophe had destroyed civilization.
I think it was just referred to as Earth A.D. (After Disaster)
Poor Kamandi, a fashion-challenged teenager and one of the few intelligent humans left,...
LOL The poor guy couldn't even find a shirt (or pants that weren't torn).
Kirby was not a perfect writer. He could come up with fantastic plots that had their own internal logic, but his characterizations were always pretty basic and his dialogue was often a little stilted. But this particular story, along with nearly everything else he did as both writer and artist, is still fun to read.
Why? It was a combination of two things. First, his fast-paced plots and the ideas behind them were always solid. He could keep layering one fantastic idea on top of another and still have it all make story-sense in the end. In the first issue of this Kamandi story, for instance, he starts with a sea-side battle involving sword-wielding humans pouring out of a submersible craft, then moves on to a giant mutant crab, then to a stampede of giant frogs, then to a tribe of nine-foot-tall Neanderthal men, then to a giant insect forcing its way through a radioactive barrier. And all this fit quite nicely into a 20-page story.
Second, his art work is arguably the best ever in comics. It’s so good it makes you want to beat up anyone who doesn’t think so. Everything from the design of the armor and weapons used by the human soldiers to the dolphins’ underwater civilization to the Red Baron’s attack vehicle just oozes with a sense of pure fun. A two-page splash illustration of Kamandi, being pulled on water skis by a pair of dolphins, trying to nail the Red Baron with a spear gun, is alone enough to make the whole story worthwile.
I agree, his scripts were fun and fast-paced, and his layouts were stunning. What I find amazing is how prolific a writer and artist he was at that time. He juggled all the titles you mentioned, and kept them on schedule, too! Nice review!
Action Comics #500
To celebrate the 500th issue of Action Comics, DC opted to do the obvious--recounting the life story of Superman. To their credit, though, they did the obvious in a very entertaining manner, merging the biographical information into an evil plot involving clones and hidden explosives.
Metropolis is opening a Superman Museum. Because a huge amount of the proceeds are going to charities, Superman agrees to be there and take a group through a guided tour, recounted important parts of his life as they pass by various exhibits. Of course, most of his closest friends--Lois, Lana, Perry, Clark (or a robot Clark, at least) are there with him.
The biographical part is done very well. It's fun to see all the key moments in Kal-el's life from Krypton's explosion through his Fortress of Solitude all presented in Curt Swan's always nifty art work. Everything important(from Krypto to the various forms of Kryptonite to the origin of his costume to the bottle city of Kandor, etc.) is there--Superman even mentally muses about aspects of his life involving his secret identity, so we readers get to see all the stuff he's not sharing with the museum visitors. If you knew nothing about Supes going into this issue, you'd be reasonably well-read on the subject by the time you finished this 64-page story.
But while Superman is giving his tour, Lex Luthor is up to no good as usual. His plan involves a clever way of actually getting a cell sample from Superman, growing a clone, replacing Supes with the clone and blowing up the museum.
Of course, his plan is foiled. Superman ends up in a cell lit by a red-sun lamp that renders him powerless, but he depends on his brains rather than his powers to escape and get the upper hand on Lex. The finale is a one-on-one fight with the Superman clone.
Writer Martin Pasko ends the story with a nice bit of narration, explaining that its not Superman's planet of origin that makes him who he is (after all, the pre-crisis DC universe had quite a few survivors of Krypton's destruction running around), nor his powers, nor his intelligence. But rather it's "the ability to use all that God-given power and long-nurtured wisdom in the name of kindness... ethics... morality.. the things men call good... to wield that power in the pursuit of justice and in that pursuit, to vanquish evil."
G.I. COMBAT #159-174
From the 1950s through the early 80s, DC had no shortage of non-superpowered World War II characters—all of which (I believe) were created by writer Bob Kanigher. Sgt. Rock slogged through the mud of the Europe, leading Easy Company into bloody combat again and again. Johnny Cloud piloted his P-51 Mustang against the Luftwaffe. Captain Storm commanded a PT Boat in the Pacific, while marines Gunner and Sarge fought amidst the steaming tropical jungles of that same ocean. (Of course, Cloud, Storm, Gunner and Sarge eventually teamed up as the commando team called the Losers.)
Then there was the Haunted Tank. I love the idea of the Haunted Tank. Lt. Jeb Stuart, the namesake of the famous Confederate cavalry general, becomes commander of a Stuart tank (also named after the general.) He then discovers that his tank is actually haunted by General Stuart, who appears only to Jeb to deliver cryptic advice. Jeb then inevitably figures out the advice in the nick of time to save his tank and accomplish his mission.
In early Haunted Tank stories, Kanigher never infused the characters with the same level of personality he had managed with Sgt. Rock. Jeb’s three crewmates, Arch, Rick and Slim, were pretty much ciphers with nothing beyond their names to individualize them. The stories are still good, though. Jeb was likable enough and the art usually by Joe Kubert or Russ Heath was superb. Often the stories seemed to be deliberately structured to showcase the art—one early issue has Jeb taking his tank up a pile of rubble to the second floor of a bombed out building, where he then picked off a Tiger Tank from above. Not terribly realistic, but Joe Kubert made it look too cool for school.
Around 1973, Archie Goodwin became editor of the DC war comics for about a year and a half and took over scripting the Haunted Tank, with Sam Glanzman doing the art. By this time, the old Stuart tank had been destroyed and Jeb was commanding a bigger tank built from the scraps of armored vehicles that had been lost in combat.
Goodwin managed to give Jeb’s crewmates more personality (most notably assistant gunner Arch Asher, who receives a “Dear John” letter from his wife in Goodwin’s first issue). Then the Haunted Tank is sent off on a dangerous mission, leading a column of tanks and trucks deep behind enemy lines to liberate a prison camp. (Goodwin was basing this on an actual historical event.)
Things go from bad to worse. The mission is a failure and the Haunted Tank ends up trapped behind enemy lines, forced to run east away from their own lines to avoid the Germans, raiding fuel depots along the way to get the diesel they need to keep going.
They are joined by Gus Gray, an escapee from the prison camp and a former Olympic athlete. Another “prisoner” turns out to be a German spy. They narrowly escape one attempt to trap them only to roll into another, this time led by a German officer who is haunted by the ghost of an ancient Goth warrior. One of the crew is killed saving the others, while General Stuart and the Goth battle sword against axe in the sky above them all.
The whole multi-issue arc turns into an Odyssey for the Haunted Tank, as they fight or sneak their way into Yugoslavia. They make it to a port, where a Greek cargo ship takes them on, only to have the ship’s captain enlist their aid in his obsession to hunt down a particular German U-Boat. Finally, they are shipwrecked on a Greek island and captured by a German officer with a grudge against Gus, who beat him out for a gold medal at the ’36 Olympics.
When the Haunted Tank manages to make it to Allied lines inside Italy, Jeb falls in love, watches his love die when she steps on a land mine and becomes involved in a cycle of revenge with the German officer who planted the mine field.
Despite the inherent unreality of a lone tank fighting its way across German-occupied Europe, the entire epic is very solidly plotted. The action scenes are extremely intense and it’s all helped along by Glanzman’s realistic portrayal of vehicles and equipment. Goodwin was an excellent writer and borrowed Kanigher’s characters just long enough to construct a truly epic war story. It deals effectively with issues like loyalty, duty, revenge and honor, all without ever losing sight of the need to entertain the reader.
DaJabberwocky
09/13/2006, 00:12
G.I. COMBAT #159-174
I love the idea of the Haunted Tank. Lt. Jeb Stuart, the namesake of the famous Confederate cavalry general, becomes commander of a Stuart tank (also named after the general.) He then discovers that his tank is actually haunted by General Stuart, who appears only to Jeb to deliver cryptic advice. Jeb then inevitably figures out the advice in the nick of time to save his tank and accomplish his mission.
I always loved the reactions of the crew, as Jeb talked to the ghost of General Stuart. Sure, they thought Jeb was crazy, but he managed to get them out of a jam every time.
This was a great series, and in my opinion, second only to the Sgt Rock run of Our Army at War. Great review Kal, as always!
AVENGERS 89-97: The Kree-Skrull War
Here’s a story that best demonstrates just how valuable it can be to writers to maintain a consistent continuity within a comic book universe. Writer Roy Thomas takes the Avengers from New York to the Negative Zone to Cape Canaveral to Alaska to the Inhumans’ hidden city to deep space, along the way drawing on various bits of Marvel history from several different sources in order to construct one of the most purely entertaining epics ever.
The Kree and the Skrull Empires are still slugging it out and Earth looks like it’s going to be caught in the middle. In the meantime, Captain Marvel has been unwittingly infused with energy from the Negative Zone and might blow up at any moment; Henry Pym has been devolved into a savage Neanderthal while doing research in Alaska; Mad Maximus is once again trying to overthrow his brother Black Bolt and rule over the Inhumans; a U.S. Senator is accusing the Avengers of consorting with enemy aliens; and the Vision gets gunned down by a milk cow.
It’s a story told at a breathless pace, with a lot of well-choreographed action by Sal Buscema, Neal Adams and John Buscema. A sequence where Ant Man must travel inside the Vision’s damaged body—in an issue drawn by Adams—is especially good.
What’s interesting to consider is that when this story arc began in 1971, the modern Marvel universe was barely a decade old. But Marvel history was already rich and diverse enough to allow Thomas to construct a coherent galaxy-spanning epic. The plot is very well-constructed, forcing the Avengers to jump from one crisis to another only to discover in the end that it all ties together.
Thomas’ dialogue was occasionally a bit overwrought, but he understood the characters and presented them as individuals. He’s even able to manufacture a reason to have a number of Golden Age Marvel heroes show up: Rick Jones’ mind is expanded by the Kree Supreme Intelligence and he then generates copies of Captain America, Namor, the original Human Torch and Vision, Blazing Skull and several others. The old-timers then manage to take out a company of Kree warriors.
An interesting side-note: Rick muses that Cap and Namor were easy to generate because they were “real,” but the others were still comic-book characters. It seems that at this point, the decision to make the stories of the 40s and 50s a firm part of Marvel history hadn’t yet been made.
Nowadays, writers and editors are willing to toss aside either continuity or established characterizations at a whim in order to tell what they’ve decided is a “good story.” They need only look back at what Thomas, the two Buscemas, and Adams were doing 35 years ago to see that the best stories in comic books don’t ignore continuity, but use it for both inspiration and strong plot ideas.
I just edited the above review for accuracy: Henry Pym was de-evolved into a Neanderthal while doing research in Alaska, not Antartica as I orignally wrote.
George Smiley
10/02/2006, 16:21
These have been terriffic. I can remember reading some of these stories when I was much younger. Thanks
These have been terriffic. I can remember reading some of these stories when I was much younger. Thanks
Thanks for the complement. I appreciate it.
I'm trying to do a new classic review at least every two weeks, but I probably won't always be able to stay on that schedule.
The Shadow #1-4, #6
When DC got the rights to do a Shadow comic book in 1973, they immediately did four things exactly right.
First, they did the pulp magazine version of the Shadow rather than the radio version. These were indeed two distinct characters.
The radio guy, whose show ran from 1938 to 1954, was wealthy man-about-town Lamont Cranston, who had the hypnotic power to "cloud men's minds so they could not see him." Along with his "friend and companion, the lovely Margo Lane," he investigated crimes, using his invisibility to uncover clues and often psych out the bad guys.
In the pulps, which were published in the 1930s and 1940s, Cranston was only one of several identities used by the Shadow. He couldn't literally turn invisible, but was very good at lurking in the shadows. Dressed in a slouch hat and dark cloak, he employed a network of agents to help him collect information and confronted villainy with a pair of blazing .45 automatics.
Both versions of the Shadow are excellent, but the pulp character had more visual appeal. The covers of the original Shadow Magazines, usually done by artist George Rozen, were consistently superb and provided numerous examples of just how cool the pulp Shadow looked. So--given the choice between a vivid, dramatic image of the Shadow, cape bellowing in the wind as he blasts away with his pistols, or the image of a guy you, um, well, can't see--then the pulps are definitely the way to go.
The second thing they did right was to get Denny O'Neil, veteran Batman writer, to script the book. The Shadow was one of the major influences for the creation of Batman, so it was safe to say that O'Neil was just the right man for the job.
O'Neil had done many single issue stories starring Batman that had effectively mixed the detective story genre with comic book action. He did the same thing with the Shadow. A crime (or series of crimes) would be committed. The Shadow and his agents would investigate, following up clues in a logical manner or employing deductive reasoning to solve the crime. Along the way--and at the finale--there'd be several exciting, well-choreographed action sequences. It was an effective and entertaining storytelling method that worked as well for the Shadow as it did for Batman.
The third thing DC did right was to keep the Shadow in the 1930s, where he clearly belongs. Some characters, like Batman, can survive updating, but the Shadow was a product of his era. Take him out of that time, as artist/writer Howard Chaykyn tried to do later on in an awful 1980s series, and he just isn't the Shadow anymore. Robin Hood belongs in medieval Sherwood Forest; the Lone Ranger belongs in the Old West; and the Shadow belongs in Depression-era New York.
Finally, DC got Mike Kaluta to do the art work. Kaluta was perfect for the job--his visuals dripped with authenticity, suspense, menace and violence. He caught the look of the times and the look of the Shadow perfectly.
Sadly, the Shadow only ran a dozen issues and Kaluta only did the art for five of those issues. But those five stories are wonderful. In addition to the reasons stated above, O'Neil and Kaluta also managed to give each story a unique setting for its grand finale. In the first issue, the Shadow confronts a gang of thugs attempting to blow up the George Washington Bridge. In the next issue, he and Margo Lane join a carnival to catch the bad guy, then battle him aboard a moving train. Future issues feature encounters in a grave yard, the death house of a prison, and the narrow streets and dark alleys of Chinatown. The stories never fell into a rut, either in terms of plot or in terms of visuals. It's sad that the book didn't run longer.
Jackofhearts2005
10/05/2006, 06:24
Marvel Spotlight 5 (Origin/first appearance of the Ghost Rider) and the rest of essential Ghost Rider 1.
Loved every minute of it. Absolutely can't wait for the movie (plus Cage has been a GR fan his whole life, he will want to do it well, as opposed to Halle Berry wanting a bigger spotlight, which hurt X3 alot, IMHO).
Not the most in detail review but I will say this: This is one of the best marvel runs I have ever read and certainly the best I've read in over 5 years.
CarlosMucha
10/05/2006, 06:49
great reviews Kal.
Avengers annual 7- Marvel 2 in 1 Annual 2.
A awsome cosmic story involving Thanos, Warlock, the orginal Captain Mar-Vel, Gamora and great Avengers.
Long before the infinity Guanteled Thanos build a baby size Power Gem.
Is great how the Avengers have to face the power of a army of aliens AND Thanos. They FAIL.
But with the help of Spider-Man and Thing the fight start again more powerfull than before.
The story ends with 2 deaths. and a future vision of death in the Captain Marvel.
Jim Starlin: artist and writer: nothing less than Art.
Amazing Spider Man #4:
Stan Lee and Steve Ditko really hit the ground running with Spider Man, quickly establishing the characterizations and themes that would make Spidey a comics icon. He was a teenager who had powers and responsibilities thrust upon him. He was distrusted by the public and his superheroing often messed up his personal life. But despite this, he always tried to do the right thing.
The early issues also quickly introduced some key members of Spidey's rogue's gallery. (Arguably, only Batman has a more interesting and diverse set of regular opponents.) By issue #4, we'd already met Vulture, Chameleon and Doctor Octopus. In this issue, we encounter Sandman.
The issue starts with a wonderful sequence--Spidey spots three thugs getting ready to break into a building and swings down to confront them. But he's acted too quickly--the thugs haven't actually done anything yet. They actually call a cop on Spidey, accusing him of accosting them without reason.
Later, at high school, Peter Parker blows a chance to get a date with Liz Allen. Then, Sandman (on the run from the cops) stumbles into the school.
What follows is one of those nifty, well-choreographed fight scenes that Steve Ditko was so good at doing. Spidey lures Sandman away from an occupied classroom into the school gym. Sandman tries his now classic "hands-shaped-as-battering-rams" routine, but Spidey avoids him. Sandman, on the other hand, escapes a web trap by dribbling out of it as a stream of loose sand.
The battle takes them down into the basement, where the janitor's equipment is stored. Spider Man tricks Sandman into becoming loose sand again and then--in what is the most inspired tactic ever in the history of comic book fight scenes--uses a high-powered vacuum cleaner to suck the villian up.
It's a great issue, encapsulating everything that made Spider Man such an important and influencial character in the superhero genre. Lee and Ditko were actually constructing quite an epic during their run on Spider Man, potraying a young boy who, sometimes despite himself, grows up to become a hero.
Marvel Spotlight #30: featuring the Warriors Three
I always liked the Warriors Three--that trio of Asgardian Warriors who popped up to help out Thor from time to time. Fandrall the Dashing, Hogun the Grim and Volstagg the Voluminous had personalities that roughly approximated the Three Musketeers and spouted the sort of faux-Shakespeare dialogue that all the mythological gods in the Marvel Universe inexplicably used. They enjoyed a good fight (well, except for Volstagg, who mostly worried about being late for lunch) and were a nifty if minor part of the Marvel canon.
In this issue of Marvel Spotlight, they were given a lead role in their own adventure. Marvel Spotlight was one of several anthology books that existed in the 1970s and were used to try out different ideas. New characters like Moon Knight and Iron Fist were introduced in such books. Old characters not then headlining their own books, like Nick Fury, were given an occasional solo adventure. And supporting characters like the Warriors Three were allowed to step forward and show off.
The story begins with our heroes hanging out in New York City--they'd been helping out Thor, but the Thunder God was now busy battling Firelord in his own book, leaving the Warriors on their own in the Big Apple.
The Warriors soon find adventure. They prevent a despondent girl from committing suicide. Learning that her boy friend Arnold is being forced by gangsters to help rob the diamond exchange he works at, the Warriors instantly opt to save him as well.
With the help of a cab driver named Myron and a drunken bum named Ragland T. Pepperpot, they waylay the gangsters at the diamond exchange, then later get into a fight at a water front bar while looking for Arnold. Finally, Arnold and his girl are reunited and Fandrall hauls them off to a magistrate to make sure they get married.
It's a fun story, with humor, a plot that actually makes sense in a comic book universe and great art by John Buscema. It's by no means an important milestone in Marvel comics--it's just good fun.
And, of course, it provides us with just another example of how important it is for comics to maintain a viable continuity. This story was possible because writer/editor Len Wein was paying attention to the Marvel Universe as a whole, seeing an opportunity created by the ongoing plot in Thor to tell a small but entertaining side story. And he did this without violating established Marvel history or established characterizations. See how easy it is, Joe Q?
Jackofhearts2005
11/28/2006, 17:43
Go read Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters.
NOW!
Go read Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters.
NOW!
Can I stop and use the bathroom first? :noid:
Jackofhearts2005
12/03/2006, 21:01
Can I stop and use the bathroom first? :noid:
I'd say no, but since you posted this days ago, its probably too late.
World's Finest #198-199
I once read an interview with 1970s/80s-era Superman writer Elliot S! Maggin in which he says that Denny O'Neil used to "whine" about how powerful Superman was and how much he hated writing about the cosmic-level characters.
I can believe that. Before O'Neil finally established himself as one of the perfect writers for Batman, he messed around with Superman and Wonder Woman in some bizarre ways. He de-powered Wonder Woman, turning her into a martial arts expert who (if memory serves) ran a flower shop. He tried to tone Superman down by cutting his power in half, which didn't really do any good since infinity divided by two is still infinity.
But all the same, he did do some very worthwhile stuff with Superman and other truly powerful Justice Leaguers. In World's Finest 198 & 199, strange creatures called Anarchronids are zipping across the universe at several times light speed, which is causing the universe to unravel.
The Guardians of the Universe recruit Superman and Flash, the two fastest beings in existence, to run just as fast in the opposite direction to cancel out this effect. They give Flash a medallion that will provide life support and form a roadway in front of him as he runs.
Aside from the apparently minor issue of saving all of Creation, Superman and Flash also look at this as an opportunity to finally find out which of them is faster. They had raced twice before, once for charity and once when forced to do so by alien gamblers. Neither of those events produced a clear winner. Now they would know for sure.
So they take off, running head-to-head across light years. They are attacked by the Anarchronids, run into trouble with an exploding star and briefly get stuck in a pocket dimension, but they overcome all this and keep going.
In the meantime, the whole universe-unraveling thing has thrown a pajama-clad Jimmy Olsen back through time, giving him some adventerous moments both in ancient Rome and at the Salem witch trials.
Eventually, Superman and Flash discover the Anarchronids were created by General Zod and some other Phantom Zone criminals, who will use the destruction of the Universe to create a portal that will allow them to escape from the Zone. In the end, Superman and Flash, both paralized from the hips down, crawl together towards the switch that will destroy the Anarchronids before the Universe falls apart. Which of them will reach the switch first?
It's a really fun story, casually throwing out one cosmic-level idea after another. It never gives in to its basic silliness or otherwise places tongue-in-cheek. Instead, it takes itself seriously--as most comic book stories of this sort should. It doesn't try to come up with faux scientific explanations for all the wild events taking place--it simply creates a world where such events are possible; a world where "run really fast in the opposite direction of the Anarchronids" is a reasonable thing to do. Because of this (and because of Dick Dillon's solid art), it produces a nice amount of honest drama. It was a good balance of characterization and fantasy storytelling that fit just fine into a superhero universe.
"The Land That Time Forgot" & "The Pool of Time," by Russ Manning.
Russ Manning was one of several superior artists who (along with Hal Foster, Burne Hogarth and Joe Kubert) have provided fans with some excellent Tarzan of the Apes comics, both in comic books and in newspaper strips.
Some years ago, Manning wrote and drew two Tarzan graphic novels that were published in Europe. Dark Horse did Americans the kindness of publishing it in this country a few years back, reminding us all of just how cool the Ape Man can be--especially when his adventures are portrayed by a skilled illustrator.
These two connected stories link Tarzan with one of Edgar Rice Burroughs' other series. The hidden and volcanically heated continent of Caspak, located near Antartica, is a savage jungle filled with prehistoric monsters, cave men and a brutal race of winged men called Weiroo. As Manning's first story opens, Tarzan has been asked by a young man to travel with him to Caspak to rescue his girl friend, Lyla Billings. Lyla's mother (a character from Burroughs' original trilogy about Caspak) came from that lost world, and Lyla is, perhaps unwisely, returning there to find out about her roots.
What follows is a fast paced adventure, involving one beautifully-drawn action sequence after another. The first story contains numerous captures, escapes and fights, ending with a massive battle involving both men and dinosaurs, while the second story picks up immediately afterwards as the action moves to the skull-strewn city of the Weiroos.
Manning was an excellent writer as well as a skilled artist. His portrayal of both Tarzan and the land of Caspak are very faithful to Burroughs' original stories. The plot is well-constructed and action-oriented in a way that carries the story along in a very convincing manner. Perhaps most importantly, Manning makes good use of the supporting characters, letting each of them have their moments without ever forgetting that we're all reading this mostly because we want to see Tarzan kick some butt.
But mostly it's the art that makes everything work. Everything from the humans to the Neanderthals to the Weiroo to the dinosaurs just look too cool for words. Manning had an excellent sense of composition, keeping his "camera" moving from frame to frame in a way that kept the action moving fast while still allowing us to understand what is going on.
This is great stuff. I'm afraid I don't know if Dark Horse still has the rights to Tarzan or still has this in print, but it is well worth tracking down and reading.
I'm mulling over in my mind what to review next and I thought I'd solicite an opinion or two.
Would anyone be interested in a review of some of the old Dell/Gold Key comics based on TV shows? (Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Gunsmoke, etc.)
Would a general review of overall genres (like comparing the war comics of DC and Marvel from the 1960s/70s) be of interest to anyone?
Perhaps more importantly, does anyone care one way or another? :ermm:
Perhaps more importantly, does anyone care one way or another? :ermm:
Well, I don't care one way or another, but not in a negative way. I enjoy these reviews and whatever you pick is fine by me :grin:
"The Brave and the Bold" #192: featuring Batman and Superboy.
Superboy? That's right. When evil scientist Ira Quimby tries to throw Superman back to prehistoric times and erect a "time shield" to keep him there, he misplaces a decimal point and tosses him back just 15 years. Because a person can't co-exist with himself in the same time, Superboy is thrown into present day.
So a veteran Batman and an inexperienced Superboy must team-up to figure out what is going on. The actual plot of this story is fine--written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Jim Aparo, it progresses and climaxes quite satisfactorly.
But what makes this story really fun is the interplay between Batman and Superboy. On several occassions, the Dark Knight has to deliver a stern lecture to young Clark about using his powers more effectively. For instance, he has to explain that it was a mistake to use heat vision on a thug's gun, since that detonated the gunpowder and tossed sharpnel about that might have hurt an innocent bystander. Instead, he should have just melted the bullets in mid-air. A chargined Superboy replies "O-okay." These are wonderful little moments, charming and completely believable.
We also get a brief glimpse of Superman back in his bedroom in Smallville, listening to Pa Kent call out that breakfast was ready. Unable to face seeing his parents while knowing they will soon die, he immediately flies away. It's a brief scene, but sincerely emotional.
By the early 1980s, the mythology of the DC universe had become quite complex. Within a few years, the editors at DC would decide it was too complex and we would be given the ultimate re-boot with the Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series. Many comic fans still sincerely argue about whether this was a good or bad idea, but the complexity did have its advantages. In the case of this issue of "The Brave and the Bold," it allowed writer Mike W. Barr to take a law of DC Comics physics (you can't co-exist with yourself during time travel) and combine it with an established part of the Superman mythos (his career as Superboy) to create an entertaining and rewarding short story.
MARVEL COMICS--July 1963
Fantastic Four #16: Doctor Doom returns for the 4th time--in the FF's short history, he had been the main villain one quarter of the time and was already established as their primary archenemy.
Last time Doom had been seen, he was hit with a shrink ray and had vanished into the microverse. But he's been a busy little arch-villain, setting himself up as the despotic ruler of a microscopic civilization. He traps the FF in the microverse as well, but (with the help of Ant Man) the good guys think their way out of a clever death trap and get the upper hand. The issue ends with them pursuing Doom back into our own universe.
By this time, the Fantastic Four had found its voice--telling stories with Kirby's best artwork, cosmic-level themes and solid characterizations. The only weak point in these early issues was Sue Storm. Until she was given the power to generate force fields (at this point, she could still only turn invisible), her main function was to stand around and be torn between her feellings for Reed and the Sub-mariner. It seems as if Stan and Jack were often desperate to find her something useful to do within each story. They'd fix this eventually, by increasing her power level and making her more pro-active.
Strange Tales #110: The Human Torch battles the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete in one story. The second tale is our first glimpse ever of Dr. Strange, as he enters a man's dreams to do battle with Nightmare. With appropriately weird-looking layouts by Steve Ditko, it's not surprising that the good doctor caught on with readers. He'd be a regular feature in Strange Tales within a few months, with an origin story in issue #115.
The Human Torch stories from Strange Tales are the only Marvel stories from this time that I really don't care for at all. They didn't fit into FF continuity very smoothly (Johnny has a secret identity in Strange Tales, but doesn't in FF) and the plots are often very awkward.
Journey into Mystery #95: Thor had been around for a year by now, but was still being dropped into stories that seem more fitting to 1950s Superman than to 1960s Marvel. Here, Loki arranges for Thor to get bopped on the head with his own hammer in exactly the right spot to turn him evil. Loki and Thor do a world tour in which they wreak havoc and destroy many well known monuments. Odin shows up and bops Thor back to normal. Loki is imprisoned on Asgard and the Asgardians rebuild everything, then wipe the memory of these events from the minds of all humans.
The story is charming and is backed up stongly by Kirby's layouts, but it's clear that Thor was still looking for his "voice" within the Marvel Universe. Soon, the plots woulld take on a more epic feel and we would see some of the best of Marvel's 60's-era stories in this book.
Amazing Spider Man #3: Spider Man was one character who came out of the gate running--with little or no room for improvement. In this issue, Peter stops some thieves and is starting to feel a little cocky with his new powers. But then, in his first encounter with Doctor Octopus, he is beaten and humiliated. He decides to quit being Spider Man, but after hearing a talk by Johnny Storm at his high school, he pulls himself together and figures out how to beat Doc Ock.
It's one of a number of nearly-successive classic stories done by Lee and Ditko during their Spider Man run. The one really interesting thing is how much Peter seems to be looking up to the Human Torch, especially considering the ongoing feud that would soon define their long-term relationship.
Tales to Astonish #45: Ant Man and Wasp are lured into a trap by Ant Man's old enemy--the criminal scientist Egghead. Soon, the two tiny heroes are dodging an Ant Eater in the local zoo.
A silly story, but with fun visuals. I couldn't help wondering, though, why Hank Pym didn't deal with the Ant Eater by growing to regular size and just decking Egghead. Oh well, he's just a few issues away from gaining the power to grow to Giant Man size, so siccing an Ant Eater on him wouldn't work any more regardless.
Tales of Suspense #43: This is Iron Man's fifth issue. With his clunky armor and no supporting cast yet, this is another case where a good character is still looking for his "voice." The story involves Tony Stark getting kidnapped by an underground civilization, who then force him to build super-weapons so they can invade the surface world. Instead, he builds an Iron Man suit and whips up on the bad guys fairly easily.
It's an okay story, but as with Thor, not anywhere as good as his stories soon would be. As his armor gradually evolves into something more visually appealing and he gains a regular cast of friends, Iron Man would soon be involved in some excellent solo adventures.
It's fun to see how the early Marvel Universe was building on itself and improving the quality of stories on a monthly basis. Two months after these stories, the Avengers would form and the X-Men would premiere. In 1964, the Hulk (whose own book had been cancelled after six issues)would return to his own solo adventures in Tales to Astonish and Daredevil would enter the ongoing battle against evil. Also, the various characters would be regularly interacting with each other as the Marvel Universe grows both larger and more cohesive.
I'll have another review posted in a few days. In the meantime, here's a "classic comics" trivia question to pass the time:
Towards the end of the Golden Age of comics (late 40s/early-mid 50s), which comic book publisher was the most commercially successful? In other words, whose comics were regularly out-selling everyone else?
GOLD KEY TV ADAPTAIONS: "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "I Spy," "The Man from Uncle," "Star Trek," "Lost in Space," "Fantastic Voyage."
The answer to the trivia collection in the last post is "Dell Comics." During the 1950s, Dell was doing comics about characters liscenced from movies, TV and radio. Their most successful books were those on the Disney characters, which were highlighted by Carl Barks' superb work on Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge. Throughout that decade, while superhero comics were at a low ebb and made up just a small percentage of the books being published, Uncle Scrooge was regularly outselling Superman.
Actually, the creative work was all being done by a company called Western Publishing. Barks and the other artists, as well as the editors, all worked directly for Western. Dell handled the printing/distribution end of things. In the early 60s, Dell and Western had a falling out over financial issues and Western turned to Gold Key Comics for distribution.
They kept doing a lot of adaptations from other media, as well as some original stuff such as Turok and Dr. Magnus. We looked at Turok in the past, so today we'll thumb through a few of their TV and movie adaptations from the 1960s/70s.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea #10: The Seaview is the second coolest looking fictional submarine ever designed (coming in just behind the Nautilus from Disney's version of "20,000 Leagues under the Sea). With Richard Basehart playing Seaview designer Admiral Nelson and David Hedison playing Captain Crane, the submarine encountered sea monsters, aliens, wax dummies come to life and other bizarre threats on a weekly basis.
In this comic, they dive down to the bottom of the Marianas Trench--the deepest spot in the ocean. Once there, they encounter Davy Jones. This version of Davy is an elderly guy in 19th Century sailor's garb, riding a giant sea horse. He has a mermaid/siren creature hypnotise the bridge crew and plans to add the Seaview to his collection of ships littering the local seascape.
Admiral Nelson and another character manage to avoid the hypnotism, fight Blackbeard and the crew of a Spanish galleon, rescue the bridge crew and make a getaway.
It's a fun story with some nice imagry--the shipwrecks from different eras surrounding Jones' undersea city is nice. But it's marred by a silly plot hole. Nelson and his ally avoid the Siren's hypnotic call by plugging up their ears, yet they can still hear each other speak. Huh? There's also a somewhat weak "It was all a dream!--or was it?" ending.
"I Spy" #3: Robert Culp and Bill Cosby played two urbane and witty spies in this 1960s adventure show. This comic story, in which Culp's character is ordered to assassinate an old friend who is supposedly trying to defect, doesn't capture the witty dialogue of the show. But it still tells a strongly plotted spy story with several nice twists and a short but well-choreographed gun fight at the climax. It's good, solid storytelling and a fun read.
"The Man from Uncle" #19: Somewhere in central Europe, there's a small kingdom that still maintains medievel technology and customs. An evil THRUSH agent, learning that the kingdom is a source of valuable rocket fuel ore, schemes to become prime minister. Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, posing as traveling minstrels, try to stop him. Illya ends up in a duel with the kingdom's champion knight, but manages to pull out a win by wiring his sword to his minuature radio and shocking his opponent unconscious.
As with "I Spy," the comic fails to catch the tongue-in-cheek aspect of the TV show, but still tells a fairly solid story.
"Star Trek" #40: After being damaged in a cosmic storm, the Enterprise returns to Earth for repairs. There, Kirk meets Dr. McCoy's daughter, a Xenozoologist who dislikes Star Fleet because she blames it for breaking up her parents' marriage. From here, two plot threads fan out in different directions, then come together again at the climax. One plot involves a creature that can telepathically relay thoughts from one person to another. The second plot involves an ex-crewman who hates Kirk and plans to destroy the Enterprise while its in space dock.
The eventually linking of the two plots is a little contrived, but overall the story is good. The artist made poor Dr. McCoy look like a white Chubby Checker, but his ship, monster and building designs are fun. The opening sequence, with the starship trying to weather the violent cosmic storm, is particularly good.
"Lost In Space" #34: Gold Key was doing a comic called "The Space Family Robison" when "Lost in Space" premiered on television. The comic book adapted this name, but kept its own original characters. In this issue, siblings Tim and Tam Robinson are scouting a planet, where they find the remains of a ancient civilization with no surviving intelligent life.
On the way back to the Space Station that is their current home, they are attacked by the aliens who had destroyed the civilization. Dodging missles through an asteroid field, they find a few human survivors of the civilization in suspended animation inside a hollowed-out asteroid. Tim, Tam and the revived survivors team up to escape the aliens.
The art for this book was by Dan Spiegle, who had a talent for fun sci-fi vehicle, space and planet design. His figure work was always a little stiff, but overall his art is fun to look at.
"Fantastic Voyage" #7: This is a faithful and well-told adaptation of the 1960s movie about a minuterized submarine inside a human body, trying to get to the brain to destroy a blood clot---not knowing there's a double agent on board intending to stop them at all costs.
(By the way, I have no idea why this is issue #7, since the story is complete in one issue.)
There's no attempt to make the characters look like the movie actors, but the art is solid and the writer trusts the readers to follow physiological explanations without dumbing things down. Also, the submarine Proteus is the 3rd coolest fictional submarine ever.
Overall, none of these tales are truly great, but they represent sincere attempts--usually successful--of telling entertaining, unpretentious stories outside the superhero medium.
Before continuing with more reviews on this thread, I wanted to check to see if anyone still cared.
This is in no way a complaint--I never had any illusions that there were ever more than a few people reading my reviews and I don't mind writing for a small audience. I enjoy doing them and I appreciate those who have posted in the past to tell me they liked reading them.
But, since the thread is currently getting only a few hits whenever I post something new, I wanted to make sure someone was still reading my stuff before I keep going. It might be that the "Classic Comics Review" thread has run its course and needs to be allowed to whither away.
So, if you are reading my reviews and enjoying them, please post and let me know.
Once again, I hope this doesn't sound whiny or as if I'm trolling for complements or attention. (I secretly am, but that's beside the point.:classic: ) I know it's not a big deal one way or another. I'm just checking to make sure its worthwhile to continue posting these reviews. I only need a few people to tell me to keep going in order to actually keep going.
See post #55 and know that at least one person is reading and appreciating your work :grin:
See post #55 and know that at least one person is reading and appreciating your work :grin:
Yes, but you may be the only one left. :cry:
I guess I am going to stop posting any more reviews do to lack of interest. Of course, the thread will still be here if anyone else wants to post anything--I, at least, will read them.
Once again, this is not a complaint. I know this thread never had a big audience and it was fun while it lasted. The only reason I'm posting one last time is to thank those who did read my reviews and to say that I appreciate the responses from those who enjoyed them. Thanks again.
:)
George Smiley
02/01/2007, 17:21
I guess I am going to stop posting any more reviews do to lack of interest. Of course, the thread will still be here if anyone else wants to post anything--I, at least, will read them.
Once again, this is not a complaint. I know this thread never had a big audience and it was fun while it lasted. The only reason I'm posting one last time is to thank those who did read my reviews and to say that I appreciate the responses from those who enjoyed them. Thanks again.
:)
Kalel21,
I just wanted to assure you that I read all of your reviews here and enjoy them a great deal. I'm forty-three now and I've been reading since I was nine so when I see a review about some of the old comics I've read it really helps brighten my day as I wax nostalgic. When your reviews cover comics I haven't read I am usually very interested in trying them too.
It saddens me that so many kids miss the opportunity to read comics. When I was a kid comics were sold all over the place and they were cheaper relative to a dollar's buying power. I understand that the quality of writing, art, ink and paper have substantially improved but my students complain that comics are an expensive hobby only for wealthy kids. I'm not exaggerating, my impression is that a very high percentage of the boys I see collecting comics come from wealthy families. My observations may not jive with empirical evidence but that is what I see. From 1970 to about 1985 you could easily find comics at grocery stores, old bookstores, drugstores, convenience stores and newstands. Usually they were on a 6 ft. spinning wire rack. THey were marketed to a very broad population. You could easily tell what comics were popular, they ran out of those issues.
I'm no businessman so I guess my advice won't be taken by the comic companies but one thing that they could do would be to limit the number of titles substantially and focus on better storytelling, artwork and more consistent editing. Stories and characters should complement each other across titles without being dependent upon other titles. There are always far too many comics on the racks that are poorly drawn or poorly written. It has always been this way. There are far to many weak mini-series. I would also like to see more long runs (2 yrs or more) by the same creators on a title.
I have had several different people explain the complicated distribution history and distribution problems that have plagued comics. It seems like many of these problems could be solved with our current internet, mailing, phone and Industrial Engineering technologies. I think both Marvel and DC don't understand the powerful, positive effect they would have on their business if they would distribute select, inexpensive comics (even on cheap paper) across a broad variety of stores. Their characters would be more visible, interest in their characters/stories would be stronger and the target audience for their licensing (apparently licensing and being in the movie industry is the primary goal of the top tiers of management) would increase. I believe the long term effect of such a business strategy would be very effective because as the comic readers mature they will have the money to purchase the merchandise for themselves and their children that they could not purchase when they were younger.
I've rambled on long enough. Like I said, if you post another thread here reviewing comics I'll read it. You might enjoy trying some Comic Book Magazines that review storylines and interview creators and editors such as "The Comic Book Artist", "Amazing Heroes", "The Comics Journal", "Back Issue" and "Wizard".
Well, that's two people who say they want me to continue, so I guess I will. I'll post another review soon. :)
Okay, here's another review--but you'd all, by golly, better post that you've read it and thought it brilliant.
Sub-Mariner #1 (Spring 1941)
As World War II raged in Europe, many in the United States were guessing (and often hoping) we would not be able to remain neutral long. But others, including some newspaper editors and movie execs, were isolationists, hoping that the country would keep out of the war.
But few could deny that the Nazi regime in Germany was anything but evil, or that Japanese expansionism was dangerous. So the popular media (movies, comics, etc) reacted to the situation in some odd ways.
Milt Caniff's popular newspaper comic strip Terry and the Pirates was set in China, which in real life was in a desperate struggle against the invading Japanese. But, to keep isolationist newspaper editors happy, whenever Caniff showed the Japanese, he simply referred to them as the "invaders." No matter that they were clearly drawn as Japanese soldiers--they were never directly referred to as such.
In the radio show "The Adventures of Superman," Superman often went up against anti-British spies who spoke with German accents, but all the same they were never directly referred to as German or Nazis. In fact, in one episode, Perry White was captured by a spy ring. When he began to snarl "You dirty Na..." at them, he was knocked unconscious before he could get the word out.
In the movies, the Warner Brothers studio made "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" in 1939, but other studios shied away from doing anything that directly referred to the war. Studio head Jack Warner was actually called to testify in front of Congress to defend his choice to release the film.
But the comics--boy, did they ever take sides early. Especially Timely Comics (the company that would eventually become Marvel). As far as they were concerned, the Nazis had to be fought and stopped--the sooner the better. Captain America (who is shown slugging Hitler unconscious on the cover of his first issue) is the best example of this. But other Timely characters did their share for freedom as well.
The Sub-Mariner joined the fray when a fleet of German U-Boats attacked Atlantis in Sub-Mariner #1. Namor, who until then had been an anti-hero, takes charge of the defense when his Emperor is apparently killed in the initial bombing. (The subs bomb Atlantis by dropping depth charges down onto the city.)
From there, the tale becomes a well-told war story that covers the tactics Namor and his people use against the invaders. Small submersibles fight a desperate underwater dog fight with the U-Boats. When the German craft are driven to the surface, cannon mounted atop icebergs and inside artifical whales open fire on them.
It's all very well crafted. Writer/artist Bill Everett presents the action effectively and does some nifty designs for the both the German super U-Boats and the Atlantian craft. We understand the tactical situation perfectly as we follow the story.
It's also interesting that Everett presents the Atlantians as having suffered huge casualties. He's giving us a fantasy version of warfare, of course, but he's not letting us forget the real-life cost of battle.
In the climax, a single U-Boat tries to escape. Namor pursues it alone. He fights hand-to-hand with some Germans in diving suits, damages the U-Boat severely and then finishes it off by pushing down below its crush depth.
It was primarily a well-told science fiction/war story. But it was also one of many strong comments from a number of comic book artists and writers that there is indeed evil in the world and that evil must be confronted. These issues aren't always as clear-cut as they were in 1941--today, people of good conscience argue both for and against our presence in Iraq. But the Timely World War II stories remind us that sometimes we have no choice but to fight for our freedom. As George Orwell once said: "We are free because rough men stand ready in the night to do violence on our behalf."
Sub-Mariner #1 (Spring 1941)
Gotta say, it doesn't get much more "classic" than this! :eek:
The historian in me enjoys the contextual start of the write-up, while the geek in me enjoys getting a classic comic story I never read. A double-score :grin:
l'HôtelDauphin
02/19/2007, 01:06
I haven't read it in awhile, so I can't really give a real review, but I must say that the old issue of Conan (not sure the exact issue) "Death of the Black Coast" was amazing. Would have been moreso had the fate of Belit not been revealed on the cover. But oh well, it is about marketing, after all...
Maybe when I can find my copy again I'll reread it and post an actual review. Until next time! =D
I haven't read it in awhile, so I can't really give a real review, but I must say that the old issue of Conan (not sure the exact issue) "Death of the Black Coast" was amazing. Would have been moreso had the fate of Belit not been revealed on the cover. But oh well, it is about marketing, after all...
=D
I think they probably assumed a big percentage of the readers were familar with the original Rober E. Howard story, so already knew that Belit was going to get whacked.
But you have a point. Not everybody would know, so it really was unnecessary to give it away on the cover.
Atom # 9 (1963)
It was still reasonably common in the early 1960s for superhero books to give us 2 twelve- or thirteen-page stories per issue rather than one full-length tale. This was not a bad thing at all. A lot of the writers working in comics at that time understood the short story format and consistently turned out some good stuff.
Atom at that time was written by Gardner Fox--perhaps the single most important writer in DC at that time. With a career that ran back into the 1940s, Fox was a veteran comic hack who could turn out fun stories based on any number of different characters. It was Fox who formed the JLA, who help craft the updated versions of many DC icons such as Flash and Hawkman, who created the idea of the multi-verse to codify how the Golden Age characters related to their Silver Age counterpoints. He did a lot of important stuff.
Fox's weak point was probably characterization--the superheroes he wrote about never really develop truly distinctive personalities. But he more than made up for this with his mastery of plot and story.
The first Atom tale in this particular issue starts out with a radiation leak in Ray Palmer's lab. He loses consciousness for a moment as a phantom version of himself ("a radioactive emination of Ray Palmer's life-force" is the brief explanation). When Ray regains his senses, he learns that thieves have stolen some equipment being delivered to his lab. He pursues the thieves, at first unaware that another version of himself is in turn chasing him with murderous intent.
The second story featured the Time Pool--a device invented by a friend of Palmer's that can send a magnet back in time to retrieve artifacts. The Atom often hitches a ride on the magnet just to help out with this somewhat bizarrre form of research. In this instance, Atom ends up in Holland in 1609, where he witnesses the invention of the first telescope and helps explorer Henry Hudson escape from kidnappers.
Both stories are unpretentious fun. Told in a very economical fashion, they cover all the plot points one by one while still leaving room for some nifty action scenes.
And the fight scenes are what really make the story. The Atom was fortunate to have Gil Kane as his artist. Kane never drew an uninteresting panel in his life and his work here is infused with his typical energy. Whether Atom is pulling down on a thug's tie in order to bump his head against a second thug or playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek through desk drawers with his phantom double, it all comes across as tremendous fun.
Today, we have stories that typically run through many issues--thus making them appropriate for trade paperbacks. This is not a bad thing by itself--some stories should be epics. But it doesn't hurt to remember that there are stories that only need to be a few pages long to get the job done.
Daredevil #7 (April 1965)
Wally Wood is one of the greats in the comic book field. Perhaps best known for the superb work he did for EC during the 1950s, he also did do some stuff for Marvel in '60s. His work on Daredevil was especially notable--it was Wood who realized that a yellow costume (It's the color of cowardice, for pity's sake) for the Man without Fear was a bit silly and suggested it be changed to red. He was also a master--right up there with Kirby and Ditko--at choreographing exciting action scenes.
Daredevil #7, written (as was nearly everything Marvel at that time) by Stan Lee, actually starts at Atlantis, with the Namor whining about all us annoying surface dwellers yet again. This time, he channels his anger into a new approach. He'll sue mankind in court for the damage done to the ocean through pollution and war.
So he flies to New York and (by chance) chooses the firm of Nelson and Murdock as lawyers. When Matt and Foggy tell him there's no legal basis for his law suit, Namor goes on a brief rampage, does some property damage, then surrenders to the authorities in order to get his day in court.
But when word comes that Krang the Warlord is usurping his power back in Atlantis, Namor decides he has leave. Ignoring Matt's pleas to wait until bail is arranged, he busts his way out of his cell.
This leads to a classic fight between Namor and Daredevil. It's great stuff--moving quickly but logically through the streets of New York. Daredevil knows he's outclassed by Namor, so he lures him into a construction site, where he bashes him with a wrecking ball and dumps a steam shovel-full of rubble on him. But Namor shrugs all this off. In the end, Daredevil is defeated, but Namor is so impressed with his courage, he leaves New York without doing any more harm.
The strength of the Marvel comics of that era come from great characterizations--characters like DD and Spidey and the FF are iconic not just because they look cool, but because they were given complex personalities we can relate to on different levels. But when you examine these comics, you also have to take note of how well constructed the stories were in terms of plot and in the presentation of the action. DD # 7 is a great example of this. The story moves swiftly but logically and the DD/Namor fight is absolutely wonderful. Wally Wood was only with Marvel for a short time, but he managed to leave his mark on the company all the same.
Rats. I just read that Marshall Rogers died this past weekend.
I'll be re-reading the Batman stuff he did with Steve Englehart back in the 1970s and posting a review of it here. He was a wonderful artist and did some really innovative work with the Dark Knight.
Rats. I just read that Marshall Rogers died this past weekend.
I'll be re-reading the Batman stuff he did with Steve Englehart back in the 1970s and posting a review of it here. He was a wonderful artist and did some really innovative work with the Dark Knight.
Man, that bites. I loved his Batman work :cry:
Detective Comics #471-476:
When we think about the great Batman stories of the 1970s, we usually tend to jump first to the team of Denny O'Neil and Neil Adams. This is understandable, because some of the best stories about the Dark Knight were produced by those two.
But there were others also doing great Batman stuff in that era. Writer Steve Englehart, for instance, had a wonderful run on Detective Comics in 1977, working mostly with artist Marshall Rogers.
Englehart is one of the comic book greats. He had an encylopedic knowledge of both DC and Marvel characters and was able to sometimes obscure bits of their histories into interesting new stories. His plot construction is some of the best ever--occasionally convoluted, but always entertaining and always very solid.
His classic Batman story arc took place in these particular issues of Detective Comics. It involved several intertwined stories--corrupt political boss Rupert Thorne was trying to discredit Batman; Bruce Wayne gets involved with the lovely Silver St. Cloud, who may just be smart enough to figure out that he's Batman; the Joker hatches a bizarre plot to give fish a "joker fish" and then copyright the image; Hugo Strange unmasks Batman and offers to sell his identity to the highest bidder. Amidst all this, Penguin and Deadshot both return to Gotham.
The pacing of these stories is perfect. The reader never has any trouble keeping track of what's going on. The characterizations are spot-on: Silver in particular is a strong personality and it's easy to believe that Bruce is so quickly taken with her. The sequence in which Joker promises to kill specific people at specific times, then does so despite a heavy police/Batman guard, is incredibly suspenseful. And Englehart reinvents what were then two very obscure members of Batman's Rogue's Gallery. Hugo Strange hadn't been around since the 1940s, while Deadshot had been in one forgotton story years before. Deadshot is also given a nifty new costume (the one we're used to today).
Then there's Rogers' art. His strong, moody style complemented the story perfectly. He handles the action very well--the Batman/Deadshot fight atop a giant typewriter (a nice tribute to the old Dick Sprang stories) is particularly good. A panel showing the Joker standing in a doorway, with the "Ha-ha-ha" of his laughter wrapped snake-like around him, is arguably the best single Joker image ever.
Rogers passed away this past Sunday. He leaves behind a large legacy of comic book work--all of it consistently excellent. But if I had to choose a personal best for him, I'd point to these issues of Batman.
But if I had to choose a personal best for him, I'd point to these issues of Batman.
I think you nailed it right on there - these are incredible work and still hold up today. And they're pretty "iconic" stories too - we got the "Joker fish" Joker in clix, Bolland's take on the "Joker fish" is the cover to "Greatest Joker Stories" and they even did the story on Batman: The Animated Series.
They also did a version of Hugo Strange finding out Batman was Bruce Wayne on the Animated Series.
Hey--
I just discovered this place on the forum page! I love it! Don't stop with the reviews of the old classics! You have inspired me to dig out my old comics and give 'em a re-read. Some of those old titles still stick in my mind, now 30 or so years later--yep, I'm old!
Special favorites:
Doc Savage
The Shadow
The Avenger (kind of a Doc Savage rip off, but who cared?)
Flash Gordon
E-Man (remember him?)
The Losers (Army comics)
If nobody minds, I'd like to post a review...
Give me a little time...
Star Spangled War Stories #95
It was the single most brilliant idea in the history of the world.
More brilliant than the invention of Double-Stuff Oreos.
A stroke of genius greater than putting Lynda Carter in a Wonder Woman costume.
A leap of gigantic intelligence that would have humbled Reed Richards, Doctor Doom, Lex Luther and Stephen Hawkins.
It was a moment of pure comic book geekiness that has been unsurpassed in the annals of geekdom.
DC Comics put dinosaurs into a World War II comic.
It began in Star Spangled War Stories #93, in 1961, when a patrol of marines, searching a Pacific island, discovered dinosaurs crawling out of a deep crevasse. The corporal leading the patrol instantly realized that an earthquake must have awakened the dinos from suspended animation. (He knew about such things, I suppose, because he was a corporal.)
For month after month, through 40+ issues of Star Spangled War, then later in Weird War Tales and a visit by the Haunted Tank in one issue of G.I. Combat, U.S. soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen would stumble across that island and go up against dinosaurs, giant spiders, giant snakes and other monsterous creatures. Allied Intelligence seemed to have failed badly in keeping the troops adviced about the island, because everyone is always suprised by the existence of the monsters.
The stories themselves were pretty standard in terms of plot or character. Often, there would some sort of conflict between two of the men trapped on the island--guys with a grudge against each other who would have to learn to work together to survive. But these short (usually 12-page) stories didn't really worry about characterization. They were there for the pure geekiness of the idea and to showcase the work of some very fine artists (Joe Kubert and Neil Adams among others). In nearly every issue, the cover art alone was worth more than the price of the book.
My first encounter with this series was a reprint of the story from Star Spangled War #95. The "Guinea Pig Patrol" was a platoon of paratroopers being flown into an area where another platoon had vanished without a trace, hoping to find out what happened to them.
Well, they found out, all right. Their plane is torn apart by a pteradactyl. Those that manage to bail out "shoot down" the pteradactyl with a barrage of hand grenades. They land in the ocean, where a half-dozen of them use the torn-off wing of the plane for a raft. A wounded soldier manages to hand them a bazooka before he sinks under for the last time, giving them a weapon that might allow them to fend off the hoards of prehistoric creatures that are attacking them. After that, the story is simply a series of encounters with various dinosaurs until they're rescued by a submarine.
The interior art for this issue was by Ross Andru and it's simply fantastic. The action is carried along in an exciting manner. The various set pieces (like firing a bazooka rocket into the water to "torpedo" an approaching dinosaur) are probably complete nonsense from any realistic point-of-view, but look just so cool on the page that they make your toes curl. When I saw this as a 12-year-old comic book nerd who read incessently about both dinosaurs and World War II, this was Heaven. I didn't even care about the myriad scientific inaccuracies (such as all dinosaurs, even the herbivores, being portrayed as savage meat-eaters).
In fact, even as a grown-up, it's still close enough to Heaven so as to make no difference at all. World War II and dinosaurs. Why didn't Shakespeare, Dickens or Twain ever come up with anything that good.
Gargantua
03/31/2007, 10:55
This thread seems to be slowly building a readership. I only just ran across it, and read through it over the last few days. I remember a few of these stories, but many more I missed. One forgets how much fun the classic comic stories could be (some of them). Okay sometimes the plot holes were so big you finished them and said "huh?" and they may not have had the gravitas of modern comics, but they were fun. One of the reasons I enjoyed the first story arc of Batman/Superman was that it reminded me so much of these "fun" comics - heroes teaming up, heroes fighting each other, massive armies of supervillains, time travelers, bigger than life plot twists. (President of the US goes crazy and starts balsting at things in a hihg-tech battlesuit - gotta love it.)
Anyway, thank you Kalel21 for the great reviews. I've enjoyed your articles on interpreting the pulp and now the 19th century characters in light of clix dials. And now these too.
Anyway to pitch in my two cents, here's a comic that's always been one of my favorites: Marvel Two-in-One #51
It begins with the Thing arriving at Avengers' Mansion for an "emergency". He's met my Nick Fury who leads him to the rest of the Avengers with a great sense of urgency. It seems there's no time to lose. Except we soon find that the emergency is that everyone's waiting on the Thing to start poker night.
To my knowledge this was the first comic to use the "superhero poker night" idea, and for some reason it really caught my imagination - all these larger than life heroes getting together to just to play some cards. You can't be saving the world all the time. Even superheroes like to hang out with their friends. It must have resonated with some others as well because it's a device that's been used fairly regulary since.
Of course being a comic book, this can't last. The game is interrupted by a real emergency: a renegade general and his personal army have stolen the Yellow Claw's Sky Dragon airship from a SHIELD arsenal and use it to attack the SHIELD Helicarrier in an attempt to steal the Yellow Claw's Ultimate Annihilator. (Not to be confused with the Ultimate Nullifier. What the Yellow Claw thought of all this no one says). The Thing and Fury, along with Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man and the Beast fly off to stop them. What follows is a mid-air battle between the heroes and the terrorists full of action, light-hearted banter and big colorful sound effects (POW! KLUG! WUUMPH!)
It's a fun comic from the days when comics were fun. No one was trying to write the great American novel in comic form here. Just forty cents worth of pure entertainment.
I've recently reclaimed my youthful collection of comics from my parents' house so hopefully I'll be able to find the time to go back through them and relive the fun. And if I find any that are worth mentioning, I'll be sure to bring them up.
Sorry this took me a while--I had to dig pretty deep into my collection to find the title I wanted to include here.
Batman #251 (September, 1973) "The Joker's Five Way Revenge."
Written by Denny O'Neil, Art by Neal Adams.
This comic really helped establish Batman as my favorite character. And it revolves around the #1 classic villain--The Joker.
The Joker has broken out again and is out to kill off his old gang of thugs- he suspects one of them betrayed him and got him locked up. Batman has to find the gang and try to protect them before the Joker can kill them off.
Batman starts off with a retired boxer, The Joker's ex-hired muscle, who is practicing in the ring. Batman tries to convince him to turn himself in for police protection. The boxer "accidentally" punches Batman a few times. Batman takes a few, being a good sport--"Perfectly all right." "Think nothing of it." When he has had enough, he starts swinging back, punctuating his requests with some devastating combinations. The old thug hits the canvas. He reconsiders Batman's offer of protective custody. "Seeing as how you put it like THAT... jail ain't such a bad joint!" He takes a swig of water "to take the taste of your knuckles out of my mouth," and starts laughing...and laughing...and laughs himself to death! The Joker has spiked his water bucket with laughing nerve toxin! Round one goes to The Joker!
Batman doesn't have much luck with the next few ex-thugs. The Joker seems to be one step ahead of him the whole way. At one point, The Joker has just hanged one of his old accomplices and is hiding in the same room, as Batman comes in. The Joker gets the drop on him and clubs him in the back of the head, then smashes his boot into Batman's face! Batman is down and out, The Joker standing triumphantly over him, his foot on Batman's throat!
The Joker sees this as a hollow victory--he had always envisioned his winning as the result of cunning after a bitter struggle between Batman and himself..."him using his detective skills, and me employing the divine gift men call madness!"
So, he lets Batman live--until he can destroy him properly!
The chase for the final thug leads Batman to an abandoned aquarium--the clinching clue was the oily sand residue that The Joker's boot left on Batman's face! (a great touch!)
The Joker is already there, with the aged henchman (in a wheel chair) perched atop an enormous fish tank. In the water is a huge shark that The Joker has found on the beach, half dead from an oil spill. (Hence the oily sand on his boots!)
Batman agrees to go into the tank with the shark if The Joker will spare the old man. The Joker kicks the bound hero into the tank, then pushes the old man in the wheelchair in, too! Batman yells "You promised!" The Joker replies "I'm a NOTORIOUS liar! Ta-Ta, all! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Batman has to fight off the shark, using the chain that binds his wrists as a makeshift garrotte, slippin it into the shark's mouth and getting onto its back, pulling with all his strength--he breaks the shark's spine! Then (if THAT wasn't enough for you) he uses the old man's wheelchair to break the glass of the tank!
The old man is OK, and Batman takes off after The Joker, who is still there in the Aquarium. A chase starts, with The Joker hollering back to him, "Ohhh, Batman! I've seen you angry like this--often! Nobody alive can beat you when the anger is upon you!...You'll get no battle from me! I may be insane...but I'm not crazy! So, I'll run away--and live to put egg on your face another day!"
At this point, there is a full page rendering of Batman running across the sand with the full moon behind him, grim determination on his face, sand kicking up under his boots--this is a classic, iconic vision of the Dark Knight--one that has stuck with me for decades. Such a great image, DC used it on jigsaw puzzles and t-shirts and in all kinds of Batman related ads, etc. A great drawing that really captures the spirit of Batman--then and now.
Needless to say, Batman catches The Joker before he can make his getaway. (The Joker slips in the oily residue on the sand before he can reach his get away car.) Batman clobbers him and as he leads him off to Arkham, he notes that it is funny that The Joker "...my arch-enemy--would make me grateful for pollution!"
A couple of key points about this comic that makes it stand out to me:
The cover--A gigantic image of The Joker straddling the city of Gotham, holding a large playing card (Ace of Spades) with Batman manacled to its front ...and a banner headline that reads "LOOK OUT GOTHAM! THE JOKER'S BACK IN TOWN!" That evil, grinning face--designed to make kids afraid of clowns for life!
Another classic frame--Batman finds The Joker in the aquarium, framed by a display of enormous shark jaws and teeth.
One of the ex-henchmen escapes from Batman, runs back to his flop house to grab his gun and knife--as he is looking into a cabinet for these items, he thinks "In a couple of minutes, my troubles will be over." Behind him, with that trademark evil grin, The Joker is just standing there. The thug's troubles WILL be over, indeed.
If you haven't ever read this comic, I have to recommend it as a must read--certainly for any Batman fan. But, really, any comic book fan would agree that this is a classic--great art, great dialogue, a complete story in one issue, and The Joker at his best!
Sorry if this ran long.
Gargantua
04/01/2007, 10:10
Let me also recommend
X-Men/Teen Titans Crossover
1982, Chris Claremont & Walt Simonson
Crossovers are always fun, and when you crossover with teams, so much the better. This one's from the early 80's when the X-Men were just becoming popular, but weren't yet prima donnas. It features Darkseid and Dark Phoenix, as well as Deathstroke in the adversarial roles.
Darkseid's plot is to resurrect Dark Phoenix, and using her powers, turn Earth into a new Apokolips. He begins by stealing residual psychic energy that the Phoenix left with the X-Men while they sleep, until he gets to Kitty Pride who wakes up and alerts the others to the intruder. He then hires Deathstroke to set up power siphon at the other sites where she had manifested her power.
Raven meanwhile is disturbed by dreams of Phoenix. She tells Starfire about them and Kori recognizes her description, having heard of Dark Phoenix's destruction of D'Bari. The Titans uncover her association with the X-Men and raid Xavier's School. Professor X is alone there while the X-Man are off trying to stop Deathstroke. They overpower him, but Darkseid has sent parademons (Simonson draws cool Parademons) to capture the X-Men. Mistaking the Titans for the X-Men, they capture them instead. Meanwhile Deathstroke manages to almost single-handedly defeat the X-Men.
With both the X-Men and Titans in fetters on a small asteroid near the great Promethean Wall, Darkseid uses the residual Phoenix energy to bring Dark Phoenix back. Leaving the heroes marooned, the villains go off to execute Darkseid's plan. The heroes get over their initial misunderstandings and join forces, use Metron's chair to return to Earth (it's not as much of a Deus ex Machina as it sounds, as Claremont did set it up in the introduction) and defeat the villains.
One interesting thing about this comic is that normally for crossovers, the writer comes up with some contrived explanation for bridging the two worlds. Claremont wrote the story as if the ###### and ## worlds had always been one. In one panel Cyborg observes, "This used to be a skyscraper 'til it got trashed by the X-men. Media describes 'em as outlaws. I wonder why the Titans have never tangled with 'em."
It was obvious that Claremont was the X-Men's primary writer as he really gave them depth and captured the characters perfectly, but he also does a good job with the Titans. He does stretch Beast Boy's powers a tad, but its forgivable. And the ultimate defeat of the villains is nicely done. One of the best crossover stories I've read.
Gargantua
04/01/2007, 10:13
Claremont wrote the story as if the ###### and ## worlds had always been one.
Since when is it taboo to name the two big comic companies?
That is odd--especially if you note that in the post above yours, I mentioned ## without getting censored...
That is odd--especially if you note that in the post above yours, I mentioned ## without getting censored...
Whoa! Now it got me, too! I wrote that other review last night. Must have just started doing that this morning--on April Fool's Day! Coincidence? I think not!:noid:
Gargantua
04/01/2007, 13:34
Same thought occurred to me just now. You beat me to the post.
Same thought occurred to me just now. You beat me to the post.
That would be a good gag. I wonder if it works for any indy companies?
How about Impact? Charleston? Image? :laugh:
That would be a good gag. I wonder if it works for any indy companies?
How about Impact? Charleston? Image? :laugh:
Guess not.
You can see I am not much of an indy reader...Charleston? That has to be ancient, but it is one of the only ones I remember!
Deacon and Gargantua:
Thanks for the reviews you contributed. I appreciate your input and you both made great choices for your subjects.
Deacon and Gargantua:
Thanks for the reviews you contributed. I appreciate your input and you both made great choices for your subjects.
Kalel21--
Thank you for starting a great thread...I have another comic I'd like to include here. Maybe tonight I can get it posted.
Defenders #15-16
Baby Magneto looks just plain cute sitting on the floor of the U.N. Building in his oversize helmet.
Baby Magneto? Yes, and chubby little baby Blob and baby Unus the Untouchable and baby Mastermind and pretty little baby Lorelie.
How, you might ask, did the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants end up quite literally living out a second childhood? It all begins in Defenders #15, when Doctor Strange receives a psychic message from Professor X. Magneto is planning something horrific and the X-Men are off on a mission. Can the Defenders help?
They can, so Dr. Strange, Nighthawk, Valkerie and Hulk, with Professor X in tow, head off to a remote area of the Southwest, where they confront Magneto and the Brotherhood in the process of using advanced alien technology to create the ultimate mutant.
A battle ensues, but the good guys are not able to stop the experiment. Alpha, a 20-foot-tall mutant of obviously limited intelligence, is born. He is indeed the ultimate mutant, with powers that evolve to do whatever he needs to do. For instance, after enduring one mystic blast from Dr. Strange, he is able to erect a force field to protect him from further attacks. He becomes stronger and tougher than the Hulk after getting punched once.
But, unfortunately for Magneto, Alpha is evolving in intelligence and moral fortitude as well as in raw power. Magneto uses Alpha to teleport to New York and kidnap the entire United Nations, levitating the U.N. Building into the air. But Alpha begins to question the morality of these actions.
It all ends with Alpha basically switching sides, zapping the evil mutants back to infancy before zipping off into space to explore the universe.
The concept of the all-powerful being dealing with moral questions is a fairly common science fiction concept, but it's always a good one if done well. Writer Len Wein constructs a good plot and keeps his entire cast in character. The art by Sal Buscema and Klaus Janson is good and the action flows along nicely.
It's also always nice to see a story that crosses over characters from other books without requiring you to buy those books just to get the entire story. Professor X's presence in the story and his motive for asking the Defenders for help are perfectly reasonably--it's another example of using a cohesive fictional universe to tell an entertaining story.
And the ending is really pretty cool. At the beginning of the review, I was making a little fun of it, but in the context of the story it works really well. Alpha doesn't just destroy the mutants he has come to realize are evil--instead, he gives them a second chance at life. A chance at redemption. It's a great ending.
But I can't help it. Baby Magneto is just so cute. I have to wonder, though: How do you change the diapers of Unus the Untouchable?
Here's another classic from my dog-eared collection...one I read so many times it is barely holding together...no cover, pages floppy and creased...but I just read it again and it still captures the imagination like it did when I was 10.
The Brave and the Bold, Vol. 20, # 115, Oct-Nov 1974.
Batman and The Atom, "The Corpse That Wouldn't Die!"
Story--Bob Haney, Art--Jim Aparo
This story begins with the daughter of a rich Gotham couple being kidnapped by ruthless mobsters--she witnessed their boss gunning down one of his "competitors in the hijacking business." The cops nabbed the gangster, but before she could testify, the mob kidnapped the girl, to keep her quiet.
Batman and Commissioner Gordon are discussing the case at the jail, within earshot of the mobster in question. He starts laughing, enjoying the thought of the fate that awaits the girl. Unfortunately for him, Batman hears that laugh and whirls on him! Grabbing him through the bars, Batman roars, "Laugh, will you, you hyena! If anything happens to that girl...I'll rip your rotten heart out!" Gordon and a guard manage to pull Batman off the terrified criminal before he can make good on his threat. Batman is presented here as a very Dark Knight.
Then begins the greatest "girl hunt" in Gotham's history, led by Batman--"a man possessed." At this point there are several action panels of Bats busting up the underworld, kicking in the doors of criminal hideouts and "interrogating" suspects with his fists. He turns over some gunsels to Gordon with the instructions, "Sweat 'em! Make 'em spill their guts!"
On a tip and a hunch, Batman discovers the hideout. Leaping from a neighboring rooftop, Batman reaches out for a hand hold, only to grasp an electrified rainspout! TZAK! Down he goes. Dead. The gangsters dump his body far from the hideout, to mislead the cops.
In a hospital room shortly thereafter, Godon gets the word that Batman is dead. He doesn't believe it--the body is still breathing and the heart is still beating! But, Batman's brain's electrical balance has been permanently destroyed! His heart will beat for a few hours more, but after that, it is all over.
Gordon demands a second opinion--by coincidence, Dr. Ray Palmer happens to be lecturing at this hospital. Palmer concurs with the other doctors--only Batman's "iron constitution" keeps his heart going.
Gordon is devastated. "If only he could be awake and walk the earth these last few hours, instead of just lying there...then he could finish his last mission and save that innocent girl."
This gives Palmer an idea. After the others have gone, he takes out his unique belt and "via the fantastic power of white dwarf star fibers in his belt control, the 6 foot 2 scientist begins his amazing metamorphosis into...The Atom!!"
He shrinks down to microscopic size and enters Batman's brain, intending to be the "spark" of brain energy that Batman needs to finish his task. (Some great art here of the Atom running around inside Batman's medulla oblongata, cerebrum, cerebellum and plenty of other big medical terms that I had to look up when I was 10.)
Batman's body responds to The Atom's actions, standing up and climbing out the hospital window. The Atom put a miniature camera on Batman's chest and took the receiver with him as he shrunk down to the size of an electron...(must have got that at Circuit City)
Batman's subconscious mind steers them back to the hideout. The Atom tries to make the body sneak in to the place, but a hot electric current hitting his feet changes his mind! Batman's dead brain disagrees with him and over-rides his control! Instead, they enter through the front door.
The next business is priceless, with the Atom using Batman's dead body to fight the criminals in the hideout--racing back and forth in the hero's dead brain, stimulating the punches and kicks! Even The Atom gets carried away with the action a little, as he stimulates the wrong arm--forgetting that the left side of the brain actually controls the right side of the body!!! Talk about narrow escapes!
At the top of the stairs, a gunsels places the barrell of a shotgun against Batman's head--he almost takes out two heroes with one shot, until The Atom makes Batman turn a nifty back handspring, kicking the killer in the face as he goes around.
In the upstairs room, the last killer has the girl with a gun to her head--The Atom realizes that even alive, The Batman wouldn't be fast enough to get to her in time. So, he leaves the Batman's brain, causing the dead body to collapse on the floor. The gunman is so stunned, he doesn't shoot the girl, giving The Atom time to spring back up and take him out with one surprise punch!
By vacating Batman's brain, the Atom thinks he has saved the girl, but lost his friend. Back at the hospital, the doctors crowd around Batman's dead body, in awe of what they have seen--his dead body got up, functioned, and saved the girl, then returned, dead on arrival!
Gordon crows that they don't know everything--nothing is impossible for Batman.
Then, miraculously, Batman's brainwave returns to normal--he recovers! "There wasn't an ATOM of life energy left in his brain! It's a miracle!"
Ray Palmer knows that "there WAS a single ATOM still alive inside Batman's brain..." and he surmises that "all that stimulation must've reversed things and caused this happy miracle."
The final panel of the story shows the girl kissing Batman as a reward for saving her, as Palmer strolls by, glumly noting that she probably wouldn't want to kiss a felow only six inches high.
Top reasons to recommend this comic:
1. A great story that keeps you guessing--and wraps up nicely in one issue.
2. Terrific art, especially the interior shots of Batman's brain!
3. Action sequences of Batman's corpse trashing the baddies!
4. Imaginative use of The Atom. As a kid I wondered what good it would do a hero to be so small--lesson learned!
5. Batman is depicted as big, scary, and taking no prisoners--even after he is dead!
I admit to being kinda partial to Batman, especially from this era. But, I think that even a casual reader would eat this story up! Plus, it comes in a B & B collection with some other great stories...Origin of the Viking Prince, Hourman and Dr.Fate--Solomon Grundy goes on a Rampage!, and everyone's favorite--The Challengers of the Unknown!
Add it all up, and you have a "gotta read, gotta own" classic!
If you hadn't listed the writer, it still would have been possible to guess it was Bob Haney. He is a very underappreciated writer--able to take the absolute goofiest concepts and still build sincerely dramatic stories around them.
That's one of the strengths of many Silver Age stories. They ran with these concepts with a completely straight face. Any attempt at irony or a tongue-in-cheek approach would have spoiled it.
If you hadn't listed the writer, it still would have been possible to guess it was Bob Haney. He is a very underappreciated writer--able to take the absolute goofiest concepts and still build sincerely dramatic stories around them.
That's one of the strengths of many Silver Age stories. They ran with these concepts with a completely straight face. Any attempt at irony or a tongue-in-cheek approach would have spoiled it.
I agree 100%. I remember as a kid reading this particular comic thinking that it was the greatest thing ever--The Atom could rejuvenate a dead brain by running around inside it! Never mind that he could hit just the right spot in the "medulla oblongata" to make that dead body turn back handsprings and climb through windows!
But, disregarding that, it is still a gripping story, especially when Batman gets close to losing it, busting up the town looking for the gangsters who are holding the girl.
I think a true sign or a comic book's "classic" status isn't necessarily who wrote it or what kind of art it had...no, more important is the lasting effect it has on you--as a kid, during the most impressionable time in your life, did this story stick with you? Enough so that 20 or 30 or more years later, when this thread is created on HC Realms, you remember it and want to include it for others to hear about it and maybe go buy it from the back issue box at some comic book shop.
I think this thread should be it's own Forum category, like "Dreams and Desires" or "Dear Wizkids." Just my opinion, but it's true.
Marvel Preview #3--with Blade the Vampire Hunter
One of the wonderful thing about the 1970s "Dracula" comic put out by Marvel was the interesting and diverse band of vampire hunters that was always trying to drive a stake home into Drac's heart. Rachel Van Helsing with her crossbow; elderly Quincy Harker with the wheelchair that shot out garlic-tipped darts; Hannibal King, the vampire private eye who remained a good guy--they were all nifty creations.
Perhaps the coolest of the lot was Blade, who back in the day stalked vampires while wearing a bandoleer of wooden throwing knives. He was an occassional re-occuring character in "Dracula," so it was in the black-and-white magazine Marvel Preview that he got his first major solo story.
And it's a great debut, effectively combining the horror and adventure genres. Written by Chris Claremont, it begins with Blade battling a vampire (who's armed with a sword cane) in the foggy streets of London. Blade wins, of course. But the vampire community has had enough of him. They lure him to an isolated location, then trick him into thinking he's accidentally killing a child.
Blade intends to turn himself in, but first must rescue his girlfriend, whom the vampires have kidnapped. In the meantime, Scotland Yard detective Kate Fraser uses her psychic ability to read last memories of the dead child and learns that Blade is innocent. The two eventually team up, working not just to rescue Blade's lady, but also to destroy a laboratory where a serum that would allow vampires to come out during the day is being produced.
The story is very strong, packed with plot, good characterizations and several very good human vs. vampire fight scenes. The black-and-white art helps establish the perfect atmosphere for the story and keeps the sometimes graphic violence from being too bloody. (I am convinced that horror stories are most effective when they scare you without grossing you out.)
The art in the first half of the story is by Tony DeZuniga. An artist named Rico Rival took over for the second half, but though DeZuniga is better, they're both very good and their styles are similar. There was one noticable editorial oversight or miscommunication, though. DeZuniga drew a major female villain as dressed in a sort of prim Victorian manner. But when Rival took over, she suddenly had a wild, Vamperilla-type look. Since the change took place virtually between panels within the space of the same action sequence, it's pretty jarring.
But the art is atmospheric enough to overcome this error. It's still a great story and a prime example that there are some tales that are better served in black-and-white than in color.
darius_dax1
04/14/2007, 23:28
...man I wish I had the last few issues of the Champions....I just read #1-15, and have 16 yet to read...then I need to find the rest of the series (17-18 IIRC).
...and next on deck is All-Star Comics and All-Star Squadron (America VS the Justice Society and Young All-Stars to follow shortly).
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider Man #64
This is a creepy issue. Not that that's a bad thing. But it's creepy, full of cold-blooded murder and ruthless vigilante justice.
This comic, from 1982, begins with someone calling desperately for help from a rooftop as Spider Man swings past. When Spidey stops to see what the problem is, the man confesses to being a drug dealer and begs for help--he'll turn himself in and confess everything if only Spider Man saves his life.
We soon find out he's being pursued by Cloak and Dagger. This is the first appearance of that vengefuld duo and it's an effective one. Spider Man fights them, but he's knocked out by one of Dagger's light projectiles. A barrage of the same weapons kill the drug dealer. Cloak and Dagger escape.
After a night feeling severely ill as he recovers from the effects of the projectile, Peter Parker goes to the Daily Bugle's research desk. He finds out about how some organized crime guys were trying to create a new addictive drug to add to the market. They experimented on kidnapped runaway teenagers. Most of the teens died horribly, but Cloak and Dagger were mutated into super beings. Now the two were hunting down and killing those responsible for the mass murder.
Spider Man tracks them to an abandoned building on Ellis Island, where they are preparing to kill the remaining mobsters. A fight ensues, of course, with Spidey being forced to take sides with the vigilantes after the mobsters capture Dagger. Cloak uses his powers to lure the panicking bad guys through a window, where they plummet to their deaths.
Written by Bill Mantlo (who wrote about a gazillion Marvel comics during the '70s & '80s) and with very atmospheric art by Ed Hannigan, the story is creepy in a good way. Spidey's attitude towards Cloak and Dagger (he disapproves of their lethal methods, but can't help but sympathize with their plight) seems very much in character. The action is handled very well and the story flows along in a brisk, efficient manner. C & D were nifty additions to the Marvel Universe and their debut clearly defined both characters.
NOTE: My preperations for my upcoming missionary trip to Sudan are taking up most of my time right now, so I probably won't post another review until I return in June. I hope those of you who are also posting are able to keep the thread going, but I'll get back to it regardless when I get back.
NOTE: My preperations for my upcoming missionary trip to Sudan are taking up most of my time right now, so I probably won't post another review until I return in June. I hope those of you who are also posting are able to keep the thread going, but I'll get back to it regardless when I get back.
No sweat--I have a gem of a comic coming up--if I can only get the time to type it in!
have a good trip
Gargantua
04/22/2007, 17:30
Webster's defines comic as "causing laughter or amusement" and my next choice for a review does just that.
Blue Devil Annual #1 "The Day All Hell Broke Loose"
By Gary Cohn, Dan Mishkin and Paris Cullen on pencils. 1985
In the mid-80's, a couple of years before the Giffen and De Matteis run on Justice League, the go to book for light-hearted super-hero fare was Blue Devil. It may not have attained the highs (or lows, depending on your opinion) of lunacy that the Justice League book did, but this story came pretty close.
The story opens moodily enough with a man running down a dark deserted street, being chased by the Man-Bat. Luckily he finds one shop still open and ducks into it. But is it luck, or is a higher power at work? For he has stumbled into the fortune telling parlor of Madame Xanadu. The man she recognizes as Jack Rider, the human alter ego of the Creeper. No sooner do we reach page two than things start getting interesting. Outside the shop we find the Phantom Stranger, delivering one of his monologues. "Men call me the Phantom Stranger..." Xanadu interrupts his speech, breaking the mood and asking him what he thinks he's doing. She can handle this one on her own very well, thanks. The Stranger persists and the little group is joined a few panels later by Etrigan.
Enough preliminaries. Cut to Blue Devil getting a work out with some animatronic robots for his next film. Meanwhile Felix Faust is attempting to break into Blue Devil's workshop. To delay BD, he takes control of the robots and makes them fight him for real. The day is saved by the arrival of the Stranger and Etrigan who help BD stop the robots and then prevent Faust from stealing a mysterious orb from the workshop, a souvenir of Ile du Diable (where BD fought the demon Nebiros and get fused into his suit in the first place).
Meanwhile Xanadu and the Creeper remain in New York to stop the Man-Bat, who is under Faust's control, from stealing a similar orb from the museum. Foiling the theft and freeing Man-Bat, Faust is forced to resort to plan B. He casts a spell causing the orbs to...hatch?? Yes, apparently they're demon eggs and dozens of tiny lizard-like imps pop out and begin scattering. The two groups, Xanadu’s now joined by Black Orchid, manage to banish (with magical butterfly nets of all things) almost all of the little creatures – or in Etrigan’s case, eat them. Faust sensing his plans are about to fail, casts Portnoy’s Penultimate Portal, creating a doorway for the last of the imps to escape through. The heroes follow and find themselves confronting Faust in the Southwestern desert.
Faust takes control of Blue Devil and makes him fight the others. It isn’t long before the heroes free Blue Devil from Faust’s control, but it’s just long enough. BD was a distraction to allow the last of the imps to reach Faust’s Birthing Pit. The wee devil emerges from the pit as a new Nebiros. Or at least a pretty dangerous simulacrum formed from the sands of the desert. After a battle sequence, they figure out that they can banish the creature the same way they did the smaller version – after Etrigan takes a bit out of it. His creation dispelled, his plans ruined, Faust goes for an all out assault on the heroes, until the Phantom Stranger takes him down at last with a good old-fashioned right to the jaw (“My goodness, that was really quite...exhilarating,” the Stranger realizes.) The villain defeated, the day saved, the Creeper proposes they stay together, “a spooky Justice League of America, maybe.” The others give it serious consideration – for all of three seconds before deciding it’s the stupidest idea they’d ever heard.
Oh how the DC Universe may have changed had this prototype Shadowpact stayed together. But perhaps it was an idea whose time had not yet come. The book took on the always all-too-serious DC Mystics and turned them on their heads, making fun of everything from the Phantom Stranger’s stuffiness to the Demon’s rhyming speech. Faust’s alliterative spell names (he casts Durwood’s Dictum of Digital Domination and Baxter’s Bending Bolts of Bafflement) are a neat touch and they have great fun with Black Orchid’s secret origin. Xanadu and the Stranger each reveal conflicting versions, sounding suspiciously like Daredevil and Spider-Man’s own origin stories. This issue may not be to everyone’s taste. If you think your funny books should be all grim and gritty, or are bothered by the spearing of sacred cows like the Phantom Stranger, then you can pass this one by. But if you enjoy a comic that causes laughter or amusement every once in a while, then allow me to recommend this one.
OK, gang, hold on to your hats...here comes a classic!
Daredevil Volume 1, #133, May 1976
Marv Wolfman, Writer/Editor
Bob Brown and Jim Mooney, Artists
Michelle Wolfman, Colorist
"Introducing Mind Wave and His Fearsome Think Tank!"
Just to show you I am not all DC--here comes a favorite from the Mighty Marvel Bullpen.
This ish begins with some poor nameless guy getting destroyed--literally reduced to a pile of ashes--by the "New Improved--Jester!" The nameless guy has been forced to create some wacky newscasts for the Jester, newscasts claiming that the Kennedy's are alive, the US has invaded Saudi Arabia, etc. All lies-- and no explanation is forthcoming in this ish. Must have tied into future issues.
Just as DD is swinging around town, mooning over his current love life, he stumbles upon today's Baddie--Mind Wave! In his Think Tank--a vehicle that looks like a cross between the Pope Mobile and a Sherman tank--Mind Wave is busy looting the city. Mind Wave's helmet helps him reads people's minds, so that he knows exactly what kind of attack is coming and can thwart it. Daredevil finds this out the hard way, as MW and his goons give Hornhead a first rate thumping.
After the dust clears and MW has made his escape, the cops tell DD that he is wanted at city hall. The DA wants to introduce him to a man who can help him fight crime and catch Mind Wave...the incomparable...URI GELLAR!!! That is right, Uri Gellar--the real life vaudeville reject magician mentalist who could supposedly bend spoons and keys with his mind! Suddenly, this hack is a super hero! Daredevil watches him bend a metal bar with his mind and "senses" that it is for real! Obviously, DD would hear if he was a fake!
So, they team up to confront Mind Wave--'cause, of course, Daredevil could never take on a B list baddie like MW on his own!
Daredevil races off to confront the villain, while Uri catches a cab. ("I'm a mentalist, not an acrobat!", he yells...) MW and his boys do another number on DD, pounding him like he's a rookie, until Uri shows up and stops them from taking DD's lunch money!
See, Uri can block Mind Wave's mental scan, so he can fight him without MW knowing what he is going to do. Some great art here of Uri Gellar racing into the fray, swinging haymakers like he's Ben Grimm!
Once Uri uses his metal bending mind powers to cause MW's tank gun to cross wires and overload, Daredevil regains consciousness--just in time to bust up the team of henchmen. (...lest we forget who the real hero of this comic is...)
Mind Wave gets the drop on Uri with his hand held ray gun--but Uri counters with the following: "You are only a mind reader...you haven't even one hundredth the power I have. The power to bend metal...wiring...to restructure your weapon..."
Mind Wave's ray gun blows up in his hand, as he shouts, "No! Curse you, Gellar! CURSE YOU!"
Then, Mind Wave figures if you can't beat them, join them. He offers Uri the chance to team up with him--he figures that together, they'd be unstoppable! But Uri turns him down flat--heck, at this point he probably senses that Marvel Comics is going to give him his own monthly title, so why bring along the dead weight?
About this time, Daredevil is about to get kayoed by the bumbling henchmen--so bumbling, in fact, that in their pathetic attacks, they have dared use a length of PIPE as a weapon...don't they know what Uri Gellar does to pipes?! He saves DD by bending the pipe while it is in the goon's clutches, preventing him from braining DD with it! Thank goodness Uri Gellar was there!
Mind Wave makes a last ditch effort to strike "Super Uri" with the Think Tank, but he has made his fatal mistake...he is standing in front of a building that has METAL BARS on its windows. Doesn't he know what Uri Gellar can do to metal bars? That's right! He bends them down and around Mind Wave, smacking him in the head and imprisoning him in a bent metal bar cell!
The Think Tank is still on automatic and rampaging around the city, so Uri throws DD a bone and lets him take care of the death ray machine.
Reasons why this comic is a classic:
1. Uri Gellar? C'mon! As Stan Lee would say, 'nuff said!
2. Great art of Uri using his mental powers--with accent marks around his eyes, as if they are glowing with his supernatural powers.
3. The conversations between Mind Wave and Uri--all in thought bubbles, like they are not speaking, but communicating mentally.
4. The "Let's Level with Daredevil" letters section. Apparently, Marv Wolfman took over the letters column for this ish to print a personal endorsement of Uri Gellar as having real powers. Uri had made a visit to Marvel HQ and performed a few miracles for them--bending keys and reading minds. They apparently all fell for his act. To read this gushing report of the meeting, you'd think Gellar was turning water into wine!
I have to recommend this comic VERY highly. When I was 12, this one stuck with me. The ridiculous aspects of it didn't register as they do now. It is still in my back issue box after all these years--because I still think it is a classic!:grin:
Gargantua
05/14/2007, 08:04
Thanks for keeping the thread alive Deacon! I haven't had much time to go through my back issues lately.
"The Most Dangerous Door in the World" Superman #213 (1969)
Superman makes a television appearance, in which he announces that he's just learned his life is in particularly serious danger. He buries a large vault, containing his last gift to the world--something that will benefit mankind as much as his superpowers. The lock to the vault is synched to his heartbeat. If he dies, the vault will open.
Lex Luthor watches all this and immediately decides to steal whatever is in the vault. He uses a trio of giant robots to lure Superman into a kryptonite trap. Then, with the Man of Steel dead, he uses a "mole" machine to tunnel under the vault and a version of Braniac's shrinking ray to reduce the vault to a managable size.
But back at this secret headquarters, after he enlarges the vault again, he finds it's still locked. Undeterred, he uses his scientific genius to figure out a way to crack the vault open.
At which point, Superman flies out, thanks Luthor for rescuing him, then knocks the criminal and his henchmen unconscious.
The explanation? The vault was actually a trap set by Mordru, the evil wizard from the 30th Century. Mordru used magic to lure Superman into the vault and hypnotise him to keep him from breaking out. Only someone with superstrength of a Kryptonian level could break him free--but the magic would lure Supergirl into the trap as well if she approached.
Using Super-Ventriloquism, Superman contacted Supergirl and suggested she contact the Legion of Superheroes for help. The "Superman" that Luthor "killed" was Braniac 5 in disguise, using his flight ring and other devices to simulate Kal-el's powers. Braniac swallowed a death-simulating drug to fool Luthor at the key moment. All this led up to tricking Luthor into figuring out a way to break into the vault.
It's a fun story, written by Cary Bates (one of my favorite Silver Age writers--he had a real sense of what made comics fun to read.) The art was by the legendary Curt Swan--whose crisp, clean art made him an expert visual storyteller. You never have any trouble at all following the plot or action in a Swan-illustrated story. In this issue, the design of Luthor's various devices (robots, mole machines, etc.) are particularly fun.
There is, I suppose, one obvious plot hole. Superman needed a super-genius to figure out how to break open the vault. That's all well and good. But didn't he have a super-genius available in the form of Braniac 5, making the complex plan to fool Luthor unnecessary? Oh, well, I suppose the story is implying that Luthor is even smarter than B5.
Also, it's too bad there was no sequel. At the end, it's mentioned that other members of the Legion had tracked down and defeated Mordru. All that happened "off-screen," though. It would have been fun to have a follow-up issue showing Superman teaming up with the adult Legion to do battle with Mordru.
But, minor problems aside, this was a great tale. Superman stories during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s were far from perfect--there were some just plain dumb ideas used at times. But writers like Cary Bates and Elliot S. Maggin understood the characters and produced highly entertaining stuff on a regular basis. It was easy to forgive their occassional missteps when they were more often providing us with so much joy.
That IS a classic--I had that ish as a kid...don't know where it is now.
Superman at that time WAS kinda flukey. Seems like some of the writers had trouble coming up with villains that could challenge him. I mean, he IS Superman!
Hold on to your seats...I have another MASTERPIECE to review here for you guys soon! Just moved fom FL to MA and everything is crazy!
Gargantua
06/07/2007, 22:02
Hold on to your seats...I have another MASTERPIECE to review here for you guys soon! Just moved fom FL to MA and everything is crazy!
Welcome to MA. Whereabouts?
Out on the Cape--Harwichport, Cape Cod.
Know any good comic shops out here?
Gargantua
06/09/2007, 16:22
PMed you. Don't want to hijack this thread any further.
Gargantua
06/16/2007, 17:19
All right, time to get this thread back on track.
"The Long Journey Home" Fantastic Four #100, 1970 by Lee & Kirby.
It's the FF's 100th anniversary issue and it seems that all their greatest enemies have gathered to celebrate - and make sure it's their last.
The FF are returning from Attilan with Crystal, when their aircraft is shot out from under them. Crystal uses her control of winds to float the non-flying member to the ground safely, but they're not safe for long.
As soon as they're onthe ground, they're attacked by Kang the Conqueror, who blows up a grove of trees, bombarding the FF with flying kindling. The Thing makes to charge Kang, when he's hit from behind with a huge boulder, courtesy of Dr. Doom! Kang and Doom teaming up? Is it possible they've subdued their egos long enough to work together?
No. It's not. They're nothing but clever androids it seems, duplicating the personalities and powers of the villains themselves, and controlled from behind the scenes by the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master, whove joined forces and combined their skills to create the androids.
The FF defeat the Doom and Kand androids - Crystal uproots a giant redwood tree and drops them on the pair - but they're not in the clear for long. A Kree Sentry is their next opponent. While the rest of the FF stop the Sentry, Johnny rounds them up some transportation - a pair of camels! Apparently, they've crash landed in some unspecified Middle Eastern country. On their way to a NATO airfield to hitch a ride back to the States, they go from camel to reed boat to a loaner car that was an antique even when Kirby drew it back in 1970.
But their journey is not to be a peaceful one. En route, they're forced to fight a whole calvalcade of their classic enemies: Dragon Man, Sub-Mariner (with a whole horde of Atlanteans), Hate Monger, Diablo, Super Skrull, the Red Ghost and his apes, the Frightful Four...If they appeared anywhere in the FF's first 99 issues, chances are they've at least got a cameo in here.
Heroes that they are, the FF come through it all, using their powers and ingenuity to defeat all their old foes. In desperation, the Puppet Master decides it is time to activate the final weapon, the most powerful android of all - the Incredible Hulk! But he's done his job too well. The Hulk robot is too lifelike, too much ilke the real Hulk. He refuses to obey his creator and turns on him, tearing the headquarters apart. The Puppet Master
tries to shoot the Hulk robot, but fails to take into account all the explosive material in the room and with a resounding explosion, the whole secret lair is destroyed. So at last the FF make it to their destination, and soon find themselves on their way home.
It's a classic issue, full of non-stop action and the friendly banter that made the FF one of my favorite comics growing up. A couple of prime examples are worth mentioning. When the Red Ghost blows up the FF's car with a smoke bomb, Stan Lee takes the opportunity to make a little wink at the comic book convention of expository dialogue. "Thanks to your force field, Sue, the gas didn't effect us," Reed says, "and we were hidden by the smoke as we leapt from the car." To which the Thing reminds him, "We know...we know! We wuz there!" And in the last panel, Reed wraps it up with one of his speeches: "After all these years...after all our adventures...we're still together...we're still a team! The greatest team ever!" "You can say that again!" Johnny agrees with him. "Yeah..." the Thing adds knowingly, " 'n' I'm betting' he will!"
Amen.
How can you top Lee and Kirby?
Nice review. Sorry to be so slow with my latest installment for this thread. I'm trying!
Here we go...
Our Fighting Forces, Vol. 22, Number 159. September 1975.
Featuring The Losers--Capt. Storm, Johnny Cloud, Gunner and Sarge
"Mile a Minute Jones!"
Edited, Written and Drawn by Jack Kirby
Inks & Lettering by Mike Royer
Army comics were not my favorite as a kid, but I did get hooked on "The Losers"--mainly because of the name, I think. Anyway, here's another classic that has stuck with me for decades...
...It opens with a bunch of lousy Nazis on patrol, cleaning up the remains of an American truck that has "taken a wrong turn." The truck is blown up and wounded GI's are lying around on the ground.
Just to prove to us that they are, in fact, the bad guys, the Nazi commander shouts, "Kill those still alive! We're not here to take prisoners!"
Suddenly, from behind a boulder, a lone American appears and starts blasting the Nazis! He is too fast for them. Nobody can get a shot on him..."He's like an eel!" they shout as he evades bullets and makes a break for it. One Nazi takes off after him, and they run like the wind..."the runners are caught up in the sound of their own footfalls, racing, not to kill...but to WIN!"
The Ratzi shoots his rifle over the GI"s head and shouts, "Stop! Stop, Henry Jones!"
They stop and we discover they know each other from before the war, when they were competitive athletes, track stars who ran against each other in the Berlin Olympics, in the mile run. Each thinks he beat the other on that day (there was some confusion on that day,) but that argument has to take a backseat, as The Losers step into the scene and put a gun to the back of Borman, the Nazi soldier's, head. They take him prisoner and bring Jones, the US soldier/track star, along on their mission, to capture a Nazi General who has fallen behind the lines. (This mission has a "Do or Die" priority!)
The Americans find the general and take him prisoner, and lock up all the other Nazi's in the general's headquarters, including Borman. (A classic Jack Kirby panel here of Borman's face, grimacing with hate, yelling through the cell door: "Move Fast, Henry Jones! Move Fast!...Now ve see who gets to finish line first!"
As soon as the GI's are out of sight, the Nazi's start to break free.
The Losers proceed away from the headquarters and through Nazi infested territory, toward their pick up point. The sneak along, keeping silent, with Nazi's all around them, pushing the general along as they go.
Borman, now free, has trailed the Americans, and sees across an open field, a Nazi paratroop patrol. He lights out across the field to alert them of the abduction of the general. The GI's see him go, but can't shoot him, as the shot would alert the paratroopers to their presence.
In the moment's confusion, Jones steps up and yells "I'll stop him! I can do it!" He takes off across the field, pursuing his old opponent in a race for their lives!
Great artwork here of the two soldiers running across the field, in Jack Kirby style, legs flailing and seeming to be a bit out of proportion, due to the incredible speed. Jones goes through a flash back of that day in Berlin, running past the German reviewing stand and Hitler himself, feeling the man's hatred of him, as Jones is a black man.
Jones and Borman have been unconsciously following a thin white line on the ground--as if it were painted on a race track. As they near the paratroopers, Jones makes his move, and dives at Borman, trying to tackle him to the ground. He misses. He isn't close enough to Borman, who reaches HIS goal--his fellow Nazis.
Borman alerts the paratroopers to the location of The Losers and the captured general. He turns and laughs triumphantly, gloating over his fallen opponent: "HAHAHAHAHA! I vin! Do you hear me, Henry Jones? I VIN!!!"
The paratroopers form a skirmish line and turn to face the Americans. As they race back across the field, Borman's laugh can still be heard, as he charges with them.
Then, the earth erupts, and the Nazis are swallowed by sheets of fire and flame. Lying flat on the ground in the middle of the field, Jones covers up and rides out the explosion. As the explosion's echoes begin to die out, Jones looks about in terror. He realizes that the field has been mined! He's been running across a mine field!
Sarge comes out to him and tells him that the white line on the ground that he and Borman followed in their race is actually engineer's tape, showing the only clear path through the mines. They follow it back off the field, and as things begin to heat up again--more Nazis come a- runnin' when they hear the explosion--their air support shows up, and pulls them all out of the area--including the general.
As Jones looks out the window at the blast site, he says goodbye to his one time opponent, who lies on the ground, dead.
"Borman has crossed the final finish line...the question of "winning" is still in doubt...it can only be answered by living men..."
Reasons this comic is a classic:
1. Edited, written and drawn by Jack Kirby. 'nuff said! (And when do you ever see one guy do all that these days? Not often. Most comics seem to be produced by a committee of artists and writers and colorists and letterers and blah, blah, blah.)
2. Nazis. Who could want a better villain? When in doubt, fight the Nazis!
3. Great Kirby art as mentioned before.
4. The race aspect of the story appeals on a few different levels--yeah, let's show them who is the best! Rotten Nazis! We beat them on the track, we'll beat them in war!
5. One story, one issue, complete. Satisfying ending and you don't have to wait til next month to find out who wins!
Our Fighting Forces--classic stuff!
Gargantua
06/17/2007, 22:34
Ah, Kirby. Nice review.
I loved the Kirby issues of the Losers. I think he did a single two-parter during his all-too-brief run, but all the others were solid single issue stories like the one you reviewed.
By the end of the week, I'm going to post a long review comparing the 1970s Marvel team-up books (Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-in-One) with the DC team-up books of the same era (DC Comics Presents and Brave and the Bold.)
I loved the Kirby issues of the Losers. I think he did a single two-parter during his all-too-brief run, but all the others were solid single issue stories like the one you reviewed.
By the end of the week, I'm going to post a long review comparing the 1970s Marvel team-up books (Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-in-One) with the DC team-up books of the same era (DC Comics Presents and Brave and the Bold.)
NICE! I'll be looking forward to that one. B&B and M Team Up were some of my favorite titles growing up. Bring it on...:cool:
Marvel Team-Up #13
Marvel Two-and-One #24
DC Comics Presents #10
The Brave and the Bold #155
The 1970s were the golden age of team-up books. DC had already been showcasing Batman in The Brave and the Bold, teaming up with various other heroes, for some years. In 1978, they added DC Comics Presents,”featuring team ups with Superman. Over at Marvel, Marvel Team-up, almost always with Spider Man, started in 1972. Marvel Two-in-One with the Thing started a year or so later.
Why use these specific characters to headline the team-up books? Well, at DC, the decision was obviously based on popularity. Superman and Batman are their hottest properties, so books featuring them would sell well. And it was fairly believable that they would team up often with other heroes. Superman was so powerful you would often wonder why he needed help, but his Boy Scout personality meant he could work smoothly with most DC good guys. Batman in the late Silver Age was scary to the bad guys, but perfectly capable of making friends—or at least allies—with other heroes.
At Marvel, popularity was probably the determining factor as well. But Spider Man and Ben Grimm both also have qualities that make them ideal for starring in team-up stories. Both have strong personalities and senses of humor. Both characters “play well” with others and aren’t overshadowed by more physically powerful allies.
Another strength of the team-up books was that their storylines were always separate from the regular Superman/Batman/Spidey/FF books. Nothing in them violated continuity, but you could read any of these books independent of the main titles and still get a complete story. Regardless of what multi-part epics might be taking place in Detective, Action or Amazing Spider Man, the team-up books would remain a world of their own. Since most of the plots were wrapped up in a single issue, they gave you a nice little superhero fix whenever you needed it.
Marvel Two-and-One #24, for instance, opens with the Thing at Stark Industries West Coast facility, helping scientist Bill (Black Goliath) Foster test some new equipment. (Ben, of course, is the guinea pig—tossed into a pressure chamber to see how well a new space suit design works). When a thief floods the facility with knock out gas in order to loot valuable technology, Ben and Goliath work together to thwart him, They end up fighting the villain’s deadly “crime tank.”
The story, written by Bill Mantlo and Jim Shooter and drawn by Sal Buscema, isn’t groundbreaking in any way. But it tells the story well and gives Ben some nifty one-liners. It’s fun to read, which is all that is expected of it.
The same can be said for Marvel Team-up #13. Spider Man stumbles across Captain America fighting a horde of AIM agents. Spidey jumps in to help, but as soon as the battle ends, the two heroes are teleported up to the SHIELD helicarrier. Bringing up Spidey along with Cap was an accident and a rookie SHIELD agent tries to arrest the webslinger. Nick Fury puts a stop to that, allowing Spider Man and Cap to work together in stopping the Grey Gargoyle from sabotaging a guided missile test at Cape Kennedy.
This one was written by Len Wein and featured the always wonderful art of Gil Kane. Once again, there’s nothing particularly special about the issue other than it was just plain entertaining. The bit where the overeager SHIELD guy tries to arrest Spidey is priceless, as is a scene a few pages later where Nick Fury lays a patriotic guilt trip on Spidey to get him to agree to help. The action is well-handled and it’s all perfectly satisfying.
Over at DC, Batman and Green Lantern work both against each other and together in The Brave and the Bold #155. An earthquake rocks Gotham City and Batman soon deduces an alien criminal is responsible. Meanwhile, Green Lantern is assigned by the Guardians to capture the same crook for trial before the Guardians.
This puts the two heroes at odds—Batman wants the villain to face Earth justice, while GL is determined to bring him to Oa. There’s some detective work that takes them both to another planet and it all leads up to a nice twist at the end involving the crook’s possible innocence.
Written by Bob Haney and with Jim Aparo’s dynamic artwork, this is once again a story that is simply fun to read.
Finally, we come to a story written by Cary Bates and drawn by Joe Stanton. In DC Comic Presents #10, Superman is thrown back in time by an enormous explosion while saving Paris from a terrorist threat. He ends up in World War II. Suffering from amnesia and unaware he has superpowers, Superman hooks up with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. At first, Rock and the others suspect he might be a Nazi infiltrator, but he eventually regains his memory in time to secretly use his powers to save his new friends. Then, after faking his death to explain his sudden disappearance, he returns to the present.
The plot here is a little contrived—it’s hard to do an “amnesia” plot without obvious contrivance. But tossing Superman and Sgt. Rock together is a nifty enough idea to cause us to forgive this. Once again—at the risk of sounding like a broken record—it’s a just plain fun issue.
So that’s the simple truth—the various team-up books of that decade were not ground-breaking. They didn’t introduce innovative storytelling techniques. They didn’t change the face of the industry. They just used the established characters and backgrounds of their respective universes to tell enjoyable stories. And sometimes, that’s more than enough.
Right on!
Classic status here, if only for the sheer joy you'd get seeing them on the rack at the 7-11, the cover art tantalizing you with the guest hero..."Spidey and Iron Fist! Yeah!", or "Batman and Metamorpho! All right!" These books captured the imagination, and often delivered a long dreamt of team up. As a kid, it was awesome to see Superman pitching in with The Vigilante, or The Thing and The Vision duking it out with the Mad Thinker! Combinations like that didn't happen in the regular continuity very often.
Great review!
Written by Bob Haney and with Jim Aparo’s dynamic artwork, this is once again a story that is simply fun to read.
One of my favorite things about B&B was that writer/artist pairing. You just knew you were in for a fun ride.
Finally, we come to a story written by Cary Bates and drawn by Joe Stanton. In DC Comic Presents #10, Superman is thrown back in time by an enormous explosion while saving Paris from a terrorist threat. He ends up in World War II. Suffering from amnesia and unaware he has superpowers, Superman hooks up with Sgt. Rock and Easy Company. At first, Rock and the others suspect he might be a Nazi infiltrator, but he eventually regains his memory in time to secretly use his powers to save his new friends. Then, after faking his death to explain his sudden disappearance, he returns to the present.
The plot here is a little contrived—it’s hard to do an “amnesia” plot without obvious contrivance. But tossing Superman and Sgt. Rock together is a nifty enough idea to cause us to forgive this. Once again—at the risk of sounding like a broken record—it’s a just plain fun issue.
Oh man, I forgot about this one, but I used to have it! You're right - those stories were great fun. I think that Kirkman managed more often than not to pull off the fun aspect in his recent MTU revival, but I wonder if it's possible to do something like those titles these days. Even Kirkman's MTU and the new B&B have each issue tied into the next instead of being free-standing stories. But would stand-alone stories be enough to keep the sales strong each month in the current environment?
Gargantua
06/23/2007, 14:11
So that’s the simple truth—the various team-up books of that decade were not ground-breaking. They didn’t introduce innovative storytelling techniques. They didn’t change the face of the industry. They just used the established characters and backgrounds of their respective universes to tell enjoyable stories. And sometimes, that’s more than enough.
Absolutely. Admittedly in the 70s I was something of a Marvel zombie, so I didn't really read any of the Brave and the Bold or DC Comics Presents books, but Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-in-One were some of my favorite books. It was always fun to see who the guest stars were going to be every month. I'm glad to see them resurrecting the team-up book again.
This all reminds me of another well-loved comic for the next review I want to do (if we're not feeling too overloaded with team-ups here)
"This all reminds me of another well-loved comic for the next review I want to do (if we're not feeling too overloaded with team-ups here)"
Bring it on! I'm getting a nice list of back issues to look for on my next trip to the comic shop--this thread is keeping me busy!
Gargantua
06/24/2007, 19:26
Marvel Team-Up #41-44, 1975
Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema
As Kal-El mentioned in his recent review, most of the stories in the team-up series were one-shots. But sometimes they did stories that took two, three or (as in this case) even 4 issues to tell.
Issue 41 guest stars the Scarlet Witch. The issue begins with her walking down a gloomy castle corridor, with an mysterious voice beckoning her on. A quick flashback shows her drawn all the way from Avengers Mansion - the mysterious source of the voice impels her, controls her, even speaks through her own mouth. It forces her to fly to Latveria, to Dr. Doom's abandoned castle. Wanda tries to fight it and gains the upper hand, though the voice's power and her own curiosity pulls her deeper into the castle. At last she discovers the source of the voice, and has only a second to get off a hex before it fells her. The mystic bolt soars from the castle and back to New York, where it finds...you guessed it, your friendly neighborhoo Spider-Man. Thinking it's some sort of attack he tries to avoid it, but eventually it catches him and teleports him back to Wanda's side. There, he discovers the identity of the Scarlet Witch's attacker. Puritan minister Cotton Mather. But what the history books don't record is that he has a nifty cross that fires energy blasts. He compels Wanda to collapse the ceiling upon Spider-Man, then using Doom's time machine takes her back to 1692. Spider-man escapes, notices the coordinates on the time machine and follows. He arrives Salem, Massachusetts, in time to witness Mather preparing to burn Wanda at the stake. Before he can intervene, though the Vision arrives and tries to stop them. Mistaking the red-faced Vision for the devil, the mob rises up and Spider-Man joins the other heroes.
Issue #42, guest starring the Vision.
It's Spidey, the Vision and the Scarlet Witch against a mob of puritans. Spider-Man tries to hold back, knowing they're not really evil, and that proves his undoing as they overwhelm him with numbers. A lucky musket shot grazes the Scarlet Witch, knocking her out, and the Vision, showing a surprising amount of emotion, prepares to avenge her. His anger blinds him to the danger of Mather, who blasts him with that cross of his. Spidey wakes up in the Salem jail, and befriends John Proctor, who brings Spidey up to speed. A little history lesson follows, bringing the reader up on the Salem Witch Trials. Spidey uses his strength to break his chains and revives the Vision, who is ready to join him in hunting down Mather. The Scarlet Witch is still too badly out of it, so they leave her in the jail, in the care of Proctor and his wife. In the woods outside Salem, Spidey and Vision find Mather talking with a mysterious man on a big black horse. The man's features are hidden by the shadows of the brim of his hat. Mather turns on the Vision, but this time the Vision's expecting it and dispatches him quickly. The Dark Rider (as he calls himself) releases his pet bird, which grows to giant size and attacks. The heroes dispatch it fairly easily, but then things get complicated as Dr. Doom arrives.
Issue #43, guest starring Dr. Doom
Mather, believing Doom to be some sort of avenging angel switches allegiances, but Doom wants nothing to do with him. The Dark Rider reveals that is was he who sent Mather forward in time to bring back the Scarlet Witch, and he who drew Doom back as well. He wants the power of their witchcraft. The Dark Rider enlarges his pet cat and sends it to attack. It engages Spidey and the Vision while the Rider conveniently recounts Doom's origin and tells Doom that he, the Rider, needs the magical nature of Doom that Doom himself seems to have forsaken. Meanwhile the cat, now the size of a tiger is proving a more difficult opponent than the bird was. Spdey and the Vision are havign a tough time of it, until the Scarlet Witch arrives, just in the nick of time to zap it with a hex. She couldn't stay in the village, knowing the Vision was in danger, but saving him from the cat has taken too much out of her and she faints. Meanwhile the Rider is growing larger himself, absorbing the magic power from Doom and Wanda. He dispenses with the shadowy hat revealing a frightening visage, fangs, pointy ears and a mohawk hairdo. Meanwhile back in the village, the trial of John Proctor and the other prisoners begins. In the woods, the fight isn't going well. Whatever the heroes (or Doom) throw at the Dark Rider, he absorbs and uses against them. Wanda surfaces again, just long enough to cast a hex that holds the Rider immobile for a moment before she collapses from exhaustion again. Doom impetuously presses the advantage, but his armor's blasters disrupt Wanda's magic, freeing the Rider and allowing him to defeat the others. Is this the end of our heroes...?
Issue #44 Guest Starring Moondragon
The issue opens with Moondragon on the roof of Avengers Mansion. She declines to admit it to Iron Man, but she's been troubled by dreams ever since the Vision and the Scarlet Witch disappeared. Suddenly she's seized by a fit of pain and something compels her on into the mansion where she finds a strange glowing sphere, much like the one that caught Spider-man back in the first issue of this story arc. She enters it and is transported herself back to Salem, where she witnesses a strange scene. Spidey, Wanda and the Vision are unconscious on some sort of altar. Doom's suspended in a bubble and the Rider is draining their power. The Rider forces Mather to take a knife and kill Wanda. Mather begins to realize that perhaps he's on the wrong side, but the Rider's will is too strong for him to resist, until Moondragon intervenes, breaking the Rider's control and zapping the Rider with a psychic blast. He begins absorbing her power as well, but her mental powers allow her a glimpse in his mind to his origin. He was a wizard once, when the world was dominated by wizards. The people rose up and killed all the other dark wizards, and only he escaped into the timestream. While he's occupied with Moondragon, Spidey comes to and frees the Vision and Wanda and, with some reservations, Doom as well, but lesser of two evils and all that. They continue to attack the Rider, with the same lack of success, until Spidey realizes that they haven't all tried to attack together, with all their power, all at once. He explains his plan to Doom, who decides to use not only his technological powers but his long-latent magical ones as well. This makes all the difference. While the Rider can absorb other attacks, and can absorb their magics passively, it seems he is vulnerable to a direct magic assault. Weakend by Doom, the others attack the Rider and the ancient wizard becomes a pile of ash. Doom summons his time platform and generously offers to take the others back with him. Just before they disappear, Spidey remembers something and tells them to send the machine back for him. He leaps off to the village, only to find that he is too late. Proctor and the others have been hanged as witches. You can't change history.
Several things make this story a step above the usual team-up, primarily the use of real historical events. Of course Cotton Mather was never possessed by a demon-wizard and no super heroes were ever tried as witches to my knowledge, but many of the other historical scenes are true. Proctor's trial and execution and the story he relates to Spider-Man of Tituba, Betty Parris and Sarah Good is all mostly accurate. This, the use of Cotton Mather, the Dark Rider's eerie appearance, all made it a storyline that I've remembered for years. And the fact that the first couple of issues were scheduled to be released around Halloween was a neat touch too. It isn't a perfect story.
There are a few story inconsistancies. Wanda's power's never included teleporting others through space and time that I know of, at least not back in 1975. Some extra explanations could have been nice. Presumably the Vision followed Wanda to Latveria and used Doom's time machine just as Spidey did, but that's kind of glossed over. Likewise Doom's own sudden appearance is never fully explained. We know the Rider drew him there, but not precisely how. And at the end of the second issue, the Rider seems surprised to find superpowered individuals, even though at the start of the third, he obviously knows who Doom and Wanda are and wanted them there specifically. I attribute that to making Doom's arrival a dramatic climax. You're not supposed to remember the exact details a month later, when the villain gets into his exposition. If you're willing to overlook these little things though, it's a cracking good story.
George Smiley
06/24/2007, 23:44
I had subscriptions to Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-and-One, Fantastic Four, Avengers and JLA from the time I was nine until I could drive. I had entire runs of MTU and M2&1 and those recaps were great as I was especially fond of those issues. I used to write to the letter columns and everything. Thanks again.
Gargantua
06/25/2007, 07:48
Glad to see someone else remembers those issues fondly
Heroes that they are, the FF come through it all, using their powers and ingenuity to defeat all their old foes. In desperation, the Puppet Master decides it is time to activate the final weapon, the most powerful android of all - the Incredible Hulk! But he's done his job too well. The Hulk robot is too lifelike, too much ilke the real Hulk. He refuses to obey his creator and turns on him, tearing the headquarters apart. The Puppet Master
tries to shoot the Hulk robot, but fails to take into account all the explosive material in the room and with a resounding explosion, the whole secret lair is destroyed. So at last the FF make it to their destination, and soon find themselves on their way home.
Now it's been over 25 years since I read this in my cousin's stash, but didn't the Hulk Robot escape? I always remember that it did and spent many hours in my childhood imagining where it went. Can anyone confirm?
Marvel Team-Up #41-44, 1975
Bill Mantlo & Sal Buscema
These were fun stories. If I remember correctly, there's a couple additional sort-of epilogue issues, where Spidey is lost in time for awhile, encountering Deathlok and Killraven in different versions of the future. I agree there were a few weak plot points, but also agree that the issues were entertaining enough to overcome this.
Great reveiw.
Spidey vs. the Puritans! That is the makings of a classic, if ever I saw one! Nice review!
Gargantua
06/25/2007, 16:58
These were fun stories. If I remember correctly, there's a couple additional sort-of epilogue issues, where Spidey is lost in time for awhile, encountering Deathlok and Killraven in different versions of the future. I agree there were a few weak plot points, but also agree that the issues were entertaining enough to overcome this.
Great reveiw.
I think you're right. I don't actually own those issues, but at the end of the last one it does say "Next Issue: Killraven!"
Batman #237 (December 1971)
Our Army at War #255 (May 1973)
There is a moment most regular comic book readers encounter from time to time that is pretty much unique to that storytelling medium. It comes when you are engrossed in a good story, turn the page and catch your breath at the sight of a particularly beautiful panel of art. It’s when we’ve encountered a piece of visual perfection that both moves the story along and just plain looks cool on its own.
Such a moment is what Batman #237 and OAAW #255 have in common. In most other ways, the two comics don’t share many communal traits. One is telling a superhero story; the other is telling a war story. One is a mystery; the other is an action tale. One has a strong plot running through the entire story; the other is episodic, involving several different incidents linked together thematically.
The Batman tale, written by Denny O’Neil and drawn by Neil Adams, involves a killer called the Reaper. Dressed in the traditional garb of Death and armed with a scythe, he has committed several murders. Batman and Robin investigate, discovering that the Reaper is a World War II death camp survivor whose primary target is the former commander of that camp. It’s a wonderful, tightly-plotted mystery with tragic ending that deals with the futility of revenge.
It would have been a great story anyways, but the “catch your breath” moment adds to its greatness exponentially. It comes about a third of the way through the tale, when Robin is looking for clues in the woods after finding a murder victim. He notices a shadow spreading over him and looks up in shock. We turn the page and there it is—our first look at the Reaper in a full page splash panel as he swings his scythe at the Boy Wonder. There’s no dialogue—just Adams’ perfect imagery. It’s a moment that’s important to the story as a whole. But it’s also by itself worth the price of admission.
Our Army at War, featuring Sgt. Rock in a story by Bob Kanigher and art by the great Russ Heath, begins with Rock reporting to bespectacled clerk Sgt. Egbert to get his latest orders. Egbert is constantly talking about how boring it is at headquarters and how lucky the front line troops are to be in on all the action.
Easy Company is ordered to march to a nearby river and help a lieutenant pull his jeep out of the mud. But once at the river, they’re ambushed. Several men are killed before the Germans are driven off. After the fight, they find the lieutenant is already dead—it’s all been for nothing.
Later, Egbert sends them out to fix some road signs that have been turned the wrong way. A stray bomb kills two of Rock’s men before this job is done.
Finally, Egbert gives Rock orders to find a lost dog—the mutt is a general’s mascot and has to be found. Rock goes out on this job alone, running into some Germans along the way. He brings back the dog along with several bullet wounds.
The “catch your breath” moment in this story comes in the very last panel. Another Easy Company trooper stops by headquarters to tell Egbert the job is done. Egbert is wiping his glasses clean and he holds them up to see if he’s missed a spot, all the while commenting that Rock is probably picking up donuts and coffee at the PX.
The last panel, taking up half the page, is the view through Egbert’s glasses as he holds them up, looking out through a window into the street—where Rock is being carried along in a stretcher, bandaged and bloody. Heath’s strong art had held the story together—now it provided it with a jarring, effective conclusion. Once again, it was a single image that is both a necessary part of the story and a masterpiece of comic art all on its own.
I posted the above review three days ago--then almost immediately there were a couple of days where HCRealms was either very, very slow or completely inexcessible. I thought I had done a review so bad that it shut the whole site down!!! :knockedou
I posted the above review three days ago--then almost immediately there were a couple of days where HCRealms was either very, very slow or completely inexcessible. I thought I had done a review so bad that it shut the whole site down!!! :knockedou
Not at all! Great review, hitting on a subject that I have considered many times: that great splash page or powerful moment that is unique to comics. Sure, movies and tv hit you like this too, but I think in graphic form, your imagination is engaged in a different--usually more powerful--way. And yes, I think a moment or an image like you are describing can push a comic to classic status all by itself.
Think of these classic moments:
Peter Parker finally meets Mary Jane Watson--"Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot!"
Batman back in the suit again, in the Tunnel of Love, fighting the Joker in Dark Knight Returns--"I've always known...there's nothing wrong with you that I couldn't fix... with my own two hands..."
Another Spidey moment--The bricks fall on Capt. Stacy and Spidey pulls him out of there and up to the roof. Capt. Stacy calls him Peter and tells him to look out for Gwen, then dies. "He knew all along!"
In Watchmen, Rorshach shakes down the thugs in some dive bar..."I've just broken this man's little finger"...
Those moments are what make comics what they are. Great review!
Here we go, true believers! A classic story line that has stuck with me all these years...
Daredevil Vol 1, No. 157 (and 158), March and May of 1978 (bimonthly)
"The Ungrateful Dead" and "A Grave Mistake"
Roger McKenzie, Mary Jo Duffy--script
Gene Colan, Klaus Janson--art
The story opens with DD in a hospital bed, recovering from a battle with a vision of death--while in a coma, no less--and now, materializing out of the shadows a figure in a slouch hat and dark cloak--no, not Lamont Cranston...it's the Death Stalker! (no, not Darren McGavin! The Marvel baddie who kills just by touching you!)
Death Stalker reaches out to put the death grip on DD, only to have a red white and blue disc smash into his arm at the last second! Here come the Avengers--Capt. America, Hercules, Black Widow and the Beast (during his stint as an Avenger.) Apparently, the Avengers stopped by to bring DD some flowers and end up battling the Stalker, instead!
DD is roused by the commotion just in time to keep Beast from getting the big squeeze--by wrapping him up in a bed sheet. (I think I'd prefer to get saved by Cap's shield than Daredevil's dirty laundry!)
The heroes form ranks and manage to drive the Stalker off before he can do any damage..."Very well, Avengers. You've stopped me for now. My quarrel is not with you...today." He fades away as DD takes a parting shot with the billy club, to no avail.
The Widow inquires about DD's health, and gets a healthy smooch as an answer--right in front of Hercules (who she had been "dating," or whatever you want to call that:cheeky: . Herc watches for a minute, then storms out of the room, smashing the hospital room door to splinters as he goes!
The next day at Avengers' Mansion, Dardevil works out on the trapeze with the Black Widow, just to show he's really OK. There's a good bit of romantic tension going on, but DD cuts it off before it becomes too "General Hospital." He swings out of the Mansion and returns to his girlfriend, Heather's, house, where we get to read a bunch of exposition about his love life. The average kid reading the book is about to gag when mercifully, it cuts to the next evening, at the Law office--Matt Murdock is about to leave work, only to find Heather and Natasha Romanov both expecting him to take them out on a date! Now, here's a problem every red blooded comic book reading kid would love to have!
Before Matt can bluster up some kind of excuse, the window crashes in and the Ani-Men attack! That's right, the Ani-Men--with such creative character names as Cat Man, Bird Man and Ape Man! These 2nd tier baddies have "loser" tattooed on their furry or feathered foreheads, but with DD in alter ego mode, there's not much he can do! The Black Widow takes a turn, but she gets side swiped by Bird Man. Foggy Nelson smashes a chair over Ape Man's head, but all it does it get him angry. Foggy ends up flung across the room and smashing headlong against a wall. The issue ends with the Ani-Men closing in on Murdock and everyone else hurt or cowering in the corner. What will happen next?
Ish 158--A Grave Mistake
The action picks up right where it left off--The Widow shakes off the bashing she got last ish and launches an attack of her own. She does pretty well, but 3 to 1 are long odds against her. The Ani-Men grab Murdock and kidnap him! Their "boss" wants Murdock. (Just to show how inept these Ani-men are, the crippled secretary, in her wheelchair, throws a paperweight at Bird Man and practically kayoes him! The Widow rides him out the window and pulls his wings off, dumping him to the street! Did I say 2nd tier baddies? Make that "bottom of the barrell" baddies!)
Ape Man and Cat Man leave their wounded partner and take off with Murdock, blithely discussing how losing him will make their cuts of the payoff that much bigger. In passing, they mention that the boss is named (you guessed it!) Death Stalker!
They take DD to a nearby cemetary (there are quite a few in the inner city of New York, right?) to collect their money. Death Stalker shows up and launches into a lengthy monologue, explaining everything. (convenient) He is really an old DD villain called The Exterminator, who had invented something called a time displacement ray, which DD had destroyed in the past, catching Exterminator "fully in the time shattering explosion!" He found himself in a timeless limbo. Unobserved, he could go anwhere, do anything. He stole AIM blueprints for a prototype cybernetic death grip, which he linked electronically to his gloves--thus, the killing touch.
At this point the weary reader is kinda bogged down with details, so Death Stalker turns away from Murdock and puts the glad hand on the remaining Ani Men! "Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure." ZZZTTT!
Murdock has untied the ropes that held him prisoner, and he stands up to confront Death Stalker. The villain declares that it isn't Murdock he wants-- "I want Daredevil!"
Murdock strips off his business suit to reveal the red tights beneath. "It had to come down to this sooner or later, didn't it?" he asks, as he clicks his cane apart and assembles his billy club arsenal.
Then begins the battle royal! Death Stalker lunges, and as he does, DD notices that his radar "image" becomes more clearly defined. Of course! Death Stalker has to enter DD's time plane in order to touch him...and if he can touch DD, then DD can touch him!
Some great fight panels here, with Death Stalker fazing in and out of the picture, DD grabbing him above the deadly gloves and trying to toss him around, only to have him faze out again. DD concentrates so hard on Death Stalker's fazing image, he doesn't notice the smell of freshly turned earth behind him...and falls into a newly dug grave! The head stone of the grave reads "Matthew Michael Murdock...May He Burn In Hel (you get the point).
DD gets out of the way of a deftly thrown shovel, and continues to dodge the death hands, as he formulates a plan. He throws his billy club through the fazing form of Death Stalker (who hollers "I will see you dead, Murdock! Dead! And I will dance on your grave!") ricocheting it around the cemetary like a billiard ball, until it hits his intended target, the overhead streetlight!
The ensuing darkness blinds the Stalker, and the advantage goes to DD! The stalker can't see him, so he stays in DD's time plane, lunging around, trying to grab our hero, who can focus his radar sense on the villain's heartbeat, breathing, even the deadly crackling gloves.
DD gets in a few good shots, enraging Death Stalker. The villain latches on in the dark to a statue he mistakes for DD, and chortles "I have you now, Daredevil!" As he realizes his mistake, DD brings his billy club down on the baddies' hands--as hard as he can. As the Stalker recoils in pain, DD gives him another one in the head, sending him sprawling. The Death Stalker fazes out as he hits the ground, lying with a tombstone sticking up through his ephemeral form. He shakes off the injury and jumps up to grab DD with his death grip--unaware of the tombstone until it is too late! He becomes solid inside the tombstone...killing himself in the process.
Reasons this story is a classic:
1. Bringing back an old, second rate villain and making him really dangerous and cool. "The Exterminator?" In an editorial box, the bullpen points out that DD faced down the Exterminator in DD #41, 1968! They reached back pretty far to tie this guy into the story.
2. Between issues 157 and 158, the cost of a Marvel comic went from STILL ONLY 35 cents to 40 cents. (This doesn't make it a classic, I realize, but it was a turning point in my life--I remember having to cough up that extra nickel.)
3. In an editorial bubble on the first page of ish # 158, the bullpen says "From time to time, a truly great new artist will explode upon the Marvel scene like a bombshell! We confidently predict newcomer--Lanky Frank Miller is just such an artist!" 'nuff said!
4. With the end of the Death Stalker, this brings the story arc to a close that ran all the way back to the Stalker's first appearance, in issue # 113. I had the whole run, and still do, and enjoyed the closure, as they call it.
5. I also liked the way DD gets caught with his pants on, so to speak, as Matt Murdock, when the Ani Men come to grab him. He could probably take these lugs if he could change into his tights with no one seeing him, but he has to pretend to be just a blind attorney to keep his secret identity, well, secret! The Black Widow tries to bail him out, but she is outclassed by these Ani Men losers. (How did SHE get to be an Avenger?) Foggy Nelson tries to help out, too. Murdock does the only thing that he can to keep everyone safe and to protect his secret identity--he lets himslf get kidnapped! (of course, this is exactly the right thing to do, as it also helps him get to the root of the problem, and bust up the Death Stalker!)
6. Another element that doesn't necessarily contribute to classic status, but is fun to look at--the wacky ads they used to run in comics. Sure, the obligatory X Ray specs and chattering teeth, but also Iron Man selling Hostess fruit pies, Deluxe Quality Movie Viewer, for 8MM and Super 8 films (color and black and white), sell GRIT newspapers to make money!, and the 100 piece toy soldier set--packed in this footlocker (pasteboard toy storage box.)
I am working on a review of some of the old "What If...?" Marvel mags--coming up next!
Get a load of this treasure I found, digging through my old footlocker--
Flash Gordon, No. 6, July 1967. King Comics. William Harris, Editor.
"Flash Gordon Meets the Cragmen of The Lost Continent"
No artist or writer is given credit for this gem--maybe somebody out there knows who was responsible...? Any ideas?
But, let's get to the action...
Flash, Dale and Zarkov have returned to Mongo's Lost Continent to "chart the unknown wastes, and probe the long-kept secrets of this strange and ominous land." (Who else would even try?)
They scale down the side of a valley deeper than Earth's Grand Canyon, to get to a river at the bottom. Dale is tired, but Flash decides to go ahead and build a raft--who needs to rest?
They set off on the raft and soon, the river takes them into a dark and foreboding grotto...they hang up on some rocks, and Flash decides to swim ahead a bit, to find the safest route. Dale sobs, "Flash! The current is too strong! You'll Drown!"
Flash disregards her concerns and calls out, "I've got to take the chance!" as he dives over the side.
Zarkov tries to calm Dale, noting that "He's the best swimmer on two planets!" Of course he is--he's Buster Crabbe, right?
Flash reaches a ledge and motions to his friends to go left. As he is about to return, a monstrous fish dragon thing (great cheesy art here) rears up out of the water and swallows Flash whole! Zarkov steers the raft away from the beast, only to be confronted by another. The raft is swept over a falls, dumping Dale and Zarkov into the drink!
At the base of the falls, a soggy Dale Arden pulls herself out of the water. Her travelling clothes are shredded, but her dignity is intact. She finds Zarkov just in time to begin sobbing about Flash's demise. Zarkov points out that the fish monsters were man made...and it's up to them to find out who made them! They sleep on the banks of the river, waiting for morning to start fresh.
Zarkov wakes up the next morning and notes that his leg is broken below the knee. Apparently, he didn't notice that the night before, or possibly, he broke it in his sleep...anyway, he can't go with Dale to look for food and gather fire wood. She takes care of the details, and in her travels, discovers Flash's ray gun and belt, next to some rocks arranged in the shape of an arrow. "Zarkov! He's alive! Flash is alive!"
With Zarkov out of commission, Dale has to go after Flash on her own. (What a doll!) She wisely fashions a bow and arrow out of sticks and vines, leaving the ray gun behind--maybe Zarkov needs it more, as he sits safely on his behind in their shelter?
As Dale trails Flash, she continues to find clues left behind by our intrepid hero. Unfortunately, her path is crossed by a stampeding mammoth/mastodon/big elephant thing, which is being hunted by the cragmen, hairy, loincloth-sporting cave dwellers who have deer antlers sticking out of their heads. (Well, Mongo is another planet, after all!)
Dale follows them back to their encampment after they kill the mammoth and butcher it--we are spared these details, in deference to the faint of heart.
Dale reaches the cliff side cave dwellings, and climbs to the top on a rope ladder. Looking sporty in her ragged tunic, bare legs and bow and arrow quiver, she is about to give up when she hears "Psssst!" from above.
She crawls to the top and finds Flash tied between two boulders, stretched out straight. She cries, "Flash! Darling!!"
He responds, "Quiet woman! You've gotten this far...Don't gum up the works now!"
Dale is incensed! She grumbles, "I came all this way and risked my neck to save your sorry @$%#, and THIS is my thanks?! %#@! YOU, buddy..."
No, not really. Just kidding. Dale's not much of a women's libber. She unties Flash, who remembers that he is the hero of this mag, and apologizes for his curt tone. He explains that the rocks he is tied to "grow like plants and they're pulling me apart like a torture rack! You'd be a little on edge yourself!"
Just then a cragman shows up, grunting and attacking! Flash dispatches him over the side of the cliff, but the savage's death cries bring the other crag men a-running! With nowhere to go but up, Flash and Dale climb for all they are worth. At the top, they discover why the cragmen won't follow them...it is the nesting ground of a giant, green, mohawk-headed buzzard! It attacks--like everything else in this place--as part one comes to a close.
2 pages of ads later, part two commences, finding Flash and Dale in trouble--cragmen below, giant bird coming at them...if only Dale hadn't left the danged ray gun back at camp with the gimp! But, he loves her, so Flash improvises. "With cat-like swiftness, Flash evades the bird's snapping beak and strikes surely with one of Dale's slim arrows!"
The bird flaps and struggles, trying to get the arrow out of it's neck, as Flash and Dale climb aboard. The bird flies them off the cliffs, swooping down to the ground before collapsing and dieing. Dale and Flash jump clear as the bird hits the ground. PETA probably wouldn't approve, but every red blodded pre-teen kid would love to try it!
They scramble back to find Zarkov, still cooling his heels at the river's edge, dining on filet of sole and a bottle of pinot grigio that he just happens to have in his "tool belt." Just kidding again. Ol' Zarkov is of course, thrilled to see them.
At this point, Flash breaks the news that the cragmen have a mysterious leader, called the Totem Master, who Flash is just itching to mix it up with! "We can't go on...we can't even go back...until HE's out of the way..."
Flash leaves the other two behind a waterfall (there is always a handy cave behind a waterfall on Mongo) and sets out alone to rid the planet of the Totem Master. Back at the cave dwellings, the TM is whipping the cragmen into a frenzy, driving them to blood lust to kill our three heroes.
Inexplicably, Flash opts to go without his ray gun, and the other two have only bows and arrows. Apparently, the ray gun is gone--maybe Zarkov traded it to a cragman for a side order of chips to go with his fish...
Flash sees a troupe of cragmen heading straight for the falls (and Dale and Zarkov), but he blithely decides, "I can't worry about that now...my only hope is stopping their number one man!" He runs on, leaving his friends to deal with the army of savages...
He reaches the temple (as it is called) where the Totem Master has his HQ. Flash tries to sneak up on it, but he is discovered and all the cragmen come at him again! He swings down on a vine--like Tarzan-- (Buster Crabbe? maybe Johnny Weismuller!) and busts up the joint.
The cragmen shudder in horror at their shattered idol, as Flash kicks in the side of the temple and says, "I'm curious to know just what kind of con game is going on here! Probably just another amateur magician!"
Flash swings inside, as the Totem Master (looking a lot like Obi Wan Kenobi, on Tattooine, in his hooded robes) cuts loose with a blaster. Flash makes short work of him, then says "Let's see what you look like."
A great close up here of Flash's face as he sees the Totem Master's face for the first time and "gets the surprise of his life!" "Son of a gun!" he exclaims, but we don't see the Totem Master yet. It's sure to be a big surprise, right? So read on, fearless fanboy!!
Back at the falls, Zarkov and Dale are down to their last few arrows, REALLY wishing they had held onto that ray gun, as the cragmen attack. Just as things look bleakest and the cave is over run with cragmen, a voice rings out of the shadows...The Totem Master! Flash has brought him back to control the mob of savages.
The craggies disperse, and Dale flings herself into Flash's arms..."Oh, Flash! Is it over at last?"
Zarkov says, "It's all over for this little badman...but I think we've just had a taste of what's in store for us beyond those mountains!"
The little badman is revealed to be a short bald guy with a sad face, some nobody we've never seen before. Just like Flash to keep us all guessing--you probably thought "the surprise of his life" would be someone like, oh, I don't know, uh, Ming the Frigging Merciless, maybe?!! Nope, just some bald guy with a forlorn expression. A bit anticlimactic, I agree, but after all those harrowing escapades, what wouldn't be?
But, we do get the promise of next ish, their continued journey through the lost continent and the terror lurking in...MONGO'S EDEN!
Reasons this comic is a classic:
1. It's Flash Gordon, fer Chrissakes! What more do you need?
2. 12 cent price tag --those were the days!
3. One hair raising adventure after another, but Dale's glamorous hairdo is always perfect!
4. Zarkov's mysteriously broken leg...hmmmm.
5. The bonus story at the back of the mag--Secret Agent X-9 in "The Third Key of Power!" This thinly veiled James Bond rip off pits X-9 against POWER, the master criminal organization whose network of terror stretches all over the world! Following a lead to Japan, this 4 page epic finds our hero battling a POWER baddie in a Kabuki theatre! Nifty swordplay, ending, of couse, with X-9 tossing the baddie over the railing of the theatre. In the last panel, X-9 gets his next tip--the fourth key of power is next...and the fourth letter in the word power is "E" ...it can only mean EXECUTIONER!!!
6. I gotta put in a plug for King Comics here too. They had other classic titles, like Beetle Bailey, Blondie, Popeye, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, etc. Nice to support the "other options" than just the big 2--Marvel and DC.
Flash Gordon, crazy Mongo creatures, Dale's outfit getting shredded, blood chilling action...put it all together, that equals CLASSIC.:cool:
Gargantua
07/07/2007, 08:37
Dale is incensed! She grumbles, "I came all this way and risked my neck to save your sorry @$%#, and THIS is my thanks?! %#@! YOU, buddy..."
That would have been so cool. Sadly, Dale seems to be a bit of a milksop. But those were the times I guess. Still sounds like a fun issue, even if riddled with inconsistancies, as you pointed out all the way through.
Old stories like this can seem really quaint and dated when compared to the comics of today. Still, the same can be said for old movies and TV shows. It's all about accepting them for what they are and not trying to put them up against the contemporary stuff. Cheesy? Stilted? Even contrived perhaps? Sure, but they can still be a great read if you do it in the right mindset.
It's neat that they put Flash Gordon together with Secret Agent X-9. Both originally appeared as newspaper strips in the 1930s and both were originally drawn by the great Alex Raymond.
Raymond also wrote Flash Gordon, but Secret Agent X-9 was written by Dashiell Hammett.
In fact, since King comics was part of the King Features newspaper comics syndicate, which owns Flash Gordon, it's entirely possible the comic was reprinting Flash Gordon and X-9 comic strips. In that case, the art was by Alex Raymond.
But it probably wasn't a reprint. I did a little research and found this:
1966: King Comics publishes 9 original issues of Flash Gordon [plus two reprints] featuring art and stories by Al Williamson, Frank Bolle, Ric Estrada and Reed Crandall, with stories by Archie Goodwin, Bill Pearson, and Larry Ivie.
With people like Williamson or Crandall doing the art work, it would be very easy to forgive any plot holes or plot contrivences.
But it probably wasn't a reprint. I did a little research and found this:
1966: King Comics publishes 9 original issues of Flash Gordon [plus two reprints] featuring art and stories by Al Williamson, Frank Bolle, Ric Estrada and Reed Crandall, with stories by Archie Goodwin, Bill Pearson, and Larry Ivie.
With people like Williamson or Crandall doing the art work, it would be very easy to forgive any plot holes or plot contrivences.
The art in the issue I have is top notch--reminiscent of the comic strips, but definitely not reproductions.
I would like to make myself clear--in the review, I guess I sounded like I was scornful of the plot holes or contrivances. Not so--certainly not intentional. I love those old stories, even with the gaffes and odd choices. I am a huge fan of the old school comics and revel in these "plot holes" or "cheesy" stuff. If you ask me, it only enhances the experience of reading them. They are such a product of their time--simpler and more innocent than today. On the whole, I call them superior to most of the product on the shelves today.
So, in any future reviews, I hope you'll just read my sarcasm as it is intended--tongue in cheek, and with great admiration and affection for the characters and (most of) the writers and artists. I wouldn't post a review of a comic I truly felt was second rate--every one of the issues I have reviewed on this thread are still in my collection from when I was a kid, 30 some odd years ago. I hold onto them because they are very dear to me, warts and all.
Next up--The Sea Devils!!!
It's neat that they put Flash Gordon together with Secret Agent X-9. Both originally appeared as newspaper strips in the 1930s and both were originally drawn by the great Alex Raymond.
Raymond also wrote Flash Gordon, but Secret Agent X-9 was written by Dashiell Hammett.
In my ignorance, I assumed the X-9 character came after Ian Fleming's James Bond. The similarities are kinda thick...
Do you think Ian fleming read the comics and stole X-9's world and just decided it should be British?
Kalel21? Any thoughts?
Do you think Ian fleming read the comics and stole X-9's world and just decided it should be British?
Kalel21? Any thoughts?
I only know a little about Ian Fleming's influences. He was in Intelligence during WWII, but he never pretended his Bond books to be realistic depictions of spies and espionage. I think the books do show some influence being drawn from the hard-boiled school of detective literature, which was pretty much invented by X-9 writer Dashiel Hammett. So it's possible Fleming knew about the strip and did draw from it to a degree. That's just a guess, though.
By the way, I did realize that your sarcasm was not intended as a condemnation of the comic book you were reviewing or of Old School storytelling in general. Sorry if I gave the impression I took it that way.
Crazy schedule going on right now, but don't give up on this thread just yet. When you see the review I am going to post when I get the time, it'll revitalize this thread for sure! Everyone will b e reading it and posting their own new reviews, etc.!
Maybe later tonight...:cool:
Gargantua
07/14/2007, 22:51
Well while we're waiting for Deacon's next review, I made a very happy discovery in going through some of my old comic boxes today. It was one of those oversized specials they used to print 10" x 12", that I was afraid I had lost forever. I remembered it quite fondly so I was quite pleased to see I still had it. The cover is gone completely, so I can't tell you exactly what it was called or when it was printed, but it must have been a Super Friends special because it starts with Wendy, Marvin and Wonderdog...WAIT! STOP! COME BACK! It gets better, I promise.
Anyway, they're ushered into the Hall of Justice as a special treat to meet the whole Justice League. Turns out there is a few pages of filler like that, while the bulk of the magazine is a couple of reprints of some old Gardner Fox JLA stories. Both have their nice points, so rather than choosing one to review, I'll treat you all to a twofer. I did a little Google searching to give you the original issues the stories appeared in.
First:
Operation: Jail the Justice League, Justice League of America #61, 1968
Written by Gardner Fox, Art by Mike Sekowsky & Sid Greene
The Justice League's regular meeting is in session. Green Arrow arrives late, only to announce that he is resigning, giving up his hero identity, and he advises the others to do the same. The Leauge decides as a team to let him go, but individually each of the members resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery and remarkably each has the same idea - to disguise themselves as Green Arrow and let whatever frightened him try to frighten them too. Well, all except Wonder Woman, who after trying on the costume, looks in a mirror and decides she'd never fool anyone.
In Gotham City, Batman, dressed as GA, confronts the Penguin. The Penguin manages by trickery to beat Batman, but - here's where it gets interesting - before the police arrive, a startling transformation occurs and the unconscious Batman shape changes into the Penguin, while the victorious Penguin morphs into Green Arrow. The Martian Manhunter encounters Dr. Light, with the same defeat and strange shape trade. In a quick summary we are told that in the same way Luthor, the Tattooed Man, Cutlass Charlie, Captain Boomerang and IQ have beaten Superman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Flash and Hawkman. Jason Woodrue, (Plant-Man, although he apparently hasn't adopted the name yet) is about to do the same to the Atom when the real Oliver Queen intervenes and knocks him out with a blunt arrow. He finds the device that Woodrue was about to use to change places with the Atom and turns it off. In jails across the country, supervillains are replaced by Green Arrows. They're released and return to HQ, where they find lliw waiting for them with an unconscious Dr. Destiny.
Exposition time. It's been Dr. Destiny all along, impersonating the supervillains and Green Arrow was the first hero he'd tried the trick on, using his Materioptikon to accomplish all the shape changes. The effects wore off in time for GA to get out of jail in time to reach the JLA meeting that started the whole issue. He arrived expecting to find Dr. Destiny impersonating him, but seeing that "he" wasn't there, he knew that Destiny must be impersonating one of the others. Not knowing which, he staged his "resignation" hoping that the others wouldn't be able to let the mystery go uninvestigated. Destiny comes to, but he's not defeated yet, for when he made his plans to impersonate the heroes' foes, he put the real villains to sleep with a mental command, in case anything went wrong with his plan. Right on cue, the villains storm the headquarters, each going for their arch enemies with attacks geared to their personal weaknesses (because yeah, Tattooed Man throwing an anchor at Green Lantern, that's really going to work). But the League, being the team they are realize that the way to defeat their enemies is to switch partners, as such. We talked about good splash pages a little while ago, well what follows is a great two-page spread free-for-all that'd knock any red-blooded boy's socks off. Of course the heroes win. The only mystery left to be solved is which Leaguer Destiny was impersonating. Turns out it was the Atom. Destiny caused the Atom to believe that he had already been to the meeting, so he could be sure that he wouldn't show up. Hawkman got suspicious because the Atom was the first one there - the Atom always traveled to the meeting through the phone lines, but how could he have arrived first if there was no one to pick up the phone? So Hawkman called the Atom after the meeting and confirmed his suspicions that there was an impostor.
It's a rather well-constructed story, with lots of twists and turns. But unlike so many stories, it all makes perfect sense in the end. It's also a nice showcase for Green Arrow, and it's fun to see some of those old-time villains. I know I want a "Cutlass Charlie" clix figure now. Or at least I.Q. and Tattooed Man.
Part 2, coming up shortly...
Gargantua
07/14/2007, 23:41
Case of the Diasbled Justice League
Justice League of America #36, 1965
Written by Gardner Fox, Art by Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs
This one's an interesting story, as much for the message that it's sending as for the story itself. The Justice League is preparing to visit a hospital to meet the young children there. Batman cheerfully agrees to remind behind at HQ to play the role of monster. (Boy that 1960's Batman was a lot less full of himself.) GL uses his ring to change Batman into a giant grey-skinned monster. Hawkman, Superman, Flash, Green Arrow and Green Lantern proceed to the hospital. Atom, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter are running late and would be along later. They're ushered into a ward where a group of boys with various disabilities - one is blind, one has had his arms amputated, one has only one leg...- are thrilled to see them. The heroes give the boys a demonstration of their powers. GL sets up a screen so that the boys can see what Superman sees with his telescopic vision and - gasp! he sees that there's a big gray monster destorying their headquarters. The League rush back to stop it, but after a while it seems that Batman is doing more than just playing along. The monster plays too rough, but then, it starts doing strange things to the Leaguers. Superman is blinded. Flash's legs are merged into a single leg. Green Arrow's arms disappear. Hawkman is afflicted with asthma and Green Lantern gains a stutter which appears to be mental as well as physical, making it difficult for him to use his ring. They work together to beat the Bat-Monster, Green Arrow acting as Superman's eyes and Hawkman getting the Flash close enough to hit the monster with his fists. WOndering why Batman turned on them so, they overhear a police broadcast that the villain Brain Storm is on the loose and they realize it must have been his doing. They decide that they must try to stop him, despite their disabilities, thus providing an example to the boys who are still watching them.
They strike out to find Brain Storm - a villain with a goofy-looking conical helmet that gives him the ability to essentially make whatever he thinks a reality. They're having a tough time of it, but they're determined not to team up. They have to overcome their own individual handicaps. Eventaully they do find him and he uses his powers to attack them with various threats. Superman learns to use his other senses. Green Arrow learns that he can shoot by bracing his bow with his feet and pulling the arrow back with his teeth. "A skillful archer can fire his arrows under any adverse conditions!" Even if Hawkman can't breathe well enough to fly, he can use his mind, and comes up with other ways to use his wings and gravity belt. Flash's single leg makes a heckuva jackhammer when he hops at super speed, and even if GL can't use his ring, he can still fight.
Seeing that his plan hasn't worked, Brain Storm gives up, turning them back to normal, but before they can get him to jail, he get another brainstorm. He turns the heroes into duplicates of himself under his control. Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Atom and Aquaman, and the revived Batman fly off to confront the League of Brain Storms. Brain Storm realizes that he can take full advantage of his captives powers and turns the six Brain Storms into six Flashes. Then six Green Arrows, etc. But that proves to be his downfall, for the League are able to recognize the true heroes from the copies: "Only one of those Flashes looks natural doing his speed tricks," Batman realizes and keeps his eye on that one. The others find ways to identify the others. The real Superman hesitates to charge Wonder Woman who is wielding her lasso, knowing that he's vulnerable to the magic weapon, for example. Ultimately by process of elimination, they pick Brain Storm out of the batch, knock him out and take his helmet. They all return to the hospital to conclude the visit, where they find the boys newly inspired to work to overcome their own handicaps and the Leaguers agree that no one should be treated any differently just because they have disabilities.
The story may be just a little contrived; its a little convenient that Brain Storm decided to handicap the heroes just when it would be the right time for them to set an example, but the message its trying to deliver is worth overlooking that. It was nice to see a comic trying to educate and inspire.
Some of the images from this story stuck with me over the years: Green Arrow shooting with his feet; Flash, with one leg, managing to vibrate a giant millwheel to bits. And if that's not the definition of a classic story - one that you still remember years later - then I dont' know what is.
Captain Marvel Adventures #100 (1949)
"Captain Marvel Battles the Plot Against the Universe"
Often in comics, a writer's unique story-telling style is perfectly complimented by a specific artist. We see that with Bob Finger and Bill Kane in the early Batman stories; with Stan Lee and both Kirby and Ditko in the 1960s; Denny O'Neil's Batman stories with Neil Adams art from the '70s should probably be on the list as well, as are the Sgt. Rock stories of Bob Kaniger and either Joe Kubert of Russ Heath.
In 1941, Captain Marvel creator C.C. Beck needed someone to take over the writing chores for his popular character (while Beck himself still handled most of the art). He found Otto Binder. Binder (who later helped form a lot of the Silver Age Superman mythology) understood the light-hearted feel that worked best in the Captain Marvel Universe--magic and pseudo-science were casually accepted as a part of that Universe without the need to worry too much about "rational" explanations for it all. It all meshed perfectly with with Beck's visual style. To quote from the Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics: "Beck's graphic renderings were simple, uncluttered, cartoon-oriented, and appropriately humorous."
In 1949, to celebrate the 100th issue of Captain Marvel Adventures, Binder and Beck jammed a true epic into a single issue. The evil Dr. Sivana kidnaps Tawky Tawny ("the well-known talking tiger") and steals his memoirs. From this, he learns how Billy Batson gained the power to become Captain Marvel. He goes back in time to stop Billy from meeting Shazam, but Tawny escapes and knocks him out, foiling this plan.
But Sivana also learns that Shazam wears a bracelet made from the metal Shazamium, which allows the now-dead wizard to appear as a ghost without fading away into nothingness. Sivana manages to steal the bracelet. Shazam now has only 24 hours before fading away.
Sivana is incorporeal while wearing the bracelet, so Captain Marvel can't hurt or stop him. Sivana forces Marvel to build a lot of robot Sivanas out of a living metal called Sivanium. (He needs the robots to do his work, since he can't otherwise handle solid objects while wearing the Shazamium bracelet.)
But Captain Marvel also builds a duplicate of himself out of Sivanium to build the Sivana robots, giving himself time to quickly invent a metal called Marvelium, stronger and denser than anything else. He builds a room out of Marvelium and tricks Sivana into entering. Not even incorporeal beings such as Sivana now is can pass through a Marvelium wall, so Captain Marvel is able to take the Shazamium bracelet away from Sivana and return it to Shazam in the nick of time. In the meantime, the Sivanium duplicate Captain Marvel and the Sivanium duplicate Sivanas have destroyed one another. Everyone got that?
It's an astonishing amount of storytelling for a 23-page story. And it's all incredibly entertaining, maintaining suspense while following its own bizarre but consistent logic tbroughout.
The Captain Marvel Universe was a quirky, fun place. I really wish it still existed as a seperate entity. I don't think the Marvels family has ever fit all that comfortably within the regular DC Universe. Beck and Binder gave them their own unique "feel," something that exists better on its own than after its been diluted into something else.
I know! I know! You thought I had abandoned you! You thought I had left you in the lurch, witholding the classic comix and not putting out the reviews! Well, curse my name no more! Look at this jewel from the bottom of the back issue bin...
As promised:
The Sea Devils, No. 5
May/June 1962
Russ Heath--(no credits given for art or story, except for these two names--was it the same person, or two people? Anyone out there have an answer?)
A two story issue--The Creatures Who Stole the Seven Seas! and The Secret of the Plumed Serpent.
First thing to note is the cover art on this ish. The Sea Devils are floating in the water, scuba suits on, with their backs to us, as a giant underwater statue of an ancient, sword-weilding angry Mayan god falls on them! Talk about getting right to the point! (This issue was produced in the era when cover art actually bears some resemblance to the story in the ish. Classic!) Across the top of the cover, right next to the 12 cent price tag (Classic!) the banner reads,"A Strange Doom Awaits the Sea Devils When They Uncover the "Vengeful Undersea Ghost!" Gotta buy that one!
Inside, the issue begins with the first story, "The Creatures Who Stole the Seven Seas!" This story begins innocently enough, with the Sea Devils lounging around their ocean front dive shop, bemoaning the fact that they have no assignments. Biff, Nicky and Judy complain that they are getting rusty and can barely stay awake...while in the background, looking on with a raised eyebrow, looking like a young Robert Stack, their fearless leader, Dane Dorrance, holds his pipe and seems to say, "These Sea Devils need some busy work!"
They jump into the Sea Witch, the Devils' dive boat, and put out to sea to test some new equipment. Dane barks orders, "Judy, check for ease of movement! Biff, ability to dive deep! Nicky--time submerged on that new helium mixture!"
As they are about to hit the water, a flying saucer hits the ocean and sinks from sight! The Sea Devils immediately dive over the side, in hopes of getting photos of the alien craft.
At this point, there begins a four panel series of shots of the individual Sea Devils, each thinking about "the unique elation known only by explorers of the deep..."
The impossibly thin-waisted and large-bosomed Judy intones, "When my feet touch sidewalks, I'm just a girl! But, down here, my flippers and tanks make me equal to any other diver!"
The muscular, but goofy Biff considers, "Once I dive, it's as if I leave my clumsiness and the people who laugh at me--on another planet!"
Our teen hero, Nicky, opines, "A teenager can become a man with his first dive!"
What does the fearless Dane Dorrance think as he dives in to explore an alien spacecraft? "Wish I could describe the way I feel!" Well, he is a man of few words--so what?
As they approach the bizarre disc, a large door opens on the side of the UFO and begins pulling the entire sea into the spacecraft! And the Sea Devils are sucked inside, along with any nearby sea animals!
Inside they find a giant sea alien, big enough to hold all four of the Sea Devils in one pink, scaly hand. (He looks a lot like that bug eyed actor from the original "The Hills Have Eyes."--another classic, though of a different medium.)
The giant plays with the Sea Devils for a moment, then it is back to work for him, stealing the Earth's oceans. The space ship blasts off, and as it does, the water of the ocean rises up with it! Dane peers out of a port hole, and nearly chokes on his mouthpiece as he realizes, "This fantastic creature is stealing the sea!" End of part one.
Part two begins two pages of ads later, with the Sea Devils inside the alien aquarium spaceship, watching the aliens steal the ocean, and as they clear the horizon, they see other saucers carrying away the rest of Earth's water. In their imaginations, Dane and the crew see the results of this theft on the Earth ecosystem. "Earth must be spinning faster!"
Planes wreck, tornadoes destroy farms, trains run off the tracks, skyscrapers buckle and collapse! It is armageddon down there, and the Sea Devils are helpless to stop it! They are whisked away through space, part of the contraband sea water this giant alien as stolen!
Unfortunately, the other sea creatures in the "fishbowl" choose now to freak out! Sharks attack a whale near the Sea Devils' vantage point...
"The alert Dane and the brawny Biff, from long association together in moments of peril, operate without a word, as if by telepathy..."
They team up and grab a marauding shark, deciding to give the whale a hand. Dane realizes that if the sharks taste blood in the water, it means trouble for everyone. So, Biff starts knifing the shark, riding on its back and hacking away. Dane leaves him to his grisly work as another shark enters the fray (probably attracted by the bleeding of the first). Soon they both have an enraged shark to contend with.
Without hesitation, Judy and Nicky join the battle, and with all four Sea Devils involved, well, those 15 foot Great White sharks just don't stand a chance! As soon as the sharks are dispatched to the bottom of the aquarium, the rest of the sea beasts head toward the Sea Devils! Things look bleak, and as Dane rallies the Sea Devils with some kind of underwater cry--"Fight to the end! The future of the Earth may be at stake!"--the water they are submerged in begins to freeze! In the blink of an eye, their watery environment solidifies!
Some quick exposition here, by the frozen Dane, explaining that it was lucky that they were testing the new gear, which is designed to withstand temperature and pressure changes! The reason for their icy predicament is that they have passed too close to a planetoid of solid ice! The ship's contents are frozen, but continues on its way (automatic pilot, natch!), and as they move away from the planet-sized ice ball, their aquarium begins to thaw and part two of the story comes to a close.
Part three keeps the action hot as the icy water melts and the sea beasts that were after the Sea Devils before the freeze resume their attack!
At the last second, the giant alien scoops the Sea Devils up in his massive paw and deposits them on the "dashboard" of the craft. At this point we learn--as do the Sea Devils--that the giant can communicate telepathically with them. Dane points out that it isn't English, but probably "thought pictures" the giant projects to them. The giant confirms Dane's hypothesis, and tells them that his planet lost its water due to climate change (global warming in 1962?) so his race had to steal the Earth's water. He has no intention of returning it, but suggests that the Sea Devils find other water elsewhere in space to replace it. Easy, right?
They arrive on the arid home planet of the aliens, drenching it with Earth's seas. The giant captor leaves to arrange a suitable aquarium for the Sea Devils to be put on display. Left to their own devices, the Sea Devils notice that the ship's control board is conveniently labelled for easy use! By swimming hard against the buttons, the Sea Devils are able to use the ship's massive suction power to draw the icy planetoid to them.
The icy sphere melts as it hits the alien world's atmosphere, giving the planet too much water! The giant returns to congratulate them on their success, and to let them know that he is programming the ship to take all of their water and sea beasts back to Earth, on automatic pilot! Another crazy space flight (trailing the 7 seas behind them) back to Earth, and everyone is home.
As the Sea Devils flipper out of the spaceship and watch it take off for the return flight, Dane drops a bit more exposition on us: "It is hard to believe that all this fantastic adventure took only about two hours of earth time...but we'd better get to the surface before our tanks run out!"
Back in the office, the Sea Devils collapse, glad to have no assignment or adventures scheduled. Everyone yawns and lounges around until the phone rings...and as Dane answers, Nicky, Biff and Judy react as one: Oh, no...no! That can't be--?" Dane barks to the Sea Devils, "Get on your flippers--we're going out on another mission!
The End
Second Story, "The Secret of the Plumed Serpent"
This second, much shorter story, is the one relating to the cover art. the Sea Devils travel to the Yucatan in search of a missing scientist who wupposedly disappeared while investigating a deep watery well. The scientist was looking for a sacred Mayan idol.
The lovely Judy expresses her opinion that "After the diving jobs we've done in oceans, this one in a well ought to be a polywog picnic."
Dane ignores the reference and, in his knowing way, responds, "Maybe, Judy...Maybe."
As expected, Dane is right in his apprehensions, as no sooner do they get their feet wet in the well, than they are attacked by a Mayan idol (from the cover) which appears to topple onto them--and then they are beset by a massive plumed serpent! Captured by the plumes of the snake, the Sea Devils are brought into the presence of an ancient looking Mayan chieftan, who appears to be able to breathe underwater and communicate telepathically! The chief says they can go if they can escape "The temple of a hundred doors!"
Inside the doors are sea monsters of evey description, and much hair raising action ensues, as the Sea Devils battle for their lives. After much derring-do, they decide to bag it and try to escape. The chief lets it drop that the scientist they were seeking has already bought the farm, so the Sea Devils get their schwerve on, with Dane calling out (in a thought buble, anyway!) "Fight to the Death,Sea Devils!"
In an uncanny coincidence, an underwater earthquake topples the idol for real this time, right on top of the villainous chief. In their investigations, the Sea Devils discover that the serpent and all the other under water creatures were mechanical fakes, and that the chief had scuba gear and an underwater microphone under his "chief" mask! Another unscrupulous baddie put out of commision by the sensational Sea Devils!
Reasons this comic is a classic:
1. The Sea Devils! C'mon! Underwater heroics performed by regular humans--not superpowered heroes. You gotta love 4 scuba divers saving the world's oceans from aliens! You can't write stuff like that now--fanboys everywhere would throw bricks through comic shop windows!
2. Dane Dorrance--how can this guy rate only a pog in 'clix? He and the rest of the Sea Devils should have their own team ability and The Sea Witch as a transporter--for water terrain!
3. Great art of the under water battles with sharks and sea monsters. Sure, a guy in a swim suit can kill a great white shark with just a diving knife...
4. Judy in the skin tight dive suits. 'nuff said!
5. Great ads in this ish--like the free ticket to King Bros. Sells and Gray Circus at Palisades Park (featuring Roy Roger's Liberty Horses, Emmett Kelly, Captain Astronaut, plus 150 Performers 200 animals!) On the page, a classic pose of Superman sticking his chest out and sucking in his gut, inviting you to the circus!
6. A full page of drawings and descriptions of Commemorative Medals of the Navy! (What does this have to do with anything? Well, the Sea Devils are patriotic, OK?)
7. Two complete stories (one kinda short) in one issue. That is really getting the extra bang for your 12 cents.
The Sea Devils! I call that "Classic Comics" at it's best!
1. The Sea Devils! C'mon! Underwater heroics performed by regular humans--not superpowered heroes. You gotta love 4 scuba divers saving the world's oceans from aliens! You can't write stuff like that now--fanboys everywhere would throw bricks through comic shop windows!
The Sea Devils! I call that "Classic Comics" at it's best!
I agree. I think the willingness of Golden and Silver Age writers to use people who were more or less normal guys as the protagonists of the books really added to the richness and the variety of the storytelling.
I agree. I think the willingness of Golden and Silver Age writers to use people who were more or less normal guys as the protagonists of the books really added to the richness and the variety of the storytelling.
Amen to that! I love me some Supermans and Silver Surfers, but gimmee the regular guys every time.
Faves: Doc Savage, Batman, Green Arrow (Ollie), Nightwing, Wildcat (Sr.) Sandman--Wesley Dodds, Green Hornet...etc.
I kinda put Daredevil in the list here, too, even though he has the hyper senses. He is still just a man in tights.
Seems heavy on the DC characters...the Marvel list leaves me a little cold.
Anyone I have forgotten?
Challengers of the Unknown. Spy/G-Men characters like King Faraday and Jimmy Woo. Too many others to try to list without making it a week long project.
How could I have neglected to mention my other favorite "regular" guy--FLASH GORDON?!!
And his DC equivalent, Adam Strange...
Time to get this sadly neglected thread back on track.
Golden Comics Digest #48: "The Lone Ranger's Western Treasury"
The Golden Comics Digests that came out during the 1970s were a venue used by Gold Key to reprint old comic stories. Most of them featured cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker or the Pink Panther, but occassionally they would do something really nifty showcasing an action/adventure character.
G.C.D. #48 featured the Lone Ranger, a character created for radio in 1932 who had achieved enormous sucess that spilled over into books, comics, movie serials, and both live-action and Saturday morning TV.
The Ranger can be a tricky character to write for. He pretty much has to be corny--a man who exists purely for the purpose of helping those in need. What made the Ranger popular over the years was a combination of good acting, good production values on both radio and TV and solid plots. All this helped create a version of the Old West that was believable and helped fans of the Lone Ranger accept him as "real." The actors who portrayed the Ranger (Brace Beemer on radio and Clayton Moore on TV) both played the part with real sincerity and it's to the credit to the memories of both men that they accepted their responsibilities as role models in their real lives as well.
The Gold Key comics reprinted in the Digest maintained this tradition of quality. Unfortunately, the Digest does not tell us when these stories were originally published or credit the writers and artists. Whoever they were, they were all pros: all the stories presented here are a lot of fun.
Several of the stories feature the Ranger as a peacemaker. In "On the Warpath," the Ranger's nephew Dan Reid and a young Indian boy both risk their lives to perserve peace between Indians and settlers. In "The Great Range War," the Ranger manages to negotiate a three-way agreement between feuding cattlemen, farmers and sheepherders. And in "Ransom for Silver," the Ranger must leave his horse behind as a hostage while he works to prevent two rival tribes from going to war.
"Silver Bullets" is set early in the Ranger's career, as he and Tonto go undercover with a gang of rustlers to lure them into a trap. The story takes a nice twist after the bad guys are captured--the Ranger abruptly finds himself trying to prevent the posse from degenerating into a lynch mob.
In "The Mission of Mercy," the Ranger and Tonto escort a doctor carrying smallpox vaccine to an Indian tribe. The action moves from a riverboat to a stagecoach as a gang of bandits, who have an unknown motive for wanting to see the tribe die off, tries to stop them.
In "Cunning Hunter," the Ranger and Tonto hunt a wounded puma that has been endangering human lives, only to discover that the puma is itself a skilled and tricky hunter.
Another story features Silver, before he was befriended by the Lone Ranger and was still running wild, being stalked by an Apache who wants the magnificent horse for himself. Silver's not easy to catch, though, and the Apache learns to respect the horse's freedom. (Those familar with Lone Ranger mythology will remember that the Ranger never captured Silver, but let him go after saving him from a buffalo. Silver voluntarily choose to become the Ranger's mount.)
Finally, "Indian Scout" is a story about Tonto, also before he met the Ranger, as he helps lead a wagon train through a desert as they are menaced by an Indian war party. This story also tells us how Tonto acquired his own superb mount, Scout.
All the stories have good, solid plots. The different artists are all good, helping to tell the story clearly and presenting the fight and battle sequences in ways that allow the readers to easily follow the flow of the action. There's a lot of realistic detail, both in the portrayal of the equipment and weapons of the Old West and in the actions of the characters, that help add to the overall versimilitude. For instance, in "Indian Scout," Tonto shows the settlers how to find hidden water holes in the desert. in "The Mission of Mercy," there's a sequence where the riverboat uses large wooden spars to help lever itself over a sandbar--something real-life riverboats of the time did all the time. These little bits of accurate practical and historical detail help maintain the drama of the stories.
The Indians, for the most part, talk in the same sort of pronoun-less stilted English that Tonto is famous for. This is something that has been cited (with some justification) as a reflection of the bigotry of the time these stories were produced. But both whites and Indians in these particular tales have their share of good guys and bad guys. Neither the Ranger nor Tonto ever make decisions about helping people based on race--rather they are driven by the needs of justice and compassion.
And that's just as it should be.
Thanks for giving the shout out to one of the best characters ever.
Great comics. And was there ever a better theme song for a tv show?
Clayton Moore was the man!
Gargantua
09/01/2007, 11:24
And was there ever a better theme song for a tv show?!
Too true. Makes you wonder what Rossini would have thought of it. But after all, the Lone Ranger is a bit of a latter day William Tell, so he probably would be okay with it. And I bet he could definitely shoot an apple off of Tonto's head with those silver bullets.
The radio show used to play the William Tell overture for over a minute at the opening of each episode. It was the best mood-setting music ever, calling up vivid images of the Lone Ranger astride Silver as the great horse galloped over the deserts and prairies of the Southwest.
Hey, gang! I know, you thought I had forgotten you again! Not so! I have just been out of the country (China, to be exact!) so I have missed many opportunities to harangue you all about my opinions of Classic Comics.
Coming up: The Clown Prince of Crime finally gets his due in his own short-lived but entertaining title: "The Joker!" I'll review issue #1 here, next!
Don't miss it!
As promised:
The Joker
Volume #1, Issue #1
May 1975
"The Joker's Double Jeopardy"
story by Denny O'Neil
Art by Irv Novick & Dick Giordano
Editing by Julius Schwartz
Cover art--The classic Batman villains Two Face, Cat Woman, Riddler and The Penguin all stare in disbelief as The Joker laughs at them, "Hahaha! Eat your hearts out, you two bit baddies! This magazine belongs to Batman's Number One Foe...ME!" He shreds a poster of The Caped Crusader, and a banner headline howls, "1st Sensational Issue of The Clown Prince of Crime in His Own Magazine!"
Whew!
If that wasn't enough to get you to pony up the 25 cents this comic cost at the time, I don't know what would be. A comic told from the villain's point of view. Sure, that has been done plenty since those days. But not at that time! I was an avid reader then, and I was blown away at the idea of the bad guy getting his own title! And who better than The Joker? Luthor? Braniac? Captain Boomerang? No way! It had to be The Joker!
The first issue begins with the obligatory break out from Arkham Asylum, only it is Two Face getting sprung, not our title character! The Joker gets insulted--because someone thought Two Face was a better criminal mastermind than himself! So, to make himself feel better, The Joker breaks out and decides to ruin Two Face's caper, just to prove he is the better villain!
There is some exposition here regarding the reason why they broke Two Face out of the nut house, but the important thing is that The Joker is going to foil his plans. Batman is conveniently out of town, so The Joker has free reign to go berserk in Gotham. But, his pride is on the line, so he can't pull any of his own jobs until he has flushed Two Face's efforts!
The Joker gets his henchen together (after HE breaks out of Arkham, too! Sheesh! The security there is loose as a goose!) and they spring a surprise on Two Face and his partner, a Senor Alvarez, who wants Harvey to steal some priceless solid gold doubloons, which have two faces, natch!
Posing as room service, The Joker and his henchman get into Dent's room, then slam an acid pie into the face of Senor Alvarez! Dent has had his turn with acid in the kisser, so he makes short work of Joker's pal. Then, when The Joker gets the drop on him with a double-barreled pistol ("This is a gimmick you should have thought of! Hahaha!") Two Face bowls him over, by klunking The Joker in the face with a nearby bowl of pears. A little later, Joker sees the humor in that--pears, as in pairs, as in twos!
Two Face beats a hasty retreat, but The Joker has overheard enough to know what the plan is. He intends to spoil Two Face's fun as Harvey attempts to nab the doubloons.
He figures out that Two Face will plan his caper for the next day, the 2nd day of the month, so he goes to the museum where the doubloons are on display and tries to wait him out. Unfortunately, Two Face has gotten there first and gets the drop on him--Kapow!
When our grinning anti hero comes to, he is strapped to an old fashioned buzz saw in the basement of the museum--a sub-basement, or second basement! (Two Face doesn't miss a trick!)
The Joker protests that Two Face is violating his own M. O. "You always use a pair of something in your jobs! Where is the double in this set up?"
Two Face replies, "Don't you see? The saw will bisect you...and when it reaches your chin, you'll be like me--a Two Face! So go ahead and laugh, Joker! Laugh until you split!"
The Joker is incensed! "I give with the gags, Mr. Straightman! Still...Ha, Ha, ha! Can't help laughing at THAT joke, even though it is on me!"
He escapes by squeezing some acid out of his squirting lapel flower, and it burns the ropes just in time. Now he's really spoiling for a fight!
Two Face steals the doubloons and waits in the museum attic for the action to calm down before he makes his escape. Before he can slip out a window, a voice like broken glass demands... Don't leave yet!"
Joker has deduced that Two Face would hide out on the second floor of the museum, and confronts him before he can leave. Two Face turns on him--"I'll fight, but I won't listen to your idiotic cracks!"
Some classic Joker gags here, where he pulls out his fake hair and throws it into Two Face's eyes, causing them to sting. "Maybe a few slaps will clear them! Mr. Helpful, that's me!" SLAP, SLAP, SLAP!
Two Face grabs The Joker by his coat and shouts, "Blast you! I won't be beaten by a clown! The Batman is my equal, but you...you're a buffoon, and I'll break you!"
What he doesn't know is that The Joker has smeared the lapels of his coat with a powerful adhesive! Both of Two Face's hands are stuck holding on to Joker's coat! "You're stuck like a fly on flypaper! You can't object to being swatted!" BONK, SMACK, POW!
Two Face lunges backward, pulling The Joker with him and they both hit the floor, cracking their heads and knocking themselves unconscious.
The next day, as the museum guards check the area, they discover a couple of sleeping Arkham alumni, ready to head back to their cells. The guards haul them off, and explain that the doubloons Two Face stole were actually fakes--Alvarez had already stolen them back in his country, but wanted to have Two Face steal the phonies to cover his tracks.
On hearing this, The Joker busts out with a peal of laughter--"HA-HA-HA-HA...Why aren't you laughing, Two Face? Don't you realize? You--the supreme double dealer--have been double crossed!"
The final panel has a classic close up of The Joker's jeering, pasty smile as they are lead away to Arkham, with Two Face scowling in the background.
Reasons this comic is a classic:
1. The previously mentioned cool idea of it--the comic told from the bad guy's viewpoint.
2. Great to see The Joker pitted against someone who is his equal--Two Face! Two super villains going after each other! With no obligatory hero to muck up their plans!
3. Terrific art of The Joker--that classic long, skinny face, with the maniacal smile and pointy nose--very 70's style. Not so much of the "gritty realism" everyone seems to demand today.
4. Constant use of puns on the number 2. The writing for The Joker's dialogue is first rate--as it should be.
5. In place of the letters column (since it is a first ish) there is a full page of Joker history, with lots of facts about the character's development and origins... "The perfect model for the look of the character came from a movie edition of Victor hugo's novel, The Man Who Laughs. The still photos showed Conrad Veidt as Gwynplaine, son of a British Lord, who had been kidnapped in infancy and transformed into a carnival freak by having a perpetual grin carved into his face. Veidt's makeup for the picture gave the perfect grin for The Joker, and this was the model for the villain who made his debut in Batman #1, (Spring, 1960)."
The Joker in his own comic. You can't get more classic than that! :laugh:
Gargantua
09/18/2007, 08:00
Sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for breathing some life back into this thread.
Great review of a great issue. Thanks.
Jimmy Olsen, Superman's Pal #62 (1962)
"Superman's Phantom Pal"
When Jimmy Olsen is perusing his collection of Superman-related trophies and keepsakes, he accidentally breaths some of the formula that gives him elastic powers. So for 24 hours, he will once again be Elastic Lad.
Quick to take advantage of this, Perry White tells Jimmy to spend the day doing good deeds with his powers, then write a feature on it. Jimmy soon discovers that an Elastic Lad's work is never done. He helps recover a kid's football from down a hole, catches a gang of thieves called the "Dagger Gang" (so-called because they all wear vests containing bunches of throwing knives), and stretches up above cloud-level to warn a small plane that the local airport is flooded. The best bit is probably when he shows a little kid in the zoo how an anteater's tongue works by stretching his own tongue out about 20 yards to lick some ice cream off of a cone held by Lucy Lane.
But then things go awry when he stretches through a small hole in the fabric of space to end up in the Phantom Zone. The villains trapped there try to take advantage of Jimmy by showing him Superman's secret identity. They figure Jimmy is bound to slip and accidentally give Superman's secret away sooner or later.
It seems at first that Jimmy has given way to temptation and peeked. But after strectching back out of hole back into reality, he reveals that he kept his eyes closed and didn't see a thing. Though it would have been the news scoop of the century, Jimmy would never do anything to endanger his best pal.
Like many Superman-related stories from the 1950s/early 60s, this one is basically silly. But it's still fun, bringing together different elements of Superman's ever-growing mythology to tell an entertaining tale.
During the late 1950s, editor Mort Weisinger had made a conscious decision to add some new element to the Superman mythos about every six months or so. This decision led to the creations of the Legion of Super Heroes, Supergirl, Krypto, the Phantom Zone, the various types of Kryptonite, Lori Lemaris, the Fortress of Solitude and countless other things that made Superman's universe so rich and diverse. Running storylines such as Jimmy Olsen's regular transformations into various bizarre entities such as Elastic Lad or Giant Turtle Boy were established. Before long, the writers and artists had created a self-consistent background that allowed stories like "Superman's Phantom Pal" to exist.
And, by golly, the world is a much finer place because of this.
Here, by the way, is a link that will allow you to read this story online:
http://supermanthrutheages.com/tales2/phantompal/
I'm suffering "Classic Comics" writer's block in that I can't decide what to review next.
Somebody post the name of any comic book character or group that has been around 20+ years. I'll then do a review of an old issue featuring that character/group.
Gargantua
09/26/2007, 23:11
I'm suffering "Classic Comics" writer's block in that I can't decide what to review next.
Somebody post the name of any comic book character or group that has been around 20+ years. I'll then do a review of an old issue featuring that character/group.
Okay I'll bite. I'll even make it fairly easy. The Eternals.
Eternals #7 (1977)
When Jack Kirby returned to Marvel in the late '70s, one of his efforts was The Eternals, a book about nearly omnipotent beings that was thematically similar to his work on the "The New Gods" at DC. He created a complex mythology, involving the giant, all-powerful Celestials and the experiments they had done on Earth over many thousands of years--experiments which led to the creation of the immortal Eternals and the grotesque Deviants.
As with "The New Gods" at DC, Kirby's ideas were just so inherently cool that they soon became an ingrained part of regular Marvel continuity. The series also shared a tragic irony with "The New Gods," in that it failed to generate sales in its initial run and was cancelled before Kirby's drawn out storyline was fully resolved.
Eternals #7 is set at the ruins of an ancient Inca temple. Several giant Celestials are there, getting ready to judge the worthiness of their creations on Earth--something that could result in Earth's destruction if that judgement goes bad.
Three SHIELD agents show up to investigate. Archeologist Daniel Damian and Ajak the Eternal warn them to take care, filling them in on the history of the Celestials. But the agents don't heed the warning. One of the agents tosses a pocket-sized tactical nuclear device at the Celestials, but one of the giants simply catches the bomb and contains the explosion in his fist. When the SHIELD agents try to escape, they are reduced to their component atoms and stored in a small box. Meanwhile,the Celestials get ready to render their judgement.
Within this basic plot, Kirby throws his usual non-stop flood of awesome images and cosmic ideas at us one after another. As is usual with his best stuff, its really not possible to do the story justice with a short prose summery--you've really got to see it to appreciate it. The tension he puts in the character poses; the pure energy he infuses into each action sequence; the richness of both his art and his plot ideas. Kirby was good no matter what the content of the stories he drew--whether it involved godlike beings, superheroes, cowboys or, by golly teenage romance stories. But he was at his absolute best in a no-holds-bar science fiction environment like The Eternals, where he could take the story in any direction he wanted without any built-in storytelling restrictions.
Gargantua
09/27/2007, 22:15
Thanks for that! Always did like that series. They didn't call Kirby "King" for nothing.
By the end of the week, I'll post a review of a number of Haunted Tank stories--stories that features each of the different tanks that Jeb Stuart and his crew used over the years.
How many Haunted Tanks does it take to win a war?
When writer Bob Kanigher first created the Haunted Tank in G.I. Combat #87 (1961), he came up with a pretty nifty idea. A guy named Jeb Stuart, the namesake of the famous Civil War cavalry general, is placed in command of a Stuart tank during World War II. Soon, he discovers that his tank is actually haunted by Gen. Stuart. Only Jeb can see and hear the general, who provides him with cryptic advice that Jeb usually interprets in the nick of time to pull himself and his tank out of the fire.
For a dozen years, this formula worked well. The art was nearly always provided by either Joe Kubert or Russ Heath, giving the stories the strong visual backbone they needed. Kanigher didn’t worry a lot about character development or historical continuity. He just told good stories, giving Kubert and Heath the opportunity to provide wonderful imagery.
But in 1973, things changed for Jeb and his crew. In G.I. Combat #150, in the midst of a story in which the ghostly General Stuart has announced he’ll no longer be around to help, the Stuart tank is destroyed in battle. Jeb and his crew don’t quit, though. They go to a tank graveyard and build a bigger, better tank out of a mish-mash of parts from destroyed tanks. In the end they are victorious. Gen. Stuart returns, telling Jeb that it was never the ghost that gave them good luck, nor even their tank—but their own fighting hearts.
This issue features Russ Heath’s typically wonderful art, including an emotionally jarring panel in which Jeb and his crew flee in panic from the flaming wreck of their original tank. The action sequences are all perfectly choreographed.
For three years, the series played on the irony of the Haunted Tank being built Frankenstein-like from the wrecks of dead tanks. But in G.I. Combat #185 (1975), that tank was destroyed when a German fighter plane, shot out of the sky by the Jeb’s crew, smashed into it.
Jeb and his men find their way to a nearby village. There they see that a small Stuart Tank—the twin of the original Haunted Tank—has been captured by the Germans. Taking over the Stuart, they engage in a dogfight against a huge Tiger Tank through the streets of the village. Jeb wins by taking advantage of his tank’s smaller size, using the narrow alleys to get behind the Tiger and blast it to pieces. It’s another fine issue, with Sam Glanzman doing a particularly good job of depicting the tank vs. tank fight. We always understand the situation as we follow the action—Glanzman is able to ensure that we can see where the two opposing tanks always are in relation to each other.
So they were back to using a Stuart. But that lasted less than a year. In G.I. Combat #194 (1976), the Stuart takes out two enemy tanks, but is itself fatally damaged. The crew bails out only to be captured and sent to a nearby concentration camp.
Meanwhile, the commander of one of the German tanks, himself badly wounded, is taken to a base holiday. The commander is a particularly brilliant tactician. Rather than lose his skill, the German doctors rebuild his body, turning him into a robot.
When the Americans escape (in a grisly scene in which they hid in the truck taking bodies to a mass grave, then knife the truck drivers once out of the camp), they run across a Sherman tank whose crew was killed. They take this for their own. General Stuart is enraged—how dare they use a tank named after “that Union firebrand who set fire to my beloved South!”
When the Sherman goes up against a Tiger tank commanded by the robotic commander, they end up in a fight for their lives that they only barely win. The issue ends with Gen. Stuart returning to them, having realized he is the guardian of men, not a “hunk of steel.”
The story here strays perhaps a little bit too far into science-fiction territory to really work as effectively as it could, but Glanzman’s art is still strong and, in the end, a robot Nazi tank commander is no more unlikely than a ghostly Confederate cavalryman who gets into a snit over the name of a tank.
Anyways, Jeb and his crew stayed in a Sherman until the series eventually ended. (Though not the same Sherman the whole time—they lost a few along the way.) Regardless of which tank they were using—each of which had its own little bit of irony behind it—the stories were always fun to read. General Stuart was right—it was the fighting hearts of Jeb Stuart, Arch, Slim, Rick and Gus that were really important.
Gargantua
10/14/2007, 09:35
Those are cool stories. I was never much into the war books, but those sound like a lot of fun.
I've got an idea for some reviews, but it's going to require me finding time to go through my boxes and reread some stuff (what a hardship!)
Hey, gang! I'm back in the US, and online again! Love the reviews of the Haunted Tank mags. Never caught those titles--I'll look for them next time I am in a shop.
I have a couple of ideas for reviews. Just gotta get over the jet lag first!
Gargantua
10/14/2007, 23:14
You know what the best part of summertime was when I was a kid? Going to the beach? Nope. The cookouts? Nope. Having no school for two months? No...okay, that probably was the best part of the summer. But the next best thing, a very close second, was that summer was Annual Season. (Wabbit Season!) Every summer Marvel and DC would release Annuals for all their comics. Not only did you get an extra issue of all your favorites, it was a double sized issue, with special titanic tales that couldn't be contained in the mere 22 pages of your regular monthly comic. I saw a Wolverine Annual on the newsstand the other day, and it got me reminiscing about all the annuals from my past. So I went and dug some out this afternoon and did some reading. And for the first in what will hopefully be a series of reviews of those special Annuals/Giant-Size issues, I'll start with:
Spider-Man Annual #18 (1984)
Plot by Tom DeFalco, Scripted by Stan Lee, Pencils by Ron Frenz
"Scorpion Takes a Bride"
The story begins with Spider-Man running across some bank robbers making their getaway in a helicopter. He does the only thing he can think to do and hitches a ride on the copter with his webbing. The robbers see him and try to shake him off, and end up by breaking their own rotor. Spider-Man sets up a series of web-lines to break their fall. None can stop it, but each slows it down enough so that when it finally hits the ground, it's going slow enough that Spidey can catch it.
Going to the Bugle to sell the pictures of the adventure, Peter Parker finds the Bugle staff in an unusually happy mood. There's a wedding in the works and the groom is none other than J. Jonah Jameson! Spidey eavesdrops on Jonah's discussion of the wedding plans with the bride-to-be, Marla Madison, then once she leaves the room, he reveals himself to Jonah with a bouquet of flowers and since he can't kiss the bride he smacks one on Jonah himself! (I guess since he has his mask on, it was okay to show that kind of stuff in 1984. Scandalous!)
Jonah blows off some steam at the hapless Bugle staff and then travels to the suburbs to the sanitarium, to pay a visit to his son John, recovering from being the Man-Wolf, presumably. Jonah breaks the news of the upcoming nuptuals to John, who loses his temper - "She'll come between us! I know she will! Just like something always comes between us!" Jonah leaves, brought down by the sour ending to the visit. But someone else is watching him go...
It's Max Gargan, the Scorpion, who's locked away in the same sanitarium, and who has been nursing a grudge against Jonah since the sixties for turning him into the villain. That night, an over friendly guard informs the Gargan of the impending wedding. It's what the Scorpion was waiting for and makes his escape, kidnapping John at the same time.
As soon as word gets out, the NYPD puts a whole detail around Jameson for his protection. He sends Marla away for her own safety, but an eavesdropping Spider-Man has his suspicions and follows her home. Of course the Scorpion doesn't go for Jonah directly. He goes for his bride and easily makes short work of the much smaller police detail protecting her. But Spider-Man arrives in the nick of time. He's got his hands full trying not only to fight the much stronger Scorpion, but also protecting Marla as well. When the Scorpion accidentally blasts the lights, Spidey thinks his Spider-sense will give him the advantage, but the Scorpion lights up the room every time he blasts with his tail.
Meanwhile, Capt. Jean DeWolfe, trying to radio the other detail from Jameson's home can't get through. Realizign that something's wrong, Jameson slips out of protective custody and hails a cab. Meanwhile meanwhile, John manages to escape the sewer prison that the Scorpion was keeping him in.
At last Spidey manages to grab Marla and tries to get her out of the apartment to safety, but the Scorpion follows them across the rooftops. He throws a chunk of building at Spidey who realizes that he can't just dodge it, or it will fall to the street, endangering innocents below, so he kicks it, shattering it to tiny bits which fall harmlessly. At last, Spider-Man gets to a place where he can put Marla down and focus his full attention on the Scorpion. While she flees down the stairs, Spidey and the Scorpion fight, but the Scorpion has the clever idea to use his tail to reduce part of the cornice to rubble. Again, Spider-Man has to stop the debris from falling and hitting the bystanders below.
The Scorpion leaps to the ground and easily catches Marla again. He threatens her when Jonah arrives and pleads with him not to hurt her. But it isn't enough for the Scorpion to hurt him physically; he's got to hurt him by killing those he loves. John arrives in time to witness this scene, and seeing that they'd die for each other, tries to stop the Scorpion himself. The Scorpion easily knocks out John and then forces Jonah to choose which one can live and which will die, his bride or his son. Jonah again pleads with him to kill him and let them go. The Scorpion laughs. He had no intention of sparing either of them, he just wanted to see Jonah beg.
But suddenly, the Scorpion is blinded by webbing. Spider-Man has managed to shore up the debris and return to the fight. The battle continues in a nearby warehouse. Spider-Man goads the Scorpion into lashing out at him wildly until he tires himself out enough that Spidey can at last overcome him.
The Scorpion's carted away by the law, Jonah and John reconcile and the wedding goes on, with John as the best man and the whole Bugle staff looking on.
There's nothing special about the fight scenes here. Spidey and the Scorpion going at it as they have dozens of times before. What makes this issue special is the humanization of J. Jonah Jameson. So often just seen as the cantankerous publisher who serves as a thorn in the side of both Spider-Man and Peter Parker, it's nice to see another side to him.
Thanks for the great review. I agree that those occasional humanizing moments Jonah was given from time to time really gave depth to what might otherwise have been a one-joke character.
George Smiley
10/15/2007, 12:38
I enjoyed the Eternals, the Haunted Tank and the Spiderman reviews. I'm pretty sure I read that Spiderman issue.
Thanks
Here's one I keep meaning to write, but just haven't gotten around to it:
Classic Comics--Advertising Division
That's right! Let's not overlook the classic ads that ran in the comics back in the day--sometimes, they were better than the story and/or art in the issue!
Who can forget the thrill of reading along in the comic, then turning the page and getting hit with a full page ad for GRIT newspapers? "Sell GRIT--America's Only Full Family Newspaper!" Oh, the money and prizes you could earn, just for selling GRIT, a newspaper that EVERYONE wants to read! It practically sells itself! 30,000 people are already reading it...noboby I know is reading it, but heck, I'll bet they will if I sell it to them!
Then, just a few pages of boring comic book story later, they lay on you the full page of Fun Factory ads, complete with everything a kid could want to buy (with all that GRIT $$$$, natch!)--X-Ray Specs, The "Spud Gun", mysterious "flesh eating" plants, Onion flavored chewing gum (surprise your friends!) and the ever popular Joy Buzzer, among many others! Plastic Fly in the Ice Cube, Black soap, and who could forget... the Exploding Pen! Laughs Galore!
Then, they'd hit you where it hurts--The Joe Weider Free Muscleman Course, promising to make you an "Athletic, Virile He-Man!" Looking down at the pathetic rack of bones and skin that was your body at age 11, of course you want to be like Joe! Sign me up, you muse, as your imagination pictures yourself as a muscle-bound girl-magnet, with arms bulging and chest flexing. Oh, yeah...wasn't there a superhero story in this comic...?
"Be a Skilled Locksmith!" Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I should learn a trade in case that GRIT newspaper thing doesn't pay off...
"100 Little Dolls for $3! Ivory Plastic!" Sheesh! What am I reading, here, "Little Lulu"?
"Free! 40 Red China Postage Stamps! Forbidden for a Generation! SAVE these Valuable Postage Stamps NOW while they last!" Who knew stamp collecting could be so exhilarating! Oooh, they're forbidden!
Don't worry...I didn't forget..."Enter the Wonderful World of Amazing Live SEA MONKEYS!" Own a Bowlfull of Happiness! Just add water! SO EAGER TO PLEASE THEY CAN EVEN BE TRAINED! Always clowning around, these frolicsome pets swim, stunt, and play games with each other..." Only $1.00 !!!!
But, here's the one that got me--I mean, really got me.
FOOM! (Friends Of Ol' Marvel) The most fabulous fun filled fan club since Doctor Doom organized the Villains Interested in Latvian Etchings!
Here's what you get...(1) A giant sized full colr poster featuring Marvel's mightiest, most sought after heroes! (2) Your own personal gold finished Membership Card, guaranteed to get you into any meeting of the Avengers, Fantastic Four, or the Yancy Street Needlpoint Society! (3) A fistful of slightly sensational stick-ons! (4) Plus--and here's the clincher--A full year's subscription to FOOM Magazine, available to only FOOM members and jammed full of comics, photos, and more goodies than you can shake a gamma ray at! (5) PS--Your eyes will not believe the special Surprise Envelope all these treasures come in! Only $2.50!!
In all seriousness, I want to put in a vote for the ads of the classic comics being an element that contributes to their classic status. Sure, you gotta have great story and art and important events in the issue, but I still fondly remember reading these ads--after I had finished the story--and getting a charge out of most of them. If a classic comic is judged from cover to cover, the ads gotta be considered, too...;)
Gargantua
10/17/2007, 23:49
In all seriousness, I want to put in a vote for the ads of the classic comics being an element that contributes to their classic status. Sure, you gotta have great story and art and important events in the issue, but I still fondly remember reading these ads--after I had finished the story--and getting a charge out of most of them. If a classic comic is judged from cover to cover, the ads gotta be considered, too
Oh, so true. But how could you neglect to mention the classic Hostess snack cake ads, featuring all of our favorite characaters?
Spider-Man: My Spider-Sense is tingling but nothing else is moving. I must break this electronic field trap somehow.
The Fly: This is serious my wiry friend and enemy. Let's hear a joke now.
Spider-Man: Okay you win. I give up. But first have a Hostess "Twinkies" here in my utility belt.
The Fly: Delicious Hostess "Twinkies"! It's the only thing I love. That golden sponge cake...and creamed filling!
And then while he's distracted...
Spider-Man: OK, my buzing gadfly, I'm going to swat you like a mosquito.
The Fly: Do what you want. Clip my wings. Anything. But at least have the deceny to let me finish my wonderful Hostess "Twinkies"!
Spider-Man: Of course, my noble enemy. I dispense justice, but tempered with mercy. And sometimes even Hostess "Twinkies"
I swear back in the day, Hostess saved the world more times than the Avengers and Justice League combined.
I always wanted those X-Ray glasses, but it's just as well I never did send away for them. I have a sneaking feeling they didn't quite work as well as the ad implied. :ermm:
Gargantua
10/18/2007, 13:40
Ooh, ooh, or how about the 400 piece toy soliders sets. Roman armies, Revolutionary War, WWII, each for $4.95! (Okay I may have some of the numbers off. This is all from memory! You know the ones I'm talking about.)
Remember the ads for the "Helen of Toy" games? Games that included a zillion small plastice soldiers/ships/vehicles and a plastic map. I actually sent away for the WWII game called "Woods Edge." It was a pretty good game."
http://www.greenforcetoysoldiers.com/helenoftoy.html
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/58878
Gargantua
10/19/2007, 08:09
Yeah, those are the ads I was thinking of! Overestimated the number of soldiers and price, but like I said I was working purely from memory on that one.
I'm kind of glad to hear that they were good games
Seperate from the Helen of Toy games, there was an ad for a Revolutionary War soldier set, with art done by Russ Heath. That ad seemed to be in just about every comic for a long time.
There's a picture of it on Heath's Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Heath
Oh, so true. But how could you neglect to mention the classic Hostess snack cake ads, featuring all of our favorite characaters?
I swear back in the day, Hostess saved the world more times than the Avengers and Justice League combined.
RIGHT! My favorite was Batman and Robin saving the professor and his unreasonably hot daughter or assistant from the Mummy by distracting him with Fruit pies or Ho Ho's or something like that. I guess that utility belt had a pouch for everything!:laugh:
Gargantua
10/19/2007, 23:26
Here's a fun one I found in my Annual search
Giant-Size Fantastic Four #2 (1974)
Written by Gerry Conway
Art by Sal Buscema
CATACLYSM!
The Fantastic Four (with Medusa subbing for Invisible Woman who is on maternity leave) are testing a new shuttlecraft for NASA. As they start their approach back to Earth, a bright flash covers the whole planet, blinding the Thing who is piloting the craft. He doesn't panic, and manages to bring the spaceship down in one piece albeit a bit roughly. They're apparently nowhere near the airstrip they were shooting for, and even when Johnny takes to the skies, he can see no sign of any building or even a road. Reed concludes that they must be deep in the Everglades, and there's nothing for it but to start walking. "Civilization can't be more than a few hours away," he reasons. He finds out how wrong he is shortly thereafter when the group is attacked by cavemen. Of course a bunch of cavemen are no match for the FF and they dispatch them quickly enough. Johnny concludes that they must have gone back in time. But he's corrected by the Watcher. "Time itself has been transformed, changed...twisted." He summons a monitor which shows a record of what happened, only just a few minutes back. Someone entered the Baxter Building and used Dr. Doom's time machine to go back in time, and something he did changed the course of history. So once again the Watcher must break his vow and intervene so that they may set things right.
He begins by sending Reed and Johnny back to 1777. Reed reasons that in order to change the timestream so potently, the mysterious time traveller must have done something to change history drastically. All they need to do is keep an ear out for any strange happenings. It doesn't take long. They disguise themselves as locals and hit the tavern, where they hear a man telling of how the Redcoats had captured the general. They decide to investigate and ride off to locate a British fort. It only takes Reed a quick look to ascertain that "the general" is none other than George Washington. He has the Torch create a diversion, which Johnny does with glee, burning a hole through the fort wall and melting the cannonballs that the British attempt to shoot him with. Meanwhile, Reed himself finds Washington and explains that they're here to rescue him. They quickly make off with Washington. The general tries to enlist them, but of course they must decline, nor can they tell him where they came from. Washington explains that he was captured when a man appeared in a blinding flash, causing his horse to throw him, knocking him out, which was how the British found him. Having set things to rights, Reed and Johnny disappear.
The Thing and Medusa meanwhile complain to the Watcher about being left behind. He held them back as reserves, he explains, but now they are needed, for the mysterious time traveller has mad another stop it seems. He sends the pair to the Roaring 20's to stop the traveller from stopping the Depression from happening. Some side effect causes the Thing to revert to his human form. He and Medusa steal some clothes and going on Medusa's hunch ("As an Inhuman, my psychic senses are stronger than yours") make their way into a speakeasy. Her hunch proves correct for there they find...Willie Lumpkin, the FF's mailman. Willie's telling another man about the stock market. Ben, realizing that foreknowledge of the upcoming crash could drastically change history, nabs Willie away. The man the mailman was talking to turns out to be a mobster, naturally, and a brawl ensues between the heroes and the mobster's goons. They get out of the bar and into a car and drive off, but the mobsters are right behind them, shooting at them. Ben loses control and crashes the car, and whether it's the stress or whether the effect simply wore off, he becomes the Thing again. He has just enough time to stop the goons before the trio are whisked away in time again.
But they're not returned to the present. Instead they, and Reed and Johnny, all materialize in a surreal world straight out of a Dali painting, complete with melting watches. Almost immediately, they are confronted by Tempus, a crystalline giant who is the master of this place. As an immortal, he has bored of his life without change, without growth, and decides he wants to end it all. Not just for himself, but for the whole timestream. It was he that used his powers to lure Willie into the time machine, knowing that his presence in the past would disrupt the timeline and his "actions woud have uprooted the tree of time, causing untold chaos" but the FF have foiled his plan. So now he must destroy them. He uses his powers to cause Ben and Johnny to age drastically. Old, helpless and feeble, they will soon die. Reed intervenes to stop them, and Tempus turns his powers on him and Medusa. However, it seems Tempus can only maintain the aging effect on two of them at a time. Ben and Johnny return to their normal selves, but their attacks prove useless against the giant who turns their own power against them. Reed of course thinks of a plan "Not a very sophisticated plan, I admit. But a workable one." Working on the scientific principle of "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" Reed and Medusa tangle up his legs and the FF manage to essentially trip him up. Tempus falls with such force that his crystalline body shatters and he gains the oblivion that he wanted. Naturally without him to keep it together, his world begins to fall apart and the Watcher pulls the FF out just in time, to a fully restored present.
As if this weren't enough excitement for one book, they go on to reprint the first appearance of the Watcher from FF #13, which also features the origin of the Red Ghost (along with editorial comments along they way of how dated some of the cold war rhetoric seemed, even then back in the 70s!)
It's good story, even if it does stretch credulity just a little. (So they avoid the Depression and within 50 years the world's reverted back to cavemen??) Don't think about it too much. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. There are some nice characterization and some really memorable scenes and plot twists (Willie Lumpkin destroys history???) I really had fun rereading this one.
I have a vivid memory of that FF annual mostly because of the Red Ghost story reprint. A lot of my knowledge of the early Marvel universe comes from the habit Marvel had of reprinting older stories as back-ups in their annuals. In the days before Essentials, Showcases and TBPs, that was just about the only way we could get caught up on the rich back histories of the comic book universes.
Hey gang! Back on line again--we moved again, and lost internet for a couple of weeks--it is pretty rural out here! Things move kinda slow 'round these here parts!!
Anyway, gotta couple of hot reviews coming your way, so just gimmee a little time and I'll make with the goods!
Sneak peek--how 'bout some E-Man?!! Coming soon!
Gargantua
11/03/2007, 15:57
Ooh, E-Man. There's a blast from the past. Gotta be honest, I barely remember him, so I look forward to your review.
Here we go....
E-Man, Vol. 2, Number 4, August 1974
"City in the Sand"
Script--Nicola Cuti
Editor--George Wildman
Art--Joe Staton
Let's hear it for the little guys! Charleton Comics takes on the big guys (Marvel and DC) and puts out a classic of their own!
After a supernova, a part of the exploded star is endowed with intelligence (we're not sure how...). It drifts thru space, looking for other intelligent life, until it encounters an evil alien planning to explode a bomb on Pluto. The intelligent energy gets on board the alien craft and transforms himself into matter, duplicating an alien robot. This added weight on the ship confuses the alien, who accidentally crashes on Earth...introducing the intelligent energy to other friendly intelligent creatures--humans!
If you're buying this so far, you are ready for another classic hero, E-Man! The intelligent energy takes the form of a human superhero, and saves a smoking hot adventurer (Nova Kane--!!!) from trouble time and again. The intelligent energy takes the name E-Man (E for energy, no doubt) and the secret identity, Alec Tronn.
Our reviewed title, "City in the Sand" takes place in Egypt, opening with Nova Kane dancing in some Egyptian club, dressed as a "harem" girl, performing the Egyptian dance, the taxim..."What form! What rhythm!" the locals shout. She is in Egypt for an expedition to the "lost city"...unfortunately, the man who has the map gets knifed in the back as he tries to give the map to her. Thugs menace Nova, demanding she return the map. Nova screams for E-Man, who rounds the corner in the form of the great Egyptian god RA, and blasts the thugs with a bolt of energy from the "ankh" that RA weilds. Nice entrance for our hero.
In the following panels, E-Man goes on to present himself as something like a Plastic Man/Metamorpho combination, with the ability to shoot energy blasts from his form. His powers are cool enough to convince us to keep reading, but another side of him is appealing, too. E-Man has a child-like innocence that makes the reader pull for him. That innocence is a bit frustrating for Nova Kane, as she hints that she wishes he wasn't so innocent, but he IS a new life form, still discovering what it is all about.
(In the back of this issue is printed a "review" from a sci-fi magazine, where the author says: "By this time, any reader of the story who has any respect for decent sci-fi has gone for a Bromo. That's if he hasn't caught something else in reading between panels: an almost satirical inanity...it is so highly "camp" that it's BEYOND camp: this is satire of a fine sort, a satirical view of mass medium science fiction. It is designed for a young audience, but a few, more sophisticated and mature readers will also read it, and see that it is both more and less than it claims to be--and enjoy it, not in spite of its "badness", but because of it.")
Back to the action--the map leads E-Man and Nova to a pile of ruins in the desert, but one tower sticking up in the middle of the city is in great shape. Wondering why, our heroes discover that the tower is actually a time machine, filled with futuristic machines--in a tower built 3000 years B.C.!!!
E-Man powers the machine up (with his electrical body, natch!) and they go zooming back to the time of the tower's builders. They discover a civilization filled with super science "while the rest of the world hunted food with stones!"
As they explore the city of Naab, as it is called, the locals spot them and scream for the police! E-Man makes short work of them, but they realize they can't just slug it out! Escaping into a massive drainage pipe, (which E-Man accesses by turning his hand into a screw driver to stealthily remove its cover--very cool) they find the deposed ruler of NAAB hiding inside! He explains that he and his people came from another planet to escape oppression, only to encounter disease on Earth. His people blamed him, so he was dethroned.
E-Man asks what the plague is--maybe they can help! Ramis, the deposed ruler, agrees to lead them through NAAB, so they can investigate. But, they'll have to darken themselves to pass as locals. No problem for E-Man, but Nova has to smear herself with grease! (insert 12 year old fantasy here...)
They discover that the cause of the plague is the local children, who have been quarantined in a glass domed city. Inside, robots raise the kids to be obedient, without emotion or inspiration..."fit only for factory work or the infantry."
E-Man alters his form to that of a local toddler, and phases thru the glass. He encounters the kids inside, and notices that their pets--dogs, etc., have fleas! "Nova told me once that fleas on rats carried the black plague all over Europe!" he says, as his eye changes into a microscope, to examine the flea-infested dog. "Eureka! I've found it!!!"
Back outside, Nova and Ramis have been captured by the Faro's police, and at the palace, Nova is having her disguise--the grease-- washed off.
**Special note** The panel where Nova is naked, getting scrubbed down by three nubian servant girls is outrageously erotic for a comic book! I guess Charelton Comics could get away with more than the bigger, higher focus titles. (insert more fully developed 12 year old fantasy here.)
They meet up with Faro, the current ruler, who is fat and slovenly, and he naturally condemns Nova and Ramis to death. But, just as things look bleakest, E-Man comes blasting through the walls! He waves a dog around the room and explains that it is the fleas and not the kids who are the health risk! Ramis chimes in that it was Faro who insisted that all children have them.
Faro breaks down as he is confronted with the truth and admits that he wanted to raise the kids as perfect soldiers of an invincible army! The dog jumps up on Faro, showing affection, but Faro falls to the ground, wailing "Get it off!"
Ramis is reinstated as ruler, and sentences Faro to death by the plague. "Guards! Take him away!"
The fleas are exterminated, and the kids reunited with their parents.
Nova sees the hugs the little girls give E-Man for saving them and says, "I guess I misjudged you. You're quite a ladies' man, after all."
Reasons this comic is a classic:
1. Charleton Comics. Always pull for the underdog.
2. The imaginative ways they find to use E-Man's powers. (A little close to Plaz and Metamorpho, as mentioned before, but the feel of the book is nowhere near as comedic as Plastic Man, nor as tragic as Metamorpho. E-Man has no Woozy Winks or gut wrenching misery over his appearance. I think E-Man stands on his own.)
3. In the back of this issue, we find an installment of KILLJOY, one of the craziest and funniest superhero stories around! KillJoy really deserves his own review on this thread, so I'll save that for next time. Suffice it to say, if you haven't come across KillJoy yet, look for him!
4. Great art, especially the action and facial expressions of E and Nova.
5. E-Man's logo on his chest--a stylized E=Mc2! Einstein would be so proud!
E-Man...Charleton Comics' own Classic Comic!
Tales to Astonish #52: featuring Giant Man and the Wasp (1964)
It's interesting to read through the Essential Ant-Man volume and see how Hank Pym gradually changed. The interesting thing about him was that he didn't really grow in terms of personality during the early Lee/Kirby stories. He was a dedicated scientist and hero. When Janet Van Dyne showed up and became his partner as the Wasp, she became the sligthly ditzy rich girl who always grouched about Hank's lack of romantic sensibilities. Both of them remained the same for some years, until later writers managed to give them more in-depth personalities.
Hank and Janet changed in terms of their gradually evolving powers. At first, Hank could only shrink down and use his helmet to communicate with ants. It wasn't until he'd been around for a couple of years that he finally came up with the growth serum and could then alternate between Ant Man and Giant Man. I can't immediately think of an earlier character who could BOTH shrink and grow, so he may have been the first.
In this issue, he'd only had his Giant Man powers for a few issues and, in fact, had a lot of trouble battling the Human Top (who would later become Whirlwind) in the previous two issues as he got used to his large size. But now, he finally gets the hang of the fact that he can alternate between giant and tiny during the course of a battle, opening up a whole new set of tactics.
Here he fights the Black Knight--the original evil version. Because the Black Knight has a flying horse (a genetically altered creature) and a lance that fires several different weapons, he's a formidable opponent. Giant Man must take to the air--hitching a ride on a large cargo helicopter--to take the battle to him.
It's a fun, well-choreographed fight. The mid-air setting is unusual for a protagonist who can't himself fly, but it's set up so as to be believable. Hank uses his ability to change sides to escape death several times and to eventually gain the upper hand. The Wasp is there as well, complaining that he's not taking the time to kiss her during the fight while holding her own nonetheless. She doesn't yet have her bio-electric sting, but she acts intelligently in the fight with the abilities she does have.
And that, of course, is the point of the issue. It sets up the situation, gives us the Black Knight's origin and a reason for him to hate Giant Man, then gets the fight started. It is a model of concise storytelling, doing exactly what it's supposed to do in the space of just 16 pages. It's not a classic in the same sense that other Lee/Kirby efforts (such as the first Galactus story) are, but it has a job to do and it does it well.
Gargantua
11/13/2007, 14:44
Here's another one from the great Annual project.
Spider-Man Annual #4, "The Web and the Flame" 1967
Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
The issue begins with Spidey swinging through the streets of NY when he hears a commotion: The Human Torch is going berserk and is burning his way through an armored car! Spidey's got to stop him! A four-page fight ensues before Spidey realizes that it was all a scene for a movie. The Torch of course was too hot-headed to try to explain himself. PIctures of the debacle make the next days Bugle, to J Jonah Jameson's delight, and the morning paper gives a strange trench-coated figure an evil idea.
Cut to Peter Parker in his apartment. The TV announces that Paragon Productions wants to make a new film starring the Torch and Spider-Man together! Parker is bitten by the bug and flies off to Hollywood in the hopes of alleviating his perpetual money woes. Spidey swings into the studio and sets up a meeting with the big brass. The next morning he runs afoul of the Torch again. They almost get into another fight, but they realize that they're going to have to call a truce if they're going to be in the same movie.
Shooting begins almost immediately. The first scene has a flying saucer landing in Central Park and Spider-Man trying to communicate with the aliens. Before he can, the Torch blasts through and attacks them. CUT! Time to do the shot again from a different angle - by why is Spidey's Spider-Sense tingling? We're about to find out, for when the Torch makes his entrance this time, he goes right for Spidey, with no explanation. More tussling, followed by the Torch escaping out a window. Spidey loses him, but decides to check his dressing room, not by knocking, but by tearing the wall open. Sure enough, the Torch is there. He seems as if he's unaware of what Spider-Man's doing, but he's ready for a fight nonetheless.
Exposition time. In the executive offices of the studio, the Human Torch is gloating ("I told you they would suspect nothing") to...Mysterio. But wait! Suprise of surprise, it's not the Torch at all, but the Wingless Wizard! In a suit he designed to mimic the Human Torch's powers! It was the Wizard who saw the headlines in the Bugle. It was the Wizard who contacted Mysterio for his knowledge of special effects and the film industry. It was he who proposed this deception to get their two greatest enemies to take each other out. And it seems to be working, for Spidey and Johnny are at it again. Three more pages of battle action follow, ending in a cavernous sound-stage, observed in secret by the two villains. But the Wizard is impatient. Neither hero is truly exerting their power to its fullest extent. Despite Mysterio's suggestion that he be patient, the Wizard activates Plan B!
A ray beam comes from the ceiling, narrowly missing our heroes. No strangers to the ways of super-villains, they begin to suspect that they may have a common enemy! The villains' hand is forced. They drop a cage from the ceiling, which starts spraying a gas, suffocating the heroes and dousing the Torch's flames. But the Webhead reacts quickly, clogging the nozzles with his webbing. Then they spot a small observation room near the top of the sound-stage and the Torch starts to heat things up for the villains. They're ready to catch them as they flee, but turns out they're nothing but 3-D images. The real villains have made good their escape! To the roof they go, just in time to see the villains hoofing it on a funky flying machine.
The villains flee over a jungle set, the Torch in hot pursuit, with Spidey tagging along, thanks to his asbestos webbing. The bad guys duck into the foliage. The Torch is prepared to burn them out, but Spidey stops him saying that his Spider-Sense should do the trick. But before they can put their plan into effect, they're attacked by a giant robot gorilla! Fire-proof, of course. It knocks out the Torch, but Spidey gets onto its back where he finds an access panel to get at the workings. He stops it cold, but before they move on, he grabs some of the magnetically activated fluid from the robot and fills a couple of web-cartridges with the stuff, on a hunch that he may need it later.
The find the villains lair, which is just what the villains wanted. See through barriers drop-down, trapping Spidey and the Torch. In the smal enclosed area, the villains spray the heroes with an invisible magnetic field, which makes the boulders they're locked in with fly at them at great speeds. They only have one chance! Johnny concentrates his flames to burn the smallest of holes through the barrier. Spidey then shoots his newly whipped up magnetized webbing through the hole at the control device, reversing the polarity and causing ther ocks to fly away from them, shattering the barrier and the villains evil machinery and with it, their hopes. The villains arrested, Peter flies back home, his money worries not only not solved, but he's out plane fare as well. Poor Pete. nothing ever works out for him.
Okay, I'll admit the story isn't perfect. Stan's obviously banking on the fact that his readers aren't going to know how the movie industry works, because no one's going to get a studio set up and a film into shooting in a couple of days. But we'll let that slide. It's just a plot device. And all right, the whole convenient magnetized webbing bit at the end is a bit contrived. Let's face it, this issue is all about the great interaction of Marvel's two most popular young heroes. The rivalry between them is less friendly that it will eventually become. The insults are a bit meaner (on both sides) but they are starting to learn to work together as a team. The other thing this issue is about, of course, is lots of cool death traps and evil villainous machines. Any issue featuring a giant robot gorilla is okay in my book.
But perhaps the neatest part of the book is the extra features in the back. "What the Well-Dressed Spider-Man Will Wear," and "Spidey's Greatest Talent" are short sections on his powers, costume and all the different things he can do with his webbing. There's a two-page mini-poster with all his greatest villains, and grooviest of all is "The Coffee Bean Barn" A two-page spread of ESU's coffee shop hangout, with all of Spidey's supporting cast hanging out and chatting. Even Aunt May gets into the act "Cool it sweetie! We don't want these cats to dig that we're hippies!" And that friends, is 'Nuff said.
I've always enjoyed the Spider Man/Torch relationship. It's interesting to remember that in Spider Man #4, Peter was inspired by a speech the Torch gave about never giving up. The next time they met, a few issues later, Spidey crashed a party being given by the Torch and all of a sudden they were sort-of enemies.
The Spider Man/Human Torch miniseries from a few years ago did a great overview of their friendship over the years and even included a scene in which Spidey uses Hostess Fruit Pies to stop the Red Ghost and the Super Apes. Great stuff with a real appreciation for continuity and Marvel history.
Nice review(s)--The Giant Man gig and the Spidey/Torch story!
The Mighty Marvel Bullpen was realy cranking them out back then!:laugh:
Gargantua
11/13/2007, 22:36
I feel bad that my reviews are so heavily Marvel, but I was admittedly a Marvel zombie in my youth, so I don't have a whole lot that wasn't Marvel that falls into the proper timeframe. Fortunately you all have been picking up my slack there with DC and the independents.
I feel bad that my reviews are so heavily Marvel, but I was admittedly a Marvel zombie in my youth, so I don't have a whole lot that wasn't Marvel that falls into the proper timeframe. Fortunately you all have been picking up my slack there with DC and the independents.
I feel the same way, only in reverse--a lot of times, I was a DC snob in my youth. (Actually, as a kid, I'd read anything I could get my hands on, but my Dad--the financier of my comic habit-- usually bought me DC titles.)
This thread has turned me on to a good number of "classic" Marvel stories that I probably would have loved as a kid. And, I scour the back issues boxes at comics stores looking for a lot of them. So, thanks for the heads up!
Next up: KillJoy! (You're going to love this guy!)
Hey, guys, I've got a blog now. I'll still be posting my classic comics reviews here, but I'll be posting them there as well, along with any other really geeky stuff I think of. Take a look if your interested.
The web address for the blog is in my signature.
Thanks for the heads up! Glad we won't lose you on this thread, but I will be checking out the new blog...
I had a blog once. A shot of pennicillin took care of it.
Gargantua
11/16/2007, 10:46
That's cool Kalel. I'll certainly be checking it out.
One really nice thing about posting the reviews on the blog is that I'm able to add images. I've just posted a Sgt. Rock review I originally did for this thread over there and included a number of images to help emphasize the points I was making.
Gargantua
11/17/2007, 15:51
Up next:
The Eternals Annual #1: "The Time Killers"
Written and drawn by Jack Kirby (1977)
From their home on Olympia, Great Zuras, leader of the Eternals and his daughter Thena are observing on a monitor the chaos erupting in an unnamed human city as a Neanderthal runs rampant through the streets. Zuras concludes that this and other similar recent occurrences are the work of the legendary Deviant, Zakka the Tool-Master. Thena volunteers to deal with the situation, along with the help of two Deviant mutates that she recently rescued from the gladiatorial pits of their city of Lemuria: Karkas, the giant monster covered in red, leathery hide and the Reject, so called because in a city of monsters he resembles a human.
Zakka meanwhile is living in a non-descript apartment disguised as "Mr. Zachary", and old stage magician with an interest in unusual "cameras", or such is the tale with which he charms his elderly landlady. In reality the camera is a machine that is able to peer back into history and summon whatever figure it captures into the modern age. He dismisses his landlady and is shortly at work again, summoning a armored knight who rides through the street attacking whatever he sees.
Cut to a hotel in the same city. Thena, the Reject and Karkas are checking in, disgused as normal folk. Karkas with the help of an illusion appears to be just a very tall, red-haired man. Thena goes to her room, telling the two Deviants that she will call them when something happens. The Reject proceeds to terrorize the bellboy until Thena intervenes, causing her to reflect on the odd dichotomy of her two allies. For beneath the monstrous form of Karkas resides a gentle soul, while the handsome Reject possesses a most violent and mistrustful nature, drilled into him by his years in the arena. They do not need to wait long for Reject to get some of the action he craves, for moments later, on the floor above, Jack the Ripper is stalking an unsuspecting female guest. The Reject overpowers him and is prepared to kill him with his own blade, despite Thena's protests, when the Ripper disappears. The pattern of time will not allow the people summoned to remain for more than a little while before it returns them to their own time.
While Thena and the Reject search the hotel, a young boy wanders into Karkas's room and begins to talk with the "giant" until his babysitter comes for him. He is warning them about wandering the corridors while such strange things are happening, when a shimmering in the air behind them warns him of danger. He pulls them into the room and goes out into the hall to confront a pair of axe-weilding Huns. They are no match for the Deviant, but in the fight, his illusion is dispelled and the guest flee from him in terror. Alone, he is approached by Zakka, who tries to convince him to join him. Why protect these humans who hate and fear him so? Karkas rejects his offer. Zakka unloads a shock pistol at Karkas, amazed at the mutates resilience. Leaving him badly wounded, he threatens that if Karkas will not work for him, he shall have to cast his nets back in time to summon the most powerful mutate in Deviant history.
Thena and the Reject arrive to help Karkas, but too late to stop Zakka, who has fled the building. He has returned to his room via a dimension -transit harness and makes adjustments to his time projector, planning to unleash in the busiest part of the city the legendary Tutinax, the Mountain Mover! But something goes wrong in his calculations. Instead of appearing across the city, the mutate appears in his own chambers and turns upon his summoner.
Thena and the two mutates arrive having traced Zakka to his apartment, to find a crowd of other tenants milling around Mr. Zachary's door, drawn by the noise of a great commotion inside. Reject breaks down the door - too late to save the unfortunate Zakka - and is pulled inside by a massive hand. Tutinax is huge. He dwarfs even the giant Karkas and beings to tear into the two Deviants, until Thena attacks him with the Bolts of Zuras. Confused by the odd alliance against him, Tutinax crashes through the wall and flees. Thena insists that they must follow him to prevent him from destroying the whole city. Even the battle-starved Reject admits that stopping the mighty Tutinax would be a feat beyond even their combined power, though he is willing to accept the honor of dying in attempt at such a thing.
Catching up with Tutinax, the Reject and Karkas challenge him to combat, insisting Thena stay back. Apparently this is some sort of Deviant warrior combat ritual. Thena concedes that she will not interfere, except to choose the proper arena, teleporting them to a street that is closed off for repairs, so that no innocent humans will be accidentally hurt. They fight, and the Reject's attempts to hurt him are brushed off. Tutinax uproots an entire building to throw at his opponents. Karkas and the Reject rush him, hoping against hope to topple him while he still holds the building, knowing they would be killed by the falling structure, but hoping to take Tutinax with them. Thena tries to call them back, for she has detected that Tutinax, like the others before him, is about to be returned to his own time.
The Reject complains that they were played for fools, used by Thena as pawns in a delaying tactic, but Karkas points out that the combat was real enough and had it lasted a moment longer, so would their deaths. So they have saved the humans, but more than that Thena hopes, that the three of them have begun to form the bonds of true comradeship.
While the Eternals was always an ensemble book, there is no doubt that a few of the characters took most of the focus, particularly Ikaris, so this story is refreshing change, allowing Kirby to feature some of the more supporting players in his cast, and an interesting choice it was. Now there was nothing original even then about the dichotomy I mentioned earlier, the gentle soul in the beast's body, and good-looking person hiding the vicious killer inside, but Kirby's portrayal of them gives them enough depth that they're more than just that two-dimensional description of them.
And of especial interest, Kirby took the opportunity to close the book with a brief essay. The mutates in the story are, he warns us, on the verge of jumping from the realm of science-fiction into science fact. When he wrote it in 1977, genetic engineering was just beginning to emerge as a real practical science. He compares it with the early 1940s when writers were writing countless tales of atomic-powered devices and weapons, presaging the development of the atom bomb. The time may be coming soon, he points out, when we may have Karkases and Tutinaxes and real life High Evolutionaries that we will need to learn to live with. And how will we meet that challenge? He leaves us to ponder that question, because "there won't be any super-heroes to help us out then. It will be a task for us!"
Well, we haven't created any eight foot tall mutates or ani-men yet, but you still have to wonder, with the advances they're making in genetic engineering, what is coming up around the bend?
Hey, gang!
So sorry I have been off line for a while--out of the country again. I feel terrible about leaving you hanging, as I am sure you have all been breathlessly awaiting my KILLJOY review! Please be patient just a bit more--gotta spend some time with the wife and kids before I lock myself away in the computer room...
Good things come to those who wait! :cool:
Sorry I've been so lax in getting new stuff up on this thread. My excuse is, I hope, a good one: I've signed a contract with my publisher for my next book and I've been busy getting it written.
I'll start posting here again soon. In the meantime, if anyone's interested, I re-posted a couple of my reviews from here on my blog, complete with images. The address to the blog is in my signature if anyone wants to take a look. Look for the posts labeled "Splash panel magic" and "Sgt. Rock's Odyssey."
Gargantua
01/05/2008, 22:47
Hey, congratulations on getting your contract for a new book. So what's this one going to be about?
Hey, congratulations on getting your contract for a new book. So what's this one going to be about?
Old-time radio shows that were based on literature or popular fiction. It's the bestseller the whole world has been waiting for.
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