But were our favourite Marvel heroes of exactly forty years ago being equally awesome?
Or were they, instead, being as thrilling as a dead whippet in Wetwang?
Only a trip in Steve Does Comics' ferret-stuffed flat cap of Time can tell us.
Behold! The Past!
Is there something wrong with me? I have no recollection at all of ever having read this story, even though it must, presumably, be reprinted in an Essential Avengers book that I have in a cupboard not more than five feet away from where I'm sat right now.
It's madness, I tell you! Madness!
I suspect, from the title, that things have got so bad for our Antediluvian aggro-meister that he can't even meet vegetables now without them wanting to kill him.
It's the classic tale where Steve Rogers has one almighty great mard-fit and decides to quit being Captain America.
Hooray! The Mandrill shows up!
Admittedly, I can never see the name, "Mandrill," without being reminded of an unwatchable TV show called Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters that Yorkshire TV insisted on inflicting on late night viewers in the early 1980s. How our brains melted in the merciless onslaught of their Country and Westernness. Frankly, just the thought of having to watch that show inflicted more terror into my heart than even a talking, homicidal, sexed-up baboon ever could. And those aren't words I say lightly.
Subby's back and causing yet more mischief for our heroes.
Biblical allegory gets laid on with a trowel as Warlock does the Jesus thing.
I can't help feeling that any tale that has the Mandarin, the Unicorn, Sunfire and The Yellow Claw in it might prove to be a little overcrowded - especially in the ego department.
It's another classic John Romita cover as Spider-Man and the Punisher team up to tackle the Tarantula.
Galactus being a bit of a sad-sack there.
I am totally unfamiliar with this tale but, to be honest, if I was labelled, "The Sub-Human," I'd probably want to smash things up too.
The Sub-Mariner wasn't really causing mischief - the whole thing was a plan to get Reed and Sue back together again, what a nice fella !
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Hulk vs. Jesus.
ReplyDeleteIt was the battle that had to happen!
Why do I find that so funny?
This was the summer that marked the end of my first year reading comics, or, as it was back then, Spider-Man. I had been collecting The Amazing Spider-Man for a year and had just purchased my second Marvel Tales starring Spider-Man. Next summer would see me branching out to FF, The Avengers, Thor. So I guess next year would be my year. How many weeks is that in Supergirl Sunday postings?
ReplyDeleteThe Prowler (yeah, that guy again).
Of course, I read none of these in their original form but in the b/w weeklies. And just as well: that Conan story was already an unsettling, Lovecraftian one. The gruesome V*g*n* D*nt*t* imagery of the cover is maybe a step too far.
ReplyDelete