And that can only mean one thing!
It's time for me to sit down and write a blog post about the comics that Marvel were producing fifty years ago, as generations of Britons have done ever since that fateful night in whenever it was.
It's an event even more exciting than Bonfire Night, as Ant-Man returns.
I admit it, despite his uselessness, I've always liked Ant-Man, so this is a tale that was always going to appeal to me. Especially when it features a helmetless Hank Pym battling against his former formic allies. Plus the return of the nearest thing to an arch-enemy he has - his girlfriend's chauffeur!
But it's a terrible threat that Ant-Man faces. Look, the ants have already decapitated the other Avengers and left their heads lying on the floor.
And they've decapitated the Whirlwind and flung his head up in the air. Is there nothing that can stop them? Nothing?
Speaking of people with insect-inspired powers, the Beetle's still causing trouble for the Man Without Fear, at Montreal's Expo '67.
My knowledge of Expo '67 comes entirely from reading Marvel comics of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Never let it be said that comics are not educational.
Unless I miss my ever-loving guess, this is the one where The Thing turns evil, for the millionth time.
This time, it's thanks to the machinations of the Thinker who poses as a world-famous scientist in order to fool Reed Richards into letting him try to, "cure," The Thing.
Sadly, it's also, in my opinion, the issue when the strip's great era under Lee and Kirby came to an end. From now on, most of the team's adventures and foes would be noticeably less inspired than they'd previously been.
In which Aunt May learns that it might be a good idea to check a prospective lodger's references before taking him in. The fact that he's got a string of criminal convictions and keeps threatening people might just suggest he's not the ideal housemate.
Admittedly, when I say she learns that lesson, she doesn't. Somehow, even after this story, she remains convinced he's a good guy. Grargh! That woman!
Nebulos is suitably nebulous in my memory, as I don't have a clue who he is. I do recall having read this tale though. Was Dan Adkins responsible for the artwork?
What's that big stick thing Strange is holding? I suspect it might be significant.
The Grey Gargoyle's on the loose.
Wasn't this the story that led into the Iron Man story that appeared in Origins of Marvel Comics as an example of the modern Iron Man tales?
I don't remember the Legion of the Living Lighting being very interesting, or very formidable but I did like their costumes.
Didn't they once hire the Boomerang as their agent? I'm not sure that gives me much faith in their judgement as an evil empire.
Stripped of his powers (which means he can only lift five-ton weights) Thor must take on the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime.
Needless to say, even in this weakened condition, once he gets over a little temporary hypnosis, the crooked carnies prove to be no more than a minor obstacle for him.
I believe this is the issue where we discover who the Mutant Master is.
Somewhat disappointingly, he turns out to be some sort of exploding space octopus, instead of the super-mutant we'd been promised.
I never thought I'd be disappointed by an exploding space octopus but somehow I was.
On the face of it, this should be a pretty dull month:
ReplyDelete- Iron Man vs Grey Gargoyle
- Daredevil about to be unmasked by Beetle
- Aunt May playing the death's door card yet again
- Ant Man vs Ants thanks to Whirlwind in Avengers
- Thor vs Circus Of Crime
But all five of those comics are somehow drawing me in...
IIRC, Suspense #95 was when nerdy S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell became a regular in the Iron Man strip. I think the Captain America story in that issue may have been the one where he publicly unmasked, revealed his secret identity, and announced his retirement. He later somehow un-revealed his secret by dumping a dummy in a river and faking his death. Or something.
ReplyDeleteI had X-Men #38, but I recall nothing of the lead feature except Scott moping around and secretly pining away for Jean Grey. As usual. The second feature was a flashback retelling their origin.
IIRC, the Legion of Lighting serial led up to Astonish #101, where Namor fought the Hulk in a book-length story. After that, the Marvel anthology "split books" were all cancelled, and each hero starred in his own self-titled comic book. The new Hulk comic continued the numbering from Astonish, so the first issue was #102.
I would say the Avengers, Spider-Man and Thor stories are my favourites of this month's crop. None of them are classics but they're all appealing. The FF tale is the least interesting to me, as it rehashes a familiar theme.
ReplyDeleteYes, Dan Adkins was drawing Dr Strange then. He had a nice clean style but it turns out that his art was full of swipes. It looked fine then, but now you look at something like Nebulos and wonder where he got that from.
ReplyDeleteI also read the later Kirby FFs as they came out, and they didn't seem to lose anything at the time. It seemed natural for Galactus, Dr Doom, the Mad Thinker etc to come back, especially if you hadn't been reading when those characters first appeared. The real drop-off didn't come until the end of the run, 95 onwards. Even in 94 Kirby introduced a significant character in Agatha Harkness, but after that he really didn't seem to give a toss.
You're right about the FF, Steve - that issue pretty much marks the start of Kirby's work to rule after he finally lost patience with Lee and Goodman.
ReplyDeleteA shame, but then a lot of that pent-up creativity found its way into the astonishing work he unleashed at DC, so we didn't end up missing out.
The Dr. Strange part of Strange Tales #162 was indeed drawn by Dan Adkins. His work had something of a pleasing retro quality to it, perhaps because he had a background in pulp illustration and started out in comics as an assistant to the mighty Wally Wood.
Thats not how I would have thought about it as a kid of course - but it did come across like half way between regular Marvel and the sort of thing you'd see in Alan Class mags.
Much preferred Gene Colan on Strange though, and it makes sense that Adkins' went on to work more as an inker.
Btw, that big stick on the cover is the staff of Polar Power. Not that I recall too much in the way of specifics...
-sean
Joe - apparently Nebulos was nicked from an old paperback sf cover;
ReplyDeletewww.martinohearn.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/from-john-schoenherr-comesnebulos.html
To be fair to Adkins, he did admit in interviews to swiping a fair bit when younger in order to hit deadlines.
-sean
Hi Steve:
ReplyDelete1) How do you remember ANY of this? I've read many of these and can't recall diddly.
2) What is Bonfire Night? Is that the party y'all have celebrating the guy who tried to blow up the parliament?
3) I really get nostalgic when you put out these covers!
4) Not sure if they are doing this in the UK but here in the US of A at the comic shops they have a freebie called "Marvel PReview" or something like that, and also "FOOM!" No cost! The "Preview" thing is quite a thick comic/mag that reviews mabe 10 or so comics for the month. Each issue has 3 pages from the comic, describes the writer and artist, and I think discusses the plot. Basically it is like the Merry Marvel Checklist on steroids! Well worth the trip to the shop to get these! I mean, even though I have slim patience to read a Marvel comic anymore, 3 pages is just right! And, you get like 10 issues reviewed so that's 30 pages of stuff + the plot + the backgrounds of the creative team. Check it out!!! Charlie said so!
Joe and Sean, thanks for the Dan Adkins info. That Nebulos swipe is mind-boggling.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, I remember it because my head is empty and there's therefore plenty of room for comic-related knowledge.
Bonfire Night is indeed when we celebrate the activities of Guy Fawkes and his plotting. It involves building bonfires and setting off fireworks. It also traditionally involves burning Guy Fawkes' effigy, although hardly anyone bothers with that anymore. It also sometimes involves communal bonfires burning effigies of unpopular people who happen to be in the news at the time.
Steve, just this morning I heard about a village which burnt an effigy of a BT Openreach van in protest at the lack of broadband!
ReplyDeleteWould they do bonfires in Dundee or is this an England fest? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteColin, I believe that was the main reason the real Guy Fawkes was burnt as well. They took their broadband seriously back in those days.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, I believe that Scotland gets as bonfire happy as England does on November 5th.
Do they still burn effigies of the pope as well as Guy Fawkes in Scotland?
ReplyDeleteI think when the subject of bonfire night came up here before I mentioned going to Lewes, where I was a bit taken aback at how the general Wicker Man air of the proceedings should have survived in the south of England.
(Great pics of this years event at www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2017/nov/05/lewes-bonfire-night-celebrations-2017-in-pictures )
Not trying to have a go at the Scots - honest! - but it does seem like the sort of thing you'd expect more north of the border...
-sean
I must confess that I don't know whether the Pope is still burnt in effigy in Scotland but, given the religious divide in some parts of Scotland, I suppose it wouldn't be a surprise.
ReplyDeleteRe: Medusa, it was sad to see her treated somewhat like Sue Storm, although at least Medusa had a much more confident attitude than Sue ever did.
ReplyDelete