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Tuesday, 8 May 2018

The Marvel Lucky Bag - May 1968.

Before I launch into the main business of the day, I must announce the result of the poll to discover whether humanity has the greatest love for Captain Marvel's red and blue outfit or for his green and white one.

As you'd expect for such a vital matter, it was a fervent contest but the results are in and I can announce that the red and blue suit won with 61% of the vote, compared to 22% for the green and white outfit. 15% of voters expressed no preference. Overall, there were thirty one votes cast and no spoiled papers.

The eagle-eyed reader will spot that this all adds up to a total of 96%. And that's why democracy can never work. No wonder Dr Doom never bothers with it.

The green and white one
  7 (22%)
The red and blue one
  19 (61%)
I love them both equally
  4 (12%)
I hate them both equally
  1 (3%)


But, far away from such dread democracy, dread reality has once more blundered into my life and forced my hand. In this case, because of Marvel's expansion in 1968, it seems I must supplement the legendary 1970s Marvel Lucky Bag feature with a 1968 version. Thus, within it, I shall be looking at the less high-profile comics Marvel was publishing fifty years ago.

Admittedly, at the moment, that's easy enough because my willingness to ignore The Howlin' Commandos and reprint mags means it's basically about two comics.

But what are those two comics?

Captain Marvel #1

Captain Marvel makes his cosmos-crunching debut.

Admittedly, he doesn't really. That was in Marvel Super-Heroes #12, as reviewed on here just the other day.

Confusingly, this book gets renamed Captain Marvel with issue #7, even though it already seems to be called Captain Marvel. It's madness. With that kind of confusion, no wonder he struggles to catch on.

Anyway, as far as I can make out, this issue is the one in which he has to fight the Sentry while making it look, to the onlooking Yon-Rogg, that he's doing it for the benefit of the Kree and not humanity, all while maintaining his secret identity of Walt Lawson and not making Carol Danvers suspicious.

Poor old Mar-Vell. His life really wasn't simple.

Still, at least, at this point, he didn't have Rick Jones and his vitamin C tablets to worry about.

Then again, the way things were going for him, he might have appreciated those vitamin C tablets.

Sub-Mariner #1

It's not just the man from another planet who gets his own comic, because the man from Atlantis gets one too.

I'm really not at all sure what happens in this issue but it seems his origin gets retold at some point. I would assume, from the cover, that there's also a quick retelling of his first meeting with the FF.

Of course, what really matters is that it's drawn by John Buscema, and I must confess that Big John's work on the Sub-Mariner's strip is my favourite work that he ever did for Marvel.

13 comments:

  1. Clearly the poll was subject to illegal voters. Millions of them, for sure. That's why democracy needs an iron-fisted leader!

    I mean look at CM # 1. Glorious! Magisterial! Superlative! All because of that green and white costume!

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  2. I suspect the red skull was using the cosmic cube to disrupt the captain Marvel vote. That explains the 4% discrepancy.

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  3. Gene Colan could make anything impressive. He even made Stiltman seem formidable.

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  4. The exception could be Leapfrog. Let's just face it, one of the most ridiculous Marvel silver-age villains ever.

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  5. Was Batroc a Leapfrog with a French accent? Or did they differ in powers?

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  6. From what I remember, Leapfrog's leaping skills were mostly defensive. They allowed him to avoid being grabbed by law enforcement officials and Daredevils. Batroc's leaping powers were used more offensively, for kicking people's teeth in. We were never told but I'm certain that Leapfrog could leap a fair bit higher and more often than Batroc.

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  7. Hmmm.... I have to wonder if either could leap high enough to pop ole Stiltman in the schnoz?

    Probably not, but under the skill of Gene the Dean Colan I am sure Marvel could have had a go at it?

    Maybe if either had found the Cosmic Cube, they would have enhanced their leaping capabilities (rather than say, wish for all the caviar, fine toys, money, and babes they could handle) and had a show down with Stiltie?

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  8. Batroc's main "power" was that he was a master of savate, a French form of martial arts with a lot of kicking moves. That's why he could leap pretty high. Conditioned leg muscles.

    Poor Stiltman, never any respect.

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  9. Leapfrog did team-up with Stiltman, at least once, with Elektro, the Matador and the Gladiator, against DD. They called themselves the Emissaries of Evil. More like Legion of Losers. Lol.
    Great battles tho, with Gene at the top of his game.

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  10. Now, now Charlie - are you questioning the will of the people? Red and blue Mar-Vell is the man, that's democracy. You can't argue with the people!

    -sean

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  11. Batroc's appearance in The Winter Soldier was one of the highlights of the MCU for me.

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  12. Too bad they didn't give him a tamed-down mask based on the comics.

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  13. Maybe when they reboot the Cap movies they'll make Batroc his arch. Then maybe we could get Batroc's Brigade, with Whirlwind & Porcupine. They could introduce the latter in an Ant Man movie.

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