Oi, you, put on your tap shoes and grab that sequinned top hat because, on this evening of 1978, BBC One was giving us On Broadway With Lena Zavaroni, its award-winning entry for that year's Golden Seaswallow of Knokke competition.
To be honest, song and dance shows are not my bag but I don't care about that. All I care about is the award it won. I don't have a clue what the Golden Seaswallow of Knokke is but it has to be the best name for an award ever.
On the UK singles chart, many interesting things were underway that week but, surely, the highlight had to be the presence, at Number Eight, of Supernature by Cerrone; in my book, the greatest Disco record not to have been sung by someone called Gibb, and a reminder that 1970s mainland Europe was often a remarkably potent source of songs to go clubbing to. I do believe it was also the first chart entry for any song written by Lene Lovich. So, there's a piece of history, for you, right there.
I definitely have no idea at all as to what happens in this issue but that Hunter person looks like he's trouble.
I do have to say that's a really nice cover by the mighty Walt Simonson, proving he could do rabbits, robots and ray guns just as effectively as he could do thunder gods and manhunters.
Speaking of which, I see that rabbit is back, which suggests he must have been popular with readers.
Unless I miss my guess, this issue gives us the John Buscema version of The Tower of the Elephant, even though Marvel had previously published a version drawn by Barry Smith.
I don't know whether this was the only instance of Buscema being given a crack at a Conan story that had already been tackled by Bazza. Either way, it provides an intriguing opportunity to compare the way two very different artists can approach the same tale.
The TV star himself is up against the Leader but, this time, he has the help of Doc Samson.
Despite being smarter than anyone else alive, I have no doubt the Leader will still, somehow, mess it all up and lose again.
Meanwhile, I can reveal that this issue's Iron Man tale finds the armoured Avenger up against Mr Kline, in a George Tuska drawn tale I have no memory of.
It seems odd to me that I have strong recollections of Daredevil's problems with Mr Kline but Iron Man's tussles with him totally escape my recall. I am starting to think Iron Man must have been Marvel's least memorable hero during my childhood, judging by how few of his adventures, after Don Heck's initial run, have stuck in my mind.
I do believe I had both this comic and the original issue of The Rampaging Hulk from which its main story's sourced.
Sadly, I have little recall of the tale itself, other than that our hero finds himself up against a hefty-looking robot controlled by the Metal Master.
I'm fairly sure the story's drawn by the previously mentioned Walt Simonson and inked by Alfredo Alcala, which is a fairly blockbuster combination. I just hope Alfredo's famously strong inking doesn't totally obliterate all trace of Walt's style.
Spidey's still having trouble with the fake Green Goblin. I'm not sure if the Harry Osborn incarnation's turned up yet.
In the back-up strips, you have to fear the worst for Hercules because he finds himself battling the Destroyer, without the slightest clue what he's up against.
Elsewhere, in the Captain America tale, Spider-Man's helping the good Captain and the Falcon against Stone Face.
Unfortunately, things aren't going too well for the Falcon who's just been knocked out and tied up.
I don't know much about Stone Face but, given his lack of a high profile in the Marvel universe, if he's capable of defeating Spider-Man, Captain America and the Falcon all at once, I shall be very surprised.
Hmmm... the first thing that comes to mind is “Did Barry Smith draw his elephants with 5 fingers?”
ReplyDeleteStone Face - was he related to the Gargoyle in any way?
ReplyDeleteWeek 9 of 10 in the Green Goblin saga. I reckon we see Harry suiting up this week but not fighting and that Bart Hamilton is probably unmasked in the final panel of the issue (he's unmasked at the end of page 9 of 18 in ASM #180).
ReplyDeleteAnd that Rampage cover with Hulk wrapped up in metal versions of the plastic things I use to bundle up the wires behind the TV. I remember seeing that issue advertised in an issue of Super Spider-Man. The first thing I’ve remembered seeing since Aunt May had a heart attack when out demonstrating eight weeks ago.
Stone-Face was a small time gangster in Harlem whom the Falcon caught in Captain America (& the Falcon) #134. In #137, he got out on bail or parole and came back seeking revenge. Meanwhile, the Falcon wanted to prove that he was not just an also-ran hero, so he went after Spider-Man (who, as usual, was suspected of being a criminal). As I recall, it was the usual hero vs. hero fight, with the good guys finally realizing they had been duped, and then teaming up in #138 to defeat the real bad guy.
ReplyDeleteAny one of them-Cap, Falcon, or Spidey-could have mopped the floor with Stone-Face, and without breaking a sweat.
TC - that is interesting! I mean, Stone Face has nothing to do with stone, apparently, but it is right around that time that Cap and Falcon fought the Gargoyle which is really when I first started buying comics. I guess that is a coincidence? Maybe not, lol!
ReplyDeleteThat story were the Falcon wanted to prove himself by trying to bring in Spider-Man was cool. I was a little dismayed that Cap had nothing to do with it in the first part though (it was one of the few comics that I got to buy that had an ad in a previous book I got). The original American cover had both Cap & Falcon racing towards a giant image of Spider-Man.
ReplyDeleteI begged my mom for 15 cents, and she screamed at me saying, "You're taking a loaf of bread out of the family's mouth!"
Somehow we survived my comics addiction, even though the overindulgence of letting a little boy get maybe 1 to 3 comics a month seemed to take a financial toll.
If it weren't for good report card nickels & dimes, returnable soda pop bottles, found coach cushion cash, B-day money and mowing & raking neighboors' yards my comics collection back then would have been pretty aniemic.
Charlie H7, you know what I'm saying.
Annuals were next to impossible, whether I had a quarter or asked my mom for one. "THERE IS NO GODDAMN WAY YOU ARE PAYING 25 CENTS FOR A GODDAMN COMIC BOOK!!!"
Sorry for the rant, guys. It just seemed that 50% of the time I got to read a cool story when I was a kid it was overshadowed with screeching, torturous drama and guilt.
ReplyDeleteKD - I have my share of stories like that... My parents were frugal, products of the depression era (they are still alive at 83 years old and in good health so I am lucky).
ReplyDeleteBut man, we'd go into the Sears Department store, where they'd have a grill going with hotdogs. Us 4 kids would be hungry as hell and he'd buy 1 (one!) vienna frank to share with him and us. 5 people to share one $.20 hotdog. W..t.h...
And money for a comic book? You think I even bothered asking? I still remember my aunt and my grandmother each buying me a comic book! One issue was Avengers 57 with the Ringmaster and his managerie hiding in the wedding cake of Wasp and Yellow Jacket. The other comic was Cap Annual #2 with the Red Skull's Sleepers!
And picking up pop bottles... what a forking red neck society we lived in that these stunads (Italian for...) would just throw glass bottles everywhere. And I grew up among the sand dunes of Lake Michigan. NO respect for the environment. NONE. Though I must admit finding old tires in the swamp was interesting b/c they were full of worms. The old car batteries littering the woods that I played in, made for good times too. I really hate that generation of americans. really I do. so damn ignorant. I still have to fight with old timers to tell them to stop dumping motor oil into the woods and the storm-drain system (which ultimately drains to the Gulf of Mexico). I really hate older people. Bunch of retards.
KD - I am so incensed now, with these memories, I am heading to the watering hole with some frat brothers. (I know you didn't intend this, LOL.)
ReplyDeleteP.S. my old man almost beat my ass when I went to dump the old car oil into the storm system when I was like 15. He was not stupid like that. Though... he was chief purchaser for a steel manufacturer that dumped 2,000 pounds of cyanide into Lake Michigan daily about 15 miles along the coast from where we swam daily.
No worries... I am not the violent type though I am mad as hell thinking about all this.
I'm cracking a couple open right now , Charlie, ill toast to you. Hoyst one up for me. Almost like we're slugging a couple down together.
ReplyDeleteThey need to bring the "tearing Indian" eco-commercials back. Or at least Woodsy Owl. Lol.
Once when I was emensly high, around 14-15, I picked up a tire I found in the woods. IT WAS LOADED WITH RATTLE SNAKES! Freaked the living sh*t outta me! Dropped it, and had my Quicksilver on,lol.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, Ill come to some small defense of my mother. Her dad was a raging alcoholic that blee his dough on booze & gambling. Her early childhood was living in a dirt-floor shack & saving her shoes for school & church.
ReplyDeleteHe was always an ***hole, my grandfather. I hated when my sister and I had to stay with him while our younger sister was getting treatments in a children's hospital.
My step-grandmother was ultra-cool though. She took is to the Zoo & the Shiners Circus. Let me stay up late to watch Horror movies. And bought me COMIC BOOKS!!!
Anytime I re-read when the Hulk got shrunk down & he and Ant-Man took on Hydra & the Chameleon, Marvel Premiere Warlock stories, or that time period Cap or Thor, I'm reminded of her and get soggy eyed.
Oh boy, Steve..
ReplyDeleteI know it's "Steve Does Comics", not "Steve Does THERAPY" LOL!
My onslaught this time did seem to work within the parameters of "Comic book blatherings from the backyard of nostalgia". Lol!
Steve, almost forgot to tell you.
ReplyDeleteI've heard Lene Lovich. When I worked at National Record Mart in the late 70's - early 80's I got a promo copy of , I think, her first album. On the cover she was lying on the floor in a bridle veil tugging on two Yo-yo's. Think the single was called "Birds". Wasn't my cup-o-tea.
Saw her video (pre-MTV) on a hodgepodge program. Still not my cup.
I think I have a CD compilation with her and Nina Hagen doing a song called "Don't Kill The Animals".
I'm going out for burgers right now.
I notice on that Conan cover there's a girl on the ground in her underwear being protected from the giant spider by Conan.
ReplyDeleteIn REH's original story, The Tower of the Elephant, there was no girl. (often in those stories there was one, not always). There was however, a somewhat fat master thief but the spider got him.
I guess maybe having a portly dead guy turning purple on the cover is not gonna sell copies.
Getting killed by a giant spider seems to me a bad way to go. I think I'd prefer a shark.
M.P.
Steve does therapy... It does have a ring to it!
ReplyDeleteMy problem with my father is that he understood me.
ReplyDeleteM.P.
Who would have thought Stone Face could unleash such repressed childhood trauma? No wonder he gave Cap, the Falcon and Spider-Man such problems. They must have been nervous wrecks by the end of the encounter.
ReplyDeleteMP, Robert E Howard was clearly in a ground-breaking mood that day, creating a story without a quivering female for Conan to rescue.
KD, objectively, Lene Lovich wasn't very good but her first album is an interesting listen and her big British hit Lucky Number is one of those imperishable novelty hits that's hard to dislike.
ReplyDeleteI've just taken a quick skip-through her first album and it sounds a lot better than I remembered.
ReplyDeleteKD, I believe the album you encountered was her second album Flex which I haven't heard.
Welcome to another episode of the Killdumpster & Charlie Horse 47 show (only joking, boys - I love reading your comments).
ReplyDeleteMP got in before me - I too intended to say that the buxom, scantily-clad wench on the Conan cover is merely eye-candy and doesn't actually appear in the story. A Conan story without a half-naked damsel-in-distress is a rare thing!
That Star Wars cover was a breath of fresh air after seemingly endless Infantino efforts. Could never get on with his art and unlike many other artists I disliked at the time, my opinion hasn't changed much.
ReplyDeleteThe Hulk story in Rampage can only disappoint when compared to their first encounter which showcased the Hulk's much underutilised skills at building and spray painting replica bazookas.
The spider on the Conan cover is much bigger than the spider in the story - Robert E. Howard described the spider as being the size of a pig (but a pig-sized spider is terrifying enough... I wouldn't want to find one in my bath!!).
ReplyDeleteI really loved the Crying Indian commercials! Growing up and seeing the devastation to Lake Michigan and seeing the Calumet River burn by my uncle’s house due to pollution (like I think Chrissy Hynde sings about the burning Cayahoga River in Cleveland?) really really hurt my soul.
ReplyDeleteI had a couple microbrews last night and a lot of laughs so I put the environment out of my mind, mercifully, and spoke about the virtues of watching Ozarks and Black Mirror on Netflix LOL.
Tim, I'm trying to remember whether the first Metal Master story was the one where the Hulk still had Bruce Banner's head and had to wear a Hulk mask to disguise who he was.
ReplyDeleteColin, but don't forget that, if Howard had put a pig in one of his stories, he would have made it the size of a bear.
Charlie, we didn't have the Crying Indian commercials over here. I don't remember what we had but, knowing the style of 1970s UK public information films, we probably had a man going, "Look at these fools, dumping litter. They could drown to death or get a £10 fine. Don't be a thick head. Bin it."
Colin-
ReplyDelete"The Killdumpster & Charlie Horse 47 Show" sounds like it has a lot of potential. Lol!
Too bad vaudeville is long dead.
Indeed Stoneface must have had latent psyche-wrecking powers.
You are right, Steve. The Lovich album I had was Flex. I'd put it on the turntable to freak out my friends. Music as a weapon. Lol.
Yes Steve, MM,s first appearance was the one where Hulk had Banner's head and needs a mask. Incredible Hulk #6. The one issue in the original six issue run that was enclosed by Dutko rather than Kirby. And Tim's right about it also highlighting Hulk's ability to spray paint replica bazookas.
ReplyDeleteSteve D.C. I am quite fascinated by the differences in culture between the USA and UK. It is fun comparing. I also enjoy the "UK Crew" when they start dialoguing. I feel like a fly on the wall, lol.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I really have very, very limited familiarity with the music and tv shows you grew up with though a little more so with music b/c of the "2nd British Invasion" of 80 - 84 and I was stationed in Germany 85 - 89.
Anyhow, I won't rant anymore about old folks or conservatives even though they are a bunch of maroons as Bugs Bunny would say, lol. I apologize for that if it irritated anyone.
Awww man, it's fun to vent.
DeleteAnd an entertaining read!
If we all didn't do it now & again we'd turn into supervillians. The Human Pressure-Cookers! Lol!
Kinda like those human bombs in Avengers that tried to take out the Vision when he was going to marry Wanda.
Don't exactly agree with you on Supernature, Steve - its the greatest disco record not produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. Best heard in the full length version, rather than the paltry three minutes plus you posted here.
ReplyDeleteWalt Simonson and Alfredo Alcala were a fantastic team, although admittedly I reckon Alfredo Alcala and anybody were a fantastic team. You're right that as an inker he dominated the pencils, but as to whether Simonson's style was obliterated it depends on what you mean; if John Buscema's work on Conan was recognizable enough for you, then I'd say his was too.
Gotta say, Charlie's and Killdumpster's comments this time round are helping me to understand why there are so many of those mass shootings in the US ;).
-sean
Hah! I got off easy there!
ReplyDeleteClearly Sean believes I'm the only American here who's not part of the problem.
In your face, Charlie and Killdumpster!
M.P. (laughing maniacally)
Heck, guys. I've been a passive anarchist all my life.
DeleteI've had editorial submissions published in our local news papers involving art and politics."The pen is mightier than then the sword."
I will admit my country is violent. It was BUILT with violence. A lot of us can temper that with reason.
All changes involve a certain amount of aggravation and turmoil, one side or another.
Hopefully things will settle down & smooth out. To be honest, things are looking great on my end. I'm almost happy right now.
And if the Circle Jerks' "When The Sh*t Hits The Fan" actually happens, I can handle it if I what to.
I was fed doomsday stuff since I was 5 yrs old.
Yes I have guns. I'm also a class AA archer. I have minor martial art training. Am I a complete badass? No. Could I survive an apocalyptic event for a period of time? Probabably.
That doesn't mean I look forward to anything like that happening. Unlike some of the folks I know who are survivalists.
I loathe the maniac mass shootings in my country. Just as much I am nauseated by any horrid mass violence around the world.
Real life seems to be turning into a really bad horror movie no one wants to really watch anymore, but can't stop looking at it like a traffic accident.
We'll figure something out. For the sake of the species we have to.
I wanna live long enough to see us on Mars, dammit!!! Lol!!
I was just joking around there, but things seem very serious these days.
ReplyDeleteAnybody stop to ask why?
M.P.
It's all good, brother.
DeleteI just have a tendency to get grim when I'm at the pub and the pretty young ladies won't talk to me. Lol.
I just re-read the Buscema "Tower of the Elephant" this week.
ReplyDeleteI think the only other instance of Buscema reworking a Smith Conan story may be the SSOC version of "The Coming of Conan" from CTB #1. However, I haven't read it yet.
1) I like a good Conan. At Chicago Wizard World comicon two weeks ago I did buy 3 Johnny B Conan's in the # 40s in excellent condition. Only $2 each. Wish I could find Barry W Conan's for $2 each, lol. But the $2 bins is how I had my "fun." I bought 10 comics, that was it. Don't have time / space for them really, anymore.
ReplyDelete2) USA has very serious issues that do not plague other similarly-developed countries. They would get fixed, because the majority of our population wants these things fixed. But our electoral process is broken, having been devised 225 years ago as a means to get rural, unpopulated states to go along with creating a USA. Indeed life expectancy has DECLINED 2 years in a row now in the USA, particularly in those same states.
Ummm - if anyone wants to talk apocalypse, no one will live long at all without electricity. There's only about a 3-day supply of food in the food chain in the USA + what is in your food pantry, lol.
Oooh get you Charlie - $2 bins. Whats the matter, dollar bins not good enough for you, eh?
ReplyDeleteJust kidding; actually, I agree - part of the appeal of comics is that they're cheap and accessible, or should be (not having been to any US cons, dollar bins are just something I've read about online, and I have no idea whether they still exist).
The situation is worse here with new comics because of the exchange rate and the falling pound. And thats before Trump's trade war really kicks in.
Still, at least we can look forward to next year, when brexit will stimulate the market and unleash a new wave of creativity from the local comic industry. (That was a joke)
-sean
Sean! I am off to the library to get that "comic novel" by the French author we spoke of where his dad was a french tank commander in WW2 and then POW in Germany for 4 -5 years!
ReplyDeleteHa! The $ bins are just a chaotic, unsorted mess of sh%t from the 90s that no one wants anymore, lol. THe $2 bins are sorted nicely, bagged, boarded and has even stuff from late 60s... that no one wants anymore LOL!
I think comics should be for fun! Enjoyable! AN escape! Yes, there are genius works like Maus but one would be depressed reading that all the time, even if it is reality, no?
CHeers All! Love this BLOG!