As so often, I know little of the contents of this issue, but I do know that's a nice cover by John Buscema.
I also know Star-Lord's strip is still ongoing, although I don't know what's going on.
Possibly even more excitingly, I also know this week's back cover features another of those full page Smiths crisp ads about football. This one reveals that Rivelino holds the world record for the fastest goal ever, having scored after just three and a half seconds while the Fluminense goalkeeper was still busy doing his prayers.
I do believe this Hulk tale's drawn by John Byrne, as our hero sort of teams up with the Angel and Iceman to tackle the Sentinels and their outer space base. I do remember liking it at the time but haven't read the tale since then and, therefore, can offer no up-to-date opinion about its merits.
I also believe the FF tale in this issue is the one in which the Thing tackles a robot that's trying to steal a bank vault, and ends up in conflict with the army about just who the defeated machine belongs to.
In DD's strip, the Black Spectre's still trying to recruit Daredevil and the Black Widow to his campaign of landmark defacement.
I have no memory at all of this Spidey epic but it would seem the Chameleon's back and, yet again, doing his favourite thing of committing crimes while dressed as Spider-Man.
The story appears to be a reprint from Marvel Team-Up #27 and it would seem that, at one point, the Chameleon accidentally bumps into the Hulk but just happens to have a Rick Jones mask handy which enables him to fool the Hulk into helping him.
Which does raise the obvious question of just why the Chameleon would happen to have a Rick Jones mask on him?
Elsewhere, Captain America is up against the Grey Gargoyle, and possibly the Falcon as well, in a John Romita drawn tale.
In The Avengers, I do believe Patsy Walker's about to discover the Cat's old costume and become the senses-shattering Hellcat. Personally, I do view this as a good thing, as there are not enough heroes on this planet who have bright yellow costumes.
Elsewhere, Thor, Hercules, Firelord and Galactus are all set to go to war with Ego the living planet.
But isn't that overkill? Would Galactus on his own not be able to do the task?
I think Galactus was just hedging his bets.
ReplyDeleteWho wouldn't want to be Rick Jones? You get to hang out with all the heroes. His life insurance policy was pretty costly, I would think.
That issue of Thor where he confronts Ego was my introduction to the hammer-slinger. Why couldn't Galactus defeat (and, I guess, eat...yuck) the Living Planet on his own? I dunno. He'd had some trouble with Ego before.
ReplyDeleteIt was a pretty wild, cosmic issue, although all Hercules and Firelord did was stand around and look concerned while Thor did all the work. Still, it threw my young, fragile mind for a loop and made me a life-time Thor fan.
Thor did this thing I love where he swings the hammer around and it looks like an atom, with protons and neutrons swirling around. It was Rich Buckler swiping from Kirby, but the effect was still pretty cool.
M.P.
Sounds like Killdumpster could be the sort of person who might have a Rick Jones mask handy Steve - maybe he could explain the Chameleon's motivation?
ReplyDelete-sean
MP, one of the great pleasures of youthful comic reading was identifying all the swipes Rich Buckler got through in an issue.
ReplyDeleteSean and KD, I'm wearing my Rick Jones mask even as I type. One never knows when it might come in handy.
Hi Gang! Am I to conclude that marvel fans in the UK were in theory more excited by seeing Dr. Samson instead of Angel and Iceman on the cover of a Hulk comic?
ReplyDeleteSean & Steve-
ReplyDeleteIf you think about it, it makes perfect sense that the Chameleon would have a Rick mask.
If you were a supervillian in NY, a city LOADED with potential foes and your primary power was disguise, Rick would be highly likely to get you out of a jam.
Most of the heroes know him, a lot of them are his buddies and he usually doesn't have any powers that you'd have to imitate.
Also, Chameleon had a run-in with Hulk & Ant-Man when he was doing some work for Hydra.
Charlie, I suspect it's just that, in the part of the story featured in this week's issue, Doc Samson plays a bigger part than Angel and Iceman do.
ReplyDeleteKD, suddenly it starts to make sense.
When he's wearing that Rick mask, he'd better hope he doesn't bump into Captain Marvel, who can proclaim loudly enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear "Unlucky Dmitri, you chose to disguise yourself as the one person I knew you couldn't possibly be!"
ReplyDeleteYeah, but I think Marv wasn't hanging around the Big Apple much during that time. I think he might've been busy with Thano's, working in a observatory or riding a mechanical mule through space with Rick. Can't remember which.
DeleteThey're having a costume party tonite at the hotel I live at. I wish I had a Rick Jones mask, but it probably wouldn't be Chameleon quality.
ReplyDeleteIt would be dodgy-looking, like the William Shatner/Kirk mask that Michael Myers wears in the HALLOWEEN movies
Now that I think about it, I wonder if Shatner gets residual payments from the sale of Michael Myers mask & merchandise.
ReplyDeleteHe oughtta, but I don't think he's hurtin' for money.
ReplyDeleteHe looks like he's eatin' good, anyway. And that hair can't be cheap either.
M.P.
Lmao!
DeleteSounds like my comment went over a few heads. Have people forgotten Amazing Spider-Man #80 already? It's only been 48 years!
ReplyDeleteThat was the issue where Peter and Gwen were in a museum and Chameleon was disguised as Capt. Stacy then later Parker himself.
DeleteI thought the quote you made seemed vaguely familiar, but really couldn't remember till you brought up the book.
Man, and I think my mom is the one going senile.
In my defense, I was probably 8 years old and only read it once, a buddy's copy during recess.
DeleteI got the reference, Dangermash. The inability of the characters to draw the obvious conclusion from Spidey's declaration was indeed baffling.
ReplyDeleteSteve/KD - That story is one I particularly remember because if appeared in a pre Marvel UK Christmas annual. Pow or Fantastic or TV21 x something like that. It had some panels missing, making it look as if Chameleon was ripping off his Captain Stacy mask in front of Peter and Gwen rather than back at his digs. It wasn’t until the reprnt in SMCW #99 that I got to see it properly.
ReplyDelete