Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Here I am and another bank holiday Monday's just come and gone; arriving on a Friday, in a desperate attempt to catch me out.
Not that I, in my lockdown state, know what day of week it is anymore - or even what month it is.
But, hold on. It must be May.
How do I know this?
Because that's what it says on the front of the comics below.
For reasons I can't remember, someone who runs a psychiatric establishment has kidnapped the Wasp.
But never fear, Yellowjacket and Ant-Man are here to rescue her!
And, let's face it, if you're in trouble, the words you most want to hear are, "Don't worry! Ant-Man and Yellowjacket are on their way!"
Conan gets captured by persons of restricted growth and ends up fighting a bear which he, of course, soon teaches a lesson it'll never forget, by murdering it.
If I remember right, this is the one in which a reporter confronts a hospitalised Daredevil, about the fact he's really Matt Murdock, and DD tells him - and us - the story of his origin.
The only thing I know about this issue is Iron Man tests his newly-updated armour to make sure no one can take it over again; like Peter Cushing did, a few months ago.
I assume there's more to the story than that but I don't know what.
The Black Cat's back and stealing things, causing bad luck to happen, while flirting with Spidey.
I'm not sure if there's anything else going on in this tale.
It's some long-winded nonsense, as Odin strikes a deal to give an Asgardian goddess to some giants who're doing up his house, prompting Thor to go off and get a magic ring in a tale in which no one's actions make sense.
The other X-Men may have been defeated by the Hellfire Club but Wolverine's not so easily stopped and goes on the rampage in their HQ before Cyclops seems to be killed in a psychic battle with someone or other.
A woman who I think might be Steve Rogers' landlady decides to get revenge on a Nazi war criminal she's bumped into. Can Cap prevent her from doing the deed?
My memory is this tale's weirdly sympathetic to the Nazi war criminal.
The Frightful Four are back and have a great plan.
They'll get the Trapster to dress up as Spider-Man, so he'll be able to gain access to the Baxter Building and the querulous quartet will, at last, be able to defeat their old foes.
The only flaw in this scheme is it means the bad guys now have to deal with not just the FF but with Spider-Man too.
And, also, the Trapster tried the exact same plan in a Silver Age Daredevil tale - and that attempt failed miserably as well.
The Hulk returns Jarella's corpse to her homeworld, only to discover the only part of it that's still inhabitable is filled with homicidal plants and deadly animals.
Needless to say, Hulkie soon sets about tackling the problem, in his own inimitable style.
It's a magnificent cross-over as the Frightful Four lure Spidey to the Statue of Liberty, in order to capture him, so the Trapster can pretend to be him and invade the Baxter Building.
Why do I get the feeling I've already said all this?
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19 comments:
Anyone else get creeped out by seeing a bunch of insects?
For the life of me, why doesn't Iron Man start blasting away with that "chest circle" as well? Also why use his roller skates to get out of there. And, for all you stalwart Marvel experts, didn't he have some gizmos in his hip discs?
Lastly, that's one hell of an upgrade for the Frightful Four, trading in Medusa for Electro! I always thought ole Electro should have been an extremely (!) dangerous villain after one day sticking copper wires into our houses electrical outlets, to see what would happen, when I was a kid! And ain't it grand ole Paste Pot Pete no longer carries a paste pot? How the hell would he have been able to pose as Spidey, o/wise? I guess he could have passed it off as a can of webbing?
Steve and all you others! Thanks for participating on this blog during Corona. It's mine and Charlie's "safe zone" during this weird time! Much obliged!
Charlie-
While Electro may be an upgrade from Medusa, he seems like a downgrade from Thundra.
Just a friendly reminder:
Unplug the toaster, if you have to fish out a stuck bagel with a fork. That's another way to get zapped.
For some reason I always thought Iron Man's hip pods were for power storage. I could be wrong.
I checked out that ASM Steve. JJJ wakes up in an alleyway having lost his memory (you were right after all). Robbie Robertson is getting very short tempered at the Bugle. And Flash introduces Pete to Dawn Starr who makes no secret that she's there for the taking before blowing it by announcing that she's a student in his class. So Pete sends her packing, probably wondering whether he could arrange a swap with that teacher from Mind Your Language who was always having to turn down advances from that French student played by Francoise Pascal.
If anyone is feeling a nostalgic need (like me to be honest) to check out Mind Your Language on YouTube, I can recommend Series 1 Episode 11 (A Point Of Honour) which shows just how seriously sexual harassment was taken in the 1970s. https://youtu.be/uFUeQInwUrQ
And is that X-Men comic the start of the Dark Phoenix saga? If it is, it's probably still going for free on Comixology. I think it was Sean that pointed out the freebies a few weeks ago.
It being Mother's Day here in the States (uncertain if you UK folks celebrate that), and electricity being brought up reminded me of an amusing story.
My mother gave me a used clothing iron that previously belonged to my grandfather.
She said he was drunk while ironing his shirts, and burnt the electrical cord in half. She said she fixed it. It had a wad of electrical tape on it.
Wanted to iron the clothes to wear on a date, so I plugged it in. A HUGE FIREBALL BURST FROM THE WALL SOCKET!!!
It knocked me across the kitchen, scorched my hair & face, and eyebrows were completely burnt off! The power in the whole apartment building blew.
Pulling the tape off, I discovered she had twisted the positive & negative lines together, in a knot. The next day I asked her if she knew what electrical current was.
Actually dmaTAA, dark Phoenix doesn't seem to be on offer free anymore, its a different selection now. Including Amazing Spidey Marvel Masterworks vol 1, although it would surprise if you don't already have all those stories in some form.
Still, Planet Hulk, FF Visionaries... it might be worth your while taking another look -
www.comixology/Marvel-Free-Comics/page/23611
-sean
Cheers Sean. Heading back to load up some more. And, yes, I've got ASM #1-500 on the iPad from when they released them all on a set of discs, which is why they're the conics I know most about.
Not sure how often they change it dm - the last lot were up for a few weeks, so... maybe monthly? Assuming the coronavirus situation doesn't change. Which is a reasonable assumption imo.
I forgot Hank Pym came back as Yellowjacket around this point, Steve. You'd think given his history the Avengers - at the very least the wondrous Wasp - would be a bit wary about whats going on with him, but not at all.
Still, in a few issues they don't seem too concerned about Ms. Marvel's accelerated pregnancy and giving birth to her own rapist (!) so obviously they're not very empathetic people.
And don't get me started on Thor going all Wagner...
-sean
Why is Margaret Thatcher shooting the NAZI on the cover of Cap?
Sean, they were always tinkering with Hank Pym. I think he and the Wasp showed up in Avengers #1 because at that point Marvel didn't have a big stable of established characters, and I think Stan the Man wanted a super-team like D.C. was putting out. But Marvel Comics at that point had a light bench, so to speak.
They were always trying to come up with an incarnation of Pym to make him cool. Eventually they just wrote him out. I don't think you need two team members who specialize in self-miniaturization.
They would trot him out occasionally as a "classic" character who was pretty complicated (half-nuts), and you could get a story or two from that.
I dunno what that Ms. marvel storyline was about and I don't wanna know! Yikes.
M.P.
Simayl, I thought she was shooting John Byrne.
MP, I also wonder if Ant-Man was originally in the Avengers because the Atom was in the Justice League?
Sean and Dangermash, thanks for the Comixology info.
KD, we have Mother's Day in Britain as well. As for electricity, I'm pleased to announce I've never managed to electrocute myself, which is a good thing, as household electricity in Britain has double the voltage of that used in America. Make a mistake with it and it's instant death.
Charlie, I'm pretty sure Iron Man's chest light is just a light. Apart from his early encounter with Mr Doll, I don't remember it ever being used for any other purpose.
Yes Steve, high voltage is potentially deadly.
Having to hookup power-lines for P.A. equipment when I setup for bands, I got the taste of 220 volts 3 times. The last time I got jolted it took days to shake off. Not a pleasant experience.
Least I was able to walk away from it. Unfortunately I didn't pickup any Electro powers, or the ones Lon Chaney Jr. had in "Man Made Monster". Just alot of body ache.
So, Iron Man projects light, has roller skates, and - as you informed us recently, Steve - plugs cables into his nipples... Seems he was basically the prototype for Dazzler.
-sean
Sean - that is a great observation! You don't suppose...
Though, we must remember that Iron Man could automatically close off his holes so he could be underwater, etc.
Also, he had hip circles that could hold gadgets.
Steve - There is general consensus (LOL) though no one recalls when, that IM used the unibeam as a repulsor ray like his hand repulsors. I seem to have a vague recall seeing him do that in the Marvel 1966 Iron Man cartoon so that would really date the usage of that to his early Tales of Suspense issues.
Regrettably, I don't have time to youtube the 1966 Iron Man cartoons. I used up all my free time last week looking at HR Pufnstuf, Plastic Bertrand, and Japanese Boy videos.
B.t.w. Steve and Sean - I am still speechless from those two music videos.
I can see it now, 30 years from now (if I'm alive)... Grandpa... how did you amuse yourself during the Corona Pandemic!!!
Another guy that had goofy new powers every other month was Thor. back in the early Lee-Kirby days of the character, he could travel in time, and his hammer had some sorta magnetic powers. One time he magnetized a man-sized Surtur to an asteroid. Another time he had super-breath and super-hearing like Superman and the power to fly from planet to planet in a short amount of time, which to indicates some kinda warping ability.
No roller skates, though.
He can also tap into an energy sources known as "god-blast" or "anti-force" which allow him to confront even the likes of Galactus.
On paper, he oughtta be able to clobber the Hulk or the Juggernaut without too much trouble.
Ah, I got some down time today.
M.P.
MP - you done finished up sloppin' dem hogs? Dey done let youse back inside da house? Awesome!
You are spot on about old Thor! Plus he would change back and forth to to Blake instead of being eternal Thor!
Now Thor is Galactus's herald!
Wow... how things change in the Marvel World
...Huh?
M.P.
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