Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Back in September 1970, major things were happening in the world of music.
For a start, it was the month which saw the first-ever Glastonbury Festival, at Michael Eavis' farm in Somerset. The Kinks were supposed to be the headliners but were replaced, at short notice, by Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Somewhat less happily, the month also saw the death of 27-year-old Jimi Hendrix, due to an overdose of sleeping pills.
It also saw the release of the Jesus Christ Superstar LP, and the world quickly learned to fear the names Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
In America, the TV version of The Odd Couple premiered on ABC, giving us all a chance to learn to perfect our whistling.
Red Wolf makes his senses-shattering debut, although, judging by that cover, two of the
Avengers seem to have completely failed to notice, suggesting they're the least observant crime-fighters of all time.
But how can the world's mightiest heroes ever hope to survive an attack by a man armed with a stick and a dog? How?
I'm struggling to remember what actually happens in this tale. Are they up against that ruthless property developer with the Dutch name?
I genuinely have no recollection of this one at all but it would appear the Red Skull's now in the car-jacking business.
On top of that, he plans to start a World War by abducting someone called King Hassab.
I will, therefore, assume the car belongs to the king.
I think
Daredevil has to become a boxer, in order to protect a young fighter from suffering the same fate as the one which befell Battling Murdock.
It's Jack Kirby's last issue (unless you count that weird, cobbled-together one featuring Janus), as Magneto tricks the
Sub-Mariner into plunging into yet another war with New York City.
Will the aquatic adventurer ever learn to control his temper?
The
Hulk's hanging around the tenements of Los Angeles, and that leads to
Iron Man being called in to tangle with him.
Unless I miss my guess, this issue sees the first appearance of Jim Wilson, the Hulk sidekick who had no ambitions to be the next Avenger and also never tried to play a mouth organ in a nuclear test area.
Iron Man's busy this month. Not only does he have to fight the Hulk but he's also got to overcome two characters known as Myrmidon and the Overseer.
I have vague memories that one of those characters is a giant computer that rules somewhere in Asia, and the other is its guardian.
Just how either of them came into being, I struggle to recall.
I do, however, recall that Shellhead is triumphant against them both.
Doctor Octopus may be in prison but the authorities have forgotten he has psychic control of his tentacles, meaning he can use them to rescue him from his cell.
Having said that, knowing the prison authorities in Silver Age Marvel comics, it's a miracle they didn't just let him wear them in prison.
Still, not to worry,
Spidey's on hand to deal with it all.
Loki's swapped bodies with Thor and is out to cause no end of mischief.
Neal Adams makes his debut on the strip, although Joe Sinnott's inks really don't mesh with his style and it all just looks not quite right.
Apparently, Odin's Vizier makes his first-ever appearance, in this tale, which is exciting news for those who've been waiting, with bated breath, for him to show up.
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24 comments:
Great summary lads, very impressive yet again.A very mixed bag of treasures.Loved the Avengers issue. Story and art was 10 out of 10(maybe the story was a bit weak but Thomas and Buscema... Gold standard!) Perhaps an astute reader might confirm the rumour that Neal Adams drew the over!!! FF issue was the end of the greatest consecutive run of quality issues ever published, not an opinion but a fact. (Sorry, got carried away a bit but it was an incredible run), Daredevil and Captain America enjoy the same ranking, amazing artwork and meandering, directionless scripts that did no justice to the titles. Colan was at the top of his game, never better. Hulk was a title I loved and Thomas seemed to have a great handle on the character. Ironman was in a slump that was a year from improving. Cover looks different to me... Is their some form of wash or gloss going on? Spiderman was just starting to peak and but for a few exceptions, #91, 92 and #99 would hit winners in virtually every issue up to #150(in my opinion of course). Finally Thor #180 by Adams and Sinnot prove that even 'A' list individuals can fail to mesh as a team. Loved the issue as well as the 2nd part in #181.Keep up the great work and stay well everybody.
Meant cover in reference to Avengers #80 not over!
"Odd Couple " was always on my viewing list, but I was more excited by the new series "The Partridge Family ". My parents even got me the record album.
Kind of a mixed bag of covers this week. The Cap cover is rather unremarkable, and the Daredevil cover is just weird. Spider-Man had a better one, though not one of Romita's best. Good story, though...
Yes Steve, I believe that Avengers story also features Cornelius Van Lundt (aka XXXXXX no spoilers). Don't the Avengers split into two teams to go on two separate missions with some of the old guard (definitely Iron Man, maybe Thor and/or Cap) fretting about how they've never had to split up into teams before and how it might mean the end of the Avengers? The let's split up with me and Daphne checking upstairs strategy of Avengers Annual #1 (among presumably many other issues) conveniently forgotten. I think this one lasts two or three issues and they eventually find out that the separate missions are related. Despite there being no super-powered menaces involved, the Avengers covers over this era make those issues just jump off the shelves.
As well as this being Kirby's last FF issue before he leaves for DC,, it's kind of the end of a Romita era. From issue #89, Gil Kane becomes the regular artist on ASM, although Ring-A-Ding will occasionally pop back.
Joe Sinnott wasn't the most suitable inker for Neal Adams, but all the same it seems there was more than that to the odd look of Thor #180, Steve.
According to Adams, Stan Lee wasn't actually that keen on his work - or at least thought he wasn't right for Thor - so to get the gig he promised to rein himself in, and draw it the Marvel Way.
https://twomorrows.com/comicbookartist/articles/03adams.html
Seems a bit odd to get Neal Adams to try and draw like John Buscema if you could just as easily get John Buscema, who was obviously able to do a better Big John than anyone else, and was already Kirby's planned replacement anyway.
Meanwhile of course Jack Kirby had his own ideas for Thor. He'd thought of wiping out the Asgardians, the old gods, and coming up with some new ones... and sure enough, on the first page of New Gods #1 you can make out a figure with a winged helmet and hammer doing the fighting.
-sean
On the subject of Glastonbury, Steve, the 1970 event was called the Pilton festival, and became more recognizable with the name change the following summer, with the pyramid stage, a reasonable sized crowd and so on. If anyone's interested, Nic Roeg's film of the '71 festival is at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=90nh4iiBzFc
Everyone knows Stonehenge was better though, right?
-sean
Yeah, Sean, I always had the impression that with the New Gods, Kirby (symbolically?) destroyed Asgard, and he was announcing he was creating a new universe. I suspect that it was a combination of frustration over not being given creative credit, but also just boredom with old characters. What the heck else was he supposed to do with them? He was burning the bridge. That guy's brain was always ticking. He would come up with four or five wild concepts while other creators were still brushing their teeth in morning.
Some were more, ah, compelling than others, but he had a good batting average, I think.
Wow, that Iron Man cover up there is pretty slick! I'm not very familiar with Iron Man during this period (I was 2) but it's a really nice cover. I can't guess who drew it, but I'm guessing Romita inked it.
That Avengers cover always cracked me up a little. I like Red Wolf, I thought he was a great character, but I fail to see the threat of him attacking the Avengers.
Still, I think it was about time to introduce a Native American superhero.
M.P.
M.P. You are not very observant tonight. Don't you see Red Wolf has a stick, in his right hand? That alone would strike fear into the Avengers. Add a wolf-dog on top of it? Geeze... run for the hills dudes!
Call Charlie crazy but Cap's lower anatomy in his cover, sure looks like Frank R*bb#ns did the drawing!
Charlie, I admit I didn't see the stick.
I must admit, a guy with said stick, a wolf-pelt on his head and an actual gosh-darn-no-foolin' wolf would scare the bejeezus outta me.
Here's a story: some years ago I was going out for walks at night, for exercise. It was winter and I was wearing a face mask. When I got back to my place, I stopped to look into my kitchen window from the outside to see how my plants on the window ledge were doing.
Not very well. Anyway, I went inside and ten minutes later BAM BAM BAM on my door. It was the cops; one of my neighbors had seen a masked man skulking around my place and buzzed the fuzz.
It was a K-9 unit; they were comin' in no matter what and had a German Shepard waiting for the command to "sic balls." I was put up against my refrigerator by two goons whilst that dog went on a rampage through my place. I can still hear the sound of his claws as he skittered in my bathtub.
He was looking for drugs, do doubt, hoping to get a Scooby snack as a reward, but I didn't have any. One of the cops called him back and he sat there on his haunches on my kitchen floor, panting and gazing at me intently, as if I were a ham.
With slightly trembling hands I produced my driver's license and convinced them that I was in fact no burglar, but merely an hapless idiot.
It took me a long time to get to sleep that night.
M.P.
M.P.
Signed off twice there...oops!
Charlie, the Cap cover is by Gene Colan but I agree that the boots have a Robbinsesque quality to them.
MP, the Iron Man cover was by Marie Severin with inks by Bill Everett.
Sean, thanks for the Glastonbury and Neal Adams links.
Dangermash, thanks for the Cornelius Van Lundt confirmation.
Red, I always liked The Odd Couple but The Partridge Family held little appeal for me.
FFf, the Grand Comics Database credits that Avengers cover to John Buscema and Tom Palmer. I agree that the Hulk in this era was great. I'd also say that Hulk cover is my favourite of this month's crop.
Somebody commented recently that MOJO magazine always seems to feature the Beatles on its' cover. I was in Tesco this morning, perusing the magazines, and I noticed that this month's MOJO does indeed feature the Beatles on the cover. Other music mags available had Jimi Hendrix, Queen and the Rolling Stones on their covers - is that because nobody under 50 actually buys these magazines?
Colin - Yep! Almost no one (probably regardless of age) reads hard copy anymore.
I heard the Tesco advert this morning on Talk Sport promoting the Panini cards of soccer players in England (450 cards total?) Who still buys those? Do kids still collect them and put them in albums? Or is it just adults hoping to somehow profit?
Lastly, I was listening to the UK weather report on Talk Sport and the weather forecaster used the words "Indian Summer" quite a bit. Is that term borrowed from the US and our natives?
The link below shows perhaps the most famous reference to "Injun Summer" by John McCutcheon 115 years ago. We had that picture and narrative framed in a room on the house growing up. Considered totally inappropriate today, though, and certainly a far cry from the Hiawatha poem by Longfellow 50 years earlier.
http://www.tkinter.smig.net/Chicago/InjunSummer/index.htm
(PS - I do NOT spend all day listening to Talk Sport! LOL. It's on during my morning constitutional and drive to work.)
Charlie, I've always assumed, "Indian summer," has something do do with the sub-continent of India but, from that link, perhaps, it does come from Hiawatha.
As for Panini cards, I don't have a clue who collects them anymore.
Colin, I agree with Charlie, I suspect it'd be difficult to find anyone under a certain age who buys magazines anymore.
That's interesting Charlie.
I'm hoping for an Indian Summer, but get this: in Rapid City South Dakota, the last 24 hours, the temperature dropped over 70 degrees IN ONE DAY. I'm on the eastern side of the state, in Sioux Falls, and here it only dropped around 35 degrees. Yesterday was hot and today it ain't.
It'll warm back up but sheesh.
I'd prefer to ease into it, y'know?
M.P.
The puzzling thing about who buys the music mags isn't their age, but why anyone's still interested in reading about that stuff at all.
I mean, the Beatles have been done to death as a subject. Same goes for the Rolling Stones and the rest of those old codgers - after all the books, documentaries and whatnot, whats left?
-sean
I love the JC Superstar album! Listen to it several times every year around Easter. I dare say that after the various Beatles' albums I've listened to that the most!
Jesus Christ, superstar
Driving down the road in a stolen car...
I'm probably going to Hell for that...
M.P.
What makes you think you weren't going there anyway M.P.?
Besides, I expect all the more interesting people are in hell. Not that I believe in any of that stuff, but doesn't it stand to reason that heaven would be pretty boring?
-sean
Sean, being half Dutch, a quarter German and a quarter English, I assume I'm going to Hell just on general principal.
...but you're right. I get a kick out of the whole (to me) mythology. And like Charlie, I love Jesus Christ Superstar. I've got it on CD. Yvonne Elliman is an angel.
M.P.
With nothing better to do, I just had a look at a clip of Jesus Christ Superstar.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlOxUcTcUH0
How 70s is that? Looks like the film might be almost as ridiculous as Tommy...
-sean
Sean, how can you be an Irishman and a cynic at the same time. The terms are mutually exclusive.
Charlie, help me out here.
M.P.
MP - I'd love to help you out but it's happy hour! And anyhow, I strained my calf playing soccer on Saturday so I'm gimp for a while.
The other thing is that you are always posting when I am going to sleep in the evening. So, a good 7-8 hours have passed before I read what's on your mind. Otherwise I'd join in the fun for sure!
I wouldn't mess with Jesus or God because you just never know. Christians are fair game, though.
And I love JC Superstar album! It makes me reflect on the Gospels. Nothing wrong with that. As a young lad I was lucky my old man was able to take us to see JC SUperstar when it came to Chicago. Lots of memories of so many wonderful pieces. And the disco ball at the end, at the Resurrection, was unbelievable!
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