Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Something very odd happened in December 1980.
And that was that the movie Superman II was released.
Except it was only released in Australia and mainland Europe, while the United States, its country of origin, had to wait until the following summer to see it.
As far as I'm aware, there was no such confusion for Flash Gordon. His movie came out in that month as well - and Americans were actually allowed to view it.
And it wasn't the only one. That December also saw the release of Robin Williams' Popeye movie and the Dolly Parton/Jane Fonda/Lily Tomlin vehicle 9 to 5.
Instead, it turns out it covers the life of St Francis of Assisi, as depicted by Mary Jo Duffy and John Buscema.
I don't even know if Paradox is the name of a character, an organisation of just a concept.
Is it set on Earth? Is it set in space? Who can say?
Needless to say, she does the obvious and recruits the help of the world's greatest blood scientist.
The only problem is his name's Michael Morbius.
I've not got any good reason for featuring it this time. I'm just intrigued by this issue's title, "Peacemonger."
Anyway, it turns out it's a reprint of a story from 1969.
What that story involves, I cannot say.
Presumably, she'd have had to explain to him how come she was pregnant and why her twins bore a remarkable resemblance to Norman Osborn.
In retrospect, it's possibly best she stayed dead.
Oddity of the issue is it has a back-up story and that story has nothing at all to do with Spider-Man or Gwen.
It involves the Eternals and explores their early history.
I'm assuming the origin of the Eternals is basically the same as the origin of the Inhumans, just with a different bunch of aliens behind it.
This book would appear to include two stories; one in which an amnesiac ROM has to battle the Plunderer who's still obsessed with getting his hands on Vibranium, and another in which ROM turns down the chance to become human, in order to carry on fighting Dire Wraiths wherever they are in the universe.
The Plunderer. They're really going for the top-drawer villains in this one. It can only be a matter of time before the Masked Marauder shows up.
As far as I can make out, not only do Spider-Man and Dr Strange team-up but so do Dormammu and Dr Doom!
It would seem the villainous pair unite in an attempt to create a thing called, "The Bend Sinister," which is probably not the most awe-inspiring name ever given to an Earth-threatening menace.
Apparently, Hitler also shows up in this book. In what capacity, I do not know.
It's the most important moment in the history of civilisation, as Doctor Who makes its American comic book debut, thanks to reprints from Marvel UK's mag.
In the main strip, the Doctor tangles with the Iron Legion, while the book also includes one-page features that fill new readers in on the Doctor, his friends and foes.
Not only do you get Dr Strange, Dormammu and Dr Doom in that Spidey annual Steve, its also by the late Denny O'Neil and Frank Miller!
ReplyDeleteI think it was DW in these threads who once suggested the presence of J Jonah Jameson, the Punisher et al in his Daredevil pointed to Miller being right for Spider-Man, but you wouldn't think of him as likely to be much of a Dr Strange artist.
Yet he did a brilliant job on Doc - moody in the "real" world, while the more far out stuff was very Ditko.
The story was fairly average though, not one of O'Neil's best. All I recall of Hitler in the comic was that Doom liked to unwind watching footage of him for inspiration. Which I thought was pretty pisspoor characterization - Doom was an east European Roma ffs, why would he be into Hitler?
Stalin would have made more sense, as Latveria seemed to be basically Marvel's Albania, and something of a glorious South Yorkshire-style workers paradise.
-sean
OK... so that's not a Cube Cosmic on the Spidey Annual... That guarantees knucklehead villain.
ReplyDeleteWow! Sgt. Fury was running at least to 161. Who'd a thunk it. Old Charlie thought it ended like around 115.
Anyone else still baffled why Osborne would have killed Gwen, if she had given birth to his twins? And when was this gestation taking place, anyhow. Were Charlie to have written the "What If" it would have been "What If Gerry Conway had fallen off a bridge prior to taking over Spider Man." (The Subjonctive rocks!)
When I was around six or seven there was a weekly comic strip about St. Francis of Assisi but I can't remember where I read it. At that time, in my pre-Marvel days, I was reading the Beezer and the Topper every week but would a comic strip about a Catholic saint have appeared in either of those?? It's a mystery that's bugged me for decades but my family wasn't Catholic or even religious so I'd never have heard of St. Francis of Assisi if not for reading that comic strip about his life back in 1973 or thereabouts.
ReplyDeleteFwiw Colin, I don't recall anything about Catholic saints in the Beezer or Topper along side Hairy Dan Football Fan or The Numbskulls either.
ReplyDeleteMind you, I wasn't a regular reader.
-sean
Oh boy... culture question from the Yanks...
ReplyDeleteSheffield = York = Yorkshire men?
I have the Lassie movie on with Liz Taylor. Lassie follows the boy home. Boy's dad starts brushing Lassie in preparation for returning Lassie to nearby owner.
Owner basically busts into the house and (paraphrasing) "What are you doing with my dog."
Man says, "Just cleaning him up before bringing him back."
Owner, "Bullshit. I know you Yorkshire men. You are just cleaning her to sell her."
SO is a Yorkshire man include men from Sheffield? And, like if Steve found me dog, would he sell her?
Well... Ole Charlie here was a regular reader of Beezer, Topper, Dandy, Beano, etc. (at least the annuals, lol). There was absolutely nothing religious to be found as far as he can recall.
ReplyDeleteNada, Zip, Zilch...
Though with all the pleasure we derived watching Dennis the Menace get spanked by his dad in such creative ways with a slipper (boa constrictor, rotating fan, whatever) one might think UK youth were being prepped for some sort of cult?
I've not heard that about Yorkshiremen selling dogs Charlie, and don't think you can really generalize about a whole group of people like that anyway.
ReplyDeleteBut if your dog's a whippet all bets are off.
-sean
OK... so not all men from the shire of york would sell a dog if they found one. Fair enough. But Steve might? We don't know until he weights in on this!
ReplyDeleteAnd we haven't even discussed the women of yorksire! What would they sell?
I'm not aware of any great propensity for people in Yorkshire to sell each other's dogs. It's certainly not something I've ever been tempted to do. Nor has anyone ever tried to sell me one.
ReplyDeleteThe Beezer & the Topper - those bring back memories! But why were they broadsheet format, whilst the Beano & Dandy were tabloid? Broadsheet was more highbrow - but that hardly fits Beryl the Peril!
ReplyDeleteSean - Charlie has never indicated he owns a flat cap - therefore, he is not fully qualified to be a whippet owner!
Charlie - I don't know about dog-selling, but there's a lot of dog-stealing currently being reported, in West Yorkshire. However, the culprits are not Yorkshire men (according to the incredibly accurate local social media!)
Phillip
Well, between Lassie and Google Yorkshire folks are big on dog theft. I'll be dog-goned if I'm going to travel there with my long-haired Dachshund!
ReplyDeletePer Mr. Google:
Organised crime gangs have stepped up pet thefts since the start of the coronavirus pandemic to cash in on rising prices for dogs and puppies. The surge in dognapping has been driven by greater demand for dogs from people spending more time at home during lockdown, police say. (Aug 3, 2020)
And another google headline: West Yorkshire a hotspot for dog AND cat thefts -
Per Lassie - see my reporting above!
And MP - the Michael Fagan of SDC - The cool cat who shimmies up down spouts, slinks along ledges, and magically appears by your bedside - WATCH OUT!
ReplyDeleteThey are stealing cats by the hundreds of thousands in Yorkshire! ThHis perhaps explains why the Billy the Cat no longer appears... some Yorkshire man stole him! (Billy was a staple of The Beano Annual when I was a kid.)
Maybe it's time for MP the Cat to sort it out!
I seem to remember that somewhere in that Spider-man Annual, Spidey is singing Elvis Costello’s “Oliver’s Army” in the midst of a fight scene (or maybe just while swinging overhead on a thread) . Or did I dream that?
ReplyDeleteb.t.
MP - Sorry for referencing you and Billy the Cat. A cool cat with your Michael-Fagan stealth is better thought of as "The Leopard of Lime Street" who was in those UK comics like Buster.
ReplyDelete("Hey Buster Brown! What are you gonna give me?" Sorry... had to say it. From my blurred childhood and don't know why or where.)
That Amazing Spider-Man Annual was a bright spot in an otherwise unremarkable period in the title. But that issue, and the subsequent one with Dr. Octopus and the Punisher, were both quite good.
ReplyDeleteB.t.- No, you weren't dreaming- Spider-Man did indeed sing "Oliver's Army" while hanging from a lamppost. But it was in a Marvel Team Up Annual, in which he got mind grabbed by the Purple Man. Another good story, although the art didnt reach the level of Miller and Rubinstein.
Sean- good point about Doom and Hitler. Hadn't considered that angle...