Sunday 7 March 2021

Fifty years ago this month - March 1971.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***

Did you know that all that glitters is gold?

I did but only thanks to Led Zeppelin.

I know because they told me so.

Or at least they would have, had I been in Belfast fifty years ago this month. 

For it was in that city, right then, the band performed Stairway to Heaven in public for the first time.

Thanks to them, I also know not to be alarmed if there's a bustle in a hedgerow.

It's advice that's served me well and I have, thus, yet to be alarmed by any bustles I've ever encountered in any hedgerows.

What served Joe Frazier well, that March, were his fists, as he beat Muhammad Ali, on points, at Madison Square Garden, in the scrap billed as The Fight of the Century.

Rather more peacefully, it was also the month in which The Ed Sullivan Show aired its final episode.

As if all that wasn't epoch-making enough, March 1971 also saw the founding of Starbucks, in Washington State.

But comics. What of them?

Fantastic Four #108, Janus, the cobbled together years


We get a masterclass in how not to put together a book, as Lee and Buscema cobble together the tale of Janus the Nega-Man by recycling panels from a rejected story Jack Kirby drew before seeking-out the bright pastures of DC.

I'm going to put my neck on the block and say I don't feel it's an experiment that worked.


Amazing Spider-Man #94, origin retold, the Beetle


Gwen Stacy's gone to London to give birth to Norman Osborn's twins, and Aunt May manages to get herself kidnapped by the Beetle who's then foiled by his deadliest foe yet, a swimming pool.

John Romita's pencil also gives us a retelling of Spider-Man's origin.

I do feel this to be one of Spidey's weaker offerings from this era.


Avengers #86, brain-child and the Squadron Supreme


Trapped on an alternate Earth, the Avengers unite with the Squadron Supreme to take on Brain-Child, that world's deadliest ankle-biter.


Captain America #135


In one of the very first American comics I ever owned, Captain America and the Falcon grapple with a human gorilla.

I cannot deny it, the colours and design of Cap's costume felt, to my innocent mind, like an entry into an almost drug-fuelled wonderland.

Daredevil #74


New York's lost the use of its eyes and it's up to Daredevil and a bunch of normally sightless people to defeat the culprits who turn out to be the Smasher and his gang.

I'm assuming this isn't the same Smasher as the one who turned up, once, in Spider-Man's comic, as that Smasher didn't seem to have the brains to lead any kind of gang.

Incredible Hulk #137, The Abomination, Klaatu, Xeron and Captain Cybor


Is it another Hulk classic when Bruce Banner finds himself in pursuit of Space Moby Dick while having to survive the lethal ambitions of the Abomination.

If you don't like stories like this, you don't like stories.

Nor do you like space monsters.

Nor the Abomination.

Nor the Hulk.

Or Bruce Banner.


Iron Man #35, Nick Fury and Zodiac


It's another of those Iron Man yarns I've no memory of ever having read, even though I'm sure I must have.

I do know, though, that it features Nick Fury and Zodiac.

As always, I must confess that any story which features either Nick Fury or Zodiac is going to struggle to lodge itself in my mind.

Especially if it's in the pages of Iron Man.

Thor #186, Hela


I think this is the one that ends the saga in which Odin's hand is eating galaxies.

If I recall correctly, Hela's got Thor all dead and done for, until her lackey the Silent One sacrifices himself to save our hero.

But I don't care about that. All I care about is Hela's in it and looking as fabulous as ever.



So, that's all the main Marvel comics seen to but what of their distinguished competition?

Is it up to anything thrilling?

Too right it is. Jolly Jack may be being ill-served by The Fantastic Four, this month but why should he care about that? Over at DC, he has two brand-new books out!

In the first issue of The Forever People, not only do we get a guest slot from Superman, drawn as only Jack - and a hard-working correcting artist - can draw him but the main cast arrives on Earth, ready to have a, doubtless, magnificent set of adventures.

New Gods #1

Meanwhile, Jack's New Gods also makes its debut.

I've read the plot summary of this issue, on the Grand Comics Database, and I don't understand a word of it.

I do, however, think this might be the issue which gives us the first-ever full appearance of Darkseid.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iron Man # 35 is a crossover with Daredevil # 73:

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Daredevil_Vol_1_73

I read the conclusion to this in Rampage Weekly # 19, in an Iron Man story. Steve - that's why DD #73 (which you looked at a few weeks ago) confused me - as I'd read it (in Rampage) as an Iron Man story, not Daredevil. Now it makes sense - kind of!

The Captain America & Ape story was in Super Spider-man Weekly in 1978. I'd have to delve around to find the exact issue.

That guy on the quad-bike (no tri-bike?) looks like the 'Water Margin' character, Tiger Hunter!

Phillip

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

Yes. Not a great ASM this month. In particular, the recap of Spider-Man’s origin was just padding. But it is the issue that (when reprinted in the U.K.) awarded me the letters S.S. after my name, There's a symbolic full page splash panel with eight villains on it. And because I can name all eight of them plus at least five more, I'm a Spiderphile Supreme.

Anonymous said...

dangermash - Unfortunately, that(S.S.) is probably the one Marvel acronym you don't want to include after your name! More honoured in the breach than the observance, methinks!

Phillip

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

Sadly true, Philip. Not something I'd want to put in a business card. Although from 1991 to 2010, I was dangermash MA FiA!

Anonymous said...

Dangermash - If you were in Marvel, it would have been dangermash MA GiA! If J Edgar Hoover were still around, with that title, the Feds would've kept pulling you in, for tax audits! ;)

Phillip

Anonymous said...

"There came a time when the old gods died!... An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!"

Its a giant leap forward for comics this month Steve, with New Gods #1.
Apparently Kirby originally wanted to wipeout Asgard - you can see a figure in a winged helmet with a hammer among the old gods in the splash page - but the dweebs at Marvel wouldn't even give Jack a single title to do his own thing, let alone take any chances with Thor.

DC gave him three - Mister Miracle #1 turns up next month - and he still did other stuff for them around late '70/early '71 like Spirit World, and Soul Love (so ahead of its time it wasn't even published til the 21st century!)

-sean

Anonymous said...

PS As you know Steve, I dislike contradicting your erudite posts but I'm afraid while there was a 50/50 chance you'd be right about Darkseid, his first full appearance was in Forever People #1.

Btw, those are two brilliant Kirby covers. He peaked at DC in the first half of the 70s, which is really something considering what he did during his first stint at Marvel.

-sean

Anonymous said...

PPS Charlie, since you asked, I am not familiar with Once Upon A Time In France - I shall keep an eye open for it, thanks.

-sean

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve - May I respectfully contradict regarding the FF issue?

I've been re-reading my FFs starting with the early 90s. This issue of FF is actually far more interesting than say the previous 10 - 12 issues (ball parking, gents).

The Kirby / Buscema panels are quite refreshing to see as compared to Romita's. Or compared to issue 100 where it looks like they just published rough drafts half way through the book.

The story is actually much better paced and makes more sense as compared to the slap-dashery of the Romita stories.

E.g., there is a cool sequence of panels where Ben and Johnny are using their belts to activate an elevator to get to the pogo plane or something or another. It is just a nice sequence, a welcome break, a level of detail that feels like a relief, like a tonic.

I don't know how else to explain it but, again, this is in the context of the previous 10 issues which were kind of lame-brained IMHO. I mean, Johnny flying off to destroy the Inhumans because he has the sadz b/c Crystal can no longer live in the polluted USA... The "Johnny plays the enfant terrible" shtick gets old after a while...

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Regarding Forever People and New Gods...

I am quite curious how much exposure our UK friends had to these issues contemporaneously?

Though most of us in the USA read mostly, perhaps exclusively, Marvel I think I may say that we were all aware of these two comics hitting the spinner racks?

I didn't buy them at the time simply because they seemed to complicated for my 9 year old brain. But I certainly recall leafing through them. There was something compelling about them, no denying it, though I never bought one.

In hindsight, I think they were too wordy, and simply to different from men in colored tights for a kid. And then eventually Jack rolls out Kamandi but that was far more straight forward than the seemingly complex and hermetic Forever People.

FWIW - I would be given comics occasionally by older kids and, though the Forever People would be in the stacks now and then, I never, ever saw a New Gods. I am curious if FP well outsold NG based on my limited data?

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Sean - I think you will enjoy Once Upon a Time in France. It's $40 here in the USA so not exactly cheap. But "free" from the library for 3 weeks to enjoy it is a great option! Nice way to put my tax dollars to work, for a change, versus umbrellas, book bags, or the 10th DVD of Ford v. Ferrari for the library patrons, LOL.

(The library is a separate line item on our Property Tax bill in the USA. The insane property taxes we pay in the USA is something our politicians conveniently ignore when they tell us "we don't want to be like high-income-tax Europe!!!" Well... fair enough but Europe pays a relative pittance in property taxes.)

McSCOTTY said...

What a great month for comics. Hulk 137 (and the previous issue) and Avengers 86 are 3 of my all time favourite comics and were possibly my first US Hulks and Avengers comics I ever read (still have them). I picked up a clean but rather tatty version of FF 108 in Glasgow just before the last lockdown and wasn't overly keen on the split art but thought the story was ok . As much as I wanted I was never a fan of Kirby's 4th world series just found it to hard (maybe as I was only 10 years old) to get into.

Redartz said...

So much going on in the world in 1971; it was a pretty good time to be ten years old- old enough to be aware of things but too young to be really affected by them (Vietnam, Nixon, Starbucks). Like some of you I never read Kirby's 4th. World books, but definitely recall seeing them on the spinners. They really jumped out as something...different.

So, what were these abbreviated acronym rankings? It seems Marvel must have used different nomenclature for their fandom in the UK. I recall in Marvel's letter pages seeing writers with "RFO", "KOF", and "QNS" following their name. I myself was limited to Redartz, RFO KOF (because I bought multiple books each month, and had introduced someone else to the wonderment that was Marvel).

And an aside to our esteemed host Steve: you referenced the Grand Comics Database. Have you had difficulty accessing that lately? I cannot seem to load it anymore. It's a grievous tragedy for a blogger seeking convenient information and lots of comic cover images...

Anonymous said...

"The world's deadliest ankle biter."
(Snort!)
I have never heard of Brain-child. You can tell right-off his powers are mental in nature, 'cause of that big coconut of his. Like the Green Lantern foe, Hector Hammond.
Huge melon=mental powers.
Am I the only person here who found Aunt May annoying? I'm not talking about the new sexy, slinky Marisa Tomei version, I'm talking about that apparently 100 year-old walking heart attack we grew up with.
Jesus she was annoying. All that screeching and passing out. Either drop dead or not, lady. Pick a lane already!
The only time she seemed happy was when she was hooking up with Dr. Octopus (!!!).
Imagine how Peter Parker felt about that. It would be like my mom calling me up and telling me she's dating the Penguin.

M.P.

Anonymous said...

Taxes, Charlie? C'mon, you don't want it to be like here where you don't have to pay medical bills on top of them - its as if Fidel Castro was running the country!

I can't really help on how available the Fourth World comics were contemporaneously, as they're slightly before my time as a more conscious reader. Jack Kirby was the first US comic artist who's name I knew - and who's work I could identify - but by that point he was doing Kamandi, and then The Losers and OMAC.
Which were generally fairly easy to find, so I don't see why the Fourth World would be any different - I remember getting some old New Gods and Forever People comics in the mid-70s on holiday (newsagents in seaside towns often had old comics on sale) so they were definitely around.

On the complexity, reading an issue of New Gods in isolation back then was a bit like what Steve wrote about the GCD synopsis of #1... but I liked the strangeness, and trying to make sense of the riot of ideas.
Kamandi was more straight forward, but even so... have you read the one with the battle of the humanoid bats against the Misfit - a dwarf with a giant brain - and the intelligent virus Morticoccus? That is a crazy brain twisting story when you're a kid.
Actually, it probably still is (I've not read it for a while).

-sean

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Thanks Sean. When I saw that Steve added the Kirby works to the cavalcade above, it just jarred my memory about how seemingly ubiquitous the images were (and memorable!) of those Kirby works were! I mean, I remember them far more than any of the marvel covers above.

Anonymous said...

By the time I started getting comics regularly, Kirby’s Fourth World stuff had just about run its course. I had acquired two MISTER MIRACLES and a JIMMY OLSEN from a kid in the neighborhood but the first one I bought myself fresh off the spinner rack was MM 18, the last Fourth World issue of Kirby’s run. I didn’t start getting the other titles until much later.

I love and admire the whole shebang intensely, but have to admit they are definitely challenging. It’s all a bit much of a muchness. Plus, I totally get why everyone harps on Kirby’s dialogue, it’s VERY idiosyncratic. I happen to dig it. And yes, he probably could have benefitted from working with a strong editor, to sand off roughest edges and keep him focussed instead of firing off in a million different directions. And maybe the multi-series would have been a bigger commercial success.

But honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing. Kirby Totally Unfiltered is pretty magical and literally awesome. As an epic saga, it doesn’t exactly hold together, but there are individual issues throughout that are are bloody brilliant. And holy cats, the audacity of it is breathtaking — he was swinging for the fences pretty much the whole way.

b.t.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Cap 135!

The Marvel Bullpen Bulletin is talking it up about Tom Palmer inking Gene the Dean this issue and how True Believers should buckle their seatbelts b/c Bill Everett will be inking 136! Yowza!

I might add that the art on 135 is really peculiar. Gene the Dean's style is evident but in some cases I have a hard time identifying it

Some panels have a golden age feel and (to Charlie) it bears resemblance to Everett's art and inks on those Subby issues he did just before he passed. I might surmise the Bill was involved in this issue as well but I am not sufficiently familiar with Palmer's inks to say "Well clearly that's To Palmer's inks." In particular I am referring to page 17 and 18.

SO if any of you "historians" out there can help ole Charlie out, he'd be much obliged!

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Gosh - I am re-reading Cap 135 for the 3rd time! You know how it is when a comic features a gorilla!

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve - In no way am I challenging the accuracy and authenticity of this venerable site!

What is interesting is that the Marvel Checklist discusses DD 73 as the conclusion to Iron Man 35.

Indeed there is a half-page ad in Cap 135's 2-page of letters columns advising us to pick up both IM 35 and DD 73 b/c they begin and conclude a story! The Checklist tells us to be especially on guard b/c DD 73 features the Ominous Order of the Ankh! (How the heck is that pronounced???)

Anyone out there refresh old Charlie's memory on this Ominious Order???

Steve - how did you happen to feature DD 74 today and not 73?

Charlie Horse 47 said...

FWIW - I am watching Oprah's interview with Harry and Meghan which is getting a bit of press here in the USA. I will say that Oprah is asking some very pointed questions and determined to get pointed answers. It's well done.


Anonymous said...

Can't say I'm that interested in any of the royals Charlie, but I do find it hilarious that Meghan gets much worse - much worse - press in the UK than Prince Andrew. What a mad country.

-sean

Anonymous said...

* "much worse - much worse"? Duh, poor editing.

-sean

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Sean - help me out on Palmer's inks for Cap 135? Did he have a golden-age or Everett-like touch?

OR anyone else if you know, lol.

Anonymous said...

Don't have a copy of Cap #135 to hand Charlie, but if it helps I reckon Tom Palmer was a brilliant inker - especially over Gene Colan's pencils - whereas Bill Everett wasn't to my taste.

Your bonus fact: Bill Everett was descended from William Blake.

-sean

Anonymous said...

I wasn't crazy about Everett's art either. It seemed dated and jarringly out of place in Marvel '60's-early '70's.
But Marty Goodman had a soft spot for "Wild Bill." He kept him on the payroll.
And Goodman was not generally known for sentimentality.

M.P.

Steve W. said...

Charlie, I've featured DD #74 because it says "March" on the front of it. #73 says, "February."

I never saw any issues of New Gods or Forever People when I was young but, like Sean, I did see plenty of Kamandi.

Red, I didn't have any trouble in my latest attempt to access the Grand Comics Database but there are times when it slows right down to a crawl and I have to give up on it.

If you can't get it to open at all, try clearing your cookies or using a different browser altogether. That sometimes works with sites that suddenly refuse to open.

McScotty, I think I genuinely love every Hulk tale from this era.

Sean, thanks for the Darkseid info.

Phillip, MP, Bt and Dangermash, thanks for your comments too. :)

Wyn Matthews said...

Some great artists at work on the above titles I would just like to say that my all time favourite is Gene Colan, closely followed by John Buscema. This really was a great era for comic book art. I’ve also just heard the sad news about the death of another legendary artist today. That of Frank Thorne who passed away on the same day as his wife. Condolences to their family and friends.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

MP -

Charlie loved (!) Bill Everett's rendition of Subby those last handful of issues. It was precisely that unique style, harkening the Golden Age, realistic yet not quite so, like Michael Angelo's paintings were realistic but just not quite so...

Charlie often thinks this stylistic approach might have been good for Cap as well.

They were both heroes born out of, created expressly for, fighting Nazis and perhaps they should have been left in that era.

And indeed Charlie get a wiff of that style in Cap 135.

Al that aside, you can't tell old Charlie that Everett inking Colan is not like a dream machine? Their Black Widow is enough to die for, no???

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve - that's queer about the DD saying "March" when you consider all the hype Marvel gives to it linking it contemporaneously with Iron Man 35. no? Very puzzling.

Anonymous said...

At the risk of being completely predictable Charlie, I have to ask - what makes you think the era of fighting Nazis is over?

-sean

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Sean - How many "Sleepers" are out there yet, that the Skull has squirreled away, LOL! I.e., you are correct in that Cap could be fighting Nazis forever.

The Red Head did have possession of the Cube Cosmic at times, so it would have made perfect sense to create dozens of more Sleepers as opposed to just obliterating Captain America into his composite atoms, or trading identities with him and sending him to a Caribbean Island where a geriatric with a 6 foot scarf can subdue him.

Now that I think about it, I'm surprised Skull didn't use the Cube Cosmic to mess with Union Jack's or Spitfire's head and have them fight Cap. Torch and Subby could have sorted it out and then they could ultimately team up and fight Sleepers for all eternity?

P.S. You know we are all waiting to see your book! Do you have a timeline?

Charlie Horse 47 said...

As an aside, want counts for headlines anymore say the "royal family is reeling" from yesterdays Harry and Meghan Oprah interview.

Hyperbole for the papers or do you chaps really think the royal family is running around in a tizzy like Michael Jackson when his head caught fire?

Fantastic Four follower said...

Have always liked FF issues between 94 and 102 basically Kirbys last year.Not so fussed about the Skrull issues 90-93 but perhaps because of their simplicity 94 to 102 touch the nostalgia nerve.Favourites include #95(generally dismissed by just about everyone but I loved the cover!) and #96 a great story done in one.Issue #108 is what it is and Marvel only attempted it to deflect attention as New Gods #1 from Kirby came out that month(I think).Loved Colan but Avengers #86 is my all time favourite Avengers issue.Loved it.Keep up the good work my friend.

Anonymous said...


Charlie: I checked out CAP 135 just now, and to me it looks pretty much like the other Colan / Palmer jobs from around the same time period, on Daredevil and Dr. Strange. Not especially Everett-y or Golden Age-y, even on those two pages you pointed out. Sorry!

And I’m right there with ya on Everett’s last batch of Subbies, just before he died. They definitely stand out from the rest of what was going on at Marvel at the time, DO look a bit corny and old-fashioned, but I think they’re super-charming. I love his stuff generally — those Dr. Strange stories he did after Ditko went AWOL, his Hulks, ALL of his Subbies, from the Golden Age to the Silver and Bronze Ages, his Venus stories in the 50s, and especially his horror stuff on the Atlas books. The man was a treasure.

b.t.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

B.t. - Thank you for your insight. NO worries - maybe just my eyes playing tricks on me after eating 3 Cubans this past weekend. (Never again will I eat one with a hot dog on it!)

I agree Everett was a treasure... one of a kind. Yes, perhaps the Subby's were a bit stylized for the 1970s, perhaps a bit old fashioned, but my gosh what detail, perspective, etc. he applied. Charming is a good word!

Steve W. said...

Wyn, it is indeed sad news. I was never exposed to much of Frank Thorne's work, as a youngster, but what I did see always made an impact on me.

Charlie, I suspect Buck House will be perturbed by the fuss. The survival of the monarchy depends on keeping itself too boring for the public to get fired-up about.

FFf, I always liked the Skrull gangster story. I have a soft spot for the Creature from the Black Lagoon issue although, objectively, it's a minor piece. And I really like the Agatha Harkness introductory story. The other Kirby Fantastic Four tales from around that time tend to leave me cold.

Anonymous said...

Charlie: also, Namorita.

Steve: 50 years of ‘Stairway To Heaven’? Golly, seems like just yesterday when i first heard it on the radio. I was NOT a fan of Zep at the time. ‘Immigrant Song’ scared the crap out of me, especially Robert Plant’s Viking Howl intro, and that high-pitched upper register chorus. So then ‘Stairway’ comes on the radio and my older brothers are all excited, ‘It’s the new Zeppelin song, yay!’ And I’m listening, and it’s not bad, kinda pretty, and I’m not even minding Plant’s vocals. But then we get to the heavy part at the end and suddenly Plant’s shrieking, ‘AND AS WE WIND ON DOWN THE ROAD...’ and I’m like, ‘NOPE!’

Of course, I learned to love it after about the eighty-seventh listen. (And ‘Immigrant Song’ no longer terrifies me).

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, it makes you wonder, b.t....

Got to agree with Fantastic Four follower about Kirby's last year on the FF; I reckon criticism generally comes from comparison with the mags heyday - the first Inhuman, Galactus, Surfer, Him, and all that - but if you consider it next to other comics from 69/70 it was pretty good.

-sean

Anonymous said...

PS Charlie, my timeline is to have something in print by Thought Bubble in Leeds, which is November (hey, I have to spend time earning a living too). But if you're that interested and impatient I wouldn't mind testing work in progress on a reader, so... I could get in touch with you at some point through Steve?
If thats ok with you Steve.

-sean

Killdumpster said...

After hearing it nonstop during the 70's I don't care if I hear Stairway To Heaven for the rest of my life.

Had 3 issues out of this post, each with their own story with their possession.

Steve, I have to take a contrary view on Spidey #94. As I've stated before, the chances of getting a Spidey book were almost nil. One evening when my father needed smokes from a shop, I had a handful of dimes and got a sizeable amount of comics. Issue #94 was included.

That early morning (4 am) I woke up with the MUMPS. I creeped into my parents' room as to not wake my dad, and whispered to my mom, "Something's wrong". She said, "You have the mumps. No school tomorrow."

Hooray! Went downstairs to our basement gameroom with my comics and read them until the Bowery Boys, Sea Hunt, 3 Stooges, and the FF & Spidey cartoons aired. Then more comics reading. Best morning off-school ever.

When I was younger I had an oval-shaped desk to which to draw on. It had one large lower drawer that I keep my comics that had covers. I kept Spidey #94 on top, because I would re-read it. My 7-8 year old mind loved the Beetle battles.

One day, it was GONE! I looked everywhere! Checked my sisters' room, the "burn barrel" in the backyard (mom liked to burn my stuff), to no availe.

3 years later, while moving, I found it in the inner-shell of my oval-shaped desk. The pile of comics I had in the drawer was to high, and opening the drawer kicked it off/back.

Was so happy to read it again, and it was in FINE+ condition!

Anonymous said...

Charlie, like you I was perplexed over what a bad job the Red Skull did when he had the Cube. Basically, he had the ultimate weapon in the universe in his hand and all he did was dick around.
I think you could say the same thing about Thanos. Wouldn't the first thing you do with the Cube would be wiping out your enemies completely?
Now I have a theory that I've mentioned here before. Cosmic Cubes eventually achieve sentience, don't they? Like the Shaper of Worlds or that Qubert guy. (something like that)
Maybe a Cosmic Cube is semi-sentient from the get-go. And if you use it wrong, over-use or abuse it, it might get mad at you.
So you gotta be ginger with it. You can't go around exploding galaxies with it, 'cause it might get pissed.
Then what happens to you? Nothing good, I suspect.

M.P.

Killdumpster said...

The Skull definitely underused the Cosmic Cube to full potential, but that was due to his closed Nazi mind.

Anonymous said...

He always did have a clownish aspect to him.

M.P.

Killdumpster said...

Actually got Captain America #135 at the same "grab" in a shop as the Cap issue where the Falcon hunted Spider-Man. Apparently the store I was at wasn't very diligent on returning unsold books, much yo my delight.

Killdumpster said...

Iron Man #35 was part of a handful of comics I got as a Christmas present. My first exposure to Spy-master, Zodiac gang, and the Scorpio Key. Loved the DD/Fury team-up.

Unfortunately, I also got these friction-motor tops called "Whizzers" that year. They came with glow-in-the-dark decals to customize them.

My 3 yr old sister caked my Iron Man comic with them. Boy, was I mad.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Sean - I'd be honored to check out your work in progress! Steve does have my email.

Ummm... Please understand I am a covert agent in his majesty's secret service so don't accidentally use my real name here!

Next think you know the Royals will be bad rapping me in the tabloids! LOL

Charlie Horse 47 said...

SPeaking of Nazis, me and me mates watched the unholy trifecta of 1980 movies for young men, this past weekend:

- Fast Times at Ridgemont High
- The Blues Brothers
- Animal House

That scene in the Blues Brothers where Jake and Elwood state, "I hate Illinois Nazis" and then proceed to try and run them over while they are on the bridge is a HOOT!

(FYI - that Nazi march they break up is based on the Nazis in Illinois marching through the town of Skokie about that time, which had many Jewish residents and numerous Holocaust Survivors. OF course in my red neck town in Indiana the KKK marched. Red Skull lives in many different incarnations.)

Anonymous said...

Hah! K.D., your little sister defaced your Iron Man comic with decals?
The 70's, among other things, was the golden age of decals. Decals to put on your bicycle, your school notebook, even the walls of your room. I put some Marvel super-hero decals on my bedroom wall, and to be honest, I'm not sure why they're not still there. My mom with a putty knife, I bet.
Then you had your iron-on decals for T-shirts. All kindsa crazy stuff you could order. Remember those ads in the comics?
It was a golden age.
Of, uh, decals, anyway.

M.P.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

MP - the only decals me and me brother could get our hands on were those things like "STP" and "Cherry Bomb" and other famous auto-related decals and stickers.

We'd pull into a gas stations and we kids would say, "Hey you got any stickers?" And sure as heck they'd give us a few. If they were reluctant my mom would show them some leg and that would do the trick!

We'd stick 'em on our head board to our beds, the banana seats to our bicycles and the what not.

Hell, if we wanted a certain one, we'd order it out of the back of "Boy's Life" magazine!

I am not sure why they were so popular in the late 60s? My best guess is Ford winning Le Mans 4 years in a row (66, 67, 68, 69) and showing Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes, etc. who was boss may have had something to do with it?

Heck we even started buying Hot Wheels comic books, Car Toons gag magazines, the whole kit and kaboodle of car stuff!

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Captain Beefheart's "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" M.P. - that came out right at the start of the decade.

-sean

Anonymous said...

I remember that STP decal, one of my older sisters had that on her dresser, but I have no idea what it means.
It's my understanding that the STP decal was the inspiration for the band name Stone Temple Pilots, who were actually pretty good.
Charlie, you mentioning Hot Wheels takes me back.

M.P.

Steve W. said...

Yes, it's fine, Sean.