Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Well, there's a disappointment. Nothing was happening in this week in 1981 that hadn't been happening the week before.
I shall, therefore, plough straight ahead with my look at what Marvel UK had to offer during that spell.
This is because, in a development remarkably similar to the Captain Omen storyline from several years earlier, Bruce Banner's found himself in an undersea kingdom; created by a man named Rypel, in order to exploit the natural resources of the oceans.
However, Rypel's a tad more aggressive than Captain Omen and has decided to destroy the United States.
Can Bruce and his fellow captives prevent this watery madness?
I'm guessing they can.
Elsewhere, this issue, we're getting more of Woodgod's origin.
And Spider-Man must deal with the return of Hydro-Man. In which case, I'm assuming we're leading into the tale in which Hydro-Man and Sandman merge into one giant villain.
All of which does raise the question of hyphenation. If Sandman is Sandman, why isn't Hydro-Man Hydroman?
Why isn't Superman Super-Man?
Why isn't Star-Lord Starlord?
Why isn't The Wasp The-Wasp?
I can shed little light upon the contents of this epoch-making issue but it's obvious we're still partway through the story in which Tony Stark tries to cure Bruce Banner of being the Hulk - and only succeeds in making the Hulk more dangerous than ever.
Doesn't this version of the villain turn out to be Karen Page's dad or something?
First, Mike Murdock dies. Then, Matt Murdock dies. Then her dad turns out to be a criminal on a skeletal horse. She doesn't have a lot of luck, does she?
In the comic's other majestic strip, it would appear the Black Panther encounters the Earth's deadliest drink.
I think we can only hope he has the sense to not try and drink it.
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ReplyDeleteSteve - I am duly impressed that you used the present tense, the imperfect tense, and the ? tense in your first two sentences above.
ReplyDeleteThere is = present tense
Was happening = imperfect tense
Had not been happening = ???
I fear this will stump all of us! In French, and I am sure will let me know if I am wrong, it would be the "Plus-que-parfait" or Pluperfect" but I don't think we refer to anything as the "more than perfect" tense in English?
Please help! This is a serious inquiry!
I saw the Black Panther in the Marvel Super Adventure box, along with DD, and thought I'd let you know that yesterday my son bought "Every Man Jack" brand of deodorant and it is made with "Wakanda Herbs" and features Black Panther on the front!
ReplyDeleteIt is slick, all purple and black.
And it says, "Wakanda herbs is tribute to the powerful heart-shaped herb from Wakanda!" (Charlie added the preceding hyphen!)
My son said he did not buy it for the Wakanda Herbs but because it was Aluminum Free.
Should it not say Wakanda Herbs "are", not "is"? Do you think I could submit for a No-Prize?
What can I say, Charlie? It was a very tense opening.
ReplyDeleteAs for the more-than-perfect tense, I don't have a clue.
ReplyDeleteI would assume "Wakanda Herbs" is the name of that variety of deodorant and, therefore, it should be followed by, "is."
ReplyDeleteSteve - If anyone knew about being "more than perfect" besides the french, I figured it'd be you!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's been tense all week here too.
Hmmm... I think you are spot on about the Wakanda Herbs being a name. I assumed the name was "Black Panther." Actually does BP have any powers or is he basically like DD, Hawkeye, Swordsman, Black Widow, Rick Jones, Snapper Carr...
Ahh what the heck... I feel old now because IIRC Swordsman is dead?
Looks like Doctor Strange and Defenders are the strips dropped following the Captain America / Marvel Action merger. I can't believe Dazzler survived the cut, even with the nipple clamps.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Charlie. I think the Panther has slightly heightened senses and slightly greater physical capabilities than a real man could have. Basically, he's Captain America.
ReplyDeleteDangermash, I was trying to work out which strips had been dropped for the merger. I think you've got it spot-on.
Steve - did you review the Adventure Specter issue from which you selected your Avatar / symbol?
ReplyDeleteSteve
ReplyDeleteIf Spidey is about to meet the Sandman Hydro conglomerate then Marvel UK has pretty much caught up with the US monthly (retrospectively speaking). The current mix of stories does suggest the A grade material is dwindling.
DW
It was my understanding that Death's Head was a disguise used by Death Stalker (formerly the Exterminator), whom I saw in some cross-over between Daredevil and Ghost Rider, back in the '70's. Y'know, the villain that killed off all his minions and then screwed up and re-materialized while he was diving through a tombstone?
ReplyDeleteBut there was an original Death's Head, eh? Karen Page's dad, no less. I did not know that. Lots of supporting characters have dads who become supervillains, I've noticed. (And who didn't have a dad who didn't at least have supervillain tendencies?!)
Go's to show ya, don't mess around with "cobalt" energy, I guess.
Look what happened to the Cobalt Man. He builds a suit out of cobalt (whatever the hell that is) in imitation of Iron Man.
He shows up, goes crazy, explodes, and then somehow comes back again.
Steer clear of that stuff altogether, is what I take away from it.
M.P.
Charlie, I sort of reviewed it in my early days but it was more an overview of my thoughts about that era of the Spectre in general. I shall take a look at doing a proper review.
ReplyDeleteDW, I know this week's Hulk tale is drawn by Alfredo Alcala, so I'm assuming it was originally in the Hulk's big magazine, rather than his regular monthly comic. Presumably, this is down to the lack of new Hulk material for Marvel UK to use.
MP, I can now officially confirm the original Death's Head was Karen's father who faked his own death in order to pursue a life of crime. This means Karen had now endured the "deaths" of Matt Murdock, Mike Murdock and her own father, none of whom were actually dead.
You are correct Steve - who would expect otherwise in the world's greatest comic blog, eh? - that the Hydropolis story was from the He-Hulk magazine, #22 iirc although memory tells me the mighty Alfredo Alcala was only the inker.
ReplyDeleteNot that "only" is really the right word to use for Alcala's impressive inking, as its always tricky to figure out who the penciller was. In the case of the He-Hulk mag, Ron Wilson.
I'm a little dubious about the notion of Marvel UK running out of material. In the post-SezDez era they seem quite free with continuity and running order - that Daredevil story in Super Adventure wasn't recent (and surely had been reprinted before?) - and being so close to the US originals seems like a deliberate choice to be current.
I mean, this feature has recently covered reprints of John Byrne's Cap, and more recently his FF. Yet I'd be willing to bet on there being plenty of earlier Cap and FF comics from the late 70s/start of the 80s that Marvel UK never reprinted.
-sea
* -sean
ReplyDeleteDuh. My "n" key is playing up.
-sean
Steve, Karen Page abruptly becoming a heroin addict/prostitute is starting to make more and more sense.
ReplyDeleteSean, I definitely share your admiration for Alfredo Alcala!
I'm confused about that Hulk comic. Was that just a U.K. title? When I saw it up above there I thought for a second that the Hulk was fighting the Glob again. I've never heard of "Hydropolis."
M.P.
Was Gerry Conway editing / writing Daredevil when they turned Karen Page into a junky / prostitute? What issues of DD was this storyline?
ReplyDeleteM.P., the Spidey & Hulk comic here is a UK title (as you might expect in a feature called Marvel UK 40 Years Ago) which consisted of reprints; the Hydropolis story originally appeared in the US Hulk! magazine, which was er... a US magazine featuring the Hulk.
ReplyDeleteIt started out as the Rampaging Hulk b&w mag before the name change and switch to colour (that means color) with #10.
Charlie, Frank Miller, DD #227-233.
-sean
Sean, the 'n' key also plays up on my Samsung tablet. How curious!
ReplyDelete-Coli
Charlie - recently you were asking about the UK's 1981 riots. Well, the BBC's doing a series about it, starting soon:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000y3kq
Or, should I type "soo( )" ?
Also, Sir Paul's fave?
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/paul-mccartney-once-named-hilarious-091115147.html
Phillip
Thanks Gents for the DD and Sir Paul info!
ReplyDeleteSean - where IS that French Prog Art album list, lol! Just kidding... I don't know French music beyond the radio hits. Though if you told me Rita MItsouko had some contenders I would not be surprised.
Phillip - I will check out the Sir Paul links and 1981 stuff. I'm always interested in social unrest!
BUT - I'm waiting for that British F1 Grand Prix race Sunday! Maybe McClaren can pull a rabbit out of the hat? Red Bull's been kicking Mercedes butt the last 3 races so maybe you guys can pull one out! Hope So!
Steve - Being "all things UK sports" will you be attending and give us live updates?
Hey! I'm reading the "Brits in Normandie" FB page (no warnings of vans with license plates starting with "Y" stealing dogs this week!) but youre kinsmen are burning up with some kind of covid testing the UK requires if you go back/forth to Normandie? They are speaking quite kindly of the French who seemingly charge nothing for the covid testing but "the british govt is supporting profiteers who do testing services in the UK by mandating various tests?"
ReplyDeleteI don't quite understand it, but I have a feeling there could be a fifth column emerging in the UK who might support France if you guys start fighting the french over Cod!
Watch out for the fifth column! Look what it did to Spain 90 years ago!
Charlie, sadly, I won't be attending the British Grand Prix, as watching traffic has never set my pulse racing. However, McLaren has some sort of fancy-schmancy plant in my hometown, so I wish them well.
ReplyDeleteColin and Sean, it's the "7" key that plays up on my laptop.
Steve, it's odd which things count as "sport" - driving cars around a track, throwing darts at a board, knocking balls into holes with a big stick, tiny men on horses jumping over fences, posh people on horses jumping over fences when it's called showjumping...
ReplyDeleteWhen Charlie posted "fighting the French over cod", I immediately had an image of "french-fried cod," which actually doesn't sound too bad. With a bun and some fries, and maybe a pickle.
ReplyDeleteBut Steve, I thought the dispute over the wily Atlantic cod that the U.K. had was with Iceland. Or is everybody over there arguing about cod?
I would expect any dispute with Icelanders to be a tricky proposition. Between a thousand years of casual inbreeding and the weird seasonal solar patterns that far up north, I would figure them to be an intransigent lot.
But man, I don't care how weird they might be, I would sure love to go there some day.
Heck, the weirder the better, I say. Pagan rituals? Bring 'em on, as long as beer is served.
M.P.
The cod wars were over by '76, M.P. (the only threat from Iceland these days is their continuing export of Bjork records).
ReplyDeletePost-Brexit the main flashpoint for the Brits isn't over fishing, its the looming sausage war with the EU.
Steve, forget the Grand Prix, what about the Great Yorkshire Show? I saw a bit of the coverage on Channel 5 during the week, mainly the Yorkshire pudding contest. And some stuff about sheep.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2021/jul/15/the-great-yorkshire-show-in-pictures
-sean
Sean-
ReplyDeleteSo Bjork is kind of a Helen of Troy in reverse, eh?
"Send her over here and we will go to war".
I understand completely.
But I wonder, will history forgive America for Miley Cyrus?
We allowed that to happen, and we did nothing to stop it.
M.P.
I take it you're more of a Taylor Swift man then, M.P.?
ReplyDelete-sean
"Helen of Troy in reverse" reminds me of that oxymoronical (is that a word?) Dr.Faustus implied pun, "Heavenly Hel(l)en"! In my youth, I was pulled up short, for not spotting this!
ReplyDeletePhillip