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There are times in this life when you just want to get away from it all.
And July 1981 was no exception.
After all, that month, our cinemas were hit by not one but two movies dedicated to that very concept.
One was Escape from New York and the other was Escape to Victory.
I'm happy to declare, right now, that Escape from New York is the better of those two films but I do know there are those - especially in the football-loving community - who view Escape to Victory as a cinematic masterpiece.
The other high-profile movie to be unleashed that July was Dudley Moore's Arthur which I've never seen and can, thus, offer no commentary upon as to what degree it involves people trying to escape.
I do recall it featured that song by Christopher Cross which brought the theme of escape into my mind every time it came on the radio. Mostly because it made me want to flee the room, with my ears covered. Also, I can't hear it without thinking of Steve Wright in the Afternoon. For some reason, this makes me unhappy.
But none of this matters. All that matters is what Marvel's less popular titles were up to while all this was going on.
I'm not sure what goes on in the main tale but it would appear to involve Phoenix and Attuma, which seems quite an intriguing thing.
We also get a tale called Winter Carnival which seems to be about Iceman and a bunch of statues, plus a story involving Nightcrawler and the Vanisher.
I suppose it does make sense to have Nightcrawler come up against the Vanisher, given the similarities in their powers.
At least, that's what the Dire Wraiths are hoping when Rom returns to Earth, from Limbo.
Concerned by a vision of his homeworld in ruins, our hero wants to get back there, sharpish.
But how can he abandon his Earth friends?
How?
That conch-shell horn-thing the villain's holding should hint to us all that the Sub-Mariner's involved.
In another tale, we get the return of the Meteor Man and what appears to be a team-up with Hellcat.
Hellcat and Spider-Man does sound like it could be a fun combination.
I'm going to say it, right now. This looks like it may be the best Spider-Man comic published this month. And I don't care if it is aimed at six-year-olds.
This month, the Watcher will mostly be asking, "What would have happened if the Phoenix hadn't died?"
Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, we all now know that she didn't die. Thinking about it, it seems odd the Watcher didn't know that.
Anyway, I can shed no light upon the events which transpire within this tale.
I'm sure, though, that it will all end up unhappily.
According to the Grand Comics Database, this issue features guest appearances by Jim Shooter, Louise Jones and Danny Fingeroth in a tale in which Chris Claremont becomes the Man-Thing.
Erm, what?
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14 comments:
I don’t remember what happens in that Phoenix story in BIZARRE ADVENTURES, but if Chris Claremont wrote it, I would guess that she finds herself strangely attracted to Attuma’s Atlantean Alpha Male-ness.
One of Gulacy’s better painted covers of the period, I think. Still pretty static and ‘posed’ — all three figures are just kinda standing there, not in attitudes of dynamic action — but the strong color and lighting make it pop. One strange thing tho— Iceman’s translucent thigh. I’d always thought he was just covered in some kind of icy frost, not that he literally BECAME ice. It makes me wonder what happens to his internal organs and muscles and whatnot when he’s all ‘iced-up’.
For a split-second I thought that was Baron Karza on the cover of ROM — ‘How did I not know there had been a Mighty Marvel Toy Team-Up back in the day???’
SPIDEY SUPER-STORIES is still being published? Up to 53 issues and still counting? That’s pretty amazing. I remember when it first started, I would occasionally flip thru it at the newsstand (they were really smart to have Jazzy Johnny Romita doing the covers) but almost instantly put it back every time. The uncluttered super-simplified interior artwork screamed ‘Dumbed-down Kids Comic!!’ at me. ‘Harumph!’ I would harumph. ‘This is for KIDS — I’m not a kid, I’m FOURTEEN YEARS OLD, dammit! I require sophisticated storytelling in my stories of guys in tights beating the crap out of one another”.
b.t.
I was the same when I fist saw Spidey Super stories on sale (although to be fair I was 21 in 1981) today I wouldn't mind reading a comic like that especially with Romita senior covers (I wonder if he ever did the interior artwork on any issues.)
'What If' # 27 is of colossal importance. Back in the day, thousands of young readers were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the finale of the Dark Phoenix saga, only to be bitterly disappointed, when it failed to appear in any newsagent in town.
However, for many readers, 'What if' # 27 rode in, like a knight in shining armour, and provided them with an ending to this monumental story line! (I got the British version, in a Winter Special.)
What's more, having eventually got the Claremont & Byrne version, 10 years later - and comparing it to Mary Jo Duffy & Jerry Bingham's version - I have to say that 'What If' # 27 was actually better! (even though it was more apocalyptic.)
I suppose the fact that I read 'What If' # 27 when I was 11, not 21, may have influenced this verdict (my young self still having a sense of magic & wonder). The Claremont & Byrne version seemed the death knell of the New X-Men
Phillip
b.t., Attuma had a plan to kidnap mutant women to use as breeding stock, and Jean Grey was the first. I don't recall any attraction on her part.
Perhaps Attuma should have started with Storm - she seemed much more up for a bit of alpha-maleness (good sense of humour, and own technologically advanced secret kingdom an advantage).
Bizarre Adventures was generally a pretty good mag at this point, but that X-Men issue was really forgettable, a real let down. It was a precursor of the Marvel Fanfare approach to editing - grab a few stories out of the inventory file, and promote it as something special.
With the (then) rising popularity of the X-Men you can see the logic behind trying out a companion solo series, but c'mon - Nightcrawler? Iceman?
-sean
Steve, I have to confess I didn't even want England to win in the game against the Germans during Escape to Victory (sorry DW).
Don't worry though, I didn't support the Nazis either - I rooted for the Parisians to rise up, and boot both sides out of the city. A la lanterne!
You may be surprised to learn though - if you aren't already aware - that the film is not very historically accurate.
-sean
Sean - I'm still waiting for your thoughts on French "art rock!" The suspense has been killing me for like 5 days now!
England and football... good luck in 2022 at the world cup though I'm admittedly cheering for France. Just sayin...
Colin - No worries about McScotty feeding us silly stereotypes of the Scots. I've read more than enough Oor Wullies and Broons and have never seen any of them eat a deep fried Marrs bar! I've also seen Brave Heart and he wasn't eating Marrs bars either. Then again, how do we know McScotty isn't a ginger haired and transparent who snacks on deep-fried Marrs bars?
Steve - I find the What If cover confusing in the same sense I found the FF-Diablo cover confusing on Sunday. If I have to stare at it, to figure it out... what's the point?
Lastly - have any of you seen the poster of the Beatles a la the cover to Abbey Road walking over Monet's bridge done in the style of Monet? The title is "Money (That's what I want!") Some dude showed it to facebook page of "France Fanatics" and I can't find that poster anywhere. I'll gladly buy any of you a deep fried chicken or Marrs bar or whatever you wish if you can find that thing for sale anyhwere!
Charlie, maybe deep-fried Mars bars taste delicious - I've never tried one :D
Phil, like you I followed the Dark Phoenix saga and was disappointed that the finale in Uncanny X-Men #137 was nowhere to be found but #137 was a double-issue so I guessed it would be unavailable in any newsagents. I did finally acquire it by mail-order about a year later but I found the story rather dull compared to the previous issues and I'd agree that the 'What If' alternative version was actually much more interesting. In case anybody doesn't know, the What If story ends with Phoenix going totally insane and killing the X-Men - she is then consumed by the Phoenix Force which destroys Earth and proceeds to expand forever, destroying everything in its' path and eventually the entire universe.
Colin - That's it exactly!
Phillip
It was definitely a memorable ending, Phil. I think I read the story in the Winter Special you mentioned rather than the original issue of What If.
Sean
I was confident of the win over Germany due to Pele, Sly Stallone and those Polish players qualifying to play for England due to English maternal grandmothers. I reckon we could have won the 1970 world cup if Pele had switched sooner. He apparently spent many a summer at his Grandmothers house on Canvey Island.
I too had this month's What If and Bizzare Adventures but found both a bit of a let down. This was during my X-men phase and both had the whiff of cash in. I'd forgotten that we didn't get the double sized issues in news agents. Viva le specialty shop...
DW
DW, but would we have won the 1970 World Cup if we'd had Sylvester Stallone in goal?
Charlie, sadly, I've not seen that poster.
Bt and McScotty, the idea behind Spidey Super Stories always seemed odd to me. I was about six when I first started reading Silver Surfer stories and I never had trouble with them. So, it's hard to feel there was really a need for a book aimed specifically at younger readers.
Phillip and Colin, I loved the ending of the Dark Phoenix saga. Then again, I've never read that What If issue and, so, have nothing to compare it to.
Sean, thanks for the X-Men/Attuma info.
Steve; To be honest at 6 years old I used to struggle trying to wrap my head around DCs Earth 1 and Earth 2 characters, the Dark Phoenix storyline would probably have stumped me at 6 years old.
Disney/Marvel has a new animated series called "What if?" coming soon that look good.
Colin: A bit confused by your comments as at no point did I mention Scots being ginger or eating deep fried Mars bars in that last post re the World Cup. I said we would struggle in the sun (as would most Northern Europeans) that's not a stereotype its a tongue in cheek (semi) fact :)
CH: I can assure you that like Oor Wullie I have never eaten a deep fried Mars bar in my life (not even the awful deep fried Pizza ) and I am not ginger , sadly I'm now mostly grey as can be seen from my avatar my pic from 2 years ago (I'm the taller one) :(
Canvey Island, DW? Well, well, you learn something everyday.
I always assumed Pele must have been Irish with a nickname like that ("peile" being the Irish word for football).
Thanks for clearing that up - it was always confusing how he could have allowed himself to appear on film like that with a Spurs player.
Steve, did you know Escape to Victory was entered into the 1981 Moscow Film Festival?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Moscow_International_Film_Festival#Films_in_competition
It did not win any of the prizes.
Some in the football-loving community may view it as a cinematic masterpiece, but clearly vanguard cineastes in the rest of the international proletariat disagreed.
-sean
I did not know that, Sean. It's an ever-loving scandal.
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