Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Does it ever feel like time's travelling too slowly for you?
It must have in June 1972 because that was the month in which The International Time Bureau added the first-ever leap second to Coordinated Universal Time. Personally, I've still not got over it. Not that I know what Coordinated Universal Time is.
Speaking of things it was hard to get over; in the United States, back then, they had even more to worry about, as it was also the month in which five White House operatives were arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee. And we all know what that all led to.
Speaking of leading; West Germany led against the Soviet Union in the grand final of Euro '72, that month. They led so much that they ended up winning the game 3–0 to claim the trophy. There can't have been too many European finals contested between two countries that no longer exist.
I do believe it's the one in which the Hulk finds himself up against anyone in the Marvel Universe who's got nothing better to do today, and ends up getting captured and placed on trial.
You can't keep the activities of Richard Nixon out of this post. Here he is again, vying with Galactus for reader attention, as the planet-eater insists upon rehiring the Silver Surfer as his herald.
I do believe we get a re-telling of Shell-Head's origin, as delivered by the promising team of Roy Thomas and Barry Smith.
Have I ever read this tale? If I have, how come I've no recollection of ever having read an Iron Man tale pencilled by Bazza?
Not content with drawing Iron Man, Barry Smith also hands us this landmark issue, as everyone who's ever been an Avenger (apart from Wonder Man who's too busy being dead) unites to invade Olympus.
And so begins the rehabilitation of the Swordsman...
What's this? Captain America and the Falcon, up against The Stranger who seems to have hit the Grecian 2000 and turned into Terry Thomas?
Apparently, not. It seems it's a totally different character and the plot involves Cap, Falcy and Batroc having to prevent someone called Jakar from using the souls of people he's abducted to reanimate his race.
The Purple Man's back!
But, perhaps even more excitingly, we get to learn a little more of the Black Widow's origin, courtesy of Ivan.
The Avengers aren't the only ones celebrating a landmark, this month, as The Mighty Thor hits issue #200, even though the book's not been around for anything like 200 issues.
As far as I can make out, our hero's at the mercy of Pluto, while the Norn Fates summon a vision of Ragnarok!
I've no idea what happens in this one, other than that it features the first appearance of the Banshee, as reprinted from X-Men #28.
Much as I love Gil Kane, I have to say, that's not one of his better covers.
In fact, it's easily one of his worst.
That's Marvel sorted. But what of its biggest rival? For comparison, how was a random sampling of DC's June cover-dated output looking?
Wrapped inside that Neal Adams cover is a book in which, through the power of reprints, Lex Luthor gains super-strength, Dr Fate meets Mango the Mighty, Hawkman meets Bark Bennett and Clinky Cassell, The Black Condor tussles with The Leader, The Spectre tangles with Zor, Starman meets The Mist, The Ray thwarts Stradivous, and Superman prevents the sinking of Atlantis!
Not that it looks like she's going to be around to celebrate it, if that Jeff Jones cover's to be believed.
My recollections of this tale are sketchy but I do believe the amazing Amazon finds herself up against a revenge-hungry Dr Cyber who's out to steal her face!
It's a brave editor who allows Don Heck to draw a comic book cover in the 1970s but the dashing one comes up with the goods here, with a simple but elegant image that proves he's still got it in him.
Within these 52 pages, we receive the following melodramas: My Kind of Man, Does He Treat You Right?, Don't Let Her Fool You, Get Lost, Lover!, Teach Me to Love and there's a one-page feature on how to get a boyfriend.
From what I can discern, the Teen Titans go to the Southwest United States and find an undiscovered tribe hidden in a mountain valley.
And I'm getting the feeling they're not at all friendly.
Fantastic month for Marvel...right in my initial year or two of collecting comics,with British Marvel about to appear later that year.The artwork/stories were on an upward curve with John Buscema on FF and Thor;Barry Smith on Avengers and Iron man;Sal Buscema on Captain America and Defenders;Gene Colan on Daredevil and soon to be Tomb of Dracula;The fantastic (to me anyway)Herb Trimpe on Hulk which was my favourite run of the title from #141-189!Spiderman had John Romita on a 2 parter that he later claimed was a personal favourite as he also inked in a tribute to Milt Caniff(I think!)Just a magical time with so many covers that I associates with long summer days and the comics still hold up today.Just brilliant.Keep up the good work my friend.
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolutely unbelievable month to be a comics fan!!! Chalrie bought the first eight off the spinner.
ReplyDeleteGood lord… the memories… so powerful.
Charlie could go into Jack Karouac mode and write pages of his streams of consciousness regarding getting and reading those 8 comics but suffice it to say it was likely his pinnacle of his love of comics.
Steve i am thankful for this opportunity to express myself. Comics were such a big deal in my youth but its only through yours and Red’s blog i “met” like minded folks some 50 years later. Much obliged and may the good lord smile on you and everyone else here. Thanks again.
And Charlie must add that DC and those hundred pages of mostly reprints were on a par with marvel’s original work in many ways. To be able to read the original stories from the ray and the condor featuring artwork by Lou Fine of the quality comics group… Wow wow wow! What a great time to be old enough, and with an allowance, to hit the spinner racks! And lest we forget, Harvey and Archie may have been outselling Marvel and DC in the aggregate. What a time to be aLive!
ReplyDeleteI can confirm there was a Pimms tent at our jubilee celebrations today. Well, a gazebo actually. I hit the burnt sienna nectar quite hard during the afternoon, although possibly not as hard as Charlie by the sound of it.
ReplyDeleteMy cover of the month would be the Don Heck romance cover! Those square framed Marvel covers really don't do it for me.
DM aka TAA :
ReplyDeleteI love that Don Heck cover too. It may not be my favorite of this batch (that would probably be Jeff Jones’ WONDER WOMAN cover and Neal Adams’ iconic ‘Flying Heroes’ wraparound is quite something) but it’s near the top. That Heck beauty is an excellent example of what he was capable of. I may have to see if there’s an affordable copy on eBay….
b.t.
Matthew, as far as I'm aware nothing in particular happened to Ivan, he just appeared less and less, until he wasn't around at all.
ReplyDeleteWhich makes sense, as (I think) he first appeared in Amazing Adventures #1, when the Black Widow got a solo series so needed a supporting cast, or at least a foil to talk to. But once she became a co-star in Daredevil, he didn't really have much point unless, say, Gerry Conway wanted to reveal that the Widow had been a kid in the seige of Stalingrad or whatever.
If its helpful, Ivan's son was the fourth Crimson Dynamo (and yes, I am a bit embarrassed that I know that).
After the short-lived Champions, the only time I can recall seeing him in a story was - briefly, and the same as ever - when the Widow turned up toward the end of Frank Miller's Daredevil run.
On the subject of Daredevil, this month his series is hitting the start of a decent run, having entered its San Francisco era. Not that the stories are that much of an improvement on earlier, but Gene Colan and Tom Palmer were a pretty amazing team at this point.
-sean
Yeah, I remember him turning up in the Miller issues but that was it - I just assumed I’d only seen him in those because I don’t read a broad range of comics.
DeleteAnd that someone had probably killed him off in an ‘event’ issue when they needed cannon fodder.
Thanks!
My cover of the month has got to be that Neal Adams Superman #252 wraparound.
ReplyDeleteBtw Charlie, I believe the Black Condor story was written by Will Eisner...
The Wonder Woman #200 cover is curiously disappointing for Jeff Jones, particularly after the amazing one he did for the previous issue.
Mind you, the artwork inside by Dick Giordano is nice (if a little stiff, as he often tends to be on his own imo).
Steve, my recollection is that Dr Cypher wanted to have her brain transplanted into Diana's head.
-sean
As big a Marvel Nerd as I am, until today I never knew Barry Smith had drawn an issue of IRON MAN. I just now googled it, and have seen some of the pages. I would have to say it’s not anywhere near his finest work, and Jim Mooney’s inks aren’t compatible with his style, at all.
ReplyDeleteSean, I agree that the Colan / Palmer issues of DD look fab. I would rather have those with me on my hypothetical Desert Island retreat than any other DD’s — yep, I love ‘em more than Frank Miller’s DDs, with or without David Mazuchelli. Are they as well written? Not hardly! But when I think of Daredevil, Colan / Palmer images are what I see in my mind’s eye. I never get tired of looking at ‘em.
b.t.
I reckon that Barry Smith Iron Man was an inventory piece as it doesn't look anything like Smith's then style (even allowing for the Mooney inks). This month's Avengers looks like Barry Smith art, it just doesn't particularly suit The Avengers. FF is my pick from these issues, and I originally read it (in glorious colour) in the 1977 Mighty World of Marvel annual. It was reprinted a few years later in Captain Britain where they clumsily redrew Nixon as Jimmy Carter. I think Stan should have gone out on a high, with this Galactus story, as his monster swan song, in the next two issues, was a bit flat.
ReplyDeleteGoogle confirms that West Germany knocked England out of the 1972 European championships in the quarter finals. Who'd have guessed...
DW
Steve, the "international Time Bureau" sounds like sci-fi to me, but in an ominous way.
ReplyDeleteDid we lose a second or get one?
Does this act of moving the clock constitute meddling in the space-time continuum? Could we all wake up tomorrow as intelligent reptiles, hairy savages or with giant super-heads? Is Kang the president?
The answer is no, of course not, but it's still sounds kinda creepy.
On another note, that Captain America comic was weird. I think the antagonist was supposed to be the Stranger, but the writer gave an origin story that conflicted with the already established Stranger origin story. So I think they later said, "Welp, he's NOT the Stranger, he's a different giant guy, he just has the same tailor and barber."
The Marvel bullpen was playing things fast and loose back then. The editors were hippies, substances were smoked and some weird stuff came outta Marvel under the wire in them days.
Like that issue of Doctor Strange where Doc Strange and Clea go back in time, and Clea screws Ben Franklin.
I'm not kidding! Look it up!
That's how he figured out about electricity.
M.P.
Totally agree with Sean- that Superman cover takes first place. Unfortunately never have had that book.
ReplyDeleteActually, I never had most of these books- I was lost in the World of Archie at the time. Did get some years later, particularly Avengers and Spider-Man. And like Dangermash said, those bordered Marvel covers didn't do a thing for me.
Charlie- man, we could get together and go all Kerouac discussing those youthful days of comics! Maybe that's why we all meet at sites like this- our Estimable host Steve knows how folks our vintage can pontificate at length. My kids and grandkids would probably be glancing at their watches (or more likely phones)...
M.P., I think in Cap #150 the antagonist - Jakar - was an alternate universe Stranger, but that sounds right about a quick rewrite to cover for a continuity error after the artwork had been done.
ReplyDeleteAlthough editor Stan Lee was not a hippy - he was of the Man, man, so intoxicants of the mind altering variety were probably not involved.
They might well have been a few years later with Steve Englehart's Dr Strange though, that seems plausible.
However, I regret being the one to break it to you, but that wasn't in fact Ben Franklin - Marv Wolfman replaced Englehart as writer the following issue, and took it on himself to reveal it was actually the wizard Stygyro in disguise who copped off with Clea.
-sean
*he was the Man
ReplyDeleteApologies for the typo there. Oops.
-sean
Sean-
ReplyDeleteStygyo? That doesn't make a lotta sense either! What I figure is, Englehart pushed the envelope a little too far by portraying one of our "founding fathers" as an old lecher (and Franklin was an old lecher, but he had a variety of interests, not just loose women, he was real renaissance guy) and they yanked Englehart off the title.
And there's no way Stan was serving in any real editorial capacity at this point.
M.P.
Thats probably right about pushing the envelope, M.P. - Wolfman retconned pretty much everything from Englehart's whole run on Dr Strange, not just the Franklin thing.
ReplyDeleteBut back in June '72 Stan Lee was still fairly hands on I think - he'd delegated a fair bit, but he was the credited editor on Cap #150 (and even writer on the FF).
-sean
SEAN, MP - Charlie was reading the FF this past week and lingered on the STAN'S SOAPBOX page.
ReplyDeleteStan expends a lot of ink talking about how they /Marvel have had billions of ideas in the pipeline but been unable to execute them due to lack of staff. Having only ROY THE BOY as a second editor was insufficient.
To that end, they have hired/promoted Englehart, Conway, and Friedrich to take them to the next level.
Also, the month previously they spoke about how STAN WAS BACK and a brief hiatus of 1-2 months.
I have to think that going instantly from 2 to 5 editors (more than doubling the editors) is going to lend itself to a whole lot of managerial / control issues.
Regarding FANTASTIC FOUR 123...
ReplyDeleteTHe letters pages have been interesting. There is universal appreciation of John Buscema's work and he seems to be accepted as a suitable replacement for THE KING KIRBY.
There is universal praise for FF 119 when they go to South Africa to rescue the Black Panther.
THe jury seemed to be 50-50 on ROMITA"s work and also the OVERLORD story line.
Charlie enjoyed the OVERLORD story when we was 11, immensely. Still enjoyed it 50 years on. WHere's the love?
AVNEGERS 100. Having missed the previous 6-7 issues of AVENGERS due to Marvel's crappy distribution chain, Charlie hopped back on with 100!
ReplyDeleteTo an 11 year old, it was confusing on 2 levels.
The story was incomprehensible, hopping on at 100.
Also the SMITH art was just to unusual. One can look at the cover and sense that the characters all have the same-ish look of Conan. To an 11 year old, everyone having the same face just added to the confusion.
But hey! It was still issue 100!!! I still got it in the long box!
And I'll stop before falling down the "stream of consciousness" hole, lol.
STEVE - Any chance you were at the annual CHEESE ROLLING event in Brockworth this weekend?
ReplyDeleteSEAN, MP, et al! You guys probably know about the CHEESE ROLLING event since it apparently is descended from a HEATHEN Competition centuries ago!
But this is Charlie's first!
Anyhow, STEVE or anyone who was there... I understand they had to use synthetic, and not real cheese this year? I am wondering if you felt it took away from the sport???
Charlie, sadly, I'm afraid I didn't closely follow the cheese rolling. I gather the synthetic cheese fared rather better than some of the competitors did.
ReplyDeleteMP, thanks for that explanation. It does make sense of that Cap story.
Sean, thanks for the clarification on that Wonder Woman storyline.
Fantastic Four follower, thanks for the praise.
DW, Redartz, Dangermash, Matthew, Bt, thanks for your comments too.
Took the kids out for some cheese rolling on Saturday,. Not that successful an afternoon. We have a few hills down in Kent but what with Sainsburys only selling it in shrink wrapped cuboid shapes, the cheese doesn't tend to build up much speed.
ReplyDeleteSo blustering Boris survives yet again. Is anyone surprised? The Queen supposedly has the power to sack him and even a republican like me would praise her if she gave that venal clown the royal order of the boot.
ReplyDeleteI've got some cheddar at the moment but it's an oblong slab so probably wouldn't roll very far. Last Christmas I bought a wheel of French brie from Tesco which might have been great for rolling but it didn't occur to me to try it!
Charlie and Redartz, you mentioned Jack Kerouac but have you ever read 'On The Road'? I have but the only bit I can remember involved a tarantula in a barn in California. Up until that point I thought living in California sounded rather idyllic but I wouldn't relish seeing a tarantula crawling around my house!
Sorry Charlie, I'm not familiar with cheese rolling. From a quick look online it seems like its one of those peculiar English traditions - like celebrating monarchy, or voting tory - that I just don't understand.
ReplyDelete-sean
I too have never heard of cheese rolling!
ReplyDelete...cheese EATING, on the other hand, I am somewhat familiar with...
M.P.
Colin- yes , I have also read "On the Road". But it's been years, and my primary memory is the coolness of the road trip. I still haven't given up the hope of making such a buddy trip. Without tarantulas, and light on the miscellaneous substances. And preferably in a convertible.
ReplyDeleteHi Colin, Decades ago… like 4 of them. The while road trip thing was cool. The whole no-roots / substance-use thing wasnt me though. I did make a trip out to the coast of Northern California to hang with my high school buddy for a few weeks, while killing time. Thats as close as i got… traveling with the army was the opposite of stream of consciousness in the Sense of “on the road” lol.
ReplyDelete