Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Easter is once more upon us. And that means it's time to discover just what great comics the Easter Bunny has left at the foot of all our Easter trees.
In this one, we discover it didn't end there because, unknown to Conan, the union produced a son.
Unfortunately, that son dies in this issue, within about ten minutes of meeting Conan.
I think we should all view that as a valuable life lesson.
And so should Conan.
And, this time, for some reason, he's killing members of an ad agency that wants to use Captain America as its poster boy.
Cap, meanwhile, is not happy with the ad agency, for its use of his image.
But how can even America's greatest hero hope to stop a man who's armed with three crows?
The super-villain who comes along is Magma.
I know. That great super-villain we all remember from such classic tales as, erm, err...
With Shellhead in no fit state to stop him - whoever he is - it falls to Rhodey to don the Iron Man armour and hope he can succeed where Stark failed.
Lately, I've tended to mock the recent Spider-mags for copying Daredevil. And they're doing it again.
Determined to go straight, the Gladiator's trying to avoid committing any more crimes.
And, again, real life gets in the way, as he's roped into things, by a gang of thugs. Fortunately, Spider-Man manages to talk some sense into his head before he can do any real harm.
Can even the son of Odin stand against such holy fury?
However, things don't go quite according to plan...
Clearly, from that cover, the She-Hulk's involved. And, it appears a robot is too. Beyond that, I can say nothing.
Fortunately, a new menace arrives in the school and, when she helps defeat it, Professor X realises what a fool he's been and lets her back into the full team.
Elsewhere, in a trip to Alaska, Cyclops meets a woman called Maddie Pryor - who looks and sounds strangely familiar.
Cyke will, no doubt, be asking plenty of questions about her but the obvious question to me is did Chris Claremont name her after Maddy Prior, lead singer of folk-rock band Steeleye Span who had a 1975 UK hit single with All Around My Hat?
Hooray! Hawkeye's found not guilty of killing Egghead!
Not only that but Hank Pym's cleared of all the charges that have been hanging over him. However, that doesn't prevent him from announcing his retirement from super-heroing and, therefore, the Avengers.
But the brand-new villain soon decides the web-spinner's too much to handle for one so inexperienced.
Other than that, I can't remember what happens in this one.
Conan perhaps excepted, these covers are pretty dire.
ReplyDeletePhillip
That DD was one I picked up at a train station when I'd been reading in British mags [all I was into at the time] that Miller's Daredevil was the best thing ever.
ReplyDeleteBut, despite having a page of horizontal panels with incrementally different content that looked a bit Miller-ish, it was not by Miller. So I put it back down again.
[I did buy a copy a few years later, and it's not really all that good. It's a Larry Hama fill-in issue and is silly. Next month's is good, though!]
That X-Men is the famous [Professor X iIs A Jerk' issue, though. Again, I picked this one up as a back issue when I got into Paul Smith's run. I still have a crush on Maddie Pryor [the comics one].
Dull covers, though. That DD one is trying quite hard to be edgy, considering how throwaway the story inside is.
Apparently Chris Claremont was indeed a fan of Steeleye Span, Steve, and Madeleyne Prior turning up in X-Men #168 is actually the second time he referenced the singer - theres a 'Maddy Pryor' that makes a brief background appearance in Avengers Annual #10.
ReplyDeleteThere's a kind of inevitability to Claremont being into British folk-rock, and it tells you something about him that the character wasn't called Sandy Denny.
The obvious follow on question you missed though is: does the name of the super-villain in that issue of Iron Man mean Denny O'Neil was a French prog enthusiast?
-sean
Steve, Steeleye Span also had a hit in 1972 with 'Gaudete' which is a medieval Christmas song and their version remains my favourite even though I've heard lots of others. You can find Maddy Prior on YouTube singing 'The Boar's Head Carol' which is another medieval festive favourite of mine.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of this "Steeleye Span" you fellows speak of (a lotta these references go over my head) but I am intrigued and shall look it up.
ReplyDeleteI've never read that issue of Conan, but I'm guessing this Ursla the Wood Witch was a werebear.
Or maybe this, ah, "son" was a werebear.
Maybe there's a passage in the Nemedian Chronicles that covers this situation. Like, "So You've Sired a Werebear. Here are Some Helpful Tips."
M.P.
Is it just Charlies or is that Avengers cover vibing Fr@nk R@bb!ns?
ReplyDeleteCharlie, Yellowjacket's costume is, indeed emitting a Robbinsesque vibe on that cover.
ReplyDeleteMP, for some reason, in the late 1960s to mid 1970s, the UK radio waves were repeatedly hit by bands playing medieval songs on modern instruments. Steeleye Span were amongst the higher profile acts amongst them.
Colin, I think Gaudette is the only other song I know by Steeleye Span but I could be wrong.
Sean, thanks for the Chris Claremont, Maddy Prior info.
Matthew, I agree. That DD cover just doesn't work at all. Mostly because it needs to be far more zoomed in on DD and his axe.
Phillip, I quite like that Amazing Spider-Man cover's nod to Ditko's cover for issue #23, and the X-Men cover's decent but the rest are, indeed, fairly ordinary. Then again, wait till you see one of the covers featured in tomorrow's post. It's the stuff of nightmares for all lovers of fine art.
Looking forward to a nightmarish post, Steve.
ReplyDeleteOn Steeleye Span, I believe they were originally a spin off from Fairport Convention in the early 70s, and went through a number of convolutions - with not too much mainstream appeal - before hitting on a more commercial sound later in the decade, just in time to have a couple of hits before punk wiped them out.
Well done Johnny Rotten & co.
Btw, is that issue of Conan the only time he came across any unknown sprogs? Given the turnover of scantily wenches that regularly clung to his leg, and his general lack of commitment - or indeed willingness to accept 'no' for an answer - I'd have thought there'd be plenty of little Conans running around ancient Hyboria.
-sean
Conan's sprogs didn't run, Sean!
ReplyDeleteThey stalked Hyboria, full of great mirth and melancholy.
But yeah, I'd have figured the guy dropped progeny all over the place.
On another note, that robot the Hulk and She-Hulk are getting knocked around by was Arsenal. I think it was built by Howard Stark. The only interesting thing about it was that it answered to, or was connected to, a main computer system that was imprinted with the personality of the late Maria Stark. Your basic ghost in a machine, the computer had her voice and even used her ghostly image on a display screen.
Arsenal is like a lost child asking its mother for guidance; the whole scenario was drowned in pathos.
Otherwise, it's just your basic big-ass robot.
M.P.
Arsenal is like a lost child asking its mother for guidance...? What are you going on about M.P.? That sounds more like West Ham.
ReplyDelete-sean
SEAN - if West Ham is desperately seeking mummsy, any thoughts who Chelsea are seeking? Charles
ReplyDelete