Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Once more into the breach.
America goes mad, as people who don't like androids decide to blow up the Vision!
How can even the Avengers hope to triumph against the darkness in people's hearts?
I must confess this is one of my least favourite comic book covers of all time. The overwrought melodrama of it makes it more ludicrous than potent.
Then again, I've never been that big on the story inside either. Mostly because of the vaguely comedic detonation system favoured by the human bombs.
Then again, I've never been that big on the story inside either. Mostly because of the vaguely comedic detonation system favoured by the human bombs.
It seems the Serpent Squad is up to something but I don't know what.
Though, hold on, isn't that the Eel on the cover?
Are eels serpents?
No. They're not. They're fish.
Are eels serpents?
No. They're not. They're fish.
So, why's he in the Serpent Squad?
Shouldn't he be in the Piscine Patrol?
With Attuma?
And Tiger Shark?
Shouldn't he be in the Piscine Patrol?
With Attuma?
And Tiger Shark?
And Captain Barracuda?
Conan comes up against one of those pesky man-apes who seem to lurk in every Hyborean forest.
It all revolves around the Witch-Dancers of Zembabwei, and people with names like Zemba, Dalmoor and Helgi.
I have no doubt swords are involved.
Hooray! It's a Daredevil story I actually remember, as Angar the Screamer gets up to confused mischief.
Angar's mysterious boss sends him to drive Daredevil mad but Matt Murdock's smooth-talking soon changes Angar's mind.
That doesn't last long, though. When the police show up and escalate the situation, Daredevil and the Black Widow are forced to fight him, all over again.
I have very few memories of this one
I think The Shaper of Worlds may give the son of Gregory Gideon the power to cause nothing but trouble for our heroes but I could be remembering totally wrongly.
Hooray! It's half man, half fish, all trouble, as Aquon makes his gluggery debut!
And it's all an attempt by Captain Omen to prevent his crew from journeying to the surface world.
I first read this tale in the 1975 UK Marvel Annual. A book I once reviewed, right here.
I first read this tale in the 1975 UK Marvel Annual. A book I once reviewed, right here.
I don't like to knock but, to be honest, the promise of the Masked Marauder returning would rarely be enough to make me buy a comic.
It would seem that, here, the villain steals Tony Stark's first space shuttle and, somehow, Shellhead manages to lose his subsequent fight with the larcenous landlord.
The Green Goblin dies and, fifty years later, I still haven't got over it.
Is that a Jim Starlin cover I detect? Frankly, it's not his best.
Inside, Thor and his companions try to release the Asgardians from their lizard captors but Odin's being too much of a sad sack for that.
Still, the thunder god finally manages to overcome the villains.
Now all he has to do is figure out where Sif's disappeared to...
But what of its biggest rival? What does a random sampling of DC's output that bears a July 1973 cover date look like?
It's the first time I've ever looked at Doom Patrol, in this slot and I must confess I don't have a clue what happens in it. I'm sure it's all dramatic, though.
Having said that, I don't know what happens in this one either.
I do know the backup strip's The Spawn of Frankenstein as drawn by Mike Kaluta.
Happily, Adam Strange is on hand to thwart the villain's intentions and use his own weapon against him.
Determined to win the love of Iris West, Captain Cold freezes an entire city, in an attempt to make her accept his marriage proposal. I get the feeling romance isn't his strongest suit.
Fortunately, the Flash is on hand to thwart the lovesick crook.
Meanwhile, Dr Fate must stop the machinations of Mr Who, owner of a solution that makes things grow to giant size.
Actually, that may not be the plot. I don't remember the actual plot. So, I'm just making one up that sounds good.
Regardless, I'm sure that Mars, God of War, is involved.
I read Daredevil # 101 in MWOM # 297. At the time, the impression it made was very powerful. After a long MWOM hiatus (9 issues seems forever, as a kid!) I bought # 297, expecting Colan, so Buckler & Giacoia's art seemed very different but - nevertheless - in black & white - it was powerful. Visceral fight - with the bottom of Daredevil's tunic scrunched up, in one of Angar's fists, whilst his other is raised to strike! Also, Angar lifting DD over his head (a favourite Kraven move!), & leaping with a simultaneous double-punch! Also, the Black Widow fully intended to kill Angar, which precipitated a rift, that later grew into a chasm! As an adult, I got the USA colour version, as a "second copy", and it didn't live up to my memories at all!
ReplyDeleteI've also read FF, Spidey, Avengers, Thor(?), maybe Cap (?) - but, years later (except Thor!) Daredevil's my only vivid recollection - the others are vague.
The FF's "Wild One" is a reference to the Brando movie:
Girl: "What are you rebelling against, Johnny?"
Brando: "What have you got?"
The story involved the FF being involved in a sort of flashback/timeslip to a bad 1950s - kind of a nightmare flipside of Happy Days (if I remember correctly.) Hipster vs Squares.
Phillip
Well, well, well... ASM #122 - Probably the equivalent of the "the day the music died" in the world of Charlie.
ReplyDeleteI dug it out of the long box... after 50 years... and re-read it.
I must say I had the same intense engagement as 50 years ago, though I knew the outcome:
- Isn't it time we realize Gwen is not dead?
- Why is this shaping up to be a battle to the death?
- The art seems especially detailed, dramatic, intense.
In the end, I had the same understanding 50 years ago: she's actually dead and that really feels wrong. The Green Goblin is dead and that feels wrong.
The other thing that rang true then, still does, in my unevolved mind on this subject, is the final page in which Peter basically calls Mary Jane a shallow bimbo.
I guess when you are a kid (I was 11) and you read this stuff contemporaneously, first impressions are lasting impressions.
As I read ASM #122 yesterday and Friday, I did think to myself this marked the end of Marvel as I knew it and what had made it so compelling. Marvel 1.0 was dead.
ReplyDeleteThe "bullpen" commentary speaks to that, but perhaps only in hindsight.
1) Jazzy Johnny is now "Art Director" for Marvel. Why did Marvel need an art director? B/c these 2-bit monster-ish comics and mags often looked like crap?
2) "We expect to be inundated with requests to bring back the Marvel Checklist. But guess what Pilgrim! You can get a checklist when you subscribe to FOOM!" The personal nature of the checklist, Bullpen Bulletins, and Letters Pages (not to mention full and half page in-house ads) really separated Marvel from the others.
3) The ASM letter's page has an introduction that states, "This is the [new] state the Spider-man. The bloody finale has cost Peter Parker the woman he loved, his closest friendship (Harry's tripping on acid again), the long-running feud between with the Goblin is over, and... his innocence." (Gee - really? What was wrong with some child-like innocence?)
4) The letter's page intro also states that they are only printing the most irrelevant letters this month b/c ASM 121 and 122 basically rendered most of the mail moot. No point talking about Pete - Gwen relationship anymore.
5) Lastly, we are told that "Gerry, Gil, and John agree" with a writer's letter asking for more sub plots. This seems to imply an incredible level of authority / responsibility being transferred by Stan / Roy to these three.
Thoughts from you historians out there? I only recently read where Jazzy Johnny claimed Gwen's death was his idea... weird.
Cheers, Charlie with the Canadian-smoke filled lungs
Wow... Charlie must have been on a comic-buying binge in April 1973 (probably b.c. he just moved from Gary to Crown Point, IN. New school, new hood, corn fields vice steel mills, etc.)
ReplyDeleteAnyhow I had 6 DCs as well:
- Super Man 100 pager
- Action 425
- GI Combat
- JLA
- Kamandi
- Secret Origins
They were all really good IIRC. And the cover to Action 425. A Master Piece!
Charlie, Marvel has just published a facsimile edition of ASM #122.
ReplyDeleteAs Phillip said, the FF story is set in the '50s - it was reprinted in Marvel UK's Complete Fantastic Four #4 in October 1977 when the '50s were only two decades in the past but seemed like ancient history to me aged 11.
Has anyone tasted eels or even jellied eels?
ReplyDeleteI had a taste of a work colleagues eel pie when I worked in London and was taken to an East end pie shop. I love fish, but the texture of the eel was very strange, taste was salty mild fish flavoir. Not great food ( well not to my tastes) but really nice locals.
ReplyDeleteColin
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in Leigh-on-Sea, with grandparents in East Ham, both stewed and jellied eels were a regular delight. Both need to be doused in vinegar and pepper to maximise the experience. I really like both, and jellied eels (in particular) are one of things I look forward to most when visiting South East England. A fun fact is the left over jelly from the eels, is boiled down to make the liquor for pie and mash (another fondly remembered delight). I'll be back in September (first time in more than a decade) and am already anticipating the first bowl.
You can take the boy out of Essex and all that...
What makes you ask?
DW
ReplyDeleteJellied eels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4oaGQ2POC8
Pie & Mash:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPVDdqh3-wQ
Phillip
DW, I only asked because Steve mentioned eels and I wondered what they tasted like.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading somewhere that in the Middle Ages you could dip a bucket in the Thames and it would come out full of eels because the Thames was teeming with eels at that time. I suppose the appalling pollution in the Thames in the 19th Century drove all the eels away but I don't know what the situation is nowadays.
Paul, my father was from Glasgow but he lived in London from the early '50s to 1967 (which is why I was born in Islington). I once asked him if he'd ever eaten jellied eels and he just made a face which I assumed meant no.
A few weeks ago Radio 4's Book Of The Week was about the oceans and one of the five episodes was all about the life cycle of the eel - they begin life in the Sargasso Sea y'know.
Colin- The Sargasso Sea featured in Marvel UK's Superheroes Annual 1979/1980, in a reprint of Submariner # 16! Maybe, rather than Tiger Shark, the story should have used the Eel as its villain!
ReplyDeletePhillip
We’re still a few months away from the kick-off of my comics-collection obsession — I didn’t have any of these back in the day. But I’ve managed to pick up quite a few of them as back-issues over the years.
ReplyDeleteChecking out the page of thumbnails for July 1973 at the brilliant Mike’s Amazing World of Comics site, it looks like you’ve highlighted most of the worthiest comics cover-dated that month. Two others worth mentioning (and they both feature a certain toothy Transylvanian):
TOMB OF DRACULA 10 by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan and Jack Abel, featuring the first appearance of Blade the funky Vampire Killer.
DRACULA LIVES 2, something of an improvement over the first ish. Kick-ass Dracula origin story by Marv and Neal Adams plus a decent back-up by Wein, Colan and Giordano. The cover painting by Jordan Penalva is probably a bit too dark but it’s miles better than the dull, oddball Boris cover on the first ish.
b.t.
That’s Jordi, not “Jordan”, autocorrect. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteb.t.
Colin, I can sensationally reveal I've never tasted eels, either jellied or un-jellied.
ReplyDeleteBt, don't worry. That Tomb of Dracula issue may be making an appearance on this site in the very very near future.
Charlie, thanks for the info about the contents of that Spider-Man issue.
I had three of the DC issues shown above but none of the Marvel ones.
Phillip, thanks for the FF info.
Hi gang, just putting in my two cents worth on Amazing Spider-Man 122. Though I always liked Gwen, most of my Spiderreading came after she was gone. Perhaps for that reason I rather preferred Peter's relationship with Mary Jane. As has been noted, MJ had generally been portrayed as a lightweight. However, that final page in ASM 122 was a big first step in her character development. Faced with Peter's backlash after Gwen's death, she could have walked out the door and taken the easy route. But she stayed to give un-asked for comfort to a friend in pain. Conway and Romita gave us a masterful page of personal drama...
ReplyDeleteRedartz:
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% on that last page of ASM 122. It’s brilliant.
On one hand I can totally sympathize with Charlie’s feelings on the subject — i.e. did Comics HAVE to grow up? But on the other hand, “real world” issues had already impacting the Marvel Universe for some time. Things like Harry’s struggle with drug addiction and Gwen’s death added a level of gravitas, made the stakes seem a little bit higher than another round of “Oh no Aunt May’s in the hospital again, and I’ll have to sell my bike to pay the bills” etc.
But then again, my personal perspective is different. Gwen was already dead and buried by the time I started buying ASM regularly — though her death continued to cast a pall on the ensuing issues for months to come. I found Peter’s struggle to deal with it very relatable (and dare I say Gerry Conway wrote it with a sense of subtlety and restraint that was 1000 times more effective than Stan Lee’s usual cornball soap opera histrionics).
b.t.
Phillip, was that Sub-Mariner story about a graveyard of old ships in the Sargasso Sea with sailors from different eras or something? If so I remember reading it too but in one of the weeklies in 1979 rather than an annual.
ReplyDeleteRed & bt, when I started reading Marvel comics in late '74 Gwen Stacy was dead and gone in the US but in the UK's Spidey comic she was still very much alive and didn't die until 1976.
Happy Independence Day to our American friends!
ReplyDeleteThanks Colin!
ReplyDelete4th of July is typically bbq of burgers /dogs, beer, corn on the cob, potato salad… and fireworks.
Politically the issue around the 4th is now fireworks. Many many citizens calling them an unnecessary distubance since they usually start a week before and continue a week after the 4th. Pets (and wildlife) are often horribly frightened. PTSD for vets…
In Illinois they are illegal but, like guns, anyone can hop over the border to Indiana and I presume Missouri and many other states, and load up!
Charlie fondly remembers being arrested for fireworks when he was 14 LoL!
There Charlie was with his buddy Ralph (pronounced Ralph) handcuffed to a table in the police station so we could not run away. The coppers took all our fireworks and made our parents come in and get us!
ReplyDeleteSuffering Sappho, Steve - how can you not remember what happens in Wonder Woman #206?
ReplyDeleteThe main thing about that issue is that we get the origin of Nubia, which is also a revisionist take on the origin of Wonder Woman seeing as - spoiler alert - she's Diana's sister. In the literal sense.
You're right about the involvement of Mars. Not sure why he wasn't called Ares in that issue, but basically he attacks the Amazons - because peace and love threaten his war-like ways - and Nubia pretty quickly realizes Diana is right and 'women have to stick together to stop man making a battle-ground out of the Earth'. Right on!
-sean
Happy birthday to you Charlie, as well as the US. That's right, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteHave fun causing an unnecessary disturbance today.
Btw, that Superman 100 pager you mentioned... is that the one with the Superman-Red and Superman-Blue imaginary story in it?
-sean
Charlie:
ReplyDeleteYeah, I pretty much hate fireworks now. Jerks shooting em off right in the neighborhood, oblivious to the deadly serious risk of fire (in the middle of a drought), freaking out pets and vets etc.
It was worse during the first year or so of the pandemic — I think people were going stir-crazy from boredom, it seemed like we had fireworks going off every single day, for months on end. Now it’s gone back to just before and just after the holiday. But Jesus Christ, 4th of July and New Years, it sounds like a f*** ing war out there.
Me, I’m celebrating the 4th by reading Captain America Epic Collections (by Stan, Gary Freidrich, John Romita, Steve Englehart and Our Pal Sal).
b.t.
Charlie & bt, we have the same problems with fireworks in the UK but here it happens around Guy Fawkes Night on November 5th with idiots setting off fireworks for weeks beforehand.
ReplyDeleteColin - Yes, that sounds right. In 1979, it was "Spider-man Comic" which featured the Submariner. I remember Spider-man Comic # 328 (a stand-out issue) featured Namor vs the Stingray (USA Submariner # 19). So, for Submariner # 16 (USA Sargasso Sea issue), it would precede Spider-man Comic # 328, by quite a few issues, as Marvel UK's page count was so stingy. A difference of 3 USA issues (# 19 back to # 16, USA-wise), could be multiplied by 3 or 4! Maybe you read the Sargasso Sea story between Spider-man Comic # 316 and # 319!
ReplyDeleteHere's the gallery, in case any cover rings a bell:
https://www.comics.org/series/31495/covers/?page=1
Charlie - Happy Birthday! I bet you get sick of Tom Cruise movie jokes!
Phillip
Joe (Charlie) is a yankee-doodle dandy indeed! Born on the 4th of July, has an Uncle Sam, and on a good day looks macaroni LOL.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the b-day greetings!
It’s a hot one today: mid 90s. But at least Chicago got record rains on Sunday (6-10” depending) and the Canadian smoke is washed out for now.
Cheers!
Any of you gents watching Tour de France? We usually watch first hour until it becomes Tour de Commercials! Grrr…
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Charlie - I don't recall you telling us your birthday was on 4th July but Sean obviously did.
ReplyDeleteApparently there are concerns that the Tour de France might be affected by the rioting in France at the moment.
Phillip, I thought the Sub-Mariner was in 'Marvel Comic' but clearly not. Do you still have Spider-Man Comic #328? If not you've got an excellent memory to remember the exact issue featuring Subby vs Stingray!
Colin - Yes, I've still got Spider-man Comic # 328 (somewhere!) It sticks in my mind, being - for me - a landmark issue (the Marvel Revolution's joint best weekly issue ever IMO - sharing top place with Baron Blood's penultimate episode, in Captain America weekly!) Up until # 328, to me, glossy Marvels were superior, in every way. Spidey # 328 overturned my bias!
ReplyDeleteCharlie - Cycling doesn't grab me - not even the "Tour de Yorkshire" ;D.
Phillip
Happy birthday Charlie! It's quiet right now, but last night I could scarcely hear the baseball game on TV over all the fireworks. Like b.t. said, it's like being in the midst of a firefight.
ReplyDeleteI'm Celebrating the 4th. with MLB; all games are free viewing today and tomorrow! A rare opportunity to catch my Cincinnati Reds in action onscreen. Incidentally, a question for you UK gents: do you have free viewing for your football matches, or do you have to sign up for a service? Years ago we could watch Major League Baseball games on 'free tv', usually several each week. Now it's almost exclusively a matter of subscribing to the MLB app to access live games for viewing...
Red, league games are almost never free to watch. International games and some European games are free to watch. Some FA Cup games are also free. Otherwise, one has to dig deep into one's pockets for live football.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, the only time I've ever watched the Tour de France was that year when it came to Yorkshire.
Sean, thanks for the Nubia/Wonder Woman info.