Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Even as I type these fateful words, snow is falling all around me but, like a trooper, I shall plough on and see what lies hidden in the drifts of the roadside ditch that humankind knows as History.
It's one I've never read but that cover's making me wish I had.
It would seem our heroes ally themselves with Princess Ravonna in an attempt to stave off an invasion by Kang the Conquerer.
But what's this? It seems the inveterate loser Kang is somehow victorious?
However, his troops soon put a stop to that because they then rebel and he's forced to seek the assistance of the people he's just been fighting.
That's all well and good but what's Dr Strange up to?
Sadly, it's a question I'm incapable of answering.
Which is as it should be, bearing in mind the cover says he's facing unknown danger.
And neither can he forgive.
That man is J Jonah Jameson and, when Ka-Zar arrives in New York, the publisher does his best to convince the jungle lord to bring the webbed wonder to justice.
This is, I detect, a noticeably similar storyline to the one which first introduced Kraven the Hunter to the comics readers of this world.
In his adventure, Iron Man's still having to deal with the seemingly prehistoric peril of Gargantus.
Happily, Shellhead quickly realises his foe's a robot and uses the transistor-powered might of his magnets to tear the machine to pieces, prompting its alien creators to abandon their plans for invasion.
And, finally, this issue, having returned to Midgard, Thor reveals his secret identity to Jane Foster.
But he has no time dwell upon the decision, as he must zoom off to Asia to confront the freshly-spawned menace of the Demon.
It's the most epic clash of them all, as the Hulk and Subby come blow to blow when the Avenging Son thinks there's something going on between Bruce Banner and Lady Dorma.
Needless to say, there's no such hanky been pankied but try telling that to Captain Hair-Trigger.
Back on dry land, the stultifying Stiltman makes his awe-inspiring debut when Nelson and Murdock find themselves hired by a disgruntled scientist who says his boss has stolen his invention.
And this week's issue is completed when cash-stacked globalist Gregory Gideon makes a bet that his limitless wealth can succeed where the world's super-villains have failed - and defeat the Fantastic Four.
And, to do it, he even acquires Dr Doom's time machine which has just been left lying around in its castle.
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38 comments:
I think the MWOM cover, with Happy Herb’s dynamic Hulk Vs Subby battle scene, is the best of these. Or at least it survived the reprint reformatting transition best , IMO, with the attendant cropping, retouching and re-coloring issues. Is this the same Hulk/Subby story that was in Stan’s first ORIGNS OF MARVEL COMICS ?
b.t.
Bt, it was indeed in Origins of Marvel Comics.
Sean (to continue our Morbius discussion a bit): oh, I hate that one Don Heck issue of FEAR! But it’s terribleness isn’t entirely Heck’s fault. Inker Bob McLeod was very heavy-handed at that stage of his career; it often seemed like he used every assignment as a chance to show off how good he was, as if he was always trying to ‘fix’ the perceived flaws in the pencils, overpowering instead of enhancing them. Occasionally the results were pretty good, he sometimes could pull off an interesting lighting effect, etc. But too often I think his inks sucked the life and spontaneity out of the art. The two or three Black Panther issues he inked over Billy Graham’s pencils, for example — I think they’re awful. The figures look like they’re made of concrete.
I think the art on that Morbius story was particularly awkward. Basically Heck and McLeod just didn’t make a good team. And yes, let’s just say that I’d rather re-read McGregor’ Morbius stories than Mantlo’s any day.
b.t.
Vampire-wise, Bob McLeod also inked 'Daughters of the Dragon', with Vampiress Angie Freeman. Sean were you about to say this? ; )
Phillip
Y’know, that AVENGERS cover looks pretty great overall, but I don’t know about that dark yellow circle The Assemblers are standing in. I mean, sure, I’D probably wet myself if I was surrounded by a bunch of Kang’s goons pointing Kirby Kannons at me, but you’d think Earth’s Mightest Heroes would have better bladder control.
b.t.
I'd probably have gone on about the Marvel Premiere issue of Legion of Monsters - with not just Morbius, but also Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing and Ghost Rider - by Bill Mantlo AND Frank Robbins, Phillip.
Steve, that Dr Strange story is set in 'A Nameless Land! A Nameless Time!', so I guess its not surprising the danger he faced was unknown.
Basically, in a diversion from the ongoing Mordo/Dormammu storyline, Doc ends up in a strange Ditko-style dimension where he meets some far out nameless magic lady and helps her overthrow the evil sister who's stolen her throne, the sorceress Shazana, seemingly the only person in the Nameless Land who has a name (I guess thats royals for you).
Sadly Doc does not help the other dimensional proletariat get rid of the pair of them, and set up a far out magic workers Republic, and just installs the new queen. I suppose thats Randian Objectivism for you.
-sean
No history this week, Steve? 50 years ago yesterday Edward Heath went on TV to announced an election for the end of the month, and call for a new mandate. 'Who governs this country' he asked, to which the people basically said 'we don't know, but not you' and elected a hung Parliament.
It's kind of crazy that a government which was still running the Three-Day-Week, and responsible for power cuts, industrial unrest - the miners went on strike a few days into the election campaign - and record inflation didn't get absolutely hammered.
The British - mainly the English tbh, no offence intended - and their love affair with the Tory party, eh?
-sean
*to announce an election
Sorry to nitpick, Steve, but the correct phrase is "like a trouper" not "like a trooper".
The Tories received only 35% of the votes in that election, Sean.
Oh Sean, why do you do this to me ?
God only knows whose cockeyed idea it was to create an actual team of Marvel’s monsters — I’m pretty sure most of the Monster books had already gone to the Longbox Graveyard by that point, so it’s not like they were trying to jump on a profitable bandwagon or anything like that. More like milking one last drop from genre rapidly dying on the vine. Maybe the editor of MARVEL PREMIERE was just desperate for content , called Bill Mantlo up on a Friday afternoon : ‘Bill, I want a team-up story featuring a bunch of our Monster characters, gimme a plot by Monday, we’ll get Frank Robbins to bang it out in a week, got it?’ Anyhow, it’s 17 pages of utter nonsense. The monsters don’t really team up, they just kind of happen to be in the same place at the same time. The ‘antagonist’ of the story isn’t any such thing, he’s a benevolent gold-skinned alien who winds up getting killed by Morbius and the Werewolf while Ghost Roder tries to stop them and Man-Thing just stands around. I do like the Frank Robbins / Steve Gan art. But it’s a Mighty Marvel Train-wreck, and no mistake.
b.t.
b.t.
I do it because I can, b.t.b.t.
Seriously though, I don't actually think a Marvel monster team was that bad an idea - I mean, conceptually it's not that far from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (er, sort of) - but the execution wasn't up to much.
Although if I'm being honest I agree that Steve Gan's inks made Robbins' artwork a little more bearable than usual (the stress there should be on 'a little').
-sean
Colin, I checked - it was 37.9%. Which was still more than any other party (although Labour got a handful more seats). But it would be a higher percentage in England.
-sean
B.T. - indirectly, your comments on Monster books already DOA with Marvel trying to milk one more drop out of them - made me reflect on how "so many" comic historians claim the Comics Code destroyed the comic book industry in the 50s.
Super Heroes were nearly extinct by the time of those congressional hearings. But just as importantly, with few exceptions such as EC, the horror comics, monster comics, crime comics were junk.
As Exhibit A, I would point to DC's Black Magic Comics 50 years ago. (STEVE - you must include a cover!) It took the gas pipe after 9 issues at DC where, IIRC, they were basically reprinting Kirby's horror stuff from the 50s from Prize Comics' Black Magic comics,
Don't get me wrong: I like Kirby! He gave us Dingbats and Devil Dinosaur! But that schlock being turned out in the 50s was... well... schlocky! And more than a fair bit of Marvels 1970s monster stuff was schlock as well.
Steve-
I'm not gonna make the same mistake Wilbur Day did.
I'm not showing anybody my plans for a stilt-suit outfitted with high-tech weaponry until I have a patent.
M.P.
b.t. - A stock Bill Mantlo plot device, perhaps. Pit 3 or more comparable characters against a gold-skinned villain, with Frank Robbins on the art. A similar plot happened in Human Fly # 9 - Daredevil & the White Tiger join the Human Fly (not doing that much), battling Copperhead, in a Frank Robbins-illustrated story.Incidentally, I like the said comic (a good Byrne cover), as I associate it with a day trip to Bridlington (a sea-side town), aged 8!
Also, compare it with Iron Man # 106 (my first & therefore favourite Iron Man comic!), where Bill Mantlo again pits 3 or more comparable characters (Iron Man, the Guardsman, Jack of Hearts, and the Wraith) against Midas (associated with gold!) Admittedly, Robbins didn't draw this one!
Young readers part with their money, thinking they're getting more superheroes/horror characters for their pennies. It certainly worked with me - so more power to Mantlo's formula/recipe, I say!
Phillip
Phillip: I hadn’t realized that was a recurring formula of Mantlo’s. Fascinating. I do remember that Human Fly story, it was inked by Mike Esposito, if I’m not mistaken ;
Sean: an All-Star Monster Team might have worked, I suppose, but I can’t think of any writer at that time who could have really pulled it off . Team books are difficult to navigate anyways — The Champions, DC’s Secret Society of Super-villains, even The Defenders, it often seemed like there wasn’t a plausible reason for the characters to be hanging out together in the first place. Marvel had a LEGION OF MONSTERS 4- part mini-series about 10 or 15 years ago that teamed up a bunch of Marvel Monster characters with Morbius as thé Reed Richards-like leader — they at least worked as an actual team but it was still a mess. The Living Mummy spoke in Joss Whedon-esque quips, for one thing….
b.t.
b.t. - Fascinating to me, too. Bill Mantlo rounds up 3 or more comparable heroes, in 'Deadly Hands of Kung Fu' # 31, too - Iron Fist, Shang Chi, White Tiger (and Jack of Hearts).
Mantlo's interests/preoccupations are interesting to track. His favoured characters are the Wraith, the White Tiger, and the Jack of Hearts.
As well as in Iron Man # 106 (which I referenced previously), the Wraith also appears in Marvel Team-ups # 50, # 51 & # 72.
So, a Venn Diagram of Iron Man # 106, Human Fly # 9 and Deadly Hands # 31...gets you White Tiger in 2/3, Jack of Hearts in 2/3, Wraith in 1/3.
However - of note...Both the Wraith ( Jean DeWolff's bro) & Hector Ayala's brother (from Deadly Hands) are both baddie brothers (kind of...well, the Wraith's ripe for redemption...) and both are named Phillip - or the Hispanic version of Philip!
Oh - and as regards "golden villains" in Bill Mantlo stories, bonus marks for any with Whitney Frost - e.g. Marvel Team-up # 72, Iron Man # 106 - as Madame Masque's mask is gold!
Phillip
I suppose Spectacular Spidey double-teams Spidey with superheroes so often, it's basically Marvel Team-up, too - and Bill Mantlo features the White Tiger in # 9, # 10 - and also throughout the Carrion saga. Oh - and # 9 flashbacks to White Tiger vs Jack of Hearts, in Deadly Hands # 22.
Oh - and Mantlo has Jack of Hearts appears in ROM, too...
I'll get my coat...
Phillip
Don’t forget your hat Phillip! We don’t want it!
On hats...
"when a man is smoking a cigar, wearing a hat, he has an advantage; it is harder to find out how he feels."
Phillip
Grab your coat and grab your hat, baby
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Just direct your feet
On the sunny side of the street
Phillip
I've been watching the Dr Who story THE BRAIN OF MORBIUS on BBC iPlayer, originally broadcast in January 1976. Even after all these years Tom Baker is irreplaceable as the Doctor!
Have any UK readers tasted Vimto squash? The combination of blackcurrant, raspberry and grape is delicious and it makes a nice hot drink too!
60 years ago tonight the Beatles played Ed Sullivan with 70 million watching. Good god that’s insane… 40% of the USA tuned in!
Sunglasses work good too, Phil!
I'm surrounded by Neanderthals and I don't want any of 'em to know what I'm thinking or which way I'm gonna jump...
M.P.
b.t., I would say Steve Gerber could have pulled off the Legion of Monsters, as he approached the horror books he worked on in a less generic way than other writers. His Man-Thing and Morbius were pretty good so he was kind of halfway there anyway - put the two together, throw in a werewolf and Ghost Rider instead of a barbarian and talking duck...
Although Gerber also produced his fair share of turkeys, so it could have gone either way. That's the thing about the Marvel b-list in the 70s, it was all very haphazard - the new characters we're often poorly thought through, and creative teams could change from issue to issue, with writers often making stuff up as they went along. Which sometimes worked, but often didn't and there doesn't seem to be much logic to it.
Like, why was Tomb of Dracula good, but Werewolf By Night a bit crap? How is it that one of the best Marvel series of the decade was written by Marv Wolfman of all people?
I reckon an ok monster team was possible because DC managed to do it, with the Creature Commandos. No, really. Not saying the later issues of Weird War Tales were great - or even worth tracking down now - but not every comic has to be a classic for the ages, and the couple I read were entertaining enough at the time. Dumb, but not stupid.
The one where they teamed up with GI Robot and saved a British princess from Nazis at Stonehenge sticks in my mind. Written by Robert Kanigher iirc.
-sean
There's nothing very elegant or compelling about a werewolf, I guess.
Plus, Dracula's got a pretty long history they could mine for stories.
Not so much with Werewolf by Night.
And Wolfie was a good guy, pretty much. I don't think he ate anybody. Drac was more complicated. And verbose.
On another note, I'm gonna have to check out the Creature Commandos over on viewcomics.org.
How did I miss that?
M.P.
Colin, I don't think I've ever had Vimto in any form.
Tom Baker was in Amicus' Vault of Horror which was on TalkingPicturesTV, last night, playing an artist who uses Voodoo to kill his enemies. Needless to say, it was the best segment in the film.
Dumb but not stupid… or maybe “we need to write SOMETHING for the 10 year olds because they sure as hell can’t comprehend Kree-Skrull Wars, Warlock, drug over doses, killing Gwen, killing Namor’s dad and queen, Nixon committing suicide, Reed-Sue divorce…”
Just a thought Charlie had while waking up to yet another grey day. MP- send us some sunshine??? BT- send us some of that California sun??? Help? Anyone?
Maybe the B-list comics wer targeted towards kids? Idk…
Happy Chinese New Year to one and all but especially to SDC's Chinese readers obviously.
In 2026 Chinese New Year will fall on the same day as my 60th birthday!
Colin - Happy CNY to you too buddy! Chicago has an enormous China town chock full of festivities!
SEAN - I want to thank you very much for posting the link to the Guardian article on the french comic book industry. What a great read and thank you for sharing! Lots of interesting points:
- France has 3,500 independent books stores, more than the US and UK combined! This was done by preventing discounting by more that 5% of cover price starting 1981. Amazing.
- They consider the Angouleme comic fest the 3rd biggest in the world behind Lucca in Italy and Japan's Comiket with 200,000 attendees. Wonder where San Diego ranks?
- There is a niche area for erotic Hellenic comics at the convention? Just curious if they look like the vases they uncover from ancient Greece which are... well... interesting! Modern folks have not thought up anything the greeks were not doing, that's for sure, lol.
But again - thanks for sharing! It's 11 pages long; I'm only on page 4!
Btw... is the Guardian a quality newspaper? I'm thinking of subscribing especially since I've hit my 8 article limit and now get requests to donate. Seems like an objective periodical but I really do not know if it lives in reality or somewhere like maga-world or....?
The Creature Commandos work as a team because it’s built into the concept, which is ‘The Dirty Dozen With Monsters’. Putting all the disparate Marvel Monsters in a team that makes sense and doesn’t seem forced is a whole different thing. Yes, I too was thinking Steve Gerber might have been able to do something worthwhile with the concept (more than likely better than the thing Bill Mantlo wrote, at least). But doing it for a single issue of MARVEL PREMIÈRE is one thing; I suspect even Gerber might have found it difficult to herd those unruly cats into a satisfying on-going series.
b.t.
SEAN - thanks for the incredible article in the Guardian regarding the French comic book industry! A solid read for sure. I'm really enjoying it! Thanks again!
And truly my gob was smacked learning that France, with 3,500 independent books stores, has more than the US and the UK combined. Holey Moley!
In part it is because their culture of minister implemented a law in 1981 forbidding price discounting by more than 5% off cover price. That way the publisher takes it in the shorts not the small guy, if they want to compete on price.
Personally I think book stores add charm to a town and maybe that's a good SDC "open mic" thought!
Charlie, The Guardian is a centre-left newspaper with liberal tendencies and aimed at people with degrees. It's definitely not MAGA.
Steve, if I remember correctly, I read Jack Oleck’s novelization of VAULT OF HORROR years before I was able to see the film, and Tom Baker’s character’s demise was way more gruesome than what was shown on-screen. Or maybe it was just my imagination filling in the blanks — in any case, it actually made me kinda queasy. I was actually fairly disappointed when I finally saw the film. Similar thing happened with the ‘Wish You Were Here’ segment of the TALES FROM THE CRYPT film — the reanimated guy screaming in agony because his veins were filled with embalming fluid, then his wife hacking him into bits and pieces to end his torment, and then the bloody bits are STILL SHRIEKING IN AGONY FOR ETERNITY — holy frigging cow, the pictures my mind conjured up were a thousand times more intense than what the PG-rated movie was able to show.
b.t.
Charlie, you can ignore those Guardian requests to donate - like I do.
I hear you Colin! Idk… Charlie hates (at times) to free load if he’s getting something good in return! Thats why I do all my Amazon shopping through Steve’s link and he’s now a millionaire! I figure one hand washes the other!
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