Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Films to treasure for the rest of your life were notably absent in February 1984 but the month did see the release of both Blame It On Rio and Footloose, neither which are within a million miles of being movies I actually like but they are, at least, films I've actually heard of.
In all honesty, this month's Marvel B-Listers don't look much more promising than those movies but I'm nothing if not an optimist. So, let's see what we can find amidst them that might tickle our fancy.
And I cannot deny that I've picked this one purely because of the strangeness of its cover. What's going on? Why are they all just stood around, like that? What can it all portend?
That, I cannot say. All I know of the tale within is that it's titled Assault on the Empire! and has a character called Cloud in it.
It offers us Wizard's Masque, Dispositio: Chapter III, The Scroll, Frankenstein, Terror in Paradise, Conan the Calendar, The Legend, The Dance, Reunion, The Monster and The Hero, as brought to us by the likes of Jim Starlin, John Bolton, Bernie Wrightson, Charles Vess and Bill Sienkiewicz, among many others of redoubtable talent.
And our hero clearly agrees because, when the media show up to broadcast a symbolic funeral for the town of Clairton, Rom decides it's a great opportunity to warn the world of the threat the Dire Wraiths pose to us all.
The X-Men's unlikely crossover with the Micronauts continues, as Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo and Butch Guice spin a yarn they call Into the Abyss!
I'm assuming this is the adventure in which he gets into a fight with Captain America and makes short work of him?
In the issue's second tale; according to the GCD, Phoenix, the Silver Surfer and Dr Strange return to the destroyed universe.
I'm not sure what they do about it from that point on. I can only hope they use their vast power to un-destroy it.
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24 comments:
MU is my only purchase, here.
Steve Wright's died, aged 69 - quite a shock.
Phillip
Ah. BLAME IT ON RIO. I actually saw that one at the theatre. Michael Caine has an affair with his best friend’s daughter while they’re all on vacation together (Demi Moore is there too, playing Caine’s daughter and best friend of the young lady he’s schtupping). It played like an extremely icky fantasy for middle-aged-men in ‘84, I’m sure it hasnt gotten any better in the years since.
I like Kevin Nowlan’s NEW DEFENDERS cover. I don’t know that I’d consider that ELEKTRA SAGA cover the least attractive comic cover ever, but it sure could be! It’s pretty ugly and unappealing.
I remember being very disappointed by that Marada story. Lovely Bolton art, predictably problematic Claremont script.
Sienkewicz’s “Conan As Dirty Harry” WHAT IF cover is very striking. He was obviously more into Bob Peak than Neal Adams at that point , at least in his painted work. I probably bought this one just for the cover — I have zero memories of the actual story. Don’t remember him meeting Cap, that’s for sure! No idea how this one compares to the earlier one by Thomas, Buscema and Chan. Didn’t they also drag King Kull into the 20th century in an even later WHAT IF?
b.t.
I went to see Footloose.
I liked going to the movies on my own and had gotten into the habit of going regularly - though pretty much only for SF and fantasy movies. But I was at a loose end so I went to see Footloose anyway. I didn’t like it much. Haven’t seen it since. The end. There are some good stories about the edit in Paul Hirsch’s book from a few years ago.
Some really nice covers!
Great moody cover for The Defenders.
Lovely Simonson for the Asgard.
Never seen that Sienkiewicz before.
The Elektra wraparound covers were terrific!
Miller had moved on dramatically from his DD days by this point. And a reliably nice Bolton.
Top marks.
B.t. Is it schtupping or schtucking (rhymes with, and sort of synonymous with, cooking).
Looks like I was thinking of MARVEL TEAM-UP 112 where the King of Valusia teamed up with Spider-man. I don’t remember the circumstances of how the two met , whether it involves actual time travel like the first “Conan In The World of Today” thing that Roy and Co. did or if it’s more of a temporary soul transference thing like the Red Sonja MTU story or what. I’ve got a reprint of that story in one of those KULL OMNIBUS volumes but I can’t be arsed to pull it off the shelf to check.
Charlie (?) — I had to google it. It’s “schtupping”.
b.t.
I was going to mention the death of DJ Steve Wright but Phillip's already done it. I remember STEVE WRIGHT IN THE AFTERNOON on Radio One in the '80s but I wasn't really a fan of those stupid characters like Mr Angry or the "zoo radio" wacky antics. Just play the records ffs.
That Conan WHAT IF was the second time Conan had ended up in the 20th Century and in 2020 it happened for a third time when Conan got stranded in modern-day Las Vegas. Recycling is not always a good thing!
That Conan What If? issue was pretty poor even a fight with Cap America couldn't save it. But the cover is pretty nice.
Sad news about Steve Wright I always enjoyed listening to his show driving home from work. I had forgotten all about Mr Angry, thanks for reminding me Colin
Paul - I'd forgotten about Mr.Angry, too - until Colin mentioned it. I did, however, remember the later character, Euroboy.
Colin - No, the "characters" weren't funny - even then - but the show's music covered my era (along with Wogan, at breakfast time, somewhat earlier), minus the late 70s. I think what makes Steve Wright's passing more shocking than other DJ's deaths, is that he seemed perpetually youthful - like an adult arrested in everyone's (his former listeners) teenage years, to which the rest of us can't return. Something of that has died with him.
Phillip
I was similarly not at all a fan of Steve Wright's lowest common denominator radio. Back in the 80s it was a major reason I never listened to daytime radio, the same way I never watched TV on a Saturday before 9pm.
But I'm sad he's gone - when someone's so ubiquitous at a certain part of your life, it's hard not to mourn their passing.
And the DJ Annie Nightingale died only last month. When Radio One was radically re-organised in the mid-'90s Annie Nightingale and John Peel were retained but everyone else was fired including Steve Wright who was apparently furious that his zoo radio format and comic characters were no longer welcome on Radio One (but he hopped over to Radio Two and carried on regardless).
Steve Wright... was he Smashy or Nicey?
I can think of a lot of covers less attractive than that Elektra one, Steve. I'm not as mad for it as Matthew seems to be, but full marks to Fearless Frank for not drawing a female character as a softcore 'babe'.
Did Marvel do that many stories about Conan in the modern age? In the olden days - prior to them getting the licence back a few years ago - I only recall the two What If?s. Hard to see how that kind of thing could be done well.
Not impossible though. Chris Claremont did something clever - who saw that coming, eh? - with the MTU Red Sonja story, by setting it in a museum exhibit. The scene toward the end, when the Sonja and Kulan Gath finally get outside, and catch a glimpse of New York and get an idea of how different the modern world is to the Hyborian age was memorable.
b.t. That Kull MTU was set in the past - iirc Dr Strange sent Spidey's astral form back in time - which was probably the best way round to do that kind of crossover. Although as it happens the story was rubbish.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not immune to the appeal of dumb (as opposed to stupid) comics. I tried Savage Avengers a little while back - a comic featuring Conan, with Wolverine, the Publisher, Elektra and Brother Voodoo has to have something going for it, right? Nope. It was complete sh*t.
Thank Crom for dodgy online sites so I didn't have to spend any money. Even the Red Sonja/Vampirella crossover was better.
-sean
*Dr Voodoo
Oops, giving my age away there, using his old name. Not that it makes any difference round here (;
-sean
Sean, there was another issue of WHAT IF that had Conan fighting Thor — I don’t know if it was set in the present day or some other time period.
FWIW, I think “Brother Voodoo” sounds much cooler than “Dr. Voodoo” (but I’m a 63- year-old white dude, so my opinion doesn’t really count.)
And I think a story that teams up Conan with The Publisher has real potential.
b.t.
That's exactly what I thought b.t.! Maybe if they'd got Garth Ennis to write it...?
Btw, not I'd call that Marada story 'problematic', not in the same sense as the first one anyway.
When Marada copped off with Jafar that was something a bit different, as in that kind of story you'd expect the swordsperson and wizard, and it seemed like Chris Claremont might actually be getting away from his '70s Marvel sword & sorcery approach to the series done... I think it was after that that the demon demanded Jafar hand her over? Although I suppose there was some ambiguity in the way everything played out.
Not sure about that Defenders cover - I preferred Kevin Nowlan's Hulk one with Dragon Man, seen in the last post.
Having a look at other Marvel covers for this month I was surprised to see SSOC #97 had one by the brilliant Tanino Liberatore. Presumably someone at Marvel had been impressed by the (then) recent Ranxerox reprints in Heavy Metal. As well they might!
Although it doesn't seem like they got his best work...
-sean
PS I agree on Brother Voodoo, b.t.
The thing about Savage Avengers is that it seemed like it was written by a 12 year old. And a really annoying one at that (not like Garth then).
-sean
*not SURE I'd call that Marada story problematic...
And I actually read back through that before posting too. Duh.
-sean
Wasn't there also a Conan 2099 character, I'm sure I saw this a few years ago.
You're not wrong, Paul.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Conan_2099_Vol_1_1
It wouldn't surprise me if Marvel had a monkey Conan in their ape universe too.
They actually did a Conan crossover with Rune - originally supposed to be from Malibu Comics before they bought them out - in the mid-90s. Which had the distinction of being written and drawn by Rune's co-creator, one Barry Windsor-Smith.
https://www.barrywindsor-smith.com/studio/bwsbio32.html
-sean
I picked up the Elektra saga for the, advertised, new Miller artwork expanding the story. I think the new art was actually limited to the covers and (possibly?) splash pages. Otherwise, just pages from Daredevil reformatted chronologically, plus the short story from Epic. Still, how about that baxter paper?
In other sad, news Paul Neary has passed away. Obviously a significant player for Marvel UK and survived by wife Bernie Jaye. Bleeding Cool has an obit.
DW
Klaus Janson did bang out some very rushed-looking new pages for the Elektra reprints. Not many, I think just for the first issue…? For the parts of her story before she returns to Matt’s life.
Sad news about Neary. I was rarely a fan of his art but he was an apparently extremely helpful and supportive to up and comers. Didn’t know he was married to Bernie Jaye!
Whatever the Marvel Revolution's teething troubles, its fantastic monthlies - Marvel Superheroes, Savage Action, Ramapage, etc - are Paul Neary's great legacy(with Bernie Jaye involved, too), as regards my reading experience. Sad news, indeed.
Phillip
I know I have the minority view of Paul Neary here but when I see or hear his name, my first thoughts are of his early work for the Warren magazines, on series like ‘Hunter’ and ‘Exterminator One’, which I liked a lot. When he began pencilling stuff like NICK FURY VS SHIELD for Marvel, his style had changed so dramatically, I thought it had to be a different guy with the same name! I didn’t realize that he had pencilled a long-ish run on CAPTAIN AMERICA ( I wasn’t buying very many Marvel or DC monthlies at the time), or that he had been an editor at Marvel UK at such a pivotal point in that company’s history. 74 is way too young. R.I.P.
b.t.
I only came across a reprint of Hunter pretty recently and I love that stuff. It’s still pretty much the only work of his I’m enthusiastic about.
2 Paul Neary pics stick in my mind, 4 decades plus later. First of all, the cover of Marvel Superheroes Monthly's debut issue (this comic's a personal favourite of mine):
https://britishcomics.fandom.com/wiki/Marvel_Super-Heroes_Monthly_Vol_1?file=MSH_353.jpg
It's strange Paul Neary did this Marvel Superheroes Monthly cover, as subsequent issues all used the U.S. covers.
Secondly, Captain America Weekly # 4 sticks in my mind, for some reason:
https://britishcomics.fandom.com/wiki/Captain_America_(Marvel_UK_Weekly)_Vol_1?file=Ca4.jpg
As with Marvel Superheroes Monthly, U.S. covers normally graced Captain America Weekly, so - again - it's something of an anomaly!
Phillip
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