Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
As we all know, the Marvel comics of this period were filled with all kinds of shenanigans in the White House, with Captain America, Daredevil, the Hulk and even Adam Warlock being drawn into political machinations related to that place and that office.
However, things were also happening in the real world. For, this was a week which saw the scandal-hit Richard Nixon announce his resignation as President.
Almost immediately, this was followed by Vice President Gerald Ford taking his place to become the 38th president of the United States.
On the UK singles chart, George McCrae's Rock Your Baby was still sitting pretty at Number One. While, on the corresponding LP chart, the roost was being well and truly ruled by Paul McCartney and Wings' Band on the Run.
Rock Your Baby is a pleasing song but other tracks I approved of on that week's singles chart were:
Band on the Run - Paul McCartney and Wings
Rock the Boat - Hues Corporation
If You Go Away - Terry Jacks
Bangin' Man - Slade
Wall Street Shuffle - 10 C.C.
Beach Baby - First Class
Mr Soft - Cockney Rebel
One Man Band - Leo Sayer
and
Ring Ring - ABBA.
Should one wish to examine the matter in greater depth, that week's UK singles chart may be found here.
While the UK album chart resides right within.
It all happens when each of them encounters a gang of thieves who seem to be working for the other hero. A hero whom each hero believes to be a murderer.
In fairness to Spider-Man, Shang-Chi is a murderer.
Needless to say, this brings them into conflict and, needless to say, this soon leads to them into uniting against the real villain of it all. None other than Fu Manchu himself!
The Avengers are still battling the Sub-Mariner who's managed to get his hands on the Cosmic Cube. Inevitably, the underwater menace is even more useless at using the thing than everybody else has been, and soon loses it...
...Only for it to end up in possession of the Mole Man who turns out to be even more useless at using it than Subby was.
And the issue concludes with Dr Strange having to endure yet another comeback by Baron Mordo.
But what's this on the back cover? A house ad for the first Spider-Man Marvel Treasury Edition? What kind of a fool wouldn't want a thing like that?
But what's going on with the cover? The sharp-eyed observer will spot at once that it's actually the frontispiece of Iron Man #45, altered to make it look like a Spider-Man cover. What next? redrawing Killraven panels to make them look like Planet of the Apes?
In our second tale of the issue, we get the concluding part of the Angel's battle with Iron Man in which the armoured Avenger relies on the Angel's innate sense of goodness showing through at a time of crisis.
And, after that, we find a landmark treat indeed when we're supplied with Thor's first ever clash with Hercules. The one in which the thunder god inadvertently finds himself in the land of Hellenistic deities and in conflict with the son of Zeus.
With the two combatants evenly matched, can nothing bring an end to their pointless brawling?
Just who is this tyrant?
And how does a local legend involve the Hulk?
Next, I believe, is the conclusion of the Daredevil/Spider-Man encounter in which the duo must stop hitting each other for long enough to hit the Masked Marauder.
Easier said than done when he has a blinding ray and an airship.
Also, when they just like hitting each other so much more.
And, finally, the Fantastic Four are still having their first ever run-in with the Inhumans, including the walking enigma we know only as Black Bolt.
As far as I'm aware, Ka-Zar doesn't appear anywhere in this issue, despite the cover's proud boast that he does.
Posts
21 comments:
No Ka-Zar, no sale! (Kidding, obviously)
My first thought was that the SPIDEY WEEKLY cover was a poor re-draw of Gil “Sugar” Kane’s cover for MARVEL TALES 40 but his cover for IRON MAN 45 does seem to be the correct progenitor.
Ron Wilson’s MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL cover is really pretty good — he almost seems to be channeling Starlin more than Romita for once.
Steve, thanks for restoring my temporarily spam-lost post in the previous thread 😊
b.t.
I read that Spidey & Shang-chi story in Spidey Marvel Digest Pocket book # 4. Of 2 Spidey stories featured, it must have been considered the 'undercard', as the other tale (Spidey & Doc Strange) made the front cover:
https://spiderfan.org/title/comics/spiderman_pocket_book.html#004
I remember Ross Andru's art being reasonably good ( he varied), but the online credits say Don Heck's also involved.
As regards the story's cover, on today's post, multiple strikes were a Perez thing - but that can't be Perez. The heads/faces, for a start!
There were plenty of memorable lines - if not quotable, paraphrasable, 40 plus years later. Shang commenting on how if the disguised 'workmen' wish to be deadly martial-artists, speed is of the essence - but their movements are too slow, more befitting their disguises as 'workmen', etc.
Also, the stuff about Spidey cracking jokes not to bolster his courage, but to distract his opponents.
And Shang opining on his martial-arts training not including fighting an opponent who can defy nature's laws (Spidey walking on walls/ceilings).
Phillip
Oh - also, Spidey chances Shang-Chi being a good guy, by - when Shang launches a flying kick at him - just standing there, risking a direct hit! Whereupon, Shang flips around, at the last minute, and lands, saving Spidey's bacon. The 2, of course, then team up to foil Fu Manchu's evil plans!
Phillip
If those comics were published during the Marvel Revolution, Dez would have transferred Spidey & Shang-Chi from the Avengers to Spider-man Comics Weekly, thereby displacing Spidey to give its other titles more pages. Incidentally, Spidey & Shang-Chi isn't from Shang's own title, so why's Marvel UK mucking around with MoKF continuity this week (not that it's ever bothered them before - or since! )
Phillip
I remember the Andru/Milgrom art on the Spidey / Shang-chi team up looking pretty good. Milgrom was still the regular inker of MOKF at the time (I think) so I guess his presence was intended to create a little artistic continuity connection to that book.
I don’t remember all the details of that story but am I correct that Fu Manchu was behind all the bad guy shenanigans? So he dressed up a bunch of guys in Spider-Man half-masks to attack Shang-Chi, as part of his latest plan to get Spidey and Shang to wipe each other out? I reckon that’s really no sillier than having a bunch of assassins pretending to be flight attendants and all the passengers on Shang’s flight (as in G-S MOKF 2) — but it’s pretty silly.
b.t.
Steve, as usual you omit some total classics from your list of songs...
When Will I See You Again by The Three Degrees at #2 (soon to reach #1)
Born With A Smile On My Face by Stephanie De Sykes at #3
You Make Me Feel Brand New by The Stylistics at #4
Y Viva Espana by Sylvia - a new entry at #46 (eventually to reach #4)
Oh, this year I'm off to sunny Spain
Y Viva Espana...
Wait... Terry Jacks had a second hit single, that wasn't the godawful Seasons In The Sun? I don't remember that at all, but wouldn't want to check You Tube in case it's another mawkish teenage death song.
Colin has highlighted some absolute bangers here, but mention of the Sylvia song reminds me that the king of cultural appropriation and '70s smut, Judge Dread ( not Dredd ), did a version of that called Y Viva Suspenders. Probably not best to Google that one either...
b.t. - I've just found Spidey pocket book # 4, and you are totally correct, Al Milgrom's on inks - so, the internet's Don Heck reference is completely bogus. As regards the story, from the Empire State Building, Fu Manchu's planning to transmit 'subliminal mind-control radiation' to subjugate the entire United States to his will! (A dastardly plan - or, more correctly, quoting the Sellars film, a 'Fiendish plot' !) In an exciting conclusion, at the top of the Empire State Building, Fu Manchu escapes; so to catch him before he reaches ground level, Shang & Spidey jump off the top! Spidey - of course - makes a safety-net out of webbing, so they don't go splat. But, of course, Fu's vanished from the lift, true to form. Oh - Black Jack & Sir Denis appear, too. The story ends with Spidey astonished he's met supposedly 'fictional characters' !
Phillip
Simon, I'm pleased to report that Terry Jacks' other hit was also written by Jacques Brel and was in the same vein as Seasons in the Sun. Terry clearly didn't believe in changing a winning formula.
Only at SDC do Jaques Brel and Charles Aznavour get tossed around with the frequency of Kirby and Lee!
No wonder I hang out here!
Ciao ciao Charlie
I would like to encourage one and all to see a favorite band from way back, if you get the chance.
Finally getting to see groups like Thomas Dolby, Thomson Twins, and Heaven 17… it’s been magical. Really it has. And the cost has been, in the big scheme of rock shows, very reasonable, like $50.
They are getting older, voices still hanging in there but… you know.
This Public Service Message brought to you by Charlie.
Philip:
Don Heck inked GIANT-SIZE SPIDER-MAN 1 , the one where Spidey DIDN’T tangle with the Lord of Vampires— and actually did a very nice job IMO — so your online source probably just got their wires crossed.
Thanks for reminding me of what the rest of Fu’s Fiendish Plot was about. Am I correct in remembering that Tak, the enormous Sumo from MARVEL SPECIAL EDITION 15 returns? Does Fu refuse Tak’s request for a re-match with Shang-chi because he botched his first go-round? Maybe Fu gives him a less-challenging assignment this time, like sending him out to Woolworth’s to buy a dozen Spider-man masks and T-shirt iron-ons?Oh please tell me that happens.
b.t.
b.t. - Rather than acting as a Woolies' courier, Tak declares to Shang: "And this time my master has ordered your death!" What the hell did Fu Manchu order last time, then - tag rugby? It must have been disappointing fight! Spidey, not Shang, battles Tak, leaving him webbed up, and hanging by his top-knot! As the duo pursue Fu, they find that, before getting to the lift, he's cut Tak free from Spidey's webbing. Considering what a failure Tak is, as a henchman (obviously inspired by Odjob), Fu shouldn't waste vital seconds, staying ahead of Shang & Spidey, just to rescue the fat b*st*rd. And where did he find overalls big enough to fit Tak, anyway, for his workman's disguise? You couldn't buy them off the rack!
Phillip
Maybe Fu rescued Tak to keep him from squealing to the authorities about his operation. Or he wanted to subject him to some horrifying torture and slow death to punish him for his repeated failures. Or maybe just give him a stern talking-to.
b.t.
Tak doesn't appear anywhere again, until 2022 - so, it's likely he was suitably chastised!
Phillip
Did Hammer's 'The Corvini Inheritance' catch anyone's interest (Cellar Club)? Great 80s cast (Jan Francis, David McCallum, Terence Alexander & Stephen Yardley), but the ending was a bit predictable.
Phillip
Phillip, I'm afraid I missed it. I think I was watching the Olympics.
Steve - The moral of the story: being stalked, a paranoid, surveillance expert doesn't make the best guardian angel! Maybe dangermash watched it, as a new convert to Cellar Club?
Phillip
At least the US women know how to play foot and win. Thank god for our women!
Phillip, I'd never heard of The Corvini Inheritance so I googled it - I'd assumed you meant a Hammer FILM but it was actually a TV episode. I recall reading that those "Hammer" TV episodes had little to do with Hammer and the name was merely used to draw in viewers.
Colin - It was unusual. Although a mid-80s production, the lighting, etc, gave the show a more 60/70s look. I thought that might have been a hangover from Hammer. According to Caroline Munro's intro, the director's a renowned (?)female director (of whom I'd never heard), with several notches on her belt (but I wasn't listening! ) The Corvini Inheritance angle ( the jewellery, etc) seemed tacked on, it being more of a suspense/chiller tale. I suppose maybe the Corvini business gave a slight "My Last Duchess", by Robert Browning, feel (David McCallum's Frank Lane's previous beautiful wife just coincidentally happening to have 'died', too! ) Other SDC members are better film buffs than I am.
Phillip
Post a Comment