Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Time for us to fling ourselves, once more, into the waiting arms of nostalgia - and hope they don't turn out to be the terrifying tentacles of Doc Ock!
It's hospital drama for the Avengers when that woe-begotten windbag the Whirlwind returns to try and abduct the comatose Wasp!
But what's this? It seems this is the issue in which Hank Pym finally discovers his arch-foe has been his chauffeur for all these years!
It's Conan versus Conan in the tale we, no doubt, never thought we'd live to see. And it would appear it's all down to an oracle in the vicinity of the city of Ronnoco!
I really don't know what's going on but the GCD assures me the Falcon recovers from his coma, with his "Snap" Wilson persona intact, while Cap battles illusions of villains from his own past.
It looks like a grave situation for the man without fear when his fight with Copperhead reaches its dramatic climax.
They always say good things come in pairs but, by the looks of things, it's bad Things that come in pairs.
I've no idea what happens in this one but it seems that Arkon, Thunderbolt Ross and Gaard all put in an appearance. Therefore, I'm going to guess that alternate world shenanigans are involved.
Half Skrull, half shopping cart, all awesome; the Shaper of Worlds is back.
Half Skrull, half shopping cart, all awesome; the Shaper of Worlds is back.
And it can only mean trouble for the criminally underrated Toad Men.
It's a pivotal point in the life of Tony Stark, as exposure to the suffering caused by the Vietnam War convinces him to halt his involvement in arms manufacturing.
Getting flung off a bridge is the least of Spider-Man's worries because we've reached a tale to shock the world, as, at last - in the most insane revelation in the history of great literature - we finally get to discover who the Jackal is!
Nope. no idea what happens in this one.
Clearly, it involves Ulik but it would also seem to include Isis and Osiris.
I do know Star-Quake sounds like it should be a follow-up to legendary Caroline Munro/David Hasselhoff epic Starcrash.
To be honest, if the story inside isn't as magnificent as Starcrash, I may be tempted to demand my 25 cents back.
To be honest, if the story inside isn't as magnificent as Starcrash, I may be tempted to demand my 25 cents back.
Thus are Marvel's main heroes disposed of.
But what of that other company?
The one that goes with Marvel like fish goes with chips?
Just what would we find in a random sample of its output that bears the same cover date?
Tragically, I completely struggle to recall anything that happens in this tale, other than that I reviewed it several years ago and that said review may be found right here.
Can a horrific new monstrosity be about to enter the life of our youthful hero?
I suspect not. I suspect the thing they're reacting to on that cover is Pyra who I remember little of, other than that she doesn't look like a monster.
And, so, issue #6 sees the arrival of the Dingbats of Danger Street.
I know nothing of the contents of this one, other than it's brought to us by Jack Kirby and, in it, the Dingbats' lives are disrupted by a man called Jumpin' Jack who I'm assuming isn't Jack Kirby.
It seems they also encounter someone called Gasser.
It all raises the obvious questions in my mind. Was Jumpin' Jack inspired by Spring-Heeled Jack? And was Gasser inspired by the Mad Gasser of Mattoon?
I cannot say.
Because I don't know.
Not because I'm banned from saying.
In our first thrilling tale, Batgirl and Robin must unite to keep British mega-patriot Benedict Arnold from taking over the United States!
Then we get The Origins of Batgirl and Robin the Boy Wonder.
Next, Alfred the butler finds himself battling The Great Handcuff King!
Following that, a crook once caught by Commissioner Gordon uses the detective to lure Batman into a trap!
Now, we encounter a reprint of Batman's first-ever encounter with the Man-Bat!
And, a one-page feature tells us how Alfred became Batman's butler, and of his time as the villain the world could only know as The Outsider!
Can Shaddy and Margo survive a stint on the local ducking stool?
And will our hero's knowledge of hemp save them?
It's time for some sizeable fun, as Batman secures his latest treasury-sized collectors' edition.
But in 3 dimensions!
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9 comments:
Dingbats is the hammer to Sean’s and Charlie’s anvil!
I think the “Shaddy” (❤️) cover is the best of this batch. I also think the Conan, Daredevil, Beowulf, Kamandi and Batman LCE covers are quite good. The rest range from “Okay” (AMAZING SPIDEY) to “Poor” (IRON MAN).
BEOWULF 3 is the only issue of that series that I bought back in the day (it’s possibly the only one I ever saw for sale at the time) — I remember liking it. The artwork was good and the story may have been fairly basic S&S stuff, but not bad.
Still mad at Steve Englehart all these years later for sh***ing all over Sam Wilson on his way out the door, and leaving it to others to clean up his mess.
b.t.
Steve! Thanks for posting the Marvels in alphabetical order! It’s been a while!
CH
Yes! Charlie bought DINGBATS! What about it??? Lol! Now Im I’ll have to see if it is in the long boxes! Do I look under D for dingbats or whatever the formal title of that mag was?
SHADOW - Anothet Denny O story with Cruz art. The story is better than Denny’s previous SHADOWS and the art is appropriately moody! The series terminates on a higher note. But Charlie sure was bummed being so into the nostalgia and pulp and golden age renaissance at DC.
I've been watching the video of Bowie & Jagger's Dancing In The Street on the 40th anniversary of it crashing straight in at No.1 in the UK and you've got to admit it's hilarious the way Jagger is pouting and posing as if his life depended on it :D
Yes, Steve, our heroes on that Kamandi cover are reacting to Pyra.
She was the Thing from Space on the cover of the previous issue you featured here last month - although as a being of pure energy might possibly have required a different pronoun at that point - and became a red woman when she got a body in #33. Thats not a reference to her politics, I mean she was literally red. Like Tamara Rahn or Volcana Ash.
Its a great comic, as of course is the awesome 1st Issue Special #6 with the Dingbats. If only you'd also included Our Fighting Forces/The Losers #159 - about 'Mile A Minute Jones', a black GI who competed in the Olympics before the war - you'd have a trio of Kirby Klassics in the post.
Actually, you could have gone further and also included Sandman #4, drawn by Kirby and inked by Wally Wood - nice! - and Kung Fu Fighter #3. Which isn't so nice, but come on - the guy had five comics out that month! He can be forgiven if one of them wasn't great (and it was hardly his fault anyway).
Bearing in mind Kirby was doing Kamandi and The Losers EVERY month - and OMAC and Justice Inc every other one - five comics in 30 days is staggering. What a maniac.
-sean
Imagine being Hank Pym's arch-foe. That doesn't seem like particularly impressive supervillainy...
For a more exciting nemesis, Captain America #189 featured the return of Nightshade - aka Deadly Nightshade - who had previously impressed me. A foxy chick wearing sexy Killraven-type boots and not much else will do that to a young lad. But unfortunately in that issue she was drawn by Frank Robbins. Oh dear.
Robbins also turned up in Batman Family #1 - thankfully with only his writer hat on - as it reprinted the first ManBat story drawn by Neal Adams. Which was of course the reason to get the comic.
The new Batgirl & Robin lead - yeah, Batman Family was basically a glorified on going Batgirl & Robin comic - was pretty stupid. Not that I have a problem with stupid in comics, but it's not that good either. Even with Satan putting in an appearance.
It almost certainly would have been better if they hadn't bothered with the Boy Wonder, and just did the story with the Dominoed Daredoll on her own.
-sean
Melvyn Bragg has announced the end of his Radio 4 series IN OUR TIME which has been running since 1998 but it'll possibly continue with a new presenter? It won't be easy finding a presenter with the intellectual clout of Melvyn Bragg so maybe it would be better to bring the series to an end after 27 years.
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