Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Can November already be upon us? Mere weeks after the year began?
Yes it can.
And it was upon us in 1975, as well!
The Squadron Sinister is back - and, no doubt, causing as much trouble as ever!
Although I must confess I'm struggling to recall just how and why this reunion has occurred.
I suspect that this tale contains all the elements we expect from a Conan story.
For instance, it would appear the barbarian and his friends are on their way to the city of Messantia when they decide to rescue a beautiful girl who's been kidnapped by a bat-monster!
I can only assume a wicked sorcerer can't be far behind.
Do my eyes detect a Jack Kirby cover?
Yes, they do!
I must confess I have little knowledge of the Crusader but I do know his uncanny resemblance to Marvel Boy is more than mere coincidence.
I must confess I have little knowledge of the Crusader but I do know his uncanny resemblance to Marvel Boy is more than mere coincidence.
We can only hope he doesn't retain his old predilection for nuking people.
Doc Samson is back!
Doc Samson is back!
And, erm, that's all I can recall about this tale.
However, I do believe this issue to be the end of Herb Trimpe's long, long run on the strip. One that began way back in 1968!
And I detect another Jack Kirby cover!
Sadly, I know nothing of this issue's contents, other than that it features not only the Black Lama but, also, Firebrand, Baron Rockler and Baroness Rockler!
And I detect another Jack Kirby cover!
Sadly, I know nothing of this issue's contents, other than that it features not only the Black Lama but, also, Firebrand, Baron Rockler and Baroness Rockler!
I have no idea who Baron and Baroness Rockler are.
I do believe this is the one where Spidey's getting all hot and bothered over whether he's a clone or not.
Fortunately, he soon realises he can't possibly be, and that's the end of the matter and it's never heard of again.
A bit of false advertising there, I think.
Regardless, the Falcon faces criminal proceedings over his previous mob-related activities and this leads his former gangland boss to send the Stilt-Man to silence him before he can blab to the authorities!
And mine eyes do detect another Jack Kirby cover!
They also detect that someone's probably been watching Jason and the Argonauts.
Regardless, inside, I think the thunder god's still up against a bunch of Egyptian deities.
That's Marvel's output scrutinised but what of that other company? The one we only know by two letters?
Just what will a random sampling of its comics that bear the same cover date reveal?
There's also a look at Superman's Young Friends On Film and Curt Swan's guide to How to Draw the Superman Family!
And, of course, as we all expect of such books, there's a 3-D diorama for us to cut out, assemble and keep!
You know what I want to know?
Sixty-eight pages of drama await us when Earth Shaking Stories enters our life.
I want to know how all my favourite super-villains got their powers.
But I don't have Bring On the Bad Guys handy. So, I'll have to read this instead.
Join DC, as it gives us the Joker in The Man Behind the Red Hood!, and the tale of How Luthor Met Superboy! Not to mention the origins of Captain Cold and Dr Sivana,
And there's also The Origin of Terra-Man whoever he is.
Apparently, he's something to do with Superman.
There's also a one-page look at super-heroes and their enemies, plus a two-page Rogue's Gallery of Super-Villains.
In the first of those shakers, interplanetary criminal Grax defeats Brainiac before visiting Earth to plant an awesome bomb on Superman. One that threatens to destroy the whole world!
Next, a new villain manufactures disasters in order to commit his crimes - and only Hal Jordan and Barry Allen can stop him.
Or can they?
Next, E. Nelson Bridwell introduces us to Great Disasters of History.
And, finally, Captain Marvel seeks to halt the Atomic Fire!
As you may have suspected, most of these offerings are reprints.
Now we get the chance to see how DC handle him!
It's World War Three and our hero finally manages to liberate himself from a rock he's been chained to for centuries.
Upon befriending a blind boy, the musclebound maestro vows to introduce his fists to the face of Ares who's to blame for all the fighting that's going on in the world.
You can say what you like about the 1970s but it loved to bring us brand new comics.
And here's another one, all set to to expand our brains and send our senses reeling.
In this issue, we get three big action tales.
In the first, Superman and Jimmy Olsen pit their crime-fighting skills against those of Batman and Robin. But, as the heroes indulge in various contests of skill, their respective Revenge Squads are out to scupper their efforts!
In the second, the Teen Titans battle a would-be villain who manages to defeat them twice!
In the third, the Flash sprains his ankle while rescuing citizens from a fire. And that's the worst possible time for him to be attacked by Captain Cold and Heat Wave!
As you may know, all of these masterpieces are reprinted from the 1960s.
Deadman's back!
And, from the looks of that cover, he's on his back!
However, I suspect he's not set to meet his final doom, just yet, as, from this issue onward, he's going to be co-starring in the book, alongside the titfer-topped tormentor of tyrants, troubadours, thieves, time wasters, temperamentalists, troublemakers and scoundrels.
I've not read this one but it seems someone called Sensei teleports Cleveland Brand to his sanctuary, in an attempt to kill Deadman.
The Black Orchid, meanwhile, has a far more minor problem on her hands when one of her fans is invited to join a group of women who reveal they are all, secretly, the Black Orchid.
However, is all as it seems?
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18 comments:
Charlie dont know much but he does know that TERRA MAN fought SUPES in ACTION 249.
On the day his aunt drove to the drug store Charlie “didn’t take less” than $.25 in his pocket and bought it! Really was a great issue, ESPECIALLY for DC and Supes.
Adams cover too IIRC!
Charlie also bought HERCULES UNBOUND at some point that month figuring he’d retire of possessing yet another #1!
There was really a character called ‘Captain Cold’?
The Torpedo's suspicions aren't totally baseless. Both the Vulture & Mr.Fear had their gear nicked (sometimes posthumously. )
Crusader to Marvel Boy to Quasar.
Phillip
Just finished watching Count Dracula's final part ( it was 2 parts, not 3! ) Very Good! One of Frank Finlay's best performances as Van Helsing.
Phillip
What, you mean you never heard of Captain Cold, Matthew? Are you sure you're in the right place...?
This must be crap super-villain month. You should have gone for a Steve Does Comics poll, Steve - who's more useless, Captain Cold or Stiltman?
Or indeed the Joker? I never understood how having green hair and laughing a lot was enough to make a character popular.
-sean
Charlie, even if you can't get rid of Hercules Unbound #1 at least you've got a comic drawn by Garcia-Lopez and Wally Wood. There are worse first issues to be stuck with...
Steve, is the first issue of the Herc comic set in World War Two? I never had a copy, but I got a couple of the later ones, and they took place after World War Three. Now I think about it, they tied in with Kamandi somehow - an issue I read had talking animals in it, and even mentioned Cortexin, the chemical that transformed the world after the Great Disaster.
Which reminds me, this month's Kamandi - #35, 'The Soyuz Survivor ' - is a real kracker. As a kid I found it a bit disturbing actually. Kirby isn't particularly identified with horror, but he was really good at it.
Mind you, he was good at pretty much any genre he turned his hand to, as proved by a couple of other comics DC put out this month, Our Fighting Forces (the Losers) #161 - 'The Major's Dream' - and OMAC #8, the final issue of the series.
Three classics, very different to each other... just one more month in the funny book biz for Jolly Jack. How did he do it?
-sean
If memory serves, that's actually the Squadron Supreme in that Avenger issue, despite what the cover copy states.
That Super Villain Secret Origins treasury was my first (and for several years, only) DC publication. Other than the Bat Man tv series and the super friends cartoons, I had no knowledge of the characters and so the treasury was a pretty good introduction. The Lex Luther origin was from Super Boy (they publish stories from when Super Man was a boy? Who knew?) and the Joker origin (The Red Hood) was actually far less cringy than the tv series suggested. I also clearly remember buying this from the local newsagent, which now seems strange because they didn’t carry US comics at the time (nor for a couple for years).
DW
Sean, the first issue of Hercules Unbound is indeed set in World War Three.
Bill, thanks for the Squadron Supreme/Sinister clarification.
Sooo… this is the month that JACK IS BACK (Back Jack!) at Marvel .
Also Len Wein has surrendered his Editor in Chief (?) duties to Marvelous Marv Wofman. Len is now… what… an Editor at Large like Boy Roy?
Lots going on at the House of Ideas.
Marv Wolfman became Editor in Chief a few months earlier, no? Mind you, that would have been when these comics actually came out on sale, so you're not wrong really.
My understanding is that back when the EiC office at Marvel seemed to have a revolving door in the mid-70s, anyone who stood down from the job got to edit the titles they wrote.
As did Kirby actually, at least in theory. I suppose those covers here are the first sign of his return to the House of (his) Ideas, although I tend to think of the real marker as Cap #193, cover dated Jan '76.
Btw, wasn't it around this point - late in '75 - that Carmine Infantino got the push from the top job at DC?
-sean
Phillip, I'm rather surprised you've never seen 'Count Dracula' before considering it's nearly 50 years old!
Yes, Colin - it's strange Count Dracula never came to my attention! It's certainly much better than the highly publicized early 90s Dracula, which I did see.
Phillip
Phillip, I assume you mean the film 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' from 1992? There were other BBC versions from 2006 (I think) and 2020 but the 1977 one is probably the best and certainly the most faithful to the original novel. I last saw it on YouTube about 10 years ago but the only available version had Portugese subtitles at the bottom of the screen which were rather distracting at first until I got used to them!
There was also a two-hour radio adaptation of Dracula (starring Nicky Henson as the Count) on BBC Radio 4-Extra the weekend before last.
Sean - I only posted the Jack, Marv stuff b/c I was reading INVADERS #3 Oct 1975 and read the “Bullpen” stuff.
So in actual time this stuff happened in the summer of 1975.
I am guessing we would need to see DC cover dates of Jan, Feb, Mar 1976 to see references to late 1975 activity regarding Infantino.
Then again I dont think DC talked as much about its inner workings as Marvel?
Obviously we can google it. But I love the suspense.
CH.
Yes, that's exactly the one I meant, Colin. In Count Dracula, Judy Bowker, as Mina, was strangely effective. Despite being big in the 70s (Black Beauty, etc), and getting Clash of the Titans, major roles seemed elude her, after that. Maybe, Bowker was typecast as the wrong type of characters, after girl-power hit, in the mid-90s. Oh - and I watched Count Dracula on Talking Pictures (with no intrusive foreign subtitles! )
Phillip
seemed to elude her!
Phillip
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