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If speech is free, this is a feature that, like Elsa the lioness, was born free.
Personally, I always preferred Clarence the cross-eyed lion and Flipper the friendly dolphin but that's a whole other topic.
But, speaking of topics, that's just what we're here for tonight, as it's one of those evenings in which you - not I - get to decide just what we must discuss.
Many and varied have been the subjects tackled on Speak Your Brain over the years and I have no doubt that many and varied will be the ones discussed in the years to come.
What I do have doubts about is just what today's theme shall be.
But that's as it should be, as only you can end those doubts. Therefore, whatever it is your heart burns to know, say, hear, contemplate or discuss, make sure to bring our attention to it in the comments section below.
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MARVEL vs DC!
Two houses, both alike in dignity, in fair New York, where we lay our scene. One, the fabled House of Ideas. The other, its Distinguished Competition. I've recruited a champion, from each house, to battle it out. From Marvel, 'Power Man & Iron Fist' # 52. From DC, Karate Kid # 15. Here we go; it's Kung Fu vs Karate. Marvel vs DC! First of all, Marvel's champion...
Iron Fist, Spider-woman, Nova, and Ms.Marvel, all debuted in the 70s. Iron Fist's back-story ( like Captain Marvel's), compared with the others, however, was more involved. Iron Fist's title, thus, lasted longer. Regarding 'Power Man & Iron Fist', my purchases comprised 5 random issues. Two early ones, and three somewhat later ones. Every random 'Power Man & Iron Fist' I got was very good. So, with my very selective sample, 'Power Man & Iron Fist' never failed, quality-wise ( my sampled Captain Marvels likewise, one Roger McKenzie fill-in misstep excepted!) Of course, reading Essentials, 'PM &IF' did drop the ball, on some occasions, in other issues I never bought. Nevertheless, until later on, its batting average was still good, compared with other comics. Besides, at first, after Byrne & Shooter left the X-Men and Avengers, respectively ( in the UK, Jim Shooter's Avengers happened a bit later! ), Marvel's usual greatness was over, it seemed, making Power Man & Iron Fist a good alternative bet!
POWER MAN & IRON FIST #52
( Plot – Claremont / Script – Hannigan / Art – Zeck / Inks - Villamonte )
This, my first Iron Fist comic, was a holiday (Malta) acquisition. It was # 52, the second in 'The Deadly Nightshade Trilogy'.
Firstly, the cover. A typical PM&IF cover. Despite PM&IF having some great stories, the covers never sold them. Admittedly, a car does hit Cage, in this tale, but that's about it! You'd never guess a cracking comic's awaiting you, from this cover.
Iron Fist #52's art's by Mike Zeck. Filling Byrne's shoes, on Captain America, I found Zeck wanting. However, in Iron Fist # 52, Byrne's shoes are filled with aplomb, Zeck's art being extremely effective. Mike Zeck's art's incredibly condensed, and concentrated, in Iron Fist # 52 (maybe Ricardo Villamonte's inks were Zeck's perfect match.) His Captain America style was 'looser'
But that's not all...Iron Fist # 52's perfectly crafted, in almost every way – a Claremont mini-masterpiece. Still on structure, Claremont's classic tricks (learned on Stan Lee's knee), are evident – like 'book-ends'. Rather than using a linear plot, the comic starts in the middle of some action ( “in media res” ); and has a cliff-hanger (or cliff-dropper!) ending – quite literally! (c.f. final Spider-woman issue vs Davis, the man who could not die!) Moreover, Iron Fist # 52's action-packed, from beginning to end!
The city's protection rackets, crimelord Rossum's taking over, using robot enforcers. If rival crimelords retaliate,WWIII could erupt! Hence, Power Man & Iron Fist are hired by the authorities.
As the story starts, crimelord Boss Morgan's holding Joy Meachum hostage. Iron Fist, restrained by two goons, but tensing, is about to explode into action! This 'tensing' device is a Claremontism! Angar was tensing, about to scream, held by the neck, when Iron Fist was distracted by Lieutenant Scarfe (in a Byrne / Claremont issue, previously!), I seem to remember.
An intrusive 2nd person narrator ( “You may find out, young dragon - - the hard way!” ) is used. Another typical Claremontism ( although Hannigan's the scripter! )
No good deed goes unpunished, during the violence. Iron Fist saving a goon's life, and Joy's, is repaid with ingratitude. But, eventually, the decade-long Rand-Meachum feud is finally brought to an end. About time!
Parallels/contrasts also demonstrate structural awareness! The plush, Meachum/Rand skyscraper contrasts with squalid, derelict Liberty Towers (an ironic name? ) Likewise, spoilt millionaire heiress, Joy Meachum, contrasts with Nightshade, who clawed her way up from Liberty Towers' gutters.
The senseless slaughter of both Danny Rand and Joy Meachum's fathers, is another parallel. Plus, their desires for vengeance, are both overcome.
In other ways too, Claremont's “finger prints” are all over Iron Fist # 52. The phrase, “fight the good fight” is in Daredevil Annual # 4/UK MWOM Annual 1979 ( also written by Claremont. ) Comparatives and superlatives are Claremont “tics” too, threats the hero faces being massively exaggerated for dramatic effect. Classic Chris!
The robot attackers, Power Man & Iron Fist battle, are dressed like longshoremen (dockworkers), wearing woollen hats. Normally, androids (resembling people) are less robotic. Here, however, the robots' attacks are relentlessly, inhumanly violent. Chillingly impersonal, in fact.
The robots are “cybernauts”, in this tale. That word's from 'The Avengers' ( John Steed) tv series. Another Avengers (“A Touch of Brimstone” ) episode's influence on Claremont is no secret – particularly to Black Queen fans!
Next, the scene shifts, to Luke Cage's separate investigation. Misty's leads happened, last issue ( There's no Colleen, at this stage. ) Splitting “the team”, is a time-honoured device, with numerous advantages, as my Perez discussion mentioned. In this issue, Iron Fist comes first, him taking centre stage. In later issues, in contrast, Luke Cage is spotlighted more ( a conscious decision, by Mary Jo Duffy.)
Claremont didn't “big up” # 51 – # 53 as 'The Deadly Nightshade Trilogy' until its third and final part ( issue # 53! ) Why? Because the big surprise might be spoiled that Nightshade isn't merely a very minor character – she's the criminal mastermind behind it all ( the twist ending!) Claremont's structural competency's demonstrated by deliberate postponing, like that.
Ostensibly Rossum's plaything, in reality Nightshade's her boss's secret controller – him being another one of her robots! ( This secretly inverted relationship's like Baldanders & Dr.Talos, in Gene Wolfe's 'Book of the New Sun'! ) For Rossum, Nightshade's pet name is 'Chunky'. ( Same as the Guardians of the Galaxy's Nikki's pet name for Charlie-27! )
Incidentally, besides Nightshade, Claremont's black female characters figured prominently in Blade, & Daughters of the Dragon (as both villains and heroines.)
This trilogy compares with 'The Serpent Crown Affair' (an early 80s “mini-epic”! ) Both are great. Unfortunately, the Deadly Nightshade Trilogy's art team changes, for the final instalent ( also c.f. The Defenders' 'Sons of the Serpent', likewise the Avengers' 'Korvac Saga'! ), also like in 'The Serpent Crown Affair'! I'm a Sal Buscema fan, but Sal, with Jim Mooney's inks, didn't work for this trilogy's final part, at all. Sticking with Zeck would have been preferable!
Despite that, this, my first ever Iron Fist – issue # 52 with Mike Zeck – was an absolute cracker!
Karate Kid # 15
( Rozakis – writer / Harris – co-plotter / Ortiz – artist )
Karate Kid # 15 was acquired at a school sale, by my brother. Karate Kid's final issue, yet the first Karate Kid I ever read. This “The first will be last” theme, haunted me on numerous occasions. The final Red Sonja was # 15 too, according to Colin.
But, I digress...
Firstly, the cover...it's purple. DC had a “weird charm”, according to my brother. The purples, greens, etc, of DC covers, certainly distinguished its comics from Marvel's, on the indoor market's sales racks! Karate Kid's wearing a high collar, very much like Iron Fist's ( also, around his waist, KK wears a sash, resembling Iron Fist's headband, but worn like a side-belt. The cover doesn't show this! ) There's a crystalline woman, like a female version of Martinex from Guardians of the Galaxy. Also, a bi-pedal dog, an alien woman, a couple of lobster men, and Kamandi. The cover's quite dramatic, with Karate Kid smashing 1978. The great DC implosion, in retrospect (a little joke, there! ) Oh, it's Buckler & Abel, by the way!
As the comic starts, Karate Kid's piloting a time-sphere (H.G.Wells-style), into the future. He's trying to cure the mute crystalline woman, Diamondeth/Iris, who seems a mystery lady ( a classic trope of Kull stories! )
At the start, an intrusive 2nd person narrator pops up: 'Indeed it isn't, Karate Kid—And that's only the beginning of an adventure that will have you crying “Bring Back my Future To Me!” ' Very Claremontesque! An Iron Fist influence, perhaps?
Time travel stories weren't Marvel's bread & butter ( possibly, time travel seeming contrived.) Exceptions prove the rule, with Iron Man # 5 ( 'Frenzy in a Far Flung Future' ), & X-Men # 141
(' Days of Future Past' ), springing to mind. The device of future people, intruding into the present, often triggers time-travel stories, in Marvel. More effective, for readers, than little time machine vehicles! In X-Men # 141, teenager Kitty Pryde was possessed by her future adult self, woman 'Kate', intruding into the present. Similarly, future people,invading the present, abducted Tony
Stark, in Iron Man # 5. That device was used in Terminator, incidentally, too. Michael Biehn's character invades the present, to recruit Sarah Conner ( more interesting still, Cerberus, in Iron Man # 5, anticipates Terminator's Skynet! )
Of course, Iron Man # 150 doesn't fit the pattern. My 1981 'Speak Your Brain' speculated if 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' provided any inspiration. More realistically, in '81,
'Excalibur' was broadcast, so there's your inspiration for Iron Man # 150! (Exact dates need checking, though! ) But, I digress. Time travel should be used sparingly, is the point I'm making, and little time machine vehicles aren't a good idea. At that rate, anything in your comic's universe could be easily changed, by anybody, leading to credibility problems.
Landing his 'time sphere', Karate Kid provides a brief recap, flashback-wise. The time-sphere's “warper” is faulty, according to Karate Kid. Some proprietary DC concept, like “mother boxes”, perhaps? Exposition's necessary, for new readers!
Moments later, Karate Kid attacks the talking bi-pedal dogs ( dressed as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson), without any real provocation.
To Karate Kid, the bipedal dogs must be Major Disaster and the Lord of Time's robots. That's why he attacked them, unprovoked.
In Marvel, you'd get suspense. Announcing the mystery villain's name, without any build-up, wouldn't usually happen - it's premature. A villain silhouetted, with a cigarette-holder in his shadowy gob, perhaps, before his identity's guessed (or it's a red-herring! ) That said, prior Karate Kid issues, may anticipate his conclusion.
Read as a stand alone comic however, Karate Kid suddenly annoucing the culprit's name, “jars” !
( Had Karate Kid been in Marvel, not DC, suspecting Nightshade's mob-boss, Rossum, of being a robot, his paranoia would've been vindicated! Too bad he's in DC, not Marvel! )
Furthermore, names like 'Major Disaster' are another bugbear of mine, regarding DC. Also, 'Scott Free', in Return of the New Gods ( 'Granny Goodness', likewise! ) As a kid, I felt DC wasn't taking its characters seriously. Unlike Marvel ( irony, aged 8, was lost on me! ) Anyhow, Karate Kid's unprovoked attack's ended by an alien girl, named 'Pyra', who zaps him.
In a Marvel story ( particularly Claremont), the middle of the action's where the story would start, then have the flashback. But would Karate Kid's landing his 'time sphere' also being included in a flashback, just to start with action, be clumsy? You decide! ( I remember a DC artist – was it Don Newton? – say DC wanted him to convey emotion, and expression, whereas Marvel just wanted fights! As a kid, my attention span being short, I wanted action too, quite frankly! )
Karate Kid's an “animal”, to the bipedal dogs. So, a role-reversal, 'Planet of the Apes' vibe's in the story.
Colourful oaths, and exclamations, abound in Marvel. Iron Fist's usual one, “Heart of the Dragon!”, evokes Danny's backstory. In contrast, his “time-sphere” being inoperative, Karate Kid's colourless oath is “By the Masters!” Weak stuff there, DC!
Generally, Marvel's realism exceeded DC's. Realistic conversations ( to an 8 year old's ear, admittedly), between Daredevil and the Black Widow, or Jameson ranting at Peter Parker, compared with “Holy heartbreak, Batman!” in DC.
Obviously, this isn't fair. Realistic dialogues did take place, in many DC comics. Take Batman and Nocturna, for example. Nevertheless, my prevailing impression favoured Marvel, in particular.
But, Daredevil & the Widow, or JJJ & Peter Parker this certainly is not! Here, Karate Kid converses with a mute crystalline lady, two bipedal talking dogs, an alien woman, and weird lobster men ( a
strange girl with a flower in her hair, like “Fawn” from Captain Marvel, also makes the cut!) That's unfair, however, once again.
Marvel beat DC on realism. DC, however, beat Marvel on surrealism! Marvel had surrealism, at times, I'll grant you. The Cosmic Egg spilling “yolk”, on Terrex's head, in Daredevil springs to mind. But nothing on DC's scale. This is incongruous - DC creators wearing shirts and ties, with artists told what to draw, yet producing surrealist stuff. The free-wheeling Marvel bullpen, in contrast, with no uniform, and “the Marvel method”, being more restrained. It's paradoxical!
As a little kid, the lobster men's surrealism really worked, for me, in Karate Kid # 15. ( It doesn't, as an adult. ) More surreal still, not just are they lobster men, but lobster men surfer-dudes! Marvel had lobster men, too, admittedly. But Angar's screams created hallucinations of lobster men – not the 'real deal' !
Shortly after attacking the Sherlock Holmes & Dr.Watson dog-men, Karate Kid likewise attacks the lobster men without provocation. It's a trait, with him, seemingly! And, likewise, he gets the worst of it. Fair means not working, Karate Kid throws sand in the lobster men's eyes. Hardly Marquis of Queensbury rules! Chiding Karate Kid, like he's a child, one lobster man says: “That was not a nice thing to do, godling—so we can't let you play with us, anymore!” That reminded me of Avengers # 167, when Nikki chided the Beast, saying: “That was nasty, monkey! You'd better calm down, or I'll have to blast you!”
In Karate Kid's absence Pyra, the alien girl, transforms Diamondeth, the mute, crystalline woman, back to Iris. Is Pyra a DC character, like Green Lantern, whose powers can do anything, solving any story problem, for lazy writers? But Iris is so terrified, Pyra immediately transforms her back. Thus, Karate Kid's journey's sole purpose, he never witnesses. The writer could have arranged it prior to KK attacking the lobster men, surely?
Capturing Karate Kid, the lobster men strap him to a surf-board, and take him to 'The Island of the God-Watchers'. There, along with Kamandi, whom they've already captured, Karate Kid's placed in a capsule for a film projection. As the story ends, 'Enter the Dragon', starring Karate Kid and Kamandi, is showing at a drive-in movie. Weird! Karate Kid # 15 ending abruptly, Kamandi # 58's slated to wrap things up. In the great 1978 DC implosion, Karate Kid's own title's cancelled! Such an abrupt ending reminds me of Warlock! ( But in DC, a continuation, at least, is announced.)
THE FINAL VERDICT!
In Marvel & DC's monumental battle, who wins? Power Man & Iron Fist # 52 wears the laurels, I declare! Story and art-wise, it's incredibly polished. A third of a mini-epic, only, but very important events (Joy's feud ending) still happen. Most vital for little kids, action abounds in spades, too!
Regarding Marvel vs DC, I voted Marvel without hesitation. Although, after Superman ( the 1978 movie), I enjoyed the UK Superman Annual very much. Also, Shade the Changing Man # 6's surrealism totally bowled me over! So, was Marvel generally, prior to the mid-80s, better than DC?
Conversely, was DC your bag, not Marvel? In 'Chuck' (season 3, episode 13), according to Morgan Grimes, Chuck, rather than liking Marvel, is “DC all the way” !
Or, were Marvel & DC asymmetric, fulfilling different requirements?
What Marvel & DC memories are evoked? Did one 'House' get your vote, over the other? Also, did martial arts titles interest you - which did you read?
Phillip
Typos - instalent = instalment. Sarah Conner = Sarah Connor.
Phillip
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