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Post by owene on Apr 16, 2011 5:53:33 GMT -5
The Carbon Copy Man By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber, Al hartley Villains: The Carbon Copy Man Guest Appearances: none So what happens?:As an alien fleet prepares to invade Earth Blake finally gets up the courage to tell Jane Foster that he is Thor and is in love with her. Odin appears and tells him he can never reveal his identity to anyone. Blake stammers some excuse and leaves for the hospital. On his way he notices increasingly bizarre behaviour all over town. Cars are driving on sidewalks, billboard posters being put up over windows and Jane Foster decides to quit because Blake is too soft-hearted. Thor goes to the mayor to try and make sense of it all but the mayor’s security try to arrest him. Thor eventually finds a hidden space ship in the park but gets his hammer stuck on it’s magnetic hull and has to change back to Don Blake. The aliens capture him and bring him inside their ship where he is reunited with the Mayor and Nurse Foster. The aliens take the time to tell Blake that they are shape-changers intent on spreading chaos before they invade the earth. When Foster and the Mayor warn the aliens about Thor; Blake promises them that he will help them defeat the thunder god. After Blake distracts the aliens he manages to grab Mjolnir and transform into Thor. Thor deals easily with two alien warriors in all the forms they take to battle him. Grabbing the alien leader Thor tosses him into space. He hurtles past the waiting invasion fleet and causes the aliens to turn around and leave the earth alone. Thor deals with the aliens remaining on Earth by forcing them to become trees, once in a form that can’t think they are unable to ever get out of it again. The day is saved and Blake gets to tease Jane Foster about his not being as brave as Thor. . So is it any good?: No, it’s a fairly poor alien invasion story featuring yet another load of shape changing aliens and the second such story in Thor’s first 7 issues and the solution is extremely close to FF2. The main problem however is the art and the unlikeability of the central Blake/Foster/Thor triangle. I haven’t seen any of Hartley’s work from other genres but he wasn’t a super hero penciller and he is no way right to follow Jack Kirby on the title. His characters are twisted and unrealistic and he doesn’t even really work on the civilian scenes let alone the super heroics. There is absolutely no dynamism or excitement in the action sequences but given his background as a romance artist there is also no spark at all to the Blake/Foster scenes. The idea that Odin has decreed that Thor’s identity be a secret at least explains some of the bizarre lengths Thor has gone to in recent issues. A shame it had never been mentioned before now. However it works as an explanation, it leads to some truly pathetic Don Blake scenes, with Jane Foster convinced he must have been terrified by the thunder that came with his latest transformation into Thor. Scenes like this mean that when Foster is later replaced by an alien and acting out of character there isn’t really a huge contrast with her regular self. You can tell that she must have been replaced but she is hardly sweetness and light about Blake the rest of the time. Are there any goofy moments? Some of Hartley’s depictions of Don Blake have to be seen to be believed. Thor’s latest convenient one off hammer power, the power to send his mind back to the past so he can listen to Odin’s advice from days gone by. A platitude time machine. Thor’s idea of turning the aliens into trees because he knows they will then be mindless and unable to change back doesn’t really hold up to much scrutiny. How does he know all this? The aliens themselves make the change thinking that they will just change back when Thor’s gone. Maybe that’s what they did. Trivia: This was Al Hartley’s only super hero pencilling assignment of the 60s although he did also draw some westerns and romance comics for Marvel during the period. He also wrote the final Tales to Astonish Giant Man story and an Iron Man story featuring Count Nefaria. Neither are particularly great. The Carbon Copy Men or Xartans appeared years later in an issue of X-Factor of all places before turning up in a storyline in Byrne’s She Hulk that had them pretending to be the D’Bari people from the Dark Pheonix saga. The art on this story was so bad that when they were shown in the Marvel Saga recapping of the silver age they were redrawn by Walt simonson. Is it a landmark?: No
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Post by owene on Apr 16, 2011 5:59:00 GMT -5
The Threat of the Torrid Twosome By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber and Dick Ayers. Villains: The Acrobat Guest Appearances: the Fantastic Four So What Happens?: After doing his exercises and spending the normal time protecting his secret identity the Human Torch is amazed to find a visitor waiting for him at Johnny Storm’s house. Apparently the whole world had known his secret all along but played along with it to protect his feelings.
The visitor, Carl Zante the Acrobat, has a proposition. The Torch should stop being exploited by the Fantastic Four and join up with him in a crime fighting partnership.
Johnny talks it over with the rest of the FF but gets into such a fight with them all that he storms out and joins Zante in the ‘Torrid Twosome’
Their first bout of crime fighting supposedly involves burning into a bank vault to rescue a teller trapped inside. When it transpires that there isn’t anyone inside the Acrobat shoots the Torch and tries to make off with a million dollars.
Luckily the rest of the FF were waiting outside and stop the Acrobat escaping with the money. He is finally brought to justice by the wounded Torch who manages to melt the sidewalk under the Acrobat’s feet and apprehend him.
So is it any good?: No, on the plus side it’s quite interesting to see Dick Ayers pencilling, in fact despite losing a little dynamism it isn’t that different from his work over Kirby and shows how much of the art to date has been down to him.
It’s a fairly good issue if you aren’t much of a Human Torch fan and want to see him brought down a peg or two but that is a fairly limited source of entertainment really.
Aside from the pleasure of watching Johnny taken for a ride and instantly turning on his teammates it’s a fairly dopey story with no suspense at all about whether the acrobat is a bad guy. They don’t even fight any crime before they immediately burn their way into a bank vault.
It’s quite obvious all along that things will go badly and the rest of the team will have to rescue Johnny. There is a little drama from the fact that the Torch is actually shot and this improves the final scenes when the injured Torch tries to bring in the Acrobat but it’s still not particularly good.
It is quite an action filled issue with Stan seeming to realise that you can concentrate on the actual physical battles a lot more than they have in the past, but it would probably be better to come to that conclusion in a Kirby or Ditko issue, not when Dick Ayers is pencilling the Torch against an acrobat.
Are there any goofy moments? We finally get to the bottom of the secret identity issue, in a way that manages to make Johnny seem even stupider than his constant talking about it did.
In fact it’s quite the issue for Johnny seeming stupid. They do make the case at the end that he only went along with the acrobat to catch him out but designing a new outfit, burning into a vault and getting shot seem like quite the commitment to the cause.
Trivia: The Acrobat’s next appearance would be much more important, impersonating Captain America in an effort to see whether the audience would like him revived. Aside from that he has only appeared once, in a 1999 Mark Waid story bringing him together with Captain America for the first time.
Is it a landmark?:No.
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Post by owene on Apr 17, 2011 15:19:10 GMT -5
The Red Ghost and his indescribable Super Apes. By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Villains: The Red Ghost and his Super Apes Guest Appearances: The Watcher So What Happens?: Reed is so desperate to beat the communists to the moon that his rocket fuel experiments cause a huge explosion in the Baxter Building. Once that is dealt with Reed is set on going into space alone but the team convince him that they should all come. In Russia top scientist Ivan Kragoff has, by withholding their food, trained a team of apes to accompany him into space. He is not only intent on reaching the moon but has designed his rocket to deliberately expose the crew to the cosmic rays that empowered the Fantastic Four. Russia will win the space race and gain their own team of super humans. The two rockets pass each other in space and the Torch is able to fly across to the Russian vessel before being fought off by the new magnetic powers of the Russian Orang-utan. He just manages to return safely to the FF’s ship and the team set down amongst the ruins of an alien city on the blue area on the far side of the moon. Amazed that the city contains a breathable atmosphere the team split up to investigate. The Thing is soon set upon by the Russian apes, a shape changing baboon and a super strong gorilla as well as their newly intangible human leader. Their battle is stopped by the blue area’s resident. A huge alien calling himself the Watcher. He explains that he has watched humanity’s progress to this point and despite fearing that their warlike nature will soon lead to trouble decides to let the two teams fight it out for domination of the moon. He sends the Thing back to his teammates and deposits them all deep within the alien city. The Red Ghost (as Kragoff is now calling himself) has clearly had a little time to find his way around the alien city. Equipping himself with an alien frost ray he incapacitates Reed and orders his apes to kidnap Sue who he leaves imprisoned behind a force field and guarded by the starving apes. The rest of the team come to Reed’s aid and then set off after Sue, unaware that the Ghost has set up an alien cannon ready for their arrival. Sue manages to short circuit the force field and, by feeding them, breaks the loyalty of the apes. She even manages to warn her teammates about the cannon and save the day. The Red Ghost flees from the FF and into the Watcher’s quarters only for the omnipotent alien to cast him back out into the clutches of the waiting super heroes. Reed threatens him with a paralysis ray he has cobbled together and his previously loyal apes now attack Kragoff. The watcher announces that humanity’s presence on the moon means he must move on and tells them that humanity’s destiny lies in space. The Ff return to Earth having conquered communism and the moon itself. So is it any good?: Yes, it feels like the start of something, something closer to the image of the silver age Marvel Universe that gets written about, one with its own cosmology and history and one that sprang from the imagination of Jack Kirby. I’m not sure I want to overstate it as the FF has never really been the book that focussed on Commie threats and there will continue to be a lot of red-baiting in other titles for a while yet. However this story reads like a watershed moment regarding the sort of threats the marvel books are about. It begins with the team racing against the Russians but ends with the communists, depicted by that point not as equal rivals but as apes who turn on their leaders on order to gain the basics of life such as food or freedom, out of the picture and ends with humanity as a whole seeing a destiny in space opening up before them. If the Watcher had remained the Deus Ex Machina alien he is here and the Blue Area’s city remained just an unexplained exotic backdrop this story wouldn’t be important but instead these ideas are returned to and expanded upon and Marvels titles begin to look beyond earthbound political concerns and towards forging their own universe. The end features the team, and primarily Reed, listening peacefully to the Watcher as he gives up his hold on the Moon to the people of Earth. You now have a team that can go to other planets, not to battle little green men as in issue 2 or even to help civilisations built upon sci-fi movie clichés as in issue 7 but to meet with and learn from alien creatures. Co-existing in a Marvel cosmos that is shown to have a meaningful life before its interaction with the characters and which isn’t there just as a threat of the month. A mythology is being written from the ground up and it is one that is sophisticated and ambitious enough to realise that the reader will care about odd little things like the Watcher who is operating on a totally different level than the feature characters without ever diminishing their importance. Kirby seems to have been obsessed with ideas about man’s cosmic role, at once thinking there was something very special about man’s indomitable spirit and recognising just how small we were in the scheme of things. This is the first Fantastic Four issue that seems to have more in common with the Fourth World and the Celestials than it does with the twist ending sci-fi shorts of Tales of Suspense. It is also a book that looks amazing. Ditko’s inks, particularly on the city in the Blue Area are creepy and powerful. His Thing is a monster again with a huge brow casting a shadow over sunken, glowering eyes. His super apes are wild animals, ready to bite and claw and only under man’s command as long as he feeds them. Even Kragoff, in his basic green jumpsuit, is a creepy foe, instantly able to take alien technology and use it to his own purposes, his intangibility keeping him from his foes until he makes the mistake of stepping too close to the unknowable Watcher. It is a much more powerful issue than the ones that came before it, one that, surprisingly, seems to actually want to consider what it means for man to walk on the moon, or how governments would respond to cosmic rays giving people powers rather than just turning out another adventure story. It’s not an issue I came to with many good memories, it’s no long time favourite of mine but I found an excellent issue. Probably the best so far. Are there any goofy moments?:The Torch’s Atmo-Web Suit releases a layer of oxygen that will allow him to fly in space. The panel introducing it looks suspiciously like someone drew a web over a pre-existing panel in order to explain the upcoming scenes of the Torch flying in a vacuum. The suit certainly isn’t drawn in any other panels. Sue’s three panel monologue about the perils of communism, delivered to some hungry monkeys, is something of a period piece. The apes themselves aren’t actually that goofy. It might be the creepy edge Ditko’s inks give to the story but they just about work as a nice tip of the hat to the various animal cosmonauts of the space race and another piece of strangeness in a very odd story. Trivia:The Super Apes eventually got named Igor (the Baboon), Peotr (the Orang-utan) and Mikhlo (the gorilla). Marvel weren’t quite as into apes during the Silver Age as their counterparts at DC. Lee only used the The Red Ghost a handful more times, he reappeared in issue 29 before playing very minor roles in Avengers 12 and at Reed and Sue’s wedding in FF Annual 3. He has appeared on and off since then but between the monkeys and the communist connection he has become harder and harder to write seriously. The Watcher ends the issue saying that the moon landings mean he needs to go further into space to carry on observing the Human race. This is quite a good ending to the issue thematically and part of what gives it a more cosmic feel than normal but he would be back in issue 20 and the team return to his home in issue 29 when some of the mysteries thrown up by this issue start to get addressed. Is it a landmark?: Yes, the Red Ghost has appeared quite a bit and the Watcher is obviously very important but the Blue Area with it’s unknown creators is perhaps the issues largest contribution to the Marvel Universe. It clearly intrigued fans and writers and played a huge role in prompting the creation of a galactic history for the Marvel Universe
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Post by owene on May 2, 2011 15:54:10 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay on these, I'm keeping up with writing them but not posting for some reason. Hope someone is still reading. Thor battles Sandu Master of the Supernatural By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber and Joe Sinnott Villains: Loki, Sandu Guest Appearances: none So what happens?: In Asgard Odin is wondering what to do with Thor’s belt of strength, which he rarely needs given that his regular strength is so powerful. Meanwhile Thor is startled by a bank taking off and floating into the air before disappearing in front of him. When the people from inside the bank reappear, seemingly amnesiac, Thor transforms into Dr Blake so he can help them. A quick check up reveals that they are ok apart from their memory loss and Thor begins to suspect Loki of playing some form of magical trick. Thor communicates with Odin in Asgard but Loki is seemingly safely confined and unable to cause trouble. However it transpires that a few days earlier Loki had imbued an earthly stage magician, Sandu, with his powers so he could cause mischief in Loki’s stead. Sandu had caused the bank to take off and then teleported it to a safe place where he could loot it. All the banks inhabitants had been teleported back where they came from with their memories wiped. All the evidence of his crimes got teleported to the moon. Sandu soon sets his sights above mere banks, stealing an asian palace, dealing easily with a fighter jet squadron and causing the UN building to levitate. Loki watches from Asgard as Thor confronts Sandu and ends up getting knocked from the sky by a magically transported girder. Sandu wraps Thor in chains and dumps the building on top of him. Odin sends Valkyries from Asgard with Thor’s belt of strength which allows him to escape his predicament. With Loki guiding him Sandu takes on Thor and manages to separate him from his hammer but expends all of his mystical energy trying to lift the unmovable Mjolnir. With his powers gone he is easily imprisoned by the police. Loki is left fuming and Thor returns his belt of strength to Odin. So is it any good?: It’s not awful. It’s good to see Loki acting through a patsy, Thor immediately suspecting him and Loki still escaping any involvement in the whole thing. Similarly it’s good to see that some mortal with the power of Loki isn’t actually anywhere near a match for Thor as Loki himself. In fact it’s a good issue for Loki full stop and Loki has probably been my favourite villain in the Marvel comics to date. Sinnott replaces Kirby far more adequately than Hartley did last issue, it’s not anywhere near as dynamic as Kirby or Ditko but it’s certainly a well drawn early 60s super hero comic. You could easily see Sinnott as the regular penciller of a DC book from the period and its better than a lot of the fill in guys of the early Marvel period. The belt of strength is at least something from Norse mythology that shows Lee or Leiber were reading up on Thor but it is still a get out jail free card and one that is telegraphed from the very first page when Odin sits around wondering when Thor will need his belt. The fact that he needs it for feats of strength that should be well within his regular strength limits is also a bit silly. But we do get to see Sinnott’s version of the Valkyries, totally different of course from later depictions. Not a bad issue but not a particularly great one either. It’s quite light on Don Blake and totally Jane Foster free which helps a bit. Are there any goofy moments? The telegraphing of the belt of strength is quite groan worthy. Otherwise no not really. Trivia: Sandu never appeared again. Quite unusual for a character from the period whose name wasn’t reused. Roy Thomas must not have cared for this issue. The Belt of Strength, while true to the myths, has been almost as elusive over the years but it did appear in issue 25 of Thor volume 2. The culmination of one of Dan Jurgens’ plotlines featuring everyone from the Absorbing Man to Magog to Thanos. Is it a landmark?: Not at all
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Post by owene on May 2, 2011 16:00:01 GMT -5
Iron Man versus Gargantus By Stan Lee, Robert Bernstein, Jack Kirby and Don Heck. Villains: Gargantus, aliens Guest Appearances: None So What Happens?: Tony Stark balances outfitting the US military and romancing society beauties with battling gangsters and mad scientists as Iron Man. When a date at the circus is interrupted by escaping big cats Stark goes into action in his new suit of armour. The lions and tigers are easily dealt with but Stark is shocked to find that his bulky grey armour terrifies all the children present. After a design suggestion from his date, Marion, he soon goes to work on a new golden design. His next date with Marion fails to start when she isn’t on her flight. Investigating Stark learns that her home city of Granville has been surrounded by a giant wall and nobody has been in or out since. Iron Man tunnels his way in but is soon attacked by townspeople intent on driving away any outsiders. They keep shouting about their leader Gargantus and, when they aren’t attacking Stark, seem to be worshipping a statue of a Neanderthal. Stark smashes the statue and issues a challenge to Gargantus. A huge Neanderthal arrives to attack Stark and to try and hypnotise him with a beam from his eyes. At first Stark thinks this is reflected sunlight but notices the sun is being blocked by a strangely static cloud. This is enough information for Stark to realise Gargantus must be a robot constructed by aliens hiding in the cloud. Stark throws a set of transistor boosted magnets in every direction and the robot is torn apart. The aliens flee, angry that earth isn’t still populated by the Neanderthals they had met on an earlier visit. So is it any good?: No, not really. It shows us the three different aspects of Tony Stark’s personality quite well and in fact explicitly mentions that this multiple personality is important. However after quite a dramatic first story this is a run of the mill twist ending story that could have featured any super hero. The idea of an American town being mind controlled and worshipping a giant Neanderthal could actually be quite interesting if it was spun out a little more and had a bit more drama but the Granville sections of the story only last 6 pages in total and it all just becomes a very generic super hero story. I think a flashback to this story by a talented writer could actually make something both creepy and readable out of the rookie iron man in the mind controlled town but that isn't what we get here. I did quite like Marion’s contributions, including suggesting the armor’s redesign but I’m not sure she ever appeared again. The art is quite interesting, while nominally Kirby it is Don Heck who dominates this issue. It doesn’t quite look like his regular style, it isn’t sleek enough but aside from a few panels of Gargantus’ face which are classically Kirby it looks more like Heck over all. A strange mix. While this issue features the suit’s first redesign, changing colours from grey to gold it is still pretty clunky. The armour would continue to evolve over until Ditko came in and redesigned it in Suspense 48. This issue and the next few all suffer in comparison to the debut. Iron Man has a very good concept but was then handed out to be scripted by Robert Bernstein, a long time DC scripter responsible for the creation of Mon-El, Aqualad and Congorilla. Bernstein was a competent enough writer in a DC house style but he didn’t inject his early Iron Man stories with anything special although they are far better than his work on Thor. The need to reintroduce the different aspects of Stark's life at the start is partly to blame as it takes up quite a lot of a fairly short story. Are there any goofy moments?:They try their best to make the concept work but the transistor powered roller skates that Stark fits to the Iron Man suit and sells to the US Army are pretty goofy. Especially as they are the first thing we see invented after Stark is introduced as a hot shot weapons designer. Someone clearly liked them, we see them again in issue 44 and 45. As he still needs to wear the Iron Man chestplate to keep his heart working I can understand why Stark doesn’t want to go for a midnight swim with his latest conquest but the stories delivery of this information is incredibly melodramatic and silly. Especially funny to anyone who has ever read Bongo comics Radioactive Man who is unable to remove his hat in civilian life. Trivia:The aliens tried again with another robot in Captain America Sentinel of Liberty 5, one of Mark Waid’s retroactively inserted stories from the late 90s. Is it a landmark?: Not really, Iron Man takes a little while to get going.
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Post by Shiryu on May 2, 2011 17:01:21 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay on these, I'm keeping up with writing them but not posting for some reason. Hope someone is still reading. Keep posting! I'm working on something for them when my free time has free time (ie, slooowly, but surely ^^) It came back in Thomas' run too, during the first Ragnarok story, and it's pretty important. Red Norvell wears it to become a different Thor
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Post by owene on May 3, 2011 11:33:10 GMT -5
Sorry for the delay on these, I'm keeping up with writing them but not posting for some reason. Hope someone is still reading. Keep posting! I'm working on something for them when my free time has free time (ie, slooowly, but surely ^^) thats very intriguing. cool to see someone picked up on it, i've been getting quite intrigued about 70s Thor, i've never really read much between Kirby and simonson and it seems to be one of those titles where nobody ever really talks about other standout issues but i'm sure there must be some. They finally seem to be reprinting some of the buscema stuff to tie in with the film It's quite cool at the moment reading the really old stuff and having everything flood back to me, and i especially like that when i come across a character it's his first appearance. But i have read most of this stuff before (just read the first crimson dynamo story which was new to me but i think thats the first one that has been) and it would be cool to read some stuff i haven't read before as well.
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Post by Shiryu on May 3, 2011 12:48:27 GMT -5
Personally, I love Buscema's Thor. I like his art more than Kirby's and way more than Simonson's, and Thomas does a very good work with the stories, staying faithful to mythology as well as to the character. I have them all on DVD and still felt willing to buy three TPBs, for the most part it's solid work.
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Post by owene on May 3, 2011 15:44:08 GMT -5
Tales to Astonish 42 The Voice of Doom By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber and Don Heck Villains: the Voice of Doom Guest Appearances: none So What Happens?: Flamboyant Jason Cragg sets up his soapbox on a city street and starts entrancing passersby with the power of his voice. His message, that Ant-Man is a villain who should be driven from the city, instantly turns huge crowds against our hero. Cragg had been a failing radio announcer until a nuclear accident flooded the air with ‘electrified particle-ionized atoms’ some of which made it to Cragg’s radio microphone and instantly gave him the power to sway the opinions of everyone he spoke to. Freeloading his way across the country Cragg eventually makes it to New York where he sees Ant-Man in action and decides to defeat him. With everyone he sees turned against him while his helmet keeps him immune to Cragg’s voice Ant-Man tries to flee to his lab. He is pursued through the grass by a magnet wielding mob and eventually decides to take off his helmet before it gets caught on a magnet. He instantly falls under Cragg’s spell and is powerless to resist when Cragg orders him to jump off a pier. Even the shock of hitting the water doesn’t help Pym, but luckily he is rescued by some passing ants and carried ashore out of the range of Cragg’s voice. Back at his lab Ant-Man stocks up on some germs and follows Cragg to a TV studio where he is preparing to use his voice on the watching millions. Cragg gears up to speak, unaware that Ant-Man has coated his microphone with laryngitis germs. His voice, and his amazing power, quickly fades. So is it any good?: It has it’s silly moments but I actually quite enjoyed it. Largely because Heck’s art, often disparaged, really works with all the faces and real people needed for a story about a charismatic demagogue. While he has a few moments where Pym’s size seems to vary wildly he does a great job on making the Voice’s mob seem spooky and dangerous and on the flamboyant villain himself. Ok there are plot holes but there is quite a cute ending and I liked the depiction of a villain who can get anything he asks for but still can’t resist getting into a conflict with Ant-Man of all people. It’s not exactly a good comic but it’s better than you might expect. Are there any goofy moments?:Ant-Man announces that he needs to flee to his lab so he can grow to normal size. He then gets worried about getting found by his magnet wielding foes and hence discards his metal tank of enlargement gas to evade detection. Cragg’s first crime upon gaining his powers is to demand a free bus ride, his second is to ask someone to cook him a steak dinner. Gotta love these small time crooks. The ants rescuing him from the water is pretty funny. Trivia: The “man with the voice of doom” racked up more appearances than most of Pym’s villains. The majority came under the name ‘The Voice’ in the pages of West Coast Avengers and Captain America decades after this story. After being brought back by the Hungarian government in West Coast Avengers 35 he eventually ended up as part of the Red Skull’s Skeleton Crew before disappearing again after being badly injured by Selene of the Hellfire Club. I have fond memories of that period of Gruenwald's run and despite the weird speaker setup the voice wore to broadcast his power I liked the idea of the Skull having a team of lame, but useful to a would be conqueror, villains. Is it a landmark?:No
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Post by owene on May 3, 2011 15:49:04 GMT -5
Strange Tales 107 Face to Face with the Sub-Mariner By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber and Dick Ayers. Villains: None Guest Appearances: the Fantastic Four, Namor So What Happens?: The rest of the Fantastic Four are too busy to spend time with the Torch and he vows to stop them treating him like a kid by single handedly defeating Namor. The one foe the team has never beaten. He flies out over the ocean to search for Namor but is forced to land onboard a passing ship when his flame runs out. He is put to work washing the decks before his flame recharges and he is able to be more helpful burning a path through the fog. Writing a challenge in the air in flaming letters doesn’t get Namor’s attention but inadvertently burning a passing fish does and the two are soon battling it out in the sky over the ocean. The Torch’s greater manoeuvrability gives him the edge so Namor pops down to Atlantis to pick up an asbestos boxing glove and a hypnotic statue. With the aid of these gimmicks Namor easily defeats the Torch and sends him packing tied to the back of a Dolphin. Johnny recovers and, at full flame, follows Namor to the bottom of the ocean, he burns a tunnel into the ocean floor before heading back to the surface seemingly leaving Namor trapped in the fast collapsing tunnel. As the Torch heads back to the safety of a ship bound for New York Namor manages to tunnel out having found a new respect for the Torch. So is it any good?: It’s clearly being set up as an anything goes slugfest that would satisfy fans asking for a repeat of the WW2 era Torch/Namor stories and on some levels it works as that. Both combatants seem quite evenly matched and constantly pull new tricks out of nowhere to continue the mayhem. It is quite nicely drawn by Ayers and manages to keep Namor undefeated and still sympathetic after another outing. That said the Torch is so snotty that it isn’t that hard for his antagonist to retain a lot of sympathy. It’s all a bit silly but in a very comic booky way that is hard to dislike. If you are reading silver age stories then you are going to get large doses of silliness and this delivers it in a fairly fun way. It’s only really let down by the lack of charisma from Johnny. No classic but I enjoyed it well enough. Are there any goofy moments? Sue’s treasured photo of Namor shows up again as another jolt of instant melodramatic characterisation. It’s quite the issue for goofy silver age Namor powers. He enlarges himself like a Puffer Fish to save himself from getting stuck in an iceberg. There is a great scene where Johnny warns some Flying Fish about how he might accidentally burn their fins then goes ahead and does so anyway. This causes Namor to get annoyed when he happens upon the single singed fish in the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. Oh and the whole flaming on under water thing. Trivia:Both the art style and the copy on the cover seem to suggest this was a response to the golden age Namor/Human Torch stories. Which made me realise that the original Human Torch hasn’t been mentioned at all in a Marvel comic to date. Strange how (elements) of Namor’s wartime career are obviously still intact and Captain America would soon show up but the appearance of a new Human Torch hasn’t led to anyone mentioning the old one. Be interesting to see when he is first mentioned. Is it a landmark?:No.
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Post by sharkar on May 4, 2011 10:47:47 GMT -5
Personally, I love Buscema's Thor... I'm glad you mentioned that, Shiryu--IMO this Buscema/Sinnott cover really displays their strong points--the positioning of the figures, details like the cheekbone shading, etc. Great cover.
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Post by sharkar on May 4, 2011 10:57:00 GMT -5
Where? Where? WHERE? ...is Tales of Suspense #39?
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Post by sharkar on May 4, 2011 11:09:58 GMT -5
The Threat of the Torrid Twosome By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber and Dick Ayers. Villains: The Acrobat Guest Appearances: the Fantastic Four Are there any goofy moments? We finally get to the bottom of the secret identity issue, in a way that manages to make Johnny seem even stupider than his constant talking about it did.
A couple of months earlier, in Fantastic Four #10's letter column, a reader complained how preposterous it was that Johnny was so concerned about protecting his "secret identity" in the Strange Tales stories, since this was inconsistent with what was going on in the FF comic. Stan replied that many, many readers had brought this up and to his credit, he admits it was indeed a "king-sized error"... and he promises that it will be straightened out in Strange Tales #106 (the issue you're reviewing here).
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Post by owene on May 4, 2011 12:46:14 GMT -5
Where? Where? WHERE? ...is Tales of Suspense #39? oh no! (and thanks for the cover) Iron Man is born By Stan Lee, Larry Leiber and Don Heck. Villains: Wong-Chu Guest Appearances: None So What Happens?: Playboy inventor Tony Stark manages to fit weapons sales to the US military in between charming high society beauties. Meanwhile in Vietnam American troops face ever increasing pressure from communist guerrillas. Stark flies out to Asia to see some of his weapons in the field but is captured in a communist ambush and left with shrapnel in his chest. His communist captors give him a lab and force him to design new weapons before the shrapnel reaches his heart and kills him. Their leader Wong-chu provides Stark with an assistant, fabled scientist Professor Yinsen to help him work. Together they design a suit of iron armour that will keep Stark’s heart running and allow them to face Wong-chu in battle. Yinsen sacrifices himself to allow stark to try and escape and with his new transistors, magnets and finger saws he deals with Wong-chu and his men, magnetically shrugging aside bazooka shells and grenades and throwing away weighted filing cabinets as if they were nothing. With his heart still damaged and needing the iron man armour to survive Stark returns to the US a changed man. So is it any good?: Yes, it’s a good story with a level of intensity above most of the origin stories we have seen so far. While the series as a whole isn’t one of my favourites it is a strong origin story that sets up Stark’s essential characteristics very well, we get a brief glimpse of his ‘having it all’ lifestyle before it is taken away from him and he is put through a genuinely dramatic set of events that are made all the more serious by Yinsen’s sacrifice. Stark is well defined immediately and you can see why he will have to remain as Iron Man in future, both because of the damage to his heart and what it must have done to him to be captured in Vietnam. It's probably the strongest origin story to date although, to be fair, the Hulk and spider-man also had very intense first appearances. Not every story over the years would use these factors well, the heart damage and the curious society girls wondering what had changed Tony Stark would soon become melodramatic and over used but it is a strong opening and one that happens well away from what was already becoming the established Marvel Universe. Here the threat of communism is not some overly paranoid fear f spies and missile bases but involves jungle guerrillas overwhelming American troops and as such is more dramatic. Our knowledge of what the American involvement in Vietnam led to gives it even more weight. Some of the gimmicks Iron Man uses against them might be quite outlandish but the threat still rings true. An excellent start that sets up an intriguing character concept. Are there any goofy moments?:Wong-chu is fleeing for his life and throws a filing cabinet down the stairs in the path of the oncoming Iron Man. Only for Iron Man to note that wong-chu had filled it with rocks. I guess it was the only way to explain why it would slow Iron Man down at all but it’s still pretty goofy to imagine the fleeing bad guy taking the time to do it. Not exactly goofy but worth mentioning is the practically fluorescent yellow colouring of every asian character. This is true even in the re-coloured omnibus volume. Some of the transistor stuff is quite funny as well. The phrase ‘top hat transistor’ will get used a lot in the early stories to explain all sorts of things. Trivia:Despite his important role in this story Professor Yinsen largely disappeared from the Iron Man mythos until the Sons of Yinsen storyline in 2000. Is it a landmark?: Yes of course
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Post by owene on May 4, 2011 13:54:11 GMT -5
Personally, I love Buscema's Thor... I'm glad you mentioned that, Shiryu--IMO this Buscema/Sinnott cover really displays their strong points--the positioning of the figures, details like the cheekbone shading, etc. Great cover. It's excellent isn't it, i can't wait till John buscema starts showing up on this read through, even if it generally means saying goodbye to Kirby. He did do quite a few spider-man issues that i've never read as a run. For some reason Sif really reminds me of Sal Buscema's work and i've never really seen much in common between their work in the past
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Post by sharkar on May 4, 2011 18:33:55 GMT -5
Strange Tales 107 Face to Face with the Sub-Mariner By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber and Dick Ayers. Villains: None Guest Appearances: the Fantastic Four, Namor So What Happens?: Both the art style and the copy on the cover seem to suggest this was a response to the golden age Namor/Human Torch stories. Which made me realise that the original Human Torch hasn’t been mentioned at all in a Marvel comic to date. Strange how (elements) of Namor’s wartime career are obviously still intact and Captain America would soon show up but the appearance of a new Human Torch hasn’t led to anyone mentioning the old one. Be interesting to see when he is first mentioned. I'm pretty sure he is not mentioned until FF Annual #4 (1966). I too found it odd that Johnny would know about Namor (he reads an old Subby comic in FF #4 and mentions Sue told him about Namor) and Cap, but that he didn't know about the original Human Torch. At the very least, in FF #1 you'd expect that one of the others would say something like "You can flame on and fly! Why, you're like an old hero I saw once blazing in the sky--the Human Torch!" Johnny: "Yeah, I'll call myself that!" (Oh well, maybe the FF did know about the old Torch and spoke of him off-panel. ) But obviously at the time FF #1 was put together, Stan didn't intend on resurrecting old heroes...he and Kirby were just recycling some tried and true super-powers such as a stretching, invisibility (and a woman, a la Invisible Scarlet O'Neil), and a younger Torch. And as sympathetic as I have always been to the Kirby claim of co-creation of the Marvel Universe, I also can't ignore that he (and Lee) used Carl Burgos' Human Torch as their visual template for Johnny. It was after the FF made its debut, when Lee began receiving letters from nostalgic fans who mentioned the older heroes--and from younger fans who mentioned their parents told them there had been "another" Torch--that he realized he had a potential goldmine on his hands. So Lee set about resurrecting Namor and Cap (both of whom had appeared into the 1950s). But I get the feeling the original Torch (who'd also appeared into the 1950s) was a sore subject for Marvel back then. Possibly to keep the peace Stan had Burgos illustrate a few 1960s Marvel stories, including a Johnny Storm Human Torch story in Strange Tales. But at some point Burgos sued Marvel (or tried to) over rights to the Torch and that was the end of his association with Marvel. And the timing of the android Torch's appearance in FF Annual #4 leads me to believe that Marvel used him in that story almost as a pre-emptive strike, to re-establish ownership before a copyright or some other legal holding expired.
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Post by sharkar on May 4, 2011 19:31:27 GMT -5
The Carbon Copy Man By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber, Al hartley Villains: The Carbon Copy Man Guest Appearances: none Trivia: This was Al Hartley’s only super hero pencilling assignment of the 60s although he did also draw some westerns and romance comics for Marvel during the period. He also wrote the final Tales to Astonish Giant Man story and an Iron Man story featuring Count Nefaria. Neither are particularly great. It does seem like a strange assignment, but I guess Stan needed someone to pinch-hit and he trusted Hartley (who'd been Stan's assistant briefly in the early 60s). At the time of this Thor assignment Hartley was the regular artist (pencils and inks) penciler for the Patsy Walker/Hedy books. He's said (in printed inreviews) that Stan gave him carte blanche in terms of plotting those Patsy/Hedy stories.
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Post by sharkar on May 4, 2011 19:44:53 GMT -5
oh no! (and thanks for the cover) Iron Man is born By Stan Lee, Larry Leiber and Don Heck. Villains: Wong-Chu Guest Appearances: None
[/b] Ah, thank you! I was eager to read your comments on this epochal issue. I know I am in the minority but I really like Heck's work from the 1960s--it's sharp and atmospheric and it draws me into the world of his characters (no pun intended). His Tony Stark is perfect. A lot of comic book artists from Heck's generation cite Milton Caniff as an inspiration, but in Heck's case it seems particularly apt.
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Post by Shiryu on May 5, 2011 10:31:47 GMT -5
Is it me or there is something strange with the typesetting of the Carbon Copy Man's baloon on this cover? It looks strangely neat.
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Post by owene on May 5, 2011 14:28:27 GMT -5
I know I am in the minority but I really like Heck's work from the 1960s--it's sharp and atmospheric and it draws me into the world of his characters (no pun intended). His Tony Stark is perfect. A lot of comic book artists from Heck's generation cite Milton Caniff as an inspiration, but in Heck's case it seems particularly apt. It is, I'm a huge Caniff fan and you really can see where Heck is coming from inspiration wise. I've really liked the art on the last few Iron Man stories I've read, the Indy 500 opening of Suspense 45 is great, with (as I will say when i eventually post the review ) top notch Heck art on the cocktail lounges and sports cars it involves, and he draws some great female characters, he shows Pepper Potts changing her moods really well. I've also liked a lot of his work on Earnie Hart's rather idiosyncratic (and fun) ant-Man and Wasp stories as well and I was surprised to (re)learn that he did the first Mr hyde and Cobra stories, something I'd forgotten and misassociated to Kirby in my mind. Rather annoyingly his avengers work (despite having it's moments) is probably some of his weaker silver age jobs, although i must say i read a lot of it in very murky Marvel Triple action reprints and i look forward to seeing it in the masterworks when i get that far. he just doesn't suit slugfests with multiple characters very well. The stories i'm reviewing at the moment still haven't really started focusing on the fights that much and he gets to draw a lot of excellent real life scenes. Consider me a fan.
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Post by owene on May 5, 2011 14:34:49 GMT -5
. But at some point Burgos sued Marvel (or tried to) over rights to the Torch and that was the end of his association with Marvel. And the timing of the android Torch's appearance in FF Annual #4 leads me to believe that Marvel used him in that story almost as a pre-emptive strike, to re-establish ownership before a copyright or some other legal holding expired. That makes sense, not the nicest of reasons but it does make sense for why they suddenly brought him back and then did almost nothing with him. (Actually I say that, i'm not that sure how long there was between that annual and the appearances in Sub-Mariner but it must have been a year or three) Stan's attitude to the golden age characters seems to largely see them as something that can be mined for names and ideas, he doesn't really seem to have any real desire to see the characters themselves back. I'd guess Cap was potentially a big seller and was a character who clearly resonated with Kirby but otherwise there isnt much in the way of revivals
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Post by humanbelly on May 7, 2011 16:57:32 GMT -5
oh no! (and thanks for the cover) Iron Man is born By Stan Lee, Larry Leiber and Don Heck. Villains: Wong-Chu Guest Appearances: None
[/b] Ah, thank you! I was eager to read your comments on this epochal issue. I know I am in the minority but I really like Heck's work from the 1960s--it's sharp and atmospheric and it draws me into the world of his characters (no pun intended). His Tony Stark is perfect. A lot of comic book artists from Heck's generation cite Milton Caniff as an inspiration, but in Heck's case it seems particularly apt. [/quote] Say Shar, do I remember reading somewhere that Heck's Tony Stark was modeled after Errol Flynn? The way Superman was initially intended to resemble Clark Gable? You have any related tidbits on anything like that? HB
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Post by owene on May 8, 2011 11:21:00 GMT -5
Fantastic Four 14 The Merciless Puppet Master By Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. Villains: The Puppet Master Guest Appearances: Namor So What Happens?: The team returns home from space to a hero’s welcome. A welcome that soon becomes too much for the heroes, forcing them to flee to the Baxter Building. Once there the boys sleep off and Reed writes up his rocket fuel discoveries. Sue spends her time searching under the sea for Namor using the specially designed Roving Eye robot. Sue’s search is fruitless but at the same time the recently recovered Puppet Master is set on destroying the FF via a mind controlled stooge and has decided to use Namor. He quickly seizes control of him with a radioactive puppet and Namor in turn uses his Mento-fish to summon Sue to a meeting. Once they are together he uses his hypno-fish to kidnap her and take her to his undersea realm. Namor sends a message to the Baxter Building announcing that he has Sue. The team, and Alicia Masters, heads off in a submarine to find him. The Puppet master has a submarine of his own so he can be close at hand when Namor defeats the FF. Unfortunately despite a range of helpful fish and octopi Namor is no match for the team. He is only saved from their wrath when Alicia starts to suspect her stepfathers involvement and Sue steps in to suggest that he must have been controlled to act the way he did. As the team end the battle with Namor his pet octopus attacks the Puppet Master’s submarine. As he futilely tries to carve an octopus puppet his submarine is crushed and Namor regains control of himself. The team return to the surface on better terms with Namor and he sets about looking for his lost people once again. So is it any good?: It’s nowhere near as good as last issue nor quite as good as the Puppet Master’s debut. Sue and Namor’s attraction is actually quite interesting and when you see her reduced to being Reed’s secretary or tidying up the Baxter Building when everyone else is getting over the last mission you can understand why she is interested in the life Namor offers. That said it does still end up being yet another story where Sue gets kidnapped. Although, for the second issue in a row, she does end up solving everyones problems at the end of the story. Namor’s parade of silly aquatic creatures get a bit overwhelming in this issue and while the Puppet Master does explain at one point that he wants to defeat the FF without using puppets of them you do wonder why he sticks to this plan when everything goes to pieces and he has the FF dolls on hand. I don’t really see why Alicia got brought along either, all she really does is somehow detect the presence of her step-fathers control. All in all it’s an issue that looks quite good and manages to yet again leave you with sympathy for Namor but not one that holds up to much scrutiny or offers anything particularly new. Still it will be fun to see if they explain the Puppet Master’s watery octopus hastened demise in his next appearance. Are there any goofy moments?:It’s not a good issue for Sue. The team gets back from space and the boys look completely worn out. They take a break in the lounge while Sue instantly turns to housework. Later Reed has finished a scientific report and searches for Sue to type it up. The one eyed hypno-fish is able to fly, exist outside water and create huge bubbles of air so Namor can carry people down under the sea. Together with the ‘only one of its kind in the world’ mento fish Namor really gets through his plot device fish in this story. I’m not sure the anemone like ‘flame eater’ served a great evolutionary purpose under the sea either but it sure helps when the Torch comes calling. Trivia:The Torch utilises a little used power to transport the team across the city. He creates a vacuum tube using hot air that can instantly deposit them wherever he wishes. Not sure that one ever got used again. The Hypno fish was used by Imus Champion in the early issues of Avengers v3 to gain control of the Corruptor and the Squadron Supreme. Is it a landmark?: Not really
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Post by Shiryu on May 8, 2011 17:55:50 GMT -5
Nice review As much as I like Stan's stories, one does often get the feeling that they were more than a bit rushed and don't stand up to closer scrutiny. Here Namor pretty much pulls out a fish for his every need, you half expect a stretcho-fish to keep up with Reed! Marvel will become much more grounded on reality later on, and Stan himself will write better stories after dropping a few books.
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Post by humanbelly on May 8, 2011 19:26:00 GMT -5
Boy, and another really terrific cover, too. Like the frequent variations of the "pieta" cover pose (have I spelled that right?), it seems like this deep-shot-looking-through-the-legs-from-behind-the-central-figure is one we've seen often. I always like it-- very dramatic.
And I've always been one to lovingly get all over Stan's case for his preponderance of early Silver Age writing gaffes, short-cuts, and credibility-stretchers. But I ALWAYS forgive him for it, because he was flippin' running the whole show on a shoe-string, and doing 'waaaaaay too much of the creative work on his own. It was, of course, part of the charm of this upstart, ambitious, over-matched underdog of a comic book company trying to keep up with the Superman juggernaut down the street. . .
HB
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Post by owene on May 9, 2011 11:33:44 GMT -5
Boy, and another really terrific cover, too. Like the frequent variations of the "pieta" cover pose (have I spelled that right?), it seems like this deep-shot-looking-through-the-legs-from-behind-the-central-figure is one we've seen often. I always like it-- very dramatic. I like this one a lot, it's like a gunfighter pose, with Reed and Ben in particular seeming like villains approaching a cowboy hero and going for their guns. Despite the tied up Sue it almost makes Namor seem like the central hero. yeah they never get in the way of my enjoyment, I've been doing write ups of any other marvels I read as well (well up until 2000 or so i'm not doing current issues) and they have a lot fewer goofy moments but they are often far worse comics
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Post by owene on May 14, 2011 3:54:43 GMT -5
Journey Into Mystery #92 The Day Loki Stole Thor’s magic Hammer By Stan Lee with Robert Bernstein and Joe Sinnott Villains: Loki, Gangsters Guest Appearances: none So what happens?: With Loki safely chained to a rock in Asgard Thor can get on with his everyday life. Saving Dr Blake from wounded gangsters who want his medical attention and helping film a Viking epic in Norway. Loki takes an interest in the movie and as Thor hurls his hammer at a mountain Loki magically transports it to Asgard where it is attracted to his uru metal chains, instantly freeing him. Loki is intent on defeating Thor but wary of travelling to Earth again so he plants the idea of contacting Odin in Thor’s head. Thor summons Odin to tell him he has lost his hammer and is worried about turning back into Blake so his father transports him to Asgard. However he and the other gods are unwilling to help Thor look for Mjolnir. Thor’s search takes him to Loki’s forest where he is attacked by living trees. Fashioning a hammer from tree trunks he easily deals with them before heading to the rock where Loki is supposed to be imprisoned. Loki spots him and transforms the clouds into dragons to attack Thor. Using his finger nail to cut through rock Thor makes himself a stone hammer to defeat the dragons. Once the battle is done Thor realises his new hammer must contain some Uru metal. Hoping it will be attracted to Mjolnir or Loki’s chains he tosses it in the air. The plan works perfectly and Thor is led to his missing hammer. The other gods imprison Loki once more as Thor returns to midgard. So is it any good?: It’s interesting. It’s the first story that takes place primarily in Asgard and as such does away with things like the 60 second rule that had started to make previous issues very samey. However it isn’t Kirby’s Asgard, it is primarily Robert Bernstein’s take on it, a fairy tale kingdom filled, Loki apart, with wholesome gods too busy to get involved in Thor’s adventure, there’s nothing particularly primal or godly about anything yet. The introduction with the exposition heavy, quip laden, battle with gangsters followed by Thor on location helping film a Viking movie (with his proceeds going to charity of course) is pure 60s Superman and Bernstein’s script is full of redundancies restating things that are perfectly clear from Sinnott’s art. So it’s a weird one, it has the Asgardian setting (and a well drawn, nasty Loki) that the book has been crying out for, but it’s Bernstein and Sinnott’s Asgard not Lee and Kirby. The actual Asgardian adventure is short, 6 pages. Loki’s ploy to use the hammer to free himself is good, as is the idea that he subtly influenced all the other gods to give him the time and space to defeat Thor. However Thor spends his time battling conjured cloud dragons and living trees that aren’t really much of a challenge even without his hammer. Thor doesn’t actually confront Loki at any point, it ends with the other gods surrounding Loki like some divine police force and presumably returning him to captivity while Thor heads back to Dr Blake’s practice. You have a great villain being well drawn and coming up with decent plot ideas but there is no actual sense of danger at all. Are there any goofy moments? I don’t like to focus on art but one of the panels of Thor swinging his makeshift wooden hammer is a bit bizarre. The gangsters Thor straps to a gurney at the beginning of the story make their own corny quips when delivered to the police. They were captured in ‘Operation thor’ apparently Trivia: The issue introduces Thor’s step-mother Fricka, later renamed Frigga. She hasn’t appeared a great deal over the years with Thor’s connection to the mother goddess Gaea being mentioned far more often. When Odin appears on Earth, time stops. I’d guess this is just down to the writer realising Thor must have been without his hammer for more than 60 seconds but it’s still a cool new power. Albeit one that probably never appears again. There is practically one new one-off power in each of these early issues. While Heimdal is working hard to ensure Loki doesn’t get to Earth he is happy to let the goddess Neri onto the rainbow bridge to Midgard. The idea that there might be other gods and goddesses active on earth is quite interesting and totally different from the way Odin is generally portrayed as trying to limit all interference with Earth. Neri never appeared again in the regular continuity but did turn up in a What If story. Is it a landmark?: No Where can I read it?: Essential Thor volume 1 or the first Masterworks volume
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Post by owene on May 14, 2011 4:01:59 GMT -5
Ant-Man versus the Mad Master of Time By Stan Lee with Larry Leiber and Don Heck Villains: the Time Master Guest Appearances: none So What Happens?: As Ant-Man is trying to avoid his many fans elderly scientist Elias Weems is being let go from his job due to his age. He fears this will lose him the respect of his grandson who is due to visit him and looks up to his scientific knowledge. He vows revenge on the world and invents a ray that can age (or rejuvenate) any living creatures. After trying it out on a tree, an elephant and a passing girl Weems sends the police a list of demands. Thankfully the Precinct house is still ant-infested and Pym gets on the case. Asking around local scientific establishments he soon learns about Weems firing and dissatisfaction. Confronting Weems in his lab Ant-Man is subjected to the aging ray and is soon too decrepit to even move his legs. Weems steals his tiny cybernetic helmet and then leaves him trapped in a plant pot while he heads off to wreak havoc on the city. Finally remembering that he can return to normal size Pym breaks out of the pot, reclaims his helmet and, still aged but somehow no longer anywhere near as decrepit he heads after Weems. When he finds him Weems he is on a rooftop and is all set to unleash his aging ray on a crowded street. However he spots his grandson in the crowd and refuses to fire, instead he slips and drops his aging ray. Pym orders nearby ants to cushion the ray gun’s fall and uses it to restore himself to his normal age. He even goes so far as to speak up for Weems with the police and his old employers. They are quick to give him his old job back once they have seen what a scientific genius he actually is. So is it any good?: I think it is actually an attempt to give the series a little more depth and personality. We get probably the first moment of characterisation from Pym when he reveals he doesn’t like fame or admirers and the story dwells at length on the ‘villain’ and manages to make him fairly sympathetic. Both are firsts for the title. It even, belatedly, realises that ant-man could actually get out of most of the death-traps he finds himself in very easily by growing to normal size. It’s not good by any means, the villain might have more time spent on him than in the past but what we get is still a very corny story with a syrupy ending. It’s also definitely one where it’s important not to think how much money and respect Weems could have earned by just marketing the device which when the villain is motivated by just those matters is a bit hard to do. I did like some of his plots, the scene where he turns a pretty girl older just after someone has commented on her looks is quite funny in a way that you don’t often see from comics of the period but overall it still isn’t great. Heck is still doing good work though with a lot of facial close ups and a nice energy to the city scenes. Are there any goofy moments?:The “and let that be a lesson to all of us about the evils of prejudice” ending is pretty ropey. Ant-Man remarks that people don’t realise he can actually grow to regular human size. Which is ironic as in previous issues he regularly got himself stuck in traps that he could avoid by simply growing. It also suggests that he felt people thought he was actually that size in his civilian identity as well. In the most embarrassing “ant-man is incapacitated by everyday objects” yet Ant-Man is knocked over by and trapped under an envelope Ant-Man gets momentarily lost in a daydream about his helmet being able to control elephants rather than ants. Nothing ever came of it. Trivia: Elias Weems, or the Time Master as he signs himself in his ransom demands never appeared again. Ant-Man’s home town, which I’m sure I’ve referred to as New York in past reviews is revealed to be Center City. I haven’t seen that mentioned before but it does at least explain why everyone was so impressed by Ant-Man’s heroics and turns to him in an emergency. It could be down to civic pride rather than people genuinely thinking he was better than Thor or the Thing. Is it a landmark?: No Where can I read it?: In the Essential Ant Man or the first Ant Man/Giant Man Masterwork.
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Post by Shiryu on May 14, 2011 6:32:39 GMT -5
An interesting coincidence about the villain. He shares his surname, Weems, with the Modular Man - Dr Stephen Weems www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/modulars.htmThe guys over at the Appendix have wondered if Stephen could be Elias' son and Tommy's father.
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Post by owene on May 14, 2011 15:09:29 GMT -5
An interesting coincidence about the villain. He shares his surname, Weems, with the Modular Man - Dr Stephen Weems www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/modulars.htmThe guys over at the Appendix have wondered if Stephen could be Elias' son and Tommy's father. Yeah I noticed that, I love that site and always use it for the trivia part of my reviews. It's quite an unusual surname to get reused to my british ears but maybe it's a bit more common over in the US.
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