Category: Captain Marvel

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Iron Man Epic Collection volume 5: Battle Royal 1972-1974


By Roy Thomas, Jim Starlin, Steve Gerber, Bill Everett, George Tuska, Barry Windsor-Smith, P. Craig Russell, John Romita & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-3361-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Glittering Marvel Madness… 8/10

First conceived in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis at a time when the economy was booming and “Commie-bashing” was an American national obsession, the emergence of a new and shining young Thomas Edison, using Yankee ingenuity, wealth and invention to safeguard the Land of the Free and better the World, seemed an obvious development. Combining the then-sacrosanct faith that technology and business in unison could solve any problem, with the universal imagery of noble knights battling evil, Tony Stark – the Invincible Iron Man – seemed an infallibly successful proposition.

Of course, whilst Tony Stark was the acceptable face of 1960s Capitalism – a glamorous millionaire industrialist/scientist and a benevolent all-conquering hero when clad in the super-scientific armour of his alter-ego – the turbulent tone of the 1970s soon relegated his suave, “can-do” image to the recycling bin of history.

With ecological disaster and social catastrophe from the myriad abuses of big business the new zeitgeists of the young, the Golden Avenger and Stark International were soon confronting a few tricky questions from the increasingly politically savvy readership.

With glamour, money and fancy gadgetry not quite so cool anymore, the questing voices of a new generation of writers began posing uncomfortable questions in the pages of a series that was once the bastion of militarised America…

This grand and gleaming chronological compendium navigates that transitional period, re-presenting Iron Man #47-67 and the period cover-dated June 1972 through April 1974, as the title experienced an unprecedented and often uncomfortable number of creative personnel changes whilst the country endured a radical and often divisive split in ideology.

It begins in the aftermath of best friend Kevin O’Brian’s pointless death and the gradual disintegration of his girlfriend Marianne Rodgers who is slowly being driven insane by her own psychic abilities.

After the funeral, Stark traumatically reviews his origins, twin careers and now-obscured objectives in ‘Why Must There be an Iron Man?’ (by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith & Jim Mooney) after which, emotionally reinvigorated and rededicated to his life of service, the Armoured Avenger welcomes new scripter Mike Friedrich and established artists George Tuska & Vince Colletta to again face the ferocious threat of radical incendiary terrorist Firebrand in ‘The Fury and the Inferno!’

Meanwhile, whilst attempting a new start in life, Marianne’s final breakdown begins…

‘…There Lurks the Adaptoid!’ finds her experiencing horrifying precognitive visions of a power-mimicking robot attacking Iron Man, and leads to her accidental betrayal of the man she loves when the automaton actually arrives and evolves into an unbeatable new form in #50’s ‘Deathplay!’

This coincides with equally-troubled Z-list villain Princess Python attempting to kidnap Stark, just as our hero is being targeted by power-leeching sub-atomic tyrants, before the bizarre saga concludes with bombastic battle in ‘Now Stalks the Cyborg-Sinister!’

New Age mysticism and West Coast celebrity-cults informed Iron Man #52 as Stark faces ‘Raga: Son of Fire!: an emotion-fuelled, flaming maniac trained by an evil guru who subsequently takes over from his failed disciple when things get too hot…

With additional pencils from star-in-waiting Jim Starlin, concluding chapter ‘The Black Lama!’ shows that the master mage is also unable to destroy the Golden Avenger, but would subsequently return to become one of the hero’s greatest and most insidious foes of the period.

Issue #54 found Stark in California and drawn into what became one of Marvel’s earliest and most successful crossover epics. ‘Sub-Mariner: Target for Death!’ debuted pitiless alien researcher Madame MacEvil – later re-branded as Moondragon during the Thanos Saga…

She was a bald, sexy science siren who manipulated Iron Man into attacking the Prince of Atlantis in a spectacular blockbusting bout further enhanced by additional art from the legendary Bill Everett supplementing the efforts of Friedrich, Tuska & Colletta…

The Thanos story moved into full gear in Iron Man #55, as Friedrich scripted illustrator Jim Starlin’s opening gambit ‘Beware The… Blood Brothers!’: introducing haunted humanoid powerhouse Drax the Destroyer, who had been trapped by extraterrestrial invader Thanos under the Nevada desert and was in dire need of rescue…

(This was all merely a prelude to the full saga which appeared in Captain Marvel #25-33, Marvel Feature #12, Daredevil #106-107 and Avengers #125, and has been collected in many compilations…

Iron Man #56 was a literally magical palate-cleanser, as Steve Gerber joined Starlin & Mike Esposito to tell the satirically hilarious tragedy of ‘Rasputin’s Revenge!’, wherein a street corner doom-prophet accidentally gains the power to fulfil his prognostications but still falls sadly short of engineering an apocalypse…

It was back to business as usual with Gerber, Tuska, Esposito & Frank Giacoia in #57 as a devastating ‘Strike!’ hits troubled Stark Industries. The dissent has been engineered by an insidious old enemy who inevitably overplays his be-ringed hand in concluding episode ‘Mandarin and the Unicorn: Double-Death!’ (with Friedrich returning to script Gerber’s plot) after which ‘A Madness in Motown!’ sees Stark battling revenge-crazed anti-capitalist Firebrand whilst unknowingly falling for the torrid terrorist’s sister Roxie Gilbert.

Another 2-part clash follows – this time against a deadly technology-thief – opening with ‘Cry Marauder!’ after a masked malcontent steals Stark’s experimental space shuttle. Culmination comes with ‘Death Knells over Detroit!’ as the purloined prototype is aimed like a monstrous missile at the heart of Motor City, leaving a crippled Iron Man only seconds to save the day…

With Friedrich scripting, the action stays in Detroit as Stark inspects one of his factories until former Maggia assassin ‘Whiplash Returns!’ (illustrated by P. Craig Russell, Esposito, Frank Giacoia & John Romita Sr.). The crazed killer-for-hire is raging for revenge and especially ticked off that his girlfriend has been made his boss…

Illustrated by Tuska & Esposito, an extended epic began in #63 with ‘Enter: Dr. Spectrum’, seeing Stark relentlessly – and fruitlessly – romantically pursues pacifist dissident Roxie Gilbert in Detroit, whilst obnoxious Ugandan financier and diplomat Dr. Kinji Obatu visits the Long Island plant and is attacked by a gang of masked thugs…

The assault is repelled thanks to the timely assistance of stand-in Iron Man Eddie March, who is promptly offered a bodyguard job by the creepy ambassador and invited to accompany him to a meeting with Stark in Detroit.

On Stark’s arrival, photonic fiend Dr. Spectrum ambushes the inventor, before being driven off by the Armoured Avenger after a titanic and costly struggle. A far more serious problem emerges later when old friend Happy Hogan accuses Tony of having an affair with his wife Pepper…

Spectrum strikes again in the next issue, with a similar lack of success, before Happy blows his top and takes a swing at Stark, but that confrontation is curtailed when a gigantic monster kidnaps just-arrived Obatu in ‘Rokk Cometh!’

When the beast then targets Roxie, exhausted Iron Man intervenes but is too drained to resist the relentless Spectrum…

Issue #65 exposes ‘The Cutting Edge of Death!’ when the Golden Avenger learns the true parasitical nature of Spectrum’s Power Prism as it transfers itself from wilfully disobedient villain Obatu to our worn-out hero.

Its glee is short lived though, as the possessed Iron Man is challenged by recently arrived comrade Thor, resulting in a blockbusting ‘Battle Royal!’ which only ends when the Thunderer crushes the crystal conqueror and discovers the dying man inside the armour is neither Stark nor Obatu…

As a consequence of that climactic clash of myth and mechanism, IM #67 sees the impostor Iron Man temporarily mutated by Stark’s medical miracle machine the Cobalt Enervator into a rampaging monster in ‘Return of the Freak’ but no sooner do the genuine Armoured Avenger and surgeon Don Blake (who we all know was Thor back then) stop and save the berserk victim than Stark is drawn into another conflict in South East Asia…

Sadly. That falls into the category of “To Be Continued”…

With covers by Kane, Colletta, Giacoia, Tuska, Starlin, Joe Sinnott, Rich Buckler, John Romita & Mike Esposito, the galvanised wonderment also includes many beautiful original art pages and covers by Windsor-Smith, Mooney, Tuska, Everett, Colletta, Starlin, Esposito, John Romita & Kane: wrapping up this collection with the Golden Gladiator being carefully politically repositioned at a time when Marvel solidly set itself up at the vanguard of a rapidly changing America increasingly at war with itself.

With this volume Marvel further entrenched itself in the camp of the young and the restless, experiencing first hand, and every day, the social upheaval America was undergoing. This rebellious teen sensibility and increased political conscience permeated Marvel’s publications as their core audience evolved from Flower Power innocents into a generation of acutely aware activists. Future tales would increasingly bring reformed capitalist Stark into many unexpected and outrageous situations…

That’s the meat of another review, as this engrossing ride is done. From our distant vantage point the polemical energy and impact might be dissipated, but the sheer quality of the comics and the cool thrill of the eternal aspiration of man in perfect partnership with magic metal remains. These superhero sagas are amongst the most underrated but impressive tales of the period and are well worth your time, consideration and cold hard cash.

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Sub-Mariner Marvel Masterworks volume 5


By Roy Thomas, Allyn Brodsky, Sal Buscema, Ross Andru, Frank Springer & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-6619-1 (HB/Digital edition)

Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner is the offspring of a water-breathing Atlantean princess and an American polar explorer; a hybrid being of immense strength, highly resistant to physical harm, able to fly, and thrive above and below the waves. Created by young, talented Bill Everett, Namor technically predates Marvel/Atlas/Timely Comics.

He first caught the public’s avid attention as part of an elementally appealing fire vs. water headlining team-up in the October 1939 Marvel Comics #1 (which renamed itself Marvel Mystery Comics from #2 onwards). The amphibian antihero shared honours and top billing with The Human Torch, but had originally been seen (albeit in a truncated, monochrome version) in Motion Picture Funnies: a promotional booklet handed out to moviegoers earlier in the year. Rapidly emerging as one of the industry’s biggest draws, Namor won his own title at the end of 1940 (cover-dated Spring 1941) and was one of the last super-characters to vanish at the end of the first heroic age.

In 1954, when Atlas (as the company then was) briefly revived its “Big Three” line-up – the Torch and Captain America being the other two – Everett returned for an extended run of superbly dark, mordantly timely fantasy fables. However, even his input wasn’t sufficient to keep the title afloat and eventually Sub-Mariner sank again.

In 1961, as Stan Lee & Jack Kirby were reinventing superheroes with the landmark title Fantastic Four, they revived the awesome, all-but-forgotten aquanaut as a troubled, semi-amnesiac antihero. Decidedly more bombastic, regal and grandiose, this returnee despised humanity: embittered and broken by the loss of his sub-sea kingdom which had been (seemingly) destroyed by American atomic testing. His rightful revenge became infinitely complicated after he became utterly besotted with the FF’s Susan Storm.

Namor knocked around the budding Marvel universe for a few years, squabbling with other star turns such as The Hulk, Avengers, X-Men and Daredevil before securing his own series as one half of Tales to Astonish, and from there graduating in 1968 to his own solo title.

This fifth subsea selection trawls Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner #26-38 and portions of Ka-Zar #1, spanning June 1970 to June 1971, and opens with another heartfelt appreciation and more creative secret-sharing in an Introduction from life-long devotee – and primary scribe of this book – Roy Thomas. The drama recommences as recently self-appointed relentless guardian of the safety and ecology of all Earth’s oceans, the Prince of Atlantis furtively returns to the surface world.

In ‘“Kill!” Cried the Raven!’ by Thomas, Sal Buscema & Joe Gaudioso (AKA Mike Esposito) the Sub-Mariner has come to investigate reports of comatose superhuman Red Raven. He was the human emissary of a legendary race of sky-dwelling Birdmen recently encountered by The Angel of the X-Men in their last clash with Magneto. With the covert assistance of old friend Diane Arliss, Namor seeks to forge an alliance with the Avian race, but shocks, surprises and the Raven’s trauma-induced madness all conspire to sink the plan…

Back brooding in Atlantis in the wake of another failure, Namor’s mood is further plagued when a human pirate uses his giant monster-vessel to attack shipping with Atlantis bearing the brunt of blame ‘When Wakes the Kraken!’ His hunt for bizarre bandit Commander Kraken again involves Diane and ends only when the Sub-Mariner demonstrates what a real sea monster looks like…

Recuperating with her in New York City, Namor is incensed by the actions of an unrepentant industrial polluter and joins teen protestors fighting developer Sam Westman’s thugs and mega machines in ‘Youthquake!’ before we pause for a little diversion…

Beginning as a Tarzan tribute act relocated to a lost world in a sub-polar realm of swamp-men and dinosaurs, Ka-Zar eventually evolved into one of Marvel’s more complex and mercurial characters. Wealthy heir to one of Britain’s oldest noble families, his best friend is Zabu the sabretooth tiger, his wife is feisty environmental-crusader Shanna the She-Devil and his brother is a homicidal super-scientific bandit. Kevin Reginald, Lord Plunder is perpetually torn between the clean life-or-death simplicity of the jungle and the bewildering constant compromises of modern civilisation.

The primordial paragon even outranks Namor in terms of longevity, having begun as a prose pulp star, boasting three issues of his own magazine between October 1936 and June 1937. They were authored by Bob Byrd – a pseudonym for publisher Martin Goodman or one of a fleet of writers on his staff – and he was latterly shoehorned into a speculative new-fangled comic book venture Marvel Comics #1. There he roamed alongside another pulp mag graduate: The Angel, plus Masked Raider, the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner…

When Ka-Zar reappeared all rowdy and renovated in 1965’s X-Men #10, it was clear the Sovereign of the Savage Land was destined for bigger things. However, for years all he got was guest shots as misunderstood foe du jour for Daredevil, Sub-Mariner, Spider-Man, and the Hulk.

In 1969, he took his shot with a solo saga in Marvel Super-Heroes and later that year – after Roy Thomas & Neal Adams used him so effectively in their X-Men run (issues #62-63) – was awarded a giant-sized solo title reprinting many previous appearances. The title also incongruously offered all-new stories of Hercules and the second, mutant X-Man Angel. That same month, Ka-Zar’s first regular series began in Astonishing Tales…

That Hercules back up from Ka-Zar #1 (August 1970 by Allyn Brodsky, Frank Springer & Dick Ayers) is reprinted here as it impacts Namor’s exploits…

‘In his Footsteps… The Huntsman of Zeus!’ sees the potent Prince of Power on the run from an Olympian agent despatched by the King of the Gods. Following another bitter dispute with his sire Hercules returns to Earth, leaving Ares to foment trouble and prompt Zeus to set his terror-inducing Huntsman on the godling’s trail…

After seeking sanctuary with the Avengers, Hercules sees his mortal friends brutally beaten and flees once again…

The panicked rush takes him to Sub-Mariner #29 and the distant Mediterranean where the Huntsman ensorcells Namor and pits him against the fugitive. Although Hercules soon breaks the hypnotic spell, ‘Fear is the Hunter!’ reveals why the pursuer is so dreaded as he sends mythical terrors Scylla, Charybdis and Polyphemus against the heroes and the pitiful mortals of the region, until a valiant breakthrough ends the threat and forces a paternal reconciliation…

Another guest star treat materialises in #30 as ‘Calling Captain Marvel!’ sees Namor again reduced to a mesmerised puppet and attacking the Kree warrior and his human host Rick Jones. This time the condition is due to the amphibian’s falling in battle against toxic terrorist Mr. Markham who attempts to blackmail Earth by threatening to poison the seas with his molecular polluter. Once Captain Marvel batters Namor back to his right mind, they make quick work of the maniac in a concerted twin assault…

The fallout from his recent actions have unsettled Namor’s old friend Triton, and the Inhuman goes looking for the prince in #31 just as apparent Atlantean attacks on surface shipping mounts. Meeting equally concerned human Walt Newell (who operates as undersea Avenger Stingray) they finally find – and fight – the Sub-Mariner, only to learn the crisis has been manufactured by his old enemy who is now ‘Attuma Triumphant!’

The barbarian’s plans include destroying human civilisation, but he still has time to pit his captives against each other in a gladiatorial battle to the death; which of course is Attuma’s undoing…

Jim Mooney comes aboard as inker with #32 as a new and deadly enemy debuts in ‘Call Her Llyra… Call Her Legend!’ when fresh human atomic tests prompt Namor to voyage to the Pacific and renew political alliance with the undersea state of Lemuria. However, on arrival he finds noble Karthon replaced by a sinister seductress who lusts for war and harbours a tragic Jekyll & Hyde secret…

By the time he reaches Atlantis again the Sunken City is being ravaged by seaquakes and old political enemy Prince Byrrah is seizing control from Namor’s deputies and devoted paramour Lady Dorma. ‘Come the Cataclysm’ sees him first accuse surface-worlders before locating and defeating the true culprits – an alliance of Byrrah with failed usurper Warlord Krang and human mad genius Dr. Dorcas. In the throes of triumph, Prince Namor announces his imminent marriage to Dorma…

Antihero superteam The Defenders officially begin with Sub-Mariner #34-35 (cover-dated February & March 1971). As previously stated, the Prince of Atlantis had become an early and ardent activist and advocate of the ecology movement, and here he takes radical steps to save the planet by fractiously recruiting The Hulk and Silver Surfer to help him destroy an American Nuclear Weather-Control station.

In ‘Titans Three!’ and concluding chapter ‘Confrontation!’ (by Thomas, Sal Buscema & Jim Mooney) the always-misunderstood outcasts unite to battle a despotic dictator’s legions, the US Army, UN defence forces and the mighty Avengers to prevent the malfunctioning station from vaporising half the planet…

Inked by Berni Wrightson, Sub-Mariner #36 augurs a huge sea change in Namor’s fortunes that begins with time-honoured holy preparations for a happy event as ‘What Gods Have Joined Together!’ Elsewhere, arcane enemy Llyra is resuurected and seeks to steal the throne by abducting and replacing the bride-to-be whilst Namor is distracted by an invasion of Attuma’s hordes.

Ross Andru & Esposito take over illustration duties with #37 as an era ends and tragedy triumphs, leading to a catastrophic battle on ‘The Way to Dusty Death!’

Betrayed by one of his closest friends and ultimately unable to save his beloved, the heartbroken prince thinks long and hard before abdicating in #38 ‘Namor Agonistes!’: reprising his origins and life choices before choosing to henceforth pursue the human half of his hybrid heritage as a surface dweller…

To Be Continued…

More sunken treasures salvaged here include the cover to all-reprint Sub-Mariner Annual #1 (January 1971, and reprising the underwater portions of Tales to Astonish #70-73) plus Bill Everett’s pin-up of young Namor, contemporary House Ads and Marie Severin’s glorious cover sketch for #33, plus a huge Biographies section.

Many early Marvel Comics are more exuberant than qualitative, but this volume, especially from an art-lover’s point of view, is a wonderful exception: a historical treasure with narrative bite that fans will delight in forever. Moreover, with the Prince of Atlantis now a bona fide big screen sensation that no one’s ever heard of, now might be the time to get wise and impress your friends with a little insider knowledge…
© 2018 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Mighty Avengers: No Single Hero


By Al Ewing, Greg Land, Jay Leisten & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0785188742 (TPB/Digital edition)

Following blockbuster Avengers Versus X-Men publishing event, company-wide reboot MarvelNOW! reformed the entire overarching continuity: a drastic reshuffle and rethink of characters, concepts and brands with an eye to winning new readers and feeding the company’s burgeoning movie blockbuster machine…

Moreover, many disparate story strands were congealing to kick off the always-imminent Next Big Thing, with the cosmically expanded Avengers titles forming the spine of an encroaching mega-epic. The colossal Infinity storyline detailed a grandiose advance into Armageddon as an intergalactic Hammer of Doom fell with an all-out attack by impossibly ancient race The Builders. They claim to have sparked universal life, but now seek to rectify their mistake on Earth – and woe betide any species or intergalactic civilisation in their way.

When The Avengers mobilised most of their assemblage off-planet to tackle the threat before it reached them, Thanos of Titan took advantage of the dearth of metahuman defenders to invade, leaving the remaining superheroes with an almost impossible task…

Written by Al Ewing and illustrated by Greg Land & Jay Leisten, Mighty Avengers volume 2 #1-5 (November 2013 – March 2014) describes how those left behind unite as a resistance force and stayed together as a decidedly different kind of crusading team… one primarily comprising heroes of colour, not the usual bunch of white guys and ones who looked at problems beyond a self-appointed cosmic jurisdiction…

The action opens as Thanos hits Earth, where blithely unaware ex-Avenger Luke Cage is pitting his Heroes for Hire apprentices White Tiger and a new, teenaged Power Man against seasoned super-thief The Plunderer. Their efforts are interrupted and derided by the Superior Spider-Man who orders them to quit before insultingly offering Cage’s kids a real job.

Everybody sees that the wallcrawler has become insufferable since he technologically upgraded his act and hired a paramilitary gang as his deputies. Many of his oldest friends even think he might be going crazy. What no one knows is that the mind inside the arachnid hero’s head is actually archvillain Otto Octavius AKA Doctor Octopus who – despite a passionate initial desire to reform – is slowly reverting to his true manner and bad habits…

The webspinner’s derision spurs White Tiger into quitting, but only fuels her male teammates into trying harder to prove Spider-Man wrong…

Elsewhere ex-Avenger Monica Rambeau (formerly Captain Marvel and Photon, but now calling herself Spectrum) is getting back into the crime-busting game after a bout of retirement. She’s sorting out her costume and talking over old times with an enigmatic fellow champion when the first wave of the Titan’s invasion force smashes into New York.

Donning a store-bought comedy costume, the stranger – also black – joins Monica as a generic “Spider Hero” and converges on the landing site where Cage and the still-enraged Superior Spider-Man are battling the Titan’s ferocious warlord Proxima Midnight…

Elsewhere, Mystic Master Doctor Strange has been possessed and corrupted by the Ebony Maw – the most personally ambitious of Thanos’ lieutenants – whilst at the bottom of the sea  Dr. Adam Brashear receives a cosmic visitor. A forgotten African American superhero forbidden by Presidential mandate from operating during the Civil Rights era, The Blue Marvel is thus stirred from a lengthy self-imposed exile and grudgingly agrees to return to the world which shunned and sidelined him…

In New York, ‘The Assembly’ give battle, but the Amazing Arachnid seems more concerned with suing his “copyright infringer” than defeating the invaders, and Spectrum is gravely wounded by Midnight. As Cage tackles Proxima, ordinary citizens are emboldened to join the struggle, compelling ever-watching Thanos to order a retreat.

It’s not over though, as the ravaged metropolis is then assaulted by an overwhelming aspect of voracious Elder God Shuma-Gorath, summoned by enslaved Stephen Strange. The rampant horror gleefully begins transforming native New Yorkers into ghastly demon duplicates…

As Blue Marvel rockets to the rescue, temporarily stymieing the devil god and healing Spectrum, mystically empowered White Tiger and Power Man arrive and Spider Hero -demonstrating a keen knowledge of arcane rites – devises a scheme to drive the Lovecraftian horror back to its own dimension for good.

Cage then has a eureka moment, realising ‘No Single Hero’ could have managed, declaring that they are all Avengers…

Originally parked above Manhattan, the Inhumans’ floating city Attilan was destroyed during the war and its ruins now languish in the Hudson River. Moreover, when Thanos personally attacked Black Bolt, the embattled Inhuman monarch released genetically transformative Terrigen Mists thereby unleashing a host of new super-powered warriors from the ranks of the humans below…

Issue #4 is set after the invasion is finally repelled, with the city engrossed in rapid reconstruction. The space-bound Avengers are still missing off-world but life is returning to normal.

Sleazy entrepreneur Jason Quantrell despatches his personal industrial spy Quickfire – a recent recipient of Terrigen-induced abilities – to raid the sunken citadel in search of fresh mutagens he can monetise, whilst in Times Square Cage has turned his old Gem Theatre offices into a storefront Avengers HQ.

He has a bold new idea: opening the heroic volunteer brigade to the public who can come to them with meta-related problems or issues of injustice. Even though Reservist The Falcon has come aboard, Spider-Man is becoming increasingly intolerant, alternately demanding to be placed in charge and ordering Cage’s crew to cease and desist. Unable to convince them, the furious superior wallcrawler storms off…

Meanwhile Spider Hero – who has some ominous magical acquaintances older fans might recognise – has detected an encroaching mystic crisis and resolved to stay. Adopting the vacant costume and identity of martial arts mystery man Ronin, he invites the team to join him in stopping an impending burglary in Attilan. It’s not Quickfire’s illegal raid that’s the problem, but rather that she’s going to inadvertently awaken the slumbering submerged threat of the Death Walkers if somebody doesn’t stop her…

However, as the most recent Ronin leads the Avengers to the already-in-progress monster catastrophe, Octavius returns to the Gem Theatre and – in a manic fit of frustrated rage – attacks Cage with all the paramilitary resources he can muster: mercenaries, spider-bots and urban assault vehicles all primed to shut down the Avengers forever.

Happily, the harassed Hero for Free had already contacted his lawyer and is delighted to follow Jennifer Walters’ guidance… which basically boils down to “She-Hulk Smash!”…

Fast, furious and fantastically offbeat, this epic epistle also offers a selection of editorial features from the issues in question and a covers gallery, as it delivers hard, fast, thrilling and funny stories about heroism on the other side of the tracks…
© 2013 Marvel Characters Inc.. All rights reserved.

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Cyclops volume 2: A Pirate’s Life for Me


By John Layman, Javier Garrón, Chris Sotomayor, & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9076-9 (TPB/Digital edition)

When mutant genius Henry McCoy learned he was dying, he used time-travel tech in a last-ditch attempt to give his life meaning. Seeking to prevent an inter-species war, he brought the young, naïve X-Men of his own youth into the future to reason with his radicalised former comrade Scott Summers, praying the still idealistic and hopeful teens could divert Mutant Enemy Terrorist No. 1 from his path of doctrinaire madness…

The gamble paid off in all the wrong ways. Rather than shocking modern day Cyclops back to his senses, the confrontation hardened the renegade’s heart and strengthened his resolve. Moreover, after McCoy the younger somehow cured his older self, he and the rest of the X-Kids were trapped in their own future and began gradually defecting to the fundamentalist team…

Eventually, the temporally-misplaced First Class ended up living with the elder Cyclops’ crew, but everything changed after Gladiator of the Shi’ar realised Jean Grey AKA Marvel Girl – and future host of the cosmic force known as the Phoenix – was back. The alien emperor rashly attempted to abduct and execute her for the crimes of her older self, but his insane pre-emptive punishment plan was foiled by an assembly of X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy and intergalactic buccaneers Hepzibah, Ch’od, Raza Longknife, Korvus and insectoid medical wizard Sikorsky – collectively known as The Starjammers.

During the sideral shenanigans, 16-year-old Scott met his long-believed-dead dad. Now going by Corsair and undisputed leader of the cosmic privateers, Christopher Summers invited his boy to stay behind when the mutant heroes returned to Earth…

Enduring and barely surviving a steep learning curve to become a full-blooded galactic buccaneer whilst forging bonds of comradeship with the exotic crew, Scott eventually takes off with his dad for some true father-son time only to discover Corsair’s darkest secret whilst being marooned on a desolate planetoid.

Facing slow death, Cyclops devises a way off but it’s possibly worse than being eaten by the mudball world’s predatory lifeforms…

Scripted by John Layman, illustrated by Javier Garrón and coloured by Chris Sotomayor, this compendium collects issues #6-12 of Cyclops: (December 2014-June 2015), following the chronal castaway into emotional typhoons and universe-shredding crises before making safe harbour back on Earth…

It begins with the Summers family back aboard the Starjammer with the kid geekily seeking to impress his crewmates. His eagerness leads to disaster and the ship’s ambush by master star pirate Captain Malafect of the mighty vessel Desolation. Outgunned, outnumbered and seemingly helpless, Corsair savagely turns on his son, beating and denouncing him…

When the triumphant villain maroons the Starjammers to die a slow death in a lifepod, he keeps Scott as his newest recruit and Corsair just so’s he can torment and torture his old shipmate…

Soon the kid is learning the darkest sides of space pillaging, and it’s all he can do to keep the bodycount low. His squeamishness and eagerness to please doesn’t initially endear him to his new shipmates either, but he gradually befriends some of them. Pretending to torture Corsair helps his standing but the real turnabout comes after Captain’s daughter Vileena decides she really likes the “Pirate Boy”…

The X-Man Cyclops was regarded as one of the most brilliant tacticians ever born and now his timeslipped junior self proves that gift came early as the complex long game he initiated when the Starjammer was first taken begins to pay off.

As his marooned former shipmates are picked up by slavers, he leads a (relatively bloodless) raid and acquires a Shi’ar super-weapon dubbed a “starcracker”, endearing him further to Malefect and Vileena whilst losing forever the leader of the crew faction intent on killing him…

Riding high in the buccaneer’s regard, Scott leads an away mission whilst the Captain seeks to sell the ultimate weapon leading to the liberation of his father and an all-out war that pits his new friends against his old crew. In the end, it can only end in disaster and tragedy…

Rightly, the tale should end here, but also included is the final issue which was the tenth instalment of publishing event Black Vortex (Cyclops #12; June 2015). The story detailed how many of Marvel’s space-based heroes and villains became embroiled in the quest to possess a cosmic mirror that bestowed infinite power on any who used it.  Prior to this chapter, Scott reunited with his X-Men as a mystery opponent named Mr. Knife out-manoeuvred the Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, Captain Marvel and many more…

Now reunited with his school chums and on the run again Scott sacrifices himself – as do Iceman and Groot – to the Black Vortex, hoping the resultant power-hike will help their friends before ultimately corrupting them…

Unfortunately, readers won’t learn the answer here, as we conclude with a feature on Garrón & Sotomayor’s process for turning drawings into full colour art , leaving us to the seas of fate and another collection for answers and culmination…

With covers & variants gallery by Alexander Lozano and Andrea Sorrentino, this is – despite my cavils and quibbles – a thrilling, heart-warming, funny and astoundingly action-packed romp. Cyclops: A Pirate’s Life For Me combines cosmic intrigue and dashing derring-do with solid characterisation and wild blue yonder wonderment, and will delight any fan of cosmically light-hearted Marvel Movies like Guardians of the Galaxy or Thor: Love and Thunder. What more could any wide-eyed, entertainment-starved child of the wondering stars want?
© 2014 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. 2021 MARVEL

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Captain Marvel volume 1: Nothing to Lose


By Peter David, ChrisCross, Ivan Reis, Paco Medina & various (Marvel Comics)
ISBN 978-0-7851-1104-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Once upon a time, individuality was king and identity constantly – and litigiously – defended. These days, superhero comics are filled with spin-offs, legacies and alternates. Where once DC eradicated an entire multiverse to ensure readers would see there was only one Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman now there are dozens of iterations of every costumed character and fans couldn’t be happier.

However, there was always one title/character that bucked the trend…

One of the most venerated, beloved characters in American comics was created by Bill Parker & Charles Clarence Beck as part of the wave of opportunistic creativity following the successful launch of Superman in 1938. Although there were many similarities in the early years, the Fawcett Comics character moved swiftly and solidly into realms of light entertainment and even broad comedy, whilst throughout the 1940s the Man of Steel increasingly sidelined whimsy in favour of family-friendly action and drama.

Homeless orphan and thoroughly good kid Billy Batson was selected by an ancient wizard to battle injustice and subsequently granted the powers of six gods and mythical heroes. By speaking aloud the wizard’s name – an acronym for divine patrons Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury – he transformed from scrawny boy to brawny (adult) champion Captain Marvel.

At the height of his popularity, “the Big Red Cheese” was published twice monthly, hugely outselling Superman, and in 1941 DC/National Comics launched an infamous court case citing copyright infringement. However, as the decade progressed and tastes changed, sales slowed, and the case was settled just as many publishers started switching from costumed heroes to “Real Men” and monsters. Like many superheroes, Captain Marvel and his gods-powered kin disappeared, becoming a fond memory for older fans. A big syndication success, he was missed all over the world. In Britain, where an English reprint line had run for many years, creator/publisher Mick Anglo had an avid audience and no product, and so transformed the Captain and company into atomic age heroes Marvelman, Young Marvelman and Kid Marvelman continuing to thrill readers into the early 1960s, even if here there were no girls allowed.

Then, as America lived through another superhero boom-&-bust, the 1970s dawned with a shrinking industry and wide variety of comics genres servicing a base that was increasingly founded on collectors and fans rather than casual or impulse buyers. National/DC Comics needed sales and were prepared to look for them in unusual places.

After the court settlement with Fawcett in 1953 they had secured the rights to Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior, Mary Marvel and all the spin-off Family. Now, even though the name itself had been taken up by Marvel Comics (via a circuitous and quirky robotic character published by Carl Burgos and M.F. Publications in 1967), the publishing monolith decided to tap into that discriminating if aging fanbase.

In 1973, riding a wave of national nostalgia on TV and in movies, DC brought back the entire beloved Marvel crew in their own kinder, weirder universe. To circumvent the intellectual property clash, they named the new title Shazam! (…With One Magic Word!) – the trigger phrase used by myriad Marvels to transform to and from mortal form, and a word that had entered the American language due to the success of the franchise the first time around.

Meanwhile, at the other place…

In 1968, upstart Marvel was in the ascendant. Their sales were rapidly overtaking industry leaders National/DC and Gold Key Comics and, having secured a new distributor allowing them to expand their list of titles exponentially, the company was about to undertake a creative expansion of unparalleled proportions.

Once individual stars of “split-books” Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish and Strange Tales were awarded their own titles, the House of Ideas just kept on going. In progress was a publishing plan seeking to take conceptual possession of the word “Marvel” through both reprint series such as Marvel Tales, Marvel Collector’s Items Classics and Marvel Super-Heroes. Eventually, showcase titles such as Marvel Premiere, Marvel Spotlight and Marvel Feature also proudly trumpeted the name, so another dead-cert idea was to have an actual hero named for the company – and preferably one with some ready-made cachet and pedigree as well.

After the infamous 1940s-1950s copyright case of the, the prestigious appellation Captain Marvel disappeared from newsstands. In 1967, during the “Camp” craze/superhero boom generated by the Batman TV series, publisher MLF produced a number of giant-sized comics featuring an intelligent robot able to divide his body into segments and shoot lasers from his eyes. Their legal right to have done so is still disputed…

Quirky, charming and devised by Carl Burgos (creator of the Golden Age Human Torch), the series failed to attract a large following in that flamboyantly flooded marketplace and on its demise the name was snapped up by Marvel Comics Group who properly secured rights to the name and have defended it ever since by publishing numerous characters who all seemed doomed to high quality runs and early cancelation…

In 1968, Marvel Super-Heroes was a brand new title: reconfigured from extended-length reprint vehicle Fantasy Masterpieces, which mixed vintage monster-mystery tales with Golden Age Timely Comics classics. With the 12th issue it added a try-out section for characters without homes. These included the Inhuman Medusa, Ka-Zar, Black Knight and Doctor Doom, plus new concepts Guardians of the Galaxy and Phantom Eagle, in all-new stories.

They kicked off with an alien spy sent to Earth from the Kree Galaxy. He held a Captain’s rank and his name was Mar-Vell. After two appearances, Captain Marvel catapulted straight into his own title for a rather hit-and-miss career combatting spies, aliens and costumed cut-ups like Sub-Mariner, Mad Thinker and Iron Man. Most frequently, however, he clashed with elements of his own rapaciously colonialist race – such as imperial investigative powerhouse Ronan the Accuser – all while slowly switching allegiances from the militaristic Kree to the noble, freedom-loving denizens of Earth.

This particular incarnation of the “trademark-that-must-not-die” features the son of that Kree warrior and long-time company supporting character/professional sidekick Rick Jones in a symbiotic relationship echoing the heyday of Mar-Vell’s flower-power glory days. Fair warning though, despite the excellent writing and great art, if you are not at least passingly familiar with Marvel’s close continuity, this is not a series of books you want to read without a little preparation.

Scripted by Peter David, with colours by Chris Sotomayor and letters from RS (Richard Starkings) & Comiccraft’s Albert!, Nothing to Lose collects Captain Marvel volume 2 #1-6 (cover-dates November 2002-April 2003, and I said it was confusing didn’t I?). It expands the saga of Genis, an artificially-matured test-tube baby son of Mar-Vell.

The Kree warrior turned Cosmic Protector saved Earth and Universe countless times before dying of cancer in the landmark Death of Captain Marvel (the company’s first official Graphic Novel), and here, after years trying to live up to and surpass his father’s achievements – he even debuted using the codename “Legacy” – the pressure starts to show.

Genis sought to emulate his father as a galaxy-spanning crusader, with mixed results, before hooking up with Rick Jones – his Dad’s original sidekick and, for a time, lifeline to reality. The human offered the promise of insider insights into what made him such a hero…

When Nothing to Lose opens with ‘Shards’ – illustrated by ChrisCross – he is, in fact, in just the same situation his father endured with the teen-aged Jones back in 1960’s. Their bodies are linked by “Nega-bands” – fantastically powerful alien wrist-bands which both wear, but only in turns, as they have the drawback of merging their molecular structure. This means only one body can inhabit the positive-matter universe at once, whilst the other is trapped in sub-atomic pocket-reality The Microverse. From there, the captive can observe and communicate, but not affect the “real” world.

The new Captain Marvel possesses his father’s greatest power, “Cosmic Awareness”: an ability to discern everything happening everywhere at once. Sadly, and inevitably, the gift is turning Genis into a raving madman. Just knowing something bad is happening doesn’t mean that the only solution you can offer is ultimately the right one for the universe. With so much to do, the captain has not allowed Rick to return to Earth for months…

This situation is tragically demonstrated when Marvel stops a suicide bomber from detonating on a crowded bus, only to see her murdered by one of her intended victims. His every action forces him to make immediate decisions and choose who to help for the greater good, but every choice seems to lead to unknowable cosmic consequences. This hopeless situation is repeated, magnified and drastically clarified after his intervention in an Badoon invasion and other missions.

As days pass Rick faces the fact that his partner’s omniscience and growing clairvoyance is more curse than blessing, and an increasing capriciousness is affecting Captain Marvel’s compulsion to “Do Good”. ‘Shock Absorber’ see Jones explore his options by going on an arduous pilgrimage and consulting (relatively) local god Shinga Doon, whilst the cosmic avenger starts taking advice and moral instruction from the Punisher…

In ‘Pamavision’ Genis joins the militaristic Kree’s colonial space fleet as they invade and colonise strategic world Toped: meeting the man who trained his father, embracing the bellicose expansionist culture and rising fast in the ranks. In the Microverse, Rick is unexpectedly joined by another truth-seeker just as his guru meets a sudden and mysterious death…

The Toped campaign goes badly wrong for the Kree in ‘Uriah’ (rendered by Ivan Reis) as the Captain uncovers sedition, ambition and espionage run wild, whilst Rick learns his fellow stranded acolyte – Epiphany – is far more than she seems. When war with the Shi’ar looms and romantic intrigue runs riot, Marvel’s solution is to kill everybody and then himself…

ChrisCross returns for ‘Au Pere’ as a truly brutal father & son moment in the great beyond leads to Genis discovering that both he and Rick have been manipulated by trans-cosmic siblings Epiphany and Entropy with a view to ousting the current supervisor of reality.

They have done their work well and deranged Genis eagerly anticipates battling the universe’s most powerful conceptual entities, killing Supreme Being Eternity and ending painful reality well before its due date…

Happily for all, Rick hasn’t given up hope in the spectacular and awe-inspiring Paco Medina-limned closing chapter ‘Four Characters in Search of Creation’…

This slim tome includes covers and variants by Alex Ross, CrissCross, Joe Jusko, Kia Asamiya, Phil Noto, JG Jones and Andy Kubert as well as an ‘Alex Ross Captain Marvel Concept Artwork’ feature, sharing his design process and thoughts on the character’s powerful reworking.

Wry, sardonic, explosively action-packed and sublimely provocative, Peter David’s blackly tongue-in-cheek examination of power and perspective has some truly chilling moments, and has a lot to say on the nature of heroism, all leavened by his absurdist sensibilities and love of comedy word-play. His take on duty and honour is wickedly engaging, with the sumptuous art carrying the sneaky double-dealing and savage conflicts with ease.
© 2021 MARVEL.

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X-Men Epic Collection volume 8: I, Magneto (1981-1982)


By Chris Claremont, Jo Duffy, Bob Layton, Dace Cockrum, Michael Golden, Brent Anderson, Paul Smith, Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod, John Buscema, George Pérez & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-2952-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

In 1963, The X-Men #1 introduced Scott (Cyclops) Summers, Jean (Marvel Girl) Grey, Bobby (Iceman) Drake, Warren (Angel) Worthington III and Hank (The Beast) McCoy: unique students of Professor Charles Xavier. Their teacher was a wheelchair-bound telepath dedicated to brokering peace and integration between the masses of humanity and the emergent off-shoot race of mutants dubbed Homo superior; considered by many who knew him as a living saint.

After eight years of eccentrically amazing adventures, the mutant misfits almost disappeared at the beginning of 1970 during another periodic downturn in superhero comics sales. Just as in the 1940s, mystery men faded away whilst traditional genres – especially supernatural yarns – dominated entertainment fields. The title returned at year’s end as a reprint vehicle, and the missing mutants became perennial guest-stars and bit-players throughout the Marvel Universe. The Beast was suitably refashioned as a monster fit for the global uptick in scary stories…

Everything changed again in 1975 when Len Wein & Dave Cockrum revived and reordered the Mutant mystique via a brand-new team in Giant Size X-Men #1. Old foes-turned-friends Banshee and Sunfire joined one-shot Hulk hunter Wolverine and original creations Kurt Wagner (a demonic German teleporter codenamed Nightcrawler), African weather “goddess” Ororo Monroe – AKA Storm, Russian farmboy Peter Rasputin (who transformed into a living steel Colossus) and bitter, disillusioned Apache superman John Proudstar who was cajoled into joining the makeshift squad as Thunderbird.

The revision was an instant hit, with Wein’s editorial assistant Chris Claremont assuming the writer’s role from the second story onwards. The Uncanny X-Men reclaimed their comic book with #94, which soon became the company’s most popular – and highest quality – title.

After Thunderbird became the team’s first fatality, the survivors slowly bonded, becoming an unparalleled fighting unit under the brusquely draconian supervision of Cyclops. Cockrum was succeeded by John Byrne and as the team roster changed, the series scaled even greater heights, culminating in the landmark Dark Phoenix storyline which saw the death of arguably the book’s most beloved, imaginative and powerful character.

In the aftermath, team leader Cyclops left but the epic cosmic saga also seemed to fracture the groundbreaking working relationship of Claremont & Byrne. Within months they went their separate ways: Claremont staying with mutants whilst Byrne went on to establish his own reputation as a writer with series such as Alpha Flight, Incredible Hulk and especially his revolutionary reimagining of The Fantastic Four…

This comprehensive compilation is an ideal jumping-on point, perfect for newbies, neophytes and old lags nervous over re-reading these splendid yarns on fragile, extremely valuable newsprint paper. It celebrates a changing of the guard as the mutants consolidated their unstoppable march to market dominance through high-quality storytelling Seen here are issues #144-153 of the (latterly re-renamed “Uncanny”) X-Men; X-Men Annual #5, Avengers Annual #10 and material from Bizarre Adventures #27 and Marvel Fanfare #1-4, spanning April 1981-September 1982.

Scripted by Claremont and illustrated by Brent Anderson & Joseph Rubenstein the drama resumes with X-Men #144 as ‘Even in Death…’ finds heartbroken wanderer Scott Summers (who quit after the death of Jean Grey) fetching up in coastal village Shark Bay before joining the crew of a fishing boat.

Trouble is never far from Cyclops, however, and when captain Aletys Forester introduces him to her dad, Scott must draw upon all his inner reserves – and instinctive assistance of macabre swamp guardian Man-Thing – to repel crushing, soul-consuming psychic assaults from pernicious demon D’spayre, who has made the region his personal torture garden…

Cockrum returned to the team he co-created in #145, joining Claremont & Rubinstein in an extended clash of cultures as ‘Kidnapped!’ sees the X-Men targeted by Doctor Doom, thanks to the machinations of deranged assassin Arcade.

With Storm, Colossus, Angel, Wolverine and Nightcrawler invading the Diabolical Dictator’s castle, a substitute-squad consisting of Iceman, Polaris, Banshee and Havoc are despatched to the killer-for-hire’s mechanised ‘Murderworld!’ to rescue family and friends of the heroes, all previously kidnapped by Arcade. In the interim, Doom has defeated the invading X-Men of his castle, but his cruel act of entrapping claustrophobe Ororo has backfired, triggering a ‘Rogue Storm!’ that could erase the USA from the globe…

Issue #148 opens with Scott and Aletys shipwrecked on a recently reemergent island holding the remnants of a lost civilisation, but the main event is a trip to Manhattan for 13-year-old X-Man Kitty Pryde, accompanied by Storm, Spider-Woman Jessica Drew and Dazzler Alison Blair. That’s lucky, since nomadic mutant empath Caliban calamitously attempts to abduct the child in ‘Cry, Mutant!’ by Claremont, Cockrum & Rubinstein…

A major menace resurfaces in #149 to threaten the shipwrecked couple, but the active X-Men are too busy to notice, dealing with resurrected demi-god Garokk and an erupting volcano in ‘And the Dead Shall Bury the Living!’ before all the varied plots converge in #150 (October 1981). Before that, though, there’s a crucial diversion that will affect and reshape the X-Men for years to come.

Crafted by Claremont, Michael Golden & Armando Gil, ‘By Friends… Betrayed!’  comes from Avengers Annual #10: seemingly closing the superhero career of Carol Danvers AKA Ms. Marvel. Powerless and stripped of her memories, Danvers is rescued from drowning by Spider-Woman, even as mutant shapeshifter Mystique launches an attack on the World’s Mightiest Superheroes to free her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from jail.

It’s revealed that Danvers’ mind and abilities have been permanently stolen by a power-leaching teenager dubbed Rogue and in the aftermath of the assembled heroes defeating Mystique, the Avengers learn a horrific truth: how they had inadvertently surrendered their comrade Carol into the grip of a manipulative villain acting as the perfect husband…

Returning to the X-Men, the anniversary issue delivers extended epic ‘I, Magneto’ seeing the merciless, malevolent master of magnetism threaten all humanity. with Xavier’s team helpless to stop him… until a critical moment triggers an emotional crisis and awakening of the tortured villain’s long-suppressed humanity…

Claremont, Anderson & Bob McLeod then craft riotous intergalactic wonderment in X-Men Annual #5’s ‘Ou, La La…Badoon!’ When the Fantastic Four help an alien fugitive stranded in Manhattan they are in turn targeted by unsavoury, invisible lizard-men. Only Susan Richards escapes, fighting her way to Westchester to enlist the aid of the X-Men: combat veterans well acquainted with battling aliens.

The rescue mission starts with a stopover in the extradimensional realm of Arkon the Magnificent where the Badoon have already triumphed and where, amid much mayhem, the liberators overthrow the invaders and provide salvation for three worlds…

Chronologically adrift but sacrificed to a cohesive reading order, the contents of Marvel Fanfare #1-4 follow. Published between March and September 1982, the astounding saga was an elite yarn designed to launch a prestige format showcase of Marvel characters and talent. The new title featured slick paper stock, superior printing (all standard today) and a rolling brief to promote innovation and bold new directions.

Under Al Milgrom’s editorial guidance, numerous notable tales from exceptional creators were published, but cynical me – and not just me – soon noticed that many of those creators were ones who had problems with periodical publishing and couldn’t make fixed deadlines…

These day’s that’s nothing to shout over: comics come out when they do and editors have no real power to decree otherwise, but in the 1980s it was big deal, because printers booked a project for a pre-specified date, and charged punitive fees if publishers didn’t get product in on time. That’s why inventory tales were created: fill-ins that sat in a drawer until a writer blew it or an artist had his work eaten by the dog. Sometimes the US Mail simply lost completed stuff in transit…

Scripted by Claremont, and also including Milgrom’s humorous ‘Editor-Al’ intro pages, Savage Land was collected in 1987 and again in 2002: uniting Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and a grab bag of X-Men in a spectacular return to that primordial paradise: an antediluvian repository beneath the South Pole where fantastic civilisations and dinosaurs fretfully co-exist.

Illustrated and coloured by Golden, it begins with a ‘Fast Descent into Hell!’ when distraught Tanya Anderssen tries to find her missing lover, last seen in that lost world. Disturbingly, the missing man is Karl Lykos, a troubled soul addicted to feeding on mutants and likely to become ghastly humanoid pteranosaur Sauron. Tanya’s only hope of saving him was via Warren Worthington III – publicly infamous as former/occasional X-Man The Angel.

The billionaire’s reluctant expedition to the Savage Land ultimately includes an embedded news team from the Daily Bugle, including photographer/trouble magnet Peter Parker, who quickly stumbles across a band of native evil mutants planning to conquer the outer world by creating mutant hybrids from human victims – like Spider-Man…

Second chapter ‘To Sacrifice my Soul…’ has Spidey and local hero Ka-Zar, the Jungle Lord, join forces to crush the mutation plot, inadvertently unleashing Sauron on the sub-polar world.

Golden’s stylish easy grace gave way to the slick, accomplished method of Dave Cockrum, & Bob McLeod for ‘Into the Land of Death…’ as X-Men Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Storm join Angel to thwart the diabolical dinosaur man and his malign mutant allies, before legend-in-training Paul Smith – assisted by inker Terry Austin – stepped in to finish the epic in grand style and climactic action in ‘Lost Souls!’

We then pop back to November 1981 for X-Men #151 wherein Jim Sherman, McLeod & Rubinstein welcome back Cyclops and wave Kitty goodbye in ‘X-Men Minus One!’

Due to the manipulations of White Queen Emma Frost, the teenager’s parents withdraw their daughter from Xavier’s school to enrol her in the Massachusetts Academy which covertly operates as the Hellfire Club’s training camp for young recruits. However, the sinister scheme is even deeper than the X-Men fear, as telepath Frost switches bodies with Storm to further her plan to eradicate the mutant heroes.

What nobody seems to realise is that although Frost has gained Ororo’s weather powers, her victim now has her appearance, loyal henchmen and psionic powers. Despite the deployment of terrifying robotic Sentinels, the plot spectacularly fails in closing instalment ‘The Hellfire Gambit’, illustrated by McLeod & Rubinstein…

Cockrum was back for #153, adding layers of whimsy to the usual angst and melodrama as ‘Kitty’s Fairy Tale’ sees the X-Mansion under reconstruction and the teen back where she belongs. As repairs continue, she tells bedtime stories to Colossus’ baby sister Illyana: using her teammates as inspiration, she spins a beguiling yarn of fantastic space pirates…

The action closes with the contents of monochrome “mature-reader” magazine Bizarre Adventures #27 (July 1981) sharing untold tales under the umbrella heading of ‘Secret Lives of the X-Men’…

Preceded by editorial ‘Listen, I Knew the X-Men When…’ and ‘X-Men Data Log’ pages by illustrated by Cockrum, these are offbeat solo tales of our idiosyncratic stars, opening with Phoenix in ‘The Brides of Attuma’ by Claremont, John Buscema & Klaus Janson. Here the dear departed mutant’s sister Sara Grey recalls a past moment when they were abducted by an undersea barbarian and even then Jean proved to be more than any mortal could handle…

That’s followed by Iceman vignette ‘Winter Carnival’ by Mary Jo Duffy, Pérez & Alfredo Alcala, wherein Bobby Drake is embroiled in a college heist with potentially catastrophic consequences, before ‘Show me the way to go home…’ (Bob Layton, Duffy, Cockrum & Ricardo Villamonte) pits Nightcrawler against villainous teleporter the Vanisher in a light-hearted trans-dimensional romp involving warrior women, threats to the very nature of reality and gratuitous (male) nudity…

Extras include original art pages by Cockrum, Rubinstein, Anderson & McLeod; Cockrum’s cover to fanzine The X-Men Chronicles; Byrne & Austin’s cover for the X-men parody issue of Crazy (#82, January 1982) and John Buscema’s 1987 Savage Land collection.

For many fans these tales comprise a definitive high point for the X-Men. Rightly ranking amongst the greatest stories Marvel ever published, they remain supremely satisfying, groundbreaking and painfully intoxicating: an invaluable grounding in contemporary fights ‘n’ tights fiction no fan or casual reader can afford to ignore.
© 2021 MARVEL.

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Ms. Marvel volume 1: No Normal


By G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, Ian Herring, VC’s Joe Caramagna & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9021-9 (TPB/Digital edition)

In a comic book title, the soubriquet “Marvel” carries a lot of baggage and clout, and has been attached to a wide number of vastly differing characters over many decades. In 2014, it was inherited by comics’ first mainstream first rank Muslim superhero, albeit employing the third iteration of pre-existing designation Ms. Marvel.

Career soldier, former spy and occasional journalist Carol Danvers – who rivals Henry Pym in number of secret identities, having been Binary, Warbird, Ms. Marvel again and ultimately Captain Marvel – originated the role when her Kree-based abilities first manifested. She experienced a turbulent superhero career and was lost in space when Sharon Ventura became the second, unrelated Ms. Marvel. She gained her powers from the villainous Power Broker, and after briefly joining the Fantastic Four, was mutated by cosmic ray exposure into a She-Thing…

Debuting in a sly cameo in Captain Marvel (volume 7 #14, September 2013) and bolstered by a subsequent teaser in #17, Kamala Khan was the third to use the codename. She properly launched in full fight mode in a tantalising short episode (All-New MarvelNow! Point One #1) chronologically set just after her origin and opening exploit.

That aforementioned origin saga unfolded in #1-5 of Ms. Marvel (volume 3), and forms the majority of this first collection of light-hearted all-ages adventure originally published between cover-dates April-August 2014.

Collaboratively conceived by editors Sana Amanat and Stephen Wacker, the character was realised by writer and journalist G. Willow Wilson, (Mystic: The Tenth Apprentice, Cairo, Air, The Butterfly Mosque, Alif the Unseen) and illustrator Alphonse Alphona (Uncanny X-Force, Captain Britain and MI13, Runaways) with additional design input from Jamie McKelvie (Suburban Glamour, Long Hot Summer, Young Avengers, The Wicked + the Divine, Phonogram, Rue Britannia), who jointly recast the classic origin and setting of Spider-Man for a new age. The entire epic was coloured by Ian Herring and lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna.

Kamala Khan is a teenager living in Jersey City. Just across the Hudson river lies Manhattan, and the superhero geek frequently enjoys a distant ringside seat to the constant wonders that occur there.

As a Pakistani American growing up Muslim she has her share of daily dramas at Coles Academic High School and elsewhere, but life is generally pretty good. She has good friends like Bruno and Kiki (Nakia), petty annoyances like golden girl Zoe Zimmer and jock Josh or even her loving family. They don’t really understand her obsession with computers, social media and especially with making superhero fan fiction – especially as Kamala is getting older now and needs to start thinking seriously about her future…

Miss Khan’s stolid suppressed status quo abruptly changes in ‘Meta Morphosis’ on the night she breaks a parental embargo and sneaks out to attend a party. Any potential enjoyment is marred by guilt, apprehension and Zoe and Josh, but the real shock comes on the way home when the city is enveloped in a strange fog that causes Kamala to collapse.

During earlier mega-crossover blockbuster Infinity, mad Titan Thanos invaded Earth and clashed with the Inhumans and battled their King Black Bolt to a standstill. As a last resort the embattled sovereign crashed sky-floating city Attilan onto New York and into the Hudson, releasing the Hidden People’s mutagenic Terrigen Mist into the atmosphere.

As it traversed the globe, the gas cloud triggered mutation in millions, proving that Human and Inhuman were not different species and that dormant Inhuman genes reposed everywhere, unsuspected by humankind. All those susceptible to the contaminant either died or metamorphosed into new beings via body-altering cocoons…

Attilan’s crash happened mere hours before and now Kamala is unconscious on a Jersey City street, wracked by bizarre hallucinations of the Avengers and particularly her absolute favourite hero Carol Danvers…

On awakening, she has to smash her way out of a strange shell. When the mists and dust clear Khan is astounded to see she is no longer a “little brown girl” but big, blonde, busty and white. In fact, she looks exactly like the original Ms. Marvel…

In ‘All Mankind’ while experimenting – and puking – Kamala realises she is constantly shapeshifting and body-morphing, but her shock and terror recede after seeing Zoe in danger. Without thinking, Kamala responds to save the Mean Girl, albeit in a manner everybody thinks pretty gross…

Fed up with adventure, Kamala heads home, and is relieved to somehow revert to normal while climbing in her bedroom window. Sadly, ultra-conservative older brother Aamir and her parents are waiting…

‘Side Entrance’ sees Zoe milking her celebrity moment as the media descend on Jersey and Kamala frantically researches her powers – with disastrous results. Desperate to find some way to control them she is spiralling until Bruno comes to her rescue by being held up at his afterschool job. Once again leaping into action as “Carol Danvers”, Kamala learns it’s not that easy a career, after being shot and reverting to her natural form in ‘Past Curfew’…

With a certified genius like Bruno on board, Kamala finally understands what she can do and devises her own costume and alter ego, just as the city is targeted by a genuine – but so weird – supervillain, leading the new Ms. Marvel into the wilds to hunt down an exploitative mastermind running troubled teens as his soldiers.

Brimming with confidence, the neophyte hero is unprepared for the deadly mechanical monsters of The Inventor, a brutal showdown with that invisible crook’s gang or the even worse trial of keeping secrets from her increasingly concerned and bewildered family in closing chapter ‘Urban Legend’…

The initial story arc won the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story – the first of many glittering critical acknowledgements – and is followed here by that aforementioned teaser tale from All-New MarvelNow! Point One #1.

Crafted by Wilson, Aphona, Herring & Caramagna, ‘Garden State of Mind’ finds the hero diverted by a marauding trash monster-bot and late for a major family social gathering…

And thus began a meteoric rise for the new hero. Kamala Khan would steal hearts and minds, become a shining example and become a major player in monumental publishing events such as Last Days, Secret Wars, Secret Empire, Civil War II, Generations and Outlawed, whilst joining or leading teams like the All-New All-Different  Avengers, Champions, and Secret Warriors and inheriting the lead role in a revived Marvel Team-Up title.

Her role as positive role model cannot be overstated – how many female or Muslim superheroes can you think of, or have ever had their own American TV series?

That success is completely due to the comics stories which perfectly marry action and drama to powerfully engaging view of home life, stuffed to the brim with humour and happy moments, rather than the relentless bleakness of so many superhero sagas.

Colour plays a powerful part in telling these tales, subtly supplementing the ostensibly cartoonish art of Adrian Alphona into suitably tense dramatic fare without ever losing the vivacity and charm of the comedic undertones, so especial kudos to Ian Herring for his impressive and sensitive efforts here…

Similar congratulations to letterer Joe Caramagna for handling a rather dialogue-heavy script (absolutely necessary to capture the brilliant interplay and byplay of the teens and parental generation packing G. Willow Wilson’s extremely engaging and beguiling script).

Wrapping up this volume is a covers & variant gallery by Sara Pichelli & Justin Ponsor, McKelvie & Matthew Wilson, Salvador Larocca & Laura Martin, Arthur Adams & Peter Steigerwald, Jorge Molina, Annie Wu and a fascinating look at Alphona’s ‘Sketchbook’ of character designs and ‘inks to color process’.

Still fresh, funny, thrill-drenched and utterly absorbing, the saga of this Ms. Marvel is something you need to see over and over again.
© 2017 Marvel Characters Inc. All rights reserved.

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Marvel Team-Up Marvel Masterworks volume 6


By Bill Mantlo, Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema, John Byrne, Keith Giffen & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-2931-2 (HB)

The concept of team-ups – an established star pairing or battling (usually both) with new or less well-selling company characters – has been with us since the earliest days of comics, but making the brief encounter/temporary alliance a key selling point really took hold with DC’s The Brave and the Bold before being taken up by their biggest competitor.

Marvel Team-Up was the second regular Spider-Man title, launching at the end of 1971. It went from strength to strength, proving the time had finally come for expansion and offering a regular venue for uncomplicated action romps to supplement the House of Ideas’ complex sub-plot fare in regular books. However, even in the infinite Marvel Multiverse, certain stars shine more brightly than others and some characters turn up in team-ups more often than others…

In recent years, carefully curated themed collections from the back-catalogue have served to initiate new readers intrigued by Marvel’s Movie and TV endeavours, but there’s no real substitute for seeing Marvel’s continuity unfolding in chronological and this compelling hardback/eBook compilation gathers the contents of Marvel Team-Up #53-64; MTU Annual #1 and includes a pertinent debut from Marvel Premiere #31; collectively covering August 1976 to December 1977.

Following Chris Claremont’s Introduction offering fond remembrances of the times and key writer Bill Mantlo, open with an epic length adventure from Marvel Team-Up Annual #1 by Mantlo, Sal Buscema & Mike Esposito (from a plot by Mantlo, Claremont & Bonnie Wilford).

‘The Lords of Light and Darkness!’ sees Spider-Man and the then-newly minted and revived X-Men, Banshee, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Phoenix and Cyclops helping Charles Xavier combat a pantheon of scientists mutated by atomic accident and elevated to minor godhood.

Like most deities, the puissant ones believed they knew what was best for humanity…

Mantlo then teamed with John Byrne & Frank Giacoia to bring closure to a tale begun – and left hanging – in August 1976’s Marvel Premiere #31, which can be found at the back of this book.

Marvel Team-Up #53 detailed a ‘Nightmare in New Mexico!’ as The Hulk meets troubled and AWOL gene-splicing experiment Woodgod as the tragic construct flees from corrupt Army Colonel Del Tremens. By the time the wallcrawler drops in, the fugitive outcasts have joined forces leaving him a  ‘Spider in the Middle!’ (inked by Esposito).

As Tremens seeks to suppress the calamitous crisis – and his own indiscretions – by killing everyone, the final scene sees the webspinner trapped in a rocket and blasted into space…

Marvel Team-Up #55 revealed a ‘Spider, Spider on the Moon!’ (Mantlo, Byrne & Dave Hunt) with returned cosmic Avenger Adam Warlock intercepting the ship before assisting the Arachnid and mysterious alien The Gardener against The Stranger: all seeking possession of the Golden Gladiator’s life-sustaining Soul Gem…

Back on Earth but still a trouble-magnet, in #56 Spider-Man assists Daredevil against ‘Double Danger at the Daily Bugle!’ (Mantlo, Sal B & Hunt) when Electro and Blizzard take the entire Newsroom hostage, after which Claremont assumed full scripting duties, laying the groundwork for a complex extended thriller embroiling the still-naïve hero in a deadly espionage plot.

With artists Sal Buscema & Dave Hunt, Claremont began redefining the Widow’s ways in Marvel Team-Up #57 (May 1977). ‘When Slays the Silver Samurai!’ sees Spidey saved from lethal ambush by the Black Widow, implausibly holding up a collapsing building, and reluctantly taking possession of a strange statuette that he soon forgets all about. That’s an oversight he’ll later regret…

In #58, the webspinner aids Ghost Rider against The Trapster in ‘Panic on Pier One!’ (Pablo Marcos inks) before he can investigate further.  Another distraction comes when MTU #59 declares ‘Some Say Spidey Will Die by Fire… Some Say by Ice!’ (Claremont, Byrne & Hunt) when veteran Avenger Yellowjacket is apparently murdered by rampaging mystery maniac Equinox, the Thermo-Dynamic Man. The Amazing Arachnid is hard-pressed to stop the traumatised Waspexacting bloody vengeance in concluding episode ‘A Matter of Love… and Death!’ in MTU #60…

The secret of the clay artefact is revealed in #61 as Human Torch Johnny Storm joins his creepy-crawly frenemy in battle against the Super-Skrull and learns ‘Not All Thy Powers Can Save Thee!’, with the furious clash calamitously escalating to include Ms. Marvel Carol Danvers with the next issue’s ‘All This and the QE2’…

Despite the very best efforts of Claremont & Byrne, their Kung Fu fantasy Iron Fist never quite achieved the kind of sales traction that rewarded their collaboration on the X-Men. The living weapon lost his circulation battle with issue #15 of his own title. Although ending in spectacular fashion, the cancellation was clearly unplanned, as two major subplots went unresolved: private detective Misty Knight had disappeared on an undercover assignment to investigate European gang-boss John Bushmaster and K’un Lun kid Danny Rand was suffering repeated attacks on his chi by the enigmatic and murderous Steel Serpent…

Frustrated fans didn’t have to wait long for a resolution. Marvel Team-Up was becoming the creative team’s personal clearing house for unresolved plot-lines. Issues #63 & 64 exposed the secret of the sinister K’un Lun pariah on the ‘Night of the Dragon’ before Rand and Spidey – with the assistance of Daughters of the Dragon Misty Knight and Colleen Wing– finally ended his threat in blistering martial arts manner with ‘If Death Be My Destiny!’

This epic tome is packed with rarely-seen extras, beginning with the contents of the Marvel Comics Memory Album Calendar 1977, released in late 1976 and preceded here by a ‘Special F.O.O.M. Preview!’ from the fabled fan-mag’s #16 (December 1976) issue. The Calendar pages follow, written by Roy Thomas and limned by Jack Kirby, John Romita Sr., Joe Sinnott, Ed Hannigan, Frank Giacoia, Gil Kane, John Buscema, Ron Wilson, Gene Colan, Jack Abel, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, George Pérez, Tom Palmer, P. Craig Russell and John Verpoorten.

As an added treat, the debut/origin of “The Man-Brute Called Woodgod” (Marvel Premiere #31, August 1976) comes next as Mantlo, Keith Giffen and Klaus Janson explore the merits, ethics and repercussions of manufacturing life and meddling with nature. ‘Birthday!’ finds a modern-day faun rampaging through the ruins of a murdered town, searching for meaning and answers from the savage military men and technicians whose only solution to oversight and potential censure is murder and cover-ups…

The sinister science project saga is supplemented by F.O.O.M. #13’s interview ‘Woodgod Wanderings’ plus a gallery of Byrne original art pages.

These tales are of variable quality but all have an honest drive to entertain and please, whilst artistically the work – particularly action-man-on-fire Byrne – is superb, and most fans will find little to complain about. Although not perhaps a book for casual or more maturely-oriented readers there’s lots of fun on hand and young readers – or Marvel Cinematic supporters – will have a blast, so why not consider this tome for your “Must-Have” library? © 2021 MARVEL

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The Amazing Spider-Man: The Complete Alien Costume Saga – Book 1


By Tom DeFalco, Al Milgrom, David Michelinie, Louise Simonson, Cary Burkett & Tony Isabella with Roger Stern, Jim Owsley & Bob DeNatale, Ron Frenz, Greg LaRocque, Rick Leonardi & Paul Neary with David Mazzuchelli & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-8867-4 (TPB)

Spider-Man exchanged his heavily-copyrighted and thoroughly trademarked costume whilst on another planet during the first Marvel Secret Wars. It was replaced with a magnificently stylish black & white number for the duration of the 12 issue maxi-series in his own titles (except the all-reprint Marvel Tales) which over the course of the year revealed the true horrifying nature of the extraterrestrial ensemble…

Collecting Amazing Spider-Man #252-258; Marvel Team-Up #141-145 and MTU Annual #7 and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #90-95 and covering May-November 1984, this rather rare paperback or instantly accessible digital tome seeks to chronologically cover all the bases in regard to the black bodysuit’s every appearance and thus opens with relevant clips from clips from Secret Wars #8, 9 and 12…

Continuity-wise, the extended epic opens at the conclusion of the Secret Saga with Spider-Man and Curt Connors – occasionally lethally maniacal monster the Lizard – explosively returning to Earth after a week when the world’s greatest heroes and villains had simply vanished.

To clear up any potential confusion: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars debuted in May 1984 and ran for 12 monthly issues until April 1985. In it, a selection of metahumans good and bad were shanghaied by a godlike being dubbed The Beyonder: compelled to interminably battle each other. Every other Marvel comic  of that month chronologically occurred in the apparent aftermath of that struggle with most of the returned heroes and villains refusing to divulge what had happened on Battleworld …a cheap but extremely effective ploy which kept fans glued to the Limited Series in the months that followed.

This compendium catapults us into action with ‘Homecoming!’ by Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz & Brett Breeding as spectators in Central Park see a mysterious black garbed stranger explode out of an alien artefact … only the first of many costumed characters to escape the Beyonder’s world.

Spider-Man takes the shell-shocked Connors back to his family and then begins to explore his new uniform: a thought-controlled, self-activating, metamorphic ball with chameleon capabilities, able to construct webbing out of its own mass.

The smart-cloth is astonishing, but weary Peter Parker has family to see and a city to reacquaint himself with. The hero promises himself he’ll further research the incredible material at a later date…

Not included here, Marvel Team-Up #140 posed a morally trying dilemma as a city-wide blackout provoked riots and looting. Spider-Man was on scene when a pawnshop owner was shot dead and the next day, lawyer Matt Murdock was appointed to defend a teenager indicted for the murder. Parker was there too, and knows the kid is innocent. As Spider-Man investigates, Daredevil‘s old flame Natasha Romanoff volunteers to fact-find for the overworked attorney. When investigations overlapped a street gang was confirmed to be behind the incident, but the new murder suspect triggered a deadly car chase and hostage situation before being apprehended. Frustratingly – although responsible for much of the tragedy on that night – he quickly proves to also be innocent of the pawnbroker’s death…

This yarn happened at the beginning of Secret Wars and it’s a much-altered Spider-Man who joins Daredevil and the Black Widow in obtaining ‘Blind Justice’ in #141 (by DeFalco, Jim Owsley AKA Priest, Greg LaRoque & Mike Esposito) as the heroes uncover New York mob connections, a trail to Kingpin Wilson Fisk, the real killer and the true nature of the kid they’ve been defending…

In Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #90, Al Milgrom & Jim Mooney’s ‘Where, oh Where Has My Spider-Man Gone…?’ sees occasionally reformed adventurer and thief the Black Cat scouring the city and encountering many foes and friends before finally finding her transformed man, after which the wonderful Rick Leonardi & Bill Anderson illustrate DeFalco’s powerful crime thriller ‘By Myself Betrayed!’

Here a prominent football player, sucked into gambling and match-fixing, drags the Web-spinner into conflict with new gang-lord The Rose. As his new uniform increasingly, obsessively amazes Peter with its rather disturbing autonomy (it comes to him unbidden and regularly envelops him while he sleeps), the hero uncomprehendingly alienates his beloved Aunt May when he drops out of college…

Milgrom & Mooney’s ‘If it Wasn’t for Bad Luck…’ in PPSS #91 sees the Black Cat keeping secrets from her frankly now-creepy paramour even as mutant menace the Blob goes on a grief-fuelled rampage before Amazing Spider-Man #254 questions ‘With Great Power…’ (DeFalco, Leonardi & Joe Rubinstein) as the ebon wallcrawler battles terrorist mercenary Jack O’Lantern for possession of a hi-tech battle-van designed and built by the terrifying Hobgoblin. Peter should have been reconciling with May, and suffers another heartbreaking personal setback…

PPSS #92 (Milgrom & Mooney) bombastically introduces the Kingpin’s latest diabolical fixer in ‘And the answer is…’, with the Cat desperate to keep Spider-Man in the dark about her deal with Wilson Fisk, whilst Marvel Team-Up #142 and 143 take the wallcrawler very far from home in a cosmic mini epic by David Michelinie, LaRoque & Esposito.

‘Foiled!’ sees living light source Monica Rambeau (the second Marvel Captain Marvel) trapped in energy form following a high-tech heist and dependent on Spidey and Titan Starfox to save the day and secure a trans-dimensional remedy in ‘Shifts and Planes’…

In Amazing Spider-Man #255, DeFalco, Frenz & Rubinstein introduce charismatic septuagenarian cat-burglar Black Fox(whose outfit coincidentally resembled Spidey’s new kit) who is a hapless pawn and target of the ruthless but cash-strapped Red Ghost and his Super-Apes in ‘Even a Ghost Can Fear the Night!’ Compelled to rob until caught by Spider-Man, the Fox orchestrated a spectacular battle between the hero and the Ghost before getting away with all the loot…

Marvel Team-Up Annual #7 (by Louise Simonson, Paul Neary & Sam De La Rosa) saw Spider and Cat meet Alpha Flight as a certain Elder of the Universe goes after aliens to complete a set and falls for ‘The Collected Spider-Man’.

The issue also revealed ‘No Place to Run’ for a loving ordinary couple forever unsettled by witnessing the world of Superheroes and villains by Bob DeNatale, David Mazzuchelli & Brett Breeding…

Milgrom & Mooney crafted ‘A Hot Time in the Old Morgue Tonight!’ for Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man#93 as The Answer stalks the Black Cat to unearth Spider-Man’s secrets, only to see love being poisoned and Spidey’s suit start to malfunction…

Subsequently kidnapping the Cat is only part of his masterplan – as is letting the wallcrawler win her back…

Cary Burkett, LaRoque & Esposito pit the webslinger and Moon Knight against Chinese ganglord White Dragon in ‘My Sword I Lay Down!’ as a prelude to Milgrom & Mooney bringing Cloak and Dagger into the game with PPSS #94’s ‘How Ya Gonna Keep ’em Down at the Morgue After They’ve Seen N.Y.C.?’ as the Kingpin resurrects his former rival Silvermane and the mindless cyborg goes wild. The tale ends but does not conclude here with #95 and ‘The Dagger at the End of the Tunnel’ as the Kingpin’s grand scheme is exposed and one hero falls…

Closing the team tussles, MTU #145 (September 1984, by Tony Isabella,  LaRocque & Esposito) delivers ‘Hometown Boy’: from the period when Tony Stark first succumbed to alcoholism. He lost everything, and friend/bodyguard Jim Rhodes took on the role and duties of the Golden Avenger. As Stark tried to make good with a new start-up company, this engaging yarn sees the substitute hero still finding his ferrous feet whilst battling oft-failed assassin Blacklash (formerly Whiplash) at a Cleveland trade fair, as much hindered as helped by visiting hero Spider-Man wearing his enigmatic black duds…

Having granted readers a period of adjustment, the saga hits its stride in Amazing Spider-Man #256 as ‘Introducing… Puma!’ finds an increasingly weary and listless Spider-Man attacked by a Native American super-mercenary hired by the Rose. The Arachnid’s gang-busting crusade beside Black Cat was making life too hot and unprofitable for the ambitious mobster…

That calamitous clash carries over into ‘Beware the Claws of Puma!’ furiously escalating until The Kingpin steps in to stop it, forcing the Rose to ally himself with the murderous Hobgoblin. The issue ends with an exhausted Parker confronted with a stunning revelation from former lover Mary Jane Watson…

The shock prompts Peter into seeking out ‘The Sinister Secret of Spider-Man’s New Costume!’ Plagued by nightmares, perpetually tired and increasingly debilitated, the webslinger visits the Fantastic Four and is disgusted and horrified to learn that his suit is alive: a parasite slowly attaching itself to him body and soul…

Meanwhile, Hobgoblin and the Rose’s uneasy alliance has resulted in bloody, undeclared war on the Kingpin…

With Reed Richards‘ help the creature is removed from Spider-Man and imprisoned, but the story is still unfinished and there’s so much more to come.

To Be Continued…

Also on show here are Leonardi designs from Mike Zeck’s design for the black costume from Marvel Age #12; text pieces by Bob Sodaro & Mark Lerer from #14; covers by Ron Lim, Larry Mahlstedt, Keith Williams, Milgrom, Terry Austin, from Marvel Tales #266-272 (reprinting the Amazing Spider-Man stories) and two previous collection covers by Ron Frenz, Rubinstein and John Romita Sr.

Rounding out this initial collection is a foreword by Jim Salicrup from the 1988 collection; seven original art pages by Frenz & Breeding, LaRocque, Rubinstein & Esposito, and front and back covers from Essential Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man volume 4 by Milgrom, tom chu and Tom Smith.

This run of tales marvellously rejuvenated the Amazing Arachnid: kicking off a period of gripping and imaginative stories that culminated with the creation of arch antihero/villain Venom and today’s whole symbiote super-subculture.  If you’re a fan of superhero comics these are tales you just don’t want to miss, specially in Spder-Man’s anniversary year!
© 2019 MARVEL

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Avengers Marvel Masterworks volume 18


By David Michelinie, Roger Slifer, Steve Gerber, Tom DeFalco, Mark Gruenwald, Steven Grant, Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, Scott Edelman, Mark Evanier, John Byrne, George Pérez, Carmine Infantino, Jim Mooney, Don Newton, Michael Netzer, Sal Buscema & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-0960-4 (HB)

The Avengers have always proved that putting all one’s star eggs in a single basket pays off big-time: even when all Marvel’s classic all-stars such as Thor, Captain America and Iron Man are absent, it merely allows the team’s lesser lights to shine more brightly.

Of course, all the founding stars were regularly featured due to the rotating, open door policy, which means that every issue includes somebody’s fave-rave – and the boldly grand-scale impressive stories and artwork are no hindrance either. With the team now global icons, let’s look again at the stories which form the foundation of that pre-eminence.

Re-presenting Avengers #178-188, Avengers Annual #8-9, plus Marvel Premier #49 and material from Marvel Tales #100 (cumulatively spanning December 1978 to October 1979), these stories again see the team in transition.

Jim Shooter, having galvanised and steadied the company’s notional flagship, moved on, leaving David Michelinie to impress his own ideas and personality upon the team, but such transitions are always tricky and a few water-treading fill-ins were necessary before progress resumed. For behind the scenes details you can read Michelinie’s fascinating Introduction before diving in to the fabulous action and drama…

After the death and resurrection of the heroes in the previous volume, Korvac‘s defeat leads seamlessly into Avengers Annual #8, getting back to business with a monolithic Fights ‘n’ Tights melee in ‘Spectrums of Deceit!’, courtesy of Roger Slifer, George Pérez, Pablo Marcos & Ricardo Villamonte. It sees the sentient power-prism of archvillain Doctor Spectrum systematically possessing Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The upshot is another blockbusting battle against the Squadron Sinister and ethically ambivalent Femizon Thundra and another guest shot for mighty Ms. Marvel…

A subtle change of pace and tone came in Avengers #178. ‘The Martyr Perplex!’ – by Steve Gerber, Carmine Infantino & Rudy Nebres – sees mutant Hank McCoy/The Beast targeted by master brainwasher The Manipulator in a tense psycho-thriller teeming with shady crooks and government spooks, after which Tom DeFalco, Jim Mooney, Al Gordon & Mike Esposito deliver a 2-part yarn introducing tragic mutant Bloodhawk and an ambitious human hitman in ‘Slowly Slays the Stinger!’

Whilst Stinger cautiously executes his commission, another cohort of champions accompany Bloodhawk to his desolate island home of Maura for a ‘Berserkers’ Holiday’, just in time to battle an animated and agitated stone idol. When they return victorious, Stinger is waiting and the assemblage loses its newest ally forever…

Finally getting back on track, Avengers #181 introduces new regular creative team David Michelinie & John Byrne – augmented by inker Gene Day – as ‘On the Matter of Heroes!’ sees intrusive and obsessive Government Agent Henry Peter Gyrich lay down the law and winnow the army of heroes down to a federally acceptable seven.

As the Guardians of the Galaxy headed back to their future, Iron Man, the Vision, Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Beast and Wasp must placate Hawkeye after he is rejected in favour of new member The Falcon – reluctantly parachuted in to conform to government affirmative action quotas…

Almost immediately, Gyrich’s methodically calculated plans are in tatters as an elderly Romani sorcerer attacks. He claims mutants Wanda and Pietro Frank as his long-lost children and traps their souls inside little wooden dolls, and the resultant clash in #182’s ‘Honor Thy Father’ (inked by Klaus Janson) creates even more questions, as overwhelming evidence seems to confirm Django Maximoff‘s story. The upshot sees the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver leave with him on a quest for answers…

Michelinie, Byrne, Janson & D(iverse). Hands provide a breathtaking all-action extravaganza in #183-184 as ‘The Redoubtable Return of Crusher Creel!’ finds Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel cleared by Gyrich to replace the Witch…

Elsewhere in the Big Apple, the formidable Absorbing Man has decided to leave the country and quit being thrashed by heroes. Unfortunately, his departure plans include kidnapping a young woman “for company”, leading to a cataclysmic showdown with the heroes and Hawkeye (still determined to win back his place on the team) and resulting in carnage, chaos and a ‘Death on the Hudson!’…

Historical continuity addicts Mark Gruenwald & Steven Grant plot #185’s ‘The Yesterday Quest!’ for Michelinie, Byrne & Dan Green to execute as, in America, new robotic ally Jocasta strives to entice the Vision even as his wife and brother-in-law arrive in Balkan Transia. In the shadow of mystic Mount Wundagore Wanda is beguiled by Modred the Mystic, leaving Quicksilver to perish if not for the ministrations of talking humanoid cow Bova.

The wetnurse once employed by the High Evolutionary doesn’t mind, after all she was his mother’s midwife years ago…

‘Nights of Wundagore!’ then unpicks years of mystery with secrets of the mutants’ origins; how she passed them off as the stillborn children of American superhero Bob Frank and offers big hints as to their true father. Wanda meanwhile has lost a magic duel with Modred and is possessed by ancient demon Chthon. Pietro barely survives his clash with her/it, and calls for help, but thanks to more pointless bureaucracy from Gyrich, its hours before the Avengers – missing Iron Man but including Wonder Man – arrive to face the world rending

‘Call of the Mountain Thing!’ Although they ultimately triumph, not every participant makes it out alive…

The way home is just as momentous as #188’s ‘Elementary, Dear Avengers’ (by Bill Mantlo, Byrne, Green & Frank Springer) begins with a side trip to Inhuman City Attilan and news that Quicksilver is about to become a dad, and ends with the team causing an international incident by diverting over Russian airspace. Thankfully, the incident overlaps with a secret Soviet science experiment going badly wrong, compelling the heroes to tackle sentient elements with a taste for death and destruction

Avengers Annual #9 then introduces a lethal secret from the past as Mantlo, Don Newton, Jack Abel & Joe Rubinstein reveal a deadly robotic sleeper locked beneath Avengers Mansion. ‘…Today the Avengers Die!’ reprises Iron Man’s battle against deadly vintage mechanoid Arsenal and reveals that the Howard Stark-built weapon was cached in his old townhouse. Now ‘Something Deadly Lurks Below!’ proves that they should have let sleeping bots lie…

Rounding out the chronologically completist action is a snippet from Marvel Tales #100 (February 1979) and a solo yarn from Marvel Premier #49 (August 1979). The first finds time-displaced Two-Gun Kid and Hawkeye battle Killgrave the Controller in ‘Killers of a Purple Rage!’ by Scott Edelman, Michael Netzer & Terry Austin, after which Mark Evanier, Sal Buscema & Dave Simons craft a try-out mission for The Falcon who faces the sinister ‘Sound of the Silencer’: finding profit not patriotism motivates his string of assassination attempts

Available in hardback and digital iterations, and supplemented by original art from Pérez, Dave Cockrum, Byrne, Gene Day & Green; previous collection covers by Steve Epting & Tom Palmer and letters columns debating the new origins for Pietro and Wanda, this archival tome and this type of heroic adventure might not be to every reader’s taste but these – and the epic yarns that followed – set the tone for decades to come and informed all those movies everybody loves.
© 2018 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.