Category: Power Man and Iron Fist

Posted on

X-Men Epic Collection volume 5: Second Genesis (1975-1978)


By Len Wein, Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, Bonnie Wilford, Dave Cockrum, Bob Brown, Tony DeZuñiga, John Byrne, Sal Buscema, Bob McLeod, Sam Grainger, Frank Chiaramonte, Bob Layton, Tom Sutton, Dan Green, Terry Austin, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Ricardo Villamonte & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-0390-9 TPB/Digital edition

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

In the autumn of 1963 The X-Men #1 introduced Scott (Cyclops) Summers, Bobby (Iceman) Drake, Warren (Angel) Worthington, Hank (The Beast) McCoy and Jean (Marvel Girl) Grey: very special students of Professor Charles Xavier. The 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 almost eight years of eccentrically spectacular adventures the mutant misfits virtually disappeared at the beginning of 1970 during another periodic downturn in superhero comics sales. Just like in the closing years of the 1940s, mystery men faded away as supernatural mysteries and traditional genre themes once more dominated the world’s entertainment fields. Although their title returned at the end of the year as a cheap reprint vehicle, the missing mutants were reduced to guest-stars and bit players throughout the ongoing Marvel universe, whilst the bludgeoning Beast was opportunistically transformed into a scary monster to cash in on the horror boom.

Then, with sales of the spooky stuff subsequently waning in 1975, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Roy Thomas green-lit a bold one-shot as part of the company’s line of Giant-Size specials and history was made on April 1st when something very special hits newsstands…

This fabulous mass-market collection is ideal for newcomers and neophytes, celebrating the revival and unstoppable march to market dominance through the exuberant and pivotal early stories: specifically, Giant Size X-Men #1, issues #94-110 of the “All-New, All-Different” X-Men, plus guest appearances in Iron Fist #14-15, Marvel Team Up #53, 69-70 and Marvel Team Up Annual #1, spanning cover-dates May 1975 to June 1978.

Tracing the reinvigorated merry mutants from young, fresh and delightfully under-exposed innovations to the beginnings of their unstoppable ascendancy to ultimate comic book icons, in their own title and via an increasingly broad clutch of guest shots, the epic voyage begins without pause or preamble, in a classic mystery monster mash from Giant Size X-Men #1. Here, Len Wein & Dave Cockrum – the latter a red-hot property following his stint reviving DC’s equally eclectic fan-fave superteam The Legion of Super-Heroes – detailed in ‘Second Genesis!’ how the original squad (all but new Avengers recruit The Beast) had been lost in action. With no other choice Xavier is forced to scour Earth and the entire Marvel Universe for replacements…

To old foes-turned-friends Banshee and Sunfire is added a one-shot Hulk adversary the Wolverine, but the bulk of time and attention is lavished upon original additions Kurt Wagner, a demonic-seeming German teleporter codenamed Nightcrawler; African weather “goddess” Ororo Monroe – AKA Storm, Russian farm-boy Peter Rasputin who turns into a living steel Colossus, and bitter, disillusioned Apache superman John Proudstar, cajoled and coerced into joining the makeshift squad as Thunderbird.

The second chapter ‘…And Then There Was One!’ reintroduces battered, depleted but unbowed team-leader Cyclops who swiftly drills the newcomers into a semblance of readiness before leading them into primordial danger against the monolithic threat of ‘Krakoa… The Island That Walks Like a Man!’ Overcoming the phenomenal terror of a rampaging rapacious mutant eco-system and rescuing the “real” team was intended to lead into a quarterly Giant-Size sequel for a new, expanded squad, but so great was fan response that the follow-up adventure was swiftly reworked into a 2-part tale for the rapidly reconfigured and revived comic book which became bimonthly home to the neophyte heroes

X-Men #94 (August 1975) began ‘The Doomsmith Scenario!’ – plotted by editor Wein, scripted by Chris Claremont and with Bob McLeod inking man-on-fire Cockrum – in a canny Armageddon-shocker with a pared-down unit deprived of Sunfire and still-recuperating Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, Havok and Lorna Dane. It begins when the new kids are called in by The Beast to stop criminal terrorist Count Nefaria from starting an atomic war. Employing a gang of artificial superhumans, the insidious mastermind has seized control of America’s Norad citadel and accidentally escalated a nuclear blackmail scheme into an inescapable countdown to holocaust, leaving the untrained, unprepared mutants to storm in to save the world in epic conclusion ‘Warhunt!’ (inked by Sam Grainger). One of them doesn’t make it back…

X-Men #96 sees Claremont take charge of the writing (albeit with some plotting input from Bill Mantlo) for ‘Night of the Demon!’ Guilt-wracked Cyclops blames himself for the loss of his teammate, and in his explosive rage he accidentally unleashes an antediluvian demonic horror from Earth’s primordial prehistory for the heroes-in-training to thrash. The infernal Nagarai would return over and again to bedevil mankind, but the biggest innovation in this issue is the debut of gun-toting biologist/housekeeper Moira MacTaggert and the first inklings of the return of implacable old adversaries…

A cosmically-widescreen storyline started in #97 with ‘My Brother, My Enemy!’, as Xavier – tormented by visions of interstellar war – takes a vacation, just as Havok & Lorna (finally settling on superhero nom de guerre Polaris) attack: apparently willing servants of a mysterious madman using Cyclops’ old undercover alter ego Eric the Red. The devastating clash segues into a spectacular 3-part yarn, as pitiless robotic killers return under the hate-filled auspices of mutantophobe Steven Lang and his enigmatic backers Project Armageddon. The action opens with #98’s ‘Merry Christmas, X-Men… the Sentinels Have Returned!’

With coordinated attacks capturing semi-retired Marvel Girl plus Wolverine, Banshee and Xavier, Cyclops and the remaining heroes co-opt a space shuttle, storming Lang’s orbital HQ to rescue them in ‘Deathstar Rising!’ (inked by Frank Chiaramonte): another phenomenal all-action episode.

The saga concludes on an agonising cliffhanger with the 100th issue anniversary tale. ‘Greater Love Hath no X-Man…’ (with Cockrum inking his own pencils) sees the new X-Men apparently battle the original team before overturning Lang’s monstrous schemes forever. However, their catastrophic clash destroys the only means of escape and, as a gigantic solar flare threatens to eradicate the satellite-station, their only chance of survival means certain death for another X-Man. As #101 unfolded, Claremont & Cockrum were on the on the verge of utterly overturning the accepted status quo of women in comics forever…

Led by field-commander Cyclops, the team now comprised old acquaintance/former foe Sean – Banshee – Cassidy, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus with part-timer Jean Grey still labouring under the nom-de guerre Marvel Girl – but not for much longer…

‘Like a Phoenix from the Ashes’ (Chiaramonte inks) sees a space shuttle cataclysmically crash into Jamaica Bay. The X-Men had safely travelled in a specially-shielded chamber but Jean had manually piloted the vehicle, unprotected through a lethal radiation storm. As the mutants escape the sinking craft, a fantastic explosion propels the impossibly still alive Jean into the air, clad in a strange gold & green uniform, screaming that she is “Fire and Life Incarnate… Phoenix!”

Immediately collapsing, the critically injured girl is rushed to hospital and a grim wait begins. Unable to explain her survival and too preoccupied to spare time for teaching, Xavier packs Banshee, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Storm and Colossus off to the Irish mutant’s home in County Mayo for a vacation, blissfully unaware Cassidy Keep has been compromised and is now a deadly trap for his new students. Within the ancestral pile, Sean’s mutant cousin Black Tom has usurped control of the manor and its incredible secrets before – at Eric the Red’s behest – contriving an inescapable ambush, assisted by an old X-Men enemy.

‘Who Will Stop the Juggernaut?’ (Grainger inks) sees the inexperienced heroes in over their heads and fighting for their lives, but still finds room to reveal the origins of Storm and provide an explanation for her crippling claustrophobia, prior to ‘The Fall of the Tower’ explosively ending the tale with mutant heroes and the Keep’s Leprechaun colony (no, really!) uniting to expel the murderous usurpers.

Although still bi-monthly, the series kicked into confident top gear with ‘The Gentleman’s Name is Magneto’ with the weary warriors diverting to Scotland to check on Moira MacTaggert’s island lab: a secret facility containing myriad mutant menaces the X-Men have previously defeated. It’s a very bad move since ever-active Eric has restored the dormant master of magnetism to full power. The mutant terrorist had been turned into a baby – a strangely commonplace fate for villains in those faraway days – but he was all grown up again now and indulging in one last temper tantrum…

Freshly arrived from America, Moira and Cyclops are only just in time to lead a desperate, humiliating retreat from the triumphant Master of Magnetism. Scott doesn’t care: he realises the entire affair has been a feint to draw the team away from Xavier and Jean…

He needn’t have worried. Although in ‘Phoenix Unleashed’ (inks by Bob Layton) Eric orchestrates an attack by Firelord – a cosmic flamethrower and former herald of Galactus much like the Silver Surfer – Jean is now fully evolved into a being of unimaginable power who readily holds the fiery marauder at bay. In the interim a long-standing mystery is solved as visions which have tormented Xavier are revealed as a psychic connection to a runaway princess from a distant alien empire. Lilandra of the Shi’ar had rebelled against her imperial brother and, whilst fleeing, somehow telepathically locked onto her trans-galactic soulmate Charles Xavier. As she made her circuitous way to Earth, embedded Shi’ar spy Shakari had assumed the guise of Eric the Red, seeking to remove Lilandra’s potential champion before she arrived…

During the blistering battle which follows the X-Men’s dramatic arrival, Shakari snatches up Lilandra and drags her through a stargate to their home galaxy, and with the entire universe imperilled, Xavier urges his team to follow. All Jean has to do is re-open a wormhole to the other side of creation…

A minor digression follows as overstretched artist Cockrum took a breather via a fill-in “untold tale” of the new team featuring an attack by psychic clones of the original X-Men. ‘Dark Shroud of the Past’ is a competent pause by Mantlo, Bob Brown & Tom Sutton, set inside a framing sequence from Cockrum. The regular story resumes in a wry tribute to Star Trek as ‘Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!’ (Claremont, Cockrum & Dan Green) finds the heroes stranded in another galaxy where they meet and are beaten by the Shi’ar Imperial Guard (an in-joke version of DC’s Legion of Super Heroes in the inimitable Cockrum manner), until bold interstellar rebel freebooters The Starjammers bombastically arrive to turn the tables whilst uncovering a mad scheme to unmake the fabric of space-time.

Lilandra’s brother Emperor D’Ken is a deranged maniac who in his quest for ultimate power wants to activate a cosmic artefact known alternatively as the M’Kraan Crystal and “the End of All that Is”. He’s also spent time on Earth in the past and played a major role in the life of one of the X-Men…

This tale (from #107) was Cockrum’s last full X-ploit for years. He would eventually return to replace the man who replaced him. John Byrne not only illustrated but also began co-plotting the X-tales and, as the team roster expanded, the series rose to even greater heights. It would culminate in the landmark Dark Phoenix storyline and first-&-best death of arguably the book’s most beloved and imaginative character and departure of the team’s heart and soul. The epic cosmic saga also seemed to fracture the epochal working relationship of Claremont and Byrne. Within months of publication they went their separate ways: Claremont staying with the mutants whilst Byrne moved on to establish his own reputation as a writer on series such as Alpha Flight, Incredible Hulk and his revolutionised Fantastic Four and reboot of Superman for DC.

Here though, X-Men and Starjammers battle the Crystal’s astoundingly deadly automated guardians, as this final chapter depicts the newly puissant Phoenix literally saving Reality in a mind-blowing display of power and skill. Trapped inside a staggering other-realm, appalled and enthralled by the intoxicating, addictive nature of her own might, Phoenix reweaves the fabric of existence and for an encore brings the heroes home again. The conclusion of this ambitious epic was drawn by Byrne and inked by Terry Austin. Their visual virtuosity was to become an industry benchmark as the X-Men grew in popularity and complexity.

However, even though the bravura high-octane thrills of ‘Armageddon Now’ seem an unrepeatable highpoint, Claremont & Byrne had only started. The best was still to come, but it precluded ending their other ongoing collaboration: a mystic martial arts thriller…

Inked by Dan Green in Iron Fist #14, ‘Snowfire’ finds masked marvel Danny Rand and his combat colleague Colleen Wing running for their lives in arctic conditions after a vacation retreat to a palatial Canadian Rockies estate is ruined by a criminal raid. Leading the plunderers is deadly mercenary Sabretooth. Despite being rendered temporarily blind, the K’un Lun Kid ultimately defeats the mutant marauder, but his fiercely feral foe would return again and again to bedevil both Danny and the X-Men. With Claremont & Byrne increasingly absorbed by their stellar collaboration on the revived and resurgent adventures of Marvel’s mutant horde, Iron Fist #15 (September 1977) was their last martial arts mash-up for a while. The series ended in spectacular fashion as, through a comedy of errors, Danny stumbles into a morass of misunderstanding and ends up battling recently returned galaxy rovers Storm Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee, and Phoenix in ‘Enter, the X-Men’…

X-Men #109’s ‘Home Are the Heroes!’ (Claremont, Byrne & Austin) sees Wolverine finally developing a back-story and some depth of character whilst technological wonder Weapon Alpha attacks the recuperating team in an attempt to force the enigmatic Logan to rejoin the Canadian Secret Service. Renamed Vindicator, Alpha would later return leading Alpha Flight – a Canadian government sponsored superteam which would eventually graduate to their own eccentric high-profile series.

Eschewing chronological sequence, this is followed by an extra-length exploit from Marvel Team Up Annual #1 (1976 by Mantlo, Sal Buscema & Mike Esposito, from a plot by Mantlo, Claremont & Bonnie Wilford). ‘The Lords of Light and Darkness!’ sees Spider-Man and X-Men Storm, Banshee, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Phoenix & Cyclops assisting Xavier in combatting a pantheon of scientists mutated by atomic accident and elevated to the ranks of gods. Like most deities, these puissant ones believe they know what is best for humanity and don’t like being disabused of the notion…

Mantlo then teamed with Byrne & Frank Giacoia to bring closure to a tale begun – and left hanging – in Marvel Premiere #31. Set minutes after the Annual, Marvel Team Up #53 (January 1977) reveals a ‘Nightmare in New Mexico!’ as Spider-Man says goodbye to the X-folk and hello to The Hulk and troubled gene-splicing experiment Woodgod after the tragic bio-construct flees from corrupt Army Colonel Del Tremens. As Tremens sought to suppress the calamitous crisis and his own indiscretions by killing everybody, the final scene sees the webspinner trapped in a rocket and blasted into space. The tale has very little to do with the X-Men, other than a rather gratuitous overlap and ends here without resolution, but still looks pretty damn good after all these years…

Cover-dated April 1978 X-Men #110 (Claremont, Tony DeZuñiga & Cockrum) detail ‘The “X”-Sanction!’: a rather limp and hasty fill-in where cyborg mercenary Warhawk infiltrates Xavier’s mansion in search of “intel” for a mysterious, unspecified master… before getting his shiny silver head handed to him.

This compendium of uncanny X-episodes wraps up with the contents of Marvel Team Up #69 & 70 (May & June 1978) as in ‘Night of the Living God!’ (Claremont, Byrne & Ricardo Villamonte) Spider-Man clashes with Ancient Egyptian-themed thieves and is drawn into the perpetual duel between cosmic-powered X-Man Havoc and his personal nemesis The Living Monolith. When the battle turns against the heroes it requires the might of Thor to stop the ravening monumental menace in conclusion ‘Whom Gods Destroy!’ (DeZuñiga inks).

Following the cover of 1975’s all-reprint Giant-Size X-Men #2, this tome terminates with a glorious and revelatory selection of extras including John Romita’s original design sketches for Wolverine; Byrne’s first X-Man work (a puzzle from Marvel fanzine F.O.O.M. #7) and design material from Cockrum’s DC Comics proposal The Outsiders (a Legion of Super-Heroes spin-off he later retooled to create Nightcrawler, Storm, Phoenix and the other New X-Men). There are also unused Cockrum pencil pages, initial sketches for the Starjammers, costume upgrades for Angel, cover art for X-themed The Comic Reader #145, and model sheets for Nightcrawler, Storm, Phoenix and Colossus.

Further treasures include Gil Kane’s cover sketch and original art for Giant-Size X-Men #1; original Cockrum pages from GSXM #1 and F.O.O.M. #10 (an all-X issue); articles from the fanzine – Mutation of the Species, X-Men! X-Men!. Read All About ‘Em! – a pin-up by Don Maitz, X-Men X-posé and spoof strip ‘EggsMen’; unused pages by Bob Brown and previous collection covers by Kane and Cockrum, given painted makeovers by Dean White.

Entertaining, groundbreaking and incredibly intoxicating, these adventures are an invaluable and crucial grounding in contemporary fights ‘n’ tights fiction no fan or casual reader can be allowed to ignore.
© 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 2017 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Marvel Team-Up Marvel Masterworks volume 7


By Chris Claremont, Bill Kunkel, Bill Mantlo, Gary Friedrich, Ralph Macchio, John Byrne, Dave Wenzel, Jim Mooney, Kerry Gammill, Bob Hall, Marie Severin, Howard Chaykin, Jeff Aclin, Dave Hunt, Bob Wiacek, Ricardo Villamonte, Tony DeZuñiga, Dan Green & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-3324-1 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times

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, launched as 1971 ended. A big hit, it proved the time had finally come for expansion and offering a venue for uncomplicated action romps to supplement the company’s complex subplot fare in regular books. However, even in an 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 order. This compelling compilation gathers the contents of Marvel Team-Up #65-77, collectively covering January 1977 to January 1979 and – following Chris Claremont’s Introduction offering fond remembrances of the times and key writer Bill Mantlo – opens onto a period of superior sagas.

After a short and sweet flurry of original adventures in his own UK title, Captain Britain eventually succumbed to the English version of funnybook limbo: his title subsumed by a more successful one with CB reduced to reprints. Soon after, he pyrrhically debuted across the water in Marvel Team-Up #65 ‘Introducing Captain Britain’ by originating scripter Claremont and British-born, Canada-bred illustrator John Byrne. The story depicts exchange student Brian Braddock on transfer to Manhattan and the unsuspecting houseguest of Peter Parker. Before long the heroes formally meet, fight and unite to defeat flamboyant games-obsessed hit-man Arcade, with the transatlantic tussle concluding in #66 as the abducted antagonists systematically dismantled the mercenary maniac’s ‘Murderworld’.

The mystery of a long-vanished feline were-woman warrior is then resolved in ‘Tigra, Tigra, Burning Bright!’ as the webslinger is targeted by Kraven the Hunter, using the Feline Fury as his enslaved attack beast until Spider-Man breaks her conditioning, after which Claremont, Byrne & Bob Wiacek explore ‘The Measure of a Man!’ in #68. Here, the Amazing Arachnid philanthropically returns the captive Man-Thing to his Florida swamp habitat. Of course, no good deed ever goes unpunished and soon he encounters horrific demon D’Spayre torturing benevolent enchanters Dakimh and Jennifer Kale. It takes every ounce of courage both man and monster possess to defeat the sadistic feeder on torment…

A clash with Egyptian-themed thieves next draws Spidey into the years-long duel between cosmic powered X-Man Havoc and his nemesis the Living Monolith in ‘Night of the Living God!’ (inked by Ricardo Villamonte), but when the battle turns against them, it requires the thunderous might of Thor to stop the ravening mutant menace in ‘Whom Gods Destroy!’ (Claremont, Byrne & Tony DeZuñiga).

This epic clash signalled an end to the creative team’s good times as MTU downshifted to short filler tales. Courtesy of Bill Kunkel, Dave Wenzel & Dan Green, Spidey and The Falcon save Captain America from death by poison by a minor villain with big plans in #71’s ‘Deathgarden’ after which beloved Police officer Jean DeWolff features heavily in the psionic rogue The Wraith’s demented revenge plot ‘Crack of the Whip!’ (#72 by Bill Mantlo & Jim Mooney) which sees the wallcrawler linking up with Iron Man to mangle Maggia stooges and assassin-for-hire Whiplash.

MTU #73 paired the webslinger with old frenemy Daredevil in a workmanlike thriller by Gary Friedrich, Kerry Gammill & Don Perlin as vicious gang leader The Owl returned in ‘A Fluttering of Wings Most Foul!’ and a flurry of frenzied felonious forays, setting the scene for a minor mirth-quake. Long embargoed and seemingly lost due to intellectual rights issues, lost gem ‘Live From New York, Its Saturday Night!’ depicts a comedy of errors set on an ongoing TV sensation. Starring Spider-Man and the Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time-Players (Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner & Lorne Michaels), the sinister Silver Samurai searches for his missing teleportation ring takes place live to a totally oblivious TV audience and temporary host Stan Lee. The manic episode is written by Claremont and a triumph of caricaturing brilliance for Bob Hall & majestic Marie Severin.

Assisted by Ralph Macchio, Claremont then reunited with Byrne and inker Al Gordon to team up in tribute to the New York Fire Department with #75’s ‘The Smoke of That Great Burning!’ wherein Spider-Man and Hero for Hire Luke Cage are caught up in a robbery and hostage crisis which soon turns into a major conflagration…

The collection closes with a continued tale co-starring mystic master Dr. Strange and Clea,  Ms. Marvel (AKA Carol Danvers the present-day Captain Marvel), in what I’m guessing was intended as an annual before being chopped in two. Limned by Howard Chaykin, Jeff Aclin & Jose Ortiz, ‘If Not For Love…’ and second chapter ‘Death Waits at Bayou Diable!’ sees the mundane mortal metahumans stumble into an attempt to murder the Sorcerer Supreme and his disciple, leading Spidey, Ms. M and a much reduced Stephen Strange south to Bourbon Street and a risky rendezvous with voodoo practitioner Marie Laveau, Witch Queen of New Orleans. Sadly, she is far more than she seems and the trio are trapped in a scheme perpetrated by magic-loathing sorcerer Silver Dagger leading to astounding arcane action in #77’s ‘If I’m to Live… My Love Must Die!’

This epic edition is packed with rarely-seen extras, beginning with ‘Aunt May’s Photo Album’: a selection of stills from the 1977-1979 Spider-Man television show as originally published in Marvel Treasury Edition #18 (1978). It’s followed by that album’s covers, illustrated by Bob Budiansky & Ernie Chan, and a large selection of original art pages and covers by Byrne, Hunt, Dave Cockrum, Tom Palmer & Mooney. A gallery of covers from Marvel Tales (#193-207, 235-236) by Ron Frenz, Josef Rubinstein, John Romita Sr., Mark Bright, Vince Colletta, Mark McKenna George Perrez, Joe Sinnott, Joe Albeo, Byrne, Frank Giacoia, Hall, Todd McFarlane & Sam Keith, spanning November 1986 to November 1991 follows a rare treat: a selection of Byrne’s un-inked pencil pages.

A series of short stories from Marvel Tales (#255, 262 & 263) based on earlier MTU stories ends this tome. ‘Shock Therapy’ by Scott Lobdell, Vince Evans & Phil Sheehy reveals a clash between the Trapster and Ghost Rider, whilst Barry Dutter & Vince Evans’ ‘A Case of Sunstroke’ shows what happened to the X-Men after MTU Annual #2, whilst Woodgod runs wild again in ‘The Scream’ by Lobdell, Robert Walker & Jim Sanders.

These tales are generally superb examples of Marvel’s Second Wave, Bronze Age yarns 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?
© 2023 MARVEL.

Posted on

Marvel Two-In-One Epic Collection volume 2: Two Against Hydra (1976-1978)


By Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas, Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, Ron Wilson, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Ernie Chan, Marie Severin, Sam Grainger, Pablo Marcos, George Roussos, John Tartaglione & various (MARVEL)
ISBN 978-1-3029-3176-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Above all else, Marvel has always been about team-ups. That concept of an established star pairing with, or battling – often both – new or less well-selling company characters was already long established when Marvel awarded their most popular hero the same deal DC had with Batman in The Brave and the Bold. Although confident in their new title, they wisely left options open by allocating an occasional substitute lead in the Human Torch. In those long-ago days, editors were acutely conscious of potential over-exposure – and since super-heroes were actually in a decline they may well have been right.

Nevertheless, after the runaway success of Spider-Man’s guest vehicle Marvel Team-Up, the House of Ideas carried on the trend with a series starring bashful, blue-eyed Ben Grimm – the Fantastic Four’s most iconic and popular member – beginning with test runs in Marvel Feature #11-12, before awarding him his own team-up title…

This second eclectic compendium gathers the contents of Marvel Two-In-One #20 & 21-36, Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1 and Fantastic Four Annual #11, covering October 1976-February 1978. And opens without preamble on a crisis in time.

Devised and delivered by Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Sam Grainger, Fantastic Four Annual #11 featured portentous time-travel saga ‘And Now Then… the Invaders!’ wherein Marvel’s First Family dash back to 1942 to retrieve a cylinder of miracle-metal Vibranium. It had somehow fallen into Nazi hands and had begun to unwrite history as a consequence…

On arrival, the team are embroiled in conflict with WWII super-team The Invaders – comprising rawer, rougher, early incarnations of Captain America, Sub-Mariner and the original, android Human Torch. The time-busting task goes well once the heroes finally unite to assault a Nazi castle where the miracle mineral is secured, but after the quartet return to their own repaired era, only Ben realises the mission isn’t completed yet…

The action carries over and continues in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1 as, with the present unravelling around him, Ben blasts back to 1942 again in ‘Their Name is Legion!’ (Thomas, Sal Buscema, Grainger, John Tartaglione & George Roussos), linking up with Home Front Heroes The Liberty Legion (collectively The Patriot, Thin Man, Red Raven, Jack Frost, Blue Diamond, Miss America and The Whizzer) to thwart Nazi raiders Skyshark and Master Man, Japanese agent Slicer and Atlantean traitor U-Man who have united to invade America.

The battle proves so big it spills over and concludes in Marvel Two-In-One #20 (October 1976) in a shattering ‘Showdown at Sea!’: pitting the heroes against diabolical Nazi scientist Brain Drain, courtesy this time of Thomas, Sal B & Grainger.

In many collections the tale would be followed by Marvel Two-In-One #21 (November 1976), which featured a pairing with legendary pulp superman Doc Savage. This isn’t one of them.

For years the tale has been embargoed: unavailable for fans due to Marvel having no access to the Man of Bronze’s proprietary rights. To see it, you’ll want to read Marvel Two-in-One Marvel Masterworks vol. 3.

Here we jump to MTIO #22 as Ben contacts physician Dr. Don Blake, just as the Egyptian death god attacks Thor’s alter ego in ‘Touch Not the Hand of Seth!’ (Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson & Pablo Marcos): a fantastic cosmic action-extravaganza concluded with the assistance of Jim Shooter & Marie Severin in #23’s ‘Death on the Bridge to Heaven!’…

The Thing then enjoys a far more prosaic time battling beside neophyte hero Black Goliath as a devastated downtown Los Angeles – and creators Mantlo, Shooter, Sal Buscema & Marcos – ask ‘Does Anyone Remember… the Hijacker?’

A new era opens as a much delayed and postponed team-up with Iron Fist, the Living Weapon heralds the start of writer/editor Marv Wolfman’s lengthy run on the title. Illustrated by Wilson & Grainger ‘A Tale of Two Countries!’ sees Ben and the master martial artist shanghaied to the Far East as part of a Machiavellian plan to conquer the island kingdom of Kaiwann. Naturally, they both strenuously object to the abduction…

The innate problem with team-ups was always a lack of continuity – something else Marvel had always prided itself upon – and Wolfman sought to address it by the simple expedient of having stories connected through evolving, overarching plots taking Ben from place to place and guest to guest to guest. Here the tactic begins with bustling bombast in ‘The Fixer and Mentallo are Back and the World will Never be the Same!’ (illustrated by Wilson & Marcos) uniting Ben with Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to battle a brace of conniving bad guys trying to steal killer-cyborg-from-an-alternate-future Deathlok.

The good guys spectacularly fail and the artificial assassin is co-featured in #27 as ‘Day of the Demolisher!’ sees the now-reprogrammed killer targeting the inauguration of new US President Jimmy Carter. This time Big Ben has an alien ace up his sleeve and the hit happily fails…

The tempestuous Sub-Mariner shares the watery limelight in #28 as Ben and his blind girlfriend Alicia Masters ferry the deactivated Deathlok to a London-based boffin for further tests. When they are shot down mid-Atlantic by a mutated fish-man, Ben must battle against and beside Namor whilst Alicia languishes ‘In the Power of the Piranha!’ (Tartaglione inks). Master of Kung Fu Shang-Chi then steps in as Ben and Alicia finally land in London. Inked by Grainger, ‘Two Against Hydra’ sees aforementioned expert Professor Kort snatched by the sinister secret society before the Thing can consult him: the savant’s knowledge being crucial to Hydra’s attempts to revive their own living weapon…

As part of Marvel’s compulsive ongoing urge to protect their trademarks, a number of their top male characters had been spun off into female iterations. Thus, at the end of 1976, Ms. Marvel debuted (with a January 1977 cover-date). She-Hulk arrived at the end of 1979 (Savage She-Hulk #1 February 1980) whilst Jessica Drew premiered in Marvel Spotlight #32 as The Spider-Woman a mere month after Ms. Marvel’s launch. Her cameo appearance in Marvel Two-In-One #29 (July 1977) heralded an extended 6-chapter saga designed as a promotional lead-in to her own series.

‘Battle Atop Big Ben!’ (#30 by Wolfman, John Buscema & Marcos) has her meet the Thing as she struggles to be free of her Hydra controllers, even as a petty thieves embroil Ben and Alicia in a complex and arcane robbery scheme involving a strange chest buried beneath Westminster Abbey. Unable to kill Ben, the Arachnid Dark Angel kidnaps Alicia, who becomes ‘My Sweetheart… My Killer!’ (#31, Wilson & Grainger) after Kort and Hydra transform the helpless sculptor into a spidery monster. In #32’s ‘And Only the Invisible Girl Can Save Us Now!’ (inked by Marcos) Sue Storm joins the repentant Spider-Woman and distraught Thing in combat to cure an out-of-control Alicia. In the wings, those two robbers continue their campaign of acquisition, accidentally awakening a quartet of ancient elemental horrors…

It requires the magics of the Arthurian sorcerer Modred the Mystic to help Spider-Woman and Ben triumph over the horrors in the concluding chapter ‘From Stonehenge… With Death!’ before a semblance of normality is restored. Back to business as usual in Marvel Two-In-One #34, Ben and sky-soaring Defender stalwart Nighthawk tackle a revived and cruelly misunderstood alien freed from an antediluvian cocoon in ‘A Monster Walks Among Us!’ (Wolfman, Wilson & Marcos) before Ernie Chan joins Wolfman to illustrate a 2-part wrap-up to one of Marvel’s recently folded series.

Marvel Two-In-One often acted as a clearing-house for unresolved series and plot-lines, and #35 found Ben dispatched by the US Air Force through a Bermuda Triangle time-portal to a fantastic world of dinosaurs, robots, dinosaurs, E.T.’s and more dinosaurs. ‘Enter: Skull the Slayer and Exit: The Thing’ details the short history and imminent deaths of a group of modern Americans trapped in a bizarre time-lost land. Now marooned in the past with them, it takes the intervention of Mister Fantastic to retrieve Ben and his new friends in #36’s ‘A Stretch in Time…’, bringing this compilation to a satisfactory halt.

That yarn ends the narrative thrills and chills for now, but there’s still room for a brief gallery of original art and roughs by Jack Kirby, Frank Giacoia, Wilson, Marcos, Tartaglione, George Pérez, Joe Sinnott, Klaus Janson & John Buscema to delight and astound.

These stories from Marvel’s Middle Period are unarguably of variable quality, but whereas some might feel rushed and ill-considered they are balanced by timeless classics, still as captivating today as they always were.

Even if artistically the work varies from only adequate to superb, most fans of Costumed Dramas will find little to complain about and there’s lots of fun to be found for young and old readers. So why not lower your critical guard and have an honest blast of pure warts ‘n’ all comics craziness? You’ll almost certainly grow to like it…
© 2024 MARVEL.

Posted on

Fantastic Four Epic Collection volume 10: Counter-Earth Must Die (1976-1978)


By Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Bill Mantlo, Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Jim Shooter, Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Rich Buckler, Ron Wilson, Joe Sinnott, Sam Grainger, John Tartaglione, George Roussos, Dave Hunt, Tony DeZuñiga & various (MARVEL)
ISBN 978-1-3029-5544-1 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Monolithic modern Marvel truly began with the adventures of a small super-team who were as much squabbling family as coolly capable costumed champions. Everything the company is now stems from the quirky quartet and the groundbreaking, inspired efforts of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby…

Cautiously bi-monthly and cover-dated November 1961, Fantastic Four #1 – by Stan, Jack, George Klein & Christopher Rule – was raw and crude even by the ailing company’s standards: but it seethed with rough, passionate and uncontrolled excitement. Thrill-hungry kids pounced on its dynamic storytelling and caught a wave of change starting to build in America. It and succeeding issues changed comics forever. As seen in the premier issue, maverick scientist Reed Richards, his fiancée Sue Storm, their close friend Ben Grimm and Sue’s bratty teenaged brother Johnny survived an ill-starred private space-shot after Cosmic Rays penetrated their ship’s inadequate shielding.

All four permanently mutated: Richards’ body became elastic, Sue became (even more) invisible, Johnny Storm burst into living flame and tragic Ben shockingly devolved into a shambling, rocky freak. After the initial revulsion and trauma passed, they solemnly agreed to use their abilities to benefit mankind. Thus was born The Fantastic Four.

Throughout the 1960s it was indisputably the key title and most consistently groundbreaking series of Marvel’s ever-unfolding web of cosmic creation: a forge for new concepts and characters. Kirby was approaching his creative peak: unleashing his vast imagination on plot after spectacular plot, whilst Lee scripted some of the most passionate superhero sagas ever seen. Both were on an unstoppable roll, at the height of their powers and full of the confidence only success brings, with The King particularly eager to see how far the genre and the medium could be pushed… which is rather ironic since it was the company’s reticence to give the artist creative freedom which led to Kirby’s moving to National/DC in the 1970s.

Without Kirby’s soaring imagination the rollercoaster of mind-bending High Concepts gave way to more traditional tales of characters in conflict, with soap-opera leanings and super-villain-dominated Fights ‘n’ Tights dramas. This stripped-down, compelling compilation gathers Fantastic Four #168-191 and Annual #11, plus crossover components from Marvel Two in One #20 and that title’s first Annual. Collectively spanning cover-dates March 1976 to February 1978 they cemented a change of pace that would eventually move the title away from the glory days of Kirby even as he enjoyed a partial return as cover artist…

A new direction had kicked off with FF #164, courtesy of Thomas and then-neophyte illustrator George Pérez, backed up by veteran inker Joe Sinnott. Now, after another clash with The Hulk, the team seems forever shattered as Ben – returned to human form by extended exposure to the Jade Juggernaut’s gamma radiation – contemplates life as an ordinary mortal and former superhero…

Returned to the massed ranks of humanity the ex-Thing is less than delighted at achieving his greatest desire as Rich Buckler pencils #168’s ‘Where Have All the Powers Gone?’, wherein Reed is forced by contractual obligation to replace him with Hero for Hire Luke Cage.

However, although human again, happiness still eludes Grimm with events taking a worse turn in #169 as ‘Five Characters in Search of a Madman!’ finds Cage attacking his new teammates thanks to the machinations of a veteran FF foe. Pérez & Sinnott reunite for concluding chapter ‘A Sky-Full of Fear!’ as Ben returns to his team and spectacularly saves the day wearing a Thing exoskeleton suit constructed by Reed. Sadly. although the original and genuine is back at last (sort of), there’s no time to pause for applause as the yarn segues directly into Fantastic Four Annual #11.

Momentous time-travel saga ‘And Now Then… The Invaders!’ by Thomas, John Buscema & Sam Grainger, sees Marvel’s First Family flash back to 1942 to retrieve a cylinder of miracle-metal Vibranium. When it somehow then fell into Nazi hands it had started to unwrite history and on arrival, the FF are attacked by WWII super-team The Invaders – comprising early incarnations of Captain America, Sub-Mariner and the original, android Human Torch. The time-repair task goes far better once all the heroes finally unite to assault a Nazi castle where the Vibranium is held, but after the modern quartet return to their own restored era, Ben realises the mission isn’t over yet…

Thanks to Uatu the Watcher, the action continues in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1 as – with the present unravelling around him – Ben blasts back to 1942 yet again. ‘Their Name is Legion!’ (Thomas, Sal Buscema, Grainger, John Tartaglione & George Roussos) finds him linking up with Home Front Heroes the Liberty Legion (collectively The Patriot, Thin Man, Red Raven, Jack Frost, Blue Diamond, Miss America and The Whizzer) to thwart Nazis Skyshark and Master Man, Japanese agent Slicer and Atlantean turncoat U-Man’s invasion of America. The battle proves so big, it spills over to concludes in Marvel Two-In-One #20 (October 1976) in a shattering ‘Showdown at Sea!’ pitting the massed heroes against diabolical Nazi boffin Brain Drain, courtesy this time of Thomas, Sal B & Grainger.

Cover-dated June Fantastic Four #171 reveals ‘Death is a Golden Gorilla!’ (Thomas, Pérez, Buckler & Sinnott) as a giant alien anthropoid rampages through Manhattan until corralled by the FF. Calmed down and physically reduced to standard gorilla proportions, the talking ape delivers a desperate plea for help from the High Evolutionary. Bill Mantlo scripts Thomas’ plot and Pérez & Sinnott excel themselves as ‘Cry, the Bedeviled Planet!’ sees the heroes head for the other side of the Sun to save Counter-Earth from certain annihilation only to meet their nemesis in the depths of space…

Thomas writes and John Buscema steps in as penciller with #173’s ‘Counter-Earth Must Die… At the Hands of Galactus!’ Inexplicably, the world-devourer debates minor deity High Evolutionary: offering hope to his intended repast before despatching the heroes across the universe in search of a planet that will voluntarily sacrifice itself for Counter-Earth…

‘Starquest!’ (Thomas, Buscema & Sinnott) follows each unsavoury search to its logical conclusion, but as the Evolutionary abandons rhetoric for cosmic combat in a desperate delaying tactic, Sue Richards accidentally locates a civilisation willing to make the ultimate gesture…

Returned and augmenting the Evolutionary, a reunited FF attack Galactus ‘When Giants Walk the Sky!’ (drawn & inked by JB), with the Devourer delivering a cruel delayed punishment to Ben before consuming the planetary substitute and realising he has been tricked in a bizarre and wry conclusion that only adds fresh complications to the First Family of the Marvel Universe. Then another new direction begins with #176 and Thomas, Pérez & Sinnott revealing that ‘Improbable as it May Seem… The Impossible Man is Back in Town!’ The mighty manic shapeshifter – having just saved everybody from Galactus – returns to Earth with our heroes and promptly turns the city upside down in his relentless search for amusement and entertainment. The high point of the day is his impromptu visit to the Marvel Bullpen where even more hilarity and hysteria ensue…

By the time the flustered four drag him back to the Baxter Building in #177, it’s straight into an ambush as ‘Look Out for the Frightful Four!’ finds their evil counterparts gaining the upper hand. There are only three – The Wizard, Sandman and Trapster – but with our heroes shackled there’s no better time for a casting call of evil. Soon a succession of potential fourths (like latterday B-Listers Texas Twister and Captain Ultra) are filing through in search of fame and glory…

Also in the queue are a few valiant allies such as Thundra and Tigra – who almost manage a last-minute rescue – until an unstoppable mystery candidate crushes all opposition and hurls the Thing into the antimatter Negative Zone. Inked by Dave Hunt, FF #178 ‘Call My Killer… The Brute!’ sees the devious, deadly monster revealed as the Reed Richards of Counter-Earth, carrying grudges and enacting his own masterplan until Impossible Man – oblivious to everything since discovering television – responds to the horrific home invasion in typical manner. The Fantastic Four, Thundra and Tigra soon rescue Ben and drive off the bad guys, but in the melee the Brute is fittingly lost in the Negative Zone.

At least, one of the Reeds is…

A joint effort by Thomas, Gerry Conway, Ron Wilson & Sinnott, FF #179 shows the good Dr. Richards ‘A Robinson Crusoe in the Negative Zone!’, and – deprived of his stretching powers (a long running plot-thread finally paying off) – struggling to survive in hostile conditions against appalling monsters… until ultimate predator Annihilus finds him…

Back on Earth, everything seems fine and the deadly doppelganger continues to insinuate himself into all aspects of FF life. The power loss works to his advantage and Reed’s oldest friend Ben is distracted by a giant robbing robot and increasingly flirtatious Tigra…

FF #180 was a new Jack Kirby cover on a deadline-busting reprint from issue #101, so only it stands between us and next episode ‘Side by Side with… Annihilus??’ (#181 by Thomas, Wilson & Sinnott) as the zone-marooned supergenius allies with the antimatter monster. Meanwhile, Ben, “Impy”, Tigra and Thundra form an impromptu quartet to sort out that robot and Susan Richards – just starting to suspect something’s wrong with her man – is distracted when former governess and still-current witch Agatha Harkness flamboyantly abducts her old charge Franklin from Sue’s arms.

Fantastic Four #182 reveals nigh-omnipotent Annihilus has a problem he can’t handle: an incredibly adaptable, constantly mutating android recently banished to the Zone after failing to destroy the quirky quartet. Now its creator has regained control and ‘Enter: The Mad Thinker!’ (Mantlo with Len Wein, Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Sal Buscema & Sinnott) sees Reed and Annihilus working together to stop it, even as on Earth evil Reed tricks the Thing and Torch into the Negative Zone too. Sue, meanwhile, rushes to spooky Whisper Hill to confront Harkness, arriving just in time to see the eldritch elder and Franklin spirited away by ghostly beings…

Her return to the Baxter Building is even more traumatic as the now-exposed Brute attempts to murder her, culminating in a spectacular all action conclusion from Mantlo, Sal B & Sinnott as #183’s ‘Battleground: The Baxter Building!’ sees all opposing elements clash and an unexpected turn of events restore the status quo with one last-minute change of heart and tragic sacrifice…

A new era dawned as Wein took became writer/editor and his artist partners Pérez & Sinnott began as they meant to go on. In FF #184, ‘Aftermath: The Eliminator!’ sees romantic rivals Tigra and Thundra go their own ways as the restored First Family searches for Franklin, reaching the Whisper Hill mansion just as a mystic cyborg begins removing all traces of the edifice and its former occupier. Brutal, pointless battle proves useless but science scores again in #185 as Reed tracks the Eliminator to the Colorado Rockies. The team, with Richards using tech to pinch-hit for his lost powers, head incognito for isolated town New Salem and once there discover ‘Here There Be Witches!’… and they be hostile…

Sequel ‘Enter: Salem’s Seven!’ delivers an explanation for Harkness’ actions, Franklin’s abduction and tantalising hints of a hidden town of mystic refugees led by deranged demagogue Nicholas Scratch, whose dark secret doesn’t stop him unleashing a septet of sorcerous sentinels on the cosmic-powered but woefully human heroes. It does, sadly, ultimately lose him the support of his peers and the battle: resulting in #187 depicting the victorious heroes (and “the help”) heading home just in time for ‘Trouble Times Two!’

When “Master of Sound” Klaw and the almighty Molecule Man ambush the FF, the furious fight raises the ire of TV-addicted Impy with the resultant rumble resolved by Molecule Man’s disembodied intellect possessing Reed’s weary body. In #188 ‘The Rampage of Reed Richards!’ sees the city wrecked and events of cosmic import occur, with Uatu the Watcher closely observing as the heroes triumph in the end, but only at the cost of their leader’s confidence.

Weary, devoid of superpowers, Richard makes the only logical decision and calls it a day for the team…

At the time tensions were especially enhanced as the next issue was another reprint (from FF Annual #4 and again represented here only by Keith Pollard’s cover art from #189). Normal service resumed with #190 as incoming writer/editor Marv Wolfman collaborated with Sal Buscema & Tony DeZuñiga to reassess past glories in ‘The Way It Was’. Here, shellshocked Ben and girlfriend Alicia Masters review the glory days leading up to his current unemployment, before #191 closes this compilation’s story component with ‘Four No More’ wherein Wein, Pérez & Sinnott detail the decommissioning of the Baxter Building and track the fond farewells as the team go their separate ways. However, there’s time and space for one last hurrah as the scurrilous Plunderer tries to steal all the FF’s toys and rapidly learns to regret his impertinence…

To Be Continued

This power-packed package also includes house ads, original cover art, pertinent pages by Sinnott from The Mighty Marvel Bicentennial Calendar 1976, and the Kirby/Sinnott Marvel Comics Memory album Calendar 1977 plus the new material from The Fabulous Fantastic Four Marvel Treasury Edition #11 (December 1976). This bombastic oversized tabloid edition featured a bevy of classic yarns and is represented here by front-&-back cover art by Kirby & John Verpoorten, plus a Marie Severin & Frank Giacoia frontispiece/contents page. Also on view is the letters page from FF #176, explaining how the Impossible Man’s visit to the Marvel Bullpen came about, and the Jim Steranko covers from Marvel Index #4: Fantastic Four from 1977 as well as Peter Iro’s monochrome frontispiece and a cover rough by Dave Cockrum.

Although the “World’s Greatest Comics Magazine” never quite returned to the stratospheric heights of the Kirby era, this collection offers a tantalising taste-echo of those heady heights and a promise of change. These extremely capable efforts are probably most welcome to dedicated superhero fans and continuity freaks like me, but will still thrill and enthral the generous and forgiving casual browser looking for an undemanding slice of graphic narrative excitement. Even if artistically the work varies from only adequate to superb, most fans of Costumed Dramas will find little to complain about and there’s lots of fun to be found for young and old readers. So why not lower your critical guard and have an honest blast of pure warts ‘n’ all comics craziness? You’ll almost certainly grow to like it…
© 2024 MARVEL.

Posted on

Luke Cage Epic Collection volume 2: The Fire This Time (1975-1977)


By Tony Isabella, Don McGregor, Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, Steve Englehart, George Pérez, Ed Hannigan, Roger Slifer, George Tuska, Lee Elias, Ron Wilson, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones, Sal Buscema, Frank Robbins, Marie Severin, Bob Brown, Vince Colletta, Dave Hunt, Al McWilliams, Keith Pollard, the Crusty Bunkers, Frank Springer, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia, Aubrey Bradford, Jim Mooney, Klaus Janson, Tom Palmer, Alex Niño, Bob Smith & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5506-9 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. This book also includes Discriminatory Content used for dramatic effect.

As is so often the case, it takes bold creative types and radically changing economics to really promote lasting change. In America, with declining comics sales at a time of enhanced social awareness and rising Black Consciousness, cash – if not cashing in – was probably the trigger for “the Next Step” in the evolution of superheroes.

In the early 1970s, contemporary “Blacksploitation” films and novels fired up commercial interests throughout the USA and in that atmosphere of outlandish dialogue, daft outfits and barely concealed – but completely justified – outrage, an angry black man with a shady past and apparently dubious morals debuted as Luke Cage, Hero for Hire in the summer of 1972.

A year later the Black Panther finally got his own series in Jungle Action #5 and Blade: Vampire Hunter debuted in Tomb of Dracula #10.

Cage’s origin was typically bombastic: Lucas, a hard-case inmate at brutal Seagate Prison, always claimed to have been framed and his inflexible, uncompromising attitude made mortal enemies of the racist guards Rackham and Quirt whilst alienating the rest of the prison population like out-&-out bad-guys Shades and Comanche…

The premiere was written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by George Tuska & Billy Graham (with some initial assistance from Roy Thomas & John Romita) detailing how a new warden promised to reform the hell-hole into a proper, legal penal institution. New prison doctor Noah Burstein then convinced Lucas to participate in a radical experiment in exchange for a parole hearing, having heard the desperate con’s tale of woe…

Lucas had grown up in Harlem, a tough kid who’d managed to stay honest even when his best friend Willis Stryker had not. They remained friends despite walking different paths – at least until a woman came between them. To get rid of his romantic rival, Stryker planted drugs and had Lucas shipped off to jail. While he was there his girl Reva – who had never given up on him – was killed by bullets meant for Stryker.

With nothing left to lose Lucas underwent Burstein’s process – an experiment in cell-regeneration – but Rackham sabotaged it, hoping to kill the con before he could expose the illegal treatment of convicts. It all went haywire and something incredible happened. Lucas, now incredibly strong and pain-resistant, punched his way out of the lab and then through the prison walls, only to be killed in hail of gunfire. His body plunged over a cliff and was never recovered. Months later, a vagrant prowling the streets of New York City stumbled into a robbery. Almost casually downing the felon, he accepted a cash reward from the grateful victim, and consequently had a bright idea…

Super-strong, bulletproof, streetwise and honest, Lucas would hide in plain sight while planning revenge on Stryker. Since his only skill was fighting, he became a private paladin. Whilst making allowances for the colourful, often ludicrous dialogue necessitated by the Comics Code’s sanitising of “street-talking Jive” Hero For Hire was probably the edgiest series of Marvel’s early years, but even so, after a time the tense action and peripheral interactions with the greater Marvel Universe led to a minor rethink and the title was altered, if not the basic premise. The private detective motif proved a brilliant stratagem in generating stories for a character perceived as a reluctant champion at best and outright anti-hero by nature. It allowed Cage to maintain an outsider’s edginess but also meant that adventure literally walked through his shabby door every issue.

Cage set up an office over a movie house on 42nd Street and met a young man who became his greatest/only friend: D.W. Griffith – nerd, film geek and plucky white sidekick. Noah Burstein resurfaced, running a rehab clinic on the dirty, deadly streets around Times Square, aided by Dr. Claire Temple. Soon she too was an integral part of Luke’s new life…

This stunning compendium collects Luke Cage Power Man #24-47 and Annual #1: a landmark breakthrough sequence cumulatively spanning April 1975 to October 1977 and opens in full furious flow.

Following a calamitous clash with many of his oldest enemies, most old business was settled and a partial re-branding of America’s premier black crusader began in issue #17. The mercenary aspect was downplayed (at least on covers) as Luke Cage Power Man got another new start when the constant chaos, cruel carnage and non-stop tension eventually sent romantic interest Dr. Claire Temple scurrying for points distant. In Luke Cage Power Man #23, Cage and D.W. went looking for her. That search culminates here in a 2-issue backdoor pilot for another African American superhero after the seekers find Dr. Temple in The Ringmaster’s Circus of Crime as seen in #24’s ‘Among Us Walks… a Black Goliath! (Isabella, Tuska & Hunt)…

Bill Foster was a highly educated black supporting character: a biochemist who worked with scientist-superhero Henry Pym (AKA Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath and Yellowjacket over decades of costumed capers). Foster debuted in Avengers #32 (September 1966), before fading from view after Pym eventually regained his temporarily lost size-changing abilities. Carrying on his own size-shifting research, Foster was now trapped as a giant, unable to attain normal size, and Cage discovered he was also Claire’s former husband. When he became stuck at 15 feet tall, she had rushed back to Bill’s colossal side to help find a cure.

When Luke turned up, passions boiled over, resulting in another classic heroes-clash moment until the mesmeric Ringmaster hypnotised all combatants, intent on using their strength to feather his own three-ring nest. ‘Crime and Circuses’ (Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson & Fred Kida) has the good guys helpless until Claire comes to the rescue, before making her choice and returning to New York with Luke. Foster thereafter won his own short series, becoming Marvel’s fourth African American costumed hero under the heavy handed painfully obvious sobriquet Black Goliath…

Timely spoofing of a popular ’70’s TV show inspired ‘The Night Shocker!’ (Steve Englehart, Tuska & Colletta) as Cage stalks a supposed vampire attacking 42nd Street patrons, after which a touching human drama finds Cage forced to fight a tragically simpleminded super-powered wrestler in ‘Just a Guy Named “X”!’ (by Mantlo, George Pérez & Al McWilliams, paying tribute to Steve Ditko’s classic yarn from Amazing Spider-Man #38).

A new level of sophistication, social commentary and bizarre villainy began in issue 28 as Don McGregor started a run of macabre crime sagas, opening when Cage meets ‘The Man Who Killed Jiminy Cricket!’ (illustrated by Tuska & Vince Colletta). Hired by a chemical company to stop industrial espionage, Luke fails to prevent the murder of his prime suspect and is somehow defeated by feeble but deadly weirdo Cockroach Hamilton (and his beloved shotgun “Josh”).

Left for dead in one of the most outré cliffhanger situations ever seen, Cage took two issues to escape, as the next issue featured a “deadline-doom” fill-in tale. Courtesy of Mantlo, Tuska & Colletta, Luke Cage Power Man #29 revealed why ‘No One Laughs at Mr. Fish!’ (although the temptation is overwhelming) as he fights a fin-faced mutated mobster robbing shipping trucks for organised crime analogue The Maggia, after which the story already in progress resumes in #30 with ‘Look What They’ve Done to Our Lives, Ma!’ (McGregor, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones & Keith Pollard).

Escaping a deadly deathtrap, Cage hunts down Hamilton, and confronts his erudite, sardonic, steel-fanged boss Piranha Jones just after they succeed in stealing a leaking canister of lethal nerve gas. The dread drama concludes in ‘Over the Years They Murdered the Stars!’ (Sal Buscema & the inking legion of deadline-busting Crusty Bunkers) as Cage saves his city at risk of his life before serving just deserts to the eerie evildoers…

Having successfully rebranded himself, the urban privateer makes ends meet whilst seeking a way to stay under police radar and clear his name. The new level of sophisticated, social commentary and bizarre villainy of McGregor’s run led to Cage saving the entire city in true superhero style as #32 opens with the (still unlicensed) PI in leafy suburbs, hired to protect a black family from literally incendiary racist super-villain Wildfire in ‘The Fire This Time!’ (illustrated by Frank Robbins & Colletta). This self-appointed champion of moral outrage is determined to keep his affluent, decent neighbourhood white, and even Power Man is ultimately unable to prevent a ghastly atrocity from being perpetrated…

Back in the comfort zone of Times Square once again, Cage is in the way when a costumed manic comes looking for Noah Burnstein, and painfully learns ‘Sticks and Stone Will Break Your Bones, But Spears Can Kill You!’ As shady reporters, sleazy lawyers and police detective Quentin Chase all circle, looking to uncover the Hero for Hire’s secret past in ‘Death, Taxes and Springtime Vendettas!’ (Frank Springer inks), Cage’s attention is distracted from Burstein’s stalker by deranged wrestler The Mangler, prompting a savage showdown and near-fatal outcome in ‘Of Memories, Both Vicious and Haunting!’ (plotted by Marv Wolfman, dialogued by McGregor and illustrated by Marie Severin, Joe Giella & Frank Giacoia). Here at last, the reasons for the campaign of terror against the doctor are finally, shockingly exposed…

The 1976 Power Man Annual (#1) follows with ‘Earthshock!’ by Chris Claremont, Lee Elias & Hunt calling Cage to Japan as bodyguard to wealthy Samantha Sheridan. She’s being targeted by munitions magnate and tectonics-warping maniac Moses Magnum, intent on tapping Earth’s magma core, even though the very planet is at risk of destruction. Thankfully, not even his army of mercenaries is enough to stop Cage in full rage…

Next comes the cover for Power Man #36 (cover-dated October 1976) and another casualty of the “Dreaded Deadline Doom”. Although not included here, it reprinted #12 which first debuted the villain featured in #37’s all-new ‘Chemistro is Back! Deadlier Than Ever!’ thanks to Wolfman, Wilson & Aubrey Bradford.

The apparently grudge-bearing recreant attacks Cage at the behest of a mystery mastermind who clarifies his position in follow-up ‘…Big Brother Wants You… Dead!’ (Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, Bob Brown & Jim Mooney). Minions Cheshire Cat and Checkpoint Charlie shadow our increasingly frustrated investigator, before repeated inconclusive and inexplicable clashes with Chemistro lead to a bombastic ‘Battle with the Baron!’ (Klaus Janson inks) – a rival mastermind hoping to corner the market on crime in NYC. The convoluted clash concludes in ‘Rush Hour to Limbo!’ (art by Elias & Giacoia) as one final deathtrap for Cage turns into an explosive last hurrah for Big Brother and his crew…

Inked by Tom Palmer, #41 debuts a new vigilante in ‘Thunderbolt and Goldbug!’ as a super-swift masked hero makes a name for himself cleaning up low-level scum. Simultaneously, Cage is hired by a courier company to protect a bullion shipment, but when the truck is bombed and the guards die, dazed and furious Cage can’t tell villain from vigilante and takes on the wrong guy…

Answers, if not conclusions, are forthcoming in ‘Gold! Gold! Who’s Got the Gold?’ (Alex Niño inks) as Luke learns who his real friends and foes are, only to be suckered into a trap barely escaped in #43’s ‘The Death of Luke Cage!’ In the aftermath, with legal authorities closing in on his fake life, Cage sheds his Power Man persona and flees town. However, even in the teeming masses of Chicago, he can’t escape his past and an old enemy mistakenly assumes he’s been tracked down by the hero he hates most in all the world.

Wolfman plots and Ed Hannigan scripts for Elias & Palmer as ‘Murder is the Man Called Mace!’ sees Luke dragged into the disgraced and dishonoured soldier’s scheme to seize control of America. Despite his best and most violent efforts, Cage is beaten and strapped to a cobalt bomb on ‘The Day Chicago Died!’ (Wolfman & Elias). Sadly, after breaking free of the device, it’s lost in the sewer system, prompting a frantic ‘Chicago Trackdown!’ before another savage showdown with Mace and his paramilitary madmen culminates in a chilling (Roger Slifer scripted) ‘Countdown to Catastrophe!’ as a fame-hungry sniper starts shooting citizens whilst the authorities are preoccupied searching for the missing nuke…

With atomic armageddon averted at the last moment, this collection – and Cage’s old life – end on a well-conceived final charge. With issue #48, Cage’s comic title would be shared with mystic martial artist Danny Rand in the superbly enticing odd couple feature Power Man and Iron Fist, but before that there’s still a ‘Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight!’ courtesy of Claremont, Tuska & Bob Smith, as Chicago is attacked by brain-sucking electrical parasite Zzzax! Thankfully, our steel-skinned stalwart is more than a match for the mind-stealing megawatt monstrosity…

With all covers – by Gil Kane, Wilson, Buckler, Dave Cockrum, Marie Severin, Ernie Chan, Jim Starlin, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Klaus Janson, Dan Adkins, Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott & Pablo Marcos – this street treat is backed up the cover of reprint one-shot Giant-Size Power Man from 1975; House ads and images by Sal Buscema from the Mighty Marvel Bicentennial Calendar (1976) and Wilson & Sinnott’s June 1977 Marvel Comics Memory Album Calendar.

Arguably a little dated now (us in the know prefer the term “retro”), these tales were crucial in breaking down many social barriers across the complacent, intolerant, WASP-flavoured US comics landscape, and their power – if not their initial impact – remains undiminished to this day. These are tales well worth your time and attention.
© 2024 MARVEL.

Posted on

The Defenders Epic Collection volume 1: The Day of the Defenders (1969-1973)


By Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, Len Wein, Gene Colan, Marie Severin, Herb Trimpe, Ross Andru, Sal Buscema, Bob Brown, Don Heck, Tom Palmer, Johnny Craig, Bill Everett, Frank McLaughlin, Jim Mooney, Frank Bolle, Frank Giacoia, John Verpoorten, Mike Esposito & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-3356-2 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

For kids – of any and all ages – there is a simple response to and primal fascination with brute strength and feeling dangerous, which surely goes some way towards explaining the perennial interest in angry tough guys who break stuff… as best exemplified by Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner and the Incredible Hulk. When you add the mystery and magic of Doctor Strange, the recipe for thrills, spills and chills becomes simply irresistible…

Last of the big star conglomerate super-groups, The Defenders would eventually number amongst its membership almost every hero – and a few villains – in the Marvel Universe. No real surprise there then, as initially they were composed of the company’s bad-boy antiheroes: misunderstood, outcast and often actually dangerous to know.

For Marvel, the outsider super-group must have seemed a conceptual inevitability – once they’d finally published it. Back then, apart from Spider-Man and Daredevil, all their superstars regularly teamed up in various mob-handed assemblages and, in the wake of the Defenders’ success, even more super-teams comprising pre-existing characters were rapidly mustered. These included the Champions, Invaders, New Warriors  and so forth – but none of them had any Truly Very Big Guns…

They never won the fame or acceptance of other teams, but that simply seemed to leave creators open to taking more chances and playing the occasional narrative wild card. The genesis of the team derived from their status as publicly distrusted villains, threats or menaces, but before all that later inventive approbation. The scintillating collection compiles early days as first seen in whole or in part in Dr. Strange #183, Sub-Mariner #22, 33 & 35, Incredible Hulk #126, Marvel Feature #1-3, Defenders #1-11, and Avengers #115-118 covering November 1969 to December 1973, re-presenting a wealth of extended and linked sagas that would reshape comics.

The first tale in this volume comes from Dr. Strange #183 in ‘They Walk by Night!’ where Roy Thomas, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer introduced a deadly threat to humanity. Elder demon race The Undying Ones were returning, hungry to reconquer the Earth they once ruled, but as the sorcerer’s series unexpectedly ended with that issue, the story went nowhere until the Sub-Mariner #22 (February 1970) and ‘The Monarch and the Mystic!’ brought the Prince of Atlantis into the mix. Here Thomas, Marie Severin & Johnny Craig told a sterling tale of sacrifice in which the Master of the Mystic Arts seemingly dies holding the gates of Hell shut with the Undying Ones sealed behind them.

The extended saga concluded on an upbeat note in The Incredible Hulk #126 (April 1970) as Thomas & Herb Trimpe revealed in ‘…Where Stalks the Night-Crawler!’ how a New England cult dispatches helpless Bruce Banner to the nether realms in an attempt to undo Strange’s sacrifice. Luckily, cultist Barbara Norris has last-minute second thoughts and her own dire sacrifice frees the mystic, and seemingly ends the threat of the Undying Ones forever. At the end of the issue Strange retired. Although forsaking magic, he was soon back as the fates and changing reading tastes called him to duty as magic and the supernatural themes rose in popularity. As Namor became an early advocate of the ecology movement, in issues #34-35 of his own title (February & March 1971) the next step in the antihero  revolution came when he recruited Hulk and Silver Surfer for  a critical cause.

Antihero super-nonteam The Defenders officially begins with Sub-Mariner #34-35 (cover-dated February & March 1971). As previously cited, the Prince of Atlantis was an ardent activist and advocate of the ecology movement, and here takes radical steps to save Earth in ‘Titans Three!’ by fractiously recruiting other outcasts to help him destroy a US Nuclear Weather-Control station. In concluding chapter ‘Confrontation!’ (Thomas, Sal Buscema & Jim Mooney) the always-misunderstood outcasts unite to battle a despotic dictator’s legions, the US Army, UN defence forces and Avengers to prevent the malfunctioning station vaporising half the planet…

With that debacle smoothed over life resumed its usual frenetic pace for the Hulk and Namor until giant sized try-out comic Marvel Feature #1. Cover-dated December 1971, it presented ‘The Day of the Defenders!’ as a mysteriously re-empowered Stephen Strange summons the Avenging Son and the Jade Juggernaut to help him stop the deathbed doom of crazed super-mind Yandroth. Determined to not go gently into the dark, the Scientist Supreme had built an “Omegatron” programmed to obliterate the Earth as soon as Yandroth’s heart stopped beating. With magic ineffective, only the brute strength of the misunderstood misanthropes could possibly stop it…

Naturally the fiend hadn’t told the whole truth, but the day was saved – actually only postponed – in a canny classic from Thomas, Ross Andru & Bill Everett. The issue also shares how Strange regained his mojo in ‘The Return’ by Thomas, Don Heck & Frank Giacoia: a heady 10-page thriller proving that not all good things come in large packages.

Clearly destined for great things, the astounding antiheroes reassembled in Marvel Feature #2 (March 1972) with Sal Buscema replacing Everett as inker for late Halloween treat ‘Nightmare on Bald Mountain!’ By capturing archfoe Dr. Strange, extradimensional dark lord Dormammu sought to invade Earth’s realm through a portal in Vermont, only to be savagely beaten back by the mage’s surly sometime comrades, before reuniting in #3 (June 1972, by Thomas, Andru & Everett ) to face a revive old Lee/Kirby “furry underpants” monster in ‘A Titan Walks Among Us!’

Until thrashed by the Defenders, Xemnu the Titan was an alien super-telepath seeking to repopulate his desolate homeworld by stealing America’s children. Of course, older fans recognised him as the cover-hogging star of Journey into Mystery #62 (November 1960) where he acted as a road-test for a later Marvel star in a short tale entitled ‘I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk!’…

An undoubted hit, The Defenders exploded swiftly into their own title (cover-dated August 1972), to begin a bold, offbeat run of reluctant adventures scripted by superteam wunderkind Steve Englehart. As a group of eclectic associates occasionally called together to save the world (albeit on a miraculously monotonous monthly basis) they were billed as a “non-team” – whatever that is – but it didn’t affect the quality of their super-heroic shenanigans. With Sal B as regular penciller, an epic adventure ensued with ‘I Slay by the Stars!’ (Giacoia inks) as sorcerer Necrodamus seeks to sacrifice Namor and free those pesky Undying Ones: a mission that promptly leads to conflict with an old ally in ‘The Secret of the Silver Surfer!’ (inked by John Verpoorten) before concluding in the Mooney-inked ‘Four Against the Gods!’ Here the Defenders take their war to the dimensional dungeon of the Undying Ones and rescued the long-imprisoned and now utterly insane Barbara Norris.

Clearly a fan of large casts and extended epics, Englehart added a fighting femme fatale to the mix with ‘The New Defender!’ (inked by new regular Frank McLaughlin) as Asgardian exiles Enchantress and Executioner embroil the antiheroes in their long-running and lethal love-spat. The fallout includes bringing The Black Knight briefly into the group and turning Barbara into the latest incarnation of Feminist Fury (these were far less enlightened days) The Valkyrie.

Defenders #5 began a long-running plot thread with major repercussions for the Marvel Universe. The denouement left Black Knight an ensorcelled, immobile stone statue, and, as Strange and Co. searched for a cure, the long defused Omegatron suddenly resumed its countdown to global annihilation in ‘World Without End?’, after which the increasingly isolationist Silver Surfer momentarily “joins” in #6 to share ‘The Dreams of Death!’ as lightweight magic menace Cyrus Black attacks, and is rapidly repulsed.

After a spiffy team pin-up by Sal Buscema, Defenders #7 jumps right in as Len Wein co-scripts with Englehart and Frank Bolle inks Sal Buscema in ‘War Below the Waves!’ Here tempestuous ex-Avenger Hawkeye briefly climbs aboard the non-team bandwagon to help defeat undersea tyrant Attuma and soviet renegade The Red Ghost: a bombastic battle to usurp Sub-Mariner of his titles and kingdom concluding a month later in ‘…If Atlantis Should Fall!’, with Englehart providing all the words and McLaughlin inking. Since Defenders #4 the forward-thinking scripter had been putting players in place for a hugely ambitious crossover experiment: one that turned the industry on its head. Next here comes a prologue taken from the end of Avengers #115 which finally set the ball rolling.

Drawn by Bob Brown & Mike Esposito, ‘Alliance Most Foul!’ sees interdimensional despot the Dread Dormammu and Asgardian god of Evil Loki unite in search of an ultimate weapon to give them final victory against their foes. They resolve to trick the Defenders into securing its six component parts by “revealing” that the reconstructed Evil Eye can restore the petrified Black Knight. That plan is initiated at the end of Defenders #8: a brief opening chapter in ‘The Avengers/Defenders Clash’ entitled ‘Deception!’ wherein a message from the Black Knight’s spirit is intercepted by the twin entities of evil, leading directly to ‘Betrayal!’ in Avengers #116 (Englehart, Brown & Esposito) with the World’s Mightiest Heroes hunting for their missing comrade and “discovering” old enemies Hulk and Sub-Mariner may have turned him to stone.

This and third chapter ‘Silver Surfer Vs. the Vision and the Scarlet Witch’ see the rival teams split up: one to gather the scattered sections of the Eye and the other to stop them at all costs. Defenders #9 (Sal B & McLaughlin art) begins with tense recap ‘Divide …and Conquer’ before ‘The Invincible Iron Man Vs. Hawkeye the Archer’ and ‘Dr. Strange Vs. the Black Panther and Mantis’ sheds more suspicion and doubt on the vile villains’ subtle master-plan. Avengers #117 ‘Holocaust’, ‘Swordsman Vs. the Valkyrie’ and crucial turning point ‘Captain America Vs. Sub-Mariner’ (Brown & Esposito) lead to the penultimate clash in Defenders #10 (Sal B & Bolle) in ‘Breakthrough! The Incredible Hulk Vs. Thor’ before an inevitable joining together of the warring camps in ‘United We Stand!’ Tragically it is too late as Dormammu seizes the reconstructed Evil Eye and uses its power to merge his monstrous realm with Earth.

Avengers #118 delivers the cathartic climactic conclusion in ‘To the Death’ (Brown, Esposito & Giacoia) wherein all the Marvel Universe’s heroes resist the demonic invasion as Avengers and Defenders plunge deep into the Dark Dimension itself to end forever the threat of the evil gods…

With the overwhelming cosmic crisis concluded, the victorious Defenders attempt to use the Eye to cure their calcified comrade, only to discover his spirit has found a new home in the 12th century. In #11’s Bolle inked ‘A Dark and Stormy Knight’ the band battle black magic during the Crusades, fail to retrieve the Knight and acrimoniously go their separate ways – as did overworked departing scripter Englehart…

With issue #12 Len Wein would assume the writer’s role, starting a run of slightly more traditional costumed capers…

With covers by Colan, Everett, Severin, Frank Giacoia, John Buscema, John Romita, Sal Buscema, Gil Kane, Ralph Reese, Jim Starlin, Verpoorten, Esposito, Bolle & Ron Wilson this titanic tome also offers contemporary house ads, a revelatory Afterword by Steve Englehart segues into a brief bonus feature including unpublished cover art, the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page announcing the launch of The Defenders, original art pages, and previous collection covers by Carlos Pacheco, John Romita and Richard Isanove.

For the longest time, The Defenders was the best and weirdest superhero comic book in the business, and if you love Fights ‘n’ Tights frolics but crave something just a little different, these yarns are for you… and the best is still to come.
© 2022 MARVEL.

Posted on

Iron Fist Epic Collection: The Fury of Iron Fist volume 1 1974-1977


By Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Doug Moench, Tony Isabella, Chris Claremont, Doug Moench, Tony Isabella, Gil Kane, Larry Hama, John Byrne, Arvell Jones, Keith Pollard, Pat Broderick, Dick Giordano, Dan Green, Vince Colletta, Aubrey Bradford, Bob McLeod, Al McWilliams, Frank Chiaramonte, Dan Adkins, Dave Hunt & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9164-3 (TPB/Digital edition

Comic books have always operated within the larger bounds of popular trends and fashions – just look at what got published whenever westerns or science fiction dominated on TV – so when the ancient philosophy/health-&-fitness discipline of Kung Fu made its unstoppable mark on domestic entertainment in the West, it wasn’t long before the “Chop Sockey” kicks and punches found their way en masse onto the four-colour pages of America’s periodicals.

As part of the first Martial Arts bonanza, Marvel converted a forthcoming license to use venerable pulp fictional villain Fu Manchu into a series about his son. The series launched in Special Marvel Edition #15, December 1973 as The Hands of Shang Chi: Master of Kung Fu and by April 1974 (#17) it became his exclusively. A month later the House of Ideas launched a second orient-informed hero in Iron Fist; a character combining Eastern combat philosophy with high fantasy, magic powers and a proper superhero mask and costume. Happy 50th Anniversary!

The character owed a hefty debt to Bill Everett’s pioneering golden Age super-hero Amazing Man who graced various Centaur Comics publications between 1939 and 1942. The tribute was paid by Roy Thomas & Gil Kane who adopted and translated the fictive John Aman’s Tibetan origins into something that gibed better with twin 1970’s zeitgeists of Supernatural Fantasy and Martial Arts Mayhem…

This collection gathers the far-ranging first years of publishing True Survivor and “Living Weapon”, as delivered in Marvel Premier #15-25, Iron Fist #1-15 and Marvel Team-Up #63-64 (spanning May 1974 to December 1977). These saw the high-kicking wonder uncover his past and rediscover his heritage and humanity before inevitably settling into an apparently inescapable role of costumed crusader as half of superhero and detective bromance Power Man and Iron Fist.

The saga began on a spectacular high in Marvel Premier #15 with ‘The Fury of Iron Fist!’ by Thomas, Kane and inker Dick Giordano, as a teenaged masked warrior defeats the cream of a legendary combat elite in a fabled other-dimensional city before returning to Earth.

Ten years previously little Daniel Rand had watched his father and mother die at the hands of Harold Meachum whilst the party of millionaire adventurers risked Himalayan snows to find the legendary city of K’un Lun. Little Danny had travelled with his parents and business partner Meachum in search of the fabled city – which only appeared on Earth for one day every decade. Wendell Rand had some unsuspected connection to the fabled Shangri La but was killed before they found it, whilst Danny’s mother sacrificed herself to save the child from wolves and her murderous pursuer.

As he wandered alone in the wilderness, the city found Danny. The boy spent ten years training: mastering all forms of martial arts in a militaristic, oriental, feudal paradise while enduring countless arcane ordeals, living only for the day he would return to Earth and avenge his parents. After conquering all comers and rejecting immortality, the Iron Fist returned to Earth, a Living Weapon able to channel his force of will into a devastating super-punch…

From the outset the feature was plagued by its inability to sustain a stable creative team, although, to be fair, story quality never suffered, only plot and direction. Reaching New York City in #16, ‘Heart of the Dragon!’ (Len Wein, Larry Hama & Giordano) found Iron Fist reliving the years of toil which had culminated in a trial by combat with mystic dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, which won him the power to concentrate his fist “like unto a thing of Iron” as well as other unspecified abilities. The epic clash permanently branded his chest with the seared silhouette of the fearsome wyrm.

His recollections are shattered when martial arts bounty hunter Scythe attacks, revealing that prospering murderer Meachum knew the boy was back and had put a price on his head…

Danny had not only sacrificed immortality for vengeance but also prestige and privilege. As he left K’un Lun, supreme ruler of the city the August Personage in Jade Yu-Ti had revealed that murdered Wendell Rand was his brother…

Marvel Premier #17 saw Doug Moench take over scripting as Iron Fist stormed Meachum’s skyscraper headquarters – a ‘Citadel on the Edge of Vengeance’ converted into a colossal 30-storey death trap. The assault led to a duel with cybernetically-augmented giant Triple-Iron and a climactic confrontation with his parents’ killer in #18’s ‘Lair of Shattered Vengeance!’

The years had not been kind to Meachum. He’d lost his legs to frostbite returning from the high peaks, and, upon hearing from Sherpas that a boy had been taken into K’un Lun, had spent the intervening decade awaiting in dread his victims’ avenger…

Filled with loathing, frustration and pity, Iron Fist turns away from his intended retribution, but Meachum dies anyway, slain by a mysterious Ninja as the deranged multi-millionaire attempts to shoot Danny in the back…

In #19, Joy Meachum and her ruthless uncle Ward – convinced Iron Fist had killed the crippled Harold – step up the hunt for the returnee via legal and illegal means, whilst the shell-shocked Living Weapon aimlessly wanders the strange streets of Manhattan. Adopted by enigmatic Colleen Wing, Danny meets her father, an aging professor of Oriental Studies who has fallen foul of a ‘Death Cult!’

In his travels the aged savant had acquired ancient text The Book of Many Things, which, amongst other items, held the secret of K’un Lun’s destruction. The deadly disciples of Kara-Kai are determined to possess it, and after thwarting their next murder attempt Danny tries to make peace with Joy, but instead walks into an ambush with the bloodthirsty Ninja again intervening and butchering the bushwhackers…

A period of often painful inconsistency began as Tony Isabella, Arvell Jones & Dan Green took over with #20. The Kara-Kai cultists renew their attacks on the Wings whilst Ward Meachum hires an army of killers to destroy the Living Weapon in ‘Batroc and other Assassins’ – with the identity of the ninja apparently revealed here as the elderly scholar…

Marvel Premier #21 introduced the ‘Daughters of the Death Goddess’ (Vince Colletta inks) as the Wings are abducted by cultists and bionic ex-cop Misty Knight debuts, first as foe but soon as an ally. When Danny tracks down the cult he discovers some shocking truths – as does the Ninja, who had been imprisoned within the ancient book by the August Personage in Jade in ages past and recently possessed Professor Wing in search of escape and vengeance.

All was revealed and the hero exonerated in #22’s ‘Death is a Ninja’ (“A. Bradford” inks) with the Ninja disclosing how, as disciple to sublime wizard Master Khan, he had attempted to conquer K’un Lun and been imprisoned within the crumbling tome for his pains. Over years he had discovered a temporary escape and subsequently manipulated the Wings and Iron Fist to secure permanent release and the doom of his jailers. Now exposed, he faces the Living Weapon in a final cataclysmic clash…

A measure of stability began with #23 as Chris Claremont, Pat Broderick & Bob McLeod took the series in a new direction. With his life’s work over and nearly nine years until he could return “home”, Danny is now a man without purpose – until whilst strolling with Colleen he stumbles into a spree shooting in ‘The Name is… Warhawk!’ When the cyborg-assassin has a Vietnam flashback and begins heedlessly sniping in Central Park, the Pride of K’un Lun instantly responds to the threat – and thus begins his career as a superhero…

In ‘Summerkill’ (inked by Colletta), the itinerant exile battles alien robot the Monstroid and opens a long and complicated association with Princess Azir of Halwan, as the mysterious Master Khan resurfaces, apparently intent on killing her and seizing her country…

Marvel Premier #25 was the last of the run and start of the hero’s short but sweet Golden Age as John Byrne became regular penciller for ‘Morning of the Mindstorm!’ (inked by Al McWilliams). Whilst Colleen is driven to unconsciousness and abducted and her father pushed to the edge of insanity by mind-bending terrorist Angar the Screamer, Danny – made of far sterner stuff – overcomes the psychic assault and tracks the attackers to Stark Industries and into his own series…

Iron Fist #1 (November 1975) featured ‘A Duel of Iron!’ as he is manoeuvred into battling Iron Man, even as Colleen escapes and runs into Danny’s future nemesis Steel Serpent before being recaptured and renditioned to Halwan. Following a spectacular, inconclusive and ultimately pointless battle, Danny and Misty Knight also head for Halwan in ‘Valley of the Damned!’ (#2, inked by Frank Chiaramonte) with K’un Lun’s finest recalling a painful episode from his youth wherein best friends Conal and Miranda chose certain death beyond the walls of the regimented war-paradise rather than remain in the lost city where they could not love each other…

As Master Khan begins to break Colleen, Danny & Misty stopover in England where nuclear horror The Ravager slaughters innocents by blowing up London Airport and the Post Office Tower (we rebuilt it as the BT Tower, so don’t panic), compelling Iron Fist to punch way above his weight in ‘The City’s Not For Burning!’ Inevitably it ends in ‘Holocaust!’ as the unmasked Ravager is revealed to be old villain Radion the Atomic Man. He fatally irradiates Danny until the wounded warrior fortuitously discovers the cleansing, curative power of the Iron Fist before storming to his greatest triumph yet…

With Misty recuperating, Danny befriends guilt-ridden IRA bomber Alan Cavenaugh before tackling another of Khan’s assassins in ‘When Slays the Scimitar!’, after which Iron Fist & Misty finally infiltrate Halwan in #6, courtesy of crusading lawyer Jeryn Hogarth, who also promises to secure Danny’s inheritance and interests from the Rand-Meachum Corporation.

The Pride of K’un Lun doesn’t much care, since brainwashed Colleen has been unleashed by Khan, determined to kill her rescuers in ‘Death Match!’…

None of the earthly participants are aware that, from a hidden dimension, Yu-Ti is observing the proceedings with cold calculation…

Using his Iron Fist to psychically link with Colleen, Danny breaks Khan’s conditioning and at last the malignant mage personally enters the fray in #7’s ‘Iron Fist Must Die!’: a blistering battle which breaches dimensions and exposes the August Personage in Jade’s involvement in Wendell Rand’s death. Given the choice between abandoning his friends on Earth or returning to K’un Lun for answers and justice, the Living Weapon makes a true hero’s choice…

With Iron Fist #8 Danny returns to New York and attempts to pick up the pieces of a life interrupted by more than a decade of pointless obsession. Unaware that Steel Serpent now works for Joy Meachum, Danny joins the company until merciless mob boss Chaka and his Chinatown gangs attack the business ‘Like Tigers in the Night!’ (inked by Dan Adkins). In resisting the invasion Iron Fist is fatally poisoned.

Sportingly offered an antidote if he survives a gauntlet of Chaka’s warriors, Danny triumphs in his own manner before ‘The Dragon Dies at Dawn!’ (Chiaramonte inks) but when a hidden killer bludgeons Chaka, Danny is again a fugitive from the cops and dubbed the ‘Kung Fu Killer!’ (Adkins) until he, Colleen and Misty expose the entire plot as a fabrication of the gangster.

IF #11’s ‘A Fine Day’s Dawn!’ sees the Living Weapon square off against Asgardian-empowered thugs the Wrecking Crew and, with Misty a hostage, compelled to fight Captain America in #12’s ‘Assault on Avengers’ Mansion!’ – until the Pride of K’un Lun and the Sentinel of Liberty unite to turn the tables on the grotesque god-powered gangsters…

In the intervening time Cavenaugh arrives in New York, but cannot escape the reach of his former Irish Republican comrades. They hire hitman Boomerang to kill the defector and ‘Target: Iron Fist!’ with little success, whereas the villain introduced in issue #14 comes a lot closer: even eventually eclipsing Iron Fist in popularity…

‘Snowfire’ – inked by Dan Green – finds Danny and Colleen running for their lives in arctic conditions when a retreat at Hogarth’s palatial Canadian Rockies estate is invaded by deadly mercenary Sabre-tooth. It just wasn’t their week as, only days before, a mystery assailant had ambushed Iron Fist and somehow drained off a significant portion of his Shou-Lao-fuelled life-force. Despite being rendered temporarily blind, the K’un Lun Kid ultimately defeats Sabre-tooth, but the fiercely feral mutant would return again and again…

With Claremont & Byrne increasingly absorbed by their stellar collaboration on revived and resurgent mutant horde The X-Men, something had to go and Iron Fist#15 (September 1977) was their last Martial Arts mash-up for a while. The series ended in spectacular fashion as – through a comedy of errors – Danny stumbles into battling Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee and Phoenix in ‘Enter, the X-Men!’.

The cancellation was unplanned, as two major subplots remained unresolved: Misty had disappeared on undercover assignment investigating European gang boss John Bushmaster whilst Danny again had his chi siphoned off by Steel Serpent. Fans didn’t have to wait long: Claremont & Byrne had already begun a stint on Marvel Team-Up and turned the Spider-Man vehicle into their own personal clearing house for unresolved plot-lines. MTU #63-64 (November & December 1977 and inked by Dave Hunt) revealed the secret of K’un Lun exile Davos in ‘Night of the Dragon’, with Steel Serpent sucking the power of the Iron Fist from Danny, leaving him near death. Risking all she had gained, Misty broke cover and rushed to his aid…

With the wallcrawler and Colleen (the girls using team codename Daughters of the Dragon) to bolster him, Iron Fist defeats Davos to reclaims his birthright in ‘If Death Be My Destiny…’ before shuffling off into a quiet retirement and anonymity.

… But not for long…

Although suffering a few grim patches, the greater bulk of the Iron Fist saga ranks amongst the most exciting and enjoyable Costumed Dramas of Marvel’s second generation. If you want a good, clean fight comic this is probably one of your better bets, especially if you’re a fan of original artwork as this titanic tome closes with a house ad and fabulous selection, shot from Byrne’s inked pages and original pencil character sketches…

Now a screen star and solid stanchion of Marvel’s massive continuity, Iron Fist easily outgrew his opportunistic, faddy roots and is waiting to shake hand with you. Are you going to keep the birthday boy waiting any longer?
© 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 2015 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Deadpool Epic Comics volume 1: The Circle Chase 1991-1994


By Rob Liefeld, Fabian Nicieza, Glenn Herdling, Gregory Wright, Tom Brevoort, Mike Kanterovich, Mark Waid, Dan Slott, Pat Olliffe, Mark Pacella, Greg Capullo, Mike Gustovich, Joe Madureira, Isaac Cordova, Jerry DeCaire, Bill Wylie, Ian Churchill, Sandu Florea, Terry Shoemaker, Al Milgrom, Scot Eaton, Ariane Lenshoek, Tony DeZuñiga, Lee Weeks, Don Hudson, Ken Lashley & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-302-3205-3 (TPB/Digital edition)

With a long, LONG awaited cinematic combo clash finally headed our way this summer and in the year of a certain Canadian Canucklehead’s 50th Anniversary, expect a few cashing-in style commendations and reviews in our immediate future. Here’s a handy starter package to set the ball rolling…

Bloodthirsty killers and stylish mercenaries have long made for popular protagonists and this guy is probably one of the most popular. Deadpool is Wade Wilson: a survivor of sundry experiments that left him a scarred, grotesque bundle of scabs and physical unpleasantries – albeit functionally immortal, invulnerable and capable of regenerating from literally any wound.

Moreover, after his initial outings on the fringes of the X-Universe, his modern incarnation makes him either one of the few beings able to perceive the true nature of reality… or a total gibbering loon.

Chronologically collecting and curating cameos, guest shots and his early outrages from New Mutants #98, X-Force #2, 11 & 15, Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1-4, and Secret Defenders #15-17, as well as pertinent excerpted material from X-Force #4, 5 10, 14, 19-24; X-Force Annual #1, Nomad #4; Avengers #366 & Silver Sable & the Wild Pack #23 & 30, (spanning February 1991 to November 1994), this tome is merely the first in a series cataloguing his ever more outlandish escapades.

After Gail Simone’s joyous Foreword ‘He was always Deadpool’ justifies and confirms his fame, escalating antics and off-kilter appeal, his actual debut in New Mutants #98’s ‘The Beginning of the End, part one’ opens proceedings. The “merc with a mouth” was created as a villain du jour by Rob Liefeld & Fabian Nicieza, as that title wound down in advance of a major reboot/rebrand. He seemed a one-trick throwaway in a convoluted saga of mutant mayhem with little else to recommend it. An employee of enigmatic evildoer Mr. Tolliver, Deadpool was despatched to kill to kill future-warrior Cable and his teen acolytes… but spectacularly failed. The kids were soon after rebranded and relaunched as X-Force though, so he had a few encores and more tries…

With appropriate covers and text to precis events between excerpt moments, we learn Deadpool first popped back in September 1991’s X-Force #2’s ‘The Blood Hunters’ where he clashed with another product of Canada’s clandestine super-agent project (which had turned a mutant spy into feral, adamantium-augmented warrior Wolverine as well as unleashing so many other second-string cyborg super-doers). Gritty do-gooder Garrison Kane was dubbed Weapon X (first of many!) and the tale also included aging spymaster GW Bridge…

Still just a derivative costumed killer for hire popping up in bit part roles, the merc continued pushing Tolliver’s agenda and met Spider-Man until as seen here via snippets from X-Force Annual #1 (1991) before stumbling through Nicieza-scripted crossover Dead Man’s Hand. Illustrated by Pat Olliffe & Mark McKenna, ‘Neon Knights’ (Nomad #4, August 1992) finds Deadpool just one of a bunch of super-killers-for-hire convened by a group of lesser crime bosses seeking to fill a void created by the fall of The Kingpin. His mission is to remove troublemaking fellow hitman Bushwacker, but former super sidekick Jack “Bucky” Monroe has some objections…

Excerpts from X-Force #10 (May 1992) presage #11’s extended fight between Deadpool, the teen team, Cable and mutant luck-shaper Domino in ‘Friendly Reminders’ (Nicieza, Liefeld, Mark Pacella & Dan Panosian) before a clip from X-Force #14 (September 1992 limned by Terry Shoemaker & Al Milgrom) reveals a shocking truth about Domino and Deadpool’s relationship with her, prior to X-Force #15’s ‘To the Pain’ (October 1992 with art by Greg Capullo) wrapping up a long-running war between Cable’s kids, Tolliver and The Externals…

Excerpts from X-Force #19-23 – as first seen in 1993 – find the manic merc hunting Domino and/or Vanessa and sparking a mutant mega clash before Wade Wilson guests in Avengers #366 (September 1993 by Glenn Herdling, Mike Gustovich & Ariane Lenshoek). A tie-in to Deadpool’s first solo miniseries, ‘Swordplay³’ sees the merc and a group of meta-scavengers embroiled in battle with each other and new hero Blood Wraith with The Black Knight helpless to control the chaos…

That first taste of solo stardom came with 4-issue miniseries The Circle Chase: cover-dated August-November 1993 by Nicieza, Joe Madureira & Mark Farmer. A fast-paced but cluttered thriller, it sees Wilson doggedly pursuing an ultimate weapon: one of a large crowd of mutants and variously-enhanced ne’er-do-wells seeking the fabled legacy of arms dealer/fugitive from the future Mr. Tolliver. Among other (un)worthies bound for the boodle in ‘Ducks in a Row’, ‘Rabbit Season, Duck Season’, ‘…And Quacks Like a Duck…’ and ‘Duck Soup’ are mutant misfits Black Tom and The Juggernaut; the then-latest iteration of Weapon X; shape-shifter Copycat and a host of fashionably disposable cyborg loons with quirky media-buzzy names like Commcast and Slayback. If you can swallow any understandable nausea associated with the dreadful trappings of this low point in Marvel’s tempestuous history, there is a sharp and entertaining little thriller underneath…

A follow-up tale in Silver Sable & the Wild Pack #23 (April 1994, Gregory Wright, Isaac Cordova & Hon Hudson) pits Wilson against Daredevil and notional heroes-for-hire Paladin and Silver Sable before uniting to thwart fascist usurpers The Genesis Coalition, prior to a relatively heroic stance in Doctor Strange team-up title Secret Defenders.

Beginning in #15’s ‘Strange Changes Part the First: Strangers and Other Lovers’ (May 1994 by Tom Brevoort, Mike Kanterovich, Jerry Decaire & Tony DeZuñiga) the Sorcerer Supreme sends Doctor Druid, Shadowoman, Luke Cage and Deadpool to stop ancient life-sucking sorceress Malachi – a task fraught with peril that takes #16’s ‘Strange Changes Part the Second: Resurrection Tango’ (pencilled by Bill Wylie and debuting zombie hero Cadaver), and #17’s ‘Strange Changes Part the Third: On Borrowed Time’…

A moment from Silver Sable & the Wild Pack #30 (November 1994, by Wright, Scot Eaton & Jim Amash) depicting Wade’s reaction to his rival’s fall from grace segues into the second 4-part Deadpool miniseries (August – November 1994) which revolves around auld acquaintances Black Tom and Juggernaut. Collaboratively contrived by writer Mark Waid, pencillers Ian Churchill, Lee Weeks and Ken Lashley with inkers Jason Minor, Bob McLeod, Bub LaRosa, Tom Wegryzn, Philip Moy & W.C. Carani, ‘If Looks Could Kill!’, ‘Luck of the Irish’, ‘Deadpool, Sandwich’ and ‘Mano a Mano’ delivers a hyperkinetic race against time heavy on explosive action.

The previous miniseries revealed Irish archvillain Black Tom Cassidy was slowly turning into a tree (as you do). Desperate to save his meat-based life, the bad guy and best bud Cain “The Juggernaut” Marko manipulate Wade Wilson: exploiting the merc’s unconventional relationship with Siryn (a sonic mutant, Tom’s niece and X-Force member). Believing Deadpool’s regenerating factor holds a cure, the villains stir up a bucket-load of carnage at a time when Wade is at his lowest ebb. Packed with mutant guest stars, this is a shallow but immensely readable piece of eye-candy that reset Deadpool’s path and paved the way for a tonal change that would make the Merc with a Mouth a global superstar…

All Epic Collections offer bonus material bonanzas and here that comprises images from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition, many cover reproductions (Deadpool Classic volume 1 by Liefeld & John Kalisz, Deadpool Classic Companion by Michael Bair & Matt Milla, Deadpool: Sins of the Past and The Circle Chase TPBs by Madureira, Farmer & Harry Canelario), pin-ups by Rob Haynes & John Lowe from X-Force Annual #2 and Annual #3 by Lashley & Matt “Batt” Banning, plus Sam Kieth’s Marvel Year-in-Review ’93 cover. That magazine’s parody ad by Dan Slott, Manny Galen, Scott Koblish & Wright, follows with Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti & Mark McNabb’s foldout cover to Wizard #22 and Liefeld’s “Marvel ‘92” variant cover for Deadpool #3 (2015).

Featuring a far darker villain evolving into an antihero in a frenetic blend of light-hearted, surreal, full-on fighting frolics these stories only hint at what is to come but remain truly compulsive reading for dyed-in-the-wool superhero fans who might be feeling just a little jaded with four-colour overload…
© 2021 MARVEL.

Posted on

Marvel Masterworks Daredevil volume 15


By Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Michael Fleischer, David Micheline, Ralph Macchio, Josef Rubinstein, Steve Ditko, Paul Gulacy & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-2927-5 (HB/Digital edition)

Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer whose remaining senses hyper-compensate, making him an astonishing acrobat, formidable fighter and living lie-detector. A second-string hero for much of his early career, Daredevil was nonetheless a striking and popular one, due mostly to the captivatingly humanistic art of Gene Colan. DD fought gangsters, super-villains and even the occasional monster or alien invasion, quipping and wisecracking his way through life and life-threatening combat, utterly unlike the grim, moody, quasi-religious metaphor he became.

After a disastrous on-again, off-again relationship with his secretary Karen Page, Murdock took up with Russian emigre Natasha Romanoff, infamous and notorious ex-spy Black Widow but their similarities and incompatibilities led to her leaving as Matt took up with flighty trouble-magnet heiress Heather Glenn…

Spanning July 1979 to July 1981 this monumental Masterworks tome compiles Daredevil #159-172 and material from Bizarre Adventures #25 (March 1981), consolidating and completing a Hero’s Transformation begun by Jim Shooter with a bold, apparently carefree Scarlet Swashbuckler devolving into a driven, terrifying figure. Daredevil became here an urban defender and compulsive avenger: a tortured demon dipped in blood. The character makeover was carried on initially by Roger McKenzie in the previous volume and continues with Frank Miller collaborating until he fully takes control: crafting audaciously shocking, groundbreakingly compelling dark delights, and making Daredevil one of comics’ most momentous, unmissable, “must-read” series.

Preceded by an appreciative commentary and Introduction from latterday scripter Charles Soule, the revitalisation resumes with ‘Marked for Murder!’ (McKenzie, Miller & Klaus Janson) wherein infallible assassin-master Eric Slaughter comes out of retirement for a very special hit on the hero of Hell’s Kitchen. Meanwhile elsewhere, veteran Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich works a nagging hunch: slowly piecing together dusty news snippets that indicate a certain sight-impaired attorney might be far more than he seems…

The spectacular showdown between the Crimson Crimebuster and Slaughter’s hit-man army inevitably compels his covert client to eventually do his own dirty work: brutally ambushing and abducts DD’s former flame Natasha Romanoff, The Black Widow…

After a single-page info-feature on ‘Daredevil’s Billy Club!’ the saga continues in DD #160 with our hero having no choice but to place himself ‘In the Hands of Bullseye!’ – a stratagem culminating in a devastating duel and shocking defeat for the villain in #161’s ‘To Dare the Devil!’

The next issue offered a fill-in tale from Michael Fleisher & Steve Ditko wherein another radiation accident impairs the hero’s abilities and induces amnesia just as a figure from his father’s pugilistic past resurfaces. Becoming a boxer for crooked promoter Mr. Hyle, Murdock unknowingly relives his murdered dad’s last days in ‘Requiem for a Pug!’ … until his memories return and justice is served…

Stunning David v Goliath action belatedly comes in #163 as the merely mortal Man Without Fear battles The Incredible Hulk in ‘Blind Alley’ (McKenzie & Miller, inked by Josef Rubenstein & Janson) wherein Murdock’s innate compassion for hounded Bruce Banner accidentally endangers Manhattan and triggers a desperate, bone breaking, ultimately doomed attempt to save his beloved city…

In #164 McKenzie, Miller & Janson deliver an evocative ‘Exposé’, retelling the origin saga as meticulous, dogged Urich confronts the hospitalised hero with inescapable conclusions from his diligent research and a turning point is reached…

The landmark tale is followed by accompanied by Miller’s unused cover for Ditko’s fill-in, preceding a mean-&-moody modern makeover for a moribund and over-exposed Spider-Man villain. DD #165 finds the Scarlet Swashbuckler in the ‘Arms of the Octopus’ after Murdock’s millionaire girlfriend Heather is kidnapped by Dr. Otto Octavius. Her company can – and do – rebuild his mechanical tentacles with Adamantium, but “Doc Ock” stupidly underestimates both his hostage and the Man Without Fear…

The long-running plot thread of Foggy Nelson’s oft-delayed wedding finally culminates with some much-needed comedy in #166’s ‘Till Death Do Us Part!’, with true tragedy coming as old enemy The Gladiator has a breakdown and kidnaps his parole officer. With visions of Roman arenas driving him, tormented killer Melvin Potter only needs to see Daredevil to go completely over the top…

David Michelinie wrote #167 for Miller & Janson, as a cruelly wronged employee of tech company the Cord Conglomerate steals super-armour to become ‘…The Mauler!’ and exact personal justice. Constantly drawn into the conflict, DD finds his sense of justice and respect for the law at odds when another unavoidable tragedy results…

The tale is backed up by an info feature revealing the ‘Dark Secrets’ of DD’s everyday life and segues neatly into the story that changed everything.

In Daredevil #168 Miller took over the writing and with Janson’s art contributions increasing in each issue rewired the history of Matt Murdock to open an era of noir-tinged, pulp-fuelled Eisner-inspired innovation. It begins when Daredevil encounters a new bounty hunter in town and reveals a lost college-days first love. Back then diplomat’s daughter Elektra Natchios shared his secret until her father was kidnapped and murdered before her eyes, partly due to Matt’s hasty actions. She left him and vanished, apparently becoming a ninja assassin, but is now tearing up the town hunting for Eric Slaughter. Matt cannot help but get involved…

When Daredevil last defeated Bullseye, the killer was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and in #169, escapes from hospital to enact another murder spree. He is deep in a delusional state where everyone he sees are horn-headed scarlet-clad ‘Devils’. A frenetic chase and brutal battle results in countless civilian casualties and great anxiety as Daredevil has a chance to let the manic die… but doesn’t.

Yet another landmark resurrection of a tired villain begins in DD #170 as Miller & Janson decree ‘The Kingpin Must Die’. The former crimelord of New York faded into serene retirement in Japan by impassioned request of his wife Vanessa, until this triptych of terror sees him return more powerful than ever. It begins when the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen hears rumours the syndicate that replaced Wilson Fisk are trying to kill him. Apparently he has offered all his old records to the Feds…

When Vanessa hires Nelson & Murdock to broker the deal, all hell breaks loose, assassins attack and Mrs Fisk goes missing. Further complicating matters, having survived brain surgery Bullseye offers his services to the syndicate, mercenary killer Elektra senses a business opportunity and a murderously resolute Kingpin sneaks back into the country resolved to save Vanessa at any cost…

The title at last returned to monthly schedule with #171 as the city erupted into sporadic violence with civilians caught in the crossfire. DD dons a disguise and goes undercover but is soon ‘In the Kingpin’s Clutches’ and sent to a watery grave prior to Fisk gambling and losing everything…

The sags ends in all-out ‘Gangwar!’ as, with Vanessa lost and presumed dead, Wilson Fisk destroys the Syndicate and takes back control of New York’s underworld with Daredevil scoring a small toxic victory by apprehending the Kingpin’s assassin, all the while aware that every death since Bullseye’s operation has been because Murdock was not strong enough to let the monster die…

And deep in the bowels of the city, an amnesiac woman wanders, a future trigger for much death and destruction to come…

To Be Continued…

With the Marvel Universe about to change in incomprehensible ways, this tome pauses here but still finds room to focus on a solo outing for a cast regular. In Bizarre Adventures #25 (with cover and ‘Lethal Ladies’ frontispiece included), Ralph Macchio scripted an espionage tale for an older reader-base. The devious spy yarn of double and triple cross saw agents betraying each other while trying to ascertain who might be working for “the other side”.

‘I Got the Yo-Yo… You Got the String’ sets Black Widow in her proper milieu, despatched by S.H.I.E.L.D. to assassinate her former tutor Irma Klausvichnova as she hides in an African political hot spot. Of course, as the mission proceeds, Natasha learns she can’t trust anybody and everything she knows is either a lie or a test with fatal consequences…

The chilling, twist-ridden tale is elevated to excellence by the powerful monochrome tonal art of Paul Gulacy who packs the piece with sly tributes to numerous movie spies and the actors – such as Michael Caine and Humphry Bogart – who first made the genre so compelling.

The bonus gallery section opens with pertinent pages from Marvel Comics 20th Anniversary Calendar (1981) – June’s entry by Miller & Janson and their Spider-Man vs DD plate from Marvel Team-Up Portfolio One. Next come original art pages and covers, a House ad for Elektra’s debut plus the original art, cover artwork  and finished product for Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine #2 plus covers of #3, 4 & 6 (by Michael Golden, Lee Weeks, Scott McDaniel and others), and Miller’s cover and frontispiece for Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller volume 1 as well as his introduction from that collection.

As the decade closed, these gritty tales set the scene for truly mature forthcoming dramas, promising the true potential of Daredevil was finally in reach. Their narrative energy and exuberant excitement are dashing delights no action fan will care to miss.

…And the next volume heads full on into darker shadows, the grimmest of territory and the breaking of many more boundaries…
© 2021 MARVEL.

Posted on

Luke Cage Omnibus (Hero For Hire)


By Archie Goodwin, Steve Englehart, Tony Isabella, Len Wein, Gerry Conway, Billy Graham, Bill Mantlo, George Pérez, Marv Wolfman, Ed Hannigan, Roger Slifer, Chris Claremont, George Tuska, Ron Wilson, Lee Elias, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones, Sal Buscema, Frank Robbins, Marie Severin, Bob Brown & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-4496-4 (HB/Digital edition)

In 1968 the consciousness-raising sporting demonstration of “Black Power” at the Olympic Games galvanised and politicised a generation of youngsters. By this time most comics companies had already made tentative efforts to address what were national socio-political iniquities, but issues of race and ethnicity took a long time to filter through to impressionable young minds avidly absorbing knowledge and attitudes via four-colour pages that couldn’t even approximate the skin tones of African Americans.

As with television, breakthroughs were small, incremental and too often reduced to a cold-war of daringly liberal “firsts”. Excluding a few characters in jungle comic books of the 1940s and 1950, Marvel clearly led the field with a black soldier in Sgt. Fury’s Howling Commandos team – the historically impossible Gabe Jones who debuted in #1, May 1963, and by my reckoning the first recurring African American in comic books. So unlikely a character was ol’ Gabe that he was as a matter of course re-coloured Caucasian at the printers who clearly didn’t realise his ethnicity, but knew he couldn’t be un-white. Jones was followed by actual negro superheroes Black Panther in Fantastic Four#52 (July 1966), and The Falcon in Captain America #117 (September 1969).

America’s first black hero to helm his own title had come (and gone largely unnoticed) in a little remembered or regarded title from Dell Comics. Created by artist Tony Tallarico and scripter D.J. Arneson and debuting in December 1965, Lobo was a gunslinger in the old wild west, battling injustice just like any cowboy hero would. Arguably a greater breakthrough was Marvel’s  Joe Robertson, City Editor of The Daily Bugle; an erudite, brave and proudly ordinary mortal distinguished by his sterling character, not costume or skin tone. He first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man # 51 (August 1967), proving in every panel that the world wouldn’t end if black folk and white folk occupied the same spaces…

This big change had grown slowly out of raised social awareness during a terrible time in American history but things today don’t seem all that different, except the bile and growing taste for violence is turned towards European accents, or health workers and shop staff as well as brown skins…

As the 1960s turned, more positive and inclusive incidences of ethnic characters appeared in the US, with DC finally getting an African America hero in John Stewart (Green Lantern #87, December 1971/January 1972) – although his designation as a replacement Emerald Peacekeeper might be construed as more conciliatory and insulting than revolutionary. DC’s first hero with his own title was Black Lightning, who didn’t debut until April 1977, although Jack Kirby had introduced Vykin in Forever People #1 and The Black Racer in New Gods #3 (March and July 1971) and Shilo Norman as Scott Free’s apprentice (and eventual successor) in Mister Miracle #15 (August 1973).

As usual, it took a bold man and changing economics to really promote change. With declining comics sales intersecting a time of rising Black Consciousness, cash – if not cashing in – was probably the trigger for “the Next Step”. Contemporary “Blaxsploitation” cinema and novels had invigorated commercial interests throughout America, and in that atmosphere of outlandish dialogue, daft outfits and barely concealed – but certainly justified – outrage, an angry black man with a shady past and apparently dubious morals must have felt like a sure-fire hit to Marvel’s bosses. Luke Cage, Hero for Hire launched in the summer of 1972. A year later, The Black Panther finally got his own series in Jungle Action #5 and Blade: Vampire Hunter debuted in Tomb of Dracula #10.

This stunning compendium collects Hero for Hire #1-16, Luke Cage Power Man #17-48 and Annual #1: a landmark breakthrough series cumulatively spanning June 1972 to October 1977 and begins with Lucas, a hard-case inmate at brutal Seagate Prison. Like all convicts, he says he was framed and his uncompromising attitude makes mortal enemies of savage, racist guards Rackham and Quirt, and doesn’t endear him to the rest of the prison population such as genuinely bad guys Shades and Comanche either…

‘Out of Hell… A Hero!’ was written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by George Tuska & Billy Graham (with initial input from Roy Thomas and John Romita) and sees a new warden arrive promising to change the hell-hole into a properly administered correctional facility. Having heard the desperate con’s tale of woe, prison doctor Noah Burstein convinces Lucas to participate in a radical experiment in exchange for a parole hearing…

Lucas had grown up in Harlem, a tough kid who managed to stay honest even when his best friend Willis Stryker had not. They remained close even though walking different paths – until a woman came between them. To be rid of his romantic rival, Stryker planted drugs and had Lucas shipped off to jail. While he was there his girl Reva – who had never given up on him – was killed when she got in way of bullets meant for up-and-coming gangster Stryker…

With nothing to lose, Lucas undergoes Burstein’s process – experimental cell-regeneration – but Rackham sabotages the process, hoping to kill the con before he can expose their illegal treatment of convicts. The equipment goes haywire and something incredible occurs. Lucas – panicked and now somehow super-strong – punches his way out of the lab and through prison walls, only to face a hail of gunfire. His body plunges over a cliff and is never found.

Months later, a vagrant prowls the streets of New York City and stumbles into a robbery. Almost casually he downs the felon, accepts a reward from the grateful victim and has a bright idea. Strong, bullet-proof, street-wise and honest, Lucas will hide in plain sight while planning his revenge on Stryker. Since his only skill is fighting, he becomes a private paladin – a Hero for Hire…

Making allowances for the colourful, often ludicrous dialogue necessitated by the Comics Code’s sanitising of “street-talking Jive”, this is probably the grittiest origin tale of the classic Marvel years, with the tense action continuing in ‘Vengeance is Mine!’ as the man calling himself Luke Cage stalks his target. Stryker has risen quickly, now controlling a vast portion of the drug trade as the deadly Diamondback, and Cage has a big surprise in store when beautiful physician Claire Temple comes to his aid after a calamitous struggle. Thinking him fatally shot, her surprise is dwarfed by his own when Cage meets her boss. Seeking to expiate his sins, Noah Burstein runs a rehab clinic on the sordid streets of Times Square, but his efforts have drawn the attention of Diamondback, who doesn’t like someone trying to fix his paying customers…

Burstein apparently does not recognise Cage, so even though faced with eventual exposure and return to prison, the Hero for Hire offers to help the hard-pressed medics. Setting up an office above a movie house on 42nd Street, Cage meets a young man who will be his greatest friend – D.W. Griffith: nerd, film freak and plucky white sidekick. However, before Cage can settle in, Diamondback strikes and the age-old game of blood and honour plays out the way it always does…

HFH #3 introduces Cage’s first returning villain in ‘Mark of the Mace!’ as Burstein – for his own undisclosed reasons – keeps Cage’s secret, whilst disgraced soldier Gideon Mace launches a terror attack on Manhattan. With his dying breath, one of the mad Colonel’s troops hires Cage to stop the attack, which he does in explosive fashion. Inker Billy Graham graduated to full art chores for ‘Cry Fear… Cry Phantom!’ in #4, wherein a deranged, deformed maniac carries out random assaults in Times Square. Or is there perhaps another motive behind the vicious attacks?

Steve Englehart took over as scripter and Tuska returned to pencil ‘Don’t Mess with Black Mariah!’ in the next issue: a tale of organised scavengers which also introduced unscrupulous reporter Phil Fox: an unsavoury sneak with greedy pockets and a nose for scandal. In ‘Knights and White Satin’ (Englehart, Gerry Conway, Graham & Paul Reinman) the swanky, ultra-rich Forsythe sisters hire Cage to bodyguard their dying father from a would-be murderer too impatient to wait the week it will take for the old man to die from a terminal illness.

This more-or less straight mystery yarn (if you discount a madman and killer robots) is followed by ‘Jingle Bombs’ – a strikingly different Christmas tale from Englehart, Tuska & Graham, before Cage properly enters the Marvel Universe in ‘Crescendo!’ Here he is hired by Doctor Doom to retrieve rogue androids that have absconded from Latveria. They are hiding as black men among the shifting masses of Harlem and the Iron Dictator needs someone who knows that unfamiliar environment. Naturally, Cage accomplishes his mission, only to have Doom stiff him for the fee. Big mistake…

‘Where Angels Fear to Tread!’ (#9) finds the enraged Hero for Hire borrowing a vehicle from the Fantastic Four to play Repo Man in Doom’s own castle, just in time to get caught in the middle of a grudge match between the tyrant and alien invader the Faceless One. It’s then back to street-level basics in ‘The Lucky… and the Dead!’ as Cage takes on a gambling syndicate led by schizophrenic Señor Suerte, who doubles his fortunes as murderous Señor Muerte (that’s Mr. Luck and Mr. Death to you): a 2-part thriller with rigged games and deathtraps climaxing in ‘Where There’s Life…!’ as Phil Fox finally uncovers Cage’s secret…

HFH #12 featured the first of many clashes with alchemical villain ‘Chemistro!’, after which Graham handled full art duties with ‘The Claws of Lionfang’ – a killer using big cats to destroy his enemies prior to Cage tackling hyperthyroid lawyer Big Ben Donovan in ‘Retribution!’ as the tangled threads of the fugitive’s murky past slowly become a noose around his neck. ‘Retribution: Part II!’ sees Graham and Tony Isabella sharing the writer’s role as many disparate elements converge to expose Cage. The crisis builds as Quirt kidnaps Luke’s girlfriend, and Seagate escapees Comanche and Shades stalking him whilst New York cops hunt him. The last thing the Hero for Hire needs is a new super-foe, but that’s just what he gets in #16’s ‘Shake Hands with Stiletto!’ (Isabella, Graham & Frank McLaughlin): a dramatic finale that literally brings the house down and clears up most of the old business.

Luke Cage, Hero For Hire was probably Marvel’s edgiest series, but after a few years tense action and peripheral interactions with the greater Marvel Universe led to a minor rethink and the title was altered, if not the basic premise. The private detective motif proved a brilliant stratagem in generating stories for a character perceived as a reluctant champion at best and outright antihero by nature. His job allowed Cage to maintain an outsider’s edginess but also meant adventure literally walked through his shabby door every issue. However, following the calamitous clash with his oldest enemies, most old business was settled and a partial re-branding of America’s premier black crusader began in issue #17. The mercenary aspect was downplayed (at least on covers) as Len Wein, Tuska & Graham gave Luke Cage, Power Man a fresh start during tumultuous team-up ‘Rich Man: Iron Man… Power Man: Thief!’

Here the still “For Hire” hero is commissioned to test Tony Stark’s security… by stealing his latest invention. Sadly, neither Stark nor his alter ego Iron Man know anything about it and the result is another classic hero-on-hero duel. Vince Colletta signed on as inker with #18’s ‘Havoc on the High Iron!’, and Cage battles high-tech killer Steeplejack whilst the next two issues offered the wanted man a tantalising chance to clear his name. ‘Call Him… Cottonmouth!’ debuted a crime lord with inside information of the frame-up perpetrated by Willis Stryker. Tragically, hope of a new clean life is snatched away despite Cage’s explosive efforts in the Isabella scripted conclusion ‘How Like a Serpent’s Tooth…’

Isabella, Wein, Ron Wilson & Colletta crafted ‘The Killer With My Name!’ as Cage is ambushed by Avengers villain Power Man, who understandably wants his nom de guerre back. He changes his mind upon waking up from the resultant bombastic battle that ensues, after which psychotic archfoe Stiletto returns beside his equally high-tech balmy brother Discus in ‘The Broadway Mayhem of 1974’ (Isabella, Wilson & Colletta), subsequently revealing a startling connection to Cage’s origins.

All this constant carnage and non-stop tension sent sometime-romantic interest Claire Temple scurrying for points distant, and in LCPM #23, Cage and D.W. go looking for her, promptly fetching up in a fascistic planned community run by old foe deranged military terrorist Mace in ‘Welcome to Security City’ (inked by Dave Hunt). This fed directly into a 2-part premier for another African American superhero as Cage and D.W. track Claire to the Ringmaster’s Circus of Crime in #24’s ‘Among Us Walks… a Black Goliath! (Isabella, Tuska & Hunt)…

Bill Foster was a highly educated black supporting character: a biochemist who worked with Henry Pym (scientist-superhero known as Ant-Man, Giant-Man, Goliath and Yellowjacket over decades of costumed capers). Foster first appeared in Avengers #32 (September 1966), before fading from view when Pym eventually regained his size-changing abilities. Carrying on his own size-shifting research, Foster was now trapped as a giant, unable to attain normal size, and Cage discovered he was also Claire’s former husband. When he became stuck at 15 feet tall, she had rushed back to Bill’s colossal side to help find a cure.

When Luke turned up, passions boiled over, resulting in another classic heroes-clash moment until the mesmeric Ringmaster hypnotised all combatants, intent on using their strength to feather his own three-ring nest. ‘Crime and Circuses’ (Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Wilson & Fred Kida) saw the good guys helpless until Claire came to the rescue, before making her choice and returning to New York with Luke. Foster soon thereafter won his own short-run series, becoming Marvel’s fourth African American costumed hero under the heavy-handed and rather obvious sobriquet Black Goliath…

Timely spoofing of a popular ‘70’s TV show inspired ‘The Night Shocker!’ (Englehart, Tuska & Colletta) as Cage stalks an apparent vampire attacking 42nd Street patrons, after which a touching human drama finds Cage forced to subdue a tragically simple-minded but super-powered wrestler in ‘Just a Guy Named “X”!’ (by Mantlo, George Pérez & Al McWilliams, and paying tribute to Steve Ditko’s classic yarn from Amazing Spider-Man #38).

A new level of sophistication, social commentary and bizarre villainy began in issue 28 as Don McGregor started his run of macabre crime sagas, opening when Cage meets ‘The Man Who Killed Jiminy Cricket!’ (illustrated by Tuska & Colletta).

Hired by a chemical company to stop industrial espionage, Luke fails to prevent the murder of his prime suspect and is somehow defeated by deadly weirdo Cockroach Hamilton (and his beloved shotgun “Josh”). Left for dead in one of the most outré cliffhanger situations ever seen, Cage took two issues to escape as the next issue featured a “deadline-doom” fill-in tale. Courtesy of Mantlo, Tuska & Colletta, Luke Cage, Power Man #29 revealed that ‘No One Laughs at Mr. Fish!’ (although the temptation is overwhelming) as Cage fights a fin-faced mutated mobster robbing shipping trucks for organised crime analogue The Maggia, after which the story already in progress resumes in #30 with ‘Look What They’ve Done to Our Lives, Ma!’ (by McGregor, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones & Keith Pollard).

Escaping from a deadly deathtrap, Cage hunts down Hamilton, and confronts his erudite, sardonic, steel-fanged boss Piranha Jones just after they succeed in stealing a leaking canister of deadly nerve gas. The dread drama concludes in ‘Over the Years They Murdered the Stars!’ (Sal Buscema & the legion of deadline-busting Crusty Bunkers) as Cage saves his city at the risk of his life before serving just deserts to the eerie evildoers…

Having successfully rebranded himself, the urban privateer made ends meet whilst seeking a way to stay under police radar and clear his name. The new level of sophisticated, social commentary and bizarre villainy when McGregor took over writing led to Cage saving the entire city in true superhero style as #32 opens with the (unlicensed) PI in the leafy suburbs, hired to protect a black family from literally incendiary racist super-villain Wildfire in ‘The Fire This Time!’ (illustrated by Frank Robbins & Colletta). This self-appointed champion of moral outrage is determined to keep his affluent, decent neighbourhood white, and even Power Man is ultimately unable to prevent a ghastly atrocity from being perpetrated…

Back in the comfort zone of Times Square again, Cage is in the way when a costumed manic comes looking for Noah Burnstein, and painfully learns ‘Sticks and Stone Will Break Your Bones, But Spears Can Kill You!’ As shady reporters, sleazy lawyers and police detective Quentin Chase all circle, looking to uncover the Hero for Hire’s secret past in ‘Death, Taxes and Springtime Vendettas!’ (Frank Springer inks), Cage’s attention is distracted from Burstein’s stalker by deranged wrestler dubbed The Mangler, which leads to a savage showdown and near-fatal outcome in ‘Of Memories, Both Vicious and Haunting!’ (plotted by Marv Wolfman, dialogued by McGregor and illustrated by Marie Severin, Joe Giella & Frank Giacoia). Here at last, the reasons for the campaign of terror against the doctor are finally, shockingly exposed…

Power Man Annual #1 (1976) follows with ‘Earthshock!’ – by Chris Claremont, Lee Elias & Hunt – taking Cage to Japan as bodyguard to wealthy Samantha Sheridan. She’s being targeted by munitions magnate and tectonics-warping maniac Moses Magnum, intent on tapping Earth’s magma core, even though the very planet is at risk of destruction. Thankfully, not even his army of mercenaries is enough to stop Cage in full rage…

Next comes the cover for Power Man #36 (cover-dated October 1976) and another casualty of the “Dreaded Deadline Doom”, reprinting #12: the debut of the villain who follows in #37’s all-new ‘Chemistro is Back! Deadlier Than Ever!’ by Wolfman, Wilson & A Bradford. Here the apparently grudge-bearing recreant attacks Cage at the behest of a new mystery mastermind who clarifies his position in follow-up ‘…Big Brother Wants You… Dead!’ (Wolfman, Mantlo, Bob Brown & Jim Mooney). His minions Cheshire Cat and Checkpoint Charlie shadow the increasingly frustrated investigator, before repeated inconclusive and inexplicable clashes with Chemistro lead to a bombastic ‘Battle with the Baron!’ (inked by Klaus Janson) – a rival mastermind hoping to corner the market on crime in NYC. The convoluted clash concludes in ‘Rush Hour to Limbo!’ (Wolfman, Elias & Giacoia) as one final deathtrap for Cage turns into an explosive last hurrah for Big Brother and his crew…

Inked by Tom Palmer, #41 debuts a new vigilante in ‘Thunderbolt and Goldbug!’ as a super-swift masked hero makes a name for himself cleaning up low-level scum. Simultaneously, Cage is hired by a courier company to protect a bullion shipment, but when the truck is bombed and the guards die, dazed and furious Cage can’t tell villain from vigilante and takes on the wrong guy…

Answers if not conclusions are forthcoming in ‘Gold! Gold! Who’s Got the Gold?’ (with Alex Niño on inks) as Luke learns who his real friends and foes are, only to be suckered into a lethal trap barely escaped in #43’s ‘The Death of Luke Cage!’ In the aftermath, with legal authorities closing in on his fake life, Cage flees town and sheds his Power Man persona. However, even in the teeming masses of Chicago he can’t escape his past as an old enemy mistakenly assumes he’s been tracked down by the hero he hates most in all the world. Wolfman plots and Ed Hannigan scripts for Elias & Palmer as ‘Murder is the Man Called Mace!’ sees Luke dragged into the dishonoured soldier’s scheme to seize control of America and – despite his best and most violent efforts – beaten and strapped to a cobalt bomb on ‘The Day Chicago Died!’ (Wolfman & Elias). Sadly, after breaking free of the device, it’s lost in the sewers, prompting a frantic ‘Chicago Trackdown!’ before another savage showdown with Mace and his military madmen culminate in a chilling ‘Countdown to Catastrophe!’ (scripted by Roger Slifer) as a fame-hungry sniper starts shooting citizens whilst the authorities are preoccupied searching for the missing nuke…

With atomic armageddon averted at the last moment, this collection – and Cage’s old life – end on a well-conceived final charge. With issue #48, Cage’s comics title would be shared with mystic martial artist Danny Rand in the superbly enticing odd couple feature Power Man and Iron Fist, but before that there’s still a ‘Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight!’ courtesy of Claremont, Tuska & Bob Smith as Chicago is attacked by brain-sucking electrical parasite Zzzax! Thankfully, our steel-skinned stalwart is more than a match for the mind-stealing megawatt monstrosity…

With all covers – by Romita, Graham, Gil Kane, Wilson, Rich Buckler, Dave Cockrum, Marie Severin, Ernie Chan, Jim Starlin, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Klaus Janson, Dan Adkins, Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott & Pablo Marcos – ; retrieved Introductions ‘An Optimistic Time’ by Englehart, ‘Always Forward’ by Isabella and ‘Luke Cage and the Big Bad City’ by McGregor and – from #3 onwards – letters pages ‘Comments to Cage’, the street level drama is augmented by a treasure trove of extra features. Adding value are the cover of reprint one-shot Giant-Size Power Man from 1975; Marvel Bulletins page promo from May 1972; House ads; original art pages and covers by Romita, Graham, Kane, Brown, pre-corrected production photostats, and Cockrum & Romita’s Cage entry from the 1975 Mighty Marvel Calendar (March, in case you were wondering) as well as the same by Sal Buscema from the Mighty Marvel Bicentennial Calendar (1976) and Wilson & Sinnott’s June 1977 Marvel Comics Memory Album Calendar before ending with the cover art for this collection by Phil Noto.

Arguably a little dated now (us in the know prefer the term “retro”), these tales were crucial in breaking down many social barriers across the complacent, intolerant, WASP-flavoured US comics landscape, and their power – if not their initial impact – remains undiminished to this day. These are tales well worth your time and attention.
© 2022 MARVEL.