Category: S.H.I.E.L.D.

Posted on

Mighty Marvel Masterworks presents Captain America volume 3: To Be Reborn


By Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Syd Shores, Dan Adkins & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5432-1 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

During the natal years of Marvel Comics in the early 1960s Stan Lee & Jack Kirby opted to mimic the game-plan which had paid off so successfully for National/DC Comics, albeit with mixed results. Beginning cautiously in 1956, Julie Schwartz had scored incredible, industry-altering hits by re-inventing the company’s Golden Age greats, so it seemed sensible to try and revive the characters that had dominated Timely/Atlas in those halcyon days two decades previously. A new Human Torch had premiered as part of the revolutionary Fantastic Four, and in the fourth issue of that title the amnesiac Sub-Mariner resurfaced after a 20-year hiatus (everyone concerned had apparently forgotten the first abortive attempt to revive an “Atlas” superhero line in the mid-1950s). The teen Torch promptly won his own solo lead-feature in Strange Tales (from issue #101 on) where eventually – in #114 – the flaming kid fought a larcenous villain impersonating the nation’s greatest lost hero…

Here’s a quote from the last panel…

“You guessed it! This story was really a test! To see if you too would like Captain America to Return! As usual, your letters will give us the answer!” I guess we all know how that turned out. With reader-reaction strong, the real McCoy was promptly decanted in Avengers #4 (cover dated March but on sale from January 3rd 1964). Marvel’s inexorable rise to dominance of the American comic book industry really took hold in 1968 when most of their characters finally got their own titles. Prior to that and due to a highly restrictive distribution deal the company was tied to a limit of 16 publications per month.

After a captivating, attention-hogging run in Avengers, the Sentinel of Liberty won his own series as half of a “split-book” with fellow Avenger and patriotic barnstormer Iron Man, starting in Tales of Suspense #59. This thrifty third Mighty Marvel Masterworks Captain America collection assembles those last exploits from ToS #95-99 and continuance as Captain America #100-105 of his own title (spanning cover-dates November 1967 to September 1968) in a kid-friendly edition that will charm and delight fans of all vintages…

These stories are timeless and have been published many times before but The Mighty Marvel Masterworks line is designed with economy in mind and newcomers as target audience. These books are far cheaper, on lower quality paper and smaller – like a paperback novel. Your eyesight might be failing and your hands too big and shaky, but at 152 x 227mm, they’re perfect for kids. If you opt for digital editions, that’s no issue at all.

Scripted throughout by Lee, Cap’s adventures had been blending high concept espionage thrillers milking the burgeoning spy fad of the mid-Sixties with spectacular superhero shockers after the Star-Spangled Avenger joined superspy Nick Fury in many missions as a (more-or-less) Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Here however with Kirby locked-&-loaded into full action mode a portentous change of pace amplifies already frenetic tensions as – in rapid succession – ‘A Time to Die… A Time to Live’ and ‘To Be Reborn!’ see the eternal hero retire and reveal his secret identity to the world, only to jump straight back into the star-spangled saddle for S.H.I.E.L.D. for #97’s ‘And So It Begins…’ after a rash of would-be replacements provoke a campaign of opportunistic assassination attempts from the underworld…

The saga would carry the Sentinel of Liberty back into his own title: a 4-part tale that spectacularly concludes in issue #100, with which number Tales of Suspense became simply Captain America. Guest starring the Black Panther, it recounts the apparent return of long-dead nemesis Baron Zemo and his lethal, world-threatening orbiting Death Ray. ‘The Claws of the Panther!’ was inked by both Joe Sinnott and the great Syd Shores (a Cap illustrator from the 1940s) who became regular embellisher with ‘The Man Who Lived Twice!’ before the premier 100th first issue (how weird is that?) revisited Cap’s origin before climactically closing the superb team-up thriller with ‘This Monster Unmasked!’

Without pause, Lee, Kirby & Shores enacted another epic encounter across Captain America #101-104, featuring fascist revenant The Red Skull and introducing another appalling Nazi revenge-weapon. Opening with ‘When Wakes the Sleeper!’ and furious follow-up ‘The Sleeper Strikes!’, our hero and his support crew Agent 13 and Nick Fury hunt a murderous mechanoid capable of ghosting through solid Earth and blowing up the planet. Although the immediate threat soon seems quashed, the infernal instigator is still at large and #103 reveals ‘The Weakest Link!’ as a budding romance with S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Agent 13 (finally named after two years as Sharon Carter) is interrupted by the nefarious Nazi. The uber-fascist’s new scheme of nuclear blackmail extends to a second issue, wherein his band of war-criminal assassins, The Exiles, test Cap nigh to destruction on the hidden isle where he becomes the ‘Slave of the Skull!’ (with the loose, flowing inking of Dan Adkins) before turning the tables and crushing the plotters.

After that, a period of done-in-one all-action yarns began with ‘In the Name of Batroc!’ (Lee, Kirby & Adkins), a brisk super-villain team-up wherein Living Laser and The Swordsman ally with gallic mercenary Batroc the Leaper to swipe a new superbomb, concluding the patriotic Fight’s ‘n’ Tights fist-fest on an exuberant if nonsensical high note…

To Be Continued…

With covers by Kirby, Frank Giacoia, Gene Colan, John Romita, Sinnott, Shores & Adkins, there’s just enough room for a brace of pencil layouts of unused covers to compliment these tales of dauntless courage and unmatchable adventure, fast-paced and superbly illustrated. These exploits rightly returned Captain America to heights his revamped Golden Age compatriots the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner never regained. Pure escapist magic, these are glorious treats for the eternally young at heart, episodes of sheer visual dynamite that cannot be slighted and must not be missed.
© 2024 MARVEL.

Posted on

Mighty Marvel Masterworks The Avengers volume 4: The Sign of the Serpent


By Stan Lee, Don Heck, Roy Thomas, Frank Giacoia, George Roussos & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5430-7 (PB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

These stories are timeless and have been gathered many times before but here we’re enjoying another example of The Mighty Marvel Masterworks line: designed with economy in mind and newcomers as target audience. These books are far cheaper, on lower quality paper and smaller – like a paperback novel. Your eyesight might be failing and your hands too big and shaky, but at 152 x 227mm, they’re perfect for kids. If you opt for digital editions, that’s no issue at all.

After a period of meteoric expansion, in 1963 the burgeoning Marvel Universe was finally ready to emulate the successful DC concept that had cemented the legitimacy of the Silver Age of American comics. The notion of putting a bunch of all-star eggs in one basket had made the Justice League of America a winner and subsequently inspired the moribund Atlas outfit – primarily Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko – into conceiving “super-characters” of their own. The result – in 1961 – was The Fantastic Four…

After 18 months, the fledgling House of Ideas had generated a small successful stable of costumed leading men (but still only 2 sidekick women!), allowing Lee & Kirby to at last assemble a select handful of them into an all-star squad, moulded into a force for justice and soaring sales. Cover dated September 1963, and on sale from early July, The Avengers #1 launched as part of an expansion package which also included Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and The X-Men. This edition collects The Avengers #31-40 (cover-dated August 1966 to May 1967): groundbreaking tales no newbie or potential lover of superhero stories can do without…

Here the team consists of Captain America, Hawkeye, mutant twins Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch (who had replaced big guns Thor and Iron Man) and recently returned Giant-Man (AKA Goliath) and The Wasp, looking for a way to enable Henry Pym to regain his size-changing powers and his normal six-foot height. The revised team was already proving a firm fan-favourite. Spectacle had been nudged aside in favour of melodrama sub-plots, leavening the action through compelling soap-opera elements which kept readers riveted…

Of course, the founding stars regularly featured due to the rotating, open door policy which meant that most issues included somebody’s fave-rave. The increasingly bold and impressive stories and artwork were no hindrance either. Once Lee moved on, the team was left in the capable hands of Roy Thomas who grew into one of the industry’s most impressive writers, guiding the World’s Mightiest Heroes through a range of adventures ranging from sublimely poetic to staggeringly epic.

With this fourth collection the hero alliances rise to dominance truly began and resumes on a cliffhanger yarn that began when Goliath – tragically trapped at a freakish ten-foot height – sought a cure south of the border only to be embroiled in a futuristic civil war amongst a lost south American civilisation. Here the concluding chapter threatens global incineration in the ludicrously titled yet satisfyingly thrilling ‘Never Bug a Giant!’ as Wasp, Hawkeye and Cap track down their massive missing man and face escalating atomic armageddon…

The company’s crusading credentials are enhanced next as ‘The Sign of the Serpent!’ and sequel ‘To Smash a Serpent!’ (#32-33, with Heck providing raw, gritty inks over his own pencils) craft a brave, socially-aware epic. Here the heroes tackle a sinister band of organised racists in a thinly veiled allegory of the Civil Rights turmoil then gripping America. Marvel’s bold liberal stand even went so far as to introduce a new African-American character, Bill Foster, who would eventually become a superhero in his own right.

It’s back to crime-busting basics as Roy Thomas officially begins his long association with the team in #34’s ‘The Living Laser!’, although second part ‘The Light that Failed!’ again assumes political overtones as the light-bending supervillain allies himself with South American – and, by implication, Marxist – rebels for a rollercoaster ride of thrills and spills.

The team’s international credentials are further exploited when long-absent Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver return, heralding an alien invasion of the Balkans in ‘The Ultroids Attack!’ and ‘To Conquer a Colossus!’ (#36-37). Along for the ride and a crucial factor in repelling an extraterrestrial invasion is newly cured and reformed Natasha Romanoff: the sinister, merciless Black Widow…

Thomas clearly relished juggling a larger roster of characters as he promptly added Olympian godling Hercules to the mix, first as a duped and drugged pawn of the Enchantress in #38’s ‘In our Midst… An Immortal’ (inked by George Roussos) and then as a member from the following issue onwards, when The Mad Thinker attacks the assemblage during ‘The Torment… and the Triumph!’.

No prizes for guessing who was throwing the punches in ‘Suddenly… the Sub-Mariner!’ as the team battle the Lord of Atlantis for possession of a reality-warping Cosmic Cube; a riotous all-action romp to end a superb classic chronicle of furious Fights ‘n’ Tights fables.

Augmenting the narrative joys is the cover gallery by Heck, Jack Kirby, Frank Giacoia, Gil Kane and Roussos plus Heck’s unused cover for #37.

Unceasingly enticing and always evergreen, these immortal epics are tales that defined the Marvel experience and a joy no fan should deny themselves or their kids.
© 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

Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks volume 18


By Marv Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, Jim Starlin, Ross Andru, Keith Pollard, Sal Buscema, Scott Edelman, John Byrne, Mike Esposito, Bob McLeod, Frank Giacoia, Jim Mooney, John Romita Jr., & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-0028-1 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Peter Parker was a smart yet alienated kid when he was bitten by a radioactive spider during a school science trip. Developing astonishing arachnid abilities – which he augmented with his own natural chemistry, physics and engineering genius – the boy did what any lonely, geeky nerd would do with such newfound prowess: he tried to cash in for girls, fame and money.

Making a costume to hide his identity in case he made a fool of himself, Parker became a minor media celebrity – and a criminally self-important one. To his eternal regret, when a thief fled past him one night, the cocky teen didn’t lift a finger to stop him. When Parker returned home he learned that his beloved guardian uncle Ben Parker had been murdered.

Crazed with a need for vengeance, Peter hunted the assailant who had made his beloved Aunt May a widow and killed the only father he had ever known, finding, to his horror, that it was the self-same felon he had neglected to stop. His irresponsibility had resulted in the death of the man who raised him, and the traumatised boy swore to forevermore use his powers to help others…

Since that night he has tirelessly battled miscreants, monsters and madmen, with a fickle, ungrateful public usually baying for his blood even as he perpetually saves them.

By the time of the tales in this 18th fabulous full-colour hardcover compendium/eBook of web-spinning adventures the wondrous wallcrawler was a global figure and prime contender for the title of the World’s Most Misunderstood Hero. Spanning June 1978 to May 1979 whilst chronologically re-presenting Amazing Spider-Man # 181-192 and excerpts from Annual #12, the transformative tales are preceded by appreciative appraisal and reminiscence from writer/editor Marv Wolfman in his Introduction ‘Amazing Not Quite Adult Spider-Man’ before the action kicks off with #181’s sentiment-soaked recapitulation of all Parker has endured to become who he now is. Crafted by Bill Mantlo and artists Sal Buscema & Mike Esposito, ‘Flashback!’ not only acts a jumping on point but also sets up a major change unfolding over the upcoming months, before soap opera shenanigans and the era’s tacky silliness converge as Marv Wolfman takes up the typewriting, artisans Ross Andru & Esposito reunite and Spidey learns motorised mugger ‘The Rocket Racer’s Back in Town!’

The techno-augmented thief is embroiled in a nasty extortion scheme too, which impacts fast fading, hospitalised May Parker and burst into full bloom in #183…

After finally proposing to Mary Jane Watson, Peter is swifty distracted by more mechanised maniacs (courtesy of a subplot building the role of underworld armourer The Tinkerer) as Bob McLeod inks ‘…And Where the Big Wheel Stops,  Nobody Knows!’ with Rocket Racer getting his just deserts and MJ giving Peter an answer he wasn’t expecting…

Old girlfriend and current stranger Betty Brant-Leeds returns with a dying marriage and nostalgic notions next, making Parker’s social life deeply troubling as he prepares to graduate college. Meanwhile, JJ Jameson has another fringe science secret to hide and Peter’s student colleague Phillip Chang reveals a hidden side of his own when Chinese street gangs target him for their flamboyant new lord in ‘White Dragon! Red Death!’, leading to a martial arts showdown with the wallcrawler playing backup in ASM #185’s ‘Spider, Spider, Burning Bright!’ Happily, the ferocious fiery furore is fully finished by the time second feature ‘The Graduation of Peter Parker’ highlights the Parker clan’s big day and reveals why and how it all goes so terribly wrong…

At this time a star of (1970s) live action television, Spider-Man’s adventures were downplaying traditional fantasy elements as Keith Pollard became penciller for #186. ‘Chaos is… the Chameleon!’ sees the devious disguise artist seeking to discredit the webslinger even as DA Blake Tower works to dismiss all charges against him, and is followed by a moody tale of lockdowns and plague as Spider-Man and Captain America unite to stop the voltaic villain inadvertently using ‘The Power of Electro!’ (Wolfman, Jim Starlin & McLeod) to trigger a biological time bomb…

Ruthlessly violent thugs are on the rampage next as ASM #188 depicts ‘The Jigsaw is Up!’ (Pollard & Esposito) after the river party cruise Peter, his pals and increasingly insistent Betty are enjoying is hijacked. Jameson’s secret then gets out to inflict ‘Mayhem by Moonlight!’ in a sharp two-part shocker limned by John Byrne & Jim Mooney. Exploited by malign and dying science rogue Spencer Smythe, Jonah is abducted by his own monster-marked son John leaving the wallcrawler ‘In Search of the Man-Wolf!’ Forced to witness the supposed death of his child at his worst enemy’s hands leads to a savage confrontation with Smythe’s Spider-Slayer robots in ‘Wanted for Murder: Spider-Man!’ (#191 by Pollard & Esposito) before all Jonah’s debts are paid and another death results after Spidey and Jonah are inescapably bound to the same bomb and granted ‘24 hours Till Doomsday!’ ….

Also included in this hefty tome are Byrne’s cover to Amazing Spider-Man Annual #12 as well as the framing sequence to the reprint it contained as drawn by star in waiting John Romita Jr. and veteran Frank Giacoia and the contents of the all-Spiderman ‘Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1978’, with art from Romita Sr., Al Milgrom, Jack Kirby, John Verpoorten, Paul Gulacy, Pablo Marcos, Larry Lieber, Giacoia, John Buscema, Joe Sinnott, Gene Colan, Sal Buscema, Gil Kane, George Pérez, Andru & Esposito and Byrne, plus original art, promo material from F.O.O.M. #18 (June 1978), house ads, and a Kane/Joe Rubinstein pin-up from Marvel Tales #100.

With covers throughout by Kane, Andru & Esposito, Ernie Chan, Pollard, Giacoia, Starlin, Dave Cockrum, Terry Austin, Byrne, McLeod, Milgrom, these yarns confirmed Spider-Man’s growth into a global multi-media brand. Blending cultural veracity with superb art, and making a dramatic virtue of the awkwardness, confusion and imputed powerlessness most of the readership experienced daily resulted in an irresistibly intoxicating read, especially when delivered in addictive soap-styled instalments, but none of that would be relevant if Spider-Man’s stories weren’t so utterly entertaining. This action-packed collection relives many momentous and crucial periods in the wallcrawler’s astounding life and is one all Fights ‘n’ Tights fanatics must see…
© 2016 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Captain America Epic Collection volume 6: The Man Who Sold the United States (1974-1976)


By Steve Englehart, Jack Kirby, John Warner, Tony Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Marv Wolfman, Frank Robbins, Sal Buscema, Herb Trimpe, Vince Colletta, Frank Giacoia, D. Bruce Berry, Joe Giella, Mike Esposito, Frank Chiaramonte Barry Windsor-Smith John Romita, John Verpoorten, Dan Adkins, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Marie Severin, Charley Parker, Bob Budiansky, Paty Cockrum, & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-4873-3 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

It’s customary – right here at least – to end our year with bit of timey-wimey extrapolation and conjecture, or celebrate an anniversary. However, due to the parlous state of global existence, I’ve instead opted for political pontificating. I decided that with the horror of the next four years barely begun, it’s time to stand tallish and make a sly whiny statement and see who even notices…

Created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby in an era of ferocious patriotic fervour and carefully-manipulated idealism, Captain America was a dynamic and exceedingly bombastic response to the horrors of Nazism and the threat of Liberty’s loss.

He quickly lost focus and popularity once hostilities ceased: fading away as post-war reconstruction began. He briefly reappeared after the Korean War: a harder, darker sentinel ferreting out monsters, subversives and the “commies” who lurked under every American bed. Then he vanished once more until the burgeoning Marvel Age resurrected him just in time to experience the Land of the Free’s most turbulent and culturally divisive era. Here the Star-Spangled Avenger was in danger of becoming an uncomfortable symbol of a troubled, divided society, split along age lines and with many of the hero’s fans apparently rooting for the wrong side. Now into that turbulent mix crept issues of racial and gender inequality…

Cap had quickly evolved into a mainstay of the Marvel Revolution during the Swinging Sixties but lost his way somewhat after that, except for a glittering period under writer Steve Englehart. Eventually however, in the middle of the decades, that enlightened voice-of-a-generation scribe also moved on and out. Meanwhile, after nearly ten years drafting almost all of Marvel’s successes, Jack Kirby had jumped ship to arch-rival DC in 1971, creating a whole new mythology, dynamically inspiring pantheon and new way to tell comics stories. Short term though, cowardly editorial practices and lack of support had convinced him that DC was no better than Marvel for men of vision. Eventually, he accepted that even he could never win against any publishing company’s excessive pressure to produce whilst enduring micro-managing editorial interference.

Seeing which way the winds were blowing, Kirby exploded back into the Marvel Universe in 1976 with a signed promise of free rein to concoct another stunning wave of iconic creations – licensed movie sensations such as 2001: a Space Odyssey (and – so very nearly – seminal TV paranoia-fest The Prisoner); Machine Man; Devil Dinosaur and The Eternals. He was also granted control of two of his previous co-creations – firmly established characters Black Panther and Captain America to do with as he wished…

His return was much hyped at the time but swiftly became controversial since his intensely personal visions paid little lip service to company continuity: Jack always went his own bombastic way. Whilst those new works quickly found many friends, his tenure on those earlier inventions drastically divided the fan base. Kirby was never slavishly wedded to tight continuity and preferred, in many ways, to treat his stints on Cap and the Panther as creative “Day Ones”. That was never more apparent than for the Star-Spangled Sentinel of Liberty…

This resoundingly resolute rabble rousingly rambunctious sixth full-colour Epic Collection re-presents Captain America and the Falcon #180-200 and 1976’s colossal Marvel Treasury Special: Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles, cover-dated December 1974 to August 1976: spanning and neatly wrapping up the post-Englehart period and revealing how, when Kirby came aboard as writer, artist and editor, he had big plans for the nation’s premiere comicbook patriotic symbol in the year of its 200th anniversary…

At this time the US was a nation reeling from loss of idealism caused by Vietnam, Watergate and the (then partial) exposure of President Richard Nixon’s crimes. The general loss of idealism and painful public revelation that politicians are generally unpleasant – and even potentially ruthless, wicked exploiters – kicked the props out of most Americans who had an incomprehensibly rosy view of their leaders. Thus, Cap’s exposing a conspiracy reaching into the halls and backrooms of government to undemocratically seize control of the country by deceit and criminal conspiracy (sounds like sheer fantasy these days, doesn’t it?) was extremely controversial but compellingly attractive in those distant, simpler days. Now after doing what was necessary, the idealistic hero could no longer be associated with a tarnished ideal…

Previously: the Sentinel of Liberty had become a lost symbol in and of a divided nation. Uncomfortable in his red, white and blue skin but looking to carve himself a new place in the Land of the Free he is also unable to  abandon the role of do-gooder. When Steve Rogers is convinced by Avenging comrade Hawkeye that he could still serve his country and people even if he can’t be a star-spangled representative of America, it sparks a life-changing decision in opening tale ‘The Coming of the Nomad!’ Sadly, survivors of the sinister Serpent Squad (Cobra and The Eel) return with psychotic Princess Python in tow and maniac nihilist Madame Hydra murderously assuming the suddenly vacant leader’s role as a new Viper. When Rogers – as Nomad, “the Man Without a Country” – tackles the ophidian villains, he battles ineptly and fares badly but still stumbles across a sinister scheme by the Squad and Sub-Mariner’s arch-nemesis Warlord Krang. That subsea tyrant – in the thrall of ancient evil force the Helmet of Set – seeks to raise a sunken continent and restore an ancient civilisation in ‘The Mark of Madness!’ Elsewhere at the same time, former partner Sam Wilson/The Falcon is ignoring his better judgement and training determined young Roscoe Simons to become the next Captain America…

A glittering era ended with #182 as artist Sal Buscema moved on and newspaper-strip star Frank Robbins came aboard for a controversial run, beginning with ‘Inferno!’ (inked by Joe Giella). Whilst Nomad successfully mops up the Serpent Squad – despite well-meaning police interference – Sam and Cap’s substitute Roscoe encounter the Sentinel of Liberty’s greatest enemy with fatal consequences. The saga shifts into top gear as ‘Nomad: No More!’ (Frank Giacoia inks) sees shamed, grief-stricken Rogers once more take up his star-spangled burden after the murderous Red Skull simultaneously attacks the hero’s loved ones and dismantles America’s economy by defiling the banks and slaughtering the financial wizards who run them.

Beginning in the chillingly evocative ‘Cap’s Back!’ (art by Herb Trimpe, Giacoia & Mike Esposito), rampaging through the utterly shocking ‘Scream of the Scarlet Skull!’ (Sal Buscema, Robbins & Giacoia), it all climaxes in ‘Mindcage!’ (with additional scripting by John Warner and art by Robbins & Esposito) wherein our titular hero’s greatest ally is apparently revealed as his enemy’s stooge and slave. As the Red Skull, in all his gory glory, gloatingly reveals that his staggeringly effective campaign of terror was as nothing to his ultimate triumph, we learn that the high-flying Falcon has been his unwitting secret weapon for years. The staunch ally was originally cheap gangster “Snap” Wilson, radically recreated and reprogrammed by the Cosmic Cube to be Captain America’s perfect partner; and a tantalising, ticking time bomb waiting to explode…

Captain America and the Falcon #187 opens on ‘The Madness Maze!’ (Warner, Robbins & Frank Chiaramonte) with the Skull recently-fled and a now-comatose Falcon in custody of superspy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Abruptly, the Star-Spangled Avenger is abducted, snatched by by a mysterious flying saucer and latterly attacked by alchemical androids employed by a rival espionage outfit, culminating in a ‘Druid-War’ (Warner, Sal B & Colletta), before Tony Isabella, Robbins & Chiaramonte put Cap into an ‘Arena For a Fallen Hero!’ where deception, psychological warfare and unarmed combat combine into a risky shock therapy to kill or cure the mind-locked Sam Wilson. However, just as the radical cure kicks in, an old foe takes over S.H.I.E.L.D.’s flying HQ in ‘Nightshade is Deadlier the Second Time Around!’ (Isabella, Robbins & Colletta). Once she’s defeated, the past crimes of forcibly-reformed Snap Wilson are reviewed and judged in an LA courtroom in climactic wrap-up ‘The Trial of the Falcon!’ (Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Robbins & D. Bruce Berry): proffering a predictable court ruling, a clutch of heroic cameos and a bombastic battle against the sinister Stilt-Man – hired by mob bosses to ensure Snap’s silence on his gangland activities…

Narrative decks cleared, CAatF #192 delivered an ingenious, entertaining filler written by outgoing editor Marv Wolfman, illustrated by Robbins & Berry, wherein Cap hops on a commercial flight back to the East Coast and finds himself battling deranged psychiatrist Dr. Faustus and a contingent of mobsters on a ‘Mad-Flight!’ thousands of feet above New York. With all plots safely settled, the stage was set for the return of Cap’s co-creator: returning with a bombastic fresh take that would take the Sentinel of Liberty into regions never before explored…

It begins with Captain America and the Falcon #193, offering the opening salvo in an epic storyline leading up the immortal super-soldier’s own Bicentennial issue (sort of). Gone now was all the soul-searching and breast-beating about what the country was or symbolised: The USA is in peril and its sentinel was ready to roar into action…

Inked by fellow veteran Frank Giacoia ‘The Madbomb’ exposes a ‘Screamer in the Brain!’ as a miniscule new weapon is triggered by unknown terrorists, reducing an entire city block to rubble by driving the populace into a mass psychotic frenzy. Experiencing the madness at close hand, Cap and the Falcon are swiftly seconded by the US government to ferret out the culprits and find a full-scale device hidden somewhere in the vast melting pot of America…

‘The Trojan Horde’ introduces plutocratic mastermind William Taurey who intends to correct history, unmaking the American Revolution and restoring a privilege-ridden aristocracy upon the massed millions of free citizens. Using inestimable wealth, a cabal of similarly disgruntled billionaire elitists (what a ree-dicalus ideah!), an army of mercenaries, slaves cruelly transformed into genetic freaks and other cutting-edge super-science atrocities, the maniac intends to forever eradicate the Republic and plunder the resources of the planet. Thank every god you know that it couldn’t happen today…

Moreover, when he is finally elevated to what he considers his rightful place, the first thing Taurey intends to do is hunt down the last descendent of Colonial-era hero Steven Rogers: a rebel who had killed Taurey’s Monarchist ancestor and allowed Washington to win the War of Independence. Little does he suspect the subject of his wrath has already infiltrated his secret army…

Inked by D. Bruce Berry, in ‘It’s 1984!’ Cap & Falcon get a firsthand look at the kind of fascistic world Taurey advocates, battling their way through monsters, mercenaries and a mob fuelled by modern mind-control and pacified by Bread & Circuses, before ultra-spoiled elitist Cheer Chadwick takes the undercover heroes under her bored, effete and patronising wing. Sadly, even she can’t keep her new pets from being sucked into the bloody, brutal Circus section of the New Society, where American loyalists are forced to fight for their lives in ultra-modern gladiatorial mode in the ‘Kill-Derby’, even as the US army raids the secret base in Giacoia inked ‘The Rocks are Burning!’ Soon, the Patriotic Pair realise it has all been for nought since the colossal full-sized Madbomb is still active: carefully hidden somewhere else in their vast Home of the Brave…

The offbeat ‘Captain America’s Love Story’ then takes a decidedly different and desperate track as the Bastion of Freedom must romance a sick woman to get to her father – the inventor of the deadly mind-shattering device – after which ‘The Man Who Sold the United States’ accelerates to top speed for all-out action as the hard-pressed heroes race a countdown to disaster with the Madbomb finally triggering by ‘Dawn’s Early Light!’ for a spectacular showdown climax that truly  surpasses all expectation.

This compilation compellingly concludes with a once in a lifetime special event. Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles was originally released (on June 15th 1976) as part of the nationwide celebration of the USA’s two hundredth year. One of Marvel’s tabloid-sized “Treasury Format” (80+ pages of 338 x 258mm dimensions) titles, it took the Star-Spangled Avenger on an incredible excursion through key eras and areas of American history. An expansive, panoramic and wildly iconic celebration of the memory and myth of the nation, this almost abstracted, deeply symbolic 84-page extravaganza perfectly survives reduction to standard comic dimensions, following Captain America as cosmic savant – and retrofitted Elder of the Universe The Contemplator – Mister Buda propels the querulous hero into successively significant slices of history. Enduring a blistering pace of constant change, Cap encounters lost partner Bucky during WWII, meets Benjamin Franklin in Revolutionary Philadelphia and revisits the mobster-ridden depression era of Steve Roger’s own childhood as ‘The Lost Super-Hero!’.

In ‘My Fellow Americans’, Cap confronts Geronimo during the Indian Wars and suffers the horrors of a mine cave-in, before ‘Stop Here for Glory!’ finds him surviving a dogfight with a German WWI fighter ace, battling bare-knuckle boxer John L. Sullivan, resisting slavers with abolitionist John Brown, and observing both the detonation of the first Atom Bomb and the Great Chicago Fire. ‘The Face of the Future!’ even sees him slipping into the space colonies of America’s inevitable tomorrows, and segueing into pure emotional fantasy by experiencing the glory days of Hollywood, the simple joys of rural homesteading and the harshest modern ghetto, before drawing strength from the nation’s hopeful children…

Inked by such luminaries as Barry Windsor-Smith, John Romita Sr., Herb Trimpe and Dan Adkins, the book length bonanza comes peppered with a glorious selection of pulsating pin-ups.

With covers throughout by Gil Kane, Kirby, Giacoia, Esposito, Joe Sinnott, Ron Wilson, John Romita (Sr.), Sal Buscema &John Verpoorten, this supremely thrilling collection also has room for a selection of bonus treats beginning with the Kane & Esposito cover for reprint title Giant-size Captain America #1 (1975); relevant Cap & Falcon pages from Mighty Marvel Calendar for 1975 ((July, by John Romita); the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page announcing the King’s return in all October issues, and assorted house ads. Also on view are extracts and articles from company fanzine F.O.O.M. #11, September 1975; an all-Kirby issue declaring – behind a Byrne/Joe Sinnott cover – that “Jack’s back!”. Material includes ‘The King is Here! Long Live the King!’, ‘Kirby Speaks!’, stunning artwork from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alex Boyd’s appreciation ‘The Once and Future King!’, Charley Parker’s ‘The Origin of King Kirby’, ‘Kirby’s Kosmik Konsciousness’ and a caricature from the wonderful Marie Severin.

Also on show are cover roughs and un-inked pencils to delight art fans and aficionados, as well as original page art by Kirby inked by Giacoia & Windsor Smith.

King Kirby’s commitment to wholesome adventure, breakneck action and breathless wonderment, combined with his absolute mastery of the medium and unceasing quest for the Next Big Thrill, always make for a captivating read and this stuff is amongst the most bombastic and captivating material he ever produced. Fast-paced, action-packed, totally engrossing Fights ‘n’ Tights masterpieces no fan should ignore and, above all else, fabulously fun tales of a true American Dream and a perfect counterpoint and exemplar to the moodily insecurity of the Englehart episodes that precede them here. Despite the odd cringeworthy story moment (I specifically omitted the part where Cap battles three chicken-themed villains for example, and still wince at some of the dialogue from this forthright and earnest era of “blaxsploitation” and emergent ethnic awareness), these tales of matchless courage and indomitable heroism are fast-paced, action-packed, totally engrossing fights ‘n’ tights no comics fan should miss, and joking aside, their cultural significance is crucial in informing the political consciences of the youngest members of post-Watergate generation, and so much more so today…
© 2024 MARVEL.

Posted on

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Epic Collection volume 2: Berlin Breakout (1965-1966)


By Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Dick Ayers, Frank Giacoia, John Tartaglione, Carl Hubbell, Jack Kirby, Art Simek, Sam Rosen & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5254-9 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Nostalgic Traditional Blockbuster Fare… 8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos began as an improbable, decidedly over-the-top, rowdily raucous WWII combat comics series similar in tone to later ensemble action movies such as The Magnificent Seven, Wild Bunch and Dirty Dozen. The surly squad of sorry social misfits and roguish reprobates premiered in May 1963, one of three action teams concocted by creative men-on-fire Jack Kirby & Stan Lee to secure fledgling Marvel’s growing position as the comics publisher to watch. Two years later Fury’s post-war self was retooled as star of a second series (beginning with Strange Tales #135, August 1965) as TV espionage shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. or Mission: Impossible and the James Bond film franchise and its many imitators such as Matt Helm and Our Man Flint became global sensations.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. combined Cold War tensions with sinister schemes of World Domination by subversive all-encompassing hidden enemy organisations: with captivating super-science gadgetry and iconic imagineering from Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko. For all that time, however, the original wartime version soldiered on (sorry: puns are my weapon of choice), blending Marvel’s uniquely flamboyant house-bravado style and often ludicrous, implausible, historically inaccurate, all-action bombast with moments of genuine heartbreak, unbridled passion and seething emotion.

Sgt. Fury started out as a pure Kirby creation. As with all his various combat comics, The King made everything look harsh and real and appalling: the people and places all grimy, tired, battered yet indomitable. Here, he is only represented by stunning covers; and only until his pal and successor Dick Ayers was trusted to handle those too…

Both artists had served – Kirby in some of the worst battles of the war – and never forgot the horrific and heroic things he saw. However, even at kid-friendly, Comics Code-sanitised Marvel, those experiences perpetually leaked through onto powerfully gripping pages. Kirby was – unfortunately – far too valuable a resource to squander on a simple genre war comic (or indeed the X-Men and Avengers: the other series launched in that tripartite blitz on kids’ spending money). He was quickly moved on, leaving redoubtable fellow veteran Ayers to illuminate later stories, which he did for almost the entire run of the series (95 issues plus Annuals) until its transition to a reprint title with #121 (July 1974). The title then carried on until its ultimate demise, with #167, in December 1981.

Former serviceman Lee remained as scripter until he too was pulled away by the rapidly developing – not to say exploding – Marvel phenomenon. From there a succession of youthful, next-generation non-serving writers took over, beginning with Roy Thomas. This epic compendium re-presents the contents of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #20-36 and Annual #1 & 2 (cover dated July 1965 to November 1966). These stripped down compilations don’t carry fripperies, so just pick it up as we go along or consult the previous edition for introductions to the First Attack Squad; Able Company. They were Fury, former circus strongman/Corporal “Dum-Dum” Dugan and privates Robert “Rebel” Ralston (a Kentucky jockey), jazz trumpeter Gabriel Jones, mechanic Izzy Cohen and glamorous movie heartthrob Dino Manelli. The squad was still reeling from the death of comrade Jonathan “Junior” Juniper and were adjusting to his replacement by a British soldier named Percival Pinkerton. Controversially – even in the 1960s – this battle Rat Pack was an integrated unit with Jewish and black members as well as Catholics, Southern Baptists and New York white guys all merrily serving together. The Howlers pushed envelopes and busted taboos from the very start…

As this volume opens the unit are coping with another loss: the death of Fury’s fiancée English aristocrat Lady Pamela Hawley and the purely personal mission of vengeance that followed. Lee scripted, Ayers pencilled and Frank Giacoia (as Frankie Ray) inked a far grimmer Fury who was still in the mood for cathartic carnage in #20. When ‘The Blitz Squad Strikes!’ features Baron Strucker’s handpicked squad of German Kommandos invading a Scottish castle filled with imprisoned Nazi airmen, Nick and the boys are more than delighted to lead a sortie to retake it. In the next issue the long-running rivalry with First Attack Squad; Baker Company again results in frantic fisticuffs before being interrupted by another last-ditch rescue mission in Czechoslovakia ‘To Free a Hostage!’ – inked by Golden Age legend Carl Hubbell, as was the next issue after that.

Sadly, even after Allied scientist and captive daughter are reunited, the bubbling beef with B Company doesn’t diminish and when both units are subsequently sent to sabotage the oil refinery at Ploesti, the defending forces capture everybody. However, after the gloating Nazis try making Fury and his opposite number kill each they quickly learn ‘Don’t Turn Your Back on Bull McGiveney!’ and even Strucker’s Blitz Squad can’t contain the devastating debacle of destruction that follows…

Giacoia inks ‘The Man Who Failed!’, wherein a rescue jaunt to Burma to save nuns and orphans results in shameful revelations from English Howler Percy Pinkerton’s past, supplying close insight into why our True Brit upper lips are so stiff…

In close pursuit is the 15-page lead story from Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos King Size Annual #1 (1965) as post-war Howlers are called up and mustered to the 38th Parallel to defend democracy from Communist aggression. This particular escapade sees them rescuing former Commanding Officer Colonel Sam Sawyer and results in Fury winning a battlefield ‘Commission in Korea!’ to at last become a Lieutenant in a rousing romp by Lee, Ayers & Giacoia. Also extracted from that special are pictorial features ‘A Re-introduction to the Howlers’; ‘A Birds Eye View of HQ, Able Company – Fury’s Base in Britain’; ‘Plane’s-Eye View of Base Tactical Area, Sub-Pen, Dock and Air-Strip!’ and ‘Combat Arm and Hand Signals’, before a 2-page house ad plugs the hero’s super-spy iteration as ‘Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ to wrap everything up in Marvel’s military fashion.

After that milestone it’s back to WWII for Lee, Ayers & Giacoia as the war-weary combatants head back to America in ‘When the Howlers Hit the Home Front!’ Of course, they find plenty of trouble when comrade/Kentucky gentleman Rebel and his family are captured by Nazi Bundists and the First Attack Squad forgoes fun to rush to the rescue. At adventure’s end, however, the victorious team are forced to leave grievously wounded corporal Dum Dum Dugan behind to recuperate…

John Tartaglione signed on as regular inker for ‘Every Man My Enemy!’ as the unit return to Britain to commence a secret mission and expose a spy who has infiltrated their Army camp. The hunt eventually uncovers one of history’s greatest super-villains and leads to the first of many deadly clashes between Fury and the most dangerous man alive…

Golden Age veteran Carl Hubbell deployed his pens and brushes on ‘Dum Dum Does It the Hard Way!’, as the doughty corporal is shot down in the Atlantic whilst attempting to rejoin the Howlers, precipitating a stirring saga of privation and courage as the flight crew’s life raft is picked up by merciless U-Boat commander Vice Admiral Ribbondorf – the Sea Shark! That move was only the Nazi’s first mistake…

In #27 Lee, Ayers & Tartaglione reveals the origin of our sturdy sergeant’s optical injury (which would, in later life, lead to his adopting that stylish eyepatch) when the squad are despatched to Germany to destroy a new Nazi beam weapon. A now-obligatory SNAFU separates the squad and ‘Fury Fights Alone!’ before finally escaping “Festung Europa” and battling his way back to Blighty.

Previously, readers saw how Hitler demanded his elite field commander should form a specialist unit to surpass Fury’s Commandos. The result was The Blitzkrieg Squad of Baron Strucker… and they repeatedly proved utterly ineffectual. Now the Fuhrer gives his once-favoured Prussian aristocrat one last chance to prove himself by obliterating French town (and Resistance stronghold) Cherbeaux: a task even the disaffected Junker feels is a step too far. With the town mined and the population imprisoned within, Fury’s Commandos are sent to stop the threatened atrocity in ‘Not a Man Shall Remain Alive!’ with the battle in the streets ending in another spectacular face-off between the icons of two warring ideologies and ‘Armageddon!’ for the hostage city…

With Strucker’s threat seemingly ended, Roy Thomas begins his run with ‘Incident in Italy!’ as the First Attack Squad parachute into a trap and are locked up in a POW camp. With the spotlight on former movie idol Dino, the Howlers link up with partisans, bust open the camp, free the captives and blaze their way back to liberty, before ‘Into the Jaws of… Death!’ sees the heroes retraining for underwater demolitions before being distracted by the abduction of their commander, Happy Sam Sawyer. It’s the biggest – and last – mistake this bunch of Gestapo goons ever make, and is followed by another episode of infernal intrigue as one of the Howlers is insidiously indoctrinated, turning against his comrades as they battle for their lives in Norway while dealing with ‘A Traitor in Our Midst!’…

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Annual #2 was released in August 1966, offering a brace of reprints (not included here) plus an all-new but out-of-continuity tale by Thomas, Ayers & Tartaglione. ‘A Day of Thunder!’ is set on June 5th 1944, rousingly revealing the pivotal role the Howling Commandos play in paving the way for D-Day…

Crafted by regulars Thomas, Ayers and inker John Tartaglione, the monthly action resumes with ‘The Grandeur that was Greece…’ as the Howlers are despatched to aid partisans and freedom fighters keeping Greek treasures and historical artefacts out of Nazi hands. Sadly, it’s all an elaborate trap that leaves many good men dead and the unit captured with only Fury free to save them. Bloodied but unbowed, Fury then reviews his barnstorming early life and ‘The Origin of the Howlers!’ before #35 sees him infiltrate the heart of Nazi darkness to stage a ‘Berlin Breakout!’ of the captive Commandos, with the assistance arch rival Sgt. Bull McGiveney and old comrade Eric Koenig – an anti-fascist German with plenty of reasons to fight the Reich…

With the mission deemed a qualified success, ‘My Brother, My Enemy!’ closes proceedings as Koenig join the squad, replacing a Howler who didn’t return intact. His first official outing takes the team to neutral Switzerland to intercept a Nazi strategist en route to Italy, burdened with the secret that their fanatical target was once his dearest childhood friend…

To be Continued…

Gilding this gladiatorial lily, the book signs off with a wealth of stunning original art covers and pages from Ayers (including unused cover art). Whereas close competitor DC increasingly abandoned the Death or Glory bombast at this time in favour of humanistic, almost anti-war explorations of war and soldiering, Marvel’s take always favoured action-entertainment and fantasy over soul-searching for ultimate truths. On that level at least, these early epics are stunningly effective and galvanically powerful exhibitions of the genre.

Just don’t use them for history homework or to win a pub quiz.
© 2023 MARVEL.

Posted on

Invincible Iron Man Omnibus volume 2


By Stan Lee, Archie Goodwin, Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, George Tuska, Johnny Craig, Don Heck, Frank Giacoia, Dan Adkins, Mike Esposito, Sam Grainger & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5899-2 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Solid Gold, Sterling Silver so-Shiny Wonders … 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Super-rich supergenius inventor Tony Stark moonlights as a superhero: wearing a formidable, ever-evolving suit of armour stuffed with his own ingenious creations. An arch-technologist who hates to lose and constantly upgrades his gear, Stark continually re-makes Iron Man one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. There are a number of ways to interpret his creation and early years: glamorous playboy, super-rich industrialist, inventor, philanthropist – even when not operating in his armoured alter-ego.

Created in the immediate aftermath of the 1960s Cuban Missile Crisis at a time when “Red-baiting” and “Commie-bashing” were American national obsessions, the emergence of a brilliant new Thomas Edison employing Yankee ingenuity and invention to safeguard and better the World seemed inevitable. Combining that era’s all-pervasive belief that technology could solve any problem with the universal imagery of noble knights battling tangible and easily recognisable Evil, the proposition almost becomes a certainty. Of course, it might simply be that we kids thought it both great fun and very, very cool…

This fabulous full-colour compendium revisits the dawn days of Marvel’s rise to ascendancy via the Steel Shod Sentinel’s early days: chronologically re-presenting all his solo exploits, feature, letters & editorial pages, pin-ups and pertinent sections from Tales of Suspense #84-99; interim attraction Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner #1 and thereafter Iron Man #1-25, spanning December 1966 to May 1970, as well as essays and Introductions from previous, less lengthy collections that were so important in establishing rapport and building a unified comics fandom…

This period under review saw the much-diminished and almost-bankrupt former comics colossus finally surpass DC Comics’ preeminent pole position and become darling of the student counter-culture. In these tales, Stark is still very much a gung-ho, patriotic armaments manufacturer, and not the enlightened capitalist liberal dissenter he would become…

Marvel’s dominance of the US comic book was confirmed in 1968 when most of their characters finally got their own titles. Prior to that – due to a highly restrictive distribution deal – the company had been limited to 16 publications per month. To circumvent this drawback, Marvel developed “split-books” with two features per title, such as Tales of Suspense where Iron Man originally solo-starred before being joined by patriotic cohort Captain America in issue #59 (cover-dated November 1964). Marvel’s fortunes prospered; thanks in large part to Stan Lee’s gift for promotion, but primarily because of superbly engaging stories such as the ones collected in this enticing hardback/eBook edition.

With the new distributor came demand for more product, and the split book stars all won their own titles. When the division came, the Armoured Avenger started afresh with a “Collector’s Item First Issue” – but only after a shared one-shot with The Sub-Mariner that squared divergent schedules. Of course, Cap retained the numbering of the original title; thereby premiering in number #100.

Following a critique by critic and historian Arlen Schumer in his Introduction (from Marvel Masterworks Iron Man volume 5) the sterling adventures – all-Gene Colan illustrated – resume with the shiny portion of ToS #84 picking up soap opera style with Stark submitting to months of governmental pressure and testifying to a Congressional Committee hungry for the secrets of his greatest creation. However. at the critical moment, the inventor keels over…

Stark’s controversial reputation is finally restored as the public at last learns that his life is only preserved by a metallic chest-plate keeping his maimed heart beating in ‘The Other Iron Man!’ (scripted by Lee and inked by Frank Giacoia). Somehow, nobody at all connects that hunk of steel to the identical one his Avenging “bodyguard” wears…

With the hero stuck in a hospital bed, best friend Happy Hogan foolishly dons the suit to preserve that precious secret, only to be abducted by the insidious Mandarin in another extended assault that begins with ‘Into the Jaws of Death’. Prior to that, readers are whisked back to so-different days by the first letters page offering Mails of Suspense…

Propelled by guilt and fuelled by fear, still-ailing Stark breaks into his own Congressionally-closed factory to create new, more powerful armour and flies to the rescue in ‘Death Duel for the Life of Happy Hogan!’ The cataclysmic clash rattles the “bamboo curtain” but is soon successfully concluded, and the Americans return home just in time for #87 and #88 to host the merciless Mole Man who attacks from below, prompting a ‘Crisis… at the Earth’s Core!’ Sadly, the villain has no idea who hostage Stark really is, believing hottie assistant Pepper Potts and her boss ‘Beyond all Rescue!’, but is soon proved very wrong, after which another old B-List bad-guy takes his shot in ‘The Monstrous Menace of the Mysterious Melter!’ and tense, terse sequel ‘The Golden Ghost!’ which fabulously feature a glorious reprise of Iron Man’s original bulky battle suit and a wonderfully twisty conclusion, before ‘The Uncanny Challenge of the Crusher!’ offers an all-action tale – possibly marred for modern audiences by a painful Commie-bustin’ sub-plot featuring a thinly disguised Fidel Castro…

Also somewhat dated but still gripping are references to then then-ongoing “Police Action” in Indo-China which look a little gung-ho (if completely understandable) as Iron Man goes hunting for Red Menace Half-Face ‘Within the Vastness of Viet Nam!’ The urgent insertion results in another clash with incorrigible old foe Titanium Man in ‘The Golden Gladiator and… the Giant!’ before our hero at last snatches victory from the mechanical jaws of defeat in ‘The Tragedy and the Triumph!’ (this last inked by Dan Adkins). Giacoia returns and a new cast member then debuts in #95 as eager-beaver adult boy scout S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell is assigned as security advisor to America’s most prominent weapons maker. It coincides with Thor villain Grey Gargoyle attacking in ‘If a Man be Stone!’, but he utterly mismatched and overpowered maniac is summarily defeated in ‘The Deadly Victory!’ in anticipation of Tales of Suspense #97 launching an extended story-arc to carry the series into the solo series and beyond, as criminal cartel the Maggia seeks to move in on Stark’s company.

The campaign opens with the hero’s capture as ‘The Coming of… Whiplash!’ reveals the Golden Avenger cut to steely ribbons, drawn out in ‘The Warrior and the Whip!’ and – as the magnificent Archie Goodwin assumed scripting duties and EC legend Johnny Craig came aboard as inker – trapped on a sinking submarine ‘At the Mercy of the Maggia’, just as the venerable Tales of Suspense ends with the 99th issue…

Of course, it was just changing title to Captain America as Tales to Astonish seamlessly morphed into The Incredible Hulk, but – due to a scheduling snafu – neither of the split-book co-stars had a home that month (April 1968). This situation led to the one-&-only Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner #1 to carry concluding episode ‘The Torrent Without… The Tumult Within!’, wherein sinister super-scientists of A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics, acronym-fans) snatch the Armoured Avenger from the Maggia’s swiftly sinking submarine, intent on stealing the hero’s technical secrets. Invincible Iron Man #1 finally appeared with a May 1968 cover-date, triumphantly ending the extended subsea-saga as our hero stands ‘Alone against A.I.M.!’: a thrilling roller-coaster ride supplemented by ‘The Origin of Iron Man’ offering a revitalised re-telling to conclude Colan’s impressive tenure on the character.

Breaking briefly for an educational Introduction from comics historian Dewey Cassell, running down the stellar career and achievements of debuting artist George Tuska, the action accelerates into a bold new era with Invincible Iron Man #2. Entrenched illustrator Colan moved on and ‘The Day of the Demolisher!’ found EC megastar Johnny Craig tackling the art-chores. His first job was a cracker, as scripter Goodwin lays down years of useful groundwork by introducing Janice Cord as a romantic interest for the playboy inventor. The real problem is a monolithic killer robot built by her deranged father and the start of a running plot-thread examining the effects of the munitions business and the kind of inventors who work for it. Also from this point on the letters page became ‘Sock it to Shell-Head’. No comment.

Goodwin & Craig brought back Stark’s bodyguard Happy Hogan in time to help rebuild the now-obsolete Iron Man armour and consequently devolve into a marauding monstrous menace in ‘My Friend, My Foe… the Freak!’ for #3, and retooled a long-forgotten Soviet super-villain into a major threat in ‘Unconquered is the Unicorn!’ in #4. This particular tech-enhanced maniac is dying from his own powers and thinks Tony will be able – if not exactly willing – to fix him…

With Iron Man #5, another Golden Age veteran joined the creative team. George Tuska – who had worked on huge hits such as the original (Fawcett) Captain Marvel and Crime Does Not Pay, plus newspaper strips like The Spirit and Buck Rogers – would illustrate the majority of Iron Man’s adventures for the next decade, becoming synonymous with the Armoured Avenger…

Inked by Craig, ‘Frenzy in a Far-Flung Future!’ is an intriguing time-paradox tale wherein Stark is kidnapped by the last survivors of humanity, determined to kill him before he can build the super-computer that eradicated mankind. Did somebody say “Terminator”?

A super-dense (by which I mean strong and heavy) Cuban Commie threat returned – but not for long – in ‘Vengeance… Cries the Crusher!’ Next, the sinister scheme begun way back in ToS #97 finally bears brutal – and for preppie S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell – painful fruit in 2-part thriller ‘The Maggia Strikes!’ and ‘A Duel Must End!’ Here former Daredevil foe the Gladiator leads a savage attack on Stark’s factory, friends and would-be new love. The saga also reveals the tragic history of mystery woman Whitney Frost and lays the seeds of her evolution into one of Iron Man’s most implacable foes…

A 3-part saga follows as The Mandarin resurfaces with a cunning plan and the certain conviction that Stark and Iron Man are the same person. Beginning with a seeming Hulk guest-shot in #9’s ‘There Lives a Green Goliath!’, proceeding through the revelatory and explosive Nick Fury team-up ‘Once More… The Mandarin!’ before climaxing in spectacular “saves-the-day” fashion as our hero is ‘Unmasked!’ This epic by Goodwin, Tuska & Craig offers astounding thrills and potent drama with dozens of devious twists, just as the first inklings of the social upheaval America was experiencing began to seep into Marvel’s publications. As the core audience started to grow into the Flower Power generation, future tales would take arch-capitalist weapon-smith Stark in many unexpected and often peculiar directions. All of a sudden maybe that money and fancy gadgetry weren’t quite so fun or cool anymore?

Goodwin, Tuska & Craig build on a sterling run of solid science-flavoured action epics with the introduction of a new sinister super-foe in #12 as ‘The Coming of the Controller’ sees a twisted genius using life-energy stolen from mind-slaved citizens to power a cybernetic exo-skeleton. Along the way he and his brother embezzle the fortune of Stark’s girlfriend Janice Cord to pay for it all. Of course, Iron Man is ready and able to overcome the scheming maniac, culminating in a cataclysmic climax ‘Captives of the Controller!’ as the mind-bending terror attempts to extend his mesmeric, parasitic sway over the entire populace of New York City…

Another educational and fascinating Introduction – The Tony Stark/Iron Man Dilemma – by dynamic draughtsman George Tuska, detailing his stellar career and achievements, leads us into an era of constant change. Originally, combining then-sacrosanct belief that technology and business could solve any problem with the universal imagery of noble knights battling evil made the concept behind the Invincible Iron Man an infallibly successful proposition.

Of course where once Tony Stark was the acceptable face of Capitalism, the tumultuous tone of the closing decade soon resigned his suave image to the dustbin of history. With ecological disasters and social catastrophe from the abuse of industry and technology the new mantras of the young, the Golden Avenger and Stark International were soon confronting some tricky questions from the increasingly socially conscious readership. All of a sudden maybe that money and fancy gadgetry weren’t quite so fun or cool anymore?

With an Iron Clad promise of stunning action and compelling intrigue this iconic hardback (and digital) chronological compendium covers Iron Man #14-25, spanning June 1969 – May 1970, and opens with an educational and fascinating Introduction from dynamic draughtsman George Tuska, detailing the stellar career and achievements of the veteran artist.

Writer Archie Goodwin and illustrious illustrators Tuska & Johnny Craig continued a sterling run of genre-flavoured action epics as IM #14 depicts ‘The Night Phantom Walks!’ with the scripter craftily paying tribute to Craig’s past history drawing EC’s landmark horror comics. Here the artist pencilled & inked the tale of a zombie-like monster prowling a Caribbean island, destroying Stark Industry installations. As well as being a terse, moody thriller, the story marks the first indications of a different attitude as the menace’s ecologically inspired reign of terror includes some pretty fair arguments about the downsides of “Progress” and rapacious globalisation…

With Craig back inking, Tuska returned with #15 and ‘Said the Unicorn to the Ghost…!’ as the demented former superspy allies himself with Fantastic Four foe The Red Ghost in a desperate bid to find a cure for his drastically shortened lifespan. Attempting to kidnap Stark, the Ghost betrays the Unicorn and retrenches to an African Cosmic Ray research facility in concluding instalment ‘Of Beasts and Men!’, where it takes a fraught alliance of hero and villain to thwart the ethereal mastermind’s ill-conceived plans…

A suspenseful extended epic opened in IM #17 after an advanced android designed to protect Stark’s secret identity achieves sinister sentience and sneakily replaces him. ‘The Beginning of the End!’ also introduces enigmatic Madame Masque and her malevolent master Midas, who plans to take over America’s greatest technology company… as hostilely as possible…

Dispossessed and on the run, Stark is abducted and aligns with Masque and Midas to reclaim his identity, only to suffer a fatal heart-attack in ‘Even Heroes Die!’ (guest-starring The Avengers) before a ground-breaking transplant – still practically science fiction in those distant days – offers renewed hope in ‘What Price Life?’ When the ruthlessly opportunistic Midas instantly strikes again, Madame Masque switches sides and all hell breaks loose…

The X-Men’s dimensionally displaced alien nemesis attacks the restored and recuperating hero in ‘Who Serves Lucifer?’ (inked by Joe Gaudioso – AKA Mike Esposito) before being rudely returned to his personal dungeon dimension, after which African-American boxer Eddie March becomes the new Iron Man in #21’s ‘The Replacement!’ as Stark – free from the heart-stimulating chest-plate which had preserved his life for years – is briefly tempted by a life without strife. Unfortunately, and unknown to all, Eddie has a little health problem of his own…

When Soviet-sponsored armoured archenemy Titanium Man resurfaces, it’s in conjunction – if not union – with another old Cold War warrior in the form of a newly-upgraded Crimson Dynamo in #22’s chilling classic confrontation ‘From this Conflict… Death!’ With a loved one murdered, a vengeance-crazed Iron Man then goes ballistic in innovative action-thriller ‘The Man Who Killed Tony Stark!!’ before ultimately finding solace in the open arms of Madame Masque as Craig returns to fully illustrate superb mythological monster-mash ‘My Son… The Minotaur!’ and stays on as imminently departing scripter Goodwin pins Iron Man’s new Green colours to the comic’s mast in #25’s stunning eco-parable ‘This Doomed Land… This Dying Sea!’ Ably aided and abetted by Craig – whose slick understated mastery adds a sheen of terrifying authenticity to proceedings – the Armoured Avenger clashes and ultimately teams with veteran antihero Namor the Sub-Mariner. Ultimately the turbulent rivals must destroy Stark’s own hyper-polluting facility, consequently overruling and abandoning his company’s previous position and business model. Tragically, his attempts to convince other industry leaders to do likewise meets with the kind of reaction that tragically then (and again now) typified America’s response to the real-world situation…

Although the action ends here, there are many fantastic extras to enjoy, beginning with a comedy short gleaned from Marvel’s contemporaneous comedy pastiche magazine Not Brand Echh #2 (September 1967). Here Roy Thomas, Don Heck & Dan Adkins pit clunky 20th century crusader The Unrinseable Ironed Man against a parody-prone 40th century stalwart old fans will surely – if not surlily – recognise, even if here he’s called ‘Magnut, Robot Biter!’…

With covers throughout by Kirby, Colan, Gil Kane, Bill Everett, Craig, Tuska, Marie Severin, Giacoia, John Romita, Esposito, Larry Lieber, & John Verpoorten, other art treats include a character-packed Colan self-portrait from 1970; 15 pages of interior page and cover art, and the covers of Marvel Double Feature Classics #1-19 and Marvel Super-Heroes #31; plus the text-free art for this collection by Salvador Larocca & Frank D’Amata.

On show here is a fantastic period in the Golden Gladiator’s career, one that perfectly encapsulates the changes Marvel and America went through and some of the best and most memorable efforts of a simply stellar band of creators. These are epic exploits, still charged with all the urgency and potency of a time of crisis and a nation in tumult, so what better time than now to finally tune in, switch on or return to the Power of Iron Man?
© 2024 MARVEL.

Posted on

Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection volume 3: Who Strikes for Atlantis? (1968-1970)


By Roy Thomas, Marie Severin, John Buscema, Gene Colan, Sal Buscema, Jack Katz, Dan Adkins, Mike Esposito, Johnny Craig, Frank Giacoia, George Klein, Joe Sinnott, Vince Colletta, Jim Mooney & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: ?978-1-3029-4974-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner is the offspring of a water-breathing Atlantean princess and an American polar explorer; a hybrid being of immense strength, highly resistant to physical harm, able to fly, and thrive above and below the waves. Created by young, talented Bill Everett, Namor technically predates Marvel/Atlas/Timely Comics, and this is his 85th year of fictive existence.

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

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

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

Namor knocked around the budding Marvel universe for a few years, squabbling with other star turns such as The Hulk, Avengers, X-Men and Daredevil before securing his own series as one half of Tales to Astonish, and from there graduating in 1968 to his own solo title. This third subsea selection collects The Sub-Mariner #4-27, spanning August 1968 to July 1979

Previously, the hero’s recapitulated origins and some plot seeding had introduced malign super-telepath Destiny (who was responsible for those memory-deficient years), and the Prince had begun a search for the villain which led to his meeting undersea Inhuman courtier Triton. This volume resumes with Namor still hunting Destiny, and falling into the sadistic clutches of subsea barbarian Attuma after the merciless warlord attacks displaced, wandering Atlanteans. Although he triumphs in ‘Who Strikes for Atlantis?’ (by Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Frank Giacoia) and liberates his people, the Sub-Mariner swims on alone, believing his beloved Lady Dorma to have perished in the battle…

Twin nemeses debut next, in the forms of deranged bio-engineer Dr. Dorcas and disabled ex-Olympic swimmer Todd Arliss, who is mutated by mad science and Namor’s own hybrid powers into a ravening amphibian killer in ‘Watch Out for… Tiger Shark!’ As Dorcas’s blind ambition and lust for power unleash an aquatic horror he cannot control, Lady Dorma stumbles into Tiger Shark’s clutches after he seemingly kills Namor. The man-monster parlays the situation into an attempt to seize the throne of Atlantis (once it’s rebuilt) in ‘…And to the Vanquished… Death!’ (inked by Dan Adkins).

Namor is rescued by Arliss’ sister Diane (another beautiful surface-dweller who will be a romantic distraction for Sub-Mariner for years to come) but has no time for gratitude as he tracks the mutated human and defeats him in personal combat. Restored to his throne, people and beloved, the Sub-Mariner is immediately called away when his greatest enemy is located. The tyrant telepath is about to seal his plans by taking control of America in ‘For President… the Man Called Destiny!’ (we all know there have been far worse choices) but as Namor and Dorma challenge him in Manhattan, the villain’s own pride proves to be his downfall (Destiny, that is…)

An epic clash in #8 pits arrogant, impetuous Sub-Mariner against the Fantastic Four’s Ben Grimm – AKA The Thing – for possession of the eerie helmet which furnished Destiny’s mental powers. However, such pointless devastation ‘In the Rage of Battle!’ is almost irrelevant: what is truly significant is the reintroduction of a woman from Namor’s past who can reason with him with as no other human can…

Penciller Marie Severin joins writer Thomas and inker Adkins for a landmark moment as the helmet of power metamorphoses into an arcane artefact that will shape the history of the Marvel Universe. In ‘The Spell of the Serpent!’ the helm is exposed as a seductive supernatural crown that seizes the minds of the citizenry in Namor’s absence, recreating an antediluvian empire ruled by elder god Set. On his return, Namor confiscates the corrupting crown and is granted a glimpse of Earth’s secret history as well as a vision of a lost Pacific undersea race – the Lemurians.

There’s no such thing as coincidence though, so when their emissary Karthon the Quester attempts to take the serpentine totem, Namor is ready to resist in the Gene Colan limned modern-day pirate yarn ‘Never Bother a Barracuda!’ As a tale of dawn age skulduggery unfolds involving demonic immortal priest Naga and valiant Lemurian heroes who saved the world by stealing his crown, the water-breathers are ambushed by airbreathing pirate Cap’n Barracuda and forced to assist his scheme of nuclear blackmail…

Seizing his chance, Karthon swipes the crown and flees, leaving Namor to face ‘The Choice and the Challenge!’ (George Klein inks), and eventually scuttle the atomic armageddon agenda, before making the perilous journey to Lemuria to challenge the mystic might and deadly illusions of Naga in ‘A World Against Me!’ – gloriously pencilled, inked and coloured by Severin. The epic encounter concludes as Joe Sinnott inks ‘Death, Thou Shalt Die!’ with Naga overreaching and losing the world, the crown and everything else…

Next, innovative action and shameless nostalgia vie for attention as Thomas, Severin & Mike Esposito (moonlighting as Joe Gaudioso) decree ‘Burn, Namor… Burn!’ in Sub-Mariner #14, as the Mad Thinker apparently resurrects the original – android – Human Torch and sets him to destroy the monarch of Atlantis. This epic clash was one prong of an early experiment in multi-part cross-overs (Captain Marvel #14 and Avengers #64 being the other episodes of the triptych).

Inked by Vince Colletta, ‘The Day of the Dragon!’ finds Namor back in Atlantis after months away, only to find his beloved Dorma has been abducted by Dr. Dorcas. The trail leads above the waves and to Empire State University, culminating in brutal battle against mighty android Dragon Man…

“Gaudioso” inked Namor’s voyage to a timeless phenomenon in search of Tiger Shark who had already conquered ‘The Sea that Time Forgot!’, after which the Avenging Son contends with an alien intent on draining Earth’s oceans in ‘From the Stars… the Stalker!’, pencilled in tandem by Severin and Golden Age Great Jack Katz, under nom de plume Jay Hawk.

The saga ends calamitously in ‘Side by Side with… Triton!’ (Thomas, Severin & Gaudioso) as, with the help of the aquatic Inhuman, Namor repels the extraterrestrial assault, but is stripped of his ability to breathe water. Forced to dwell on the surface, the despised Atlantean then crushingly clashes with an old friend in the livery of a new superhero in ‘Support Your Local Sting-Ray!’ This bombastic battle yarn also delivers a delicious peek at the Marvel Bullpen, courtesy of Severin & inker Johnny Craig’s deft caricaturing skills…

John Buscema resurfaces in #20, with Thomas scripting and Craig inking a chilling dose of realpolitik. ‘In the Darkness Dwells… Doom!’ sees Namor lured by the promise of a cure to his breathing difficulties into the exploitative clutches of the Monarch of Latveria. Trapping Sub-Mariner and keeping him, however, are two wildly differing prospects…

Informed of Namor’s condition, ‘Invasion from the Ocean Floor!’ (Severin & Craig art) features the armies of Atlantis marshalled by Dorma and disgraced Warlord Seth and besieging New York City. The clash almost invokes a new age of monsters…

As Namor’s malady is treated by Atlantean super-science, a key component of a new Superhero concept begins…

Last of the big star conglomerate super-groups, The Defenders would eventually count amongst its membership almost every hero – and many villains – of the Marvel Universe. No surprise there, as initially they were composed of the company’s bad-boys: misunderstood, outcast and often actually dangerous to know. The genesis of the team in fact derived from their status as distrusted “villains”. Before all that latterday inventive approbation, three linked tales of enigmatic antiheroes – Prince Namor, Incredible Hulk and Doctor Strange and stemming from the industry downturn in costumed superheroics started the ball rolling…

Dr. Strange #183 (November 1969 and not included here) introduced infernal elder demon race the Undying Ones, hungry to reconquer the Earth before that title folded. Now – cover-dated February 1970 – Sub-Mariner #22 tells what came next in ‘The Monarch and the Mystic!’ luring the Prince of Atlantis into the macabre mix, as Thomas, Severin & Craig’s moody tale of sacrifice has the Master of the Mystic Arts apparently die to hold the gates of Hell shut with the Undying Ones pent behind them…

In case you’re curious, the saga concludes on an upbeat note in Incredible Hulk #126 (April 1970). You might want to track down that too..

Even restored to full capacity, there’s no peace for the regal, and Sub-Mariner #23 finds Namor contending archvillain Warlord Krang after he and Dr. Dorcas use the power-transfer process to create an Atlantean wonder possessing the might of killer whales (if not their intellects!) in ‘The Coming of… Orka!’ The slow-witted psycho subsequently sets an army of enraged cetaceans against the sunken city as John Buscema & Jim Mooney step in artistically to depict how ‘The Lady and the Tiger Shark!’ finds Namor enslaved and Dorma making Faustian pacts to save Atlantis.

A landmark tale follows as – restored to rule and ready to be riled – Namor becomes an early and strident environmental activist after surface world pollution slaughters some of his subjects. Crafted by Thomas, Sal Buscema & Mooney, ‘A World My Enemy!’ follows Sub-Mariner’s bellicose confrontation with the UN as he puts humanity on notice: clean up your mess or I will. From this point on the antihero would become a minor icon and strident advocate of the issues, even if only to young comics readers.

Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner #26 offers more of Marvel’s secret history as the recently self-appointed relentless guardian of the safety and ecology of all Earth’s oceans, furtively returns to the surface world. In ‘“Kill!” Cried the Raven!’ (art by Sal B & Gaudioso/ Esposito) the Sub-Mariner comes topside to investigate reports of comatose superhuman Red Raven. He was the human emissary of a legendary race of sky-dwelling Birdmen recently encountered by The Angel (X-Men #44) in their last clash with Magneto. With the covert assistance of Diane Arliss, Namor seeks to forge an alliance with the Avian race, but shocks, surprises and the Raven’s trauma-induced madness all conspire to sink the plan…

Concluding this vintage voyage is another buccaneering bonanza as, back brooding in Atlantis in the wake of another failure, Namor’s mood is further poisoned when a surface pirate uses his giant monster-vessel to attack shipping, leaving Atlantis bearing the brunt of blame ‘When Wakes the Kraken!’.

Namor’s hunt for bizarre bandit Commander Kraken again involves Diane and ends only when the Sub-Mariner demonstrates what a real sea monster looks like…

With covers by John and Sal Buscema, Giacoia, Adkins, Herb Trimpe, Marie Severin, Colan, John Romita, Esposito, Sinnott, Frank Brunner & Craig; plus six pages of original story and cover art by the Buscemas, Giacoia, Severin, Craig, Colan, Adkins, and a magnificent Marie self-portrait print from 1970 this is a treat to savour. Many early Marvel Comics are more exuberant than qualitative, but this volume – especially from an art-lover’s point of view – is a wonderful exception: a historical treasure trove with narrative bite that fans can delight in forever. With the Prince of Atlantis now a bona fide big screen sensation (albeit one nobody’s ever heard of) this might be the time to get wise and impress your friends with the depth of your comics knowledge…
© 2023 MARVEL.

Posted on

Astonishing X-Men volume 1: Gifted


By Joss Whedon, John Cassaday & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0785146957 (HB/Digital Edition)

The loss of John Cassaday is sudden and shocking but at least we have his wonderful work to console ourselves with. Here’s one of his best, that you should see or revisit…

Joss Whedon turned his inimitable skills with choreographing ensemble casts to the ultimate team-book when he started writing the high-profile Astonishing X-Men (the first six issues of which are collected in this volume). With the supremely talented John Cassaday (Hellboy, Just Imagine, Lone Ranger, Flash) as artist the comic was always going to look great and sell well, but the ease with which Whedon slips into the characters and lifts them out of the mire of decades of convoluted clichés and continuity was a joy to behold.

You’re either aware or not of mutant continuity, so I’ll forego the usual précis and simply state that new readers can jump on with the minimum of confusion, and – aided by a skilful use of banter – be brought up to speed as the team of Cyclops, Emma “White Queen” Frost, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde and The Beast re-unite as proactive mutant do-gooders, but with a new and rather subversive mission statement.

In a world that hates and fears mutants, these heroes have traditionally fought secretive, furtive battles to save the day, with humanity despising them all the while. Their new agenda is simple: do the battling and saving, but in a public-relations savvy society, do it in such a way that the entire world knows who to thank. They will become public heroes and saviours, changing public opinion by doing good publicly.

The plan to alter those perceptions begins by ending a hostage situation where anti-mutant terrorists led by an alien named Ord of the Breakworld crash a swanky High Society function. Even as hungry paparazzi are mobbing the victorious heroes, however, word comes that the media blitz may be unnecessary. An announcement has been made that science has found a cure for the mutant gene…

That news divides not just the mutant community, but even the team itself. Is “mutant-ness” even a disease? Is it better to conform or be unique? Where did the cure come from and who actually benefits? What role does Ord play in these earth-shattering events and is he working alone? None of these deep issues get in the way of a rollercoaster-ride of action and genuine suspense that’s been missing since the earliest days of these characters.

Combining breathtaking illustration and stunning action with superb characterisation in a mystery/conspiracy tale is a Whedon trademark. Adding alienation metaphors that have been such a strong part of the X-Men mystique and fan psychology made this a powerful yet entertaining read that appealed to almost everybody. Having it rendered shockingly realistic and authentic-seeming by a modern comics master made it unmissable.
© 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Invincible Iron Man Marvel Masterworks volume 13


By Bill Mantlo, David Michelinie, Bob Layton, Jim Shooter, John Romita Jr., Herb Trimpe, Keith Pollard, Keith Giffen, John Byrne, Carmine Infantino, Josef Rubinstein, Bruce Patterson, Dan Green & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-2232-0 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Arch-technocrat and supreme survivor Tony Stark has changed profile many times since debuting in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963) when, as a VIP visitor to Vietnam assessing the efficacy of munitions he had designed, the inventor was critically wounded and captured by sinister, savage Communists. Put to work building weapons with the dubious promise of medical assistance upon completion, Stark instead created the first of innumerable technologically-augmented protective suits to keep himself alive and deliver him from his oppressors. From there it was a simple – transistor-powered – jump to full time superheroics as a modern Knight in Shining Armour…

Conceived after the Cuban Missile Crisis at a time when Western economies were booming and “Commie-bashing” was America’s obsession, a dashing new Thomas Edison employing Yankee ingenuity, wealth and invention to safeguard the Land of the Free and better the World, seemed an obvious development. Combining then-sacrosanct faith that technology and business in unison could solve any problem, with the universal imagery of noble knights battling evil, Stark – the Invincible Iron Man – seemed an infallibly successful proposition.

Of course, whilst he was the acceptable face of 1960s Capitalism – a glamorous, benevolent, rich, technocratic and an all-conquering hero when clad in super-scientific armour – the turbulent tone of the 1970s soon relegated his suave, “can-do” image to the dustbin of history. With ecological disaster and social catastrophe from myriad big business abuses new zeitgeists of the young, the Golden Avenger and Stark International were soon confronting some tricky questions from an increasingly politically savvy readership.

Stark is a millionaire inventor who moonlights as a superhero. The supreme technologist hates to lose and constantly upgrades his gear, making Iron Man one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. However, at the time of these tales (re-presenting Iron Man #113-128, spanning cover-dates 1978 to November 1979), the unrelenting pressure of running a multinational corporation and saving the world daily has started to show itself in the subtle increase in Stark’s life: particularly an emphasis on his partying… and drinking.

With glamour, money and fancy gadgetry not quite so cool anymore the questing voices of a new generation of writers started posing uncomfortable questions in the pages of a series that was once a bulwark and bastion of militarised America. This captivating chronological compendium completes that transitional period leading to new perspectives as the 1980s dawned and opens here with an informative, insightful measure of historical context courtesy of scripter David Michelinie in his Introduction ‘Iron Man? What’s an Iron Man?’

With Bill Mantlo scripting, Keith Pollard layout pages and Herb Trimpe’s pencilling for inker Josef Rubinstein, Iron Man #113 trumpeted a fresh beginning for Stark International after defeating the bloody takeover bid of Mr Midas. However, as the new complex opened for business, an old enemy was already infiltrating the company whilst a more brazen assault came after a dying foe was manipulated into attacking the complex using ‘The Horn of the Unicorn!’

Seeking help for the beaten-and-at-death’s door Unicorn, the Metal Marvel consults The Avengers and inadvertently triggers a second assault by the villain who also activates a long-interred robotic threat that seems agonisingly familiar in ‘The Menace of… Arsenal!’ (Mantlo, Keith Giffen & Bruce D. Patterson) which leads to a turning point moment in ‘Betrayal!’ Here, future second generation superstar John Romita Jr. takes over as illustrator joining Mantlo & inker Dan Green in detailing how Stark’s current romantic flame Madame Masque chooses her dying father (Count Nefaria) over him, allowing the savage Ani-Men to invade the secure facility just as the Unicorn’s hidden controller also attacks…

The taut plot threads are all tied up by incoming co-plotters David Michelinie & Bob Layton – also the new inker-in-residence – who shake things up in tragic conclusion ‘Anguish, Once Removed!’ as the thrashed technocrat strikes back hard, defeating his obvious enemies but losing his latest love; and faith in humanity in the process…

Iron Man #117 exposes ‘The Spy Who Killed Me!’ as sinister saboteur-for-hire Spymaster makes his long-deferred move, assassinating (the wrong) Tony Stark and instigating a covert intrusion whilst Stark is attending a swish embassy soiree. As he drinks too much and charms soon-to-be cast regular Bethany Cabe, the factory assault results in super-brawl and the shocking exposure of who is paying Spymaster to undermine SI…

With layouts in #118 by John Byrne and the debut of Stark’s personal pilot James “Rhodey” Rhodes, ‘At the Mercy of My Foes! Friends!’ sees Stark confront his secret tormentors and learn exactly why a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. group have been seeking to take control of his company.

After they also take Nick Fury hostage and attempt to murder Stark, the Helicarrier flies into Soviet airspace and with ‘No S.H.I.E.L.D. to Protect Me!’ (Michelinie, Romita Jr. & Layton) the metal gloves come off and it’s all over bar the shooting and cleaning up wreckage…

A long, carefully considered storyline moved into second gear with #120’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea Prince!’ as the Armoured Avenger clashed with amphibian superman/sometime ally Sub-Mariner before uniting against officious military martinets intent on dislodging aged hermit Hiram Cross from the strategically useful island he lived on.

Unsuspected in the background, financial predator Justin Hammer continued his anonymous preparations to destroy Iron Man and break Stark’s financial empire. His first strike was to briefly override Stark’s armour in the middle of an underwater duel in ‘A Ruse by Any Other Name…’ but even with that momentary upset, he and allies Bethany and Rhodey manage to expose unscrupulous conglomerate Roxxon as the cause of all Hiram’s woes… not that it does them any good…

Carmine Infantino pencils a refitted recap of Iron Man’s origins in ‘Journey’ before Hammer steps up his campaign in #123’s ‘Casino Fatale!’ (Michelinie, Romita Jr. & Layton) as an army of hired minor villains attack our hero in Atlantic City just when the Iron Man gear is at its most gremlin-afflicted…

The assault escalates in ‘Pieces of Hate!’ (with “Layton & Friend” sharing inking duties) but even after scoring an incredible, improbable victory Stark is left reeling when Hammer plays his ace. Taking full control of the armour, the evil plutocrat makes Stark an unwilling accomplice and murder weapon in a monstrous crime, pushing the hero over the edge and into a spiral of despair…

After his super-sophisticated suit “malfunctions” again, killing a foreign ambassador at a major diplomatic function, disgraced and grieving Stark surrenders the armour to the authorities. However, undaunted and finally aware of what’s been going on, he enlists new Ant-Man Scott Lang to his band of allies, going undercover to find his hidden enemy in #125’s ‘The Monaco Prelude’.

Nonetheless, the villain seems triumphant when ‘The Hammer Strikes!’, abducting his opponents and gloatingly revealing his dastardly scheme. However, the smirking monster has grievously underestimated his rival’s capabilities and the power of Iron Man, leading to a spectacular final clash ‘…A Man’s Home is His Battlefield!’…

Tragically, when the dust settles and the bad guys are all disposed of, Stark has time to brood. Obsessing over the lives lost, he turns to the booze that has increasingly been his only solace in the past months…

The fall and rise of a hero is a classic plot, and it’s seldom been better used in the graphic narrative medium and still never bettered in the super-hero field than in ‘Demon in a Bottle.’ As the traumatised hero plumbs depths of grief and guilt, buries himself in pity and alienates all his friends and allies, only an unlikely intervention forces him to take a long, hard look at his life and actions. The results of the soul-searching and his future actions will reshape the Marvel Universe.

To Be Continued…

As an added extra also included here is the one-shot try-out of Stark’s former apprentice, as originally seen in Marvel Premiere #44 (October 1978 by Mantlo, Giffen & Rudy Nebres). ‘The Jack of Hearts!’ reexamines the origin of trust fund brat Jack Hart, who was inundated in the experimental “zero fluid” invented by his murdered father. Seemingly resurrected and imbued with incredible energy and computational powers, Jack hunts The Corporation who ordered the hit and here – thanks to his new connection in S.H.I.E.L.D. – inconclusively clashes with their chief hitman Hemlock…

Added attractions include a selection of Marvel Bullpen Bulletins which in turn announced and introduced Michelinie, Romita Jr., the new Iron Man team and Jack of Hearts (complete with Dave Cockrum model sheets), as well as house ads, 16 pages of original art and covers by Romita Jr., Green, Layton, Infantino and Byrne, including some pre editorial modification.

Further candid treats involve the secret behind Edwin Jarvis’ in-story “resignation letter”; an unused Layton cover for #128, Stan Lee’s Introduction for first GN Compilation The Power of Iron Man (1984), that book’s painted cover by Bill Sienkiewicz and a sequence of Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine covers (#1-3, October-December 1994) by Darick Robertson, Mark Farmer, Frank Miller, Michael Golden & Jung Choi. Wrapping up the bonuses are Michelinie’s Introduction (‘Heart of Iron, Feet of Clay’) to 2008’s Demon in a Bottle collection beside that volume’s cover from Romita Jr., Layton, & Ian Hannin, as well as Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Layton, & Romita Jr. vol. 1’s cover, as drafted by the mature artist in 2013, with inks by Mark Morales and coloured by Frank D’Amata.

This contains some of the best mainstream super-hero sagas of the 1980s but is also regarded as one of the most remarkable, transformative and powerfully redemptive tales of the period. Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle is a complex, extremely mature tale for kids of all ages, and an unforgettable instance of Triumph and Tragedy perfectly told. Seen in conjunction with the year of ever-improving yarns that preceded it grants the reader privileged access to a renaissance in quality signalling the return to glory of one of Comics’ most scintillating stars.

If you have let these tales of suspense pass you by, you are the poorer for it and should amend the situation as soon as possible.
© 2021 MARVEL.