Category: Marvel Superheroes

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The Death of Captain America: The Man who Bought America


By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Fabio Laguna, Luke Ross & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2971-4

I’m usually a little at odds and uneasy with today’s all-pervasive, consumer-crazed “Have it First! Have it Now!” philosophy. I generally prefer to see things working well and a bit worn in before I commit myself to an opinion or risk time and/or money on an item.

I also find that this policy pays dividends when looking at comics and graphic novels. Something you love at first sight often palls and pales into insignificance on re-reading, whilst often a little mellowing and maturation offers insights into material that might not have impressed on initial inspection…

A perfect case in point is the unceasing cacophony of collections which poured out of Marvel during their headline-grabbing stunt of having legendary patriotic icon Captain America assassinated as the climax of the publishing event Civil War. Despite being superbly crafted and gripping material, the sheer manic hyperbole of the press machine involved at the time turned many folks off and I quickly turned my attention elsewhere…

The Star Spangled Avenger was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby at the end of 1940 and launched in his own title (Captain America Comics, #1 cover-dated March 1941) with overwhelming success. He was the absolute and undisputed star of Timely (Marvel’s early predecessor) Comics’ “Big Three” – the other two being the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner. He was also the first to fall from popularity at the end of the Golden Age.

When the Korean War and Communist aggression dominated the American psyche in the early 1950s he was briefly revived – with the Torch and Sub-Mariner – in 1953 before sinking once more into obscurity until a resurgent Marvel Comics once more brought him back in Avengers #4.

It was March 1964 and the Vietnam conflict was just beginning to pervade the minds of the American public…

This time he stuck around.

Whilst perpetually agonising over the death of his young sidekick (James Buchanan Barnes AKA Bucky) in the final days of the war, the resurrected Steve Rogers first stole the show in the Avengers, then promptly graduated to his own series and title as well. He waxed and waned through the most turbulent period of social change in US history, but always struggled to find an ideological niche and stable footing in the modern world.

Eventually, whilst another morally suspect war raged in the real world, during the Marvel event known as Civil War he became an anti-government rebel and was ambushed on the steps of a Federal Courthouse.

Naturally, nobody really believed he was dead…

Over the course of three volumes he was replaced by that dead sidekick. Years previously Bucky had been captured by the Soviets and used as their own super-assassin – The Winter Soldier. There’s no truer maxim than “nobody stays dead in comics”, however, and after being rescued from his unwanted spy-role the artificially youthful and part cyborg Barnes reluctantly stepped into his mentor’s boots…

Whilst Bucky was coming to terms with his inheritance; still largely unknown and unwelcome to the general public, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter – pregnant with Steve’s baby and a prisoner of Nazi über-menace the Red Skull – was undergoing a subtle program of brainwashing by perfidious psychologist Dr. Johan Faustus.

Although the mind-bending had succeeded in making her shoot Captain America on the Courthouse steps, the doped and duped operative was slowly clawing her way back to sanity, but received a huge shock after she discovered a comatose Steve alive and in captive in an underground cell…

The Skull – a disembodied malign consciousness trapped in the head of ex-Soviet General Aleksander Lukin – is well on the way to conquering the USA at last and also determined to have a new perfect body of his own again. Closeted with his body-swapping, gene-warping wizard Arnim Zola, a mysterious plan for Sharon’s baby and the body in the basement are coming to fruition…

Marvel’s extended publicity stunt was building to a blockbusting, revelatory close in this third volume (collecting issues #37-42 of Captain America volume 5 from 2008) written by master planner Ed Brubaker with art from Steve Epting, Mike Perkins, Luke Ross, Fabio Laguna, Rick Magyar & Roberto De La Torre, with the promise of a new Captain America in situ at the close…

In a close-fought election year, the sudden rise of independent candidate Senator Gordon Wright and his Third Wing Party takes America by storm. Backed by corporate colossus Kronas and monolithic security division Kane-Myer and very publicly targeted by conservatives, radicals, liberals and nut-jobs alike, Wright seems the perfect and only candidate for the sensible ordinary man-in-the-street…

Whilst S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark orders The Falcon to partner up with the still reluctant Bucky and track down Faustus, in Lukin’s lair Sharon has escaped again and gone searching for Steve…

What she finds is the deranged duplicate who briefly played Captain America in the 1950s. After a few short months the reactionary patriot had been forcibly “retired” when the super-soldier serum he’d used soured and turned him into a raving, racist paranoid. The fascistic facsimile had a tenuous grip on reality at best and attacked the real Sentinel of Liberty many times after escaping government custody…

Before she can shoot the horrific travesty of the man she loved, the Skull and Faustus recapture Sharon. Taking careful steps not to harm her, they restrain the dazed agent in the infirmary. Meanwhile Falcon and the new Captain America clash with Zola and agents of Advanced Idea Mechanics, destroying one of the Skull’s hidden facilities. Despite the heroes’ stunning triumph the Skull’s overall progress seems unchecked and unstoppable…

His next move is to release the reconditioned 1950s Cap and convince the public that the replica is their real fallen hero miraculously returned. When the Avenger then endorses Wright on live TV the political outsider suddenly seems a certainty for the White House, but things go awry when the Cap impostor clashes with Barnes and the young replacement defeats the veteran fake.

His nerve and spirit broken, the ersatz Avenger disappears, just as another disaster strikes at the plotters, when the Skull’s deeply disturbed daughter Sin attacks Sharon and causes her to lose the baby she’s carrying…

When AIM agents recapture the counterfeit Cap, Barnes and the Falcon are watching and get an unexpected hand from Faustus, who knows exactly when to leave a sinking ship. After triggering Sharon’s long disabled GPS chip the sinister shrink also makes a few last-minute adjustments to her memory and programming…

The disparate paths converge at a televised Presidential Debate – which now includes Wright – where, the Senator believes, one of his rivals will be assassinated and the Third Wing’s National Security stance will make him a shoo-in for the Oval Office. However the Skull has never played straight in his life and has agendas within schemes inside his plot…

As Falcon and Russian super-spy Black Widow spearhead a devastating rescue raid on the Nazi’s base, the new Captain America saves all the candidates on live TV before spectacularly capturing the assassins. In the midst of yet another Götterdämmerung the Skull and Zola play their final card and attempt to transfer the Machiavellian maniac’s mind out of Lukin’s body, but gravely underestimate the paranoid rage of their fake Cap and Sharon’s sheer determination to stop them at any cost…

In the shattering aftermath, Sharon is recuperating with S.H.I.E.L.D., Wright is disgraced, and Bucky Barnes is publicly acclaimed as the only Captain America, but although defeated the Red Skull is not dead.

Zola, it seems, has saved his master again, but the process has not met with approval and might be seen more as a punishment than salvation by the bitterly frustrated fascist overlord…

With covers and variants from Epting, Jackson Guice and Frank Cho, this concluding tome in The Death of Captain America triptych is a dark, tension-packed action-extravaganza that probably depends a little too much upon a working knowledge of Marvel continuity but, for those willing to eschew subtext or able to ignore seeming incongruities and go with the flow, this sinister conspiracy-thriller epic with guest-shots from Avengers luminaries Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Tony Stark is genuinely enthralling and well worth the effort.

The saga of the new Sentinel of Liberty resumed in Captain America: the Man with No Face and if you’re a full-on fan of the Fights ‘n’ Tights genre you’re assured of a thoroughly grand time there too.
© 2008 Marvel Characters Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Fantastic Four: The New Fantastic Four


By Dwayne McDuffie, Paul Pelletier, Rick Magyar & Scott Hanna (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2483-2

If you’re new to the first family of comic books, or worse yet returning after a sustained absence, you might have a few problems with this otherwise superb selection of high-concept hi-jinks featuring Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Thing and the Human Torch. However if you’re prepared to ignore a lot of unexplained references to stuff you’ve missed there’s a magically enthralling epic on offer in this terrific tome.

The Fantastic Four were – usually – maverick scientist Reed Richards, his fianceé and later wife Sue Storm, their friend Ben Grimm and Sue’s teenaged brother Johnny, driven survivors of a private space-shot which went horribly wrong when Cosmic Rays penetrated their ship’s inadequate shielding.

When they crashed back to Earth the quartet found that they had all been hideously mutated into outlandish freaks. Richards’ body became elastic, Sue gained the power to turn invisible and project force-fields, Johnny could turn into living flame, and tragic Ben was trapped as a shambling, rocky freak. Shaken but unbowed they vowed to dedicate their new abilities to benefiting mankind.

After years of stunning adventures the close-knit fantastic family came to a parting after the Federal Superhuman Registration Act put the team on opposing sides of the costumed heroes’ Civil War, when Reed sided with the Government and his wife and brother-in-law joined the rebels. Ben, appalled at the entire situation, dodged the issue by moving to France…

This volume collects Fantastic Four #544-550 (June-November 2007 and originally running as the story-arc ‘Reconstruction’) and picks up in the aftermath of a group reconciliation, with temperaments still frayed and emotional wounds barely scabbed over…

The witty drama begins with ‘From the Ridiculous to the Sublime’ as, in an attempt to repair their damaged marriage, Reed and Sue take a second honeymoon to the moon of Titan courtesy of the Eternal demi-gods who inhabit the artificial paradise, whilst on Earth, Ben and Johnny are joined by temporary houseguests Black Panther and his wife Ororo, the former X-Man Storm.

The royal couple of Wakanda have only recently been forced to leave their palatial New York embassy after it was bombed…

No sooner have they settled in than old ally Michael Collins – formerly the cyborg Deathlok – comes asking a favour…

When a young hero code-named Gravity sacrificed his life to save Collins and a host of other heroes, his body was laid to rest with full honours. But now, his grave has been desecrated and the remains stolen. When the appalled New Fantastic Four investigate, the trail leads directly into intergalactic space…

After visiting the Moon and eliciting information from pan-galactic voyeur Uatu the Watcher, the quartet travel to the ends of the universe where cosmic entity Epoch is resurrecting Gravity to become the latest “Protector of the Universe”.

Unfortunately she might not finish as the Silver Surfer and Galactus’ new herald Stardust are preparing the sidereal monolith to be the World-Eater’s latest snack…

‘Don’t Make Me Embarrass You in Front of Your Friends’ finds Reed and Sue nearing Titan and beginning their break as, in another corner of the Cosmos, the FF battle the gleaming invaders in a desperate holding action. Whilst the Panther and Collins return to Earth for a Deus ex Machina weapon, ‘Aw, That’s Just Crude’ sees Gravity revived just as Galactus himself shows up, ravenous and ready to eat everything…

As the new universal protector shows his mettle by defeating the planet-devourer, Reed is forced to put the honeymoon on pause when his idle examination of an interstellar probe makes him suspect that the entire solar system might well be in danger…

‘Never Ask Her if she’s Wearing Colored Contact Lenses’ finds Reed back on Earth, with Sue simply sunning herself on Titan. However, whilst Mr. Fantastic’s suspicions are confirmed by fellow heroic super-scientist Hank Pym, The Wizard and a host of super-villains from previously iterations the Frightful Four attack and capture the Invisible Woman, but only after a truly cataclysmic clash…

Already distracted by the revelation that an alien race on the verge of extinction had sent the probe as a warning and that an all-consuming horde of marauders dubbed Contrasepsis was heading earthward, Richards flies off the handle when the Wizard boasts of Sue’s plight via long range radio beam. However when he rushes to return to Titan, Reed’s ship explodes…

Luckily the wily Panther had suspected a trap and ‘Kind of an Expensive Test’ finds the heroes hurtling towards the outer moon and a Battle Royale with the despicable scum who had tortured the Invisible Woman.

Even though the Wizard had a terrifying hidden ally, the devastating duel eventually ends in the good guys favour, but not before Sue displays why she is the scariest member of the FF and not one to ever be pushed around, after which ‘So I Guess You’re Saying the Honeymoon’s Over’ finds the Fantastic Six hurtling into deeper space where the Contrasepsis are massing. What they find is a violent degradation in the fabric of reality and a massing of the Watchers, all gathered to observe the end of everything…

It all comes together in a spectacular anniversary romp wherein the assembled heroes, Gravity, Stardust and the Silver Surfer and master of magic Doctor Strange unite to solve a cosmic mystery and save the conceptual being who is the very personification of life in ‘Should Eternity Perish’…

Also including a cover gallery from fan-favourite Michael Turner and pencilled pages from the penciller, this brilliantly scripted yarn by Dwayne McDuffie, with captivating art from Paul Pelletier, Rick Magyar & Scott Hanna, perfectly blends high-concept action with dazzling wit and razor-sharp comedy moments to create a perfectly wonderful Fights ‘n’ Tights extravaganza no clued-in, space freak comics fan could possibly find fault with.

Fantastic Fun. Get it.
© 2007 Marvel Characters Inc. All rights reserved.

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Essential Iron Fist volume 1


By Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Larry Hama, Chris Claremont, John Byrne & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-7851-1546-5

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

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

The character also owed a hefty debt to Bill Everett’s pioneering golden Age super-hero Amazing Man who graced various Centaur Comics publications between1939 and 1942. The tribute was paid by Roy Thomas & Gil Kane who adopted and translated the fictive John Aman‘s Tibetan origins into something that gibed better with the 1970’s twin zeitgeists of Supernatural Fantasy and Chinese martial arts mayhem…

This collection gathers the multifarious appearances of the Living Weapon from Marvel Premier #15-25, Iron Fist #1-15, Marvel Team-Up #63-64 and Power Man & Iron Fist #48-50 spanning May 1974 to April 1978 which saw the bombastic human blockbuster uncover his past and rediscover his heritage and humanity before inevitably settling into the inescapable role of costumed superhero.

The saga began on a spectacular high in Marvel Premier #15 with ‘The Fury of Iron Fist!’ by Thomas, Kane and inker Dick Giordano which saw a young masked warrior defeat the cream of a legendary combat elite in a fabled other-dimensional city before returning to Earth. Ten years previously little Daniel Rand had watched as his father and mother died at the hands of Harold Meachum whilst the party risked Himalayan snows to find the legendary city of K’un Lun.

Little Danny Rand had travelled with his wealthy parents and business partner Meachum in search of the lost city which only appeared on Earth for one day every ten years. Wendell Rand had some unsuspected connection to the fabled Shangri La but was killed before they arrived, whilst Danny’s mother had sacrificed herself to save the child from wolves and her murderous pursuer.

As he wandered alone in the wilderness, the city found Danny and the boy spent the next decade training: mastering all forms of martial arts in the militaristic, oriental, feudal paradise and enduring arcane ordeals, living only for the day he would return to Earth and avenge his parents…

After conquering all comers and refusing immortality, Iron Fist returned to Earth a Living Weapon able to turn his force of will into a devastating super-punch…

From the outset the feature was plagued by an inability to keep a stable creative team, although, to be fair, story quality never suffered, only plot and direction. Reaching New York City in #16, ‘Heart of the Dragon!’ by Len Wein, Larry Hama & Giordano found Iron Fist reliving the years of work which had culminated in a trial by combat with mystic dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, winning him the power to concentrate his fist “like unto a thing of Iron” and other unspecified abilities, whilst permanently branding his chest with the seared silhouette of the fearsome wyrm. His recollections were shattered when martial arts bounty hunter Scythe attacked, revealing that Meachum knew the boy was back and had put a price on his head…

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

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

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

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

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

In his travels the aged savant had acquired an ancient text The Book of Many Things, which, amongst other things, held the secret of K’un Lun’s destruction. The deadly disciples of Kara-Kai were determined to possess it. After thwarting another attempt Iron Fist tried to make peace with Joy, but instead walked into an ambush where the bloodthirsty ninja again intervened, slaughtering the ambushers…

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

Marvel Premier #21 introduced the ‘Daughters of the Death Goddess’ (inked by Vince Colletta) as the Wing’s were abducted by the cultists and bionic ex-cop Misty Knight debuted first as foe but soon as ally. When Danny tracked down the cult he discovered some shocking truths – as did the ninja, who had been imprisoned within the ancient book by the August Personage in Jade in ages past and had possessed the Professor in search of escape and revenge…

All was revealed and the hero exonerated in #22’s ‘Death is a Ninja’ (inked by “A. Bradford”) when the ninja disclosed how, as disciple to sublime wizard Master Khan, he had attempted to conquer K’un Lun and been imprisoned in the crumbling tome. Over years he had discovered a temporary escape and had manipulated the Professor and Iron Fist to secure his release and the doom of his jailers. Now exposed, he faced the Living Weapon in one last cataclysmic clash…

A measure of stability began with #23 as Chris Claremont, Pat Broderick & Bob McLeod took the series in a new direction. With his life’s work over and nearly nine years until he could go “home”, Danny was now a man without purpose until whilst strolling with Colleen he stumbled into a spree shooting in ‘The Name is… Warhawk.’

When the cyborg-assassin had a Vietnam flashback and began sniping in Central Park, the Pride of K’un Lun instantly responded to the threat and thus began his career as a hero…

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

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

Iron Fist #1 (November 1975) featured ‘A Duel of Iron!’ as the Living Weapon was tricked into battling Iron Man, whilst Colleen escaped and ran into Danny’s future nemesis Steel Serpent before being recaptured and renditioned to Halwan…

After a spectacular, inconclusive and ultimately pointless battle, Danny and Misty Knight also headed for Halwan in ‘Valley of the Damned!’ (#2, inked by Frank Chiaramonte) with the hero recalling a painful episode from his youth wherein his best friends Conal and Miranda chose certain death beyond the walls of regimented K’un Lun rather than remain in the lost city where they could not love each other…

As Master Khan began to break Colleen, Danny and Misty stopped-over in England where a nuclear horror named The Ravager slaughtered innocents by blowing up London Airport and the Post Office Tower (we rebuilt it as the BT Tower, so don’t panic), compelling Iron Fist to punch far above his weight in ‘The City’s Not For Burning!’

Inevitably it ended in ‘Holocaust!’ as Ravager was unmasked as master-villain Radion the Atomic Man, who fatally irradiated Danny until the hero discovered the cleansing and curative power of the Iron Fist and stormed to his greatest triumph…

Whilst Misty recuperated Danny became involved with a guilt-ridden IRA bomber named Alan Cavenaugh before tackling another of Khan’s assassins in ‘When Slays the Scimitar!’ after which Iron Fist and Misty finally infiltrated Halwan in #6, courtesy of crusading lawyer Jeryn Hogarth who also promised to secure Danny’s inheritance and interests from the Rand-Meachum Corporation. The Pride of K’un Lun didn’t much care since the successfully brainwashed Colleen had been unleashed by Khan, determined to kill her rescuers in ‘Death Match!’…

None of the earthly participants were aware that in a hidden dimension, Yü Ti spied on the proceedings with cold calculation…

By using the Iron Fist to psychically link with Colleen, Danny had broken Khan’s control and at last the malignant mage personally entered the fray in #7’s ‘Iron Fist Must Die!’, a blistering battle which broached the dimensions and exposed the August Personage in Jade’s involvement in Wendell Rand’s death. Given the choice between abandoning his friends on Earth or returning to K’un Lun for answers and justice the Living Weapon made a hero’s choice…

With Iron Fist #8 Danny returned to New York and tried to pick up the pieces of a life postponed for more than a decade. Unaware that Steel Serpent was now working for Joy Meachum, Danny joined the company until merciless mob boss Chaka and his Chinatown gangs attacked the business ‘Like Tigers in the Night!’ (inked by Dan Adkins), and Iron Fist was fatally poisoned. Sportingly offered an antidote if he survived a gauntlet of Chaka’s warriors, Danny triumphed in his own manner when ‘The Dragon Dies at Dawn!’ (Chiaramonte inks) but when a hidden killer bludgeoned Chaka, Danny was once again a fugitive from the cops and dubbed a ‘Kung Fu Killer!’ (Adkins) until he, Colleen and Misty exposed the entire plot as a fabrication of the gangster.

In #11 ‘A Fine Day’s Dawn!’ the Living Weapon squared off against the Asgardian empowered Wrecking Crew and, with Misty a hostage, was compelled to fight Captain America in #12’s ‘Assault on Avengers’ Mansion!’ until the Pride of K’un Lun and the Sentinel of Liberty were able to unite and turn the tables on the grotesque godlings…

In the intervening time Cavenaugh had arrived in New York, but not escaped the reach of his former Republican comrades who hired hitman Boomerang to kill the traitor and ‘Target: Iron Fist!’ with little success, but the villain introduced in issue #14 came a lot closer and eventually eclipsed Iron Fist in popularity…

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

With Claremont and Byrne increasingly absorbed by their stellar collaboration on the revived and resurgent adventures of Marvel’s mutant horde, Iron Fist #15 (September 1977) was their last Martial Arts mash-up for awhile. The series ended in spectacular fashion as through a comedy of errors Danny found himself battling Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee, Storm and Phoenix in ‘Enter, the X-Men’.

The cancellation was clearly not planned however as two major subplots went unresolved: Misty had disappeared on an undercover assignment to investigate European gang-boss John Bushmaster and Danny again had his chi siphoned off by the mysterious Steel Serpent…

Fans didn’t have to wait long: Claremont & Byrne had already begun a stint on Marvel Team-Up and turned the Spider-Man vehicle into their own personal clearing house for unresolved plot-lines. MTU #63-64 (November & December 1977 and inked by Dave Hunt) exposed the secret of K’un Lun exile Davos in ‘Night of the Dragon’ as the Steel Serpent sucked the power of the Iron Fist from Danny, leaving him near death. Risking all she had gained, Misty broke cover and rushed to his aid.

With the Wall-crawler and Colleen (the girls using the team name “Daughters of the Dragon”) to bolster him, Iron Fist defeated Davos and reclaimed his heritage in ‘If Death be my Destiny…’ before shuffling off into a quiet retirement and anonymity.

…But not for long.

The creative team supreme, augmented by inker Dan Green took over Power Man with the December 1977 issue to finally close their extended saga beginning with#48’s ‘Fist of Iron… Heart of Stone!’

Spurned and furious, Bushmaster had tracked down Misty and, by kidnapping his girlfriend Claire Temple and mentor Noah Burstein, coerced Luke Cage into attacking Danny and the Daughters. A man of infinite subtlety, Bushmaster had dangled a carrot too: proof that would clear the fugitive of outstanding drugs charges and enable him to live as a free man under his real name once again…

When Cage couldn’t kill his targets he believed he had doomed his friends, but #49’s ‘Seagate is a Lonely Place to Die!’ (February 1978) revealed that the criminal mastermind’s real purpose was to force Burstein to repeat the chemical experiment which had given Cage super-strength and impenetrable skin. Now united with Iron Fist, Cage had to defeat a stronger, smarter, utterly ruthless version of himself before finally winning his ‘Freedom!’ in Power Man & Iron Fist #50 (April 1978) and beginning a new and extremely impressive partnership with the Living Weapon who had at last found his place in the world..

Although sadly suffering through some grim patches, the greater bulk of the Iron Fist saga ranks amongst the most exciting and enjoyable Costumed Dramas of Marvel’s second generation. If you want a good, clean fight comic this is probably one of your better bets…
© 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Marvel Platinum: the Definitive Spider-Man


By Stan Lee, Gerry Conway, Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, J. Michael Straczynski, Dan Slott, Steve Ditko, Gil Kane, John Romita, John Romita Jr., Todd McFarlane, Joe Quesada & various (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-510-9

With Summer Movie Blockbuster season hard upon us and a new iteration of The Amazing Spider-Man swinging our way, Marvel has again sagaciously released a bunch of tie-in books and trade paperback collections to maximise exposure and cater to those movie fans wanting to follow up the cinematic exposure with a comics experience.

Produced under the Marvel Platinum/Definitive Editions umbrella, this treasury of tales gathers a few of the most impressive and obvious landmarks from the world-weary Wall-Crawler’s extensive canon, specifically Amazing Fantasy #15, Amazing Spider-Man #121-122, 300, 500, 545, 600, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21, Sensational Spider-Man volume 2 #41, which offer a fair representation of what is a quite frankly an over-abundance of riches to pick from…

After the now-mandatory introduction from Stan Lee, it all begins as it must with the sublime origin tale ‘Spider-Man!’ by Lee & Steve Ditko from Amazing Fantasy #15 (cover-dated September 1962), describing in 11 captivating pages the parable of Peter Parker, a smart but alienated kid bitten by a radioactive spider on a High School science trip.

Discovering he had developed arachnid abilities – which he augmented with his own natural chemistry, physics and engineering genius – he did what any lonely, geeky nerd would do when given such a gift – 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 celebrity – and a criminally self-important one.

To his eternal regret, when a thief fled past him one night he didn’t lift a finger to stop him, only to find when he returned home that his guardian and uncle Ben Parker had been murdered.

Crazy 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, only to find that it was the felon he had neglected to stop.

His social irresponsibility had led to the death of the man who raised him and the boy swore to always use his powers to help others…

It wasn’t a new story, but the setting was one familiar to every kid reading it and the artwork was downright spooky. This wasn’t the gleaming high-tech world of moon-rockets, giant monsters and flying cars – this stuff could happen to anybody…

The story appeared in the same month as Tales to Astonish #35 – the first to feature the Astonishing Ant-Man in costumed capers, but it was the last issue of Amazing and Lee had printed the Spider-Man tale against the advice of his boss and publisher Martin Goodman, who knew kids didn’t want to read about other kids, especially nerdy loner ones with creepy insect powers…

However that tragic last-ditch tale had struck a chord with the reading public and when sales figures came in for that cancelled final issue Lee – and Goodman – knew they had something special. By Christmas a new comicbook superstar was ready to launch in his own title, with Ditko eager to show what he could do with his first returning character since the demise of Captain Atom (see Action Heroes Archive volume 1).

The bi-monthly Amazing Spider-Man #1 had a March 1963 cover-date and the company has never looked back since…

Swiftly rising to the top of the company’s hierarchy, Spider-Man defined being a teenager for the young readers of the 1960s and 1970s, tackling incredible hardships, astonishing foes and the most pedestrian of frustrations. Slowly however he grew up, went to college, got a girlfriend and found true love with policeman’s daughter Gwen Stacy…

From Amazing Spider-Man #121-122 (June-July 1973) comes a two-part tale which stunned the readership as Parker failed to save his intended from the insane rage of Norman Osborn, the first Green Goblin, in a shattering tragedy entitled ‘The Night Gwen Stacy Died’ which led inexorably to ‘The Goblin’s Last Stand!’ (both by Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, John Romita senior & Tony Mortellaro)…

Life moved on and Peter found a more mature love with old friend Mary Jane Watson. She shared the secret of his identity and after years of treading water they married in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987).

‘The Wedding’, by Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, Paul Ryan & Vince Colletta, is actually a rather bland affair with nominal villain Electro only a minor note in a tale which dwells overlong on the happy couple’s doubts and pre-wedding jitters, but it is undoubtedly a landmark as it set the seal on the Web-spinner’s maturation and offered a genuine symbol and sense of progress.

During the Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars of 1984-1985, Spider-Man had picked up a super-scientific new black and white costume which turned out to be a hungry alien parasite that slowly began to permanently bond to its unwitting wearer.

After being discovered and removed by Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, the “Symbiote” ultimately escaped and, like a crazed and jilted lover, tried to re-establish its relationship with the horrified hero; seemingly destroying itself in the attempt.

During a stellar run of scripts by David Michelinie, the beast was revived with a new host and became one of the most acclaimed Marvel villains of all time, helped in no small part by the escalating popularity of rising-star artist Todd McFarlane…

From Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988) comes ‘Venom’ by Michelinie & McFarlane, wherein a shadowy, bestial figure stalking Peter and Mary Jane Watson-Parker is revealed as a monstrous shape-shifting horror, intent on terrorising the new bride and destroying her husband.

Venom is a hulking, distorted carbon copy of the Wall-crawler: a murderous psychopath constituted of disgraced reporter Eddie Brock (who obsessively hates Parker the photo-journalist) permanently bonded with the bitter, rejected parasite whose animalistic devotion was spurned by an ungrateful host who even tried to kill it…

The story is a stunning blend of action and suspense with an unforgettable classic duel between Good and Evil which famously saw Spider-Man finally return to his original Ditko-designed costume, and kicked off a riotous run of astounding stories from Michelinie & McFarlane that led to the creation of a fourth Spider-Man title in an era where there was no such thing as overexposure…

Next, from the anniversary Amazing Spider-Man #500 (December 2003), comes ‘Happy Birthday Part Three’ scripted by J. Michael Straczynski, pencilled by John Romita and John Romita Jr. with inks from Scott Hanna, which concluded a spectacular adventure wherein a host of Earth’s heroes battled an invasion by Dark Dimensional overlord Dormammu and Spider-Man and Dr. Strange were marooned in time.

Simultaneously faced with the moment he was bitten by that radioactive spider and the future instant of his death, tempted by the chance to alter history and destiny, Peter Parker chooses to relive his tragic life all over again in order to change the moment when Dormammu conquered our world…

For a character and concept with a fifty-year pedigree which only really works as a teen outsider, radical reboots are a painful if annoying necessity, and with a history this convoluted it was absolutely necessary for a prose ‘Story so far’ page before Sensational Spider-Man volume 2 #41 and Amazing Spider-Man #545 (December 2007 & January 2008) re-present ‘One More Day’ parts 3 & 4 (by Straczynski, Joe Quesada & Danny Miki) wherein Peter and Mary Jane are taken on a metaphysical quest and meet heart-wrenching might-have-beens before ultimately losing each other and having their lives overwritten by demonic tempter Mephisto in a magnificent sacrifice to save the life of Aunt May…

When the Spider-Man continuity was drastically and controversially altered for the ‘Brand New Day’ publishing event a refreshed, now single-and-never-been-married Peter Parker was parachuted into a new life, and the final tale contained here (Amazing Spider-Man #600, September 2009) capitalises on that renewed and returned youthful vim and verve as Peter faces one of his oldest foes on his ‘Last Legs’ in a rousing romp by Dan Slott, Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson.

Set during the wedding of Aunt May to J. Jonah Jameson’s father, the spectacular yarn recounts the last gambit of Dr. Octopus, (a previous fiancé of the inexplicably enticing May Parker) who is dying from years of being smacked around by the good guys. Determined to make the City of New York remember his passing and scotch the impending nuptials if he can, the multi-limbed madman unleashes a horde of tiny octobots and takes cerebral control of every electrical device in the Five Boroughs…

Packed with guest-stars such Daredevil, Fantastic Four and the Avengers, all of Manhattan is held hostage to the madman’s final rampage until Spider-Man and the Human Torch save the day and still get to the church on time. But at the reception there’s just one more shock for Peter Parker…

Jam-packed with a gallery of covers and pin-ups from Jack Kirby & Ditko, Romita (and Son), McFarlane, J. Scott Campbell, Quesada & Miki, Mike Deodato Jr., Janson, Gabriele Dell’otto & Ron Garney, this treasury of delights also includes a meticulous and fact-filled run-down of Spider-Man’s career and ends with ‘The True Origin of the Amazing Spder-Man’ by historian Mike Conroy, proving the modern Wall-Crawler still has a broad reach and major appeal for fans old and new.

This is the perfect vehicle with which to rejoin or jump on if the Webbed Wonder crawled off your radar in recent years…

™ & © 1962, 1973, 1987, 1988, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2012 Marvel and subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. through Panini S.p.A, Italy. All Rights Reserved. A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd.

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Power Pack and Cloak & Dagger: Shelter from the Storm – a Marvel Graphic Novel


By Bill Mantlo, Sal Velluto, Mark Farmer & Julie Michel (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-87135-601-5

During the 1980s American comicbooks experienced a magical proliferation of new titles and companies following the creation of the Direct Sales Market. With publishers now able to firm-sell straight to retail outlets rather than overprint and accept returned copies from non-specialised shops, the industry was able to support less generic titles and creators were able to experiment without losing their shirts.

In response Marvel developed its own line of creator-owned properties and concentrated a lot of resources into the development of high quality original graphic novels: mixing said creator-owned properties, licensed assets and new series launches in oversized and key Marvel Universe tales (such as this one) in extravagant over-sized packages (a standard 285mm x 220mm rather than the now customary 258 x 168mm) which always felt and looked like far more than an average comicbook no matter how good, bad or offbeat the contents might have been.

Cloak and Dagger were created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan (first appearing in Spectacular Spider-Man #64 March 1982); two juvenile runaways who fell into the clutches of drug-pushing gangsters. As part of a group of other abducted kids they were used as guinea pigs for new designer drugs but when all the others died horribly Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen were mutated by the chemical cocktail into something more – and less – than human.

Isolated, alone, and vengeful they determined to help other lost kids and hunt drug dealers and all who preyed on the weak in the blackest corners of New York City, popping up all over the Marvel Universe and periodically winning and losing a number of short-lived series all their own.

Cloak is connected to a dimension of darkness; able to teleport, become intangible, and terrifyingly amplify and feed on the wickedness in people. His unceasing hunger for these negative emotions must be regularly if only temporarily sated by super-acrobat Dagger’s dazzling radiance. Her power too has advantages and hazards. The power can cleanse the gnawing dependency afflicting addicts, but constantly, agonizingly, builds up within her when not released. Thus Cloak’s incessant hunger can be assuaged by her light-knives and his apparently insatiable darkness provides a vital method of bleeding off the luminescent pressure within Dagger.

One of the most explored themes of their extended epic was the true nature of their abilities: were they monsters, mutants, transformed humans or were even greater spiritual forces at play in their origins and operations?

Power Pack, created by Louise Simonson & June Brigman in 1984, were four pre-teen siblings given a rare chance to shine in a world dominated by adults after a race of alien marauders kidnapped their parents. Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Power were befriended by the patriarch of a rival extraterrestrial species who gave his life to save the galaxy and bequeathed his incredible abilities and sentient “Smart-ship” Friday to the valiant children who aided him in his final struggle.

The distraught and horrified kids inherited his fantastic abilities (one each) and, with the guidance and assistance of Friday, the super-powered kids decided to fight for truth and justice – after doing their homework and whenever possible before bed-time!

In Shelter from the Storm writer Bill Mantlo and art-team Sal Velluto, Mark Farmer and Julie Michel explore the nature and reasoning of runaway teens when Marjorie Rifkin discovers that her obsessively protective parents have sabotaged all her college applications, determined that she should marry and stay in their sheltered little town of Russet Corners. Meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks Juan Cordova again defends his mother and younger brother and sister from his drunken, abusive father before fleeing the house in fear of his life.

Although worlds apart, Marjorie and Juan are united in their desire to get way and as the strangers meet on a bus to New York, desperate friendship blossoms…

Meanwhile in Manhattan a news report about the Safe Refuge Shelter for runaways blends with a bedtime story of Hansel and Gretel and little Katie Power succumbs to nightmares of abandonment and loss…

When Marjorie and Juan hit the Port Authority Bus Terminal they are immediately targeted by pimps and chicken-hawks but rescued by Cloak and Dagger. In the brutal struggle the luminescent Tandy Bowen receives a savage blow to the head and wanders off, dazed and confused, unnoticed by her rampaging partner Ty Johnson…

Carrying Dagger, Juan and Marjorie make their way to Safe Refuge whilst the enraged Cloak’s ravening hunger and grim fury gives way to despair. With few allies to call on, the Demon of Darkness enlists the aid of Power Pack to help him find his symbiotic soul-mate…

Wise beyond her years, Julie suggests shelters such as Safe Refuge, but even as they make their way there – without their parent’s knowledge – Dagger, Marjorie and Juan have stumbled onto more problems.

In the City’s harsh social climate, Safe Refuge is facing closure. It can only stay open if enough runaways use it, but so many are defecting to new and upcoming residence The Shelter Society that it might die for lack of funds and occupants. Moreover, many of the residents are simply disappearing…

By the time Cloak and Power Pack arrive, Dagger, Marjorie and Juan have been kidnapped and forcibly dragged to the new home, rapidly discovering its horrifying secret: The Shelter Society is nothing more than a gigantic honey-trap run by a ghastly mutated travesty called Cadaver who feeds on the life energy of humans. Naturally his favoured repast is those dregs that society refuses to acknowledge and won’t miss if they vanish without fuss forever…

Even before Power Pack and the increasingly desperate Cloak arrive to save the day, former helpless victims Juan and Marjorie have taken their first steps towards true independence by escaping and striking back at Cadaver and his legion of drained, zombie mind slaves…

Produced in conjunction with and offering solid advice and contact information for homeless kids from the Nineline National Runaways Hotline service, this worthy tale never strays far from the point that to be effective, a message has to be entertaining too, and the dark drama has all the necessary action, adventure, thrills and spills to keep readers glued to this great-looking graphic page turner.
© 1989 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Thor: the Deviants Saga


By Robert Rodi, Stephen Segovia, M. Jason Paz & Jeffrey Huet (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-511-6

Once again a major motion picture adaptation has generated a host of supplemental comics product and as Thor returns to the big screen in The Avengers movie there’s still plenty for established fans and freshly-interested parties to grapple with, such as this stirring and tempestuous epic featuring the final fate and rebirth of Jack Kirby’s other Marvel “gods and monsters” series…

The Eternals debuted in 1976 in a series slightly at odds with and removed from the regular company continuity and revealed that giant Celestial aliens had visited Earth in Epochs past, gene-gineering proto-hominids into three distinct species: Human Beings; god-like super-beings who called themselves Eternals and monstrous, genetically unstable but highly intelligent creatures dubbed Deviants. Moreover the Space Gods had periodically returned to check up on their experiment…

Never a comfortable contemporary fit with the rest of the Marvel Universe, the comic explored Kirby’s fascinations with Deities, Space and Supernature through the lens of very human observers. Once the series ended and Kirby left, other creators subsequently co-opted the concept into the regular continuity.

Skilfully remastered here by Robert Rodi and artists Stephen Segovia, M. Jason, Paz & Jeffrey Huet, the story picks up on elements of the 2007 collection Neil Gaiman’s Eternals and opens in the ruins of Asgard as Thor discovers ancient deposed, Deviant ruler Ereshkigal has crept in and is searching through the rubble.

The Deviants have fallen on hard times and face extinction from a deadly plague, inspiring the demonic ex-empress to seek Asgardian tools and weapons to facilitate her return to power. After an inconclusive battle, Ereshkigal escapes with the Unbinding Stone of Oshemar, an apparently innocuous globe which can literally unmake reality.

Utterly unaware of the power of her purloined prize, the Deviant tries and fails to usurp control from the current rulers of the Lemurian under-city which is their home whilst Thor, galvanised by the imminent destruction of the universe, seeks allies and the location of her hidden homeland amongst his old comrades in Olympia, cloaked Earthly citadel of his old Eternal comrades.

The city is all but deserted, with only resurrected hero Virako, master technician Phastos and “reformed” Deviants Karkas and Ransak the Reject occupying the vast mountaintop metropolis…

Before the valiant band can formulate a plan, however, the city is invaded by a Deviant army led by immortal Warlord Kro and a coterie of elite monster warriors. After a spectacular battle the heroes are temporarily overwhelmed and Phastos captured: his incredible devices taken in the misguided belief that they can reverse the effects of the disease devastating the Deviant population.

With the Unbinding Stone still in Ereshkigal’s meddling hands and their friend in peril, Thor and his comrades must storm the very heart of Lemuria before personal tragedy becomes universal Armageddon, but at least they have a hidden ally in the heart of the enemy – the outcast Eternal known alternatively as Gilgamesh and the Forgotten One…

Also re-entering the mix are the space-scattered, missing Eternals, but even if they return in time what can anybody do against a doom-obsessed potentate possessing a device which destroys atomic bonds and has no off-switch…?

A grandiose old-fashioned blockbuster epic, this rousing yarn is craftily constructed so that even first-time readers can get right into the swing of things, whilst veteran followers will find plenty of old favourite characters and themes revisited and clarified, with the adventure rattling along to a perfect climax with the portentous promise of more to come.

Fast, furious, frantic fantasy fun for older kids that no Fights ‘n’ Tights fanatic could possibly resist.
™ & © 2012 Marvel and subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. through Panini S.p.A, Italy. All Rights Reserved. A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd.

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Battle Scars


By Cullen Bunn, Matt Fraction, Christopher Yost, Scot Eaton & Andrew Hennessy (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-512-3

What happens when everything you think you know is proven to be a lie? How does a practical, self-reliant normal man cope?

Short, sharp, supremely shocking and superbly entertaining, this collected six-part ‘Shattered Heroes’ miniseries was set in the aftermath of the Fear Itself company-wide crossover and focused on troubled American Army Ranger Marcus Johnson, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who overnight found himself in an impossible situation a million miles from the sane and sensible – if understandably deadly – world he knew.

Afflicted by PTSD after all he experienced as a soldier, and with the world still recovering from the visceral global panic of “the Fear” (when dark Asgardian Gods almost destroyed the world through a wave of supernatural terror), Johnson returns home to attend his mother’s funeral.

Nia Johnson was a simple Atlanta schoolteacher killed in a terror-inspired street riot.

Or was she…?

On leave for the burial, Johnson discovers evidence that his mother was actually assassinated by mercenaries who then attack him in broad daylight. Hot on their heels comes super-hitman Taskmaster and the baffled soldier is only saved by the intervention of Captain America and a new iteration of the covert agency Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.

Without any explanation Johnson is taken into protective custody but, determined to get some answers, escapes and stumbles his baffled way through the insane world of superhumans and secret societies where everybody is a costumed lunatic and they’re all trying to kill him or recruit him.

With only his best buddy Ranger Phil “Cheese” Coulson to depend on, Johnson battles an army of maniacs who literally want his blood, discovers his mother’s incredible secret, and learns of his connection to one of the oldest and most valiant heroes in the Marvel Universe in a spectacular, compelling and rocket-paced rollercoaster ride which fittingly introduces him to a world he never wanted or even believed in…

Without, I hope, giving too much away, I’ll suggest that the contemporary trend of rationalising and aligning comicbook and screen versions of superhero scenarios clearly inspired this classy espionage super-saga and its ties to the interlocking Avengers/Iron Man/Thor/Captain America mega-movie franchise. If I’m being vague, I apologise, but if you’ve seen the movies, read this book and you’ll see what I mean.

If you’re not a devout movie maven, however, read the book anyway.  The sheer quality of the tale by storymen Cullen Bunn, Matt Fraction, Christopher Yost and artists Scot Eaton & Andrew Hennessy seems certain to make this marvellous yarn a guaranteed hit and crucial keystone of 21st century Marvel continuity.
A British Edition ™ & © 2012 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. and published by Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Scorpion


By Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-515-4

When the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man died, a new hero in his image arose…

Marvel’s Ultimates imprint began in 2000 with a post-modern take on major characters and concepts to bring them into line with the tastes of a 21st century readership – a wholly different market from those baby-boomers and their descendents content to stick with the precepts sprung from founding talents Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Stan Lee… or simply those unable or unwilling to deal with the five decades (seven if you include the Golden Age Timely tales retroactively co-opted into the mix) of continuity baggage which saturated the originals.

Eventually even this darkly nihilistic new universe became as continuity-constricted as its ancestor and in 2008 the cleansing event “Ultimatum” culminated in a reign of terror which excised dozens of super-humans and millions of lesser mortals in a devastating tsunami which inundated Manhattan, courtesy of mutant menace Magneto.

In the aftermath Peter Parker and his fellow meta-human survivors struggled to restore order to a dangerous new world.

Spider-Man finally gained a measure of acceptance and was hailed a hero when he valiantly and very publicly met his end during a catastrophic super-villain showdown…

This collection (collecting Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #6-10) follows child prodigy Miles Morales as the freshly empowered 13 year old learns to cope with his astounding new physical abilities, discovers the painful cost of living a daily life of lies and how an inescapable sense of responsibility is the worst of all possible threats…

Now a day resident at the prestigious and life-changing Brooklyn Visions Academy Boarding School, Miles spends only weekends at home and is coming to terms with some unpleasant truths. Foremost is that he has secrets to keep from his parents, but also poisoning the air is the fact that his father used to be a street-thug and now passionately hates costumed heroes – like Spider-Man.

Almost as bad is the discovery that Miles’ Uncle Aaron is a major thief and bad-guy known in the game as the Prowler…

Ever since a living piece of Aaron’s loot bit Miles and transformed him into a super-strong and fast kid who can walk up walls, turn invisible and deliver a devastating venom charge through his hands, the Prowler has been laying low, and the action opens here as he resurfaces in Mexico, narrowly escaping a deal-gone-sour with local super-powered gang-lord the Scorpion.

Meanwhile the replacement Spider-Man has been making a name for himself in New York, and news of a junior Arachnid Avenger is soon making global headlines… Classmate, confidante and fellow nerd Ganke undertakes to train Miles using candid footage of the deceased Peter Parker in action and, when continued sightings of the boy hero reach Aaron south of the border, the wily rogue instantly puts two and two together and heads back to the Big Apple.

As the troubled teen tackles street scum and even old Spidey villains such as Omega Red, triumphing more by luck than skill or judgement, Aaron murders underworld tech-guru The Tinkerer and co-opts his ingenious arsenal of criminal gadgets before confronting Miles at school: offering hints at a possible partnership…

Since Peter Parker perished his Aunt May and true love Gwen Stacy have been world travelling. They’re in Paris when the shocking news of a successor reaches them…

In New York harassed Police Captain Quaid is also coming to terms with another Wall-crawling crazy to complicate his life but is utterly unaware that major grief has hit town as the Scorpion, following the Prowler, has seen New York is wide open for a new Kingpin of Crime to step in and take over…

After a spectacular battle against The Ringer, Spider-Man and Quaid reach an accommodation of sorts, but the Prowler’s first North American clash with the Scorpion doesn’t go nearly as well and Aaron Morales once again accosts his nephew with veiled threats and a shocking offer…

Of course it all devolves into a fist-fight before calmer heads prevail and Miles really thinks over what’s on the table: one of the world’s most effective and capable villains is offering to train him in combat, strategy and survival on the streets whilst schooling him in the myriad ways the underworld works…

Only problem is that the Prowler has no intention of reforming and won’t say what he expects in return…

To Be Continued…

Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Samnee & Sara Pichelli have crafted a stirring new chapter which offers intriguing new insights into the morally ambiguous and far less black-and-white world of modern Fights ‘n’ Tights dramas, and as usual this volume also contains a gallery of alternate covers to delight and thrill.

Tense, breathtaking, action-packed, evocative and portentous suspense; full of the light-hearted, self-aware and razor sharp humour which blessed the original Lee/Ditko tales, and lovely to look at, this second collection (which does end on a cliffhanger , I’m afraid) looks set to prove that the new Spider-Man is here to stay – unless they kill him too…
A British Edition ™ & © 2012 Marvel & Subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. and published by Panini UK, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age USA Comics Nos.1- 4


By Al Avison, Al Gabriel, Basil Wolverton, Syd Shores, George Klein & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2478-8

Whereas much of DC’s Golden Age archive is still readily readable today, a great deal of  Marvel Comics’ Timely and Atlas output is both dated and quite often painfully strident, and even offensive to modern eyes and sensibilities.

Even so, I’d rather have the raw historical form rather than any bowdlerised or censored reworking and even in their most jingoistic and populist excesses there are usually individual nuggets of gold amidst the shocking or – horror of horrors! – badly crafted yarns from the House of Ideas’ antediluvian antecedents.

Moreover, there’s quite a lot to be said for putting the material in lavish and expensive hardbound volumes for those early comic adventures and I must admit that when they were good the individual efforts could be very good indeed.

The quarterly USA Comics launched with an August 1941 cover-date and the four complete issues reprinted in this sturdy deluxe hardback reveal a period of intense experimentation and constant change as the eager publishers weaned themselves away from the “comics shop” freelancers-for-hire production system and began to build a stable – or bullpen – of in-house creators.

Since these stories come from a time of poor record-keeping, frantic scrabbling to fill pages and under the constant threat of losing staff and creators to the war-effort, the informative introduction discussing the lack of accurate creator detail and best-guess attributions from comics historian Dr. Michael J. Vassallo is a godsend for interested fans, and with covers and House ads reproduced throughout, the World War Wonderment and Patriotic Perils begin with The Defender illustrated by Al Avison, Al Gabriele, Joe Simon and diverse unknown hands (who might or might not have been Sam Cooper, Al Fagaly, George Klein & Charles Wojtkoski AKA “Charles Nicholas”); another flag-clad patriotic mystery-man, who, with designated boy sidekick Rusty, smashed a band of Nazi-backed river pirates plaguing Manhattan’s waterways.

Next comes the utterly outrageous origin of The Whizzer (by Avison & Gabriele) which saw young Bob Frank gain super-speed after his dying father injected him with mongoose blood to counteract jungle fever and snakebite.

Orphaned and vengeful, the young man thereafter dedicated his life to stopping criminals such as the thugs who had forced his ailing parent to hide and die in such a hellhole…

‘Mr. Liberty debuted in ‘The Spirits of Freedom’ by Phil Sturm, Syd Shores, & Klein, as with war erupting everywhere, history Professor John Liberty was visited by the ghosts of American patriots who offered him supernatural assistance to stamp out all threats to democracy.

After Arthur Cazeneuve’s prose crime-thriller ‘Haunted Fireplace’ the astonishing Rockman: Underground Secret Agent blazed into action in ‘The Tunnel That Led to Death’ by the incomparable Basil Wolverton – but with a splash page drawn by Nicholas – which introduced a patriot from super-scientific kingdom Abysmia; miles below American soil, determined to safeguard his upstairs neighbours from tyranny…

Howard Purcell working as Michael Robard then stylishly introduced ‘Young Avenger’ a junior superman summoned by mystic voices to battle spies and saboteurs, before arctic elemental ‘Jack Frost’ sprang to life to avenge a murder on ice in a classy origin yarn by Stan Lee & Nicholas. The polar opposite to the Human Torch (I’m such a wag, me) travelled to New York and soon occupied the same well-intentioned/hunted menace/anti-hero niche pioneered by both the blazing android and the Sub-Mariner: a much-used formula still effective to this day…

USA #2 (November 1941) led with a new nautical costumed crusader in ‘Captain Terror Battles the Fiends of the Seas’ (by Mike Suchorsky) as retired gentleman adventurer Dan Kane returned to the masked identity he had adopted during the Spanish War to hunt down a Nazi destroyer haunting American waters in an action-packed, extra-long exploit. With the Allied effort increasing on all fronts civilian “Mr.” became ‘Major Liberty’ to crush a monster-making Nazi who turned a peaceful Caribbean resort into ‘The Island Menace!’ (Shores & Klein).

Ed Winiarski then introduced Assistant District Attorney Murphy who chose to crush Home Front racketeers disguised as gaudy tramp Chauncey Throttlebottom III AKA ‘The Vagabond’ after which ‘The Defender’ (by Klein) took Rusty South of the Border to stop a plan to destabilise the nation’s South American allies. The text piece describing ‘When USA Heroes Meet!’ by Stan Lee was swiftly followed by another Wolverton Rockman stunner wherein the Subterranean Supremo tackled Zombo the Hypnotist whose mesmeric powers made men into slavish ‘Killers of the Sea’.

After which an uncredited ‘Jack Frost’ exploit found the freezing fugitive avoiding cops but still destroying a marauding robot octopus ship, ‘The Whizzer’ – also unattributed – ended a string of murders by jockey-fixers ruining the horse-racing industry.

USA Comics #3 (January 1942) opened with ‘Captain Terror and the Magic Crystal of Death’ (Suchorsky) as the bold buccaneer spectacularly smashed a sabotage ring organised by wicked ersatz gypsies, after which Major Liberty faced – or rather didn’t, if you get my point – a cunning killer masquerading as ‘The Headless Horseman’ (by Shores & and an unnamed assistant) whilst Winiarski’s Vagabond demolished yet another would-be kingpin of crime.

Once The Defender had finished a hyperthyroid maniac dubbed ‘The Monster Who Couldn’t be Stopped!’ (Klein), Lee’s prestidigitation prose piece ‘Quicker than the Eye!’ gave way to the latest Rockman instalment which he’d scripted for Nicholas to illumine; a broad fantasy set in Jugoslavia where evil pixies had abducted the beauteous Princess Alecia. Object: Matrimony!

Young wannabes Frank Giacoia & Carmine Infantino got a big boost to their careers when they illustrated the anonymously scripted Jack Frost yarn involving strong-arm thugs forcing hospitals to buy their adulterated black market drugs and, after an engaging ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ feature page (which included who had produced it), Winiarski then contributed Tom ‘Powers of the Press’ – a reporter and refreshingly plainclothes hero who, with the aid of diminutive photographer Candid Kenny Roberts, tracked down murderous payroll bandits to explosively end the third issue.

Major Liberty made the cover and lead spot in USA #4 (May 1942), using his ghostly gifts to smash a gang of spies and infiltrators terrorising German-born Americans in a breathtaking romp from Shores & his unknown collaborator, whilst Jack Frost battled mad cryogenics researchers in ‘The Adventure of the Frozen Corpses’ – attributed to Pierce Rice & Louis Cazeneuve – and The Defender stopped the maker of a deadly artificial fog assisted as ever by Rusty and the skilled artistic endeavours of George & Klein and others.

The Vagabond (by Winiarski and an unknown assistant) found the Faux Hobo exorcising a haunted castle in pursuit of a Mad Monk and loot from a decades-old cold case, after which the anonymously-penned text thriller ‘Diamond of Juba’ was followed by another Suchorsky Captain Terror tale, which saw the seaborne stalwart smashing a Nazi plot to starve Britain into submission.

The uncredited Rockman story then saw the Underworld Agent stop murder and banditry in Alaska, after which the equally unattributed Corporal Dix debuted in the stirring tale of a soldier on leave who still found the time to clear up a gang of cheap hoods and set his own wastrel brother on the right and patriotic path…

This premier collection then ends on a riotous high note as The Whizzer (by Howard James) finally came up to full speed in a rocket-paced action romp with the Golden Rocket crushing a gang of thieves targeting a brilliant boy-inventor.

I’m delighted with this substantial chronicle, warts and all, but I can fully understand why anyone other than a life-long comics or Marvel fan would baulk at the steep price-tag in these days of austerity, with a wealth of better-quality and more highly regarded Golden Age material available. Still, value is one thing and worth another, so in the end the choice, as always, is yours…
© 1941, 1942, 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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X-Men: Asgardian Wars


By Chris Claremont, Paul Smith, Bob Wiacek, Arthur Adams, Terry Austin,
Alan Gordon & Mike Mignola (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-87135-434-1

In 1963, X-Men #1 introduced Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Marvel Girl and the Beast: very special students of Professor Charles Xavier, a wheelchair-bound telepath dedicated to brokering peace and integration between the masses of humanity and the emergent off-shoot race of mutants dubbed Homo Superior. After years of eccentric and spectacular adventures, the mutant misfits disappeared at the beginning of 1970 during a sustained downturn in costumed hero comics whilst fantasy and supernatural themes once more gripped the world’s entertainment fields.

Although the title was revived at the end of the year as a reprint vehicle, the missing mutants were reduced to guest-stars and bit-players throughout the Marvel universe and the Beast was made over into a monster until in 1975 Len Wein, Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum revived and reordered the Mutant mystique with a stunning new iteration in Giant Size X-Men #1.

To old foes-turned-friends Banshee and Sunfire was added a one-shot Hulk villain dubbed Wolverine, and all-original creations Kurt Wagner, a demonic German teleporter codenamed Nightcrawler, African weather “goddess” Ororo Monroe AKA Storm, Russian farmboy Peter Rasputin, who transformed at will into a living steel Colossus, and bitter, disillusioned Apache superman John Proudstar who was cajoled into joining the makeshift squad as Thunderbird.

The revision was an unstoppable hit and soon grew to become the company’s most popular and high quality title. In time Cockrum was succeeded by John Byrne and, as the team roster shifted and changed, the series rose to even greater heights, culminating in the landmark “Dark Phoenix” storyline which saw the death of (arguably) the series’ most beloved and groundbreaking character.

In the aftermath, team leader Cyclops left and a naive teenaged girl named Kitty Pryde signed up just as Cockrum returned for another spectacular sequence of outrageous adventures.

The franchise inexorably expanded with an ever-changing cast and in 1985 a new slant was added as author Claremont began to forge links between Marvel’s extemporised Norse mythology and the modern mutant mythos through the two series he then scripted.

Released in 1990 as Marvel was tentatively coming to grips with the growing trend for “trade paperback” collections, this sturdy 224 page full-colour compendium (re-released as a deluxe hardcover in 2010) collects the 1985 two-issue Limited Series X-Men and Alpha Flight, The New Mutants Special Edition and X-Men Annual #9 which, taken together, comprise a vast saga of staggering beauty and epic grandeur…

Two-part tale ‘The Gift’, illustrated by Paul Smith & Bob Wiacek, saw the retired Scott  “Cyclops” Summers and his new girlfriend Madelyne Prior ferrying a gaggle of environmental scientists over Alaska in a joint American/Canadian survey mission, only to fall foul of uncanny weather and supernatural intervention…

When the X-Men receive a vision of Scott’s crashed and burning body they head North and attack Canadian team Alpha Flight under the misapprehension that the state super-squad caused the disaster. Once the confusion has been cleared up and a tenuous truce declared, the united champions realise that mystic avatar Snowbird is dying: a result of some strange force emanating from the Arctic Circle…

In another time and place the Asgardian god Loki petitions a conclave of enigmatic uber-deities “They Who Sit Above in Shadow” for a boon, but their price is high and almost beyond his understanding…

When the assembled teams reach the crash site they find not a tangle of wreckage and bodies but a pantheon of new gods dwelling in an earthly paradise, and amongst them Scott and Madelyne, also transformed into perfect beings. These recreated paragons are preparing to abolish illness, want and need throughout the world by raising all humanity to their level and most of the disbelieving heroes are delighted at the prospect of peace on Earth at last.

However Kitty Pryde, Talisman and Rachel Summers (the Phoenix from an alternate future) are deeply suspicious and their investigations uncover the hidden cost of this global transfiguration and, once they convince Wolverine, Loki’s scheme begins to unravel like cobwebs in a storm. Soon all that is left is anger, recrimination and savage, earth-shaking battle…

Once the God of Mischief’s plan was spoiled the malignant Prince of Asgard plotted dark and subtle revenge which began with ‘Home is Where the Heart is’ (by Claremont, Arthur Adams & Terry Austin in The New Mutants Special Edition) when he recruited the sultry Enchantress to abduct the junior X-Men whilst he turned his attentions to the adult team’s field commander Storm.

Sunspot, Magik, Magma, Mirage, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, Karma, Warlock and Doug Ramsey are dragged to the sorceress’ dungeon in Asgard, but manage to escape through a teleport ring. Unfortunately the process isn’t perfect and the kids are scattered throughout the Eternal Realm; falling to individual perils and influences, ranging from enslavement to adoption, true love to redemption and rededication…

Most telling of all, Mirage AKA Danielle Moonstar rescues a flying horse and becomes forever a Valkyrie, shunned by the living as one of the “Choosers of the Slain”…

With such power at her command Mirage soon gathers her scattered mutant comrades for revenge on the Enchantress before the dramatic conclusion in ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ (X-Men Annual #9, by Claremont, Adams, Alan Gordon & Mike Mignola)…

Loki, who has elevated the ensorcelled Storm to the position of Asgardian Goddess of Thunder, is simultaneously assaulted by a dimension-hopping rescue unit consisting of Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Colossus and the future Phoenix as well as the thoroughly “in-country” New Mutants for a spectacular and cosmic clash which, although setting the worlds to rights, ominously promised that the worst was yet to come…

This expansive crossover epic proved that, although increasingly known for character driven tales, the X-Franchise could pull out all the stops and embrace its inner blockbuster when necessary, and this yarn opened up a whole sub-universe of action and adventure which fuelled more than a decade of expansion. More than that, though, this is still one of the most entertaining mutant masterpieces of that distant decade.

Compelling, enchanting, moving and oh, so very pretty, The Asgardian Wars is a book no Fights ‘n’ Tights fantasy fan can afford to miss.

© 1985, 1988, 1990 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.