Category: Marvel Superheroes

Posted on

Avengers: Death Trap, the Vault – A Marvel Graphic Novel


By Danny Fingeroth, Ron Lim, Jim Sanders & Fred Fredericks (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-87135-810-3

Marvel don’t generally publish original material graphic novel these days but once they were a market leader in the field with a range of “big stories” told on larger pages emulating the long-established European Album (285 x 220 mm rather than the standard 258 x 168 mm of today’s books) featuring not only proprietary characters in out-of-the-ordinary adventures but also licensed assets like Conan, creator-owned properties like Alien Legion and new character debuts.

However the company’s extended experiment with big ticket storytelling in the 1980s and 1990s produced some exciting (and if I’m scrupulously honest, appalling) results that the company has never come close to repeating in since. Many of the stories still stand out today – or would if they were still in print.

Released in 1991, Death Trap, the Vault is a conventional but enjoyable Fights ‘n’ Tights thriller in the Summer Blockbuster vein that fits solidly into the strictly-policed continuity of the mainstream Marvel Universe. Scripted by Danny Fingeroth and illustrated by Ron Lim with inking by Jim Sanders & Fred Fredericks, this yarn is potentially impenetrable to occasional fans but nevertheless delivers the tension, action and character byplay to the faithful readership that made Marvel the premier US comics publisher for such a long time.

The plot itself is simple and effective: with so many super-powered menaces on the loose the Federal Government constructed a specialised penitentiary to incarcerate villains once they’re captured. Some felons, deemed too dangerous for normal courts, are even tried there. Perhaps the authorities could have picked a better warden though: Truman Marsh might be a fine administrator but his parents were collateral casualties in a super-powered clash and he spends far too much time thinking about the Doomsday bomb hidden in the Vault in case of a mass breakout…

One day the inevitable finally occurs and a power outage enables a few convicts to bust free. Already on the scene Captain America and size-changing savant Doctor Pym fight a holding action against Venom, Mentallo, Orca, Bullet and a dozen other lethal adversaries, but with more being released every minute things look pretty grim and Marsh starts getting an itch in his trigger – or rather, button-pushing – finger…

With the super-creeps killing hostages and the entire complex in lockdown a team of Avengers and Government penal battalion Freedom Force have no choice but to break into the ultimate prison, unaware that the deadly clock is already counting down…

Moreover, since Freedom Force is composed of the kind of criminals the Vault was built to contain, can Earth’s mightiest Heroes risk trusting them whilst the rampaging escapees run riot?

Intense and visceral, this old-school, all-out action romp will delight the traditionally-minded reader and still holds a happy surprise or two for we older, ostensibly wiser, jaded, grumpy geezers…


The book was resized and repackaged in 1993 as Venom: Death Trap the Vault and if you don’t mind seeing your action on a slightly smaller scale this edition might be a little easier to find.
© 1991 Marvel Entertainment Group/Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Emperor Doom starring the Mighty Avengers – A Marvel Graphic Novel


By Dave Michelinie, Bob Hall & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-87135-256-9

I can’t recall the last time Marvel published an all-original graphic novel as opposed to a collection of previously printed material, but once they were a market leader in the field with an entire range of “big stories” told on larger than normal pages (285 x 220 mm rather than the generally standard 258 x 168 mm of today’s books) featuring not only proprietary characters in out-of-the-ordinary adventures but also licensed assets like Conan, creator-owned properties like Alien Legion and new character debuts.

Nonetheless, Marvel’s ambitious dalliance with graphic novel publishing in the 1980s and 1990s produced some classy results that the company has never come close to repeating in the intervening years. Both original concepts and their own properties were represented in that initial run and many of the stories still stand out today – or would if they were still in print.

Released in 1987 Emperor Doom was conceived by Mark Gruenwald, David Michelinie and Jim Shooter, scripted by Michelinie and illustrated by Bob Hall with some additional inking by Keith Williams, and fits comfortably into the tightly policed continuity of the mainstream Marvel Universe.

If you’re wondering, despite coming out nearly two years after the launch of regular comicbook series West Coast Avengers, this saga is set just before that auspicious fresh start for Iron Man, Tigra, Wonder Man , Hawkeye and Mockingbird…

The plot itself is delightfully sly and simple: for once eschewing rash attacks against assembled superheroes, deadly dictator Doctor Doom has devised a scheme to dominate humanity through subtler means. Inviting Sub-Mariner to act as his agent the master villain uses the sub-sea anti-hero to neutralise mechanical heroes and rivals prior to using a pheromone-based bio-weapon to make all organic beings utterly compliant to his will. Naturally Doom then once-more betrayed his aquatic ally…

Meanwhile living energy being Wonder Man is undergoing a month-long isolation experiment to determine the nature of his abilities. When he exits the chamber 30 days later he discovers the entire planet has willingly, joyously accepted Doom as their natural and beloved ruler. Alone and desperate the last Avenger must devise a method of saving the world from its contented subjugation…

Of course there’s another side to this story. Doom, ultimately utterly successful, has turned the planet into an orderly, antiseptic paradise: no war, no want, no sickness and no conflict, just happy productive citizens doing what they’re told. In this perfect totalitarian triumph all the trains run on time and nobody is discontented. All Doom has to do is accept heartfelt cheers and do the daily paperwork.

With the entire world an idealised clone of Switzerland, the Iron Despot is bored out of his mind…

So it’s with mixed emotion that Doom realises Wonder Man and a select band of newly liberated Avengers are coming for him, determined to free the world or die…

Tense and compelling this intriguingly low-key tale abandoned the traditional all-out action for a far more reasoned and sinisterly realistic solution – disappointing and baffling a large number of fans at the time – but the clever premise and solution, underplayed art and wicked, tongue-in-cheek attitude remove this yarn from the ordinary Fights ‘n’ Tights milieu and elevate it to one of the most chillingly mature Avengers epics ever produced.

A cut above the average and well worth an open-eyed reappraisal, this is an Avengers adventure for every jaded superhero fan.
© 1987 Marvel Entertainment Group/Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Essential Thor volume 3


By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2149-7

Whereas the rapidly proliferating Marvel Universe grew ever more interconnected as it matured with the assorted superheroes literally tripping over each other as they contiguously and continually saved the world from their New York City bases, the Asgardian heritage of Thor and the soaring imagination of Jack Kirby increasingly pulled the Thunder God away from mortal realms into stunning new landscapes.

Admittedly the son of Odin would pop back for an adventure or two, but it is clear that for Kirby, Earth was just a nice place to visit whilst the stars and beyond were the right and proper domain of the Asgardians and their foes.

Crippled doctor Donald Blake took a vacation in Norway only to stumble into an alien invasion. Trapped in a cave, he found an old walking stick, which when struck against the ground turned him into the Norse God of Thunder! Within moments he was defending the weak and smiting the wicked. Months swiftly passed with the Lord of Storms tackling rapacious extraterrestrials, Commie dictators, costumed crazies and cheap thugs, but these soon gave way to a vast kaleidoscope of fantastic worlds and incredible, mythic menaces.

Soon each issue also carried a spectacular back-up series. Tales of Asgard – Home of the Mighty Norse Gods gave Kirby space to indulge his fascination with legends and allowed both complete vignettes and longer epics (in every sense of the word).

This third mind-boggling monochrome collection, encapsulating the absolute zenith of the fantastic feature, reprints Mighty Thor #137-166, spanning February 1967 to July 1969, as a new era dawned for the no-longer Earthbound Thunder God. At the end of the previous volume Thor had just lost his human paramour Jane Foster, but rediscovered his childhood sweetheart, the goddess Sif, now all grown up and a fierce warrior maid to boot.

A good thing too, since ‘The Thunder God and the Troll!’ (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta) which introduced the bestial menace of Ulik saw open warfare begin between the Asgardians and their implacable troglodytic foes. During spectacular carnage and combat Sif was captured and the Thunderer rushed to Earth to rescue her, whilst legions of monstrous subterraneans attacked the very heart of the kingdom…

The Tales of Asgard feature was being gradually wrapped up, but still offered Kirby a place to stretch his creative muscles. ‘The Tragedy of Hogun!’ (Lee, Kirby & Colletta) began revealing the gripping history of the dour warrior in an Arabian Nights pastiche which introduced Mogul of the Mystic Mountain.

In ‘The Flames of Battle!’ Thor was reunited with Sif but deprived of his magical mallet, courtesy of exotic technology the trolls had mysteriously developed. Did the malign invaders have a new ally or a terrifyingly powerful slave? Trapped on Earth, the hammerless Thor had no means of returning to the realm beyond the Rainbow Bridge whilst in Asgard, the war went badly and the heroic gods were close to defeat…

‘The Quest for the Mystic Mountain!’ found Hogun and his comrades edging closer to revelation and vengeance, which culminated in a truly stunning Kirby spectacle in #139 as the wandering warriors discovered ‘The Secret of the Mystic Mountain!’ in the Tales of Asgard segment whilst the lead story ‘To Die Like a God!’ wrapped up the Troll War in eye-popping style as Thor and Sif invaded the bowels of the Earth to save the day…

Thor #140 began a short run of compete, single episode tales heavy on action, starting with ‘The Growing Man!’ as Thor headed back to Earth and discovered New York under attack by a synthetic warrior who grew larger and stronger with every blow struck against him. Time travelling marauder Kang the Conqueror was behind the Brobdignagian brute, whilst in the back-up ‘The Battle Begins!’ Hogun and friends were menaced by a terrifying genie.

In #141 Thor faced ‘The Wrath of Replicus’, a bombastic, bludgeoning epic involving gangsters, alien and super-robots, counter-pointed by stunning fantasy as the wandering Asgardian warriors met ‘Alibar and the Forty Demons!’

‘The Scourge of the Super Skrull!’ pitted Thunder god against an alien with all the powers of the Fantastic Four, whilst in Asgard a new menace was investigated by Sif and the indomitable Balder. The back-up saw Kirby’s seamless melange of myth and legend go into overdrive as ‘We, Who are About to Die…!’ found young Thor and the Warriors Three facing all the mystic menaces of Mogul.

Thor #143 opened another extended epic with ‘…And, Soon Shall Come: the Enchanters!’ (inked by the magnificent Bill Everett) as Sif and Balder found a deadly trio of wizards plotting to overthrow All-Father Odin, only to fall prey to their power. Escaping to Earth they link up with the thunderer, but they have been followed… Everett also inked the Tales of Asgard instalment ‘To the Death!’ as comic relief Volstagg took centre stage…

Colletta return as inker with ‘This Battleground Earth!’, where two Enchanters attacked whilst the third duelled directly with Odin in the home of the gods. At the back the Mogul declared ‘The Beginning of the End!’

At the height of the battle in the previous issue Odin had withdrawn all the powers of his Asgardian followers, leaving Sif, Balder and Thor ‘Abandoned on Earth!’ Victorious, the All-Father then wanted his subjects home, but his son again chose to stay with mortals, driving Odin into a fury. Stripped of his magical abilities, alone hungry and in need of a job the once-god became embroiled with the Circus of Crime: hypnotised into committing an audacious theft…

The Tales of Asgard feature wrapped up in spectacular fashion with ‘The End!’, to be replaced in the next comicbook issue with the Inhumans – but as that’s a subject for a separate volume, the remainder of this chronicle is all-Norse action, beginning in #146 with ‘…If the Thunder Be Gone!’

Deprived of all but his natural super-strength Thor was helpless against the nefarious Ringmaster’s mesmerism and stole a life-sized, solid gold bull, but when the police interrupted the raid the hero awoke to find himself a moving target. Things got worse when he was arrested in ‘The Wrath of Odin!’ and left a sitting duck for the vengeance of his malign brother Loki. However, the god of Evil’s scheme was thwarted when Sif and Balder rushed to Thor’s rescue, provoking Odin to de-power and banish them all in ‘Let There be… Chaos!’

Even as all this high powered frenzy was occurring a brutal burglar was terrorising New York. The Wrecker was Public Enemy #1 and when he broke into the house where Loki was hiding the cheap thug achieved his greatest coup – intercepting a magic spell from the formidable Norn Queen intended to restore the mischief maker’s evil energies. Now charged with Asgardian forces the Wrecker went on a rampage with only the weakened Thor to resist him…

Issue #149 entered new territory with ‘When Falls a Hero!’ as, after a catastrophic combat the Wrecker killed Thor. ‘Even in Death…’ found the departed Thunder God facing Hela, Goddess of Death, whilst Balder and Sif hunted the Norn Queen and Loki. Hoping to save her beloved Sif entered into a devil’s bargain and surrendered her soul to animate the Destroyer, an unstoppable war-machine, unaware that the Thunderer had already convinced Death to release him…

‘…To Rise Again!’ saw the Destroyer, fresh from crushing the Wrecker, turn on the resurrected Thor as Sif was unable to communicate with or overrule the death machine’s pre-programmed need to kill. The situation was further muddled when Odin arbitrarily restored Thor’s godly might, prompting the Destroyer to go into lethal overdrive…

Meanwhile in the wilds of Asgard, Ulik the Troll attacked Karnilla, Queen of the Norns and Balder offered to be her champion if Sif was freed from the Destroyer…

‘The Dilemma of Dr. Blake!’ reached an epic turning point as Thor joined his lost companions to battle Ulik, only to lose his newly re-energised hammer to Loki, who fled to Earth with it. In hot pursuit the heroes followed and Sif was gravely wounded in ‘…But Dr. Blake Can Die!’ wherein Thor reverted to his mortal guise and operated on the dying goddess – an opportunity for further attack Loki could not resist, but which courage and ingenuity managed to frustrate…

A kind of order was restored but soon threatened again in Thor #154 when the vanquished Ulik accidentally released an ancient unstoppable beast in ‘…To Wake the Mangog!’

A creature imprisoned by Odin in his ancient prime, the monster now rampaged towards the heart of Asgard to trigger Ragnarok in ‘Now Ends the Universe!’ laying waste to everything in its path. All the Golden Realm’s resources were unable to slow its deadly progress in ‘The Hammer and the Holocaust!’ but the valiant delaying tactics, depicted in unimaginably powerful battles scenes from Kirby – a genius on fire – resulted in a last-minute save in #157’s ‘Behind Him… Ragnarok!’

The peculiarities of the Don Blake/Thor relationship were examined and finally clarified next; beginning with ‘The Way it Was!’ – a framing sequence by Lee, Kirby & Colletta that book-ended  the very first Thor story ‘The Stone Men of Saturn’ (inked by Joe Sinnott). This neatly segued into ‘The Answer at Last!’ which took the immortal hero back to his long-distant youth and finally revealed Blake was no more than a Odinian construct designed to teach the Thunder God humility and compassion…

With his true identity re-established Thor then answered a call from the Colonisers of Rigel, plunging into the depths of space to face a cosmic menace. ‘And Now… Galactus!’ reintroduced old companion the Recorder and pitted the Eater of Worlds against the living Planet Ego, a clash concluded with the Thunderer’s aid in ‘Shall a God Prevail?’ The Cosmic wonderment then escalated in ‘Galactus is Born!’ as Asgardian magic finally revealed a tantalising fragment of the space god’s origins…

For #163 and 164 Thor was returned to Earth to battle an invasion from the future. ‘Where Demons Dwell!’ found the recuperating Sif investigating a bizarre energy vortex until captured by mutate monsters controlled by the rogue Greek god Hades. Reunited with Thor the pair decimated the horrors from tomorrow ‘Lest Mankind Fall!’ and as Balder joined them in cataclysmic combat a mysterious cocoon hatched a man-made God…

‘Him!’ (Thor #165) and its conclusion ‘A God Berserk!’ close this hugely enjoyable collection in fine style as the creature created by evil scientists to conquer mankind and who would eventually evolve into the tragic cosmic savior Adam Warlock (as seen in Essential Fantastic Four volume 4) woke amidst the turmoil of the battle and seeing Sif, decided it was time he took a mate…

Trailing the naive superhuman Balder witnessed Thor’s descent into brutal “warrior-madness”, and as this volume ends with a shaken, penitent Thunder God eager to pay penance for his unaccustomed savagery, the best and last of Kirby’s Asgardian adventures still remain as part of the next collection.

More than any other Marvel strip Thor was the feature where Jack Kirby’s creative brilliance matched his questing exploration of an Infinite Imaginative Cosmos: dreaming, extrapolating and honing a dazzling new kind of storytelling graphics with soul-searching, mind-boggling concepts of Man’s place in the universe.

The Kirby Thor is a high-point in graphic fantasy and all the more impressive for their sheer timeless readability. These tales are an absolute must for all fans of the medium.
© 1967, 1968, 1969, 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Captain Britain: End Game


By Alan Moore, Alan Davis, Jamie Delano, Grant Morrison & others (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-459-1

Marvel UK set up shop in 1972, reprinting the company’s earliest US successes in the traditional British weekly format, swiftly carving out a solid slice of the market – although the works of Lee, Kirby et al had already been appearing in other British comics (Smash!, Wham!, Pow!, Eagle, Fantastic!, Terrific!), and the anthologies of Alan Class Publications (which re-packaged a mesmerising plethora of American comics from Marvel, Charlton, Tower and ACG among others in comforting, cheap black and white) since their inception thanks to the aggressive marketing and licensing policies of and Stan and the gang.

In 1976 Marvel decided to augment their output with an original British hero in a new weekly – albeit in that parochial, US style and manner beloved by English comics readers. Although the new title still included fan favourites Fantastic Four and Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. reprints filled out the issues, one bold departure was the addition of full colour printing up front for the new hero, and the equivalent back quarter of each issue.

Physics student Brian Braddock was in just the wrong place when raiders attacked the Atomic research centre on Darkmoor, but when he fled the brutal assault he stumbled onto a source of fantastic power and his inescapable destiny. Chosen by the legendary Merlin himself, Braddock was transformed into the symbolic champion of our Island Nation and battled incredible threats as the valiant Captain Britain…

This fifth volume chronologically completes the full-colour adventures of Marvel’s Greatest British super-hero prior to his being conscripted into the X-Men’s ponderous niche-continuity, gathered from Mighty World of Marvel #7-16 and the entire 14 issue run of Captain Britain volume 2 (January 1985-February 1986).

After a brief introductory reminiscence from multi-talented star-turn Alan Davis the action begins with ‘The Candlelight Dialogues’ by Alans Moore and Davis from Mighty World of Marvel #7 (and providing a plot-strand bled dry by Chris Claremont and successive X-Scribes over the next two decades in the US comicbooks)…

Two female internees converse in a prison camp after lights out: recounting tales of a legendary hero who will free them from bondage. The World has been taken over by fascist human forces incarcerating or destroying all the different ones… freaks, mutants, superheroes.

This tale introduces the amazing mystic metamorph Meggan who would become Captain Britain’s long-term inamorata, but the really big reveal is that our world also has a reality-warping Mad Jim Jaspers (see Captain Britain: the Siege of Camelot) – the big difference being that here he won and creation has become his instantly plastic plaything…

Issue #8 sets up a cataclysmic confrontation in ‘The Twisted World (Reprise)’ as infallible hero-killing super-weapon the Fury is still hunting, even though Jaspers has reworked the world into his own twisted version of a totalitarian paradise. Captain Britain, his sister Betsy, Omniversal fugitives Saturnyne and Captain UK, sole survivor of her murdered dimension, lead the last few rebels against the New Reality as Jaspers consolidates his psychotic hold on the nation. The fugitives’ consensus choice is “attack or die”…

Meanwhile in the higher realms, Merlin and his daughter move their human pieces in the great game to save our existence. In ‘Among These Dark Satanic Mills’ the good Captain struggles on but not without telling losses, confronting Jaspers as the madman begins his ascent to literal godhood in ‘Anarchy in the UK’.

Even so the cause seems hopeless until the long forgotten Fury enters the fray on nobody’s side but intent on taking out the greatest threat first in ‘Fool’s Mate’ – the beginning of an unbelievably intense and imaginative battle with Jaspers across the multi-verse using the building blocks of reality as ammunition. The chaotic clash continues in ‘Endgame’ with shocks and surprises aplenty, leading to unexpected victory, the death of a major player and in Mighty World of Marvel #13, ‘A Funeral on Otherworld’.

Moore left the strip with that wrap-up and re-set, leaving artist Davis to write (with the assistance of letterer Steve Craddock) the next episode ‘Bad Moon Rising’ which found the country recovering from the physical and psychic trauma of the Jaspers-Warp and the good Captain taking stock of the nation he represents. A less cosmic, more socially aware phase was beginning, and saw the hero meet the were-creature Meggan and make the most tragic mistake of his career.

‘Tea and Sympathy’ is a mini-masterpiece of sensitive, underplayed writing from Davis, following the hero as he meets the family of a boy who died as result of his actions and presaging the next extended epic, which begins in the Mike Collins co-scripted ‘In All the Old, Familiar Places…’

This last Mighty World of Marvel tale follows Betsy, Meggan and the surviving anti-Jaspers rebels as they take up residence at Braddock Manor, ancestral seat of Captain Britain’s family. However inimical forces are gathering to assault the weary champions and interdimensional raiders keep blipping in and out. Luckily Betsy’s psychic powers keep magnifying in strength…

The feature had been growing in popularity and was considered strong enough to carry its own title once more so in January 1985 Captain Britain volume 2 launched, with a selection of related strips and the Lion of Albion exploding into new adventures scripted by up-and-coming writer Jamie Delano.

‘Pictures, Puzzles and Pawns’ recapped the Captain’s career courtesy of Chief Inspector Dai Thomas, a cop with a grudge against metahumans, who had deduced the hero’s secret identity only to be sidelined by his own bosses. Meanwhile, not all the effects of Jasper’s reality-twisting had faded, and animated Alice in Wonderland characters the Crazy Gang were stranded on Earth with no visible means of support.

Vicious, demented and painfully simplistic, the larcenous loons went looking for a leader in ‘Law and Disorder’ finding instead Captain Britain’s most dangerous enemy whilst yet another trans-dimensional transgressor continued to make life difficult for Brian Braddock and friends…

Issue #3 saw the hero captured by Slaymaster and criminal mastermind Vixen in ‘Flotsam and Jetsam’ and heralded a new and darker hero, whilst ‘Sid’s Story’ (written by Collins and Davis) provided a moody change of pace to leaven a monster story with a mighty dose of pathos, before Delano returned for ‘Double Game’ as the multiversal mercenary squad Gatecrasher’s Technet whisked the Captain to a Britain ruled by Nazis, uncomprehendingly leaving behind his fascist doppelganger to run amok on our world…

Trapped ‘A Long Way From Home’ Brian Braddock and Technet had to fight their way back to our Earth, only to find Betsy’s terrifyingly growing psychic powers had already saved the day, whilst in ‘Things Fall Apart’ the Manor’s sentient super-computer Mastermind reactivated and revealed the true origins and heritage of the Braddock clan…

The secret of Meggan and her true nature came under scrutiny in #8’s ‘Childhood’s End’ and government intelligence unit Resources Control Executive invited themselves to stay, wanting the mansion as an orphanage for “Warpies” – super-powered children mutated by Jaspers’ reality-shifts. Naturally it all went wrong, resulting in a big battle but the ‘Winds of Change’ had unexpected repercussions and Brian and Meggan stormed off, leaving Betsy and Mastermind in the pocket of the RCX.

The Braddock twins had an older brother, and his past exploits dragged the lovers Brian and Meggan into a shocking ‘African Nightmare’ after which the disheartened couple went searching for Meggan’s Romany roots and became ensnared in the mystic horrors of ‘The House of Baba Yaga’, after which Gatecrasher’s Technet shanghaied them to the height of the Incan Empire for a nasty case of “Bait-and-Switch” in ‘Alarms and Excursions’.

Finally home the young lovers found RCX in charge and Betsy had become the new Captain Britain. Furious, Brian quit but was back in the very next issue when Betsy tragically learned the excessively hard way that ‘It’s Hard to Be A Hero…’ written, as was the concluding ‘Should Auld Acquaintance…’ by Davis, wherein the reunited but far from happy family experienced one last hurrah rescuing a Warpy from a exploitation at the hands of a Glasgow vigilante, and still finding space to wrap up all the plot threads in an expansive Happy Ever After…

But wait… there’s more…

One of the back-up strips in Captain Britain was a four-part tale starring a group of Warpy children dubbed the Cherubim, who had escaped RCX control at the end of #11’s ‘Winds of Change’. Written and drawn by Mike Collins with inks by Mark Farmer ‘Playgrounds and Parasites!’ told how the homeless wanderers encountered a Fagin-like young charmer who was gathering Jasper’s mutants into a band for their own protection – and his profit.

That complete saga is re-presented here in the original black and white after which a young Grant Morrison closes the entertainment with a prose tale of alternate champion ‘Captain Granbretan’, lavishly illustrated by John Stokes and ‘A New Vision of Captain Britain’ close the book with a selection of captivating sketches and rare or unseen artwork.

Captain Britain End Game sees the character finally reach the absolute heights of his potential and features some of the industry’s greatest talents at the top of their game. This is not only a wonderful nostalgic collection for old-timers and dedicated fans but also a book full of the best that superhero comics can offer… Some of the very best material ever produced by Marvel, this is a book every reader would be happy to have.

© 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 2011 Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries, licensed by Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (A British edition from PANINI UK LTD)

Posted on

Shadowland


By Andy Diggle, Billy Tan, Matt Banning & Victor Olazaba (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-473-7

It’s not often that perennial publishers’ favourite tool the braided mega-crossover throws up a segment that can be read truly independently of its multifarious spin-offs but Marvel seem to have accomplished that in the core miniseries which forms the backbone of the 2010 event Shadowland; a dark, moody and deliciously down-to-earth thriller headlining the companies less-cosmic, street-level heroes and villains…

Written by the always excellent Andy Diggle and illustrated by Billy Tan, with inking contribution from Matt Banning & Victor Olazaba and covers by John Cassaday, the five issue miniseries collected here originally ran from September 2010 to the beginning of 2011 and the repercussions of that tale are still ongoing.

After psychotic mass-murderer Bullseye killed 107 people by blowing up a building in the Hell’s Kitchen slum of New York City, guilt-wracked urban avenger Daredevil embraced a new tactic in his war on Evil and took control of The Hand, an 800 year old ninja cult which had previously battled against a number of heroes including Wolverine, the Avengers, X-Men and DD himself.

Erecting a colossal medieval castle on the site of the demolished edifice DD tasked his now-loyal warriors with keeping the streets safe at all costs. The area quickly became a no-go zone, shunned by the police and abandoned by criminals. The scumbags that didn’t leave soon disappeared…

At first Daredevil’s old friends make excuses for him but it soon becomes apparent that something is not right about the Man Without Fear, especially after the hero kills Bullseye in pitched battle…

Meanwhile in the background, Wilson Fisk, one-time Kingpin of New York, knows more than he’s telling and is subtly shaping events to his own ends. When New York inexplicably explodes in panic, unrest and rioting a heartsick band of Daredevil’s friends realise they must end his reign of remorseless “Justice” whatever the cost…

Guest-starring practically everybody but with feature roles for Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, White Tiger, Moon Knight, Colleen Wing & Misty Knight, the Punisher, Shang Chi – Master of Kung Fu, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and Elektra this is a non-stop rocket-ride of action and suspense, seamlessly blending black magic with urban vigilante tropes and tactics as the warriors of virtue battle unimaginable perils and the sinister machinations of more than one hidden mastermind to save their city and, if possible, the soul of Matt Murdock, Man Without Pity…

There is of course far more to the saga than appears here – and if you want the full story you’ll need to see Daredevil #508-512, Thunderbolts #148-149; Shadowland miniseries Blood on the Streets, Power Man, Moon Knight and Daughters of the Shadow plus the dedicated one-shots Shadowland: Spider-Man, Shadowland: Elektra, Shadowland: Bullseye and Shadowland: Ghost Rider. Conversely, you could await the full epic in graphic novel collections…

However should this striking tome be the only portion you want to read you won’t spend any time wondering what the heck is going on between pages and panels and you will experience the heady satisfaction of a great yarn well-told and beautifully executed.

™ & © 2010, 2011 Marvel Entertainment LCC and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. A British edition released by Panini UK Ltd.

Posted on

Essential Classic X-Men volume 3


By Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Werner Roth, Steve Englehart, Tom Sutton & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3060-4

X-Men was never one of young Marvel’s top titles but it did secure a devout and dedicated following, with the frantic, freakish energy of Jack Kirby’s heroic dynamism comfortably transitting into the slick, sleek prettiness of Werner Roth as the blunt tension of hunted outsider kids settled into a pastiche of the college and school scenarios so familiar to the students who were the series’ main audience.

The core team still consisted of tragic Scott Summers/Cyclops, ebullient Bobby Drake/Iceman, wealthy golden boy Warren Worthington/Angel and erudite, brutish genius Henry McCoy/Beast in training with Professor Charles Xavier, a wheelchair-bound (and temporarily deceased) telepath dedicated to brokering peace and integration between the masses of humanity and the gradually emerging race of mutant Homo Superior.

Jean Grey/Marvel Girl had recently returned to the team which was also occasionally supplemented by cosmic powerhouse Havok and magnetic minx Polaris although they were usually referred to as Alex Summers and Lorna Dane.

However by the time of this final massive black and white tome (collecting issues #54-66 of the turbulent teens’ original series, guest appearances in Amazing Spider-Man #92, Incredible Hulk #150 and #161, Marvel Team-Up #4 and spin-off solo series The Beast from Amazing Adventures #11-17), despite some of the most impressive and influential stories and art of the decade, the writing was definitely on the wall for Marvel’s misunderstood mutants…

The mayhem begins with ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive… Cyclops!’ (X-Men #54, March 1969, by Arnold Drake, Don Heck & Vince Colletta), which introduced Scott’s kid brother Alex just in time for the lad to be kidnapped by Egyptian acolytes of The Living Pharaoh. It appears the boy had a hidden power the Pharaoh coveted, which necessitated framing the X-Men’s leader…

At that time the back of the X-Men comic was running “untold origins” of the team, and ‘The Million Dollar Angel’ by Drake & Werner Roth, began the tale of Warren Worthington III, a precocious rich boy rushed off to prep school where he grew wings and concealed them by making himself the most despised and lonely person on campus…

Roy Thomas returned as scripter for #55’s ‘The Living Pharaoh!’ illustrated by Heck, Roth & Colletta which saw the full team follow the Summers brothers to the Valley of the Kings and soundly thrash the faux king’s minions only to have the new mutant’s unsuspected power go wild. Meanwhile, in ‘Where Angels Fear to Tread!’ (Thomas, Roth & Sam Grainger) little Warren has left school and planned a superhero career until an atomic accident brought him into contact with a couple of kids code-named Cyclops and Iceman…

Nobody knew it at the time – and sales certainly didn’t reflect it – but with X-Men #56 superhero comics changed forever. Neal Adams had stunned the comics buying public with his horror anthology work and revolutionary adventure art on Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman, but here, with writer Thomas in iconoclastic form, they began to expand the horizons of graphic narrative with a succession of boldly innovative, tensely paranoid dramas that pitted mutants against an increasingly hostile world.

Pitched at an older audience, the run of gripping, addictively beautiful epics captivated and enchanted a small band of amazed readers – and were completely ignored by the greater mass of the buying public. Without these tales the modern X-phenomenon could not have existed, but they couldn’t save the series from cancellation. The cruelest phrase in comics is “ahead of its time…”

‘What is… the Power?’ (Thomas, Adams & inker extraordinaire Tom Palmer) revealed the uncanny connection between Pharaoh and Alex Summers and as the Egyptian mastermind transformed into a colossal Living Monolith, the terrified boy’s mutant energies were unleashed with catastrophic results. At the back, the unbalanced Angel had become ‘The Flying A-Bomb!’ but luckily he was defused in time to become the newest X-Man.

Issue #57 brought back the team’s most relentless adversaries in ‘The Sentinels Live!’ as a public witch-hunt prompted the mutant hunting robots to hunt down X-Men across the globe. Amongst the first victims were magnetic Lorna Dane and Alex Summers but the sinister Sentinels had their unblinking eyes set on all mutants… That issue also saw a rundown on Marvel Girl’s abilities in the last back-up feature ‘The Female of the Species!’. From the next issue Thomas and Adams would have an entire issue to play with…

‘Mission: Murder!’ ramped up the tension as the toll of fallen mutants increased, with Iceman, the Pharaoh, Angel and Mesmero all falling to the murderous mechanoids, but when their human controller discovered an unsuspected secret the automatons struck out on their own…

With all other mutants in the Marvel universe captured, Cyclops, Marvel Girl and Beast were reduced to a suicidal frontal assault in ‘Do or Die, Baby!’, pulling off a spectacular victory, but only at the cost of Alex Summers, now known as Havok…

Badly injured, Alex was brought to an old colleague of Professor Xavier’s named Karl Lykos – a discreet physician hiding a dark secret. ‘In the Shadow of Sauron!’ revealed that the not-so-good doctor had been bitten by Pterodactyls from the Antarctic Savage Land and become an energy vampire. Now with a powerful mutant to feed on, his addiction fully manifested as Lykos transformed into a winged saurian with hypnotic powers, determined to sate himself on the other X-Men.

After a shattering struggle in ‘Monsters Also Weep!’ Lykos was defeated, instinctively flying South to the Savage Land. Drained of his power he reverted to human form and when the X-Men tracked him down the tormented leech chose suicide rather than become Sauron once more. Searching for his body Angel was also attacked by Pteranodons and crashed to the bottom of a vast crevasse, precipitating the mutants into another primordial encounter with wild man Ka-Zar as ‘Strangers …in a Savage Land!’

Marooned once more in a lost world Angel was healed by the enigmatic Creator, a wounded genius protecting the Savage Land’s mutant population with his own team of X-Men counterparts. As his team-mates search for him the Winged Wonder switched allegiance, unaware that his benefactor was actually the X-Men’s oldest enemy…

‘War in the World Below!’ saw the villain’s plans revealed and finally thwarted by the heroes and Ka-Zar, leaving the returning team to tackle a controversial Japanese extremist in ‘The Coming of Sunfire!’ (#64, with stalwart Don Heck doing an impressive fill-in job for Adams) whilst the next issue brought back the long-dead Professor Xavier – only to nearly kill him again in the Denny O’Neil scripted alien invasion yarn ‘Before I’d Be Slave…’ an astounding epic that ended Neal Adams’ artistic tenure in grand style.

All the staffing changes were hints of a bigger shake-up. With X-Men #66 (March 1970), the series was cancelled despite all the frantic and radical innovations crafted by a succession of supremely talented creators. ‘The Mutants and the Monster’ by Thomas, Sal Buscema & Sam Grainger, sent the team hunting for Bruce Banner in an attempt to save Professor X from a coma induced by his psychic battle against the aliens. Unfortunately when you hunt Banner what you usually end up with is an irate Incredible Hulk…

Although gone, the mutants were far from forgotten. The standard policy at that time to revive characters that had fallen was to pile on the guest-shots and reprints. X-Men #67 (December 1970) saw them return, re-presenting early classics and with Amazing Spider-Man #92 (January 1971), individually and collectively the Merry Mutants began their comeback tour. ‘When Iceman Attacks’ (Stan Lee, Gil Kane & John Romita Sr.) concluded the Amazing Arachnid’s battle against corrupt political boss Sam Bullit, as the ambitious demagogue convinced the youngest X-Man that Spider-Man was a kidnapper. Despite being a concluding chapter, this all-out action extravaganza efficiently recaps itself and is perfectly comprehensible to readers.

Alec Summers had left the X-Men, terrified of his uncontrollable cosmic power, to isolate himself in the deserts of New Mexico. When Lorna went looking for him in ‘Cry Hulk, Cry Havok!’(Incredible Hulk #150 April 1972, Archie Goodwin, Herb Trimpe & John Severin) she encountered a menacing biker gang and an Emerald Giant violently protective of his privacy. Mercifully Havok proved a match for the rampaging titan…

The previous month Marvel had launched a reinvented X-Man in a solo series as a response to the world horror boom which shifted general comicbook fare from bright shiny costumed heroes to dark and sinister monsters. Premiering in Amazing Adventures #11 (March 1972), written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by the incredibly effective team of Tom Sutton & Syd Shores, ‘The Beast!’ told how the brilliant Hank McCoy had left Xavier’s school and taken a research position at the conglomerate Brand Corporation.

Using private sector resources to research the causes of genetic mutation McCoy became embroiled in industrial skullduggery and to hide his identity used his discoveries to “upgrade” his animalistic abilities – temporarily turning himself into a fearsome anthropoid creature with startling new abilities. At least it was supposed to be temporary…

Steve Englehart assumed the writing reins and monster maestro Mike Ploog took the inker’s chair for ‘Iron Man: D.O.A.’ as McCoy, trapped in a monstrous new shape, took extreme measures to appear human as he desperately strove to find a cure for his condition. Unfortunately Brand was riddled with bad characters and when Tony Stark came to visit it was inevitable that the Beast and Iron Man would clash…

Incomprehensibly that battle led to Iron Man’s death – or so McCoy thought. In fact the monster had been mesmerized by the villainous Mastermind in a scheme to force the outcast to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. ‘Evil is All in Your Mind!’ (Englehart, Sutton & Frank Giacoia) also reintroduced two characters from the wildest fringes of Early Marvel continuity who would both play major roles in months and years to come. Patsy Walker was an ideal girl-next-door whose wholesome teen-comedy exploits had delighted readers for decades since her debut in Miss America #2 (Nov. 1944).

She starred in seven separate comicbooks until 1967. Now she joined the cast of the Beast as the tag-along wife of her boyhood sweetheart Buzz Baxter who had grown from an appealing decent goof to a rather daunting military martinet and Pentagon liaison. As McCoy was throwing off the psychic influence of Mastermind Captain Baxter was laying plans to capture the maligned mutate…

Meanwhile the other X-Men were not forgotten. New horror-star Morbius, the Living Vampire was making things tough for Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up. In #4 (September 1972) the Human Torch was replaced by the mutant team as the Wall-crawler’s partner in ‘And Then… the X-Men!’ a terse, tense thriller written by Conway, inked by Steve Mitchell and illustrated by the magnificent Gil Kane at the top of his form.

Bloodsuckers literal and metaphorical were also the order of the day in Amazing Adventures #14. ‘The Vampire Machine’ (inked by Jim Mooney) saw Iron Man return as computer assassin Quasimodo attacked Brand Corp. in an attempt to steal the technology to build a new body, whilst #15 ‘Murder in Mi-Air!’ (with art from Sutton, Giacoia & John Tartaglione) found a gravely wounded McCoy make an unexpected ally and confidante, before the Angel came calling, encountering a hideous monster named the Griffin en route.

This tale reintroduced another old friend of McCoy’s and neatly segued into another Incredible Hulk crossover (#161, March 1973), but not before our hirsute hero battled an old foe in the Halloween thriller ‘…And the Juggernaut Will Get You… If You Don’t Watch Out!’ by Englehart, Bob Brown & Frank McLaughlin.

‘Beyond the Border Lurks Death!’ (Englehart, Trimpe & Sal Trapani), saw the Hulk and the Beast as reluctant allies in a battle against the Mimic, another old X-foe, whose ability to absorb the attributes of others had gone tragically, catastrophically haywire.

It was the last time McCoy would be seen in a full tale until the bombastic Beast joined the Avengers. Amazing Adventures #17 featured a two-page framing sequence by Englehart, Jim Starlin & Mike Esposito (included here) which bracketed an abridged reprint of the Beast origin back-ups from X-Men #49-53 (which are not – so see Essential Classic X-Men volume 2 for the full story).

Although a little scrappy and none too cohesive in layout these disparate stories are wonderful comics sagas that were too radical for the readership of the times but have since been acknowledged as groundbreaking mini-masterpieces which reshaped the way we tell stories to this day. Moreover this brilliant blockbuster still has treats to share. Included at the end are the 29 covers of the X-Men reprint run (#67-94 and Annuals #1-2) an unused Adams cover and 8 original art pages from #64, which make this comprehensive collection an unquestionable treasure no fan should be without.

© 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Cloak and Dagger in Predator and Prey (Marvel Graphic Novel #34)


By Bill Mantlo, Larry Stroman & Al Williamson (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-8713-5125-8

Cloak and Dagger are two juvenile runaways who fell into the clutches of drug pushing criminals. With a group of other kids they were used as guinea pigs for new designer drugs but whereas all the others died horribly Tyrone Johnson and Tandy Bowen were mutated by the chemical cocktail and became something more – or less – than human.

Isolated, alone, vengeful they determined to help other lost kids they hunted drug dealers and those who preyed on the weak in the blackest corners of New York City, guest-starring all over the Marvel Universe and occasionally winning and losing a number of short-lived series all of their own. They were created by Bill Mantlo and Ed Hannigan, first appearing in Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982).

Cloak is connected to a dimension of darkness; able to teleport, become intangible, terrifyingly amplify and feed on the wickedness in people. His unceasing hunger for these black emotions can be temporarily sated by the dazzling “light knives” emitted by Dagger, a shining, beautiful super-acrobat. Her power too has advantages and hazards. The power can cleanse the hunger of dependency from many addicts, but constantly, agonizingly builds within her when not used.

Cloak’s incessant hunger can be assuaged by the light-knives and his seemingly insatiable darkness proves a vital method of bleeding off the luminescent pressure within Dagger.

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

In Predator and Prey creator/writer Bill Mantlo describes a transformative moment when the symbiotic couple split, as Cloak’s ravening hunger and bleak nature clashed with Dagger’s increasing need to rejoin the larger world: a desire fostered by the obsessive attentions of Catholic priest Father Francis Delgado, who grants them shelter and sanctuary in the bowels of the Holy Ghost Church. Delgado believes that the beautiful young girl is an actual Angel of the Lord whilst Cloak is a demon straight out of Hell… and he’s apparently not completely deluded…

When an exorcism painfully affects Ty Johnson, shaking his previous belief that his powers stemmed from mad science and not the supernatural, he removes himself from the sustaining contact of Dagger. Alone, driven and desperate Cloak’s ravenous nature is revealed to be at least partially caused by a demonic entity named Predator who uses the teleporter’s dark energies to siphon human life force to itself. Greedy and malign, fed up with Cloak’s resistance it resurrects one of its old agents to take over the process, but the willful ghost that was Jack the Ripper has its own agenda…

Framed for a spate of murders and cop killings perpetrated by Jack and distanced from each other, Cloak starves whilst Dagger’s light grows and boils within her. They have never needed each other more or ever been further apart….

Once Marvel led the publishing pack in the development of high quality original graphic novels: mixing creator-owned properties, licensed assets, new series launches in and 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) that always felt and looked like far more than an average comicbook no matter how good, bad or offbeat the contents might have been.

By 1988 Marvel’s ambitious line of all-new epics was beginning to founder and some less-than-stellar tales were squeaking into the line-up. Moreover, the company was increasingly resorting to in-continuity stories with established and company copyrighted characters rather than new properties. Moreover hastily turned out movie tie-ins became an increasingly regular feature. The line began to have the appearance of an over-sized, over-priced clearing house for leftover stories – but this isn’t one of them.

Tension-filled, bleak, brooding and potentially controversial this exploration of society’s darker sides, set amidst the casual ruthlessness of 42nd Street’s capacious, innocence-devouring seediness blends horror, superheroics and social conscience into a gripping and effective tale of hope, redemption and just punishments.

Produced on luxuriantly large slick pages, lettered by Ken Bruzenak with colouring from John Wellington, Larry Stroman and the incomparable Al Williamson, despite displaying the American’s total inability to draw English Police helmets (sorry – such a pet peeve!) have crafted a gem of a thriller that is worthy of another look by horror-lovers and Costumed Crusader fans alike.
© 1988 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Ultimate Spider-Man book 2: Chameleons


By Brian Michael Bendis, Takeshi Miyazawa & Davis LaFuente (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-466-9

The Marvel Ultimates project began in 2000 with a drastically modernizing refit of key characters and concepts to bring them into line with contemporary consumers – perceived to be a separate market to the baby-boomers and their declining descendents who seemed content with the assorted efforts which sprang from the hearts and minds of Kirby, Ditko and Lee.

Eventually the stripped-down new universe became as overcrowded and continuity-constricted as the original, leading to the 2008 “Ultimatum” publishing event which thinned the new herd – and millions of ordinary mortals into the bargain.

Although a commercial success the epic was largely slated by the fans who had bought it, and the ongoing “Ultimatum Comics” quietly soldiered on without “mentioning the War…”

The key and era-ending event was actually a colossal tsunami that drowned the superhero-heavy island of Manhattan and this second post-tidal wave collection (assembling issues #7-14 of the relaunched Ultimate Comics Spider-Man) picks up the story of young Peter Parker and his unique house-guests all slowly readjusting to their altered state.

Parker is sixteen (but looks 12), the perennial hard-luck loser kid: a brilliant geek just trying to get by in a world where daily education is infinitely more scary than monsters and villains. Between High School and slinging fast food (Burger Frog is his only source of income since the Daily Bugle drowned) he still finds time to fight crime although his very public heroics during the crisis have made him a beloved hero of police and citizenry alike – which is the creepiest thing he has ever endured.

He lives in a big house with his Aunt May, and despite his low self-image has stellar hottie Gwen Stacy for a devoted girlfriend, but perpetually endures the teen-angsty situation of equally stellar hottie Mary Jane Watson (his ex-squeeze) hanging around and acting all grown-up about it. He briefly dated mutant babe Kitty Pride: remember when not having any girlfriend was the textbook definition of “loser”?

Many kids are homeless after the deluge, with schools and accommodation stretched to breaking point, so feisty May Parker has opened her doors to a select band of orphaned super-teens like the Human Torch and Iceman, as well as Gwen. Peter’s secret identity was constantly threatened before; how can he possibly conceal his adventurous life when two such famous characters are suddenly sharing the bathroom and his exploits…?

This second delightful collection opens with a new presence in the Ultimate Universe as near-neighbour Rick Jones is possessed by an ancient intergalactic presence. Cool Youngbloods Spidey, Torch and Iceman befriend the bewildered lad and are dragged along on a tumultuous fact-finding mission to secret base Project Pegasus just in time to clash with the sexy sirens of the all-girl Serpent Squad and discover that poor Rick – now calling himself “Nova” – is a cosmic “Chosen One” destined to save the World…

That two-part, laugh-packed thriller leads into decidedly darker territory in #9 as shallow jerk Johnny Storm finds the girl of his dreams in a new mysterious Spider-Girl whilst anti-mutant feeling grows and Kitty Pryde is almost snatched from school by brutally heavy-handed government agents.

On the run, Kitty goes dangerously rogue whilst her friends attempt to go public with the Authorities’ quasi-legal black-bag operation, enlisting the Fourth Estate in the form of the newly-restored Daily Bugle…

Unfortunately whilst trying to break the story of the Government’s anti-mutant agenda Peter Parker is abducted by an enigmatic shapechanger who borrows his form, his powers and his life. Issues #11-14 detail the Chameleon’s vindictive campaign to trash Spidey’s private life whilst using his stolen powers to go on a highly profitable, very public crime spree.

Meanwhile the real Peter is the prisoner of a second psychotic shapeshifter, who also has J. Jonah Jameson under wraps. In close proximity with Pete for days, the wily veteran newsman has deduced the boy’s greatest secret… The climax is breathtaking and portentous. Although temporarily safe, Parker’s life is about to go very badly wrong…

Combining smart dialogue and teen soap opera dynamics with spectacular action – beautifully rendered by artists Takeshi Miyazawa, David Lafuente and colourist Justin Ponsor – Brian Michael Bendis blends hilarious hi-jinks with staggering tension and shocking plot-twists to produce one of the most enjoyable takes on the wall-crawler in decades.

This series goes from strength to strength: a marvellously compelling and enjoyable costumed drama that easily overcomes its troubled origins. Absolutely worth any jaded superhero fan’s time and money Ultimate Spider-Man is well on the way to becoming an unmissable hit…
™ and © 2010 Marvel Entertainment LCC and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. A British edition released by Panini UK Ltd.

Posted on

Essential Iron Man volume 3


By Archie Goodwin, Gerry Conway, George Tuska, Don Heck & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2764-2

Having finally overtaken the aging colossus of National/DC, upstart Marvel Comics sometimes seemed to be at a loss for what to do next. The answer is obvious to us: more of the same… but back then the rules were being constantly rewritten, the country was changing and conflict was everywhere. Perhaps what was needed was more experimentation…

Created in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis and at a time when “Red-baiting” and “Commie-bashing” were American national obsessions, the emergence of a brilliant new Thomas Edison, using Yankee ingenuity, invention and wealth to safeguard and better the World, seemed inevitable. Combine the then-sacrosanct belief that technology and business could solve any problem with the universal imagery of noble knights battling evil and the concept behind the Invincible Iron Man seems an infallibly successful proposition.

Of course where once Tony Stark was the acceptable face of 1960s Capitalism; a glamorous millionaire industrialist/inventor and a benevolent all-conquering hero when clad in the super-scientific armour of his alter-ego Iron Man, the tumultuous tone of the times soon resigned his suave, fat-cat image to the dustbin of history and 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…?

This third gleaming black and white chronological compendium covers that transitional period, reprinting Iron Man #12-38 and also includes a tumultuous team-up with the Man Without Fear from Daredevil #73, which held a key portion of an rather complex comics crossover.

Writer Archie Goodwin and artists George Tuska & Johnny Craig continued their sterling run of solid science-flavoured action epics with the introduction of a new sinister super-foe in #12 with ‘The Coming of the Controller’ a twisted genius who used the energy of enslaved citizens to power a cybernetic exo-skeleton and the embezzled funds of Stark’s girlfriend Janice Cord to pay for it all. Of course Iron Man was ready and able to overcome the scheming maniac, culminating in a cataclysmic climax in ‘Captives of the Controller!’

With #14’s ‘The Night Phantom Walks!’ Goodwin paid tribute to Craig’s past history drawing EC’s landmark horror comics as the artist pencilled and inked the tale of a zombie-like monster which prowled a Caribbean island destroying Stark Industry installations. As well as being a terse, moody thriller this story marked the first indications of a different attitude as the menace’s ecologically inspired reign of terror included some pretty fair arguments about the downsides of “Progress” and rapacious globalisation…

Tuska returned with #15 and ‘Said the Unicorn to the Ghost…!’ as the demented former spy allied himself with Fantastic Four foe Red Ghost in a bid to find a cure for his drastically shortened his life-span. Attempting to kidnap Tony Stark the Ghost betrayed the Unicorn and retrenched to an African Cosmic Ray research facility in the concluding ‘Of Beasts and Men!’, and it took a risky alliance of hero and villain to thwart the phantom mastermind’s ill-conceived plans…

An extended epic began in Iron Man #17 as an android designed to protect Stark’s secret identity gained sinister sentience and actually replaced him. ‘The Beginning of the End!’ also introduced the enigmatic Madame Masque and her malevolent master Midas, who planned to take control of America’s greatest technology company.

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 – gave him renewed hope in ‘What Price Life?’ The opportunist Midas instantly struck again whilst the enigmatic Madame Masque switched sides…

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

When armoured menace Titanium Man resurfaced, another old threat in the form of the Crimson Dynamo returned in #22’s classic ‘From this Conflict… Death!’ and a vengeance-crazed Iron Man went ballistic in the innovative action-thriller ‘The Man who Killed Tony Stark!!’ before finding solace in the arms of Madame Masque as Johnny Craig returned to fully illustrate the superb mythological monster-mash ‘My Son… The Minotaur!’ and stayed on as Archie Goodwin pinned Iron’s Man new Green colours to the comic’s mast in #25’s stunning eco-parable ‘This Doomed Land… This Dying Sea!’

Teamed with and battling against antihero Sub-Mariner the Armoured Avenger was forced to destroy one of his own hyper-polluting facilities, subsequently changing his company’s ethical position and business model – although his attempts to convince other industry leaders to do likewise met with the kind of reaction that tragically typified America’s response to the real-world situation.

Original Iron Man artist Don Heck returned for the fantasy-fuelled romp ‘Duel in a Dark Dimension!’ (inked by Craig) with guest villain The Collector and racial tensions took centre-stage in ‘The Fury of the Firebrand!’ which introduced an inflammatory radical with secret and highly personal agenda of hate aimed squarely at Stark and the fat-cat he represented. He was also a human napalm grenade…

Goodwin bowed out with #28’s riotous return match ‘The Controller Lives!’ so Mimi Gold scripted an old-fashioned commie-buster yarn, drawn by Heck and inked by Chic Stone, as Iron Man freed a tropical paradise from its enslaving socialist overlords in ‘Save the People… Save the Country!’ before Allyn Brodsky took over as scripter with #30’s ‘The Menace of the Monster-Master!’ a rousing rampage full of Maoist menace as a giant lizard ravaged Japan until the Golden Avenger stepped in and took charge…

Far more intriguing were ‘Anything… For the Cause!’ wherein back-to-nature hippie protesters were manipulated by an unscrupulous businessman, and which introduced new regular cast-member Kevin O’Brian, and #32’s ‘Beware… The Mechanoid!’ (illustrated by Tuska & “Gaudioso”) which related the salutary tale of an alien explorer who made the lasting mistake of exploring America whilst disguised as a black man…

Heck & Gaudioso handled the art for ‘Their Mission: Destroy Stark Industries!!’ as corporate raider Spymaster unleashed his Mission: Impossible-inspired team the Espionage Elite to deprive America of both the inventor and his company, a fast-paced thriller which concluded in the bombastic finale ‘Crisis… and Calamity!!’

Something of a comics wunderkind, Gerry Conway assumed the writer’s reins in Iron Man #35 as the Armoured Avenger sought ‘Revenge!’ on the Spymaster but was distracted by an ongoing battle between Daredevil, Nick Fury, Madame Masque and criminal network called Zodiac – all contesting the ownership of an extra-dimensional wish-granting super weapon. That battle spilled over into Daredevil #73 ‘Behold… the Brotherhood!’ (Conway, Gene Colan & Syd Shores) before messily concluding halfway through Iron Man #36 (art by Heck & Esposito) before the Steely Centurion was waylaid by terra-forming aliens in ‘…Among Men Stalks the Ramrod!’

Incapacitated and with his new heart damaged, Stark revealed his secret to Kevin O’Brian ‘In This Hour of Earthdoom!’ (inked by Jim Mooney) before the invaders were finally repelled. This volume ends on a pleasantly low-key note in an engaging gangster drama from Conway, Tuska & Esposito wherein Iron Man is forced to respond quite assertively ‘When Calls Jonah…!’

With this volume Marvel firmly paced itself in the camp of the young and the restless experiencing firsthand the social upheaval America was experiencing. This rebellious teen sensibility and increased political conscience permeated the company’s publications as their core audience grew from Flower Power innocents into a generation of aware activists. Future tales would increasingly bring reformed capitalist Stark into many unexpected and outrageous situations…

But that’s the meat of another review, as this engrossing graphic novel is done. From our distant vantage point the polemical energy and impact might be dissipated, but the sheer quality of the comics and the cool thrill of the perennial dream of man in perfect synchrony with magic metal remains. These superhero shenanigans are some of the most underrated but impressive tales of the period and are well worth your time, consideration and cold hard cash…

© 1969, 1970, 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Incredible Hulk: Return of the Monster


By Bruce Jones, John Romita Jr. & Tom Palmer (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-0943-3

Bruce Banner was a military scientist accidentally caught in a gamma bomb blast of his own devising. As a result he would unexpectedly transform into a giant green monster of unstoppable strength and fury when distressed or surprised. As both occasional hero and mindless monster he rampaged across the Marvel Universe for years, finally finding his size 700 feet and a format that worked, becoming one of young Marvel’s most resilient features.

An incredibly popular character both in comics and more global media beyond, he has often undergone radical changes in scope and direction to keep his stories fresh and his exploits explosively compelling…

One of the most impressive runs of recent vintage was by noted thriller and horror writer Bruce Jones (see especially his impressive Hitchcock pastiche Somerset Holmes) who injected some long-neglected suspense and pure menace back into the saga. This slim volume (re-presenting issues #34-39 of The Incredible Hulk comicbook from 2001) combines his moody, humanistic writing with the ponderously powerful pencilling of John Romita Jr. and the slickly realistic inking of Tom Palmer to stunning effect.

Always running from the authorities and himself, Banner has finally lost all hope in the aftermath of one of the Hulk’s bouts of mindless destruction which devastated Chicago and resulted in the death of a little boy, Ricky Myers. This book opens with ‘The Morning After’ as a cold and emotionally dead Banner hides in a sleazy hotel where he encounters Jerome, a kid so smart that he knows joining a gang is the only thing that can keep someone with his kind of brains alive.

The desperate lad gets a glimpse at another option after he tries to burglarize the skinny, repressed white guy down the hall and when Jerome gets in over his head it is Banner not the Hulk who is the solution…

Incognito, restlessly wandering but with a mysterious ally keeping him one step ahead of his myriad pursuers Banner is slowly reconnecting with the humanity he has avoided ever since the monster was first created. In the wordless, deeply moving ‘Silent Running’ the fugitive narrowly escapes capture at a diner due to the inadvertent assistance of an autistic child, whilst ‘The Gang’s All Here!’ introduces a mismatched pair of assassins hired by the secret organisation actually behind the current manhunt for Banner and the Hulk.

Both the lethal killer Slater and his rival/partner Sandra Verdugo have been co-opted by a cabal of Men in Black with an unspecified interest in ramping up anti-Hulk hysteria and they definitely want Banner. They also appear to have the literal power of life and death over their unwilling agents…

With Banner’s old friend Doc Samson lured into the pursuit the cabal makes its move in ‘You Must Remember This…’ but when the gamma-fuelled psychologist is distracted by a small child’s experience of school bullying the Hulk-hunters converge and generate a colossal amount of collateral damage at the ‘Last Chance Café’, before events get totally out of hand and terrifyingly weird in the concluding ‘Tag… You’re Dead!’

Using the theme of troubled childhoods and imagery based on the classic Frankenstein films that were such an integral part of the Jade Giant’s conceptual genesis, these tales focus on Banner and judiciously limit the use of his emerald alter ego to the point where the monster almost becomes a ghost. Ever-present but never seen (the monster is only on 21 of the 144 pages of this collection and that includes covers, dream-sequences, flashbacks and spot illustrations) like a catastrophic Rebecca haunting a Midwestern Manderley, the Hulk is a oppressive force of calculated salvation and last resort rather than mere reader-friendly graphic destruction and gratuitous gratification.

Like all great monsters he lurks in the shadows, waiting for his moment…

One of the most beguiling and impressive Hulk yarns of all, this book is the first of three self-contained volumes which utterly reinvigorated the character and completely refocused the series for the 21st century. If you’re new to the series or looking for an excuse to jump back on, this is the book for you…
© 2001, 2002 Marvel Characters Inc. All rights reserved.