Avengers #117
Title: Holocaust
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Bob Brown
Avengers: Swordsman
Defenders: Valkyrie
Cameos: Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Hawkeye, Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mantis
Villain: Dormammu, Loki
This is Chapter Seven of the Avengers/Defenders War.
Dormammu is annoyed that the Avengers are fighting against the Defenders, but he doesn't know that this is because of Loki.
Valkyrie defeats the Swordsman in Bolivia. She leaves him badly wounded.
Title: Captain America vs Sub-Mariner
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Bob Brown
Avengers: Captain America
Defenders: Sub-Mariner
Villain: Sunfire
This is Chapter Eight of the Avengers/Defenders War.
Captain America and Sub-Mariner fight over the Evil Eye, but their battle is interrupted by Sunfire, who we last saw in Sub-Mariner #54. He has no idea what the Evil Eye is, but if it's important enough for Captain America and Sub-Mariner to be fighting over it he wants it for himself. Sub-Mariner defeats Sunfire, leaving the Evil Eye in Captain America's hands. They begin to suspect that they're being deceived, so Captain America hands the Evil Eye to Sub-Mariner.
Wow! What a comic! Now that Stan Lee has retired from writing, Steve Englehart is Marvel's best writer.
Defenders #10
Title: Breakthrough!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Avengers: Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Swordsman
Defenders: Hulk, Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Sub-Mariner, Hawkeye, Valkyrie
This is Chapter Nine of the Avengers/Defenders War.
The Hulk is striding through Los Angeles, guided to the Evil Eye by Doctor Strange. Thor challenges him.
Did Thor really prove himself superior in Journey Into Mystery #112? Even though the battle was interrupted by a falling building, I'd say that the Hulk won the battle on points.
This time the two heroes are equally matched. They continue fighting until they're stopped by the arrival of the Defenders and the Avengers.
This is a nice little picture of the two teams together, with the exception of Thor and the Hulk.
Title: United we stand!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Avengers: Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman
Defenders: Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, Sub-Mariner, Hulk, Valkyrie, Hawkeye
Villain: Dormammu, Loki
Regulars: Mantis
This is Chapter Ten of the Avengers/Defenders War. It tells the story that leads up to the final panel of Chapter Nine.
Captain America and Sub-Mariner arrive at Doctor Strange's sanctum sanctorum after teaming up at the end of Chapter Eight. They talk to one another and realise that they've been deceived by Loki.
This is an even better picture of the Avengers and the Defenders together, apart from Thor and the Hulk, who are still fighting in Los Angeles. The two groups travel to Los Angeles to stop the fight. Now they have all six parts of the Evil Eye. Dormammu's servant Asti grabs the pieces and delivers them to Dormammu. Using the reassembled Evil Eye, Dormammu begins to pull the Earth into the Dark Dimension.
The Defenders and the Avengers stand together against Dormammu under Doctor Strange's de facto leadership. Finally we have a picture of all 14 heroes together (six Defenders, seven Avengers and Mantis).
Captain America and the Falcon #167
Title: Ashes to Ashes
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Villain: Yellow Claw
Regulars: Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Countess Valentina, Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter, Leila Taylor
Another great action story from Steve Englehart. Would it be blasphemous to say these are the best Captain America stories ever written?
The Yellow Claw defeats Captain America and the Falcon. In the style of a Bond villain, he leaves them in a trap to die slowly, not bothering to wait to see them die. As in all Bond films, they don't die, and he's shocked to see that they've escaped.
The Yellow Claw and his grand-niece Suwan (now possessed by the spirit of Fan-Le-Tamen) visit the SHIELD helicarrier in disguise. They intend to steal SHIELD's Life Model Decoys (LMDs). Captain America and the Falcon, aided by Dum Dum Dugan and Countess Valentina, fly to the helicarrier to stop him. The Yellow Claw would have succeeded, but Suwan turns against him, so he helps Captain America. He removes Fan-Le-Tamen's soul from her body, and she crumbles to dust. The Yellow Claw flees.
The Incredible Hulk #169
Title: Calamity in the Clouds!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Villain: Modok, Bi-Beast, Harpy (Betty Ross)
Regulars: General Ross
The Harpy carries the unconscious Hulk through the sky. They're dragged away by a tornado. It carries them to the city in the clouds which was previously the home of Red Raven. It now only has one inhabitant, the Bi-Beast, a creature with two heads that possesses the collective memories of his people. His first intention was to marry the Harpy. When the Hulk becomes Bruce Banner and reveals that he's a scientist, the Bi-Beast asks him to repair the city's machines.
Modok comes to the city and warns Bi-Beast that Bruce Banner is a dangerous enemy. In truth, he's only pretending to repair the machines. In actual fact he's building a new machine to remove the radiation from Betty's body. Bi-Beast tries to stop Bruce Banner, but he starts the machine and turns back into the Hulk.
Modok tries to claim the island for himself, but Bi-Beast destroys it, killing himself in the process. Harpy turns back into Betty Ross, and the Hulk turns back into Bruce Banner. Together they fall eight miles from the sky.
Hero For Hire #15
Title: Retribution Part 2
Writer: Tony Isabella
Artist: Billy Graham
Villain: Commanche, Shades, Rackham
Regulars: Noah Burstein, Claire Temple, Phil Fox
Tony Isabella takes over as the regular writer for Hero For Hire this issue. It's only a half-issue story, and the rest of the comic is filled with the reprint of a golden age Sub-Mariner story written and drawn by Bill Everett. This short story probably means that Tony Isabella took over at short notice, because Steve Englehart couldn't keep up with his schedule. Steve is a prolific writer, but five monthly comics plus a few bi-monthly comics is a heavy workload, so let's excuse him. Only Stan Lee could write ten comics a month.
Rackham flees with Mrs. Jenks tied in the back of his car. Shades and Commanche break into a liquor store as the first step in setting up a protection racket. Claire Temple is in a police cell, charged with the murder of Phil Fox. She now knows that Luke Cage is an escaped convict, but she doesn't want to betray him.
Luke Cage enters the liquor store.
Amazing Spider-Man #126
Title: The Kangaroo bounces back!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Ross Andru
Villain: Kangaroo (Frank Oliver), Jonas Harrow
Regulars: J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson, Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn
Guests: Human Torch
Spider-Man is offered money by two advertising executives who want him to build a Spider-Mobile (sic) to promote their client, Corona Motors. Wow! What a cheesy idea!
The address on the business card is 575 Madison Avenue, which was Marvel's address at the time.
The two characters (Carter on the left, Lombardo on the right) resemble Roy Thomas and Stan Lee. Is this deliberate?
Spider-Man no longer has the thousand dollars in his hand when he swings away. The must have stuffed the money down the front of his costume. If he meets Mae West she'll ask him, "Is that a roll of dollar bills in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"
Spider-Man asks his friend Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, for help building the Spider-Mobile. Friend? I thought they didn't like one another. Maybe I missed a comic where they made up.
Dr. Jonas Harrow, the man who gave Hammerhead his super-powers in Amazing Spider-Man #114, has found a new customer for his unique skills. The Kangaroo was a third-rate villain when he faced Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #81, but now Dr. Harrow enhances his strength and makes him more like a real kangaroo.
Dr. Harrow asks the Kangaroo to retrieve some radioactive isotopes charged with gamma rays. Spider-Man tries to stop him, because he knows the effects will be deadly. When he touches the isotopes his body burns up. Didn't Dr. Harrow know that would happen?
Harry Osborn found his father's costume where Spider-Man left it. He says he's now the Green Goblin.
This is quite a good story, even though the idea of a Spider-Mobile makes me laugh.
Fantastic Four #140
Title: Annihilus Revealed!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: John Buscema
Fantastic Four: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Medusa
Villain: Annihilus
Regulars: Wyatt Wingfoot, Susan Richards, Franklin Richards, Agatha Harkness
Susan Richards suspects there are problems with Franklin, so she contacts her husband. The message breaks up, so the Fantastic Four travel to the farm where she's staying in Oklahoma. They're slow arriving, because they're interrupted by the events of this month's Sub-Mariner comic. Susan and Franklin have already left, and they were intercepted on the way by Agatha Harkness.
Annihilus breaks out of the Negative Zone, after talking to an unseen prisoner. I like mysteries! He easily defeats Wyatt Wingfoot, then the Fantastic Four, when they return. He sits and tells how he came to be to Wyatt while the others are unconscious, a rather dull five-page origin tale about an insect becoming the ruler of a world. Then he casts Wyatt Wingfoot and the Fantastic Four through the portal into the Negative Zone.
Thor #217
Title: All swords against them!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: John Buscema
Villain: Igron
Regulars: Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, Balder, Tana Nile, Silas Grant, Hildegarde, Odin, Heimdal, Sif, Krista
Odin, Thor and their comrades return to Asgard and find that they've been replaced by others who look exactly like them. They seem to have equal strength and skill to the real Asgardians.
They are lower beings who have been given power by a wizard called Igron. He was a servant of Loki, who was banished to the kingdom of the Trolls by Loki in Thor #179. Back then he was a minor figure, and I'd forgotten about him completely.
After Igron is defeated the false gods fade away.
Meanwhile, Rigel is being evacuated because of a threat called the Black Stars.
Title: Menace from the Moons of Satan!
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Don Heck
Villain: Kraven, Moon Dragon (Madame MacEvil), Dark Messiah, Ramrod, Angar, Terrex
Flashbacks: Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, Mentor, Thanos
Kraven casts Daredevil off a cliff. Just before he hits the rocks he disappears. The Black Widow fights and defeats Kraven, then seeks consolation in the arms of the police officer Paul Carson.
Where does this sudden cosiness come from? I can imagine her next words: "Paul, is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"
Daredevil finds himself in an unearthly place surrounded by water. He's been captured by Madame MacEvil. In recent issues she's been shown hidden in the shadows, but she appeared clearly in Iron Man #54. She's captured Daredevil because she thinks he's a servant of Thanos.
She relates her origin, in a four-page story drawn by Jim Starlin. Her parents were killed in a car crash in the 1950's. A passing space ship saw this, and she was taken to Titan, one of Jupiter's moons, as a child. She was raised as the adopted daughter of Mentor. She was sent to a monastery, where she attained great mental and physical powers. She returned to Earth after Thanos overthrew Mentor as the leader of Titan. She says that her real name is Moon Dragon (two words). That's good. Madame MacEvil sounds silly.
She reveals that it was her who created the Dark Messiah (Daredevil #97), Angar (Daredevil #100) and Ramrod (Daredevil #103). She reactivates them on Earth, wherever they are.
Moon Dragon probes Daredevil's mind and finds out that he doesn't serve Thanos. She's about to release him, when her partner arrives. It's Kerwin Broderick, one of Matt Murdock's bosses in his Los Angeles law firm. Strange... he's walking now. When we saw him in the shadows he was always sitting in a wheelchair.
How long has all this been going on? 30 minutes? An hour? After all this time the Black Widow is still in Paul Carson's tight embrace. Careful, Natasha! If you don't stop rubbing yourself against his gun, it might go off.
This caption wins the prize for the understatement of the month. "Paul, it's some kind of eruption". I told her it would happen!
While Paul is still struggling to steady himself, a monster called Terrex climbs out of the earth.
Sub-Mariner #67
Title: Seawinds of Change!
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Don Heck
Villain: Virago, Orka
Regulars: Tamara
Guests: Triton, Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Medusa, Wyatt Wingfoot
This story features the Fantastic Four, and it takes place between pages 6 and 7 of this month's Fantastic Four #140.
Atlantis is being destroyed by the attack of Orka and Virago. Namor has to flee by burrowing through rock. On the other side of the rock he encounters a ship that's dumping canisters of nerve gas in the sea. He tries to stop them, but the canisters explode, throwing him out of the sea.
Triton picks him up from the land and carries him to the Baxter Building. Reed Richards examines him. He finds that the nerve gas has somehow changed his metabolism; he can now only survive out of water for a few minutes. When Namor recovers he doesn't believe Reed Richards and starts to fight.
Is this the first time that someone turns the Thing's battle cry back against him? It's clobbering time!
After a few minutes Namor collapses through being out of water. Reed Richards makes a new suit for him that will lubricate his body when he's out of water.
The nerve gas falls over Atlantis, killing both the Atlanteans and the invaders. Only Tamara is immune.
Iron Man #64
Title: Rokk cometh!
Writer: Mike Friedrich
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Dr. Spectrum
Regulars: Happy Hogan, Pepper Hogan, Roxanne Gilbert, Eddie March
Iron Man demonstrates how quickly apartment buildings can be built by demolishing a building and placing a pre-fab in its place. The new building is destroyed by Dr. Spectrum. Iron Man drives him away after a brief fight.
Dr. Obatu wants Iron Man to protect him against a giant monster called Rokk. Iron Man barely survives a hard fight. Then Rokk disappears. Dr. Spectrum reveals that Rokk was his own creation, meant to soften Iron Man up before killing him.
Marvel Premiere #12
Title: Portal to the Past!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Frank Brunner
Villain: Witch Queen
Regulars: Clea, Wong
I don't know how to start describing this comic. It's slow-burning and emotionally intense, overwhelming in its power. Steve Englehart is a brilliant writer in himself, but teamed up with Frank Brunner the comics are nothing short of perfection.
Doctor Strange travels to Transylvania to tell Baron Mordo that he's become the new Sorcerer Supreme. He meets some gypsies who promise to lead him to Mordo. Their queen bewitches him, hoping to use him to defeat Mordo and retrieve from his castle their tribe's most treasured possession, the Book of Cagliostro. In Mordo's castle a monster attacks Doctor Strange when he attempts to touch the book. The queen releases him from her spell so that he can fight back.
The book contains information on how to change the past without harming one's present existence. Doctor Strange travels into the past to find Mordo before he changes reality.
Adventure Into Fear #18
Title: A Question of Survival!
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Val Mayerik
Regulars: Jennifer Kale, Joshua Kale
Man-Thing witnesses a traffic accident. A drunken driver hits a bus carrying 50 passengers. Only three people come out of the bus alive: a Vietnam veteran, a nurse and a radical pacifist. A young boy also survives, and Man-Thing frees him from the wreckage. The drunken driver also survives. The boy can't walk, so the others have to carry him.
Man-Thing follows them, carefully observing them, because he senses that one of them is evil. He doesn't know who.
This is an incredible story. I still believe that only Steve Gerber was able to write stories for Man-Thing. My apologies to all the other writers who tried and failed.
Tomb of Dracula #14
Title: Dracula is dead!
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Gene Colan
Regulars: Quincy Harker, Frank Drake, Rachel Van Helsing, Taj, Blade
Kills: One man (total 20)
Embraces: None (total 7)
Dracula is dead, staked by Blade's short wooden knife. Blade and his companions want to cut off Dracula's head, but they're interrupted by the villagers. Dracula's last command before his death was that they should rescue him. The villagers carry Dracula's body away, but the hypnotic commands weren't specific enough to tell them what to do with him. Dracula's body begins to decompose, and the hypnosis ends. They drop him and run away.
A preacher called Josiah Dawn finds Dracula's body. He sees it as a chance to work a miracle and gain more church members. In a gospel tent he promises to raise someone from the dead. He pulls the stake out of Dracula's heart, and he lives again. Hallelujah? Dracula kills Josiah, then flies away.
Werewolf by Night #11
Title: Comes the Hangman!
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Gil Kane
Villain: Hangman, Committee
Regulars: Lissa Russell, Philip Russell, Buck Cowan
The Committee is torturing Philip Russell to make him hand over his son to them.
A vigilante called the Hangman is walking the streets at night, killing those who threaten others. He protects innocent female victims by locking them up in his basement, where nobody can harm them.
Buck Cowan and Lissa Russell are arguing in the street. The Hangman thinks Buck is threatening her, but when he overhears their conversation he stands back. Then the Werewolf arrives, and the Hangman is determined to kill him. The issue ends with the Werewolf hanging from the Hangman's noose.
The Frankenstein Monster #7
Title: The Fury of a Fiend!
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: John Buscema
Villain: Dracula
The Monster has walked all the way into Central Europe. He sees a beautiful woman bathing naked in a lake. He knows he shouldn't watch her, but it's too hard to resist. He sees another man spying on her, a hunchback called Drako. The hunchback isn't just a voyeur, he molests the woman and says he wants to marry her. The Monster kills Drako.
The young woman, Carmen, is scared of the Monster and wants to run away, but Carmen's grandmother, Marguerita, has been watching everything and tells her she can trust the Monster. Together they return to the gypsy camp, where the Monster is accepted as a friend. They travel together for months, putting on musical shows, until they arrive in the middle of Transylvania.
Unknown to the Monster, Marguerita is a vampire. She promises to show the Monster where Jason Frankenstein lies buried, but it's a lie. She takes the Monster to a crypt and tells him to open a heavy sealed coffin. Inside is a skeleton with a stake through its heart. She pulls the stake out, and Dracula lives again.
Captain Marvel #29
Title: Metamorphosis
Writer: Jim Starlin
Artist: Jim Starlin
Villain: Thanos, Death, Controller
Regulars: Rick Jones, Lou-Ann Savannah, Drax, Mentor, Eros
Guests: Zeus
This is one of the best stories of the month, mind-blowingly cosmic in its scope. Jim Starlin has a vivid imagination, and in this comic he expands upon the universe that he's devised.
Chronos is the father of Zeus and Mentor. An explosion made Chronos one with the universe. Originally Zeus and Mentor lived together in Olympus, but Zeus exiled Mentor because he was too peaceful. Mentor founded a new society on Titan, where he had two sons, Eros and Thanos. (His adopted daughter Moon Dragon isn't mentioned here).
Eon has been created by Chronos, who knew that Thanos would one day gain control of the Cosmic Cube. Eon's purpose is to change Captain Marvel from a warrior into a protector by giving him cosmic awareness. If you don't understand that, please read the comic yourself.
The new Captain Marvel returns to Earth, ready to face Thanos.
Marvel Feature #12
Title: The Bite of the Blood Brothers!
Writer: Mike Friedrich
Artist: Jim Starlin
Villain: Thanos, Death, Blood Brothers, Controller (flashback)
Guests: Iron Man, Mentor, Eros, Drax (flashback)
This issue ties in with the current issues of Captain Marvel.
The Thing is walking through the desert after falling from Kurrgo's space ship last issue. Iron Man flies past him, looking for Thanos. Thanos is no longer on the Earth, but the Blood Brothers are in his old base. First Iron Man fights against the Blood Brothers, then the Thing fights them. It's only when they team up that they can be victorious.
The Thing gets yet another chance to yell his battle cry: It's clobbering time! That's twice this month.
Thanos destroys the Blood Brothers with the Cosmic Cube because of their failure.
Iron Man doesn't have enough power left to carry anyone, so the Thing has to carry on walking home by himself.
This is the last issue of Marvel Feature.
Jungle Action #7
Title: Death Regiments Beneath Wakanda
Writer: Don McGregor
Artist: Rich Buckler
Villain: Killmonger, Venomm
Regulars: Monica Lynne
Here's something that Marvel hasn't done before. It's a triple splash page. That's been done before. The second and third page form a single picture. That's also been done before. What's new is that the second and third page are printed sideways. That means that you have to hold the comic sideways to read it, just like when you're looking at the centrefold of Playboy Magazine.
This is an incredible comic. The Black Panther has been a recurring character in Marvel Comics since Stan Lee invented him seven years ago in Fantastic Four #52, but this series in Jungle Action is the first time that he looks like a real African. Is it the story or the art? I think it's both. Don McGregor has a feeling for the character like no writer before him, and Rich Buckler's artwork is amazing. I don't know how this has happened. In his previous comics, Rich Buckler was a good but not particularly outstanding artist. Something in him has clicked, and now he's drawing brilliant artwork for Jungle Action.
The Black Panther falls over the waterfall, barely avoiding the rocks, but he falls unconscious when he hits the river below. He's washed up on the shore and found by Monica. He spends a few days recovering.
Killmonger sends one of his best warriors, a snake charmer called Venomm, to attack a nearby village. The Black Panther defeats him and prepares to battle Killmonger.
Non-canon comics published this month:
Monsters Unleashed #3 (Tony Isabella, Win Mortimer)
Marvel Team-Up #15 (Len Wein, Ross Andru)
Conan the Barbarian #32 (Roy Thomas, John Buscema)
Kull the Destroyer #11 (Roy Thomas, Michael Ploog)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #116 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Creatures on the Loose #26 (Gardner Fox, Val Mayerik)
Chamber of Chills #7 (Doug Moench, Ray Wilson)
Worlds Unknown #4 (Gerry Conway, John Buscema)
Western Team-Up #1 (Larry Lieber, Larry Lieber)
Kull the Conqueror changes its name to Kull the Destroyer from this month onwards.
Doug Moench writes his first short story for Marvel this month. Most of his future work will be for Marvel's non-canon b/w comics, but he will also write amazing stories for Master Of Kung Fu.
Last month's survey is reprinted in some of Marvel's other comics this month.
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