X-Men #66
Title: The Mutants and the Monster
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Sal Buscema
X-Men: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast, Iceman
Regulars: Professor X, Alex Summers, Lorna Dane
Guests: Hulk, Major Talbot
Professor X is in a comatose state after using his mental powers to drive the Z'Nox away last issue. The X-Men fear that he will die. Marvel Girl does a mental probe and finds that he's thinking about the Hulk. The X-Men assume that the Hulk's alter ego, Bruce Banner, can aid Professor X.
The X-Men find the Hulk in Las Vegas. He's not difficult to track, because he runs around smashing things wherever he goes. Marvel Girl sends him to sleep with her telepathic powers. This also turns him back into Bruce Banner. He remembers discussing a Gamma Ray with Professor X to control mental exhaustion. He offers to help, but then Major Talbot arrives to arrest him. This stresses him so much that he turns back into the Hulk. Stupid soldiers! The Hulk smashes a few tanks before jumping away into the desert.
The X-Men follow the Hulk. They find a hidden cave with scientific equipment. The Hulk has subconsciously led them to Bruce Banner's secret laboratory. The Gamma Ray gun is easy to spot, it's lying out in the open for anyone to take. Maybe there was even a label on it, saying "This is a Gamma-Ray Gun".
Back at Westchester it's used to heal Professor X. The Professor says he'll be on his feet again in no time. Has he forgotten that he can't walk?
Sadly, this is the last X-Men story. From next month onwards it will become a reprint comic. It's not just the end of the comic, it's the end of the X-Men. They don't even appear as guest stars in any Marvel comics for the next five years. The caption in last panel sounds final:
"They fought happily ever after".
Fantastic Four #96
Title: The Mad Thinker and his Androids of Death!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Fantastic Four: Reed Richards, Susan Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm
Villain: Mad Thinker
Last month I complained about Marvel's new single issue story policy making battles ridiculously short. How could it have been so easy for Thor to defeat Ulik and the Circus of Crime, Iron Man to defeat the Titanium Man and Daredevil to defeat the Cobra, Mister Hyde and the Jester? Ridiculous. Fantastic Four #96, on the other hand, is a perfect story. It lasts just as long as it should, not one page too long, and it fits neatly into one comic.
The Mad Thinker has created android versions of the Fantastic Four to take their place. It's an amazing feat that he was able to duplicate their powers, but he can't duplicate their fighting skill. The advantage of surprise gives the androids an initial victory, but when the Fantastic Four fight back they have no chance.
The Thing knocks out the pseudo Human Torch with a single punch, yelling his battle cry: It's clobbering time!
Unfortunately, it's not so easy to defeat the pseudo Invisible Girl. Ben Grimm is too gentlemanly to hit a woman, even if it's an android. He should get over it.
The last time the Mad Thinker challenged the Fantastic Four was in Fantastic Four #70, but he's appeared in a few other comics, such as Sub-Mariner #14.
Amazing Spider-Man #82
Title: And then came Electro!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Romita
Villain: Electro
Regulars: J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Aunt May, Anna Watson, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Flash Thompson, Captain Stacy
This is another story that fits neatly into one issue without seeming rushed. It's noticeable that John Romita has drawn smaller pictures to get in the whole story, mostly with nine panels per page.
Spider-Man has been invited to appear on a live talk show. He'll do anything for the money. Electro approaches J. Jonah Jameson and says he'll defeat and unmask Spider-Man on live television for $5000. Deal! But Spider-Man isn't that easy to beat.
Here's another new word for me. What's a conniption? It's a rage, and when used in the plural it means hysterics.
Thor #174
Title: The Carnage of the Crypto-Man!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Jasper Whyte, Crypto-Man
A scientist called Jasper Whyte has designed a device with which he can steal strength from a person and give it to an artificial being. He shoots Thor out of the sky with his Hypno-Stun Ray (TM), then siphons off half his power. He puts this power into a robot he's constructed called the Crypto-Man.
Thor is unable to defeat the Crypto-Man in his weakened state. Jasper commands the Crypto-Man to destroy an atomic power station. Thor reminds Jasper that if the power station explodes his mother will be killed in the blast. Jasper destroys the Crypto-Man by overloading it with too much power. When the Crypto-Man collapses, Thor regains his full strength.
Silver Surfer #14
Title: The Surfer and the Spider!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Buscema
Guests: Spider-Man
The Silver Surfer falls to the ground after saving the Earth from two meteors that threaten to crash and cause a big explosion. He's witnessed by a young boy called Henry, whose biggest passion is reading comics.
Henry's father has no understanding of comics. Luckily for me, my own father was more enlightened, and he encouraged my love of comics.
Spider-Man encounters the Silver Surfer when his webbing gets caught on his surf board... or is it the other way round? Like a typical hot-headed teenager, Spider-Man attacks the Silver Surfer purely because he thinks he's too powerful to run around free. The Silver Surfer holds back at first, but his patience isn't without limit, and eventually he begins to strike back. In the meantime the army is called in to handle the Silver Surfer.
Henry climbs onto the Silver Surfer's board when he sees it lying on the roof. He has to hold tight when the Surfer calls it back. He's in danger of falling off, and army shells are exploding around him, so the Surfer has to carefully bring him down to the ground. When Spider-Man sees the loving care that the Silver Surfer has for a child, he ceases to fight.
The Avengers #74
Title: Pursue the Panther!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Avengers: Black Panther, Goliath, Vision, Yellowjacket, Wasp
Villain: Sons of the Serpent
Regulars: Jarvis
On the news there are reports of the Black Panther smashing up the shops belonging to sympathisers of the Sons of the Serpent. The police ask the Avengers to capture him, to prove that they aren't in cahoots with him.
As we could easily have guessed, it isn't the Black Panther, it's an imposter using his costume. The real Black Panther has been captured by the Sons of the Serpent. It still isn't common knowledge that he's a black man. They intend to unmask him on live television to prove that a black man has been causing widespread damage.
The leaders of the Sons of the Serpent are unmasked. One is a racist television talk show host. The other is a black man, a civil rights leader. They teamed up to cause a race war to further their own political goals.
Captain America #123
Title: Suprema, the Deadliest of the Species!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Suprema
Regulars: Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Jasper Sitwell
Guests: Tony Stark, J. Jonah Jameson
A woman called Suprema wants to become the supreme crime lord, first in New York City, then in the whole of the United States. She has the power of witchcraft, so when she approaches a gang she just has to tell them to surrender to her, and they obey.
Finally she goes to Nick Fury, and she's made the new head of SHIELD. Only Captain America isn't affected by her spell. He does some research on her, and he discovers that she's not a witch, she uses an electronic device to influence people. Tony Stark builds a signal jammer, and her control over SHIELD is ended.
After a training session Nick Fury asks how someone as square as Captain America can fight so well. He's hardly one to talk. The last few issues of his solo comic showed that Nick Fury is one of the squarest men alive.
Daredevil #62
Title: Quoth the Nighthawk, "Nevermore!"
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond), Grandmaster (flashback)
Regulars: Foggy Nelson, Karen Page
Guests: Captain America (flashback)
Daredevil is fighting with two petty crooks, when he's interrupted by another costumed crime-fighter called Nighthawk. Wait! Wasn't he a villain who fought Captain America in Avengers #70? Daredevil evidently didn't read that comic, so he trusts him. Nighthawk defeats the crooks, then lets them go. His only goal was to disgrace Daredevil. Over the next few nights he's in action on a regular basis, sometimes keeping part of the loot for himself.
Daredevil disguises himself as a crook to bait Nighthawk. A hidden microphone broadcasts Nighthawk's boasting to the crowds below. Nighthawk flees after a brief battle.
The Incredible Hulk #125
Title: And now, the Absorbing Man!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Villain: Absorbing Man
Regulars: General Ross, Major Talbot, Betty Ross
A large radioactive comet is on a collision course with the Earth. Bruce Banner volunteers to pilot a space rocket which will detonate a charge just outside of the Earth's atmosphere. The manoeuvre succeeds, and the comet is destroyed.
However, the Absorbing Man had hitched a ride on the comet. He was hurled into space by Odin in Journey Into Mystery #123 (Stan Lee gets the comic's name wrong), and we last saw him briefly in Thor Annual #2. He jumps onto the rocket and turns into metal. Bruce Banner turns into the Hulk, and they fight while they fall back towards the Earth.
While fighting on the ground, the Absorbing Man absorbs the Hulk's strength. This causes the Hulk to change back to Bruce Banner, and the Absorbing Man also loses his strength and collapses.
Sub-Mariner #23
Title: The Coming of Orka!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Marie Severin
Villain: Orka, Krang, Dr. Dorcas
Regulars: Dorma, Vashti
Sub-Mariner is attacked by a giant figure swimming with whales. He calls himself Orka. Thinking that Sub-Mariner is defeated, Orka swims away. Sub-Mariner pursues him to an underwater lair, where he also finds Warlord Krang (last seen in Tales To Astonish #91) and Dr. Dorcas (last seen in Sub-Mariner #15). Krang has allied himself with Dorcas to get revenge on Sub-Mariner. Dorcas has genetically engineered Orka to give him super strength, mastery over whales and the ability to breathe on land.
The three villains defeat Sub-Mariner.
Iron Man #23
Title: The man who killed Tony Stark!
Writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Mercenary
Regulars: Jasper Sitwell
You all know the format of Marvel comics. There's a cover page which gives a rough summary of the comic, with the hero or the villain or both. Then there's a splash page, a full page drawing that kicks off the story. In the early 1960's this was sometimes a second summary page, a preview of something happening later in the story. The splash page also contains the story's title (often different to the title on the cover) and the credits. Then from page 2 onwards the story continues with normal sized drawings, with four or more panels per page.
This comic is unique. The story begins on the cover, and there's no splash page! The layout of the cover makes it look a cross between a cover page and a splash page. The first page has six panels and no title, but it still has the credits in a box at the top of the page, where the comic's name is sometimes placed.
But did you notice the word "splash" in the fourth panel? Maybe that's meant as a joke.
Last issue the Titanium Man was shipped to America. A woman on the ship, Cheryl Porter, heard about the shipment and warned Tony Stark. We see that in a shipment. Then the ship's captain hires a hitman called the Mercenary to kill her. For most of the comic we have the impression that the target is Tony Stark himself, and the story's title reinforces this impression.
Tony takes Cheryl to his cabin in upstate New York to hide her. The Mercenary has bugged Tony's car, so he knows where she is. Vincent Sandhurst, Janice Cord's lawyer, wants to kill Tony Stark out of revenge. The two assassins, the amateur and the professional, get in one another's way with a surprising result.
Other comics published this month:
Millie the Model #180 (Stan Lee, Stan Goldberg)
Mad About Millie #9 (Stan Lee, Stan Goldberg)
Chili #11 (Stan Lee, Stan Goldberg)
My Love #4 (Stan Lee, John Buscema)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #76 (Bill Everett, Dick Ayers)
Captain Savage and his Battlefield Raiders #19 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Tower of Shadows #4 (Allyn Brodsky, Don Heck)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tick the box "Notify me" to receive notification of replies.