Mighty Marvel is on the move! This month there are two new comics, which brings the total to eight new comics since March. After appearing in the first three issues of Marvel Feature, the Defenders now have their own comic. And the writer is Steve Englehart! This will become one of Marvel's best comics over the next few months.
Defenders #1
Title: I slay by the stars!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Defenders: Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Hulk
Villain: Necrodamus, Undying Ones
The Sub-Mariner falls from the sky in front of the Hulk. He's trapped inside an invisible barrier, so the Hulk can't wake him. The Hulk fetches Doctor Strange, who is also unable to remove the barrier. The enemy reveals himself when the three heroes are assembled. It's a man called Necrodamus, who has been promised unlimited power if he sacrifices the Sub-Mariner to bring the Undying Ones back into the world. The Undying ones confronted the heroes in the three-part story printed in Doctor Strange #183, Sub-Mariner #22 and Incredible Hulk #126. The Sub-Mariner has to be sacrificed at the moment when four stars align in the heavens.
Doctor Strange attempts a spell to freeze time. He fails, but the effort causes his last time freeze spell in Marvel Feature #1 to weaken, and the Omegatron begins to tick again, threatening the simultaneous detonation of every nuclear weapon on Earth.
After a close fight, the sacrifice is stopped, and the Undying Ones won't have another chance until the next stellar alignment.
Sub-Mariner tells the others that it wasn't Necrodamus, it was the Silver Surfer who cast him from the sky.
The second new comic this month is Warlock, which continues from Marvel Premiere #2. This is a series that takes place outside of the normal Marvel continuity, at least for the next eight issues, because the events are on Counter-Earth, an artificially created clone of our Earth, on which there are no super-heroes.
Warlock #1
Title: The Day of the Prophet!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Gil Kane
Villain: Man-Beast
Regulars: High Evolutionary
The tales of Warlock on Counter-Earth have a deliberate messianic flavour. The parallels to the life of Jesus are impossible to overlook, and yet Roy Thomas carefully avoids blasphemy. Adam Warlock has come to save mankind, even though his "father", the High Evolutionary, wants to destroy the Earth as a failed experiment. Warlock is certain that he can save the world and make it redeemable by defeating the Man-Beast.
Warlock defends a prophet from two attackers who are servants of the Man-Beast. Together they go to the Man-Beast's lair. When they arrive the prophet reveals that he's the Man-Beast in disguise.
This is an incredible story. Ahead of its time? Definitely!
The last three issues of Marvel Spotlight contained stories about Jack Russell, the Werewolf. Next month he'll be given his own comic series. Starting this month, Marvel Spotlight will contain stories about a new hero called the Ghost Rider, not to be confused with the western hero with the same name. Is it correct to call him a hero? He's one of Marvel's new wave of horror characters, following in the steps of Dracula and the Werewolf.
Marvel Spotlight #5
Title: Ghost Rider
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Michael Ploog
Regulars: Roxanne Simpson
Johnny Blaze was the son of the motorcycle stuntman Barton Blaze. He died when Johnny was young, so Johnny was raised by another stuntman, Crash Simpson. His foster mother made Johnny promise on her deathbed that he would never perform in the motorcycle show.
Crash has cancer. Johnny makes a deal with Satan to save his life. It was a trick. Crash doesn't die of cancer, but he dies in a motorcycle stunt.
There's some confusion as to whether Satan is the same person as Mephisto, who's appeared in several Silver Surfer stories. It seems that every writer has his own opinion, so there will be contradictions in future stories. Gary Friedrich obviously wanted it to be a different character.
Johnny Blaze is cursed to become the Ghost Rider every night. Roxanne interrupts the second meeting with Satan and rebukes him as one who is pure in heart. It's her purity alone that will prevent Johnny becoming evil in future stories.
Fantastic Four #125
Title: The Monster's Secret!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Buscema
Fantastic Four: Reed Richards, Susan Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm
Villain: Monster from the Lost Lagoon
The Monster from the Lost Lagoon rescues Susan Richards from drowning, but still keeps her prisoner. She begins to suspect that his intentions aren't malevolent.
Reed Richards discharges himself from hospital and joins Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm in their search for Susan.
The Thing runs into action yelling his battle cry: It's clobbering time!
Susan arrives and begs her team mates to stop fighting. The Monster's mate had contracted an Earth virus, so they returned to Earth. He stole medication from a hospital, and he wanted Susan's help in administering it. Now that she's healthy they can leave the Earth again.
Now it's time for a momentous announcement, and I regret to say that it's not good news. The comic's final panel announces a new beginning. That's the understatement of the Century. With the exception of a short holiday that he took from Fantastic Four #115 to Fantastic Four #119, Stan Lee has been writing the Fantastic Four comics since the beginning. He's written many other good comics, but the Fantastic Four is his signature story. He called it "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine", and nobody has dared to contradict him. Now it's over. This is not just his last issue of the Fantastic Four, it's the last comic he will write for Marvel on a regular basis. Some of the future writers will be average, some will be good and some will be excellent, but none of them are Stan Lee.
The story behind it is that Martin Goodman, Marvel's publisher and de facto owner, decided to leave Marvel. I've never been able to find out the exact reasons. Some say that it was his retirement, after being the owner of Timely/Atlas/Marvel since 1939, but I don't think that's the complete truth, because he founded a new company a year later. Whatever the reason, Stan Lee (who was the cousin of Martin Goodman's wife) took over as publisher. His new responsibilities left him no time for writing.
Among fans there's an overwhelming consensus that Stan Lee made a mistake in accepting his new position. As a writer he'll be remembered forever, but the years he spent making phone calls and adding up columns of numbers have already been forgotten. He didn't even continue as Marvel's chief editor, he handed over the job to Roy Thomas. Stan Lee moved to the business side of the company, losing his direct connection to the creative side. This meant more money for him, but it meant that the world lost hundreds, maybe thousands of new stories that he could have written.
Has anyone ever asked Stan Lee (in a published interview) whether he regrets becoming publisher in 1972? I'd be interested in hearing his opinion later in his life.
Apart from sporadic comics, one or two a year, his only regular writing was the Spider-Man newspaper strip, which he wrote from 1977 to 2000. This was out of continuity with the Spider-Man comics, i.e. it was non-canon, but the stories were brilliant, even with smaller artwork. In 2000 Roy Thomas took over as writer, but it was kept secret. Stan Lee was still credited as the writer. The newspaper strip was cancelled in 2019, shortly after Stan Lee's death, and Roy Thomas finally came out as the writer for the previous 19 years.
Amazing Spider-Man #111
Title: To stalk a Spider!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: John Romita
Villain: Kraven, Gibbon
Regulars: J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Gwen Stacy
Kraven the Hunter approaches the disillusioned Gibbon and offers to train him as his partner. Didn't Kraven die in Amazing Spider-Man #104? Don't believe all you read. It was a bad fall, as you can see from his arm in a sling, but he survived.
Kraven gives the Gibbon the same herbs that he uses himself, to make him stronger and more bestial. At first the Gibbon is angered and fights with Kraven. Then he recognises that they're kindred spirits, mostly because of the herbs that are in both of them.
The Gibbon fights Spider-Man, but not even his greater strength can help him succeed.
Meanwhile, Aunt May has left New York because she doesn't want to pamper her nephew Peter any more.
This is the first issue of Spider-Man written by Gerry Conway, and it's not too bad.
Avengers #102
Title: What to do till the Sentinels come!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Rich Buckler
Avengers: Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision
Villain: Grim Reaper, Sentinels
Regulars: Jarvis
Welcome, Rich Buckler. This is his first comic, apart from an anthology story written by Mimi Gold in Where Monsters Dwell #15. He will go on to be one of Marvel's most popular artists, best known for his artwork for Fantastic Four.
Look at the unique layout of this comic. The first page is a single picture which looks like a splash page without being a splash page. The real splash page is a double page spread on pages 10 and 11. We're kept in suspense what the title will be until halfway through the comic.
Yes, the Sentinels are back. In X-Men #59 they flew into the Sun, and I hoped we'd never see them again. Obviously they didn't fly close enough to get burnt, because now they're back.
The Vision is approached by the Grim Reaper, who we last saw in Avengers #79. The Grim Reaper is the brother of Simon Williams aka Wonder Man, who died in Avengers #9. His brain waves were used by Ultron to create the Vision. The Grim Reaper has preserved Wonder Man's corpse, and he wants to transfer his brother's brain waves back into the body. The Vision refuses, but because of his feelings for the Scarlet Witch he finds the offer tempting.
I've reproduced the whole of page 9 to show a dilemma. Hawkeye forces himself onto the Scarlet Witch and kisses her against her will. The Vision sees the kiss and thinks she wanted it. Then the Scarlet Witch admits that she loves the Vision.
Later that evening the Scarlet Witch takes a walk in Central Park looking so hot that all the Avengers have to stare. The Vision follows her, pretending to be taking care of her, but really just to take a closer look. Her skirt is even shorter than Hawkeye's, and that's saying a lot.
In the park a Sentinel attacks the Scarlet Witch, and the Vision attempts to protect her.
The Sentinel recognises that the Vision is 30 years old. The other Avengers arrive and join battle, but the Sentinel carries the Scarlet Witch away.
Iron Man #49
Title: There lurks the Adaptoid!
Writer: Mike Friedrich
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Super-Adaptoid
Regulars: Marianne Rodgers, Pepper Hogan
Tony Stark makes a new start after firing the board of directors. He considers diversifying Stark Industries instead of relying on weapons manufacturing.
Marianne Rodgers warns him that she's had a vision in which she's responsible for his death.
Iron Man visits Avengers Mansion and finds it has been invaded by the Super-Adaptoid, an android which has the combined powers of Captain America, Hawkeye, Goliath and the Wasp.
The Super-Adaptoid says that he lost his powers in X-Men #29, but now he's recovered. That's true, but he'd already recovered his powers in Avengers #45, eight months later.
Iron Man defeats the Super-Adaptoid with only two minutes charge left in his armour. If he doesn't recharge his heart will stop beating. He goes to Marianne, but she won't help him because she's afraid she'll cause his death.
Sub-Mariner #52
Title: The Atomic Samurai!
Writer: Bill Everett, Mike Friedrich
Artist: Bill Everett
Villain: Sunfire, Dragon Lord
Regulars: Namorita, Betty Prentiss
Prince Namor wants to find a legal guardian to take care of his cousin Namorita. How old is she? My guess, based on her looks and attitude, is that she's a teenager, probably about 14. He decides to send her to his wartime lover, Betty Dean, who is now widowed and called Betty Prentiss. She's gone on a vacation to the Island of Krakinowa.
The supposedly uninhabited island is home to Dragon Lord, a blind Japanese mutant with as yet unspecified powers. With him is Sunfire, who we last saw in X-Men #64. Dragon Lord is forcing poor people to work for him against their will. Exactly what they're doing isn't stated, but Dragon Lord dreams of restoring the honour and glory of the Japanese Empire in the South Pacific.
Sub-Mariner defeats Sunfire, but not before he can destroy an American ship laden with defoliants, threatening an ecological disaster in the sea.
The Incredible Hulk #154
Title: Hell is a very small Hulk!
Writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Villain: Chameleon, Hydra
Regulars: General Ross, Major Talbot, Betty Ross
Guests: Ant-Man, Wasp
The Hulk's memories work in a strange way. Often he has an inbuilt homing beacon, so that he can jump to places that he's only seen once before. Now he vaguely remembers Hank Pym telling Bruce Banner that there's a serum that can take a person to Jarella's world. There's a flashback scene to something that must have happened during Incredible Hulk #148. The Hulk visits Pym's laboratory and smashes everything until he finds a serum that might work. It shrinks him to ant size. Then he's grabbed by the Chameleon, who has also broken into Pym's laboratory. We last saw him in Amazing Spider-Man #80, but now he's working for Hydra.
Henry Pym finds the Hydra headquarters with the help of a tracking device attached to his stolen notes. Together with the ant-sized Hulk they defeat Hydra. Then the Hulk changes back to Bruce Banner.
This is a mistake. Henry Pym shouldn't be afraid of being squashed by a shoe, because he retains his full strength when he shrinks to Ant-Man. He should just punch the shoe away.
Bruce Banner shrinks even more and is lost.
I haven't been able to read the letters page, but I assume it's an apology for the action on the cover not matching what happens in the story. That happened a few times in the 1970's, though not as drastically as here. The cover was usually drawn about three months before the comic itself for advertisement purposes. Sometimes the artist didn't know exactly what would happen, or it could even have been that the writer changed his mind about what he would write. That's probably what they wrote on the letters page.
Captain America and the Falcon #152
Title: Terror in the Night!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Sal Buscema
Villain: Scorpion, Mr. Hyde, Boss Morgan
Regulars: Sharon Carter, Nick Fury, Countess Valentina, Sgt. Muldoon
It's becoming a regular theme that Captain America and the Falcon work on different cases, not knowing that they're related. Captain America is trying to find out where Mister Hyde is keeping Sharon Carter prisoner. The Falcon stops a truck with stolen chemicals. The thieves tell him they're working for a gang boss called Morgan. The Falcon goes to Morgan, and Morgan tells him he stole the chemicals for Mister Hyde. It's a small world.
And they find Mister Hyde. Easy.
Captain America and the Falcon defeat the Scorpion and Mister Hyde.
I showed a page of Roy Thomas' romance sub-plot in this month's Avengers story, so here's a full page of Gerry Conway's romance sub-plot. Nick Fury was only so hard on Captain America in Captain America #149 because he thought Captain America was flirting with his girl, Countess Valentina. Actually, Valentina was flirting with him, because Nick was making out with Laura Brown. Nick Fury is the hypocrite (in his inner monologue), because he's the one who was playing in both ball parks, as we saw in the last few issues of Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD.
Nick Fury is a troubled man. And this is a well written page by Gerry Conway.
Sgt. Muldoon is facing suspension because of an indiscretion in his past.
Thor #202
Title: None dare stand against Ego-Prime
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: John Buscema
Villain: Karnilla, Ego Prime
Regulars: Odin, Balder, Sif, Hildegarde, Heimdall, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg
Guests: Tana Nile
The epic battle continues. Or is it just beginning? Ego-Prime, who was a crystalline figure until now, has become a giant, and he calls himself Ego, like the planet from which he was formed. The combined might of Thor and his comrades isn't enough to defeat him. Ego-Prime wants to destroy all life on Earth, because he considers it unworthy to exist.
Karnilla begs the Grand Vizier to ask Odin to intervene, but Odin doesn't answer. He's busy playing chess.
Heimdall and the dwarf Kamorr have been sent to New York by Odin to find a youngster called Jackson Kimbal. I'm sure there's a reason.
Daredevil #90
Title: The Sinister Secret of Project Four!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Gene Colan
Regulars: Black Widow, Ivan, Danny French (flashback)
Both Daredevil and the Black Widow are having random panic attacks, as you can see in the beautiful triple splash page. Gene Colan is magnificent. Natasha thinks that it has something to do with Danny French.
Matt Murdock and Ivan want to know about Project Four, so Natasaha tells them a few snippets. It all happened when she first came to America in 1964, before she met Iron Man in Tales Of Suspense #52, Danny French was her contact in the USA. Project Four was a scientific facility where they stole a globe that's stronger than a dozen H-Bombs. Danny still has it.
Hero For Hire #2
Title: Vengeance is mine!
Writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Diamondback (Willis Stryker)
Regulars: Noah Burstein, Claire Temple, David Griffith
Luke Cage rents his first office for his Hero For Hire business. It's upstairs in a cinema building.
Hey! Look what the woman at the cash desk is reading! Everyone likes a good romance story. Women admit it openly, men read the stories in private.
Luke meets a nurse called Claire Temple who offers to treat his wounds after he's been shot. Well, they're just bruises, because bullets can't penetrate his skin. She shares a clinic with Dr. Noah Burstein, the man who gave Luke his powers in prison. Luke is an escaped convict, but Dr. Burstein won't give him away.
Luke Cage fights with Diamondback, who accidentally blows himself up with one of his own weapons. So now he's dead. Seemingly.
Astonishing Tales #13
Title: Man-Thing!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Villain: AIM
Regulars: Barbara Morse, Paul Allen
Guests: Man-Thing
Ka-Zar is afraid when Man-Thing approaches him. Then he becomes calm. He's faced other threats in the past. Man-Thing touches him, and he doesn't burn. This establishes that only those who feel fear burn when Man-Thing touches them.
The AIM agents shoot Man-Thing, and Ka-Zar climbs out of the pit. Zabu arrives and the AIM agents flee. Ka-Zar helps Paul Allen, Bobbi Morse and the others in their team pull Man-Thing out of the pit. He's injured, but not dead.
Ka-Zar finds the underground AIM headquarters. Paul Allen is AIM's section leader! Man-Thing breaks in. When he touches Paul, he dies. Everyone except Man-Thing leaves the AIM base. Man-Thing, who's obviously more intelligent than he seems, pulls a self-destruct lever, destroying the base and killing himself. Or does he survive? Oh come on, by now you should know about deaths in Marvel comics!
Ka-Zar and Bobbi head back to civilisation.
Non-Canon comics published this month:
Conan the Barbarian #17 (Roy Thomas, Gil Kane)
Our Love Story #18 (Joy Jackson, Jim Mooney)
Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen #2 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Rawhide Kid #102 (Larry Lieber, Larry Lieber)
Outlaw Kid #10 (Mike Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Fear #9 (Mimi Gold, Bill Everett)
Note: The first eight issues of Fear were reprint comics. Fear #9 contains a new horror story written by Mimi Gold. This is the last issue of Fear.
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