Fantastic Four #133
Title: Thundra at Dawn!
Writer: Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway
Artist: Ramona Fradon
Fantastic Four: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Medusa
Villain: Frightful Four (Wizard, Trapster, Sandman, Thundra)
Regulars: Alicia Masters
Cameos: Luke Cage, David Griffith, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk
What's happened? After two months of correct spelling, Fantastic Four has become a comix magazine again. Ugh! Where's Stan Lee when we need him?
The Frightful Four returns after last being seen in Fantastic Four #130. Thundra wants to challenge the Thing as the world's strongest man again. Didn't anyone tell her about the Hulk? She wants the fight to be in Shea Stadium in Queens at dawn on January 4th, so that everyone can see her.
In the fight Thundra has the upper hand. Reed Richards fires a ray at him to make him turn back into Ben Grimm for a short while, maybe a minute. Thundra refuses to deliver the finishing blow when her enemy is so weak.
The guest artist, Ramona Fradon, worked mostly for DC Comics. This was her only work for Marvel until 35 years later.
The Incredible Hulk #162
Title: Spawn of the Flesh-Eater!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Villain: Wendigo (Paul Cartier)
Regulars: General Ross, Major Talbot, Betty Ross
The Hulk wanders through the woods of Canada. He meets a woman who asks him to find her brother Paul. She thinks he's been captured by a monster called Wendigo. The Hulk fights Wendigo, but then he finds out that Paul himself is Wendigo.
Amazing Spider-Man #119
Title: The Gentleman's Name is Hulk
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: John Romita
Regulars: J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Ned Leeds, Aunt May, Harry Osborn, Norman Osborn
Guests: Hulk, General Ross
This comic's events are intertwined with Incredible Hulk #162. The beginning takes place before the first pages of this month's Hulk comic, while the later part takes place after the Hulk comic.
Peter Parker visits his Aunt May, who's happy looking after Doctor Octopus' mansion. He intercepts a telegram asking her to go to Canada.
It's highly unusual for Marvel to reveal an exact street address. Anna Watson lives at Apartment 5, 124 24th Street, Queens, NY. Yes, I've already checked out the building with Google Streetview. I couldn't resist.
Peter Parker wants to go to Canada to investigate, but when he hears about the Hulk being on a rampage in Quebec it's an additional incentive. He promises J. Jonah Jameson he'll bring back photos of Spider-Man battling the Hulk.
The Hulk is attempting to destroy the Maskattawan Dam. Spider-Man tries to stop him, and they both fall into the water.
Daredevil and the Black Widow #98
Title: Let there be death!
Writer: Gerry Conway, Steve Gerber
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Dark Messiah
Daredevil fights and defeats the three men who are assisting the Dark Messiah. When he tells the Dark Messiah that he's the young street acrobat he saw last issue, he loses his powers. It's a disappointing conclusion.
Avengers #110
Title: And now Magneto!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Don Heck
Avengers: Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Black Panther, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America
Villain: Magneto, Piper
Guests: Hawkeye, Ivan, Crystal, Lockjaw (flashback), Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman
Another great story from Steve Englehart!
Quicksilver reveals to his fellow Avengers that he's still alive and intends to marry Crystal. The Scarlet Witch says that she intends to marry the Vision, but her brother forbids it.
An unknown assailant has defeated the X-Men. The Avengers go to the school in Westchester, where they're defeated by Magneto and Piper. We last saw Magneto in Amazing Adventures #10 and Piper in X-Men #62. Piper has brought some dinosaurs from Ka-Zar's Savage Land with him.
Magneto has a new power, mind control. As if he weren't strong enough already!
Captain America and the Falcon #160
Title: Enter: Solarr!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Villain: Solarr (Silas King)
Regulars: Sharon Carter, Leila Taylor
I wonder if Steve Englehart was called into Stan Lee's office when he wrote this story (and the one before it). Captain America is one of Marvel's classic super-heroes, possibly the most iconic hero of all, and comics have been written about him since 1941. Now Steve Englehart has changed the character by giving him super-strength. This is a significant change to the character. Maybe Stan Lee wasn't Captain America's original creator, but he began to write comics about him only a few months later, so he's always been closely associated with him.
Captain America faces a man called Solarr, who harnesses the power of the Sun. He defeats him without the help of the Falcon, which creates ill feelings between the two heroes. The Falcon feels like he's no longer needed.
This page is shocking. Was it really permissible to write/draw something like this under the auspices of the Comics Code Authority? Maybe people died off-panel in the past, but this is the first time a Marvel comic has portrayed the death of innocent bystanders in detail.
Hero For Hire #8
Title: Crescendo!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Doctor Doom
Regulars: Claire Temple
Doctor Doom hires Luke Cage to capture or destroy four intelligent robots that have left Latveria and gone to America. Luke Cage destroys them all, but Doctor Doom leaves America without paying.
I find this out of character for Doctor Doom. He's a man of honour, so I would have expected him to pay.
Thor #210
Title: The Hammer and the Hellfire!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: John Buscema
Villain: Ulik
Ulik, who we last saw in Thor #173, wants revenge for his defeat by Thor. He devises a plan to steal Thor's hammer. While Thor is sleeping, Trolls carry him into their kingdom. Ulik attacks Thor, and while they're fighting a magnet made of the same metal as Thor's hammer pulls it away. Thor defeats Ulik, even without his hammer, and he leaps into an abyss to retrieve it. Will he survive?
This is another dull story. Gerry Conway does his best, but he has no feeling for Thor.
Iron Man #57
Title: Strike!
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Mandarin, Unicorn
Regulars: Pepper Hogan
The workers are on strike at Stark Industries, not because they want more money, but because they claim Tony Stark is in allegiance with foreign Communist governments. Iron Man challenges the union leader, and he discovers that it's the Mandarin, who we last saw in Amazing Adventures #4. In that issue his rings were taken and buried by Black Bolt, but in an extended flashback we find out the alien origin of the rings and how the Mandarin managed to retrieve them.
This is the first ever description of the individual rings. I hope that future writers won't get them wrong.
And this is a picture of all ten rings in the box.
Iron Man and the Mandarin battle. Then the Mandarin summons his ally, the Unicorn, who we last saw in Iron Man #16.
Sub-Mariner #60
Title: The Invasion of New York!
Writer: Bill Everett, Steve Gerber
Artist: Sam Kweskin
Regulars: Vashti, Tamara
Villain: Lorvex
Namor lacks the resolve to lead Atlantis into battle, so Vashti calls on Lorvex to assemble an army. On Namor's instructions, the battle is only to continue until Tamara has been freed.
Lorvex defies Namor. After freeing Tamara he mounts a full scale attack on New York. Namor defeats him and throws him into the sea.
Namor takes the crown of Atlantis back that he gave up in Sub-Mariner #38.
Defenders #5
Title: World without end?
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Defenders: Doctor Strange, Sub-Mariner, Hulk, Valkyrie
Villain: Omegatron
Guests: Namorita
Valkyrie walks the streets of New York, naively unaware of the effect she's having on the men around her. One man drops an ornament. Another man turns his head, forgetting which way he's walking. A driver stops his car to have a closer look. Other men stand outside their houses or look out of windows.
A jealous wife tells her husband to stop staring. A policeman stands gaping with his stick quivering in his hand. A taxi driver takes his eyes off the traffic. Does he crash into the back of another car? Probably.
Valkyrie is thinking about her need of companionship. Doctor Strange suggests that she seek out Sub-Mariner and the Hulk and gives her magic crystals to locate them. First she finds Sub-Mariner. He disappears in front of her eyes, so she goes to look for the Hulk, accompanied by the (supposedly) 18-year-old Namorita. The Hulk also disappears in front of her. She tracks them down with the help of the crystals. They've been captured by Yandroth's doomsday machine, the Omegatron, that we saw in Marvel Feature #1. In six minutes the timer will expire, and every atomic weapon on Earth will explode simultaneously.
This is the first time I've seen a letterer named in the body of the text. Way to go, Charlotte Jetter!
The Omegatron has taken control of Sub-Mariner and the Hulk, so they fight against Valkyrie. The six minutes run out. The Omegatron prepares to detonate the atomic devices. To satisfy Yandroth's vanity it has to speak Yandroth's name first, but Valkyrie destroys it.
In this issue we find out that Valkyrie now uses the Black Knight's mystical sword. That wasn't stated in the text of last issue, but we can see that this happened from the pictures.
Warlock #5
Title: The Day of the Death Birds!
Writer: Ron Goulart
Artist: Gil Kane
Villain: Rex Carpenter
Regulars: High Evolutionary
The guest writer Ron Goulart starts the story in a unique way, something that none of Marvel's writers have done before now. There's a preliminary splash page...
then a page of story...
and finally the real splash page on page three.
Adam Warlock was depressed after the death of his young friend Eddie, so he withdrew into his cocoon in the Mojave Desert. It's not stated for how long, but it was probably a few months. Rex Carpenter has now been elected the American president. The High Evolutionary wakes Warlock from his sleep.
An underground bomb test causes tremors along the San Andreas fault. Warlock's intervention prevents the damage being too much. He's aided by Counter-Earth's version of Victor Von Doom, a peaceful scientist. Rex Carpenter gives a televised message, calling Warlock the biggest danger to mankind.
The Cat #3
Title: From far beneath the Mirror of the Moon!
Writer: Linda Fite
Artist: Paty Greer
Villain: Commander Kraken
That's a weird title for this story. Does it come from a poem?
Greer Grant investigates strange sonar signals she hears in the water. She's captured by men who claim to be working for the US government. While she's trapped, their ship is captured by Commander Kraken, who we last saw in Sub-Mariner #27. She overcomes Kraken and his pirates. The ship's crew are thankful. As she departs, she sees the ship taking off into space, and she realises they were aliens.
Shanna the She-Devil #3
Title: The Moon of the Fear-Bulls
Writer: Carole Seuling
Artist: Ross Andru
Shanna finds a lost tribe of Minoans who fled from Greece thousands of years ago. They're being suppressed by a dictator who uses genetically modified bulls to slay them. Shanna defeats him.
Marvel Spotlight #9
Title: The snakes crawl at night
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Tom Sutton
Villain: Snake Dance, Satan
Regulars: Roxanne Simpson
Ghost Rider falls to his death in Copperhead Canyon.
Or does he? He crawls to his feet, and Satan appears to him. Satan will not let him die.
Snake Dance offers Roxanne Simpson as a sacrifice. Ghost Rider defeats Snake Dance, but Roxanne has been bitten by snakes, so he rides away with her.
Adventure Into Fear #13
Title: Where worlds collide!
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Val Mayerik
Regulars: Jennifer, Andy
Welcome to Val Mayerik, the new regular artist for Man-Thing. After drawing a few non-canon comics, this is his first notable work for Marvel. In the coming years he will specialise in drawing Marvel's horror oriented titles.
Andy and Jennifer's grandfather is the leader of a cult that believes the nearby swamp is a crossroad of realities, and the Man-Thing is its protector. A demon possesses their friend Jaxon. The demon takes Jennifer and her family into another dimension, followed by the Man-Thing. Man-Thing meets the Nether-Spawn that he battled in Adventure Into Fear #11. It now calls itself Thog. After a brief battle, the Man-Thing and the others are transported back to the swamp. Jennifer's grandfather reveals that she has a mystic connection with the Man-Thing.
Astonishing Tales #17
Title: Target: Ka-Zar!
Writer: Mike Friedrich
Artist: Dan Adkins
Villain: Gemini, Plunderer, Gog
Regulars: Barbara Morse
Guests: Nick Fury
After stopping a robbery in a restaurant, Ka-Zar and Barbara Morse are invited to the SHIELD helicarrier. On board is Damien Link, who is periodically possessed by his brother Joshua. We met them in Astonishing Tales #8, but what we didn't read in that comic is that together they make up Gemini, the Zodiac member that we met in Avengers #72.
Gemini steals SHIELD's new super-soldier serum and escapes on a plane. Ka-Zar hitches a ride. When they land Ka-Zar is confronted by Gemini's partner, the Plunderer, who we last saw in Marvel Super-Heroes #19. Also present is Gog, who seemingly died in Amazing Spider-Man #104.
This month Marvel launches a new fan club, FOOM, which stands for Friends Of Ol' Marvel. This is a replacement for the Merry Marvel Marching Society, which was launched in February 1965. I don't know what the reason was behind ending the MMMS. Maybe it was to celebrate the beginning of Marvel's Phase Two, which began in September 1972. Maybe it was just a ploy to make more money from the fans. Whichever it is, I'm jealous of the fans who signed up and received all the fantastic free gifts.
Non-Canon comics published this month:
Marvel Team-Up #8 (Gerry Conway, Jim Mooney)
Doc Savage #4 (Steve Englehart, Ross Andru)
Conan the Barbarian #25 (Roy Thomas, Barry Smith)
Combat Kelly and his Deadly Dozen #6 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Outlaw Kid #15 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Gunhawks #4 (Gary Friedrich, Syd Shores)
Journey Into Mystery #4 (Ron Goulart, Gene Colan)
Supernatural Thrillers #3 (Roy Thomas, Gil Kane)
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