Avengers #129
Title: Bid tomorrow goodbye!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Avengers: Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman
Villain: Kang, Rama-Tut
Regulars: Mantis, Agatha Harkness, Jarvis
Kang has returned to the 20th Century, called by the appearance of a star over Avengers Mansion. Kang defeats the Avengers, then tell them that it's the Dawn Star. It heralds the coming of the Celestial Madonna. Her child will be the Chosen One, and her mate will be the mightiest man in the universe. That's some heavy religious stuff from Steve Englehart.
The historical records in Kang's 41st Century don't say who the Celestial Madonna is, but it has to be someone who was beneath the star when it appeared, either Scarlet Witch, Mantis or Agatha Harkness, so Kang takes these three women prisoner. He takes the male Avengers as well, to power his Macrobots. He leaves the Swordsman behind, because he's too weak to be useful.
Agatha Harkness appears to Swordsman and leads him to the other Avengers. They're in a pyramid in Egypt. Swordsman breaks into the pyramid. He's about to kill Kang, when he's stopped by Rama-Tut. Isn't be supposed to be Kang's past self? We don't have to wait to find out, because the story continues in this month's Giant-Size Avengers #2.
Giant-Size Avengers #2
Title: A Blast from the Past!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Dave Cockrum
Avengers: Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman, Hawkeye
Villain: Kang, Rama-Tut
Regulars: Mantis, Agatha Harkness, Jarvis
Hawkeye is in New York and returns to Avengers Mansion. While's looking at the Dawn Star hovering over the Mansion, Swordsman and Rama-Tut arrive.
Kang sends three macrobots, powered by Vision, Iron Man and Thor, to assassinate world rulers to start World War Three.
Hawkeye and Swordsman defeat the macrobot powered by the Vision.
Hawkeye, Swordsman and Vision defeat the macrobot powered by Iron Man.
Hawkeye, Swordsman, Vision and Iron Man defeat the macrobot powered by Thor.
Rama-Tut reveals that he's Kang's future self. On reaching the age of 60 he realised that there's no satisfaction in conquering. He returned to Egypt and became Rama-Tut again, ruling benevolently. After 10 years of rule he knew that he had to stop his former self's attack on the Celestial Madonna. To do this, he had himself embalmed and slept for 7000 years, waiting to be woken up by Swordsman.
The two Kangs fight in an amazing battle.
Kang becomes aware that Mantis is the Celestial Madonna. Kang says that if he can't have her, nobody else will. He tries to kill her, but Swordsman defends her and is shot dead. Kang and Rama-Tut fall into the Time Sphere and disappear together.
The Avengers mourn their fallen comrade.
Sal Buscema isn't a bad artist, but I think Dave Cockrum was the right man for this issue.
Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3
Title(s): Where lurks death ride the Four Horsemen!
There shall come Pestilence
And War shall take the land!
And the children shall hunger!
All in the Valley of Death!
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Rich Buckler
Fantastic Four: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Medusa
Villain: Four Horsemen (Pestilence, War, Famine, Death)
That's a beautiful triple splash page!
This is a giant-size Fantastic Four adventure written by Marv Wolfman, instead of the regular writer Gerry Conway. Gerry is credited with co-plotting, which probably just means that he gave advice on how to fit the story into the continuity of the main comic. It obviously takes places after Fantastic Four #150, or to put it more accurately after page 5 of Avengers #128.
This is a 30-page story divided into five parts with individual titles. That's a prologue plus one part for each of the Four Horsemen. Despite being modelled after the Biblical figures, they seem to be aliens, because they talk of themselves as the representatives of a race that once ruled the Earth, until they were driven out by another race.
The Fantastic Four face each of the Horsemen as they wreck havoc in different countries. Each of the Horsemen seems to be all-powerful, but they disappear in the middle of battles. Reed Richards surmises that they were expelled by a protection mechanism left in place by the race which drove them out.
Poor Ben is subjected once more to Clobberus Interruptus. Reed doesn't let him finish his battle cry.
At the end of the battle, Ben complains that he didn't get to use his battle cry, and nobody even noticed. Hey, Ben, I noticed, and you have my full sympathy. I'll say it for you, if it's not copyrighted: It's clobbering time!
Giant-Size Man-Thing #2
Title(s): Of Monsters and Men!
The High Cost of Vengeance!
Man-Thing's New York Adventure!
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: John Buscema
Guests: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Tony Stark
This is a 33-page story, split into three chapters with individual titles.
Franklin Armstrong Schist was killed by Man-Thing in Man-Thing #8. Only we, the readers, know what happened. To the rest of the world he's a missing person. His wife Vivian comes to visit the swamp, looking for clues. When she sees Man-Thing she immediately knows that he killed her husband, so she wants revenge. She offers a million dollars to anyone who can kill Man-Thing. Dr. Dane Gavin of the New York Ecological Museum says he can trap Man-Thing, but he won't kill him unless his guilt can be proved.
Man-Thing is captured and brought to New York, where he's held in a fake swamp. Everything goes well until he's put on display for paying visitors. They're scared of him, and their fear gives him the strength to break out. The people flee, and Man-Thing staggers into the street, finally collapsing into a fountain. Dr. Gavin is convinced of his innocence and transports him back to the swamp.
Judging by the last two panels of the comic, Dr. Gavin sounds like he'll become a recurring character. Unfortunately, we never see him again.
Captain America and the Falcon #179
Title: Slings and Arrows!
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artist: Sal Buscema
Villain: Morgan, Space Phantom (flashback)
Regulars: Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter
Guests: Hawkeye
Cameos: Rick Jones, Thor, Vision, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Hulk, Valkyrie
Steve Rogers is enjoying his new civilian life. He has to fulfil the unpleasant task of telling Peggy Carter he no longer loves her, but he doesn't go as far as to tell her that he now loves her niece Sharon. Coward!
Steve's attacked by a villain called the Golden Archer, who threatens to kill him the fourth time they meet. After finally defeating him, the Golden Archer unmasks himself and reveals that he's really Hawkeye. He's trying to tempt Steve to become Captain America again.
The Incredible Hulk #181
Title: And now the Wolverine!
Writer: Len Wein
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Villain: Wendigo (Paul Cartier), Wendigo (Georges Baptiste), Wolverine
Wolverine, aka Weapon X, interrupts the battle between Wendigo and the Hulk. First he assists the Hulk in defeating Wolverine. Then he attacks the Hulk.
Meanwhile, Marie Cartier continues her efforts to free her brother Paul from the Wendigo curse. She uses gas to knock the Hulk and Wolverine unconscious. This also turns the Hulk back into Bruce Banner. When Marie's boyfriend, Georges Baptiste, sees that the Hulk is really a man, he refuses to assist her any more. He carries out the ritual on himself, curing Paul Cartier but becoming the Wendigo in his place.
By the way, why does the cover call Wolverine a super-hero? In this comic he has all the traits of a villain. I think Len Wein is giving away his future plans for the character.
Man-Thing #11
Title: Dance to the Murder
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Mike Ploog
Regulars: Richard Rory
Richard Rory is sitting in the swamp moping, when a woman in a ballet costume runs by. She's Sybil mills and she's fleeing from a group of masked men. They want to kidnap her, even though she doesn't come from a rich family. When Man-Thing finally stops them, they unmask, and they all have badly deformed faces. Their leader is Sybil's brother. They were burned in a napalm blast in Vietnam, and now they can't find work in America. The kidnapping is intended to draw attention to the problems facing war vets.
Daredevil #115
Title: A Quiet Night in the Swamp!
Writer: Steve Gerber
Artist: Bob Brown
Villain: Gladiator (flashback), Death-Stalker
Regulars: Black Widow, Ivan, Foggy Nelson, Candace Nelson
Guests: Man-Thing (flashback), Richard Rory (flashback)
Daredevil frees Foggy and Candace Nelson from Death-Stalker. Daredevil follows Death-Stalker to a chemical plant, where Death-Stalker intends to sell the notes written by Ted Sallis. Daredevil pushes Death-Stalker off a platform, and he falls into a vat of acid. Then he takes Ted Sallis' notes and throws them into the vat, destroying any evidence the FBI had against Candace Nelson.
Master Of Kung Fu #22
Title: A Fortune of Death!
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Paul Gulacy
Villain: Fu Manchu
Regulars: Denis Nayland Smith, Black Jack Tarr
Shang Chi visits a Chinese restaurant. The waiters are all assassins working for his father. At least they let him enjoy his meal before attacking him. They don't deserve a tip.
After this, Denis Nayland Smith and Black Jack Tarr tell him that Fu Manchu is planning something big. They go ahead, and they're captured. They're carried away in a helicopter. Shang Chi hitches a ride. The helicopter flies to Mount Rushmore, where Fu Manchu intends to blow up the mountain. Shang Chi stops the explosion just in time.
Amazing Spider-Man #138
Title: Madness means the Mindworm!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Ross Andru
Villain: Mindworm
Regulars: Flash Thompson
Peter Parker's apartment was wrecked in Amazing Spider-Man #136, but at least it's still somewhere to go at night. Not any more. His landlord throws him out, as if he's the one to blame. (It was actually Harry Osborn's apartment, and Peter was allowed to stay there for free).
After ringing all his friends, Peter asks Flash Thompson if he can stay with him. He agrees immediately. That's a pleasant surprise. Flash used to bully him in school. Peter says that he's known Flash for six years. It's actually been 12 years since we saw them together in Amazing Fantasy #15, but I wouldn't call this a mistake. Everyone knows that time passes slower in comics than in the real world. Apologists have devised a sliding timescale to explain the passage of time in the comics. I don't like this theory. It conflicts with current events shown in the comics, such as the first Moon landing and the Watergate affair. I prefer just to wink at the time discrepancies and ignore them.
Flash lives in Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Rockaway, NY. I only knew it from the Ramones song, and I thought it was a nickname, not a real beach. Now I know better.
There's a mutant who lives in Rockaway called the Mindworm. He can control people, and he feeds on their mental energy. Shortly after Peter moves into Flash's apartment he calls all of the island's residents to his house one night. Only Peter Parker isn't controlled, because of his strong will power. Mindworm makes the people attack him, but Spider-Man fights his way through them and defeats Mindworm.
The story is okay, but not up to the quality of the recent Spider-Man stories.
Fantastic Four #152
Title: A world of madness made!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Rich Buckler
Fantastic Four: Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Medusa
Villain: Mahkizmo
Regulars: Thundra, Susan Richards, Franklin Richards
Thundra saves Reed Richards from falling to his death. She returns to fight Mahkizmo. The two are transported into his future. Over the next ten hours, Reed Richards modifies Doctor Doom's time machine so that it can fly sideways from one parallel universe into another. That's pretty impressive, considering he's only just found out that parallel universes exist. He flies the time machine into the future, then sideways into Machus. That's even more impressive, considering he doesn't know (1) what year he's travelling to or (2) where the Machus universe is located.
The Thing doesn't bother about scientific questions. He just yells his battle cry: It's clobbering time!
Reed Richards, Johnny Storm and the Thing are defeated by a will-sapping ray and imprisoned. Mahkizmo invites Medusa to spend the night with him as his lover, but she obviously has a stronger will, because she resists him and knocks him out with a single blow. Maybe he was defenceless because all his blood had flown to one part of his body?
Instead of freeing her team mates, she leaves in the time and universe travelleing machine, despite not knowing where she's going nor having been instructed in how the machine works.
There's too much in this story that's way to difficult to believe. It's a bad story. This comic doesn't deserve the label "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine".
Thor #229
Title: Where darkness dwells, dwell I!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Rich Buckler
Villain: unnamed demon
Regulars: Odin, Sif, Krista, Hercules
Thor and Hercules are relaxing on Earth after their recent battles. Hercules encounters a man who wants to die, first speaking the words that he's been told that when he dies he will live. That sounds like standard Protestant theology to me, but Detective Blumkenn of the NYPD tells him that there have been a series of strange suicides recently.
Thor goes to the hospital to visit Krista, who can now leave. Hercules goes to investigate the suicides. He's attacked by a strange demon that seems to be made of darkness. He staggers back to the hospital, muttering the words "Where darkness dwells, dwell I".
Tomb of Dracula #26
Title: Where lurks the Chimera
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Gene Colan
Regulars: Frank Drake, Taj Nittal, Sheila Whittier
Kills: Six men (total 38)
Embraces: None (total 9)
David Eshcol's father is about to connect the three parts of a statue that he's been seeking for thenty years. Before he can do so, thieves break in, kill his father and steal the statue. David manages to grab one piece, the tail, before they leave.
Dracula is also searching for the statue, because he knows it has great power. It's called the Chimera, and it was created in Atlantis, before Atlantis sank into the sea. Over the ages the Chimera appeared several times, accompanied by war and slaughter, until it disappeared again.
Dracula flies to find the stolen parts of the statue. He enters a building which is a trap. He's sealed in a room which rapidly fills with holy water.
Werewolf by Night #23
Title: The Murderer is a Maniac!
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Don Perlin
Villain: Atlas
Regulars: Buck Cowan
Jack Russell is released on bail for $5000, paid by Buck Cowan.
Jack and Buck sit discussing Steve Rand, the actor now calling himself Atlas. He was badly burnt while making a film. Now he wants revenge on everyone involved with the film. That includes Buck himself, who was the screenwriter.
Atlas breaks into Buck's house shortly before the Sun sets. Jack turns into the Werewolf, but he's not strong enough to defeat Atlas. Buck shoots him in the back with a silver bullet intended to be used on Jack if he got out of control.
The charges against Jack are dropped.
The Frankenstein Monster #13
Title: All pieces of fear!
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Val Mayerik
Villain: Jigsaw Monster
Regulars: Ralph Caccone
The Frankenstein Monster is returning to New York after his adventure in Giant-Size Werewolf #2. He wanders round the streets of the city and gets into fights with those who consider him ugly. He breaks into a book store and steals a copy of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".
Steve Caccone is working on creating life. His wife finds this disgusting. She tips all his chemicals into the vessel containing his still lifeless creature. This awakens it.
Steve's son Ralph is a gang member. When he sees the Frankenstein Monster carrying the book, he realises who he is and takes him back home to meet his father. When they arrive they find him dead with the creature standing over him.
Iron Man #71
Title: Battle: Tooth and Yellow Claw!
Writer: Mike Friedrich
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Yellow Claw, Black Lama
Regulars: Roxanne Gilbert, Happy Hogan, Pepper Hogan
Iron Man defeats various cyborgs and robots that the Yellow Claw has created. He returns and sees Black Lama talking to Yellow Claw. He attacks Black Lama, as the more dangerous opponent, but the two villains flee.
Happy Hogan returns to work for Tony Stark.
Captain Marvel #35
Title: Deadly Genesis!
Writer: Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich
Artist: Alfredo Alcala
Villain: Annihilus, Living Laser (robot)
Regulars: Rick Jones, Carol Danvers, Supreme Intelligence
Guests: Ant-Man, Wasp
Captain Marvel is lying conscious after inhaling nerve gas. He's unable to swap places with Rick Jones in the Negative Zone. Annihilus threatens Rick Jones. Then Captain Marvel takes his place, because the three hour time limit has expired. Captain Marvel is still unconscious, so Annihilus drags him to his laboratory.
A few hours later, Rick Jones falls into a trance and finds himself floating bodiless above Captain Marvel. The Kree's Supreme Intelligence tells him that whenever Captain Marvel is unconscious he can control his body. Neat. So Rick uses Captain Marvel's body like a puppet to fight with Annihilus. He wins the fight when Annihilus explodes in Captain Marvel's photon trail.
The Living Laser tries to destroy Rick Jones while he's lying comatose. Ant-Man and the Wasp, who happen to be in the area, fight against him. When the Wasp fires her sting at him he short-circuits and collapses. It wasn't the real Living Laser, last seen in Avengers #79, it was a robot.
Carol Danvers says that there's an antidote for the nerve gas. Rick Jones discreetly summons Captain Marvel back from the Negative Zone, and he's cured.
Ka-Zar #6
Title: Waters of Darkness, River of Doom!
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: John Buscema
Mike Friedrich has been replaced by Gerry Conway. When I read Gerry's name in the credits I groaned, but I'm somewhat relieved after reading the story. It's not too bad.
Ka-Zar saves a boy, Kem Harkus, who's being attacked by a pterodactyl. He says that his older brother Bar is leading a team to gain refuge on a monster that scarred his face years ago. Ka-Zar joins the team.
The Harkus brothers call the beast Behemoth, but Gerry Conway tells us it's a Tylosaurus. Bar Harkus dies in the fight, but Ka-Zar avenges him.
There seems to be a subtle Moby Dick reference in the story.
Marvel Premiere #19
Title: Death-Cult
Writer: Doug Moench
Artist: Larry Hama
Villain: Joy Meachum
Regulars: Colleen Wing, Lee Wing
Iron Fist leaves the building, unhappy that Joy Meachum doesn't believe he's not guilty of killing her father. She swears revenge.
Outside the building he's greeted by Colleen Wing. She takes him home to meet her father, Professor Lee Wing. He found out about K'Un-Lun and Danny Rand while carrying out excavations in northern India. He found a book which contains the secret of how to destroy K'Un-Lun, and the Cult of Kara Kai wants this book.
Danny still wants to make up with Joy Meachum, so he rings her to arrange a meeting. She sends him to an abandoned building, where assassins are waiting for him. He's almost overwhelmed, but the mysterious ninja once more appears and defends him.
Iron Fist reads a newspaper report that says he's wanted for murder.
Jungle Action #12
Title: Blood Stains on Virgin Snow!
Writer: Don McGregor
Artist: Billy Graham
Villain: Killmonger, King Cadaver, Sombre, Preyy
Regulars: Monica Lynne
Black Panther crosses the snow-covered mountains to invade Killmonger's layer. He's outmatched in the fight, and he's contemptuously thrown back out into the snow.
This is a beautiful two-page drawing by Billy Graham. The comic is excellent. I admit that I had to read it twice before I fully understood everything, but I have no complaints.
Non-canon comics published this month:
Savage Tales #7 (Gerry Conway, John Buscema)
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #6 (Denny O'Neill, George Perez)
Dracula Lives #9 (Doug Moench, Frank Robbins)
Tales of the Zombie #8 (Doug Moench, Mike Kaluta)
Haunt of Horror #4 (Tony Isabella, Enrique Romero)
Defenders #17 (Len Wein, Sal Buscema)
Marvel Team-Up #27 (Len Wein, Jim Mooney)
Marvel Two-In-One #6 (Steve Gerber, George Tuska)
Conan the Barbarian #44 (Roy Thomas, John Buscema)
Spidey Super-Stories #2 (Jean Thomas, Win Mortimer)
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