Jim Shooter's 1979 Dazzler Cartoon Treatment

Jim Shooter quietly released a bombshell on his blog this week. [I’ve got to hand it to Shooter, most comicbook writers, and artists have thus far been giving their personal papers to Universities where they unfortunately will probably only even be seen by a few people a year. Stan Lee’s papers are at the University of Wyoming, hardly a heavily visited area. Or worse, their papers are slowly mildewing in their garages or attics. I’ve long envisioned all of their papers in one Archive, run by me of course, but that’s just a personal fantasy.] Anyway, Shooter is sharing his stories and his archives through his blog. You should check it out!

A recent post told the story of his treatment for a Dazzler animated television Special and included the treatment as a pdf. It is well known that the Disco Dazzler (as she was originally called when disco was still “cool” in the late 70’s) was created with the intention of piggy-backing the character with a real life singer who would have a recording career as the Dazzler. Anyway, this treatment that fortunately never saw the light of day was chock full of celebrity voices: Cher, Donna Summers, KISS, The Village People, Rodney Dangerfield, Robin Williams, and Lenny and Squiggy.

The Dazzler was going to be voiced by Bo Derek. If you look at the issue of People magazine Shooter put on his blog you can see Derek's boyfriend is holding a stack of Marvel comics. Derek was studying up.

However, someone else would have done the singing, so why not just cast the singer as the voice too? Hollywood is so baffling; didn’t this cartoon already have enough marquee names?

The Dazzler is performing at a concert at the beginning of the cartoon, but other than that there are no musical numbers in Shooter’s treatment. But, considering it was meant to launch the Dazzler’s real life counterpart’s music career and was full of popular musical artist’s voices, I’m sure the first draft of the script would have been full of musical interludes.

Shooter didn’t write any jokes for Williams, Dangerfield or Lenny and Squiggy, but he did point out that Lenny and Squiggy’s jokes would not be funny until the end of the cartoon when the two characters would meet for the first time. Just what every special needs, characters who are constantly unfunny on purpose!

The cartoon was going to feature Marvel characters so people would know the Dazzler was from the Marvel Universe. The characters were Spider-man and a collection of random Avengers (Iron Man, Beast, Scarlet Witch, the Wasp and the Falcon).



The descriptions for the Avengers Shooter wrote into the treatment were written for someone who’d never seen a Marvel comic and were hilarious. Spider-man didn’t need to be introduced.

Iron Man- Secretly inventor Anthony Stark, who clad in solar-powered circuitized armor of his own design, is an invincible modern knight.

The Falcon- Whose rocket-powered wings give him the power of independent flight. He is actually Sam Wilson, a black teacher from Harlem.

The Scarlet Witch- Born Wanda Frank, she is a mutant, who with a gesture can cause disasters to occur. She is Eastern European, and has a rather formal bearing.

The Beast- Also a mutant, Hank McCoy is furry and bestial in powers and appearance, but extremely intelligent and erudite. He’s crazy.

The Wasp- Jan Van Dyne Pym was given a serum by her scientist-husband that enables her to shrink to insect size and sprout wings. She is an heiress, and very much a lovable scatterbrain.

Did I mention that nearly every character from Cher to Donna Summer, to KISS and The Village People were all going to have super powers of their own?

I don’t blame Casablanca Records for saying this treatment read more like a feature animated film because it was really ambitious, but in Shooter's defense he was only trying to use all the celebrity voice actors he’d been told to use. Given the enormous number of characters he was told to include in a half-hour show, I thought he did a decent job. But I am still very happy that soon after Shooter wrote this things changed at Casablanca Records and the Dazzler project died.

And the world had no idea the bullet it dodged until now. Mr. Shooter I don’t know if I want to thank you for releasing this or whether I wish you’d burned it. If you released it as a way of asking for forgiveness for this sin, I want you to know that I absolve and forgive you.

[The Spiderman and Dazzler drawing is by Tom Beland.]

World's Greatest Valentine's Day Card...

Just wanted to share the great Valentine's Day card my wife gave me. Thanks Babe, you're the greatest!

Thoughts on Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 4

Essential Doctor Strange Volume 4.

Having never read many issues of Doctor Strange me reviewing this collection is a bit like if I watched a random episode of Deadwood or the Wire or any other program with an ongoing plot I’m unfamiliar with; I can comment on what I saw, but I don’t know the background. So, if I’ve made wrong assumptions please forgive me.

The first thing up for discussion is magic according to the marvel universe. It just seems to be rather uniform. Every spell and counter spell is written in the Book of Vishanti. I’d say that’s pretty convenient. Can’t a learned sorcerer make up new spells? Also, I do not understand why the Vishanti are the most powerful Gods. Doctor Strange in this volume fights Nightmare, the Dweller-in-Darkness and the N’garai, but Strange wins because the Vishanti whom he draws power from just happen to be the most powerful force in all universes and realities. It doesn’t matter if Strange goes through a black mirror and into another dimension or if he travels into Dormammu’s Dark Dimension or Nightmare’s realm, the magic of the Vishanti prevails.

In fact, the magic of the Vishanti appears to be the only magic anywhere. Clea, Strange’s lover, who was the “firstborn of Orini, who is Suzerein to the dread Dormammu, ruler of my home dimension.” (Doctor Strange #45) My assumption would be that being from a dark dimension she would have some kick-ass black magic. I don’t want her to be evil or even a bad person, but it would just open up so many great storylines. Here is my idea: Clea was a bad person in her dimension. It’s not her fault she grew up in the dark dimension and had a skewed moral lessons. When Doctor Strange first came to her dimension and fought Dormammu she had a change of heart. Suddenly here was a man who believed in her and her potential for good when no one else would. She betrays Dormammu, helps Doctor Strange defeat him and then travels with Doctor Strange to his dimension. On Earth, Clea begins to train herself to use her black magic for good. She has powerful spells that she must use carefully in order to not permanently injure opponents. Since Doctor Strange is not familiar with black magic except for counter spells, Clea has much to teach him and in return Strange teaches Clea the magic of the Vishanti.

This idea is unfortunately not the reality of the comics I read, instead Clea is a novice sorceress who is mentoring with Strange. He calls her his protégé even though she seems at times to be a bit of a hopeless case. When she admits that she lacks any self-confidence in her abilities Doctor Strange says he’s never been more sure that she should be his protégé. Strange seems to me to be blinded by his love for her, he’d be better off with almost anyone else as his protégé: what about Illyana Rasputin (aka Magik) Colossus’ sister or heck with his astral projection skills I think Charles Xavier would be a better candidate for Strange’s protégé.

Later in that same issue Strange makes the more obvious attempt to boost Clea’s confidence. He is fighting a N’Garai, an Elder Demon God from another dimension in his basement. The demon has made Wong and two others into his servants and they are attacking Strange and Clea. Strange says “I know of a spell that can defeat this guy, it’s in the Book of Vishanti, I’ll go get it in astral form. You protect my body.” Okay, he is in his basement. All he and Clea have to do is make a strategic retreat upstairs. How is astral form any quicker? It’s not like he’s going to run into rush hour traffic trying to get upstairs in his body. And staying in his body has the advantage of not leaving his body completely helpless. It isn’t as if he knew Clea could handle Wong and the two other, on the page before he was having trouble fighting them. He recklessly risked his own life, his friends lives and probably the whole dimension just because his girlfriend was feeling a little down on herself.

Okay, moving along, so Clea doesn’t have any magic different from the Vishanti, but surely evil sorcerers and sorceresses in other dimensions have some different spells. Nope. When Doctor Strange fights Shialmar ( the self-appointed sorceress supreme in another dimension (issue 44) she throws crystals of Cyndriarr at Strange and he thinks wow that spell is so powerful I haven’t used it, but it’s obviously in the Book of Vishanti because he knows the counter spell. Aren’t there different branches of magic, so that maybe one sorcerer specializes in healing magic and another in dark magic? No, in the Marvel Universe everyone knows every spell because it’s all written in one book.

Speaking of different dimensions why is it that no matter what dimension or realm Doctor Strange finds himself in, the laws of physics are also a constant. I mean I understand that one of the theories of alternate dimensions postulates that the laws of physics would be a constant throughout every dimension in the multiverse and I can accept that. But you’re telling me that the realm of Nightmare or the realm of the Dweller-in-Darkness are basically no different than Earth? That’s boring! I want to see Strange walking or astral projecting through realms beyond my imagination. I want him exploring an M.C. Escher or Salvador Dali inspired world where up is down and down is up. And when he tries to cast Flames of Faltine it causes roses to appear in the hands of his opponents and so he has to cast a spell for roses and then the flames appear.

I know it’s just a comic and it was written for a young adult audience, but doesn’t Doctor Strange make it look insanely easy to be Sorcerer Supreme. He has all the answers in one book. If I’d only had to read one book in order to get my Master’s Degree in Library Science, that would have been sort of fishy right? You’d wonder if I’d be able to perform all my duties. And I’m just a librarian; Doctor Strange is the protector of the Universe!

The other thing that leads me to the conclusion that his job is easy is that he only ever uses a handful of spells. It doesn’t matter if he’s fighting a monster, another sorcerer, or some sort of God like entity, the same couple of spells will always get the job done. Here they are, I bet you can list them with me:

Crimson Bands of Cytorrak
Flames of Faltine
Cloak of Levitation
Agamotto’s Light of Truth
Bolt of Bedevilment
Images of Ikonn
Shield of Seraphim

Despite my complaints, I did enjoy these issues and I’ll try to keep it more positive if and when I comment on individual issues and storylines.

Spectacular Spider-Man 61-68 and Annual 3

Annual 3 "Dark Side of the Moon"

After the total disaster of Annual 2, I was frightened to read Annual 3. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was actually a good issue.

This was the final Man-Wolf issue since John Jameson was cured at the end of the issue. Just like Curt Conners gets cured at the end of every Lizard saga. However all kidding aside it does seem like this cure takes, at least for the rest of the Bronze Age.

Since this issue alluded to past adventures, I looked up Man-Wolf’s history and was surprised to find he starred in his own set of comics Creatures on the Loose 30-37, and Marvel Premiere 45-46. So in the end, it’s kind of sad that Man-Wolf was gone.



Issue 61 "By the Light of the Silvery Moonstone!"

I love the tagline on the cover of this issue “The Moonstone is a Harsh Mistress,” because it’s a play on the title of my favorite Heinlein book.

Anyway, this story begins with a neat little PSA. A kid is climbing down his apartment building on tied together bed sheets. This is his attempt to be like Spider-Man. But Spidey tells him the equivalent of “Don’t try this at home!” It sounds corny, but the real dialogue works.

Spider-Man then swings over to ESU where he gets into a fight with Moonstone. She gets away with one of Dr. Connor’s gizmos and hurts Marcy Kane on her way out. Peter decides the unconscious Kane needs CPR and when Marcy wakes up, suddenly she really kind of digs Petey.

I’d never read Moonstone’s origin before, she was a hooker for criminal Mastermind Dr. Faustus until she stole the original Moonstone’s power. Hooker to super villain, for some reason I see a Julia Roberts movie in there somewhere.

It’s always a nice sort of oddity to see Spidey go up against a woman. I wish his Rogues Gallery had more female opponents.

Issue 62 "Gold Fever"

This issue makes no sense. Peter Parker wrote an article about “The radiation absorption of precious metals” Parker’s mentor Dr. Sloan says, numerous financial institutions and even the government expressed an interest in the article because they wanted to know what would happen to gold in the event of a nuclear attack.

Okay, so far I can suspend my disbelief. Then these financial institutions, or maybe the Government, let Parker and ESU borrow an entire pallet of gold bars! And Peter proceeds to irradiate them.

Any experiment could have been done with merely an ounce of gold. There is no need for a pallet of gold except that the villain, Gold Bug wouldn’t be very cool if he stole an once of gold.

On his way out of the lab, Gold Bug sprays two security guards and Deb Whitman with gold dust which makes them statues, but Parker mixes an acid solution that “melts through gold, but won’t burn the skin underneath.” I think it’s the same formula as Coca Cola.

But Gold Bug as it turns out isn’t much of a reader, when he learned about the gold from a newspaper article he missed that whole irradiating the gold part. So he is unprepared when his gold starts poisoning people and then he’s “killed.”- The End.

Issue 63 "A Firebug"

The next issue is kind of sad. Spidey suspects that the Molten Man is back even though he seemed to have dead at the end of ASM 173. So Spidey tries to track down Harry Osborn and Liz Allen, now Liz Osborn. But he doesn’t have the right phone number so he calls Flash Thompson. Now, Flash was in practically every early issue of Spectacular, so it was sad to see him get only a few panels in this one. Then it was even sadder to hear that Harry and Liz got married off-screen, or I guess off-panel; even Flash didn’t go to the wedding.

It’s funny, Liz’s last Silver Age appearance was ASM 30 and Harry’s first was ASM 31, so the two didn’t know each other. So, it’s kind of unexpected them getting together, kind of like if Sue Richards married Foggy Nelson, or if Storm married the Black Panther (wait a minute…), but I digress.

Liz and Harry live in a cute little neighborhood in NJ, the kind of town you hear exists in NJ, but have never actually seen. They have a darling little house that is completely destroyed by the Molten Man and Spider-Man’s fight, but it’s okay because it brings unity to the little suburban neighborhood. As they work together dousing the Molten Man with water from their garden hoses they learn the true meaning of community.

This issue reminds me of that Tom Hanks movie “The Burbs.” What a great flick, rent it if you haven’t seen it.

Issue 64 “Cloak and Dagger”

This, the origin story of Cloak and Dagger, is dark and gritty, like great film noir. The B+W Essential actually enhanced this issue. Cloak and Dagger were two of several runaway children the mob found in the gutters of Manhattan. Cloak and Dagger were born from the ashes of a mob drug experiment, gone wrong. Cloak and Dagger exist for one purpose, revenge!

Spider-Man of course takes the view that the mobsters have to answer for their crimes through the legal system and that vigilantism makes Cloak and Dagger criminals themselves. But he is unable to convince them and unable to stop them.

By the Early 90s when I first started reading Spider-Man, Cloak and Dagger where just superhero buddies of Spidey and their darker nature had been toned way down.

Personally, I don’t see how Spider-Man could work with “heroes” of this ilk; the Punisher springs to mind. By working with them he is legitimizing them and lowering his own moral standards. If he believes it is wrong to act as judge, jury and executioner, then he cannot work with somebody who does. It’s a simple case of guilt by association. Hasn’t he ever heard the phrase “in order for evil to win all good has to do is nothing?” Surely, no on understands this better than Spider-Man who has been haunted for years by the fact that his inaction lead to his Uncle’s death.

In the past, though they have challenged him physically, Spider-Man has judged many people to be innocent of any crimes, the Prowler for an example. By that same token, Spider-Man has fought many true villains such as Doctor Octopus, but he has never tried to kill them. If he can make these moral distinctions, why doesn’t he realize that he must capture Cloak and Dagger or die trying, and must never assist them?

Issue 65 "the Heart is a Lonely Hunter"

Kraven is that rare Super-Villain that though tweaked in the head follows his own moral code that is not necessarily completely villainous.

Kraven perfected his mind and body so that he could subdue, without killing, even the most fearsome of beasts. However, he became bored when no creature that lived caused him any challenge. Then he heard about Spider-Man and instantly became obsessed with conquering this new foe. He might have had a shorter career if he’d become obsessed with the Thing or the Hulk.
Kraven is insane because he never seems to understand that Spider-Man is a human being, not an animal, (though someone from PETA would argue there is no difference).

He doesn’t understand that Spider-Man has a life outside of swinging around the streets of Manhattan on a webline. He’s an actual thinking and reasoning person that should enjoy the rights of any other man, but as far as Kraven is concerned Spider-Man is a lion or a gazelle that exists only to be subdued by the self-appointed, “World’s Greatest Hunter.”

But Kraven has a sense of honor and fair play. He wants to win against Spider-Man fair and square, so while he is willing to block Spidey’s spider-sense with loud drumming, he flies off the handle when his lover secretly shoots a psychotropic drug into Spidey’s foot.

To Kraven, this caused the hunt to be compromised and he’d have no honor from defeating Spider-Man this way, so he ends up helping Spider-Man, so that he’d have the opportunity for a proper fight another day.

I love the trippy drug induced view of the world from Spider-man’s drug-fueled perspective.


Issue 66 "Electro Will be Free"

(Another example of the word “Epic” appears as a neon light on this issue’s cover)

Electro has found a way to use his power to instantly draw power from any metal object. This issue really ramps up his power to a ridiculous level. I mean if Electro was able to absorb as much power as he seems to in this issue, Spider-Man wouldn’t have just been “shocked senseless” when he was hit by one of Electro’s blasts, Spider-Man would have been liquefied.

It’s a pretty decent issue; I can’t really fault it except that it fails to break any new ground.

Issue 67 "Boomerang the Killer who Keeps Coming Back!"

From page 1, you can tell that this issue is going to be a little different. Edward Hannigan’s layout is at times unique. I love the shot of Boomerang on the Daily Bugle’s roof.

Boomerang is another in this series of villains that Spider-Man just doesn’t take seriously. From the start he relentlessly slams Boomerang with jokes about his failed major league pitching career, while also pounding him with various punches and kicks.

After Spider-Man beats the tar out of him and disarms him of all his boomerangs, Kingpin’s goons corner him in an alley and point their Tommy guns at him. At this point, you actually feel pretty sorry for him and are happy that Spidey throws him a ‘rang at the last second, so he can easily disarm the goons.

You don’t feel bad that Boomerang gets arrested, but you’re glad he wasn’t killed.

Issue 68 "Hell Hath no Fury like a Robot Scorned"

At the start of this tale, a man named Danvers runs frantically to a phone and when he picks up the receiver he is killed by the mysterious Robot Master. Then the narration says, “Tiny electronic bores emerge from the dead man’s ears….and following a cold mechanical voice, take the shortest route back to their master.” Then the little screws fly into the telephone. I hate this old cliché. No machine, no matter how tiny could travel via phone lines!

I really like the splash page of Peter and Aunt May visiting Uncle Ben’s grave. Though he died in the first issue, Uncle Ben is never forgotten.

I also enjoyed that Spidey’s origin is retold in 4 panels. I mean, the guys that did 15 minute Hamlet would be impressed with that amount of brevity.


It’s also worth mentioning that May’s new boyfriend Nathan comes to the graveyard with May and Peter, but stays a respectful distance behind as the two mourners visit the grave. I felt like that was extremely respectful. He understood that while it was important for him to be there for her, it was also important for her to not feel like she was in some way showing Ben his replacement.

So anyway, on his way out of the graveyard Peter runs into the middle of a scuffle outside of a mausoleum. Though still in his street clothes Peter springs into action. Peter is stopped by the would be grave robbers who turn out to be with the FBI

The mausoleum is Professor Mendel Stromm’s. Whom Spider-Man faced off with way back in ASM 37. Stromm’s brother, who Peter just assisted, goes to report the incident to the police before Peter can question him.

So Peter goes back to ESU reminiscing about Professor Stromm and ends up getting into a scuffle with Deb Whitman’s boyfriend Biff. Peter slaps him, but then thinks to himself that if he’s used even the smallest amount of Spider-power, he could have killed him. Finally, the increasingly impulsive Parker, passes Deb in the hallway and then runs up to the roof, changes into Spider-Man and webs off. Deb follows him sees Spider-Man webbing away and concludes that Parker must be Spider-Man.

Spider-Man tracks down the FBI agents he’d fought in the Graveyard and after fighting a robot together, they tell him that it appears someone is up to Stromm’s old tricks. So they all return to the mausoleum. There Spider-Man meets Stromm’s brother again only he’s really a robot with Stromm’s memories. He looked human when Spidey met him in the graveyard, but in the privacy of his hideout he wears an ocular over one eye, purpose unknown, but doesn’t it look robotic? It makes me think of that line from the Princess Bride about masks, “They’re just terribly comfortable, I think in the future everyone will be wearing them.”

Spider-Man defeats the robot and writes in webbing on the mausoleum wall that Professor Stromm “died again”

Spectacular Spider-Man 54-60

Issue 54 “To Save the Smuggler”

I like several things about this issue, the first was the beginning where Spider-Man tries to do the right thing and stops a car chasing an ambulance. Only the car turns out to be full of cops and the ambulance a stolen vehicle. Whoops!

Spider-Man is such a physically strong superhero; he is often portrayed as his own worst enemy. This is the case whether he struggles with balancing school, work, and relationships, or whether he can’t tell who the bad guys are.

The next neat thing in this issue is that Spider-Man ends up rescuing one of his enemies. Remember the Smuggler aka Power Man? Remember, Spider-Man had a fight with him in the subway’s catacombs in Spectacular Spider-Man 50? Well, he is losing his powers and was going to go State’s evidence against the Maggia, but the Japanese Mob in some sort of informant exchange program kidnapped him.

Anyway, that brings me to the last cool thing in this issue, Spidey in Samurai armor. The best shot is the one on the cover. The colors on the cover are awful, which is why I uploaded it in glorious B+W the way I enjoyed it in the Spectacular Essential vol. 3.



Issue 55 “The Big Blow-Out”

“Nitro’s Back” the cover proclaims. It’s funny, Nitro wasn’t much of a villain until in modern times he literally set-off the Marvel Civil War. But let’s get back to 1981 and this issue of Spider-Man.

At Project Pegasus Nitro’s daughter and her lawyer appear with a writ and demand the release of her father. The scientist reluctantly consents and wheels out two air tanks. Nitro has been kept in a gaseous state since his last battle in Omega Unknown 8? That was his previous appearance anyway.

Now it’s true that it’s unlawful to keep a man imprisoned without a trial and keeping a man as a gas makes water boarding seem pedestrians as a form of torture. But Nitro is dangerous, shouldn’t the scientist build some sort of holding cell before releasing Nitro from his gaseous state (I really wish there was a way to say this without making it sound like Nitro just has a bad case of indigestion.)

Anyway, I can’t help but think of this Bronze Age Nitro as kinder and gentler than the Modern Age Nitro. This one explodes and destroys building, but never seems to do more to people than knock them out.

I really dig the ending of this issue because Spidey uses his brains and tricks Nitro into chemically combining with nausea gas!

Issue 56 “The Peril…and the Pumpkin?”

Jack O’Lantern is brought to a hospital after a fight with Machine Man (in Machine Man 19). However, apparently Jack’s metal mesh body armor is so strong no one can figure out how to get his costume off, not even the dumb looking pumpkin head. This becomes a moot point when the villain wakes up and with the help of his gang takes the hospital hostage.

It just so happens Aunt May’s boyfriend Nathan is one of the hostages and this causes Peter to have to choose between doing as his Aunt wants and being there to comfort her as she watches the hostage situation on the news or doing something about the situation as we know only he can.

In the end Spider-Man easily defeats Jack, but when Peter goes to be with Aunt May afterwards, she is furious that her nephew wasn’t there when she needed him. “I’m just a foolish old woman who thought she still meant something to you,” she says through tears.

This issue gets a B- for action, but an A+ for guilt tripping.

Issue 57 “These Wings Enslaved!”

I thought JJJ was married, but in this issue he seems to have it bad for scientist Marla Madison. He even finds it in his miserly heart to throw her a black-tie party when she gets a new research job at the ever-evil “Brand Corporation.”

Spidey is swinging through NY when he decides to call Aunt May. He does so, from a payphone, in his Spidey costume to the amazement of the crowd that forms around him. Miraculously, Aunt May has already forgiven Peter regarding the fight they had last issue. After the phone call Spidey swings away. Why didn’t anyone press *69 and see who Spider-Man called? Even if that feature didn’t exist in 1981 surely the police could have pulled the pay phone’s call records.

Okay, so at JJJ’s party Will-O-the Wisp, stuck as, you guessed it a gas, takes over the use of Killer Shrike’s body and kidnaps Madison. He takes her to a secret lab at the Brand Corporation, because she is the only one who can use the machinery to restore his body.

Spider-Man is at ease fighting a room full of Brand Corporation security and then in the middle of the fight decides to call Aunt May again! You’d think someone knows how to track down call logs?

In the end, after saving Will-O’, Spidey isn’t sure whether Will-O’ is a hero or a villain since he took revenge on the Brand Corporation by leveling the whole building and after seeing their dark side Marla decides she can’t work for Brand Corporation.

Overall, this was kind of a dud issue.

Issue 58 “Ring out the Old, in the New!”

Guest penciler John Byrne, makes the most of an issue with a throw-away villain. Fortunately the Ringer, is played for laughs. The Ringer’s suit has a “particulate-matter condensers that form rings right out of the soot and smog in the air.” I couldn’t help but think that with the brainpower to come up with a machine that makes metal out of air, surely this man could better serve society as a scientist. Hell, he could make a fortune as a somewhat disreputable businessman. Why do these guys choose a life of crime?

A highlight of the issue is when Spidey gets bored with his fight against the Ringer and decides to leave and go meet Debra Whitman for dinner. “You can’t leave now!” the villain shouts. “Oh, no? Watch me,” says Spidey.

In the end it turns out that it was the Beetle, itching to try out a new set of armor, that was pulling the Ringer’s strings. (No pun intended)

Of note- This issue features the debut of Marcy Kane’s new brunette look. I think it was a step up, but I’ve always preferred brunettes.

Issue 59 “I Want Spider-Man”

This is kind of a filler issue the builds up to Spider-Man big fight with the Beetle in the following issue.

Marty Blank also known as The Gibbon, is still bitter about his attempt to fight Spidey way back in ASM 110-112. He’s working for a documentary crew looking for new Spider-Man footage. Blank is more than happy to put the old monkey suit on one more time and give Spidey a rematch for the cameras.

The Gibbon is little challenge for our favorite wall-crawler, but he does distract Spider-Man enough for the Beetle to sneak attack our hero and the issue ends with the Beetle hitting Spider-Man with a brick wall. Ouch!

Of note- Marty Black wears a tee-shirt that says “Epic.” It seems that it was the hip thing at this point to slip that word into every issue possible, Anyone know the story behind this?

Issue 60 “Beetlemania!”

This “Special Double-Sized Issue” has a really cool cover.

The issue itself is both good and bad. For two issues the Beetle has been preparing for a battle against Spider-Man. First, he forced the Ringer to fight Spider-Man so he could upload data about Spider-Man’s movements into his new set of armor. The Beetle believed that his suit’s computer would be able to predict Spidey’s movements. Second, toppled a brick wall on top of Spidey when he was busy fighting the Gibbon.


The Beetle quickly realizes that his computer program doesn’t work. He doesn’t find out but it fails because Spider-Man’s movements are not a set of practiced predictable actions, but merely responses to Spider-Man’s spider-sense.

Spider-Man who never really recovered from being hit by the brick wall flees the fight with the Beetle after putting in a fairly good showing. The clueless Beetle believes he has suffered another defeat and kidnaps the Gibbon to
use as bait.

Peter runs into Deb Whitman, who is wearing a particularly frumpy outfit, a nightgown shirt over a full bodysuit.

When Peter realizes that the Beetle has captured the Gibbon he runs to save him and the final battle ensues. After Spider-Man does all the hard work, the Gibbon manages to deliver the punch that knocks the Beetle unconscious. Much to Peter chagrin, the Gibbon gets all the credit for saving the day from the police and the media.

Back-Up Feature “The Birth of a Legend!”

This is a retelling of Spider-Man’s origin; it’s kind of in the same vein as the shot-by-shot remake of Psycho someone did about 10 years ago. The original Amazing Fantasy 15 origin story simply titled “Spider-Man” was 11 pages. This one is 17, but a lot of the individual panels and dialogue have been recreated, they just added panels that weren’t there before, like a shot of Peter shedding a tear when Flash and the gang drive off after making fun of him for wanting to go to the science exhibit.

It’s funny, the original Ditko art does seem kind of primitive, but the art in the remake is also strange since Peter’s whole face and head look different since penciler Greg LaRocque attempts to make Peter look like a sort of Ditko-Peter/Modern-Peter hybrid.

You’d think I’d know ever panel of the original story, but I still had to glance at the Ditko story to be sure if a few panels were in the original for instance I forgot that Peter gets a new microscope from Aunt May and Uncle Ben, after Peter doesn’t stop the criminal and right before the
night Uncle Ben dies.

I was glad they left the “with great power there must also come great responsibility” line as narration instead or attributing it as a quote from Uncle Ben like some retellings have done.

Hang loose till my next set of musings, which includes a piece on Issue 68, which proves Spidey’s origin can be retold in just 4 panels.

What if Spiderman had rescued Gwen Stacy?

What If 24

Originally posted July 8, 2009

Just for a moment lets travel back in time to December of 1980 when What If? 24 came out. In real time it was 6 ½ years since the death of Gwen Stacy. This issue was on the stands with Amazing Spider-Man 211 and Spectacular Spider-Man 49, and Marvel Team Up 100 (Quite a month!).

What If’s were such memorable comics because they took the questions that comic fans would debate in schoolyard, or think of late at night just before falling asleep and put them in print. These are the stories that could never be told in continuity because the very nature of the question contradicts canon (What if someone else had been bitten by the radioactive spider?) or greatly alters the status quo (What if the Invisible Girl married the Sub-Mariner?).

In this way What If were the great playground for Marvel’s most creative stories. Sometimes they are brilliant, such as, What if Uncle Ben had lived? (a personal favorite) And some times they are ridiculous (see, What if the Original Marvel Bullpen had become the Fantastic Four?).

To me, the best part about these stories is that the writers were allowed to not pull their punches as far as the endings. For instance, it seemed that in every dimension where Sue Storm left Reed Richards, he was always left heavily bearded and an utterly defeated man in body and soul. They had a way of turning stories around to show that even though it seems like the hero would be better off if such and such happened, here’s why he’d actually be even worse off.

This story seems to be an example of that kind of ending. In this issue, Gwen lives after the fall from the bridge but learns Peter’s secret identity. At first she is horrified and wants nothing to do with Peter because she still blames Spider-Man for her father’s death, but in a turnaround worthy of Richard the Third (Extra credit for all you Shakespeare fans that get that reference) Peter convinces her he’s not a bad guy, proposes marriage to her, and she accepts.

I know it all sounds like wine and roses, but there is still the problem of the Green Goblin, who knows about Peter’s dual life. After being defeated in a brawl with Spider-man the Goblin mails information about Spider-man identity to “Spider-man’s other worst enemy.”

Spider-Man goes to the Osborn residence and ends up fighting Norman and Harry, but eventually the father and son are weeping in each others arms and it is clear that the days of the Green Goblin are over. Of course Norman is so wrapped up in the moment he never mentions sending that package.

Cut to Gwen and Peter’s wedding. Flash Thompson is the best man, Aunt May is crying tears of joy in the first row. In walks J. Jonah Jameson…(You were expecting Dr. Octopus perhaps? I know I was). He’s published Spider-man’s identity and is there with a warrant for Peter’s arrest. Aunt May collapses in shock, and Peter is forced to jump out the window to escape.

The last scene is Peter still in his tuxedo standing on a rooftop near his apartment. The police have it surrounded. He thinks to himself that he’ll never be able to get his costume or his web shooters from his apartment. He also wonders how Aunt May is, but is afraid to risk even a phone call, and he doesn’t know how he can take care of Gwen now that his identity is out. He fears that Spider-man may actually become the menace JJJ claims he is, but he hopes not.

Now I’m sorry to go over all that because either you’ve already read this issue or would rather read it for yourself, but it was necessary because the point I really wanted to make is that this issue is symptomatic of Marvel’s inability to imagine Spider-man with his identity public. Here we are in a What If story, Tony Isabella could have written any ending he wanted and he stops with Peter on a roof top going “Gee I wonder what’s gonna happen?”

The story also seems a little lacking because in the last year or so, we just got done with a storyline where Peter’s identity was revealed for several months, but we won’t get into that.

At the time I’m sure it was a great story, I just wish it had been a two-parter that delved into what happened next: Which villains did Peter face? Did Aunt May accept her nephew’s dual identity? Was Peter able to protect his family and friends?

Marvel Team- Up Annual 5

Originally posted February 23, 2009

It is good to be back after a long weekend without Internet. However, I did read a lot of comics while I was incommunicado.

I plan on catching up tomorrow especially with Merzah’s Powerman and Iron Fist thread. But first I read one of the comics I was lucky enough to win from PFJ at the Spidey Board and I wanted to share my thoughts.



Marvel Team-Up Annual 5

Just as the cover promises: Twice as many pages! Twice as many thrills.

This really was a fantastic Annual. The art by Jim Mooney was excellent and the story by Mark Gruenwald was up to his usual level of greatness.

There’s just something about the odd couple pairing of Dr. Strange and Spider-Man that’s always a lot of fun. I especially like the scene where they’re going into the car rental place and Dr. Strange changes their clothes in an instant.

Later when Spider-Man and Dr. Strange are driving, Strange goes to the astral plane and studies all about Set for some unknown amount of time, but returns to his body seconds later. I never knew Strange had this power. That’s the power I always wanted if I was a superhero!

There are just a few minor things. I wanted to talk about:

-The 3 pages of exposition about the history of the serpent crown really needed editor’s notes letting the reader know what comics these events happened in. Maybe today I could find the info somewhere on the web, but in 1982 when this came out, readers who wanted to catch up were screwed.

-The second minor thing is that in the gorgeous two page spread with the Dimensional Canons and hundreds of Set’s slaves, the cosmic cube is right in the gutter of the page and so it’s kind of hard to see it. This wouldn’t be a big deal, but Spider-Man mentions seeing it later, so the reader feels like a dumb-ass for missing the clue.

- The third thing is that I felt like Quasar was given short-shrift. Spider-Man takes him out with a trip-line, but I was waiting for an all out fight that never happened. There was a perfect opportunity on page 34, but instead Quasar is still unconscious. What a let down!

- The fourth and final thing is that the ending felt a little rushed. There was only one page for resolution after the climax of the story. But I know there are only so many pages and there was no fat to trim here.

Does anyone know if the final joke about Spider-Man’s costume was a subtle preview for his black costume? The Secret Wars was still 2 years off though. Were they planning far ahead in those days?

Daredevil Part 3, The Romita Era

Originally posted January 30, 2009

John Romita fondly remembers working on Daredevil and he commented on a panel recently that he always wanted to draw more Daredevil, but never got to. These issues are a lot of fun and I wish he’d gotten to do more of them too.



Daredevil 12-14

I’m kind of confused as to what Jack Kirby did as layout man and what Romita did as illustrator. Does that mean that Kirby did a rough sketch of the whole comic and Romita polished it up?

Romita’s Matt Murdock looks great on the splash page as he walks away from his office at the start of what will become a crazy adventure. Then on page two we get a look at Romita’s Daredevil and boy is he freaking ripped. I don’t understand how Matt hides a Mr. Universe body under those suits! And I’m not even sure all those muscles exist.

Then there’s a cool shot on the bottom of page 2 of all of DDs past villains.

This whole storyline is kind of odd. Matt goes on a cruise and gets involved with a pirate called the Plunderer who takes him to the Savage Land in Antarctica in a submarine, where he meets Ka-zar. These issues are only Ka-zar’s second appearance.

Through a series of plot devices the Plunderer gets this magic rock that melts metal and the Plunderer makes a magic gun out of it that destroys other guns. Then the Plunderer and his gang start to take down armies. I was screaming at the comic book that they just needed to get some plastic guns, and of course Daredevil said something along those lines a few panels later. That made me happy.

Overall I thought this whole storyline was kind of ish.



Daredevil 15

“And Men Shall Call Him Ox!” This issue had me riveted from the cover to the end.

Ox and his cellmate a rat-faced scientist break out of jail. Rat-face then tells Ox he’s going to make him smarter, but what he does is put his brain in Ox’s body. However the process doesn’t work that well and the new Ox can’t control his savage rage.

In the end new Ox falls off a skyscraper while fighting Daredevil! I was surprised that there was an actual death.

Meanwhile “Ox” in the scientist’s body comments that he feels smarter and that maybe everything that happened was for the best.

I think Romita was really starting to click.



Daredevil 16 and 17

Romita meet Spider-Man, Spider-man meet Romita. Oh little did Romita know that he would be drawing our favorite wall-crawler for years to come, not soon after these issues.

I don’t have these in color but I think Peter Parker is wearing his classic blue coat and yellow shirt.

I love the Masked Marauder, you’ve got to love a villain whose answer to everything is to blind the guy. I can just picture him in Starbucks blinding the barista who forgot his soymilk.

The battles between Daredevil and Spider-Man are excellent. Just like in the Sub-mariner/Daredevil battle DD knows he’s outclassed, but he doesn’t give up without a fight. DD is like Little Mac from NES’s Punch-out, the eternal underdog with heart.

I don’t get how Spider-Man’s spider-sense tells him that Daredevil is in Nelson and Murdock’s office. The Spider-sense alerts him to danger and DD isn’t dangerous.



Daredevil 18-19

Foggy Nelson goes overboard trying to impress Karen Page by pretending to be DD. He goes to a shady costume shop and buys a Daredevil costume.

The owner turns out to be an aspiring super-villain called the Gladiator. The full-page pin-up shot of the villain on page 10 is priceless.

I love the shots of the chubby Foggy in the Daredevil costume. It is frustrating though that Foggy’s weight fluctuates from issue to issue. Sometimes he looks like he’s gotten into shape and then in the next issue it looks like he’s been eating too many Big Macs again.

The Gladiator and the Masked Marauder both end up thinking that Foggy is Daredevil but luckily they can’t stop fighting among themselves long even to actually threaten anyone, but they do run off together threatening to strike again another day.

Daredevil the Early Years Part 2

Daredevil 7

Originally posted January 20, 2009

Maybe it’s coincidence, but something very special happened in this the first issue in which Daredevil dons the red suit that he would wear from that point on, everything started to click!

The art by Wally Wood is Fantastic, Tremendous, Stupendous, and Spectacular. (I’m running out of adjectives.) This issue was hyped by fans as one of the best comics ever, and well, it lives up to that title.

The story involves Namor coming to the surface to seek legal rights to land. Of course he ends up at the law offices of Nelson and Murdock.

The battles in this issue are excellent. Daredevil is clearly not in Namor’s class in terms of strength and endurance, but Namor can’t help but admire Daredevil’s courage.

Highly recommended.



Daredevil 8

Another great issue. It begins with Daredevil saving a woman about to be run over by an
out-of-control driver-less car.

“Keep screaming! Don’t Stop! Don’t Stop Screaming!” Daredevil yells at her as he swings towards her. I couldn’t help but wonder what she must have thought. She must have thought he was nuts.

After saving her he throws her onto an awning and thinks “Lucky I knew that the corner store always has its awning down at this hour.” Why has this guy memorized helicopter schedules (issue 2) and awning schedules for the whole city? Doesn’t the outline of an awning show up on his radar sense?

Then Daredevil drives the driver-less car with his radar sense, the car turns out to have a bomb on it, but Daredevil manages to get it out of harm’s way. Lucky teenage Matt Murdock learned how to drive a car before he went blind I guess.

I know that the Stilt Man is portrayed as kind of ridiculous in modern appearances, but in this appearance I thought he managed to seem like a real threat. When he robs a helicopter, the men try and shoot him and the bullets just bounce off his armor. So you can’t shoot him, even from the air, and on the ground all you can do is try and grab his fast moving legs, plus it seems that he can go from 40 stories to normal sized in the blink of an eye.

Daredevil finds himself climbing up Stilt Man’s long legs in order to try and actually fight him at all. But it’s a task that is easier said than done.



Daredevil 9

This issue is more evidence of Stan’s struggles to give Daredevil problems seeming extremely inorganic (Rip Jagger’s word).

At the start of the comic Daredevil is fighting some boat hijackers and he gets shot in the arm. He treats the wound at home himself. Now I remember issues where Spider-man gets his arm hurt and has it in a sling. I remember these issues being awesome and the injury adding a lot to the drama, but Daredevil just kind of plods along for the whole issue. Wood and Powell keep the continuity, Daredevil doesn’t use his bad arm, but it doesn’t seem to slow him down, in fact Daredevil fights a robot army one handed. It sounds remarkable here, but on the page it’s kind of ho-hum.

Daredevil’s just a guy that does what he can to fight crime in Hell’s Kitchen. To have him battling robots in a Latveria-like eastern-block dictatorship just seems very out of his wheelhouse.

Nowhere is this more evident than when the dictator launches a radioactive attack and Daredevil just kind of leaves it for somebody else to figure out.



Daredevil 10-11

Billed as a mystery thriller, this two-parter fails to be anything remarkable IMHO.

I love a good mystery, there were some good ones around this time in Amazing Spider-Man: Who was the Big Man, the Crime Master, and of course the Green Goblin? All three were interesting, suspenseful and ultimately satisfying.

The way the mystery is presented is just kind of dull. No one knows who the Crime lord the Organizer is, but we know he has some connection to the Reform Party. So he has to be Politician A, B, or C. But who cares, none of them are significant characters in the Daredevil comic. That's not dramatic! Why didn’t Wally and Stan make it seem like anyone could have been the Organizer: the Police Chief, Spider-Man, Foggy Nelson. That would have been interesting. Nelson is Matt’s best friend, it would have been interesting to explore what it would take for Matt to begin to doubt his friend.

The henchmen in this tale are another oddity. Each one is recruited for possessing some kind of unique ability. The Cat Man has good eyesight even in the dark? Why? Is he a mutant? Do his goggles do it?

The Frog Man was trained by the military to perform task underwater, the Ape Man is strong, the Bird Man, I’m completely stumped, maybe he was just the right height and weight for the suit. (Is it the same technology as the Vultures’?) And how are these guys still good enough fighters in these suits to take on Daredevil? Other then Bird Man and Frog Man who have equipment in their suits, why do they need suits? It’s all kind of silly.

(Plus, I have no idea how Cat Man gets Ape Man out of prison and later appears to get his Cat Suit for the first time with everyone else.)

Not so Mellow Yellow- Daredevil the Early Years Part 1

Originally posted January 19, 2009

Punk Funk Junk was kind enough to sent me Daredevil Essentials Vol. 1 during our Christmas exchange and so I started Daredevil’s earliest adventures for the first time.

Daredevil is a character that bothers me just a little, because he can hear people’s heartbeats clearly enough to identify them and yet I’ve never heard it explained how he can also manage to not clutch his ears in pain every time he hears a really loud noise. Frank Miller did a great job when Daredevil goes down to the subway and it completely messes with his radar sense to the point that he can hardly function. In DD 1, Daredevil pursues his father’s murderers down into the subway and has no trouble at all.

However, other than that quibble I did really enjoy these issues and can’t wait to read more.

Daredevil and Spider-man comics seem to be very similar thematically at this stage in the sense that both fight larger than life villains, and both balance being a hero with dealing with romantic troubles. Daredevil seems to have it much easier than Spider-man because he has a great job as a lawyer and Daredevil is not thought of as an outlaw.



Daredevil 1

I was really impressed with how much story is jammed into Daredevil 1. To go back to the Spider-Man analogy we see Matt Murdock go through school and become a lawyer in the first issue. Spider-man still has never managed to grow up and become a scientist in 40 years!

The art for Daredevil’s origin I didn’t think really worked, he pushes the guy out of the path of the oncoming truck, but how does he get exposed to chemicals, wouldn’t that have been in the back of the truck? And you never even see the chemicals or vapor or anything.

The evolution of Daredevil’s Billy club is interesting too. It starts out as a sort of cane looking thing and every issue he seems to be making it do new things. Until finally after his suit changes to red, he uses the club to get around town like Spider-Man. Thats not the only thing that evolves, Daredevil seems to use trial and error with his costume too. The yellow one he wore changes subtlety from issue to issue. In issue 3 he puts a pouch on the back of the costume for his street-clothes, but in the next issue he realizes that this is too dangerous.

Daredevil 2

I really liked the art by Joe Orlando, truly fantastic.

The cameo by The Thing and the FF was fun.

I found the explanations for Daredevil being able to land the rocket ship really unbelievable and then he hooks on to a helicopter and knows the exact second to let go in order to land on the Baxter Building. He says he knows the plane’s schedule. What does he do this all the time? But the full page art of Daredevil hanging on the copter with the city below him is stunning.

Daredevil 3

The Owl is kind of an interesting villain. Seems almost like a Batman villain in this issue. I thought it was ridiculous how proud he was that his cape enables him to glide down on the wind. Yeah that's really useful as long as you have some place really high to jump off of and enough wind otherwise it’s completely useless.



Daredevil 4

I really dug the Purple Man because he did have a valid defense, technically he never broke any laws, his super-power over people just convinces them to do whatever he wants, so he goes into a bank and he just asks for the money and people hand it over.

So Daredevil had to out think him, which I always enjoy.

And it’s great that all you have to do to defeat him is to cover his skin.



Daredevil 5

Daredevil the swashbuckler meets his match in courage and style, the Matador. The Matador robs an armored car by standing in front of it and then at the last second throwing his cape at it, now that’s a villain with chutzpa.

The Matador’s fights with Daredevil are a treat because the two are very evenly matched. They fight at a party and Daredevil is at a disadvantage because the noise of the crowd screws up his radar sense, (it is explained how the radar sense works in this issue) and as a final indignity the Matador cover Daredevil with a sheet and this completely disrupts Daredevil’s radar sense.

Wally Wood’s art is good, but so far I haven’t been blown away by it and actually prefer Orlando’s work.

Daredevil 6

This issue is interesting because the “Man without Fear” fights Mr. Fear and true to his name this guy has a fear gun that shoots pellets whose gas can make anyone afraid. Daredevil soon learns that even he is not immune when he promptly runs away after being exposed to it, but where as Spider-man would probably beat himself up over turning chicken for half an issue Daredevil only broods for about a panel and then just comes back swinging.

Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 3

Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 3

Originally posted January 16, 2009

I continue my somewhat uninformed and random look at the misadventures of the Incredible Hulk. Forgive me if my thoughts are more prosaic than usual. I woke up to find that the heat in my apartment is off and having nowhere to go I am sitting all bundled up in sweaters, with some hot tea close at hand and typing mainly to keep my mind off the cold. (It’s 8 below outside).



Incredible Hulk 240

I jumped a few months from where I left off in IH 234. Hulk has just arrived in the secret city of El Dorado. The Avengers came here once in the not so memorable Avengers 30-31 (I didn’t remember it anyway).

Hulk is carrying an unconscious guy in a gold costume, Goldbug. I had no clue who this guy was so I assumed since Hulk was carrying him that he must be an ally. I looked online Goldbug is a villain. That makes the scene a lot funnier IMHO. Not only does the Hulk defeat the guy, but also he further insults the guy’s villainous chops by helping him.

Meanwhile at Project Gamma Betty arrives in a fighter jet. Did anyone else think that was kind of hot? Especially when she takes her helmet off and flips her hair like Farrah Fawcett.

But it seems to me that a weakness of a lot of these stories is that the Hulk is out on some adventure and then it cuts to this base in Arizona and some kind of drama is playing out there, but the two stories never seem to meet! It’s like if Peter Parker moved to Cleveland Ohio, but 2 or 3 pages each month were devoted to MJ and Aunt May back in NYC.

Fred and Trisha get a page. Fred is writing a book about the Hulk’s adventures and wonders where ol’ Greenskin has gotten to.

Surprise, Surprise, it turns out the elders were using the Hulk. At the end of the issue Bruce Banner is hanging over some kind of machine about to become it’s power source.



Incredible Hulk 241

In the letters page of one of these issues maybe 234, someone wrote in complaining that the Hulk comic was starting to resemble the Hulk television show way too much and that they issues needed to have more super villains, more science fiction, and more action! Nowhere is the Hulk comic/Hulk TV show more evident then the cover of this issue. Which by the way really has nothing to do with the story inside.

Bruce Banner is dangling over a huge flame and the 3 villains can’t help but stand around and gloat. One of them has a really cool chessboard with hero and villain pieces, Thor, Absorbing man, the Hulk, Hercules, The Black Panther, Spider-Man etc.

One of the three elders turns out to be done other than Tyrannus! He uses the Hulk’s power to rejuvenate himself. Goldbug gets the Hulk free and the stage is set for an all out battle royal! Unfortunately I don’t have the next issue.

Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 2

My Hulk musings on my random collection continues

Originally posted January 14, 2009

Our first stop is the classic Incredible Hulk 140, with a story by the great Harlan Ellison.

“The Brute That Shouted Love at the Heart of the Atom.” What a great title. They just don’t make them like that anymore.

The story involves the Hulk being shrunk by a quasi-human named Psyklops. In this microscopic world the Hulk finds a kingdom of Green humans and a beautiful empress Jarella. The queen digs Jade Jaws and gets her sorcerers to teach the Hulk their language. Somehow in the process their magic merges Banner and the Hulk and so for the first time the Hulk body is piloted by Banner’s mind.

In the end Psyklop’s giant hand whisks the Hulk out of the Kingdom and makes him normal sized again. However, the enraged Hulk who was truly happy for maybe the first time is stronger than Psyklops could ever guess and Psyklops is overpowered.

Then as a final indignity a huge hand again comes crashing in through the ceiling and this time Psyklops is killed by the before mentioned claw-hand.

To me this story isn’t so much a comic, but a comic book version of an episode of the Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. Just like the Twilight Zone where Astronauts travel to the end of the universe and seems to tap at glass only to reveal that the universe as we know it is nothing more than a glass jar on some unknowable behemoth’s shelf. In this comic the Hulk travels to a microscopic world, but in the end we see, that the world the Hulk knows. Good old Earth 616 is really just a microscopic world to whatever dark clawed power punished Psyklop’s failure.




Incredible Hulk 148 is the sequel to Ellison’s story and actually improves some elements of the original.

The Issue begins with “Thunderbolt” Ross and the others looking at the almost completed Project Greenskin Base, (whose plans appeared a few issue before in issue 145 and were the only cool part of that entire issue.) But anyway, some fighter planes find the Hulk in the desert and shoot sedative tipped missiles at him knocking him out. Now that’s cool!

Then the scene shifts to Jarella it her microscopic world, now she is a warrior queen. A much better match for the Hulk then as portrayed in Ellison’s story.

Somehow Jarella’s sorcerers transport her to earth just as the Hulk is bombarded with solar radiation and cured.

Well, everything is not alright because an assassin from the microworld piggybacked with Jarrella and unless they are both returned to their world solar energy flares caused by the imbalance of their presence on Earth will destroy the world!




Incredible Hulk 210

Len Wein and Sal Buscema produced this disappointing issue.

It’s been a rather large jump from 148-210. Banner has a new girlfriend April Sommers. Over at “Gamma Base.” Talbot and Betty Ross are married. Doc Samson is around, Thunderbolt Ross too of course and some other dude with blonde hair that looks a little like Quicksilver.

Banner meets Doctor Druid, (my least favorite Avenger ever. I avoid those issues like the plague.) and they go looking for Maha Yogi. (a crappy X-men villain)

Banner claims he’ll help Druid as Banner but that he’s not “changing into the Hulk again…not even to save the whole blamed Planet!” Is he really that dimwitted to believe he can control it? Dude you transform into the Hulk when you get angry even 8-year-old kids understand that. And further why would Druid want Banner around for a firefight. He’s playing you!

This is “revealed” on the last page. I say “revealed” because the betrayal is also featured on the cover.

Incredible Hulk 231

What a difference a day makes. Roger Stern and Sal Buscema are putting the Hulk back on track. The artwork (rather than the phoned in 210) is tremendous especially the full page shot of Hulk smashing a police car to bits.

The story is really neat too. The Hulk wanders into a town at 2 a.m. and sees this guy (Fred) being thrown out of a bar and about to get beat up. Hulk sees him as an innocent being attacked by a soldier and defends him. Fred knowing a good thing when he sees it wants to be friends with the Hulk. The Hulk says that Fred’s “long hair is crazy!” but agrees to “bed down” at Fred’s place.

A very funny scene follows of Hulk waking up in the morning. Fred’s girlfriend has come over and surprised Fred with eggs and beans, but it is the Hulk that comes to breakfast first. I love the Hulks happy face as he eats contrasted to the girlfriend screaming and running away.



Incredible Hulk 233

Marvel Man appears in this issue, the Hulk kicks his butt and as he’s on the ground some little kids asks him what his name is. “Marvel Man,” he says “That’s a stupid name,” the kid replies. Did this kid represent readers? In the next issue Marvel Man says his new codename is Quasar.

Later in the Issue Talbot gets off a plane and sees a newly redesigned knockout Betty. “I almost didn’t recognize you,” he says again mirroring the readers.

Fred and the Hulk continue their journey after the Hulk beats up some villain named Jackson and Marvel Man. And at the end of the issue Fred pulls into a house and is greeted by Trish Starr.

Incredible Hulk 334

Fred is surprised that the Hulk and Trish Starr already know each other

Starr describes her five previous appearances in Marvel Comics. She was captured by her Uncle, “Egghead” who was going to siphon off the energy from her brain, fortunately Ant-man stopped him. She then goes to New York and discovers her old friend is secretly Nightwing. Then her uncle plants a car bomb and blows one of her arms off. Then she turns to mysticism and ends up forming a bond with an evil extra dimensional being Shazanna and is saved by Dr. Strange and the Hulk. (If you can name all those appearances you get extra points)

What is wrong with this girl? Does she have the worst luck ever?

There is a great scene in this issue where some of the house’s residents are discussing with Fred and Trish that the Hulk is eating all the food and should leave. The Hulk slowly stews silently until his anger explodes. The Hulk smashes a table and shouts “Tell Fred’s friends to stop talking about the Hulk like he wasn’t here! Hulk HATES that!!”

Later while the Hulk is asleep Fred and Trish have a very interesting conversation. Fred says that he’s disappointed in the housemates and asks, “what happened to all the principles and ideals we used to pledge ourselves to?”

“We were all such a part of the sixties,” Trish replies, “maybe we didn’t try hard enough to make something of the seventies”

This is interesting on so many levels because Marvel is always in the present this was effective for more than twenty years until the end of the Bronze Age when it was kind of like “hey, how come no one’s aging?”

There are a whole bunch of issues still to come in my ramblings.

Musings about the Incredible Hulk Part 1

(Tales to Astonish 81)

Originally posted January 4, 2009

I’ve never been a fan of the Incredible Hulk because where as many superheroes such as Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man are at their cores intellectuals, who are just as likely to outwit their enemies rather than overpower them. The Hulk on the other hand is basically a one trick pony; he is literally the ultimate meathead who can only succeed by relying on his superior strength. Since I myself have always resembled the “meek and mild” Bruce Banner or the “bookish milksop” Peter Parker, it’s not hard to understand why I feel more of a kindred spirit towards super-thinkers.

But in my attempt to try new things I’ve been digging deep into my comic collection and reading the myriad of random issues of Old Jaded Jaws and here are my thoughts. (Tales to Astonish 81, Incredible Hulk 111, 113, 128, 133, 145)

At first glance the Hulk stories are as I’ve always thought somewhat repetitive, but when looked at in an analytical sense do possess certain fascinating thematic elements.

The Hulk is a lonely character. He travels all over the world and sometimes into outer space and to other planets on a quest to be left alone. Why does he search for seclusion?

Is he an isolationist? Or an existentialist?

I am being somewhat facetious, because I do actually have an answer; He wishes to end the suffering that every being he meets causes him. Whether it is the American military, alien races, or super-villains, everyone the Hulk encounters attempts to capture, trick, use, or hurt the Hulk.

The Hulk can be seen as a kind of modern day Buddha attempting to reach a form of nirvana by finding an end to his suffering. However, like the ancient warrior Popes, this spiritual figure is not afraid to use violence to reach his religious goals. It would be interesting to see what would happen if the Hulk stumbled into a monastery or a non-violent society. All evidence shows that the Hulk is not truly a violent monstrosity by nature, but merely an animal that feels caged and provoked by mankind and reacts in violent retaliation. However, there are many occasions where the Hulk has saved innocent people or been reasoned with. Perhaps in a non-violent environment the Hulk could find the peace he seeks.



(Incredible Hulk 133)

Another interpretation is the Hulk is an anarchist. In issue 133 the Hulk ends up in a European dictatorship run by a man named Draxon. Draxon offers the Hulk a place in his army and says together “they can put the country on the map.” The Hulk replies that he cares not for maps because when he leaps from place to place he sees no lines in the countryside. The Hulk has no respect for the leaders or the laws of man, he respects only brute force, he is the living embodiment of Darwin’s survival of the fittest, or perhaps Rousseau’s “noble savage.”



(Incredible Hulk 111)

It seems strange to me that the Hulk so often becomes involved in the realm of alien invaders. After all it is the FF or the Avengers that are known for battling such menaces and yet the Hulk seems to have a bull’s-eye painted on his chest that every alien passing by the Earth can see. However, thematically, the aliens are no different then when the Hulk fights super-villains or dictators. All of them seek to use the Hulk’s strength to their own advantage.

The other interesting detail is that it is the Hulk that is the star of the comic not Bruce Banner. In most Jekyll and Hyde type literature the Hyde character is portrayed as an evil creation that must be stopped. However, Marvel embraces the Hulk and devotes little time to developing Bruce Banner, whose only function in the 6 issues I looked at was to be captured by unsuspecting aliens twice. Ironically in the Hulk TV show the opposite was true; for the majority of any given episode David Banner would get himself into some sort of situation and then at the end of the episode the Hulk would get him out of it and somehow save the day.

Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man vol. 1

Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man vol. 1

originally posted December 29, 2008

It was fun to take a look at the earliest days of Iron Man. However, for the most part these were not memorable or even good issues. In fact I have an even greater appreciation for Stan Lee’s dialogue after reading the efforts of the lesser talents of Bob Bernstein who scripted all of these early issues, except the first one which was scripted by Larry Lieber, Stan Lee’s brother.

Since Iron Man is dependent on technology and with the possible exception of light nothing seems to move/change quicker then technology, it is not difficult to imagine that these stories from the early 60’s quite obviously seem more outdated than Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl (I am eluding to his lyric about transistor radios, since transistors are Iron Man’s omnipresent devices in this collection)

However, I feel I have to add that I am a huge fan of science fiction novels of the 50’s and 60’s. I read Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, Leiber, Dick, Vonnegut, Zelazny, Pohl, Kornbluth, and countless other. I mention that to prove that if a story is well written I don’t mind that it refers to atomic powered rocket ships or transistors, or quantum singularities. What’s wrong with these Iron Man stories is that they were not well written or well researched and just don’t make any sense scientifically, even using 60’s technological knowledge.

Also not helping these stories is that the first 2/3rds of the issues do not feature any of the villains or supporting characters that will become integral to the Iron Man mythology.

Without further ado…



Tales of Suspense 39

The origin issue is the single non Stan Lee scripted issue in this volume worth reading. Us GSB folks know that the story in the beginning of the recent Robert Downy Jr. Iron Man movie was pretty close to the original. Tony Stark is a brilliant scientist who has sold his tiny transistor technology to the military for use in Vietnam against the communists.

As if that wasn’t enough he’s also a millionaire and an eligible bachelor. Maybe it’s the unlikely pairing of his black hair and blue eyes that turns on the ladies.

Anyway Stark’s life changes forever when he goes to a Vietnamese jungle with an American military unit to do combat tests for a miniature transistor powered rocket launcher (they’re no heavier than a flashlight!). The rocket launchers kill the commies; but during the fight Stark steps on a tripwire and gets blown up. He wakes up in a prison camp, Shrapnel is working its way towards his heart and the crazy communist commander Wong-Chu demands that he build him a weapon. Instead Stark builds the Iron Man suit and destroys the prison camp.

The original Iron Man suit looks like a standard robot from any number of science fiction movies; (Gort from“The Day the Earth Stood Still” comes to mind because I watched it last week.) This Iron Man actually looks like it might be made of iron, this is of course soon going to change.

My favorite part of the issue is when the evil Wong Chu throws a filing cabinet down a flight of stairs and hits Iron Man.

Tales of Suspense 40

R Bern’s first issue like the ones that follow, isn’t very good. It’s got art by the great Jack Kirby, but that about it.

At the start of the issue Stark is demonstrating transistor powered roller-skates to the army. The general says it will revolutionize troop movements. However, despite the fact that the military loves Stark’s technology it is never used in Marvel Comics! The MU is a place that has technology greater then our own, but the only ones ever seen using it are super-heroes and super-villains.

Iron Man then goes to the circus and dons his Iron Man suit when the lions and tigers go crazy. He keeps his Iron Man suit folded up in a small attaché case. How can you fold iron?!! This makes zero sense.

While fighting lions and tigers the public is scared of Iron Man, so Stark decides to take the advice of his date Marion and paint his suit with gold paint, so people will know Iron Man has “a heart of gold and an appearance to match his golden deeds.” (Do girls really think like that? God I hope not!)

Then Iron Man fights a giant that turns out to be a robot sent by aliens. (Don’t ask!)

Tales of Suspense 41

In-between issue 40 and 41 it seems like Iron Man put on a few pounds. In this next Jack Kirby issue Iron Man looks more and more like a big yellow bathtub.

The villain in this issue is named Dr. Strange, but it’s not the Dr. Strange master of the mystical arts we know and love. It’s some other guy that wants to destroy mankind by detonating an S-bomb. However, he’s stopped by Iron Man, the mad man’s kindhearted daughter and two flashlight batteries. (Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up!)

Tales of Suspense 42

The Actor, a Russian agent that is a man of a thousand faces attempts to steal the plans to Tony Stark’s newest invention a disintegrator ray. In the process he learns that Iron Man and Stark are one and the same. However, Iron Man manages to recover the plans and discredit the agent. But the disintegrator ray is never seen again.

Tales of Suspense 43

Iron Man fights Kala, Queen of the Netherworld. According to this issue the lost city of Atlantis is at the center of the Earth. I have many problems with this issue. First off is that the Mole Man and the Subterraneans are at the center of the Earth, second is the Namor and the other Atlanteans are the descendants of Atlantis, not these guys. And my third problem is with the ending, Iron Man takes Kala up to the surface where she rapidly ages due to atmospheric differences between the surface and the underworld. This convinces her not to invade the surface. This makes no sense because how did Iron Man and the other captives survive in the underworld if the atmosphere was so different?

Tales of Suspense 44

Tony Stark goes to Egypt and every reporter he meets want to know how ladies man Stark would have made out with Cleopatra. Yeah there’s a great story! Don’t they have anything better to do? Like maybe trying to figure out who Iron Man is.

Then Iron Man ends up traveling back in time and single-handedly beating the tar out of a bunch of Romans. He even puts wheels on his back and makes Iron Man a human roller skate. This is a new low.



Tales of Suspense 45

Iron Man fights Jack Frost, a mad scientist who gives himself powers very similar to Iceman’s. This issue actually came out the same month as X-men 1.

But the big news is the addition of Iron Man’s supporting cast. It is however a rough start. Happy Hogan is a thug like character who saves Stark after a racecar crash and becomes his limo driver through the joke is Stark never actually lets him drive anywhere. Pepper Potts is Stark’s frumpy secretary that pines for her boss. The dialogue for both characters is awfully clunky.

Tales of Suspense 46

The first appearance of the Crimson Dynamo, a communist equivalent to Iron Man. I think he looks like a robo-Santa Claus. Iron Man wins by making a fake tape of the Dynamo’s superiors betraying him. I guess Iron Man was watching Mission Impossible.

Tales of Suspense 47

Praise be, Thanks to God. Finally an issue written by Stan Lee. The art is listed as Ditko, but it looks identical to Don Heck’s work. Anyway I see a marked change for the better in the quality of the dialogue and story.

The Melter who becomes a somewhat laughable villain later on is actually a formidable foe and the first to cause Iron Man to redesign his suit.



Tales of Suspense 48

This issue is drawn by Ditko and it shows. Overall the art is good, and obviously I’m a fan of Iron Man’s red and yellow armor over the previous bathtub armor. However, something funny happened when Ditko drew Pepper and Happy. Often Pepper’s face is overly shaded and in one panel Pepper looks about 50 and Happy looks even older.

The villain in this one is Mr. Doll. He’s kind of like the Puppet Master only he manipulates the clay faster than Iron Man can attack him. I find it hard to believe that even with training a sculptor could get that level of detail on faces in seconds.

Tales of Suspense 49

An atomic explosion is detonated at one of Stark’s factories and Angel on his way to Prof X’s mansion in Westchester is directly over head. So Stark blew an atomic bomb somewhere on Long Island or worse in NYC. So everyone in the city should die from radioactivity. And Iron Man and Angel are at the center of it and just shake it off.

However, it turns out the blast makes Angel evil!

Angel quits the X-men and goes looking for the evil mutants. However Iron Man shocks him back to normal by putting his life in danger.

Tales of Suspense 50

Heck is the artist again for this final issue.

In the first appearance of the Mandarin, he shows off his karate skills and nearly beats Iron Man in hand to hand combat, but he only uses one or two of his rings. I’m sure readers where left wondering what deadly powers his other rings gave him.

Iron Man knocks the Mandarin unconscious but then retreats. Why didn’t he take the Mandarin with him and bring him to justice?

Also of note is that Pepper gets a new more glamorous look in this issue.