REVEALED: The Secret Fate of Captain America!

September 23, 2014, 3:29 am

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Previously, we've seen Captain America raise the question of his past life as Steve Rogers, the memories of which he'd discovered had been lost. And so he began an investigation into his own life, the life he led before he ever signed on for the super-soldier experiment where he became Cap. The story set in motion by Roy Thomas and Don Glut initially begins with a woman named Veda, a plant who belongs to the criminal organization known as the Corporation, who gives Cap a link to his past in order to become closer to him; but Cap instead pursues a lead that takes him to Newfoundland.

Cap's decision is prompted by unanswered questions. If he plunged into the English Channel after the drone plane he and Bucky were trying to stop exploded, why did he tell the Avengers he struck the waters off of Newfoundland? And what exactly put him into suspended animation? Glut has Stan Lee's oversight in writing Cap's explanation to the Avengers from his first appearance in Avengers #4 to thank for the inconsistency regarding the site of the explosion--and up until now, there was the assumption that his super-soldier serum prevented him from being frozen to death in the ice that presumably preserved him. To Cap, something obviously doesn't add up.

In Newfoundland, Cap uncovers a Nazi spy from 1944, Lyle Dekker, whose cover then had been to work for a movie studio where Cap and Bucky were investigating sabotage. The pair's investigation led them to Dekker, who had invented a heat ray which would be delivered to the Red Skull. Dekker's plan was foiled, and he subsequently fell out of favor with the Skull--but, making a new beginning for himself in exile, Dekker would settle in Newfoundland and wait for the day when he would hopefully cross paths with Cap once again.

If you decide to read this story in its entirety, you'll thank me later for skipping over the rampage of the "Ameridroid." For now, it's Dekker's explanation to Cap regarding the gap in his memories which must hold our attention--because, by the time he's done, Captain America's encounter with Baron Zemo, which led to his being out of action for twenty years, will no longer have ended the way you thought it did.

We first learn that the explosion of the drone plane which resulted in Bucky's tragic death indeed happened just the way Cap remembers it. However, what Cap doesn't know at the time is that Dekker's spies are present to witness the event--and, thanks to their curiosity, they have quite the prize to deliver to "General" Dekker:

With Cap his captive, Dekker sets his U-boat's course for Newfoundland. But this development is missing one important element: where is Cap's shock and grief for his partner who has just been killed? We don't find a hint of it in this man; instead, Cap calmly buys time while his foe explains his master plan:

Cap manages to successfully make a break for it--but, while he may be a one-man army, he faces overwhelming odds here, and he realizes it's more important to escape with what he knows. In a way, it almost seems his flight to freedom mimics his previous encounter with a plane, thanks to Dekker's heat ray:

And so the true chain of events that led to Cap being put out of action is finally documented. It seems that when the Avengers found him, Cap only remembered the area where he plunged into the water, without connecting the dots to his battle with Zemo and wondering about the inconsistency in facts. We've seen the first step in the recovery of his memories--but next time, Cap will come full circle and learn of his family and childhood.  And for Cap, "full circle" will prove to have a shocking connotation.

---

Villains! Villains! Villains!

September 23, 2014, 6:30 pm

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Have a look at another interesting side-by-side shot of a Fantastic Four cover and its counterpart in the reprint comic, Marvel's Greatest Comics--this time featuring FF #100!

On the left, the original as drawn by Jack Kirby; on the right, the revised cover by Alan Kupperberg. Both versions were inked by Joe Sinnott.

Back in the day, of course, Fantastic Four practically sold itself--but I thought Kirby's cover would have been better served by the vibrancy that Kupperberg, Sinnott and the colorist bring to the newer version. Facial expressions are more detailed (the Sub-Mariner, the Super-Apes, and Dragon Man are good examples), as is the rocky definition of the Thing--and the MGC cover features a variety of brighter colors in both the background and the FF logo, as opposed to the stark black-and-white of the original. The darker tone of the FF uniforms seems to work better, too, giving the team a less "faded" look.

If it weren't for his paste gun, though, we wouldn't be able to make out the Trapster behind that darned UPC symbol. And there appears to be a new villain added to the mix, standing behind Dragon Man to his right--who is that guy? Kupperberg has also moved the Torch to accommodate the logo--but it looks like Johnny is about to cook his girlfriend! The Wizard seems to be saying "Thanks, Torch! I was sneaking up behind her, but I appreciate the help, fool!"

The Pursuit And The Plight!

September 25, 2014, 4:09 am

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OR:"My Ship's Bigger Than Your Ship"

Wow! The last time we checked in on the X-Men, they'd been in pitched battle against the Shi'ar renegade, Deathbird, as well as Deathbird's allies, the deadly species known as the Brood. By the time the battle was over, our heroes had suffered considerable losses. Not only had they failed to recover Deathbird's captive, Lilanda, taken as part of a power play by Deathbird and her associates--but Charles Xavier was also captured. And when the dust settles, the X-Men find that one of their own has become a casualty:

Understandably, the X-Men are now gunning for Deathbird--with the Earth only hours away from a Shi'ar deadline that demands that either Lilandra be recovered, or the Earth pays the price. Given their setbacks thus far, will the X-Men be able to pull themselves together in time to avert disaster?



Despite Wolverine's state of mind here, as well as this issue's escalation of hostilities between these groups, Logan will be mostly in the background in this third part of our story--which is curious, since he would seem to be the ideal choice to face Deathbird in the team's next encounter with her. Instead, the story will build on what we've already seen, and focus on Corsair's comrades-in-arms, the Starjammers, as they join forces with the X-Men in order to track down Deathbird and liberate both Lilandra and Xavier. As disappointing as Wolverine's reduced presence in the story is, it's not necessarily bad for either the story or the book itself. By 1982, Wolverine has become an immensely popular character in Uncanny X-Men, thanks due in large part to the fact that he continues to be part of an ensemble, instead of the "star" he'd later become with his name virtually in lights on the marquee. There's still a wealth of material to be mined from the remaining members of the X-Men, particularly with Storm now in a leadership role; and while Xavier sees the potential in Wolverine as a leader, it's Storm who perhaps has more to offer in that role in terms of character growth.

But first, the team has to get its bearings and recover from this setback. Although Cyclops has detected a pulse in Colossus, he remains at death's door; also, with police officers holding the team accountable for the destruction incurred during the battle, getting them to back off is going to take some doing. Or, in this case, an Avenger:

Before the disagreement can go further, a massive starship appears over Manhattan and takes the decision out of the hands of New York's finest, as the Starjammers arrive--typically, in the nick of time. And their resources may hold the only hope for Colossus:

Meanwhile, Kitty and Nightcrawler remain aboard the Shi'ar flagship as hostages against the X-Men's cooperation. The mission commander, Admiral Lord Samédàr, gives them a grim report of how things are going on Earth so far:

Since the Shi'ar's arrival in our solar system, Samédàr has demonstrated he has little regard for the X-Men, which up until now could be attributed to his being a Shi'ar hard-liner. But in his next communiqué, we see evidence of not only Samédàr's corruption, but of his allegiance elsewhere:

Writer Chris Claremont has clearly taken the opportunity to explore the Shi'ar further with this play of Deathbird's--who, up until now, was a character not even known to be Shi'ar. Apparently this race's exposure in X-Men has been well-received, going back to the schemes of the mad emperor D'ken and of course the Shi'ar's heavy-handed involvement in the matter of the Phoenix. The story also affords Claremont the chance to bring back the Starjammers, as well as to close the circle between Cyclops and Corsair by providing the story of how the parents of Scott and his brother, Alex, had been separated from their children.

It's a beginning for these two--their relationship now on much different ground than the short time they spent as father and son, and both of them now very different men. Their experiences in battle together during this recent conflict have helped them to come to terms; but with Scott now knowing the truth, time will tell if they'll be able to find common ground. The general tone we get from Claremont is that it's headed in that direction.

Also headed forward is the Starjammers' ship, which is about to overtake Deathbird's vessel. We've already seen an impressive display of the size of the 'jammer--but now artist Dave Cockrum is about to put that in further perspective, as the hunter unfortunately becomes the hunted.

Cockrum has simply outdone himself here. This is our first look at one of the Brood's living vessels, a sentient species called the Acanti--at least they used to be sentient, until the Brood began to enslave them and adapted them for space travel by destroying their higher brain functions. With the X-Men and the Starjammers now captured, the Brood move in for the kill. But look who's made the most miraculous and speedy recovery on record:

I frankly expected bed rest for a recovering Colossus, not a clean bill of health and pointing him in the direction of a bloodthirsty army. But this is a comic book, with an alien medic tending to him--heck, it wouldn't be surprising if Colossus is sporting adamantium now. As for the Brood, either they're immensely overconfident despite the losses they suffered on Earth, or they only pack the Acanti with a small contingent of warriors--because otherwise they'd overwhelm their foes, and it looks like the X-Men and the Starjammers are doing pretty well against them. And since this is still when the X-Men refuse to take lives in their battles, it's interesting to see the back-and-forth on the subject between Storm and the more realist Starjammers--a debate where Wolverine's take would be interesting but which Claremont avoids:

The Brood, however, have the home field advantage--and while they deprive the ship of gravity in order to make their foes easy targets, another group is sent to execute Xavier and Lilandra. But Corsair and Cyclops have already split off from their comrades and are headed in that direction to free them:

Taken out by a guy relying on weightless momentum and a fist.  Maybe the Brood's reputation as ruthless, deadly warriors has been overstated.  Regardless, the rescue is successful, and everyone gets the signal to head back to the 'jammer. But Storm is otherwise engaged:

No, I have no idea how Deathbird is able to casually resist that "irresistible" torrent of outgoing air, since depressurization generally doesn't care whether or not you fly like a bird.  Fortunately, the Starjammers don't waste time thinking about it--their ship blasts free of the Acanti, and beams Storm back on board with not a second to spare.

The story is coming up on its final page, and it all feels a bit rushed, given the complete turnaround we've seen in the X-Men's fortunes while going up against what should have been enormous odds. If you'd been holding the hand Deathbird did, and if you had the allies Deathbird had, how would you explain the loss of not one but both of your valuable hostages, not to mention the recovery of two people you'd personally sent to what seemed certain death? You couldn't have wrapped up things more tidily if you'd had decorative paper and a bow.

The story has one last card to play to maintain our interest--the fate of the Earth.

You've probably noticed one discrepancy from when the Shi'ar first arrived and dictated their terms to Xavier--that they would free Lilandra by force should the X-Men fail.  It was the reason the X-Men insisted on interceding--to avoid the collateral damage caused by a Shi'ar strike.  Nothing was even mentioned about destroying the Earth--which would have accomplished nothing, even in retaliation.  It's Corsair who's been implicated in the terrorists' plot, and by now the Shi'ar have intelligence on Deathbird's involvement; nothing was ever said about anyone on Earth sharing responsibility for Lilandra's abduction. And since Lilandra is now off-world, the Shi'ar have no reason to move in.

I jokingly mentioned before that Kitty and Nightcrawler were likely to save the day for the X-Men. Please don't hurl tomatoes my way--the way this story is going, it shouldn't surprise any of us at this point.

Uncanny X-Men #156 Script: Chris Claremont Pencils: Dave Cockrum Inks: Bob Wiacek Letterer: Janice Chiang

Like Father, Not Like Son

September 26, 2014, 3:10 am

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"WHO IS STEVE ROGERS?"

That question began a 10-issue arc in Captain America following writer/artist Jack Kirby's departure from the title, set in motion by Cap's realization that the years of his youth before he volunteered for the super-soldier experiment were suddenly years he no longer recalled. Roy Thomas began things by having Cap take himself back to his origin in that experiment. Then, following clues that led him to Newfoundland, Cap discovered a former Nazi enemy who partially restored his memory of the day he lost his partner, Bucky, while battling Zemo--a day he now knows didn't end with the fatal explosion of the drone plane and his plunge into the English Channel.

And now, after dealing with the android copy of himself known as the Ameridroid, Cap resumes the search for his identity. By now we're beginning to wonder if Cap's hearing has been affected as well as his memory, since his readers have probably been screaming "Check your army records, you dope! Your army records!" all this time. It takes seven issues for the light bulb to glow over his head, but Cap finally visits the Pentagon and takes a look at his files. What he finds, though, are more questions to add to the mystery:

But after another three issues pass, this arc at last reaches its end, as Cap makes use of the scientific knowledge of Mason Harding (yes, that Mason Harding) to probe his memories more deeply and find the answers he seeks--under the watchful eye of Nick Fury, who isn't feeling too trustworthy toward the man who invented the "Madbomb."

And so Cap's "full speed ahead" resolve begins the story of Steve Rogers, seen in Marvel history for the first time.

Cap is understandably apprehensive about his past, though we should keep in mind that Cap did have these memories at one time and still went on to become the one and only Captain America--so what we're about to see here isn't likely to be overly traumatic, at least to the degree that he was unable to deal with it or that his childhood affected his adulthood detrimentally. So we can perhaps simply look at this story as the "origin of Steve Rogers." For any other kid growing up in the late 1930s, we might regard these scenes as mundane; but the fact that we're watching the future Captain America gives them a, dare I say it, historical context.

For instance, we might expect the young Steve Rogers to have been a real go-getter, the apple of his father's eye. But we know from Steve's physical build that he might not have had the easiest childhood--and the person who more accurately fits the characteristics of the person we think of as Cap is actually his brother, Mike, who's very different from Steve in both temperament and ambition. Differences evident to a most discriminating father:

Thus, Walter Rogers distances himself from the son he regards as a disappointment--and, in turn, Steve develops a growing bitterness toward his father.

Things only grow worse in the years before World War II. Steve is preparing to attend State U., while Steve's brother, Mike, is attending a military academy. Mike's choice makes the patriotic Walter beyond proud, but only highlights the differences he sees between Mike and Steve:

Unsurprisingly, Steve benefits from the time away from home, immersing himself in the many different voices and diverse people found in a college setting. But in late 1941, his life would change forever--as tragedy strikes home, and his pacifism takes a sharp turn.

Which brings us, of course, to Steve's fateful decision, ironically brought about by the admission policies of the armed forces that Walter Rogers chided Steve for turning away from. And the moment finally comes when Captain America is able to bring all of his memories home:

Yet in a fascinating twist to this story, the effect that the experience has had on Cap has returned Steve Rogers to the world more fully than anyone could have expected. Nor is it likely to improve Harding's credibility with Fury:

For all intents and purposes, Cap's search for his identity has come to an end. (Er, much like Cap himself!) The "origin" of Steve Rogers is really nothing out of the ordinary, except of course for the extraordinary development that occurs in his life as part of "Project: Rebirth"; and his early life is equally unremarkable in a later, updated version of his origin told in 1991, where there are discrepancies. There, he grows up in the lower east side of Manhattan instead of an upper-middle-class home in Maryland; his parents are poor immigrants, Sarah and Joseph, who both died fairly early in Steve's life. Thomas, perhaps for the sake of the arc (and maybe due to the fact that he was only present to drop the first seed of the plot before exiting the book), made it seem as if this identity search was going to yield something far more ominous from his past, which doesn't seem to be the case.

As for how Cap's memories of his childhood vanished in the first place--well, with so many chefs in this kitchen, it seems that no one ever got around to making that clear. We're left to assume that the loss of these memories was due to exposure from Lyle Dekker's nerve gas in that plane explosion over Newfoundland in 1944--the same gas that placed him in suspended animation and caused him to forget the events that took place immediately after Bucky's death. But if that's the case, that would mean that in all the years since Cap's revival, he's never once let his thoughts drift back to his childhood only to realize that those memories weren't there.

At any rate, rest assured that Cap's regression was only temporary, wearing off in a moment of crisis where he embraces his past along with his present:

Uh, Cap--you're talking to a robot, which couldn't care less. But welcome back.

Captain America #225 Script: Steve Gerber Layouts: Sal Buscema Finishers: Mike Esposito and John Tartaglione Letterer: Irv Watanabe

The Deadly Premiere of... well... The Birdnapper!

September 26, 2014, 6:48 pm

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Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

I'd frankly be surprised if you took a shot at guessing our mystery villain's name, considering he hasn't chosen one yet. Meet Mortimer Freebish, who's just starting out and intends to become the greatest super-villain EVER. But Mortimer is unfortunately fated to take the trial and error approach to villainy, with emphasis on the "error" part. His first error is in taking on the Falcon, goading his intended victim into a trap by... well, let's just say that Mortimer's first attempt at building his rep isn't going to score him any points in the dignity department.

(You know, he has a point about Hawkeye.)

When midnight arrives, the Falcon is nowhere to be seen--or, as we'll come to find out, noticed. But when Mortimer lines up a shot at Redwing, the Falcon springs his own trap:

Once the Falcon frees Redwing, the battle is on! (Do we really have to call this a battle?) It's clear that Mortimer has come prepared with some creative and even deadly arrow designs, but his target practice sessions have obviously left something to be desired. And the Falcon has all the time he needs to gain the advantage:

At least Mortimer knows one of the first rules of villainy: always have a trick up your sleeve. Though it also helps if you don't leave yourself vulnerable to it:

Mortimer of course is mistaken by thinking that it's the Falcon he spots on the park bench--after all, Falc has no reason to resume his disguise, since he's been on the winning end of this fight. And to underscore that, he takes full advantage of Mortimer's blunder:

Again, Mortimer can forget about his dignity here. At least he wasn't conscious for Falc's little joke at his expense.

To perhaps no one's surprise, a Google search of Mortimer's comics appearances results in just this one story. Though on a positive note, he can at least find satisfaction in a Google search actually bringing up hits on him. Mortimer may indeed be on his way, after all.

Trustworthy. Loyal. Helpful. Obedient. Opinionated.

September 27, 2014, 7:44 pm

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Thanks to the magic of comic books, in which devices and constructs have often proven to be well beyond our current level of scientific achievement, we've seen our share of artificial intelligence (A.I.) units that have been put to good use by our heroes and villains. My personal favorite was the computer tactical intelligence which guided the cyborg Deathlok on his missions, though Deathlok himself may have something to say about who was the actual boss in this arrangement:

Given the temperament of Luther Manning, whose damaged body eventually became "Deathlok," the computer had to often insist (for lack of a better word) on a course of action while a mission was being carried out, which resulted in it and Manning taking an almost argumentative stance with each other. The computer didn't have a personality, as we understand it; rather, it was simply performing optimally in order to ensure that Deathlok survived.

But I also have some runners-up that include other noteworthy A.I.s. There was Madame MacEvil's overworked (and unappreciated) computer:

And how about Reed Richards' mobile computer, H.E.R.B.I.E.--which had a slight problem with being infiltrated and controlled by the villain, Doctor Sun, and attempted to kill its maker:

But in a moment of clarity, H.E.R.B.I.E. sacrificed itself in order to save the Fantastic Four from Sun's attack:

And who could forget ISAAC, the super-computer of Titan, which could assume holographic form but whose analysis was sometimes brutally to the point:

Though leave it to an Earthman, such as Rick Jones, to be more skilled at interacting with an A.I.  Perhaps ISAAC was more cooperative because he was given a cool nickname:

And while it couldn't have been easy being an A.I. to someone on shaky mental ground like the Sentry, Cloc was still loyal and diligently on the job:

Jocasta, the creation of Ultron who would later become an Avenger, shifted her A.I. from a humanoid form to one that not only assisted Tony Stark at one time, but also inhabited the new base of Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers:

Then there's Omnivac, the doting A.I. which controlled the functions of the Leader's orbiting satellite, and which was invaluable to the villain while he was recuperating from an explosion which left him an invalid:

There was never any questioning Omnivac's devotion to this master villain whose goal was to rule the world. And Omnivac obviously wasn't the type of A.I. to wait for a query before chiming in with an opinion:

And while sometimes Omnivac would assume humanoid form, he would still be in service to the Leader. Whether it was to lull foes into a false sense of security:

Or to administer bone-breaking punishment to a rash ally.

Unfortunately, there came a time when the Leader was up against the wall and threw Omnivac's caution to the wind in demanding a quick escape from his foes. Which gave the Leader the unexpected chance to become one with that wind:

According to ground stations not long afterward, there could be heard upbeat selections of Mozart coming over satellite frequencies for some time.

It Pays To Have A Sweet Tooth

September 28, 2014, 11:00 pm

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If you were reading comics in mid- to late-1978, you probably remember seeing a few double-page sweepstakes offers from Beatrice Foods, which at the time held candy products such as the Clark Bar, Milk Duds, Zagnut, et al. The ads were placed directly at the mid-point of the comic you were reading, and featured a large graphic of either one or a group of Marvel characters (I'm assuming DC comics also had ads with their own characters featured), surrounded by the terms of the sweepstakes.

Two of these ads may have seemed formatted much the same to you, with those large, striking bold captions heading each one. Yes, they were from the same company, only with different ads for basically the same sweeps, spaced a few months apart:

If you were like me, the last thing you wanted to do was to interrupt the story you were reading and machete your way through this kind of promotional material; so chances are you flipped the page, and by the time you'd finished the story, the sweepstakes ad had already been forgotten. Still, free money and prizes were being offered (legitimately, it seemed), and so I feel it's my duty to let you know what we passed on at the time. For what it's worth, we probably don't even remember what story we found so much more interesting than these ads--how's that for karma.

With these ads, the devil indeed seems to be in the details. For instance, entry into the Milk Duds sweeps automatically entered you into the Clark Bar sweeps--but not vice versa (at least not according to the copy). Also, there was no Grand Prize in the Clark Bar sweeps, as there was in the Milk Duds ad. There are one or two other discrepancies between the two sweeps, but offhand I'd say the Milk Duds sweepstakes was the better choice.

So, briefly, here are the winnings:

First Prize:

• Round-trip flight to NYC, + all-expense-paid lodging for 3 days and 2 nights (limit family of 4)
• Personal tour of Marvel Comics offices; artist will draw your image, to be inserted into an upcoming issue of your favorite Marvel comic (includes 15 free copies of the comic)

Second Prize (20 winners):
Choice of Superhero or Superduds full-color Swiss-made wrist watch

Third Prize (100 winners):
1-year subscription to a DC or Marvel comic of your choice

All sweeps entrants entered into the Grand Prize drawing (10 winners):
A 10-speed Schwinn bicycle

All in all, not a bad contest to take the time to mail an entry form and enclose a candy wrapper. That First Prize sounds pretty sweet, especially if you'd never seen NYC before--and the only money you shell out is for sightseeing, souvenirs, plays, or other diversions.  (Let's assume that meals were covered if you dined at the hotel--assuming there were dining facilities wherever they put you up.)

And speaking of contests, let's jump to 1980 and see what Marvel itself cooked up when it threw its hat into the contest ring. Remember when this banner appeared on comics covers at the time and effectively shrunk the cover's art to accommodate it?

The "Win-Yourself-Some-Big-Bucks Contest" was a kinda-sorta sweepstakes--except that you had to work a little harder to enter, and prize recipients weren't determined by random drawings. Boiled down, it's a Marvel survey; but instead of checking off boxes, you give your answers in written form.

Entrants are split into age groups, with each group having its own question to answer:

Ages 10 and under:
Who is your favorite Marvel super hero, and why? (25 words or less)

Ages 11-14:
Who is your least favorite Marvel character, and what can we do to improve him or her? (25 words or less)

Ages 15 and older :
How should the Marvel Universe change to face the challenges of the eighties? (50 words or less)

As for the prizes, there's no all-expense-paid trip, but they're still pretty decent:

First Prize: $2,500
Second Prize: $1,000
Third Prize: $500

Fourth Prize (100 winners): A copy of Origins of Marvel Comics, autographed by Stan Lee
Fifth Prize (250 winners): 1-year subscription to a Marvel comic of your choice

You could enter as often as you wish, but each entry must be accompanied by a proof-of-purchase stamp (i.e., you'd have to buy a comic each time you wanted to enter). The winners were selected by Marden-Kane, Inc., an independent judging firm, based on "originality, aptness of thought, sincerity, and neatness."

At the top of the contest ad, Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter has a conspicuous note about prices going up for Marvel books, with the contest being offered as a thanks-for-your-understanding gesture. And you have to hope entrants who were late to this party were pretty generous with their understanding, given that the ad pictured here appeared in a comic dated September, 1980, while the contest terms specify that "all entries must be received by August 15, 1980 to be eligible."(I was wondering why the Hulk was looking puzzled.)

This Time, It's Personal!

September 29, 2014, 6:03 pm

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In examining the character of Maj. Glenn Talbot, who served under the command of General "Thunderbolt" Ross and who diligently carried out Ross's orders in his efforts to capture or otherwise contain the incredible Hulk, it seemed the Major had reached a turning point in his life when we last left him--both as an officer and as the husband of Betty Ross, the General's daughter. Talbot--thanks to the efforts of both Bruce Banner and the Hulk, of all people--had just had his mind restored from damage he had suffered while a captive of the Gremlin. But returning from the dead is no small matter; and, still suffering post-traumatic stress from his ordeal, Talbot must pick up the pieces of his life.

In the days that follow, those pieces fail to coalesce. Talbot finds himself being abrupt with Ross when the General attempts to talk to him about his recovery, and he grows increasingly distant from Betty. Eventually, he feels he has only one recourse:

As for Betty, she pivots rather sharply, and decides to take off and "find" herself, as well:

Yes, it's crystal clear what you're thinking: Unless Betty borrowed some growth solution from Hank Pym, that just has to be a wig she's primping.

The Hulk, of course, isn't waiting around for these two to wind up in Hollywood pitching a reality show about themselves. ("Taking A Break With The Talbots!") Life must move forward for them--but for Major Talbot, the path forward will prove to be a bitter one, as he faces up to the fact that he may be beginning his own vendetta toward Banner and the Hulk.



Let's move forward a bit, to a point in time which will be a key factor in determining Glenn Talbot's next step in his military career. General Ross has been undergoing stress of his own, becoming increasingly short-tempered (even for him) as well as borderline unstable. Also, a new colleague of Leonard Samson's, Dr. Karla Sofen, has infiltrated Gamma Base and, as the second Moonstone, has found herself in battle against the Hulk. And when Ross learns her identity, it proves to be the tipping point for him, as Sofen uses her skills as a psychiatrist to incapacitate him in an effort to preserve her cover:

Behind the scenes, however, Talbot and his wife, Betty, have decided to meet in Mexico and move forward to a mutually agreed upon solution to their marital problems.

Betty becomes sidelined a bit in San Francisco with Fred Sloane and Rick Jones; but it's Talbot who concerns us now, since the divorce has caused him to reach a tipping point of his own:

Not the kind of man you really want in a position of responsibility. But, fortunately for Talbot, Ross's debilitation has left a vacancy in the command of Gamma Base--and, in its wisdom, the military has filled that post with an officer who has a few ideas on just how to proceed in a position that exists to deal with the Hulk. An officer that will likely slip into Ross's shoes a bit too comfortably:

Now-Colonel Talbot won't have to wait long to get a crack at the Hulk, since the behemoth is leaping his way to Gamma Base in order to retrieve the dead body of his former love, Jarella, and return it to her sub-microscopic world--a tall order for one of the Hulk's limited mental capacity, but it's highly probable that you and I can look forward to just such a trip happening. Though not if Talbot can help it, if the Hulk's reception committee has any say in the matter.

What follows is, simply put, a swath of destruction the likes of which this base has seldom seen--as soldiers, equipment, and ordnance all fall before the Hulk's raging attack. And this is a military base on the alert, mind you--a base stocked with men and equipment specially trained and designed to deal with this one brute. Talbot is throwing everything he has at the Hulk--a show of force to which the Hulk basically responds with "Bah!", an exclamation which isn't likely to thrill the Senate Appropriations Committee. For what it's worth, the Hulk doesn't leave a renovation half-finished--in this case, destroying every single piece of armament used against him:

Which leaves Colonel Talbot the last man standing among the ruins of his own base. Or should we say, Mandroid:

It's fair to say that Talbot has formally made this fight a personal one--though this standoff is perhaps ill-considered, given his crazed state of mind. No rational man would expect to succeed in even Mandroid armor when all the high-tech weaponry of the base has failed miserably against the Hulk. Indeed, the opening exchange between the two is a disturbing sign of what's to come:

Yet, as these posts on Major Talbot have hopefully demonstrated, there's more to the man than just his status as a soldier. Throughout his career as an officer under Ross's command, he's been through situations and personal crises that few others could weather, and seen them through. Of course, in his anguish, Talbot recounts those experiences with a tone that can't help but point the blame for the circumstances of his life at the Hulk:

And so Colonel Talbot fights the Hulk in earnest--which must be quite the sight to those of his men who might be watching, as their commanding officer takes on alone a monster which has just destroyed this base and soundly beaten back their resistance. If only that was all there was to it. For Talbot's drive and determination is fueled not by duty, but by vengeance. He fights not out of his pride as a soldier, but out of sheer bitterness toward his monstrous foe. Whether or not that will give him the edge he needs to prevail remains to be seen--but frankly, my money's on the Hulk, whose track record against army and SHIELD tech speaks for itself.

The battle (if you can call it that anymore, at this point) is halted by the arrival of Captain Marvel, who has obviously helped Talbot but who now wishes to do the same for the Hulk:

Mar-vell manages to reactivate the shrinking mechanism (which reduced the Hulk once before), and send him on his way with the body of Jarella. But Talbot is waiting in the wings to deal a fatal blow to the Hulk--and Betty, newly arrived with Fred and Rick, receives the news of the aftermath.

Betty then joins Samson and her recuperating father in the Rocky Mountains, without a word to her ex-husband. But she briefly returns when, eventually, Talbot must face the music about the operations at Gamma Base, as he's called before a Congressional committee to answer some hard questions:

Talbot obviously has an agenda regarding the Hulk that he can't go on the record with in the company of lawmakers who are unsympathetic toward him. And so, a few days later, the expected outcome of these hearings is divulged to the nation--including a man who now makes the decision to move his life as a soldier from duty to treason.

Glenn Talbot has just declared a one-man war.

NEXT: The War Wagon!

(This post covers events from Incredible Hulk #s 210-256.)

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The Wrath Of The Wrecker!

October 1, 2014, 3:13 am

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At the end of 1969, Jack Kirby's time as penciller on Mighty Thor was nearing its end, with only seven more issues before he would conclude his distinctive run on the title--while closing the door on this chapter of his work at Marvel Comics altogether, and moving on to hopefully greener pastures. Reading Thor around this time was something of a mixed blessing, since writer Stan Lee's scripting was barely present in Kirby's panels--only contributing insofar as what it took to move things along, with little to none of Lee's usual depth added to either characterization or the elements of the story. It was much the same in issues of Fantastic Four published at the same time, with Kirby ending his time there, as well. You and I can only imagine the upheaval Kirby's departure was causing in the Marvel offices, and not just in terms of scheduling. There seems to be general consensus that Kirby was not leaving Marvel under pleasant or even cordial circumstances--and, whether coincidentally or otherwise, that air of discontent was evident in these final stories.

Yet the Marvel promotional machinery was still going strong--and this house ad was pleasing to come across, even though a tight lid was being kept on what was going on behind closed doors:

If the cover to this issue of Thor was any indication, Kirby had no intention of throwing in the towel on his work before punching his time card for the final time. Kirby would later end his time on Thor with a battle between the warriors of Asgard and Surtur, the fire-god of legend who would one day put the final touches on Ragnarok. Inbetween, we'd see the first appearance of the Crypto-Man, which would eventually end the life of the Hulk's betrothed, Jarella, and pay the price. There was an encounter with billionaire Kronin Krask, who involved Thor in a mad scheme to gain the Thunder God's immortality. Kirby also presented another bombastic battle with the rock troll, Ulik, who had fallen in thrall to the Ringmaster (I simply have to get my hands on one of those hypnotic hats)--as well as a story where Loki seizes the throne of Asgard by laying claim to the Odin-ring.

And beginning this home stretch of issues was a rematch between Thor and the ruthless Wrecker, a common thief who was mistakenly granted Asgardian power by Karnilla, Queen of the Norns. In their first battle, the Wrecker almost succeeded in slaying Thor, who had been deprived of his Asgardian might by Odin--but through the intervention of the Destroyer, the Wrecker was beaten and subsequently carted off to a holding facility.

Trouble is, no one on Earth had really counted on having to incarcerate a super-villain with Asgardian power coursing through him--and so they drugged him, hoping to keep him sedated until proper facilities could be prepared for him.

Their time ran out.

Thor's penance with his father had ended some time ago, so he's now back to full fighting strength--and a good thing, too, because clearly the Wrecker is gunning for him. Nor does this villain plan to spend time thumbing for a ride to the city:

Kirby's work here is inked by Bill Everett, who of course had an incredible career in comics art and whose inks I particularly enjoy seeing on any number of artists' pencils. His work on Thor adds something of a sheen to the book's characters while flattening facial expressions in places, though that really amounts to only a quibble on my part. Most artists who apply their inking to Kirby's work wisely refrain from diluting his pencils (though Vince Colletta softened them significantly), and Everett for the most part lets the man go to town in these panels.

As for the story itself, there's still a fair amount of contribution that Lee makes to it--with Don Blake waging his own battle to save the life of a civil rights activist, but who incurs the shock of his fellow doctors by abandoning the patient in the middle of the operation (in order to meet the threat of the Wrecker). Unfortunately, Lee ends the story with Blake relatively spotless as far as blame goes; and Thor's battle with the Wrecker breaks no new ground, with the Wrecker his usual cocky thug self and Thor battling for truth, justice, and the Midgardian way. Kirby and Everett, however, go for broke, with each series of scenes almost exploding out of the panels:

You can see why the Wrecker rubs Thor the wrong way, personifying as he does the materialistic preoccupation that Thor has found in villain and super-villain alike during his time on Earth. Yet it's a mainstay of Thor's character to advocate man's greater destiny and his ability to rise above his shortcomings, and Lee pours it on in that respect--not to an unbearable degree, but rather weaving it into these scenes with a good sense of timing.

But Thor has a patient to get back to, so let's take a look at Kirby's own good sense of pacing a story and bringing a knock-down drag-out to an exciting conclusion.

We know from later stories in other mags that the Wrecker would regain his power--as well as put together a four-man team of crime, the Wrecking Crew.  (As if the guy doesn't wreak havoc enough on his own.)  When we return to Thor, we'll continue our look at these last seven issues of Jack Kirby's final work on the character (at least as far as the interior of the book is concerned), as the Thunder God is shot out of the sky and into the clutches of the last mortal villain he would face on Kirby's watch.

Mighty Thor #171 Script: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Bill Everett Letterer: Sam Rosen

Days Of Future Past

October 2, 2014, 3:46 am

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Avengers/Invaders was a 12-part series published in 2008-2009, with a story that takes place in--well, that's where the fun begins. The Invaders are unknowingly sent forward through time to 2008--the aftermath of the Civil War, after Captain America had been assassinated, where they encounter the Avengers and initially misinterpret them as Nazis. Of course, with the Invaders, Captain America is alive once again, though once again a man out of time.

And time is what this series is fueled on, with both teams of heroes (as well as the underground New Avengers) battling in their own way to set things right. First blood goes to Tony Stark's group of Avengers, who capture the '40s heroes and contain them on the SHIELD helicarrier--with the exception of Namor, who makes his way back to his homeland to find allies to return with. Only this Namor has little reason to think that his home would have long since ceased to exist:

This post is something of a sampler for you, before we later explore the series in depth here. I found Avengers/Invaders to be a fun story as far as the confrontations and interactions it provoked--but I wouldn't call it an epic in the sense of it being a grand, heroic tale that will be long remembered. Think of it more as an interesting idea that was put on the table, given the green light after further discussion, and then executed fairly well. In addition, you may find it to be an engaging supplemental story to Civil War--a crossover event which has been dead and buried for awhile, but receives an interesting interpretation here when its results are seen through the eyes of heroes who fought so hard for American ideals. "Nazis," indeed.

As for Namor, the beautiful cover of issue 3, painted by Alex Ross, gives us an idea of what else he's liable to find in his search:

Yet this match-up isn't as black-and-white as we might think--for the contemporary Namor remembers this conflict taking place, and tempers his response accordingly.

I never did read The Invaders on a regular basis, but I imagine it was a struggle to remember sometimes that the "Sufferin' Shad!" Namor of that time period was more likely to settle matters with his fists than the Namor of our time (though the apple certainly didn't fall far from the tree in that regard). Perhaps that made him a perfect wartime ally; but, here and now, engaging in yet another conflict with surface dwellers is the furthest thing from the minds of his "people," and they side with his counterpart. It comes as a surprise to the younger Namor, and he fights on; his elder, on the other hand, knows that this encounter needs to be brought to a swift end.

Avengers/Invaders is both a look back and a look forward, to more depth than in the Fantastic Four annual which was content with simply a meeting/brief alliance between the Invaders and the FF. Oddly enough, this 2008 story gave me an appreciation of the Invaders that their own book never managed to do, though not enough to bring me on board with The Invaders itself. As we move forward with the series, perhaps those of you in the same boat will enjoy a more "one-shot" appearance of the team, which gives us a fine display of their prowess but knows when to return them to the past.

From The Ashes Rises--Teen Phoenix!

October 3, 2014, 3:14 am

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We've come to the end of the four-part story involving the X-Men and a renegade Shi'ar conspiracy that's out to usurp Empress Lilandra's place on the throne, replacing her with Deathbird. Part One saw the return of Corsair, leader of the Starjammers, who was revealed to be the father of Cyclops, and we learned through Corsair how Lilandra was taken captive and brought to Earth. In Part Two, the X-Men faced Deathbird and her alien allies, the vicious Brood, and barely escaped with their lives--while Deathbird captured Charles Xavier for additional hostage leverage, and launched toward outer space. Part Three saw the X-Men and the Starjammers successfully board the massive Brood vessel and free both Lilandra and Xavier, a rescue which left the Starjammer ship cripped in space while the clock was ticking on the Shi'ar deadline which might result in Earth's destruction.

As Part Four begins, with things at their bleakest, it seems like the perfect time to play the Phoenix card. After all, it's been a whole ten issues since an X-Men cover shamelessly teased us with her return, in one form or another:

Calm yourselves, however--Jean Grey does not return to once more scare the crap out of the Shi'ar. But things look pretty dismal, regardless. The X-Men are in the process of helping the Starjammers repair their ship, and must now deal with an additional crisis--Colossus, near-mortally wounded in the battle with Deathbird, now finds himself succumbing to his injuries once again:

No, I don't know when Storm became a qualified nurse who can prep a patient for surgery. And no, I don't know why Sikorsky would think Xavier's mental abilities would be of more use in repairing a starship, rather than using them to mentally bolster his patient during a surgical procedure. Xavier will indeed attempt to use his powers to contact Kitty and Nightcrawler, who remain on board the Shi'ar ship in Earth orbit--but he'll fail in the attempt, and consequently become another critical patient of Sikorsky. It might be a good idea to steer clear of selecting Sikorsky to be your primary care physician if his name comes up on your HMO list--he doesn't seem to make the best calls.

Wolverine, at least, thinks this fluttering physician needs a second opinion:

Meanwhile, Lilandra attempts the logical next step: contacting the Shi'ar and letting them know of her status. But we learned in Part Three that Admiral Lord Samédàr is a covert member of Deathbird's group, and he now makes his move to secure his grip on the Shi'ar task force:

As for Deathbird, she faces the wrath of the Brood for the loss of their hostages and the reversal of their fortunes. Unless Samédàr succeeds in his power play, Deathbird's revolt is in danger of collapse, and the Brood will have nothing to show for their efforts. But, in addition to offering the Brood data on the X-Men that make the mutants ideal hosts for their--well, brood, Deathbird makes it clear that she has no intention of paying the Brood's price in blood should this operation fail:

That leaves the status of Nightcrawler and Kitty, who haven't been doing much until now but, after dealing with an attempt on their lives by Samédàr, decide to become more proactive by seeking out Lilandra's chancellor, Araki, and informing him of the details of Xavier's aborted telepathic message to them--that Lilandra is safe and sound. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of Araki:

While the two make plans to enlist the help of the Imperial Guard, a trigger-happy Samédàr is moving ahead to decimate the Earth. Before he can act, however, the two X-Men provide quite a distraction that will allow them to grab the Guard's telepath, Oracle, in order to help convince the Guard of Samédàr's betrayal:

Not surprisingly, writer Chris Claremont takes the opportunity at this point to have the Shi'ar pour on the dire consequences facing their people and the universe and the San Diego Comic-Con, should Phoenix pick up where she left off--which is probably a more dignified response from the Shi'ar as opposed to them discovering that they've been pranked by a teenager. Meanwhile, Oracle, having listened to Nightcrawler and Kitty (after first fleeing in terror from seeing Kitty in her Phoenix outfit), summons other members of the Guard to hear them out. But Gladiator and his associates receive all the evidence they need from Samédàr himself, who has his own loyal Guard complement--and, this being an X-Men comic, you know how things are going to go from there, no doubt:

One assumes, however, that you don't get to be "Admiral Lord" in the Shi'ar military hierarchy without knowing how to ruthlessly handle an insurrection. Samédàr first uses a Brood weapon implanted in the Guardsman, Warstar, to decimate the ranks of Gladiator and his group (not to mention poor Warstar); then, after discovering Kitty's attempted sabotage of the ship's computer core, uses another hidden weapon to drop her, as well, despite her phasing ability. And finally, the way is clear to proceed with his mad plan--unless a certain rogue group of heroes arrives, once again, in the nick of time:

Lilandra may be sitting pretty again on the Shi'ar throne, but we still have a few loose ends dangling which keeps this story from being at least completely reset. Both Colossus and Xavier are still on the injured list, with Xavier possibly infected with a Brood embryo; Lilandra and the Guard are probably going to be busy ferreting out traitors in their midst; and of course Deathbird now has a lot of 'splainin to do to her Brood allies. As for the X-Men, their affairs on Earth will go on to involve their first meeting with Rogue, an encounter with Dracula, and a battle with the demon Belasco, before again facing the Brood in a more extended conflict. If they're not careful, they're all going to end up under Sikorsky's tender care.

Uncanny X-Men #157 Script: Chris Claremont Pencils: Dave Cockrum Inks: Bob Wiacek Letterer: Janice Chiang

Name! That! Inker!

October 4, 2014, 5:46 am

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Who would you say is inking this page from Fantastic Four #219 that's pencilled by artist Bill Sienkiewicz?

Would your guess be:

(A) Pablo Marcos; (B) Bruce Patterson; (C) Joe Sinnott; or (D) Sienkiewicz himself?

My first guess would have been Pablo Marcos. But would you believe:

Joe Sinnott? Really? It doesn't look at all like Joltin' Joe's style. Let's have a look at a few more panels from the issue:

And now let's skip ahead three issues, to a story where Marcos is listed in the credits:

I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

(By the way, your eyes weren't playing tricks on you--that was indeed the Fantasti-Car, fitting inside the Pogo Plane. And with room to spare. I believe the response you're looking for is: "No. No, that's not possible.")

As for how Sinnott's work would really look, applied to Sienkiewicz's pencils, we can skip ahead a few more issues to see the result:

Much more definitive. Still, I can't quite make the call on whether or not the credits for #219 were in error, because some of the scenes from that issue do indeed have Sinnott's touches on them:

Sienkiewicz would be aboard Fantastic Four just after John Byrne's ten-issue initial stint as artist, taking over while Byrne segued to Captain America; then, about a year later, Byrne would return to ink his own work on the FF for a more extended stay on the book.

Sienkiewicz's work was scripted by Doug Moench (who forever carries the stain of the Zaniac on his résumé), the two of them bringing readers a different take on the FF. You might enjoy this one-year collection of issues, just for the sake of trying something a little different.  And it probably goes without saying that you'll be able to sample a few different inking styles, as well.

The Come-And-Go Surgeon

October 5, 2014, 8:20 am

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Back in the day, when Dr. Donald Blake still showed up in hospitals unannounced, eliciting gasps and envy from his fellow healers, he pretty much enjoyed carte blanche, practically parting the waters on his way to whatever patient required his matchless services. You'd think the man had arrived in response to a special searchlight on the roof of City Hall, projecting an outline of a scalpel in the night sky:

Though when Blake moves to Chicago and is referred to a local free clinic for work, the clinic's head physician, who's clearly dedicated to maintaining high standards at his humble place of healing, is a bit more discerning and isn't the type to fall at Blake's feet like the rest:

Blake, of course, gets the nod from Jeffries--the man is no fool, after all.

But nobody's perfect--even a Norse god in the guise of a mortal, who went to medical school without realizing at the time that he was a god. It was Blake who gave Thor a new appreciation for the planet Earth and its fragile, mortal inhabitants--but it was Blake who established an identity of his own, another mortal among mortals, who only had a semblance of his life and his goals when "awakening" in his new form:

Which brings us to two interesting Thor stories, both taking place after Blake has discovered his true origins as Thor and who now seeks to strike a balance between the busy life of a medical doctor with a life as the God of Thunder. It was something he could barely get away with during his Journey Into Mystery days when he spent most of his time in his Park Avenue private practice as a G.P., having to fumble for explanations to give his nurse when he would have to duck out to save the day as Thor and leaving her to make excuses to his waiting patients--but far more difficult to manage when he began making appearances in the operating room as a skilled, "gifted" surgeon facing the professional scrutiny of his peers in regard to both his behavior and his long absences.

In the first of these stories, Thor gets word of the shooting of Pedro Lopez, a civil rights activist, whose life now hangs by a thread and who's scheduled for emergency surgery. Blake shows up unannounced to "assist" in the operation but is quickly assigned as the primary surgeon for the procedure, to the relief of everyone involved:

During the operation, however, the Wrecker begins a rampage in the city, and Blake is forced to make a crucial decision:

With the clock ticking, Thor manages to defeat the Wrecker with dispatch; but imagine the censure that awaits Blake back at the hospital for his unprofessional behavior, even when he's able to return in time to save the patient. Yet writer Stan Lee chooses to avoid consequences for Blake, and instead lets him off with a virtual slap on the wrist in a "if only they knew" moment:

Aside from the fact that this was a high profile case due to all the media focus on Lopez, Blake's conduct in the operating room would normally have sent word of his behavior rippling through professional circles and at the very least warranted a hearing on the matter. Also, what if it had been known that Blake would need to duck out from time to time to protect the city as a super-hero? Is the end of the story suggesting that we or his fellow doctors should cut him some slack? Or that we simply understand his burden?

Our second story, scripted by Doug Moench, takes place just over fifty issues later and "piggybacks" on the first with a similar plot. Here, the flash point for the crisis is a young man named Jimmy Sayers, who flees pursuit after shoplifting from a market and is critically wounded by gunfire when police misinterpret him reaching for a concealed weapon. Sayers is rushed to the neighborhood clinic where Blake is in residency, and Jeffries assigns Blake to perform the procedure. Here, too, the stakes are high in the operating room, with the neighborhood residents up in arms over what's being seen as an unprovoked shooting of an unarmed kid:

The crisis rises to a fever pitch in the streets, and the similarities between this story and Lee's continue with some variations. Here, Blake completes his surgery without having to leave at a crucial point--but, thanks to a handy window in the operating room, he becomes aware of what's happening outside and once again makes a judgment call:

But, while Thor is using a might-makes-right approach with both the angry crowds and the police outside, another crisis arises--this one in the operating room, where Sayers' heart stops and Jeffries is called in by the alarmed nurse. This time, the patient dies--and this time, Blake doesn't simply get to walk away from the consequences of his actions, but instead receives a stern dressing-down from Jeffries:

Moench pursues the matter reasonably, given Blake's past experiences in such matters in the pages of Thor. Blake is still at odds over his duties as Thor and his responsibilities as a physician, but has reached a point which, as he puts it, amounts to "for better or worse, what I truly am. Often confused...but never doubting." Writer Gerry Conway at one time took the opposite approach to Blake's doubts about his identity, making the guy quite the basket case about it. With Blake now stabilized in that regard, what we see at this point is Blake now in the position of making hard choices about his actions; and, with Blake's gifts having allowed him to practically coast through his career, Moench puts him in the position of accountability for the first time.

Interestingly enough, Blake still doesn't seem to find cause to recognize the need for that accountability, given the technicalities of his actions. And those at his hearing don't seem to be interested in letting him off on a technicality:

Blake is certainly annoyed with "ifs," which isn't surprising under the circumstances. If, for example, a doctor completed an operation, instructed the nurse to monitor his patient, and then immediately left the premises to, say, run errands in the city, we can't help but wonder how Blake would regard that doctor's behavior if he were sitting with Jeffries and the other members on the review committee. Moench, unfortunately, goes no further with Blake facing the music here--abandoning not just this part of the story, but also letting Blake off scot-free by dropping the matter entirely with this rather lame conclusion:

It almost seems appropriate that these two stories centered on gunshot victims, given that neither of them had the skill of Donald Blake in dodging a bullet.

(This post covers events from Mighty Thor #s 159, 171, 311-312.)

Colonel Talbot's Last Stand!

October 6, 2014, 9:26 am

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We've reached the final part of our look at the career of Maj. Glenn Talbot, the young security officer who joined General "Thunderbolt" Ross's command and thus became involved in Ross's efforts to deal with the incredible Hulk. Since that pivot in his career, it's been a long and tragic road for him. Almost immediately, he became enamored with the general's daughter, Betty; and since Betty was involved with Bruce Banner, the man who would be discovered to be the Hulk, to say that Talbot had a conflict of interest would be an understatement. For how do you go about winning the woman you love while doggedly hunting the man she loves?

But since part of Ross's mission was to help to cure Banner whenever he was in a position to do so, Talbot had some breathing room as far as staying close to Betty. And Banner's life as the Hulk also helped in keeping him sufficiently away from Betty, if not out of her life--for even as the Hulk, Betty stood by Banner in a kind of holding pattern, never giving up hope that the two of them could one day be together again. And Talbot could only bide his time.

When the Hulk was presumed dead at one time, things began to happen at a rapid pace for Talbot. Seeing his way clear to Betty, he proposed marriage, and she accepted. The reports of the Hulk's death, of course, turned out to be premature; still, Talbot's marriage seemed to be on a steady foundation, even when Betty discovered that Banner was still alive. Then came the capture of General Ross by the Russians, which led to a rescue attempt by Col. Armbruster and Talbot. Ross was freed in the raid on the Russian facility, but Talbot was shot and presumed dead. He would later stun everyone by appearing again, alive and well; but he'd been brainwashed and implanted with a bomb to assassinate the U.S. President. The attempt failed--but with the bomb's explosion, there was no doubt this time of Talbot's death.

Soon, though, it was discovered that the man who'd died wasn't Talbot, but someone surgically altered to resemble him--and that Talbot was being held at a Russian installation. Another raid was launched--and when Talbot was found, it was revealed that Talbot's conscious mind had been transferred to the agent who had exploded in the assassination attempt, while the mind of the agent had been transferred to Talbot's body. In the escape with Talbot, the Russian's mind was destroyed to avoid state secrets from being compromised.

Still with me? To make a long story short, Talbot's subconscious was salvaged, and Talbot was able to assume his own identity once again. But this man had obviously gone through hell, and he found himself in no shape to immediately pick up the pieces of his life. And so he took a leave of absence, from both his career and from Betty; while Betty, taking her own break, discovered an independence she found that she liked. Soon after, she asked for and was granted a divorce from Talbot, who was gracious on the surface but began to blame both the Hulk and Bruce Banner for his troubles. That led to now-Colonel Talbot taking command of Ross's base while Ross was on medical leave, and launching an all-out attack on the Hulk--an attack which failed and left Gamma Base in near-ruin. Consequently, the government viewed the base as a failure and withdrew its funding, effectively shutting it down--well, what was left of it.

Talbot, to put it mildly, is not a happy man once the dust settles. But, bereft of weapons, soldiers, or a base of operations, what are his options at this point?

Just one:

WAR.

We pick things up as Congresswoman Messinger arrives at Gamma Base to oversee its decommissioning. With the general mood of the base personnel, Messinger receives a rather cold welcome. But the base's former commander is there to offer words far more blunt:

As is evident, the Congresswoman doesn't mince words, and is equally blunt with her response. Colonel Talbot, however, is conspicuously absent; but when the complex is shaken by a sudden rumbling, Talbot makes it clear that he, at least, is not quite out of the Hulkbusting business--not by a long shot. Though his actions demonstrate a thin line between duty and treason.

The "War Wagon" is a little disappointing in design by artist Sal Buscema, in light of how spoiled we've become by former artist Herb Trimpe's impeccable military ordnance renderings. By the way, has anyone told Leonard Samson that he wouldn't have authority to bark out orders to base personnel, even if the base was up and running?

And so Talbot begins his last hunt for the Hulk--and while he's tracking, assisted by the War Wagon's A.I. known as "Brain," we get to see something of the Wagon's capabilities in combat:

Finally, while the Hulk is in Japan, Talbot is able to pick up his trail again. Unfortunately, in his obsession, the site he picks for battle puts the entire region in danger:

In this battle, Talbot bears little resemblance to the man we've come to know in this series of posts. There is no sense of duty here, no concern of stopping the Hulk for the good of the U.S. or the world; instead, we see only a man pushed to his breaking point. And where Talbot the tactician might have a chance of succeeding, we see here a man impatient with tactics and who wants to use all the firepower available to him to destroy his target.

"Brain" might make a fine addition to our recent list of loyal A.I.s. But Talbot isn't interested in loyalty right now, just results--and he proceeds to throw everything he has at the Hulk, with no regard to the level of destruction that escalates along with the fight.

Yet Talbot, like most of the Hulk's foes, has reckoned without the Hulk's ability to see a rise in his strength and resistance as his rage increases--and Talbot's relentless assault is now triggering that process. Despite the War Wagon's power, it will prove to be a tactical error on Talbot's part; but, again, this battle has as little to do with by-the-numbers military tactics as it does with altruism. As a result, this will prove to be not be the Hulk's last stand, but Talbot's.

No doubt Talbot's death serves to close the book on the long history of Gamma Base, f/k/a Hulkbuster Base, f/k/a Project Greenskin or "Mobile Combat Force One" (though Leonard Samson wasn't quite done with it). It also brings both Betty Ross and Glenn Talbot full circle, the two being so closely tied to the base and its purpose. Looking back to the base's inception, it conveys a sense of tragedy to Talbot's final actions--a man who now seemed as trapped in the life of the Hulk as Bruce Banner.

But Talbot's final fate also brings closure to Betty Ross, who receives news of his death and has a moment of clarity in regard to her long relationship with Banner:

Talbot received a considerable amount of attention for what amounted to a recurring character in the pages of Incredible Hulk--most of that time, as stated previously, spent as the man who waited to step into Betty's life if her relationship with Banner finally crumbled. Even when he was struggling to recover from his treatment by the Russians, it frankly never occurred to me that he would go rogue and take matters into his own hands as far as dealing with the Hulk. For the sake of his story, and the consistency of his character thus far, I'd felt it would have suited him better to go out with more dignity, rather than as a raving lunatic who pretty much trashed his successful military career. Yet, once the damage to his mind was done, there seemed to be no hope for the direction his character would take from that point on--and the wreckage of the War Wagon would have to serve as Glenn Talbot's epitaph.

What Are We Waiting For, Tiger?

October 7, 2014, 5:20 am

≫ Next: The Topsy-Turvy Fury of Maximus!

≪ Previous: Colonel Talbot's Last Stand!

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Have a look at a cool experiment that was used in a 1970 issue of Invincible Iron Man--where the issue's cover also pulled double duty as the first page of the story, and the credits page continued the sequence seamlessly:

The story follows up on the events of the prior issue, where the Titanium Man is smuggled into the country to retrieve the Crimson Dynamo--and Tony Stark's love, Janice Cord, is killed as a result.

The issue still gets its splash page (albeit after the fact), when the Mercenary makes his move--which gives you an idea of the meaning of the story's title, relocated on the cover/"page one."

As far as I know, this is the one and only time this technique has been used in a Marvel comic. Can anyone recall another instance?

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The Topsy-Turvy Fury of Maximus!

October 8, 2014, 6:13 am

≫ Next: At Clobberin' Time, The "g" Is Silent

≪ Previous: What Are We Waiting For, Tiger?

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In this side-by-side look at the cover of Fantastic Four #83 and its companion cover in the FF reprint mag, Marvel's Greatest Comics, there are some interesting choices being made between the two, and not all having to do with the changes in the newer cover.

The first thing that may have caught your eye is how Jack Kirby's rendering brings to mind the splash page from FF #43, which involved another crisis put in motion by Maximus the Mad:

Maximus seems to specialize in the topsy-turvy crisis, doesn't he. Maybe he designs his weapons to match the state of his shaky mental stability. In the earlier story, he flipped the switch to his Atmo Gun to blanket the world; in this story, he designed a Hypno-Gun which he never got the chance to fire on a worldwide scale. (Which is probably why he's lashing out at everyone.)

Something else you may have noticed right away is that the coloring of Maximus's attire has been altered, one of the things in the newer cover that "fixes" elements of the original. In the story, for instance, Maximus gives himself more regal raiment that makes him stand out more dramatically:

There are a few more clothing choices made in the MGC cover. You'll notice that Triton loses the "onesie" that Kirby originally gave him on the cover but not in the story--while Medusa's costume color is changed to resemble the colors she adopted in a later FF story where Crystal is recalled to the Great Refuge (and the Torch Goes Wild!), perhaps to make more clear that she's no longer a member of the Frightful Four here. A more conspicuous change is the shifting of Sue's clothing to her FF uniform (complete with short sleeves!), even though Sue was back in the city and occupied with more domestic matters:

(I'm guessing Kirby chose to include Sue on the cover as a symbolic gesture, since Maximus's weapon threatened the entire planet.)

We also see that the story's title gets more prominent treatment, which seems a sensible choice given how the highlighting adds to the drama being shown and generates more interest in the story inside. Meanwhile, Medusa and Black Bolt have been shifted around to accommodate the UPC bar code--and the Torch now has the use of his right arm again with the omission of the Marvel corner box. (And look how cleverly the Torch is placed--not just to balance the masthead, but to take the position he normally occupied on these MGC covers, i.e., within a circular background matching the Thing's.)  Overall, the MGC cover appears less dark and more eye-catching with Maximus's enhancements as well as the colors of the foundation that he's bringing his fist down upon.

At Clobberin' Time, The "g" Is Silent

October 8, 2014, 7:59 pm

≫ Next: Legions Of The Unliving!

≪ Previous: The Topsy-Turvy Fury of Maximus!

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Put up your dukes! Because aside from a hammer to the gut, coming your way are more:

It's been awhile since we've seen the Thing cut loose with his famous war cry. And speaking of that clarion call to clobberin', did you ever wonder how that cry sounded out loud? It's too bad the Thing only lets it out just a few seconds before unloading on someone--otherwise, it's likely his foe(s) would flee at just the sound of the cry itself:

Yes, believe it or not, there are a few things that have proven to be hindrances to Ben landing a punch when announcing it as only he can. One of those things would be a jet flying-belt. Another would be the pliable right arm of a "wise guy":

And on top of everything else, a scolding from the Invisible Girl. It doesn't get much worse than that.

But Sue does have her uses in terms of paving the way for Ben's war cry. For instance, giving him a moment to recover from a deadly attack so that he can work up to a proper response:

And that release is certainly important. Otherwise, the Thing is just going to bottle up all that rage, which isn't really helpful when you're trying to stop a fight:

Tsk--"clobbering time." Sort of takes the sting out of a trademark phrase that's gone down in comics history. See what the frustration is already doing to him?

The only thing worse would be the "anti-climax" clobberin'--you know, where there just isn't time to get the whole thing out and the the scene loses a little something in the process:

(Check out a prior post if you want to see Dragon Man really get schooled on Ben's famous phrase.)

Anyway, the cry isn't just there to strike dread into Ben's sparring partner. The FF has been in its share of crisis situations where the Thing's fearsome phrase has served to rally them to persevere and battle on, no matter the odds.

And there's of course the momentum it provides the team with:

Good grief, even Ben's breath makes villains rue the day they got in his way. So you'd better believe that goes for his feet, too:

But mostly, it's just enjoyable to see the sheer power that Ben delivers when shouting those magic words:

(I'm sure the Hulk was impressed for a second or two. Really.)

Finally, people are always asking me what my very favorite"It's Clobberin' Time!" moment is. (Not really. Actually, not ever. I'm sure they've wanted to.) And that's easy. Because Reed sets this moment up beautifully, and the Thing just lays into the bruiser he's battling with a WHAMMO of a punch.

Annnnnnd lights out, pal.

Legions Of The Unliving!

October 9, 2014, 4:37 pm

≫ Next: I, Life Model Decoy

≪ Previous: At Clobberin' Time, The "g" Is Silent

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Warm thanks to Steve Does Comics for a recent post on the '70s character, Midnight, from the pages of Master Of Kung Fu, which brought to mind the Legion Of The Unliving where our cloaked martial artist was a charter member.

The Legion has certainly gotten a lot of mileage over the years, being formed from the ashes of the grave or plucked from the mists of time to be sicked on the Avengers in one shambling lineup or another. There have been five formations of the Legion, and it probably wasn't as easy as you'd think to fill their ranks. After all, it's not just a matter of thumbing through an index of dead characters and randomly choosing X number of corpses to reanimate--you'd have to factor in how they'd interact with the current lineup of Avengers in terms of powers and shock value, as well as how to balance "big guns" with lesser-reputed characters. And you'd be surprised as to how many characters managed to be chosen for repeat appearances in subsequent legions.

Which opens the creaking door to a dead-on-arrival

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Marvel Trivia Question

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Which new grouping of the Legion did not feature a member from the original lineup?

The members of the original Legion of the Unliving were chosen by Kang the Conqueror with specific purposes in mind. Wonder Man and the original Human Torch, to take on the Vision; Midnight, to battle Mantis; Zemo, a former ally of Immortus whom Kang was now working with; and the Frankenstein monster and the Ghost for their fear factor. The choice of Zemo, of course, was poorly thought through, since a scientist in the field wasn't very practical without Zemo being able to plan and coordinate with the others (and one reason why he and Kang came into argumentative conflict)--nor were the Avengers likely to be frightened by the monster or Van Straaten. But for a new concept, the Legion struck an impressive picture:

The Legion's next lineup was a grouping culled by the Grandmaster to engage in a "game" of battle with the Avengers with the existence of the entire universe at stake. As we can see, the Grandmaster's choices for the Legion were somewhat more powerful than Kang's, and greater in number in order to match both the east and west coast teams of the Avengers:

This Legion gave the Avengers a tough time of it, and had them on the ropes until Hawkeye hoodwinked the Grandmaster with a rigged game of chance and pulled victory from all-but-certain defeat. (By the way, did you recognize the guy who looks like a golf pro, standing next to the Goblin?)

When Immortus returned in a scheme involving the Scarlet Witch, he formed a new Legion in order to halt the Avengers' advance:

The sparring partners would seem to be pretty apparent, for the most part. Iron Man vs. Iron Man, of course; the Swordsman takes on Hawkeye; USAgent against Left- and Right-Winger (good grief, what terrible names); the Grim Reaper against Wonder Man; Quicksilver against Oort, a character from the 50th century he's never heard of (join the club, pal). It's pot luck for the others: the original Human Torch against the Wasp, and the second Black Knight (Nathan Garrett) against Hank Pym (though you could say it's Old Home Week for these two, since Pym battled the Knight when he'd been Giant-Man). The Knight seems to be as popular as the Torch so far, in terms of being a recurring Legion member--though it was Garrett's ancestor, Sir Percy, who was in the Grandmaster's group.

We see a true horror-based lineup in our fourth Legion:

Formed by the Grim Reaper, who has acquired supernatural powers (to raise the dead, I should certainly hope so), these members are spirits of the dead that are summoned to infuse a group of men that the Reaper has abducted. Once again, the Knight is part of the Legion, which now outnumbers the Avengers 2 to 1--with Zemo also returning as a member. Apparently the fact that Zemo is dead now gives him physical prowess to take on the Avengers--good thing, too, since the poor guy his essence has taken over wasn't likely to have one of Zemo's ray guns on him.

It's the Reaper who also later brings to "life" another grouping of corpses to take vengeance on the Avengers, though he doesn't call them the Legion as such:

Wonder Man returns as a member in this group, as do the Swordsman and Mar-vell. It looks like the Swordsman and the Black Knight are tied in having the most appearances in these lineups of the Legion (three apiece).

But to answer our trivia question, the Legion lineup that didn't feature any returning member of the original group is actually the one with the most members--the Grandmaster's Legion. Nope, not even Zemo was dug up to be drafted into it.  I'm betting the Grandmaster was holding him in reserve.

I, Life Model Decoy

October 11, 2014, 7:02 am

≫ Next: Battleground: Bloomingdale's!

≪ Previous: Legions Of The Unliving!

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It took a little self-nudging for me to pull the Avengers/Invaders series from my shelves and give it another look after six years. It was a twelve-issue series which began fairly well, but which seemed to lose its way for me about two-thirds of the way through; in fact, I noticed that I didn't even have the last four issues. For me to have pulled the plug on this series so close to the finish line surprised me in this second look, since I was enjoying reading it again. I have an idea of what might have been at least part of the reason I eventually lost interest in it; but since I might end up with a different perspective on the story this time around, I'd rather not jump to any conclusions at this point and just take events in progression.

In a way, the layout of the story almost wants to accommodate me in that respect, splitting the series into three "Acts" of four issues each--presumably to take into account the curious two-month publication gap between issues 4 and 5 and issues 8 and 9. On the other hand, that gap might have helped to make my decision easier in dropping the series, having sixty days to wait for the next issue and finding I lacked any anticipation for it. At any rate, it seems a reasonably good idea to structure this look at the series in four-issue increments. The transition between Acts is rather seamless, so chances are you'll notice no shift in the story's momentum.

While the Avengers get top billing, you'll find that the Invaders receive a generous amount of story attention throughout this first Act, which was really a nice surprise--particularly when you take into account that there isn't just one team of Avengers in this series, but two. That's a lot of characters to keep spinning on plates and make sure they stay relevant, something which the Secret Wars series didn't manage all that well. To be honest, I wasn't expecting the Invaders to be much more than window dressing--but just look how well scripter Jim Krueger and artist Steve Sadowski start things off, with Bucky (yes, Bucky, whom we don't normally associate with the word "profound") supplying the narrative in impressions taken from his "war journal":

In just a few panels, Bucky gives a well-rounded profile of the entire team that made even a non-Invaders reader like myself want to keep turning the pages and read more.

You'll also notice in this series how well Krueger isolates the thinking and priorities of characters from both 1943 and 2008. For instance, the Avengers aren't fighting a world war, and their operations involve meeting threats as they present themselves; while the Invaders are fighting a long, drawn-out conflict in the trenches, seeing large-scale death on practically a daily basis. War is all the Invaders know, its ending their only goal. It wouldn't surprise me if Bucky's war journal is his only journal.

As for what brings the Invaders forward in time to 2008, we'll have to wait a bit to find out the specifics. But a mysterious mist will do for now.

In 2008, the Civil War has come to an end, and Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony Stark has seen his agenda fall into place. Super-beings are required to register themselves with the government, which in effect makes them responsible for their actions and accountable to the government. As for Stark, he holds himself accountable (if indirectly) for the death of Captain America; and though Stark oversees a team of Avengers, the former "New Avengers" have remained underground and refuse to undergo registration.

When the Invaders appear, it's in the middle of a fight between Spider-Man and the Thunderbolts, attempting to arrest him in violation of the Registration Act. The Invaders' arrival brings everything to a screeching halt, with both the Thunderbolts and Spider-Man understandably confused, especially at seeing Captain America again; but the Thunderbolts are on a mission and decide to pull what they think is rank on the newcomers, who have just left a combat situation and are already suspicious of their new surroundings.

The Invaders deal with the Thunderbolts, and decide to make tracks afterward in order to sort things out. But news travels fast, and, given the danger to the timeline, Stark and the Avengers are already making plans to locate and contain the Invaders.

In their encounter with the team from the past, the Avengers' hands are tied as far as informing Captain America of their association with him, or otherwise giving the Invaders any information that might impact on the past. For their part, the Invaders are still in a World War II mindset, still suspicious of a probable Nazi trap. So when the Avengers go in, they don't face anyone who's receptive to talking things over or standing down--they face a battle-hardened group that's trained to go on the offensive:

But the Avengers are not the Thunderbolts, and the response of Ms. Marvel's team is quick and coordinated, having the advantage of knowing the capabilities and powers of their foes ahead of time. Yet, whether in the 1940s or in the 21st century, there's one man whose fighting spirit has taken on superior forces with every expectation of winning, a man the Avengers know only too well.

Cap and Namor at this point are the last two Invaders standing. But the Avengers realize the stakes involved, and now isn't the time to allow their feelings for Cap to stand in the way of what they have to do:

Namor manages to escape and vows to return with help, though we've already seen what transpires in his search for new allies. The rest of the Invaders are taken to the Helicarrier and confined. Under the circumstances, Iron Man can divulge only so much to Cap, and ends up providing him only assurances rather than explanations.

If it seems like Cap is biding his time, you've read him correctly. And the following scene--a splendid example of Bucky's unsung threat level--is likely the reason why:

As we see, this team remains in full 1940s mode, where a prison exists to be busted out of and the enemy is there to be overcome. The Invaders really have no reason to cooperate with their captors, having received no substantive information on who these people are nor having any reason to believe that this isn't anything other than an elaborate Nazi trap. But while they're cooling their heels, the story adds two more developments. First, Paul Anselm, one of the soldiers fighting alongside the Invaders when they were engulfed by the mist which brought them through time, has also found himself in 2008 and feels compelled to look up his older self:

And secondly, the New Avengers feel compelled to free the Invaders. And if it deals Stark a blow in the process, so much the better:

We find out later that the New Avengers' actions aren't as self-centered and short-sighted as we're led to believe here. Dr. Strange, a part of their group, has investigated the chain of events and has stated the importance of returning the Invaders to their own time. But he's discovered there are other, more mysterious factors in play:

Aboard the Helicarrier, as Bucky makes his move, Toro is being examined by SHIELD techs, who discover that their subject qualifies for a very special classification:

There's another curious development put in motion--one which brought a "Huh??" reaction from myself and seems liable to take this story off-track. The Torch, incarcerated in a special soaking room, is visited by one of SHIELD's Life Model Decoys which looks to the Torch to liberate the LMDs from servitude. If you're wondering how the LMD has shifted in purpose from being a decoy construct used in spy operations to being cranked out on the assembly line to be programmed as soldiers and used as cannon fodder, join the club. Stark seems to have brought a radical perspective to SHIELD as its director.

Given the circumstances of the Torch's origin, the LMDs have found the perfect non-human construct to sympathize with them; the question is, why dilute the story with what seems like a plot that's been sitting on a shelf waiting for the right issue to come along for it? Is this really the time for another story along the same lines of the Alpha Primitives of the Inhumans, or the Doom androids led by Andro, the former Doomsman?

I vote we return to the main story--who's with me? First, Toro has played along with the lab techs studying him until he could access his powers again and free himself--while Bucky's movements toward freeing his comrades have been making a mockery of SHIELD procedures and agents, to the delight of Cap. However, when the two reach the flight deck, they're stunned to see that this ship is actually located miles up in the sky. While Cap tackles the LMDs sent against him by Stark, Bucky heads below to join up with Toro and free the Torch, who is horrified to discover that Cap is destroying the LMDs.

Iron Man then joins the fray, and takes on Cap again while the Avengers arrive to head off and secure the Invaders. But the team discovers a new threat along the way:

(No, I don't know why the Black Widow is firing on SHIELD agents, since she's part of the group of Avengers that's working with Stark.  You'd think her target would be the webbed guy swinging in front of her.)

Meanwhile, Namor has rejoined his team, which is poised to join the New Avengers in battling Stark's Avengers--while Strange makes another disturbing discovery:

And speaking of disturbing, the word will soon describe Bucky's reaction when he's pulled from the battle by a new figure in this mêlée:

With a scene that hopefully piques the reader's interest enough to last two months, Act One comes to an end. Again, there seems no reason to think at this point that this isn't going to turn out to be anything other than a fine series by the time it reaches its conclusion. Krueger and co-plotter Alex Ross have laid things out sensibly--all characters have been true to form, particularly the Captain America of the 1940s who has considerably more tunnel vision than his future self--and there are enough unanswered questions in play to maintain a level of interest, with eight issues giving the plot room to breathe. Will this series be able to go the distance? Since I'm going through it with no clear memory of my first reading, and without any knowledge of its last four issues, I'll be right there with those of you who are getting your first look at it.

Avengers/Invaders #s 1-4 Plot: Alex Ross and Jim Krueger Script: Jim Krueger Pencils and Inks: Steve Sadowski Letterer: Todd Klein

Battleground: Bloomingdale's!

October 12, 2014, 6:24 am

≫ Next: Swashbuckling School Is Now In Session

≪ Previous: I, Life Model Decoy

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Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

If you're having a little trouble identifying our mystery villain, perhaps you'd find it helpful if you saw him in his original identity:

Yes, the Whizzer, speedster from the Squadron Sinister, who now goes by the name of the Speed Demon. But why the upgrade? Let's let the man himself explain:

I've always thought that it was cool that the Whizzer owed his power to a pill. (I wonder how long the effects of the pill lasted?) I never cared for the same gimmick in Giant-Man, since he had to take a capsule or inhale gas every single time he wanted to shrink or grow--I'd always think, "Come on, those capsules can't be dissolving so quickly!" And what if he's in a fist fight with someone? How is he going to reach for a capsule and pop it in his mouth before his opponent decks him? The Demon's method seems much more sensible.

As for the Demon's "Nothing will stop me now!" declaration, you don't need me to tell you how that usually plays out. Whether as the Whizzer or as the Speed Demon, the guy has been stopped a lot. In fact, in his first time out as the Demon, he's stopped by Bloomingdale's--a humiliating way to realize that the Speed Demon will fare no better in his criminal career than did the Whizzer.

But credit where credit is due--he did manage to give Spider-Man a "run" for his money.
(Get it? And the money in this case being the Demon's, not Spidey's? Oh, come on! I'm usually a "whiz" at jokes.)

Spider-Man takes the Demon up on his dare, of course--but Spidey plays it smart and arrives early as Peter Parker in order to get the layout of the store and make a few preparations. And when the Demon makes his move, thus begins the most domestic battle you've ever seen:

Spidey's strategy? Bloomingdale's has become one giant trap for the Speed Demon.

In later appearances, the Demon becomes one of those characters like the Meteor Man who's rolodexed into a story only to be quickly (heh heh, "quickly"--alright, I'll cease and desist) dealt with. He does, however, seem to be a more interesting character in groups--and we'll take a look in a future post at a certain Sinister Syndicate, where he's moved on from the Squadron Sinister for a more steady paycheck.

(With a nod to artist Ed Foychuk for Speed Demon's profile pic!)