Month: August 2019

Marvel Triple Action 17, 1974 (originally Avengers 23, 1965) “Once an Avenger…”

Posted on by billyd75

 

Things have been quiet here at Magazines and Monsters, especially on the podcasting front. Well, there is one big reason and I shall reveal it now! I was asked recently to participate in the Super Blog Team-Up event! Some of you may know of this event, and some not, so I shall attempt to educate you on the matter. Simply put, it’s a quarterly event where bloggers (and podcasters) get together to share each other’s love of comics, through blogging about a certain subject (or story line), and share said content throughout the online community. An exercise in building up a community, and as we all know this is needed on social media. On Twitter, you can follow along by searching the hashtag #SBTU or #SuperBlogTeamUp. And these are some of the most interesting and fun blogs you can find anywhere! And needless to say, I feel honored to be among these fine people (links at the bottom to the other blogs/podcasts).

 

Now, on to the main event! The subject this time around is Immortal! For me, being a long time Marvel zealot, there is one character that pops into my brain right away when I hear that word. His name is Kang…or Immortus…or Rama-Tut if you prefer. But why the three names? Because each represents the same character but at different times in history. Kang first appeared in The Avengers 8, 1964, and announced he was from the far flung future, where he discovers the time travel technology of Dr. Doom, and uses it to travel to ancient Egypt, to rule as Rama-Tut (first appearance was in FF 19, 1963). After ruling there for a spell, he encounters the Fantastic Four (they time traveled into the past to find a cure for Alicia’s blindness :D). The FF defeat him and send him packing. In his time travel vehicle, he encounters Doctor Doom, but the two part ways without any shenanigans. Immortus, who first appeared only two issues after Kang in the pages of The Avengers. He wasn’t more than a schemer with time travel abilities initially, but he is the future version of Kang, that grew weary of battle and was eventually entrusted with being a time keeper of sorts by a “higher power” (Avengers Forever, see below).

The next time we see Kang, is in this story! After the bout with the FF, Kang is back in the future (Avengers 23, 1965), and pining for Ravonna (his love interest, and her first appearance). She’s the daughter of a king, whom Kang defeated in the 40th century. Kang let her father live and stay in power only to try and earn her hand in marriage. She rebuffs him constantly, though, and this infuriates Kang. He sees that Captain America has left the Avengers (in the previous issue), and knows this is the time to strike! He easily captures Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch, and places them in “oversized pickle jars,” to quote Hawkeye. The Scarlet Witch uses her Hex power to bust them out, but this is meaningless to Kang, because he can easily defeat these inexperienced heroes (Wanda and Pietro are very young at this point, and Hawkeye is no match for Kang). Before Kang can unleash the final blow, he’s interrupted by none other than Captain America! With Cap back as their leader, the Avengers manage to stop Kang. But, before he’ll accept defeat, he whisks them all away to his future, where his army awaits to destroy them, and the disobedient king and even his daughter!

There was one more piece of info about this story I’d like to quickly mention. When Cap quits the team, he sees an ad for a sparring partner for a boxing champ. Upon arrival, he’s rebuffed by the champ’s tough guy buddies that are apparently screening the candidates? Cap makes quick work of the meatheads after they not only insult him, but try to assault him thinking he’s a wimp. Hilarious on all levels, with classic Stan Lee banter.

Over the years, Kang hasn’t changed very much, and that’s a good thing. His raison d’être (purpose) is always to either conquer or just simply better himself. This can be by killing someone else, enslaving people, or whatever other nefarious scheme he’s plotting. I’d have to say without much hesitation, that Steve Englehart and his Celestial Madonna story from the 1970s is probably the best Kang I’ve read. The Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco “Avengers Forever” epic and the Roger Stern, John Buscema and Tom Palmer “Under Siege” tale is awesome as well. Look those up for further readings on the Immortal villain, Kang!

Credits in this issue are as follows: Cover by Jack “King” Kirby (pencils), John Romita (inks) and Sam Rosen (letters), “Smilin” Stan Lee (script), “Dashing” Don Heck (pencils), “Jazzy” John Romita (inks), and Artie Simek (letters)!

 

 

Super Blog Team Up!


https://benjaminherman.wordpress.com/author/benjaminherman/

https://charltonhero.wordpress.com/tag/charlton-hero/

http://davescomicheroes.blogspot.com/

https://comicscomicscomics.blog/

https://www.chrisisoninfiniteearths.com/

https://chrisandreggie.podbean.com/

https://betweenthepagesblog.typepad.com/between-the-pages-blog/

http://blackwhitebronzecomics.blogspot.com/

https://theunspokendecade.com/

https://comicreviewsbywalt.wordpress.com/

http://www.dcinthe80s.com/2019/08/sbtu-immortal-forager-second-life-of-bug.html

https://popcultureretrorama.com/2019/08/31/pop-culture-retrorama-podcast-ep-08-i-am-legend/

TDR 459: Super-Blog Team Up: Immortal!

The Flash 227, 1974 “Flash this is your Death!”

Posted on by billyd75

Have you ever seen a cover, and thought you had to buy a book even before you looked inside? Well, this comic did that to me, as the incredible work by Nick Cardy drew me in! He’s rapidly moving up on my favorite artists list, and is right up there with my favorite artists for DC comics. His work is always outstanding and on par with anyone.

The story itself is pretty hilarious, and features a villain that we all know and love, well, ok, maybe not all of us love him, but I love Captain Boomerang (created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino in Flash 117, 1960). We see Boomerang going to jail, but then he’s sprung by…his father? That’s right, Boomerang’s father is working on a sadistic scrapbook, that will hopefully showcase Flash’s death!

There is also a backup story involving Green Lantern. We all know Hal Jordan can be quite the imbecile, and this story is no different. We see Hal stomping around like a child, even kicking his lantern at one point. Story by Denny O’Neil, art by Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano.

 

Kull and the Barbarians 3, 1975 “Kull, Red Sonja, and Solomon Kane!”

Posted on by billyd75

It’s time for a return trip, back to black and white comic goodness! While these magazines are getting more expensive by the day it seems, but, when a bargain can be found I pull the trigger! A recent show netted me twenty mags for $20! Only a few Marvels, but a bunch of Warren mags (I’ll get to them down the road, no worries). OK, on to the main attraction!

In this issue, there are three comic stories, one prose story (with a couple of illustrations), a pin up of the landscape of the times of Kull, and one awesome pin up of Red Sonja (by Howard Chaykin!). All of this is kicked off with a good painted cover by Michael Whelan!

The first story is straight out of a Ray Harryhausen flick, as Kull is fighting a group of skeleton warriors, and upon returning to his homeland is in shock at how things look. He also must face his ultimate enemy, in Thulsa Doom! Written by Doug Moench, art by Vicente Alcazar!

The following story is a Solomon Kane bio written by Fred Blosser. It’s actually pretty good on its own, but there are some cool illustrations by Bob Budiansky (Duffy Vohland inks) and Gene Day!

“The Day of the Sword,” is next, and features everybody’s favorite ginger, Red Sonja! Who doesn’t want tot see her riding around and taking a broadsword to those that need it? Plot by Roy Thomas, script by Doug Moench, art by Howard Chaykin (some excellent work by Chaykin in this one).

Finally, a story by Robert E. Howard, adapted by Roy Thomas, and illustrated by Alan Weiss and Pablo Marcos! An adventure with my favorite Puritan in Africa! Very interesting story, and almost a love interest for Solomon? Definitely a good finisher to this great magazine!

 

 

Marvel Team-Up 68, 1978 “The Measure of a Man!”

Posted on by billyd75

It has been too long since the Man-Thing was spotlighted on this blog! Not to mention the awesome title Marvel Team-Up and Spidey! Of course the overwhelming majority of issues featured the web-slinger (some had the Human Torch), and he was the franchise at that point without a doubt. The creatives behind this one, were names that are synonymous with Bronze Age comics, but specifically the X-Men, and the greatest run that title has ever known (let’s be honest, will ever know).

But back to Manny and Spidey- in this issue, we see these two heroes that couldn’t be more different, working together to achieve a greater good. These two must put an end to the fearful villain known as D’Spayre, and to vanquish him, is to conquer your own fears. This is obviously a very challenging thing to do for anyone, even a superhero. We know that Man-Thing can sense and exploit fear, but what happens when he must face an adversary that can instill fear in his opponent? And we all know Spidey has doubts and fears even without any prodding, so an easy fight this will not be!

Now, onto this great creative team! We all know Chris Claremont (writer) is “Mr. X-Men” and rightfully so, as he crafted so many of the personalities we love(d) for a very long time. He also created a few new characters that have stood the test of time. His frequent collaborator, was John Byrne (pencils, cover and interiors). His pencils and creativity helped the duo raise the bar for all the titles at Marvel, but specifically the X-Men. But, don’t sleep on this material, because both men were at the top of their game on this run of Marvel Team-Up as well! Inks by Bob Wiacek (cover inks by Josef Rubinstein), colors by Phil Rachelson, letters by Bruce Patterson, and edited by Archie Goodwin!