Saturday Splash Page #229

"Another of Iron Man's Drunk Monologues," in What If? (vol. 1) #9, by Don Glut (writer), Alan Kupperberg (breakdowns), Bill Black (finishes/inker), Carl Gafford (colorist), Tom Orzechowski (letterer)

These days, Marvel pumps out What Ifs every few years, usually built around the notion that one of their various Big Events would turn out differently. I didn't want to read those events the first time around, so an alternative version isn't much interest to me.

Before that, there was the '90s volume, that ran for 115 issues and was usually about some event or another going differently. Inferno, Atlantis Attacks, The Evolutionary War. Even back then, and even with the writers making sure to explain what was different, I usually didn't care. The big summer events tended to run through the Annuals, and I usually didn't buy those, so they didn't matter much to me. Most of them could best be described as "rocks fall, everybody dies." Marvel Earth, and sometimes the entire universe, always just one hairsbreath away from total annihilation, apparently. 

The second volume did introduce "Mayday" Parker, aka Spider-Girl, so that's one thing it's got going for it.

Before that, the first volume ran for 47 issues across 7 years. I own two of those; besides the issue above, there's #45, by David Anthony Kraft and Ron Wilson, where the gamma bomb explosion links Rick Jones and Banner's minds, and when Rick dies from the radiation, the Hulk goes berserk. Considering the issue costs us half the Fantastic Four and 40% of the original Avengers line-up, you could probably file it under "rocks fall, everybody dies," too. It's fun to break the toys sometimes.

And then there's this issue, where the notion for Agents of Atlas started, which Iron Man showing off some "dimensional transporter" he built that lets them spy on other timelines and worlds. Yes, 30 years before Civil War, Iron Man was invading your privacy under a flimsy pretext. Basically, Jimmy Woo puts together a team to protect (and rescue, when protecting fails) President Eisenhower from Yellow Claw.

The roster is different from what Parker and Kirk would use. 3-D Man's in there (though Parker would eventually add the current 3-D Man/former Triathlon in the very short-lived Atlas series), and while Namora leads them to M-11 (not given a name here, much chattier), she begs off to search for Namor. Who is, presumably, roaming the streets of New York as a bum, waiting for Johnny Storm to singe his beard off. Marvel Boy convinces Gorilla Man to come along by promising to search for a way to make him human again with Uranian science, because Ken's too afraid to even be on the same continent as his wife. The wife who ridiculed his visions of a gorilla?

Glut (or Roy Thomas, since this was his concept, shocking, I know, that Roy Thomas plumbed the depths of forgotten comics history) tries to draw parallels between the characters chosen and the ones Iron Man invited to his little picture show. Gorilla Man and Beast, M-11 and Vision, Venus and Thor, Marvel Boy and Iron Man, 3-D Man and Captain America. The '50s group even call themselves "Avengers", albeit with the absolutely terrible battlecry, "Go, Avengers, Go." Like, holy shit, I'd be embarrassed to shout that and charge into battle. I'd rather yell "SPOOOOOON!" than "Go, Avengers, Go."

Some of them feel like a stretch - 3-D Man's presented as a cocky asshole who likes to wind up Gorilla Man with comments about his smell, which just screams "Hawkeye" - and I can't decide whether Thomas and Glut picked the '50s cast to conform to a current Avengers roster, and that's why Namora didn't stick around, or those were just the Golden Age characters they wanted to use, and they picked Avengers to match.

Also of note, Woo brings them together, it's his arch-foe that's the mastermind behind the plot, he's the one that tracks the villains after they escape with the President, but he doesn't really get acknowledged as part of the team. There's no one pointed to as his parallel among the Avengers. I think Parker makes him the Captain America of the Agents, the driving force that unites them, with enough courage and skill this disparate bunch will follow his lead.

Saturday Splash Page #188

"Road Rage," in Secret Defenders #5, by Roy Thomas (writer), Andre Coates (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), John Kalisz (colorist), Clem Robins (letterer)

I don't know the impetus behind Secret Defenders. They figured the non-team concept would sell better with the word "secret" in front of it? The initial concept was, Dr. Strange's mystic powers were sorely depleted, so when he sensed a major threat, he used a tarot deck and his perceptions to pick a group of heroes who would help him handle it. So in the first story, it was Wolverine (naturally, this was the '90s after all), Darkhawk, Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter edition) and Nomad. The second arc, which are the only two issues I own, Sleepwalker, the Punisher (again, it's the '90s), and Namorita.

Oddly, I don't think the book ever went for the '90s trifecta by using Ghost Rider, though Tom Brevoort did use Deathlok in the last arc of the series. By that point, Dr. Druid was running things, which means things are going badly. There was also an arc where Thanos assembled a team to get him some book of ancient knowledge, which doesn't seem in keeping with the concept of the team being assembled to avert disaster.

The two issues I own don't do a great job selling the series. Strange needs help stopping what turns out to be some monster that escaped from the subconscious of a TV producer, and is reenacting the backstory she created for him. Thomas really leans into the non-team notion as Sleepwalker leaves as soon as he's approached (he returns in the second part, claiming he was doing his own investigating in the Mindscape) and Strange has to guilt-trip Namorita with some bullshit about how Namor never refused to help. Maybe I shouldn't argue continuity with Roy Thomas, but I absolutely do not believe that.

"Roadkill" ends up being stronger than Namorita and shrugs off everything Strange or the Punisher can throw at him. Once Sleepwalker actually gets involved, Thomas relegates him to trying to punch Roadkill (useless) or standing next to Strange while he probes the TV producer's mind because somehow Sleepwalker's mere proximity increases Strange's mystical powers. I mean, maybe Sleepwalker's ability to shoot eyebeams that can alter matter, the old "Warpgaze", would have been useful? The Punisher of all characters, is somehow the one who figures out they need magic and technology (in the form of electricity) to beat Roadkill, and Namorita's the one strong enough to handle the live wire, and that's about it. Not exactly a tour de force for why Strange needed these specific characters, and yet, the book lasted 25 issues. The Nineties, everyone!

Sunday Splash Page #334

 

"Backs Against the Wall," in Marvel Feature #3, by Roy Thomas (writer), Ross Andru (artist), Bill Everett (inker), Art Simek (letterer), colorist uncredited

Marvel Feature ran for 12 issues in the early '70s. The first three issues are the first time the batch of heroes above are actually called "The Defenders", who then went on to their own, long-running ongoing series. Which makes me wonder if this was some sort of tryout title, to see if concepts could support their own books?

Roy Thomas sticks to Dr. Strange, Namor and the Hulk in all three issues. The last comic included prior to this in Essential Defenders volume 1 is the Sub-Mariner story we looked at back in March. In that, the trio of heroes included the Silver Surfer instead of Strange, but the flying hood ornament is nowhere to be seen here.

Probably a plot necessity, as the Hulk has to constantly be goaded into action, and Strange's magic and personality seem better suited for that than the Surfer's. I wonder also if it wasn't that Strange's rogue's gallery provided better fodder for adversaries. The second issue involves Strange's body being abducted by servants of Dormammu, shortly after Strange did Bruce Banner a solid by getting him some fresh clothes. The first issue is about, Yandroth, an old sorcerer enemy of Strange's, creating a sentient computer to destroy the world. It's shielded against magic, so Strange needs brute force to get through.

Thomas really plays up the, if not animosity, at least lack of camaraderie between the three heroes. Namor and Hulk are two seconds from pummeling each other, when Namor isn't yelling at Strange about roping him into another surface world problem. Heck, at the end of the first issue Namor points out Yandroth played Strange, as it was Namor and Hulk smashing their way through the defenses that nearly triggered the planet-destroying cataclysm. Which didn't stop Strange from calling for their help later, suggesting Strange is either very dense, or needs a bigger Rolodex.

Ross Andru draws all three issues, with Everett inking issues 1 and 3, and Sal Buscema on issue 2. Buscema partially overwhelms Andru's pencils, making the art more closely resemble his own. I especially like how Andru/Everett depict the Hulk. They seem to vertically compress his head, making it more boxlike, while emphasizing the brows. Everett (I assume) adds a lot of hatching and linework around the eyes and nose to give the skin a rougher texture. It makes him look fiercer and dangerous, closer to a monstrous figure. Even with Thomas using "Hulk speak" there's none of the childlike innocence you sometimes got with the Hulk. He's a big green angry tank.

Saturday Splash Page #116

"No-Frills Commuter Flight," in Sub-Mariner (vol. 1) #35, by Roy Thomas (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Jim Mooney (inker), Jean Izzo (letterer), colorist uncredited

The three issues of Namor's late 1960s-early 1970s series I own are courtesy of Essential Defenders Volume 1. The first picks up from the final issue of Dr. Strange's first series, as Strange enlists Namor's helps defending Earth from the Undying Ones. That issue starts with Namor returning to Atlantis, but having lost his gills as a result of some aliens abducting and experimenting on him 4 issues earlier.

Roy Thomas resolves that within a handful of pages and then sends Namor off to help Strange, although it ends with Strange sending Namor back to Earth and staying behind to fight the Undying Ones himself (the Hulk would later help Strange escape, but Barbara Norriss gets left behind.)

The other two issues involve Atlantean scientists realizing the U.S. Army is building a device which could screw up the entire world's weather. No one's going to listen to Namor with all the times he's attacked the surface world, so he'll have to stop the device by force, and that means allies. The Silver Surfer buys in on the premise of protecting this world of madmen (after the customary misunderstanding fight with Namor.) The Hulk's busy destabilizing a Latin American dictatorship because they decided to shoot at him, but he's on board for smashing some different soldiers.

The two-parter sets the tone for a lot of Defenders stories. Minus Dr. Strange's (or later Valkyire and Hellcat) more level-headed demeanor, Hulk is less a teammate than a natural disaster you can gently nudge in a certain direction. He fights the Army, Namor, the Avengers when they show, Namor and the Surfer again when he tries to just smash the machine rather than letting the Army agree to more study before implementation. The Surfer spends a lot of time moaning about human tendencies towards violence, but is he any better for responding in kind. Certainly not any less annoying. Namor tries to just order everyone around, which goes as well as you'd expect.

Random Back Issues #73 - Fantastic Four #179

Oooh, swing and a miss there, Johnny.

The FF are coming off a narrow victory over the Frightful Four. Real narrow, even with the help of Thundra, Tigra, and (unwittingly) the Impossible Man. But it's not a complete victory because Reed Richards, who has lost his powers somehow, is floating in the Negative Zone in his underwear. In his place, is the Reed Richards of Counter-Earth. Rather than stretching powers, he can transform into a giant purple guy (with green trunks, which explains why he left Reed his blue underwear but took the rest of the costume) called the Brute.

He stomped Reed, tossed him into the Negative Zone, and assumed human form. The FF are none the wiser, even when they gather for a team meeting (their) Reed arranged. Brute doesn't know what it was for, but when he snaps at them over Thing and Thundra's arguing, he's able to play it off as stress, and Sue sends everyone else away. Not like Reed being a bossy, condescending jerk is that unusual. For Brute's part, he's just ecstatic to be able to hold Sue again, since his Sue is in a coma. He plans to let her live, but kill the others, not realizing Sue is starting to notice something's off.

The rest of the team is busy watching "The Bionic Woman". Well, except Ben and Thundra. She won't stop trying to get him to admit he should dump Alicia for her, since she's a better physical match. Ben calls her a 'drag', then a 'wet blanket' and a 'millstone'. He does apologize, admitting he's distracted wondering whether he should go ahead and propose to Alicia, or let her go. Thundra, not reading the room, encourages him to dump Alicia and hook up with her instead, so Ben storms off, musing that Thundra might make a swell date - for King Kong.

Tigra slips in just before the elevator doors close, but it's not to flirt. Instead, she's wondering why Reed hasn't rescued his other self from the Negative Zone, something Ben admits to wondering himself. They head off to get some food and discuss it further. 

Reed's stuck in the Negative Zone, wondering why his friends haven't rescued him. Because you're an unpleasant person to be around, Reed. But he tells himself to snap out of it, reminding himself, 'you didn't come out of World War Two just a few medals shy of Audie Murphy by standing around feeling sorry for yourself!' This is actually the second reference of the issue to Reed serving in World War 2. Reed finds some rocks floating in space that just so happen to resemble flint, and creates a fire. Which attracts some sort of bat thing he snatches out of the air, kills, cooks, and eats.

Back in NYC, Ben and Tigra are at dinner, although he seems more interested in, as she puts it, 'shocking the rubes', by eating his steak with his hands, and lighting a cigar of the next table's candles. Right about then, Tigra notes Ben's kind of cute. before Ben can come to grips with being pursued by three women, and robot runs by carrying a safe. Oh thank goodness, something to hit. The robot chucks the safe at them, but Ben catches it easily and throws it back. The robot turns out to be really hot as well, so when it catches the safe, the whole thing melts. Ben tries a direct assault, only to get baked and pummeled.

Tigra manages to buy him some time with a kick to the face (weird that worked when it shrugged off a punch from the Thing), and the fight continues to the East River. Ben throws it onto a garbage scow and smashes it and the barge with one final punch. At least in this issue, there's no hint of who sent the robot or why, as Ben notes it must have cost more than the money that was in the vault it stole.

The issue wraps up with Sue more certain than ever the Reed in their bed isn't hers, and Reed being attacked by Annihilus. Also, the Impossible Man has decided he's a Humphrey Bogart fan, which partially explains his appearance in Spider-Woman a few years later.

[4th longbox, 121st comic. Fantastic Four #179, by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway (writers), Ron Wilson and Joe Sinnott (artists), George Roussos (colorist), Joe Rosen (letterer)]

Sunday Splash Page #157

 

"Swirling Mists and Starry Skies," in Doctor Strange (vol. 1) #183, by Roy Thomas (writer), Gene Colan (artist), Tom Palmer (inker/colorist?), Jean Izzo (letterer)

Welcome to Master of the Mystic Arts March (and April)! Starting off with the one and only issue I own of Strange's first ongoing series. This book was originally Strange Tales, which for its last couple of years had mostly become Dr. Strange's book by default, but also sometimes featured Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD. Then they went ahead and changed it to his book officially at issue #169, and it remained that way for 15 issues. 

This is actually the final issue. I own because it's the very first comic in Essential Defenders Volume 1, because Roy Thomas kicks off the battle against the Undying Ones, which moves through Namor and Hulk's books, and that eventually Steve Engelhart would use through the first several issues of Defenders, once that book actually exists.

That said, there's not much to that in this issue. Stephen gets a telegram from an old friend, and when visits finds the man under the control of three minions of the Undying Ones. Strange defeats them by - pulling open the curtains and exposing them to sunlight. Credit for lateral thinking, I guess.

Possibly the more significant development in this issue is the Stephen returns home from a big adventure trying to save Eternity to learn that the manifestation of reality has tried to do him a solid. Strange had to publicly do magic to save someone, and so Eternity has changed his identity to Stephen Sanders, which will presumably keep people from tracking him down to bug him about magic and/or try to kill him. Not that it has much effect on this issue, other than leaving Stephen awed that Eternity can do something so intricate to such a minute detail with seemingly no effort.

Gene Colan's art is the real draw here, and I think the lack of color lets it show off a little more. You can see all the wavy mist and shadows and the full contrast in a way the color printing of the time probably didn't allow (next week's entry is also Gene Colan-drawn, but in color, and I don't think it looks nearly as good). When Stephen visits his friend, Colan uses these tall, narrow panels with thick borders to show Strange is hemmed in with the threats. Once magic starts getting thrown around, the panels tilt and almost topple as Strange is pushed on the defensive. Magic takes the form of either wavy lines or bizarre whirlpools, like doorways to other realms are just casually being tossed around.

Strange wouldn't get another solo book for about 5 years. We're going to spend a few weeks on that one, though, starting next week.