COMIC COMMENTARY, COMICS READ WEEK OF 2/6/2017

Modern Marvels

DC Comics Pick of the Week: Action Comics #973

                Superman unwittingly leaves a trail to the Fortress while Lois continues to dig into the mystery of Clark Kent.  Dan Jurgens continues to prove that he has a grasp on Superman as a character like few others.  Since the onset of Rebirth, Jurgens has put several plates into play:

•      How will Superman react to New 52 Lex Luthor?
•      Who is Mr. Oz?
•      Who is Clark Kent?

The last story arc established a détente between Luthor and Superman, with both realizing that their nemesis is not the same man that they have known on both sides.  This story arc drives into the mystery of the second Clark Kent and the potential danger he poses to Superman’s private life.

Honorable Mentions (an above average read): Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #3, Deathstroke #12, Justice League of America Rebirth #1, New Super-Man #8, Red Hood and the Outlaws #7, Wonder Woman #16 (Yes, Rebirth is this good!!)

Other reads:  All-Star Batman #7, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #7, Detective Comics #950, Earth 2 Society #21, Flash #16, Gotham Academy Second Semester #6, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #14, Suicide Squad #11, Supergirl #6, Superwoman #7, and Titans #8

Marvel  Comics Pick of the Week: Ms. Marvel #15

                At first it seems like this issue has dropped the previous thread of Kamala being confronted by a member of on-line guild, and instead introduces a story of cyber-bullying and the levels at which a second-generation immigrant feels they have to over-compensate in modern America to validate their culture and break down stereotypes.  It quickly ties the two together by the online entity threatening to blackmail Kamala being the same one involved in the cyber-bullying.  Ms. Marvel continues to be a delight, an all-ages female-centric title that manages to cover topical issues without preaching.  It is one of the few female friendly titles I feel comfortable allowing my 10-year old daughter read.

Honorable Mentions (an above average read): Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows  #4

Other reads:  All-New Wolverine #17, Black Widow #11, Deadpool the Duck #3, Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #5, Foolkiller #4, Inhumans Vs x-Men #4, Jessica Jones #5, Kingpin #1, Power Man and Iron Fist #13, Totally Awesome Hulk #16, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #17, Uncanny Inhumans #1.MU, and Unworthy Thor #4

Silver Age Spotlight

Marvel Silver Age Pick of the Week: Fantastic Four #56

                Klaw attacks the FF to try and drive the Black Panther to him.  A great issue with a lot of tension.  Klaw appears as he would be until the Modern age with a great design by Kirby, and a fantastic power set.  Lee and Kirby draw tension by having the Fantastic Four separated: Johnny is out looking for Crystal, Reed and Ban are in the lab, and Sue is cleaning up the apartment.  This allows Klaw to ratchet up the menace by taking on Sue and Ben one-on-one.  The only gap in plot is the fact that Klaw attacks at all.  There really isn’t a reason for him to be here, other than this is the FF’s comic.  Klaw knows who T’challa is and where Wakanda is, so using the FF as a go between doesn’t work.  However, the climax kind of uses that conceit to its advantage, as T’Challa sends Reed a needed component to help Reed, as Klaw intended, but the macguffin is delivered via a remote controlled automaton and not in person, thwarting his revenge.  We also get a rare sight, Reed beating a foe hand-to-hand, using the Vibranium bands delivered by the Black Panther to pummel Klaw into submission.

Honorable Mentions: Daredevil #21

Other Reads: Amazing Spider-Man #42, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3, Avengers 33, and Fantastic Four Annual #4

DC Silver Age Pick of the Week: Funny Stuff #35

                I don’t have much to say, but Funny Stuff is probably my second favorite humor title of this area.  Blackie Bear and J. Rufus Lion are strong features, but the stars are Dodo and the Frog, and their strips whether a multi-page story or a strip ad-page topper are a delight.

Honorable Mentions: Adventure Comics #130 (Superboy feature only), Star Spangled Comics #82 (Tomahawk feature only)

Other Reads: Animal Antics #15, Western Comics #4

Golden Age Greats

I didn’t make much progress with my DC Golden Age Reading List.  Green Lantern #6 was a chore to get through.  It surprises me a lot, but this is the Golden Age title I struggle with the most.  The character as he is used isn’t compelling enough to sustain a 60+ page story and the direction is wrong-headed.  Enlisting Alan in the army, severely limits the stories you can do with him, and while I know continuity wasn’t a concern in the 40’s, it puts the quarterly book at odds with the monthly feature in All-American where Alan is still a civilian radio engineer.

Black Dragons, Black Panthers, and Podcasts

This one is an amalgamation of the past few days due to birthday celebrations and all-day work conferences.

COMIC COMMENTARY

Golden Age Greats 

All-Star Comics #12  The JSA, recently renamed the Justice Battalion splits up to save varying inventors and their inventors from the Black Dragon Society and are brought back together in the end to save Johnny Thunder and round up the leaders.  This is the same Black Dragon Society that was name-checked in the recent Atom strip in All-American on-sale the same month.  I noticed that the Sandman strip was not by Kirby and Simon which is unusual for the normal art team to not do their character's All-Star installment.




Silver Age Spotlight

Fantastic Four #52  Reed and team are lured to Wakanda to by King T'Challa in order to prove his readiness for something.  Lee and Kirby have been on a role since the beginning of the Frightful Four trilogy round #36.  This is the first one that wasn't bad, but hasn't lived up to its recent peers, especially the stellar #51.  I think what lets it down for me is Lee's dialogue.  The Panther is mister smug pants, "Ha, Ha I'm so smart and better because you can't defeat me because I laid traps."  Its bit like Kraven and Spider-Man.  Let me prove I am your better by ensuring a less than even playing field.  The story also ends abruptly for T'Challa to tell why he really wants them here in a forced cliff-hanger.  I really like that Black Panther has the classic full face mask here and not the Avengers half-mask.  I thought it was a more recent design aesthetic, but I should have trusted Kirby's design sense to have come up with it first.

PODCAST PROPS

Give Me Those Star Trek #1 The Cage click here to download Siskoid and Gene Hendricks examine the Star Trek Pilot, The Cage and muse what it might have been like if that was the Pilot that went to series.  A strong debut for the podcast.  My personal opinion is that it would have been a lot more serious Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea type of show and lasted 2-3 series.  I just don't think the type of cast would have allowed for the type of stories that made Star Trek a classic.

Film and Water Podcast: High Fidelity click here to download The episode makes me want to watch this movie.  I think I saw the latter half one night on cable when I woke up in the middle of the night one night.  It was also intersting to hear Rob have a guest on who had the same appreciation for the film, but who had different interpretations and take aways from different scenes

Palace of Glittering Delights: Enterprise  click here to download Andrew Leyland covers a recent watch-thru of key Enterprise episodes in honor of the 50the anniversary of Star Trek.  I've never seen Enterprise and this makes me want to check it out.  I think it would be interesting to watch it as kind of a Trek continuity order (ie watch Enterprise, then Star Trek TOS, then Star Trek Animated. etc.).  I do agree with Andy about the unsuitability for older shows to be binge watched, and I've started mixing and matching nights of TV from old series for fun and variety.

Also, I've listened to Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men episodes 103-105.  I may discuss them in more detail later, but I wanted to focus on some shows that haven't received as much coverage from me.

Comics (Carnage, Howard the Duck), The Avengers Season 1 Episode 6, and Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde(1920)

COMIC COMMENTARY

Modern Material

A busy Labor Day meant I read less than usual.

Carnage #11: I can’t lie, I follow this series solely because of the writer, Gerry Conway.  I can’t recommend this issue because it is a transitional issue so while there is good character work, not much happens to move the plot forward.  Carnage has been played as a horror title before, but usually in a splatterfest, gore kind of way.  Conway plays against type and drops Carnage in a supernatural world that takes more from Lovecraft than Eli Roth.  He’s also playing with several interesting characters not used anywhere in the Marvel universe like John Jameson, Eddie Brock, and Victoria Montessi.

Howard the Duck #10:  This felt like the prelude to a series wrap-up in advance of a series cancellation.  It’s a shame because this has been one of the better humor books from Marvel.  Things get meta as Howard discovers his series has been a guerilla filmed reality show for the Mojoverse and meets his writer and artist (or their stand-ins) who try to cover the fact that they’ve been taking bribes from Mojo to alter the course of Howard’s life.  With Howard having been used for both social commentary and pop culture parody, pairing Howard with Mojo to comment on reality TV and comment on some current Marvel trends is a natural fit.  Chip and Joe never goes so far as to bite the hands that feeds it, so it isn’t as biting as Gerber’s work, but still refreshing and funny.

TELEVISION TIDBITS

“Girl on the Trapeze” The Avengers Season 1, Episode 6: Dr. Keel and his nurse Carol become embroiled in a kidnapping plot as they try to unravel the mystery of the woman who jumped in the Thames.  If you only known the Avengers as that spy show with the man in a bowler and a kick-ass female sidekick, more so if you only thought that the Avengers was a Marvel comic.  Airing on ITV from 1962-1968, the Avengers did not start out as most fans of the series would have expected.  The star of the series was Ian Hendry who teamed with secret agent John Steed played by Patrick MacNee to help Steed solve difficult cases as one of Steed’s expert amateurs.  Almost none of the first season exists due to a short season because of a strike and the practice of wiping videotapes to reuse them.  This one of two episodes from that first season to survive.

     The episode is a bit atypical in that it doesn’t feature Steed, but it reinforces that Ian Hendry is the star.  The episode is a mystery that becomes a political thriller with a circus as a backdrop.  There is a lot of tension in the script by Dennis Spooner, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  The only criticism is that the plan seems overly complex for a group of foreign agents operating in the UK because the purpose of the plot seems to change.  The kidnapped girl was at the wrong place/wrong time to visit the defecting trapeze artist who was murdered, and the murderers are using her to cover the murder (they have a VISA for 46 people so they need 46 to leave without suspicion).  However, by the end the kidnapping was the purpose of the plot in order to blackmail her defecting father to return.  It makes logical sense that a potential defector would reach out to someone who successfully had defected, it just caught me off-guard when the switch was revealed.  The episode doesn’t make a big deal out of it or call attention to it in the way that it was staged, it just made start to question the complexity of the plot.

MOVIE MADNESS

Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (1920): This silent classic stars John Barrymore as both Jeckyll and Hyde.  I assume most readers will be familiar with the basics of the story through pop culture osmosis if nothing else.  Barrymore is a highlight with an extremely magnetic stage presence.  Brandon Hurst is also notable as the lecherous George Carew.  I found this to be a bit of a struggle until the Hyde transformation because the print I viewed did not have an orchestral score.  I find that my ability to stay engaged in a silent film depends on the number of title cards and the presence of a score of some kind to engage the audial sense.  Barrymore’s first Hyde transformation is awesome as a single long take achieved by facial contortion and not makeup.  Makeup does get used and becomes more explicit as a Dorian Gray approach is applied to Hyde, his visage becoming uglier and more monstrous as he engages in more depraved activity.  I also like the glimpses we get into the vices.  When Carew tempts Jeckyll and puts him on the track to becoming Hyde, it involves a particular dance hall girl.  Hyde is shown to seduce her, throw her out, and she later appears in an opium den as Hyde picks up another lover.  It was really an effective way of showing events that are only hinted at in the novella.

In Which I Lament the Lack of Editor's Notes and Say Goodbye to the Waco Kid

COMIC COMMENTARY
 Modern Material

 All-New Wolverine Annual #1:  One of the few replacement/generational characters from Marvel that I felt added, rather than subtracted from the Marvel Universe, Laura, the "All-New" Wolverine from the title, is joined by the worst, Spider-Gwen, and the issue is poorer for it.  A cross-dimensional caper, because Spider-Gwen has to brought into the 616 every chance they get (its a rule, doncha know) that doesn't make sense.  I mean I understood the plot, it just seemed a pointless run around.  There are also examples of good and bad editorial material in here.  At the recap/premise page, it explictly points out the this annual takes place before Civil War II.  Who cares?  Nothing happens of note inthis issue, and nothing of note is happening in Civil War II that affects these two characters.  The villain of the piece is enacting a revenge plot because they are related to someone the "original"Wolverine killed.  When?  Why?  Here would have been the time to include a good, old-fashioned Editor's Note.  You know, "See Super Spandex-Guy #12 --Editor".  I don't understand why today, at a time when digitally and in trades the back catalog is more available than it has ever been that this isn't used more.  One of the best digital features that never came to be was when an early digital platform (now defunct) talked about turning all those old editor notes into links that navigated your collection or prompted an impulse buy.

Amazing Spider-Man #17:  Spider-Man continues to investigate NuLife and an ally gets in trouble.  Once again trying to avoid spoilers.  A good issue.  Its another one that could have also benefited from some Editor Notes or stronger editing.  I *think* the events of this issue overlap with issue #16, but the transitions aren't very clear.  I like where this appears to be heading, but I have to ask, with the particular people involved to date, as the evil cabal grows, how likely are a majority of Spider-Man's villains likely to find out his secret identity?
Astonishing Ant-Man #11:  Not necessarily filler, but an epilogue to the last arc that sets up the next as Scott finishes his narration relating how he ended up back in prison (I presume that's not a spoiler since it was part of the narrative framework from the first issue).  This is only a Civil War II tie-in because it gets mentioned in an off-hand manner in a conversation.

Golden Age Greats

All-American Comics #41:  Not a bad issue, but nothing particularly stands-out.  The Golden Age Green Lantern helps an indian tribe realize they are being duped in a story that would be offensive today.  There is a funny bit where Doiby realizing the Indians don't really know what Green Lantern looks like, stalls for time and bluffs wearing a version of Green Lantern's costume.  Hop Harrigan gets hazed by his commanding officer (yeah, I didn't know that kind of thing was allowed in the military).  Sargon the Sorcerer prevents an assassination attempt with shaving razors and shears.  Sargon is probably the most inventive strip in the series at this point, with his power to command whatever he's touched, he uses inanimate objects in visually interesting ways, but they aren't portrayed an anthropomorphic cartoon creations like they are in the Zatara strip in Action.  In the Atom strip he stops some saboteurs from blowing up a plant.  They work for the Black Dragon Society which will feature again in All-Star and be used to good effect by Roy Thomas in All-Star Squadron.

Silver Age Spotlight

Daredevil #17: Spidey and Daredevil continue to antagonize each other before teaming-up to prevent the Masked Marauder from stealing the fuel-plans for an experimental engine.  What I liked this issue: Spidey assuming that Foggy was Daredevil, Daredevil bating and using Jonah to his own ends, the reaction of General Motors to Jonah's new special, and the solid that Daredevil does Spider-Man.  This is the start of the Spider-Man/Daredevil friendship.  When everyone jumps to the conclusion that Spider-Man is up to know good, Daredevil takes the time to correct everyone and give Spider-Man credit for the bust.  The first meeting between Spider-Man and Daredevil is referenced several times (in Amazing Spider-Man #16...cause you know, editor's notes).  The Romita art sings.  This title has sparkled since he took over, and you can tell this is a Spider-Man try-out as Spider-Man, Jonah, and May all make appearances.  It fills like Stan wanted to see how Romita would do with different key members of Spider-Man's cast.  The only negative was the over-wrought dialog about the Foggy, Karen, Matt love triangle.  It was like someone hit the slow-motion button on the book, every time it was focused on.

MOVIE MADNESS

Blazing Saddles:  We lost one of the greats last week, which prompted my wife to put on Blazing Saddles since he had never seen it.  The film is a wonderful satire of the Western genre and on race, but it is extremely shocking when watched through the cultural sensitivity lens of 2016.  This was covered wonderfully on the Film and Water Podcast click here to download.  I'll just mention some of my favorite parts:

• There must be legal precedent....Here it is Hanley vs. United States, Hanley 7, United States nothing!
• Sorry sir, I'm all booked until Monday.
• Well if you must pry.  I must, I must
• The b!t@h was creating the candygram!  And I bet they won't give me credit for them either.
• All of the fourth wall breaking.  Everyone points out the cinema and backlot scene, but Bart talks to the camera throughout the film.

....And We're Back Again....Again

     Whew, where has the time gone?  I've taken an unplanned break.  I'll get more into the why's wherefore's at the bottom so if you are only reading this for geeky goodness you can read the top and skip the bottom.

COMIC COMMENTARY
Golden Age Greats
- Action Comics #51

The Superman feature this issue contains the first appearance of The Prankster.  It was a really good story.  I know The Prankster is often viewed as lame in modern context because he is a non-powered motif villain against Superman who can move mountains.  The thing is, most people forget that until the Silver Age, most of the foes super-heroes fought were plain, regular criminals.  Superman, up to this point in his career, has spent probably 70% of his career going up against regular criminals.  Its something important to consider also when running a Supers RPG.  Yes, it feels right to give Superman a 50 Strength because my what a large number it is, but if everyone else normal is 2-3, then a 12-15 is probably sufficient.  It' all about the scale.  But I digress.  The important thing about The Prankster is that he is the first Superman villain to break out of the pulp mode and be more of what we think of as prototypical super-villain in that he has a somewhat unique motif and a visual distinctive design.  The loud plaid-checked suit, gapped teeth, and freckles set him apart from the thugs and generic criminals in leotards with a domino mask (I'm looking at you Archer.).  The Puzzler from Action Comics #49 had the unique motif, but visually was no different than any other crooked academic we've seen to-date.  I also found his plot to be complicated, but original.  The Prankster and his men go through town staging mock hold-ups in bizarre attire, and it each one, they prove their guns are harmless and provide large sums to the patrons and bank presidents.  They continue to do this, drawing larger crowds, until a particular bank is complacent enough to let them into their vault.  This time, however, the weapons are real, and they steal 10 times the amount they've given away to-date.  Due to the false sense of security they've installed in everyone else, this plan works, except for the presence of Superman who never falls for their schtick.  The other features were enjoyable, but this was the highlight.  The only negative was the Mr. America/Fat Man strip.  Its well written, but we're entering a period where a lot of the masters of art of the golden age are hitting their stride: Jerry Robinson, Sheldon Moldoff, Jack Burnely, and Mort Meskin.  Bernard Bailey's art was sufficient in the late 30's, but its really starting to suffer in comparison here in 1942.
- Adventure Comics # 77: I've only read the first two features so far (Starman and Hourman).  The Starman strip is worth noting.  In addition to great Jack Burnley art, the Mist escapes and preys on the greed of others.  He leaves valuables for unsuspecting citizens to find, and when they keep them, he uses them to hypnotize them to commit crimes for him.  Starman tumbles onto his scheme when  an honest girl tries to take the valuable she finds to the police so they can find its rightful owner.  The only quibble is it ends with Starman saying he has a couple of busted ribs, but we never see him take a shot to the chest in any of the fight panels.  The Hourman story is a mess.  Crooks steal run-down instruments from some kids (including Thorndyke, Hourman's sidekick) and replace them with new instruments in order to get a specific clarinet to open a specific safe in a museum rumored to have a vast treasure.  One, I had a hard time believing that the slum kids wouldn't have been happier with their new instruments and left well enough alone, 2 wind instruments aren't tuned, string instruments are, and then its two make sure they have the right pitch.  Any clarinet should have worked for opening the safe, if you knew which notes to play (which the criminals did).
- Captain Marvel Adventures #14

Two strips I wanted to comment on here.  The first is a farce in which WHIZ Radio is broadcasting a local college play and Nazi fifth columnists kidnap the star (a man playing a grandmother in drag) in order to replace him with an agent who will use the opportunity to transmit instructions to a group waiting to sabotage a nearby naval fleet.  Billy replaces the missing star AS Captain Marvel resulting in multiple instances of musclebound men dressed as a grandmother beating each other and others.  The second features the return of Nippo the Nipponese who gets a really poor showing.  Not only are the stereotypes abrasive because of the war context, but Nippo has gone from being a capable, albeit outmatched by Captain Marvel, to a bumbling fool who can't steal the correct plans for a ship (Okay, so he technically does steal the right plans but never notices that they are printed on the backside of old plans).

-Whiz Comics #33: Captain Marvel teams up with Spy Smasher to try and root out a spy on a naval ship that is at sea on a top secret mission.  Instead of solo strips, they share a 29 page story.  I stopped reading Spy Smasher due to the lack of variability in its stories.  The presence of Spy Smasher dampens the whimsy and camp of Captain Marvel that has been his hallmark.
Silver Age Spotlights
-Amazing Spider-Man #38: Spider-Man fights a down on his luck loser named Joe, a failure as a boxer and a wrestler, who accidentally gains super-strength while jobbing as a monster extra on a sci-fi T.V. shoot.  Many consider this to be the nadir of the Lee/Ditko run with it being Ditko's last issue.  I tend to disagree.  Joe is immensely likable and relatable, and while the fight isn't Ditko's finest, its been a while since we've had Spider-Man involved in a more pedestrian affair.
Modern Material
- Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #11: This series gives me fits and starts.  I find the best friend character, Nancy, to be annoying 75% of the time, but this issue without Nancy involves Squirrel Girl defeating Nightmare through Computer Science.  As a Comp. Sci major who understands and follows all of the binary speak and logic structures, I whole-heartedly approve.
-Uncanny Inhumans Annual #1:  Another title I struggle with.  If it focuses on Medusa, Black Bolt, Karnak, the Reader, or the detective (whose name I forget).  It's generally enjoyable.  Its sister title with Crystal, Gorgon, the Jubilee wardrobe reject, etc. traveling the world in a ship is drek.  Why then do an annual under one title but focus on characters from the other?  *facepalm*
- Venom Space Knight #11: I've enjoyed the adventures of Venom, Agent of the Cosmos and the reveal of the true purpose of the symbiotes.  The idea of Flash trying to save a friend he left behind and in the process redeem his partner is great.  Being interrupted as soon as he arrives on Earth by Spider-Man playing "Peter knows best" and not listening to a damn word Flash is saying?  Not so much.  Feels like padding with a gratuitous (and deceitful) cross-over heading.

TELEVISION TIDBITS

Doctor Who (1963) Season 2, Episode 2: A Dangerous Journey:
Planet of the Giants is the "one where they get shrunk" but its much more clever than its given credit.
- A Plot, the crew being shrunk and separated from the TARDIS is affected by, but completely separate from, the B Plot, Forrester covering up the tracks of the murder he committed so he can release DD6 to marker as scheduled.
- The design is pretty great for the era with all of the giant props being really well-realized.  The only let down is the counter to which is the studio floor with a black backdrop.  It would have been improved with a matte background.  The sink set it stellar.
- The middle of the episode has a great dramatic turn from Jackie Hill as Barbara has picked up a seed coated with the pesticide and gets it on her hands.  Ian never notices and off-handedly hands her a handkerchief then obliviously gives a lecture on how horrible it would be if they were to even touch the stuff to a Barbara who has a dawning horror of the consequence of her actions.
- A neat cliffhanger.  The Doctor and Susan are in the drain pipe of the sink.  Forrester and his accomplice plug the drain, then wash the blood from the hands.  They pull the plug from the drain.  Will the water wash away Doctor and Susan?  Will they drown?

PODCAST PROPS
Views from the Longbox #244: The Killing Joke click here for episode
Michael Bailey and Andrew Leyland discuss The Killing Joke, its classic reputations, its current critical re-evaluation, and the recent animated adaptation.

Being of similar age to Michael and Andrew, I was the right age at the right time when Killing Joke came out (I was 13).  I agree it is a deserved classic, and I agree with them that in and of itself it is not misogynistic.  The gender of the child was irrelevant to the Joker's plot, and while it is easy to label it with the brush of 'fridging' when you are trying to get to a character through their loved ones, when said character is a single father of a daughter, your options for targets are extremely limited as a writer.  It is uncomfortable reading what happens to Barbara, but I don't think I would feel "better" if it was replaced with more explicit scenes of the torture of Jim Gordon.  The highlight for me is the climax and denouement of the story.  Even after this latest round of violence, Batman still tries to reach out like he did in the beginning, and my reading is the Joker considers it, then says, nope I've gone too far, and they share a moment where the masks fall and they both empathize with each other, and the story ends on that moment.  Too me, that is the power of the work.  It humanizes them both, and for a brief moment, they share an understanding and a connection.

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men #100 Unexpected Wonder with Chris Claremont click here for episode

Whew!,  27 more to go and I will be caught up.  When I like a podcast, especially an index show like this, I like to try and catch up. I pick one show at a time to focus on while I maintain pace with the others.  In this episode, Jay and Miles interview Chris Claremont.  I admire Mr. Claremont, and I have never met or heard other interviews with him, so this episode is worth its weight in gold to me.  There are a couple of contradictions:  He speaks out against Warren Ellis trying to involve Kitty and Pete Wisdom in a relationship because of her age, but later said he had at one point wanted to  put her and Gambit in one.  I assume he meant once he had advanced her a few years in age, but it was never clear.  His insight however into character and how to make characters matter and have the events in their lives be impactful was priceless.

BLOG BITS AND BOBBLES
So what happened to us here?  Honestly, I hit a spate of books that I just didn't feel moved to talk about, then I got out of the habit of posting.  However, we are back, and hopefully for the long haul this time.  There will be quite a bit of changes.  I always said this blog would cover more than just comics, and then proceeded to blog almost exclusively about them.  There will be a dedicated effort to talk more about film and television, driven primarily by fires stoked thanks to Palace of Glittering Delights podcast and the Film and Water podcast.  I'm still plugging through my reading lists.  For the golden age reading, I've dropped everything except DC and Fawcett, I still am keeping up with my Marvel Silver Age reading, and for modern comics, I keep up with Marvel and DC, but have put indies on the back-burner for now.  Please leave comments here or on whichever social media format you've discovered us.  'Till next time....

"When a Man Loves A Woman.....He Invades the Skrulls!"

    How far would you go to make your girlfriend happy?  If you're Reed Richards, the answer is through a space-warp to an alien planet in a distant galaxy.   Easily the best issue Marvel published in April 1965, Fantastic Four #37 has the FF go to the Skrull homeworld to avenger the death of Sue and Johnny's parents.  There is a lot of inventiveness this issue: getting a glimpse of Skrull politics, the fact that the FF's powers quickly diminish on the Skrull planet, and the lengths Reed goes to to make his fiancee happy as their wedding nears.  Kirby's art has never been better, and for me, this is the first use of an art collage that enhances instead of detracts.  Maybe its the reproduction values on reprints and digital issues, but most of them before have come across as murky or as disconnected from the story.  Here it give a realistic 3D effect to the ship as it sails through space.  Lee's dialogue crackles with some hilarious Ben Grimm lines.  My favorites: "Boy! Give ya (Reed) a piece of chalk an' a blackboard and there's no stoppin ya'." when Reed explains how their craft is getting to the Skrull homeworld, and later when judging how much of his strength is gone by hitting a wall: "Nothin but a puny WHAP!!  Me -- who usedta never get anything less than a BAROOM or at least a KAPOW!"  The only weakness is the coloring.  If you're reading an original copy on over half of the panels the Skrulls are a pale yellow and without the bumpy chins could be mistaken for Asian characters as depicted in the 40s and 50s.  This issue also has, I believe, the first appearance of Anelle, who would become important in the late 80's/early 90's.  I don't know how often she appeared, but she was mentioned a lot in the first 30 or so issues of that period's Silver Surfer volume.

Honorable Mentions
- www.twotruefreaks.com.  I can't cover it any better and highly recommend you download and give it a listen.

Amazing Spider-Man #23 has Spider-Man go up against a bunch of gangsters being targeted by the Green Goblin.  Great fight scenes with Spidey being swarmed by large groups of thugs, and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it-first appearance of Norman Osborn.  My only hang-up is that it features the Green Goblin.  I started reading comics in 1980 when the Green Goblin was popular in multimedia and merchandising but was Spider-Man's legendary deceased arch-nemesis.  Reading the Lee/Ditko Spider-Man era, the Green Goblin is one of the least interesting villains.  The only thing going for him is the mystery of his identity.  It is still a well-told tale by two greats in the midst of their peak.  Andrew Leyland has covered this issue in Part 4 of his Walloping Web-Slinger series on Palace of Glittering Delights podcast available on iTunes and at

-Daredevil #7 is noteworthy for introducing the classic red uniform for DD, and after spending a little too much time on his bill club, giving a knock-down drag out fight between Daredevil and the Sub-Mariner, who clearly outclasses hornhead in pure power.  Daredevil is forced to get inventive, luring the Sub-Mariner into a construction site and using everything from a wrecking ball, steam shovel, and exposed electrical wires to his advantage.  While the premise doesn't 100% work, I also like that it hangs on Namor trying to be reasonable for a change: the surface-dwellers have what is rightfully his, so he will sue for it in the court of law.  He even goes on a rampage to force the court to recognize him.  Unfortunately this is quickly dropped so the fight can begin, and while it is a glorious fight, one almost wants to see the kind of case Nelson and Murdock would put together.
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Tales to Astonish #66 has Giant-Man facing Madame Macabre who can change the size of inanimate objects the way that Giant-Man can control his size.  Its a bit of a cheat listing this here, but I've not posted about some of the better Ant-Man/Giant-Man stories here, and I really have a soft spot for Hank.  He is my favorite founding Avenger, and this story does have an interesting angle with him facing someone with a very similar power set with a different limitation.

Notable Events
- Baron Zemo dies in Avengers #15.  The issue wasn't bad, but what starts as a large Masters of Evil roster coming together to tear apart the Avengers gives way to a one-on-one showdown between Zemo and Captain America.  This is where all the drama was because of their history, bit the unseen (at least in this issue) battle between the Avengers and a Masters of Evil Roster of Enchantress, Executioner, Melter, and Black Knight had to be more exciting than what was focused on here.
- Black Widow goes from a Bond femme fatale to super villainess and Peggy Carter first appears as Agent 13 in Tales of Suspense #34.

Housekeeping
It looks like the blog is settling into a weekly posting schedule with Sundays being the most likely day for a new post to go up.  The reading order has changed again:  The Golden Age will now only focus on DC and Marvel.  Trying to also read golden age Fawcett, Quality, and Dell was too much (at least for now).  I'll still read it as the mood strikes me, but it won't be intentional reading for the blog.  The blog has mostly focused on my Marvel silver age reading, but the past two posts, I've purposefully focused on the Golden Age.  Ultimately I'll cover what I enjoyed most for that week, but I'll try to strive for some kind of balance.

Fear and the Modern Mafia...60's Marvel style

    The highlight for this week was Daredevil #6.  A new villain, Mr. Fear, enlists the Eel and Ox on a crime spree, but are thwarted by the Man Without Fear, Daredevil.  I really liked this issue, for a couple of reasons.  First, it introduced a new villain to the Daredevil's rogue's gallery, Mr. Fear.  I think Mr. Fear is a good introduction to DD's rogue's gallery for a couple of reasons:  a villain who causes fear is a good counterpoint for  hero who's tagline is 'The Man Without Fear', and while it could be claimed he's a variation on the Scarecrow, a villain whose power is delivered through a gas is actually a powerful foe for a hero who relies on smell and hearing to replace sight.  On a few podcasts its been noted that in the beginning Daredevil didn't have a strong villain line-up, and that's true especially in comparison with some his contemporaries:  six villains in and Daredevil has only 3 had 3 villains of note -- The Owl, The Purple Man, and now, Mr. Fear (no, the Matador does not count).  Wally Wood continues to deliver strong, consistent art, and rather than putting Karen Page in danger as has been the case with the past two issues, Stan makes good use of Foggy being the supporting character in danger.  The issue only had two niggles for me:  Daredevil basically beats the 'Fellowship of Fear' by luck and a couple of contrivances:  I could by an exhaust fan in the workroom where the wax figures or made, but not in the showroom.   The second is that some of the wax figures that appear in the wax museum really shouldn't be there.  Diablo, for example.  The FF encountered him in the Balkans and left him imprisoned.  How would Drago know what he looked like to make a waxwork?  As you can see I'm grasping for criticisms, which makes me happy.  I've been a little tough on the Daredevil issues so far in some correspondence with some of my friends on Facebook, so I'm glad to be able to spotlight one in a positive light.

     I can't be so charitable to Avengers #13.  In this issue, Maggia head Count Nefaria comes to the states and frames the Avengers for treason.  On the one-hand this is something of a nice change of pace for the Avengers:  they've basically had three stories: Find/Fight the Hulk (#1-3, 5), fight the Masters of Evil (#6-7, 9), and time travelers (#8, 10-11).  I wanted to highlight it for two reasons:  it is many ways a DC Silver Age story from a plot/character perspective and its really hampered by the Comics Code.
     Why does it feel like a DC story?  The focus on organized crime.  Organized crime and thugs have appeared in Marvel comics before, but they are normally a rarity unless fodder or a quick action piece for a page.  Most of the Marvel stable of heroes have a quickly growing roster of super villains in the mold of the Silver Age Flash with the few diversions into alien menaces.  Contrast that with DC where mainstays like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman were still tangling with gangsters and normal criminals 6-8 issues out of every 12.  The weaker antagonists forces Captain America in the spotlight again.  The heavy hitters get camera-time when confronted by the heavy artillery of the US Army, but the bulk of the pages making up the assault on Castle Nefaria go to Cap.
    However, this could have been a stronger story I think, if not for the Comic Code.  Stan and Heck try to paint Nefaria as a menacing mastermind, but it completely fails.  A subordinate whose crime was foiled by the Avengers has the equivalent of a hologramatic Skype call with Nefaria and his punishment for failure is basically being hung up on.  Its obvious that he should have been shot and killed, but they couldn't convey that.  The climax is hampered in the same manner.  The Wasp is seriously injured by being shot during the fight.  However, we have to be told this  We aren't shown the fight because we can't see them actually shoot her, and they don't even show her injured after the fact.  My assumption is this is because of the Comic Code's rules about realistic violence and gunplay at the time.  It's an okay story, but the lack of menace, threat, and consequences being shown really hurt it.

Current Favorites: Vader Down

     How do you pull-off a cross-over with a small line of Star Wars comics?  I'd be hard-pressed to think of how it could be done better than it was with Vader Down, running in Vader Down #1, Darth Vader #13-15 and Star Wars #13-15.  Before you read any further than this, this post may contain small SPOILERS.

    The basic premise is brilliant.  Vader tracks down Luke to what should be a deserted planet and comes out of hyperspace into the midst of three Rebel squadrons on a refueling run.  In order to prevent him from slaughtering everyone, Luke rams his X-Wing into Vader's Tie Fighter and the two crash on the planet's surface.  Luke radios the Rebellion for help, and Leia commits every resource she can summon to the planet to hunt and kill the murderer of Alderran, for Vader is alone and down. 
    First, I love this story for essentially being an old-school cross-over.  Outside of the one-shot starting it, it is a story interwoven between two titles, not a unwieldy 13 series cross-over.  Secondly, Gillen and Aaron do a great job of giving everyone believable motivations that carry-over from their previous stories: Luke is here trying to learn more about the Jedi, Vader is here hunting look, Leia comes to hunt Vader with a very single-minded obsession, Han just wants to save his friend and get out, while Aphra is desperate to prove to Vader that this wasn't a trap.  The two never forget who is the lead, and Vader here is awe-inspriring.  With his actions here, it is easy to see why one such as him would not be impressed by a toy like the Death Star.  They story has action, comedy thanks to the antics of Triple Zero and BT-1, and most impressively tension.  This is a story set in a larger canon where we know what the future holds and there were still a few moments in the story when I was worried about the main characters.  There is one cliff-hanger in particular where an obsessed Leia goes out on her own to kill Vader, and he comes upon her from behind, and while I know the character lives for at least another 30+ years thanks to The Force Awakens, I still had a quick thought of "Oh, no, Leia!".  Forget Robin War, Secret War, or Civil War.  The can't miss cross-over event of the 2015/early 2016 is Vader Down.