|
Post by chaykinstevens on Aug 6, 2019 16:09:44 GMT -5
I've never seen Moench of Gulacy confirm this; but, it is my belief that the name Mordillo is an homage to Argentine cartoonist Guillermo mordillo, who was known simply as Mordillo, whose pantomime cartoons have been published all over the world. there were book collections of his work available in the US, prior to the writing of this issue. You're probably correct. I think Moench later named Aztec Ace after the French artist Caza. We don't see bretnor/Mordillo, until the very end; but, he was visually based on James Coburn. gulacy doesn't quite get the likeness down. Gulacy later nailed Coburn's likeness for the Trespasser in Eerie #103-105.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 6, 2019 23:04:59 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #34Shang-Chi vs Toyland! Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Paul Gulacy-pencils, Dan Adkins-inks, John Costanza-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Marv Wolfman-edits EIC switch! And now, our real cover... Why didn't they use this? It's got everything: rippling martial arts muscles, skulls, villains, henchbots, guys with guns and bondage! Synopsis: Last issue, we learned that Simon Bretnor, a missing MI-6 agent, is actually Mordilla, international assassin for hire. He has kidnapped his lover, Leiko Wu, who also happens to have the secret to Project Ultraviolet embedded in her subconscious. Reston and Chi are decked out in the Steranko line of adventure gear, flying over the East China Sea in a Steranko Mark III aircraft. Reston unloads about losing Leiko to Bretnor, then gloats about how he is going to enjoy sticking it to him, when they rescue Leiko. They flyover an island with spiked rock formations, creating a crown around the island. In side the barrier is a series of bizarre buildings... Reston begins a dangerous descent, towards the mountains. meanwhile, Bretnot has landed with his trussed up lover, who isn't happy, though she is suddenly a redhead! Bretnor unties her, for the trek to the castle, telling her to be good and she kicks him upside his head. His goons come running and circle her; but bretnor says she is his, and adopts a defensive stance. Before you can say "Waaaaaaaaaaaa...." they go at it and Leiko is kicking his butt, until she gets lassoed and hogtied by................ BRYNOCKI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brynocki is a robot, who talks like a Gene Autry picture extra. Mordilla is overjoyed to see him, which gets really, really weird. They march on up to the castle, with Brynocki dragging his fillie along. Reston and Chi are on glide path; but, have to tilt their wings to get through the rock barrier. They make it; but their airspeed is still to high to land and they are running out of room, so they crash into some trees. They then reppell down some vines to the ground. They move out and run into The Little Engine That Could, who delivers an invitation from Mordillo, which they accept and hitch a ride. Back in Londo, Tarr snarls at Smith for allowing Reston to go after :eiko. He tells Tarr to step off and Tarr says "Bite me, baldie!" and storms out. or words to that effect. Back on the island, Mordillo watches films of Chi and Reston's attack on Velcro, provided by Pavane. So that's what she was doing when she wan't cracking the whip. Except part of it occurs when she was unconscious. Must have been automatic cameras. Brynocki stands by, dressed like Eric Von Stroheim. Mordillo has dinner with Leiko, who finds it hard to eat her food... Mordillo tells Leiko that she carries the secrets to Project Ultraviolet, of which she is unaware. She tries to reason with him, calling him Simon and he goes bonkers. He has built a solar chute, with what he learned from Putnam and Leiko will provide the rest. brynocki interrupts, in a chef's hat, with the food and Mordillo tells him to move the wall to reveal... The Solar Chute Mark 1, cast in pure Sterankonium. Meanwhile, Chi and Reston have been brought to the shoe, and the little Old Woman's children reenact the March of the Wooden Soldiers. Chi plays rock-'em/sock-'em robots with them, knocking blocks off, while Reston just shoots them, using his best Indiana Jones-itsu. Like morons, they get back on the train, which takes off at high speed, around curves, headed to the castle. A drwbrindge lifts away, taking the track with it. Chi and Reston hop onto the drawbridge, as the Little Engine goes over the side. Inside the find a tiny village and a Fu-in the-box....... ...then a mime. Since everyone hates mimes, Reston is about to shoot it, when it leads them away, so he follows, instead of blasting the white faced idiot. Well, that nearly gets them Humpty Dumptied, and reston decides its time for some roast frog legs and turns to the mime, who hops through a doorway. Tweedle-Dim and Tweedle-Dum follow and meet Brynocki, in an usher's uniform, who then leads them to their seats, in a theater. They sit down like obedient little twits and get clamped into place. They are then shown Leiko, who is trapped in a giant hourglass, slowly being drowned in grains of sand. Mordillo shows up with Satan Claw Mark II and we take a 30 day intermission. Thoughts: Did I mention this was my favorite storyline? This issue reeks of awesomeness and Steranko. Gulacy is homaging up a storm, with Steranko tech and Steranko couture, with a bit of Mother Goose. Moench crafted an original adventure, by swiping from James Bond and the Avengers. The basic plot is taken from the then-recent Bond fim The Man With The Golden Gun. You have a deadly freelance assassin (Scaramanga), with a diminutive and psychotic sidekick (Nick-nack), a kidnapped love interest (Mary Goodnight), a private island in Southeast Asia (the Thai islands of Ko Khao Phing Kan and Ko Tapu) and a McGuffin of a solar weapon (the Solex Agitator). See what I mean... The only thing missing is Sheriff JW Pepper and the flying car! Now, Moench takes the Bond plot and filters it through the storybook lens of the Avengers (the tv series, with John Steed and Emma Peel), with touches of the Cybernauts, The House That Jack Built, and Game, and the New Avengers episode, House of Cards. All deal with psychotic madmen and gimmick houses and deathtraps, in a surreal mix of death and childhood toys. You could also add Dr Who, with episodes like the Celestial Toymaker and the Auton episodes, from the Jon Pertwee era (where the Doctor was a sort of secret agent adventurer, with UNIT). It's tons of func, action and intrigue. I mention Leiko's hair, which suddenly turns an auburn red and she looks more caucasian. Not sure what happened there, whether Janice Cohen got mixed instructions or Gulacy got characters mixed up, or if Leiko had a henna accident on the way to Mordillo's island. It will only be this issue, though. I deduct 10 points off a total of 100 for not letting reston shoot the mime. Otherwise, it's a solid 90. They even make fun of the overuse of Fu Manchu when Reston shoots the Fu-in-the-box. Now, the ebst part of the whole issue: BRYNOCKI!!!!! He is inspired by herve Villechaize, from Man With The Golden Gun, as far as his role; but, the design is inspired by......... The Big boy restaurant chain was pretty widespread, at the time and the Adventures of Big Boy was a long published comic, given away in the restaurant, with comic strip adventures, puzzles and games. Moench and Gulacy add the brilliant touch of having Mordillos jack-of-all-trades reflect that visually, with appropriate headgear and costumes. It makes for a fun character and one of the best ever created at Marvel, in Moench's hands. sadly, he hasn't fared as well in others, though he has had other appearances, in Iron Man and Rom, though Dan Slott used him pretty well in his Thing mini-series, as a partner to Arcade, who had turned Mordillo's island into a Murderworld. Before all of that, he will get another crack at Shang-Chi. Any Shang-Chi movie franchise has got to have Brynocki, if not Mordillo. Alas, I wouldn't bet on it. Next up, the conclusion to the Mordillo Saga.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 6, 2019 23:12:00 GMT -5
ps, as the panel of the island buildings and last issues Tower bridge and Palace of Westminster showed, architecture continues to be a weak spot, for Gulacy. There is a stiffness to his drawings and a lack of depth and proportion. He's definitely concentrated on the human figure and Steranko-esque technology; but, not so much architecture. Even Chi's flat, which was filled with great Modern design stylings, was a little off. Gulacy will get better in this are, over time; but, he will never quite match artists like Michael Lark, Marshall Rogers, Mike Kaluta, or Dean Motter, in this realm. They all made the architecture come alive, as a character, in and of itself. that is a rare trait, in comics. Some artists can do decent skylines and generic buildings and dwellings; but, these guys could make it stylish. Steranko was great with interior design; but, his architecture was a bit more mundane.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 7, 2019 21:44:59 GMT -5
Deadly hands of Kung Fu #17Oh look, something new; a Bruce Lee issue. Nice Adams cover, though. If only Continuity had been providing the interiors! No Sanho Kim this issue, or Frank McLaughlin. Rudy Nebres does a great job and Perez is improving; but, neither are specialists in this genre and McLaughlin and Kim were. Both were great storytellers, with both exciting and poetic styles. Creative Teams: MOKF-Moench & Nebres, SOT-Mantlo, Perez & Abel; Don McGregor-edits. Letetrs pages contained a scathing criticism of reprinting color comics as new material (as a $1.25 price tag) and another bemoans the sameness of the SOT stories. One writer wants Shang-Chi gone, because of over-exposure and wouldn't want Iron Fist as a replacement, for the same reason, asking about the Dragon's Two, previously mentioned but not seen, which doesn't get answered. The writer suggests doing adaptations of kung fu films, ignorant that Marvel would have to license them from the Hong Kong studios, which would be too great a logistics problem, just for negotiation, not to mention approval process. Me, I do think Chi could use a rest and maybe Iron Fist might liven things up and Sons of the Tiger should be put to bed, completely. Get Sanho Kim to do some more samurai stories and develop some new features. I do think Archie had the right idea and Shang-Chi was greatly improved by the Golden Dragon serial, even if it did start to get convoluted and confusing. SOT, apart from the issues with Blacbyrd, just don't work for me, after the initial ones, which were carried more on the strength of the art. I'd rather see Abe in solo adventures, ala Jim Kelly or Ron Van Clief, than a cliched Lin-Sun and a plain boring Bob Diamond. The editorial announces McGregor out as editor and Archie taking over for at least the next issue. Shang-Chi- Last issue, Chi faced a real Golden Dragon. Well, he still does, then Shadow Thief fires a blowgun dart, which Chi intercepts, after hearing it. (uh hunh). Chi seems to be tripping and basically cuts a promo on Shadow Thief. Tar aims his pistol and ST slings a shuriken at it, which shatters the colt auto and I cry Bullshido! A colt is solid steel, while a shuriken is much thinner metal and a human hand could create enough velocity for it to even embed itself in the pistol, let alone shatter it. I can only suspend disbelief so far, gentlemen. Chi and St fight, then disappear, then end up inside the Dragon and Chi runs into Shareen, Stern and nayland Smith, who all want the statue. Then it's Petri, Tarr, Jennie Quinn and Fu Manchu. Then its back to fighting and Chi seems to win and says he is keeping the dragon. Next is an interview with Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse, who says he will do a Bruce Lee biopic, which he never does, though he does write a book which forms the basis of one. He, instead, goes on to direct episodes of the MST3K favorite punching bag, The Mater, with Lee Van Clief as a rather unconvincing ninja and Timothy Van Patten as an even less convincing student. The series did have Sho Kosugi, star of many a ninja flick; so there's that. Aside from some behind the scenes stills, it mostly talks about a project that is never realized, though the stills include shot from The Golden Needles, a film Clouse did with Joe Don Baker and Jim Kelly, plus Roy Chiao, who plays the gangster Lao, at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. That film features different factions fighting over a golden statue, with a secret, which sounds vaguely like something in this issue. Next is a feature on the 1975 Oriental World of Self-Defense expo, which features a lot of board breaking stunts and the like (as seen on ABC's Wide World of Sports); and much bullshido about qi power and pressure point stuff that doesn't hold up to scientific scrutiny or even a basic schoolyard tussle. Mixed in are some real martial arts displays, which get overshadowed by the flashy stuff, kind of like in Cobra Kai, Season 2, when the Cobra Kai overshadow Daniel's, Robby and Sam's demonstration. the article does admit some of the demonstrations are not actual martial arts techniques and some are outright fakes. the expo was put on by Aaron Banks, a noted martial arts instructor in new York, who combined several different styles in his school. As much as these were more of a show than practical demonstrations, they did help draw people to take up legitimate martial arts, with positive physical and mental benefits. These expos also helped provide wider exposure to people like Chuck Norris. Roberto Fuentes is author of the piece and he doesn't mince words with some of the fakery or boasting, such as a weapons demo, where the aluminum swords bend, bringing guffaws from the crowd. By the same token, he praises the real masters. He also exposes the fakery of modern ninjitsu, by pointing out the originals were killed off in the 1500s and the claims of keeping the art alive in the subsequent 300 years are dubious; but, hey, Shadow Warriors is a big hit in japan and movies would follow, reaching over here, by the 80s. SOT-We pick up at the prison, as the national Guard arrive and target the SOT as part of the riot they are there to put down. Abe tries to talk sense into the rioters, with no luck. The Guard fires in tear gas (with a bazooka!, fired with the right hand, but resting on the left shoulder! George should try that sometime!)Sgt Ryder, the crooked guard, uses the distraction to break away from Blackbyrd. he takes off, as do some of his racist cohorts. The SOT get out of the room and Lotus rescues an old con, who is having trouble breathing, due to the tear gas. They run smack into Ryder and his goons, now rearmed. It ends up in a Mexican standoff. They get wounded to the infirmary, then face off with the racists hand-to-hand, with Abe taking Ryder, who had training in the military, during the Vietnam War. Abe is the better fighter, obviously. Lin-Sun is still blinded and is in a guard's sights when the old con intercepts the bullets and goes down. The screw's gun jams and Lotus shoots him in the chest. Ryder disappears in the confusion and they go to the infirmary, where the doc won't operate, until persuaded at gunpoint. then, Ryder shows up with the Guardsmen. Ryder leads the charge and opens fire, despite the Guardsman in charge. the others hold back at seeing Ryder firing indiscriminately and at unarmed men. Lotus fires back until Lin-Sun drags her down. Abe shows up behind the guards and starts whooping them, joined by the rest of the SOT. the Guardsmen don't interfere. Ryder is stopped by a shuriken and a bo staff. Halliday shows up with the Feds. Ryder goes to shoot him and is gunned down by Blackbyrd. Death lies all around. Thoughts: The Shang-Chi story is being dragged out too long and it's getting more esoteric and philosophical, which is weighing it down. It had about 3 or 4 chapters of plot and they are exhausted, which is making the chapters seem repetitive. next issue has the final chapter. It looks great and is a nice idea; but, stretched to fit beyond its natural length. And you thought decompression was a modern thing. Sons of the Tiger has some nice emotional stuff; but, it is so badly put together that it undermines the story. This thing keeps see-sawing back and forth to the point of being ridiculous, like 6 chapters of a Republic serial strung together. It would have made a better solo Abe story, with Blackbyrd, which is why I say dump the other two and makes this about an ethnic hero, in an urban environment. However, Mantlo isn't the writer for that; McGregor is. Perez has some great moments here, and some panels look fantastic. Not really the George we know, but very accomplished, in these few shots. To me, part of the problem is he struggles with the mundane. When he gets more into the fantastical, he comes alive. The better panels capture expressions and emotions well. That will be a trademark for him, but in more fantasy situations, compared to this. i do think this is giving him a grounding in emotional content he might not get in a superhero series, which serves him well, down the road. I still am not a fan of this series and I think mantlo is the weaker element of the two. Perez with McGregor or Moench would probably be a more satisfying SOT. The other element is the whole concept. These guys just don't really work, as street heroes. Bob Diamond isn't a street figure and Lin-Sin was better served in the revenge themes of the earliest stories, where he was the focus. Abe works better as a street character, as he is from the streets. he's a nice mix of Power man and iron Fist, in one package. i really think Marvel missed the boat, here. Next issue promises Iron Fist, with the SOT. Shang-Chi will conclude and we are left to wish Chi was teaming with Iron Fist, as it would be more natural.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 7, 2019 23:10:29 GMT -5
"Why didn't they use this?"Because ROY THOMAS decided GIL KANE needed the work. PERIOD. Nick Simon, an Australian comics fan who for over a decade used to run the Nick Simon'S SILVER AGE MARVEL website, told me in no uncertain terms how much he HATED every one of those AWFUL, UGLY Gil Kane covers. During a period when I spent about 3 solid years helping him upgrade the site, on the side I spent a lot of fun time creating "fantasy" versions of MANY of those covers, using Paul Gulacy's art-- sometimes multiple versions of covers with Gulacy art. Nick's site has been "down" for a decade, and the "el cheapo" site I used to post stuff at has also been down for ages. One of these days, I really need to go and re-post all those covers at one of my (free) blogs.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 7, 2019 23:19:18 GMT -5
"The Man With The Golden Gun"
Yeah. I see what you mean.
And the amazing thing is, considering I've read this story MULTIPLE times, is that I NEVER made this connection before. EVER.
Must be because the comic is about 100 times better than that piece of crap movie ever was.
These days, when I think of "THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN", I think of the UK newspaper strip adaptation, written by Jim Lawrence & illustrated by Yaroslav Horak. That not only followed the book-- it IMPROVED on it! Something the movie should have done, if they weren't showing such open contempt for Fleming's writing at the time.
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Aug 8, 2019 10:54:55 GMT -5
Deadly hands of Kung Fu #17Oh look, something new; a Bruce Lee issue. Bruce who? You are not kidding. There was nothing worse than a then-pricey magazine (for a kid) having a fantastic cover, only to see a major drop in quality in most of the interiors. The "price" of Adams as the cover artist, it seems. This was--after all--"save-a-buck Marvel" they were dealing with, so cutting corners was the order of the day. They reversed the practice by coloring work that was originally B&W, as seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #116-118 (January - March, 1973) which reprinted most of the first Spectacular Spider-Man magazine (1968), or all 11 issues of Adventures on the Planet of the Apes (1975-76), which reprinted the Planet of the Apes magazine's B&W adaptation of the first two Apes movies. Cheap, but again, Marvel had no problem with this kind of cheap recycling. No kidding. Studios such as Golden Harvest or the Shaw Brothers studio had a tight, greedy grip on their properties (and performers), and would have likely posed a nightmare for Marvel to obtain the rights to adapt anything. Banks would go on the shame himself in the unforgivable "Bruceploitation"/pseudo-documentary film, Fist of Fear, Touch of Death (1980) where a reporter (portrayed by the late Adolph Caesar of A Soldier's Story and endless movie trailer voice over fame) narrates a "biography" of Lee, dubbing over Lee clips from his childhood Hong Kong films, and unrelated Samurai movies. Yes, they went there. In addition to Lee death conspiracy theories (hence the second half of the movie's title), the film features Lee interviews and the TV series Longstreet are swiped as "flashback" & "interview" footage with Caesar and Banks. Shameful. What's worse is that Ron Van Clief, Fred Williamson and Bill Louie (Louie is sold as a new "Kato" of sorts in one sequence) all have highlighted spots in this disaster that uses the 1979 World Karate Championships to determine a "successor" to Bruce Lee... The one, minor saving grace of the film is that Williamson questions the entire thing: "Two cats fightin' for Bruce Lee's title that don't even exist! I mean, that's kind of absurd, isn't it?"
Williamson said a mouthful. I know you're not fond of SoT, but I think what needs to be remembered is that this was a Marvel magazine of the early 1970s, a time when they were trying to use as many genres as possible (not just superheroes) to show racial/ethnic diversity working together--to be (what they must have believed) as appealing to a wide cross section of their readers. Its the same kind of period-specific creativity seen in toy lines such as Hasbro's G.I. Joe Adventure Team (1970-76) and Mattel's Big Jim P.A.C.K. (1975): Many of these attempts were hit-and-miss, and more message than substance, but the bigger picture of it all--even if not particularly good--was the right thing to do.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 8, 2019 11:15:11 GMT -5
Oh, I get why they have the mix in Sons of the Tiger and wouldn't have a problem, if they had any personality. So far, Abe is the only one that really shines, when given focus. Lin-Sun got the early focus, to the point you wondered why he needed the other two. Bob Diamond has been pointless from the start. It's obvious they are swiping the mix of Enter the Dragon, with bruce Lee, Jim Kelly and John Saxon; but, those three characters had a story to them and their own personalities. each brought something to the mix (of course, the black guy dies in the film, while the white guy survives). Here, Bob just adds money, when they need it. The Abe and Blackbird stuff has worked the best (including the earlier Lin-Sun revenge plot) and that's why I say turn the focus on him; just get a better writer to do it. Mantlo is very inconsistent and formulaic, as the letters page noted.
I also think they need to ditch the stupid outfits. They are just badly designed. Stick with street clothes or give them something more individual
So far, apart from a few stories, Sons of the Tiger has felt like filler, as much as the martial arts articles. Part of the problem is the need to get them into a fight situation, which pretty much demands that plot and characterization be minimal. I had hoped that a serialized story would help this; but, Mantlo doesn't seem to have the chops, yet, to really work a series. Moench soldiers on like he usually did, though, as I said, Golden Dragon has probably overstayed its welcome. You can tell mantlo wants to do this as a superhero strip (and SOT kind of always was a superhero strip); so, maybe White Tiger will breath some life into things, when he arrives.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 8, 2019 14:36:30 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #35Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Paul Gulacy-pencils, Dan Adkins-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, George Roussos-colors, Marv Wolfman-edits Our real cover.... Okay, maybe not. This is more of a standard splash page. Synopsis: (Imagine William Dozier narrating this) Simon Bretnor, aka Mordillo, has murdered MI-6 agents and kidnapped his lover, Leiko Wu, and transported her to his private island, in the East China Sea. He has built a solar chute and only needs a subconscious key to turn it into a solar weapon and that key is in Leiko's head. Clive Reston and Shang-Chi have followed and worked their way through Mordillo's Wonderland of bizarre toys and deathtraps. They reach a theater and find themselves trapped in seats, as Mordillo reveals Leiko, sealed in an hourglass, slowly being drowned in sand. He then displays his own version of the Satan Claw. It is even more personal, as the Red Chinese were going to pay Mordillo a million dollars to kill Carlton Velcro, as an interference to their plans for potential solar weapons. Reston tries to reason with Mordillo, explaining that Leiko doesn't know how to tap the info in her mind and Mordillo killed Putnam, the man who knew how to unlock it. Mordillo doesn't believe him and fires a dart from his gauntlet (the index fingers launches flame, the Bird launches a compressed air dart), which misses, as Reston is able to duck, in time. Suddenly, a bolt from somewhere off stage hits the gauntlet. It is Mordillo's robot killer, come back to its master and trying to kill him! Chi uses the distraction to brace himself and break loose the bar clamping he and Reston in their seats. Mordillo hits the robot and knocks it off its feet and he runs for the solar chute. Chi smashes the hourglass, dumping out the sand, allowing Leiko to catch a breath. The robot's chest open and out climbs Blackjack Tarr! He was using the shell of the robot as armor, while directing it's weapons. Reston follows after Mordillo, who escapes through a secret door in a gimmick clock. reston doesn't find the door and heads back to the others. Tarr has a ship waiting at the shore. Mordillo orders Brynocki to prepare an escape tunnel to the Doom Dome, while he consults with the "...fair lady of the tower..." Reston walks in and finds Leiko in Chi's arms and grows jealous; but, Tarr cuts him off. leiko explains that the solar chute is a working model and only needs the locked secrets for precision targeting. otherwise, it can still function in a random manner. they go to stop Mordillo. Meanwhile Mordillo has a meeting of his own... ...with Pavane, who is working for him. he sends her to stop Shang-Chi, while he uses her elevator to reach the underground tube to the Dome. Pavane is more than happy to kill Chi and Leiko. She also has the lowest riding hotpants I ever saw! Brynocki and Mordillo take an underground rocket train to the Dome, while ordering his goons to meet Pavane, for further instructions. Our heroes are trekking across the ground; but, are unsure of the destination. Mordillo and brynocki fire up the solar chute and open the dome, which Reston spots and they move toward it. reston starts to head down to it and Chistops him, ordering him to join Tarr and take Leiko to safety. he will stop Mordillo. reston starts to argue; but, Chi is resolute. The trio takes off for the boat and Chi heads for the Dome. Inside, Mordillo uses his gauntlet to activate the chute and Brynocki starts the launch countdown. Then Chi storms in. he demands Mordillo step away. mordillo calls him a fool for working for Smith. He launches the platform and Chi leaps on. the chute will released concentrated freon gas to destroy ozone, creating a magnified solar radiation wave, killing all on the island. Mordillo no longer needs the gauntlet in the control mechanism and prepares to attack. Pavane and the goons intercept Tarr, Reston and Leiko. She reveals she was with Velcro under Mordillo's orders, which is why she was defeated by Shang-Chi, so easily. She turns to Leiko and threatens to destroy her face for being with Mordillo. Meow, darlin'! Well, it quickly turns into a donnybrook on the ground and a duel in the sky... Solar radiation hits the island indiscriminately, due to the rocking of the platform. Reston yells for everyone to get back in the tunnel, as the radiation causes everything to burst into flame. Chi redoubles his efforts against the increasingly unhinged Mordillo. he is decked by Chi, then sees all is lost. he heads to the edge of the platform to hurl himself off. Chi rushes to stop him and delays him, before he slips off the side, into the radiation beam, flash-frying himself. Brynocki rushes toward where the body lands. Chi is able to knock out the guidance in the chute and send it into the ocean. He is picked up by the boat, where Leiko comes to comfort him, as reston looks on, with anger in his eyes. On the island, Brynocki is left with his master... Thoughts: Fantastic climax! It's filled with action, as we come to the climax; and, like the good James Bond films, the final mayhem. The only let down is we don't get to see a finish between Pavane and Leiko, after they square off, thanks to the solar chute. In fact, despite being made out to be a tremendous character, in a few panels, Pavane really hasn't done much in her two appearances, but pose with a whip. She's launched a few shots; but, not much more. if only she would be more at the center of a story. Mordillo was a fantastic villain, combining Scaramanga, Goldfinger, Arcade, and every other lunatic madman and cold blooded assassin, in one demented package. The Wonderland element gives this a style, much like the Avengers tv series, helping to shape it beyond just Bruce Lee in a Bond film. It has that, but with greater flights of fantasy, while still staying serious (unlike Roger Moore Bond, too often). Then, Brynocki is just pure joy. You almost root for the little guy and you feel sorry for him, as he cradles his master's charred bones, bereft of purpose. He is like Hal when Bowman removes his logic circuits, disabling him, in 2001. brynocki will return; but not for many years to come. With this epic, Moench & Gulacy cemented their place in the Valhalla of comic book epics. Velcro laid the foundation and gave the series a shot in the arm; but, this made it a classic and showed that it wasn't a one time trick. They actually topped the Velcro story, with a better villain, better supporting characters, better action, and a more unique McGuffin. So, what next? Would you believe a Cat fight? Well, not immediately. We do need our fill in, before Gulacy can get back to the butt-kicking glory. No, next, we get ninjas, science experiments and Kieth Pollard (for two issues). ps. Gulacy's likenesses are stronger, this issue, as Mordillo looks more Coburn, in a few panels, while Pavane is definitely Bardot (who was also the model for Barbarella, in the original comics).
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 10, 2019 18:23:49 GMT -5
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #18Nick Cardy cover and the blessed end of the Golden Dragon serial (about 2 issues 2 late, if you ask me). Creative Team: MOKF- Moench & Nebres; Iron Fist/SOT- Mantlo, Pat Broderick & Terry Austin; Archie Goodwin-edits. inner cover image, by Austin, a Takakura Ken and Robert Mitchum, from the film Yakuza (excellent movie). Better likeness of Mitchum than Takada. Takakura Ken (or vice versa, for the Western convention) was also the baseball coach in mr Baseball, with Tom Selleck, and starred in the film Bullet Train, with Sonny Chiba, which was the inspiration for Speed. He also was the first person to play Golgo 13, in a 1973 film, done entirely in Iran, with a Persian cast (apart from Takakura), to be followed by Chiba, in the 1977 film, Golgo 13: Operation Kowloon. The Iron Fist/SOT story started as a back-up story for the color Iron-Fist book (Mantlo had a career of doing fill-in issues to be inserted, when needed). Synopsis: MOKF-Shang-Chi is still tripping and faces himself and whoops his own butt> he takes the dragon inside a curio shop, where everyone is gathered and Stern tries to grab it, it drops and shatters. It's a fake. Tarr grabs the ruby, it's fake. The whole thing is fake, not even sure if the final scenes are fake. It all is just a weird dream-vision, philosophical piece and my brain hurts!. Don McGregor has an article about the film, The Yakuza, directed by Sidney Pollack. the film features Brian Kieth as a businessman, whose daughter has been kidnapped by the Yakuza, to put pressure on him. He turns to his old friend, played by Robert Mitchum, to go to Japan and get her back. Mitchum had been part of the US Occupation forces and had a long history in Japan. Richard Jordan is a young colleague who joins him. Mitchum meets up with an old flame, in Japan, to contact her brother Ken. During the occupation, the woman was involved in the black market and got into a scrape and was rescued by Mitchum, who fell in love with her. She was working in this to get penicillin for her sick daughter. Mitchum got her the penicillin and saved the daughter. he wanted to marry her. Her brother, Ken, returns home alive, after being stranded on an island, which had been cut off by the Allied advance. He hates Mitchum as an enemy; but, owes him a giri, or lifelong obligation, for saving his family. He leaves and joins a yakuza gang. The woman refuses to marry Mitchum, out of respect for her brother. Mitchum went back home. Mitchum meets up with Ken, who left the yakuza and is teaching kendo. Ken agrees to help and together, they locate and rescue the girl; but find out that there is more to the story than Kieth told them. Really, really good film; a bit slow moving, at first; but tremendous character development, a real investigation of life in Japan, in the early 70s, the US occupation, how the yakuza works, Japanese culture and how intertwined in the business world the yakuza is and was (they were the only people with money, to rebuild Japanese businesses and became silent partners in most industries, including the big companies, to this day). Check it out sometime. A piece on iado and kendo follows, plus some goofing photos at the Marvel offices, with the model for sword techniques, Kataoka, including Gerber, McGregor and P Craig Russell (should of fought with opera). Iron Fist/SOT- A pair of African-Americans, Hollywood and Foxy, have just robbed a subway token booth, shooting the clerk. They are chased by transit cops and bump a woman, waiting for the train, kocking her onto the rails. This is witnessed by Danny Rand (sans green and yellow threads) and the Sons of the Tigers (sans their action togs). Hollywood and Foxy think they are in the clear, when they run into Blackbyrd who has the drop on them. Danny Rand and the SOT have jumped down and are helping the girl, when the train shows up and Danny uses the Iron Fist to eliminate the danger. The police take the girl for treatment, and Hollywood is dead, off panel (probably shot by Blackbyrd, though it's hard to say). Danny goes with Blackbyrd and the SOT. meanwhile, in Harlem, someone called Snake-eyes (not the GI JOE dude) kills a stoolie and barks about grabbing the town, with his gang, The Black Hand. they plan to steal some isotope from the Harlem Hospital that is supposed to stem an epidemic that is attacking blood cells. (lot of stuff coming out of left field here). Blackbyrd and the SOT (and Danny Rand) go into a bar (no this is not the set up for a joke) and Blackbyrd notices the barman is running off, startled, and follows. the barman thinks Blackbyrd is on to the Black Hand and goes to snitch to Snake-Eyes. Blackbyrd snoops and runs into Snake_Eyes, losing his pistol. He is taken at gunpoint and they have personal issues, as Blackbyrd sent him up the river for murdering a blind veteran. he is about to kill him, when Danny and the Sons of the Tiger (goofy name for a band) turn up (SOT in their stupid gear; Danny is still in civies), The goons shoot, the SOT kick, Danny dives into an alley and comes back in his green number and the choppin' and sockin' gets going. The Black Hand get whooped, except Snake-Eyes, who has bulletproof glass over his chest, protecting his heart. Iron Fist rears back and punches through it, killing him, before innocents die. He has a beer with the boys, after it is over. We are told that Iron Fist will begin a serial, in the next issue, from Claremont and Rudy Nebres. mantlo and Perez will be back with the SOT. Thoughts: Well, Shang-Chi comes to a merciful end to his serial, which just got weird and esoteric, in the end. I don't know; it had moments; but, I kind of feel like Moench needed to cut back on what he was smoking. It started well, as a great little mystery (touch of Dashiell Hammett and The Maltese Falcon and some stage magic misdirection), then ended up in oddball philosophical territory. The Sons of the Tiger/Iron Fist thing was written for Iron Fist; so, it was done in that wretched second person narrative. The plot is all over the place and there is stuff missing, like it was rushed into production and Mantlo forgot to include things, or broderick didn't have time to draw it. It looks good, since it is Broderick, though he was still a rookie. His skills were further along than Perez, though. Lot of casual death in this one. the Black Hand are all in spandex uniforms, which just looks stupid, in this thing. Sometimes you just have to let the superhero trappings go, when dealing with street heroes and this is one of those cases (the SOT uniforms, are another). Call me crazy; but, I don't see a Harlem gang adopting spandex uniforms (trunks and all) as their look. Never really liked the SOT uniform, with a sleeveless gi top and black tights, with apparent built in shoes/boots. Bob Diamond, for some reason, gets the black gi. Anyway..... Like I say, the plot is all over the place. We have no idea who Hollywood and Foxy are and they are dispensed with, off panel. Hollywood is killed, yet there are no repercussions, no investigation, nothing. There is some kind of epidemic, yet we have no background on it, it just gets mentioned when Snake-Eyes reveals his plans to his goons. We are really left in the dark with a lot of this. Mantlo was the go-to guy for this kind of fill in thing, because he could bang out a script, quickly. Problem was, most of them were junk, even as filler. On a regular series, he put more into it (had more time, for a start) and could build some momentum ad develop characters. I like a lot of his stuff, like Micronauts, and others enjoyed his work on the Hulk (never was much for the character, so I didn't read Mantlo's work on it); but, with SOT, he's really not wowing me. The first Blackbyrd story, with Abe, was good. but, he hasn't risen to that level, since. He's definitely more in the standard superhero camp, compared to Moench, which I suppose adds balance to the magazine. Personally, I'd have rather seen Frank McLaughlin write and draw a feature for the magazine, as his art conveyed the martial arts techniques and he was a good storyteller and he had the knowledge to satisfy both camps (martial arts fans and comic book fans). Regardless of its faults, this sure beats a lot of other attempts at jumping on the kung fu bandwagon, except Yang, with sanho Kim's fantastic art, at Charlton.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 11, 2019 10:37:00 GMT -5
Totally agree on the Golden Dragon story. Most movie serials tend to go on too long, as they're not so much breaking a long story down into episodes (as " FLASH GORDON" was in 1936), as dragging a short story out to "X" number of chapters. Further, I think I was already tired of Rudy Nebres' art by the time this was over. But guess what? There's 6 MORE just like this COMING UP next! I never had the impression the Iron Fist / Sons of the Tiger story was an "inventory" story (not "back-up"), as it seemed a perfect crossover not only of the cast but also the creative teams: Bill Mantlo-- Sons of the Tiger, and Pat Broderick-- the then-current Iron Fist artist, though he only ever did 3 episodes, and this one one of them. Broderick-- just like Arvell Jones before him-- had each of his 3 installments inked by a different person. In Broderick's case, it was Bob McLeod (FABULOUS), Terry Austin (pretty cool) and... Vince Colletta (well, who else). I clearly remember Bill Mantlo being the "fill-in" or "inventory" guy for many years. On IRON MAN, he did so many inventory fill-in stories, that after Gerry Conway crashed in and then vanished before you could blink... Mantlo finally got the chance to actually TAKE OVER the book. He started slow, but steadily improved. I was reminded of this, decades after-the-fact, by a long discussion at the " LEGION WORLD" message board. He was really building momentum... when these 2 guys cruised in from DC Comics and had him KICKED OFF the book in mid-story, because THEY wanted to do it. I mean, okay... they did BETTER work than Mantlo. But the way they got on IRON MAN, even after all these years, STILL rubs me the wrong way. I always remember the words of Neil Braunstein, the owner of Eldorado Comics, the first store I used to frequent (for about 4 years), when, after a store appearance, he said to me... " I don't know what happened to Bob-- he USED to be such a NICE GUY!!!" (Yep-- some promotions really go to guys' heads.)
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 11, 2019 18:07:52 GMT -5
Totally agree on the Golden Dragon story. Most movie serials tend to go on too long, as they're not so much breaking a long story down into episodes (as " FLASH GORDON" was in 1936), as dragging a short story out to "X" number of chapters. Further, I think I was already tired of Rudy Nebres' art by the time this was over. But guess what? There's 6 MORE just like this COMING UP next! I never had the impression the Iron Fist / Sons of the Tiger story was an "inventory" story (not "back-up"), as it seemed a perfect crossover not only of the cast but also the creative teams: Bill Mantlo-- Sons of the Tiger, and Pat Broderick-- the then-current Iron Fist artist, though he only ever did 3 episodes, and this one one of them. Broderick-- just like Arvell Jones before him-- had each of his 3 installments inked by a different person. In Broderick's case, it was Bob McLeod (FABULOUS), Terry Austin (pretty cool) and... Vince Colletta (well, who else). I clearly remember Bill Mantlo being the "fill-in" or "inventory" guy for many years. On IRON MAN, he did so many inventory fill-in stories, that after Gerry Conway crashed in and then vanished before you could blink... Mantlo finally got the chance to actually TAKE OVER the book. He started slow, but steadily improved. I was reminded of this, decades after-the-fact, by a long discussion at the " LEGION WORLD" message board. He was really building momentum... when these 2 guys cruised in from DC Comics and had him KICKED OFF the book in mid-story, because THEY wanted to do it. I mean, okay... they did BETTER work than Mantlo. But the way they got on IRON MAN, even after all these years, STILL rubs me the wrong way. I always remember the words of Neil Braunstein, the owner of Eldorado Comics, the first store I used to frequent (for about 4 years), when, after a store appearance, he said to me... " I don't know what happened to Bob-- he USED to be such a NICE GUY!!!" (Yep-- some promotions really go to guys' heads.) Archie Goodwin's article states that the Iron Fist story was done as a potential fill-in for the Iron Fist series.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 12, 2019 15:48:26 GMT -5
I probably never once paid attention to any articles or editorials in DEADLY HANDS. Probably why I missed that.
If that was the case, considering Broderick ONLY ever did 3 Iron Fist episodes, it was nice that-- for once-- they actually published it before it wound up sitting around in a drawer for 2 or more years (like, apparently, the entire run of MARVEL FANFARE).
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Aug 12, 2019 15:54:22 GMT -5
I also remember at the time thinking how stupid it was, that instead of "graduating" Iron Fist from MARVEL PREMIERE to his own IRON FIST book, right after the 8-part origin sequence, and right when the new team of Claremont & Broderick debuted, that, instead, they did so after Broderick had departed and some ways into a long storyline. So in PREMIERE, after one stand-alone issue, Claremont & Broderick began a LONG story. And after only 1 episode of it, Broderick jumped ship and was replaced by John Byrne, who at the time, I thought was MAJOR step down. I mean, I honestly thought at the time that this new guy COULDN'T DRAW... or they were having trouble finding inkers to make him look good... or both. And then, after 1 Claremont / Byrne episode, IRON FIST finally happened... and that "first" issue was in fact the 3rd part of a 9-part serial. This was very much keeping up the "tradition" of what happened in early 1968. And on top of that... to my eyes, Byrne's art didn't even start to look "acceptable" until Dan Adkins got on the inks.
Must be really nice to be able to "learn on the job".
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 19, 2019 15:19:55 GMT -5
Sorry about how late this has been: been working on the Other Guys stuff and getting ready for vacation (which I am now on). Plus, I wasn't looking forward to fill-ins. Ah, well; suck it up, sailor. Master of Kung Fu #36-37Aw................man.........................@#$%ing ninjas! Creative Teams: Doug Moench-writer, Keith Pollard-pencils, Sal Trapani-inks, John Costanza-letters, Petra Goldberg (36) & Janice Cohen (37)-colors, Marv Wolfman-edits Synopsis: Shang-Chi and Moon Sun are walking down the street, singing "Doo-Wah-Diddy-Diddy-Dum-Diddy-Do....", snapping their fingers and shuffling their feet, when Moon Sun goes down with a knife to the back! No idea who Moon Sun is, except he is hanging around Chi, because he's on down time or something, in Manhattan, despite getting a swanky new pad in London. The ninjas come creeping out like cockroaches and Chi stomps on them like cockroaches, then they disappear. meanwhile, someone needs to tell Moench & Pollard that sai are not blades; they are blunt spikes, not edged weapons. Sheesh! I suppose I should be thankful that the ninja aren't walking on water or turning to dust when they die. We get a flashback that explains how Moon Sun got in contact with Chi to meet, to lead to this situation. Now, he is suddenly alive because the dagger wasn't "thrown with the true spirit of death." SAY WHAT??? It was bloody well thrown with the true pointy end, so spirit doesn't enter into it. Moon Sun leads Chi down a stairwell, to a basement apartment, storage room, whatever, and Chi, being a simpleton, follows (there is a fine line between naive and congenital idiot and we are way past it). Chi pulls off covers to reveal the world's silliest freak show, compete with satyrs, wolfmen, angel hawks, mermaids, unicorn centaurs (spike coming out of his head), Siamese snakes, and Moon Sun's daughter Tiko. he wants Chi to protect the Tod browning performers from Dark Strider, who must be Aragorn's evil twin brother, if soap operas tell us anything. Chi meets up with the Suns and the freaks, at the train station and they get under way, then the ninja show up. KIYAIII!!! HIYA!!!!!!!! GUARD!!!!!! TURN!!!!!!!!, PARRY!!!!!!!! SPIN!!!!!!!!!! THRUST!!!!!!!!! HAIKU!!!!!!!!! Chi whoops their butts. He asks what the hell is going on and gets a bunch of stories that don't match and make no sense. They go off and set up the tent to put on a show, then Chi learns that Tiko is disfigured, there is a cry and Dark Strider has the freaks in webs, while he sports an extra 2 pairs of arms! They fight... The ninja show up, then everyone flies up in the air and disappears, leaving dust and a piece of Moon Sun's robe, indicating that Moon Sun id Dark Strider. Thoughts: This is why I was avoiding this. This is one weird, pointless story, with few redeeming qualities. And it wasted two months of the comic and more than enough of mu time. This actually makes me look forward to a Sons o the Tiger story!
|
|