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Post by MDG on Sept 20, 2017 13:29:59 GMT -5
After reading The Brave and the Bold #52, I decided to start reading a few more of the pre-Batman team-ups in that series. The early team-ups are some of my favorite silver age books. Lots of fun and without the sameness of single-hero titles. They really give a feel for how much an editor shapes a book. Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Atom in the team-ups edited by George Kashdan are nothing like the characters in the Schwartz-edited books. But the Starman/Black Canary issues are definitely Schwartzian, even though he never (or, rarely) used those characters before. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 20, 2017 14:30:11 GMT -5
Hoosier X Gladiator this version ... I've never, ever seen it before. Cool Cover and I got to get a copy of Iron Man #7.  The Silver Age Gladiator only fought Iron Man in this two-part story in #7 and #8. He was a Daredevil villain and he appeared a fair number of times starting with Daredevil #18 with John Romita art and also a fairly hilarious segment where Foggy dresses as Daredevil - I forget why, probably trying to impress a woman. The Gladiator was drawn a bunch of times by Gene Colan! Later, he was the Death Stalker's henchmen when they encountered the Man-Thing! That was drawn by Bob Brown and, I think, was written by Steve Gerber! Not an A-list villain but he has a pretty secure place in the Daredevil rogues gallery. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 20, 2017 14:32:30 GMT -5
I was reading another Haunted Tank/Mlle. Marie team-up when I saw an ad for this: I may have to take a break from Subby, Cap and Shellhead to check this out. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2017 15:06:29 GMT -5
Hoosier X ... Thanks for the information and I'm thinking of getting Iron Man #7 & #8 if the price is reasonable.
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Post by Spike-X on Sept 20, 2017 21:46:58 GMT -5
The Silver Age Gladiator only fought Iron Man in this two-part story in #7 and #8. He was a Daredevil villain and he appeared a fair number of times starting with Daredevil #18 with John Romita art and also a fairly hilarious segment where Foggy dresses as Daredevil - I forget why, probably trying to impress a woman. I think it was Karen Page, from memory. He'd heard her speaking glowingly of Daredevil, so decided to give her the impression that he was DD. |
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Post by badwolf on Sept 22, 2017 10:14:07 GMT -5
Yesterday I picked up a bunch of Marvel Team-Up, mostly issues I had years ago, plus this one which was new to me:  "A Savage Sting Has--The Scorpion!" Don't be fooled by the nice Frank Miller cover... Upon opening the book I was disappointed to see it was drawn by Herb Trimpe, whose work I've never liked unless it was inked by John Severin. (Here by Mike Esposito.) We open on a gibbering mad Mac Gargan, driven insane by the removal of his costume, which he believed to be a second skin. He's being observed by the two worst psychiatrists in the world. One of them thinks it would be a good idea to give Gargan his costume back, and predictably, he uses it to escape. Gargan was totally faking being crazy until he could get the costume back, which he knew would happen eventually. As he's done before, he plans to take revenge on J. Jonah Jameson for his part in creating the Scorpion. We already know Tom deFalco is not taking this story too seriously, as he has one of the psychiatrists seriously suggest dance therapy as Gargan's next treatment, but I hate this kind of tongue-in-cheek writing. The Scorpion makes his way to the abandoned lab of the scientist who created him and retrieves some "scientific gizmos" to give him more power. He recruits some thugs and tells them he's starting a protection racket (why not) and demonstrates his new power: firing blasts from his tail. Who rigged this up for him again? Did he visit the Tinkerer off-panel? No, he did it himself. Wasn't Gargan a reporter before he became the Scorpion? He doesn't have technical knowledge like this. He keeps referring to his equipment as gizmos and doohickeys! Interspersed with all this we get the typical Spidey civilian scenes...Peter ignoring Deb Whitman, Jameson being cheap... When Spidey arrives at the Bugle and uses an empty stockroom to change out of costume he makes a crack about using a phone booth...a dig at Superman, I guess. He webs up the door so that no one will come in while he's changing. Doesn't it take hours for his webbing to dissolve? How did he get out again? I guess he is able to break his own webs... Cap finally appears about halfway through the book in the guise of Steve Rogers, commercial artist, angling for a position at the Bugle. Turns out that's just a cover so that he could be there in case the Scorpion struck. Seems overly complicated to me (and how did he get an interview so quickly?) Long battle scene ensues, until Cap finally uses his shield to sever the Scorpion's tail. Cap! You could have done that pages and pages ago! Terrible issue all around (apart from the cover.) |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 22, 2017 10:50:40 GMT -5
Despite the presence of a couple of loser villains like Red Ghost and the Unicorn, this is an OK issue. (I like the Red Ghost, but he's still a big loser.) This period is probably not considered a classic by many Iron Man fans, but I find it more-than-readable and very compelling. Partly it's the George Tuska/Johnny Craig art. But a lot of it has to do with the subplots. I keep hoping Whitney Frost will turn up again. She disappeared into the ether at the end of Iron Man #8, after practically being a supporting character for a while. But you can't keep Big M down! I know she'll show up eventually! And then there's the whole Janice Cord situation. Tony is giving her the cold shoulder because he's afraid that she'll be in danger if they get involved. But a romance with Tony Stark is not Janice Cord's biggest problem. It's her Human Resources Department! They keep hiring dangerous people! Her shifty lawyer was the brother of the Controller! And in #15, they've just hired a new research scientist Alex Niven, who is really commie Alex Nevsky and will turn out to be the Crimson Dynamo! (Which I know from mid-1970s Iron Man comics.) |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 22, 2017 11:00:10 GMT -5
I'm up to The Sub-mariner #14, where they decide to tie up another of the Golden Age loose ends by bringing back Toro, the Golden Age Human Torch's sidekick. And the only thing to do is kill him. Not such a great issue. But the issues directly preceding this one have been good! The Serpent Crown has been a great ongoing device even after the villain Destiny committed suicide in #7 because now Namor has to figure out how to destroy the Serpent Crown. And during this quest, he runs across the Lemurians, from whence came the Crown in the first place, and their horrible wrinkly, scaly leader Naga! #13 is especially notable for the Marie Severin/Joe Sinnott art! This is a great art team! You can't mistake those strong Sinnott lines, but you also get those wonderful Marie Severin poses with the combatants leading with their shoulders and violently curling their fingers at every opportunity! I don't think I've ever seen this particular combination before and it's a shame it wasn't a regular team-up on The Sub-Mariner. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 22, 2017 11:06:38 GMT -5
Meanwhile over in Captain America, we've had the last few Kirby issues (for a while), the Steranko issues, the Hulk, Madame Hydra, Rick Jones as Bucky, Sharon Carter, Nick Fury and a major subplot with Cap trying to erase his Steve Rogers identity because it's not secret and it's made him a target for bad guys too many times. Then #114 begins with John Romita art and ends with ... the last-page return of the Red Skull confronting Cap in a flop house! I am LOVING the late Marvel Silver Age series that I've been reading. Last night I read Marvel Super-Heroes #12 with the first appearance of Captain Marvel. That's pretty good too. Lovely Gene Colan art. |
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Post by urrutiap on Sept 22, 2017 11:20:32 GMT -5
Late last night. I read bits and pieces of Avengers # 239 guest starring David Letterman.
The issue was kind of dumb to read through.
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Post by Spike-X on Sept 22, 2017 17:50:14 GMT -5
Cap finally appears about halfway through the book in the guise of Steve Rogers, commercial artist, angling for a position at the Bugle. Turns out that's just a cover so that he could be there in case the Scorpion struck. Seems overly complicated to me (and how did he get an interview so quickly?) I guess not many people wanted to work for J. Jonah Jameson. |
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Post by Spike-X on Sept 22, 2017 17:52:11 GMT -5
Late last night. I read bits and pieces of Avengers # 239 guest starring David Letterman. The issue was kind of dumb to read through. I remember that. It was a lot of fun. Even though, being Australian in the early 80s, I had no idea who David Letterman was. |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Sept 22, 2017 18:50:51 GMT -5
I tried to read Nightwatch #1. And it very quickly had me setting it aside to complete my Secrets Wars #10
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 23, 2017 17:48:11 GMT -5
I just read this online. In the Bronze Age Bonkers category, it's one of the highlights of the period. It may be dumb but it's wonderfully dumb. |
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 24, 2017 14:19:31 GMT -5
Tony Stark comes back after an Iron Man adventure (he was unconscious in the desert for a few days) to find that his LMD has taken his place! Also, the first appearance of Midas and Madame Masque! |
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