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Post by brutalis on Feb 15, 2017 9:49:20 GMT -5
Invaders and All Star Squadron were fun series as long as you knew going into them they were Roy's babies. If you liked and enjoyed his retro connect the dots and seeing Golden Age Hero's in the limelight then these series were spectacular. DC had a stronger more colorful set of characters to draw from but it was Invaders which had more of the Golden Age feel due to Frank Robbin's individualistic art style. And yes you either like or hate Robbins artwork but for myself he was doing some fun, exciting drawing which truly stood apart from what everyone else was doing!
Once Robbins and Roy left then Invader's seemed to limp along struggling to the end. It was those early issues though that i enjoyed the most. The series was unique and different from most of the other stuff that Marvel/DC were putting out. So the historical aspect combined with WWII setting and the emphasis on Cap/Torch/Namor meeting other hero's of the time made for an entertaining series. While most of the series was never outstanding/grab you by the seat of your pants make you want it madly it did deliver in the way it focused on different things than other series. Focusing on story, character and the (in)humanity of war and it's effects on people made for a different type of reading which is lacking in many of today's comic books.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2017 13:08:00 GMT -5
I like both Invaders and All-Star Squadrons equally with different reasons and that why I'm a fan of both of these titles for all it's worth.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 15, 2017 13:45:02 GMT -5
I remember liking the series when I read it (I got the 2 Epic volumes that aren't actually called Epic volumes because they pre-date the line)... It definitely picks up when Spitfire and Union Jack arrive. It was (as expected with Roy Thomas) a bit much as far as crossing 't's and dotting 'i's for continuity, even for me, but I don't mind that so much  |
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Post by brutalis on Feb 15, 2017 15:31:30 GMT -5
I discovered Invaders with issue 5 in February/March of 1976. I only ever managed to ever find issues 6 through 20 on the stands. True story: during this time in 1976 i would carry whatever comics i found during my lunch break traipsing through the high school neighborhood (had 4 Circle-K's in walking distance) and then read and reread them as much as possible storing them in my school locker. One day my history teacher saw me before class reading one issue of invaders (likely issue 5) and noticing the cover he asked about it. I showed him and he flipped through it quickly. He asked after if he could borrow it and any others of Invaders that i had as he was a real WWII veteran. He enjoyed the series and told me that he was impressed that a writer would actually embrace teaching and showing fairly accurately stories about WWII within the context of a "kids comic book" in the 70's. He would even use the comics occasionally in his class using an overhead projector to show panels that depicted the war. He was enthusiastic about how important it was to show younger people of the past and how we can learn and evolve from it.
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Feb 15, 2017 23:23:34 GMT -5
Invaders #3 Synopsis: The gang is flying back from Europe when they come across a U-boat attacking a merchant vessel. Namor destroys the U-boat, capturing its captain, and they discover secret papers on him, which are in code. They bring this to the FBI, who inform the team of a German plot to kill Churchill on his way back to Britain. And part of this plan involves a bunch of Atlantean traitors led by U-Man, a Nzi sympathizer with superpowers. Namor decrees that he must defeat U-Man alone, of course, so the rest of the Invaders decide to beat the shit out of him in order to get him to let them help. I'm not entirely sure of the logic there. Namor wipes the floor with the rest of the team, then flies off with Bucky in tow, while the other three decide to just go stop the Germans anyway regardless of what Namor just said. To Be Continued!My Notes: This scan doesn't do the cover justice, as my copy has eye popping colors. Man, is it just me, or was Marvel's colorists way ahead of DC's during the 70's? DC's books often look flat compared to the bold and bright colors used at Marvel. Some of these Invaders covers really jump off the page. Roy indulges again in his penchant for detailed history lessons, presenting several panels about Churchill's visit to America in early 1942. I appreciate that the book is apparently going to progress from the start of the war forward, with real events as touchstones, just as long as Thomas doesn't go crazy with his exposition. This issue was a slight step up from the first three for me. I liked the sequence with the U-boat, grounding the war in real, human terms. Namor blows up the U-boat just as the crew is trying to escape, so it goes down with all hands except the captain. I was a little worried there would be a cop out, like in some Sgt. Fury issues, but no. The second half of the issue was idiotic, with a classic Marvel-style "heroes fighting each other for no apparent reason" battle. One interesting thing was that Bucky took Namor's side - I liked it. The lettercolumn devotes an entire page to a note from Jerry Bails, the father of modern comic fandom, and an old friend of Roy's. He basically just says he likes it. Roy responds with a full page missive addressing concerns that the material may be offensive to the German or Japanese people. We've seen this play out in the Sgt. Fury lettercolumn before, and it seems kind of like a weird concern - very PC in a pre-PC era, almost - but Bails correctly gives it the context of attitudes towards the recently ended Vietnam war spilling over into material on other wars. I for one have no issues whatsoever with portrayals of Germans and Japanese as the "bad guys," and even though Thomas goes to pains to differentiate the "Nazis" from "the German people," my answer is - screw that. The majority of the German Army were regular citizens, not SS troops or card-carrying members of the Nazi party. If the cost of starting World War II is being portrayed in a bad light in a comic book, well, that seems like a pretty light price to pay. My Grade: C+. The first half was pretty good, the second half was completely pointless and the space would have been better used on actual story material.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2017 1:18:42 GMT -5
Enjoying the reviews. As a kid in the 70s, Invaders was probably the series I bought 2nd most often (Avengers being first) when got to buy comics off the stands (I also got a lot of issues in the 3 pack polybags) and I had most of the issues between 2 and 20 plus the annual (with some gaps). I didn't get another issues after 20 until 40 and still haven't read the issues I missed (Slowly getting them at shows). Haven't read any of this series in a long time, so not sure how it would hold up for me now, but I have fond memories of it from my childhood.
-M
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 16, 2017 11:37:54 GMT -5
One day my history teacher saw me before class reading one issue of invaders (likely issue 5) and noticing the cover he asked about it. I showed him and he flipped through it quickly. He asked after if he could borrow it and any others of Invaders that i had as he was a real WWII veteran. He enjoyed the series and told me that he was impressed that a writer would actually embrace teaching and showing fairly accurately stories about WWII within the context of a "kids comic book" in the 70's. He would even use the comics occasionally in his class using an overhead projector to show panels that depicted the war. He was enthusiastic about how important it was to show younger people of the past and how we can learn and evolve from it. This is amazing. Thanks for sharing it! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2017 12:03:23 GMT -5
Back when DC & Marvel did crossovers I was hoping for a Roy Thomas scripted Justice Society/Invaders crossover.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2017 14:08:54 GMT -5
Back when DC & Marvel did crossovers I was hoping for a Roy Thomas scripted Justice Society/Invaders crossover. That's would been great if they did that ... Man, that's one crossover that I really want to see! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2017 14:39:43 GMT -5
Back when DC & Marvel did crossovers I was hoping for a Roy Thomas scripted Justice Society/Invaders crossover. That's would been great if they did that ... Man, that's one crossover that I really want to see! Written by Roy Thomas. Art by Jerry Ordway. They would be my pick for creative team.
Here is a panel from Unlimited Access #1 by Pat Oliffe.
_(Earth-616)_From_Unlimited_Access_Vol_1_2_0001.png/revision/latest?cb=20090228002259)
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Post by berkley on Feb 16, 2017 15:38:51 GMT -5
One day my history teacher saw me before class reading one issue of invaders (likely issue 5) and noticing the cover he asked about it. I showed him and he flipped through it quickly. He asked after if he could borrow it and any others of Invaders that i had as he was a real WWII veteran. He enjoyed the series and told me that he was impressed that a writer would actually embrace teaching and showing fairly accurately stories about WWII within the context of a "kids comic book" in the 70's. He would even use the comics occasionally in his class using an overhead projector to show panels that depicted the war. He was enthusiastic about how important it was to show younger people of the past and how we can learn and evolve from it. This is amazing. Thanks for sharing it! I bet Roy Thomas would love to hear that story. Isn't Rob Allen or Cei-U in touch with him? |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 16, 2017 16:15:19 GMT -5
This is amazing. Thanks for sharing it! I bet Roy Thomas would love to hear that story. Isn't Rob Allen or Cei-U in touch with him? Rob Allen |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Feb 16, 2017 23:32:09 GMT -5
Invaders #4 Synopsis: Namor and Bucky fly off to stop U-Man, who Namor suddenly remembers he actually knows, leading to some very timely exposition (see what i did there? Timely?!). He's... just a mad scientist type. Ho hum. While they fly, the rest of the team steals a jet from an Army base, which hasn't gotten word these are the good guys, because Roy needed an excuse for several pages of pointless, mindless fighting action. Eventually, they all converge on Churchill's ship - actually, Churchill is on an airplane that is rendezvousing with a ship, but whatever - and Namor fights U-Man and a fleet of Nazi u-boats. It's back and forth until suddenly... I don't even know what, to be honest. I guess the Bermuda Triangle causes a magic hurricane that destroys the Nazis. Everyone shrugs and the issue ends. The End!My Notes: I literally couldn't figure out what was happening at the end of this issue. It's very possible I wasn't reading Roy's copious narrative boxes closely enough, but then again, I shouldn't have to for a plot point as large as a random magic force suddenly destroying all the bad guys. After reading it several times, it seems like it has something to do with the Bermuda Triangle. While caught in this vortex or whatever, Churchill catches a glimpse of a dinosaur and Roy explains that this is a plug for Skull the Slayer. I'm guessing this is one of those cases where Roy is assuming everyone reading this book is also reading every other Marvel book and thus this needs no explanation, aka Brian Michael Bendis Syndrome. All I can say is, the ending was a total mess, it made no sense, and even if it did, it wouldn't have made any sense, if you know what I mean. They spend two issues setting up this big battle and then a magic hurricane comes out of nowhere and randomly saves the day? That's just one step below the bad guys committing suicide, like in #2. Pretty soon I'll need shaxper's Justice League International chart to tally up how many times they go on a mission and don't have anything to do with the conclusion. In other notes: I don't know why the Marvel wiki uses the worst, most washed out copies possible for these scans - which I realize is a rude thing to say given someone else spent a bunch of time making these images available for me to mock - but take it from me, my copy in hand is bold and vibrant with another eye-popping color scheme and kick-ass action. The cover this time is by Jack Kirby, just back from DC. Ironically, after all the tinkering they did over there replacing his Superman faces in Jimmy Olsen, his first Invaders cover features a redrawn Namor head. No respect, I tell ya, no respect. Namor's gal pal Betty Dean makes a random appearance, but after being pretty heavily involved in the plot, she spends all of one panel talking to Namor. Was there a point to this other than Roy indulging his love of Golden Age continuity? I'm not sure if I should hope to see more of her or not in future issues. I guess so - some character work would be nice, and adding retroactive purpose to this cameo would be good too. Roy announces in the lettercolumn that they have yet again changed the publishing schedule., this time back to bi-monthly. Man, these guys just have no idea what they're doing at this point, do they? One final note: so far, I like the Frank Robbins art just fine, despite all the warnings that it would cause my eyes to bleed. My Grade: C-
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Feb 16, 2017 23:57:28 GMT -5
Invaders #5 Synposis: The Invaders trash a munitions factory here in the US, then warn America that they need to bow before the Third Reich. What's happening? Well, we see in a flashback that during a War Bonds parade, a giant image of The Red Skull appeared in the sky, and when the Invaders flew up to attack it, they vanished, only to reappear later as thralls. Only Bucky escaped this fate, because everyone considers him useless. After the flashback, he tries to formulate a plan, but everyone tells him to screw off. So he does. To Be Continued!My Notes: This issue does feature a section in the middle where the Invaders discuss the possibility of other costumed heroes either joining them, or forming another team. Thus it's pretty clear at the end that Bucky's plan is to gather up the other costumed heroes from Timely's Golden Age and get their help. This is made more obvious by the fact that this story is continued in the next issue of Marvel Premiere, which features the debut of the Liberty Legion. Roy is really doubling down here, trying to get a second title of Golden Age heroes going for him to play with, but that's not going to end up happening. Still, it means this storyline is going to go on for at least three more issues. Surprisingly little is happening in this comic. The first third is the team trashing the munitions plant, which I'm pretty sure could have been shown in two pages for the same effect. The middle third is talking about the other heroes and planning the parade, and the final third is the team fighting a giant cloud that looks like Red Skull. There's just a massive amount of utterly pointless fight scenes. I don't mind action, but this isn't really action, because nothing much is truly happening. It's spectacle without purpose. This issue features another awesome cover by Jack Kirby, with some jarringly different faces drawn by whomever - Romita, I assume. They just stick out like a sore thumb on this Kirby composition. I wish they would stop monkeying with his art, it just doesn't help anyone. And speaking of art, the interior art here is by Rich Buckler, doing his best Kirby impersonation, no doubt with the help of actual traced Kirby panels. It's okay, but kind of Marvel house style boring. My Grade: another C-.
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Post by comicsandwho on Feb 17, 2017 2:55:04 GMT -5
I've been re-reading All-Star Squadron, and will move on to Invaders at some point. I only read a couple of random back issues, both of which were in the middle of long storylines, so I couldn't really comment on the series. I recall there were a couple of 'What If' issues that featured the Invaders and other Golden Age Marvel heroes, filling in the gap in Captain America's continuity. It sounds like Marvel did the best with what they had(theree 'big name' heroes, with two sidekicks), but, yes, DC had a much deeper 'bench' of Golden Age heroes.
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