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Post by mikelmidnight on May 8, 2018 12:33:00 GMT -5
ps The story of Chronos was later retconned to be part of the Eternals Saga. A schism between the Eternals leads to a group departing for space, for the planet Uranus. That group will become the Uranians, who gave Marvel Boy his wrist bands, which will eventually be tested by Wendell Vaughn, who will become Quasar. Kronos will have his essence scattered across space and his son A'Lars will lead the splinter faction that will settle on Titan. Zeus, will be Zuras, who leads the Eternals of Olympia, who is Mentor's brother, rather than Zeus.
These issues are some of my favorite of Starlin's, and one of the things I liked most about them was seeing someone finally update and revive the Olympians the way Lee & Kirby has the Aesir/Asgardians, as they'd always been stagnant up til now. Consequently, Gruenwald's revision massively irritated me, and was one more step in my losing interest in Marvel overall.
Surprised you didn't mention the increasing resemblance between Captain Marvel and Captain Atom here, with Starlin imitating Ditko's sparkly atomic trail.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 8, 2018 23:36:20 GMT -5
ps The story of Chronos was later retconned to be part of the Eternals Saga. A schism between the Eternals leads to a group departing for space, for the planet Uranus. That group will become the Uranians, who gave Marvel Boy his wrist bands, which will eventually be tested by Wendell Vaughn, who will become Quasar. Kronos will have his essence scattered across space and his son A'Lars will lead the splinter faction that will settle on Titan. Zeus, will be Zuras, who leads the Eternals of Olympia, who is Mentor's brother, rather than Zeus.
These issues are some of my favorite of Starlin's, and one of the things I liked most about them was seeing someone finally update and revive the Olympians the way Lee & Kirby has the Aesir/Asgardians, as they'd always been stagnant up til now. Consequently, Gruenwald's revision massively irritated me, and was one more step in my losing interest in Marvel overall.
Surprised you didn't mention the increasing resemblance between Captain Marvel and Captain Atom here, with Starlin imitating Ditko's sparkly atomic trail.
Yeah, the Ditko influence is obvious, as it is in the "cosmic scenes," but, I've been kind of riffing along, in these; and, since Rick comments on it, I just decided to go for the joke. Starlin doesn't wear his influences on his sleeve, like some artists. Thematically, there is a strong Kirby and Ditko influence and his art also shows the Adams and Kane influence. Thanos and the Controller, and some of the other Brutes are definitely Kirby-influenced, while the panel layouts and cosmic weirdness is Ditko, and the figure work a mix of Adams and Kane. Funny thing is, when the DC Captain Atom revamp first debuted, it felt very Captain Marvel to me, in the design, especially since Pat Broderick was doing the art. I was a fan of his brief time on the end of the original Captain Marvel series and the Marvel Spotlight ending to the Thanos Legacy story. He definitely cave Capt. Atom Mar-Vell's hair.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2018 0:43:06 GMT -5
Creative Teams: Steve Gerber with the words, Don Heck and Bob Brown with pencils (Heck on 105 and 106, Brown on 107); Don Perlin (105) , Sal Trapani (106) and Sal Buscema (107) inks, Rooy Thomas with the edits; Starlin uncredited on pages 17-32 of #105. Synopsis: After Black Widow saves DD from Kraven the Hunter, though he still goes over a waterfall, he ends up in a hidden base (in San Francisco, and discovers Moondragon, who attacks him, then tells him her life story. Her parents were killed by aliens whose spaceship they stumbled across, while out driving. The little girls survived and was taken to Titan by Mentor. There, she was put in a monastery, to find her soul, and ends up bald as a billiard ball, doing the whole Caine thing, with less charisma than David Carradine. She develops her mind to the fullest and comes back to Earth to parade around in green bathing suits, with matching accessories. She has been testing heroes (as Madam MacEvil)and looking for thralls of Thanos and believes DD is one. Turns out, she has been manipulated by the corrupt, power hungry Kerwin Broderick, who wants to rule San Francisco and is controlling Terrex, the Dark Messiah, Ramrod and Angar the Screamer. DD, Black Widow and Moon Dragon fight; but, Captain Marvel has to come and save their bacon, while letting Moon Dragon know about Thanos' latest actions. Moon Dragon goes off to meditate, in space, then ends up returning with Captain Marvel, to Avenger Mansion, in Captain Marvel 31 Thoughts: Um, yeah; not the greatest stories ever. Moon Dragon is revealed to be the ward of Mentor, who was taken to Titan and then returned to Earth. Madame MacEvil had appeared previously and Gerber (with Starlin's input, I presume) turned her into Moon Dragon, of Titan. Not my favorite character, under the best of circumstances. This has little bearing on the Thanos story, other than to introduce Moon Dragon and her ties to Titan, then link her up with Captain Marvel, to head into the climax of the Thanos story. Other than that? Eh, not my favorite era of Daredevil.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2018 1:50:19 GMT -5
Creative Team: Jim Starlin-Jack-of-All-Trades; Dan Green and Al Milgrom-ink-stained fingers, Tom Orzechowski-writer of letters, Roy Thomas-carrot and stick. Synopsis: Mar-Vell and moon Dragon meet up at Avengers Mansion, where they find a portion of them locked in battle with Drax. Mar calls out a command to cease and the ninnies actually stop fighting. Drax tells Mar that ISAAC sent him to alert Captain Marvel that Thanos had the Cosmic Cube and the defecation was hitting the oscillator. Mar asks Vision to call the Avengers, who CM briefs, while Thanos watches on Titan. He drones on the the robed woman, saying he isn't doing this out of desire to conquer, bring order to the galaxy ro whatever; he does it out of love, as he pulls down the woman's hood, revealing a beautiful, if somewhat blue-gray woman. He says he is going to give her the Earth. (Isn't that lovely, hmm?) Mar-Vell goes into recap mode, then lays out the plan to the Avengers:wait for Thanos. Yep, that's proactive. Thanos, meanwhile, having decided that Captain Marvel, Drax, Iron Man and Moon Dragon present his biggest threats, whisk them to Titan and place them in energy fields, where they are helpless. Thanos monologues, telling the gang he is about to unleash his forces on Earth and no one can stop him. CM retorts, and Thanos demonstrates that he has bound Kronos' energies. He will unleash his great plan and all will see the moment of transformation, whatever that means. Back on Earth, Scarlet Witch fills in Lou-Ann, who mopes around for Rick. Back at the Titan Ranch, Rick confabs with Mar and they are able to trigger the switch, which short-circuits (somehow) Thanos' energy field, freeing the gang and the Titans. The fighting begins, while Mentor reaches out to ISAAC and turns of the moon's gyro-stabilizer, causing it to bounce around like a ping-pong ball. The Cosmic Cube slips from Thanos' hand and the folks try to keep him away from it. Mar-Vell attacks Thanos and gets well and truly bodyslammed for his troubles. Thanos picks the Cube up and Moon Dragon launches a mental attack, and gets "Kertooomed," by Thanos. he then launches the transformation, binding everyone in energy, as Thanos draws from then and disappears. They see him appear on a viewscreen, as a being of stars and energy, laughing at them. Well, they are now well and truly f@#$%&! Thoughts: Now we go to school! Starlin is ramping up the excitement and we get Thanos at his baddest, swatting aside Avengers, Titans and Kree (Oh my!) The Cube seems to allow Thanos to do whatever he imagines, which will be repeated, in future, by the Soul Gem and Infinity Gauntlet, and Thanos' subscription to Mad God Monthly. The Cube is left a bit undefined, as is usual in these things, as is Captain Marvel's Cosmic Awareness. Starlin is big on the concepts; but, a little loose on details. Moon Dragon adds nothing to the story and you wonder why she is even there. Not sure what Starlin had in mind, beyond the revelation in the next issue. Drax hasn't been doing much destroying and the gyro malfunction is the first time we have seen any real power from Mentor and even it doesn't prove to be more than a nuisance. Really, the Titans haven't exactly demonstrated competence, let alone power. Orion and Highfather they ain't! The addition of the Avengers and the digressions with Daredevil and Iron Man & Thing show how wide-ranging this first Thanos Saga really was, setting the template for future epic crossovers. Prior to this, crossovers were more self contained. The Avengers-Defenders War took place in the pages of those two books. The FF fought Galactus by themselves and the Kree-Skrull War was solely in Avengers, with Captain America along for the ride. This spread things out more and we have an issue of the Avengers to come. Then, Starlin will return to this in Warlock and some other titles, before wrapping things up in Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2. By that point, nearly everyone was involved in stopping Thanos. It also helped pull everyone together in the Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel, which ended up as a kind of epilogue for Starlin's Saga (before everyone but Mar-Vell got better). Stay tuned for more Kirby Crackle and Mad Godding.
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Post by Rob Allen on May 9, 2018 11:14:58 GMT -5
I wonder if Starlin had read this book, which was published in 1968:
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2018 12:08:01 GMT -5
I wonder if Starlin had read this book, which was published in 1968: Wouldn't be surprised. I'm sure Roy would have. Moorcock was a pretty big deal from the late 60s through the 70s. By the same token, Thanos and the Cube are pretty standard wizard stuff, going back through the pulps to things like the Arabian Nights. His take on Captain Marvel is very grounded in mindfulness, zen, and other Eastern philosophies; which was also big in the late 60s and 70s. It's a shame that Moorcock isn't as well known these days, in the US. The man's work is quite amazing and wide reaching, even if he did repeat himself across his different series. He pretty much launched steampunk; but, the modern writers of it seemed to have lost the social commentary that was at the core of his Oswald Bastable stories. Why Hollywood can't get its act together for the long in development, but never produced Elric movie is beyond me. I'm sure Jared Leto would love to starve himself to play the fun-loving albino. I know they won't touch Behold the Man; but, the Eternal Champion stuff would seem an easy sell, as a franchise.
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 9, 2018 13:36:14 GMT -5
Oh, man. Behold the Man has been screaming for movie treatment since it was first published, but yeah, no studio that can secure a decent production budget would touch it with a 10-foot pole...
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Post by Icctrombone on May 9, 2018 13:48:12 GMT -5
Great thread, it makes me want to go home and open up those books again.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 9, 2018 14:07:58 GMT -5
I got clued in to the DD issues, by the owner of LCS I was going to at the time. He knew I was trying to buy all Thanos/Warlock/Starlin stuff so he secured me copies of those DD issues. While I remember being kind of disappointed there wasn't a whole lot to do with Thanos, and in particular the Thanos Saga, I remember liking them. It was weird to have cosmic characters and stories represented in a title like DD. That being the case then, some 20 years ago, I haven't read them recently. So they might not be as good as I remember them.
I also like that Starlin really lays on the adoration/love angel of Thanos with Death to an almost poetic level. Never mind the gal is literally Death, he sounds no less love stricken than any other fictional male character when it comes to the fairer sex.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2018 16:52:10 GMT -5
Creative Team: Jim Starlin-everything but the kitchen sink, Dan Green-inks inside the sink, Dave Hunt-letters and chinks in the porcelain of the sink, Mike Friedrich-writing assist, in sink; Roy Thomas-eating over the sink. Synopsis: Thanos is on the viewscreen, big as the cosmos; or part of the cosmos; or watching Cosmos ("Billions and Billions of Mad Titans..."). Drax says Thanos butt belongs to him and attacks and Thanos says "Bring it!" Everyone else says run. Mon Dragon is hip by shrapnel and Mentor takes her useless body away to be healed, telling Mar-Vell he must get to ISAAC to defeat Thanos. Eros leads the way to the Hall of Science, with CM and Iron Man following. They head for the Tree of Eternity, to take a shortcut; but, the tree limbs attack and Eros is ensnarled. Mar and Tony get away an Tony asks why they are headed there and why three people sacrificed to get them there. Mar explains that ISAAC is the most sophisticated computer in the solar system and he has every fact about Thanos. He also shows that he has palmed the Cosmic Cube, during Thanos and Drax's battle. However, it is spent, as Thanos pulled the energy within himself. he also points out that Thanos is thinking linearly, unable to move beyond, despite having the power. He hopes to unlock a secret that will defeat Thanos. Then he recaps the last few issues. Meanwhile, Drax emerges from the rubble, under which Thanos buried him. He's still going... Thanos forms demons out of the metal of the floor and send them to kill Mar and Tony, who fight back. Tony is being overwhelmed and looks to go down, when Drax makes his move on Thanos... Thanos teases Drax about beating him before and then hits him with his full memory and we see how Drax was truly born. We see Arthur, Yvette and Heather Douglas, driving through Nevada, heading home after seeing Elvis, in 1953. The stumble across Thanos' ship, on his first scouting expedition. Thanos blasts their car and Arthur and Yvette are killed, while Heather wanders, in shock, to eventually be found by Mentor and taken to Titan, where she becomes Moon Dragon. Arthur's spirit leaves his body; but, is captured by Kronos, at Mentor's bequest, to create a warrior to defeat Thanos. Drax is now in full possession of his memory and relaunches his attack, saying he is now stronger. Back on Earth, Lou Ann pines some more and the Avengers are alerted to Thanos' fleet, enroute to Earth. They head to meet it. On Titan, Mar links up with ISAAC. He tells ISAAC that he is no longer warrior; but, protector of the universe... ISAAC apepars in an android form, via hologram. he answers any question put to him and Mar asks about defeating the creatures. ISAAC tells him they will attack as long as CM exusts. mar hits upon an idea and switches with Rick and the creatures depart. Rick then asks ISAAC to transport him to Earth and he does. Rick looks at the useless Cube and tries to think up a plan. Thanos turns up and Rick taunts him, like a schoolyard bully, essentially daring him to become form again and face Mar. Thanos shows up and it's "brown trouser" time for Rick (as the Brits would say)... ...and we are told that we have to go buy Avengers #125 to see what happens. Thoughts: Goodness, Gracious; Great Balls of Fire! Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On! We are in full third act climax mode. Starlin has battle happening everywhere and still finds time for a whole crap-ton of exposition. We see Drax's origin, as the story from Iron Man #55 is tweaked a bit and merged with Moon Dragon's story from Daredevil #105. Captain Marvel uses his brains, when his fists aren't working and eludes Thanos' demons (who look a lot like The Jackyll, from Spider-Man). ISAAC manifests his hologramatic form, which looks like a robot in a robe. Thanos has been driven mad (madder?) by power and is actually goaded into returning to living form by Rick, in a somewhat cliched scene, though Starlin makes the consequences look pretty scary. This is why this storyline has been repeated so much: mad gods, aware warriors, super computers, alien conspiracies, reborn fighters and hordes of monstrous enemies. And, we still have two parts to go!
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2018 17:19:44 GMT -5
Creative Team: Steve Englehart writing, John Buscema and Dave Cockrum on art, Orzechowski letters, P Goldberg colors, Roy Thomas edits Synopsis: We go into flashback, as the Avengers finish up a battle with the Zodiac and Libra is taken away by the police. Cap arrives after defeating the Secret Empire and watching the president take his own life (the famed Watergate allegory). Lou Ann shows up and we get info dump, leading to the alert that space observatories have spotted Thanos' fleet nearing Earth. The Avengers launch into space and meet them in battle.... The Avengers attack and Thor flies out to blast spaceships with Mjolnir. One of Thanos' men wets himself and asks the big guy for help. he tells them they have enough firepower and to fight on. Thor busts through the hull and smites them. The rest blast from their rockets. Vision, Scarlet Witch, Mantis and Swordsman do an EVA and board the alien command ship, kick some ET butt , and disable the forcefields that protect Thanos' fleet. The Avengers mop up and save the day, returning to Earth, where Thanos lurks in the shadows... Then, we wait for Captain Marvel #33 for the finale. Thoughts: An interesting diversion, disposing of the problem of Thanos' fleet, so Captain marvel can focus on taking down Thanos himself. It doesn't blend seamlessly with the rest, since we also have issues that have arisen from previous Avengers stories. That's the problem with multi-book crossovers: if you don't follow each title, you don't necessarily know who everyone is and how they fit in. It seems like everyone at Marvel wanted in on this; or else, Starlin asked for help to tell bits and pieces (or Roy decided to farm it out). Gerber and Englehart were also getting all cosmic-y around the same time, with Gerber bringing the Guardians of the Galaxy back to life (in Defenders, down the line) and Englehart and his whole Celestial Madonna storyline, with Mantis. Their approaches aren't exactly in sync, though. I have to think that Roy provided a bit of guidance about telling a sprawling epic, given his experience with both the Kree-Skrull War and in editing Englehart on the Avenger-Defenders War (not too far before this). Buscema and Starlin both were kind of locked into standard rocket ship designs for Thanos' fleet; too bad Cockrum didn't show them how it was done. Well, time for the Main Event!
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2018 18:02:40 GMT -5
Creative Team: Jim Starlin on plot and art, Steve Englehart gives scripting assist, Klaus Janson inks, Orz letters, Roy Thomas honchos. Synopsis: We get a splash page, of a scene that is yet to happen, then two and a half pages f recap, before we are back to Rick s@#%&ing himself... Rick switches to Mar, who gets whooped by Thanos and "I told you so"-d by ISAAC. Then, we are back to Thanos skulking, as the Avengers arrive back from space. They don't know it; but, Thanos has shifted the Earth in dimensional space. meanwhile, on Titan, Mentor shows the recovering Moon Dragon the remaining 17 survivors of Titan (out of 114). Mar-Vell is looking at the Cube, when he is contacted telepathically by Mantis. She tels him about the phase shift, keeping the Avengers apart from Earth, where CM and Thanos are. Cut to Thanos talking to Death then follow her gaze to the sky, where we hear the Might Mouse theme and see a figure drawing closer in the skies... Then, Thanos is hit with one big KATOOOM... Thanos goes all Big Sky and blasts Drax from the heavens, then picks up an entire building and flings it at them. Drax keeps engaging, while Mar-Vell heads out to check a theory, wher he is linked to ISAAC and Mantis. Mantis feeds him info that Thanos is still drawing power from the Cube, since he has no worshippers. Cap drops the Cube, as Thanos turns his attention on him and then Thanos starts warping reality to keep Mar-Vell from the Cube. Everything goes into vertigo, Mar gets zapped and turned into dying, as his body withers and his hair falls out. He stumbles and falls forward, delivering a cosmic karate chop, which somehow release the power of the Cube and Thanos disappears from reality, leaving only Death, who laughs. The battle ends, the universe is saved. Thanos had no worshippers and no power. He worshipped Death, who could not worship him and he lost. Mar-Vell contemplates taking a life, while Drax contemplates his survival, with his purpose gone. Thoughts: Thus ends the first epic story of Thanos and his mad quest to destroy the universe, for Death. In the end, he is undone by his mad ambitions and the ambivalence of his lover. The ending seems a bit deus ex machina, which is fitting, since God was thrown out of the Machine. That has always been a weakness in Starlin's stories, for me, as Thanos' defeat seems to always come out of left field. Then again, Tolkien had his Eagles. Really, the power of these stories isn't in the ending, it is in the plotting and the characterization of Thanos and his enemies. Thanos is part Darkseid; but, he is not Kirby's Darkseid. Darkseid seeks conquest, but has honor. He has love and family. Thanos seeks Death and godhood, not realizing that Death claims all. The story is very much Starlin's meditations on life and death, mixing in his experiences in Vietnam and his religious upbringing. Starlin is still developing, as a writer and his workload prevents him from fully shaping this. Next time, he will be more developed and more focused, even though he pretty much rehashes the same battle. It's somewhat like George Lucas re-editing Star wars and rehashing the plots in the prequels, though Starlin at least creates new sagas to rehash the basic plot. He doesn't so much tinker with the past as much as write a new draft, as we will see, though he adds new elements to things. Even thought the karate chop to the Cube seems a bit convenient, the aftermath of the battle feels right. Everyone knows they came far closer to total destruction than ever before and it lends weight to the saga. That was something missing from the Kree-Skrull War and many later sagas. Starlin gives us an end result that has the characters reflecting upon how they have changed, as a result of the battle against Thanos. Not many writers do this. Unfortunately, those characters are pretty much back to the status quo, when the move on to their own books. Mar-Vell has one more go, before he is dumped in other hands. This one has little to do with Thanos, yet has much to do with the future of Captain Marvel and Thanos. That is out next stop, as CM fights Nitro.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2018 19:38:57 GMT -5
Creative Team: Jim Starlin spins plates, Steve Englehart juggles words, Jack Abel inks the poster, Orzechowski letters it, and Roy Thomas is the ringmaster. Synopsis: The war is over and Rick is moping. Wuss! Mentor contacts him and fills him in, and shares concern over the missing Drax. meanwhile, Rick, after Mar-Vell reminds him, heads off to his meeting with agent/promoter Mordecai Boogs. he finds out he is to be partnered with a singer, Rachel Dandridge, aka Dandy. He is to be her accompaniment, not the star. Take it or leave it. Rick was moping about getting on with his life, so he takes the tour and says goodbye to Lou Ann. Meanwhile, some longhair, named Robert Hunter, is contacted by the Lunatic Legion and sent to a secret military base, to steal Compound 13. The head of security for the base is one Carol Danvers, not seen since Captain marvel masqueraded as Walter Lawson, at Cape Canaveral. Hunter shows up as Nitro and explodes, laying out the security and injuring Carol. he makes off with the armored truck, carrying Compound 13. Meanwhile, Rick, Dandy and Mordechai are on the road, headed to a gig, when they run into Nitro's truck, causing it to jack-knife. nitro is POd and goes to kick some butt. Rick tries a little martial arts (taught to him by captain America) and gets whooped. One "clang" later and Mar-Vell is there, wrapping Nitro up in a metal signpost. Nitro explodes... and reforms. he and CM fight for a bit, before Mar is knocked loopy and Nitro escapes in Mordecai's car, with the canister of Compound 13. Mar-Vell comes to and is met up by carol Danvers, who is chasing after the stolen truck. She informs him that Compound 13 is a nerve gas that could wipe out the entire state of Indiana (who would know?). Mar-Vell goes after Nitro. He catches up, they fight and Nitro is about to explode again, when CM changes places with Rick and has him grab around Nitro's neck and clang negabands, when Nitro explodes, sending the blast elsewhere. CM returns and finds the canister damaged, releasing gas. He plugs it with his hand and stops the leak, then keels over. Thoughts: Pretty decent "average" issue (hero vs villain), with some minor character stuff. Mordecai adds some humor, though this will not add a whole lot to the series, in the long term. Nitro makes for an interesting, if not too bright villain, and the issue serves to bring back Carol Danvers, who hadn't been seen since issue 18. Starlin left the series, after an inker change led to a dispute and Steve Englehart takes over as writer, soon joined by Al Milgrom as artist and co-plotter. The Lunatic Legion are eventually revealed to be Blue Kree and we get an extended story about the Blue Aera, the Kree base on the Moon, occupied by Uatu, the Watcher. Ronan returns and we get another Kree Sentry. carol Danvers is active a bit and Rick is eventually, permanently released from the Negative Zone (after fighting the Super-Adaptoid, who mimics Mar-Vell's negabands). The series pretty much is ignored at the marketplace and sale slump off from Starlin's height, which was okay; but not spectacular. Eventually, Drax returns for a gest sht, angered over his loss of purpose. He will return again, when Doug Moench and Pat Broderick take over at the end of the series. I will return to that later, as it deals with the after math of Thanos, after Starlin completes the next phase of his Saga. Starlin would produce some material for the debut of Mike Friedrich's Star*Reach, an attempt at Code-free comics, mixing the sensibilities of the Undergrounds and the mainstream industry. It was referred to as "ground level" comics and it didn't last too long; but, it did provide some excellent material, including P Craig Russell's Parsifal, Howard Chaykin's Cody Starbuck and Dean Motter and Ken Steacy's The Sacred and the Profane. Star*Reach would be joined by the books Imagine and Quack, as well as Pudge, Girl Blimp. Quack would feature some of the earliest professional work of Dave Sim, before he launched Cerebus (Friedrich turned Cerebus and Elfquest down). Starlin returned to Marvel and helped launch Master of Kung Fu, before taking a crack at Warlock, in the revived Strange Tales. That is where we are headed next. Marvel would reprint the Thanos story, in conjunction with the Death of Captain Marvel, as the 5 issue Direct Market mini-series, The Life of Captain Marvel, which would be collected into a trad (with some edits). At this stage, marvel and DC are flooding the Direct Market with reprints, to crowd the new idie companies off the stands. Warlock would also see a reprint, as would the Kree-Skrull War, while DC would reprint the New Gods. So, next up is Starlin's return, with Warlock.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 12, 2018 22:44:19 GMT -5
Warlock is coming. I discovered I was missing the Strange Tales issues that re-launched the series, under Starlin, before they revived the Warlock title, continuing his storylines.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 16, 2018 15:44:50 GMT -5
Alright, back to the terminal dating scene, with Thanos and Death. We now pick up the story, with Adam Warlock. First, a bit of background. The being who would become Adam Warlock first appeared in Fantastic four #66-67, from Stan & Jack (probably with more of Kirby's plot input, given the subject matter). A group of scientists, known as the Enclave, have kidnapped Alicia Masters and taken her to their complex, the Beehive. They have created an artificial being, known as Him. He emerges from a cocoon; but, radiates too much energy to be seen. So, these mad scientists kidnap a blind artist to describe what he looks like. The biblical parallels are why I say this is probably more Kirby's plot, as he was the real driving force for the use of myth and biblical allegories in comics. The tale shows what happens to those who try to "play god," as the scientist create the perfect being, who is beyond their control and sees them for who they are, putting an end to their plans. Here, he is less a messianic figure, though that was the intent of the Enclave. Him next turns up (sounds like Bizarro narrating...) in Thor 165-166. After the events of the FF issues, Him went into space, where he encountered a storm of asteroids, forcing him to encase himself in a cocoon. The storm was created by the Watcher, who was running an experiment. Him emerges from the new cocoon and encounters Sif and wants to make her his bride (shades of Frankenstein!). He runs off with her and Thor goes ballistic, and its... Hammer Time!" Him next appears in the premiere issue (appropriately) of Marvel Premiere. The High Evolutionary, seen in the pages of Thor and The Hulk, has created Counter earth, a duplicate of Earth, in orbit on the opposite side of the sun (after seeing Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, with Roy Thinnes). He wants to create a world with humans, with no aggression. He made mistakes in the past, such as the Man Beast, his violent creation, who was eventually exiled to a far dimension. He encounters the cocoon of Him and recognizes the superior being that always strove to achieve. The cocoon opens on Counter Earth and the newly reborn Adam Warlock emerges. Meanwhile, the Man-Beast returns, gets onboard the Evolutionary's satellite and kills Sir Riam, his aid. he introduces violence and aggression to Counter Earth. Adam Warlock becomes a new messiah, to deliver Counter Earth from the Man-Beast. Roy had been listening to the soundtrack of Jesus Christ, Superstar (dunh-duh-duh-dundh, duh de dunh-da-dunh....) His intent was to explore a messianic figure, but without the overt religious overtones (good luck with that). The end result was a odd mix of superhero action and biblical ideas, with excellent Gil Kane art and a costume that was a cross between Captain Marvel and the Young Sentinels... After two issues of Marvel Premiere, Warlock got his own book, lasting 8 issues, with the storyline wrapped up in the Hulk. The stories are a bit clunky, at first and the biblical stuff is a bit ham-fisted. Roy ceded scripting duties to Mike friedrich and we get into darker territpry, with allegories to Nixon and Watergate. We also get an intrusion my the Marvel Earth, which clouds things further. The plug was pulled in issue #8. Warlock then turns up in a few issues of the Hulk, to wrap things up... In that storyline, we wrap up the Watergate allegory and insert the last days of Christ, as we even get a pseudo-Last Supper. Hulk is put into the role of Judas, as he betrays warlock, due to a neural transmitter that takes control of his mind. That pretty much put an end to Warlock. Jim Starlin had left Captain Marvel, in a dispute over a change in inkers and had gone on to produce material for Star*Reach. He was courted back and was supposed to return to Captain Marvel; but, there was a team in place and it was decided to let them be and let Starlin decide a new path. he looked through his comics and came across the FF issues, with Him and realized that here was a ready-made messiah; and, thus, Warlock would become Starlin's next vessel for his explorations of religion, war and death. It would start in the pages of the revived Strange Tales. Strange Tales #178 Creative Team: Jim Starlin-everything but lettering, Annette Kawecki-nothing but lettering, Len Wein-laissez faire editing. Synopsis: The story is narrated by an alien, named Sphinxor, who recounts what has happened with Warlock, from the FF up through Counter Earth. We then cut to a planetoid, where a woman is fleeing a pack of beings who are hunting her. In the usual cliche, she trips and hurts her ankle, only to encounter Warlock, who she has been seeking. The creatures are Inquisitors, from the Universal Church of Truth. Their master, the Magus, has sent them out to destroy the infidels and tell Warlock to stand aside. he hits them with the Soul Gem; but, not before they blast the woman. Warlock uses the Soul gem to briefly bring her mind back to life, to provide information about the Universal Church of Truth. It was begun 5000 years ago by the Magus, a being of immense power, worshiped by his followers. The teachings of the Magus suggest living in peace and harmony with one another, yet Church doctrine follows that only believers of the Church are covered by that. Everyone else must either submit to Church doctrine or suffer the consequences. Many convert under duress, while others stand in defiance, only to be attacked by the Church's Purification Fleet. The talk is interrupted by the Magus, himself... Warlock is attacked by demons and more appear as he defeats them. He looks to learn the truth and discovers it: the Magus is Warlock, he faces himself. The battle ends after this revelation. Thoughts: after the somewhat cornball exposition from Sphinxor, Starlin kicks into high gear, with yet another fanatical army and its mysterious leader. This time, it is an allegory of the Catholic Church, with Crusades and Inquisitions to spread and maintain the Faith, despite allegedly being founded on teachings of peace and love. Warlock finds that their leader, the Magus, is himself, somehow. He notes that Magus is Latin for Warlock (which means "oathbreaker."). We are left with questions, about how someone who started this church 5000 years ago can be the Warlock of today. How did that occur? Just how strong is this Church? Can Warlock defeat himself? Is the Magus more powerful? This begins Starlin's deeper exploration of his Catholic upbringing, by what he referred to as John Bircher nuns, and his experiences and thoughts about the Vietnam War, religion, and death. It becomes even more cosmic and will continue through Strange Tales, before Warlock is revived with issue #9. Right now, we have some really cool art and wild visuals and a lot of questions. Let's see how Starlin begins answering them.
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