Oh, sure, Archie was one of the best editors in the business; but, by his own admission, the job was more than he wanted and he never seemed to to describe his time as a success.  He was much better with a more focused line, like Warren, and the individual book he edited.  He seemed to much prefer running Epic, where he could have a better impact.

That he instituted change that Shooter gets credit for (or claims) doesn't surprise me.  Archie was one of those guys that didn't toot his own horn.

I think the Surfer's power was often nerfed for Defenders stories.

It is a factor in quite a few stories.  Surfer wasn't around that much, so he wasn't as big an issue; but, Dr Strange saves everyone's bacon waaay too often.  More than a few stories have him incapacitated long enough to give the others something to do; then, he recovers and wiggles his fingers  calls on "Hoary Hosts" or some such, then everything is fine.  It's like the old Ultraman show, from Japan, where he'd fight the monster, get tossed around a bit, his 60 second alarm would go off and then he'd remember his energy beam and would kill the monster.  Never started with the energy beams; always just kicked, chopped and wrestled.  Same with Dr Strange.

It wasn't unique to Strange, as the JLA would have Superman elsewhere, then get in a jam and he'd show up and save the day.  In better stories, one of the other guys would work out the solution (with the better writers, who could write "clever").  In the Avengers, Thor and Iron Man save the rest on a rather consistent basis.  prof X rescued the X-Men quite a bit, before they either removed him from the picture or kept the distance great enough that all he could do was talk to them.

Really, Superman, Thor, and Dr Strange are characters that really don't require teams, unless it is a "can't be everywhere" situation.  For my money, the best teams are those where there is a nice mix of powers/skills, character traits, and a rather balanced level of power.  The New Teen Titans were just about ideal.  Wonder Girl provides the strength; but, isn't juggling planets or lifting mountains.  Cyborg has augmented strength, plus cybernetic weapons and data relays.  Kid Flash had the speed, Starfire the energy powers, Raven the healing skills and lesser telepathy, and Robin the years of experience and training; plus, first class leadership skills and tactical thinking.  No one was a world beater; but, they were each formidable solo.  Together, they augmented one another and Marv & George were very good at depicting teamwork. 

Defenders #40



Creative Team: Gerber, Buscema, Janson and Joe Rosen-letters (Klaus colors), with Archie as the boss.

Synopsis: We open in a courtoom, as Matt Murdock gets the charges against Val dismissed, in exchange for restitution for the damages (thanks to Kyle Richmond's checkbook). The judge tells her not to do it again and thanks her for ending the prison riot. She is given back Dragonfang; but, her rags and "empty shell casings" were tossed out by the cops (how convenient, said the Church lady). They all head back to the Sanctum, where Wong and Clea await. Clea gives Val a "coming out" present, which she is reluctant to accept, until goaded by the others. She goes upto open it in private and Jack intrudes, a bit later....



Apparently it wasn't all the shell casings! Val likes it (including the thigh boots, which makes it look more fetishy than her old duds) and jack starts whining about her adventure lifestyle. Val liftshim up and sets him down out of her way and walks out, telling him off. Again.

Dr Strange is meditating in the park and almost gets beaned in the face by an errant baseball (he magics it in time) and he moves on, running into a political rally. He mystically "oants" the candidate then is surprised he would pull a prank like that. he looks at a newspaper and we see the Bozo leader (Nebulon in disguise) and an announcement that Ruby Thursday is running for office. Meanwhile, Hulk is in the Southwest (we are told to see his own title; but, I flip Marvel the "bird" in response). he comes across a protest against an exploitation film, called Waste, which alleges to depict the actual death of an actress (which is faked). Hulk smashes things and the ladies scatter, and one runs into a restroom....



Hulk is confused by his actions and hops away. meanwhile, someone tosses a rock through the Sanctum's window, with a nope about harboring Commies. Tania goes after them, after telling Bird Nose and Cage to keep out of it. They tell Val and Norriss starts screeching and Kyle asks what it takes to shut him up....



Tania catches up to the pers, three goons in stocking masks (when i originally read this comic, in the 70s, it took me a minute to realize that that was what was making their faces look weird, as it isn't an easy effect to draw). She biffs them and bops them and an old lady asks what the commotion is. Tania explains and asks to use her phone. They chat for a moment, then the old lady reveals she is part of the scheme, which seems related to Jews in the Soviet Union (without identifying them), based on the USSR's emigration policy (see "thoughts" below). Out comes a bruiser in a hood, who Tania throws a table at and leaps out the window. he pursues and smashes a car. tania actually uses brains to assess his abilities and figures out his strength is all in his arms and discovers that he has cybernetic limbs. He tries to smash her and gets entangled in a steel door. She heads back to the Sanctum and Doc has also returned and asks about Jack. We are told to go to the defenders Annual for the answers.

Thoughts: This comic was released at the start of the summer of 1976, one month before the Bicentennial Celebration and before the summer political conventions for the first presidential election, after the resignation of Richard Nixon. Things were pretty hot, politically, as Gerald Ford had succeeded Nixon, without standing for election. He had been appointed to the Vice Presidency to replace the disgraced Spiro Agnew and then assumed the presidency when the disgraced Nixon resigned (in advance of articles of impeachment facing a vote in the House). The country was deepin a recession, with rapidly rising inflation and Ford was seen as practically impotent. His Whip Inflation Now (WIN) campaign was largely seen as an empty joke. Ford was the subject of constant ridicule on the newly launched Saturday Night Live, with Chevy Chase stumbling and falling, based on a couple of incidents with President Ford, where he slipped on a wet aircraft steps, in the rain, and another tripping incident, making him look accident prone (he also beaned a spectator with an errant golf ball, at a charity tournament, at one point). The Democratic race had been hot, as they appeared to have a strong chance to take the presidency. Ted Kennedy was thought to be the lead candidate; but, he was dogged by the Chappaquiddick Incident. California governor Jerry brown was also a candidate; but, Georgia governor Jimmy Carter emerged as the party's candidate and eventual winner of the election, in an extremely close vote. Gerber is poking fun at politics, while also advancing the expansion of the Bozo lunacy that is enveloping things, which comes to a head in the Defenders Annual.

Now, as to the background for the unnamed group that attack Tanya. At the time, the USSR was under the premiership of Leonid Brezhnev. The USSR had blocked emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel, in part due to political retaliation by Brezhnev. There was a lot of international pressure to allow Soviet Jews to leave, especially given the history of the Jews in the territory, both under the tsars and the Communists. A deal was eventually reached to allow a large group to leave the country. Gerber never names them as Jews, although the old woman is named as Mrs Rosenzweig. He just speaks of emigration policies of the USSR and 4000 years of bondage. As it is, we also don't know anything about how the hooded guy got the bionics. Really, this was just a story to highlight Red Guardian and give her something to do, seeing that she is a new character. It does throw off the pacing of the Nebulon storyline (and the Headmen). As intriguing and gonzo as Gerber's stuff was, it was all over the place and really needed some editorial guidance to give it a better structure. While Gerber represented unrestrained creativity, he illustrated that there needed to be some oversight to help direct that creativity; an editor.

Editors in comics have always been a two-edged sword. Many were not editors in the sense of mainstream publishing. Often they were failed writers or mid-range writers, who got the job due to connections. A very few were actually editors who did what an editor should: read the work, make constructive criticisms that will help improve things, encourage good work, coordinate the production of the work, and handle the bookkeeping for payment. In comics, due to short deadlines and a long history of chasing the fast buck, editors were often buying stories and then rushing out the book or, making changes to justify their authority. For many eras, the editors like Archie Goodwin and Dick Gordano were a rare breed, where they encouraged creativity and also provided constructive feedback on how to make the story better. Marvel's expansion overwhelmed the editor-in-chief position, as one person couldn't oversee the entire line. It resulted in chaos that was ultimately resolved by spreading editorial duties, freeing the EIC to deal with the larger publishing matters for the company.

Next, we wrap up all of this mess, in the Defenders Annual and boy is it going to be weird!

I've always wondered whether the Bozos here were some kind of reference to the 1971 Firesign Theatre album I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus and/or the Grateful Dead's 1972 tour of Europe, during which the entourage rode in two buses which became known as the Bozo bus and the Bolo bus. The ones from the Bozo bus wore Bozo the Clown masks during at least one concert.

pps I forgot about the other part; ELF WITH A GUN!!!!!!!!

This one seems nastier than the others. Probably because the woman was part of a group of women, protesting an exploitive "snuff film," thereby reinforcing the negative imagery. I suspect that was kind of Gerber's point here, along with the general randomness of the Elf character, representing random violence. The "Oh, M-i--i-iss...." dialogue certainly makes it creepier.