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Post by badwolf on Jul 17, 2018 14:24:42 GMT -5
Namor and Doc are searching for the Silver Surfer, and have been for two months (since the series was bi-monthly, at this point). This raises an interesting-to-me point. Modern comics, with all their decompression, are quite clear that a story that takes several months to be serialized in comic book form may just take a few days or a few hours of in-story time. Was that different in the Bronze Age? Obviously multi-part cliffhanger stories didn't have a month between cliffhanger and climax. But under ordinary circumstances, did they tend to assume a month between stories? No, unless explicitly stated they would occur more or less right after one another. A story that happened years ago to us would be "months ago" in the comic. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 17, 2018 15:17:05 GMT -5
Namor and Doc are searching for the Silver Surfer, and have been for two months (since the series was bi-monthly, at this point). This raises an interesting-to-me point. Modern comics, with all their decompression, are quite clear that a story that takes several months to be serialized in comic book form may just take a few days or a few hours of in-story time. Was that different in the Bronze Age? Obviously multi-part cliffhanger stories didn't have a month between cliffhanger and climax. But under ordinary circumstances, did they tend to assume a month between stories? It tended to vary, according to the writer's needs. Some multi-issue stories might take place over a day or two, while others took into account the actual length between issues, like this one. Some editors, like Roy, were very conscientious about where a story fell, chronologically, with related stories (like annuals or crossovers). Marvel probably made more reference to the passage of time, in my recollection; but, it wasn't consistent. Generally speaking, 6 issues of a comic usually involved at least a few weeks or months, compared to today, when it might just be one day. That isn't to say other 6 issue stories, in past, might have occured over one or two days. They were also fairly consistent about the changes in season, though not always, in winter. If they did a holiday issue, there was usually snow. In fact, comics were far better about it than tv shows. The big publishers were all in the Northeast (except Western, and they did few books set in contemporary periods, that weren't movie or tv adaptations), so they tended to note winter; while Hollywood, being in California, rarely depicted it. In 5 years of the Dick Van Dyke Show, the only time I saw anyone in winterclothes was the episode where Rob and Jerry Helper going skiing and get injured. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 17, 2018 15:23:10 GMT -5
Am I the only person who finds most of the Rutland stories to be insufferably self-indulgent? It started off as a okay one-off joke, I guess, but for me is kind of emblematic of the worst of the 70's laziness and excess by writers (who often had no editorial oversight since they acted as their own editors). These stories are right up there with Cary Bates making himself the focal point of the JSA-JLA crossover. I never found either to be that self-indulgent. The early Rutland stories were pretty good and it gave you a chance for unofficial crossovers, even if it was hust some schmoe in a Batman costume or dressed as Thor. The Defenders one and "Night of the Reaper," in batman, are pure classics. Others vary. I liked the Cary Bates JLA/JSA Crossover, though Elliott Maggin was the more interesting character of the two. Julie Schwartz's appearances were usually fun. They were pretty rare and were usually fun little diversions. The FF also had a story, when Roy was writing it, where the Impossible Man tears through the Marvel offices. It was a lot of fun, with some cameos. It was revisited later in the X-Men annual, where Impy is on a scavenger hunt and tears through the offices again. He then turns up in the New Mutants annual and runs around with Warlock (the alien robot thing, not the cosmic figure that Kirby created). Most of these types of stories were single issues, in between bigger things; so, it wasn't that gratuitous. I liken it to things like clip shows on tv or holiday specials, where the cast acts out of the ordinary or pays homage to something else. It really depends on how entertaining it is and how much it disrupts the regular series. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 18, 2018 17:09:44 GMT -5
Defenders #3 Creative Team: The usual bunch. Synopsis: After defeating Calizuma (rather easily), our non-bunch have agreed to go to the dimension of the Undying Ones...  After some Ditko-esque floating stuff, they find Barbara, the girl from the Hulk's encounter with the cultists, who is trapped by the Undying Ones. By pooling the Surfer's and Strange's powers, they are able to release her from her prison. But, they get caught in a whirlwind and before you can say Toto had bad breath, they are falling down it, headed for a portal. Hulk is able to block the way and Namor steals the Surfer's board to stop the rest of them from going through, when he hits the Hulk, creating a bigger blockage. Surfer then uses his vaguely described cosmic powers and gets everyone out of the vortex. However, they are treated to visions of their lady loves, trapped in the prison. Namor is the only one who smells a rat, as Lady Dorma is dead. The vision coalesces into the Nameless One, with three heads, one of which is Barbara's. He hurls fiery rock at them, which Surfer blasts, then Namor attacks and gets eaten. The others attack when Subby gives the monster indigestion and he bursts free of the creatures mouth. While the Nameless One is spewing chunks (and mutant hybrids), Hulk topples the floating rock he is standing on (somehow). While off balance, Subby and Hulk hit him, for the old one-two, while Doc and Surfer blast him for the 3-4. They trap his foot in the floating prison and Barbara bursts free, as the Namelss One becomes a prisoner. The take the moment t portal home, with the girl Barbara, who is kind of wigging out, when the story closes. Thoughts: Well that took care of the Nameless One and freed Barbara. We still have a doomsday countdown going on, though. This is all still kind of generic and for a Lovecraft homage, it isn't very Lovecraftian. Because of Strange and Surfer, these adventures steer towards the supernatural, with a bit of cosmic; but, aren't exactly classics. They really haven't taken time to develop the team's dynamics, either. I get the impression that Englehart is still feeling his way around the team and is more comfortable with Dr Strange, than any of the rest. We'll have to see if he starts digging deeper.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 19, 2018 17:54:30 GMT -5
Defenders #4 Creative Team: Steve Englehart-Siegmund (and a few sea monsters), Sal Buscema-Hunding, Frank McLaughlin-Alberich, Artie Simek-Fafnir, Petra Goldberg-Sieglinde, Roy Thomas-Brunnhilde, Stan Lee-Wotan. Synopsis: After escaping the dimension of the Undying Ones, the Defenders are in the British Isles and Hulk is a little miffed...  In freeing Barbara from the Nameless One, Dr Strange severed their psychic link, which drove Barbara around the bend. Hulk thinks Strange deliberately hurt her and he is going to protect her (Awwwwwwww). He leaps into a conveniently nearby castle and the other guys have to go in by the door. Incidentally. it doesn't look like the castle has been touched, since the Middle Ages. They find a brazier (but there are no Dilly Bars or Mr Misties to be found. Not even a melted Blizzard!). The flames flare up and out of the flash and smoke emerge a bunch of armored goons, led by the Executioner.....  er.....  The armored goons attack and Namor starts scribing names and kicking arse. Strange runs up against a Merlin knock-ff, named Fragon (sounds like a substitute swear word), who serves the queen Casiolena. Strange's ppowers seem to disappear and Namor fights on, though the mist that encircles them has no moisture and Subby is getting weaker. Old Skurge bemoans his wussy soldiers and blasts Namor, which stuns him enough for a soldier to give him a shot of mace (as in big club, not little aerosol). Doc and Subby get tossed into a dungeon cell, where they find Barbara and Banner, with Hulk having reverted form. Across the hall, in another cell, are the Black Knight (Dane Whitman, of the Avengers) and Amora, the Enchantress. Roy and Steve remind us that she and Executioner were banished by Odin and ended up in this realm, where Skurge dumped her for Casiolena and ran off. (Avengers #83). She schmed about a bit and ended up beaten by the Avengers, including the Black Knight and was a prisoner of Zeus, on Olympus. However, Zeus falls for anything in a skirt and she got away. She came back and confronted Black Knight at his home castle and he proved to be thinking with the wrong sword and ended up under her spell. They went to get her revenge on Skurge and Casiolina and got served; then dumped in their cell. Amora sees a chance of escape, thanks to Barbara and works her spells on her, implanting the personality and mind of Brunnhilde, leader of the Valkyries....  Valkyrie tells the wimpy men to stand aside and smashes the cell door. She then frees Amora and the Black Knight, who summons his winged horse, Aragorn. A guard runs up to tell Skurge and Casiolena that the prisoners are revolting and they reply, yes, they know, they can smell them up here! (BA-DUMP-BUMP!) The guards attack, Hulk smashes, Subby punches, Blacky swings a sword, and Amora & Strange frag Fragon. The Execitioner enters the fight, both swinging and kicking axe! Then, he runs into the Valkyrie...  She knocks 7 bells into him, then the guys finish the task and he is down for the count. Casiolena is about to launch a spell when Valkyrie grabs her in a chokehold and before you can scream, "Catfight!" Amora hits her with magic, taking her out. She then offers Skurge a chance to rejoin her, to the objection of her latest conquest, Black Knight, who gets blocked in the worst way.... turned to stone (cue ELO)...  Doc can't alter the spell and Valkyrie tries the Prince Charming routine, which fails,; so, since BK isn't using his pegasus, she decides to help herself to it...  The Defenders return to their realm and decide to head home, with BK being added to Doc's statue collection, until he can find a way to free him. Valkyrie tags along, since she doesn't have any souls to collect and the needs some polish for her Metal Maidenform. We end with a reminder that Omegatron is counting down. Thoughts: Now this is more like it! After a somewhat underwhelming beginning to the series (really, neither Roy nor Steve really made the Undying Ones very scary or world-threatening), Englehart kicks it up a notch, with the introduction (or, re-introduction, with a new actor in the role) of Valkyrie, as Enchantress implants her mind and spirit onto the form of Barbara, who was a few bricks shy of a full load. Now, the Defenders have a character that is wholly their own and who adds some flavor to the mix. Val is a can-do, kick butt kind of gal, making her one of the better heroines of the era. Wonder Woman just got her Amazonian powers back; but, was going through a readjustment period (while being spied upon by the male JLAers). Black Canary was mostly just hanging out with Ollie, in back-up stories and the JLA. The ladies in the Avengers tended to fall mostly in the AND category (as in Giant-Man and the Wasp, or Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch). With the Women's Lib movement getting stronger (as Gloria Steinem had been instrumental in getting DC to return Diana Prince to be the Wonder Woman of old), Englehart gave us a warrior maiden who was a strong personality and fighter, though with enough personal issues to give her some more depth than the later Power Girl, who mostly punched guys, while calling Wildcat a male chauvinist. Within the Defenders, Val would be one of the more layered super heroines out there. The story itself is a good one and shows more of that supernatural and adventurous mix, with a few doses of satire, that would be the hallmark of the Defenders (with Steve Gerber amping up the satire, later), much as Marvel Feature #2 had. I'm betting this issue did more to establish the team and the series than the previous 3. The question now, will Englehart sustain it or will he drop the ball? Sal is looking good and he got to indulge in the female form a bit, without resorting to cheesecake. Frank McLaughlin is a bit more subdued inker than we have seen, so far, though Jim Mooney wasn't powerful, either. Sal had rotating inkers for a while, with McLaughlin, Mooney and Frank Bolle,; as well as Sal Trapani, Vince Colletta and Jack Abel, before Klaus Janson hung around for a while (including the hand over to Kieth Giffen). Sal wil be the visual lynchpin for the next few years, bringing consistency to a book with few status quos.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 19, 2018 18:53:39 GMT -5
Defenders #5 Creative Englehart-writer, Buscema artist, McLaughlin-inker, Charlotte Jeter-letterer, Glynis Wein-colorist, Roy Thomas-editor, Stan-chooser of the slain. Synopsis: Val is out for a bit of a stroll and draws a bit of attention...  She is lost in thought as wolf whistles sound and husbands get smacked by their wives. Val's concentration is interrupted by some generic hooded goons, who have a beef with Dr Strange...  Val sends the junior conspirators flying, until Strange sticks his male nose into things, interrupting her fun. he brings her back to the Sanctum, where Clea gives her the fish eye, which doesn't escape Val. She is moaning about how her personality puts off men and Women don't like her much, either. Strange sends her on a therapeutic quest to win over Namor and Hulk (Jeez, why don't you have her solve cold fusion, while your at it!) and gives her crystals to help her find them. She hops on Aragorn and goes off to make nice with the boys. She appeals to Namor, who is more than a bit of a Richard and she lets him know...  He disappears before rebutting and Val and Namorita, Subby's niece (Subby was visiting Betty Dean-Prentiss, his ex-girlfriend and guardian of Namorita), head off to find Namor, first stopping to recruit the Hulk. They find him; but, he is miffed that she wanted him to join the Defenders, when he wants to play Garbo, so he attacks. He knocks Val, literally, off her high horse, then blips out as they are falling. Aragorn rescues Val and she and Namorita use the ruby crystal Doc gave her to track the Hulk. They land at a familiar lighthouse and find an invisible barrier around it. Using the enchanted sword of the Black Knight (she helped herself to a lot of his stuff, while he was playing statue), she slashes her way in and they find the awakened Omegatron...  He recaps Marvel Feature #1 and how he woke up (Defenders #1) and then sicks multiple Hulks and Subbys on the girls. Val uses some brains and summons Aragorn to attack and he is immune to the illusion and attacks only the real dudes, allowing Val to hit them, first with her fists and blade, then with a hunk of machinery. Omegatron says it's time...  He takes giant, godlike form and the guys wake up. Subby hits him with a wave, then Hulk hits him with a shockwave, then Val decapitates him with her sword. She says she knew he was vulnerable and explains he was the product of magic and science and Strange could only attack the magic, while the bruisers could only attack the form, while she, with her sword, could do both. Hulk still doesn't want to play with girls (or fish-men or magicians) and jumps away; but, namor says she has earned his respects and her right to be a Defender.  Thoughts: Well, so much for Women's Lib! Why should Val have to win over Namor and the Hulk, to be a Defender? In the first place, it's not like they are an organized team. She already saved their hinders, which should be more than enough. But, in typical male fashion, she has to prove herself to them, again, rather than them having to earn her respect. Granted, she's the outsider; but, you can't help but see a male power base on display, as the woman has to prove she can be the man's equal, before they will accept her and she has to prove to be their superior, for them to accept her as an equal. My own mother was one of the pioneering generation of women who fought for a place in the male professional world, when women were still mostly mothers and housewives. Economic reasons and a desire to carve out her own accomplishments prevent my mother from doing that; so, she had to deal with male crap and prove herself way more than male colleagues, just to get treated like them. Even then, her success threatened them and they would turn on her in a heartbeat. Women dealt with this crap for some time and still do to varying degrees, though each generation has come to accept women in positions of authority and equality more and more, ven if they sometimes have to get hit over the head to see the light. One of the hindrances to stories of women's liberation in comics was that almost all were written by men and they tended to fall into two main camps: those that made the women out to be bitches or condescending attempts at liberated female characters (who often paraded around in less clothing than the guys). It wasn't all stories of the period, but certainly in the majority. Even so-called liberal and liberated writers and editors had a tendency to fall into the same trap. Even here, Val is basically told she might need to tone it down a notch and win over the guys. Given that Namor and the Hulk are two of the bigger A-holes in the MU, you have to wonder why Doc feels that Val must please them? It's not like they are overly pleased by anyone. In the end, Val gets her place in the Defenders and has friends to help her deal with the problems she faces. Right now, the problem is mainly dealing with being a fish out of water, outside of Asgard. Wait 'til she sees what Steve Gerber is going to throw at her!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2018 21:27:30 GMT -5
Nice write-up on #4 and #5 -- My favorite early days stories of the Defenders -- codystarbuck |
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Post by MWGallaher on Jul 20, 2018 6:15:41 GMT -5
Defenders #4Creative Team: Steve Englehart-Siegmund (and a few sea monsters), Sal Buscema-Hunding, Frank McLaughlin-Alberich, Artie Simek-Fafnir, Petra Goldberg-Sieglinde, Roy Thomas-Brunnhilde, Stan Lee-Wotan. Synopsis: After escaping the dimension of the Undying Ones, the Defenders are in the British Isles and Hulk is a little miffed... In freeing Barbara from the Nameless One, Dr Strange severed their psychic link, which drove Barbara around the bend. Hulk thinks Strange deliberately hurt her and he is going to protect her (Awwwwwwww). He leaps into a conveniently nearby castle and the other guys have to go in by the door. Incidentally. it doesn't look like the castle has been touched, since the Middle Ages. They find a brazier (but there are no Dilly Bars or Mr Misties to be found. Not even a melted Blizzard!). The flames flare up and out of the flash and smoke emerge a bunch of armored goons, led by the Executioner..... er..... The armored goons attack and Namor starts scribing names and kicking arse. Strange runs up against a Merlin knock-ff, named Fragon (sounds like a substitute swear word), who serves the queen Casiolena. Strange's ppowers seem to disappear and Namor fights on, though the mist that encircles them has no moisture and Subby is getting weaker. Old Skurge bemoans his wussy soldiers and blasts Namor, which stuns him enough for a soldier to give him a shot of mace (as in big club, not little aerosol). Doc and Subby get tossed into a dungeon cell, where they find Barbara and Banner, with Hulk having reverted form. Across the hall, in another cell, are the Black Knight (Dane Whitman, of the Avengers) and Amora, the Enchantress. Roy and Steve remind us that she and Executioner were banished by Odin and ended up in this realm, where Skurge dumped her for Casiolena and ran off. (Avengers #83). She schmed about a bit and ended up beaten by the Avengers, including the Black Knight and was a prisoner of Zeus, on Olympus. However, Zeus falls for anything in a skirt and she got away. She came back and confronted Black Knight at his home castle and he proved to be thinking with the wrong sword and ended up under her spell. They went to get her revenge on Skurge and Casiolina and got served; then dumped in their cell. Amora sees a chance of escape, thanks to Barbara and works her spells on her, implanting the personality and mind of Brunnhilde, leader of the Valkyries.... Valkyrie tells the wimpy men to stand aside and smashes the cell door. She then frees Amora and the Black Knight, who summons his winged horse, Aragorn. A guard runs up to tell Skurge and Casiolena that the prisoners are revolting and they reply, yes, they know, they can smell them up here! (BA-DUMP-BUMP!) The guards attack, Hulk smashes, Subby punches, Blacky swings a sword, and Amora & Strange frag Fragon. The Execitioner enters the fight, both swinging and kicking axe! Then, he runs into the Valkyrie... She knocks 7 bells into him, then the guys finish the task and he is down for the count. Casiolena is about to launch a spell when Valkyrie grabs her in a chokehold and before you can scream, "Catfight!" Amora hits her with magic, taking her out. She then offers Skurge a chance to rejoin her, to the objection of her latest conquest, Black Knight, who gets blocked in the worst way.... turned to stone (cue ELO)... Doc can't alter the spell and Valkyrie tries the Prince Charming routine, which fails,; so, since BK isn't using his pegasus, she decides to help herself to it... The Defenders return to their realm and decide to head home, with BK being added to Doc's statue collection, until he can find a way to free him. Valkyrie tags along, since she doesn't have any souls to collect and the needs some polish for her Metal Maidenform. We end with a reminder that Omegatron is counting down. Thoughts: Now this is more like it! After a somewhat underwhelming beginning to the series (really, neither Roy nor Steve really made the Undying Ones very scary or world-threatening), Englehart kicks it up a notch, with the introduction (or, re-introduction, with a new actor in the role) of Valkyrie, as Enchantress implants her mind and spirit onto the form of Barbara, who was a few bricks shy of a full load. Now, the Defenders have a character that is wholly their own and who adds some flavor to the mix. Val is a can-do, kick butt kind of gal, making her one of the better heroines of the era. Wonder Woman just got her Amazonian powers back; but, was going through a readjustment period (while being spied upon by the male JLAers). Black Canary was mostly just hanging out with Ollie, in back-up stories and the JLA. The ladies in the Avengers tended to fall mostly in the AND category (as in Giant-Man and the Wasp, or Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch). With the Women's Lib movement getting stronger (as Gloria Steinem had been instrumental in getting DC to return Diana Prince to be the Wonder Woman of old), Englehart gave us a warrior maiden who was a strong personality and fighter, though with enough personal issues to give her some more depth than the later Power Girl, who mostly punched guys, while calling Wildcat a male chauvinist. Within the Defenders, Val would be one of the more layered super heroines out there. The story itself is a good one and shows more of that supernatural and adventurous mix, with a few doses of satire, that would be the hallmark of the Defenders (with Steve Gerber amping up the satire, later), much as Marvel Feature #2 had. I'm betting this issue did more to establish the team and the series than the previous 3. The question now, will Englehart sustain it or will he drop the ball? Sal is looking good and he got to indulge in the female form a bit, without resorting to cheesecake. Frank McLaughlin is a bit more subdued inker than we have seen, so far, though Jim Mooney wasn't powerful, either. Sal had rotating inkers for a while, with McLaughlin, Mooney and Frank Bolle,; as well as Sal Trapani, Vince Colletta and Jack Abel, before Klaus Janson hung around for a while (including the hand over to Kieth Giffen). Sal wil be the visual lynchpin for the next few years, bringing consistency to a book with few status quos. And here's where I came in... "More like it", indeed! Although I hadn't seen the previous six installments, this was strong enough to make young MW a permanent fan, and I went on to buy every single following issue through to the end. The Black Knight also made a huge impression here. I thought his was one of the best costumes I'd yet seen, and the image of being turned to stone haunted me (one of my earliest comic book memories was when I'd browsed an issue of Strange Tales, before I became a comics reader, and got creeped out by a scene of The Ancient One merging into a tree). I recall hoping that the quest to free the Black Knight would be an ongoing concern, because I really wanted him back on the team, but that didn't happen, at least not to the extent I'd anticipated. With the complexities of continuity confusing a new reader like me, I really appreciated the clarity of Sal Buscema's work--the breezy illustration spared me the brainpower I needed to deal with comprehending the text, and even at that, there was one little bit that really confused me... It may seem obvious, but to a new reader for whom all of these Marvel names and titles and slang were still alien, I remember being very puzzled by a footnote referencing "The Incredible Jade-Jaws #" something or other. Was that a real comic book? I remember carefully parsing the Bullpen Bulletins to see if there was some character called Jade-Jaws being published. I'm reasonably sure that I concluded that this was a nickname for the Hulk, but it didn't seem completely unfeasible in a universe that had a character named Lockjaw! |
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Post by brutalis on Jul 20, 2018 10:03:35 GMT -5
Defenders was one of those frustrating series as I could never find issues consistently. Distribution being sporadic at best with the 2 Korean markets in my neighborhood. I had Defenders #1, missed issue 2, then had #3, jumping to #8 and #9. Missed out on more until #14 missing #15 and then finding #16 and nothing more until #27, 28 with another jump to #47 where I could find them regularly at Circle-K's and 7-11's around my high school.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 20, 2018 10:39:25 GMT -5
First issue I ever saw was #28, with the Guardians of the Galaxy (who I thought were cool as hell). I didn't get to see the beginning of the storyline, nor did I see the end. The next one I read was #48, with Scorpio and Kieth Giffen on the art. I did at least find #50, so I got the end of that storyline. Luckily, my cousin had a big box of comics and had several issues of the Defenders, crossing from Gerber to David Anthony Kraft. Later, my neighbor had Marvel Feature #2, from a garage sale.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 25, 2018 16:44:45 GMT -5
Defenders #6 Creative Team: Englehart, Buscema and McLaughlin are all here; John Costanza-letters, David Hunt-colors, Roy-Foreman Synopsis: Surfer is hanging ten in the skies above New York....  When he decides he will take part in humanity and needs to go apologize to Dr Strange for being a big crybaby, when he couldn't miracle him past Galactus' space barrier (Trump will want one of those next, you just wait...). he heads to Greenwich and sees some big cube covering the lock, looking like something that Steve Ditko left behind, when he quit the series. Surfer tries to break through the barrier and has to give it a couple of tries before he gets through, wrecking a nearby building. there, he finds the Sanctum under siege, by the goofy hooded guys, from the previous issue. We now see their leader, who appears to have picked up his wardobe at Ming the Merciless' garage sale.  The guy with the fork tines on his head is Cyrus Black, a lesser magician whose hinder Doc kicked. He sends his mystical ninjas in assaults on Doc's brownstone and the defenders smoosh them off the walls and punch them out when they come through skylights. Black tries a spell and Doc zaps him, sending Black's bolts astray, into the stone-frozen Black Knight. Doc leeches away the power and keeps the statue together. Then, Black and his goons are gone. Surfer is introduced to Val and they hit it off, with shared experiences, or lack thereof. Surfer asks her out on a date, to show her the sights and Subby displays jealousy and tags along. Supposedly, it is to share knowledge of the world; but, hey, he is a surfer, dude. Meanwhile, Cyrus Black is at home, throwing hissy fits, while looking to his pet rat, for sympathy. He lights some Jamaican "incense" to relax and falls asleep.   Black starts trippin' and sees his rat as super-king size, attacking him. He wakes up to see the rat at large size and shrinking. He goes to check his Encyclopedia Zatannica (the leading authority on all things magic and where to get the best deals on fishnet hosiery) and discovers that he can make his dreams a reality. Namor, Surfer and Val head back from their date, and find Doc worried. They are then attacked by monsters, who disappear, when struck. They are then attacked by a bigger version of Black. He hits them pretty hard, while his real form is seen back asleep. he's getting the better of the Defenders and Namor is weak from lack of contact with water, when he actually uses his noggin to get Black to realize that he is just an illusion, created by the real Cyrus Black, which causes him to dissipate. Wow, Subby used a tactic from Uncle Marvel! Black wakes up out of it, defeated, and goes off to pout, while his rat munches on the room (and probably some Jamaican "incense." Thoughts: Okay, that was weird. Not particularly intriguing weird, just weird. Quite frankly, I think Englehart may have been inhaling some Jamaican "incense." I'm amazed he actually slipped that into a comic. Granted, he burns the stuff, like incense; but, if that wasn't an inside drug reference I'll sit through 10 hours of Cheech and Chong movies! Cyrus Black was a pretty weak villain and I wish this had been a Gerber issue, as he would have done something more memorable with this, like in the Howard The Duck Treasury edition, in the Defenders story there. So far, Englehart is struggling with decent villains, apart from the Enchantress. He's still sticking with the mostly supernatural threats, without bringing in any big guns. Sal Buscema continues an awesome job of keeping things moving around and giving the characters personality, even if there isn't much subtlety to his storytelling. Then again, Marvel wasn't known for subtlety in their comics of this era.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 25, 2018 17:39:30 GMT -5
Defenders #7 Creative Team: Englehart and Len Wein-script, Sal Buscema-art, Frank Bolle-inker, June Braverman-letters, Glynis Wein-colors, Roy Thomas-chief cook and bottlewasher Synopsis: Our story opens with Namor and Val witnessing the Hulk battering Hawkeye, of the Avengers. Apparently, Hawkeye has been following him since issue #166, of the Hulk's mag, and he wants to know why the Hulk is looking for Dr Strange. Hawkeye won't listen to doctor-patient privilege, so Hulk pops him one. Val womps Clint for attacking her green buddy and he thinks it's the Enchantress. Subby smacks him because he smacked Val. Namor, of all people, knocks sense into Barton, who then relates his trouble with women, relating how he left the Avengers, 'cause Scarlet Witch threw him over for Vision (and Hawkeye couldn't stand not measuring up to a mechanical device). We get a recap of his being duped by a guy called Champion, who he trained in archery, then how he went crying on Black Widow's shoulder, only to get smacked by Daredevil. Then, the Avengers showed up to recruit DD and BW, and Hawkeye, if he wanted; but, he just wanted to sulk. Then he crossed paths with Hulk and Zzzax. Val and Namor explain why Hulk was looking for Doc and invite Hawkeye to follow. Doc isn't at home; but, Wong invites everyone to stay and Val fills in Hawkeye about her recent past. Namor gets a visitor who is an Atlantean, who tells him that Attuma is heading his way. Subby heads off, followed by the rest. Attuma shows up in Atlantic City...  Faster than you can say "Rock Lobster"..... They roll up on the beach, then the Defenders arrive and start fighting, only for Namor to get smooshed and thrown into some kind of strength-sapping stocks. Attume gets the rest to give up and takes them on his sea cruiser, while the Hulk jumps away, 'cause he gets seasick (or something). They get taken to Attuma's stronghold, where he reveals that the Red Ghost helped him control dolphins, which took out Namor. They are planning bigger things. Hawkeye gets Val to use her feminine wiles to distract the guard (!!!) and Hawkeye grabs him, while Val punches him. They can't find Namor, but, Hawkeye makes a bow and arrows from furniture and bedding and they go and interrupt the guards' poker game. Then, they meet up with Namor, who is under Attuma and the Red Ghost's spell, when time runs out and the issue ends. Thoughts: This issue is a perfect example of why I was more of a DC guy than Marvel, in the 70s: you had to have read a half dozen issues to understand the plot to this single book, so they had to give you a lot of recap and footnotes. This was a big problem, in Roy's rein, from my perspective. I didn't have regular access to a newsstand; so, I had better be able to read the story in one or two issues, or I was stuck. There's a lot of that going on, here. Attuma never wowed me, as a villain, and Red Ghost was a complete joke. It seems that the Defenders is the dumping ground for lame villains. Two writers don't help, either. Not terribly high on this one; but, teh Avengers/Defenders War is on the horizon; so, I'll just have to muddle through. I still can't wait for Gerber, as the bit with Hawkeye and Val, in the dungeon cells, would have been played for bigger laughs (I can see a stiff Val trying to seduce the guard). Patience, patience.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2018 12:41:42 GMT -5
Defenders #8 Now monthly! Creative Team: Same bunch, except Charlotte Jetter on letters and Petra Goldberg on colors. Synopsis: When we last left the non-gang, they were getting owned by the Red Ghost (Seriously; the Red Ghost!), who had Namor under his power and was using him to beat Hawkeye and Val. Namor goes after Val (well, who wouldn't?) and Hawkeye fires one of his makeshift "arrows" at a vace and knocks out RG. Hawkeye still gets whomped. When he comes tom, he and Val are encased in metal, um....cases, and RG lets him know that his powers come from cosmic rays, which are always present; so, knocking him out doesn't end his mind control. Makes no sens; but, whatever. He does a Goldfinger, firing a cosmic ray bolt at the platform where the pair are bound, then leaves. Meanwhile, in Greenwich, Dr Strange returns home and gets the 411 from Wong and Clea (and lets us know the Black Knight was restored, elsewhere) and he summons Hulk and Surfer. Hulk recounts the attack by Attuma, after Doc can't locate a mystical trace of them and they head for the ocean, after a bit of a tussle between Hulk and Surfer. Red Ghost's machine didn't kill Hawkeye and Val, just made them mind slaves. Attuma launches his assault on Atlantis,with the Defenders in the vanguard. Val wigs out ('cause she's the lowly girl in the group) and starts panicking.  Doc picks up on this and clues in the rest, allowing them to home in on the other Defenders. He locates Val, sees the trouble and directs Surfer to help him build a barrier to block the cosmic rays. This interrupts RG's control and Val snaps out of it and goes for RG, who runs away like a politician who has to make an actual decision, sending him right into Hawkeye's bow and he is out for the count. With the barrier up, the mind control ends and Namor kicks the scales off of Attuma. The end. In Part 2, the gang is back in Greenwich, Doc informs the gang he knows how to restore Black Knight. He makes contact with his soul, in between dimensions. BK is sending back his inter-dimensional text, when it is intercepted by Dormamu, who is hanging out with Loki, in between dimensions. Dormy substitutes his own message and tells Doc they need the power of the Evil Eye to rescue BK. They go off to find it. Thus begins our prelude to the Avengers/Defenders War. Thoughts: The whole Attuma and Red Ghost story was pretty weak and ends as abruptly as it started. Now, we move into something bigger, though with Dormy and Loki stirring the pot. Once again, you get a lot of recap from other comics, which takes up too much time, which is probably why the RG and Attuma bit went over two issues, with little actual material. Roy is showing his weakness for letting people do too much of what they want, without critical input (based on descriptions of Roy's laissez faire style, as EIC). If I have to check out 6 comic books before I start the one I wanted to read and theonly one I wanted to read, then I am going to be a bit peeved. Anyway, we now move to a real crossover, which jumps back and forth between the Avengers and the Defenders titles,
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2018 13:18:26 GMT -5
Avengers #115 Creative Team: Englehart, Bob Brown-art, Mike Esposito-inks, Jean Izzo-letters, S Goldberg-colors. Synopsis: In the first part, the Avengers fight and defeat a bunch of troglodytes, outside of Garrett Castle, home of Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. In part two, we see how Loki ended up between dimensions and hanging out with Dormamu. Dormy zapped him there and together, they scheme to get the Evil Eye, a mystical device that will allow Dormy to expand his dimension to engulf Earth and allow them to conquer it, which leads to what happens in part 2 of Defenders #8. Avengers #116 Creative Team: same, with John Costanza on letters and Petra Goldberg on colors, with John Romita credited as art director. Not sure whether that was a general credit or because of specific work here. Synopsis: The Avengers come calling on Dr Strange, to find out why he put up the barrier around Castle Garrett. Thor knocks a bit too loudly and the mystical security service send the Avengers tumbling. Wong answers the door and looks like he has been "riding the dragon."  Wong tells them that Doc gave at the office and slams the door, which leads to home invasion and Wong squares off against Mantis and loses. Wong really needs to do more than read Black Belt Magazine to master the martial arts. Doc's magic sends them out of the building again and we cut to the Defenders, who are getting the background of the Evil Eye, with Prester John and the FF. The device has been broken into 6 pieces and each Defender will need to hunt one of them down. Loki recognizes that Dormy's plan means subjugation for Asgard and sends a message to Thor, telling him about Dormy using the Defenders, though he paints them as villains, not dupes. The Avengers believe him and go after the Defenders, splitting up. Scarlet Witch and Vision got to Rurutu, where they encounter a volcano and the Silver Surfer. Surfer is checking the volcano for the part of the Evil Eye and Wanda and Vision think he is blowing it up, to destroy the native village (which is depicted in very backward, stereotypical fashion). Wanda hits Surfer with a hex bolt, but, the resulting volcanic eruption knocks Wanda out of the hovercraft and Vision must rescue her unconscious form (ain't that like a dame, to faint when things get hot?). Vision gets POed and tears into Surfer. They rock back and forth, while Surfer strains to get the piece of the Evil Eye. The locals lay out Wanda in the lava's path, as a sacrifice...  Vision goes to rescue her and Surfer gets the stick and flies off. Thoughts: the prologues to everything are a bit contrived; but, the main story is pretty good, though why the Avengers would believe anything Loki says is beyond me. The splitting up is an old school team book plot device, to let each act alone, before everyone gets together. The fight between Surfer and Vision is pretty brutal. Surfer even whacks him with hs board! Not a bad start to things, though there are some lapses in logic; but, that was typical of Marvel, to set up contrived hero vs hero fights. These guys go at it for more ridiculous reasons than you average pro wrestler.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2018 14:06:26 GMT -5
Defenders #9 Creative Team: Englehart, Buscema, McLaughlin; Artie Simek-letters, Petra Goldberg-colors Synopsis: Surfer retursn to the Sanctum with his part of the Evil Eye and informs Doc that he was attacked by Vision & Scarlet Witch. Doc is able to sense Loki's influence, then sees the Swordsman is part of the group and assumes he is in on it, with Loki. meanwhile, Vis and Wanda report in about the Defenders, trying to grab the parts of an evil device. So, both sides think the other are the bad guys. Val drops off Hawkeye, in Mexico and they receive a mental call from Doc about the Avengers. Hawkeye can't believe it, yet Doc gives them evidence. Before leaving, Hawkeye plants one on Val, who swipes at him with a sword (more effective than pepper spray) and the flies off to Bolivia, thinking it wasn't half bad. (Call up HR!)  Hawkeye spots Iron Man flying over head and follows him, to a university, where a professor has the second component, for study. iron man is examining it when Hawkeye shoots it from his hand. Iron Man goes after it and fists start flying...  Iron Man zaps Clint, and he fights back with an acid arrow. Hawkeye talks about being a solo star and Iron man brings up their troubled past (when Hawkeye was a villain). Hawkeye fires more arrows; but, IM blasts them with repulsors. Hawkeye shoots a magnetic arrow, which forces IM's gauntlet to the side, blasting part of a building onto onlookers. IM goes to save them and Hawkeye grabs the component and departs. Next, Dr Strange is in Indiana, looking for part 3 and he finds it in a cornfield, where it was missed by the farm machinery, when they planted the crops and did any detasseling (stupid city folk; don't know nothin' 'bout farmin'!) Black Panther and Mantis spot him and head through the field. They find a group of people waiting for a bus and question them.  they start to leave and mantis senses Daoc's magic and tries to stop the people getting on the bus. She attacks a woman and says it is Doc in mystical drag. She's right and Doc zaps her and escapes, while Panther chases through the field, to the farmstead and launches himself at doc, from a grain silo. He slams into Doc, knocking loose the component. They fight and the farmer comes out with a shotgun and yells, "Get offa my land!" Mantis arrives, knocks the fighting pair aside, just missing the spread of buckshot, then she disarms the farmer. Doc uses the distraction to put the whammy of the pair and escapes with his prize. Thoughts: This second set of battles is pretty good and Englehart makes great use of both hawkeye's sense of inadequacy and his past history with Iron Man. He also has Hawkeye put the moves on Val, who secretly liked it, thereby upholding the stereotype that all a woman's libber really needed was the right man (or substitute lesbian for feminist and you get the same notion). So much for enlightenment. The Doctor Starnge and Black Panther & Mantis fight is less satisfying and no one involved has ever been near a farmer, judging by the plot points of the portion of the Eye being undisturbed, in a corn field and that a farmer is going to open fire on strangers just because he has a "No Trespassing" sign. Lot of stereotypes playing in this issue.
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