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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2018 14:37:33 GMT -5
Avengers #117 Creative Team: Englehart, Brown, Esposito, June Braverman-letters, Petra Goldberg-colors Synopsis: Dormy and Loki observe things and Dormy is ticked the Avengers have found out about the search for the Evil Eye. he questions Loki, who pleads ignorance and Dormy proves as stupid as the Avengers. They go back to watching. In Bolivia, Swordsman flies over in a Quinjet and spots a German castle and assumes some Nazi built it (a mansion, maybe; but a castle?) He is going in for a landing, when Val strikes. Swordsman makes it to a safe landing, as Val goes off onher quest. Swordsy makes it to the castle on foot and knocks (how polie!). He is met by an American, who bought the place after the Nazi was caught. They go inside and Swordsy finds Val searching. She draws her sword and before you can say "Have at thee!" they are slashing at each other. Val gets cocky and the Swordsman proves to be no gentleman...  Swordsy gets cocky and Val knocks him for six, then goes after the castle owner, who is acting funny. he has the portion of the Eye and Swordsy gets to him first, taking it. He faces Val, then gets shot in the back by the American. Val smites him and Swords passes out. val checks that he will live and then leaves on Aragorn, as the police show up. We cut to Japan, where Cap has arrived and is told "Yankee go home!" Namor already has the Eye portion and crows about it to his old teammate.  Cap calls him out and they fight, with Cap's recently enhanced strength helping him against Namor, though Namor still gets the upper hand. Sunfire comes along and nabs the Eye portion and flies away, with Namor chasing.  Cap tries to stop him and Namor actually tries to reason with Cap. he won't listen, so Namor drops him in the drink and chase Sunfire. They fight and Sunfire drops the piece and Cap cathces it. Namor shows up and Cap hands it over, saying something isn't kosher in their fight and he will trust Namor. They head back to New York together. Thoughts: Val and Swordsman's fight is dynamic, but fairly by-the-numbers. Cap and Namor's battle is quite interesting, as Namor is trying to be peacemaker. Namor has been the voice of reason a few times here, which seems out of character. It's pretty rare, when you look at the bulk of his Marvel appearances and is kind of refreshing. It gets through to Cap, because if namor is the voice of reason, something is seriously wrong. So, the Defenders have all of the pieces. Their distracting the Avengers members was getting tiresome and made the Avengers look bad. It would have made for more dramatic conflict if the Avgers got ahold of two of the pieces, forces the Ds to go after them to get them; but, Cap getting it, then handing it to Namor is an interesting twist.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2018 14:51:59 GMT -5
Defenders #10 Creative Team: Engelhart & Buscema, Frank Bolle-inks, Tom Orzechowski-letters, Petra Goldberg-colors Synopsis: The Hulk turns up in LA and digs where he is supposed to and finds the piece of the Eye. Then Thor turns up and Hulk fight wing-head man. It goes back and forth, with the crowd cheering for one or the other, until it starts tearing the place up...  and, finally, the Avengers and Defenders show up to put a halt to the combat...  We cut back in time and see Doc with the 4 pieces of the eye, when Namor turns up with part 5 and the Avengers. He explains what's been going on. The group then goes to stop Hulk and Thor and we are back to the present. They talk about battles in Rutland, for some reason and then Doc puts together the pieces of the Eye. It flies up and we see a face of a servant or Dormy. The group follows and come face to face with Dormy, who has turned bystanders into Monsters. Thoughts: The fights have been suitably brutal and Hulk and Thor go at it, hammer and fists. Buscema makes it look spectacular. reason prevails, yet Doc never questions the need to assemble something called an Evil Eye. He hands the advantage to Dromy, and all hell, literally, breaks loose.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2018 15:35:13 GMT -5
Avengers #118 Creative Team: Englehart, Brown, Esposito; Frank Giacoia assists on inks, Orzechowski handles letters, George Roussos colors. Synopsis: The combined might of the Avengers and Defenders is facing Dormamu's monsters.  The battle their way through and get some aid from an arriving SHIELD platoon, led by Nick Fury. SHIELD's arrival allows the heroes to go to Dormy's dimension. Doc warns everyone to stay on the Ditko path. Meanwhile, Dormy turns on Loki and the Watcher shows up.  As usual, he is Switzerland. The Avengers/Defenders team fight their way through Ditko monsters, while, in our dimension, we see everyone from the FF, to Ka-Zar, Ghost Rider, Spidey, Luke Cage, Dr Doom, Warlock, Man-Thing and Dracula fight Dormy's minions. The gang reaches Dormy's mystical barrier, which keeps out the Mindless ones (the Ditko monsters) and Doc tries to pierce it, as the Watcher assures Dormy he isn't going to lift a finger. Dormy zaps the defenders, then the Avengers. The Avengers work together and Scarlet Witch, Thor and iron Man are free. Dormy turns Thor into Donald Blake and strips Tony Stark of his armor. His spell doesn't work on Wanda, as she is a mutant. He creates a rainstorm, that coats her in glue and freezes her in place. Loki sense his opportunity and turns into a fly, to escape. He reappears and tries to steal the Eye from Dormy. Wanda is able to fire a hex bolt, which causes Dormy to turn the Eye on himself and Loki.  Dormy disappears, Loki regains his sight and then goes insane. The gang comes upon the cringing Loki and the Watcher explains that Wanda's hex pulled Dormy's energies back on himself, destroying him, though he will be reborn, in the future. he says Loki couldn't handle the scope of Dormy's power, in his mind. They gather up Loki and go home and the Watcher turns out the lights. Thoughts: Pretty epic ending to the proceedings. In the end, it is Loki and Scarlet Witch who turn the tide, as the Avengers and Defenders were neutralized. Englehart brings in a chunk of the Marvel Universe, for support, taking the next dramatic evolutionary step from the Kree-Skrull War. Jim Starlin will pick up that gauntlet, with Thanos and his battles against captain Marvel and the Avengers, then all of them, Spidey, the Thing and Warlock, before upping it again in the Infinity Gauntlet. Next, we wrap up the Black Knight subplot.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2018 15:49:35 GMT -5
codystarbuck -- Great Art and Action in the last three comic books that you've reviewed -- loved that Hulk and Thor pictures!
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2018 16:22:11 GMT -5
Defenders #11 Creative Team: same bunch as last time. Synopsis: The Defenders are back home and they have the Evil Eye. Doc mindwipes everyone, including Fury, but lets the Avengers have their memories. They go home to release Black Knight. Doc uses the Eye to send his astral form to find Dane Whitman's soul; but, it is missing. he comes back and tells them about it. While he was gone, Hawkeye was moping about proving himself alone, and decides he will leave the group. namor announces he will, too, when Doc gets back. he returns and gives them the news. They track Whitman's soul to the Twelfth Century, in Palestine, where the Black Knight is part of the Crusades.  The Arabs attack (without their armor, showing no one actually researched this stuff) and the Hulk goes into the fray and the Defenders are met with an Arab gnome, Temax. Doc can't stop him and the Hulk isn't strong enough to beat him. He is about to smoosh Doc when he wizards the group away. Black Knight says his ancestor's spirit reside within him and Camelot has broken up and mordred's spirit is inhabiting another, creating chaos. Richard is prisoner of the Arabs and John plots to desert him, with Mordred's host at his side. Merlin's spell has brought Black Knight there to stop things and the Defenders help. BK and the Defenders sneak inside the castle, where Richard is prisoner, disguised as priest in cloaked robes. They break into the dungeon and run into another group... The Arabs notice the Hulk's green face, then get a green fist in the mush. They free King Richard; but, are attacked by more gnomes (monster types, not the garden kind). The Defenders get their clock's clean and Val tosses the Black Sword to the Black Knight, who finds out it doesn't help. Doc, Namor and Hulk find Prince John, Mordred and a wizard, casting a spell. They attack and the wizard blasts them, making Doc drop the Evil Eye. Gnomes attack Namor. One hurls himself at Subby and they land in an oasis and the gnome dissolves. Subby then uses more water to destroy the rest. Prince John has the Eye when a figure appears...  Prester John arrives and takes possession of the Eye and zaps John and Mordred. he sends the Defenders home; but the Black Knight stays, to serve King Richard. namor, Hulk, Surfer and Hawkeye leave the team and our story ends. Thoughts: Kind of anti-climactic end to the Black Knight's story. The whole search for the Evil Eye is for naught, except for Dormy's scheme. They didn't even unfreeze BK's body, as his spirit was inhabiting his ancestor's body. The medieval history is all over the place. Camelot, whatever really existed, is placed to have been around the 5th Century. King Richard did lead troops in the Crusades; but was not captured by Islamic forces. He was captured by Duke Leopold, of Austria, near Vienna, and held as a prisoner (bad blood between them), until ransomed. John was never in Palestine, nor did he leave England. Richard left England in the hands of his regents and John schemed to gain the kingdom, eventually aligning with King Phillip II, of France. Richard faced John's forces in normandy and brokered a truce, regaining John's loyalty. John succeeded Richard, after his death. Much of the politics of the era form the basis of some of the Robin Hood legends (especially Howard Pyle's Merry Adventures of Robin Hood) and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Prester John was a Christian legend that dates to around the 12th Century, which seems to have some basis in the Acts of Thomas the Apostle, involving travels to India. Prester John had previously appeared in the FF and the original Black Knight stemmed from Atlas Comics, in the 50s. Here, Engelhart mixes Arthurian lore, Christian legends and 12th Century legends, then adds a Hulk, a fish-man,a magician, a warrior-maiden, a surfer, and an archer.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jul 29, 2018 15:52:51 GMT -5
Avengers #117Creative Team: Englehart, Brown, Esposito, June Braverman-letters, Petra Goldberg-colors The Cap/Subby half of the issue was inked by McLaughlin not Esposito, and looked marginally less crappy. |
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Post by badwolf on Jul 29, 2018 18:23:57 GMT -5
Looks like Subby had a few too many submarine sandwiches.
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Post by tarkintino on Jul 29, 2018 18:48:32 GMT -5
Defenders #10Thoughts: The fights have been suitably brutal and Hulk and Thor go at it, hammer and fists. Buscema makes it look spectacular. reason prevails, yet Doc never questions the need to assemble something called an Evil Eye. He hands the advantage to Dromy, and all hell, literally, breaks loose. ...unfortunately, none of the interiors live up to the power, grit and struggle of the John Romita cover--easily one of the best of the Bronze Age. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 29, 2018 22:36:35 GMT -5
Defenders #10Thoughts: The fights have been suitably brutal and Hulk and Thor go at it, hammer and fists. Buscema makes it look spectacular. reason prevails, yet Doc never questions the need to assemble something called an Evil Eye. He hands the advantage to Dromy, and all hell, literally, breaks loose. ...unfortunately, none of the interiors live up to the power, grit and struggle of the John Romita cover--easily one of the best of the Bronze Age. Eh, I would say the page I posted and a couple of others, by Sal, are just as good. Sal was highly underrated and really shines on the Defenders, especially when it starts to get goofy. He was adept at both the serious action/adventure and the comedy, with his broader style really working well with Gerber's crazy ideas. Romita is slicker, but I think Sal held his own, on the interiors, especially when he was being inked by Klaus Janson. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Jul 30, 2018 15:56:37 GMT -5
Sal's work rarely rose above "OK" for me. It told the story but without much excitement.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 1, 2018 16:01:50 GMT -5
Defenders #12 Equal opportunity bondage cover; how egalitarian! Xemnu's back; hijinks galore! Creative Team: Len Wein is writing mean, Sal is still our pal, Jack Abel joins the stable, Petra Goldberg colored by the erg, Charlotte Jetter writes the letter, Roy is still the boy and Stan will always be the man. Drummer Hoff fired it off!  Synopsis: Little Hulkie Foo-Foo is hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head.  Down came Xemnu who sicked him with a tree! Little Hulkie Foo-Foo smashed up all the forest, then Xemnu zapped him with delighted glee! Little Hulkie's now a mind slave but he first sends Doc a wave. Meanwhile...... (I can't keep up the rhyming) In Greenwich, Val is looking out the window, moping...  Doc tries to perk her up with a new sword, Dragonfang,; but even a murderous weapon isn't enough to break Val's funk. She tells Doc she is leaving the Defenders and going to search for Barbara's (the woman whose body she occupies) past. Doc isn't listening, since she is female and the Hulk's mental cry for help hits him. Val gives up moping to go hack and slash at enemies and they saddle up Aragorn and head for the forest. They find Hulk's trail of destruction, which leads to a nearby small town. Doc mystically changes their clothes (Val gets a white top and white bell bottoms, from the Diana Price Mod line of clothing) and the head into town. They meet the mayor, who is leading them to the Hulk, when they are attacked by nearby pipes and gutters, just before a steam roller comes at them like Killdozer! Awesome movie! Val slays the steamroller, with Dragon fang and Doc magics away the wall to reveal a bunch of mind-controlled townspeople. They attack, Val doesn't want to hurt innocents, Doc detects a psychic aura around the mayor, then Val and Doc end up like the field mice. They wake up in that cover bondage scene, tied up by street lamps. Yes, you read that correctly; not tied to street lamps, but tied by the streetlamps! Xemnu reveals his fuzzy form (looking like a refugee from Sesame Street). He starts monologuing and reveals a space ark, which he will fill with the townspeople to repopulate his dead planet. He lets slip that Hulk is under his control, so Doc remembers the words of John Anderson (of Yes)... Hulk wakes up inside his prison (a Civil War statue of the town's founder) and busts loose. He eathquakes away the townspeople, swats away the stuff Xemnu hurls at him, then launches his space ark after the Titan, when he tries to escape. Everyone wakes up and hulk does the unthinkable...  He smiles and walks home, his arms around his buddies! Thoughts: I hate Xemnu; but, this was a pretty good story, further signalling the trend towards what te Defenders will be when Steve Gerber takes over. Hulk is the childlike brute, who hangs out with smartfriend magician and the sword lady, plus whoever else shows up. Speaking of showing up, a mysterious figure in a trenchcoat and hat comes to the door of the Sanctum, seeking Dr Strange, only to be told by Wong that he is away. The stranger walks away, thinking that if Doc is away too long he might not have a home to return to. Ooh, mysterious! Nothing consequential here; but, we do see another step in Val's evolution, as she has now acquired her sword, Dragonfang, which she will use in adventures to come. We also get more talk of Barbara's past and Val's decision to explore it. Our mysterious stranger will lead into the next Defenders mainstay by first bringing back by first bringing back a group who saw daylight in the Avengers.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 1, 2018 16:53:04 GMT -5
Defenders #13 Yeehaw! Squadron Sinister action! Creative Team: Len Wein-writer, Sal Buscema-art, Klaus Janson-inker, Glynis Wein-colorist (what a shock!), John Costanza-letterer, Roy Thomas-boy editor Synopsis: We start out with yet another stalker, hanging around outside the Sanctum..  This one is Nighthawk, of the Squadron Sinister, a group which has fought the Avengers. Inside, Doc is boring Val ad Hulk with trivia about the Jivaro people of Ecuador, while he plays with a shrunken head (this guy has some weird hobbies!). Greenskin and Shiny Cups are saved by the intrusion of Nighthawk, who blows down the door, sidesteps the Hulk, judo tosses Val, then introduces himself. Hulk regroups until Doc stops him, so they can hear out Nighthawk, who comes with a warning. He tells of a mysterious note, that threatened to reveal his past criminal career, if he did not come to Crayton Observatory. There, he finds Hyperion, Dr Prectrum and the Whizzer (the one who later became Speed emon, not the WW2 hero, Robert Franks). They reveal how they escaped previous imprisonments, with the help of Nebulon, the Cosmic Man.   They tell of their insane plan to sell nebulon the Earth, while creating a laser weapon to melt the polar ice caps and flood the world, at Nebulon's request...  Nighthawk was blackmailed and forced into helping; but, escaped to warn the Avengers, only to find out that Nebulon had made his intangible, in the presence of any Avenger. He then learns of the recent battle between the Avengers and Defenders and tries his luck there, first attempting to see Doc, in disguise (he was the stranger in the last issue). Then, he tried the direct approach. The Defenders agree to help, just as Nighthawk disappears in a flash. Doc summons Namor, who tells him to get bent; so, Doc magic-nabs him. Namor is understandably miffed. Val talks him down , convincing him that Atlantis is threatened by this plan (um....how?). So, the head to the Arctic, where they find the Squadron at work, with Nighthawk captured in a bubble. The Defenders attack and Hyperion and the hulk trade bunches of five, while the two Docs go at it. Whizzer goes looking for some fish (man), to go with his chips (the UK guys might get that one), Val frees Nighthawk and they are pretty much cleaning their collective clocks, when Nebbie shows up and zaps the Defenders into a bubble trap. Cliffhanger time! Thoughts: So, Nighthawk (my personal favorite, of the long term Defenders) has arrived, complete with that goofy costume that Sal gave him, complete with actual bird-nose...  Thankfully, he gets a make over in a few issues. The basic lines of the costume are fine; but, the beak is too much! The Squadron are old favorites, in either Sinister or Supreme form and are always welcome. Of course, they are a pastiche of the Justice League, with Nighthawk standing in for Batman. Except, this Batman is more than a bit of a loser. Val's plea to Namor makes little sense, as flooding the world wouldn't do much to Atlantis, unless it upset the aquatic eco-systems. Len's logic is a bit weak here; but, I guess he just wanted Namor involved. Namor has his shiny new blue suit (with two pairs of pants!), which he got in Sub-Mariner #67 (after a little chemical bath that was killing him. All that is missing is a power tie. Nebulon is another int he long line of space hippies, with the long hair and vague powers. He doesn't do much for me; but, the Squadron makes up for his presence.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 1, 2018 17:16:04 GMT -5
Defenders #14 Space Hippie for the cover! Creative Team: Dan Green replaces Klaus Janson oninks (aw, man......) and Artie Simek takes over from John Costanza on the letters. Irving Forbush is credited as kibitzer. Synopsis: Nebulon listens to Jim Croce, as he save Defenders in a bottle (well, bubble). Hyperion recounts how his world, which was an atom, was destroyed when split by the world's first cyclotron. He arrived on Earth, with superpowers and, thanks to the Grandmaster, attacked the Avengers. He later got his butt kicked by Thor, who locked him in a bubble prison of his own and left him floating in space. Nebulon found him and freed him and Hyperion convinced him to destroy the Earth, which he agrees. Whizzer just wants to start killing people, ignoring that he will be killed, as well (though nebbie will supposedly transport them to other worlds/dimensions. Hyperion smacks him to shut him up and launches the Defenders' bubble into space.  The Defenders work together and bust out of their prison, with Doc magicing oxygen for them. They return and attack the Squadron. Nebulon zaps at them and then attacks them with an ice giant. While they are hacking it, he tries to kill the Hulk; but misses and Doc zap him back. The Squadron move in and we see Nebulon's real form...  Nighthawk leaps for the laser machine and turns it on Nebulon,. before you can say "Fried calamari, he is gone and the Squadron is defeated, with Nighthawk getting blown up on the bargain. He survives, while his costume doesn't. He is allowed to join the gang, while Namor tells them he is taking his ball and going home and not to bother hum again. We end with Night hawk as the newest Defender. The victory is a bit convenient and not very well set up,For someone so powerful, Nebulon goes down rather easily to the laser I would have preferred the rematch with the Squadron; but, yu can't have everything. Klaus is greatly missed, in this issue.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 2, 2018 23:08:42 GMT -5
I LOVED Avengers-Defenders 'war' (I know Englehart doesn't like to call it that).. one of my favorites. That Hulk-Thor fight is amazing, IMO. I just never was sold on Nighthawk, though, he always annoyed me when I was reading these.
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 2, 2018 23:51:11 GMT -5
Until now I'm not sure if I realized that Nighthawk of the Squadron Sinister/Supreme was the same Nighthawk that was later a Defender. Yes, definitely a perennial second-stringer lacking a strong character. Glad they lost the beak thing eventually though!  |
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