I liked the story in Marvel Premiere #21, but the art was not that great.

The only Klaw I knew was the one whose brains had been turned to mush. He followed Dr. Doom around Secret Wars like a court jester.

Karate is a Japanese word; but, there are Chinese versions of the same fighting style.  You get a lot of regional variances in Asian martial arts styles, in China alone.  A lot of that has to do with the terrain and cultural influences.  Areas that were prone to mud or marshes developed "softer" styles, since your footing might not be great, vs areas of more solid ground.  Indonesia has a form, pencak silat, which features some forms that almost look like falling down, that may have been influenced by the jungle features of the island chain.  At the heart of most styles, though, are striking and kicking techniques.  Others focused more on grappling, like jiu-jitsu.  Some were more of a mixture, due to cross-pollination of cultural influences.

Comic book and Hollywood martial arts have always ridden the trends.  In the 30s and 40 it was judo, in the 60s it was karate, in the 70s kung fu, the 80s ninjitsu, and the 90s were the dawn of mixed martial arts, with the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  In both, you got a lot of generic stuff labeled judo or karate or kung fu; same in comics.  Once in a while, you got someone who knew what he was doing.  Same with boxing or wrestling.  You can tell from panels if the artist was a fan or at least used photo reference, via stances, punching techniques or holds.  Kirby was a pro wrestling fan and threw in real holds, in some of his work.  Paul Gulacy studied and used Bruce Lee images to layout sequences in Master of Kung Fu.  Larry Hama's Iron Fist had more Japanese techniques; but, like I say, the ninja handles the sword properly, not just swing it around.  Toth was the same way when he depicted fencing, in Zorro and elsewhere.  The figures were in classic duelling poses, with their weight balanced on the balls of the feet, for quick movement.  The sword was held loosely, the point always towards the opponent.  The details help raise the art and the story, when they are done right.

The DC war books were very popular at base PXs, Sgt Fury had a respectable following, though Kirby hated that series and was happy to leave it to Dick Ayers.

I doubt too many were looking to comic martial arts comics for authenticity.  i'm mostly poking fun at the ignorance.  That said; I felt, even at the time, that part of the reason that Gulacy's Master of Kung Fu looked so much better, was down to his attention to detail with techniques and proper use of weaponry.  He did the same with the james Bond elements.  Any comic where the artist puts that kind of attention to the details is going to be better than something that just has the generic trappings.

With iron Fist, Larry Hama at least was able to add that to IF, in the fight scenes.  it wasn't the correct style, for the character; but, it looked good and added a more authentic feel to it, compared to Gil Kane or Arvell Jones.  Kane has better storytelling; but, his kicks and punches look like they could be for any character, martial artist or not.  Arvell Jones is way to inexperienced to do much of t justice.  Byrne wasn't much for authenticity; but, he added sucha dynamic flavor that it was like night and day.  by that point, Iron Fist was pretty much a superhero who used martial arts, rather than a Martial Arts Superhero.

Marvel Premiere #23



Warhawk! Oh, joy!

Creative Team: Chris Claremont-writer, Pat Broderick-pencils, Bob McLeod-inks, Karen Mantlo-letters, Michele Wolfman-colors, Len Wein-edits.

Nepotism abounds!

Synopsis: Danny rand and Colleen Wing are walking in the park, when a sniper opens fire, killing two and leaving a child to act as bait for other targets. A cop goes down trying to save the kid, until Danny gets him out and he swears vengeance and begins training to become a flying rodent-based masked vigilante. Or something. Dany spots the shooter in a nearby building and goes over there, and Colleen follows. He meets up with Warhawk....



a stereotpyed Vietnam vet, with PTSD and metal skin. Iron Fists don't match metal skin and Danny ends up badly injured and Colleen gets hit in the crossfire. Danny wakes up to Prof Wing and a cop telling him about Warhawk and that he has Colleen. Danny goes off after her.

We get a pointless Kung Fu flashback (minus Keye Luke) to Danny's youth and a test to retrieve his mother's locket, from a mystical maze) and then Iron Fist catches up to Warhawk, who thinks Colleen is his Vietnamese wife, who he has dressed in her clothes (she was apparently a B-Girl) and then Danny fights him and knocks him flying with the Iron Fist. he goes through a wall, into the bay and starts drowning. Danny doesn't get to him in time.

Thoughts: Sucked! Next......

Okay, this is not Claremont's best and it isn't as intriguing as even Isabella's stories. Broderick's art is an improvement, though the martial arts haven't improved much. Claremont steals more from Kung Fu than even Roy did. The story is al kinds of cliche. It appears to be somewhat inspired by the story of Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower Sniper. Whitman was an ex-Marine, court-martialled due to gambling and other violations, who came from an abusive home and had severe emotional problems. he murdered his wife and mother, then went up to the top of the Univ of Texas Tower and proceeded to shoot at passersby below, killing 14 and wounding 31, before being shot dead by Austin police officers Houston McCoy and Ramiro Martinez. The shooting was the subject of the 1975 telemovie, The Deadly Tower, starring Kurt Russell.

Whitman had never seen combat; but, the telemovie plays up the idea of PTSD, even though the shooting was in 1966, before the escalation of Vietnam. Whitman was court-martialled in 1963, after being dropped from the NROTC program, due to poor grades and was forced to serve out his remaining obligation as an enlisted Marine. Any PTSD was more likely related to an abusive childhood, failed college career, marital stress, and possible complications from a brain tumor, located in an autopsy.

BY 1975, the stereotype of the alienated Vietnam Vet was in a firm grasp of the public consciousness and grew across the 70s. it was fuelled by PTSD incident, involving Vietnam combat vets. As the Paul Hardcastle song, "19" notes, Vietnam vets went from the battlefield to stateside in a matter of 24 hours. The length of time in combat seemed to have a correlation with problems in adjusting back in the States. Crime rates involving vets were high. Unfortunately, but true to form, the Veterans Administration and the US Government did f@#$-all to treat vets and provide a support network. Veterans themselves ended up doing more work than anyone in this area, creating support networks that proved the only source of consequence for them and for later post-9/11 vets.

TV, movies and, yes, comics, filled their screens and pages with violent, alienated vets, suffering from PTSD and mowing down crowds of people. Warhawk is a pretty bad example of this kind of story and character.

Marvel Spotlight #22



Creative Team: Gerber, Buscema, Bob McLeod-inks, Artie Simek, Phil Rache-colors, Len Wein-edits.

Synopsis: Daimon is unconscious in police headquarters, while his spirit looks on. next, he finds himself in the desert, talking to Madame Swabada, who recaps things. then, we get a tour of his life, as he sees his mother, stepfather, Ikthalion, Ghost Rider, his sister Satana, and finally, reunites body and soul. He has conquered his demons and can move forward with a new life.



Thoughts: Finally! Though not completely. Daimon faces his past and finally unites both sides of his soul, to face the future, as Gerber reminds us that the Death Card means change, not literal death, according to the tarot. It appears all of this was setting up a new direction, though I found it a slog. The art from Buscema and McLeod is good, though. There is one panel where Daimon rides his chariot, pulled by Katherine, Christine and Byron, which is an homage to the 1941 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which features a dream sequence, where Hyde rides a coach, pulled by Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner

Marvel Spotlight #24



Creative Team: Chris Claremont-story, Sal Buscema-art, Bob McLeod-inks, John Costanza-letters, Diane Buscema-colors, Len Wein-edits

So, Friedrich must of just been a fill-in. Claremont's run will be short.

Synopsis: Daimon receives a letter from an old friend,worried about his sister, Gloria Hefford. daimon leaves St Louis and his supporting cast behind and dreams of Gloria, who has been hanging out with Satana, in her series. He and his sister meet up in a cemetery and it isn't a happy reunion, and ends in hellfire...



Daimon then finds out that Gloria is possessed by a demon, Kthara, who faked Satana's involvement in the murder of her brother. She gets the jump on Daimon; but, Satana, still living, saves him and puts a hurtin' on Kthara.



Things don't end well for brother and sister, though...



Thoughts: Merciful end! I'm not a supernatural guy and this series was a hard slog that started out okay, then got worse by the end. The whole tarot thing was too much for me and this ending is the usual cliches. Claremont uses a lot of detail from satana's series, as Daimon ends up mostly a chump, here.

This was it for Daimon, who would be reduced to guest star and team books, down the road, until getting a revived series, which I skipped. Personally, I don't think he ever amounted to much other than to rip off the Exorcist and the Omen, without doing anything provocative or particularly scary.

New material from here on, as Marvel Spotlight becomes a home for ideas and unfinished stories, with no more extended runs. Next up, a movie adaptation!