My soft spot for the good Captain Mar-Vell of the silver/green is well documented in various threads here in the CCF. I had 2 issues only for quite a while but those issues totally captivated me. One issue was Marvel Super-Heroes 13 and the other was His solo title #2 with his fight against the Super Skrull. As you say, it is the 1st years worth of stories with wondrous Colan art and the taste of 1950/1960's science fiction movies combining possible alien invasion with covert military infiltration and the eventual defection of Marv against his orders in behalf of us poor Earthlings that is fun. Aliens, rockets, secret invasion, more aliens, Marv the alien from space versus Namor the alien from under the water, Ronan the Accuser, a Giant Kree Sentry Robot, Skrulls and all that jazz made this a must find for me. Once the LCS came into being and I could actually find issues the hunt and joy of finding these starting with Marvel Super-Heroes 12 during the early 1980's made the series all the more memorable and enjoyable...for me at least  I miss the old fin helmet and silver/green uniform very much but I have the complete series to read over again whenever the mood strikes me!

I liked the original costume, too, and the early concept was interesting, and looked great with Colan's art.  Marvel Spotlight #3 has a panel, when Mar-Vell is telling Elysius about Una and Yon-Rogg, and we see the original costume and I thought it really stood out, more than the red and blue did.  I kind of liked it when it got revived, briefly.  I'm a sucker for a good fin, which is part of why I have always loved Adam Strange (that and the rocket pack) and Yondu (Michael Rooker needed the whole dorsal fin).

I had a couple of the early issues of CM and, I think MSH #13, which I found in mid-grade, at my Local, in South Carolina, when I was in the Navy.

I do think Roy saved the idea, because Stan's first issue really didn't read like much.  It didn't seemed to be his sort of thing; and, without Kirby to add scope to it, didn't know what to do.  Roy brought a fresher perspective to it, as it fit his generation better.

The early issues made unusual note of the cylindrical carrying bag he carried around with him; I could see that being a (lame) accessory to a toy figure. 

Jack has always been a favorite of mine ever since finding him and White Tiger in the pages of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. I liked the look/armor style he sported and the energy blasting of the Zero Fluid from his hands. Another with great potential yet never really embraced or pushed into the limelight. I was so pissed when they finally made him an Avenger only to kill him! What a waste. Did NOT like the change in origin later on with him being half human and half alien (too many of the sort already around) and zipping around space with the likes of the Silver Surfer/etc. Keeping him earthbound serves the character much better IMO.

The deck was certainly stacked against him. 

Marvel Super-Heroes #14



Creative Team: Stan Lee-writer/editor, Ross Andru-pencils, Bill Everett-inks, Sam Rosen-letters, Stan Goldberg-colors (per GCD)

This was actually a fill-in issue of Amazing Spider-Man, commissioned when John Romita injured his wrist. Stan concocted a plot and tapped Ross Andru to draw it. Romita ended up meeting his deadline, so the story wasn't needed; but, Stan decided to use it here.

Synopsis: Spidey is up on a roof, watching crooks through a skylight. Lot of skylights in NYC, apparently. Makes it convenient, I suppose, for catching crooks in the act. Provided, of course, you are on the rooftaop to catch them! Anyway, Spidey is about to go when he is suddenly feeling dizzy. He is being affected by some dude in a middle class house, in a middle class neighborhood (according to Stan), whose den is filled with crystal skulls, statues of Kali, devils standing on spheres, totem masks and other ephemera. He's wired into a machine and using his ESP to mess with Spidey's head. Spidey falls through the skylight, after crashing into a wall an gets stomped by the hoods. However, he battles his way through, in true hero fashion and they bolt out the door, right into the waiting arms of the police. Spidey staggers off home for some aspirin.

We learn that the middle class dude with the curio shop den is calling himself the Sorcerer and that he had ESP and was a great researcher. He wanted to develop his talents more; but, the Ancient One and Dr Strange were unavailable; so, he travels the globe, studying with fakirs in India, lamas in Tibet and witchdoctors in Africa...



Nice bit of cultural sensitivity there, Stan and Ross!

Now, the Sorcerer has boosted his power with some machine and he is testing his power on Spidey; because, why not? He sends Spidey a fetish (voodoo doll, not a thing for leather or something), care of General Delivery, which means it will probably end up in a New York courthouse, as evidence for the State vs A. Mazingspiderman.

Petey goes to bed and wakes up late, yet is still feeling lousy. He asks roommate Harry Osborn (no relation to Ozzy; but, that would have been a cool crossover) to call a doctor and the doc says he can't find anything wrong with him; but, still gives him a prescription, "just in case." Must be nice to have a rich roommate and a quack for a doctor, Bet it's oxycotin.

MJ and Gwen Stacy "porr baby" Petey, as he will miss their double date and they leave, and Petey is missing a hot tame, based on the outfit Gwen has painted on.



Should have called her the Wasp, with that waist!

They leave and then the Sorcerer turns on his machine and forces Petey to get dressed, pack a suitcase and hail a cab, just as Harry is returning with the prescription. He yells to Petey about the prescription; but, Peter doesn't hear him. Guess Harry will have to take it, himself. Probably the start of his pill problem. By the way, Petey takes a Blue Cab (says so, on the side); if it gets into a collision with a Yellow Cab, will they both turn green?

Pete gets on a plane to New Orleans (Stan lets us know that he conveniently came into a bunch of money from selling JJJ some photos) and arrives during Mardi Gras (which in comics lasts 9 months of the year) and is able to get a taxi and a hotel room, with an indefinite stay, with no problem. During Mardi Gras. That's some travel agent!

The Sorcerer lets us know that Spidey will face the Synthetic Man. he forces Petey to get up, when he hears the Mardi Gras parade, get dressed in his costume and go down to the street, where Wotan and American Maid pass by...





Spidey isn't allowed to join the party, as he is forced to go to a warehouse and enter, where he runs into the Synthetic Man...



Spidey throws the first punch, without provocation (proving that he is Cobra Kai, not Miyagi-Do) and the Synthetic Man defends himself from this unwarranted attack by a masked intruder.



It turns into a full scale brawl, under Texas Death Match rules, where falls count anywhere and the fight ranges everywhere, even out onto the street, in the middle of the parade.

While all of this has gone on, the US Postal Service has determined that they cannot deliver a package to Spider-Man, via General Deliver, and have returned to sender. The post man makes the delivery on the day of the fight and rings the doorbell...



The wiring has a short and it sends a surge to the machine and fries the Sorcerer, releasing Spidey from his control. He starts making his comeback when the Synthetic Man stops fighting and just walks into the Gulf of Mexico and heads out to sea, while Spidey just stands there asking why. The ref counts out the Synthetic Man and awards the match to Spidey, even though there are no count outs in a Texas Death Match. Wrestling is fixed, man! We see the Sorcerer slumped in his chair, as we end.

Thoughts: Well, obviously, this is of little consequence, since it was an emergency fill-in, It's a fun little issue, that doesn't hold up to much scrutiny; but, few generic comic book stories do. The postal angle is goofy, but adds a nice twist to the whole thing, though the fetish has no consequence in controlling Spider-Man; so, it just ends up being a way to set up the twist.

Ross Andru's art looks great and this was one of if not his first Spidey story, before he was the regular penciller. Stan reminds us of Spidey's powers at every turn reinforcing the editorial dictates of comics of old that every issue is potentially a reader's first, so make sure they understand what is going on. In this case, since this isn't Spidey's normal book, there is a point to that. These days, they would assume you are familiar with 50 years of continuity or would at least google the references. Heck, we only had 6 years of Spidey continuity, at this point; but, Stan wasn't taking chances.

Fun little issue.

Marvel Fanfare #30



Gorgeous cover by Brent Anderson!

Creative Team: Ann Nocenti-writer, Brent Anderson-pencils, Al Williamson-inks, Jim Novak-letters, Steve Oliff-colors, Al Milgrom-edits

Synopsis: We open with deer running through the forest and an unseen narrator telling the men to keep them in their sights. The deer run into a dead end and then the men open fire, as we discover the narrator is a director who is filming the senseless slaughter of these animals, for the sake of "realism."



Meanwhile, Marc Spector/Steven Grant/Jake Lockley/Moon Knight is whining about Marlene only loving him as Steven and she is about to go nuts, as well. He leaves her to go work out (in a nice two page spread, where Anderson shows him using actual gymnastics equipment and appears to reference a panel from Steranko's Captain America). Marlene interrupts and remarks that he is in costume and he doesn't even remember putting it on. he shows her the paper that there is a syzygy, which will magnify the effects of the moon on Moon Knight and on behavior (see my rebuttal below). Marlene decides to take MK out of town, to get his head out of this. They end up in Upstate New York, where the butchering director is working.  He is harangued by a reporter and an old local about the slaughter, with the old man remarking that you have to treat nature right or it will rebel.



MK and Marlene are at a nearby inn, having breakfast, where they meet a forest ranger who said he had to stand by and watch the slaughter, since it was deer hunting season (unh uh; more below). Just after he tells them everything was legal, it gets dark and a storm breaks, with red rain coming down. Later, after the storm, MK and Marlene go for a walk in the woods and the meadows and come upon a deserted farm, where marlene has a go on a rope swing. It gets out of control and she flies off and Marc catches her. Then they notice birds dropping from the air, dead. Something weird is going on.



Later that night, Marc and Marlene have another fight and she storms off, where she goes back to the bar/diner and gets hit on by the forest ranger. marc goes out as Moon Knight, after calling out to Khonshu, and sees a forest elemental being born, as played by an Orion slave girl...





They meet up and she calls an eagle and merges with it, then flies away.

The next day Marc and Marlene are ready to leave when they hear the town is tearing itself apart as a centaur woman is tearing through it, slaughtering people. The filmmaker is shooting the whole thing. moon Knight comes to the rescue of a young boy and Marlene tries to stop the centaur woman, but gets thrown. Marlene tells MK that he has to talk with the elemental to convince her that man isn't all destruction, any more than nature is all floods and earthquakes. He tries to talk with her and they end up in a sort of dance...



It works and she turns into an eagle and flies away, as MK and Marlene embrace, which the filmmaker shoots.

Thoughts: Nocenti ODs on her metaphor prescription as we get all kinds of symbolic study of the duality of man and nature and the balance between. It gets pretty heavy handed, probably from working too much with Chris Claremont. Anderson makes it look nice, though not quite up there with his Ka-Zar or Astro City work.

There are a few messed up things here. One, multiple studies have found absolutely no correlation between crime statistics and phases of the moon, debunking theories of "lunacy." However, facts never stopped a comic book writer. That's minor, as this is a character with multiple personalities who puts on a costume, dangles from a helicopter, and fights crime, yet never gets his cape sucked into the turbine intake or the rotors!

Bigger problem is the deer killing, though it is a plot point that figures into the ending. Legal deer hunting includes limits on how many you can kill. You can't just go out there and shoot every deer in sight. Sounds like Nocenti has never actually hunted or lived in an area where it is common (her bio says she is an NYC gil; so, there you go). The dialogue talks about culling the deer population; but, anything beyond standard hunting would require a special license from the state Fish and Wildlife agency. Even in heavy farming country, like where I grew up (and my relatives), you aren't going to get a permit like that, as deer populations aren't that big, due to encroachment on their habitats. Anyway, the forest ranger makes it even more problematic. His uniform says US Forestry Service, which is a Federal agency. That means his jurisdiction would be a Federal forest preserve (ie National Forest). For him to be involved, the hunt must have been on Federal land. Now, it varies a bit whether further Federal permits would be required to hunt on Federal land, rather than just a state hunting license; but, even the Feds don't sanction wholesale slaughter. The Ranger would not just be standing by.

In the end, it turns out that the permits were granted under false pretenses, which leads to a court injunction on the filmmaking. It will probably also lead to charges and fines, not to mention civil lawsuits; but, that is a story for the sequel.

Forgetting the bad research and ignorance of hunting, Nocenti is about as subtle as a brick to the face in this story. It's environmental rabble rousing, which is fine; but, isn't up to Swamp Thing standards. Hell, even Mike Grell, who is a hunter, had a more balanced and subtle handle on such symbolic stories. Anderson gives it his best visually; but, you do get Swamp Thing deja vu when reading this. Even Gerber was more subtle than this.  Moon Knight isn't exactly a character I would pick for an environmental metaphor, though he has a history of weird tales, due to the psychological nature of the character. Nocenti does dabble in his multiple personality disorder, and related relationship issues, which are more effective, though they don't contribute, much, to the environmental side of things. These would be better served as two separate stories. Also, Moon Knight works better in an urban environment, if you ask me. How about something about the loss of nature in an urban setting and how to reclaim the connection?

The story is book ended with two cartoons; one from Brent Anderson, one from Al Milgrom.





They help lighten thins up a bit, which is desperately needed.  Of course, you could also read it as a pointed criticism of the Shooter regime, in Anderson's cartoon.  This is 1987, which was when things finally came to a head and Shooter was fired.  Might be a coincidence; might not.  Shooter is listed as EIC, so it was before the end.