Is "The Wild Bunch" in Hell-Rider a biker gang that combines the name of The Wild Bunch...



With the characters of The Wild One?

According to GCD, Kersey inked some of Conan the Barbarian #21, which PCR and Dan Adkins also worked on.

That's quite true, saying that a story is based on REH stories themselves based on Lovecraft's is a bit disingenuous. The name "Shuma-Gorath" does come from Howard, but that's about it!

Russell doesn't yet look like Russell, just as (Barry Windsor-)Smith didn't look like Smith in his earliest Marvel work, but I think Russell here is a bit closer than BWS was to finding his own style.

Russel's work was...frankly amateur-ish, with the anatomy of characters being noticeably off. Marvel of this period often gave tryout title assignments to the "C" and "D" crew (with the exception of many covers for obvious sales appeal reasons), and this Ant-Man story was no different. Knowing Pym's better days in the hands of artists like Kirby and Buscema, Russel left much to be desired. 

Marvel Spotlight #6



Creative Team: Gary Friedrich-writer, Mike Ploog-art, Frank Monte (Chiaramonte)-inks, John Costanza-letters, Roy Thomas-edits

Synopsis: A bunch of bikers are prowling the street, as the sounds of Steppinwolf and Davey Allen and the Arrows are heard...



They are lookin' for skulls to crush and come across the lone Ghost Rider and give chase. GR can't outrun them (he hasn't got the hellfire chopper, yet) and instead engages, running straight at them, scattering them. He earns the respect of the gang's leader, Curly Sampson, who invites him to join the gang. Johnny needs a place to hide and think and accepts. At the gangs' pad, he relates the previous issue, then falls under a hypnotic spell from Curly. Turns out, he is working for Old Scratch and he performs a ritual to present Ghost Rider to his master...



Old Scratch can't have his soul, yet, as Roxanne still has the key to his heart. So, Curly, who turns out to be a shadow to hide the soul of Crash Simpson, is sent to break that barrier, meaning he has to kill his own daughter. Johnny wakes up and heads back to Roxanne and to do the show, when he crashes again and wakes up to the moon, having transformed again. Roxanne is in the middle of the show when Satan's Servants (as the gang are known) roll in and grab her. GR shows up and there is a chase through stunt ramps and loops, culminating in Johnny rescuing Roxanne. Roxanne goes back to her dressing room, where Curly is waiting and he puts her under his spell and departs, to deliver her to old Scratch.

Thoughts: Decent issue; a recap of the previous story is a bit much, especially the room given to it. I think a couple of panels would have sufficed. The stuntshow battle is exciting and dynamic, thanks to Ploog's rubbery style with things. The script is a bit cautious, in terms of what you could really do with this story; but, it's still a Code-approved book. This could have been really gonzo, if it tried just a bit harder.

The character and series are still forming, so it isn't getting too radical and this mostly just reminds of of how it began, in case you missed the pevious issue (which was likely, given newsstand distribution, of the era. They can't continue like this or the series will never progress. Luckily, they didn't.

Marvel Feature #11





Creative Team: Len Wein-writer & timekeeper, Jim Starlin & Joe Sinnott-trainer & cut-man and artists, Artie Simek-announcer & letterer, Glynis Wein-ring girl & colors, Roy Thomas-matchmaker

Synopsis: Our story opens with ben cutting a promo on Reed and smashing his latest device to restore Ben to human form. Reed is stunend and ben rils about not facing another failure, then recounts his past. Meanwhile he is being monitored by Kurrgo, Master of Planet X, from FF #7, who recounts how the FF saved his people but overthrew him as despot. he is back and he is going to tag-team with the leader, to control the Hulk. Kurrgo wants him as a weapon, Leader wants him to cure his paralysis. They propose a fight of champions: Kurrgo gets Ben, leader gets the Hulk, winner gets both to use as he sees fit. Ben gets whisked away and told fight or the world gets nuked, by the Leader. Before you can say "Pearl Harbor," the Hulk beams in and the ref calls for the bell.



Hulk's got the power; but, as Gordon Solie would say, The Thing would fight a buzzsaw and give it the first two rounds!



They go back and forth and Hulk gets the first knockdown, then the Thing makes a comeback and knocks Hulk loopy. He tries to "kayfabe" the Hulk about the bomb; but, Hulk wants to "shoot." Thing gets the upper hand, then goes looking for the bomb. he finds it but it is a fake. Hulk lays him out from behind. Come on, ref; are you blind?

Leader wins and beams up Hulk; but, ben grabs hold and the both end up in Kurrgo's ship. he sicks Gort on him and Thing and Hulk make like Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee and take him out, smashing the controls to the ship along the way. They jump out of the ship, before it explodes, the Hulk jumps away, leaving Ben to hoof it home.



Synopsis: Fun little battle issue, with silly contrivances to bring Ben and Hulk together. however, the fight is great and makes you forgive the cliched story. Starlin & Sinnott are awesome on the art and Len Wein gives them enough plot to have some fun. This was a very early story for both Wein and Starlin and they acquit themselves well. This issue leads into the next, where Thing meets Iron Man and battles Thanos, in his debut, which is covered in my Courting Death-Thanos Reviews thread. So, this is it for Marvel Feature. ben's appearances turned out to be popular enough to warrant his own book, which led to Marvel Two-in-One and a long run of great and not-so-great team-ups. Marvel Feature turned out to be a so-so anthology and it was retired after issue #12. So, we will be leaving it behind.

Glossary:
Cutting a promo-a wrestling interview where one wrestler calls out his opponent and tells how he will beat them in their upcoming match, always taking care to mention the venue and date, so fans will buy tickets.

Gordon Solie-legendary wrestling announcer, worked for Championship Wrestling From Florida (with the likes of Dusty Rhodes, Ernie Ladd, Kevin Sullivan, Jack Brisco and other greats), Georgia Championship Wrestling (flagship promotion on Ted Turner's WTBS, that evolved into World Championship Wrestling, with Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, Buzz Sawyer, The Masked Superstar and Mr Wrestling II), Continental Wrestling (Alabama and Knoxville, Tenn promotion of Ron Fuller, with the likes of his brother Robert Fuller, aka Col Rob Parker, Jimmy Golden, the Armstrong clan, and the Nightmares), as well as co-host of Pro Wrestling This Week, a magazine showcase, from the mid-80s. Gordon called the action seriously and was called "The Walter Cronkite of Wrestling," making the matches more like real sports and less cartoony than in the WWF, of the Hulk Hogan era. Solie was famous for his catch phrases, including "crimson mask" (bloody face), Pier-6er (wild brawl), "Katie Bar the Door" (ditto), "Pearl Harbor" (ambush), "Human Chess At Its Finest" (wrestling), "He's not fast, he's sudden!" and more.

Comeback-when the hero fires back, after the heel beats him up for a while.

Kayfabe-carnival-derived code talk between wrestlers. It was a form of pig latin used to discuss behind the scenes stuff, when outsiders were around. When an outsider came around, one would utter, "Kayfabe" and they would switch to carny. Also used for anything that was derived for story purposes.

Shoot-a real fight. Wrestlers who were accomplished amateur wrestlers were known as "shooters." In the carnival days, they would take on contestants from the crowd and wrap them up like pretzels. If someone proved a bit too tough, they put them against a "hooker," who would use crippling submission holds on them. Kurt Angle, as an Olympic champion, was a shooter. Lou Thesz, the NWA World Champion of the 40s, 50s and 60s was a hooker, having learned submission wrestling from a young age. Stu Hart, father of Bret and Owen Hart, was also a known hooker.

Gort-robot from The Day The Earth Stood Still. Kurrgo has a similar robot standing by.

Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee-Jerry Lawler was the top star of the long-running Memphis promotion (and co-owner, from the 80s onward), wrestling as both heel and beloved babyface. he's the one who wrestled Andy Kaufman and slapped him on Letterman, portraying himself in Man on the Moon. Now an announcer for the WWE. he still wrestles, occasionally. Bill Dundee was another top star in Memphis and Lawler's biggest rival. he was born in Scotland and raised in Australia; but, only stood somewhere around 5ft 6. he had been a circus performer who moved into pro wrestling, in Australia, then came to the US. he settled in memphis, where he was also a hated heel and beloved babyface. He often teamed with and turned on Jerry Lawler, sometimes in the same match. A common angle was that one would rescue to other from some dastardly attack and decide to team up against the foe, with their former enemy, since they know how tough the enemy was. then, the partner would turn on the other and join the current enemies, leading to a new program. Lawler and dundee did this for about 20 years and drew big houses.