I wonder about some of the licenses Marvel did pursue....Sgt Pepper, Annie, Xanadu....not exactly what I would consider a comic book crossover audience. The sci-fi and adventure stuff makes sense and Rock & Rule was an adult animated feature, which made some sense, since they couldn't have Heavy metal (for obvious reasons). I think Sgt Pepper came about because of the KISS and Beatles specials, as they hoped to do a whole series of rock n roll comic magazines, which never panned out. I even get Jaws 2, since Jaws was the big blockbuster. Meteor was scif-, sort of (though mostly just a disaster film in sci-fi drag).

I think that under Stan lee's direction, Marvel always had some pretensions to reaching out to a broader pop culture audience beyond just die-hard comics fans who weren't interested much else. Not sure when Stan's reign ended but I imagine some of his influence was still being felt in the early to mid 80s, if only as an afterglow of his era.

Now, the story that millions of Star Trek fans were waiting for, and rationalized until Wrath of Khan gave them what they really wanted!

Marvel Super Special #15, Star Trek The Motion Picture



Sucks to be the supporting cast!

Bet Paramount wishes they hadn't made Stephen Collins central to so much imagery, in hindsight.



Is it just me or does that thing start out looking and sounding like Logan's Run (Renew! Renew!) and up sounding like an ad for the new ELO album?

Creative Team: Marv Wolfman-writer/editor (Suck on that, Shooter!), Dave Cockrum-pencils, Klaus Janson-inks, John Costanza-letters, Marie Severin-colors Jim Shooter & Rick Marschall-superfluous, Gene Roddenberry-taking credit for everything.

Synopsis: Space, the Final Frontier. These.....are...the voyages...oftheStarshipEnterprise..................It's 5-year mission, was cut short by two years and I was forced to do bad....cameos....on other sci-fi series and ....low....budget....movies. My agent....won't....returnmycalls. Spock.....was on some...spy...show; I..COULDNT...GET...A....LOUSY.....COP SHOW!!!

Okay, enough of that.

Stardate: 1979.12.7....within the Klingon Empire.....about tea time....



Geez, someone took a hammer to the Klingons; their foreheads are all lumpy!

On Vulcan, Spock has taken that whole Ballad of Bilbo Baggins thing too far and looks like some damn, dirty space-hippie....



He's about to achieve kolinahr; so, he's got that going for him. However, he stops the lady who talks funny from putting some big honking ugly 70s necklace on him and looks up at the sky.n She takes his thoughts....something about going In Search of...something.

Earth, former United States, ex-California, city of San Francisco. The gentrification of the city, by Starfleet has continued unabated. Admiral James T Kirk rides the 23rd Century BART, and arrives at Starfleet HQ, where he runs into Commander Sonak, the dude that replaced Spock, but didn't, but is now, except not. Kirk tells him to report to him on the Enterprise, which surprises Sonak. Kirk and Scotty meet up and take a shuttle joyride to the Enterprise, since the transporters aren't working (the bulb is burnt out and they are waiting on a Red Shirt to return from K-Mart). Kirk tells Scotty that there is a ...thing...out there, 3 days from Earth (which means about where the Moon is, really) and the Enterprise is the closest ship (wait, a drydocked ship is the only ship in Earth orbit or within the solar system? Don't they have a solar Coast Guard or something?)



Kirk reports aboard and tells the bridge crew that he is Al Haig and the veterans are happy and the rookies complain. Uhura tells a newbie to suck it up and go put on a red shirt.

Kirk meets up with Captain Willard Decker (son of the guy that drove the Constellation into the Planet Eater thingie) and tells him it sucks to be him. He will be kept on to advise and rub it into his nose. Just then, someone tries to beam aboard and Scotty starts yelling about the console short circuiting and Kirk runs up to the transport room in time to comfort Janice Rand about the goo that materialized in the transporter, that used to be Cdr Sonak and a female crewmember. he tells Janice to see him in his quarters, later, and bring the hip boots.

Kirk briefs everyone and they get a signal from a space station and the guy who was supposed to take over from Leonard Nimoy, in Phase II; but, he's human here and he and everyone are de-rezzed by the Master Control Program. Everyone on the Enterprise goes off to change their shorts.

A little later, Lt Ilia, a sexy bald chick reports aboard and seems to know Decker, who didn't call her after he left. Awkward! She say's something about an oath of celibacy and Kirk turns his attention elsewhere. Later, some bearded old grouch beams aboard and starts grousing about scrambled molecules and says he's a doctor, not a collection of discombobulated particles, broken down and transmitted over a carrier wave; then, reassembled into its original biological matrix. The ship leaves drydock and Cockrum finally gets some room to show off...



They go into Warp Speed and then the defecation hits the oscillator and someone turns on the slow-mo feature and takes a hit of acid. They get dumped in a wormhole, nearly collide with a rock (nice driving, Sulu!) and Decker shows up Kirk and flips him off when his back is turned. Later, Spock turns up in his own little luxury shuttle and business is about to pick up for the Geek World. He immediately fixes everything while he takes his coat off and then blows off Nurse Chapel (well, Dr Chappel or Mrs Great Bird, if you prefer). Spock is even more aloof to everyone, since he got decent parts and reviews, while they were stuck doing Fantasy Island and the cartoon.

The Enterprise runs into a space cloud, because nothing is more exciting on the Big Screen than floating dust particles! Chekov gets zapped and Ilia eases his pain, though his shorts feel kind of tight. Spock sends it a message, at 78 rpm, since it wasn't hearing things at 33 1/3. It stops zapping people and Spock says he senses pure logic, no emotion and nearly orgasms.

What follows is a lot of screen time of floating through clouds and Steve Ditko drawings...



Another energy probe comes aboard and Ilia gets dith-in-tegrated and there is no Eager Young Space Cadet with an Acme Re-Integrator handy. The Enterprise is pulled inside some Ditko structure and Scotty canna handle it. An intruder alarm goes off and they fine the sexy chick back, but talking in a robotic voice. A Stepford Alien! She walks around in a skimpy skirt, because objectification is still alive in Roddenberry's future Utopia, which is why Marina Sirtis got a skirt and everyone else got trousers. Decker shows her around. She says V-Ger wants to meet the Creator. Spock sneaks off to go joyriding in a spacesuit and nearly gets brain-fried. kirk has to rescue him because it's in Shatner's contract.

Spock wakes up and tells them V-Ger is a living machine, with no emotions and emotions are "in" this year. V-Ger starts getting uppity and Kirk threatens to blow up his ship if he doesn't get to meet V-Ger up close, to bring him the Creator. V-Ger brings them to Laputa, or some other floating island and sends out a bunch of building blocks and the crew have to climb down, only to find that V-Ger is a Voyager space probe, following its original programming to report back to Earth; but on a cliched scale (since the tv series did this plt a couple of times). They go to activate a relay and V-Ger melts it so that the Creator must talk to him, in person. decker tells Kirk to bugger off and stays with zombie Ilia to have space sex and meld in a menage-a trois with V-Ger. The Enterprise heads "Out there; thataway."

Thoughts: Um..................

It's.............okaaaayyyy........

What, you didn't like it?

no. no; it's good; just....not what I was expecting....

That was the basic conversation after the movie. Well, for anyone who was honest. A lot of people were trying to say it was better than Star Wars and 2001 and the tv series and whatever. A lot more were afraid to say boo, as it was new Star Trek and they wanted more. It had moments and it had a lot of "been there, done that" and a lot of stuff that didn't make much sense.

Originally, Paramount was planning to launch a new Star Trek series, to anchor their new 4th Network. After negotiations that paid Shatner more money but couln't come up with enough for Nimoy, they were launching a new series, with some new characters, including a young pure Vulcan science officer, named Xon (played by David Gautreaux) and a bald alien, Ilia, played by Persis Khambatta (former Miss India). The tv network and series was squashed and they went into development of a movie, especially after Star Wars had every studio sci-fi happy. The end result was an old Star Trek story, that was dusted off to be redone for a new tv series, got another coat of paint for a movie. Then, they hired an Oscar-winning director, who had done a classic sci-fi film (one of the few really good ones), with Robert Wise and proceeded to make what I always called Star Trek, the Motionless Picture.

There is a lot to like in the new film; but, the plot is nothing new to old fans (who made up a massive percentage of the audience), who had been watching re-runs for about a decade and analyzing every detail in fanzines and conventions, until they are being mocked by Shatner on SNL. The new characters had potential; but, it mostly goes unrealized. Paramount seemed squeamish about the Deltans sexual magnetism, so it is left to the oath of celibacy reference and a few drooling leers from Chekov and Sulu (Uhura seems a bit curious, too). Marvel wasn't going there, either and it was left to Starlog and the novelization to explain things.

Despite terrific effects by Douglas Trumbull and his team, the film just kind of drifts along. The actors are all fine and the newbies are right there with the vets (better, in some cases). It just really lacked an exciting story to capture the attention of theater viewers. The V-Ger stuff starts cool and trippy; but quickly wears out its welcome. I've always kind of thought it wanted to be Kubrick; but Cassic Trek still had a lot of pulp sci-fi elements that balanced out the cerebral stuff, to give it some variety. It also had a sense of humor. This is serious as can be, conceptual in nature, and rather under-developed in structure.

That's the film, for me. The comic?

Pretty much the same experience, except greatly condensed. It always felt rather long, to me, since nothing much happens, for long stretches. It is definitely a writer's project, as Wolman packs t with dialogue and Cockrum ends up with a lot of panels of talking heads. He was a fan and had homaged Trek in both the LSH and X-Men (right down to a Shi'ar Kirk)



....but, the script (film or comic) didn't really play to his strengths or loves (though he did exercise his inner Ditko). The end result is a good adaptation that captures the film, warts and all. It doesn't really feel like a Marvel Comic, as Star Wars and Logan's Run did. It is one time where I agree with Shooter that a writer-editor is a bad idea (actually, I agree with that in a great many circumstances, though not universally).

Prior to the film, Western/Gold Key had the Star Trek license and it had been a good one for them. Reruns of Trek fueled a love for Star Trek merch and the comics were relatively big sellers, since they provided new adventures). They were further aided by the Filmation cartoon, which gave us some stuff the original series couldn't do, because of budgets, though at the expense of lots of stock footage, repeated musical cues, and some bland voice acting from some of the cast (though Doohan, Nichols and Barrett all got to do other roles). With this adaptation, marvel acquired the Star Trek license and followed with a comic series, that lasted 18 issues. Marvel was hamstrung with the edict that they could only use characters and material from the film and not the classic series, which killed enthusiasm for it almost immediately (I assume because various writers would be entitled to royalties and such, and probably people like Gene Coon and DC Fontana). DC ended up with the license and started up after the vastly more popular Wrath of Khan and got much better cooperation from Paramount (unless your name was Peter David) and got to do classic Trek comics (in the movie time frames) and Next Gen stuff. It's one of the few properties where DC showed up Marvel.

The special came in a couple of formats. I had the mass market paperback book version, which really didn't help the art (but, I saw it, rather than the magazine format, in stores).

A few things are a bit confusing, as Marv didn't make use of alien languages, as in the series. Everything is in English, without even the little bracketts signifying a foreign language. This same problem turns up in the Blade Runner adaptation, though to greater confusion, as I will cover, later.

On the whole, the special does what was intended: it captures the flavor and visuals of the film, in an age before widespread home video access (Star Wars and emerging technologies were rapidly changing that). In the old days, the only things you had to relive a viewing experience were novelizations and tie-in series, comic adaptations, and maybe film prints.

Next time, Marvel does a bit more of an exciting job on a film that surpassed STTMP; at least, in terms of exciting visuals.

Meanwhile, these photos on the inside cover kind of sum up the film experience, for me....



Star Trek! See them staring! And watching!

The magazine is rounded out with an essay about the rise of Trek fandom, an interview with Jesco Van Puttkamer, science advisor on Trek (basically, a Trek and sci-fi fan with legit NASA creds, who worked on the Apollo Program) and a glossary, with entries like Ross, Chief: A female member of the USS Enterprise.

Marvel Graphic novel #48, A Sailor's Story, Book Two: Winds, Dreams and Dragons



I reviewed the complete A Sailor's Story in my Make War No More! thread, upon the passing of Sam Glanzman. I wil mostly just give a summary here and some thoughts about this specific volume and events depicted in it.

Creative Team: Sam Glanzman-writer & illustrator (and subject), Phil Felix-letters, Don Daley-editor. Coloring is not credited; but, is assumed to be Glanzman, since he is credited as writer and illustrator.
Dedicated to Joe Kubert, who launched Sam's USS Stevens stories, at DC, of whom Sam say, "Consider yourself an honorary 'plank owner'." A "plank owner" is a member of the crew assigned when a naval vessel is commissioned, in a term that dated to sailing days, when wooden ships were built out of planks of wood. To be a plank owner is a great honor in the Navy, as it means you sailed the ship from "birth."

Synopsis: The book covers from 1944 to the end of the war, as Sam serves on board the USS Stevens (DD-479). Sam begins with a depiction of the horrors of the kamikaze attacks...



He continues with a depiction of the psychological toll on the crew, as they sail in harms way, fight enemy attacks, and live with both day to day fear and boredom. he next acquaints us with the"island hopping" campaigns, as the US Marines and Army carry out amphibious landings on strategic islands, while cutting off others to starve. The toll is heavy, often for rather small real estate...



Japan had conquered territory to gain strategic raw materials for its war machine and industrial economy, plus to create an outer defensive ring, to keep the enemy away from the shores of the Japanese home islands. Now, the Allies were taking back those islands, to create their own bases, from which to attack the next base, and the next, inching their way towards Japan.

The USS Stevens takes part in the landings at Kwajalein Atoll, then moves on to convoy duty near the Solomon Islands. Sam takes us through shipboard life, when the battle isn't raging, though enemy contact is never too far away. We see what happens, when Mail Call goes South...



He shares a story of how they improvised hot plates, to make the necessary endless supply of coffee, to keep a crew going. A chief electrician is promoted to warrant officer and suddenly decides they are a fire hazard and confiscates them. That is, until the captain finds out it has interrupted his favorite coffee, made in the Sick Bay...



Sam shows us the rescue of civilians, within the Marshalls, the landings at Hollandia, and Sam's promotion to Fireman First Class (Fireman is a rating, meaning a job specialty. In this case, someone who works in the fireroom, maintaining the boilers, which produce the steam to power the ship's engine turbines. His rank is Petty Officer 1st Class, meaning a more senior non-commissioned officer; one step below a Chief Petty Officer. Rate and rank are combined, Fireman First Class).

The ship takes part in the Marianas landings, though they get less-than-glorifying targets. This was the sight of the infmaous "Marianas Turkey Shoot," where Japanese aircraft were destroyed in vast numbers by American pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. by this point in the war, the US had vastly superior aircraft, more seasoned pilots, and greater numbers to throw at the Japanese, who had been losing experienced pilots in greater and greater numbers. The veterans of Pearl harbor and the Japanese invasion of the South Pacific were mostly gone, leaving inexperienced younger pilots, in aging plane designs. The vaunted Zero had been surpassed by the Corsair and Hellcat, while also outgunned by the Lightning.

Lest we think of this as some glorious crusade, Sam reminds us of the human cost of war...



Sam shows us the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which brought an end to the Japanese Imperial Navy, in their last battleship-to-battleship, carrier-to-carrier battle. This was not Coral Sea, where the Japanese lost one carrier in exchange for sinking the USS Lexington and damaging the Yorktown, or even Midway, where there was a relative parity, though Japan lost all four of its carriers, with the USS losing the Yorktown. The US was able to build more carriers, destroyers, landing ships, planes and weapons.

Sam shows us the effects of the typhoon that hit the fleet, after the battle, then a bit of humor, as we see gag cartoons of "liberty" and what happens when the "head" (toilet) is unavailable due to sanitation inspection...



Never to windward side!

Humor gives way, again, to reality, as the ship gets liberty in Manila, only recently liberated. The sight is not pretty.



Things hadn't changed much in later years. In my midshipman days, we heard stories of Olongapo, the city outside the US Naval Base, at Subic Bay. One of my colleagues, while on summer cruise, made a port visit to Subic and was propositioned by a kid, who was acting as a pimp for his own mother. This was 1985/86; not 1945. The things people will do to survive.

Sam takes us to Okinawa, where kamikaze attacks are constant, as Okinawa is in striking range of Japan. Fighting was intense, with the Japanese making the Marines pay for every inch of ground it gained. The kamikazes crippled and destroyed ships with their suicide attacks.



Finally, the war ends and Sam tells us the fate of the USS Stevens, and the scars the men of the "tin cans" carried home with them...



Thoughts: War comics usually came in two species: gung ho tales of American (or British, as their comics had much of the same thing) heroes who single-handedly destroy enemy attacks and save the women and children (which was the majority of them, sadly) and the more thoughtful, honest ones, that tell the human cost of war. The former tend to be done by people who didn't live it; the latter has been done by both those who were there and those that felt they needed to be true to those who were there. Sam Glanzman was there. His war comics were always filled with honest stories of war, whether semi-autobiographical (even A Sailor's Story has embellished elements) or complete fiction. Sam was the artist of Dell's outstanding Combat war comic, with both historical depictions and fictional stories. he and Will Franz created The Lonely War of Willy Schultz, a fictional soldier accused of murder, who has to hide out in the German Army. It showed the hell of war from both sides, and that soldiers on both sides weren't that different. For Joe Kubert, he did his semi-autobiographical USS Stevens stories and the fictional Haunted Tank. At Marvel, he gave us his graphic memoir and contributed historical stories of the early US Marines, for Semper Fi.

Apart from a disrupted Robin Hood tale (Thief of Sherwood) this was Sam's crowning achievement (along with the first Book). For my money, A Sailor's Story is the last word in war comics and the pinnacle of the genre. The graphic novel format gave him the mechanism to tell his memories, to an audience that only knew from history books and movies (and maybe stories from fathers or grandfathers, or teachers).

I was a midshipman when the first book came out. It was one of the first real glances at the Navy I had seen (apart from An Officer and a Gentleman, which is pretty honest and accurate). I devoured it. Book 2 came out when I was a serving officer, stationed in Charleston, SC. It was equally engrossing, if more melancholy.

Quite frankly, this mostly marks the end of the positive aspects of the marvel Graphic Novel line, though there are a few really good ones still to come. Most will be further Marvel product, with one creator-owned work (Doug Wildey's Rio), some licensed stuff (another Roger Rabbit), some Conan and a lot of forgettable stories about Wolverine (except one) and the punisher. Welcome to the 90s!