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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2021 12:42:59 GMT -5
I remember being intrigued by Skull the Slayer and read the short-lived solo run but don't thnk I've seen this appearance. The Ernie Chan artwork looks good. I don't recognise the photo reference, what's it from? Krull's The Slayers!  Sorry, I couldn't resist. Those are the Slayers, the shock troops of the Beast, an alien conqueror, in the 80s sci-fi/fantasy film Krull. As soon as I saw the Skull logo it popped in my head. I love that film, massive flaws and all! |
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Post by berkley on May 9, 2021 17:41:05 GMT -5
If anyone had asked me I'd have told them I saw Krull at the theatre when it came out, but nothing about that trailer feels familiar to me so maybe I missed it - though it's quite possible I've simply forgotten everything about it. Either way, I definitely will be putting it on my list of 80s movies to watch or re-watch!
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Post by codystarbuck on May 9, 2021 20:10:59 GMT -5
Krull is awesome!
Ignore what anyone says about the wooden lead, the bad dubbing or the scene chewing for supporting actors.
Okay, that's all actually true; but, the supporting cast and a pretty decent story makes up for a badly cast lead actor, an over-acting Freddie Jones (a common description of his film work, if you ask me), some dodgy make-up on Bernard Bresslaw (as Rell, the cyclops), and some pacing issues.
Ken Marshall (I started to write Peter, which would have made the film way cooler, as he asks questions of the other cast) is pretty bland as the hero and really only has good looks going for him. Quite frankly, i isn't a well-written part, either. He looks the part of a heroic prince, though.
Feddie Jones over-acts, as Ynr, Colwyn's mentor and the guide to the people who can help him reclaim his stolen bride, from the Beast. They have to find an army, locate The Fortress (the Beast's seat of power and sort of spaceship), storm it, and rescue the princess Lyssa.
The basic story is that the Beast has conquered many worlds. His Fortress lands on the planet Krull and his army, the Slayers, ride out to conquer. Opposing them are two kingdoms who have been rivals and enemies, but are untiing via the marriage of Prince Colwyn and Princess Lyssa. Colwyn and his father (and their men) ride through the Slayer's to Lyssa's father's castle, for the wedding, where both kings will renounce their thrones in favor of their children, as rulers of the united lands. The ceremony is interrupted by the Slayers' attack and Lyssa is stolen and taken to the Beast. Colwyn survives and is found and healed by Ynr. He then takes him to find Tle Glaive, an ancient, powerful weapon (hidden in a lava pool, in a volcano) and to find an army. They encounter a hedge wizard, Ergo, with delusions of competence (played by the brilliant David Badley, of Willie Wonka fame) and a group of escaped criminals, which includes Alun Armstrong, Lima Neeson and Robbie Coltrane. They aid Colwyn as he finds a seer, to try to locate the Beast, then visit the Widow of the Web, after the seer is killed, by the Beast. Along the way they encounter Rell, a cyclops who can foresee his own death and hates the Beast and the Slayers. They find the location of the Fortress, capture firemares, horses than can cover great distance at speed, and assault the Fortress.
Lysette Anthony was Lyssa, but her voice was dubbed over by American actress Lindsay Crouse. She did, however, marry the producer and got over being dubbed. She later appears, in her own voice, in the comedy Without a Clue, with Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine (as Dr Watson and a fictitious Sherlock Holmes)
The effects are pretty decent, for the period and the Slayers were nasty looking footsoldiers, which kept an air of menace over things. Ergo is comic relief, but Badley succeeds in making himn an important character, with some depth, which I always said demonstrated how Jar-Jar could have been a good character, in Star Wars. Ergo's spells usually fail, such as turning himself into a goose, instead of Colwyn into an ugly creature. He befriends the young apprentice of the seer and helps grant him a wish, to cheer him up, after his master is killed. Ergo transforms into a puppy, which is what the boy said he wanted, if he could have a wish granted. He later transforms back and only Rell sees this and notes the nobility of what he did. Later, when they attack the Fortress, Ergo is able to transform into a tiger and defend the boy from the Slayers, during which he is wounded. The character evolves from being an annoying joke to a noble hero, by the end, because he makes conscious decisions to help other and defend other people. Jar-Jar remains the same joke at the end as in the beginning, only doing something heroic by accident. He never earns the victory that comes, while ergo does through deliberate action.
There was also a popular video game, where you threw the glaive at Slayers and then fought the Beast (I never made it past the swamp, in the third stage). The game would be enough to make you saw the film, if you hadn't.
I saw it repeatedly, in the Summer of 1983, along with Return of the Jedi and Octopussy.
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Post by badwolf on May 10, 2021 9:41:27 GMT -5
I saw Krull in the theatre but don't remember anything about it now (except for that spirally throwing weapon). I also had the first issue of the comic.
I loved the movie because I was only like 12 and loved anything fantasy that came out. I even loved The Dungeonmaster (which I have rewatched and is hilariously awful.)
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Post by mikelmidnight on May 10, 2021 11:42:03 GMT -5
I remember being intrigued by Skull the Slayer and read the short-lived solo run but don't thnk I've seen this appearance. The Ernie Chan artwork looks good. I don't recognise the photo reference, what's it from?
I was actually a fan (or at least a reader) of the Skull the Slayer comic, and I was not happy with this conclusion at all. Not so much for the plot (which was barely serviceable) but for the writer's ignoring ALL the character development which had occurred between the cast in the series, setting them back to square one in a way which reduced some of them to mere clichés.
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Post by berkley on May 10, 2021 20:24:53 GMT -5
I remember being intrigued by Skull the Slayer and read the short-lived solo run but don't thnk I've seen this appearance. The Ernie Chan artwork looks good. I don't recognise the photo reference, what's it from?
I was actually a fan (or at least a reader) of the Skull the Slayer comic, and I was not happy with this conclusion at all. Not so much for the plot (which was barely serviceable) but for the writer's ignoring ALL the character development which had occurred between the cast in the series, setting them back to square one in a way which reduced some of them to mere clichés.
I don't remember what happened now, not having read it since the 70s, but it's definitely something I plan to read again some day. I have a vague memory of there being a few too many changes of direction, given its very brief run, but can't recall any details after all these years. But a missed opportunity for Marvel to develop its own ERB-style series. |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 12, 2021 14:29:19 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #36 Spidey & Frankie! Groovy! I needed that! Creative Team: Gerry Conway-writer, Sal Buscema-layouts, Vince Coletta-finishes, Charlotte Jeter-letters, Al Wenzel-colors, Len Wein-editor Synopsis: Spidey is tooling around, busting up a bank robbery, when something hits him from behind and he goes down...  When he wakes up, he is strapped to a table, next to Peter Boyle....  In comes the resident mad scientist, Baron Ludwig Von Shtupf!  Seriously? Oy, vey! Spidey kicks Ludwig in the gut and smashes out of his restraints and webs up the dude's monsters. he releases Frankie and the split. Next thing you know, they are on a mountain slope, being chased by SPECTRE...  Frankie takes this moment to recount his creation and entry into the Marvel Universe...  (need to add him to the MCU, along with Drac) They then notice that SPECTRE has cornered Emma Peel, except she is blond, so it must be Honey West. Frankie goes to help and Spidey lends a fist. The lady nearly goes over a cliff and Frankie grabs her, in time and to repay her heroes, she gasses them...  They wake up and find the blond chick lounging and she pulls out a badge to show that she is Agent Klemmer, of SHIELD, and has been tasked to investigate and stop Von Shtupf from conquering the world with an army of suyper monsters. This really should be so much more awesome than it is. Frankenstein, Spider-Man, a super-spy chick, and a monster army? How can you go wrong? Welll...... Spidey and Klemmer leave Frankie behind, because he is too conspicuous, though a guy in red & blue longjohns, with spiders and webs all over them isn't. They sneak into a castle, via webs and windows, while Frankie follows and walks through the open gate. Dude definitely does not have an Abby Normal brain! Frankie busts some SPECTRE heads and then goes into a room to find Von Shtupf and Man-Wolf, cornering Spidey and Klemmer.  Thoughts: Okay, first off, Conway isn't nearly as funny as he thinks he is. Von Shtupf? Uh-huh. Mel Brooks you ain't. Quite frankly, that is par for the course for Marvel, in this era. Outside of Steve Gerber, most of the writers weren't nearly as funny as they thought. Probably taking too many of them there marijuana pills. For a team-up plot, this is pretty decent; but, this could be way cooler than it is. No one is taking this serious, so why not up the monster quotient, add an Igor, some torches and pitchforks, then throw in the James Bond rip-offs and go nuts. Conway is swiping left and right, to be sure. Guess he saw On Her Majesty's Secret Service at the same time as a double feature of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Klemmer isn't particularly well rendered, as a character; but, at least she isn't a damsel-in-distress, yet (rescue scene notwithstanding). Sal & Vinnie could up the fun in this if they wanted; but they don't seem particularly motivated. Maybe if it had been Gerber writing it (that would have also added to the awesomeness). No explanation how Spidey went from New York to the Baron's castle, which is implied to be in Eastern Europe, but could just be upstate, for all we know. Again, geography has never been a strong subject for Conway. I like this better than previous issues, but it could be so much better. We'll have to see what happens in part 2; maybe we get a payoff.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 12, 2021 15:10:12 GMT -5
In the interest of full disclosure, I missed Marvel two-in-One Annual #2, which features Thanos and warlock; but, I covered it in my Courting Death thread, covering the evolution of Thanos.So, on with the show... Marvel Two-in-One #36 Fantastic Four, divided by two! (plus a Skull the Slayer) Creative Team: Marv Wolfman-writer/editor, Ernie Chan-art, Joe Rosen-letters, Michelle Wolfman-colors Synopsis: Ben, Skull and the gang have ended up in a lagoon, with some brontosauruses (or apatosauruses, depending on where you fall in the argument). They have awfully sharp teath, for herbivores, but Marv says they might be cranky and suggests the Arthurian battle strategy of running away.  They get to shore, but Ben isn't content to let the brontos eat in peace and throws rocks at them. What a jerk! He hits one and it falls over and then Andy has a little talk about responsibility and baby brontos. Ben's dumb act topples the bronto near them and they are back in the water, again and headed for a waterfall, because, plot convenience. Ben flings Skull at a tree limb and he grabs on and rescues Ann and Jeff, then Ben rescues Corey. After everyone is ashore we get the obligatory marvel inter-group conflict for a couple of panels, before they move on. Marv (or Eernie) skips finding Skull's C-130, scavenging the parts they need and the trip back, cutting to them arriving back at Ben's plane and some pseudo-scientific theories about the Bermuda Triangle and time travel allowing man and dinosaurs to exist together...  They easily repair the jet and take off, then the white Aztec priest follows on a pteranodon, as they travel through the time vortex, narrowly missing the USS Nimitz and return to Cape Canaveral. ben brings the jet in for a landing and the priest and his dinos attack. Wouldn't you know it, but Reed Richards just happens to be in the neighborhood (checking up on Ben, for Alicia) and is in time to help fight dinos.  The priest nabs the girl, because, of course, and Ben snags a pteranodon and chases. Reed lassos one and rescues the others from attacks. he gets stretched like a rubber band and flung into the ocean. Loser! Skull climbs a rocket gantry and leaps onto a pteranodon.  This flying rodeo battles it out and Ben calls Clobberin' Time and leaps on the priest and belts him off the dino and saves Ann, again.  Reed catches them but the priest falls to his death, except dialogue says he survived and is in custody. They gang all makes nice and heads off into a world where Jimmy Carter is president, Dan Akroyd mocks him on SNL, and Farrah Fawcett jiggles across tvs. Thoughts: Seems to be a lot of stuff that gets skipped, leading me to believe Marv and Ernie weren't exactly on the same page. Ernie skips the sub-plot about getting parts from Skull's old aircraft to fix Ben's and it's obvious he intended for the priest to end up a gooey stain on the ground. This is fine for what it is, with plenty of action, but the plot is pretty thin and the characterization is generic marvel group dynamics (ie lot's of arguing). I haven't read the original series; but, I would hope the characters were more rounded than here. If not, that might be, in part, why it lasted only 8 issues. Reed is barely in the thing and proves fairly useless. The FF isn't doing well, in this book. |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 17, 2021 22:42:06 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #37 Spidey and Man-Wolf, and "the flea collar incident!" Creative Team: Gerry Conway-writer, Sal Buscema-layouts, Vince Coletta-finishes, Karen Mantlo-letters, Phil Rache-colors, Marv Wolfman-editor. Hey, a Wolfman editing a Man-Wolf! Synopsis: Spidey & Agent Klemmer have snuck into the castle, via a window, while Frankie just walked, undetected, through the front door. now, they have all met up with Baron Von Shtupf and Man-Wolf. Wolfie attacks Spidey and Frankie hauls him off and swats him on the nose (well, hurls him against a stone wall). Wolfie is still pretty spry and grabs Klemmer and leaps out the window. Spidey and Frankie are too busy watching to see Von Shtupf sneak up and zap them, from behind. They end up strapped down, again, as Von Shtupf monologues...  Dissect you, see what makes you tick, add strength and agility to Man-Wolf's appearance, make the world pay, rue the day they laughed at me, yadda, yadda yadda...... The usual bit. On goes the master switch and ...you know. Brown trouser time! Meanwhile, Wolfie stops somewhere, with Klemmer and she tries to calm him and he paws at her to throw the stick, when real wolves turn up and Wolfie gets all Alpha-Male...  Klemmer finally recalls the SHIELD file which identifies Man-Wolf as astronaut John Jameson and tries to figure out how to get away from him, She mimes the act of eating and he brings back a can of Alpo and wags his tail (well, he should, but Conway wouldn't listen to me). Actually, he goes and kills a rabbit and Klemmer hot foots it away, leaving Wolfie to return and find he has been abandoned...  Aw, he looks sad! Poor puppy. Back at the ranch....er, castle, Frankie just shoves his hands through the conveyor belt and rips out the guts of the machinery, stopping their progression towards the lasers, the modern buzzsaw. Spidey uses webs to redirect the lasers to burn through the metal restraints. They sneak through the castle and find Von Shtupf asleep and Spidey webs him up like a drunken frat boy who has passed out amid his a-hole brothers. Spidey goes searching and finds Man-Wolf whining, wondering where pretty lady-with-the-stick has gone and they romp and play in the snow...  They hear a scream and Wolfie runs of and finds pretty lady-with the-stick cornered by more wolves and tells them to get their own sticks. he gets hurt fighting them off and Klemmer is all, Aww, the poor puppy-dog has a boo-boo! Let mama fix it, that's a good boy!" Wolfie passes out and tumbles over a cliff and Spidey rescues him and Klemmer calls in SHIELD, who take Man-Wolf and Von Shtupf away, while Klemmer and Spidey talk about how horrible it must be to be seen as a monster, feared and ostracized, as they ignore Frankie, who wanders off, head drooping....  Thoughts: As mad schemes go, this is a bit goofy and we never do learn how Von Shtupf (ugh, curse Conway for the dumb name) nabbed Jameson, though Marv mentions Creatures on the Loose, where Wolfie was headed towards the moon the moon. The whole thing ends up being pretty dumb, but it's still better than the previous adventure. Klemmer isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, for a SHIELD agent and Conway doesn't exactly make her competent or particularly interesting. The art is serviceable, but hardly inspired, even for Sal and Coletta. Conway spends too much time trying to be cute, rather than write a decent story, but it was his last one, whether planned or not. He jumped ship to DC, before coming back to make a hash of the EIC job, then qutting again, ticking off Stan to no end. That opened the door for Bill Mantlo to become the regular writer, and he begins his tenure next issue, as the Beast joins Spidey to face the Griffin. Merv? Ooooooh!!!!!!!!
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Post by codystarbuck on May 17, 2021 23:39:37 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #37 The Thing & Matt Murdock, Attorney at Law I can see the commercials for Matt.... "Justice is blind and so is Matt Murdock!" I see Robert Vaughn doing the delivery........ Creative Team: Marv Wolfman-writer/editor, foreman of the jury, Ron Wilson-pencils & bailiff, Pablo Marcos-inks/court stenographer, John Costanza-letters & clerk of the court, Roger Slifer-colors/court reporter Synopsis: ben is reading in bed (The Shining), while also eating, drinking and smoking in bed, in a flophouse, after the breakup of the Fantastic Four. Did they still have flophouses, in the 70s? I assume he means a cheap hotel, with lots of ladies checking in an out, every hour.  Ben is fixated on finding a job, and something keeps stinging him, which probably has something to do with the telescopic sight that keeps him in view...  This causes Ben to stomp around and he ends up sending a bus into a crash....  Some musclehead in sweats and a tank top (I refuse to call it a "wifebeater") calls for the police to arrest Ben and he is so stunned and depressed he complies with the officers, who basically tell Charles Atlas to take a hike, when he calls Ben a monster, pointing out that that monster saved his daughter's life. Nice to see someone stick up for the heroes, for once, in a 70s Marvel comic!  Ben is brought to the precinct house and booked (while Officer Toodey stands around). He's then put in a lineup and positively identified by Charles Atlas, saying he destroyed his store, with the shockwave that totalled the bus. Must have wrecked his vials of winstrol and deca durabolin!  The guy on the far left looks like someone chopped Jim Shooter off at the knees. Or the thigh, maybe... Ben is put in a holding cell, with a black kid from the line-up, wearing some kind of gang colors and a wino. The kid asks if he wants to shoot craps and annoys Ben, as does the wino, until he folds them up in the mattress from the bed, to shut them up. Finally, ben's mouthpiece turns up and it's Matt Murdock. He says he will get Ben out of there, though Ben says he belongs there. We cut to a preliminary hearing, where Matt questions a witness, who Ben aided in the past...  Murdock requests that the charges be dismissed, with gets an objection from the prosecutor, who says his past actions aren't in question, only his most recent action and presents Charles Atlas, aka Al;ex Stone as a witness, who says Ben destroyed his store and half the city, bringing up various times Ben smashed up things, like a battle with the Hulk, fights with the Silver Surfer and various property damage that seems to have kept affecting this dude's business, every time he got things back on track. Murdock cross examines and points out that Stone has refused offers for a monetary settlement and asks why and the dude says Ben is a menace and might hurt small children. Think of the children! Ben gets a little hot about that. meanwhile, Alicia is outside the court, trying to get in, but blocked by the cops. The judge says the grand jury will deliberate to determine if it will go to trial. Later, they return and announce that Ben is to be brought to trial and he is zapped with the stinging sensation and goes berserk, as Murdock notices the changes in his heart rate.  He recognizes that something isn't halal here! Alicia finally bursts through the door and finds Ben. The judge then berates Ben and gives Murdock all he needs for an appeal...  Thoughts: This is a bizarre plot, but a pretty enjoyable issue. Marv is actually pretty entertaining, early on, especially when Ben is arrested and booked, as the precinct house scenes are a hoot. He trots out Toodey and Muldoon, from Car 54, Where Are You, though Ron doesn't capture the likenesses of Joe E Ross and Fred Gwynne. The African-American kid is in the lineup, though he looks like a cross between one of the Cosby Kids and the Black Panther version of the Cub Scouts. We will see more of him, next issue. Not sure about the trial procedure here, though New York is a grand jury state. Whole thing seems a bit unlikely. I guess Robert Ingersoll wasn't around to consult with Marv (don't know if he was practicing law then). Nice set up for the next issue. Marv is still cooking on here, which makes it that sadder that he is leaving the title (and will be giving up the EIC job, in a couple of months). Roger Slifer will co-plot next issue and script and do full writing chores on the following issue. We then get a bit of musical writer chairs, before Gruenwald and Macchio settle in, for Project Pegasus, in issue #53.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 25, 2021 15:19:37 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #38 Spidey & The Beast! Creative Team: Bill Mantlo-writer, Sal Buscema-layouts, Mike Esposito-finishes, Karen mantlo-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Marv Wolfman-editor Conway is gone to DC and Mantlo takes over. He also assumes MTIO, around the same time, leading to the crossover, discussed earlier, involving Basilisk. Synopsis: Spidey is swinging in the rain, just swingin' in the rain (sorry) when a scientist comes tumbling out of the sky...  Spidey catches him, but his web breaks and he misses an anchor point with another. There is some tumbling and webbing and then swinging....right into the hull of a ship, with Spidey taking the impact. he and his passenger plummet into the river and disappears. Spidey comes up for air and drags falling boy with him and finds a surprisingly hair hand there to help him, belonging to one Henry McCoy, better known as The Beast...  He helps them ashore and says he was there because of a radio tip and then the lab coat dude wakes up and starts babbling about stopping Johnny Horton.... Okay, well, it's bad history (why is he wearing a Civil War-era uniform for a battle that took place in 1815?); but it's nothing to lose your head over... Turns out, aside from folk records about Andy "Slave Holder" Jackson and Sinking the Bismark (why do they want to sink a pastry?), Johnny Horton is a punk (little early for that) hood, who became The Griffin! And, judging by the belt he is wearing in that last panel, he is the heavyweight champion! Beast recaps his fight with Griffin, with the help of The Angel (Hey, two on one; no fair!), his incarceration, after the defeat of the Secret Empire, and his subsequent escape from prison, after faking an illness. He came hunting the former heads of the Secret Empire (wait, that was Nixon, wasn't it?) and grabbing the scientist, who says they were defeated and griffin dropped him, taking us back to the beginning of all of this. Then the scientist dies, while Spidey cracks jokes. Griffin returns with seagull backup and attacks the Beast. Spidey distracts him, allowing Beast to counter-attack, then Griffin counter-counter-attacks and Beast ends up in the drink. Spidey hops onto Stewie (Griffin) and starts pummeling him in the back of the head. Beast comes out of the water and tries to leap up at Griffin, but misses and he flies off with Spidey. They end up over the Brooklyn Bridge and Beast follows them. Spidey gets dumped, but snares the bridge support tower and swings to safety on the surface. He holds up some angry commuters, then Beast turns up and Griffin dive bombs (let's hope not literally, given his size, relative to a bird). The heroes swing on support cables and land double haymakers on Griffin...  He's down for the count and the Fuzz show up to haul him away, while Margaret Drummond chastises a police officer and Spider-Man, until Spidey webs her tootsies and swings away...  Thoughts: This was a bit more like it, than previous issues. Beast is well integrated into the story, though we have to spend some time on recap of comics we haven't seen. Spidey & Beast banter well together and Mantlo actually gives a rationale for the constant joking, as a distraction tactic. Griffin is pretty one-note; but, aren't the majority f the villains in these things? Buscema and Esposito are fine, though the action is a bit run-of-the-mill and we don't get any especially impressive scenes. It's an average story for an average comic, with few long term consequences. All in all, a decent, "done in one" issue. Mantlo likely ended up with the two team-up books because no established writer wanted them and he was fast and could give Marv what he wanted out of this level of comic. At the same time, it let Mantlo prove what he could do and work on favorite characters, even if he didn't get the main titles. Still a win-win, for a rookie. The worst you can do is probably no worse than the previous team (unless you outright suck, in which case you shouldn't have got the assignment and it's on the editor; if you can at least maintain the status quo, you are doing fine and if sales pick up, you are a hero. not much downside.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 25, 2021 16:09:40 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #38 Thing & Daredevil Creative Team: Roger Slifer-script & co-plot, Ron Wilson-pencils, Jim Mooney-inks, John Costanza-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Marv Wolfman-editor & co-plot Synopsis: After getting a hot foot and "bee stings," Ben smashed up a bit of New York and found himself arrested and before the Grand Jury, with Matt Murdock as his lawyer. He smashed up the courtroom, after another "bee attack," and is behind bars, raging at J Jonah Jameson, for plastering him all over the front page of the Bugle!  Ben tries to simmer down and breaks his bunk off the wall. Meanwhile, his shyster gets word that the trial is scheduled for friday and he isn't given time to prepare, which is further grounds for a mistrial. Foggy Nelson gives him a pep talk, saying the client is obviously guilty, after the courtroom incident and Matt goes off hunting, as daredevil, for evidence related to the ultra-sonic humming he heard in the courtroom, just before Ben went nuts. He also wants to check out the chief prosecution witness, Alex Stone (aka the steroid dude) whose heartbeat was too rapid, for a human (yeah, steroids will do that). he goes to Stone's smashed store, but it's deserted. he then detects voices, talking about spraying stolen cars. he busts them up, then Stone appears...  Stone "'roid rages" and DD tries to splatter him in the face with the spray paint, but Stone recovers too quickly and DD is out cold and ends up tied up in the car and dumped into the river...  He smashes the side window and swims out, using shards of glass to cut his bonds. He gets to the surface, but is worn out and is helped out of the cold water by two bystanders on a pier. Later, Murdock visits Ben in jail, while the Cosby Kid from last issue, eavesdrops. Murdock tells Ben about Daredevil's battle with Stone and Ben decides its time to go after Stone and smashes his way our of the cell. Murdock lets it happen, since Ben seemed to perk up. The Cosby Kid climbs out through the hole, finds a discarded skateboard and wheels away. He narrowly misses a dog, while Ben tracks down Stone...  ben gets directions that lead to a manhole, which features a rather high tech set of metal doors down inside, which Ben parts to find a pretty high tech lair...  Faster than you can say "Ken Adams," Ben is jumped by ugly robots and It's Clobberin' Time!. DD has followed and joins the fun. More robots pop out of holes and overwhelm Ben and DD and Ben gets tossed into a new cell...  Ben can't smash out of this one and gets heckled by the Mad Thinker, who is behind it all and who has DD under wraps. he gasses ben to try to force DD into serving him and Ben isn't doing so well....  Thoughts: okay, so the mad Thinker is behind all of this, which explains why the plot was so insane. He's a "mad" thinker, not a "mod" thinker (which I think involves a Vespa and a tailored suit). Nice bit of action. i assume the kid factors into things, somehow, eventually, as he contributes F-all to the story, at present. Thinker's plot is loopy, as he used computers to find a precognitive to help him foresee the unforeseeable, despite a complete lack of evidence that such things actually existed. He mistakenly believes DD to be a precog. See, just because it's turned up by a computer doesn't mean it's the right answer! (I swear if I hear, "Well Google said..." one more time, I will scream!). Ron's doing nicely on art and Jim Mooney compliments him well. Wouldn't mind Slifer as a regular writer; but I believe (without looking ahead) that he is just a fill in, as Marv is kind of busy. We are teased with the Vision, next issue.
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Post by Hoosier X on May 26, 2021 13:14:36 GMT -5
My first issue of Marvel Team-Up was #39. It’s such a fun two-parter! I read it regularly for a couple of years and then more and more sporadically until around #100. A great issue!
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Post by codystarbuck on May 26, 2021 14:07:39 GMT -5
My first issue of Marvel Team-Up was #39. It’s such a fun two-parter! I read it regularly for a couple of years and then more and more sporadically until around #100. A great issue! My cousin had that one and I read it while visiting my grandparents (my uncle lived just down the road, on another farm) and always enjoyed it. My comic book reading through much of the 70s came from borrowing from friends and my cousin's big stash. He lived just on the outskirts of a larger town, with regular newsstands and had a big collection of DC and Marvel, plus a bit of Charlton and Gold Key. That's where I got to read a lot of 70s Marvel, including several of the upcoming MTU issues (with Jean DeWolff), a lot of Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Avengers and Iron man. Plus, he had a fair number of the early X-Men revival, before Lilandra finally arrives on Earth. I didn't get to buy my first issue until the Proteus storyline, with Byrne. He later gave me his comics, after he had outgrown them and moved onto sci-fi and fantasy novels (he had a huge collection of that, with the usual suspects for the late 70 and early 80s, like Terry Brooks, Michael Moorcock, Stepehn R Donaldson, David Eddings, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, L Ron Hubbard, some Heilein, etc). Once in a while, he overlapped with my sporadic buying. I picked up Superboy & the Legion of Superheroes #229, where they are dealing with the aftermath of the death of Chemical King and he had issue 228, with the actual death, stopping a dictator in 30th Century Australia. |
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Post by codystarbuck on May 31, 2021 14:06:16 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #39 Spidey & the Torch! Spidermobiles & Twinkies for everyone! Creative Team: Bill mantlo-writer, Sal Buscema-pencils, Mike Esposito-inks, Karen Mantlo-letters, Don Warfield-colors, Marv Wolfman-editor Thank you to Yvie Perez for Spanish translations. Not sure if this is a relative of George's, George's secret nickname, or someone unrelated. Synopsis: It's August in New York City..... Someone, with a gun, is watching Spidey from the shadows (too early for David Berkowitz).  Apparently, Mantlo didn't know the difference between a revolver and a semi-automatic (assuming they worked Marvel-style, not full script). Spidey is startled by a kid, who says Spidey is the most marvelous, most fantastic, most incredible.....pretty much that he is awesome. He shows Spidey his pigeons and the gunman takes aim again. He fires and just misses Spidey and the kid (nicknamed Mosquito). Spidey shoves the kid down and tells him to stay down and leaps to where the gunaman was, but loses sight of him. Spidey turns back and finds Mosquito crying, as the gunman hit his pigeon, Pepita. Spidey sends him off to the park to bury Pepita, while they contemplate the bad things that happen in the city. Meanwhile, Torch is out joy riding in the Fantasticar when someone lassos it and dumps him out. he flames on and looks for the wiseguy...  It turns out to be Montana, of the Enforcers and they tangle, then Torch gets gassed by someone unseen, which extinguishes his flame. Fancy Dan starts giving him a kicking and then his is hosed down with extinguishing agents and hogtied with asbestos ropes. The shadowy boss reveals that Torch is bait to lure Spider-Man to his death. Spidey is looking around in Little Italy, when he spots some mafia types (or Maggia types, I guess) with heaters, entering a warehouse. he snaps some photos for the Bugle, before sneaking inside. A hearse pulls up and some mugs get out and carry a coffin inside...a coffin with airholes!. Spidey follows. The boss steps out of the shadows to reveal....  ...The Big Man! (The head honcho, the big cheese, number one, the top dog.....sorry; started channeling Robert Stack, there) Spidey knows it can't be, since Frederick Foswell, aka The Big Man, has been dead since Amazing Spider-Man #52. The Big Man reveals what's in the coffin as he announces an auction for the right to rub out the Human Torch!  Spidey needs to do something, fast and he nabs a hood with his webs and uses his hat and trenchcoat to take his place. Spider-Hood questions whether that is really the Trocha nd finagles getting close enough to check him out and smashes the glass sealing him inside, allowing Torch to escape...  They bust up the hoods and are about to grab The Big Man, when they are interrupted by The Crime Master and The Sandman (not Morpheus or Wesley Dodd)...  ...who is also supposed to be dead. What up wit' dat? Thoughts: As pointed out at Supermegamonkey, the plot for the capture, by the Enforcers, is pretty much swiped from Amazing Spider-Man #19. Mantlo brought back a lot of Ditko villains in his stories and was also known to crib from other stories. Now, whether this is a swipe or an homage is open to interpretation; but, given the resolution, in the next issue, I am going with homage. We end up with two dead crime bosses and the Sandman in his old working clothes, despite having snazzier threads, elsewhere. Mantlo obviously wants to revisit the Ditko era. Sal's not exactly the guy I'd want to do that, though he handles the Enforcer characters well enough. Someone (probably Karen Mantlo) throws in inside joke graffiti on the warehouse walls, with the creative team's names. Rip-off plot (or homage) or not, I kind of like this one (apart from the cliffhanger), as it uses both characters well and it is intriguing enough to make me want to continue. I have a feeling that the resolution next issue will not give me the same feeling, as it has the Sons of the Tiger, who always disappointed me. We'll see, since this is all fresh, to me. Ya know, a name like Fancy Dan isn't a compliment and not many mob types would take kindly to such a thing. Kind of like calling Ben Siegel "Bugsy," which could get you killed.
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