|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Sept 27, 2020 12:37:29 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #3This was released in April of 1972 and, I think, Roy was E-I-C, at that point; but, I can't confirm what month of 1972 he took over from Stan. Every reference I have readily available just lists 1972. Given that last issue's credits said "Stan Lee-editor" and thisone just has "Stan Lee Presents," I'm gonna say this was when Roy took over. This might be correct, but GCD and Mike's Amazing World both have Lee as the editor of MTU #3, and Thomas as editor of #4 onwards. My suspicion is that the issue occurred during the transition and I find it more logical that Roy was doing more of the editing grunt work; though, a lot of interviews indicate he wasn't terribly hands on with the books, unless something cropped up that would cause a legal issue or his opinion was solicited. Roy was already acting as Stan's right hand man and was being groomed for the role; which is why I go with Thomas as the actual editor, without a definitive notation from Roy. Stan was never shy about crediting himself (or taking credit, in general); though the omission could have easily been a deadline thing, as a transition had everybody wondering who to letter into the credits. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Sept 27, 2020 12:44:28 GMT -5
Good God, codystarbuck , I nominate you for the "Iron Man" of review threads. The number of threads you manage to maintain and the amount of analysis you provide is staggering. Some day I'd like to see a three-way no-holds-barred review thread "cage match" between you, shaxper and chadwilliam . All three of you have some really great review/synopsis/analysis threads. Keep up the great work.  Well, my Starman thread had been dormant, for a while; because I had trouble finding images. I may go back and restart that, as I have found a source for pulling images from the whole series and the Shade mini-series. My Other Guys has also been quiet, as it has been hard to find the time to research things. Plus, I've gone through most of the major indies, with Fantagraphics as the most recent (and I still need to finish it) and some smaller ones left, without much written about them. My war comics thread kind of lost steam, due to lack of focus and turned into more of a general discussion thread about war comics and individual stories, which is fine. A couple of people stole my thunder on threads I was contemplating, but they beat me to it (Astro City, New Teen Titans, Sandman). I do claim first dibs on Howard Chaykin and David Tischman's American Century! |
|
|
|
Post by zaku on Sept 27, 2020 14:15:47 GMT -5
I've always thought the panels of Spider-Man even being bothered by the fists of regular people sort of absurd. Conway may have wanted some conflict, but he had to have remembered that Spider-Man takes on people who could shrug off anti-aircraft missiles, so the blows of random men should not have him even dropping to one knee. In the 70s probably even an old lady with Parkinson could kick Spider-man's ass. Really, sometimes it was simply embarrassing. I mean, Spidey beat a Galactus' herald. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Sept 27, 2020 14:28:56 GMT -5
Conway does give him an out, as something is making him dizzy.
|
|
|
|
Post by zaku on Sept 27, 2020 14:41:46 GMT -5
Conway does give him an out, as something is making him dizzy. Wasn't he regularly humiliated by Taruntula too, whose only superpower was to have incredibly uncomfortable shoes? |
|
|
|
Post by dbutler69 on Sept 29, 2020 13:46:14 GMT -5
It's been a while since I've rea them, but I recall not much caring for the Human Torch issues of MTU. I was glad when Spidey took over full-time (more or less).
|
|
|
|
Post by tartanphantom on Sept 30, 2020 8:58:45 GMT -5
I've always thought the panels of Spider-Man even being bothered by the fists of regular people sort of absurd. Conway may have wanted some conflict, but he had to have remembered that Spider-Man takes on people who could shrug off anti-aircraft missiles, so the blows of random men should not have him even dropping to one knee. In the 70s probably even an old lady with Parkinson could kick Spider-man's ass. Really, sometimes it was simply embarrassing. I mean, Spidey beat a Galactus' herald. Conway does give him an out, as something is making him dizzy. I think it was all just an excuse to give the artist an opportunity to draw those cool Ditko-styled "starburst/blinky-blinks" around Spider-man's head at least once per issue...
(this panel is not from MTU, but you get the idea.)
|
|
|
|
Post by zaku on Sept 30, 2020 17:14:56 GMT -5
In the 70s probably even an old lady with Parkinson could kick Spider-man's ass. Really, sometimes it was simply embarrassing. I mean, Spidey beat a Galactus' herald. Conway does give him an out, as something is making him dizzy. I think it was all just an excuse to give the artist an opportunity to draw those cool Ditko-styled "starburst/blinky-blinks" around Spider-man's head at least once per issue...
(this panel is not from MTU, but you get the idea.)
I understand what you mean...  |
|
|
|
Post by zaku on Sept 30, 2020 17:27:18 GMT -5
(yes, the Spider-man who had had a tough time with a not-superpowered opponent he is the same who fought FOUR powered adversaries in one panel and THEN kicked Mr. Fantastic ass)  |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Sept 30, 2020 18:10:06 GMT -5
(yes, the Spider-man who had had a tough time with a not-superpowered opponent he is the same who fought FOUR powered adversaries in one panel and THEN kicked Mr. Fantastic ass) Aw, he just had his wheat cakes that morning. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 3, 2020 21:27:14 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #4 Need to boost sales; put X-Men in there! Okay, 10 or 20 years later and that would be true; but not then. Creative Team: Gerry Conway-script, Gil Kane-pencils, Steve Mitchell-inks, John Costanza-letters, Roy Thomas-editor Roy is definitely listed as editor. Synopsis: Petey is have dreams about Morbius and Harry Osborne wakes him up and asks him if he wants some pills....no, not really,,, He's feeling feverish and begs off for more sleep, pushes Harry out of the room and switches into Spidey gear and goes off to hunt for Morbius and get some help. Meanwhile, Pro Jorgensen looks at Morbius' notes and doesn't hear him come in (through the window). He slaps the prof around and drags him out. Spidey arrives later, to find a mess and the landlady comes upstairs and finds him there...  She faints, he bolts, and J Jonah blames him for kidnapping the professor. Meanwhile, a friend and colleague of Prof Jorgenson, Prof Xavier, calls his students.  They all turn up, except Hank, who has problems of his own, in Amazing Adventures. He briefs them and sends them out in civies to find Spidey and the Prof. Spidey is still pretty woozy and he gets pulled off course, by Angel, decides to play around and then Iceman gets involved (then Maverick and Cougar...oh, wait, that's Top Gun). Before you know it, a Marvel fight breaks out between Spidey and the X-Men.  Jean subdues Spidey, then he passes out. Xavier tells them to bring him back. Xavier goes trespassing in Spidey's mind and sees the past couple of issues and says Morbius is the enemy. He says Spidey will die unless the X-Men capture Morbius. Morbius looks over the unconscious professor and then goes hunting and takes out some would-ne muggers, who name drop Kolchak, the Night Stalker (well, the name of the pilot movie, bit Kolchak himself). Angel hears a victim scream and calls the others and they catch Morbius kneeling over his victim. Morbius attacks, Kane goes all wild with figures...  They fight some, then Morbius grabs Jean and has her in a chokehold, threatening to kill her.Cyclops banks a shot off a convenient mirror and takes him down. They haul himn back to Xavier, find Jorgensen and cure Spidey. Spidey kisses Jean and swings out, while Xavier looks over Morbius. Thoughts: Decent story with dynamic Kane art, though Mitchell's inking needs work in panels. The X-Men were not the superstars of the comic world, as their book had turned into bi-monthly reprints and it would be a while before they were the darlings of the comic set. They are used well enough here, though Spidey is more of a McGuffin to bring them to Morbius. At least now he is cured and can drop the woozy effects. The Night Stalker appeared on ABC tv in January, of 1972 (I remember seeing part of it, but it had vampires, so I was gone fast) and one of the muggers asks Morbius if he thinks he is the Night Stalker. That isn't incorrect as Kolchak was the journalist looking for the Night Stalker. Then, the Night Strangler, then whatever story there was to snoop that week, for 20 weeks. Best Spidey managed was The Electric Company and Nicholas Hammond (the Von Trapp kid). Remember when Marvel wasn't even the flavor of the month, in Hollywood? This about average for the team-up template. Next time, he teams with the Vision, which makes for a different relationship.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 3, 2020 21:54:55 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #4 Thing & Cap and a little band, known as The Guardians of the Galaxy! Creative Team: Steve-Gerber-writer, Sal Buscmea-pencils, Frank Giacoia-inks, C Jetter-letters, Petra Goldberg-colors, Roy Thomas-editor Synopsis: Ben takes Wundarr to the zoo. More people stare at them than the monkeys. He goes up to a stand to buy Wundie some cotton candy and turns around and finds out he has let all of the kitties out of their cages...  That is one yellow lion, Petra! Ben plays with the big kitty and then a gorilla wants to join in, while Wundarr has a fit. Not far away, Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter are walking and he hears the commotion. He sees Ben putting his playpals back in their cages and then turns his attention to the thieves looting the empty concession stands. And wouldn't you know it, Namorita just happens to be in the park and says hello to Wundie. Ben returns all grumpy and she tells him to chill. She is attending college and offers to tutor Wundie. Ben is happy to dump him on her and goes off with Cap to explain. They go to the Baxter Building, for coffee and unstable molecules and Reed is tinkering with Dr Doom's time machine. Reed leaves it to entertain their guests and Ben accidentally trips a power switch. Faster than you can say convenient plot twist, it is powered up and has pulled some woman from the future to their time and she screams at he linoleum o the floor, since everyone knows it was responsible for the great ugliness of 1974. She trips out, muttering about Baddoon then faints. When she comes to, she tells them about the Brotherhood of the Baddoon and Ben, Cap and Sharon go with her Back To the Future and materialize in a Gene Colan panel...  Well, that is what he made it look like. They are attacked by Zoms, then Daleks turn up....no, wait, that is Dr Who: Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 AD (just 130 years people, reserve your slave collars!) It becomes Clobberin' Time and everyone joins in...  Then the Monster of Baddoon does a run in and the ref calls for the bell, after he decks Ben and causes Sharon to be knocked out. A Zom hits Cap with a foreign object ray and they are carried out of the ring. Thoughts: Classic Gerber fun and he was the guy who made the Guardians of the Galaxy interesting, though we don't see them yet. Thing's lighter tone contrasted well with the sometimes gloomier MTU (depended on Spidey's mood, though Conway tended to gloomy and whiny). Ben is just happy to punch bad guys. Apparently, Central Park is the Nexus of All Coincidences. Next time, the Guardians join Ben & Cap for a War Games match against the Brotherhood of Baddoon...and possibly the 4 Horsemen. Wooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Oct 4, 2020 9:22:47 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #4Synopsis: Petey is have dreams about Morbius and Harry Osborne wakes him up and asks him if he wants some pills....no, not really,,, He's feeling feverish and begs off for more sleep, pushes Harry out of the room and switches into Spidey gear and goes off to hunt for Morbius and get some help. Meanwhile, Pro Jorgensen looks at Morbius' notes and doesn't hear him come in (through the window). He slaps the prof around and drags him out. Spidey arrives later, to find a mess and the landlady comes upstairs and finds him there... A ho-hum story. Although the original X-Men are my favorite version of the group (and franchise), the story was not so in demand of their abilties that a tweak wouldn't have worked with another guest star. I will never forget that evening. The Night Stalker was and remains one of the greatest TV movies and I say best vampire stories ever committed to film. In 1972--the year this issue was published--calling Kolchak "The Night Stalker" would have been incorrect, as the TV movie's title referred to Janos Skorzeny--the vampire. The title became so popular that the 1974-75 TV spin-off added TNS as a description for Kolchak himself, which did not make much sense. |
|
|
|
Post by mikelmidnight on Oct 5, 2020 11:51:17 GMT -5
A ho-hum story. Although the original X-Men are my favorite version of the group (and franchise), the story was not so in demand of their abilties that a tweak wouldn't have worked with another guest star. A so-so appearance, although in retrospect I'm rather fascinated by these 'lost years' in which the X-Men title was reprints, but they were sort of lurking in other peoples' titles (and changing their uniforms a lot). John Byrne did maybe his last readable mainstream comic on precisely this era, and although it was cancelled prematurely, I honestly thought it ought to have been a limited series at the outset, as the time period had a discrete ending (with the team sent out to contact Krakoa). |
|
|
|
Post by dbutler69 on Oct 5, 2020 14:47:16 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #4Need to boost sales; put X-Men in there! Okay, 10 or 20 years later and that would be true; but not then. Creative Team: Gerry Conway-script, Gil Kane-pencils, Steve Mitchell-inks, John Costanza-letters, Roy Thomas-editor Roy is definitely listed as editor. Synopsis: Petey is have dreams about Morbius and Harry Osborne wakes him up and asks him if he wants some pills....no, not really,,, He's feeling feverish and begs off for more sleep, pushes Harry out of the room and switches into Spidey gear and goes off to hunt for Morbius and get some help. Meanwhile, Pro Jorgensen looks at Morbius' notes and doesn't hear him come in (through the window). He slaps the prof around and drags him out. Spidey arrives later, to find a mess and the landlady comes upstairs and finds him there... She faints, he bolts, and J Jonah blames him for kidnapping the professor. Meanwhile, a friend and colleague of Prof Jorgenson, Prof Xavier, calls his students. They all turn up, except Hank, who has problems of his own, in Amazing Adventures. He briefs them and sends them out in civies to find Spidey and the Prof. Spidey is still pretty woozy and he gets pulled off course, by Angel, decides to play around and then Iceman gets involved (then Maverick and Cougar...oh, wait, that's Top Gun). Before you know it, a Marvel fight breaks out between Spidey and the X-Men. Jean subdues Spidey, then he passes out. Xavier tells them to bring him back. Xavier goes trespassing in Spidey's mind and sees the past couple of issues and says Morbius is the enemy. He says Spidey will die unless the X-Men capture Morbius. Morbius looks over the unconscious professor and then goes hunting and takes out some would-ne muggers, who name drop Kolchak, the Night Stalker (well, the name of the pilot movie, bit Kolchak himself). Angel hears a victim scream and calls the others and they catch Morbius kneeling over his victim. Morbius attacks, Kane goes all wild with figures... They fight some, then Morbius grabs Jean and has her in a chokehold, threatening to kill her.Cyclops banks a shot off a convenient mirror and takes him down. They haul himn back to Xavier, find Jorgensen and cure Spidey. Spidey kisses Jean and swings out, while Xavier looks over Morbius. Thoughts: Decent story with dynamic Kane art, though Mitchell's inking needs work in panels. The X-Men were not the superstars of the comic world, as their book had turned into bi-monthly reprints and it would be a while before they were the darlings of the comic set. They are used well enough here, though Spidey is more of a McGuffin to bring them to Morbius. At least now he is cured and can drop the woozy effects. The Night Stalker appeared on ABC tv in January, of 1972 (I remember seeing part of it, but it had vampires, so I was gone fast) and one of the muggers asks Morbius if he thinks he is the Night Stalker. That isn't incorrect as Kolchak was the journalist looking for the Night Stalker. Then, the Night Strangler, then whatever story there was to snoop that week, for 20 weeks. Best Spidey managed was The Electric Company and Nicholas Hammond (the Von Trapp kid). Remember when Marvel wasn't even the flavor of the month, in Hollywood? This about average for the team-up template. Next time, he teams with the Vision, which makes for a different relationship. I agree that this was a pretty decent story. It bothers me that the X-Men were wearing their old uniforms instead of the ones they changed to, like 5 years ago. Also, why does Peter always treat his friends shabbily, then immediately afterwards berate himself for doing so? He's lucky to have friends. Hey, Jean actually got to do something useful here! The X-Men look pretty incompetent here against Morbius, until Scott pulls off a nice bank shot. They weren't doing so hot against a sick Spidey, either, until Jean showed her stuff. Spidey didn't actually do a whole lot in this one though, overall. As you pointed out, he's basically a plot device. |
|
