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Post by mikelmidnight on Nov 1, 2022 11:45:07 GMT -5
Well, shoot, maybe I'm mixing up two stories. Wasn't Runner the storyline that introduced 'Buried Alien'?
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Post by badwolf on Nov 1, 2022 14:48:47 GMT -5
I've never seen the Buried Alien thing, although I've heard reference to it. Runner appeared in Peter Gillis' run of The Defenders and was involved with the Moondragon storyline IIRC.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 8, 2022 16:41:27 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #93-94  Spidey & Werewolf (by Night) & Shroud Creative Teams: Steven Grant-writer, Tom Sutton & Carmine Infantino-pencils (93), Mike Zeck-pencils, 94; Jim Mooney-inks (93), Mike Esposito-inks (94)Rick Parker-letters (93), Jim Novak-letters (94), Ben Sean-colors (93), Janice Cohen-colors (94) Denny O'Neil-editor Synopsis: #93- Peter Parker is at a jazz club, where Jack Russell is hanging out, with some dude, named Buck Cohen, after the events of Spider-Woman #18-19, which I haven't read, so who cares? Jack smells something (probably some of them mary ja-wana cigarettes) and we see some dude called Tatterdemalion appears....  He wants revenge and destroys luxuries so that the rich don't have them. he spots Russell, who he met in WWBN #9, which I haven't read, and knows he is a werewolf. he tries to attack Russell and Pet tries to intercede and gets knocked to the floor. Before TD can do anything, it turns pitch black and a couple, called Cat & Mouse, want to settle up with TD, but their boss tells them that the two with him can handle it and they have a different mission....  Russell turns into the Werewolf, Pete into Spidey and they fight with TD. meanwhile, some mystery chick slinks out.....  They fight and TD knocks Spidey loopy and knocks WW out and carries him off. Spidey loses them and goes down into the sewer to hunt them, after spotting a manhole cover ajar. The mystery woman watches him descend and follows, but she is watched by someone who is watching her watch Spidey. Who watches the Watchmen? TD hs WW strung up, in some underground chamber, with a bunch of derelicts hanging around. Spidey tracks them down and is attacked. They fight, the Werewolf gets free, they double-team TD and down he goes. The mystery woman slinks off, but only Spidey catches her movement. He chases off after her and eventually catches up and is introduced to ....  Dansen Macabre! Wonder if she would team up with Waltzin' Matilda? #94 Spidey is back at the jazz club, where Cat & Mouse are cleaning up. Spidey interrogates them, asking for the location of The Shroud, who tells Spidey, himself....  Spidey says something about Shroud taking over the LA gangs and they fight, but Shroud creates darkness, which causes Spidey's senses to act wonky. He realizes he can focus his Spidey Sense to detect Shroud using his power and punches in that direction and knocks him out. he then carries him off. Spidey flashes back to his meeting with Dansen Macabre, which occurs in Spider-Woman #20 and I have had enough. I shouldn't have to read 3 issues of another comic to follow the storyline. This is a team-up book! She put the whammy on Spidey and sent her after Shroud, but not because, as she claimed, he was a bad guy, but, because he is a rival and she serves Shiva and not Kali. Spidey brings in Shroud and Dansen wants to sacrifice him on an altar, to Shiva; but, it isn't Shroud. The real one turns up and releases Spidey from her control; but, she does the Dance of Death, but fails to win the American bandstand Dance Competition, because her partner didn't rip off her skirt to reveal a leotard, underneath (that seemed to be the routine for every couple, in that stupid contest). Spidey's eyes were covered by Shroud's power and he is immune. She uses her power to prevent Spidey from seeing or sensing her, but Shroud is still immune and follows her. She tries to drop a statue of Shiva on them, which Spidey catches and Shroud decks her. Spidey then turns on Shroud, 'cause he thinks he is a mobster. Shroud uses his powers to escape. Pete goes to the airport, to fly back to New York (this is all in LA) and is met by someone, in a trenchcoat, who turns out to be Shroud, who shows Spidey his scarring, on his face, which is hidden by his cloak. He reveals to Parker that he knows he is Spider-Man, but is keeping the secret and then leaves. Spidey flies home. Thoughts: Not bad, except you had to have been reading Spider-Woman to follow all of this. This is a team-up book; keep the team-up within it. Spider-Woman was a pretty weird book, with a mix of horror/mystery and superhero, which tended to fluctuate in quality of story. I read the early issues, but only up to issue 7, then checked back in with her final issue. The more horror elements and characters that filtered in, the less I cared and this is kind of a disjointed mess, because of the tie-in. The book does some recap; but, I find I don't care. Shroud was created by Steve Englehart, in Super-Villain Team-Up, as a mix of the Shadow and Batman. He went over to Spider-Woman, to hang out for a bit, which is part of why he is here. The Shroud-centric issue #94 ends up being more interesting, to me, thanks to Shroud, especially vs Tatterdemalion and his cliched actions. He is one of too many tramp villains who seek revenge and lives in sewers and abandoned places. Phantom of the Opera he ain't. Shroud is interesting enough for me to forgive the weak plot; but, he never really made a great impact at Marvel. My only other encounter was in What If...?#34.....  Next, Spidey meets up with Mockingbird!
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Post by badwolf on Nov 8, 2022 18:27:12 GMT -5
I hadn't read the Spider-Woman issues at the time, and I had no trouble understanding this story arc as a kid. I just figured Dansen took control of Spidey "off-camera."
I always wondered what was up with those sashes that whirl around Dansen, even when she's standing still.
I like the trick the Shroud pulls at the end of the story--pretty neat.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Nov 9, 2022 7:24:06 GMT -5
Peter Parker is at a jazz club, where Jack Russell is hanging out, with some dude, named Buck Cohen, after the events of Spider-Woman #18-19, which I haven't read, so who cares? Jack's buddy from the Werewolf By Night series was named Buck Cowan. Calling him Cohen here was probably a goof by Grant. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 9, 2022 7:57:02 GMT -5
Peter Parker is at a jazz club, where Jack Russell is hanging out, with some dude, named Buck Cohen, after the events of Spider-Woman #18-19, which I haven't read, so who cares? Jack's buddy from the Werewolf By Night series was named Buck Cowan. Calling him Cohen here was probably a goof by Grant. Maybe he converted.... |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 20, 2022 19:19:20 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #95 Spidey and some chick, called The Mockingbird! Creative Team: Steven Grant-writer, Jimmy Janes-pencils, Bruce Patterson-inks, John Costanza-letters, Ben Sean-colors, Denny O'Neil-editor Synopsis: Peter Parker is back in New York and leaving the airport, behind a very nicely assembled blond woman who heads towards her car, in the parking lot. Some jerk jostles him as he pushes his way past and sets off Pete's Spidey Sense. He suits up and sees two hoods accost the blond, though she handles them pretty well on her own....  Spidey jumps in to help and disarms the goon with the gun, then sees that the blond has run off, in full costume (wonder how she hid the buccaneer boots, under her slacks, without making them hang funny?) Before you know it, a car lifts into the air, in a rather familiar fashion, and attacks the now masked blond woman....  Her thoughts mention a Supreme Headquarters and that she doesn't have the firepower to counter their armament. Fortunately, Spidey does and he turns the flying car into a convertible. He then dumps one of the goons and then the blond uses a pair of "battle stalves," to remove the other. She locks the two pieces together, to create a single quarterstaff (actually, it's a buck-and-a-quarterstaff, but she's not telling him that!) and pole vaults up into the car. Spidey is having trouble controlling the car and she slides into the driver's seat and takes over and introduces herself as Mockingbird and then tells him the goons were SHIELD agents. SAY WHAT?  ?? Spidey realizes he saved her from the government and wants to then put a stop to the car; but, she vaults off and lands on a passing train and speeds away. Spidey tries to follow, but mistimes a jump and gets knocked loopy. He wakes up to find himself in front of Nick Fury, and some dude named Delandan, the Branch Chief. Fury is actually an LMD, which SHIELD seems to have a lot of Fury LMDs wandering around, what with one hanging out with Scorpio, as he battles the Defenders, not long ago. Delandan tells Spidey that he is in hot water and that if he wants to get out, he needs to help them trap Mockingbird. Spidey says he owes them that and then Delandan gives him a briefing on Mockingbird....  She is Bobbi Morse, a SHIELD scientist who worked with Ka-Zar, then fought SHIELD agents, as The Huntress. She then attacked other installations and donned a new costume and is gunning for Nick Fury. Except, that isn't quite what happened. Bobbi Morse was a partner and occasional lover to Ka-Zar and a SHIELD agent. She uncovered corruption int he Latin American branch of SHIELD and undertook the identity of Huntress to root it out, in Marvel Super-Action #1 (magazine). SHIELD agents radio in that Mockingbird has been spotted and they observe her progress towards SHIELD HQ. We see Bobbi's POV and she spots her watchers, but continues to get to Fury and uses a coded signal to get into the SHIELD HQ entrance. An ambush is waiting but she bluffs them with her coat and takes them down. She spot Fury, who runs off to send a warning and she chases after. She takes down Fury, but spots that he is an LMD...  Spidey turns up and they fight and he traps Mockingbird in his webbing. She says she has been gathering evidence to expose SHIELD corruption and has it stored in microfilm, hidden in her earring. Delandan then turns up, in a battle suit, with talons and attacks her to get it. Spidey realizes he has been had and attacks, but gets gassed and battered by the armored Satan Claw, which Delandan is wearing. He also shocks Mockingbird and is about to kill her, when Spidey recovers and snares his feet, allowing Mockingbird to kick him in the face. They double team him and Spidey gets the Satan Claw off his hand and destroys it; but, his suit has other weapons. He is about to deliver a coup de grace, when his weapon is shot away by the Fury LMD....  ...who turns out to be the real Nick Fury, in disguise. If this is a clone, a Skrull or a wizard, I am out of here! Spidey snares Delandan and Fury reveals he has beenw atching him and Mockingbird's evidence is what he needs to sink him. Mockingbird recovers and moves in, but is shot down by SHIELD agents, acting under their previous orders, from Delandan. Mockingbird is badly wounded and Fury carries her off for medical treatment, as he chews out the SHIELD grunts. Then, we are left hanging. Thoughts: The letters column reveals that Mark Gruenwald, who is assistant editor on MTU, had conceived of a character, called Mockingbird, while he was writing Spider-Woman. He designed a costume, though the character was going to be black and be part of the S-W supporting cast. He left the series without introducing Mockingbird, but showed the concept sketch to Steven Grant, who wanted to bring back Bobbi Morse, who was last seen in the black & white magazine Marvel Super Action, as The Huntress. DC had introduced Helena Wayne, in the interim, so the name wasn't available, since Marvel didn't have a trademark. They combined the two ideas and Bobbi Morse became Mockingbird, and pretty much a Marvel copy of Black Canary, minus the sonic scream. She next appeared in Gruenwald's Hawkeye mini-series, where he furthered the connection to Black canary, by hooking her up with her own "Green Arrow." After a whirlwind romance, Hawkeye and Mockingbird were married, at the end of the 4-issue mini-series, then became regulars in West Coast Avengers. Mockingbird was killed off but then brought back via that rather pathetic plot device from Secret Invasion, where she turns out to have been a Skrull abductee and it was her replacement who died. I liked Bobbi Morse as Huntress, which ended up being truncated, as it was supposed to be a two-part story' but, economic issues forced MSA into being a one-shot (which featured the second Dominic Fortune story, after Marvel Preview #1), as well as The Punisher. The idea of a full-time SHIELD special agent was pretty good, but little came from it, until here. Sadly, this plot was crying out for a longer storyline, as it would have been nice to see Mockingbird compiling the evidence of a corrupt segment of SHIELD. Instead, that is dispensed with in a couple of panels and she ends up shot and we don't even get a follow-up, in the next issue. We'd have to wait a couple of years for the Hawkeye mini. Mockingbird did end up being used in the Agents of SHIELD tv series and was supposed to get a spin-off, but it wasn't picked up. She sort of appeared in the MCU, as Hawkeye's wife is the retired Agent 19, which was Bobbi Morse's code number. Ironically, a few years after this comic, Black canary, in detective Comics #554, debuted a new costume that was similar to Mockingbirds, including white buccaneer boots, though the color scheme was different and she had bird wings at the shoulders. There had already been a Mockingbird, in comics, in the original Secret Six series, where Mockingbird is the mysterious blackmailer/benefactor who assembles the team and gives them their orders. The mysterious figure is secretly one of the members of the team. It was an espionage series, designed to cash in on the popularity of Mission: Impossible, which it pretty much swiped completely, apart from the blackmail gimmick. Otherwise, their missions were straight out of the MI plot file. This is one of the things I liked about MTU and MTIO, that you occasionally got a debut of an interesting new character or a nice revamp of an existing character. Sadly, they didn't always capitalize on it, as we see here. Such was the problem of keeping a creative regular team on a team-up book, as they were considered and entry level series. Everyone wanted to move on to a higher profile assignment, preferably a solo superhero or team book.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 11, 2023 16:30:50 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #96 I really hate the redesign of Howard. I know why it was done; but, I still hate it. Creative Team: Alan Kupperberg-one man band, Denny O'Neil-editor Synopsis: While Spidey is swinging overhead, whining about all of his troubles, Howard the Duck has driven his cab, from Cleveland to New York City, with a guy who wants to maintain the status quo..... What, these geezers?   He wants to stamp out all fads and keep things perpetually the same. Howard suggests he try in Los Angeles, the real media center, but his fundraising could only get him to New York. Howard gets him to central park and he generously gives him a whole quarter, as a tip. Apparently he is maintaining the status quo from 1910! Meanwhile, Spidey arrives home and relaxes with some tv and sees a report about Status Quo, being at the park, but he gets tickets to see Blondie, instead. He sees Howard in the crowd and is curious and decides to swing on down to see what is going on. Howard sees the crowd get riled up by SQ's rhetoric, then turn violent and attack joggers and frisbee players. They should hurl some pet rocks at people with mood rings! Spidey turns up to rescue some people boogying on down, at the disco, while some others hurl explosive frisbess, provided by SQ...  They escape on jet-propelled skateboards. Meanwhile, the crowd spots Howard and turns on him. he hightails it out of there and hides in the lake, after stripping off his clothes, so he look s like another duck. Spidey scoops up some of the rioters in webbing Howard spots SQ and attacks him and Spidey stops SQ from using an unfair advantage, then Howard talks SQ down from his psychoses and the police haul him away. We end with Howard getting a series of traffic tickets, after illegally parking his cab. Thoughts: Call me a Friend of Ol' Gerber, because Howard sucks in other hands. This isn't particularly funny, nor is it especially biting satire or clever commentary on current events. It's a bland, mediocre attack on people who want to prevent change from occurring. Kupperberg is no Steve Gerber and I seriously doubt that O'Neil gave two s@#$s about this title, compared to Daredevil or Moon Knight.
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Post by badwolf on Jan 12, 2023 10:26:12 GMT -5
I always felt a little bad for Status Quo when he lost his hat.
As an adult I relate to him more every day.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 25, 2023 17:26:40 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #97 Hulk & Spider-Woman! Not sure why Spidey is gone; but, Hulk was on tv and Spider-Woman had completed her Saturday morning run, as she only got one season (not unusual, for cartoons, but it wasn't much to write home about.) Creative Team: Steven Grant-writer, carmine Infantino-pencils, Al Gordon-inks, Diana Albers-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Denny O'Neil-editor Synopsis: A somewhat off-model Hulk is stomping around the Southwest, causing mayhem, while Carmine indulges in his stock panels and story angles....  Bounty Hunter Jessica Drew arrives in town, incognito and checks in with partner Scotty McDowell. She is hunting for someone smuggling criminals across the border. She is seeking one Johnny Yen. he should be worth quite a bit of money, as the Yen was up against the dollar, in 1980. A Dr Benway (as opposed to Dr Bombay) is alerted to the Hulk's proximity and he means to capture him, to aid his experiments in creating monsters. He chases after him and zaps him with a pleasure ray (ewwwwwww....) which turns him into Banner.  Elsewhere, Spider-Woman pays a visit to the sheriff, who was alerted to her visit by an LAPD contact. She asks about Johnny Yen and is pointed to Dr Benway's villa. When she leaves, the sheriff calls the doc to alert him. Spider-Woman sneaks in and finds Johnny Yen, transformed into a monster and begging her to help him. She is attacked by the doc's monsters and ends up chained up. You know, Spider-Woman spends more time tied and chained up, in her appearances, than Bettie Page!  Speidi (pronounced like Heidi, since it's a girl) wakes up and identifies Dr Benway as having his license revoked for trafficking in urban legends and human organs. He's now luring criminals to his lab, to swap their brains into monsters, to find a lifeform that can exist in harsh environments, when man takes to space, to survive. He zaps Speidi and sicks his monsters on her. She breaks loose from her chains and finds Banner and frees him, then slaps him around a bit until he becomes Hulk. Starting to sound like Tony Atlas. Don't ask. Hulk smash and Speidi captures the crooks and the crooked sheriff. Hulk bounces away, at the end. Thoughts: This pretty much reads like an unused Spider-Woman story, repurposed here as filler. Grant was the writer on her series and Infantino was the original artist. Who seemed to draw her in bondage, a lot. It is slight and Infantino indulges in his usual camera angles and stock poses and everyone seems to lean way back, to look dynamic and everything is very angular. The Hulk is rather funky, but Spider-Woman is her usual curvy, big-haired self. Spidey returns next issue, with Black Widow.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 8, 2023 17:16:08 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #98 Spidey & Black Widow! Wolverine is messing around with prof X's chair and all hell breaks loose! Creative Team: Marv Wolfman-plot, Roger McKenzie-script, Will Muegniot-pencils, Bruce Patterson-inks, Diana Albers-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Denny O'Neil-editor. Man, trying to remember how to spell Will Meugniot's name is nearly as bad as Bill Sienkiewicz! This just happens to appear on newsstands the same month as another Marv Wolfman story: The New Teen Titans preview, in DC Comics Presents #26. Given that there is no reference to the previous Black Widow MTU appearances (especially the Claremont SHIELD storyline), my guess is that this was one of those inventory plots that had been sitting around, when deadline doom was upon the book. Wolfman had been writing Daredevil, not too far back and Roger McKenzie had recently been writing it, along with Frank Miller co-plotting, before Miller was handling story & art. That probably explains why we end up dealing with a DD villain. Synopsis: Black Widow is at a waterfront warehouse, conducting a surveillance, looking for arms smugglers, when Spidey comes along and and sticks his nose into things. He surprises the Widow, then tails the van to its destination, in Brooklyn, without getting Widow's okay. She radios her contact and makes her own way and surprises Spidey, as he watches, through the always-convenient skylight. Widow alerts her partner and she and Spidey go in through the roof, while the contact, Simon, goes through the door. The leader of the smugglers decides to beat a hasty retreat, with an added booby trap, for good measure...  Simon, the cannon fodder, goes after him and gets wounded and carried off as a hostage, while the heroes shelter under a web barrier, protecting against the fire. They emerge and Widow wakes up, then spots Simon's blood and tells Spidey they have to locate him. Spidey hangs a thug up on a bridge, to entice him to cooperate and he starts singing.  They learn that the arms are related to a possible gang unification and they follow some leads. Spidey talks to a snitch, while Widow follows her own intel and busts some heads...  They converge on the big boss' estate and find Simon bound and gagged. Spidey impulsively goes to free him and gets a message from Admiral Ackbar.... They are surrounded by goons, with guns, and have to fight their way through. they meet the big boss, who turns out to be The Owl, who is stuck in a floating chair, after the last time he met DD and Spidey, in MTU #73. He fires his chair's weapons, then goons arrive to reinforce. The Owl escapes and Widow tells Spidey to stop him, while she faces the horde of goons. Simon takes aim and takes out the floating chair in two shots. Spidey decides to help Widow, but she has it covered....  Thoughts: Nice little done-in-one issue, reinforcing the idea that this was an inventory plot, dusted off to fill a gap. Whether NTT had anything to do with the timing or is coincidence is up for grabs. An Annual follows on the heels of this, which might explain why they needed a quickie story. Marv is good for these kinds of things and he handled team-ups well. Roger McKenzie does a good job with the dialogue. Will Meugniot is still a bit of a rookie and the art is a little looser than we are used to, and his webs are very different, as can be seen in the second example. He had done a little bit of work, for Marvel, before this; but, had primarily worked in the Undergrounds and for Hanna-Barbera, as a story editor. In a couple of years, he and Mark Evanier would turn down offers from both DC and Marvel and publish their own series, DNAgents, at Eclipse. However, Meugniot would maintain a relationship, via animation, as he was involved in Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, The Pryde of the X-Men pilot, and the Saban X-Men series. The silhouette of the Owl, looking like Wolverine, is probably deliberate, as the X-Men were pretty popular, at this stage, and were making more guest appearances. This is post-Dark Phoenix, so Wolvie is in full stardom. However, if you pay attention, you can see Owl's little coachman's coat, with the shoulder cape thingie. Widow is mostly treated well here, as Spider-Man looks like an ass, stumbling into her operation and she is not constantly being rescued. Hats off to Marv & Roger as Claremont would have had her shot and tied up by the baddies, instead of Simon. These kinds of issues were why I used to pick up many of the team-up books.
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Post by badwolf on Feb 8, 2023 17:51:50 GMT -5
I remember thinking Simon had killed the Owl at the end, as they show his chair exploding, and thinking it was odd that none of the heroes were bothered to go check on him.
The only other Marvel Meugniot work I can think of is one or two issues of Marvel Chillers, during the long Tigra arc. Mainly know him from DNAgents, and Eros Comics published his naughty sketchbooks under the title of Exotic Fantasy. I regret selling those...
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Post by MDG on Feb 8, 2023 20:43:08 GMT -5
I remember thinking Simon had killed the Owl at the end, as they show his chair exploding, and thinking it was odd that none of the heroes were bothered to go check on him. The only other Marvel Meugniot work I can think of is one or two issues of Marvel Chillers, during the long Tigra arc. Mainly know him from DNAgents, and Eros Comics published his naughty sketchbooks under the title of Exotic Fantasy. I regret selling those... In the mid-70s, he published a fanzine also called Exotic Fantasy, signing his work WAM. I still have an issue somewhere |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 22, 2023 17:24:10 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up Annual #3 Hulk & Power Man & Iron Fist & Machine Man & Spider-Man & Ted & Alice & the rest....... Creative Team: Roger Stern-writer, Herb Trimpe-pencils; Mike Esposito, Bruce Patterson, Frank Springer, Al Milgrom, Joe Rubinstein, David Humphreys-inks; Jim Novak & John Costanza-letters; Ken Klaczak-colors, Denny O'Neil-editor and keeper of the ampersand Synopsis: Hulk is in the woods, minding hios own business, smashing trees, when a hooded figure comes along and tries to bend him to their will. Hulk no take kindly to that...  Hulk pull of stupid hood and find girl underneath. Girl is Nightshade and she cons Hulk into believing she didn't mean to give him a headache and she needs his help to get back this thing, from some guys. Hulk sees nothing suspicious about that and says "Why didn't girl just say so. Hulk no mind reader!" Elsewhere, in Manhattan, some sleazy extortionist gets his payoff and is about to leave without trading the film of an actress, before she was famous, when he runs into the security for the payoff, in the form of Iron Fist....and not the whussy version, from Netflix, either......  The ferrous-handed one offers the jerk a chance to keep his teeth in his skul and asks for the film; but, the twit decides to shoot and....  He throws Fisty....uh, no, that just sounds like a name that wouldn't get past the Code....Irony? Iffy?.......let's just go with Danny....the film and tries to run off with the payoff, but runs into an impediment....  ....named Luke Cage, aka Power Man. He pulls out a sawed-off double barrel shotgun and, Sweet Christmas, makes a big mistake by shooting Cage. The blast tears his favorite yellow shirt, you dig; so, Lucas decides to tear the goon a new one. Cage tosses him aside when Danny alerts him he has the film. They check to make sure it is authentic....then check it again, in case they missed something the first time....then check it a third, 'cause....you know?...then go off to see their client. Well, in the flesh..........er, in person. Spidey was swingin' by to make his contractually obligated appearance in MTU, but moves along. The next day, the Heroes For Hire meet a new client, one Joy Meanchum, of Rand-Meachum, and Brock Jones, a representative of Delmar Insurance. They want to pay the pair 3 times their going rate to nursemaid a silicon chip, a one-of-a-kind chip (a Pentium?..... (Man, that's like a computer history of the 90s!) EDIT-go watch it on Youtube....I'll wait..........done? back to the jokes..... The duo takes the case, while Joy Meachum gives iron Fist the stink eye, since she knows he is Danny rand and their fathers built the company and have butted heads in recent years, but you have to go read Iron Fist to learn that; but, since no one did and Danny Rand got evicted and had to go move in with Luke Cage, like a third rate Odd Couple.... Brock Jones hides the fact that we have another guest star in this thing; but, it wasn't exactly one to boost sales, though I always liked him. Delmar sends out dozens of decoys with fake circuit boards/chips/vacuum tubes ow whatever, while Luke & Danny ride shotgun, on the Chattanooga Cho-Choo, with the real thing (the chip, not a Coke). Cage is suspicious of the whole thing, as it seems like they are unnecessary and Rand-Meachum had its own security people. Then, the Hulk attacks the train, takes the chip and brings it to an A-frame house, somewhere in the Smokey Mountains, where Nightshade is waiting. Cage and Rand end up at a small rail station, where they deal with people from Delmar: Edward Harris, who is a jerk, because he isn't in Hollywood, making films about the space program; Maggie Jones, who seems to want to know if Power Man and Iron Fist can live up to their names, in other capacities and Aaron Stack, who is Machine Man, in disguise. When he hears the Hulk was involved, his audio sensors....er, ears, perk up. He tries to ask questions, but Harris butts in. He uses his circuitry to make a prank phone call to the station phone and diverts Harris. He tells Jones to tell Stack he is in charge, while he is gone. She isn't happy and goes looking for him, but he is in the john, turning into Machine Man. He slips out, then Machine man "arrives" on the scene, to lend a hand, in tracking the Hulk. Maggie is dismissed, but flips them the bird and hides under a convenient canvas, in the truck that the Heroes borrow, to trace the Hulk. They trace him tot eh A-frame; but find only puny Banner. He doesn't know what is going on, but Maggie storms in and isn't buying it. She browbeats him until he gets agitated and Hulks out. Machine Man reacts quickly....  They fight and bite, and bite and fight and bite....fight, fight fight...bite, bite, bite......then Power Man talks down the Hulk, because.....why not? They talk and Hulk tells them about girl, they go hunting. Nightshade pulls into the Bates Motor Inn (and leave your brains in the shower!) and then pulls out a computer, dial up modem and makes a call to AOL.....  ...then hacks into bank accounts and swipes their funds, then talks to Mathew Broderick and asks if he wants to play a game.... Hulk smashes the wall, Nightshade runs the other way, right into Machine Man and faints. They go inside, find out that she has nearly started World War III, until Cage smashes the chip. Nightshade wakes up an runs off, but Hulk smashes her car and she falls into the hands of the state troopers. Back at Delmar, Aaron Stack, Ed Harris and Maggie Jones meet up and hilarity ensues. Torpedo is nowhere to be seen, alas. Thoughts: Fairly mediocre industrial espionage plot; but, it's a pleasant enough diversion. Not exactly worthy of an annual though; maybe an issue of Marvel premiere, or something. I was greatly surprised that Brock Jones appears; but, the Torpedo doesn't get involved as he was established, by this point and had been in two issues of Marvel premiere, about 3 years before. Then again, Marv Wolfman was not involved and maybe this was the only way Stern could slip him in. He did appear in the last issue of Machine Man, after this story, where Maggie introduces him to Aaron Stack, as her brother. Previously, Marv Walfman had name dropped Brock, in the series, as VP of the company, when Aaron Stack first goes to work for Delmar, when Wolfman revived the series, with issue #10. However, he is unseen, until the final issue, written by Tom DeFalco. The hacking plot predates War Games, by 3 years; but, Salvage 1 had shown a computer modem in operation, the year before, in its pilot movie, when they hack into the NASA system, to provide guidance to the improvised moon rocket, which Andy Griffith sends up, to salvage the gold from instruments left on the moon (it was convoluted, but entertaining). Nightmare scenarios of an accidental nuclear launch, caused by computers, went way back, in sci-fi, including the cult favorite Colossus, The Forbin Project, where a massive super computer becomes intelligent and locates a sister computer in the USSR and they decide to take over from humanity (who screwed things up anyway, so why not?). That film was swiped for Skynet, in Terminator (as well as Harlan Ellison's Outer Limits scripts, "The Soldier" and "Demon With a Glass Hand," which led to a suit and a settlement, with his work acknowledged in the film credits, because Cameron was dumb enough to admit the swipe to a journalist, from Cinefantastique). So, nothing new here. The only thing missing was the Tandy Whiz Kids and a TRS-80. The art on this is serviceable, but nothing to write home about. Herb Trimpe was a good storyteller, but was never one of my personal favorites. The Hulk was never a favorite, either, outside of the Defenders, in Steve Gerber's hands. The changing inkers doesn't help the situation. I have to say, Marvel Two-in-One had better annuals than MTU.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 22, 2023 17:37:26 GMT -5
ps Here's what a modem used to look like, kids.....  Back in my day, you had to walk uphill, 20 miles, barefoot, in the snow, over a field of broken glass, to get into a computer net and all you could do is play gmes where you answered yes or no in a computer version of a choose-your-own-adventure. Unless you had one of these.......  ...buried in your impenetrable vault, underground....  In the 60s, you could run your Right Wing secret organization and launch an invasion of the USSR, with a set up like this....  With the right stack of punchcards, you could play Tic-Tac-Toe! |
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