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Post by MDG on Dec 9, 2020 10:15:08 GMT -5
I think that most of this was inked by "Wally Wood," not Wally Wood, i.e., his studio.
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 9, 2020 10:30:14 GMT -5
I think that most of this was inked by "Wally Wood," not Wally Wood, i.e., his studio. Probably so; there are plenty of panels and figures that strongly suggest that. Still, Wood's studio was skilled at following their mentor's approach to the art, giving the expected sort of "Wood polish" to most of the panels if not providing the master's touch directly. It's not like he handed it off to, say, George Roussos, and then put his own name on it. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 9, 2020 10:39:28 GMT -5
Talk about a comic that was well worth your 15 cents! The super-hero take on Westerns was certainly a staple at Marvel, and at DC, a few Western heroes had "secret identities," too. However in all of those stories, the secret identity was clearly in the Clark Kent mold of the shy retiring type whom no one would ever expect of being the alpha-male heroes of the stories. Johnnny Tane, aka Johnny Thunder, was a schoolteacher; Matt Hawk (Two-Gun Kid) was a lawyer; and DC's Nighthawk was an intinerant fix-it man. Unless I'm mistaken, though, Red Wolf is different, at least in this story, as he is heroic in both of his identities. A nice twist on a trope. BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if Gardner Fox weren't slipping in a sly acknowledgement of Jimmy Wakely in Red Wolf's "civilian" name. He was a comic book character (and real-life Western star) whose adventures Fox wrote for DC back in the early 50s. Looking forward to more of these, MWGallaher! |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 10, 2020 13:51:25 GMT -5
Wyatt Earp and Annie Oakley
Let’s hold off just a bit on following Red Wolf and the Men from Fort Rango to backtrack a bit. I said early on that I didn’t know for certain whether Marvel had done any significant Western Team-Ups in the Atlas era. Well, pardners, turns out they did, indeed! This here’s the first one I know of, one I just the other day came upon. As the senior representatives, Wyatt and Annie jump to the front of the line! Wyatt Earp #5, July, 1956 “The Day Marshall Earp Met Annie Oakley”, 5 pgs Hank Chapman, writer Norman Maurer, artist (Annie Oakley drawn by Ross Andru, penciler and Mike Esposito, inker)  Cover by John Severin Summary: The text in this story is narrated in the first person by Wyatt Earp, the mythologized historical figure of the Old West. As the tale opens, the five Barker brothers have their guns drawn on the frontier marshal when a well-aimed shot from afar disarms one brother, allowing Earp to start duking it out.  The shots are coming from a girl on a golden horse, and the Barkers rush out into the street and begin shooting at her. It’s Earp to the rescue as he tackles one of the shooters, while the lady defends herself from a distance. Bronc Barker gets a bead on Marshal Earp, but bails after his pistol is lassoed from his hand. All five ride off from the gunfire of Earp and…you guessed it, Annie Mozee, a.k.a. Annie Oakley! Earp dines with the lovely young blonde, who is well known to Earp as a member of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Annie obliges the town with a demonstration of her shooting skills:  When Annie goes on her way to New Mexico, she’s sniped by the Barkers, who didn’t take kindly to her interference back in town. Before “Bronco” can fire, his brother stops him—he’s got a better idea! Later, Annie’s golden horse (Nugget) rides into town alone, and Earp realizes he’s meant to follow the riderless steed to a presumably-in-need-of-aid Annie. All according to the Barker’s plan! They ambush the marshal, with plans to take them deep into an abandoned mine, where they can trigger a cave-in and rid themselves of the heroic pair. Deep in the mine, Earp and Annie make a daring escape in an oar car, beating the Barker’s out of the mine and using their horses to pull down the cross beams supporting the mine entrance, trapping the Barkers inside!  Wyatt bids a fond farewell to the unforgettable Annie Oakley and sends his horse into town to get aid to dig the Barkers out. The End. Comments: As I noted early in this thread, Annie Oakley was one of Atlas’s earliest Western headliners, debuting in Spring 1948, as did Kid Colt. Annie’s series wasn’t the hit that Colt’s was, and Annie Oakley went on hiatus in November 1948, with issue 4. Marvel/Atlas brought their interpretation of Annie Oakley back to the stands with issue 5 in June 1955, while Earp’s series debuted in November, 1955. In what is surely not a coincidence, an Annie Oakley television series (starring Gail Davis) had begun airing in 1954, and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O’Brian, had just debuted on tv on September 6, 1955. Both being historical figures, Atlas had nothing to keep them from trying to capitalize on the two Westerns by bringing their own versions to the comics pages. In its original run, Annie Oakley was a cross between a Western and a glamor girl/humor book, which were a large part of the line with titles such as Jeanie, Margie, Mitzi, Nellie, Cindy, Frankie, Rusty…and that’s just the one-word titles!  With the 1955 revival, the series was done as a straight Western, with art by Andru and Esposito (though the cover below is by the wonderful Joe Maneely):  It’s this version of Annie that we see teaming with Wyatt Earp (as opposed to a random “historical” version), presumably done for cross-promotion between the fresh new titles. They even had Andru and Esposito handle the Annie art, to keep the look completely consistent, which seems like unnecessary effort, but there you go. The story, obviously, is slight, as Atlas’ Westerns tended to be. An already short allotment of 5 pages feels like even less when you work in a page of demonstrating the guest character’s skills. This Western Team-Up probably didn’t yield enough dividends in extra sales to merit trying this again for a long while.
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 10, 2020 14:42:52 GMT -5
I wonder why Annie got no mention on the cover.
Maybe the editors were worried the male Western fans would think that the "other" Annie was going to be co-starring with Wyatt.
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 11, 2020 1:20:42 GMT -5
Arrgggh....I really wish the entertainment media would do a bit of research and stop putting holsters on Wyatt Earp. From everything I have read, he usually carried his pistol in a pocket sewn into his suit coat, not a holster. Yeah, yeah, they are just following the movies and tv.....
Razzle-frazzle-fragga-cragga!
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 12, 2020 16:20:39 GMT -5
Six months after the (re)introduction in Marvel Spotlight #1, readers were treated to... Red Wolf #1, May, 1972 “A Thunder of War Drums”, 21 pages Gary Friedrich, writer Roy Thomas, plotter Syd Shores, artist Sam Rose, letterer  Cover by Gil Kane After a splash that provides a nice pin-up shot of Red Wolf and Lobo (Red Wolf’s red wolf) behind the full moon, the story focuses on a band of Sioux hunters returning with a less-than-satisfactory catch of two buffalo. The weary men make camp dangerously close to a white man’s ranch, hoping to go unnoticed until morning, when they can continue rested. No such luck, of course, as the Indians are suddenly surrounded by armed white men who accuse them of stealing buffalo from their land (“Indian land!” according to the hunters). One of the braves is shot dead, to the objections of his father. To avoid the vengeance of the rest of the tribe, the rancher’s son proceeds to slaughter the entire band, and all of them head back to the ranch, the recent acts of murder weighing almost nothing on their consciences. As they prepare to dine, a spear strikes the dinner table. Red Wolf has led an unnoticed survivor here, and he can identify the perpetrator!  Although the ranchers expect to be able to easily handle a pair of Indians, Red Wolf and Running Buck are more than a match for them, and the Indians take Nate Simpson’s guilty son to Fort Rango, to face justice. Running Buck doubts that the white men will punish their own, but Red Wolf has faith: “The commandant, Major Sabre, is a just man!” Back at the Indian village, chief Gray Fox mourns his son. Standing Bear urges vengeance, but Red Wolf overcomes him and convinces Gray Fox to wait and test the white man’s justice. This makes an enemy of Standing Bear, who vows that Owayodata (the Indians’ name for Red Wolf, you’ll recall) will pay for this humiliation. Red Wolf returns to the fort, and we witness his use of a secret cave and tunnel, from which he emerges from a hidden entrance into the fort’s stable, in the guise of scout Johnny Wakely. Soldier Rafe Hacker (perhaps a relative of scout Ned Hacker from the debut?) and Nate Simpson both plead with Major Sabre to release the killer, to no avail. Running Buck and Wakely get a taste of the men’s racist disgust.  Hacker takes his anger out on Johnny with a fight…one which Johnny intentionally throws in order to keep his secret identity as Red Wolf from any suspicion. The orphan girl from the first episode is sympathetic…until she remembers that Indians killed her parents. Next morning, Johnny discovers that Running Buck is missing. Maj. Sabre dismisses Johnny’s concerns that the Simpsons have kidnapped him, but one of Simpson’s men arrives to confirm it: they want to trade Running Buck for prisoner Clint Simpson. Sabre plans to take a day to decide, and orders Johnny to stay confined to the fort. But as we know, Johnny has a secret egress, and it is in the guise of first Red Wolf and then disguised in poncho and hat that he begins to seek Running Buck, presumably held somewhere in town.  Johnny quickly picks up a careless bit of information from some liquor-loosened lips: his friend is being held in the warehouse. Doffing his disguise, Red Wolf runs the rooftops to the warehouse. He beats from above on the roof, drawing the attention and gunfire of the men inside. The one man who dares to climb to the roof to investigate gets a handful of fang from Lobo! Inside, the men figure it’s about time to eliminate Running Buck before someone comes to his rescue, but Red Wolf is already doing just that, smashing through the window in a sequence nicely represented by this issue’s cover. It also would have been nicely represented by Gil Kane’s original, somewhat different cover pencils:  Red Wolf easily defeats the armed men with his coup stick and his supernaturally-enhanced skills and stamina, riding away from the Simpson crew’s hail of bullets. The white men follow Red Wolf and Running Buck into a dead end canyon, where they expect to be able to easily dispatch the Indian troublemakers, but Red Wolf launches a surprise attack when they round the bend, kicking two men off their mounts and defeating the rest “riding, weaving and dodging as if possessed by the power of Wakan Tanka…” Red Wolf returns to Fort Rango with Ned Simpson in two and in bondage, only to be interrupted by Standing Bear and a small band of braves eager to battle with the soldiers. He grants Red Wolf one last chance to show that the arriving judge will see that justice is done, or else war will follow! Major Brett Sabre hasn’t gone entirely soft since his debut in Western Gunfighters #1: he strongly disapproves of Red Wolf’s vigilante ways, but agrees to hold Simpson while they attend the trial:  The trial is brief: the judge will not allow the testimony of an Indian, and dismisses the trial for lack of evidence. Sabre is outraged, realizing this means “all-out war with the Indians!” “That would be your problem, Colonel!” the judge replies (I guess word has not yet spread about Sabre’s promotion, as the judge is not the first to address him by the rank under which he arrived at Fort Rango). Comments: Not a bad kick-off to Red Wolf’s solo book! This and Gunhawks, which debuted around the same time (and which we’ll be looking at more closely later) both highlighted the evils of racism, making the books a heavier read than typical adventures of their superhero contemporaries at Marvel. I appreciate the more realistic downer conclusion, which was probably a fairly powerful shock to readers in 1972. The conclusion has the potential to drive future stories, and we’ll see if it does so or if the threatened state of war develops. Syd Shores’ art on its own is just as satisfying as it was under the inks of Wally Wood (or his studio). Gary Friedrich, filling in this issue for Gardner Fox, who, according to the letters page, is scheduled to return next issue, turns in a script that’s a cut above most of the other stuff I’ve seen from him in the course of my Western Team-Up reviews. Speaking of which, no, this isn’t much of a Western Team-Up. Colonel/Major Brett Sabre is a passive supporting character, prominent enough to be named, unlike the white orphan girl who appears to be set up to be a love interest—would this be Marvel’s first inter-racial romance? Anyway, as the former headliner of his own feature (more or less), his continued presence in Red Wolf gives me an excuse to cover this brief run in detail as I drag out the Western Team-Ups as long as I can manage! |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 14, 2020 20:30:07 GMT -5
Red Wolf#2, July 1972 “Day of the Dynamite Doom!”, 21 pgs Gardner Fox, writer Syd Shores, artist Artie Simek, letterer  Cover by Gil Kane As this issue opens, Red Wolf and Lobo are watching, from an overhanging ledge, the pursuit of a red-haired woman by some unsavory-looking white men. The hero and his animal companion launch themselves onto the men, but at the same time, the woman’s horse (Brazos) bolts when the bit gets in his teeth, sending her uncontrollably to the rim of Deadfall Canyon. In a remarkable rescue, Red Wolf leaps to wrestle the horse to the ground, throwing the girl—she’s the orphan from Fort Rango, of course. She spurns Red Wolf instinctively, despite her gratitude…as you’ll recall, she hates Indians because some of them killed her parents. Red Wolf insists on escorting her the rest of the way, since the men (whom she overheard discussing a plan to steal dynamite and rob a stagecoach) are certain to resume their pursuit. Literally kicking and screaming, Red Wolf binds the girl (“Molly Brennan”. If the name’s been mentioned before I missed it until now) and dresses her in stolen Cheyenne clothes, dyes her hair, stains her skin, and leads “Babbling Brook” to the care of Elk Woman, an elderly Cheyenne. With Molly secure, Red Wolf aims to investigate the conspiracy with a visit to Fort Rango.  He sneaks through his secret entrance, returning to his public identity of Johnny Wakely, and gets the usual racist remarks from nasty Rafe Hacker, before consulting with Major Sabre, who dismisses Red Wolf’s concerns. There’s no dynamite laded for that stage, and he can’t spare the men to accompany Johnny.  Leaving the major, Johnny becomes the victim of Rafe’s prank, a red candle hurled at his feet, making Johnny panic at the live “dynamite” in front of him. It’s embarrassing, but it reminds him that dynamite is a usual part of mining equipment, and “mining equipment” was on that bill of lading! Back to the Red Wolf Cave! “Babbling Brook” is learning Indian life back at the village when Kiowa attempt to abduct the “Cheyenne maiden”, but Red Wolf is there! The Kiowa warriors put up a good fight, but of course our hero can beat them. He rides off with Molly, who now also has the Kiowa interested in her. They vow to follow and retrieve their new “squaw”. With both the Longriders and the Kiowa after her, Red Wolf hides her in a tipi at the tallest point of the rocky highlands, while he pursues his business. What could possibly go wrong with Lobo there to protect her? Meanwhile, the Longriders are executing their robber of the Butterfield Overland Stagecoach, shooting the driver and wrecking the vehicle. Red Wolf is nearby, and he heads to grab the case of dynamite, but the men who ambushed the stage fire on him from a distance. The Owayodata evades the bullets and gathers the dynamite sticks, but finds himself trapped. Back at the tip, the Kiowa have tracked down Molly, who has learned to trust Lobo. Lobo becomes her defender against the would-be abductors, holding them off while Molly flees, still in Cheyenne garb, to the safety of Fort Rango. But she’s distracted by the sound of gunfire and finds herself pinned down with Red Wolf. When Red Wolf lights the dynamite, the condescending Molly is alarmed: “Drop it! As an Indian, you don’t know how dangerous it is!” Red Wolf, of course, does indeed know that the bundle of lit sticks he hurls at the longriders is plenty destructive, bringing down the canyon wall around his assailants. Now, it’s just a matter of mopping up, with the help of Lobo, who protects his master from a bullet in the back. With the white men defeated, the Kiowa catch up, insisting on taking their “squaw”. Red Wolf easily talks them out of taking her while taking Molly down a notch or two:  Molly is delivered to Fort Rango, Sabre expresses disapproval of Red Wolf’s encroaching on the Fort’s law-keeping authority, and Molly, well, Molly might just be falling for a red man… Comments: Man, this stuff is just not what I think of when I think of "Gardner Fox". I think this kind of material was something Fox felt more comfortable with than the superheroes he'd done so much of, something more akin to the pulp magazines, with hints of a more adult tone. (It makes me picture an alternate reality in which this was a Marvel B&W non-code magazine, alongside Godzilla and Thor the Mighty and Sherlock Holmes.) To our modern eyes, the way Molly Brennan is handled (both figuratively and literally) might be cringe-inducing, especially where Fox segues from rape-y threats to sitcom-y humor, but Fox's dialog does have a freshness and wittiness that has aged better than much of his younger contemporaries' dialog has. I've already sung the praises of Syd Shores in every installment, and he has yet to disappoint me. He's good with "character actors", Western scenery, realistic physiques, delivering solid work on every page. Gil Kane's cover is nice as always--it's worth noting that both covers so far have been reasonably fair depictions of scenes to be found inside the comics themselves, which we all know was not something a reader of the time could expect! I should have made a comment previously on Red Wolf's excellent logo. That's one sharp, readable design there, feeling somehow just "old-timey" enough to evoke the period spirit in me without being a hackneyed "Old West" effort. And obviously way better than the generic logos of, say Two Gun Kid and Kid Colt Outlaw. Coming Attractions:
Red Wolf continues to provide a satisfying blend of new wave Western, 70's relevance, superhero tropes, romantic tension, violence, and more modest and realistic action (no shooting the guns out of the enemies' hands so far!). It's a stretch to call the "Men from Fort Rango"'s contributions to these stories a "Western Team-Up", but as short as Red Wolf's run will prove to be, I think it's worth continuing to consider this a merger of the Red Wolf and Fort Rango features, so I'll be looking at four more issues of this before moseying on. There's a fork in the trail when we pass Red Wolf #6, and I'll just have to see which direction the wind blows me when we get there...
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Post by profh0011 on Dec 14, 2020 22:33:35 GMT -5
For decades, when I thought of Gardner Fox, I thought of excessively-contrived sci-fi plots with insane, non-sensical pseudo-science, populated by one-dimensional characters. I guess that's what happens when you're under the iron hand of Julie Schwartz.
Then I read some of his GHOST RIDER stories from Magazine Enterprises in the early 50s. WOW. Now that stuff was fun.
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Post by profh0011 on Dec 14, 2020 22:39:52 GMT -5
One thing that always drives me crazy about credits in Marvel books, is when the story is split between 2 writers. "Plot" is obviously the more involved part, coming up with THE STORY. (I had at least one fanatic try to long-windedly argue with me on this board about exactly what I mneant when I said "story"-- TSK.) Then you have the dialogue. Hell, ANYBODY can fill in word balloons, if the entire story and artwork is already sitting there. Yet one individual conned countless fans of his into somehow believing THAT was the most important part, that filling in the word balloons was "THE WRITING". To the point where, a "plotter" was always mentioned last, as if it was an unimportant afterthought, instead of the MOST IMPORTANT PART. Of course, when the ARTIST is doing the writing, an editor would have a motive for trying to downplay their contributions. At Marvel, many times, you had 3 writers... 1 - story idea ("plot") 2 - story & art 3 - dialogue (sometimes totally re-writing the existing story, a situation that should never have happened)
The entire Don Heck run of IRON MAN was done this way.
Only one person at Marvel tended to write FULL SCRIPT before-the-fact-- Don McGregor. And "editorial" treated him with contempt. I have a feeling Gardner Fox may also have been working full script-- and this may be the real reason why he was described as "somehow never fitting in". He was bucking the system. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 15, 2020 6:27:19 GMT -5
Fox writing full-script at Marvel seems quite likely to me as well. As one of the most experienced writers, he'd be both more "set in his ways" as well as having the track record to be allowed to do so. I can absolutely see how having one or two titles in the line operating under a different production process would aggravate those deep into the "system" he'd be bucking with that.
Anyway, Fox's work here certainly doesn't read like he was filling in the blanks on Shores' unlettered artwork, an approach that usually leaves behind some evidence to a careful eye...but then, I admit I'm not being too careful reading these things, since most of the Western Team-Ups have just not been worth it. Even so, those seams have shown in several instances I've mentioned where the script adds information to clarify/contradict/elaborate on what the art depicts.
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 15, 2020 14:36:14 GMT -5
Red Wolf#3, September 1972 “War of the Wolf Brothers!”, 21 pgs Gardner Fox, writer Syd Shores, penciler Vince Colletta, inker Artie Simek, letterer  Cover by Syd Shores Red Wolf, on horseback, with Lobo beside him, head for the smoking sound of gunfire in the distance. He finds a horrific scene: the men of Darby’s Medicine Show are slaughtering and burning a peaceful Cheyenne village. Red Wolf mounts a dramatic defense and Darby and his brutish gang retreat, leaving Red Wolf puzzled: “Why should they attack this village at all? It has no wealth—nothing worth the gunpowder they used to kill its men! Why, Lobo—why?” The survivors are grateful, but Red Wolf cannot leave the mystery unanswered and rides in pursuit of a solution. He find an amnesiac white man lying face down on the trail and escorts him to a cabin in search of rest and care. The lady of the house, surprised to see an Indian aid a white man, tends to him—the man’s identity yet another mystery for Red Wolf to resolve. After changing to his civilian identity in the cave outside Fort Rango, it is Johnny Wakely who emerges from the secret passage in the stables, to find Darby and his men arriving. Darby is reporting “an Indian attack on my companions and myself” to “Colonel” Sabre. Sabre, knowing the peaceful nature of the tribe, doubts the story, so Darby initiates his Plan B. When a contingent of Darby’s crew departs the fort, the suspicious Sabre sends Johnny to trail them. He spies the men pouring something upstream of the village’s water stream, but is knocked out with a pistol butt to the head, delivered from behind by one of Darby’s lookouts. The men stage Johnny’s “accidental” death, tying the unconscious scout’s feet to his reins and sending his horse off at a gallop! Lobo, seeing the deadly act unfolding from above the trail, begins to howl, summoning a pack of timber wolves, who surround the horse, bringing it to a halt before Johnny is killed.  Lobo gnaws through the ropes, freeing Johnny Wakely as he recovers, and defending his master from one of the more rebellious of the wolf pack, affirming his leadership status. He sends Lobo away with the pack while he heads back to the fort to report the poisoning of the Cheyenne village! After taking some time to muse over Molly Brennan’s slowly-dissipating racial prejudices and the equal value of all races and religions, Johnny reports the crime to Sabre, who claims that even attempting to verify Johnny’s accusations would be a violation of the peace treaty. Johnny heads off to do something about it as Red Wolf…  …while Molly follows him into the stable, hoping that Johnny can tell her more about Red Wolf. Yes, Molly has a little crush going! To her surprise, Johnny is nowhere to be seen inside! In his cave, and in his Red Wolf garb, Johnny lights the sacred flames that summon the spirit of the eternal Owayodata, who confers upon Red Wolf the mission to save the village, no matter how overwhelming the task appears for one man.  Red Wolf rides forth, and meets the amnesiac, now recovered and riding. He tells his story: he’s Federal Marshal Jim Brannigan, victim of a gang of stage robbers—specifically, the ones led by a man in a derby with a medicine show wagon! One mystery answered, but one remains! Teaming up ( Yes!), the two Western heroes ride to find the Darby gang burning the tipis of the Cheyenne, who are weak and sickened from the poisoned water. They’re outnumbered, but Red Wolf turns the team-up into an army, when Lobo leads his pack to their side! Marshal, Indian superhero, and wolfpack join forces to save the village. Red Wolf, even facing an armed thug, is powerful enough to prevail, and the Marshal arrests Darby before he can flee. Darby refuses to reveal where he stashed the loot from the stage robbery, but Red Wolf has already solved that final mystery: the loot is buried under a tree in the Cheyenne village, as revealed by the dead roots killed by Darby’s shovel. He wanted the Indians out so he could dig up his loot safely.
Comments: Since to all appearances, Darby’s men had succeeded in poisoning the stream before Red Wolf was knocked out, you’d think his first step would be to warn the surviving Cheyenne, not to run off to Fort Rango. The Indians are already too sick to fight by the time Red Wolf and Brannigan come to the rescue, conveniently for the plot, I suppose. Gardner Fox is really hammering the racism lessons throughout this issue: the beautiful widow who nurses Brannigan argues about it, Molly is trying to overcome it, Sabre (now a Colonel again, sloppy writing…) denies Red Wolf fair hearing under the law, and even the final caption harps on it: “And in time, that brotherhood which both envision may yet come to pass!”. This feels like an editorial influence, trying to make the book match the kind of 70’s relevance that the rest of Marvel’s line was striving for. Heavy-handed in an otherwise enjoyable yarn. One area of increased emphasis I do like in this issue is the mysticism, with Owayodata making another appearance. He always shows up as a giant vision, which makes for a cool visual. I also get a sense of the supernatural from Lobo, although Fox may not have intended that. But why not attribute Lobo’s ability to summon and control a pack of timber wolves to the occult forces that power our Indian hero? An empowerment which, so far, has been quite vague. Does Red Wolf have any superpowers? He attributes his ability to detect the dead roots to the guiding spirit of Owayodata, which felt like a bit of a cheat after playing up the mystery angle. Fox is also brewing up some potential interracial romance here, so overall, the series feels pretty rich to me. I like what Fox was trying to build up, and I continue to like Syd Shores’ pencils, although Colletta tends to overwhelm Shores on many of the faces, in particular. As good as Gil Kane’s covers have been, it’s nice to see Syd get to put the face on this issue. Hey, at least this one had a bit of Western Team-Up, not with Sabre, who’s back to being an unsympathetic ass (hey, maybe he really was busted back to the rank of Colonel?), but with Brannigan as the partner. Brannigan gets his own little romance going, which seems a bit pointless, but it’s there.
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Post by profh0011 on Dec 16, 2020 9:50:48 GMT -5
I can absolutely see how having one or two titles in the line operating under a different production process would aggravate those deep into the "system" he'd be bucking with that. The really sad thing was some years ago when I figured out (all on my own, NO ONE else has ever said this) that "The Marvel Method" as it existed in the 70s (plot / art / dialogue) as started by Roy Thomas (not "ye editor") was, as Alex Toth said, NEVER a good way to do comics, but, as I figured out, a CON GAME done and enforced in order to push the idea that "ye editor" had "always" been doing it that way in the 60s, when, in fact, he NEVER DID.
In the 60s-- and this can be backed up with interviews with every arist who worked directly with said editor-- the "artist" came up with the story, and the dialogue was done after, often completely altering the intent of the original (real) writer. Even Barry Smith complained about this on the one episode of Dr. Strange he did, reviving the series in MARVEL PREMIERE. Smith came up with the story 100% on his own, with NO input from his editor. The editor then completely re-wrote the story at the dialogue level, so it bore no resemblence to the original intent. And this, Roy Thomas then followed with the 2nd episode... before Garnder Fox walked into the middle of the mess. It's amazing the series survived that revival!
Steve Ditko's DR. STRANGE somehow survived mostly intact, apparently because not only was he writing his own dialogue on separate sheets of paper (for the editor to use or alter at will), but the editor had NO IDEA WTF Ditko was doing... and so, mostly left it alone.
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 19, 2020 6:35:41 GMT -5
Red Wolf#4, November 1972 “The Wrath of the Man-Bear!”, 21 pgs Gardner Fox, writer Syd Shores, penciler Vince Colletta, inker Jean Izzo, letterer  Cover by Syd Shores Summary: We join Red Wolf already in hand-to-hand combat with his first “super-villain”, a strong figure wearing a bear head as his headdress. Red Wolf has stopped him from an attempt to steal a pony herd, and from harming little Elkhorn. As they battle, Red Wolf seeks answers, learning only that the mysterious opponent—Ursa the Man Bear--steals to feed his people. Ursa gets the upper hand, showing tremendous strength: enough to threaten Red Wolf by raising a small boulder in his arms, which Red Wolf barely escapes with a kick to Ursa’s face. Since their struggle was at a cliff’s edge, Ursa and the boulder both go down, to Ursa’ presumed demise. Red Wolf returns the injured young man Elkhorn to his tribe, seeking to learn the story of Ursa. Elkhorn’s sister Fawn flirts with the Indian hero, inviting him to dine—“To accept food from an unmarried Cheyenne is the same as promising to marry her!”, Red Wolf remarks! Being raised by whites, Johnny (Red Wolf) Wakely has never heard the legend he hears tonight. A baby boy lost in the snow, orphaned and carried off by bears who raise him, learning the Indian language and horse-riding by spying on his own kind, stealing from humans who dared not challenge him until Red Wolf defeated the Man-Bear. The Crazy Dog warriors of the Cheyenne interrupt the meal, arguing that the attempted theft was a trick of the white man and suing to go on the warpath. Red Wolf has enough respect among the tribe to talke them down, keeping the peace between races as is his sworn responsibility. His thoughts reveal his burden: though he has caught the eye of both Indian maiden (Fawn) and white girl (Molly Brennan), his duties prevent him from pursuing love. To no reader’s surprise, Ursa has survived his fall with a lucky water landing, and he resumes his raiding, this time targeting a provision of cattle heading for Fort Rango, leading his tribe of bears in a savage attack on the white soldiers. As Johnny Wakely, Red Wolf has returned to the fort, where our skeptical friend Col. Brett Sabre insists that the raid on their government provision detail was carried out by Cheyennes in bear disguises! Johnny continues to argue that these were real bears, but cannot explain about Ursa’s leaderless band of marauding ursines without revealing his Red Wolf identity (I don’t follow that, but okay, Mr. Fox). Sabre has sent the cavalry to retrieve the stolen cattle. So once again, it’s up to Red Wolf to correct the misunderstandings between the races and prevent them from sparking war between the Cheyenne, who accuse the soldiers of the pony theft, and Fort Rango, who accuse the Indians of the cattle theft. It’s a thankless task before him, and he communes with the gigantic spirit of Owayodata, who confirms the sacrifices he must make as Red Wolf.  Later, Red Wolf meets up with soldiers, who have kidnapped Fawn as hostage against the aggressions of the Cheyenne. They still don’t believe the story Fawn tells, that the Man-Bear is leading the bears against the soldiers. Red Wolf has his own doubts; surely Ursa is dead!? The white soldiers are now faced by Cheyenne Crazy Dog warriors, who have followed Fort Rango’s lead by kidnapping Molly! Red Wolf arranges that Molly and Fawn will stay together, unharmed, while Red Wolf resolves the dispute. After some careful tracking, Red Wolf discovers the truth: Ursa has survived and is out for vengeance!  Another round of combat between Man-Bear and Red Wolf ensues, amidst geysers, into one of which Ursa is accidentally punched. Red Wolf regrets seeing his opponent fall into the steaming pit: “There was good in Ursa! But he knew only the companionship of the bears. He lacked the fellowship of human beings!” With no proof of his wild story of the Man-Bear, Red Wolf fears that war is inevitable, but he and Lobo can at the least drive away Ursa’s tribe of man-eating bears. Or so he hopes—might Ursa have escaped the boiling waters of the geyser as well? The lair of the bear pack reveals both the stolen ponies and cattle, which serve as evidence of the innocence of both sides, and Red Wolf leaves between Fawn and Molly, both wondering which of them has his interest.  CommentsGardner Fox is showing a little more ambition with this series now, elevating the emotional conflict central to Red Wolf’s life. He’s not just an Indian superhero with a secret identity, he’s a servant of a god with sacred responsibilities, set apart from both of his cultures but serving as the mediating balance preserving their peaceful co-existence. His duties prevent him from seeking a normal life in either world, but he is faced with very human temptations from both. Sounds like the kind of thing that we would have appreciated seeing him bring to his extensive work on The Spectre, but which he did not bring, as those of us following chadwilliam ’s Spectre thread have seen. Besides simply telling us of Red Wolf’s existential plight, Fox makes the additional effort to reflect it with this issue’s opponent. While at first it appears that Man-Bear is here just to add some superhero flavor to boost the sales, Fox has a somewhat loftier goal, presenting Man-Bear’s story as an illustration of the consequences of a life apart from your true society, something that Red Wolf is risking by accepting his role as the living Owayodata. Red Wolf tells us that there is good in Ursa, and hints that he could have survived. Had the series run longer, perhaps we would have seen a true Western Team-Up between the two down the trail a bit. Certainly Col. Sabre is not turning out to be a reliably helpful partner in this series. Syd Shores is still doing strong work here, though Colletta's inks sap them of the polish he could bring to his own pencils. But Shores is busy at Marvel penciling both this series and their other new Western, The Gunhawks. Praises once more for a cover that honestly represents the interior action!
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Post by profh0011 on Dec 19, 2020 9:51:24 GMT -5
It's just so typical of Marvel to keep using 2nd or 3rd-rate inkers who manage to DRAG down the quality of various pencillers' work... Vince Colletta, Mike Esposito, Klaus freakin' Janson (Dave Cockrum said he QUIT doing "STAR TREK" because he was so heartbroken over what Janson kept doing to his art).
Even on the 1967 GHOST RIDER, they had Colletta inks all 7 issues. Does anyone really think Dick Ayers wouldn't have preferred inking his own work? That would have been preferable... although, someone along the lines of Ernie Bache (Ayers' assistant in the early 50s) would have been better. I tend to think Bache did for Ayers what Ernie Chan did for John Buscema. The whole "assembly-line" system often resulted in more inferior comics than superior ones.
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