Could have sworn the liner notes of a CD compilation I had said 7 ft....but, tall.

"Beds Are Burning", at the time of release, was played heavily, on MTV and got radio play, in my area.  I don't recall much else.  A few Australian bands and artists made it big here.  The Bee Gees and Olivia Newton John, obviously, and Rick Springfield was massive when Working Class Dog hit the Top 10 and he was appearing on the soap opera General Hospital.  I hadn't remembered that he appeared, in cartoon form, on the Saturday morning Mission Magic, which I watched, as a kid.

Men at Work hit big, thanks to MTV airplay and AC/DC was popular in original line-up and in regrouped form.  INXS hit it pretty big, again thanks to MTV.  Divinyls had some success, with MTV and college radio airplay; but were more of a cult band, until the 1991 album, Divinyls came out, with "I Touch Myself," and shot up the charts, thanks to a suggestive video and lyrics.

Little River Band was fairly big, in the late 70s/start of the 80s and Helen Reddy in the early to mid-70s.

MTV also kind of helped foster a second British Invasion, as a lot of the New Wave/New Romantics and Post Punk bands and performers got a lot of MTV airplay, since there weren't a lot of American music videos, in their early days.  1982 and 1983 were big periods for that, with ABC, Duran Duran, Adam Ant, Haircut 100 Bow Wow Wo, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Phil Collins (as a solo) and British Heavy Metal, like Def Leppard and Iron Maiden.  As more American acts started producing videos, they started squeezing out more of the foreign acts, apart from those who already hit and some bigger international names, like U2.

Well, if you want some good-natured fun poking at Australia, you can't beat Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent, where his cowardly wizard, Rincewind, is on the continent, Fourecks, where he meets the magical kangaroo, Scrappy, a guy named Mad, who ends up in a wild cart chase, Petunia, Queen of the Desert (and three drag queens, one of whom is actually female), the towns of Bugarup and Dijabringabeeralong, and references to the song "Down Under," Crocadile Dundee, the Man From Snowy River and a few Australian beers (including XXXX, the name of the continent).

I'm not as big of a fan of the Rincewind books (at least, until the wizards of Unseen University have more of a central role); but, that one is damn funny.

Thanks to America's brief love affair with Australia, in the late 80s and early 90s, and an appreciation for some of the Australian cinema that made it here without Paul Hogan (or Mel Gibson), I got the bulk of the jokes, except I didn't know XXXX was a beer brand.  We were too bamboozled by Fosters ads here and assumed it was the Aussie favorite.  Then again, people here thought Matilda Bay Wine Coolers were actually Australian, instead of reading the packaging to see it was made by an East Coast company, in the States (similar to Haagen Dazs ice cream and Outback Steakhouse).

The City Watch books are also my favorites, particularly Captain Carrot, who makes me wish Pratchett had written a Superman story, because he gets that type of noble character and understands that more cynical people reacting to them is where the dramatic elements come in.

Pratchett is one of the few writers who really makes me think philosophically, because he had this very subversive way of presenting you with an idea, while you were laughing at the jokes....and it seems so profound.  There is a passage in The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, where Maurice offers up a life to save one of the mice and then asks Death if there is a cat god, and Death replies, "That would be work." (or words to that effect).  It is such a brilliant summation of the cat personality, by someone who knows cats.  I recommended him endlessly, when I worked at Barnes & Noble, especially to young teens who were Harry Potter fans, especially the Tiffany Aching books.  Those were some of the best books I ever read about taking responsibility for you world and getting on with the job.  I kind of felt the final one was a let down; but, I understand why, given the limitations of how he could work, at that stage, and his deteriorating health, which prevented the usual revision.  Similar frustrations with the last Moist Von Lipwig book, though not the Watch or Unseen Academicals.

I have a very treasured copy of Thud!, which he signed, to me, that my boss brought back from the annual pre-holiday manager's conference, that B&N used to do, before they decided to go into the electronics business and ended up selling off to a British company.  My boss knew I was a huge fan and got a copy signed to me; and, after his alzheimers progressed, that became a rare things, as he was then only to sign his name, and then not at all.  It pained me to hear that he was afflicted with a disease that slowly impaired his writing; first technically, then by ending it, though it never stifled that brilliant mind.

Invaders #23



4 on 1, ref; and he's the champion!

Creative Team: Roy Thomas-writer/editor, F & F Express-art, Tom Orzechowski-letters, George Roussos-colors, Archie Goodwin-only editor that Roy will listen to

Synopsis: Toro is still in the shop, being repaired, while the Invaders wait and Bucky snivels.....



How old is Bucky; eight?

Bucky decides the best way to pass the time is to antagonize Namor, but he doesn't rise to the challenge, despite being worried about the elongation of his ears, when he got up for breakfast, this morning....



The doc comes out and says Toro is stable, but the bullet is lodged near his heart and the one surgeon who can help him is in America....Dr Sam Sabuki, in California. Namor has ordered a new flagship, from Oldsmobile and delivery is expected soon. Spitfire turns up and sdays they have been summoned to Big Ben and Torch says nertz to that. He ain't budgin' and Churchill can sit on it and spin. Bucky matures a decade or two and says he can be spared to both look after Toro and pilot Namor's flagship to get Toro to California, while the Big Boy Invaders deal with whatever it is. Cap wipes a tear from his eye and they head to the briefieng. On the way, Cap asks about Roger and Jacqueline says that Lord Montgomery has gotten special permission to interrogate Standartenfuhrer Dietrich, about restoring Roger to full size and he has been granted the permission to beat the info out of him. Oskar assists.

At Big ben, Union Jack is waiting, with Col Farrow and Major Rawlings. Rawlings briefs them on the situation in North Africa. Basically, Rommel is kicking the @#$% out of them and Egypt is torn between two factions: one that supports the Allies in hope of full independence after the war and one that wants to side with Germany to take it now. Control of cairo is being threatened by a series of attacks, which are tying up British forces that could be applied against Rommel. These attacks are carried out by refugees from The Ten Commandments.



The top brass want the Invaders to help keep Egypt British.

The Invaders head to an airfield and catch the Night Lancaster to Cairo, where they are annoyed by crazy ska music the entire way.....



Namor takes a bath as they land, when the runway is attacked. Namor and Torch stop the aircraft from hitting a crater in the runway and the jingoistic...I mean patriotic trio of Captain America, Union Jack and Spitfire attack the dudes in the 'do rags.



The scarper, but Cap manages to catch one, so his buddies shoot him in the head so he can't give away their secrets. Spitfire spots them and runs after and the pop a smoke grenade, which she disperses, but they have made their escape, during the distraction. They meet their British liason, Col Blimp....er, Major Harrison and Dr Faoul, a native chappie who is the top archeologist boffin in Cairo, don't you know?

Rather!

They head to a museum and Dr Faoul briefs them. the Sons of the Scarab,Local 602, are believed to be hiding in the pyramids and the Egyptian government has granted the Human Torch authorization to burn passageways in, which namor will fill, afterwards, to protect the usual passageways and the historical artefacts. Namor is the one to voice concern, of all people. The briefing is interrupted by a runner from GHQ, with an alert that the Germans have nearly broken through the lines, at the border with Libya. Maj Harrison asks Union Jack and Spitfire to make an appearance at the front...boost morale and that sort of thing, wot? Union Jack and Spitfire agree and Maj Harrison says they can bring the bloody Yank, if they have to. Cap flips him the bird, from behind his shield and they head for the front, while Fire and Water prepare to desecrate the tombs of the pharaohs.

Dr Faoul directs Torch and Namor's efforts and they find a hidden chamber, with a ruby red scarab statue, plus Billy Batson and some old wizard, who are busy shooting a serial. Dr Faroul starts acting weird and he grabs the scarab and turns into the Blue Beetle's second cousin.....



He has a costume under his clothes and is revealed as the head of the Sons of the Scarab and he needed their help to find the sacred Scarlet Scarab, which has given him super powers, so that he can drive the infidels from the land, though I don't know if that just means the Europeans or also the muslims and Coptic Christians.

They fight, he flees, they follow.

Out in the desert, the situation is bad and morale boosting visits aren't helping. Cap radio's Namor for some air support, but can't reach him.

Thoughts: This is an interesting idea and has some historical basis. The Germans did try to stir up rebellion in the British Middle Eastern holdings (and in India), via liasons with the Arab leaders. However, they were never able to really coordinate anything. Roy kind of ignores the fact that Egypt had more muslims than those inclined to invoke the old Egyptian gods or symbols.

Roy doesn't give dates; but, if Rommel is threatening the Egyptian border, then we are around June, of 1942, as he had resupplied and refitted, after Operation Crusader had lifted the Siege of Tobruk, and Rommel burst through British lines and threatened Egypt. His advanced was stopped, in July, in the First Battle of El-Alamein, by the Eighth Army (consisting of British and colonial forces), under General Claude Auchinleck.

The whole Sons of the Scarab business reminds me of the "Curse of Anubis" episode of Jonny Quest, as a fanatic there was also out to drive off Western influence. The scarab part does remind one of the Republic serial, The Adventures of Captain Marvel, as an archeological expedition uncovers golden scorpion, with glass lenses, which makes it a fantastic weapon. The lenses are split amongst the group, then the mysteries Scarab murders them, one by one. one of the members of the expedition, Billy Batson, stumbles into a tomb and finds the wizard, Shazam, who endows him with the power and persona of Captain Marvel and he proceeds to machine gun down bandits and throw henchmen off of buildings, while brushing off engine blocks shoved at him.

The name Scarlet Scarab does bring to mind the Blue Beetle, where the Charlton origin of Dan Garrett had him finding a scarab that imbued him with great strength and power. Later, he dies and passes on his mantle to scientist Ted Kord, who has a wicked flying Bug and a nifty flash light gun, and hangs out with The Question, from time to time. Roy made one of his earliest professional sales to Charlton, in the form of a Son of Vulcan story; so, I suspect it isn't a coincidence.

The letters page takes issue with Roy's errors in address Lord Montgomery as "your grace," when that would be a duke. This issue has major Harrison call Namor "your grace;" but, he is a prince, which would be "your highness." Roy can't get a break.

Someone suggests a German non-Nazi super-patriot and Roy says he has one planned for a Liberty Legion story, the Iron Knight; but says the story has been temporarily shelved. He did later include the Legion and the Iron Knight, in the Invaders, where he could dictate their use. Doesn't really matter, if you ask me, as the Legion ends up looking like chumps, again, which is part of why they never caught on.

Roy and the gang would blow a deadline; so, the next issue is a reprint of Torch and Namor crossing over; so, I am skipping it and going straight to part two. This is an Invaders review, not a Marvel Mystery review.

I have defended Frank Robbins; but Namor is looking rather deformed in this one, with the huge ears. Not sure what is up with that. The rest look about as usual.

Union Jack, who is still relatively new, still has no personality, to speak of and Jacqueline isn't all that developed (emotionally and psychologically, as, physically, she is a healthy girl). Brian ends up being kind of a pale shadow of his father, who was a bit more interesting as the Destroyer.

By the way, another letter takes issue with Destroyer being retconned into a Britisher, instead of the original American. They question where the revisions end.

He ain't seen nothin', yet!

Kind of hard to feel sympathetic to the heroes, in this one, when Egypt is under British control (as is Palestine). Churchill had no intention of giving up any colonies, after the war; but, others decided to give him their own two-fingered salute. Australia, New Zealand and Canada had dominion status, meaning self-governing, but still recognized the crown as the head of state, within the British Empire, but supposedly had equal status with great Britain. Some parts of the Empire were more equal than others, as the saying goes; not that the US didn't have similar imperialist problems, though half of its holdings were currently held by the Japanese. People tend to forget that the Greatest Generation had its dark side.

Bucky's story will be furthered later, as he takes Toro to America to find Dr Sabuki. With a name like that, I will give you three guesses as to where he will find the good doctor.

Did I mention a dark side?

Invaders #24



Reprint; so........

Invaders #25



Creative Team: Roy Thomas-writer/editor, F & F Express-art, John Costanza-letters, George Roussos colors, Archie Goodwin-leading the SAS attack on Sidi Haneish.....



Seriously. SAS Rogue Heroes; great series!

Now, some theme music for this adventure.....



Synopsis: The Invaders were duped by Dr Faoul, secretly the leader of the Sons of the Scarab (Local 602). into helping him uncover the Scarelt Scarab, which gives him trememndous power. meanwhile, Captain America, Spitfire and Union Jack are facing Rommel's vanguard and it isn't looking good. Bucky and Toro are winging their way to the US, to California, to find Dr Sabuki, to ty to remove the bullet near Toro's heart. If that weren't enough, they all had to freeze in place, while Roy and the Gang get caught up.

Torch and Namor are getting wiped off the mat and are unable to assist the patriots, as they face Rommel's panzer attack. The Brits decide that they are going to go down fighting and Spitfire and Union Jack launch a frontal assault. Captain America tries to call them back and then says the hell with it and joins them...



Scarlet Scarab snuffs out Torch's flame and he plummets from the sky, requiring Namor to catch him. He sets him down and launches an attack on Scarab; but isn't doing better. He notices the glowing scarab and realizes it is the source of Faoul's power; but, he gets whooped before he can try to target it. Scarlet Scarab buries them under rocks.

The patriots have spurred the British and ANZAC troops into a counter-attack and they think air support has arrived, until they realize it is Scarlet Scarab. The Germans pull back, anticipating slaughter from the air. The Patriots go look for the missing Torch and Namor and find them, as Namor digs his way out. he explains about the scarab that gives power to Faoul.

Meanwhile, Scarlet Scarab offers to combine his might with the Afrika Korps.....



They accept, but he better watch his back.

The combined Invaders re-enter the battle and run into SS. Namor is severely weakened, as he has become deeply dehydrated and a previous canteen f water was not enough. SS makes a beeline towards him and snatches him up, as he faints.

The Germans are pleased, until the general is interrupted by a soldier, with Arab prisoners. They basically tell him to F-off back to Germany and he orders their deaths, but Scarlet Scarab overhears and turns babyface....



He skips around, killing Nazis and melting tanks....



The Invaders join in the fun.



The Germans retreat and the Invaders and Scarlet Scarab reach a truce. he refuses to aid the Allied cause, but will protect Egypt from any attacker, German or British. Namor understands and there is ominous talk by everyone about after the war, which kind of sums up how alliances went, when the fighting was done.

Meanwhile, Bucky arrives in California and finds Dr Sabuki's address, but finds a bigger surprise.....



Thoughts: Well, it's a little confusing; but, the German general who accepts the Scarlet Scarab's aid is not Rommel. The monocle he wears is intended to indicate that; but, that presumes people are familiar with pictures of Rommel. The fact that he gets killed cements that he is someone else; but, the average reader may have assumed it was Rommel and that he is dead. In reality, Rommel's forces were forced to pull back and found themselves losing ground after the Operation Torch landings, as he was squeezed on two sides. While his army was ordered to hold the Allies, Hitler ordered Rommel to return to Germany, lest he lose his favorite general. Rommel ended up in charge of the Atlantic Wall, in Normandy, but he found himself less enamored of Hitler and the Nazis and eventually joined in the German resistance movement, with a plot to assassinate Hitler and seize control of the country, to negotiate a surrender with the Allies and prevent the Russians from invading Germany. The plot was uncovered and Rommel was arrested. He was given the option of facing trial or to commit suicide, so that his death could be covered up as the death of a hero and his family's safety could be secured. He chose that alternative and was provided a cyanide tablet, which he injested.

Rommel sparks many debates among historians, depending on their agenda. Some ty to distance him from the Nazis and others to make him complicit with atrocities. He was not a member of the Nazi party but he benefitted greatly from a close relationship with Hitler, with the two worshiping the other. Rommel had been a bit of a maverick, with his view on the use of tanks in warfare and his doctrines led to the early successes of the Nazi blitzkrieg. Hitler called him his favorite general, for his bold, aggressive style. However, Rommel began to have his frustrations in North Africa, as supply problems and air support began to take its toll on his army. While the British built up their forces to face him and for the Torch landings to bring more men and material into the fighting, his supply lines were regularly harassed by British special forces units, like the SAS, Popski's Private Army, and the Long Range Desert Group. The British were able to largely control the Mediterranean, denying Rommel resupply from the sea (in great quantities, as they were unable to stop every convoy or every ship in a convoy).

Rommel was also known to hold racist attitudes towards non-white colonial soldiers, until he witnessed the actions of some, in battle. he came to praise the fighting abilities of the Gurkhas and Maoris, as well as the Indian soldiers, though they were attributed with ferocious atrocities towards prisoners. Rommel, himself, was known to treat Maori prisoners well, in New Zealand records and he also ignored Hitlers Commando Order, which called for summary execution of any captured enemy commandos or special forces operators, regardless of whether or not they were in uniform. Some commanders carried these orders out, but not Rommel, including when David Stirling, the leader of the SAS, was captured by German forces, who had been tasked with hunting down the SAS raiding parties.

Roy basically ends this with a stalemate. The British hold off Rommel at the First Battle of El-Alamein, and Scarlet Scarab sees the Nazi attitude to the local populace and destroys them. However, unlike Namor, he is unwilling to aid the Allies, until the Germans are defeated. Instead, he will defend Egypt against all outsiders, should the British endanger other Egyptians. He never got a chance to revisit this, in this series or later. A new Scarlet Scarab, the son of Dr Faoul, was introduced in Thor, in 1982, where it is revealed that the scarab disappeared, out of the blue, after the war and returned to the tomb where it had lain and the young Faoul ends up becoming a new Scarlet Scarab. We got a third with Moon Knight.

Bucky encounters the internment of Japanese Americans, in 1942. Bucky has been overseas; but, this was hardly a national secret. Bucky's attitude suggests revisionism by Roy. In 1942, there was no recorded major protest against the internment of the Japanese, though there was some sympathy, especially in some churches. Many of these groups worked to help protect property of those interned and aid them in getting supplies and support to the camps, including college education. However, the various groups never really built a unified organization. By 1944, opinions had changed and some newspapers began to advocate for the Japanese Americans, especially after reports started coming in about the performance of the Nissei in Italy and France. There were protests within some camps, at different times, including one at Manzanar which led to a declaration f martial law and troops firing on a crowd, killing two protestors.

Despite most history books and nostalgic talk of "everyone pulling together for the war effort," there was unrest during wartime. There were race riots in Detroit and elsewhere, protesting against segregation and lack of housing and unfair pay. In Los Angeles, the Zoot Suit Riots pitted American servicemembers against primarily Latino men, in racially motivated brawls. The US military practiced segregation and denied African Americans combat roles, until 1944. Roy is attempting to highlight some of that; but, as we will see, filtered through the lens of a white hero, rather than a person of color. He did a little better in Young All-Stars, thanks to the character of Tsunami; but, still kind of fell back on the trope of the white members of the team being the heroes who aid her. He did do a better job at depicting some heroes not objecting to the injustice, with Dan the Dyna-Mite being the voice of intolerance, except he is the lone voice. With the reality of the times, it is likely that he would not have been alone in his attitudes, among his teammates.

Regardless of his shortcomings, Roy at least tries to educate readers about these injustices, which is more than in the past and more than many of his contemporaries did. His heart is in the right place, even if his execution of the idea is faulty.

Generally, I'm quite happy with the art, as it is dynamic and captures the excitement of the battles well. I can't help poking fun at Robbins' continued use of that sort of "skipping" pose, which is supposed to be some kind of energetic leap into action, as it is just so weirdly posed. Even Kirby had some issues with characters in action, from certain angles. He had characters running in a side view, with an often robotic motion, rather than leaning into their stride, like he did with more head on shots of speed.

This two-parter is a bit of a mixed bag, for me. Roy attempts to show the North African front, which was pretty dicey, in 1942; but, it is harder to use the Invaders dynamically and it mostly ends up with Roy doing his homage to the Blue Beetle. The Charlton version of the hero was revamped from the original Fox character. Instead of being a police officer who wore bullet-proof chainmail and took a special vitamin potion, Dan Garrett became an archeologist who discovered a scarab, in a tomb, which infused him with great power. He is killed in battle and the mantle passes on to his friend, Ted Kord, who becomes the new Blue Beetle. Here, Dr Faoul finds the scarab and is transformed into a superhuman. Same basic premise, different execution and ethnicity. Roy's earliest publish work was at Charlton, including a Blue Beetle story.

Next, we continue Bucky's trip to sunny California, as he encounters part of America's dark past (and, sadly, it is only a small part of that past, as there is a lot of darkness, if you are willing to explore) and it will also see the return of Agent Axis, who was last seen in the Invaders annual, not too long before. We also get to check back in with Roger Aubrey and the efforts to return him to full size.

I'd add in The Rats of Tobruk, an Australian take on war in Libya made while the war was still going (1944) and starring Grant Taylor, Peter Finch and Chips Raffferty. And Ice Cold in Alex (1958) with John Mills and Anthony Quayle, about a medical field unit forced to cross the desert in their ambulance in order to reach the British lines in Alexandria.