"Cry, the Bedeviled Planet!"
Story by Roy Thomas and Bill Mantlo
Art by George Perez and Joe Sinnott
Colors by Petra Goldberg
Letters by Joe Rosen
Cover by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott
We open with Gorr the Golden Gorilla, "shackled to the wall" in the Baxter Building (after growing forty feet high and Konging it up the Bax; he's a right-sized simian now), again uttering the dreaded name, "Galactus!" He breaks free after a quick last ish recap, battles the Fabs then makes his escape, via stolen F-Car, just like Luke Cage, two months ago. They gotta stop leaving the keys in that thing.
Triple G returns to his crashed-in-Central Park space ship, pursued by our heroes in the original F-Tub (its very appearance brings a smile). They follow Gorr aboard and the door slides shut behind them. As the ship blasts off, Reed laments, "It was all a decoy! A blind! Gorr baited us – and we flew (actually, Reed, you walked) right into it! Like sheep to the slaughter!" Not lines, one suspects, destined for scripter Bill Mantlo's career highlight reel.
Once well into space, Gorr (now in sporty unitard & matching cowl) re-greets the Fabs ("I'm overjoyed to find that you have all survived!") and explains his creation by the High Evolutionary on Counter-Earth before announcing C-E's recent discovery by current Galactic meal-sniffer, the Destroyer!* That metallic, Odin-spawned monstrosity is, even as we read, closing in on C-E's artificial moon, so the Thing is torpedo-tubed ahead to give battle. A couple pages of Perez powered sock-'n'-awe and then Ben k.o.'s the Destroyer, but Pyrrhic victory, pal, because the Big G has arrived.
And while Galactus has "forsworn never again to prey on your Earth," our counter-part planet is at the top of the menu! -Mark Barsotti
Mark Barsotti: Roy Thomas plotted this, but left the writing to Mantlo, who, despite the occasional Tourette's-like outburst of ham-bone hyperbole, delivers an effective script. Sure, we're taking up a collection for an F-Car anti-theft device, and there's a dozen better ways Triple G could have obtained the FF's buy-in than the ye olde follow-me-into-my-departing-
(*see The Mighty Thor #228)
Killraven in
"Arena Kill!"
Story by Don McGregor
Art by Craig Russell and Jack Abel
Colors by Petra Goldberg
Letters by Irving Watanabe
Cover by Craig Russell
New Year's Eve, 2020, at the Suwannee River, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and we open on Killraven battling Brother Axe, and our hero defeats the long-winded assailant easily, and Old Skull, Carmilla and M'Shulla have his back. The Freemen have travelled three days through the swamp, not to take over Axe's fortress, but to be directed towards Yellowstone. First, Axe and his people invite Killraven and Krew to a feast, with Old Skull befriending a raccoon at the dinner table as he tells his origin story.
Even back in 1997, young Old Skull was bald, and laughed at by his classmates for that and his seemingly below average intelligence. He lived on a ranch, with a cowboy Dad who called him "numbskull". In 2001, 14-year old Old Skull was with his Dad on the last cattle drive, riding a "rawhider" that was like the saddle part of a mechanical horse, then (after being interrupted briefly by Killraven while telling his tale), father and son take the "Transparent Tramway", which meets up with Martian tripods that derail the train, killing Old Skull's Dad.
Then Killraven takes over, telling a tale from the Arena, where he and Old Skull faced Warr, the "Ultimate Gladiator" and his Legion of Spiders…but Old Skull reminds him to fill in the details, including how the two met. In 2014, a gladiator named Artemus was bullying OS when KR came to his aid, even giving the former "numbskull" his name. Then the story about the battle with Warr is finally told, with the duo taking out spiders, then Killraven dispatching Warr. Which all leads to a toast by Brother Axe—however, the Freemen's glasses are empty, the begging raccoon having helped itself to their wine and stumbling off drunk! –Joe Tura
Matthew: I don't believe raccoons are rodents.
Greg P. of Warwick RI, in a LOC regarding AA/WotW #35, fairly observes that Don’s writing has improved, so that he’s no longer cluttering pages with captions stuffed with “overly wordy … confused and mixed metaphors.” This observation certainly reflects fairly on this issue as well, as Don allows the characters to speak for themselves, in their own words – I went back and checked, and verified that there isn’t a single commenting-and-clarifying caption in the entire issue; nothing but dialog, conversation, storytelling.
Mark: War of the Worlds debuted in 1973, an era when Marvel launched a lot of artistically ambitious, outside the box titles. Some deserved a much longer life, but you have to wonder how Killraven (the book's alternative title) lasted even this long. Peaking in quality around issues #28-29, the decline since has been steep.
Mark: War of the Worlds debuted in 1973, an era when Marvel launched a lot of artistically ambitious, outside the box titles. Some deserved a much longer life, but you have to wonder how Killraven (the book's alternative title) lasted even this long. Peaking in quality around issues #28-29, the decline since has been steep.
Our headed-for-Yellowstone-heroes end up in the Okefenokee swamp. For our geographically challenged students – Yes, Forbush, I'm eyeballing you – that's in Georgia, that's a long way from Wyoming and an apt metaphor for a creative braintrust that's lost their way. Don McGregor hasn't energy left to assault us with his prolix, Gatling gun prose. I'd accuse inker Jack Abel of butchering Craig Russell's art, but it looks like Russell did little more than breakdowns and the finished "product" – in the worst, assembly-line sense – is mostly Abel.
As for the story...sorry Old Skull's classmates and pap called our mentally-challenged, mustachioed comic foil "Numbskull," when only McGregor deserves that pejorative. All we really wanted to know about O.S. was the key to his resurrective powers, after being thoroughly murdered a few issues back. The sole highlight here - using that term loosely - is a drunken raccoon. The least I'd have settled for, this being the Okefenokee, would have been a pickled Pogo.
Poor Don, alas, couldn't roust himself enough to even offer us that.
Deathlok the Demolisher in
"Confessions of a Demolished Man!"
Story by Rich Buckler
Art by Rich Buckler and Keith Pollard
Colors by Rich Buckler
Letters by Howard Bender and Beth Beckley
Cover by Rich Buckler
The Luther Manning clone, with Deathlok's mind, tells Devereaux he's done, happy to be flesh but still linked to 'Puter, when suddenly a huge monster (courtesy of Hellinger) bursts through the wall! The mind-link alerts the cyborg Deathlok body, which rushes in and blasts the glowing monster away. As the CIA prepares the cyborg for future missions, they hand Manning a "mind-tape" in order to record some transcripts with details that could help them learn more. Hoping not to go back to what he was, meaning a cyborg, Manning proceeds, but feels he's a failed experiment.
In our second chapter, "What To Do After The Apocalypse", "a new adventure in the Deathlok future-legend", the cyborg anti-hero is on his first CIA mission, pondering his mechanical life as he makes his way to 23rd Street Station to take out some of Ryker's goons. Suddenly, a bearded poor man's Ka-Zar swings in to "save you from yourself, cyborg!" It's Godwulf, "skulker of the city's underside, and perpetrator of the Godwulf Principle" whatever the heck that means. Walking away from the meeting, Deathlok trips a wire that causes an explosion, then follows Godwulf, who sends the Demolisher…somewhere. Back at the lab, it's discovered the Deathlok replica is empty and the mind-link is broken, with Manning puzzled that he's even still alive.--Joe Tura
But first, we get a Steranko-esque Buckler cover, and the insides have Buckler doing everything except hair and makeup. And what are we to make of all this craziness? I don’t really know other than Luther Manning is alive, and so is Deathlok. Are they separated, or still linked? Well, a little of both it seems. It's all slightly confusing and mysterious and downright tragic, with very good art highlighted by ultra-pensive Manning shots. This Godwulf guy mucks things up even further by not only being annoying, but also sending Deathlok away—and the Astonishing Tales series with it! Yep, this is it for this title, until 2009 when it appears as a limited series collecting webcomics starring a wide array of characters. As for Deathlok, the seemingly unexpected cancellation of his story here will go on, but not for another year. See ya in Marvel Spotlight #33, Demolisher!
What's the end result, the legacy of Astonishing Tales? Considering that it started as a Ka-Zar/Doctor Doom split book, some of which was laughable and the biggest thing that stuck with me was the Kraven issues drawn by The King, became a K-Z solo book to the detriment of many, and somehow survived the IT! The Living Colossus nonsense, it became a decent Deathlok book that I won't exactly miss, but certainly feel it brought Buckler to the creator forefront, while maybe missing its full potential.
Joshing aside, there’s really no connection between the two separate parts of the issue. The notion that a reconstituted Luther Manning might be shunted into a data-entry job is pretty sad, both for him and for us; didn’t Ryker once say that his motivation to preserve the lifeless Manning as Deathlok was due in part to the value of Manning’s military acumen?
Mark: At least the "demolished man" goes out with a twin-tale bang, creator Rich Buckler writing and drawing 'Lok's swan-song. Intentional or not, the dual stories reflect the title's turn toward the schizophrenic. If Prof Matthew "no longer knew who 'Deathlok'...or Luther Manning was/were," he's not alone. Both characters are alive now, sharing battle-the-mysterious-baddie screen time, even though they are the same character.
I think "Luther" is one of several clones, infused with his original personality, but without a careful re-reading of the last couple installments I can't be sure, and who knows about Rich? Maybe he had a long, Two-Luther identity crisis saga plotted out, or would have invented one on the fly. And what's with Godwulf, who seemed to swing in from whole 'nother mag? I like his "My dear fellow" diction and sub-Tony Stark heart plug-ins, the Ka-Zar loincloth look, not so much.
Such questions are academic, of course, but rather than mope about the book's end, let's recognize Buckler's creation of a darkly iconic character and a ground-breaking apocalyptic vision, more nihilistic than anything yet seen in mainstream comics - William Gibson meets the Sex Pistols - if oft doled out in deadline-bustin' fits and starts.
More importantly, the series overall holds up well, forty years on. It's an exemplar of the unparalleled creative freedom at Marvel in the early '70's, when for a few years the kids really did take over the candy store.
Matthew: Hear, hear.
Matthew: Hear, hear.
"The Gods and the Gang!"
Story by Steve Englehart
Art by George Perez and Sam Grainger
Colors by Hugh Paley
Letters by Tom Orzechowski
Cover by George Perez, John Romita, and Frank Giacoia
After a long time, the major characters of the Avengers (minus the continuing soap opera of Wasp and Yellowjacket, which, fortunately, Englehart doesn’t waste a single panel on) are reunited in a showdown with the evil Roxxon corporation. Thor and Moondragon arrive back in New York at around the same time that the Vision, Wanda, Beast, Cap, Iron Man, and Hellcat return from Other Earth. Cap and crew wade through the Roxxon underlings fairly easily until the giant fish of Orka smashes them all into unconsciousness with a single blow. They are about the be killed by Hugh Jones when Thor and Moondragon burst into the building.
Orka is then revealed, much larger and stronger than he has been in the past. Thor and Moondragon take him head-on, but Thor, finding Moondragon’s “prattling” too much, says that her mind blasts are not fair fighting! Orka knocks her out and Thor finally cuts loose. Moondragon had accused Thor during the last couple issues of “slumming“ with the Avengers and not using his full power. Now, calling on the lightning and using his hammer, Thor manages to subdue Orka in just a couple of pages in a furious outburst of power.
Then we cut back to the other part of the team, standing helpless and imprisoned while Jones and Baxter of Roxxon plot the best way to get rid of them. Of course they take too long and Patsy somehow frees herself and attacks Baxter, her ex-husband. Baxter manages to refer to her as a dumb broad twice on this very page but he is quickly taken care of and the remaining Avengers are freed. By the end of the issue, Iron Man knows its time for all of them to evaluate their place in the team and find a new roster. -Jerad Walters
This also continues Steve’s “dyad” approach to writing Avengers stories, as the action primarily involves, yet again, two characters, with a little business toward the end involving Hellcat. Most of the involvement by the other team members comes from George Pérez’s terrific battle scene (four pages from 3-10); otherwise, we barely get a line of dialog from Cap, Wanda, the Beast, or Iron Man, and not a single yellow-boxed comment from the Vision. This is the best art we’ve seen in the Avengers in years, as Pérez now has established the standard that will define the look for this title (for the twenty-or-so issues we’ll get from Pérez over the next few years, that is). We may finally have purged Colletta from these pages, but the inking subjected to us in his previous issues, sadly, cannot now be unseen.
Chris: Hey, did anybody see a green crown around here, with snakes on it? The Vision had it in his right hand when he got slammed by Orka, and he dropped it (P 10, pnl 4). It’s, uh, kind of important that we keep track of it. And, be careful not to put it on your head, okay? You might feel really, really compelled to try it on, because it looks so cool, and you figure it’d be kind of comfortable, in a weird way, but trust me, you don’t want to do it. Okay? If you see it, please call me right away.
Captain Marvel 45
"The Bi-Centennial!"
Story by Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom
Art by Al Milgrom
Colors by Ellen Vartanoff
Letters by Tom Orzechowski
Cover by Al Milgrom, John Romita, and Mike Esposito
The General who heads the underground seeking to rid Deneb IV of Null-Trons explains that after his throat was cut in battle, the only way to save his life was, ironically, to graft his human brain onto a fallen Null-Tron, and his cyborg allies are now mostly machine. Distracted as his mind comes closer to merging with that of a comatose Rick, which would hand the Supremor his victory, Mar-Vell agrees to cooperate with a plan that the General promises will save them all. He has his minions thrust Rick into a giant red jewel—one of six unique Soul Gems spread across the galaxy, like its emerald counterpart on Adam Warlock’s forehead—that he claims is their “gateway to freedom,” and bids a reluctant Mar-Vell to follow the teen inside.
There, they fight for control, duped into serving as proxies for the battle on Deneb’s surface, yet as the Supremor gloats over this latest phase of his plan, the General tells Rambu, the most human cyborg (who found the Gem in #41), that as a hybrid, he cares not who wins the war, only that its end will bring peace. The armies pause as Mar-Vell and Rick realize that they risk mutual destruction, yet as the betrayed Rambu attacks the Gem, Fawn appears and asks his help to enter it and save Rick. She informs them that their conflict is irrational and purposeless; that a victory for either side would diminish the winner; and that they will not merge unless they wish to, so—with Mar-Vell’s realization that the General tricked him—the quartet flies from the Gem. -Matthew Bradley
“Out of hand” aptly describes events of which Marv himself says, “this makes no sense,” and co-plotter Al is doubly culpable, providing art—pedestrian at best, goofy at worst—that relentlessly drags this space arc right back down to Earth. Suffice it to say that a story tied by the presence of a Soul Gem into Starlin’s unfolding Thanos saga, which should by rights have given me a woody the size of a Null-Tron, instead left me blasé. I wish Chris & Co. the best of luck, trying to bring this to a satisfying conclusion next issue, but in the meantime feel compelled to ask what is presumably a rhetorical question: is it supposed to be significant that the General and Rambu appear to be Aakons, who as far as I know are not native to Deneb IV, or is it just Al’s whimsy?
“The Phoenix on the Sword!”
Story by Roy Thomas
Art by Vicente Alcazar and Yong Montano
Art by Vicente Alcazar and Yong Montano
Colors by ?
Letters by Jim Novak
Cover by Rich Buckler
A group of traitors plot the overthrow of King Conan of Aquilonia: Dion, hoping to replace the Cimmerian on the throne; Gromel, eyeing the command of the fearsome Black Dragon regiment; Volmana, seeking power and position; and the rabble-rousing minstrel Rinaldo. Behind these four stands the mastermind, Ascalante, former Count of Thune, who plots to assassinate Dion and take the crown himself. There is also Thoth-Amon, once the mightiest of all Stygian sorcerers, now Ascalante’s slave ever since his powerful serpent ring was stolen. With a few Aquilonian guards already paid off, the conspirators and a group of mercenaries will steal into Conan’s bedchambers at midnight and slay the king. Dion retreats to his castle to avoid suspicion: Ascalante orders Thoth-Amon to baby-sit the corpulent conspirator. At Dion’s residence, the fallen sorcerer bemoans the loss of his status. Dion, half listening, murmurs that he just bought a serpent-like ring from a Semitic thief. It is Thoth-Amon’s lost treasure: the enraged wizard kills Dion, places the ring on his finger and conjurers a huge, baboon-like beast, ordering it to massacre everyone found in Conan’s chambers. Meanwhile, Conan dreams of Epemitreus, the legendary mage, dead for 1500 years and once Aquilonia’s protector against Stygia — the vision touches the king’s sword and a glittering phoenix appears on the blade. When midnight strikes, Ascalante and the others burst into the room. The Cimmerian’s first strike shatters the sword Epemitreus marked, but he grabs a battleaxe and wades into his attackers. Many fall to the wide, vicious cuts but soon the king is cornered. Suddenly, Thoth-Amon’s horrifying monster arrives, quickly slaughtering all of Conan’s attackers. The monarch rushes forward but the axe bounces uselessly off the giant ape’s head. With the biting beast at his throat, the barbarian monarch desperately grasps the hilt of his shattered phoenix sword and plunges it into the baboon’s throat — the titanic terror dies in an instant, crumbling to dust. -Thomas Flynn
Tom Flynn: Since Conan the Barbarian Annual #1 was filled with reprints, this is Conan’s first all-original 33-page annual — and it has a legendary backstory. Before I tell that tale, let me mention that there’s some confusion about when this annual came out. Some say June, others argue July. Most don’t care. We flipped a coin. Mind you, it was an official MU two-bit “In The Dean We Trust” ducat, so nothing was taken lightly.
Tom: Anyways, way back in 1930, Robert E. Howard submitted his first King Kull tale, “By This Axe I Rule,” to Weird Tales. While it was rejected, the magazine’s editor, Farnsworth Wright, was kind enough to point out that the story did have promise and to give it another try. The persistent Howard took the advice to heart and reworked — or as Raymond Chandler put it, cannibalized — “By This Axe I Rule” to create his first Conan story, “The Phoenix on the Sword.” But that’s not the end. Now, nearly six decades later, Roy Thomas puts his own spin on Howard history. You see, Roy based Kull the Destroyer #11 on “By This Axe I Rule.” And here he serves up the more successful baby brother, “The Phoenix on the Sword.” Talk about being comprehensive. Roy Rules. As this annual takes place years from where the monthly Conan the Barbarian is set, there are three prologue pages illustrated by John Buscema and inked by Yong Montano, who did the entire annual, that give a well-done overview of Conan’s entire life. Vicente Alcazar does a serviceable job with the main story: he shows a bit of style but is quite inconsistent. Of course, we finally have a flesh-and-blood appearance by Thoth-Amon, Conan’s Doctor Doom. Not very impressed by Alcazar’s interpretation: he looks like a monk with a craggy face and a ring through his nose. But he was fairly powerless for the most part. Too bad Big John didn’t handle the entire job. I’m sure he would have come up with something closer to the frightening visage Barry Smith dreamed up for Conan the Barbarian #7 (July 1971).
“The Secret of Skull River!”
Story by Roy Thomas
Art by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom
Story by Roy Thomas
Art by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom
Cover by John Buscema and Mike Esposito
Tom Flynn: Let’s have the Apologia on the splash page do the work for me here: “Due to personal considerations, inker Steve Gan was unable at the last possible moment to deliver our cover-featured story on time for this issue. Thus, making our usual virtue of necessity, we’re taking this opportunity to re-present a tale never before printed in color, and which originally appeared in Savage Tales #5. (P.S. for you chronology buffs, this mini-epic occurs between the events recorded in Conan #44–45.” — R. T.
(Tom's original review of this story can be found here.)
 |
| A Conan fan reacts to the news of the missed deadline |
Once again, Starlin demonstrates that he’s more than a simple crafter of cosmic chronicles. It’s hard to believe that many other artists could realize the Cimmerian as well as the masters Windsor-Smith and Buscema, but with Starlin, all things are possible.
I realize that Prof Tom already has graced us with his insights regarding this story, so I’ll briefly mention a few of my favorite art-moments: Conan’s stealthy approach to the castle (p 15); a palace guard disappears from behind Anaximander (cool name!), to be replaced by the glowering barbarian (p 23); a rage-filled, doomed Grandall flattens a soldier (p 26); and a shadowed, dead Grandall, with bodies of his opponents piled on his back. Nice little twist at the end, too, as Conan grabs the mount “worth riding twice.”
Captain America Annual 3"The Thing From the Black Hole Star!"
Story by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten
Colors by Janice Cohen
Letters by Gaspar Saladino
Cover by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia
While investigating a crashed spaceship with local farmer Jim Hendricks, Cap is attacked by a weird alien creature. Hendricks finds a laser gun and fires, stunning the monster. However, shortly thereafter, it vanishes. Apparently Cap was on a local TV show talking about UFO’s when Hendricks saw it and worked up the nerve to call him down to check out the craft in his field. He tells of how the ship landed and the pilot told him he was from a “Black Hole Star.” Cap is stunned to learn the pilot is at the Hendricks farm at that very moment. Meanwhile, another ship is looking for this alien, this “captive” as they call him, and each time they send down someone to collect him, they meet with defeat. They send down the “combatron” to “sweep the humans aside” and bring the exiled captive back. At the farm, Cap unmasks the captive and sees he’s humanoid. The alien explains he was imprisoned in the black hole and that it took a million years for him to escape. Just as they’re trying to puzzle that one out, Cap and Hendricks hear the sound of another craft landing: the combatron has arrived. After a lengthy battle, they manage to defeat the combatron, so the aliens send down a landing force. As the landing party descends, Cap sends Hendricks and the captive to the downed spaceship to mount a defense. Once there, Hendricks tries to get a laser cannon to work, but the captive goes on about how Hendricks is a prime source of energy. Cap battles the landing force and makes his way to the spaceship. The captive is different now, stronger, and stranger. He tells Cap that Hendricks is below decks. Cap goes to find him and is met with a dried, empty husk. The captive is revealed to be an energy parasite. Cap fights the captive even as his own energy becomes depleted, finally defeating him long enough for the aliens to take him away. They launch him into a star just as it goes nova. Later, Cap tries to tell his tale to the government, but the officials downplay it to keep the population from panicking. -Scott McIntyre
Scott McIntyre: A really creepy and fairly exciting tale, better drawn than what Kirby was giving us in the monthly. Cap seems like an odd choice to give a story like this, but it gets downright scary in the last half. Jack knew how to draw terrifying creatures better than anyone and that skill is well utilized in this. As with the monthly, this is disconnected from the rest of the Marvel Universe, so much that even the Falcon is absent. It’s actually strange to have the General at the end mention the Kree, the Skrulls and Thor. Aside from that, there’s very little to this. “Kirby Science” gives us “black hole stars” that can be used as prisons. Interesting. Fun, action packed and not boring. I guess that’s kind of a minor miracle. This was my first taste of 70’s Kirby as a kid and I liked it well enough then. I still have that battered issue around somewhere.
I was a bit distracted by the rare employment of Cap’s invaluable shield throughout the story; he tends to swing it around, but for the most part he keeps it on his arm. It’s only toward the end that he uses the shield as an offensive force, and frankly, it’s not at all clear how his clanging of the Captive with the shield at that moment proves to be so decisive. I also wonder why it was necessary to send the Captive spiraling across the galaxy to bury him in a sun (hey guys – we’ve got a perfectly well-functioning solar furnace right here; granted, it’s 93 million miles away, but you can see it from here), until I realized that Jack wanted the Captive to go up in a supernova. Well, I guess there isn’t much of a chance of this villain resurfacing someday, with a half-baked story about how he had been blown clear by the force of the nova itself… Matthew: Unlike some of the year’s best resurgent annuals, this has no konnection with Kirby’s koncurrent kontinuity in the monthly mag…and that’s ironic, since said Bicentennial epic itself has nothing to do with the mainstream Marvel Universe. So just think of this as a hermetically sealed kapsule of Kirby kraziness, with nary a recognizable face besides Cap himself. His first non-reprint annual isn’t terrible, but at twice the length of a regular issue, this fairly simple Space Vampires/“Zanti Misfits” variant is stretched pretty thin; the “shocking” revelation on page 31—which even the object of the exercise should have seen coming—is plastered on the front; and its “Look to the stars!” capper is shamelessly pilfered from The Thing.
"The Man Who Sold the United States"
Story by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby, Frank Giacoia, and Mike Esposito
Colors by Phil Rachelson
Letters by Gaspar Saladino
Cover by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia
Cap is inspecting the old mansion in advance of a vital SHIELD operation to capture Mason Harding, father of the Madbomb. A trio of assassins lies in wait, but just as they are about to get the jump on him, Cap springs into action. He dodges bullets as if they weren’t there. The Falcon lends a hand, making quick work of the gunsels. As the SHIELD boys mop up, Cap looks in on Harding’s daughter, Carol. She knows her father has done awful things and SHIELD is here to take him, but she feels no malice toward Captain America, a man of fairness and honor. At the moment, however, neither of them is aware that Harding is being held under restraint by Malcolm Taurey, orchestrator of the conspiracy. He tells Harding of what is going on at the house and that the agents and the heroes will be met by a car driven by remote and armed to detonate. Harding is aghast over the danger to his daughter, but Taurey will hear none of it – he has a ball to attend. Taken to a room by two toughs, Harding uses a micro-Madbomb on them, causing them to freak out. They turn on each other, one guard killing the other. Harding takes the gun from the fallen guard and fires on the remaining tough. The guard falls and Harding makes good his escape. A short time later, Cap awaits Harding’s car and when it finally appears to arrive, he goes to intercept. The Falcon, who has been trailing the car, knows it’s a set up and grabs Cap seconds before the auto detonates. Later, over cups of coffee, Cap and Falcon contemplate their next move when Harding arrives. He tells them of his meeting the conspirators and how they seduced him. Knowing they will accelerate their plan, he gives Cap and Falc the small, palm sized Madbomb as a sonic weapon to get them through enemy lines in time. Meanwhile, at the ball, Taurey makes the final decision: activate “Big Daddy!” -Scott McIntyre
Mark: It's clear that last month's "Love Story" was really an "I Like You As a Terminally-Ill Friend" story, and a good thing, that. Latter day Kirby is as subtle as a flying mallet (extra credit for any retro-rockers who grok the Dave Edmunds reference), and the tangled tug of heart strings was never Jack's forte (yeah, I know Simon and Kirby invented romance comics, but all the mushy stuff came from Joe).
As the Mad-Bomb saga ticks down to the Bicentennial Big Bam Boom, Kirby is in his wide screen, double page, Cap-somersaulting-through-
Chris: I love Jack Kirby! I love the exuberance he brings to his art! I never get tired of it! Although, I’m not a big fan of his writing (I realize I’m not the first to express this opinion!)! I wish he would dispense with the needless captions, forget the wisecracking, and overall tone it down a bit! I realize that, way back in the Silver Age, Smilin’ Stan tended to end his lines with exclamation points, due in part to the way that printing processes of the time made periods hard to read on the page! But now, this measure really isn’t necessary! It gets old! It simply isn’t possible for every spoken line to require a jolt at the end!
I bought this issue and CAatF #200 on the same day (more flea market Marvels!), and I thought I’d lucked into a big score. As I re-read it, I decided you could take the clunky dialog and translate it to Swahili for all I care – the visuals are great, with a few cracklin’-good moments, especially the dummy-car explosion (p 22-23). I also love the mini-madbomb (p 14) – crazy idea. A few other images stuck with me, particularly the square-off by the mind-bombed guards (p 15).
Mark: Hambone line of the month: Cap telling Carol Harding, whose father created a weapon that could destroy America, "...your dad's made the boo-boo of all time!" This month's nod to modernity: one of the elite's gunsels had a Beatles' mop-top and teashades.
Mark: Hambone line of the month: Cap telling Carol Harding, whose father created a weapon that could destroy America, "...your dad's made the boo-boo of all time!" This month's nod to modernity: one of the elite's gunsels had a Beatles' mop-top and teashades.
"Big-Daddy" is set to explode, no doubt on July 4th, and I hand-on-heart believe Jack's pledge of "Action! Action! ACTION!" as Cap and the Falcon rout the powdered-wig poofsters of the elite to save the Republic, and all in Red, White, and Blue KirbyVision!
"What is Happening?"
Story by Marv Wolfman
Art by Bob Brown and Jim Mooney
Colors by Michele Wolfman
Letters by Joe Rosen
Cover by Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia
A Daily Bugle special edition confronts the recent controversy over unsubstantiated news stories that have been broadcast over network TV. Network anchors are quoted in the paper as never having reported that the Kennedy brothers had been seen alive, that the war in Vietnam was a fake, that US forces presently were fighting a covert war in the Middle East, or that Daredevil had murdered three policemen (among other stories); nevertheless, people around the country are stating that they heard these very reports on the TV news. The Bugle also features as story about a motley-clad man calling himself the Jester, who claims that DD had framed him, and tried to kill him. Matt doesn’t want to hear any more, as he pulls the paper out of Heather’s hands. He starts to describe the circumstances of his previous encounter with the Jester, but stops himself in time, as he recognizes that these events are part of Daredevil’s history, not his own. Matt resolves to trace these phony, sensationalistic reports to their source, and employs his hypersenses to follow an out-of-sync radio wave to a warehouse by the west side piers. DD crashes thru the skylight, to find the Jester dead on the floor, with the NYPD already on the scene; DD resists being taken in as a suspect, but finally relents. Once he is ushered in the office of D.A. Tower, both men relax – they have secretly been working together to try to flush out the Jester’s plan to frame DD. Tower goes along with DD’s suspicion that the dead body is not the Jester, but announces that DD is under arrest for the murder, so that they might uncover the Jester’s next move. DD is checked into his jail cell; moments after his arrival, grappling hooks (suspended from a helicopter above) swing into his cell thru the open bars and yank free a section of the outer wall. DD is climbing to safety, when his line is severed, and he plunges into the water below. As DD climbs back to shore, he sees the Jester before him, claiming credit for having foiled DD’s attempt to escape from jail. -Chris Blake
Chris: The nifty box on the bottom of the last page reads, “Confused, pilgrim?” to which I say, “Why, yes!” The only possible explanation for the sequence playing out over the last few pages is that some other person might’ve been admitted to the cell, wearing DD duds. I can say this with some confidence, since this DD’s speech pattern isn’t consistent with the verbiage we typically get from Matt Murdock J.D. Could the Jester have gone the extra step of planting a prisoner, who then would appear to attempt to escape? Well, based on the way this story’s playing out, I don’t see how we could dismiss that as a possibility just yet -!
I’m pleased to report that Marv has come a long, long way with this title. The problems I complained about in Marv’s early stories have largely been cleared away; this story is cleansed of the stupid banter and needless self-doubts that are no part of Daredevil’s character. As I review some of the recent issues, I see how Marv’s been looking at traits that are consistent for DD: in #127, DD loses himself to anger in the house-wrecking fight with Torpedo; in #129, DD is wise enough to recognize not to continue a fruitless fight; in #131-132, DD is clever and resourceful enough to use his hypersenses to their best advantage in his battle with Bullseye, as he can protect himself against flung objects that a sighted person might not be able to pick up. Against the Jester, DD is using his well-trained mind to think this through, and formulate a plan to snare the Jester, since brute force and fighting skill alone will not accomplish DD’s goals of clearing himself and exposing the Jester’s misleading machinations.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the opening few pages, especially pages 2-3, which are intended to resemble the first two interior pages of the Bugle. There are seven different articles, set in type on the page, all dealing in one way or another with the fraudulent news stories; there’s also a short editorial from JJJ himself, fanning the flame of the threat of the superhero (what else), and even a bit of Page 6 cheesecake, as a lovely young thing stretched out on an Australian beach asks, “What, me worry?” Complementing the stories are b&w images by Brown and Mooney, meant to resemble news photos; one of them, quite cleverly, is credited to “P. Parker, Photographer.” I don’t know whether Marv came up with this on his own, or whether Brown might have proposed it (future lettercols might shed light on this question), but either way, it’s an inventive bit of storytelling, and quite unusual for its time. 
The Defenders 37
"Evil in Bloom!"
Story by Steve Gerber
Art by Sal Buscema and Klaus Janson
Colors by Don Warfield
Letters by Ray Holloway
Cover by Gil Kane and Mike Esposito
A skirmish with the local law enforcement finds a disgusted Hulk fleeing for peace. Jack Norriss overhears, and seeks the help of the other Defenders, not knowing Nighthawk, Stephen and the Red Guardian are close by, prisoners of Plantman's giant dandelion. Jack calls upon Luke Cage for assistance. In the meantime Dr. Strange's magic has worked. He and Red are free, sending Kyle to the hospital to complete his recovery. The combined attack of these two and reinforcements sends Plantman running for cover, although soon Nebulon's minions are blasting the super duo into unconscious. -Jim Barwise
Jim Barwise: A fairly average tale as they go nonetheless has its moments. I like the giant spores that take Red and Stephen for a ride! Eel and Porcupine? As silly as they sound. The Hulk's temper? You get it.Chris: Steve G continues to keep the big ball rolling; I feel like I’ve been saying something like this about every one of the past 3-4 issues. It’s not like we’re in a holding pattern – it’s just that, with different team members working on separate problems, each story thread can only advance a short distance each issue. I agree with the idea of sending off the Hulk for awhile – in its way, it’s true to Hulk’s character that his patience with the topsy-turvy world of the Defenders would wear thin from time to time. Plus, if he’s going to be away from the non-team, he should have a chance to catch some rest and drift back into Banner-mode for awhile. We all need some rest from time to time, even those of us who are the Strongest One There Is.
Matthew: Naturally, it’s all relative at the moment, but Gerber seems to have cranked the weirdness factor down a notch in this entry in favor of some more straightforward advancement of the plot in certain areas, e.g., Luke Cage’s quasi-Defender status, the effects of Celestial Mind Control on lower-tier super-villains, and Kyle’s reassembly. I don’t recall for sure, but I suspect that Stephen’s periodic problems with his powers and the Hulk’s unusual volatility—even by his hair-trigger standards—are due to the subtle mental manipulation they underwent at Nagan’s hands a couple issues back. Steve pays the merest lip service to Val’s incarceration; meanwhile, Janson’s inks are more oppressive than ever, comparable to applying sandpaper to your eyeballs.
"Beelzebub on Parade!"
Story by Steve Englehart
Art by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer
Colors by Tom Palmer
Letters by John Costanza
Cover by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer
Dr. Strange and Clea find themselves in Hell... literally. Satan (or Lucifer, or whatever we wish to call him) has taken advantage of Stephen's guilt and sense of failure for recent events. The Dark Lord whisks Clea away, and Stephen struggles with his own madness. The recent evil spell of Dracula, thought overcome, rears its head. As Strange recognizes he must take hold of his own darkness, he falls for many tricks. He sees Mother Earth and Baron Mordo, to name a few. Above ground, Wong seeks the aid of Stephen's guests Rama Kaliph and Lord Phyffe. They perform an exorcism that fails as such, but succeeds in restoring Stephen's faith. He realizes he need not fight Satan on his terms, for on those grounds Strange could not succeed. By disallowing the evil in himself, he and Clea can leave, cognizant of the failures we all must face, and how we can help one another move beyond them.
-Jim Barwise
Mark: Gene and Tom conjuring up their usual graphic sorcery? Check. The expected erudite script from Englehart? Yep, and with the Great Deceiver (cue Church Lady) Sa-tan! as adversary one would expect eye (of Agamotto) popping sparks and spells, but for all the brimstone flyin' and Mordos drowning, the amulet still slumbers.
Oh, there's nice bits, as when Strange sprouts fangs – thanks to his recent Count Drac encounter – and almost feasts upon a bloated green (actual) goblin, crucified upside down in one of 'Zebub's B-B-Q pits. And I love Colan's devil, the long Count Orlok face, yellow eyes ablaze, aquiline nose jutting out like another of his twisted-fangs, but...
Mark: We get Strange fighting illusions. Mordo trotted out again, only to be quickly dispatched. Hot on the heels of End of the World II, Eternity and Dormammu, the title (and the reader) may well be suffering from Spectacle Overload.
Our creative team ain't mailing it in. You can see 'em working hard, but all the huff 'n' puff leads us nowhere. The put-on-a-happy-face escape from Hell left me with the taste, not of brimstone, but of saccharine.
You wanna go that route, Steve, I prefer ruby slippers.
"The Day of the Gods"
Story by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten
Colors by Glynis Wein
Letters by Gaspar Saladino
Cover by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia
Far beneath the Andes, a trio of explorers search for evidence of a greater species, that of the ancient Space-Gods. Incredible, huge artifacts are very quickly stumbled onto by Ike Harris, Professor Damian, and his daughter Margo. But was it happenstance? Margo and her father, slowly but surely, become convinced otherwise as their companion, the mysterious Ike seems to know exactly the right buttons to push. Eventually, Ike reveals that he is actually an Eternal known as Ikaris. He further explains that, millennia before, three species were created by the Space-Gods: the Deviants (low lifers who dwell below the surface of Earth), the Humans ("destined to inherit the Earth"), and the Eternals ("immune to time and death"). Now Ikaris has come to this cavern to search for the "Cosmic Beacon," a homing signal for the Gods. Meanwhile, a pack of Deviants, led by Kro, races to the temple to thwart the efforts of Ikaris. They arrive too late and cannot stop the impending arrival of the Space-Gods.
-Peter Enfantino
Kirby’s inaugural “Eternal Utterings” lettercol is the first time I remember him ever addressing the reader directly. “With the daily accumulation of new artifacts all over the globe, and the simultaneous input of UFO ‘flapology’ [defined by Charles Hatfield in an Eternals overview for Jack Kirby Collector as “pseudoscientific fantasizing”] on a worldwide scale, humankind is straining its ‘group memory’ to dredge up a proper picture of the ancient past, in order to deal with the provocative incidents of contemporary issue. The compelling quality inherent in this type of theme has led me to project its mystifying questions into comic magazine storytelling.” For those interested, SuperMegaMonkey also provides a useful series overview on his main blog.
The humans and Eternal Ikaris a.k.a. Ike Harris, it must be said, are less attractive, save for Margo, who Jack has endowed with an impressive figure and, thankfully, less than a meat platter-sized face.
For now, Jack introduces a fair amount of excitement and mystery to his kick-off story. The cold opening is the right idea, as we share in the explorers’ excitement at their discovery. The stone idols are quite impressive, as Kirby infuses the visuals with sufficient scale and weight. As always, there’s plenty of classic-Kirby energy-bristling.
It’s not entirely clear to me why Ikaris is so intent on locating the Celestial beacon; it’s not as if he had to activate it – it seems to have turned itself on. So, why is it on now? Was it automatically triggered by some other earth-bound event, or something? Hopefully, Jack will fill us in some more as we go along.
Mark: That we know very little about "Ike," Margo, or her dad thus far means we care little about them. No distinct personalities on display, let alone the quirks, problems, or hang-ups that give Marvel's best characters their juice. Jack's boundless creativity, no longer harnessed to Stan's humor and humanity, is all about epic scale, grand clashes of Good vs. Evil, rendered in broad, billboard-sized strokes, and it can still stir the blood, so long as you're not looking for subtlety, nuance, characterization.
You want Gods and Monsters? Kirby is still King.
Flesh and blood humans on the other, square-fingered hand...
"The Sleep... of the Just!"
Story by Steve Gerber
Art by Gene Colan and Steve Leialoha
Colors by Michele Wolfman
Letters by Annette Kawecki
Cover by Gene Colan and Steve Leialoha
Howard’s late-night reading is interrupted by a steady hammering on the ceiling; Howard cinches his robe and stamps off to the apartment above. There, he finds Bev’s upstairs neighbor, Paul Same, pounding on his floor – sound asleep; Howard has to pop him to get the kid to snap out of it. Paul identifies himself as a frustrated painter; his inability to finish his projects ties into his overall ineffectual nature. Paul tells Howard and Bev how, since around age 10, he’s been able to doze off whenever he’s affronted by intense emotions. Howard berates Paul for his self-pity, and slaps his webbed feet back down the stairs. Bev asks whether Howard might’ve come down too hard on the fragile artist. Howard’s thoughts get caught up in Paul’s issues, and the problems faced by all hairless apes as they try to play “by this world’s nutty rules,” until Howard’s musings serve as their own barrier to his rest; he pads out to clear his head. Meanwhile, on a deserted Cleveland street, an old lady is accosted by a mugger. Suddenly – a man clad in a nightshirt, with a cap on his head and a kerchief across his face, interrupts the would-be robber, and chases him off with a roman candle. At Joe’s Bar, Howard’s reverie is broken as a drunken bar-fight erupts around him. The nightshirted fellow, calling himself Winky-Man, arrives, and busts up the fight with a combination of threats and verse. Howard recognizes Winky-Man as Paul, and pulls him from the crowd, so he can wake him up; Winky-Man only appears when Paul is asleep, presumably dreaming. Howard speculates this could be a manifestation of Paul’s need to circumvent his powerlessness – as Winky-Man, Paul is safe to conduct himself in the forthright and assertive manner he wishes he could project during his waking hours. In the weeks following the onset of Winky-Man’s appearances, Howard notices Paul’s attitude has improved, his apartment is orderly, and enough of his paintings now are completed that he finally is able to present them to the public. At the showing, Paul’s work is belittled by a local critic, Xavier Couture, who dismisses Paul’s work as “passé” and “junk.” Howard notices as Paul’s brittle confidence begins to unravel, along with his consciousness, and takes swift action: he leads Paul to a couch, as he falls to sleep. Soon after, a sleepwalking Paul is able to confront Couture, and put him in his place – in part, by snapping off Couture’s well-guarded wig. Couture employs quick thinking of his own – as a face-saving measure, he pretends (for the benefit of the attending artgoers) that he and Paul had planned this exposure as a bit of performance art; in the process, Paul sees himself as accepted by the culture crowd. Howard is relieved that Paul didn’t have to yank the rug from a woman critic’s head. -Chris Blake
Who would’ve thought that the same artist who has pushed the limits of reality in Doctor Strange, and chilled our blood in Tomb of Dracula, then could pile on the silliness for Howard the Duck? Well, since we’re talking about Gentleman Gene Colan, we have proof yet again that – much like Big John Buscema in HtD #3 – we have an artist who can Do It All. Highlights include: Howard the Nightmare Duck (above); Paul’s “rampaging colossus” power-dream, featuring him lifting cars and men as he stomps down the street (below); and the indignity to Howard of being caught between the two brawling drunks (far below).
Okay, last thing to mention is that the letters page kicks off the “Howard for President” campaign, which will give Steve G ample opportunity for some fun in the coming months. Vote Howard!
Matthew: Stability breaks out in the form of the Gerber/Colan team, whose almost-unbroken run will last nearly as long as the book itself, bolstered by Leialoha through #13; to me, and Brunner notwithstanding, HTD is one of Gene’s signature characters, like DD, Doc, and Drac. This issue’s other milestone is the lettercol announcement, “in this Bicentennial bummer of a year,” that Marvel is drafting him as a Presidential candidate, with Gerber actually selling “Get Down America!” campaign buttons, via Mad Genius Associates, for a buck apiece. As for the story at hand, it’s a typical HTD outing with our waterfowl in fine form, Steve’s trademark social satire, and the Dean [Gene, not august] showing right out of the gate that his shadowy style is a perfect match.
Mark: Gene Colan arrives for a long, web-footed residency on Howard, and Steve Gerber eschews genre send-ups, instead offering that off-script rarity, a genuinely sweet tale, with about as "happy" an ending as the Gerb on his most outré titles was likely to offer.
Somnambulist Paul Same's frustrated-artist creativity starts to flow when his nightshirted, roman candle-wielding alter-ego Winky-Man emerges, delivering street justice and second degree burns, but perhaps it's the sublime Ms. Switzler who's inspiring Paul to complete his series of female nudes.
Elsewhere we get Bev in a negligee (thanks, Gene!). Howard reading Hegel, slammed bill first into a bar by a drunk (who's actually defending him), and rendered as a nightmare demon (Colan sharpening his TOD chops?).
As the cherry atop our sleep-walker's sundae, what red-blooded thirteen year old Marvel maniac doesn't pant for an art critic takedown? Gerber leaves some of my esteemed colleagues scratching their noggins, but even they must admit that Steve was always in step with the Zeitgeist.
"The Sword and the Sorcerer!"
Story by Len Wein
Art by Sal Buscema and Joe Staton
Colors by Glynis Wein
Letters by John Costanza
Cover by Rich Buckler and John Romita
Thanks to Doc Samson, The Incredible Huik finds himself shrunken down to the size of an atom and in the middle of a great battle between the village of Terragonia and their sadistic king, Kronak the Barbarian. Believing the Hulk to be the savior they've been praying for, the people of Terragonia (led by the sorcerer, Sham-San) beg the emerald giant to defeat the king and bring the reign of terror to an end. After a bit of goading (a little girl tells Hulk he must be afraid of Kronak and that gets the big guy's gourd), our hero travels to the castle and confronts Kronak's guards. The barbarian's wizard uses a bit of magic to overcome the Hulk and he transforms back into puny Bruce Banner. The confused scientist (who hasn't actually been himself since he was back on Earth) is taken before Kronak, who erupts into laughter when told this scrawny little guy is the savior of the people. Banner is taken to an arena where he faces off with the king but blood pressure and heart rate being what they are... The Hulk quickly dispatches the nasty tyrant and is in the process of accepting congratulations from his new fans when he shrinks down into nothingness again. -Peter Enfantino
Peter Enfantino: As a Marvel zombie-teen, I was a faithful follower of The Incredible Hulk until issue 200 when, for some forgotten reason (it may have been the loss I felt when Trimpe left the book) it dropped off my purchasing checklist, so this one's all new to me. I gotta say I enjoyed it, Buscema and Staton and all. At first glance merely a Conan rip-off, I thought Kronak was a breath of fresh air in the Barbarian-heavy Marvel Universe; the anti-Conan, if you will. Good timing that Hulk didn't start his next phase of shrinking until after the battle was won.
Matthew: It’s a shame that REH-meister Professor Flynn isn’t reviewing this title, so he could tell us just how spot-on Len’s “Kronak the Barbarian” pastiche might be, but I have to assume it’s pretty accurate; later in the decade, Sal will follow in his elder brother’s footsteps with the occasional Savage Sword of You-Know-Who. For now, the above-average Bustaton art makes this one-and-done a painless read on a lazy Memorial Day afternoon, sandwiched between the 200th-issue extravaganza and Jarella’s inevitable return. How fortunate for the Terragonians that when the Hulk justifiably launches into his “Why should I help you?” spiel, there’s usually somebody around to say, “Oh, but of course, the emerald one is no match for [fill in the blank].”
Sal & Joe have a lot of fun with the art. I especially enjoyed seeing the Hulk snap the huge oaken doors from their hinges (well, at least the handles held – the ironworker should be proud). Other highlights: Hulk holding a guard by his head as he tosses him aside (p 11); Kronak’s growing dread as he witnesses the Transformation (p 17); and the non-Conan face of fear as Kronak desperately swats at Greenskin (below).
The Amazing Spider-Man 158
"Hammerhead is Out!"
Story by Len Wein
Art by Ross Andru, Mike Esposito, and Dave Hunt
Colors by Glynis Wein
Letters by John Costanza
Cover by Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia
Free-falling towards the ground after his web-line was severed by Doc Ock, Spider-Man smartly forms a hang-glider to bring him down slowly—straight into a dumpster! Back at his mostly unfurnished Chelsea pad, Peter is darning his Spidey suit when Glory Grant knocks, offering cake and brewing coffee. Then Mary Jane rings the bell, wondering why her Aunt Anna's place has a huge hole in the wall and Aunt May is missing. Then Peter gets a phone call from Joe Robertson, so leaves the lovely ladies for the Daily Bugle offices, where he not only learns the competition, The Daily Globe, has a new publisher who's been hiring away top talent, but that JJJ can't get good help with Betty Brant in Paris. When a news flash comes over the wire that Doctor Octopus is holding an old lady hostage at Brookhaven Labs, Peter ducks out for a quick change and hops a ride out to Suffolk. At the Labs, surrounded by commandos, Ock starts creating a machine to rid himself of the Hammerhead ghost when Spidey bursts in, trying to get Aunt May out of there, but ends up being thrown out a window. When he swings back in and starts destroying Ock's machine, the tentacled terror gets in the way, until Hammerhead threatens May, which makes both Ock and Spidey rush to put the particle accelerator back together…until the wall-crawler realizes it's a trick, and Hammerhead wants Ock to pull the switch, which he does—bringing the ghostly gangster back to flesh and blood!--Joe Tura
Fave sound effect: I like the "CHUFF!!" noise when Spidey's feet meet Ock's noggin. Maybe that's the sound of the sinister scientist's hair moving with the kick? Or is that his reaction when his beloved May is knocked down? Either way, it's good "chuff". Oy…
Chris: Len serves up the recommended monthly allowance of Spidey, all in one helping! Consider the ingredients: a creative escape from a tough spot (the web-glider – patent pending); a check-in with friends and neighbors (Glory and MJ, if only for a few panels); an observation of Jonah’s fierce resistance to a circumstance that is not within his control (ease up, JJ – you’re gonna give yourself a coronary!); a warehouse/factory/lab/trailer/abandoned zoo (insert villain’s lair here, as appropriate); Peter’s concerns for his beloved and frail aunt (nice moment there, as Peter has to watch out and not call Aunt May by name!); Peter’s knowledge of things scientific coming into play, as he realizes (– too late!) that he and Ock never should’ve let Hammerhead within a mile of Dr O’s devious machinery. Clever variation on the formula, as Spidey and Ock work together (for a page or two) once they realize that Hammerhead is their common enemy. And it’s all a part of your complete Spidey experience!
Mark: Hokey, sure, but I liked the web-glider as a trendy new solution to Spidey's big fall. Even better, the return of the supporting cast, including a Glory Grant sighting, J. Jonah terrorizing secretaries, and a classic, Ditko era, Pete-sews-Spidey-suit bit, updated with the sight gag of a splay-legged Peter, awkwardly gearing up in his tighty whities.
As for the Ock-Aunt May stuff? Meh. The overall grade is knocked down substantially by the presence of goofy, never-interesting mobster Flathead, whom Wein does nothing to freshen up, in ectoplasmic form or otherwise.
At least Doc Ock's panicked, last page expression is priceless, like he has the vapors.
For this batch, the Avengers is my pick for straightforward superheroics -- great art & story by Perez & Englehart. But my favorite is HTD #4, the first issue of that title I picked up, and I loved it! Brunner and J. Buscema drew great versions of Howard, but IMO Colan drew the definitive version. I shared this with my mom, who didn't usually read my comics, and she loved HTD too.
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