March 1977 Part One: Captain America and... The Swine?

The Avengers 157
"Who is the Ghost of Stone?"
Story by Gerry Conway
Art by Don Heck and Pablo Marcos
Colors by Don Warfield
Letters by Gaspar Saladino
Cover by Jack Kirby

It's Christmas Eve at the Avengers Mansion and Iron Man, Yellowjacket, and The Beast are putting finishing touches on a long day. As they are about to make their way to the kitchen, something busts through one of the walls and puts the trio out of commission. We soon learn who the mysterious force is: Dane Whitman, The Black Knight, who was turned to stone by a kiss from The Enchantress during the Avengers/Defenders clash some months before. Believing his fellow Avengers abandoned him, he has come back from his comatose state (but just who revived him, kids? Hmmm?) to punish his former comrades. In his seemingly impervious shell of stone, BK soon trumps Captain America, The Wasp, Wonder Man, and The Scarlet Witch as well. Just as he's musing that there's one more head to put on his den wall, The Vision appears and tries to talk sense to Whitman but to no avail. When The Knight attempts to lay a pile driver on Viz, his stone fists turn to pebbles. An attempted head butt reduces the entire former Avenger to dust and the Vision is left to ponder life and its inequities.
-Peter Enfantino

Peter Enfantino: Right! Well, I'm coming in after not having read an Avengers funny book in "three years" (I believe the last batch I covered was the Zodiac arc back in #120-122) so, please, bear with me. The immediate vibe I get from this story is Deadline Doom. Gerry produced a new story all right, but the whole thing hinges on countless flashbacks to and issue reminders about Steve Englehart's fabled Avengers/ Defenders war back in... oh hell, read this issue and you'll know where it appeared. "Who is the Ghost of Stone?" is a big fat nothing. So, I'm not impressed. I am impressed with Don Heck's art. Well, let me rephrase that... I'm impressed that Don Heck's art has never changed one iota since the early days. With a few roster changes, this issue could easily have been slotted in with Don's first run on Avengers back in the mid-1960s. Having said all that, I'm willing to keep an open mind since certain staff members hold a bizarre fondness for this era and, hey, I thought Luke Cage was crap at first, too. I give Gerry a half star bump in my rating for fooling me completely with this issue's villain. Raise your hands, those of you who would have bet it was The Grey Gargoyle. One... two... three... yes, I see I have company.

Joe Tura: Is it possible to like a Don Heck comic book? Of course, it's a skyscraper-sized step down from the regular artist on this book, but overall, not too shabby. The story itself is hokum and retro-fitting, but it works, and I certainly remembered it, especially when the Vision started pontificating about the true origin of the "Black Knight." A neat tie-up to a puzzling story, because it's a stretch that Whitman would seek revenge against the Avengers, to be honest. Wasn't he known for his sense of honor? And who the heck belongs to that robot hand that brings the stone knight to life? Hmmm…. Although reading ahead, it's much less interesting than you'd think and appears to be sorta dropped, as well as debated. Still a good issue, for a fill-in.

Matthew Bradley:  I have historically disliked Conway’s last issue for two reasons, one of which is what an obvious letdown the Hecos artwork is after the Perez/Buscema glories of the past year, although I will say they do a surprisingly good job on the Beast.  The other is that—however safe Dane Whitman’s spirit may be, inhabiting his 12^th-century ancestor—I find the finality of having his much-abused 20^th-century body turned to rubble unutterably sad.  That said, it has some nice character stuff, especially for Simon, and I appreciated it more in retrospect, especially since I now know Gerry was setting some interesting stuff in motion on his way out the door (even if one guesses the owner of that metal hand, its full ramifications won’t be clear for some time yet).

Chris Blake: Dedicated Marvel fans would’ve known that it wasn’t the Grey Gargoyle stalking the halls of Avengers Mansion (since the Gargoyle is due to meet up with Thor somewhere in deep space – he couldn’t be in two places at once, right?); still, Gerry does a nice job of keeping us guessing regarding the identity of the “stone ghost,” and Heck ably keeps the Knight in the shadows for the first few pages.  Gerry then tips his hand, as longtime Avengers fans undoubtedly would notice that Dane Whitman doesn’t spout dramatic-sounding prose like he’s speaking here, which tells us that – appearances aside – this Knight isn’t the great Dane. Question remains: who was the mysterious power that activated him -?

That said, I still don’t like that the Avengers can be taken out so easily: isn’t Iron Man’s armor polarized, so that it would be resistant to an electrical charge?  If the Wasp or Yellowjacket is trapped in someone’s hand, wouldn’t the easiest solution be to shoot back up to normal size?  Wonder Man just stopped an out-of-control bus – shouldn’t it take more than a header into a mailbox to take him out of play?  At least Cap required two shots – first, a stone hand to the head, then a slam at the back of his head against the stove, in order for him to go down.  The Beast was trapped under a 1950s Univac, so I’ll admit he’s got a legit excuse for being removed from the fray.  

I’m going to refrain from my typical disparagement of Heck because – abetted by Marcos’ finishes – the art doesn’t look too bad.  I’m not saying this art team should continue – no, I say we got away with one this time, and bring back Sal next month.  

Black Panther 2
"The Six-Million Year Man"
Story by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
Colors by Petra Goldberg
Letters by Mike Royer
Cover by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia

T''Challa and Princess Zanda have their hands full with the big-brained visitor from the future known as "Hatch 22." Hatch dispatches Zanda's henchmen like ten-pins until the Panther pulls a sneaky trick and decks the alien. T'Challa stand around for a while, debating what to do with this dangerous creature; Zanda leaning on the "kill" option but the Panther quashing that idea. They decide that they must locate the twin to the Brass Frog (the time-traveling device that brought Hatch to us in the first place), a curio that will allow a return-trip. While mourning the loss of his chum, Abner Little (shot down by Zanda's thugs last issue) T''Challa notices the vertically-challenged collector is wearing a bullet-proof vest and is... alive!! (exclamation mine-PastePot) While the Little guy is being brought up to speed, a bizarre display of light occurs in the room and the trio is shown the origin of Hatch and his home world. During the performance, an alien approaches Hatch's world and is destroyed with the power of "a stock-pile of Hydrogen bombs." The three dumbfounded witnesses are now all in agreement: Hatch 22 has got to go. Mr. Little informs his companions that Brass Frog II resides in King Solomon's burial chamber and the three hop into his Supersonic Multi-Plane, a rocket-like contraption that is conveniently stored in Little's trophy room. To Infinity... and beyond!
-Peter Enfantino

Peter: While not quite the success of the first chapter, I thought this installment was intriguing enough and certainly kept my interest. I suspect The King never had any intention of killing off Abner Little but he sure had me fooled last issue; I'm glad to see the Little man back. He's obviously the draw to this series; it certainly can't be The Panther as he doesn't do very much but observe (ala Man-Thing). His tactic (Avenger training exercise #42B?) of convincing Hatch 22 that performing  push-ups is a way to greet strangers (while prepping a knockout blow) is hilarious in a "did-Jack-mean-that-to-be-funny?" way. It could be argued that the origin of HatchWorld just kinda blends in with all those SF/distant worlds/alien heroes origins Jack did in the 1960s for Marvel, but I dug it anyway.

Matthew: Fortunately for our august Dean, Kirby wasn’t about to create a character as quirky as Mr. Little and then kill him off right away.  Conversely, Princess Zanda seems to be his opposite in every way, not only the obvious ones—e.g., gender, ethnicity, stature, headgear—but also because, after two issues, she hasn’t progressed much past a one-note persona (not that we’d expect her to have the exquisitely nuanced feminine shadings of Jack’s Sharon Carter, right?).  Once again, amid all of the admittedly fun Kirby/Royer spectacle involving our friend from Hatch 22 and yet another bleak far-flung future for Mother Earth, the observation that the Panther feels like a supporting player in his own title, more reactive than active, remains spot-on.

Captain Marvel 49
"Asylum Earth!"
Story by Scott Edelman
Art by Al Milgrom, Terry Austin, and The West Coast Wombats
Colors by Janice Cohen
Letters by Gaspar Saladino and Denise Wohl
Cover by Al Milgrom and Steve Leialoha

Attacked by various villains in the Negative Zone, Rick awakens in Ethan Wilford’s farmhouse to realize it was all a dream, and is declared healthy by Tara, who initiates a “private” encounter implied to be sexual.  In the morning, the clearly jealous Mac-Ronn explains the need to repair “a rapidly weakening restraint-cube imprisoning Ronan aboard their crashed spacecraft,” so Rick reluctantly summons Mar-Vell, their minds no longer linked.  Evidence that the doctors are falling victim to the very virus they are there to study mounts with Mac-Ronn’s bigotry against the white Kree, their own humanoid “false flesh” notwithstanding; as Mar-Vell approaches, Ronan—driven insane by the virus—summons the Sentry and Cheetah to delay him.

They succeed in diverting Mar-Vell while Ronan frees himself, and the resultant explosion of the ship wrecks the doctors’ jeep.  Tara and Mac-Ronn  survive the blast, but after she shows her true Kree spirit by bashing Ronan—who roars that Mar-Vell has “escaped judgement [sic] long enough”—over the head with a rock, Ronan slays her with an energy bolt from his Universal Weapon.  Appalled by Ronan’s mad laughter as Mac-Ronn declares his love for her, Mar-Vell fells the Sentry, thus reverting the Cheetah to rapidly fleeing peasant Esteban Carracus, and pummels Ronan into defeat, leaving Mar-Vell with “a strange confusion as to why he is the only Kree to remain…unaffected” by the virus of the spirit and Mac-Ronn weeping over his lost love. -Matthew Bradley

Matthew: This week’s Disingenuous Award goes to new writer Scott Edelman, according to whose blog “I loved playing around with a character I’d been reading about since the late ’60s.  I can still remember my 12-year-old self biking to the candy store in 1967 to buy a copy of Marvel Superheroes [sic] #12, which contained his origin story.  Would I ever have predicted then that I’d be writing his adventures myself someday, plus working a future staff job at Marvel Comics?  Nah!  Unfortunately, I had to follow the tremendously popular writer/artist Jim Starlin, who at the time was considered to have already done a perfect stretch on Captain Marvel.”  True enough, if you define “follow” merely as “come after,” but he neglects to mention a few factoids.

Matthew: During and after Starlin’s run, some stumblebum named Englehart worked on the book for more than two years, while Scott’s immediate predecessor was Gerry Conway, who—per the lettercol in #50—plotted the first five pages of this issue, not that you’d know it from Edelman.  “So I was in a no-win situation,” he continues.  “Believe me, there were days at the beginning of my brief run on the title when I didn’t have fun opening the mail.  Captain Marvel was my first comic-book series, and it was a true learning experience—but since it was only seven issues long, it was basically over before I could figure out what I was doing and get the training wheels off.” Ironically, that was, by a considerable margin, his most sustained effort as a Marvel writer.

Said lettercol also reports that here, “Al Milgrom was cheerfully lent a few hands on his mind-bending layouts by the West Coast Wombats,” presumably a kind of transcontinental Crusty Bunkers.  My mind certainly felt like it was bending during Rick’s apparent seduction by Tara, whose feathered ’70s disco-’do and rakish scarf were evidently what the well-dressed disguised Kree was wearing back in the day.  Even an inker as talented as Austin seems unable completely to offset the goofiness inherent in Al’s pencils (e.g., Mac-Ronn’s Looney Toons scowl in page 10, panel 4), while Ronan’s return—which should be monumental—is basically squandered, and any potentially interesting elements this does offer fail to gel into a satisfyingly cohesive whole.

Chris: Edelman has some interesting ideas, most notably the way the virus of the spirit does not have a uniform effect on all Kree.  Ronan’s ploy of using the Sentry and the Cheetah to draw Mar-Vell to his downed craft – and to keep CapMarv occupied until Ronan is ready to emerge – is also a good one.  Although, Ronan is too compelling a character to be reduced to an appearance of only a few pages; wouldn’t it have made more sense for the noisy, pointless Sentry/Cheetah rampage across the countryside to be cut short – or perhaps, dispensed with entirely – so that Ronan’s arrival could’ve taken place earlier, perhaps as soon as the last page of CM #48?  That potentially would’ve made for a spirited battle for the entirety of this issue.  A bonus to this timing is that there wouldn’t’ve been time for Rick; anytime more than one page is devoted to Rick, Mar-Vell tends to be reduced to a simple Hero-in-a-Box, ready to spring free from the Negative Zone and Save the Day.

The Champions 12
"Did Someone Say... The Stranger?"
Story by Bill Mantlo
Art by John Byrne and Bob Layton
Colors by Don Warfield
Letters by Annette Kawecki
Cover by Dave Cockrum

In a spectacular splash and two-page spread, the Champscraft arrives as Black Goliath battles Stilt-Man atop their H.Q., wherein his quarry, Reggie Clayborne, seeks refuge.  The Champs are eager to repay BG’s life-saving intercession, and Darkstar destroys the Z-Ray, but after Stilt-Man (whose ornithophobia Warren unwittingly triggers) detaches the pods Ghost Rider has mired in molten tar, enabling him to flee the scene of their pitched battle, BG claims the right to pursue him single-handed.  Stilt-Man sought the power inside a box stolen from Stark West by Reggie’s addicted “old man”; she walked out when he refused to take it back, yet as she tells how she returned to find Jerry gone—and the box glowing—the Stranger walks through the wall.

The box contains “a bomb capable of destroying this entire star-system,” but because of the Stranger’s history, the Champs resist his efforts to reclaim it as, in the background, the scanner picks up a report of BG trouncing his foe.  The Null-Life Bomb begins to grow, absorbing Reggie and starting on the Stranger, who explains that having “forsworn [its] original purpose,” he believed it inert until sensing that it had been re-armed, but was delayed (see Marvel Team-Up #55) en route to saving the Earth.  Now triggered, it will expand, passing harmlessly through solid objects, then solidify and contract, crushing all within; his only hope is to slow its growth from inside as the Champs secure the sole object that can stop it, so he transports them all to the realm of Kamo Tharn (sic). -Matthew Bradley

Matthew: I don’t know which I love more, this issue itself or how exquisitely Mantlo and Byrne coordinate their “Stranger Tales” here and in MTU.  It’s not just a “this happened and then that happened” sequence of events, but a true causal relationship, because his trip to the moon—compounded by his imbroglio with the Champs—resulted in a delay with potentially catastrophic consequences.  Befitting his name, the Stranger has always been a somewhat enigmatic character, and Bill uses that quality to maximum effect, creating a MARMIS that is dramatically effective and far more justified than usual, since the mutants’ firsthand experiences (from his debut in X-Men #11) and the Champs’ limited knowledge of his mission make them legitimately suspicious of his motives.

Goliath’s presence among the Champions fulfills their mutual creator’s intent, gives Foster a clear-cut victory over Stilt-Man of the kind he so often lacked, and provides closure after the untimely demise of his solo title.  Yet Mantlo achieves all this in a way that, with irony intended or not, ties in to the “loser” motif permeating both strips; its outcome merely glimpsed on TV at the periphery of the main event, their battle is an almost-literal sideshow, while “Black Goliath has just ripped off one of Stilt-Man’s legs—and is beating him with it!” reminds me of Monty Python or Bugs Bunny.  The consistency and excellence of John’s art complement this beautifully, and although I wish Dave Hunt could have inked both stories, Layton seems to have improved since last issue.

This tale, which would’ve appeared around Christmastime, aptly resembles a stocking filled with treats:  Herc almost capsizing the Champscraft in his enthusiasm; BG symbolically blocking the Champs with his oversized hand; the detail of Johnny’s initial failure to transform (this taking place before GR #22) confirming the Stranger’s story; his throwaway skepticism about Laynia’s defection; the visual parallel of Herc and BG wielding a piece of machinery and Stilt-Man’s leg, respectively; the callback to the selfless sacrifice of Al B. Harper, who disarmed the bomb at the cost of his own life—and forced the Stranger to reconsider—in the classic Silver Surfer #5.  Byrne’s GR is beautifully spectral, his Natasha just beautiful, and his Stranger imposing.  Man, this thing rocks.

Chris: Kind of a two-part battle, as we start with a few pages with the Stilt-Man. This has never been one of my favorite opponents, but he proves to be more formidable than I remember, especially as he’s able to compensate for Bobby’s freezing, and recover and renew the fight after Herc takes him down.  The detachable leg-segments (allowing for a swift get-away) also is a neat idea; still, I appreciate the novel way Bill & John choose to conclude Goliath’s battle with him, as we literally view the final moments by remote feed, with news commentary keeping us informed.  Nice!

Then, we move on swiftly to the main event with the Stranger.  The Stranger’s frustration with the team as he tries to reason with them is cleverly done; still, it’s hard to blame the Champions for suspecting his motives (especially Johnny, who gets blasted out a window to the street below!).  Neat twist at the end, as the Stranger zaps the team elsewhere, based on a passing thought by the Widow; they’re gone so quickly that there isn’t time to process whether this was a really sound idea or not.  And, Kamo Thamn!  Can’t say I saw that coming!  Apparently, neither did Herc, who can’t help hoping that he’ll have a minute to take Thamn quietly aside, and speak reasonably with him about that ol Runestaff …

Byrne’s approach to the art is more straight-forward than what he typically brings to Iron Fist, as we tend to have regular sequences of rectangular panels to follow.  The two-page spread is awfully good (p 2-3), and there are plenty of small details to enjoy, such as: Darkstar’s concentration as she closes her fist and uses darkforce to crunch the z-ray (p 6, pnl 5); Blaze pouring hellfire on the street below (p 11, last two pnls); Goliath blocking Herc’s progress with an oversized open palm (p 14, pnl 5); shadows on Herc as the Stranger withers the metal rod Herc had brandished (p 23, pnl 4), which also contrasts with Goliath having successfully battered Stilt-Man with his own extended leg (p 23, previous panel).  I also like how, in all the excitement, we see Ms Clayborne has lost her left shoe (p 23, pnl 5), and I really, really appreciate how Byrne has kept Goliath to a fairly consistent, uniform size throughout the issue.  

Conan the Barbarian 72 

“Vengeance in Asgalun!”
Story by Roy Thomas
Art by John Buscema and Ernie Chan

Colors by Marie Severin

Letters by John Costanza

Cover by Gil Kane and Ernie Chan

On board the Tigress, N’Yaga struggles to recover from the wounds suffered when the ship ran aground off the island of Kelka. The elderly shaman tells the She-Devil that he has only one hope: a vial of healing herbs hidden in the royal palace at Asgalun, the capital of Shem and Bêlit’s childhood home. The king is now Nim-Karrak, the brother and murderer of her father, the rightful ruler Atrahasis. Even though she vowed never to return to her home without an army to regain her birthright, she sets sail for Asgalun, determined to save the life of her lifelong confidant. Disguised as acrobats, Conan and Bêlit enter the Shemite city, surprised to find it overrun by Stygian warriors. After impressing a Stygian with their tumbling skills, they are brought to the palace and presented to King Nim-Karrak and his dark counsellor Ptor-Nubis, one of the sorcerers of Stygia’s dreaded Black Circle. Bêlit, unable to control her rage at the sight of her father’s murderer, draws a sword. Ptor-Nubis steps forward, touches her forehead and commands the fierce woman to attack her Cimmerian companion instead. The king, not realizing that Bêlit is his niece and beguiled by her beauty, orders the sorcerer to break his spell: she will become his latest concubine and the mighty Conan conscripted into the Asgalun army. In Nim-Karrak’s bedchambers, the She-Devil finds the vial of herbs — she then viciously strikes her uncle with a chair. Just before she drives the jagged edge of a broken bottle into his throat, the king blurts out that her father is still alive, held captive in the Stygian capital of Luxur. Bêlit rushes away, running past the soldiers accompanying Conan: the barbarian grabs a sword and lays his captives low. The lovers steal a chariot and make their escape from Asgalun. -Tom Flynn

Tom Flynn: Stygians! Love those guys. They are like Hyborian Nazis — you are always behind enemy lines when you encounter these nasty creeps. Of course, when I hear the word Stygians, I start drooling about my fave Thoth-Amon, the biggest baddie in the Conan canon. I haven’t peeked ahead to see if the Cimmerian and Bêlit head off to Stygia the next issue but you have to assume it will happen one day or another. Conan has been kicking around with Bêlit for so long now — she first appeared in issue 58, way back in January 1976 — that I had forgotten that she was the daughter of a king and the rightful ruler of Shem. So, since I was not expecting this storyline, it feels totally fresh and exciting. I also have to wonder if Roy began laying the groundwork when N’Yaga was first injured in issue #70 — the incident didn’t seem all that important back then. So a tip of the hat to the Rascally One if so. As usual, Big John and Ernie deliver the goods making this a superior issue that opens up a whole world of possibilities. The Hyborian Page features a letter by future scribe Mike W. Barr, as well as one by Peter Sanderson; never heard of the guy but seems like he’s some type of respected comics historian.

Chris: Bêlit sneak-assaults Conan by clubbing him in the head in public, which secures them jobs as entertainers in the palace; Bêlit can't hide her fury at the sight of Nim-Karrak, and in response he decides he likes her fiery temperament, which gets her into his bedchambers; Conan's conscription has him in the street, under guard as he's being escorted across town, which allows him to bust loose, rescue Bêlit, and free them both. There is a crucial element of chance in all three of these moments, but we have to be willing to put their unlikelihood aside in the interest of brisk continuance of the story, which of course Roy succeeds in executing.  It's not often that we see Conan hang back and let another set the pace, but clearly this is Bêlit's fight; their mission succeeds both as it allows her to repay an old debt (as she retrieves the last of the elixir for old N’Yaga), and to commence the settlement of an old score – now that Nim-Karrak knows that Bêlit is still alive, and gunning for him, I don't foresee a whole lotta restful, contented nights of sleep for him anytime soon, ya know?