Week Ending Dec. 30, 1972
Mighty World of Marvel #13
It is the final days of 1972, the contents of your Christmas stocking exhausted (to wit: a tangerine and a sugar mouse) what remains to look forward to? Well, the thirteenth issue of MWOM for a start.
I should warn those of a sensitive disposition that my arch-foe and probable future serial killer 'Waids' has once again reached across the decades to strike at me by removing a pin-up page with a disturbing, almost surgical care. I am very much of the opinion that this person needs to be found and have their patio dug up.
It says a lot for Stan Lee's determination to make the character of the Hulk a success, that after the cancellation of his own title, the story continues seamlessly into the pages of Tales to Astonish #60. We do now get yet another iteration of the Hulk here, with the abandonment of the gamma-ray machine transformation and Hulk's appearance now being triggered by stress or fear. Also we see the first suggestion of the Hulk seeing Bruce Banner as an entirely separate entity and possible enemy. As for this week's plot, Dr Banner has taken a break from nuclear physics, to branch out into the field of building super-powerful robots, with inevitable results. Art duties on this story are once again taken by Steve Ditko, I'm sure purists will disagree but the slightly heavy-handed inks of George Roussos save the day, even if the result is a somewhat weirdly handsome Hulk.
Spider-Man still has his hands full with the Lizard in the everglades, worse still is the added threat of Curt Conners' army of super-alligators. We get another story here where Peter Parker's science credentials are as important to victory and his spider powers. Under the heading of 'comics are educational' the Spanish castle location for the showdown turned out to be not as implausible as it initially seemed after consulting Google. I have lingering doubts about the architectural accuracy though.
Continuing the super-villain team-up from last week, the Submariner strolls into the Baxter Building, much to the annoyance of three quarters of the Fantastic Four. There is a halfhearted punch up before Namor claims he is just there to be mates, a statement that is wisely not taken at face value by our heroes. Not that any of this matters a jot, as the other half of this dastardly plot, Dr Doom, is pulling a double-cross on Prince Haddock Pants. What is that plot I hear you ask? Well obviously it is the old 'use a super magnet to pull the entire Baxter Building into space' wheeze. When in doubt, stick with the classics I say.
Surprisingly, New York skyscrapers are a lot more suited to the rigors of near-Earth spaceflight than might be expected, "extra strong glass" Reed explains. Despite the ownership of a building capable of Earth orbit, the FF are shockingly ineffectual against Dr Doom and it is left to Namor to save the day, launch the Latverian lunatic into deep space and land a multistory building with the kind of precision that would make Elon Musk pack it all in and take up golf instead.
It is the final days of 1972, the contents of your Christmas stocking exhausted (to wit: a tangerine and a sugar mouse) what remains to look forward to? Well, the thirteenth issue of MWOM for a start.
I should warn those of a sensitive disposition that my arch-foe and probable future serial killer 'Waids' has once again reached across the decades to strike at me by removing a pin-up page with a disturbing, almost surgical care. I am very much of the opinion that this person needs to be found and have their patio dug up.
It says a lot for Stan Lee's determination to make the character of the Hulk a success, that after the cancellation of his own title, the story continues seamlessly into the pages of Tales to Astonish #60. We do now get yet another iteration of the Hulk here, with the abandonment of the gamma-ray machine transformation and Hulk's appearance now being triggered by stress or fear. Also we see the first suggestion of the Hulk seeing Bruce Banner as an entirely separate entity and possible enemy. As for this week's plot, Dr Banner has taken a break from nuclear physics, to branch out into the field of building super-powerful robots, with inevitable results. Art duties on this story are once again taken by Steve Ditko, I'm sure purists will disagree but the slightly heavy-handed inks of George Roussos save the day, even if the result is a somewhat weirdly handsome Hulk.
Spider-Man still has his hands full with the Lizard in the everglades, worse still is the added threat of Curt Conners' army of super-alligators. We get another story here where Peter Parker's science credentials are as important to victory and his spider powers. Under the heading of 'comics are educational' the Spanish castle location for the showdown turned out to be not as implausible as it initially seemed after consulting Google. I have lingering doubts about the architectural accuracy though.
Continuing the super-villain team-up from last week, the Submariner strolls into the Baxter Building, much to the annoyance of three quarters of the Fantastic Four. There is a halfhearted punch up before Namor claims he is just there to be mates, a statement that is wisely not taken at face value by our heroes. Not that any of this matters a jot, as the other half of this dastardly plot, Dr Doom, is pulling a double-cross on Prince Haddock Pants. What is that plot I hear you ask? Well obviously it is the old 'use a super magnet to pull the entire Baxter Building into space' wheeze. When in doubt, stick with the classics I say.
Surprisingly, New York skyscrapers are a lot more suited to the rigors of near-Earth spaceflight than might be expected, "extra strong glass" Reed explains. Despite the ownership of a building capable of Earth orbit, the FF are shockingly ineffectual against Dr Doom and it is left to Namor to save the day, launch the Latverian lunatic into deep space and land a multistory building with the kind of precision that would make Elon Musk pack it all in and take up golf instead.
Comments
Post a Comment