Week Ending March 2, 1974

I'm assuming that most readers of this blog are, how can I put this nicely... getting on a bit. As such, a lot of us might have our own kids who we have probably tried to introduce to the joys of comics. I don't know what level of abject failure you experienced, but it did help me realise how much of my interest is rooted in nostalgia as well as the appreciation of the art form and its history. Also, I learnt how hard it is to keep your cool when the fruit of your loins is holding a comic all wrong.

Mighty World of Marvel #74

This Herb Trimpe cover gets some tweaks to give Maximus a more active role, rather than his more symbolic appearance on the original.

The Incredible Hulk: The Rage of Battle! Reprinting The Incredible Hulk #119

Still struggling with how to handle the need for extra splash pages, Marvel UK blow up another panel and cram in a large Hulk-head to tide us over here. Which would probably be fine if the exact same panel and text weren't on the opposite page to compare and contrast. Things get worse from here though as a mix up at the printers pages out of sequence leading to a confusing reading experience. Trimpe's art is serviceable but it does feel like he is experimenting with his style again and makes the odd choice to have Hulk's eyes closed in all but one of the panels he appears in.

Daredevil: Killer's Castle! Reprinting Daredevil #9

Daredevil is still stuck in Poundland Latveria, with Stan Lee giving him some very Spider-Man style dialogue. Wally Wood delivers some great art, the figures may be a little stiff but the quality is great, even given the confines of the ridiculously stereotyped European castle setting. DD has his parapet showdown with the mad Duke, while the surgeon who might have saved his sight sacrifices his life to save our hero's life instead. Just as well really, as he had worked out Matt Murdock's secret identity.

The Fantastic Four: The Invasion of Atlantis! Reprinting Fantastic Four #33

In the second part of last week's story, the FF are attempting to aid the Sub-Mariner in his battle against Attuma. Reed's unlikely invention of 'oxo-spray' giving them a time-limited ability to breath under water, this incredibly 60s idea creates a surprisingly unique storytelling opportunity as the team basically assist Namor without him becoming aware of it and then having to leave in a hurry. Namor is unaware of the help that his erstwhile enemies provide so we get a team-up that doesn't change the status quo of their relationship. Clever comic book writing from Stan, with Jack and Chic providing exceptional art.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #55

There is something odd about this Wilson/Esposito cover, not the slightly off-model Spider-Man, not even the weirdly recoloured Spider Slayer. What strikes me as unusual is the prominent use of a sound-effect on a cover. I'm sure there must be other examples, but for the life of me, I can't think of any.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Attack of The Spider-Slayer! Reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #58

Marvel UK are still finding their feet with the addional splash pages to bridge the gap created by chopping stories into weekly portions, this week's effort is on a learning curve that resembles a downward vertical line. Fundamentally it is a painfully enlarged panel from last week that tells us nothing that the very next more naturally sized doesn't, jarring and not particularly informative. The story itself involves Spidey taking out the all-new, all-improved Spider-Slayer in a manner that is both a cunning twist and comic book daft. We also get a small coda for the recent guest appearance of Ka-Zar. Another enjoyable episode with Stan and John Romita on entertaining form, the inks of Don Heck only dampening my enthusiasm slightly.

Iron Man: Showdown in a Strange Land! Reprinting Tales of Suspense #42

Iron Man (and Stan Lee) continue their mission to destroy communism, while editors in 1974 attempt to tone down the red-bashing. In fact, I think Stan might have originally planned to have a far more brutal and provocative ending. Iron Man intercepts the spy known as the Actor, who has stolen Stark's military secrets and then delivers what is implied to be an empty attache case with an atomic bomb booby trapped timelock to the Mad Barbarian, pretending to be the Actor impersonating Iron Man. Confused? You should be, because this whole performance seems to be pointless, although it does lead to the death of the Actor when he returns to the Mad Barbarian empty handed. If you ask me, Stan intended the final panel to be Iron Man flying away with a giant mushroom cloud as a backdrop.

The Mighty Thor: Hercules Walks Among Us! Reprinting Journey into Mystery #125

You may recall that I postulated that last week's story had a small train-based continuity crossover with a Hulk story we had seen a few months prior, I have been informed by a knowledgeable blog-reader that this was indeed the case. Which gives me the terrifying thought that I might have to one day attempt to read all these stories in their original release order. Hercules is in New York (they should make a movie of that) and it isn't long before he is putting the moves on Jane Foster. This is all opportunity Stan needs to start writing Jane with the inconsistent characterisation he reserves for any romantic subplot, Jane has been knowingly dating an actual god for about 24-hours before she wants to trade up to an entirely different pantheon.

The Avengers #24

Kirby and Heck's original US cover gets a colourful reworking that both makes sense and improves it. Genuine peril, goldfish bowl scuba gear and a giant octopus, there is much to appreciate here.

The Avengers: Four Against The Flood tide! Reprinting The Avengers #27

After much song, dance and exposition regarding the Avengers' latest communication gizmo, Hawkeye has completely forgotten the operating instructions and is forced to use the even more improbable 'subliminal recall-inducer' to remember his pin-number. This is a resounding success that not even the sudden and inexplicable appearance of low-rent bad guy the Beetle can spoil. If this weren't confusing enough, it looks like this week's copy of The Avengers has suffered the same fate as MWOM, with a mix up of pages. It is possible that both issues were set up on the same printing plates, I know that later titles were produced in this fashion with two weeks worth of the same title printed at the same time, either that or it is a very unfortunate coincidence. It does highlight the shortcomings of Don Heck's visual storytelling, his panels don't naturally flow from one to the next, so even when you mix up several pages, it isn't immediately obvious. Attuma gets his second Marvel UK appearance of the week, possibly giving new readers the impression that he is a bigger deal than he actually was.

Dr. Strange: What Lurks Beneath The Mask! Reprinting Strange Tales #136

Reading through the early Spider-Man stories totally changed my opinion of Steve Ditko, he may not be my favourite artist for the character but the groundwork he laid was brilliant. His art on Dr Strange though is another level entirely. We open with a beautifully disturbing splash page that gives away none of the plot to come, but leaves you eager to find out more. From then on its another self-contained magic and mystery story framed within the ongoing arc of the current Mordo/Dormmamu epic. Both Stan and Steve seem to be putting a lot of love into this series, which is really impressive considering Dr Strange still didn't have his own solo title at the time of the original publication. For me at least, the Avengers are starting to play second fiddle in their own comic, a situation that might get worse very soon.