Week Ending March 16, 1974

Due to my busy schedule of boring adult stuff, I find myself having to re-read these issues a second time. I generally read them during the week then grab some time at the weekend to write down my poorly edited hot-takes. Unfortunately it has been two weeks since I read them and the half-a-century old bag of grey yoghurt that I laughingly refer to as a brain has completely forgotten the contents.

Mighty World of Marvel #76

I really love the composition of this Ron Wilson and Mike Esposito cover, it has elements that could make it a classic. Unfortunately, the art lands it firmly in weird-looking territory.

The Incredible Hulk: The Deadliest Robot of All! Reprinting The Incredible Hulk #120

Hulk's team-up with Maximus and the Brotherhood of Evil Inhumans is unsurprisingly short, no sooner has Hulk eliminated the threat of the US military, than Maximus turns on him. Probably best not to trust someone who regularly goes by the title of 'the mad' I guess. Maximus animates his giant mind control statue from a couple of issues ago for a titanic battle with the Hulk, which is somewhat marred by a whole page being badly edited out for this UK reprint. No effort is made to hide the join and I wasted several minutes looking for signs of a page being torn out of my copy. This travesty of editorial excess made me lose interest in a story that was already petering out, with the Inhumans escaping and the army recovering in time to blame Hulk for everything.

Daredevil: The Fury of The Sub-Mariner! Reprinting Daredevil #7

Daredevil #7 is considered something of a classic, our hero is out classed in every respect by Namor, but earns the respect of his opponent by refusing to give up. For its time it is a pretty impressive concept, DD basically loses but will not surrender, unfortunately it is bookended by a daft initial set up and Stan trying to put into text at the end what Wally Wood's art was already doing a fine job of already.

The Fantastic Four: Dragon Man Lives! Reprinting Fantastic Four #35

There is something classic Kirby about Dragon Man, a character with surprising longevity, a hint of tragedy and a lousy origin. Is he a robot? Is he a statue animated by alchemy? Why was he made wearing shorts? Big questions, but not so big that they stop me enjoying any story he appears in. The FF take on Dragon Man who is more than a match for theirs powers, before they discover that he is just a pawn of Diablo rather than actually evil, he then turns on his would be master, leading to supposed death for both of them. Its not all doom and gloom though, as we end with Reed finally (sort of) proposing to Sue. 

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #57

John Romita has a bloody good stab at creating an iconic image of MJ. Changes for this UK version amount to tweaking some colours and removing some shadow from the Spider-Man side of the cover, something that the original used to make Mary-Jane's third of the illustration really pop. 

The Amazing Spider-Man: Who Is The Brainwashed? Reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #59

I am assuming that the opening catch-up/montage splash page for this story is a UK exclusive. It is a bit rough and ready but streets ahead of the efforts we have seen up until now, even if the shadowy (but distinctive) floating head of the Brainwasher does ruin the mystery somewhat. Peter and his friends are supporting MJ at her first evening's work at the Gloom Room A-Go-Go, a nightclub but not one we would recognise. Underage girls vomiting in the toilets are replaced by a fiendish front for mind control by the criminal underworld. Don Heck and Mike Esposito do an increasingly poor job of inking Romita's pencils, while Stan goes to town with his best 'youth' slang. 

Iron Man: The Netherworld of Doom! Reprinting Tales of Suspense #43

Where were we? Oh yeah, Tony Stark is captured by an underground civilisation and forced into a low budget remake of his own origin story as he once again promises to make weapons for his captors, but instead creates a new Iron Man suit. It really is just like locking the A-Team in a cave with nothing but an old bus, welding gear and 8 tons of sheet steel. Not content with phoning in the story, Stan adds a twist at the end for the female antagonist to let her know that all she has is her looks and she would be better of getting hitched and let her man take charge. 

The Mighty Thor: When Titans Clash... One Must Fall! Reprinting Thor #126

Vince Coletta gets a lot of abuse, but when he was paying attention, some of his work over Kirby's pencils was quite respectable. However, he clearly could not sustain that level for long. The art on this story deteriorates panel by panel until Coletta is just throwing a few scratchy lines in the general vacinity of what Jack had laid down. Ironic then that this story should be about a mighty god, beaten because half his power was stripped from him. 

The Avengers #26

Marvel Bullpen 1974: "We have this Don Heck/Frank Giacoia original cover, what should we do with it for the UK market?" 

"Get rid of the shadows and, I dunno, set Goliath on fire."

The Avengers: This Power Unleashed! Reprinting The Avengers #29

This is something we haven't had in a while, a solidly enjoyable Avengers yarn with reasonably good Don Heck artwork, maybe Frank Giacoia's inks are the improving factor here? The 'big' drama here is that after the return of Giant Man and the Wasp, Hank Pym finds himself permanently stuck at Goliath proportions of 10' tall. Added to that, a brainwashed Black Widow is on the prowl. This is the fish-net femme fatale version of Natasha before she went all Mrs Peel, and she is building a team to take on the Avengers. I'm not sure if I would start with Power Man and the Swordsman, but good help is hard to find I guess. What really lifts this week's story is an absence of the usual forced bickering, sure we get some oversize moping from Goliath, but I'll take that over the team acting like the cast of RuPaul's Drag Race any day. 

Dr. Strange: If Eternity Should Fail! Reprinting Strange Tales #138

Steve Ditko continues to experiment and offer a unique take on his own distinctive style each week. Even in black and white, his bizarre magical realms and talent for character design really shine. Which is just as well, because after multiple issues in pursuit of the being called Eternity, to be told "the power was within you all the time" is some Ruby Slippers level bullshit. Now armed with this Wizard of Oz/New-Age mantra, Dr Strange will face the combined power of Baron Mordo and Dormmamu. Should be fine.