Doug: Here's one from the autumn of 1975 that 9-year old me snatched from the clutches of the spinner rack. What I couldn't wait to find out was how Black Bolt was going to snatch Medusa from the clutches of that big eater. The suspense! This was my entry point to the Inhumans short-lived series, as I never saw #1 anywhere. It's a good cover, full of action, even if the perspective of the robot's right arm seems off and Black Bolt's trajectory isn't going to take him any place near the action any time soon. But who's quibbling about the Kaptroids? I had to read about the Star-Slaves!!
Well, I didn't pluck this one off of the spinner racks, but I did get it a few years later (together with the entire run of the series). All in all, I remember thinking that it wasn't bad: the stories were solid (I think Moench was the main writer) and it had some really nice art by Kane, Perez and Pollard (some of the earlier work by the latter two). As to this cover specifically, I have to say that back then, and even now (perhaps I'm mildly dyslexic?), I initially misread Kaptroids to rather humorous effect, making me do a double-take.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Doug, apologies for a potential threadjack, but I just saw a link to this bit of news earlier in the morning, and thought it might interest some of our regulars, as the topic has come up more than once as I recall (for those of you familiar with the Marvel Masterworks message board, the news led to one of the fastest growing discussion topics I've ever seen there.
Edo posted what I was about to share. Major Bronze Age news!
ReplyDeleteBack to Doug's topic:
I've never gotten into any of the Inhumans' series. Sure, I enjoyed them as FF & Avengers guest stars. But the only stories I bought were the Amazing Adventures issues that featured Magneto and Thor. But I'm curious about the later Inhumans series, since, as Edo said it included art from some of the Bronze Age's best pencilers. And the younger version of me would have definitely bought the issue with the Kaptroids cover.
Ah-hahahahaa!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, no I don't love the cover, 'cause even in '75 both the name and the design of the "Kaptroids" seemed at least 20 years out of date as far as their hokiness-factor goes. Barely just this side of something you might see in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon, y'know? That being said, I did buy this whole series when it was coming out, and was always pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The Inhumans have always been rather a boring group to me, and this series really did a nice job of making them seem like a group of unusual but "real" people. It started a bit slowly, but then took on a space-ark arc (heh-- clever. . .) that was quite engaging.
But no, giant robots that look like a cross between Rosie from the Jetsons, and Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel. . . and then ANY construct whose name ends in a hopelessly-overused "-oid". . . that's a pretty big handicap for this old, hard-bitten curmudgeon.
Gosh, I never, ever bought MoKF. Is Special Marvel Edition #15 really his first appearance? Oddly enough, I do have that (worn, possibly unbagged?) issue. . . not even sure how I came to possess it. . .
HB
The "Kaptroid" on this cover greatly reminds me of a certain 'metal-eating monster" from a first-season episode of the 1967 Spiderman cartoon. As for the comic, I collected the series so I picked it up off the racks regardless...
ReplyDeleteAs for MoKF, looks like the opportunity to finally read the series may soon arise!
On MoKF, yeah it's good that the series is finally being reprinted, but man, it's still going to take a while. The first volume will come out only next summer, almost a year from now, and I haven't seen any indication of the timeline for the following volumes. The typical one per year would be a glacial pace - fans have been clamoring for this for years, so Marvel should just release them a successive blitz on a quarterly basis or something (not that I'm personally going to be able to afford any of these with my leisure spending budget - I'd prefer that they be collected in a few of those nice Epic books).
ReplyDeleteJ.A., I've seen very divergent opinions on the Inhumans series, but as noted above, I recall thinking it was pretty good. It's actually been collected in a Masterworks volume, which I wouldn't mind having, but alas, I've never been able to find an affordable copy.
Great news about Master of Kung Fu! I've read all the Zeck issues, but only bits and pieces of the earlier issues, so I'll be looking forward to these. Yes the Epic series are much better for the price.
ReplyDeleteThe robot on the Inhumans cover reminds me of old pulp fiction.
Pretty much all Bronze covers look cool to me nowadays, so I wouldn't say this is exceptional - more typical.
ReplyDeleteBut it's all action and while the giant robot is hokey, I can't help seeing a pre-hero Marvel monster crossed with Ultron. Which is a fun look.
I have three issues from this run, all unread and in the queue.
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ReplyDeleteBeware the Kraptoids!
ReplyDeleteI mean, uh, Kaptroids. Sorry.
m.p.
Say, do we have an artist credit for this cover? I'm having trouble pinning it down. It could possibly even be Al Milgrom, as I look at it. The drawing is cleaner than his expected style, but there's a certain posed stiffness to some of the figures, and the couple of notable perspective problems, and the design of the Kaptroid itself-- all of which make me think of ol' Al quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteHB
HB, according to the GCD, the cover art is by Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia. It does look a bit Milgromy though, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteOh, good job edo!
ReplyDeleteAnd Buckler would have been my next guess, in fact. Then possibly Ron Wilson.
On a different note, HBSon attended the Baltimore Comicon yesterday (had a fine time, is my guess), and texted me asking if Neal Adams was someone I'd ever heard of? After picking my phone up off the floor and putting the casing and the battery all back together, we had a bit of a texted conversation about Neal's work and importance and history. HBS had stopped by the doorway of a panel Mr Adams was on, and was given the impression of someone who was terribly full of themself, and wondered why that would be the case. He always comes across wonderfully in interviews, but I know he has a hot/cold reputation when it comes to in-person events.
HB
HB, on Adams' personality, Karen pointed out in this post from a few years ago that he was really pleasant to her, but not so much to a friend of hers at the same show.
ReplyDeleteAs for interviews, over the past year or so I've listened to several podcasts that featured Adams, and I have to say that he does come across as a bit overbearing at times. However, he tells so many damn interesting stories that it's impossible not to listen to every word he says with rapt attention.