Dawn, Go Away - Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes 226

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #226 (April 1977)(Cover by Mike Grell)
"The Dazzling Debut of Dawnstar!"
Paul Levitz-James Sherman/Jack Abel

Doug: Isn't that a typical DC cover in terms of the happenings? We often joke about DC's stable of characters as being pretty white bread. You know what they also were? "Mean girls". All of 'em. If you were to hit up one of the cover-heavy sites, like Cover Browser, and tour some Silver and Bronze Age DC comic books I think you'd find scenes like the one above were pretty common. Rude, rude, rude. Or, in other cases, playing some stupid "gotcha!" game or gag.

Karen: This does seem like a recurring theme, and not just with the Legion. We all know Superman can be a ...uhm, jerk.

Doug: So we're back with another look at the Bronze Age Legion of Super-Heroes. Two weeks ago we checked in on a tussle with the Fatal Five as drawn by Mike Grell. Karen remarked at the time that Superboy #219 was somewhat of an oddball issue in that it contained a feature-length story. This book, then, would be more along the lines of "status quo" at DC in the 1970s. Whereas Marvel had for the most part eschewed the split books or back-ups, DC remained committed to the concept. We'll only be reviewing the cover story (@11 pages), as the back-up (@6 pages) is actually the first part of a story that continues into the next issue. Of note, however, is that that back-up (starring Brainiac-5) was penciled by another successor to Mike Grell in Mike Nasser. Both James Sherman and Nasser were capable artists, and today we'll inspect Sherman's work.

Karen: I liked both Sherman and Nasser, and I feel like they are unfortunately under-rated, and somewhat forgotten.

Doug: I concur. I personally think of Cockrum and Grell first, and I know many of our friends who are a few years younger think of Keith Giffen.

Doug: "Lay that 100-Word Review on us, Doug!" As you wish...

100-Word Review:

The “Raiders”, interstellar thieves, break out of a Legion containment cell. Although soon corralled by Sun Boy and Star Boy, the young heroes lament that Lightning Lad has not been able to track the course the Raiders had been on. In walks Wildfire, brusque as always. He tells that he has someone who can track anything in space – Dawnstar! The Legionnaires are skeptical, and moreso when she apparently leads them to nothing. But Saturn Girl detects a convoy, and the Raiders soon attack it. The Legion battles, but loses contact with the bad guys. But Dawnstar tracks them again… to Earth!

Doug: I've said before, and will repeat -- it cannot be easy writing a self-contained story to be told over only 10 pages. Even though I said this tale was 11 pages, it was DC's modus operandi in the Bronze Age to make the splash page like a second cover and never the launching point for the plot. My misgivings about the story length are, I'm sure, skewed by my general favoritism toward Marvel's style of rolling plotlines. Anyway, we should be thinking about some analysis of this yarn.

The Good:

Doug: I liked that the line-up was a manageable size of six Legionnaires plus Dawnstar. But for those fans who like the team big, we also got glimpses of Timber Wolf, Colossal Boy, Chameleon Boy, Ultra Boy, and Mon-el. That's a dozen heroes in an 11-page story -- definitely bang for your Bronze Age buck (or a quarter + a nickel, as the case may be). I was never a big booster of either Sun Boy or Star Boy, but I thought the creators did a nice job of making them relevant right away in their securing of the would-be prison breakers. They didn't factor into the big battle at the end, so I'm left wondering if Paul Levitz (and others) made a conscious decision to cycle our young heroes through the roll calls.

Karen: It's a minor thing, but I like the little "roll call" box on the splash page. It let you know who would be the focus of the issue. "Sun Boy" and "Star Boy" - they're both named after the same thing! But very different powers. And Star Boy started out as another version of Superboy before he lost all his powers except the ability to increase gravity on people and objects. In the review of issue 219 we briefly discussed how some Legionnaires are 'A-list' and others are below that. I'd say these two are B-listers. I did like the fact that you might get Sun Boy and Star Boy one issue, then Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl the next.

Doug: The Legion seemed to have a roster flow that the Avengers (for example) didn't enjoy. That being said, writing done-in-ones was a major plus factor to the Legion scribes as compared to their Avengers-writing brethren. Concerning pictures, the art team in today's story did a nice job. James Sherman was often able to incorporate some very cool lighting effects. We saw that in our review of Superboy #233 in some of the images featuring the Infinite Man. Here Dawnstar has some nice lighting while in space flight. And I'm just a sucker anyway for winged characters. She truly was the focal point of the story, to the point that she was at the center of every panel in which she appeared! One of the issues with characters who have a distinctive feature, such as large wings, is keeping the size and span consistent from panel to panel. Sherman and Jack Abel do just that, so there's a really nice flow with no distractions along that line.

Karen: I think James Sherman was a dynamic artist, but Abel was not a good match for him, with his thin lines. The figures have no weight. Looking at issue 233 where Bob Wiacek inked him, the art is much more appealing. Still, I appreciate his layouts and storytelling, but wish we'd gotten a more compatible inker.

Doug: Levitz was efficient in introducing us to Dawnstar. We got a full-figure look at her when she entered the story, followed by an image of her in flight right away. We know she's being brought to the team as a "tracker", and then Levitz has Wildfire say that not only can she track in space, but "fast enough that she'll outdistance this bucket of bolts--!" in reference to the Legion cruiser. After only five panels, I felt like I had enough information to make a judgment of her potential.

Karen: None of the Legionnaires had much depth at this point I'm afraid. The Grell-designed costume was pretty standard for him. It screamed a cross of 'hippie/Native American'  which I suppose was still popular in 1977. I also notice that the Legion cruiser looks bigger here, drawn by Sherman, than it did when Grell drew it in our review of issue #219.

Doug: One aspect of Legion stories that I like is that there isn't always a need for a formal top-flight bad guy. With a futuristic interplanetary setting, the sky was the limit for the sorts of menaces they could face. This particular story was merely a vehicle for Dawnstar's introduction, but it worked. The meatier plot actually rested in the second story in this book.

Karen: The Raiders were always sort of goofy. I thought they looked a bit like ants, at least their heads did. Their leader -the big disembodied brain and eyes in a tank -is a great sci-fi pulp trope and I got a kick out him. I also noticed that some of the spaceships looked like submarines, which was also a laugh.

The Bad:

Doug: I mentioned above that I didn't really care for DC's trope of having its heroes treat each other so poorly, often as a plot contrivance. Regarding the Legion, you can trace this all the way back to Adventure Comics #247. Anyway, Dawnstar did exactly what Wildfire brought her aboard to do, and that was to track the Raiders and their pals for the purpose of putting them out of business. Yet when the Legion arrived and ended up in a surprise battle, Lightning Lad severely rebuked Dawnstar for doing her job! His take on it was that she left too soon and the team did not have the opportunity to formulate a battle plan. Well... I'd argue that it was more Wildfire's responsibility, and he does get some blame. But there wasn't a conversation of "What if this or that?" on the cruiser as the flew through space? Shame on them, if that was the case.

Karen: It did seem like the Legionnaires tended to snipe at each other a lot, but then this is a quality of a lot of Marvel titles too. But I'd agree that Dawnstar really did nothing to deserve a tongue-lashing. It seemed like a ginned up conflict.

Karen: One thing that I find cringe-inducing now is Dawnstar's powers. She's Native American, so of course, she can track people. Because, you know, that's what Native Americans are good at, even mutant ones with wings who can fly through outer space. I know, it was 1977, there wasn't the sort of cultural consciousness then that we have now. But it's still hard to take. But probably not as hard as Tyroc.

Doug: Stereotypes are too easy for writers. I could also suggest doing characters justice by writing them out of the easy mold. If I missed it, pardon me -- I don't think I did. Was there no mention of the Legion's transuits for space walking? The team had bubbles on their heads, but nowhere could I ascertain that anyone was wearing a transuit. I do wish it had been explained how Dawnstar could survive space with no equipment whatsoever. That was a stretch. I have a hard enough time with Superboy in that regard. Can't be a yellow sun everywhere.

Karen: I noticed that too. I guess Dawnstar can exist in space, which must mean she has some limited invulnerability, right? But they were inconsistent -Saturn Girl doesn't appear to have a bubble around her head, although she certainly should be wearing a helmet and a transuit.

Doug: Wildfire's personality. I really don't like jerky characters. I understand that's the point -- to create conflict. Trouble is, they usually create that conflict with me. How's that for being invested?

Karen: I'll admit he seems like a doofus here, but as time went on, Wildfire became one of my favorites. He was given more depth than most of the Legionnaires. He was probably more Marvel-like in many ways - a tragic character, given his energy form, and pining for Dawnstar later on.

The Ugly:

Karen: I don't think I'd call anything especially ugly, but the art was not as strong as it could have been, and I do find the racial stereotyping of Dawnstar unfortunate at best.

Doug: Agreed on both counts, although I may actually suggest that I thought the overall execution of the art in this issue was more to my liking than what we'd seen from Mike Grell in our review of a couple of weeks ago.

Arc of Triumph? Defenders 22-25

Doug: My Defenders buying was hit/miss around these issues. I was definitely consistent by the time the Guardians of the Galaxy arc hit a few issues later. My main memories of the Sons of the Serpent come from reading the Marvel Triple Action reprints of the Avengers in the Kooky Quartet (plus Goliath and the Wasp) era. But what of these four issues? Who has recollection?

Arc of Triumph? Incredible Hulk 176-178

Karen: These three issues were somewhat scandalous back in the day, taking Warlock and putting him in the role of Jesus (with Hulk as an unwitting Judas!). They also had heavy Watergate allusions. When they came out it all pretty much went over my little noggin but reading it today it seems fairly harmless if a bit silly. Any thoughts on this three parter by Gerry Conway and Herb Trimpe?

Hulk Smash Little Man: Incredible Hulk 181

The Incredible Hulk #181 (November 1974)
"And Now... the Wolverine!"
Writer:  Len Wein
Pencils:  Herb Trimpe
Inker:  Jack Abel

Karen: Ah ha, here we go, finally reviewing one of the biggies of the Bronze Age: the first full appearance of Wolverine! At this point we knew so little about him that we wouldn't have been able to label him an "anti-hero" (to fit into this month's theme), although that would come soon enough, in the pages of the revived X-Men. Here, he was just another adversary for the Hulk. In this tale, we would actually have two: Wolverine, and that hairy brute known as the Wendigo (or as he seemed to prefer, Wen-Di-Go!).  Oddly enough, we'll be looking at Wendigo's first appearance next week, when we kick off "Heroes and Horrors" month. So we're going a bit out of order, but I think most of you are relatively familiar with him. So let's get on with the story!

Doug:  I have distinct memories of the kids next door having either this issue or the one prior to it -- I vividly remember Wolverine.  However, as I was not much of a Hulk fan I'm sure I dismissed it with a hint of disdain.  No 1990s fanboy was I, back in the '70s!

Karen: In the previous issue, Hulk felt compelled to return to Canada. It turns out it was due to the sorcerous work of one Marie Cartier, sister to the man who is now trapped in the form of the Wendigo. With the very reluctant help of Georges Baptiste, friend of her brother, they lured the Hulk north in order to perform a ritual that would allow Marie to transfer the curse of the Wendigo from her brother Paul to old Jade-jaws. However, they were unable to pull it off before a slumbering Hulk awoke and discovered the Wendigo nearby and of course fisticuffs ensued. And right in the middle of that, who should appear but a Canadian super-agent sent by his government to stop the Hulk. Yes, they honestly think Wolverine can take down the Hulk.

Doug:  Going solely off that battle that Todd McFarlane drew in Incredible Hulk #340, I wouldn't bet against the runt!

Karen: So that's where issue #181 starts -with Wolverine jumping into action against both the Hulk and Wendigo. The first six pages of the book are nothing but a free-for-all between the three of them. Wolverine jumps on the Hulk first, but switches targets when he recognizes that his adamantium claws are ineffective against the Hulk's hide (surprisingly). He has more success against the Wendigo, who, as he notes, is bigger than Greenskin but not as resilient. Hey partner, I found it interesting that the Wolverine (as he was called here) actually used his claws to cause the Wendigo to bleed. We've commented before about how heroes with swords were always having to use "the flats of their blades" against their foes. None of that here for the Wolverine! 

Doug:  Yeah, the slicing and dicing isn't bloody by any stretch of the imagination, but we are told several times that the claws have pierced and raked the Wendigo.  The script even tells us that ol' Whitey is "startled by the savage slashing".  So at least Wein got that aspect of the character (or what we'll later come to know as Wolverine's character) right.  The voice, though?  Not even close!  He's a wise-cracker here, and now seeing this in two books Len Wein wrote (Amazing Spider-Man #161 was the other) I have to wonder if Wein envisioned Wolverine as being a guy like this and was determined to write him that way.  But even though this is his first appearance, it still doesn't feel "right" to me.

Karen: When the Hulk sees Wolverine fighting Wendigo, poor old Greenskin is confused.  He quickly -incorrectly -reasons that if the Wendigo is "little man's" enemy, Wolverine must be his friend, so he decides to help him. He slams into Wendigo, announcing that he has come to help his little friend. And little is right -a caption tells us that Wolverine is only five foot five inches tall (I think the Marvel guide books would later say he was five foot three). Wolverine decides to take advantage of this, and jumps on Wendigo's back, urging his "friend" the Hulk to smack Wendy around while he's got him distracted. Hulk does even better than that: he grabs Wendigo and tosses him into some trees, completely uprooting them. Wolverine is shocked by the sheer power and violence of Hulk's attack, but only a moment; he leaps upon the stunned Wendigo and uses his claws on him. We're not shown anything but told they make a "sickening thwuck" as they strike, the implication being that Wolverine has stabbed the prone Wendigo in the throat or chest. Hulk congratulates Wolverine in his primitive way for killing Wendigo, but Wolverine says that although he should be dead, the Wendigo must be immortal. "My talons only rendered him unconscious." Talons?? Aren't those usually found on birds? With one monster down, Wolverine decides it's time to go after number two, and turns on the Hulk, which really steams the Jade Giant. Not a good idea!

Doug:  I've long complained about artists struggling to maintain consistency when drawing the giant characters (Goliath, Black Goliath, Colossal Boy, etc.); we see that here with an extremely short character as well.  I don't ever get the impression in this story that Wolverine is only 5'5" tall.  If the Hulk is a 7-footer, then Wolverine is fluctuating somewhere between 5'10" and 6'2" to my eyes.  And I think that's been an issue with all artists to take on the character.  While it might be (aside from his claws) his most important physical attribute when in a panel with other characters, it seems to be consistently missed (on purpose?) by his various caretakers.

Doug:  These were the days when the Hulk was so gullible, but I just love the speech patterns.  "Little friend", indeed!  And I have to agree with you on the "sickening thwuck" -- I'm not sure Conan was as potentially gory as this hack/slash fest! 

Karen: Hey, what happened to Marie and Georges, the nuts who had started all this trouble? They've been watching the fighting. Seeing the Wendigo -Marie's brother - unconscious, they take the opportunity to go out and drag him (what? he must weigh 1000 lbs!) into the little cave where she has been preparing to transfer his curse to the Hulk. They set up the ritual implements, including vapors that will keep the Wendigo

slumbering. Georges all the while tries to talk Marie out of it. While he was Paul's (her brother's) friend, he can't imagine that Paul would want his curse placed upon another human being. But Marie is determined. She figures the Hulk is already cursed just by being the Hulk -adding on the Wendigo part can't make it much worse. 

Doug:  I'm glad you mentioned these two very average sized people pulling the Wendigo all the way into the cave, as I thought it was a little past what I could accept.  Hasn't Wein told us already a time or two that the Wendigo is a little larger than the Hulk?  And how about those natural herbs and spices?  "Ritual implements", indeed!  I sort of felt for Marie's devotion to her brother, but she does in effect create a choiceless choice for Georges.

Karen: Back outside, Wolverine and Hulk are continuing their own little dance. We get a glimpse inside the Canadian military base that serves as Wolverine's home. There, a group of officers discuss their Weapon X. A couple of officers voice doubts about his ability to handle the Hulk, but the commanding officer remains confident. He says that they've spent a lot of time and money developing his mutant abilities, and "despite a few kinks still remaining in his psychological make-up, I think we've done a pretty good job!" So even at the very beginning of Wolverine's existence, it seems that it was planned that he would be somewhat unstable. There have been mentions of his savagery, and of course the claws lend to that sort of thing. I just wonder, if Len Wein had continued to write the X-Men, would we have seen berserker Wolverine? The commander states that in the case that Wolverine fails, they have a chopper full of commandos ready to take on the Hulk. Really? Commandos? Were the Canadians not paying attention to what had been happening to the U.S. soldiers for years when they encountered the Hulk?

Doug:  As I said above, was a framework being laid here for the future of Wolverine?  Did you ever wonder if the "X" was just used as the most commonly named variable, or was it a harbinger to the All-New X-Men?  After all, it's quite possible that Giant-Size X-Men #1 was in the works as this story was being written.  Does anyone have insight to the timetables discussed here, as far as Wolverine's potential use in the X-Men?  I do like the Barry Windsor-Smith serial Weapon X that showed this Canadian backstory to Wolverine.  Of course, anyone who doesn't like wires might not care for it...  But I think as we all would say, the character was never better than when he still had some mystery to him.

Doug:  Dumb soldiers... 

Karen: As Hulk and Wolverine battle, Marie and Georges come out of their cave and Marie starts to cast a spell. Georges tries again to convince her to stop, but she now rips into him, blaming him for the incident that caused her brother to become the Wendigo (and you can read all about it here next week). Her spell causes both Wolverine and Hulk to pass out, and when the Hulk does, he becomes Bruce Banner again. Seeing the human Banner causes Georges to become even more certain that they should not proceed with Marie's plan. He refuses to help her. She tries to guilt him into helping, saying he owes her a debt.  He storms off, but as he sits in the woods, contemplating everything, he thinks of Marie and how she will never rest until her brother is restored. He makes a decision. Unknown to Marie, he goes back into the cave where the Wendigo lies dormant.

Doug:  Georges is a noble man, but a man influenced by the pangs of love.  Say, did it strike you that Marie sort of gave off a Max vibe, a la Where the Wild Things Are?  

Karen: Unfortunately  I've never read that book! The industrious Marie has wrapped Wolverine in chains, and goes to Banner and tries to drag him back towards the cave. She strains to pull him and then realizes he's transforming back to the  Hulk. Hulk becomes upset because he feels betrayed by Marie ("animal girl").

He spends a minute yelling at her, then grabs the bound Wolverine and throws him against the ground, which only breaks his chains. Ever-ready for a fight, Wolverine jumps right back in and starts hacking at Hulk. Marie uses their battle as a chance to race off to the cave, but is surprised when she runs into a now-awake Wendigo. The battling Wolverine and Hulk are startled when they hear Marie scream. That momentary distraction is just enough time for Hulk to lay a haymaker on Wolverine's skull -and remember, we didn't know that the runt had adamantium bones back then - and only by virtue of his quick reflexes does Wolverine avoid getting killed. He is knocked unconscious though.  Back in the cave, we see that the Wendigo is trying to communicate with Marie. She is puzzled. He points to the chamber beyond and we see now that lying on the slab inside is her brother, Paul! Which means that the Wendigo is not her brother but Georges! Marie, seemingly remorseful, asks why he would do such a thing. Georges, now the Wendigo, uses the last of his intelligence to communicate -telepathically? - and tells her that he didn't take on the curse because he felt he owed her a debt, but because he loved her. The last bit of his intellect now gone, he knocks out the back of the cave wall and disappears, leaving Marie sobbing hysterically. The Hulk comes on the scene, not necessarily understanding everything that has happened, but understanding the simple human emotion of grief. He puts his hand on Marie's shoulder to comfort her.

Doug:  So you also found it funny that Marie was struggling to drag Banner even before he started to increase his mass.  Georges must have been doing some serious heavy lifting when they moved the Wendigo!  And "Animal girl" -- gotta love it!  Parts of this plot were a little too conveniently arrived at, such as the chains.  You took the words right out of my mouth (or off my fingers, I guess), because Wolverine takes a serious jolt when the Hulk slams him to the ground and pops right back up from it. No healing factor has been mentioned yet, right?  I thought the panel where he immediately engages the Hulk and showed him with his right arm bent, rather than with claws extended was for Comics Code approval.  Note that we never saw the title character slashed, as was the Wendigo.  Another curious aspect of this issue is the fact that the claws are always extended -- I read once that (I think it was) John Romita envisioned the claws as being part of the gauntlets.

Doug:  And good old child-like Hulk.  He's taken a whoopin', but he's truly a gentle giant.  I always appreciated that about him and the way he was written in the Bronze Age.

Karen: We came in on the second half of this tale, and you can feel it. But even so, it's a solid story. Not

much in the way of characterization. Wolverine is not the star here, just another threat for the Hulk to have to deal with. But the story is well-paced and the writing is solid. It's a good read, nothing spectacular but not bad at all. I'm not a fan of Trimpe's work but I've always accepted it on Hulk, as he was the artist on the book when I started reading it. He manages to convey the Hulk's raw power, and does a nice job in the quiet scene at the end. This was a fairly low-key first appearance -we certainly wouldn't have known that Wolverine would blossom into a superstar based on this.

Doug:  I agree with your assessment of Trimpe's art.  A long time ago we reviewed a few issues of Super-Villain Team-Up and I didn't care for his work there.  Granted, it looked the same as it does here, but just as you stated I accept it here.  As we, and many Trimpe apologists have stated before, Herb never looked better than when John Severin inked him.  But by now those days had passed.  I'm not sure what I thought of Wolverine as a kid, but I can guarantee you that he would get a lot more interesting and a lot cooler in just a few short months!

Giant-Size July: Iron Man Annual 3

Iron Man Annual #3 (1976)
"More or Less... the Return of the Molecule Man!"
Steve Gerber-Sal Buscema/Jack Abel

NOTE:  An upfront apology from me (Doug) on some of the art samples.  I used the Iron Man dvd-rom, and for some reason when I convert the .pdf files to .jpg files, sometimes there are distortions in the proportions of the panels or pages.  Count me as technologically inept in this regard!

Doug:  Isn't it just a bit of comic book karma when comments are made concerning the prowess (or lack thereof) of a particular artist, and then said artist turns up on the creator list the very next week?  You'll notice today's inker is none other than Jack Abel; Karen and I had discussion of him last week in our review of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #233.  I'm sure an evaluation will again be made today concerning his embellishment of Our Pal Sal.  And what of scribe Steve Gerber?  You have to think, just looking at the conglomeration of characters on the cover above that this tale could be right in "Baby" Gerber's wheelhouse.  We shall see.

Karen: I can already tell you, just glancing through this book, that the art is not going to make me get warm fuzzies, and it's all due to Mr. Abel. But I'll soldier on. I should note however that I did pick this title up off the spinner rack as a kid.

Doug:  Perhaps without saying, you could have guessed that this story would begin in the swamps of Florida.  What maybe you wouldn't expect is that Steve Gerber would basically use this Iron Man Annual as a further platform for expanding on his ideas that you could have found on display in the Man-Thing monthly (and the various Giant-Size issues as well).  Sure enough, on my first reading of this material I sort of felt like I'd come late to a party.  I've never been a follower of either Steve Gerber or the Man-Thing -- both hallmarks of Marvel's Bronze Age, and you'd get no dispute from me.  However, in my limited interests and with my limited budget as a 10-year old I just never crossed those paths almost-40 years ago.  Anyway, Tony Stark has come to the Everglades to see the remnants of "Omegaville", a village of geodiscs run in a completely "green" fashion.  Stark is meeting with a Dr. Marshall and his assistant Paul.  Stark decides to back the project that will rebuild the site, which was destroyed by a man named Yagzan (Giant-Size Man-Thing #1 -- here we go!).  Witnessing this meeting is the Man-Thing himself, formerly known as Ted Sallis.  While on site, Tony spies a skeleton in the reeds.  Paul tells him that it was the body of a fellow named Yagzan, who was the leader of a group called the Entropists and who protested the building of Omegaville.  He had gained supernatural powers and had fought the Man-Thing, only to be reduced in the end to a petrified skeleton.

Karen: I too had read only a few Man-Thing books and like you had a limited familiarity with the character and his mythos. So much of what was laid out here was completely new to me. The name "Yagzan" rang a bell during this read through though. I realized that I encountered the revived Yagzan in Marvel Two-in-One #42 and #43 about two years later! Nothing ever really disappears in the Marvel universe. And doesn't Stark look like a real stiff here? Again, nothing like Robert Downey, Jr! The general public would be so surprised.

Doug:  I agree.  You know, when you ran the post about jerks, Tony Stark should have been near the top of many commenters' lists.  However, I don't think he got much attention.  This Bronze Age Stark is indeed a far cry from the Stark of Civil War or even the Marvel films.

Doug:  The Man-Thing saunters off into the swamp, where he is halted by the sight of three children playing.  One is dressed as Spider-Man, a young lady portrays Iron Man, and the third is claiming to be the Molecule Man and even bears a staff remarkably similar to the Molecule Man's weapon.  We soon find that the red stick in question is indeed the depowered staff of the MM.  Or is it?  As the children play-fight, the rod is knocked into the water.  No  one of course wants to wade in to get it, so tomboy Cynthia decides to fetch it.  While in the slimy swamp she stumbles, but righting herself displays the red staff.  At that same instant an alligator enters the water, but is halted by the Man-Thing!  The large lizard is no match for the protector of the swamp.  But Cynthia, running for her life now, races right into a small pool and disappears.  The Man-Thing shuffles over to the water and waits -- but the girl does not emerge.  Her playmates, horrified at what they've witnessed, race home for help.  A search for her body ensued, and despite the casket at the funeral, it was never found.

Karen: It's interesting to note that Man-Thing's intense dislike of fear directs him towards where the girl is facing the alligator, and he momentarily hesitates, uncertain which of the two to attack! Ah yes, a true 70s comic. The whole scene with the kids could have come right out of a cheap flick like "Legend of Boggy Creek."

Doug:  Weeks later, the work on the biodomes is proceeding rapidly.  Stark is in town to supervise, and that means his bodyguard is along, too.  Iron Man suits up when some mysterious mace-like orbs appear in the sky, and upon closer inspection he finds that they are lethal -- the spikes detach, and operate as heat-seeking missiles!  Iron Man's superior quickness is no match for the explosives, and he causes many of them to detonate harmlessly.  However, upon completion of that act, the maces turn to smiley-face balloons!  IM ponders the situation momentarily, and notices a crowd has gathered on the ground.  In typical Stark bravado, he assumes they are there to thank him.  Uh, wrong. A rotten tomato upside the helmet clues Stark in that these guys a) aren't a bunch of country bumpkins, and b) don't necessarily want him around.  The dispute is interrupted quite suddenly, though, by a geyser of asphalt.  Something is most certainly amiss in Florida's Everglades area...

Karen: It's definitely a Gerber story, what with the weapons turning into smiley-face balloons. And how about that local tomato-hurler, and how he feels about Iron Man? "He talks jes' like one o' them press secretaries!" What a hoot!

Doug:  Additionally, one might ask why that tough was carrying a tomato in the first place?

Doug:  The eruption had lifted Iron Man and his assailant -- the fella who threw the tomato -- into the air.  But when the force stopped, they fell, and hard.  The local guy landed on his back and shoulders, fracturing his skull and indeed dying.  Iron Man used his boot jets to save himself, but the people aren't happy with him.  He chooses a wise strategy by exiting the scene.  Later, Stark has coffee with some of the men associated with the geodome project.  They inform him that the area is quite conservative, not prone to change, and is quite suspicious of the progressive building project.  Stark asks if there is anyone with his finger on the pulse of the community, someone who could get him "in" with the townsfolk.  He's directed to the local jail, where a former DJ is incarcerated for having protested local book burnings.  Hey, in that regard, the German writer Heinrich Heine once said, "Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings."  I think of that every time I hear of a book burning, whether it was back in May of 1933 or about 10 years ago when Harry Potter books were burned out West.  Anyway, Stark and Richard Rory visit for several minutes.  Stark describes what's recently happened, and Rory suggests that it sounds like the work of the only super-villiain Citrusville had ever seen:  the Molecule Man!  Moments later, Stark is in his limousine and starts a video call to Avengers Mansion.  The Vision obliges Stark's request and patches him through to the Baxter Building, where he hopes to ask Ben Grimm about his tussle with the MM and Man-Thing.  It's no go, says Reed Richards, but Stark is able to get confirmation that the Molecule Man did indeed die during Ben's adventure in Florida.

Karen: I found it kind of surprising that Iron Man not only didn't save the jerk, but seemingly makes no attempt to do so. I suppose Gerber was trying to move the story in that direction, building animosity between the town folk and Iron Man, but it's interesting that he wasn't drawn as making an effort to rescue the guy. Although I never read much Man-Thing, it's not surprising that Gerber incorporated political and social issues into the stories.  He pretty much did that with all of his work. I did laugh a bit at how Richard Rory was drawn - that long hair was rather girlish looking, with the little flips at the ends!

Doug:  Why did I think the name "Richard Rory" was so familiar?  I could not place either the name or the look, but had a real sense of deja vu while reading that part of the story.  As I said, I was never a Man-Thing reader, but I'm wondering if the name came up in one of the Mighty Marvel Calendars or somewhere.

Doug:  We then cut back to the swamps where Cynthia had perished.  Suddenly the pool into which she submerged begins to bubble, and from its depths emerges the little girl, still wearing her Iron Man costume and still grasping the staff she'd carried.  But this is not Cynthia who rises -- instead, it's the Molecule Man in possession of her body!  Once out of the water, MM tests his powers, but notices that he feels strange.  Crafting a mirror from wood, MM sees that this body needs a little... work.  Using his ability to control anything with molecules, he alters Cynthia's body and grows to adult-size.  However, in spite of his increased mass, he retains certain... feminine attributes.  This is going to be a struggle, and indeed it is -- Cynthia isn't going to let go of her body!  Witnessing all of this is the Man-Thing, whose empathic nature has drawn him back to the pool.  Molecule Man turns a log into a jet-propelled bicycle, and uses it to jet off to Cynthia's home.  The Man-Thing follows, at his sloggingly-slow pace.  The Molecule Man enters "her" home, much to the shock and horror of Cynthia's mother.  Outside, and a few hours later, Tony Stark's limo driver reels with a shock of his own at a shambling mass of muck stepping into his path.  There's no avoiding the Man-Thing, and the limo crashes into the beast.

Karen: The hyper-muscled Cynthia -- really drawn as a man's body with breasts -- was a pretty disturbing sight then, and still is now. I wonder what Sal Buscema thought about it when he was drawing it? 

Doug:  Good point -- I had a head-scratching moment when that scene first played, as I was taken aback at what they were going for.  The limo driver banged his head on the the windshield and passed out, so it's Iron Man who emerges from the back seat to confront the swamp creature.  Shellhead uses a repulsor blast at Man-Thing's feet and a hand point back toward the swamp to try to cajole the creature to leave the area.  Yeah, right.  Despite the Man-Thing's mushy state of being, he still packs a wallop and sends the Golden Avengers sprawling.  Righting himself, IM again tries to subdue the creature with repulsor blasts; they go right through.  So, running out of options, a frontal assault is the next attack option.  Yuck -- Iron Man becomes fully engulfed in muck.  Brushing it all off of himself, Stark thinks that there is really only one option left and removes a small capsule from a compartment in his shoulder -- a cryogen bomb, liquid nitrogen that freezes the Man-Thing where he stands.  That should do it!  But, as fate would have it -- and in a comic book, Fate always wins -- Iron Man just happens to have battled the creature right in front of Cynthia's house.  A house which now transforms into an emerald palace right before IM's eyes!

Karen: Tony is amazingly fast changing into his armor, in the back seat of his limo no less! His attempts to get rid of Man-Thing were pretty funny. Man-Thing's cohesiveness seems to vary quite a bit. When the limo hits him, he seems pretty solid, yet at other times things go right through him. He's sort of like a mucky Vision. And how about that cryo-capsule Shellhead had in his shoulder compartment? That's almost as good as carrying shark-repellent on your utility belt!

Doug:  Was Stark still using the collapsible armor that fit in his briefcase at this time?


Doug:  Inside the palace, the Molecule Man has created a throne for him/herself and taunts Cynthia's mother from this perch.  Apparently domestic relations between Cynthia and her parents were never tip-top, and Cynthia uses her newfound powers to take some revenge.  She turns her mother into a doll, and promises that her dad will get the same treatment when he gets home.  But there's a struggle taking place, between the Molecule Man who wants full control and Cynthia who doesn't want to give in.  There are some very strange scenes here, of the Molecule Man punching him/herself in the face, and writhing on the floor while choking him/herself.  Quite bizarre fare.  Iron Man, sensing this may be the work of the Molecule Man, punches his way into the palace.  But he gets in on the schizophrenic mania that's taking place.  The Molecule Man wants to attack; Cynthia has always held Iron Man as her favorite among super-heroes.  MM finally decides to leave.  This affords Iron Man the opportunities to a) check on Stark's chauffeur, and b) remove the Man-Thing (still frozen) to his home swamps.

Karen: The Molecule Person (as Gerber refers to him/her) is highly conflicted, and I don't know that I ever got to see anyone punch themselves in the face before in a comic. You know, it seems to me that this story would have fit a lot better in the Defenders than with the uptight Iron Man! They had foes like the Headmen; this wouldn't have phased them at all!

Doug:  Perfect!  The Headmen!  Weeks later (we're not immediately told why there's been a lull in super-baddery from the Molecule Man), Stark and the other stakeholders hold a press conference to officially open the refurbished Omegaville.  But as the media and noted environmentalists have assembled, suddenly a huge skeleton comes tottering on the scene.  We're told that it's Yagzan's skeleton (what, no one removed the crazy thing over the past several weeks/months??), and it's grown to around 20 feet.  Stark uses the distraction to change into his fighting togs, but is knocked back by the creature, which has obviously been enhanced.  So is Stark's armor, and a double-repulsor blast to the joints of the skeleton bring it down.  Iron Man remarks that it would be just like the Molecule Man to show up again on the day the biodomes open -- yet no one knows why that comment would be true.  But true it is, as suddenly a short distance away Cynthia emerges from a pool of water -- in a vegetable-like state.  Paul rushes to her, but is kicked away by the newly-emergent Molecule Man!  All those weeks of quiet?  It's taken that long for the Molecule Man to drive Cynthia's will down.  Iron Man steps in, and the MM discards a doll -- the doll that is Cynthia's mom.

Karen: I had the same reaction as you did: why was Yagzan's skeleton still around?? I guess we'll never know the answer to that one. I found the idea of the tiny, talking Mom doll incredibly creepy. 

Doug:  Iron Man attacks, but is met with a blast from MM's control rod.  He's transmuted to a being of iron, and frozen in place.  But as the Molecule Man gloats, the Man-Thing has arrived and grabs MM's hand from behind.  Shocked, the Molecule Man attempts to recoil -- and you know what that means:  whatever knows fear BURNS at the touch of the Man-Thing!  The rod is separated from the Molecule Man, which ends the enchantments -- the Molecule Man's essence reverts to the rod, Cynthia's body falls to the ground, the doll becomes Cynthia's mother, and Iron Man is returned to his normal state.  But as fate (there's that Fate thingie again!) would have it, a passing snake attacks the rod and is possessed by the spirit of the Molecule Man!  As the snake isn't the smartest critter on the planet, the Molecule Man is in complete control, and ruthless.  He attacks Iron Man to kill, and Iron Man is forced to strike and dodge, hit and run, until he can get close enough for a solid shot at the snake-man's face.  The rod is again dislodged from the Molecule Man's grip.

Karen: The snake part really seemed unnecessary -Gerber even writes, "We've still four pages to fill," so I think he was doing some hustling here. The snake man was pretty silly.

Doug:  Iron Man held the control rod long enough for the Molecule Man to exert his influence, but Stark resisted mightily, taunting his assailant and telling him that if he couldn't fully possess a 10-year girl how did he think he could take down a full-grown adult trained in fighting super-baddies?  But the Molecule Man brings IM to his knees, until the Man-Thing grabs the rod from Shellhead's hand.  And what now?  The Man-Thing is bereft of a mind -- at least any sort of mind advanced enough to be controlled.  And with that set of circumstances, the Molecule Man was defeated.  The swamp creature simply turned, control rod in mucky mitt, and sauntered back into the Florida jungle.  Iron Man tried to rise to his feet, but was drained from even that short battle of wills.  The dignitaries and project managers rally to Iron Man's side, as do Cynthia and her mother (wait, didn't the girl physically drown?).  Paul tells Iron Man that he's not sure just what happened, but that it was pretty scary.  Iron Man simply replies, and tells everyone that he's going to need some time to sort out this adventure.

Karen: Iron Man's mental struggle with MM was well-drawn. Having Man-Thing unknowingly save him was also done well. Overall I thought this was a pretty average story. I just didn't really get into it. Part of it was the art, but I also felt a lack of interest in the plot. Maybe if I'd been a regular reader of Man-Thing it might have meant more to me.

Doug:  I thought this story was OK -- not great, just OK.  It could have easily been published as a 2-issue crossover between the Iron Man and Man-Thing monthlies, but that being said it did have some of the characteristics of an Annual -- self-contained story, guest-starring hero, and multiple battles.  As I said at the top, it seemed as if Steve Gerber was using this to tie some loose ends from his Man-Thing scripts -- nothing major seemed to be added to that mythos, and Iron Man would be no worse for the wear for having been included here.  And now to Mr. Jack Abel.  I don't know that he did Sal any favors on this job.  The art is pretty solid Sal-fare.  But it just seemed that there were times when the figures were a bit stiff, and some of the embellishment on faces (in particular) seemed a bit soft and feathery.  Overall, not bad at all, but just not polished as a Joe Sinnott, Terry Austin, or Bob Layton would have turned in (is that even fair to compare anyone to those three?).  Now all this being said -- had I purchased this back in my 10th year, I'd probably have been one happy little dude.  I definitely would have come to this book with a sense of awe and wonder, and that's the way it should be!