Now How In the World Did That Happen?

Doug: Today we're talking about those head-scratchers in the condition of your comic books. Defects, accidents, mishaps, even odd marks that you have no idea how they occurred. These can be books you have owned or seen. The troubles in question may even have been caused by you.

Doug: So why this topic? As has been well-documented, I've been selling my comic collection for the past 11 months via eBay. I've made a serious dent in it, having emptied five longboxes with a sixth knocking on the door. I've told our readers that there have been some victories along the way, but for most of my books I'm seeing revenues in the area of 30% to 33% of the prices in the latest Overstreet Guide. Many of the books I'm selling were purchased at retail by me, but several hundred were bought as back issues. What I've found is that in many cases those books are still in the bags in which I brought them home -- price stickers, dealer grades and all.

Doug: Which brings us to today's exhibit. Pictured below is my copy of Marvel Feature #11, which ended last night (and is no longer my copy). Here's the description I included with the listing, and I'll stop writing now -- once you read it and inspect the book's cover, I think you'll be able to fully discuss the question at the top of this post: Now how in the world did that (hole in the cover) happen?

Up for bid is a good looking copy of Marvel Feature #11, the first try-out issue for what eventually become Marvel Two-In-One.. I am no professional grader, so please consult the scans when choosing to bid. 

11  I am not going to put a grade on this one. I so wanted to say "high grade" in the listing, because when you first look at this comic's front and back covers, you'll say "wow..." However, if you check the front cover scan you'll see my reservation (and it's a big one if you're a serious collector). Notice the white call-out arrow near the Hulk corner box -- you can see a hole (yup - an actual hole) in the cover at the top of the arrow. And at the bottom of the arrow is a mark that looks like it wanted to become a hole, too! It's not pushed through, but is a noticeable blemish nonetheless. So that being said, I think you'd agree that the rest of the book would grade VF. But I can't get past the obvious defects on the front cover. Interior pages look great with sharp corners and off-white brightness.

Titanic Troubles, Part 1: Marvel Feature 12

Marvel Feature #12 (November 1973)
"Bite of the Blood Brothers!"
Writer:  Mike Friedrich
Pencils:  Jim Starlin
Inks:  Joe Sinnott

Karen: It's June, things are heating up (especially where I am), and all this month we're going to be tackling that terrible Titan, Thanos! Now, we have checked him out before around these parts, and if you want to get the full chronological effect, you should stop reading now, and go back to this review of Iron Man #55, which was the big guy's first appearance. Then come right back here for some more fun. You could also check out our review of Marvel Feature #11 if you want to know why the Thing is wandering around the desert of what seems to be either New Mexico or Arizona. For now, it's enough to say that the Thing is a long way from home, or anybody's home, for that matter. Ben is lamenting his luck at not being able to leap across the desert like the Hulk when who should come flying by but Iron Man -- but the Golden Avenger buzzes right past him, not even slowing down! This really riles Ben.

Doug:  Jim Starlin does a nice job, facing the obstacle that all artists face when drawing Iron Man's faceplate -- how to show emotion in ol' Shellhead.  Choosing a downturned vent for the mouth helps, and varying the camera angles assists in playing up angst, wonder, and determination.  It's a pretty good strategy.  And yeah -- Ben was pretty miffed, as well he should have been!

Karen: Time to check in with the other half of this team-up, Iron Man. Turns out he's following up on his encounter with Thanos in the previously-mentioned Iron Man #55, and events that occurred in Captain Marvel #28, when Thanos acquired the Cosmic Cube.  He's decided to check up on Thanos' old base, where he and Drax the Destroyer had fought the Titan's henchmen, the Blood Brothers. While he pokes around, he's unaware that the Blood Brothers are still there and are watching him and awaiting orders from Thanos.  Meanwhile, the Thing is headed over a dune and just about ready to give Shellhead a piece of his mind.

Doug:  I never know what to make of the Blood Brothers.  First off, they could be brothers-from-another-mother in regard to Mr. Grimm -- it's like the same head, different color!  And then they dress alike, which is just too weird.  And lastly, it just seems that no matter where they turn up, they're just eventually going to get a beatdown from whomever they're facing that month.  Upon further review, I did not realize that part of their strength is derived from their physical proximity to each other.  That's an interesting twist, I suppose.

Karen: Although I am a huge fan of Starlin's art, I've always thought that he's had some trouble drawing the Thing  -- as do many artists. But here, teamed with Joe Sinnott, who probably knows the Thing as well as any artist, he looks great. I do think that the art has lost some of the Starlin style but it is still pretty solid. 

Doug:  I've been waiting to ask, since seeing the splash page -- do you prefer your vision of Ben Grimm with small rocks or large?  Here Starlin uses the small-rock motif, which I tend to think makes Ben look a little less powerful -- even shorter in height.  I'm using the massive Avengers vs. Thanos tpb (highly recommended!) as my resource, and your point about Joe Sinnott is a strong argument.  While we get to see Starlin under the influence of several inkers in that tome, there don't seem to be any who "hide" Starlin as Sinnott does.  But I still like Joe, don't get me wrong!

Karen: I guess I had not given small rocks vs. large much thought, but for me it's more a sense of uniformity: does Ben's  hide look 'right'? Some artists just can't seem to get it to look like all the stones/scales belong together. Here, they do. From his throne on Titan, Thanos gives the word: kill Iron Man! The Blood Brothers, who resemble lumpy gorillas, begin stalking Iron Man as he walks through the darkened base. The two aliens ambush him from above, nearly pinning him to the ground, but Shellhead manages to get free and blast them with his repulsors. However it only momentarily stuns them. These two really give Iron Man a hard time -- it's a reminder that he wasn't always a powerhouse like he is now. He tries to rocket off, to get some "Avengers reinforcements" when he runs right into Ben, sending him flying and knocking both of them out. The Blood Brothers get a good hoot out of this. Ben starts to recover, but one of the Blood Brothers viciously punches him in the back of the head and puts him down for the count. We view the scene from within the Cosmic Cube, as Thanos projects his voice and tells his minions they have done well. They are in awe of his godlike power. We pull back to see Thanos holding the Cube, with his brother Eros and father Mentor held captive behind him. Thanos then orders the deaths of Iron Man and the Thing.


Doug:  Your remark about IM not always being a powerhouse actually touches on some conversations we've had here in our comments over the past few weeks, and that's the ridiculous power levels of heroes these days.  I like this version of Iron Man, with the classic armor that always seems to run out of energy at the most inopportune time.  Sure, it's a built-in plot device, but it makes for some creative solutions.  You know, Thanos doesn't really do anything in this story, but then those sorts of villains are the most dangerous -- "I don't need to sully my hands with the likes of you."  It's pretty obvious that he's of the caliber of a Dr. Doom or some similar megalomaniacal antagonist. 

Karen: The Blood Brothers advance on Ben and Iron Man, who are both beginning to recover consciousness.  Shockingly, in a three-panel progression, one blood brother slowly opens his mouth as he looms over Ben, and we see sharp fangs bared! It appears there is a reason they are called "blood" brothers! The villain clamps down on Ben's shoulder (he doesn't really have a neck!) and Ben's eyes go wide! Ben is appalled  -"Ya dirty vampires!" - and then it's clobberin' time! He pounds his attacker, and then pulls one of Doug's favorite (!) stunts -- he pulls up the stone floor like a rug! But the two brothers soon combine their attack and Ben is in trouble.

Doug:  Ah, yes -- I believe Mr. Bill Foster was the recipient of my last "that's just a stupid idea" award.  But it always does make a cool visual -- if totally improbable.  I thought Starlin and Sinnott just did a great job of portraying Ben's attitude throughout the story.  He started off mad out of his mind, stayed that way through the story, and we just always know it!  If you look, his mouth is always drawn open, but his eyes and eyebrow are used to convey the varying degrees of his disgust with the whole situation.  I was a little surprised by the vampire maneuver, because if I previously knew that about these two goons I had forgotten it.

Karen: Luckily, either due to the solar rays or his own inner strength, Shellhead gets his act together and charges into the two aliens, bowling them over. The fight gets so furious, they bring down part of the mountain. This is to the heroes' advantage. Even so, it takes some teamwork between the two to defeat the brawny Blood Brothers. Seeing his thugs beaten, Thanos uses the power of the Cube to teleport them away -or did he disintegrate them for their failure? Ben and Shellhead wonder what the brothers' fate is. Unfortunately for Ben, the fight took up most of Iron Man's power, and Ben is too big for him to carry back. So our hero ends this tale the same way he began it: hoofing it through the desert!

Doug:  The ending battle is well done, with both heroes being on equal footing in the butt-kicking department.  I'm not sure what I thought about Ben suggesting the two of them combine their strength by having Iron Man basically whip up a fastball special (well, as much as he could with a 500 lb. anthropomorphic weight) -- it certainly didn't play like some of the combined efforts we've seen from the X-Men, but then those were generally energy-based heroes strutting their stuff.  In the end, it doesn't matter -- the baddies are defeated and Thanos is thwarted (although you'd think a guy with a Cosmic Cube would just wish his nemeses away and be done with it).  And as to Ben's fate -- well, he is a loveable loser at times, isn't he?

Karen: This was a fun, light story, obviously only tangentially connected to the main Thanos-Cosmic Cube saga, but worth giving a look. As Doug said earlier, it's interesting to see how Starlin looks with a variety of inkers. We've discussed it before, Sinnott tends to be somewhat overpowering and although I can still see Starlin in there, it's also unmistakably Sinnott. Once we move on to the Captain Marvel issues in our story we'll see two other inkers on Starlin, Dan Green and Klaus Janson, and those will be very different looks.

Karen: Before our next review in this series, which will be Captain Marvel #32, you might want to check out this review I did of Captain Marvel #31, way back in 2009. It's brief, but should get you caught up. 

Every Rose Needs a Thorne: Marvel Feature 2

Marvel Feature #2 (January 1976)
"Blood of the Hunter"
Bruce Jones-Frank Thorne

Doug:  Welcome back, ya barbarians!  A couple of weeks ago we examined the first issue of Marvel's Red Sonja vehicle, volume 2 of Marvel Feature.  Today is significant, as it's the first story by the penciller who would be most associated with her in the latter Bronze Age -- Frank Thorne.  But as long as we're on the subject of the pretty pictures, I'll lead this one right off with a big knock on the computerized coloring process.  What a muddy mess!  It's just so uneven, which I think you'll see as you look through the samples I've provided.  And at some point I should revisit (for a review) the trade I'm using (The Adventures of Red Sonja, volume 1 from Dynamite Entertainment), as some of the issues look great -- I don't understand the inconsistency.  Anyway...

Doug: We open this swashbuckling tale with Red Sonja robbing a robber -- ah, the Hyborian Age!  Our mistress has pinned a sleeping roustabout to the ground, by placing a poisonous snake on his chest.  As he wakes, she takes all of his loot, including a mysterious gold key that hung around his neck.  His horse tied up, Sonja rides away on her own mount -- and calls back that the snake was only a garter snake!  Riding away to the village of Khishtam, Sonja stops at an inn for a drink.  Seeing a woman she'd known before, they strike up a conversation.  As her friend admires the golden key, Sonja reads its inscription.  Recoiling, her friend warns her to throw it away -- one of the words names a demon!  Suddenly the proprietor steps in and asks Sonja if her horse was spotted and loaded down...  our heroine replies affirmatively and is then told that her horse is being stolen!  Taking the owner's own mount, she rides hard after this new thief.  Pulling even with him, he attempts to flail at her with her own sword, missing clumsily.  Sonja steers him right into a low-hanging branch, and knocks him down.  Stunned, she is able to pull close to him and then notes that he has a wooden leg -- and is quite young!

Doug:  Sonja returns to the inn, only to find everyone slaughtered about the place.  Her friend, Katrin, has left a message... in blood.  But Sonja is unable to grasp its meaning, so rides off instead with the young man who had tried to rob her.  They head toward his settlement, the people of Gromlic.  However, when they draw close, they see the band has been beset by Picts.  Sonja rides right into the middle, broadsword in hand.  Gromlic himself notices the return of the lad, and likens Sonja to a savior from Hell.  After the Picts have been despatched, Gromlic thanks Red Sonja for her aid.  It turns out that the young thief is Dunkin, the son of Gromlic.  Sonja is invited to stay with the band, as as she preps for sleep Dunkin approaches her.  But it's not with a tone of thanks or even humility that he brings -- rather, he heaps insults upon her and challenges her sexuality.  Sonja reacts with blade flashing, but Dunkin instead plays the card of his disability, gaining the upper hand as he walks away.

Doug:  Gromlic is left to apologize for Dunkin's behavior, and cites the absence of his leg as the source of his surliness.  Sonja wonders if her vow to never let a man touch her lest he best her in battle first has created a barrier tween her and men.  Gromlic asks that she give Dunkin another chance -- she may find him at a fishing stream early in the morning.  So she rides out to Dunkin and strikes up a conversation.  He's rude, as he has been, but warms a bit when she asks if he can read the inscription on the gold key.  He can, and tells her what she already knew -- that Balek is a demon, but that a mage named Neja might tell her more.  Sonja asks him about his rudeness, and if he treats all women that way.  Dunkin flies into a rage, and at Sonja's seeming goading, grasps her and presses hard his lips against hers.

Doug:  Sonja seems to submit to his embrace, when they are suddenly interrupted by one of Gromlic's band.  He comes on his dying breath, with news of trouble back in the camp.  Dunkin and Sonja hasten back, but Sonja knows what they will find -- and she is right.  She warns Dunkin to leave her, that this is a death chasing her; to stay together will only be dangerous for him.  He tells her that revenge will only come from his sword -- Sonja blasts him in the face with her boot and rides away.  Some time later, while laying down, she is snapped to alertness by a figure near.  Rising, she sees that it is Dunkin.  Reaching out to him, she sees that it is indeed him -- impaled on a stake!

Doug:  As Sonja moves off, she finds now that her assailant is not trailing her but instead has gone ahead.  The water with which she seeks to slake her thirst has been tampered with.  She rides to another stream, noting that the animals along the way have died off -- no food for her.  Once at another body of water, it has the same wretched taste she knew before.  She presses on, but her steed succumbs to the heat and dies.  Figuring it had drunk from the tainted water, she leaves it.  On foot and beginning to waver, she spies a farm.  But upon entering the grounds, she sees that its tenants are all dead.  Now becoming fearful, she seeks to sleep; but once prone a coral snake crawls up on her chest.  A heavy rain provides respite and drives the snake away, but the sun pounds down again the next day -- she is approaching death.

Doug:  As she crawls, a giant of a man appears, holding a couple of skins of water.  He tells that his name is Rejak the Tracker, and that he will be her death -- this is the same brigand whom Sonja stole from at the beginning of our story!  He is after the golden key and questions her (hard) about its whereabouts.  She points to the saddlebags.  Rejak begins to rifle through them, when he suddenly cries out and snatches his hand back.  Suddenly he gags, clutches at his throat, and pitches forward, dead.  The coral snake that had menaced Sonja before crawls out of the sack, and Sonja slakes her thirst.  She shakes the snake the rest of the way out of the bag, takes Rejak's horse, and rides off in the direction of the old mage -- Red Sonja has questions to be answered!

Doug:  This really was the first issue in the series, as Frank Thorne and Bruce Jones (later, Roy Thomas) would go on to chronicle Sonja's adventures.  Conan and Belit show up in issues 6 and 7 of Marvel Feature, and since the coloring is much more palatable in those stories, they might be worth a look later on.  However, to do it right I'll need to purchase the 2nd volume of the trade series, as it continues into that collection of reprints.  As far as this story goes, I just found the art really distracting.  Well, not the art -- but as I said at the top the recoloring was awful.  If I were to grade this tale, I'd make sure I left a comment of "Intriguing..." -- not a great yarn, but one that leaves me wanting to read the next story to see of her potential encounter with the demon, or whether or not that was all just an old wives' tale.

Red Sonja: She-Devil With a Chain Mail Bikini

Marvel Feature #1 (November 1975)

"Red Sonja"

Roy Thomas-Esteban Maroto/Neal Adams/Ernie Chan

Doug:   Since female fashion was among the lead conversations of our nominating process for our currently-winding-down Bracketology: Dressed for Success polls, I thought we'd check in on a couple of the ladies who were at the forefront of the discussion.  Today, and scattered in the coming weeks, I'll be checking out (well, you know...) the she-devil with a sword, Red Sonja, and the Earth-2 Supergirl known as Power Girl.  I'll actually give Red Sonja two reviews, as we don't see the penciler most associated with her, Frank Thorne, until Marvel Feature #2.  So shall we get on with it?

Doug:  Marvel Feature #1 contains two Red Sonja stories, each about 10 pages long.  Since Karen and I are working on quite a few comics reviews for the coming weeks, I'm going to cheat you out of one of those stories today and review only the first one -- by Roy Thomas and Esteban Maroto, with Neal Adams and Ernie Chan on the inks.  You're so deprived...  By the way, the second tale was produced by Roy Thomas, Dick Giordano, and Terry Austin, with the title "The Temple of Abomination!"  I'm using Dynamite Entertainment's The Adventures of Red Sonja, Volume 1 tpb as my resource; you'll notice that it's been recolored, similarly to the content in Dark Horse's Chronicles of Conan series of trades.  Due to the panel lay-outs of the story (which was originally presented in the B&W mag The Savage Sword of Conan #1 -- Red Sonja's fourth overall appearance), I'll be providing a few full-page samples for your viewing pleasure!

Doug:  We pick it up with Red Sonja on mount, leaving the gates of a city.  As she rides slowly by, two guards try to draw her attention; but she's in no mood to converse -- instead her mind drifts back to her arrival in the town of Pah-Dishah, and a meeting with its king, Ghannif.  King Ghannif was served by an albino strongman, Trolus, ever by his side.  Red Sonja was charged with going to the sister-city of Makkalet and stealing a serpent-tiara, that had been part of Ghannif's daughter's dowry.  Ghannif charges her to bring it back -- and she'll get the richest reward he can bestow.  Ever the mercenary, Sonja accepts the offer.  She rode with other mercenaries, and arrived to Makkalet as if she was its protector.  However, meeting a northerner named Conan, she tricked him into burglarizing the city's treasure tower -- here we get a recap of "The Song of Red Sonja", complete with images of Red Sonja in the full chain-mail shirt.  As others have commented during our Bracketology series on Bronze Age costumes, this is a much more practical look.

Doug:  Once the tiara was in her hands, and not without much trouble, she rode back to see King Ghannif and collect the fee owed her.  Unfortunately (for someone, you know), Ghannif orders his guards to seize Sonja.  Her prize will be to become a member of Ghannif's harem!  And to show that he has a heart of gold, Ghannif offers Sonja's "services" to Trolus, after the king has had his own way.  Trolus seems somewhat reluctant...  Ghannif orders Sonja to be taken away, to be cleaned and prepared.  Once with the handmaidens of the court, Sonja still displays her fire, but soon decides to go along with it all -- for now.

 

Doug:  Brought back to the royal chambers, it's a new Red Sonja who begins to cuddle with King Ghannif.  She questions why Trolus remains in the chambers, but is told that he is never out of Ghannif's sight, nor vice versa.  Sonja rolls with it and begins to press up against the king.  There is much innuendo in this portion of the script, and I was surprised at how steamy it was getting, given that this was on sale in a standard four-color comic -- it certainly played as if it was created for the B&W line (which, as I said above, it was).  Sonja asks about a "small dagger" tucked in Ghannif's mid-section -- he tells that he only uses it for "certain ceremonial purposes".  She draws it, and jumps away.  He reacts, but she asks why one appointed by the gods should need fear such a small knife.  The next thing Ghannif knows, that small knife is embedded in his throat and he breathes his last.

Doug:  Trolus comes near, screaming at Sonja for her actions.  He is furious, not so much for Ghannif's death, but because of his death he fears he'll lose his place of privilege.  He fights as if possessed.  Sonja steals a broadsword from a guard, guts him, and engages Trolus.  The albino slave really never had a chance.  While he rails against her, saying he'll die now a toothless beggar, Sonja says she'll spare him a long life -- and crashes her sword against the back of Trolus' waist.  After leaving the royal bedchambers, she locates and changes into her own "clothes", then mounts her horse and rides through the city gates -- where this tale began.

 

Doug:  This was a nice story -- nothing out of the ordinary for a Marvel sword-and-sorcery mag.  I was a little disappointed that the plot never twisted -- I thought it was pretty predictable all the way through.  I think it would have been a good entry point for readers who'd missed Red Sonja's earlier appearances in Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword... -- it's all here:  her seductive looks, the bit about no man being allowed to touch her lest he best her in combat first, etc.  The art was very good; this is Esteban Maroto's first work to be discussed on our blog -- further research shows that he began his career with Warren's magazines before moving to the Marvel line around 1973.  I'd almost have rather seen him inked by someone other than Neal Adams -- I see so much Adams, it's difficult to tell anything about Maroto.  I'd solicit some help from our readers in finding any presence by Ernie Chan on the inks -- I just don't see him.  However, it's possible that he only inked the backgrounds while Adams did the figures.  That was not uncommon as practice back in the Bronze Age.  At any rate, I'll be back in two weeks with a look at Red Sonja's second solo outing, this time under the penciler most associated with her.

Post script (Thursday evening, 9:30 PM) -- I just purchased a used copy of The Chronicles of Conan, volume 4 (on bookbyte.com) after a week of searching both online and through a couple of LCSs in the Chicago southland.  While I have a B&W reprint of "Red Nails", I'd wanted the color version -- and this book also contains "The Song of Red Sonja" -- be looking for a review of that story in the coming months!

Stepbrothers: Marvel Feature 11

Marvel Feature #11 (September 1973)
"Cry Monster!"
Len Wein-Jim Starlin/Joe Sinnott

Doug: So what are two Bronze Age bloggers to do, with an Avengers 3-parter finished up yet a week before Giant-Size July? Shoot -- run a review of a Thing/Hulk throwdown, that's what we'll do!


Doug: I'll start today's thoughts in the art department. A) I think Jim Starlin is a great storyteller. I'm not an aficionado of his work like my partner, but more of an admirer from afar. That being said, Starlin's art, particularly early in his career, was not always what I'd set forth as his best art. However, B) Joe Sinnott can make anyone look great! And that being said, there's no doubt that in this here tale, Jim's under the influence of Joe. This is a very polished set of graphics that could have slid right into the FF's own mag and we'd have hardly noticed any difference between that book's other Bronze Age pencillers -- Romita, J. Buscema, and Buckler. Nope -- Sinnott has 'em all covered... literally. Don't get me wrong -- I love Joe! But he does show through, doesn't he?

Karen: I think the art team worked out pretty well. Yes, Sinnott is a dominating inker. But I have to be honest and say that as much as I love Starlin's work, I've never felt like he drew a great Thing or Hulk. But they look pretty darn good here.

Doug: Len Wein's no dummy -- by 1973, certain formulas had been working quite well in the Baxter Building over the past 12 years. We begin with a boisterous Benjamin J. Grimm, wrecking some more multi-million dollar machinery. Reed and Johnny are there, both on Ben to knock it off. Reed tells that Ben's destroying another opportunity at being cured of being the Thing. But Ben tells Reed to back off -- Ben just doesn't think he can take the disappointment of another failed attempt at saving him from his inhuman existence. Johnny convinces Reed to give Ben some space, and they leave him alone. Ben begins to sulk, and reflect on his origins. But what he doesn't know is that his thoughts are being monitored from a spaceship, by Kurrgo, the Master of Planet X (last seen in FF #7, 1962, kiddies)! Which brings me to this question -- how do you, Karen (and all of our readers) feel about very obscure villains suddenly seeing the light of day once more?

Karen: This time period was sort of the last hurrah for Ben's angst over his rocky form. From the late 70s and on, I don't think we really heard much about him wanting to return to his human form. By then, perhaps because the writers felt it was played out, he seemed to have adjusted and accepted his fate.

Karen: As to your question about obscure villains -I have no problem with that, as long as the story is good. Of course, one could posit that obscure villains are obscure for a reason...

Doug: Kurrgo is nice enough to recap his own origin for us -- of how he was defeated by the FF, how Reed shrunk his people to save them from a collision with another planet, and how evil Kurrgo hoarded the enlarging gas for himself. Rather than becoming his people's master, however, Kurrgo found himself seconds from death. His robot slave saved him, taking him to a ship and blasting away just as Planet X exploded! Kurrgo searched all of space for his people, finally finding them; they, however, were not so pleased to see him. Kurrgo was a giant to them, but their science had advanced to the point that they could drive him away. Fleeing, the megalomaniac swore his revenge. Kurrgo came back to Earth to enlist the aid of her strongest being -- the Thing! But when he found that the Hulk was now the strongest he attempted to enslave him. Yet, another intervened -- the Leader!

Karen: I'm probably showing my ignorance of the Leader here, but I'm not sure exactly how he interfered with Kurrgo's plans; he's paralyzed after all. Sure, he can make an astral projection of himself, ala Dr. Strange or Professor X, but how did he ever mess up Kurrgo's plans?

Doug: What Wein has constructed for us is not unlike other stories where super-baddies choose champions to battle in their stead -- such as the Grandmaster's games with other conquerors. Here we find the paralyzed Leader, hopeful that the Hulk holds the key to his rehabilitation. Kurrgo has his own motives for enlisting either giant. But these two have instead struck a bargain -- the Leader will use the Hulk, while Kurrgo employs the Thing in a battle for supremacy. The winner will gain the services of both monsters, as well as all of the scientific knowledge of the defeated. So the Leader transports the still angry Thing from the Baxter Building to a ghost town in the American Southwest -- could be right around the corner from Karen!

Karen: If you had to have a fight between these two powerhouses, the vast open expanse of the desert would be a good place for it. The whole fight seems contrived, but then again, maybe for big brains like them this is a great way to spend an afternoon.

Doug: The Leader sends an astral projection (or "injection" to the Thing's mind) to tell Grimm what's up. Ben of course wants no part of tangling with the Hulk, but the Leader convinces him with the alleged placement of an "Ultrex Bomb" capable of destroying Earth and set to explode in less than 30 minutes! I thought it was amusing that the Leader states to Ben that three billion lives are at stake -- shoot, we're more than double that size now (and comics aren't half as good! You'd think with that many more creative minds we could get a decent yarn produced these days!!).

Karen: Ben isn't sure he believes the Leader, but he can't take the chance he's telling the truth.

Doug: So if you were looking for some pure, unadulterated comic book action, you came to the right book. The Leader brings the Hulk to the scene, and an 8-page smash-'em-up commences. We find out that Kurrgo is secretly augmenting the Thing's strength and it makes this a bit more interesting that it normally would be. Starlin and Sinnott do a great job of depicting the Thing as more of an equal to the Hulk in strength and stamina, but not in size. But it's a subtle difference -- not the glaring disadvantage Ben had when Jack Kirby drew the cover of Fantastic Four #25. It's funny -- that Thing/Hulk battle also began with Reed concocting some formula to help Ben. See, told you Len Wein had done his homework!

Karen: It's a fun fight -Hulk here really has no idea what's going on, and he doesn't seem to care much. He just wants to hit someone! I liked how Ben realized that something was wrong -he shouldn't be that strong.

Doug: Ben finally finds a gap in the fisticuffs to tell the Hulk about the bomb. But as you might suspect, Greenskin isn't interested in talking. He pounds Ben into the ground, and then turns to leave. But Ben knows time is running out, so takes off after the Hulk, who is headed to the side of town where the Leader had planted the bomb. Ben knocks Hulk clean into a building, and finds the bomb. Now I don't know how much you know about defusing a bomb, but I'm of the opinion that throwing a hard rocky fist at it probably isn't the best strategy. It's a fake, after all, but right as Ben's about to get walloped by an even madder Hulk, the two behemoths are in a tractor beam and drawn up into Kurrgo's ship. Kurrgo's cheating is quickly exposed, but he attempts to win after all by siccing his robot on our heroes. No dice. Ben and Hulk hit the bucket of bolts so hard that he goes into a wall of control panels and sets the ship all a'tizzy. As Ben and Hulk leap away, the ship explodes and crashes. More Area-51 fodder?

Karen: Smashing a bomb would not be my first choice for how to disarm it, but then again, it's the Marvel Universe. I thought it was very true to character that Ben pointed out that Kurrgo had been cheating by amplifying his strength. However, even with his strength increased, he really didn't have the upper hand -it was more of a tie. Sadly, Ben's leg muscle won't allow him to go leaping off (why is that anyway?) like Hulk does.

Doug: As Ben heads back to civilization, he's still moaning about his looks from his "born loser" point-of-view. I thought Wein really wrote the characters well here. If you'd hid the credits from me, I probably couldn't have told you that Roy Thomas wasn't the author -- this is all pretty seamless alongside the FF's of the day. And as I said at the top, the art was thoroughly enjoyable, yet quite a contrast from Starlin's work on Iron Man #55 which we reviewed a couple of weeks ago. We'd remind you that Starlin was working with Mike Esposito on that one, but in just six months and one inker, the improvement is astonishing. Hey, another 20-minutes well-spent in the Bronze Age!

Karen: Agreed on all counts. I think a lot of the writers that came along in the 70s really understood the characters and knew how to write them - plus a big part of it was keeping Stan's style (as far as speech patterns), and of course, Ben's speech patterns are pretty unique. A nice, light read all the way around.

The Defenders: Non-team, or Avengers Lite?

Marvel Feature #1-3 (December 1971- June 1972)
Writer: Roy ThomasPenciller: Ross Andru

Inker: Bill Everett (#1, 3); Sal Buscema (#2)

Karen: Most comic fans love super-hero teams. There’s something exciting about seeing a whole bunch of characters in one book. It’s easier to explain why the heroes are all together when they share a common background, such as the Fantastic Four or the X-Men. But more haphazard collections of heroes can also work, with team chemistry being manufactured, as in the case of many different line-ups of the Avengers, heroes who have no common ties other than the desire to fight evil.

Doug: Count me among those who have generally been a “group first” buyer. As a kid, I bought all of the titles Karen mentioned, as well as the Champions, the Teen Titans, the Secret Society of Super-Villains, and probably some others I’m forgetting. I always liked the interpersonal dynamics available in group books. While the solo heroes (Spidey, DD) could grow in characterization over the course of a series, there generally wasn’t the possibility for interplay between the hero and the cast – when he was the hero. Interplay was not a problem in a team book.

Karen: By the early 70s, Marvel had two very successful super-teams, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. The X-Men had fallen into a period of near-dormancy, and other groups, like the Inhumans, never really caught on in their own books. With the increase in the number of titles Marvel was able to put out, it made sense to try to build another winning team.

Doug: Inhumans. Thank you. I knew I forgot to mention another book above. As for them specifically, I just don’t know how committed Marvel was to making them a success in their own book. Same thing for the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Karen: The catalyst for this would be Roy Thomas, the writer/editor who ushered in so many new concepts in Marvel’s second wave of success. Thomas had put together the uneasy team of the Sub-Mariner, Hulk, and Silver Surfer in Sub-Mariner #34-35 (Feb-Mar 1971), and the sales on those issues were better than usual. Marvel head honcho Stan Lee decided it was a good sign, and declared the team should have their own book, even coming up with the name, “The Defenders”. However, he wouldn’t let Thomas use the Silver Surfer! The Surfer was his pet character and he didn’t want anyone but himself writing him. Instead, the third member of the team would be Doctor Strange. In retrospect, Thomas felt that this change worked out well, as Strange provided the glue that held the other two together. Recognizing the anti-hero nature of both Hulk and Sub-Mariner, and the unlikelihood of them forming any real team, Thomas defined the Defenders as “the non-team” – essentially, a group of guys who keep getting thrown together to face a common threat. Unlike the Avengers, the Defenders had no interest in staying together, but fate (and comic sales) kept them coming back.

Karen: Let’s take a look at Marvel Feature #1. The first thing one notices is the incredibly sketchy artwork! I always thought this was a terrible art job, and didn’t know why until recently, when I read the Marvel Masterworks Defenders,Volume 1. In the foreword, Thomas explains that artist Ross Andru often drew multiple lines in his work, as if he couldn‘t decide where to stop. Inker Everett was apparently annoyed by this, and decided to just ink everything, giving the book a very rough appearance. It’s particularly painful with the facial expressions of the figures.

Doug: I read this for the first time for this discussion. I used the Essential Defenders, Volume 1 which is of course in black and white. While I am certain Marvel never intended to publish this story in one of their magazines, one almost has to wonder. As Karen says, it is such a departure from the usual linework. I’d also add that, if held to a visual pop quiz as to who the artist was for this story, I never would have come up with Ross Andru. While I’m a fan of his Amazing Spider-Man work from this same era, here none of the distinctive figures or faces are present. Bill Everett must have exerted quite a bit of influence on Andru’s pencils – perhaps Andru provided only lay-outs?

Karen: It seems from what Roy says, that it was typical for Andru to keep noodling around with his drawings, leaving multiple lines, and the inker had to pick which lines to ink! Apparently, Everett decided, “Screw it, I’ll ink ‘em all” as some sort of statement. But that didn’t go over very well when the inked work was returned!

Doug: No, it didn’t look good at all. You and I have complained on other forums that the modern-day John Byrne is scratchy – nothing like this mass of lines however.

Karen: I found the story to be rather pedestrian – the trio has to stop a foe of Strange named Yandroth who has built a device (‘the Omegatron’!) that will destroy the world. What kept me reading were the interactions between the three non-team-mates. Namor and Hulk both bridle at being given orders by Strange, who has a job more difficult than herding cats. At the end, they all agree that they never want to get together again – which of course they do in the next issue.

Doug: Call me a heretic, but sometimes Roy Thomas just isn’t the guy for the job. I don’t care for him on Spider-Man, and his Fantastic Four was only OK. I just thought he really had a tough time finding the different voices. I’m not a Dr. Strange fan by any stretch (never have been), but I found the dichotomy between having to save the world and intentionally and deceitfully pitting Namor and the Hulk against one another an interesting moral dilemma.

Karen: Doc’s treatment of the Hulk in particular was pretty arrogant. I do think I prefer the way Steve Englehart handled their relationship.

Karen: Marvel Feature #2 has a much more polished look, with Sal Buscema’s inking. The trio re-unites to defeat Dormammu and his minions. This issue also features Tom Fagan and the Rutland, Vermont Halloween parade, seen in a number of other Marvel books of that era, as well as a cameo by Roy Thomas himself. It’s funny, back in those days I got a kick out of comic creators putting themselves in books, but if anyone did it today I’d probably think they were an egotistical jerk! Oh well, different times.

Doug: I think that’s because some of them are egotistical jerks; why else would they think they have such free reign to cook in Stan’s and Jack’s kitchen the way they do? But I digress. I liked the Rutland Halloween stories that were in Avengers #119 and in Batman. Fun stuff – added some “real world” feel to the stories.

Doug: By this time, having read the pre-Defenders stories that had taken place in Doctor Strange, Incredible Hulk, and Sub-Mariner, I was getting a little perturbed that Dr. Strange’s baddies always seemed to be the villain du jour. How come he could give ‘em a beatdown by himself in his own book, but in Marvel Feature he needed help?

Karen: I found this issue much more enjoyable than the previous one. A large part of the reason for that must be the artwork. But I also thought this story was better constructed.

Doug: Agreed. Of the three issues we’re discussing, this was the “funnest”.

Karen: The team’s third go-round, in Marvel Feature #3, once again features Everett on inks, and again, I feel the art suffers. It’s not horrendous like the first issue was, but it lacks the smoothness that Buscema brought to Andru’s pencils.

Doug: I thought the Hulk looked dorky in all three issues. It seemed like his arms were too long, like he was drawn almost ape-like.

Karen: The Hulk definitely had a more monsterish appearance. Although Herb Trimpe was the artist on Incredible Hulk when I was a kid, I always liked Sal Buscema’s Hulk better. His Hulk seemed more capable of conveying a variety of emotions, yet he still felt big and powerful.

Doug: Yeah, I saw Trimpe’s stuff – I was never a regular reader of the Hulk. I agree with you in that when I think of the Hulk in the 1970’s, I see Sal’s work, or perhaps John Romita’s promo stuff.

Karen: This time the Defenders face Xemnu, a big furry weirdo who wants to kidnap Earth’s children and take them back to repopulate his own world. Xemnu had first appeared in Journey into Mystery #62, where he was known as The Hulk! Obviously, Thomas was having a little fun, digging this old monster out of the mothballs. It’s a quirky tale but pretty interesting.

Doug: Interesting that Stan cites Monsters on the Prowl #’s 11 and 14 for his footnote on Xemnu’s previous appearances. Marvel always was good at keeping older characters on the shelves in the pages of their various reprint mags. As for the story itself, I actually found it sort of annoying – I didn’t care for the astronauts or for Xemnu, and I just didn’t think Xemnu’s angle was ever really explained nor particularly rational (yeah, yeah, I know it’s a comic book…).

Karen: The Defenders would go on to their own title, and Thomas would hand the reins over to Steve Englehart. Sal Buscema would be the regular penciller, and the two of them would have quite a run on the book.

Doug: Both creators were at the height of their powers in this era. Good stuff couldn’t help but happen when they teamed up!

Karen: The Defenders was always a group that left me wanting more. There just seemed to be something missing. Considering the great characters that went in and out of the team – Dr. Strange, Hulk, Namor, the Surfer – there was the opportunity to leave a legacy of some classic stories. And yet, when I think about the Defenders as a whole, I can’t really come up with any truly great stories. You look at the FF, there’s the Galactus Trilogy and a bunch of great Lee/Kirby stories. The Avengers have the Kree-Skrull War, Under Siege. The X-Men have the Phoenix saga. But the Defenders? The Avengers/Defenders War was entertaining, but at least half of that was due to the presence of the Avengers. Yet I bought the book religiously as a kid, and enjoyed it. Steve Gerber’s run produced some stories that are memorable if for nothing else than their sheer weirdness. But classic Defenders stories? Outside of the aforementioned Avengers/Defenders War, I’m not sure there are any.

Doug: Just having read the Guardians of the Galaxy hardcover “Earth Shall Overcome”, which reprints (among other things) the arc that ran through Defenders 26-29, I can speak to those issues as a fun read. I bought those same issues off the spinner racks when I was a kid, and that’s about the closest thing to a “classic” story as far as I’m concerned. The book was always such a mish-mash of characters; it sometimes seemed like a “Marvel Seven-In-One” book. However, it was generally fun, and I liked getting my dosage of Dr. Strange and the Hulk, since I never followed them in their solo adventures. But time does tarnish those fond memories, doesn’t it?