Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire - X-Men 118

X-Men #118 (February 1979)

"The Submergence of Japan!"

Chris Claremont-John Byrne/Ricardo Villamonte

Doug: Fancy meeting everyone here on a Friday rather than a Monday! As we'd remarked late last week, sometimes real life necessitates re-prioritizing  and re-working some things, and our partner reviews for X-Men #s 118-119 falls into that category. 

Thanks for waiting an extra four days for this, the first of a two-part review. On Monday if you come by the BAB you'll find a follow-up to my Man-Bat story, and a week from today we'll be back here with the conclusion to our merry mutants' trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Doug: We open on a ship about 10 kilometers from port on the island of Honshu. The X-Men have been aboard this craft for around six weeks, since they were rescued after their adventure in the Savage Land (which had immediately followed their second tussle with Magneto). A hot red glow is in the sky above the city of Agarashima, and the X-Men intend to investigate. Cyclops gives Nightcrawler the order to teleport over and get a visual. Kurt does, without hesitation. Now I thought this was pretty extreme (bamf!ing over six miles??), but even Kurt remarks to himself that without the X-Men's constant training he never could have attempted that. Shortly, the rest of the team joins him (compliments of Storm and Banshee). Cyke says that they have to locate Sunfire immediately, as they have no passports, no money, and no way of contacting Professor Xavier. So off they go, through a panicked city. But first, we get a quick little vignette as to why they cannot contact Xavier -- he is heading into deep space with his love, the Princess Lilandra. Soon, they will warp far, far away. Once the X-Men are close to Shiro Yoshida's (aka Sunfire) compound the team stops to plan. Wolverine has plucked a stray newspaper and read an account of an earthquake warning. Cyclops asks him how he knows that... what, can he read Japanese? Wolverine says, yeah -- he can, and if Cyclops ever would have asked he'd have known. More layers being peeled back from Logan's background.

Karen: This was back when Wolverine was still a mystery man -and still interesting. I liked the idea that he'd spent time in Japan. I didn't care much for the later stories which turned him into a samurai or ninja. My preferred version of this character has always been the savage just holding on to his humanity. 

Doug: Cyclops orders the team into costume, as it's their only hope of gaining a positive ID with Sunfire. The compound is heavily guarded and it appears that an important meeting is taking place within. Storm creates a dense fog to cloak the approach of she and her teammates. But they aren't very far when a blinding light splits the dense, heavy air. It is Sunfire, and he is not happy. His troops encircle the X-Men, and Sunfire orders them to arrest the trespassers. And then this gets very interesting. Of all people, Misty Knight emerges from the main house and overrides Sunfire's order, telling the guards to stand down. Sunfire reminds her that she is a guest in his country. She reminds him that the premier of the nation would like to meet the X-Men. Inside, Sunfire argues with his superiors that he alone can protect Japan from any further earthquakes. If Misty Knight is along, you know Colleen Wing isn't far behind; indeed, she's right there in the mix, telling Sunfire (in Japanese, no less) what to do. Now I don't know enough about Sunfire, and/or Iron Fist and these supporting characters, so I was surprised that Colleen was speaking fluent Japanese, was the niece of the premier, and said that she was descended from daimyo and samurai, like Sunfire. It all seemed a bit much to me. And then when Colleen took a shine to Cyclops, even though she knew he was "spoken for", I found that to be some clumsy foreshadowing. I did think it intriguing, though, that Cyke again remarked that Jean's "death" left him unfeeling and he was disturbed by his lack of emotion about it.

 

Karen: Scott's lack of emotion over Jean's death was always disturbing -a self-defense mechanism perhaps? It certainly bothered Storm -she seemed quite curt in her responses to him in this issue. Of course, she'd blown up at him (uncharacteristically) back in the Savage Land when the subject of Jean's death came up.

Doug: We cut to a second two-panel interlude. In the first, a truck driver had remarked to his partner that whatever dirty deed they were planning was going to go down at precisely midnight. In the second of these quick shots, the same guy assures his co-driver that with what they're packing they won't have to worry about Sunfire or any other mutants for that matter. And we see in the shadows of the semi the legs of Mandroids. Cut back to Shiro's compound where Wolverine is strolling around the grounds until he feels at home (coo coo cachoo -- you know what I'm saying!). He exits to a garden, where he startles a young maiden. She is frightened, but he calms her in perfect Japanese. He says he is one of the X-Men, and that he knows Sunfire. She is Sunfire's cousin, named Mariko, and remarks that Wolverine has wonderful Japanese, for an American. He tells that he is actually Canadian, and had wonderful teachers. She asks why his name is Wolverine, and he begins to say that his name is really Logan, when he is cut off by an earthquake. Was this indeed the first time Wolverine's real name was revealed? Well, OK -- almost revealed?

Karen: I think one of the leprechauns in issue #103 was the first to call him "Logan" -actually, I think it was "Mr. Logan" -but this might have been the first time that he himself started to say his own name. I found it interesting both then and now that Byrne elected to draw Mariko in a very stylized way -not your typical female face as found in comics, but a very deliberately Asian look. Now if one overlooks the fact that she's dressed like someone out of Shogun, it's kind of a bold move. 

Doug: Wolverine snatches Mariko from harm's way as a tree begins to fall. He uses his adamantium skeleton's strength to protect her as he races to the clear, away from the crumbling mansion. He soon reunites with his team, who has spirited the government emissaries from harm. Cyke regales Storm, asking why she didn't give a warning about the quake. She says that she only senses natural disasters, and what just happened was not natural! Another attack comes, this one a large blast. And then a trio of Mandroids enters the grounds and says that they are there for the government -- their boss would like an audience. Sunfire steps forward as their protector and is dropped in his tracks by a ray blast and the term "mutie". Cyke tells his team that he recognizes the armor as Mandroid technology that was designed to take out the Avengers. And then he makes a statement dripping with bravado -- "... but there's no way in heaven they could have been prepared to stop us! Hit 'em, X-Men -- with everything you've got!" Yep -- game on, as they say.

 

Doug: You know, maybe Cyclops was right. Nightcrawler is the first to engage, and his combination of speed, agility, and teleportation neutralizes "Number 3". Colossus is next up, but he gets sent for a ride by a reverse-polarity magnet, leaving Wolverine to carve up that Mandroid. Lastly, Cyke and Banshee work their magic on the third guy, literally rattling his armor off his body. But Number 3 was only staggered, not dropped, and now he takes a bead on Sunfire. Mariko attempts to shield her cousin, but is ordered to run. Sunfire launches a blast of solar energy that heats the Mandroid armor to critical levels. But the suit's "pilot" just laughs, saying he's absorbing the energy. But as he glows, Storm arrives with an onslaught of freezing rain; the stress of going from too hot to too cold wrecks the suit of armor. We cut to the streets outside the compound as they semi drivers are putting this debacle in their rear-view mirror. As they speed along, they attempt to avoid a pothole. Too late, boys -- that was no pothole. It was Colossus's landing spot. Suddenly his organic steel arms reach up through the hole and destroy the semi-truck. The next time we see Peter he's strolling back onto the mansion grounds with a driver under each arm.

Karen: Wow, the X-Men actually win a fight, and quite handily! Poor Colossus though -he was going through a real slump at this time. Taken down by Mandroids? Ouch. And how about the Mandroids. Last seen in Avengers #95, during the Kree-Skrull War. Claremont (or Byrne) knew their stuff. A seven year gap in appearances -and they didn't do any better this time around. If course, we just recently reviewed that Wolverine solo story where the Mandroids were used as baddies again. Something about them stuck with Claremont. Not sure why...

Doug: As the team licks their minor wounds and feels great about their easy victory, a hologram suddenly appears from one of the Mandroid suits. A man in a white suit with a Lex Luthor collar addresses the prime minister of Japan and tells him that he has an ultimatum: within 24 hours, the man must be proclaimed sole ruler of the island nation of Japan. The man's name? Moses Magnum. And if he doesn't get his way, he will sink Japan. Pure and simple.

Karen: "Master of the Magnum Force" -sorry, but I can help but see Dirty Harry in my head when I read that.

Doug: I liked this story -- it was suspenseful and was a nice way to get back into regular continuity after the Professor X one-off that was in issue #117. It's funny now, after all of the wranglings with Wolverine's origin, to see these early attempts at expanding on his backstory. When you think of it now, the character was only around 4 1/2 years old when this issue was on the newsstand. Makes me want a time machine to visit simpler times! And what's everyone's opinion on the art? John Byrne is typical John Byrne from this era -- pretty darned awesome. Ric Villamonte's inks certainly weren't doing any damage, but you could just feel that the pictures were a little less slick without Terry Austin's TLC. But overall this was the beginning of what we know will be a 42-page "story", with just enough mystery and sub-plotting to keep us on that Claremont/Byrne/Austin rollercoaster, begging for more!

An Obscure Nightcrawler Story: Bizarre Adventures 27

Bizarre Adventures #27 (July 1981)
"Show Me the Way to Go Home..."
Jo Duffy/Bob Layton-Dave Cockrum/Ricardo Villamonte

Doug:  How about this for a splash page?  That's some good Dave Cockrum X-art, isn't it?  And did you notice that Dave placed himself on the cover of the TV Guide?  Funny guy...  Today concludes our trip through this magazine.  We've previously toured the Phoenix and Iceman entries and today we'll finish the excursion with a look at the fuzzy elf, Nightcrawler.  You'll notice that Jo Duffy is responsible for the script, as she was on the Iceman tale.  I felt that that story was not terrible, but mediocre.  We'll see how this one goes.

Doug:  As the team watches an old Zorro flick an alarm suddenly goes off in the mansion.  The team recognizes it as emitting from Cerebro, but at a pitch they've not previously heard.  Nightcrawler, on Cyke's orders, "bamfs" ahead to check it out.  As the team arrives to the control room, Kurt Wagner has a wry smile on his face -- Cerebro has detected half a mutant!  So, it's into a cruiser and off to Poughkeepsie to check it out.  Upon arrival, they find the Vanisher, last seen in battle against the Champions and frozen in the Darkforce of Darkstar.  And there he stands -- half a mutant!  Cyclops warns Kurt not to touch the Vanisher, but you know how that goes -- Nightcrawler reaches out and then there's a huge "BAMF!"

Doug:  Yeah, he really shouldn't have touched the Vanisher in the middle of that Darkforce.  That loud "BAMF!" sent the two teleporters through time, space, and dimension to lord-knows-where.  As they finally slipped back into reality, there was a separation and Nightcrawler landed on a planet full of shapely females -- offering him to be their god or king!  Nightcrawler's flattered, but takes the high road and tries to teleport away.  But instead of "bamf!", we hear "poot!"  Now, in the presence of fine-looking women that's not exactly the best noise to make!  It sets in pretty quickly that ol' Kurt Wagner isn't going anywhere soon.  Some unknown distance away the Vanisher has landed and is having a similar experience.  However, being an egomaniacal villain, he's trying the high-and-mighty approach, even as he too is offered godhood and/or a kingship.  The women find him humorous, and despite his failed attempts at manipulating the Darkforce, the ladies decide to keep him.  So they literally drag him off to places yet unknown to us.

Doug:  Scene-shift back to Nightcrawler, who has been set up like a shiek or sultan with the ladies as his harem.  It's definitely a wine/women/song setting.  It gets pretty cryptic in a hurry, as Nightcrawler enjoys himself but with lots of questions.  The ladies (by the way, check out the various costumes in the story -- seems like some Legion wear might be sneaking in here and there) tell him that males are not native to their planet, so when one arrives they make him their god or king -- to further the population.  But, they also tell, the gods and kings never seem to last too long.  An oracle is mentioned, and Nightcrawler says he'd really like to see that.  So it's up from the table and off on a short field trip.  Inside the cave of the oracle, Nightcrawler is stunned to see a television!  Once turned on, a little old lady, looking like Granny from the Looney Tunes, greets him.  She tells Kurt that all he needs to do to get home is to go to the Well at the Center of Time.  It's a crater only a few miles away that can transport him right back home.  However, she cautions that if he takes anything from there, or leaves anything behind, she can make no guarantees -- he has to leave exactly as he came in.  And then as he and the escorts turn to leave, the oracle tells him to watch his tail while he's there.  Huh?

Doug:  We cut to another part of the world where the Vanisher has set himself up as a god.  The locals are waiting on him hand and foot, but the Vanisher is stuck in his old ways.  He looks at each piece of treasure bestowed upon him and wonders how he could fence it!  Suddenly Nightcrawler steps forward from the shadows, spooking the Vanisher.  Nightcrawler tells him what he's learned about leaving, but the Vanisher rebukes him -- he ain't going!  So the X-Man says if the Vanisher won't come along peacefully, he'll have to go by force!  The Vanisher throws a vase at his would-be abductor, and then appropriates a sword.  "Swashbuckling?" says Nightcrawler, who then grabs a cutlass of his own.  The two men duel, with Nightcrawler getting the better end of it all.  He finally subdues his foe, and bodily removes him from his harem.  As the two Earthlings march out, the women tell them to be careful -- they seem not at all bothered that the "gods" are leaving.

Doug:  Nightcrawler hustles the Vanisher to the Well at the Center of Time.  Upon seeing it, the Vanisher emphatically declares that he's not jumping into that crater.  He then uses the Darkforce to craft a huge hand, pick up Nightcrawler, and drop him.  Nightcrawler is losing his patience quickly, when the Vanisher pulls a "sheet" of Darkforce from his body and hurls it at Nightcrawler.  Kurt's engulfed in the stuff, and disappears!  As it's like one big shadow, Nightcrawler did a fade-out.  However, upon returning he encourages the Vanisher to restore the Darkforce to his outer covering -- it's apparently wearing a little thin.  At that moment huge beasts rush the two mutants, forcing them to their only recourse -- jumping into the crater.  They do, and fall back through the inter-dimensional abyss.  Back in Poughkeepsie, Nightcrawler and the Vanisher reappear right where they'd "BAMF!"ed out only seconds before.  The Vanisher tries to go all Mr. Threatening on the X-Men, but his steam is lost when he notices he's... naked!  His teleporation powers restored, he gets outta Dodge pretty quickly!  Storm asks Kurt for an explanation and all he tells her is that he's been to paradise... and someday he's going back!

Doug:  This story, of the three in the book, would have looked the best in color (although it is striking in the format you see).  I imagine it would have looked something like the Thing/Hulk graphic novel The Big Change.  I thought this story was a nice way to end the magazine -- pretty light and breezy fare.  Cockrum just had a passion for Nightcrawler, and that spirit shines through the art.  It's fun.  Overall, I'm not sorry I own this magazine -- if I hadn't said it before, this was the first time I'd read any of these three stories.  They're all OK -- if I had to rank them, I'd probably go Nightcrawler, Phoenix, and Iceman.  However, the Iceman story far and away looked the best -- it was just beautiful!  Bronze Age X-Men -- that's just never going to be a horrible experience, is it?  Nope -- like golden days of yore.  Thanks for sticking with me over these past three months!

Henchmen in Headdresses: Marvel Team-Up 69

Marvel Team-Up #69 (May 1978)
"Night of the Living God!"
Chris Claremont-John Byrne/Ricardo Villamonte

Doug: It's back to the eBay lot for this one, friends. Sadly, however, I don't have the conclusion that features Thor and the Living Monolith. However, my famous blog partner does -- so tomorrow, she will be your hostess for the big finish of this tale! By the way, this story takes place at approximately the time the Magneto/Savage Land arc we recently reviewed began.

Doug: We begin on Muir Isle, where Alex Summers and Lorna Dane have come to recover after the events of the past year (X-Men #'s 97-109, we are told). The island is deserted, so they've had time to... reacquaint. Out for a dawn stroll, they are suddenly attacked by refugees from King Tut's gang on the old Batman show! These guys mean business, however, and end up knocking Lorna over the cliff while disabling Havok. They speed away in some sort of cruiser as we cut to New York. There we find Peter Parker in the chemistry labs of ESU, pulling an all-nighter. But as he prepares to leave, well into the middle of the night, he sees lights on in one of the professor's offices. Heading toward the door he hears voices inside, discussing the thieving of an ankh. Pete webs the door shut, changes to his Spidey duds, and waits for the goons to get caught. When no one shows, he gets curious... then hears a low engine outside the building. The guys have escaped out the window!

Doug: Not so fast! Spidey breaks down the door just as our baddies are about to step out. But when he launched himself into the door, what else did he launch himself into? You betcha -- his own web! I think Chris Claremont outdid any silly misfortune Stan Lee ever perpetrated against our favorite Webhead! But Spidey hasn't lost his wits, and a quick flip of a spider-tracer and we'll have to wait to see what happens. Back on Muir Isle, Lorna managed to pull herself up to land and back to the house. She dials the Xavier School, only to find no answer -- not even from Cerebro. Desperate, she calls Avengers Mansion and talks to the Beast. Telling him not only of her story but of the empty school in Westchester, Hank responds by taking a quinjet to upstate New York. Hence, the events we've recently reviewed from X-Men #111. Pretty nice the way that all tied together!

Doug: Finally freed of his own webbing, Spider-Man is on the tracer trail. Catching up to it on embassy row, he follows the goons into the building. It's strange, but these are the guys who captured Havok, and Spider-Man doesn't seem to recognize him. Sometimes I take for granted that everyone knows everyone in the Marvel Universe. I suppose that's a silly assumption. Anyway, sensing that danger is definitely afoot, Spidey attacks and frees Havok. They make short work of the Egyptian goon squad, but then are leveled by a blast from the head honcho -- the Living Pharoah from the pages of X-Men #'s 55-57! This guy got me to thinking: how many members of a team book have their own dedicated bad guy? I'm talking guys whose main identity is with a team (like Colossus as an example; not like Aquaman)? Interesting question.

Doug: Havok is attacked from behind by one of the Living Pharoah's stooges, and the ankh is placed around his neck, immobilizing him. Spidey's down for the count temporarily. Havok is moved to a chamber and placed in some sort of sarcophagus; but the lid won't close. Our favorite web-slinger woke up in time to web the lid open. The Living Pharoah emerges in a garb we've seen before, and you and I know where this is going -- it's about to be Living Monolith time! The Pharoah and Spidey scrap a bit, and Spider-Man gets off a great punch that knocks the Pharoah way across the room... over the sarcophagus holding Alex and into the web line Spidey had rigged on the lid. The punch was so strong that the web line held but the ceiling did not -- in effect, the punch allowed the lid to be closed. Chain reaction starts, sparks fly, and uh oh -- big, unhappy Egyptian giant! To be continued (but not here, at least not now).

Doug: Hey, fun story. A little set up for next issue's climax. The weaving together of events in the Avengers and X-Men mags was very cool (Thor referenced the Assemblers' recent troubles with Agent Gyrich when the Beast took the quinjet), and Byrne's art was solid, but then I always feel that Havok gives the artist the opportunity for some very cool visuals. Claremont made a couple of pop culture references, one that was particularly humorous: it's 1978, and Spidey asks the Pharoah, when seeing him in the Monolith get-up, if he's auditioning for "The Wiz" or "Star Wars 2"! Claremont also must have purchased an Arabic baby name book, as all of the henchmen sport a different name of Middle Eastern origin. Yet, the colorist didn't add any hues that might have visually tipped us that they were Egyptian; instead, it really does come off looking like something out of the Batman TV show! I had a few issues of MTU during the Claremont/Byrne years, and they were always well-done. This one is certainly no exception!

Doug: Come back tomorrow as Karen takes this one home with Marvel Team-Up #70.

George Perez July: Avengers Annual #8

Avengers Annual #8 (1978)
"Spectrums of Deceit!"
Roger Slifer-George Perez/Pablo Marcos/Ricardo Villamonte

Karen: It's time for our second installment of George Perez July. We're looking at Avengers Annual #8, which was published a scant two years after our previous review. I'm going to start this one off by saying that I think the inkers on this issue, Pablo Marcos and Ricardo Villamonte, do not mesh well with Perez' art. The linework often looks thin and scratchy, and there are times when Perez' style is completely lost. Honestly, getting through this book was a chore because of how badly the inkers had mangled Perez' work.

Doug: Whew! If you hear me breathing hard, it's because a busy weekend almost swept me right under the Dreaded Deadline Doom! But I'm here, first and foremost to agree with my partner on the inking situation. Of course sneaking an early peek at Karen's comments was what got me to dwelling on the whole issue of just what an inker is supposed to do, which is the inaugural topic in our "The Open Forum" series. And, under the category of "great minds think alike", I had already begun my part on next week's post of FF Annual #14 and had skewered Pablo Marcos there as well.

Karen: Our story revolves around the Wasp being possessed by villain Dr. Spectrum's power prism. For some incredibly stupid reason, Hank Pym decides it would be a good idea to fix the prism and give it to Jan as a gift. Seriously, this man is one of the smartest guys in the Marvel Universe?

Karen: Of course, the prism is far from inert -it is actually sentient. When Jan finds it -that's right, she goes peeking in Hank's dresser, she can't wait to get her present, just like a child - the gem takes control of her and sends her in search of Iron Man, "the only earthling who knows my single weakness!" Spectrum/Wasp manages to capture old Shellhead and returns to Avengers mansion, to imprison him alongside Wonder Man and Quicksilver (what's he doing there?).

Doug: Do you suppose this story was the impetus for the modern "innovation" of turning classic male villains into females (Ultron, Loki)?

Doug: When I read through this section, and reflecting on the parallels between the Squadron Sinister/Supreme and DC's Justice League of America, I came across another parallel character -- the Emerald Empress and the Evil Eye. I felt that the sentience of the prism, as you said, really set it apart from, say, Green Lantern's power ring.
Karen: Before anything much can come of this, a whole gaggle of Avengers show up. How many people were on the team at this point? First it's Cap leading Ms. Marvel, Beast, and Black Panther. Then after they get knocked around, Hawkeye, the Scarlet Witch, and the Vision pop up. The Vision, being such a dedicated reader of Avengers case histories, recalls Spectrum's weakness and zaps Spectrum/Wasp with ultraviolet lights. The attack causes her to collapse, and the Avengers summon Dr. Don Blake, who discovers that the gem has attached itself to the Wasp's palm.

Doug: Hercules and the Black Knight must have been out of town, and Mantis maybe couldn't tear herself away from her tree and the little saplings?

Doug: Did you think it was hyperbole to say that Don Blake was the finest doctor they could think of? I mean, a short time after this he would save the team at the conclusion of the Korvac Saga, but c'mon... Steve Strange was the best surgeon, Hank Pym is the best biochemist, etc. Good thing a regular shmoe like Ben Grimm became the Thing!

Karen: The team decides that maybe the previous possessor of the prism might know how to remove it. They seek out Dr. Strange, as the Defenders (along with Pym) were the last to defeat the villain. Strange tells them he essentially gave Spectrum and the other members of the Squadron Sinister amnesia and let them go. He points them in the right direction, and off Earth's Mightiest go.
Karen: Strange is just the first of a number of somewhat pointless guest appearances. Next we see Thundra and Hyperion in a gym, and the obligatory fight ensues. Then it's off to encounter the Whizzer -not the WWII hero but the bad guy. It's kind of amusing that the team that takes down this speedster is Cap, Hawkeye, and Wanda -sort of a Kooky Quartet, minus their own speedster. Next we're off with the Beast, who finds that the erstwhile Dr. Spectrum has now become a bigtime evangelist. The Beast brings him back to help Jan, and of course all hell breaks loose.

Doug: Perez is not credited as a co-plotter anywhere for this story, but one has to wonder. The man has undoubtedly made his reputation on cramming everything but the kitchen sink into his books. I wonder if perhaps this story was created Marvel Method style, and young George had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted. He would work on Thundra in the pages of the FF, and he'd done the Squadron Supreme very early in his first Avengers run.



Karen: The preacher man still covets the prism and takes it from the Wasp. The Avengers attack, and the prism reaches it's true goal: taking over Thor! It embeds itself in the hammer (how?) and controls the Asgardian. We get a nice knockdown, dragout fight between Thor and Iron Man that would have been spectacular with a better inker. The Spectrum entity is eventually vanquished when Thor drops the hammer and it reverts to his cane. All is right with the world and the Avengers celebrate Jan's birthday.

Doug: The prism's self-embedding in Mjolnir doesn't make sense, as it apparently needed a sentient host itself. I thought that Iron Man separating Thor from the hammer was an interesting way to end the battle, and further cemented Thor's position as the most powerful Avenger. Oh, and by the way -- early on, when the prism dissed on Wonder Man in stating that although powerful, he was not the one the prism coveted... That almost seemed like one of those instances when a writer couldn't really decide (or recall) what had gone down before. It's been stated many times, usually by Simon himself, how he's "gone toe-to-toe" with Thor! yadda yadda yadda. But the prism put Wondy in his place.

Karen: I'm sure it's obvious that I was not impressed with this issue. The thing is, if the art had actually looked like Perez art, I'm sure I would have been more excited. But as it is, knowing what could have been, it's just a disappointing issue.
Doug: My dear, if you didn't like the inks in this one, wait until next week. I felt that Ricardo Villamonte (I'm really unfamiliar with his work) must have lended a strong hand here, because I didn't think Marcos' facial expressions were as prominent as they'll be next week in the FF annual. I thought the story had its high points, though. You mentioned the fight between Iron Man and Thor at the end -- shoot, we even got a panel with IM on his roller skates! I must say, too, that I don't always care for breaking a team into parts to solve a mission. However, here the teams were good and it was fun to see the Squadron again even if they were not in costume and not together. As you mentioned, the "reunion" of the Kooky Quartet was fun. I thought Slifer had some good lines for the Beast, too.
Doug: So, while not a "you gotta run out and get this!" sort of book, it did take me back to the summer of 1979, which was closing in on the last months of my initial comics-collecting phase. Looking at this book through those eyes, I did smile a few times.