Shrouded in Mystery, Part 2 -- Super-Villain Team-Up 6

Super-Villain Team-Up #6 (June 1976)
"Prisoner!"
Steve Englehart-Herb Trimpe/Jack Abel

Doug: Last time I wrote about my feelings toward the storytelling (words and pictures) in SVTU #5. I have to say, all are still valid as I re-read (for the first time in almost 35 years -- egad!) #6. Englehart's script continues to remind me of a Larry Lieber-style story, and Herb Trimpe's art is stiff. I'll have a specific remark concerning the depiction of Namor coming up.

Karen: I think the Trimpe-Abel team is even more uninspiring than the Trimpe-Perlin team from last issue.

Doug: At the conclusion of our preceding installment, Namor had been forced to pledge his allegiance to Dr. Doom. Doom had ruined Namor's ability to process oxygen, and was holding the antidote away from him. The splash to this issue has Namor behind bars, trapped in a chamber of Castle Doom. He makes no bones about his displeasure, screaming Doom's name and echoing it throughout the castle. Doom finally bursts into the room to chastise his fellow monarch. In a scene straight out of a Mel Brooks movie, Doom reports that he's been spying on Namor through the eyeballs of a portrait on the wall! Doom makes it clear that he is indeed in charge, and storms out.
Karen: Oh man, that thing with the portrait was just terrible -Mel Brooks indeed! I don't know how a talented writer like Englehart could come up with such a stereotypical portrayal of Doom. There are no nuances, no subtleties -he's a complete cartoon villain here.

Doug: Once back in his control room, Doom notices that the Fantastic Four have arrived to rescue Namor. In a much-too-long 4-page battle, the FF are confronted by various defenses to Doom's castle. Finally defeating an android army, our heroes move toward their target. During this spread Johnny spies a black, bird-like jet swooping low and wonders if it might belong to the Shroud. He deduces that it might because the plane is the same color as the Shroud's costume -- now how's that for detective work? Well, it is the Shroud and Namor spies him as well from his cell.

Karen: For a guy who is all about stealth, the Shroud sure gets seen a lot. And deducing that a plane belongs to the Shroud because it is the same color as his costume -which is black I suppose?-...oh boy.

Doug: In the midst of all of this Doom is meeting with a shadowy figure who seems very intent on learning more of Doom's technology, specifically his military technology. They seem to be bargaining, and Doom is told that he may yet achieve superpower status. Who is this guy? Not only is his identity hidden, but Doom addresses him as an equal. No, check that -- Doom almost seems to be on his best behavior because he wants something from this man. But the negotiations, if that's what they are, are suddenly interrupted by one of Doom's lackeys. "Bela" bursts in and tells Doom that the FF are almost to the castle. Wasting no time, Doom finds a nearby monitor and summons Namor to attack!

Karen: As a kid I would have had no idea who Doom's guest was; this time around I was able to figure it out, based on his silhouette. Englehart did like to get political!

Doug: I mentioned a quirk in the art at the top of this post. If you'll notice the panel below (found on story page 15), tell me that Jazzy Johnny Romita didn't draw Namor here?! This style is not found anywhere else in the story. I'm not sure what Trimpe/Abel turned in, but it obviously wasn't up to snuff and I'd imagine that as the printing deadline drew near, JR Sr. in his position as art director did the necessary doctoring-up. Anyway, the FF take Namor down relatively easily. But when they finally enter Castle Doom, who is there to greet them alongside the Doctor but our Secretary of State -- Henry Kissinger! Dr. Kissinger and Dr. Doom had just concluded a non-aggression treaty! Wow -- shades of Stalin and Hitler, and we know how that turned out! But waiting in the wings, literally, is the mysterious Shroud, who seems about to make his presence known. To be continued...

Karen: I could see there might be some 'correction' there, although it doesn't scream Romita to me. Romita definitely re-drew both Reed and Sue's faces on the Starlin/Weiss cover though, and maybe the entire figure of the Torch. It seems like Starlin was always being subjected to having his covers re-touched.
Karen: I'm really not sure where any of this is going. I did read it years ago, but my memories are dim, except for the stuff regarding the Shroud and his origin. Let's hope the next issue is a bit more enjoyable.

Captain America Movie Photo

Doug: I just saw this image over at marvelousnews.com, and thought I'd move it over here for a quick post. Leave us a comment -- what's your impression?

June 1979: DC Comics Cover Parade, conclusion

Doug: Surprisingly, this is only a 2-parter. I looked through DC's offerings for June, 1979 and found most of what you'll see here, as well as those books that were in the previous post. I looked into July's books, and found only the first issue of World of Krypton. I went ahead and included it here, even though it doesn't fall under what I was looking for -- bi-monthly publications. I'm thinking what we have in this thin line of comic-offerings is the result of the so-called "DC Implosion" of the late '70's.

I'd mentioned last time that since the cover logos hadn't changed at all from the previous discussion (June, 1976) that I was going to just display the entire cover. Looking through some information on these covers, I found that the cover artists could occupy a Bronze Age Hall of Fame -- Ross Andru, Dick Giordano, Joe Staton, Dick Dillin, Walter Simonson, Jim Aparo, et al. However, reader Andrew Wahl raised an interesting point with his comment that he enjoyed the logo aspect of our little forays into cover history. Andrew, you prompted an idea to pop into my head, and I hope you'll like the result -- stay tuned!

On with today's conclusion:

Sgt. Rock #329 sports a nifty Joe Kubert cover... the way it should be. I've said it before, but I'll say it again -- I just never got into the military comics. I'm sure they were replete with their own drama, wonderful characters, etc. I'm just a superhero zombie.

I have to file Super Friends in the same category as the Looney Tunes, Disney, and Spidey Super Stories comics -- by the time I was 13, I would not have been caught dead looking at one of these at the store, let alone buying one. However, now I can appreciate the "simple" art of Ramona Fradon and others.

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #252 was coming close to the title character's departure from his own mag (which would occur with issue #259). The art on this cover is by Dick Giordano, and is not in my opinion among his finest work. It's somewhat amateur-looking if you ask me. Love seeing Wildfire, though -- he was always one of my favorites from this era.

Seriously, if I have to tell you who the cover artist is on this Superman mag, then you've never read a Bronze Age Amazing Spider-Man. This is a stock pose from our friend Ross Andru. The inks are by Dick Giordano. Wow -- some of these artists were really busy this month!

I mentioned that this is the only book from July to be included on the list. Ross Andru again provides the pencils (he seems like DC's version of Gil Kane -- the go-to cover artist) for the cover, although Howard Chaykin did the interiors. This book was a history of Superman's family in the years before he was born.

I'm a bit confused with this Joe Kubert cover for Unknown Soldier #228 -- is that French Marshall Henri Petain (who led the Nazi puppet regime in Vichy) on whom Hitler is pinning the medal?

Yeah -- Mike Grell! That's what I'm talking about! Even if it is a half-naked, displaced warrior-dude. I liked Conan and Ka-Zar, but I never got into Warlord. Like being to a large extent a superhero zombie, I was also a Marvel Zombie!

All I can say is that June must have been werewolf month at DC. This is the third cover this fella's turned up on, and the third one this month by Kubert! Get them conquistadors, ya lycanthrope!

"Scalphunter"... and to think this was in the post-civil rights era.

Jose Delbo provides the cover art here, with WW looking a lot like Lynda Carter (at least her figure). The art evokes the simpler style of Ramona Fradon on that Super Friends cover we saw earlier. Keep in mind, Wonder Woman was (don't know if this is still true) one of only three characters to be published continuously since 1940. That's a mighty distinction!

What's More Important -- the Man or the Mask?

Doug: DC Comics has long had a habit of changing the secret identities of their stable of heroes. From the very beginning of the Silver Age, when Barry Allen took the mantle of the Flash and followed shortly by Hal Jordan, Ray Palmer, et al., the DC heroes have often had differing personalities beneath the masks. Wally West, Kyle Rayner, Jason Todd and then Tim Drake... But Marvel doesn't often seem to do this. Sure, there have been some short-term changes, like James Rhodes, Eric Masterson, Ben Reilly, and now Bucky Barnes; and of course now all of their male characters good and bad have become women -- but I don't think any of those changes were ever perceived as being permanent.



What's your take on it? Which is more important -- the costume or the person wearing the costume?

The Bat and the Demon (part 2): Batman 243

Batman #243 (August 1972)
"The Lazarus Pit!"
Writer: Denny O'Neill
Artist: Neal Adams
Inker: Dick Giordano

Karen: Time to get down with the second part of our little Batman -Ra's Al Ghul fest. This time, we've got the dynamic duo of Neal Adams and Dick Giordano on the art chores, and it makes a real difference. Reading this issue was a lot like watching one of the late 70s Bond films - there's great action and breath-taking scenery, if not a lot of things that make sense.

Doug: Throughout this story I, like you, was struck with how similar this reading was to a Bond film. Neal Adams carries this out as if he were doing storyboards.

Karen: We start with Batman fighting a duel with Ling, the man sent by Ra's last time to kidnap scientist Dr. Blaine. Since Batman saved Ling's life, he is sworn to serve him; however, because Ra's also once saved him, his loyalties are divided. He feels a duel is the only way for him to determine whose path to follow.
Doug: You're right about Adams' art. While Irv Novick was certainly decent last issue, there is just an air of polish about this month's pencils. Adams' art is always attention-commanding.
Karen: I just wish I had the original issues so I could see what the color looked like -this coloring in the TPB is jarring to me. The fight is really well choreographed and exciting. Of course, Batman wins, but there's a few tense moments. The most irritating (to me at least) element from the previous issue, the fake Matches Malone, is carried over to this issue, this time with Robin playing the criminal! Doug and I have discussed before how amazing masks are in comic universes -they apparently look and move exactly like human flesh!

Doug: And how about the fact that Dick had his own mask on under the prostheses, and left the building in his full costume? So much for subtlety!
Karen: Batman sends Robin back off to school -he was in college by this time -not wanting to risk his life in his battle against Ra's. "If I don't....survive, it'll be up to Robin to carry on the tradition of the Batman!" Batman once again dons the insipid Malone disguise and heads to the airport where Ling and Dr. Blaine await. They fly to Switzerland, where Ra's is supposedly staying.

Doug: Through both parts of this story, I just felt it was dumb that Batman was doing all of this without Robin. It just didn't make any sense. If Ra's was truly as dangerous as he thought, then only a trained partner would make any sense. Bringing these other innocents into it was even more irresponsible than taking a minor into battle. Why didn't Batman enlist the aid of a fellow JLAer?

Karen: Honestly I was thinking along the same lines the whole time I read this. First, it's kind of hard to believe that Batman felt the need for help -but this just may be me super-imposing his modern personality over this much older story. But secondly, if he needed help, it's not clear why he first went to Malone, and why Dr. Blaine was necessary. He just sort of lucked into getting Ling on-board! I suppose the JLA were left out of the story to keep it more grounded, but still the question could be asked why Batman didn't grab any of them.

Karen: In Switzerland the gang runs into Talia and Ra's hulking henchman. Batman seems to be getting the better of him when he is hit in the head with skis (!) by skiing star Molly Post, who thinks Batman is assaulting Talia. Things quickly change once Molly discovers that Batman is going after Ra's. The story really heads into Bond movie style at this point, as we learn in rather awkward manner that Molly's fiance was ruined by Ra's. She joins up with Batman to stop Ra's. I know it's a comic book, but it all feels so contrived.

Doug: Yeah, the story began to degenerate into The Dirty Dozen; or maybe it was the Bad News Bears! Adding Molly Post (what the?!?) to the tale was dumb. And to be really honest, seeing Batman riding on the back of Molly's snowmobile was just so 1966 Batman tv show!

Karen: You're right, you could imagine the green screen behind them, projecting images of snow-covered slopes! Did you notice that although Batman gets on behind her, it's his hand on the throttle?! The Dark Detective and his motley crew manage to fight their way into Ra's mountain-top HQ, only to discover that the criminal mastermind is dead!
Doug: How about when Batman tangles with Ra's goon again, defeating him easily? Batman muses to himself, "He'll sleep the sleep of the fat, ugly, and stupid." Man, that struck a chord with me from Animal House: "Drunk, fat, and stupid is no way to go through life, son." Hahaha!

Karen: Yeah, I thought that was inconsistent -is the guy a threat or a joke? I don't know. Talia shows them Ra's body, laying on a slab. Convinced that Ra's is no longer a threat, Batman takes Talia into custody and the group heads back down the mountain. As they leave, we see mechanisms go to work, and the slab sinks below the floor, into a churning pit of green chemicals. Ra's body is immersed. Moments later, the Demon rises, alive again.

Doug: I've seen Adams use variations on the portrait of Ra's face as he emerges from the Lazarus Pit, most notably when including art on one of his signed books. The leering grin on Ra's face in this panel is chilling.Karen: Yes, those last panels are pretty nice. And Adams' Talia is always beautiful. There's some great art in this issue, but again, the writing left me a bit cold. It's all focused on the single story, with no sub-plots, which just feels a bit sparse. It's story-driven, and not much is given to character development. Not having been a regular reader of Batman then, I don't know if this was the norm. It's just odd when you compare it to something like Spider-Man at the same period, with all the supporting characters and numerous sub-plots.

Doug: I agree. Sometimes we talk about linear art -- our look at Super-Villain Team-Up would fit into this category. So it's strange to me that with Adams' dynamic art, Denny O'Neil writes such a straightforward script. It's no wonder we feel every addition to the plot is contrived -- it's all straight out of left field! This is a mystery story where only the author knows the clues. We the readers are not participating, only watching. How could anyone tell how this story will turn out, when every seeming-twist is just some deus ex machina?

Happy Labor Day, America!

Doug: While the day of celebration for those of us working our butts off day-in and day-out is not until Monday, we thought we'd celebrate with one of the greatest laborers of all time -- albeit a bit early. So here he is, the Mighty Hercules, in a scene from Marvel Team-Up #28 (1974), by Jim Mooney and Vinnie Colletta. Oh, and it's also one of the most ridiculous scenes ever depicted!

Avengers: Elite Team or Just Like a Costco Membership?

Karen: There was a time when the Avengers were considered to be the elite team of the Marvel universe. To be an Avenger was a mark of honor. While the Fantastic Four was a family, and the X-Men were united by their common genetic status, the Avengers was sort of like a pro sports team: not everyone would make the cut. But currently, just about everyone in the Marvel universe seems to be a member of the Avengers.

Karen: Sure, you could point back to the 80s and characters like Deathcry and Rage being brought on the team, and say, "Hey, it's been going on for years!" Well, to some degree, that's true. There were some bad calls along the way. But the biggest explosion in the team has occurred in the last few years.

Karen: Nowadays it's actually easier to name the characters who aren't Avengers than the ones who are, because essentially everyone is an Avenger. They've grown to the size of the Legion of Super-Heroes! While I enjoy team books, it sort of takes away from the specialness of being an Avenger if everyone can be an Avenger. And I like characters like Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Dr. Strange,Valkyrie, Nova, etc, but where do you stop? The only characters who really haven't joined up en masse are the X-Men. Most of them are just X-Men only. Except for, of course, Wolverine, whose healing power apparently also enables him to appear in 20 books a month - I hear he's joining the Justice League next week.

Karen: Of course, they have to have that many Avengers because Marvel is now pushing at least 4 regular titles featuring the team. It's the same sort of overkill that gave us about a hundred X-Men titles since the 80s.

Karen: So what do you think? Do you like this army-sized Avengers? Or do you long for the days of the elite team?

June 1979 -- DC Comics Cover Parade

Doug: Well, we're back for another look at comic book covers. The next two installments in our series may be our last; we'll see. Today we're going to look at ten covers (yes, covers) that were on the shelves in June 1979. Instead of the usual cropping for the logos, I looked at our specimens and there just wasn't all that much difference between "now" and what we looked at from 1976. So, we're gonna critique the whole cover! In alphabetical order --

Here's Action Comics #496 with a cover by Ross Andru and Bob Oksner. Seemingly spinning out of one of our favorite websites, Superdickery.com, we see the citizens of Kandor chastising Superman for introducing "super germs" to the outside world. What a... And how about that voyeurism from ol' Clark? Sort of creeps me out.

I just love this Simonson/Giordano effort on Batman #312. The coloring that sweeps across the logo is particularly eye-catching. You can definitely tell it's Simonson on the art, although at this time Walter wasn't as wild as he'd be a bit later on in the pages of Thor. Not so sure about the "Calendar Man", but hey -- it's a Bronze Age DC (yeah, yeah -- I hear you DC apologists harping on the Gibbon...).

Only Bob Haney would script a tale that has Flash heading back in time to solve the secret of the Disco of Death. Hey, suspension of disbelief is out the window even on this one, huh? The Jim Aparo art on the cover is nice. The Batman logo on B&B, as we remarked earlier, is a favorite. In fact, don't ask me to choose between this one and the one above -- love 'em both!

This is a nice cover, although I never really care for the mixing of genres in team-up books. I guess that's the best (and only) place it would happen, but it's just a bit off. I also think it's unusual to see Sgt. Rock drawn on a cover by anyone but Joe Kubert -- but Ross Andru is more than serviceable here.

What do you do with the Flash? I think this is why I always liked Batman and not too many other DC characters. They're just too powerful! Seriously -- a guy who can vibrate his molecules right through a wall? How do you contest powers like that? This cover is nice -- I always like the "trail" effect for speedsters -- really casts that sense of dynamic motion.

Green Lantern/Green Arrow #117 featured a cover by Dick Giordano and Joe Staton. I was a regular reader of GL/GA back in these days, but didn't have this one. I preferred Mike Grell on the art, and I'm thinking I may have dropped the title when Staton took over. I do like Joe's art, but you'll have to admit it's a bit of a departure in style from Grell's work. Professor Ojo -- gotta love it!! Where was Crazy Quilt?

I believe Jim Aparo has solved the secret of the Disco of Death for the Flash. No need to go back in time, Barry!

Dick Dillin was good, wasn't he? This is a nice angle here -- like the perspective of being up above. Nice job with the team sort of spread out -- Ollie in the front, etc. Still, I don't know what's inside, but it's just a typically silly premise for a story.

How about you -- did (or do you) get into Jonah Hex? Not me. I truly believe I have never opened a copy of this book. When I saw trailers for the recent film, it was all Greek to me. I'm not totally against the Western genre, but I was never a regular reader of even the Marvel Westerns.

What the heck is going on here? A Nazi mini-sub, in a river, in Africa? Or the Everglades, I guess. Weird War Tales is coming up -- this certainly would have been a candidate for that title!

Shrouded in Mystery... Super-Villain Team-Up 5

Super-Villain Team-Up #5 (April 1976)
"...and Be a Villain!"
Steve Englehart-Herb Trimpe/Don Perlin

NOTE: Doug's resource for images used in this series of posts didn't reproduce well for the blog. You'll notice that the panels we've chosen appear somewhat distorted. Our apologies to all of you, our following masses, for falling below our usually high standards!

Doug: You know, Karen and I regularly bat around ideas for the blog -- we're always chewing on a "to-do" list. One of the books that keeps coming up is Super-Villain Team-Up. We whet our appetites just a bit earlier in the summer during "Giant-Size June" when we looked at G-S SVTU #1. We'd now like to take a three-issue spin through a story chock full of heroes, villains, and a new mystery man named... the Shroud!

Doug: Of your two faithful critics, I would say that I am more picky about my comics to the art side, while Karen probably leans more toward the story side. That's not at all to say that we don't think both are important -- I just think that my impressions and/or prejudices of a book are formed as soon as I open the cover and see the interior artwork. This book in particular, with the nice Buckler/Sinnott cover was a disappointment to me when I saw that Herb Trimpe did the story. Now, before you folks from Herb Trimpe's Hulk and other parts unknown jump all over me, let me say that I felt that Trimpe's Hulk was fine. In fact, I liked his work there. But I'll say that reading through this issue gave me a "throwback" feeling... I felt like I was reading a Larry Lieber/Dick Ayers composition from one of Marvel's B-list Silver Age titles. This book just didn't have that Bronze Age feel for me that some of the other things we've reviewed have given. Thoughts?

Karen: I pretty much agree with you, Doug. The combination of Trimpe and Perlin does no one any favors. While I enjoyed Trimpe's work on Hulk, I've never thought he could draw the Thing particularly well. This issue just felt flat to me. And as much as I usually praise Englehart, I thought this was one of his weaker efforts. Doom in particular seems to come across as a one-dimensional, mustache-twirling villain, not something I expect from Englehart.

Doug: As we begin, Namor bursts into Reed Richards' lab through a window. I don't know about you, but I'd think that there would be some external security, cameras, something -- you telling me that a guy (no matter how strong) can just fly right up to the Baxter Building unannounced and unimpeded and penetrate the outer skin? Seemed a bit lackluster for a big brain like Reed to be so defenseless. Anyway, Namor collapses on the floor of the lab and Reed immediately picks him up and places him in a huge vat of water (because scientists just always have huge 2,000 gallon vats of water sitting around). The rest of the FF barges in to see what all the commotion is, and Namor revives and tells them a story.

Karen: I almost laughed to see that big open tank of water in the lab!

Doug: Namor recounts how Dr. Doom had been after him to form an alliance and that Doom was becoming desperate, so much so that he ambushed Namor and zapped him with a ray that negated the operations of his lifesuit. Once felled, Doom gathered up the prince and flew him over and then into the ocean, to Atlantis. While there, and threatening him all the while, Doom unleashed an assault on several buildings and monuments in an effort to secure Namor's unyielding allegiance. At the sight of his kingdom's destruction, Namor relented and swore himself to Doom's service.

Karen: My memory is a little hazy regarding what was happening with Atlantis in the Marvel Universe at this point. Doom comments on Subby's "comatose subjects" -but I can't recall how they got that way. And we never actually see them, just the city.

Doug: Doom's image appears in the middle of Reed's lab (of course, Ben has to make the obligatory leap at Doom, even though Doom's a wraith), and Doom postures a bit for the crowd and informs the FF that Namor is in his service now. We cut away to Latveria and see a confident, even triumphant Doom stroll around his kingdom's streets. I think it was really at this point in the story when I came to the realization that this was a story being told ten years later than it probably should have appeared. I just didn't think Englehart was at the top of his game, and Trimpe's page layouts were so simplistic, often employing a very boring 4-panel structure. None of the envelope-pushing in panel design that had begun the Bronze Age from the likes of Adams and Steranko, Colan... that just wasn't here. It was really just a very straightforward story. Not a bad story, but just not overly dynamic.

Karen: Exactly, the whole affair was very pedestrian. I got the feeling that, for Englehart at least, this book might have come last on his list. The effort here is just so...blah.

Doug: As Reed works to beat the clock against the serum to which Doom has subjected Namor, Johnny spies a shadowy figure across the street on a rooftop. Assuming it to be one of Doom's spies, Johnny flames on and goes on attack mode. To his startled eyes he comes face-to-face with a man clad in all black, with no visible eyes. This is our introduction to the Shroud, a Batman-like fellow. I draw that comparison for a few reasons -- he seems prepared for any eventuality (like Johnny's flame), he has a dark personality, and he's quite adept at fisticuffs.

Karen: The Shroud was the one interesting thing in this story. He's definitely got that 'Dark Knight' feel to him, but also that mystery man thing going, like the Shadow. That becomes much more evident later on. I did kind of think the asbestos-lined cape sounded a little silly. And did Johnny launch a fireball at him before he knew that?!

Karen: Something I thought was kind of odd: Johnny musing about how much better Namor looked in his swim trunks instead of his blue uniform. Johnny thinks that Namor looked like a Bronx gang leader! I have to say it took a long time for that blue outfit to grow on me.

Doug: That's funny, because I always thought Namor's black suit was really cool -- I especially liked the wings. So Johnny takes his whuppin' and then hustles back to the Baxter Building. Reed snaps at his interruption, which shows everyone that this may be the one time Reed fails to solve a problem. Namor, feeling helpless and defeated, breaks out of his vat (hey, duh, dude -- there was no lid on the thing!) causing untold water damage throughout the FF's headquarters, and flies off (but he does thank Reed for his efforts). Of course, since Doom had infected Namor, he doesn't get too far until he begins to fall. Doom appears in the sky, zaps Namor right out of the air, and they both disappear. From one side of the street the FF swear to defeat Doom, while on the other the Shroud makes the same personal pledge. To be continued...

Karen: Yes, we will continue to look at this series, but I have to say that this issue was not the most encouraging. It's been years since I read SVTU; I hope my good memories are not displanted with this new read-through!