Discuss: The Wolverine

Karen: We saw this film last night. I enjoyed the beginning, with Logan at the lowest point we've ever seen him, and I liked the direction they seemed to be going. But the ending veered off wildly, almost as if it were another film entirely, and really dragged the whole film down for me. Leaving this as spoiler-free as we can for a while, please feel free to discuss your thoughts on the movie -I'm also curious to see how many of you are even going to go see it! P.S. If you go, sit through the credits -there's a fun scene with some old friends you won't want to miss.

Take 5: Bronze Age Pencilers

Doug:  A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used the image above in a post about our Top 5 childhood memories; we followed that one up with a post about favorite Halloween candies.  Today we'll begin an on-again/off-again series of posts that may range from top artists to top rock-n-roll groups to top TV shows.  This will be sort of an extension of our Bracketology polls -- but here you'll get to tell the world how you rank your favorites in a particular category.  Of course, we'd love to hear you sweat about why artist A is just ahead of artist B in your book.  Those should provide some interesting conversations and debates.

Doug:  As you see from the title, today's question asks you to list your Top 5 Bronze Age pencilers.  You decide if you are choosing the artist, his/her style, or his/her body of work -- totally your call.  As I stated, just give a detail or two that might be fodder for the rest of us.  Here's my list (Karen's follows) --

1.  John Buscema.  You name it, he can draw it.  Especially adept at the weird mage or monster, Big John drew beautiful women, cinematic action, and animals par excellence.  His total body of work, from the 1950's all the way up to the end, is unmatched.  He wasn't always the sexiest name du jour, but quality was his hallmark.

2.  George Perez.  Details, details, details.  It was exciting to watch him grow during the Bronze Age.  By the end (and you can choose Crisis on Infinite Earths for that parameter if you want; personally, I'd hate to exclude his Wonder Woman tenure or his partnership with Kurt Busiek on Avengers, volume 3), he was among the best ever.

3.  John Byrne.  I generally hold his tenure on Fantastic Four, sans Joe Sinnott, against him.  If I take that away, and focus only on his other work at Marvel and then onto Legends and the Superman books at DC, he's knocking on John Buscema's door.  In spite of the revitalization that he brought to Marvel's flagship title, I really do not care for the art on that specific run.  But there is no doubt he's a true master.

4.  Neal Adams.  If the man only worked in the Bronze Age, he might get the top spot.  I just love his work.  The energy and exploration he brought to comics was revolutionary.  When I think of Batman, I see Adams' work.  His run with Roy Thomas on the X-Men is a favorite.  And while I don't care for the stories in the GL/GA run, the pictures sure are pretty to look at.

5.  Jim Starlin.  Even I am surprised by this, as I expected to write Sal Buscema's or Joe Kubert's names here.  But after our Thanos reviews, and especially the wonderful Avengers Annual #7, I have to put Starlin on this list.  As Karen and I mentioned, his pencils fell under the influence of several inkers -- and he still looked great, the panels popped with energy, and the storytelling was solid.  That transcendence is the mark of a master, and Starlin wears that hat well.

Karen: I have a  hard time with lists. It seems like my mind changes a great deal depending on the mood I'm in. But I think in this case, I can say the first four men on my list would all be in my top  five no matter what -it's just a question of what order they'd be in on any given day! The fifth selection was more difficult. My list is also very similar to my pal Doug's, so it's going to be rather boring. But here we go:

1. Jim Starlin. I put Starlin first just because he really epitomizes that Bronze Age feel to me. His work is so unique, yet you can see glimpses of all the artists he has studied: the power of Kirby in a fight scene, Kane's sense of anatomy, and the bizarre otherworldliness of Ditko in the weird dimensions his characters roam. I love the detail in his work and his dramatic storytelling. At his best, reading one of his books is an experience.

2. John Buscema. The master of the classical look. Big John straddles both the Silver and Bronze ages, and much of his work that I love really fits in the Silver Age, but he was still prominent in the Bronze Age and when I think of certain characters, it's his work I see in my head.

3. John Byrne. Like my blog partner, I don't care for Byrne's self-inked work on Fantastic Four, but his work with Terry Austin on X-Men is one of my favorite runs of all time. I also liked Byrne on Marvel Team Up, Avengers, Champions, Iron Fist, and a ton of other Marvel titles. A great storyteller, able to convey both action and quiet moments.

4. George Perez. What can you say about the guy? Just an incredible artist, particularly on team titles. I think I liked him best during his Teen Titan years, even though that wasn't my favorite book. I thought he got a little over-wrought during Avengers vol. 3. But the man's work is just spectacular.

The first four were easy. After I had chosen them I came up blank. Who was number 5? I thought of Neal Adams and John Romita Sr., but I felt that my favorite work of theirs was more properly Silver Age. Then there were a number of others I enjoyed but just couldn't pull the trigger on: Sal Buscema, Rich Buckler, Mike Ploog, Mike Grell. Finally I went with:

5.  Dave Cockrum. Cockrum really never stayed on any one title very long, but when he was hot, he was on fire! His Legion work was incredible and revitalized the title. And of course, he brought the all-new, all-different X-Men to life. Beyond that, he was a gifted costume and character designer and came up with some of the best looks in the business. So he's more than worthy of a spot.

Doug:  Now how about you?

Who's the Best... Nice Guy or Gal?

Doug:  This post is of course inspired by Karen's query on Jerks from about 10 days ago.

SDCC 2014

Karen: I'm sure most of you are aware that Comic-Con has come and gone. Of course, it's less about comics now and more about entertainment in general. There was quite a bit of news to come out of the show this last week, particularly on the movie side of things.We thought we'd share some of it (you've probably heard it before from one of the major geek outlets) and see if anyone had any thoughts they'd like to share.

• There have been some pictures from the next X-Men film, which will be based (to some degree) on the classic 'Days of Future Past' storyline. We've seen headshots for some characters, which includes Bishop - his first time in a film - and a booth for Trask Industries which included the detached head of a Sentinel -- looks a bit small to me. From everything I've heard, it sounds like director Bryan Singer is throwing everything but the kitchen sink in this film. I'm both excited and concerned at the same time. If it's over-loaded with characters, will we still get enough time to really develop any of the key characters in the story? Or will it be another X-Men 3?

• The makers of the upcoming new Godzilla film set up a 'Godzilla Experience' in a warehouse near the convention center. It included props from the Toho films and a bank of TVs showing different films. It also had a recreation of Tokyo under Big G attack, including overturned police cars and a noodle bar (!). But the best part was that at some point an alarm would sound and visitors were suddenly whisked into an elevator and taken upstairs, into an office, where they would see out the window (in reality a large screen) Big G appear and glare at them! It's the first look at the new Godzilla. Sounds like a clever gag for Godzilla fans to enjoy. Here's a shot of the big lizard, taken from the Ain't It Cool website.

• The next DC film will be a big screen team-up of Superman and Batman. Director Zach Snyder announced at SDCC that the next Superman film would feature a meeting of the two heroes. Henry Cavill will return as Superman, and it sounds as  if most of his supporting cast will also reprise their roles. No actor has been named to play the Dark Knight yet. The film is scheduled to begin shooting in 2014, with a release date in 2015. That sounds like they are fast-tracking this. The DC team also unveiled a combined Superman-Batman insignia, much like the one seen recently in the Superman/Batman comics. Supposedly, a Flash film may also be in the works for 2016, with the long-awaited Justice League to follow in 2017. 

Karen:  This might be an interesting direction to go. They do need to do something different with Batman, to distinguish him from the Christopher Nolan films. Personally I'd like to see them get away from the all black  rubber suits and bring in the grey and black look. I'd also like to see a smart Batman. But I'm surprised that we're getting a Flash film but no Wonder Woman film. I read a snippet from another Warners exec (a woman exec this time) who said she felt that Wonder Woman's background was just too convoluted to easily bring to the big screen. That seems like an excuse. In any case, I'll be curious to see if they really get a JL movie together. Seems like the date keeps movie further out.

Doug:  I agree with all of the points you just made.  Having Superman and Batman get together in Superman's next film really necessitates a Batman reboot.  Unless, are they going to pick it up with "Robin" from The Dark Knight Rises stepping immediately into the mantle of the Bat?  I would think that fans would appreciate a film of his own to get used to Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the role.  Curiously, the logo above gives off more of a Milleresque "The Dark Knight Returns" vibe, doesn't it?  And Wonder Woman?  Either presentation of the character used on the 1970's TV show would work in a feature film (WWII or contemporary).  I don't know what DC is afraid of.  Overall, other than Cavill, do they have any talent locked into long-term contracts?  Because that's what has made the burgeoning Marvel Universe on film so attractive -- there's staying power among the Hollywood actors in the suits.

• A real shocker came on Saturday night, when the Marvel Studios folks announced that the title of the next Avengers film would be - get this - "Avengers: Age of Ultron!"  Nothing more was said about the movie itself at the SDCC panel. But reports indicate they will not be basing the film on  the recent series by Bendis (gag). However, a source at ComicBookMovie.com (read it here) had Joss Whedon quoted as saying that Hank Pym would NOT be the creator of Ultron!  If he's not the creation of Hank Pym...well, I think I will be fairly unhappy. A big part of what makes Ultron such an effective enemy for the team is his oedipus complex and connections to the team. If he's just a smart, indestructible robot, I think that lowers the intensity of the conflict and uniqueness of the character quite a bit. What do you think? Now admittedly, this source could be wrong, so I guess we have to wait and see how it plays out. But if they're right...

• In happier, less complicated news, Doug points out all the cool new Marvel Legends line from Hasbro, with a wide assortment of characters, including this wild looking new Tiger Shark! More pictures can be seen at http://marvelousnews.com/index.php?itemid=1624. I flipped through the gallery and I couldn't believe all the characters they have on display. I have to admit I didn't recognize some -I've been away from comics long enough that I haven't kept up with the changes!

Doug:  I also share all of your concerns about the Avengers film.  Where's Hank Pym, and how does this affect the upcoming Ant-Man film?  This seems like a "putting the cart before the horse" sort of situation.  And in regard to the Marvel Legends figures, I was very excited to see some of the characters -- Tiger Shark, Radioactive Man, and Batroc the Leaper... are you serious?  However, at current MSRPs of almost $20, I've long ago given up on this line.  And that's a shame, as they are now producing figures we could only have dreamed of as kids.  Bring back the days when I could go to Wal-Mart and find the Juggernaut for $7!

Discuss: Marvel's Agents of SHIELD

Doug:  Any thoughts or sense of anticipation for this show, premiering on ABC this fall?

Giant-Size July: Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes 233

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #233 (November 1977)
"The Infinite Man Who Conquered the Legion"
Writer: Paul Levitz
Penciler: James Sherman
Inker: Bob Wiacek

Karen: We get a hefty dose of time travel in this Legion story.  Also don't be fooled: despite appearing on the cover, neither Saturn Girl nor Mon-El appear in this story. That always annoys me when characters are on a cover but don't appear in the actual book. It's almost as bad as getting a George Perez cover with Don Heck art inside! Speaking of art, the chores are handled by James Sherman and Bob Wiacek. Sherman was on the title for quite some time in the 70s, and I thought he had a sort of unconventional style, but I liked it. I'm not sure it would work with every title, but it seemed to work for the Legion. Although I didn't care for it when he was inked by Jack Abel, but I never cared for Abel's thin, Colletta-like inks on anyone.

Doug:  Actually, we can part company on one of your art comments here, but I'm going solely on the review of Superboy #231 that ran a year ago.  I thought the overall art job in that book, with Abel on the inks, was far better than today's art.  That being said, I'll offer that the coloring in my comic that is my resource for today is pretty muddy -- however, and now I'm going round-and-round, there are a lot of blacks in the backgrounds.  So is that Bob Wiacek, or the colorist?  I couldn't say for sure.  I will say this, though -- the back-up story with the art team of Mike Nasser and Bob Layton blows away the lead feature.  We may have to revisit this issue at some future date to pick up on that tale. 

Karen: I'm just not an Abel fan, so you're right, it's a rare disagreement on the art!

Doug:  And in regard to the covers not matching the interiors, two thoughts:  First, I think we could get a chorus of affirmations on the bait-and-switch concerning artists.  Secondly, it runs in my mind that Captain America was often on Avengers covers when he would not be on the inside (G-S Avengers #2, right?). 

Karen: The story opens with a bunch of Sklarian raiders (all women -what was the deal with that?) making a sneak attack on a group of Legionnaires who are driving a vehicle loaded with some equipment back to Legion HQ. They're transporting a time machine apparently. Superboy grabs a bunch of the raiders and gets them away from the transport, while Star Boy makes another group super heavy, and Lightning Lad imprisons others within an electricity cage. Unfortunately still more raiders appear, determined to get the machine, and they zap Star Boy and Lightning Lad from behind. But they weren't aware of Brainiac 5, who calmly holds his ground, protected by his force field belt. Superboy returns and he and a recovered Lightning Lad handle the remaining attackers.

Doug:  Not only were the Sklarians all women, but they apparently had Dave Cockrum design their fightin' togs!  Love the panel with Superboy apologizing for the "rough ride", as he flies away with one of the ladies slung over his shoulder, her costume no-doubt evoking Daisy Duke at that point.  Hey, pet peeve:  DC always, always, felt the need to have a narration box from the editor whenever a Legionnaire's real name was used by a teammate.  Drove me nuts.

Karen: Isn't that weird? I never understood the need for those boxes! Back at Legion HQ, Dream Girl, Colossal Boy, and current Legion leader Wildfire meet the group on their return. Dream Girl rushes out to hug Star Boy. She tells him she had foreseen the Sklarian attack but couldn't foresee the result. Wildfire comments about the typical lack of accuracy in her powers -he was never the most tactful guy! But I have to admit, I sometimes wondered how she made the team and someone like Polar Boy was relegated to the Subs. Brainy greets Rond Vidar and shows him the hyper-time drive. Rond had been a supporting character in a number of Legion stories. He was a teen-ager and a genius, and had invented the Legion's time cube. He was also revealed at some point to be the son of Universo. Wildfire breaks up the lovey-dovey stuff between Star Boy and Dream Girl, telling them they need to help get the Hyper-Time Drive into the lab for Rond to work on.  It seems like he's just enjoying hassling them. Superboy tells him to let them be, they've earned some time together, he'll handle it, and handle it he does, as he effortlessly lifts the contraption over his head and flies off with it. Colossal Boy and Wildfire follow him, with Wildfire saying that Brainy thinks Rond's new invention might be the key to harnessing time itself.

Doug:  Somebody should have poked a hole in Wildfire's containment suit.  What a jerk.  However, his faceplate (in a manner similarly to Iron Man's) always provided an artist the chance to cut loose with a nice reflective image of other characters in the scene.  I like the panel that showed Colossal Boy using his flight ring while giant-sized.  Oh, and speaking of the young lovers, do you recall the notorious panel of Dream Girl sleeping, and you can see ol' Thom's head under the covers?  It was in Superboy #201, and that sneaky Dave Cockrum was the culprit!

Karen: Well that's a new one on me! I never heard about this little bit of naughtiness before. But I guess  once I reached my teens I sort of assumed that there was a lot of messing around going on inside Legion HQ. After all, all those teens cooped up together  hormones raging. Besides, I don't think there was any mention of an adult chaperone at this point (like there was in some Silver Age tales).

Karen: Inside the lab Rond toils for hours setting up his device. As he attaches the last cables of the fail-safe device, he tells Superboy that this is the most powerful time machine ever built. He says it should be able to test their theory that time has a circular flow. Right then, Phantom Girl enters with a strangely-garbed man: professor Jaxon Rugarth, who has volunteered to participate in the experiment. I'll admit, I'm not sure exactly what Rugarth is supposed to be doing in this experiment. They say they believe the machine will be "powerful enough to send me full circle through time - traveling into the future far enough to return to today!" Yeah, OK. Rugarth enters the capsule and Rond activates the machine. It begins to glow, and then disappears, only to reappear again almost immediately. He and Brainy are both puzzled by this. Suddenly the craft explodes and out comes a menacing figure, who says that they were right -- time is circular, but that circle is infinite! And so he witnessed the Earth's birth and death a million million times -- and also went through his own death and rebirth from Jaxon Rugarth to the Infinite Man. There's a nice splash page of said villain surrounded by images from the past and future. Is it just me, or did his headgear and facial appearance remind you at all of the old X-Men foe, the Living Monolith? I think it's the energy lines in the eyes and mouth.

Doug:  Well, as if the sexy techno raiders weren't odd enough to open the story, I'll admit to counting pages until we were done shortly after we hit Jaxon Rugarth.  With all of the super-powered teens available, why send a civilian on such a dangerous mission (and an ill-defined one at that) -- Stone Boy would have been perfect!  Why in the world would time be circular?  It flies in the face of evolution -- and I mean the evolution of everything.  Technology doesn't go backwards, does it?  What's this idea that time will eventually meet its own past?  I have no physics for that...  I do think the Infinite Man is indeed reminiscent of the Living Monolith, appearance-wise.  I don't mind the look of this guy -- in fact, his first appearance is very cool (I love art like this where simple outlines and muted colors are used to add effect).  Did you think the exchange between Brainiac-5 and Rugarth was odd?  Brainy calls the much older professor by his last name, while Rugarth counters by addressing Brainy as "sir".

Karen: I'll admit I never quite understood the purpose of the experiment, but I think I cut this story some
leeway, since it was a vast improvement over the previous issue we reviewed. But, I hear ya, it's far from perfect. The transformed Rugarth is now of gigantic stature, and immensely angry with Rond Vidar. He grabs the young scientist and tells him he wishes he could make him suffer as he has suffered. Then he uses his time powers to conjure up some dinosaurs to keep the Legion busy. There's a sweet shot of Superboy punching a T-Rex right on the kisser. I have a harder time believing Colossal Boy could wrestle one, but I guess people do wrestle crocodiles! The super-teens manage to free Rond from the Infinite Man's grasp, but he seems immune to their attacks. He uses his powers to send Superboy to a realm outside of normal time, and places Star Boy inside some sort of stasis field, with no flow of time.

Doug:  I had to wonder when reading this story if Marv Wolfman didn't appropriate some of the details for his own Sphinx character that appeared in the pages of Nova.  I just felt over and over that I'd seen this schtick before; however, it was Wolfman's character that debuted months ahead of this Levitz creation.  That being said, and if memory serves, we readers didn't learn the Sphinx's origin until Wolfman tied up his loose ends in 1979's Galactus story that ran in Fantastic Four.  

Doug:  I thought the tussle with the dinosaurs was OK, although I did think the one Superboy punched was a trifle cartoony.  Did you think Superboy got back from his banishment a bit too quickly? 

Karen: Nowadays it would take Superboy three issues to get back!  The Infinite Man has not counted on Superboy's experience, even at this age, exploring the universe, and all the different levels of it. So he's caught completely off guard when the Teen of Steel comes blasting back through into the here and now to slam into him, knocking him off his feet! He seems more stunned by the act than actually hurt though, and he concedes the first round of the battle to the Legionnaires, and fades out. Shortly after their enemy disappears, Star Boy's stasis field also is extinguished, and he snaps back to normal. The Legionnaires regroup, realizing how dangerous a foe they face. Wildfire tells Superboy to stick to Rond like glue, and then sends three other team-mates (Dream Girl, Phantom Girl, Brainiac 5) out to seek out clues to find a way to beat the Infinite Man. The rest -- Lightning Lad, Star Boy and Wildfire, will work on defense and stay around, waiting for the next attack. They're wagering that the Infinite Man won't attack in the past, that he'll want to attack 'now', to keep Rond suffering. 

Doug:  One of our readers has attested to a dislike for time travel stories.  As I was reading through today's story the first time, I was just overcome with a sense of invincibility for the Infinite Man (and Kang for that matter).  How can a guy (or gal I suppose) who has mastered time, who knows the future -- even in its infinite possibilities, and can blink in and out at will, be beaten?  And even though it's true that DG, PG, and B-5 aren't all that fisticuffy, I thought it was a bit of a blow to their self esteem when they were sent away.

  Probably tactically smart, but just seemed a bit cold for Wildfire to say it out loud.

Karen: While the Legionnaires prepare for the next attack, the Infinite Man is also preparing -- he's gone to a place/time beyond time, where he has learned to harness his powers to their maximum. IM rants a bit about how he wants Rond Vidar to have had enough time to feel fear over his return. He blames Vidar for making a miscalculation that caused him to suffer for eternity. Again, I'm not too clear on what the experiment was supposed to do in the first place, but obviously, it went way past what IM expected.

Doug:  By this point in the story, the whole vengeance angle was wearing on me.  Just off Vidar and be done with it!

Karen: Cut now to the planet Naltor, homeworld of Dream Girl. She's been in consultation with the High Seer of her planet (all her people can see the future) -- although he still appears to be deep asleep as she speaks to him! It turns out he's been of no help to her -- so she heads off to return to Earth. Meanwhile, Brainiac 5 has also been trying to get some help from his people, on the planet Colu. Only instead of consulting dreams, they're using computers.  However, the great brains of his world say they've been debating the nature of time for six centuries, how can they give Brainiac an answer? In an unexpected display of emotion, Brainy smacks a pile of papers from his colleagues' hands and says maybe they should try doing things rather than constantly debating them, and he stomps off.

Doug:  Naltor -- now there's a party for you.  How about that Brainiac-5?  He was especially abrasive in this issue.  Makes you wonder what Supergirl saw in him.

Karen: Back at Legion HQ, the super-teens are gathered around Rond Vidar. Lightning Lad makes an inane comment about Infinite Man must have destroyed himself, when (of course) he immediately shows up and blasts them all! Colossal Boy shoots up to giant size and smashes IM in the face, shattering part of his ornate head-dress, which just seems to tick him off, as he calls forth a pterodactyl to harass the huge teen. Wildfire and Lightning Lad exchange tremendous energy blasts with IM (some nice artwork here) as IM tells them if they just hand Vidar over, he'll let them live. But of course the Legionnaires are not having it. Star Boy uses his mass-increasing power to bring the roof down on top of IM's head, but this only slows him down for a moment.

Doug:  I was sort of unclear as to what the Infinite Man is composed of -- he seems to be drawn as an energy creature, but that smack from Gim was pretty awesome.  I think, in all of my Legion reading, that this story was Star Boy's biggest moment.  He really dominates some of these action scenes.  Oh, and some nice Kirby Krackle in the energy attack!

Karen: The third and last of our Legionnaire scouts, Phantom Girl, has reached her destination: the strange planet Gendyx, where dwell entities of pure psychic energy beyond the bounds of time. She tries to get their help against the Infinite Man, but the creatures are too far gone to care about humanity. Phantom Girl leaves forlorn.

Karen:  Back at HQ, the Infinite Man confronts Rond Vidar. Vidar tells him that what happened was an accident, and reminds him that the dangers of the experiment were explained to him. The Infinite Man scoffs. How could he have understood what would have happened to him? How could anyone explain what would become of him? While they talk, the Legionnaires rally to attack, but the IM causes them to experience a fraction of what he felt, during his eons of existence in a timeless realm. The Legionnaires collapse, leaving Vidar and IM alone. IM tells Vidar he will condemn him to a timeless place, but suddenly Brainiac Five appears and tosses Rond his force field belt. The device is able to block IM's time blast, much to his consternation. Brainy knows it can't hold up long, but he says that he now knows how to defeat him; he has to cause an overload. Of course, he's then zapped, but not before Superboy and Wildfire regain consciousness (how does Wildfire lose consciousness? Isn't he pure energy?). Superboy figures out what Brainy was alluding to and destroys the fail-safe mechanism that Rond had put in at the beginning of the story. IM calls forth a bunch of funky looking cavemen types and dinosaurs to molest the Legionnaires, but Wildfire and Lightning Lad focus on overloading the hyper-time drive. IM seems awfully sure of himself, but Rond Vidar tells him that even though they miscalculated what would happen, the hyper-drive did have a circular effect, and he can reroute it back to send the Infinite Man back through a never-ending loop in time. With that the Infinite Man is struck by a beam from the machine and sent hurtling through time, a horror-struck look on his face. In the aftermath, Rond and Brainy discuss the possibility of working out a cure for Rugarth, and someday bringing him back. Brainy says they should make it a top priority -- because the Infinite Man could come back, stronger than before!


Doug:  Gotta love that Rond Vidar, bringing up the signed disclaimer!  I thought the ending of this tale was just weird.  They basically consign the Infinite Man to the very life he's lived forever, and was willing to kill for.  How about a Phantom Zone projector here?  At least he would have been in stasis -- this treatment almost seemed cruel, even... vengeful.  And that last bit about saving him because he could come back more dangerous than before?  That doesn't sound all that altruistic...

Karen: I thought this was an exciting, well-drawn story, even if elements of it didn't hold up. I think time travel is inherently difficult to make sense of, and there were times reading this that I thought of some of the Kang stories from Avengers and Fantastic Four.  A time-traveling enemy is so powerful, and unpredictable. I also liked the look of the Infinite Man -- he had a very Neal Adams/psychedelic feel!

Doug:  Isn't that funny?  I thought this story was pretty middling.  I felt like Levitz just kept throwing action scenes after action scenes, with little characterization.  We don't know anything about this Rugarth fellow, other than he got a bad shake and he's really ticked off about it.  I will offer that since the story basically runs on spontaneity, the Legionnaires do craft several plans in response to the threat.  But the notion that Brainy's belt could repel a blast from this incredibly powerful engine of hatred?  Wasn't buying it.

Karen: I would agree that it's short on characterization -it's very plot-driven, and unfortunately parts of that plot (the whole time travel experiment) don't make a lot of sense! But as a slam-bang action story, I thought it was pretty fun.

Karen: There's a second story in this issue, featuring Princess Projectra, written by Levitz and drawn by Mike Nasser, and I have to say the splash page is rather, uh, well, it would have been right at home in Heavy Metal! It's not a particularly compelling tale either, so we'll leave it to you all to find for yourselves. How many people really wanted a Princess Projectra back-up? I mean really!

Doug:  Ha!  Again, I did not read ahead when I made my comments about Nasser above!  No, I didn't read the second story, but as I -ahem- stated above, the art is way better in the second story.  Heavy Metal indeed!  And in answer to your question about those desiring a Princess back-up -- pre-Cockrum, no one.  But in this suit, apparently there was a market.

Who's the Best... Musical Trio?

 

One Small Step...

Karen: Today, July 20, 2013, is the 44th anniversary of something that should be a national holiday: the day men first stepped upon the Moon. It was back on this day in 1969 when the Apollo 11 lunar lander, the Eagle, touched down upon the lunar surface, and astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human being to ever walk upon the surface of another planetary body. His partner, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin joined him shortly after. This tremendous feat was achieved through the genius, hard work, and sheer force of will of thousands of people. Even today, as we have leapt ahead dramatically in our technological know-how, the Apollo program stands as a testament to the incredible greatness we as a species can reach, through our combined efforts. 

Now of course, the impetus for the mission itself was not all sweetness and light. The motivation for the entire space race was primarily due to the Cold War, and the desire to ensure the the 'high ground of space' was not owned by the Soviets. Still, the efforts of the brave astronauts, and the scientists, engineers, technicians, and workers who made science fiction into reality, became the stuff of legend and inspired many.

Unfortunately, after Apollo, it seems our space program never really seemed to find a direction. The shuttle program, while a necessary workhorse, was never inspiring. Once the Soviets began to collapse, there was no 'other' to push us to go further, to risk more. Missions to Mars have been relegated to robots only, and it seems likely that exploration for the foreseeable future will remain with probes and machines only. Right now NASA doesn't even have any rockets of its own with heavy lift capabilities; flights to the International Space Station have relied on the Russians, who have had their own problems with their rockets lately, and commercial efforts

The space program was once inspirational; occasionally, it still is. A few people got excited when the Mars rover Curiosity landed on the red planet last year. But by and large, the program has lost its luster with the public. That's nothing new; people were jaded with the later Apollo missions. 

Most of us BABsters grew up right around the time of the moon landings, Skylab, Viking, and the first Shuttle launches. I'm sure some of you have some feelings about not only the first moon landing, but also what's going on (or not going on) in space. I'd like to hear it.

Except any hoax theories. Sorry, but I really DON'T want to hear that stuff!!

An Obscure Iceman Story: Bizarre Adventures 27

Bizarre Adventures #27 (July 1981)

"Winter Carnival"

Jo Duffy-George Perez/Alfredo Alcala

Doug:  Welcome to the second installment of our 3-part look at the "secret lives of the X-Men".  If you'll recall in my first review from this magazine (of the Phoenix story), I commented at the end about today's story and remarked that George Perez would be on the pencils.  While the art is not bad at all (in fact, it's lush, gorgeous, and whatever other positive superlative you want to heap on it), I just don't see a typical George Perez job.  It is inker Alfredo Alcala who is the real shining star of the artwork.  Help me out with your own observations once you get to the bottom.  Shall we?

Doug:  The Iceman story is 17 pages long, and that was OK for me.  Really, it could have been shorter and I'd have probably been happier.  I thought the Phoenix story was a bit of a stretch (Attuma?) conceptually, and it was written by her usual scribe, Chris Claremont.  As you see above, today's writer is Jo Duffy.  I honestly can't say I recall anything she wrote in the 1980's, although I'm sure I encountered her work more than a few times.  This story was somewhat burdensome to get through -- it's just pretty straightforward, never really grabs the reader...  It's not horrible, but I don't feel like I got any bang out of the time I've spent reading it twice and writing this up.  It wasn't like "Man, I cannot wait to get to the keyboard and tell everyone about this!"  Some of our readers have left us comments in the past questioning why we review comics we don't like/give glowing reviews to?  As I think Karen and/or I replied, isn't that a reflection of the true comics reading experience?  I wish my cup was always half full; unfortunately, it's often half empty!  I've not read the Nightcrawler tale as of this writing, but it will be coming your way in August.

Doug:  We open at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, where "visiting" sophomore Bobby Drake has rolled onto campus to attend the Winter Carnival.  There was an ice sculpture contest or some such thing prior to his arrival, and the outdoor common areas are filled with beautiful ice sculptures depicting this year's theme -- super-heroes!  Bobby stops to admire a rendition of his pal the Angel and says how much Warren would love it.  Bobby notices that the Angel is the only X-Man in the lot, so rectifies that by whipping up an ice sculpture of himself, complete with the Champions logo on its belt.  As he admires it, a group of students stops by and complains that the new sculpture blocks the view of their fraternity house.  They ask if Bobby knows where it came from; he denies it, but then launches a snowball right at the kid who asked.  A melee ensues with some good fun.  It's broken up suddenly by a scream for help.

Doug:  Some thugs emerge from an academic building, with a professorial-type calling after them that they've stolen parts to the new campus computer system.  Now this having been written in 1981, I'm thinking they've bagged some Apple II-E's or Commodore-64's!  Anyway, they have some sorts of guns that can be set to "stun", and use those in their getaway attempt.  Bobby says to himself "who would rob a school" -- which I thought was an odd comment -- and then ices up and handles the baddies with no trouble at all.  He's thanked by the campus police, and everyone seems to recover quickly enough from their "stunning".  The community mobs him, incredulous that a real super-hero is among them.  They implore him to stay for the Winter Carnival, and he agrees.  The next two pages are pretty fun, as we see Bobby Drake really cut loose in an all-out effort to bring joy to the students.  At the end of the scene he thinks to himself, "I never realized up until now how great it is to solo.  For once, I'm alone... not getting lost in a team.  These people are cheering for ME!"

Doug:  Later that evening, Iceman reclines with some students when in walks Lt. Jimmy D'Angelo, who is an alumnus and has been asked by campus police to lend a hand to the investigation.  It seems that the components the thieves were after were designed by Dr. Henry Pym and had something to do with cybernetics.  They were being tested on campus.  The lieutenant wants to know if anyone saw the guy who pulled the alarm.  This sparks an investigation into an employee who works in the math dept. -- a man who no one can name.  Bobby decides to investigate on his own.  We then cut to a building off campus where the Dartmouth employee in question, a man called Thatcher, supervises the same thugs we witnessed earlier in the story.  It seems the heist was all a fake, designed to actually smuggle a man inside the building so that the real components of their desire could be stolen later -- a feat they seem to have accomplished.

Doug:  As the baddies move across campus in the wee hours of the morning, they pass the row of super-hero sculptures.  The professor gloats to himself about how they will get away with their plot -- no Avengers, no Fantastic Four, no X-Men to stop them.  That is, until he notices that they've passed not one, but two Iceman sculptures.  Guess what? Six pages of pretty intense fighting ensues, with Iceman at one point getting thawed out by a blaster ray.  There are some great visuals in this long scene, as you can see from the sample pages and panels.  In the end, Bobby nabs his guy, saves the day, and finds himself -- even though in an encounter with Lt. D'Angelo the cop asks Iceman if he's so great, then why isn't he well known?  I think this was really sort of a coming of age story for the Iceman; unfortunately (for him), it didn't go anywhere.

Doug:  One could almost see this being a sort of launching pad for a solo series.  However, since this was on the stands several years ahead of a book like Marvel Comics Presents, I don't know what the vehicle would have been.  There was an Iceman mini-series, but that wasn't published until 1984 (and looking at the covers, I wouldn't think it to have been very good in spite of a Marc DeMatteis script).  As I'd said about the Phoenix story, I'm not sure why this was created if not specifically for this magazine. It's again too long for a back-up story, and judging by Alfredo Alcala's beautiful inks and use of wash it was never intended for four color publication.  So it's just sort of "out there"; not sure if we should consider it canon or not.  What it ends up being is a sort of quite-beautiful-but-middling tale of one of Marvel's C-list heroes.