The Music of our Parents

Karen: When I was putting together the post on soul music a little while ago, it made me think about when I first heard soul music. That would have been as a small child in my home. I started thinking about all the different music my parents used to play, and I thought it would be a pretty good idea for a post!

Karen: My parents had very different tastes musically. My Dad leaned towards country music. The man in black, Johnny Cash, was a favorite. But I really remember my Dad less for playing records than for playing his guitar and singing. He had both an acoustic guitar and an electric (a Gibson, don't recall the specifics now sadly) and he would often strum and sing. Usually it was country music, but he surprised me and my brother once by getting the sheet music to the Monkees' theme song and playing that for us! One record I do recall Dad playing frequently, although it wasn't music, was a Bill Cosby comedy album. He loved that album -even today he'll talk about "chocolate cake for breakfast."

Karen: My Mom listened to a variety of music. It was not unusual for her to put Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, or Otis Redding on the turntable. She had quite a collection of R&B singles too. When I was really small  I recall her getting a lot of use out of the stereo. For awhile, we were members of one of those record clubs, and  albums by the 5th Dimension, Santana, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Three Dog Night, Elton John, and Chicago all made their way to our house. I think my brother had some influence over those selections, but I know my Mom liked  lot of those artists. Later in life, she became a fan of Billy Joel -I think she always dug piano men.

Doug:  "Easy listening" would have been the prescription for our big console stereo.  I have vivid memories of Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Olivia Newton-John, Anne Murray, the Mamas and the Papas, but especially of the Carpenters.  I think my mom was the main influence for these artists -- did anyone notice that the singers are all women?  The songs have stuck with me, and still bring a smile to my face, especially the melodies of the Carpenters.  I have about 20 cuts from them on my iTouch and enjoy them often.  I'd also like to add that my mom, when taking us somewhere in the car, indulged our preference for Top 40 AM radio.  That was incredibly formative to my enjoyment of pop music from the 1970's.

Doug:  As an aside, my aunt (my mom's sister) had a nice collection of LPs, and the first time I ever heard Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was after removing it from one of her crates.  On my dad's side of the family, I can recall a time when the family was together at my uncle's house to play cards.  He had a very nice collection of Four Seasons 45s, and I spent part of one evening going through those.  Great memories -- definitely moments frozen in time!

Karen: These were our formative music experiences -what about yours?

Doug:  And totally off-topic, below you'll find the updated Bracketology standings.

 

True or False: Christopher Reeve Will Always Own the Role of Superman

 

Doug:  Comments today should leave Man of Steel unspoiled.  We're just talking actors and their portrayal of Superman/Clark Kent.  Thanks in advance for your consideration.

Titanic Troubles, Part 3: Avengers 125

Avengers #125 (July 1974)
"The Power of Babel!"
Writer:  Steve Englehart
Pencils:  John Buscema
Inks:  Dave Cockrum

Karen: Howdy readers. Before we dive in to our story, let's take a look at that cover. My first impression was that it was the work of John Romita Sr., and the Comic Book Database credits it to Romita, Dan Crespi (!), and Ron Wilson. I thought Crespi was primarily a letterer and production guy, so I'm not sure what his role was in the cover. But I think this is a bit of an odd cover -it looks like Thanos is about to swallow the Avengers' quinjet. Of all the covers in our series, this is probably my least favorite. However, the art inside is a real treat. John Buscema and Dave Cockrum make a dynamite team!

Doug:  It's funny you should say that it's your least favorite, because I've been given some thought to this very cover, marketing-wise lately.  As has been said, I've been using the The Avengers vs. Thanos tpb for my reading/scanning.  Whoever put that together approved the cover of MTIO Annual #2 (coming to this very blog in July, kids) as the front cover, and put the image above on the back cover.  Duh...  I might also have chosen the cover to Captain Marvel #31, although Thanos isn't on it.  But this one, if they were looking for some visual recognition in the general public, features Thanos, Thor, and Captain America.  I just don't get why they didn't use this for the front.  Oh well, water under the bridge...  And I think the GCD lists all creators of a given cover, so I would imagine you are correct in assuming that Crespi did the lettering.

Karen:  Our story begins with the wrap up of the Avengers' recent entanglement with Zodiac and Libra, and the efforts to discover Mantis' true origin. As Libra is escorted away by police, Captain America comes racing up on his motorcycle. Cap had been absent from the action with the Zodiac, as he was busy dealing with the Secret Empire in his own title (as Iron Man mentions). Shellhead congratulates Cap for vindicating himself of the charges against him, but Cap is not in a celebratory mood. Oddly enough, the Vision is the first to notice this! As Mantis heads off to the hospital to see the Swordsman, the rest go back into Avengers'

Mansion, where Cap tells Iron Man and the Black Panther that he needs to talk. Iron Man says sure and then insensitively begins to sing Mantis' praises! A buzzer goes off and the trio sees that there's someone at the door, and she has an official Avengers entry pass - in fact, it belongs to Rick Jones, Cap's former partner, and now the partner of Captain Marvel. Cap reaches the girl just as she collapses and mutters about a trap being set for Rick. Her last words before she loses consciousness are "Thanos...Thanos..." which leaves Cap puzzled.

Doug:  Buscema or Cockrum -- who do you see more?  To me, at times, it's both.  And the results of the amalgamation are really nice.  I enjoyed the two Giant-Size issues that Dave Cockrum would pencil in the "Celestial Madonna" arc.  As this predates his X-Men work, I'd say it was a nice way to cut his teeth on the Marvel side of things.

Doug:  I loved the line-up in this issue -- Iron Man, Thor, Cap, Black Panther, Vision and the Scarlet Witch, and Mantis and the Swordsman.  This was really a fun era for the team.  I really need to get myself into Englehart's early issues and refresh on the first appearances of Mantis and the Swordsman as a couple.  It's been way too long since I read those.  You mentioned Iron Man and the Vision above.  Doesn't Englehart have their characterization down perfectly?  Tony Stark is so self-absorbed, he's unable to give Cap the shoulder he needs; yet the Vision, ever-perceptive and ever-analytical, was the one who noticed that Cap was not himself.  Both vignettes are really short, but it's those nuggets that made Steve Englehart such a great pilot for these characters.   

Karen: The next page is a recap of events in Captain Marvel #25-32, at least the ones that affect the Avengers. The reader learns of Thanos and his attainment of the Cosmic Cube, and that he plans to conquer the galaxy. With a thought, he abducts Captain Marvel, Drax the Destroyer, Moondragon, and Iron Man, and transports them to Titan. But before the Avengers can react to this, they discover that Thanos has a space fleet  headed for Earth. With no time to lose, the team heads for space. Strangely enough, they go in two spacecraft: the ever-versatile quinjet, which transports Thor, the Vision, the Scarlet Witch, Mantis, the Swordsman, and Captain America, and then, in the confiscated Zodiac star cruiser, the Panther, oddly all by himself. The ships blast off from New York and soon travel all the way to our sun, where we see Thanos' fleet in a spectacular two-page spread, which to me looked very similar to Cockrum's depictions of space in the X-Men years later, especially the concentric circles that seemed to represent energy blasts.

Doug:  The recap of what has gone before was concise but o-so-dynamic visually!  You noted that the Panther flew solo in the Zodiac craft -- do you recall any other instances of contraband being appropriated by the victors?  Sure, the FF used Doc Doom's time platform, as have the Avengers.  But I'm trying to think of any sort of a craft like this that was taken over, and so soon.  It's a goofy-looking contraption, what with that big star on the nose.  The 2-page splash reminded me of the Chitauri entry in the Avengers flick a couple of summers ago.

Karen: Thor leaves the quinjet and launches his own attack on the enemy ships. I've always enjoyed seeing the thunder god in space action and he doesn't disappoint here, zapping ships with Mjolnir and tearing hulls open with his bare hands. The Panther runs interference -it seems that the Zodiac ship is larger than the quinjet and so it makes a better target. I still don't get why he would be in it alone, but hey! That's the way it is. Cap pilots the quinjet, which we learn has been modified since the Kree-Skrull War. The commander of Thanos' flagship begins to panic and puts in a call to his boss, who has now ascended to godhood. This startles the alien commander.  Thanos barks at him, saying his ships all have enough power to destroy the Earth, and to quit whining and get back to business. Of course, right as Thanos hangs up, who should come ripping through the hull but Thor?

Doug:  The space battle was frantic, and you're right -- Thor was taking no prisoners and it was awesome.  His entrance into the ship is akin to his greeting made to Ultron years later under Busiek/Perez.  I guess I shouldn't ask how he can survive in space with no protection, since it doesn't appear that Asgard has an atmosphere anyway.  I have noticed throughout our now-three issues that Thanos employs just about any alien race out there.  I've spotted a Badoon, and we'll see a Skrull get his from Ms. Wanda a bit later.  Should we infer that all aliens are crooked?  

Karen: The battle rages on in space, and we see some of Thanos' ships crashing to Earth. Wait a minute -- weren't they fighting out near the sun? That's a long ways away from Earth! OK, OK, I'll let it go as artistic license. The Panther discovers an area of space that is completely pitch black -- there are no stars or anything else visible through it. He correctly surmises that there is some sort of force field hiding something there. He can't blast through it either. He calls the quinjet and quickly the team decides they have to investigate. The Vision takes the lead, and snaps at a brooding Swordsman to get his head into the game. The Swordsman then begins accusing the synthozoid of coveting his girlfriend, Mantis. The Vision coolly says he won't even dignify that with a response, but then Mantis has to jump in and ask if the Vision has praised her to the Swordsman, and this makes Wanda look like she's about to have a heart attack. All this soap opera in the middle of a cosmic saga!

Doug:  Obviously we know what's to come with the love quadrangle, but this chipping back and forth at each other was a favorite part of the story for me.  As you say, it's the mundane in the midst of the chaos that so humanizes these fantastic characters.  You really wonder what an artificial man like the Vision, with his computer brain, really thought of all of this emotional wreckage.  The push-and-pull within his psyche was a great, long-running subplot of the Englehart era, which I felt really paid off in issue #136 when we got what I consider to be the Vision's true origin.  The Swordsman was a great character, wasn't he?  I know some of our readers have expressed disdain for sword-wielding heroes in general, and I'll readily admit that he's on a different power level than his Avenging mates... But he was such a loveable loser and it was great to watch him evolve, having been in the book since darned near the very beginning!

Karen: He had a solid story arc.Eventually the four of them exit the ship (I bet Cap was happy to stay behind and pilot the quinjet) to investigate the black force field. They must have borrowed the Legion's trans-suits, because it looks like they are essentially in their costues and wearing fishbowl helmets. The Vision does mention 'plasti-garb' though. In any case, Wanda's hex power manages to weaken the force field enough for the foursome to enter. Once through, they see what it concealed -- a massive starship, dwarfing anything they had seen before! The Vision opens an airlock and they move inside, where they are

immediately attacked by alien troops. The bickering between the team-mates continues, but they manage to make quick work of their foes. The Vision deduces that the craft is actually one gigantic machine. He sees a device with English writing on it ("Universal Language Equalizer"), but Mantis claims the writing is in Vietnamese. Vizh quickly realizes that the machine must be translating all of the different alien languages that the crew men speak so that they can all work together. He also finds another control for the force field (did it remind you at all of the old Batman TV show, where everything had a switch and a big label?). Vision shuts off the field and they leave the ship, and contact Cap and Panther, who blast the alien ship into nothingness.

Doug:  Just to show our readers that Karen and I are generally on the same wavelength, here is a line that I've cut from a paragraph above, immediately after I'd written about Thor in space with no protection:  "I thought there was a nod to the Legion's transuits a bit later when the Vision remarked to his team about their plastigarb covering."  Since I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago, forcing Karen to slightly amend a comment, I'll just paste that here!  You see, whenever she frames the post, I just go paragraph by paragraph, adding in my two cents.  I guess I should read ahead!

Doug:  The Swordsman really cut loose -- I'm sure he was getting rid of some aggression directed at another person in the room, huh?  I really liked the idea of the big ship serving as some sort of translation hub, but you nailed it when you likened the execution of the premise to the Batman show!

Karen: With their translator ship destroyed, none of Thanos' thralls can understand each other. The invaders' ships begin to crash into each other and destroy one another. Back on the quinjet, Thor rejoices in the victory, saying that soon they will take down Thanos himself, but Cap cautions him from being so sure. Mantis also joins in, saying that her natural empathy has allowed her to sense increased danger. The Scarlet Witch chides her for this, but the Vision himself says that given the power of the Cosmic Cube, Thanos' power could be far greater than what they have seen. All good and well, right? Here's the bizarre part: as the Avengers land on the roof of the mansion, who is hiding behind the chimney but Thanos?! Yes, the Titan who has become a God is sneaking around on the rooftop, listening in to the Avengers' discussion! This is the one thing that really felt off in this issue. Thanos overhears the Avengers talking, and thinks that he sacrificed his space fleet as part of his master plan. I think they could have left this bit out entirely. The story concludes in Captain Marvel #33, we are told (and we'll review that next week).

Doug:  One could write off the scene with Thanos lurking in the shadows, if Jim Starlin ignored it in the "next issue".  But since Englehart will replace Mike Friedrich as the wordsmith on Captain Marvel, the entire episode is referenced again.  Agreed, it's just sort of strange.  One again has to wonder why a villain in possession of the Cosmic Cube wouldn't just off all of his enemies with but a thought.  It would be a short story, that's why.  And a parting comment from me on the art team -- many Marvelites love to hate Mantis, but I thought she never looked better than in this very issue.  That Buscema-Cockrum combination really nailed it in regard to her, especially facially.

Karen: While I loved the art on this issue, I thought the story was just middling. As a part of the Avengers series at the time, it offered up some more of the love quadrangle that was such a big deal, and there were a few nice action bits. But overall it was relatively tame compared to issues either before or after it. It had little impact on the overall Thanos-Cosmic Cube saga. But I would have loved to see more Buscema-Cockrum art, or even just Dave Cockrum on the Avengers! 

Four Years in the Rearview Mirror!

 Doug:  Yep, time for that annual rite of passage as time marches on -- it's our anniversary!  If you get into the Wayback Machine and set that baby for June 16 2009, you'll find the first post from your hosts on this blog.  As they say, time certainly does fly by, and I have to admit to perusing old posts myself, as I know many of you do either from the links on the sidebar or the "You might also like..." feature at the bottom of each day's post.  It's fun to get that sense of evolution and history as we've gone on.  Today's a chance to take a breather and reflect on the past 12 months of Bronze Age Babies publication.

Doug:  For my money, the most notable innovation of the past year was our vacation in January.  If you weren't around for it, we decided to take a break from new posts, choosing instead to re-run "classic" comic book reviews from our backlog of material, and then try something totally different -- throw 20 days worth of our discussion-based posts wide open to our readers.  And you know what?  It was an exciting experiment that really proved to be rewarding -- rewarding from our point-of-view, as the community-based site we'd hoped to create was proven to really exist, and I think rewarding from our readers' points-of-view because they got the opportunity to circumvent the Suggestion Box and go for it in an immediate sense.  What I don't understand, though, was the fall-off in our readership just after the vacation ended.  Here's a screenshot from the Comic Blog Elite, which we check out from time-to-time for statistical purposes.  You can see the emigration from the BAB over the past several months, as compared to the latter months of 2012.  This is something I cannot explain.

Karen: Our vacation was not only a nice break and chance to recharge the batteries, it also gave the rest of our BABsters a chance to take the lead, as Doug said. That turned out to be a whole lot of fun. I was really amazed and pleased by the response and it was fun to be just one of the gang, leaving comments. I think we might want to do some more "DIY" posts. The results we get are quite entertaining!

Doug:  I couldn't agree more.  I've long wondered why some of our non-blogging readers don't have their own sites, as we certainly have some knowledgeable and well-spoken folks who stop by.

Doug:  Books that really dominated the conversations around here were the Marvel Firsts: The 1970's series of three volumes and of course Sean Howe's thought-provoking Marvel Comics: The Untold Story.  We got a ton of mileage out of the Marvel Firsts, especially during October when we featured the first appearances of the Monster of Frankenstein, Werewolf by Night, Dracula, and the Living Mummy.  Of course everyone knows that sort of thing leans toward Karen's interests more than mine, but I was very happy to sort of get my feet wet in that genre.

Karen: I'm definitely the monster and sci-fi nut around here, it's true, but you jumped right in on those reviews! I really am glad I got those Marvel Firsts books. They're a great overview of the eclectic nature of 70s Marvel. Super-heroes, monsters, westerns, science fiction -pretty much anything you could think of, Marvel was printing it. The Howe book certainly was a hard read for us. We knew that the 'Marvel Bullpen' was mostly a fantasy, but reading about some of the things that happened at the company was disheartening. It did however engender some interesting discussion here.

Doug:  And speaking of discussion, which is the backbone of this blog, we keep trying to innovate the way we encourage you to chat with us.  We seemed to hit on two winners when we came up with our "Who's the Best...?" and "True or False?" genres.  The former seems to be a lot of fun, as Karen or I provide a short list of a certain something, and you do the rest.  We really love to see how far the net is cast!  The "True or False?" form is still in its infancy, but there have been some wonderful conversations as you voice your opinions.  We'll keep these going into the 5th year, as well as our old standbys like "The Open Forum" and "Discuss".

Karen: I enjoy that we can throw out just about anything and get some sort of response. I feel pretty free to toss out any idea -Jonny Quest, Major Matt Mason, Harlan Ellison - whatever, you folks always have something to say! Sure, there are some posts that have fallen a bit flat, but for the most part, we can get a discussion going on just about anything.

Doug:  I thought we got some good suggestions from our readers that have proven to be useful to all readers of the blog.  The "Recent Comments" section has really allowed older posts to maintain their commenting lives, as anyone checking out that feature (on the sidebar, if you don't know what we're talking about) can immediately go to one of our last ten comments.  The reading list, which admittedly some have viewed as a daily spoiler of sorts, does give those users an opportunity to read ahead of our reviews (assuming they have the stories, of course).  We're open to change, as long as we feel it fits the spirit of the blog and our greater community.

Doug:  So, what's ahead in the 5th year (man, that just doesn't seem possible!)?  While we really haven't gotten too far into future ideas, you can tell that we have July and August planned for comics reviews.  We have discussed whether or not it's time to tackle "The Dark Phoenix Saga"; for whatever reason, X-Men is the only title we've dealt with in the order of publication (well, at least until we skipped a few issues to get to the "Proteus" storyline).  Rest assured we'll do it at some point.  Personally, I'd bug Karen to do some early stories from Steve Englehart's run on the Avengers, specifically when Mantis and the Swordsman came back on the scene.  For books that I'd do solo, expect more of the Bob Haney/Jim Aparo Brave and the Bolds, and I just ordered the DC Library Edition Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore.  We definitely need to get some Superman on the blog.

Karen: There was a recent suggestion to review old issues of Starlog magazine -that was something I intended to do years ago, when I discovered my old issues out in the garage, but never got around to it. I guess I'll add that to the list! I might even get back to my FOOM magazine reviews. I haven't forgotten about the science fiction and fantasy novels and writers posts either, I'll get back to them as well, and of course we'll have more movie, TV, and music discussions as well.

Doug:  As always, this spot wouldn't be so meaningful to Karen and I without the continued readership of the folks who happen by each day.  Some of you have stuck with us for a loooonng time, and there's certainly a sort of kinship that has developed.  Whether you know it or not, we really get excited to see that email notification that we have a comment on one of our posts.  Thanks for brightening our day, each day!

Karen: What he said!

Up, Up, and Away?

Doug:  Today's a double-dose of the Last Son of Krypton.  For starters, those of you who have seen Man of Steel are invited to leave your spoiler-free impressions of the film, characters, and actors.  I for one have been curious about the casting of Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner as the father-figures; but I suppose that's no stranger than the former casting of John Schneider in the role of Pa Kent.  We'll open the doors to full discussion/disclosure in a week or so.  Thanks in advance for your courtesy to those readers who've yet to see this film.  We've slotted a post for June 25th to fully spoil with your comments.

Doug:  Additionally, we'd like you to use this link to a CNN article about Superman at the age of 75 and his continued relevance in comics, as a role model, and as the torch-bearer for the comic book industry.  It's somewhat thought-provoking, and should give you a little fodder to come back here to leave a thought or two.  Thanks!

Doug:  Below you'll see the updated Bracketology grid.  New polls for the entire 2nd round will be posted later this evening.

An Obscure Phoenix Story: Bizarre Adventures 27

Bizarre Adventures #27 (July 1981)
"Phoenix"
Chris Claremont-John Buscema/Klaus Janson

Doug:  I think, and don't hold me to this, I got this at a nice discount way back around 1990 when I was a subscriber to Mile High Comics' monthly service.  As I seem to remember, owner Chuck Rozanski had specials each month, and I'm almost certain this was how I acquired this magazine.  I can guarantee you I didn't buy it from a newsstand, as this was released during the time I was not buying comic books.  There are three stories between the covers, and about mid-month throughout the summer we'll be picking our way through the book.  At the beginning of each story is a one-page "data sheet" on the featured hero, and I'll run those right alongside the magazine's cover as I've done above.  So without further ado, what say we take a look at the recently-deceased Phoenix and... Attuma?

Doug: Reading these stories (at this writing, I've obviously read today's fare, but also the next tale which is of Iceman), one has to wonder why they were created.  Just after the table of contents is a short editorial from Denny O'Neil where he touts the X-Men as Marvel's breakout stars and how he knew them way back when.  He also says that Bizarre Adventures will contain lots of new and exciting material.  But he makes a comment which prompted my statement just above; he writes, "Certain X-Men stories we wanted to tell were, for various reasons, not suited to the color format.  The answer?  Good old Bizarre Adventures."  So I don't know if the three stories within were made just for this publication, if they were stock waiting for a chance to see daylight at the back of an annual or in something akin to Marvel Fanfare (which, if you're like me and wondering when that debuted, it was in March 1982).  As there are references to past continuity, 'tis a mystery.

Doug:  We open in a cemetery, at the grave of Jean Grey.  Her sister Sara Grey is visiting again, and today is the first anniversary of Jean's death on the moon.  Sara kneels to place flowers and talks to Jean.  Sara is concerned because her own son is 11 years old now, and will soon begin adolescence -- the age of manifestation for certain mutants.  Sara worries about that -- what would it be like for her boy Tommy?  She says to Jean -- "Your powers killed you, Jean.  Will they kill my son?"  And then her mind wanders back to a time two years prior, when she and Jean headed to the docks to spend a day sailing before meeting their significant others for dinner.  But all is not without incident, as two young bucks make a play on the women.  Jean flirts momentarily before telekinetically pushing one of the guys into the drink.  They aren't hassled any more as they board their small craft.  Out on the water the sisters talk, Sara wanting to know about Jean's powers and why she's a mutant and not Sara herself.  Jean has no answer.  This is a very vivacious Jean Grey, funny and loving life.  It's interesting to see Chris Claremont write her free from the bounds of the sullen Scott Summers.  One could almost imagine this Jean Grey being the woman to tame Wolverine...

Doug:  Jean continues to play around with Sara, telekinetically drawing out the lunch cooler and then emptying it by ejecting the sandwiches and drinks like little missiles.  Sara isn't all that comfortable.  Suddenly they are aware of a fog bank, one that shouldn't be there.  It spreads across their course, seemingly creating a barrier to their travel.  Sara attempts to radio to shore, but the transmission is blocked.  Suddenly Jean is aware that Sara has passed out, and before she can mount a defense of her own she also succumbs to the attack, and slumps over the side of the boat and into the ocean.  Once unconscious, her mind dreams back to a time when she was 10 years old, and playing with her best friend Annie.  They were playing frisbee in the front yard of the Greys' home.  The Greys lived on a blind curve, and the frisbee that Jean threw got away from Annie; Annie chased it into the street where she was struck by a passing car.  Jean rushed to her side, and as she cradled Annie's dying body Jean's own mind reached out and into Annie's.  This was the first manifestation of Jean's mental powers.  She wasn't able to save Annie Richardson on that day, but she experienced her death by her side.  This was very traumatic for Jean, and eventually served as a catalyst for joining the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.  There she learned to use her powers, and Charles Xavier protected her from those horrible memories until they could work through them together.  It was also at the School where she met Scott Summers and fell in love.  It was after graduating from the School that she died and was resurrected by the Phoenix Force, forever changing her.

Doug:  Jean groggily wakes, but is shocked to find herself clothed as some sort of consort of plaything.  Sitting up, she notices that her skin has turned... blue!  I thought that was sort of a funny concept, in a black and white mag, but then whenever we read novels and the like I guess we have to do the imagining ourselves, huh?  She also becomes aware that she is underwater, and breathing!  Her mind races, going first to Prince Namor and a previous meeting between he and the X-Men.  Suddenly she hears someone scream (under water?) and takes off in that direction -- running at first and then swimming.  Entering the next chamber, she finds Sara overcome with shock and horror at their circumstances.  Jean gives her sister a telepathic bolt to put her down, and then enters her mind to calm her.  Sara thanks her, her previous fears set aside.  At that point armed guards enter and inform the Grey sisters that they are now brides, and are to accompany the men to their master.  And he is?  Attuma, Scourge of the Seven Seas!

Doug:  So it's like this -- Attuma ain't so dumb after all.  Tired of being second tuna to Namor, Attuma has decided to kidnap mutant women (yep -- he's got Sara Grey all wrong) for breeding stock.  After some time, he'll have created his own Atlantean mutant army, strong enough to finally defeat Prince Namor.  But Attuma's biggest problem (among many) is that he thinks Jean is Marvel Girl and has erected psychic dampers to keep her in check.  It's a pity, because his plan may have succeeded -- if Phoenix had not exploded on his scene, blasting him into a wall while destroying the machines that had clouded her mind earlier.  It really isn't even fair; Jean makes short work of every warrior that enters the barbarian's chamber.  She and Sara flee, but are soon cornered by Attuma himself.  You know how these things go -- if he can't have it his way, there'll be hell to pay!  Attuma wields a mighty large blade, and flails it about wildly.  His strength is surprising to Jean, and she's actually forced back.  Yeah, that lasted for about two seconds and then Blammo! again.  She literally brings the house down this time.  Swimming like crazy for their liberty, the sisters make it to the surface -- only to discover that Sara's infection with Attuma's virus has left her a water-breather.  She nearly suffocates once she hits the atmosphere.

Doug:  Jean takes Sara back underwater while she thinks of what to do.  Sara laments that she might actually like the adventure of Attuma's offer (man, I thought this scene was weird -- "The things, I could learn down here, the places I could see.  I could spend a lifetime just talking to those dolphins.  If I was single."  Really??  Be Attuma's love slave?).  But Jean tells her that she thinks she can return her to her human attributes, but it will basically require a reworking of Sara's DNA.  It works, and Sara surfaces.  But where's Jean?  Sara dives back down, to find her sister being nudged toward the surface by the dolphins.  Sara's able to haul Jean ashore and revive her.  The two ladies build a fire and warm themselves.  Jean sent Scott a telepathic S.O.S., and told he and Sara's husband of their location.  They continue to talk about Sara's fears for her children.  Jean reaches out one more time, and mindwipes Sara's memories of their Atlantean adventure, and of Phoenix.  As far as Sara will know, they had a boating accident and Sara saved Jean's life.  She also thinks that she'll ask Professor X to have the kids genetically scanned.

Doug:  Back at the gravesite, Sara thinks that the mind block disappeared when Jean died.  She thinks that Jean shouldn't have done it in the first place, but she's glad that Jean loved her.  She also knows that Jean never got around to asking the professor to see about Sara's kids.  But in the end, Sara thinks that she's not quite as afraid as she used to be; after all, if her kids are mutants and turn out like their Aunt Jean, that wouldn't be all bad.

Doug:  This was an interesting story.  I warmed to it more the second time I read it, which was for this writing.  My initial reaction was that it was pretty far out there -- Attuma??  But he merely served as a vehicle for Claremont's bigger issue, which was an examination of Jean Grey in a snapshot taken a year before she died.  It was also a tale of those affected by mutants and how they deal with those issues.  Metaphorically, I suppose the script plays into our hopes and fears for all sorts of relationships and life situations.  John Buscema's art is pretty typical of his output in the early 1980's -- it's obviously Big John's greatness, as we have grown used to seeing him in his main B&W venue, Savage Sword of Conan.  I'm pretty sure these are tighter rather than sketchy lay-outs.  Klaus Janson does wonders on the inks and with wash; there's no zipatone, but what there is is a ton of backgrounds!  It's really a pretty lushly-illustrated story.  So for fans of both artists, I think you get the best of both worlds.  This won't necessarily be my stance in mid-July, when I'll treat you to the second story in this magazine.  The Iceman tale was drawn by George Perez and inked by Alfredo Alcala.  I'll challenge you then to pick out the Perez influence.  Nuff said.

Discuss: Harlan Ellison

True of False: The Silver Surfer Works Best as Stan Lee's Messiah-like Figure (+ Bracketology)

Doug:  It's a 2-for-1 post today, kiddie-winkies!  Feel free to make comments on both topics -- no holds barred for readers of the BAB...  New polls for our best penciler extravaganza were posted late yesterday, and will remain active through Friday evening (USA, Central Time).  The updated bracket, showing the results of the first half of the first round, is below:

Soul Music

Karen: Lately I've been listening to "Sixties on 6" on Sirius Radio on my commute, and one of the DJs mentioned that June is National Black Music month. That got me to thinking. Growing up, we listened to a little bit of everything, including quite a bit of what  in those days was called 'Soul' music. I don't hear that term used much now. And truthfully, I'm not even sure I can define it adequately. Some people might say that's what any type of music played by African Americans (other than jazz perhaps) was called. But I think there's more to it. When I think of soul, I think of songs sung with heart-felt emotion. Whether it was happy or sad, you could feel it in the singer's voice. You knew what they were going through. It was passionate and real and  it connected. It was real stories about the everyday concerns about real people. In that respect, I suppose it had a lot in common with country music.

Karen: But it's gone now, at least the type of music I recognize as soul music is gone. There are a ton of 'vocalists' out there today, many of whom wouldn't have a career without artful production work and auto-tune, and as far as I'm concerned none of them can come close to performers like Aretha Franklin or Otis Redding. Gone are people singing and dancing and having a good time; now it seems like every performer has to come across as tough and menacing. Everything is so much grimmer. It actually parallels the way comics have gone, now that I think of it. I mean, you'd never see five guys wearing lemon yellow suits singing and dancing nowadays. They'd be laughed off the stage. But the Temptations were amazing performers with great songs.

Karen: And as I get older, I come to appreciate certain songs more and more, like this one by the Queen of Soul:

Karen: Of course Soul's roots are in Gospel music, which is very evident when performed by certain singers, such as Aretha. I suppose over time it only makes sense that Black music would change, just as all music does. But I confess I miss the more upbeat, melodic sounds of the 60s and 70s. I guess that's just where my brain is stuck and what I prefer. Sure, my Itunes has some rap songs in it, but you'll find far more Smokey than Jay-Z. What about you? Do you enjoy a little soul in your day? Who really gets you smiling or singing along?