Yuku free message boards

Hey, I'm getting close to caught up! Woo hoo!

JIM 115: Vengeance of the Thunder God. p. 2 When Loki's sword goes through Mjolnir, I wonder what Kirby had in mind...the "willed it to another dimension" dialogue is pretty lame (on the other hand, Kirby's own dialogue was often pretty lame, so maybe that was it). p.5 Odin is such a doofus, believing whatever Loki says and then insisting he will not be deceived. Right, pops. p. 7 I love the panels of Creel becoming different materials in quick succession. Glass, silk, bronze...great imagery. I don't think the silk version is meant necessarily to be threatening by Creel, but more to show off his amazing powers. You've got to admit it's an attention-grabber. p. 11 Now Mjolnir is a flamethrower? Power over earth's elements? Wha? The finale is pretty nonsensical, but the sight of the gaseous Creel floating away is worth it.
TOA More Boyhood of Loki. Nice parallel to the Creel main feature, as Loki grants powers to Ghan here as a boy, just as he would do to Creel.

DD 7: In Mortal Combat with Sub-Mariner. The splash echoes my memories of FF Annual 1, especially that big double splash of Namor's court. The first Warlord Krang appearance in a long time, but he'll soon become a fixture and thorn in Namor's side. p. 3 Namor vs. the revolving door and the elevator are pretty humorous. I especially like the ruins of the revolving door in his wake. He's just destroying everything he sees in this outing, whether or not there's any point to it. p. 4 "I shall force them to take me to court." Most folks are not so eager, but Namor seems to have an odd notion of how the American judicial system works. p. 5: A new costume displayed in half of a bottom rung panel? My, how things have changed; this would be a double-page splash now. p. 7: In the Marvel Universe, the obvious way to slow someone down so you can talk things out is to kick him with both feet in the chest. Obviously. p. 10 If Matt is the most brilliant trial lawyer, then why doesn't he mention diplomatic immunity, which was just in the news to the benefit of Dr. Doom? As Prince of a realm, Namor should be entitled to the same treatment. Perhaps Namor has instructed him not to raise that defense, since it might prevent his counterclaim (raising the question, since when does one get to file a counterclaim in a criminal action? Weird.) The battle is a great one, though I agree, Wood's art makes DD seem strangely uninvolved and lacking in intensity. It would have been nice to see Ditko on this book, at least for this issue. Nevertheless, it's the first great DD, and unfortunately, the last great one for a good long while.

TTA 67: Giant Man: Mystery of the Hidden Man and his Rays of Doom. The green ray is amusing and highly selective in its ability to leach powers and knowledge out of people. For instance, when the ray hits Jan on the bee, it drains the bee's knowledge, but doesn't drain Jan's powers for some reason. But it is pretty hilarious to see Jan stung by her own bee after all the emphasis on Our Insect Friends in this strip. p. 7 Some stamp collector Hank is: those are tongs, big fella, not TWEEZERS. Odd finale, reminiscent of the Infant Terrible over in the FF book.
Hulk: Where Strides the Behemoth. Banner is pretty clever to suggest that he be held as a hostage, and even more entertaining that Talbot has to go to Mongolia to bail him out. On the Ross/LBJ controversy, I have to say I initially assumed it was Ross, but it clearly isn't; the body is wrong and there's no walrus moustache. But it isn't LBJ either; the caption says it's at a military installation, it doesn't look like LBJ, and he's definitely wearing a military uniform--check out the shoulder straps. But no insignia of rank are seen either. I'm guessing it's a generic military officer. But it's still nice to see someone putting Talbot in his place. "I did not ask you for your opinion, Major." While Ditko is doing superb work in Dr. Strange and Spidey, the Hulk just isn't working out too well. The Leader story had promise but it's gone nowhere and Ditko doesn't seem to know or even care where things are going in the Hulk book. I suspect he may have recognized the limitations of the concept. Interesting tidbit: Stan seemed to be trying out a new word for "comic book" here on the last page and in JIM 115 p. 1, "illo-drama." Cute, but it didn't catch on at all and vanishes without a trace.

Av 15: Now By My Hand Shall Perish a Villain. Well, not really. Actually, by his own hand and a pile of rocks. But I was standing around when it happened! The MW first printing I have is weird, with all the lettering missing from the two tablets appearing on the cover, though it's in proper shape on the back of the book. p. 4 Cap writes to Nick Fury indicating that he's doing counter-espionage for the army, though in FF 21 Nick was a colonel in the CIA. While the CIA did have its roots in the military, it had already long been a separate agency so I suspect Stan just forgot what the deal was. As it turns out, Fury is engaged in neither, but it's a nice tip that something may be coming down the pike for Nick. p. 8 Hank hurls Cap's shield at the plane...never mind that if he actually had hit it, he probably would have killed Rick. Nice! p. 9: The explanation for why the Black Knight and Melter get to wear their costumes in jail is quite incredible...a scientific delegation coming to study them? They couldn't study the suits off of them? Another moment in furious eye-rolling as Stan tries to save a bungled piece of art. p. 13 The Melter shows he's not quite so dumb after all, welding IM's boots to the roof while he was distracted with the water tower. Is it just me, or does the Avengers rocket plane look like a folded paper airplane? p. 16 Rick's in a snow globe! Actually, good place for him, but alas he gets right back out again. So much for the promises of fights to the finish; the ending is totally anticlimactic, the Avengers didn't do anything but fluster Zemo so he killed himself, and Cap seems to take the credit. Badly paced, and hard to believe this was really a Kirby layout. Usually he's much better at timing and suspense than this.

SF 17 While the Jungle Sleeps. A play on The Lion Sleeps Tonight? I think this is the first continued Fury story, which helps bring him a little more into the fold, but I have to agree he's starting to get repetitious. I really don't need or want a vol. 3 of this book. p. 7 The desert sands abruptly turn into jungle? Back to school to study your biomes. At least Gabe gets to play more of a part than usual even if the racial sensibilities are a little questionable to modern eyes. Big teaser: Somebody Dies!!!1!

ASM 24 Spider-Man Goes Mad! This story will have a remake in Captain America 107, but it's far more effective here. The hero goes mad theme has been done plenty of times, but never so well before or since. pp. 4-5 fun office horseplay between Peter and Betty, coming to an abrupt halt as Peter runs across the letter to Ned. Can't be good to be on the losing side of a romantic triangle when the third leg is on another continent. Peter seriously overreacts, which is key since it makes him emotionally vulnerable to Mysterio's scheme. Things aren't all bad for our hero though, since Liz puls the "tutor me" gambit and Petey falls for it. The ethereal appearance of the villains is reminiscent of Steve's work in Dr. Strange, but it is quite effective here for what it is, emphasizing the fragility of Peter's psyche. pp. 17-18 JJJ and Flash bungling into the scene are just like a Three Stooges performance. Really great anguished faces here--not just Peter and Spidey, but p. 19 JJJ realizing he's helped his worst enemy. This sets us up for ASM 25 nicely, since now it's even more personal for him.

FF 38: Defeated by the Frightful Four. p. 5 It seems Medusa has a thing for Paste Pot Pete I mean the Trapster. p. 14 For being super villains, you'd think they'd be smart enough not to release the Torch once they've neutralized him. Maybe it's just their super egos. Quite a cliffhanger in the wake of the Q bomb, though as I recall Stan and Jack lose the thread and don't follow up in any effective way. Part of that is due to the new style of storytelling that Jack experiments with over the next year or so, but more on that next time. At least this will be the last 2nd-rate FF book for a couple years after this. But I'm getting ahead.

TOS 65: IM The New IM Fights the Old IM or When Titans Clash! Even though the bad guy masquerades as the good guy has been done to death, this is one of the best variations on the theme, since what is IM but the suit, and anyone can wear the suit (well, after some practice). Tony is going to rather ridiculous lengths to make himself unhappy and to set up Pepper and Happy. Weasel Wills is kind of a fun character; no depth but he's certainly enthusiastic about his work. The Avengers are conveniently out of town and can't seem to be bothered by IM's apparent rampage through the city. It's definitely a fun battle, and we get some of Heck's best work on the title so far; I really wish it had been a full-length 20-pager. p. 12: There's a Master Output Switch on the front of IM's armor that shuts it down? That seems like a poor design choice.... More villains should aim for that. Weasel's insanity provides Tony's defense, though that's awfully convenient.
Cap: The Red Skull Strikes! A decent updating of the story from GA Cap 1. One wonders why it took so long for the Skull to make an appearance, since he was by far the most obvious of the original Cap's villains to bring in. Like VF, I fail to see what makes this written in the style of the 1940s...it cribs the main plot of the story from the 1940s, but the style is still Stan's 1965 verbosity and overexplanation of everything. Anyway, the story is pretty similar, but we lose the highly effective and more than a little creepy "look at Death" business from the Skull. And, of course the Skull conveniently gets away this time. Why this can't be Maxon in the Red Skull mask is an interesting question; was Stan leery of offending the military-industrial complex? Sure seems that way; in the original, Maxon is an industrial tycoon who has been promised to be the minister of all American industry by Hitler once the USA is within the Nazi fold. Or perhaps Stan didn't want to suggest that there were Nazi sympathizers amongst the rich and powerful of the day (though there certainly were quite a few, who considered FDR a bedfellow of Stalin and would have welcomed a Nazi USA). Anyway, it's an odd complication to the plot that is a distraction and not nearly as effective as the brutal venality of the original story of Maxon's treason.

ST 132: HT The Sinister Space Trap. I just read this two hours ago and I barely remember it...I think that qualifies as "forgettable." Dorrie is even more of a shrew this time out, an egomaniacal little twit who finds it more important that Johnny go to the game with her than save lives. p. 6 The Verpoorten in-joke is pretty funny to those in the know about the big guy (who alas died far too young). Johnny Verpoorten would eventually be Marvel's production manager and it's cute to see him get the nod here. For 99.9% of Marvel's readers at the time, it must have seemed like an odd exchange totally out of nowhere. The villain's scheme this time out is particularly dopey. Giant magnets in space? Who cares? p. 12 At least Johnny wants Dorrie to wear an M.M.M.S pin! Yeah, Crystal can't come any too soon.
Dr. Strange Face to Face At Last with Baron Mordo (Again). p. 2 The Demon returns, making it clear issue 129 was a prologue to this one, though Stan (apparently forgetting) fails to connect the dots expressly...though he does refer to him as a small-d demon. So the Demon is hanging out in Doc's house...where did Wong go? Is that him with the Ancient One? I don't think so. Doc's disguise in the purple diaper is pretty hilarious. p. 6 At least Dormammu remembers his oath correctly this time...though expecting that he can nullify it by killing Dr. Strange doesn't seem quite cricket.

SPOILER ALERT!

Is there a way to do spoilers with this forum? Yes, apparently! Click the + to read the spoiler.

END SPOILER

p. 7 Nice big panel; I especially like the cracking of Doc's mystic shield under the onslaught from Mordo and Dormammu. Great final battle and a wonderful cliffhanger as Doc recognizes a little too late just who it is he's dealing with.

Other than the usual suspects of GM and HT (who are even worse than usual this month), an excellent lineup! We're hitting Prime Marvel Universe.