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Posts: 16415
Apr 2 09 3:22 PM
Golden Age
Posts: 4755
Apr 3 09 8:49 AM
Bronze Age
Don McGregor has a letter printed in the letter col. Also, Stan proudly states that now all Marvel mags have their own letter columns!
Apr 3 09 4:46 PM
Posts: 5411
Apr 3 09 5:25 PM
Apr 4 09 1:28 AM
"Holy smoke! I must be stuck with a couple of mental cases!" - Jones And so we lay aside Avengers Masterworks Vol. 1. It's been a heck of a book, and these last two stories closed it out on a satisfying note. In fact, the final page of Avengers #10 makes for a great understated comedic ending to the whole Masterwork. The Wonder Man episode is referred to as having occurred "last month", although a month hasn't elapsed in between the previous two "Hulk" stories. I don't think Immortus comes off all that well in this story and I couldn't even find a particularly scanworthy illo of him. This "Master of Time" comes off as sort of weak. If he thinks he can defeat the Avengers single-handedly, why then does he desire membership in the Masters of Evil (a name Zemo retains for his "new lineup")? What use has Immortus for someone like Zemo or even two Asgardians, even if he himself were their leader? One of the Masters of Evil has heard of him (we have no way of knowing which one). The other thing that really detracts from this his first appearance is that he's not even seen after page 14! And apparently he didn't put up much of an argument when Cap demanded being returned to the present day on the grounds of "we had a deal". Interestingly, the story ends with the Avengers retaining no knowledge of Immortus's existence. His next appearance will still be his first as far as they're concerned, and we should be on the lookout for any slips from Stan where they refer to this meeting which seemingly never happened. This ending could be viewed as a cop-out and too easy, but I liked it because it was unexpected and a charming and funny way to wrap things up in one page (especially to round out an entire Masterworks volume), and anyway I think it's the first time Stan has used this plot device in the Silver Age. I don't think he'll make a habit of it. I did like this panel where Immortus begins reaching into the past to pluck foes for the Avengers to fight. What I like about this illustration is how the panel borders are missing, symbolizing the disappearance of temporal boundaries. Immortus's main strategy lies in using legendary figures to do his fighting for him. We thought that Paul Bunyan was a "tall tale". Not so. Bunyan, Goliath, Merlin, and Hercules were apparently all real people. I'm assuming Stan won't refer to this particular Hercules when he writes that character into Thor's own series - I doubt he'll want to make a case that they're the same being, especially since they look different. But if that's the case, who is this guy really? Continuity error. Thor thinks Hercules's strength is "truly the greatest I have ever faced on Earth". Okay I could maybe believe that Hercules is stronger than Hyde, but isn't Thor forgetting the Hulk at the end of Avengers #3?? Is this Hercules stronger than Hulk?? Say it ain't so. As for the Masters of Evil...the Exec claims to be an immortal again, after using the past tense when referring to his immoratlity in issue #9. Maybe he's using the term as more of a psychological state of mind (as in, an American) and he's been changing his mind about whether he wants to remain one of Odin's subjects. We learn that his gloves are made of meterorite metal.
Posts: 2402
Apr 4 09 2:35 AM
Was Cap already a "supersoldier" in the Golden Age
Apr 6 09 1:04 AM
"I still can't even make up my mind whether to like him or hate 'im!" - Johnny Storm I was surprised that this final issue in the #17-19 trilogy was a letdown. Not that I'm bothered by that - there has hardly been a mediocre ASM issue in the entire run up to this point, and #16 and #19 are merely the exceptions which prove the rule. I do think it's interesting that after the heights of "The End of Spider-Man!", Stan and Steve seemingly reward their younger readers with an issue that features a lot of Spidey fighting action. Kind of like they felt a need to hook any of the kiddies who may have discovered the mag with #18 and were in danger of not sticking with it. "Spidey Strikes Back!" doesn't feature much in the way of suspense or interior conflict or irony or any of the other non-battle aspects that make me love the series. And yet, even in the middle of such an action issue, we do still get some absolutely wonderful scenes of soap opera. Check out this page which simply features the characters standing around chatting. I really like the look of that page. Although the camera perspective hardly changes, the colors of the clothing complement each other, the background color is varied from panel to panel, and the dialogue is pleasant. It's nice to see romantic rivals be so courteous and good-natured to each other. "Pleased to meet you, Leeds!" " Same here, Parker!" And Peter is so nice to Betty: "Nothing to explain, Betty! He seems to be a nice guy! Why shouldn't you see him?" After seeing Peter very anxious about Betty's affections in earlier issues, my suspicion here is that Pete is putting a brave face on this, and I'm looking for corroboration of this in future. I like how Stan provides no thought balloons for Pete in this scene or immediately following it - the result being that the reader has to wonder whether or not Pete is really as complacent about Ned as he seems to be outwardly. It happens again during the denouement -
Apr 6 09 10:37 AM
Posts: 5871
Apr 6 09 12:22 PM
VisualFiction wrote: Why doesn't Pete sell to a different paper where he can get more money? I'm assuming it's because only Jonah is blind enough to not figure things out.
Apr 9 09 12:51 AM
Apr 9 09 5:10 PM
Apr 10 09 11:01 PM
Apr 11 09 2:16 AM
Apr 13 09 8:17 PM
Apr 15 09 3:47 PM
This issue's story is clearly better than most of the stuff in the preceding few issues. The whole idea of an integrated Commando unit was/is of course anti-racist, but here things are taken a bit further as the Howlers are lead to believe that Dino is a traitor. He's Italian-American, see... Of course, it's all a plot by Fury, but -- again! -- he declines to mention this to anyone else, which proves to be almost lethal for that Manelli guy. Didn't Nick learn anything from that little incident in Sgt. Fury #7??? Anyways, the Howlers are sent to a mission which suits Commandoes perfectly, i.e. to destroy a V-1 launching pad. Thereafter action and witty (and not-so-witty) banter flow pretty effortlessly. There's less emphasis on near superheroic feats, and more on, you know, war. Art is pretty lacklustre. There's nothing really bad about it, but almost all panels seem to be close-ups of some kind, which creates almost claustrophic feeling. The only panel where there's some feeling of space is the opening splash in a English pub. War history buff picks a nit: In most panels V-1 looks very little like itself, although panel 4 on page 3 shows the real thing, more or less. And Stan, everyone knows this aeroplane is Junkers Ju-87 aka Stuka. Not Messerschmitt!
Apr 16 09 10:51 AM
Apr 18 09 9:36 AM
And the way the Beast then defeated Unus was clever! But of course it had nothing to do with the mutant powers of the X-Men.
Apr 18 09 12:08 PM
Posts: 1834
Apr 18 09 2:41 PM
Registered Member
Apr 18 09 10:57 PM
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