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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 15, 2018 23:37:12 GMT -5
Defenders #47Wonder Man and Moon Knight! They actually have a bit in common, when you think about it. Both suffered a kind of death and were resurrected, after a fashion. Moony gets the nod on costumes, though. Wondy is still in his old costume, which would be destroyed in the next month, by his brother Eric, aka The Grim Reaper, in Avengers #160, leading to the Beast-designed abomination, in Avengers #161 (which wasn't that bad, though the red and green color scheme didn't work. Red, blue and gold would have been better but, we already had Mar-Vell and Carol Danvers in those colors, plus Nighthawk (well, yellow, not gold). I always kind of liked the Doc Savage safari jacket. Creative Team: DAK & Slifer-plot, John Warner-script, Giffen & Janson-art, John Costanza-letters, Archie Goodwin-editor. Colorist isn't credited and GCD also has a blank. I would tend to assume Janson, as he had been coloring several of these. Synopsis: Val and Hellcat take Aragorn for a ride, leaving Kyle to try to carry on a conversation with Hulk. Hulk says Bird-Nose talks too much and makes like Greta Garbo. Kyle goes in to soak in a hot bath. Meanwhile, we see Nick Fury's goons carrying off a stunned Jack Norriss, when Moon Knight just happens along to witness it and decides to poke his nose into things. He rather forcibly confronts fury, who shoots back at him, then they go hand-to-hand. The goons go to aid Fury, then Jack Norriss comes to and socks them. Fury makes with smoke grenades and the SHIELD boys (though the two goons are in civies) take a powder, leaving Jack to tell moon Knight that he is innocent. In NY, Val visits Clea, at the Sanctum, to apologize for not wearing the costume Clea created. Clea assumed she didn't like it (rather, Conway probably didn't like it) and Val demonstrates tht her Dragonfang spell cause her to revert to the old costume. Clea fixes that, then gives her a makeover, giving us the white suit and gold thighboots... Hellcat stops by Avengers Mansion and finds Wonder Man, who she didn't know had joined and thinks he is an intruder. He tries to explain; but, Patsy is a bit overzealous and puts them both in danger, when Wonder Man saves her and tells her to get to safety. She then calms down. Jack and Moon Knight turn up at the Sanctum, looking for Dr Strange, and find Val. It's a bit awkward, but Jack recounts running into SHIELD when he picked up the Jaguar, at Ruby Thiursday's campaign headquarters. They interrogate him about her disappearance and pump him with drugs. Fury shouts at him about other things, that Jack doesn't know about and they then let him go, only to try to nab him again. Moon Knight vouches for the attempted abduction and Val suggests contacting the Avengers. They head on over, where Wondy finally frees them from debris,e xcept Patsy is out cold. Val crashes in, from the sounds of the debris falling and finds Hellcat on the floor and attacks Wondy. She knocks him on his Wonder Butt and then moon Knight has a go. After a bit of A-B-A-B-Down Arrow-Right-Right, Patsy wakes up and stops the fight. She shows Wonder Man a record tape of her and moondragon leaving the Avengers and everyone calms down, just in time for Fury to call and put an APB out on Jack Norriss and Jack paints the inside of his underwear. Thoughts: Curiouser and Curiouser, said Alice. Lot's of cliched mistaken identity, some pretty decent fight scenes (Fury has done hand-to-hand with Cap, so he should have cleaned Moon Knight's clock). Val gets her white duds, which will stick around for quite a while and look less flesh-colored, though she is still rather bosomy. Guess those shell casings weren't just for show! Actually, generally speaking, Val and Powe Girl were kind of fanboy dreams, in this time frame. The mystery with Fury and SHIELD deepens and we still don't know what Scorpio was up to, as he wasn't in this issue. One is left to wonder why Fury was in SHIELD uniform and his two goons were in civies. Jack Norriss, in no way, should have ever gotten the drop on a SHIELD agent. Something is definitely not kosher here (or even halal)!
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Post by chaykinstevens on Sept 16, 2018 8:17:13 GMT -5
This is Gerber's last issue of the series. In the letters page, he gets a bit of a left-handed send off, disguised as the flippant editorial style. A letter that talks about too many subplots crammed together is answered with the remark, :In any event we're not necessarily sorry that you disagree with Steve Gerber's plots, or that they disagree with you, because Gerber's been relieved of his duties on the book. Next issue, Gerry Conway takes over the scripting, and he promises that The Defenders will shortly resemble a superhero book-and not the outtakes from 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'-in plotting and dialogue once again." That's definitely not Arche writing; it's not his style. My guess would be Conway, himself, or an ally. GCD credits the letters page to Gerber himself. Perhaps he was just being self-deprecating.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 16, 2018 22:53:18 GMT -5
Defenders #48On of my favorite Defenders covers and the first issue I actually bought myself. Creative Team: DAK-writer & colorist, Giffen-pencils, Dan Green-inks, Annette Kawecki-letters, Archie Goodwin-editor Ed Hannigan and Joe Sinnott did the excellent cover. Synopsis: Scorpio is sitting around in his decidedly odd pad... An easy chair, end table, table lamp and Kirby machinery, hooked into the Zodiac Key? That's some decor! Scorpio is carping at Nick Fury, who hands it right back to him. He calls Scorpio Jake and then Scorpio says even his vaunted brother can make mistakes! Wholly Kirby! Scorpio is Nick Fury's brother Jake! (more below). Scorpio's failure to nab Kyle richmond lost him ransom money that would help finance his big secret project. Fury failed to nab Jack Norriss. Jake/Scorpio goes on a rant about consumerism and the "American middle-class ideal" He then sends Nick to pick up Jack Norriss, from the Avengers (after Fury's AQPB, last issue) and to get some beer. At Avengers Mansion, Jack whines about being handed over to SHIELD who said they just need to tap his subconscious for buried info and Val and Hellcat have bought into this. He storms off and Fury escorts him out, in handcuffs (Kirby style!" Val collects Hellcat and they wing off, while Hulk watches from bushes. Fury doesn't go to the Hellicarrier and takes Jack to New Jersey. Val and Patsy arrive at the riding academy and find Kyl Richmond sitting there. he tells them that Scorpio has Jack and demands a ransom of $500 Gs. Kyle convinced them to let Nighthawk deliver it. Val has a temper tantrum (much breakage) and we cut to Jersey. Fury brings Jack in front of Scorpio, who lets him know why he is there. he offers him his last col beer then explains what he is up to, saying they have much in common. As usual, Jack irks all around, including Scorpio, who show him his Zodiac Chamber. Moon Knight finally shows up, after tailing Fury and sneaks in through a skylight, only to fall through a false floor into a trap. Scorpio tosses him a beer, before sealing the chamber, where water will fill up, drowning Moon Knight. He then goes off to bed and gives Jack a blanket, and the floor. In the morning, Kyle goes to get the ransom money and creepily looks in on Hellcat (who slept in her costume) and Val (ditto). There is much narration about loneliness, which sounds like a prelude to assault; but, itsn't (thankfully). I New Jersey, Jake/Scorpio rants at Nick Fury, as the water tank trap is now opened and Moon Knight is gone, though he left the empty beer can behind. Kyle gets the money and delivers it as Nighthawk, slinging it at Scorpio, who uses the key to overwhelm Nighthawk, telling him he knows he is Kyle Richmond (simple deduction, and now he is keeping Jack and taking Kyle, so he can have all of his money. Well, poop! Thoughts: Great issue; lots of info, lots of twists and turns, some nice action, some double-dealing, and a bit of social commentary. Scorpio is Jake Fury, brother of Nick, which would explain why Fury might be helping him, though they fought each other before, back in Nick Fury, Agent of Shield #5. In that comic, Scorpio had nabbed Nick and swapped him with an advanced Life Model Decoy, based on Fury himself, which was to be used in a training exercise. Nick woke up on the training outfit (complete with mask) and was subjected to a gauntlet of deathtraps. Scorpio is disguised as Fury. Fury turns the table and Scorpio tries to kill him, when Val draws a bead on Nick (in the mask) and is about to fire, when an old man comes in and is hit. he had been a friend of Nick's, going back to childhood, who was checking on something for Nick. They discover that Fury is under the mask and Scorpio runs off and is seemingly shot, disappearing in the water of the harbor; but, the body was never found. There are subtle clues that all is not right with Nick; but we won't know more until next issue. What the heck is going on with the Zodiac Chanber, we also don't know; but, we get a sweet two-page spread... Giffen is in full on Kirby mode, which is unrestrained in Klaus Janson's absence. Dan Green is just going along with it and it looks like a less abstract Kirby all the way. David Anthony Kraft is on his own, for the plot and really makes Scorpio/Jake Fury into an interesting figure. he's pretty much a loser, whose schemes have never worked out and everything seems to fall apart, eventually. Jake is a failure at life and he laments this to Jack, who is pretty much the same. This is part of what made this my favorite Defenders storyline (even with the Guardians & the Badoon and the Headmen). Scorpio is such a layered character that it elevates him from the stereotyped baddie, such as Egghead, under Conway. There are elements of what Gerber was doing with the Headmen; yet it is less weird for weirdness sake. Very memorable stuff.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Sept 17, 2018 4:42:11 GMT -5
Defenders #48David Anthony Kraft is on his own, for the plot and really makes Scorpio/Jake Fury into an interesting figure. he's pretty much a loser, whose schemes have never worked out and everything seems to fall apart, eventually. Don McGregor provided uncredited scripting over Kraft's plot on most of the issue.
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Post by beccabear67 on Sept 17, 2018 12:40:24 GMT -5
I see a lot of Steranko touches in with the Kirby in #48!
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 17, 2018 13:14:48 GMT -5
Wonder Man and Moon Knight! They actually have a bit in common, when you think about it. Both suffered a kind of death and were resurrected, after a fashion. Moony gets the nod on costumes, though. Wondy is still in his old costume, which would be destroyed in the next month, by his brother Eric, aka The Grim Reaper, in Avengers #160, leading to the Beast-designed abomination, in Avengers #161 (which wasn't that bad, though the red and green color scheme didn't work. Red, blue and gold would have been better but, we already had Mar-Vell and Carol Danvers in those colors, plus Nighthawk (well, yellow, not gold). I always kind of liked the Doc Savage safari jacket. Hey, I like that Wonder Man costume from Avengers #161! In fact, it might be my favorite Wonder Man costume, not that that's saying much. I'm a sucker for the red/yellow/green color combination.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 17, 2018 23:14:29 GMT -5
Wonder Man and Moon Knight! They actually have a bit in common, when you think about it. Both suffered a kind of death and were resurrected, after a fashion. Moony gets the nod on costumes, though. Wondy is still in his old costume, which would be destroyed in the next month, by his brother Eric, aka The Grim Reaper, in Avengers #160, leading to the Beast-designed abomination, in Avengers #161 (which wasn't that bad, though the red and green color scheme didn't work. Red, blue and gold would have been better but, we already had Mar-Vell and Carol Danvers in those colors, plus Nighthawk (well, yellow, not gold). I always kind of liked the Doc Savage safari jacket. Hey, I like that Wonder Man costume from Avengers #161! In fact, it might be my favorite Wonder Man costume, not that that's saying much. I'm a sucker for the red/yellow/green color combination. I don't mind the color scheme, per se, or the basic design; but it needed a second pass. One, lose the red are under the M. Keep it green. Lose the yellow bands on the boot tops or reduce it to one and have the tops come to a peak, with a single yellow stripe. Not overly thrilled with the yellow wrist bands; but, they aren't horrible. Lose the yellow stripe in the hood, above the goggles/ A solid green look from head to shorts is fine, with the red on the arms and legs, would work better. I'd also go with a slightly lighter shade of green. The red of the mid-riff just looks wrong, like the color is strobing, or something. The yellow on the hood just seems random, without purpose. A solid green hood, with red goggles, would look sleeker. I think peaks at the boot tops and writ bands would be more in keeping with the lines of the W and M.
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 18, 2018 7:26:56 GMT -5
Hey, I like that Wonder Man costume from Avengers #161! In fact, it might be my favorite Wonder Man costume, not that that's saying much. I'm a sucker for the red/yellow/green color combination. I don't mind the color scheme, per se, or the basic design; but it needed a second pass. One, lose the red are under the M. Keep it green. Lose the yellow bands on the boot tops or reduce it to one and have the tops come to a peak, with a single yellow stripe. Not overly thrilled with the yellow wrist bands; but, they aren't horrible. Lose the yellow stripe in the hood, above the goggles/ A solid green look from head to shorts is fine, with the red on the arms and legs, would work better. I'd also go with a slightly lighter shade of green. The red of the mid-riff just looks wrong, like the color is strobing, or something. The yellow on the hood just seems random, without purpose. A solid green hood, with red goggles, would look sleeker. I think peaks at the boot tops and writ bands would be more in keeping with the lines of the W and M. Yeah, overall I think your modifications would be an improvement. The colors are a bit too scattered as it is, and a more coherent color scheme would be nice. But I still think this is one of Wondie's better outfits, though there's not much good to choose from with his costumes.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 19, 2018 14:02:15 GMT -5
Defenders #49Is it just me or does that cover look like a weird dance routine? Creative Team: DAK-writer & colorist, Giffen and Mike Royer-art, Irv Watanabe, with Royer assisting -letters; Archie Goodwin-edits, investigations. Synopsis: Moon Knight is having a swinging time on the town... Ba-dump-bump! He's headed to the Sanctum, to try and find the Defenders, to help rescue Jack Norriss. Meanwhile, Kyle Richmond is locked up in some Kirby-wannabe contraption. Scorpio is goaded into recounting his life and we learn that the first appearance of Scorpio, in Nick Fury #1, was indeed a different guy. When he died in an explosion, Jake Fury found the Zodiac Key and became the second Scorpio and tried to kill Nick, with the switch of an LMD. Jake barely escaped alive and laid low. he heard how Nick used the Scorpio identity to infiltrate the Zodiac criminal gang and then, later, lost the key to Aries. When Aries craft was destroyed over NYC, the key fell from the sky and beaned a wino, who pawned it and went to a bar for booze, where Jake just happened to be buying beer. He bought the key and studied the stars for the right time to create his new Zodiac, which is now and he throws a big ol' switch. Meanwhile, at the riding academy, Patsy Walker, aka Hellcat, is blowing up a pot of coffee.... No wonder Buzz Baxter divorced her; can't even make a good cup of coffee without blowing up the house! Clea interrupts with a mystical IM to summon them to talk to Moon Knight. At Scorpio's lair, we see more Kirby stuff, in the Zodiac Chamber and Scorpio continues yakking at Jack. He is creating his own Zodiac, because he can't relate to real people. Jack thinks he is really nuts and gets shoved for his trouble. in another room, Kyle tries to get Nick to frre him; but, he tells him to forget about it. Val, Patsy and Moon Knight meet up and head to where Clea has located the Hulk. he's enjoying a picnic... Val tries to persuade Hulk who just wants to eat chicken and potato salad. Val has had enough and kicks the galoot. they egg him on and lead him in a rampage across the city (how responsible). In Jersey, Jake Fury applies his make-up, before donning his Scorpio mask. Jack is forced to do Fury's packing, while Nick looks on. Jake tells Jack that it is punishment for Jack & Nick being asleep, while Moon Knight escaped his deathtrap. Nick retorts that Jake created the trap and Jake explodes, kicking Nick and saying he represents the person he hates most. Jack is confused, then Scorpio reveals that Nick Fury is actually the Life Model Decoy that he stole, when he stuck Nick in the suit (in Nick Fury, Agent of Shield #5). He also whines that he had to start the birthing process before obtaining the finishing fluids, that Kyle's money was to buy. He decides he will take his new Zodiac and leave before the Defenders show up. The Defenders are in the Holland Tunnel, when they realize that Hulk is no longer chasing them. They realized he has vaulted the Hudson Rover and is waiting for them on the other side (sounds a bit rational, for the Hulk). Moon Knight calls Frenchie, who attacks Hulk with the weapons on the helo, which transports Mooney. It distracts Hulk long enough for the others to get out and try to escape via it, with hulk getting dumped inthe river. Now he is really mad and goes after Moon Knight, who goads him into smashing through the skylight, into Scorpio's lair. Hulk finds himself facing Scorpio and his new Zodiac. Thoughts: So, not only is Jake Fury Scorpio; but, nick is actually the LMD he swiped, back in NF, AOS #5. That explains why he has been acting weird and Scorpio's remark when Fury says something to the effect of "....or my name isn't Nick Fury!" Jake is thoroughly unhinged. he's a complete outsider/loser and his grip on reality is long gone. he keeps the image of the man he hates around, probably because it is also the only way he can be near his brother. Val, Patsy and Moon Knight egging on Hulk, to get his help, is a pretty stupid plan and it is causing tons of destruction. No wonder Dr Strange left! There is a two-panel scene of Tania Belinsky returning to Moscow, where she is met and told they know she is Red Guardian and her help is needed. Curiouser and curiouser. If Giffen was swiping Kirby before, the addition of Mike Royer makes it look even more Kirby. Well, we have reached the climax and it only remains for the final battle.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 19, 2018 15:09:19 GMT -5
Defenders #50Creative Team: DAK-writer, Giffen is credited as sole artist; but, Mike Royer is credited with inks,elsewhere. John Costanza-letters, Don Warfield-colors, Archie Goodwin-editor Synopsis: Hulk has been interrupted at a picnic, goaded into chasing the Defenders, dumped in the Hudson River, then egged on into unwittingly jumping into Scorpio's water trap, which has really got him peeved..... Lighten up, Francis! Scorpio makes like Michael Buffer and gives the introductions to the Zodiac..... Before you can warble, "Let's get ready to ruuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmbbbblleeeeeeeeeeee....................." it's on! Capricorn, Pices and Virgo are missing and Scorpio is especially worried about Virgo. The other defenders burst in and join the fight, though Libra is just standing there, intangible, watching. Hulk is being ganged up on, so the Defenders engage and Hellcat faces Gemini, whi splits into two beings, Val faces leo and his claws, Moon Knight squares off with Aries, and Hulk deals with Cancer. The Nick Fury LMD goes after Scorpio, with Jack following. Aries rams Hulk through the wall, into the Hudson and he gets wet again. Now he's really mad!. Kyle finally finds his strength doubled, as it is night and Scorpio is distracted. He breaks loose from his manacles and goes to join the fight. Hulk punches Taurus up through the next floor, into a refrigerator. Seeing that, Aquarius decides to sit out the fight and have a beer. Val swats Leo into a wall and Scorpio races to find Virgo. He find Capricorn dead, and Pices gasping for air. He runs off to find Virgo... Nighthawk joins the mayhem in time to stop Aries from attacking Hulk, from behind and Val snaps off a weapon, after losing Dragonfang. Now, the Defenders are really gonna dish out some hurt! Val faces off against Sagittarius, Hellcat with Leo and Hulk with Cancer. gemini opts out and hangs with Aquarius and Libra. Leo hurts Patsy pretty badly, with his claws and she manages to monkey flip him into the water trap. gemini decides to aid the Defenders and trips the lock on it. Libra departs with Gemini and Aquarius stays to see the end of the fight. Moon Knight and Nighthawk (Moon Knighthawk?) swoop down and grap Aries, after Nighthawk matadored him into the path of the bystanding Aquarius. They lift him into the air and smash him into a wall. Val is getting the upper hand on Sagittarius and he decides to exit, stage left, through the hole in the wall, created by the Hulk. Hulk, literally, knocks Cancer's block off and then Nighthawk dumps heavy machinery down on the noggin of the aching Taurus. Jack calls Moon Knight to help go after Scorpio and we see him sitting there, listening to Judy Garland, talking to the Nick Fury LMD... Jake asks the simulacrum of his brother for his gun... Thoughts: What an issue! This is my single favorite Defenders issue. It has everything that makes superhero comics great: tons of action, amazing art spreads, interesting characters, a layered villain, surprise on the next page, great designs, and more. Scorpio, an outcast and loser all of his life seeks to create his own little world, with people who care for him and where he fits. He looks for his own Oz, and as Judy sings "Over the rainbow," it all comes to an end. Jake Fury, aka Scorpio, was probably the most complex Marvel villain to come down the pike; certainly since the glory days of Lee & Kirby. The last page has special thank yous to Mike Royer, John Tartaglione and Dave Cockrum for art assists.. It also has a bonus pin-up page, with a cut out of the riding academy headquarters... It also features headshots of everyone who had been a defender, up to that point, though apparently Clea didn't rate, despite aiding them at several points (Wong, too). This was a fantastic storyline; my favorite of all the defenders tales. It starts out with a bizarre encounter, with a long forgotten character and the perfect title, "Who Remembers Scorpio?" It is a play on his debut, "Who is Scorpio?" and it also sums up the entire life of Jake Fury......Who Remembers Scorpio? The Nick Fury LMD says he will; but, what about the real SHIELD honcho? To him, his brother was already dead. ho will he feel to learn he was alive and now took his own, pathetic life? Strong stuff; but, with a quirky sense of fun that had become the hallmark of the Defenders, especially compared to other Marvel titles. David Anthony Kraft proved to be a very capable writer, with this series, though he moved on to other things. Giffen was aping Kirby and he developed problems with Marvel, over deadlines and professionalism. He, himself, said he was swiping Kirby and he had to be slapped down (his words) at this point. He was out of comics, for a bit, after his Defenders run); but, ended up back at DC, where he built back a name, with Legion and the Great Darkness Saga, then JLI and other works. Some of the surviving Zodiac would pop up, from time to time, especially in West Coast Avengers. I seem to recall gemini turning up in a Spider-Man title, or something similar (maybe one of the team-up books). Finally, a fitting tribute to Scorpio.....
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2018 15:26:17 GMT -5
codystarbuck -- Defenders #50 is one of my favorite issue because it was explosive and had a neat splash page that I really liked so well. Brought back memories ...
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Post by badwolf on Sept 19, 2018 15:27:04 GMT -5
I never realized how much Giffen channeled Kirby until seeing these issues.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 19, 2018 16:51:28 GMT -5
Defenders #51Creative Team: DAK-writer, Giffen-penciller, Janson-inker, Bruce Patterson-letterer, Phil Rache-colorist, Goodwin-editor Synopsis: Shield has arrived to mop up the Zodiac and Nick fury comes face to face with his missing LMD and the corpse of his long lost brother... Jack Norriss proceeds to act like an ass to hi, Hellcat gets medical attention and feels pain, no one will listen to Hulk, and moon Knight tells Nighthawk how he got out of the water trap... Um, yeah, how long before the water was removed from the tank? Oh, wait, Scorpio said the tank fills with water just long enough to drown any man. Jack keeps at Nick, about the interrogation resulting from the disappearance of Ruby Thursday. Fury says he interrupted it and stopped it, setting Norriss free. What's more, he was in DC, dealing with Deathlok's Manchurian Candidate episode, as he tries to assassinate Jimmy Carter (as seen in Marvel Two-in-One #26-27, covered in my Deathlok thread). So, Jack can stick it. When he is alone, we do see that Nick is affected by the death of his brother, though he can't show it in front of subordinates or others. In the USSR, Tania Belinsky discovers she is not in the hands of the KGB, nor do they know anything about why she is there. She is being brought to a secret underground complex, to meet someone called Sergei. I don't think it is Eisenstein. Kyle drops Val off at Empire State U, to register for college classes, to learn more about the world. Val will undergo the hell of on-campus registration, a seemingly endless series of filled classes, wrong lines, improperly filled out forms, and administrative BS from power-mad registrars. That's why I always pre-registered (except the one time my college office lost my second page of course codes; forcing me to go through that mess for two classes). She later meets some guy called Dollar Bill (who looks like a caricature of someone in the Bullpen, but, I'm not sure who). He introduces her to someone named Ledge, who looks a bit like a caricature of Jim Shooter. A third guy is seen in the background, who looks vaguely familiar, too. Giffen would do a lot of this kind of thing, later, on the Legion series. While Val goes through registration hell, Kyle richmond and Nighthawk run up against one of the many forgettable filler villains. In this case, The Ringer.... That is a seriously ugly costume! Nighthawk puts him down, with a lot of back and forth about rich people holding others down. It's pretty odd stuff for a superhero fight (though not unique for Bronze Age Marvel). Patsy is still destroying coffee pots at the riding academy, when Jack turns up to talk to Val. Patsy takes him for a walk, after changing into a dress and acting like she is coming on to him. She tells him he needs to forget Val and move on. At the end, Val is walking with her new friends, when a rotund, bearded guy, behind them, is hit by a pipe (or something tubular) and goes down (this is the third caricature-looking guy) and we are told we will meet Lunatik, next issue. This one will be important for a tangential reason. Thoughts: Pretty much a palate-cleanser issue. It starts off well, with Fury and SHIELD arriving to mop up and Fury facing the remains of his missing brother. That carries over from the emotion of the previous issue. then, everything switches gears to mostly humorous stuff, between Val's campus adventures, Kyle's battle with an idiot gimmick villain, and Patsy' battle with domesticity and advice for the lovelorn. Not sure where the latter part is going; but, it is kind of in keeping with the character's past, in her own series. Tania's encounter is setting up a future plot, as is the attack at the end, though that one will be more immediate. Really, the first few pages are the only part of this issue that matter.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 19, 2018 16:57:54 GMT -5
I never realized how much Giffen channeled Kirby until seeing these issues. Giffen talks about it here, in an interview from the Kirby Collector #29. At one point, he mentions studying someone's style too closely, so that he started drawing what were like xeroxes of their work. He may be talking about Jose Munoz, which The Comics Journal called him out about. As it is, his first Defenders story has what looked like a Gil Kane layout, to me. Giffen was essentially a fan who stumbled into comics; and, like many fans, his training ground seemed to be copying others. He had to learn his skills later, after this and did eventually develop more of his own style, though it fluctuated from clean and detailed, to more impressionistic (the Munoz stuff) to something more of his own impressionism, to something in between the impressionistic stuff and the detailed stuff.
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 22, 2018 22:26:13 GMT -5
Defenders #52Creative Team: David Anthony Kraft-writer, Keith Giffen & Chic Stone-art, Denise Wohl-letters, Don Warfield-colors, Archie Goodwin-longing to dumpy the EIC job on someone else. This looks way more like Chic Stone, rather than Keith Giffen. Sounds like a rush job to beat the deadline. Giffen said in his Kirby Collector interview that he was always up against deadlines, in those days; this looks like an example of that. Synopsis: Namor is out for a stroll up and down Park Avenue; on that famous thoroughfare, with his nose in the air..... (The minstrel bit was censored, on MTV) The cops are keeping back the crowds and complaining to Namor, when Hulk spots Fish-Man and thinks he needs his help and jumps in. The cops void their bowels and yell to clear the crowds and namor gets all huffy... Hulk is rather like Posey and lets Namor know it. Meanwhile back in the US....back in the USS...back in the USSR, Tania Belinsky descends into Diabolik's lair... where she is told to change into her Red Guardian costume. She does and tires to escape and runs into a bunch of cloaked goons, who gang up and slip a mind control device on her head. She is brought before The Presence, who is going to make her his mate. Somehow I think we just walked into John Fowles' The Collector. She is going to undergo cobalt baths and the pair will be reborn in a nuclear explosion that will destroy half of Europe. So she has that to look forward to. Back in NY, Hulk and Subby are in smashy-smashy mode. Patsy Walker shows up at Richmond Enterprises, for the 50 cent tour, when they hear a radio report about the fight. They go to help, though both know they are way out of their league. Valkyrie is at a theater, watching either Death Wish or The Man Who Fell to Earth (the screen image inside the theater looks more like Bowie, than Bronson) and gets ticked off at someone smoking in the non-smoking section of the theater. Ah, the good old days of second hand smoke, everywhere! Val smashes his pipe and is told he is the drama professor at Empire State U and Val doesn't vcare. later, she and her new friends are at a donut shop, when Smokey Stover (the prof) shows up. Val is about to tell him to get bent, when he apologizes. her friends talk about Lunatik, who we have yet to see, in full, and who doesn't appear in this issue. Back at the fight, nighthawk and Hellcat each pick a psychopath and try to calm them down. Finally, Namor explains the problem to Nighthawk, that Atlantis is facing contamination from an underwater clear test and Kyle realizes Hulk could go in the area. Patsy has Hulk calmed down and he apologizes for hitting Fish-Man and says he will go into the area. Aw, they made up! Thoughts: Well, between Giffen's skills at this point, and Chic Stone's art, this looks extremely Kirby, especially The Presence. Again, I think this was mostly Stone, maybe over Giffen layouts; but, there is very little obvious Giffen here and a lot more that looks like Stone doing his Kirby impression. The Lunatik mentions are mostly bait-and-switch, as it just sets up next issue, even though he was more deliberately teased last issue. Val's friends have seen the guy, which kind of removes some of the mystery; so, this is a less effective tease. The Hulk/Namor fight looks like something out of classic Marvel, minus actual Kirby art.
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