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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 20, 2015 12:22:33 GMT -5
I remember thinking when reading this that if everyone could have just been nice..all would have been well. Funny, as I've been talking about in the X-Men thread, this is another example of a hero (Reed in this case) being rather un-heroic. The first glimpse of Illuminati Reed Richards? *shudder*
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Post by the4thpip on Apr 21, 2015 2:48:04 GMT -5
I googled Kurrgo, and now I want whatever book this alternate version appeared in:
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 21, 2015 12:56:33 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #7 Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 5/5. I don't think the issue is bad, just average for an FF comic. There really isn't anything of historical importance here, save for it being the FF's first visit to an alien world. You liked this one a LOT more than I did. I found it to be the worst issue of FF to that point. And possibly the worst MU comic to that point. Almost everything in it was completely nonsensical. The only saving grace was Kirby's planet building.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 22, 2015 21:00:35 GMT -5
Journey Into Mystery #85CreditsScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek Synopsis: Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, has been magically imprisoned inside a tree for centuries. After escaping, he locates Thor on Earth to enact vengeance upon the thunder god for his capture. Loki locates Thor, and after traveling to Earth in mortal guise, begins causing magical havoc to draw Thor out. After revealing himself to Thor, Loki manages to trick and hypnotize Thor and bring him under his control. Fearing the hammer should Thor snap out of his trance, Loki attempts to make Thor get rid of it, but the bond Thor has with his hammer is too strong. Loki succeeds when he creates a magical illusion of Thor, and instructing the real Thor to hand it over, Loki then instructs him to go off and release some caged animals. Unfortunately for Loki, he is unaware that Thor reverts to Donald Blake when away from the hammer for sixty seconds. Since it was Thor that was hypnotized, Blake is unaffected, and after retrieving his hammer, he pursues Loki through the city. Thor finally stops Loki by encasing him inside a section of hurled pipe, and after tying the mischievous god to his hammer, Thor hurls him all the way back to Asgard from atop the Empire State Building. First Appearances: Loki, Heimdall, Odin/Balder/Tyr (only seen from behind; first mention of Odin) Comments: The debut of Loki is a fun filled romp, but I can't help but feel that the ending was a tad anticlimactic and undignified for one of Marvel's most powerful and influential villains; Loki's powers don't work in water or while wet? I may be forgetting something, but I have read "The Norse Myths" (great book) and can't recall anything about that. Glad that was tossed out or at least ignored. There's a ton of silly superhero physics going on, with Thor doing a very good impression of Silver Age Superman with his seeming ability to pull obscure powers out of nowhere. (I did think it was cool how Thor saved those civilians by holding up the tracks and letting the subway train pass over them.) It's clear that was the intent Stan and Jack had early on, but that sort of thing would become less and less frequent as they got a good grasp of how to make Thor a more unique hero. Art and Story: There is nothing particularly special about the story, save for Loki being involved. I could easily see this plot being reconfigured to be a Superman vs Mxyzptlk tale. Kirby and Ayers turn in another solid performance, but I would have liked to have seen more of Asgard. Kirby's going to make up for this in a big way very soon, thankfully. Character Development: Thor and Blake still don't have much of a personality, but we really haven't had a chance to see them interact with others all that much at this point. Loki is a welcome addition, since even in this formative appearance it's clear that the character has a devious charm. Jane seems to be intensely enamored by any man that exudes power or danger...yet she's in love with Blake. Okay. Personal/Historical Rating: 5/9. A very average story without much going for it besides the thrill of the new, but historically it's certainly one of the most important of the early Thor tales. Loki would go on to be one of the most important villains in the entire Marvel Universe and a cinematic favorite of females into sly androgyny.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 22, 2015 21:05:03 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #7 Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 5/5. I don't think the issue is bad, just average for an FF comic. There really isn't anything of historical importance here, save for it being the FF's first visit to an alien world. You liked this one a LOT more than I did. I found it to be the worst issue of FF to that point. And possibly the worst MU comic to that point. Almost everything in it was completely nonsensical. The only saving grace was Kirby's planet building. I think the ramping up of the humor saves it for me. I could easily side with your take on it, though. So far, my least favorite that I've read and reviewed is Thor vs The Executioner. I tend to dislike issues that fail to use all the strength of a specific character the most.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Apr 22, 2015 22:30:24 GMT -5
I found it striking how different the Asgardians are from the later 'regular' appearances. I love the using the Hammer to hurl stuff, though... absurdly awesome
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 24, 2015 3:38:59 GMT -5
I found it striking how different the Asgardians are from the later 'regular' appearances. I love the using the Hammer to hurl stuff, though... absurdly awesome It seems like Kirby started off with a very basic medieval take on the gods but soon took off in far more interesting directions visually.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 24, 2015 4:19:21 GMT -5
Strange Tales #101 CreditsPlot: Stan Lee Script: Larry Leiber Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek Synopsis: Our story opens with the revelation that Johnny Storm is now living with his sister, Susan Storm, in the small town of Glenville. After a brief tour of his asbestos lined room/crimefighting HQ, we learn of The Destroyer; a villain bent on halting the construction of Glenville's new amusement park by way of sabotage. The local newspaper editor, Charles Stanton, receives several threatening letters demanding construction to cease or else. After the Torch saves several civilians from a certain death, the Destroyer openly challenges the Torch in the local newspaper to face him. The Torch arrives at the location, walks right into the Destroyers trap, but the Destroyer is forced to flee when the Torch's teenage pals arrive on the scene after having followed the Torch. The Torch soon discovers that the reason the Destroyer was only attacking the tall attractions was because from that vantage point, anyone could see the Communist submarine surface at the Destroyer's private beach. The Torch and the authorities subdue the communist submarine and then confront the Destroyer. The Torch easily takes out his weapon with his flame and it's then revealed that the Destroyer was Charles Stanton all along. First Appearances: The Destroyer Comments: Where to begin with this whacked out comic. Firstly, Stan's hilarious blunder with the Torch's new status quo is made even more amusing by the fact that it seems that Stan has all his bases covered at the beginning with the little explanation that all of the Torch's pals, first seen in the pages of the FF, are all now conveniently "away" and sworn to secrecy. Stan seems to have forgotten that in the previous month, in the pages of the FF, the FF are invited to Washington D.C. as honorary quests with their identities clearly exposed for all to see. Never-mind the fact that the authorities have clearly known who they all are since at least FF #2! This series, for me, has always been the weakest of all the Marvel Silver Age material. Beyond the fact that the set-up was poorly thought out and executed, the Torch, while a great member of a team book, is no lead; he lacks the pathos and likability that would soon define the Thing (Marvel Two-In-One lasted 100 issues for a reason) and he's certainly no Peter Parker in terms of complexity. The Torch is a character that works best playing off of stronger characters like the Thing and Spider-Man and not so much taking center stage. Art and Story: The story is by far the worst so far, mainly because of the blunders listed above. The idea that someone seeing the commies from the top of an amusement park ride is laughable enough, but it's all rendered moot since the authorities found them anyway! The Destroyer's plot was a complete waste of time. Even the Torch's efforts were, in the end, unneeded to catch the bad guy. It was another Kirby/Ayers joint, so I like the art at least. Character Development: We learn that Johnny might be suffering from early onset dementia given the ridiculous lengths he'd go to to protect a "secret identity" that's clearly public knowledge. We also learn that Johnny suffers from a combustible variation of the night emissions problem that a lot of teenage boys have to endure. Thankfully Reed helped the boy out with all that asbestos lining on the down low. Personal/Historical Rating: 3/5. The story is bad. Really bad. I'll say no more. I can't say that there is anything significant about it historically either. Well, it is Johnny Storm's first solo series, but since Johnny never had much success in that area, I can't rate it as anything but average.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 24, 2015 8:15:32 GMT -5
I'm not so sure Stan should be taking the blame for the secret identity snafu, except perhaps as editor. Keep in mind his "plots" for these stories often consisted of little more than one- or two-sentence synopses, which brother Larry (and later, Robert Bernstein and Ernie Hart) would flesh out into full scripts (in fact, there's evidence to suggest that, in at least one case, he didn't supply a plot at all despite the credit: the first Eel story in Strange Tales #113 is a reworking of scripter Jerry "Joe Carter" Siegel's Star-Spangled Kid story in World's Finest Comics #6 back in '42). Hell, it was Lieber who named Henry Pym, Don Blake and Tony Stark! So it's likely that LL hadn't done more than skim his big brudder's FF stories and assumed Johnny had a secret ID like virtually every other super-hero, a mistake Stan probably didn't notice until #101 was printed judging by the timing of the correction. At any rate, Stan won't take up the writing chores on the Torch strip until Strange Tales #114.
Cei-U! I summon the glimpse behind the scenes!
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Post by DE Sinclair on Apr 24, 2015 8:24:52 GMT -5
Anyone ever wonder why the Torch isn't long dead from lung cancer due to asbestos exposure over the years? And apparently here his whole bedroom was lined with it.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 24, 2015 8:58:10 GMT -5
The sample pages I did for Marvel back in '79 were for a Torch story where he battles the Asbestos Man, who blames Johnny for the cancer killing him. It didn't seem nearly so clever after my dad's mesotheleoma was diagnosed. Cei-U! I summon the 20/20 hindsight!
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 24, 2015 9:06:32 GMT -5
I'm not so sure Stan should be taking the blame for the secret identity snafu, except perhaps as editor. Keep in mind his "plots" for these stories often consisted of little more than one- or two-sentence synopses, which brother Larry (and later, Robert Bernstein and Ernie Hart) would flesh out into full scripts (in fact, there's evidence to suggest that, in at least one case, he didn't supply a plot at all despite the credit: the first Eel story in Strange Tales #113 is a reworking of scripter Jerry "Joe Carter" Siegel's Star-Spangled Kid story in World's Finest Comics #6 back in '42). Hell, it was Lieber who named Henry Pym, Don Blake and Tony Stark! So it's likely that LL hadn't done more than skim his big brudder's FF stories and assumed Johnny had a secret ID like virtually every other super-hero, a mistake Stan probably didn't notice until #101 was printed judging by the timing of the correction. At any rate, Stan won't take up the writing chores on the Torch strip until Strange Tales #114. Cei-U! I summon the glimpse behind the scenes! If that's the case, I wonder if from this point on Stan made Larry read each new issue of FF in front of him so that sort of thing would never happen again?
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 24, 2015 9:30:08 GMT -5
Anyone ever wonder why the Torch isn't long dead from lung cancer due to asbestos exposure over the years? And apparently here his whole bedroom was lined with it. I wondered exactly that in my thread.
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Post by paulie on Apr 24, 2015 9:52:57 GMT -5
The Human Torch feature is arguably the weakest of the initial spate of Marvel titles. It didn't really have a high point either even with the Kirby-Ayers team. Nick Fury where are you???
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Post by DE Sinclair on Apr 24, 2015 9:54:12 GMT -5
Anyone ever wonder why the Torch isn't long dead from lung cancer due to asbestos exposure over the years? And apparently here his whole bedroom was lined with it. I wondered exactly that in my thread. Great minds are warped along the same curve.
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