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Post by Ish Kabbible on May 7, 2016 16:39:51 GMT -5
So...umm...no chance then for Brother Power The Geek #3?
Back to you Cap
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zilch
Full Member
Posts: 244 
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Post by zilch on May 7, 2016 22:47:25 GMT -5
I read the Sleeper stories originally in Cap Annual #2 (1971), a great format for getting all the stories in the storyline in one shot. And a Not Brand Echh story to boot!
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Post by Hoosier X on May 8, 2016 14:34:40 GMT -5
I don't mind a little meta-commentary from a good writer who actually has something at least a little bit clever to say. But I haven't read something like that in a long time. It's usually pretty annoying, and reads like it was written by people who've never read a comic published before 1985 for readers who've never read a comic published before 1985. That gibberish in Aquaman #1 where Aquaman got all in a snit because people have misconceptions about him or think his powers are lame. That was so badly done. I think you could write a good comic about DC Universe misconceptions about Aquaman, but they wouldn't be exactly the same as Family Guy jokes, and it made no sense for Aquaman to get all bent out of shape about it. That was not nearly as clever as the writer thought it was. Except all I heard in shops in the area for 6-8 months was how great that sequence was and how everyone loved it, and that was the reason they were buying Aquaman when they never had before. So despite you not liking it and thinking it poorly done, it was extremely well-received among current fandom and generated a lot of buzz and interest in the book which translated to sales early on. Sales didn't last, mostly because Johns left and the art team went to another book, but that bit worked for current audiences, and yeah maybe they never bought comics before 1985, but that is the target audience for comics now. That is the bulk of the 100K or so consumers in the American market who may or might decide to buy a currently published comic book. Humor and wit aimed towards a demograhic that is not the primary potential audience may be more satisfying to you, but not what will work in the current marketplace. Dreadful as it is, the current market is all that is left to the big 2, so that's the tune they have to play. Going back towards the old ways won't regain them the old market, it will only lose them the current market. -M It could have been a decent sequence without Aquaman's inexplicable temper tantrum. I really doubt that writing it without Aquaman getting pissed would have totally ruined sales. I was rolling my eyes but still thinking about buying it (I used to love Aquaman) when I read the tired clichés about Aquaman's underwater powers. But I decided not to buy it when he had a temper tantrum about a few smug morons. But I think The Long Halloween is just about the most over-rated Batman story I've ever seen. So what do I know? |
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Post by Icctrombone on May 8, 2016 18:36:48 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #72 "The Sleeper Shall Awake!" Writer: Stan Lee Art: Jack Kirby (Layouts) and George Tuska (Art) Cover Date: December 1965 My Thoughts The only drawback to this is that is gave us the first of what will become a seemingly unending string of panels of Steve brooding about Bucky's death over the course of the next few years.
I guess you can argue that Caps final memories before waking in 1964 were Of the drone plane blowing Bucky into atoms. Thats quite a case of PTSD you're talking about. |
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Post by Icctrombone on May 8, 2016 18:39:57 GMT -5
Postscript:It seemed Wanda and Cap finally got together romantically in 2004, in Christopher's Priest's Captain America and the Falcon series, but that turned out to be illusory as tptb evidently then shoehorned it into the "Disassembled" arc. I don't remember that event being retconned out. They actually "knew" each other in the Biblical sense. |
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Post by Farrar on May 9, 2016 10:32:21 GMT -5
I don't remember that event being retconned out. They actually "knew" each other in the Biblical sense. Doesn't read that way to me. In Captain America and the Falcon #7 she's shown waking up on Steve's couch (not his bed) the morning after. A few pages later Steve and Sam have this exchange: Steve: "Wanda was on the couch." Sam: "...For her, this could mean you're engaged." Steve: "No--Sam--we--we didn't--" Sam: "Yeah, well, figures. I woulda. Twice." The "romance" itself was illusory--a deception--because Wanda was messing with Steve's mind, as Priests's earlier plans for a Cap-Wanda romance had to mesh with Bendis's Avengers Disassembled. And evidently Priest wasn't opposed to this, according to what he states on his website: "My planned Year Two romance between Cap and The Scarlet Witch (who'd always had a crush on him, after all--I'm not making this up) had to be moved way up since events in The Avengers would be sending Wanda away for quite awhile. I was eager to participate in Avengers Disassembled because, frankly, we needed the sales bump. And a Cap-Wanda romance played nicely into Brian Bendis's plans for the Avengers." digitalpriest.com/legacy/comics/caf.html |
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Post by The Captain on May 12, 2016 10:36:02 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #74 "The Final Sleep!" Writer: Stan Lee Art: Jack Kirby (Layouts) and George Tuska (Art) Cover Date: February 1966 SynopsisWith two of the three Sleepers awakened and assembled, a desperate Captain America bursts into a NATO facility to reach General Logan before the third Sleeper can arise. The troops stationed at the facility gamely try to stop Cap, succeeding only after dog-piling on him with superior numbers. General Logan happens upon the fight and chastises Cap for his actions, saying if Cap had wanted to see him, Cap should have said something rather than force his way in; Cap apologizes, with the explanation that the danger they faced was imminent. Elsewhere in Germany, the conjoined Sleepers sail above the countryside, terrorizing the people below. One man pulls his car over and raises his arm skyward with the Nazi salute, glad to see the Red Skull's robots on the move; however, he erroneously believed himself to be safe, as the Sleeper shot him with an energy bolt, reducing him to a cinder. Back at the NATO facility, Cap sketches the first and second Sleepers, as well as their combined form, for General Logan, explaining that there is still a third to be released. The general arranges for a full task force to be put at Cap's disposal to fight the menace, and they roll out, chasing the airborne Sleepers to the next destination. Jets and tanks both shoot at the robots, but the Sleepers' energy bolts take care of that threat, leaving Cap with diminished capabilities to stop it. The Nazi agent tasked with freeing the third Sleeper finally accomplishes his mission, setting loose a giant head in the general shape of the Red Skull's mask. It propels itself, via rockets on its underside, into the air to rendezvous with its brethren. Reaching them, it attaches itself to the top of the construct and flies forward, its final goal unknown. Cap and General Logan guess at its purpose, that being to detonate a bomb, hidden inside the head, inside a shaft it blasts towards the earth's core from the North Pole. To stop it, Cap grabs a flame thrower and jumps from the plane he is traveling in onto the top of the Sleeper combo. After nearly falling off, he manages to get the flame thrower lit and sends a jet of flame into the side of the head unit. Cap jumps off just in time and parachutes to safety, as the Sleepers fly on a little further before exploding, their threat to the world ended. Continuity Issues: None My ThoughtsAfter the promise and build-up of the previous two installments, this issue is a major disappointment. I'm not sure if Stan had somewhere else to be or if his idea for the next story had him distracted, but this wraps up far too quickly and neatly for my liking. Cap's theory about the Sleepers' goal is based on absolutely nothing, other than remembering that the Red Skull said he would destroy the world if he could not conquer it. Being able to guess that the giant head was actually a bomb is plausible, but to stretch that into the entire theory about the Sleepers flying to the North Pole, then using their energy beams to blow a shaft towards the earth's core so to be able to deposit the bomb there and cause destruction on a global scale is ridiculous. Even General Logan calls it out, saying "But that's only a wild guess! How can you be sure it was the Red Skull's intention--??", to which Cap responds "I can't be sure!..." Sure hope your instincts are spot on, Cap, because it would suck if the actual plan was something entirely different and you went left without ever considering going right. Also, with how tough the first two Sleepers proved to be when Cap was fighting with them in issues #72 & 73, it's an anticlimactic ending with the flame thrower. Bombs, missiles, boulders: none of these was able to make a scratch or slow down the Sleepers, but one little jet of flame shot at an undisclosed location on the Sleeper combo was all it took to scuttle the Red Skull's master plan? Also, what is burning, as everything on the outside of the Sleepers appears to be metal? Had they shown Cap getting the flame inside the head through an ear port or through a seam in the coupling between the head and body, it might have been a little more palatable, but after fearing the end of the world was nigh, to take down the Sleepers in the space of two panels and with no explanation how was a giant let-down. My Grade: C- for this issue, B for the entire Sleeper storyline. Two fantastic issues to open the action were not enough to redeem a shoddy ending and elevate this story to an "A' for the whole saga.
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Post by The Captain on May 16, 2016 11:18:19 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #75 "30 Minutes to Live" Writer: Stan Lee Art: Jack Kirby (Layouts), Dick Ayers (Pencils) and John Tartaglione (Inks) Cover Date: March 1966 SynopsisThe opening page shows Cap falling toward the water below, just moments after ending the menace of the Sleepers. The scene immediately shifts to a hidden lab beneath New York City, where a group of shadowy figures watch as a tiny parachute falls toward a replica of the city; the parachutes carries a small ball containing Inferno 42, "the most destructive element of all time", which had been extracted from a meteor by an agent of the shadowy men. The ball lands on the model, causing the entire display to become engulfed in flames. The men are excited about the possibility of using a larger amount of the element on a bigger target, but first, they have to retrieve it from S.H.I.E.L.D., as it has been stolen by that agency from the men. One man is worried that no one is powerful enough to get the Inferno 42 back for them, and another agrees, with the exception of someone named "Batroc". Going back to Cap's dilemma, he hits the water in a perfect dive but is still knocked unconscious by the impact. Floating to the surface, he is found by a passing ship that takes him aboard; the men in the rescue craft are skeptical it is the real Captain America, but their minds change after Cap tells them the tale of the Sleepers to verify his identity. Steve is next seen at Avengers Mansion, lamenting that the only thing he truly owns is his past, one filled with memories of Bucky, Sgt. Duffy, and a woman whose name he never learned. He puts on his uniform, then covers it with street clothes, and heads out into the city. Walking down a busy sidewalk, he passes a woman who looks like the one in his memory carrying an armful of packages. Steve turns and begins to follow her, only to witness her being bumped into by a man who exchanges the canister she has been holding with an identical one he was toting; Steve goes to stop him, but the woman assures him that she got back the right package back after the collision. As the man runs away, he is attacked by a gold-and-purple costumed man identifying himself as "Batroc", the same name used by the shadowy men in the lab. This attacker takes the canister and opens it, looking for the Inferno 42, but finds it empty and realizes that the woman still has it and he has been misdirected. Steve walks with the woman, asking her if they've met before; she replies "no", but Steve senses there is something she is hiding. Walking away, she thinks to herself about a man her sister knew during WWII, but that there was no way it could be the same man. Steve hears a shot, and he removes his civilian clothes , rushing forward as Captain America. He comes upon the same woman again, this time in the clutches of Batroc. A fight ensues, with Cap eventually gaining the upper hand, but Batroc tells him that the canister the woman was carrying had cracked when it fell from her grasp, leaving them just 30 minutes to find it and save the city; Batroc also mentions that the girl is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. As the issue closes, the woman is shown disappearing through a hidden door into a S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse, unaware of the impending danger she holds in her arms. Continuity IssuesAt the end of issue #74, Cap is seen parachuting from the Sleepers, but here he is seen in freefall toward the water below. It could have been explained that his parachute had been damaged to eliminate the error, but he is not even wearing his harness any longer. I chalk this up to the shift from George Tuska, who provided the art in the previous issue, to Dick Ayers in this one. My ThoughtsI really liked this issue for a number of reasons. Steve is shown reflecting on more of his past than just the usual moping about Bucky's death, remembering other people who had been in his life, which then ties nicely into the Agent 13 encounter. It gives some more depth to the character while also highlighting the fact that he was taken out of the world for 20 years and time has passed him by, leaving him with just his memories. The other big thing that I enjoyed is that Batroc was not portrayed as a joke but rather as a serious agent of the shadowy men and an actual threat to Captain America; he also wasn't the ridiculous stereotype Frenchman that he devolved into in later years. The whole piece about the Inferno 42 is sketchy, as it is never explained why it catches on fire on contact when it hits the model but doesn't immediately do so when the cylinder Agent 13 is carrying is cracked. As with previous issues, I put this in the category of "wacky Silver Age science that they don't base on anything realistic." My Grade: B+ Featuring nice debuts for both Agent 13 and Batroc, this story brings Steve back to NYC after the Sleeper saga and immediately plunges him into espionage involving S.H.I.E.L.D., a mystery woman, and a classic villain that is much tougher here than he will be in future years.
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2016 15:34:46 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #75, The Captain ... you've written an excellent review of one of my favorite stories back then and I enjoyed this adventure of which it's involved Agent 13 and Batroc.
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Post by The Captain on May 21, 2016 16:11:23 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #76 "The Gladiator, The Girl, and The Glory!" Writer: Stan Lee Art: John Romita Cover Date: April 1966 SynopsisCap and Batroc catch up to Agent 13 as she disappears behind a sliding wall; Cap tries to hold the two parts open but fails, while Batroc delivers a pair of two-footed kicks that knock a hole in the door and allow them to enter. From a hiding place within, Agent 13 is shocked to see the two men working together and vows that they will not get the cylinder she is carrying. Activating a hidden button, she triggers one of the location's booby traps, a sliding floor that sends Cap and Batroc falling; Cap manages to grab hold of the wall, but Batroc falls deeper into the building. Cap catches up to the woman, who suddenly passes out, which Cap states is from the effects of Inferno 42 exposure; he reaches her and again wonders why she looks so much like the woman he lost in the war. Elsewhere in the city, the shadowy men discuss Batroc's lateness and wonder if he failed. They conclude they are safe and also that Batroc does not fail, so if he returns with the canister, they can still stop the detonation. Back at the S.H.I.E.L.D. safehouse, Agent 13 realizes that the Inferno 42 has been activated and then insists Cap leave to find a way to stop the detonation. They are interrupted by Batroc, who begins fighting with Cap; Batroc kicks Cap's shield out of mid-air, then, after taking a punch, nails Cap with a kick, sending him flying backwards and leaving the Inferno 42 cylinder unguarded. Snatching it, Batroc flees and returns to his employer, where he demands $1MM in return for the cylinder; they agree, and as Batroc needles them about the situation, they are greeted by the sight of Captain America, who had only played at being beaten by Batroc so he could follow the mercenary to the source of the problem. They fight once more, with Cap gaining the advantage on his foe, only to see Batroc leap through a window to escape. Cap races back to Agent 13 to learn why she looks so familiar. As he arrives, she is being loaded into an ambulance, and Cap is told there is no known cure for Inferno 42 poisoning. The ambulance pulls away, leaving Cap to ponder why he keeps losing the people in his life he cares for the most. Continuity IssuesNone My ThoughtsI loved Cap and Batroc working together at the outset, each with his own agenda but realizing the stakes and knowing neither could accomplish their goal alone. Also as with the previous issue, Batroc is presented as a worthy adversary for Cap, even beating him (seemingly) in their first encounter in this issue; it was also refreshing to see the shadowy men mention that "Batroc does not fail" and it not be a sarcastic statement. On the down side, the science of the Inferno 42 was again wonky. Here it was not only highly combustible but also poisonous or radioactive, as it caused Agent 13 to become sick. In relation to that, when Cap is pursuing her within the building, he thinks about the effect the Inferno 42 is having on her bloodstream, but how does he know that? It's sloppy storytelling, because while it can be handwaved away as a part of the conversation between Cap and Batroc that we weren't privy to, there's no time in panel for this to have happened, as the action moves straight from issue #75 to #76. Lastly, there is some of Stan's "women are weak" attitude in the blurb on the first page. He writes "What's this?!! The valiant Captain America fighting side-by-side with the merciless Batroc, in pursuit of a frail, fleeing female agent of SHIELD! WTF, Stan; you can't have it both ways. Would S.H.I.E.L.D. really hire a "frail...female" as an agent? It's condescending and reduces her to a one-dimensional damsel in distress instead of an actual character that we should be invested in. Interesting Note: This is the first Captain America story in ToS that Jack Kirby did not either provide the art or layouts for; John Romita handled the art chores entirely on his own for this issue. My Grade: B+ This was another strong issue, science and sexism aside, and it really wrapped up the Inferno 42 storyline well.
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Post by Icctrombone on May 21, 2016 16:20:17 GMT -5
There was nothing sweeter than a Romita Drawn Captain America.
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 21, 2016 20:22:09 GMT -5
I definitely remember liking how Batroc was a legit villain... the whole 'super special foot karate' (I can't remember what it was called)... I surely would have been very impressed as a kid and wondering if it was a real thing.
I also thought the additional back story was very humanizing, which the character was starting to need badly... a nice counter to the all out plot and action driven Sleeper story.
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2016 12:39:56 GMT -5
John Romita at his very best when he did Tales of Suspense #76
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zilch
Full Member
Posts: 244
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Post by zilch on May 22, 2016 21:07:57 GMT -5
Zut Alores! Batroc ze Leepair ees whon of my favorite villains! Wit ze moustache and ze savate... and ze snappy pattair... i can hardly wait for ze next appeairance!
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Post by The Captain on Jun 5, 2016 14:30:40 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #77 "If A Hostage Should Die!" Writer: Stan Lee Art: Jack Kirby (layouts), John Romita (pencils) and Frank Giacoia [as Frank Ray] (inks) Cover Date: May 1966 SynopsisSteve sits down to watch a documentary showing his exploits during WWII, but he immediately regrets doing so, as it brings back some unpleasant memories of his time during the war. Going to the window, the thunderstorm outside reminds him of the sound of guns and fighting, and the scene shifts to the past... A group of retreating Nazis sees a handful of French resistance fighters and attacks them, charging up a hill to engage them, but as the Germans do this, they are met by Captain America, who subdues the Axis troops and takes them prisoner. After turning them over to the French fighters, Cap is greeted by a blonde woman who tells him how great it has been fighting at his side and how she has come to feel about him; Cap reciprocates those feelings, then tells her that even though they will need to part at that time, they will be together again some day. A man on a motorcycle interrupts their embrace, telling them of a group of Nazis in a bunker near Paris. Cap goes to leave, telling his ladylove to stay away due to the danger, which she argues at first but then agrees to. An indeterminate period of time passes as the scene cuts to a group of Nazis occupying Paris. As a machine gunner prepares to execute a group of hostages at Hitler's orders, the German commander discusses a special prisoner with one of his lieutenants, that prisoner being the blonde woman. He is convinced that she will give up the location of the French resistance leader, but when she refuses during interrogation, she is put in line for the firing squad. Just then, rockets enter the compound, and in the confusion, she is able to free herself, only to be knocked aside by an explosion. Shortly thereafter, the Nazi forces are ordered to evacuate Paris, but they are set upon by Cap. He is searching for a man named Francois for news about the woman; Francois informs him that she had been taken by the Gestapo previously. Cap leaves and attacks a passing German auto, stealing it and heading towards the Gestapo compound, where he beats the Nazi soldiers he finds there for information; they tell him she disappeared after an explosion. Cap tries to leave but is caught up in the throng celebrating Paris' freedom from occupation, not noticing a blonde woman wandering on the periphery and eventually disappearing from sight... Back in the present, Cap wonders if she was killed during that attack on the compound or if she might somehow still be alive. Continuity Issues: None My ThoughtsThis was a decent enough issue, telling a WWII Cap story but keeping it within the context of current continuity, unlike the stories told in issues #63-71 that were not tied into what was going on with Cap in the Avengers book. As well, it was a smart touch to follow up the previous two issues, where Cap met a woman who looked like someone he'd known during the war, with him being drawn back mentally to that time period and to that woman specifically, as it kept that subplot fresh in the readers' minds rather than have it drift into the background and be out of place when brought back. Also, while Cap does mention Bucky during his reflections while watching the documentary, it's nice that he doesn't focus on that loss as he has done so often before and will continue to do in many future issues. It makes sense that there is PTSD for him due to Bucky's death, but bringing it up issue after issue causes it to lose some effectiveness and makes the obsessing about it too central a characteristic for Cap. My Grade: B A solid story that keeps the mystery woman first mentioned in issue #75 on the front burner and gives Steve further depth beyond the usual whining about Bucky's death.
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