shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 7, 2015 9:11:22 GMT -5
Cei-U! You put way too much faith in those little credit boxes, shax! Not having the endless amounts of information you have stored in your brain, Kurt, I have little else to work from  But I'm still not totally buying it on this one. This issue FELT very Roy Thomas and only felt like Lee at the very beginning and with the exodus plot point. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 7, 2015 9:11:47 GMT -5
At the very least, the book's sudden emphasis on continuity, both acknowledging Pam Hawley and Junior, and setting up a new chapter for Strucker, felt far more like something Thomas would have pulled than Lee. I have a hard time buying that Thomas did little more than turn Stan's plot into words with this one. The continuity touches are undoubtedly Roy's, as they could easily be added in the dialogue stage. As for Strucker's "new chapter," I suspect (but can't prove) that Stan was already setting the Baron up to be the power behind HYDRA so this may have been something he specified in his plot. Cei-U! I summon the loose ends! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 7, 2015 9:13:20 GMT -5
At the very least, the book's sudden emphasis on continuity, both acknowledging Pam Hawley and Junior, and setting up a new chapter for Strucker, felt far more like something Thomas would have pulled than Lee. I have a hard time buying that Thomas did little more than turn Stan's plot into words with this one. The continuity touches are undoubtedly Roy's, as they could easily be added in the dialogue stage. As for Strucker's "new chapter," I suspect (but can't prove) that Stan was already setting the Baron up to be the power behind HYDRA so this may have been something he specified in his plot. It would be a bolder turning point than anything Lee had tried in the title yet (we still don't know where Strucker's Blitzkrieg Squad disappeared to, do we?), but it's certainly possible. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 7, 2015 9:17:04 GMT -5
By this point, Stan was pretty obviously more interested in 1960s Nick Fury than 1940s Fury. I can totally see him writing Strucker out of the war title so he could eventually use him in the SHIELD strip.
Cei-U!
I summon the afterthought!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 7, 2015 9:18:19 GMT -5
By this point, Stan was pretty obviously more interested in 1960s Nick Fury than 1940s Fury. I can totally see him writing Strucker out of the war title so he could eventually use him in the SHIELD strip. Cei-U! I summon the afterthought! Good point, though there was certainly nothing preventing Stan from taking the Baron Zemo approach and concurrently featuring Strucker in both periods. Any possibility that Stan's leaving gave room for Ayers to contribute more to the plotting? Maybe some of the moments in this story that don't feel like Stan are actually Dick. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 7, 2015 10:07:32 GMT -5
Maybe. Ayers proved he could plot/write back in his days doing the original Ghost Rider for Magazine Enterprises. I don't think he was especially comfortable in that role but I could easily be wrong there.
Cei-U!
I summon the possibility!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Feb 12, 2015 9:43:34 GMT -5
Strange Tales #144  "The Day of the Druid" writer: Stan Lee "designer" (does that mean "breakdowns"?): Jack Kirby pencils: Howard Purcell inks: Mike DeMeo letters: Sam Rosen grade: B What begins as the most patently absurd SHIELD story yet, in which a villain calling himself The Druid inexplicably has the world's most advanced technology at his feet, puts on a high tech fake witches' sabbath for no apparent reason, and then decides to attack SHIELD via flying remote controlled eggs so that "At last the world must feel the power of the druids!", takes a marked turn a few pages in. Having just left the Sgt. Fury title, Lee suddenly seems far more driven to rekindle that Howler comradery in these pages. Whereas the previous issues featured Fury, a bunch of faceless SHIELD agents, and occasionally Dum-Dum and Gabe, we suddenly find Lee totally abandoning all other facets of SHIELD in this story in order to focus on the relationship between Dum-Dum and Fury.  And, in addition to giving pretty much the entire story to Able Company's Dynamic Duo, Lee introduces Jasper Sitwell in this installment, a new recruit who's unexpected skill set beneath a dorky facade is reminiscent of Percival Pinkerton, combined with the rookie greenness and, perhaps, the arrogance of Junior Jupiter.  It's clear that Lee is trying to recapture the feel of The Howlers in these pages, infusing the SHIELD premise with more emphasis on characters and interplay as opposed to continuing to rely primarily on visuals and far out ideas to carry the feature. Important Details: 1st appearance of Jasper Sitwell Minor Details: - Last issue, Fury clearly wasn't on the plane that got shot down as that occurred in a cutaway from the story Fury was a part of, yet he's on the plane at the start of this issue. - Coincidence that Lee leaves Sgt. Fury to make this his primary Nick Fury title at the exact same time that Kirby is stepping off of penciling chores? Or did both simply happen because Lee and Kirby are reshuffling their energies as of this month in response to the steady expansion of the Marvel Universe? - Does the hidden barbershop entrance take Fury to the ground SHIELD HQ seen in the last story arc, or does it take him to some sort of transport that brings him to the Heli-Carrier? - Though most of the visual ideas in this issue are downright laughable, props must be given to Kirby for predicting automobile airbags three decades before they became widely used:  plot synopsis in one sentence: The Druid is attacking SHIELD with remote controlled flying eggs, Fury survives a plane crash caused by one, he and Dum-Dum are pursued by another but survive, and Jasper Sitwell arrives at the hidden barbershop entrance to SHIELD HQ, meeting Fury and Dum-Dum for the first time. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Feb 12, 2015 10:49:09 GMT -5
"designer" (does that mean "breakdowns"?): Jack Kirby Yes, and a bit more. I once asked John Romita Sr. (who worked over Kirby layouts on Daredevil and Hulk) what Kirby breakdowns/layouts looked like. He told me Kirby worked directly on the artboards, lightly sketching in figures and backgrounds but doing detailed penciling on his trademark exotic machinery (and the occasional monster). As per usual, Jack filled the margins and gutters with story notes so that the finisher knew everything he needed to emphasize in the art (remember, there would've been no script to work from). Cei-U! I summon the insight! |
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Post by MDG on Feb 12, 2015 11:17:49 GMT -5
"designer" (does that mean "breakdowns"?): Jack Kirby Yes, and a bit more. I once asked John Romita Sr. (who worked over Kirby layouts on Daredevil and Hulk) what Kirby breakdowns/layouts looked like. He told me Kirby worked directly on the artboards, lightly sketching in figures and backgrounds but doing detailed penciling on his trademark exotic machinery (and the occasional monster). As per usual, Jack filled the margins and gutters with story notes so that the finisher knew everything he needed to emphasize in the art (remember, there would've been no script to work from). Cei-U! I summon the insight! It looks like Purcell is really uncomfortable working from Kirby's layouts here. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2015 13:46:07 GMT -5
Yes, and a bit more. I once asked John Romita Sr. (who worked over Kirby layouts on Daredevil and Hulk) what Kirby breakdowns/layouts looked like. He told me Kirby worked directly on the artboards, lightly sketching in figures and backgrounds but doing detailed penciling on his trademark exotic machinery (and the occasional monster). As per usual, Jack filled the margins and gutters with story notes so that the finisher knew everything he needed to emphasize in the art (remember, there would've been no script to work from). Cei-U! I summon the insight! Just wait till Steranko's debut a few issues from now ... |
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Post by paulie on Feb 12, 2015 20:28:39 GMT -5
Next up, if memory serves, is 'Lo, the Eggs Shall Hatch' so that should get an A-minus for the title alone!
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jun 15, 2015 19:24:51 GMT -5
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #30  editor: Stan Lee writer: Roy Thomas pencils: Dick Ayers inks: John Tartaglione letters: Sam Rosen grade: B- Whereas last issue felt epic in its scope and depiction, this one feels like more of the same. The Howlers chute into Italy to intentionally get themselves captured in order to meet their contact and, from there, it's a one-in-a-million mission to steal Mussolini's gold reserves. The action, narration, characterization, and art are all pretty run-of-the-mill, but the one intriguing surprise comes in the form of a small Italian partisan assisting them who seems far too young to be involved in the war. Both Ayers and Thomas put a little extra "oomph" into this section, Ayers with that dead but deeply expressive gaze, and Thomas in making Fury actually get shamed for once.  Tartaglione joins in with the next image, really playing up a child who has seen more in his lifetime than anyone should have to.  In fact, it SHOULD have been an even more impressive moment when, a page later, the child removed his hat and revealed himself to be:  but now she's all sunshine and smiles, literally pining after Dino as a love interest a panel later. In the quest to argue that girls can be as tough as boys, this story inadvertently sends the exact opposite message; this girl just cannot be taken seriously. And, of course, Fury's "boner" comment has not aged well, either... One more surprise in this issue: the end narration promises that D-Day is coming soon. Ummm, wouldn't that spell the end of this series, or would they just fight on the Pacific front after that? Finally, are we supposed to know who this is?  Fury's comments suggest as much. He's introduced only as "Captain Andre, of the Royal Canadian Air Force". A Google result hasn't yielded anything of use. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 15, 2015 21:12:42 GMT -5
Don't know about Captain Andre but it's broadly hinted that the girl is Sophia Loren. Hence this suggestive scene:  The real Sophia Loren, however, was only eleven when the war ended so this can't be her, no matter what Roy Thomas wants us to believe (hence, I suspect, Stan's coy and otherwise purposeless footnote). Cei-U! I summon the case of mistaken identity! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jun 15, 2015 21:16:39 GMT -5
Don't know about Captain Andre but it's broadly hinted that the girl is Sophia Loren. Hence this suggestive scene: View AttachmentThe real Sophia Loren, however, was only eleven when the war ended so this can't be her, no matter what Roy Thomas wants us to believe (hence, I suspect, Stan's coy and otherwise purposeless footnote). Cei-U! I summon the case of mistaken identity! Ah, good to know, Kurt! Then I guess Fury's "boner" comment was appropriate after all! And, incidentally, isn't it a little creepy to have Dino hitting on a girl who outright states she is sixteen years old? |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Jun 15, 2015 23:24:04 GMT -5
One more surprise in this issue: the end narration promises that D-Day is coming soon. Ummm, wouldn't that spell the end of this series, or would they just fight on the Pacific front after that? Well, D-Day was June 6, 1944, but V-E day didn't come until May 7, 1945. So they still have almost a full year of fighting in front of them. But yes, we'll also be seeing them in the Pacific theater as well. |
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