Welcome to Make Ours Marvel, the weekly show where Michael Kaiser and Jon M. Wilson read chronologically through Marvel Comics’ spandex adventures and discuss their thoughts with little to no authority.
In this episode…
- Sgt. Fury #25 (Dec 1965)
- Strange Tales #140 (Jan 1965)
- Tales of Suspense #73 (Jan 1965)
- The Avengers #23 (Dec 1965)
Images from Discussion:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Strange Tales #140: The End of Hydra! And the story continues into the next issue(?). I should be annoyed, but these early Marvel comics have actually pulled this bit a few times already, so I’m more resigned to it. Sigh.
Like you guys, I’m so surprised at Stark’s recurring role here! It makes Tony’s post-Civil War role running S.H.I.E.L.D. much more natural than I ever suspected. But also, how good are the spies at SHIELD if they can’t tell Tony is wearing a huge chest plate under his suit? Maybe they just ignore him when he’s around. “Oh great, Mr Money-bags is here again wanting to play spy. Just humor him and maybe he’ll go soon.”
Which does lead to me being totally gobsmacked for Tony to go into action in space flying his Brainosaur, and not an Iron Man to be seen! 1. That’s awesome! 2. Maybe *this* is how Tony maintains the Iron Man cover! “If Stark was Iron Man, he would have worn the armor to fly that dangerous mission.” This. Changes. Everything!
H.Y.D.R.A. skateboards. HYDRA skateboards? Hydra S.K.A.T.E.B.O.A.R.D.S. I just can’t.
Dr Strange and Dormammu fighting in friendship bracelets. Yeah, so that happened. I did enjoy myself, but nothing particularly stands out. So it was “fine point five.”
My take on the Eternity saga: I’m still loving the artwork. The visuals are so psychedelic and creative. And in terms of a story, maybe it’s groundbreaking in truly being a single arc that’s gone this long, and that alone makes it stand out in a medium that’s still primarily one-and-dones. So I can see it being noteworthy for being “first” for trying something different. Not that I’ve done any research or anything. I’m just a yo-yo with a keyboard.
Tales of Suspense #73: Oh this was a crazy cool story! Iron Man totally caused Black Knight’s death. But considering the shape he’s in at the end, it’s almost a pyrrhic victory. (Looking up how many R’s in “pyrrhic”. YES! NAILED IT!) And dang, what an ending! Looking forward to the next part!
And I recognized that trick of tilting Iron Man’s head to give his face some expression. I remember later artists using that as well. It can be overdone at times, but when used appropriately, it’s darn effective. Love love love.
Cap and the second Sleeper. I never considered a Gojira angle on this story, but I love it! Well spotted, guys. And yes, all those people died. Stan must be scared of the CCA, thus the captions. But pictures don’t lie. In the 60s.
Yes, I totally remembered that the third sleeper is flying Red Skull head. But I still don’t recall how Cap beats it. Maybe it dies of embarrassment, being a turderken monster. “Look at me! I’m a giant head on a flying manta holding sci-fi robot! … Kill me now.”
Sidebar: I read JLA/Power Rangers recently, which contains this gem. Flash says, “Batman has been kidnapped by a pink flying robot dinosaur!” Hey, you guys brought up the Rangers, not me!
The Avengers #23: “Another Kang in the can!” Yes indeed. This is a hella confusing story, and you guys called out all of the things I would, especially calling Wanda “the weakest Avenger.” Are you freaking kidding me??!
All right, I’ll say it. According to the comics of this time:
Weakest Avenger: Scarlet Witch, the reality manipulator = weaker than an archer.
Weakest FF: Invisible Girl, with nigh-impenetrable forcefields = weaker than Stretch Armstrong guy.
Weakest X-Man: Marvel Girl, moves things with her mind = weaker than guy with wings.
A GUY WITH WINGS!
It’s ok, I’m fine. Really. It’s fine. Breeeeeeeathe….
Until next time, or until Hawkeye foils the plans of the Red Skull, no not that Red Skull, make mine Make Ours Marvel.
With all of those comments, I can’t possibly have forgotten something, can I? Oh but I can and did! (Seriously, you need to only read excerpts of my feedback on the show, not everything I write. Seriously.)
The Black Knight’s castle, brought stone-by-stone to outside New York, Jon speculated it’s the same castle used by Count Nefaria. I say nuh-uh. In Marvel’s New York, there’s an entire industry around reconstructing castles. The entire city is probably ringed with castles. I can hear the contractor already. “Shure, we can builds ya castle, when ya needs it? Thursday?! Look, pal. I already gots 2 jobs dis week for a Victor Van Dumb and some guy Malaria, but we can do ya next week. Hey, don’t get fresh wit’ me, I knows people!”
With all of the secret headquarters and lairs and castles, building contractors are the real power brokers in Marvel’s New York. Just imagine how many warehouses they build just so they can be abandoned!
Ok, I’m really finished now. … Maybe…
Regarding the Hydra/Cobra connection: Larry Hama had originally pitched a new SHIELD series that got retooled into G.I. Joe. What became Cobra was based on Hydra. I’ve seen several articles about this including http://underscoopfire.com/gijoe-shield/