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…
- Tales of Suspense #74 (Jan 1966)
- The Avengers #24 (Jan 1966)
- The Fantastic Four #47 (Jan 1966)
- Amazing Spider-Man #33 (Feb 1966)
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Tales of Suspense #74: Iron Man versus Enervated Happy Hogan. See I just realized that Happy has a cousin in the wrestling world, Crusher Hogan, so the Enervator released Happy’s inner wrestler. Oh wait, Roy Thomas isn’t writing these comics yet. Never mind.
And dang, Pepper must work out to drag around armored Tony like that. You go, girl!
Cap versus the Sleepyhead. I couldn’t remember how this ended from the cartoon version, but it must have been the same. And as a kid, I loved it. Cap jumping out of a plane? Blowing up the Sleepers with a blow torch? It’s exciting and David vs Goliath! But yeah, it doesn’t hold up. But maybe part of the problem is as you guys have noted before: smaller panels for big moments. The big finish was crammed into the last couple of pages. Whereas when I watched in on TV, it was one image on the screen at a time. I have to think that increases the power of the moment.
Did anybody else feel like this ending was a callback to Cap and Bucky trying to stop that plane, which got Cap frozen and Bucky “killed”? Except here, Cap escapes. Hmmm.
The Avengers #24: I knew of Kang, but the first “Kang story” I read was 20 years after this issue. It introduced the Council of Kangs, and Ravonna was still in that tube. I’m sorry, but how hard was he trying to revive her? You have all of time and space at your fingertips! You know what it is. Kang the Conqueror, not the Caretaker. In spite of his super science, he’s a jock with a time machine. OMG, Kang is EVIL FLASH GORDON!
The Fantastic Four #47: The constitution of the Inhumans must be “Whoever wears the crown is king.” Cuz seriously, Maximus had the crown, everybody acting like he’s sincerely the king, Black Bolt just takes the crown, that’s all, and now he the king. Now I’m picturing a Spy Vs Spy comic of Black Bolt and Maximus taking the crown from each other. (bomb emoji)
Honestly, this issue was a slog. Those pages where Thing is fighting Dragon Man near Alicia read like the sappiest melodramatic romance comic dialog, I was about to lose it. I know Stan lays it on thick, but for pity’s sake, shut up and gimme my fight scenes!
I’ve seriously given up on the Inhumans. I really thought their intro would be epic, but this confusing mess has completely turned me off. Which is disappointing, because they’re such a big deal with the FF over the years. I’ll just hope they’ll turn around later.
Amazing Spider-Man #33: Yes, THE Spider-Man moment. I was aware of it before the first time I ever read this issue, but I think the first time I saw it as an homage was in Peter Porker, Spectacular Spider-Ham. Our Ham manages to completely stand up holding the rubble, and it all crashes around him and he’s left holding just that wedge-shaped piece. Pretty hilarious.
“Can ISO-36 take away Spider-Man’s powers?” I was wondering the same thing. Sometime in the future, Hobgoblin uses a chemical to take away his spider-sense (yes, I know who actually discovered the formula), and maybe, the secret ingredient is ISO-36? WHOA!
Until next time, or until improves his mask with a mustache, make mine Make Ours Marvel.