"The Heroes and the Holocaust!"

 

In 1981, Marvel Treasury Edition brought to an end its seven-year series with its "final edition" (so to speak) that featured characters from both Marvel and DC Comics in a whopping 68-page story--long overdue for a presentation in the PPC and, as a real treat for yours truly, one which I'm looking at myself for the first time, having initially passed on it at the counter over forty years ago.

Given the listing of credits, it's no wonder that DC gave its approval to those assigned to the job:

• Pencils: John Buscema, arguably Marvel's biggest gun on story art at the time;
  
• Inks: Nine different artists inking Buscema's backgrounds, with Joe Sinnott handling all of the characters;
  
• Letters: Joe Rosen, brother to fellow Marvel letterer Sam Rosen*;
  
• Front cover art: John Romita (layouts) and Bob Larkin

*In such stellar creative company, I almost expected to see Sam Rosen's name joining them; but by this point, he'd left Marvel, his final (albeit incomplete) work for the company having been submitted about nine years prior. But I think you'll find that Joe turns in exemplary work on this story.

While on scripting, we have Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter, with plotting suggestions submitted by Marv Wolfman--though initially different arrangements had been made, as Mr. Shooter explains**:

   "I picked Marv Wolfman to write the book for a number of reasons: he was a marquee name and deservedly so, he was in New York, conveniently, he was absolutely reliable, and most of all because he really, really wanted to do it.
   "Somewhere in the middle of plotting, Marv’s employment agreement expired. We weren’t able to come to terms on a new one. He had an offer from DC, and opted to take it. So, Marvel was obliged to provide another acceptable writer. I was the only Marvel writer who had written both Superman and Spider-Man. I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands, but neither did the other leading candidates. So, I took it on. DC had no objection."

**Condensed for brevity. You can find Shooter's full and fascinating remembrances of this project on his blog, in three parts.

Predictably, there are a number of things to look forward to here, as those of you already familiar with this edition know. For one thing, it's a fine overall story. The beginning lays out its direction with Spider-Man's discovery of suspicious activity; the heat is turned up a bit by out of the ordinary behavior on the part of the incredible Hulk (if one can even use the word "ordinary" in regard to his actions); Superman arrives and begins his own investigation, leading him to the doorstep of the Latverian Embassy and you-know-who; there's the added variable of the man named Parasite, an energy-draining character who had been imprisoned by Superman but becomes aligned with Doom; there is also Wonder Woman's presence, lured by Dr. Doom to New York for some unknown reason; while Spider-Man's own progress in the investigation leads to joining with Superman against both Doom and Parasite.

The key player in leading us through this story's developments, however, would be Doom--whom we come across early on and provides us with the knowledge of an ongoing plan that brings him closer to world domination. This early in Shooter's story we're provided with no specifics as yet; yet the master of menace, and manipulation, will be responsible for a good deal of what you and I will see from this point going forward.

It bears mentioning that to support this type of cooperative venture between the two companies, DC and Marvel characters--operating in Metropolis and New York City, respectively--live and function on the same world, and always have. That no doubt requires putting aside a fair amount of questions on our part as to why these characters have never become involved in the others' affairs, some of which dealt with the safety of the entire world which they all strive to protect. (The same sorts of questions which arise when, say, the Fantastic Four are the only heroes to respond to the world-threatening appearances of Galactus, the Over-Mind, et al.) By extension, we would need to put aside the mechanics of this story and its cohabitation of heroes when reading another joint venture between the same companies, such as the JLA★Avengers tale.

But readers didn't fork over their hard-earned $2.50 to quibble about such things--and so, instead of Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross and a military contingent arriving in Glendale in response to the devastation which occurred following an attack by the Hulk, we see instead a news chopper carrying reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane, which, along with subsequent scenes throughout, makes clear the fact that Marvel and DC characters are more than familiar with one another.

And so when the Hulk enters Metropolis and engages in still another inexplicable rampage, a certain powerhouse in his own right arrives to put a stop to it--a conflict which will also draw in this story's other headliner. Clearly, the Hulk is under the influence of some other force that is provoking and directing him into lashing out. For all that we're seeing, however, the Hulk will turn out to be merely one of several bit players introduced to the story in order to offer segments that will interest readers of each company's books: Lois Lane, whom we'll see very little of; Jimmy Olsen, striking up a friendship with fellow photog Peter Parker; Lana Lang, who works with a television media subsidiary of telecommunications conglomerate Galaxy Communications and who rebuffs the advances of Peter Parker; Perry White... Jonah Jameson... and so on. Both Superman and Spider-Man will each have extended segments to shine--though for the time being, it's Superman who carries the ball for this story, and that will hold true even after his battle with the Hulk.

And speaking of which--"This is a job for Spider-Man" has yet to take its place in the comics lexicon, and so Superman returns to the fight and, in the process, gets to the bottom of the Hulk's situation as only he can, effectively resulting in the end of the Hulk's involvement in this story in an active role.

With Lex Luthor incarcerated, Superman decides to pay a visit to the only other individual who might have reason to use the Hulk in such a way--which brings us to Doom, a match for Superman in his own way and who nearly deals with his foe's interference here and now. The scene is a fascinating exchange of cat-and-mouse, while Superman, for his part, is cautious but considers himself in no real danger from what he nevertheless knows to be a dangerous individual.

What we haven't discerned until now is that the Hulk's previous strike against a section of pavement had a purpose, which was to free Parasite from his prison cell--a character who joins Doom and, unknowingly, becomes another part of Doom's methodical plan that will continue to unfold.

Following his altercation with Doom, Kent travels to New York and offers to do freelance work for Jameson, in order to focus the attention of Doom and Parasite on himself (as a friend to Superman) rather than on others such as Jimmy and Lois. Once ensconced, we see him perform various acts of heroism which have him recalling his earlier conversation with Doom (which, in all likelihood, had been meant to throw him off his guard). The scene had me recalling an issue of The Sentry limited series, where the Sentry was attempting to impress on his therapist the fact that his power was such that he was compelled to spend every waking minute intervening in emergency situations around the world.

And what of Doom and Parasite? In Parasite we have a character who is interesting in his own right, having his own mind and concerns in relation to his condition which boils down to a matter of survival, even as he strives to exist as a man. Consequently, he dislikes being left out of the loop and being strung along by his "benefactor"--yet Doom being Doom, the status quo won't be changing until it serves Doom's purpose.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man, whose almost suffocating feelings of a lack of self-worth and confidence have so far brought down much of his contribution to this story, makes process in his investigation which leads to a skirmish with Wonder Woman, who is captured by Doom's forces and returned to Doom's lab to be placed in a stasis tube alongside the Hulk. But Spider-Man has covertly followed, and, in addition to Parasite, finally learns the details of Project Omega--an ambitious plan meant to deprive the world of energy and weaponry, paving the way for Doom's supremacy over the entire planet.

Briefing Superman upon his arrival, Spider-Man's ego takes another hit when Superman insists on tackling the threat alone; yet refusing to play the coward, Spider-Man follows, and the pair finally confront the villains in a battle that ends disastrously for them.

Yet as skillfully as Doom has attained his goals while dealing with the dual threat of Spider-Man and especially Superman (the latter who, along with Doom, has been the driving force of this story), there is more to be revealed regarding Project Omega, with Doom having further plans for Parasite that his "partner" remains ignorant of.

You can probably make an educated guess by now as to how things are resolved from this point, as Doom's plan collapses with (a) Spider-Man's rescue of Superman and the two renewing the fight, and (b) Parasite having a reckoning with Doom, which results in the destruction of the control panel to the master control of Doom's fusion reactor, putting the world in danger of total destruction within minutes. With Superman racing to control the reactor's imminent explosion, and Doom's hurried withdrawal from the site, it's all up to (you guessed it) Spider-Man to repair the controls, who has no small amount of trepidation but still resolves to try his best. (No, I've no idea why Doom didn't stay and take care of it--but then we wouldn't have Peter having his moment, would we?) Fortunately, we're all still around to talk about it, which means he succeeded--with Clark Kent making sure later that the hero gets his due in the eyes of those who had their doubts about him.

Kudos all around to the creative team for a job well done, surely a fine ending to the Treasury Edition series. My only real criticism would be in regard to the story's treatment of Spider-Man--not solely in regard to his constant harping on his inadequacies and missteps, but also Buscema's rendering of him as just another action character rather than supplying the unique range of movements and motion we know this character is capable of (something which Shooter also makes note of in his blog entry). Superman, by contrast, Buscema has down pat--impressive, imposing, a figure to be regarded in awe and nobility. (Noble enough to have returned for that passenger jet left on top of that building, I trust. ;) )