tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post3113681559515280102..comments2024-03-25T05:26:47.764-04:00Comments on The Peerless Power of Comics!: At The Mercy Of The Skull!Comicsfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-40083509988189281892019-04-09T15:10:20.408-04:002019-04-09T15:10:20.408-04:00Yes, the Gene Colan art is the best part of this. ...Yes, the Gene Colan art is the best part of this. I just love the evil smirks on Cap/Skull's face! <br /><br />Also, yes, how could Cap not realize that he's wearing a mask?!dbutler16https://www.blogger.com/profile/00046066729353639991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-15014650041773517322019-04-07T22:55:56.661-04:002019-04-07T22:55:56.661-04:00I suppose I'm too genre-savvy, but if I were t...I suppose I'm too genre-savvy, but if I were the Skull in Cap's body I'd figure there'd be a good chance it was only temporary - so I'd go get a big ol' swastika tattoo - just to annoy my greatest nemesis when he got his body back.George Chambershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06837115563034614545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-9050230971142695522019-04-06T13:07:49.052-04:002019-04-06T13:07:49.052-04:00So Cap swaps bodies with Red Skull and doesn’t che...So Cap swaps bodies with Red Skull and doesn’t check whether he's wearing a mask?<br /><br />Looking forward to that issue where he swaps bodies with Dolly Parton when a fan asks him whether they’re real and he answers that he doesn't know. Checking they were real would be the first thing I’d do.dangermashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-83293401597150737892019-04-06T09:02:11.845-04:002019-04-06T09:02:11.845-04:00So it was already established as a mask then?
Wel...So it was already established as a mask then? <br />Well don't I feel like an eejit - its back to SteveDoesComics for me.<br /><br />-seanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-51914886530368504622019-04-06T06:08:57.776-04:002019-04-06T06:08:57.776-04:00Sean, as to the Skull's past, I've always ...Sean, as to the Skull's past, I've always found <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-prisoner-and-power.html" rel="nofollow">his origin story</a> (which Cap heard from the horse's mouth) to be enlightening, as Lee made it clear that this man knew what he was getting into and knew what he wanted. For the Skull, his rise to power stemmed from a desire to escape his destitute and lowly status. But Hitler only threw Johann Schmidt the lifeline he craved--it was Schmidt who grabbed it and fully embraced the role thrust upon him as well as the new identity that came with it. The fact that there is a man beneath that mask has almost been rendered moot for him, IMO, as it's the Red Skull that history remembers and fears--something that I feel certain Schmidt realizes with no small amount of satisfaction whenever he steps in front of a mirror.<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-33564770373922703292019-04-05T21:38:06.834-04:002019-04-05T21:38:06.834-04:00Well M.P., as I recall Cap didn't even realize...Well M.P., as I recall Cap didn't even realize it was a mask til the next issue, when he actually took it off. My suspicion is that neither did Stan Lee, and he was just making it up as he went along. <br />(Or maybe it was Gene Colan, but as he wasn't credited - or paid - for writing any of it I don't see why he should get any of the blame).<br /><br />Comicsfan, I take your general point about the mask, but it still seems regrettable that the Red Skull didn't actually look like that - there was something creepy about it, that hinted at all kinds of dark events in his past.<br />Its particularly disappointing if was just a writer's cop out to make plotting that issue easier.<br />Now I think about it though, it does seem like the kind of thing that might not be consistent with earlier continuity, or was probably revised later...<br /><br />-sean<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-26126499816057425842019-04-05T20:14:03.641-04:002019-04-05T20:14:03.641-04:00M.P., yes, on all points! (And wouldn't you t...M.P., <i>yes</i>, on all points! (And wouldn't you think Cap would have taken Step One regardless, even if he was unaware there was an APB out on him?)<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-20084063731210597082019-04-05T19:41:18.412-04:002019-04-05T19:41:18.412-04:00Good point there ComicsFan. I made the easy mista...Good point there ComicsFan. I made the easy mistake of judging Colan by his individual panels and forgetting that with the Marvel metnod he was also a film director/co-plotter/story teller.dangermashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-30582880992824176322019-04-05T19:26:08.855-04:002019-04-05T19:26:08.855-04:00If the Red Skull switches bodies with you:
Step On...If the Red Skull switches bodies with you:<br />Step One-take off Red Skull mask <br />Step Two-change out of funky green Red Skull jump suit<br />Step Three-plan out what to say to Avengers before hand<br />Step Four-proceed with caution<br />Step Five-if Avengers don't buy it, tell them to get Xavier or Doc Strange in there to verify your wild story<br />Step Six-if none of this works, then panic<br /><br />M.P.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-26617747533764653422019-04-05T19:09:48.438-04:002019-04-05T19:09:48.438-04:00That's an interesting observation about Colan&...That's an interesting observation about Colan's contribution to what would otherwise read as a shaky plot, dangermash, though I'd add that even such a talent as Colan being on board is no guarantee of a cohesive story that reads more smoothly. One such example in <i>this</i> story can be found in the panels that had the Avengers preparing to confront the Skull--and Colan, for whatever reason, has Goliath shrinking down to normal size, even though he's back to a giant stature when the Skull makes his entrance. Somehow, to Colan, that made sense for the scene that he laid out; yet Lee felt the need to back up those visuals by cobbling together a rationale by Goliath that he'd be able to capture the Skull at his normal height, a decision which Yellowjacket advises against and which prompts Goliath (off-panel) to return to giant-size. Lee's dialog didn't really help the situation, IMO, since Goliath's decision would be akin to, say, Yellowjacket deactivating his stingers. Perhaps the best way to have handled it would have been to remove that Goliath panel entirely, since the prior and latter panels read from one to the next with no problem--though I'd surely wince at seeing a nice piece of Colan art go to waste.<br /><br />Colin, that's a good point, though keep in mind that this was only 1969, and the Avengers hadn't yet experienced "weird stuff like that" all that often; I think that the only remotely similar situation they'd faced was their encounter with the Space Phantom, though that involved a foe in "disguise" and not someone who was trying to convince them of his true identity.<br /><br />Sean, about the Skull and his mask... I suppose if you look at it another way (heh, get it? :) ), the fact that he chooses to wear his mask as if he considers it his normal appearance/persona says a great deal about the kind of man we're dealing with--as opposed to Dr. Doom, whose mask is worn out of necessity and who is mostly judged by his actions rather than his hideous visage (though just how hideous is <a href="https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-faces-of-doom.html" rel="nofollow">up for debate</a>).<br />Comicsfanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10064955427593820783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-78520369476950289192019-04-05T13:59:18.271-04:002019-04-05T13:59:18.271-04:00The thinking man's comic blog... and yet someh...The thinking man's comic blog... and yet somehow here I am in the comments dangermash.<br />Who knows, perhaps Comicsfan's current interest in Rick Jones will draw Charlie into turning up to lower the tone even more... <br />If its caves and nega-bands next time, that could do it.<br /><br />-seanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-250051640485154512019-04-05T13:41:34.128-04:002019-04-05T13:41:34.128-04:00No response. Charlie's not here. I rest my c...No response. Charlie's not here. I rest my case.dangermashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-67096254882534773672019-04-05T13:06:14.526-04:002019-04-05T13:06:14.526-04:00Peerless Power is the thinking man's Steve Doe...Peerless Power is the thinking man's Steve Does Comics, Sean. Does Charlie agree?dangermashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-56441536434363076782019-04-05T10:02:22.375-04:002019-04-05T10:02:22.375-04:00I am cringing at the shallowness of the plot dange...I am cringing at the shallowness of the plot dangermash, despite Gene Colan's excellent artwork.<br /><br />Hang on - dangermash? Colin? Its like theres been a blog identity swap too, and this is secretly SteveDoesComics.<br /><br />I remember this story - or, rather, the next part of it - from the British reprint in Titans. Thats where I found out - spoiler alert! - that the Red Skull wears a mask and he doesn't actually have a red skull. Which was disappointing.<br /><br />-seanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-21110841383289188262019-04-05T09:15:20.821-04:002019-04-05T09:15:20.821-04:00Exactly!Exactly!dangermashnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-41367342916434627602019-04-05T09:09:23.047-04:002019-04-05T09:09:23.047-04:00The Avengers refuse to believe that the Red Skull ...The Avengers refuse to believe that the Red Skull is really Cap even though weird stuff like that happens all the time in the Marvel Universe. If I lived in the MU I'd be prepared to believe anything, no matter how incredible it seemed. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4142199900369238852.post-67646866508979480062019-04-05T07:11:31.502-04:002019-04-05T07:11:31.502-04:00Looking at this story, I can't help wondering ...Looking at this story, I can't help wondering what it would have been like without Colan on the pencils. With Kirby art, I think we'd have been cringing at the shallowness of the plot.<br /><br />The same applies to Whiplash's first appearance against Iron Man in TOS. With Heck or Tuska on pencils, that story would have been laughable. But Colan could take any old story and turn it into a cinematic masterpiece. Makes you wonder what he could have done with some of those awful early Thor stories.dangermashnoreply@blogger.com