Bonus Features: Spider-Annuals, 1964-1999

 

Aside from rogues' galleries, pin-ups, and, in all too many cases, reprinted material, a staple of Marvel "king-size" annuals has been the informative bonus features that came in the form of exploring a character's abilities, being provided with a tour of their headquarters, a rundown of their supporting cast, or a supplemental tale consisting of only three or four pages, on the occasion that the main story didn't fulfill the expected page count. You'll find many of these bonus features given their due throughout the PPC over the years--but for a little variety on the subject, we'll begin digging through and dusting off some of the more under the radar material where a little extra creative effort went into these features.

In this inaugural post on the subject, we turn our focus to one of Marvel's inaugural characters, the amazing Spider-Man--and as long as we're going that far back, it seems fitting to include a few of the bonus features from the character's first annual from 1964, itself packed with additional material to no doubt titillate Spidey's growing fan base and including a number of pages which spotlight the work of the book's artist, Steve Ditko.

My Son... The Sub-Mariner!

Following the death of the Lady Dorma and the abdication of Namor The First and his subsequent departure from Atlantis, the grief-stricken Sub-Mariner turned to the surface world in an attempt to establish a life for himself there and explore his human heritage; yet, in failing, he discovers evidence that Capt. Leonard McKenzie, the human who long ago had wed Princess Fen, his mother, may still be alive. It would be the last course that longtime Sub-Mariner writer Roy Thomas would chart for the character before departing the book, a loose end which Gerry Conway would resolve in early 1972. In so doing, Conway would also demonstrate that he had in mind a different approach for Namor by severing Thomas's subplot of a Washington senator's campaign to secure amnesty for Namor by representing him as a champion of the environment.

The other loose end to be dealt with, of course, was the villainess Llyra, who had murdered Dorma yet escaped Namor's vengeance. And as Namor roams the streets of Boston for clues of his father's whereabouts, we find that Llyra has formed an alliance with one of Namor's oldest foes--Todd Arliss, Tiger Shark, who has his own plans for Namor.

Meanwhile, as marine biologist Walter Newell does some legwork of his own in investigating the whereabouts of McKenzie, we discover the 74-year-old captain spending the remaining years of his life in isolation in a Boston boarding house where he is looked after by a woman named Sara (presumably his landlady) and beset by memories of the loss he suffered fifty years ago. To understand the depth of that loss, we turn to a flashback narrated by Namor himself (via Thomas), in an exquisite origin sequence rendered by artist Ross Andru.

Events which Conway picks up on as we return to MacKenzie* again in late 1971, when we find his memories of that time are in the tortured form of bits and pieces which make clear that Fen's loss is something he has never healed from.

*Conway has changed the spelling of the last name, a trifling adjustment that could have been intentional or simply an oversight.

And so we finally rejoin Namor, who has crossed paths with MacKenzie without realizing it and now is lost in his own thoughts while walking the streets of Boston (seen here in scenes penciled by noted Sub-Mariner artist Marie Severin, with Jim Mooney).

What serves as the catalyst for finally drawing together the principal characters in this plot is the capture by Llyra and Tiger Shark of reporter Diane Arliss (Todd's sister), a woman hopelessly smitten with Namor and whose unwilling cooperation provides them with a powerful means by which they can bring Namor to them, and place him under their power.

A scene which at last opens the door to this saga's climax--for better or for worse.

To The Hidden Land Comes... The Hulk!

Jim Steranko's eye-catching 1968 cover to the first Incredible Hulk Annual no doubt contributed a great deal to selling the issue to not only readers of the character's regular series but likely just about anyone browsing the comics racks. To this day, it remains a stunning work of art--though judging by its original mock-up, it received a few additional touches from artist Marie Severin, who went on to pencil the story.

Yet with Incredible Hulk having only seven issues under its belt at the time, Steranko's cover might well have had a lot more riding on it in terms of promoting the Hulk's nascent series so that it wouldn't follow in the footsteps of its 1962-63 bi-monthly predecessor, which collapsed after a run of only six issues. In that sense, the image of the Hulk, struggling to hold up his own crumbling masthead, is disturbingly symbolic, to say the least.

In addition, a decision has apparently been made behind the scenes to rely almost entirely on the Hulk's dramatic image to entice current and new readers, with the cover being a bit deceptive in dropping the name of the story's antagonists--the uncanny Inhumans, whom we would expect to be represented by Black Bolt, Karnak, Gorgon, Medusa, Crystal, and Triton. Instead, only two of that group would be featured, taking a back seat to a collection of seditionists who would later fall under the sway of Black Bolt's unstable brother, Maximus. Only when you turn the page does the issue drop a hint that the Inhumans featured in the tale might not be the characters you were expecting--something that would have been crystal clear had the choice been made to go with Severin's proposed cover.

In a way it's almost unfortunate that our "substitute" Inhumans weren't deemed marketable enough to score placement on this issue's cover, since the entire story revolves around them as much as it does the Hulk, and they receive a generous amount of exposure throughout. As villainous Inhumans, they'll remind you a bit of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, with Maximus eventually stepping in as their Magneto. When we meet them, they're being called on the carpet for inciting rebellion against Black Bolt's rule--and when one of their own, Stallior, attempts to save his own skin, the savage response by his fellow dissenters is immediate.

Soon enough, Black Bolt orders through his telepathic "oracle" that the conflict end so that he may pass judgment on the lot of them. With nothing to lose, another of the group, Leonus, appeals once more to the assembled crowd to reject Black Bolt's rule--and naturally, any such attempt to incite rebellion against Black Bolt will gain the attention of Maximus, who sees the opportunity to turn the group's misfortune to his own advantage.  It's a rare glimpse into Inhuman politics, such as they are in a monarchy, with the scene almost hinting that the discontent with Black Bolt's rule may not be limited to these six (seven, if you count Maximus, though his hunger for power puts him in his own category)--nor can the subtext of the story's title, "A Refuge Divided!", be ignored.

Unfortunately for Maximus, Black Bolt's presence carries more weight with the crowd, and Maximus' words end up largely ignored. As for the accused, Black Bolt's judgment is swift and, all things considered, merciful. Their lives spared, they're instead banished to the dreaded "Un-Place," a dimensional land of exile which won't win any awards for its unimaginative name but is fated to serve as the location which brings our Inhuman convicts together with the incredible Hulk--thanks to the Inhumans' teleporting hound, Lockjaw, who delivers his charges to their prison but returns to encounter the Hulk wandering the land a few miles from the Great Refuge. Following his training to prevent strangers from discovering the Refuge, Lockjaw attacks; but as you might imagine, the Hulk proves a formidable adversary, and the beast instead uses its power to teleport the Hulk to the one place of captivity where even his strength will be useless.

And three guesses what place... er, un-place Lockjaw has in mind.

Where Stumbles The Simple Surfer!

Given the Silver Surfer's grandiose gestures that bordered on posing, and his legendary tendency to theatrically brood and bemoan his sorry state while trapped on the planet Earth (with respective thanks to artist John Buscema and writer Stan Lee), the character's origin story in his first solo series was ripe for artist Marie Severin's caricature treatment in the pages of Not Brand Echh, the short-lived bi-monthly series from 1967-69 that often took humorous swipes at Marvel's portrayal of its own characters as well as those of its Distinguished Competition, in addition to real-life personalities and celebrities of the time. With its final issue in May of '69, the book introduces its own unique take on Silver Surfer #1 (also a bi-monthly title in its first year of publication). And rather than soaring over the breathtaking landscapes of Earth while he sorts out his thoughts, in this warped version of the story the Surfer will have to be content with the equally breathtaking squalor of the Bronx.

Scripter Roy Thomas expertly channels Stan Lee's yak-it-up style that he adapted so well to these humor mags, with every panel filled to the brim with wit and, as was typically the case in such stories, sarcasm and insults, which were all in good fun; while Severin's work speaks for itself, mimicking Buscema's style so well yet practically reinventing this story while, needless to say with an eight-page limit, condensing it greatly from its original length (helped in part by Severin's much smaller panels).

In addition, there's a wealth of clever minutiae to scrutinize in Severin's depictions. For instance, in the dramatic moment where "Galacticus" (who appears to be Jack Kirby under that helmet) reveals himself to "Borin' Kadd," who would have thought to make him into a traveling salesman, with even the individual aspects of his outfit tagged and priced to sell?

Severin covers the few bases there are to be covered from the original tale--the choice the Surfer makes to leave the woman he loves, as well as his involvement with the Fantastic Four when his master had targeted Earth for consumption. (Though we can probably agree that his departure from the side of "Shallo-Gal" was more cause for celebration than grief.) Yet unlike Lee's story, Severin and Thomas see to it that the Surfer is provided with a much happier ending.

(Check out the homage to Gidget/The Flying Nun!)

The Atlanteans Are Coming! The Atlanteans Are Coming!

There's probably little argument that the concept of the Sub-Mariner invading the surface world has become a hackneyed plot that has long since had its day. Seen in a "next issue" caption, the words are likely to produce more of an eye-roll than anticipation. Granted that the land masses of most major cities are bordered by water, making them vulnerable to the incursions of the Atlanteans--but there's more to waging war than being able to emerge on the doorstep of your enemy, particularly when your soldiers are dependent on their water-filled helmets for survival. Atlantis might well be able to make precision strikes against key designated targets--but conquering territory and holding onto it? Namor's forces would be stretched to the limit, and that limit would likely be reached in fairly short order against retaliatory forces.

Perhaps that's one of the reasons why an Atlantean invasion has received so little cover attention over the decades: it's a story that must eventually circle back to Namor, and whether or not he's in it for the long haul or if he simply wants to make a show of force. More often than not, the invasion simply folds its collective tent and goes home.

Yet we still have those few dazzling covers that show Atlantis on the march to war, and most are impressive, indeed. "The Final Defeat of the Human Race!" one boldly proclaims--not true by half, but still an attention-grabber.

It's hard to go wrong with artist John Romita, who drew this cover for a reprint of the story originally appearing in Fantastic Four Annual #1. Namor's goal is at first to deny the surfacemen access to transit by the seas; but by the time his forces take New York City (and thereby hold its residents hostage against retaliation), he means to extend his dominion over the surface of the entire planet. Fortunately, Reed Richards develops a device to force the Atlantean forces back to the sea; and the invasion sputters entirely when Namor intervenes to save Sue Storm's life.

Romita's image of the invasion is focused more on the occupation of New York; but in another cover image which offers a second take on this story, artist John Byrne shifts the focus to the invasion itself.

An equally effective invasion occurs in the pages of issues 103-104. Within those stories, the Atlanteans again secure a strong foothold on the city; but the issues' covers, also by Romita, instead spotlight the FF's struggles with both Namor and Magneto.

It's one of the stranger Atlantean invasion stories, with Magneto usurping command of the Atlantean forces when Namor's back is turned, and then Namor regaining the loyalties of his men simply by proclaiming that they follow his lead again. Apparently the Atlanteans don't really care who issues their orders to fight in a war, which is simply preposterous.

The cover that, for me, hits it out of the park as far as conveying the power we want to see in an Atlantean invasion of the surface world is this one from early 1970 by long-time Sub-Mariner artist Marie Severin.

In this invasion, the lady Dorma has mobilized the Atlantean armies to invade New York in order to rescue Namor, who can no longer breathe underwater and who is being hounded by the authorities; so while it appears that Namor is leading this invasion, he's instead doing all he can to avert a war. Severin strikes the perfect balance.

Artist Rich Buckler gives his own take on an Atlantean invasion when the United Nations takes custody of Namor's alien guest, Tamara, and Namor is rebuffed in attempting to extricate her. The Atlanteans lend Namor their support, and the invasion is on--though their mission is to simply make a show of force in order to rescue Tamara and make it clear that the actions of the surfacemen in such treatment of an Atlantean citizen will not be tolerated. The invasion, however, escalates due to one of Namor's more outspoken warlords having his own agenda.

Finally, Namor and practically everyone in Atlantis are prodded to war with the surface world by a woman who appears to be Dorma, brought back to life (though in reality it's Nebulon, the Celestial Man, in disguise). The invasion takes place in London (for, it seems, no particular reason--maybe because Atlantis hasn't had the best of luck in New York). It only takes Namor an hour to conquer the city, which is probably why the issue's cover by Ron Wilson and Al Milgrom doesn't present much in the way of Atlantean military might.

It does, however, present the Hellcat battling with the Defenders, even though it's the Son of Satan who instead stands with the team this time around. We can assume that Wilson either got the two mixed up--or Patsy, after hearing reports of another Atlantean invasion, responded with an eye-roll.

Where Walk The Immortals!

It was probably the shortest invasion of Asgard on record, but the incredible Hulk did indeed pay the "Realm Eternal" a visit, as the mag that reintroduced him to readers, Tales To Astonish, drew to a close:

It appears from the cover that all of Asgard is up in arms over the Hulk's presence, but appearances here are a little deceiving. The story in this issue is a mere eleven pages, and the Hulk ends up only engaging with a few of Asgard's secondary players here before becoming more mired in Asgard's internal problems with troll armies when his new solo title is launched the next month. You'll see a good deal of the Warriors Three, nothing of Thor, and very little of Odin by the time it's all over--and even Loki, whom you'd expect to be in the thick of things, is mostly a behind-the-scenes character who doesn't take on the Hulk as he once did the Silver Surfer but is responsible for setting the Hulk loose in the realm:

It's something of a stitched-together plot on Loki's part; basically, he hopes that the Hulk will raise so much of a ruckus in Asgard that it will distract Odin's attention away from aiding his son, Thor, in a recent conflict. (We never learn here why Thor is in such peril--you'd think that an editor's note would make mention of the specifics and thus give the Thor story a plug. According to the date of the story, Thor was in dire straits at this point in time--as well as practically in the arms of Hela, the Goddess of Death--after losing a battle with the Wrecker which he was forced to fight while stripped of his power, thanks to the spitefulness of his father.  So Odin should be feeling a little preoccupied, the old coot.)

Granted, the Hulk vs. the Warriors Three doesn't seem like much of a story. However, we do get some exquisite scenes by artist Marie Severin, who is at the top of her game on the heels of her action-packed rendition of the Hulk/Sub-Mariner battle which took place in the prior issue:

After grappling with the Hulk, Fandral and his comrades come to the conclusion that the brute is in Asgard by mistake and isn't seeking battle with the Asgardians--and since the ceasing of hostilities throws a wrench into Loki's plan (such as it is), he finally appears in the flesh to stoke the tempers of those warriors on the scene. Unfortunately for him, Hogun isn't having it.

And so the Warriors plan to conduct the Hulk to an oracle for guidance in his disposition--but Loki makes good his unspoken threat to strike out of spite (a chip off the old block, this one), and, in symmetry with the story's beginning, changes the Hulk back to Banner just as he's leaping across a chasm, and Banner plummets. Apparently Loki isn't a big believer in the concept of momentum:

In Incredible Hulk #102 (the first issue of his new series, despite the numbering), Banner is saved by the Enchantress and the Executioner, who regret their actions when they find Banner void of useful information--but in threatening to slay him, they cause him to lose control and revert to the Hulk, who goes on to become embroiled in the troll/Asgardian conflict but mostly fights on Asgard's behalf. The brute only encounters Odin when the battle is over and Odin steps in to save the Hulk's life after a lethal strike by the Enchantress, though the meeting is abrupt and not without its rocky moments:

And so back to Earth the Hulk goes, where he runs into a nasty character called the Space Parasite--another haughty foe who, like Odin, could benefit from some people skills.

Editor's Picks: Classic Hulk Battles!

Everyone has their own opinion about which of the incredible Hulk's battles stand out among the rest--but in the Hulk's 30th anniversary issue from mid-1992, several artists teamed up to accommodate Marvel's own ideas on the subject. The list was whittled down to nine classic, memorable fights that presumably eclipse all other Hulk fights. "Hey, we'll be the judge of that!" I hear you shout--so let's have a look!

First, I think we can all agree on the Hulk vs. Wolverine, a fight which also introduced this feisty Canadian who would go on to become one of Marvel's most popular characters:

Art by Herb Trimpe

Next up: the Hulk vs. Thor. I think almost any of their clashes would qualify, with the fight from The Defenders #10 being one of my favorites--but this scene is taken from Journey Into Mystery #112, where Thor arranges to be deprived of some of his power for the duration. Boo! Hiss! Who wants that? Give him all you've got, Thor!

Art by Ron Frenz and Al Milgrom

Of course, one of the Hulk's most persistent enemies is the notorious Leader, who's pictured here going after the Hulk in the "Murder Module":

Art by Sal Buscema

Naturally, the Hulk vs. the Abomination should be included in this collection--a foe whose exposure to gamma rays allowed him to surpass the Hulk in strength and overcome him in battle, at least in the short term.

Art by Gil Kane

The Hulk's violent encounters with the Silver Surfer have always been unusual in nature, but certainly no less earth-shaking. The first time they met, the Hulk demanded that the Surfer transport him from Earth (whereas when Reed Richards and Tony Stark actually did so, he sought revenge--go figure); the second time, the Surfer sought Banner's assistance in freeing him from his imprisonment on Earth.

Art by Marie Severin

At one time, Banner was successfully separated from the Hulk, which left the brute a rampaging mass of anger without Banner's influence to mitigate his destructive nature. And so the Avengers attacked him en masse and succeeded in taking him down.

Art by Al Milgrom

The Rampaging Hulk magazine from 1977 contributes another battle to this list--that of the Hulk's struggle against the Krylorians. Sorry, I wasn't on board with this choice:

Art by Walt Simonson

Nor would I have included the Hulk's battle with the Pantheon. I remember the collection of issues that Peter David devoted to the Hulk's association with the Pantheon group--but if a "classic battle" developed between them, I suppose it didn't make much of an impression on me.

Art by Dale Keown

Finally, of course, the Hulk's battle with the Thing, though it begs the question: Which one? You already know my personal preference--but I think the one pictured was taken from their joint appearance in Marvel Feature:

Art by Jim Starlin

So how did these choices stack up with everyone? I probably would have booted the Krylorians and the Pantheon, and replaced them with Doc Samson and the Sub-Mariner without even thinking hard about it.  The other selections round things out pretty well for me.