All Signs Point To... Death!

While the villain known as Scorpio prepares to unleash a new grouping of Zodiac to the world, the Defenders have moved to invade his New Jersey headquarters in an effort to save two of their own as well as put an end to his plans. But one angry Defender has been carefully (and, to say the least, recklessly) herded to arrive ahead of them--a behemoth who has clashed with Scorpio before, and who wishes to express very specific sentiments on how the score between them will be settled:

It's the bludgeoning, beer-popping conclusion to the classic 1977 tale featuring the Defenders vs. the new Zodiac--and just in time for the group's knockout fiftieth issue!

The Defenders face the power of the Zodiac key, plus 4 to 1 odds against them--or do they?

With Friends Like These...!

When you think of "comic relief" in a comic book, two characters who might come to mind are the famous pair who became steadfast friends and supporters of Tony Stark throughout the evolution of Iron Man, ever since their debut in late 1963--Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan, Stark's gal Friday and right-hand man, respectively. Created when alliteration was often resorted to in naming characters who were meant to become memorable, Happy and Pepper were added as supporting cast members in Iron Man's early days from Tales Of Suspense--both getting their start in the comic together, and receiving generous billing on their issue's cover, at that.

Often the foil for each other (though Happy more so than Pepper), the characters provided a more humanizing emphasis on Stark, who would of course be spending most of the issue's time in his identity-concealing armor-- giving us an excuse to peek behind the doors of Stark's office environment, and eventually becoming his trusted aides. Most of their scenes had them playing off one another, while Stark observed and often chuckled at the acerbic nature of their interplay--and for awhile, that back-and-forth between them defined their characters, as well as their relationship with each other.

To Battle On Yancy Street!

Before we learned that the Human Torch was behind the gag gifts that the irritated Thing used to receive in the mail from the Yancy Street Gang, it was the general assumption that it was the Thing who was the sole target of the Gang's humiliating pranks. But when the Thing called for some back-up from his famous partners, and the entire Fantastic Four take a stroll through their neighborhood, it looks like Ben's nemeses have it in for the entire FF--as the Yancy Street Gang attacks!

As only they can.

It doesn't take long before the FF realize they've been soundly licked--and they race, not toward their foes, but their Fantasti-Car.

(All right, you and I know that the Thing could stub his toe on a building without suffering injury. But let's give Yancy Street its due--it's not every day the FF gets sent packing by a group of hooligans.)

Thankfully, this next scene takes place out of earshot of the Gang--because if they found out the FF were seriously giving thought to the notion that the Gang was doing the bidding of one of their enemies, they'd probably attack the Baxter Building in force.

Sue makes good sense--the FF should just file this under "lessons learned" and move on. But no, they're actually going to pursue this, though they'll reach a dead end fairly quickly.

Get a load of that filing system! What are those, index cards? Way to use the ol' noggin, Reed! No problem building a Fantasti-Car or finding a way to enter sub-space, but still sorting through your records by hand. And eight years later, your intelligence files have only advanced to a "visi-file" (which we non-inventive types might call a slideshow):

Obviously a few cross-referencing bugs to work out--neither the Mole Man nor even Doom fall under the heading of "super-strong."  At any rate, perhaps we should give Reed the benefit of the doubt. Considering how well the Yancy Street Gang did against the FF with just the tools at hand, maybe Reed swallowed his pride and consulted with them on how to take advantage of the resources he already has available to him.

BONUS! Artist Jack Kirby's pinup of a very wary FF in the 'hood.

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.

Partners In Crime(fighting)

From the double-sized Captain America #350, where Steve Rogers put aside his identity as "The Captain" and reclaimed his Captain America uniform and title from John Walker, here's an interesting look at a few bonus pin-ups that bring us up to speed on the characters we've seen in play up to that point.

First, a collection of men who, like Walker, stood in for the good Captain:

It seems clear that artist Tom Morgan wants to avoid a lineup of six men all dressed as Captain America--but depicting the 1950s Cap in his brainwashed Nazi zealot guise as the Grand Director perhaps kept this pin-up from a few walls.

Next, we learn that Steve really needs to get out more, if we're going by this pin-up that scrapes together the women he's been involved with--a collection which includes a woman who simply had Cap over as a dinner guest, as well as, of all people, the Viper:

(Jeez, Cap, talk about sleeping with the enemy!)

Finally, artist John Buscema brings together all of Cap's former partners:

Despite the implication of the word "partner" as someone who comes aboard long-term and battles with you regularly, it's funny how Cap has gone through a number of partners and nevertheless spent the bulk of his appearances in comics flying solo. Perhaps only the Avengers can be considered Cap's partners, at least in a semi-regular sense, with the special ops assignments of WWII that had Bucky attached to him no longer a factor in Steve Rogers' life. (Though perhaps S.H.I.E.L.D. would beg to differ!)

In The Future Waits--My Executioner!

When the Hulk began sharing half of those old Tales To Astonish stories, things were not only going well for the Hulk--they were going pretty well for readers, too. The Hulk was actually getting a lot more action and development than he did in the six issues of his first regular (and cancelled) series--and an array of art talent was stepping on board to detail his adventures, in an assortment of constantly changing layout/finisher combinations that had you wondering how many desks at Marvel his pages were being shuffled across.

I didn't start getting into those old stories until I read a copy of the fourth Hulk annual, which was bascially one big reprint issue featuring the Hulk stories from Tales To Astonish #s 75-77. The Hulk had finally reached a turning point with the military--thanks to Rick Jones, who, assuming that Bruce Banner was dead (and had died a traitor), was on the verge of revealing that the Hulk and Bruce Banner were the same person. (Jones finally did spill the truth to Major Talbot.) The Hulk, meanwhile, was very much alive and on his way to Washington in the mistaken belief that Rick was in trouble there.

And there's even more to take in. It seems that Banner, in his off-hours, had designed something called a "T-Gun," which the military decided to go ahead and build in order to then have General Ross's unit investigate just what the heck it was supposed to do. It's then that Ross gets word that the Hulk is approaching Washington (and making a beeline for the White House)--and so he decides to test the T-Gun by moving it there and having it ready to fire once the Hulk makes his landing.

Is your head spinning yet? Good, because it gets better! It turns out the "T" in T-Gun stands for "time"--that's right, Banner had theorized that a sudden blast which altered the light waves around a person could send them into a different time. (You'd think he would have scribbled a little thing like that somewhere in the margins of his designs, wouldn't you?) Unfortunately, the trigger-happy military wasn't willing to wait for a lengthy analysis, and so the Hulk is fired on and gets sent to the future--a decimated Earth where survivors are under siege by the "Evil One."

And just take a guess who that turns out to be!

The Asgardian Artistry of Keith Pollard

A few pin-ups for you from artist Keith Pollard, who had about a 30-issue run on The Mighty Thor and also left his stamp on Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man.

Not The Life Force He Had In Mind

Remember when I said that Fantastic Four Annual #5 was crammed with fresh material and guest-stars? One last pin-up from the annual which I'll share with you here might give you the impression they threw everything into this book but the kitchen sink:

If you didn't know better, you'd almost think these guys were forming their own team. (Which raises the question of what they'd call themselves. Maybe "The Leftovers"?)

I think a "gallery" section might have suited these characters better, where each got their own page instead of being crowded in with each other here (though it's probably a safe guess that the annual simply didn't have any pages left to allocate for them). As it is, I'd probably arrange them a little differently--putting Galactus in the background and replacing him in the foreground with some of the others who are having trouble finding face time. And Doom could take up a fully standing position next to Lockjaw, which would more balance the center behind Wyatt and Alicia (with the Panther in front).

Where the heck is Namor, by the way?

And talk about an accident just waiting to happen:  wouldn't you pay good money to see Lockjaw relieve himself on Galactus' leg?

Always Remember To Tip Your Guards

Fantastic Four Annual #5 was, in a word, crammed. Crammed with almost 60 pages of new material. Crammed with pin-ups (including the first double-page pin-up of the FF). Crammed with guest-stars. Crammed with ground-breaking news--the pregnancy of Sue Richards. Crammed with a new Silver Surfer story, the title of which inspired the naming of this humble blog:

Heck, even its cover was crammed:

Yes, this puppy was packed. Yet despite the wealth of content to feast on, what tends to catch your eye when you look over its cover is the blazing caption, "NOT A SINGLE REPRINT!" You didn't often see that on a Marvel annual; and as any fan can tell you, the words "reprint" and "annual" should never meet as one.

If I were to pick one part of this annual that I enjoyed above the others, though, surprisingly I wouldn't pick either the FF or the Surfer story; instead, I'd vote for the dazzling pin-ups of the Inhumans featured afterward. It's not simply because they're the first full-page renderings of the members of the royal family that I recall coming across--I suppose it's really because artists Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott seemed to take it up a notch with these characters and really do them justice.

Let's start with the two most prominent of the family, brothers who seem destined for lifelong conflict with each other:

The character of Black Bolt, as a ruler, is both impressive and intriguing. He strikes me as more of an out-of-the-ordinary man who became a ruler, rather than one who felt he was destined to be King. We know Maximus took over rule of the Inhumans from Black Bolt after an "accident" had rendered Black Bolt mute, and that Maximus subsequently sent Black Bolt into exile (the details are unclear--Maximus probably manufactured a reason or trumped-up charge so as to remove his brother and thus prevent him from regaining the throne). When Black Bolt returns and is able to seize the crown, it's really only because Maximus' guards have abandoned him (with others prevented from coming to his aid by Karnak and Gorgon). Yet the copy on the page, with its exalted language, would have us believe that Black Bolt was, is, and will be the greatest King the Inhumans ever knew, despite the fact that he's retaking the crown by force:

However, I think that Black Bolt is more the sum of his parts, rather than someone necessarily born to rule. A mute monarch who uses gestures in a way that makes them as imposing as his spoken word might be. Above-average strength, supplementing his ability to harness electrons by means of a device on his costume. Obviously an ability to inspire loyalty (though loyal guards don't exactly stand by while your brother sends you into exile). An excellent fighter with athletic gifts. A glider membrane built into his costume that allows him flight. And of course his destructive voice, which he must always struggle to keep in check. You don't see most of these attributes in Kirby's pose of him here--but because we're aware of them, the pose comes across as more impressive even though this could be any Inhuman standing with his arms raised.

As for Maximus, frankly I was expecting Kirby to picture him as a sort of ruler-in-waiting--yet I think this pose represents his state of mind (or lack thereof) and sense of stymied ambition beautifully.

So now that we've seen the brothers, perhaps it's time to have a look at the two sisters of the family:

Oddly enough, the first thing to catch my eye in the Medusa pin-up is the replacement of her old "Madam" title with "Magnificent." I'm guessing it was thought that the former term might associate her too much with her days with the Frightful Four, which her appearances since have struggled to divorce her from. And yet, in these latter appearances, as well as for some time to come, Medusa continues to wear a mask. Masks didn't even make sense on the Inhumans when the royal family was in exile and was trying to keep a low profile because of the Seeker's pursuit--after all, their costumes alone would still make them stand out for him like a sore thumb. But once the Inhumans returned to the Great Refuge after doing reconaissance amongst the human race, what was the point of wearing masks? Ceremonial cowls are one thing, but identity-hiding masks? If you want "Madam" Medusa to be a thing of the past, "magnificent" Medusa needed to retire her mask (which Queen Medusa finally had the good sense to do).

Take Crystal, for example. If anyone suggested she should wear a mask, her first response would probably be "Why?" Interestingly, Kirby's rendering of Crystal takes a very subdued approach, even though the copy makes a point of describing her impressive abilities. I can only imagine how amazing a more dramatic pose of Crystal might have looked under Kirby and Sinnott's skilled hands. But it's a nice page nonetheless--though Kirby sometimes can make a woman's face appear older than the character actually is, as seems to be the case here.

Rounding out the pin-ups of the royal family are the Inhumans' version of the Warriors Three:

 

It's really Gorgon and Karnak who are usually seen fighting and bantering together the most often, though. Triton, as we've seen since day one, tends to act independently of the others, and with a more clear head.  His independence is perhaps partly due to his ability to exist underwater; but even though that segregates him in stories to an extent, he paints a very impressive picture in or out of the water in the hands of the right artist (with Kirby and Neal Adams coming to mind).

Karnak is naturally less impacting than the shockwave-producing Gorgon, who made an impressive showing against the entire FF (to say nothing of an enraged Dragon Man) at one point. But how cleverly it made sense to make his fighting form that of a karate master, since we normally associate such displays with disabling an opponent or destroying a blunt object. After all, Karnak's power--being able to sense the weakest point in his target--can't do much for him on its own. He also needs to possess the strength and skill to take advantage of it. The Empire State Building must have a weak point somewhere--that doesn't mean I can just walk up and take it down with one chop.

Kirby and Sinnott did a wonderful job with this annual, and these pin-ups in particular.  At some point I'm really going to have to get into the Inhumans in depth, since their portrayal under Stan Lee glosses over a society that's a little less dazzling when you take a closer look under those masks and cowls.

Variations On A Theme

After looking at artist Jack Kirby's second series of pin-ups of the Fantastic Four (published in Fantastic Four Annual #2), it's easier to read much more into the characters of Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny than it was when Kirby did his first series of pin-ups of the team members in the earliest issues of the comic.  But those first pics had their appeal.  Striking but less vibrant, they nevertheless served to give new readers a more personal look at these characters they were just getting to know.

Even though these portraits were Kirby's first step out of the gate in portraying the FF, it was this grouping of pin-ups which artist John Byrne later chose to pay homage to when drawing his own pin-ups of the team (from Fantastic Four Special Edition).  Taking a fresh look at these old Kirby pin-ups with their newer Byrne counterparts, you'll notice more similarities than differences. For instance, these two pages of the Torch, with Kirby's work on the left and Byrne's on the right:

Byrne's improvements are obvious, adding much more detail as well as a reason for the Torch to be at such a high altitude in the first place. There's also the small point that, in Kirby's drawing, the FF wouldn't have been able to spot the Torch's signal to them if he'd really placed it that high in the atmosphere.  (Though both minor points can be easily explained by Johnny just enjoying his power and showing a little team spirit.)

We also see the same basic layout with Reed from both artists, though Byrne removes the nasty gunman:

I think the main problem with Kirby's depiction of Reed is that, for a pin-up, Reed is pictured too much "at a distance" and doesn't make much of an impression, except to display his elastic abilities. Byrne corrects for that while keeping the same elements of the background--though, with the exception of Sue's page, Kirby compensates by adding insets of the character's face to each pin-up, a feature which Byrne chooses to eliminate.

Sue's pin-up has a little more variation--a different hairstyle, as well as a different background. But look at how Byrne includes the nice touch of the "star" caption:

The pin-up of the Thing is the only one of the grouping which strays from the clear pattern of Byrne's work here:

I think a nice touch would have been to include the mangled street lamp shown in the earlier drawing with the rubble at the Thing's feet in Byrne's rendition. Though with all of that debris, maybe we're just not sharp-eyed enough to spot it, eh?

Worst-Kept Secret EVER

Before the Fantastic Four were world-famous celebrities, they were pretty much in hiding. That was mostly thanks to the Skrulls, who impersonated them shortly after they became the FF in order to discredit the group and turn humanity against them as a prelude to invasion. It was a crucial point for the budding "team." Just when they were trying to get their bearings, they were also just trying to get along with each other, fending off the Thing's bitter and downright hostile temperament at every turn. It probably didn't help matters that Reed, Sue, and Johnny were always calling him "Thing," even in casual gatherings--though Ben had only himself to thank for getting that particular ball rolling when he declared at the group's formation that "I ain't Ben anymore--I'm what Susan called me--The Thing!!"

So in their beginning days, the Thing was proving to be a two-fold threat--not only to the other three, but to mankind itself:

Fortunately, trouble seemed to find the FF frequently--and as a result, Ben found a lot of release for his anger, and in the process began to feel like part of this new team (though it certainly didn't happen overnight).

Once the FF foiled the Skrull plot, and proved to the military that they'd been impersonated, they began growing into their celebrity status. But far from exploding onto the New York scene, they "appeared" only when there was a threat to be dealt with. Their famous landmark of the Baxter Building was at first their "secret headquarters," perhaps so named to elevate their status in the minds of readers who might still be drawn to the idea of unknowingly having super-powered heroes in their midst. Also, the authorities weren't exactly ready to hand them the keys to the city.

Funny thing about the Baxter Building--there was no preamble to its appearance. The group simply stopped meeting at Reed's apartment, and began operating out of the Baxter. Reed even had the dough to buy the tower--not to mention stocking it with a ton of hardware. And all under the noses of the public and the military:

Here's the first cut-away of the Baxter. This probably felt like an episode of The Real World to readers, at this first glimpse of a fully-stocked "home" that the team just starts living in:

The pretense of secrecy is abandoned, though, after Doctor Doom attacks. I suppose having a huge electrified net dropped over your secret tower headquarters would throw a spotlight on the people actually living in that tower. So in the following issue, the jig is up:

And we get a more expanded cut-away:

Jeez, it looks like Reed's doing pretty well on the financial front.

How much do you think a freakin' missile runs?

In the first FF annual, artist Jack Kirby finally takes the gloves off and presents the definitive (to that point) cut-away of the Baxter, with somewhat more detail:

Of course the schematics have gone through countless revisions, given how this building has seen its share of rubble in its day--and even being entirely replaced at one point (its construction taking place in outer space, of all places). But this earlier version looks well thought out. I like how the living quarters and other personal areas have been moved to the tower's first floor, since any enemy aircraft or flying foe(s) will likely seek entrance from the roof. (Also if you live there, you're generally going to want your first stop off the elevator to be the living areas.) You've also got all the labs on one floor, which is pretty convenient--though I don't know why the photo analysis lab would be three floors up, with all the aircraft. (I suppose it was to put it within easy analysis reach of the observatory.) I might have put communications on the same floor as the conference areas; but I like how all the supply and maintenance areas are just one floor below the aircraft.

And at least now we know why Sue usually makes a fuss about being left behind at headquarters when the other three go off on missions. How would you like to have your room right next to a missile's blast-off silo?

But when Franklin was born, he got the short end of the straw in that respect, in this cutaway created 15 years later:

At least it looks like Reed got a little more enviro-friendly with that rocket exhaust.

But let's take a look at one last update, about fifty issues later:

The hydraulics for the observatory are a brilliant addition, explaining all the "now you see it, now you don't" instances of the structure on the rooftop. But it looks like Reed loses green points by ditching the missile's decon devices and venting the exhaust into the earth's crust.