Spectacular Spider-Knees

Ordinarily, any of us might have had the same reaction Al Milgrom had, when discovering that he'd been replaced as the artist on Spectacular Spider-Man on a whim:

Well, maybe not the same reaction. But we should keep in mind that this is happening during Assistant Editors' Month at Marvel, and such havoc is to be expected. In this case, while his boss is in California with the other editors, Bob DeNatale has decided to take a different approach with the art on this issue--but who will be his choice over Milgrom?

Yes, Fred Hembeck, the caricature artist known for adding curlicues to his characters' knees and elbows. Do we dare have a look at how he's going to draw an entire Spider-Man story?

Hey, Mikey! You're An Avenger!

Not since the likes of Not Brand Echh have we seen a hero using a stew pot to conceal their identity. Of course we're talking about none other than the heroic clod known as Forbush-Man:

Leave it to Assistant Editors' Month to find a way to pay homage to this fictional and often-trod-upon employee of Marvel Comics--or, rather, that trademark metal helmet of his.  And that brings us to the opening pages of Invincible Iron Man #178--featuring Iron Man's much younger stand-in (along with his fellow "Avengers") in the process of putting the bag on a perp.

We're all probably eager to see the wrath of Blackie's mom--but there's a more important matter demanding our attention. Because the adult Iron Man is currently caught in the backlash of Tony Stark's descent into alcoholism--and since the Avengers have been forced to accept Iron Man's resignation from their ranks (conveyed through Stark's close friend, James Rhodes), their kid counterparts find themselves put in a very uncomfortable position.

Jeez!  These kids need a stern tongue-lashing from Jarvis!  What sad fate awaits Mikey?

This Is A Job For (Who Else?) The Daleks

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

You Get What You Pay For

If you're looking for a copy of Uncanny X-Men #177 just to get ahold of its insert that makes a contribution to Marvel's Assistant Editors' Month theme, hold that thought. Because once you have a look at it in a minute, you might come to the conclusion that you should instead be seeking out this issue for its opening focus on Mystique, leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants, as she confronts the entire team of X-Men on her own. Assuming she survives the assault of the X-Man least likely to let her walk out of this deserted circus alive:

A Woman's Crimefighting Is Never Done

The comics story device of a girlfriend (or wife) pining away the hours while her super-hero fella is out saving the world is an old one--and during Assistant Editors' Month at Marvel, it was probably inevitable that one of those lower-tier editors left in charge would take that idea and run with it. In the case of Michael Carlin, assistant to the absent Mark Gruenwald, that run became a sprint when he arranged for Bernadette Rosenthal, girlfriend to the one and only Captain America, to give some thought one lonely night to how it might be if Steve Rogers was instead the one left behind, while she was the hero who was responsible for the pursuit of truth and justice:

Scripted by J.M. DeMatteis, the tale of "Bernie America" is a playful romp that has you looking around for Marie Severin, who's crafted her share of whimsical farce stories featuring Marvel characters. But where Severin would portray the characters as outrageous, warped caricatures in appearance, Mike Zeck, regular penciller on the book, helps to make the transition between the main story and Bernie's fantasy a seamless one, though there's no doubt where one ends and the other begins:

"MO-Skull," the merging of the Red Skull and M.O.D.O.K., is probably something I wouldn't have thought of in my wildest imaginings. Fortunately, he's not going to be around long, as Bernie quickly takes the initiative and proceeds to dispatch him. In less than dignified fashion, I might add:

The last part of the tale indeed puts the pining shoe on the other foot, as Steve Rogers becomes the one who finds he must tearfully come second to Bernie's duty as a hero--er, heroine:

Bernie's fantasy only takes up the last few pages of the Captain America issue it appears in--and though it is only a dream sequence, Carlin manages to cleverly segue to it following the regular Cap story, with Cap heading home after his adventure and determined to devote more time to his girlfriend. Bernie, of course, has been in an adventure of her own, though she finds she's happy to put the costume aside for now:

It looks like Bernie's made her peace with Steve's double life. (Though if I were Steve, I'd keep tabs on that Cap costume and shield from now on.)

COMING UP NEXT in our look at

Thanks to Mystique, the X-Men have a really bad day.

Great Power... Great Responsibility

With all the craziness happening in Marvel titles during Assistant Editors' Month, I wasn't expecting to find an issue of Amazing Spider-Man that stood out from the pack and delivered some excellent, quality reading--thanks to writer Roger Stern, who delivers both an action-packed battle as well as a touching, heartfelt tale where Spidey meets his biggest fan. (Other than Flash Thompson, that is.) As Assistant Editor Bob DeNatale put it:

"I've prevailed upon Roger Stern to deliver not one, but two stories... with two different sets of artists and two decidedly different dramatic tones. I asked Rog and the rest of my creative crews to come up with a pair of special stories that would contrast each other and bring out two distinct yet important facets of the web-slinger's legend."

We'll have a look at each of these stories--but their respective splash pages should give you an idea of the different approaches DeNatale had in mind:

Dawn Of The Assistant Editors!

In January of 1984, most of the Marvel titles for the month were "stamped" with this peculiar warning:

The Marvel staff of editors had flown off to California to attend the San Diego Comic Con, as well as to pay a visit to Stan Lee at what was then "Marvel Productions"--leaving their assistant editors "in charge" of things in New York, with the warning stamp giving the impression that the lower-tier editors felt at liberty to produce that month's issues and stories in a "while the cat's away..." paroxysm of irresponsibility. In reality, it was a clever example of Marvel never letting a good marketing ploy go to waste. These issues, like any others, were plotted, approved, and readied for production months in advance, with writers and artists having already been assigned to the work and the principal editors likely signing off on the finished products before ever stepping foot out the door.

That's not to say there weren't some assistant editor shenanigans taking place in these issues. Parodies... farce... caricatures... stories springing from a character's dreams... as well as brief inserts that gave us the opportunity to meet these editors, stepping out from behind the curtain and having their moment to make their impression on readers. It's hard to say how successful it all was, in terms of familiarizing readers with these people who, up until now, toiled in obscurity and were only known in occasional Bullpen Bulletin tidbits. You can probably name four or five of Marvel's past editors without even thinking about it--how many assistant editors come to mind?

Be that as it may--since we readers were inundated that month with titles bearing that dreaded stamp, it seems only fair that we here at the PPC inundate you with tales featuring more Marvel assistant editors than you can shake a deadline at. Think of it as an opportunity to finally meet the assistant editors from the mid-1980s! Who wouldn't perk up at the thought of that? You might even remember most of them this time around! Probably not.

We might as well start at the top: Ann Nocenti, who makes us aware of her seniority during the absence of editor Carl Potts and Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter in this brief sequence from an issue of The Defenders:

But in that month's issue of Incredible Hulk, Nocenti is a little more grounded when featured in the story's introduction, as the Marvel offices receive a most unexpected visitor:

It's Not A Party Without The Frightful Four

This side-by-side comparison of covers looks downright frightening:

(Imagine if the Frightful Four had been named "the Frightening Four," instead. Wonder if it was one of the choices up for consideration?)

When artist Jack Kirby redesigned the cover to Fantastic Four #36 for the (mainly) FF reprint mag, Marvel's Greatest Comics, he had the luxury of being able to cut to the chase of the battle, since at this point readers were likely already familiar with the Frightful Four. In their original appearance, though, the evil FF's cover presentation came across as something of a novelty--deadly in purpose, certainly, but with costumes and abilities that looked as if they could challenge their law-abiding counterparts. Their premiere cover had to pique the reader's curiosity, rather than give too much to sift through.

As we can see, the original cover conforms to the main elements of the story. The FF are celebrating the engagement announcement of Reed and Sue, while the Frightful Four are creeping up on them outside of the Baxter Building. (No, I don't know what the heck Medusa is lowering herself from. The Wizard's ship landed on the roof of the building, so what is it her hair is hanging onto--a passing weather 'copter?) We also see two members of the group who have received recent makeovers. The Trapster initially changed his costume in an issue of Strange Tales:

While the Wizard ditched his civvies for a more practical battle suit:

As for the Sandman, he's in the same boat as the Human Torch, the Iceman, et al.--it doesn't really matter what he's wearing, since its appearance becomes moot when he goes into action. (If you really want to see how impractical a costume is on a villain like the Sandman, have a look at its debut in Fantastic Four #61.) But we can say exactly the opposite for Medusa, whose ability and menacing appearance are hampered by, of all things, a cowl:

The MGC cover is also reasonably accurate with the events of the story, once the action begins. It's pretty amazing how much Kirby has been able to cram onto the page here, given that he only has about two-thirds of the cover space to work with. With the exception of the Torch (who is away from the Baxter Building during this attack) and the absence of Alicia Masters, the scene represents what went down in the story. Kirby of course has freed Medusa from her cowl, perhaps to avoid confusing readers who are used to seeing her unencumbered--while Sue is... well, Sue is... all right, Sue looks to be fretting, as usual.

BONUS:

A cool tableau of the FF letting down their hair with their super-friends at the engagement party!

(Can you spot the "oops" moment that got past editing?)

Replicus 2.0--and the Thundering Return of John Buscema!

As a follow-up to the introduction of Replicus, the alien creation that battled Thor on the streets of New York but which became powerless when its base was destroyed, let's move forward three decades to March of 1999, where another Replicus has been mysteriously unleashed. And while Replicus itself is probably nothing to write home about, this issue's guest artist will likely make it a page-turner:

Joined by Jerry Ordway on inks, John Buscema returns to the pages of Thor for one issue, and the resulting story is a feast for the eyes. There's quite a lot happening in this issue, thanks to the story that writer Dan Jurgens has set in motion regarding the Dark Gods and the conquest of Asgard--and in this issue, Thor finds the answers he's been seeking about a long-forgotten war that saw Asgard on the brink of destruction, and how the god Perrikus rose again to see his vengeance on the Asgardians fulfilled.

This would be (to the best of my knowledge) Buscema's last work on the Thunder God's book, turned in nearly three years before his death at age 74. The final product is not only an encapsulation of Buscema's technique and storytelling ability, but also an incredible demonstration of his skill, honed over many years at the storyboard and which appears to be at its peak, seemingly untouched by time.

There are many facets to his work here that long-time readers will recognize--as well as others which are delightfully surprising, which include extending his figures beyond panel bordering while also varying the sizing of the panels on each page. Free of such conventional constraints, Buscema's work practically leaps off the page, setting his own pacing for the story which Jurgens adapts to and blends with quite well.

Both Ordway and colorist Gregory Wright deserve a generous amount of credit for what they bring to Buscema's pencils. It's difficult to tell at times what amount of finishes Ordway is applying here, since much of this work resembles that of Buscema's inks on his own pencils. If I had to take a guess, I'd say the facial features of Thor and others are given slightly more attention by Ordway, as is Mjolnir in those panels where we see it at a closer angle; yet for the most part, Buscema looks to be handling the lion's share of the work himself. I would have been curious to see the result of such a ratio of pencils/inks in the work that Buscema did with his brother, Sal, on inks, the latter looking as if he contributed much more to the finished product.

As well-matched as Ordway and Buscema appear to be on the issue, Wright's colors are also a beautiful match for the paper stock of this comic, as opposed to the newsprint of old. It's been over fifteen years since I opened my copy of this issue, and the pages still retain nearly all of their original color and detail, with whatever difference there is from the original publication date being negligible. When combined with Buscema's figures, I found myself much more engaged in the story, swept along in the visual fantasy that a comic book is uniquely suited to excel at.

As this story's splash page implies, Thor is seeking answers as to the fate of Asgard as well as its citizenry. But a more mortal crisis looms, in the form of one long since thought vanquished:

Will Replicus 2.0 wipe the floor with Thor as his predecessor did?

(Don't count on it!)

From Where Comes... Replicus?

While it looks like the Thunder God has his hands full here:

...the question, "Who Is... Replicus?", is one he'll join us in asking even after the story ends.

Yet the mystery of Replicus, while intriguing, takes a back seat to the underlying story of this issue, one that begins with a New York crime boss, "Slugger" Sykes, making a pretty good showing in a sparring match against an opponent you'd think would be able to dispatch him with just a flick of a finger:

Jeez, it doesn't even look like Thor is going to meet Replicus, does it? But appearances can be deceiving--and as "Thor" is put away in storage (a phrase any Thor reader isn't likely to hear too often), the rest of us don't have to wait as long as the real Thor to meet this powerful creation of the man known as Chuda:

And still the question remains: Who is Replicus? It may seem we have the answer already laid out in front of us--but what did I mention to you about appearances?