Comic Books: January 2007 Archives

I was flipping through my back issue collection and fell in love with those wacky Marvel Bullpen Bulletin pages from the 1970s. Back during the time when Marvel was expanding their monthly lineup of titles, each ad seemed to make them the most important landmarks in illustrative fiction. Here are a few of my favorites...

Avengers vs Defenders: the first cross-over event! The Silver Surfer and the Vision were two of my favorite characters--it was cool to see them fight. Somehow seeing Wanda looking fearful at the Vision just increased the anxiety.

Brother Voodoo. Despite the name, I never figured out why this character never took off. He was ultra cool and had an origin just like Dr. Strange. Plus, he got to hang around with half naked voodoo priestesses.

Ka-Zar and Man-Thing. Why are these two paired together? Because Man-Thing appeared in Ka-Zar's old title, Astonishing Tales? They had one thing in common--each series was cancelled after 20-odd issues.

Planet of the Apes. Probably my favorite Marvel black and white magazine, especially the early issues featuring Mike Ploog's artwork (I'll have to make an entry on that one real soon). I was a big fan of all the Apes films and the short-lived CBS tv show. I lusted after the first issue of this magazine and just couldn't wait until I found it on the newsstand. John Romita's drawing promised that the comic would take place after Battle for the Planet of the Apes, which it did, in a way. Nuff said.

Nextwave #11 featured an incredible array of double-page spreads, where the team attacks wave after wave of H.A.T.E. agents. There are some pretty good gags in here, like a bunch of Stephen Hawking clones attacking the team from wheelchairs, and a giant Wolverine-ape like thing. The giant creature in the panel above appears to be IT, the Living Colossus! When I saw the wheelchair guy on the next page, instead of Hawking, I first thought it might be Bob O'Bryan, the crippled man who mentally controls the grey giant known as IT!

I knew I had to have IT when I first saw this Marvel advertisement. I'm a sucker for power-transformation fantasies that help sooth my insecurities. What's better than Shazam, Hulk, or Thor? How about turning into a 30-foot living statue that can demolish a skyscraper and fight Fin Fang Foom? Like Thor, the alter ego of the character was crippled--literally in a wheelchair. Bob O'Bryan was an actor who got his legs destroyed by a rival thespian. While he mourns the loss of his career and probably his inability to screw his hot girlfriend, Bob accidentally discovers that he can project his mind into the body of IT!

IT appeared only in four issues of Astonishing Tales (21-24) during 1973-1974. Short stories written by Tony Isabella and artwork by Dick Ayers. I loved Ayers artwork on this title, and surprised by the Wikipedia entry on IT where Isabella is quoted as saying it wasn't the best that Ayers could do. According the Wikipedia, IT was featured in other Marvel books and recently appeared in the Howling Commandos mini-series.

What I loved about IT was the utter simplicity of the premise, and goofy fun that Isabella had with the stories. Take this panel from the Fin Fang Foom (who appeared in Nextwave #1-2) battle, where he inserts a reference to the popular ABC TV show, Kung Fu: "How do you fight a dragon-sized David Carridine?" The sound effect after the karate chop is an affectionate nod to one of my favorite artists, Mike Ploog.

IT disappeared from Astonishing Tales to make way for Deathlok, but I always wondered about the mysteries that Isabella had created. Why could O'Bryan control IT? Why did his body lapse into a coma? Why was there a time limit? If you know, email kidflash {at} photontorpedoes {dot} com. Nuff said.

I was in the comic shop the other day that was loaded with Alex Ross' action figures from the Justice mini-series. If I wasn't budget-constrained due to holiday spending, I would have picked up some of them--the Zatanna figure with the fishnets was especially sweet.

Justice #9 will give DC another excuse for a brand new line of Ross-designed action figures. The Leaguers have decided to protect themselves against Braniac's mind-altering nanites (based on Mr. Mind's technology) by coating themselves in armor. In some cases, it's the actual Metal Men protecting them, like Lead covering Superman. Iron's a bit disappointed that Wonder Woman has her own armor. I'm betting that Platinum (Tina) covers Black Canary. It's pretty cool how Ross designed each set of armor to reflect the character underneath--for example, the bandage-laced mummy dude has to be Metamorpho, since his origin is tied to Egypt. Aquaman looks formidable in that Creature From the Black Lagoon armor. Batman's armor evokes memories of Batman Beyond.

There's more story and action in Justice #9 than you can find in any three modern comic books. Gorilla Grodd wields a Qwardian power ring. Captain Marvel gets a tremendous amount of action, fighting Black Adam, Captain Marvel Jr, Mary Marvel, and Superman. I can't wait to see the Metal Justice Men in full battle against the Legion of Doom next issue. Nuff said.