We're Lost in a Masquerade

Doug: Just too much of a good thing...

They Can't Match the Savage Surf - Silver Surfer 1 (1982)

Silver Surfer #1 (June 1982)
"Escape -- to Terror!"
Stan Lee/John Byrne-Byrne/Tom Palmer

Doug: For those of you still hanging with me after my reviews of some subpar fare from the Big Two (Thor #269 and The Joker #9), thank you! Today I promise I'm going to present a more positive experience -- and I hope you'll leave this space feeling buoyed as well. My choice today is a comic book that I actually did not know existed until I purchased the large tpb, Silver Surfer Epic Collection: Freedom. I bought it to replace my 1980s Silver Surfer series that went bye-bye in the "big sell-off" of my collection. I had enjoyed the Steve Englehart-Marshall Rogers collaboration in the early years of that series and wished to hold onto the stories. What I did not know is that it contains the story above, as well as the short tale from Epic Illustrated, "The Answer". Bonus, and bonus. So here we are. Let's get right down to business then.

100-Word Review: Alone and brooding in the former home of the Inhumans, the Silver Surfer reflects on his life since becoming the herald of Galactus. He decides to test Galactus’s barrier once more, only to be repelled. But seeing a strange beam arcing from the Earth toward the barrier, he pursues it until he encounters the Fantastic Four. Reed Richards believes he has found the means to free the Surfer from his fate. But there will be only one chance, and if reversed the barrier will revert. The Surfer flies through, and straight for Zenn-La. Once there, he is met as a traitor…

Obviously there was more to the plot than that -- after all, this issue was a 48-page monster! So to cheat just a bit, the Surfer encounters the father of his lost love, Shalla Bal. The old gentleman is not kind to Norrin Radd, telling a tale of a return to Zenn-La by Galactus. Although the space god had made a bargain with Norrin Radd, trading the planet's survival for Radd's tenure as the herald of Galactus, the Surfer's betrayal on Earth seemed to negate the deal. The Devourer no longer was compelled to avoid Norrin Radd's former home. But Galactus, not without honor, allowed the people of Zenn-La to evacuate the planet before its destruction. Once drained of its lifeforce, the people returned to nothing but desolation on their homeworld. When asked the location of his daughter, the father told the Surfer that she had been taken by one who exuded utter evil. At this point the Surfer became aware of his true enemy -- Mephisto. And it had always been Mephisto, even manipulating Dr. Doom some years before. Can you say: Showdown! 

The Good: Where to start? A script by Stan Lee over a plot by John Byrne, with art by Byrne and Tom Palmer? That's as good a place as any. This reads like a classic Silver Surfer book. No one writes the Surfer like Stan does -- and I'll say for better or worse, depending on your perspective. When I think of the Surfer I think of his nobility, his perseverance, his dedication to his true love and the hope that someday he'll see her again. Stan provides that. 

I mentioned that the book is long -- over twice as long as a standard 20-21 page comic. That was OK, although I did feel my stamina waning a time or two. I'm going to write that off to time of day during my reading rather than boredom. This was a really good story. I can probably argue with you about whether or not this was something I'd seen before (Silver Surfer #3 comes to mind, as does the Surfer graphic novel Judgment Day (published six years after this story)). I'm going to call it "comfort food", or a well-worn pair of blue jeans. 

Take the flashbacks, for example. Again as I mentioned, the Surfer's origin from Silver Surfer #1 is recapped, as are his early appearances in the Fantastic Four (circa #s 48-61) and the Dr. Doom 3-parter from FF #s 155-157. Sometimes I find this sort of thing, particularly if I know the prior stories, tedious. Yet here it's woven together in such a way that the historical elements fit seamlessly into the current context. Byrne thought this through, and knew his Marvel history. I think that's why I believed in the Surfer's passion to break the barrier, it's why I admired Reed Richards's selflessness in working tirelessly to design a means to get through the barrier, and why my heart leapt when the Surfer landed on Zenn-La and fell when he saw its condition. Comfort food.

There are images throughout the story that are just great. The Surfer's recoil upon striking the barrier at his fastest speed, the regality of Galactus, the aversion to the Surfer of the people of Zenn-La, the evil of Mephisto, and the beauty of Shalla Bal. Figure work, settings, pacing -- the artwork is fantastic throughout. Note the two images of Galactus above (one closer to the top, one immediately above to the right) -- see his power in all three panels, but note the emotion in the close-up. Stern, driven, surviving. Love it. And I could go on and on with what I liked, but let's face it -- not everything came up roses. So...

 

The Bad: Some of you might look at the art samples and think this is one darned good looking book. I concur. But, if you wanted a John Byrne Silver Surfer book, my sense is that like me you find Tom Palmer's inks overpower Byrne's pencils. I can see Byrne throughout in some of the figurework ("stock poses", if you will)... one example is in the horizontal panel above right where the Surfer reaches out to Shalla Bal. We've seen Byrne use that pose during just about any tenure on any book he's ever drawn. It's not bad at all -- I'm just saying that it's there that I am seeing him shining through Palmer's inks. Another example would be the facial movements of Shalla Bal's father's speech, also above right. Palmer is wonderful across the breadth of this story -- he is of course in that top tier of all inkers in the Silver and Bronze Ages. So I really have no complaints, just observations. And it's not so bad.

The Ugly: There was nothing about this story that would fall into this category. It was creatively pleasing, paid off satisfactorily, and had I purchased this from a newsstand or more likely a comic book store, I would have felt great about parting with my dollar.

I chose not to delve too deeply into the intricacies of the plot for this review, as once I started looking for images to scan I landed on full pages. While I don't show many pages that ran consecutively in the story, I think you can glean meaning from those that do appear. The page above right, with Shalla Bal now gifted with the power to restore life on Zenn-La would segue into the next Surfer project...

Marvel Comics has done us all a favor in publishing this Epic Collection line of trades. Each volume contains 20-25 issues, some organized by continuity, some by theme. The best aspect of this new line of trades is that they are not published in chronological order -- we can get our mitts on good stuff from throughout the Silver and Bronze Ages. The extras included, as in this trade, are excellent. At the conclusion of this volume is a full reprint of Marvel Fanfare #51, which contains a lengthy story by Steve Englehart, John Buscema, and Jack Abel. It's a presentation of an early version of the project that became Englehart's 1987 Silver Surfer series (in collaboration with Marshall Rogers). You know I'm the biggest John Buscema fan, but I'm grateful that Englehart took the Surfer where he did, rather than what appeared in Marvel Fanfare. Let's just say I was much happier with the reuniting with Shalla Bal, as opposed to settling down with a lady friend who incessantly refers to herself as "this one", and who also communes with plants. You know what I mean.

Buried Treasures: Smash's "Fantastic Foes"

Doug: Karen has had so much fun showing some of the treasures hidden deep within her collection of comics and memorabilia, I thought I'd get in on the act. I'll be back next Monday with our regularly scheduled comic book review. But perhaps for you, and I know for me, this should be a fun respite.

"Back in the day", as they say, I attended elementary school at South 78th St. School in Milwaukee. I was there for my 2nd-4th grade years. But it was during my final year there that the gems below landed in my hot little hands, courtesy of the folks who published Smash magazine. As I recall, each month there would be a 3-page spread spotlighting some denizens of the Marvel Universe. To rabid young Doug, this was gold. And, in several cases it was my introduction to the seminal years of Marvel Comics.

To the best that my wife and I can recollect from our childhoods, Smash and it's competition mag Dynamite (we'll check that out in a later installment) were available as part of a monthly book order from Scholastic and maybe another company whose name neither of us can remember. For ridiculously low prices, such as $1 or even less for a paperback book (Sharks: Attacks on Man scared the heck out of me in the summer of Jaws...), students could place orders and have a veritable care package dispensed within a couple of weeks. It was like Christmas, but throughout the school year.

So once I found out that Smash contained these comic book features I was hooked -- or, as hooked as I could be when Mom approved the orders. At some point, maybe during a family move or some such thing, I cut the comics-related pages from the magazine and discarded the rest. Consequently, I have very little to offer in regard to the other contents of a given issue, or even which issues contained the material depicted below. In fact, searching the Internet for information on Smash yields little. However, you can make the jump to Al Bigley's blog, where he has published posts similar to today's. Later, much later, as I was creating data pages for my comic collection (indexed, updated prices, separated by dividers, stored in a 2" binder) I decided to 3-hole punch the pages I'd saved from Smash and Dynamite and insert them within the corresponding sections of my notebook.

An annual rite of summer in our home is the garage sale. Just days after finishing the spring semester I was down in the comic room cleaning out the closet. Those of you who've been with us for some time know that I've sold off all of my comics and quite a few other items. When I opened the box that contained my collection binder I was of course swept with a wave of sentimentality. But I was also very pleasantly surprised to again see the pages we've been discussing. So although the binder went in the trash and its pages in the recycling bin, these gems were preserved for your perusal and amusement. Today I'm featuring the origin of Doc Ock and a Dr. Doom/Thing tussle. I'll leave it to you to provide the source information. Be prepared to be overwhelmed with some serious Silver and Bronze Age artistic majesty from the likes of Ditko, Romita, Andru, Kirby, Sinnott, and Buscema. What a visual tour de force!

Who's the Best... Dr. Doom Story?

When Your Protagonists are Antagonizing... Super-Villain Team-Up 2

Super-Villain Team-Up #2 (October 1975)(cover by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia)
"In the Midst of Life... the Way to Dusty Death!"
Tony Isabella-Sal Buscema/Fred Kida

Doug: Continuing a week's worth of Civil War-themed posts, what about bad guys fighting bad guys? This was the first issue of Super-Villain Team-Up that I ever bought, and I stayed with the series (when I could -- you know, distribution woes) until the end of the original run; I did not know until years later that there was a 16th and then a 17th issue (each released waaaay after the 15th issue). Super-Villain Team-Up seems typical of other short-lived series at Marvel in that (in my opinion) sub-par and oft-rotating creative teams doomed it. Case in point: during its 17-issue run (plus Giant-Size issues), the following writers and artists helmed the series --

Giant-Size SVTU #1 -- Roy Thomas-John Buscema/Joe Sinnott (framing sequences)
Giant-Size SVTU #2 -- Roy Thomas-Mike Sekowsky/Sam Grainger
#1: Tony Isabella-George Tuska/Bill Everett/George Evans/Frank Springer
#2: Tony Isabella-Sal Buscema/Fred Kida
#3: Jim Shooter-George Evans/Jack Abel
#4: Bill Mantlo-Herb Trimpe/Jim Mooney
#5: Steve Englehart-Herb Trimpe/Don Perlin
#6: Steve Englehart-Herb Trimpe/Jack Abel
#7: Steve Englehart-Herb Trimpe/Pablo Marcos
#8: Steve Englehart-Keith Giffen/Owen McCarron
#9: Bill Mantlo-Jim Shooter/Sal Trapani
#10: Bill Mantlo-Bob Hall/Don Perlin
#11: Bill Mantlo-Bob Hall/Don Perlin
#12: Bill Mantlo-Bob Hall/Don Perlin
#13: Bill Mantlo/Keith Giffen-Giffen/Don Perlin
#14: Bill Mantlo-Bob Hall/Don Perlin/Duffy Vohland
#15: Larry Lieber-George Tuska/Wally Wood/Mike Esposito (reprint)
#16: Peter Gillis-Carmine Infantino/Bruce Patterson
#17: Peter Gillis-Arvell Jones/Bruce Patterson

So if you're scoring at home, that's six writers (I won't count Lieber due to the reprint), 11 pencilers, and (wait for it) 13 inkers. That's right -- 13 inkers working on 18 issues in the series (again, not counting the reprint). Granted, they doubled-up a few times, but still... If that's not a major reason why a book would look different month to month, I don't know what is. And regardless what you think of a guy like Herb Trimpe, when you place him under the influence of Don Perlin... well, let's just say it ain't Trimpe under John Severin! I will say, though, that the Bob Hall/Don Perlin issues look pretty good.

Doug: There's something for you to chew on as we now get on to the task at hand -- reviewing what's sort of a bridge issue, but fun nonetheless. We pick up the trail on one of our favorite Bronze Age conventions -- the visi-screen! I mean seriously... if I can't have a couple of panels with a rubber mask reveal, then just hit me upside the head with a visi-screen! Here's your 100-Word Review of the plot of this issue:

After a battle near Hydrobase, Namor has fallen under the combined might of Attuma, Tiger Shark, and Dr. Dorcas (now there's a moniker for ya). But somewhere distant Namor's would-be ally Dr. Doom watches, and reflects on the brief history of his and Namor’s alliance. Doom is found out, forcing his hand. Seeking to liberate Namor, Doom encounters the transformed Betty Dean Prentiss, former love of the Prince during the War. Doom infiltrates Namor’s prison, but in the melee Betty is killed trying to save Namor from Dr. Dorcas’ blast… she falls just as Namor breaks free. “Avenging Son”, indeed!

Doug: If I were an editor working at Marvel in the Bronze Age and I wanted to stabilize a book either to keep it on schedule or to smooth out its "look", I'd turn it over to Sal Buscema. That's not to say that he was the best artist Marvel had at their disposal, but he could crank out the "house style" in an efficient manner. I don't know if that is why he was tapped for this particular issue, but in the looks dept. his presence makes this one of my favorites in the entire series. So...

The Good: Obviously the art. I really don't have a lot of experience with inker Fred Kida, or at least I don't think that I do. Maybe that I can't recall Kida's work is a good thing? Perhaps you immediately inferred that he's not a memorable artist. Maybe that's his strength, because when I look at this I see Sal Buscema. It's no Joe Sinnott production, that's for sure (and you all know I love Joe Sinnott). At this stage of his career Sal was a grid guy, utilizing 4-8 panels on a page. Only the double-page spread (pages 2 and 3) rejects the notion of borders; every other panel in the book contains the art. So if you're looking for anything resembling the better design aspects of Jim Steranko or Neal Adams, you won't find it here. And that's OK. As I said, if someone felt this book needed a steadying hand, they got it.

There is one specific panel that I think is genius. I've provided it here -- Tiger Shark emerging from the ocean. Look at his right hand. He skims the water with the backs of his fingers, just like you or I would if we were walking to shore, thinking or watching. I just find that bit of familiar motion fascinating -- what a detail. I also have a love/hate sense with a single panel of Doom holding his chin in the crook of his thumb and index finger. While it's an image that conveys the motion of stroking one's chin and it fits Doom's mood in the scene, it does seem somewhat odd that a fellow would place a hard metal finger beside a hard metal chin. Not exactly the pensive beard-stroking one might think of. The emotion on the final panel of the book leaps off the page. Fabulous ending (see the end of this post)!

Earlier I mentioned the visi-screen. Unlike in the past, when our would-be world-dominators are just able to kick back and look at these things as if possessing some sort of universal clairvoyance, here we actually find the source of the images Doom is perusing. Doom had devised a mechanical fish that looks to me quite a bit like a Joker fish. Even though Tiger Shark spied it and wrecked it, I did appreciate that we got a "plausible" explanation for Doom's spying capabilities.

While I'll take issue with Tony Isabella's characterization here in just a minute, I must compliment him here on making me root for the main character of the magazine (the Marvel Universe's alpha super-villain) against all other characters -- especially when everyone in the book is a bad guy! Namor's rogue's gallery is bereft of true heavyweights, so of course Doom would be able to out-smart them, out-tech them, etc. But there was still the sense that I wanted Doom to be the victor (no pun intended) here. I don't say that in he pages of the Fantastic Four.

Lastly, I've been on record for years stating that I love this life-giving suit that Namor wore in the early-mid 1970s. Love the look! It's certainly more regal than trying to rule or lay waste to the world in a green Speedo.

The Bad: Let's go right into my scripting complaint. If you would be so kind, hop back to my review of Sub-Mariner #8, written by Roy Thomas. That issue was narrated by Betty Dean Prentiss, who is a major supporting character in today's story. You can see some narration boxes in the art samples -- those were "written" by Prentiss in her diary. Got her voice? Yeah, Isabella must have just ignored all that, because I think he took her character profile (she worked for the NYPD) and just wrote her as some hardened beat cop-type of person. It's really off, and I think I'd feel that way even if I had not known the character from that other book. The way she addresses Doom is pretty stupid, as well. I'm all for bravado in the face of extreme adversity, but c'mon... the monarch of Latveria could have vaporized her on the spot. I guess I'd rather she'd been written differently.

Note - You may notice that some of the "human" characters, like Betty Prentiss, are amphibians. This was apparently a development in the last issues of Namor's solo mag, which was cancelled around six months before Giant-Size SVTU #1. I don't know if this is necessarily a bad thing as a plot device, but I'll put it here since I was discussing Betty Prentiss.

The Ugly: Tiger Shark's teeth. You know -- like a shark. Boy should have had braces! That being said, are his teeth uglier than Attuma's whole face? Discuss.

Doug: I am hesitant to read the entire trade Super-Villains Unite: The Complete Super-Villain Team-Up, which I have used for today's festivities. As I said, the art is a real turn-off at times. And that's a shame to middle-aged me, because my memories of this series are better than the reality of it with which I am now faced. "Hold up"? Umm...

Doug: For conversation starters, what other instances can you come up with where super-baddies fought super-baddies? Were there some memorable tussles? Who would you have liked to have seen -- where were two guys (or gals) who may have conceivably had a beef with each other?

Who's the Best... Super-Villain in the Bronze Age? + Civil War Trailer #2!

Doug: I am going to request that today's answers be supported with some rationale based on dastardly doings that fell within our generally accepted parameters of 1970-85 (if you're new, we've had this dates conversation several times). For example, ol' Norman Osborn's Green Goblin could be at the top of someone's list because he killed Spidey's love, Gwen Stacy. That's pretty awful, hence it could surely qualify GG on a heinous "best" list. So give us some additional fodder for consideration after you make your nomination. Oh, and just because a particular devilish plan was thwarted should not keep us from talking about the intent of the do-badder.

Thanks!

Doug: And of course by now everyone (say it isn't so if you have not!!) has seen the second Captain America: Civil War trailer. It is a feast -- I am really excited for this flick! And, how about the reference in the clip to the cover featured below? How cool is that?

BAB Classic: "Cows, Pigs, and Witches! The World is Beset by Devils!" Marvel Team-Up 44

This post was originally published on 12 April 2010.

  Marvel Team-Up 44 (April 1976)
"Death in the Year Before Yesterday!"
Bill Mantlo-Sal Buscema/Mike Esposito

Doug: Last chapter, folks... and I'm sorry to say I'm sort of glad. As Karen and I discussed off-site, this little story started out promising -- Spidey, time travel, lots of Avengers, Doc Doom -- should have been good stuff. And while I have fond memories of this as a kid, it is perhaps one story that hasn't held up over time. I think it suffers, maybe even as some superhero movies do these days, of too many characters cavorting around in what became a big mess of a plot. But we'll put a smile on and trudge through.

Karen: Indeed, every so often we come across these books - ones which were far more interesting in our memories than in reality! But let's finish it up.

Doug: We begin on the roof of Avengers Mansion. Moondragon is distracted by her thoughts as Iron Man approaches. I have to say, I really hated Moondragon when I was a kid. This issue of MTU was on the stands the same month as Avengers #146, and of course that was the fill-ins that ran in the middle of the Serpent Crown Affair. If you recall, that was the arc when Moondragon tried to convince Thor that he was above his fellow Assemblers. And what's more, she basically declared herself his equal. Man, I hated that woman.

Karen: I don't think you were alone. I didn't like her either. But of course, I believe that was Steve Englehart's intention when he thrust her on the Avengers. She was that rock in one's shoe, always causing some irritation.

Doug: "Rock in one's shoe" is a great way to put it! So Moondragon succumbs to the same hex bolt that had uprooted Spider-Man back in MTU #41 and is lifted into the timestream, to emerge back in 1692 to find our heroes bound on some gizmo. The Dark Rider is present (still a giant), as is Cotton Mather. The Rider commissions Mather to plunge the Soul Blade into our heroes, which will commence the transfer of their powers/energies to the Rider. Mather hesitates, and that's when Moondragon enters the fray.

Doug: Moondragon zaps the Rider with a mindblast, stunning him. Spidey, Vision, and Wanda awaken to see these new developments, and Doom stuck in some bubble doo-hickey. Spidey and the Vision leap into action to free Doom. While they free ol' Vic, the Rider reverses the mindflow back at Moondragon, who now has to see his origin.

Karen: I thought that was a really strange two page spread, where the heroes are on some altar and Doom is inside a bubble, all very magicky, but the Rider has these mechanical-looking cables coming out of his glove, linking the bubble and altar.

Doug: What was even stranger was the scene where Spidey and the Vision free Doom -- instead of being solid, the bubble peeled back like a... well, like a bubble -- pliable, not solid.

Doug: But wait, there's more! We get to see the Rider's origin as well, and it's... well, to be honest, sort of bland. Wizards, and blah, blah, blah. OK, I've about had enough. This story couldn't get over fast enough. I think, sticking to Bronze Age baddies, that we'd see this sort of thing again shortly with the Sphinx (in the pages of The Man Called Nova and later the Fantastic Four). He was much more interesting with a similar backstory. But, in case you wondered, the good guys gang up on the Rider and eventually Moondragon turns the tide and they blast him out of existence. The story does end on a touching note, as Spidey arrives just too late to save his Puritan friends. I guess I'd forgotten the last scene of the hanging -- while only the victims' feet are shown, it is a bit disturbing.

Karen: Man, you're not kidding. After grinding our way through all the hokum with the Rider, that last page is like a punch to the gut. I'm glad we're done with this one.
Doug: Agreed. This one probably could have been done in 3 1/2 issues, with a lot of the chaff left out. To be honest, some of the Witch Trials scenes became laborious to get through, but it might have been better, more emotional had the scene to the right been set up a bit better. On the one hand we got some really good Sal Buscema art, but on the other we got a Bill Mantlo who seemed to wander the longer this story went on.