Just a Stone's Throw Away...

Captain America #142 (October 1971)
"And in the End..."
Gary Friedrich-John Romita/Joe Sinnott

Doug: So I guess I'm not sure the ending was so "unbelievable", but I'll give you that this one was chock fulla "Action in the Marvel Manner!" Pretty good ending to a decent Bronze Age story, was this. Let's have a look!

Doug: Gary Friedrich takes over for Stan Lee, who last issue ended his run on the title. The transition is pretty seamless, as I'm sure Stan and Jazzy Johnny had it all plotted out and Friedrich had only to word it up. The story opens just after the Grey Gargoyle has holed up in the mountain where the ultra-dangerous "Element X" is stored. Remember -- just a few drops of that chemical could destroy the Earth. Only pure stone can withstand this dangerous substance. There is some really strong art by Romita and Sinnott in the opening pages. As I remarked last ish, with their facial representations they'd do any romance artists proud. I have one bone to pick, and it's been bugging me throughout this series -- why in the world does Sharon Carter let Cap speak down to her so much? Yeah, yeah -- I get that he's old-fashioned and she was being written by Stan Lee. But come on -- with her credentials as a SHIELD agent and whatever that PhD is that Fury was talking about last issue... It's just really over the top.
Karen: Marvel women still had a long way to go. I think it would be a few more years until we saw any real change in how women were written. Certainly some of the younger guys, like Steve Englehart, and later, Chris Claremont, would start to write more empowered, strong female characters.

Karen: I have to say I thought it was kind of funny that we get this big romantic reunion of Sharon and Cap, and then Falcon gets his big reunion with...his bird, Redwing!

Doug: As we get rolling in this one, the Gargoyle faces some resistance inside the mountain. A group of soldiers use all of the technology at their disposal to try to defeat this gruesome baddie, but to no avail. I continue to find it laughable that this guy is the strongest, most invincible creature in the Marvel Universe! Come on -- no building, street, or rock formation could withstand even the smallest of explosive warheads available at this time, yet the Gargoyle just thumbs his nose at it all. He's really over-powered in my opinion. Cap and Falc send Nightwing to scout ahead for a place to enter the mountain, and soon spring into action with an aerial assault through the top. I had to smile, though, when Sam called for "Plan D" -- that didn't work so good on the SHIELD helicarrier last isue! There are some great action panels in this sequence.

Karen: The art really is gorgeous. Romita has always drawn great faces, and the action sequences are exciting and unambiguous. But - you knew there was a 'but' coming didn't you? - the Falcon's dialogue is so terrible. It is just over the top with the effort to make him sound like a character out of Superfly. I mean, read this and tell me you don't cringe: "Outtasite! Keep jivin' like that, and I may be able to make a soul brother out of you yet!" Or this: "I hear you knockin' brother! How about lettin' me in? Hold everything! I think I'm homing in on your vibrations! You're thinking maybe we can get him inside the stone receptacle?"

Doug: After we see the Gargoyle finally procurring Element X (which he promptly "stones" to protect it), we get a little vignette with my favorite bi-atch Leila. Wow -- I can't really express how much I don't like her. Her looks are obviously based on blaxploitation star Pam Grier. But that personality... Fortunately, the other characters in the scene aren't buying the venom she's spewing.

Karen: I always had a hard time figuring out what a positive-thinking guy like Sam was doing with a vile, nasty girl like Leila. The way she's portrayed, she just has no redeeming features. I understand what they were doing with her in the book, as a character to open some doors to comment on the social/racial issues of the times, but why Falcon would put up with her was always a mystery to me.

Doug: Back in the mountain, our heroes engage the Gargoyle in some serious fisticuffs, and Sharon Carter displays her women's intuition on steroids again. The Gargoyle is finally undone when tricked into entering what amounts to a rocket capsule, which Cap seals and Fury activates. Blast off, and no more Gargoyle. Because Sam had swiped the cannister of Element X, all's well that ends well! Curiously, the last two panels contain some soliloquizing by scribe Friedrich that would have done Stan, Roy, or even Denny O'Neil proud!

Karen: The comment about men learning to live as brothers was one thing, but where did Falcon's comment about wishing "all nuclear weapons" had been aboard the rocket come from? That really felt a bit forced.

Doug: As a story, this was a fun Bronze Age yarn. Sure it has its faults, but you know what? It wasn't decompressed, the story had a defined beginning, middle, and end, the heroes behaved like heroes and the bad guy was over-the-top, and in the end the good guys won. What more could a comics fan ask for?

Karen: I don't know, Doug, this three parter was a bit hard for me. I was disappointed in Stan's work, and I can't say much about Friedrich here, as he was locked into the story that was already started. The Romita/Sinnott art however, was lush and dynamic, so not a total bummer!

Dylan Sang -- Everybody Let's Get Stoned!

Captain America #141 (September 1971)
"The Unholy Alliance!"
Stan Lee-John Romita/Joe Sinnott

Doug: Back at it with part two of our little Cap/Grey Gargoyle triptych. This issue truly is a "middle" in the story -- and I'll say, it does "middle" a bit. But let's look closer...

Doug: If you recall from Wednesday, we last left our heroes in disparate places. The Falcon had gone after the Gargoyle in an attempt to a) find out what sinister plan this baddie was concocting, and b) take him down! However, in the midst of doing so Sam Wilson was of course turned to stone, but this time it was by a chemical that not only enabled him to move but also to think -- that is, to only think of obeying the Gargoyle's dastardly commands! On the other hand, Cap had been beamed up to the SHIELD helicarrier and was chatting it up with his squeeze Sharon Carter and her boss Col. Nick Fury. The three were lamenting the existence of "Element X", a compound so dangerous that a mere drop of it could split the Earth. It's at that point Cap put 2 and 2 together and decided that the Grey Gargoyle was out to possess that element.

Doug: You see, Element X can only be contained by pure stone, of which the Grey Gargoyle is made. Now just wait a second. I've got a beef here. I know Stan was in the business of stretching the truth, suspending disbelief, and all that. But how can he a) tell me the reader that the Gargoyle is "pure stone" when it's obvious that his body is functioning somewhat normally, and b) expect me to believe that pure stone is the only thing that can contain this stuff, yet it can split the planet in half? Hel-lo! What is the Earth made of??

Karen: Like I said last time, this makes no sense. So what -the Gargoyle could handle Element X? What good would it do him if the Earth was destroyed? It's not even a great blackmail tool, because the guy's signing his own death warrant. And yes, of course, a considerable portion of the Earth is stone...I don't know, I just feel like Stan wasn't even trying here.

Doug: So Cap drops back out of the helicarrier and goes off to find Falc. There's some really good Romita/Sinnott art in this sequence, including a couple of panels where Cap rides the bike up a wall to avoid some street workers. I've always liked the facial work of both Romita and Sinnott and they don't disappoint here. About the only thing I'd take exception to is the "grimness" that Cap often wears (Fury, too). Anyway, Cap goes back to the spot where he thinks Sam might have engaged the Gargoyle. Sure enough, Falc's there, just looking like a statue. Under the influence of the Gargoyle, though, Falc attacks Cap -- if only half-heartedly. They tussle, Sam resists the commands, and Cap tells him he'll get him cured aboard the helicarrier.

Karen: I always enjoyed seeing Cap on his motorcycle, and Romita draws it well.

Doug: Cap sends out his "beam me up" signal, and they ascend to the hovercraft. OK, this is where it gets really, really dumb. Karen, I know you commented last time that at this point in his career (truly within months of ending his full-time writing career) Stan was to an extent mailing it in. Well this next sequence is downright bizarre. Cap tells Fury to get medics for Falc, and pronto. Falc is whisked away, and Sharon remarks, "Steve! Is it safe to bring him on board?" Cap's like, duh!, of course it is -- dude needs help! Sharon goes on: "I'm not sure! I just know I've got bad vibes! There's something wrong!... I can't explain it -- but the Falcon is dangerous! He mustn't remain aboard!" Then Fury chimes in -- "Stow it, Winghead! The gal could be right. Now listen ta me -- Sharon's head of our secret Psyche Squad; ya can call it hyped-up Women's Intuition. Fer starters, she's got a PhD in metaphysical psychology. Then we give her two year's trainin' in..." Then an alarm goes off.

Karen: I hate when the protagonist has to be an idiot for the story to work. And what the heck was all this stuff about Sharon and her "metaphysical psychology" degree? Was that ever brought up again? Mailing it in indeed.

Doug: Of course Sam was faking it, and only let Cap bring him aboard so he could get the Gargoyle on board. A scrum breaks out, and Fury calls for Plan D. Oh, no -- not Plan D! Yep -- Plan D. Blow the whole stinkin' helicarrier up because of the Grey Gargoyle. No -- not Galactus. Not Dr. Doom. Not even a Hydra infiltration. The Grey - freakin' - Gargoyle. What do you suppose the helicarrier cost? Even in 1971 dollars? Blow it up...

Karen: What's next? Evacuate the capitol because the Eel is in town?

Doug: The fighting continues, and as the SHIELD crew evacuates, the helicarrier is on a course toward the mountain where Element X is stored. Because Fury's been turned to stone in the melee, there's no one to give the clearance code, so the soldiers in the mountain commence firing on the helicarrier. Cap's able to get his buddies out and onto a skiff (I thought of Return of the Jedi when I saw that) -- Falcon jumps out to join them with evil on his mind; fortunately his hour's up and he reverts back to his skin-and-bones self. The Gargoyle decides he's going to beat the heroes into the mountain, and so flies ahead. And that's another thing -- how the heck does he fly? He must weigh a ton (literally)! And then... and then Stan leaves us with this, his last line of his long run as author of Captain America: "He made it! The deadliest human alive is inside the stronghold -- where Element X will be his for the taking!" Bro-ther...

Karen: Yes, the guy made out of stone can glide...what?? Geez. I will admit though that Romita gave us some nice scenes, particularly the sequences with the helicarrier. Although I don't know that I would consider the art strong enough to carry this incredibly weak story. Definitely not the high point of Stan the Man's career.

I Turned to Stone, When You Were Gone, I Turned To Stone...

Captain America #140 (August 1971)
"In the Grip of the Gargoyle!"
Stan Lee-John Romita/George Roussos

Doug: We remarked last week that we'd been guilty of shunning the Mighty Thor for the past year-plus. Well, lo and behold but Captain America's been getting the shaft, too! So over the next week, we'll also rectify that situation with a 3-part look at Cap and the Falcon vs. the Grey Gargoyle!

Doug: First impression -- Stan's writing is full of its usual hyperbole, George Roussos is perhaps not the best inker for John Romita, and where in the world did Artie Simek lose all of his punctuation?

Karen: Ah yes, the missing punctuation! There was a period of time where it seemed like you never saw a period at the end of sentences. One of our readers, Steve Pick, stated in comments on our review of Fantastic Four 112 that there was some sort of printing process problem (say that three times fast) going on at the time. But as a young reader, who was proud of her grasp of sentence structure, it drove me crazy. Actually, it still does.

Doug: We pick this story up just as a battle is beginning between Captain America and the Grey Gargoyle. Cap's been on the NYPD at the request of the commissioner in an effort to locate several cops who've turned up missing. The reason they are missing is because they've all been turned to stone by the Gargoyle, and it's this graveyard-looking scene that Cap comes into. If you're not familiar with the Gargoyle, he was a French chemist who accidentally stumbled on a compound that turns anything he touches with his right hand to stone. I've always found it somewhat funny that even though he's the person of masonry, he still wears a moustache -- sort of reminds me of Caesar Romero!
Karen: Yeah, the Gargoyle is a goofy guy -he seems exceedingly bulky, sort of reminding me of the Beast after he got hairy. He just never seemed that challenging a foe -certainly not for the likes of Thor, who I believe was his original enemy.

Doug: The Falcon soon catches up to Cap and joins the battle. We of course get the obligatory racial accusations, that Cap only keeps Falc around as a "token black"; Falc felt that Cap had gone off on his own to tackle the baddie. I've always found this talk somewhat offensive and certainly inflammatory, but I understand that's what Stan was going for. It just gets worn out when it occurs each issue. Later in the story it's really rough when Steve is looking for Sam at his social work office and is confronted by Sam's lady friend. She goes a step further and ridicules Steve for being in his police uniform. I suppose this running commentary was just one more difference between Marvel and DC in this era (the O'Neil/Adams GL-GA notwithstanding).

Karen: It's funny, I found this really the most interesting part of the story. I have to give Stan credit for addressing the issue and not playing it safe. Yes, at times it could seem heavy-handed, but I don't think it was that far removed from reality. I'm sure that an African American hero teamed up with a living legend would get no end of grief from some people in his community. The pressure to prove himself, to be his own man -that would be tough. As for Leila, well, she was pretty much always a b!tch, regardless of creed or color!

Doug: The Grey Gargoyle proves his mettle by even turning Cap's shield to stone. However, once there's a break in the fighting the Gargoyle slips away. It's not that he couldn't have continued, but he has other business to tend to. So we see Steve Rogers back in uniform and getting instructions from the commissioner while taking heat from his commanding officer (in a scene straight out of Steve's military days in WWII). We're also treated to a brief origin recap for the Gargoyle.

Doug: Next we see Falc has tracked, with the help of Redwing, the Gargoyle to his secret lab. Sam engages ol' Stoneface, they scrap, and Sam surprisingly holds his own. That is, until the Gargoyle exposes Sam to the same chemicals that turn people to stone -- but this time with a twist: the new composition allows the afflicted person to move, but places him under the mental control of the Grey Gargoyle. This is heading south for our heroes in a hurry!

Karen: You have to wonder what Falcon was thinking, kicking a guy made out of stone? Ouch! It doesn't seem like he had any real plan for capturing him, but I blame Stan more for that than Falc!

Doug: Cap is worried about Falc so goes searching for him. The aforementioned exchange at Sam's office takes place, and then Cap requests (through Stark technology) to be beamed up to the SHIELD helicarrier. There, he's reunited with Sharon Carter and Nick Fury. While catching up, Fury informs Cap of a project they're working on to isolate and study Element X. But the only thing that can withstand this dangerous chemical -- with the power to blow up the planet -- is solid stone. It's at that point that Cap connects the dots...

Karen: Why oh why is anyone working on Element X? "One drop can destroy the planet" -hello, what possible use is the stuff? This whole idea seemed like something Stan just had pop into his head and put down on paper with no real effort put into thinking it out.

Doug: This was a decent story -- lots of action, a little mystery, writing from Stan like you'd expect, solid if not spectacular pictures from Jazzy Johnny, and a cliffhanger ending. Yep -- everything you expect to get for your hard-earned 15c!

Karen: This was one of those go-go-go stories that Stan seemed to be doing a lot of towards the end of his writing career. It's not terrible but it's certainly not up to his earlier work. I did really enjoy the Romita art in this issue.