Take A Seat

 

As I was compiling subject matter for this post, the first thing that came to mind was this guy:

Who looks like he's traveling through space seated on some kind of contraption--at least that's what I'd assumed, having never read the story. Except that this character, Orion, isn't seated on anything, but simply hunched over, gripping what he calls his "power rods." Yet there is a seated character among those Orion mingles with in New Genesis--Metron, who appears to be persona non grata among the others and flits about time-space in his "Mobius Chair" advancing his own agenda.

And thus, the New Gods have unknowingly summoned us to hear another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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What Marvel characters look to chairs for their status, and/or their power?

(Or, in Ben Grimm's case, their life??)

The Legacy of the Black Widow

 

Recently we've been tracking the involvement of Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, in the ranks of the mighty Avengers: First, her long road to formal membership on the team, only to then reconsider and decline active participation in the group... and then, taking a look at her sparse appearances in the book until 1991, when she accepted a spot in their primary lineup which coincided with the team's new charter under the United Nations. Eventually, she rose to the position of team leader, which took her to the end of the book's run in 1996 and the fateful encounter with Onslaught, the evil amalgam of Charles Xavier and Magneto--a battle which would effectively bring Natasha's tenure as Chairwoman, and the Avengers, to an end.

Yet it wasn't until the 1999 Avengers Annual that we discovered the mystery surrounding Natasha's rather lackluster state of mind following the announcement of the Avengers not only being discovered alive but intending to resume their team's activities and sift through a cattle call of 39 prospects in settling on a new lineup--a gathering that she departed rather than put herself into contention. As team leader at the time of the Onslaught attack, how did she move forward following the "deaths" of her comrades? And what became of her own team of Avengers--or, more to the point, the few who remained?

The Recurring Avenger

 

Fairly early in their career (around the late 1960s), the Avengers had certain misgivings about offering membership to Natalia Alianovna "Natasha" Romanova, better known in espionage circles as the Black Widow, in part because of her various activities in her femme fatale days that saw her joining forces with the Swordsman and Power Man but also those instances where she followed directives to commit acts of sabotage and theft against Tony Stark's munitions plant. But even after coming to terms with her past and defecting from the Soviet Union, her covert missions on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D. tended to raise suspicion that she was once again acting in accordance with directives from her former government--a likelihood that even the man she was seeing romantically (Hawkeye, himself an Avenger) couldn't disprove as he was also kept in the dark about her missions.

For a time, then, the Avengers' loss was Nick Fury's gain, as SHIELD continued to benefit from her skill set as a spy. Eventually, however, Natasha changed course, gave herself a new look and lapsed into the life of an international jet-setter before deciding to pursue individual adventures as the Black Widow, and, later, a partnership (and romantic involvement) with Daredevil. And when the time came when the Avengers were seeking assistance in battling the threat of Magneto, the two agreed to help out in the pinch--after which, membership was offered to both, but only Natasha accepted, if only briefly.

For after the team met and defeated an attack from the Lion God, their newest member had second thoughts about remaining.

Such admissions (much like those of Spider-Man in his early days of pursuing Avengers membership) seemed to close the door on Natasha ever choosing to rejoin the Avengers in an active capacity; nevertheless, for a time, several writers of the book continued to flirt with the notion in one way or another, particularly after her relationship with Daredevil had run its course.

Which is our cue to flirt with another

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Marvel Trivia Question

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When did the Black Widow finally rejoin the Avengers lineup?

The Final Hour of the Assassin!

 

We've been looking at the roughly six-month period of stories from 1971-72 which introduced the figure-in-shadows known as Mister Kline, whose agenda was to disrupt the lives of both Tony Stark and Matt Murdock for reasons unknown. To that end, he involved a number of criminal operatives to do his bidding, until finally turning to more dependable androids of his own construction--at which point Kline himself pulled back the curtain to reveal that he was also an android, in the service of another figure who was just as mysterious in regard to their ultimate goal.

And now, we come to see the situation somewhat resolved in the pages of Daredevil (the key word here being "somewhat"), where writer Gerry Conway brings an anticlimactic conclusion to this storyline that mostly fast-tracks closure for the character and story of "Mister Kline" (now designated "the Assassin" by his superior, Baal) by way of a bare minimum of explanation which may nevertheless satisfy those readers who are ready to move on. Oddly enough, it's made clear by story's end that those sentiments are also shared by Daredevil and the Black Widow.

The Many Operatives of Mister Kline!

 

From late 1971 to early 1972, writer Gerry Conway introduced the nefarious Mister Kline, a character who for reasons unknown sought to upend the lives of Matt Murdock, Tony Stark, and Franklin Nelson, and whose hidden agenda would by extension draw in Daredevil and Iron Man. It's hard to say whether Kline's primary focus on Murdock and Stark had anything to do with Marvel's soon-to-be-launched large format books that would offer an increase in story length for selected titles at a cost of 25¢, given that both Invincible Iron Man and Daredevil were reportedly to be merged into a single book; otherwise, Murdock and Stark would seem to be worlds apart as far as gaining the interest of a figure in shadows who would go to any lengths to cause them trouble, to say nothing of the time and effort taken to conscript others to do that figure's dirty work.

And speaking of which, since Kline himself is due for a PPC post of his own, let's spend our time here running down the list of those whom he enlisted to further his plans--some willingly, some not so much, but all in one way or another complicating the lives of our heroes.

Which calls for a not too complicated

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Marvel Trivia Question

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Which characters were compelled to serve the enigma named... Mister Kline?

"The Woman Who Never Was!"

 

Having collected and read the entirety of the Marvel Team-Up title from the '70s, I suppose I feel as qualified as anyone to say that, in terms of hit and miss, its stories generally tipped into the latter category for me while they shoe-horned Spider-Man, the standard bearer of the book, into a meeting/partnership with a different character each month. That said, there were a number of gems that were quite readable, some of which even stood out as page turners--in fact, you and I would probably be able to compile a "top 10" list of stories if we put our minds to it. (A potentially interesting topic for a future post, I dare say.)

In your own listing, I hope you make room for a four-part story from 1979 by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema which, like other MTU multi-parters, drew in more than one guest-star to heighten the story's development and ramp up interest, which had the added benefit of spicing up the cover masthead with the naming of a new player with each installment. In its opening pages, things start off with an attempted mugging of a lady who seems out of sorts in her life, an attempt foiled by Spider-Man--but when the wall-crawler literally slips up and leaves himself open for certain death, our damsel in distress proves to be far more than the confused and helpless person we first laid eyes on.

Obviously distraught, the woman who by all appearances is the Black Widow gains the sympathy of Spider-Man, who makes allowances for the possibility he could be wrong about her and tries to help her collect herself. In the process, he learns her name and her occupation--but for himself, and the woman who calls herself "Nancy Rushman," the mystery of her identity only deepens with unsubstantiated assertions which call her story into question.

Since Spider-Man has noticed that the Widow's costume is insulated*, he suggests she put it on (with hopes that it might jog her memory). Yet Nancy's calm insistence of her own identity only raises doubts with the reader (which makes sense at this early stage of the story) that, despite appearances, she is the former Russian spy we and Spider-Man recognize.

*Something Spider-Man might consider for his own costume--how does he bear the frigid winds of winter while web-swinging through the city at such high altitudes?

Resigned to pick up the pieces of her life, Nancy prepares to change back into her clothes and part company with Spider-Man. Which is when all hell breaks loose, and a thus far unassuming story explodes into new, violent territory.

In Our Midst... Two Immortals!

 

After squaring off on Earth with two of Marvel's heaviest hitters--the mighty Thor in March of 1966 and, two months later, the Incredible Hulk--Hercules, the Prince of Power, apparently decided to ditch his self-appointed publicity agent and the world of mortals altogether and return to the spires of Olympus, where we find him sparring with Ares--not realizing that the Olympian war god has made an arrangement with the exiled Asgardian known as the Enchantress to seal not only the fate of Hercules but also that of the mighty Avengers.

It will become clear soon enough that the Enchantress has only enlisted the might of Hercules as a tool of revenge against the Avengers, a team of mortal heroes that she persists in maintaining a vendetta against. Though if she were privy to their current state of affairs, she might be delighted to see that their internal strife over a proposed new member could be doing some of her work for her.

(Gee, Cap--you really can't tell the difference between the voices of Pietro and Wanda?)

It's not particularly clear why writer Roy Thomas has Henry Pym, in his guise as Goliath, virtually (and verbally) beating his chest here, ready to take on any and all who might go up against him--while it's equally curious that it's the Black Widow's proposed membership that has set him off, considering he doesn't even have good reason to raise an objection. Concerning the latter point, mostly it seems Thomas's way of continuing to take advantage of the seed he planted in the previous issue, where the Widow was prepared to act against their foe, Ixar, in a way that no Avenger would consider:

We might also assume that Hawkeye's blowup at the membership meeting has something to do with the fact that, as the only Avenger to witness the scene, he realizes that disclosing the Widow's behavior would likely sink her chances of being granted membership.

Also interesting to note (though not a deal-breaker) is that, with their current six-member lineup here, the Avengers are at what both Captain America and the N.S.C. have generally considered to be the team's ideal number--something brought to light perhaps for the first time here in so many words, though not surprisingly it's a point that Hawkeye is quick to brush aside.

At any rate, the point is a moot one, since, unknown to the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. has swooped in and recruited the Widow for a mission in the far east--a task which she can't discuss with the Avengers or even Hawkeye but gives the impression that she is returning to her roots as an enemy agent, which serves to remove her from consideration. And with Cap being called away to battle a threat from Power Man and the Swordsman (not to mention the Red Skull), and Hawkeye and the Wasp deciding to ditch the meeting in protest of Goliath (who's acting like "a stuffed shirt" on this issue as far as the Wasp is concerned) casually moving on with Avengers business as if nothing had happened, there arguably couldn't be a better time for the Enchantress to arrive with an ally who now resurfaces in the book's 38th issue from 1967--including prominent exposure on that issue's cover by Gil Kane, though a rare instance of the work of this artist perhaps falling short of expectations.

Beware The Invasion of Warlord Kaa! (Or Not)

It's 1977, and The Champions, the brainchild of writer Tony Isabella which featured the new Los Angeles super-team of the Black Widow, the Ghost Rider, Hercules, the Angel, and the Iceman, appears to be having a rough time establishing a firm foundation for itself as well as a firm connection with its readers*. Launched in October of '75, its second issue took three months getting to the sales rack, leaving the impression that issue #1 was simply a "pilot" concept released into the sales arena to determine if it generated sufficient interest to merit being produced on a regular basis** (as was the case with a number of early '70s first issues). Once out of the gate, the book was assigned monthly status, which seemed a good sign of its reception; yet the honeymoon appeared to be over after four issues, when the book was quietly shifted to a bimonthly schedule.

*Who were unsparing in their criticisms in the book's first letters page. Curiously, the next letters page, featuring letters apparently collected from an altogether different mailbag, looked to be carefully cultivated to shower that first issue with laurels and words like "blockbuster," while drawing favorable comparisons with the achievements of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Roy Thomas.

**Isabella instead blames a long process of selecting group members and selling Editor Len Wein on the idea: "...that task took nine months. When THE CHAMPIONS, then called GIANT-SIZE CHAMPIONS, finally got the go-ahead, it was already late. That's why there were three months between the premiere issue and the Champs' second outing." I'm not quite following the train of thought here. Isabella's reasoning would only explain why issue #1 would have taken awhile to make it to the sales rack, but not a three-month gap between that issue's publication and issue #2--i.e., once Wein had signed off and the first issue was produced and distributed, why would there have been any gap between issues from that point?

After the next  four issues were published (with two months passing between each), readers were likely surprised to see issue #9 arrive a month early, with #10 also taking just thirty days to see print--a decision which was finally hailed in #11, while making mention of some character reshuffling in the process:

It was a sensible decision to dump Fenster and Bale (the Champions' P.R. representative and lawyer, respectively)--arguably the team's ball and chain, who gave us the sense that the Champions couldn't make a move without their input. (By comparison, think of how Henry Gyrich's directives weighed down the Avengers.) Unfortunately, the announcement of the book's renewed monthly status was ill-timed: with the publication of issue #12, The Champions was returned to bi-monthly publication, where it remained until its cancellation five issues later.

And if it seems like this book is in freefall, think how Black Goliath feels at joining them on the way down!

Mission: Seize The Black Widow!

One of the uncertainties that's proven to be problematic in establishing a comics series which features a new super-group is whether or not the chemistry among the members of that group--and certainly the chemistry between the group and the book's readers--will catch on in time to garner regular interest in the series. It's a small window that doesn't remain open too long, and, looking back, there are a number of examples to point to where the concept being launched fell short of whatever expectations Marvel may have had going in. The original core membership of the Avengers, for instance, didn't really work in terms of a lineup that could sustain the book on their own, with the original lineup of the Defenders making their exit in even less time. The X-Men also struggled to find their niche, whether as "the most unusual teen-agers of all time," "the most mysterious fighting team of all time," "the most unusual fighting team of all time," or "the strangest teens of all"--while later adjusting their costumes and even their masthead to better catch the eye.

During the mid-1970s, then, when admittedly many new concepts were being conceived and launched without a great deal of forethought except to see which would catch fire with readers, and with The Defenders having settled into a relatively comfortable status with both Dr. Strange and the Hulk serving to anchor present and future lineup shifts, The Champions was arguably the most high-profile new book to come down the pipe, grouping together two original X-Men, two Avengers--and the Ghost Rider, a character who at first glance seemed incompatible with the format but whose solo series was doing fairly well and thus was perhaps seen as a draw.

And there's no denying he's an attention-getter, visually.

But despite a decent run of seventeen issues, the book folded in early 1978, with most of that run spent in bi-monthly publication. In the end, even its members were divided on their viability, with the group's leader at one point clearly feeling it was her responsibility to shore up team morale (in a flashback taking place thirty-two years after the book's cancellation):

Strangely enough, rather than any stories in the series, I tend to recall the book's plethora of writing and artistic troupers who pitched in to keep the book going. And since someone in charge must have surmised that the quality of the stories would have been the key to that, the switchover of writers was kept to a minimum, allowing for a measure of consistency between issues. That worked out to Tony Isabella and Bill Mantlo each taking several issues in sequence, switching off on occasion (with only Chris Claremont pinch-hitting for one issue).

Yet while both Isabella and Mantlo turned in good work, I would have to say that neither was willing to take a deep breath and slowly establish some sort of foundation for this group and its members in the minds of readers once the initial opening-with-a-bang crisis had passed. Instead, because of Warren Worthington coming into his family fortune, *poof* in no time we had a brand new state-of-the-art headquarters for the Champions (an entire building, no less); *poof* we had the "Champs-craft," a convertible sky-car, complete with the team logo on its hood; *poof* we had a butler in residence, and ... ::ahem:: sorry, I got carried away there, but you get the idea.* And seemingly for the sake of expediency, we also got a team leader in the Black Widow before you could say "this is only the second issue," during a lull in a crisis that allowed her to make a few sensible suggestions regarding their next step--even though leadership didn't appear to be a problem which needed to be addressed on the spur of the moment, with four of these five people being no strangers to working as part of a team and who had conferred fine with each other up to this point. Someone wanted this team established yesterday.

*Apparently in an effort to avoid the appearance of an instant team with "the works," the Champions eventually discovered they'd bought themselves a basket of lemons, with their building and all of its technology and craft having been constructed with defective materials--which would seem to validate a writer taking a more step-by-step approach and giving these people some breathing room. The Champions were already chaotic enough, getting a handle on their foes as well as doubting their purpose--it doesn't exactly help the situation by arranging for their HQ and gear to become all-too-symbolically unstable.

Artwise, we had several talents on pencils: Don Heck, George Tuska, Bob Hall, and John Byrne, with Byrne perhaps getting the lion's share of the limelight given that his work appeared in the series' last seven issues. On inks, however, it was quite a mix, with Mike Esposito, John Tartaglione, Vince Colletta, Bruce Patterson, Bob Layton, Frank Giacoia, and Byrne (inking Tuska!). But it's Hall we're singling out today, a former student of John Buscema's class on comics art who would develop quite a presence at Marvel and other comics companies in addition to becoming active in projects for the theater. Hall would later score a gig as regular artist of The Avengers; but in his first assignment for the company, a Champions tale that delves into the history of the Black Widow, he delivers impressive work while helping to bring the group to the national stage as a bona fide super-group.

Unfortunately for said group, their debut doesn't go as smoothly as planned.

When Gann Josins Clash!

Previously, we've seen a sampling of the Avengers' conflict with the Gatherers--a group of refugees from alternate worlds who have joined the cause of their ringleader, Proctor, in eliminating the catalyst for the destruction of alternate Earths, worlds where the Avengers (and one Avenger in particular) have played a pivotal role. Thus far, we've observed the Avengers only beginning to assemble the pieces of this puzzle, while also having to deal with a malady involving the Eternal in their ranks, Sersi, who may be in the early stages of a type of senility which may cause her to eventually go mad.

And now, having uncovered a Gatherer spy in their midst--the Vision, who took the real Vision's place with the Avengers when he was ambushed by the Gatherers--the Avengers close in on the Gatherers' citadel in the Andes mountains to recover their member, and get some answers!

"Your Serve... er, Move, Daredevil!"

Having put together a special series on symbolic splash pages featured in Marvel's major team books as well as in Amazing Spider-Man, the PPC now moves briefly to highlighting some noteworthy efforts made in a random sampling of other titles from over the years which came to mind, some of which may ring a bell for you.

Leading us off are a number of pages from Daredevil, which I lingered on for some time considering their diversity in both style and artists and spanned a range of years from 1964 to 1971. (Perhaps even longer, but DD is monopolizing this subject as it is!) Bill Everett Jack Kirby is who we have to thank for paving the way for us (correction courtesy of Dave Plunkert--thanks, Dave!):

Joe Orlando, whose work began appearing in the industry in 1949, would follow up on the title with the next three issues (though you'll find much of his work for Marvel appearing in titles published in the mid- to late-'50s, in categories ranging from westerns, romance, war stories, sci-fi and mystery). His final work was published in 1997, a year before his death at 71.

Wally Wood, whose work Stan Lee made efforts to spotlight, makes his own SSP contribution (working off artist Bob Powell's layout) in a story from 1965 which he also scripted:

Ross Andru and Herb Trimpe unintentionally provide dueling SSPs featuring Ant-Man, with Andru providing more variety in terms of what awaits us within the story:

While John Romita and Gene Colan line up their versions of face-offs between DD and Spider-Man.  Writer Gerry Conway's "sports fan" caption turns out to be appropriate, since Mr. Colan seems to have Spidey trying to capture DD with a tennis court net.

(Maybe that second title should start off with "...And So Re-enters"?)

The mask and form of Daredevil lend themselves nicely to the SSP format, as Colan demonstrates in his other efforts with the character.

Over in Amazing Adventures, where the Black Widow is splitting the mag with the Inhumans, John Buscema appeals to the action lover with imagery suggesting that the Widow's new series is the one to watch--while Colan takes a more intriguing approach.

Later in that same title, Craig Russell is well-suited to the characters and concepts we'll find in stories adapted from H.G. Wells' War Of The Worlds.

While Colan, Gil Kane, and Jim Starlin show us what they bring to the table for Captain Marvel, old and new...

...as well as for Warlock (with Steve Leialoha working off of Starlin's layout).

Dr. Strange is also well-represented, both solo and as part of the Defenders. Here we see work by Andru, Colan, Barry Smith, and Sal Buscema.

Howard Purcell, whose work for Marvel was limited to backup stories featuring the Watcher and two Nick Fury stories in Strange Tales, turns in this splendid SSP for the Black Knight's appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes.

Finally, Andru takes us out with the opening page to Marvel Team-Up #1, which features the rare display of Spider-Man in battle while poised on his own spider's web.

(Frankly these two don't seem very interested in fighting the Sandman.)

COMING UP:

One more SSP for the road... to Transylvania, that is.