Heroines, Abandoned!

 

Wow! It's been 7½ years since we looked in on these ladies:

Launched in late 1972 to coincide with the women's liberation movement, widow Greer Grant, former animal specialist Shanna O'Hara, and nurses Linda Carter, Georgia Jenkins, and Christine Palmer hit the comic book spinner rack starring in, respectively, The Claws of the Cat, Shanna the She-Devil, and Night Nurse--and to further entice female comics readers, all were staffed at least in part with female creative talent.

Immediately assigned to bimonthly publication, however, all three books had only a brief run of 4-5 issues, their final covers pictured above. But how did they fare in quality and interest? Did these titles show any promise? And did they end on a high note, or simply run out of steam? Let's look back some fifty years to those issues for the answers.

"Nightmare on Bald Mountain!"

 

OR: "Invasion Of The Body Snatcher!"

Three months after the successful premiere of the Defenders in the pages of Marvel Feature, writer Roy Thomas and artist Ross Andru seek to reunite the team-that-is-not-a-team in order to face another threat to the entire planet, and beyond--a crisis that, at first glance, may be facilitated by the presence of none other than the Master of the Mystic Arts himself!

In light of the date on the calendar that indicates the approaching celebration of All-Hallows' Eve, Thomas would again make use of the backdrop of the rural town of Rutland, Vermont and its annual celebration of that date. Rutland, as it turns out, also happens to be overshadowed by Bald Mountain, where even now devotees of the dread Dormammu attempt once more a ritual meant to bridge the gulf between Earth and the Dark Dimension--an attempt which, to our surprise, meets with success, as we find that Dormammu and his earthly minions have made arrangements to see a carefully-laid plan through to fruition.

It's quite a compelling prelude we're presented with--and with inker Sal Buscema on board this time, thus far Andru's work has never looked better. As for our would-be hooded intruders who are about to pounce, obviously this 1972 story took place in the days when Dr. Strange had no formidable defenses surrounding his sanctum sanctorum on which to rely, nor any sorcerous means by which he would be made aware of those lurking on his roof. And given what's happening at Bald Mountain, this night he is a man preoccupied--for through his mystic orb, he sees signs of what we have seen, a threat which has already made arrangements to deal with him.

The off-panel voice which interrupts Strange's musings belongs to the astral form of his mentor, the Ancient One, whom he joins in similar fashion to take counsel with in the sky above, or so he thinks. Unfortunately, this is also a time in the past where his body is left completely vulnerable even in his sanctum should the occasion arise where he was obliged to free his astral form for whatever reason--and our robed cultists are swift to take advantage of their ruse in distracting Strange with a false summons, securing his vacant body with a spell which prevents his spirit from rejoining it before dealing brutally with his manservant, Wong, and escaping with their prize.

Fortunately, in her desperation, Clea unknowingly has sent images via the Orb of the one she cares most for to those two who were most recently in Strange's thoughts--and so, it seems, the Defenders will fight again. But even as the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk make their way to New York, Strange's captors arrive with him at a lodge at the foot of Bald Mountain, where the intricate plan of Dormammu--and its linchpin, Dr. Strange--is at last revealed.

Yikes! Can even town crier Roy Thomas prevent Rutland--not to mention all of Vermont--from biting the dust this time?

The Price Is... Death!

 

A little over a year following his debut in Amazing Spider-Man, the Punisher makes his way over to a high-profile appearance in the fourth issue of Giant-Size Spider-Man, fighting beside the wall-crawler in a 36-page story (which, excluding ads, works out to 27 pages--still a nice 9 extra pages for your extra 25¢ than what the monthly Spidey series offered). Coming along for the ride is the regular book's creative team of Gerry Conway and Ross Andru (with Mike Esposito stepping in on inks) in a story of greed vs. human lives, an equation which rarely works out in favor of the latter.

We're introduced to at least one of those lives when Spider-Man foils an attempted kidnapping of a young woman, and receives some unexpected assistance from a nearby sniper.

(I don't know about you, but there have been enough instances of Spider-Man's spider-sense being "set aside" when the story calls for someone to take him unawares that I've conditioned myself to sigh and let it slide. That said, two such instances in one scene may tax my resolve.)

As for Spider-Man's resolve to be more understanding of first responders, that lasts for all of sixty seconds, tops (in a very odd scene on Conway's part).

Let's hear from our judges on this about-face, folks:
Police: 9.8. Suddenly can't-be-bothered jerk in the costume: 1.5. (Five-tenths added only because he saved the girl.)

So what's this plot that Spider-Man has stumbled into all about? Why was this girl targeted for kidnapping? What's the extent of the Punisher's involvement (aside from having some interest in the kidnappers that may extend beyond simply picking them off)? Thanks to his journal entry, we can make a fair guess by now that the Punisher is conducting some sort of investigation--but judging by the issue's shocking (if symbolic) cover, the "enemy" that the Punisher speaks of is going to mete out some punishing of his own.

Woe To The Unpunished!

 

Of all the scenes the Punisher has to his credit over the years, one that often comes to mind for me comes courtesy of the character's creators, Gerry Conway and Ross Andru, during his second appearance in the early '70s:

The context of the panel consists of his reaction to his foe, the Tarantula, making a fool of him and giving him the slip (and, perhaps most frustrating of all, escaping punishment). The Punisher, after all, is conducting a one-man war against criminals--and while his motivation at this point in time is unclear, what does seem evident is that his obsession with that mission is driven by a mixture of rage and vengeance. Simply put, he cannot tolerate this low-life remaining free--or alive.

But there are more curious circumstances occurring in the Punisher's first appearance, taking place in Amazing Spider-Man in 1974, where we find him in an alliance with the bizarre interloper known as the Jackal, who has his own obsessive agenda in regard to the wall-crawler--a twisted mindset that the Punisher is apparently unaware of, or the Jackal might also find himself in his partner's crosshairs. Here, the Jackal takes advantage of his knowledge of Spider-Man's role in the death of Norman Osborn in combination with our hero's history of evasion of law enforcement, to make sure the Punisher's sights are now turned on a target that both men are convinced is deserving of death.

And so Frank Castle breaks into the comics world as...

My Son... The Sub-Mariner!

Following the death of the Lady Dorma and the abdication of Namor The First and his subsequent departure from Atlantis, the grief-stricken Sub-Mariner turned to the surface world in an attempt to establish a life for himself there and explore his human heritage; yet, in failing, he discovers evidence that Capt. Leonard McKenzie, the human who long ago had wed Princess Fen, his mother, may still be alive. It would be the last course that longtime Sub-Mariner writer Roy Thomas would chart for the character before departing the book, a loose end which Gerry Conway would resolve in early 1972. In so doing, Conway would also demonstrate that he had in mind a different approach for Namor by severing Thomas's subplot of a Washington senator's campaign to secure amnesty for Namor by representing him as a champion of the environment.

The other loose end to be dealt with, of course, was the villainess Llyra, who had murdered Dorma yet escaped Namor's vengeance. And as Namor roams the streets of Boston for clues of his father's whereabouts, we find that Llyra has formed an alliance with one of Namor's oldest foes--Todd Arliss, Tiger Shark, who has his own plans for Namor.

Meanwhile, as marine biologist Walter Newell does some legwork of his own in investigating the whereabouts of McKenzie, we discover the 74-year-old captain spending the remaining years of his life in isolation in a Boston boarding house where he is looked after by a woman named Sara (presumably his landlady) and beset by memories of the loss he suffered fifty years ago. To understand the depth of that loss, we turn to a flashback narrated by Namor himself (via Thomas), in an exquisite origin sequence rendered by artist Ross Andru.

Events which Conway picks up on as we return to MacKenzie* again in late 1971, when we find his memories of that time are in the tortured form of bits and pieces which make clear that Fen's loss is something he has never healed from.

*Conway has changed the spelling of the last name, a trifling adjustment that could have been intentional or simply an oversight.

And so we finally rejoin Namor, who has crossed paths with MacKenzie without realizing it and now is lost in his own thoughts while walking the streets of Boston (seen here in scenes penciled by noted Sub-Mariner artist Marie Severin, with Jim Mooney).

What serves as the catalyst for finally drawing together the principal characters in this plot is the capture by Llyra and Tiger Shark of reporter Diane Arliss (Todd's sister), a woman hopelessly smitten with Namor and whose unwilling cooperation provides them with a powerful means by which they can bring Namor to them, and place him under their power.

A scene which at last opens the door to this saga's climax--for better or for worse.

"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.