Pellucidar At The Earth's Core!

Pellucidar is aside possibly from the elaborate landscape of Mars, ERB's greatest creation. In fact I like it a bit more as all that "Hollow Earth" stuff is immensely interesting. David Innes and the elder scientist Abney Perry drill into the Earth and end up in an immense world in which time loses its meaning. It's a world ruled by malignant intelligent dinosaurs and mankind is a lesser race doomed to early death and slavery. As is the wont of ERB's heroes Innes becomes a powerful leader of the peoples of Pellucidar and finds romance in the form of Dian the Beautiful. (That's her above in a wonderful image by Mark Schultz.) When DC got the ERB rights way back in 1972 from Gold Key they not only continued the adventures of Tarzan and his sone Korak, but initiated back-up series for John Carter of Mars, Carson Napier of Venus and David Innes in Pellucidar. 

 

These back-ups were made necessary by DC's then policy of charging a quarter for their comics but increasing the page count. I loved this era, but it did DC little good in the marketplace apparently was stopped just after the ERB books debuted. That meant the back-up series were suddenly homeless. Carson of Mars stayed in the back pages of Korak Son of Tarzan. Meanwhile Pellucidar joined John Carter in a brand comic dubbed Weird Worlds. 

The Dojo took a look at John Carter here. Pellucidar though remains a sentimental favorite of mine. The stories contained in the short series were collected by Dark Horse in a slim volume in 2017 titled Pellucidar at the Earth's Core. That title combines the titles of the first two Burroughs Pellucidar novels which are adapted partially in these stories by writer Len Wein and artist Alan Weiss. 

Pellucidar shared cover appearances with John Carter not unlike the old Marvel comics Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish when they had to bit two different heroes in their pages. The stories by Wein and Weiss introduce us to Innes and Perry and follow the action of the novel At the Earth's Core pretty effectively. Weiss is of the same generation which produced Barry Windsor-Smith, Mike Kaluta (who drew Carson of Venus initially), and Berni Wrightson. But unlike many of his kindred artists Weiss was never really attached to a single series for any length of time. In fact Pellucidar is the series I think about when I hear his name. 

Weiss drew the first four installments of the series to fine effect. The story of David's romance with Dian is detailed quite well and follows the classic ERB methodology of two handsome folks falling in love at first sight but letting social foibles get between them. Innes must also deal with a villain named Hooka the Sly who at one point makes off with Dian. 

Mike Kaluta fills in for one installment as Denny O'Neil takes on the scripting from Wein. Later Dan Green will draw the last three installments of the short series to great effect. 

After wrapping up the adaptation of At the Earth's Core the series begins Pellucidar which sees David Innes returning to the land down under with fresh supplies. The Kaluta cover above is likely the best one the series saw. he produced two Pellucidar covers for issues four and six. Joe Orlando is responsible for the cover of issue number two. 

But after seven issues it was over. Truth told the back-up ERB material had been begun with great promise but despite the work of solid professionals seemed to lose momentum. This collection from Dark Horse Books does a service of sorts for fans, but it is severely flawed. The artwork here is apparently scanned and on the glossy paper it looks terrible. There is a muddiness which I've never seen in a publication from an outfit at the level of Dark Horse before. I can understand not investing the money needed to remaster the material, but it seems they could've done better than this. For that reason I can only recommend this book with limited enthusiasm. The adventures of Pellucidar at DC are fun but in this version they look lousy. 

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Once More To The Earth's Core!

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar At The Earth's Core from Dark Horse (sporting an eye-catching Mark Schultz cover) finally puts back into print some of those luscious little stories which appeared in the back pages of DC comics way back in the early 70's.

The stories adapt the ERB novel At The Earth's Core which begins the saga of David Innes and his trip to the weird world inside the planet where he encounters a prehistoric world full of different kind of people and infamous creatures called the Mahars.

When DC Comics first picked up the Tarzan license from Gold Key there was a considerable push to maximize the opportunity and impressive efforts were made to bring to the stands not only the high profile Tarzan property but other lesser characters such as Korak, John Carter of Mars, Carson of Venus and David Innes. When the John Carter movie was being made Dark Horse published the John Carter stories from those days, (I discussed those here some years ago.) And the Tarzan material has long been in print from the company. Sadly other stuff has not been available until now.

The Pellucidar stories began as back ups in the pages of Korak Son of Tarzan because when the comic first debuted DC was still experimenting with its twenty-five cent format. But quickly the format went away and the material produced both for Tarzan and Korak needed a new home.

And so was born Weird Worlds, specifically designed to showcase John Carter and David Innes who alternated cover appearances in the tried and true tradition once used by Marvel for its split-books of the previous decade. The original Pellucidar stories adapt the first novel by ERB and offer up some neat scripting by Denny O'Neil and some handsome artwork by Alan Weiss. But sadly for this reprint that great artwork is ill served by an indifferent reproduction which appears to be simply scans of the original pages. Given the quality of the work, one could hope for more in this regard.

The story is pretty good, and it's good to have this adaptation complete in one volume. Several of the chapters are inked by the famous "Crusty Bunkers", the gang of talented young artists who worked in the studio of Neal Adams and Dick Giordano and would become Continuity Associates.

The story told is vintage Burroughs -- David Innes and scientist Abner Perry use their mechanical drilling machine to head through the Earth's crust and end up in Pellcidar, a vast territory which exists in perpetual light and is filled with people, apelike creatures called Sagoths who serve weird dinosaur-like creatures called Mahars.

The story is a twisting yarn and has the heroic Innes fall immediately in love with the resident beauty who calls herself without an inkling of self-awareness "Dian the Beautiful".  But unaware of Pelucidar's customs he manages to insult her and then they are separated.

Innes spends much of the rest of the series trying to surive Pellucidar's deadly environs and trying to find Dian and also Perry who he loses track of. 

Eventually the series closes its adaptation of the debut ERB novel. But not before the creative team of Len Wein and Alan Weiss are replaced by Denny O'Neil and Mike Kaluta and later Dan Green. It is this creative team which tells the story of how David Innes returns to the Earth's surface and because of circumstances works diligently to return soon thereafter to save Dian and Abner.

The series comes to a close a bit abruptly. But we do get a sense of closure and certainly the door is left open for further adventures in the future. Those never come as the ERB license moves on to Marvel and later to other ports of call. Pellucidar is rarely a regular part of that alas.

Now it's important to caution anyone seeking to buy this collection, a very reasonably priced item, but one nearly overcome by shoddy reproduction. It's really rather distressing how bad some of the pages look. Alan Weiss is a great artist and he deserved better here, as do Kaluta and Green. Dark Horse unfortunately has a history with this sort of thing, but this is maybe the worst example I've come across. So buyer beware.

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Panther's Rage - Serpent Kings!

In the fourteenth issue of Jungle Action by Don McGregor and Bill Graham things really kick into a higher gear. The artwork to my eye improves as Klaus Janson (who had done a fine job establishing mood and atmosphere) is replaced first by Pablo Marcos, then Dan Green and finally what appears to be Graham himself on inks. The art is lush and has a real flowing movement to it.

(Unused cover for issue fourteen by Graham)

The Black Panther pursues Killmonger and his forces into Serpent Valley, an isolated world surprisingly close to the heart of Wakanda but unknown to its residents. It's a strange world where time has stopped and ancient beasts from Earth's long past still roam the swampy mists. Dinosaurs are the target of Killmonger and his men as they seek to capture several behemoths who have descended from Brontosaurs.They hope to use these giant creatures as part of their ultimate attack on the central section of Wakanda. The Panther follows Sombre but has to switch plans when the latter dies in quicksand. Later the Panther battles a Tyranosaur-like monster and is able to use his skills to defeat the inhuman monster.

Left behind by Killmonger's forces he attempts to follow them again but is stopped by another of Killmonger's transformed allies, this one a thorn laced enemy named Salamander Kruhl.

After being struck by an arrow he is strung out and made helpless for an attack from above when Pteranosaurs descend upon him.

He actually displays great skill in not only surviving the attack but actually seems for a moment to wrangle the flying monster before dashing out its brains in a perilous descent to the ground. He finally heads for home.

Finding his way home at last the Black Panther recovers from his many many wounds and as time passes he and Monica Lynne renew their love affair.

Meanwhile Taku continues to try and develop a friendship with Horatio the man code-named Venomm by Killmonger. But both Take and W'Kabi are unable to stop Venomm from escaping after long months of capture and W'Kabi is seriously injured.

The Panther pursues Venomm to his lair where he keeps his snakes and the two battle it out. But the fight is a stalemate when Taku is able to convince Venomm to leave the Panther alive as the villain stalks off.

And that sets the stage for the exciting climax of "Panther's Rage" which lands tomorrow.

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Zodiac - Who Remembers Scorpio?

When Scorpio shows up in the pages of the Defenders it's almost a legit question as to whether anyone remembers him. This Scorpio is Jake Fury, who has been thought dead since Avengers #72 when the Zodiac itself debuted.

The Defenders are at a transition when Scorpio shows up, Doctor Strange has temporarily quit the non-team and remaining members Nighthawk, Valkyrie and newbie Hellcat are joined by Moon Knight to form the basis of the Defenders through the multi-part Scorpio saga in Defenders #46-50. The story was written by David Anthony Kraft and Roger Slifer with a fill-in issue written by David Warner. The artwork in these issues is what makes them memorable in that we see a fledgling Keith Giffen in full-blown Kirby-copy mode with some potent inks by Dan Green among others.

The story ambles but essentially Jake (Scorpio) Fury seems to be suffering from depression and has been hiding out for many years since his seeming death at the hands of his brother at the end of Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD #5. We learn that Jake was in fact the second Scorpio taking over after the first was killed in the debut SHIELD issue. While he's been hiding out in a very high-tech lair he's been using LMD technology to create a doppleganger of his brother as well as a complete set of Life Model Decoy Zodiac members for his own use. The Zodiac Key inexplicably and  literally falls out of the sky and eventually into his hands and he makes good use of this most powerful weapon.

The Defenders are drawn into the affair properly when they are simultaneously made aware that Jack Norris (the estranged husband of Valkyrie) has been kidnapped by Scorpio and are alerted by Moon Knight who has battled Scorpio and nearly been killed at his hands.

Moon Knight gathers up the ragtag team who trick the bellicose Hulk into chasing them to Scorpio's lair. The find Nighthawk trussed up having been captured when he went to save Norris.

In a ferocious fiftieth-issue fist-fight the hastily assembled Defenders battle two-thirds of the revived LMD Zodiac (three of didn't survive the activation and Libra doesn't feel like fighting).

The fight is kinetic and occupies most all the issue but in the end the Defenders are victorious when Scorpio uses a gun to seemingly end his own life. The LMD-Zodiac are trundled off to the care of SHIELD who show up at the end to clean up and Nick Fury is informed his brother is now well and truly dead, something he'd assumed was the case for a few years.

It's a hectic adventure with Scorpio's quixotic personality being the most interesting part. The writing seems a bit too self-aware at times as folks who followed Steve Gerber always seemed in this book to want to somewhat imitate his commentary style.  The LMD-Zodiac are distinctive Giffen creations but their advent marks a real downslide for the Zodiac cartel as real villains in the Marvel Universe. Going forward writers and artists will confuse the LMD group with the originals and it all becomes a bit of a mess, undermining the potential of a great gang of baddies.

And that wraps up our look at the Zodiac cartel. After this it all gets so confusing I cannot tell them apart anymore, and often don't care to try.

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Godzilla - The Final Showdown!

Sending Godzilla through time did free (for a time) the 20th Century from his threatening tread. As it turned out Godzilla traveled to the distant past, to a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, a time when Godzilla, still recovering his true size thanks to the application of Pym Particles, could himself become well and truly "King of Monsters".  But there was a rival.

Devil Dinosaur was the creation of Jack "King" Kirby, who had returned to the Mighty Marvel Bullpen after some years abroad at the Distinguished Competition. He returned with a flourish helming the titles Captain America and Black Panther, as well as creating new ones like The Eternals and Devil Dinosaur. Devil and his caveboy friend Moonboy proved to be a doughty team for nine issues which wrapped a few months before this crossover with Godzilla.

Big G and Devil do what you'd expect, they encounter each other and do ferocious battle, each gathering a smattering of respect for the power of the other.

Later that power is harnessed in tandem to battle the larger threat of the Lizard Warriors who menace the peace of the great valley which Devil and Moonboy protect.

Eventually Godzilla's battles in the deep recesses of the past come to an end as he continues to grow and is drawn back into the modern world of New York City, which must at last finally face the unleashed might of the King of Monsters.

Seeing as how this is the Marvel Universe, the superheroes are assembled to confront the threat of Godzilla and the Avengers take the lead.

Thor, Iron Man, Vision, Yellowjacked and Wasp work together to stem the threat posed by the giant monster which rumbles through the city.

Eventually they are able to turn him away from the center of the city if not defeat him, and Godzilla finally at last completes his tour of the great American continent as he steps into the harbor beyond New York City and for the last time in the Marvel Universe disappears beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

And so it ends, one of Marvel's most unusual partnerships. Bringing Godzilla to the comic book universe had taken much too long and trying to fit the giant monster into the Marvel mythology, even for a relatively short time was a challenge. The massive destruction caused by the monster and the countless people who suffer because of that damage make it incredibly difficult to have any empathy for the fate of the monster who for the most part exists apart from man, who lives by rules which are beyond our control and arguably our understanding. Godzilla is to be endured and like any great storm which finds landfall, the recovering is costly and long lasting.

But that's what makes for a great monster!

For the record Marvel revived Godzilla (sort of) in the pages of Iron Man when it is shown that Dr. Demonicus has gained control of the giant monster and mutated him, altering him sufficiently to stave off lawsuits. They needn't have bothered as the monster they made was too pitiful to sue over.

In the end there's only one "King of the Monsters"!

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