Marvel Boy Day!

Mark Gruenwald was born on this date in 1953. Gruenwald loved comics and his work at Marvel in the 80's and 90's was remarkable in many ways. He took the Squadron Supreme and made them real. He co-created the DP7, arguably the best of the New Universe. But I most adore his work on Quasar, a hero for the time. Gruenwald gave depth of character to that rarest of things in comics in the 90's, a nice guy. 

It all began in the 50's with Marvel Boy. I always liked the over-the-top adventures of Marvel Boy, so when this Atlas era hero was revived in the Marvel Universe I was all for it.

I first ran across Marvel Boy in Marvel Tales alongside Spidey, Thor, and Torch. He was a cool looking hero as rendered by the slick Bill Everett. I liked the hokey adventures then, but I have to confess reading a whole batch of them, the weaknesses in the storytelling really show up.

The thing is that Marvel Boy was a series that seemed to almost have a new premise each issue and often each story. He began as a space warrior, a displaced Earther from Uranus who came back to his home planet to save us from ourselves and from alien threats. But the desire to put out horror material changed Bob Grayson into a battler of ghosts, ghouls, and vampires. Some of those were real, some were bogus. He had a partner in the beautiful circus performer turned secretary Starr Ryder, and then she just disappeared. He was an insurance investigator and then that background seemed to fade. Even his name as Marvel Boy dissolved as the series developed.

He was drawn by greats like Russ Heath and the aforementioned Bill Everett. But despite the handsome gloss of the stories and some really genuinely exciting moments, the series was seriously uneven. It seemed torn between slamming the Commies in one tale about water on Uranus and then finding for real vampire queens in another set in Italy. Each story had its charms and weaknesses but taken as a whole the mind boggled as the reading unfolded.

I still adore Marvel Boy, he's a character in search of the right circumstances, but he appeared at a time when sadly he was not allowed to become all he might have been. Or perhaps they were just trying desperately to find a formula that worked, but alas none of them seemed to have time to catch hold.

Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott

George Perez and Joe Sinnott
Marvel Boy returns in a Bronze Age two-part story from Fantastic Four #164 and #165 (written by Roy Thomas and drawn magnificently by George Perez and Joe Sinnott) featuring the reemergence of Bob Grayson into the Bronze Age of Marvel Comics, and dubbing himself "The Crusader".

It's a tragic tale, but it's an important one as this story set up scores of stories dealing with the technology which powered Marvel Boy, and this was the same equipment which made the career of Wendell Vaughn, later called "Quasar" so important. No superhero at Marvel was more intriguing to my mind than Quasar. This saga created by Mark Gruenwald, of nice guy trying his best to finish first, but always trying to do good was a ray of sunshine in a decade of comics overwrought with over-sized pistols and abundant bladed weapons.

Quasar was a great superhero, a hero who properly carried on the legacy of another superhero by the name of Marvel Boy.

When Marvel decided to revive him he was a bit of a joke as part of a special SHIELD strike force called the "Super-Agents" in the pages of Captain America, but he evolved beyond that being the only hero in the lot worth the name. Wendell Vaughn went on to become part of the Pegasus Project in Marvel Two-In-One and took the name Quasar and a new hero was well and truly born.

He was a throwback, a decent guy trying to do good. In the Marvel Universe ruled by Wolverines and Punishers, Quasar seemed quaint and naive, but in the capable hands of Mark Gruenwald, he became something aspirational. He was a hero, a man intent on helping the world become better and he has a nice somewhat retiring personality to go along with his sincere motivations.

The character went thought many a change and transformation along the years, especially after the untimely death of his co-creator Gruenwald. But during the 90's no superhero spoke to my heart like Quasar, a good and decent man trying to do the right thing. Isn't that supposed to be what a hero is?

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Hawkeye The Marksman Day!

"Dashing" Don Heck was born on this day in 1929. Heck was a key artist in Marvel's early days, and he co-created many of their stars including the focus of today's Dojo celebration -- Hawkeye the Marksman. 

When I first tumbled onto the Avengers there were only three members, Goliath, the Wasp and the outstanding Hawkeye the Marksman. Hawkeye is the ultimate no-powers hero, hanging and banging with the big boys against mighty menaces armed with only his arrows, his savage wit, and his unblinking courage. Hawkeye was created by Larry Lieber and artist Don Heck in the pages of Tales of Suspense. 

He was at first meant to be an antagonist for Shellhead, led astray by the comely Black Widow. But he comes to his senses and his inducted into the Avengers where he serves off and on for decades, even going on to spearhead the West Coast branch of that operation. 

Hawkeye, revealed to be a man named Clint Barton after I started reading about him, could be an asshole for certain. He was difficult to manage as a part of the team when the fighting was not on, but fiercely loyal when that loyalty had been earned. I even liked the period of time when he wasn't Hawkeye but became Goliath. He eventually returned to his best self, but always he was Clint Barton.

It's too bad they gave much of his tempestuous but witty personality to Tony Stark when they made the movies, because think how popular he'd be if he could be himself on the big screen.

It's actually the second time Hawkeye's fiery nature was ripped off, the first was when DC updated their own bowman Green Arrow long ago.

Clint had identity problems for a while. Becoming Goliath for a while helped him feel he mattered but then he returned to his archer roots. Don Heck is the only artist who made this outfit look good. But soon he'd be back in his vintage togs. 

It took Hawkeye years and years to get his own series and to become what I always knew was his first best mission, the leader of the Avengers. When he married Mockingbird, he became even more of a favorite.  I've always liked Hawkeye, or should I say I've always liked the rambunctious Clint Barton. 

Special Note: Look for many more of these one-day celebrations as 2025 tumbles along. 

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Thrill To A Mockingbird!

Mockingbird has one of the most disjointed introductions I can think of for a character in the Marvel Universe. She made her mark in the pages of West Coast Avengers as the wife of Hawkeye. She was a co-leader of the team and truth told was often more tactically adept than her husband, and she had the nerves to do what needed to be done. The long and convoluted story of Bobbie Morse is collected here but you can be forgiven if you forget it's about her while you read it. She spends a lot of time in the background. 

She first appears in the pages of Astonishing Tales #6 as a desperate, seemingly weak brown-haired woman who shows up at the estate of Lord Kevin Plunder (aka Ka-Zar) desperate to find the savage lord of the Savage Land. 

In the next issue we meet Barbara (Bobbi) Morse again as she decides to venture to the Savage Land to find Ka-Zar. Her mission remains an enigma. And frankly I'm reasonably sure that whatever Gerry Conway had in mind for the character, it got changed when others such as Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich pitched in to write Ka-Zar stories. 

She and a man named Paul fly into the Savage Land and end up needing Ka-Zar's help almost immediately. Herb Trimpe gives us some robust art for this issue. 

Ka-Zar has his hands full rescuing the duo from a lost colony of WWII fanatics who want the war to rage perpetually. Barry Smith is on hand to wrap up this saga. 

The pair cling to Ka-Zar for their health and convince him to travel with them to the United States. The reasons remain murky. Gil Kane's art for Mike Friedrich's story reprises the origin of Ka-Zar and Zabu. This collection only contains the framing sequence featuring Bobbie and Paul.  

When finally, the trio arrives in Florida, in the Everglades to be specific, Ka-Zar learns for the first time that the Super-Soldier Serum is the maguffin which fires the mysteries. The mysterious Man-Thing is worked into the tapestry of his tale in a story originally intended for Savage Tales #2 by Len Wein and Neal Adams. A researcher named Dr. Calvin has been hurt and somehow or other it's imagined that Ka-Zar offers help. I never quite figured out how exactly to be honest. 

But Ka-Zar and Zabu battle the Man-Thing, bringing the shambling creature into the MU mainstream. Paul proves to be duplicitous as an AIM agent and Bobbi turns out to be a SHIELD operative. John Buscema wraps up his two-issue stint on the comic. 

Next stop is NYC where Ka-Zar is once again the savage man in the civilized jungle dispensing his hard justice. Mike Friedrich becomes the regular scribe on this series. This issue features some of Gil Kane's best work. 

Bobbi Morse recedes a bit in the story as Ka-Zar spends his time battling a street gang. Rich Buckler fills in as artist. 

Dan Adkins takes the art helm as the story focuses again on the Super-Soldier Serum which is wanted by a member of the Zodiac named Gemini. For the record Gemini is a strange blend of two brothers named Link who have their origin story told in Astonishing Tales #8.

It's also desired by The Plunderer, who makes use of the alien giant Gog to help him procure it. But there's more to Gog and meets the eye, despite the fact he's so very large. 

It eventually turns out that an insane scientist gets exposed to the serum and becomes the imposing villain, Victorious. Dan Adkins is the artist of record though a young Jim Starlin steps in to finish up the issue. 

The battle is a ferocious one and wraps up in Astonishing Tales #20, the final Ka-Zar issue before It, The Living Colossus took up residence. Bobbie Morse for her part has been tagging along helping out and actually gets a cover feature, the first since issue twelve. To be honest these stories are terrific and I'm happy to have them, but Bobbi Morse is a supporting character and supposed romantic interest for Ka-Zar. The latter role is never convincing really. For the record Marie Severin is the artist on the last chapter of this little epic. 

Then follows a three-part tale in the new Ka-Zar series. Written by Mike Friedrich and drawn by Don Heck, this story has godlike figure battle Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil. Bobbi Morse shows up out of the blue to lend a hand. She and Shanna hang out but truth told contribute little to the story. They seem to be here mostly to make things uncomfortable for Ka-Zar. 

Bobbi and Shanna are both on hand in a black and white adventure in Savage Tales #8 which has Ka-Zar and Zabu battle a powerful alien force. John Buscema is the artist with Tony DeZuniga inks for this Gerry Conway yarn. Bobbi plays a small role and this is her last in these pages of Ka-Zar. 

It is three hundred pages into this collection before we get Bobbi Morse in solo action. The story is from Marvel Super Action #1, a one-shot magazine which headlined the Punisher who was just beginning to hot up at Marvel. Dominic Fortune by Howie Chaykin makes a notable appearance. But the "Huntress" is the story by Mike Friedrich, George Evans and Frank Springer which interests us today. Bobbi Morse has gone underground again for SHIELD, specifically to ferret out a double-agent who is a threat to the organization. To do that she adopts the masked identity of the Huntress. She finds her man. This was apparently originally a two-part tale which was smashed together at the last moment to fit this new format. 

Bobbi Morse disappears yet again, turning up of all places in Marvel Team-Up battling with and alongside Spider-Man. She has at long last adopted the codename Mockingbird. Turns out the character was originally to be a villain for Spider-Woman, but things changed when writer Steven Grant saw Mark Gruenwald's sketches and the Huntress became Mockingbird. Using her distinctive battle staves she is a worthy warrior but working again to uncover a SHIELD traitor she ends up at the finale of this story terribly wounded. This issue drawn by Jim Janes features one of my favorite Frank Miller covers. 

The catch-as-catch-can career of Mockingbird takes its most significant turn when she shows up in the debut issue of one of Marvel's earliest limited series starring Hawkeye. Clint Barton is riding high as a security chief for Cross Technologies when sadly he learns he's been duped, and the place is producing criminal hardware. Mockingbird is back, recovered from her wounds and is more that happy to help Hawkeye fight the villians. The duo find themselves under assault and must rely on one another to battle the likes of the Crossfire, Silencer, Oddball and Bombshell. Mark Gruenwald both writes and draws this series with help from inkers Brett Breeding and Danny Bulanadi. And it features some real changes to the characters. Hawkeye's hearing damaged in these battles and to great surprise of readers at the time Clint Barton and Bobbi Morse get hitched. This series set the stage for the duo to take the helm of the West Coast Avengers where both served for over one hundred issues. 

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