The Bronze Age Avengers comic you've never read, but wish you could...

If you've never visited John Byrne's website, you probably aren't aware that he regularly posts various commissions he works on. They are often gorgeous, and always interesting.

I won't post the actual image here, but this faux The Avengers cover perfectly captures what I love about late Bronze Age Marvel. If only.....

An imaginary Avengers cover

The Incredible Hulk #150

Cover date: April 1972

Writer: Archie Goodwin

Artist: Herb Trimpe

Inker: John Severin

After defeating The Inheritor last issue, the Hulk lurks in the underground complex of Project Greenskin as General Ross and his soldiers seek him out. Using T-Gas shells they attempt to subdue him, but the Green Goliath outwits them by grabbing a mask and...

HULK SMASH!

With a mighty leap, the Hulk escapes the complex, coming to rest on a mesa - where he spends the night brooding about his lost love Jarella.

A new day brings a fresh attack from General Ross and his Hulkbusters, but it is cut short by an order to cease all operations due to a congressional hearing. Project Greenskin is under investigation for its funding; money which, according to Congressman Roger Dutton, could be better spent on housing, poverty programs and the environment. He may have a point.

Meanwhile, Glen Talbot and Betty Ross are searching for the Hulk/Bruce Banner. As they locate him, he leaps away in pursuit of a bike gang terrorising a green-haired girl in a car (could this be the Hulk’s lost love Jarella?). Scattering the gang, the Hulk is surprised to see that the rest of the gang has been incapacitated by the girl.

It’s Lorna Dane of the X-Men. As she escapes across the desert she’s attacked by another member of the gang, but is rescued by Alex Summers. It is Alex she is seeking, as Prof. X sent her to find him to persuade him to return to the X-Men. Cue a flashback to a fight between Havok and Iceman over Lorna, which resulted in Havok thinking he’d mortally wounded his rival and deciding to leave.

Alex is having none of it - feeling that his powers are too out of control - but he doesn’t have much time to protest. The Hulk arrives and it’s time to put on the costume.

The Hulk grabs Lorna and makes like King Kong, climbing to the top of a mesa. It is then he realises that Lorna is not his lost love Jarella, and that he has been fooled by her green hair.

Havok challenges Hulk to release Lorna, and as they fight, Hulk rips off the side of the mesa with Lorna perched on top. Havok realises that to save Lorna he must master his powers.

He bombards the Hulk’s mind with a tightly focussed beam of cosmic energy while coercing him into lowering the rock to the ground. This causes the Hulk to change back into Bruce Banner. Havok lowers Lorna to the ground with his powers and they walk off into the sunset (to return to the X-Men) totally oblivious to the half-naked Bruce Banner lying beneath a precariously perched slab of mesa.

Fortunately, Betty Ross and Glen Talbot soon arrive; but as Betty cradles Bruce he whispers into her ear,

“Jarella...my love...!”

Archie Goodwin ‘s script is efficient at capturing the Hulk’s eternal search for acceptance while in constant conflict with the forces gathered against him, and Alex Summer’s character arc is well done.

The only small niggle was Lorna Dane’s use of her power leaving her in a weakened state, and generally acting the damsel-in-distress.

The art is superb, John Severin’s finishes adding a fantastic texture and depth to Herb Trimpe’s pencils.

Buy The Incredible Hulk #150 at My Comic Shop

Fantastic Four #121

Cover date: April 1972

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: John Buscema

Inker: Joe Sinnott

After last issues arrival of Gabriel, the Air-Walker, heralding the end of the world, it is left to the Fantastic Four to confront him - as all across the Earth, civilization falls into despair. Riots, looting, industry shutting down because no one wants to work; all within a few hours it seems.

Gabriel convinces the denizens of New York City to destroy the Fantastic Four, so the team makes a quick exit. They appear particularly ineffectual against Gabriel, for as Johnny Storm rightly points out,

“How? How can he stand on air like that?”

That would be Johnny Storm, the teenager who turns into a Human Torch and flies.

After getting no joy at the nearest TV network, Reed orders the team back to the Baxter Building so he can grab a weapon – for they cannot face Gabriel again empty handed – and race after him in the Fantasti-Car. Reed fires his Beta Ray and Gabriel starts to fade away, but that’s not what Reed expected because,

“No! It’s wrong...it’s mad! It’s not what should have happened!”

So what should have happened Reed? Ah well, we’ll never know now, as suddenly a ship rises out of the water straight at them. The Fantasti-Car crashes into the sea and the ship lands on top. The Fantastic Four escape unscathed however, just in time for Gabriel to show up again, asking,

“Surely you didn’t expect your puny ray to defeat Gabriel!”

To which Reed answers,

“No, I didn’t!”

Wha? So what was the point of going back to the Baxter Building to grab your Beta Ray, eh Reed?

Never mind, because Gabriel creates a massive tidal wave that sweeps the Fantastic Four into the city, where they become separated. The Thing ends up on the same roof-top as Gabriel for some “CLOBBERIN’ TIME” while Reed and Sue race to help him. The Human Torch gets there first, however, and goes after Gabriel with his NEAR-NOVA HEAT to no avail. How are the Fantastic Four going to win this one? Cut away to...

The Silver Surfer moping around on an asteroid in the distant sub-stratosphere. Despite his persecution complex, he decides once again to aid us mere mortals. Surfing to Earth he confronts Gabriel with his POWER COSMIC, and Gabriel admits that all that went on before was a meaningless sham as it is the Surfer that he sought to destroy.

Not sure why he didn’t just go and find him then.

After a brief battle, the Silver Surfer uses his POWER COSMIC to tear Gabriel’s cape, which is, as Gabriel announces...

“It is my power! It is the source of...my life!”

...before crashing to the ground and revealed to be a robot. The Silver Surfer asks the question on everyone’s lips,

“What of him who made the robot?”

The final page cliff-hanger reveals all.....

GALACTUS!

As with the previous issue, the plotting is shambolic and the dialogue makes little sense. The best bit is the last splash-page reveal of Galactus.

Which is AWESOME!

Buy Fantastic Four #121 at My Comic Shop

Marvel Team-Up #1

Cover date: March 1972

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artist: Ross Andru

Inker: Mike Esposito

It’s Christmas Eve, and Peter Parker is on an assignment for The Daily Bugle. J Jonah Jameson has requested pictures of some hardy winter swimmers at the beach, so Peter is on hand when Sandman makes an unscheduled appearance. After the obligatory tussle, Sandman makes his escape when Spider-Man mentions what day of the year it is.

Reasoning that Sandman isn’t his problem, as he only fought him once a long time ago and he’s got a date with Gwen that night (whither great power comes great responsibility, Spidey?), Spider-Man heads for the Baxter Building.

As Spidey attempts to enter the building, he narrowly misses some fire-rings that Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) is idly shooting out of the window. Johnny is alone (the other members of the Fantastic Four are at Whisper Hill for Christmas), and in a mope about girl-problems. Spider-Man mentions that he fought Sandman in New Jersey, and Johnny remembers that he first encountered Sandman on George Washington Bridge (in Strange Tales #115). Putting two and two together, and perhaps coming up with four, Spidey agrees to accompany Johnny in the Fantasti-Car to George Washington Bridge, and then over to the Jersey side. While on the look-out for Sandman, Spidey spies a mugging in progress and goes to the victim’s aid. In the spirit of Christmas, the woman* involved decides to let the thwarted muggers go - after Spidey has detained them with webbing for a bit.

Continuing on, The Human Torch gets to show his stuff by stopping an out of control truck, before they spot Sandman. Challenging him, both are out-witted (it ain’t hard), and Sandman dumps them, tied up together, into a water tower. Knowing these two will need all the help they can get, Sandman drops Spidey a handy hint as to how they can escape.

After escaping the death-trap, the two spot Sandman climbing through a window. Following him into the house, they’re met by Sandman in civvies (he’s called William Baker here; isn’t his civilian name Flint Marko?) He tells them to keep it down as he is there to see his old sickly mum, and agrees to give himself up if they give him a few minutes with her. This gives the two an excuse to remember their nearest and dearest; so Peter thinks about Aunt May for a bit, and Johnny mopes some more about Crystal.

As you might guess, after his five minutes are up he escapes down the plug-hole leaving just a few grains of sand behind.

Roy Thomas pulls out all the stops to give us a warm Christmas glow, yet it all seems a tad perfunctory with some lapses in logic. Would a villain on the FBI’s Most Wanted list really tell Spider-Man how to escape a death-trap?

The two co-stars work well together, trading quips back and forth, but both appear a bit callow and I generally like my heroes a little less self-absorbed. All in all, not a great example of a grand tradition - the comic book Christmas tale.

*The unnamed woman is later ret-conned into being Misty Knight’s first appearance by Chris Claremont; presumably because she’s black and has an afro.

Buy Marvel Team-Up #1 at My Comic Shop

Marvel Feature #2

Cover date: March 1972

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artist: Ross Andru

Inker: Sal Buscema

If it’s Halloween, we must be in Rutland, Vermont. Cue the obligatory Bronze Age cameos for Tom Fagan and a Marvel writer; in this instance Roy Thomas (with wife Jeanie)*.

It’s the night before All-Hallows Eve, and some witchy folks in robes are summoning The Dread Dormammu. When he shows up he isn’t too pleased. What he needs is the vessel to escape his otherworldly dimension, and in this instance that would be Dr. Strange (just his body will do). Some of those same witchy robed folks have journeyed to New York’s Greenwich Village and the good doctors Sanctum Sanctorum, where they trick Dr. Strange’s astral self from his body so they can kidnap it before returning to Rutland. Wong puts up a good fight but soon succumbs; luckily he was on the telephone to Clea at the time. She soon arrives, and after Wong fills her in decides she better summon some help. Interestingly, it appears that Stephen Strange and Clea are on the outs at this time, and her powers have waned somewhat.

Using the Eye of Agamotto, Clea manages to broadcast an image of Dr. Strange to two recent allies, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk, and both answer the summons to New York and a dark alley where Clea and Wong are waiting. After dressing Namor in some civilian wear, Clea hypnotises Hulk into transforming back into Bruce Banner and gives him some tranquilisers to keep his mood swings in check. They then catch a bus to Rutland to rescue Dr. Strange’s body.

Up on Bald Mountain, proceedings have begun to release Dormammu so he can reside in Dr. Strange’s body and conquer our dimension. Our intrepid band of rescuers climb the mountain, battling witchy robed folks on the way, and when they reach the summit, just as Dormammu appears, Dr. Strange’s astral self shows up - he was hiding within Wong. A battle ensues, and Dormammu is once more banished.

Roy Thomas’ script is efficient at bringing these three very different characters together, but if The Defenders are to continue as a team, a less convoluted means will need to be found to accomplish that on a regular basis. The concept does have a lot of potential though, and I enjoyed the interaction between the three leads (+ Clea). Ross Andru, inked by Sal Buscema, captures the mood necessary to this type of story, filling the pages with an eerie atmosphere and strong storytelling (and his Clea is a delight too -weird hair and all).

*last seen in The Avengers #83

Buy Marvel Feature #2 at My Comic Shop

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There’s also a ‘fabulous Fifties featurette’, from Sub-Mariner Comic #36, showcasing Namor’s astute Atlantean intelligence. After helping an alien world drain the Earth of its water, Namor suddenly realises...

“Ah...good! Now the sun will go to work, and the world’s population will perish without water!! Oh, what sweet revenge! At last I’ve gotten even! But...WAIT!!! What have I done??? Without water, my own race will die off, too!!!”

Oh, Namor...