Fantasy Masterpieces #1 (Marvel, February 1966, 12 cents)
"Beware!! The Ghosts Surround Me!!" Plot: Stan Lee, Script: Larry Lieber, Pencils and inks: Don Heck, Letters: Artie Simek.
Originally published in Strange Tales #76, this six-page story tells the tale of an escaping thief in Transylvania who runs into aliens. They meet "at certain points along the dimensional barrier, [where] our would and yours meet!" The criminal takes cover in an old house and is captured by the police—or is he?
"I Found the Things from Nowhere" Plot: Stan Lee, Script Larry Lieber, Pencils and inks: Jack Kirby, Letters: Artie Simek.
This five-page piece originally appeared in Journey Into Mystery #60. A man watching baseball on TV experiences a technical glitch that accidentally tunes into not a science-fiction program but "something that's really happening!": some kind of alien battle. However, the scene he sees unfolding is not on another planet, but much closer to home than he realizes. Kirby's artwork is excellent, especially the first page and the first panel on p. 4.
"I Became a Human Robot!" Pencils and inks: Joe Sinnott.
A five pager that originally ran in Suspense #5, this story details the risks of implanting your alien brain in a robot's metallic frame. Sure, you'd enjoy the ability to "think and move and use its mechanical abilities" at first. But once you'd avoided "impending disaster," "saved the Earthling," and been deactivated for installation in a museum, what then?
"I Saw the Other World!" Script: Stan Lee, Pencils and inks: Dick Ayers, Letters: Dick Ayers.
Originally from Tales to Astonish #7, this four-page story—the shortest in the issue—focuses on a camera that seems to take pictures of "another dimension that exists side by side with ours!!" The photographer tries to make his case to passersby outside his home, but nobody believes him. Ayers artwork, while not depicting superheroes or action per se is still quite lively and dynamic. P. 3 is particularly strong.
"Those Who Change" Script: Stan Lee, Pencils and inks: Steve Ditko, Letters: Artie Simek.
This five-page story from Amazing Fantasy #10 is a compelling cautionary tale about the danger of time travel. To whit: Don't mess. Ditko's art is stellar, with too many highlights to list, and the punchline at the end is a laugh. A fun piece.
This is a beauty of a reprint book, "taking you on a nostalgic journey to yesterday's fantasy wonderland." The text-heavy introduction featuring Stan Lee on the inside front cover, while "cornball," draws straight lines between the older fantasy stories and then-current Marvel titles such as the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange.
Availability: "I Found the Things from Nowhere" was reprinted in Monsters Vol. 1: The Marvel Monsterbus. "I Became a Human Robot" appeared in Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales of Suspense Volume 1. "I Saw the Other World!" was collected in Atlas Era Tales To Astonish Masterworks Vol. 1. "Those Who Change" ended up in Amazing Fantasy Omnibus.
Showing posts with label Dick Ayers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dick Ayers. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Friday, February 09, 2018
In Search of a Phantom Submarine
Capt. Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #2 (Marvel, March 1968, 12 cents)
"The Return of Baron Strucker!" Edited by: Stan Lee, Written by: Gary Friedrich, Drawn by: Dick Ayers, Inked by: Syd Shores, Lettered by: L.P. Gregory, Was here: Forbush.
This title, a Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos spinoff, lasted 19 issues—and might be one of my favorite comic series discovered in the last year. Friedrich and Ayers also helmed an even-shorter later spinoff, Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen, which lasted only nine issues. (I've yet to read that title.)
The issue opens with Capt. Savage watching his fellow marines during a training exercise: grizzled veteran Yaketty Yates, the French-accented and mustachioed Jacques La Rocque, former teacher Lee Baker, Native American wrestler Chief Jay Little Bear, and second in command Blarney Stone. Once done, they go in search of a phantom submarine sinking ships.
A Japanese team of soldiers, the Samurai Squadron, also searches for that mysterious sub, which turns out to be controlled by one Baron Strucker, the Supreme Hydra. As the marines and Japanese encounter a series of traps landing on the beach of a small island—"This place's got more dangers than Dracula's castle!"—Strucker remembers what brought him here. (This issue contains the origin of Hydra.)
Strucker's traps eventually bring the two landing forces face to face, each thinking the other country controls the threatening submarine. They fight for the rest of the issue, punctuated by relatively racist dialogue, before realizing that they share a common enemy in Strucker on the last page of the comic.
Friedrich's writing—though no longer appropriate in terms of racial sensitivity—is natural and smooth. And Ayers art is excellent. He might even be my favorite artist in recent months. I found the pacing and page balance even more impressive, with only two pages featuring more than six panels.
Read Also: Sgt. Fury and His Leatherneck Raiders #29.
Availability: Capt. Savage has not been collected. We recommend Essential Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.
"The Return of Baron Strucker!" Edited by: Stan Lee, Written by: Gary Friedrich, Drawn by: Dick Ayers, Inked by: Syd Shores, Lettered by: L.P. Gregory, Was here: Forbush.
This title, a Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos spinoff, lasted 19 issues—and might be one of my favorite comic series discovered in the last year. Friedrich and Ayers also helmed an even-shorter later spinoff, Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen, which lasted only nine issues. (I've yet to read that title.)
The issue opens with Capt. Savage watching his fellow marines during a training exercise: grizzled veteran Yaketty Yates, the French-accented and mustachioed Jacques La Rocque, former teacher Lee Baker, Native American wrestler Chief Jay Little Bear, and second in command Blarney Stone. Once done, they go in search of a phantom submarine sinking ships.
A Japanese team of soldiers, the Samurai Squadron, also searches for that mysterious sub, which turns out to be controlled by one Baron Strucker, the Supreme Hydra. As the marines and Japanese encounter a series of traps landing on the beach of a small island—"This place's got more dangers than Dracula's castle!"—Strucker remembers what brought him here. (This issue contains the origin of Hydra.)
Strucker's traps eventually bring the two landing forces face to face, each thinking the other country controls the threatening submarine. They fight for the rest of the issue, punctuated by relatively racist dialogue, before realizing that they share a common enemy in Strucker on the last page of the comic.
Friedrich's writing—though no longer appropriate in terms of racial sensitivity—is natural and smooth. And Ayers art is excellent. He might even be my favorite artist in recent months. I found the pacing and page balance even more impressive, with only two pages featuring more than six panels.
Read Also: Sgt. Fury and His Leatherneck Raiders #29.
Availability: Capt. Savage has not been collected. We recommend Essential Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Cute and Brutish
Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #30 (Marvel, May 1966, 12 cents)
"Incident in Italy!" Editing: Stan Lee, Writing: Roy Thomas, Art: Dick Ayers, Delineation: John Tartaglione, Lettering: Sam Rosen.
The character Nick Fury has had a long and prosperous history in the Marvel universe, and this early pre-SHIELD incarnation is a strong bridge between the war comics of the past and the superhero comics—as well as movies and TV—of today. Largely a team book similar to DC's Blackhawk, Fury is accompanied by a group of soldiers as diverse as America itself, including Italian-American Dino Manelli.
This issue finds the Commandos parachuting into Italy to help fight Mussolini and the fascists. They surrender and are taken to a prisoner of war camp, where they meet their contact Major Carlo, a partisan and, as chance would have it, Mussolini's cousin. With the help of the beautiful Sophia, the Commandos plot to appropriate some stolen treasure buried on a farm.
A few Commandos get the spotlight: British Pinkerton gets handy with his umbrella; the southerner Ralston shoots down a dive bomber; and Manelli translates some documents and gets the girl, pledging to cast her in a movie—perhaps Boy on a Dolphin? The issue also features a two-page letter column.
"Incident in Italy!" Editing: Stan Lee, Writing: Roy Thomas, Art: Dick Ayers, Delineation: John Tartaglione, Lettering: Sam Rosen.
The character Nick Fury has had a long and prosperous history in the Marvel universe, and this early pre-SHIELD incarnation is a strong bridge between the war comics of the past and the superhero comics—as well as movies and TV—of today. Largely a team book similar to DC's Blackhawk, Fury is accompanied by a group of soldiers as diverse as America itself, including Italian-American Dino Manelli.
This issue finds the Commandos parachuting into Italy to help fight Mussolini and the fascists. They surrender and are taken to a prisoner of war camp, where they meet their contact Major Carlo, a partisan and, as chance would have it, Mussolini's cousin. With the help of the beautiful Sophia, the Commandos plot to appropriate some stolen treasure buried on a farm.
A few Commandos get the spotlight: British Pinkerton gets handy with his umbrella; the southerner Ralston shoots down a dive bomber; and Manelli translates some documents and gets the girl, pledging to cast her in a movie—perhaps Boy on a Dolphin? The issue also features a two-page letter column.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
