Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Pictures came out last week of the Spider-Man: Far From Home figures, and there's a Build-a-Figure Molten Man coming. He's pretty far removed from the comic version, save perhaps the slight goldish tinge to him. Still, I don't think I had read a ton of comics with him, yet the quarter bins provide: from 1979, Marvel Tales #110, reprinting 1974's Amazing Spider-Man #133, "The Molten Man Breaks Out!" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Frank Giacoia and Dave Hunt. Quick turnaround there.

At a local hospital, the Molten Man has arrived to kill, or at least shut up, injured Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds. Although sick with radiation poisoning from their earlier fight, Spider-Man manages to drive him off, but then has to fight off the cops, who thought he murdered Norman Osborn and were a little trigger-happy about it. A delirious Leeds gives Spidey a clue, but he has to check in with the Molten Man's step-sister, Liz Allen. She recounts how after the accident that covered Mark Raxton with a golden alloy, his condition was progressing, his skin now dissolving. Then, Peter puts the clues together to realize MM had stolen radioactive isotopes, for something.

Raxton was trying to gather up the items to recreate his alloy, presumably to recoat himself, and possibly to keep from melting into nothing. Spidey wants to get him back into the hospital, to take that burden off of Liz; but I'm not sure he's making the right choice. Usually Spidey has to force a cure down his villain's throat, this time he's blocking a bit. Wearing an asbestos mask and fireproof clothes (cancer was probably the least of his worries) the Molten Man tries to ditch Spidey on the subway, but his heat increases to the point they melt off. Fighting on a bridge, Spidey's leg is burned, so he grabs Molten Man's bag with a web and tosses it in the river; unwisely, Molty jumps after it, and seemingly explodes in the cold water. Nah, he'd be back.

Man, Ross Andru Spidey is good Spidey. Unless they go a different direction, I don't trust Mysterio, and suspect in Far From Home all his seeming powers are just tricks. I also think Hydro-Man and the Molten Man could be fakes as well, special effects created by Mysterio to fight and make himself look like a hero. I could be wrong, though!
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Monday, April 29, 2019

Just getting up from a frankly spectacular nap; so to wake up a bit let's flip through this one: from 1974, Marvel Super-Heroes #42, reprinting (most of) 1967's Tales to Astonish #87, "Moment of Truth" Written by Stan Lee, art by Bill Everett (with, per the GCD, a bunch of corrections) and "The Humanoid and the Hero!" Written by Stan Lee, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Mike Esposito.

In the Sub-Mariner opener, Namor faces off against his traitorous warlord Krang: Krang knew he was no match for Namor by himself, so he is allowed to "be adorned with whatever your villainous limbs can carry!" He thinks Namor's ego could undo him, but Namor is able to back his words, and demolishes Krang over the course of three pages. (There may have been a cut page or two in this reprint.) Lady Dorma is cleared of seemingly betraying her king, and a grateful Namor acknowledges her as a peer.

In the Hulk feature, the army was using a rubber-like "Hulk-killer" humanoid built by the believed-dead Leader, to kill the Hulk for attempting to destroy New York with a missile. Of course, the Hulk had been trying to stop the missile, and when the authorities in Florida confirm that, they call Glenn Talbot. Who, to his credit, only agonizes for a moment over saving Banner and ruining his chances with Betty. This is the second time we've seen Talbot try to do the right thing, although I'm pretty sure by his end he, like General Ross, had gone foam-at-the-mouth full Ahab. Hulk has to switch to Banner and back a couple times here, since he needs Banner's smarts to build something to disable the humanoid, but the Hulk is the one who nearly gets electrocuted in the doing.

Also this issue: the return of Boomerang! In a completely unrecognizable costume, with a lot of not-boomerangs! He was more of a classic, gimmicky villain back then; as opposed to the cheerful lout he would become; but I know his boot jets stuck around a long time, anyway.
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Friday, April 26, 2019

Pier 1 stock is down as I type this, with the company closing some stores. Presumably, not because of unconscious monkeys, or the Trapster! From 1977, Marvel Team-Up #58, "Panic on Pier One!" Written by Chris Claremont, pencils by Sal Buscema, inks by Pablo Marcos.

I'm going to take a second to check something here: what was Evel Knievel's heyday? Probably peaked with the failed Snake River jump in 1974. (Fun sidebar to this sidebar: wrestling's Vince McMahon lost money on that jump!) I mention this because of something an old comic book shop guy told me: Marvel is always late to hop on a trend. After all, disco's body was room temperature by the time Dazzler was introduced...Today, in Chelsea, it's location shooting for the Stunt-Master TV show, with stuntman Johnny Blaze about to perform a sick stunt--with the degree of difficulty raised exponentially by the unseen interference of the Trapster!

Peter and Mary Jane are watching the stunt (since it was on Peter's street, and blocking his way home) and MJ is actually hurt when Johnny has to trigger the Stunt-Master cycle-jets: the jets were the least bad option, rather than plowing straight into the crowd. At this point, Johnny has to transform into Ghost Rider, since he was now doing 80 on a one-wheeled motorcycle into cross bound traffic. Ditching MJ--okay, leaving her with a medic, but we don't see her again today!--Spidey snags GR with his webbing, but is then himself snagged, by the Trapster's paste!

I don't believe it: I just did another quick check, and the Trapster had been mentioned by name once in all the years I've been doing this blog? Huh. I was checking if maybe the Frightful Four's defeat mentioned here, from Fantastic Four #178, was here; but no, I haven't read that one. Still, the Wizard's escape method seems familiar, like maybe he's done it more than once: claiming to have a cracked tooth from getting punched in the mug by the Thing, the Wizard throws a magnesium flare hidden in a false tooth! (Do not bite down hard on that one...) Wizard frees Trapster and Sandman, but Trapster sees a newspaper headline that Johnny Blaze--and Ghost Rider--are in town. Did that just spill his secret identity? Regardless, Trapster wants payback for getting run out of L.A, possibly in Ghost Rider #13, not #15 as the footnote says. (Unless it took a couple issues, I'm not positive.) Spidey just got in the way, and nearly turns the tables on him, before Trapster gets him with a magnesium flare of his own and throws him off of his anti-gravity sled!

Ghost Rider saves-slash-cooks Spidey with a "hot air vortex" trick cribbed from the Human Torch, then shoots Trapster's sled down with a hellfire blast. He crashes on the carrier USS Halsey...which wasn't a carrier? OK, whatever. Trapster puts up a pretty good fight, aided by the United States Marine Corps, who do not take kindly to trespassers and of course get in Spidey and Ghost Rider's way more. Trapster also attempts to launch an F-14 Tomcat into the Westside Highway, but Spidey stops it...from hitting the highway, not from falling off the carrier. Oops. Then he and GR scuffle a moment before the Rider burns Trapster's soul with a hellfire blast! Spidey doesn't approve.

This was a stretch when Ghost Rider was still Johnny, as opposed to being a separate entity within him. Trapster gets treated like an actual threat for most of this; but I know he would hit a long skid around here. And the next issue was a favorite, with Yellowjacket and the Wasp, and John Byrne art.
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Thursday, April 25, 2019

Tron, Black Condor, and a little Infamous.

Towards the end of 2017, I had a ton of Amazon credit, that I used on a ton of action figures I might not have tried otherwise. Some were pretty good; others disappointed, like this pesky Cylon both arms fell off of; but it was fun to get some figures that weren't Marvel Legends or DC Multiverse. I haven't been as hog-wild as of late, but we still get some, like these two! From GameStop, Kingdom Hearts 2 Tron/Soldier Heartless, and (deep breath) S.H.Figuarts Bandai Tamashii Nations Black Condor "Choujin Sentai Jetman."

I'm old enough to have seen both Tron movies in theaters, although aside from the games, I think my fondest memory of it was the Brian Daley movie adaptation novel. Inexplicably, we have seen other Tron figures here and there over the years; but this is probably the nicest one, even if it is somewhat static and lifeless--just like the movie, hey-o! Still, that Bruce Boxleitner likeness is right on.

The hip articulation is honestly, uglier than homemade sin, but you can get a deep stance out of him! And a surprisingly good range on the ankles. No points in the chest because they don't want to break up that design, and the shoulder pads, as always, hinder the movement there. Still, Tron may not have much to do, since he doesn't come with a disk! Oh, there's one on his back, but it's not removeable. His only accessory is a Heartless Soldier: my son knew who that was and wandered off with him. This was from GameStop: per Amazon, you could maybe get Tron with a digitized Goofy?

Now we go from a figure with no accessories (that we care about, anyway) to one with a metric ton: S.H.Figuarts Bandai Tamashii Nations Black Condor "Choujin Sentai Jetman." Five pairs of hands, and a spare in the Wing Gauntlet punching fist. Two pistols--the same one, in different modes. A communicator, two holsters, an interchangeable wing piece, some fiddly extra parts for that Wing Gauntlet; it's a lot of stuff! And so much articulation! Even by Marvel Legends standards. Black Condor has mid-foot joints; nobody has those anymore! My only quibble with this figure is that if he were just a shade larger, he'd be more in-scale with Legends or Multiverse. As is, he's a bit short. (On the other hand, I had thought Tron was larger than Legends scale, but he lines right up with the Infamous Iron Man here.)

Among other things, Shout Factory TV had been running "Super Sentai Madness," and sight unseen, I decided to spring for Chōjin Sentai Jetman: the Complete Series. (To get free shipping, I also got the Complete Sam & Max: Freelance Police!) Jetman was the last Sentai series before what would become Power Rangers, and was a bit of a homage to my beloved Gatchaman. Although there's all the usual stuff like weekly monsters and giant robot finishing moves, the heroes this time were slightly older and there was more inter-team drama. Black Condor Gai Yuki was the team's jerkass with a heart of gold, although definitely not above punching his team leader right in the face. I've been watching three episodes a day when I bike, and episode ten features a character obsessed with cup noodles ("Maybe I really am a weirdo.") who gets tricked into aiding a monster, who also is cup noodles.

That either sells it for you, or doesn't.

I'm pretty sure the next several figures I buy will probably be Marvel Legends, but I'm open to getting other lines here and there. Even though Legends is making a run for all my money...

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Wednesday, April 24, 2019


Does Kurt tend to take Quicksilver's side, against his ex-wife and the Black Knight? Because he's a mutant? Because we know Pietro's kind of a colossal jerk. I know Nightcrawler and Quicksilver will be on the same X-Men team in Dark Phoenix, but I'm not sure we've ever seen them interact a lot otherwise.

Although, they were both in Uncanny X-Men: First Class #1! Synopsis from the GCD: "Nightcrawler saves two children from falling bricks but is attacked by a mob for his appearance. When the Inhumans visit the mansion, Kurt and Peter travel back to their home on the Moon and Nightcrawler is enamored of a society where difference is celebrated. When he observes normal looking children being transformed by the Terrigen Mist, however, Nightcrawler tries to put a stop to this abomination and is attacked for his sacrilege." In Kurt's defense, that Terrigen business is a crapshoot--and this was before it was decided that was poisonous to mutants. Some writers have pushed the notion that the Terrigen gives powers as needed: if as a society, the Inhumans needed methane-breathers, that's what they would get the next ceremony. Or it was just luck, and kids could either get kickass powers, or useless ones. Anyway, I don't recall when that comic was on the shelves, but I lucked into the little trades for it from my dearly departed Hastings.

I'm not positive, but has the kind of cancer Deadpool has ever been specified? It seems to be a nondescript, all over his body cancer, but that could be the result of his healing factor or something.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Now that I bought this, I'm sure I'll see it next show.

As I write this, I haven't seen the new Hellboy movie; unless I decided to go see it for Easter. The reviews were...not kind. But, I was able to take advantage of Dark Horse's digital Hellboy sale to get one I had never seen: from 2007, Hellboy: They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships, written by Mike Mignola and Joshua Dysart, art by Jason Shawn Alexander, collected in Hellboy, volume 10: the Crooked Man and others.

In his intro to this story, along with crediting co-writer Dysart for "research I would never have gotten around to doing," Mignola mentions this comic was a giveaway with the Konami game, although he wasn't sure how that was done. Wait, those dates don't seem to line up. I thought it may have been for the PS1 game, but "Dogs of the Night" was 2004. The next one, "The Science of Evil for PS3/Xbox 360, was released June 2008; and early purchases included a ticket to see Hellboy II: the Golden Army. (You can "movie cash" on the cover here, and I gotta say that gets me to buy stuff all the time...) It looks like a regular sized comic, so I'm guessing copies were sent to retailers to give away with purchase. Or not. (When I worked at Sam Goody, there were always promotional items that weren't given away because no one bought whatever was being promoted...)

Still, it's a pretty good issue: a hacky psychic ducks out of the rain, into a curio/antique shop, where a skull almost jumps out at him. He has a vision of the skull's owner, Blackbeard himself, and kills the shopkeeper to get the skull. He then tries to reunite Blackbeard's skull with his body; as Abe and Hellboy investigate. But they might not be the only ones who don't want to see Blackbeard return...
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Monday, April 22, 2019

Even I could parkour, if I had footapults!

Well, maybe not. I started reading Astro City with the first issue, but there was a stretch in there where it was mini-series, The Dark Age, four series in total. Crud, I thought I had all those, but now I think I'm missing at least four. Still, the other day I did get an issue out of the quarter bin that I know I somehow missed! From 1997, Kurt Busiek's Astro City #11, "Serpent's Teeth" Written by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Brent Anderson, inks by Will Blyberg, cover by Alex Ross.

Street level hero Jack-in-the-Box (no, not that one) is in a pretty good place the start of this one: newscaster girlfriend, good job designing toys, and a rambunctious fan club in the Trouble Boys. But said girlfriend is interrupted before a big announcement, as Jack has to take off to fight--the Box! (No, not that one either.) He's a twisted, cyborg mockery of Jack, but claims to be his son; as does another arrival, Jackson, who has gone in a more Wolverine direction with his cyborgery. Box had a jack-in-the-box themed puppet/robot arm, that was kind of cool. Both had come from the future, and been fighting a war on crime, but since daddy wasn't there for them, they had both long since gone off the rails into insanity. Jackson strikes me as more crazy, since he had based his entire philosophy on his dad quoting Bugs Bunny.

Box and Jackson team-up for a patricide attempt, but with the help of some Trouble Boys Jack-in-the-Box is able to defeat them. Still, their angry glaring convinces Jack they aren't lying about being his son, and he races home to his girlfriend...who had been waiting to tell him she was pregnant. I've had the next issue since it came out, and I know it was a riff on legacy heroes, but I almost think the current Jack--Zachary Johnson--was himself a legacy. Yep!
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Friday, April 19, 2019

Another Easter miracle, from Conan!

So I don't remember this as being a highwater mark for the title, although I was still reading it then; or a memorable run, although I remember this one. And I like the penciler, but not here. Bwah? From 1989, Conan the Barbarian #223, "The Wheel of Life and Death" Written by Michael Fleisher, pencils by Gary Kwapisz.

At the "sacred temple of almighty Vajrath" in Khoraja, Conan visits an old friend, dancer-turned-priestess Arasandra. There's a knockoffy-Hindu feel to them, possibly because Vajrath wasn't a traditional Conan deity like Crom, Mitra, or Set. Their holy "wheel of life and death" had been stolen by a rival faction, and Arasandra hires Conan to steal it back. On his way to their desert stronghold, Conan is approached by acolyte Rathnok, who wants to accompany him. Since Rathnok claims to know the layout, Conan grudgingly agrees. Meanwhile, a band of thieves recognizes Conan, and know his rep: the barbarian wouldn't waste his time unless serious loot was involved. They follow at a distance, intent on ambushing him once he gets the wheel.

Getting the wheel is relatively simple, but Vajrath is surprised that Conan isn't heading back to Khoraja, but rather deeper into the desert. Conan had seen the thieves, and was going to lead them into the desert to lose them. Vajrath doesn't think they can carry enough water, but Conan had already stocked a donkey with two huge jars. The thieves continue to follow, figuring Conan would have to turn back soon; interestingly, Conan also stashes one of his waterbags when Vajrath isn't looking. That night, Vajrath attempts to "bless" their campsite, with smoke that could be seen for miles, until Conan angrily stops him. Later, when he catches Vajrath playing a flute, that's the last straw: Vajrath had been working with the thieves from the start. When the thieves attack, Vajrath knows they don't have to beat Conan, they can just steal the wheel and the donkey and leave him to die of thirst. Strangely, Conan doesn't seem worried; as he rides back to his stashed water, he doesn't even seem mad.

The next day, when the thieves crack open Conan's water, they realize...it's wine. A miracle! Except they're totally screwed: "We'll die of thirst faster drinking this stuff than if we drank nothing at all!" Conan had, of course, planned that from the start; and after the initial shock the thieves drink a toast to him, because why not. Following the vultures, Conan recovers the wheel later, telling the birds they all had to earn a living somehow.

Kwapisz was one of my favorite Savage Sword of Conan artists, I always forget he did at least a few of the color book as well. I preferred his black-and-white stuff, though. Also, on the letters page, it mentions the last issue of Conan the King.

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Thursday, April 18, 2019

If I search an infinite number of quarter boxes an infinite number of times...

...that seems to be how I'm picking these up, yeah: from 1979, Thor #287, "Assault on Olympia!" Written and edited by Roy Thomas, with thanks and concepts by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, pencils by Keith Pollard, inks by Chic Stone.

Thor is catching a ride with the Eternals Ikaris, Thena, and Sersi; along with their friends Karkas and Ransak; to the confusingly named Olympia: not Olympus, home of the Greek gods like Zeus and Hercules; but Olympia, defunct brewery home of earth's Eternals like Zuras. In fact, they're in Zuras's personal ship, when they get shot down by a flying saucer--no, that's a stray discus, since today was their Olympics! I don't know how they're going to find a winner in that competition, if they're just randomly launching discuses into the stratosphere, but okay. The sport is ended, however, by the dramatic arrival of--the Forgotten One! Who we have seen multiple times on the blog but doesn't have a tag because I keep forgetting. (Boo!)

Claiming the name "Hero" here, F-O launches into a whole sob story for anyone who might have missed Eternals #13. So, everyone then. He claims Zuras "banished" him to the loneliest dwelling in Olympia, as earth had no more need for heroes; and apparently he stayed there for centuries, until Sprite sent him to stop a Deviant bomb from blowing up the Celestials' ship. (It seems unlikely the Deviants could've done any real damage, but still.) He was caught in the explosion, but rescued by the Celestials, and now sent with a message for his former brethren: don't mess with the "fifty-year judgment," now already in progress. Zuras may not have even been interested in interfering before, but now, hey, the Celestials aren't the boss of him! Predictably, a fight breaks out; but more surprisingly, Hero and Thor are transported aboard the Celestial mothership, to continue their battle before the "One Above All."

Hmm. We saw #291 almost five years back, #290 in 2011; and while I've read this run more than once I don't think I have all of this lengthy Celestial/Fourth Host storyline. I feel like I might eventually get the whole run just by sheer chance, though. I also half-suspect I've got Eternals #13 somewhere too, come to think of it.
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Wednesday, April 17, 2019


Black Bolt is ruling from the Marvel Select Mephisto's throne today: it's slightly too ornate, and evil, for him; but I figure the Kree aren't used to having a ruler that would fit in a chair anyway. This plotline is only marginally based on what may or may not be the Inhumans' current continuity in the comics; with some exceptions: Lockjaw is currently dead (BOO!) along with Maximus; I don't know if any bodies were seen, but Maximus probably used Lockjaw to get out of whatever. Pool has mentioned the Supreme Intelligence a couple of times, but I'm not sure it's still out there; and Ronan is currently supposed to be dead as well. Marvel may have finally given up on trying to flog the Inhumans into popularity...

We'll get more into why the Inhumans don't like Kurt next time, but that too is based on actual comics! That I wish I could fit in the scanner, since I have a reprint.

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