Thursday, June 30, 2016

Let's Play Pirate!

I wrote an article some years ago about the War-of-1812 cruise of the USS Essex, which sailed around the Horn to the Pacific, where it raided British shipping until it got captured by a Limey warship. The Essex was commanded by Captain David Porter and future Civil War-era admiral David Farragut served aboard as a midshipman.

That’s why I have an immediate “Hey, that’s cool” reaction to Yankee Buccaneer (1952), which is about Porter, Farragut and the Essex. Of course, the movie has no relation at all to reality. It’s set after the war—no exact year is given, but the Napoleonic Wars (which ended about the same time as our war with the British) are said to be over. Porter is still commanding the Essex (which in real life had ben captured by the British) and is stationed in the Caribbean. Farragut, now a lieutenant, is freshly assigned on board and brings secret orders with him.

Those orders are a doozy. The Essex is to strip itself of anything that identifies it as a naval vessel and pretend to be a pirate, then seek information on where actual pirates are hanging out.

It’s a fun film with a solid premise. Jeff Chandler plays Porter as a strict man who follows the book. Chandler was pretty much the go-to guy for this sort of role in the 1950s and does his typically fine job. Scott Brady plays Farragut as very independent-minded, a trait that regularly puts him in hot water with Porter.

Farragut is the younger of the two actors and the one who was probably supposed to make the ladies in the movie theater swoon, so I appreciate the fact that the movie obviously (and correctly) puts Porter in the right for staying within orders and within regulations. Farragut risks the ship during a storm to save a crewman, but the maneuver he orders causes damage to the rudder and endangers everyone. This gets him in trouble. Porter, unwilling to risk men repairing the rudder in the water in shark-infested waters, opts to slowly maneuver the Essex to an island before making those repairs. Farragut tries to make the repairs on his own and ends up going mano-a-mano with a shark, beating the shark but failing to fix the rudder. This gets him in more trouble. There’s also an identification bracelet Farragut wears with the name of one of his former vessels on it. He keeps it for sentimental reasons even after Porter tells him to get rid of it, which comes back to bite him in the butt big time, putting him and the men he’s with in serious danger.

Later, while ashore on an island overseeing re-provisioning, Farragut unexpectedly meets a beautiful Portuguese Countess. This is unusual enough in itself. What’s more unusual is that the Countess has a pistol and forces Farragut to take her aboard the Essex. This gets the poor lieutenant in even more trouble with Porter.

The Countess, played by a Hubba-Hubba level actress named Suzan Ball (Lucille Ball's second
cousin), is involved in political shenanigans regarding Brazilian independence from Portugal, a treasure fleet taking gold from Rio to London and a dishonest Spanish nobleman who is in league with both the Portuguese and the pirates that Porter has been looking for.

This all, in turn, leads to a situation in which Farragut and some of the Essex crew are prisoners of the Spanish and facing torture. Porter—the man who prides himself on following orders—must now stretch those orders well past the breaking point when he brings a landing party onto a technically friendly nation and try to pull off a daring rescue.

It all really is good fun. Joseph Calleia nicely underplays the main villain (the dishonest Spaniard), giving him an effectively sinister air. The rest of the cast (particularly Chandler) is quite good as well. It’s a little disappointing at the end that the Essex doesn’t deal with the actual pirate fleet they’ve discovered (they head home to sic the rest of the American navy on them), which means that several secondary villains we’ve met along the way abruptly disappear from the story. Also, there’s unnecessary montage that implies both Porter and Farragut are falling for the Countess, but there’s no follow-up for that. But that second point is a minor quibble and the absence of a proper resolution for some of the villains doesn’t spoil the rest of the fun. Yankee Buccaneer is an entertaining pirate film. And, by golly, it is fun to watch two real-life people I’ve written about team-up again for one more adventure.

I wanted to include a clip from the movie, but it's owned by Universal, the studio that shoves you to the ground and takes your lunch money whenever you try to post a clip of one of their movies on YouTube. Sorry about that. 

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Shogun Warriors, Part 3

 I'm a little torn about these two issues (Shogun Warriors #7 & 8--August & September 1979). The first big story arc has been brought to a satisfying conclusion with Maur-Kon's monster-making base destroyed. So this is the dramatically appropriate place to put in a lull and give us some background on the human characters.

And, since the Shogun Warrior robots are essentially weapons systems without personalities of their own, it makes sense to give us some in-depth characterizations for their pilots.

Writer Doug Moench does give us likable protagonists with clearly defined personalities. Richard Carson rejoins his girl friend Deena (also a stunt driver), Ilongo Savage returns to his research on dolphins (this was right smack in the middle of the "dolphins-can-be-taught-human-language" phase of science fiction). Genji Odashu has to explain what the heck happened to the prototype airplane she was flying when the Fellowship of the Light teleported her away and drafted her into anti-robot combat.

It's all good stuff and we really do like these guys. But the first half of the seventh issue undeniably drags a little. Moench's tendency to write dialogue-heavy scripts is probably a negative here. In a Moench story, no one ever says anything in just one sentence when they can drag it across three or four sentences.

Oh, well. It's not as if half a comic is all that long a time. The action picks up again soon. And that action is well worth waiting for.

Also, I do wonder why the Shogun pilots have such trouble getting anyone to believe their stories. One presumes monster fights through the streets of a city would make the 6 o'clock news even in a comic book universe. And it is a comic book universe--we will eventually learn that it is set firmly in regular Marvel continuity. So getting teleported away to be the pilots for giant anti-monster robots isn't all that unusual.

By the end of the eighth issue, Genji's been arrested, while Savage is about to investigate a strange meteor that landed near his location. But the action centers mostly around Carson and his robot Raydeen.

A mysterious new monster shows up along the West Coast of the U.S.--fortunately not far from where Carson and Deena are shooting a film. The Followers teleport Raydeen to the area. Carson soon has to bring Deena aboard the robot with him to keep her out of the crossfire once the fight begins. But that turns out to be a good thing--she proves to be a skilled co-pilot.

The monster, by the way, is a really dandy one. It's called Cerberus because it has many heads--
actually, five detachable vehicles that can rejoin as its head in different combinations to give it different capabilities.

That's just cool.

Herb Trimpe continues to give us great battle scenes, with this particular fight spilling over into the next issue.

Except for a few scenes to set up Savage's and Genji's respective story arcs, the battle lasts through the eighth issue, given extra flavor when Carson/Raydeen needs to take time to rescue a Coast Guard ship (and give them a talking too for shooting at him as well as Cerberus).

A few minutes after that, Raydeen has to save people in a cliff-side house that's been knocked loose by a stray shot from Cerberus.

Cerberus is eventually forced to retreat. Its origin is still a mystery, but it's no longer endangering anyone.

All things considered, these two issues continue to provide us with real fun and adventure. I even realize that my criticisms above can be seen as unfair--we do need to have some effort to flesh out the human characters. It's just that the poor people are competing for attention against robots and monsters. No mere mortal can ever stand against that.

Next week, we'll return to Gotham City and watch Batman.... beat up some blind guys? Gee whiz, Bruce!

Monday, June 27, 2016

Cover Cavalcade

Blade's wooden throwing knives were the coolest anti-vampire weapons this side of the garlic-tipped darts that fired out of Quincy Harker's wheelchair.

Friday, June 24, 2016

Friday's Favorite OTR

CBS Radio Mystery Theater: "The Haunted Mill" 11/8/77

A very, very spooky and atmospheric ghost story about an old haunted mill and a missing man who may or may not be dead.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Fight 'em One-Handed!

Avenging Rider (1943) gets off to an admittedly weak start--since it depends on Tim Holt's character (Brit Marshall) getting fooled by a gang of gold thieves a little too easily. This lands Brit and his sidekick (Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards) in the slammer, falsely accused of robbery and murder.

Fortunately, the script allows Holt to start acting intelligently again. He needs to figure out a way to clear himself and his friends. As is always the case in B-movies, the best plan is for Holt and Cliff to bust jail and find the real crooks. In fact, unless I miscounted, they get captured on three separate occasions throughout this 55-minute film, only to manage an escape each time. Might as well put a revolving door on that jail cell. It's worse than Arkham Asylum.

That's not a complaint, though. The movie is a lot of fun, with several nifty action set-pieces and (after Holt's initial stupidity) a solid script.

There's a neat plot device used in this one. When the four real robbers ask a crooked banker to hide the stolen gold, they want something to guarantee their claim to the loot. Rather understandably, the banker doesn't want to give them a signed receipt. Instead, he divides a playing card into five pieces. He'll keep one piece and anyone showing up with another piece can claim a share of the gold.

Naturally, these playing card fragments become an important clue while Holt is tracking the villains and trying to figure out what's going on.

One of the action scenes, by the way, is particularly fun. Holt, who has a wounded arm, gets into a fist fight with a crooked gambler. He has to fight one-handed, but manages to curb stomp the gambler even while under this disadvantage.

Avenging Rider has all the elements you expect from a solid B-Western: Likable heroes, despicable bad guys, nice location photography, a good story and some humor. The sidekick is reasonably funny, but the best laughs come from the dimwitted deputy that Holt and Cliff are continually tricking into allowing them to escape.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

School for Sheriffs

In theory, Hopalong Cassidy worked for the Bar 20 ranch, but in both movies and comic books, he ended up taking temporary work as a lawman when the situation called for it. How he managed this while still running a large ranch is frankly beyond me. The time-management aspect of it seems insurmountable. But then, Hoppy is a remarkable guy.

In fact, he's so remarkable that in DC's Hopalong Cassidy book, he even had time to teach a class for perspective sheriffs.

By the way, Fawcett Comics had the license for Hoppy from the mid-1940s until they folded in 1953. DC took over the book and retained the old numbering system. The book we're reviewing it Hoppy #117 (September 1956), written by John Broome.

Hoppy spends most of the sheriff class calling the students to task for carrying shoddy equipment--or even for not having your cartridge belt fully stocked with spare ammo. But Hoppy isn't just being mean. He's determined to make sure his students don't get killed.

One guy is short a bullet in his belt. But can one bullet make a difference? Hoppy recounts a tale where he was cornered by outlaws with only one bullet left. He used a clever trick to get the drop on the bad guys, but if hadn't had that one extra bullet, he'd have been killed.

The story sets up its theme very effectively this way. Hoppy isn't going all Drill Sergeant on the newbies, but he is stern and might potentially seem petulant. But as he continues to make his points, he also makes it clear that he's teaching these guys stuff that really will keep them alive.

Another student has a loose spur. That's a potential problem as well. In fact, a loose spur nearly got Hoppy killed once and did blow a chance to trail some outlaws back to their hideout (and their hidden loot) before he had to take them out.

Yet another student has a frayed spot on his rope. This time, Hoppy relates a story in which an outlaw he was pursuing had a frayed rope--something Hoppy was able to capitalize on to save his own life. The point is the same, though. Poorly maintained equipment can cost you dearly.

"School for Sheriffs" is a neat little story, with a well-constructed plot and great Gene Colan art work.

And Hoppy really is a great teacher--providing us with a model of what a teacher in any subject is supposed to do, whether teaching adults or kids. The teacher isn't there to make friends with the students or build their self-esteem. He's there to teach them what they need to know and make it clear that there are consequences for not learning it. THAT, by golly, is what a teacher does.

Next week, we'll revisit the Shogun Warriors as we continue to examine their complete saga.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

New banner for the blog.

I have a new banner for my blog, a portrait of the blog's behind-the-scenes editor, Melvin the Velociraptor. Actually, it's still unfinished--some color needs to be added and the artist tells me that he'll be adjusting some of the shadows and background opacity. But it looks so awesome that I thought I'd start using it now, updating it to the finished version when that's ready in a few days.

The artist is Ben Alvarez and you can see more of his work HERE.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Friday, June 17, 2016

Friday's Favorite OTR

Hall of Fantasy: "Treasure of Kubla Khan"

A small group of treasure seekers follow a map that supposedly leads them to the legendary treasure of Kubla Khan. There's a story that Khan's general is still guarding the treasure after all these centuries, but this is dismissed as obvious nonsense.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Diamonds of Death

Read/Watch 'em In Order #68

"Diamonds of Death" (Black Mask, August 1931) finds private eye Jo Gar in San Francisco. He's found six of the ten stolen diamonds, but his one remaining suspect managed to slip through customs without the remaining four being discovered.

Fortunately, a customs agent visits Jo Gar with new of where the suspect has holed up. Unfortunately, the customs agent isn't really a customs agent. Jo is being lured into a trap.

Jo Gar knows the agent was a fake and the supposed hide-out is a trap. But this is a chance to find the rest of the diamonds, catch the man responsible for so many murders and finally just get to go home. So he walks into the trap. (Though not without making some preparations first.)

This final story in the "Rainbow Diamonds" series is wonderful. Jo Gar's final confrontation with the chief bad guy is very, very tense and keeps the reader riveted to the story from start to finish. The serial has a whole is the high point in the career of an already great hard-boiled character, with this final chapter arguably the best of the lot.

It's interesting to compare this story with "Red Dawn"--the fourth story in the serial. I was a little critical of that one, because several elements of the story (the bad guy spouting off information for no good reason) seemed a little contrived. "Diamonds of Death" ends with a similar situation and once again has the villain conveniently explaining his actions, but somehow comes across as much more natural. I'm not even sure why--Raoul Whitfeld simply makes it work here.

There's another aspect of the story I love. Jo Gar arrives at the house he's been lured to by cab. Part of his preparations for foiling what he knows is a trap is to tell the cab driver to honk his horn at set intervals, then go for the police. The cab driver ups the ante by saying he packs a gun and is willing to come into the house after Jo Gar if necessary.

Gee whiz, all this for a fare he literally just met. You just don't get that kind of service nowadays. I blame Uber.

The next Read 'em in Order will be a look at the first of two Doc Savage novels in which the Man of Bronze battles a villain who may actually be as smart as he is.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Friendship, Betrayal and Outright Aggression

Hal Foster was such a magnificent illustrator that I think sometimes fans of his work often come close to forgetting that he was a brilliant and sophisticated writer as well.

A story arc beginning in June 1955 provides us with a great example of his skill as an artist AND writer. Valiant, his wife Aleta, his three children (young Arn and the toddler twin girls), along with Sir Gawain and two boatloads of Northmen, have ended up in Kiev after a series of adventures. Now its time to head home, something that will require a trip up the Dnieper.

The story of this river journey can be divided into four chapters--with the last chapter involving a lengthy flashback as Valiant, while recovering from wounds, recounts some of his early adventures to his kids. The first three chapters, though, each involves an encounter with a different people group. Each of these people groups reacts in a different way to Valiant's expedition, giving each little mini-adventure its own flavor and maintaining a high level of excitement from beginning to end.

The trip actually begins on a grim note: food supplies begin to run low and Valiant injures his leg while hunting an auroch. It's while he's lying helpless near the dead beast that a couple of local tribesmen appear and seem determined to finish him off. Some of Valiant's men arrive in time to capture the tribesmen before they do any harm.

Despite this rather shaky start to friendship, Valiant manages to cut a deal with the tribesmen. They'll get metal arrowheads in exchange for bringing meat. This provides boat crews with the food they need.

The next crisis comes soon after that. The boats arrive at the Great Portage, where the river becomes un-navigable for a time and the longboats must the hauled across the ground.

By this point, the expedition has arrived in the territory of another tribe. Valiant cuts a deal with them, paying them a fair price for helping to portage the boats.

It takes some back-breaking work, with the locals and the Northmen all working together, to get one boat across the portage. Then the new, young leader of the tribe decides that Valiant's willingness to pay well is a sign of weakness. He demands double pay, determined to back this up by placing some armed men nearby.

This is not a good idea. To quote the strip itself: "Prince Valiant's motto is, treat everyone fairly, but do not depend on fairness in return." In other words, Valiant has armed men in place watching the armed men who are watching him.

The new, young leader never does get any older. Having lost the confidence of his people, he happens to suffer a tragic "accident" one night soon after his failure to renegotiate. From that point on, the tribe and the Northmen are again able to work together and finish portaging the boats.

The boats continue north along the river. By now, Val's leg has largely healed, so he is leading a scouting patrol along the river's edge when they encounter a band of Swedes. There's no chance for friendship or negotiation this time--the Swedes want Valiant's stuff and simply attack.

Outnumbered, Valiant sends one man running back to the boats for reinforcements. He and his patrol hold the line for a few moments, then break and run. The Swedes pursue--but Val was expecting this. When the Swedes are strong out along the trail, he turns suddenly back upon them.

In the ensuing melee, Val is wounded. Gawain and more men arrive to save his bacon, which leads to the aforementioned flashback sequence. By this point, Prince Valiant had been running for nearly twenty years, so its not surprising that Foster decided to recap some early adventures.

By the time Val is on his feet again, the boats have reached the Baltic Sea, bringing the river journey to an end.

It's a wonderful adventure, containing many sharp character moments involving Val and his family on top of the inherent excitement. The art work is magnificent, of course, but it is interesting to note just how well-written and multi-layered the story is. There are times when--in my mind--Prince Valiant comes very close to surpassing Terry and the Pirates as the best adventure strip ever. Like Milt Caniff, Hal Foster wrote as well as he drew and created a perfect synergy between plot and imagery.

Next week, we'll visit an Old West classroom and listen to Hopalong Cassidy teach us how to be a good sheriff.

Monday, June 13, 2016

Cover Cavalcade

For some, this would be a traumatic event. For Tarzan, it's Tuesday.

Friday, June 10, 2016

Friday's Favorite OTR

The Whistler: "Death has a Thirst" 5/8/43

What can be worse than being stranded on a small island with no fresh water? How about being stranded on a small island with no fresh water--and a deranged killer for company!

Click HERE to listen or download.

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Dinosaurs and Brain Surgery

Pearson's Magazine was a late-19th/early-20th Century British periodical that, among other notable accomplishments, serialized H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds in 1897.

But that wasn't the only example of Really Cool Fiction published in Pearson's. The September 1899 issue gave us "The Monster of Lake LaMetrie," by Wardon Allan Curtis--a wonderful short story that manages to be silly, fun and kind of creepy all at the same time.

The titular lake is located in a remote area of the American West. It's a place well-worth investigation--there is evidence that the lake contains a passageway to a Hollow Earth--an interior world in which prehistoric animals might still survive.

You can't read this story without thinking about Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar novels, of course. In fact, the narrator of "Lake LaMetrie" even mentions passages into the inner world at the poles. Remember that Burroughs' established at least a North Pole entrance into Pellucidar.

"The Monster of Lake LaMetrie" involves an elasmosaur making its way to the lake through the underwater passage, so this inner world also includes prehistoric monsters.

And it also includes an inter-species brain transplants, something that was shown to exist in Burroughs' universe in 1927's The Master Mind of Mars.

So, by golly, I officially declare that "The Monster of Lake LaMetrie" is a part of Edgar Rice Burroughs' universe. Never mind that it was written 13 years before ERB turned to writing novels. We all know that Burroughs was really an historian rather than a novelist. He was, after all, John Carter's nephew. Why the heck would he have to make stuff up?

So Wardon Allan Curtis was another historian, publishing the diary excerpts of a scientist who discovered a living elasmosaur and--due to several very unlucky occurrences--ended up transplanting the brain of his assistant into the elasmosaur's skull.

Whether or not the scientist acted wisely--well, you can read the story and decide for yourself. It's available online HERE.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Bugs Bunny's Dangerous Venture

Comic books can be a great source of humor, but some kinds of humor--such as the anarchistic slapstick of the Looney Tunes--simply don't translate effectively to that medium. So, as I've mentioned before whenever I've reviewed a Looney Tunes comic book, Bugs Bunny and his friends are often dropped into stories with more coherent plots than we normally saw in the cartoons.

Four Color #123 (October 1946) is perhaps the most vivid example of this that I've talked about so far. (See HERE & HERE for previous Looney Tunes comic book reviews.) Bugs and Porky open a messenger service, promising to deliver anything to anywhere. They don't stop to consider that this might mean a trip to a remote area of Tibet.

But a deal is a deal. Besides, when they discover that the package they are delivering contains a huge diamond, they figure there's likely to be a nice fee involved.

So its off to Tibet, traveling for weeks by ship, horse, camel and foot before reaching their goal.

Along the way, we are reminded several times that Bugs and Porky have brought along a small stove into which you add small pills that generate heat. Never has a Chekov's Gun been more obviously hinted at--but that's okay. Despite the fun sense of real adventure the uncredited writer gives the story, it is still a comedy. Telling the story in broad strokes is perfectly appropriate.

The two friends discover that the diamond had originally been stolen from the city. After some tense moments in which they are accused of being in league with the thieves, they convince the High Lama of their innocence. They are even rewarded by getting to spend a week as Assistant Lamas and told that they can keep the valuable ruby necklaces they were given even after their term as Lamas ends.

It is NOT immediately explained to them that the term of Assistant Lama is ended by freezing the office holders in ice for all eternity. Boy, it's lucky Bugs had a few of those heating pills in his pocket. It's also lucky that this is one of the few times Bugs happens to be wearing clothes and even has pockets.

A fast escape and the need to hide with some tourists who are traveling the Gobi Desert follows. When Bugs and Porky return home, they make sure the "Anywhere" on their messenger service sign is followed by "within the city limits." Though one would presume the ruby necklaces they escaped with brought them a pretty nice fee for the job.

Tom McKimson's art is crisp, clear and fun to look at, while the story works effectively as both an adventure story and a comedy. As I've said before, the comic book Looney Tunes universe is very different from the cartoon universe, but it is still a worthwhile place to visit.

Next week, we'll leave Tibet and travel to the times of King Arthur to take a river trip with one of Arthur's favorite knights.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Friday's Favorite OTR

Nick Carter: "The Case of the Demented Daughter" 5/28/46

A woman with a family history of insanity seems to be sliding off the deep end herself. But Nick thinks there's something more nefarious going on.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Thursday, June 2, 2016

The Joker Goes Dinosaur Hunting

That lousy, stinkin' poster sitting up there is LYING to us! There is a brontosaurus in The Lost Continent (1951) and there are a couple of triceratops. But there's no T-Rex or other carnosaur.

Aside from the lousy, stinkin' movie poster, though, The Lost Continent does have a poor reputation even among B-movie and dinosaur movie fans. To be fair, there are problems with the pacing. The first half-hour is very heavy in exposition and this did need to be tightened up and shortened.

It's really not that complex a plot. An experimental rocket goes off-course on its test flight and crashes in a remote area. An Air Force plane and a trio of scientists look for it--the data its carrying is vital for future tests. It turns out that to get to the rocket, the Air Force guys and scientists must scale a mountain, where they discover a jungle and a number of herbivorous but very ill-tempered dinosaurs.

The cast is great. Future Joker Cesar Romero is the commander of the expedition. John Hoyt, Whit Bissell, Hugh Beaumont and Sid Melton are among the other expedition members. These are all good actors, bringing real personality to their roles despite dialogue that is undeniably awkward at times.

An extended sequence in which they are scaling the mountain is often criticized for being too long--the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode about this movie is particularly brutal here. But I enjoy that part--it builds tension nicely and there's some honest emotion when one of the characters suddenly falls off a ledge. (Though that character has no one but himself to blame. He should have known better than to tell everyone about his wife and kids back home in the previous scene.)

We're two-thirds into the movie before we finally see some dinosaurs--further proof that some
judicious editing needed to be done earlier in the story. But these are all fun scenes. There's something about lower quality non-Harryhausen stop motion that still has charm, giving the dinosaurs a sort-of unworldly quality that endows the scenes an appropriate atmosphere.

So I do indeed like this film. It is better than its reputation and a satisfying way to spend 83 minutes.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Know When to Hold 'em; Know When to Fold 'em.

Frankly, I don't know why Ben Grimm even bothers trying to host poker games. Something will always happen to interrupt it--usually just when he has a great hand.

That's what happens in Marvel Two-in-One #75 (May 1981). The rest of the FF are gone for the weekend, Alicia is off at an artists retreat and Ben has the Baxter Building to himself. He invites the Avengers (along with Jarvis) over for some poker.

But it's not to be. Over in the Negative Zone--the anti-matter universe that is accessible through a Reed Richards-invented portal--stuff is happening. The two most powerful beings in that reality, Annihilus and Blastaar, make a deal. The two need each other to conquer Blastaar's home planet. In the best villain tradition, Annihilus plans to back-stab his ally afterwards. The two celebrate their new alliance by watching a Lovecraftian horror eat a few captives.

One of these captives is Nyglar, Blastaar's wife. Blastaar rescues her, but still remains allied with Annihilus. Nyglar knows her husband is setting himself up for a fall, so decides to send out a distress signal, hoping that someone will be able to stop the impending invasion of her home planet.

A receiver in the Baxter Building picks up the distress call just as Ben has drawn a full house.

What follows is a great space opera adventure story. The script is by Tom DeFalco and the strong, clean art by Alan Kupperberg and their talents mesh perfectly.

But there's another strong element to the story. The distress signal is about events happening exclusively in the Negative Zone. It involves nothing that threatens the Earth or the heroes. Is it something that they should get involving in? The ensuing discussion is short, but the points made are all trenchant and reasonable.

Ben, though, isn't going to ignore anyone who needs help. When he decides to go into the Negative Zone to look around, the others agree to go along as well. The power packs that protect them from the radiation of the Negative Zone will last seven hours, so they have that much time to save a planet and then get back home.

As I said, the story is great space opera. A synopsis of the plot wouldn't do it justice. The heroes confront the Blastaar-Annihilus army and there are fights, captures, escapes, double-crosses & triple-crosses. In addition to that army, Annihilus also controls the Super-Adaptoid, the Mad Thinker's android who has the powers of all the major Avengers. The Adaptoid was tossed into the Negative Zone after a recent encounter with Captain Marvel.

The whole thing is a boisterous super-hero romp, but there's some deeper emotions here. The concern that the Avengers are in a situation they shouldn't be in hangs over everything. The fate of Nyglar is tragic and drips with irony. And when Blastaar manages to beat Annihilus to the draw in who betrays whom, the story takes yet another tragic turn.

The battle culminates when Ben takes on the Super Adaptoid. Remember that the android has the power of many Avengers and after his last appearance also has Captain Marvel's powers. Ben is simply out-powered. But Ben also never gives up. It's a character trait that is probably in danger of becoming an overused cliche in regards to Ben, but when the writing is strong (as it is here), the reader finds himself shouting "Go, Ben!" with complete sincerity.

But when the dust clears, Blastaar has won--wiping out Annihilus' army and gaining control the powerful comic control rod. The heroes return home with the realization that they would have been better off sticking to poker.

This is one of my favorite Two-in-One stories, demonstrating that a super-hero tale can deal with real emotions and metaphors for real life situations (when should a super-power stick its nose into another country's business?) without losing its sense of fun or its sense of wonder.

Well, we've followed Ben and the heroes on an epic adventure. Next week, we'll go along on another epic adventure with.... Bugs and Porky?

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