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daydreamerdrew · 1 year

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Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

The Defenders (1972) #76-85

In this batch of The Defenders issues I’ve gone from July 1979 to April 1980. Issues #76-77 were scripted by Steven Grant, with Mark Gruenwald assisting with the plot of issue #76. And issues #76-77 were penciled by Herb Trimpe, with Steve Mitchell inking issue #76 and issue #77 being inked by Steve Mitchell, Al Milgrom, and Chic Stone. Issues #78-85 were scripted by Ed Hannigan. The breakdowns for the art of issue #78 was done by Herb Trimpe, which was then finished and inked by Mike Esposito. Most of the pages of issue #78 were penciled by Herb Trimpe, with a few being done by Ed Hannigan, and all being inked by Mike Esposito. Issue #80 was penciled by Herb Trimpe and inked by Dan Green. The breakdowns for the art of issue #81 was done by Herb Trimpe, which was then finished and inked by Jack Abel. And the breakdowns for the art for issues #82-85 were done by Don Perlin. The breakdowns of issues #82-83 were then finished and inked by Joe Sinnot, of issue #84 by Tex Blaisdell, and of issue #85 by Jim Mooney.

These issues are largely split between three different storylines of the original defenders- Dr. Strange, Hulk, and Namor- on a mission in Tunnelworld, Kyle being charged in his civilian identity for tax fraud and so not allowed to adorn his Nighthawk identity, and a uniquely all-female configuration of the Defenders made up of the Valkyrie, Hellcat, the Wasp, and for a brief time also Moondragon.

That last storyline is light-heartedly referred to by Hank in issue #78 as "the world's first female super-team" but it is not actually referred to by the characters themselves as them being the Defenders. In issue #76 Val is wondering, "I have no other home… If the Defenders have truly disbanded, what options are open to me. Where can I possibly go?" And Janet refers to helping Patsy, not as her being willing to join the Defenders, but because, "We Avengers have to stick together!" But the narration frames this differently and in issue #77 refers to the group as, "Hellcat, the Valkyrie, the Wasp, and Moondragon- who now comprise of the dynamic Defenders."

It was interesting to me how that reflects the unique concept of the Defenders. The typical opening narration refers to them as "the greatest NON-TEAM in history." My understanding is that this is because typical superhero teams in the Marvel universe have the members living together and formal rules, including an obligation to show up to help with missions and punishments for not doing so, but the Defenders eschew all that and so don't quite qualify as a proper team. It's been presented as that someone is a Defender once they've teamed-up with the group, even if that character didn't recognize it as joining the team during their team-up. There does tend to be a core group of people, who may consider themselves to be the main Defenders, that consistently appear in the book across multiple missions. But that's because their interpersonal bonds mean that they're in close proximity to each other and so are more easily reachable for missions. This all makes it possible for how, back in issue #52, Namor, who hadn't appeared in the book for a while, is surprised when Kyle, who joined the team as Namor was leaving, reminds him that they are a part of the same superhero team, but also accepts that as true. The Defenders are literally whoever is regularly appearing in the book The Defenders, but also in perpetuity whoever has teamed-up with any past configuration of the Defenders.

That group was also interesting to me with that that storyline did with gender. This is actually not the first time there's been an all-female configuration of the Defenders, as back in issue #45 the Hulk, Nighthawk, Luke Cage, and Dr. Strange were under the power of a villain, which left Valkyrie, Hellcat, and Red Guardian to fight and free them. This time they ended up fighting the Mandrill, a supervillain with the ability to control women through making them fall in love with him and therefore willing to do whatever he wants. In issue #80 Val is horrified and disgusted after getting freed from the Mandrill's control, shouting, "The Mandrill! He used us- used us! I swear by Hela's dark legion- he shall pay!" None of the others react with this strength, but it makes sense that she would be the most affected. Her concept as this idealized woman warrior with established principles but limited actual lived experience on earth makes her really bothered by any form of male attention. In issue #53 she gets really uncomfortable being on a crowded subway until she finally pushes the people away from her and shouts, "Enough! I cannot abide this intimacy with strangers! Stand away from me- now!" Also, in issue #85, after Patsy has striked a serious blow against the Mandrill's supervillain plot, he comments, "Incredible that I, the master of women, should have my efforts thwarted by a self-styled female super-hero!" I'm really curious as to how much future issues of The Defenders will play the gender ratio of the team and how much it'll be relevant to the stories.

break because of the character block limit

In issue #84 Dr. Strange returns home from a mission and finds Patsy and Val there with Clea. Patsy says to him, "We decided that the three of us had some common interests- welcome to the first meeting of the new Defenders! Wanna join!" While the follow-up to this was delayed by a supervillain plot, we're clearly leading into an articulation of the new configuration of the Defenders. It's clear that Val and Patsy will be a part of it. Clea has actually been talking about wanting to join the team for a while now, but had so far been prevented by Dr. Strange who believed that she wasn't ready for that kind of independence, though in the meantime she has still been forming bonds with the team-members. She complains about that in issue #78, "I feel so out of place, alone on Earth… Better I had faced the prospect of death [on Stephen's latest Defenders mission] than boredom and unease in a world of strangers!" Dr. Strange has been distant from the group for a while, which was prompted by him needing the space to deal with a personal issue that was negatively impacting his magic, and I don't think that he really wants to be closer to the others at this point. If Clea's a part of the team, then his specific skillset might be redundant; but also if Clea's a part of the team, then he might want to be there to look out for her. I fully expect the Hulk to rejoin as he's quit many times, so we've seen him repeatedly quickly come back and what the team provides for him in terms of companionship remains true. We actually have been getting some conflict around the Hulk's feelings about friendship lately. Back in issue #75 the Hulk had been having some doubts about whether or not he even wanted friends because he's had so many experiences with friends hurting him either by betraying him or dying. He ended up deciding that he did want the other Defenders in his life, but he got back just as the team was falling apart, which made him get upset and run off again. In issue #78 he repeats that he doesn't want friends, and prefaces his agreement to Dr. Strange that he'll help him and Namor with Defenders business with, "Defenders? Bah, Hulk has quit Defenders, even other Defenders have quit- Sword-Girl, Cat-Girl- all quit!" But in issue #85 he agrees to help even the Defenders that had hurt his feelings, so it looks like that's headed on the right track. Surprisingly, it looks like Kyle's also gearing up to rejoin as long as there isn't anything physically stopping him from doing so. He is still in the middle of a tax fraud investigation that's inhibiting him from being Nighthawk. He had disbanded the team in a rage back in issue #75 after they'd contributed to events that led to the riding academy he owned getting burned down, but he seems to have gotten over that because his response in issue #79 to learning that they're in trouble is the casual, "Sure, I know Val and Hellcat are my friends- even though they are responsible for burning down my house!" And then he risks further legal trouble by going out at Nighthawk to help them. And there's no mention on their part of any kind of grudge against him for having tried to end the team when he was upset. But, at the same time, it would be strange for this overarching plotline to end up with the Defenders largely right as they were before it started.

Iron Man (1968) #54-62

In this batch of Iron Man issues I’ve gone from October 1972 to June 1973. Issue #54 was written by Mike Friedrich from a “story idea” from Bill Everett, penciled by George Tuska, and primarily inked by Vinnie Colletta with Bill Everett just doing the heads of Namor the Sub-Mariner, a character he originally created. Issue #55 was plotted and penciled by Jim Starlin, scripted by Mike Friedrich, and inked by Mike Esposito. Issue #56 was plotted and penciled by Jim Starlin, plotted and scripted by Steve Gerber, and inked by Mike Esposito. Issue #57 was written by Steve Gerber, issue #58 was plotted by Steve Gerber and scripted by Mike Friedrich, and then issues #59-62 were written by Mike Friedrich. Issues #57-61 were penciled by George Tuska and issue #62 was penciled by Craig Russell with assistance from John Romita. Issues #57-58 and #62 were inked by Mike Esposito and Frank Giacoia and issues #59-61 were inked by just Mike Esposito.

Issue #57 opens with a scene of Stark Industries workers protesting the company. They have signs that say things like, "sell-out phony Tony shares secrets with the enemy." They're saying things like, "We've been workin' an' slavin' for a crummy traitor!" And most dramatically they're burning a doll replica of Iron Man in front of the company's building. This leads to an awkward scene where Tony is talking about how, "This strike could spell the end for Stark Industries. If it drags on- keeps us from meeting our production quotas- we'll be a financial disaster area! It's soon revealed that the man running the union who wants to represent Tony's employees, who has convinced them all that Tony's become a communist, and is therefore a traitor to the United States, because he's pivoting the company away from weapons manufacturing and instead towards environmental research and has offered to share their discoveries with communist countries, is actually Tony's old villain the Mandarin. In issue #58 Tony is able to calm people down after they storm into his office and trash it with a speech about how what he's doing isn't unpatriotic, revealing to them that their union leader is a supervillain, and telling the police that show up that it was a company matter and so he won't be pressing charges for the damages in front of his employees. However, at the end of the issue, while they've verified that the union leader was actually a supervillain, they're still not convinced that what he was telling them wasn't true. Their ultimate decision, which Tony is happy with, is, "We're not about to join in undermining our country! But if Stark's right, we wanna be in with him… So we're taking the gamble!"

I sort of wonder if that little storyline wasn't written to ensure readers that Tony hadn't abandoned his anti-communist principles, which have been more emphasized in his comics than in the other Marvel comics I've read from this era because of his character concept as a representative of capitalism. It didn't come up again later in this batch. But there's a letter that was printed in issue #55 from a fan named Irwin T. Lapeer expressing concern that Tony was being made to no longer be a conservative and said that, "There was a beautiful irony (no pun intended) in having Tony Stark, the one-man military-industrial complex, as a peace-making good guy." The response said, "Actually, Irwin, Tony Stark was and is basically a conservative guy. His reordering of priorities is based not so much on politics, as on basic human values."

This batch of issues included the introduction of Roxy Gilbert, the sister of the radical villain Firebrand, who hated the current state of the U.S. and Tony Stark as emblematic of it, and the daughter of the late Simon Gilbert, who had attempted a takeover of Stark Industries and died during his own scheme to blow up Tony's munitions plant to make him look bad. While Firebrand had hated his father while he was alive, he's upset by his father's death and blames Iron Man for it. In issue #59 he kidnaps Pepper and his own sister to lure out Iron Man so that he could try to kill him. Roxy stands up to her brother, and not realizing that she's fully committed fires a blast at her, which she takes completely. Tony is disgusted that he would have so seriously hurt his sister, but as he's wailing on Firebrand the grievously injured Roxy tells him, "D-don't h-hit him… He's my b-brother… Violence is not the way… to make them see… even him!" Tony's deeply impressed, thinking, "Roxie is the real hero here- and she's given me a lot to think about… Questions about my very way of life! She must live! She must!" Tony's first knowledge of her was that she was insisting on selling the Stark Industries stock that she inherited from her father, calling it "blood money," and was insisting that Tony personally handle the transaction, which turned out to be so that she could lecture him. In issue #60 Tony visits her in the hospital as Iron Man, but she's cold to him, saying of her brother, "I'm sure your savage pounding only strengthened his hatred! I'm sorry… I'm being harsh!" Tony thinks he might, "break thru to her as Tony Stark… turning on the old suave charm." But then he quickly finds that she'd already told the nurses that she didn't want to see Tony at all if he arrived. The nurse explains to him, "She detests a man whose fortune rests on the inventive savagery of Stark Industries munitions!' Tony is shocked, but the nurse follows that up with, "Let me add, sir- I personally agree with her! No amount of well-publicized 'reordered priorities' will wash away the Asian blood your weapons shed- not merely once or twice- but for a decade, Mister Stark!" Tony thinks, "Is this my legacy- to be constantly criticized for doing what at the time I believed right?" Later, in issue #62, Tony thinks to himself about how he's, "hiding a fascination of my own with a little young lady named Roxy Gilbert! While she doesn't care a wit for me!" So I'm assuming that we'll be seeing more of her, and the conflict she represents, in future issues.

break for character block limit

Pepper Potts, and with her Happy Hogan, returned to the book as recurring characters in issue #57 when Pepper asked Tony for her old job as his secretary back, and with their return came a very quick dissolution of their marriage. It's actually a little difficult to really be convinced by the dramatics of their relationship falling apart, because it's made clear by how quickly is happens that they were already on their way to this before they became involved with Tony again, so I'm not convinced that any of it wouldn't have happened even without the specific events of the issues in this batch. The conflict between them is largely based around Pepper not being satisfied with being a housewife and wanting a job, while Happy is unhappy with her not being home enough by his standards. In issue #57 Pepper explains her asking for her old job back as because, "It's hard just keeping ahead of inflation, so Happy and I decided… I need a job." This is contradicted in issue #59 where Happy tells Pepper that he's bothered by, "You bein' away- from the home… from me!" Pepper defends her getting job by saying, "Darling, I've tried to explain… I can't stand being cooped up!" and "If I don't grow… expand… I'll go nuts! How can you want a wife who isn't first a human being?" Happy is dismissive and says, "I always liked your college fancy words- now I ain't so sure! Sounds like you're swallowin' that women's lib malarkey!" Pepper tells him, "Oh, Hap- I don't want to be 'liberated'- I just want to be me!" This conflict escalates when Pepper and Tony go on a business trip together, starting in issue #60. Happy calls her and says, "A week is too long! You belong here at home! I wantcha to quit being Tony's secretary!" Pepper says, "I can't- I'd go nuts with nothing to do! Don't worry, Hap- I still love you!" But Happy says, after angrily hanging up, "Not my kinda love, it ain't! What happened to that woman? She ain't the girl I married, that's for sure! She wasn't a high-flyin swinger then- and that's the way I liked it!" And this all prompts Pepper to think, "There were bound to be some change- yet Hap can't cope with them! I once loved Hap's stability- but now it's almost a drag on our marriage! If only he had Tony's flair, things would be so much simpler! Why can't love stand the strain?"

Later in issue #60, Pepper and Tony go out to dinner together. Pepper is privately thinking, "Steady, girl- why's your hand trembling? It can't be because you're near Tony, can it?" Meanwhile Tony is thinking, "Look at her- straight, level-headed business-woman- who has a picture-perfect marriage- with somebody else!" And, at the same time, Happy is off by himself thinking, "I can't even stay mad! My job's great- my home's cozy- only Pepper ain't there! I don't know- maybe we weren't really each other's kind- maybe it's right that she's left me here… alone- while she and Tony have such a swinging time!" In issue #61 Happy sees a newspaper with a photo of Tony and Pepper out to dinner. His immediate reaction: "That little lying witch!" He's dismissive of that she "sez she's gotta 'expand' herself- 'n' 'grow'… and can't do it here at home!" And so he calls her, intending to tell her that he's insisting on her quitting being Tony's secretary, but Pepper isn't able to answer because she's currently wrapped up in an Iron Man crisis. His assumption is that she's "probably gossiping to her new high-society friends!" The issue ends with the reveal that Happy has sent Pepper a telegram telling her he's leaving her.

At the beginning of issue #62 it's established that neither Tony nor Pepper had been able to speak to Happy since he sent the telegram and Tony thinks about how Pepper, "decided it best to continue on this trip! It's normal, something to grab onto! Pepper must be realy bottling some heavy feelings inside!" The story of this issue is that Tony and Pepper are in Cincinatti meeting Vicki Snow, who is Stark Industries' first woman plant manager, as well as Mark Scott, her assistant and head of research, as well as her fiance, and secretly also the villain Whiplash who has a serious grudge against Iron Man. He's plotting to get Vicki's job through their relationship, under the assumption that she'll become his housewife once they're married. He has no interest in marrying her if he can't get her job through it, and he's actually really bothered to be working under a woman. He conspicously refers to her as "the little lady who's gonna soon be minding the kitchen for me" in front of Tony. Her knee-jerk reaction is, "Mark?! How can you talk about kitchens? I've got my work here- which is much more important!" Then she thinks, "Why'd Mark have to bring that up in front of my boss? That could've really hurt my career?" Vicki tries to salvage the interaction, but as Mark leaves he tells Tony, "Oh, 'tween us men, Mr. Stark, Vicki can't wait to set up house-keeping!" Tony thinks, "Hmmm… He seems like quite a climber- as well as rather insensitive!" But Mark is thinking, "Hope I got Stark thinking of me in a favorable way!" Later, as Vicki is giving Tony and Pepper and demonstration, Mark attacks them as the whiplash. Vicki is impressed by how Tony runs to 'find'' Iron Man, rather than running for safety, thinking, "He's so… dedicated! What other big-wig would go to his trouble." And later still, as Vicki sees Iron Man continue fighting Whiplash despite the damage to his armor, she thinks, "He's as dedicated to S.I. as Mr. Stark! Barehanded! I'm… awed!" Whiplash ultimately escapes, and at the end of the issue Vicki breaks up with Mark, saying, "Your demands are too much to go along with my job!" Mark tells her, "Then quit the job, dummy! A guy like me's better equipped for it anyway!" She says, "That's an insult, Mark! I saw the dedication that Iron Man showed yesterday- and determined I could give Tony Stark no less!"

break for the character block limit

It's revealed in issue #58 that Tony's transplanted heart is beginning to naturally heal after he had a heart attack and then miraculously recovered even though the chest plate hadn't been charged. He realizes, "For increasingly lengthy times I can live without my chestplate power! who knows, in short time I may be completely free of it- Free!" He very briefly reconsiders that he could have a relationship, specifically in the context of reflecting on history with Pepper, before reprioritizing superhero business, saying, "Though now with my heart perhaps healing! C'mon- who you kidding! Pepper's changed- you've changed- think of the future- and this hero's future is finding the Mandarin!" Still the issue ends with Tony is a positive place, thinking, "I must work on extending the time I can go without my chestplate- but after all these years, it's a glorious pleasure! This truly is the first day of the rest of a free life!"

Issue #59 begins with Tony in a very, very negative place as he learns that his ex-fiance Marianne is in a sanitarium. He had broken up with her back in issue #51 after she had abandoned him while he was having a heart attack because she was overwhelmed by one of her visions and became convinced that her presence would kill Tony. That made him come to the conclusion that his life was too fragile to have her instability in it, and he broke up with her without much compassion for how her visions were negatively affecting her, which were often about Tony's experiences as Iron Man, and actually also dismissed their legitimacy in his anger. In this issue he's told by her doctor that, "Miss Rodgers was admitted here at Milford Sanitarium suffering from dangerous hallucinations! Fearsome monsters and weird menacing aliens are standard- except she'd keep screaming about you- and your bodyguard Iron Man! I'm afraid she's gotten worse, Mr. Stark- twice this week she's threatened our counselors- and now her behavior's that of a child- who's lost total control of herself!" Tony is devastated and puts on his Iron Man armor so that while can destroy stuff in his office, as well as punch his Iron Man helmet, in a rage, all the while thinking, "So it's come to this? From a soft, warm woman- to a psychotic human vegetable! And who's to blame? Her- for mysteriously blossoming with extra-sensory perceptive abilities? And for falling in… love- with a man who thought he loved her in kind- then learned he didn't- or at least couldn't, because, until recently, an iron plate perpetually shielded his heart- put there to pump the blood- but cutting off as well all… feeling! And now she may never see the light of sanity again- because I denied her powers- because I rejected her love- because the iron took precedence over the man- because of me, blast it- me!!"

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #245-253

In this batch of Hulk appearances I went from December 1979 to August 1980. Issues #245-253 were written by Bill Mantlo. Issues #245-248 and #250-253 were penciled and inked by Sal Buscema and issue #249 was penciled and inked by Steve Ditko.

Issues #245-246 followed the Hulk as he attacked Gamma Base in an attempt to retrieve his dead girlfriend Jarella's body. Issues #247-248 was about the Hulk in Jarella's microscopic homeworld, burying her body and then moving on. Two convening subplots amidst all that was Leonard Samson taking care of General Ross, as he's had a mental breakdown, and the Hulk's friends Rick Jones, Fred Sloan, and Betty Ross going to Gamma Base to confront Glenn Talbot and then deciding to go visit General Ross so that Fred can interview him for his book about the Hulk. Issues #249 and #250 were both separate largely stand-alone stories. And then issue #251 established that the group of characters from the subplot were in trouble and ended with the Hulk learning that. And issues #252-253 were about the Hulk attempting to help his friends.

Rick Jones and Fred Sloan have a joint TV interview in issue #245 to try to help the Hulk's reputation. Rick Jones says, "The Hulk would be harmless if left alone- but someone- some power- mad super-villain or the military- always provokes him!" And Fred Sloan says, "The Hulk is a man- a brilliant physicist named Bruce Banner. The brain of a genius- trapped in the body of a brute!" Later, in issue #251, this is referenced when a kid, who's father allowed Bruce to stay the night at their house and then called the police on him, goes to wake Bruce up and warn him because he's a fan of Rick from his time with the Teen Brigade and "The Hulk used to be friends with Rick Jones! I heard that on the Mike Douglas show!" Fred Sloan is still working on his book about the Hulk, which is intended to, as he explains in issue #245, "get the truth about the Hulk in print- that he's not just a mindless monster!" I'm curious to see if this TV interview will have any other effects, what the rest of Fred's book research will look like, and if when it's published if it'll have any actually long-lasting effects on the Hulk's reputation. We've seen very brief periods of time where the Hulk's life gets better, which always gets quickly and decisively ruined for him. Of course this can't lead to a permanent improvement in the Hulk's reputation, but it would be interesting to see what it could look like for the Hulk's life to get better in a way that doesn't end in a few issues.

I enjoyed the conflict between the Hulk and Glenn Talbot in issues #245-246 as a story in which the human enemy was incredibly unhinged and unreasonable and the Hulk had a rare opportunity to articulate himself well to an enemy. Talbot tells the Hulk, "You will find death long before you secure your freedom, Hulk! I intend to end your life! As your intrusion into my life ended the dreams and aspirations of Glenn Talbot!" Talbot provides a retelling of his character's history up until now, in which he emphasizes the unreasonableness of Betty loving Bruce even after she learned that he was the Hulk. Later Talbot feigns ignorance as to why the Hulk attacked Gamma Base. When Captain Marvel explains to him that the Hulk only wanted Jarella's body, Talbot says he'll give the Hulk what he wants for the sake of his men's safety and that he recognizes that, "the Hulk only became destructive because I stood in his way!" But that was really just a ploy to get Captain Marvel to leave so he could go back to trying to kill the Hulk, as he didn't actually care that he was unnecessarily endangering people. And this section of the story ends with Talbot purposely destroying the machine that could bring the Hulk back from Jarella's world after Captain Marvel sent him there with her body, saying, "At last I'm rid of him! The Hulk cost me my marriage, robbed me of the love of Betty Ross! Now let him drift for all eternity in subspace- in the embrace of his dear, dead Jarella!" What we see of the soldiers' perspective of this is one of them saying, "This is madness! That monster's tearing Gamma Base apart with his bare hands- and we're wasting millions of the taxpayer's dollars keeping him from the body of a dead alien! Why??" And then another responding, "Because those are the Colonel's orders, airman- and I'd hate to be the one to tell him he's wrong!" While they hadn't manifested yet in this batch of issues, I'm assuming that all this will have negative consequences on Talbot's career, at least for some period of time.

The Hulk's response to Talbot is, "But what of Hulk's life? What of Hulk's loves?? Hulk had friends once, Talbot, but you and Ross kept Hulk from Betty- and Rick, and Jim! Now when Hulk just wants to take the body of his friend home- back to world where Jarella was a queen, Talbot says, 'No!' Hulk is tired of 'No!' Talbot! He is tired of puny soldiers who try to keep him from his friends, even when his friends are dead!" Later, when Captain Marvel intervenes to prevent the Hulk from killing Talbot, Hulk says, "Talbot is the one who put on armor to kill Hulk! Why is it always Hulk who is wrong for fighting back?!" This is part of an interesting trend that continues on later in this batch of the Hulk doing a remarkably good job of expressing himself and what he recognizes as injustice against him. He repeats a similar sentiment later in issue #252 when Fred asks him not to hurt Siren as Siren is actively attacking him, saying, "Fred doesn't want Hulk to hurt Bird-Girl, but Fred says nothing when she hurts Hulk! It is Fred who must decide who his friends are- Hulk… or animal-people!"

break because of the character block limit

In issue #246 there's a scene where Leonard Samson, while taking care of General Ross, says, "If only he could accept reality- that the Hulk is as tortured and tormented as he is!" Later in issue #252 there's a dramatic scene when a grievously injured Samson pathetically crawls after the Hulk to try to stop him from going after Betty, Fred, Rick, and General Ross, who've all been kidnapped and are being held hostage, because he believes "there'd be a fight" and "if you go after them, the changelings may kill their captives! When Samson next appears in issue #253, he's recovered, and it's after it's after the Hulk had left the group behind because they falsely believed that they could handle the situation themselves and his presence would only make things worse, which hurt the Hulk's feelings. Hulk tells Samson, "Hulk came to save Hulk's friends- but they did not want his help! Not Hulk does not care what happens to them!" Samson angrily responds, "Well I care, you brainless monster!" This obviously upsets the Hulk and prompts a fight between the two of them. Samson recognizes that, "If I had approached him calmly, I might have learned what I needed to know! Now there's no possibility of preventing a fight!" Later Samson and the Hulk receive word that the group is not, in fact, actually able to handle the situation themselves and calm down to go help them. During that, as they're fighting human-animal hybrids, there's a moment where the Hulk says, "Take a good look at elephant-man and cat-man, Samson, and remember next time you call Hulk monster!" Samson thinks, "I've always more or less regarded the Hulk as incapable of reason. Yet, he just made a fairly complex point! Maybe the Hulk is far more capable of analytical thought than I, or anyone, ever gave him credit for! I'll have to delve deeper into that- if we come out of this alive!" At the end of the issue, Samson says, "Hulk, I tried to prevent you from coming to help here, afraid that you'd endanger the changelings' hostages by reacting brutishly, mindlessly! I was wrong! Today I saw you reason analytically and fight strategically! Maybe I'm the one who needs to think before I act!" I really hope that Samson does delve deeper into the Hulk's mental capabilities and that they at some point have a therapy session that's more like a diagnostic examination.

Samson has previously goaded fights with the Hulk when he could have tried to handle things more peacefully because he wanted the opportunity to try to prove that he could take him in a fight. During their fight in issue #253, Samson asks himself "What good is it being Doc Samson- super hero- if I can't bring this unthinking brute to his knees" and thinks, "If only I could somehow sublimate my intellect- become as savage and unreasoning as the Hulk- perhaps then I might find my power increasing in proportion to my rage!" Later there's a scene where, even after having seen the Hulk reason, Samson is self-conscious about his approach to being a superhero, saying, "Listen to me! Even while fighting I sound like I'm preparing a doctoral dissertation! I wish I could decide who I am- a scientist or a super hero!" This is even though it is in no way negatively effecting his fighting, which the narration points out. That Samson is still subconsciously sabotaging his interactions with the the Hulk for the sake of trying to prove that he's better and is still jealous of the Hulk has interesting implications for any future therapy they might do together.

After the Hulk first defeated Talbot in issue #245, Talbot has, "the sudden irrational conviction that he may have lost the woman he loved- not because of any failure of feeling on his part, but because Betty Ross never stopped loving Bruce Banner, the man within the Hulk!" He confronts her about this in issue #247, asking, "Why don't you admit you never stopped loving Bruce Banner- the man trapped inside the Hulk!" To this Betty only says, "I won't even dignify that with a response, Glenn!" And, in issue #248, when Talbot sends one of his soldiers to ask her to come see him before she leaves, she tells him, "You can tell Col. Talbot I have no wish to see him, soldier- now… or ever again!" She also says, "It wasn't so much the Hulk that Glenn feared- but me! He could never believe that I had gotten over my love for Bruce Banner, even after I consented to become Mrs. Glenn Talbot! His insane jealously came between us more than Bruce ever did! But now, strangely enough, I can thank Glenn for awakening me to the realization that- where he is- I may yet love Bruce Banner!" In issue #249 Betty says, "General 'Thunderbolt' Ross is a tired, broken old man! The Hulk is a misunderstood monster! The hunt goes on- with neither of the two men I love ever finding peace!" The opening narration of issue #252 describes her as "Betty Ross- Once she loved Bruce Banner. Maybe she still does." At the end of issue #253 Betty says, "Even at his worst, the Hulk always possessed some small part of the persona of Bruce Banner- a brilliant physicist, a dedicated humanitarian, a man I loved!" Betty's relationship with Talbot lasted for most of the 70s. It's been a while since Bruce and Betty have been in a relationship and I'm really hoping that that's genuinely where this is headed because I'm really curious to see how that'll be portrayed outside of the 60s comics' styling.

Marvel Team-Up (1972) #97 and What If? (1977) #23

The Marvel-Team Up issue was published in June 1980. The issue was written by written by Steven Grant, penciled by Carmine Infantino, and inked by Al Gordon. The story was a team-up between the Hulk and Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman. It was overall not a very significant story, but I liked the opening narration stating that the American southwest, and particularly New Mexico, was where the Hulk was created and "it is the land that he always returns to, no matter how far-flung his journeys, for it is the only place that the misunderstood monster can think of as home!" And I liked that the ending of the issue had Jessica Drew trying to save the Hulk from a collapsing building because she didn't know that he could easily survive that on his own, and then she doesn't identify him to the police when he jumps away and "silently, fervently, she wishes him luck."

The What If? issue was published in July 1980. The issue was written by Peter Gillis, penciled by Herb Trimpe, and inked by Mike Esposito. The story explores an alternative universe of "what if... the Hulk's girlfriend Jarella had not died?"

In Jarella’s first appearance it’s the Hulk she chooses to form a relationship with, but then Bruce’s mind is magically given control of the Hulk’s body and that’s who she actually depicting as having a relationship with. In the immediate aftermath of that story it was the Hulk who was longing for Jarella, whereas Bruce was still in love with Betty Ross. But then Bruce resigned himself to pursuing Jarella after Betty chose to form a relationship with Glenn Talbot. None of Jarella’s appearances from that point up until her death actually reconciled who was actually in love with in a satisfactory way. Sometimes it would seem that she was more in a relationship with Bruce and sometimes that she was more in a relationship with the Hulk, but also her characterization outside of that seemed to just haphazardly change for the sake of either having Jarella elicit a certain response from the Hulk for the sake of the story or to get Jarella to remove herself from the story when it was time for more typical Hulk adventures.

Early on in this story she tells the Hulk, “I would find my exile pleasant with you, my love- except that your mind is so woefully clouded when you are in this world! In mine, you have your full intellect.” This isn’t appealing to me as a Hulk fan! It’s just someone that the Hulk really cares about telling him that she wishes she was actually with Bruce. But the Hulk isn’t allowed to respond to this in the hurt way that he would with anyone else because this is supposed his beloved girlfriend that he tragically couldn’t have a happy life with, his characterization just unconvincingly warps whenever he’s around her. And that’s really the crux of the issue, I’ve honestly never able to find Jarella interesting either as her own character or what she brought out in Bruce and the Hulk. Later in this story the two of them return to Jarella’s world, and so she is once again with Bruce in the Hulk’s body. And there’s a scene where Jarella is endangered and he says, “My pulse is racing- mustn’t lose control- have to think- No! If I keep repressing the Hulk side of me, Jarella will die! And Hulk will not let her!” He realizes, “All my life I’ve been afraid of my rage- my destructive urges! No longer! At last I’ve found something worth raging for!” And he declares, “Today the Hulk and Banner both rage- we both stand and fight together- and together we are greater!” However, the way that they’ve been portrayed with Jarella in the past doesn’t given me any faith that there’s going to be any sort of fair shared existence after this.

DC Comics:

Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods (2023) #3-4 and Wonder Woman (2016) #798

In the main story of Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #3, written by G. Willow Wilson and drawn by Emanuela Lupacchino and Cian Tormey, Billy is blessed by the goddess Hippolyta, after having been seriously weakened by the Wizard Shazam in the previous issue, which allows him to properly participate in the big battle. In this story Billy expresses, “I had no idea what I was doing and I should’ve said so. The Wizard was right. Mary is smarter than me. But I couldn’t just sit around in Earth doing nothing while people were suffering.”

This miniseries continuing the strange trend of Billy being emphasized as particularly inexperienced and not knowing what he’s doing as a hero, which has stopped being believable as more and more time passed and stories are published where he’s framing as not having any experience while we can see him getting more and more experience. Though this particularly approach to it comes as responding to the way people talked about Billy and Mary after the Shazam! movie in 2019 was released, and not anything that anyone’s ever said about Billy within the comics world prior to this miniseries.

In the main story of Wonder Woman #798, written by Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad and drawn by Amancay Nahuelpan, Mary joins the main group, having concluded off-screen a fight that began back in Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #2. She chooses to give Diana her powers to help her in a battle against Hera, which leaves herself vulnerable. Billy’s role in this issue is very minimal.

In the back-up story, written by Josie Campbell and drawn by Caitlin Yarsky, Diana takes the time in the midst of the war to talk to Mary, who now feels that she’s just a human liability, and reveals that in sharing her powers Mary also showed her past with Diana. Diana says, “I saw you, growing up in a world far crueler than mine. Hurt by those who should have loved you best. Possessing a warrior’s heart in a fragile mortal form. Despite it all, you rose to become a hero. To save others. To save me. You are not a burden, Mary. You are a marvel.” And she gifts Mary the weapons the Amazons she met in the previous issue’s back-up story were fighting with: the helm of Victory, which can be used as a projectile weapon, the sandals of Hermes, which grant the power to fly, and the gauntlets of Atlas, which enhance strength. Mary then uses her new abilities to fight the god Typhon, who refers to her as the “so-called champion of Shazam.” Mary’s response is, “That’s a mouthful, huh? Honestly, the name’s overused. Billy can have it. You’re about to lose to Wonder Woman… and… Mary Marvel!”

That phrasing came across to me as weirdly belittling to The New Champion of Shazam! (2022), which’s portrayal of Mary I had really enjoyed. I was already bothered by the concept of Mary losing the superhero name Shazam because I didn’t think that Mary Marvel worked really well for modern comics and I didn’t see Mary losing the name Shazam as necessary because it was already been announced that Billy wasn’t going to be taking it on. I also thinks it’s inherently awkward that New Champion concluded in January and it’s story was so thematically-focused on Mary taking on the title of Shazam despite sexist resistance, and it’s being followed up with that being very quickly walked back. This specific execution is unideal for me because, as a primarily Marvel Family fan, I don’t like Mary becoming this tied to the Wonder Woman mythos. I was, however, glad that Mary at least chose the name Mary Marvel for herself, rather than be labeled that by someone else. Also, Billy’s brief appearance in this story was just one panel of him waving at Mary from a distance.

In the main story of Lazarus Planet: Revenge of the Gods #4, which was written by G. Willow Wilson and drawn by Cian Tormey, Diana quickly loses her Shazam powers as the Wizard Shazam appears and gives some to Hera and when those two collide it seems that they cancel each other’s out. This also largely ends the overarching conflict as it’s then determined that the sides are too evenly matched for the war to continue on. This story also has a scene where Mary and Diana have a nice heart to heart while Billy is off in the background being foolish.

And in the back-up story, written by Josie Campbell and drawn by Caitlin Yarsky, Billy and Mary finally have an extended conversation. Also, Mary has her Amazonian gifts again, which she was missing in the main story, presumably because their existence was not communicated between the creative teams. Billy calls upon the Wizard Shazam and tells him that he’s not holding a grudge against him for siding with the gods in the war, he assumes the Wizard must of had a reason, and also that he thinks Mary is more worthy and capable and that she should be the Wizard’s champion. Both of these things feel discordant to how Billy was portrayed prior to this miniseries and I’m not convinced that the experiences he’s had in it would have caused him to take this bold stance. What ends up happening is that the Wizard Shazam gives Billy his powers back, and Hippolyta gives Mary an updated version of her original Fawcett pantheon of goddesses. As a classic Marvel Family fan, this isn’t actually what I wanted as I was happy with how Mary was portrayed in New Champion as am sad to see that portrayal abandoned. But I’m also not really expecting to see Mary appear in much for a while after this, so I'm not expecting to have to deal with it that much.

Also, the Wizard explains his behavior as that he had thought Billy betrayed him back in Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods (2023) #1 when he got cut off from the Rock of Eternity, which happened when Billy freed himself from it by absorbing it into himself. This disappointed me as I thought the implication in that issue was that the Wizard's mind was being warped by the Lazarus rains, which was then further emphasized by how menacing and cruel the Wizard was in this miniseries. I hadn't liked it because that portrayal was really so much like how he was portrayed back in the Shazam! (2019) ongoing, but it worked just a bit better for me when I thought they were going for that he was being mentally influenced and not that he was just being that evil.

Fawcett Comics:

the Captain Marvel stories in Whiz Comics (1940) #66-69 and in Captain Marvel Adventures (1941) #47-50 and in The Marvel Family (1945) #1

In this batch of classic Captain Marvel stories I’ve gone from July 1945 to December 1945. There was one Captain Marvel story per issue of Whiz Comics and three per issue of Captain Marvel Adventures and there were two in the issue of The Marvel Family for a total of eighteen stories read in this batch. These stories ranged from seven to fifteen pages.

The story “Captain Marvel vs. Billy Batson in the Trial of Mr. Morris” (writer unknown; possibly drawn by C.C. Beck) in Whiz Comics #66 had Billy as a witness to a crime that outwardly seemed to have been done by his boss Sterling Morris, but who Billy trusts wouldn't have done it. While it all works out by the end, I really enjoyed reading Billy's distress as he tries and fails to testify in Mr. Morris' favor and just keeps saying, "N- no, but..." as the opposing lawyer points out how bad everything he heard makes Mr. Morris, who Billy has a really positive relationship with, look.

The story “Captain Marvel and the World’s Mightiest Dream” (written by Otto Binder; penciled by C.C. Beck; inked by Pete Constanza) in Captain Marvel Adventures #48 has a really cute premise where Billy is having a bad dream and so calls on Captain Marvel in his sleep, who takes over for Billy in the same dream but then also struggles with it because of dream-logic. The two of them switch back and forth as bizarre circumstances come up that would necessitate Captain Marvel’s ability to fly or Billy’s smaller size or what have you. Meanwhile wily old Sivana is creeping into Billy’s apartment to kill him with an axe, but ultimately Billy happens to transform into Captain Marvel just as Sivana is swinging down the axe to kill him. In the end Captain Marvel wakes up and says “Gosh, what a horrible nightmare Billy and I had! Am I glad Sivana wasn’t really about to try chopping off Billy’s head with an hatchet! It was only a dream!” Then, seeing Sivana’s discarded axe, asks, “Or was it???”

The story “The Mighty Marvels Joins Forces” (written by Otto Binder; penciled by C.C. Beck; inked by Pete Constanza) in The Marvel Family #1 had an interesting framing device of the Wizard Shazam chiseling the story into the Rock of Eternity throughout the issue as his way of recording the Marvel Family’s adventure. This significant adventure being recorded was the Marvel Family fighting Black Adam, which included not just his backstory but retellings of Captain Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr., and Mary Marvel’s backstories.

The story “Captain Marvel and the Twisted Powers” (written by Otto Binder; drawn by Pete Constanza) in Captain Marvel Adventures #50 has a switch-up where the lighting bolt that Zeus throws to transform Billy into Captain Marvel accidentally doesn’t come with powers, and the lightning bolt that transforms Captain Marvel into Billy does. In the end Zeus is made aware of the defective bolts and switches to properly-made ones, but before that we get to see Captain Marvel just completely fail to defeat some basic crooks, while witnesses are briefly convinced that all those stories Billy told about Captain Marvel on the radio were lies, and then Billy gleefully getting his chance to fight with superpowers. In his concluding radio broadcast Billy says, “I must confess I got a kick out of having the great powers for a while! But I don’t think Capt. Marvel enjoyed it at all!”

#comics read this past week #my posts

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