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Harry's Marvellous Meanderings through the Comic Book World
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347 posts in this topic

6 minutes ago, Harry Lime said:

What an April Fool am I! I had forgotten that amongst a small package I got from @EC ed last week was a book from '65. So that will be next up but first a word from our sponsors.

 

And now for something completely different.

Tales of Suspense #69 September 1965. My earliest ToS and aside from their activities in the Avengers I know very little about the early days of Iron Man & Cap so this is fresh at least.

My Copy - Grade 6.0

TOS69.thumb.jpg.068e702ea4a46f9aaa0a5290e969459d.jpg

 

Cover: 2.5/5 ~ Not immediately apparent (at least to me) but another of Marvel's giant monitor covers. I like the menacing portrayal of the Titanium Man and the shiny inking job on Iron Man's armour. I don't like the split panel look (of course) and the fact that Bucky seems to be pointing to the hill to the right of Greymoor Castle. I wish they would remove that blurb so we could see what was so interesting over there.

Stories reviewed separately

"If I Must Die, Let It Be With Honor!"

Art: 2.5/5 ~ Don Heck on the pencils and he gets the job done with a minimum of fuss. Nothing great or bad but I did like the Titanium Man's suit although it drew more on Samurai influences than Soviet ones. The look of jealousy from Pepper Potts was a treat as well. If looks could kill....

Story: 3/5 ~ Surprisingly enjoyable in an old-fashioned Marvel kinda way, wait this is old. Tony Stark is fretting over his malfunctioning chest device whilst the superbly named Comrade Bullski is coming up with a diabolical plan to become the Soviet dictator by building a much more powerful suit and challenging Iron Man to an idealogical showdown. Sorta like the 1980 Winter Olympics Ice Hockey final but not as violent. Because of Iron Man's technical problems, Tony has to spend days trying to jury rig a solution and worrying about being branded a coward if he doesn't. There's also the added complication of the predictable love triangle with Ms Potts and Happy Hogan. It seems love is in the air for every Marvel character of the mid-60's. Anyway, technical difficulties solved and challenge accepted the action moves to the neutral country of Alberia where we meet a rather fetching former love of Tony's, Countess De La Spiroza (hence Pepper's jealousy) and very quickly the Battle in the Balkans begins. By now, of course, we've almost run out of pages and so we're treated to a couple of pages of a much quicker and more agile Iron Man floating like a butterfly and stinging like a...er...butterfly whilst the gargantuan Tit Man (am I allowed to call him that?) just about fails to put the squeeze on his adversary. Cliffhanger ending (of course) as Iron Man attempting to put some space between them blunders into a treacherously laid minefield with explosive results.

Quote of the Day ~ Wow this was a really hard issue to get a decent quote from. Let's try some typical mid-60's 'cool cat' talk from Happy & Pepper.

"How about us going to the Frug-A-Go Go tonight for fancy steppin', Pepper?" "Love to, Happy! I've got the most darling new discotheque dress I've been dying to wear!"

My Assessment ~ As I said, surprisingly enjoyable. I'm gonna have to get #70 now just to see what happens. Damn those tempting cliffhangers!

 

"Midnight In Greymoor Castle!"

Art: 1.5/5 ~ Even Kirby's layouts couldn't rescue Ayers pencilling and nearly everything felt rather stiff, perhaps the ongoing influence of the incredibly wooden splash page. Only Cap's rather exciting, if brief, pursuit, leap (from a speeding motorcycle) and assault on a Nazi plane during take-off exhibiting any sort of dynamism.

Story: 0.5/5 ~ A WWII story. But I hate war stories. Especially when they are as muddled as this. So we have a clichéd mad scientist who is also a traitor. We have an eternally pleading sister to said traitor. We have a creepy, gloomy castle for mad experiments to be done. We even have an Igor character to assist in said mad experiments. That's before we even start on the mess of Steve Rogers' side story where apparently it's ok to desert your comrades during a dangerous mission, failing to spot incredibly relevant military information that would save their lives because you saw something about Bucky being captured and held at the creepy, gloomy castle. I suppose it had a cliffhanger ending but by that point I really didn't care.

Quote of the Day ~ "Awww, go kiss a grenade!" Sums it up, perfectly.

My assessment ~  Captain America better get with the Swingin' Sixties in double quick time for if this is anything to go by, the Forties sucked the big one.

Thanks for reading!

 

Monty Python, Frug-A-Go-Go, Go kiss a grenade. It's difficult to know where to start with this one Harry! :bigsmile:

What is it with the massive monitors then? Is it a massive telly in a shop window? Who's filming it? Shouldn't it be in black and white?

And if he has to die, why does it have to be with Honor Blackman? Is it an Avengers thing (heh heh)?  honor.PNG.28b890b7209417034d25a5ed76e793de.PNG

As for Bucky, I think he's just practising his Kung Fu Fighting bucky.PNG.1c3bd4980d781f81a86dd331c997e34f.PNG Hi-Yah! Never liked Bucky. He sucky (if we're doing Chinese).

I like the comic of course, as I'm a massive Tit Man  :headbang:

Next!

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So the Journals are over here again. Ok.......

I realised I've got a couple of books pre-'66 but I'm sick of time-travelling. It feels like an age since I've reviewed a Thor so we're going to press on at least until 1966 is done & dusted. And on that note (no Thors yet, still have a few early '66 books left to do).....

Fantastic Four #46 January 1966 Bought from the boards. I probably overpaid for it but this book eluded me for years so I finally bit the bullet and got one. Now FF#49 has the top spot in elusiveness, oh and FF Annual #2. I never see that anywhere for sale in a decent price/condition combo.

My Copy - Grade 3.0

FF46.thumb.jpg.bd5e3ed9102e4a2a58928953250c1170.jpg

 

Cover: 3.5/5 ~ If you look at it quickly it's a great cover and it certainly has impact but study it for too long and the unnerving eyes of Black Bolt & Karnak + the lack of definition in BB's features will rip your soul apart. I must admit though, Black Bolt has one helluva costume!

Art: 4.5/5 ~ Full of dynamism from the opening splash page and on into an excellent fight sequence between the Thing & Black Bolt. The other three members of the FF play their part as well as the rest of the Inhumans but they're all supporting characters to the main event. There's a lot of Kirby gadgetry on view especially in the Seeker parts. A wonderful half page panel of a sleeping Dragon Man (he's got a blanket, so cute) and an imaginative miniature where the Seeker gives a potted history of the Inhumans (dinosaur fights and some crazy looking dudes never seen before or since). Kirby is on top of his game in this ish!

Story: 3.5/5 ~ It has great pacing, is action packed and contains a new mystery (in case you didn't read the cover blurb), who or what is the Seeker? It also continues to shroud the Inhumans in the cloak of ambivalence. Why are they attacking the FF? Are the FF really the bad guys here? Why doesn't Black Bolt speak? Who cuts Medusa's hair? You get the idea, these aren't your normal run of the mill bad guys. No, in this issue, that's the sole preserve of the Seeker. Who does speak and guess what, his is the language of the megalomaniac so beloved of the Lee/Kirby era. He breaks into the Baxter Building, rather too easily even with the aid of some nifty futuristic devices. He constantly berates his henchman for fools etc. and then he comes to the rather large assumption that the tranquillised Dragon Man is an Inhuman. Because his job is to seek and capture escaped Inhumans he whisks it off to his HQ. For me this was the plot line that dragged the score down for it's a total contrivance made to make the FF find the Seeker (oh, the irony) and eventually the Great Refuge. I'm gonna have to reread #47 again now, thanks Stan! :)    Anyway, surely the man tasked with finding and retrieving Inhumans would know who has escaped? Did any of them fit the description of a 20 foot tall reptile? You think he would have stood out in a crowd. The FF do find the Seeker, of course and after the suddenly amiable Seeker gives his brief Inhuman 101 to Reed, Dragon Man wakes up, goes berserk and literally walks through walls to get out. Reed gets all melodramatic at the end warning of the dire consequences of a Dragon Man on the loose as I do remember it's wrapped up pretty quickly and with little fuss in #47.

Quote fo the Day ~ Easy one this. "He ain't said a word yet! I never fought a guy who didn't bend my ear before! This is pleasure!"

My assessment ~ Great story let down by the archetypical megalomaniac and his foolish contrivances.

Thanks for reading!   

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(Off camera) "OK everyone, I want you all to stand perfectly still while I take the shot. No moving - I want everyone completely still!

ff46.thumb.jpg.7298d2db6e0580295acb34e9c711aa0d.jpg

 

 1.PNG.023f6ee029c759821e552d4b2e0036dd.PNG"Sue"

 

2.PNG.9a3815d1f3ff91d6df3f1a89bd2771ef.PNG "What?"

 

1.PNG.023f6ee029c759821e552d4b2e0036dd.PNG"Sue!"

 

2.PNG.9a3815d1f3ff91d6df3f1a89bd2771ef.PNG"What!?"

 

1.PNG.023f6ee029c759821e552d4b2e0036dd.PNG "Have you farted?"

 

2.PNG.9a3815d1f3ff91d6df3f1a89bd2771ef.PNG "You cheeky sod, no I have not! Stop trying to make me laugh. It was Black Bolt"

 

3.PNG.ca47bc6ba54e1006c82fb23603422df8.PNG "It wasn't!"

 

1.PNG.023f6ee029c759821e552d4b2e0036dd.PNG "Bet it was. Smells like one of his."

 

3.PNG.ca47bc6ba54e1006c82fb23603422df8.PNG"It wasn't!"

 

4.PNG.57ce8d1051bcaac265040e5cf5effbd1.PNG "Jeeeeesus, what's that!"

 

3.PNG.ca47bc6ba54e1006c82fb23603422df8.PNG "For crying out loud it wasn't me!"

 

1.PNG.023f6ee029c759821e552d4b2e0036dd.PNG "Ben"

 

6.PNG.4f09f581505fc6f1401d878e45d169cd.PNG

 

1.PNG.023f6ee029c759821e552d4b2e0036dd.PNG "Ben!"

 

6.PNG.4f09f581505fc6f1401d878e45d169cd.PNG

 

1.PNG.023f6ee029c759821e552d4b2e0036dd.PNG"Ben!"

 

7.PNG.84fe01fc32cec69e5698645fe4536f2e.PNG "He's stunned into silence by it. As am I."

 

3.PNG.ca47bc6ba54e1006c82fb23603422df8.PNG "I didn't bloody do it!"

 

8.PNG.b4374b8f511035dbe0be484ceed78da1.PNG :whistle:

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4 hours ago, AJD said:

Loved the @Harry Lime review, but I'm childish enough to have laughed out loud at the @Get Marwood & I sequence. #pullmyfinger

6.PNG.26ed3e8bfe6359333a5428c0c0a3454a.PNG

3 hours ago, Harry Lime said:

I agree, he has a real talent for surreal storyboarding. :applause:

I can't help it. Every cover I look at, someone has farted.  4.PNG.dcdf369fbc27bcc475cd0f4c3120f568.PNG Can't anybody else see that? :)

15 minutes ago, Duffman_Comics said:

Well, the Get Marwood & I offering lost all credibility once Black Bolt spoke and nothing happened.

These are comics people. Serious stuff lol

He was speaking telepathically through a spokesperson Duffman :grin:  10.PNG.c48af7728a5cc4652b453a97ca427677.PNG

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29 minutes ago, Duffman_Comics said:

Well, the Get Marwood & I offering lost all credibility once Black Bolt spoke and nothing happened.

 

So it was credible up to that point... :headbang:

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16 hours ago, Harry Lime said:

So the Journals are over here again. Ok.......

I realised I've got a couple of books pre-'66 but I'm sick of time-travelling. It feels like an age since I've reviewed a Thor so we're going to press on at least until 1966 is done & dusted. And on that note (no Thors yet, still have a few early '66 books left to do).....

Fantastic Four #46 January 1966 Bought from the boards. I probably overpaid for it but this book eluded me for years so I finally bit the bullet and got one. Now FF#49 has the top spot in elusiveness, oh and FF Annual #2. I never see that anywhere for sale in a decent price/condition combo.

My Copy - Grade 3.0

FF46.thumb.jpg.bd5e3ed9102e4a2a58928953250c1170.jpg

 

Cover: 3.5/5 ~ If you look at it quickly it's a great cover and it certainly has impact but study it for too long and the unnerving eyes of Black Bolt & Karnak + the lack of definition in BB's features will rip your soul apart. I must admit though, Black Bolt has one helluva costume!

Art: 4.5/5 ~ Full of dynamism from the opening splash page and on into an excellent fight sequence between the Thing & Black Bolt. The other three members of the FF play their part as well as the rest of the Inhumans but they're all supporting characters to the main event. There's a lot of Kirby gadgetry on view especially in the Seeker parts. A wonderful half page panel of a sleeping Dragon Man (he's got a blanket, so cute) and an imaginative miniature where the Seeker gives a potted history of the Inhumans (dinosaur fights and some crazy looking dudes never seen before or since). Kirby is on top of his game in this ish!

Story: 3.5/5 ~ It has great pacing, is action packed and contains a new mystery (in case you didn't read the cover blurb), who or what is the Seeker? It also continues to shroud the Inhumans in the cloak of ambivalence. Why are they attacking the FF? Are the FF really the bad guys here? Why doesn't Black Bolt speak? Who cuts Medusa's hair? You get the idea, these aren't your normal run of the mill bad guys. No, in this issue, that's the sole preserve of the Seeker. Who does speak and guess what, his is the language of the megalomaniac so beloved of the Lee/Kirby era. He breaks into the Baxter Building, rather too easily even with the aid of some nifty futuristic devices. He constantly berates his henchman for fools etc. and then he comes to the rather large assumption that the tranquillised Dragon Man is an Inhuman. Because his job is to seek and capture escaped Inhumans he whisks it off to his HQ. For me this was the plot line that dragged the score down for it's a total contrivance made to make the FF find the Seeker (oh, the irony) and eventually the Great Refuge. I'm gonna have to reread #47 again now, thanks Stan! :)    Anyway, surely the man tasked with finding and retrieving Inhumans would know who has escaped? Did any of them fit the description of a 20 foot tall reptile? You think he would have stood out in a crowd. The FF do find the Seeker, of course and after the suddenly amiable Seeker gives his brief Inhuman 101 to Reed, Dragon Man wakes up, goes berserk and literally walks through walls to get out. Reed gets all melodramatic at the end warning of the dire consequences of a Dragon Man on the loose as I do remember it's wrapped up pretty quickly and with little fuss in #47.

Quote fo the Day ~ Easy one this. "He ain't said a word yet! I never fought a guy who didn't bend my ear before! This is pleasure!"

My assessment ~ Great story let down by the archetypical megalomaniac and his foolish contrivances.

Thanks for reading!   

Great in depth report (worship) thanks again.....

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We're still in Jan 1966. Honestly, it feels like the longest month ever!

Tales To Astonish #75 January 1966

My Copy - Grade 3.0 Bought from the boards. A tad overgraded imo, but cheap as chips so no biggie.

TTA75.thumb.jpg.d62b8630226ea30b895a4acbce58401b.jpg

 

Cover: 2/5 ~ For once I'm not deducting marks because of the split panels. Namor's segment is so negligible that it's easy to miss anyway but consequently it doesn't distract from the overall composition. No, a lower than average score for it being the Hulk & some soldiers, yet again. BORING! The one saving grace is the perspective used which places us in the second rank of the soldiers instead of at least 10 miles away which is where I would be if the Hulk was actually real.

Stories reviewed separately

We've missed two issues of TTA since the last one reviewed so I'm afraid things are going to be left unsaid and consequences unexplained.

"The End Of The Quest!"

Art: 3/5 ~ Again some wonderfully atmospheric work underwater by 'Austin', especially in the early stages. Again some panels with a slightly strange and wonky looking Namor later on. Also too many blank backgrounds for me to go higher on the score than this.

Story: 2.5/5 ~ Apparently Namor has decide not to ignore news-broadcasting fish any longer as this issue starts off with him protecting the Lady Dorma from the dreaded Faceless Ones. He's prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice and things are looking bleak when Neptune appears, actually manages to silence Namor and saves the day for him (see QOTD). The rest of the story is Namor's frantic dash back to Atlantis to save a close to death Dorma in the Revitalizer Ray and Krang's henchmen's attempts to stop him. For once it doesn't end on a cliffhanger but I certainly wouldn't want to be in Krang's fishy shoes for the next issue as Namor squares up to him at the end.

Quote of the Day ~ "You have proven yourself the worthiest of all! Every attribute of a Prince is yours... courage, strength, honesty...and most important of all...a heart which can love...a soul which can sacrifice!"

My assessment ~ It was ok. I especially enjoyed the early part of the story where the art and dialogue were first class. And it wraps up the Quest for Neptune's Trident (Namor got it by the way) arc...which we had missed most of anyway. :p

 

"Not All My Power Can Save Me!"

Art: 1.5/5 ~ Kirby was obviously being asked to do too much work at this time as it's layouts only from him and possibly one giant weapon. Demeo is the artist (who is this guy, another pseudonym?). And I'm afraid he struggles with a consistent depiction of 'ol greenskin. Sometimes I'm reminded of an angry gorilla, at others three different blokes I've worked with (they weren't green, just big). I just couldn't take the art seriously. It's weird because he has no trouble drawing the various army-types and Rick Jones. Even the Watcher made an appearance. But aside from a lot of Hulk jumping and missiles popping not a lot is going on and even the aforementioned is getting old now.

Story: 1/5 ~ Confusing start as for once Stan only gives us a brief resume (The Leader is apparently dead, killed by the Watcher's Ultimate Machine). Hulk is still in Italy though and still has Banner's brain although thoughts are getting cloudier by the minute. He seems at a loss as to what to do (as does Stan, I'm thinking) but thankfully putting on the Ultimate Machine (sort of like Cerebro but for everyone) and the Watcher's non-interfering interference allows him to hear Rick Jones pleading, from inside a jail cell. Mission set, the Hulk starts leaping towards Washington to save his friend. Meanwhile back in Army land the boffins have built Banner's last invention from his plans but don't know what it does! Really? The absurdity of this is almost breath-taking. But it's surpassed when hearing that the Hulk is advancing on the capitol General Ross orders the "T-Gun" deployed as a last line of defence. The sheer arrogance and stupidity of Ross in using a weapon that no one knows it's purpose, has never been tested and was designed by (in his words) by the traitor Bruce Banner is of a level rarely seen outside of Homer Simpson's brain. However, and yes I feel suitably admonished, using it sets up quite a neat twist. For the T stands not for Traitor or Tyrannosaur or even Tyrone Power but Time! And the issue ends with the Hulk standing next to the decrepit remains of the Lincoln memorial and some far-flung future types trying to capture him.

Quote of the Day ~ Ross - "I knew he'd attack us sooner or later! But this time we have a weapon to stop him with! This'll be the end of the Hulk!"
                                 Talbot - "But, the T-Gun has never yet been fired, sir! We don't know what it's effect will be!"
                                 Ross - "Right! And this is as good a time as any to find out!"

My assessment ~ A pretty dreadful tale just about rescued by the twist ending and for once I didn't see it coming. Hopefully this moves the Hulk on to some non-Army type stories as watching him jump around deserts and not get hurt by missiles is getting old, fast. We shall see.

Thanks for reading!

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10 hours ago, Harry Lime said:

Apparently Namor has decided not to ignore news-broadcasting fish any longer as this issue starts

Not a combination of words one usually finds in English text. lol

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Next up, we're finally moving out of the morass that was January 1966 and into the far, green country of February 1966!

Daredevil #13 February 1966

My Copy - Grade 3.5 Bought from the boards.

DD13.thumb.jpg.3fede28920bc6decfc12dcd9ac8569b3.jpg

 

It was always going to be difficult to read this one objectively as it's the second part of a three issue arc and I've already reviewed the others, neither of which fared very high on the Limeometer. For anyone who needs a recap; #12 is here & #14 here.

Cover: 3/5 ~ Lovely detailed and suitably gloomy work on the dungeon (does anyone else think the cell grate winch is perhaps a tad over-engineered, though) but I have a feeling that Kirby either thought or was told that it wasn't dynamic enough and so slapped on a classic Daredevil in action drawing to spice things up a bit.

Art : 3/5 ~ Again it's Kirby on layouts, and someone else on pencils but what a difference an artist makes. As unlike TOS #69, Romita is drawing. There's a lot of fisticuffs in this issue and they're all represented very dynamically. From a blind DD's cave fight with the brutal sub-human Maa-Gor to a shoot-out in an English castle's dungeon with the resident, obsequious butler Feepers, it's all portrayed impressively enough.  

Story: 1.5/5 ~ The first part of the arc was 'Daredevil and the Land that Time Forgot'. The final part was Daredevil in Ian Fleming's 'PlunderPussy'. This I'm afraid falls between two stools (either definition is applicable). The first half is set in the Antarctic jungle, the latter in Lord Plunderer's gloomy castle. While, as mentioned, the action sequences were well done the story itself creaked along despite being fast paced and was quite dull. I had to stop reading halfway through and brew a tea just to make it through the next nine pages of scurvy piratey talk and megalomaniacal boasting and insults. DD is cured of his loss of radar-sense by some Ju-Ju berries. Kazar is revealed to be Kevin Plunder (brother of the megalomaniac Lord). Zabu is trapped in a pit (I hope they fed him before they left). There's an important medallion which holds the key to the most precious metal on Earth. There's double-dealing amongst the scurvies and more duplicitous actions by a butler who happens to be part of an international espionage ring. It all sounds intriguing but the sum is much less than the parts.

Quote of the Day ~ In typical egotistical fashion (and with more than a hint of Scooby-Doo), Lord Plunderer tells Daredevil exactly what he wants to hear.

"And, since it is too late for anyone to stop me now, I'll tell you the secret of the medallion!"

My assessment ~ Thankfully I don't have to read any more of DD on holiday. It's back to New York from now on and Romita's run begins in earnest. Yay! 

Thanks for reading!     

Edited by Harry Lime
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2 hours ago, Harry Lime said:

This I'm afraid falls between two stools (either definition is applicable).

lol

2 hours ago, Harry Lime said:

the latter in Lord Plunderer's gloomy castle.

Please tell me the character isn't really called "Lord Plunderer".

 

2 hours ago, Harry Lime said:

 Kazar is revealed to be Kevin Plunder (brother of the megalomaniac Lord).

Oh, dear God, it seems to be true. doh!

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On 5/12/2018 at 11:00 AM, Harry Lime said:

Next up, we're finally moving out of the morass that was January 1966 and into the far, green country of February 1966!

Daredevil #13 February 1966

My Copy - Grade 3.5 Bought from the boards.

....must...not.....do....fart  -script.....must....resist.....not....funny....

Capture.PNG.5ce2c724356b28b8a20adb1e33a39e80.PNG

Edited by Get Marwood & I
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3 minutes ago, Get Marwood & I said:

....must...not.....do....fart  --script.....must....resist.....not....funny....

Capture.PNG.5ce2c724356b28b8a20adb1e33a39e80.PNG

Hmmmm

Seems you cant post the word -script without a minus symbol appearing in front of it? hm

Harry, what have you done to the boards!

script.PNG.7d49af5a60c5237669fc99f2eb93cc7f.PNG

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It seems I may need to add a flatulence score to the reviews or if he likes Marwood can add his own tally. lol

Edit: I have no idea what's going on with this post. Typed out the notification/link thingie and couldn't get out of the black box. Had to post just to escape and now I can't remove the black box and can't type anything after it. I will edit this later to include the next review.

Tales To Astonish #76 February 1966

My Copy - Grade 5.5 Bought from the boards. Whereas I thought the previous TTA was overgraded, I think this was undergraded, swings & roundabouts.

TTA76.thumb.jpg.022751fc546218a18dab14670b820a7e.jpg

 

Cover: 3/5 ~ Well here's a surprise, no split panel, not even a floating head! I was tempted to go higher on the score because I love the colour scheme but certain elements of the picture seem rushed. Namor's feet for example and Dorma's giant feet plus her weird hovering stance and, always a crucial factor in my arbitrary decision making, the cover sorta lies (Namor is sitting on his throne when the 'earthquake' hits, seemingly only slightly worried by it). 

Stories reviewed separately

"Uneasy Hangs The Head..!"

Art: 2.5/5 ~ 'Austin' seems to getting the hang of drawing Namor now as aside from one weird looking panel he's pretty consistent with his depiction. There's not a lot of action in this ish and the setting is almost exclusively the royal palace of Atlantis. Despite there being two full page panels dedicated to Namor's coronation I was disappointed with the effort put in. Hardly enough pomp and nowhere near enough grandeur.

Story: 2.5/5 ~ If ever a Marvel tale had a feel-good factor for it's subjects then it's this one. Namor gets to beat the living carp out of Krang at the start, then just remembers to switch on the Revitalising machine and saves Dorma's life. Gets crowned amidst the joyful celebrations of the Atlanteans. Promotes the old guy who stuck by him when he was outcast and generally has time to sit on his throne for a good ol' ponder. That is until the 'earthquake' hits when (having the ability to read his thought bubble) we learn that it's quite possibly us naughty surface dwellers testing nuclear bombs again and Namor must put an end to such terrible activities.

Quote of the Day ~ "Where Namor was Prince of the Blood, Krang would have been tyrant! Where Namor ruled by divine right, Krang would have ruled by terror! As you dealt with my helpless subjects, so shall I now deal with you!"

My assessment ~ Very fillerish. Shame, with some epic art on Atlantis it could have been quite enjoyable.

 

"I, Against A World!"

Art: 2.5/5 ~ Stan must have heard me moaning about Demeo 'cause he's gone and someone called Scott Edward (another pseudonym?) is on pencils. Poor Jack Kirby is still doing layouts. I think it's an improvement. The Hulk is more consistent, there's some very dynamic battle panels, nice futuristic weaponry and a great HQ called the stone fortress.

Story: 2/5 ~ Still quite weak, I'm afraid. Hulk swops fighting the US army in deserts to fighting an unnamed futuristic army in the desert. They do capture him using a heavy gravity machine called "The Captivator" and whisk him off to see their King. Apparently they are at war with the Evil One (I was thinking Kang as I haven't read the story). All the Hulk cares about however is getting back to 1966 via some futuristic time machine he hopes they have. When disappointed on this front he becomes even more Hulkish and smashes his way out of the HQ. Outside he sees advancing tripod type machines about to attack and reasoning that this must be the Evil One, jumps on one hoping to cut the same time-travelling deal. At this point I was once again 'astonished' as the occupant is revealed to be the Executioner of Asgardian fame.

Quote of the Day ~ More Socratic insight from Ross & Talbot

"The boy, Rick Jones, holds the key to all this! And, by Jupiter, this time he's going to talk!

"I've always suspected there was some strange connection between the Hulk, Banner, and Jones! It's lucky for us the boy is our prisoner!"

My assessment ~ Weak but still enjoyable in a guilty pleasure kinda way. I admit that for the second issue running it surprised me with an unseen ending.

Thanks for reading!     

 

 

@Get Marwood & I

Edited by Harry Lime
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