Avengers [2018] #12 - Marvel Comics

AVENGERS No. 12, March 2019

Whilst “Marvel Worldwide” wanted this title’s audience to believe that “it’s hard to run the Avengers without a support staff”, it was probably a whole lot harder for many of this comic’s 52,427 readers to process the plethora of comic book super-heroes Jason Aaron desperately tried to crowbar into his narrative. In fact, at its most basic level the American author’s storyline for “The Agents Of Wakanda” is arguably little more than a twenty-page procession of some of the New York-based publisher’s lowest-tiered crime-fighters and anti-heroes; “As for the others… How are there not better available candidates than this? Was there recently a super hero massacre of which I was not made aware of?”

Admittedly, having recently become the leader of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, King T'Challa’s desire to create a network of “intelligence gatherers” makes considerable sense if “the most powerful super-team in recent memory” are actually going to become an international resource for truth and justice, as opposed to it simply being a ‘puppet’ for S.H.I.E.L.D. or the United States Government. But so bizarre are some of the Inkpot Award-winner’s choices that the roster debatably smacks of the writer simply throwing out a plethora of seldom-seen characters, such as American Eagle, Broo and Doctor Nemesis, in the hope that the odd “agent” will somehow resonate with this book’s bibliophiles.

Aaron also seems to have taken a fair few disagreeable liberties with the personality of Ka-Zar, questionably turning the once proud Lord of the Savage Land” into an unrecognisable foil for Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje and Director of the Agents of Wakanda. Kevin Plunder's history dates back as far as the mid-Sixties and resultantly has provided him with a proven track record working alongside some of the greatest super-heroes known. Yet, in this story, the eldest son of a British nobleman has to first pass an audition so as to be deemed worthy to join a ground crew which has already recruited Gorilla-Man as the Chief of Security for Avengers Mountain apparently without any trial being warranted..?

Luckily, this publication’s puzzling plot does ‘enjoy’ the visual stimulus of Ed McGuinness and Cory Smith’s pencilling, which in the majority of cases makes the word-heavy discussions between Black Panther and the likes of Odin, at least pleasantly palatable. However, the artwork does suffer from some noticeable inconsistencies, courtesy of editor Tom Brevoort apparently employing three different inkers in order to ensure the book made its deadline at the Printers.

Writer: Jason Aaron, Artists: Ed McGuiness & Cory Smith, and Color Artist: Erick Arciniega

Astonishing Tales #5 - Marvel Comics

ASTONISHING TALES No. 5, April 1971

Gerry Conway undeniably gave his readers plenty to get their heart’s beating with his script for Issue Five of “Astonishing Tales”, thrusting the bi-monthly’s Lord of the Hidden Jungle into a seemingly ceaseless series of battles against the likes of Zaladane, a terrified pterodactyl, the ape-like Guardian of the Fire Pool and an utterly homicidal Petrified Man, and all within the space of just ten pages too. In fact, it’s arguably hard to imagine a more sense-shattering sequence of action-packed set-pieces than those a determined Ka-Zar faces during his mission to not only rid the Savage Lands of the High Priestess’ thirst for bloody conquest, but also the murderous insanity of his five hundred year old new friend, Garokk.

Fortunately, all these sensational shenanigans are dynamically drawn by Barry Smith, whose wonderful ability to imbue Kevin Plunder with all the natural athleticism one would expect from a man whose closest companion is a sabre-tooth tiger, adds even more vitality to an already hyper-active narrative. The London-born illustrator’s plethora of panels depicting Ka-Zar agilely back-flipping onto the back of an out-of-control flying lizard is particularly mouth-watering, and sets a staggeringly brisk pace which the penciller then continues to maintain once the eldest son of a British nobleman crash-lands back to the ground; “How forgetful of me, Ka-Zar! There’s one final detail --- The pool is most jealously guarded!”

Far less complicated, yet no less entertaining, is Larry Lieber’s storyline for “A Land Enslaved”, which features Doctor Doom returning from a sojourn on the French Rivera only to find his beloved kingdom of Latveria now under the rule of the Red Skull. Basically boiled down to the armour-clad monarch fighting an entire nation single-handedly, this quite silly caper still packs plenty of punch, as Victor confidently fights the swastika-loving invader and his goose-stepping goons one-on-one, in a string of confrontations which aptly demonstrate both the dictator’s much-hyped technological prowess and the whacky abilities of the Exiles.

Incoming artist George Tuska is equally up for the challenge of sketching Doctor Doom with all his infamous pomp and over-confidence. The American artist’s panels featuring the Latverian stomping through the underbelly of his castle are particularly impressive, as the tyrant’s green cape billows around the clearly angered-figure, and it’s incredibly easy to hear Victor’s metal clad feet clanking across the stone-floor in the character’s haste to navigate “this subterranean passageway [which] lead to the main power station!”

Writer: Gerry Conway, Artist: Barry Smith, and Inker: Frank Giacoia

Astonishing Tales #4 - Marvel Comics

ASTONISHING TALES No. 4, February 1971

Purportedly pitting the Jungle Lord against the Savage Land’s Sun God, at least according to its sensationally-sketched John Buscema cover illustration, Gerry Conway’s script for Issue Four of “Astonishing Tales” probably caught a fair few of the comic’s loyal readers somewhat off-guard in February 1971 due to the sheer complexity of its plot. Indeed, having initially appeared to be a simple ten-page tale depicting Ka-Zar and his friends attempting to thwart Zaladane “from slaughtering a group of peaceful villagers”, the Brooklyn-born writer’s storyline suddenly involves the capturing of a bedazzling unicorn, an attack by “one ponderous Tyrannosaurus Rex”, and the sudden rise to godhood of Garokk, the Petrified Man.

Undeniably adding to this fantastical feast for the eyes is Barry Smith’s exquisite artwork, which quite beautifully depicts both the soaring savagery of the High Priestess and the fearsome fireballs her pterodactyl-flying warriors bring down with devastating effect upon the City of the Vala-Kuri. The British illustrator’s menagerie of Savage Land wildlife is especially well-drawn, with the prehistoric King of Lizards and dazzling horned horse both appearing suitably formidable in their own unique ways; “Hold Zabu -- Ka-Zar claims this prize! The fabled unicorn is the swiftest of beasts ---“

Infinitely more hilarious, at least until is disconcertingly dark final splash page featuring plenty of Fourth Reich swastikas, is Larry Lieber’s tale concerning Doctor Doom quite preposterously deciding to take a holiday at “the world famous Riviera” whilst his peasants briskly rebuild his castle, following its destruction during Prince Rudolfo’s failed rebellion. Busy battling society’s elite at the roulette wheel, or effortlessly thwarting an attempt to steal his famous armour by a pair of hopeless burglars, this ludicrous scenario is surprisingly counteracted by the far more menacing appearance of the Red Skull in Latveria, and his bizarre entourage of “international would-be world conquerors… during World War Two.”

Proficiently pencilled by Wally Wood, the Exiles are the highlight of “The Invaders”, with the likes of Baldini, Hauptman, Krushki and Cadavus, Monarch of the Murder Chair, all being given their very own panels within which to exhibit their variety of super-powered attacks. Doom too is given plenty of sheet space with which to shine by “one of Mad's founding cartoonists”, repeatedly demonstrating his advanced technology’s superiority over the international resort’s unimaginative visitors by means of an electrical zap, a devastating punch, and the creation of a casino-wrecking swirling vortex.

Writer: Gerard Conway, Artist: Barry Smith, and Inking: Sam Grainger

Astonishing Tales #3 - Marvel Comics

ASTONISHING TALES No. 3, December 1970

Featuring the fascinating five-hundred year-old origin story of the Petrified Man, as well as the highly convoluted conclusion to an attack upon Doctor Doom’s Latverian throne, there probably wasn’t much time for this bi-monthly’s audience to catch their breath when first reading the comic in February 1971. For whilst Gerry Conway’s “excursion flight into the timeless world” of the Savage Land is certainly more sedentary in its pace than that of Larry Lieber’s cataclysmic destruction of Castle Doom and revelation as to “the secret of the Faceless One”, neither of this book’s two ten-page stories really provide much in the way of an action-stopping pause.

Happily however, such momentum doesn’t mean that any part of this publication is 'padded out' with superfluous fight scenes, as Gerry Conway’s enthralling script to “Back To The Savage Land” strongly attests. Firmly focused upon the tragic creation of a shipwrecked mariner into “a living avatar of the stone god Garokk”, as well as sensationally summarising the desperate desire of Queen Priestess Zaladane to have her Sun-People conquer the prehistoric preserve, this tale’s sole disappointment is that it has no sheet space with which penciller Barry Smith can depict the annihilation of Tongah’s village by pterodactyl-riding attackers.

Regrettably, Lieber’s plot conveying the final stages of Prince Rudolfo’s revolution in Latverian similarly suffers from a lack of panels, as Doom finally manages to bring an end to the threat of the Doomsman by simply impelling “my mental energy into his cerebral apparatus” through “a process of mind fusion”. Considering all the utter mayhem and wanton ruin Victor’s mechanical creation has already caused in this story’s past, it seems somewhat strange that the “would-be conqueror” didn’t put just such an end to the heavily-bandaged robot a lot sooner; “The Doomsman is beyond all reason -- all entreat! There is but one to stop him!”

So minor a quibble though really is nit-picking, especially when measured alongside the sheer breadth of Larry’s extraordinary narrative. Exploding human replicas, alien life forms piloting human-shaped lifeless vehicles, “molecules that expand upon contact with air”, a bombardment by anti-particles and even the teleportation to another dimension, are all crowbarred into this pulse-pounding adventure, and give Wally Wood plenty of sense-shattering opportunities with which to demonstrate his remarkable drawing skills.

Writer: Gerry Conway, Artist: Barry Smith, and Inking: Sam Grainger

Marvel Team-Up #19 - Marvel Comics

MARVEL TEAM-UP No. 19, March 1974

For those Marvelites lucky enough to witness Len Wein’s “villain-event of the year” in March 1974, it was probably abundantly clear straight from this publication’s opening, that the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Famer wasn’t going to worry too much about his action-packed adventure’s preamble. Indeed, just as soon as Issue Nineteen of “Marvel Team-Up” starts, its audience is immediately launched into an adrenaline-driven jump off of a S.H.I.E.L.D. transport plane flying over “the seemingly endless expanse of ice that is Antarctica” and then a subsequent web-slinging battle with “a denizen of the Triassic Age.”

Of course, such pulse-pounding exploits are momentarily interrupted by a brief collection of flashback panels depicting Doctor Curt Connors' desperately urgent request for Spider-Man “to go to the Savage Land -- And find Vincent Stegron!” But this somewhat ominous interlude is arguably as concise as the one-armed scientist’s engineered explanation behind just how his laboratory assistant happened to acquire a dinosaur extract capable of rewriting the man’s DNA, will be familiar to fans of the Lizard’s origin story; “We were conducting experiments in cell-regeneration… experiments similar in nature to those I’d attempted many years ago --”

Disappointingly though, despite the highly enjoyable appearance of both Ka-Zar and Zabu, such contrivances continue to plague an otherwise sense-shattering script, following the lead protagonists falling foul of a Swamp-Men raiding party. Outnumbered, netted and unexpectedly easily clubbed from behind, the Lord of the Hidden Jungle, the “last of the raging sabretooths” and Peter Parker’s alter-ego, are taken to face the judgement of a mutated Stegron in the savages’ village. However, having ridiculously freed themselves from their bonds, courtesy of a sharp spear-tip coming a little too close to Kevin Plunder’s ropes, the trio somehow manage to defeat an entire settlement full of warriors, having been bested by less than a dozen just a few moments before…

To make matters worse, Wein then reveals that the Dinosaur Man has somehow learnt the location from “they” of a technologically advanced ark which just happens to be capable of flying him and a herd of giant lizards back to the civilised world. Prodigiously pencilled by legend Gil Kane, Spider-Man’s brief battle with Stegron as the huge vessel lifts off from the Savage Land is probably only rivalled by the Latvian’s double-splash of a Tyrannosaurus Rex leading a charge against the Swamp-Men’s thatched huts. Yet it’s hard to shake the ‘happy happenstance’ of Vincent discovering the whereabouts of such a preposterously useful aircraft within the sheer wilderness of the hidden prehistoric reserve.

Writer: Len Wein, Artist: Gil Kane, and Inker: Frank Giacoia

Astonishing Tales #2 - Marvel Comics

ASTONISHING TALES No. 2, October 1970

Leading with an incredibly fast-paced fist-fight between Ka-Zar and Sergei Kravinoff at the summit of a Manhattan hotel, Issue Two of “Astonishing Tales” must have practically exhausted its adolescent audience by the time the comic’s writer, Roy Thomas, moved on to continue its secondary tale, “Revolution”, featuring the Master of Menace, Doctor Doom. In fact, almost from the very moment Kevin Plunder brazenly walks up to the guesthouse’s reception staff and demands “to see the man called -- Kraven! You will summon him, please -- at once!” the Missouri-born writer’s ten-page “Frenzy On The Fortieth Floor!” depicts the Lord of the Hidden Jungle doing little else but trading punches, kicks and taunts with the man who has kidnapped his Smilodon, Zabu.

Fortunately, so relentless a power struggle actually proves enthrallingly entertaining, not least because the lengthy, action-packed sequence portrays both antagonists using their brains and considerable cunning to consistently outwit one another, rather than just their substantial brawn. Perhaps somewhat significantly, the "Son of the Tiger" is especially well served in this story, allowing his rival to both snare him in an inescapable bola-net, and supposedly be rendered unconscious by “the potency of my tranquiliser spray”, just so the unarmed savage can learn precisely where within the multi-storey building Kraven has his four-legged fanged friend held captive.

Prodigiously pencilled by Jack “King” Kirby, the destructive body blows on show appear thunderously impactive, with Ka-Zar launching one particularly full-blooded punch that carries both Sergei and the Shazam Award-winner’s co-creation out through a glass-pane window; “Astounding! Your reflexes are those of some tree-born simian!” Disappointingly however, it would appear that a couple of the book’s panels featuring close-ups of Plunder were disconcertingly sketched by another unknown artist, and these distinctly dissimilar drawings rather jar with the rest of the pulse-pounding antics on show.

Infinitely more complex, and packed with a significantly larger cast of leading villains is Thomas’ narrative for Victor Von Doom’s rematch with Prince Rudolfo. Establishing both the Machiavellian machinations of the orb-headed Faceless One, alongside the “terrible potentialities” of the heavily bandaged Doomsman, this political piece somehow manages to contain a large scale assault on the impregnable palace of Latveria’s dictatorial monarch, as well as plenty of mystery as to the identity and motivations behind the armed coup.

Writer: Roy Thomas, Artist: Jack Kirby, and Inking: Sam Grainger

Astonishing Tales #1 - Marvel Comics

ASTONISHING TALES No. 1, August 1970

Conceived as a ‘split title’ depicting the solo exploits of Ka-Zar and Doctor Doom in their own separate ten-page stories, this inaugural issue of “Astonishing Tales” not only provided its readers with “Two of Marvel’s mightiest together in one mind-shattering mag”, but also two markedly contrasting stories. Indeed, Roy Thomas’ ancillary adventure, “Unto You Is Born… The Doomsman!” is so much more noticeably complex when compared to Stan Lee’s singularly straightforward lead tale, that this particular publication is arguably an excellent example as to just why Lieber felt he could trust his eventual successor as “Marvel Comics” editor “enough that he virtually never again read anything I wrote.”

Happily however, despite these differences this comic’s opening yarn, “The Power Of Ka-Zar!”, is a great first feature for Kevin Plunder, following the son of an English nobleman simply being side-lined as a supporting character in “The X-Men” and “Daredevil”. Clearly the master of all he surveys in the “vast unchartered jungle, bordered by the ever-drifting glaciers of far-off Antarctica”, the Lord of the Jungle’s tenacity to free his ‘friendly’ sabre-tooth tiger drives the action forward at an admirable rate, and resultantly, this book’s audience don’t have too long to wait until the "Son of the Tiger" cataclysmically confronts Zabu’s abductor in a no holds barred wrestling match.

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly though, the star of this story is undeniably Kraven the Hunter, who despite seeming to be rather overly-reliant upon his tranquilizer spray to defeat his foes, dominates each and every panel Jack Kirby pencils him in. In fact, even when Sergei Kravinoff’s face shows fearful incredulity as the “jungle savage” breaks his much-lauded grip, it is difficult not to still admire the dangerous nature of one of Spider-Man’s “most formidable enemies”.

Containing a far more convoluted narrative is Thomas’ “dramatic debut of a startling new series”, which depicts Victor Von Doom both developing “the ultimate weapon -- a super-powerful living being -- fed and activated by Cosmic Rays” and fending off an attempt by “the rightful ruler of Latveria” to depose him of his crown. Illustrated by Wally Wood, “a veteran of Nineteen Fifties EC Comics stories”, this entertaining mash-up of horror, romance and political intrigue soon bears an uncanny resemblance to one of Alex Raymond’s “Flash Gordon” escapades, courtesy of Prince Rudolfo’s rebels successfully attacking Doom castle whilst wearing jet-packs; “See how they gape, wide-eyed, at our flying belts!”

Writer: Stan Lee, Artist: Jack Kirby, and Inking: Sam Grainger