Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (1977) #257

Superboy the Legion of Super Heroes 257

If it weren’t for the backup, which pairs writer Gerry Conway with Steve Ditko (penciling, with Dan Adkins inking), this issue would give the impression Conway doesn’t like the Legion. Or, if he does, he thinks their positive traits are being smug asswipes.

In addition to the charming, sexy (really) backup story about Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel’s misadventures trying to be regular people colonists, Conway writes the feature. Joe Staton and Dave Hunt are on the art. Maybe if the story weren’t so lackluster, something about their lackluster art would’ve stood out more (I mean, there are some weird Cosmic Boy panels thanks to that outfit, but otherwise).

The feature story is all about how important it is to lie.

The Legion is in trouble with the science police for hijacking the amusement park hovering over the Grand Canyon last issue. They needed to holographic something something to make Brainiac 5 sane again. Except now, no one knows if it works, so they’re just supposed to trust Brainy as the cops and the amusement park owner yell at them.

The issue basically takes place over fifteen minutes, with the morale of the story—for Superboy, no less—being sometimes it’s better to lie to escape accountability. Did the Superboy from Superboy and the Legion go on to be the bad guy in Final Crisis or whatever? It would make sense. They’re all a bunch of assholes.

The subplot involves the rich guy who funds them being out of money—for like the sixth straight issue—but now the Legion knows about it, so Chameleon Boy’s going to get it resolved. At least there’s some momentum on that story, though it’s also a little obnoxious. Especially since it turns out the Legion does have most of their base left, just not the ostentatious part.

This book’s a trip.

The backup’s wonderful, though. Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel are a cute couple; Ditko’s layouts and Conway’s script have a lovely retro but not condescending thing going on.

I wish they’d take over the feature slot.

The Legion of Monsters (1975) #1

Legion of Monsters 1

Legion of Monsters opens with a defensive letter from editor Tony Isabella, responding to the Marvel faithful who were mad at the inglorious cancellation of the other black and white magazines. Isabella explains the books weren’t ever losing money; it’s just not in Marvel’s best interest not to make money. If readers really want black-and-white monster magazines, they better buy Legion.

They did not.

Although there’s a subscription form in the issue, Monsters only had this one issue.

And kind of for good reason.

There are four features. One Monster of Frankenstein, one continuation from Dracula Lives, and two original horror stories. All of them are uneven, starting with Doug Moench, Val Mayerik, Pablo Marcos, and Dan Adkins’s Frankenstein story. It’s after the Monster has woken up in the modern age, and he’s wandering around. He sees a princess, and even though he knows it always ends with villagers and pitchforks, he follows her.

Now, if it were just about the Monster following some girl, it’d be tired fast. But the Monster finds himself amid intrigue; it’s a costume party, and the jester tells him someone’s out to kill the princess, will the Monster help? Of course, he will. But will it be helpful help or disastrous?

The art’s sometimes excellent. Mayerik inking himself, Marcos inking Mayerik, it works out. The Adkins inks are wanting. And the story’s really dang long.

But at least it’s not the Secret Origin of Manphibian, the following story. Tony Isabella scripts from a Marv Wolfman plot. Dave Cockrum pencils, Sam Grainger inks. It’s about a Creature from the Black Lagoon type coming up through an oil well and getting in a fight with another monster from the same species, as well as some husband out to kill his wealthy wife. Or something.

It’s tedious. Maybe if the art were more distinct.

Ditto the next story, about kids picking on a former circus “freak” whose only friends are flies. It bleeds empathy, but the story’s way too long, and the art lacks Paul Kitchener pencils, Ralph Reese inks. They also share story credit with scripter Gerry Conway.

Maybe if Marvel wanted more people to be excited about Legion, they should’ve gotten together a better first issue.

The next chapter in Roy Thomas and Dick Giordano’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula wraps up the issue. After a lengthy (and welcome) recap of events to date, this installment covers Mina going off to marry Jonathan in Europe while Lucy’s condition worsens in England. There are multiple diary and journal keepers: Mina, Steward, and eventually Lucy.

It sure seems like Lucy has no idea she’s been Dracula’s steady blood bag for months, and, to this point, Mina hasn’t read Jonathan’s diary, even though he wants her to do so. But what Thomas doesn’t fix—and Giordano doesn’t help with—is Dr. Van Helsing, who arrives this issue to commit medical malpractice.

With the timeline visually broken out so nicely, it’s even more apparent than usual Van Helsing messes up with Lucy’s initial diagnosis and then waits too long to tell everyone what they’re dealing with.

Giordano draws Van Helsing like a combination of Santa Claus and a leprechaun.

Otherwise, lots of good art, but Lucy’s the only sympathetic character, with Seward whining almost nonstop about her marrying someone else and Van Helsing blandly kind and incompetent.

There’s one page of single-panel strips from Stuart Schwartzberg. They’re a highlight and shouldn’t be. There’s also another text article recapping monsters in other media, like it’s a real magazine again. Too little, too late.

Is it a bummer Legion didn’t continue? Sure?

But it makes sense why it didn’t.

Marvel Premiere (1972) #2

Marvel premiere 1972 2

Ladies and gentlemen… the writing stylings of Roy Thomas! Yay! Yay!

Oh, wait. Umm. No. Not yay.

I suppose if someone wanted to read some really bad seventies young person counterculture dialogue, he or she could read Roy Thomas’s Adam Warlock story. It’s painful to read. And eventually painful to see too.

It’s another issue where Gil Kane’s art falls apart after a certain point. There’s this private detective who Kane draws terribly, but also disturbingly. He looks like an evil, poorly drawn Peter Lorre.

Oh, and the villains. The villains are these giant animals–a rat, a snake–and Kane butchers them. It’s like he can’t draw anything but regular people. Worse, the art all starts good and then plummets.

It’s a confusing story. Thomas loves to overwrite.

There’s a Jimmy Woo backup too, from Jack Kirby. It’s not any good, but it’s mildly interesting as a fifties relic.

Marvel Premiere 2 (May 1972)

Ladies and gentlemen… the writing stylings of Roy Thomas! Yay! Yay!

Oh, wait. Umm. No. Not yay.

It’s a confusing story. Thomas loves to overwrite.

There’s a Jimmy Woo backup too, from Jack Kirby. It’s not any good, but it’s mildly interesting as a fifties relic.

Planet of the Apes 21 (June 1976)

This issue isn’t just easily the worst one, so far, of Planet of the Apes, it’s bad.

Moench runs into two big problems. I won’t even bother mentioning how Herb Trimpe is not of the artistic caliber the series usually has illustrating. No, Moench instead finds a big old issue with each of his stories, the original one and the adaptation.

In the original one, he continues his tale of the time traveller in search of the lost astronauts from the first movie. Only Moench apparently wasn’t allowed to use any of the original apes (much less the humans) so it makes no sense. He’s got major continuity problems and doesn’t do anything to explain them.

Alcala’s still good on the Conquest adaptation, but Moench is racing through it. His dialogue’s nonsensical and he’s only barely following the movie.

The series has been excellent until now… the issue’s rather upsetting.

CREDITS

Beast On the Planet of the Apes; writer, Doug Moench; penciller, Herb Trimpe; inkers, Dan Adkins and Sal Trapani. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Part Six: Hail Caesar! Hail the King!; writer, Moench; artist, Alfredo Alcala. Editor, Archie Goodwin; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Conan the Barbarian (1970) #7

Ctb07

The art this issue is a mess. Buscema and Adkins each hurriedly handled a half of the book. I assume Windsor-Smith was speeding along too because the result is people with huge eyes and minuscule noses. Sometimes it looks like Conan’s face is off-center on his head. It’s an ugly issue, which is too bad.

The story is mostly solid. Thomas is adapting God in the Bowl and has a lot in Conan’s head at the end. Except they don’t visualize what Conan’s seeing, it’s all in the narration. So even though Conan’s fighting a serpent god, he’s thinking about far more visually intriguing things.

The fault must be with the hurriedness—Windsor-Smith’s panel composition isn’t up to par here either (the letters page mentions the rush). Thomas does manage to get a lot in—his one page third act is the series norm; it reads fine.

Conan the Barbarian (1970) #1

Ctb01

Thomas and Windsor-Smith are off to a great start. Windsor-Smith’s art is, of course, not as finished as he’s become, but he does have some amazing panels. Oddly, when he’s at his lesser, he resembles an unintentional Mike Ploog (especially in the faces—but sharp compared to Ploog’s roundedness). It’s very strange.

The story introduces Conan but also gives the reader some sense of the world he’s in. Thomas has this sort of time machine device, which might not make any sense, but it does the job of placing the events.

It’s an action issue—the present action takes place over less than a day—and Thomas works in a number of scenes. It’s a full read, ending with Conan alone. It sort of starts with him alone, moves him into having companions and leaves him worse than he started.

There’s an energy and excitement to the book.

Detective Comics (1937) #509

Dc509

Conway really lays on the melodrama for his resolution to Bruce and Selina’s romance–Catwoman’s still too much in the picture for her to be able to stick it out–but it still works somehow.

The major part of the story is Catman coming back for revenge on Batman and Catwoman. This issue might be the first Catman story I’ve read as an adult (certainly in memory) and he comes off as an annoying whiner. Still, I’ll agree he’s dangerous–but so’s Catwoman, right? Conway plays her like a damsel in distress here, like Selina Kyle is only Catwoman when she’s in costume.

Still, with Newton and Adkins and Conway’s earnest (if occasionally saccharine) writing for Bruce and Selina, it works.

The Batgirl backup, teaming her up with Supergirl, is lame as far as the evil, big-headed villain goes. But, Batgirl’s jealousy of Supergirl makes it a worthwhile read.

Detective Comics (1937) #508

Dc508

I’ve been trudging through Conway’s Batman comics the last few days–maybe the Irv Novick art on Batman is getting me down–so it’s nice this issue of Detective Comics is fantastic. It’s a completely absurd story about one of Bruce Wayne’s egyptologist friends going nuts and kidnapping Selina Kyle because he thinks they’re reincarnated Ancient Egyptians and he’s going to send them to the afterworld together.

So, clearly, it’s up to Bruce to figure it all out and save Selina.

Conway’s got Don Newton and Dan Adkins on the art and it’s just fantastic. What Conway brings special is the humanizing of Bruce Wayne–Batman’s a tool of Bruce’s here–and it’s Bruce whose desires are paramount. Specifically, Bruce has got it bad for Selina.

It’s too bad the Batman series isn’t on par with Detective.

The Batgirl versus a mad scientist backup is silly; Delbo’s art doesn’t help.

Detective Comics 509 (December 1981)

Conway really lays on the melodrama for his resolution to Bruce and Selina’s romance–Catwoman’s still too much in the picture for her to be able to stick it out–but it still works somehow.

Still, with Newton and Adkins and Conway’s earnest (if occasionally saccharine) writing for Bruce and Selina, it works.

The Batgirl backup, teaming her up with Supergirl, is lame as far as the evil, big-headed villain goes. But, Batgirl’s jealousy of Supergirl makes it a worthwhile read.

CREDITS

Nine Lives Has the Cat…; writer, Gerry Conway; penciller, Don Newton; inker, Dan Adkins; colorist, Adrienne Roy; letterer, Ben Oda. The Fires of Destruction!; writer, Cary Burkett; penciller, Jose Delbo; inker, Joe Giella; colorist, Tom Ziuko; letterer, Milt Snapinn. Editors, Dave Manak and Dick Giordano; publisher, DC Comics.