stan lee

Why Stan Lee is Basically George Lucas!

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

I’m back! With most of 1967 finished now! I’m really starting to get into the reading more now, and am enjoying some of the stories more then before.  I really think I just needed to get acclimated to the ’60’s style of writing. Or,  I just needed to get to a point that Roy Thomas was writing everything. LOL.

In all honesty, I think that has a lot to do with my increased enjoyment. My husband, C, put it perfectly when I was trying to explain why I prefer Thomas’s writing to Stan Lee’s. He said that Stan Lee is a lot like George Lucas. He’s AMAZING at world-building, big idea stuff. But when it comes to the details and the human relationships, he’s better when he has help. I think C nailed it. Stan and Jack Kirby created an amazing world with amazing characters within the Marvel 616. But when it comes to writing the day-to-day stories of those characters, Stan is better as an editor and not the writer.

With that said, let’s talk Avengers. I’ve now read through Avengers 42, but we’re only going to talk about Avengers #39 & 40 today. Like I said earlier, I’ve read most of the way through 1967, and I think we need to break it up over multiple posts! So…here we go!

avengers39In issue 39, the Avengers are captured by the Mad Thinker and his Triumvirate of Terror (Hammerhead, Pile Driver, and Thunder Boot). Cap is still gone, and everyone thinks Black Widow is a traitor. (We knows she’s not, obvi! But poor Hawkeye isn’t too sure.) Anyway, Mad Thinker succeeds in capturing all the Avengers and is holding them prisoner in Avengers Mansion. Just when it looks like he’s won, Hercules returns from a night on the town and saves the day. Guys, I love Hercules. He’s so powerful, and so full of himself. It’s like having Thor around, but with more self-importance. Where 60’s Thor can sometimes pull his punches literally and figuratively when dealing with mortals, Herc is always Herc. He goes full boar always, demolishing anything in his way (including Goliath’s training equipment) and constantly complaining that he’s not being challenged by the mortals and super-villains he fights. It’s what I imagine hanging out with Kayne West is like. Dude is totally in love with himself, but he’s so good, you kind of can’t fault him.

Another thing I love is the attention to continuity and the timelines paid in the early years. Right now, in Tales of Suspense, Cap is off chasing a lead that may take him to Bucky, and is undercover pretending to work with Red Skull. So, he’s missing from the Avenger’s adventures and they make mention of his exploits. It’s nice. It seems that so often with current comics, the timelines don’t add up, or characters are everywhere at once when stories are supposed to be taking place simultaneously. Wolverine, for example, spent years on the X-Men or Uncanny X-Force, but was also an Avenger, and had a least one current continuity solo series going on. No way he’s in all those places at once. It gets confusing…

I know it’s harder to do now that there are so many monthly on-goings. I get it. But it’s refreshing to read this older stuff and have the characters only on one adventure at a time. It grounds the 616 in a bit more reality. And that’s the end of my little rant.

xmen31Let’s talk about X-Men 31, shall we? Here, the X-Men battle Cobalt Man, and we get to see a bit more of our teenagers’ lives outside of their costumes. The Professor tries to play match-maker with Scott and Jean (You go, Chuck!!) by asking Scott to take some library books back to Jean at school on the boy’s night off. Warren offers to drive him (because, you know, dumb love triangle. GRR). Bobby and Hank head to the Village to see their girlfriends.

Meanwhile, Jean is on a date of sorts with Ted. They’ve met up with his older brother Ralph. Ralph is a scientist who is trying to create armor like Iron Man’s to give to the government. The three of them meet up with Scott and Warren for dinner, and then they go to Ralph’s labs. Warren doesn’t go, clearly seeing how into each other Scott and Jean are, and decides to go out on his own. (*insert happy dance here*)

While at the labs, Ralph, who has a concussion, tries on his suit for Ted and he loses it a bit. He goes crazy, and decides to go after Iron Man. Scott and Jean rush into action, and the Prof telepathically sends the other three to help them. They manage to stop Ralph before his suit blows up from radiation, and he comes to with no memory of what happened after he hit his head. But, in the last panel, Ted hints to Marvel Girl that he may know she’s really Jean Grey!

We’ll see how that revelation plays out going forward, especially if Ted begins to see Scott as a threat for Jean’s affections (which he should!) It’s a lot of fun to see Cyke and Marvel Girl fight together. We get to see the beginning of the spark these two grow to have on the battle field. They become a seamless pair in many ways, and this seems like a nice beginning. It’s also about time that Warren moved on from Jean, and it’s nice to see that happening. He meets up with his old friend Candy in this issue, and they seem to hit it off right away.

So, with that thought reassuring my Cyclops-loving heart, let’s head back over to NYC and Avengers Mansion, shall we? Avengers 40!  Cap is still gone, “working” with Red Skull. Widow is still undercover in the “Far avengers40East”. Wanda is bed-ridden. (The Mad Thinker caused her hex power to kind of back-fire on her last issue, and it’s messed her up a bit.) The Avengers receive a message from Cap that they need to try to go find the Cosmic Cube (for those who’ve seen the Marvel movies, this is what they call the Tesseract in the MCU). They head off towards the coordinates Cap left them, but meanwhile, Namor is headed there too. It seems there have been submarines in his neck of the ocean, and he’s not happy about it. He’s headed to the naval base to destroy all the subs. When the Avengers (plus Hercules) arrive, they battle Namor thinking he’s after the cube as well. Namor manages to get his hands on the cube, and is winning the battle, when his pride kicks in. He wants to fight Hercules on even terms to prove he’s better. During the battle, the Wasp manages to get him to drop the Cosmic Cube, but it falls into a crack in the ocean floor before anyone can get it. It lands near the Earth’s core, where it is discovered by Mole Man, who just as quickly tosses it away, not realizing what it is!!

This was a fun issue. I always love seeing Namor, and it’s fun to watch he and Hercules battle. They’re basically evenly matched strength-wise, and Namor’s ego could give Herc’s a run for it’s money. This is also the last issue in this trade, so we’ll be moving on next post!

X-Men #32 is the beginning of a two-issue arc, so we’ll talk about that next time. Just know, I’m about to get really excited about the return of a certain giant bad guy!

So, until next time, my lovelies…keep searching!

More Roy Thomas is Always A Good Thing…

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, my loves! I’m back already! I hope you all don’t get sick of me!

Anyway, I was able to do lots of reading over the last two days, so we have 6 more issues to talk about today. I’ve read The X-Men #28-30 and Avengers #36-38, which takes us through January, February, and March of 1967. At this pace, I may just reach my reading goal!

Let’s start with Avengers # 36 & 37. This first thing of note here, is that Roy Thomas is now writing the Avengers too! He actually took over in issue #35, avengers36but I didn’t notice. It was the middle of an arc, so I didn’t even think to look to see if the writer had changed. For those of you keeping track, Roy is now writing both Avengers and The X-Men. This makes me very happy! While I love Stan Lee’s ideas and vision, I prefer Roy’s writing style. His women are a little less “damsel in distress” and a little more competent and sure of themselves. He’s also just slightly less heavy-handed when it comes to having characters describe exactly what’s happening to them. (I really can’t wait to be out of that phase completely, but we’ve got a while to go before then, so I’ll take what I can get!)

Anyway, in this arc the Avengers are fighting a super computer controlled by an alien named IXAR. He lands his spaceship in Eastern Europe, kidnaps Wanda and Pietro, who are still there regaining their powers, and then lures the rest of the Avengers and Black Widow there to try and steal all of their powers. He wants to use them to power his Ultroids (Basically just fancy, super strong androids) in the war he’s fighting in space. There’s lots of fun fighting, and then Hawkeye and Black Widow save the day when Hawk figures out that the human hostage the computer has is actually IXAR, not a hostage, and then Black Widow threatens to kill him if he doesn’t release the Avengers and go back to space.

This story was kind of fun. It was nice to see Hawkeye get to save everyone for once. He’s also trying to get the Avengers to let Black Widow join. He mentions it in the beginning of the arc before they’re lured into IXAR’s trap and for some reason, Goliath is violently (*here’s my shocked face*) opposed to it. He doesn’t have time to give his reasoning for not wanting Widow on the team, but he does try to throw his weight around both metaphorically and literally when he reminds everyone he’s a founding member of the Avengers, and then threatens Hawkeye. Hank REALLY needs to turn it down a few notches. It’s bad when I’m actually siding with Hawkeye!

Dianna Agron has the BEST angry face!

I should mention that none of the Avengers know that Black Widow threatened to kill IXAR except Hawkeye. Cap specifically tells IXAR that they have a code not to harm or kill humans. But since Widow isn’t actually an Avenger, she makes the threat while everyone but Hawk is unconscious and means it so IXAR lets them go. Hawkeye doesn’t tell any of the other Avengers this, because he’s worried they won’t let her into the group if they know.

Also, I’m so happy to have our wayward mutant siblings back on the team. I didn’t realize just how much I missed them until they were back! I love Pietro and Wanda so much!

And speaking of mutants…let’s hop on over to Westchester and check in on the X-Men, shall we?

xmen28In The X-Men #28 we meet Banshee and Ogre. They are working for the mysterious Factor Three to try and kidnap Xavier. Banshee is awesome and the way Werner Roth draws him when he’s using his powers is amazing! I wish every artist drew him that way!

banshee2

Seriously, look at that art!!

Anyway, Banshee and Ogre attack the X-Men. The X-Men manage to capture Banshee and save him from Ogre and Factor Three; it turns out they were controlling him and he’s actually good! (We’ll be seeing more of my favorite Irishman once we get to the ’70’s! <3)

Old Costumes

Old costumes on top, Jean’s new designs on the bottom

This story introduces Factor Three, who will be a recurring theme for a bit. We don’t see this mysterious villain, or learn what the motive is. What we do see, is the new costumes Jean made for the team last issue, that I totally neglected to mention. They’re REALLY similar to the old ones, just with a bit more blue, red belts, and a mask for Marvel Girl instead of a cowl. Take a look:

Also, for now, Mimic is still the leader of the team, and Scott STILL hasn’t told Jean how he feels. Mimic is aggressive, and head-strong, and arrogant. It’s not going to end well friends. He’s basically the antithesis of my Scotty, so it should go without saying that I can’t stand him! And speaking of my dear Scott, let’s get to issue #29, where he gets to let loose a bit!

In issue #29 the youngsters fight the Super Adaptoid. He’s an android that was created to xmen28destroy Captain America. He is 10 feet tall and has the powers of Cap, Goliath, Hawkeye, and Wasp. He fought the Avengers before, and has now taken to hiding out in a cave in Westchester apparently. But an avalanche disturbs him, and he decides to find beings to assimilate into adaptoids like him so he can rule the world. He wants to assimilate the X-Men, but they’re unwilling, so he decides to destroy them instead. They fight, Mimic decides to be assimilated so he can keep his powers forever, changes his mind at the last minute, and then sacrifices his powers (and almost his life) to stop Super Adaptoid.

Now, the avalanche that brings the android out of hiding is started by Scott (who is looking very handsome in a turtleneck sweater instead of his normal leisure suit, BTW!). The X-Men are ice skating on a pond near the school, and Scott wanders away into the woods to be alone. He feels like he may be getting more control of his optic blasts, and wants to test his theory. Turns out, he doesn’t really have too much control. He loses his temper and REALLY lets loose, causing an avalanche. It’s awesome. I love it when Scott really lets go like that. Sometimes it’s easy to forget just HOW powerful (and dangerous) he can be when he wants to. It makes a girl’s heart get all fluttery!

Anyway…where were we? Oh yeah! So, before the adaptoid attacked, Xavier had kicked Mimic out of the X-Men because he’s such a dick no one likes him he’s a bad leader and won’t listen to Charles. But Mimic comes back to hear the Super Adaptoid’s offer of assimilation and wants to join him so he doesn’t lose the X-Men’s powers when he leaves. Scott talks him out of it, and at the last second Mimic uses the Profs telepathy to convince the SA to try and take his powers. Since Mimic has “artificial” powers, it short-circuits the android and Mimic and they both lose their abilities to replicate others powers. They begin to fall to their deaths (they’ve both lost their borrowed wings) but Angel swoops in and saves Mimic. The SA manages to land in the water and survive, vowing to continue his quest for world domination. So, there’s the Mimic story line wrapped up in a nice little bow! Thank God!! Now that he’s gone…let’s head back over to Avenger’s HQ!avengers38

Avengers #38 brings us an old foe and a new friend. And lots and lots of new story threads. In this issue, Enchantress tricks Hercules into attacking the Avengers for her so she can get revenge for the time they stopped her and Power Man from framing them. They attack the Avengers at HQ, and the Avengers eventually succeed in lifting the spell that Enchantress put on Hercules. She flees, but Zeus banishes Herc to earth for a year for disobeying a direct order. So, Herc is going to be hanging out at HQ in Thor’s old room for awhile it seems.

Also in this issue, Hawkeye and Goliath actually come to blows over Hawkeye wanting Black Widow to join the Avengers. Cap and Quicksilver have to break the two of them up. Personally, I was hoping Hawk would get off at least a couple blast arrows before the fight stopped, but no dice.

Black Widow never shows for the meeting to discuss her membership, and the Avengers head out for dinner, leaving Cap behind on watch duty. When they return, Cap is gone with no explanation, (The readers get an explanation that he’s taken off following a lead about his old WWII partner, Bucky.) which causes even more tension between Goliath and Hawk because Goliath says they can’t vote on Widow without Cap. It also causes issues between Goliath and Wasp, because, like usual, Hank is being an ass to Janet because he’s mad about something that’s totally out of her control. This causes both Hawkeye and Janet to quit the Avengers and leave. They go to dinner together, and then don’t respond right away when Goliath sends a distress signal to come help them battle Herc. It’s interesting to note that, even though neither of them are in costume, and even though Hawkeye refers to her as Janet the whole time, Jan calls him Hawkeye. So, for those keeping track, we STILL haven’t learned Hawkeye’s real name! And this is where I like Roy Thomas’s writing better than Stan Lee’s. Roy gives Janet a back-bone. His version of Janet stands up to Hank, and even walks out on him when he’s being a dick. She’s not his doormat.

The final thread being spun in this issue is centered around Black Widow. She’s late showing up at Avengers HQ because she’s kidnapped by Nick Fury! He’s sending her to the “Far East” to do a secret mission for him. We aren’t told it’s details, and she’s forbidden from telling Hawk or the rest of the Avengers anything. So, she returns to HQ to tell them she’s going back East and basically lets them all think she’s turned traitor again. She even goes so far as to tell Hawk she never loved him so that he won’t try to follow him. Poor Hawkeye!!

And, finally, we have The X-Men #30. Werner Roth was busy for this issue, so it s drawn xmen30by Jack Sparling. Guys. His artwork is GORGEOUS! Seriously. I’m obsessed! I like Werner Roth’s work, a lot. But Sparling’s looks like brushstrokes. It’s so different then most of the ’60s style art. I wish he would stick around!

But, enough about the art. This issue has Marvel Girl, Angel, and Professor X kidnapped by the mutant, Warlock. Warlock is actually Merlin, form King Arthur’s court. He’s refashioned himself so that Thor doesn’t find out he’s up to no good again. But he’s trying to take over the world and has decided that Marvel Girl will be his Queen. It’s a similar idea to the Avengers story with Living Laser from my last post, but way less gross. First, Warlock doesn’t harbor illusions that Marvel Girl will love him if he kills the X-Men. He gets she won’t love him and is controlling her mind. And yes, that’s a whole different kind of creepy in it’s own right, but, it’s also behavior that is treated as being bad and coming from a villain. He also doesn’t only want her as his queen because of her looks. While those obviously played a part in his decision, he also “chooses” her because of her mutant powers. It’s partially her strength that draws him to her. That’s a refreshing change, TBH. Anyway, the Prof is able to get the rest of the X-Men to them, and they battle Warlock’s army in a tournament. The X-Men win, but Warlock attempts to escape with Jean. She’s able to break free of his mental control and helps the guys defeat him. Professor X puts him back in the coma state Thor had left him in, and they save the day. And, Scott’s fury when Jean’s in trouble, and his concern for her safely finally show Jean that he cares for her!! So, hopefully these two will just kiss soon and get it over with!

Well, my loves, that’s all for now. This was some fun reading! So, until next time, keep searching!!

Finally Done with 1966!

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello my loves! I’m back!!

And I’ve FINALLY finished 1966!  I really just haven’t had any time to read recently. But I think I’ve worked it out so that I can start getting my reading in more frequently, so hopefully there will be no more long hiatuses from yours truly. My goal is to get us out of the ’60’s by the end of October, but we’ll see how doable that is as we go!!

In order to finish out 1966, I read Avengers #33-35 and The X-Men #25-27. I also skimmed over Thor #134. It’s not on my list, and I’ll explain why I skimmed it when we get there! But first, lets start with Avengers!

avengers33Avengers #33 finished up the Sons of the Serpent story line from previous issues. We ended with Cap captured by the SOS, and with Goliath being a huge dick. The Avengers plus Black Widow manage to save Cap and defeat the SOS, exposing their leader as General Chen, the communist leader of an unnamed “hostile Oriental nation”. He’s basically a walking stereotype, the likes of which Avengers readers are accustomed to seeing in the villain role.

Stan Lee also lays on the patriotic rhetoric pretty thick in this one. There’s lots of talk about how democracy means anyone can think and preach anything, and it’s what makes America great. Lots of talk of freedom, and “the American Way” and the like. I mean, it’s not wrong; just laid on a little thick for my liking. And that’s not the only thing laid on thick in this issue. What else is laid on too thick for my liking, you ask? Well, my loves, that would be the over-size helping of Hank Pym’s testosterone!

Seriously, you guys. Hank is a walking, talking ball of male ego and chauvinistic, hyper masculine ideals. I can’t even deal. He’s CONSTANTLY ordering everyone around, treating Janet like she’s a child, threatening violence whenever someone makes him mad or something doesn’t go his way, and just generally trying to prove he’s the toughest and smartest guy in the room. The whole thing seems all that more nuts because he’s literally the biggest, strongest guy in the room. The man is 10 feet tall!! What could he possibly need to compensate for?!?!

On second thought…maybe that’s exactly the problem. Not to work blue, but the man is 10 feet tall. I would imagine his and Janet’s relationship isn’t quite as, um, intimate as it once was for the same reasons he has nothing to compensate for…

But, that’s enough about the Avenger’s and Goliath for now. Lets move on to the X-men!

xmen25The X-Men #25 & 26 are a fun little arc about El Tigre, a gem hunter who finds a magic pendant in South America that, when he reunites it with it’s other half in New York, gives him the powers of a Mayan god named Kukulcan. The four guys fight him in New York, and then in South America before finally defeating him (Jean is at college).

During the fight in New York, Scott is hurt. When Jean shows up at the mansion to bring the Prof books on Mayan legends, her worry for his well-being finally shows through and both Scott & Warren realize that she loves Scott. Scott vows to himself to tell Jean of his feelings when the boys return from South America. Warren begins to pout, and then spends the rest of the arc fighting with Scott. It’s soooo annoying. It’s also well done. Just as I was getting annoyed with it, as it reminded me so much of Hawkeye fighting with Cap constantly in Avengers, Roy Thomas actually has Angel say just that! He thinks to himself that he is beginning to sound like “a poor man’s Hawkeye“. It was enough to quell my annoyance and make me laugh! But then, just when I think this Angel being mad a Cyke thing is going to go away, a mishap in their battle with Kukulcan makes sure it doesn’t. Cyclops is aiming at Kuku with a full-blast optic blast, but at the last second, Kuku ducks, causing Cyke to hit Angel instead!! Angel is severely injured, and falls to the ground. In a moment of consciousness at the end of the battle, Angel accuses Cyke of hitting him deliberately, so that he can have Marvel Girl to himself! While the readers, Cyke, and Angel all KNOW that’s not what happened, Cyke begins to doubt himself. He actually starts to think that maybe, subconsciously, he did do it intentionally.  So now there’s that drama…

But seriously, when are we going to get to the point where Jean and Scott are just together, and Warren’s totally over her? Are we almost there? Cause I can’t wait to be at that point. Scott and Jean are one of my favorite comic couples ever, and I’m so over this love triangle crap!

So over it, in fact, that we’re going to move back over to Avengers before I get too worked up! LOL. So…Avengers #34 & 35. Let’s go!!

avengers34Here we see the first appearance of the Living Laser. Arthur Parks is a scientist who, after falling instantly in love with Janet upon seeing her, decides to take out the Avengers to win her love. Just some fair warning, dears, but this is going to get messy. I hate this storyline, and I’m not going to pull punches talking about it. It’s icky, and it’s not an uncommon trope, which icks me out even more.

So, Living Laser (LL) attacks Goliath at home, but is defeated, and given to Hawkeye and Cap to take to Avengers HQ. He escapes, captures those two, then captures the Wasp. He topples a South American dictatorship in a single day, and means to rule the country and later the rest of the world, when the Avengers finally beat him. Goliath gets to save the day, and the Wasp, and overall, the action is a lot of fun. My issue is the motive. LL does all of this to impress the Wasp, and make her love him. He spends the entire arc repeating the thought that once he kills the Avengers, she will see that he’s the most powerful, and then she’ll HAVE to love him. Guys, this is really gross thinking. And really problematic thinking. This idea that all women will automatically love the strongest, most powerful man is a gross idea that plays into male-centric fantasies that value hyper masculinity above all else.

Why do men think that women think like this?! And before you get on me about how “it’s just a comic” and “it was the ’60’s“, just stop yourself. I know these things. I also know that this type of thought process, and these types of stories have been around forever, and that they’re problematic at best, and harmful at worst. Especially when, within this type of story, you have your only female character literally saying “I wish I understood machines…like a man” Janet seriously says that while trying to figure out which lever on the machine will save Cap and Hawkeye. She also, after being captured by LL, threatens him by saying that HANK. WILL. SAVE. HER. She went from a card-carrying member of the world’s best super-hero team, to a helpless damsel in distress in one issue! I really can’t even!

Jan, you’re an AVENGER. You don’t need your giant, angry boyfriend to beat up LL for  you. Except that, apparently in this issue, you do. Because that’s exactly what happens. Goliath spends the entire arc making threats about the violence he’s going to inflict on LL for capturing Jan, and it’s almost as gross as LL thinking she’ll love him if he’s the most powerful. And then he comes to Jan’s rescue, and then also saves Cap & Hawkeye, who have been captured again, and blows up LL’s giant laser cannons, thus saving everyone.

He does all this because he’s able to shrink again. While Jan was missing, he disappears for a while, and it’s revealed at the last second that he was trying an experimental treatment to allow him to change size again. It works, and he can now go from Ant-Man tiny size, to normal size, and to Goliath size at will. And, from an Avengers stand-point, that’s pretty cool. Hopefully it will also chill him out, because I’m beginning to hate Hank Pym more then I ever hated Hawkeye.

I’ll also mention that this is where I skimmed through Thor #134. There’s a note in this arc that our missing mutants, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, make a brief appearance in Thor’s solo book, so I skimmed through to see why. I’m glad I did too! In #134, Jane Foster is in Wundagor. It’s under attack, and there’s a bright light in the sky that let’s us know that the High Evolutionary is busy creating “miracles” in his lab. I know that, most likely, none of this makes sense to you. That’s okay. We won’t be meeting the High Evolutionary just yet. What’s important is that, during this scene, we see Wanda and Pietro, and they reveal that a light just like that shone on the night of their birth, and that the name “Wundagore” comes to Pietro for unknown reasons. You see, this will become important to their backstory later! So, let’s try to remember it. And let’s also jump on over to The X-Men, where our twins make another quick appearance!

There’s a lot going on in issue #27, so let’s get to it! To sum it all up easily, xmen27Puppet Master is trying to get back at the FF, so he attempts to control Professor Xavier with the hopes of using him to force the X-Men to fight the FF. He can’t control the Prof, so instead he takes control of Mimic. (I also learned in this issue that the X-Men have met the Puppet Master before. A quick Google search told me it was in Fantastic Four #28, when the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker tried to use them to destroy the FF! Someone’s not too great at coming up with new plans, huh?) You see, Mimic has been going to Metro College with Jean, and, thanks to a chemistry accident, has regained his abilities and his memories of the X-Men. Angel is still out of commission from his injury last arc, and Mimic defeats the X-Men and leaves to fight the FF. The X-Men track Puppet Master down and save Mimic from becoming a murderer. Puppet Master escapes, but Mimic is saved. Angel joins the battle at the very end and saves the day, despite the Profs warning that he could do irreparable damage to his wings and never fly again. It’s all kind of fun, but also REALLY similar to the previous Mimic storyline.

In the midst of that story, the Prof is desperately searching for new members for the X-Men. He and Cerebro sense a growing mutant threat coming, and Charles is worried about the X-Men’s ability to face it with Angel injured and Marvel Girl away at school. He first contacts Wanda and Pietro (told you they’d be back!!). They politely turn him down, saying that they’re Avengers now, and wish to remain Avengers. He also contacts Spider-Man through Bobby and Hank, but Spidey also turns them down. Charles then announces to the team, before Puppet Master takes control of Mimic, that Scott has asked to step down as leader of the X-Men, and Mimic will take his place.

So… there will be that to deal with next issue! I’m not sure I’m going to like this too much. There are very few people who I can deal with leading the X-Men in Scott’s place, and none of them have been introduced yet! Obviously, I know this won’t last long, but I’m just letting you guys know ahead of time that I won’t take it well.

But for now, we’ve covered everything there is to cover in these issues. I learned that my list isn’t quite as complete as I would like it to be. I obviously missed FF #28, which I should have read with the other issues for July 1964! Oops!! I’ll probably read it on Marvel Unlimited now, just to be complete. But we won’t recap it more then what I did here. So…that’s all for now, my loves! Until next time, keep searching!!

Finally, a Bit of Girl Power! (And Also, Hank Pym is a Jerk)

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, loves!!

I’m back to finish talking about all the reading I did last week! We’ve got 5 issues to talk about, so lets just jump right in, shall we?

Lets start with X-Men today! Issues #22 & 23 are a two issue arc in xmen22which Count Nefaria shows up with some super-powered henchmen to try to ransom Washington DC. Their plan is basically to capture the X-Men, and then either convince them to join the Count, or frame them. Nefaria’s henchmen are Plantman, Scarecrow, Porcupine, Eel, and Unicorn. He’s hired them to be his second-in-commands and to lead his Maggia crime gang. Anyway, they are able to kidnap the X-Men one by one as the kids leave the school for a vacation. The X-Men of course refuse to join Nefaria, so they’re held captive and framed for Nefaria’s plan.

Nefaria’s plan is this (and get ready, because it’s a little silly): He creates a giant dome around Washington DC. He then sends a projection of the X-Men to make a ransom demand for $100,000,000. It’s ridiculous. For real… But the X-Men decide to play along in order to save the city, so they go into the dome to “retrieve the ransom”. Because Nefaria doesn’t trust the X-Men, he sends his henchmen to watch them. But the henchmen decide they don’t want to work for Nefaria anymore, and attempt to double cross him by stealing the money from the X-Men once they’re outside of the dome. They fight the X-Men, and eventually Jean ends up with the money. She rushes it to Nefaria. While she’s turning it over to him, and stranger with his face covered shows up and destroys the machine that controls the dome. He also switches briefcases so that Nefaria flees without the money.

It turns out that the stranger is the Professor, who has created a device that will allow him to walk for short periods of time! I’m not even kidding. You might as well accept it now, because it’s going to be something he uses often for a little while. In the end, Jean gets a letter from home and announces she must leave the X-Men! Talk about a cliffhanger!

So, in this arc, there were some really silly plots. I mean, the idea of ransoming Washington DC in and of itself seems like something straight out of an Austin Powers movie! But it’s fun to watch the X-Men take on 5 super-villains at once and win. Everyone’s powers seem to be working exactly how they should be and no one has any weird new limits or abilities. So, that’s refreshing.

I think it’s interesting that Warren is still vying for Jean’s affections. At the beginning of the arc, as the kids are leaving for their vacations, Warren invites Jean to dinner in the city before she leaves. He is clearly asking her on a date. And she says yes!! But before my heart can break too much, she turns around and invites Scott to come with them!

It’s interesting that at this early point, both Scott and Warren are in love with Jean. She loves Scott at this point, but neither of them seems to notice that. Scott is convinced that she’s in love with Warren, and Warren seems to believe he still has a shot as well. It’s a silly little love triangle, but one the writers are handling well thus far. They’re not pitting Scott and Warren against each other, or having Jean play them both. Everyone’s just really bad at expressing how they really feel, just like real teenagers. It’s fun to read and will make it so much more satisfying with Scott finally gets the girl! (oops! Spoiler! *wink*)

So, lets move on to Avengers for a bit! Issue #31 takes us to South avengers31America to find out how this story line with Goliath is going to pan out! It’s also the first issue in our next trade! I’m done with Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 2. and am now on to Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 3! Seriously, I can’t describe how good it feels when I finish one trade and move on to the next. It actually lets me know I’m making a dent in this list, even if it’s the tiniest dent ever!!

That said, lets get back to the comics! The issue starts with Cap, Wasp, and Hawkeye heading for South America to find out what happened to Goliath. Wanda and Piertro are still in Eastern Europe trying to build their powers back up. (And I still think this is a really dumb story-line…) Meanwhile, Goliath and Prince Rey are trying to save Dr. Anton and stop the Keeper from losing control of the magical fire. During this time, Goliath realizes that Rey doesn’t actually want to put out the flames, but wants them for himself! So, Goliath takes off to stop the Keeper himself.

The rest of the Avengers show up, and they’re able to stop the fire and save Dr. Anton. On their way back to New York, Goliath talks to Dr. Anton about his condition. Dr. Anton doesn’t have any ideas, but does suggest that Goliath talk to another doctor he knows. A doctor named Henry Pym! HAHA!

This issue is a little nuts, and things never really slow down. But one of the best things about it is that the guys all treat Janet like an equal in a way we haven’t seen Wanda treated. While I’d like to see Wanda treated this way when/if she returns, it’s refreshing to see at least one of the female characters treated like an equal!

Of course, then we get to issue #32 and Hank ruins it.

In issue 32, Hank is working tirelessly trying to find a cure for himself. avengers32Janet is helping him until he decides he needs another scientist’s help. He enlists the help of Bill Foster, who is an employee of Tony Starks. Meanwhile, the Sons of the Serpent (SotS) are running around New York beating up immigrants and spreading xenophobic propaganda. Black Widow comes to Hawkeye to tell him what’s happening and to try to prove she’s trustworthy again.

That night, as he’s leaving Goliath’s lab, Bill Foster is attacked by the SotS because he’s black and in a nice neighborhood. Goliath finds him afterwards and vows to take out all of the SotS. He and the rest of the Avengers start to investigate them. Cap goes to see Nick Fury to see what info S.H.I.E.L.D. has on the info. This is the first time we get to see Nick in our reading! I’m so excited. I love Nick Fury. He’s such a dick, but almost always right. Anyway, while they’re investigating, the SotS attack the UN and then capture Cap. The Avengers pretend to be in support of the SotS in order to save Cap. And that’s where the issue ends! On that cliffhanger. I hate to do this to you guys…but we’ll be talking about the second half of this arc in the next post! I know, I know, I’m evil!!

This issue was fun, but also anvil-icious! I mean seriously, Stan Lee couldn’t have hit us over the head with this month’s message any harder. Prejudice and xenophobia are bad guys! (just in case you missed it!) But there’s also lots of good in this issue. This issue marks the very first time we see Hawkeye without his mask on! He’s a handsome devil, even if he is kind of a bro.

Also, we really get to see just how awful Hank Pym’s temper can be. He completely loses his shit on Janet when she tries to take care of him or help him. It’s really awful. And since I know what it’s leading towards, it’s also a bit like seeing the beginning of a car crash and knowing it’s going to happen no matter what. There’s no way to stop it.

But it’s not just Jan that Hank is awful to, although she does get the brunt of it. He barks orders at everyone and blows up violently at the slightest provocation. It’s this anger that makes Hank so interesting. He’s the most flawed Avenger, and because of that, in some ways the most human. But it doesn’t make it any easier to read. We’ll talk more about Hank as the series goes on. But for now, we need to hop back over to X-Men for a bit!

Issue #24 brings us the Locust. He is creating giant bugs to over run the xmen24country so that he can swoop in with his insecticide and save the day. The X-Men fight his giant bugs a few times and then eventually catch him. The professor convinces him he’s doing the wrong thing, and the Locust just gives up! It’s a fun little romp, and basically seems to serve as an “adventure of the month” just to advance some personal plot points for our mutants. Plot points like the following:

Jean is leaving. Her parents have enrolled her in Metro College since they feel it’s time for her to get a college degree. Afterall, the X-Men technically “graduated” from Xavier’s a while ago. This  departure allows both Scott and Warren to be sad at losing Jean, and we get to see that even now, none of these clueless teens seem to see how the others feel about them. Warren tries to cheer Jean up by letting her know that Johnny Storm goes to Metro too, but it’s an act that Jean sees right through. Meanwhile, both Jean and Scott are pouting about never having told each other their feelings.

But don’t worry my loves! Jean won’t be gone long! You see, Metro College is right in the city! So Jean can come visit whenever she likes. Which she does, just in time to help the boys out fighting Locust. Roy Thomas writes Jean so much more self-assured in her powers than Stan Lee did, and it’s a treat to read. She’s an equal in the fighting now. And she’s also the one who saves the day in this issue. (She realizes before anyone else that the Locust is using the antennae on his costume to control his giant beetles, and uses her powers to tangle them up, causing the beetles to attack the Locust instead of the X-Men.)  It’s also interesting to note that Werner Roth (aka Jay Gavin) draws Jean to be dressing in a much more sophisticated way once she’s at college. It automatically makes her seem older and more mature on her return to the mansion. It will be interesting to see how she continues to progress as a character under Roy!

Well, that’s all for now my loves! I have some more reading to do!! We’re almost done with 1966. I can’t wait! Until then, keep searching…

“Life Is Hard When You’re a Superhero”, Or Why I Love Scott Summers…

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, my loves!

So, I got a TON of reading done yesterday. Seriously. I read my way through like 10 issues (5 months of 1966!!). There’s a LOT going on in these 10 issues, and a couple different arcs, so I’m going to break them up into multiple posts, mostly for the sake of my own sanity. We’ve got some line-up changes in both books, as well as the return of some old friends and foes, so lets just dig in.

Avengers #28! This is sort of a stand-alone issue. By that, I mean that the main story doesn’t continue on into issue 29, but some of the plot points and loose threads do. This issue sees the return of Giant-Man and the Wasp to the Avengers. Hank Pym reveals his secret identity to the Avengers when he asks them to help him find Wasp, who has been missing since she warned the Avengers about Attuma in the last arc. It turns out she’s been captured by The Collector!! This is the first appearance of the Collector, and guys, I’m super excited. He’s such a creepy villain, and really interesting. (Also, I’m totally obsessed with Benicio Del Toro’s portrayal of him in the MCU!!) Anyway, Hank joins the Avengers (with a new costume and a new name! Say hello to…Goliath!) and they rescue Jan from The Collector and the Beetle. Turns out that’s who Hawkeye had tied up in the last arc. He disappeared because the Collector came and “collected him”.

The big take away from this issue is that Goliath and Wasp are back in the main Avenger’s line-up. Also, at the end of the issue, Goliath tries to shrink back down to normal size, but passes out and gets stuck at 10 feet. The issue ends with us not knowing what’s happened to Dr. Pym!

Possibly. But let’s be honest, we know he’s not!

Before we find out Goliath’s fate, lets jump upstate to Xavier’s and check in on our mutants!

  

Issues 20 & 21 give us the return of Lucifer, as well as the story of how he and the Professor originally met, leading to the Professor becoming paralyzed at the hands of Lucifer. We learn that Lucifer is an alien, but not from where he came. He’s trying to help his race take over the Earth and enslave the human race using a super computer and robots.

The X-Men are able to stop his robots, but before they’re able to deal with Lucifer himself, the leaders of his race step in and banish him to eternal exile for failing them. It’s actually kind of messed up. Remember when we talked about the Prof erasing memories and how it’s clearly a terrible thing but everyone acts like it’s totally okay, and preferable to death? This is another one of those things. Lucifer is banished to some realm with no sense of time or space, so he’s basically going to be stuck in a hell for all eternity. How is that better then killing him? It’s not. It’s totally messed up. And the only thing that makes it a little easier to swallow is that it’s the other villains that do this to him, and not our heroes. But just slightly.

Other things of note from this arc: First off, Roy Thomas’s first arc fits in seamlessly to the world Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created. His writing style is similar enough to Lee’s but he gives the characters a tiny bit more depth, which I love! Secondly, at the beginning of the arc, Scott decides to leave the X-Men. He feels like he needs to find a doctor to fix his eyes so that he’s no longer a “danger to everyone”. Here’s the thing…this is a little annoying to me, because I know that Scott will eventually grow into the great leader he’s meant to be, but it makes sense with his character thus far, and I really like it for that reason. Cyke’s biggest flaw is his martyrdom (at least for a few decades). He doesn’t see that he’s a born leader, or that he’s a good guy at heart. He only sees what he thinks is the curse of his eyes. They’re the reason he’s so sad all the time, and the reason he feels he can’t tell Jean how he feels about her. It’s pretty heartbreaking. It’s also what makes Scott one of my favorite characters. I’ve had many discussions with many fans over the years about Cyclops. There are a LOT of people out there that don’t like Scott. They think he’s too much of a boring, vanilla boy scout type.

Ten and I are judging the Cyclops haters

But I will argue for my ruby-eyed boy till I’m hoarse, because I think that analysis of him misses the whole point of Cyclops. Scott is a deeply flawed, severely scarred individual who has had a really hard, messed up life. We’ll be talking about this more as we learn more about his backstory, his family, and his relationships with Jean and especially the Professor! Just know that, if you don’t like Cyke, I will try to change your mind!  And, I’m judging you! LOL. Also, that was a REALLY long paragraph all about one mutant. Whew…I’m tired!

On that note, let’s hop back over the city and check on our mutant siblings and the rest of the Avengers!

Avengers # 29 & 30 bring us some old villains, and some new loves. This is a fun arc! First, we find out that Goliath is okay, but he is stuck being 10 feet tall. If he tries to change size again, the stress it puts on his cells will kill him. This leads to Hank storming off to pout for the first (but far from the last) time. This is also our first real example of Hank’s anger issues. Those will rear their ugly heads in the near future on more then one occasion.

Anyway, the main storyline here is that the Black Widow has returned to the US to try and defeat the Avengers. (She’s showed up in Tales of Suspense before. She was a Russian spy who falls in love with Hawkeye and then is captured by her communist handlers and taken back to “The East”). She’s been brainwashed into being a communist again, and enlists the help of the Swordsman and Power Man to take out the Avengers. The three of them manage to capture all of the Avengers except the Wasp and Goliath. The couple finally show up to save the others, and in the end, our villains escape because Hawkeye can’t bare to shoot his blast arrow at Natasha. He loves her too much.  Issue 29 ends with the Avengers heading back to HQ to regroup.

In issue 30, our Avengers split up a bit to take care of personal business while they wait to find where Black Widow, Swordsman, and Power Man have gone. Wanda and Pietro head off for Eastern Europe suddenly because they feel their powers are dwindling and think the answer to fixing them is at home. It’s very sudden, and not explained well. They’re mutants, so there’s no reason why their powers should be fading, but oh well.

Goliath takes off for South America to find a scientist that’s down there, who he believes can help him find a way to shrink back to normal size. Once he gets there, he learns that Dr. Anton has been kidnapped by a race of people living in a “forbidden land” who believe he’s there to steal their magic cobalt fire. Goliath attempts to rescue him and gets caught up in a war over the flames. It’s a little silly, but it IS fun to watch everyone freak out about the “giant” who has some to steal the magic fire.

And finally, Cap, Wasp, and Hawkeye track down our villains, and then Hawkeye insists on going after them on his own to make up for letting them escape. Hawkeye succeeds in defeating Power Man and Swordsman, with some last minute help from Black Widow. Apparently, her love for Hawkeye is so strong, it broke through the brainwashing! Yay!!

Notable things in this arc: Issue 29 gives us one of my favorite lines so far. Swordsman is carrying an unconscious Scarlet Witch and comments that she seems so frail and helpless. (GAG) The Black Widow immediately responds “So does an Asp…until it strikes”. I love it. On one level, Widow is reminding Swordsman not to be too relaxed about their enemies. On another level, she’s telling him (and thus the readers) that even though she’s a woman, Scarlet Witch is still a very formidable opponent. It makes this feminist happy to read. Especially in an arc where the women don’t get to do too much.

Also, Hawkeye has now decided to stop being such a dick (probably because Hank Pym is back to fill that roll *wink*). He and Cap are now all buddy-buddy, and I have to be honest, I think it might actually be more annoying then their fighting! I guess this is a classic “be careful what you wish for” moment!

Well my darlings, that’s all for now. I’ll be back soon so we can talk about what happens to Goliath in South America, as well as what’s going on at Xavier’s! Until then, my loves, keep searching…

Just a Quickie…X-Men #19

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello loves!!

This is going to be a quick post about X-Men #19.

xmen19

I wanted to post about it before I get into May of 1966, since those issues start new, multi-issue arcs for both titles and this is just a stand-alone issue. It is also the last issue written by Stan Lee. Staring with issue #20, Roy Thomas will be at the helm.

We salute you, Stan Lee!

So, in this issue the X-men fight Mimic. He’s basically a jack-ass with the power to “mimic” the talents, knowledge, and powers of anyone he’s close to. He decides to take on the X-Men to gain their powers so that he can retrieve a machine his father was building that would allow him to keep the powers he mimics forever, instead of them fading away when he’s no longer close to X-Men.

It’s a fun story. I have a few issues with it, and a few things I love about it. My biggest issue is that, yet again, Jean is a damsel in distress. Mimic kidnaps her in order to lure the rest of the X-Men to the mine where his machine is buried. It’s really frustrating to constantly get excited about character development for her, just to take two steps backwards. I wouldn’t even mind it so much if we were given a reason why Jean was the one captured. Like, maybe Mimic needs her telekinetic powers for the first phase of his plan. But no, we get no such reasoning. It’s just because she’s the girl, and thus the easiest to capture.

Nine is growing tired of this bullshit

On the other hand, her capture does allow for some of the story line that I loved! And speaking of love, Scotty-boy is in L-O-V-E you guys!! **SQUEE** I can’t begin to tell you how much I love Scott’s love for Jean, especially in the early days before he really tells her how he feels. It’s adorable, and he makes himself into such a martyr. I can’t help but fall for a guy who has those kind of issues. (I realize that I’m probably revealing a bit too much about myself right now, but oh well!) While sometimes, in the future, Scott’s blind devotion to Jean and his martyr act will become problematic, right now it’s just super corny and so sticky-sweet that it gives me cavities. And I love every second of it!!!

But enough about our young love birds. Let’s talk about powers again. Because in this issue, Professor X seems to be able to use his “mutant brain” to no only sense the presence of machinery, but also to effect in a way similar to how he effects people. This seems like a bit of a stretch to me. I find myself looking forward to the day that all of these character’s powers are named and given power sets that the writers adhere to for the most part. It’s becoming too convenient for the writers if Professor X or Magneto can basically do whatever they need to do and it’s all chalked up to “magnetism” or a “mutant brain” Also, according to this issue, Iceman has to worry about running out of ice? Since when? This has NEVER been mentioned before. I’ll be keeping my eye out for an instance where he either mentions it again, or he actually runs out of ice!!

And on that note, it’s time for me to leave you again my darlings. I must read the next arc of Avengers and X-Men! I can’t wait to see what Roy Thomas brings to the table. So, until next time, my loves! Keep searching….

Looking Forward to the 1970’s

Posted on by GenoshaGirl85

Hello, loves!!

So, I’ve read through The X-Men #8. That gets me through 1963 & 1964. I have to be honest, my main thought right now is that I can’t wait to get to the 70’s and Giant Size.

Don’t get me wrong, reading the origins of the original X-Men team and the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is fun. But also tedious. No offense to Stan Lee, but the ‘60’s style of having characters describe everything that’s happening by saying it out loud doesn’t age well. (And yes, I’m aware this was still happening in the ‘70’s. For some reason it bothers me less. I really can’t explain why.) The other reason this older stuff is so hard to read (and in this aspect, the 70’s may not be any better) is the way the book handles women. Specifically, Jean Grey. I mean, she’s basically there to be hit on outwardly or lusted after secretly by every member of the team, including Professor X. She’s also the weakest member of the team by A LOT and is constantly being carried by either Angel or Cyclops. As a modern woman and a feminist, it’s hard to read. I mean, I get that it was the normal treatment of female characters at the time. I also anticipate that seeing this treatment evolve somewhat will be fun as the project continues. But it doesn’t make it any less cringe-worthy to read.

But enough about the style of writing. Can we talk more about powers? Because currently, Magneto apparently has the power of astral-projection and the ability to sense Professor X and other mutants “mentally” just like the Prof. WTH?!? Is this like, an actual thing? Or is this just another example of powers not being fully defined yet? I’ll keep you guys appraised of the situation, because I’m sure you’re all as weirded out as I am about it! Lol. Also, I’d forgotten that originally Jean’s powers manifested only as telekinesis and that her (*spoiler alert*) telepathy didn’t manifest until later on. I don’t know when exactly that happens tbh, so it’ll be a surprise when I get there!

Now, some of you may be wondering how I’m collecting all of these issues to read them. I made myself a list. Basically, anything I can get in trade, I will. And the largest collection I can get, the better. What I mean by that is, if something is available in 6 paperback trades or 1 omnibus, I’ll get the omnibus. It’s actually almost always cheaper that way! But, it wasn’t until the late 90’s or early 00’s that Marvel started collecting everything in trade. Prior to that, it was mostly just major arcs or storylines that got made into trades. So, the random issues not available in trade from, I’ll get in issue form. Luckily for me, CNJ has a pretty big collection of back issues. And for the ones they don’t have, I have a Marvel Unlimited subscription. For now, that’s how I’m reading this 60’s stuff. There are two omnibuses that Marvel put out collecting the original run, but they’re SUPER expensive since they’re currently out of print. If they’re ever rereleased, or I ever have enough to buy them at their current prices, I will. Until then, Marvel Unlimited has what I need. However, once I get to a point that I’m using trades for my reading, I’ll be sure to post pictures and let you all know which trades!!

That’s all for now my loves! So, until next time…keep searching!!

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