CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 - The Curse of 70's Marvel Writers

This is one of the first comic books I remember reading. I would've been 9 or 10 at the time and it just sort of appeared in our household. I was another few months away from actually buying one off the stands. The cover is pretty outstanding, especially to the eyes of a 9-10 year old, with those bright primary colors popping. The action practically jumps off the page. How could I resist?

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

It starts off in a standard way for a Marvel Comics - continued from last issue - with one of the oldest gimmicks in comic book writing - the villain is so sure he's finished off the hero, that he leaves them to die, VERY SPECIFICALLY leaving the means to save themselves, seemingly just out of reach. 

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

I don't know why, as a kid, I found this funny, but I just did. Even now it just seems forced. That silly bird, and the unnatural way that Cap is speaking. Marvel Comics writers LOVED this type of pompous, over explanatory dialogue. I thought then, and still do now, that it just sounds goofy.

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

EVEN WORSE, is when Englehart turns to a narration voice on the ENTIRE page following. Oh my god, this is just torture to read. "Agony calls his Name...", "A Thunderous Pop..." (of the serum cap coming off???), and "A Soft Voice Calling, Crooning... Quit... Relax... Sleep!" LOL

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

Yeah... Amazing Spider-Man #33, it's NOT. So Cap and the Falcon split up.... the Falcon to find where this Viper character is, and Cap to try and find someone called the Cowled Commander. 

Cowled Commander? I didn't really care. Seems like someone made up to try and spice the story up.

This Police Sergeant thinks it's Steve Rogers.

I wasn't a fan of Sal Buscema's art when I was younger. Later on I realized it was because they usually paired him up with a thin lined inker. Here though, he's inked by John Verpoorten, who really makes Sal's storytelling stand out. 

I like the art in this issue.

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

Meanwhile the Falcon is talking to bad guys from Harlem - pretty cliche - and trying to tie this together with other Marvel Comics, including Spider-Man. At the time the Amazing Spider-Man book was the 3rd or 4th best selling comic in America, and Cap was... around the 30th (of what numbers we have available). 

Spidey sold around 280,000 copies a month to Cap's 175,000. 

Under Englehart it never got higher than about 185,000.

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

Here's a perfect example of Marvel Comics and how it worked with the Marvel Method. It's ass backward. Sal Buscema draws something and the writer - having nothing to really drive the plot with - simply explains what we can already see - and then adds clever quips to Cap's dialogue (sounding more like what you'd read in Spider-Man). It doesn't fit his character...

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

Having taken the 'serum' to save himself at the beginning of the story, Cap just now realizes it has GREATLY increased his strength... nice framing of this by Buscema. Thankfully HERE, Englehart lets the art mostly tell us what we can already see. 

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

Falcon meanwhile goes to confront Viper, deciding to take a little sip of that serum himself!

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

    Out of the blue, Cap's landlord tries to blackmail him. Not sure if this was followed up on or not. Didn't ever have enough interest to read further...

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

Lee, without Kirby, in the Silver Age, created some really lame ass villains with Dick Ayers and Don Heck*, that... didn't exactly leave their mark on the hobby. All of those Marvel writers from the 70's occasionally pulled them out to use and... well... they look a lot more silly than menacing. No wonder I never bothered to chase down the next issue!

* actually the Eel was with Steve Ditko.

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema)

In Cap #162, on the letters page, it praises this panel from the comic. Seems suspicious to me.

(CAPTAIN AMERICA #158 cover-dated February 1973, on newsstands November 7th, 1972, with cover art by Sal Buscema - The letter from Cap #162)

Speaking of suspicious....

(From CAPTAIN AMERICA #162's letters page )

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SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Everything but the Kitchen Sink!

I swear I have a whole bunch of Marvel's to review coming up, but I was in the mood to read some of these DC's that I, for some reason, didn't even see when I was a kid. Case in point: To keep pounding home their meal ticket's vast array of supporting characters, DC put out these 68 page, multi-story comics. And just to make sure it sold, they put a Gorilla on the cover!

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - cover art signed by Frank Brunner)

There's a little bit to that.

The legend has it that when DC put a gorilla on the cover of Strange Adventures #8 in May of 1951, they saw such a noticeable sales surge that they started to regularly put gorilla's on the covers of various issues. Editor-in-Chief Julius Schwartz had to put a 'one per month' rule on it to make sure they didn't over do it!

In The Comics Journal #214, long time DC artist Sheldon Moldoff said: "It was a question of trying to find something that sold, and if one issue came out and it happened to sell, then immediately they would follow that type of story. Now, it didn't neccessarily follow through that they were going to sell. Now, I know Jack Schiff, when he was the editor of Batman, he followed sales very well. When he found that a gorilla on covers sold, then you could be damn sure that in an issue or two you're going to have another gorilla story."

Sounds plausible. One day, I may... research it... 

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Ric Estrada with inks by Wally Wood)

And hey, why not put one in bed with Hawkman's wife?

The opening story, 'The End of the World' features Hawkman becoming a gorilla and going on a crime spree. Written by Steve Skeates, who got his start as Stan Lee's assistant (it didn't go well), before writing at Tower Comics with legendary artist Wally Wood (who inks this story). Drawn by longtime artist Ric Estrada, it's an interesting pairing of talents.

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Ric Estrada with inks by Wally Wood)

As a fan of Romance Comics, you can certainly see the influence here. Despite waking up with a gorilla in her bed, who turns out to be her transformed husband, Hawkgirl makes sure she gets her outfit right before heading out! Estrada has a very Ditko influence here, I suppose brought out by the inks of Wally Wood. In fact, I wonder how much of this Wood actually just drew himself.

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Ric Estrada with inks by Wally Wood)

I mean... how much influence over this whole story did Wood have? This sequence could be right out of a Sally Forth story! Except... ya know... she has clothes on...

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Mike Grell)

I don't remember doing it, but I sent away for this and cherished it so much I still have the original. Man is it beat up! But one of my earliest comics I remember loving was Superboy #195 (Legion back-up story with the first Wildfire, then as Erg-1) and Superboy #198 (with a FULL Legion issue with Superboy vs the Fatal Five), followed by a few Grell issues. I thought the Legion was very modern looking and exciting compared to some of the boring old DC heroes.

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Ramona Fradon)

Speaking of boring old Superheroes (aw, I like these guys - I do!), the next story teams up Aquaman and Green Arrow, as their villains come up with a great idea of switching the way they do crime - in order to confound the water bound Aquaman and the land lover Green Arrow. I'm a big fan of cartoony art, when it's done well, and Ramona Fradon is one of my favorites of this era (this story is reprinted from Adventure Comics #267, December 1959).

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Ramona Fradon)

EC Comics may have been run out of business with their horror and violence, but this was still an era when the bad guys could pull out shotguns and blow your headlights out! CAR headlights that is (or in this case Truck headlights). Hmmm... a truck? Aquaman strikes me as more of a sportscar type of guy, but... he IS outdoorsy, so I guess it makes sense.

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Ramona Fradon)

And sure, just use the swordfish to pin these guys against the wall...

And you have to love the bubble helmet he has to wear. I think they should've stuck with that look. It gives him a unique appeal, that no other hero has... I mean... What mainstream hero wears a Bubble Helmet? That's actually pretty cool.

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Lee Elias)

Lee Elias, who I know more from his work in the 50's, is the artist on the Green Arrow side of the story and so we get... Godzilla? I have to admit, when I started reading this, I wasn't expecting Green Arrow and Speedy to be underwater, shooting arrows at a fire-breathing Godzilla knock off.

So there's that!

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Neal Adams)

Did we forget to include anyone in the Super-Team Family? We sure did!

So here's Batman, Superman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Robin and even Jimmy Olsen, who isn't super at all!

Reprinted form World's Finest Comics #176 (June 1968), it was written by DC workhorse Cary Bates and drawn by Neal Adams!

It's about an alien who's on the run from his planet where they're trying to kill him and a fellow alien law enforcement agent who says he's a criminal. For some reason, neither the World's Greatest Detective or the World's Greatest Alien can determine which one is lying, so they each take a side against the other!

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Neal Adams)

The female characters seem to get a rough go of it here...

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Neal Adams)

But Superman gets the most crushing blow of all. Is it me, or does Batman just always seem to take such great delight when he finds a way to one up old Supes?

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Neal Adams)

Cary Bates was probably one of the more 'hip' guys at DC Comics during this period - which isn't saying much. Compared to Ted Knight, Mary Tyler Moore seemed like a swingin' chick. 

Nevertheless, Bates could provide some modern humor into things...

(SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #3 - Cover Dated Feb/Mar 1976 - on Newsstands November 25th, 1975 - art by Neal Adams)

Overall, a pretty decent issue, with some good art. See! I should've just had fun and read some more DC's when I was a kid!

METAL MEN #9 - The FIRST Quirky Team?

I'll be quite honest. I'm really not all that familiar with the Metal Men. 

But the research has been fun!

(METAL MEN #9 - Cover Dated Aug/Sept 1964 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - cover art by Ross Andru)

Many might think the Metal Men were some kind of rip off of the X-Men or the Marvel ‘team’ concept in general, as they’re a quirky group of misfits with a behind the scenes mentor (ala Professor X) - but the truth is, the Metal Men pre-dates the X-Men by a year and a half!

(Not to get off specifics too much here, but it’s actually the Doom Patrol, who it is rumored to have been put together, based upon inside information on Marvel’s upcoming X-Men series. It debuted on newsstands April 18, 1963, while the X-Men showed up almost three months later on July 2nd, 1963. So who copied who?)

First appearing in Showcase #37 (on newsstands January 30th, 1962), you have to figure, at the time when letters pages printed letters from 3-4 months earlier, that the first appearance was written sometime in September 1961. That means that realistically the concept predates all but the first issue of the Fantastic Four. (FF#2 hit newsstands on September 28, 1961). 

So are the Metal Men the first quirky, off-beat team?

(METAL MEN #9 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - art by Ross Andru)

Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru, the Metal Men were a successful 2nd tier series for DC Comics that saw them peak in the mid 60's (#12 in 1966) but falter later in the decade and eventually get canceled and mostly disappear for two decades.

Here in issue #9, the second part of the storyline 'The Playground of Terror', called 'The Robot Juggernaut!', Kanigher and Andru have the team bickering and falling over backward to get their act together while taking on a giant robot. 

This is the type of behavior that history tries to tell us that only Marvel did, but obviously, that isn't true.

(METAL MEN #9 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - art by Ross Andru)

So why doesn't it work with Metal Men for me?

When the Russians beat the United States into space in the 1957, our government looked around and saw a nation of rural, uneducated workers. They set about to push education with an emphasis on math, science, reading, etc. By the mid 60's, what you had was a higher educated American than 10 years earlier, and as such, their need for reading that matched their skill level had gone up. 

Not that Metal men is dumb... it's NOT. Robert Kanigher's scripts usually seemed to include information about actual metals and science, on top of having a sense of humor about it that certainly made it a bit more 'hip' than Superman Comics.

(METAL MEN #9 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - art by Ross Andru)

And if I had been 13 years old in 1966 (I was 3), I probably would've thought this was awesome. In hindsight though, it reminds me of a lot of DC Comics from this period (vs it's Marvel competition) in that it seems to be geared toward a younger reader.

This would eventually catch up to DC by 1970 as Marvel's continued stories, human characters, social commentary (observed mostly as oppossed to preached) and rabid, older fan base would eclipse them as the #1 publisher of comics.

(METAL MEN #9 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - art by Ross Andru)

I mean, even though these characters joke around and seem to have human characteristics... the truth is, they're robots. It just doesn't register with ME, the way Peter Parker/Spider-man did (one of the few comics I would remain reading into my post teen years).

Once again... it's not BAD. It's moderately entertaining. 

Just not the kind of thing that makes me want to track down back issue, get a subscription, and follow for the rest of my life.

(METAL MEN #9 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - art by Ross Andru)

And it's weird, but Ross Andru's art here just doesn't 

(METAL MEN #9 - on Newsstands June 25, 1964 - art by Ross Andru)