Space-Born Super Hero Part 15: Captain Marvel #12

Last time in my look back on the series Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell's lover Una was killed and he was flung into exile in outer space, then pledged himself to the mysterious entity Zo, who granted Mar-Vell new super powers in order to get revenge on Yon-Rogg. So how is the series going to function going forward? Let's see with Captain Marvel #12 and the story "The Moment of -- the Man-Slayer!" by Arnold Drake and Dick Ayers (inks by Syd Shores).

This is the end of an era as it is Arnold Drake's final issue of Captain Marvel. Appropriately, Dick Ayers takes us back to the start as the opening splash page is a visual reference to Mar-Vell's pose on the cover of issue #1. We have a recap of Mar-Vell receiving his new powers; the first thing he does with his teleportation power is to visit Una on the asteroid where he left her body. He then monitors Yon-Rogg on the Helion, knowing he could appear at any moment and kill him. "But where would be the profit in that? Swift destruction is far too sweet a fate for you, Colonel!" Mar-Vell's dialogue has been extremely bloodthirsty since last issue; perhaps Una's death made him snap. Mar-Vell wants Yon-Rogg to suffer before he kills him. Our hero!

This decided, Mar-Vell decides to return to the hotel room where he was living as Walter Lawson - but as it requires mental concentration he slips up and instead appears in Cuba; on his second attempt, he reappears in the hotel and returns to his room. Which I guess is still rented to him, even though he's been off-Earth for more than three months. He seems to think that stealing a rocket from the Cape (last issue) "probably put the base out of business for a while! So his absence won't be significant!" He has obviously forgotten that Carol Danvers has been convinced 'Lawson' is a shifty character from the start. But checking a newspaper, Mar-Vell sees a rocket test is being conducted that very day and... look, why does Mar-Vell care about his Lawson identity? If his only motivation right now is to kill Yon-Rogg, then why is he picking up this fake identity which he only adopted so that he could help Yon-Rogg plan Earth's invasion?

At the Cape, General Bridges has given orders: shoot Captain Marvel on sight. Carol Danvers is naturally "disappointed" in this decision but is more concerned about Lawson's disappearance. General Bridges says something he should've said several issues ago: "You've got enough on the mysterious doctor to make your move! Do it!" Thus, Carol orders Captain Marvel be arrested when he appears. We turn now to the Black Widow in a top secret lab in the Caribbean... which is strange, as at this time she's an Avengers cast member who has never appeared in Captain Marvel previously. This makes her the series' second super hero guest star (after the Sub-Mariner). S.H.I.E.L.D. has sent the Black Widow to investigate something... it seems somebody has created a "bio-plastic" android, the red Man-Slayer.

We return to the Cape as 'Lawson' arrives, only to be arrested by the guards. However, then the Man-Slayer appears; like other robots in this series, Man-Slayer is a chatty Cathy: "I am a Man-Slayer! A being of bio-chemical and electronic perfection! Without emotion or feeble human motivations! I have but one function--to destroy men!" Needing to escape the guards, Mar-Vell uses his new power to create illusions and manifests a group of college peacenik protestors. When the guards turn their attention to the protestors (why aren't the guards already distracted by the attack of the Man-Slayer? why does Mar-Vell need two diversions?) 'Lawson' slips away to don his battle-suit. The Man-Slayer fights his way through the guards and heads towards the rocket so it can be destroyed.

Back in the Caribbean, the Black Widow draws a gun to threaten the unseen person manipulating the Man-Slayer, but more bio-plastic robots appear to menace her. "Stop where you are, my silly-putty pals--if you don't want me to puncture my initials through you!" Man, when Arnold Drake tries to channel Stan Lee it comes out like a word salad. The androids overwhelm the Black Widow while in the Cape, Captain Marvel battles Man-Slayer. Mar-Vell tries using his illusion powers on the robot but naturally they don't work on its robotic mind. The Man-Slayer thinks itself superior because of its "brute strength" but Captain Marvel channels his "searing, unending emotion of revenge!" Yeah, unending except for that he already passed up one attempt to confront Yon-Rogg. Just then, the Black Widow throws a micro-bomb which was concealed beneath her thumbnail; the bomb shuts off the Man-Slayer's energy transmitter, so the unseen manipulator uses a nerve gun to stun the Black Widow. The villain decides to use her as "live bait". For whom, you might well ask?

Anyway, the fight with Man-Slayer is over (off-panel) and Mar-Vell has resumed being 'Lawson' (off-panel) but realizes with everyone on the Cape against both of his identities it's time to move on; Mar-Vell teleports away in full sight of the Cape's guards. Is this the end of the Walter Lawson identity?

Thoughts: And so we bid Arnold Drake & Dick Ayers farewell; so far, Captain Marvel has gone through three writers. Arnold Drake spent the most time with the character and developed the first original villains for the series, but he mostly played with the characters and concepts which Stan Lee & Roy Thomas introduced - and his villains were not particularly memorable, with the Organization standing out as a terribly executed threat. In his final two issues, Drake seemed to be reinventing the book entirely - new powers, new status quo, killing off Una, getting away from the Cape. Maybe if he had been given more time he could have rewritten the concept into something which excited him. The sense I got from Drake's stories is that he wasn't terribly enthused by any of what he'd been handled; he was capable of better than what he gave to Captain Marvel. Dick Ayers did fine - it certainly didn't hurt to have Syd Shores on inks.

The use of the Black Widow in this story seems awfully random - Captain Marvel has mostly been left in its own corner of the Marvel Universe. Considering the original premise had a potential alien invader posing as a super hero, it would have been great to have him interact with Marvel heroes early on - someone he could be contrasted against. Even then, although the Black Widow is in this story, she and Captain Marvel share no scenes; she's mainly a device to defeat the villain.

I'm hoping that with Arnold Drake gone, the series might see some improvement - at the same time, I know the next few issues are primarily transitional. Well, bring it on...

Next: It's 1969; obviously if you need a new creative team on a Marvel title, you bring in Gary Friedrich & Frank Springer! Let's check out their first story with Captain Marvel #14.

Space-Born Super Hero Part 14: Captain Marvel #11

Today I'm looking back at Captain Marvel #11 (1969) as I continue my perusal of the pre-Starlin Captain Marvel stories. This particular issue is something of a landmark: It is the beginning of the story which comics fandom of the 1960s despised more than any other. I know I complained a lot about the lousy story in issue #10... but now we're into the material which caused fandom to turn against Captain Marvel. To this day, this material is routinely denounced by any fan old enough to remember its original release.

The story is called "Rebirth!" and is again scripted by Arnold Drake, but Don Heck has been replaced by Dick Ayers (inks by Vince Colletta). Actually, I think Ayers did some uncredited work on the previous issue. However, we haven't seen the last of Mr. Heck just yet. The tale resumes with Mar-Vell standing in front of the firing squad who are about to carry out his execution, when suddenly a beam of energy strikes the four riflemen and disintegrates them. And the answer is... the Aakon! They're back, launching an attack on the Kree... no, wait a minute... Captain Marvel is convinced he's fighting the Aakon, but Dick Ayers has drawn the Organization. The people whom Mar-Vell wiped out last issue. These guys are clearly humans, not the yellow-skinned Aakon. Wow, we're only on page 2 and the story is already crumbling apart.

Fortunately, the disintigrated soldiers left their rifles behind, so Mar-Vell grabs a pair and lays down some dual-wield fire on the 'Aakon'. As Mar-Vell slaughters his enemies he engages in an internal monologue about the necessity of violence which is meant to mimic one of Stan Lee's Silver Surfer meditations. Aboard the Helion, Yon-Rogg realizes he'll have to engage the Aakon in battle even though it means saving Mar-Vell's life. The Helion drops about a dozen armed Kree soldiers on Earth but a wild shot hits Una. Who fired that shot? We'll never know. Mar-Vell naturally blames Yon-Rogg and, apparently reunited with his uni-beam between panels, he fires it (uh, calling it his u-beam for some reason) to destroy Yon-Rogg's sidearm (which Yon-Rogg wasn't even holding in the previous panel). "I blast your weapon with my U-beam so that--I may claim your life with my--bare hands! Your pain is my joy! Your dread, my delight! And your ruin shall be my release!" Since when does Mar-Vell talk like this? And shouldn't he save his aggression for the Aakon who have been trying to kill him?

At one point Yon-Rogg fires what seems to be a uni-beam on his own right wrist, but then Mar-Vell warns him not to "retrieve" his weapon. What, the weapon Mar-Vell destroyed earlier? All through their fight Mar-Vell engages on bombastic, overwritten speeches. Just then, Una moans in pain and Mar-Vell realizes she's still alive - he could try to save her. Abandoning his fight with Yon-Rogg, he grabs Una and flies away. Yon-Rogg orders his men to shoot Mar-Vell down (I guess the 'Aakon' were defeated off-panel?) and offers 10,000 "kredits" for the one who shoots him down. Kree money is called "kredits"? Man, why didn't that factoid catch on? Do the Kree "kremate" their pet "kreatures"?

There's nowhere on Earth where Mar-Vell could go, so he decides to leave the planet by rocket. Wait, what? What about Dr. Lawson's lab? Wouldn't that be a pretty good place to hide out and perhaps access some medical technology to save Una's life? Or maybe Quasimodo's underground city? Well, this is the plot... Mar-Vell steals a rocket which is about to be launched from the Cape. And it seems this unmanned rocket which was being sent to the moon has an internal life support system and medical equipment which he uses to stabilize Una. The script doesn't attempt to address any of this. General Bridges and Carol Danvers watch the rocket launch with Mar-Vell aboard and decide Captain Marvel is now a traitor! (I mean, not that Captain Marvel was a citizen of the USA or an agent of the Cape, but whatever)

Una dies aboard the rocket without regaining consciousness. Mar-Vell weeps for her. "You are gone, Una! But you will not lie in anonymity! I will carve for you a shrine such as no fallen love has ever known! Through all space and time--your beauty and honor will live on!" And so he places her on a slab atop an asteroid near Mars. Since Mar-Vell will one day be buried in Titan, it's interesting that both he and Una are laid to rest in the Solar System. Mar-Vell notes the "near-vacuum of space" will preserve her body (uh, not sure of the science on that) and muses on "The complete exquisite love that once was ours! Camelot alone could match its majesty--and nothing equal its permanence!" So, at some point Mar-Vell learned about Camelot.

Yon-Rogg pursues Mar-Vell aboard the Helion and catches the rocket with a magnetic ray. Dragging the rocket on a veritable leash "at five times the speed of light", Yon-Rogg spins the rocket around then hurls him through space, sending Mar-Vell into exile. The next thing you know, 63 days have passed aboard the rocket and has only enough to survive 90 days more (that unmanned rocket had quite the life support system!). Mar-Vell finds himself remembering his parents; for the first time ever, we get an idea of his pre-military life as he recalls his parents died in experiments "in surpassing the speed of light". But surely his father couldn't have invented faster-than-light travel for the Kree, considering Sentry#459 had been on Earth for hundreds of years.

In the void of space, Mar-Vell sees weird creatures appear before him; you'd think they're hallucinations, but no, they warn Mar-Vell "do not cross the Forbidden Belt!" Mar-Vell ignores them and, on his 112th day, passes through a giant cloud and discovers a planet hidden inside. As he begins descent, a beam of energy emerges from the surface and catches the rocket, drawing it gently to the surface. Exiting the rocket, Mar-Vell finds nothing but "vaporous loam". Starving, "half mad" and heartsick over Una's death, Mar-Vell collapses on the surface, expecting to die.

When Mar-Vell awakens, he's surrounded by beautiful women in robes who are bringing him drinks. Mar-Vell may have awakened at a frat party. One of the women asks Mar-Vell if he wonders why he's recovered so quickly from his collapse or at his good fortune in finding the planet. Mar-Vell is having none of that: "I put no special significance upon the accidents of life!" However, the woman retorts that "even great Kree science--is unable to fathom more than half the truth of our universe!" The women lead Mar-Vell to a pair of golden doors and tell him behind the doors "lies all wisdom--and all life" then they vanish.

The doors open and Mar-Vell finds himself before a golden tower; amazingly, the tower speaks to him, identifying itself as "Zo" ("Oz" backwards). Zo tells him he was brought to this planet "by infinite wisdom and planning!" Mar-Vell takes a few leaps ahead and assumes Zo is responsible for everything that happened to him, so wonders why Una and other had to die. "You can not expect to understand the ways of Zo--yet!" Zo answers. To this, Mar-Vell calls Zo "you who claim all knowledge--and control over every being and event" even though Zo has made so such claim as yet. Mar-Vell tells Zo he no longer has a purpose in the universe and so is of no use to Zo. However, Zo notes Mar-Vell has a great motivation left: revenge. Mar-Vell agrees that he'd serve Zo in exchange for the power to destroy Yon-Rogg. Even though Zo hasn't asked Mar-Vell to serve him yet. Gah. And considering Mar-Vell could have killed Yon-Rogg earlier I don't think he actually needs more power. Still, there is that wrist monitor on Mar-Vell's left wrist which has given Yon-Rogg control over him in the past, so Zo demonstrates his "omniscience" by granting Mar-Vell the power to destroy the monitor.

Mar-Vell believes "no living being has the power to smash Daxilium--the strongest alloy known to Kree science! And the wrist monitor is pure Daxilium!" But simply by willing it, Mar-Vell shatters the monitor. Zo also takes away his uni-beam, claiming he has "no furhter need of it". Sure enough, Mar-Vell tests himself and finds he now possesses great cosmic powers: he can teleport himself faster than light, has even greater superhuman strength and he can cast illusions. Zo tells Mar-Vell to use this power to destroy Yon-Rogg, but afterward he must serve Zo. Mar-Vell agrees to this bargain.

Thoughts: So, this is a lousy comic. From Dick Ayers drawing the wrong villains to the disjointed conversation between Mar-Vell & Zo, it's becoming clearer that the problems with this book were not due to Don Heck but, more than anyone else, are the fault of Arnold Drake. I can't tell if he was hacking these stories out or if he was simply sloppy, but this series is crumbling apart.

Here we have the death of Una; her fatal injury should be a dramatic moment, but the book fumbles in its depiction. Una wasn't the first Marvel love interest to be killed (that would be Lady Dorma in the pages of Sub-Mariner), but Una does bring to mind Gail Simone's "women in refrigerators" axiom. Una only ever existed as a supplement to Mar-Vell's character; now that Drake has no further need of her, she's dead.

I suppose the good part of this issue is that we're finally done with scenes of Yon-Rogg trying to cause Mar-Vell's death or bring him to Ronan on drummed-up charges. Yon-Rogg is now officially Mar-Vell's nemesis - but at the same time, Mar-Vell has just been given such an outrageous power boost that one imagines he could end the whole thing by page 2 of the next issue.

It's interesting that in his run on Captain Marvel, Jim Starlin would also grant Mar-Vell a cosmic patron, in his case through the character Eon. However, Eon's purposes weren't introduced as a fumbling mystery - Eon needed a champion to battle Thanos and chose Mar-Vell. Zo, on the other hand, is a talking tower whose motivations are an utter mystery.

What is this book about? What was this book ever about? Mar-Vell was supposed to be an alien invader posing as an Earthman. One would think he'd gain an affection for Earth which would cause him to disobey his superiors; perhaps when his true purpose on Earth is revealed he'd be hated both by humanity and the Kree. And yet, the series seemed to take these things for granted - there was never a moment where Mar-Vell bonded with humanity. His angst was a late development and mostly out-of-focus. Instead, the conflict between Mar-Vell's role as a hero and his mission for the Kree was depicted through Mar-Vell fighting super-villains and Yon-Rogg making lame attempts to kill him.

What about Carol Danvers? General Bridges? Or heck, Chester the cabbie and Jeremy the hotel clerk? Uh... it wasn't exactly a rich supporting cast, was it? And what about Mar-Vell's days of posing as Dr. Lawson? It was never done well, but are we finished with that? How is Mar-Vell becoming a servant of Zo an interesting new status quo for this series?

Next: What the heck is Captain Marvel's new status quo? Maybe we'll find out in Captain Marvel #12!

Unearthed: Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #117

Today being Remembrance Day, I want to look at one of my personal favourite military comic books. The subject for today is Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #117, from 1974. Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos was, of course, the comic book which introduced the world to Nick Fury, who is better-known today for being the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. Stan Lee famously claimed he titled the book "Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos" to settle a bet that he could publish anything and make it a success, but that's probably a tall tale he came up with after the fact to "apologize" for coming up with that title.

The story in #117 is titled "Taps for a Drummer!" and is written by Gerry Conway with artist Dick Ayers and inker Vince Colletta. Although Ayers had been a part of nearly all of the series run, Conway wrote only a handful of issues. Indeed, while the series would trudge on to 1981's #167, issue #120 would be the last all-new story. Even at this time, the series was frequently pre-empted by reprints.

As the story opens, Nick is running the Howlers through an obstacle course and heaps more abuse on them than usual, even performing a barracks inspection. The squad thinks this is related to his recent capture and torture at the hands of Baron Strucker but that piece of continuity will have to be forgotten as Fury and Gabe Jones are summoned to see Captain Sam Sawyer. Sawyer tells the duo about a soldier who was recently captured by the Nazis and prepared to serve as a test subject for a new viral weapon. However, that soldier escaped with a sample of the virus when Allied bombing hit the Nazi base.

Sawyer then reveals the reason Gabe is part of this briefing: the soldier in question is Danny "Drummer" Belllaman, an old friend of Gabe's who used to perform with him in a Harlem nightclub (Gabe on trumpet, Drummer on drums, natch). Sawyer wants to ensure Drummer and the vial are returned safely to Allied hands and is counting on Gabe to use his connection to Drummer to help guess where he's headed. Intelligence has already pinpointed Drummer as being in London - but he hasn't approached the Allies because he's afraid if he gives them the vial, they'll use it as a weapon themselves. Thus, Gabe's friendship will also help convince Drummer to trust them.

Drummer wanders the cold streets of London and begins to reminisce about his past, but ends his introspection by musing: "Can't worry about the past. It's today that means something... and it's tomorrow that counts! That's what they taught you, Drummer. That's what they made you learn." Nick and Gabe ask around for Drummer and eventually learn he was in a club playing the drums. Unfortunately, there are two Nazi agents also in pursuit and they reach Drummer first, opening fire at him in an alleyway. Fortunately, Nick & Gabe aren't too far behind and they battle the agents while Drummer hides amongst some ruined buildings. Drummer is surprised to see childern playing amidst the rubble, life carrying on normally in spite of the war.

Gabe finally reaches Drummer to help him, but Drummer replies, "It's time I did something for number one... and brother, that's me." The fight with the Nazis causes some of the rubble to collapse but Drummer leaps into action to save the children's lives. The collapse separates both Nick & Gabe and the Nazis from Drummer. Gabe explains to Nick that Drummer is someone who was beaten down by failure all his life, which is why his priorities have suddenly shifted. Drummer brings the children he saved back to their parents and muses over the event. "Maybe that's what it's all about... helpin' a pair'a kids... helpin' a lot of kids... If something like this virus ever belonged to either side, some kids would have to die... and the way I feel right now... I can't let that happen... and there's only one way I can stop it-- by getting rid of this junk for good!" So saying, he drinks the vial's contents.

Drummer is soon found by the Nazis, but when they demand the vial he tells them he drank it. Unfazed, they declare they'll haul his corpse back to Berlin with them and recreate the virus from his remains. Nick & Gabe arrive again and Gabe uses the blare of his trumpet to temporarily rattle the Nazis. As they scuffle, even Drummer helps out, shooting one of the agents before he can kill Nick. However, Drummer informs them what he did. "Maybe I haven't proved anything, Gabe... 'cept this: all my life people've been forcing choices on me-- but this was one choice... I made myself! Gabe-- buddy-- the pain's getting bad. Will you help me--- this one last time?" With a tear in his eye, Gabe delivers a mercy kill to Drummer.

Thoughts: This issue was my introduction to the Sgt. Fury series and it made quite a favorable impression. Although Ayers' art looks very crude (not helped in the least by Colletta's sparse inks), Conway delivered a very strong script, one which examined perhaps the most interesting of the Howlers - Gabe. Gabe, of course, is more fictional than most of the Howlers - segregation still existed in the US armed forces of World War II; in some ways, World War II helped encourage segregation in that soldiers in all US states had to lower themselves to the racist laws of the south, rather than challenge the hegemony.

Regardless, Gabe provided a means for Sgt. Fury's writers to comment on race. Few of them took the challenge, but by 1974 there were so many new African-American heroes bursting into comics that it was less provocative than it would have been before. And, race aside, it's ultimately the story of one soldier sacrificing his life for his ideals and his best friend being confronted with that tragedy. All of the moving moments in this story play out on the last page, but that last page makes the entire experience worthwhile.

The allure of the vigilante hero

"We do not need to get good laws to restrain bad people. We need to get good people to restrain us from bad laws."

-G.K. Chesterton

Another tribute to Colin Smith's Too Busy Thinking About My Comics II; image from Rawhide Kid#36 (1963): "the Prisoner of Outlaw Town!" by Stan Lee & Dick Ayers.

A Tale of Two Custers

General George Armstrong Custer and his pitiable Battle of Little Big Horn: it's a popular historical tale ripe for the improvement which can only be found through the pages of a Marvel western hero comic book. So it is I bring you "Massacre at Medicine Bend!" from Rawhide Kid#60 (1967) by Gary Friedrich, Dennis O'Neil and Dick Ayers.

The Rawhide Kid meets with a Sioux leader named Bald Eagle who wants to make peace with the army before things get out of hand; the Kid brings his request to General Custer himself, but the Kid has to conceal his own identity, being a wanted man.

Custer isn't particularly inclined to believe the Kid's tale, but if there's any chance of averting a massacre, decides it might not be a bad idea. Unfortunately, when Custer heads to the appointed meeting place some Sioux agitators (and a white man selling them guns) start a fight; Custer winds up thinking the Kid was part of a conspiracy to have him murdered.

Considering this, he's rather merciful, simply ordering the Kid to leave and not return. To set the timeframe for this tale, we learn in closing the infamous Battle of Little Big Horn occurred just one week later. This dangling subplot would eventually be picked up in Rawhide Kid#91 (1971), just 31 issues after (even in western comic books, Marvel-time applies). This time, we peer in on "The Outlaw, the General, and the Little Big Horn!" by Roy Thomas and Dick Ayers.

The Rawhide Kid has returned to the Black Hills to find his never-before-heard-of cousin, son of the Kid's uncle Ben who died in his origin story; the Kid somehow thinks his cousin's testimony could clear him of being an outlaw, even though his cousin wasn't present when the Kid's uncle died... and never mind the Kid becoming an outlaw had nothing to do with his uncle's death (a sheriff saw him shoot a cattle rustler and didn't understand the circumstances; the Kid refused to be arrested, fled the sheriff and thus became an outlaw).

In the week since they last met, Custer has been to his stylist to have his hair curled. Fortunately, he hasn't been taking his lithium and doesn't recognize the man he promised to try for treason just seven days earlier. The Rawhide Kid has two factors in his favour:

1. He didn't give Custer his real name or alias last time.
2. The colourist has camouflaged him by colouring his hair blond.

Custer hires Johnny Bart to be a scout for the army. Unfortunately...

...Yep, Custer woke up sober that day. Soon he'll be asking himself, "where was this wanted poster last week when I needed it?"

Thus it transpires that the Rawhide Kid is sent to the stockades; Custer rides out to Little Big Horn to meet his appointed massacre and the Kid's cousin is amongst those who perish. What a senseless waste. Of trees.

It's a good thing both stories were drawn by Dashin' Dick Ayers and edited by Smilin' Stan Lee or some continuity errors might have crept in!