Space-Born Super Hero Part 41: The End.

Here are my parting thoughts on the series I've been running on this blog called 'Space-Born Super Hero'. The recent Captain Marvel motion picture prompted me to think about the character of Captain Mar-Vell, and in particular how out-of-focus his adventures prior to the arrival of Jim Starlin were. By the time Starlin drew Captain Marvel #25, Captain Marvel had been a Marvel super hero for about six years. What went on during those six years?

Now, my own exposure to Mar-Vell's earlier adventures was somewhat limited - although I wrote for The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, I never needed to delve into the character often. Heck, I'm not sure if I even had to do a write-up on the Kree. I suppose blogging about the early Captain Marvel stories interested me because it was an avenue of Marvel Comics I hadn't delved into before, likely the only 1960s super hero stuff I hadn't read from start to finish.

At the same time, I knew of the book's reputation. I knew many in fandom at the time despised the series because he had 'robbed' the moniker 'Captain Marvel' from the defunct Fawcett hero. I have some fascination with terrible comic books, as my Bitter Fruit series targeting the Shadow will attest. However, I also enjoy defying conventional wisdom. Perhaps the comics weren't that bad? So... what did I find?

Not as advertised.

Perhaps the strangest discovery I made was that the picture I had in my head of Captain Marvel's personality was all wrong. I'd based my ideas on Jim Starlin's stories (which I first read in The Life of Captain Marvel) and I had the impression that Mar-Vell came to Earth as an invader but had the heart of a hero, causing him to take a stand against the Kree. I knew he had loved Una and lost her to one of his enemies. I had this image of a noble but tragic hero who gives up everything from his upbringing to save Earth.

But... that's not really what happened. Mar-Vell is frustratingly obtuse about his motives throughout the early parts of the series. There is a sense that he's a dedicated soldier who refuses to betray his uniform, but at the same time is ordered to take hostile actions against humanity. However, he would find loopholes to avoid having to take a stand for his principles, such as in Captain Marvel #7 where he tricked Yon-Rogg into thinking he killed a town of people with a plague (they were all robots).

Instead, Mar-Vell lacks agency; Yon-Rogg despises Mar-Vell from the start and wants him dead (although strangely, not so much because of Una, which is what I thought his motivation was; he only really claims that was his motivation after Una dies). The Kree are shown as paranoid war-mongers who have it in for Mar-Vell and will execute him the moment he shows signs of disloyalty. In the end, what causes Mar-Vell to leave the military? He destroys the Organization after being told to form an alliance with them. Like, seriously, Mar-Vell is given the death sentence because he killed humans.

Once Mar-Vell is forced out of the military, he's motivated by revenge, not any affection for Earth or anyone else. His nobility is still lacking; even after bonding with Rick Jones, where Mar-Vell is frequently cast in the role of Rick's conscience, he mostly pops out of the Negative Zone to help save Rick from a problem he's gotten himself into. Again, where's the agency? What does Mar-Vell want for himself? Why does he do the things he does?

Such a limited sphere.

Part of what makes Captain Marvel so boxed-in and easy to avoid is that almost no one introduced in the pages of Captain Marvel goes on to bigger and better things. You've got Mar-Vell and his two iconic costumes; you've got him bonded to Rick Jones via the Negative Zone; you've got supporting character Carol Danvers... that's it. He is part of the Kree-Skrull War, but it goes on entirely in the pages of the Avengers, where the character with the most impact on the plot is the Vision. None of Mar-Vell's brand-new foes such as the Metazoid, Solam or the Organization went on to greater things. Heck, outside of Lou-Ann Savannah, almost no one in the first 24 issues has any bearing on Jim Starlin's run.

And there's Zo.

Yeah, Zo. So, Zo was terrible, but not quite as terrible as I'd been led to think. The idea of Mar-Vell having a cosmic benefactor is one which Starlin came back to with his character Eon. Zo, however, is just way too much of a non-character. Eon's purpose is clear from the start - he's a champion of life and needs Mar-Vell to help defeat Thanos, so gives him the power he needs. Zo doesn't explain what he wants or why Mar-Vell is the person to help him get it and grants him odd powers which Mar-Vell barely ever thinks to employ. Gary Friedrich added some minor interest to the character by bringing in trippy hippie visuals, but Zo's presence continued to highlight the problems with the series - which again and again, come down to Mar-Vell possessing a poorly-defined character motivation.

Was it all terrible?

No, certainly not. Gil Kane's issues were absolutely lovely and Mar-Vell appearances in the Avengers were all classic stories I quite enjoyed. I found much of Don Heck's art lacking, but he pulled off some very nice art in Captain Marvel#16.

There was promise, certainly. That's what I felt in the last few issues of Captain Marvel. Gerry Conway's story in Captain Marvel #22 started off well enough, but I felt Marv Wolfman whiffed it on the second half; the same thing happened with Captain Marvel #24, which had some nice art by Wayne Boring and great character designs, but became a little muddled when Wolfman had to write an ending to the story.

The nadir, I'm sorry to say, were the Arnold Drake issues. I commend him for trying to create new adversaries for Mar-Vell, particularly the Aakon. I also think his idea that Mar-Vell's other identity - Dr. Walter Lawson - was actually a villain was a fascinating idea, yet he barely glanced on it, other than using it as a means to get the world's worst robotic assassin into comics. I'm torn between which of his stories was the worst; was it the rushed and poorly-scripted Captain Marvel #10? Or was it Captain Marvel #11, where they muffed up Una's death, drew the wrong villains and introduced Zo? Wait, I take it back, #11 was definitely the worst.

I'm glad I know more about this little cul-de-sac of the Marvel Universe. And now to move on and never think of it again...

Space-Born Super Hero Part 39: Captain Marvel #24

Welcome back to 'Space-Born Super Hero'! Jim Starlin became artist (and soon writer) of the series Captain Marvel as of issue #25 and today I'm finally up to issue #24 (1973), precisely one issue before he completely redefined the character. So, let's revisit "Death in High Places!" by Marv Wolfman & Wayne Boring (inks by Ernie Chan). The story opens with a really sharply-drawn splash page of a woman called Madame Synn catching Rick Jones in the sites of her sniper rifle. There's an inset of her rifle's scope as she pulls in nearer---nearer--and pulls the trigger! Nothing happens. She turns to her boss, Dr. Mynde. "Had I actually fired, Rick Jones would now be very, very dead!" This is apparently all according to plan; Dr. Mynde, man with steel-gauntleted hands sitting in a wheelchair, activates a remote-controlled car loaded with explosives, sending it to run Rick over. Dr. Mynde has already calculated how long it will take for Rick to realize his danger and summon Captain Marvel (so apparently Rick's been lousy at the secret identity thing). Sure enough, Rick changes places with Mar-Vell and the hero diverts the car to where the explosion won't injure anyone. Mar-Vell wonders what exactly that was about.

Dr. Mynde is satisfied: "Rick Jones is definitely our little pigeon... and not even Captain Marvel can stop us." The final thread is Benjamin Savannah, Lou-Ann's uncle who we've come to know over the last two issues. Dr. Mynde tells Madame Synn to change her clothing from the skimpy skintight number she's wearing. "Ben would have a coronary if he saw you in your fighting garb." Mar-Vell fails to turn up any leads on the car which attacked Rick, so flies to Lou-Ann's apartment and switches places with Rick.

Rick finally unburdens himself to Lou-Ann about his life - the heroes he's fought alongside with and his connection to Captain Marvel. Soon they're at her uncle's home (what a hot date!) where Professor Savannah introduces them to his friend Leonard Mynde. Dr. Mynde talks about the changes which have happened to Rick's molecular structure (last two issues) and believes he can do something about the photon energy which Rick has been emitting. Rick agrees to let Mynde have a look. Mynde brings Rick to his estate all the way in Northern Virginia and shows off the small army of guards he has in ihs employ. Mar-Vell warns Rick that he senses an "evil aura" around Mynde but Rick is desperate to be released from his bondage to Mar-Vell. "Then you can find some other poor sucker who wants to be a hero!" Meanwhile, Mynde and Madame Synn are going over a plan to conquer the Pentagon. "Others have tried... Dr. Doom... the Red Skulll... but where they failed, I will succeed..." Unfortunately, Mynde terribly well-constructed plan is ruined because Rick is eavesdropping on him.

Mynde sends a few of his guards to rough up Rick, who insists on fighting for himself instead of bringing out Captain Marvel. However, once the trio of guards are beaten, Madame Synn throws a bolo which snares Rick's legs and she drops him with one punch. Dr. Mynde then rises from his wheelchair, showing off his entire body for the first time: he's a cyborg! Also, now he's ranting about ruling the Earth.

Mynde goes into a monologue (why yes, before you ask, he is a Republic serial villain) and describes how he and Professor Savannah designed weapons for the Pentagon. Savannah thought the weapons would be used for peaceful purposes, but Mynde had no such illusions. He knew there was a secret arsenal beneath the Pentagon where weapons such as theirs were housed and he was determined to get at them; his snooping cost him his government job. Then he discovered he was dying of radiation poisoning so he transplanted his head on to a cyborg body. As you do. "In my new body, I am invincible... immortal... and the dreams of an immortal are greater than those of any frail human. ...I dream of ruling the world." Mynde holds out Rick's Avengers ID card, which Rick threw away in Captain Marvel #17. Mynde retrieved the card and later saw Rick become Captain Marvel (which sounds dubious, as Rick went from New York to Florida by hitchhiking before becoming Mar-Vell).

Anyway, Mynde bided his time, rebuilding his cybernetic body so he could face Captain Marvel in a fight. He reveals Lou-Ann and Benjamin Savannah are his prisoners to force Rick to aid him with his plot. Rick drives Mynde and Synn to the Pentagon and uses his Avengers ID to gain access to the building (it's amazing to think that as a teenager, Rick was given the same kind of security clearance which the Avengers held). Mynde keeps Rick walking ahead of him as they move to the weapons room. Mynde summons a drone strike to hit the Pentagon just then as his private army begins a frontal assault and Rick uses the opportunity to become Captain Marvel. Mynde isn't worried, as he felt sure they would have to fight eventually. They seem evenly-matched so far as strength goes, so Mar-Vell resorts to grabbing Madame Synn to use as a hostage; this is a terrible plan, which Synn proves by tossing Mar-Vell with a judo throw.

Synn suggests Mynde should simply end the fight and kill Captain Marvel. Mynde agrees and readies a blaster from inside his cybernetic arm. However, Mar-Vell starts to revive. Synn lunges forward to deal with him, just as Mynde squeezes the trigger; his blast kills Synn instead of Mar-Vell. Mynde's mind snaps and he places the blaster to his own head, so insane with sorrow that he doesn't realize he's killing himself. Mynde dies.

Thoughts: A mixed bag. Wayne Boring's art is quite lovely, much better than the last two issues, it feels as though he were trying to channel Gil Kane. As I noted above, the splash page was very well done. The character designs are nifty too.

But Wolfman's story...! Once again he resorts to odd coincidences to place his plot together, with Mynde not only an old friend of Professor Savannah, but also somehow watching Rick back when he and Mar-Vell were bonded? It's too contrived and Mynde is too much of a typical comic book super-villain. It would actually have been more interesting if Mynde were trying to manipulate Rick without knowing of his link to Captain Marvel, while Rick simply held Mar-Vell back out of stubborness... much as the story played out, in fact. The way Rick has begun to resent Mar-Vell makes him a fairly unpleasant lead character, while poor Marv has become a supporting character in his own title! Something had to change and that something was, of course, Jim Starlin...

Next: ...But we're not there quite yet. Another quick detour to Avengers #108 before the end!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 37: Captain Marvel #23

Welcome back to 'Space-Born Super Hero' as I examine the pre-Jim Starlin years of Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel - and we're very nearly at Jim Starlin! Today I'm up to Captain Marvel #23 (1972) and the story "Death at the End of the World" by Marv Wolfman & Wayne Boring (inks by Frank McLaughlin). I have no idea why Gerry Conway didn't stick around to finish the story he began last issue. Anyway, we resume with Captain Marvel encountering Megaton the Nuclear Man, who is in serious danger of exploding (and beating DC's Firestorm to his own tagline). Megaton is raving insanely about getting back at his rivals, even wishing to strike back at his wife Christine and brother-in-law Raymond. In this state, he even attacks Mar-Vell, so the hero defends himself - but it's difficult because the radioactive Megataon is emitting heat from his body and even grows in size as they fight. Mar-Vell flies straight up into the sky while holding Megaton and drops him into a power station, hoping the station will leech of his excess energy. However, well-intentional emergency crews move in to save Megaton and while he's been weakened, he's still very dangerous.

Mar-Vell feels drained of power and switches back to Rick Jones; Rick is similarly weakened, much as he would get in his earlier adventures with Mar-Vell. He stumbles into a cafe where Lou-Ann is singing and collapses. Lou-Ann remarks "Every time I see you, you're passing out," and helps carry him back to her uncle, Professor Savannah. The professor's setup seems to have changed slightly since last issue as he now has a robot called Nuron who helps him ferry Rick to a table where he can give him another photon ray treatment.

Meanwhile, the weakened Megaton is brought to a Manhattan jail by the police who found inside the ruined power station. They throw him in a cell with a man named Hawker and Megaton flashes back to his origin again. This time we get additional details: the scientist had found something was draining their station's nuclear reactor and Jules went on a search to find out what; he discovered an outpost of the Kree and walked right into a psycho-tron device which automatically ensnared him and began performing psychological tests on him. Jules began going insane from the tests until he finally got out of the Kree base and went to bring the other researchers there, but when he returned, the psycho-tron exploded. Jules began glowing with energy as they returned to their station, which is when it exploded. So, now we know a little more about why Jules is so unstable. Finishing his reminiscence, Megaton drains energy from Hawker to empower himself, then breaks out of his cell and does the same to the police, again growing in size. But he's not satisfied yet - he wants more energy. "Enough to trample this whole blasted earth..."

Rick is being subjected to the photon ray treatment when Megaton bursts in, determined to soak up energy from the ray machine. Rick tries to concentrate and bring Mar-Vell back to fight Megaton, but he can't do it. Realizing Megaton is nearly critical mass, Rick tries to warn him. Uncertain whether Rick is right, Megaton picks him and flies them both to the Arctic and the scene of the Kree base (I guess Megaton can fly now?). Fortunately, there's a pair of Nega-Bands just sitting there in the outpost, so Rick puts them on, then clangs them together to unleash Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell insists that Megaton is dying, but Megaton refuses to listen and starts belting Mar-Vell with waves of radiation. The panels begin listing a countdown, starting at 50 seconds. Megaton asserts there's a machine in the Kree base which will drain his excess energy, but he doesn't even bother looking for it, instead continuing to battle Mar-Vell. Mar-Vell brags, "In the universal scheme of things--you're nothing! Even the cowardly Skrulls were more of a match than you... and still Captain Marvel defeated them!" Er, if he's referring to the Kree-Skrull War then it was Rick who did the heavy lifting, not Marv.

Mar-Vell finally carries Megaton straight into the air and hurls him up high, allowing him to explode. Man, atomic explosions happen fairly often in this series, don't they? (see Captain Marvel #4 & Sub-Mariner #30). Even if it hadn't been for Nitro, it's little wonder Mar-Vell eventually died of cancer.

Thoughts: After a decent first part by Gerry Conway, unfortunately Marv Wolfman kinda muffed the climax. It's never a good sign when a super-villain's origin is retconned one issue after his first appearance; I don't see that the entire Psycho-tron experience added anything to Megaton - I assumed his weird mutation was causing him to lose his mind, not that he'd been placed into a psychological test. Ultimately, it seems Wolfman only revised Megaton's origin as an excuse to get Rick Jones into a Kree base where he could find some new Nega-Bands. Even then, he has to invent new powers for Megaton to accomplish it, and Megaton's rationale for going there is half-baked too (he claims there's a device which will save him but it's unclear how he knew that and he loses all interest in checking if his powers really are killing himself the instant he brings Rick to the base).

Basically, Captain Marvel remains a series trying to find its footing, still not sure what it's about. Last issue Conway introduced the idea that Rick resents sharing his life with Mar-Vell and there's a little more of that in this issue. It's an attempt to give the series some classic Marvel angst, but boy, it makes Rick and Marv a lot less pleasant to spend time with. The best element of this two parter remains Lou-Ann Savannah, the most welcome love interest for Rick.

Next: We divert back to Avengers #106 for a Captain Marvel guest appearance!

Dracula Month Day 13: Tomb of Dracula (magazine) #2

To close the lid on my look at Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula I'm moving to the black & white Tomb of Dracula magazine which succeeded the comic book series. Specifically, I'm interested in looking at Tomb of Dracula #2 (1979): "The Dimensional Man" by the usual Tomb of Dracula scribe Marv Wolfman but joined there by the legendary Steve Ditko!

Dracula is virtually a guest star in this story as instead the point-of-view character who carries most of the action is the Dimensional Man, a member of a cult who worship the demon Asmodeus. The Dimensional Man was exposed to demonic energies during a ceremony and became a succubus, feeding on other people's life energies - in that sense, not unlike Dracula. Now against the cult who raised him, the Dimensional Man tries to save his sister from being sacrificed to Asmodeus. Fortunately, the Dimensional Man has help - in the form of Dracula, who had befriended the sister.

Steve Ditko is not Gene Colan; while Colan was a master of the shadows with moody artwork well suited to black & white, Ditko was and is a very bright artist, one whose weird imagery is accentuated by colour. Despite this, Ditko did a fine job adapting himself to the style of a Dracula comic. The Dimensional Man feels like the kind of character Ditko was more comfortable writing about, right down to the hat & coat visual found on other Ditko heroes (The Question, Mr. A). This story stands on its own, not tying into the rest of Marvel's Dracula comics even with Wolfman as the scripter. However, I think it's the best story from the brief 6-issue magazine run simply because Ditko committed himself so readily to this format; if you enjoyed Ditko's other black & white horror magazine work (Creepy, Eerie) you'll want to check this out. As to the Dimensional Man, he's actually turned up a little outside of this story; check out his profile at the Marvel Appendix.

Dracula Month Day 12: Tomb of Dracula #69

Today I'm looking at another issue of Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula series. This time it's Tomb of Dracula #69 (1979): "Batwings Over Transylvania" by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer. The ongoing plot in the later issues of Tomb of Dracula concerned Dracula losing his vampiric powers; by #69 he had regained his abilities but learned another vampire had claimed his role as vampire lord, making Dracula an enemy of his fellow vampires.

In this issue, Dracula returns to his homeland, Transylvania, with a heavy mob of vampires chasing him. Dracula finally flees into a farmhouse for shelter from his enemies, only to find the home is occupied by children whose devout mother has taught to defend themselves against vampires by outfitting them with garlic and crosses. For all that, however, the children don't realize their guest is a vampire.

It becomes an interesting situation as Dracula goes from looking to eat the children, to barricading their home against the attacking vampires and finally, to combat his foes, picking up a cross to ward the other vampires away, even as the cross burns his own flesh. The children are left thinking Dracula was heroic, little guessing his true nature. It's a clever situation and one of the best latter-day Tomb of Dracula tales.

Dracula Month Day 11: Tomb of Dracula #30

Today I'm looking at another issue of Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula series. This time it's Tomb of Dracula #30 (1975): "Memories on a Mourning's Night" by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer. Similar to issue #15, this story features Dracula reminiscing about his past as a series of short vignettes bring to light his past misdeeds.

This time out, Dracula's memories are linked by a common theme of romance and loss; Dracula had just lost Sheila Whittier, a woman he'd been romancing (she ultimately jumped out a window to avoid him). First, Dracula recalls a noblewoman who claimed to love him and directed Dracula to murder her husband, but then had an army of men kill Dracula in return; when Dracula revived, he turned her into a vampire to serve him. Second, Dracula encounters a blind girl whose father has just murdered the girl's mother; Dracula kills the father and tells the blind girl he obtained revenge for her, but is shocked when the child isn't pleased. Finally, Dracula recalls his days in China when a certain fellow named Blade tricked Dracula into an ambush where Blade and his allies destroyed him.

"Memories on a Mourning's Night" is particularly significant within the series because it's the first look into Blade's past, but much like issue #15 it enhances Dracula's legend by demonstrating some of the battles he'd had in the past were as exceptional as anything he'd been involved in during contemporary times. Although Marvel's black & white magazine Dracula Lives ran alongside the colour comic and regularly told stories of Dracula's past, they never approached the grandeur of Wolfman & Colan's Dracula.

Dracula Month Day 10: Tomb of Dracula #25

Once again I'm looking at one of my favourite issues of Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula series. This time it's Tomb of Dracula #25 (1974) and the story "Night of the Blood Stalker!" by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan and Tom Palmer.

This tale is told from the perspective of a heretofore unfamiliar character: Hannibal King. King is a private detective who is hired to investigate a man's death and it leads him straight into the realm of vampires, ultimately to Dracula himself. King is barely fazed by this as he's had experience with vampires before; indeed, as is revealed in the final panel, he's a vampire himself! This was an explosive conclusion to the story and one which was well-prepared (King's reflection doesn't appear in mirrors while others do). It also raised all sorts of questions - no vampire in the series had been able to pose so successfully as a human: how had King managed to remain so humanlike? How was he able to resist Dracula when so many other vampires are subserviant to him? Answers were coming and although Wolfman used King sparingly, he was always a welcome figure.

This was before the trope of 'vampire detective' had led to shows like Forever Knight or Angel; indeed, the story's title suggests Wolfman's own influence was the TV series Night Stalker. Hannibal King is one of my favourite Marvel Comics characters, particularly when written by Wolfman. If you can find copies of Journey into Mystery #520 & 521 (1998), you'll fin an excellent two-part Hannibal King tale by Wolfman therein.

Dracula Month Day 9: Tomb of Dracula #15

Over these next few days I'm going to examine Marvel Comics' Tomb of Dracula comic book series, which ran from 1972-1979. It was easily the most successful of Marvel's brief horror comic book boom and all of the success belongs to the creators, especially the moody shadowy artwork of Gene Colan and that all but six issues were written by Marv Wolfman. The series also succeeded because of the strong emphasis on its supporting cast, allowing Dracula himself to be a wicked, villainous characters while the heroics were usually left to the vampire hunters. In that sense, it was akin to Stoker's novel.

Tomb of Dracula #15 (1973) featured the story "Fear Is the Name of the Game!" by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan and regular inker Tom Palmer. This story presented something a little offbeat from Wolfman's usual pace as instead of continuing the ongoing plotlines the issue takes a breather while Dracula composes a few entries in his diary. Very quickly a number of Dracula tales are told, each about 3 pages long and ranging across the breadth of his life. Some of the tales existed to patch up continuity, but others could have easily comprised the contents of a full issue themselves: a hunter shoots a bat from the sky, then sees the fallen animal turn into Dracula; Dracula sees a woman fatally wounded by her husband and converts her into a vampire so she can have revenge on her killer; Dracula meets an immortal man who has lived 1700 years and wants to die; a Scotsman battles Dracula in his castle and drives a stake into his heart.

I recommend this lone issue to anyone who wonders what Wolfman & Colan's Tomb of Dracula was about; these four short stories are indicative of the storytelling quality throughout the series. If you want to sample just one issue to see if you like it, this is probably your best bet. It's only $1.99 at Comixology.