RIP: Neal Adams

Comic book artist Neal Adams died three days ago, aged 80.

Adams was easily one of the most influential artists of his time - John Byrne and Bill Sienkiewicz were both heavily influenced by his style and Larry Hama was one of the many he mentored. He drew some of the definitive Batman, Green Lantern, X-Men and Avengers comics.

I have to say, though, that he didn't have a great impact on me as a fan; growing up as a reader in the 80s and 90s he was someone I heard about often, but he wasn't working for Marvel or DC then and his old stuff was scarce. I knew of him - I heard the anecdotes about how his Deadman comics were supposedly the only DC Comics Stan Lee liked, or how he was offered anything at Marvel to draw but chose X-Men because it was the lowest-selling book.

I think if I had read him when I was younger his work would occupy a vivid space in my mind, but I'm afraid I didn't come to him until much later. I still like his work, but after a couple of generations of his successors could fine-tune his concepts, what he did wasn't groundbreaking when I finally came to it. It still pops out, but I'm afraid I grew up in the age of flashy Image artists, so it doesn't push the envelope any more.

Still, there were all the stories about Adams; about how he's a weirdo who belives the Earth is expanding in size; about standing up for Siegel and Shuster when DC made the Superman movie; or any of the numerous anecdotes where he stood up for fellow comic book creators, using his cache to force the publishers to make better deals.

Rest in peace, Mr. Adams.

Rest in Peace: Dennis O'Neil

A few days ago, comic book writer and editor Dennis O'Neil passed away at age 82. He was best known for his work at DC Comics, especially as the Batman group editor during the franchise's biggest years. As a Batman writer, he'll always be remembered for creating Ra's Al-Ghul and Talia with artist Neal Adams. I don't think it can be over emphasized just how significant it is that Ra's and Talia have become mainstays of the Batman franchise. Batman villains tend to be 'gimmick' villains in the fashion of Dick Tracy, so to grant Batman adversaries whose schemes were big, globe-spanning events, was a huge step-up from the hero's usual gutters. Although I've never been especially fond of Batman, I do think the late 90s status quo under O'Neil where Nightwing was in Bludhaven, Tim Drake was Robin, Cassandra Cain was Batgirl and Oracle led the Birds of Prey was a pretty great status quo for the cast of characters.

Aside from Batman, he's also renowned for his Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories with Neal Adams from the 1970s, the "hard travelling heroes" era where the duo faced contemporary social problems. It led to the scene above, which I do have some problems with -- namely that Green Lantern, as a hero whose stage of operations is intergalactic, has frequently been in a position to save the entire planet, so this armor-piercing question seems rather unfair; it would be better to fire this question at a hero such as Batman, a hero who, even now in 2020, pretty much exists to defend a white status quo. But this was pretty provocative stuff in 1970 and even today it's not a question publishers seem eager to have asked of their heroes.

I'm really a Marvel fan, but although worked there for several years there's little that I like; he wrote one of the most forgettable runs on Amazing Spider-Man, his only lasting creations being Madame Web and Hydro-Man. But his biggest writing assignment has to be Iron Man, where he picked up the alcoholism which previous creators David Michelinie & Bob Layton had given Tony Stark, and made it the defining struggle the hero would grapple with for his run. It was during O'Neil's run that James Rhodes became Iron Man and the master villain Obadiah Stane's story was told, and the tailend of the run features the debut of Iron Man's red & silver armor. Heck, O'Neil's Iron Man was the first I ever read of the series.

However, I've had a difficult time appreciating the series. Even now, it bothers me to see how O'Neil so dismissively cast out Michelinie & Layton's supporting cast (with the exception of Rhodey). Most of his new villains were losers like the Chessmen and the Termite. Although Stark was quickly demoted from the series' lead, he continued to appear in every issue and for a long time simply wallowed in his drunkeness, which got to be tiresome month in and month out. Heck, later on in the run there's a subplot about Bethany Cabe searching for her ex-husband which seems to go on forever and achieve nothing. I also feel that Luke McDonnell's art wasn't quite right for Iron Man -- too loose and curvy for a hero whose name implies rigidity and strength.

What tips the scales for me is Iron Man #182, one of the all-time finest Iron Man stories ever told; this is the issue in which Tony, now a homeless man, delivers a baby in a snowy alleyway; the mother dies and in trying to keep the baby alive, Tony finally reaches an epiphany and starts to regain his sobriety. I love so much of what follows from there -- Tony and Rhodey's frosty relationship, how Tony ultimately regains Rhodey's trust by being vulnerable, the final showdown with Obadiah Stane -- it's gold. The latter part of O'Neil's run is so good that I don't hesitate in calling him one of the greatest Iron Man writers of all-time.

Rest in peace, Mr. O'Neil.

Space-Born Super Hero Part 34: Avengers #96

Welcome back to 'Space-Born Super Hero' which is now up to the penultimate chapter of the epic 'Kree-Skrull War'! Yep, it's Avengers #96 (1972): "The Andromeda Swarm!" by Roy Thomas & Neal Adams (inks by Tom Palmer). The Avengers (comprised of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Goliath and the Vision) head to the SHIELD space station to confer with Nick Fury, who notes he's disobeying direct orders from H. Warren Craddock by allying with them. "I figger I'm gettin' too old for this line'a work, anyhow," Nick philosophizes. Nick gifts the heroes with a spaceship they can use to retrieve their allies - it's powered by Mjolnir, enabling it to travel past the speed of light. As they are about to exit the Solar System, they discover a massive fleet of Skrull starships is gathering to invade! The Avengers' ship emits an illusion of duplicates of itself to try and frighten the Skrulls, but the Skrulls confer with Emperor Dorrek, who orders them to investigate. A single Skrull vessel streaks towards the Avengers' craft.

Captain America and Goliath get inside one-man shuttles for a fight, while Thor, Iron Man and Vision have no trouble engaging the Skrulls in space, with Thor destroying a missile the Skrulls launch at them. Thor and Vision then tear their way through the Skrull ship's hull; Cap and Iron Man follow them aboard while Goliath remains outside in his shuttle; now that he's completely out of growth serum, Goliath's power is somewhat restricted. The four Avengers storm to the ship's bridge, where the officer, Kalxor confronts them. Emperor Dorrek appears on Kalxor's viewscreen to taunt the Avengers, showing them Captain Mar-Vell is in the midst of building an Omni-Wave Projector for them (last time he built it in about a half hour; hmm...). As the Avengers don't know Mar-Vell very well, Iron Man suggests he never was their ally to begin with. However, the Mar-Vell labouring over the device turns out to be a hologram which Mar-Vell created using the Omni-Wave Projector; the device is complete, but Mar-Vell's not sharing it with the Skrulls and he moves to release the Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver from their cells.

So, Emperor Dorrek's attempt at taunting the Avengers has not gone as he foresaw. Kalxor tries to execute orders which Dorrek sends him, but Vision restrains Kalxor and begins threatening him. "Tell me of this contingency plan--and the location of Throneworld, as well." When Kalxor refuses to comply, Vision starts beating him. Iron Man tries to restrain his comrade: "Vision--stop! Your android strength--! You'll kill him! You don't know what you're doing!" Vision disagrees: "Another correction, Iron Man: My brain is a miniaturized, high-speed computer. I always know precisely what I am doing. I--am--killing--him!" Ultimately, Thor and Iron Man have to drag him away, but the bruised Kalxor gives up the information. The contingency plan is to fire a nuclear warhead at Earth so powerful it can destroy all life on the planet. The Avengers inform Goliath and he sends his shuttle to intercept the ship carrying the warhead; Goliath boards the ship, but without any powers, he's in a tough position.

Meanwhile in the Kree Galaxy (the planet Hala), we're finally checking in with Ronan the Accuser (who has strangely reverted to pink skin). Ronan is disappointed at his men for bringing Rick Jones to him as a prisoner, but then he recalls Rick was one of the people who destroyed his citadel on Earth. Rick heroically grabs a weapon from one of the guards and strikes Ronan in the face, but it does absolutely nothing; Ronan swats him aside. Rick mocks him: "Hey, that was pretty brave, Ronan-baby. Whatcha doin'--workin' your way up to beltin' women an' kids?" Ronan admits, "You possess--a certain rudimentary courage, whelp." Ronan decides to let Rick live and be his personal "body-slave" (that sounds gross). He takes Rick out to a balcony and shows him how highly advanced the Kree civilization is compared to Earth. Rick wonders if the Kree and Skrulls are both so advanced, why does Earth matter to either of them?

Ronan explains Earth simply lies midway between the Kree and Skrull empires; it's nothing personal - Earth is just a convenient port for their forces. Rick tries to escape Ronan's clutches, but Ronan strikes him with a bolt of energy from his Universal Weapon. Rick vows, "Some day--some way--I'm definitely gonna kill you, creep!" Ronan throws him into a room which turns out to be the immense theatre where the Supreme Intelligence rests; you'll recall he was deposed at the beginning of this storyline. This rates a "faaan-tastic!" from Rick. The Supreme Intelligence reveals he's been secretly manipulating a lot of the war through his mental powers, such as inflaming tensions against aliens on Earth and compelling the Kree in Attilan to take Rick prisoner. He was even responsible for guiding Rick out of the courtroom during the Avengers' hearing and concealing the Super-Skrull's true identity from Mar-Vell. The Supreme Intelligence then opens a portal to the Negative Zone and deposits Rick inside, placing him within striking distance of Annihilus! To be concluded!

Thoughts: We get one of the most memorable moments of the storyline when Vision loses his cool against Kalxor. It's also of note that the Avengers engage in some fierce combat against the Skrull ship - it's not clear if they took any casualties; I know some fans assume they did kill a few Skrulls, but surely there'd be some mention of that on panel, considering how shocked they are by Vision's behaviour.

Sending Rick back to the Negative Zone seems to bring him back to where he was at the start of this storyline and is, I suppose, the first sign that Rick and Mar-Vell will be returning to their previous status quo when this story is done.

Next: I wrap-up looking at the Kree-Skrull War with Avengers #97!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 33: Avengers #95

Hello and welcome to another entry in 'Space-Born Super Hero', which now up to Avengers #95 (1972) and the story "Something Inhuman This Way Comes...!" by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams (inks by Tom Palmer). The previous issue ended with the Avengers battling SHIELD Mandroids outside of their mansion when Triton emerged from the sewers. We now flash back a little to show Triton swimming to New York, commandeering a van, being shot by the police, fleeing into the sewers, and finally emerging in the middle of the firefight outside Avengers Mansion. H. Warren Craddock is watching the progress of the battle gleefully, while Nick Fury is rather glum about sending his agents to attack his friends. Suddenly, the Mandroids go inert as Iron Man thinks up a better plot than 'ram them using my roller-skates': he uses his power-pods (those devices on his armour's hips) to unleash all of their energy at the Mandroids and short out the armour. Thor wonders how he knew this work without hurting the SHIELD agents. "I knew, Thor! Isn't that enough?" This is before Tony began sharing his secret identity with any of his fellow Avengers.

Rick Jones notices the injured Triton and goes to help him; Triton was actually looking for the Fantastic Four, but Rick tells him the F.F. are out of town (huh? they were in town last issue). Triton quickly recaps the events of the Inhumans' stories as Maximus the Mad used his mental powers to seize control of Attilan while the rightful ruler Black Bolt has been lost in San Francisco, amnesiac. Thor encountered the Inhumans during that story and verifies what he can, but the Vision isn't interested. "I vote--no!" the android declares icily. He reminds the team about their present woes in the midst of the interstellar Kree-Skrull War and of Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel's capture (but mostly, we surmise, he's concerned about the Scarlet Witch's capture). Vision saw for himself how the Super-Skrull couldn't pierce the barrier around Attilan and observes, "Only a fool would attack it--when Thor's hammer could carry us just as easily to the stars." Goliath finds himself having to step in between Vision and Iron Man to prevent a fistfight and points out all of them want to help both groups, the Inhumans and the kidnapped heroes. Captain America asks the Vision to pick the division of teams to handle these separate problems; Vizh asks Cap, Rick and Goliath to go with Triton to San Francisco while he, Thor and Iron Man head to the Andromeda Galaxy. Just as Cap's team departs, the inert Mandroids are revived by remote control while the armours' operators remain unconscious.

In San Francisco, Black Bolt and his young friend Joey are about to be fired upon by a gang of criminals when Captain America comes to their rescue. Black Bolt's memory has returned and he's happily reunited with Triton, then (through sign language) urges Goliath, Rick and Cap's help in returning to Attilan. They even bring Joey for some reason; I guess Rick used to tag-along with the Avengers in his younger days, so it isn't too ridiculous. Anyway, while they travel Black Bolt remembers when he was younger and discovered Maximus was plotting an alliance with the Kree (with Ronan the Accuser, no less). Black Bolt used his sonic scream to destroy the Kree starship with Maximus' allies aboard, but it crashed upon Bolt & Maximus' parents, crushing them both to death.

Back at Avengers Mansion, Iron Man disables the Mandroids for good, while Vision has a change of heart; he now wants to help Triton. Thor uses Mjolnir to open a portal to the Great Refuge just outside of the barrier which surrounds Attilan (he doesn't explain why he didn't simply open the portal inside Attilan). Vision can't phase through the barrier and although Mjolnir can pass through, it simply circles around and back to Thor without creating an opening. The team from San Francisco arrives and Black Bolt utters one word; the barrier falls before his voice and Black Bolt is reunited with the Inhumans, drawn in that crazy style which is signature Neal Adams.

The Inhumans are under Maximus' control and forced to attack the heroes while Maximus has resumed his alliance with the Kree, promising to aid them in the war with the Skrulls. As the heroes fight Maximus and his allies, Rick is snatched aboard a Kree vessel which departs immediately for the Kree Galaxy. Maximus is otherwise easily beaten and Black Bolt regains his throne. Elsewhere, we see the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver & Captain Marvel: prisoners of the Skrulls! We see the Supreme Intelligence stating obliquely: "The players are all in place. Let the final phase begin!" And finally Captain America declares "We're coming for you--Kree and Skrulls alike! And nothing can stay our hand from vengeance--nothing but death!"

Thoughts: Although Thomas & Adams were primarily concerned with tying up loose ends from their Inhumans story (to the benefit of both of the Inhumans' fans), the Inhumans did, at least, have a natural link to the Kree and by making Maximus a Kree ally the story isn't as much of a diversion as it could have been. The Vision's rising temper about their situation is also a good touch, as he rightfully--but, very heatedly in an unusual fashion for his character--points out the team is already in the middle of a conflict with enormous stakes and their friends' lives on the line.

Next: The Avengers take the fight to their enemies in Avengers #96!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 32: Avengers #94

Welcome to another entry in my blogging series 'Space-Born Super Hero' as I work my way through Captain Marvel's career prior to the arrival of creator Jim Starlin. Today I'm up to Avengers #94 (1971), another entry in the ongoing 'Kree-Skrull War' saga with the story "More Than Inhuman!" by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, and John Buscema (inks by Tom Palmer). The Avengers have just defeated three Skrulls at a farmhouse in upstate New York. The team calls up Mister Fantastic to let him know about the Skrulls and ask if he can come up with a way to track the Skrull starship which escaped with the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Captain Marvel aboard. Unknown to the team, the Vision phased inside the ship before it escaped and he's now spying on the heroes' captor, the Super-Skrull. The Skrull ship isn't headed for outer space, though - it's headed to Attilan, the home of the Inhumans! The Super-Skrull is about to launch a weapon to destroy Attilan when the Vision emerges from hiding and fights him. Unable to best the Vision, the Super-Skrull simply turns invisible and throws the lever on his weapon!

The ship emits a massively destructive explosion, but none of it pierces the defensive shield which surrounds Attilan's Great Refuge. The Super-Skrull is infuriated at the survival of the "Kree-spawn" (as noted back in Avengers#90, the Inhumans were engineered by the Kree) and it seems his only reason for the assault was that he considered them Kree-by-proxy. Vision considers continuing the fight against the Super-Skrull, but he worries that the Scarlet Witch could be killed in the clash, so he phases out of the ship and departs as the Super-Skrull sets his course for the Skrull Galaxy; at least now Vision can tell the other Avengers what he's learned.

As the Super-Skrull's ship uses a space-time warp to return to the Andromeda Galaxy, Mar-Vell ponders the situation from where he's been confined. He knows the Skrull will want to interrogate him for Kree strategic information and wonders what decision he would make if the Skrulls forced him to choose between the Kree and Earth; realizing he doesn't know the answer, he begins to think the humans were right to question his motives. The Super-Skrull's ship is met by heavy fire - not because of the Kree, but because the Super-Skrull is in exile and Emperor Dorrek has no reason to want him back. The only inch Emperor Dorrek is willing to grant the Super-Skrull is that he "pierced the nega-shield which the Kree have placed" around Earth. This is the first we've heard of this shield. Anyway, Dorrek contains the Super-Skrull inside an energy sphere. When the Super-Skrull attempts to blast his way out using the Human Torch's nova flame, he burns up his oxygen supply and falls unconscious; what a dope.

Dorrek is all too happy to accept the prisoners from the Super-Skrull's ship and transfers Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel to his own prisons. When Dorrek notes Mar-Vell became a rebel for opposing Ronan, his daughter Anelle remarks, "If he hates Ronan, he must be a good man indeed." Anelle asks her father to release the trio, but Dorrek wants the secret of the omni-wave projector from Mar-Vell; Mar-Vell notes the Super-Skrull already tried and failed to accomplish that goal. Dorrek notes he can't "abuse" Mar-Vell because of the "Convention of Fornax" (I believe this is the first mention of Fornax, which is later established as a major galaxy in the Marvel Universe), so he'll simply torture Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch until Mar-Vell gives in. The siblings are placed in a confined room with a massive reptillian creature and a number of small, pink, fuzzy creatures. The green monster seems like the greater threat, so Quicksilver runs about to generate a cyclone, but the force of his movement causes the pink creatures - Druffs - to be flung everywhere and each time one of them strikes something hard, they duplicate themselves. Before you can say 'Tribble', the Druffs become so numerous that they threaten to smother the two heroes to death.

Mar-Vell can't bear to see Wanda and Pietro suffer such a horrible (albeit goofy) death, so he relents, noting those two had already saved his life once. Dorrek releases the Avengers from the cell and informs Mar-Vell if he doesn't turn over the secret of the omni-wave projector, the two Avengers will die.

We cut back to Earth as H. Warren Craddock is continuing his search for aliens in the midst, subjecting government employees to an alien-detection device; he starts by subjecting the research scientists who testified at the Avengers' hearing (Avengers #92); the scientists now regret having gone to Craddock with their information. After this, Nick Fury sends a coded message to the Avengers, suggesting they might want to get out of town. The team is rejoined by the Vision, who begins to explain what's happened when Craddock's forces appear outside Avengers Mansion and demand the heroes exit. Craddock has brought tanks and helicopters, as he didn't expect the heroes to come willingly: inside the helicopters are the Mandroids, three SHIELD agents wearing powerful suits of battle armor built by Tony Stark (a footnote informs readers they're not connected to the Mandroid from Captain Marvel#18, which you'll recall was also written by Roy Thomas).

Goliath is down to his last dose of growth serum but uses it to attack a Mandroid, only to get an electrical shock from him. The armor can also generate an anti-magnetic field to ward off Captain America's shield. However, these guys were trained by Tony Stark, so Iron Man has an obvious advantage, and that is... they don't know about his armor's roller skates!

... No, seriously, that's what he thinks his advantage is. He rolls himself at two of the Mandroids to bwol them over but the third fires a blast which makes Iron Man go tumbling head over heel. The Invincible Iron Man, ladies and gentlemen. Suddenly, Triton crawls out from the sewers below and-- the story is to be continued!

Thoughts: I've always enjoyed the Kree-Skrull dynamic which Roy Thomas first hinted at way back in Captain Marvel #2 and it is neat to see the scenes where Dorrek and Anelle comment about the Kree. As both races are villains in the Marvel Universe, it's intriuging to see what they think about each other.

Roy Thomas, Neal Adams and Tom Palmer had previously been the Inhumans' creative team over in Amazing Adventures, so they use the Kree-Skrull War as a means of wrapping up the series. This begins what will become a recurring tradition of audiences rejecting the Inhumans but Marvel creators forcing them into a more popular series anyway. It's the circle of life.

Next: The Kree-Skrull War (and those pesky Inhumans) continues into Avengers #95!

Space-Born Super Hero Part 31: Avengers #93

Welcome back to 'Space-Born Super Hero', which is currently knee-deep in the Kree-Skrull War epic! Today I'm up to Avengers #93 (1971) and the story "This Beachhead Earth". Once again the writer is Roy Thomas but he's now joined by the superbly dynamic Neal Adams (with inks by Neal Adams). I love Sal Buscema's artwork a lot, but Adams brings in a new vitality. We open at Avengers Mansion where Captain America, Iron Man and Thor are surprised by the Vision, who staggers into the room and collapses. Although the 'Big Three' aren't sure whether he's dead or alive, they're joined by Ant-Man, who offers his scientific expertise. You might recall that in issue #90, Hank Pym said he was retiring as Yellowjacket -- apparently he meant he was just retiring that identity, for here he is, back in his original costumed identity. Although Pym doesn't know too much about the Vision, he observes he did create Ultron and Ultron then created the Vision, so he has a decent shot at figuring out Vizh's problem.

Ant-Man crawls down the Vision's throat with his ants and begins his exploration. Pym discovers Vision's body has defensive measures similar to those found in a human body. Pym doesn't miss an opportunity to compare the experience to that of the film Fantastic Voyage ("Only thing missing so far is an assistant who's built like Raquel Welch"). Pym has suddenly become very well-versed in pop culture, remarking "What it looks like is a left-over movie set from Metropolis. Fritz Lang's, not Clark Kent's! Just the place for an old E.C. Fan-Addict like me!" In fact, the weird landscape of the Vision's interiors does look like something Wally Wood might have conjured up for Weird Science. Pym also finds tiny spheres which cause him to phase when they touch him, as they transmit Vision's density-altering powers. Ant-Man cleverly uses the bubbles to help him evade another of the body's defense systems and activates a plexiglass seal around his helmet to supply himself with air as his voyage continues (a new addition to Ant-Man's outfit).

Ant-Man reactivates the Vision's brain and sees something which gives himself momentary pause, but has to exit Vision's body before he can explore it further. It's an extremely disguised clue, but the first of many references which will lead to the Vision being established as the recreated original Human Torch. As the Vision awakens, Ant-Man takes his leave of the team. Vision still feels hurt by the 'Big Three' for disbanding the Avengers, but the trio are puzzled; they came to Avengers Mansion because Tony Stark received a letter from Jarvis mentioning the team's disbansion. Thus, the three men who disbanded the Avengers last issue weren't the real Captain America, Thor and Iron Man. Hm.

Vision explains how he, the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Goliath left town in an ordinary car to seek out the farm upstate where Carol Danvers had brought Captain Marvel. While Goliath simply steps over the perimeter fence, Vision offers to help the Scarlet Witch over, which upsets Pietro, increasing the growing tension between them. Vision flies over the fence alone, when suddenly something strikes him and he falls into the pasture, next to three cows. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch investigate and discover the three cows are shapeshifters who assume the appearances of Mister Fantastic, the Thing and the Human Torch! Vision phases below ground while the other two Avengers are taken prisoner by the shapeshifters. Eventually, Vision hovered back to Avengers Mansion. As Vision finishes his story, the other Avengers agree to help their teammates.

Inside the farmhouse, Captain Marvel is being held prisoner by the Skrulls, who were (of course) the three cows. Strangely, they're dressed in red & blue instead of the typical Skrullian purple & blue. Carol has also been placed in restraints, but they forgot to capture Goliath (how on Earth do you overlook Goliath, of all the Avengers?). Goliath has met up with Rick Jones by now and the two are attacked by the three Skrulls, again as three of the Fantastic Four. The Skrulls recount how they were beaten by the Fantastic Four way back in Fantastic Four #2 (the first appearance of the Skrulls) and the three of them were hypnotized to assume the forms of cows: "Until a Skrull hyperbeam from space revived us". Left unattended, Mar-Vell is able to activate his Uni-Beam and break out of his restraints, then releases Carol Danvers. Recalling the news that his people are at war with the Skrulls, Mar-Vell (due to some prompting from Carol) resolves he should warn the Kree of the Skrull presence on Earth. He quickly begins assembling an omni-wave projector: "That alone can send out an instantaneous message to the Kree Galaxy--across the void of hyper-space!"

The other Avengers arrive to battle the three Skrulls, but just as Mar-Vell is about to use the Omni-Wave Projector he stops, having realized it could also be used as a weapon and that the reason Carol has been guiding him to build it is because she's not 'Carol' at all-- she's the Super-Skrull! Mar-Vell hasn't seen him since way back in Captain Marvel#3! The Super-Skrull knocks Mar-Vell unconscious and reveals he's still got Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch in his hands and the three heroes are what he's been after all along. The Super-Skrull's spaceship was hidden inside the barn all along and he activates the ship to return to the Skrull Galaxy (abandoning his three comrades). Goliath tries to grab the ship and stop it, but runs out of his size-changing ability just at that moment; the Skrull ship escapes and the Avengers are left dejected at having lost three of their allies to the Skrulls, and by Goliath's sudden power loss. And they still don't know what the Skrulls are after...

Thoughts: We're five chapters in to the Kree-Skrull War and it's getting more and more interesting by bringing in the Skrulls on Earth to increase the paranoia the heroes are experiencing. With Goliath's powers gone and the Vision angsting over Wanda, the regular cast are at a pretty intense moment, so the return of Thor, Iron Man & Captain America to the book helps ground the team.

The Omni-Wave Projector figures in a few more Kree stories over the years; considering how powerful it is, you'd think it would be an even bigger deal in Kree lore, especially considering how easily Mar-Vell builds one from inside the Skrull ship.

Next: The Kree-Skrull War heats up in Avengers #94!

"...The old tricks still work just fine." Blacksad: Amarillo review

Juan Diaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido's Blacksad has been published in Spain since 2000; by the time Dark Horse Books brought an English-language version to these shores in 2010, only three stories had been produced. Perhaps encouraged by the growing interest in the character, 2010 saw the fourth story, A Silent Hell published and the English version arrived in 2012. Now we have Blacksad: Amarillo, the fifth entry, having been published last year in Spain and now in English - the speed at which the stories are being both created and translated is clearly increasing!

Strangely, this volume features two translators - Katie LaBarbera (translator of A Silent Hell) and Neal Adams! I say "strange" because Blacksad seems to have enough interest behind it that it shouldn't require a familiar North American such as Adams to promote it (and Adams is renowned for his art, not his scripts). Fortuitously, Adams explains in the book's introduction how Guarnido made a personal request for Adams to collaborate with him by translating this newest volume. I skipped the introduction and credits on my first read and didn't realize Adams had been part of the finished story; that Amarillo reads like the other Blacksad tales is a testament to Adams' fidelity to the source material, I think (perhaps if I learn Spanish one day I'll have a better idea of what precisely he contributed).

For those who are joining us late, John Blacksad lives in a world of anthropormorphic animal-people; Blacksad is a black cat. Blacksad usually makes his living as a detective and the timeframe is that of the 1950s; despite the cast being a bunch of animals, Blacksad's 1950s face very much the same social/political issues as our own 1950s.

In this tome, Blacksad accepts a very simple job - drive a sweet Cadillac Eldorado to Tulsa, Oklahoma on behalf of a wealthy bull. Unfortunately, the car is stolen and winds up in the hands of Chad Lowell, a young (lion) author who's living out his "difficult second novel" anxiety. Also in pursuit of Chad is his literary agent, Neal Beato, who becomes Blacksad's ally. Further complicating matters are a few murders, circus performers, a drunken bird and two dogged FBI agents.

Surprisingly, we gain some character insight into Blacksad here; we meet his sister Donna and they speak cryptically about their father, whom evidently neither gets along well with. We also hear Blacksad lecture his young nephew about guns, stating "Good guys don't carry guns," despite we readers being well-aware of Blacksad's use of firearms in earlier stories - so he's not proud of those escapades.

Part of what I enjoy about this book are the swerves away from predictable characters. Blacksad stories delve deep into noirish tropes, but while this may be a world of femme fatales, corrupt officials and dark secrets, it's also a world where a tough gang of bikers turn out to be reasonable and helpful; a world where a greasy lawyer can be a good friend and decent guitarist; a world where a tough FBI agent enjoys reading Mad magazine.

Diaz Canales and Guarnido not only love noir, but love the world they've built and the characters they created to inhabit it; that love is infectious! The next Blacksad won't be along for at least a couple of years - but I remain quite pleased to have it at all!