Wayback Wednesday - The Six Million Dollar Man #1

"Steve Austin, astronaut.  A man barely alive."

"We can rebuild him.  We have the technology.
We can make him better than he was.
Better. . .stronger. . .faster."

There might be some disagreement out there, but in MY extremely humble opinion, Steve Austin, The Six Million Dollar Man (also known to us kids at the time just as The Bionic Man) is the ultimate 70's superhero.  

There are some that might claim that he isn't a superhero at all, and belongs in the realm of science fiction. . . but as far as I'm concerned, the work of the finest scientific minds fused with the soul of a man isn't just A great 70's superhero, but is THE superhero that defines the 70's.  

Science today is taken for granted.  I'm probably making myself sound old, but in the 70's, Astronauts were still the great American Hero.  The moon landings were still fresh in the collective memory.  The world was on the edge of major change in technology.  You could SEE the future coming.

The Six Million Dollar Man was a reflection of these things.  He was technology ahead of his time in a world that was advancing toward major breakthroughs, but not quite there just yet.  This was a character that seemed possible and real in a way that someone like Superman could never be.

I don't think I speak for ALL the children of the 70's, but I'm pretty sure I speak for a lot of them when I say that the Bionic Man was OUR hero for OUR time.  Steve Austin always used his powers for the greater good, even if it meant going against the direct orders of his O.S.I. "controllers", and THAT makes him a hero, whether he wears a cape and mask or not.

THAT SAID. . .

My love of this character is based almost entirely on the extremely popular (at the time) T.V. show and accompanying movies starring Lee Majors.  At the time, I didn't even know that there WERE Six Million Dollar Man comic books.  The spinners at my local stores when I was a kid only had DC and Marvel comics. . .maybe a few Disney comics for the little kids.  It wasn't until the early 90's when I started seriously collecting comics instead of just reading them that I discovered the existence of companies like Charlton.

I managed to FINALLY find a few of the Charlton Six Million Dollar Man comics (This one plus Issues #2 and #6) in the back issue bins of a comic shop in Idaho while visiting one of my nieces a few months ago.  So how do the comic books stand up against my nostalgic memories of the T.V. show featuring one of my favorite superheroes of all?

Let's find out!

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN #1

CHARLTON (1976)

SCRIPTS: Joe Gill

PENCILS: Joe Staton

COVER: Joe Staton

There's two comic stories and a short text story in this book.  Let's take a look at them each. . .

THE BEGINNING OF THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN

Colonel Steve Austin is a veteran Astronaut and test pilot who barely survives a bad landing in an experimental aircraft.  Oscar Goldman (An agent of  O.S.I., the Office of Scientific Intelligence. . .or Office of Strategic Information, depending on the source ) informs Austin's doctors that the government has taken an interest in him, and is willing to pay to "improve" the injured man with millions of dollars worth of cybernetic implants.

After the successful operation, Goldman tells Austin that the price for his life is that he now works for the O.S.I., and after some intensive training missions, Colonel  Steve Austin. . .the Six Million Dollar Man. . .is ready for his first assignment.

The End.

The first story in this comic is basically the origin story of the Six Million Dollar Man, expanded out from the narration at the beginning of the T.V. show to give a bit more detail to Austin's deadly accident and the process that led to him becoming the Six Million Dollar Man.  As a big fan of the character, I REALLY liked this story a lot, and it made me like the character even more!

One thing that especially stood out is the last panel pictured below (the page very nicely shows the struggle to keep Austin alive) where the critically-injured test pilot regains consciousness for the first time and realizes the shape he's in.  The first words from his mouth are "Why? Why didn't you let me die?"

That's a really dark place that the show never went to, and that one single panel gives the character a layer of depth and reality that I'd never considered before.

Also unlike the show, one of the training montage panels shows that Austin's bionic parts can be swapped out for different missions. . .in this case, retractable swim fins for an underwater training mission.  The T.V. show probably didn't have the budget (or special effects technology) to show this aspect of the character, but now that I've seen it, it makes perfect sense.

The line art and inking on this first story are both very nicely done. . .unfortunately, the art is marred by extremely sloppy and occasionally garish coloring.  It's a damn shame, to tell the truth, because there are several scenes that SHOULD be epic and dramatic that are practically ruined by the bad colors obscuring the great art underneath.

Overall, if this one story were all that there was to this comic, I would be more than happy.  It's a great expanded origin story for the Six Million Dollar Man that goes beyond the sketch we got at the beginning of the T.V. show.  It's pretty short, and the otherwise great art is botched with bad coloring, but to me, this story is worth the price of the comic alone.

NEXT!

THE SECRET WEB

Colonel Steve Austin is assigned to fly an SR-71 spy plane over China to gather intelligence on a new long-range missile system.  A malfunction causes the jet to crash near the missile base, and Austin is captured.  The sadistic director of the base decides to use both Col. Austin and a Chinese scientist (a woman named Nai Ku) that has been working with O.S.I. to field test a deadly combat robot also being developed at the secret weapons base.

After a tense battle, Nai Ku manages to reprogram the robot to attack the Chinese soldiers guarding the laboratory, making it possible for her and Austin to escape.  After commandeering a helicopter, Austin uses his laser eye to destroy the experimental missiles before making their way to a nearby airfield to steal a jet and fly back to friendly territory.

Back at O.S.I. headquarters, it's revealed that the intelligence gathering was a ruse, the jet was purposely sabotaged to crash near the secret base, and that the REAL mission was to extract Nai Ku.  Steve takes Oscar Goldman's dangerous subterfuge in stride, chalking it up to just another day at O.S.I.

The End.

After the great opening story, I felt a little let down by this one.  Not that it's BAD, it's just that it had to follow a pretty good act.  While the story itself seemed a bit contrived and weak, there were parts of it that I really liked a lot.  First off, we got to see Steve Austin in the kind of adventure that a T.V. budget and 70's special effects could never have pulled off. . .him piloting an SR-71 Blackbird over China. . .

. . .and then destroying a missile with his LASER EYE!

Like I said about the first story, this story shows new powers for The Six Million Dollar Man that make perfect sense once you see them.  Laser Eye. . .how could they NOT have had that on the T.V. show?  I feel a bit cheated now, that all those times I played Bionic Man with my friends, I COULD have been zapping them with my awesome laser eye!

On the bad side of things is that about half of this story is basically a "punch the giant robot" comic cliche battle that's STILL being used as story filler to this very day (Black Widow #1, 2019.  I'm looking right at YOU).

The line art and inking remain pretty strong in this story, perhaps just a BIT weaker than in the opening story, and still badly marred by sloppy coloring that occasionally obscures the good art underneath.  One thing I really DID like about the art in this story is the way that Austin's bionic powers were portrayed.  

In the show, it went to slow-mo and we got that iconic "NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA" sound.  Hard to do in a comic book.  Instead, the panels break down into smaller panels focusing closer and closer on the bionic action.  It's a nice compromise that works very well. . .

Overall, this story is a bit weaker than the first, but I still found it pretty entertaining.  It showcased the kind of missions and new powers for Steve Austin that the budget and technological limits of 70's T.V. could never have given us.

AND FINALLY. . .

NO WAY OUT

The last story in this comic is a two page text piece. . .

After successfully landing an experimental aircraft from orbit for NASA  (obviously an early version of what the 70's were imagining the Space Shuttle would be), all Colonel Steve Austin wants is a 10 day rest.  Oscar Goldman and the O.S.I. have other plans and Steve's next mission is planned for the following day.

To make sure he stays put, Goldman has Steve put under guard, but the Bionic Man uses his laser eye to make a stealthy escape.  Later, he calls Goldman to remind him that he's still a man and not just a tool, and that he'll be back in 10 days.

The End.

I liked this little story quite a bit.  It's well written and perfectly captures the "Man" in the Six Million Dollar Man in a very short space.  I'm not normally a fan of text stories taking up space in comic books that could be used for actual comic stories, but this is one of the exceptions.

CONCLUSION

As a fan of the Six Million Dollar Man, I've been wanting to get my hands on some of these comic books for years.  I'm happy to say that I wasn't disappointed.  

This comic had a fantastic opening origin story that gave the character some unexpected depth, a somewhat weaker but still entertaining main story that showcased the kind of missions that 70's T.V. could never give us, and a short text finisher that illustrated that there's still a Man in the Six Million Dollar Man.

Despite sloppy coloring, the line and ink art was strong, and despite some comic cliche robot punching, the writing was likewise strong.  All in all, this is a pretty great comic book for fans of The Six Million Dollar Man.

BUT. . .

What about for those who AREN'T already fans of the character?  I had my comic lovin' daughter give it a read.  She's watched a few episodes of the T.V. show with me here and there, but old T.V. shows aren't really her thing.

She also found the coloring to be extremely sloppy, but her general opinion of this comic is that it's pretty good, and better than some of the superhero comics of the 70's she's read.  I asked her if she'd want to read another one and she was like, "Sure, why not?"  So I'll chalk that up in the win column.

That said. . .

My daughter also pointed out to me that to HER eyes, some of the dialogue was pretty cringeworthy in a casual 70's misogynist way.  Steve Austin gives the female scientist he rescues in the second story two "Honey's", two "Baby's" and a "Sweetheart" in the space of 15 pages and about 1 hour of knowing her.  She found it more "Funny-Cringe" than "Offended-Cringe", but I can agree that the Bionic Man's swagger is definitely 70's-Tastic.

So. . .in the end, sloppy coloring marring the otherwise good art, some cliche robot punching, and a bit of 70's dialogue that might fall flat on younger readers doesn't stop this comic from being a good read for both fans of The Six Million Dollar Man or those new to the character.

Up Next. . .

Back to Longbox Junk business as usual with Marvel's 1983 4 issue "Cloak and Dagger" mini.

Be there or be square!

Wayback Wednesday - Fantastic Four #50

Welcome to another "Retro Review" edition of Longbox Junk, where I take a look at some of the more "Collectable" comics I own instead of my usual dollar box fare.  This time out we're taking a trip back to 1966 to take a closer look at Stan "The Man" Lee and Jack "King" Kirby's Fantastic Four #50.

I have to admit something right off the top here. . .I've never been a fan of the Fantastic Four. 

Like I've mentioned in the past about Spider-Man (another character I'm not really interested in), most of my knowledge of the FF has been gained by comic fan osmosis.  I have a few issues of various runs lurking in the Longboxes and they've crossed over into other series I've read, but I've never gone out of my way to buy a single issue of Fantastic Four, except for the issue at hand and issue #51. . .which I bought purely for their covers.  The few other issues of FF that I own have sort of fallen into my collection by accident. . .being part of auction lots, comic bundles, and so on.

So what I'm saying is that I'm familiar with the FF, but am by no means a fan.  That said, this is only one of two issues I have written by the FF's original writer, Stan Lee, so I'm perfectly willing to give it an honest read and try to let Stan The Man change my mind.

I have ANOTHER confession to make before we get into this issue. . .I'm not really a fan of Jack Kirby's art.  Please don't hurt me.

If you've read some of the other "Retro Reviews" I've done here at Longbox Junk, you've seen me TRY to like Kirby's art.  Unfortunately, I don't have a large selection of his work in my collection and what I do have isn't BAD, but I find it sort of "Meh" and somewhat overrated in my extremely humble opinion. 

That said, I'm willing to give it another chance because number one, I DO love that cover and number two, it's some of Kirby's earlier work, and all I've seen before is from the 70's, where I've read he was on a bit of a decline.

So two strikes against this comic before I even open the cover on it, but I think I can still give it a fair shake. . .so let's do this!

FANTASTIC FOUR (Vol 1) #50

Marvel (1966)

SCRIPTS: Stan Lee

PENCILS: Jack Kirby

COVER: Jack Kirby

A little background:  I bought this comic book for its great cover back in January from an antique store (really more of a junk shop) where it was in a battered and partly burned CGC slab rated 6.5 for the oddly low price of $100.  A pretty good find, I'd say. For the comic collecting purists and slab haters out there reading this, I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that for this review, I cracked that slab open and freed that old comic from its plastic prison for a proper reading for the first time in God knows how long (and to make it easier to frame on my office wall).

So I bought this book for the cover, let's talk about the cover. . .that glorious, MAGNIFICIENT cover!  Like I said above, I'm not really a fan of Kirby's art, but the stark figure of Silver Surfer on that unusual creamy brown background with the floating heads of 3 of the Fantastic Four and the yellow letters of the title combine to make this cover a real eye catcher.  I don't think I've ever seen another cover like this.  

I think it's the matte brown background that makes it so intriguing. . .I'm not sure if that color has ever been used in that way since.  One would think a plain brown background would be dull and uninteresting, but it REALLY makes the other elements pop in a big way.

If I have one complaint it's the whole "Human Torch Goes To College" thing taking up most of the real estate down in the right bottom corner.  I could do without that part, but even that's pretty well done, even though it seems a bit intrusive and unnecessary. Other than that, this comic definitely has one of my favorite covers in my entire collection.

So that's the cover.  Let's get into what's underneath. 

Right off the bat, I realize that, unlike most of the comics of this era that I've read, this isn't a "one and done", but part of a story continued from the previous issue.  A trip to the Wiki-Well let me know that this is actually the conclusion of a 3 issue story arc introducing Silver Surfer and Galactus, and that Lee and Kirby's extended story arcs such as this one were considered a bit of a revolution in comic storytelling at the time. 

Unfortunately, I have the NEXT issue but neither of the previous issues, so I was sort of dropped into the middle of things.   Thankfully, the storytelling isn't nearly as decompressed as modern comics, so the splash page sums things up nicely. . .

Not from my copy.  My scanner is broken, so I pulled the art for this review from online. 

I WISH the colors on mine were this bright.

I have to admit, the splash didn't impress me much.  It's a little crowded and Galactus has plenty of bluster, but it's hard to pull off being threatening when you're wearing purple.  Probably why Hawkeye hardly ever wears his superhero suit these days and The Phantom is practically forgotten. . .BUT I DIGRESS!

The story goes like this:

Galactus has pretty much shown the Fantastic Four that they are powerless against him, but Silver Surfer has been convinced by Ben Grimm's girlfriend (Alicia Masters) that mankind are worth saving.  The Surfer confronts his master and pleads with him to spare Earth, but (as The Watcher points out) how can Galactus be convinced when what he is doing is not evil, but simply Galactus' way of survival?  And so an epic battle between Galactus and Silver Surfer begins.

At first, The Surfer surprises Galactus with his power and seems to be getting the upper hand, but Galactus was just holding back, hoping to convince his herald and longtime companion that humans are just another energy source and that Silver Surfer needs to come to his senses and return to his proper place as Galactus' herald.  During the battle The Thing, Mr. Fantastic, and Invisible Girl can only watch helplessly.

Meanwhile, Johnny Storm is travelling through other dimensions to a far away part of the universe under the guidance of The Watcher in order to retrieve the only thing that has a chance to deter Galactus. . .a device known as THE ULTIMATE MAGUFFIN. . .er. . .THE ULTIMATE NULLIFIER! A device so powerful that it can destroy an entire galaxy. . .possibly an entire universe.

When confronted by the Ultimate Nullifier in the hands of Mr. Fantastic, Galactus immediately realizes that it is the doing of The Watcher that the humans have come into possession of such a deadly device.  Under pressure from Mr. Fantastic waving the Nullifier and threatening to destroy everything, The Watcher demanding that Galactus recognize the infancy of a possibly great race being destroyed when there's plenty of other planets in the galaxy, and the Silver Surfer ready to fight to the death to protect humankind, Galactus decides it's not worth the trouble and leaves Earth.

But before departing, Galactus strips The Silver Surfer of his title of Herald and his Space-Time travelling powers, stranding him on Earth with the humans he fought so hard to protect.  With him, The Watcher also departs and the world is saved from a devastating fate. 

The End.

WAIT! This comic is only HALFWAY DONE!

That's right.  The entire epic battle between Silver Surfer and Galactus, Johnny Storm's trip through time and space to retrieve the Ultimate Nullifier, and Galactus folding under pressure from the Surfer, Watcher, and Fantastic Four, then stripping the Surfer of power and stranding him on Earth before leaving humankind to their own fate only took up TEN PAGES!  These days, all that would take TEN ISSUES.

ANYWAY. . .

After Galactus' departure, Ben (The Thing) Grimm notices his girlfriend (Alicia Masters) showing a lot of attention to the now-stranded Silver Surfer.  He gets the wrong idea and gets surly, shuffling off and feeling like a loser without hearing The Surfer blow Alicia off in favor of exploring his new home planet. 

ELSEWHERE. . .

A mysterious bald man is setting himself up as the Fantastic Four's next villain as he obsesses over the news coverage of their defeat of Galactus (Even though 3 out of four of them just sort of stood around in a force field and watched during the whole battle). 

THEN. . .

We get a page of football team drama at Metro College as the hotshot player Whitey Mullins lets his coach know what an old has-been he is and how the team would be nothing without Mullins as the star, and the coach's wife trying to make him feel better. 

AND THEN. . .

The scene shifts to the Fantastic Four's headquarters (The Baxter Building), where Reed Richards is ignoring his wife as he sinks deep into his experiments (He's desperately trying to find a way to protect Earth from future attacks by beings such as Galactus. . .but that's not really explained until next issue). Sue can't appreciate his scientific genius and need to be alone at the moment to do some work because she's being a needy b*tch.  But can you blame her?  The goddamn world was just about drained of energy by a giant guy from outer space!  A girl MIGHT need some extra attention after almost being exterminated.

IN THE MEANTIME. . .

Ben Grimm wanders the streets of New York, still feeling surly about his girlfriend paying some attention to the Silver Surfer after he. . .well. . .saved the entire world while Ben stood watching in a force field.  He scares a random woman and punches a wall because I guess that's how you got your girlfriend to pay more attention to you in 1966.

AND FINALLY. . .

As promised on the cover. . .It's The Human Torch's first day of college!

Johnny Storm seems none the worse for wear after travelling to the ends of the universe and back to retrieve a super-weapon capable of destroying everything and everyone, and his realizing that humankind are completely insignificant in the bigger scope of the infinite cosmos in the process.  But hey. . .College!

We follow Johnny as he meets his new roomie (Wyatt Wingfoot), talks to the dean, worries about being able to make it in college, and pines over his Inhuman girlfriend trapped under an impenetrable dome at the edge of the world. 

The End (for real this time)

I joke a bit, but really I like that the epic conclusion to the Galactus/Silver Surfer saga. . .the greatest threat mankind has ever faced and the moment when the mighty Fantastic Four realizes that there are things in the universe that they are utterly powerless against takes only half of the issue, and then the rest of the comic is like, "Well, THAT happened. . .but life goes on."

And that's another thing I liked a lot about this issue. . .that the Fantastic Four really didn't do that much because there really wasn't anything they COULD do.  Even Johnny Storm's trip to get the Infinite Nullifier was under the power and guidance of The Watcher.  He really didn't have anything to do with it beside provide a body.  This was a REALLY unusual story in that the titular heroes didn't really win the day at all.  Galactus just left because he was convinced that Earth wasn't worth his trouble. 

 It's fairly common these days that the heroes don't always win, but I don't think that was the case in 1966.  Most of the time (Especially in the DC comics I have from that era), the problem is solved in one issue and the status quo never changes.  I'm fortunate to have the next issue where I can see the repercussions of this story. . .with Reed Richard's obsession with protecting Earth from future attacks by beings like Galactus almost leading to his death. 

 I don't mean to discuss another issue, but it's almost like Richards has PTSD from the events in this comic.  It's really a dark place to go with the bright and bombastic heroes of the Silver Age, to show them as powerless against an enemy and then to show that feeling of powerlessness as a continuing story element.

Overall, even though I don't have all three issues of this story, I found myself enjoying it a LOT more than I ever thought I would.  I said at the beginning of this review that I was willing to let Stan The Man change my mind about The Fantastic Four and I have to say that this issue might have done just that. 

That said, It's not a perfect comic by any means. . .I haven't found one yet.  The Ultimate Nullifier seems like a textbook example of "Deus Ex Machina", and some of the college scenes were pretty weak compared to the philosophical debates in the front half over whether or not something has the right to exist, even though it is of no significance to a more powerful being.  But the weak points don't take away from the fact that this comic is a genuinely entertaining piece of work that holds up well to a modern reading.

As far as the art goes. . .

At the beginning of this, I confessed that I'm not really a Kirby fan, based on what I've seen from him previously, which (to be fair) was some of his later work.  I was perfectly willing to give his art a fair shake in this comic and I have to say that now I can see why Kirby is regarded as a legend in many comic collector circles.  I'm not going to go so far as to say he's my new favorite artist. . .as far as I'm concerned, Kubert still has him beat hands down. . .but I WILL say that I'm a lot more impressed with his earlier work than I was prepared to be. 

 I was especially liking his portrayal of The Thing.  I think maybe the inker had a big hand in it, but the rocky texture of The Thing stood out in a big way, with an almost three-dimensional look that some artists on today's comics can't even come close to.  The scenes of Johnny Storm in outer space were also fantastic, with a beautiful and psychedelic style that really catches the eye and invites you to linger over the panels for a while. 

Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself FINALLY finding some Kirby artwork that made me understand why people still regard him as "King" Kirby.

CONCLUSION

I started doing these "Retro Review" Longbox Junk entries in order to more familiarize myself with the older comics in my collection.  I admit that I bought a lot of them just because I thought the covers would look nice as part of my rotating comic art collection on my office wall and I never read most of them beyond a quick flip through.  That's exactly the case with Fantastic Four #50.  I bought it for the cover and was more than happy to let it sit unread until it was time to take a turn up on the wall in a frame. . .then after a while, back into the Longbox.

But I have to say that it would have been a mistake to have never taken the time to read this comic.  Sure, it has an outstanding cover and will take a proud place on the office wall for a while, like I intended when I bought it. . .but underneath that cover, I discovered a genuinely entertaining story that really makes me want to read the other two parts of it. . .and then KEEP reading after that!  For someone who has never been a fan of The Fantastic Four, that's something. 

It's not the best comic I've ever read, but it was surprisingly good and managed to break through my pre-conceived notions of what I was going to get from a Silver Age comic.

Up Next. . .

Back to Longbox Junk Business as usual with another handful of random one shots.

Hellboy, Punisher, Red Sonja, Boba Fett, Tomb of Dracula, and The X-Files.

Be there or be square!







Wayback Wednesday - Captain America #193

King Kirby is Back -- And Greater Than Ever!

"MADBOMB" It Can Destroy The World!

They don't make covers like that anymore. . . 

Part of the fun of these "Wayback Wednesday" reviews of older single comics in my collection is that I have the opportunity to learn a little something about the history of comics in the process.  I came to the collecting part of comics a bit late in the game. . .the reading part started in the 70's but the carefully storing them in bags, boards, and boxes didn't come until the late 90's. . .so it's interesting to educate myself a bit on my favorite hobby.

So what did I learn from taking this comic book down off my office wall and breaking it out of the frame it's been sitting in since I bought it for the great cover about 5 years ago?

Well. . .I learned a bit about Jack "King" Kirby and WHY he was back.

I'm gonna confess that I really don't know that much about Kirby beyond the basic knowledge that he was regarded as a talented artist and a groundbreaking man of ideas who was instrumental in creating and co-creating many of the most popular comic characters in existence, and that his influence still resonates through the creators of the comic world today.

BUT. . .

He was also a bit under-appreciated and stood in the shadow of his Marvel co-creator Stan Lee.  From what I understand, Stan was "The Man". The Showman, the promoter, the public voice and face of Marvel comics while Kirby was the man behind the curtain, quietly plugging along and really not getting much credit for his hard work.

Eventually it came to the point that he left Marvel for their "Distinguished Competition", DC Comics.  From what I understand, he was lured in with the promise of being given credit for his creations.  Unfortunately, things didn't exactly work out for him at DC.  Yeah, he was given credit for his new creations (known collectively as The Fourth World), but he didn't own them so DC could still do whatever they wanted with them. 

Worse, his new creations didn't sell as well as DC was hoping, so Kirby was pretty much forced to work on characters and books that he really didn't want to. . .leading to him becoming someone quietly plugging along and not getting much credit for his hard work, just for a different company.  In other words, he learned within 5 years that the grass wasn't greener on the other side of the fence.

And so he returned to what he was more familiar with, Marvel Comics and the character he had created with Joe Simon way back in 1940. . .Captain America.  The issue at hand (as proudly stated on the cover) was "King" Kirby's return to the Marvel fold as artist, writer, and editor of the series.

So that's a pretty basic sketch of the background of this comic. There's a lot to learn about Jack Kirby, and his contributions to the history of comics cannot be denied. But Longbox Junk isn't a hero worship thing, and so now that history is out of the way, the question becomes: Is this comic any good? Let's find out!

CAPTAIN AMERICA (Vol 1) #193

MADBOMB PART 1

SCREAMER IN THE BRAIN

Marvel (1976)

SCRIPT: Jack Kirby

PENCILS: Jack Kirby

INKS: Frank Giacoia

COVER: Jack Kirby & John Romita Sr.

First off. . .that cover! There's no denying that's a great cover right there.  I have a rotating collection of comic covers on my office wall at work.  This is the only one that's been there for the whole 5 years.  The covers are always a good conversation starter, but this is one that REALLY catches people's eye.  The primary colors, that "In Your FACE!" Captain America, that Red, White, and Blue title, the hyperbolic text.  It all combines to draw attention like no other cover I've had up on that wall.  Some people find it a bit politically incorrect in a "AMERICA, HELL YEAH!" kind of way, but I'm an "AMERICA, HELL YEAH!" kind of guy.

Okay. . .now THAT'S out of the way, let's see what Kirby as writer, artist, and editor of this book put under that eye-catching cover.  The story basically goes like this. . .

At Leila (Falcon's girlfriend) Taylor's apartment, Captain America and Falcon are engaged in some good-natured arm wrestling and are suddenly overcome with hate for each other. They start fighting but come to their senses after trashing Leila's kitchen.  Leila pulls a knife and goes after the heroes. . .justified, from the way they were just brawling in her house, but there's more to it than that.  She's being affected by the same thing.  

While Falcon restrains Leila in a most manly manner, Cap goes outside into a raging mob, complete with gunfire, overturned cars, and 70's jive talk.  Because they aren't Nazis or Hydra, he doesn't lay waste to the crowd of civilians and finds himself overwhelmed until the mob moves on.  

As he recovers from being trampled, Cap finds a small device wedged between buildings. The closer he gets to it, the more he finds himself losing control of his mind, but he's CAPTAIN FRIGGIN' AMERICA, and he manages to fight through the madness and destroy the device with his shield, ending the riot.  Falcon starts rescuing citizens while Cap recovers from the effects of the device.  The whole area is in shambles.

Soon after, a SHIELD agent who looks and acts more like DC's Phantom Stranger than Nick Fury joins Cap and Falcon and tells them the device that caused the trouble is a "madbomb." A short plane flight later, Cap and Falcon end up with Phantom Stranger. . .er. . .the mysterious SHIELD agent at "Madbomb Control," a secret government base, where they find themselves suddenly running through a lethal obstacle course including poison gas, flying projectiles, crushing walls, pits and random dudes to punch.  

They fight their way through to discover that they were just put through a test to confirm that they are indeed the real Captain America and Falcon in an overly-elaborate security setup the memory of which SHOULD have had Cap wanting to vote FOR hero registration in Civil War just so he could have an official Captain America picture ID to avoid that kind of crap. . .BUT I DIGRESS!

After making their way through the worst security checkpoint ever, Cap and Falcon meet with (then)  Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in an unexpected cameo where he tells the pair of heroes (now that their identity has been firmly established) to go ahead and call him "Henny" and proceeds to brief them in a hilariously-written German accent that probably had Cap restraining himself from automatically going into Nazi-Punching mode. 

Kissinger tells them of two smaller madbombs, dubbed "Peanut" and "Dumpling" that devastated the towns of Miner's Junction and River City. Then he shows them a photo smuggled out by a SHIELD agent, killed in the process, revealing "Big Daddy," a madbomb big enough to destroy the United States which the government thinks is timed to go off for the Bicentennial.  Cap is like, "OH HELL NO!" and the issue ends.

Soooooo. . .

Like I said above, Longbox Junk is NOT a hero worship blog, so if you are the kind of comic fan that thinks Jack Kirby can do no wrong, you MIGHT just want to stop reading here because you're about to get some honesty based on THIS issue alone.  Okay. . .everyone staying that's staying?  

For being written in 1975, this comic reads like a Silver Age throwback. . .and I don't mean that in a good, nostalgic way.  The plot is extremely simple and mundane at best.  At worst, it's derivative and unimaginative for coming from a creator lauded for his big ideas.  This issue reads more like filler than the grand second coming of "The King".

The dialogue is incredibly stiff and full of exposition.  One would expect that such a highly-regarded artist would employ a bit more of the old "show, don't tell" instead of filling panels with caption boxes explaining exactly what's going on.  The story is fairly empty of characters, and aside from Cap and The Falcon, there aren't any developed characters at all.  Leila Taylor exists only to play the part of knife-wielding crazy woman who has to be manhandled into submission, the mysterious SHIELD agent exists only as a travel device.  Henry Kissinger exists as an expository info dump.

And then there's strangely racist moments such as this:

There's a couple of other examples to be found as well.  It MIGHT just be the fact that this comic is a relic of the 70's.  On the other hand, if it's the product of a white dude in his late 50's trying to be socially relevant, it's pretty heavy handed and sad.

BUT. . .

That's not to say this comic is ALL bad.  It's not.  Kirby is known more for his art than his writing, and in this issue, I can see why.  The splash page of Falcon and Cap is fantastic! I've already talked about the awesome cover.  Throughout the issue the art is extremely solid.  His characters are a little bug-eyed, but other than that, the story visually flows well and the action scenes are dynamic and exciting.  The art in this comic from the 70's is better than some of the art being done today.

CONCLUSION

This comic seems to me the perfect example of why comic creators shouldn't edit their own work.  The fact that Kirby was plotter, scripter, penciler, and editor on this book was definitely a mistake; there was no one to counterbalance him and prevent him from going off in a bad direction, and it definitely shows.  

While the art throughout the issue was very solid, the writing could have used another set of eyes on it.  I'm not trying to bash Kirby in any general sense here. . .to be honest, I really haven't read much of his other work as a writer. . .but based on THIS issue alone, I have to say that sometimes people need to find a lane and stay in it.  Kirby was a good artist and behind the scenes idea man.  He should have stuck with that instead of trying to add writer to his resume.

Up Next. . .

Back to Longbox Junk business as usual as we finish up DC's Jonah Hex (Vol. 2) with the final 20 issues before the series rode off into the New 52 sunset.  Be there or be square!

Wayback Wednesday - Weird War Tales #1

Welcome to another "Wayback Wednesday" edition of Longbox Junk, where I take a look at issues in my collection that might be a little more "collectible" than my usual fare.  Comics that have probably never been reviewed and nobody has ever asked to be reviewed. Why? Because that's what I DO, son!

This time out, we take a trip back to 1971 and take a look at the first issue of one of my all-time favorite comic series, DC's Weird War Tales. 

First (as usual with these retro reviews), let's dig into a little background before we get to the issue itself. . .

Weird War Tales was a hybrid horror/war anthology comic that ran for 124 issues over 12 years (1971 - 1983).  Changes to the Comics Code Authority resulting in relaxing its decades long stance on censoring the use of monsters and the undead in mainstream newsstand comics brought about a resurgence of horror-based comics in the early 1970's.  

Weird War Tales was one of the longest running and most successful comics to come out of the relatively short-lived new horror trend. . .mostly because other horror titles just really weren't scary and didn't last very long.  The hybrid nature of Weird War Tales combined appeal to two separate audiences and was able to cover a wide range of historical time periods, making it possible to tell a wider variety of stories than other horror comics. 

Weird War Tales was hosted by Death, who appeared in different military garb in every issue.  The kinds of stories that appeared during the comic's run were typically gritty combat tales with elements of suspense, fantasy, science fiction, horror, and paranormal activity.

Over the course of Weird War Tales' 12 year run, a wide variety of legendary comic creators worked on it, including Joe Kubert, Robert Kanigher, Alex Toth, Russ Heath, Walt Simonson, Frank Miller, and MANY others, making Weird War Tales a veritable who's who of comic greats.

But enough history.  Let's take a look into the issue at hand. . .

WEIRD WAR TALES #1

So what we have here is a pretty hefty book at 44 pages, with 4 stories, a 1 page text story, and a framing story split into two parts at the beginning and end of the issue. That's a lot of comic for a friggin' quarter!  They sure as hell don't make 'em like that any more.  Let's break it on down. . .

LET ME TELL YOU THE THINGS I'VE SEEN

SCRIPT: Joe Kubert

PENCILS: Joe Kubert

The first half of the framing story is written and drawn by the legendary Joe Kubert, with (in my humble opinion) some of the best art I've seen from him.  In case you can't tell. . .I'm a bit of a Kubert fan.

BUT I DIGRESS!

It's winter, 1944.  A lone American soldier separated from his unit is attacked and wounded by Germans hiding in the woods.  As he desperately tries to return to his unit to warn them about the hidden enemies waiting for them, he stumbles onto a house in the middle of the forest and is rescued by a mysterious old man who starts telling him strange war stories. . .

The utterly fantastic art aside, this short piece is a great opener for this issue AND this series!  In a few short pages, it encapsulates the entire concept of Weird War Tales in a way that modern comic creators seem to have lost a grasp of.  

THE SECRET OF THE FORT WHICH DID NOT RETURN

REPRINTED FROM:  G.I. Combat #86 (1961)

SCRIPT: Robert Kanigher

PENCILS: Russ Heath

The first full-length story is actually a reprint from 1961's G.I. Combat #86.  It seems a bit odd to throw in a reprint for the lead story on a new series.  Maybe DC wasn't entirely confident in their new anthology.  But it's in there, so let's take a look. . .

The lone survivor of the crew of a B-17 bomber named "Mother Hen" remembers the harrowing last flight of the plane and decides not to tell the truth about what happened in his report. . .that somehow the battered bomber made it over the target even though all the crew except the Bombardier had been killed.

This might be a reprint, but it's an excellent story!  The art is remarkable and really shows the desperation and frantic action as the bomber squadron is picked apart in battle.  The planes and combat scenes are particularly well done. The story is action packed and tense.  The supernatural elements don't come in until it's almost done with, but even without them, this is just a fantastic, gritty piece of comic art.

THE STORY BEHIND THE COVER

SCRIPT: Joe Kubert

PENCILS: Joe Kubert

This short 3 page piece tells. . .well. . .the story behind the issue's cover.  A German Corporal is killed while out on patrol but he doesn't realize he's dead and tries to warn his commander that there are enemies nearby.  When he gets no response from anybody, the knowledge of his death and the extreme guilt of losing his men doom the lost spirit to wander the battlefields forever.

I really liked the idea of telling the story behind the comic's cover.  It's short and sweet, but nicely done and with more fantastic art from Kubert.

THE END OF THE SEA WOLF

REPRINTED FROM: Star Spangled War Stories #71 (1958)

SCRIPT: Bob Haney

PENCILS: Joe Kubert

Another reprint story.  I begin to sense a bit of a theme in this first issue. . .

After the end of WWII, a former German Submarine Captain tells the tale of the final voyage of his boat, the "Sea Wolf", which was sunk during a brutal battle with a mysterious and seemingly unstoppable ship.

The story on this one wasn't so great, and the "twist" ending (the ship they are salvaging is actually his own submarine he's been talking about) isn't that clever, but the Joe Kubert art is absolutely stunning!  Kubert could damn sure draw some great naval scenes.

END OF A CONVOY

This one page text piece's writer isn't credited.  It's a pretty interesting short summary of the Pacific Theater's Battle of The Bismark Sea.  It actually reads a bit like an outline for a regular comic story, and I wonder if that's what it originally was.  It swings from technical specifics and details of the battle to personal moments and brief snips of dialogue.  

BAKER'S DOZEN!

REPRINTED FROM: Star Spangled War Stories #116 (1964)

SCRIPT: Ed Herron

PENCILS: Irv Novick

And yet ANOTHER reprint.  

When a superstitious commander gets a 13th man assigned to his unit on Friday the 13th, he and his men are convinced that the bad luck will be the end of them all.  During a series of mishaps and misadventures through the day, they come to understand that the 13th man is actually their good luck charm.

I like that this story is a little light-hearted, but it's really not that great.  The dialogue is pretty hokey. The art is decent, but Russ Heath and Joe Kubert are hard acts to follow and it really shows.  There's some good moments in both writing and art, but not many of them. The story isn't BAD, it's just sort of average. 

And finally. . .

YOU MUST GO!

SCRIPT: Joe Kubert

PENCILS: Joe Kubert

The second half of the bookend story begun in the front of the issue.

The wounded American soldier feels strong enough to move on after a night of listening to the mysterious old man who rescued him tell strange war stories.  When the G.I. asks an old woman on the road for directions, he learns that the house he spent the night in was destroyed during WWI, along with everyone in it. . .

The end of the story was pretty predictable, but it was still good. . .and of course there's more dark and moody Kubert art to kick it up a notch.  A great finish for the issue.

CONCLUSION

I'm a bit on the fence about Weird War Tales #1.  

On the one hand, the stories are, for the most part, good reads and still hold up very well, even after more than 50 years for some of them. It's also packed full of (mostly) great art, featuring a heaping helping of the legendary Joe Kubert.

But on the other hand. . .

All of the stories in this issue are reprints, except for the framing story and an extremely short piece in the middle telling the tale of the issue's cover.  I'm not sure if the text piece is reprinted, but it looks to me like an outline for an unwritten comic story and seems a bit unnecessary.  One would think that there would be more original material in an opening issue of a new series.

Overall, I think the good and bad pretty much equal out in this case.  If the stories and art weren't as good as they were, I'd find this issue a very disappointing pile of reprint crap.  But luckily, that's not the case.  Even though this comic is mostly reprinted material, it's still pretty damn good reprinted material, for the most part.  I'm not sure what DC's thinking was, but I have the feeling that they were sort of testing the waters with this issue.

Up Next. . .

Back to Longbox Junk business as usual with more issues of 2006's Jonah Hex.

Be there or be square!

Wayback Wednesday - Tarzan Of The Apes #186

TARZAN OF THE APES #186

(Gold Key - August, 1969)

SCRIPTS: Gaylord Dubois

PENCILS: Nat Edson -  Doug Wildley

COVER: George Wilson

Welcome back to another Wayback Wednesday edition of Longbox Junk, where I take a look at some of the older single issue comics in my collection and give the internet a review that NOBODY ever asked for!  Why? Because that's what I do, son! Let's get to it. . .

So what we have here before us is the first part of a two issue adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's "Tarzan and The City of Gold", brought to us by Gold Key comics in the wonderfully politically incorrect year of 1969, in that long gone era of comics where a series could actually get up to triple digit issues before getting a reboot for that sweet, sweet #1 collectors issue (with 18 variant covers, of course).  But enough about TODAY'S comic book comedy.  Let's dig on into the Longbox Junk at hand.

Just to get this out at the start. . .I've read a few of the original Tarzan books, but I've never read Tarzan and the City of Gold, so I'm coming into this one cold.  This is also the only issue of this series I have, so I don't know what came immediately before, or how the story ends.  It's this and just this.

Let's start at the front of things with the cover.  Of all the older comics in my collection, I have to say that (in my extremely humble opinion) Gold Key really has consistently the BEST covers.  Now, I don't have a LOT of Gold Key comics, but I have about 30 or 40 of them and they pretty much beat Marvel and DC covers of the past hands down.  The cover to this issue is no exception.  It's dynamic, colorful, and very nicely done. The rich blue of the soldier's cape is a real eye-catcher. So a great cover. . .moving on!

The story goes like this:  Tarzan rescues a stranger from bandits, as Tarzan does.  The stranger's name is Valthor and not only is he wearing some pretty inappropriate jungle garb (a shiny white suit of ivory scale mail) but he's also hopelessly lost.  Tarzan offers to guide him back home, because Tarzan is a solid guy. After a couple of days travel, they come in sight of "The Fire Mountain Xarator",  a giant, smoking, active volcano. . .which one would think would be visible from quite a distance, making Valthor seem even more of an idiot when he could have just told Tarzan two days before, "I live by that giant volcano that you can see the plume of smoke from over there in that direction.  See it?" instead of making Tarzan track his way through the jungle. . .BUT I DIGRESS!

At the base of the volcano is a huge walled city named Cathne (the titular City of Gold).  And excuse me for digressing AGAIN, but one would think that Tarzan would be well aware of a big city at the base of a smoking volcano two days hike from his home.  ANYWAY. . .Valthor tells Tarzan that his home is another day's hike past Cathne in the city of Athne, and that Cathne and Athne are enemies.  So Tarzan decides to hike another day, because Tarzan doesn't mind hiking through the jungle.  It's sort of his thang. 

As they attempt to cross a river under the cover of darkness, Tarzan and Valthor become separated when the river (which has become flooded because it's been raining all day) gets crazy.  Tarzan washes up by the Cathne city wall and Valthor is nowhere to be found, so Tarzan says "Screw it. . .I'm gonna check out the City of Gold while I'm here." and jumps the wall, only to immediately be captured.  And when I say immediately, I mean Tarzan was only about 6 feet from the wall when he gets busted.  He literally only took about 4 steps.  The City of Gold has some pretty stout security, but one would THINK the Lord of The Jungle would be just a bit sneakier. . .just saying.

Tarzan gets tossed into a cell with a bruiser named Phobeg. . .a former Imperial Guard who accidentally stepped on a lion's tail. . .who let's Tarzan know that they will probably be killing each other in an arena fight pretty soon.

In the morning, they are brought before the Queen. . .Nemone. . .a sultry beauty with a hilariously 60's giant bright red beehive hairdo.  She proves Phobeg right by condemning the two prisoners to a fight to the death for her amusement in the arena.  And so after a merry day of chariot racing, Tarzan and Phobeg are brought out for the main event, and Tarzan easily kicks Phobeg's ass, because Tarzan is the kind of man whose ass will NOT be kicked.  But then he refuses to kill Phobeg despite Nemone's demands. . .which makes her hot for Tarzan, because that's the effect Tarzan has on women when he tells them they can take their demands and stuff 'em because he's no slave. . .he's friggin' TARZAN!

And so Tarzan is brought to the palace to. . .er. . .amuse. . .Nemone.  He's escorted by a chubby palace guard named Erot who keeps telling Tarzan how scared he should be, and Tarzan is like, "Why?"  It culminates hilariously when Erot tells Tarzan that stronger men then him have trembled before the queen and Tarzan is like, "Tremble?  What's that?".  Erot gets thrown out of the royal chambers as soon as he brings in Tarzan and Tarzan can tell he's made an enemy, but Tarzan doesn't really care because Erot's just gonna have to wait in a long line for a piece of him because Tarzan collects enemies like I collect comic books. . .

So Nemone gets Tarzan on the bed and starts getting frisky with him, telling him that she'll let him live, but only if he stays in Cathne with her forever. . .because that's how Tarzan makes women feel.  They are interrupted before Tarzan can give Nemone an answer by the news that they've captured an intruder and they're going to feed him to a lion if Nemone and Tarzan want to come watch.  Nemone just LOVES a good lion execution, so she decides bedtime fun with Tarzan can wait a bit. 

At the execution, Tarzan sees it's Valthor who's getting fed to the lion.  Tarzan jumps in to save him, because of course he does.  He kills the lion with a little knife and gives Nemone his best Tarzan victory yell.  Valthor tells Tarzan he came back to see what happened after they got separated in the river and got captured by Cathne's outstanding security team.  Tarzan tells Valthar to shut the hell up before someone figures out they know each other, then demands that Nemone frees Valthor. . .because queen or no queen, once Tarzan gets into a woman's head, TARZAN makes the demands.

Nemone frees Valthor, then tells Tarzan it's time to come back into her chambers.  To be continued.

Okay. . .not too bad of a story.  It's not perfect.  It's not even close to perfect.  But not TOO bad.

There's a pretty big suspension of disbelief necessary for the enjoyment of this story.  It starts out with the fact that Valthor can't find his way home despite there being a giant smoking beacon to lead the way.  Then Tarzan has no knowledge of the huge walled city and smoking volcano TWO DAYS away from his home.  And then there's the way that there's not a single black person IN THE AFRICAN JUNGLE! Athne is a Roman-style city in the middle of Africa and the population is whiter than Salt Lake City in 1850.  Okay, I get it. . .1969.  But still. . .IT'S FRIGGIN' AFRICA!

Other than the extreme suspension of disbelief needed to get through this story, it's not bad.  It moves at a pretty brisk pace and it's well-written.  I wish I had the second part of it, so the fact that it left me wanting to read more says something right there.  

Let's talk about the art for a moment.  I found the art to be a bit uneven.  It starts off great. . .dark and thickly-inked, but not murky.  A great sense of depth and shadow.  And then about page 10 it looks like they swapped out inkers and the lines become a lot thinner, giving the back half of the story a weaker look than the front.  The pencils are still really good, but the change in inker drags them down quite a bit.  The colors are surprisingly good in this book as well.  I've found in a lot of these older comics that the coloring is pretty sloppy, but on this one at least, I have no complaints about the color art.  Generally speaking, the art in this issue was pretty good from end to end. . .

BUT. . .

Like I said above, I get it. . .this comic was created in 1969.  But did they REALLY have to give Tarzan an Elvis pompadour and sideburns?  And I've got to ask the same question about Tarzan that I had to ask about Tor in a previous Wayback Wednesday.  Just how the hell does he get that clean shave?  Tarzan has a shave that would put a Marine to shame.  And I ain't just talking about his face.  The Lord of The Jungle is "dolphin smooth" as the Walking Dead's Abraham (R.I.P.) put it so well.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I liked this issue.  It has a great cover, good art for the most part, and a nice brisk story.  Sure there are some issues here and there, but in this case the good outweighs the bad.  Is it the best comic I've ever read?  No.  Is it the worst? Not even close.  It's pretty good. . .and what more can you ask from Longbox Junk?

Up Next. . .

Back to Longbox Junk as usual with the back half of Dynamite's Green Hornet.

Be there or be square!

Wayback Wednesday - Star Spangled War Stories #120

STAR SPANGLED

WAR STORIES

#120

I have to admit that I'm not very familiar at all with Star Spangled War Stories.  What I DO know about it is from later issues featuring The Unknown Soldier, which is a great character. . .but really, as far as war comics go, I've always been more of a Sgt. Rock and Weird War Tales kind of guy.

I found this issue at a flea market back a couple of months ago in pretty good condition for the measly five bucks I paid for it, and it's been sitting lonely and unread in a longbox ever since. . .the only pre-1974 issue of this title in my collection.  

BUT. . .

Since "Longbox Junk" is all about reviewing comics that have probably never been reviewed before, and "Wayback Wednesday" is about taking a look at some of the older comics in my collection, I decided to crack the plastic on this lonely outcast and see what's going on under the cover.

STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #120 (DC)

First off, we have a cover by the great Joe Kubert.  Unfortunately, it's not that great of a cover.  His trademark sparse/primary color background make it pop nicely, and the tank is great, but other than that it just seems sort of. . .phoned in.  The creature seems very generic.  The purple and green coloring of it is just not good. The positioning is kind of strange.  A mediocre cover by Kubert is STILL better than a good cover by a lot of artists, but this is certainly not one of his better efforts.

MOVING ALONG!

The interior art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito is. . .okay.  It's not great, but it's not bad, either. The art tells the story in a competent way, but it doesn't have a single really good moment in the entire issue.  The coloring brings the art down another notch with pink and purple dinosaurs.  The art in the backup story (Dryland PT Boat) is actually better than what's up front because it takes place in a darker and more realistic setting than "Dinosaur Island", and it looks like the inker (Esposito) had more of a hand in things.  

Overall, the art in this issue isn't really bad. . .it just seems somewhat workmanlike and uninspired, especially considering the science fantasy elements featured in the main story.

So, that was the art.  Let's consider the writing. . .

There's two stories in this issue, both by writer Robert Kanigher. Unfortunately (Like the art), there doesn't seem to have been much effort or inspiration put into either of them, although of the two, I found the backup story to be better than the main.  Let's take a look at both.

THE TANK EATER

The lead is a "War That Time Forgot" story involving two members of DC's proto-Suicide Squad on a secret mission to deliver and test a new tank that can do just about everything but fly.  On the way to their destination, they are attacked by a flying dinosaur and end up stranded on Dinosaur Island after a mid-air battle where they are rescued from falling to their death by a baby dinosaur they themselves had rescued during an earlier mission (in a previous issue).

On the island, their tank is attacked by another creature and dragged underwater.  They manage to escape, but the tank ends up on a Japanese submarine.  They decide to find the submarine's lair and destroy the tank, and during their search, they come across a young caveboy fighting a giant dinosaur.  They save the caveboy and he joins up with them.

While tracking the submarine, they are attacked by ANOTHER dinosaur and are dropped into the water by their friendly flying dinosaur baby.  While the Suicide Sqad members fight off Japanese frogmen, Caveboy plants explosives on the sub.  They make their escape as the sub and tank explode, then the baby dinosaur carries them to safety.

Ooooookay. . .hmmmmmm.

If I had to describe this story in one word, it would have to be "Juvenile".  

Like the art, it doesn't seem as if much effort was put into this story at all.  It has interesting elements, but the execution of those elements are so simplistic and uninspired that one has to wonder if this was written as part of a bet over whether or not a comic book story can be written in 60 minutes or less.  Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh.  I completely understand that in the 1960's, comic books weren't exactly written with a 50 year old reader like myself in mind.  They were being written for kids.  Given that, I suppose that the writer did the job he was hired to do.  Unfortunately, that was all he did.  Now, I'm not going to say this story was terrible.  It's not.  But it's definitely not good, either.

DRYLAND PT BOAT

The backup story involves the son of a famous naval officer being put in command of a PT boat that is almost sunk during his very first mission.  He is told that he needs to rescue some army officers on the other side of a peninsula, but there is to many mines and enemy patrols to get there by sea, so his PT boat needs to be trucked overland to the other side.

On the way, the truck carrying his boat is attacked by Japanese planes and tanks, which he fights off by commanding his boat like he was on the water instead of on a trailer, eventually destroying a pursuing tank by dropping a depth charge on a bridge.

Once back on the water, he is faced with an overwhelming enemy in the form of a destroyer, but hoping to live up to his father's famous deeds (He rammed a battleship with a cruiser during WWI), he goes on the attack and risks his life diving into the water to repair his last torpedo, winning both the battle and gaining the respect he had not been given living in the shadow of his father.

I found this backup story to be the better of the two.  The art, the subject matter, and the writing were all a notch above "The Tank Eater".  That's not to say it's a great story. . .it still seems as if not a great deal of effort was put into it. . .but it holds up better to a modern reading than the Dinosaur Island shenanigans of the lead story.  I thought the idea of a PT boat commander having to wage a battle from the deck of his boat while on a trailer driving across dry land was pretty clever.  And like I said above, the art was a bit better with a more realistic story to illustrate.

CONCLUSION

Overall, even though there were some good elements to be found, this issue was pretty mediocre.  It wasn't like the artists and writer didn't have some interesting stuff to work with, it just seems like they were doing their jobs and nothing more than that.  Even the great Joe Kubert's cover was uninspired and average! I know that there are pretty good issues of this title later on with Unknown Soldier, but if all I had to go on was THIS issue, I'd probably just take a pass on the whole thing.  

Up next. . .

They can rebuild him.  They have the technology.

They can make him better than he was.  Or can they?

Dynamite's Six Million Dollar Man: The Fall Of Man mini-series.

Be there or be square!