The Day the Nazis Ruled Latveria, and Other Astonishing Tales!

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Astonishing Tales, Barry Smith, Black Panther, collection, Dr. Doom, Gene Colan, Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe, Jack Kirby, Ka-zar, Kraven, Larry Lieber, Marvel Comics, Red Skull, Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, Wally Wood

Of all the glorious splash pages in Astonishing Tales #1-8, this one of the Red Skull turning Latveria into Nazi Nation cracks us up the most. It’s so wrong in so many ways. Red Skull, what were you thinking? Do you have ANY idea what Dr. Doom is going to do to you when he gets home? And why does the decor look like a high school assembly?

But let’s start at the beginning. Long before we used the controversial picture above to sell the set on eBay, Jack Kirby kicked off Astonishing Tales #1 in 1970 with a Ka-Zar story. Ka-zar versus Kraven sounds like a manly jungle free for all, but the tale lacks substance. Each issue, however, provided two stories, and the second one features Dr. Doom. Roy Thomas teams up with artist Wally Wood for several issues of unique stories in the Dr. Doom archives.



After Stan & Jack wrap up the Kraven story, Gerry Conway and Barry Smith tell what may be the greatest Ka-zar story of all time. X-men fans may recall Garokk the Sun God from the days of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s run. Byrne & Claremont’s tale, one of our favorites, has its roots in the pages of Astonishing Tales. Barry Smith renders the Savage Land and its inhabitants like never before or since. Conway’s tale is so awesome we could almost forgive him for killing Gwen Stacy… but we won’t.

Stan’s brother Larry Lieber takes the reins from Roy Thomas to continue Doom’s adventures, which include revolution, androids, and bringing a mummy back to life. It’s a whacky mix of themes that Wally Wood renders like its still the golden age at EC Comics. And did we mention the Red Skull shows up while Doom is on vacation? Guess what – he turns Latveria into Nazi Nation! What an idiot.


Conway and Smith continue their dramatic portrayal of the Savage Land through several issues. Just look at that splash page!

Just when you are thinking that you might subscribe to a monthly title featuring Dr. Doom drawn by Wally Wood, the creative team begins changing. Gene Colan joins Gerry Conway for a pretty awesome Black Panther story, the goofy gimmick of drilling underground in Wakanda serving as an excuse for a fine character study of the opposing monarchs, Doom and T’Challa.

Herb Trimpe steps in with what seems a Frazetta-inspired pose for Ka-zar, and Colan’s pencils seem to become more flowing and abstract in his next few issues of Doom.



Doom’s mystic battle is one of our favorite examples of Colan’s style, rendered in bold flowing areas of black ink.

But despite these creative high points in these little-known and certainly underrated stories, they might have been too odd for the market at that time. Doom got the axe and the book became Ka-zar’s title for more than a year beginning with the ninth issue. Later, it would become a sort of proving ground for potential characters. Tony Isabella and Dick Ayers would give us “It!” for a few issues, and then Deathlok by Rich Buckler and Doug Moench. The Guardians of the Galaxy also make an appearance, but Marvel axed the whole title after issue #36, six years after it began.
We recently sold our ‘reader’s copies’ set of the first eight issues, but you can usually find Astonishing Tales (Marvel, 1970) in stock. Many well-worn copies exist, so prices on VG+ Marvels from this era remain super cheap. Just try finding VF/NM copies, though, and you will have yourself a collecting challenge!

Marvel Treasury Edition: Rampaging Hulk

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Adam Warlock, Counter Earth, Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe, High Evolutionary, Hulk, Inhumans, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, Rampaging Hulk, Roy Thomas, Warlock

Marvel collected some of the Hulk’s adventures in two Marvel Treasury Editions. #24, with the staggeringly low cover price of $2, finds Hulk playing a major role in the early development of Adam Warlock. Warlock here is in transition. Fantastic Four #67 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby gave us the origin of Warlock, though he had not even a name back then. (It’s reprinted in Marvel’s Greatest Comics #50 if you want to own the issue without spending an arm and a leg on it.) After this story, Jim Starlin would take on Warlock and make the fledgling character truly great. Starlin’s first issue recalls some of the key plot points from the issues presented here.

In the opening chapter, Hulk tangles with the Inhumans and gets shot into space where (hopefully) he can’t hurt anyone. Greg Pak ran with this same idea in recent years, landing Hulk on a distant planet where he becomes a great warrior and leader, Gladiator-style. Gerry Conway sets Hulk on “Counter-Earth” instead, where the High Evolutionary has created some anthropomorphic Ani-Men (animal + men) that have become caught up in a war. Seems that these “furries” have many of the same conflicts we do!

This conflict brings Warlock and the Hulk together, and our lumbering green Goliath finds one of the few friends he will ever make in comics. Hulk’s love and dedication for his new friend take on an innocent, childlike tone that gives us another side of his character, while Warlock plays out a Christ story in his capture, death, and heroic resurrection.

Along the way we get some glorious Herb Trimpe splash pages, and a giant-sized two-page spread designed for this edition. Trimpe’s art really sings in this large format. Though the political and religious themes of the story seem aimed at a more adult reader, the writing is geared for young readers, too. Trimpe’s artwork embraces the childlike silliness of comics while delivering some fairly intense pathos and drama at the same time.

We read this Treasury Edition several times as a kid in the early 1980s, just after it came out in 1979. It was fun to pick up and read again, even if the story wasn’t quite as fresh these days as it was back then. Trimpe just kills it, as you can see on many of these pages in this post. We recently sold our copy on eBay, but you can usually find Marvel Treasury Edition #4: Rampaging Hulk in stock for a reasonable price. It’s perfect for fans of the classic Bronze Age Hulk as well as Warlock collectors.

Incredible Hulk Pocket Book 1978

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1978, collection, Herb Trimpe, Hulk, Incredible Hulk, Incredible Hulk Pocket Book, Jack Kirby, paperback, Pocket Book, Pocket Books, reprint, Stan Lee

This handy paperback has most recently proven useful in settling questions about Hulk history. Often these stories get forgotten in the vast expanses of Hulk lore, his origin story retold so many times that any two people probably have a different version in their heads. Here, Hulk remains more a man than a monster – a sullen and irritable man with a limited vocabulary, but far from the dim-witted “Hulk Smash” of the 1970s. In these stories, Banner hulks out at night, not simply from rage.

Stan Lee provides a brief but entertaining introduction as he did with all the Pocket Books we’ve seen from the 1970s. These books were great fun to own then, and we read these stories until we had them memorized. Ditko’s artwork – featured in one story here and in the similar Spider-man paperback – and Kirby’s artwork entertained us to no end.

These days, they seem a bit dated. Hulk is always fighting Commies, the art is far more simplistic than Kirby’s later style, and the plots seem kind of goofy. Stan and Jack probably hit the nail right on the head for their audience: boys and young men who enjoy action stories full of conflict and gadgets, at a particular time in history. Today they are curious beasts, an odd lot from a simpler time of comics where pulp horror and science fiction met in the mainstream to create superheroes.

Stan and Jack had no idea how big this thing would blow up, and readers 50 years later would seek out these stories for reference and entertainment. The charm in these first six Hulk tales lies in that very lack of self-consciousness, innocently dashed out in a few days or weeks. Just look at the utter disregard for backgrounds and ornamentation on these pages: direct, economical, focused entirely on figures and dialogue.

This little volume from Pocket Books in 1978 held up remarkably well. Even as a mass market paperback it enjoys very solid production: durable pages with clear art and color, a firm binding more than 35 years later, and a tight, glossy cover. We have this copy of the Incredible Hulk Pocket Book for sale on eBay, if you would like to be the next fan to take a turn unearthing this Marvel Comics time capsule.

It even comes with a bonus two-page spread of “Hulk’s life in a single image” by Herb Trimpe. Trimpe, of course, had put his unmistakable stamp on the Hulk by the time this reprint book arrived in 1978, visually defining the Hulk for a generation of fans.

The Glorious Ascension of Godzilla!

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Beta-Beast, Doug Moench, Essential Godzilla, Godzilla, Herb Trimpe, Star Sinister

Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe present a Godzilla tale that involves not one but TWO scenes of glorious ascension for our beloved mutant reptile. Yes, they involve spaceships and aliens. But, surely no religious zealot ever thrilled to the Ascension of their icons any more than we thrilled to see Godzilla lifted into the psychedelic skies. Of course, no heaven awaits our fire-breathing hero – only giant monster battles in space, fueled by rage and an animalistic need for territorial dominion! Go, Go, Godzilla!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Godzilla #12; Marvel, 1978.
– Reprinted in black and white in Essential Godzilla TPB #1
 

Now unleash the Beta Beast!

Godzilla Meets Devil Dinosaur!

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Devil Dinosaur, dinosaur, Doug Moench, Godzilla, Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel, Jack Kirby, Moon Boy, Rob Takiguchi, time travel

Today, we reprint our guest post from Diversions of the Groovy Kind in April, 2012.

In Godzilla #22, Godzilla joins forces with Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur and his pal Moon Boy. In the previous issue, Devil and Godzilla met, tussled, and became friends. This issue, dated May 1979, hit the stands five months after the end of Devil Dinosaur’s short-lived series. Author Doug Moench clearly needed more Devil Dinosaur – and who doesn’t?

Collector’s Guide:
– From Godzilla #22; Marvel, 1979.
– Reprinted in black and white in Essential Godzilla TPB #1

You may ask, “How are Godzilla and Devil Dinosaur the same size? Isn’t Godzilla ‘up from the depths, thirty stories high’ as the cartoon theme song says?” Right you are! This story takes place during a plotline where the King of the Monsters got hit with a shrinker-izer to whittle him down to more manageable size. At one point, he was small enough to go toe-to-toe with a vicious sewer rat!

You’ll notice the effects begin to wear off in this tale. There go the property values! Plus, the device which threw Godzilla back in time to meet Devil begins to backfire. You no doubt recognize that glowing white square… It’s Dr. Doom’s time machine! What would the Bronze Age be without that thing?

 
Artists Herb Trimpe and Jack Abel craft a double-splash for pages 2-3 that echoes Jack Kirby. Moench also throws in some lesser-known parts of Devil’s world, like the old hag and the pits from Devil Dinosaur #9. These are the same pits that took Devil through time in his own final issue!

For escapist fiction, it just doesn’t get any cooler than seeing Devil Dinosaur and Godzilla cutting loose in a whirlwind of dinosaur battles. On a more analytical note, Moench contrasts the worlds of two boys. Rob Takiguchi, in 1979, has a soft spot for Godzilla. The boy always takes the monster’s side. He feels we haven’t taken the time to really understand Godzilla. But, the adults in Rob’s life constantly undermine this potential friendship. They trap Godzilla, shoot him, send him back in time – always some sinister grown-up plan! Rob lives in a state of sadness and rebellion as he struggles to build a rapport with Godzilla. The adults treat Rob like a schmuck, perpetually disregarding his feelings.

Moon Boy has everything Takiguchi could wish for. Although he and Devil often battle nasty adults, Moon Boy’s bond with his reptilian ally is firmly established. The adults may be adversaries, but they have absolutely no authority over him – big difference! Moon Boy knows complete freedom to make his own decisions. Plus, Devil Dinosaur embodies all the good that Rob seeks in Godzilla: strength, loyalty, protection, power, and friendship.

Yes, if we had written our own ending to this tale, it would have been a happy one. Rob would go back in time with Godzilla. Godzilla would stay Devil-sized. The two boys and their reptiles would become fast friends, roaming the Late Cretaceous as they pleased. And, everything would be drenched in rampaging dinosaurs and Kirby Krackle.

A boy can dream, can’t he?

A Monster Only the City Could Spawn!

Tags

Doug Moench, Godzilla, Herb Trimpe, rat, sewer

Of all the battles Doug Moench dreamed up for Godzilla, this vicious struggle with a sewer rat remains our favorite. What’s that? Godzilla’s bigger than a rat? Yes, he is, Martian! But check it out: the super-duper grown-ups nailed the King of the Monsters with a shrinker-izer that made him easier to handle. Doesn’t that sound like the kind of messed up thing an adult would do to your huge green buddy? How is he supposed to annihilate civilization at that size?!?

But we digress… Suffice to say, Godzilla doesn’t take any crap from this rat – although there’s plenty of it floating in the water! Yuck! Let’s check out the way Herb Trimpe draws this slimy saga of savage sewage supremacy.

Collector’s Guide:
– From Godzilla #18; Marvel, 1979.
– Reprinted in Essential Godzilla TPB #1

For a review of Marvel’s Godzilla series, visit Longbox Graveyard!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters – First Issue!

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Doug Moench, Essential Godzilla, first issue, Godzilla, Godzilla King of the Monsters, Herb Trimpe, marvel godzilla, monsters

The slumbering leviathan known as Godzilla awakes and rises from the sea off the shores of Alaska. This reptilian titan left Japan devastated and now makes his way to America. Godzilla swings a tail that can smash mountains to dust. He breathes fires born of the Atomic Age. Is there anything that can stop the monster’s rampage?

Story by Doug Moench.
Art by Herb Trimpe and Jim Mooney.

For a review of Marvel’s Godzilla series, visit Longbox Graveyard!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Godzilla #1; Marvel, 1977.
– Reprinted in Essential Godzilla TPB #1