Those Darn Mole People Again!

 

cover art by John Buscema

 The previous issue ended with Cap and the gorilla that is really a transformed mad scientist falling in a hole dug deep into the earth for the purpose of disposing of radioactive waste. In other words, it's Tuesday.

We start Captain America #136 (April 1971--written by Stan Lee, drawn by Gene Colan) back on the surface, with Nick Fury, Falcon, and Sharon Carter mourning Cap's apparent death. Fury, though, realizes that Falcon isn't going to give up and gives him the space he needs to make a rescue attempt by getting Sharon out of the way.

Falcon goes to Tony Stark, who quickly whips up a jet pack that will get Falcon down the shaft--though it won't have enough fuel to bring him back up again.

There are several points that show the challenges of writing stories set in an ever-expanding fictional universe. First, as we'll soon see, the tunnel has been drilled directly into the domains of the Mole Man. Since subterranean civilizations are known to exist, it seems unlikely that no one would have given this consideration when the tunnel was first planned.

Also, one wonders why Tony Stark didn't suit up as Iron Man and come along with Falcon. Cap is one of his best friends, after all.

But, as much as I like consistant continuity in my comic book universes, there are times when it is more important to tell an individual story in an exciting manner without worrying about the overall universe it is set in. This is Cap's and Falcon's book and there's no room for an extra guest star in this story, so Iron Man is simply left out of it. And the story requires the interaction with Mole Man, while pages of political negotiating with him about the tunnel would have slowed the action-oriented tale down just a tad too much. Besides, politicians both in fiction and in real life are often short-sighted, so maybe digging the tunnel without thinking about the consequences isn't that much of a jump in logic.

Anyway, we find out that Mole Man used an anti-gravity beam to lower Cap and the Monster Ape to the bottom safely. This is because he wants to find out what's up with that darn tunnel. Mole Man's characterization in this issue is a lot different than we've seen in the past. He isn't looking for conquest or revenge on the surface world right now, but simply wants to make sure that his own domain is safe.

The Monster Ape immediately starts planning to make trouble. He begins a rampage and has to be subdued and caged--though we soon find out this is part of a quickly improvised plan to get Cap killed. What his long-term plans are isn't clear, but that's not really a flaw in the story. Perhaps he's just playing it by ear to see what he can eventually get out of it for himself.

Cap is quite straightforward about the fact that the tunnel was going to be used to store radioactive waste, but he assures Mole Man that he can get this plan cancelled once it is known that they'd be dumping the stuff in the lap of another civilization. Mole Man believes him and is about to send him back to the surface when the Monster Ape does indeed start to cause trouble.

By turning back into Dr. Gorbo, he is able to slip out of his cave. He then convinces Mole Man that Cap is a spy scoping out the underworld defenses. This quickly leads to Gorbo (once again in ape form) getting into a fight with Cap. Falcon shows up at this point, though, and in a very well-choreographed fight scene, the two heroes work together to take down the big ape.

But Mole Man is now planning on destroying SHIELD headquarters before then attacking various surface cities. When Gorbo hears this, he realizes that this would mean Julia--the lab assistant he loves--would be killed. So he sacrifices his life to stop the attack, confessing to having lied about Cap just before he dies.

A lot of pages are used up recapping the previous issue and reviewing Mole Man's origin, so the main plot comes across as a little rushed. But Gene Colan's art has it all looking magnificent. As I mentioned when I reviewed the part one, this story is an example of taking old and perhaps cliched ideas, but still telling a fresh and interesting tale based on those ideas. 

Next week, it's back to Superman Family #182 as Supergirl visits Mars. 

A Monster Who Isn't A Monster

cover art by John Romita

Captain America and the Falcon #135 (March 1971) makes one think about cliches and tropes. The story, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Gene Colon, uses a version of the Jekyll and Hyde routine, in which a man transforms himself both physically and morally into a monster. But its an example of why some ideas are continually reused. They are the entry way for countless variations of the basic plot and, in the hands of good storytellers, often still make for entertaining stories. Colon's art looks great and the fight scenes are fun. Also---well, if Angela had failed to notice me the way Julia fails to notice Dr. Gorbo, perhaps I would have transformed myself into a giant ape and gone on a crime spree. So it is difficult not so sympathize with him. 

The issue begins with Cap bringing Falcon (at this time still a fairly new character) to SHIELD headquarters. Falcon meets Nick Fury and demonstrates his skills as a fighter by brawling with Dum Dum Dugan. 

While this is going on, we meet the aforementioned Dr. Erik Gorbo, whose lab is located near the combat area where Falcon and Dum Dum are sparring. Gorbo is crushing on his lab assistant Julia but realizes she doesn't see him in a romantic light. She's more interested in talking about another scientific experiment going on--the Earth Dig project--than in him. Though, to be fair to her, she's unaware of his interest and treats him with respect. Gorbo is butt-ugly, but there's no indication this bothers her. She just isn't in to him. 

Nowadays, this is an issue that would probably end with everyone talking to H.R.  But in 1971, it often ended with the rejected guy drinking a secret formula to make himself physically swesome and thus impress the girl. 

Unfortunately for Dr. Gorbo, the formula turns him into a large gorilla, which rarely impresses the ladies. But he has an antidote and he now also has an evil plan. He can rob banks as a gorilla, then turn himself into a human again so that no on suspects him. He also learns he can mentally control other animals, so he orders all the dogs in the neighborhood to attack the police, thus ensuring his getaway.

Well, a gorilla robbing banks is the sort of thing that draws the attention of superheroes. Cap and Falcon are soon on the trail, though they are also distracted by attacking dogs when they try to catch the gorilla.

But when Dr. Gorbo is next in his lab, Julia tells him she's going to watch the Earth Dig project, which involves digging the deepest hole ever dug into the Earth. In a world where we KNOW that subterranean civilizations exist, this seems like a bad idea. But science must march on.

Anyway, Gorbo gets jealous of the Earth Dig project and attacks it in his ape-form. This starts another tussle with Captain America and ends with the both of them falling into a very, very deep pit.

We'll return to this story in two weeks to see how it ends. I do think it gets off a fairly strong start. A lot of the stuff that happens on SHIELD can seem a bit like filler, but it does serve a purpose in introducing Falcon to a portion of the larger Marvel Universe while giving us a chance to meet Dr. Gorbo. As I already mentioned, Colon's art is wonderful and, though Gorbo is largely a jerk, he does have a few moments that allow us to feel some sympathy for him.

I'll have to ask Angela if turning myself into a giant ape would have impressed her. Probably not, I suppose.

Next week, we visit the planet Krypton.

 

Cover Cavalcade

 

This original retcon of Falcon's origin (from 1975) was awful, though I believe it has been largely ignored or re-retconned away since then. But the cover (by Gil Kane, with John Romita doing alterations) is a lot of fun.

Unlikely Suspects

Captain America and the Falcon #159 (March 1973) is the last part of a three-issue story arc I've been reviewing. I choose it in general because the story is the sort of skilled, entertaining storytelling I like to celebrate on this blog and specifically because I remember enjoying this particular story so thoroughly when I was a young but already brilliant child.  Gee whiz, I had good taste.

Written by Steve Englehart and with art by Sal Buscema, this issue picks up with Steve Rogers being held prisoner by the suspended Sgt. Muldoon and another off-duty cop, who are apparently convinced that Steve is the Cowled Commander, the unfortunately-named master criminal who had several cops on his payroll and is unleashing a massive crime wave on New York City.

This is a fun plot twist. It's been established that, aside from cops who were proven to be corrupt, a number of other possibly-innocent cops were implicated in the corruption and had been suspended. Muldoon was one of these. For a man whose life revolves around being a cop, the temptation to employ vigilante tactics to clear himself would have been strong. And Steve, who had recently been working as a cop to solve another case, had (from Muldoon's perspective) constantly vanished from duty without any official consequences. So its reasonable that Steve would be a suspect in his mind.

Of course, the plot twist at the story's end will have us completely re-interpreting Muldoon's motives here, but that's part of what makes it an effective plot twist.

Anyway, Steve still has increased super-strength from the reaction of poison antidote with the Super Soldier serum (that happened last issue), so escaping isn't that difficult.

The above panels make me question whether Sgt. Muldoon would ever make it as a good detective. He and his partner knocked Steve out and tied him to a chair without ever noticing that he apparentlh had a Captain America outfit and a shield under his street clothes. But, to be fair, nobody in a Comic Book Universe ever notices that sort of thing. Frankly, people living in Comic Book Universes aren't always that bright.

The Cowled Commander's crime wave is underway and Cap soon encounters a quartet of B-list super villains. This includes the Eel, the second villain with a snake motif we've met during this story arc. In fact, it'll turn out that Eel and Viper are brothers. The family that slays together, stays together.

During the ensuing battle, Falcon shows up, carrying Viper (whom he captured last issue). And if you are carrying a super villain when attacking other super villains, obviously the thing to do is hit the new bad guys with your prisoner.

When Falcon takes a hit, the bad guys get a chance to run for it. The heroes pursue, but bad luck ensues when a police car crashes through a vine barrier and inadvertently blocks Cap and Falcon from the villains, allowing them to escape.

This allows the story to throw a red herring at us. The police commissioner is in that cop car and apologizes for accidentally allowing the crooks to escape. But is it an accident? Or is the commissioner the Cowled Commander?

It's not a bad red herring, though it comes a little too late in the story to be truly effective. The case is going to be tied up in just a few pages.

Red Wing has been following the villains and leads the heroes to their hideout.  What follows is an effectively illustrated and largely fun series of action scenes, though this section of this otherwise solidly written story has its contrived moments. Cap and Falcon are captured rather quickly when they attack and then tossed into a death trap for the Cowled Commander to finish off. In general, there's nothing wrong with this. But we are approaching the end of the story and the capture of the heroes happens too quickly, making them seem a little inept. And keeping them alive for a death trap doesn't fit the mercenary nature of these particular villains. A week excuse that they must allow their boss to make the final "let's kill 'em now" decision is weak, since they hadn't been hesitating in their attempts to kill the heroes before this. In fact, Viper had been specifically hired to kill Cap in the first issue.

Oh, well. taken for what it is, it's a fun fight scene. Cap uses his new super strength to escape captivity for the second time this issue by ripping a hole in the gas chamber he and Falcon are put in. With Red Wing's help, they finish the costumed villains and then capture the Cowled Commander...

...who turns out to be Muldoon. He'd created the Cowled Commander identity to start a crime wave initially to get the police department to drop all that annoying due process stuff and just come down harshly on crooks, while capturing Steve had been with the intent of torturing him into confessing something to create yet another red herring, thus further masking his identity.

But his criminal empire had taken on a life of its own and soon he was pretty much just a crook for the sake of being a crook and raking in the cash. There's a nice line of dialogue from Falcon that casts doubts on the "purity" of Muldoon's original motive--how much was making money a factor even at the beginning?

It's a perfectly reasonable bad guy motive for a character like Muldoon, with the plot twist made all the more effective because both Captain America and the commissioner had been convinced that Muldoon was honest and had been unjustly suspended.

Thus ends an excellent three-part story, full of great action and some effective characterizations. The final action scenes really did need improvement--an extended fight scene would have worked a lot better than the capture--death trap--escape sequence that didn't fit the personalities of the villains involved (including Muldoon), but Buscema's art looks great anyways and the story as a whole holds up really well.

Next week, we'll visit again with Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin.

Crime Waves and Unexpected Super-Strength!

Last week, I talked about my strong memories of reading a three-part Captain America story as a kid. It's a strong story--the sort of skilled, entertaining storytelling I like to celebrate on this blog. But I wasn't sure why this particular story stuck out in my mind to such a degree.

This week, we'll look at the second part of the story from Captain America and the Falcon #158 (February 1973), with the script by Steve Englehart and art by Sal Buscema. I still don't remember exactly why I loved this story so much in 1973, but it might have been my inherant good taste was already active and appreciative of well-told adventure tales. This story isn't an innovative classic in the history of graphic literature, but it does a great job of simply telling a fun story.

Remember that we left off last time with Cap and Falcon dying slowly from poison on a rooftop, while the villainous Viper makes a getaway. But Viper leaves behind an antidote he had tossed to the roof earlier as a distraction, gloating that Cap has no chance of getting to it before dying.

This is such a stereotypical villain thing to do that it can be justly argued its a weak spot in the story. But Englehart and Buscema make the most of it, following it up with a legitimately tense scene in which Cap painfully drags himself across the rooftop to reach the antidote, showing the determination that is such a key part of his character while saving both himself and Falcon.

The partners decide for Cap to try to track down the Cowled Commander--the head bad guy behind the Viper's attack--while Falcon trails the Viper personally. I really like how the rest of the issue is constructed. There's plenty of action, but the story around it is solid, with the two parallel investigations progressing in a logical manner.

Well, logical as far as Cap is concerned. Not everyone he questions seems to be thinking things through properly. His first stop is to talk to Sgt. Muldoon, who has been suspended recently while corruption charges against him are being invesigated.

Remember that at the time, Cap had been working as a cop while in his Steve Rogers identity. This had been an undercover assignment for an earlier case, which had meant he had often disappeared while on duty. This has led poor Muldoon to suspect that Steve is in fact the Cowled Commander.

(Gee whiz, I'll bet as a kid I just accepted the Cowled Commander as a cool villain name, but for now it sticks out as the one consistantly annoying part of an otherwise great story. It's a terrible villain name.)

Falcon, in the meantime, has first paid a visit to a local crime boss with whom he's been clashing, looking for information. He has to take out a trigger happy bodyguard, but afterwards can't make the crime boss talk. It's a nice bit of characterization for a secondary character--the boss is obviously scum, but he's not without physical courage, forcing Falcon to realize he's underestimated his opponent.

We switch back to Cap--the script does a fine job of juggling the action between the two heroes, helping keep up a nice level of suspense throughout the issue.

Cap encounters a gang of bank robbers and easily takes them down. In fact, he takes them with surprising ease. Possibly because of the poison and/or antidote interacting with the Super Soldier serum, Cap suddenly has increased super strength.

One of the crooks also spills the information that they are just the beginning of a crime wave that is about to be unleached on New York by the Cowled Commander.

Falcon, meanwhile, has tracked down Viper by tracing the drugs he would have had to buy to make his poisons. Between Falcon and Redwing, they take the villain down.

I should mention that Sal Buscema continues to do a great job with drawing and choreographing some wonderful fight scenes.

Cap has gone back to his apartment, only to find it's been searched. Soon after that, he's ambushed and captured--by Sgt. Muldoon!

Simultaneously, Falcon also learns about the impending crime wave, which will be led by a number of second-tier villains.

 It's very much a judgment call, but I think Marvel had better depth in their villain "bullpen" than did DC. They had a larger variety of secondary villains who weren't necessarily a part of one hero's Rogue's Gallery, but could be pulled out of storage and used in any story in which the writer thought they would fit.

So there you have it. A well-constructed story with a strong plot and some great action scenes. I really think I particularly remember this story primarily because my extraordinary good taste in such things was already developed. I was an unappreciated genius, by golly.

Next week, we'll look at the final chapter of this story arc.

From Advertising Exec to Super Villain. Is anyone really surprised?

I remember buying Captain America and the Falcon #157 (January 1973) off the 7-11 spinner rack. This was a few years after we moved to Florida and a store that carried comics became easily accessible and I had been reading many of the Marvel superhero books, so I'm sure this isn't the first C.A. book I bought. But its the first one of which I have a strong memory. I'm not sure why. It's the first chapter of a three-parter, which we'll be looking at over the next few weeks. And its a very good, enjoyable story, but its not exceptional in any way. Something about it, though, spoke to my 12-year old mind and made it stand out in my memory.

Written by Steve Englehart and with fun, kinetic art by Sal Buscema, it begins with Cap heading towards the police station, called there by the police commissioner. Along the way, he's jumped by three men who say someone called the Cowled Commander" has told them to stop that particular meeting.

This takes place not long after Steve Rogers had gone undercover as a cop while working on a previous case. Rogers is still officially a cop and the commissioner is aware of his double identity, so Steve seems to be the best person to investigate charges of corruption in the department. Several cops have been nailed for taking bribes and several others are suspended while under investigation. This includes Sgt. Muldoon, a tough and not terribly likeable cop, but Steve had worked with him and is convinced he's probably innocent.

But before he can start looking into things, the precinct house blows up. Or presumably the room Cap is in blows up, since no other casualties are mentioned, though the subsequent art work makes it unclear just how much of the building is wrecked.

For much of the remaining issue, Cap is assumed to have been killed in the explosion. It turns out that he was protected from the brunt of the blast by his shield. He's just hiding nearby in hopes of smoking out the person who planted the bomb. The assumption that the bomber would still be in the area or somehow give himself away is a bit of a stretch, but since this does turn out to happen that way, I guess I can't argue.

The story breaks away after the explosion to focus on the Falcon, which includes some stuff about a possible love interest and a conflict he's having with a local crime boss. I'm skipping over this, since it isn't connected to the main story, but its well-written and gives Sam Wilson some ongoing character development.

When Sam learns about the explosion and Cap's presumed death, he jumps head first into the main story. Soon, he's spotted the bomber on a nearby rooftop. This is the first appearance of the lower-tier Marvel villain called the Viper, a former advertising exec who spouts ad-related dialogue while fighting heroes. His M.O. involves using lots of poison and in the ensuing struggle, he manages to peg Falcon with a poisoned dart. He also conveniently mentions that he's been hired by the Cowled Commander to kill Captain America.

This is when Cap shows up and begins to clean Viper's clock. But the villain distracts Cap by tossing a vial of antidote to his poison on to the rooftop, then manages to peg Cap with a dart as well. The issue ends with Viper making a getaway while Cap and Falcon are slowly dying.

As was typical of many writers in the Marvel bullpen in the 1970s, Steve Englehart's dialogue is often over-written. ("Someone may be alive in there!" "Don't count on it, chief. Looks like that flag-wavin' Avenger finally bought it!") and "Cowled Commander" is a terrible villain name. But those would be minor quibbles. The story is a lot of fun and moves along at a brisk pace, with Sal Buscema choreographing some effective fight scenes. I honestly don't remember now why this story stuck so strongly in my memory from first reading it 46 years ago, but it is representative of entertaining storytelling that I like to celebrate on this blog.

Next week, we'll find out if Cap and Falcon survive.

Another Detective Called Falcon?

Cover Art by Frank Miller

The B-movie detective (and his radio counterpart) called the Falcon had quite an active career solving crimes, so I have a meta reason for appreciating Marvel Premiere #49 (August 1979). The story, written by Mark Evanier and drawn by Sal Buscema, has Marvel Comics' hero the Falcon investigating a murder and using a clever bit of deductive reasoning to solve the crime. B-movie Falcon would have been proud.

Sam Wilson doesn't normally play detective. After all, he can usually solve his cases by punching out whomever is wearing a garish costume and screaming "You'll never escape my death trap, fool!" It takes skill, but doesn't normally require Holmsian reasoning.

He ends up playing detective because he was filling in for Captain America at an Embassy dinner. (I love that he brings Redwing along to the dinner: "Would your bird like anything, sir?" "Not unless you have some dead rat hor d'ouevers.")

He meets a guy Sigjid Roskoff, who has been giving fiery speeches about what he sees as hypocracy in American democracy and also trashing Captain America for solving problems by punching them. Falcon wants to jump to Cap's defense. And I'm kinda disappointed there was no room in the story for debate here. We are told that Roskoff is smart and well-reasoned, despite his fiery rhetoric. It would have been fun to hear a well-written point-counterpoint here.

But a villain who calls himself the Silencer blasts his way into the room and carries off Roskoff, then murders him off-screen. The story's one weakpoint is here. Falcon allows himself to be distracted so that the Silencer can sucker-punch him, but he's far too experienced by this point in his career to make that believable.

The Silencer made Roskoff sign a note before being killed, allowing Roskoff to leave a dying clue: small dots under the letters O-T-T-F-F-S-S-E-N. But Falcon is at first stumped as to what this means. There's a hilarious sub-plot in which J. Jonah Jameson runs a contest to get his readers to solve this clue, which nets him answers such as "Oliver Twist Took Fannie Flag Snow Skiing Each Noon."

The Silencer, by the way, is apparently a fanatic who is out to stop anyone making "UnAmerican" speeches. This is emphasized when the Falcon confronts him again attacking speech makers in Central Park. After a brief confrontation, the Silencer makes a getaway by forcing Falcon to deal with a live hand grenade.

The case if abruptly solved when a guy named Count Barzon fills in for Roskoff to give a speech and simply guns the Silencer down when the villain attacks. The Silencer turns out to be some two-bit thug.

It's at this point that Falcon has his Sherlock Holmes moment--O.T.T.F.F.S.S.E.N. = One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine. The killer is the Count!

No, not that Count. The Count in the story, who created the Silencer to make it look like Roskoff's killer was a fanatic, then hired a two-bit thug to attack him later on. The thug, of course, didn't know he was going to get shot.

Case solved. It's a fun story and works just fine as a murder mystery as well as a superhero story. Good action, a few dollops of humor and a fair play clue that points to the killer. Yes, the B-movie Falcon would indeed have been proud.

That's it for this week. Next week will be a look at the first of four stories divided among two issues of Dell's Four Color, in which a former Yankee soldier and a former Reb have to work together in the post-war Wild West.

"Guide my hand, my father--as I avenge your death!"

It was the most awesome accomplishment in the history of mankind!

I'm talking about Power Records, of course. If anyone ever uses the phrase "most awesome accomplishment in the history of mankind," the thoughts of any thinking person naturally goes to Power Records.

Power Records was a sub-label of Peter Pan Records, which specialized in children's music. Power Records branched off into comic books and TV shows. What you did was buy the P.R. adaptation of a Marvel or DC comic book, which came with the comic AND a 7" record dramatizing the sound effects and dialogue. Then you could read along as the story was acted out for you.

When I was a kid, I leaned more towards Marvel than towards DC (my preferences balanced out as I got older), so either I didn't pick up the DC adaptations, couldn't afford them or simply didn't see them at the store. But I (or my younger brother--don't remember which of us it was) ended up owning at least four of the Marvel Comics records--Dracula, Spider Man, Hulk and Captain America.

The Cap record was from Captain America and Falcon #168 (December 1973), a great story written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Sal Buscema. I'm pretty sure I'd already read it when it first came out, but getting it with a soundtrack was a singularly amazing way to re-visit the story.

It starts out with Cap feeling a little down--he is, after all, a man out of time and its understandable that this would make him feel out-of-place from time to time.

But this time, the feeling is precognitive, since a threat from the past is about to explode into the present. A new villain called the Phoenix, who wields a death ray, attacks Cap. He claims to be looking for vengeance, but as far as Cap knows, he's never met the guy before.

The first encounter ends when the Phoenix's ray gun runs out of juice and he runs for it. But on his next try, he captures the shield slinger and slaps him into a death trap.

It turns out the Phoenix is Helmut Zemo, the son of the original Baron Zemo, out for revenge. His death trap involves lowering Cap into a boiling vat of Adhesive X, his dad's greatest invention. But Falcon shows up in the nick of time. During the ensuing fight, Helmut falls into the vat himself.

There's a few contrived elements to the story--Falcon survives the first fight through dumb luck when Helmut's gun runs out of power (after just a few shots). Cap's plan to track his new adversary down involves just jumping around the rooftops until he gets attacked, which doesn't seem particularly clever.

But those are minor points. The plot is otherwise well-constructed. It's the emotions behind it that give the story real backbone. Cap's depression is realistic, but its not over-played; nor does he allow it to interfere with his fighting abilities or sense of duty. 

Helmut's monologue, in which he reveals his identity and gives us his background, is exceptionally well-done. It actually allows us to feel a level of pity for someone who had a horrible childhood and lost both his parents, but does this without excusing his actions as an adult in the slightest. 

Which makes Cap's reaction to Helmut all the more awesome. Helmut is obviously insane and trying to kill the hero, but Cap simply wants to stop him without hurting him. He sees Helmut as yet another victim of the war. He has to be stopped, of course, and certainly needs to be jailed or institutionalized, but Cap's first reaction is one of compassion and a desire to help. And all this directed towards a man who was actively trying to kill him.

This is why Captain America, when he's written by someone who gets the character, is one of the best superheroes ever. He does not fight for revenge or love of adventure, but he fights to protect the innocent. His entire character is driven by doing what is right, while his sense of right and wrong is centered on helping those in need. 

You can argue, as Falcon briefly does during the story, that Cap's timing is a little off. Let's capture Helmut and make sure he can't murder anyone--THEN see about getting him help. But Cap's motivation is sound. 

So it's a good story. And the Power Records adaptation highlights this. It does the story straight--without changing anything or editing anything out. And, with the magic of YouTube, it's now possible to re-visit it: