Tag Archives: Marvel Comics

MARVEL ISSUES FROM JANUARY 1969

For this weekend’s escapist and lighthearted superhero post I will take a look at Marvel’s January issues from 1969. 

xm 52X-MEN Vol 1 #52 (January 1969)

Title: Twilight of the Mutants

X-Men Roster: Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Marvel Girl, Angel, Polaris

Villains: Magneto, Mesmero, and the Demi-Men

NOTE: This is the fourth and final part of the storyline which saw the X-Men get drawn back together after they disbanded following the first of Professor X’s many false “deaths.” Polaris (Lorna Dane) joins the team.

beast iceman cyclops lorna magnetoSynopsis: The recently arrived evil mutant called Erik the Red says he has come to Magneto’s subterranean lair out west to join his forces. Erik demonstrates his powers against the Demi-Men, Magneto’s latest team of mutants intent on conquering humanity.

Polaris, who has joined Magneto’s team under the impression that she is his daughter, learns the truth about his villainous intentions from conversations among Mesmero, Magneto and Erik the Red. While Mesmero plots against Erik, and Magneto assigns Polaris to keep an eye on both figures for him, Marvel Girl, Angel and the Beast slip back into Magneto’s headquarters. Continue reading

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JANUARY 1975 MARVEL ISSUES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will take a look at the Marvel publications from January of 1975, excluding reprints.

iron fist 20MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 #20 (January 1975)

Title: Batroc and Other Assassins

Villains: Batroc and the Cult of Kara-Kai

Comment: Iron Fist got well and truly integrated into the Marvel Comics universe with this battle against Captain America’s frequent supervillain Batroc the Leaper.     

Synopsis: It’s a day after the previous issue. Iron Fist is involved in another battle against four or five members of the Cult of Kara-Kai who have come to try killing Professor Wing yet again so they can steal The Book of Many Things. That mystic tome includes arcane information about how to destroy the enchanted city of K’un-Lun. Our hero defeats all the cultists.

Iron Fist grows annoyed with the Professor’s flippant attitude toward the murder attempts and informs Colleen about how her father claims the Cult has tried to kill him over 40 times in the years since he started trying to translate The Book of Many Things. Colleen tells her father that she has agreed to guard him alone while her partner Misty Knight runs their business herself for a while longer. Continue reading

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MARVEL: JANUARY 1974

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will take a look at the Marvel publications from January of 1974, excluding reprints.

ave 119THE AVENGERS Vol 1 #119 (January 1974) 

Title: Night of the Collector 

Avengers’ Roster: THOR (Donald Blake, MD), IRON MAN (Tony Stark), CAPTAIN AMERICA (Steve Rogers), THE SCARLET WITCH (Wanda), THE BLACK PANTHER (King T’Challa), THE VISION (Not applicable), THE SWORDSMAN (Jacques Duquesne) and MANTIS (Full name unknown at the time).

Villain: The Collector

Synopsis: The Avengers arrive back in New York after the previous issue’s final chapter of the Avengers-Defenders crossover story in which Dormammu and Loki teamed up to threaten the entire universe via the Evil Eye of Avalon. The eight Avengers – accompanied by Loki, who has been rendered helpless and insane from what happened in the Dark Dimension – return to Avengers Mansion. 

NOTE: I previously covered the entire multi-part Avengers vs the Defenders war instigated by Loki and Dormammu HERE and HERE if you’re curious about what happened to Loki.

loki tom hThe crazed, uncomprehending Loki is kept in custody at Avengers Mansion because this is set during a period when Odin had forbidden him to return to Asgard under any circumstances. Time passes, and at one point the Black Panther pursues with Mantis his wish to learn some of her other-worldly martial arts. T’Challa first got the idea when he saw how well Mantis fought Dr. Strange during the Avengers/ Defenders War Continue reading

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MARVEL ISSUES: JANUARY 1973

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will take a look at the Marvel publications from January of 1973, excluding reprints.

dd bw 95DAREDEVIL AND THE BLACK WIDOW Vol 1 #95 (January 1973)

Title: Bullfight on the Bay

Villain: The Man-Bull

Synopsis: Matt Murdock has relocated his law practice to San Francisco in order to move in with his new lady, the wealthy Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow. Matt’s alter ego Daredevil has also made San Francisco his new home, but because this is just a comic book nobody makes the connection that Matt is Daredevil … even though DD has become the Black Widow’s crimefighting partner.

Back in New York, Daredevil’s old foe the Man-Bull has his gang break him out of prison so he can go to San Francisco and kill Daredevil. The unsuspecting Matt Murdock is settling in at Broderick & Sloan, his new law firm.

black widow shooting her widow stingWhen the Man-Bull begins rampaging through Frisco in order to flush out our hero, the Black Widow and Daredevil swing into action against him. Eventually the villain renders Daredevil unconscious, leaving the Black Widow alone against him for the cliffhanger ending. Continue reading

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MARVEL PUBLICATIONS: JANUARY 1972

This weekend’s escapist, lighthearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at all the Marvel Comics publications for January of 1972, excluding reprints.

sm 104SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #104 (January 1972)

Title: The Beauty and the Brute

Villains: Kraven the Hunter and Gog

Synopsis: This issue picks up from the previous issue’s cliffhanger ending – Spider-Man is sinking in quicksand in the hidden Antarctic realm called the Savage Land.

NOTE: Introduced in X-Men #10, the Savage Land was a “lost world” in Antarctica. Geothermal heat kept the place a tropical rainforest year-round, and the Savage Land was home to countless species of dinosaurs, primitive humans and monstrous creatures. The U.N. looked after the Savage Land to preserve it.

        Vibranium was plentiful in the Savage Land and it was depicted there even before its presence was mentioned in Wakanda.

gogBack to the story, Spider-Man is saved from the quicksand by the timely arrival of Ka-Zar, the blonde Tarzan-like hero of the Savage Land, and his sabretooth tiger companion Zabu. Soon, Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and Zabu are attacked by Kraven the Hunter and his enormous creature Gog. Continue reading

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JANUARY 1971 AT MARVEL

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero blog post will be in the style of the look at all of Marvel’s January 1970 publications. That post was popular enough to inspire this one.

ave 84AVENGERS Vol 1 #84 (January 1971)

Title: The Sword and the Sorceress

Avengers Roster: Thor (Donald Blake MD), the Scarlet Witch (Wanda), the 2nd Goliath (Clint Barton), Black Panther (King T’Challa), Quicksilver (Pietro), the Black Knight (Dane Whitman) and the Vision (not applicable)

Villains: The Enchantress and Arkon

Synopsis: The Black Knight, fearful that his sentient sword the Ebony Blade is infecting him with its bloodlust, uses the mystic brazier at Garrett Castle to find a way of destroying the weapon. This endeavor leads him to Polemachus, the parallel Earth ruled by the Avengers’ old foe Arkon. 

Black KnightWhile searching for the Well at the Center of Time, the only safe place to hide the Ebony Blade, the Black Knight is captured by Arkon and his new consort – the Enchantress, another old foe of the Avengers.

NOTE: The Enchantress actually wound up transported to Polemachus when she seemed to be destroyed during her most recent clash with the Avengers, in which she pitted the team of heroes against Ultron-5’s version of the Masters of Evil. 

The Enchantress mystically sends a dream about the Black Knight’s capture to the Scarlet Witch, whom the villainess blames for thwarting her plans in the previous issue. Next, the sorceress teleports Avengers Mansion to Polemachus so that she and Arkon can kill their mutual enemies.

After a lengthy battle with the two villains, our heroes win out over Arkon and the Enchantress and return Avengers Mansion to Earth. Continue reading

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MARVEL: JANUARY 1970

For this weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero blog post let’s do something different. Here’s a brief look at all the Marvel Comics publications from January of 1970. Reprints excluded.

avengers 72AVENGERS Vol 1 #72 (January 1970)

Title: Did You Hear the One About Scorpio?

Avengers Roster: The Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Goliath (Clint Barton), Yellowjacket (Hank Pym, PhD), the Vision (not applicable) and Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell, Kree Captain)

Villains: Zodiac (first appearance)

Synopsis: At Avengers Mansion, Captain America reconciles with Rick Jones, explaining that it was really the Red Skull and not him who savagely beat Rick when he was serving as the new Bucky. NOTE: The Red Skull had used the Tesseract/ Cosmic Cube to transfer his mind into Cap’s body and vice versa.

During a briefing from S.H.I.E.L.D. the Avengers are informed that three high New York officials have been abducted by a costumed supervillain called Scorpio, a recurring foe of S.H.I.E.L.D. back then. Scorpio was really Nick Fury’s evil brother Jake Fury.

zodiacThis leads to the Avengers learning that Scorpio is not alone – he is a member of a global, astrology-oriented team of supervillains called Zodiac. Each member rules their own crime empire in various locations around the world.

Our heroes clash with Zodiac, whose members wield powers based on their zodiacal signs. The Avengers thwart the villains’ plan to seize the capital cities of a dozen nations as part of a plan to take over the world.

Zodiac is defeated in battle, but they escape to face the Avengers multiple times in the future. NOTE: The Zodiac member Libra will be revealed as Mantis’ father in Avengers #122 (April 1974). Continue reading

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LUKE CAGE: POWER MAN – MORE OF HIS 1970s STORIES

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero blog post centers around Marvel’s Power Man. Last year I covered his first twenty issues HERE. Here are more of his 1970s tales.

pm 21POWER MAN Vol 1 #21 (October 1974)

Title: The Killer with My Name

Villain: The original, villainous Power Man (Erik Josten)

Synopsis: The flood of glowing headlines that Power Man has been getting after crushing Cottonmouth’s drug ring in the previous issue get soured a bit one day when Luke goes to Noah Burstein’s clinic. He has gone there to visit his girlfriend, Dr. Claire Temple, but she has left behind a note for him saying she has left New York and can never see him again.

pm vs pmThe hurt and angry Power Man returns to his Hero for Hire office above the Gem Theater. Luke gets attacked there by the original Power Man, a former operative of Baron Zemo who was given his super-strength by the Avengers foe the Enchantress.

That villain, real name Erik Josten, is demanding that Luke stop using the Power Man name since he has been using it for years. The resulting destructive battle causes the building to start collapsing, trapping a little girl inside. Naturally, Luke Cage wins the fight and saves the child. Continue reading

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THUNDRA: HER 1970s STORIES

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero blog post looks at the early stories featuring the Femizon called Thundra, who started as a villainess before reforming.

ff 129FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #129 (December 1972)

Title: The Frightful Four – Plus One

Villains: The Frightful Four (The Wizard, Sandman, the Trapster and Thundra)

NOTE: This was Thundra’s first appearance.

Synopsis: The Wizard, Sandman and the Trapster are still at large after their recent clash with Spider-Man and the Human Torch in Marvel Team-Up #2. Meanwhile, at the Baxter Building headquarters of the Fantastic Four, the Human Torch drops a bombshell on his teammates – he is quitting the team to go live with his true love Crystal of the Inhuman Royal Family.

thundra walkingCrystal, Johnny Storm’s longtime girlfriend and former member of the Fantastic Four, was forced to move back to the Inhumans’ hidden city of Attilan due to her body’s negative reaction to air pollution in the human world.

After a fierce argument in which Invisible Woman (Johnny’s sister) sides with the Torch, Johnny flies off in the Fantastic Four’s plane to reach Attilan. The arguing is reignited by Agatha Harkness (still in the years BEFORE she tutored the Scarlet Witch) who tells the Fantastic Four that she has urgent business and they must come pick up Reed and Sue’s son Franklin Richards at her Whisper Hill home. Continue reading

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SKULL THE SLAYER: HIS 1970s STORIES

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero item from Balladeer’s Blog will look at Marvel’s unusual character Skull the Slayer.

skull 1SKULL THE SLAYER Vol 1 #1 (August 1975)

Title: The Coming of Skull the Slayer

Villain: A Tyrannosaurus Rex

Synopsis: Jim Scully, Army nickname “Skull”, is a Vietnam Vet and former POW trying to adjust to life back in the United States. Unfortunately, while he was MIA his wife divorced him and has found a new man. His parents passed away before even finding out that Jim was still alive.

Worst of all, when Scully is reunited with his younger brother, it turns out he is a junkie who tries to kill him. Jim kills his brother in self-defense, and then, overwhelmed by all the horrors of his homecoming after years in a POW camp, he goes on the run, fearful that he’ll be sent to prison for his brother’s death.

Scully is at last tracked down in Bermuda and is being extradited on a flight back to the United States when that aircraft disappears in the Bermuda Triangle. It crash-lands in a primitive rainforest that is apparently where all those who disappear into the Bermuda Triangle end up.

skull and t rexIt is not truly the Earth of millions of years ago, because it is anachronistically populated by dinosaurs and primates that were never alive during the same time periods. The only survivors of the plane crash are Scully, a young Native American man named Jeff Turner, an African American physician named Raymond Corey, and Corey’s young research assistant Ann Reynolds. Continue reading

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