Ah, another one in the category of “salacious one-shot characters” that seem to spring forth effortlessly from the pen of comic maestro John Byrne, Arathaza is at once both awe-inspiring and utterly disposable!
Issue# 585 of Superman’s ACTION COMICS begins with a bang not so unlike the explosive opening teasers of the great JAMES BOND movies of yesteryear where we come in not at the beginning but rather the end of the last mission, and so we see Superman already engaged in battle with a new (and after, never again seen) villainess who is slowly draining the life force out of Supes.
Through their dialog we learn that the majestic (and slightly Tina Louise a la Ginger Grant looking) Arathaza was once only a mild mannered secretary named Barb Kowaleski until she found the means of transferring Superman’s powers to herself. It is here that he turns the tables on her, rendering himself completely passive so that there is no power to draw from!
At that point, he grabs her staff, which he rightly figures is the source of her powers, and she’s turned back into the frumpy looking mortal that she was. Supes sweeps her up, saving the day and delivering the coupe de grace to the latest would-be world dominator!
And then and ONLY then did the actual story featuring the Phantom Stranger start!
This has always been one of my many, many favorite Jughead Jones stories, simply because of the free-form FUN and zaniness of it’s script! I’ve always thought that most of my fave Jughead stories seemed like could have been skits on The Carol Burnett Show, and JUGHEAD story “Oceans of Love” surely fits that bill!
When I first began researching information about the people behind the scenes at Archie Comics (in an attempt to figure out who drew the stories I loves so much), one writer whose name kept popping up in association with fun, zany stories was writer Frank Doyle. Descibing his stories and witty, fast paced and sharp, my IMMEDIATE reaction was, “Why, that sounds EXACTLY like those Jughead Jones comics!”
And just as Harry Lucey will always be THE Betty Cooper artist, Artist Schwartz is, my MY EYES, the perennial Jughead Jones illustrator, and it was his depicitions that I grew up with and always recognized as “the REAL Jughead”. It seemed like almost every Jughead story I loved and constantly re-read was drawn my this fantastic artist.
Now, though I’m fairly certain Schwartz drew this one, I’m still not sure if this one is written by Frank Doyle, (and If anyone out there knows for sure, PLEASE let me know!) but knowing that he was a regular writer of Jughead and was usually teamed up with Schwartz, I think there is a very good chance that it is! But WHATEVER the case, its one of my fave stories and an absolute JOY to read!
The story at first seems like nothing more than a Jughead take on the “Pet Rock” fad, but once the supporting characters begin interacting with him and his pet clam, the funnier it gets! And I love how everybody gets into it except grouchy old Veronica, who becomes more and more incensed the more the crowd encourages Jughead’s eccentric actions!
Going to the beach they meet up with other regulars, and it’s clear that everybody likes Jughead, for they ALL go along with the gag, truly treating this clam like it’s Jug’s beloved pet. Things get more and more hilariously melodramatic when Jug’s clam finds a mate, and as the crowd dramatically comforts brokenhearted Jug, Ronnie sums it up nicely with “Weirdness must be contagious! They’ve ALL got it!”
While I patiently awaiting my CoCo DVD Box Set, I’m happy to announce the arrival of ANOTHER Box Set that has been a LONG LONG time coming, and that would be the glorious BEATLES REMASTERED CD COLLECTION, a beautiful box set that features all 13 albums and singles from England’s premiere band!
Besides a digital remastering that FAR surpasses the original mid-eighties releases, each album comes in a glossy gatefold digipak and a slick color booklet full of pictures from each album's corrosponding timeframe. Plus, they’ve included
these short little quicktime movie documentaries on each disc featuring the words of the
Beatles themselves and (of course) George Martin, talking about each specific
album voiced over video performances of songs from the album! They even collected them onto a single bonus DVD for those who want to just sit down and watch all the movies at once!
I first found out about this wonderful box set through Japanese site CD JAPAN of all places, and at the time, figured it to be a japan-only release. I really wanted it, but that 300 dollar price tag gave me pause, I must say! So I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out that they’d be releasing the Box Set in the states as well, and with a decent price of $179.00 at Amazon, IMMEDIATELY sent in my order, this time without hesistation!
I remember back when the Beatles first four albums (Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles For Sale) were to come out on CD, the big argument was why release an album on CD if you’re gonna release it in Mono. But since that’s how the albums were originally presented, that’s how they were done on CD.
Though I understood this logic, it really bummed me out because I grew up listening to the stereo mixes of most of these songs from the Capitol records, especially THE BEATLES SECOND ALBUM and the awesome SOMETHING NEW, and though I bought all the mono CDs and enjoyed them dearly, in the back of my mind I always missed the kick that the stereo version had, especially in songs like the thundering drumroll at the end of “Tell Me Why” !
But now we’ve come full circle, and each and every album has been given the remastered treatment, and though I’ve only listened to about half of them so far, what I’ve been blastin’ out over my stereo speakers has just been heaven!! From Rubber Soul to Revolver on down through the White Album and Abbey Road, the songs have just sounded stupendous!
I know my next few days will be filled with serious Beatles-listening, and it's exciting to know I've still got so many albums to check out and hear all over again as if for the first time! I can't WAIT to hear how som eof these other songs will sound, especially the upcoming MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR CD with I AM THE WALRUS , STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER and PENNY LANE! Ah, nostalgic days are here again! If anyone needs me, I'll be holed up in my room with my headphones on!
Around Mid- 1983, I was insanely in love with singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks, and was voraciously devouring anything and everything to do with her. Though I’d always loved her Fleetwood Mac songs and was even a fan of her Bella Donna solo album (especially the rocking Edge Of Seventeen), it wasn’t until her second album The Wild Heart came out that I totally flipped for her and began worshipping her as the rock-goddess she was!
Back then, out video station of choice was Night Tracks on WTBS, and me and my friends tuned in every weekend to check out the latest videos before heading out for the night’s activities. At that time, my favorite videos were Stevie’s "If Anyone Falls" as well as "Stand Back", but I was curious about another Stevie video that Night Tracks routinely played, and that was the dreamy and mystical Gypsy, which credits told me was off of Fleetwood Mac’s latest album Mirage, which had just come out a few months earlier.
Mirage? What was that album? I’d heard of Rumours, of course, as well as the big (at that time) album Tusk, but didn’t know anything about this one, nor did I know anyone who’d picked it up. But I really wanted the Gypsy Track, and when my friend Herb informed me that it also had the fun song “Hold Me” on it, I was convinced!
We went down to Tower Records, and as I waited in line looking over the George Hurell-shot cover, I remember the first thing that shocked me was getting used to Lindsey Buckingham without his trademark afro and goatee! The cover was kind of a wraparound thing, with Lindsey and the girls on the front, and the Fleetwood and Mac group namesakes on the back, looking very much like the wards of the ‘Mac Estate!
We took the album home and immediately dove in. While my friend Herb showed only passing interest in the tracks, I was immediately smitten and would go on to not only repeatedly play that album over and over, but make all my FRIENDS listen to it, too!
One great thing about having three prolific songwriters in the group is a LOT of diversity, and Mirage is another great showcase of the members’ talents. Christine, Lindsey and Stevie each take turns with their compositions, giving the album a decidedly “White Album” feel to it as they build up a musical “quilt” of song genres!
With Lindsey Buckingham, It’s funny, that in the first two ‘Mac albums he and Stevie were in, his songs were carefully crafted pop/rock tunes, but by the time TUSK came out, his songwriting (to ME at least) started to sound like that Dana Carvey songwriting character who makes up songs as he goes along, and songs like “Not That Funny!” and “What Makes you think You’re The One” sounded more like jam sessions with nonsensical lyrics than actual singles. The songs he penned for Mirage still have this loose free-form feel to them (as in songs like "Book of Love", "Diane" and "Can’t Go Back”, but they are fun and catchy as hell! There’s this one goofy song called “Eyes of the World”, and with its refrain of “eyes…eyes…eyes” as its chorus, my friend James once exclaimed “What the heck is this crap?!” before dancing around, pointing at his eyes in tune with the song. AHAHAHA! But the one masterpiece Lindsey DID lay down for this album was the cool, rocking song EMPIRE STATE, about his experiences in the Big Apple (as opposed to Sunny California). MAN, I love to blast this one!
Stevie is the one who’s experimented the most with her songwriting, and though “Gypsy” sounds most like her previous work (almost like a sequel of sorts to “Rhiannon”), her other two songs sound more like the stuff she was writing for her solo albums. “That’s Alright” is a country-tinged kicker that almost seems like a precursor for her later “Enchanted” song, but it’s her third track “Straight Back!” that sounds the most like the “solo” Stevie Nicks songs, a slow rocker driven by some awesome keyboards by Christine. The song fades out too soon; I really wish this song could have been a bit longer for how good it is!
Of the three, Christine McVie is the most reliable here, and she exudes the same romantic pop stylings that gave us songs like “You Make Loving Fun”, “Warm Ways” and “Songbird”. Opening the album with the awesome toe-tapping sunshine-y song “Love In Store”, she runs the gamut through tunes like “Out Of My Mind” and the fun aforementioned song “Hold Me” before closing the album with the beautifully melancholy “Wish You Were Here”, one of her BEST ballads, ever!
High on the album, that Christmas I was THRILLED to find that they’d released a Videodisc concert of their MIRAGE tour, and after I bought it (at the local RCA dealership), it quickly became the most played movie that season! Songs form Mirage like Love In Store”, “Gypsy” and “Eyes Of The World”(!) were all featured here, and the show even had one of the coolest openings ever with “The Chain”, and one of the sweetest closing songs with “Songbird”!
Although I know that albums like Rumours and the eponymous titled Fleetwood Mac albums are probably greater albums overall, I’ve really come to embrace MIRAGE as my own, because while most Fleetwood Mac fans either love the “Bare Trees” era, the Rumours era, or the “Tango in The Night” comeback era, I have never, NEVER met another fan who owns, much less loves MIRAGE as much as me. Which is strange, because it was a bestseller when it came out…where did all those purchasers get to?
Check out some of my favorite tunes from MIRAGE!
While hunting online for some of the more obscure Joni Mitchell tracks that seem to be floating all over the internet, I came across an interesting little curio- an unauthorized “Companion” to Joni’s incredible (and one of my very, very favorite) 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns.
This collection, humorously entitled The Seeding of Summer Lawns, (and featuring a decidedly autumn-themed variation of the real cover) consisted of demoes and work-in-progress versions of songs that would eventually make it onto the actual album, and it was quite a thrill to experience the bare bones takes of songs like In France They Kiss on Main Street, Shades of Scarlett Conquering, and The Boho Dance, all before they would get transformed into the wonderful lite-jazz masterpieces that we know and love.
Songs like In France They Kiss on Main Street are interesting in how "textbook" the demos sound, where Joni is clearly mapping out harmonies and chords, a far cry from the cheery and bouncy completed version that she would record with the full band behind her!
One thing thing that I thought was pretty neat was that in these original demoes, Joni sings parts that would eventually be played by horns, and there’s no place more evident than in the demo of Edith and The Kingpin, where each verse is punctuated by an echo-ey chorus harmonizing to simulate the horns to come!
One song that was prepared and demoed for this album was a song called Dreamland, and while the song didn’t make it to the final stages of Hissing, a polished and very world-beat influenced version would later appear on the epic Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter.
Now, I’ve always liked Dreamland (though I was never a big fan of the percussion laden Tenth World track that was connected to it) and I was excited to hear how this tune sounded in its original state… but WOW! NOTHING could have prepared me for what I heard upon clicking on that track- Just the most FUN, swingin’ and shufflin’ tune all set to the VERY “George of the Jungle”-esque bopping beat!
The collection concludes with a cool
piano-and-guitar take of the pretty “Sweet Bird”, a song that would have fit
perfectly with most of Joni’s earlier folk catalog (especially Court and
Spark!) , and a version of “Shadows and Light” that sounds just about identical
to the album version (at least to MY unprofessional ears), a perfect little
sampling of a GREAT album in progress!
Invaders #28 is one issue that I’ve always been aware of after seeing it my friends’ huge Marvel collection back in the late seventies because it featured the first appearance of Bucky’s fellow sidekick-aged counterparts in an interesting group called the KID COMMANDOS.
That particular issue’s cover made an impression on me because of two things: One, there was a cute oriental gal in the group, and Two, there was a black kid wearing what I considered to be one of the ugliest costumes to come out of the Bronze Age! I remember thinking, wow, that girl’s got that oriental kimono thing down good, but that dude looks like he just broke out of prison!
Well, it wasn’t until years later that I actually got down to buying that issue of the Invaders, and reading it I was even more amazed to find that the costumes the kids wore weren’t even made for them- they were “just some old theatre costumes that had been left behind”(!) Funny how they found ones that fit their powers/codenames so nicely- then again, maybe it was just luck that Gwenny Sabuki got to choose her costume before David Mitchell, otherwise, who knows? SHE might have been stuck with that green striped shirt! AHAHAHAHAHA!
But as we know, she got her hands on the Golden Kimono first, and thus was born the blazing GOLDEN GIRL, possessor of energy light powers and cheerful disposition!
I was hoping to read lots more stories featuring Gwen and the rest of the commandos, but after their battle against Agent Axis (who turned out to be that tricky Namor) I was disappointed to find they were largely regaled to “supporting cast”, at least in the issues I managed to get ahold of.
One thing that surprised me reading those issues was how YOUNG Gwen was… all those years staring at the cover of Invader #28, she always seemed to be eighteen or nineteen years old. But reading the stories as penciled by veteran artist Frank Robbins, she looked decidedly underage- more like 11 years old…(well, they WERE called the KID Commandos, after all…not the TEEN Commandos!)
I’ve always thought that Gwen’s GOLDEN GIRL character would have been a great one to revive somehow, though I wasn’t sure just how they would bring “up-to-date” a character that was a teen in World War Two… so I was very interested to find that they HAD brought her back (in a way) in the pages of THUNDERBOLTS, as part of the V-Battalion. Not that I have any inkling what that was all about, except for what Wikipedia tells me-
"Gwenny Sue later helped found the post-war organization the V-Battalion. Gwenny eventually changed her superhero name to Golden Woman, before she died in 1961. Her daughter and her granddaughter became the superheroines Golden Sun and Goldfire, respectively, though Golden Sun died when her own daughter was five years old."
Not bad for a sidelined secondary support character, eh?
Gwenny Lou Sabuki
First appearance: Invaders #26
Created by: Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins
Though there always seemed to be comics in our house growing up, it was of the Archie / Richie Rich variety and it wasn’t until my friend Jas living across the street introduced me to all the comics he was collecting that I finally got to see what all the hubbub was with those mysterious MARVEL and DC comics lining the racks at our corner candy store.
Up until then, Marvel and DC comics were strictly for “big Kids”, and whenever I’d take a glance inside one of the books, I was confused and overwhelmed by the pages of seemingly never-ending dialog and utterly incomprehensible storylines. I mean, sure, I’d heard of Spider-Man and Superman, but somehow the stuff I saw in cartoons and television seemed so easy to understand, reading the actual comic seemed like reading an encyclopedia!
He laid out some of his comics and explained to me that the comics were part of an ongoing storyline that continued from issue to issue, and that even though it might seem confusing at first, once you’d read a couple, the story would start to make sense!
I understood. It made sense, and looking at Jas’ monthly purchases, (among them HULK and CAPTAIN AMERICA as well as BATMAN and his all time favorite, GREEN LANTERN) I thought it might be interesting to try and begin collecting a title myself! But where to start? To be truthful, I didn’t much care for costumed heroes at that point in my life. I was more won over by my friend’s enthusiasm more that any actual comic hero…but then my eyes spied a comic featuring Godzilla. GODZILLA? The famous Japanese monster whose movies I stayed up many nights and endured many “Monster Weekends” to catch? Now THAT sounded cool!
GODZILLA #12
The Godzilla issue that I picked up that fateful afternoon was issue #12, and as luck would have it, happened to be the first chapter of a new story! The story was a tale of Godzilla being abducted and asked to battle on the behalf of an alien race against three deadly creatures called the Mega-Monsters who were due to arrive on Earth! WOW! This story was everything I’d HOPED it would be- big kaiju monsters slugging it out and even one of those giant transformer robots (a la MAZINGER Z) that I loved so much- what more could a kid ask for?! And this time, when I got to the end of the comic and it said “TO BE CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE”, I knowingly nodded, feeling very mature now that I was reading BIG KID comics, and even showed it to my mother, saying, ‘You See, unlike Richie Rich and Archie Comics, THESE comics are an ongoing series, and so they continue from issue to issue…!”
But my Mom dismissed it with a wave of her hand, saying, “Ahhh, they’re only trying to get you kids to buy more comics!” D’oh!
GODZILLA #13
Three or four weeks later, I happened to be in the candy store to buy some snacks after school, and was JOLTED when I absent-mindedly glanced at the comic spinner and saw the new GODZILLA issue on the rack! Honestly, I had forgotten all about Godzilla and collecting comics, but taking one look at the cover of Godzilla fighting the Mega-Monsters and the story and excitement came rushing back to me in a flash!
The previous issue was merely a setup for the confrontation ahead. THIS issue was the BATTLE ITSELF and oh how it delivered! A city-leveling slugfest began with Godzilla versus the three Mega Monsters all culminating in a devastating end where Godzilla’s giant robot partner Red Ronin is beheaded by one of the alien Beasts! This time when the comic went to “To Be Continued”, I FINALLY understood what a “cliffhanger” was, and I was simply BESIDE myself with desire to read what happened next!!!
GODZILLA #14
I couldn’t contain my excitement when I saw the NEW issue on
the stands! There on the cover stood Godzilla bravely trudging on solo against
the Mega Monsters, as Red Ronin’s severed head smoked in the foreground!
There was something special I felt seeing this cover. In a
way, it was like the first time I really knew that I was actually passionately
collecting this story, not because I wanted to be like my friend or because it
seemed cool, but because I truly loved the strip. There was a sort of sense of
pride I felt looking at that cover and already knowing EXACTLY what was going
on, I felt proud to say to my cousin, ‘Look, Godzilla is fighting Krollar from
the planet Mega- and that head is Red Ronin- he got his head sliced off by
Triax!!!”
Well, I ran home with THAT one, and it concluded with a big bang, with Godzilla systematically destroying all three Mega-Monsters and winning the praise of the dying Alien race who now knew their home planet would be forever safe from the evil Megs-Monsters! WOW! What a story!
It was here that comic collecting firmly took ahold of me and has never let go!
GODZILLA #15-16
Back in these days, I wasn’t really COLLECTING comics so much as readin’ them for enjoyment, so after I’d read the new issue, I’d just toss it wherever happened to be convenient. Then, whenever a new issue would come in, I’d have to hunt around the house and dig out the old issues.
One might be under the bed. One might be behind the television. One might be in the entertainment center stuffed in the drawer with the ‘45’s! When issue #15 came out, I was able to find all three of them, but I wasn’t so lucky when issue #16 came out. Try as I might, only issue #12 and #13 turned up. After weeks of searching, I realized my mother had probably thrown the tattered issue #14 out! After that sobering lesson, I made a special place for my Godzilla comics- I cleared out a space on the middle shelf right next to our encyclopedias, made a little stack, and there each new issue would go, and be returned to!
Though issues #15 and 16 (story where Godzilla heads out to cattle country and gets involved with rustlers!) weren’t as interesting as the Mega Monsters arc, by then reading the latest Godzilla Comic was like stepping into a pair of comfortable shows- a regular part of my life…little did I know my favorite storyline of them all was coming up next!
GODZILLA #17
When I first laid eyes on the awesome cover to issue#17, I didn’t give it too much thought. I simply thought the cover was being symbolic, about how S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Dum Dum Dugan was forever hounding Godzilla like an ominous presence lording over his life.
But when I read the issue and they ACTUALLY SHRUNK GODZILLA,
you could have knocked me over with a feather! Holy Cow, Who came up with such
a NEAT story?! (Well, that would be writer Doug Moench and artist Herb Trimpe, but you know how kids are…they
think comic stories grow on trees!)
But when this issue concluded, Godzilla was INDEED shrunken, about the size of a small chicken, and BOY! My mind raced with all the possibilities that could happen in subsequent issues! So off they were to New York, with a little Godzilla in tow!
GODZILLA #18
HOLY CRAP, when I saw this cover, I just about flipped! While waiting that long, agonizing month for the next installment, my mind raced at what the next issue’s cover would look like. All I knew was that Godzy was shrunken and going to the Big City. Then Issue #18 came out, and right off, that cover just ROCKED MY WORLD!
I remember taking this issue to Jason’s house to show it off, I loved it so much. I remember babbling to him, “OF COURSE Godzilla would be in the sewers fighting Rats! Now that he was reduced to their level, Rats are the “monster” equivalents of the city right?!” Bonus was the fact that it was “Battle Beneath Eight Avenue”…the name of the street that I lived on! Why, I could imagine this going on right beneath me…!
Well, reading it we find out that Godzilla’s friend Rob Takiguchi (the boy who’d controlled the robot Red Ronin before its’ demise) had fiddled with the latch on the cage containing Godzilla, and when the cage was accidentally dropped, the box sprung open and Godzilla had escaped into the bay!
He'd made his way into the sewers and battled off the rodent vermin as the desperate crew split up and tried to recapture him before he could get into more mischief. Attracted by the familiar voice of Rob Takiguchi, Godzilla emerged from the sewers, but just as Rob was about to approach him, the gas stated to wear off, and Godzilla suddenly shot up to a human-sized 7 feet!
GODZILLA #19
I remember when I saw this issue on the stands, I reached into my pockets and came up with about 18¢, a far cry from the 37¢ needed to buy the comic! Luckily for me, I lived right next to this empty lot where people would toss their beer cans and trash, and I kicked up two 10¢ deposit bottles and ran back to the store, turned in the bottles, got my dimes, and with my grand total of 38¢ was able to purchase my GODZILLA comic!
After all that work, I took a well-deserved break to delve into that new comic- and it didn’t disappoint! With Godzilla now a big 7 feet tall, Rob tries to quietly get him back aboard the ship, but when Dum Dum and the others see him, they panic and rush at him, and before you know it, the lot of them are trading fists and kicks, before Godzilla gives a final solid punch and runs off again.
GODZILLA #20
I think I made it clear above that at this time, I really didn’t care much for costumed heroes, and was waiting for more villains like the Mega-Monsters to show up. Instead, I got…The Fantastic Four?!
Yes, since Godzilla was loose in New York, somebody called in the good guys, and so it was that the Fantastic Four came to crash S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Godzilla hunting Party. I just didn’t like this invasion of my favorite comic… it took the cat-and-mouse relationship between Godzilla and Dum Dum out of their hands and basically turned it into the hot-headed Thing wrestling and irritating Godzilla against the advice of everyone! Finally someone has the good idea to use Doctor Doom’s time machine to send Godzilla back where he came from, and I hoped that would be the end of the superheroes for awhile!!
GODZILLA #21-22
Sent back in time, Godzilla teams up with Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur. This comic obviously meant to tie up loose ends of Devil Dinosaur’s canceled strip, and I felt like I had come in halfway through a movie with all these new characters and pre-existing storylines! Not only that, I didn’t care for Moon Boy taking Rob Takiguchi’s place. I thought there was only ONE BOY who could befriend Godzilla that way.
And it didn’t matter anyway, for once the task was done (and all loose ends were tied up) Godzilla was bounced back to present time, (an effect I NEVER saw happen in any of the prior (or Subsequent) “Doc Doom Time Machine” stories) once again giving Dum Dum and gang the problem of what to do with him.
Funny thing about issue #22- when I went up and paid for it, I placed 37¢ on the counter, grabbed my comic, and started to leave, when the lady behind the register stopped me and said, “That’s not enough. Your total is 42¢!” HUH? I hadn’t noticed that the price had finally gone up. Comics were no longer 35¢, they were 40¢!! So I had to borrow the rest of the money from my cousin, who insisted I pay her back that nickel later!
GODZILLA #23
Yag! More Marvel Heroes, this time Yellowjacket and the rest of the freaking Avengers. Funny how much I loved Costumed Heroes later, at this time I just couldn’t STAND them being in the Godzilla comic! But there they all were, like gnats bothering an ox!
After being sent back to the Stone Age, you would have thought we’d be through with New York super-beings, but it was not to be. Pretty soon it seemed like all the heroes in the city showed up for the punch-out. Using all their powers together, they use brute force to herd him to the oceanfront, but all they end up doing is pissing him the hell off!
GODZILLA #24
And then in the summer of ’79, Godzilla came to a close, though I did not know it.
Issue #24 was the final chapter in the “Godzilla Shrinks” storyline, ending when young Rob Takiguchi finally gets the Avengers to buzz off, and gently persuades Godzilla to return to the Sea. Rob gives a tearful goodbye as Godzilla walks out to the ocean, and as the sun sets, the heroes stand by silently as Godzilla growls a final farewell before departing for good.
And for the first time, the comic didn’t say “To Be Continued”…all it said was “Fin.”
“WOW!” I thought at the time. “What an Awesome ending!” I wonder how they’ll top that in the NEXT issue! But there was to be no “Next Issue”. Because of Toho’s hefty licensing fee and lukewarm sales, Marvel had decided to cancel the book. But I didn’t know about any of this, and after this, spent MONTHS waiting at the candy store for a next issue that never came! It seemed ironic timing that just as I was about to get into more “older” comics, my beloved Godzilla was coming to a close.
When school began again that September, I ran across one of my classmates from Elementary School. We got to talking about what we were up to, and he said he was collecting comics, too! When I told him I collected GODZILLA, he nodded, “The Marvel one? Yeah, I read some of those. Hey, I can give you my old issues!” COOL! We made plans to go to his house after school, and walking home that afternoon, I asked, “Say, Godzilla is my favorite comic, but what ‘s yours?” “Ah, it’s this really cool comic called X-MEN! I gotta let you see some of those!” And he did, but THAT’S a story for another time!
* * * * * * * * *
One thing we’d always loved back then were the HEMBECK strips that appeared at the back of all the DC Comics in the “Daily Planet” section, and what better way to celebrate my comic-reading childhood than to have Fred Hembeck himself recreate one of my favorite Godzilla covers?! When commissioning this piece from Mr. Hembeck, I was happy to find that HE was a big fan of Godzilla, too, AND in particular, that same “Shrinking Godzilla” that I loved!!! FANTASTIC!
California alt rock group Concrete Blonde are such terrific songwriters that their take on other artists’ tunes are largely overlooked- Unlike some other groups who merely “do” covers, this group takes songs they like and lovingly transform them into true Concrete Blonde masterpieces!
Songs like
George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness”,
Thin Lizzy’s “It’s Only Money”
and Tommy James’ “Crystal Blue Persuasion”…Listening to any one of their covers and it is obvious that the band
has given the same amount of time and crafting to these tunes that they’ve
given to their own songs!
Of all these cover tunes that the band has produced, (and there have been many, many…!) the song that stands out in MY mind as one of their very best is their take of Roxy Music’s THE END OF THE LINE, featured on their incredible 1993 album MEXICAN MOON.
There are lots of reasons why this cover works so well, but a large part of is that by the time Mexican Moon came out, vocalist/bassist Johnette Napolitano and Guitarist Jim Mackey were seasoned pros; after travelling across the world a zillion times in as many tours, their experience shows through in their sound-No one croons like Napolitano with her low, growling whispers and powerful wailing, and when you add in the lush, layered guitars of Jim Mackey, you are left with pure perfection!
The End of the line was originally off Roxy Music’s 1975 SIREN album, and though I liked the song, I always thought of it as the opening to the avante-grade third track “Sentimental Fool” (since they were essentially connected) and never thought of its potential as a “single” type of song. WOW, how the Concrete Blonde version has changed my mind!
Over the years, I have made quite a few Concrete Blonde cassette mixes for people, and almost ALL of them have concluded with “End of the Line”… Just listening to Jim’s echoing reverb as he picks out the resounding notes on his guitar- with double-tracking and a guitar synthesizer, he’s created this beautiful guitar harmony , and then laid over this is the incomparable Johnette’s heartfelt singing- She sings with such passion, you really feel like the lyrics are hers, and when she hits those notes…MAN! Just awesome!
The End Of The Line
(Bryan Ferry)
Take a walk out in the rain
Called you time and time again
Everything is wrong-
You´ve gone
Reached the point of no return
The more I see the more I stand alone
I see the end of the line
Were you ever lonely?
Mystified and blue?
Realising only
Your number´s up
You´re through
Had my share of winning
Now´s my turn to lose
After a fair beginning
The game´s up
You’re through
Think I´ll walk out in the storm
Got no love to keep me warm inside
I see the end of the line
Now´s the time to take a dive
Take a magic carpet ride
Everything is wrong
You´ve gone
If you ever miss me
If I should cross your mind
You know where to find me
I´ll be waiting at the end of the line
When DC rebooted the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES in the mid-nineties, it was a take-off of Frank Miller’s DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, in that it was set in the future of that character’s life. Only difference was, in Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne was now an old man, and in LEGION, the heroes, who’d been mere teenagers in their original comic, were now-gasp- responsible adults living VERY adult lives such as raising families and keeping 9 to 5 jobs!
One of the more offbeat side stories in this controversial update was an interlude featuring one of the Legion’s more wacky members, Tenzil Kem, better known (back in the day) as “Matter-Eater Lad”. We tuned in on Tenzil as an adult and found he’d been running (very poorly) through a multitude of different jobs, including an archaeological explorer and even a space age lawyer!
Tenzil has been called to defend Brek Bannin (Polar Boy) in court, and while I don’t have time to go into it, (Trust me, the story was wacky and funny as hell!) one of the things that I found endearing was his banter with his able assistant, a beautiful blonde named Cal. In passages, I found her name to be “Calorie Queen”, and I laughed that they had created an assistant with a name to match “Matter-Eater Lad”
Little Did I Know that they HADN’T just created Calorie Queen, and that she was a character created a WAYS back! Imagine my surprise when (shopping in a comic store near Pike’s Market in Seattle) I found an old back issue of Superboy (Featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, of course) and saw that one of the girls in the menacing super-team on the cover was none other that Tenzil’s trusty assistant, Calorie Queen Herself!! Getting that original issue with Calorie Queen as nature intended should have been a real eye opener into the character, for I now knew she had : 1) a costume, 2)a real name (Taryn Loy), and 3) a home planet (Bismoll, just like Tenzil!!!)…but honesty, it really didn’t do much for me. I simply liked the “later” Cal more! Smart and funny, cool and witty, she was the perfect foil for outlandish Tenzil Kem, and besides, If I have to choose between 70’s disco jumpsuit costumes or pretty dresses I always go with the latter. Because I do love a pretty girl in pretty clothes!
Props to Jim Shooter and Mike Grell for creating Cal, and BIG KUDOS to Tom and Mary Beirbaum and Keith Giffen for the “Update”!
Taryn Loy
Calorie Queen
First Appearance: Superboy #212
Bu Jim Shooter and Mike Grell
I began reading Marvel Comics’ X-MEN series during the highly acclaimed Byrne/Claremont run featuring the “All-New, All-Different” team, and so had no real knowledge of the original 1960’s team. But as my love of the “Uncanny” X-men grew, my curiosity of the Lee and Kirby team grew too, til I HAD to know more about them!
This was back in the pre-internet days when access to information of most comics was almost nil. The only real way to get info on any comic you liked was to talk to the local comic shop dealer or other collectors, and in that I was lucky because I had a couple of friends who were BIG collectors of Marvel Comics, and were always ready to educate me about any Marvel History I needed to know.
So one day after telling my friend I wanted to see what the “old” X-Men looked like, he came to class and handed me a comic. It was issue #46 of a Marvel reprint title called Marvel Triple Action, and it was here I got my very first glimpse of the original X-Men: Cyclops. Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel and Iceman, and right off the bat I was blown away- WOW! How colorful, dynamic and totally COOL they looked!
The comic also introduced me to the Avengers for the first time, and I IMMEDIATELY dived into the story, relishing the interesting dialog and powerful artwork, not knowing at the time that the tale was concocted by two GREATS of the Silver Age (Writer Roy Thomas and Artists Big John Buscema), only knowing that the story “In Battle Joined!” was the most KICK-ASS story I’d read in awhile! Begun in the pages of X-Men #45, this was a story of the Avengers and the X-Men united against mutual baddie Magneto. The X-Men have been captured by Magneto, and the Angel has escaped to get aid from the Avengers- but they arrive just in time to see Cyclops knocking out former Avenger Quicksilver…
Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp and the Black Panther have come upon X-Man Cyclops standing over the fallen figure of Quicksilver. Not sure of the situation, they tell the youth to freeze. Cyclops, however, suspects they’re only robots created by Magneto, and isn’t taking any chances. He fires at Hawkeye, and when Black Panther jumps down to subdue him, a couple of blasts from his optic visor give Cyclops enough time to get away!
It seems that when the Angel escaped Magneto’s prison back in X-Men #45, he went directly to the Avengers mansion for assistance in rescuing his fellow X-Men. Since Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were last seem leaving with Magneto back in Avengers #49, the Avengers are happy to team up tackling the master of Magnetism.
On the Atlantic flight over to Magneto’s island, Janet discovers a miniature bugging device hidden among Angel’s wings. The Avengers now believe he’s in cahoots with Magneto, and is setting them up. While he swears he ‘s innocent, they tie him up and leave him behind when they investigate the fortress. Thus we return to our opening scene where the Avengers have just arrived to see Cyclops flee!
Magneto is watching the entire drama play out, delighted that his plans are coming to fruition. Of course, it was all part of his plans for Angel to escape and get caught with the monitor on his wings. “ Now they and the X-Men, who might otherwise been allies- will be at each other’s throats!”
Toad doesn’t like the idea of bringing in the Avengers…they should have been satisfied capturing the X-Men- their REAL enemies! Magneto electrocutes Toad for his doubt, and Toad questions why Magneto always abuses him when he alone out of ALL the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants has been loyal. “Because I don’t NEED your Loyalty!” snaps Magneto. He explains that he’s only kept Toad around because it amused him, and now Toad is just angering him. Wanda steps in and begs Magneto to leave Toad alone, and Toad says “One day soon, Magneto shall know who his true friends are.”
Meanwhile, The Avengers have become antsy sneaking around the hidden fortress, and as usual, Hawkeye and Goliath start to bicker and fight. Soon the Black Panther, who initially tries to STOP the fight, is involved, and it is up to Jan to step in and remind them that there is a task at hand.
This moment of discourse is just what Magneto has been hoping to hear, and he releases a machine that unleashes crackling electronic commands upon the unsuspecting X-Men. When the sensations vanish, we realize just what the machine has done to their minds when Cyclops states, “There was something we were going to do! Yes- We were going to find the Avengers…and DESTROY THEM!”
Any doubt that the X-Men are on the wrong side of the good guys is gone when the Avengers confront the angry teen mob and Cyclops orders: “Kill Them! Kill The Avengers!”
Beast strikes the first blow at Black Panther, and the others follow his lead. After fighting for a while, the Avengers they find they are having a hard time beating them. Then Black Panther realizes it is because they subconsciously think of the X-Men as heroes, not villains. With this change in attitude, the Avengers make quick work of the youths, much to the confusion of Magneto, who thought the X-Men would be the victors!
His confusion only increases when he turns and finds The Angel has infiltrated the control room! Soon, the Avengers smash in, as well! Goliath knows Magneto must be dying of curiosity to find out what went wrong with his plans, and elucidates. “We guessed the bug on Angel was a plant, and tied his hands loosely! Wasp whispered in his ear our plans, then pretended to quarrel to lure you into an ill-timed attack!”
Magneto knows the only option is escape, and brings down a wall of metal parts onto the Avengers, giving himself enough time to get away! He orders Toad to get the escape ship, hitting him to get a move on. “He orders me to save him - and strikes me as he does so! Thus has he EVER rewarded my unwavering Loyalty!” thinks the Toad.
With a quick move, the Toad sets the machine generators to overload- soon the entire island will be decimated by the huge explosion! He leads the Scarlet Witch and a still dazed Quicksilver to a waiting escape ship. As the ship takes off, Magneto reaches out with his magnetic powers to lift him to the jet, but finds that his powers have no effect! Toad reminds him that he once built an entire ship out of non-metals, just to prove he could do it. As Magneto tries to hold onto the ship, He says, “Toad…Stop!! I am Your Master!” to which the Toad solemnly replies, “No Magneto. The Toad calls no man master- ever again!!” He steps on Magneto’s fingers and sends him hurtling to the jagged rocks below!
Meanwhile the Avengers and X-Men (who seem to have recovered from the hypno-ray) have made it back to their ship in time to witness the Toad and his crew leaving. They quickly shove off themselves, and a few minutes later, the very horizon rocks as the entire island goes up in a fiery explosion! Soon, the ocean is littered with smoking debris and machinery from the fortress, and among the bits of twisted metal floats the remains of Magneto’s once mighty metal helmet!
What a STORY!! I loved and re-read this issue so darn much that not only did I eventually collect all the back-issues of Marvel Triple Action featuring The Avengers (as well as Triple Action successor Marvel Super Action) but immediately began subscribing to the current issues as well -and what do you know- John Byrne was the artist HERE, too When I got older, I made it a priority to get my hands on all the ORIGINAL Avengers issues, and I was simply beside myself the day I got my very own copy of AVENGERS #53, the issue where that X-Men/Avengers story originally ran and the very issue you see scanned here!
Besides the overwhelming “pride of ownership” that came with obtaining this piece of Marvel history, there are several other good reasons to own the actual copy, and not just that they got the COLORS of Beast, Angel and Goliath right(!) in the original comic-I was ECSTATIC when I read the original issue and found there were TWO EXTRA PAGES that Marvel Triple Action had cut out! HOLY TOLEDO! This was like the Modern-Day equivalent of a DVD bonus! If I thought I loved that story BEFORE…MAN! Now it was BEYOND LOVE!!! Ahahahaha!
To this day, those Avengers issues from around issue #46-60 are still some of my favorite stories ever; Roy Thomas is still one of my favorite writers, and John Buscema one of my very favorite artists… When you consider that back then I was simultaneously reading both Thomas/Buscema stories AND Byrne/Claremont stories, there’s no wonder I call this my own personal “Golden Age” of comic reading in my life!
