Fantastic Four 324 - Inferno

More foes step in to complicate Mantis's quest.

Fantastic Four #324

Story: S.F.X. Englehart
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Romeo Tanghal
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

(There's no "Inferno continues" triangle on the cover but it's not clear why as other Inferno crossovers had it that month and there were even a few stragglers the following month. Anyway this issue is clearly set during Inferno and has been included in all collected editions that contain the crossovers.)

The Human Torch's flame is out of control and nothing will turn it off. Meanwhile Mantis has disappeared from the cell on Kang's ship. Everyone returns to New York to find the sorcerer Necrodamus has escaped from Limbo and taken Mantis to sacrifice her at a point when the planets align to secure great power. The Three and Kang find themselves having to work together with Ms Marvel coming up with a plan. Kang and the Human Torch take off for space where they manage to shift Mercury from its orbit long enough to prevent the alignment. Necrodamus fades back into Limbo. Kang abandons Johnny in space but the movement of the planets attracts the attention of the Silver Surfer.

The story credit is a reflection of the continued breakdown in relations between Steve Englehart and Marvel editorial as he felt he was now just scripting plots totally rewritten by his editors - or just supplying sound effects. Perhaps that's why this issue feels so quick and plot light. Alternatively it may have been an intentional filler interlude in the story to mark time before issue #325 came after the end of the Inferno crossover. Whatever the reason the result is an extremely poor issue. In her brief dialogue it seems as though Mantis is expressing his frustration as bemoans how she has been "Abused, humiliated wherever she turns! ... This one would fight back! ... she has come to feel, in her very bones she will never get back to the stars!" It is as if the writer or scripter feels he will never be able to complete the character's story as he wished.

This continues the practice of using assorted villains mainly associated with the Avengers. Although Necrodamus had been introduced by Englehart in his early 1970s run on Defenders the sorcerer's main appearances since had been in conflict with the Scarlet Witch. Thus it would make sense for him to have returned in West Coast Avengers but with Englehart having just left that book it was clear he was transferring his plans over even when they no longer made sense. The result is a sorcerer who's around for half an issue with a crude plan that is quickly thwarted and he fades away without ever having felt like the significant menace required at this stage of the story. N'astirh briefly appears to warn against distractions with Necrodamus pledging he will use the power to help but as scripted it seems most likely that N'astirh leaves after determining Necrodamus will be no menace to his plans.

One of the inadvertent confusions raised by this issue is that there are actually at least two dimensions in Marvel called Limbo - the magical realm from which Inferno stems and the more science fiction dimension that time travellers pass through and which is ruled over by Kang's future incarnation Immortus. This issue makes no attempt to sort out the confusion between the two even though Kang appears to pass through the latter whilst Necrodamus has been trapped in the former. Kang continues to distance himself from the Kangs appearing over in Avengers in an attempt to clear up the mess. He's also got a weapon on his time ship that makes the noise "Tardis!"

Johnny's flame going out of control is not really developed here and apart from a few comments by the Thing and Ms Marvel about keeping their distance there is just no sign of any affect the permanent flame is having on anything beyond his inability to turn it off. Meanwhile a conversation about whether Ms Marvel could revert to human form if she wished to and whether she does so is started but cuts away before a critical reply, again giving away the editorial interference.

Overall this issue is just dire. It cannot disguise the utter pointlessness of the whole interlude with Necrodamus and there's a general sense of starting but not finishing that is not confined to Mantis's/Englehart's frustrations. Perhaps the cover lacks the "Inferno continues" triangle as a contemporary attempt to discourage readers from picking it up, whether out of dissatisfaction with it or a royalty sabotaging strategy. The behind the scenes conflict is all to clear and the result is this mess.

Fantastic Four 323 - Inferno

Kang travels into the Inferno of New York as part of his plan to steal a weapon buried in California.

Fantastic Four #323

Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Romeo Tanghal
Letters: Ghastly J. Workman
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Fantastic Four or rather Three encounter Mantis as she searches for help to find her child which they offer once they have ascertained the situation in New York can be handled. Meanwhile Kang the Conqueror is seeking a powerful weapon created by a Celestial buried in California and plans to use Mantis's power as the Celestial Madonna to secure it. However she has lost this power and so he has to try other ways with the Three pursuing him to California and attacking as the Human Torch's power gets out of control.

Why isn't Kang a Fantastic Four villain? He made his debut in the series under the identity of the time travelling Pharaoh Rama-Tut. It was originally suggested that he was a descendent of Doctor Doom or even perhaps a future incarnation of Doom himself. Later it was revealed that he was from a parallel timeline that had been influenced by the intervention of Nathaniel Richards, Reed's father, who became an alternative candidate for the ancestor with Kang's real name revealed to be Nathaniel Richards. But instead the character got used in Avengers where he got his best known name and appearance and rarely ventured outside it. Prior to this issue his sole encounters with the Fantastic Four have been restricted to a cameo in an annual when just about every villain in the fledgling Marvel universe tried to attack Reed and Sue's wedding or a single story in the Human Torch/Thing strip in Strange Tales. Otherwise he had mainly been in Avengers but did sometimes turn up in other series. It's odd as a time travelling dictator who is the descendent of either the Four's archenemy or else of the (usual) leader's father would surely be a natural foe to turn to. But instead he has rarely come to these pages and here the attraction is not so much the team (who currently lack any of the Richards clan) but rather his pursuit of Mantis and Steve Englehart's continued attempts to tell her story.

(Later on in the mid 1990s the Fantastic Four did indeed get another foe who is a time travelling future dictator descended from the family. But I seem to be about the only reader who liked Hyperstorm. And he's also connected to another prominent Marvel family who are not known to have encountered him yet.)

As discussed previously on Fantastic Four Annual #21 (and more briefly on Silver Surfer Annual #1 and West Coast Avengers Annual #3) this was a period of prolonged behind the scenes struggle between Steve Englehart and his editors on all three titles with disagreement over the direction they should go in and the use of particular characters such as Mantis. Consequently after leaving West Coast Avengers he transferred his plans to Fantastic Four hence the use of traditional Avengers villains both last issue and this one. It would appear that Englehart had also planned a semi-crossover with Avengers as Kang is here seeking the same goal as Nebula over in the Fall of the Avengers storyline and working sneakily to avoid the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. The result of all this is that the Three are all too clearly wandering through someone's else's storyline and despite the "Inferno continues" triangle on the cover this issue is only very tangentially related to the crossover with a minor encounter with living parking meters and Kang commenting on how he can use the dimensional upheavals to slip in undetected by his counterparts being the only significant features. The Torch initially thinks his problems with controlling his flame power are down to the effects of Inferno but the problems continue even out on the west coast.

Combined with some poor art that seems to be a consequence of new inker Romeo Tanghal struggling with both the Thing and Ms Marvel the result is that this really doesn't feel like an issue of Fantastic Four or an Inferno crossover. Instead it is hard to disguise that it is supposed to be a West Coast Avengers storyline with even the California location retained. Also if editorial was closing in on Mantis then it would have helped to accelerate the telling of her story but instead things continue to drag out with Kang's intervention feeling more of a distraction than an advancement of the plot. This issue is forgettable.

Fantastic Four 322 - Inferno

A battle breaks out between two fundamental forces.

Fantastic Four #322

Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Finishes: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Workman
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Chief: Tom DeFalco

Graviton is flying the chunk of Earth that had been his base back towards the planet as he reflects on how he survived an encounter with the West Coast Avengers. In New York the remaining three members of the Fantastic Four - the Thing (Ben Grimm), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) and Ms Marvel (Sharon Ventura) - tackle mailboxes, bins and bikes that have all come to life. A rogue Watcher observes from high up in the Empire State Building as Graviton arrives in the city, encounters the demons and reflects on how his power could prevent the merger of two separate dimensions. But before he can decide to do it or not Ben and Sharon attack with Johnny soon joining. Graviton quickly overcomes them and is crushing them with his power when the Torch tries again and challenges the fundamental force of gravity with the equally fundamental force of fire using temperature changes to keep Graviton off balance until Ben knocks him out. The observing Watcher notes how Ben did what he thought was right but stopped Graviton from dealing with the wider threat. Meanwhile Johnny finds it a little harder to turn off his flame.

This issue is an interesting staging post. As has been discussed in some of the other reviews and elsewhere on the web it was around this time that Steve Englehart had big disputes with his editors that resulted in him leaving West Coast Avengers, Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer one by one, and also trying to transfer key plots and ideas from one title to another. Here this only manifests with the use of Graviton, a hitherto Avengers foe who was seemingly being built up to be one of the main recurring enemies for the West Coast team, with the bigger transfer coming in the next issue. What's a more notable sign of editorial disputes at this stage is that the Fantastic Four have been numerically inaccurate for several issues now since the departure of Crystal in the annual and no fourth member has yet come forward.

Also notable is the way that Inferno is only used as a small backdrop at this stage with a few demons and animated objects running around and Graviton's consideration of trying to stop the dimensions merging is more theoretical than a driving plot point. Instead this is a character and action issue as the Three try to take down Graviton upon seeing him and considering their current situation. There's a scene where Sharon and Ben reflect on how her appearance is changing from leathery skin to a rockier form much as Ben's did in the past. Although this follows the pattern with the Thing it must also have been a relief for the artists to make Sharon a little easier to draw - especially as Ben's current "pineapple" look must have been a nightmare and probably wasn't designed or agreed with long-term use in mind. Ben tells Sharon that there may be a way for her to change back as there was once for him but a mental block was in the way. However although it's not explicitly said it seems Sharon has come to terms with her current form making Ben's comments feel crass.

This was Joe Sinnott's final issue of the series. His first was as early as #5 and he'd been the series's regular inker for most of the period since #44 bar the John Byrne years (when Byrne did his own inking). He would switch to Thor for a few years before retiring (although he continued to do the Spider-Man newspaper strip until it ended in 2019) so it's a pity that he left on such a flat issue that doesn't feature the traditional line-up when there was editorial pressure to go back to it. This is unfortunately just an example of how crossovers often mandate an excessive number of issues with some such as these forgettable.

Essential Fantastic Four volume 9

Essential Fantastic Four volume 9 consists of issues #184 to #207 (#189 is a reprint with only the cover included here) plus Annuals #12 & #13. The writing sees the end of Len Wein's run and the start of Marv Wolfman's with other contributions by Roger Slifer and Bill Mantlo and the annuals are by Wolfman and Mantlo. The art sees the end of George Pérez's run and the start of Keith Pollard's with other issues by Sal Buscema and John Buscema and the annuals by Bob Hall and Sal Buscema.

This is a volume with quite epic ambitions but also one which seeks to explore just what the four's purpose is in sticking together and doing all that they do. It's a lofty approach that only grows once Marv Wolfman takes over from Len Wein but it reflects the problem this series has traditionally had in that too many creators can't find much to do and so retreat to the safety of rehashing things from the Lee-Kirby run. But a series has to look forwards not back and this one well and truly succeeds.

It's not always smooth sailing though. The series is hit by some especially bad schedule problems such that issue #188 ends on a dramatic moment and isn't properly continued until issue #191. In the meantime we get first a reprint (not actually included here) and then an "Album Issue" as Ben recalls some key moments in the four's history, including several past break-ups. Given the situation the four is currently in this retrospective feels more appropriate than the average recap fill-in issue but it's still treading water at a critical moment. Moreover, a two issue delay would have been extremely unhelpful when these were originally released but even here they contribute to a slowing of critical momentum. However once this problem is passed the series experiences an extremely smooth changeover of writers with Wolfman almost effortlessly carrying on from Wein and taking the four from a difficult break-up to an eventual reunion that feels natural and not at all forced.

The annuals are a sea of calm amidst the changes all around them though their placing does create a few small problems. Both are put between issues #201 and #202 but the first annual is presumably set earlier on during calmer times for the four - but there isn't an obvious place to put it despite it being written by the series's regular writer. The second annual is by another writer and so can be more forgiven for not quite fitting into the regular events - it does its best to explicitly set itself directly after the four reforms in issue #200 but issue #201 starts out in Latveria before bringing the four home and there isn't an obvious moment to detour into the events of the annual. It's an early example of the problems of a policy that tries to rigidly place all issues in publication order clashing with the aim of ongoing storylines in the regular titles. The annuals themselves are an interesting mix. The first one sees an adventure with the Inhumans where astonishingly the villain of the piece isn't Maximus for once. Instead the Inhuman antagonist is Thraxon, who has been given temporary powers by the Sphinx. What seems like a typical piece of annual inconsequentialness, although reasonably well written, will turn out to be more significant later on in the volume. The second annual is a more typical piece that almost could have come from file but for scenes showing the four getting themselves back into business. Otherwise we get a tame tale of the Mole Man kidnapping blind and ugly people and giving them an alternative life underground where they are accepted, a life that some actually accept. It's a reminder of how not everyone finds it easy in life but the option of just dropping out and setting up an alternate civilisation isn't a terribly enviable alternative.

Over in the regular series much of the first half of the volume is driven by events stemming from Reed's loss of his stretching powers and Franklin's & Agatha Harkness's kidnapping, both at the end of the last volume. It's quite a character arc for Reed as he faces up to situations in which he feels helpless but still has to find a solution, starting with an attack by the Eliminator, an armoured being who shows up at Agatha Harkness's mansion with the task of eliminating all traces of her time in the outside world. The search takes the four to New Salem, a settlement hidden in the mountains ruled by witches led by the fearsome Nicholas Scratch. Scratch has assembled a team of warriors known as Salem's Seven, made up of Brutacus, Gazelle, Hydron, Reptilla, Thornn, Vakume and Vertigo. Upon returning to New York we get another invasion of the Baxter Building, this time by Klaw and the Molecule Man, the latter trying to obtain a body of his own. In the process he possesses Reed's, to terrifying effect. Reed fights for control but afterwards feels that without his powers he has become a weak and inefficient member of the four who is vulnerable to being used by villains so opts to resign. Sue declares she will go with him and with no obvious replacements the four are dissolved.

As the album issue reminds us, this is not the first time one or more of the four have quit. But rather than someone storming off in a moment of anger or a misunderstanding driving people apart, this fracture has been steadily built upon. For all the apparent weaknesses of other team members, Reed's stretching powers have often seemed the least important part of the four with his intelligence being a much more significant role. Having him drop aside immediately upon being depowered would have felt odd and he does initially try to use science to compensate, reactivating his old metallic extensions from a previous time when he lost his powers. But overall he finds himself weakened in mind as well as body and ultimately chooses to not be a burden to the others. And critically the four don't formally reassemble as a group for many issues to come. A reunion is teased in what was clearly intended to be the next issue when Ka-Zar's old foe the Plunderer tries to steal the four's equipment when the Baxter Building is shut down, but despite everyone responding to Reed's flare it's only a temporary respite.

We then get a series of solo~ish tales of individual members of the team who gradually find themselves drawn back together. So Johnny goes car racing in the desert and catches up with Wyatt Wingfoot again, only to face off against the Texas Twister who has been hired to kidnap him by an unnamed person. Ben returns to space piloting, taking up a job with Nasa where the space shuttle programme suffers sabotage and interference by Diablo, who is using Darkoth, an old friend of Ben's who was framed and then mutated by Doctor Doom. Sue goes back to acting, getting a role in a Hollywood picture but finds the studio is still owned by Namor the Sub-Mariner, who has left Atlantis in horror at the way his people have virtually deified him but his kingdom deploys a group of robots called the Retrievers of Atlantis to take him home and the incident makes him reconsider his position. Reed takes up scientific work for the government without realising which one and that he's helping a foe with a plan to take over the world.

These tales allow each member of the four to shine some more without having to share too much space with the others, a particular useful period as the main focus of the storyline falls upon Reed. The others find themselves getting ever strong and more powerful, particularly Sue who is now really using her forcefields to maximum effect. It's all good character building in the run up to the anniversary issue. There are various humorous asides throughout the run, with the Impossible Man prominent at first as he pops up (sometimes literally) in a succession of issues as he tries to understand the world around him, most notably movies. Most of the time these are comical asides but they do reach a more serious point when confronting Klaw as the Impossible Man duplicates the villain's sonic horn and the use of the two weapons causes a sonic feedback boom. Otherwise the Impossible Man is generally an irritation and eventually he takes the hint, only to reappear in Hollywood and pester everyone until Sue reads him the Riot Act.

Reunion eventually comes but surprisingly it's staggered and facilitated by Doctor Doom. Capturing first Reed and then the others, he proceeds to demonstrate his perceived superiority by finding a way to restore Reed's stretching powers, but the inadvertent resurrection of the Red Ghost puts a spanner in the works. However the process allows for a minor modification to the four's origin to explain why only they and the Red Ghost have gained powers from cosmic rays and not the countless others who have now flown into space. Meanwhile Doom is planning a master plan to simultaneously gain Latveria greater diplomatic acceptance, take control of the United Nations and seemingly step away from ruling Latveria, leaving it to his previously unseen son whom he plans to transfer the four's powers to. With the other three captured, Reed embarks on a bold solo mission into Latveria where he joins with rebels following Zorba, the legitimist pretender to the throne, where they attack and discover the truth about Doom's son.

This all builds up to issue #200, one of the first anniversary issues to be double-sized. And appropriately it has a showdown between Reed and Doctor Doom, with the former demonstrating that stretching is no silly throwaway power that can't make a difference. It's a strong battle, augmented by the other three rushing to stop the rest of Doom's plan, and really gets into the heart of the hatred between the two men, showing Reed in all his glory. This issue set a marker for double-sized anniversary specials that contain big moments and by having the formal reunification of the four, a triumph over their arch enemy and the conclusion of a long-running storyline it certainly sets a high standard for everything that was to follow.

The remaining issues in the volume start off as something of an anti-climax, beginning with another attack in the Baxter Building almost as soon as they've reoccupied it, followed by a team-up with Iron Man as they confront the cause of the attack, Quasimodo. Then there's an encounter with a young mutant whose powers create twisted doppelgangers of the four but also showing how they help with the small problems as well as the galactic ones. Then the final few issues see an interesting split in the team as Reed, Sue and Ben go off into space but Johnny stays on Earth. Given the timing it's tempting to wonder if this was a reaction to the late 1970s cartoon that used the first three but replaced Johnny with a robot called Herbie as the rights to Johnny had been sold elsewhere. Herbie doesn't appear in these issues but otherwise it seems the most likely reason for the split. The first three go off into space to help Adora, ruler of Xander, to see off an attack by the Skrulls. It's a different angle to the same storyline from the last issues of Nova and once again an Essential volume ends partway through the storyline, with the three's spacecraft suddenly meeting that containing Nova, the Sphinx and other characters. Meanwhile on Earth Johnny feels he should complete his education but finds he no longer impresses women around him and is too much of a celebrity. Soon he is invited to study at Security College, apparently an institution for the children of the famous and important. However Johnny and a guest-starring Spider-Man soon discover sinister operations are being undertaken by the Monocle, using the students as tools.

This volume is slightly weakened by being open-ended at both ends, especially as it is now the final Essential Fantastic Four volume, but it shows both respect for what has come before and imagination to build upon the foundations for strong new tales. The build-up to issue #200 is carefully handled and allows the series to delve into the four both as individuals and as a group, reaffirming what holds them together. This is a generally good volume but let down by ending midway through a big storyline with seemingly no resolution.

Essential Marvel Saga volume 2

Continuing the proper in-depth look at each volume of The Official History of the Marvel Universe. These posts rewrite and expand a previous brief effort.

Essential Marvel Saga volume 2 contains issues #13 to #25, continuing to retell old stories by copying & pasting panels and adding some additional text and the occasional pieces of new artwork to tell a coherent history. The order and new material is written by Peter Sanderson apart from one issue by Peter David, and drawn by Keith Pollard, Ron Frenz, James Fry, Al Milgrom, Tom Morgan, Steve Buccellato, Bruce Solotoff, Phil Lord, Steve Geiger, José Marzan Jr, Hector Collazo and Keith Williams.

This volume continues the practice of summarising key storylines from Marvel's Silver Age, aided by reproducing many panels and using text captions and the occasional piece of new art to accelerate the retellings. Once again the origins are enhanced by later additions to the mythology such as Daredevil's debut including his history with Elektra and Stick as well as the original story. There's also some good tying together of stories to show their impact, such as the Crime-Master launching his attempt to take over the New York underworld at a time when the Fantastic Four are powerless and in hiding, Thor has departed for Asgard for the Trial of the Gods and Captain America is still making his way home through the South American jungle following his final showdown with Baron Zemo. Such a placing goes well beyond a mere wish to have a reading order and helps to show the Marvel Universe as a more integrated whole than it was realised at the time.

The choice of which characters to devote space to retelling their first adventures is a surprise, such as the many pages given over to the debut of Diablo compared to single panels each for the likes of the Grey Gargoyle, Kraven and the Owl's first outings. The cliffhangers to each issue aim to end on a dramatic point midway through a key story but occasionally the story in question is underwhelming or the foe has rather declined in stature since the 1960s. Issue #20 ends with the Frightful Four invading the Baxter Building and the final panel is the Wizard holding the Human Torch hostage. It's a reminder that the Wizard has rather plummeted off the A-List of foes since the Silver Age, his participation in the Prime Movers of the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover not withstanding, making the ending rather underwhelming.

Issue #22 sees a change of approach to the series (and a new editor - Adam S. Balustein succeeding Danny Fingeroth) and is devoted to Peter Parker and Mary Jane's relationship, as the Spider-Man wedding was close. So we see the whole course of it from Aunt May's first matchmaking through other girlfriends and the failed first proposal up to the wedding day, all in one issue. It's a different pace from before and also notable for being about the first place to suggest Mary Jane knew Peter was Spider-Man right from the outset. But there's also an odd moment at the end as a page from the Spider-Man vs. Wolverine one shot is reproduced to try to support the two being made for each other, yet it shows Peter crossing the lines of friendship before realising his mistake - almost as though it was intended to support the two not being together. Whilst it's nice to see an entire issue devoted to the background to one of the biggest events in Spider-Man's life, it would have been much better off as a stand-alone special rather than slotted into the regular series.

The remaining few issues see the saga focus in on specific events for the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer, rather than the broad approach of showing all the key events across the whole universe. Did the new approach kill the series or was it an unsuccessful attempt to save it? Either way it's a rather unsatisfactory change of course and all the momentum of the first twenty-one issues is lost as we get a narrow focus on the wedding of Reed and Sue, the discovery of the Inhumans and then the coming of Galactus and the Silver Surfer with their origins retold from later issues, showing in particular how the Surfer's past influenced the feelings Alicia reawakened within him. It's unfortunate as the wedding annual was the first significant time almost the entire Marvel universe was caught up in the same story and where it fits into the various series's continuities is something that isn't particularly well explained. We get the origins of Galactus and the Silver Surfer but surprisingly not the Inhumans.

The defeat of Galactus is presented as "a turning point in the history of the cosmos... [the] day humanity's representatives first proved themselves more than equal to the task of mastering the great challenges set them by the cosmos", and thus the point on which to end the series with a three page coda describing some significant events to come, ranging from Spider-Man's famous triumph in the remains of Doctor Octopus's headquarters to the battle between Dormammu and Eternity through to the Dark Phoenix Saga. There's a bit of a "and they triumphed and lived happily ever after" to some of the summaries such as Thor facing off against a witch doctor with the last of the Norn Stones or Namor rescuing Dorma and recovering his throne. Finally the Watcher reveals himself as the narrator of the whole series

Overall this volume shows the misfortune of the change of direction, abandoning the integrated tapestry of the Marvel universe in favour of retelling individual stories with additional backstories added in. That said, the latter approach could be a way to bring new readers up to speed on key characters, without having to subject them to expensive trade paperbacks (in the days before the Essentials but even with them it can take a lot of time and money to build up a complete run and the Epic series's habit of jumping about isn't conducive to chronology) or lengthy and controversial retellings. In the early 1990s this approach was followed with a couple of mini-series including Spider-Man Saga and Wolverine Saga, and there have been some more recent one shots in a similar format.

But that would be individual histories and not really worthy of the title "The Official History of the Marvel Universe" which should have been restricted to a total history across the line rather than segmented sections. The original broad concept of the series is a good one though in an era when so many of the original comics are easily available in reprint form it can now feel a little overlong in its retellings. But even with the issues available the big picture is lacking and this series set out to provide it. It's a pity that got abandoned when it did but the first two thirds of this volume maintain the original aims and good standards.

Essential Marvel Saga volume 1

It's time a proper in-depth look at each volume of The Official History of the Marvel Universe. These posts rewrite and expand a previous brief effort.

Essential Marvel Saga volume 1 contains issues #1 to #12 of The Marvel Saga: The Official History of the Marvel Universe, a special series launched in 1985. It retells many old stories by copying & pasting panels and adding some additional text and the occasional pieces of new artwork to tell a coherent history. The order and new material is written by Peter Sanderson and drawn by Ron Frenz, Tom Morgan, Al Milgrom, Walter Simonson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Steve Geiger, Keith Pollard and John Buscema. Additionally each introductory page and rear "Classic Cover Gallery" are included.

Marvel and DC seem to have spent a lot of the 1980s either copying one another's projects or experiencing simultaneous ideas. Both did their first major company wide events in that decade (Secret Wars and Crisis on Infinite Earths). Both produced special encyclopaedic series devoted to detailing their characters (The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and Who's Who). Beyond the comics themselves, both licensed their characters for a series of action figures. And both produced their first "official histories", limited series which sought to bring order to the turbulent chaos of the continuity of their early years. DC's effort was the History of the DC Universe. Marvel's was The Marvel Saga. Who had the idea first in each of these cases isn't always clear as sometimes one company would learn of the other's plans and rush a project through to reach the market first. And I'm sure many of these ideas had originally been suggested by fans – "A story bringing all the heroes together" or "A guide to the heroes and villains" or "A history of the universe" are all pretty straightforward ideas and probably featured in fanzines long before the publishers took them up (but then fanzines didn't have to wait for the direct market that would make most of these projects viable).

The Marvel Saga sets out to summarise the key events in the history of the Marvel universe, showing how they fit together and illustrating them with panels from the original stories. After a few pages of introduction the series pretty much begins with the origin of the Fantastic Four and works from there through the early years of the Silver Age up until the revival of Captain America, explaining characters' back stories when they become relevant. This prevents the series from being bogged down in all the legends of Greece and Scandinavia and other material only relevant to a few, and instead allows a broad range of heroes from the outset. Unfortunately the habit of introducing the backstory only when significant characters debut can disrupt the flow of retelling an individual adventure, such as when the history of Odin is given in one go midway through the story of Thor's first battle with Zarrko the Tomorrow Man. It also means that the Golden Age of the 1940s isn't presented in a narrative order. It's always been somewhat ambiguous just how canonical the Timely and Atlas comics are in the Marvel universe and no answer is given.

What is clearer is the placement of events relative to each other. Thus Spider-Man's origin, which includes weeks of fame, is spread out and other adventures such as the origin and early battles of the Hulk and the Fantastic Four's first encounters with both Namor the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom take place between the radioactive spider's bite and the final showdown in the warehouse. A lot of fans have long taken to trying to work out the exact order in which stories take place, and even what order they should read and perhaps their entire collections in, and this is surely the ultimate realisation of such a chronology. But this doesn't just include the earliest issues themselves but also later revelations and retcons such as including much of Professor Xavier's history and the origins of the individual X-Men or including with Iron Man's origin his escape from the Vietnamese jungle and first meeting with James "Rhodey" Rhodes or showing Thor's youth and punishment by Odin at the point when Donald Blake is introduced into the history. This means the series doesn't leave latter-day readers in confusion as they try to reconcile the current state of affairs with the somewhat different status quo in the earliest days. Sometimes later retellings of origins are used as the source of panels and this is particular useful over cliffhangers as it allows alternate art to depict the reprises.

Early on the run it seemingly tries to summarise almost all of the adventures but it soon settled down and relegated many a lesser tale to a small text section entitled "The Continuity Corner" which puts issues in chronological order relative to one another. This most notably cuts down on a lot of adventures with obscure forgotten foes such as the Scarlet Beetle or the Acrobat and seems to hit the Ant-Man and Human Torch stories more than any other series.

Read all at once rather than over some two and a half years this series shows several common themes running rampant in the early Marvels. There seem to have been no end of obscure alien races visiting Earth in the early days of Marvel with most of the heroes encountering at least one. There was also no end of Communist enemies. When this series was first published in 1985-1987 the Cold War was still going on and it was just about credible (by the standards of the Silver Age) for there to have been so many Communist foes in then-recent history. But nowadays the Cold War finished over two decades ago and Marvel is more open about its floating timeline with the modern era of heroes starting anything from a decade to fifteen years ago. It's also surprising just how often the Fantastic Four fell out or how frequently the Thing regained his human form.

The saga is clearly aware of later stories as well which may have impacted the choices for inclusion such as showing the first battles with obscure foes like the Vanisher and Thug Thatcher. It also does its best to reconcile the early Silver Age adventures of Namor the Sub-Mariner and Captain America with what was revealed or restored to continuity later on, such as explaining why neither really recognises their old comrade in arms at first. The introduction of Captain America in issue #12 goes to some length to flesh out all his history prior to his release from the iceberg, with the various additions to the origin, the Invaders retcons and the immediate post war replacements all included in the details when the Avengers finally find him. Given his prominence on the cover of issue #1, reproduce as the volume's cover, it's interesting to speculate just how Wolverine's patchwork past would be handled.

Overall this first volume of The Marvel Saga is surprisingly fun and easy to read. The concept could risk excessive boredom whilst the widespread reprinting of even the more obscure parts of the Silver Age might have made it redundant for an audience who can easily access the original tales. But instead it offers its own distinct take on the events and makes an excellent effort to weave the tales together into a greater whole. The shared universe and overlapping characters was always a big part of Marvel's appeal and it's good to see this taken to the logical extent.

Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition volume 3

Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition volume 3 collects the entries for Professor Power through to Zzzax from across the thirty-six issue run of the series. Additionally it includes another printing of the single page guide to power levels, the single page special glossary and an index to which issue each entry originally appeared in. Once again the entries are mainly drawn by Keith Pollard and researched & written by Len Kaminski, Jamie Tost, Mark Gruenwald, Glenn Herdling, Murray Ward and Peter Sanderson. The whole thing is edited successively by Mark Gruenwald, Kelly Corvese and Tom Brevoort.

The standard entry for a character has a full-page shot of the character from the front, side and rear. Then there's a page of text with the following pro forma:

• Biographical Data
• Real name
• Other current aliases
• Former aliases
• Dual identity
• Current occupation
• Former occupation
• Citizenship
• Legal status
• Place of birth
• Marital status
• Known relatives
• Known confidants
• Known allies
• Major enemies
• Usual base of operations
• Former base of operations
• Current group membership
• Former group membership
• Extent of occupation

• Physical Description
• Height
• Weight
• Eyes
• Hair
• Other distinguishing features

• Powers and Abilities
• Intelligence
• Strength
• Speed
• Stamina
• Durability
• Agility
• Reflexes
• Fighting skills
• Special skills and abilities
• Superhuman physical powers
• Superhuman mental powers
• Special limitations
• Source of superhuman powers

• Paraphernalia
• Costume specifications
• Personal weaponry
• Special weaponry
• Other accessories
• Transportation
• Design and manufacture of paraphernalia

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

Occasionally a section will be followed by a "Note", clarifying some point or other. Sometimes there is no space left for "Significant issues". The entries and art are all printed in landscape format. The first appearances for characters who originated in the Golden or Atlas Ages include both a "historical" and "modern" entry. A few characters get second entries with new looks and updated information, including Sabretooth, whose entries show just how much more of his past was revealed in such a short space of time, and Wolverine, whose ones show how it was all much the same.

Usually the entries are in the correct order give or take some errors such as placing Union Jack III before the combined entry for Union Jack I & II. However there are some odd placements with characters who have no codename and are listed by surname. Thus "Rahn, Tamara" is listed under T but "Stone, Tyler" is listed under S. Some high profile heroes such as She-Hulk get a second page with brief entries for the supporting casts, with the image page showing the hero in action. Spider-Man's cast is so big that he gets a third, with the image page nominally devoted to his webshooters in action. The entries for each cast member list:

• [Name]
• Current occupation
• Relationship [to the hero]
• First appearance

As ever the Punisher is different and his second page is instead given over to his arsenal in the following format:

• [Type of gun]
• [Name of gun]
• Caliber
• Action
• Capacity
• Weight
• Note

There are a small number of entries for races such as the Skrulls, presented in the following format:

• Home world
• Origin world
• Habitat
• Gravity
• Atmosphere

• Physical characteristics
• Type
• Eyes
• Fingers
• Skin color
• Average height
• Special adaptations
• Unusual physical characteristics
• Superhumanoid powers
• Intelligence
• Strength
• Speed
• Stamina
• Durability
• Agility
• Reflexes

• Society
• Population
• Government
• Technology level
• Cultural traits
• Leaders
• Names of other representatives
• Major allies
• Major enemies

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

Groups and organisations are listed differently with this pro forma:

• Organization
• Full name
• Purpose
• Modus operandi
• Extent of operations
• Relationship to conventional authorities
• Base of operations
• Former bases of operations
• Major funding
• Known enemies
• Known allies

• Membership
• Number of active members
• Number of reserve members
• Organizational structure
• Known officers
• Known current members
• Known former members
• Known special agents
• Membership requirements

• History
• Founder
• Other leaders
• Previous purpose or goals
• Major campaigns or accomplishments
• Major setbacks

• Technology and paraphernalia
• Level of technology
• Transportation
• Standard uniforms
• Standard weaponry
• Standard accessories

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

The big name teams such as the X-Men have a Membership Roster running over multiple additional sheets that detail each member's time with the team as follows:

• [Identity]
• Real name
• Current status
• Membership record
• Note

The index at the back isn't the most useful as the entries are not reproduced in their original issue packs and an alphabetical ordering makes it redundant, with the small number of placement errors just adding to the problem. Otherwise this volume just comes to an end with no reproduction of the concluding editorials that instead appeared in the first volume.

It has become incredibly repetitive to state just how boring and inessential these volumes are but the reproduction of no less than three incarnations of the Handbook has been repetitive in and of itself. The Master Edition is thinnest on actual narrative information and feels like an overblown set of trading cards with the format of landscapes and static images just failing to inspire. There is a clear advantage in having the sheets collected in the intended order but this just doesn't outweigh the fact that in the internet era where it's easy to produce a regularly updated encyclopaedia of characters a paper series from many years ago just doesn't need to be collected at all. These volumes are easily the least essential of all the Essentials.

Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition volume 2

Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition volume 2 collects the entries for Garokk through to Proctor from across the thirty-six issue run of the series. The only addition material is another printing of the single page guide to power levels. Once again the entries are mainly drawn by Keith Pollard and researched & written by Len Kaminski, Jamie Tost, Mark Gruenwald, Glenn Herdling, Murray Ward and Peter Sanderson. The whole thing is edited successively by Mark Gruenwald, Kelly Corvese and Tom Brevoort.

The standard entry for a character has a full-page shot of the character from the front, side and rear. Then there's a page of text with the following pro forma:

• Biographical Data
• Real name
• Other current aliases
• Former aliases
• Dual identity
• Current occupation
• Former occupation
• Citizenship
• Legal status
• Place of birth
• Marital status
• Known relatives
• Known confidants
• Known allies
• Major enemies
• Usual base of operations
• Former base of operations
• Current group membership
• Former group membership
• Extent of occupation

• Physical Description 
• Height
• Weight
• Eyes
• Hair
• Other distinguishing features

• Powers and Abilities
• Intelligence
• Strength
• Speed
• Stamina
• Durability
• Agility
• Reflexes
• Fighting skills
• Special skills and abilities
• Superhuman physical powers
• Superhuman mental powers
• Special limitations
• Source of superhuman powers

• Paraphernalia
• Costume specifications
• Personal weaponry
• Special weaponry
• Other accessories
• Transportation
• Design and manufacture of paraphernalia

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

Occasionally a section will be followed by a "Note", clarifying some point or other. Sometimes there is no space left for "Significant issues". The entries and art are all printed in landscape format. The first appearances for characters who originated in the Golden or Atlas Ages include both a "historical" and "modern" entry.

There are a small number of entries for races, presented in the following format:

• Home world
• Origin world
• Habitat
• Gravity
• Atmosphere

• Physical characteristics
• Type
• Eyes
• Fingers
• Skin color
• Average height
• Special adaptations
• Unusual physical characteristics
• Superhumanoid powers
• Intelligence
• Strength
• Speed
• Stamina
• Durability
• Agility
• Reflexes

• Society
• Population
• Government
• Technology level
• Cultural traits
• Leaders
• Names of other representatives
• Major allies
• Major enemies

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

Such entries are very rare,

Groups and organisations are listed differently with this pro forma:

• Organization
• Full name
• Purpose
• Modus operandi
• Extent of operations
• Relationship to conventional authorities
• Base of operations
• Former bases of operations
• Major funding
• Known enemies
• Known allies

• Membership
• Number of active members
• Number of reserve members
• Organizational structure
• Known officers
• Known current members
• Known former members
• Known special agents
• Membership requirements

• History
• Founder
• Other leaders
• Previous purpose or goals
• Major campaigns or accomplishments
• Major setbacks

• Technology and paraphernalia
• Level of technology
• Transportation
• Standard uniforms
• Standard weaponry
• Standard accessories

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

None of the teams included in this volume have a Membership Roster that details each member's time with the team.

Some high profile heroes such as Ghost Rider get a second page with brief entries for the supporting casts, with the image page showing the hero in action. The entries for each cast member list:

• [Name]
• Current occupation
• Relationship [to the hero]
• First appearance

The format gives limited opportunity to establish too much information but occasionally an entry will surprise. It's nice to see Marvel Boy I's entry (under his traditional name instead of "Crusader") acknowledge his membership of the 1950s Avengers when the team had then only been seen in an issue of What If? that was of uncertain canonicity. More odd is that the entries for both Hellstorm and Mephisto suggest that the latter is the father of the Son of Satan, just reopening the mess surrounding all the different depictions of the Devil. Otherwise some entries make reference to confused details as mistakes such as the question of Mordred's parentage or whether or not Karnak has hair.

Once again there are some errors of ordering with Grizzly II appearing before Grizzly I and the same thing happens with Nova II & Nova I whilst "Guardian" (Heather Hudson) precedes "Guardian I" (James Hudson). It's also all too clear when some entries were written - the two Guardian entries come from very different periods of Alpha Flight whilst the Goddess's entry stops halfway through the events of Infinity Crusade, Proctor's entry only goes part of the way through the Gatherers storyline in Avengers and so reflects how much of a mystery he remained right up until the end whilst the entries for the Human Torch II (Johnny Storm) and Lyja are notably out of sync. The Bibliography is also often cut short, such as the Green Goblin's career seeming to cut out on only his second appearance.

Second entries for a character are rare and limited to cases where the subject received a new costume after their original entry appeared; characters so blessed include Hercules, Iron Man, Jack of Hearts and Nebula. At the other end of the scale there are some rather random cases getting even a first entry such as the Kangaroo, a forgettable Spider-Man foe who only made a couple of appearances before dying.

The images can get repetitive after a while so it's a relief when some variation comes along such as Lord Chaos or Master Order who each have just a head and we're given them only face on and in profile. One character who could benefit from some variation is the Living Tribunal, whose image doesn't depict the little-seen rear of his head very well.

Because of the way these volumes have been assembled it's hard to track any changing policies throughout the series's original release run. Once again we get all the entries in alphabetical rather than release order and it's good to see both the original and updated entries where relevant. But this is still awkward to read due to the landscape format of the entries, whilst the text doesn't contain a great deal of substance and it's all timelocked to the early 1990s. This volume continues the trend of the Handbooks being far from essential to reprint.

Deathlok the Demolisher: Origins

Another look at a series that is not touched by the Essentials.

Deathlok the Demolisher: Origins is a Panini pocketbook that reprints Astonishing Tales #25 to #28 & #30 to #35. The writing credits vary a bit but are mainly Rich Buckler with Doug Moench or Bill Mantlo scripting and/or co-plotting at times. The art on all issues is mainly by Buckler with additional contributions variously by Keith Pollard, Arvell Jones, Bob McLeod and "the whole blame Bullpen". Bonus material includes a two-page humour strip from issue #25 that was George Pérez's first published pencil work and various pencils and a 1976 watercolour by Buckler.

This is a strip with an interesting combination of themes that were prevalent back in the mid 1970s. There's a dystopian future in which familiar cities have become rundown hellholes whilst war has driven the military into an ever more powerful position. There are cyborgs as humans are reconstructed to be part machine and even more effective warriors than before. And there's the zombie fad adapted into science fiction with the lead character being a reanimated corpse.

Often an era's general cultural outlook is best reflected in the prevalent visions of the future. When the future is portrayed as a bold, pioneering vision of harmony it usually reflects on a present that may have big problems in the here and now but is confident of solving them. But there are times when such optimism is in rather short supply. The 1970s was a decade of cynicism in which many of the previous confidences had been dramatically shaken. It's unsurprising to find this future set strip takes place in such a grim and pessimistic environment. What is a shock though is the time. It's set in 1990, suggesting that nobody expected it to be still be read by that year or beyond. No doubt the pessimism about the future extended to the US comic industry, though 1990 would see it not only still going and in strong health at that, but also launching a new Deathlok series.

The fusion of cyborg and zombie produces a lead character with some unique characteristics. A dead soldier whose corpse has been kept in storage for five years, Luther Manning finds himself unexpectedly sentient again in a form that's part decayed corpse, part cybernetic addition. With a built in computer that he often converses with in private, Deathlok is set on a search to recover his humanity and seek revenge on Simon Ryker, the major who has yanked him from a noble death and brought him into this living hell as part of a wider scheme. Ryker is the main villain throughout the book though we also see the rise of his rival Hellinger amidst a wider development of cyborgs, military attacks on Deathlok and the cannibals who roam the streets of New York. Deathlok has some good character moments, especially when he turns up at his old home only for his wife and child to recoil in horror. Later he finds out that his best friend has married his wife.

But whilst the series may have some good concepts, the whole thing is let down by bad pacing. It suffers from "decompression" decades before the term was coined, with a rather simple storyline of Deathlok going rogue and seeking revenge on Ryker who in turn tries to neutralise him. This drags out over ten issues and although the individual chapters may generally hold up well the overall storyline feels excessive and somewhat dull. The series suffers a reprint fill-in, a truncated issue and an issue drawn by multiple hands, all signs of a series suffering troubles. Being very much an artist's pet project one might expect it to be all flashy art at the expense of plot but instead it's more character moments and smaller incidents that drag the whole thing out. The art is, however, quite good and does an especially effective job at portraying horror through reaction shots rather than showing it on panel. This is also notably a series without any interaction with the rest of the Marvel universe, instead taking place in its own time and thus a greater degree of creative freedom than was normally available in this era.

This edition lacks the final issue of Astonishing Tales but promises another Deathlok book is coming soon. It has yet to appear on Panini's schedules leaving the series on a slight cliffhanger though the main story of the struggle with Simon Ryker is completed here. Overall this edition shows a series that's very strong on ideas and individual moments but rather weak when collected together as a whole.

Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition volume 1

Essential Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition volume 1 collects... entries in a different manner from before. The Master Edition opted for a loose-leaf partwork format with individual issues containing entries to be inserted into a binder in alphabetical order. For this collected edition, the entries from across all thirty-six editions have been included for the Abomination through to the Gargoyle. Where relevant the volume also includes the action sheet and supporting cast page for big name characters and team action sheets that were included in later issues. Also included in this volume are the covers of all thirty-six issues plus some of the original introductions. The entries are mainly drawn by Keith Pollard and researched & written by Len Kaminski, Jamie Tost, Mark Gruenwald, Glenn Herdling, Murray Ward and Peter Sanderson. The whole thing is edited successively by Mark Gruenwald, Kelly Corvese and Tom Brevoort.

The standard entry for a character has a full-page shot of the character from the front, side and rear. Then there's a page of text with the following pro forma:

• Biographical Data
• Real name
• Other current aliases
• Former aliases
• Dual identity
• Current occupation
• Former occupation
• Citizenship
• Legal status
• Place of birth
• Marital status
• Known relatives
• Known confidants
• Known allies
• Major enemies
• Usual base of operations
• Former base of operations
• Current group membership
• Former group membership
• Extent of occupation

• Physical Description
• Height
• Weight
• Eyes
• Hair
• Other distinguishing features

• Powers and Abilities
• Intelligence
• Strength
• Air speed
• Stamina
• Durability
• Agility
• Reflexes
• Fighting skills
• Special skills and abilities
• Superhuman physical powers
• Superhuman mental powers
• Special limitations
• Source of superhuman powers

• Paraphernalia
• Costume specifications
• Personal weaponry
• Special weaponry
• Other accessories
• Transportation
• Design and manufacture of paraphernalia

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

Occasionally a section will be followed by a "Note", clarifying some point or other. Sometimes there is no space left for "Significant issues". The entries and art are all printed in landscape format. The first appearances for characters who originated in the Golden or Atlas Ages include both a "historical" and "modern" entry.

The partwork nature of the original means that from time to time the order is wrong. Most notably the entry for Deathlok III precedes that of Deathlok I. Sometimes a character gets two entries such as Crystal, who changed her costume during the original release run. Each entry displays a different costume and the later one adds in a few recent key issues but otherwise the two are much of a muchness, with errors repeated such as listing Quicksilver as her "cousin by marriage" instead of as her husband.

Groups and organisations are listed differently with this pro forma:

• Organization
• Full name
• Purpose
• Modus operandi
• Extent of operations
• Relationship to conventional authorities
• Base of operations
• Former bases of operations
• Major funding
• Known enemies
• Known allies

• Membership
• Number of active members
• Number of reserve members
• Organizational structure
• Known officers
• Known current members
• Known former members
• Known special agents
• Membership requirements

• History
• Founder
• Other leaders
• Previous purpose or goals
• Major campaigns or accomplishments
• Major setbacks

• Technology and paraphernalia
• Level of technology
• Transportation
• Standard uniforms
• Standard weaponry
• Standard accessories

• Bibliography
• First appearance
• Origin issue
• Significant issues

Teams usually have a Membership Roster that details each member's time with the team as follows:

• [Identity]
• Real name
• Current status
• Membership record
• Note

The entries for the Avengers and the Avengers West Coast operate on the principle that the New York based team are THE Avengers and the Los Angeles based team is a spin-off rather than the alternate position that they were respectively the east coast and west coast branches of the organisation on an equal footing. The exact status of the west coast team in relation to the east coast was a live issue for many years but here the Handbook comes down on the side that effectively dismisses the west coast team as inessential.

As well as the teams there are also occasional entries for the supporting casts of high profile characters such as Daredevil or Captain America, with the image page showing the hero in action. The entries for each cast member list:

• [Name]
• Current occupation
• Relationship [to the hero]
• First appearance

Some of the entries stop short in covering a character's history, such as the one for Captain Marvel II. The significant issues listed only covers the first few years of her career and feels the need to include a Marvel Team-Up story which left her temporarily trapped in her energy form, but conspicuously absent are the issues covering her tenure as chairperson of the Avengers, her massive energy loss in battle and her subsequent recovery with altered powers. It's as if a longer list was prepared but it became clear there was insufficient space for all of it and so it was simply chopped short rather than carefully edited down. Another odd case is Dazzled, whose early battles with Lightmaster and the Hulk wind up as being presented as more significant than Dazzler: The Movie. At the other end of the scale some characters have such brief entries for the rest of the form such that it makes Fandral appear to be the most active character included here.

There's still the occasional attempt to use entries to "correct" information given in stories such as the declaration that Ego the Living Planet does not meet the criteria of the Elders of the Universe and thus cannot be considered to be one of them despite having been shown to be part of one of the most exclusive groups in all the Marvel universe.

At the rear of the volume is a collection of covers, introductions and guide pages. Some of the introductions use the same text and the pages chosen seem to be used only because some of the credits are reused. The single page guide to power levels and the single page special glossary are both useful but would have been better place at the start of the volume. Otherwise the introductions talk about the philosophy and vision of the series, addressing a number of comments from readers. Big debates were held about whether the covers should also be printed on durable pagestock for binding; eventually they were but at the expense of a character sheet in each issue. The action shots proved unpopular for being out of line with the project and were dropped. Otherwise the later introductions also carry a number of corrections, plus a few extended bibliographies for characters whose entries ran short.

"Its modular nature will enable us to update this indefinitely without having to start all over from the beginning of the alphabet" claims the first introduction. It's clear the project had vision to go on for a long time with regular updates but after thirty-six issues it was cancelled due to low sales and the introductions admit as much.

This edition of the Handbook has the best format for mapping an ongoing fictional universe prior to the growth of the internet with online updates for encyclopaedias and downloadable updates for file based ones. It's a sensible move to reprint it in alphabetical order rather than recreating the disparate order of thirty-six separate packs. However the format has some failings. To read this the volume has to be turned on its side and there's an emphasis on lots of art and brief information at the expense of extended detailing of the story. In a way it's very representative of some of the worst trends in early 1990s comics. The Master Edition is now timelocked to the early 1990s and so it is no longer current; nor does it have the benefit of being a historical curiosity that the original is. With very few of the Essential series having reached this period there is little need for a supporting guide from the era. Once again it is hardly necessary to reprint.

Essential Avengers volume 7

Essential Avengers volume 7 consists of issues #141 to #163 and Annual #6 plus Super-Villain Team-Up #9. The writing see Steve Englehart finish his run to be followed by Gerry Conway and then Jim Shooter, with a few issues seeing overlaps and #150 incorporating part of issue #16 scripted by Stan Lee. The main story in the annual is by Englehart and a back-up by Scott Edelman whilst the Super-Villain Team-Up is written by Bill Mantlo. The bulk of the art, including the main story in the annual, is by George Pérez with other issues by Don Heck, Keith Pollard, John Buscema and Sal Buscema, with issue #150 reusing part of the Jack Kirby drawn #16, the annual back-up by Herb Trimpe and the Super-Villain Team-Up by Jim Shooter.

I don't normally comment on the other credits in a volume but there's a notable disjoint in this volume and it appears to come right around the period of Editor-in-Chiefship that can be dubbed "The Conway Weeks". I say "appears" because until the late 1970s, after the end of this volume, Marvel was rather loose with the credit "editor", sometimes giving it to a series's regular writer (even on fill-in issues by other writers), sometimes to another staff member who now appears on the canonical list of Editors-in-Chief which seems to involve some retroactive determination, and sometimes to someone else altogether. As a result it's difficult to determine at a glance just when one Editor-in-Chief replaced another, particularly in the period from 1972 to 1978 when there were no less than seven in post and one could be credited for a few months on material all basically approved under their predecessor. But here there seems to be a clear point of changeover with consequences engulfing the series as a long-term regular writer suddenly drops out to be replaced by the incoming then outgoing Editor-in-Chief who then lasts barely half a year, to be succeeded by another staffer who would go on to be Editor-in-Chief when the music finally stopped. The result is an example of an all too common situation in comics whereby big ideas and plans from one writer get taken up by another with minimal interest in them, grand storylines get finished by different hands and in different ways from those intended by those who started them, and there's fill-ins and reprints at completely the worst moments. All this contributes to a volume that is trying to live up to the levels of its predecessor, admittedly quite a daunting task in itself, but which instead winds up plodding along.

The worst moments are the aforementioned fill-ins. Issue #144 is part of the Serpent Crown saga and ends on a critical moment as the Avengers set off for the Squadron Supreme's home dimension. Yet this cliffhanger is not continued until issue #147 and in the meantime we get a two-part fill-in that openly leaves the question of its place in chronology up to the readers as they endure a two-part fill-in as the mysterious Assassin seeks to take the team down one by one. Given its length it may have been prepared for Giant-Size Avengers before that series switched to all reprints or else for an annual, but its presence here is just an irritating interruption. Also suffering is issue #150, where the cover promises "A Spectacular 150th Anniversary Special" but inside what was clearly structured as an extended meeting to refine the active team membership interspersed with a news reporter taking us through the history of the team in bite-sized chunks is instead paused after just six pages and the rest of the issue is padded out with sixteen pages lifted from Avengers #16, reliving the first major change in the membership. There's no denying the significance of that issue, and in later years of giant-sized anniversary issues with some reprints it would have been an obvious candidate for inclusion, but here it just shows itself up as being used as padding in what must have been one of the most eagerly anticipated issues at the time. Issue #151 has the rest of the issue with some drawn out bits to make up the extra pages but overall the whole thing is a very disappointing end to Steve Englehart's run on the series.

Englehart's last issues are not as well known as his earlier ones, and are dominated by the first part of the Serpent Crown saga. Building upon a plot device from other series we get an interdimensional tale in which the Serpent Crown is linked to its counterparts across other dimensions, leading to an encounter with the Squadron Supreme under the most obvious of titles - "Crisis on Other Earth", though the following issue's "20,000 Leagues under Justice" is also less than subtle. The Squadron Supreme's role as a pastiche of the Justice League of America has never been more obvious than here, with a further team member introduced in the form of the Amphibian, clearly the counterpart of Aquaman. Also show is the Squadron's base, a satellite orbiting the Earth. More surprising are the main agents the crowns operate through. On the normal Earth the crown is worn by Hugh Jones, of the Brand Corporation, but on the Squadron's Earth the crown is worn by the President of the United States, who here is none other than Nelson Rockefeller - this world apparently never having experienced Richard Nixon. What the real Rockefeller, then Vice President, thought of this is not known but it was a kind of success after three failed bids for the Presidency. I wonder who would be placed in the role if the story were created today? Next year may show who the perennial also ran candidate is. The story also allows for some polemicism as the Beast lectures the Squadron on blindly accepting orders from politicians and businessmen, to the point that when the Avengers return home the Squadron declines to pursue them. Thus it's only the Avengers who face down Brand in the initial climax, in which the corporation deploys Namor's old foe Orca the Killer Whale.

The earliest issues also contain a coda to the Kang saga. Hawkeye's attempts to recover the Black Knight have led him to travel through time where he gets knocked off course and arrives in the American West in 1873. He is followed by Thor and Moondragon for a final battle with Kang in which the time travelling warlord's weaponry overloads, destroying him. Just to confirm his fate, Kang's future self Immortus sends a projection to explain his role in his younger self's downfall and then to fade out, confirming he has now never existed. It's a rather low key ending for someone who had been arguably the Avengers' greatest foe and it also raises the whole question of how time travel works and just what has and hasn't been changed by Kang's death. With the Serpent Crown storyline also running through these issues it feels rather underwhelming, as though it was an after thought.

More surprising is the team-up with five of Marvel's western heroes, the Two-Gun Kid, the Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, the Ringo Kid and the Night Rider (who was published under the name "Ghost Rider" but has since been renamed multiple times). It's a bold move to fully incorporate them into the Marvel superhero universe. At the end of the adventure the Two-Gun Kid successfully petitions to be allowed to visit the Avengers' own time where he and Hawkeye settle for adventures and work out on the western ranches. There may have been big plans for the Two-Gun Kid's adventures in the present day but very little seems to have come of them and he's reduced to an occasional humorous side moment such as when the telephone rings at a time of great crisis but the Kid just casually shoots it as he doesn't understand what the device does. Still it's good to see that no Marvel character will ever be truly abandoned.

Also not abandoned is Patsy Walker who shows up at the mansion to demand the Beast repay the debt he owes her and she gets caught up in a raid on the Brand Corporation. There she discovers the discarded costume of the Cat, now Tigra, and dons it, becoming the superhero Hellcat. Her story is one of contrasts, with now ex-husband Buzz Baxter now a jaded cynic after his experiences in Vietnam and working for Brand whilst Patsy retains the optimism of her teenage years. She's clearly being built up as the next member of the Avengers but when it comes to finalising the line-up she's whisked away by Moondragon for a period of intense training, no doubt at the behest of incoming writer Conway. It's a pity as Hellcat shows a lot of promise, but fortunately she would soon reappear in another series.

The change of writers coincides with a revised line-up. Moondragon departs, taking Hellcat with her, but not before she's sewn doubts in Thor's mind about being a god working alongside mortals and he too drops out. Hawkeye has already stepped aside and so the team we get is made up of Iron Man, the Wasp, Yellowjacket, Captain America, the Scarlet Witch, the Vision and the Beast. But they are soon joined by a surprise return - the resurrection of Wonder Man.

The second half of the volume meanders through a string of forgettable encounters with old and new foes. If there's one clear theme it's of the Vision's extended family with storylines focusing upon his "brother", his "brother"'s brother, his father-in-law & brother-in-law, his father and his "grandfather". Wonder Man is revived as a "zuvembie" by a new Black Talon but gains full revival thanks to the effects of the Serpent Crown worn by the Living Laser and then the Golden Age Whizzer shows up once more seeking help in dealing with his son Nuklo, with the adventure concluded in the annual which also shows the Vision facing off against Whirlwind. Later Avengers mansion is invaded by the Grim Reaper who has come to determine which of the Vision or Wonder Man is truly his brother. Then Ultron embarks on a strange scheme to create a female android with the mind of the Wasp to be his mate in a display of a classic Oedipus complex, with his "father" Yellowjacket abused and brainwashed into thinking he's Ant-Man in the early years so as to help his creation without knowing it. The female android is not fully brought to life but would go on to become the appropriately named Jocasta.

There's also a forgettable crossover with Super-Villain Team-Up as the Avengers get caught up in the battle between Doctor Doom and Attuma, but it has all the feel of wandering into another series by mistake without ever really explaining things and leaving no real impression here. Worse still it takes up no less than three issues of Avengers. Then there's an encounter with the possessed stone body of the Black Knight in what feels like another filler. The most notable new foe is Graviton, a man who has acquired power over gravity until it goes awry. There's also the beginning of what feels like a greater use for Jarvis as he takes initiative and rescues one of Graviton's victims. Finally there's a clash with the Champions at the behest of Hercules's old foe Typhon.

It would be wrong to imply the first half of the volume is truly spectacular when it actually feels like it's only marking time and tying up loose ends, with the next big thing to come later. But it nevertheless keeps up enough momentum from the previous volume to maintain the promise. However it all gets derailed by reprints, fill-ins and a change of writer, leaving the series stumbling around with a few good ideas such as the resurrection of Wonder Man and a lot of dull ones like the crossover. Only towards the end does it start to get exciting again. Overall the whole volume feels rather disappointing.

Essential Iron Man volume 5

Essential Iron Man volume 5 contains issues #62 to #75 & #77 to #87 plus annual #3. Bonus material includes the covers of the reprint issues #76, annuals #1 & #2 and Giant-Size Iron Man #1. Most of the writing is by Mike Friedrich with other issues by Bill Mantlo and Len Wein, with one plot by Barry Alfonso and a couple of scripts by Roger Slifer. The annual is written by Steve Gerber. The main artist is George Tuska with other contributions by P. Craig Russell, Arvell Jones, Keith Pollard, Chic Stone and Herb Trimpe with the annual drawn by Sal Buscema.

This volume sees a couple of changes to the costume, one of which is rather better known than the other, as well as the more general ongoing modifications to the weaponry to meet the latest threat. At one stage Tony replaces the collapsible set in his attaché case with a version that can become an ultra thin form worn beneath his clothing until a wrist gesture triggers it to expand out and cover the remaining portions of his body. There may be some attached technobabble but the whole process feels a little too close to a magic or fantastical costume better suited to less scientific heroes. The introduction of this mechanism is used as an opportunity to remove one of the more notorious changes made. This covers the entire period when Tony adds a nose to the helmet "to allow more expression to show". Although it does allow for the art to show more variety in the portrayal of his face, it does also look a bit silly and it's easy to see why it gets ditched as soon as a spurious explanation (that the new method of donning the costume requires the helmet to be symmetrical).

The major storyline in this volume is the "war of the super-villains" which runs from issue #68 until #81 in which the mysterious Black Llama manipulates a succession of super-villains into battling one another in order to obtain a special golden globe of power as the prize in their contest. The saga kicks off with a battle with Sunfire and the Mandarin, who now escapes the Unicorn's body, before the contest really gets going as the Mandarin battles the Yellow Claw in the first confrontation between Marvel's two biggest oriental masterminds with both deploying robots such as Ultimo. Other foes get drawn in as the saga continues, including Modok, the Mad Thinker, the Man-Bull, Melter and Whiplash but not all villains are attracted to an object that offers inner harmony as a precursor to success and we see a montage of big names like Doctor Doom, the Red Skull and Fu Manchu turn it down whilst others like Magneto are missing in action. There is also a trip to Vietnam as both Tony and Roxanne search for Eddie March's brother Marty, encountering both the Crimson Dynamo and a hidden civilisation. Eventually the final battle sees Iron Man overcome the Claw but then all to Firebrand, whom the Llama declares the victor and takes him to his own dimension with Iron Man in pursuit.

Issue #72 has an unusual setting as Tony finds himself with time to kill in San Diego and so opts to attend Comic-Con, using his own armour as a costume. It may be only 1974 but the fandom portrayed show all the familiar signs of people obsessing over first issues, arguing about who did what, arguing about the merits of certain costume changes, parading in fancy dress (the word "cosplay" wasn't in use back then) and generally having a good time with fellow fans. There are fans of other science fiction and fantasy present as well with some Star Trek fans petitioning for a revival. In addition, there are creators who are behind schedule (Roy Thomas, in his last issue credited as editor, is even handing over a pink slip to Mike Friedrich but saying it's just a formality) but still taking time to meet the fans. All in all it's a good affectionate portrayal of the early years of organised fandom. Amidst all this the clash at the convention with the Man-Bull, Melter and Whiplash, as part of the Black Llama's machinations, is very much of lesser interest.

Just as the war of the super-villains is approaching its ultimate climax, we get one of the worst cases of delays seen in any Marvel title of the era. In the space of four issues (#76 to #79) there are no less than three fill-ins, including a reprint and a flashback adventure that normally could be easily inserted into the ongoing sequence with minimal fuss but here it appears as Iron Man is travelling between dimensions and thus it's impossible to make it a sudden spurious flashback, particularly as it's already structured as a flashback to drive a decision in the present day. The tale sees Tony as both himself and Iron Man in Vietnam during the war, testing a satellite guided canon that inflicts devastation in a village in a clandestine operation that's in violation of international law. The result of the canon and the counter attack result in widespread devastation and very few survivors, leading Iron Man to blast "Why" atop a mass grave. It's a piece questioning the whole basis of the Vietnam War, albeit somewhat late in the day as it arrived on the newstands a couple of months after the Fall of Saigon that ended the war and a couple of years after the US had withdrawn its active troop presence. The other fill-in was more timely, being a classic house of horrors story as Tony rescues a couple whose car has broken down and they take refuge in a creepy isolated house occupied by strange beings including a scientist with a funny name who performs life changing experiments. This would have been on the shelves just as The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released though Doctor Kurakill isn't as memorable a character as Doctor Frank N. Furter. Still her henchman, Quasar the mutated ape, does feel like an appropriate homage to the ape obsession of the 1950s. But in general, even allowing for the fact that issue #76 is only represented by the cover and so not interrupting the flow in this edition, these issues show a massive letdown as the momentum on the main story slams to a halt. It should not be surprising that after all these fill-ins Friedrich writes only two further issues. The end of issue #81 may try to present it as a writer bowing out at the natural end of a good run, and I don't know how the contemporary letterspages presented it, but here it feels like a writer missing one deadline too many and consequently being deliberately let go of.

When the series eventually resumes the war of the super-villains story it takes a decidedly odd turn as the Black Llama, Firebrand and Iron Man arrive in a parallel universe in which the United States is covered by a patchwork of independent states and the Llama is the king of one of them. The Llama's actions are explained away as the consequence of madness brought about by a cosmic imbalance when people cross between dimensions and he's actually the rightful ruler who has returned just in time to face a revolt by his daughter & regent's main advisor and wife, who deploy a mechanical dragon. Although there's some good character work as Iron Man nearly succumbs to the madness of the cosmic imbalance, the whole thing is such a jarring contrast with the earlier issues that it feels like it was conceived for another series altogether. It's a very disappointing end to both a lengthy storyline and Friedrich's run, made worse by the extra delays and fill-ins.

There are other foes who show up over the course of the volume including an inconclusive battle with the villainous Doctor Spectrum, the Marvel homage of Green Lantern. Iron Man has at times been matched with Green Lantern in comparisons of Marvel's Avengers and DC's Justice League of America, but it's never been the easiest fit and feels more like a default of picking the most prominent male heroes after Captain America & Batman and Thor & Superman have been lined up. Consequently such a fight seems a mismatch and this one drags on over several issues, even dragging in Thor to battle Iron Man who's been possessed by the Power Prism that gives Spectrum his powers. The story also sees Tony's friend Eddie March don the armour only to be severely injured. His life is saved but at the cost of his ability to walk and in the process he's temporarily transformed into the monstrous Freak, a fate previously shared by Happy Hogan when undergoing special energy treatment.

One theme that pops up again and again throughout the volume are the different expectations of men and women in relationships. Happy Hogan takes some time to accept that Pepper is now a high flying corporate assistant and is not going to meekly head to the kitchen to play housewife; this causes some strain on their marriage and at one point Pepper turns to Tony. However the marriage is soon restored and they remain friends even after Happy impersonates Iron Man at a party and gets injured by being drawn into action when Tony is kidnapped. Whiplash also has expectations of his fiancée Vicki Snow who is the manager of a Stark Industries plant when the villain is working undercover as head of research. Tony's own attitude to Roxanne Gilbert is more respectful but her relationship with Tony is increasingly forgettable.

The last six issues see a quick succession of writers as the series tries to find its direction. There's a forgettable encounter with the Red Ghost and his super apes in which Happy is injured; the treatment sees him become the Freak once more but this is getting overused. An ongoing subplot involves police officer Michael O'Brien investigating the death of his brother Kevin back in issue #46, convinced that Tony has arranged a cover-up, but it's been so long since the death that it becomes hard to find the subplot that compelling. There's also a move to toughen up and make more serious one of Iron Man's earliest foes as Jack Frost returns but now using the name Blizzard.

The annual follows the formula of teaming up two heroes to fight a villain more usually associated with a third in a sequel to one of the last's stories. Here we get a meeting between Iron Man and the Man-Thing in the Florida swamps that follows up on an early Marvel Two-in-One story as the Molecule Man returns from the dead, along with further social commentary as the people of Citrusville react with suspicion and hostility as Stark International (renamed in the regular issues from Stark Industries in acknowledgement at diversification of holdings) sets about rebuilding Omegaville. However the latter thread doesn't really go anywhere and just feels like a jibe at small towns for the sake of it. The Molecule Man's resurrection may have seemed like exciting fantasy and psychological thriller in 1976, but today this tale of a grown man possessing the body of a nine year old girl feels extremely dodgey even though there's no overt hint of anything sexual in the situation. Beyond that the story suffers the problem that afflicts so many Man-Thing tales in that interaction between the monster and other characters is rather limited, resulting in him stumbling through the story including a needless encounter with Iron Man on the road before turning up at the climax to provide the ultimate containment for Molecule Man. All in all this annual is a fairly typical example of the forgettable tales that were commonplace in original 1970s annuals. It also feels more like a Man-Thing tale than an Iron Man one, with Gerber taking the opportunity to return to the character after his run and the original series had ended.

It's telling that the main thing anyone remembers about this era of Iron Man is the nose, a short-lived modification to the armour that doesn't last very long. Otherwise this is a very average volume with occasional bursts of momentum that get squandered amidst excessive fill-ins and bizarre conclusions. The foes are mainly so so and there's sometimes too much reuse of ideas such as one of Tony's friends donning the Iron Man armour, getting injured and then the treatment accidentally transforms him into the Freak. Little in this volume really stands out.