Made Men - Behold The Vision!

Artificial life has long been a staple of imaginative fiction. Robots populate hundreds if not thousands of science fiction stories, both those in print and on the screen. The most famous of these, Adam Link created by "Eando Binder", had many a story and then has been adapted to comics several times and to the small screen a few. Bozo the Iron Man was created in the Golden Age. And the most successful of the artificial lifeforms must've been The Human Torch from Timely, who alongside The Sub-Mariner and Captain America formed the focus of the companies output. 

The first artificial man who made a strong impression on me is a close call between DC's Red Tornado (more about him tomorrow) and Marvel's The Vision. When the Vision emerged from the shadows in the pages of The Avengers #57 it rocked my world more than a tiny bit. I'd been an Avengers fan for no more than year, and solidly so since the arrival of the Black Panther. But this character, with a grim red face and a spectacular array of powers was simply magnetic. 

He was yet another revised revival from Marvel's Golden Age Timely days like Ka-Zar, the Black Knight, and others. That Vision had been a creation of the famous Simon and Kirby team. 

This Vision was the perfect fusion of a character and an artist as no one has ever drawn The Vision as well as "Big" John Buscema. In a couple of issues of The Avengers we see The Vision attack the team and by the end become a member, the first original character the book had seen do so. And despite a cold demeanor he became in many ways the heart of the title with his concerns and challenges often form the basis for stories. The fact that he was fashioned by Ultron-5, an Avengers foe who himself had been built by the always troubled Hank Pym didn't hurt. Here was a character whose very existence drilled to the epicenter of the team. 

Eventually we'd see The Vision battle to become "normal" and he would fall in love and marry and even have children of a sort. He like so many other heroes has become a part of the Marvel movie universe. Every step toward this typicality robbed him of some of his mystique, a mystique birthed from the very first panel of his existence in print. 

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My Jane!

Three years ago I lost my "Jane", the woman I've spent my lifetime with, and the woman who was the mother of our two delightful and admirable daughters. I lost her sooner than I expected, quicker than seemed possible, but now three years on the wounds have begun to close over slightly...perhaps. But nonetheless I will never betray the memory of the woman I loved and the l woman I still love. 

My "Jane" is no longer here for me to talk to to and to laugh with and to take care of. And she's no longer here to take care of me as I stand on the brink of retirement. I step into the unknown without her wisdom and guidance and support. She helped me order my disordered life and as the cards get shuffled again, I miss my lover all the more. 

The old Dojo took a hiatus around this time in years past, and so too with this "Other Dojo" in loving memory of my beloved Lizzie. Normal activity (more or less) will resume in a week or so. Be well amigos and cherish the ones  you have, they are not yours to keep.

Dean

Snakes In The Glass!

These are two of my all-time favorite comic books. Underneath the Marie Severin cover above we find an Avengers team drawn by veteran inker Frank Giacoia. Apparently Giacoia didn't like to pencil, but preferred what he considered the less onerous task of inking.

But as the page above showcases, he's pretty dang good.  With Sam Grainger on inks his is a very handsome issue with some nifty panel designs. But when it comes to artwork the next issue is the absolute gem.

If you waterboarded me and forced me to pick only one cover as my favorite this one might be it. Outstanding and dramatic composition by John Buscema with sterling inks by Tom Palmer. If I could only have one art team they are the team. The Avengers have never (and I include George Perez in this) looked better than when Buscema and Palmer busted out for an amazing sequence of comics.

Now I haven't said much about the story so far. But in this one we meet for the first time Monica Lynne, the lady who will become a romantic interest for the Black Panther. The story stars the Panther as he takes on a new incarnation of the Sons of the Serpent. The story revolves around to TV hosts, one white and one black  but both vituperative and more than willing to stoke the racial animus which percolates at all times in American society. Roy Thomas says quite a bit and says it quite well about the power of mass media to move attitudes and form opinion. Something we need to pay more attention to even in our own time. Oh the Avengers win, but you knew that.

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He Died To Save The World!

When it comes to African-American comic book heroes I never want to overlook Al Harper. Likely if you visit here you know the name or at the least the character. When he was stranded on the planet Earth by the edict of Galactus the Silver Surfer was a woeful figure, pining for his home world and feeling sympathy for his prison world, full of fractious and morally compromised human beings. But he found some good ones among the the teeming hordes and one of those was Al Harper, smart witty urbane black man who didn't talk jive nor want to. 

The best thing about Harper's story as spun out in Silver Surfer #5 is that his race was mentioned but not lingered on and certainly not a key part of the story. What was significant was the incredible bravery and feeling of compassion for our fellow men and women on this planet. Harper was not a cliche, he was presented as a man who smoked a pipe -- the universal comic book sign of thoughtful intelligence.  

The Stranger has brought deadly device or other to Earth and challenges the Silver Surfer to find it in time to save all mankind. For him it's just another ploy in his endless drive to investigate the worlds around him, mankind just another test subject.

It is left to Al Harper to find the weapon and to put it out of commission. He does so at the cost of his own life, a life he sacrifices without hesitation "for the sake of everyone on Earth". 

The Silver Surfer knows of his challenge and of his sacrifice but he is the only one to know that Al Harper gave up his life to save us all. And so he ignites a flame to burn for all time in silent recognition of the act. Al Harper was a hero, the kind not sung about nor lionized, he was a man willing to give up what was his to allow others to keep and hold dear what was theirs. That he was a black man only pointing out the crude irrational pointlessness of the distinctions of ethnicity and race we all cling to so powerfully in this tiny world. A comic book taught me that. 

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Nifty Presents - Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups!

I knew I had to have this book the moment I saw it advertised. The "Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups" scattered through scores of classic Marvel comics always made me smile and sometimes impressed me beyond that. Often the posters broke the fourth wall, having the character speak directly to the reader with some bogus inscription and signature, sometimes the pieces itself was just such an impressive bit of artwork that you couldn't stop staring at it, admiring the craftsmanship of the artists.

The artist responsible for the vast majority of the posters in this book is Jack "King" Kirby followed closely by "Sturdy" Steve Ditko. "Dashing" Don Heck, "Big" John Buscema, "Jazzy" Johnny Romita, and "Genial" Gene Colan are also well represented. The book features the vast galleries of villainy featured in Fantastic Four Annuals as well as the same thing from Spider-Man Annuals. These posters in the earliest days of Marvel acted almost like pages from the handbooks which proved so popular in the 80's and beyond at both Marvel and DC. It is not too much to say that there's a delight each time you turn the page in this handsome volume.

Here's a small sampling in its original form.

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