Classic Comic Fridays: Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21

On March 4, 2011 By UncannyDerekIn Classic Comic FridayLeave a comment

The first Friday of each month, I will review a classic comic from my own personal collection.

This month, I’ve decided on something I’ve been putting on the back-burner for a while. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 – the wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

I’ve been wanting to do this since Joe Quesada re-did the wedding issue with his One Moment In Time story arc to compare notes, but really haven’t gotten around to it. It’s also not something I wanted to do – compare two storyboards – but it’s something I wished to revisit. So let’s begin!

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (September, 1987)
David Michelinie (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Rick Parker (letterer), Rob Sharen (colours), John Romita Sr.(cover). $1.25

The story opens with Spider-Man tackling a few foes – from Electro to some common thugs – it’s a breeze for Spider-Man. Heading home, he meets up with Mary Jane where she is busy prepping for their upcoming wedding. Taking limos to do her chores, Peter Parker starts to think how her lifestyle – in comparison to his – seems a bit different.

At work selling photos of Spider-Man beating on Electro, Robbie Robertson sends Peter into the lunchroom for a wedding surprise party. There he receives a cheque from the Daily Bugle to help out with his wedding expenses. As Parker leaves, he runs into Betty Brant just to say hi. Parker then thinks about how he used to like Brant and how his life could’ve been different with her.

Afterwards, Parker goes to Aunt May’s for dinner, awaiting Mary Jane and her Aunt Anna to arrive. Aunt May was looking through old photos earlier and had them out. Peter decides to look through them too while May baked a pie. Peter finds an old photo of Gwen Stacy and tells himself that he was planning on marrying her first.

Mary Jane and Aunt Anna arrive and the four have dinner. After dinner, Peter and Mary Jane announce that they are getting married to May and Anna. (I’m just as surprised as you that they waited days before the wedding to say anything).

As they leave, MJ gets picked up by a friend named Bruce – a man trying to win over MJ’s heart before the wedding – and even offers her two tickets to Paris. Meanwhile, Paker goes to ask Flash Thompson to be his best man.

As the story progresses, MJ goes out and parties with friends while Peter remains home – thinking about how his will be. He slips into a dream where Spider-Man marries Mary Jane. Uncle Ben is there to support Spider-Man, while heroes and villains fill the pews of the church. Suddenly, Gwen Stacy arrives to give Spider-Man a goodbye kiss, and all of the villains defeat the heroes in the crowd then go after Mary Jane!

Peter awakens from his dream to realize that by being Spider-Man, Mary Jane will have dangers to face.

Spider-Man Annual

Inching closer to the wedding date, Peter has his bachelor party with Flash and Harry Osborn at a bar, and the three discuss relationships and as long as Peter loves Mary Jane, everything will be fine. Mary Jane celebrates her bachelorette party with friends, while Bruce appears and yet again and tries to win over MJ’s heart.

Then comes the day of the wedding. Everyone is gathered at the church, worried about how late both Mary Jane and Peter are. Fortunately, both show up around the same time – and terribly late. They have the wedding on time, and MJ surprises Peter with two tickets to Paris for their honeymoon.

By the end of the story, they head back to their small apartment and Peter wonders what they are “doing in a dump like this.”

MJ simply replies, “Living happily ever after!”

And with the end of the story, we have Peter Parker and Mary Jane married up until the events of Civil War. A twenty-year marriage ain’t bad nowadays, right?

. . .

Well the issue itself was presented very well. A definite look into the insight of both Peter and Mary Jane makes the story that much more intriguing as near the end, you can’t really tell where the story will go.

On the down side of things, that’s also the problem: there is too much negativity coming from Peter about the wedding. With Mary Jane gone all of the time and living a lavish lifestyle – not to mention he seemed as if he was going to end the wedding at a dinner in earlier in the book – it’s more surprising that they did get married. Admittedly, if this was a standalone book, this story simply could not work properly unless Peter lived the rest of his life as a lie. Fortunately enough, that is not the case here.

As for the other exciting parts to the book, Jameson’s hilarity throughout the wedding party at the Daily Bugle gave me some laughs. Robbie’s kindness always shines through, and the action scenes at the beginning were just enough to keep the reader interested in the love story which fills the rest of the book.

Art by Paul Ryan gives great depth in his work as particular scenes from Spider-Man on rooftops, to a wide assortment of Marvel characters, to a crazy bachelorette party, can all look and feel different from one another.

But to grade it as a standalone issue, the book doesn’t really work. But since that clearly is not the case, bravo for an intriguing plot!

Grade: 6/10

Classic Comic Fridays: Alpha Flight #1

On February 4, 2011 By UncannyDerekIn Classic Comic Friday4 Comments

It’s that time again for another look-back at a Classic Comic. The first Friday of every month, I will take a classic comic from my personal collection and review it. I also have to apologize for no reviews this week as I just felt like I needed a Wednesday off from writing (as I believe I am entitled to).

Anyway, with the events of Marvel’s Chaos War closing last week, a particular team was inexplicably left alive while the rest of the old dead-heroes remained, well, dead. That team is Canadian-born Alpha Flight, who were killed off by Omega in New Avengers #16 (2006).

First appearing officially in X-Men #120 (1979), Alpha Flight had been back-and-forth on the X-Men’s good-side. The first suggestion of a Canadian mutant team was back in X-Men #109 (1978), where Vindicator fought the X-Men to reclaim Wolverine. It was also the first time Wolverine was called “Weapon X” (for you trivia-enthusiasts out there). But despite their problems, Alpha Flight have been an integral part of Marvel’s Canadian fan-base, always supporting and promoting the team at Cons throughout the country.

So let’s take a look at their first big solo run – right out of the pages of X-Men!

Alpha Flight #1 (August, 1983)
John Byrne (writer, penciler, inker, cover). Andy Yanchus (colours), Joe Rosen (letterer). $1.00 ($1.25 Cdn)

Opening where Uncanny X-Men $140 left off – three years prior (who said comic book continuities had to be spot-on?), Alpha Flight is disbanded as Prime Minister Trudeau tells James Hudson, aka Vindicator, that government funding is no longer available for the team. Vindicator reflects on his time with the X-Men, as well as his Alpha Flight members, Snowbird, Shaman, and Sasquatch. He also sheds concern for the Gamma and Beta Flight members who have not even had their chance at becoming agents for the government.

Going home, he ponders his life without a job. He realizes that he will only have his soon-to-be wife’s salary to live on and wonders what will happen to them. He even asks himself how Captain America deals with such issues. Coming home, he breaks the news to Heather McNeil – his fiancée. Distraught, Vindicator vents to Heather on why the government would give up such a crucial team.

We get our first cut away to a stranger out in the middle of nowhere – chanting to the earth and drawing out a strange figure in the snow. . .

The book then cuts towards Jean-Paul (Northstar) and Jeanne-Marie (Aurora) Beaubier in Quebec. JP meets with JM at the all-girls school she is working at, to convince her that even with Alpha Flight gone, JM should still do good with her powers. After much convincing, she eventually turns around – but not without deep conversation between the two twins.

After receiving a phone call from friend Gary Cody – alerting him of a major problem – Vindicator sets off and tells Heather to contact the rest of Alpha Flight via their cybernetic implants.

Going into James’ office to contact the team, Heather stumbles upon two other member profiles to contact – both were in Beta Flight and were ready to be promoted into Alpha Flight until the disbanding. Those lucky members are Marrina and Puck.

Here is where the reader is introduced to each Alpha Flight member as the “roll call” presents itself.

The two non-Alpha Flight members, get the call. Marrina gets summoned as her apparent boyfriend gives her the message that she is needed. Puck is found working as a bouncer in a restaurant in Toronto. He receives the call and gathers himself to meet up with Heather at her home to see what she needs.

Snowbird, receives the call and heads to the rendezvous point, where a large monster named Tundra – made out of the earth – tramples itself along.

Vindicator and Shaman quickly arrive to try and stop Tundra. Shaman attempts a few spells to no effect. He needs the creature to be weakened first. Suddenly, Sasquatch appears and jumps from a helicopter and lands on the monsters back – tearing the earth from it. He is beaten off it while Northstar and Aurora make their appearance. With their powers, they spin around the monster, dazing it, while Marrina makes her appearance, followed by her trail of water. With that, Shaman takes the water and blasts the monster making it unable to sustain itself and leaving it defeated.

Back at the home of James and Heather, Alpha Flight discuss keeping the team together despite the lack of government approval. They find that they are needed and will form together. Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door. James opens it to see Puck standing there wondering whether or not he’ll be able to join despite being late. After a quick ruse from Sasquatch, the two get into a friendly fist-fight and thus concluding the first story of Alpha Flight.

Coming right out of the pages of X-Men, albeit late, Alpha Flight #1 does not disappoint in any way. John Byrne sets up each character with deep plot points that each person begs to have their persona fleshed out. For example, during the first “roll call,” Sasquatch is out doing reconnaissance. For what, who knows? Also, what are Beta and Gamma Flight? Where does the government stand on Alpha Flight continuing without their approval? It’s little tidbits like this which drive the story with so much strength.

One thing specifically that got to me while re-reading this tale was how much characterization – natural, human characterization was placed into all of the individuals. Vindicator worries about bills. Marrina has a love life just waiting to be explored. The twins, outside of their rivalry, have so much more to offer.

Given that Byrne practically designed this entire book on his lonesome, he deserves quadrillions of credit which he already has by me.

My only major quarrel was with Puck’s patrons in Toronto. Although Puck flawlessly uses the Canadian lingo “eh?” – all of the restaurant patrons forcibly say it – making it very unnatural.

All aside, Alpha Flight would go on to be a strong series – running for just over a decade until issue #130 in 1994, followed by a twenty-issue reboot from 1997 to 1999, and a twelve-issue one from 2004 to 2005. Given their unexpected reemergence from the Chaos War, I can only assume another one is on its way.

Grade: 8/10

Classic Comic Fridays: Savage She-Hulk #1

On January 7, 2011November 23, 2014 By UncannyDerekIn Classic Comic FridayLeave a comment

It’s been over a month since I last did one of these. Because of how life is, I’ve decided to change the Classic Comic Friday’s to the beginning Friday of every month – only because I cannot guarantee a regular Friday update it seems.

As for the unfamiliar, Classic Comic Fridays are comics pulled from my own personal collection which I then decide to review – for whatever reason.

The Savage She-Hulk #1 (1980)
Stan Lee (writer), John Buscema (penciler, cover), Chic Stone (inker). 40¢

Branching off from the Hulk comics, the story starts off with Bruce Banner trying to find a place to hide. Thankfully, his cousin Jennifer Walters, is a criminal lawyer who works nearby in Los Angeles.

Jen decides to take Bruce to her house for safe-keeping, and the two catch up with each other in the car. There, Jen reveals she is working on a high-profile case which Bruce thinks may put her in danger. After Jen suggests to Bruce that those types of things only happen in movies, they arrive to Jen’s home to be fired upon some thugs. Jen is hit, and Bruce tackles them away – avoiding turning into the Hulk. He realizes Jen is gravely injured, so he rushes her to a closed practitioners office and does a quick blood transfusion to help her until an ambulance arrives.

At the hospital, Bruce is held for questioning because he has no ID and is considered a suspect. He Hulks-out and escapes the hospital while Jen recovers. While recovering, the thugs who tried to kill her before reappear dressed in doctors costumes. As they try to chloroform her, she gets angry and transforms into – what the thugs call her – a She-Hulk!

They escape the hospital and She-Hulk chases them to their car where she off-roads it and gets information on who hired the hit on her. She then escapes back to the hospital – winding down in energy to turn back into Jennifer Walters. The goes into another hospital bed and tells a nurse she left her old room because she was scared of the noises she heard. Relaxing, she realizes the blood transfusion would have caused the change and proclaims, “Whatever Jennifer Walters can’t handle – the She-Hulk will do!”

Although I gave it a very fast-paced summary, it was a very fast-paced book. I couldn’t believe the story was over as it felt it just began – which I guess may be a sign of good story-telling.

Stan Lee dedicates the first six-or-so pages to the history of Jen and Bruce – revealing they are cousins and also giving a brief reasoning through their dialogue on why Bruce would trust Jen. We also get a lot of information about Jen within those pages, setting up the character to exactly how she is even now in comics. These few pages were essential to the book and really shaped how She-Hulk would appear in later comics.

However, from there-on, the book really picked up in pace, and I felt a bit over-whelmed in how quickly everything was going. Bruce turned refused to turn into Hulk when Jen was shot, but once arrested it was no problem? How does a blood transfusion save bullet wounds with the bullet still inside? Although the answer may be “it’s just a comic book,” I feel as if they were still somewhat cop-outs to how the book could have went. Given Lee only did this one book, I can understand why he wanted everything to be wrapped up so quickly.

John Buscema’s take on She-Hulk was superb. Considered one of the best artists in the industry, Buscema’s take on She-Hulk was done surprisingly tasteful – especially considering how She-Hulk looks now. Great detail was placed throughout the book to give an idea of the surrounding location, as well as detail to character.

Overall, it was an impressive start to begin a career for Jennifer Walters. It may not have been Stan’s best start to a new character, but She-Hulk definitely found a place for herself within the Marvel Universe.

Grade: 6/10

Until next time, keep on Space Truckin’!

Classic Comic Fridays: Fantastic Four #45

On November 26, 2010January 6, 2011 By UncannyDerekIn Classic Comic FridayLeave a comment

Like every Friday, I will review a classic comic from my personal collection. For this week, I managed to find a decent-quality copy of a comic at my local comic store. I absolutely loved the story and art, so I figured that I should review it.

Fantastic Four #45

The comic, if you haven’t read the title already, is Fantastic Four #45 from December of 1965. It’s a classic, and one which was the first appearance of the Inhumans! Yes, Black Bolt, Crystal, Lockjaw, Triton and Karnak all get their first appearance in this early issue of F4. And you better believe that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were the two on the helm for writing and penciling credits, while Joe Sinnott was on-board for inking. Needless to say, this is a classic comic done by the legendary comic artists which we all revere today, and I’m absolutely excited to have read it and to be reviewing it now.

Titled, “Among Us Hide the Inhumans,” the book opens up with the F4 minus Sue, trapped under rubble. After a battle with Dragon Man, the three were defeated, and Dragon Man kidnapped Sue. Johnny goes after her and confronts Dragon Man. Sue realizes that Dragon Man has child-like mind and tries to get Johnny to stop his attack. However, Johnny uses his Nova Flame power, and knocks out Dragon Man, saving Sue.

After defeat, Sue tames Dragon Man, working with his child-like mind and convincing him that the F4 were just scared and would not actually hurt him. Convinced, the three, Johnny, Sue and Dragon Man, return back to the Baxter Building to meet Reed and Grimm. They all decide to keep Dragon Man in the building for the time being, so they make him a room.

Johnny takes a break and calls his girlfriend, Dorrie Evans. Because of Johnny always putting her second for the Fantastic Four team, she says she already has another date that night and cannot go out. Upset, Johnny goes for a walk and finds some red-haired woman hunkered in an alley. Perturbed by her, Johnny walks in to see what she is doing when all of a sudden a huge gust of wind lifts him up in the air. By the time he drops down, she is gone.

Johnny returns to the Baxter Building to see that the rest of the team are having a tough time trying to get Dragon Man to sleep. Sue ends up sedating him, while Ben reflects hard on himself on how he is a monster, too. Poor Ben.

Air-Jet Cycle

Johnny decides to go back out and hunt for the red-haired woman – which he finds with ease (somehow). However, she tries to escape, stating he wouldn’t understand her world. Johnny then turns on his powers, prompting the woman to realize she may not be alone. Lockjaw appears behind Johnny, somewhat startling him, and takes both him, and the now revealed woman to an underground base under Manhattan.

The woman reveals herself as Crystal, and introduced Johnny to Karnak, followed by Triton and Crystal’s sister, Medusa. Johnny, scared, knowing Medusa was part of the Frightful Four (and meeting in an earlier F4 comic), and Karnak accusing Johnny of tricking Crystal, Johnny panics and escapes, creating a “4” signal in flames in the sky.

The rest of the team join up with Johnny – arriving by the F4’s Air-Jet Cycle (being its first appearance) – and they are attacked by Karnak from behind. Ready to fight, the book ends with Black Bolt literally crashing down onto the scene.

There is definitely a lot going on in this one comic, yet it does not feel rushed. Actually, by the end of the book, I was asking myself, “it’s over already?” Lee’s great dialogue and character development creates a world on its own. Tied in with Kirby’s brilliant art and Sinnott’s inks, the book to me felt ahead of its time. Of course, that was arguably put Marvel ahead of most comic companies. Rich character development mixed with brilliant art.

Black Bolt's First Appearance

The cover of the issue, also done by Kirby and Sinnott, even seems menacing looking. There’s great dread right on the cover. I love Sinnott’s ink on the F4 directly. The Thing’s body is greatly drawn with shading accenting his body. I love it.

Another great thing about this comic – which is outside of the story – is the M.M.M.S., the Merry Marvel Marching Society which Stan Lee invented for Marvel fans. Gone are the times where fans would have pages dedicated to letters, and a box-out for newer members – one even from my home province of Ontario.

Of course, Stan’s Soapbox was placed in the comic as well. In it, he made a prediction too. He said that he knew the Inhumans would take off with a life of their own. He was excited to give the readers their backstories, and was thrilled to continue writing with them.

All-in-all, the book itself was brilliant. Albeit, one moment in the dialogue, Reed snaps at Sue and says to “stop sounding like a wife,” which to me was a shock to see in comics back then. But I mean, that’s how these characters are to develop!

Grade: 10/10

Until next time, keep on Space Truckin’!