Spidey Super Stories #38 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Spidey Super Stories was a segment that appeared on the last three seasons of the educational children's series The Electric Company. From 1974-77, the character of Spider-Man wasplayed by puppeteer and dancer Danny Seagren. Seagren's performance made him the first actor to portray the wallcrawler in live-action form and was the first time in 30 years that a Marvel character wasn't animated on screen, second to 1944's Captain America movie serial.

Spider-Man didn't speak out loud. To encourage young viewers in reading, Spidey's dialogue was spoken in word bubbles and his fisticuffs special effects of 'Pow' and 'Bam' were shown as comic book panels to minimize the violence level, as well as for educational purposes and budget cutting reasons. Spidey never battled anyone on par of a Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus. Instead, Spider-Man fought were small time crooks or goofy new super-villains often portrayed by the Electric Company's regular cast of characters. Perhaps Spidey's most memorable and deadliest foe was the menacing Dr. Measles who in one frightening episode infects Spider-Man by reaching into his medicine bag and throwing dots of the virus right onto his costume 

In a licensing agreement to the likes you would probably never see these days, Spidey was given to the Children's Television Workshop free of charge. Stan Lee and Marvel believed that having Spider-Man would be amazing free advertising for both Marvel and his regular titles The Amazing Spider-Man and Marvel Team-Up. With the CTW partnership, Marvel produced a third series, Spidey Super Stories, devoted to young readers. At 36 pages with no ads, SSS would sometimes include a list of words to look for as well as other vocabulary related fun and games. Unlike the live-action segments on PBS, super-villains and heroes alike guest-starred in these comics as well as characters from the show such as Jennifer of the Jungle and her simian side-kick, Paul the Gorilla and the funky threaded Easy Reader whose face was used to endorse each issue as 'easy to read.'

A number of Marvel talent worked on the comic. Jean Thomas (Night Nurse) penned the first 15 issues. Jim Salicrup (Fantastic Four) took over as regular series author afterwards though Bill Mantlo (Rom: Spaceknight), Sesame Street editorial director Deborah November and Michael Siporin shared responsibility for the 3 short stories that make up this issue. First, Spidey must save Aunt May from the clutches of the Scorpion. Then the stars of Electric Company make up the cast of characters in a story where Spidey and the Carol Danvers Ms. Marvel must save a ballet dancer from an evil choreographer. Finally the Thinker takes a brand new subway train hostage. As Peter Parker is aboard working for the Daily Bugle, he can't find a quiet place to change. So it's up to the Fantastic Four working from the outside to stop the runaway vehicle from crashing into Coney Island. 

Artwork from this issue was by regular series artist Win Mortimer (Superman) with assists by Don Perlin (Werewolf by Night) and Mike Esposito (Wonder Woman). 

Spidey Super Stories lasted 1974-1982; going on for another 5 years after the Electric Company was cancelled. The cancellation was not due to popularity. It was a massive hit. But the show's lack of being able to really create stand out characters such as sister series Sesame Street kept the publicly funded program from being solvent with licensing of toys and dolls. The few Electric Company products to hit the market were mostly series of books, records and a Fargo North, Decoder character board game from Milton Bradley. It is said that having Spider-Man added to the show's format helped the series to linger on a couple extra seasons which also relied more on repeated material to help stay solvent. The comic was the Electric Company's most popular tie-in, running for an impressive 57 issues. However, with the Spidey Super Stories being owned and read by young children, quality condition issues are harder to find and pricey on the collecting market.

Completing this review completes Task #3 (Comic from the Bronze Age (1971-1985)) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #2

Former World War II superhero, Robert Frank, the Whizzer, arrives on the doorstep of Vision and the Scarlet Witch. The 'father' of Wanda Maximoff and her brother Pietro the mutant racer Quicksilver, Frank seeks to regain custody of his son, Robert Jr., who is also the radioactive mutant, Nuklo.

Nuklo has the mind of a child due to his autism. As a result, Nuklo isn't able to control his powers which if allowed to get out of control could destroy the entire world. For some time now, Nuklo has been in a self-contained environment, under 24/7 care by specialists seeking to cure his nuclear powers. The Whizzer wants to take Nuklo to Attilan, where Quicksilver lives with his wife Crystal, in hopes of that the Inhumans with their state of the art technology might be able to save Nuklo once and for all. The aging hero believes that with the blessing of some Avengers and Inhumans, he'll be able to reclaim rights to his son and save him.

Well, Robert Frank does win rights to take his son to the Inhumans' base on the moon. Only, before he's able to remove Nuklo from the medical facility, an enemy from the Whizzer's past makes themselves known! Now it's up to Scarlet Witch and Vision to stop this foe from not only killing Nuklo but from also destroying planet earth as the enemy's attack on the autistic mutant threatens to send him into meltdown!

It's not really a spoiler to mention that the real father of Wanda and Pietro is Magneto. That's been established for quite a while. I've also known that it was believed that the Whizzer was the real father to those super-powered siblings. But I never really knew the story behind that. Nor did I know when Wanda and her brother learned that Robert Frank wasn't their real father. While both Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch have known the truth for a while, Whizzer doesn't learn the truth until this issue. We also get the back story as to why Robert Frank thinks he's their real father. 

As for Wanda and Pietro learning their true parentage, that revelation looms for another day...

Another good issue. I was hoping this issue would be Veterans Day themed, since the previous issue took place during Halloween. While the Whizzer did fight along side the Invaders during World War II as part of the Liberty Legion, thus making him a veteran, there's nothing about November 11th that fits into this being a holiday tale. 

Okay, so I was a little disappointed about that. But the story by Bill Mantlo was excellent. Lots of action and adventure. And what happens to Vision shocked the heck out of me!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #1

The opening chapter of one of two miniseries that inspired the hit Disney+ series WandaVision.

The story opens on Halloween night. It's the first day of Wanda and Vision's new life as a domesticated couple. Retired from the Avengers, living in a new house in the quaint town of Leonia, New Jersey, the Scarlet Witch and Vision are ready to unpack and settle in. As a house-warming gift, Avengers butler Jarvis has come to help with the moving in. As yet another housewarming gift, Captain America has gifted Wanda with an ancient spell-book from one of his SHIELD missions in Europe. 

Being Halloween night, the former Avengers are ready for the goblins and ghosts you'd expect trick-or-treating on your doorstep. What the new homeowners don't expect is for an ancient druid god to escape from their housewarming gifts and try to kill them! 

I was thrilled to get to read a Halloween story out of season. I had no idea that this premiere issue took place on All Hallow's Eve. I've been sitting on these two mini-series almost all year, for reasons that I'll explain in a few days. But had I known that there was a Halloween story in the mix, I would have started Vision and the Scarlet Witch last month!

Another pleasant surprise was the writer. It's Bill Mantlo! A talent whose artistic voice was tragically quieted way, way too early, I love his stuff. I cut my comic book reading teeth on his Rom: Spaceknight stuff. His Marvel Two-In-One and Marvel Team-Up works are master classes on how to write crossovers. Mantlo's prose gets a little too flowly at times, especially at the beginning of this issue. But the man could write some amazing stuff!

A great and surprising first issue to start things off! Perfect for your Halloween reads, though I bet many of you overlook this one as an October time read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Human Fly #13 (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

On a sunny day in 1976, stuntman Rick Rojatt strapped himself atop a DC-8. Dressed in a dazzling red and white hooded costume, Rojatt was affixed to a metal harness. Touting himself as the Human Fly, Rojatt toured parts of the Mojave desert and Texas in a way very few passengers ever have. The plane reached speeds of over 250 miles. Everything appeared to be going fine until the DC-8 hit a storm cloud. The pelting of rain drops proved to be too much for Rojatt, as the stunt man sustained bruising over his entire body. Eventually, he passed out from the pain.

Back on land, Rojatt spent nearly 2 weeks in the hospital recovering from the stunt. Undeterred, a year later, he repeated the stunt. The second time around was a much better experience, except for the part when his mask flew off and he had to squint for the rest of the flight. Later that same year, Rojatt ended his stuntman career breaking Evel Knievel's record by successfully jumping over 19 buses during a concert in Montreal. 

While Rock Rojatt never performed another stunt again (that we know of), it was not the end of the Human Fly. Intrigued by Rojatt's mysterious costume and unique stunts, Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Jim Shooter, got the idea to base a comic book on the exploits of a famed stuntman. Originally, Shooter wanted the book to star Evel Knievel. But allegations of spousal abuse, drugs and a very real assault on an exec with 20th Century Fox led Marvel to look elsewhere. Enter the Human Fly!

The first issue of The Human Fly hit stands with a September, 1977 cover date. With the headline 'The Wildest Super-Hero Ever- Because He's Real!', the stuntman traveled the world performing a number of impossible feats. The Fly would often play the hero as the charity events he performed as would have burglars or other criminals looking to rob the spectators. 

During his exploits, the Human Fly would interact with established members of the Marvel Universe, such as Spider-Man. Just like the web-slinger, the Human Fly had a J. Jonah Jameson type foil in the likes of Carl Braden, a news producer who believed that the mysterious stuntman was a fraud. As you can see on the cover, the Human Fly will have to save his biggest hater's life when the two collide during a speedy descent down a North American mountain slope.

For the 2 years that The Human Fly was in publication, Rick Rojatt would conduct his publicity tour in his Human Fly persona. He visited children's hospitals, county fairs and made appearances on several talk shows including Johnny Carson. The comic book version of The Human Fly would last see print with issue #19.

A backstory was given for the comic book version of the Human Fly. On the back roads of Asheville, North Carolina, a vehicle carrying a man with his wife and kids is run off the road, resulting in the family's death. The man survives and has 60% of his body replaced with metal rods and pins. Facing a painful and long recovery, the man teaches himself to walk again and decides to spend his next life as a stuntman. 

Whether or not this is the actual origin story of Rick Rojatt is up for debate. As Rojatt kept a very private life and remained in costume throughout his career, much about the man is a mystery. In the letter page of this issue, The Human Fly indicated to fans that he was planning on recording a rock album. Some researchers believe that after the comic was cancelled, Rojatt moved to the Pacific Northwest to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician. 

The exact whereabouts of Rick Rojatt remain unknown to this day.

Story by Bill Mantlo.
Art by Frank Robbins.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #36 (fictional comic based on a real person) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Deathlok The Demolisher!: The Complete Collection

Deathlok the Demolisher is one of those aesthetically pleasing characters to me. I've been in love with his design since I was first made aware of the character in 1990, thanks to that amazing trading card set known as Marvel Universe. 

But aside from those couple of cards, my love and knowledge for the character really stalled out. I stopped reading comics for a while and then when I resumes, I just forgot Deathlok existed. That was until I found a copy of this book for very cheap at Ollie's. 

The story of Deathlok ironically begins in 1990. America has split into warring territories due to a nuclear war. In what was Detroit Michigan, solider Luther Manning is killed in combat. Only, Manning doesn't go to Heaven or Hell. Instead, Manning is in purgatory; reanimated into a cyborg killing machine called Deathlok. Aided by an internal CPU, Manning breaks free of his programming and seeks revenge on the men who turned him into a mechanical member of the walking dead. 

Deathlok's story will take the character back and forth through time meeting such mainstays of the Marvel Universe such as The Thing, Nick Fury, Spider-Man and Captain America. This collection contains all of the main Deathlok stories told by co-creator's Rich Buckler (Fantastic Four), Doug Moench (Moon Knight) and Bill Mantlo (ROM: Spaceknight). Created in 1974, as Deathlok got closer to 1990, his origin evolved. I'm very glad that Marvel decided to keep all of this in one volume because I think if I had to wait several months to read this in between volumes, I would have gotten really lost. 

Not only does this collection help me fall further in love with Deathlok; it also helps with my wish list. Issues from the second Astonishing Tales series along with chapters from Marvel Team-UP, Marvel Two-In-One and many more are included. Even if I was to have paid the full cover price of $39.99, I would have saved so much cash thanks to the inclusion of those pricey extra issues. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

ROM #23

Continuing from Power Man and Iron Fist #73, ROM the Spaceknight has followed a Dire Wraith into the Baxter Building. Now, ROM is convinced that one of the first family of Marvel is secretly one of his most deadly foes in disguised. Knowing that the fortress of the Fantastic Four is heavily guarded by the top security systems in existence, the Heroes For Hire decide to assist ROM in his quest. It helps that Luke Cage still has a security access card from his days as a security consultant and back-up to The Thing when he was stuck as Ben Grimm. 

Bill Mantlo takes over for Jo Duffy on this issue as the writer with Sal Buscema on art. Al Milgrom did the cover and I was a bit nonplussed with his offering compared to what Frank Miller did on the Power Man/Iron Fist opener. 

This issue was quite funny. Very exciting. And proof that despite the fact that I probably don't have very many companion issues to the ROM series from Marvel, it's worth finally reading!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Captain Universe: Power Unimaginable

Collecting the almost very first adventures of Captain Universe- the superhero who could be you! 

This volume features the Bill Mantlo/Steve Ditko creation that debuted in the pages of Micronauts. Since Marvel no longer owns the rights to that property, the first storyline is missing from this book. It seems really weird to me. The Micronauts are referred to several times in the stories collected and in at least one of them, there are characters from the Micronauts seen in panels recalling Captain Universe's origin. Surely, Marvel could have worked out some sort of licensing agreement to have had those books added to this assemblage.

I bought this book because of the reprinted stories from Marvel Spotlight. I figured paying less than $7.00 cover price (Check your local Ollie's for this book!) was going to be cheaper than finding those 3 issues from the early 70s. It was a very good gamble as I enjoyed almost the entire book.

The concept behind Captain Universe was that there's the sentient power called the Unipower. It bestows itself upon random people in need of superhero assistance. From a small child to a pair of twins, the Unipower wasn't prejudiced. The best story involves Bruce Banner being stripped from his Hulk persona and becoming Captain Universe. While fighting his mean green alter-ego, Banner must also stop a nuclear missile from being launched on the Soviet Union!

My least favorite story was the last one. It sorta reboots the character and ends on a cliffhanger. I wouldn't mind either if Marvel ever published a second volume. As this book debuted in 2005 and a quick Amazon search doesn't show a sequel, I ended this amazing read a little unfulfilled. 

Another thing that might make you feel like you are missing something is that some of these stories are from Web of Spider-Man. Other than an off-panel cameo of Peter Parker, the wall-crawler is absent from this book. Do not expect this book to be the jewel of your Spidey collection.

But for someone like myself who didn't any of the books or stories reprinted (except for the Marvel Fanfare beauty), this is a great collection of adventures. I love the Steve Ditko art and it's kinda fitting to read this now as he passed away earlier this year. Plus it features work from the great Bill Mantlo whose career, but not life, was cut way too short by a hit-and-run driver.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Essential Marvel Two-In-One Volume 4

Volume four completes my run of Marvel Two-In-One. This early 80s series starring the Thing of the Fantastic Four was really entertaining and by the end of this book, I was sad to see ol' Ben Grimm go.

Featuring stories starring some very familiar and some quite obscure guest stars. Just about every story was a winner. Bill Mantlo and Tom DeFalco got very creative in these stories almost exclusively penciled by Ron Wilson.

Some highlights:

The Thing is laid-up in a hospital bed. Mr. Fantastic is fearful that some of the FF's enemies might take advantage of Grimm's grim condition and attack him. As the superhero community goes to visit Thing, they intercept the baddies until there's a massive battle royale outside the hospital!

The Thing and his nephew Franklin Richards are having a fun day together at the local arcade. There, the two meet a video game programmer who accidentally takes The Thing to an alien world that seems an awful lot like the video game he and Franklin were just playing.

Lastly, in a moving story, The Thing and his arch-enemy The Sandman bond over brews while Flint Marko reveals his secret origin. Will this be a crucial turning point for a villain on the edge?

I really enjoyed both this series and this volume. The biggest problem for a few of the stories was the endings. I think the writers had so many ideas that they ran out of space to give a couple adventures adequate endings. On at least several occasions, the fighting lasts until the very last page. If the story was to end on a cliffhanger, that would be one thing. But most of the stories were one-and-done issues.

Great fun, awesome art, and exciting ideas and character. Just a little bit rough on the total plotting.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Two-In-One #99

It's a dark and stormy night at the Baxter Building. The Blue-Eyed Thing is reading horror stories alone when the power goes out. As Ben Grimm goes exploring the cause of the outage, he stumbles across the smoking body of Rom: Spaceknight!

As part of Rom's continuing battle with his enemy the Wraiths, the Spaceknight has meet his match. In order to defeat his enemy's new weapon in the battle for humanity, Rom will need assistance! It's a good thing that there's a member of the Fantastic Four with nothing to do on a rainy Saturday night. 

I've been reading the complete run of Marvel Two-In-One as part of the Marvel Essentials line. However, due to licensing rights with Hasbro, this issue is not one of those issues reprinted.

It's like night and day going from reading a black and white collection to a single issue is stark (and yet beautiful) living 4-color! Avengers' Bob Hall did a fantastic job on pencils.

I'm hoping that the regular series of Rom wasn't as stunted as the dialogue was in this issue. Bill Mantlo wrote this story and he was the regular writer on Rom during it's original 1979-1986 run. The plot was good. The Thing's dialogue was good. But Rom sounded too cheesy. Like really, really bad Shakespeare!

I've got the entire Marvel run of Rom that I hope to one day get around to reading. So we'll find out how bad the dialogue really is. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.