Monday Madness / CoronaVirus Comics MORLOCK: 2001 "Morlock Must be Destroyed!" Conclusion

When Last We Left the Plant-Man Fighting the Totalitarian Government of Earth in 2001...

...as seen from the perspective of 1975, when the story was created, he had been given shelter by a scientist who was conducting similar research into humanoid plants like what Morlock's creator had been doing!

Written by Michael Fleischer, penciled by Al Milgrom, and inked by Jack Abel, this never-reprinted tale from Atlas/Seaboard's Morlock: 2001 #2 (1975) introduces a new vengeance-driven antagonist who could either have worked with the government to capture Morlock or against the government to destroy the plant-man!

Except...as with most of the company's titles, the third issue featured a total change of creative staff and direction...as you'll see next Monday!

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Soft City

A "Lost" Graphic Novel about Dystopia

Monday Madness / CoronaVirus Comics STRANGE TALES "Germ Warfare"

You gotta admit...there's nothing "madder" than GIANT germs!

(and, yes, as our post yesterday pointed out, germs aren't viruses!)

If these people weren't irradiated by the bomb (fatally, if not enough to render them all sterile), it would be a miracle!

But can we blame plotter Stan Lee, writer Larry Lieber, and artist Paul Reinman from glossing over that minor point in a tale for 8-15 year-old kids?

Note: this story from Atlas' Strange Tales #90 (1961) has been reprinted, that reprint was in Marvel's Fantasy Masterpieces #6 (1967), so I'd say the 53-year gap since its' last publication was sufficient to justify running it!

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Marvel MasterWorks 

Strange Tales

Volume 6

(the last one to date)

Stan Lee (1922-2018) IN the Comics (Conclusion)

As we've been showing for the past couple of days, Stan Lee didn't just write and edit comics...

...he appeared as a character in them as well!

Writer/editor Stan Lee (in the pink...er...salmon shirt), and artist Stan Goldberg (doing a great Dan DeCarlo imitation) produced this tale for Marvel's Chili #3 (1969).

Note: In the  Silver Age, Stan and the assorted artists he was working with would appear in 3-5 page stories in the 64-page Annuals, showing to fans how they conceived the stories in those books and their monthly counterparts.

Since there are a half-dozen of them, and they've already been reprinted (plus, I couldn't decide which of them I'd include), we suggest you track down the reprints of...

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (1964) "How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man!" Lee & Steve Ditko

Daredevil Annual #1 (1967) "At the Stroke of Midnight!" Lee & Gene Colan

Fantastic Four Annual #5 (1967) "This is a Plot?" Lee & Jack Kirby

Avengers Annual #2 (1967) "Avenjerks Assemble!" Lee & Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Don Heck

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 (1968) "Here We Go-a-Plotting!" Lee & John Romita Sr, Larry Lieber, and Roy Thomas

...in various trade paperbacks and hardcovers.

Once Lee stepped down as a writer/editor and became publisher, he became more an icon than mere mortal...

...as the publication of the Origins of Marvel Comics book series, with intros and behind-the-scenes stories about the early days of the Marvel Age of Comics by Stan the Man made him into an almost Watcher-like figure who would pop up almost everywhere...including this one-shot about Marvel's greatest boo-boos...

(Yes, the cover's upside down!)

BTW, The never-reprinted book is a fun read, but I'n not running it here...yet!
Remember the quote on the cover?
Here's the explanation for it...

...and here's the cover...right-side up!

This is only an example of the stories Stan (the Man) Lee has appeared (or just cameoed) in.
There are many more (almost a hundred) that I've seen over the years, not to mention his film and TV appearances.
Let me know which ones you find...

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Stan Lee
Man Behind Marvel
Bob Batchelor

Reading Room ASTONISHING TALES "Doctor Doom: Tentacles of the Tyrant!"

There are some all-but-forgotten Silver and Bronze Age stories featuring the title character of...

Disney/Marvel's The Black Panther...

including this tale behind a "split cover" by penciler John Buscema and inker Frank Giacoia!

A Clash of Kings...

TOMORROW!

You'll note the cover text mentions "T'Challa", not "The Black Panther", even though he's in costume!
When this issue of Marvel's Astonishing Tales (#6) came out in 1971,  controversies involving the political movement known as the Black Panthers were at their peak, such as this murder/kidnapping trial which ended in a mistrial.
Marvel was in a bit of a bind, as they had been developing plans to give T'Challa a higher profile thanks to his ongoing appearances as a member of The Avengers (which, at that point, featured characters who didn't have their own series).
So, when the Panther guest-starred in other titles (like here), or was cover-featured in The Avengers...

...he was promoted as "T'Challa", not the "Black Panther"!
When he appeared in Fantastic Four #119 (1972), though cover-featured as "T'Challa"...

...he proclaimed himself "Black Leopard", instead of "Black Panther".
But that's a story for another time...
Meanwhile, Doctor Doom scripter Larry Lieber (who hadn't handled the Black Panther previously) seems woefully uninformed about Wakanda in general and Vibranium in particular, with the most obvious fact being the Vibranium Mound isn't a volcano!
Two trivia notes:
Larry Lieber had written and penciled the first half of Doom's full-length cover-featured story in Marvel Super-Heroes #20 (1969), which would explain why he got the nod to write the ongoing Doom strip in Astonishing Tales a year later!
Penciler George Tuska would draw Dr Doom's two-issue encounter with Marvel's other major Black hero in Luke Cage: Hero for Hire #8 & #9 (1973)

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Essential Super-Villain Team-Up

Volume 1

(which reprints this story...but in black-and-white!)

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "They Call Me...Space Pirate"

You know Joe Sinnott as one of the greatest inkers of all time...

...but, when he had the time, he could pencil a mean story, too!

This simple but effective, never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Strange Worlds #5 (1959) gives an idea of the level of artistic talent available in the early days of the Silver Age to editor Stan Lee, who plotted the story which was likely scripted by his brother, Larry Lieber...who was also a competent penciler, but could be a tad long-winded, as panel 5 of the last page demonstrates!

Sinnott's layouts and storytelling are solid, but not as dynamic as fellow artists like Jack Kirby, Don Heck, and Steve Ditko, all of whom he would later magnificently enhance with his detailed inking!

Joe would continue penciling through the 1960s for Vince Colletta's studio which provided art for Charlton, Dell, and advertising clients.

Unfortunately, Colletta did most of the inking on those stories, resulting in Sinnott's work being almost unrecognizable!

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Mysteries in Space

The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics