From Incredible Hulk #249:
"Ice Warrior falls, but now ice-girl grabs hold of Hulk! Why?"
Because apparently, retired supervillain Jack Frost (whose underground lair the
Hulk had accidentally invaded) was VERY creative in his use of expendable
ice-minions. If the Gladiator didn't work, try Jessica Rabbit!
Steve Ditko really stole the show
in this issue. The same wild imagination that created alien panoramas for
Doctor Strange, and gave Spider-Man so many visually-distinctive villains, was focused on spawning a gauntlet of killer
ice-sculptures for the Hulk. This desperate battle escalated until only one of
them survived (no spoilers on which one!).
The storytelling here is
straightforward, not changing perspectives very often. Ditko understands that
this story is a crazy ride, so he keeps the "camera" relatively
steady, for the sake of clarity. Note that in the 2nd panel, the Hulk's body
language (and finger) are pointed towards the 3rd panel, gently leading the
reader along the ideal reading order. The 3rd panel's full-body shot of Hulk
smashing the gladiator is followed by a medium shot with the ice girl, and then
a close-up of the Hulk's surprise. It definitely makes us want to turn the
page! Will the Hulk's lips get stuck on ice?
😳
Story by Bill Mantlo, Art
by Steve Ditko.
From Avengers #235:
She-Hulk goes jogging, and she has zero patience for assholes.
Also: This driver is
either too jaded for his own good, or clinically stupid.
In a way, this is a pure
"superhero" moment for She-Hulk. She may not be fighting evil
world-conquerors here, but saving the world isn't everything - superheroes are as much about basic wish-fulfillment today
as they were in the '30s, when Superman threw corrupt landlords and abusive husbands through walls.
We all sometimes wish we were capable of doing stuff like this to the various jerks that cross our paths, but we can't - so our
superheroes indulge in the dream for us. 😉
Story by Roger Stern, Art
by Bob Budiansky and Joe Sinnott.
From Thor #341:
"Elsewhere, beyond the fields we know, a host past counting listens to a
voice as old as time speak..."
Walt Simonson's epic run on
Thor had many unforgettable moments (The Frog of Thunder, Skurge's Last Stand,
the Day of Jormungandr, Loki's broken arm... we could be here all day).
But in the connective
spaces between those great moments, Simonson also played foreshadowing like a
flute. On each issue leading to the Surtur War, we'd get these one-page
glimpses of the demon Surtur forging a terrible weapon,
always punctuated by the ominous sound-effect DOOM!
It was a steady build of
suspense across multiple issues, also setting pieces in motion that would only
pay off several issues later. For example, on this page Surtur commanded
"The Dark Elf" (Malekith) to seek out the "second son of Odin"
(Loki). Three issues later (Thor #344), Malekith would indeed approach Loki and
cut a deal, as ordered. The Surtur War came closer with each DOOM!blow that
landed.
And check out those first
five panels, on the top row: Surtur raising the hammer is shown in slow-motion,
zooming away to reveal him - and then we abruptly zoom in again, when Surtur
swings the hammer down. It almost feels like the hammer-swing on the 5th panel
actually hit the 6th panel below.
Simonson's "Thor"
run became a classic because it really IS that good.
Story and Art by Walt
Simonson.
From Captain America #197:
"And here they come -- the little foxes who would tear up the
Constitution! We've flushed them into the open! Now, let's go GET 'em!"
- Gen. Argyle Fist, just before teaching a group of villains that if they
threaten his country, the superheroes won't be their only problem (also, his
dialogue sounds WAY more natural if you replace "foxes" with
"fucks").
General Argyle Fist was a
relentless and highly-motivated leader, and probably based on officers that Jack Kirby had met during WW2 (though I doubt any of the real-life officers had names this awesome). I kinda wish later
writers had kept him around.
Captain America and the Falcon were
fighting the Elite, a subversive organization that intended to wipe out
millions of US citizens with mass riots, caused by their "MadBomb". And a
terrorist plot of that scale kinda needed a bigger response than a pair of
superheroes, no matter how prestigious they are. That's where the US military came in, an institution that Kirby
obviously respects.
Some soldiers under Fist's
command had gone missing near their base by the US' southwestern desert, because
the Elite's base was in the desert too. Captain America and Falcon also
disappeared when they went looking for the soldiers, and that was the last
straw for Argyle Fist: he and his troops combed the desert until they found the
Elite. And when they did, General Fist rained holy hell on the terrorists,
while Cap and the Falcon closed the deal from inside the enemy base.
Kirby poured himself into
his stories, and sometimes it shows. His military experience deserved an outlet
to be expressed, and Captain America's book was just the place for it.
Story and pencils by Jack
Kirby, Inks by Frank Giacoia.
From Amazing Spider-Man
#165: "You don't know a lot of things, do you, MJ? But then... neither do
I, I guess."
While Peter and Mary Jane
hashed out their issues, the underrated penciler Ross Andru brought us inside
the scene, with gorgeously realized New York locations. Andru based his artwork on
extensive photo-reference. Or as one of his co-workers explained in an
interview:
"I inked many of Ross
Andru's pages myself, and was impressed by the amount of research he did on the
locales he depicted." --Jim Mooney
But this was more than just
photo-reference for its own sake; the locations were used to support Andru's
cinematic storytelling. Look at this page, and the way we zoom close to the
lovebirds for a moment, and in the next we're backing away to appreciate their
surroundings. Ross Andru gave Peter Parker a strong sense of place, and built
Spider-Man's New York into a legitimate supporting character, just as much as
Gotham is to Batman.
Andru's carefully considered
artwork was praised by many of his peers - take for example what Frank Miller
said about this very page, in an interview he gave on the same year of 1977:
"It’s high time
someone mentioned the fine job Ross Andru has been doing on SPIDER-MAN. Not
since Ditko has there been as conscientious a penciler on the strip, nor one as
successful in capturing the mood and style that made the strip the most popular
of them all. Comic book fans are rarely as appreciative of honest craftsmanship
as of flashy techniques or special effects, so the care and skill Mr. Andru has
brought to the strip have gone largely unnoticed.
"Sequences like page
fourteen of SPIDER-MAN #165 demonstrate what can be done with a simple
conversation. The variations in perspective and design and the attention to
backgrounds evident in the scene are heartening to the enthusiast, showing that
there is a good deal of thought and research behind the strip." --Frank
Miller (1977)
Story by Len Wein, Art by
Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.
From Uncanny X-Men #170:
Storm had always been a sweet, life-affirming and caring heroine. But when her
friends were held hostage by the Morlocks, and the chips were down, Ororo
stabbed Callisto in the guts without hesitation.
🔪
This was when we first
learned just how far the X-Men's lovely Weather Witch would go, for the
people she loves. Along the decades, Storm earned her reputation as a legit
badass, and this was one of her defining moments.
Nightcrawler had the idea of challenging Callisto to a duel to the death for the
lives of the X-Men, but Storm demanded to take his place in the fight, since
she was the leader of the X-Men. Callisto thought it would be easy, as Storm
had always been a gentle and diplomatic heroine, constantly looking for
peaceful resolutions. In other words, a wimp, right?
It didn't occur to the
hardened Morlock leader that the X-Men's glamorous princess might survive
against her. Callisto's first big surprise of the night was before the fight
had even started - when she lobbed Ororo a knife, which was then caught mid-air
with casual ease. But the biggest surprise was yet to come.
Paul Smith's crisp
storytelling in this page didn't require redundant blurbs. The first panel
shows the two combatants, so we understand how they're positioned in relation
to each other. The second panel is all about Callisto's incredulity when Ororo
stabs her. The last four panels are basically from the same perspective, giving
Storm a cinematic "power walk" towards the reader.
If comics had soundtracks,
a powerful rock ballad would rise during Storm's triumphant march past
Callisto. Just instrumentals, no lyrics needed.
Story by Chris Claremont,
Art by Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek.
From Thor #341: "Why don't you come over to our place for a mohawk?"
Two groupies flirt with Thor in front of Avengers Mansion, before he's kidnapped to Battleworld for the Secret
Wars (a big event that involved dozens of Marvel characters).
This is a neat page, that
shows where the Secret Wars fit in Thor's life without giving any spoilers.
Note the way the artist - the celebrated Walt Simonson - uses the Avengers Mansion's front fence to distance the
reader from Thor, as if we were watching him embark at the airport. The bars
are visually echoed by the gutters between the lower three panels, creating a
pretty good "fade-out" effect.
All this, and Simonson found room for a friendly dig at Storm's new
haircut, a then-recent development from the X-Men series! Thanks girls, but nobody needs mohawk Thor.
Story and Art by Walter Simonson.
