Major Matt Mason - the comic book that wasn't ?! by Denny O'Neil and Murphy Anderson

I have recently been on a bit of a comic buying spree, in large part due to the fact that my local comic store (Forbidden Planet, Glasgow) has been in receipt of several large back issue collections from folk who have for whatever reason, decided to cash in their collections (one I heard had sadly passed away and his wife was selling his old comics) . Two comics that I picked up as part of my “spree” were issue 7 & 8 of DC’s SF reprint comic “From Beyond the Unknown” purchased on a whim as they were only £3 each. On skimming through these issues, it became clear that one strip “Earth Shall Not Die starring Cmdr. Glen Merritt” by Denny O’Neil and Murphy Anderson, was not a reprint. On checking this tale online, it seems that this story was to have been the first issue of a comic book based on the Mattel toy “ Major Matt Mason”. However, for some reason the licensing deal between DC and Mattel fell apart so rather than waste the story DC split the story into 2 parts and released it under the name Commander Glen Merritt in issue 7&8 of “From Beyond the Unknown”.

Back in 1966 as the US was working on landing a man on the moon, Mattel had released the Major Matt Mason astronaut action figure. The figure was a massive success in the US with many adverts (example above) appearing in US comics.

Above the cover to "From Beyond the Unknown” #7 and example pages from the first Commander Glen Merritt tale.

Above the cover to "From Beyond the Unknown” #8 and example pages from the last episode witht he finaql page of the story hinting that Commander Glen Merritt may return, which (as far as I am aware) he never did.

Page Turners: Mike Grell

Mike Grell is an artist that I associate very much with those heady days of the 1970’s. His work on DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes characters (my favourite comic from the early 1970’s) despite being set in the 30th century, was peppered with 1970’s tropes with characters featuring sideburns, big hair and costumes featuring flared trousers and platformed shoes, and I loved it. DC’s “Superboy” (later titled “ “Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes”) was Grell’s first monthly title with issue 203 which he took over from fan favourite artist Dave Cockrum in an issue that featured the death of the Invisible Kid. Grell would later go on to create illustrate and write DC’s successful "Warlord" title (splash page from #3 at header) and also provide art on Batman, Aquaman and Green Lantern and Green Arrow, before working for the independent publisher Pacific comics where he created “Starslayer” in 1982 and “John Sable - Freelance” for First comics in 1983. Although I lost track of Grell’s work around the early 1980’s, his work on the Legion and Warlord have remained firm favourites of mine over the years.

Above a splash page from the “Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes All-New Collectors' Edition (#C-55) from 1978 written by Paul Levitz. This tabloid special featured the marriage of Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad.

Warlord # 7

Starslayer #1 -My last Mike Grell comic.

Favourite Comics: Savage Sword of Conan issues 16 - Worms of the Earth by Barry Smith & Tim Conrad

It was on a very hot summers day in 1977 when on a family weekend holiday to Blackpool with my mum and dad, that I spied a copy of “Savage Sword of Conan” #16 (Dec 1976) . At this time Conan was my favourite comic book character, so it was a no brainer, I was going to buy this issue without my customary check to see who the creators were. As it turns out this was a true comic book classic issue with artistic efforts by John Buscema, Alfredo Alcala, Walt Simonson, Barry Smith, and Tim Conrad, all wrapped up in a wonderful Earl Norem cover. Not only was this my first Conan black and white magazine it was my introduction to the then new art style of Barry Smith (with Tim Conrad) on the wonderful “Worms of the Earth” featuring Bran Mak Morn the legendary King of the Picts.

Of course the main strip in this issue featuring Conan was just as impressive with some of big John's and Alfredo Alcala's best art.

It wouldn’t be until around 1979/80 when I picked up issue 17 of "Savage Sword of Conan" which continued the tale of Bran Mak Morn this time with Tim Conrad completing the art chores, this still looked very nice but lacked the excitement and wonder that Barry Smiths brought to the previous tale. The Buscema / Alcala team as expected provided their usual wonderful work on the main Conan strip.

coan

Bring on the bad guys: The Abomination

The Abomination has been my favourite Marvel villain (only just edging out Fing Fang Foom) since I first read #12 of the “Silver Surfer, one of my first US Marvel comics in 1970. The next US Marvel comic that I purchased was "Incredible Hulk" #137 in 1971 which again featured the Abomination, and 10/11-year-old me was hooked on both these big green behemoths. Since this time, I have picked up as many comics as I could find where the Abomination appeared . Like most of my favourite comics these issues were created in the early to mid-1970s.

The character was first introduced in Tales to Astonish # 90(and 91) in 1967 as Emil Blonsky a KBG agent and spy who became the Abomination after deliberately exposing himself to a greater quantity of the same gamma radiation that transformed Bruce Banner into the Hulk. These issues of “Tales to Astonish” were reprinted in "Marvel Super-Heroes" #45 &46 (#45 at header and #46 above). In this story by Stan Lee with art by Gil Kane, Blonsky becomes a large scaly Hulk-like monster that is even stronger than the Hulk (the first appearance of the Abomination is shown above) . In accordance with Stan Lee's wishes, the Abomination was to defeat the Hulk in their first battle but he is captured by the Stranger who interrupts their rematch and teleports the Abomination to his home world in issue 91.

The Abomination is next seen in the pages of "Silver Surfer" #12 after being summoned by witches to fight the Silver Surfer - a comic I have written about previously. In this tale Emil Blonsky is sent back to space, once again a prisoner of the Stranger.

The next appearance of the Abomination is in "Thor" #178 where he tries to convince the other prisoners on the Strangers home world to revolt and join him in conquering the universe, but is stopped by Thor.

In 1971 the Abomination is again paired against the Hulk in issues 136 & 137 of the Incredible Hulk. In this tale the Hulk finds himself allied with various aliens to defeat the gigantic space creature Klaatu, among these aliens is the Abomination. This is another of my all-time favourite comics which I have prattled on about in a previous blog post.

We next see the Abomination in the 1973 issue of Hulk #159 where he wakes from a coma and agrees to kill the Hulk for General Thunderbolt Ross. In this issue an enraged Hulk knocks-out the Abomination when he reveal that Glen Talbot has married Betty Ross.

In Hulk # 171 (1974) the Abomination forms an alliance with the Rhino. In a strange Hulk type battle a bored Hulk leaps away from the Rhino and the Abomination as they both run towards him from different sides, knocking each other out.

Incredible Hulk #194 - 196 (the last issues of the Hulk that I purchased on a regular basis) features a tale where Doc Samson and General Ross implant a monitoring device into the Abominations head in order to control him. During the battle the Hulk dislodges the mind contol device and the 2 behemoths team up before falling out again.

Great Comic Book Runs: The Defenders / Avengers War

Like many of my US comic book purchases of the 1970’s I never managed to collect and read all the issues in this series at the time (1973/4). Instead, it took me over 50 years to finally pick up the last 2 US issues that I missed at the time; Avengers #118 and Defenders #8, although I did read the full story when it was reprinted in the UK weekly Rampage comic in the late 1970s. As a 13/14 year I was totally engrossed in this cross-over series written by Steve Englehart and illustrated by Bob Brown and the wonderful Sal Buscema. On re-reading this series as an “old git” I found the story a fun tale that albeit predictably ends with the two teams coming together to fight the story villains, Dormammu and Loki, but there were times when I was for an all to brief period transported back to 1973 when my main worry was who would win the war between these 2 super groups.

The concept of this crossover event is that pieces of the Evil Eye have been spread all over the world, and Loki and the Dread Dormammu were fighting over its capture. They each separately convince the Defenders and the Avengers that it would be better for them to have the Evil Eye as the other would use it to destroy the Earth. So, the heroes race around the planet in search of the pieces that make up the Evil Eye before the other team can find it. Eash issue sees each group split into teams to fight the other (similar to the old JLA/JSA cross overs) including Silver Surfer vs. Scarlet Witch and Vision and Doctor Strange vs. Mantis and Black Panther etc.

Short Lived Comics: Man-Bat #1 & 2 - Steve Ditko, Pablo Marcos

In 1975 Batman’s anti-hero Man-Bat was given his own short-lived comic.This was a strange book as it only lasted for 2 issue and in that time it had 2 separate artistic teams, with issue 1 being written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Steve Ditko and Al Milgrom, while issue 2 was written by Martin Pasko and illustrated by Pablo Marcos and Ricardo Villamonte. This is a comic that recently came to my attention again when I was strolling in a part of my local town that I hadn’t been in for a several years. As it was a particularly hot day, I decided to purchase a bottle of water and upon spying a newsagent I entered the premises to find what looked like an old-style shop that hadn’t been updated in decades. As I walked out of the shop a vivid memory suddenly flashed into my head of when I had been in this shop as a 15-year-old and picked up the first issue of Man-Bat from the now long gone spinner rack. Not a riviting tale, but one that tickled me.

To add to the strangeness of this comic the letters page of issue 2 (below) featured an editorial stating that this was the last issue of Man-Bat. At the time, this confused me as surely there were no sales figures available to determine if the comic had been a success or not. Of course, the reality was probably more commercial and either it was a ploy to get more readers to pick up Detective Comics where Man-Bats adventures were to continue, or the DC knew the comic wasn’t going to sell and cut their losses.