Gen V: Cooking Lessons

 "They tell me Mark Zuckerberg has a lesser version..."

Wow. Where to start with this rather eventful bit of telly? Probably by admitting that Cipher was never, in fact, secretly a well-meaning rival to Homelander with ends-justify-the-means methods but sound aims. Far from it. As Stan Edgar puts it, he's a supe supremacist- "Vought uber alles", indeed. And this plan of his, related to Polarity, to cull the God U student population by 75% as some crazed Darwinian exercise? Yeah...

As the gang struggle with being on the run, we have so much character stuff. There's Emma and Sam sort of starting to reconnect, now that Sam has started to heal, take his meds properly and get sorted out. But, as the episode reminds us, there's a potential triangle with Greg. But the big focus is on Marie adjusting to the enormity of what she's capable of- literally resurrecting her sister! Annabeth is not easy to like here, with her attitude to Marie who, after all, cannot fairly be blamed for their parents' death, an event over which she had no meaningful level of control. I'll be honest: we know and like Marie, and Annabeth doesn't come across as at all likeable here. But her reactions are nonetheless realistic, and there are possible tentative signs towards reconciliation.

And then, catastrophe: Cipher discovers their locations through, among other things, controlling and thus violating Polarity... cue Vikor's arrival and seemingly no hope. So it's something of a surprise when the late Victoria Neuman's daughter turns up to behead him with splendid gruesomeness. Cue Stan Edgar, the mother of all nuclear war bunkers, a scene with Stan cooking that (deliberately?) echoes another of Giancarlo Esposito's roles from Better Call Saul, and the best type of exposition: the long-awaited kind.

So the Odessa program wasn't started by Cipher but by Thomas Godolphin, way back when- Cipher only brought it back again after it had been seen to fail, with so many deaths. It was intended to create truly godlike supes, and only two subjects survived, namely Homelander... and Marie. This is, to put it mildly, quite the bombshell. I like Marie's horror at the comparison here. But, as Edgar rightly states, Homelander is a "gaping abyss of deep need and sociopathy", whereas Marie is a decent human being. 

One wonders what the full extent of Edgar's intentions are here. He means to take back control of Vought, to get rid of Homelander... what else? But there's one further spanner in the works: that old man that Cipher has, could it be Godolkin?

We end with Polarity, from a hopeless position, seemingly succeeding in killing Cipher. And in Marie walking away. Wow. The tail end of this season is one thing after another, and I'm loving it. 

Update with focus on Batman: The Animated Series

 I had to stop watching and blogging Batman: The Animated Series as it left Netflix... but I've just realised it's now on Amazon! I'll carry on with it as soon as I finish Children of the Stones (four episodes to go) as I always like to have one continuing drama with short episode durations on the go. Meanwhile, Gen V, Stargate SG:1 and Dexter will continue.

Dexter leaves Netflix soon but I'll find a solution. 

Fantastic Four #13

 "Stop tryin' to worry us, you blasted animated rubber band!"

The premise of this issue seems to contain a large quantity of bonkersness- a Communist scientist, not content with trying to beat the USA to the Moon as part of the space race, also wants to get bombarded with cosmic rays and get powers greater than those of the Fantastic Four. So far, so sensible. But his three companions on this journey are not three  fellow Soviet citizens... but a gorilla, a baboon and an orang-utan. Er, why? Bonkers it may be... but this issue really, really works. And we seem to be in a real sense of transition into the FF being explorers more than crime fighters.

As we begin, Reed has invented a new kind of meteorite-based rocket fuel which will enable him (not NASA!) to get to the Moon, six years before 1969 and just two years since President Kennedy (still alive at this point) had pledged to put a man on the Moon, and bring him safely home, by the end of the decade. Well, job done. 

Naturally, this is done to "keep up with the reds" and... what's this? Our simian-obsessed Soviet scientist, similarly independent of his nation's space agency, launches a rocket of his own at the exact same instant as Reed and, at their firm insistence, Sue, Ben and Johnny? 

This is cool, though. Said scientist becomes Red Ghost, to be a moderately successful villain with the ability to phase through objects and, um, the less said about the other primates the better. But then the comic takes a turn for the awesome- the blue area of the Moon, with air and the ruins of a mysterious lost civilisation! And, while hi-jinks with the Red Ghost continue, we meet the Watcher, unnamed at this point. On the one hand, he's as we expect- like all of his kinds, pledged definitely never, ever, to interfere. Well, except this one time, but this is a one off, and we'll certainly never find him doing anything of the sort ever again. Interestingly, though, he's shown as extraordinarily powerful here, almost omnipotent.

We conclude, after a captive Sue had earlier compared the apes to the "communist masses, innocently enslaved by their evil leaders", with the unsubtle and inevitable sight of the apes revolting against the Red Ghost which is... yeah. still, this is possibly the best issue so far with its hints of a more cosmic perspective.

Hedda Gabler (BBC TV Play, 1972)

 "Do it... beautifully."

This is my first experience of this particular Ibsen play, certainly one of his most admired, in any medium. And, whenever I'm blogging an adaptation of a play I've not previously seen, there's always going to be a certain ambiguity as to whether I'm blogging the play itself or this particular production. So be it.

Indeed, I suspect the fact that I was blown away by this subtle, nuanced tragedy, filled with so many deliciously subtle pieces of dialogue (especially that between the eponymous Hedda and Judge Brack), owes not only to Ibsen's sublime writing, which combines real psychological depth with a proto-modernist sensibility, but also to the cast and to Waris Hussein's restrained yet creative direction, never letting the play look so obviously cinematic as to take away from the play but using that restricted palette so very well.

But... well, I now begin to see why Hedda, as a part, can be seen as the female equivalent of Hamlet. On the one hand, she's an intelligent, capable woman trapped in the upper middle class society of 1890s Norway, where women have little agency of their own and have little opportunity to make their mark. On the other, she really is a monster- cynical, manipulative, hiding what looks to be something like narcissism beneath a pretty, feminine exterior. The last few scenes of the play pack quite a punch.

Janet Suzman is, of course, extraordinary here. Yet so are a very young Ian McKellen as George, the absent-minded academic husband, and especially Brendan Barry as the similarly monstrous Judge Brack. This production will linger in my mind for quite some time.

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 10

 Me? A stranger? Can you imagine me as a stranger, Miss Brown?"

Ah, I love the way all these little Easter eggs in the dialogue keep coming- the choice of quote was no choice at all. Although he Fourth Doctor's parting shot to the Sixth ("I can't hear you over the coat!") was certainly in the running.

So this finale really is a coda, and a kind of character piece... but that's exactly what was needed. We have all these characters together in the Eye of Orion, waiting for the "new flow of history" to catch up, so let's enjoy them. It's a definite positive that, the Meddling Monk's suggestion to Ten about preventing the Time War because Damon's murder by the Valeyard makes it a kind of paradox so therefore sort of ok to break the rules a bit aside (ahem; that's quite the clause there), we need not worry about plot.

So we get a succession of both fun and poignant moments. I'm not sure Benton's lines about the used car salesman story being, well, a cover story, just like the Brig as a teacher, quite fits with the events of Mawdryn Undead, but no matter. Adric, Katarina and Sara Kingdom all get a nice little mention... although (very topical to mention The Daleks' Master Plan this week!) I've never understood why fandom tends to treat Sara as a companion but not Bret Vyon. Here we have Six meeting Maxil... I suppose it would be asking too much for Bret to meet the Brig!

Doctor 2.5 is an interesting loose end, as is the Valeyard's "familiar" regeneration which never does get explained. But there's no need to spoon feed us everything, and the plotting (yes, I've seen the extra stuff, and the flowchart) remains magnificent throughout.

The partings at the end are all perfect. Ten acknowledges that Five was "a good me", Eight realises he has an impossible decision ahead of him- and Nine can't bear to say goodbye to him. But life goes on... in this case right on to Smith and Jones. 

Absolutely brilliant stuff. 

Dexter: Morning Comes

 "Trust me, when you meet the monster, you'll know..."

I was going to blog this last night, but, well, the title... 

Anyway, it's all kicking off now. So much happened this episode and it doesn't look as though it's going to slow down soon. For a start, Lundy, Deb and co are getting closer to nabbing Dexter. His rather unwise "manifesto" has got Lundy to realise the killer works in law enforcement, and now Deb (it would be her) has, courtesy of an absolute busybody, proved that the killer works in the Miami police department. And, if that isn't enough, Lundy seems suspicious and is asking difficult questions.... and Doakes (blowing off a serious job offer arranged by Laguerta, who still very much seems to carry a flame for him, given the body language) not only searches Dexter's apartment but seems to find the jackpot.

But there's more. Rita lays down the law and insists on no contact with her or the kids... but Dexter's house isn't the only one being searched. Lila truly is obsessive. Dexter begins to suspect the truth about the fire, deliberately set by her as a way to keep him, and he's distancing himself a bit... causing some truly red flag behaviour from Lila, deliberately arranding for his mother's murderer to be able to attempt to kill him, all in an attempt to rekindle the flame. Which is... yeah.

And so it's the end for their relationship. And, therefore, for Dexter's "recovery", as his mother's killer is given a rather unfortunate appointment with a chainsaw. Without Lila, he's killing again. And, on top of this, the net is closing in, Lila is still around and blatantly dangerous... and the season has a full four episodes to go. It's promising to be quite the ride, rather like Lila and Dexter's rather vigorous former sex life... 

Oh, and I very much fear for Deb. This relationship with Lundy, literally her boss, is a big conflict of interest and is, on his part, unethical. Could it be that he suspects Dexter and is using her...? 

The Amazing Spider-Man #2

 "Take a bonus and go out and buy yourself some twist records!"

While not as exceptionally good, or as groundbreaking, as its predecessor, this second issue is nevertheless impressive (despite the silly science- "anti-magnetic inverter" indeed!). It rather helps that, unlike second string villains like the Chameleon (or indeed the Tinkerer!), there's something quite compelling about the Vulture, our first proper Spidey villain, right from the start.

Most interesting, though, is how this issue continues to set and shape the status quo, with Peter earning money through selling photos to J. Jonah Jameson. Interesting, though, is that there is as yet no mention of the Daily Bugle, although Now Magazine is introduced. And Jonah seems to be not so much an editor but the owner of "Jameson Publications", with editors working under him and a massive building with his name on it. It's also fun to see Peter adjusting his costume now that it's to be used for superheroics rather than for entertainment.

The Tinkerer story is a little odd- generic alien invasions really don't feel right with this title- but it's decent enough. More than the stories themselves, though, there's already a feeling that Spider-Man's environment is very grounded and well thought through. 

Strange Tales #108

 "Before I'm through crime, not justice, will prevail on Earth... and I'll be the king of crime!"

This is Saturday morning cartoon stuff even by the usual low standards of the Human Torch stories in Strange Tales, from a writer unknown to me who is, on the evidence of this, even worse than Larry Lieber. And those are strong words.

We begin with a sort of montage of the Torch thwarting various crimes, often involving property damage on his part, despite which he seems to be very pally with the police. He even reminisces with a cop over the truly rubbish baddies he's recently face.

Cue a very silly villain with an absurd origin (this careless painter can tell from the "style" that some alien underground pictures are a million years old, and happens to be able to read hieroglyphics...!) who has some magic paint that allows his speed paintings to come to life. Yes, really. Come back, Paste Pot Pete, all is forgiven.

And this baddie actually has a few repeat appearances...

The whole thing is awful, with this ridiculously overpowered baddie ending up defeated because of his own carelessness. This is... wow. Just how many of these Torch stories are there to go...? 

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 9

 "Blinovitch had nothing on these guys!"

Wow. I was wondering where on Earth the story was going to go next, with two instalments to go following what looked awfully like a climax. But no!

The scenes of the various Doctor freeing Ten from Dalekdom are not, in the end, any more than a few pages. It's all so very well done, though- we get dialogue from the pasts of each Doctor, the Third Doctor's words being from a certain bit of Shatner-esque "singing" from the early '70s!

And so we proceed to what seems to be a coda of sorts, again with nice touches- Maxil, of all Time Lords, planning to steal a TARDIS and run away...? 

But then it happens. The Doctors all head off... and Ten encounters the Black and White Guardians (now both young, female and no longer quite keen on the "bird on the forehead" look) and we get some rather exciting exposition. That stuff about Davros being a champion of time is because he's the champion of the White Guardian, just as the Doctor has been for the Black Guardian. It's all about Order vs. Chaos, not Good vs. Evil... but not so much in a Michael Moorcock sort of way but its opposite. The universe can't be balanced if it is to survive, a binary choice between Absolute Order and Absolute Chaos must be made- and it's up to the Doctor.

Cue the Ninth Doctor... several of them(!), to assist Ten in asserting that the universe must remain balanced even if that means it will one day end. Appropriately, it's Nine who is asserting that "everything has its time and everything dies."

Cue Reapers, the Death Zone, and lots of timey-wimeyness. I've no idea what the finale will have in store. This is bonkers and brilliant. 

Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods

 "Many have said that. But you are the first I believe could do it."

Yes, I know. After a few months of not blogging much, then of not blogging much telly, I'm back, so much so that I'm starting another show. And why not? After all, I enjoyed the film and recently found out that my wonderful partner has seen this. So here goes.

First impressions are how very '90s television sci-fi this is, from the cinematography to the orchestral theme to the amusing fact that both Colonel Jack O'Neil and Daniel are now played by much cheaper actors. There's a new scientist character, Captain Samantha Carter, so cue some very '90s battle-of-the-sexes dialogue. It all looks cheaper than the film, as you'd expect, although it's impressive for '90s telly. And, from the evidence of this pilot, at least, we're looking at a slow, unfolding story arc rather than the story of the weewk format one might expect in 1997.

Oh, and the new general is Major Briggs from Twin Peaks! I'm minded to refer to him as General Major Briggs from now on. 

This pilot was double length and establishes lots of further lore in order to justify a long running series. Hence we have a huge map of potential stargate locations, and we discover that Ra is just one of many Go'auld, who are nasty creepy crawly things that burrow into the intestines of human servants called Jaffa, which is... uuuurgh, especially if one happens to have had surgery for umbilical and inguinal surgery in recent weeks...!

Yes, we as viewers damn well know that the gang were always going to get through the stargate in the very nick of time at the end, as that trope is always compulsory. But this is a strong pilot in terms of cast, world building and big, big ideas. Let's see where this goes...

Journey into Mystery #91

 "That brainless mortal!"

And so, alas, we come to another early Journey into Mystery from the pen of Larry "nepotism" Lieber. This is a fairly ho-hum example, but at least the plot is passable. Thor, up to this point, is hardly one of the stars in Marvel's firmament however.

Loki's back for a third time. Odin too, still not quite appearing in the form that will become familiar either facially or in the fact that he's sporting- yes indeed- a horned helmet. And there are some nice emerging bits of lore- we have valkyries, Odin's personal magic item delivery service, although at this stage they look nothing like what they will eventually become. And, of course, from the pages of the Eddas, we have Thor's belt of strength.

And, yeah... the first couple of panels amused me, using said belt of strength as the most blatant example of the Chekhov's Gun trope in comic book history. Thor needing the macguffin to get out of a tight spot was bound to happen. As for the story overall, it's silly but fun. I liked how Loki's proxy carnival show villain was defeated because he mentally "short circuited" after fruitless attempts to magically wield Thor's Uru hammer. 

By the standards of Thor, this is one of the good ones. But we're still so very, very early.

The Amazing Spider-Man #1

 "Everything I do as Spider-Man seems to turn out wrong!"

Wow. The contrast from the last issue in the Order is as huge as it could possibly be. Yes, it's still melodrama. And yes, up to a point (Steve Ditko being Steve Ditko) there's certainly a whiff of Ayn Rand's dodgy "philosophy". But this is sheer quality, an absolute triumph, easily the best thing Marvel have done up to this point. 

This is marvel really doubling down on the "superhero with problems" thing- right from the start the issue really doubles down on Peter Parker's angst. He's mourning Uncle Ben, but without Ben's salary he and his Aunt May are facing serious problems in paying the bills... and the sheer sense of angst and despair is superbly shown in Ditko's exceptional rendering of a desperate, frustrated Peter.

He's is an impossible moral dilemma- he needs to look after his Aunt May, dismisses the very thought of crime, and resolves to perform again... but in a delicious touch, one can't cash a cheque without a real identity!

Things get worse as journalist (not yet explicitly an editor) J. Jonah Jameson turns the public against him. And, just to twist the knife even further, Jameson doubles down as Spider-Man saves his (not yet vulpine!) hero astronaut son. The unfairness just gets worse and worse. And continues into the next story, where his desperate financial situation again takes centre stage. He angrily abandons plans to join the Fantastic Four when he learns that there's no salary on offer... which, as we've previously discussed. Even new generic villain the Chameleon (to become a minor part of his rogues gallery) knows of and exploits his poverty.

All this, of course, is very Ditko, with his hard right and wrong, Mr. A, Objectivist obsessiveness. But here, with the ideology not overt. it really works. This is a truly winning formula- a superhero with real, substantive angst.

And it feels, at this point, that we really do have a shared audience. Not just because of the FF's cameo, but because of Peter's rueful comment that other superheroes, like the FF and Ant-Man, don't seem to have problems like he does!

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 8

 "You're going to have to invest in a whole lot of nappies."

This feels a lot like a finale for the eighth chapter of ten... next episode presumably sees all ten and a half doctors healing the Tenth Doctor. But then...? I'm sure it'll all work out splendidly, the plotting in particular has been a triumph so far, and I'm sure there will be other plot threads. Such as what was the Valeyard's "familiar" regenerated form? 

This is epic stuff, though, a massive battle against the "Time Daleks" involving everyone, with 8 finally reunited with all his other selves and some nice character stuff, particularly with 9, a Doctor who has suffered things the others can barely imagine. Captain Jack is killed, but that's his party trick. And the dark turn of events with Leela's children is sort of undone... but if you're rejuvenated, and your children de-aged to become innocent babies again, a la Margaret Slitheen, the people they had been are, in a sense, surely worse than dead, as they never existed? But I'm overthinking things; it's an elegant solution that works on an immediate emotional level. 

It all looks great, with a big splash page and massive numbers of characters. The art here is a tour de force. And there are, I think, clues as to where all this is going- a plan to change 8's timeline? Regardless, I'm enjoying the start of the denouement. 

Tales to Astonish #41

 "I can hardly wait to turn them on those liberty-loving fools who attack my fortress.

Another Ant-Man story in Tales to Astonish. Oh dear. Let's just try and embrace the bonkersness and hang on for dear life. 

So, we begin with Henry Pym, who has now decided that all his clothes should be made of unstable molecules, an entirely practical thing to do on a scientist's salary, I'm sure. We follow him as he investigates a locked room mystery, a scientist friend of his having vanished. He then spends a few days investigating a spate of missing scientists while smoking his pipe as the reader ponders, as we often do with Ant-Man, the enormous number of editor's notes in this and every issue. 

The kidnapper is, of course, an alien scientist who needs to invent a death ray to deal with a rebellion and, naturally, turns to scientist from Earth, a planet explicitly said to be much less advanced in technology than his own.

And, yeah, hi-jinks ensue, and all that. It's Ant-Man. What can I say? All we can do is embrace the bonkersness and hope that there aren't too many of these left, 

Children of the Stones, Part 2- Circle of Fear

 "Don't meddle with the stones!"

Another episode suffused with atmosphere, as we (and Adam, Matt and Margaret) dig further into the mysteries of the stones... and the villagers. It rather helps that we have a very scientifically clever father/son combo as leads, with Margaret there for the history, folklore and superstition.

One has to smile at the innocence of those days, though- Matt just expected to be off on his bike for much of the day, and absolutely no concerns at the very intriguing Dai (the textbook example of the "rural and superstitious person" trope that all programmes like this absolutely require) simply inviting himself round when Matt is alone in the cottage.

But the mysteries of the stones deepen. Ley lines stopping at the circle's edge, with Hendricks' house in the centre? All the stones at a perfect ninety degree angle? The clues are given to us, bit by bit, at a perfect pace. and then... the suggestion that the stones are "a primitive Jodrell Bank" pointing at something out there in the stars, but the space is empty...

The last few minutes are atmospheric and perfect, as the camera has us look again at the painting and then Matt, in evocatively shot outdoor footage, sees the whole village singing at the stones... and this time it's for him to touch the stone and collapse...

Slow burn, addictive and brilliant. 

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 7

 "Well, well, well, so four of me made it. I wonder what happened to the other six?"

I had to go with the above quote... but I almost went with "The Ultimate Adventure, you might say" from the Sixth Doctor to the Third. ah, nostalgia. I saw Jon Pertwee in that play at the Belgrave Theatre in Coventry in April 1989, the only time I ever clapped eyes on the great man for real, as an early twelfth birthday present. The play, and the associated merchandise, was my first encounter with the world of fandom, I suppose. But it was all so long ago...

Anyway, I shan't repeat myself at length about the impressive plotting on show here, how the complex plot is somehow both easy to follow and feels natural, or indeed the skill with which Rich Morris handles what should surely be an impossible number of protagonists. Especially, as in this episode, as the number of plot threads is starting to reduce and so Doctors interact more often.

There are so many lovely moments here. 6 being annoyed that 4 is alive, because that means he was wrong. The Brigadier's touching speech to 1, surrounded by so many who have been touched by the Doctor's life. Glitz and Mel reunited. The Second Doctor defeating the Toymaker... although I do wince at calling said immortal "Cellie". Still, it's very likely that Rich Morris, like many people, isn't aware of the unfortunate etymology of the word "celestial". And I love that explosion.

And yet... the Dalek invasion of Gallifrey, with all its Cronenberg-esque body horror, feels unstoppable. And what's about Davros being a "champion of time"...? 

Tales of Suspense #39

 "Have you never seen an Iron Man before?"

At last we get Iron Man- it really does feel as though it's been ages. Now we just need the X-Men, Daredevil, and the Silver Age debut of Captain America, and the main initial Marvel cast will be more or less assembled. 

It's basically the well-known origin story here, but interesting to read this story on its own terms as opposed to the origin of a well-established character. tony Stark's face is not quite yet recognisable. And the character... it's a brave move to make Stark a glamorous playboy, a "millionaire bachelor", and an inventor of weaponry for the US government- hardly an underdog. But this, of course, is why he must be cursed with the shrapnel close to his heart, forcing him to wear an iron breastplate in order to stay alive. 

It's all very of its time, though- South Vietnam, in the years before the draft. The art is, at times, well, more than verging on racist caricature. And it feels at times as though every other word is "transistor". But this, as an origin, is simple yet solid, and it's already clear that this is an idea with potential.

There's a later short story about Vikings on a desert island, part of the Order only because of references to Odin, that is entertaining enough for what it is. But I'm curious to see the first steps of Iron Man as a character now we've established the origin... 

Gen V: The Kids Are Not All Right

 "I saw my first vagina here."

"Ok. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome."

Wow. This episode took several unexpected turns. Yet it has us asking so many questions about Cipher. What does he want? Why does Marie's potential mean so much to him? Is Jordan right that he's in so much pain? What's going on with his dad, and all the hardcore carer stuff he does? He's sleeping with Sage, but what are he and his genius lover planning? He certainly doesn't seem to have Homelander's welfare in mind.

It's likely he manipulates everything for Marie, Jordan and Emma, sending Cate to Elmira as scapegoat as a blatant trap for the three of them, who are obviously going to spring them. It feels inevitable that they're all going to end up in that hellhole, and so it comes to pass. But there are so many nuances here. There's the shock of how Cate is treated when she arrived, her wig and fake forearm being removed. There's her genuine surprise and appreciation at what the others did for.

But... what Cipher pulls with Annabeth to manipulate Marie? Wow. And did Marie resurrect her? 

The scenes with Sam and his parents are nicely done too. At first it seems as though he's going to inevitably end up lashing out and killing them- but that gets subverted, and instead he learns a truth about who he is: his instability isn't Compound V, it's just genes.

This episode is... mad. This season feels as though anything can happen. The fact that we're kept guessing about Cipher just makes everything feel charged and exciting. And Hamish Linklater is literally acting his face off. 

The Incredible Hulk #6

 "I hate havin' to become that weakling Banner all the time!"

This is the final issue of The Incredible Hulk... for now. It's one of the better issues- not least because the art is by Steve Ditko rather than an increasingly overworked Jack Kirby. But it's also illustrative of how the title, which apparently wasn't selling well, could fail. 

The villain, who will only have a handful of future appearances. is yet another generic all-powerful alien conqueror. He isn't very interesting, and nor is the trite manner of his defeat- although it's interesting to see Rick Jones establish the Teen Brigade, a bunch of teenage radio hams!

But the interest lies elsewhere, as Stan and Steve experiment a lot with the format, trying to make it work- as it clearly doesn't. The gamma machine, as a gimmick to change Bruce to the Hulk and vice versa, doesn't really work narratively- why shouldn't Bruce just stay as himself? Surely any peril sufficient as to involve the Hulk should be rare? It's suspicious how many threats emerge in his vicinity. After all, why should the Metal Master, who wants to conquer all of Earth, start by attacking this particular military base in New Mexico?

So this issue has the gamma machine be unreliable, perhaps an unacceptable risk, along with such silliness as the Hulk having Bruce's head and having to wear a mask! Interestingly, we seem to end with Bruce deciding to remain as himself, and distrusting the machine. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

Also, to what extent are Bruce and the Hulk different people sharing a body or variations on the same psyche? Rick tells us at one point that Bruce is "not always responsible for what the Hulk does or says". Yet the Hulk- who has been fairly verbally eloquent right throughout, far from the "Hulk smash!" persona of later pop culture- apparently remembers most of Bruce's science knowledge.

Fortunately, we know with hindsight that The Incredible Hulk will eventually be tweaked and will ultimately succeed. But it certainly needs a break and a rethink at this point. 

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 6

 "Doctor! That thing is my son!"

This is a somewhat darker instalment as we learn more of what is going on. There are a few introductions here (Rutans, Movellans, the Brig) but we're more than half way through now, so it's a case of developing and interweaving already established plot threads rather than starting new ones... but still with that same masterful plotting which seems effortless- and, if something seems effortless, it is certainly no such thing.

There real darkness here, though- the Valeyard is turning Time Lords into a new race of Daleks... and poor Leela, an old lady whose family means everything to her, realises that her husband and children have all become Daleks. That's bleak. So is the fact that the Tenth Doctor is undergoing conversion- and the process seems somehow to have started for Eight.

The Valeyard's new face after regeneration is described as "vaguely familiar", mind- but not to me. something's clearly going over my head at this point!

That aside, though, it's a wonder, and a credit to Rich Morris, how easy this is to follow with so much going on, and how each character gets their amount of time in the spotlight. No character dominates, no character is neglected. Thus far, The Ten Doctors hasn't put so much as a foot wrong. 

Dexter: That Night, a Forest Grew

 "Pardon my tits!"

Oh me. back to Dexter again (recovering well from my op) and what an episode.

Where to start? Well, there's the manifesto from the "Bay Harbour Butcher". Dexter thinks he's being clever by writing it, putting the FBI off the scent with distracting nonsense. But he's too clever be half, perhaps? Because Lundy sees clearly what the manifesto's purpose happens to be, and accurately concludes that the killer is linked to law enforcement. Meanwhile,his manipulation of Doakes gets his rival suspended. Again, though, too clever by half? Doakes won't be giving up, and he sort of has this habit of never actually being wrong about anything.

Worrying that he's going after that nice Camilla lady, mind. Her line about being scheduled to retire next year feels worryingly like a kind of dialogue Chekhov's Gun- if she was fated to retire, surely that line wouldn't be there?

Ultimately, this episode is all about relationships and change. Rita finally sees how controlling and abusive her mother is (perhaps explaining her choices of men?) and banishes her. Deb banishes her sexy but ordinary boyfriend and comes on to the urbane, cultured, wise and much older Agent Lundy... and it seems to go well. But is she thinking straight? She's very upset at Dexter leaving Rita and shacking up with the obviously dangerous Lila.

And... ah yes. Dexter and Lila's relationship blooms, on the surface. Really good sex. Excitement. Yet... as we see Dexter supporting Cody at his school assembly thing, Lila sets fire to her valuable artwork, the one she's actually sold, in order to manipulate Dexter into staying with her and away from Rita. Which is... deeply creepy and controlling. She's a paradox: genuinely the cause of keeping him away from his "addiction" to killing, but oh so very dangerous...

Dexter has just got even better. 

Carry On Up the Jungle (1970)

 "Game?"

"Any time, if you are."

This is... well, there are some good one liners, the cast is good as ever (although Kenneth Williams is glaringly absent)... but, well, it's hardly the best of the series.

Why? Well, there are the moments that make one wince- Bernard Bresslaw in blackface, the jokes about the "natives"- but this is a Carry On film from 1970 set in deepest Africa: such things are priced in.

Then there's the obvious cheapness. This is set in Africa yet clearly shot on a set in Hertfordshire, so much so that it feels almost claustrophobic at times. There are various lions, elephants and giraffes... all of them very obviously stock footage. If all of this were made into a joke, it would work... but breaking the fourth wall is not the Carry On style. Also, Terry Scott as Tarzan is... a courageous bit of casting, to put it mildly.

Perhaps I'm being a little harsh here? After all, the Carry Ons are coming off a run of very strong films, but might that be the problem? Is Carry On Up the Khyber going to prove impossible to top? I suppose the script and performances are as good as ever here, and it's certainly good to have Frankie Howerd again after all this time. But this film just feels... well, cheap.

Journey into Mystery #90

 "Arrest that costumed pest!"

This... may be the most inconsequential comic yet, more skippable Larry Lieber stuff, this time without even the art of Jack Kirby, even if on these stories he phones it in a bit, to make it better. Basically, it's neither good nor particularly interesting, and the Xartans (another alien race) will be making only token, novelty future appearances. In short... Thor, at this point, is not very good.

There's more of the tiresome love stand-off between Donald Blake and Jane, each afraid to declare their love to the other... although, this time, Odin officially orders Blake not to reveal his identity, which is unhelpful.

The baddies are, well, a precursor to the Zygons in Doctor Who in that their plan for world conquest involves an ability to impersonate people, as long as they hold the original person as prisoner. Their plan is bonkers, though- impersonate those in power, implement ridiculous laws, and they invade with their battle fleet in confusion!

This issue has the most bonkers ending yet. Thor throws the alien warlord into the sky, right into space so the battle fleet turns around and goes after him. As for the Xartans on Earth, it's the old Skrull cow trick again, getting them to turn into trees and, as trees, lose their sentience forever. Blimey, that's dark. 

But yeah, moving swiftly on... 

Crimes of the Future (2022)

 "Surgery is the new sex."

From looking at the iMDb rating, this film isn't rated very highly. I'll come straight to it: I think it's brilliant. Those who dislike it, I suspect, were looking for something else. David Cronenberg doing body horror again after all these decades, after all, creates certain expectations. People will expect this to be like his body horror of the '70s and '80s. And, yes, there's some of that. Yet, like all Cronenberg's films of the last decade or two, this is entirely a film of ideas.

It's a future set in a pleasingly low budget society, claustrophobic, studio bound, beautifully and artistically shot with precious little nature to stop Cronenberg being in total control of his artistic environment. Only the first, shocking sequence, with its plastic bin eating and its graphic scene of filicide, takes place anywhere near nature.

No: this is a world in which both pain and infection are things of the past, and surgery is therefore a light matter, while the human body is evolving fast (let us briefly handwave away that this isn't how natural selection works, just as Saul handwaves away the impossibility of traits arising from surgery being inherited) in order to survive in a plastic, polluted environment.

Only in this world can exist a couple like Captice and Saul, using the routine surgery of the removal of his emerging mutant body organs as performance art. This despite the scepticism of the Detective to whom Saul is reporting, who scoffs at random emerging organs being “Picasso, Deschamps, Francis Bacon, perhaps?

Yet there is also a blatant subtext of surgery as sex, as fetish. This is, of course, not the first time Cronenberg has explored such themes, and one may certainly raise an eyebrow at this. 

Body horror abounds- tattooed organs, a zipped abdomen- but the ideas just keep coming in this thoughtful, disturbing dystopia. Cronenberg has most certainly still got it

Fantastic Four #12

 "Miss Storm, a pretty young lady can always be of help- just by keeping the men's morale up."

Ah, General Thunderbolt Ross. Such a feminist paragon. So is Reed, who replies "That's just the way we feel about Sue, General!"...

Anyway... ladies and gentlemen, with this crossover, between what are, as of the beginning of 1963, Marvel's biggest properties, we can sort of say that this is a shared universe. A caveat, though: the existence of crossovers, nothing new in comics in 1963, do not a fully formed shared continuity make. Yet. But it'll be fun to see that emerge, develop and evolve.

Anyway, we start with some fun little moments. Ben and Alicia have been to see a performance of Beethoven's Fifth, although Ben prefers New Orleans jazz. And, when Thunderbolt Ross hires the FF to get the Hulk, blamed for a naughty bit of sabotage, Reed comments, after seeing some footage, that the Hulk seems to exist, implying that this had been in doubt. Er... pot, kettle, Reed? 

Johnny, teenage auto whiz that he is, has redesigned the Fantasti-car, by fan demand(!) with a very impressed General Rossas its first passenger. And the FF meeting Bruce Banner and Rick Jones is a big moment.

Of course, the Hulk is innocent, the true culprit is- you guessed it- a communist spy, caught by the Torch after, er, leaving a membership card in his wallet. If only today’s Russian spies were this rubbish.

The fight between Hulk and the FF (and especially the Thing!) is both enormous fun and no longer than it needs to be. All is satisfactorily resolved- and it’s left nicely ambiguous whether Reed suspects Bruce of being the Hulk.

Excellent stuff, and a real watershed.

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 5

 "Who's this bloke, Professor? And why's he sound like he's from the south?"

Five instalments in and, well, let's just take for granted that all the praise I lavished on the previous four apply equally here, shall we? Charm, glorious art (I particularly love the yellow splash of deep colour on the Cyber tombs or whatever they are), incredibly complex storyline which somehow works, fanwank in the best possible way, characterisation... you know the drill. 

There's a twist here- the Sontarans want to take over everything, including the Federation, both Dalek factions and the Time Lords, working with the Master whom, of course, they in no way blatantly intend to double cross, much as the Master in no way so blatantly wishes to betray the War Chief that it's literally a given. Glad that's settled. 

I love the older Leela's firmness with the Eighth Doctor: this is her family and her life, and she won't be fobbed off by (ahem) the "old one". But not as much as I love the fact that the Sixth Doctor and Maxil actually meet, to considerable Renegade Dalek confusion. It would have been a terrible missed opportunity were this not to happen.

Lots of other delights here, of course, such as the Sixth Doctor getting to say "spack off", but Nyssa getting her bloodthirsty revenge on the Master for what he did to Tremas and Traken is deliciously cathartic... and, of course, she handwaves it away to her Doctor with an"I'll explain later"! We even get a cheeky appearance from the Devious Doctor.

Ha;f way through, and I'm very much loving this. 

 

 

 

Strange Tales #107

 "Oh well... boys will be boys!"

Two Strange Tales Human Torch stories in a row... sometimes that's just how it goes. As a reminder, I'm going by the Complete Marvel Reading Order. It's early days as yet, but I'm hoping to get at least as far as the early '90s.

Anyway, this issue is good fun. It's pretty much entirely the Torch challenging the Sub-Mariner to a fight, nothing too serious or acrimonious, and having fun with that while giving both of them bizarre one-off powers (Namor with, er, puffer fish powers?) just because Johnny wants to prove himself to the rest of the FF... but then proceeds not to tell anyone when he beats the Sub-Mariner. This is top japery, though.

And once again there are interesting points to note. Reed is still smoking that pipe. The FF are taking notes of their exploits to Stan and Jack... and Sue did the typing, naturally! The Torch doesn't know how long his flame will last until it goes out, so he'd better not be in the air at the time!

Oh, and you know how this issue acts as though the bends is not a thing? Don't try this at home, kids... 

Children of the Stones, Part 1- Into the Circle

 "I deny the existence of that which exists."

Happy day!

One episode in, and I'm hooked. No, actually... I was hooked by the deeply atmospheric opening titles, with the uncanniness of both the music and the splendidly unsettling way the stones (actually the Avebury Stone Circle) are shot. The mood throughout is utterly superb.

And so are the performances. A pre-Blake's 7 Gareth Thomas as Professor Adam Brake gives us a charismatic lead. Iain Cuthbertson, as landlord Mr Hendricks, is... well, the jovial yet unsettling character that Cuthbertson always plays, which is a very good thing indeed. Even the kids can act.

And, of course, there's the sheer joy of seeing the England of 1977, the time and place of my birth. the cars, the fashions, the shop interiors, the bikes, the hairstyles, even the very 1970s style woo and nonsense- ley lines and all that, so deeply ingrained that Adam can pooh pooh ley lines at one moment and then happily plan some "electronic dowsing" in the next.

Best of all, though, is the gradual unravelling of what's going on. Some of the kids are "happy" and others are not. And being "happy" seems to mean genius intellect but also blind obedience... almost a kind of psychic link and control? And then there's the mysterious painting, Matt's weird visions, and that cliffhanger...

This is very good stuff. 

This is very good stuff. 

Strange Tales #106

 "You landed your fish!"

So the story here is meh, and the forgettable baddie- the Acrobat- is barely a recurring villain. This is eminently skippable... almost.

Because there's one thing here that really is awfully clever in how it subverts the secret identity trope. I've commented before on how Johnny's secret identity is absurd and here we have confirmation, from the mouth of Sue, no less, that... yeah, everybody blatantly knows that he's the Torch, and he's the only one who didn't know that they knew. I love that.

Oh, and Johnny very briefly leaves the FF in order to very briefly join the, er, Torrid Twosome(!) because an arrogantly pipe-smoking Reed (wonder when he'll be last soon doing this? It's hard to notice when something is done for the last time.), who incidentally is a millionaire, refuses to allow Johnny a salary (from "reward money"- the early FF are still crime fighters as opposed to explorers) in favour of scientific research. Is it me, or is that totally unreasonable? Is being on the team not a commitment that would preclude a full time career?

Not a particularly great issue, then, but this certainly raises some questions about the FF. Oh, and another baddie with a beret? Is it open season on Bohemian existentialists? Will Johnny be battling Jean-Paul Sartre next?

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 4

 "And you, stop fretting. It was nice."

There are only so many times I can praise the tone, the art, the charm, and the sheer fun of this without constantly repeating myself, so just take it as read. But I'll simply note, once again, that the sheer complexity of the plot- now with even more characters- somehow manages to be a breeze to follow.

I love the Rani's reaction to Glitz coming on to her, as well as that he isn't actually selling Davros a sample of Lazar's Disease (Yes, he WOULD do it, such a power would set him up above the gods and all that) but simply "Gumblejack liver oil", which is at once very much in character and top example of all the subtle references. These scenes also help to alleviate a concern that had been evolving in my mind- that the Seventh Doctor was somewhat overshadowing Two. That's much less the case here... and didn't Troughton always used to remain on the edges of the screen?

The clash between Six and Four is interesting... although, so far, Four feels the Doctor most left in the background. I love the reaction from his subsequent selves when he's hurt, though. Oh, and, of course, even more characters! Winifred and Captain Jack, who know each other because of course they do. Grace Holloway... and a lovely little cameo from Martha before the events of Smith and Jones, which is set after this but had been broadcast by now- nice moment!

And yeah... love the moment of mistaken identity with Romana being revived by Grace's kiss! Also love that UNIT have glitter guns because of Sarah Jane (must cost a few bob!) and the Tenth of all Doctors meeting the Valeyard...

Still having enormous fun. I'll keep these coming thick and fast. 

Gen V: Bags

 "What if I kill him?"

"That's why we name them for assholes." 

A goat called Elon. Presented as an expendable bag of blood that blows up gloriously. I'm sure there's a subtext here, but it's beyond me. Still, this levitation scene sure beats the one in The Empire Strikes Back.

Anyway, I'm back blogging this after such a long time with my condition getting worse, the resulting surgery, and my ongoing recovery from that, meaning it's been less easy to focus on television episodes. But I'm back now, cheerfully admitting how I'm so very far behind. And it's good to be back with Gen V. Naturally, Jordan's confession is disbelieved with all sorts of on point but extremely nasty resulting transphobia which, sadly, reflects the MAGA-polluted world in which we live. 

There are some nice character touches, though. Cate (whose powers are still on the blink in, er, gnome-related ways, starting to reconcile with Marie, Jordan and Emma. There's Ally and Harper looking up to Emma, perhaps helping with the low self-esteem aspect of her powers... and Greg, a possible new love interest.

But, well... my probably wrong hot take? I wonder if Cipher is just an overly sinister red herring? He's very mysterious, manipulating Marie since she was born, the whole purpose of Odessa, training her to be the most powerful supe ever... as a possible not-evil rival to Homelander? Even the fight between her and Jordan (their chemistry remains sweet) ends positively. He's very mysterious- a dad on life support in a locked room, no V in his blood but powers to use people as puppets. But is he actually well-meaning?

I know. I'm naive. But this is another great episode, and not only because of the pooing scene... 

Update

 Fear not... I haven't abruptly switched this from a primarily film and TV blog to a comics blog!

I'm recovering from surgery, and the first couple of weeks it was difficult to focus on screen stuff, so that's the only reason it's been mostly on temporary hiatus. But the good news is that I'm improving, so the screen stuff will resume- so both Gen V and Dexter will resume immediately, as well as films mostly at the weekends. Unfortunately, I didn't quite get to the end of Batman: The Animated Series so something will be replacing it imminently.

This remains a primarily screen focus blog, with added novels and albums as and when. The Complete Marvel Reading Order will continue, though- it's not particularly time consuming. Same with the Doctor Who webcomic The Ten Doctors. There isn't much of it and I have the time at the moment. I'm off work recovering for another three to four weeks, not very mobile and having to be careful with the stitches but perfectly able to consume media, read, think and write. So expect more content than usual!

Fantastic Four #11

 "I haven't exactly got any super powers, but I can wiggle my ears real good, and..."!

Here we have the debut of Mr. Mxyzptlk the Impossible Man, an omnipotent yet irresponsible trickster. I suppose the half of the issue dealing with him is amusing and entertaining enough. And, although I know this is an incidental detail, I'm surprised to see s police officer in New York referred to as an "inspector". This is the usual term here in the UK at least, but I get the impression that the USA (San Francisco aside, I think?) uses military titles like "lieutenant" or "captain" instead?

Be that as it may, the first story, supposedly depicting a day in the life of the FF and with no external threat, is much more fun and interesting- even if it does have the Thing turning back into Ben Grimm for five minutes yet again, and yet another origin retelling. 

We get some comic relief with some fan letters, and then we meet "Mr. Lumpkin"- no first name as yet. 

The FF are all dressed in very Mad Men type fashions- this is still (just!) 1962, after all. And Reed is seen smoking a pipe once more! 

We get some fascinating backstory. Reed and Ben are old mates from uni, so therefore of a similar age, and both are veterans of the Second World War, so can't be any younger than about forty. Sue, meanwhile, is described as Reed's childhood sweetheart- so the age gap must presumably be less than we might have previously assumed, despite Sue having a (much) younger brother in his late teens? But we're reminded, once again, of the love triangle with the Sub-Mariner that is sadly keeping them apart. This may not exactly be deep and three-dimensional relationship drama, but at least it convinces more than certain parallel situations. Looking at you, Donald Blake and Jane Foster...

This is good stuff. At this point Fantastic Four is the best Marvel ongoing title, although no single issue has reached the heights of the Spider-Man story in Amazing Fantasy #15. 

 

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 3

 "You boys need to be supervised!"

Three chapters in, and not only is this brilliant, full of so many nice little touches, in terms of both character and the best kinds of fanwank both overt and subtle, but... well, it's incredibly complicated, its plot a truly tangled web. But somehow it works. It doesn't confuse or overload the reader. Yes, I suspect part of this is the fact that we're having so much fun that the threat of plot fatigue doesn't arise, but we have some masterful storytelling here. And that's in terms of both plotting and (integral to the medium) in terms of the visual storytelling of the art. The little notes at the bottom are a nice touch too.

I mean, the only gripes I have are over two ridiculously nitpicky things. One is that the Third Doctor at one point addresses his archenemy as "my dear old Master", whereas at no point on screen does this Doctor ever directly address the Master as such, and never does- and this can be no coincidence, given the amount of screen time they have, implying a rejection of the Master's claimed title.

I'm also uneasy at the sight of the Celestial Toymaker reporting to Omega. I don't think I'm being influenced by The Giggle in any way when I say that I've always seen the Toymaker as a more powerful, ineffable being than even the most legendary of the Time Lords. The Celestial Toymaker, rubbish story though it is, portrays the character as basically a god. Then there's the novelisation of The Nightmare Fair and the character's appearances in various novels...

That said, I gather from the notes that there's a reason for these two being paired, so I'll reserve judgement. And any gripes I may have are far outweighed by the sheer awesomeness. As well, of course, with the wise and righteous rejection of any nonsense about the War Chief having been the Doctor Master (oops, typo!).

There's so much to praise, though. The plot may be complex, but it makes sense, and the fact that we know all the characters (Drax!Leela! K'Anpo Rimpoche! A full hat trick of K-9s!) is a useful narrative shorthand. The hints about the Keeper indeed being the Valeyard are delicious. There's the intriguing mystery of certain characters not recognising certain Doctors. And... yeah, Leela should never have married Andred.

I may well end up zooming through this. 

 

 

Journey into Mystery #89

 "A girl so beautiful would never marry a... a weakling like me."

 This is, it has to be said, an entirely skippable issue, but the whole point of this exercise is to skip nothing and read every comic set in what will soon be the Marvel Universe for as long as I want to keep going- and, at the moment, I expect that to be, at least, the early '90s. After that, we'll see.

The story, concerning a bog standard thug and the complications of Thor's secret identity, is... forgettable. Thor should be about bigger things than this, but the series has yet to work it out. Hence this story, with yet another origin retelling and more focus on the deeply uninteresting love triangle between Donald Blake, Jane and, er, Thor.

Things worth noticing? Well, Thor literally steals from a mannequin shop, however much he may insist that he intends to pay later. Jane daydreams of life with Thor, said dreams  consisting mainly of household chores and... cutting Thor's hair short? Begone with thee, Delilah! We men with long luscious locks want nothing to do with your sort.

Interestingly, Odin recognises Blake as his son. And... Thor now officially has ventriloquism powers! But ultimately... my fellow completists aside, you can skip this one.

The Ten Doctors: Chapter 2

" A gilded tomb is still a tomb."

Soooo much happens in this splendid little instalment, and I certainly have no intention of trying to describe the plot in any way. Suffice to say that there are an awful lot of plot threads and the stakes are very high. But more important than any of that is the wonderful way that Mel's screaming is treated.

Because, yes, the cast gets even bigger at this point. Mel, Sabalom Glitz, Nyssa and the Garm for good measure. Sarah Jane, with her K-9, on the blower to a delightfully realised Harry Sullivan in late middle age, a rather meta yet very touching glimpse of a world in which Ian Marter hadn't died so young. The Rani. Alpha Centauri. And Eight meeting a Keeper of the Matrix who looks "familiar"- the Valeyard, perhaps?

 There's so much superior fan service to enjoy here, right from the very beginning, as a Sontaran and a Draconian discuss Dalek continuity and how, by sending the Doctor to meddle with the Daleks' origins in Genesis of the Daleks, the Time Lords ensured that Davros would survive, meaning the Daleks would in turn survive the Movellan virus.

The fact that the Chameleon Circuit never really gets fixed is rather interestingly lampshaded. it's established that the TARDIS's own internal time is always relative to Gallifrey's present. This story is full of such inspired ideas.

And yet the charm, the characterisation, the winsome quirkiness of the art, are what really keeps the reader hooked. I'm recovering nicely from my op, and I'm going to plough right on with this... 

 

Strange Tales #105

 "A trick? The Wizard needs no tricks!"

We seem to be getting quite the spate of return appearances by villains at this point, showing that Marvel has been around for a good year or so and is no longer quite so new. But still, this is very early days by any standards, as illustrated by the fact that we still have these Torch stories in Strange Tales.

To be fair, though, this is fairly decent stuff, and even fun. We get to see the Wizard in the Order's first prison break. And the rest of the issue is a fun little duel between the Wizard and the Torch, with Sue joining in for good measure. it's essentially set piece after set piece until it's time for the story to end, but all good fun. It is, of course, absolutely bonkers, and everything tends to rely on the Torch demonstrating some highly convenient one-off powers, but I'm sort of used to that by now.

But... well, not much more to say. At least Larry Lieber managed to entertain me this time. 

Tales to Astonish #39

 "You impudent midget, I'll snuff out your life as I would a candle!"

There's only so many times that I can say that these Ant-Man stories are bonkers and... well, silly, but not that good. And, while there's some amusement in the concept of radioactivity (what else?) given a beetle superhuman intelligence, something from the monster stories for which Tales of Suspense had mostly been known, and rather reminiscent of certain B movies...

Well, this is just a bad comic. The beetle acts as a demagogue to other insects, except ants which remain conveniently loyal to Ant-Man. It enlarges itself in a way an insect simply couldn't do, given the air's current oxygen content. And the defeat of the beetle involves the use of... DDT? Wow. Still, it's October 1962, and Rachel Carson literally only published "Silent Spring" a couple of months ago. Still... wow.

I say this with a bit of a side eye at the Torch stories in Strange Tales, but these Ant-Man stories are very poor. Then again, I haven't really got any impression of what Marvel's competition was like in 1962. Perhaps this kind of quality is par for the course?

Fantastic Four #10

 "Lead me to that little ol' ray, daddy-o!"

It's fascinating seeing the evolution of these early issues- and, overall, Fantastic Four is a far superior comic to Ant-Man in Tales of Suspense or the Torch stories in Strange Tales, especially. Oh, there's bonkersness, certainly, but also moments of real quality.

So the plot is fairly straightforward- after being thrown into space in #6, by a million to one chance Doctor Doom was rescued by the extra-galactic and extremely powerful Ovoids, an alien race we'll be encountering a handful more times in the future. He learns body swapping powers from them and swaps bodies with Reed, and hi-jinks ensue, hi-jinks which seem to come to an abrupt end as Doom's body swap is ended by the shock of his being found out, and it seems to have been a one time deal...? Anyway, he's shrunk out of existence, so we definitely won't be seeing him again, right?

This is more than a little bit bonkers, but it's also fun. And there are quite a few fascinating little details here. The opening scene, with Reed studying Sue's invisibility, is a nice moment. Alicia is described as Ben's "girl friend" and by this point is considered a friend to the whole team. And, er, Sue at one moment has to deal with a sexual pest who, even though it's 1962, the comic makes clear is intended to disgust us... and then causes a motor accident through sheer carelessness. Yeah.

Reed and Sue have a fascinating discussion concerning the love triangle with the Sub-Mariner, in which Reed states that "I thought we had an understanding" for "when the time was right". Yet, in these early issues... Reed seems to be, say, in his forties? And Sue, the Invisible "Girl" has a teenage brother, so are  we looking at a twenty year age gap? Nothing wrong with that, of course, provided that the younger party is old enough to give fully informed consent, but it's very striking.

We also have our first instance of the fourth wall being broken, as Stan and Jack appear, albeit with faces obscured. These are still early days, but the feeling of potential with this book is getting stronger and stronger.

Strange Tales #104

 "Paste is the supreme weapon!"

Er... what did I just read? 

Paste-pot Pete is easily the most bonkers and rubbish returning villain marvel have given us so far and, incredibly, he's going to be sticking around for decades... albeit with a rather less bonkers relaunch in the near future.

Still, let's summarise... his modus operandi is to shoot a special sticky paste from a paste gun. He has a purple beret. Oh, and the paste? He literally carries it around with him in an open bucket. Surely the bonkersness of this cannot be topped. Oh, and the name? Words quite fail me. And he uses said, er, powers to not only rob a bank but to steal a missile in order to sell it to "any red nation".

And, well... what else is there to say? It's a Strange Tales Human Torch story. The Torch still has his secret identity for some reason. There's a fun little predicament with an ICBM. And Pete, joy of joys, escapes in the end.

I think I've seen enough to conclude that Larry Leiber, as a writer, just isn't very good. 

Journey into Mystery #88

 "The Sun is melting my convertible!"

Let's start by briefly running through the plot, shall we, and marvelling at its bonkersness as we often do?

So... after the events of issue #85, Loki is returned to an Asgard that now shows some hint of how superbly Jack Kirby will render it. He's grounded by Odin, but spies on Thor, essentially by reading last issue in an almost metatextual touch(!), and learns all about Donald Blake and the sixty second rule. He then tricks Thor and seals away his hammer, forcing him to remain as Blake while Loki gets to all sorts of magical mischief in New York. Unfortunately for Loki, though, Blake has a cunning plan involving a suspiciously realistic plastic dummy of Thor and what can only be described as ventriloquism superpowers.

So far, so bonkers. But there are a few things about this issue to make us ponder. One is that, at long last, they've finally settled on a surname for Jane Foster. We also have an intriguing contradiction as to the ongoing question of which is the true self- Thor or Blake? Loki describes Thor as "his accursed true self", yet Blake refers to himself as "my normal self". And then there's Loki- at this point they're still leaning heavily into the "god of mischief" side.

Thor is still, like much of what will soon become the Marvel Universe, working out what it wants to be, issue by issue. And that's fascinating.

The Incredible Hulk #5

 "Listen, daddy-o, I know your secret... and still I tremble when I see 'im!"

Two stories this time, both rather silly, but both rather fascinating for various reasons, not least of which is the fact that the basic format of The Incredible Hulk- that stress makes Bruce become the Hulk- is still not quite there yet. 

First up we get the introduction of mildly prolific villain Tyrannus. One the one hand he feels like a more developed version of the Mole Man, similarly living underground... but, of course, this isn't necessarily a problem as there's still no actual hint (the use of unstable molecules in both Fantastic Four and Ant-Man is arguable but rather tenuous) that all this is yet envisaged as a shared universe.

Still, Tyrannus has at once a deeper and sillier backstory, having been banished underground by Merlin (mentioned once before in Fantastic Four #5) in ancient times, but he's still alive because he has the actual Fountain of Youth. Oh, and he's conveniently found some subterranean-dwelling and scientifically knowledgeable willing slaves down there, which is somewhat convenient. So, yeah, let's pause for a moment to marvel at the bonkersness of all that.

Oh, and he fears the USA's "atomic might", because every Marvel issue at this point just has to allude to the fact that this is the atomic age at some point. 

The actual story is... well, a series of silly set pieces, and the Bruce/Betty relationship is as basic and superficial as that of Don Blake/Jane. It'll be interesting to see if and when that ever changes.

The following story is another riff on the oh-so-ubiquitous theme of "hero fights communists", but there's some interest in the fact that Red China is persecuting a thinly veiled Tibet here, just a few years after the historical invasion in 1959. We also have Taiwan being referred to as "Formosa", yet another reminder that 1962 was an awfully long time ago.

Most interestingly, though... this is not the "Hulk smash" version of the character, not remotely so. The Hulk isn't really unambiguously different from Bruce, personality wise, and he defeats General Fang via an idea he researches in a book! Oh, and they're still using that machine to change the Hulk into Bruce and vice versa, but we get hints that perhaps, one day, the Hulk may refuse to change back into Bruce. Ominous, and also fascinating to see them slowly working through how they want the lore to work.

Bonkers stuff, but there's a lot of interest here. 

 

Tales to Astonish #38

 "The ants will not be able to resist the temptation I offered! For I have appealed to their greed, and their vanity!"

Yep, ants. Definitely known for their, er, greed and vanity... 

That said, if you accept the sheer bonkersness of it all- which we shall certainly get to- this is rather good. Moderately important villain Egghead is introduced, and he's a surprisingly decent character- his genius undermined by his careless arrogance. It's a nice touch that the story occurs from his point of view as he tries to set his trap for Ant-Man, with Henry Pym not even appearing until page five. 

I love how he's introduced- it's known, but can't be proved, that he's tried to sell atomic secrets to the highest bidder. I assume he could just deny it and keep his job, but nope, arrogance it is, so he's forced to use his apparent genius for criminal purposes.

And so Egghead learns, as Pym did before him, to communicate with the ants. And, er, yes, it's all electronic, but he communicates with them in rather nuanced and abstract concepts which, I assume, would require some kind of language. That's a stretch in itself. But, er, how come he, and indeed Pym, seems to speak fluent ant? Best not to ponder such things. Or indeed how ancient his car looks from the vantage point of 2026.

It's a rather neat and fitting resolution- Egghead defeats himself by his own arrogance, not realising that the ants are Pym's willing friends... although he does rather make them do things that are not great for their wellbeing. But, again, perhaps not dwelt on. By the standards of 1962, this medium hardly being seen as great art (I know: Marvel will get better), this is one of the better Ant-Man offerings. 

Journey into Mystery #87

 "Imbecile! You will pay for this blundering!"

This is... well, it's an utterly inconsequential placeholder with Thor versus, you guessed it, Soviet communists. Eminently skippable, as there are no wider implications as to Marvel lore and there only so many ways one can comment on the use of communists as crude, one note cartoon villains. 

So we get another outing for the Donald Blake / Jane /Thor ironic love triangle. We also get strong indicators, once again, that Thor is basically just Donald Blake wielding the powers of the ancient thunder god. Although, despite the strong early indications that this is the case, with Don being the one who decides to use himself as bait to investigate the scientists disappearing behind the Iron Curtain, we end with Thor asking Odin to destroy the Soviet fortress in what must be the most literally deus ex machina scene yet.

We do, it must be said, have a pit of sharks, which is splendid. But, unless you happen to be a fellow completist, this is eminently skippable. 

Fantastic Four #9

 "I like a woman with spirit!"

I must admit, this issue is bloody good. It's a quirky and intriguing central concept, and there's some good characterisation- particularly with regards to the Sub-Mariner, a very nuanced character.

From the very start, the FF are broke, bankrupt, selling all their stuff and dissolving what seems to be their business partnership. At first I thought this would be a ruse- but no. They genuinely are broke. Their once colossal wealth (at last it's confirmed where it came from- Reed's patents) is all gone, thanks to Reed's bad investments. And this is a nice touch, I think. Reed may be a genius, and may plausibly have been overconfident in his investments.

We also find that Alicia, only introduced last issue, is already a regular character, with a nicely nuanced relationship with the Thing. This sort of thing really adds depth and nuance. And yes, it may be silly that the issue starts with Sub-Mariner watching telly in his solitary undersea home... but the framed picture of Sue is a nice visual touch.

Namor, of course, is plotting to get Sue for himself, so he offer the FF... ahem, one million dollars(!), no doubt a princely sum in 1962, for a film. But the three men are all lured into traps and, well, Johnny's is vaguely racist! I love how Reed's trap seems to literally be the actual Cyclops (no, not that one, not yet) from The Odyssey. 

The ending is... well, Namor's behaviour towards Sue is more than a little #MeToo from the perspective of 2026, but it's a satisfying conclusion, with the Sub-Mariner feeling honour-bound to pay up, ending the team's financial woes.

After all the bonkersness I've trawled through... well, this is still very Silver Age but it's genuinely good. 

Strange Tales #103

 "Guess again, Zemu! I have a lot of powers you don't know about..."

These Human Torch stories seem to be very simple, formulaic and reek of Saturday morning cartoons... and this is no exception. Interesting that the Torch still seems to be of school age, but otherwise there's little of wider relevance here. Oh, and it is, of course, utterly bonkers.

A load of new houses are sinking, but not from something like running sand. Indeed, there seem to be rumours of "swamp demons". Johnny investigates... and, yep, it's aliens from the Fifth Dimension, no less, whose generic dictator Zemu wants to invade the Earth, because that's what alien baddies do.

Not much really happens- the Torch is captured and placed in a liquid tank, but in a bloody jammy stroke of luck he's freed by rebels, and is able to take the fight to Zemu by using a series of obscure powers he has which are highly convenient to the plot. Oh, and he incites a rebellion by sky writing... they read English in the Fifth Dimension then? But let us not open the "how come these aliens all speak English" can of worms.

So... yeah, thirteen formulaic and eminently skippable pages that I'm blogging only for the sake of completeness.

Tales to Astonish #37

 "I'm caught inside a vacuum cleaner!"

And so we turn again to Tales to Astonish, and Ant-Man. What can we do other than to embrace the bonkersness? 

I know this happened last issue, but... well, Ant-Man hears of trouble via his ant agents, has himself transported to the scene of the crime by miniature catapult, with ants on top of a shop awning breaking his fall. Shall we just pause here and marvel at the sheer magnificent insanity of this>

Then we have the villain, the Protector. He is, essentially, just a bog standard protection racket, but nonetheless he has a supervillain costume and name, because of course he does. Oh, and a disintegrating ray, although to be fair the Scooby Doo ending makes clear that this is just an elaborate conjuring trick, so that's all perfectly sensible then.

Oh, and before Ant-Man can save the day he has to face the twin perils of a water pistol and a vacuum cleaner. That is not a sentence that I expected I'd be writing when I woke up this morning, to put it mildly.

Embrace the bonkersness. What more is there to say? Are all these Ant-Man stories going to be like this? 

Fantastic Four #8

 "Sufferin' snakes... what's that?"

I'm happy to say that, while being utterly mad as one would expect for 1962, this issue was a rather fun read, even if I did raise an eyebrow at Reed being able to use his elasticity to absorb bullets... and fire them back!

This is the first appearance of long-running FF villain the Puppet Master, whose bonkers voodoo abilities have come about because of... radioactive clay. Of course. What else? His puppetry skills are highly impressive, though, to say the least. He even makes a little model prison governor grab a key ring from a little model desk drawer, which is positively superhuman/

We also meet Alicia, shown here as a very naive damsel. From her first appearance she likes Ben, but (Yet again, Reed briefly turns the Thing human again) prefers him on the rockier side. a surprising amount of their eventual dynamic is here already.

Puppet Master himself is surprisingly one note here, and his apparent death makes it seem as though he may not necessarily have been intended as a recurring villain at this point. But it's a good, solid story with lots of set pieces and the team feeling very well-established at this point. A huge improvement from last issue. 

The Incredible Hulk #4

 "Wow, was that cat for real?"

These early issues of The Incredible Hulk are, while variable in quality, strangely thoughtful and philosophical at times. Yet it's also fascinating to see how they take so long to settle on the rationale for the Bruce Banner changing into the Hulk. It's no longer a day/night thing, but even by the end of the issue they're far from sure of what they ought to be doing.

After a nicely non-linear start we get back to Betty Ross and a nice character moment- she pines for Bruce, she's noticed he's been a bit off ever since the Hulk... and, more to the point, Bruce is missing. So Betty tells her rather dim father that, juuuuust perhaps, Rick Jones might have some connection to Bruce and the Hulk. So Thunderbolt Ross grabs Rick and demands answers- a tricky situation as Rick could find himself in trouble here.

 The format of the series at this point is so very interesting. Rick can command the Hulk. The Hulk seems stuck in that form, unable to change to Bruce. Rick ultimately uses the machine to change the Hulk to Bruce... and at this point there's no other mechanism for doing so.

Then we have another twist, as Bruce uses the machine to become the Hulk but keep his intellect... but there are interesting hints of personality changes. And these continue into the second story, which had me laughing out loud. So many of these early Marvel issues have throwaway one-off aliens or communists as villains, so of course we get an alien who is really a plane full of Soviet communists in disguise.

We end with some scenes of the Hulk saving people but still being feared and hunted, something I suspect won't be changing... and Bruce and the Hulk can still only change bodies via the machine!