George Olshevsky was able to corral a number of great artists* to provide the covers for his Marvel Comics Index series in the 1970s.  Neal Adams drew this nifty cover to issue #3, which featured the Avengers, Defenders, and Captain Marvel.

On this cover, my favorite Avenger, the Vision, is featured front and center.  The Scarlet Witch is providing cover over him and Captain Marvel is taking care of the rear guard.  All three characters were featured prominently in the classic Kree-Skrull war arc that Adams illustrated in the Avengers.  The only Defenders representative is Valkyrie hacking away on the right.  Adams really did a great job with all these characters.

*Editor’s Note:  Check out Steranko’s Cover to the Marvel Comics Index, Nuff said!

I've bought and sold (and re-bought) many classic comics in my time.  But no matter what, I've always kept my very fine copy of Amazing Spider-Man 121 lovingly protected in mylar.  I have to, it's the single most important comic that I've read in my entire life!

I think a lot of comic readers in the baby boom generation would rank this issue very highly as well.  You have to picture me in this time and place.  It's 1973.  I've been reading comics for about 4 years.  I was a huge Spider-Man fan, reading his present (in Amazing) and past adventures (in Marvel Tales).  I even had a mail subscription to ASM.  It would arrive in our mailbox, in a brown wrapper, folded in half.  Not the thing you'd put in mylar (my present copy was purchased later), but a comic you'd slide out of the wrapper and start reading as soon as you could.

Some comics are so eventful, I remember the time and place where I read them.  In this case, I had gotten out of school early to go to the dentist.  My father brought me home on a sunny afternoon (in Alaska) and I read this issue with great excitement.

You could tell ASM #121 was going to be a turning point.  Despite the cover, I never expected anyone to really die.  Certainly not Gwen Stacy--her father, Captain Stacy, had died a few years earlier.  I did know that Norman Osborn would return as the Green Goblin.  Osborn was always a ticking time bomb ready to go off.  Whenever he recovered his memories and insanity took him over, something big always happened.

By the time, I got to the end of the story, I couldn't believe what I had just read.  Sweet, beautiful, loving Gwen Stacy--the love of Peter Parker's life--was dead?  No way.  That kind of thing just didn't happen in superhero comics.  And what really got me, even at 12 years old, was the above panel where Gwen Stacy perished.  The sound effect SWIK! registered that her death was even more sick and twisted. Spider-Man killed his own girlfriend by snagging her the wrong way with his web-line.  The SWIK! and SNAP! and head bobbing that Gil Kane drew left no doubt in mind.  Peter Parker had royally screwed up.

Was Norman Osborn responsible for Gwen Stacy's death as well?  Of course.  He had kidnapped Gwen and knocked her off the George Washington Bridge.

The beautiful and twisted thing about this story is that we as readers have witnessed the truth in a way no other character in the story has.  Spider-Man doesn't realize what he's done.  Neither does Osborn.  Nor any other character in the Marvel Universe.

I still could not quite believe Gwen was dead, even with the full splash page at the very end of the story.  It took the following issue to really confirm that fact.  Nothing seemed the same after this moment.  I could believe that other Marvel characters might die as a result.  It was such a remarkable moment that Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross chose to mark the end of an era in MARVELS.

Fans of this story and Gerry Conway's classic Amazing Spider-Man will want to listen to his podcast interview with John Siuntres on Word Balloon.  Conway talks in detail about how Amazing Spider-Man #121 was created, from the initial story idea by John Romita to Gil Kane's contribution in the neck-snapping panel above.  Conway also discusses his return to comics and the Last Days of Animal Man.  I love how Siuntres interviews comics professionals--he asks the questions I would ask if I were sitting down with them.  Nuff said.

In Foom issues 6 and 7 (circa 1974), we were treated to a series of pin-ups from a new artist who had joined the ranks of Marveldom:  Dave Cockrum!  These nifty pin-ups featured the Avengers.  I think they showcase these classic Marvel characters well, and Cockrum’s artwork is top-notch.

Thor and Iron Man.  Buddies, way before Clor!

Captain America and the Vision.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

Clint Barton as Hawkeye, Clint Barton as Giant-Man.  Black Widow.

Mantis and Swordsman.  Cockrum was very familiar with these characters—he had drawn Giant-Size Avengers #2 the issue that featured the death of the Swordsman.  Nuff said.

A while back I mentioned how much I loved the early Marvel calendars from the mid 1970s.  A number of fans wrote back and clued me in on where to buy these (on eBay).  Now I have several of them—your feedback was much appreciated!

One month in particular I remembered was November 1976...that one featured this juicy pinup by Jim Starlin and Alan Weiss.

The Silver Surfer, with Adam Warlock one one side and Captain Marvel on the other, against a very cosmic outer space backdrop.  (I wish I had a better scan; this one was taken from a PDF found on Alan Weiss’ site.)  I was a big fan of both Warlock and CM, mainly because of Starlin’s fantastic artwork and stories.  Weiss was a friend of Starlin’s and a wonderful inker—but I felt like we never saw his work often enough!  On seeing this pinup, I hoped that Starlin would one day work on the Silver Surfer.  He did, years later, in the 1980s.

Check out Alan Weiss’ website, Surreal Deal.  Nuff said.

Amazing Spider-Man has never been better since Brand New Day.  There’s been a number of Internet fans upset over One New Day, but I think Joe Quesada is a saint for pulling that off.  Erasing Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane was long overdue, but the masterstroke that no one saw coming was bringing back Harry Osborn.  I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but Harry’s conflicts have become as much a part of the drama as Peter’s.  Harry is constantly tempted by his girlfriend and father to return to a life of insanity and evil.  In Marc Guggenheim’s Character Assassination, Peter wouldn’t have survived his battle with Maniac unless Harry had intervened.  Harry finds inner sources of strength to do the right thing, which, given his troubles in the past, make him even more impressive than Peter.

Amazing Spider-Man #598 is the next chapter in Harry’s evolution, as he finally learns the truth about what Norman Osborn and Lily have really been up to all this time.  I enjoyed the side of the story that centers around Harry; the one surrounding Spider-Man doesn’t seem that great to me.  There’s something inconsistent about that black costume Reed Richards whipped up for Peter to impersonate Venom.  The costume can repel a gunshot fired at point blank range to his head.  Yet in issue #597 it did not appear to repel Bullseye\Hawkeye’s arrows.  Why didn’t Peter’s Spider-Sense kick in and allow him to dodge those arrows anyway?  Peter was just too easily captured in that chapter.  He’s tortured pretty badly by Bullseye in this chapter—at least he has trouble running away at the very end.

The Adventures of Harry Osborn part of the story is getting me through American Son.  What the heck, l am buying this book no matter what.

The cover to Dark Avengers #6 was very enticing.  I have to say it’s one of the best covers I’ve seen in a while:  Captain Marvel (Noh-Varr, Marvel Boy, whatever) hunted down by the Void.  Wow, this is the moment when Marvel Boy finally becomes a man and a force for good.  I’ve waited a few years for this.  It should be amazing, right?

Well, it’s not, because the scene on the cover doesn’t take place inside this issue.

Not that Bendis doesn’t tease you a little.  Marvel Boy slept with Moonstone\Ms. Marvel in the previous issue, and she blurted out the truth (the new Avengers are really villains) to him in bed.  He seemed stunned by the news.  In this issue, as the team gathers for breakfast, Noh-Varr is AWOL.  He never shows up at all.  I’m curious why they had this cover made when the event never happens.  Although I shouldn’t be surprised—New Avengers #50 was the same deal.

What does happen in Dark Avengers #6 is still interesting—we’re seeing Norman Osborn slowly become unglued with each chapter of this series.  After a rogue Atlantean splinter cell attacks Los Angeles, Osborn assembles the Dark Illuminati—including the Sub-Mariner—to discuss how to fix it.  Osborn screams at Namor, who doesn’t take kindly to orders from a human.  It was exactly as Doom predicted in the Dark Illuminati special.  Osborn takes steps to correct the situation without their help, using the Sentry as his weapon.  Osborn appears to be able to communicate with both the Sentry and the Void, but it’s a delicate negotiation—one mistake and the Void could be unleashed against the Dark Avengers.

I’m very curious to see what happens over the next few weeks and months.  Namor is going to be really pissed off at Osborn.  But we’ve already seen Namor on upcoming covers with the Dark X-Men.  How do these two events get reconciled?  Since Matt Fraction is writing the next few Dark Avengers issues, there has to be a reason.

Thor had a tremendous giant-sized anniversay issue #600, where Loki’s greatest scheme paid off big time.  Thunder God was stripped of his Monarchy and exiled from New Asgard.  While Balder has become the new King and led his people to Latveria (with some bad advice from Loki), Thor is dealing with the unthinkable-- a broken Uru hammer. 

In Thor #602, he gets help from the one person who can help—of course—Doctor Strange.  Strange can repair Mjolnir, but it will cost the Thunder God the Odinforce he inherited after his father’s death.  This is kind of cool in a way—I’ve been thinking that Thor is way too powerful anyway.  He can’t be threatened by the Absorbing Man if he can move Asgard around like it’s nothing.  In another way, it’s bringing Thor’s world back around to the status quo—before Ragnarok, before his monarchy.  I wouldn’t be surprised now if Odin eventually comes back.  Most changes in comics get reset back eventually, don’t they?

By the end of the issue, the dangling plot thread with Sif (trapped in a dying woman’s body) is finally resolved.  It’s not that unusual—what is great is that Thor sacrificed a tremendous amount to get her back.  It feels a bit rushed in the execution.  It seemed like this took plotline took forever, because of this title’s uneven publication history.  

The big news this week is that JMS is leaving Thor in September 2009.  His last issues will be Thor #603 (in August) and a Giant-Sized special in September.  In his exit interview at CBR, he drops some tantalizing hints about Marvel’s next big event that involves the Thunder God.  Possibly the end of Dark Reign and the start of something new?  At any rate, I am sure Thor will be published more frequently when a new creative team comes on board.  My vote for a new writer:  Matt Fraction.  He did a great job on that Thor God-Sized special.

Not to mention this lineup of Liltin' Landmarks: 

New Avengers 54:  I was really, really prepared to hate this issue.  Taking my beloved Brother Voodoo and making him Doctor Voodoo seemed dumb.  But the execution in this story makes the change fun and exciting.  Any story that brings together Doc Strange, Brother Voodoo, and the Son of Satan together is pretty cool in my book.  I enjoyed this joke that Spider-Man made over Daimon Hellstrom’s doom and gloom warning:  You…should write greeting cards.  Really.  Made me laugh out loud.

Daredevil 119:  The Kingpin looks to be double crossing Daredevil and getting himself back in position to become New York City’s crimelord.  Matt Murdock, how could you be so naive?  All changes in comics get reset back eventually.  Nuff said.

Back in the 1970s, we had no internet or Marvel Wikia to give us the data on all of Marvel’s published comics.  What we did have was the Marvel Comics Index series, published by George Olshevsky.  He painstakingly listed each issue of a title, providing a snapshot of the cover and listed the title/credits for each one.

He had some great cover artists for this index series, but my favorite cover was this one featuring Captain America by Jim Steranko.

What a cover!  It could be a movie poster.  Steranko highlights everything great about Cap’s World War 2 history with Bucky, the Invaders, Professor Erskine, the Red Skull, Hitler, Zemo, and Baron Strucker.  Thrown in some American fighter planes dropping off paratroopers and the Sands of Iwo Jima flag raising for even more patriotic fervor.  Nuff said.

Here are a couple of Steranko covers that I didn’t even know about until I did some research!

Tex Dawson, the Marvel cowboy who faded off the face of Earth 616.  Apparently his big gimmick was that he had a white German Sheppard (Lightning) and a black stallion (Whirlwind).  Steranko’s cover is really nifty, full-on Wild West glory.

Here’s another cover, to Western Gunfighters #14.  Apart from Matt Slade—who might have been in Steve Englehart’s Avengers time-travel story—I don’t recognize these dudes either.  Nuff said.

My pick of the week is pretty surprising--a comic that wasn't originally on my radar at all: the Young Allies 70th Anniversary Special.  A lot of these Golden Age tributes have been pretty good, but this one is outstanding.  It's written by Roger Stern, one of my favorite Marvel writers who worked on Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, and countless other characters.

The Young Allies consisted of a gang of kid characters that fought together in World War 2, with Bucky and Toro as the headliners, and some other kids known as the Sentinels of Liberty.  Think of them as Marvel's version of Kirby's Newsboy Legion.

This Anniversary story takes place in current Marvel time, as Bucky visits Arlington Cemetery and remembers his former team-mates.  Bucky tells the story in first person narration.  One of the great things about having Bucky back is that we get a whole new perspective on a man displaced out of time--who relates more to octogenarians from WW 2 than anyone else.  Bucky recalls an earlier adventure with the Allies and manages to locate a couple of the remaining survivors.  There's a cool post VE-Day tale set in Paris where the Allies encounter a rogue group of Nazis hell-bent on implementing Hitler's plan to engulf the city in flames.

But this comic isn't cool because of the action.  It's great because of Bucky's inner monologue and the comradeship he experiences with his friends.  It's very touching and sentimental.  The score from Band of Brothers played in my head as I read this comic.  I'm a sucker for this type of story.  If the credits had been left off the title page, I would have said that Brubaker or even Brian K. Vaughn had written this story.  That's no insult to Stern, just a testament that he's a great writer.  This is the guy who wrote The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man.  I hope Marvel continues to give him more work.

Captain America #600 made the news headlines on Monday.  Marvel had telegraphed this in advance, and I could predict that this had something to do with Steve Rogers returning.  I wasn't able to buy the issue until Wednesday.  I rushed out to Jeffrey's Toys in downtown San Francisco and managed to snag one of the last copies with this fantastic Alex Ross cover.  I love it--the cover alone justifies the cover price for me.  It should be a poster.

It's a good solid story that weaves together many plot threads from Brubaker's run and elsewhere in the Marvel Universe: WW2 flashbacks, the Red Skull, the 1950s Captain America, Crossbones, the Falcon, Hawkeye and Norman Osborne's Dark Avengers.  The Bucky from Heroes Reborn shows up to pal around with Patriot from the Young Avengers.  The main excitement is in Sharon Carter remembering more details about Steve Rogers' death, that there was a special weapon involved and it might lead to his revival.

Brubaker is great at when it comes to executing these fake-outs that make you think he's killed a major Marvel character.  He didn't get me with Steve Rogers.  He did get me with Foggy Nelson.  After Nelson was revealed to be alive and in FBI custody, Brubaker wrote in a Daredevil letter column: C'mon, you didn't think I'd really kill Foggy, did you?  After that, I can't believe Brubaker will kill any character in his Marvel series.

The excuse to bring back Steve Rogers is a bit flimsy, but it's well done nonetheless.  I don't think the big question is how Steve Rogers comes back.  The big deal is what happens to Bucky as Captain America.  He's just cooler than beans, with that shiny costume and gun.  I really liked having him face his demons from the past, teaming up with Namor, and leading the New Avengers.  The only resolution to this situation would be to have two Captain Americas.  DC Comics is facing the same problem with Barry Allen and Wally West.

It seems like it took a long time for Deadpool #11 to arrive!  It's been about six weeks since we read the first part of this current arc, which ended with Dark Hawkeye (Bullseye) shooting Deadpool through the skull with an arrow.  Deadpool has been one of my favorite titles since it started, and Daniel Way has proven himself to be one of the funniest writers around.  I often laugh out loud reading each issue.

Part 2 of the big showdown is loaded with bizarre jokes and gags.  Bullseye calls a radio therapist to discuss a personal problem:  why he just can't bear to kill Wade.  Torturing him is just too much fun, as it turns out.  Deadpool stumbles around with the arrow stuck in his head, which makes him even dumber than usual.  He recovers and eventually faces Bullseye again, and comes up with a cunning device of self-defense.

Two words I'll always remember from this issue:  Meat Suit.  I'll say no more. 

Deadpool and Bullseye are the Martin & Lewis comedy team of the Marvel Universe.  Way is a twisted genius. If you're not buying this comic, you're really missing out.

Not to mention this lineup of Liltin' Landmarks:

War of Kings Ascension #3:  Darkhawk learns more about the Raptors and why Talon has suddenly returned.  We also see the assassination attempt on Lilandra in War of Kings #4 from Darkhawk's POV.  Darkhawk is now fully immersed in the central conflict of this war.  I haven't read such a fun and well coordinated event since the Avengers-Defenders war.

Mighty Avengers #26: Hank Pym teaches Reed Richards a thing or two after he invades the Baxter Building to regain Bill Foster's Wave Inducer.  Robot fetishists will love the scene between Pym and Yocasta.  Next issue promises to reveal a new Avengers base--can't wait to see what that is.

A good week.  Make Mine Marvel!  Nuff said.