Giant-Size Marvels: February 2009 Archives

Giant-Size Superstars was re-titled Giant-Size Fantastic Four with issue #2, as this Marvel ad heralded to all fandom, it was now available in a Giant-Size 50 cent edition!

I always thought this cover premise was a bit of a letdown.  Yes, we like seeing the Thing and the FF fighting cosmic or world-ending menaces like Galactus.  Gangsters in the roarin’ twenties?  Not so much.  Maybe the editor who came up with this idea had loved the Star Trek episode, “A Piece of the Action”, where Kirk and Spock encounter a world full of Mafia types.  Nuff said.

Morbius first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #101, in the middle of a storyline that had Peter Parker somehow growing 4 additional limbs to become even more arachnid like.  The worst idea Stan Lee ever had!  Fortunately, Peter went to 2 arms after issue #102.

Morbius was different than the typical villain.  He killed people for blood, but felt really guilty about it afterward.  His tragic origin pushed Morbius to the edge where he could be villain or anti-hero. 

Gil Kane’s art was really inspired during this issue.  I am wondering who came up with the design for Morbius.  Was it John Romita or Kane?  Maybe an informed Marvel historian can please tell me.

Morbius quickly became a popular character.  He next appeared in Marvel Team-Up #1, then he helped launched Giant-Size Superheroes #1 for Spider-Man.  He teamed up with Man-Wolf (a scientifically created werewolf) to take down Peter Parker.  After this, Morbius graduated into 2 separate series: Adventure Into Fear (a color comic) and Vampire Tales (a black and white magazine).  Nuff said,

Why did I like the Defenders so much?  Because you never knew what to expect with each story arc.  The writers—Thomas, Englehart, Wein, and Gerber—all broke with conventional formulas in their own ways. Giant Size Defenders #2 did so when the team had to enlist a horror character—the Son of Satan—to rescue the Hulk from Hell!

This story featured Klaus Janson’s beautiful inks over Gil Kane’s pencils.  I am going to go out on a limb here and say this was the first Kane-Janson pairing.  Glynis Wein did a superb job on the colors as well.  The Hulk goes on a city wide rampage before getting tricked into Hell by a little girl.

This appearance by Daimon Hellstrom setup a long association with the Defenders.  He joined the team again for the Sons of the Serpent storyline in issue #22-24 and later joined as a full time member.  It’s nice to have Satan’s spawn in your back pocket.  Nuff said.