The Power of Legend: Thor vs. Merlin

Story I Read: "Defying the Magic of Mad Merlin" (Journey Into Mystery #96 Sept 1963)

I am now a good way into the early mythos of Thor and many questions are beginning to flood my mind. Of the many niggling ones, one over arcing macro query haunts me every time I read Mighty Thor. That question is: what is the nature of an Asgardian? Are they aliens as later comics attest, other dimensional beings or Gods and therefore divine? Thankfully this story begins to expand upon the difference between the legend and actuality. 

Certainly not the Merlin of Disney

Stan Lee presents us with two characters, that are quite well known throughout literature, and attempts to subvert our understanding of them. In the comics thus far, we have already come to know one of them, Thor, and have only vaguely heard of the other, Merlin. The Norse Thor is the benevolent and sometimes wrathful thunder god; an oxymoronic character, but show me a religious icon that isn’t. His religious self is infallible and unable to be faulted. Marvel’s Thor however, speaking from only what has been offered in Silver Age Marveldom thus far, is a heightened being that is in no way divine. In this story we learn that he needs to breathe. This seems like a self evident idea but serves as a kind of revelation considering  he does occasionally venture into space without the aide of oxygen. We learn, here, that Thor can hold his breath for a long time. Lee successfully busts this god’s divinity with this one idea and puts him on a playing field that is equal to the other mortal superheroes with which he shares Earth-616. He is not omnipotent and therefore able to have other nemeses other then his own kind. 

When Merlin vacates his sarcophagus in 1963, we are presented with a second character that not only equals Thor in his supernatural powers, but also, what is more important, in his legend. Merlin, up to this point in literature, the 60s the being time of the renaissance of T.H. White and the popularity of the musical Camelot, is often depicted as a kind and wise magical sorcerer that prompted the mythical King Arthur to ascend and found the throne of England. Lee on the other hand depicts him as a malevolent Machiavellian wizard who uses human puppets to consolidate his “master plan,” which appears to be world domination. What a fantastic idea and wholly creative. Not only does this story call Merlin’s oft-believed motivations into question, it also suggests that there is nothing magical about his composition but that he is a human mutant, like the Fantastic Four or Spider-Man. Some suggest he a maybe a forerunner to the genetic mutants of X-Men. I’m not sure the back story presented here backs up that claim. Not to mention Uncanny X-Men is still very far in the Silver Age future and the idea of mutants in that sense is not yet present in Marveldom. I think the conjecture of the creation of Merlin as the first genetic mutant and therefore the basis for his later X-Men appearances is the work of over zealous fanboys.   

The subversion of Legend vs. Reality is further used in the climax of the story. Thor usually beats his non divine enemies by using brute strength or some fancy hammer play. A strategy like this against Merlin is easily shot down, literally. After this failure, Thor, instead uses his dubious human identity, Dr. Donald Blake, to fool Merlin into thinking that Asgardians are omnipotent and can change into any form they see fit.  This not only brings the mad wizard to prostrate in surrender it what it more important plays with the power of icons. Thor’s possible and largely unsubstantiated divinity defeats Merlin. Thor’s reputation is more mysterious and ancient than Merlin’s so it causes the wizard to doubt himself. Thor’s legend is stronger. What an idea. 

I know I spend many of these reviews harping on the hasty and often poorly thought out writing of Stan Lee but do not assume that these criticisms come from a disrespect for the father of Marvel. Sometimes he writes stories like these that show the far reaching literary power that comics can possess. This one is a 5 out of 5. It is an essential read that explains the difference between Marvel and DC. Whereas DC is all about the legend, Marvel is all about the reality.  This story has far reaching impact and should be on all essential reading lists. 

Fantastic Four Fascination: A Review of Fantastic Four #17

Story I Read: The Fabulous Fantastic Four "Defeated by Doctor Doom" (Fantastic Four #17 Aug 1963)

SUE STORM HAS JUDO!

Fantastic Four can be used as a kind of metronome for the Marvel universe. It was the first serialized superhero comic of the Marvel Silver Age and therefore most of what is invented, was later applied to the other heroes. In this issue there is not only firsts in story telling but also in the narrative. This issue is a direct sequel. That is not to say this is the first issue that is shaped by past events, many publications recall their individual histories and mythologies, but it is the first issue to continue an arc established by another directly preceding issue. Doom is still at large having broken out of Micro-Atomica and the Four are looking to end that threat.

The Four are different in this one. The group dynamic is much different then even in the last issue. That abusive tension that used to permeate the group, especially the relationship between Torch and Thing, is gone, replaced with a campy yet witty joshing. Torch is no longer punishing Thing for his looks. They now tease each other like brothers. How absolutely charming. 

Charm, however, doesn’t run through the group. With joviality and camaraderie flowing throughout the penthouse Reed looks all the more like a stick in the mud. He is cold, standoffish and unpleasant to the other members of the group. Fantastic is certainly no leader. The glimpse at this side of Reed serves to make his character quite compelling. To have such an unpleasant man forced to be the brains of a group of rag tag and juvenile superheroes is a fascinating choice. A counter to the unpleasant aloofness of DC’s Bruce Wayne. Marvel likes to tout its heroes as existing in the ‘real world.’ Reed parodies the unpleasant arrogance of that DC character and is in turn not afraid to be unlikable, whereas Bruce still has streak of desperation to be liked. It is wonderful to see the characters so raw like this and especially in the whitewashed Silver Age. 

This idiotic contraption!

When the dialogue is really good, it becomes extremely easy to buy the sometimes tough to swallow Silver Age science. Though not even wildly funny dialogue can save gross oversteps in logic. Reed attempts to find Dr. Doom by creating a detector that only looks for human flesh covered in steel. Clearly this is a problem as every welder would suddenly become a mortal enemy to the Fantastic Four. Something utterly campy like this could kill a well thought out plot if it weren’t for Torch’s self referentialism. He makes fun of Reed’s idea and even points out the fact that the detector would not be in anyway accurate. A brilliant moment that shows even Reed can be wrong sometimes. 

There are other moments of hasty writing. For instance, Dr. Doom’s flying automaton plot is not as well thought out as I’d like. Reed looses a degree because one of the elevated plush toys appears flying above him. Why would someone lose a degree because a flying robot appeared above him? This makes no sense. Perhaps, Stan couldn’t think up a better way the robot might interfere with Richards’ life. 

The plot, however hokey and incomplete, manages to spin a new angle on Doom. It isn’t just enough for Doom to execute the Four, he also wants to destroy their reputation. A fascinating motivation. There is a compelling glimpse into the tortured mind of Victor. Doom turns to a mirror and bemoans his deformity, exclaiming “he wishes he understood humanity.” This is where the meat of the story really is. 

Dr. Doom’s plot to destroy the Fantastic Four stems from his feeling of being outsider. Doom’s a metal bound man who is wildly intelligent and equal to Mr. Fantastic in his cleverness but is also marginalized because of his looks. Although this is derivative of deformed vice stock character, a character that is prevalent right on back to Shakespeare’s Richard III, it adds a long lasting dimension to a character who until now had been painted with the broad evil brush. There is also a parallel with the Thing. These two are in the same position. Ben feels marginalized as well because of his stony facade. Yet he has Alicia who loves him just for being him. Alicia is the catalyst of the whole revenge plot and it is out of Dr. Doom’s jealousy that he kidnaps her. Would Ben be Dr. Doom without Alicia? He certainly becomes irrational when she is captured and has to be reigned in by Torch. 

On top of all this detailed expansion on the Doom, Thing dynamic: Sue Storm does something! She saves the day in the final act though her powers still seem largely pointless. Let’s recognize a stride when their is one and this one is a stride. There’s even a point being made about the role of women. Thing’s irrationality nearly is the downfall of the Four. His love for Alicia leaves the Four vulnerable and infighting starts when Thing’s sorrow and worry over the kidnap get the better of him. Irrational love, as a weakness, has often been a theme in Fantastic Four. Sue constantly brings the team to danger when she allows her feelings for Namor over come her. The triangle with Reed has often been a moment of contention within the Four. Men can also can be irrational and the irrationality of Thing is far more dangerous and violent then any moment with Sue. Is love impossible for a superhero? Another theme that will rear its head many times in later Marvels.  

There’s many fascinating and great things about this story but it is not without it’s faults. Jack Kirby’s art is still really simplistic and vague, but why moan about it yet again? Torch’s powers are still totally out of control. Now he not only has the power to create fire doubles but also exact doubles of other people and objects that are not built of fire. He can make perfect copies of Sue Storm or Thing. How does this make sense? Leaving all these things aside this story is a solid 4 out of 5. A really great early Fantastic Four story. No bones about it.  

Review of Tales of Suspense # 43: The Netherworld of Stark and Silver Age Sexism

What we are reading: Iron Man Vs Kala, Queen of the Netherworld- Tales of Suspense#43

The Spandex Iron Man

When reading through the Silver Age establishment of the Marvel universe you get to see both the very illuminating stories that set up beloved characters and the utterly atrocious, politically backward hogwash, which permeated the comics and the zeitgeist of the period. This Iron Man story is the latter. 

Before jumping into the negatives of this story let’s examine the one positive: the Atlanteans make their first appearance in this one. They are, in later arcs, subterranean threats that are in many ways apocalyptic. Here, though, their motives are flat and really not examined thoroughly. They want to take over Earth because they are angry that a geological event sank their empire. Let’s get revenge on humanity which runs volcanos or something. I don’t know. Even the one positive makes little sense. That being said, this story is a mess. Not only because it espouses backwards Sixties morals but because arc-wise, it has none.

The story begins at Stark Industries in the middle of a wind tunnel test. The tunnel stops working and turns the station into a veritable hurricane. Stark calls down and explains luckily by happenstance Iron Man is visiting the factory so he can save the windblown scientists. It is flimsy excuses like this that no doubt caused Anthony and Stan to strip the facade later.  It’s an excessively obvious and convenient piece of writing; so unintelligent a moment that it doesn’t even pass as charming camp.

After this minor incident of blowhardism at the wind tunnel, Tony climbs into his spandex iron suit and gets sucked into the center of the Earth. Sidebar: The Iron suit in this one is actually depicted as a spandex body suit. It’s stupidity like this that shows you Jack “I don’t care for plausibility” Kirby is back at the artistic helm. When Tony arrives in the in the centre of the Earth he and his spandex iron suit are embroiled in a hastily thought out thousand year old plan to take over the surface. We soon find out that Supreme General Blaxu resents taking orders from the female ruler Kala. Tony concurs  and he flies her off to the surface where she sees her complexion age in seconds. Iron Man tells her that if she wants her beauty she should stay underground. She does for “what is a women without her beauty.” 

This story is disgusting. A female leader that cares so much for her looks that she abandons her long held goal and just to nail another has to be one grossest example of female stereotype. Just to nail another peg into the chauvinist coffin Tony tells Blaxu to marry Kala so that she has proper guidance.

 ‘Women can’t lead, young Marvelites. They need a man.’ 

No wonder Sue Storm can’t get a shred of decent dialogue.

I know chauvinism has always been a part of Tony Stark, as he is a millionaire playboy with the face of Errol Flynn after all, but in later stories he is usually offset with a strong female to take him to task. It also may be unfair of me to judge a story written in a vastly different time by the ethics of today, but the sad thing is, that even under all the sexism this story is poorly constructed and frankly worthless. Nothing feels connected and no character really sticks out a vital or interesting. It feels like hastily written filler. 

At least Jack Kirby has started to draw backgrounds. That’s a plus.  

0 out of 5.