Wednesday, October 16, 2019

What If I Ran Marvel...in 1968 - pt. 2


The changes I made in the Marvel line-up would take effect on the titles released in December 1968 (cover dated March 1969). Captain Savage and Sub-Mariner would be abruptly canceled. Not Branch Ecch and Wacky Races would be rushed through production, so the actual count of comic books would be the same. The roster of titles I would have released that month would be:

Main line (12 cent titles): Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Captain America, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Marvel Super-Heroes, Marvel Tales, Mighty Marvel Western, Mighty Thor, Millie the Model, Not Brand Ecch, Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, Wacky Races, X-Men

Epic line (25 cent titles): Captain Marvel, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, (Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, Rawhide Kid, and Silver Surfer would come out next month, as these six alternate)

Amazing Spider-Man

This would continue to have John Romita doing the art, but Steve Ditko would return to inking over him to keep a consistent look with the first three years of the title. Stan Lee would have to turn the writing over to Denny O’Neil, who as a newcomer would seem an unusual choice for the company’s top title, but I think Denny later nailed Peter’s bad luck trope when he finally got his chance in 1980 to write Spider-Man. Although some of Denny’s later creations, like Fusion the Twin Terror, seemed hokey in 1980, they would have been a step up from the likes of Man-Mountain Marko. Denny could get ideas from Stan and would hopefully use elements of the “Stone Tablet Saga”in his first year, including the Kingpin/Silvermane War -- and wouldn’t Madam Web have been a good addition to that storyline?

If I had to give Denny just one piece of advice, I would tell him that Peter had to stop pretending to be Gwen’s boyfriend if he was going to hide who he was from her. He didn’t have to tell Gwen his secret, and she could respect his privacy and still be friends with him, but if he did tell Gwen and she accepted it, she would make a good partner for Spider-Man, particularly if she learned about forensic science in college.   

Possible story synopses
Amazing Spider-Man #70: Still on the lam, Spider-Man hides the Tablet in his closet. As Peter, he broods about how he needs to break things off with Gwen, because their relationship is built on lies. Gwen and Mary Jane, though, are conferring at the same time about what they know about Peter, and agree to talk to Betty Brant. The Kingpin is out of jail on bond and, still wanting the Tablet, hires the Purple Man to get it. But the Purple Man has his own plans, lures Spider-Man to him, and tells Spider-Man to work for him. Spider-Man can’t resist and goes off to perform his first task: kill the Kingpin. He attacks the Kingpin while he’s being driven across town and easily defeats the Kingpin, but breaks the Purple Man’s spell because he won’t kill. Meanwhile, J. Jonah Jameson shows up at the scene (as does Ned Leeds), but while Jonah is ranting about Spider-Man, he has a heart attack.

Amazing Spider-Man #71: Betty tells Gwen and Mary Jane that Peter has always been connected to Spider-Man somehow. Peter learns that Robbie Robertson is taking over running the Daily Bugle, as Jonah may have to retire permanently following his heart attack. Robbie is too smart and suspects how Peter gets his photos, so Peter considers “retiring” himself and go to school full time. Meanwhile, the Purple Man meets with the Kingpin’s former lieutenants, tells them they work for him now, and asks for the secret of the Tablet. Also meanwhile, Quicksilver decides capturing Spider-Man would be a needed PR coup for him, but after they start to fight they find common cause in stopping the rampage of Fusion, the Twin Terror.  

Avengers
“Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” was a label this title was about to earn again, as Roy Thomas would soon bring back the team’s heaviest hitters from yesteryear. I like the weaker teams that have to fight smarter and will encourage Roy to stay on course with that. Roy’s stories were hit or miss, but when he hit he was producing masterpieces, like Avengers #61, that I would allow to proceed unaltered. Art-wise, the Avengers title had four different artists over the next year; I would hope that my new artist contracts would encourage John Buscema and Gene Colan to stay longer, so we’ll never need Barry Windsor-Smith (who wasn’t as good as he soon would be) nor Sal Buscema (who’s sketchy style was fast but of poor quality) to step in.   

I would ask Roy to tighten up the team, so it never slipped below five members, and never went over eight. I would ask him to bring back Black Knight for at least one more issue. I would give him 21 issues to keep Black Panther around before sending him back to Wakanda. I would give him 24 issues with Hawkeye-as-Goliath as-is, but then make him take up the bow again. Would a size-changing archer be more interesting? I think so. I would encourage Roy to tighten up the connection to the golden age Vision, Aarkus. Since Roy had not come up with the Human Torch connection, I would encourage him to say the Vision shared a consciousness with Aarkus, rather than the Human Torch’s body (which explains, to my mind, how a computer AI less than a year old could function as a mature adult already).   

Possible story synopses:
Avengers #62: Play up high-tech wonderland of Wakanda more. Man-Ape uses that tech to help capture Black Knight, and Black Panther, but totally owns Hawkeye and breaks his bow. Man-Ape can’t beat Dr. Strange and the Vision, but they agree to stay neutral in Man-Ape’s challenge to Black Panther’s leadership of Wakanda. When it appears that Man-Ape plans to kill Black Panther through treachery during their fight, Vision intervenes and Dr. Strange frees the other Avengers. Vision and Black Panther easily overpower Man-Ape together.

Avengers #63: The Avengers get a call from Black Widow, who is inside a nuclear power plant that has been taken over by Mad Thinker and Puppet Master, who have teamed up with Tyrannus. Yellowjacket and Wasp, now back from their honeymoon, respond to the call, as does Hawkeye, now calling himself Goliath and using Pym’s growth pills. The bad guys have been building a ring-shaped machine all around the plant, protected by a giant robot and underground monsters. Goliath and Vision take on the defenders while the others infiltrate inside. Just then, the nuclear plant takes off into the air, mounted on a giant rocket Tyrannus had built beneath it.  

Captain America
I would want Kirby to step in, not to fill in for Steranko, but to take over drawing Cap. Steranko would stick around, for the joy of working with Kirby so closely, as they co-plotted and split layout duties on the book (the ratio of the split depending on how much Steranko actually got done from month to month). Jack could use as many of his big ideas from the Fourth World in Cap's title as he wanted -- it might get to be more like a cross between Jimmy Olsen and Mister Miracle, with Steranko’s polish put on it. Substituting the Young Allies for the Newsboy Legion means a cloned Bucky Barnes would be coming back, and he and Rick would compete to be Cap’s sidekick. I would eventually want them to bring Sharon Carter back too.

Possible story synopses:
Captain America #111: Steve is invited to work as an investigative reporter for a Washington, D.C. area television station owned by Morgan Edge, who knows Steve’s secret of being Captain America. Steve’s first assignment will be investigating the return of the Young Allies -- which includes Bucky! Leaving as Cap, he is ambushed by HYDRA assassins at the command of Madame Hydra, but he defeats them handily. Rick Jones joins Cap as they meet with the Young Allies, who all seem to be teenage versions of the real Young Allies, including teenage Bucky. While Bucky is showing Cap their vehicle, the Whiz Wagon, Rick feels like a fifth wheel and takes a phone call the others are ignoring. The sound on the other end makes Rick hallucinate and wander off. As Cap and the Young Allies notice and follow, they are attacked by a robot and, while distracted, Rick and Jeff (of the Young Allies) are abducted.

Captain America #112: Jeff helps Rick escape from Hydra, but cannot get away himself. Rick contacts Cap and the other Young Allies, still out looking for him, and Cap wonders about how he was thinking of making Rick is partner, but now if Bucky is really back….The trail after Jeff leads out west and, after rendezvousing with Rick, they head into a place called the Wild Area, where the Outsiders live, and Cap briefly fights their leader, Yango, before Hydra agents arrive and attack.

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