Issue(s): Marvel Premiere #36, Marvel Premiere #37
Published Date: Jun-Aug 77
Title: "The devil's music" / "Code-name: The Cold Warrior"
Credits:
Roy Thomas & Don Glut / Roy Thomas - Writer
Jim Craig - Penciler
David Hunt - Inker

Review/plot:
Don Glut is credit with a plotting assist on issue #36.

Rock and roll star Vince Rivers, subbing for Elvis while he's in the army (and "Ricky's too tame")...

...is suspected of causing teenagers to riot. And 3-D Man suspects him of being a Skrull.

But the Skrull is actually the DJ sponsoring Vince, and Vince is wrongly locked up. It's worth noting that at this point 3-D Man just gets a tingle when he's near Skrulls. Much later, when 3-D Man gives his glasses to Triathlon, it actually allows him to see Skrulls through their disguise.

The DJ Skrull then turns himself into Richard Nixon (!)...

...and helps a scientist that hates commies turn himself into a super "hero" called the Cold Warrior.

Ugh, that's bad. With cold powers, of course. And lines like "putting you on ice" and "cool off".

Nixon-Skrull convinces him to go after 3-D Man. The story ends with the Cold Warrior defeated, 3-D Man seemingly having lost the Chuck Chandler portion of his personality, and the Nixon-Skrull giving a monologue about how he'll 'probably' never have to use his Nixon identity again.

3-D Man is a terrible character and these stories were very poorly written. Roy Thomas has a text piece in the back of issue #36 talking up the concept of the character like he's a great inspiration instead of a throwaway.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: See the entry for issue #35 for why these 3-D Man appearances take place during the "Hero gap".

References:

• When a police officer sees 3-D Man, he compares him to super-heroes in the Invaders and the All-Winners Squad they turned into. There's a reference to an upcoming issue of What If where we see the Invaders turn into the new team. That would have been What If? #4, "What If the Invaders Had Stayed Together After World War Two?".

Cross-over: N/A

Continuity Implant? Y

Reprinted In: N/A

FOOM#15 confirms the 3-D Man stories taking place in 1958-9.