Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
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Dazzler #3-5
Issue(s): Dazzler #3, Dazzler #4, Dazzler #5
Cover Date: May-Jul 81
Title: "The jewels of Doom!" / "Here nightmares abide!" / "Tell Joey I love him! (Or: Even with not-so-great power comes great responsibility!)"
Credits:
Tom DeFalco - Writer
John Romita Jr. & Alan Kupperberg / Frank Springer - Penciler
Dan Bulanadi & Armando Gil / Ricardo Villamonte - Inker
Review/plot:
Yep, Dazzler vs. Dr. Doom.
He kidnaps her and sends her to Nightmare's Dimension to retrieve a Merlin Stone...
...and she fights Dark Dazzler.
The setting for the initial Dazzler Doom meeting is a display of Dr. Doom's crown jewels at the UN by Prince Zorba, the first Merlin Stone among them. Despite speculation that the event might draw out Dr. Doom, there's little in the way of added security and even Mr. Fantastic was of the opinion that Doom wouldn't be showing up.
Dazzler winds up destroying both Merlin Stones and Doom flees when the Human Torch shows up looking for her.
The rest of the FF also appear in this story...
...but it only takes the Torch to send Doom running.
It's amazing that John Byrne was more offended by Chris Claremont's treatment of Dr. Doom in the recent X-Men storyline than these issues.
Next, Dazzler tells a local crime fighting super-hero called the Blue Shield that his sick mother would like to talk to him.
Besides a fairly unique super-power (a personal forcefield)(and a propensity for bursting through walls)...
...the Shield's angle is that in his civilian ID he's a member of the mob, but that's really just a cover.
Outside of Dazzler and a cameo in Contest of Champions, the Blue Shield will mainly appear in a few issues of Quasar.
The Beast has a brief cameo helping Dazzler locate the Blue Shield's civilian ID.
This arc introduces Lance Steele, Harry Osgood's field rep.
He's a stereotypical muscle-bound oaf type of guy. We also meet love interest Dr. Paul Janson and his disapproving Nurse Collins.
They're all stock characters from romance comics. The uptight nurse looks down on Allison's lifestyle and secretly pines for the doctor, for example.
But there's potential to develop the characters out into a Spider-Man like supporting cast with a little more depth. The MCP doesn't even bother to track any of the non-super powered supporting characters in Dazzler, but i'll be giving it a shot.
Go for it!
Pretty soon every issue of Dazzler will feature at least one panel with her in her underwear or similar. We're not quite there yet but issue #5 gives us a preview.
Quality Rating: C+
Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Blue Shield
Chronological Placement Considerations: Issue #5 is tacked onto this arc because Dazzler is under the Human Torch's care at the end of issue #4 and the beginning of #5.
References:
- Dr. Doom was dethroned and driven insane in Fantastic Four #200 (he became active again in Fantastic Four annual #15, but that's not referenced here).
- Dazzler visits her estranged father, but things don't go well. The background for their disagreements was shown in Dazzler #1. It's basically that he doesn't approve of her being a singer; he wants her to be a lawyer. It's depicted in a very heavy-handed manner.
- The Merlin Stones were first described in Dr. Doom's first appearance, Fantastic Four #5.
- Fighting off creatures in the Nightmare dimension, Dazzler wonders if she should have accepted the X-Men's training, as offered in Uncanny X-Men #131.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
Inbound References (4): showCharacters Appearing: Beast, Blue Shield, Bo Barrigan, Carter Blair, Cassandra Ferlenghetti, Dazzler, Dr. Doom, Dreamstalker, Harry Osgood, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Lance Steele, Mr. Fantastic, Nightmare, Nurse Collins, Paul Janson, Thing Previous:
Marvel Team-Up #104Up:
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Uncanny X-Men #148
Comments
The title to #5 refers to an early 1960s tune "Tell Laura I Love Her".
I'm glad Dazzler didn't accept the X-Men's offer of being trained. I think her on-the-job training served her much better.
At this point, I am not entirely sure if her powers are still secret or not
More than one person actually saw her in both roles, so... I don't know
Maybe I am thinking too much about a Dazzler comics!
No, Ali's powers are still secret at this point. The general public thinks the lightshows in her act are just special effects.
Brian Cronin has written a nice history of the Merlin stones at https://www.cbr.com/merlin-stones-infinity-gems-doctor-doom/
Knocked over by a girl on skates? I'm going to say Doombot. And not one of the combat units. :-)
