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1981-06-01 00:03:10
Previous:
Marvel Team-Up #104
Up:
Main

1981 / Box 16 / EiC: Jim Shooter

Next:
Uncanny X-Men #148

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.

Frank Springer takes over on art beginning with issue #4. He's got a nice style that works well in a Romance genre. Which is really what the Dazzer book wants to be, but DeFalco isn't a strong enough writer to pull it off. He's got a stiff writing style and all the characters talk in exposition. I can't even tell when he's trying to be funny or just writing bad dialogue. A character named Lelola O'Mally, a security chief at a museum Doom attacks, hears about Dazzler, and says "'Dazzler'. A name which is almost as intriguing as my own!". What?!

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): show

  • Dazzler #8-11
  • Dazzler #14
  • Punisher #1-5
  • Fantastic Four vs. X-Men #1-4

Characters 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 #104
Up:
Main

1981 / Box 16 / EiC: Jim Shooter

Next:
Uncanny X-Men #148

Comments

The title to #5 refers to an early 1960s tune "Tell Laura I Love Her".

Posted by: Mark Drummond | September 11, 2011 5:11 PM

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.

Posted by: clyde | February 23, 2015 8:40 PM

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!

Posted by: Karel | September 16, 2017 6:40 PM

No, Ali's powers are still secret at this point. The general public thinks the lightshows in her act are just special effects.

Posted by: Michael | September 16, 2017 11:42 PM

Brian Cronin has written a nice history of the Merlin stones at https://www.cbr.com/merlin-stones-infinity-gems-doctor-doom/

Posted by: Andrew | April 14, 2018 8:09 AM

Knocked over by a girl on skates? I'm going to say Doombot. And not one of the combat units. :-)

Posted by: Jonathan, son of Kevin | April 14, 2018 9:04 AM




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