Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1968-07-01 00:04:10 |
| Previous: Amazing Spider-Man #62 | Up: Main 1968 / Box 4 / Silver Age | Next: Uncanny X-Men #46 |
Marvel Super Heroes #15
Issue(s): Marvel Super Heroes #15
Cover Date: Jul 68
Title: "Let the silence shatter"
Credits:
Archie Goodwin - Writer
Gene Colan - Penciler
Vincent Colletta - Inker
Review/plot:
At first i thought this was a left-over story from the Inhumans back-ups in Thor, but those were all by Lee/Kirby/Sinnott and focused on moments in the Inhumans' past. This seems to be a newly written story (see more in the Comments from Walter and Brad on this). It's drawn by Gene Colan, who is drawing more and more books at this time, but he is a highly specialized artist, very good for moody, atmospheric stories but out of place on a straightforward super-hero story like this.
And it is a fairly straight-forward super-hero story, which is a shame due to the fact that the Inhumans were not supposed to be super-heroes. Medusa leaves the Inhumans to look for a 'cure' to Black Bolt's inability to speak, gets mixed up with her old partners the Frightful Four...
...gets betrayed by them, and defeats them.
Like a true Marvel character she is distrusted by the public and misunderstood when she tries to stop someone from getting hit by a car. The fact that the lead is female for a change is nice, but that's ruined a bit by the fact that in the end she needs to be rescued by Black Bolt.
Also interesting but probably not intentional is the fact that one minute she is lamenting the fact that human society is distrustful, and the next she is teaming up with a bunch of super-villains to steal expensive technology from a NATO military base.
Quality Rating: D+
Historical Significance Rating: 2
Chronological Placement Considerations: Medusa starts off her quest by trying to find Klaw in Paris. She must not know that he was recently kicked in the face by the Black Panther and sent to jail. Klaw will not escape from jail until a little prior to Avengers #83, so Medusa may be acting on bad information. Klaw does not actually appear in this issue, even in flashback.
References:
- Medusa recently encountered Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #62.
- The Wizard first used his Id Machine against the Thing in Fantastic Four #41.
- Black Bolt freed the Inhumans from the Negative "Zone" in Fantastic Four #59.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
| Previous: Amazing Spider-Man #62 | Up: Main 1968 / Box 4 / Silver Age | Next: Uncanny X-Men #46 |
Comments
One of the Inhumans Masterworks notes that this was to be the trailer for or first issue of a Medusa series, as part of Marvel's expansion at this time. Marvel was particularly interested in having a female protagonist, and Medusa and the Black Widow were the leading contenders. Martin Goodman apparently decided Medusa couldn't carry a series, so this story appeared in MSH instead.
Mark Evanier says Colan wasn't the original artist, and Stan was unhappy with the first artist's work, but I haven't seen the artist named anywhere.
The first artist may have been Barry Smith. A pinup page by Smith of Medusa in this costume appears in Marvelmania #6.
The first page of the comic lists this as the first solo appearance of Medusa, undoubtedly intended to be the first in a line of a future series starring Medusa as the lead character, which, unlike Captain Marvel, never came to fruition.
Medusa's appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #62 is also pretty clearly a trailer for a solo series. And when Marvel does launch the Black Widow, it'll also be with a guest-shot in Spidey's title. Clearly it was already seen as a launchpad for other books thanks to its high sales
