Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1960-01-12 00:01:00 |
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Marvel Universe #4-7
Issue(s): Marvel Universe #4, Marvel Universe #5, Marvel Universe #6, Marvel Universe #7
Cover Date: Sep-Dec 98
Title: "Monstes on The Loose!" / "Creatures On The Prowl!" / "Return To Midnight Mountain!" / "Monsters Attack!"
Credits:
Roger Stern - Writer
Mike Manley / Bret Blevins / Jason Armstrong - Penciler
Mike Manley - Inker
Gregg Schigiel - Assistant Editor
Tom Brevoort - Editor
Bob Harras - EIC
Review/plot: So far in the Monster Age we have seen an inexplicable amount of creatures popping up. Now we start to see why. Many of the creatures have been created by the Deviant Kro, sent to cause destruction and confusion while he prepares his master plan to set off a nuclear war, which will destroy human civilization and allow the Deviant people the ability to enslave humanity again.
Fortunately, the Eternal speedster Makkari, who has been operating under several aliases, including Hurricane and Mercury...
...summons a group that can help investigate and defeat this wave of monsters. The group includes Dr. Druid, who has not yet picked up a beer belly, the immortal caveman Ulysses Bloodstone, and the Wakandan warrior Zawadi. Harvey Elder, the eventual Mole Man, tags along without being welcome. The group meets at an Explorer's Club, evoking a time period that Allan Quatermain would feel comfortable in, although these stories definitely take place after World War II.
The group, fighting their way through Communists, giant monkeys, lizard men, and other creatures, manage to chase Kro off. It's a fun story that does a great job of tying various crazy old stories together into a definitive history (much of the four issues are devoted to flashbacks of Monster Age books, and reveals that Ulysses Bloodstone was actually the main character in the Grottu story).
I love it. There are several different artists but the art is kept consistent (and good) by Mike Manley's inks (and probably by the colorist - Gloria Vasquez - as well. I really should include the colorist in my credits section).
Everyone is extraordinarily mean to the Mole Man. There must have been something about his looks and personality that was just totally repugnant.
"How can something that big move that fast" alert: Makkari's jet plane: "Curtiss, I've flown everything from biplanes to sabrejets - and I never expected anything this big could fly so fast... or handle so easily!". Possibly souped up with Eternals technology?
Unfortunately the Marvel Universe series was cancelled after this story. As much as i live for stuff like this, delving into the nooks and crannies of the Marvel Universe does not have mass appeal.
Gorgilla figures heavily into this story...
...and in the end Gigantus is seen as well.
Other than the guardian of Monster Island...
...they are the only giant monsters that appear in the current part of this story, as opposed to flashbacks.
Quality Rating: B
Historical Significance Rating: 5 - Ties together the Marvel Monster stories, establishing a Monster Age. Consolidates the appearances of various GA speedsters. Establishes a backstory for the Mole Man. Establishes the Monster Hunters team.
Chronological Placement Considerations: I'm putting this at the end of the Monster Age. It clearly takes place after the first appearances of several of the monsters that appear in this book. It also marks an end to the Monster Age by putting a stop to Kro's scheme of monster creation.
References:
- Grottu's first appearance in Strange Tales #73 is retold and expanded upon.
- Dr. Druid retells his encounter with Gorgilla from Weird Wonder Tales #21 (which is the revised version of Tales To Astonish #12). Gorgilla's appearances from Tales To Astonish #18 is also replayed.
- Makkari retells his encounter with the Molteon Man-Thing from Tales Of Suspense #7.
- Dr. Druid retells his origin from Weird Wonder Tales #19 (or Amazing Adventures #1).
- Ulysses Bloodstone retells his origin from Marvel Presents #1-2.
- Makkari retells the story of Adam Clayton's from Strange Tales #67, and pretends he is Adam Clayton for a while.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? Y
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
"Harvey Elder"= Harvey Kurtzman + Bill Elder, two EC Comics legends.
loved this series. its a shame it wasn't continued and explored further as it would bridge gaps between eras.
The scene of the woman rejecting the Mole Man is expanded on from part of his flashback in FF #1; the woman says the same line of dialogue and is drawn to look the same, but is colored wrong (their dresses have the same pattern of dots on them, but different colored, for example).
Fortunately, the Eternal speedster Makkari, who has been operating under several aliases, including Hurricane and Mercury..."
This seemed very similar to Max Mercury at DC comics. He adopted numerous aliases' as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Mercury
The Max Mercury thing is a little different. His initial adoption of a second name was due to DC needing to give him an identity other than "Quicksilver" so as not to conflict with Marvel's speedster. There wasn't any costume change at the time, just a name change. It got more complicated AFTER that, of course, but the original idea was just a re-naming and not any kind of integration.
Stern's Makkari/Mercury/Hurricane reveal specifically used existing characters and merged them into one (I believe there was one more: the non-costumed "Invisible Man" from a one-off story). It was a clever move, since none of those characters had been or were liable to be used (I remember one reference to the Hurricane in the story that introduced the Liberty Legion, but that was it).
"Harvey Elder"= Harvey Kurtzman + Bill Elder, two EC Comics legends.
Not coincidentally, they were the writer and artist of the famous "Mole!" story from Mad #2.
