Celebrating Artist Scott Hampton

Celebrating the birthday of artist Scott Hampton (April 10, 1959) with his covers to the 3 issue mini-series, Black Widow...

...featuring Natasha Romanova and Yelena Belova (along with Daredevil) as the two are forced into each others identities for the length of the series.

Black Widow #1 and #2 (January and February, 2001)

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Black Widow #3 (March, 2001)

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Spider-Man Teams With The Black Widow

Seems a natural, Spider-Man teaming up with the Black Widow.  After all, when she was giving up being an Iron Man villain, she stopped by Spidey's title to get a costume change (to the costume she used in most of her appearances in Marvel Team-Up).


So, let's take a look at those team ups!

It Starts Here

The stories in MTU were usually short, being one or two issue affairs, but Marvel Team-Up #57 (May, 1977) laid the foundation for future tales, with "When Slays The Silver Samurai", and a meeting of Spider-Man and Black Widow by writer Chris Claremont, penciller Sal Buscema and inker Dave Hunt (and under a Dave Cockrum cover).

This was the second appearance of the Silver Samurai (looking more the part than his first appearance in Daredevil #111), with him facing Spider-Man, as Spidey tries to stop some would-be thieves.  Meanwhile, Black Widow is in New York (taking a break from the west coast Champions), trying to find Nick Fury, and warn S.H.I.E.L.D.  Being unsuccessful, Black Widow finds Spider-Man battling the Silver Samurai, and comes to Spidey's aid.  The two battle the warrior, eventually defeating the Silver Samurai, and they recover a small statue that he had stolen.

But, more would come of this simple encounter.

All Together Now

Spidey next encounters Black Widow in Marvel Team-Up #82 (June, 1979, by writer Chris Claremont, penciller Sal Buscema and inker Steve Leialoha, under a cover by Rich Buckler), except that the Widow thinks she's upstate school teacher, Nancy Rushman...and completely helpless against muggers attacking her (showing "No Way To Treat A Lady"), at least until Spider-Man stops them.  Trying to help her, she finds she has no memory other than the above, but, in looking for identification, they find the Widow's costume, which Spidey convinces her to put on (he says for warmth, but also hoping to jog her memory).  Then, the two are attacked by agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Spidey fighting them off, but getting injured, and "Nancy" displaying some combat abilities to save Spidey from the attacking agent, but not knowing how she knew how to fight.  The two are then confronted by Nick Fury, who shoots Black Widow, then Spidey...and asks the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to clean up the mess.

Spidey wakes up in Marvel Team-Up #83 (July, 1979), being happy there wasn't "A Slaughter On 10th Avenue", and proceeds to run down last issues events in this story by Claremont, Buscema and Leiahola.  It ends up being a team-up with Nick Fury, who had tranquilized Spidey (and the Widow), with Fury looking after the Black Widow at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ (which Spidey finds, and takes Black Widow away from S.H.I.E.L.D).  Meanwhile, a mysterious woman gives Silver Samurai orders aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, asking him to use his teleportation ring to bring Hulk's foe, the Boomerang, to them (Silver Samurai got that ring from John Belushi of Saturday Night Live in Marvel Team-Up #74 in October, 1978).  This leads to a confrontation between Spidey and Nick Fury (who was being followed by Boomerang and Silver Samurai), and Spidey, Fury and the still amnesiac Black Widow to team-up to find out the plans. 

Those plans deepen in Marvel Team-Up #84 (August, 1979), where Shang-Chi (master of Kung Fu and son of Fu Manchu), shows up to help "Catch A Falling Hero" in the story by Claremont/Buscema/Leiahola, with the heroes finding out that it was Captain America foe, Madame Hydra (now calling herself the Viper) who was behind the brainwashing of S.H.I.E.L.D., and plans to use the Helicarrier to kill the President of the United States.  The heroes try to stop the assembled villains, and free the hypnotized crew, but the story ends with Spidey falling out of the flying Helicarrier...

...and into Marvel Team-Up #85 (September, 1979), dealing with his fall and "The Woman Who Never Was" in this story by Claremont/Buscema/Leialoha.  The combined heroes do battle with the villains, working to save the President and the hypnotized S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and we learned Black Widow had been previously pursuing Viper, and learned of Viper's plans, but was unable to get to Nick Fury to warn him (and had to get to Nick, as Widow wasn't sure who she could trust).  Captured by Viper, Widow was able to escape, but the severe torture Black Widow endured regressed the heroine into an old cover identity she used when she originally began working for S.H.I.E.L.D.  The story ends with Nancy coming to terms with who she is, and planning to come back to being Natasha Romanoff.

A Look Back

After that lengthy battle, it's time for a simpler team-up, and thankfully, Marvel Team-Up #98 (October, 1980), dealing with "The Fatal Attraction Of The Black Widow", in a story written by Marv Wolfman and Roger McKenzie, pencilled by Will Meugnoit and inked by Bruce Patterson, under a cover by Al Milgrom.

This time around, Spidey ends up working with the Black Widow and Simon Stroud (a C.I.A. agent, who faced monstrous Spider-Man foes, lycanthrope Man-Wolf and vampiric Morbius) to stop a smuggling ring...except that it was no average smuggling ring, instead, it was an operation run by Daredevil foe, the Owl, who had been injured in a battle with Spider-Man and Daredevil in Marvel Team-Up #73 (September, 1978), and is working the criminal mob of the  Maggia to plunge Manhattan into a blackout in return for the weaponized chair which now he needs for movement.  The heroes work against the Owl's henchmen, with Stroud taking down the Owl.  

A Look Forward

With their last team up, Spidey and the Black Widow get new looks.  True, Black Widow had just updated her costume in recent issues of Daredevil, and Spidey was still in the familiar red and blue for Marvel Team-Up #140 (April, 1984), the times were changing (though the title seems to hint at the fate planned for New York last time they met, with "Where Were You...When The Lights Went Out?", in this story written by Tom DeFalco and Bill Mantlo, pencilled by Ron Frenz and inked by Mike Esposito, under a cover by Ed Hannigan and Klaus Janson. 

This time around, New York has rolling blackouts, with Spider-Man failing to stop a murder, yet the police think they have the murderer, but blind lawyer, Matt Murdock (secretly Daredevil), thinks the boy is innocent, and has Black Widow looking into the case, meeting up with Spider-Man...but, Spider-Man gets sucked into the Beyonder's teleportation device and heads into the Secret Wars!

With Marvel Team-Up #141 (May, 1984), we see "Blind Justice" as Daredevil and Black Widow are dealing with the chaos brought about by the missing super-heroes...

...with Spider-Man returning to Earth in his new, black symbiote costume.  The heroes work together to find the real murder, with Daredevil making a deal with the Kingpin to find him in this tale by writers Tom DeFalco and Jim Owsley, pencilled by Greg Larocque and inked by Mike Esposito, under an Art Adams/Mike Mignola cover!



All this espionage can keep one busy....

....but looking forward to more straight forward team ups with Spidey and the Avengers soon!

Goodbye David Letterman and Avengers Assemble

Did you know that late night talk show host David Letterman appeared in an issue of the Avengers?

Well, he did!

It was Avengers #239 in January, 1984!



Written by Roger Stern, with art and cover by Al Milgrom, Dave and Paul Shafer got to deal with a contingent of Avengers (including Hawkeye, Beast, Black Widow, Black Panther and sometime actor and stuntman Wonder Man).

This was a part of Marvel's Assistant Editor's Month, where weird and wacky things happened in all the Marvel titles, and Hawkeye was dealing with his new deafness (and new bride, Mockingbird aka Bobbi Morse!), and Dave had to take a hand in defeating the villain of the piece...the dreaded Fabian Stankowicz!

What's next, movie star Spider-Man on Saturday Night Live?  Well, that actually already happened....

We Are The Marvel Champions Part 2

Picking up where we left off, more on Marvel's Champions!

Champions #11 (February, 1977) was a big issue for the team in more ways than one.

First and foremost, it had the team meeting Black Goliath (a West Coast super-hero with growth powers and ties to Hank Pym/Ant-Man and the Avengers).  It also guest-starred ex-Avenger archer, Hawkeye, and his time-misplaced cowboy buddy, the Two-Gun Kid, and the team faced off against the shadowy threat of Warlord Kaa (as well as getting use to having Darkstar around).

The team also was to deal with the Stilt-Man, and a threat from Black Goliath's recently cancelled title, and artist John Byrne came aboard as Champions artist at this time (through issue #15), joining Bill Mantlo's wild scripts (which were a part of the rest of the Champions' run!).

Things did get wilder, as Hercules, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Iceman, Angel and Darkstar faced the Stranger (a cosmic powered villain who had previously faced the X-Men and the Silver Surfer) in Champions #12 (March, 1977), and dealt with the item that Stilt-Man stole....and might end the Earth, all while half the team ended up in the other dimensional realm of Kamo Tharnn (the Possessor....an old foe of Hercules and Thor).  The team was able to stop all the problems and come back together in Champions #13 (May, 1977)...but there were problems developing on the team (having a headquarters and other equipment that didn't work, as well as the differing personalities of the team causing problems...and the team let Ghost Rider take a little time in his own title in Ghost Rider #23, and Black Widow helped Spider-Man fight the Silver Samurai in Marvel Team-Up #57).

Swarming Super-Heroes

The team came back together in Champions #14 and #15 (July and September, 1977), where they fought Swarm, lord of the killer bees!  (This wasn't John Belushi on a cross-continental bender, but instead a man (Fritz Von Meyer) who had been mutated into a form where he was held together by bees!).  The Champions managed to pull apart this threat as they were falling apart....

Vacation From Trouble

The team tried to get away from trouble (and each other), but only ended up facing Godzilla (at least Hercules, Black Widow, Angel and Iceman did) in Godzilla #3 (October, 1977 by Doug Moench and Herb Trimpe); the whole original team gathering to help Iron Man fight MODOK and A.I.M. in Iron Man Annual #4 (August, 1977, by Bill Mantlo and George Tuska); Hercules working with Black Widow and Iceman and Avengers Iron Man and the Beast to fight Typhon (an old foe of Hercules) in Avengers #163 (September, 1977, by Jim Shooter and George Tuska), and the team being the destination of Magneto and the Beast in a world taken over by Dr. Doom in Super-Villain Team-Up #14 (October, 1977 by Bill Mantlo and Bob Hall), which led directly into...

Back to Business

...Champions #16 (November, 1977 by Bill Mantlo and Bob Hall).  In this issue, the team was a pawn of Dr. Doom and his mind-controlling gas as well, except for the non-breathing, very demonic Ghost Rider, proving the Beast knew what he was doing when he led the team out west!

The rest of the team was controlled and did fight against Magneto, the Beast and even the Hulk, but eventually Dr. Doom was beaten (but not without more fracturing of the team dynamic....which already was falling apart).

The team showed how fractured it was here...


....and things didn't get better.

The Last Issue

Champions #17 (January, 1978, by Bill Mantlo, with art by George Tuska and John Byrne) had the Champions facing off against a group of evil mutants (Unus, Lorelei, Blob and the Vanisher) who had come to the team looking for help...from the Sentinels (evil robots who planned on eradicating mutants, and it seems demi-gods, ex-Russian spies and demonic motorcycle riders as well)!

This was the end of the Champions run, but not quite the final end of the team....that was promised for an upcoming Avengers issue, but instead ended up in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man....

...and for more on that, check back!

We Are The Marvel Champions Part 1

Take one son of an Olympian god, a millionaire mutant, an ex-Russian femme fatale, a walking ice box and a demon from hell...and what do you have? Certainly not a team....well, actually, there was one.

In a tribute to committee thinking, two ex-Avengers (Hercules and Black Widow) joined solo star (Ghost Rider) and two ex-X-Men (Angel and Iceman) to form...The Champions! (And it really was quite a committee...David Anthony Kraft came up with the name for the team, Len Wein and John Romita contributing to the design of Angel's new costume - taking away a blue colored costume in a blue dominated team, and Len insisting a team have five members).

Cover dated October 1975, the saga of Marvel's Champions began. Originally intended to be an Angel/Iceman series, the Marvel offices convinced writer Tony Isabella to add Hercules (a strongman), Black Widow (a woman) and a solo star (Ghost Rider...though, had he not gotten his own title, it could have been Black Goliath! Or even Son of Satan, Captain Marvel or Power Man) to make it a full-fledged team. Art on the first two issues was by Don Heck (himself no stranger to the Avengers or the X-Men), and Champions #1-3 (also originally suppose to be Giant-Sized Champions #1, another in a long line of pre-production tinkering for the team) told the tale of how these unlikely teammates would gather.

The hell it was to put this series together was reflected in the story...it was Pluto (Olympian god of the netherworld), who, in an agreement with other more demonic underlords to restrict the actions of Zeus, god-father of the Olympians (and Hercules in particular). Pluto's plan was to wed Hercules to Hippolyta (queen of the amazons), and Venus (the goddess of love) to Ares (the god of war), which would end their interference with his plans for Earth and Olympus. If the human friendly Olympians don't play along, the alliances he made with the netherworlder demons like Mephisto, Satan and the Demon of the Mask, would destroy Olympus. Hercules and Venus oppose this, along with the rest of the future Champions, but Pluto has Zeus' (father to the Olympian gods, and Hercules) aid in bringing them back to Olympus. The Earth heroes eventually figure out a way to Olympus and defeat Pluto's armies, but are not enough to stop the demonically backed Pluto himself. The Ghost Rider has to convince Zeus to stop Pluto (as Johnny Blaze knows a little about demons, and gets Zeus to realize that the only reason the underlords united was to topple Olympus). Venus stays behind to spread the message of love amongst the gods, and Hercules and the rest of the humans return to Earth.

Group Dynamics

The Champions next gather in Champions #4 (May 1976, by X-Men writer Chris Claremont and art by George Tuska, who also drew #3).

In this issue, the team faces Dr. Edward Lansing, who has a solution to the homeless problem – turning them into his mind controlled mutated slaves. Black Widow and Hercules are the first to stumble onto his plot, but the Mutates overpower the two. Dr. Lansing then uses his mind control box on the two ex-Avengers, and sends them to attack the two ex-X-Men (Iceman and Angel, seems the Avengers and X-Men always fight!) as well as Black Widow’s mentor, Ivan Petrovich, who were all at Angel’s beach house. In facing Ivan, Black Widow breaks her control, then turns to break Dr. Lansing’s control box…which frees Hercules and the Mutates, but the Mutates kill the Doctor. Angel decides at this point that the team should form on a regular basis, to be champions to protect the innocent. The Champions bid fair well to Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider #17 (April 1976, by Tony Isabella and Frank Robbins) but that’s just to allow Johnny Blaze time for his own series, and doesn’t stop their adventures.

On A Rampage

In Champions #5-6, (April and June of 1976, written by Tony Isabella and art by Don Heck in #5, and George Tuska in #6), the team faces an inventor, Stuart Clarke, who succumbed to the recession and uses his exo-skeleton to try to rob a bank. At the same time, Angel was securing his right to the Worthington fortune his mother left him, and the team battles Clarke (who gets the name, Rampage) and asks him to surrender, but Rampage instead tries to kill himself by exploding his suit’s jet back. Iceman manages to save everyone, even Clarke, who is injured by the blast. During all this, Black Widow is elected leader of the team.

Motorcycle Detour

The team briefly appears in Avengers #151 (September 1976), to comment on the hype around the announcement of the Avengers new roster (which will include ex-X-Man the Beast…he comes in more later). Ghost Rider is present as well, having returned from his team-ups with the Son of Satan, the Werewolf by Night, the Man-Thing, Morbius and Daredevil in Ghost Rider’s #17-20, Daredevil #138 and Marvel Premiere #28 (all from 1976, and explains why the motorcyclist from hell was not available for the two issues with Rampage).

Back To Full Strength

In Champions #7-10 (August-January 1976/1977), the team experiences a few explosive changes both inside and outside the book (as shown by this stunning cover by artists Gil Kane and Al Milgrom for issue #8! And, it wasn’t even a fully symbolic cover – as the damage done from this explosion gets Angel to switch from his costume to a red version of the blue costume he had worn in the X-Men, but more on that later,…so keep reading, true believer!).


Tony Isabella and George Tuska still write and draw issue #7, to set the stage, but Bill Mantlo becomes the new writer for the rest of the Champions series, with Bob Hall in some of his earliest work as an artist for issues #8-10.

The team changes at this time as well, starting with a temporary headquarters! And, the team just starts to settle in as they get to face a menace that's like a marriage...something old (armored Russian Iron Man foe, the Titanium Man), something new (the Russian mutant Darkstar, wielder of the darkforce), something borrowed (a new Russian named Yuri in the second Crimson Dynamo armor) and...well, something that fought something blue (that being the Griffin, who faced the blue-furred Beast and Angel back in Beast's solo stories in Amazing Adventures, as well as Spider-Man and the Beast; now returned to face the Angel and his friends in an attempt to get back to being human).

Griffin and Darkstar go to free Rampage from the hospital, while the returning Ghost Rider is headed there as well to meet the Champions' first costume foe of their own and use his "demon from hell" act to get some information from the bankrupt villain.

Meanwhile, the Titanium Man captures the Black Widow and her mentor, Alexi Bruskin. Rampage delivers the news of the Widow's capture to the rest of the Champions, but unbeknownst to him, his exoskeleton was booby-trapped by his supposed allies, exploding in an attempt to kill the Champions.

Thanks to Iceman, they survive, and Ghost Rider even saves Rampage. The explosion does cost Angel his costume, and he gets a red-colored variation of an old costume of his. The Russian villains then try to add Ivan Petrovich to the group they want to take home - and it is revealed why - Yuri is Ivan's estranged son. After a pitched battle in Los Angeles and in the Pacific Ocean, Bruskin dies, Darkstar switches sides, the Champions capture the Titanium Man and the Griffin and Yuri escapes. All the while, conflict grows amongst the Champions.

The conflict subsides for a while during the Christmas season, as the Champions celebrate together in Marvel Treasury Edition #13 (1975, by writer Roger Stern and artist George Tuska), where the team thinks Iceman delivered some snow...but instead it was a little Christmas magic in California!

And, the rest of the Marvel Champions' story will come soon, so stay tuned!

Black Widow Tales of Suspense

Black Widow got her start with Iron Man in the second movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe....and she got her start with Iron Man in the comics as well!

Tales of Suspense

With Tales of Suspense #52 (April, 1964 by Stan Lee and Don Heck), the Black Widow was introduced into the world of Iron Man!  

Natasha Romanoff was sent along with Boris Turgenev to kill Anton Vanko (the original Crimson Dynamo), as well as Tony Stark and Iron Man (not knowing they were one and the same.

Boris ended up becoming the next Crimson Dynamo for a time, and Natasha had established herself as a femme fatale in Iron Man's life....though not quite as active Black Widow has been seen!

Black Widow returned in Tales of Suspense #53 (May, 1964, by Stan Lee and Don Heck) in the aptly titled "The Black Widow Strikes Again!", and was a little more active in this appearance, using an anti-gravity device to battle the Armored Avenger...

...but still not being able to defeat him!

While quite stylish, an evening gown, gloves and fur are not the best way to battle a man in armor!  Next time around (in Tales of Suspense #57, September, 1964 by Stan Lee and Don Heck), Natasha uses her feminine wiles on the battling bowman known as Hawkeye, taking a misunderstanding he had with the police in his introduction to turn Hawkeye into a criminal, and set Hawkeye and Iron Man at odds!

Natasha was there again, setting Hawkeye against Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #60 (December, 1964 by Stan Lee and Don Heck), and things just got worse for Hawkeye, but it did seem Clint Barton and Natasha were getting closer for real...so much so, that when she appeared next in Tales of Suspense #64 (April, 1965, by Stan Lee and Don Heck), Natasha had a costumed identity of her own...but she didn't appear to be as much help as one would have thought, as she had been injured (enough that she wasn't as close to Hawkeye in their next appearance in a flashback in Avengers #16...and then Hawkeye joined the Avengers!  

Black Widow didn't appear in Avengers until Avengers #29...

....and didn't join the team until much later..

..though she did hang around with Earth's Mightiest Heroes for a time, and met Hercules, as well as the team finding her husband, the Red Guardian...the Russian version of Captain America).

It took a while of working on and off with the Avengers, and Natasha leaving Clint Barton (now as Goliath), and a chance meeting with Spider-Man in Amazing Spider-Man #86 (July, 1970, by Stan Lee and John Romita) for Natasha to get a new uniform, and start her own series in Amazing Adventures (that ran for 8 issues, from Amazing Adventures #1 to #8 from August, 1970 to September, 1971, sharing space with the Inhumans, no less), before moving over to Daredevil (from Daredevil #81 to #124, during which, Natasha finally joined the Avengers in Avengers #111 in May, 1973 briefly, and then moved on to a new super-hero team, the Champions).

 

Avengers History 201

Welcome back to our continuing Avengers coverage!

Picking up where we left off, we start with Avengers #35 (December 1966, art by Don Heck) and, welcome aboard Roy Thomas, as the new writer of the team, taking over for Stan Lee. This is the beginning of a more advanced Avengers run, so we’ll be moving through a little more quickly, and taking advantage of the rich history of the team and how much more connected the Avengers universe becomes.

Carrying A Heavy Load

The team proceeded along as usual, finishing their battle against the Living Laser, and fighting the invading robots called the Ultroids (over the course of issues #36 and 37, until meeting up with a demi-god in Avengers #38 (March 1967) and this was a different demi-god than the mighty Thor, who had been a member!). Though, oddly enough, that’s where he got his start.

Yes, Hercules began his legendary journeys (for mighty Marvel) in Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 (1965, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), then the son of Zeus continued his battles with Thor in his own magazine for a time, as well as his own Olympian father, Zeus (himself no stranger to using lightning as a weapon, not unlike Thor), and the Olympian lord of the underworld, Pluto (as Hercules tried to take Hollywood and got into a bad contract that his friend Thor helped him out with…ironic, as Hercules wasn’t to be in the Thor movie, or the Avengers movie…), before becoming a guest of the Avengers after a battle with the Enchantress, who wasn’t above using strong men in attempts to defeat the team.

The Avengers kept this super-strong demi-god busy for a while (fighting the Hulk in Tales To Astonish #79, Fantastic Four foes like the Mad Thinker in #39, Sub-Mariner in #40, Diablo and the Dragon Man in #41 and 42, meeting Black Widow along the way, who was having commitment issues with Hawkeye and the Red Guardian – a Russian version of Captain America - and she didn’t join the Avengers at this time in #43 and 44.

The Avengers faced a team of Avengers villains including former Avenger, the Swordsman, and the Enchantress and her two other strong men, Power Man and the Executioner, in their first Annual) before finally letting him join the team in Avengers #45 (October 1967, drawn by Don Heck, while facing the Super-Adaptoid, who had previously only menaced Captain America in Tales of Suspense). The team deals with Magneto in Avengers #47 and 49, and a few other problems like the Black Knight in Avengers #48 as well.

Hercules didn’t stick around long, leaving soon after a confrontation with the titan Typhon in Avengers #50 (March 1968, drawn by John Buscema, and Typhon first appeared in Avengers #49, also by John, though not on the cover) …and disappeared for a while after that as well. Over the years, Hercules would wander back to the team (usually to fight an Olympian menace like Ares, Herc’s half-brother and the god of war) and leave the Avengers for a time, meet up with Thor and help the son of Odin, co-founded the Champions (with Black Widow, Ghost Rider, Angel and Iceman) to combat Pluto, and just be the great Greek almost-god that he was living the life in Hollywood, and even recently became strong enough to carry his own title, the Incredible Hercules! True, Hercules has had difficulties over the years, but he’s always fought back!

African Royalty

But, with Hercules leaving, the team needed a new member, and were lucky enough to find one in the acrobatic Black Panther. T’Challa started out in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), and he was the chieftain of the land of Wakanda, a technologically advanced nation in Africa that controls the world’s supply of vibranium (a metal which absorbs vibrations). After testing himself against the FF, they aid him in his battle with Ulysses Klaw, the man who killed T’Chaka, the Panther’s father. T’Challa defeats Klaw, who returns as a being of sound thanks to his mechanical hand in Fantastic Four #56. (November 1966, by Lee and Kirby). After aiding the Fantastic Four and the Inhumans in a battle with the emotion-manipulating Psycho Man in Fantastic Four Annual #5, (November 1967, by Lee and Kirby) Black Panther goes to meet Captain America in Tales of Suspense #97-99 (1968) and Captain America #100 (April 1968, all by Lee and Kirby), as together, they battle the forces of Baron Zemo.

When the king and the super-soldier defeat the faux Zemo, Cap suggests that the Avengers take Black Panther as a member in Avengers #51 (April 1968, art by John Buscema) and T’Challa joins the team in Avengers #52 (May 1968, drawn by John Buscema) where the team needs the help against the Grim Reaper – a foe just introduced, but with ties to the Avengers’ past, he’s the brother of Simon Williams/Wonder Man (whom the Avengers haven’t dealt with since his “death” at the hands of the Masters of Evil), who holds the Avengers responsible for Wonder Man’s death. The Grim Reaper is the first of many villains that are introduced at this time that will come back to be a constant menace to the Avengers, no matter what their membership.

After a quick battle with the X-Men in X-Men #45 and Avengers #53, the new Avengers face a new Masters of Evil in Avengers #54-55, that includes some of the original members like the Melter and Radioactive Man, plus Black Panther foe Klaw and Whirlwind (formerly the Giant-Man & Wasp foe, the Human Top, who changed his name to Whirlwind when he returned in Avengers #46 to combat Goliath), a new Black Knight (Dane Whitman, the nephew of Nathan Garrett of the original Masters of Evil, who died after sustaining injuries fighting Iron Man…and as the Avengers found out in Avengers #48, was not villainous) and mystery villain, the Crimson Cowl, who is really the robotic Ultron (making his first appearance in Avengers #54, July, 1968 drawn by John Buscema). Ultron is like the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going!

The coming of Ultron…leads into the induction of the next two Avengers, and their creation as well, which the team deals with after getting a little more information on Cap’s past and how he came to be frozen in Avengers #56, (September 1968, art by John Buscema) and dealing with the time-traveling Scarlet Centurion (yes, he’s an alternate Kang too and comes back as a menace to another alternate world) and alternate versions the early Avengers in Avengers Annual #2 (1968). This is an early example of the Avengers traveling to alternate dimensions and through time…something they will continue to do, even recruiting from those places…and time is something that will reveal more about the next Avenger as well....and we'll have more on them soon!

Though Black Panther didn't leave the Avengers for a while, it take a little time for him to get his own series, first in Jungle Action (from issues #5 to #24), then his first own series that lasted 15 issues from January, 1977 to May, 1979 (finally ending in Marvel Premiere #51 to #53), and back to working with the Fantastic Four, and having a few mini-series, and then a 62 issue series from November, 1998 to September, 2003 and another regular series lasting 41 issues from April, 2005 to November, 2008 that involves him with the X-Men and Fantastic Four as well as the Avengers and the Civil War! 

Marvel's Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bags

Back in the day, Marvel had over sized Treasury comics, having some new stories, but mostly reprints.

 

 

Marvel did three holiday themed collections, and here they are for your enjoyment!

Christmas 1974

The first of Marvel's three Christmas specials was the Marvel Treasury Special, Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag of 1974 and a cover by John Buscema and John Romita.

This collection contained Marvel Team-Up #1 (March, 1972) by Roy Thomas and Ross Andru, and had Spider-Man and the Human Torch facing the Sandman in "Have Yourself A Sandman Little Christmas!"; Daredevil gets a present of his new all-red suit and faces an angry Atlantean "In Mortal Combat With...The Sub-Mariner!" in a story by Stan Lee and Wally Wood from Daredevil #7 (April, 1965);

Black Widow faces off against the Astrologer in "...And To All A Good Night" by Roy Thomas and Gene Colan from Amazing Adventures #5 (March, 1971) and most of the Marvel Universe comes together for the Hulk to face the Thing (with the rest of the Avengers and Fantastic Four around), with Fantastic Four #25 and 26 from 1964 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, because nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a fist to the face (well, at least that's how it goes in the Mighty Marvel world!).

Christmas 1975

The second of Marvel's three Christmas specials was 1975's Marvel Treasury Edition #8 with a front cover by John Romita.

This collection contains the stories of "Twas The Night Before Christmas" from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #10 (March, 1969) by Gary Friedrich and Frank Springer, with Nick Fury facing a grinch to his holiday fun in the form of the Hate-Monger; Spider-Man finds the holidays can make you crazy (though Mysterio might be helping) in "Spider-Man Goes Mad" from Amazing Spider-Man #24 (May, 1965) by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; it's not a sweet Christmas for Luke Cage as he faces a mad bomber named Marley in "Jingle Bombs" from Hero For Hire #7 (March, 1973) by Steve Englehart and George Tuska;

the Hulk finds out that "Heaven Is A Very Small Place!" in a story by Roy Thomas and and Herb Trimpe from the Incredible Hulk #147 (January, 1972), and Dr. Strange faces Eternity on New Year's Eve in the Roy Thomas/Gene Colan story from Doctor Strange #180 (May, 1969).

Christmas 1976

The third of Marvel's three Christmas specials was 1976's Marvel Treasury Edition #13, with a front cover by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott.

Collected here for your yuletide enjoyment...are the stories by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane from Marvel Team-Up #8 (January, 1973) with the Spider-Man and the Thing getting involved in a battle between the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master (as well as some of the family problems between Ben's blind girl friend, Alicia, and her father, who happens to be the Puppet Master) in "As Those Who Will Not See!"; seeing that "Even An Android Can Cry" in a story by Roy Thomas and John Buscema from Avengers #58 (November, 1968) because the Vision joined the Avengers; the Hulk and the Silver Surfer have a battle like in-laws in "He Who Strikes the Silver Surfer" from Tales To Astonish #93 (July, 1967) by Stan Lee and Marie Severin; Daredevil fights with the second Ox of the Enforcers in "Once Upon A Time...The Ox!" from Daredevil #86 (April, 1972) by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan; and all these stories are sandwiched between a new Fantastic Four/Avengers story (with a few extra guests like the Champions, Daredevil and the Defenders) by Roger Stern and George Tuska!

Makes all this better than holiday leftovers!  May you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!