Spinning out of the 11 issue reprint book
Fantasy Masterpieces was
Marvel Super-Heroes. Already covered
was Marvel Super-Heroes #12-16,
but here we go onward! But first, what reprints were in those issues?
Mostly, it was old sci-fi stories, golden age Captain America stories,
golden age Human Torch stories, golden age Sub-Mariner stories…and even
stories from the 1950s…that of the medieval Black Knight!
That leads us back to the new stories in
Marvel Super-Heroes, and the next issue in line…
A Knight In Time
Marvel Super-Heroes #17 (November, 1968 by
Roy Thomas and
Howard Purcell) features Dane Whitman, the nephew of Nathan Garrett (a foe of Giant-Man’s and member of the original Masters of Evil), but Nathan died, passing along the mantle of Black Knight to Dane (and Dane first became the Black Knight in
Avengers #48). In
MSH #17,
Dane meets the spirit of Sir Percy (the original Black Knight) and gets
the Ebony Blade and defeats Le Sabre (Paul Richarde) who was chosen to
oppose the Black Knight. The Black Knight was an on-again, off-again
Avenger for many years, but it took until 1990 for him to have a four
issue limited series (by
Roy and
Dann Thomas and
Tony DeZuniga).
Marvel Super-Heroes #17 was reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks Volume 84: Avengers #7 (along with
Avengers #59-68,
Black Knight’s earlier appearances were in the previous 2 Avengers
Marvel Masterworks) and all 5 issues of Sir Percy’s Black Knight were
reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks Volume 123 : Atlas Era Black Knight/Yellow Claw.
Defenders of the Future
Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (January, 1969) has writer
Arnold Drake and artist
Gene Colan
taking the reader to the future of the Marvel Universe… 3007, to be
exact. That’s when astronaut Major Vance Astro arrived at Alpha
Centauri from Earth (of 1988, at the time…the future!) after over 1000
in suspended animation and forced to wear that suit or he’d age away!
While there, he met Charlie-27, an extra dense soldier from Jupiter;
Martinex (a crystalline being from Pluto); and Yondu, an archer who was
native to the fourth world of Alpha Centauri. These men united to fight
the Badoon…to free Earth! The team didn’t appear again until
Marvel Two-In-One #4-5 (July-September 1974) and then in
Giant-Size Defenders #2 and
Defenders #26-29 (in 1975) fighting along side modern heroes like the Thing, Captain America and the Defenders. The team added Starhawk to their membership while fighting alongside the Defenders, then were featured in
Marvel Presents #3-12
(where they added Mercurian female Nikki to the line up) in the
1970s…and encountered the Avengers during their war with Korvac and met
Spider-Man in
Marvel Team-Up, as well as Ms.
Marvel in the last issue of her book (and Vance Astro met his Marvel
world counterpart, Vance Astrovik, who would later be known as Justice
of the New Warriors when working with the Thing in
Marvel Two-In-One). While not having a Masterwork,
Marvel Super-Heroes #18 is reprinted in
Guardians of the Galaxy: Earth Shall Overcome and in
Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow’s Avengers (along with their earliest appearances in other books).
Welcome to the Jungle
Ka-Zar, Marvel’s jungle hero, swings into
Marvel Super-Heroes #19 (March, 1969) in a story by
Arnold Drake and
Steve Parkhouse with art by
George Tuska (and a cover by
Barry Smith, before he became
Barry Windsor-Smith).
The lord of the Savage Land and his pet sabretooth tiger Zabu faced off
against Kevin’s brother, the Plunderer in this series that pulled
together the history of a character (Ka-Zar/Kevin Plunder first appeared
in
X-Men #10 in March, 1965 by
Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby, and Lord Parnival Plunder/the Plunderer was first in
Daredevil #12, in January, 1966 by
Stan Lee,
Jack Kirby and
John Romita) who bounced around the Marvel Universe…and led to his own title (which oddly reprinted earlier Ka-Zar appearances in
Daredevil and
Amazing Spider-Man, yet had new stories of Hercules and the Angel), but had new stories in
Astonishing Tales (which he shared with someone….well, for the first 8 issues anyway). Ka-Zar spent his time in the 20 issues of
Astonishing Tales fighting
A.I.M., Spider-Man foe Kraven the Hunter, the Man-Thing, member of the
Zodiac Gemini, the Plunderer and Victorius (a scientist trying
to re-invent Captain America’s super-soldier serum) as well as working
with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Bobbi Morse (who eventually
became Mockingbird)!
Marvel Super-Heroes #19, along with the first 16 issues of
Astonishing Tales were presented in
Marvel Masterworks Volume 190: Ka-Zar #1.
He Shall Be Your Doom
Marvel Super-Heroes #20 (May, 1969, in an issue written by
Larry Lieber and
Roy Thomas and drawn by
Larry Lieber and
Frank Giacoia) was
the last issue to feature new stories in the 1960s…and it didn’t even
really feature a hero! Instead, it featured Victor von Doom, the foe of
the Fantastic Four (since
Fantastic Four #5 by
Lee and
Kirby in
July, 1962)…Doctor Doom! With “This Man…This Demon!”, we saw the
softer side of the monarch of Latveria…as he battled el Diablo (another
foe of the Fantastic Four) and met the love of his live…Valeria. Still,
this wasn’t the only attempt to portray Doom as a hero, as he joined
Ka-Zar as half the feature of
Astonishing Tales for
its first 8 issues (from August, 1970 to October, 1971) where he fought
the Doomsman, Red Skull, the Black Panther…and even Satan at the end,
for the soul of his mother). Doom even had another crack at a title,
with
Super-Villain Team-Up (where he worked with Sub-Mariner for two
Giant-Size issues and 13 regular issues, then against Magneto in
#14, before a reprinting the
Astonishing Tales vs. the Red Skull in #
15,
who finished out the last two issues with MODOK and the Hate-Monger but
not Doom). Still, you won’t have to be without Dr. Doom as Marvel
plans to reprint
Marvel Super-Heroes #20 along with the first 8 Doom
Astonishing Tales in
Marvel Masterworks Volume 209: Dr. Doom #1!
The title then went to all reprints, being X-Men and the Avengers to start, then Iron Man and Daredevil, before settling on the Incredible Hulk until its end with issue
#105 (facing the Rhino, no less)! But, for a while, there were new tales in
Marvel Super-Heroes!
