CAPTAIN AMERICA #253 & #254

So, since we just wrapped up the entirety of the original INVADERS series last week, and since today happens to be Independence Day, the most patriotic holiday here in America, I figured I'd take advantage of the happy coincidence to dust off a couple of Captain America-themed posts from the early days of the blog which serve as a bit of a coda to the adventures of the Invaders.

In 1980/81, Roger Stern and John Byrne had an acclaimed and all-too-brief turn as the creative team on CAPTAIN AMERICA. And their final real story (not counting the retelling of Cap's origin they did an issue later) revisited the Invaders. I have to admit, it never really dawned on me how soon these issues came along after INVADERS ended! That series' final issue was cover-dated September of 1979, and this two-parter is from January and February of 1981. A mere fifteen months separated the conclusion of INVADERS and Stern's and Byrne's epilogue to the series!

(I suspect in part that's simply due to the fact that INVADERS feels like a Silver Age throwback to me. The artwork, the scripting style, even some of the plotting -- it's all incongruous with the Bronze Age that was in full swing alongside it. So even though I know when INVADERS was published, it feels like it was published about a decade earlier.)

So, without further ado, here are two posts that originally went up eight years ago, showing us whatever happened to the greatest heroes of World War II:

CAPTAIN AMERICA #253
CAPTAIN AMERICA #254

Okay, I actually do have one final bit of ado: I didn't reference it in the continuity notes for CAP 253, but you'll see it in a screenshot there: Jacqueline Falsworth (-Chrichton) mentions that her brother, Brian -- a.k.a. the Union Jack we just spent several weeks reading about -- died off-panel in a car accident after the war. Kind of an inauspicious end! Mind you, it makes sense that Stern and Byrne wanted the second U.J. off the table to tell their story of the mantle being passed. And yeah, it does add a bit of unfortunate realism to the proceedings -- not every hero goes out in a blaze of glory. But it still feels like a waste to see the character done away with via an offhanded remark like that.

See you in a week, when I reveal what's next on the schedule! (Though if you were reading the earliest INVADERS reviews last year, I already spoiled way back then.)

SONS OF THE TIGER PART 15 - MEANWHILE...

And now we wrap up the saga of the White Tiger with a couple of "reruns" from the earlier days of this blog. Way back in 2014, I looked at one of my all-time favorite Marvel runs -- Roger Stern's tenure on SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN from the early eighties. As part of his work on the former title, Stern decided to revisit Hector Ayala and, at least at the time, give his story a conclusion. Stern did a story about a hero-killing vigilante called Gideon Mace, and I suppose he needed to show that Mace was serious business, so he decided to have him cripple Spidey's pal from SPECTACULAR's earlier days.

When I read this at the time (and previously, in my younger days), I didn't think much of it since the Tiger was a curiosity and not a character with whom I was terribly familiar. But now, with the benefit of having seen his earliest appearances in DEADLY HANDS and some of his struggles in SPECTACULAR, Stern's callous treatment of the Tiger and his family, characters into whom Bill Mantlo clearly had invested a great deal of his energies and interest (and into whom George Pérez had injected biographical tidbits from his own life and family), reads differently, and is perhaps a blemish on his otherwise wonderful run.

But I'll let you decide! Following are my looks at the White Tiger backup serial Stern used to set up his Gideon Mace tale, and then Spider-Man's battle against Mace himself, originally posted here way back in the summer of '14:

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: THE WHITE TIGER SERIAL
PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #52

But if, after reading these stories, you think Roger Stern was rough on the Tiger, just remember that a couple decades later, in the pages of DAREDEVIL, Brian Bendis had him framed for a crime he didn't commit, after which he was gunned down and killed by cops while trying to clear his name.

So that's it for the White Tiger, but we're not quite finished with this saga yet. There's still one last big dangling plot left over from the final days of DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU, so I broke out the Comicraft fonts and prepared a little "primer" to get you ready for it:

DAREDEVIL #168

"ELEKTRA"
Artist and Writer : Frank Miller | Inker/Embellisher: Klaus Janson
Colorist: Dr. Martin | Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Denny O’Neil | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: In search of a thief under the protection of Eric Slaughter, Daredevil runs afoul of a bounty hunter whose voice he recognizes as that of Elektra, the woman he loved in college. Elektra knocks DD out and, while unconscious, he flashes back to their time together.

When he comes around, Daredevil continues his search for the missing thief, and he and Elektra cross paths once more on the waterfront as Slaughter is about to send his charge away in a seaplane. Elektra realizes that Daredevil is Matt Murdock when he saves her life. He then leaves her on the pier as the police approach.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Daredevil’s search for the missing thief brings him into contact with Turk, who reminds DD and the readers of their last altercation on Coney Island in issue 161.Turk’s boss, Eric Slaughter, puts in an appearance here as well.

But more importantly, this issue features the debut of Elektra, possibly Frank Miller’s most iconic creation. We meet her first via a brief skirmish with Daredevil, and then her backstory is quickly filled in by way of an extended flashback to Matt Murdock’s college days. The short of it is that she was the daughter of the Greek ambassador, studying in the United States. She and Matt fell head over heels for one another very quickly, leading him to reveal his powers to her. But Elektra left school abruptly a year later when he father was killed by the police in a botched attempt to defuse a hostage situation.

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: THE WHITE TIGER SERIAL

"...THE WHITE TIGER" | "A KILLER ELITE" | "THE MENACE OF GIDEON MACE!"
Writer: Roger Stern | Penciler: Denys Cowan
Inkers: Jim Mooney, Dave Humphreys, Josef Rubenstein
Letterers: Joe Rosen, Jim Novak | Colorists: Ed Hannigan, Christie Scheele
Editor: Dennis O'Neil | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Nathaniel Alexander Byrd, a private detective called Blackbyrd, speaks with a stool pigeon named Lou Gunther. He tells Gunther the history of the Hector Ayala, a.k.a. the White Tiger, his tale culminating with the murder of the Tiger's family one night before. Blackbyrd wants to know who did it, as does the White Tiger -- who arrives moments after the story has been told.

Gunther tells the Tiger that it was "out of town muscle" who murdered his parents and sister, and the Tiger vows to track them down. He heads for the abandoned candy shop Gunther says they have been using as a headquarters, where he finds the men -- a highly trianed military unit led by Colonel Gideon Mace -- holed up.

Mace's soldiers battle the Tiger until he is forced to retreat, but he finds his attempted point of egress -- a window -- to be painted onto the wall by Mace as a trap. With his back literally against the wall, the White Tiger is gunned down by Mace, who proclaims him the first victim of a crusade to rid New York City of all its superhuman residents.

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #50

"DILEMMA!"
Writer: Roger Stern | Artists: John Romita, Jr. & Jim Mooney
Letterer: Jim Novak | Colorist: Ben Sean | Editor: Dennis O'Neil
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Still holding the Smuggler with one hand and unable to reload his web-shooters, Spider-Man decides to walk his prisoner to the police. But first he checks on the Smuggler's men, who have recovered from last issue's fight and are lying in wait to ambush the wall-crawler. Alerted by his spider-sense, our hero pushes the Smuggler into the room first, and he is K.O.d by his own men. Spider-Man then takes the goons out and finally reloads his webbing. After webbing up the Smuggler's men, Spider-Man leaves with the villain and hops a ride on the nearest train back to Manhattan. But the Smuggler gets loose and another brief fight breaks out, culminating in the villain being electrocuted into unconsciousness by the third rail. A bystander calls for the police, and Spider-Man finally heads home.

The next day, Peter Parker and Debra Whitman meet Aunt May and her fiance, Nathan Lubensky, at the Restwell Nursing Home. The group goes out to lunch, but their meal is interrupted by a group of surly waiters. Peter removes one of the men's life-like masks to reveal that they are actually aliens. The aliens declare that they are after the treasure of Dutch Mallone, and Peter says that only he knows where it is. The aliens abduct Peter, bringing him aboard their spacecraft, where our hero is confronted by their new ally -- Mysterio.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #253

"SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT"
Writer/Co-Plotters/Penciler: Roger Stern & John Byrne
Inker: Joe Rubinstein | Letterer: Jim Novak | Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Captain America is summoned to England by Lord Falsworth, the retired Word War II hero called Union Jack, to investigate a string of murders around Falsworth Manor. Falsworth is convinced that his brother, the Nazi vampire Baron Blood, is behind the killings, and Cap does some sleuthing to determine that Blood is indeed on the loose. That night, Blood sneaks into Falsworth Manor to kill Captain America.

Continuity Notes: Cap foils a robbery in the early pages of the issue before going on a date with Bernie Rosenthal as Steve Rogers. The couple sees "Oklahoma!" at Steve's insistence, despite Bernie's preferred choice of the risqué "Oh! Calcutta!", which Steve believes he is not yet ready for. Bernie then comments on Steve's generally old-fashioned tastes.

Bernie and Steve's first kiss is prevented when Avengers butler Jarvis calls from Avengers Mansion to inform Steve of the telegram which summons him to England. When Steve tells Bernie has to leave, she makes up a story about an old boyfriend to make him jealous. The resultant panels are two of the finest examples of Marvel angst you'll ever see.

IRON MAN #142

"SKY DIE!"
Plot/Writer: David Michelinie | Plot/Finished Art: Bob Layton
Pencil Art: John Romita, Jr. | Letters: John Costanza | Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup | Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Tony, Bethany, and Ling return to Stark International to find a horde of Stark employees awaiting Tony's attention for various matters. Among these issues is the fact that a SHIELD unit, led by Nick Fury, has moved into Stark's analytical lab complex to investigate the mystery of Allentown. After making a date with Bethany for later that night, Tony speaks with Fury and learns the fate of Allentown. SHIELD has deduced that the town's citizens were killed by a bombardment of microwave radiation from outer space.

Leaving Fury and his men to their investigation, Tony returns to his office, where he is greeted by Senator Mountebank, who tries to persuade Tony to cover up the Allentown situation. Tony kicks Mountebank out and returns to work. Meanwhile, Stark's director of communications, Mike Trudeau, receives a call from a mysterious employer, ordering him to shut down SHIELD's investigation. Trudeau steals the recently rebuilt Jupiter Landing Vehicle and attacks the lab complex. Iron Man defeats the JLV and has Trudeau taken into custody.

Realizing more is going on than he'd initially realized, Iron Man dons his prototype outer space armor and flies to Allentown. Tracing the microwave radiation to its source, he flies into space and finds an enormous Roxxon space station orbiting the Earth.