INVADERS #19

"WAR COMES TO THE WILHELMSTRASSE"
Author/Editor: Roy Thomas | Illustrators/Innovators: Frank Robbins & Frank Springer
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Goerge Roussos | Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Namor, the Human Torch, Toro, and Bucky, all captives of the Third Reich, are paraded through Berlin. Captain America and the Destroyer observe from hiding, until Bucky angers a Nazi guard. When the guard prepares to shoot Bucky, Cap leaps into action, and the Destroyer follows. But in the ensuing skirmish, the Destroyer is killed by a grenade blast, and Cap is captured.

The entire incident is observed from hiding by Lord Falsworth, Spitfire, Dyna-Mite, and their aide, Oskar. The quartet has come to Berlin seeking a way to restore Dyna-Mite to his normal size, and looking for Falsworth's son, Brian. When the group heads to the Nazi Institute of Science, they run across the scientist who altered Dyna-Mite and the other Crusaders, but he captures them with a trap door and some knockout gas.

The next morning, Spitfire stands alongside the other Invaders, all drugged to prevent escape, for execution. As Master Man and Warrior Woman stand before a minister to be publicly wed, Hitler orders a firing squad to finish the Invaders. But before the squad can carry out this command, Union Jack leaps into the scene.

INVADERS #18

"ENTER: THE MIGHTY DESTROYER!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas | Illustrators: Frank Robbins & Frank Springer
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: George Roussos

The Plot: Captain America, hurled from Hitler's fortress ramparts by Warrior Woman, plummets toward the ground -- but he manages to break his fall with his shield and is caught on the ground by a costumed mystery man. Meanwhile, Hitler orders that Master Man and Warrior Woman will be wed to sire a new race of superhumans. When Warrior Woman bristles at this, Hitler gives her time to think it over.

Three Nazi soldiers arrive to collect Captain America's body, but instead find themselves attacked by Cap and the man who saved him, the Mighty Destroyer. The duo defeats the soliders and then ducks into the Destroyer's cavern hideout, where he describes his origin to Cap. Meanwhile, Hitler orders the imprisoned Invaders loaded up for transport to Berlin, where they will be publicly executed.

At that moment, Spitfire, Lord Falsworth, and Dyna-Mite arrive secretly in Berlin and link up with Oskar, an old German friend of Falsworth's. Back at the fortress, Warrior Woman orders Private Biljo White executed -- but after she departs, Cap and the Destroyer rescue him, and then learn that the Invaders have already been taken away.

INVADERS #17

"THE MAKING OF WARRIOR WOMAN, 1942!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas | Illustrators: Frank Robbins & Frank Springer
Colorist: George Roussos | Letterer: John Costanza

The Plot: Hitler and Master Man gloat over the imprisoned Invaders, then depart. Meanwhile, Private Biljo White is interrogated by the woman he once knew as Julia, but who now identifies herslef as Madame Ratzel. When Ratzel hypnotizes him, White tells her that he grew up with a man who is now a government scientist, and who told him that one of the key ingredients in the Super Soldier Serum is potassium.

Realizing this was the one ingredient Brain Drain lacked when he created Master Man, Ratzel quickly sets about creating a new serum. But she is interrupted by a Captain Schneider, who realizes she plans to test the serum on herself. Schneider tries to stop her, and in the ensuing struggle, Ratzel's machinery explodes. Schneider is killed, while Ratzel is empowered with superhuman strength.

The Invaders manage to free themselves and confront Hitler and Master Man on the ramparts of Hitler's fortress. But when Ratzel arrives, calling herself Kriegerfrau -- "Warrior Woman" -- the heroes once again fall. Captain America is hurled off the castle, and the rest of the team is recaptured.

INVADERS #16

"THE SHORT, HAPPY LIFE OF MAJOR VICTORY!"
Author/Editor: Roy Thomas
Guest Artist: Jim Mooney | Embellisher in Residence: Frank Springer
Colorist: Janice Cohen | Letterer: John Costanza

The Plot: Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes watch a newsreel of a recent Invaders misson to France. Afterward, when London suddenly blacks out, they change to costume in time to stumble onto the kidnapping of an American soldier by Nazi agents. Cap and Bucky intervene, but are unable to prevent the abduction.

Soon, the duo regroups with the other Invaders, where they are briefed by their superiors on a Nazi plot to kidnap an American soldier. Cap explains that the kidnapping has already happened, and gives the soldier's name, which he overhead: Private Biljo White. Toro and Bucky realize White was the artist on the hottest new American comic book, MAJOR VICTORY, and Cap knows that since he was drafted, he has been drawing cartoons for the armed forces' Stars and Stripes newspaper. When Cap shows everyone the most recent issue of MAJOR VICTORY, the group is shocked to see that White's origin for the title character mirrors Cap's own origin very closely. Realizing that the Nazis believe White harbors some secrets about the Super Soldier formula, the Invaders head out to find him.

Deducing that the Nazis would have brought White directly to Hitler's fortress, Berchtesgaden, the heroes head there -- but upon arrival, they are attacked by Master Man, empowered once more and now able to fly. Master Man takes out the entire group with ease. When the come to inside the fortress, the Invaders find themselves face-to-face with Hitler himself.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey, gang! We're taking a week off from the Invaders for my annual "Year in Review"/"State of the Blog" post -- and I have to say, things are looking pretty good around here at the moment. Though it seems like a lifetime ago, when the year started, I was still watching the first season of AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES. That took us all the way through March, and I somehow managed to get back to my old schedule of posts on Mondays and Fridays for that entire first quarter of the year! The Fridays brought us looks at a few DRAGON BALL SUPER volumes, followed by Marck Schultz's XENOZOIC TALES and some European comics (namely, RIC HOCHET, MISS OCTOBER, and BOB MORANE) -- all of which can be found on the Manga Reviews and Miscellaneous Reviews pages linked at right. From there, it was back to one post a week for the rest of the year, with a focus on 1970s Marvel: the Sons of the Tiger and White Tiger, followed by the still-ongoing INVADERS.

And like I said, I think things are looking good at the moment. I actually finished the INVADERS series a few months ago, and that backlog of posts is scheduled to go up all the way through June. I think this is the furthest ahead I've been on the blog since the end of 2016, when I had the entirety of Frank Miller's DAREDEVIL, in the queue before the year even began! I've even finished and moved beyond the project that will follow INVADERS at this point, though I won't give it away just yet.

So what this means is that, at some point, Friday posts will return again. i don't know exactly when, and I'm not sure I'll keep up Fridays all year, but I think I can at least manage a full quarter of them like I did last year.

Unfortunately, there was one casualty to my posting schedule this year. I've quietly discontiued The Unboxing. I did one in January, and then before I knew it, I realized it was October and I hadn't done another! As I've mentioned before, this was due to a couple of reasons: the first being that, quite simply, Marvel hasn't put out that many books I've wanted lately! Yeah, I still grab things in digital sales at Comixology, but even that happens less frequently than it used to.

And as far as physical volumes? Well, I've basically quit trade paperbacks at this point, preferring to "Omnibus wait", since nearly everything I'm after reaches that prestige format eventually. And I'll admit that I did Unbox a few Omnibuses this year -- specifically, for those who might be curious, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN volume 5, CAPTAIN AMERICA BY DAN JURGENS, THUNDERBOLTS volume 1, and UNCANNY X-MEN volume 4 -- but I just never found the time to photograph them and write up posts.

(And by the way, for those who are into such things, watch for the THUNDERBOLTS OMNIBUS vol. 2, coming in just a month or so! I love that Marvel is fast-tracking this long-overdue series.)

Huh. My year in review turned into a mini-Unboxing all its own. Heck, maybe that's what I'll do from now on: one annual Unboxing every January, to cover whatever I acquired throughout the year. It's just crazy enough to work...!

Anyway, that about sums it up, folks! Watch for our manga announcement this Friday, and then we'll return to our regularly scheduled INVADERS coverage one week from today!

INVADERS ANNUAL #1

"OKAY, AXIS--HERE WE COME!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas
Illustrators: Frank Robbins & Frank Springer (Chapters 1 & 5),
Alex Schomburg (Chapter 2), Don Rico (Chapter 3), Lee Elias & Frank Springer (Chapter 4)
Colorist: Sam Kato | Letterers: Darn Near Everybody! | Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: In London, the Invaders meet with their British and American liaisons and are informed that three of their old enemies have resurfaces, working for the Axis powers, in the United States. Captain America, Namor, and the Human Torch head for the East Coast, where they split up to search for their sparring partners.

First, the Torch finds his foe, the Hyena, out to hijack a shipment of valuable medical supplies. The Torch lays a trap and intercepts the Hyena's ambush, but the Hyena has a trap of his own waiting for the Torch. After capturing his enemy, the Hyena extracts some of the Torch's blood for use in making super-powered Nazi agents, and then prepares to kill the Torch -- but the hero vanishes into thin air before the Hyena can finish him.

Elsewhere, Captain America arrives at the Statue of Liberty to meet an FBI contact, but is shocked that the man is a mere puppet of the sinister Agent Axis. Axis has come to take Captain America's shield, and already has his originial triangular shield with him, which he has determined has no special properties. Cap fights back against Axis, and their battle takes them up the statue. Cap flings his shield at the villain, but it's magnetically pulled to a nearby autogyro. Seconds later, with only his triangular shield in-hand, Cap vanishes, to reappear in a featureless void beside the Human Torch.

Namor jumps from his flagship to protect a British ship from an attack by the Shark. But the Shark's electrified torpedo knocks out the Sub-Mariner, and when he comes around, he finds himself a prisoner of the Shark, who has taken his special scaled trunks for study. Namor manages to get free, but vanishes, reappearing with the Human Torch and Captain America. The trio then mateiralizes in front of the Lourve in occupied Paris, face-to-face with three costumed characters who they assume to be Axis agents.

The Invaders battle these strangers, Black Panther, Yellowjacket, and the Vision, but the strangers, who identify themselves as the Avengers, are victorious. Briefly, the Avengers explain that the battle is part of a contest between cosmic beings called Kang and the Grand Master, then both groups vanish. The Grandmaster returns the Invaders to their proper time, where they confront Agent Axis, the Shark, and the Hyena aboard the Shark's boat. The Invaders win the day, recover the blood, shield, and trunks, and head home.

INVADERS #15

"GOD SAVE THE KING!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas | Artists: Frank Robbins & Frank Springer
Colorist: Don Warfield | Letterer: John Costanza

The Plot: The Invaders discuss King George's order to replace them with the Crusaders as his honor guard at the christening of a new warship. With urging from Spitfire, they finally agree to give up their roles at the ceremony. Meanwhile, the Crusaders meet with their handler, the cab driver Alfie, who shows them photos proving the Invaders are actually Nazi agents.

Alfie then departs and, from a secret waterfront lair, reports in to his superiors in Germany that the Crusaders have fallen into line. But Alfie has been followed by Dyna-Mite, who he tosses into the sea. Dyna-Mite escapes the water and makes his way to Falsworth Manor, where he warns the Invaders of Alfie's plan. The next morning, the Invaders -- less Spitfire, who remained behind to tend to Dyna-Mite -- arrive to stop King George from breaking a booby-trapped champagne bottle. The two super-teams come to blows, but when the bottle explodes -- harmlessly thanks to the Human Torch and Namor -- the Crusaders realize they've been had. Alfie makes a break for it and the Torch pursues, but Alfie drives off the Tower Bridge and his flaming car explodes in midair.

With Alfie dead, the control belt that provided the Crusaders with their powers is gone as well, leaving the group normal humans once more. They make peace with the Invaders, who then head back to Falsworth Manor -- where they discover that Spitfire, Lord Falsworth, and Dyna-Mite have departed on a secret mission.