INVADERS #22

"THE FIRE THAT DIED!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas | Artists: Jim Mooney & Frank Springer
Colorist: Phil Rachelson | Letterer: John Costanza
Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: The Invaders board the British vessel Forester, which ferries them back to England in order to get medical attention for Toro. On the way, the Human Torch tells his friends the true origin of his young ward.

Continuity Notes: The Torch says that he met Toro in 1940's HUMAN TORCH #1, "nearly two years" before the events of this issue. The story the public knows is that the Torch met Toro when he was part of an act in a circus, and adopted him as a crime-fighting partner after his parents were killed in a train accident. The Torch fills in some blanks, however: Toro is actually the son of Fred Raymond, lab assistant to the Torch's creator, Professor Horton. Raymond is a specialist on asbestos, and has contracted a terminal disease due to his work with the substance. But this doesn't stop him from marrying his sweetheart, Nora, who is also dying due to exposure to radium.

The couple welcomes a child soon after their wedding, but are shortly accosted by the Human Torch's enemy, Asbestos Lady, who wants Raymond to work for her. The Torch saves them and learns from the couple that Toro is a mutant, with flame-based powers. The Torch decides to keep an eye on the Raymonds, but fails to protect them from the train accident, which -- unknown the general public -- was staged by Asbestos Lady. Toro is adoped by the circus fire-eaters, and his survival of the crash soon becomes public knowledge. Asbestos Lady and the Human Torch both go to the circus for him, and Toro's powers awaken as he helps the Torch defeat Asbestos Lady.

INVADERS #20 & #21

"THE BATTLE OF BERLIN!" | "THE BATTLE OF BERLIN! PART TWO!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas | Illustrators: Frank Robbins & Frank Springer
Letterers: Tom Orzechowski (#20) & John Costanza (#21)
Colorists: Don Dickens (#20) & Sam Kato (#21) | Consulting Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: (Issue 20) As Union Jack battles the Nazis, the Invaders shake off the effects of their drugs and join the fray. But Toro is shot, sending the Human Torch into a frenzy. As soon as Master Man and Warrior Woman are married, Hitler sends them into the fight, running off with Captain America's shield. Hitler and his scientist, Colonel Dietrich, board a plane and fly off, unaware that Dyna-Mite has hitched a ride.

(Issue 21) Dyna-Mite reveals himself and takes out Hitler's guards, but the dictator bails out of the plane, which is actually being piloted by Lord Falsworth and his aide, Oskar, to evade capture. On the ground, the Invaders are on the defensive against the Nazi army, Master Man, and Warrior Woman. When the plane comes back around, they board it and fly out of Germany, barely making it back to the English Channel. There, the crashed heroes are rescued by a British patrol boat, as the Torch declares that Toro needs medical care.

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!