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Sometimes you see something that you just have to have - and so it was with The Invaders #8 when I saw it on eBay recently. I owned the comic back in 1976 when it first came out (or was it 1977 before it turned up on our shores?) and seeing it again brought back welcome memories of that far-away and long-ago period in my young life. Haven't re-read it yet, but I'll get around to it before too long.
Regarding the cover, it has the usual impact of a Jack Kirby piece, but the decline in the King's talents had well-and-truly set in. Far too many squiggles that bear no resemblance to reality in place of accurate musculature or anatomy, making the cover look busy, but with what I call pseudo-detail as opposed to the real deal. Anyway, I've got an early slice of my past life back and I'm a very happy chappie.
Interior artist Frank Robbins' style was always controversial, then and now, but he was a good visual storyteller and made the comic stand out among other mags of the time. Personally, I quite like it and it really suited Batman when Robbins worked for the Distinguished Competition.
Did you have this issue back in the day, Crivvies, and if so, what did you think of it and The Invaders in general? Do tell in the you-know-where. Incidentally, I've just purchased the first volume of The Complete Collection, so I'll give you a look at that when it arrives.
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22 comments:
Still have that issue. I know we disagree on this point, but I really find Kirby's covers from this period quite fetching. They can be quite hectic, but are bursting with energy. I've always really liked the work of Frank Robbins and his work on The Invaders was exciting to behold.
I couldn't stand The Invaders and why were British superheroes always toffs?
Apparently, JK worked from cover layouts by Marie Severin (I think), RJ. They certainly had 'impact', but they just seemed to me to be too cartoony compared to Kirby in his heyday. And those overwhelming squiggles on everything - aaarrrgh!
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Perhaps because Americans have the mistaken impression that all Brits are toffs, CJ. 'Cor blimey, Guv'nor', 'Strike a light', and 'Well, blow me darn (down)' not withstanding.
Kid, Captain Britain was supposed to be upper-class too and his alter-ego Brian Braddock lived at Braddock Manor but whoever heard of a toff called Brian?
Brian's family? Surely there must be toffs with ordinary first names, CJ? And there'll probably be slobs with posh-sounding names.
I much preferred the 70s Invaders to the All Winners Squad of the 40s.
So did I, JP, though I never read too many of their adventures, truth be told.
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CJ, some toffs with 'common' names - Charlie, Andy, Billy, and Harry - alias royalty. (Charles, Andrew, William, and Harold.)
Kid, Ka-Zar's real name is Lord Kevin Plunder - I refuse to believe there are any aristocrats called Kevin!
Refuse to believe? O ye of little faith, CJ. Lord Kevin Long and Lord Kevin Shinkwin. (I'll take a cheque.)
Oh, and there are quite a few Lord Brians out there, CJ. (I Google Searched.) Surely a lord is a toff if anyone is?
Kid, I suspect those lords were ordinary people elevated to the House of Lords as life-peers but I meant genuine aristocracy such as the 15th Earl of such and such.
Perhaps so, CJ, but an 'elevated' toff is still a toff.
I'm general I disliked US war superhero comics but the Invaders grew on me as did Robbins art. It also helped that the title was regularly available in newsagents where I lived at the time so I picked up most issues until Robbins left the title. I think many Americans have a stereotypical impression of many nations (as do others) perhaps based on British films of the 1940s and 1950s where depictions of "toffs" and the working class regularly appeared albeit most being tongue in cheek depictions in those films. I never liked Captain Britain, there I've said it!
I didn't mind Captain Britain, McS, even though he was derivative of Spider-Man, but maybe my nostalgia for times past makes me think better of him now than I did at the time, not quite sure. I never really viewed The Invaders as a 'war comic' - I just saw it as a superhero comic set against the backdrop of World War II.
Unlike Paul I loved Captain Britain when he first emerged and I eagerly looked forward to CB #1. The comic being in colour (except the FF sadly) was a big bonus for me!
McS is only jealous 'cos he doesn't have a full set of CBs like I do, CJ. At least Marvel had by this time learned to apply tones to non-colour stories in a more subtle way which didn't obscure the artwork, but yeah, it would've been better if the FF was in colour.
When I was 12 my dad bought me an issue of Marvel UK's Gene Dogs, which was a weird discovery for me, a boy of Florida.
That's one I haven't even heard of, PH, so I'll have to Google Search it.
This is the one: https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Gene_Dogs_Vol_1_1
Took a look, PH, but it still doesn't ring any bells. I wonder if it was produced by Marvel UK (if it was) for US and Canadian distribution only, as it doesn't appear to have a UK price on the cover. Also, usually British Marvel mags usually bore the 'Marvel UK' name in the upper lefthand picture box.
It was part of some subuniverse of Marvel, a ripoff of the X-Verse called "Genetix" or something. Not like you missed anything!
That's good to know, PH, as I won't be tracking it down.
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