#tales of suspense 49

[smbhax]

From "The New Iron Man 'Meets the Angel!'" in Tales of Suspense #49, January 1964. Stan Lee script, Steve Ditko pencils, Paul Reinman inks, Sam Rosen letters. Photoshop color reduction.

[avengerscompound]

Tony Stark

Tales of Suspense (1959) #49

[marvelman901]

Tales of Suspense vol 1 49 (1964) . The New Iron Man Meets The Angel! . Written and Edited by Stan Lee Penciled by Steve Ditko Inked by Paul Reinman Lettered by Sam Rosen Cover by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Stan Goldberg and Artie Simek . An explosion bathed Angel in radioactivity, causing his personality to change for the worse. He left the X-Men to become a villain and Iron Man fought him. Eventually the radioactivity dissipated and Angel was back to normal again... . See more relevant content here: #marvelman901ironman #marvelman901avengers #marvelman901angel #marvelman901xmen #marvelman901stanlee #marvelman901jackkirby #marvelman901steveditko #marvelman901professorx #marvelman901cyclops #marvelman901iceman #marvelman901beast #marvelman901jeangrey #marvelman901hulk #marvelman901thor #marvelman901pym #marvelman901wasp . #ironman #avengers #xmen #angel #stanlee #60s #professorx #beast #jeangrey #cyclops #iceman #steveditko #jackkirby (på/i New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Co3sa8yq-Zc/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[night-gay]

Into the Anthill pt 3 - You Winsome, You Lose Some

Despite Hank becoming Giant-Man and Captain America joining the Avengers in this run of comics, my biggest takeaway here is Jan taking every possible chance to flirt with him. Almost every line of her dialog is spent mooning over Hank or any other male character in the room.

I know it’s the 1960′s, but damn girl.

🐜🐜🐜  

Tales to Astonish vol 1 #47-49

Hank Finally became Giant-Man, allowing him to grow to a whopping 12 feet tall now. He modified the size-changing formula to work as a capsule-based solution for him and the Wasp as well.

Avengers vol 1 # 2

After nearly losing to a shapeshifting space phantom who impersonated the Avengers the Hulk decided to quit because literally all of his teammates treated him like shit.

Good for him.

Tales to Astonish vol 1 # 50-51

This is a two-part story about Hank losing to The Human Top. He could neither out-think him nor overpower him despite his best efforts, so he called the police and got them to set up a few chain link fences to trap him.

Tales of Suspense vol 1 #49, Journey Into Mystery vol 1 # 101

These are just cameo appearances in a story where Iron Man couldn’t solo a fight against Angel from the X-Men and one where Thor was cranky about Odin cock-blocking him.

Notably, the Tales of Suspense cameo was the first time Hank ever acted on his romantic feelings for Jan. It took a while, but her dogged pursuit of love finally paid off.

Avengers vol 1 # 3-4

Namor tried to defeat the Avengers in both issues here. The first time he teamed up with the Hulk, but Hulk decided to quit because he treated him like shit.

Good for him.

The second time, Namor accidentally freed Captain America from the ice and Cap turned the tides in the Avengers’ favor. He agreed to join up in this after the fight ended, bringing their ranks up to 5 again.

[darkholme]

what did retcon out of peggy? haven't read the stuff where she was brought back but you've peaked my curiosity lol

okay full disclosure, i have not read secret empire (2017) in its entirety, nor have i gotten caught up on captain america: sentinel of liberty vol 2 where she's part of the cast, so maybe her previous history has been referenced there and i just don't know.

marvel might also just be downplaying it post her resurrection for corporate synergy between the comics and mcu, so it might not be directly contradicted, but just seldom referenced in modern comics. ALL THAT TO SAY, in her original appearance, she was a french resistance fighter during wwii!

for the mcu, they combined like 7 different female comic characters together to make mcu peggy where she's british and works for the us army, later forming shield. i personally find it infinitely more interesting if she was a french citizen who joined the resistance during the german occupation. it even nicely parallels her with steve.

(tales of suspense vol. 1 #77, 1966) (nice casual misogyny, steve, jeez.)

"i was needed -- and i answered the call -- just as you did in your own way!"

i like this initial story a lot, and i think there's a lot of stuff to play with here. i think there's a lot to be done with her relationship with sharon, too!

(captain america vol. 5 #49, 2009)

"she was a bigger influence than my parents..." "...my folks and i were never very close." LIKE WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT? (i have many thoughts.)

again, i haven't read everything she's in post-resurrection, but the modern comics that i have read where she is a supporting character seem to be operating on a sort of schrodinger's backstory. they're not outright contradicting the french partisan origin, but they're still writing it in a way that is assuming the reader is familiar with the mcu version of the character. does that make sense?

(captain america vol. 9 #25, 2020)

the above panels are something new for the character, her past partnership with alexa lukin, but still both references tales of suspense #77 and expects the reader to fill in gaps with her mcu characterization and history.

schrodinger's backstory! at least that's the impression that i've gotten.

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

Captain America (2005) #28-50

In this batch of Captain America issues I went from July 2007 to May 2009, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Ed Brubaker. Issues #28-34 and #37-38 and #40-41 and #46 were penciled by Steve Epting. Of those, issues #28-30 were inked by Mike Perkins, issues #31 and #37 and #40 and #46 by Steve Epting, issues #32-34 by Butch Guice, issue #38 by Mike Perkins and Steve Epting, and issue #41 was inked by Rick Magyar and Steve Epting. Issue #35 was penciled by Jackson Guice and inked by Mike Perkins. Issue #36 was half drawn by Butch Guice and half drawn by Mike Perkins. Issue #39 was drawn by Roberto De La Torre. Issue #42 was penciled by Steve Epting and Luke Ross and inked by Rick Magyar, Steve Epting, and Fabio Laguna. Issues #43-44 and #49 were penciled by Luke Ross. Of those, issue #43 was inked by Fabio Laguna, issue #44 by Fabio Laguna and Rick Magyar, and issue #49 was inked by Rick Magyar. Issue #45 was penciled by Luke Ross and Butch Guice and inked by Rick Magyar, Mark Pennington, and Butch Guice. Issue #47 was drawn by Butch Guice. Issue #48 was drawn by Butch Guise with Luke Ross and Steve Epting. And issue #50 was a special issue with two main stories, one penciled by Luke Ross and inked by Rick Magyar and Luke Ross, and one drawn by Marcos Martin, as well as a 2-page story drawn by Fred Hembeck.

I covered a lot of ground in this series this week. We started off with Bucky on his own, trying to figure out who killed Steve and plotting to kill Tony Stark, Sharon and Sam working together under Nick Fury to try to find Bucky, and Natasha working for Tony to try to find Bucky, with nobody knowing that Sharon was the one that killed Steve. In issue #30 Sharon finds out that she’s pregnant and she turns on Sam and Natasha just as Tony figured out that she was under Dr. Faustus’ control. In issue #33 Bucky and Tony settle their differences and Bucky agrees to become the next Captain America. Natasha and Bucky begin working together after that and she makes it clear to him that she wants to rekindle their relationship in issue #36. In issue #35 Sharon’s captors discover that she’s pregnant with Steve’s child and in issue #40 she loses the baby during an escape attempt. Issues #41-42 are the big climax, Bucky successfully foils the public part of the Red Skull’s plot which gets him accepted as Captain America while Sharon escapes and shoots the Red Skull in the process, seemingly killing him (though Arnim Zola actually manages to transplant his consciousness into a mechanical body), and is then rescued by Sam and Natasha. Issues #43-48 are their own new story about Bucky, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and Natasha rescuing the remains of the original Human Torch to prevent him from being used to create a pandemic-level virus. Issue #49 was focused on Sharon Carter as she’s recovering from the events of this series. And issue #50 had both a story about Bucky’s life path as framed through different significant birthdays in his life and a story that was a summary of Steve’s life.

the Captain America stories in Tales of Suspense (1959) #59-63

In this batch of Captain America stories I went from August 1964 to December 1964, according to the Marvel Wiki. All are credited as written by Stan Lee, though the Grand Comics Database lists Jack Kirby as an uncredited co-plotter for the stories in issues #59 and #63. All were penciled by Jack Kirby and the stories in issues #59-62 were inked by Chic Stone and the story in issue #63 was inked by Frank Giacoia. The stories in issues #59-62 were then contemporary stories that took place in the 1960s and the story in issue #63 was a retelling of Captain America’s origin story from Captain America Comics (1941) #1. All of the stories were 10 pages.

The retelling of Steve’s origin story was of the most interest to me. In the original, of the decision to pick Steve, it is just said, “Today he volunteered for army service, and was refused because of his condition! His chance to serve his country seemed gone! Little does he realize that the serum coursing through his blood is rapidly building his body and brain tissues, until his stature and intelligence increase to an amazing degree!” This phrasing implies that Steve was chosen for the experiment just earlier that day by happenstance when he was deemed unfit (and therefore possibly expendable) when a test subject was being sought and wasn’t fully aware of what he was getting himself into.

In the retelling it’s said, “It has taken us months to find the proper 4F specimen whose body will react properly to our new tissue-building chemical!” But also that Steve was “chosen from hundreds of similar volunteers because of his courage, his intelligence, and his willingness to risk death for his country if the experiment should fail,” and that, if it should succeed, “We’ll produce the formula in quantity, giving it to all our fighting men!” This phrasing suggests that it was necessary for the recipient of the serum to be in an unfit shape and also contradictorily that if proven successful it would be given to all American soldiers indiscriminately (which, as I type that out, seems like something that would have actually been a bad thing). Steve being chosen is attributed to specific positive attributes about him this time, but those remarkable qualities are also credited to the serum, as it’s said, “His reflexes, his physical condition, his courage, will be second to none!”

Black Widow 2 (2005) #1-6

These issues were published across September 2005 to February 2006, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Richard K. Morgan. Sean Phillips drew the layouts for all of the issues, which Bill Sienkiewicz then finished.

I was expecting that the major retcons revealed at the end of Black Widow (2004) would be elaborated upon in this book and that we would learn how it’s possible for Natasha’s childhood to have been a lie and for her to have positive relationships with people she knew in her youth in previously published comics. But this did not happen at all. Actually, also surprising to me was that there wasn’t any elaboration on Natasha’s time in the Red Room in Captain America (2005) either after the fragmentary flashbacks to her relationship with Bucky Barnes in issue #27 of that series. It seems that this major upheaval to her character has unceremoniously occurred and that that actually being made sense of has been put off until a later book.

Unfortunately, Richard K. Morgan’s vision of Yelena Belova was elaborated upon. While in the previous book she was only mentioned as not being a true Black Widow and having left the spy business to become a lingerie model in one panel, in this book she’s actually a recurring character so we get to see the nonsensical portrayal of her as the exact opposite as how she used to be in detail.

New Avengers (2005) #5-6 and Annual #1

The two issues of the main series were published across April 2005 to June 2005 and the Annual was published in April 2006, according to the Marvel Wiki. All were written by Brian Michael Bendis. The main series issues were penciled by David Finch and inked by Danny Miki. And the Annual was penciled by Olivier Coipel and had 8 credited inkers.

Yelena Belova appears in these issues as the villain and it seems that both Brian Michael Bendis and Richard K. Morgan were aware of the existence of the character as a counterpart to Natasha and independently came up with completely different ideas of what that would be with no basis in either the other’s portrayals or how she was portrayed before. In the main series issues she’s inexplicably a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and attacks the Avengers. It turns out that her group is, allegedly, a rogue covert faction and the true S.H.I.E.L.D. drops a bomb on them, which suspiciously limits the investigation. But Yelena survives, though she is badly scarred all over her entire body, and is offered a chance to have revenge against the Avengers for ruining her “pretty face.”

She then later returns in the Annual, having been changed into an Adaptoid, which means she can absorb the Avengers’ powers through physical contact. Her handler explains this to her as, “They can make you as powerful and as beautiful as you deserve to be.” The artwork does not sexualize her during the fight, but the writing does. Yelena says, “I really want to make sure I get my hands on your Captain America. I really have a thing for him.” And she also kisses the Sentry to steal his powers, which wasn’t necessary. At the end of the issue, after she’s been defeated, her superiors have her remotely exploded so that she can’t reveal anything and her body can’t be examined. You would think this was the end of her life, but she has appearances after this. I don’t yet know if they’ll be continuing her portrayal from here or the Richard K. Morgan comics or again doing something else entirely.

Fawcett Comics:

the Captain Marvel stories in Whiz Comics (1940) #79 and Captain Marvel Adventures (1941) #66 and The Marvel Family (1945) #5

In this batch of 7 Captain Marvel stories I read through his appearances published in October 1946, according to the issue cover dates. These stories ranged from 7 to 13 pages.

The story “The Cult of the Curse Chapter 6: The Battle of the Century” (written by Otto Binder; penciled by C.C. Beck; penciled by Pete Constanza) in Captain Marvel Adventures #66 is the conclusion of the serial about Captain Marvel fighting Oggar, the World’s Mightiest Immortal. Captain Marvel tracks Oggar to what turns out to be the sorceress Circe’s island and she reveals that many years ago Oggar “blessed” her with immortality for spurning him because, as established in a previous chapter of the serial, his magical attacks don’t work against women. At the end of the story Circe has transformed Oggar into a wild boar and Captain Marvel chases boar-Oggar until he falls off a cliff to his death, which in turn releases Circe from her immortality. Captain Marvel concludes, “And to think that was Oggar’s weakness all the time- a woman! He fought me, the World’s Mightiest Man, to a standstill! But one withered old hag brought him to his downfall!”

[marvelreader]

Tales of Suspense #49 (Oct 8, 1963)

So. Many. Questions.

Tony Stark is testing nuclear weapons in the middle of New York (?) The X-Men's Angel is flying by and is hit by a large dose of radiation that turns him EVIL (??) Tony decides to fall to his death in order to shake Angel from his evil state (?!)

Lee / Ditko / Reinman

[mitchbeck]

HARTFORD WOLF PACK OPEN ATLANTIC DIVISION FINALS VS HERSHEY BEARS PREVIEW

By: Alex Thomas, Hartford Wolf Pack HERSHEY, PA – The Hartford Wolf Pack has arrived in Chocolatetown, USA, for the 2023 Atlantic Division Finals. The Wolf Pack opens the best-of-five series against the Hershey Bears tonight with Game One at the Giant Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m., and coverage is available on both AHLTV and Mixlr. Tale of The Tape: The Wolf Pack and Bears met six times during the 2022-23 regular season, with the Bears taking four of the six meetings. Hershey posted a record of 4-2-0-0, while the Wolf Pack managed points in three games, going 2-3-0-1. The Wolf Pack posted a 1-2-0-0 record at the Giant Center, with their lone victory coming on November 20th by a final score of 4-2. The sides last met on February 11th in Hershey, with the Bears prevailing by a final score of 2-1. Mike Sgarbossa opened the scoring 12:13 into the tilt, potting his 16th goal of the season. Just under three minutes later, at 15:08, Henrik Rybinski made it a 2-0 game with the first shorthanded goal of his career. The Bears' two goals in the opening frame would be enough, despite a strong effort from the visitors. Hartford outshot Hershey 13-7 in the middle stanza and got on the board courtesy of Will Cuylle. The rookie’s 15th goal of the season put the Wolf Pack within one, but Hunter Shepard slammed the door shut from there. Shepard made 33 saves to cement the victory, earning first-star honors on the night. The Bears won each of the final three meetings between the sides, including the February 11th tilt. Hershey also took a 2-1 regulation decision on November 25th and a 1-0 shootout verdict on November 26th. Both of those games were in Hartford. Wolf Pack Outlook: The Wolf Pack advanced to the Atlantic Division Finals thanks to a 4-0 shutout of the Providence Bruins in Game Four of their Atlantic Division Semifinals series. The victory gave the Wolf Pack a 3-1 series decision. Hartford is 5-1 through six games during the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs. Turner Elson scored his first goal of the playoffs 3:40 into Game Four, giving the Wolf Pack a lead they would not lose. Elson became the fifth different Wolf Pack skater to record a game-winning goal during the postseason. Jake Leschyshyn potted a rebound at 4:49 of the middle frame to extend the lead to 2-0. The goal was his first career Calder Cup Playoff marker. Ryan Carpenter then buried a rebound from the right-wing circle at 15:23, essentially ending the intrigue on this night. Leschyshyn put home an empty net goal, his second of the night, 12:18 into the third period to make it a 4-0 game. Dylan Garand made 32 saves for his second career Calder Cup Playoff shutout. Defenseman Ty Emberson leads the Calder Cup Playoffs in +/- with a +13 rating. Forward Anton Blidh is second in the league with a +11. Tim Gettinger (2 g, 5 a) and Tanner Fritz (1 g, 6 a) lead the Wolf Pack in points through two rounds of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Lauri Pajuniemi, meanwhile, leads the team in goals with three through six games. Bears Outlook: The Bears completed a 3-1 series victory over the Charlotte Checkers with a 6-2 win in Game Four over the Charlotte Checkers on May 4th. Jake Wise and Riley Nash scored at 2:00 and 7:54 of the opening stanza, respectively, to give the Checkers a 2-0 lead after one. It would be all Bears from there, however. Mason Morelli got Hershey on the board at 10:15 into the middle stanza. Then Beck Malenstyn tied the game at 19:44. Aliaksei Protas broke the tie 8:59 into the third period, firing home a powerplay goal that would stand as both the game-winning and series-winning tally. Protas’ second goal at 10:57 gave Hershey the insurance they needed to close out the series. Riley Sutter and former Wolf Pack defenseman Dylan McIlrath both hit the empty net in the final few minutes to end the suspense. Sam Anas leads the Bears in points with six (2 g, 4 a) through four games. Protas, meanwhile, leads the Bears in goals with three. Game Information: WATCH: AHLTV LISTEN: Mixlr Play-by-play voice of the Wolf Pack, Alex Thomas, will have ‘Wolf Pack Pregame’ starting live at 6:45 p.m. on both AHLTV and Mixlr. Game Two of the Atlantic Division Finals takes place this Saturday, May 13th, at 7:00 p.m. at the Giant Center in Hershey. The series shifts back to Hartford for Game Three on Wednesday, May 17th, at 7:00 p.m. For playoff ticket information, please visit HERE. ABOUT THE HARTFORD WOLF PACK: The Hartford Wolf Pack has been a premier franchise in the American Hockey League since the team’s inception in 1997. The Wolf Pack is the top player-development affiliate of the NHL's New York Rangers and plays at the XL Center. The Wolf Pack has been home to some of the Rangers' newest faces, including Igor Shesterkin, Filip Chytil, and Ryan Lindgren. Follow the Wolf Pack on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. HARTFORD WOLF PACK HOME Read the full article

[chronicrift]

Presenting the Transcription Feature 185: LEAVE IT TO JEEVES & X MINUS ONE

“Forecast” was a radio show specifically designed to try out new shows.  Both “Suspense” and “Duffy’s Tavern” got their starts there.  Tonight, we present the pilot for a show I would have absolutely loved had it gone to series, but alas it did not.  “Leave It To Jeeves,” was inspired by the P.G. Wodehouse tales of young man-about-town Bertie Wooster and his personal gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves.  Starring Edward Everett Horton and Alan Mobray, respectively, this tale doesn’t actually adapt any of the Wodehouse tales, but it does take the structure and pay homage to the sort of situations in which Bertie and Jeeves were always finding themselves:  engagements, errands for aunts… Any Wodehouse fan will be at home in this comic, twisty misadventure.  Then “X Minus One” adapts Murray Leinster’s science fiction tale of time travel by phone call, “Sam, This Is You.”

Episodes

Forecast August 12, 1940 “Leave It To Jeeves” 2:49

X Minus One October 31, 1956  “Sam, This Is You” 34:18

Check out this episode!

[fastworldnews1]

TikTok removes 12.5m videos from Pakistan in first quarter of 2022

Popular video-sharing platform TikTok has said that it removed nearly 12.5 million videos from Pakistan in the first quarter (January to March) of 2022 for violating community guidelines, placing the country second on the list of largest volume of videos removed.

In a press release, TikTok said as per the latest "Community Guidelines Enforcement Report", Pakistan had a removal rate of 96.5 per cent before any views and 97.3pc before 24 hours.

The report reflects the platform’s ongoing commitment to earn trust by being accountable while working to be safe and welcoming. Efforts include fostering authentic engagement across the comment space, safety reminders for creators and adhering strictly to the extensive community guidelines, it said.

"A proactive removal rate of 98.5 per cent was used by TikTok to remove 12,490,309 Pakistani videos," the press release said.

With these figures, Pakistan ranks second in the world for the largest volume of videos taken down in the first quarter of 2022, following the United States which ranks first with 14,044,224 videos removed.

In this quarter, 102,305,516 videos were removed globally, which represents about one per cent of all videos uploaded to TikTok, the statement added.

TikTok explained that the videos were removed for violating its "robust set of community guidelines that are designed to foster an experience that prioritizes safety, inclusion, and authenticity".

In addition, the report showed that in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, TikTok's safety team removed 41,191 videos, 87pc of which violated its policies against harmful misinformation.

"TikTok also labelled content from 49 Russian state-controlled media accounts. The platform also identified and removed six networks and 204 accounts globally for coordinated efforts to influence public opinion and mislead users about their identities."

The report also showed that the total volume of ads removed for violating TikTok's advertising policies and guidelines increased in the first quarter of 2022, the press release concluded.

A tale of four bans

The first time the Chinese-owned app was banned in Pakistan was in October 2020. According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the decision was taken over complaints regarding indecent and immoral content. It was lifted 10 days later after the company had assured the telecom regulator that it would block accounts "spreading obscenity".

In March 2021, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) had also imposed a ban on the video-​sharing application that was later lifted in April.

In June the same year, the Sindh High Court had followed suit and ordered the PTA to suspend access to TikTok in the country for “spreading immorality and obscenity”. The court had lifted the suspension three days after issuing the order.

However, the PTA had blocked access to the platform again in July 2021 for its failure to take down "inappropriate content".

Later in November the same year, the PTA had restored TikTok in the country following assurances by the Chinese social media giant that it would "control" the uploading and dissemination of "immoral and indecent content" on the app.

The PTA had also agreed to establish a mechanism with TikTok to ensure that all content uploaded on the platform was lawful and safe for society.

https://ift.tt/bBH7Rj1

[quasar1967]

Tales Of Suspense #49

Oct 8th 1963

The New Iron Man Meets The Angel

Strange Encounter

The Saga Of The Sneepers

[invinciblepod]

So that famous Beckett quote about failing better is actually way darker than people think. But in its entirety, it’s actually pretty applicable to Tony’s journey in this week’s episode!

[businesscasualcyclops]

yes sirree bob, this is how radiation works. 

[comicartarchive]

Tales Of Suspense 49 pg1-2 by Steve Ditko

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Fawcett Comics:

Special Edition Comics (1940) #1

This one-shot, published in June 1940, was a bit of a throwback for me. I had skipped this issue in my publication order Golden Age Captain Marvel readings, of which I’m currently in February 1943, because it’s not on any of the usual sites I read comics at. Only this past week did I see that archive.org had it. And I don’t ordinarily check creator credits for Fawcett comics but I did for this issue since it’s just one one-shot and according to the Grand Comics Database all of these stories were written by Bill Parker and drawn by C.C. Beck with Pete Constanza doing some of the inking.

I found the four Captain Marvel stories in this issue to be unique and delightful. I particularly enjoyed how these stories highlighted Billy's ingenuity and drive as a reporter and how they primarily used Captain Marvel as a plot device to support Billy as the child reporter protagonist (while still maintaining a good amount of Golden Age superhero fun). I think that this stood out to me because at the point where I'm at in my readings in 1943 it feels like Billy and his job are more often used as the set-up for stories about Captain Marvel.

Marvel Comics:

the Iron Man stories in Tales of Suspense (1959) #49-55

In this batch I went from October 1963 to April 1964. The stories were all written by Stan Lee. The first was penciled by Steve Ditko and inked by Paul Reinman and the rest were all penciled and inked by Don Heck. Notably, issue #50 was the first appearance of the villain the Mandarin and issue #52 was the first appearance of the Black Widow, then a villain but later a superhero.

I think the bit in this batch that stood out to me the most was from issue #49, which was a very silly story about Iron Man fighting a temporarily evil Angel (the X-Man), but had a striking conclusion in how Tony cured Angel by putting himself in very real grave danger to make Angel snap out of it and save Iron Man. Tony justifies this by saying that “Well, nobody’s getting any younger… and the only way to find out if a stunt like this will work is by trying it! So here goes!” And then when he believes he’s about to die he says to himself “It’s too bad I wasn’t able to help the Angel! The police are sure to shoot him down as soon as he flies within range!” and “Just another few seconds and it’ll all be over! I kinda wish I could have said goodbye to Pepper and Happy!” This character is just so absurdly focused on other people. He has such a laissez-faire approach to his own well-being and is entirely selfless.

The Incredible Hulk (1968) #215-217 and The Defenders (1972) #52-55 and What If? (1977) #3 and #5 and Inhumans (1975) #12 and The Champions (1975) #16

Within the main The Incredible Hulk book I went from June 1977 to August 1977. All of those issues were written by Len Wein, penciled by Sam Buscema, and inked by Ernie Chan.

The most notable moment for me came from issue #215 when the Hulk expresses that “Hulk is just tired, Jim… Tired of always running… Tired of always fighting… Sometimes Hulk thinks maybe it would be best just to go to sleep and never wake up… And leave this hateful little world to…” and he transforms back into Bruce who is then similarly depressed. The Hulk has been depressed before (notably when Jarella died) but I think this is the furthest it’s ever been taken, though Bruce has expressed suicidal sentiments on more than one occasion. Bruce actually contemplates purchasing a gun for that purpose not that many issues ago. I particularly like that this moment took the Hulk’s feelings very seriously and that it included both Bruce and the Hulk as Bruce follows it up with his own bit on the sorry state of their shared life.

All of The Defenders issues were written by David Kraft. The penciling credits were a bit all over the place- Keith Giffen, Dave Cockrum, Mike Golden, and Carmine Infantino all worked on these issues.

The Hulk highlight of these issues was in issue #54 when the Hulk saves a drowning Nighthawk and during so thinks to himself "Hulk is afraid for his friend!" and that "Sometimes Bird-Nose makes Hulk mad... But Hulk hopes... Hopes he isn't..." Very shortly after this, in his impatience to get to shore, the Hulk jumps off of the team's shared raft despite the rest of the yelling at him not to which of course plunges them back into the water. This causes a fight between the Hulk and Nighthawk in which Nighthawk yells that "I'm sick and tired of his insubordination! You're a member of the Defenders, Hulk- and I'm the leader, so from now on you'll-" and to which the Hulk responds that "Hulk came along to help Fish-Man because Fish-Man is friend- not because Bird-Nose said so! Hulk thinks group is stupid idea- always has!" I really enjoyed all this. I found the prior moment to be legitimately heartwarming and the latter to be really entertaining. The Hulk is such a versatile character and he can pull very different emotions out of me in a very short span of time. And I thought that this was all very much in-character: the Hulk's childishly simplistic thought process when he fears that his friend is dead and how he's inconsiderate to his friends shortly after that and how he explains that he helps because they're his friends and not because he believes in any sort of team with a hierarchy.

DC Comics:

The Human Target (2021) #1-8

This is all that’s currently out of the 12-issue Black Label maxiseries from writer Tom King and artist Greg Smallwood. I absolutely loved these issues and am exited to follow the rest of the series as it comes out. I have no prior experience with the main character Christopher Chance, the Human Target, but have found his portrayal here deeply compelling. And you can really see the effort that Greg Smallwood is putting into the art in this book and it is paying off.

I am really fascinated by how this book is approaching superheroes and the violence they inflict in that it gives violence a narrative weight and allows for realistic reactions to violence (as opposed to how a mainstream superhero comic might be expected to portray it solely through the lens of fun action). It's not necessarily a deconstruction of the superhero genre as much as it's a book written at an adult level for mature readers from the point of view of a character on the periphery of the superhero world looking in to observe and judge these superhero characters. It's also not that superheroes are seen solely through a lens of judgement (Christopher admires how powerful Ice is) but just that the story is taking superheroes' power and actions seriously. My thoughts on this aren't all fully formed yet and I need to wait until the rest of the book is out to form some kind of conclusion but I do have some parts I want to point out.

The opening scene of issue #3 where Guy Gardner breaks into Christopher's room and acts incredibly entitled because he’s a superhero really made an impression on me. He justifies breaking into breaking into Christopher's room because it's within the sector that he's a Green Lantern of as though that gives him free reign to go wherever he wants and do whatever he wants. Then when Christopher fires his fun and throws a punch at Guy, neither of which lands, Guy's response is to point out that he's a "genuine superhero" and that if "you disrespect a genuine superhero... they beat the shit out of you" and then does exactly that. It's worth noting that Christopher doesn't have any powers and that the immense power of a Green Lantern ring is emphasized through Christopher's internal monologues about it.

On that thread is how in this latest issue #8 Red Racer tortures Christopher for information (something that gets treated with varying levels of seriousness in mainstream superhero comics from forbidden to unquestioned run-of-the-mill procedure) and then at the end fully expects Christopher to forgive him to the point that he's completely caught off guard when Christopher attacks him when earlier in the issue Christopher wasn't able to get on the jump on him at all in a similar scenario. Red Racer also treats firing into Christopher's hotel room and knocking out Ice almost as something mundane and tells Christopher not to worry about it, though Christopher is actually very angered by it.

Also, issue #4 has Ted Kord give a monologue in which he says that as a superhero he does not kill people even though for someone like Lex Luthor "I would love to" simply because "It's really wrong. You can't kill people. That's the rule. So, I don't." This mentality is then purposefully contrasted with his position as someone who runs "a huge corporation that makes life-and-death decisions every day." Two issues later Christopher and Ice kill Guy Gardner when he breaks into Ice's home to beat up Chris which they then cover up because "killing's not standard procedure for JL members."

[sharoncarterappreciation]

Hi do you have a comic reading list/guide for Sharon Carter? I would really like to learn more about her in the comics but I'm not sure where to start

I know someone who’s working on an updated reading list (the last one is this one), but it isn’t ready at the moment (though you can read what she has here). As such, I’ll try to make a very rough one!

Tales of Suspense: 75-76, 85, 92-95, 97-99 Captain America, Vol 1: 100-104, 108, 114-116, 124, 127, 135-137, 140-143, 144-148 (Femme Force!), 153-156 (Steve, Sam, and Sharon team up against other!Cap and other!Bucky!), 161-163 (Peggy), 165-167 (if you’re into relationship drama), 178-182 (Nomad Steve), 202, 204 (Leila!), 206-207, 209-212 (Sharon on a SHIELD mission), 233 (brainwashed Sharon), 237 (apparently dead Sharon), 445-454 (Sharon is alive and not exactly happy about it) Captain America, Vol 3: 1 (i.e., one of the panels that made me fall in love with her more), 3-4 (free agent working with SHIELD to use their resources) Fury/Agent 13: 1-2 (Sharon goes after Nick Fury in more ways than one) Captain America, Vol 3: 9-12 (Her and Steve v Nightmare!), 13 (Steve getting involved in politics), 15-17 (Her and Steve v Skull, pt 1), 19 (v Skull, pt 2), 20 (sets up mission to Savage Land), 25-31 (Her and Steve v Nefaria in the Savage Land/Sharon becomes Director of SHIELD) Sentinel of Liberty: 1 (recons how they found out each other’s identities) Captain America, Vol 3: 34-35/Captain America Annual 2000 (Director Sharon and Steve v Protocide), 37-42 (Them v Hydra/AIM/Batroc/Steve’s current girlfriend), 45 (Nick comes back as SHIELD Director, Sharon demoted), 50 (She turns Steve down but leaves room for the future after he crashes one of her missions) Captain America, Vol 5: 1-4, 6, 8-9, 12-14, 16-7, 19-22, 24-32, 35-42, 49 (Note: All of these are the Winter Soldier arc and the Civil War arc, so Sharon suffers... a lot), 600 (Sharon thinks Steve is alive and is determined to find out for sure) Captain America Reborn: 1-6 (Sharon finds out for sure and is instrumental in bringing Steve back from his timeline) Secret Avengers, Vol 1: 1-21 (18 is PARTICULARLY good; anyway, Brubaker wrote the first batch. When Remender came on, Sharon disappears without another mention) Age of Heroes, Vol 1: 3 (Girls’ Night In - Hill, Hand, and Sharon Carter fight bad guys while bogged down with bureaucracy) Captain America, Vol 5: 615.1-618 (Bucky is in legal trouble, and she and Steve try to help) Captain America and the Secret Avengers, Vol 1: 1 (Sharon and Natasha do a mission together while Steve deals with paperwork) Captain America, Vol 6: 1-19 (Sharon has a LOT of great stuff in this one, and it isn’t as emotionally heavy as V5. Reads almost like Brubaker’s love letter to the Cap title) Captain America, Vol 7: NO. Remender wrote this batch and basically killed Sharon off for Steve to angst over. When she comes back, she’s much, much older because of her time in a pocket universe. Maybe just read the final issue, where Sam gets the shield and Sharon and Steve are stepping back from heroism (he’s old now too) and raising their son together (Ian Zola, whom Steve kind of kidnapped and soon disappears into another universe, where he meets Steve and Sharon’s biological daughter and escapes with her - supposedly back to 616 but he hasn’t been seen since). So maybe just read Issue 25 and be done with it. Captain America: Steve Rogers (1, 3-4, 6-7, 9-12, 15, 19) / Captain America: Sam Wilson (1, 6-7, 14) / Secret Empire (0-1, 3, 7-9): Note: This is the Secret Empire event where a personified Cosmic Cube replaces Steve with a Hydra version who was Hydra all along. The run wasn’t popular with a lot of people, in part because this version of Steve has co-opted by modern-day Nazi variants. So while some characters get... good character stuff, read with caution. Winter Soldier, Vol 1: 1, 3-5 (Sharon helps Bucky run a program to find people second chances so they can start over) Captain America, Vol 9: 1-9, 11-27 (Sharon gets sent into a trap, is shown to be part of a secret spy team, and gets her youth back, along with extra strength, agility, and a powered suit)