Denny O'Neil always said he needed to relate to the heroes he wrote, and Tony Stark was more-or-less antithetical to Denny's values as a social crusading Catholic and veteran of the Bay of Pigs conflict in 1962.   But Stark shared a vulnerablity Denny understood intimately.  So, the mainstream superheroics are given human dramatic stakes by Tony's manipulation by O'Neil creation Obadiah Stane, back into sorrows of the bottle and self-loathing.  Now, Denny had two stories to tell, with down-to-Earth James Rhodes standing in as Iron Man.  Now one of Marvel's best-known heroes- maybe the highest-profile character who could be tried this way- was a Black American, but most of all, a loyal friend, with a different approach and skillset to bring to the twenty year-old character.  Here's my podcast, with limited space remaining, quickly hitting the key insights I uncovered.  It really must've been torture to see Tony, and eventually Rhodey, in their personal d...

Does the world really need me to make a book about 80’s Spider-Man, cartoons, video games- all of it? I’ll admit freely, if that was paying work, it sounds divine! But who knows. Just like, who knows who is this mystery Osborn Industries prowler, with the dangerous idea to utilize Norman Osborn’s instruments of mayhem- and possibly, the secret of Spider-Man, too? One point worth making: Stern’s underscored how he thinks of the Spider-Sense as Spidey’s unique, defining, most useful power. He’s provided his own set-up for Hobby robbing Spidey of that one secret, most crucial ability. If you’ve been reading all along, he’s set up the more assured, experienced Spider-Man to end his run with the most nuanced, multi-layered challenge yet! Three story lines mingle with the Hobgoblin mystery to provide texture, to build suspense and provide a passage of time the villain uses to grow as a threat. You have the Amy Powell scheme to mix Peter into her open relationship games with his...

The use of limited color palette, monochromatic figures- the stark artwork by Daredevil #183 opens with a claustrophobic set of horizontal close-ups in the disastrously splitting psyche of the school girl on angel dust, whose fall implied by the wide white panel completing Page Three sets off the grimness of the crime story ahead. The one aspect in which it’s escapist resides with Daredevil’s limited super-senses abilities- still amazing-as he explores the hidden layers of the world around him, and the fact that through him, the reader can imagine doing anything graceful and powerful about a very ugly problem caused by very ugly people. "and there will be...a Pun Assured!" So begins the first appearance as written by David Anthony Kraft...wait, no, I can't Gerrymander that origin, in some con way. (They're friends, people, don't get uptight.) Let's just be Frank. Miller. I haven’t gone for preview dirt on The Defenders, save for our convo with Ed Pettis ...

First, Happy Birthday, Luke McDonnell! Every since I discovered recently he was born July 19th I knew how to break apart the O’Neil run- largely defined by Denny’s work with newbie John Romita, Jr.-and which day to post. It fit neatly with an Alan Kupperberg tribute remembering him on the anniversary of his death, July 17th. It’s interesting to me, anyway, that McDonnell starts superheroes on Spider-Man and goes on to a long Iron Man run, while Romita essential is vice versa. I note this type casting of sorts where, when you need to put characters through a rough time- when you want to tantalize or depict their downfall or hard times-Mr. McDonnell looks like the go-to guy! If you start from putting clean-cut square nebbish Peter Parker in jail, you then get Tony Stark penniless on the streets, the premier DC Comics team Justice League of America in crisis free fall, and end up with an even bigger set of doomed rejects in The Suicide Squad! For my theory about McDonnell’s grimie...

The recently-deposed Submariner’s in the middle of being sued for billions of dollars when he answers a call to face the warlord Attuma, the new crowned replacement monarch of Atlantis. The Wasp is furious with Prince Namor’s reckless decision as AVENGERS #271 opens. With casual disdain, Hercules disagrees: it’s a matter of honor, “not that I expect a woman to understand.” She firmly disagrees and insults Hercules for not using his brain, and the Black Knight agrees the demi-god, their strongest, longest-lived member on the roster, is out of line. A willing guy for a challenge of power or courage, and a faithful guy to come to your rescue if word reaches him, Herc has yet not acquired that viewpoint regarding female leadership, most especially if he, regardless of what he has said, is then rebuked, for he is one to let feelings get involved before logic, and quite accustomed to being accorded his way among gods and mortals alike. Pride wounded, the Lion of Olympus storms out. I t...

[IMG]http://i34.tinypic.com/2m33dsj.jpg[/IMG] I arrive at the home of Brock Jones, Clairton’s deputized super hero, the Torpedo. His recovery on the couch brings concerned family, friends, and a doctor, who listen to his demoralized account of an enemy materializing on the old Marks farm. Steve Jackson and his fiance, Brandy Clark, discuss the town’s vulnerability in wake of my apparent absence. I walk in then, reassuring all, aware of my imposing armored frame and glinting appearance---reminding me, while I am human at heart, a spaceknight stands as one apart. I ask Brock to describe his foe, and from this and the location I begin to tell of Jimmy Marks, a youth who foreswore his humanity---“the crossbreed progeny of a human woman and a Dire Wraith.” A reporter named Mack Killburn---who’s followed the case of my existence since shortly after his co-worker was slain by the Wraiths---rescued the Torpedo after the attack. I welcome him to the fight. Now I confess my culpability: hu...