When Enemies Become Friends!

So, in the summer of 1941, many in America considered the Soviet Union an enemy on a par with, or even greater than, the Nazis.

Thus, this ad for forthcoming Young Allies #1, as printed in The Human Torch 5(a) (1941):

[NOTE 1: Yes, I said Human Torch 5(a). Somehow, Timely skipped straight from issue #2 to issue #4, and then followed that with two separate issues each numbered #5. This first of those #5s, actually the fourth issue published, is usually denoted as 5(a)]

[NOTE 2: I blacked out part of that ad, as it contained an insanely offensive racial stereotype, and did the same below. If you really need to know, you can go look at the unredacted version on Marvel Unlimited.]

So, yeah, the cover portrays Joe Stalin as one of the bad guys, on the same footing as the Axis leaders (and the Red Skull!). And that wasn't a crazy attitude, either--the USSR did take part in the invasion of Poland, and had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, allowing them to run roughshod over the rest of Europe.

Except, of course, Hitler reneged on that agreement, launching an invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.  So suddenly, we were on the same side as Stalin.

Well, Human Torch #5(a) hit the streets on July 11th. Presumably, either no one thought to double-check the ad, or there wasn't time to redo it.

But there was time to redraw the actual cover, because when Young Allies #1 hit the stands that same week:

Hey, no more Stalin! (And a much better cover, even though Jack Kirby must have had to whip it off extremely quickly!)

Since Young Allies was a quarterly, and would be on newsstands for a while, it made sense to keep advertising it. So when USA Comics #2 hit the stands in August, Timely was still advertising it--but now with the new, Stalin-free cover!

So, quick turnaround there.

Of course, Timely always was hyper-aware of the situation in Europe, compared to other comic companies, so it figures they'd be able to pull the big switcharoo and save Stalin's dignity.

For the record, I didn't notice this on my own--it was pointed out in the back matter of Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Ypung Allies Volume 1 (2009). So a hat tip to whomever put it together, presumably editor Cory Sedlmeier.

Manic Monday Triple Overtime--Love For Uatu!!

Everybody's got to ride the Love Boat sometime.The question is, how do behave when the ride is done?

Our old pal The Watcher is binge-watching a war on a distant planet:

There's one unique thing about this fight, though...

OK, that is probably not the soundest strategy...bit props to the queen.

But for Uatu...cue the cheesy Star Trek love music:

Now, when you consider how many women the Watcher has watched, you've got to figure she's something special indeed!

But the battle takes a turn for the worse...

So the non-interference vow is put to the test...

...and Uatu fails utterly. "Free to make an appearance wherever I desire"? Totally bullcrap!

Still it impresses the queen!

Yeah, she's got it bad.

So how does the Watcher deal with this?

By being the biggest dickweed possible.

Obviously, those years of non-interference have left the Watchers staggeringly unaware of the "let them down easy" alternatives. Bro, tell her that you already have a mate! Tell her that you're not into women! Tell her that it's you, not her!!

Good gravy, you've been watching Earth! You've been watching Tony Stark and Johnny Storm!! You must know 57 better approaches to this than that "I must be cruel to kind kind" self-justifying dickery!!

Watcher, dude, next time take me along as a wingman. That's what friends are for!!

From Tales Of Suspense # 56 (1964)

Manic Monday Bonus--The Best Argument Against Plastic Surgery!

It seems that we will never, ever get enough of the"underground plastic surgeon altering criminals' faces so the cops can't find them" trope. Batman '89 did it, Kid Eternity stories have done it. Movies and comics and TV shows and pulps and probably narrative poems and operas have been doing it for decades.

Which is maybe kind of nuts, no? I mean, plastic surgery is pretty specialized stuff. I can see that there might be plenty of defrocked general practitioners, or even regular old surgeons, out there, looking to ply their trade on the sly by helping criminals. But even if there are tons of renegade plastic surgeons out there, really, how much demand for them can there be? I'm sure that even the most crime-infested city probably couldn't supply enough potential patients to keep the dissolute plastic surgeon in business. Because really, who wants to change their face?

Anyway, Marko the Magician, with his amazing powers of illusion, knows how to thwarts this scandalous trade in underground face alterations:

"Doctor Alter." Heh.

"Thriving business." I guess i was wrong!

YOW!!

Thank you, Marvo!!


From Lightning Comics V1 #4 (1940)

Manic Monday--Superbaby 2018!!

Hey, do you not like it when Lois calls Superman "Smallville?"

Well, then, Bendis is the writer for you!!

That's all from one single issue, Action Comics #1004 (2018). Sometimes even in consecutive panels.

Someone should calculate how much Bendis is being paid per "baby."

Or, you know, an editor could do some editing...

Wither The Order?!?

Hey, whatever happened to The Order?

You remember The Order, right? Probably the best thing to spin out of Civil War? (Avengers: The Initiative is a perfectly acceptable alternate answer, there...)

Still don't remember them? They were going to be called The Champions, but it turned out at the last minute that Marvel no longer held the trademark for that name? Matt Fraction writing? Great Barry Kitson art?

You're all still shaking your heads? Remember how every state got their own government-sanctioned super-hero team in the wake of Civil War? But unlike every other team, which was pre-existing heroes slapped together, The Order, California's team, was:

A whole original team of heroes? When was the last time that happened?

Meet:

And the leader, former actor/recovering alcoholic Henry Hellrung!

Don't get too attached...1/2 of those guys above are fired after their first mission, and we get replacements, and some folks die...

But there was bound to be turnover, as the story had a little dash of Strikeforce: Moritori to it!

Yeah, they don't die after a year, but they have to give up their powers.

So, ladies and gentlemen--The Order! A team made up of heroic celebrities, granted powers for a year, protecting California against communist nuclear attacks and Namor-generated tidal waves while trying to deal with the stresses of this decidedly different life.

A pretty cool concept...but cancelled after just 10 issues. It's available of Comixology and Marvel Unlimited, so you can read it for yourselves.

But oddly enough, they were never--well, barely--heard from again. A cameo in Avengers: The Initiative during Secret Invasion, an even more passing cameo during Fear Itself, and that's it.As far as I can tell, not even a mention in the past 7+ years.

Why? I mean,..I can see why see why it may not have been popular. Despite being pretty dang good, a team with no previously-known heroes does lack a hook to attract new readers, even if they did spend issues fighting zombie hobos and The M.A.N. from S.H.A.D.O.W. (Seriously!) But still, that's an awful lot of cool intellectual properties just laying around collection metaphorical dust.

But did Marvel cancel The Order? In an interview with Newsarama, Matt Fraction said that he was the one who cancelled them.

That the book wasn't cancelled: I chose to end it. Marvel allowed me to choose to leave the stage, rather than to continue on in a state in which I felt was compromised and decidedly unawesome...it wasn't cancelled. I killed it. And if you're looking for the man that killed The Order, it was me

Now, there's a lot to unpack there, particularly his feeling that if the book continued it would be "compromised and decidedly unawesome." Was Marvel asking him to take it in directions he didn't want to--maybe bringing in established characters? And did Fraction really have the pull to insist the book be cancelled rather than do that, even under a different creative team? Perhaps he had enough ownership interest to insist the concept not be used anymore?

Whatever the reason, it has been a decade since we've really seen this team. It's time the Order came back. I'm just sayin.'

Maybe Marvo Can Help With My Powerball Tickets?

The Golden Age must have been a glorious time to be alive, as there must have been 20 or 30 magicians just wandering around, righting wrongs and having adventures.

But Marvo the Magician had a monkey, and didn't speak backwards, so he's probably the best.

Being the Golden Age, his powers seemed to vary from story to story, but for the most part, he just cast illusions, Mastermind-style.

For example, when he is wandering around "the most corrupt and wicked city in the Midwest":

Sounds like time for a classic distraction!

Of course, he have to give Tito the monkey a few bits in every story, because everybody loves monkeys!

And when Marvo leaves, the illusion wears off...

Well, Marvo agrees to help the attractive mayor break the grip this casino and its mobbed-up owners have on her town!

How did he do that?

Wait, wait, wait--that's totally cheating, isn't it?

It also makes you wonder why Mastermind and other illusion-casting villains are wasting time in the Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants and the like, when they could be getting filthy rich without having to fight anyone? Who needs Magneto or Sebastian Shaw always calling you names and abusing you, when you could just walk into any casino (and appear as anyone you want, so "not welcome here" lists wouldn't work) and walk out with a cool million or ten?

Marvo also "breaks the bank" at roulette:

Oh, don't be too judgemental of Marvo. It turns out the casino was plenty crooked:

Way to go Tito!

And as for the money Marvo "won"?

All right, we'll let you get away with it this time, magician!

From Lightning Comics V1 #4 (1940)