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| Miss Van Dyne & Dr Pym on holiday, by Don Heck & H E Huntley in Tales To Astonish #46 |
This week's post in The Year In Comics series concerns The Wasp and her first few appearances in the Marvel Universe of 1963. With the exception of Peter Parker and, probably, Victor Von Doom, Janet Van Dyne strikes me as being - at first - the most interesting of all Marvel's first wave characters, although her appeal soon waned when it was Stan Lee's scripts rather than those of H. E. Huntley which dominated proceedings. Hardly a common opinion, or even a commonly debated matter, I know, but should you be in any way curious about this particular backwater of comics chin-stroking, the post can be found here.
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| Detail from John Romita's cover to "The Superhero Women", Fireside, 1977 |
The chance to write about the very earliest Marvel superhero tales may well have come at exactly the right time for me. Though I've been trying - with very little success - not to think too much about it, today's my 50th birthday, and there does appear to be something entirely apposite about paying attention to the pop culture of the time of my birth. For it does shamefully seem that there's a great deal of the entertainment that I've loved which I've somehow managed to take almost entirely for granted. Whether it's The Beatles or Dickens or David Low, the superhero or test matches or The Wire, I'm constantly returning and finding that I really don't understand the pleasures that I've been enjoying for - in some cases - decade upon decade. A single overlooked detail will suddenly transform the bigger picture almost entirely, as I found when I realised, for example, that there were more or less two different versions of the Wasp appearing in Marvel's books for the first few months of her existence, or as hit me when it dawned that there actually was a very good reason for why she hung the label of "Avengers" upon the super-team she'd helped to form. It seems that I've all-too-often been sleepwalking through experiences that I imagined I was extremely familiar with. It's a realisation which suddenly reminded me of a line from Gladstone's diaries - an uncommon business, I do assure you - which I chanced upon years ago and never thought too much about until today;
"Swimming for his life, a man does not see much of the country through which the river winds, and I probably know little of these years through which I busily work and live ..." - (31/12/1868)
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| Death by endurance bath-swimming, by Lee, Huntle7 & Heck, in TTA#48 |
Of course, Gladstone had far more compelling reasons to have missed much of the age that he'd been living through, and I'm sure that he'd never have regretted lacking a familiarity with the ephemera of the Penny Dreadful anyway. But there is a comfort of sorts to be had in realising that even the great carry the suspicion that they've failed to experience and understand more of the world that they were struggling to make sense of and shape. For me, that's as true of minor and yet beguiling comic strips as it is of anything of any greater significance. At the very least, I could have twigged more about the middle eights and the panel frame sizes, the stage directions and the single point perspective, of the pop culture I've loved.
Gladstone has the laudable excuse that he invested his long decades in the attempt to - shall we say - comfort the fallen even when he wasn't trying to reform the nation. I've not even been paying enough attention to the comic books I've been reading.
Given that there are Splendid Wife-baked cakes to be eaten and idle hours to be wasted away on even more frivolous indulgences today, I hope you might consider coming back on Thursday, when the extra waste-away-a-moment material which I usually add on a Tuesday will be posted instead. There's some charming, and in a few cases rather disturbing, Silver-Age silliness to be chatted about then in connection to Miss Van Dyne and in particular Dr Pym too, so if you're in the vicinity, please feel free to pop in to TooBusyThinking.
And tomorrow, as always, there'll be a celebration of 13 characters in comics history, to which your contributions would be very much appreciated. This week's topic may well have something to do with the passing of the years ...
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| Another exquisite, Caniff-esque panel from Don Heck, from the Lee-Huntley-Heck TTA#48 |
The Year In Comics # 38 can be found here.
The TooBusyThinking Tumblr - with regularly-updated content - can be found here.
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Happy 50th Colin. Two years behind you, which probably explains some of the similarities of opinion, and a fellow child of the 70s. I do miss the days of trying desperately to hunt down issues of various titles around 10 or more newsagents. In those days I used to curse two ppart stories due to the likelyhood of only ever seeing one part. Its an interesting question of whether age is enabling us to see nuances we missed in our youth or whether age is enabling us to read in more than is there.
ReplyDeleteAnyway hope its a good day with fine gifts and fine dining.
Hello Peter:- Thank you. It has indeed been a day of fine gifts and dining.
DeleteI do feel the nostalgic pull of the days you describe. Though it was indeed often hard to put a run together, there was so much to be bought and at so cheap a cost, that it does seem like a land of plenty. Add to that the fact that there was still a substantial number of weekly British comics around and it was a special time. I think that today's comics are better in terms of quality - unless we're talking the super-book, which has a few great books and alot of dross - but they're ferociously expensive and, yes, there's little mystery about the process of collecting them.
On the whole, I prefer always being able to get the comics I want, and yet, I can't deny, the chase - as in so many things - now seems to have been far more beguiling than frustrating.
Ah, well, each age has its advantages. I miss the cheap pop-pulp of my youth. But I can't say I miss the Seventies it came with!
You don't miss Bay City Rollers, Osmonds, Crossroads, three day weeks, powercuts and lots of brown. Yeah now is always the best of times, at least when viewed through nostalgias rosy glasses. I kind of miss the effort involved in getting comics and the existence of fabled items I would never see, like Superman vs Muhammed Ali or Foom or black light posters. My first and only issue of Foom that I found in a seaside town in Devon was like finding the Holy Grail. I read all the very early Marvels in black and white reprints so they were easier to read as runs. Always loved the Alan Class monster comics reprints. The best of today is certainly better entertainment in a lot of ways but the best of today is a very small pool by comparison it sometimes seems.
DeleteHello Peter:- Nope,none of your opening list is to be missed, although the first few bars of Crazy Horses can be a hoot if the rest of what's coming has been forgotten.
DeleteI know exactly what you mean about finding, or not finding, rare comics. A friend of mine came across a Shazam! tabloid edition while on holiday and it seemed to me to be evidence that different laws applied in the universe according to who was doing the searching for comics.
The Alan Class titles are unfairly, if understandably, under-rated as an influence these days. Cheap, shoddy; yep, they were. And yet, they were cheap and thick with stories too, and sometimes there'd be prime Marvel and Charlton stories, as well as some splendid 50s tales. I was looking for nostalgia's sake at a few copies on E-Bay the other night; even Alan Class reprints are getting expensive these days!
Ahhh...the fair Janet. The inimitable Wasp. The source of all of poor Hank Pym's problems.
ReplyDeleteHello Sally:- I blame the writers. I think that's the safest way of approaching things. (I was going to stand by Janet, but the marriage to Hank/Yellowjacket was a dodgy business, and the 21st century recon - it was all gone through with because of the advice of a SHEILD psychologist - doesn't convince either.)
DeleteOh, gosh - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Colin!
ReplyDeleteMany happy returns!
[its my birthday too at months end but Ill be darned if I can remember which one it will be...!!]
Being a fan of vintage Marvel I adored the Wasp - Miss Van Dyne was cute, funny, flighty...the epitome of fun the Avengers needed, in my opinion.
I loved her endless attempts to get Hank Pym to notice her [neednt have bothered, Jan, the way things turned out...!], her quiet yet instinctual loyalty to the team [she rivalled Sue Storm in terms of 'womens intuition'] and her myriad costume changes.
She dared to do things no-one else did - sneaking aboard Attuma's ship, confronting a fake Black Panther face to face, even snagging up the Enchantress's hair [now that is dangerous] and always in the shadow of her beloved Giant-Man/Yellowjacket.
I recall the Avengers tv show was on when the Wasp was a regular in the comics and in my childs mind I thought Linda Thorson [Tara King] and the Wasp were the same person, especially as they often wore outrageous costumes at the time.
Hello Karl:- Thank you :) I'm just recovering from yesterday as I write this. Perhaps I might wish you many happy returns for your coming celebration.
DeleteI love the idea of the younger you believing that there HAD to be an overlap between ABC TV and Marvel. I'm a huge fan of the idea that all fiction occurs in the same "world", as long as no-one is worrying about reconciling every aspect of continuity. I think Steed and Ms King could've had a very interesting time with the likes of Janet and Hank. In fact, the very fact has just made me laugh out loud.
You're right about the fact that the Wasp did have some impressive moments. I must make sure that I don't give the impression that she wasn't ever given heroic moments. Whether it's saving Pym from drowning in the bath or tracking down the giant gun that did for Kang, she was more than just a decorous figure. Not nearly enough of a presence, but that doesn't mean that she didn't at times contribute in an admirable way.
I was always a fan, I must admit :)
Happy birthday!
ReplyDelete- Charles RB
Hello Charles:- Thank you! (I must say, happy it turned out to be. 50 is alot more fun to be than to look forward to.)
DeleteWell, this is late, but happy birthday Colin!
ReplyDeleteDina
Hello Dina:- Thank you :) That's much appreciated.
DeleteDear Colin,
ReplyDeleteI say, bit harsh on yourself there, weren't you old chap? Surely, you should be excited that you've discovered new perspectives and are gaining keener perceptions than ever before. In fact I'd say that's dashed exciting, old bean! You are acruing greater knowledge and gaining in wisdom, my good fellow and that is something to be grateful for. One might even say it's terribly, terribly marvellous, an absolutely topping experience! You get to view the palimpsest of memory and perception that is your life and reflect on how much more thete is to learn. After all it would be rather arrogant to think that you should have seen this all before and that isn't you, my good man... Why am I using this argot (because I'm an ass? Well, yes!), well, I return to your fine weblog to find you've celebrated a milestone birthday, so I wanted to remind you of the language of the Good Old Days (whither, Leonard Sachs?!)! Ahahaha! Sorry, couldn't resist! Seriously, belated Birthday Greetings with many more years to come, you are, of couse, still young. I mean all I said above, there is no shame, just the excitement of clearer vision and New Discovery.
Loved the post on Long-Lived Characters, may I suggest Phantom Stranger, Solomon Grundy, Hercules Prince of Power, and Hob Gadling?
Janet Van Dyne, the good versions of her *are* good aren't they? The much-maligned Dr Pym, too. Jan has, like the Scarlet Witch, been poorly-treated in recent years, the Ultimate Wasp was even *eaten* in a sickening and disgusting scene. Bleeurgh. Why?
Great Windsor-Smith art example. Was the original Archet & Armstrong excellent?
Um, have you read The Long Halloween? Although the main plot is rubbish that is for all its pretensions only on the level of a Murder, She Wrote episode, Jeph Loeb does do a good job with the Joker and Catwoman while some of Tim Sale's artwork is sublime. It's a pity that the sillier pompous elements which reveal the vapidity of Loeb's talent (despite the suffocating pretension) influenced the more absurdly portentous elements of the Nolan movies. Far better to enjoy the more Batmanish bits away from the inflated primary plot. I wonder what you think?
Regards, Robert (c/o The Drones Club...or is it The *Diogenes* Club?!)
Hello Robert:- One strives for objectivity, dear fellow, which may in a charitable light appear harsh rather than accurate, though I fear such would be far too sympathetic a judgement. But thank you for your kind and generous wishes.
DeleteI was thinking of characters which incorporated a quality or two which might inspire an old bloke now qualified to sing "September Song". As such, I think the Phantom Stranger's life seems far too harsh and Grundy's far too full of conflict and swamp. Hercules, on the other hand, was very close to being involved, as he does seem a bloke well capable of a fine time, while Hob does that enviable ability to not die, doesn't he? (I was also thinking of the O'Neil/Adams Ganthet too. He seems back then to have an enviable sense of perspective, even if he did give up his eternal life.)
The original Archer and Armstrong really was good fun. In fact, alot of the early Valiant product up to the time of the Unity crossover had something to say for itself. But it was lovely to see Windsor-Smith artwork on a regular basis, and the stories are charming too. Well-worth a modern-era collection or two.
I've not read the Long Halloween for a long, long time. I'll take another look in the light of your words. The earlier Loeb Batman holiday books with Tim Sale are far more to my taste, I must say.
Hi, Colin, I just turned 50 back in June. Nice observations about Janet Van Dyne. My intro to her was in the reprints of The Avengers issues 10 on that I read in early '70s. Therein she seemed particularly flighty. The only Astonishing Tales era Ant/Giant-Man & Wasp story I've ever read was the reprint of winsome Janet's debut in the Marvel Superwomen collection, so I'm not familiar with Huntley's take on the characters. Interesting that in all those old Fireside books, Stan left out the origin of Ant-Man. Poor Hank just didn't make the grade -- seems almost symbolic when Cap's Kookie Quartet were made to look bad and the public wondered where the original big stars of the Avengers were (excepting the Hulk), Stan's caption noted that no one was exactly sure where Giant-Man the Wasp were, this being after their series had been cancelled. Of course, only a few issues later, Hank & Jan made their dynamic return to the team and along with Hawkeye became the only consistant regulars for the next 4 years, even if there was some switching of names, costumes and powers in the latter part of that period.
ReplyDeleteHello Fred:- Many belated happy returns!
DeleteHuntley was only scripting over Lee's plots for five issues of Tales Of Astonish, but it is notable that his take on the Wasp was different to Lee's. And that's something which I'm trying to write about this very morning. Stan Lee undoubtedly helped create the Wasp, but the version which Huntley began to produce, and which was quickly discarded, was far preferable to me. Not that the two takes are so very different, but the difference was noticeable.
Reading back over those Tales To Astonish and Avengers tales has shown me, as you quite rightly say, that Hank was often the runt of the First Wave litter. Kirby apparently didn't want anything to do with him, Lee - as you say - could seem dismissive. (I'd never noticed Pym was missing from the Seventies' Origins books. Good call!)
But then, perhaps that's part of the character's appeal now. How was it that a superhero with so much going for him didn't take, and why has it proven so hard to make Pym a commercial success? When I come across rare examples of the character being treated "right" - my own bias - such as in Gerber's Defenders issues, it's such a relief. Most of the time, there's a sense of one mistake compounding another until nothing can be done but play him as an all-time loser.
A rotten fate for one of the first Marvel superheroes, I - admittedly sentimentally - can't help but think.