w: Stan Lee
a: Don Heck
l: Artie Simek
Snake Charmer: Irving Forbush
(when did the colorists starting getting their credit?)
since everything has been set up in the last issue, we get a lot of action in this one.
Cap is a prisoner of the Serpents and then changes to their side. or does he? Hawkeye thinks Goliath is a coward and then realizes he's shot off his mouth early again. Bill Foster gets angry at the Avengers for not standing up to the Serpents. good thing Goliath has a plan!
the Serpents trot out Cap to announce he's one of them. meanwhile, the Avengers take the battle to their hidden airbase and the action starts. Hawkeye and the Black Widow free the real Cap (who didn't see that coming?) and he polishes off the faker despite not having his shield. Cap just rocks.
the Wasp and the Widow save Hawkeye and stop the Supreme Serpent who is unmasked as General Chen (really, every reader should have seen this coming) and the Avengers are heroes again.
there's some cornball speeches at the end as well, freedom and all that. it seems like the people in the Marvel U are pretty malleable when it comes to changing their minds. fickle brained mush heads, maybe.
it's a good story, but Stan has told better ones. anyone notice the mistake on the cover?
next: "The Living Laser"
I don't think colorist credits started until the 1970s? Many of those Silver Age Marvel books are colored by Stan Goldberg, though.
ReplyDeleteRather than actually coming out and saying what the cover mistake is, I'll just point out that it was fixed on the cover of Marvel Triple Action #25 when that title reprinted this issue. While I don't own a copy of the original Avengers comic, I *do* own a copy of MTA #25.
I see that. and now for the next question I have... why was it called "Triple Action"?
ReplyDeleteThat's such a good question that I don't have the real answer for you, and don't know if there's ever been one offered. (Seriously) All I CAN say for certain is how the title was sold:
ReplyDelete1) The first few issues reprint FF stories, but are promoted as starring the Thing, Doctor Doom, and the Silver Surfer. The first issue promises "3-in-1 Thrills!"
2) When the book shifted to the Avengers (the FF usually was reprinted in Marvel's Greatest Comics), the three "stars" were Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man. This was fine until you get to Avengers #16.
3) Eventually, the book was sold as just an Avengers title, but usually with three "bursts" touting stars. On #25, they are on the right of the logo. I doubt anyone bought the book on the basis of things like "Goliath and the Wasp!", but they kept up appearances. This practice was dropped in the last year of the book and they just ignored the fact that the title made no sense.
4) There was one period when the MTA name DID make sense, and that was ironically when it was briefly cancelled. It resurfaced as Giant-Size Marvel Triple Action and reprinted the Avengers, Daredevil, and Dr. Strange. The ongoing Giant-Size books were ended and MTA resumed its original numbering as an Avengers-only books again. Coincidentally, the first post-Giant-Size issue was #25. So yes, the story is "continued" from Giant-Size Marvel Triple Action #2.