Scarlet Witch's Hair Color Part 4

Last time we established that Wanda's hair color reverted to brown way back in 1970's Avengers #75 (click here for details). For the most part her hair's remained rich brown aka red aka auburn aka chestnut aka marsala ever since....though there've been a few variations along the way. 

Black or brown? Scarlet Witch by John Buscema (l)...and by Bob Hall channeling his teacher Buscema (r)

1990s: Yeah I know Wanda's hair color is the kind of brown that can be called "red"; but it's criminal to depict Wanda with bright tomato-red hair--you know, the shade that's normally associated with Medusa or Matt Murdock or Jean Grey. Wanda should never be depicted as a Jean-clone as she was back in the late '90s (leave that sort of stuff for Madelyne Pryor). That's Jean in the first panel and Wanda in the third--I think. 

X-Men #335 (1996)

2000s: Ultimate Wanda had black patent leather tresses.   

2005: Basic brown at the conclusion of House of M.

2007: The lighter, gingery red-brown hair she sported as Wandjelina  was wrong. Just. Wrong.    

New Avengers #26

     

There you have it, a look at Wanda the Scarlet Witch's hair hues. If you want a refresher you can check here and here and here. So, which do you prefer, the brown or black? I must confess that while I find Wanda's deep brown hair lovely, I've always preferred the black as it's a great counterpoint to Pietro's white hair. Plus I feel Wanda's black hair is a better complement to her usual red attire, it's got that le rouge et le noir thing going on. Ah well, c'est la vie...  ;)

And for good measure, here's the hex-tossing, long-tressed Elizabeth Olsen!

      

Scarlet Witch's Hair Color Part 3

We've reached Avengers #75 (1970), the issue in Wanda and Pietro returned to the Avengers. As noted last time, on #75's cover Wanda's hair was blue-black, which was her the hair color she'd sported since she'd joined the Avengers back in #16 (for details, click here).

But wait! Inside #75 it's a different story. Not only does Wanda sport a slightly modified costume--it's now strapless and she has shorter gloves and simpler boots--but her hair is back to brown. By this time Marvel's color palette/technology had changed and her brown hair seemed a bit lighter, more redder, and less heavily inked than it had during her X-Men days. Quicksilver also received a makeover; his costume was now primarily light blue (silvery?) instead of green.

Avengers #75 (1970) Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Toad

But why the change back to brown? A reader asked that very question in Avengers #81's letter column, calling Wanda's hair color in #75 "a ghastly mistake" and demanding to know why "Tom [Palmer] inked it auburn." (Marvel likely tweaked the letter; I mean, how many teenage/twentysomething comic book readers would describe hair color as "auburn?") The letter writer concluded by imploring Marvel to "PLEASE bring back Wanda's lovely black hair!!!"

The answer at last! Marvel--presumably Roy Thomas, then the Avengers writer--responded by stating that first, inkers aren't the ones who color comics, but that coincidentally inker Tom Palmer also happened to be the colorist for the Avengers at the time; and second, that both Tom and "Rascally Roy discovered that, in the early issues of The X-Men...wistful Wanda's hair was indeed auburn...Thus, since Tom and Roy both prefer auburn to the gray and blue highlights applied since then, they decided to change her back to her original shade." And there you have it: it was none other than Roy Thomas--with input from Avengers inker/colorist Palmer--who determined that Wanda should return to her roots.

As an aside, whoever colored Hulk #128 must not have gotten Roy's memo. Hulk #128 was on sale the same time as Avengers #76, was written by Roy Thomas, and marked the first instance of the post-#76 core team--Clint as Goliath, Vision, Black Panther and the newly-returned Wanda and Pietro--in action. Yet despite all this, in the Hulk issue Wanda's hair was colored its old blue-black hue. 

Scarlet Witch in Hulk #128 (1970)

Anyway, despite Hulk #128--and even though Wanda's hair would continue to be colored blue-black on quite a few Avengers covers...and also sometimes miscolored black within the stories themselves (example: Avengers #104-5)...and occasionally her hair would even change colors in the middle of story arcs--for the most part Wanda's hair has remained a beautiful brown shade to this very day.

Scarlet Witch  in 1970-2

Now I know some consider Wanda's brown hair "red"--she is the Scarlet Witch after all--and her hair at times has been been described as auburn...or chestnut...or mahogany or...To prove I'm willing to compromise, what say we call her hair color marsala. According to the Pantone Color Institute, which named it the 2015 Color of the Year, marsala is a "rich and full-bodied red-brown." That pretty much says it all, doesn't it? 

Next, part 4 of the Scarlet Witch Hair Chronicles: tones and highlights.  

Scarlet Witch's Hair Color Part 2

As we saw last time, Wanda and Pietro left the X-Men comic (X-Men #11) and immediately showed up that same month's Avengers comic. Her hair was still brown on the cover of Avengers #16...

Scarlet Witch on the cover of Avengers #16 (1965)

...however in the story itself, we come across a Stan Lee caption describing a certain "graceful black-haired beauty."  Yep, instead of a brown base color Wanda's wavy windswept hair now has a grey base, again with a lot of black inking.

Wanda and Pietro in Avengers #16 (1965)

The million dollar question: why the change in Wanda's hair color? Was Stan Lee merely being poetic when he called her black-haired--after all many describe dark brown hair as "black"-- and did the colorist mistakenly take him literally? Or if the change to black hair was an editorial decision, did showman Stan hope to invoke an association with a certain ebon hair'd, headline-grabbing movie queen?

Maybe Stan felt that since Wanda was now a newly-minted heroine she needed to have her own unique hair color. At that time Marvel's lead super-heroines--so few in number you could count 'em on one hand with fingers to spare--all had different hair colors: Sue Storm was the blonde, Jean Grey was the redhead, and Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp, had brown hair. Perhaps Stan thought two Marvel "brownettes" would confuse the kiddies (never mind that Jan and Hank's feature in Tales to Astonish would only last a couple of months after they departed the Avengers).  

Sue Storm, Jean Grey and Janet Van Dyne

But guess what, the new Sub-Mariner series that replaced Jan and Hank's in Astonish included the return of a character, Lady Dorma, who--though non-powered--had always had an exotic look similar to Wanda's...including wavy, tousled brown hair with black shading!

Dorma in Tales to Astonish #70 (1965)

In any event, here's the black-haired Wanda with her Kooky Quartet cohorts: 

Scarlet Witch in 1965-6

Wanda and Pietro left the Avengers active roster for a few issues (Avengers #30-35) but while they were on team leave they popped up in Thor #134  and X-Men #27.  

                  left: Thor #134 (Kirby)                                   right: X-Men #27   (Roth)                                               

When Wanda and Pietro returned to the Avengers in Avengers #36 the team had grown beyond the Kooky Quartet and Wanda traded in her big ol' headgear for a much sleeker model (though a reader wrote in and complained that the new design looked like it would puncture Wanda's cheeks every time she spoke). A couple of issues later, Marvel expanded its color palette and began to use blue as her hair's base color, instead of the grey.

1967: shades of grey in Avengers #36...and dark blue in Avengers #38 

Here's Wanda by John Buscema, Don Heck, George Tuska and Werner Roth. 

Scarlet Witch in 1967-8

Wanda and Pietro left the team in Avengers #53 (1968) and didn't rejoin until nearly two years later in Avengers #75 (1970). During her time away she was shown in Avengers Annual #2, Avengers # 58, Spider-Man #71 and X-Men #59-60, always with black hair. The black hair was even present in Silver Surfer #5, in a Buscema recreation of a Kirby X-Men #11 panel from her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants days.  

On hiatus from the Avengers: Scarlet Witch in 1968-9

As mentioned above, Wanda and Pietro returned to the team in Avengers #75. On the cover she has blue-black hair...

On the cover of  Avengers #75 (1970)

...but as with #16, inside it's a different story! Next: The Scarlet Witch returns to her roots. 

Scarlet Witch's Hair Color Part 1

At long last! The answer to the number one question about the Scarlet Witch! No, it's not whether Elizabeth Olsen can fill out Wanda's costume...or what the heck does Wanda's hex power actually do...or how did she conceive kids with the Vision...or is she or isn't she Magneto's daughter...or more recently, is she a mutant or Inhuman...or...

Forget about all that. The burning question is: what color is the Scarlet Witch's hair--is it black or is it brown? Over the years I've posted Wanda hair chronologies including at the CBR forums (though from what I understand, since their reboot older posts are stored in their archives). Anyway, here 's my handy-dandy overview of Wanda's Silver Age/Bronze Age hair color. Note, the following is based on how Wanda appeared in the actual Silver Age issues at the time these comics were first published, and not in reprints! 

Let's begin. As many Marvelites know, Wanda first appeared in 1964's X-Men #4. In her first appearance she had brown hair. Her hair color is not the same brown color as, say, Reed Richards, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Jane Foster or Betty Ross had; Wanda's hair is darker than theirs and there's a lot of black linework--inking--to accentuate her hair's curly/wavy texture; but Wanda's base color is undeniably brown. 

Wanda makes a point in X-Men #4 (1965)

Here are some more images of Wanda during her original stint with Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (X-Men #4-7, X-Men #11)  plus a shot of her in Strange Tales #128 (Jan. 1965). The brown-haired Wanda, Magneto and the rest of the Brotherhood also made an appearance in Journey Into Mystery/Thor #109 (Oct. 1964).

Wanda in  X-Men  4, 5, 6, 7 and 11;

plus Strange Tales 128 (Torch-Thing story)

As many Marvelites also know, Wanda and Pietro left Magneto's Brotherhood in X-Men #11 and immediately showed up in that same month's (in terms of release/publication date) Avengers comic, the famous Avengers #16. In both X-Men #11 and on the cover of Avengers #16 the base color of Wanda's hair is still brown. But inside #16 it's a different story, as we'll see next time in the Scarlet Witch Hair Color Chronicles - Part 2!

Avengers #16. 
Like X-Men #11, it's cover dated May 1965

The brown-haired Wanda

on the Avengers #16 cover

Alter Ego #95 Spotlights Not Brand Echh!...Plus John Buscema's Mighty Revengers

Silver Age fanatics should check out Alter Ego #95 for some great recollections by Roy Thomas, Marie Severin and others about Marvel's Not Brand Echh, the great parody comic book ("Who says a comic book has to be good??").

A line up of great artists drew for NBE, including Severin, Jack Kirby, and Tom Sutton. And speaking of great artists, take a look at this gorgeous page from NBE #12!

For more on Alter Ego #95, visit the TwoMorrows site at
http://twomorrows.com/

Avengers in Not Brand Echh #12 by dream team John Buscema and George Klein

Fun fact:  The Vision officially joined the team at the end of Avengers #58.  But apart from the very end of Avengers #60, this is the only appearance of the Wasp/Hank Pym Goliath/Hawkeye/Black Panther/Vision (core group) line-up! 

 'Course I'm talking about how it unfolded in comics back then; subsequent retcons and untold tales need not apply ;)

The More Things Change...: Cap's Kooky Quartet, Part Four

Avengers 24 (January 1966)

“From the Ashes of Defeat”

Stan Lee – writer, Don Heck – penciller, Dick Ayers – inker

Karen: We’ve reached the fourth and final part of our look at Cap’s Kooky Quartet with this issue of Avengers. I’m not going to give everyone a blow by blow – basically, Kang’s men turn on him and he and the Avengers actually team up to save Princess Ravonna and her people. Yet another Stan Lee twist! But despite the initial head-shaking, it actually works well, with Cap demonstrating the fighting spirit that we’ve come to expect from him. His leadership seems to blossom in this issue – perhaps because the Avengers are actually in a war? – and he inspires the team, and Ravonna’s people, to fight.

Doug: I did like the bit from Kang’s warlords about Ravonna’s required death – that all conquered monarchs must be put to death to impede the prospects of any potential future rebellions. That was a great vehicle to deliver the main thrust of the plot.

Sharon: Wanda and Pietro sure seem completely content to follow Cap’s lead, almost mindlessly so. But I guess that’s what they were used to back then: following someone else’s orders, first Magneto, now Cap. At least Hawkeye—while acknowledging Cap’s gifts-- shows some spirit and independence. He’s starting to respect Cap but he doesn’t get all mushy over it.

Doug: I thought Wanda was the queen-waffler when she changed positions from “it’s hopeless” on the splash page to “Captain America’s words make me proud to be an Avenger” only a scene later. In regard to Stan finding people’s “voices”, did you think it was appropriate that Cap called Ravonna’s general “Bush Head”?

Karen: Cap peppers his speech with much more slang than we expect from him. Again, it’s not quite the Cap we all know. However, he does come across as a soldier, which works with the story. You can definitely feel the Cold War influence here, with Cap and others talking about showing Kang’s men “how free men fight”! For even more politically incorrect fun, one of Kang’s treacherous generals looks a lot like Ming the Merciless, with Asian features and a long drooping mustache! Ah the 60’s…the Commies were everywhere, even the far future!

Doug: Kang’s warlords looked to be dressed as traditional Japanese shoguns – Heck probably used some type of photo reference for inspiration. Funny what passed for political correctness in days gone by – and this was all still serious stuff. Showing this kind of thing wouldn’t become satirical until Archie Bunker rolled in quite a few years later.

Doug: What was the deal with Wanda not using her “hex power” (this is becoming more maddening the longer we discuss it) in the first fracas? She said she was saving it up for the next time?? I’m sorry, but things were getting a little tenuous at that point. You know, maybe Stan envisioned her as REALLY powerful and was afraid to end any battle too soon. I don’t know…

Sharon: We three agreed in our last post that, back then, Marvel usually wrote their energy-wielding characters as exhausting their powers, so it stands to reason there was a need to conserve their energies. Wanda keeping her hex power in reserve is in keeping with that reading.

Karen: It is sort of maddening; if nothing else, it gives one the impression that Wanda’s power is unreliable – which would make it pretty hard for Cap to try to integrate it into a fight.

Sharon: Yes. But later on (when Roy’s the writer) you get dialogue like Cap telling Wanda (in #44) “Wanda, it’s time you used your hex power.” And she obliges with no problem. Plus in #45 she tells Jan she’s spent “hours perfecting her spells” (ugh! You know how I feel about her power being characterized as “spells”…). So I guess the idea is that she was continuously working on her own to obtain a better level of control.

Karen: On another note though, in contrast with the incredibly over-powered heroes at DC at the time, it makes the characters seem more human, and perhaps more relatable. In fact, this whole group of characters would probably be the equivalent (or perhaps even the inferiors) of DC’s Teen Titans, power-wise! Cap is like Robin, Hawkeye like Speedy, Quicksilver like Kid Flash, and Wanda is “the girl” just as Wonder Girl was! So Marvel’s A-team at the time was on par with the kiddie team at DC!

Sharon: That particular quartet of the Titans appeared in 1969 when Speedy officially joined replacing Namor Jr.—I mean, Aqualad …by which time the Avengers’ Kooky Quartet had long ceased to exist. (Prior to his joining Speedy had only made a few sporadic appearances with Titans since 1966). Geez, you’d think if DC were trying to ape Marvel and create their own Kooky Quartet in the Avengers mold, DC could have been more, er, timely… (And of course I’m referring to how events played out back in the ‘60s and not to the retcons that have since established that Speedy was an original member of the Titans).

Sharon: But it’s a very good point, Karen, about the similarities with the two teams, though I don’t think Marvel considered the Avengers their A-team at that time (I think that title was held by the FF at the time…). And the Wanda/Wonder Girl comparison is apt: in both quartets, “the girl” was the most powerful member of the teams (even if in Wanda’s case her power’s potential was unexplored then because the Marvel writers seemingly didn’t know how to write Wanda’s powers).

Doug: Yes, great observations. And probably the only direct correlation one could draw, as I don’t recall the JLA ever being as depowered as this version of the Avengers. I guess to attempt to parallel the adults, we’d be talking Batman, Green Arrow, Flash, and Zatanna (yes, Sharon, I know you hate the comparison. J), huh? Certainly a strange combination of DC heroes, isn’t it? Which is funny, because I don’t have a problem seeing the meshing of either this group of Avengers or the Teen Titans line-up mentioned above.

Karen: Dick Ayers is the third inker in these four issues, and I would say I probably like his style least of all. There’s nothing terrible about it, but it just doesn’t excite me. It does seem like there’s more of Don Heck’s style coming through with Ayers than with either Wood or Romita.

Sharon: After seeing how Romita drew the women’s faces last issue, the difference in their appearance here is jarring—at least in the black and white Essentials I’m reading. Here, Wanda and Ravonna’s faces are rendered with very simple strokes. This issue contained a lot of battle scenes, though, and Dick (“Sgt. Fury”) Ayers is certainly up to the task of embellishing those!

Doug: I would concur with the above comments – Ayers is serviceable. Not bad, but certainly not memorable. His Cap seems somewhat pale to me – lots of blue without much texture.

Karen: What did you think of the sub-plot with Quicksilver, where he is rescued by a woman and hidden from Kang’s troops? It brought to mind years later, when again a weakened Pietro would be rescued by another woman – Crystal of the Inhumans! However, this sub-plot didn’t seem to go far - definitely not as far as Quicksilver would go with Crystal!

Sharon: Yes, it seemed like an intrusive development, as there was no payoff to this subplot—why was it Pietro, and not, say, Hawkeye, here? Just so we’d get some dialogue of Wanda worrying about her brother?

Karen: Exactly, there’s just no pay-off.

Doug: You know, in addition to your reference to the Johnny/Crystal/Quicksilver love triangle, I also thought this was reminiscent of Johnny Storm’s excursions to the Fifth Dimension (Strange Tales #103, FF #158-59) where he met up with a very Kang-like Xemu after falling for the beautiful Valeria. But you’re both right – this was somewhat out of place in the story, and perhaps served to remove Quicksilver from the battle? And another thing! After all of the future-dudes rip on the “primitives”, is Stan seriously going to ask me to believe that Pietro was healed by an “herb”??

Karen: I thought Ravonna falling for Kang was a bit much, even in a comic. Kang to me has just never seemed especially noble, particularly not after reading Kurt Busiek’s Kang saga in the third volume of Avengers.

Sharon: I know we’re supposed to feel that Kang is a “good guy” when he allies himself with the Avengers, but let’s face it—he does so for a purely selfish reason: his carnal love for one person, Ravonna. Is that supposed to be admirable?

Doug: Karen, Kang has never seemed as ruthless as Victor von Doom. Even though he’s supposed to be a conqueror par excellence, it has always seemed that the subjugation of the nation/world/time period was the goal, and not necessarily the holding of it. On the other hand, one need only look at Doom’s Latverian subjects and how they cow to him.

Karen: I don’t know Doug, I think Kang has always seemed, as Sharon says, selfish: his goal of conquering others seems more about vanity and ego than attaining power for any constructive purpose. And he always seemed every bit as ruthless as Doom – particularly in the afore-mentioned Busiek saga. Prior to that nonsense about Doom skinning his old flame and wearing her skin as armor (yes, I’m not making that up), I always felt Doom was portrayed as having a certain degree of honor and nobility. I think there was a feeling that if things had played out differently, Doom could have been a great man. I don’t get that feeling with Kang.

Doug: I don’t know that I implied that Kang wasn’t selfish. My main point was that I don’t feel he’s interested in any sort of permanent administration of conquered territories. It’s almost as if he’s similar to the Collector in that possession is the goal – what to do with it later is secondary. At this point in Marvel history Stan was exploring time and space travel and had begun to explore the multiple personas of Kang; how Kang established and maintained his various empires would be discussed later under other authors’ watches.

Doug: But you wanna know what else I wanna know? Is Kang’s skin blue or peach-colored? I guess I’ve always assumed that the glass on his helmet (do you notice how he refers to his “armor”, when his clothes are just that -- cloth?) is clear, so his skin is blue. But there’s a panel in this story that shows peach-colored skin around his eyes.

Karen: Oh yeah, the blue part is definitely his helmet. How it sticks to his face and moves is another question. I guess that’s 40th century technology for you. Hey, maybe that’s what Cap used for his mask in the previous issue!

Sharon: See, this is a drawback of reading the Essentials.

Karen: So the Avengers are re-united by the end of the story, but in the issues to follow, Cap would still have doubts about staying with the team, Hawkeye would still mouth off constantly, Wanda would still pine over Cap - we’re back to the status quo! I guess those couple of issues where the team was split was some of Stan’s well-known “illusion of change”, huh?

Sharon: And speaking of Smilin’ Stan: the in-team squabbling, Wanda mooning over Cap and Hawkeye’s witty repartee--these elements were seen as innovative for superhero comics, but when you look closely the bulk of Marvel’s Silver Age character “development” could really be seen as an extension of Stan’s writing from his 1940s/50s romance or humor or Millie the Model comics.

Karen: I’ll admit I haven’t read Stan’s prior work. So Sharon, are you saying that Stan was already writing in “Marvel style” before Fantastic Four #1? Stan always talks about the writing of that issue as if he decided to go in a radically different direction than anything he’d done before. Would you say that’s not exactly true?

Sharon: Ah, Karen, I’m so very glad you asked! The way I see it, an ingredient of Stan’s innovation was to bring certain elements from his romance/humor/teen comics, chiefly the “hip” character-based dialogue (and situations like love triangles) to his new line of superhero comics. Stan didn’t do this in the ‘50s when Timely/Atlas attempted to revive their superheroes…but as he’s said in many interviews, by 1961 he had nothing to lose so he probably felt freer to write the dialogue more to his liking, meaning in a breezier fashion akin to what he was already doing in the romance/humor/teen books. And this use of “hip” dialogue and romantic situations starting in the early 60s was in part what made Marvel’s superheroes seem so fresh and different from DC’s back then.

Doug: I’d argue that it’s difficult to give a summation of these character’s personalities after reading these four issues. Sure, you can ascertain that Hawkeye’s a loudmouth, but beyond that what do we see? Cap’s full of self-doubt, then portrayed as one of the finest leaders – so strong in fact that an army from the future defers to him immediately. Wanda is full of doubt herself, and frets/fawns over Quicksilver relentlessly. And Pietro? Hothead to goofball – how about the line near the end of the story where he utters, “It’s just that little ol’ fleet-footed fun boy – me!” Not exactly what I “hear” when I’m reading Quicksilver. None of these characterizations is how I think of these people. So maybe what we have, then, is a genesis of personalities from the pen of Mr. Lee, as he himself struggled to find a group dynamic.

Karen: Agreed, all of the characters are still in the process of becoming the personalities we recall. There are a number of instances where we get incongruous lines, such as the quote you gave from Pietro. That one is just jarring! But the foundations for the characters are there.

Sharon: Yes; Cap using the term “Bush-Head” that Doug mentioned earlier, Pietro’s way-too-casual speech here…I see these lapses as a by product of Stan stretching himself too thin, what with being the chief writer (dialoguer) for several comics.

Karen: As I mentioned in a previous post, this group of Avengers has not fared particularly well. Steve Rogers is (supposedly) dead and has been for nearly two years, Wanda went mad in Avengers Disassembled and caused the deaths of numerous Avengers, including Hawkeye, who’s now back and strangely saddled with the identity of Ronin, and Pietro has had many difficulties, to the point where he has become almost a villain. I’m not sure whose fate bothers me the most! I miss Cap terribly – I think (at least before the Civil War) he was the Marvel Universe’s moral center. Although I’ve enjoyed most of what Ed Brubaker has done with Bucky over in Captain America, I would prefer to see Steve back.

Sharon: I like Pietro’s complexity: he’s not charismatic (which is refreshing) but he’s fascinating because he’s neither completely good nor evil. I’ve always found him to be interesting; except perhaps during his first stint with the Avengers (yes, here!) when he was pretty one-dimensional (he’d had more of a spark earlier when he was in the X-Men comic). As for Wanda, I’ve always considered her to be mentally fragile. She seemed very immature in the early Avengers days and then in Avengers #49 and #53, and the related X-Men #43-45, she just seemed so lost. Her history of breakdowns doesn’t surprise me in the least. Naturally I didn’t expect (or want) the Avengers we know and love to be dissolved in Disassembled, but her actions there were in keeping with her character as I’ve seen it over the years. The Ronin issue doesn’t bother me either because Hawkeye has always had a penchant for changing identities, powers, and costumes--maybe not as much as Hank Pym, but it’s part of who Clint is: always trying to better himself. Now, as for Steve Rogers: I think it’s pretty ballsy of Marvel to have killed him off (though I have no doubt he’ll be back one day). But his absence is a story element in itself, and I think that’s one of the points.

Karen: I hated Disassembled and having Wanda go completely insane – we’ve already seen her have breakdowns or be twisted by evil entities, but this was too much. Perhaps the worst part was that it seemed to be done primarily so a new title could be launched. Hawkeye’s death was meaningless, and to have him running around now with ninja weapons makes absolutely no sense! Quicksilver was already a jerk before Brian Bendis got to him, so I guess his situation bothers me least.

Doug: I’m sure I’ve stated before that I no longer buy too many new comics, and I’ll be quite blunt – it’s largely (way largely) due to the very events you two have just discussed. I find it depressing that writers today cannot think of stories that exist within the parameters that have been set over the course of a 40-year history, but instead find it necessary to turn everything upside down. Not change with logic, but destroy. Clint Barton from Hawkeye to Goliath was fine in the face of Hank Pym’s metamorphosis to Yellowjacket; Clint Barton to ninja – uh, no.

Karen: Probably the only other Avenger to suffer as much as these four would be Hank Pym…and he would be returning to the team shortly after this series of issues we’ve just read!

Avengers #16 (1965) 

Come Together: Cap's Kooky Quartet part 3

Avengers #23 (1965)

Avengers #23 (December 1965)

“Once An Avenger”

Stan Lee – writer, Don Heck – penciller, John Romita – delineator

Karen: We’ve just made it past the half-way point in our look back at Cap’s Kooky Quartet. Here in issue 23, things really start cooking. You’ll recall that at the end of issue 22, Cap had left the team, disgusted with all the constant squabbling. We start this issue with the remaining Avengers discussing their loss. Again, the Scarlet Witch appears to have romantic feelings towards Cap. She thinks, “How I miss the sight of him working out in our private gymnasium! So confident…so handsome! To me, he was every inch an Avenger!”

Doug: Wanda was just another of Stan’s lovesick girls in a few panels – the tears, the longing glance toward her vision of Cap in the gym.

Sharon: To think that our sweet Wanda enjoyed leering at Cap as he went through his sweaty gyrations in the gym…. well, I’m glad the girl has a pulse! Anyway, the drawing of Wanda in that panel is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

Karen: The object of her affection has decided to seek out a job as a sparring partner for “the champ”, a boxer.

Doug: Did you find it odd that Cap would cut loose with that super-soldier strength on those guys? Would you say that it was a little irresponsible?

Karen: I’m sure Cap was still careful not to hurt anyone too badly. But he seems a bit feistier here than he would later on.

Karen: We see that Cap, too, feels pain over his decision to leave the team. Meanwhile, Kang the Conqueror, that megalomaniac from the future last seen in issue #11, has returned, ready to take vengeance on the Avengers. Realizing that “they are like a ship without a rudder” without Captain America, he reasons it is the perfect time to strike. He captures Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch and whisks them off to the future. Although Wanda is able, at great effort, to free them, Kang manages to re-capture her and Hawkeye. Pietro’s great speed allows him to escape.

Doug: I’d like to interject here, and I’m going to get back on the time travel problems I voiced in our discussion of the Adult Legion stories. Kang obviously has a log of all history up to his era. Is it merely mischievousness that prompts him to attack certain worlds or time periods? While I would not dispute that his technology would be infinitely better than most places he would choose to conquer, he certainly has the knowledge to attack at just the right moment. How could he ever be truly defeated?

Doug: I loved the way Kang initially attacked the Avengers by landing what seemed to be an additional story on top of the mansion. Did you notice, too, that Kang referred to having the Avengers lost in a “labyrinth” later in the story – a motif we’ll see again in the Celestial Madonna arc, which we’ve previously discussed!

Doug: Did you notice that the force field employed by Kang on page 16 was the same as was depicted on the cover of his initial appearance, issue #8?

Sharon: It’s been said Heck used Kirby’s books as a primer or reference guide. Smart guy, that Heck. (I’m sure other Marvel artists during that time did the same.)

Karen: I thought their escape was a nice reminder of how Wanda was portrayed back in the old days – heck, how most Marvel heroines were portrayed – as weak, near-defenseless hanger-ons. After she uses her hex power she is almost exhausted.

Doug: And you’re right, Karen – the immense tiring-out after using one’s powers was a Marvel mainstay – Johnny Storm, Cyclops, etc.

Sharon: I agree with both of you; many “energy-wielding” characters of both genders often exhausted their powers, as did some characters with enhanced bodily attributes like Reed, Angel and Quicksilver. This gave Marvel the opportunity to inject some “vulnerability”—no Kryptonite needed! The only exceptions seemed to be non-powered people like Hawkeye (who depended on gadgets) and, at the other end of the spectrum, the truly powerful strongmen like Thor and Ben Grimm.

Doug: What did you think of Wanda saying a spell when using her hex in the glass confinement? I thought it channeled Dr. Strange, or even Zatanna (although Wanda spoke her words forward).

Sharon: LOL, Doug, I think you’re channeling me, as this is a point I have made countless times, both here in our humble blog--as recently as in our entry on Avengers #21—and on the Avengers Assemble boards. So you can probably guess what I “think of” Wanda acting as if her power is to cast spells: it is wrong! Wanda does not cast spells! She is not a sorceress!! (Especially not back then.) She is not the equivalent of Dr. Strange/Zatanna/Enchantress/Miss Harkness/Clea!

Sharon: Now, of course the writer here (Stan) could argue that we the readers should attribute this “spell invocation” to the limited viewpoint of the character herself…we can overlook this inaccuracy as the character (Wanda) not being all knowing about her power. And Wanda would continue to occasionally refer to her power as “spells” in some other issues in the Silver Age, so perhaps that’s how she characterized her power. But that’s really stretching it. Bottom line, I see it as sloppiness on the part of the writer--first Stan, and for the later Silver Age issues in which this occurs, Roy’s.

Karen: Cap has heard about the Avengers’ abduction and returns to the mansion. Kang discovers this and teleports him to the future too, but the beautiful Princess Ravonna, whom Kang desires, interferes and Cap winds up outside Kang’s clutches. He and Pietro meet and after expressing their happiness at seeing each other again, go after Kang.

Karen: I have to say something here about the art and the women’s faces in this issue. The hand of Jazzy Johnny Romita is highly evident when it comes to both Wanda and Princess Ravonna. Both have that typical Romita girl look – clean, lush art much like he would later be associated with on Spider-Man. In fact, Princess Ravonna could almost be Mary-Jane’s sister! Although the clunky head-gear she’s wearing is a disaster – is that really what the glamorous women of ‘the future’ will be wearing?

Sharon: I agree that Romita really shines when it comes to the womens’ faces; Wanda looks gorgeous while retaining a voluptuous look, and Ravonna is absolutely ravishing in a sleeker, more modern way. The women’s sharp facial architecture (cheekbones, chins) is Heck’s work, but the strong yet feminine facial features (including Ravonna’s delicate cleft in her chin) are Romita’s. And it’s not only the women: Romita makes the unmasked Steve Rogers look very classically handsome, and Quicksilver also looks more attractive than usual.

Doug: Speaking of clunky headgear, I always think there’s a bit of a disconnect in the way Wanda’s head/face is depicted in this era of Avengerdom. When looking at her from the front, her headpiece seems to stick out to the sides, yet when seeing a side view, it would appear to be tight to her head.

Sharon: It was difficult to draw, to say the least (Kirby’s fanciful costumes aren’t known for being practical or realistic); and it’s probably why Heck finally said to “heck” with it and changed Wanda’s headgear to a tiara-like piece in #36.

Doug: Karen, I couldn’t agree more about the impact of Romita on this issue. I noticed how much better Heck’s pencils looked right from the splash page; Jazzy Johnny’s faces are beautifully on display throughout the issue.

Sharon: It’s no surprise that the women look so good; before taking on this Avengers assignment (his first for Marvel, I believe) Romita had spent several years as one of DC’s top romance book artists, so he was a pro at drawing attractive people, especially women. Romita had previously worked with Stan during the waning Timely/Atlas days, before the Atlas implosion; he then went to DC and became their principal romance artist; but when the romance work dried up at DC for various reasons, Romita accepted Stan’s offer to do some work for Marvel. The second time’s the charm, I guess--Romita ended up on staff and in many ways became Stan’s right hand man during the Marvel era.

Karen: And as an aside, I have been looking at both the Avengers DVD-ROM and the Marvel Masterworks edition with these stories – and Wanda’s hair is colored auburn in the Masterworks!

Sharon: That’s disappointing; I think reprints should be as faithful as possible to the original material, though I understand that the Masterworks coloring was done by following a more current color guide (and most people consider Wanda’s haircolor to be the auburn).

Doug: I still think the raven-haired Wanda is a strange look. Not a bad look – just not used to it, as I always think of her as having the auburn hair.

Sharon: With me it’s the opposite—I go for the black hair since that’s how Wanda appeared when I first saw her (Avengers #45). Though I’m used to it by now and I know Wanda’s black hair only lasted for a mere 3 years of her 40-plus years existence, there’s still that part of me that thinks her auburn hair looks wrong! Just goes to show how powerful and long-lasting first impressions are.

Karen: Cap and Quicksilver go after Kang but he is able to defeat them with his scientific weaponry. Kang demands that Princess Ravonna agree to marry him, or he will level her kingdom. She asks her father what she must do. Just as it looks like she is about to accede to Kang’s demands, Hawkeye and Wanda arrive, having freed themselves. Cap and Pietro are also recovered and the whole team is reunited, ready to take on Kang! Sensing potential defeat, Kang orders his armies to attack the city, leaving us poor readers to wait ‘til next issue!

Karen: I thought this was a better-written issue than last issue. Stan seemed to make more of an effort to capture the individual voices of the four Avengers. I thought it was funny that Hawkeye jumped on Wanda and Pietro for quoting Cap, and then he himself does it later! “Rats! Now you got me doing it!” It’s obvious despite all of his wisecracks about Cap that deep-down Hawkeye respects him. It’s interesting to see the ways Cap has influenced all of them.

Doug: Did you think that although Pietro had pined for the leadership of the team, that he and Wanda quickly deferred to Hawkeye? I thought Clint showed some of his potential in this issue. And I would wholeheartedly agree with you, Karen, that Stan’s dialogue was solid – he wrote the characters as I hear them.

Karen: Yes, it almost seemed like Hawkeye slipped into that leadership role without even trying. The three of them did work well together, but I would expect that sort of bonding, given the circumstances of their arrival to the team. When we wrap up next issue, I’d like to talk to both of you about the fates of this quartet of Avengers…time has not been kind to them.

Sharon: Yes—so many twists and turns, often tragic—better than a soap opera! To be continued next time, as Karen says…

Karen: I also feel like Stan was successful in showing that this team, despite lacking the power of the original, showed great determination and courage, and truly deserved to be called Avengers. There was also a sense of vitality to this issue that I enjoyed.

Doug: Yes, Kang gave them a sign of respect in the middle of the story when he commented that despite their relative powerlessness in comparison to their forebears, “I almost regret that they have… no chance!”

The Long and Winding Road: Cap's Kooky Quartet, part 2

Avengers #22 (1965)

Avengers 22 (November 1965)

“The Road Back!”

Stan Lee –writer, Don Heck – penciller, Wally Wood – inker

Karen: The second part of our Kooky Quartet of Avengers reviews picks up right at the end of last issue. The team has been ordered to dissolve by the city council. Cap wants to go after Power Man to discover how the team was framed. But the three younger Avengers seem to have thrown in the towel. They are prepared to disband. This really riles Cap, who says, “All right then –take off—all of you! I never could stomach a bunch of quitters!” When Wanda tells Cap “A man should be able to accept defeat gracefully,” Cap says disgustedly, “Lady, how did you ever become an Avenger?”

Sharon: The sight of Wanda spouting platitudes and wagging her finger—she seems especially obtuse and clueless here.

Karen: This of course tweaks off Pietro, and there’s a brief skirmish between he and Cap. The artists do a very nice job of demonstrating Quicksilver’s speed here. It really seems possible that he could beat Cap!

Sharon: I always liked Heck’s way of depicting Pietro’s speed (it’s similar to how Kirby usually rendered Pietro’s speed in the earlier X-Men issues).

Karen: It’s funny how a bunch of lines somehow manages to get across the idea of speed so great, the image is blurred. But it works. And this was before all the computer-enhanced gimmickry of today!

Doug: As I said last in last issue’s comments, I get tired of all of the constant in-fighting during this period of Avengers history. Yes, I know what Stan was going for, and even if annoying it is 100x better than some of the storytelling that was going on at the Distinguished Competition. But it just gets stale. I also wonder about another matter we’ve previously discussed: Marvel time vs. real time. Because if this is only the sixth issue in the Kooky Quartet’s history, it’s somewhat likely that they would have been on the job less than a month in the real world! There is an awful lot of bickering, etc. coming from new employees!!

Sharon: It’s in keeping with the Fantastic Four model I mentioned in our last entry. The unceasing bickering here is reminiscent of the early issues of the FF, in which that team was far from solid, what with the Thing and/or the Torch complaining (and deserting the team, or threatening to). Also, here, in #22, we see the seeds planted for a future respect between Hawkeye and Cap, as Hawkeye takes the initiative and steps in to restrain Pietro; and Cap gives thanks where it’s due.

Karen: It may be tiresome to us reading it now, but back in 1965, it was revolutionary. I’m sure many readers found it both shocking and refreshing that not all the team members got along. I know when I’ve read Justice League tales from about the same time, they seemed like the blandest group of heroes ever! If not for their costumes, I would never have been able to tell Flash from Batman or Green Lantern. It may have been a quick way to provide conflict and characterization, but it worked.

Karen: As they all go their separate ways, Cap feels ashamed that the team has fallen apart on his watch. It’s odd to see Cap so insecure and uncertain as he is here.

Doug: Agreed. It had seemed that Stan had gone away from the self-doubting, even self-loathing Steve Rogers and had replaced him with the strong leader we’ve known and loved.

Sharon: It certainly is a different Cap than later on. He’d expressed doubts about his leadership since #16 and what’s more, he didn’t seem that keen on being a full-time Avenger; remember how ecstatic he was a few issues earlier when he thought SHIELD wanted him?

Karen: So I guess we can say that Cap also evolved into the great leader we think of him as today, much as the rest of the quartet evolved too.

Karen: The other three erstwhile Avengers attempt to get jobs – which I thought was a typical Stan Lee ‘real world’ element. While one might expect them to be out stopping crime, the reality is, they’ve gotta eat! They try to get on TV shows (Wanda even tells one producer she can sing!) but it’s no go. The Avengers’ reputation is so tarnished nobody wants them. Enter the Ringmaster. Knowing that the threesome must be desperate, he and his Circus of Crime contact the three and offer them jobs at the circus. Of course, he actually plans to use them to commit robberies.

Sharon: What I don’t understand is: why did Pietro and Wanda stick with Hawkeye (as evidenced by Wanda’s line: “Perhaps Hawkeye will get a lead!”)? There was certainly no love lost between the two men, and Wanda had barely noticed Hawkeye.

Doug: As I was reading this issue, I almost forgot that what I’d come here for was the conclusion of the Power Man/Enchantress saga! This was like getting two stories for the price of one!

Karen: Is it just me, or was the Circus of Crime one of the lamest groups ever? The only early Marvel group that I think was even less interesting was the Enforcers, over in Spider-Man. I also found it odd that no mention was made of Hawkeye’s carnival background, as shown in his origin in Tales of Suspense 57.

Sharon: Ha--maybe that’s what convinced the trio the job offer was legit, since, after all, one of them had experience. And Pietro had expressed a desire to work in a circus in an earlier issue...I can see why our ambitious heroes thought this job opportunity was “too good to be true!” (rolls eyes…)

Doug: Agreed on the Circus of Crime. They are pretty lame. However, and maybe we’ll get to these issues later (although after suffering with the Vision for six weeks, I’m not sure I’m up for our other downtrodden Avenger), the height of Circus glory was definitely the cover of Avengers #60 – the wedding of Hank and Jan! Phenomenal John Buscema cover and interiors. The python was very menacing!

Karen: In any case, when the three young ex-Avengers discover what’s going on, they make quick work of the Ringmaster and his stooges. Again, Quicksilver’s speed seems so much more formidable here than it would in many later stories. His comments about slow-moving “Homo sapiens” also remind the reader that Pietro did spend a good amount of time in the presence of Magneto. Some of that superior attitude seems to have rubbed off. Of course, it got worse as he got older.

Sharon: Why would Pietro assume his foe was a human (Homo sapiens), and not a mutant (Homo superior)? I mean, maybe Cannonball had a big, mutated head underneath his helmet.

Doug: The Homo sapiens comment smacked me right between the eyes. But, upon doing a little research (I used the Avengers DVD-ROM for this review), I found that Pietro had used the term “Homo superior” in describing himself and Wanda during their reflection of their careers on page 10 of Avengers #16.

Karen: his hang-up with this presages some of his later issues, particularly when it comes to his daughter, Luna.

Doug: Is Wanda’s lack of ability to use her hex power when having her eyes shielded just one more confusing aspect of her powers?

Sharon: Seems to me a case of a harried Stan not really understanding the art. He could have easily dialogued something like Wanda was caught by surprise and being choked or the like, starting to black out, etc., before she had a chance to use her power.

Karen: Unfortunately the police side with the Ringmaster, and the ex-Avengers are on the lam again! There’s a fun couple of panels where we see the reaction of the man on the street, including two kids in Marvel t-shirts (one with the Avengers, one with the FF) arguing over the innocence of the team! “Aw, your uncle eats pickles!” shouts one youngster – obviously an insult of high degree.

Doug: Your saying that brings to mind the scene from the film “A Christmas Story” when the kids discuss the “double-dog dare”. Funny, very childlike, stuff!

Karen: In the meantime Cap has tracked down Power Man, and discovers he’s been working with the Enchantress. He manages to tape a confession from the villains, which will undoubtedly clear the Avengers – if he can survive long enough to get it to the authorities!

Doug: Is it just me, or are disguises used in comic books the greatest technology known to man? I mean, how in the world could anyone not have known that the PR guy was someone wearing a costume?? Similarly, going back a couple of weeks in blog-time, we discussed Superman and Cosmic Man switching identities by using rubber masks… Has anyone ever been fooled by a trick-or-treater at your door?

Sharon: The worse part is, Cap has his Cap mask on underneath the rubber mask! This is one of those Silver Age comic book conceits you just have to take with a grain of salt.

Karen: There are some sizzling action scenes, with Cap trying to outmaneuver the super-strong Power Man. At one point he says to Power Man, “Remember – you’re fighting the weakest one! My partners are all younger- and have greater powers!” Again, we see Cap as less than the ever-confident leader he would one day become.

Doug: Cap at his best.

Sharon: To me, this seemed to an instance of Cap using his “leadership” skills and psychology to impart some fear in Power Man; I can’t imagine Cap really thought he was weaker than Hawkeye or Wanda (with her then “small-potatoes” power that seemed useful in making people trip or drapes fall and the like).

Karen: Eventually Cap does get knocked out, but right then, those three younger and greater team-mates of his arrive! They battle Power Man to a standstill, but he gives up when the Enchantress deserts him. The Avengers are exonerated, and it seems like we’re cruising towards a happy ending – but guess again! Cap says he’s had it with the rest of the team. “Now that our names are cleared, I’m kissin’ you off!” the star-spangled hero says, leaving both the Avengers and the reader shocked!

Sharon: Cap seemed reluctant to take on the leader role that was handed to him (in Avengers #16), and as mentioned, he seemed awfully eager to join SHIELD (and become a part-time Avenger) just a couple of issues earlier. Cap at this time was very conflicted--this was underscored in his Suspense tales, which had just reverted to the present day--and frankly, he would remain so until he finally cut the cord and “left” the Avengers—yes, again! --in #47. Some time later (after #47) when he returned to the Avengers, he had matured into the leader and paragon we all think of him as.

Karen: What a fun issue! There’s so much going on, and just when you think everything is back to normal –wham! Stan hits you right in face. Although it feels to me like Stan doesn’t really have Cap’s voice yet (“kissin’ you off”?? Really?), that just may be due to the fact that I’ve read so many later Cap and Avengers stories, where Cap is always depicted as a paragon of virtue. Here, he is much more human and in some ways more interesting.

Doug: Karen, you hit the nail on the head in regard to dialogue. I felt at several times in the story that the characters were just using cookie-cutter lines. I also thought that our musings about the nationality of Erik Josten were lost in his speech patterns (one could argue that Wanda and Pietro have lost their “European accents” as well).

Karen: Yes, Josten later makes a comment about ‘Santa Claus’ which seemed very American to me.

Sharon: It’s hard to believe Stan would have problems with the dialogue, since the protagonists were very unalike. But Stan gives Pietro Hawkeye-like dialogue: “I hope—for your sake—that you’re joking, mister!” and the oh-so-proper Wanda even calls Princess Python “Lady.” It’s not in keeping with the notion that Marvel’s strength was in its focus on characters’ individuality (in no small part through the dialogue). But as with the earlier example of the Wanda panel, this is a by-product of having one person—Stan—as the chief scripter (dialoguer) for the majority of the superhero books at the time. While it led to a unified Marvel Universe, it could also give rise to shortcuts and sloppiness, as here.

Karen: Sharon, I think you have got something there. Stan had so many books to write, I suppose he just slipped a bit with this one.

Karen: I also enjoyed all of the little inside comments, such as the page where Stan explains that the original Avengers are busy and can’t get involved. We find out Iron Man is fighting the Android in Tales of Suspense 72, and Thor is in Asgard in Thor 122. But as for Giant-Man’s whereabouts, the footnote says, “Your guess is as good as ours!” And at the conclusion of the story, the caption in the last panel tells us, “Does Cap really mean it? Is this another crucial split-up for the mighty Avengers? Do we have all kinds of dazzling surprises waiting for you next ish? Why not tune in and see for yourselves? This much we can tell you – if it isn’t the zingiest 12 cents worth of the month, we’ll never talk to Irving Forbush again! Face front!” It’s all good, goofy fun, without diminishing the characters or the story one bit.

Doug: Yep – I really miss storytelling like this. It is goofy, but there are pictures that move the eye across and up and down the page, and there are words – and lots of them! The cross-referencing is great fun, too – but no where did the reader feel like he/she was required to buy all of the other books in order to have a handle on what was happening in the Avengers.

Doug: I’d also comment that I love the house ads! Every month from this era was a great month. I wish I’d been around to have that wide-eyed wonder at the spinner racks as each new week brought more four-color wonderment.