Heroic Halloween in Rutland THE BEAST "...and the Juggernaut Will Get You...if You Don't Watch Out!" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...Henry McCoy, aka the X-Men's Beast passing through Rutland on his way to Canada on a vital mission.

He meets several comic book professionals who have arrived for the annual Halloween Parade, which features participants dressed as superheroes!

Unfortunately, long-time X-Men foe Juggernaut is also there, projected from a mystical dimension he had been exiled to, due to the supernatural properties inherent to the Rutland area as shown in the previous year's Marvel Feature #2 when the dread Dormammu tried to sacrifice Dr Strange on a nearby mountaintop on Halloween (long story we won't get into here)!

When the Juggernaut appears, Hank becomes The Beast to stop him...

Real-life Parade organizer and party host Tom Fagan appears in almost all Rutland-themed comics, dressed as Nighthawk (if it's a Marvel book) or Batman (if it's a DC book).

You'll see him in this trilogy again!

The two blondes in panel 2 are Marvel's own writer/editor Roy Thomas and writer Jeanie Thomas, who appeared in both the previous Marvel Rutland comics.

To clear up several things...

The Juggernaut got better, and returned...and returned...and returned!

(You can't keep a classic baddie down!)

Hank did get to Canada, where his expertise helped save the world!

But those are stories for another time and blog...

OTOH, keep an eye on Steve's beat-up jalopy, which plays a role in the remaining tales!
And, Glynis did have a rather exciting time while she was separated from the guys, as you'll see...

NEXT MONDAY!

Hint: It has to do with her wearing a Supergirl costume!

Seriously!

Please Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel MasterWorks

X-MEN

Volume 7

Heroic Halloween in Rutland THE BEAST "...and the Juggernaut Will Get You...if You Don't Watch Out!" Part 1

We presented some basic info HERE, so read that before you begin this trilogy of terror!

Don't worry, there'll also be footnotes as we go along...

The three real-world comic writers we see here are Steve Englehart (balding blonde), Gerry Conway (long brown hair) and Len Wein (goatee), as well as Len's wife Glynis (whose real-life counterpart colored this story)!

In-joke: the real-life Steve Englehart had been writing The Beast's strip for the last five issues (as well as this story), so it's not unreasonable for "Marvel Universe Steve" to find Hank McCoy "familiar"!

Glynis is dressed as DC's Supergirl, which figures into the storyline in the other tales in the trilogy!

Also Marvel had to modify her costume insignia from "S" to "G" for legal reasons.

And on that ominous note, we end the first part of this re-presentation!
The explanation for Glynis' disappearance is in another of the stories in this trilogy.

Written by Steve Englehart, panciled by Bob Brown, and inked by Frank McLaughlin (with caricatures of the real-life comics creators by Marie Severin), this tale will conclude...

TOMORROW!

Please Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel MasterWorks

X-MEN

Volume 7

Reading Room: MARVEL SUPER-HEROES "Phantom Eagle" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Masked World War I Flying Ace...

...in 1917, German-American aviator Karl Kaufman knows it's only a matter of time until America enters World War I on the side of the Allies.

Unfortunately, after he moved out of the family home, his homesick parents had returned to Germany before the war began.

Karl believed that, if he fought for the Allies (as many American flyers had in the Lafayette Escadrille), his parents might suffer reprisal.

So he adapts the identity of the masked Phantom Eagle.

While testing his aircraft over Long Island Sound in anticipation of going to Europe, he encounters...a flight of German Fokker fighters!

Taking down three of them, the Phantom Eagle follows the rest of them to their nearby base...a gigantic dirigible aircraft carrier hanging in the clouds over America's East Coast!

Without a radio, the Eagle chooses to retreat back to his airfield so he can phone a nearby Army Air Corps base and refuel/re-arm his custom-built fighter.

Though skeptical, the military sends up a squadron to investigate, and they find the dirigible...

Though it appeared in 1968, after a number of Trimpe pencil and/or inking assignments had seen publication, this was Herb's first submission to Marvel while he was working in their Bullpen!

Herb tells the tale in this interview!

Historical note: When Trimpe (and Gary Friedrich) came up with the character in 1966, the 50th Anniversary of World War I was ongoing, and several comics publishers had premiered WWI-themed strips and comic books, including Dell's World War Stories, G-8 and His Battle Aces (which you'll see here in August), Lawrence (a one-shot based on the movie Lawrence of Arabia), and Air War Stories; DC's Balloon Buster (in All-American Men of War, Our Fighting Forces, and Enemy Ace (in Our Army at War, Showcase, and Star-Spangled War Stories).

Marvel was limited by newsstand distributor contract to how many books they could publish per month, and decided not to cancel/revamp any existing titles.

In 1967, Marvel took the reprint title Fantasy Masterpieces, which went from 1950s Atlas sci-fi stories to a mix of those tales plus 1940s-50s superhero stories, retitled it Marvel Super-Heroes, and dumped the sci-fi, replacing it with super-hero tryouts to "test the waters".

The first one, Captain Marvel (Captain Mar-Vell), was an immediate success.

Black Knight, Ka-Zar, Medusa, and Doctor Doom, showcased supporting characters and ended up as springboards to later appearances by the characters in other books and (except for Medusa) eventually, their own strips and/or titles.

As for the two other original concepts...

Well, we know what happened to Guardians of the Galaxy, which, after receiving an All-New X-Men-style revamping, went on to multi-media glory.

The Phantom Eagle popped up in several books, including Trimpe's Incredible Hulk, Ghost Rider (where this pin-up by Trimpe, which was probably a rejected cover, appeared),

..and, finally, 40 years after his debut, his own book, a 2008 mini-series entitled War is Hell: the First Flight of the Phantom Eagle by Howard Chaykin, who had previously-deconstructed DC's premier aviator, Blackhawk!

Bonus: original art of several of the pages seen above.

Note the editorial comments and corrections...

Next Month: G-8 and His Battle Aces!