COMICS-Crappy Comics: "Preeeeeesenting..The Phantom Eagle"
Marvel Super-Heroes #16 (1968)
In the 60's, Marvel Comics was known for its innovative and non-traditional approach
to super-heroes. Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, The Hulk and others
broke the mold of the Golden Age superhero archetype. Spider-Man was a nerd,
Daredevil was blind, the Fanstic Four were public idols and the Hulk was
a monstrous, misunderstood outcast. As the 60's wore on, Marvel kept trying to
churn out more hits.
Taking a page from DC Comics, Marvel dug back to their Golden Age routes of
Timely Publications, and took a shot at revitalizing forgotten heroes.
Sub-Mariner was brought back as a villain, and a short while later, Marvel
struck paydirt with Captain America's return. Keeping with their
modus operandi, Marvel put unconventional spins on these old timers. As mentioned,
Sub-mariner was now a supervillain, while Captain America was a modern-day
Rip Van Winkle. Not the typical "Clean Cut Guy Puts on Mask to Fight Bad Guys and Woo
Girlfriend" formula that had been prevalent since the late 30's.
Marvel gets alot of accolades for their work in the 60's, but they turned out
a few stinkers along the way. Actually, the stinkers may have outnumbered the
hits. Such a case is Marvel Super Heroes #16. The covers promises
the "latest and greatest action hero!" as the book is "preeeeeesenting
the PULSE-POUNDING PHANTOM EAGLE!". Marvel was never shy about tooting their
own horn and proclaiming every issue a "masterpiece"....but
when you've got SIX "E's", then you'd better hunker down and watch out, Cletus,
cuz there's a storm a' comin!!
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| "Preeeeesenting..."
|
Phantom Eagle was another seldom-seen Golden Age character from Timely.
As you can tell by the name, he's good at two things: "Phantoming" and
Eagle-ing". Not much information exists on his Golden Age counterpart, but the character's
setting was roughly the same- the World War I era. In this issue, the Eagle's
first Silver Age appearance, it's 1917 and the Lusitania is still floating around.
Eagle is a guy named Karl Kaufmann, a former barnstormer who works as a test pilot.
Kaufmann has a long history with his best buddy Rex, and the standardly issued
"most beautiful girl in town", Paula Jackson. Rex and Karl worked together in
an air circus, until an accident grounded Rex for life. Karl jumped to his job as
a test pilot, while Rex joined the Army's Air Corps and married Paula. To further
add complications, Karl's parents live in Germany. He's afraid to enlist in the
US armed forces, for fear that the German government will act out against his family back in the
old country. Everyone believes Karl's a mercenary- he won't enlist unless the government
pays him enough.
This possesses Karl to dress up in a costume, fly around in a fancy plane and talk
to himself.
As the story opens, Karl is flying around as the Phantom Eagle.... why is he
in costume? He mentions that he won't fight the Germans unless he's paid, so why
the mystery man routine? Bascially, he's a masked hero without motivation. He's
not fighting bad guys, he's just..... flying. In a costume that would be at home
in any bar with a rainbow on the door. Like all
unmotivated heroes, he has a sidekick mechanic named Curly. Curly's kinda like
a cross between Ralph's trusty mentor from "The Greatest American Hero" and
Punisher's Micro Chip. He's also a little bit like Lowell from TV's "Wings", if you want
to be picky. Have to be a little off-center to work for a guy who enjoys dressing up
in a weird costume for the hell of it.
As he's flying around the East coast of the US, the Eagle suddenly encounters German Fokkers.
After evading the Fokkers, he spies a giant DIRIGIBLE... allowing this comic to
do its public service and teach us all a new word! (don't laugh, comics nowdays
just AREN'T educational, anymore!). Sorta like the Hindenberg, only the
Germans have it stuffed with fighter planes, on a mission to attack
New York's financial district (kinda eerie...). Eagle then flies off and calls
Rex at the Air Corps base. The Air Corps is understaffed, and Rex, recognizing
Karl's voice, pleads with him to ramrod the mission. Karl refuses, citing his outrageous
cost. Thus, Rex is forced to lead the green Air Corps against the German invasion.
Karl then flies into battle as the Phantom Eagle. The Air Corps pilots
are impressed by the fancy colors of his plane and decide to follow his lead.
Karl then recognizes Rex and immediately feels guilty. After several dogfights,
the Eagle lands his plane on top of the zeppelin. He rappels inside and
plants a bomb. Since this was 1917, the Eagle had access to a pocket size
bomb, of course. He escapes as the dirgible explodes into flames...oh,
the humanity!!!
But, wait, what's this? A biplane was damaged in the battle and is
spinning out of control. I have ten bucks saying it's Rex...simply because
no other Air Corps pilot was named. Ayup. Eagle tosses Rex a rope and pulls him out
of the plane. Before Rex can climb into the Eagle's plane, his arm cramps up and
he falls to the ground. Next panel is a shot of Rex's funeral service.
Rex is already in the ground...so I guess the impact did the grunt work for the undertaker.
Karl Kaufmann is seen in the shadows, talking to himself, again. He vows to
fly the skies until the threat of the Kaiser is ended! He figures after
the US obliterates the Germans, that maybe then we can understand human nature's
desire to kill people. Oooo.. morality. Deep.
Well, give Marvel credit for trying something different. There aren't many
1917-era superheroes out there. The main problem with this
story is the character himself. Kaufmann comes across as an indecisive weenie and
the Eagle isn't much of an action hero. He dropkicks
a few Germans and plants a bomb. How un-heroic. If you ever write
your hero into a sticky climax, have him detonate a bomb. All
heroes need a bomb. Then, he can't even pull his lifelong friend
up a rope. Why should we cheer for this guy?
Tragedy can make a hero, but here you don't feel any empathy for the guy.
He's rich, has things together, and without Rex around, will probably be jumping
Paula's bones. The fact that Kaufmann is seen
bumping around in fur coats like Pat Bowlen
doesn't exactly endear him to the reader.
Rex's death is an attempt to steal elements from Spider-Man's origin, but
misses the mark.
Obviously, 1960's readers felt the same. "Phantom Eagle" didn't exactly take off
and he exists only as a trivia question, today. Recent issues of
"Thunderbolts" have used the name to create a Counter-Earth version of Moonstone,
but that character has already been wiped away. Maybe the character could have been developed
with further issues? 1917 is a relatively clean slate in the comic world, so it's
interesting to think how the series could have developed. Also, it's a weird
coincedence, but Phantom Eagle's helmet looks alot like Paladin's.
"Marvel Super-Heroes" may have been an attempt to copy DC Comic's "Showcase" series.
"Showcase" was a try-out book that featued the Silver Age debuts of
the Flash, Green Lantern and the Atom. "Showcase" would also rotate to include
sci-fi and adventure characters, like the Sea Devils and Space Ranger.
The formula's the same, but
"MSH" had slightly less success than "Showcase". The title's biggest
hit was probably the first official
issue- #12, the introduction of Captain Mar-vell of the Kree. By issue #21, "MSH" dropped the
rotating/try-out format and became a Hulk/Sub-Mariner reprint mag. Surprisingly, this
format lasted until the title's demise with issue 105 in the mid-70's.
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| ...and who wouldn't?!
|
Along with the Eagle story, this issue contained several Timely back-up reprint stories.
Most of these appear to be from the 1950's, in Marvel's "lost" decade.
The weirdest story is "The Un-Human" with the Human Torch and Toro. A
seven-headed, four-legged purple monster is parachute-dropped over New York by alien invaders.
He's a very bizarre character, even for a comic-book. He looks like a comglomeration of
a He-man villain, a mexican pinata and a Chinese dragon.
The invaders were nice enough to drop a warning note, too. (a tactic stolen by the CIA
in Desert Storm, years later). The Un-Human will soften things up, then the invaders will
take over. Torch and Toro fight him off, and the world is safe from invasion.
Along the way, Toro was knocked for a loop and needed a blood transfusion from the Torch.
I always thought the Torch was an android, so I'm a bit confused.
The other stories feature the original Black Knight (Sir Percy), Captain America
and Bucky, the Sub-Mariner and the Patriot. Patriot's not a guy you see alot, and
you can see why. He ran around in underwear and a red shower cap. Wonder why
he never caught on. Some of the subject matter is a little bit xenophobic.
The Germans are constantly referred to as "krauts" and speak in stereotypical
accents. "Der Vindow is Open", etc.
The Captain America piece is rather quirky. Cap and Bucky are knocked unconscious
while fighting Red Chinese and end up on a boat bound for South Africa.
There, a group of smugglers plan to spread the influence of Communism by
distributing dope to the masses. There's some form of humor in that concept.
Overall, this wasn't exactly a "Crappy Comic"...it just wasn't all that good.
Aside from the Phantom Eagle's costume, there's nothing too comical or ridiculous.
One good thing about it- it's fairly long, and took me two whole craps
to read. This is just a strange comic that you might never read... so I hope this was
educational in some way.
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