WELCOME TO THE THIRD INSTALLMENT OF SUPER-BLOG TEAM UP MERRY MARCHERS! My colleagues in comicdom and I are unequivocally delighted to rollickly welcome you to this installment’s special theme of…VORACIOUS VILLAINRY! And this installment of SAS will be featuring the 1st appearance of the voracious villain known as…THE CRIMSON DYNAMO! As always, I, Jubilant Jeff V, will be your guide through the sensational silver age of marvel comics! So as Vin Scully, the immortal voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers would say, “Pull up a chair and let’s get on to this one”. You heard the man merry marchers so pull up a chair let me share with you a terrific tale of suspense, a time when a golden avenger went head to head with a crimson dynamo!
Now, this silver age sensation, Tales of Suspense
#46, in all honesty, is my favorite SAS in my humble collection. I only
acquired this tantalizing tale this past December put I have already read this
issue three times since then and probably flipped through it just for sheer joy
another two or three times! I decided to visit a local comic shop while I was
visiting back home in NJ, “The Joker’s Child”. Whenever I find myself in a new
shop I immediately walk in in awe, just soaking it all in and having NO IDEA
where to start! So my brother and I spend about half an hour walking around the
store (it was a pretty big shop, plus I’m told a slow browser and only my
brother can really put up with this so he’s my go to man when it comes to new
comic shop hunts!) and the way the shop was set up that on the front of every
long box stack was a placard of a cover with a price sticker on it. Turns out
what they were and what this system was is the placards were actual photocopies
of the actual covers of each of the “special” back issues they had in stock and
the comics themselves could be found locked in a corresponding drawer. I can honestly
say that I have never seen this approach before or since and I have been in
comic shops in NJ, PA, NY, TN, MO, MS, OH, and AL! Once I saw the placard for
this issue, for Tales of Suspense #46, it was comic book love at first sight!
Staring back at me was the earliest Tales of Suspense featuring Iron Man that I
had ever seen in person and actually had the possibility of owning due to its manageable
price tag and fair condition. I saw this cover and knew that it just HAD to be
mine:
Of course, like most covers during the early silver
age of marvel comics, this cover was done by none other than Jack “King” Kirby himself.
When the shop owner pulled this comic out for me, and I could feel that peerless power of a Kirby cover, a feeling of absolute joy poured over me! The shop owner
grabbed me a new board and a new mylar bag and that made the cover pop even
more! When I got the issue home, I couldn’t even bring myself to read it right
away, I just admired it for the 1st few days and it was a glorious
thing! Alrighty then merry marvel marchers, bring on the villains and the
panels!!!
*Let me fill ya in here loyal one! So Stark Industries is being sabotaged by the Crimson Dynamo, a villain with the capability to control and manipulate electrical currents and fields. Definition of a "dynamo" as per the unquestionable source known as Wikipedia ;) is "an electrical generator that produces direct current. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power conversion devices were based, including the electric motor, the alternating-current alternator, and the rotary converter". Here is where it gets interesting loyal ones. This issue is also the 1st appearance of one Anton Vanko, a.k.a. The Crimson Dynamo. Name sound familiar? Perhaps from the marvel cinematic universe? Of course it does because merry marvel marchers are the most well informed readers in all of comicdom!
A showdown between the Crimson Dynamo and old Shell head ensues when Vanko decides it's time to go all in and take on Iron Man head to head. Tony manages to not only outsmart Vanko, but also gain a valuable ally.
Well that's all for today marvelites, Jubilant Jeff V signing off! EXCELSIOR!
P.S. Just to make sure you guys don't miss out on the bolstered Silver Age Sensation experience in each post, remember to click on any of the text that appears gold in each post because that means that I'm linking ya to even more goodness. -Awareness lovin Jeff!
If ya want more Silver Age Sensation Splendidness, head over to Twitter and Pinterest and give me a follow! Ya can follow me on Twitter as SilverAgeSensations @JubilantJeffV or on Pinterest as Silver Age Sensations @jeffv5
To check out the other issues in this #SuperBlogTeamUp mini series, follow these links loyal ones:
The Bronze Age Babies
The Frightful Four (Are Brains Required for This Outfit?)
Between The Pages
Two Villains Rule The World of Cakes: Darth Vader & Boba Fett
Fantastiverse
Green Goblin: The Art of Villainy and Madness
Longbox Graveyard
Thanos: Love & Death
SuperHero Satellite
The Great Darkness Saga
Chasing Amazing
Carnage: How I Helped Create This Monster
Flodos Page
The Villainous Villainies of The Lamp-Lighter
Retroist
Doctor Doom
Superior Spidertalk
Peter Parker's Parents
The Unspoken Decade
Godkillers: Doomsday and Bane
The Daily Rios
JLA vs. Beasts
Great job! I love the huge art samples, too!
ReplyDeleteDoug
Thanks Doug! Gotta love them panels! :D
DeleteI share your enthusiasm for picking up such original four-color treasures! Very nice issue . Incidentally, anytime the Crimson Dynamo is mentioned I can't help but think of Wing's tune "Magneto and Titanium Man" ( as, of course, the Crimson Dynamo came along for the ride)...
ReplyDeleteI've heard that song once or twice I think. I know that in an interview I've seen with Stan The Man he was obviously quite pleased with the existence of this song ;)
Delete