Monday, March 11, 2013
Groove's Faves: "Stampede!" by Fite, Starlin, Weiss, and McLaughlin
Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's another one of those comics in which the art saves a kinda silly story from being a total flop. Not that Linda Fite was a bad writer, it's just the whole idea of controlling bulls to...well, you'll just have to read it for yourself. Funny, when I was a Young Groove I thought Man-Bull was a pretty far-out baddie. Can't figure out why I thought that after reading this tale from Claws of the Cat #4 (March 1973). The art combo of Jim Starlin, Alan Weiss, and Frank McLaughlin was very enjoyable to me, though. Looks like Starlin layouts throughout, but most of the figures--except for Man-Bull and his alter-ego which look very Starlin-esque--look like Weiss' handiwork. The gals, especially Greer (the Cat) Nelson, have that long, lean Weiss look to 'em. McLaughlin's inks were heavy, but I think they complimented Starlin quite well, and weren't bad on Alan. Anyway, turn off your brain and let your eyes enjoy "Stampede" from the final issue of Claws of the Cat...
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I wonder how many people knew radio legend Joe Franklin was a police lieutenant in Chicago on the side?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. Since only the first issue has been reprinted, it's really nice to be able to read any of the following issues.
ReplyDeleteI bought the first issue of The Cat back in the early '70s, but I don't think I ever saw the subsequent ones on sale. Only four, eh? They all eventually turned up in a British title called The Super-Heroes in the mid-'70s, but - in black and white - the art failed to make an impact (apart from Woody's, of course).
ReplyDeleteI reviewed this book several years ago on the Bronze Age Babies, and I wasn't nice to it. Time hasn't softened my opinion. That being said, I read it as an adult. As a kid, I probably would have liked it, because I also thought the Man-Bull was pretty cool (having seen him mostly in the pages of Daredevil). The creators made quite a few mistakes about Chicago at this time as well -- notably, the Stockyards had been closed by the time this was written.
ReplyDeleteDoug
I loved the art here, what a great combo the made, very funky and fresh.
ReplyDeletei wish they'd collect the cat and the first few tigra appearances in a nice little volume. I can't
ReplyDeletefind any issues for a reasonable price.
It's silly, it's very 70s, but it does have a charm all of it's own.
ReplyDeleteI was always a big defenders/avengers fan, but this is the first I've seen one of the original pre-Patsy Walker pre-Hellcat ... er ... cat, so they are a treat, even though they seem to recycle Daredevil villains and Spider-Man drama.
Bull Taurus. *sigh*
not just recycled villains, recycled third-raters! They have a loserly charm to them...
DeleteI liked the Cat. I don't care for Teee-gra. Although the costume lived on after her transformation, they really threw the Cat away (perhaps it's best) and I never bought into the Cat people story. Tigra shows up as the "were-woman". http://marvel.com/images/gallery/series/3730/images_from_giant-size_creatures_1974/image/152029
ReplyDeleteThat's the monster category which I don't think works too well in hero world, for me anyway. If they would do that, they might as well have Bucky show up alive as an enemy with a mechanical arm. Thanks Groove.
best of all..."were-woman" means "man-woman"! Tigra apparently has a little something EXTRA.
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