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The Man Without Fear?

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DAREDEVIL, THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR — Issue no. 155, August 1978 / I write about fill-in issues fairly regularly. Even though this issue of DAREDEVIL, THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR features a guest penciler (Frank Robbins, subbing for the great Gene Colan), it isn’t a fill-in. But not much actually happens in this issue — the story here is mostly about laying the groundwork for future stroies — so maybe it’s fair to call it a setup issue. The main happening here is that Daredevil’s alter ego Matt Murdock and his law firm partner Foggy Nelson hire a new assistant, Becky Blake. I’m not yet totally clear on whether Becky’s role with the firm is secretary or paralegal or something else, so there’s still a lot to learn about Ms. Blake. As for set-up material, the book opens with Daredevil almost falling to his death after being struck by some kind of debilitating pain. Daredevil is blind, but his other senses are enhanced — that’s his super power. The implication is that his other senses have bec
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The Astonishing Spider-Man

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MARVEL TREASURY EDITION — Issue no. 18, August 1978 / I’ve written about how Marvel had several regular reprint books in the late 1970s. Aside from the oversized MARVEL TREASURY series, Marvel was publishing monthly and bi-monthly books reprinting older stories focusing on specific characters, like MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (Hulk stories) and MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS (Fantastic Four stories). I’ve also written about how these books were a key way for newer readers to read old Marvel stories, because trade paperbacks weren’t a thing back then. Which isn’t exactly true. This CBR article explains that there were a handful of Marvel trade paperbacks available by 1978. (It also explains the origin fo the term “trade paperback” as applied to comic book reprints.) Those early trades came out via Fireside Books (a division of Simon Schuster). Book: Marvel Treasury Edition Issue No.: 18 Published: August 1, 1978 Title: “The Astonishing Spider-Man” (reprints four Marvel Team-Up
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War in the Washington Monument!

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THE HUMAN FLY — Issue no. 15, August 1978 / THE HUMAN FLY is an unusual Marvel comic book because it’s about a sort-of real Evel Knievel-type stuntman instead of a totally made-up superhero. The Human Fly and his stunt team occasionally get mixed up with superheroes, but usually they’re just putting on stunt shows to raise money for various charities. Based on reading eight issues of THE HUMAN FLY, I think the book is at its best when the Fly and his pals visit some small town to do a show and end up helping the locals solve a crime. Probably my favorite so far is issue no. 10, where the Fly and company take on shady coal mine executives in Harlan County, Kentucky. This issue is set in Washington, D.C. Definitely not a small town! But the helping-out-the-common-folks angle is there. One of the guys on the Human Fly’s stunt team is Ted, a Vietnam vet, and the Fly, Ted, and the rest of the team are in D.C. to visit one of Ted’s war buddies at a veterans’ hospital. Book: Th
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The Great Godzilla Roundup!

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GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS — Issue no. 16, August 1978 / As regular MARVEL TIME WARP readers know, GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS is one of my favorite Marvel books of 1978. And, as I mentioned last time, it’s one of the late-1970s books I am actively collecting. To the point where I am willing to break my five-dollars-or-less rule when it comes to buying old issues of GODZILLA. Marvel’s GODZILLA only ran for 24 issues, and I think at this point I have collected all but two. Because of licensing issues, GODZILLAhas only been officially reprinted once (that I know of). That means the black-and-white Marvel GODZILLA trade paperback is a collectible these days. Even though I’m planning to collect a complete run of single GODZILLA issues, I went ahead and got the trade collection, just because I love this book so much. Book: Godzilla, King of the Monsters Issue No.: 16 Published: August 1, 1978 Title: “The Great Godzilla Roundup!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format:
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The Invaders!

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SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP — Issue no. 15, August 1978 / When I started MARVEL TIME WARP, my plan was to take advantage of Marvel’s vast digital archives and just read digital versions of the comic books that came out in the year I started reading comics, 1978. But I enjoyed the digital comics so much I started hitting comic shops and cons and picking up original paper copies of whatever cheap Marvel books from 1978 I could find. Since then, I’ve filled up almost three short boxes with comics from 1978. I have mostly stuck with my inital cheap-comics-only plan. Initially I had set a limit of five dollars per book, because I was just looking for reading copies, not expensive, high-grade collectible comics. But I have broken the five dollar rule on occasion. Mainly to get some of the harder-to-find issues... Book: Super-Villain Team-Up Issue No.: 15 Published: August 1, 1978 Title: “The Invaders!” (reprint of Astonishing Tales nos. 4 and 5) Cover Price: 35¢ For
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D-Day!

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THE DEFENDERS — Issue no. 64, July 1978 / After an ill-advised membership drive initiated by Defenders sidekick/mascot/hanger-on Dollar Bill, there are now an unruly number of Defenders. Which makes life difficult for Defenders leadership (which is ill-defined, as the Defenders are a “non-team”). But the real problem is that a bunch of bad guys are calling themselves Defenders and doing crimes, which is getting the actual good guy Defenders in trouble. This issue is generally silly, but it works for me, partly because I get a kick out of seeing all the Marvel C- and D-listers that show up as “Defenders.” Book: The Defenders Issue No.: 64 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “D-Day!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy After an ill-advised membership drive initiated by Defenders sidekick/mascot/hanger-on Dollar Bill, there are now an unruly number of Defenders. Which makes life difficult for Defenders leadership (which is ill-defined, as the Defender
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With a Nation Against Him!

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MACHINE MAN — Issue no. 7, July 1978 / The title of this story is “With a Nation Against Him!” But it seems more like there’s only one guy against him (him being the star of this title, Machine Man), a congressman named Brickman. Brickman is spearheading a show trial to determine whether Machine Man (who is, as his name suggests, a sentient humanoid robot) should be destroyed. He’s a robot superhero — of course he shouldn’t be destroyed. But many people fear Machine Man because they don’t understand him, so Brickman is hoping to make Machine Man a scapegoat. This plot point is, sadly, still relevant today, as we have politicians in the modern-day United States trying to make scapegoats of immigrants, women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community (to name a few). Book: Machine Man Issue No.: 7 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “With a Nation Against Him!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy The title of this story is “With a Nation Against Him!” Bu
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