BEAST versus CORPORATE SPY

The Beast! (Marvel)
Where: Amazing Adventures #11 When: March 1972
Why: Gerry Conway How: Tom Sutton

The Story So Far...
Of all the mutants who joined Charles Xavier's X-Men -- Henry McCoy was a gifted youngster, indeed. Possessed of both brilliant brain and brawn, he excelled as magnificently in the laboratory as the battlefield. It's perhaps no surprise, then, that he was the first of Xavier's original class to leave the Westchester School.

Recruited by The Brand Corporation to participate in a highly secretive think tank; McCoy sets out to continue his research into genetic mutation with the benefit of state-of-the-art facilities.

Alas, those same cutting edge resources attract a web of espionage, provoking the former X-Man to take drastic measures to disguise his mutant nature while thwarting a late-night break-in. A decision that will forever transform him into his most literal namesake -- The Beast!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Beast 5 (Super-Human)
Intelligence: Beast 6 (Genius)
Speed: Beast 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Beast 3 (Strong Willed)
Agility: Beast 5 (Cat-Like)
Fighting: Beast 2 (Average)
Energy: Beast 1 (None)
Total: Beast 26 (Metahuman)

You may know him as an erudite & mild-mannered mutant scientist, or perhaps the more recent conspiring geneticist whose morality teeters ever more precarious -- but this incarnation of Dr. Henry McCoy is a different Beast all together!

Fangs, fur, and anger define our hero in this outing, as we find him at the beginning of an amazing new chapter! A moment when he chose to consume a serum of his own making that triggers a shocking second stage in his own natural mutation! A decision that would change his life forever...

Originally The Beast merely possessed enlarged hands & feet, enhanced strength, and fantastic agility. Mutations that brought him to the attention of Charles Xavier, who recruited him as one of his first class of costumed X-Men.

In this classic guise, Beast was powerful and nimble, battling Sub-Mariner and The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, going toe to toe with Skurge The Executioner, and wrestling the lethal Lizard in the swamps of Louisiana.

Possessing both brains and brawn, McCoy continued to study in the fields of biology and genetics while adventuring, maintaining a specific interest in human mutation. Recruited by The Brand Corporation, he successfully isolated a hormonal extract that was the chemical cause of so-called "homo-superior" development.

The extract, if consumed, could trigger a mutation in a human subject, reversable if treated by antidote within an hour. A factor that led McCoy to attempt a Jekyll style temporary transformation to obscure his identity while thwarting Bennie: a spy for the Secret Empire masquerading as a Brand security guard!

The transformation further exaggerated McCoy's mutation, reducing him to a dark, silver-grey furred primitive man-Beast. He gained even more pronounced animal-like strength & agility, endurance, and accelerated healing capable of enduring multiple gunshot wounds! It also robbed him of his mental clarity and intelligence, unleashing a wild, instinctive rage in moments of stress.

This is a far cry from the blue-furred Beast that cared enough for his fellows to throw himself at Apocalypse and lock up with Spiral! It's even a very different breed to the cat-like Beast who tore through the Shi'ar Imperial Guard and Magneto-impersonating Xorn with brilliant precision after further mutating.

So how does he handle a Secret Empire spy in his first outing? Let's find out!

The Tape: Beast Ranking: Beast (#55)

What Went Down...

Bennie, he thinks to himself, "Just play this game right -- and you're home free!" A security watchman, dragging a cigarette as he prowls through the gloom, walking the empty midnight paths of The Brand Corporation lot.

He fights the uncanny feeling that someone's watching. He tells himself it's just nerves, but maybe Bennie's more intuitive than he thinks. Maybe on some sub-conscious level he can sense the dark creature walking the powerlines and skipping between rooftops just over his head -- watching his every move.

He casts his flashlight over a massive metal door. The classified entrance to Genetic Research Subdivision 12 -- "home free".

From inside his jacket, he produces a small leather pouch that unfolds to reveal a fantastic device. A small arc welder, unleashing focused heat on the steel door that briefly fills the emptiness with a shriek -- until its seal is at last breached.

The watchman moves to enter the dark of the facility, but on this night the creature that watches him will not allow it! From overhead -- The Beast pounces!

Bennie panics as he's dropkicked to the ground and The Beast -- still adjusting to his newfound strength -- effortlessly hurls him into nearby machinery!

The false guard -- a spy -- desperately draws a handgun.

The Beast orders him not to shoot with a deliberate, growling cadence as he charges towards the gunman. It falls on deaf ears.

The terrified man squeezes the trigger and The Beast's skull is creased as he contorts his massive body in a desperate bid to avoid being hit! His arm -- thrown outstretched -- shunts the spy through the air into more machinery.

Horrified and bewildered by the sight confronting him -- Bennie keeps shooting!

The Beast lunges once more towards the gunman, absorbing his shots directly to his torso. It ignites a fire across his furry chest -- a chorus for the throbbing percussion of pain that pounds in his head!

Enraged, but enduring -- The Beast vaults himself on one hand to deliver a furious dropkick to the shooter!

Suddenly the night air is filled with the whip of bullets as a swarm of soldiers rushes the gates of Genetic Research Subdivision 12!

The Beast's night of action has been for nothing. He could have left the alarm to alert better suited men to the break-in. His heart fills with rage, but instinct compels him to use his incredible agility to leap into the shadows, remaining hidden from the armed forces coming from outside.

Beast hides among the machines while Bennie foolishly tries to trade shots with no less than eight heavily armed soldiers! His fear seals his fate!

The Hammer...

We're wandering off the beaten path to visit upon a classic I've been enjoying in my reading time, which I might argue is an often-underrated piece of the Marvel horror comics boom. Perfect subject matter for the Halloween season!

Amazing Adventures #11 is a famous issue for fans of the X-Men, and I was very excited to finally get a chance to read my own copy, albeit in a reasonably priced Epic Collection I picked up on sale.

The journey was long. I can't tell you how many times I saw that cover reprinted in places like Wizard Magazine. Often cited for its significance in the development of the Beast character; I'm pretty sure there was a lauded copy hanging over the comic store I used to frequent as a youngster, where I intuitively understood it was the moment the classic 'big foot' Beast became the hairy icon.

Despite all this, no amount of trivia, osmosis, or passing familiarity could prepare me for just how exciting the shift in tone & style of the interior pages really is!

Some of us might be prone to remembering some of the stuffier and more clunky comics produced throughout the 1970s, but I would rank this era of Amazing Adventures somewhere in the company of Jim Starlin on Captain Marvel, and Jim Aparo drawing Aquaman, for revelatory experiences from the decade.

This was the era when X-Men was on life support. A strange and unfathomable period that ran from the end of 1970 to 1975, when the series reprinted issues by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, creating a gap between X-Men #66 and #94 where no original stories were produced. This was basically Classic X-Men -- but the main title itself was taking four years off for reruns less than a decade old!

To the benefit of us all -- somebody clearly saw the potential in the characters and brand. They kept them alive long enough to reach the new era sparked by Giant-Size X-Men #1, utilizing occasional guest spots in those intervening years, with one character chosen for a shot at spinning out into his own adventures!

It's pretty wild to think Beast was the breakout hero, but it's a little less surprising when you see how radically different his spin-off into Amazing Adventures was.

The midnight setting, and deep inks, immediately cast the adventure in a very different light. This is a darker, edgier, more atmospheric outing from the very first page. You can see it in the featured fight recap [above].

Ostensibly a complete rethink; Amazing Adventures #11 repurposes Hank McCoy for a genre-bending horror, sci-fi, espionage, romance book, with trace elements of super-heroics.

The horror element is what stands out most, especially in this first issue, but it almost feels like they're hedging their bets on any genre becoming the hot new fad to carry the character forward. All options are available, even if it quickly begins returning to superhero roots in the next couple of issues.

Hank McCoy isn't exactly James Bond, but the reference is self-evident as his work in genetic research immediately overlaps with the Mata Hari of it all. Hank gets pretty hot & heavy with assistant Linda Donaldson toot suite, adding a whole lot of angst & drama to the series as he attempts to hide his transformation in subsequent issues, while Donaldson pursues a relationship, working for the same Secret Empire behind our hapless featured fighter, Bennie the Corporate Spy.

I can't help but think of our collectively regained familiarity with the story of Oppenheimer to further contextualize the rapid romancing going on with our science hero. Cillian Murphy's portrayal reminded us all of the perils of lusty nerds in possession of state secrets. Not that it's an isolated incident in Marvel Comics.

This type of overlap between frontier science, espionage, and ways of the heart draws very obvious comparisons with the earliest issues of Incredible Hulk, not to mention its notable twist on horror-tinged classic creature features.

Both begin with Jekyll & Hyde transformations, but while Bruce Banner becomes a Frankenstein type, Beast is more like the Wolfman. Unsurprising then that the two characters are drawn together when Beast's solo outing extends beyond the short-lived starring spot in Amazing Adventures. A battle we will surely spotlight.

Hulk will be naturally drawn into a resurgence of horror comics in the seventies, but Beast quickly drifts back to the world of super-heroics, becoming an Avenger, and reconnecting with the X-Men. Which is probably why the character's horror bona fides, and role in the revival, aren't talked about as often as they could be.

1972 is a significant time for horror in comics -- especially at Marvel. They were starting to unravel the restrictions imposed by a Comics Code Authority entrenched in the 1950s, and Frederic Wertham-led book burnings.

Morbius, The Living Vampire had debuted as an antagonist under the cover of the massive success of Spider-Man in 1971, while Werewolf By Night played it more straight -- introduced just a month prior to this new Beast, in '72.

A new wave of horror was coming for our children and I'm sure they were all incredibly grateful for it! Marvel's Tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, and subsequently Blade, Son of Satan, and more followed the trend. A cavalcade of enduring horror-hero icons who've stayed the course for the company, which is something Beast didn't really do within the genre.

Yet, in this foremost issue of the revamp, it's the animalistic quality of Beast that is really apparent. His loss of self is integral to the drama. Evocative narration puts the reader in the mind of the transformed, keeping us intimately aware of his snarling lips, fangs, and uncontrollable urges. It is we, the reader, who is culpable for the chaos and bloodshed of this dark night.

Key to the thrills of the episode are the pencils of Tom Sutton, whose figures and layouts are a perfect fusion of horror comics and superheroes, rendered under heavy inks by Syd Shore. Colours are uncredited, but vital to the episode as well.

Like the Hulk before him, this version of Beast will undergo a colour change, from a grey-ish hue of purple this first outing, to his more iconic blue fur a few issues later. I like the 'dark, silver-grey' that evokes the werewolf, but there's no denying that the blue is more memorable. I don't know if this change was for style, or a similar issue with maintaining grey consistency in printing that turned Hulk green.

In the end, I wonder which force was strongest to push Beast away from the horror flavour of this story. It's interesting, but probably not quintessential or unique enough to keep the character rooted. Morbius is the better monster-scientist, and Werewolf By Night the better man-beast. With John Jameson becoming the Man-Wolf a year after this, there probably just wasn't enough room to warrant a Beast remaining in the darkness.

I think this issue is awesome and I'm very pleased to have finally be able to enjoy it and share the experience with you. I very much hope to return to more of the Beast's solo outings at some point in the future. If that's something you think I should do sooner, you might like to consider supporting the site on Patreon.

Henry McCoy needed corporate backing to do his research into mutant enzymes and with your help we can learn the secrets of superhero smackdown! Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has already documented well over 700 battles and ranked more than 1,000 of your favourite characters! You can find them all by diving into the Secret Archive for an index ordered by publisher, series, and issue number.

Get daily links to fights inspired by the topics of the day by following on X (aka; Twitter)! Don't forget to smash that like, fave, and share -- and keep your eyes peeled for the week's top trending battles every Sunday on X & Discord! The lively Discord chat is one of the bonuses of becoming a Patreon subscriber!

Winner: Inconclusive (Draw)
#55 (--) Beast
#1033 (new) Bennie

THING versus THE FRIGHTFUL FOUR
The Frightful Four -- Plus One! (Marvel comics)
Where: Fantastic Four #129 When: December, 1972
Why: Roy Thomas How: John Buscema

The story so far...
Having returned from taking a licking at the hands of the Moleman, the FF are in pretty bad shape, and they get a little more lopsided when the hotheaded Johnny Storm announces he's going to live with Crystal in the Great Refuge.
Yeah, great timing kiddo. All this, and Sue's had to take the wheel while Reed snoozes, and Ben just made a woman-driver gag...

The fun doesn't stop for Marvel's first family, and before too long Reed and Sue are at each other when Agatha Harkness appears to tell them to collect their son Franklin, as she has matters of the utmost urgency to attend to.

You can't blame ol' blue eyes for taking a brisk stroll to clear his head, but it turns out that might just not have been such a great idea, when a scream rings out into the cold night air.

Previous form:
Neither Thing, Medusa, nor the Frightful Four members included here have been featured on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths in the past.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Wingless Wizard 6 (Genius)
Speed: Thundra 3 (Trained Athlete)
Stamina: Thing 5 (Marathon Runner)
Agility: Sandman 7 (Unlimited)
Fighting Ability: Thundra 6 (Warrior)
Energy Powers: Wingless Wizard 3 (Explosives)

If you take a look at my modest comic collection, you'll find clumps of various titles with gaps between numbers anywhere between two issues, to two hundred.
In amongst that sea of inconsistency are some titles more popular than others, and for me, Fantastic Four is one of them. This makes it especially unusual that it's taken this long to feature the Thing -- long time favourite member of the FF.

Now, the Frightful Four have a habit of shuffling membership, so it's important to establish who it is we're dealing with here.
The cover is somewhat misleading, suggesting that Thundra is a fifth member of this sinister quartet, but what we find is actually that she is the fourth, while a former member appears in a reformed capacity. I, of course, refer to the Inhuman - Medusa.

So, the lineup this time around includes stalwart leader, the Wingless Wizard; providing muscle with a slice of versatility is the Sandman; pasting up the town with his patented ensnaring goo is The Trapster; and finally, the Amazonian-like warrior Thundra makes her first appearance in comics.

Really, you'd have to rate the Four pretty highly, despite their somewhat comical win/loss record.
Not only do you have the Wizard's wonderful toys, but also the versatility and strength of Sandman, which is only coupled by the brute strength of Thundra. Really, she makes a pretty impressive addition in place of Madusa, whose abilities are somewhat redundant next to the Trapster.

The Thing gets full credit for his strength, experience and overall durability.
It's these qualities that always make him a valuable asset to any team, but against the combined might of this foursome, his strengths start to diminish.
Pound for pound, Thundra alone could match Thing in the strength department, and while she might not win nine out of ten, she would take him to the very lengths in at least five of those bouts.

Whether their effectiveness ranges from sandy pants rash, to pastey suffocation, the addition of the other three members really tips things in the favour of the Frightful Four, I would honestly have to say.
Against the full roster of the original Fantastic Four it might be a different story, but with the Thing isolated it becomes too difficult to tip the hero.

Medusa, try as she may, is not an equalizer for Sandman, let alone the Wizard (who's nasty with those anti-grav discs, and his tactical intelligence) and the Trapster (who can... tie you up with paste...).

What went down...
Alright, so we all know it: Thing's a good guy!

I don't just mean that in the 'super powered bloke who fights villains and tyrrany in all their forms' either. I mean that if you're in a bind, he'll do what he can to help -- and when a woman's scream echoes in the night air, you can be damn sure Benjamin J. Grimm'll be there!

Barrelling head-long through a wooden fence, Benjy gets his first nasty shock when he plummets down into a dugout construction site.

Things take a further turn for the worse when a flexing figure emerges dramatically, shadowed by the moon behind him -- The Sandman!

Sandman clobbers his sendimentary counterpart, but when Thing tries to return the favour, he gets no love, swinging straight through a mid-section made of sand!

Escaping a grappling session with the FF's muscle, Sandy slips away to allow the entry of two other genial gentlemen in the form of the Trapster and the Wingless Wizard.

A two pronged attack on the Thing proves effective, tying him up with quick hardening paste, and following up with a swift diving attack from the Wizard who did fly.

It's at this time that another player in the game makes herself known.
Snatching the Wizard from the sky are long, red strands of hair belonging to the Inhuman known as Medusa. Dragging the Frightful Four's leader earthbound, Medusa makes clear her resignation from the questionable quartet.

While Medusa duals with the Wizard, Sandman and Trapster launch an attack on the Thing. Using his incredible and oft underrated strength, Sandman tosses a bulldozer in the hero's general direction, while Trapster comes from the other side behind the wheel of a dump truck.

Thing reduces the 'dozer to scrap metal with a left that woulda knocked it outta the park, and makes his turn just in time to surprise Trapster -- not by destroying his vehicle, but by yanking it from it's path into the air!

While the Thing shakes Trapster out of the truck, Medusa's dominance over Wizard has come under fire.
A face full of high-impact sand puts Medusa on the ropes, and frees up the Wizard to turn the tables on Thing, who is proceeding to dangle Trapster by his belt to deliver a spanking -- "Awright, Trappie -- My second time at bat, comin' up --"

One of the Wizard's "new and improved" anti-gravity discs slaps on Thing's back just in time, and Trapster falls to the ground with smug satisfaction.
It's only by the intervention of Medusa, who ensnares the floating Thing in her hair and removes the disc, that Thing does not end up space bound.
Afterall, if Jack Kirby had meant for Thing to fly, he would've given him wings.

Feeling pretty much ticked off and a little chauvinistic [Saved by a female! How mortifyin'!]; Thing looks to take the frightened three down while they're all together by hoisting a crane above his head, and whipping it into the air. Enter: Thundra!

Much like Thing earlier, Thundra reduces the airborne crane to rubble, professing her name and might as she strikes the metallic menace down.

"You already tossed yer monicker at us, girlie! Now howzabout somethin' a wee bit more basic, like -- What's a seven-foot gal like you doin' in a place like this??"

[It's about now that Thing should start to quiver in his shorts, because not only is Thundra obsessed with battling her destined opponent of the strongest male alive, but she's also a walking, talking parody of feminisim. But more to the point, Roy Thomas? Run for the hills, man! Lordy! -- Emasculated Mike]

Thing stands his ground as Thundra whips her chain at him, unaware that it's not her intention to injure him with it, but rather to ensnare him so as to pull him into close quarters. Then the real pain starts!

Thundra's blow is so powerful, the explosive blow is exclamated with a giant asterisk: "Rolll your own sound effect, effendi -- We can't think of one that would do Thundra's murderous blow justice! -- Roy and Artie."

Medusa attempts to intervene once more, but tanglging her tensile strands around the psuedo-Amazonian only ensures she see the same fate. Swung and tossed like a cat by it's tail, Thing has to make do with some giant chunks of Earth, which he attempts to use as a makeshift catcher's mit.

Sufficiently distracted, Thing is left wide open to attack as the Frightful Four congregate around he and Medusa.
Vulnerable, not even Thing can resist the crushing combo of full strength blows from Thundra and Sandman! Despite calling him for herself, the combined effort delivers the victory, and leaves Sandman and Thundra to bicker while Trapster subdues Medusa.

The hammer...
Well, the winners, I'm surprised to say, are the Frightful Four!
The Thing was an overdue inclusion to the site, but I have to say, I'm quite pleased to have guys like Sandman and Thundra on the rankings list now, too. Characters that aren't necessarily moving titles, but are strong representations of the Marvel tradition.

It's interesting to see how Marvel's current crossover event Civil War is affecting that tradition. For me, I've enjoyed the story, and the shake up of the 'status quo,' despite being fairly confident it'll all be relatively reset reasonably soon.

I've seen long time readers offended by what they're seeing between the pages of Mark Millar's Civil War. They're seeing characters they enjoy and adore acting in ways that are familiar, yet very different.

In this particular issue of Fantastic Four, the FF are torn apart by in-house bickering, preparing for a shift in the team's roster. Johnny runs off to the Inhumans' Great Refuge, where he hopes to find love with Crystal, an Inhuman and elemental who cannot leave her home.
Meanwhile, Reed Richards and Sue Storm are torn apart when Reed places his science, as he so often does, above more personal matters, like the well being of their son Franklin.

Each of these events is motivated, in the moment, by contrived emotion penned by Roy Thomas. While these events bare little relevence to the story, or even Fantastic Four history as we recognise it today, they attempt to forward on-going plots by using the perceived humanity of the characters prompted by catalysts that could be described as little more than mcguffins.

What we arrive at is a fun moment in history, where Medusa is a member of the Fantastic Four, and a chance to see the Thing take on a brand new character in her first appearance - Thundra.

So, how do I feel about Civil War? I guess I'm not too fussed.
Not to say I condone dramatic dismissal of history, or characterisation. Quite the contrary, I loathe the fan who tells you not to care. Not to invest in the logic these on-going stories demand.
I simply cannot stand readers who insist there's something wrong with disliking a comic's delivery or plot. 'You don't have to buy' is not a good enough answer.

That said, I don't feel Civil War fails as a story, or as a Marvel comic.
This story has introduced feelings that have largely been avoided, partially out of respect for the American sensitivity, and perhaps partially out of a want of escape.

In the wake of 9/11 and shifting climates we do now, however, have a Marvel universe incredibly aware of itself, and the world in which we live.
The Stanford incident reflects a tragedy in American history, and the resulting climate indicates something relevent in the world. The necesity for security, and administration and policing is the subject, and practically the villain. But I don't really feel that's important.

What's important, and what makes this such an acceptable tale, is that it's a story about humanity, magnified several times to become super humanity.
This is a collective of persons with great power, and great responsibility who have lived parallel to great human tragedy, and gross neglect within their own community.

This story highlights a moment in time where all of these people are reacting.
For a time, after 9/11, America seemed united. The spirit was strong, and the will to ensure safety and justice at all costs was strong. It was natural.
Eventually emotions settled, and tensions relaxed. The climate was slack enough to allow a return to dissent, and confusion, and disagreement. The world fell back into it's previous, comfortable context.

This is what I see for the Marvel universe. This is what I see of Civil War.

The Fight: 5.5 The Issue: 5

NEXT MONTH: Civil War comes to Secret Earths! But first, stay tuned for an all new punch-up!