Picked up INVADERS #28 from the 7-11 as usual. This one’s got a rare Frank Robbins cover on it. Robbins’ style was so divisive among the readership and so much on the very outskirts of what people thought that a Marvel comic should look like that they rarely allowed him to do covers for the book. But this one, introducing the new team the Kid Commandos, was given over to him. One of the odd touches that stuck with me about Robbins’ work on this series is that he gave all of the heroes modern long 70s haircuts, as Bucky has here. And even Toro, when aflame, would have a particular style of flaming halo around his head that would mimic long hair, as he does here. It was an odd choice, but it seemed to work.
It’s worth taking a few moments here to talk about the Kid Commandos. Writer.editor Roy Thomas had been setting up their arrival for issues now, and he intended them to be a more enlightened and palatable WWII-era kid group than the unfortunate Young Allies, whose ranks were stuffed with ethnic and other stereotypes. The sad thing is that, while Roy’s intentions were certainly good, the two new heroes he comes up with for this purpose, Golden Girl and the Human Top, are themselves fairly stereotypical in a 1970s fashion, and not really all that much better than what they were designed to replace. They mercifully didn’t make many appearances after this issue, and the worst aspects of them are all elements that could be adjusted. But there you have it.
The issue picks up with the main three Invaders breaking into Agent Axis’ headquarters, where he’s been trying to force Dr Sam Sabuki to operate on him to separate the three men who were fused together to create Agent Axis. Bucky and Toro are there as well, the latter recuperating from a near-fatal bullet wound, as are Dr. Sabuki’s daughter Gwenny-Lou and hapless tag-along Davy Mitchell, who have both been endowed with semi-wondrous powers as a result of the feedback from Agent Axis’ surgical machines. Ill-prepared to take on the Invaders in full, Agent Axis grabs Dr. Sabuki, hot-foots it to his awaiting underground boring machine, and makes a run for it, with the Human Torch in hot pursuit.
Despite Agent Axis’s best efforts, the Invaders are difficult to outrun. So it is that he’s forced to abandon both his boring craft and his captive in order to try to get away himself. But he hasn’t reckoned with Captain America! This page is a good example of one of the problems that Frank Robbins had when drawing super hero comics. He could never quite keep the powers of the characters straight. In particular, he tended to think that any super hero could fly, and on this page he’s clearly drawn Cap swooping, not leaping, out of Namor’s flagship to attack Agent Axis. Sometimes the Bullpen would correct these sorts of shots, dropping a leg down as if Cap or whomever was pirouetting like a ballet dancer. And other times, like this one, the writer tried to simply rush past the moment and hope nobody noticed.
Anyway, everything is pretty much denouement from this point on, as Cap beats the heck out of Agent Axis and drags him back to face American justice. Bucky and Toro tell the others that they and the two new kids are going to remain stateside and become a new homefront team, the Kid Commandos. Namor gives Gwenny Lou and Davy access to a trunk of clothing that he’s got for some reason, and they come back in two of the most absurd costumes of the period. Seriously, Davy in his new role as the Human Top is wearing a striped onesie, and Gwenny Lou as Golden Girl is attired in a cross between a kimono and a bathrobe that looks like it’s three sizes too large for her and only staying on through the power of the Comics Code. Of course, these are both super hero names that Roy has recycled from other largely-forgotten Timely golden age heroes.
The Invaders still need to deal with the racist commander of the Japanese internment camp to which they have to return Dr. Sabuki–and from which Golden Girl needs dispensation so she can become a part of the Kid Commandos. But as the Invaders get into it with the commander, Agent Axis’s boring ship crashes up out of the ground and he attacks the assembled company! This is a surprise, as Axis was beaten pretty decisively a few pages earlier. But Golden Girl and the Human Top take this opportunity to show what they can do, defending the camp and its soldiers from Agent Axis’ attack and ultimately undoing him.
With the day saved, the base commander gives Gwenny Lou permission to go with the Invaders, and it’s a happy ending all around. But wha–?? The Agent Axis who attacked the base wasn’t the true fascist criminal at all, but rather the Sub-Mariner in disguise! So the whole thing was a put-on to help convince the commander of the value of letting Golden Girl join the Kid Commandos! Pretty sneaky, Namor–and your line about how their victory was won fairly because you used only just as much power as the real Agent Axis could seems a bit spurious. But hey, who wants to go back to an internment camp anyway, apart from brilliant surgeon fathers. So I’m sure this ruse was all for the best, and now the power of being able to spin around really fast and to project brilliant bursts of glowing force out of one’s hands can be put to good use! And on that note, the issue wraps up. I believe this was Frank Robbins’ final issue as the penciler on INVADERS–and for all that his work could be idiosyncratic, I don’t think any of the artists who followed him quite captured the ineffable flavor of the strip in the manner that he did. He wasn’t the obvious choice to draw INVADERS, but he turned out to be the right choice.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
I think Roger Stern did a really good revamp of the Young Allies in 2009. Were you involved with that?
LikeLike
Was that the book with the man-bull and Bucky from Counter Earth?
LikeLike
No, it was the Young Allies 70th Anniversary Special and the Captain America: Forever Allies miniseries.
https://www.comics.org/issue/645928/
LikeLike
Was Frank Robbins the artist whose retirement led to Frank Miller becoming artist on Daredevil?
LikeLike
Tom: This is what the 2011 Captain America series robbed Marvel of when issue 2 claimed it was JIMMY JUPITER could shape the Land of Nowhere with his imagination ( Bring stuff in and out with him )[ Marvel Mystery Comics#43 ( May 1943 ) EENIE-MEENIE ( light-blue wish granter: ME, I see him as a SHAPER OF THE WORLDS type — he kind of reminds me of the way the Beyonder looked on the cover of FF#288 ( March 1986 ) — HE IS THE ONE SHAPING THE LAND/PEOPLE & TELEPORTING BEINGS FROM EARTH, OTHER PLANTETS & DIMENSIONS in my version ) & Sidney ( British refugee kid ) ] — [ Marvel Mystery Comics#28 ( February 1942 ) Elmer & other talking trees( H’ylthri [ Iron Fist#2 ( December 1975 )] ), unnamed woman ( stretching ability ), wump-Jump ( dragon –ME, from K’un-Lun ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#29 ( March 1942 ) the Witches of Encore ( 3 -one dead ), Ruffy Rabbit, Mr. Bee ( a bee ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#30 ( April 1942 ) Fairies vs. Gnomes riding Bats — Wump-Jump & Ruffy Rabbit again ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#31 ( May 1942 ) the Candy Men vs. Gloomy Gusses ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#32 ( June 1942 ) Captain Cookie, the China People of Tea Land vs. Bull in the China Shoppe & Licorice Men ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#33 ( July 1942 ) White Rabbit, the Kings and Queens of the White and Black Kingdoms ( ME– the U.S. & U.K. HELLFIRE CLUBS ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#34 ( August 1942 ) Satan, Werjil , Matilda ( Looks like TILLIE the HUN as she appeared in Sensational She-Hulk#15-17 with grey hair ), Temptation vs. Will Power ( a hero ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#35 ( September 1942 ) Black Dragons ( ME – the Black Dragon Society ) vs. Wump-Jump & his Parents ( ME, one is CHIANTANG/BLACK DRAGON – Power Man and Iron-Fist#118 ( July 1985 ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#36 ( October 1942 ) Doctor Yank ( painless dentist ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#37 ( November 1942 ) African American kid friend and his mother ( Halloween story ) — Ghosts vs. Evil Spirits/Demons ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#38 ( December 1942 ) King Ra, the Blue Fairy, Knobby the marionette vs. Zar the Wizard ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#39 ( January 1943 ) Knobby the Marionette vs. Three Witches ( Minerva, Melissa & unnamed — magic glasses ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#40 ( February 1943 ) King ra, Knobby the Marionette ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#41 ( March 1943 ) King Ra, Blue Fairy, Fairy Delight the Sandman , Stuffy ( a puppy ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#42 ( April 1943 ) Wump-Jump, Ruffy Rabbit, Mr. Jupiter ( his father ) — a Gang of Tire Thieves ], etc. for now ( I got modern Marvel bad guy characters that could be the 2 different groups of Witches ).
LikeLike
JIMMY JUPITER [ Marvel Mystery Comics#44 ( June 1943 ) “The Land of the Rubber People” – May Bounce & the Rubber People ( There was a past Crisis Superman story involving Mokkari & Simyan and a dimension the sent their reject or failed experiments — so maybe the Rubber People are failed attempts by DOCTOR JOEL & JOSHUA WILLIAMS to create FLEXO THE RUBBER MAN or EENIE-MEENIE just animated Rubber ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#45 ( July 1943 ) Father Time, Once-Upon-A-Time, Minute Men, Queen Time, Tick and Tock –“Valley of Time” ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#46 ( August 1943 ) Pete Porker, Queen of Barnyard Valley, King of Barnyard Valley vs. Jeepers ( Living tractor — ME, one of TRULL’s people [ Tales to Astonish#21 ( July 1961 ) first story ] or a time-displaced TRULL? ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#47 ( September 1943 ) Mantis-Marines, Crow-Commandoes vs. Japanese Beetles ( ME- ROKO’s MR. MIND counterpart is one of them ) ], [ Marvel Mystery Comics#48 ( October 1943 ) Queen Clara ( a card queen ), her king and Cigam ( a wizard –ME, MAGNUS [ Spider-Woman#2 ( May 1978 ) ] in Jonathan Drew’s body? ) ] & [ Human Torch#10 ( Winter 1942-43 ) John Jupiter, Mary Jupiter, Fred ( Jimmy uncle ), Princess Pam, King of the Enchanted Valley vs. Wild Toad Men ( ME– Hulk’s TOAD MEN transformed? ) & Wolves ( from K’un-Lun — like Ferocia ( Fera ) [ Power Man and Iron Fist#97 ( September 1983 ) – Marvel Premiere#15 ( Mat 1974 ) ] or Asgard ( Fenris-Wolf one of them? ) ]. As for the 3 WITCHES OF ENCORE & the THREE WITCHES: BRONWEN GRYFFN & GUDRUN TYBURN ( MYS-TECH ), ALISABETH DAEMON [ Bizarre Adventures#25 ( March 1981 ) ], SHADOWQUEEN ( Shialmar ) [ Doctor Strange vol.2#42 ( August 1980 ) ] & MORGAN LE FAY.
LikeLike
Marie LaVeau [ Dracula Lives#2 ( 1973 ) 7th story ] could be one of the witches or she could be the old voodoo priestess ( who dies –page 5 and 6 -shot ) [ All-Winners Comics#17 ( Winter 1945-46 ) Human Torch story -“The Voodoo Doll Murders!” — Marie LaVeau has run out of vampire blood before so this could her ( a spell could protect from from the bullet — similar to the one Loki used to survive Balder beheading him ). Her dialogue to the Torches could be an act to hide who she really is ].
LikeLike
Here are 2 extraterrestrial sentient trees that could also be the Talking Trees in Jimmy Jupiter’s first story: Cotati and the R’Malk’i ( who come the closest in appearance — but like I said Eenie-Meenie could have altered characters appearances just like The Shaper of Worlds [ The Incredible Hulk#155 ( September 1972 ) ] altered the non-human appearance of those micro-world aliens to look human just so a Nazi scientist ( Otto Kronsteig ) could live out a twisted fantasy ).
LikeLike