Amount

Great Bronze and Modern Age SWM Comics

30 Apr 2020 20:53 - 30 Apr 2020 20:57 #67864 by TwiceOnThursdays
Great Bronze and Modern Age SWM Comics was created by TwiceOnThursdays
There was a great, long-running thread about SWM Silver Age comics. I learned a lot from it and found some excellent stories.I'm going to try with some more modern comics.  I'll start with some that I liked growing up but might not be as well known as Savage She-Hulk or Ms. Marvel.  Back in the day, I can remember finding these little gems and latching on to them

First up, from 1978 is Incredible Hulk 228-229, the first (named) appearance of Karla Sofen, Moonstone (later Meteorite and Ms. Marvel).

She had previously appeared as an unnamed gun moll for Dr. Faustus in Captain America 192.  It's only in this Hulk appearance that we find out her name.  Marvel used to do this sort of thing all the time.]I fondly remember reading this a kid.  She's gorgeous, powerful, and smart. She's also amoral and her own worst enemy.  Later, She had a great run in Thunderbolts, which was one of the comics that helped bring me back to mainstream comics from the wasteland of the '90s

.She's also known for being Ms. Marvel during the Dark Avengers run.  Often when people are talking about Carol, and they post a picture of her original costume, they post a picture of Karla Sofen as Ms. Marvel instead.  It always makes the geek in me twitch as it's not quite the same costume, and it's also not Carol. ;-)


But this about Moonstone at the beginning.  Let's start w/ the cover.  Anytime you have a hot chick punching the Hulk through a wall, you have my attention.



From the start, you see she's self-controlled and controlling.  Here she is naming herself for the first time.  I love how the art shows her body language.  She holds herself differently as Dr. Karla Sofen and as Moonstone.  She also shifts around while she's playing psychological mind tricks.



I didn't know it at the time, but I have a fondness for Superpowered women out of costume.  I don't THINK this is where it started, but it might be. I love the scenes of her skulking around Gamma Base as Karla Soften, looking for info.

But that all has to come to an end, and she changes into Moonstone.

Her helmet is pretty bad (it's a carry-over from the original Moonstone). OTH, I'm quite fond of the rest of her outfit. It's some liquid metal that doesn't acknowledge physics, and frankly, I'm ok with that. After they take her out of this costume, she never really gets a good one (I don't count her Ms. Marvel costume as it was never going to stick)


.The story makes it clear that she's not quite up to the task of taking out the Hulk by sheer physical strength, but she's still capable of holding her own.  In the Marvel Universe, that means you're a badass.She's strong enough to punch and blast the Hulk to effect.




But, what gets me going about Moonstone, is she's also brilliant.  (She's too smart for her own good.)Here she uses both physical power AND brains to get away from the Hulk.


And in the end, she uses brains to create a distraction so people won't listen to the Hulk and figure her out.  Also more out of costume power use. What can I say, I know what I like. ;-)

I love that she gets her powers using her brains. She convinces the previous Moonstone to give her the gem that grants him his powers.  She sees something she wants, figures out how to get it, and takes it.  Smart women are sexy.   If only she had a bit more wisdom.

 I've loved Moonstone from this issue.  Any chick that can knock around the Hulk was aces in my book.A few other misc Hulk SWM milestones just for some extra credit reading.  Sabra first appears in Incredible Hulk #256 (with a later appearance w/ yummy Keown art in 386-387 during the excellent Peter David run of the Hulk).  Valkyrie also has her second appearance in Hulk 142 (and the first time she's not Enchantress in disguise).I'll try to pick something from an Indy comic if I do another one of these.

This message has attachments images.
Please log in or register to see it.

Last edit: 30 Apr 2020 20:57 by TwiceOnThursdays. Reason: trying to fix spacing...
The following user(s) said Thank You: lfan, shadar, steelknight3000, Artnico, Wotan45, Ravens_ghost, eromacque, Lulu, aguilauno, Gargamel, guimachajo1

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • TwiceOnThursdays
  • TwiceOnThursdays's Avatar Topic Author
  • Offline
  • Elite Member
  • Elite Member
More
Time to create page: 0.064 seconds