Freedom Fighters #9 (August 1977)
title: "Blitzkrieg At Buffalo!"
writer: Bob Rozakis
penciller: Dick Ayers
inker: Jack Abel
letterer: uncredited
colorist: uncredited
editor: Jack C. Harris
letter column: Jack C. Harris
cover: Rich Buckler & Jack Abel
Order of Appearance: All appear in one group scene on page one: (L/R) Doll Man, The Human Bomb, Phantom Lady, Uncle Sam, Black Condor, and The Ray
Guest Stars: None
Supporting Characters:
WGNY-TV reporter Martha Roberts, NYC District Attorney David Pearson, Assistant District Attorney Michael Tulane
Opponents:
Silver Ghost as Americommando, Rusty, Barracuda, Fireball, and Sparky (The Crusaders)
Overall Summary:
The Freedom Fighters go toe-to-toe against the Crusaders, and a new trouble faces Doll Man!
Plot Summary:
Silver Ghost aka Americommando has dragged the unconscious Freedom Fighters to a nearby electric power plant and plugged them into the main generator. When he starts it up, the six will be electrocuted.
Back at Niagara Falls, Martha is reviving Barracuda and trying to explain to him and the other Crusaders what she saw; namely, Americommando boasting that he was really the Silver Ghost and that he intended to kill the Freedom Fighters. Unfortunately, Americommando returns at this moment and slaps Martha Roberts to keep her quiet. Barracuda doesn't like him beating a woman, and the two titans clash.
However, Americommando manages to knock out Barracuda. He then orders the Crusaders to pursue the Freedom Fighters, who he says flew west to get away. He tells them he will take Martha back to New York City to report to DA Pearson. As they fly away, he admits to her that he intends to kill her.
Back at the power plant, the Ray has awakened just as the generator begins to warm up. He begins to absorb the power and shouts to awaken the others. Uncle Sam is revived and pulls the plug, killing the power before it could kill the Fighters. They head back to Niagara Falls.
Somehow they miss running into Americommando and Martha, who return to the power plant from Niagara moments after the Fighters have left. Martha is afraid that she will be killed then and there, but Americommando decides to keep her alive as a hostage.
The Freedom Fighters manage to catch up to the Crusaders, and the Ray knocks them out of the sky. However, when Doll-Man finds out that Americommando has taken Martha back to Manhattan, he and the Ray decide to follow. The other Fighters turn to battle the Crusaders.
The Human Bomb takes out Fireball, Uncle Sam takes out Barracuda, Phantom Lady knocks out Rusty, and Black Condor in an obvious editorial mistake, takes out Rusty again, not Sparky.
Instead of continuing the fight, Uncle Sam demands an explanation. Fireball explains how the man they know as Americommando approached comics fans Lennie, Marvin, Arch, and Roy at a comic-book convention and somehow transformed them into the Crusaders.
The Ray and Doll-Man catch up to Americommando and Martha flying back to Manhattan. Americommando drops Martha, and while the Ray is rescuing her Americommando makes his escape. Martha begs Doll-Man not to leave her in the woods alone, and after a moment of anxiety he decides to stay with her. The Ray flies off after Americommando alone, annoyed that Doll-Man decided to stay behind.
Martha convinces Doll-Man that he should give himself up. The next thing we see, Doll-Man enters District Attorney Pearson's office, just as the DA is shot and killed!
Review:
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this is probably the best issue of the series. I say that because each member has something important to do, the main plot is concluded satisfactorily, the sub-plots are moved forward or introduced dramatically, and the art is quite good on most pages.
First, the art. Dick Ayers seems comfortable with the characters now, and poses them in ways that seem natural rather than stiff. Jack Abel was never one of my favorite inkers, but his work is clean (though heavy) and doesn't appear to muck any of Ayers' pencils up.
The conclusion to the battle between the Crusaders and the Freedom Fighters ends with a big fight that the Fighters eventually win. In true comic-book fashion, all Our Heroes needed was a little bit of a rest before they could come back and whip the bad guys, using experience and teamwork. The fight pages are some of my favorite fight scenes ever: well choreographed and everyone seems to have something to do. Except for one scene where it appears that Rusty and Sparky seem to swap places (reprinted above), everything is clear and easy to understand.
Compared to the Marvel Crusaders vs Invaders story, each Crusader here gets a bit of the spotlight; no one (such as the Doll-Man copy over in The Invaders) gets all that more to do than anyone else. We even get to see who they all are under their masks, although their origin doesn't make sense.
Of course, it confused me how and why the Silver Ghost chose to create the Crusaders at all, and also how he became super-strong. I thought he did NOT have any super-strength, but he held his own against Uncle Sam last issue and Barracuda this time out. And if he truly has a machine that can transfer super-powers to volunteers, why didn't he use actual henchmen? This part of the story didn't make sense at all. Lastly, I was surprised to see that the Americommando aka the Silver Ghost could fly. I guess I thought he was using a jet pack or something in his earlier flying scenes, but I guess he is actually able to fly.
My favorite scene is probably the face-off between Martha, the Ray, and Darrell. We learn here that Doll-Man's original girl-friend was killed while the Fighers were on a mission, so this time Darrell refuses to leave her alone and defenseless. The Ray, probably a bit jealous of what Darrell has found, storms off. This was a great character bit; I really like how Martha's and Darrell's relationship is proceeding.
That being said....that last page! I've read enough comics AND mysteries to know that just enough is shown here to implicate Darrell in DA Pearson's murder, without actually showing that he is guilty. I trust that he is innocent, but the first time I read this I remember being VERY interested to read more!
Black Condor Moment
Doll Man Moment
I almost used the Doll Man kills DA Pearson page, but
I decided that THIS was his true heroic moment:
choosing Love over Duty.
Human Bomb Moment
Phantom Lady Moment
Phantom Lady holds her own against Rusty
The Ray Moment
The Ray saves the day, absorbing the power so that his friends are not electrocuted.
Uncle Sam Moment
Uncle Sam knocks out Barracuda. Take that, Namor!
Best Moment
Your mileage may vary, but to me the best moment is where two of the "Marvel"
characters fight amongst themselves, in a natural yet contrived manner.
When Titans Clash, indeed. Well done, Mr. Rozakis!
Worst Moment
For the first time in this series I'm giving Worst Moment
to the cover. For a story that is basically All-Out Action
In the Mighty Marvel Manner
this cover is dull dull dull.
Who thought kids standing there was a better choice
than another fight-scene between the two groups?!?! COME ON!!
Moment They Could Have Been Cleared:
This time out, Martha Roberts makes a great point about being able to swear that the Silver Ghost is still alive, which would in theory go a long way to support the Freedom Fighters' story that they were blackmailed into working for him. Sadly, this plan was not put into action, as we saw in just one more page...!
Click to enlarge it for an easier-to-read version.
Freedom of Information
- Uncle Sam's hat is still cut in half from last issue's battle with Americommando.
- No clue is given as to the final fate of the Crusaders, and whether they are "stuck" in their new identities permanently or not.
- Although we don't know it at the time, this is the last time all of the Freedom Fighters will be together until they reunite on the last page of Freedom Fighters #13.
The Freedom Fighters
assembled by Len Wein
No comments:
Post a Comment