Welcome to the first post at Tales from the Bronze Age, where I take a look at various comics from the Bronze Age era, which is typically between 1970 to 1985. I grew up during that time frame, and it is by far my favorite age of comics. I have a few family road trips to thank for that.
When I was six-years old, my parents would often take the family on road trips out of state in our 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Estate Wagon. We'd travel out of California and into Nevada, up through Idaho and into Montana, where we'd visit places such as Glacier National Park and Museums full of giant Dinosaur fossils. Then we'd travel back through Oregon, and visit the Enchanted Forest, a theme park with a Wicked Witch slide that scared the hell out of me.
Like many station wagons of the time, ours had spacious room in the back. It was supposed to be used for storage, but my parents let us sit or lay down back there without seat-belts (something unheard of today), and it was there that I would curl up and read several comics purchased along the way.
The quality of comics usually depended on which parent would make the quick run into the closest mini-mart off the highway. If it was Mom, I was most likely going to get a Spire Christian Comic or Archie. But if it was Dad, I knew I would be getting something good. The Mighty Thor. Detective Comics. Ghost Rider. Or, for this particular post, Marvel Two-In-One Annual #6.
I knew I was in for a good read once my father handed me the comic, as I loved comics that were double-sized and featured more than one character. This one had the Thing, Ka-Zar, the Klaw and a new character called American Eagle. I propped a pillow up in the back of the station wagon and began to read it as we traveled down a Montana highway while Buffalo roamed alongside us in the fields.
The story revolves around an ancient Indian legend that may have something to do with a recent land dispute between mining contractors and an Indian tribe that owns the land in the Southwest. Two Indian brothers, Jason and Ward Strongbow, have gone missing inside the mining cavern during the dispute. Wyatt Wingfoot seeks help and finds a bored Ben Grimm at the Baxter Building and the two head off to the Savage Land.
As a kid I was fascinated by the Indian legend story in the first chapter of this annual, but for the sake of time lets get to the action, which begins in Chapter Two with an awesome battle scene between Ka-Zar and the American Eagle:
Ka-Zar believes the Eagle is hunting an innocent Unicorn in the jungle, when he is actually after three Vibranium poachers. A melee ensues:
An Ka-Zar soon learns that his strength is no match for the American Eagle, who uproots a tree to block a knife and takes Ka-Zar's best punch without a flinch, leaving the Lord of the Hidden Jungle cowering at his feet.
The guys talk it out and discover it was all a big misunderstanding, they are actually on the same side. Meanwhile, one of the Vibranium poachers decides to shoot at a T-Rex. Not a wise idea!
The new BFF's team up in search of the poachers, but find the Fantastic Four's Pogo Plane instead.
The group sets up a campfire and American Eagle reveals how he got his powers. The Klaw appeared in the mining cavern and shot a sonic blast at him, throwing him into machines full of Uranium. The radiation of both the Uranium and Klaw's sonic radiation granted American Eagle the powers of super-strength. The Thing is shocked to learn of the Klaw's return after watching him vaporize into sonic vibrations in issue #58.
The group tracks the Klaw and the poachers to a Dinosaur Graveyard, where they are keeping a bunch of giant, angry Dinosaurs in cages while excavating a Vibranium mine nearby.
The Thing and friends surprise the Klaw and attack, but not before we learn this hilarious moment regarding the Klaw's return:
Of all things, it has to be the Project Pegasus cleaning lady that brings Klaw back to life!
The fight commences and the Klaw unleashes the raging Dino's from their cages, and I have no idea how anyone survived this moment, as the horde of savage beasts seemingly all disappear after only a few panels of action!
The Thing takes care of Klaw as one of the poachers shoots American Eagle's brother Ward, leaving one pissed off American Eagle.
And those disappearing Dino's suddenly reappear just in time, to trample the poachers in a blazing stampede of saurian glory!
And that's that. A somber ending ensues as American Eagle carries the body of his brother to the Pogo Plane.
What's even more sad about this? Aside from a few blink-and-you-missed-it cameos, we never see American Eagle ever again during the Bronze Age era of Marvel comics. The character, created by Ron Wilson, definitely showed a lot of promise in this issue, which makes the mystery that much more perplexing.
My guess is that Doug Moench, the writer of this issue, had meant to get back to the American Eagle story but never found the time. He was a writer that definitely jumped around a lot, and other projects got in the way. Other writers may have found the American Eagle less interesting, and his powers weren't unique enough.
Regardless of all that, the American Eagle was pretty darn cool. If you're a fan of unique and obscure characters within the Marvel universe, then this is an issue that should not be missed.
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