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jkcarrierEvery year, the posters at Comic Book Resources' "Classic Comics" forum do a 12 Days of Christmas countdown, writing about their 12 favorites in some category. This year's theme is "12 favorite creative teams". So each day from now 'till Xmas I'll be writing about a favorite writer/artist team and a favorite storyline they worked on. You can read everyone's choices for Day One here. And here's mine:
Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru
Showcase #39-40, Metal Men #1
Kanigher and Andru hit their stride very quickly on the Metal Men series. By Showcase #39, the team's second appearance, the robots' distinctive personalities are already solidly in place. The two Showcase issues introduce Chemo, the Metal Men's most famous foe: literally a walking test-tube, a gigantic, human-shaped plastic container filled with the chemical leftovers from a scientist's failed experiments. The creature has no voice, and apparently only a rudimentary intelligence as it rampages through the city, causing mass destruction with the corrosive chemicals it sprays from it's mouth.
In later Metal Men stories, the humor would be played up, and the villains and situations would become more self-consciously absurd. But in these early tales, Kanigher is playing it mostly straight. Chemo is a straight-up horror, not unlike the original characterization of Godzilla: an object lesson in the dangers of science run amok. There's a chilling sequence in #40 where the Army sends tanks against Chemo, only to have the creature melt them down into slag. We don't actually see the crewmen die, but the implication is clear. Metal Men #1 ups the ante with the so-called Missile Men -- hordes of sentient warheads that relentlessly bombard the Earth in an unstoppable global blitz. This is pretty grim stuff.
Not that humor is completely absent. Platinum's unrequited love for her inventor, Doc Magnus, leads to many funny (and a few poignant) moments, and the interactions among straightlaced Gold, tough-guy Iron, slow-witted Lead, sarcastic Mercury, and insecure Tin give Kanigher opportunities for lots of sharp, witty dialogue. Previous teams like the Blackhawks or the Newsboy Legion had their individual quirks, but the Metal Men really took comic book characterization to a new level, unheard-of in the pre-Fantastic Four era.
The strong likeability of the Metal Men make it all the more shocking when they sacrifice themselves for the sake of the Earth. The frequent destruction (and inevitable rebuilding) of the team eventually became a cliche, but in these early stories it's still fresh, and powerfully dramatic. One by one, the team hurls themselves against the seemingly-indestructible foe, and each one falls, buying time for their leader Doc to implement the scientific solution that finally wins the day. There's a definite formula at work here, but a very effective one that lead to years of entertaining adventures.
Ross Andu's art complements the story every step of the way. He gives each Metal Man a distinctive shape and face that conveys their personality at a glance. Over the course of the series, he was called upon to design all manner of alien villains and crazy robotic menaces, and every one of them is different and cool. He has a great sense of space and perspective, which makes the Metal Men's shape-shifting transformations all the more believeable and effective. I go back to these stories again and again, and they still hold up as great reading pleasure.
Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru
Showcase #39-40, Metal Men #1
Kanigher and Andru hit their stride very quickly on the Metal Men series. By Showcase #39, the team's second appearance, the robots' distinctive personalities are already solidly in place. The two Showcase issues introduce Chemo, the Metal Men's most famous foe: literally a walking test-tube, a gigantic, human-shaped plastic container filled with the chemical leftovers from a scientist's failed experiments. The creature has no voice, and apparently only a rudimentary intelligence as it rampages through the city, causing mass destruction with the corrosive chemicals it sprays from it's mouth.
In later Metal Men stories, the humor would be played up, and the villains and situations would become more self-consciously absurd. But in these early tales, Kanigher is playing it mostly straight. Chemo is a straight-up horror, not unlike the original characterization of Godzilla: an object lesson in the dangers of science run amok. There's a chilling sequence in #40 where the Army sends tanks against Chemo, only to have the creature melt them down into slag. We don't actually see the crewmen die, but the implication is clear. Metal Men #1 ups the ante with the so-called Missile Men -- hordes of sentient warheads that relentlessly bombard the Earth in an unstoppable global blitz. This is pretty grim stuff.
Not that humor is completely absent. Platinum's unrequited love for her inventor, Doc Magnus, leads to many funny (and a few poignant) moments, and the interactions among straightlaced Gold, tough-guy Iron, slow-witted Lead, sarcastic Mercury, and insecure Tin give Kanigher opportunities for lots of sharp, witty dialogue. Previous teams like the Blackhawks or the Newsboy Legion had their individual quirks, but the Metal Men really took comic book characterization to a new level, unheard-of in the pre-Fantastic Four era.
The strong likeability of the Metal Men make it all the more shocking when they sacrifice themselves for the sake of the Earth. The frequent destruction (and inevitable rebuilding) of the team eventually became a cliche, but in these early stories it's still fresh, and powerfully dramatic. One by one, the team hurls themselves against the seemingly-indestructible foe, and each one falls, buying time for their leader Doc to implement the scientific solution that finally wins the day. There's a definite formula at work here, but a very effective one that lead to years of entertaining adventures.
Ross Andu's art complements the story every step of the way. He gives each Metal Man a distinctive shape and face that conveys their personality at a glance. Over the course of the series, he was called upon to design all manner of alien villains and crazy robotic menaces, and every one of them is different and cool. He has a great sense of space and perspective, which makes the Metal Men's shape-shifting transformations all the more believeable and effective. I go back to these stories again and again, and they still hold up as great reading pleasure.
