blessed fecal matter, i've found it!!!
do the names Mary Miller, Arnold Slackmyster, Myron J Maxwell, Fred Cramer, Ragland T Peppermill and Big Bull Bulowsky ring any bells to you?
no?
how about Fandral the Dashing, Hogun the Grim and the Voluminous Volstagg?
shame on you if you've never heard of Thor's Asgardian buddies, the terrible trio of countless triumphant (mis)adventures!
currently reborn in the pages of Thor, Asgardians have walked the earth for years now, and this one time, in band camp, i was privileged in all of my six years on this earth to have read Marvel Spotlight #30.
temporarily left alone to fend for themselves in New York City by the Thunder God, the Warriors Three decide to explore this New World (a.k.a. Manhattan, circa 1976 - scaaaaaaary). who was the mayor of the city at this time, kids? (if you said Guiliani, you deserve a righteous beating).
for the record,
Fandral is the green-clad
Robin Hood/
Oliver Queen type with a sword. he's as fast as his tongue, which means he's the resident ladies' man.
Hogun is the pessimistic, mysterious, do-as-i-do action man, but is surprisingly eloquent and chatty when he needs to. as for pink-and-yellow attired
Volstagg ... well, let's just say there's no libation nor provisions that he doesn't approve of.
this used to be the time when New York taxi drivers were still knowledgeable and street smart.
Myron J. Maxwell is the embodiment of this. these days, immigrants get off the boat on a Monday and drive a taxicab by Tuesday.
i have to tell them where to frickin' go.
their search for excitement is short as it is, as they immediately encounter a would-be jumper. as in ledge jumper. cue in
Third Eye Blind.
Fandral, the rescuer of damsels in distress, immediately scales the building with no ladders or anything, and conducts an interview of said damsel. Mary Miller wants to escape this world, because its a world without her fiance Arnold, who has been coerced by loansharks to help them rob a jewelry store.
of course, interviews conducted on narrow ledges tend to go awry, as we can see. Fandral's grandstanding act is upset by gravity, and it seems Mary's initial wish is going to be granted ...
... except of course, for the timely intervention of
Volstagg, who would be the perfect model for the next generation of Ikea beds.
writer Len Wein puts in a nice touch about the annoying habits of reporters, courtesy of the fine blade of Hogun. "people have a right to know" is a tired argument and is most often used the wrong way and for the wrong reasons.
Myron's taxi has a new passenger and off they go to the 'Diamond Jewelry Exchange' (which is probably the Bowery area).
at this point, they meet a drunken bum named Ragland T Peppermill, who "assists" them in opening a side door to the establishment.
and what are the chances, in real life, that the heroes actually arrive just in time to stop a robbery in progress? less than 50% i'd wager. the cops usually arrive after the fact. we only see cop-and-robber standoffs in movies nowadays.
for a six year old kid, fascination and enjoyment will be written all over his face when he reads stuff like this. these are the Terence Hill/Bud Spencer comedies come to life.
after making short work of the masked villains, the trio asks Mary to survey the carnage, but she tells the trio that Arnold isn't among the fallen. frustration would set in, except for the presence of a malodorous drunkard.
deducing that Arnold hailed a cab to take him to the "waterfront", they rush over and decide to make inquiries ... starting with McGinty's, which i think has been closed down by now (not due to the events in this story, of course ... or maybe it was).
if i was the bartender, i'd try to keep a straight face at these
Errol Flynn rejects. especially since they are on "a great and noble quest".
witness this sequence of events:
and the time-honored tradition of a bar fight is ON!!!
with all the drunks and lowlifes laid low (including the bartender?), it seems obvious that Arnold isn't among them either. so what are three godlings to do? why, repeat the process, of course!
but surprise, surprise! Arnold turns up outside the bar, walking along, deciding whether to drown himself, because life without Mary would be hell. and who else would notice him? Mary of course. aaaaaawwwwwww ....
basically, the Warriors just beat up around 20 to 30 men in one night for really nothing.
faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan-tastic.
you know what happens next, folks.
i say thee again ...
faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan-tastic.
so after sending off Myron and the newlywed couple with a bunch of gold coins to see Niagara Falls for their honeymoon, what are our godlings to do?
ahhh ... to paraphrase Rags, this blogging thing sure beats rummaging through garbage cans.
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Marvel Spotlight #30
"A Night on the Town"
Len Wein/John Buscema/Joe Sinnott/Glynis Wein/Joe Rosen
