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Invaders #36

Jul 1978
Roy Thomas, Alan Kupperberg

Story Name:

Crushed by the Iron Cross!


Synopsis

Invaders #36 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 2.5 stars

Having defeated the Liberty Legion, Iron Cross subdues them with knockout gas before they can rally; he and his henchmen load the captive heroes (Patriot, Thin Man, Jack Frost, Miss America, Red Raven, Blue Diamond) aboard a truck, along with the prisoner Professor Schneider and head for their getaway sub....

Whizzer, having found the Invaders (Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Human Torch), accompanies them on the trail of the villains but they come across the scene of a train wreck. Against Whizzer's impatience and concern over the fate of Miss America, the other heroes insist on stopping to deal with the disaster, rescuing victims and extinguishing fires. The heroes use Miss America's communicator signal to track her, using Namor's flagship to follow the sound....

Aboard the enemy sub, Iron Cross unmasks to reveal himself to Professor Schneider as Helmut Gruler. The two men were boyhood friends who were divided by the rise of Hitler and National Socialism, Gruler supporting the new movement and Schneider fearing it. After WW2 began, Gruler sought to heal the breach with his former friend only to discover Schneider had fled to America for refuge; Gruler discovered the prototype armor in Schneider's lab, intended to be used against the Nazis but Gruler adopted it to serve his country and now he is pressuring the Prof to make the improvements referred to in his journal so the Iron Cross will be invincible. The Professor naturally refuses so Iron Cross threatens the lives of the captive Liberty Legion....

The Invaders trace Miss America's signal to a spot beneath the ocean; naturally inferring a submarine, Namor goes down to investigate. Iron Cross is fired out of a torpedo tube to face him; the villain overwhelms Namor at first, using electricity, ink, and other traps to outclass his foe. Namor punches the baddie so that he crashes into the sub, jarring loose the gas mechanism that is keeping the Liberty Legion unconscious; within moments they are able to escape their glass tubes and take on the sub's crew. Problem: the breach in the hull causes the sub to be rapidly filling with water; Iron Cross enters, snatches up the Professor, and takes off, leaving Namor torn between pursuing the villain and rescuing the other heroes. On the surface, the other invaders are helpless as Cap doesn't know how to submerge Namor's flagship....


 

Review / Commentaries


Invaders #36 Review by (February 19, 2019)

Review: Annoying issue is made almost unbearable by the whining of the Whizzer, who only has eyes for Miss America and her safety. As such he is constantly fussing and fearing the worst so it's surprising that the other heroes don't want to punch his lights out just so he will shut up. The retconned romance was a nice touch last issue but here it's unbearable. The centerpiece of the tale is Namor's battle against the Iron Cross and he comes off unexpectedly badly. Why is Namor, who held his own against the Hulk and defeated Iron Man in three seconds, such a helpless hot-head that this guy completely outclasses him? Just disappointing.

Comments: Part two of three parts.

Period Pop-Culture Details: GANGBUSTERS radio program which inspired the idiom “making like gangbusters” i.e. getting off to a great start.




> Invaders comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS Marvel Premier Collection: Avengers Endgame Captain America Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Alan Kupperberg
Chic Stone
Carl Gafford
Alan Kupperberg (Cover Penciler)
Joe Sinnott (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Human Torch
Human Torch

(Jim Hammond)
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner

(Namor McKenzie)
Whizzer
Whizzer

(Golden Age)

Plus: Blue Diamond (Elton Morrow), Iron Cross, Jack Frost, Liberty Legion, Patriot (Jeff Mace), Red Raven, Thin Man.