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Invaders, The #39: Review

Oct 1978
Don Glut, Alan Kupperberg

Story Name:

Back From the Grave!

Review & Comments

Rating:
3 stars

Invaders, The #39 Review by (March 12, 2019)

Review: O boy, an absurd adolescent love story taking up space in a superhero/war comic. Just what we've been missing. The less said about this the better. The person I feel sorry for is the Human Top. Not only does he have a power that looks ridiculous on the page but...well, that's enough right there, combined with the silly costume, but he doesn't get much to do here either. The Kid Commandos are only guest stars and he really isn't needed there as he's the one left out of the romantic triangle.

Lady Lotus' attempt to subvert Golden Girl is that part of the issue with the most emotional heft but it's glossed over pretty quickly in favor of fight scenes. Mostly okay issue ends with the welcome return of Baron Blood, who, if not all that interesting, at least promises some grim violence.

Comments: Part two of two parts. Origin of Lady Lotus. Spitfire, Union Jack were last seen in issue #34. Baron Blood was killed in issue #9. Roy Thomas is credited with the concept; Chic Stone with the finished pencil art. Lady Lotus' cigarette smoke is referred to as incense by the narrator, so the question is “What is she smoking?”

Period Pop-Culture Details: French film star Charles Boyer.






 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Invaders, The #39 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

As U-Man stands victorious over the defeated Kid Commandos on a Santa Monica pier, Captain America and Human Torch arrive; the villain knocks Cap out with a blow and dives into the water with the captive Golden Girl. All Torch can do is revive Bucky, Toro and Human Top; the latter realizes that both Bucky and Toro are in love with Golden Girl and neither will speak up. Torch notices this too and mentions it later at an inopportune time....

Merrano is guided to Lady Lotus' hideout by her psychic powers and he hands over the prisoner. LL plays host to Golden Girl, relating her own origin (born with psychic powers, enlightened by Buddha, came to America impersonating a Chinese to strike back for the homeland) and now wants GG, a Japanese American girl with firsthand experience of the internment camps, to join her and use her powers against the enemies of their race. Gwenny Lou refuses so Lotus resorts to using her psychic force to make her obey. GG fights back with her sunbursts so the villainess summons U-Man and her guards. The young heroine dodges, allowing Merrano's momentum to knock himself silly against a wall, and then easily out-judos the guards. Then Cap and Bucky, Torch and Toro arrive and LL has U-Man carry her off to her airplane and safety. Bucky is so thrilled that GG is safe that he hugs her, embarrassing both of them and tipping off Toro that he has a rival....

Back in England, a premonition leads Jacqueline and Brian Falsworth to go out again as Spitfire and Union Jack. Instinct leads them to the cave on their property and they are right: they find several Japanese soldiers around the corpse of Baron Blood. The two heroes attack their enemies and Union Jack inadvertently blasts the boulder holding the dead vampire in place with a bolt of electricity. They defeat the soldiers but the revived Baron Blood seizes them and plans to feast....



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


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Bucky Barnes
Bucky Barnes

(James Barnes)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Golden Girl
Golden Girl

(Gwenny Lou Sabuki)
Human Torch
Human Torch

(Jim Hammond)
Spitfire
Spitfire

(Jacqueline Falsworth)
Toro
Toro

(Thomas Raymond)
Union Jack
Union Jack

(Brian Falsworth)

Plus: Baron Blood, Human Top (Davy Mitchell), Lady Lotus (Lotus Newmark), U-Man.

> Invaders, The: Book info and issue index

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