Invaders Classic, Vol. 3

The Invaders (1975) #22-23, 25-34

by Jim Mooney (Illustrator), Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin

Cap, Namor, Torch and company face a riddle in Egypt when the sizzling Scarlet Scarab comes down against BOTH sides of the war! Agent Axis, Master Man, and the Teutonic Knight are also arrayed against the Invaders - but how do they deal with a less tangible nemesis, prejudice both home and abroad? Featuring the formation of the Kid Commandos, the empowerment of Union Jack, and the origin of Toro the Flaming Kid! Guest-starring the Mighty Thor, the Mighty Destroyer, and NOT the Frankenstein Monster but a remarkable facsimile! Collects Invaders #22-23 and #25-34.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, World War II, Superheroes

219 pages, Paperback

First published February 25, 2009

About the author

James Noel Mooney was an American comics artist best known for his long tenure at DC Comics and as the signature artist of Supergirl, as well as a Marvel Comics inker and Spider-Man artist, both during what comics historians and fans call the Silver Age of Comic Books and what is known as the Bronze Age of Comic Books. He sometimes inked under the pseudonym Jay Noel.

Reviews

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in WWII.

Again, it was just an ok read that could have been easily be half the pages because of all the over-simplicity of everything in it, from plot to dialogue to repetitiveness of things and fight scenes, it quickly becomes tedious and a chore to read, some issues were fun and some were just straight up boring.

I will say, that the only 2 issues that's worth reading here are the ones that have Thor in it. The only fun to read guest appearance in all 4 volumes, even if it was with an obvious retcon at the end because Cap didn't really meet Thor during world war II, or did he?

[Natalie Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up INVADERS CLASSIC, VOLUME 3 to continue my education in Brian Falsworth canon, as described in my last review. Collection INVADERS #22-23 and #25-34 (is #24 cursed?), this collections' stories build upon the good intersectional feminist rapport from volume 2 into something truly awe-inspiring.

Picking up the plot from last issue, Toro is injured and won't wake up. A distraught Jim relates Toro's interesting origin story, but afterwards the group splits. The adult Invaders must rush to Egypt to defend the Allied troops while Bucky volunteers to fly Toro to the United States, where only a one Dr. Sabuki has the skills to dislodge the bullet close to his heart.

After this moment in the comic, I made a lot of "omg they went there" facial expressions. In American re-tellings of WWII, most (usually white) tellers focus in on how we bolstered the war-weary Allied front, freed the Holocaust survivors, and took over the Pacific Theater. It's a very heroic, positive tale, with maybe a sobering And Then We Made The Difficult Choice To Drop The Bomb. Media typically skips over the moral conundrum of why we waited so long to join the fighting; how we imprisoned our own citizens in internment camps; and how those soldiers who liberated the marginalized from European camps went right back home to discriminate, incarcerate, demonize, and sometimes kill the same marginalized.

But not Roy Thomas or his Invaders. When Captain America, Spitfire, Namor, and Human Torch land in Egypt, they don't just fight the Scarlet Scarab and fascists: they also fight colonialism and racism. When Bucky finds Dr. Sabuki and his daughter Gwenny Lou in an internment camp, he is shocked and disgusted that while he's been fighting the Axis in Europe, its evil has been growing at home. With Gwenny Lou (Golden Girl) and newcomer Davy Mitchell (Human Top), Bucky & Toro decide to leave the Invaders and create a new team, the Kid Commandos, to fight the internment ruling and racism.

The collection doesn't end there, and the rest continues to pull its idealogical weight. And it's not all doom and gloom! Punching Teutonic Knight, Thor, and Nazi Frankenstein's Monster reveal how fascism intersects and corrupts religion and science! The anti-war messaging is constant and appreciated! Brian has his second brush with death, but now he is officially super sparky! There's bright colors and accidentally(?) homoerotic artwork. The Destroyer costume gets stolen, and the team immediately knows Roger is in trouble instead of thinking Roger betrayed them! It's great!

In summary, everyone should read INVADERS, and I love them, even Namor. It's the perfect read for this and any day. My only worry is Brian might semi-permanently die soon, but that's a constant worry for Falsworth fans. Follow @MrUnionJack on twitter, vote in all elections, and punch a Nazi.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old school 70's comic, Roy Thomas written.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects Invaders #22 and #23 as well as #25-#34. #24 was a reprint of the Golden Age Submariner/Human Torch story in the Golden Age Marvel Comics #17 which I really wish they'd included but I guess you can't always have what you want and it's not necessary to understanding the stories.

At any rate, here are the issues we did get.

Issue 23 features Toro needing serious medical care after the Invaders last book and Roy Thomas (who loves the Golden Age of comics) retcons a new origin for Toro that makes him a mutant. It's actually pretty clever.

Issues 24 and 25 have the Invaders facing a threat in the form of an anti-imperialistic Egyptian metahuman, The Scarlet Scarab. The character is a lot like Namor which poses some problems for the plot as well as for both our heroes and General Rommell. In Rommell, there's a bit of an anachronism as he's portrayed as a Nazi. While Rommell fought for Germany, he wasn't part of the Nazi Party and was more of a nationalist who ended up trying to assassinate Hitler. It's not a big deal other than for being a rare breach in accuracy.

Issues 26-28 sees Bucky trying to find a Doctor to help cure Toro but the only one who can help is locked in an internment camp. Bucky tries to get the Doctor out to help, but runs smack into Agent Axis, a man who is actually the multi-personality combination of three different Axis Agents.It also introduces the Kid Commandos as a Japanese-American Girl and a black boy get Superpowers. I think it's good that they addressed the internment issue. The Kid Commandos are a far better idea than what Timely put out during the war with the far less interesting, "Young Allies." And I actually liked Bucky and Toro leaving temporarily as it allowed stories with more focus and along with the Liberty Legion (established in prior issues) gives this comic a much better focus.

Issues 29 and 30 involve the Teutonic Knight and begins by explaining how the Big 3 Invaders each encountered him individually and how he became even more deadly based on what he obtained for them with issue 30 being the wrap up. A solid story.

Issue 31 is an oddball that has the Invaders battling a version of the Frankenstein monster created for the Nazis by one of Frankenstein's ancestors.

Issues 32 and 33 have Hitler and his scientists scheming to contact Asgard bring the Norse gods into the War. The story does a good job playing off Hitler's belief in the Norse mythology and their vision of gods and shows how he's able to trick Thor into temporarily entering the war on the side of the Axis by pointing out that their enemies are known as the Invaders and in Russia, they're helping an evil man named Stalin. True enough but not the full story. There's a guest appearance by a future Marvel baddie who still despises Hitler (it was a very clever cameo) and a power up for Union Jack.

Issue 34 has the Invaders dealing with the Destroyer (formerly Union Jack's identity and now held by his friend) apparently going evil. This is an okay issue more than anything else.

Overall, in its the third volume, the Invaders continue to be a very well-written book. It's success is driven by writer Roy Thomas' love for the Golden Age era of comics and for his ability to reimagine it in a way that's believable.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints The Invaders #22-23 and #25-34 (November 1977-November 1978). The Invaders continue to battle the Nazi forces in Germany and find the horrors of the war stretch far beyond Europe. With battles in Egypt and America, the Invaders face off against the Teutonic Knight, a Nazi Frankenstein Monster, and the god of thunder Thor…under the control of Adolf Hitler! World War II rages on, and the Invaders hope to stop it.

Written by Roy Thomas and Don Glut and featuring art by Jim Mooney, Alan Kupperberg, and Chic Stone, The Invaders Classic Volume 3 continues the adaptation of Marvel’s 1970s World War II comic. The collection does not feature The Invaders #24 (January 1978) which featured a reprint of Marvel Mystery Comics #17 (March 1941) and a team-up between Namor and the Human Torch.

The Invaders is a rather dense comic. Each issue feels really heavy and jam packed…more so than many standard comics from this period of time. Though I do like a lot of the story aspects and the characters, the comic doesn’t really seem to flow very well with characters dropping in and out of plotlines.

This volume tries to mainstream the Invaders a bit more by including other popular characters from the time. The Invaders #32-33 (September 1978-October 1978) featured an appearance by Thor (who is conveniently “forgotten” after he returns to Asgard) but it also has a surprise appearance by Victor Von Doom. Frankenstein had been featured in comics in the 1970s and here a descendant of Victor Frankenstein takes on the Invaders with a new Nazi Monster. The stories do add a little life but also demonstrate a problem.

The Nazi Frankenstein story is a flashback story…something that The Invaders does far too much of. There is no continuity flow to the comic because the story always seems to get caught in flashback stories (or reprints). It was a different style of writing at the time and reprints weren’t readily available, but it does hurt the overall product of the Invaders.
I do like that this volume touches on the Japanese internment camps in the United States. Bucky has to find a doctor who has been placed in one with Toro’s life hanging in the balance. This is a rather dark part of the United States’ World War II history and it isn’t always looked at…but it also serves as a way to get Toro and Bucky off the main team (something I wish hadn’t happened).

The Invaders is a very classic feeling comic written in a style that does feel more like a World War II comic than a comic written in the ’70s. I kind of enjoy The Invaders, but I also feel that there is something missing that keeps it from being a great comic. The Invaders Classic Volume 3 is the penultimate volume in the collection as The Invaders comic ends with The Invaders #41 in September 1979 and this and the ’90s Invaders limited series are reprinted in The Invaders Classic Volume 4.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1970's run of the “Invaders” continues as the WWII superhero team is dispatched to North Africa to raise British morale in the face of Rommel's onslaught. However, their mission is derailed by the Scarlet Scarab, an Egyptian nationalist who is uninterested in the outcome of the war, as long as the colonial powers are driven out of Egypt. This story arc is unusual because Captain America finds himself sympathizing with the Scarab’s point of view and in conflict with Union Jack and Spitfire, who see British imperialism as only right and proper.

The next story arc concentrates on Toro, still incapacitated by a wound suffered in an earlier adventure (see Vol. 2). The one surgeon with the skill to remove the bullet lodged near his heart is a Japanese-American doctor imprisoned in an internment camp. Bucky learns a hard lesson about the attitudes of his fellow Americans. This story does a good job of balancing the historical reality of the Japanese-American internment with the usual superhero action-adventure plot. We are also introduced to the Kid Commandos, who look and act like yet another of the multi-ethnic teenage superhero teams that were all the rage in 70’s comics.

The remaining stories feature a lot of action and some unique villains, including Comtur the last of the Teutonic Knights and the return of Master Man. In a flashback story, a new Dr. Frankenstein recreates his grandfather’s experiment in hopes of creating a monster army for the Nazis. Another notable story features Hitler’s attempt to pull Thor out of Asgard and into our dimension. Some other interesting characters make cameo appearances in that one.
Although the art is a bit scruffy at times, all the stories in this volume were quite entertaining, and generally made good use of the time and setting. Another enjoyable installment in the series.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Proseguono le avventure degli Invasori narrate da Roy Thomas; l'anno è il 1942 e gli alleati sono sulla difensiva, per ora. Purtroppo ad un certo punto Frank Robbins abbandona i disegni della serie per il ben più povero e meno incisivo Alan Kuppenberg, e in quelle storie anche Thomas sembra perdere un poco di brio.

[Robert Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thomas & company keeps the action coming.

Marvels big books (Spidey, FF, X-Men) kind of lost it for me in the 70s. It was little series like these that really had me excited.

Production and restored color make these Classic collections worth the price tag.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out on par with the first two volumes, but after the Kid Commandoes were formed and stayed in the states thing go down hill fast. The problem seems to have been that Roy Thomas started taking a step back and turned control of the concept into the hands of others.