{"id":118,"date":"2015-05-14T22:26:23","date_gmt":"2015-05-14T22:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/?p=118"},"modified":"2015-06-05T09:37:39","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T16:37:39","slug":"skull-the-slayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/?p=118","title":{"rendered":"Skull the Slayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

In preparation for the upcoming deluge of Secret Wars titles, including Jason Aaron’s Weirdworld, I decided to brush up on an obscure niche in Marvel lore: Skull the Slayer. \u00a0Touted by the trade paperback as “LOST meets The Land That Time Forgot,” we follow Jim Scully, a disgraced Vietnam vet wrongly charged with his brother’s murder, when his plane ventures through the Bermuda Triangle and crash-lands in a prehistoric jungle populated with dinosaurs, cavemen, alien corpses, robots, and an\u00a0alien\/pharaoh\/sorcerer called Slitherogue<\/em>. \u00a0It’s good fun!<\/p>\n

But the first issue, written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by Steve Gan, definitely wins the award for Most Engaged Narrator – but\u00a0unfortunately, narration in the remaining\u00a0seven issues of the short-lived series is virtually nil! \u00a0Check it out:<\/p>\n

Pilot #1: “Heeeyyy! \u00a0Watch<\/em> it, Sid. \u00a0You’re flying a plane<\/em> — not a skateboard!<\/em>”
\nPilot #2: “Don’t tell me<\/em>, Marc. \u00a0Tell the controls<\/em>. \u00a0They’re stuck! \u00a0<\/em>Something’s happened!<\/em> \u00a0They’ve gone crazy!<\/em>”
\nNarrator: “But don’t worry about it, friend — you’re not going to live<\/em> — so why aggravate<\/em> yourself more than you have<\/em> to.”<\/p>\n

The narrator also has a vested interest in reminding Scully and the reader exactly what he’s missing out on back home.<\/p>\n

Narrator: “But before<\/em> the plane ‘Nureyeved’ into the bog<\/em>, Scully found himself thrown out like a ‘Glad-Bag’ full of human garbage<\/em>. \u00a0Out of it for sixteen<\/em> hours. \u00a0Hey, man — got good<\/em> news and bad<\/em> news for you: Bad first: you missed<\/em> The Tonight Show with special guest host, Joey Bishop. \u00a0Good news: you’re gonna keep<\/em> missing it.”
\nScully: “Oh man — ohhhh maaann!<\/em> \u00a0Gotta stop drinking reality. \u00a0Wwooooeeee!<\/em>”<\/p>\n

So I don’t know what “drinking reality” means? \u00a0But anyway later:<\/p>\n

Scully: “Guess this is it<\/em> — back to the primitive — the jungle man lives again! \u00a0There’s no one else<\/em> alive here, and if I’ve figured everything correctly<\/em>, there won’t be any human<\/em> life for 222 million years.”
\nNarrator: “Time enough to have seen over four billion<\/em> re-runs of ‘I Love Lucy<\/em>,’ kid.”<\/p>\n

Haha, okay! \u00a0But then it gets real hardcore real fast as Scully singlehandedly takes on a Tyrannosaurus Rex! \u00a0While he’s bashing the dinosaur’s head with a rock(!!!), the narrator is\u00a0keeping his 1975 copy of the TV Guide close to hand:\u00a0“You’ve always<\/em> wanted to be a hero<\/em>, haven’t you, Scully? \u00a0Always wanted to be ‘James Bond,’ ‘Napoleon Solo,’ ‘John Steed’ to the rescue. \u00a0Always wanted to be the big honcho<\/em>, didn’t you? \u00a0How dies it feel<\/em> playing king of the hill<\/em> now, Scully? \u00a0Damn good<\/em>, doesn’t it?” \u00a0And soon, when Scully spears the dinosaur in the face(!!!), “Rexy rears up<\/em> — and Scully goes with him. \u00a0He doesn’t have much of a choice<\/em>. \u00a0Holds on like he did in ‘Nam<\/em>. \u00a0Without whimpering.”<\/p>\n

So<\/em> rad! \u00a0But don’t worry, cats and kittens, because Jim Scully isn’t going to let some narrator hog all the good lines, as he swings himself onto the Tyrannosaurus’ neck:\u00a0“Wanna dance<\/em>, precious? \u00a0Then again, I’ve been out<\/em> of it so long, I probably don’t know<\/em> the latest steps! \u00a0Hey — you don’t have to hold it against<\/em> me, you know. \u00a0It wasn’t my<\/em> fault!” \u00a0And the dinosaur is all RRRRRROOOOWW, but then Scully is like, “Okay — you asked<\/em> for it, honey. \u00a0I’m through<\/em> with blind dates<\/em> from this point on” as he spears\u00a0the Tyrannosaurus in the eye!<\/p>\n

And then the issue reaches its incredible<\/em> climax with the dinosaur and Scully plummeting over the cliff feet-first, not bothering to pause its blind and maddened rampage – as seen here in the title page<\/a> in all its glory!<\/p>\n

Narrator: “Oughta learn<\/em> to shut up, Scully. \u00a0‘Cause T-Rex’s really mad now. \u00a0Ribbons of blood<\/em> stream out of its punctured eye — but don’t worry — the next Ice Age<\/em> will cover<\/em> the mess. \u00a0Rex dances<\/em> insanely in every direction — mad choreography<\/em> on a prehistoric stage. \u00a0And when the show is over<\/em> — the curtain falls!<\/em> \u00a0Last minute scores<\/em> coming in now<\/em>. \u00a0Prehistoric carnivore: zero<\/em>. \u00a0Human shlump: one<\/em>. \u00a0That’s three men down — none left on the base at the bottom<\/em> of the first.”<\/p>\n

But again, the unfortunate lack of Marv Wolfman’s narration in the subsequent issues just makes this knockout first issue stand out all the more. \u00a0Maybe\u00a0they just don’t make ’em like this anymore!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In preparation for the upcoming deluge of Secret Wars titles, including Jason Aaron’s Weirdworld, I decided to brush up on an obscure niche in Marvel lore: Skull the Slayer. \u00a0Touted by the trade paperback as “LOST meets The Land That Time Forgot,” we follow Jim Scully, a disgraced Vietnam vet wrongly charged with his brother’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135,"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.codyscomiccorner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}