I’m just a summertime guy.
Well, no, I’m not really. I hate the heat. I much prefer the crisp temperatures of the autumn. But I am a summertime guy when it comes to my annual Silver-Age challenge. I also started with that line because I was going to throw in a bonus just-for-fun trivia question, asking what television show that started in the Silver Age used “Summertime Guy” as its theme song? However, I discovered that it was too easy to Google the answer, so I’ll turn it into a fun fact: the answer is The Newlywed Game.
I posted my first Silver-Age Challenge here one summer fourteen years ago, mainly because I was stuck for an Log Entry topic, and a quiz was a handy way of knocking out two---the questions, then the answers. It turned out to be so popular that I’ve done one every year since, even during the last couple, when my Deck Log was otherwise suspended because of my work. I enjoy putting the challenges together, and as long as you folks enjoy taking them, I’ll keep doing it.
First, some boilerplate for anyone who’s never tackled one of my quizzes before. (You old vets can skip the next five paragraphs.)
All of the questions and answers are drawn from Silver-Age material. In the case of this quiz, that means anything produced by Marvel Comics from July, 1956 (the month Showcase # 4 hit the stands) until the end of 1968, which I demark as the end of the Silver Age. If your answer comes from outside that period, then it is invalid. For example, if I were to ask “Who taught Hawkeye archery?”, and you answered with “Trick Shot”, you would be wrong. During the Silver Age, it was established that the Swordsman trained Hawkeye in the bow and arrow. Trick Shot was a 1987 revision.
Fair warning: forgetting the Silver-Age limitation has been the biggest reason that folks have gotten a question wrong.
I’m definitely not infallible, also something to which the veteran players here will attest. I easily might have missed something, somewhere, in those twelve years of Marvel publication. If you come up with an answer that meets the criteria of the question and can cite the Silver-Age reference, then I’ll gladly award you credit for a correct response. “But I always thought . . .” explanations won’t cut it, though.
I’ve got no problem with anybody using a search engine to look for answers. That’s why I try to make my questions as Google-proof as possible. The right answers to my quiz-questions are difficult to find with a search engine, though I cannot say impossible. At least once, I tripped myself up when an article that I had written for another site contained the answer to a question from that year’s challenge, and one of the players found it.
Lastly, there are no prizes, not even No-Prizes. You're playing for bragging rights.
(This is where you veteran players can come back.)
O.K., gang . . . everybody ready? Then, here we go! As always, I'll start with a lob.
1. After being held captive by Doctor Octopus, the worst part of the experience for May Parker was missing that night’s episode of what television series?
2. Who was the parish priest in the neighbourhood of Hell’s Kitchen where Nick Fury grew up?
3. After being suspended from professional baseball, this star pitcher used his throwing skill to become what costumed villain?
4. Who is the only living relative of Rick Jones to appear in a story?
5. In the story of her only solo adventure, the Wasp defeated what super-villain?
6. What must Odin, king of the Norse gods, do for one day each year to maintain his immortality?
7. The Mandarin saved this woman’s life when she was a child and oversaw her education. She grew up to become what villainess?
8. Who was the first scientist hired to replace Dr. Bruce Banner as the chief scientist on Lieutenant General “Thunderbolt” Ross’ staff? (NOTE: it didn’t work out.)
9. What super-hero story was the first to show Stan Lee’s face; in other words, not in shadows or the back of his head to the readers or otherwise obstructed? (NOTE: “super-hero story” means a standard adventure; humorous or informative stories don’t count. Also, for clarity, extras, such as someone in a crowd scene, drawn to resemble Stan Lee, don't count, either. The correct answer refers to a character identified as Stan Lee.)
10. Apparently, the Ancient One had set himself up well financially. Who managed the Ancient One’s wealth?
* * * * *
As always, I’ll post the answers next month, but you guys probably won’t need nearly that long. Good luck!
Replies
Of course, if I want to be nitpicky, he doesn't say he's Stan Lee. He could be any guy named Stan. And without calling him "Stan", I would never have guessed who he was!
Without comment as to whether you've determined the correct response, yes, calling him just "Stan" would satisfy the question, as long as other circumstances in the scene supported that it was Stan Lee. Such as, in the case of thst panel, Stan's mention of Gene [Colan]. Any reader would reasonably believe the man in that panel was Stan Lee.
Otherwise, with reference to thst panel, no comment.
No, no, I get that. I just found it funny how nondescript Stan was in the 60s as opposed to the 70s!
I wish I knew the answer to a single one, but I'm enjoying the thread.
7) And that's why I couldn't find her! She didn't fight Iron Man; she fought Giant-Man and the Wasp!
I tip my hat to you, Sir!
1. Beverly Hillbillies
2.
3. Bullseye! No, wait it's Boomerang! (I know perfectly well Bullseye doesn't qualify).
4. I think it was a crazy uncle who launched a missile at NYC.
5. The Magician
6. Odinsleep (I suspect I'm wrong but I don't have the time to search my Thors)
7. Madame Macabre
8. Dr. Zackro
9.
10. Hamir the Hermit
I might do better if I'd checked your blog on the weekend so I could spend more time looking at old issues. But I don't.
If I may, while we are waiting for more responses and for the results to be tallied, I would like to offer a "sidebar" about Spider-Man Annual #1 and Marvel Tales #150.
Spider-Man Annual #1 was released the same month as Spider-Man #16.
Marvel Tales #150 was released between the reprints of Spider-Man #12 and #13, before the first appearances of Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter, two members of the "Sinister Six."
In addition to the substitution of The Dukes of Hazzard for The Beverly Hillbillies, a reference to Thomas Dewey was changed to Gerald Ford. Specifically, on page 20, Spider-Man says to Kraven, "You never give up, do you? I'll bet you're still wearin' a Vote-for-Ford button!" Also, on page 15, the art and a thought balloon were altered to correct some bad science (which I have no objection to). In letters appearing in "Marvel Mails" of #155, fans Donald Goodyear of Wilmington, DE and Jeff Tompkins of Arvada, CO write in to question these changes. In response to the "bad science" charge, reprint editor Tom DeFalco write: "Glad you asked, Don! Actually, panels 3 through 6 are slightly different on that page. In the original sequence, Spider-Man did indeed wrap a cable around his ankle before battling Elektro, so that he would be grounded. Now, if he did ground himself, the electricity used by Elektro would have gone right through him, and Spider-Man would have died!"
In response to the the other two changes, DeFalco had this to say: "Those are two examples of topical references that are occasionally updated in our reprint books. Interestingly enough, I received a few complaints about that practice in this story, but none more surprising than the one in this next letter..." What I had remembered yeaster as a letter from a "fan" was actually written by none other than then-current Spider-Man writer Roger Stern!
ROGER STERN: "I gotta tell you how much I enjoyed the reprinting of "The Sinister Six" in Marvel Tales #150. As I'm sure I've mentioned many times, I'm occasionally rereading the first few years' worth of the Amazing Spider-Man in order to keep maintainng the proper level of spideriness in the stories I do with J.R.--and these reprints really save my old copies from the wear-and-tear they'd normally get.
"You know, I was practically all the way through the issue before I spotted the corrections and revisions to the story. When I skimmed back over page 15, and saw that Spider-Man no longer grounded himself to fight Elektro, I heaved a sign of relief. The way you fixed that ancient fubar was inspired! I owe you a dinner for that one!
"Likewise, I cracked up when I saw that this time around, Aunt May was upset over missing the Dukes of Hazzard (that's Hazzard with two Zs, by the way).
"But, much as I liked it, Tom, I have to tell you... you screwed up!
"The period of Spider-Man's life in which this story takes placepre-dates the Dukes of Hazzard. Dukes premiered just four years ago, and in the very story, Pete is still in high school, which sets things at least five years in his past, probably six! A better change would have been to something like the Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour or Holmes & Yo-Yo (though I that Aunt May would have watched a turkey like that!). The Ford button reference was a little off, as well. A Nixon button would have been funnier... not as funny as the original Dewey button, of course, but I'm afraid not many people remember Thomas Dewey anymore.
"Tell ya what, Tom... next time you need to update this stuff, give me a call and I'll do it for you. No charge!
"It's the least I could do!"
TOM DeFALCO: "Hmmm. I don't know, Rog. Maybe it would just be simpler if we left things alone. The Beverly Hillbillies is still in syndication around the country. Maybe I'll just leave it up to the readers.
"What do you say, folks? Should I continue the tradition of updating topical references--or should we leave the original references, anachronistic though they might be?
"Now, about that dinner..."
I hope some of you reading this found it interesting. We now return you to you regularly scheduled "Silver-Age Challenge."
Speaking about Amazing Spider-Man #16 (S'64), when it was reprinted in Giant-Size Spider-Man #3 (Ja'75), they tried to recolor Daredevil as a solid red though it made him look like he was wearing a black vest! This annoyed me because I wanted to see DD in his original costume! Did they think that no one would recognize the Man Without Fear?
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