AVENGERS #62 (1969)
by Roy Thomas & John Buscema
Twenty years ago, if you told me about the future success of the Avengers with the general public, I would’ve had my doubts but it would’ve been believable.
However if you added Man-Ape would be a well-received character instead of a total embarrassment I would’ve thought you were joking.
We begin with the Avengers stranded on a glacier after their previous adventure, so Black Panther calls his airship to give them a lift to Wakanda.
The lore about Wakanda is not yet completely consistent. For example, apparently even its location is a secret, which… HOW!? No matter how small it could be, how can it be a country people know exists if they don’t know where it is?
John Buscema is no Jack Kirby when it comes to drawing fantastical places, but he’s still John Buscema so this is a very close second place.
Black Panther… couldn’t you just tell your people you were coming home?
Even if he did, however, these men were under orders to shoot trespasses. Which, interestingly enough, is NOT the standard Wakanda policy. They may be fiercely independent, but they’re not stupid (when they’re written correctly).
The order was given by M’Baku, a claimant to the throne of Wakanda.
In future stories he’ll be written more like a mindless brute, but he’s more cunning in his first appearance.
I’ve lost count how many times my comment to some forced story beat was “couldn’t they just call?”. So you can imagine my satisfaction when Black Panther’s objection is EXACTLY THAT!
Unfortunately Black Panther is a little too trusting, so he lets M’Baku poison him!!!
Interesting to see Vision is affected by the drug. It may look weird, but it checks out: remember he’s not exactly a robot… he’s basically a synthetic android, and we’ve been told he does mimic humanoid biology to SOME extent.
And that’s when M’Baku dons the totally not ridiculous Man-Ape costume.
This results in, of course, a prolonged fight where Man-Ape displays his super-strength and his hatred of trees.
It’s a decent fight. He’s definitely better at that than at being a leader.
And then he goes down with one blow…
…but not from Black Panther!
In fact, Man-Ape wasn’t hurt at all: this was just a way to keep isolate Black Panther from the rest of his people and keep the fight contained.
Definitely more cunning than in future stories!
The fight continues for a while, until he has Black Panther at his mercy AGAIN.
His plan backfires when, instead of making the giant statue fall on top of Black Panther… Man-Ape is the one who gets buried under the statue.
And so Man-Ape dies proving he literally had more muscles than brains. So I guess that’s where his characterization as a brute comes from.
Historical significance: 6/10
It would’ve been a 0/10 for the longest time, but M’Baku has slowly gained more relevance.
Silver Age-ness: 2/10
All things considered, kept as a minimum.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
A solid entry from a solid run. Oddly enough, despite focusing almost entirely on Black Panther, it doesn’t look like the story has a lot to say about him.
How close is this to the modern character? 7/10
Man-Ape has one of the weirdest histories when it comes to the potential nemesis of a superhero.
It won’t take Man-Ape long before showing up again: he’s back one year later.
After that, however, there’s a 15 year gap in his appearances… which is weird enough because it means he COMPLETELY skips the early Black Panther series.
He returns on West Coast Avengers in 1985; that’s the first time I read him, and very likely the last time we will ever see him ally with freaking Ultron.
He didn’t leave me with the best impression. Mostly because his main reason for being there (Black Panther wasn’t even part of the team!!!) was showing off Grim Reaper is racist.
Yeah I’m not touching that one.
I probably wasn’t the only one left unimpressed, because then he has just a couple of cameos until 1999, where he’s part of a new version of the Masters of Evil that show up on Thunderbolts…
…where he’s once again treated as little more than a joke.
He gets a proper rematch with Black Panther in 2001. Now he’s back to being a serious threat.
He’s still brutal, but he’s no longer a savage. In fact, he’s kind of believable as a political opponent.
Considering they were apparently friends in their youth, is it really THAT surprising that Man-Ape was invited to Black Panther’s wedding in 2005?
I have plenty of issues with that storyline and that run, but the Man-Ape scene is great.
He dies in 2016; we don’t even learn HOW, it’s just mentioned briefly!!!
There’s a couple more appearances here and there, but it’s not clear whether it’s his brother or an impostor, until he’s resurrected in 2018.
I wonder what could POSSIBLY have happened in 2018 to make Marvel decide to bring him back!
