METAL MEN 48 (1976)
by Martin Pasko & Walt Simonson
George Conway is replaced by Martin Pasko, but thankfully we still have Walt Simonson.
I don’t particularly care for Eclipso, but the title of the story is fantastic.
We begin with Doc Magnus rebuilding the Metal Men once again (with even a caption stating how often that happens), and asking for some alone time with Tina.
Mercury even gets to say his catchphrase (it’s been ages!), and it’s Lead of all people to make fun of him.
Then Doc’s psychiatrist and whatshername show up to bring the plot of this issue.
It is kind of forced that the psychiatrist is friends with Eclipso’s fiancée…
…but Eclipso is an alternate personality, so it’s not THAT unbelievable that his civilian identity has the same psychiatrist as Doc Magnus.
The relationship between Bruce Gordon and Eclipso is clearly a Jekyll & Hyde thing, but it owes more to the Banner & Hulk dynamic since he’s constantly trying to cure himself.
Eclipso is in Germany to recover the Black Diamond, his main weapon, and the Metal Men catch to him very quickly.
Normally this would take the Metal Men out of the fight…
…but finally, FINALLY somebody has figured out that the way the Metal Men have been repeatedly defeated in the past NEVER MADE ANY SENSE, so even taking off their limbs is completely ineffective.
Eclipso manages to escape, but luckily Gold has kept track of the plot.
At this point the Metal Men are very close to their modern depiction: in the past they were shown to have cogs and wires inside (which, again, made NO SENSE), but now are a single block of metal.
And Mercury gets to say his catchphrase twice! One of the surprises of this retrospective was seeing him say it way less than I recalled, so it’s strange to see Doc acknowledge it.
We had to wait 48 issues for an official explanation on how their powers work! Yes the relationship to the Responsometer™ was already there, but still…
Once the team lands in Peru, Eclips takes them by surprise…
…but Tin saves the day with Doc’s blowtorch, exploiting Eclipso’s weakness!
Turns out that before transforming into Eclipso, Bruce Gordon was trying to prevent an evil sun god from doing what evil gods do.
The team manages to recover the tablet that contains the incantation to summon the evil god, but the Metal Men’s flying saucer ends up creating a small eclipse that summons Eclipso. (?????)
Great job as always, Metal Men.
METAL MEN 49 (1976)
by Martin Pasko & Walt Simonson
“You are cordially invited to witness the destruction of the Metal Men”? Isn’t that what we have been witnessing for 49 issues?
Even Doc is confused about who they are fighting.
Tina, on the other hand, has her priorities straight: keep other women away from Doc!
If history is any indication, Gold, all of you are probably going to die very soon.
Walt Simonson sure loves his sounds effects.
Eclipso is able to melt Lead (which counts as a death for him since he’s out of the rest of the issue)…
…but only to turn his liquefied mass into a mirror to use against Eclipso!!!
That takes care of Eclipso, but there’s still the matter of the evil god. Who apparently thinks the Metal Men are a mutant offshoot of humans!
He shows a certain interest in them… but decides to kill all the humans present!
His plan is to control the Metal Men to spread his cult through their children, so… he might be a sun god, but he’s not very bright.
The Metal Men fight back, first by throwing a rock at him…
…and assemble into a GIANT FREAKING GUN at the command of Doc (who is still alive for reasons).
But that’s not enough to defeat the evil god, who has to be buried at the bottom of the sea… which the Metal Men do.
And so we end with the Metal Men saving the planet, plus the revelation that it was Tina to save both Doc and even the girls.
Metal Men #50 was actually just a reprint of Metal Men #6, but there are some additions as a framing device (with art by Joe Staton).
And so we end with that issue’s cliffhanger.
Metal Men significance: 0/10
This might have some significance for Eclipso, but I’m not familiar enough with the character to be completely sure.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
The flying saucer being close enough to an eclipse to count for the transformation.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
Even if I don’t find Eclipso particularly interesting, it’s still a fast-paced story with terrific artwork and a lot of thought being put into it, especially the fights. Sadly these are the last Walt Simonson issues: Joe Staton will become the sole artist for the remaining 6 issues.
“Mercury is the only liquid metal at room temperature”: 18
Times Nameless has died: 5
Times Platinum has died: 17
Times Mercury has died: 19
Times Gold has died: 20
Times Lead has died: 23
Times Tin has died: 23
Times Iron has died: 23
Interesting letters: the responses to the return of the team are overwhelmingly positive. There is a bit of a disagreement with some readers when it comes to Nameless, though.
