The Museum of UnCut Funk has received a copy of Marvel Legacy: 1970’s Handbook from noted Comic Book Historian Professor William Foster III. This issue will be placed in our Black Comic Book collection. Professor Foster will be joining The Museum of UnCut Funk family as a contributor. We are extremely pleased and honored to have this relationship with Professor Foster.
Within this handbook, Hypno-Hustler is described as a menace of disco music who first appeared in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #24, from 1978. “A street punk from Corona Park, the Hypno-Hustler was given a chance at immortality at the prestigious discotheque Beyond Forever,” as the straight-faced description goes. Unfortunately, this disco dude, along with his back up singers the Mercy Killers, began robbing people at the shows. Thankfully, Spider-Man plugged his ears and managed to defeat the menace before he stole everybody’s cocaine.
Another interesting character featured in the handbook is Mahkizmo, the Nuclear Man, who first appeared in 1974’s Fantastic Four #151. This hairy-chested man’s man comes from a 23rd century alternate Earth where “barbarous and belligerent men ruled the enslaved women.” Mahkizmo makes a big mistake, though, when he kidnaps Medusa, who was at that point a member of the Fantastic Four. Medusa leads the women of the future to rebel against this macho macho man, and obscure Marvel heroine Thundra, who always wears a chain shackled to her wrist. Seldom has a comic so deserved the term “your mileage may vary.”
I’m a huge fan of the ’70s Marvel comics that feature Black superheroes, so this gift from Professor Foster blows me away. This handbook also features Power Man, Black Brother, Giant Man (aka Black Goliath).
1 Comment
I really loved most of the characters introduced by Marvel in the 1970s. One of the better aspects of their output in recent years has been the welcome return of Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Spider-Woman, Ms. (now Captain) Marvel, Valkyrie, Nova. and the Guardians of the Galaxy; among others. I didn’t like it when Bill Foster was killed during Civil War, and although they had been calling him Giant-Man for some time, I’ll always consider him Goliath (which is what he should have continued with).