Angel tries to get with Dazzler, but she prefers redheaded lawyer nerds. Angel is kind of creepy in this issue, as his aggressive efforts to woo her border on stalking—he’s chasing her through dark parks, showing up wherever she turns, and he even flies up and knocks on the window of her apartment! Then he forcibly grabs her and flies her around the city! To her credit, she resists and resists until…
That’s just gross. Shame on Danny Fingeroth and Marvel for basically saying that kidnapping can lead to romance. Disgusting.
They end up going on a date where Dr. Octopus attacks.
And then she dumps him.
At the end of the issue, we see Crusher Creel getting off a plane to hunt down Dazzler.
I graded this as an F. It’s not a terrible comic but this condonation of misogyny cannot go unpunished.
I have read this comic several times, and I see no evidence of “rape”, “sexual harassment”, or “kidnapping”. There was a time in this country, before we went all politically-correct, when it was perfectly all right for a man to pursue a woman he found attractive. And look, when the Angel made his big move in this issue, she didn’t exactly scream, or kick him in the junk! I personally have heard so many women bitch “Boo-hoo-wah, why won’t a man call me/come to see me??? Am I ugly?? What have I got to do to get a date??- walk the streets in fishnets-??? Shit!” Super-gorgeous Hollywood actress Nikki Cox ( “Pearl”/”Someone Like Me”/”Unhappily Ever After”, etc, ) actually MARRIED super-booger Bobcat Goldthwait because she claimed after several years of everybody being “afraid” of her, Goldthwait was the only man who had the balls to ask her out! Similarly, Supermodel Tyra Banks claimed after several years of sitting by the telephone and staring at it waiting to ring, SHE married the first multi-billionaire who had the balls to call HER!!! So- which is it-???! Is there some kind of politically-correct, #’Time’s Up’ , #Hands Off My Ass bullshit way of going about asking a woman for a date, or are women pissed because men are too afraid to ask them??? I actually found the Angel’s approach to romance to be reminiscent of a Hallmark movie! Some women LIKE aggressive men! Some women like Alan Alda and Phil Donahue! Who knows??? Personally, I prefer to sweep chicks off their feet! I haven’t had any complaints YET!! Sometimes, you have to break some eggs to make an omelette! So-anyway- the Angel’s laid-back, by-the-numbers approach to dealing with Dr. Octopus was a refreshing change from watching Spider-Man’s desperate struggles to subdue the diabolical doctor, and served to underscore the point that this man is a highly-trained professional, not some street-level, do-it-yourself-at-home vigilante. As Destiny ( Mystique’s girlfriend ) puts it herself in issue#22, “Beware, Rogue! The Angel is more dangerous than you think!” ) Exactly. So-Modern approaches to romance notwithstanding, I am going to assign this issue a “B”! Thankyouverymuch, and g’day!
It’s pretty clear that she says no and he forcibly removes her from her own apartment, flies her around, and kisses her. Just because she (may) later consent, doesn’t mean he should have gotten consent before kidnapping her. I disagree that unless a woman does everything she can–kicking him in the junk, as you say–then she is deemed to consent. I get that in the ’80s popular culture was much more comfortable with men using force or coercion to get a woman to do what they wanted, but…Just because society accepts it doesn’t make it right. I also find Stan Lee’s portrayal of Reed Richards–constantly insulting Sue–and Hank Pym–doing the same thing to Jan–to represent a view that was “okay” or even dominant at the time, but is now clearly inappropriate and outdated.
I agree with you about Angel’s fighting of Ock. Spidey should EASILY be able to take Doctor Octopus, but always struggles!
Your points are excellent. I do not and would never condone stalking and/or sexual assault. The Angel was a young man at the time, and was, perhaps, a tad overzealous in his infatuation with Allison. I guess being young, winged, and filthy rich gives you balls ( or “wings”, if you will ) that most men don’t-and can never have. Nevertheless, Allison was a LITTLE hasty in passing up on her winged wonder. Let’s size up the competition: “Check me out! I have a law degree!” “Big deal! I have WINGS!!” ” I have a law degree!” “I am one of the most handsome men on Earth!!” “I have a law degree!” “I am one of the richest men in the country!” “I have a law degree!” “I am a charter member of one of the world’s foremost superhero teams!” “I have a law degree!” “I am the CEO of one of the world’s largest corporations!” “I have a law degree!” SO- you can see the point! So Allison doesn’t want to be a lawyer, ( dumb move ) or a superheroine, or an X-person-she wants to be an entertainer! Fine! You know what- with Warren and his massive fortune BEHIND her- she could be ALL FOUR!!!! She could have been ANYTHING she WANTED to be!! But, NOOOOOOO- the Avenging Angel, and all he had to bring to the table just WASN’T ENOUGH for her dumb ass! So, where is “The ( Disco ) Dazzler” today-??! Who KNOWS???- I sure as Hell don’t!!! Even if she had no supernormal powers, turning down an in-the-bag career in law in favor of a singing career which will probably never happen ( it DIDN’T- Beyonce and Rihanna and Britney Spears’s are one in a hundred thousand, at BEST ) doesn’t exactly mark Allison Blaire as a rocket scientist! Now, MRS. Allison WORTHINGTON could have actually GONE places!! Allison is a mutant, which means, sooner or later, a Sentinel/Sentinels is going to come for her- where do you think she would stand her best chance for survival-?? With the X-Men, or out on the disco circuit??? No- she’s not too smart. I never really followed her series, aside from the occasional guest appearances by Marvel luminaries such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the various X-Men, naturally, because it was INSIPID. So- did any Sentinels ever show up to haul her away-??? Inquiring minds want to know. I know she did, eventually, join the X-Men, for a short time, presumably because along with the ( merciful ) demise of disco, along went her prospects for a career in entertainment! I know she did, eventually, join the X-Men, for a short while, although I do not believe that the Angel’s presence on the team at the time had anything to do with it. Probably had more to do with the collapse of disco, hence,ergo, her prospects of a career in show business. She probably furthermore realized that she wanted to be a disco-starlet at the height of the disco movement. ( allowing for the Marvel-Time Compression factor ) Wherever she is today, I’ll bet the prospect of being a bench-judge, of some sort, or at least a partner in a high-level law firm, looks pretty good now. As a matter of fact, being a judge would have given her massive cachet in helping to deal with matters involving Mutant Rights. Take a look at all the hot lady bench judges on television these days- Judge Lauren Lake, Judge Rhonda Wills, Judge Faith Jenkins, etc, etc.,- all these Judge-babes have two things in common: They’re all attorneys, ( naturally ) and they’re all SMOKING HOT!!!! Funny how the unattractive lady attorneys somehow never get their own shows!! Even Judge Judy Scheindlin was attractive in her day. And, just think- mutant, failed entertainer, former X-lady Allison Blaire could have JOINED their lofty ranks!! But, NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Apparently, Allison Blaire’s preferred career is obscurity!! Well, good luck with that, Allison!! Maybe Disco will eventually return when you’re sixty-five! Two final points: Spider-Man’s difficulty with defeating Doc Ock comes from the fact that Spidey is a grounded-fighter- he can’t fly!! This makes staying out of the way of all those flailing arms at one time VERY difficult. The Angel, conversely, enjoys the considerable advantage of being able to engage Dr. Octopus from the air, enabling him to avoid the arms, an advantage that a grounded fighter like Spidey doesn’t enjoy. Super-jocks like Hawkeye, Cyclops, and the Human Torch, who could attack Ock from a distance would have much greater success in taking down the devious doctor. ( for that matter, cops and SWAT marksmen would have an easier time of it ) Second point: In re your comments on Reed Richards and Hank Pym’s treatment of their wives: In Reed and Sue’s case, their union is a mismatch. When one of the most intelligent men who has ever lived marries a woman whose greatest ambition is to bake cookies and sling diapers, then, yeah- you’re gonna have some conflict. Remember, Sue’s greatest motivation for pursuing young, handsome graduate student Reed Richards was that he had MONEY, and SHE did NOT. Susan Storm was a total woman of her time, when landing a good ( read:RICH ) husband was American women’s highest goal! When Jessica Alba took the role, Sue’s pedigree was increased to PH.d, because her original Stan Lee status as an uneducated, hand-to-mouth husband-hunter no longer fit in with Marvel Entertainment’s perception of the modern superheroine! Stan Lee was writing the Fantastic Four back in the day long before Gloria Steinem, Alan Alda, and Phil Donahue all showed up to show American women that they could be more than just Suzy Homemaker, and emotional doormats for their husbands. Nevertheless, during the 1960’s, when Stan Lee wrote her, Sue WAS a bit of a bubble-head, which eventually grated on Super-Genius Reed’s nerves! When a guy is trying to plumb the mysteries of the cosmos, he really DOESN’T want to hear about all the latest sales going on at Saks Fifth Avenue! And that’s what was going ON between Reed and Sue in the 1960’s! It’s simply amazing that Reed did not get BORED with Sue! I believe there was an FF storyline some time ago which dealt with the woman “from Reed’s past!” who definitely was NOT a homemaking ditz! She was actually a professional colleague of Reed’s whose career took her in a different direction from young Reed Richards, leaving Reed wide-open for professional husband-hunter Susan Storm! I wish I could remember which issues these were, but, alas, they are lost to the mists of time. ( or, more accurately, my memory ) After John Byrne bailed on the series, I kinda did as well. As for how Hank Pym “treated” Jan- well, look. Contrary to, apparently, VERY popular belief, Dr. Henry Pym is NOT- repeat, NOT- a wife-beater!! One bad incident in a marriage does NOT qualify a man as a wife-beater!! I have read ‘Avengers’#213 several times, and it just seems to me that Hank has been given a raw deal! At the time of this incident, Jan KNEW Hank was under a severe strain, nevertheless she PERSISTED in crowding him, he BEGGED her to lay off-she REFUSED- and I’m not too certain I would not have reacted in the same manner! Now, don’t misunderstand, I ADORE Janet Van Dyne, but I have witnessed this dynamic at work between wives and their husbands several times, primarily in my own somewhat-lacking family, and it SUCKS!!! Domestic violence is unacceptable, but you know what ELSE is unacceptable-??? Stubborness!!! For REAL!!! Bottom line- one nasty incident between a man and his wife does NOT make him a wife-beater!!! Hell, MY parents whaled on each other ALL THE TIME!!!! It was their “thing”!!! There was even an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” which covered this dynamic! Andy and Barney kept being constantly called out to a certain middle-aged Mayberry couple’s home ( by their concerned neighbors ) who were constantly whaling on each other, so Andy kept having to lock them up, until he finally realized that whaling on each other was what made them HAPPY!! LOTS of couples are LIKE this!!! It wouldn’t work for ME, but, apparently, it takes all kinds! ( actually, Barney figured it out- can you believe it??! ) Finally, Reed’s intellectual mentor, Albert Einstein required HIS wife to sign a legally-binding contract requiring her to shut the hell up on command!! If she broke the terms, off to jail she goes, and divorced they are!! Sounds good to me! So- Pym is NOT a wife-beater, and Reed only gives as good as he gets! Considering the amazing standard of living- NOT to MENTION being transformed by Reed’s science into one of the most awesomely-powerful human beings who EVER LIVED- if I were Mrs. Fantastic, I believe I would put up with whatever Reed feels like dishing out, count my cosmic-irradiated blessings, and have that supper on the table, ready and waiting by 1800 hrs! Word UP!!! Thank you for the honor of your time!