The Ice Giant Saga was not DC’s first outing to the frozen North. Strange Northerns have been a part of DC’s history from the moment Superman built his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic in “Muscles For Sale” in Superman #17 (July-August 1942). Lester Dent made sure Doc Savage had one too in 1933. (Maybe they are neighbors?)
The Ice Giant Saga was a two-parter in the pages of The Phantom Stranger, Volume Two (1969-1976). Old Fedora Boy was sometimes the hero of his comic but most of the time he acted as host to an anthology of tales. In the Ice Giant Saga he pops in and out, leaving the real work to another ghostbreaker, Terence Thirteen.
The first part was 24.67 pages long (in other words the last page had a quarter page ad.) This is quite long in the anthology comics, where stories range from eight to twelve pages usually. Each section was written by a classic DC writer but both parts were illustrated by Jim Aparo. Jim is most famous for drawing Batman in the 1980s. Both covers were done by another Batman artist, Neal Adams. (I’ll be honest I think of him as a Tarzan artist but whatever you need…)
The Phantom Stranger #8 (July-August 1970) “Journey to the Tomb of the Ice Giants!” written by Denny O’Neil. The story begins when the S. S. Night Wind is attacked by an ice giant in the Arctic.
The ship’s owner, the fat, bald and greedy, Muttson, is killed when he is frozen in a solid block of ice. Terror has come from the north. The weird has arrived and it is time to call in Dr. Thirteen and his beautiful wife, Maria.
Terry gets upset when the Phantom Stranger shows up too. (They obviously have history. See previous issues.) PS just as quickly disappears.
The whole incident reminds Dr. Thirteen of “The Adventure of the Brittle Blossom”. (Time for a side story.) A man is frozen in a greenhouse. The presence of a freon container suggests how he died. The nephew, Mickey Gorrsky, helps with the investigation.
Frozen flowers point the finger at Mickey and he tries to flee. Dr. Thirteen puts him out with a good punch.
Back to the present day: Thirteen rents a helicopter and heads for the Arctic. Once there he runs into the Phantom Stranger again, taking a pointless swing at him.
With some searching, Terence finds a giant sword in the snow. While digging it up, an ice giant smacks Maria, capturing both of them.
The Phantom Stranger tries to intervene but Tala shows up and kisses him. (Tala is a jealous but talented sorceress. She was in the previous issue.)
He rejects her and though he abhors violence, the Phantom Stranger punches the ice giant in the nose. The monster drops his prisoners.
The ice giant is not stopped by the Phantom Stranger’s interference. He and an army of others marches to destroy humanity. Tala sticks in her oar and zaps Marie. She gives her to the soldiers of ice.
The Phantom Stranger rescues Dr. Thirteen. He spots the dynamite in the chopper.
Using the explosive he seals up the Ice Giants’ cave. Maria shows up. Tala does too to explain that she took Maria’s place as a prank on the Ice Giants. She disappears. The Phantom Stranger follows. Terence and Maria are the only ones left. They fly home, leaving the giant sword and a mystery behind.
The Northern elements are there if you look for them. The Ice Giants are quite Viking in flavor, with loincloths, big belts and swords. The Arctic appears in a majority of the issue, with ice trawler and helicopter making the snowy tracts accessible. The DC mark is also evident. The Ice Giants’s heads are unusual, looking more like Ross Andru’s stuff from the 1960s than a human head. The story to this point feels inconclusive. But that’s okay. This is just Part 1 of the Ice Giant Saga.
