Chris Coke

Amazing Spider-Man #38

Just a Guy Named Joe!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Written and edited by Stan Lee
Plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko
Lettered, unfettered by Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#521	Next
Strange Tales #146, Story B	Reading order	Avengers #30
Amazing Spider-Man #37	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #39

Goodbye, Steve!

We come at last to the final Steve Ditko Spider-Man story. We just saw the final Steve Ditko Dr. Strange story. One thing they have in common is awful covers. My best guess is Ditko had resigned before turning in a cover for either. So like the Dr. Strange cover, this cover is cut and paste from Ditko’s artwork within the issue.

Here are the interior panels the cover cribs from:

I’ve been pretty clear that the saga of the Amazing Spider-Man as told by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is basically my favorite story ever. I won’t belabor why any further than I have in the posts on the last 37 issues.

I’d also been pretty clear that I thought that story ended extremely well with issue 33. And that these last 5 issues represent a step down in quality, and a story that no longer seems to be going anywhere in particular.

I find it unfortunate that that was not Ditko’s final issue of Spider-Man. As the man says, it’s better to burn out than to fade away. I wish he’d gone out at the top of his game.

That excellent climax of the Spider-Man saga came out the same month as the excellent climax of the Dr. Strange saga in Strange Tales #141. Both series then went at the same time into a phase I’ve described as “spinning their wheels”. Where any of the next 4 months of issues could have been removed with minimal consequence. Ditko had one more great Dr. Strange story in him, a final confrontation between Dormammu and Eternity.

Does he have one more great Spider-Man story in him?

It’s worth nothing that the last several issues have not been bad and they have their charms. Despite the small number, this phase can actually be broken into two subphases. Issues 34-35 pit Spider-Man against returning foes, Kraven and Molten Man respectively. Some minimal advancement to the romantic supblots surrounded by action that is well told, but not adding much to Spider-Man’s previous encounters with these villains.

Issues 36-38 take a different tactic. They all introduce new villains, none of whom will become the iconic villains that the rest of the series had introduced. But all are interesting in their own right, and all have stories that center around them. Spider-Man becomes almost a secondary character, as we get to know the Looter and the Robot Master.

And they’re actually good comics, taken on their own terms, and not compared to the expectation of Spider-Man comics we’d developed over the previous 4 years of stories. Just offbeat tales about some offbeat characters who run into Spider-Man, tales that function more as satire than drama.

This falls into that mold. The story, Ditko’s final Spider-Man story, isn’t really about Spider-Man. It’s about this guy named Joe.

Where did two months go?

Hello faithful readers. I am here to apologize. My goal is to get a post out at least every week, but suddenly it’s been two months since the last post. Some travel, some illness, some other life things. And before I know it, a week behind becomes two months behind. I unfortunately still have a lot of travel in the coming months, but will strive to get back onto that at-least-once-per-week rotation. And hopefully even more frequent than that.

The slowdown began with the last post just being a difficult one, as we need to bid farewell to Steve Ditko’s time at Marvel comics. A more-complicated-than-usual post intersected with other life demands, and I fell behind.

Anyways, sorry this next post is so late, but look for it soon!

Strange Tales #146, Story B

The End– At Last!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Edited by the enchanter– Stan Lee
Penciled + inked by the prestidigitator– Steve Ditko
Scripted by the sorcerer– Dennis O’Neil
Lettered by the letterer– Artie Simek
10 pages

Previous	#520	Next
Strange Tales #146	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #38
Strange Tales #146	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #147

Human eyes have never witnessed such a struggle!

We recently described Fantastic Four #50 as the most disappointing cover yet. This may top it. Again, just compare the cover of the issue to the first page of the issue and see the contrast.

This is sad because it’s Ditko’s last Dr. Strange story, and because Dr. Strange has been snubbed from the covers of Strange Tales for the entire run. Even more insulting because the spotlight was instead given to the inferior Human Torch stories. The one time Dr. Strange was finally given the cover spotlight, Kirby, not Ditko, was assigned to draw it.

So here we are, Ditko’s final issue of one of the greatest superhero runs in history and finally we seemingly get our very first Ditko Dr. Strange cover. Except it’s a lie.

That is a Ditko Dr. Strange but it’s been badly cut and pasted from interior art. Resized, flipped around, generally mangled. The Eternity image is also cut and paste from the interior.

I don’t believe Ditko actually made this cover, though it’s generally credited to him. I think someone else made the cover, assembling bits of interior art by Ditko.

I hate it.

The issue is good. This first page is closer to what the cover should look like.

I’d given a lot of hype to this extended saga, which I’m calling “The Eternity Saga”. And I think the first 12 issues are unimpeachable. From #130-141, the action flows crisply to a climax, ending with the final defeat of Mordo and Dr. Strange and Dormammu in something of a stalemate after Strange’s humbling of Dormammu. The story then completely lost momentum as Dr. Strange dealt with Mordo’s underlings and searched for the woman who had helped him, facing some unrelated threats along the way. The last 4 issues have been solid comics, but don’t help make the case that we have a great 17-part saga. We have a great 12-part saga, then 4 more issues, then this conclusion.

Let’s see how Ditko brings this home. And this will be bringing it home. With this story, Ditko bids goodbye to Marvel for the foreseeable future and to the character of Dr. Strange forever.

Stan seems utterly indifferent to the importance of the moment. In addition to the sloppy cover, Stan has junior writer Dennis O’Neil onboard for his second Dr. Strange story and one of his earliest comics, period. It doesn’t matter too much who the writer is, as Ditko does most of the writing anyway. O’Neil will stay on the title a few more issues, but soon enough move to DC, where he will go on to great things.

Strange Tales #146

When the Unliving Strike!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Far-fetched script by Stan Lee
Fantastic layouts by Jack Kirby
Fabulous pencilling by Don Heck
Fanciful inking by Mickey Demeo
Freehand lettering by Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#519	Next
Fantastic Four #51	Reading order	Strange Tales #146, Story B
Strange Tales #145, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #146, Story B

We’re dealin’ with an outfit that can turn out artificial men to do any kinda job… just like Marvel can grind out comic books!

The word of late has been Them. Them financed the Fixer. Them sent a chemical android to attack Nick Fury and Captain America. Them consists of several brilliant scientists.

Spinning right out of the Captain America adventure, Nick Fury has traced that android to this swampland.

In a bit of bravado, and a wink at the other titles, Fury notes that SHIELD agents aren’t superheroes. They don’t always win.

Fantastic Four #51

This Man… This Monster!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: March 10, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciller: Jack Kirby
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Letterer: Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#518	Next
Fantastic Four #50	Reading order	Strange Tales #146
Fantastic Four #50	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #52

He paid the full price– and, he paid it– like a man!

After introducing the Inhumans, and then introducing the Silver Surfer and Galactus in perhaps the best and most iconic FF story ever immediately after, you’d think Stan and Jack would want a break from the iconic stories that will be remembered for decades to come.

But this is perhaps the most iconic issue of Fantastic Four ever. It’s perhaps the best Fantastic Four comic ever. It might be the best comic Stan and Jack ever made.

It might be the best comic anybody ever made.

The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine indeed.

I won’t ruin this image with my clumsy words. You can just appreciate the opening page for yourself. I just suggest that you take a minute with it.

This picks up from last issue in a couple ways. Alicia and the Silver Surfer grew close during the events, enough to make Thing jealous and wander off morosely. There were even newspaper headlines about Thing being seen wandering the streets feeling sad. We saw a mysterious man reading those headlines. We didn’t learn his name, but we learned he intends to destroy the Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four #50

The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: February 10, 1966
Cover: May 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Lettering: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#517	Next
Fantastic Four #49	Reading order	Fantastic Four #51
Fantastic Four #49	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #51

Master! For the first time I realize the dread enormity of what you plan to do! You must not tamper with other worlds! You cannot destroy the entire human race!

Would you hesitate to tread upon an ant hill? These creatures are of no consequence to Galactus!

These are not ants, Master! They think… they feel… they have even created the primitive civilization which we see all about us!

Master! Say we may leave this world! My heart grieves at battling one with whom I shared… a universe!

You speak of me as though I am a monster! Do not the humans themselves slay the lesser beasts for food… for sustenance? Galactus does no less!

Galactus is not evil! He is above good.. or evil! He does what he must… for he is Galactus!

Emulate the Watcher! Stand and observe! Try to fathom the cataclysmic forces which have been unleashed! For you shall never see their like again!

Long have I cherished the stumbling, bumbling, but always aspiring human race!

Consider the courage they display! Though they are still in their infancy, you must not disdain them! Did not your race… and mine… evolve from such humble beginnings? Do they not possess the seed of grandeur within their frail, human frames?

And at last I perceive the glint of glory within the race of man! Be ever worthy of that glory, humans… be ever mindful of your promise of greatness! …For it shall one day lift you beyond the stars.. or bury you within the ruins of war!! The choice is yours!!

Generally, my plan is to pick a single quote from each issue to open these posts. I cheated last issue and am doing so again this issue. Too many great quotes. Also too many great images.

This isn’t the worst cover we’ve seen, but it is the most disappointing. Compare it to the awesome first page.

That’s a cool image. But the cover? No Galactus? The FF just as floating heads? Just a shot of the Silver Surfer. With the corner of the cover devoted to Johnny at college? What?

Notice they seem to have gotten the coloring of Galactus basically right now. Purple over red, wearing pants. Still bare arms, but that’s fine. Third time’s the charm. Here’s how it looks in the digital version with modern coloring.

I think the conclusion of the Galactus saga is excellent, but the structuring of this issue is again weird. To appreciate that, I’d like to peek ahead a few pages.

Recall where we were. Galactus is about to destroy the entire world in order to convert its resources into energy to feed himself. His herald has been convinced by Alicia that human life matters, so Silver Surfer has decided for the first time in countless eons to defy his master. Meanwhile, the Human Torch has journeyed across the universe to the giant space station that is Galactus’ home, to find the one weapon that may yet save them.

With all that to wrap up ahead of us, this is page 15.

We meet Coach Thorpe, who is very concerned his college football team is performing poorly. And his star quarterback is giving him attitude.

I cannot even begin to explain the surreality of the contrast between the first and fifteenth page of this comic.

Maybe it will make sense as we go on.

It won’t.

Fantastic Four #49

If This Be Doomsday!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: January 1, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Written in the masterful manner of Stan Lee
Illustrated in the magnificent mode of Jack Kirby
Inked in the majestic mood of Joe Sinnott
Lettered in the nick of time by S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#516	Next
Fantastic Four #48	Reading order	Fantastic Four #50
Fantastic Four #48	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #50

Of what import are brief, nameless lives… to Galactus??

It is not my intention to injure any living being! But… I must replenish my energy! If petty creatures are wiped out when I drain a planet, it is regrettable… but unavoidable!

I am supreme unto myself… I am Galactus!

This planet contains the energies to sustain me! I shall absorb it at will… as I have for ages in countless galaxies throughout the cosmos!

Destroy is merely a word! We simply change things! We change elements into energy… the energy which sustains Galactus! For it is only he that matters!

No! No! We all matter! Every living being… every bird and beast… this is our world! Ours!

Perhaps we are not as powerful as your Galactus… but we have hearts… we have souls… we live… breathe… feel! Can’t you see that?? Are you as blind as I?

Never have I heard such words… sensed such courage… or known this strange feeling… this new emotion…! There is a word some races use… a word I have never understood… until now! At last I know… beauty!

But look! Look at the city below you! Look at the people! Each of them is entitled to life… to happiness… each of them is… human!

All I need do is link these two igniters… and all the seas of Earth shall be transformed into purest energy… enough energy to sustain me until I find the next such planet somewhere in the endless cosmos!

Trust me! Banish fear from your heart! You shall travel by time space distortion! We must force open the very fabric of time itself! Let it be done… now! You are traveling back… far, far back… into the center of infinity!

There’s always a chance, darling… so long as we’re alive!

Perhaps for the first time within memory… I have found something worth protecting!

This is the middle chapter of the Galactus saga. In many cases, the middle chapter of a saga is the weakest. But the odd structuring of the story makes this the best issue. The first issue was beset by having to finish off the Inhuamns saga before getting started. The last issue will oddly finish halfway through and then become about college football.

Making this the only chapter that dedicates 20 pages to being about Galactus.

I have a book collecting some Jack Kirby Collector magazines, which includes some pencils for this issue. Comparing Kirby’s pencils with the finished artwork can help us understand what Joe Sinnott brings to the table with his finishes.

Let’s dive in and I’ll make some comments as we go.

That’s one hell of a first page.

Fantastic Four #48

The Coming of Galactus!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: December 12, 1965
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, writer without peer!
Jack Kirby, penciller of the year!
Joe Sinnott, inker most sincere!
Artie Simek, how’d he get in here!
20 pages

Previous	#515	Next
Tales of Suspense #78, Story B	Reading order	Fantastic Four #49
Fantastic Four #47	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #49

My journey is ended! This planet shall sustain me until it has been drained of all elemental life! So speaks Galactus!

There’s a lot going on in this issue, and a lot to say. So we’ll break it into sections.

The end of the Inhumans saga

We were reading the Inhumans saga in Fantastic Four #44–47. And it wasn’t done. Maximus, the mad would-be king of the Inhumans, was just about to wipe out all humanity with his weapon.

Despite this cliffhanger, we left the saga behind to check in on the rest of the Marvel Universe. We’ve read 70 other stories over the 9 months since we left ourselves hanging. The story concludes this issue. Prior to issue 44, the longest FF saga was 3 parts in the previous 3 issues, #41–43, clocking in at 60 pages. Before that, the longest FF saga was the 2-part #39–40, clocking in at 40 pages.

We’ve already ready 4 issues and 80 pages of the Inhumans arc, and we’re not done! Here we are on the 5th issue. Since this issue is another 20 pages, does that mean it’s a 100-page long saga?

I would say no. I would put it at about 86.7 pages.

That’s right. There are less than 7 pages left.

The Fantastic Four have found the Great Refuge within the Andes. Black Bolt wants them to leave immediately. Reed wants Black Bolt to stop hiding from humanity. Crystal and Johnny want each other.

And Maximus… he fires his “atmo-gun”, which will send vibrations that only affect humans into the air, leaving the Inhumans the rulers of the world.

And the resolution of this apocalyptic moment?

Tales of Suspense #78, Story B

Them!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: March 10, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Wondrous words by: Stan Lee
Awesome art by: Jack Kirby
Incredible inking by: Frank Giacoia
Lop-sided lettering by: Artie Simek
10 pages

Previous	#514	Next
Tales of Suspense #78	Reading order	Fantastic Four #48
Tales of Suspense #78	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #79

…the world will soon tremble before the power of– Them!

In Captain America’s recent battle with Batroc, Batroc was working for some secret cabal. In the pages of Strange Tales, we learned the Fixer was working for some secret cabal called Them. They had some plot involving miniature brains. I don’t know if these two cabals are connected.

Nick Fury confronts Captain America at Avengers HQ. This is their first meeting in the present. Captain America refers to him as “Sarge”, but it’s Colonel Fury now. They reference fighting together, presumably referring to Sgt. Fury #13. That is the only prior meeting we know of.

When Fury notes Cap hasn’t aged much, Cap says Fury seems pretty well-preserved himself. Is this just a compliment? Or a first hint that Fury uses some form of special formula to keep himself young. They last met 20 years ago. Fury could have been in his ’20s then and ’40s now.

Tales of Suspense #78

Crescendo!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: March 10, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Spectacular story by Stan Lee
Pace-setting pencilling by Gene Colan
Indescribable inking by Gary Michaels
Lonesome lettering by Artie Simek
12 pages

Previous	#513	Next
Tales of Suspense #77, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #78, Story B
Tales of Suspense #77, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #78, Story B

Ultimo, who never really lived– is now truly dead!

Stark factories are closed because Senator Byrd has cancelled the Defense contracts. Tony Stark is missing because Iron Man is in Asia battling Ultimo, the android creation of the Mandarin.

We get a cool time lapse splash page. Ditko often did these time lapse panels in his Spider-Man stories.

Of course, the flip side of all these splash pages and large panels is we get fewer panels to tell the story.