Chris Coke

Strange Tales #109

The Sorceror and Pandora’s Box

Featuring: Human Torch
Release: March 12, 1963
Cover: June 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1.

The Sorceror is a hermit who is mean to kids who trespass on his property. In return, Johnny is extremely mean to him. I thought Johnny was being quite the bully to a harmless hermit who just wants to be left alone.

Torch tells him: “You can’t have it both ways. If you want freedom of movement, others must have it as well!” But that hardly makes sense. In context, Torch is saying: “If you want to leave your own property, you have to let others onto it.”

Anyways, the Sorceror is not harmless. He’s actually a sorceror and has found Pandora’s Box. Which contains a bunch of evils, also called imps. We meet some of them: Flood, Hatred, Forgetfulness, Sleepiness, Paralysis, Cold, Disease, Foolishness, Laziness, Fire, Fear. They range from human traits to natural disasters.

We learn a bit of Greek myth, how Pandora released the evils but Circe put them back. Not clear what connection Circe will have to the Eternal named Sersi we will eventually meet.

Always a woman. Eating that apple. Opening that box.

In the last post, we spoke about characters getting ruined by having lame ambitions. The Sorceror has access to all the evils of the world. And what does he want to do with it? Rob a bank. Boring.

The most interesting thing in this story to me is that Johnny notes it’s 1963. He had noted in an issue of Fantastic Four that it was 1962, suggesting at least a year has passed. I am fascinated by trying to track how much time has passed and am looking for clues. But I must be careful reading too much into a single line of dialogue stating the year. As writers will almost always claim their story is happening in the current year, whether or not that makes sense.. But Reed is already in his ’40s by 1961 when we meet him. So he only has so many decades of superheroing left in him.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆, 39/100

Characters:

Johnny Storm/Human Torch
The Sorcerer
Flood
Ben Grimm/Thing
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
Sue Storm/Invisible Girl
Pandora
Circe
Hatred
Forgetfullness
Sleepiness
Paralysis
Cold
Disease
Foolishness
Laziness
Fire
Fear

Story Notes:

Johnny notes it’s now 1963
The box contains hundreds of imps
In end, Sorcerer frozen with fear from Imp of Fear

#71 story in reading order
Next: Tales of Suspense #42
Previous: Fantastic Four #15

Fantastic Four #15

The Mad Thinker and His Awesome Android!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: March 12, 1963
Cover: June 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
20 pages

I read this story in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1

In general, the desire to be king of the city’s gangs is an uninteresting motivation. The FF villains are better when they think bigger than the Thinker seems to be thinking here. The lack of a good supervillain plot cheapens the new villain out of the box. Nonetheless, the Thinker (sometimes called the Mad Thinker) will become a major FF adversary.

Tales to Astonish #44

The Creature from Kosmos!

Featuring: Ant-Man and the Wasp
Release: March 5, 1963
Cover: June 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: H.E. Huntley
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Don Heck
18 pages

This is the first we have seen of H.E. Huntley. It is a pen name for Ernest Huntley Hart, known as Ernie Hart. He is freelancing at this point, and will do only occasional Marvel work in the 1960s, but he was an active Marvel writer and artist going back to the 1940s, perhaps most famous for his funny animal comics. He created Super Rabbit in 1943.

In this issue, meet our next Marvel superhero star, the Wasp. In yet another moment of serendipity, she was introduced the same day as Sgt. Fury!

But we already know why he became Ant-Man…

For the last 7 issues, Ant-Man has starred in solo adventures in the pages of Tales to Astonish. Going forward, he will now have a partner. Wasp will be the second female star added to our cast, after Invisible Girl. Most women we’ve met are relatives or romantic interests. No females are yet lead characters, as Wasp seems to get second billing to Ant-Man. And Invisible Girl is the member of the Fantastic Four given the least focus and respect.

Sgt. Fury #1

Sgt. Fury, and His Howling Commandos/Seven Against the Nazis!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos
Release: March 5, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
21 pages

I read this comic in Sgt. Fury Epic Collection vol. 1: The Howling Commandos.

So why are we reading this comic in with the superhero stories? Well, the answer is probably obvious, but let’s think it through a little. What else is Marvel putting out in March of 1963 that I could be reading?

Two western comics: Gunsmoke Western and Rawhide Kid. And a few later time-travel stories will intersect these heroes with our superhero comics, so they’re not irrelevant. The problem is there are so many western comics, going back to well before we started our reading in 1961. The original Two-Gun Kid debuted in 1948, the same month as Annie Oakley #1. Kid Colt, Blaze Carson, Tex Morgan, and Tex Taylor debuted soon after. Point is, we are nowhere near a good jumping on point for the western stories.

There are two romance titles out this month, Love Romances and Patsy and Hedy. As we’ve mentioned, Patsy Walker will eventually become a superhero. But there are also a lot of these comics going back to the 1940s. Patsy’s had a regular feature since 1945.

(Notice that’s also Jack Kirby on the Love Romances comic. So he’s telling a lot of stories in a lot of genres this month.)

There are four fantasy anthology titles, each with a superhero feature we’ve been reading as the lead story. One pure superhero comic.

And now a war comic set in World War II. Why read the war comic with our superhero reading and not the westerns or romance comics?

Two answers, there.

Journey Into Mystery #92

The Day Loki Stole Thor’s Magic Hammer

Featuring: Thor
Release: March 5, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: Joe Sinnott
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.

The somewhat awkward title of this story underscores they haven’t yet decided that Thor’s magic hammer should have a name.

I look forward to the first battle with Loki where he doesn’t steal Thor’s magic hammer.

Now, the title also sounds pretty ominous. For we know that if Loki were to steal Thor’s magic hammer, the thunder god would be helpless within 60 seconds. Indeed, that is what happened in both of Thor’s previous encounters with Loki, both of which involved Loki stealing his magic hammer.

Tales of Suspense #41

The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: February 12, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: R. Berns
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
13 pages

Confession time. I just made a dumb mistake here. Got confused by numbers and dates. This post should have come before my previous Journey Into Mystery post, as this issue is from February and the Thor story is from March. It’s a little confusing because both are cover-dated May. The Thor stories always seem a month out of sync in terms of their cover dates for some reason.

Robert Bernstein returns on scripting duties. He will be the regular scripter for a while. This is the first Iron Man story without Don Heck involved with the art (either as primary or finisher). This is perhaps why Tony looks so radically different from the previous 2 stories.

Maybe I’d recognize him better with black hair…

Though part of the problem is that his hair is brown in my omnibus (scanned above). Other modern recolorings make it black. It’s hard to speak intelligently to the coloring of these comics because of how wildly it varies between reproductions.

Iron Man is falling into a somewhat familiar pattern 3 issues in. After a very good origin issue, we get a sequence of pretty forgettable stories. Last issue, he fought Gargantus, and this issue introduces Dr. Strange. Neither of whom am I expecting to show up any time soon in a major motion picture.

Another familiar trope is that we’ve skipped the establishing of the hero. In this issue, the third Iron Man story, the first of which was set in a Vietnam jungle, we learn that children idolize Iron Man. So he, like the rest of the heroes, has fast become a sensation.

Amazing Spider-Man #2, Story B

The Uncanny Threat of the Terrible Tinkerer!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: February 12, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
10 pages

I read this story in Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection vol. 1: Great Power. Scans are taken from Marvel Tales #139, a 1982 reprinting.

Spider-Man meets his 2nd elderly super-villain in a single issue!

OK, now I’ll have to admit that not every Spider-Man story is a masterpiece. But even at their worst, they’re a cut above. When the issues have an “A” and “B” story, it seems like the effort went into the “A” story.

Even here, we see a lot of the greatness at play. Steve Ditko’s art, of course. But also the coherence of the story, tangling together Peter Parker’s story seamlessly with Spider-Man’s.

The name “Cobbwell” brings to mind “cobweb”. Coincidence? Probably.

There is some type of rule that each of these superheroes must fend off an alien invasion by their second issue. It’s very out of place here.

Amazing Spider-Man #2

Duel to the death with the Vulture!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: February 12, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
14 pages

Previous	#59	Next
Strange Tales #108, Story C	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #2, Story B
Amazing Spider-Man #1, Story B	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #2, Story B

He thinks I’m just a typical teen-age kid! Good! That’s the way I like it!

So I am going to try something new with this blog. I have mostly been stealing pictures I could find on the internet, but I now have a large nifty scanner working and want to try to make my own scans. Now, for various reasons related to my lack of independent wealth, I don’t own Amazing Spider-Man #2, but I have many reprints.

I’ve largely been reading comics in thick collections, which can be hard to scan with my flatbed scanner. But I have smaller reprints from this story. It was reprinted in Amazing Spider-Man Annual 7, but that is still a bit thick for optimal scanning, and the binding isn’t entirely perfect. I also have it reprinted in Marvel Tales #139. Let me try a few scans for comparison.

Tales to Astonish #43

The Mad Master of Time!

Featuring: Ant-Man
Release: February 5, 1963
Cover: May 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Don Heck
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man vol. 1.

As with the Thor comic released the same day, this issue sports the spiffy new logo box with a picture of the lead character, the price, and the phrase “Marvel Comics Group”.

One of my gateways into the world of superheroes as a child was Batman: The Animated Series. A frequent feature of the show was villain origins that cast them in a sympathetic light. Often they were fired or otherwise screwed over by a corporate bigshot. Riddler, Clock King, Mr. Freeze… all were given origins where you could at least see why they were upset, even if supervillainy is rarely justified.

Professor Weems has such an origin. Fired based solely on his age. With the twist that he had been so excited to show his grandson his lab and his work. Not sure that would even be legal today. They’d at least need some better official story.

Journey Into Mystery #91

Sandu, Master of the Supernatural!

Featuring: Thor
Release: February 5, 1963
Cover: April 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Joe Sinnott
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.

Joe Sinnott is best known as an inker. We’ve seen him twice so far in that capacity, inking Kirby for the introductions of Thor and Dr. Doom, respectively. This is the first time we see him as the primary artist.

This event was teased already because I chose to read the last Fantastic Four slightly out of chronological order and because I accidentally read the last Strange Tales out of chronological order.

But this is one of three comics released February 5 to sport the spiffy new Marvel logo. The others are Tales to Astonish and Patsy Walker. We are not currently including the Patsy Walker stories in our Marvel reading, not until she becomes more intertwined with the superheroes than she currently is.

There’s a lot going on that will become a feature of Marvel covers for years. The first is that there’s a little box with the picture of the lead character. Now, Journey Into Mystery is still an anthology title. There are two other scifi/fantasy tales within this very issue. But Thor is the star, now. And that little box makes that clear.

Then we get the price, 12 cents. That’s been the price of all the comics since Fantastic Four #3 raised the price from 10 cents. Usually, the price has been in a circle somewhere on the cover. Now it’s in this new logo box.

And then the phrase “Marvel Comics Group”. Previously, there had been the letters “MC” in a little box on the covers.

Here’s how it all looked on the cover of Fantastic Four #1.