Featuring: Human Torch
Release: April 24, 1940
Cover: June 1940
10 cents
Credits: Carl Burgos
12 pages
The Human Torch has many nicknames for Namor: “water bug”, “water beetle”, “water rat”. Namor calls him “fire bug”. You can tell they’re not going to get along.
I really think that repairs can wait, Torch…
This story is a bit disappointing, as one may have expected it to continue the last one. It does not. It instead tells the events of the last two stories from the Torch’s point of view. But Torch is the less interesting character, and Burgos is the less talented artist.
The Marvel Universe starts to take shape as two of its greatest champions meet in battle.
The Human Torch and Sub-Mariner meet!!! Featuring: Sub-Mariner Release: April 24, 1940 Cover: June 1940 10 cents Story and art: Bill Everett (uncredited) 10 pages
Hard to believe something as significant as Human Torch meeting Sub-Mariner didn’t even get top billing on the cover. I guess Angel battling some monster was more exciting.
Usually, Bill Everett’s signature appears on the first page of each Sub-Mariner story, but I’m not finding it here.
“…for having attempted to electrocute him after he had promised to lend his powers to his cause…” I guess you can see why he might be miffed.
It really all begins here. Eight months after the respective debuts of Human Torch and Sub-Mariner, the characters meet in conflict. The Marvel Comics series becomes more than independent stories in an anthology. The seeds of a universe sprout. So it is that 23 years later, Sub-Mariner can battle the Fantastic Four with a new Human Torch, while that same Fantastic Four battle Hulk and Spider-Man in other stories. So it is that 80 years later, a movie studio can throw dozens of superheroes up on the big screen in a epic big-budget battle.
I think this is one of the most significant pages in Marvel history.
The highlight of the story, the reason we’re here, is short. The final 2 pages of a 10-page story tell of the meeting between Human Torch and Namor. The Torch quickly gains the upper hand and Namor retreats.
The surface world will feel Namor’s vengeful wrath.
Featuring: Sub-Mariner Release: March 20, 1940 Cover: May 1940 10 cents Credits: Bill Everett 10 pages
While The Human Torch stories have been very episodic, the Sub-Mariner stories have formed one continuing saga. Thus there’s no way to jump into them without feeling like we’re missing something. Nonetheless, I’m not looking to review every Golden Age Sub-Mariner story here. Just a couple to give us some context for the Marvel Age stories we are reading.
In this blog, we last saw Namor beginning a war against the surface world for crimes against his people. He’s cooled off and befriended Policewoman Betty Dean. He grew concerned about the war ravaging the surface world, and decided to take part. Sometimes, he seemed sympathetic to the Allied cause and sometimes merely to the cause of peace. He decided to try his hand at being a superhero, to convince the surface world of his good intentions.
He made a deal with the police commissioner to do some good works, but the commissioner still insisted he stand trial for his crimes. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Well, the electric chair did not kill him… it just made him angry. So his war against the surface will begin anew. That’s where this issue opens.
Namor informs his Emperor of his plans to destroy the entire continent after conquering New York. The Emperor offers the entire Sub-Mariner army, but Namor says he can handle it himself for now, as his vendetta is personal.
Sets the stage for the first Marvel Universe crossover!
Featuring: Human Torch Release: March 20, 1940 Cover: May 1940 10 cents Credits: Carl Burgos 11 pages
After a pretty complex first adventure, Human Torch has settled into the routine of being a fairly standard superhero. Each issue has had its own adventure where the Torch foils some plot. He’s adopted the identity of Jim Hammond in civilian form, and made friends with a police officer named Johnson.
The one oddity comes from the beginning of Marvel Mystery Comics #2. A newspaper article tells us that the Torch burned down Horton’s home, killing him. We hadn’t seen anything like that in the previous issue. But the Torch defends–rather than denies–the killing.
The Torch did what?
A note to quell any confusion. Human Torch and Sub-Mariner were introduced in Marvel Comics #1. That series has continued, but it was renamed to “Marvel Mystery Comics” beginning with issue #2. Each issue has featured both a Human Torch and Sub-Mariner story, among others. Other regular features include Angel, Masked Raider, and Ka-Zar.
Human Torch battles Sub-Mariner for no particular reason!
Face-to-Face with Prince Namor, the Mighty Sub-Mariner Featuring: Human Torch Release: January 10, 1963 Cover: April 1963 12 cents Plot: Stan Lee Script: Larry Lieber Art: Dick Ayers 13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1.
Dick Ayers is again the main artist. Kirby will be back next issue, but they will trade art duties for the remainder of the series. This is the pattern we have been seeing. Kirby is still around and will sometimes provide the art for the series he pioneered, but will be rotating with other artists. Heck has Ant-Man and Ayers has Human Torch.
This fairly useless series continues. The Fantastic Four series hasn’t once yet acknowledged anything about this series’ existence, including Sue and Johnny’s home in Glenville. In contrast, this series references lots of things about the Fantastic Four. The whole team has a cameo in this issue and there are references to the FF battles against Namor. You can tell which series is the ugly stepchild.
As the story–such as it is–begins, we find the three adult FF members had a meeting while Johnny was in school. They were taking notes on next month’s adventure, while Sue typed them up. It’s a bit odd, as most FF adventures are their responses to crises. It’s not clear what they’d be planning a month in advance.
Nice to see that even Sue had a role in the meeting…
The current issue of Fantastic Four came out a week earlier. We haven’t read it yet, because issue 14 picks up where it leaves off, so I’m reading it last this month. That adventure is a trip to the moon. Which does take some planning; however, in the issue itself, the trip is a surprise to the rest of the team. Only Reed had been planning it and had been planning not to take the others. So they must be referring to something else.
The armor makes him a superhero and keeps his heart beating.
Iron Man Versus Gargantus! Featuring: Iron Man Release: January 10, 1963 Cover: April 1963 12 cents Plot: Stan Lee Script: R. Berns Art: J. Kirby Inking: D. Heck 13 pages
I read this story in Iron Man Omnibus vol. 1.
Most of the credits only get first initials, perhaps to fit on a line. The letterer John Duffy doesn’t even get an initial, referred to as “Duffi”. Heck was the primary artist on the first issue of Iron Man, though building off some initial character work by Kirby. Here, Heck is credited with inking over Kirby. But to my eye, this issue mostly reminds me more of Heck than Kirby.
The script is credited to “R. Berns”. The first time we’ve seen that name. In fact, I think it’s the first writing credits given to anybody except for Stan or his brother Larry. The scripter is Robert Bernstein, who used the pseudonym “R. Berns” for all of his Marvel work, as he was mostly known for his DC superhero work at the time. He’d been working in comics for at least 17 years at this point, and had worked with Lee before on western and war stories. But he’d spent the last 4 years working in superhero comics at DC, famously reviving Aquaman for the Silver Age, and adding Aqualad and Aquagirl to the cast (working with Ramona Fradon). His Superboy stories (with George Papp) introduced the menace of General Zod and other Kryptonian criminals imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, concepts that would make it into the 1978 Superman film and the 2013 reboot. And he transformed Congo Bill into Congorilla (alongside Howard Sherman). An impressive pedigree to join our crew.
We saw 18 months of superhero comics made almost entirely by 3 people. It wasn’t sustainable as the number of heroes continued to grow, so we’ve seen an infusion of new writers and artists in the last month, some filling in, some here to stay.
A man spreads lies and fear to a crowd of people who soak it up.
The Voice of Doom! Featuring: Ant-Man Release: January 3, 1963 Cover: April 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.
This is Don Heck’s second issue of Ant-Man. The art duties will be a mix of Heck and Kirby going forward.
An accident at an atomic lab sends some charged particles into Jason Cragg’s microphone that imbue him with the power to make people follow his every command. We have seen other radiation-based anomalies–notably the effects of a bite from an irradiated spider and being caught in the blast of a gamma bomb–and we will see many more.
Watch out for that atomic radiation
There is perhaps some political commentary in this issue. An orator speaks and sways the crowd with demagoguery and fear-mongering. Ant-Man tries to point out the orator offers no evidence, but his cries are lost on deaf ears. Perhaps the creators were thinking of some 1960s politicians when writing this. It certain applies seems to describe a 2019 politician or two.
The Incredible Hulk vs The Metal Master Featuring: Hulk Release: January 3, 1963 Cover: March 1963 12 cents Story: Stan Lee Art: Steve Ditko 24 pages
I read this story in Incredible Hulk Omnibus vol. 1.
All good things must come to an end. Turns out things like this series also come to an end.
The great Steve Ditko takes over for Jack Kirby for the first full-length Hulk story since the second issue, and what is also the final issue of Incredible Hulk. Though no hint of that ending can be found in the cover or the letters pages. There simply isn’t an issue 7.
This Ditko guy draws a pretty good Hulk.
Perhaps it’s for the best. The first issue was one of the best comics we’ve read and showed so much potential. A dark psychological sci-fi drama, with elements of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. That potential was squandered on constant tweaks to the character, a series that had the feeling of throwing things at the wall until something stuck, then giving up when nothing stuck. It will take Steve Ditko to reshape the character into a more enduring form, but he won’t get a chance to do that now, as the series is being cancelled.
5th alien invasion. 2nd by shape-changing aliens. But who’s counting?
Trapped by the Carbon-Copy Man! Featuring: Thor Release: January 3, 1963 Cover: March 1963 12 cents Plot: Stan Lee Script: Larry Lieber Art: Al Hartley 13 pages
I read this comic in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.
As has been the theme of recent posts, Jack Kirby seems to be on a bit of a break, letting Al Hartley fill in on this Thor story. As far as I can tell, this is Hartley’s only credit for Marvel superheroes. He’d been working with Stan Lee for at least 14 years at this point, in a variety of genres. Most notably, he’d been working on Marvel’s Patsy Walker since 1958. He’s quoted as saying he was more comfortable in the humor and teen drama genres than the superhero genre.
The Threat of the Torrid Twosome Featuring: Human Torch Release: December 10, 1962 Cover: March 1963 12 cents Plot: Stan Lee Script: Larry Lieber Art: Dick Ayers 13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1
This blog took a short hiatus while I traveled a bit. I did bring my Human Torch book along with me with the idea of getting this written while abroad, but I didn’t get it done. It doesn’t help that we’ve now read Amazing Spider-Man, so know how good a superhero comic can be. That doesn’t make it easy to return to these Human Torch comics.
This is the first Human Torch story not drawn by Kirby. Regular inker Dick Ayers is stepping up as the main artist. That’s a common theme for the month. After 18 months of Kirby drawing all the titles we’ve been reading, he’s dialing it back. We just saw Don Heck on Ant-Man and Iron Man.
This story finally addresses–albeit clumsily–the nagging flaw at the heart of this series: the secret identity of the Human Torch. We learn that he does not in fact have a secret identity, and that all his friends were pretending to not know his identity to be nice. That doesn’t explain a lot of things, like why the Torch so frequently risked lives to protect his identity, why he was so open and cavalier about his identity in theFantastic Four comics, or why the Wizard’s plan depended so heavily on the Human Torch guarding his identity.
