Chris Coke

Fantastic Four #11

A Visit with the Fantastic Four
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: November 1, 1962
Cover: February 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
11 pages

I read this comic in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1.

I find this story interesting for all the biographical details we get filled in, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff.

We learned last issue that Stan and Jack are characters in the Marvel Universe, publishing Fantastic Four comics. On the opening splash page, we see a new issue has come out. One child is excited to get his letter published. This is the second time we’ve seen the fan letters addressed in story. I’ll repeat what I said then: this is where Stan shines, interacting directly with young readers.

I like how popular they suggest their own comic is within the comic.

We then get a cute scene where they come across kids playing “Fantastic Four” and introduce themselves. Reed suggests the boy playing him ought to give flowers to the girl playing Invisible Girl. They offer a message to kids: don’t play with fire at home.

Strange Tales #104

The Human Torch Meets Paste-Pot Pete!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: October 9, 1962
Cover: January 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I think it goes without saying that Paste-Pot Pete is one of the greatest super-villains of all time. And that he has one of the greatest names. And therefore– I will say no more.

Fantastic Four #10

The return of Doctor Doom!/Back from the Dead!/The End of Mr. Fantastic?/No Place to Turn!
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: October 9, 1962
Cover: January 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Pencilling: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
23 pages

Previous	#33	Next
Tales to Astonish #39	Reading order	Strange Tales #104
Fantastic Four #9	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #11

Our fans have grown to expect real exciting super-villains from us! Too bad that Doctor Doom was lost in space! He was possibly the greatest super-villain of all!

I read this comic in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1.

Again, Stan gives relatively full credits, compared to the previous 25 years of comics. He has been inconsistent about crediting the letterer. He is also not careful to distinguish between plot and script, which has led to much confusion over the years. It is known Kirby contributed at least some, likely much, and perhaps all of most of these plots. Yet he is only ever credited for pencils or art. The plotting is just not in the credits here. Stan does credit himself with plots for the Human Torch and Thor stories when he credits his brother Larry with the scripts.

This comic is most famous for introducing the characters of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. We learn they exist in the Marvel Universe, and they publish Fantastic Four comics, in consultation with the real team. To preserve a bit of mystery, Jack never draws either creator’s face.

Tales to Astonish #39

The Vengeance of the Scarlet Beetle!
Featuring: Ant-Man
Release: October 2, 1962
Cover: January 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
10 pages

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

Jack Kirby is a pretty great artist. But he’s also churning out a lot of comics, drawing all 4 of Marvel’s superhero comics to premiere this month. He seems to put most of his energy into making Fantastic Four as good as he can, and treating the others as after-thoughts. But this comic shows plenty of splashes of greatness, beginning with the cool perspective of the first panel, and continuing with Kirby’s depictions of a war with a variety of insects.

People are pretty quick to call superheroes cowards…

Journey Into Mystery #87

Prisoner of the Reds!
Featuring: Thor
Release: October 2, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
10 pages

It seems overly sanctimonious to sit here almost 60 years later and dismiss comics like this as propaganda, though it’s evident that’s what it is. Thor, God of Thunder, refers to a Soviet stronghold as a “citadel of evil” and calls upon Odin to smite it. No, it’s a military facility, just like the ones the US has. And the Russian citizens depicted are sympathetic to America and its cause of freedom. That part at least allows it to rise above the propaganda comics of the ’40s, as it demonizes the enemy’s government and military, but not its people.

Why does Thor need Odin’s help to summon a storm?

But really it’s just a story of its time. Stan and Jack are looking for enemies. Twenty years earlier, during the last wave of superhero comics, the Nazis made convenient targets. In 1962, the Soviets seem a natural extension. I think it was a scary time in America, with nuclear war a barely understood but terrifyingly likely reality. Moreover, it’s October of 1962. This comic reached the shelves just 2 weeks before the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Tales to Astonish #38

Betrayed by the Ants!!
Featuring: Ant-Man
Release: September 11, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Scrtipt: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
10 pages

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

Johnny Dee is credited with the letters. I believe this is a pen name for Jon D’Agostino.

We open with a meeting of organized crime, who have been stymied by Ant-Man… I must pause here and reflect. We’ve seen Ant-Man triumph over villains so far by tying their shoelaces together and blowing dust in their face with a fan. We’ve seen Ant-Man almost defeated by a box and a vacuum cleaner. I have trouble believing he is so much of a threat that criminals haven’t dared pull a robbery in weeks. And if Ant-Man is this much of a threat, what will these same criminals do when–any moment now–the streets start filling up with costumed vigilantes, many much bigger than an ant?

Strange Tales #103

Prisoner of the 5th Dimension!/Trapped in Another World!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: September 11, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
13 pages

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

Once again, we see Stan is giving full credits for the art team, including the letterer Art Simek. Stan credits himself with the plot, but I’ll add some notes based on my general understanding of the usual working relationship; they details of this have been debated by lawyers and historians for decades, so take my musings as those of a non-expert relating what he’s heard. It was very common that Kirby also usually made significant plot contributions, despite the lack of annotation in the credits. The general working arrangement would be that Stan and Jack would talk out ideas together in loose terms, then Kirby would go draw the comic, which includes most of the storytelling details, and then the script and final inks would be filled in after. The busier Stan got, the looser those initial planning conversations were, and the more plotting work was left to Kirby when he was drawing the comic.

Seems like a perfect setup for a Scooby Doo mystery…

PRELUDE: Tales of Suspense #10

I Brought the Mighty Cyclops Back to Life!
Featuring: Cyclops
Release: February 29, 1960
Cover: July 1960
10 cents
Credits: Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers
7 pages

Online sources suggest the writing is by Lee or Lieber or both. Fair guesses. Kirby’s and Ayers’ signatures appear.

This is our first look at the Tales of Suspense series, a fantasy anthology just like Journey Into Mystery or Strange Tales or Tales to Astonish… We’ll be getting to know Tales of Suspense shortly when it too starts spotlighting a superheroic character. But for now, let’s flash back to the year before the debut of Fantastic Four to a story featuring the Cyclops of legend.

Fantastic Four #9

The End of the Fantastic Four!/Sub-Mariner Gives the Orders!/The Fury of Mr. Fantastic/The Flame of Battle/Vengeace is Ours!
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
23 pages

I read this comic in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1.

As with the Thor story which premiered the same day, this features full credits. In fact, the credits are more complete than the Thor story, as they spotlight the lettering of Artie Simek. The coloring of Stan Goldberg is still omitted, and anyways lost in the reproductions I am looking at.

This is a pretty famous story. For decades to come, when people refer to how Stan Lee changed superheroes, they’ll point to things like Spider-Man being unpopular or the Fantastic Four having money problems. But for 8 issues, the FF seemed pretty wealthy. Here, we learn Reed lost all his money in a stock market crash, and the FF are bankrupt and having to sell everything and disband. They even sell the pogo plane!

Incredible Hulk #4, Story B

The Gladiator from Outer Space!
Featuring: Hulk
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
10 pages

Hulk and Bruce are listed as two different characters…

I read this story in Incredible Hulk Omnibus vol. 1. I derived the inker from this volume, whereas Lee and Kirby had signed the original. Other comics this month got more complete credits, but not this one.

Is this the 5th alien invasion in recent months? Spoiler… no. It’s a Cold War story. Mongu is a Commie villain, just like Gargoyle, Executioner, Destroyer, or the spies that attacked Ant-Man. The Soviets disguised themselves as space aliens as part of an elaborate trap for the Hulk. It went about as well as you might expect for them.

Hardly a fitting challenge for the Hulk-brawn/Bruce-brain combo

There’s not much worth noting in this story. Its main feature is giving us a chance to see the Professor Hulk status quo introduced in the first half of the issue in action.