Featuring: Human Torch and Thing Release: March 11, 1965 Cover: June 1965 12 cents Written in the magnificent Stan Lee tradition! Illustrated in the majestic Bob Powell manner! Inked in the magiloquent Mick Demeo style! Lettered in the mortgaged Sam Rosen home! 12 pages
Due to the tightness of forthcoming FF chronology, we are reading ahead a bit in these Human Torch stories. Since Dr. Strange is still involved in a big saga, we are still holding off on reading Dr. Strange stories.
Dr. Strange at last gets half of the cover, but Kirby’s work here doesn’t quite do justice to the tale Ditko is spinning inside.
Stan notes the story will start in the middle. That is unusual for one of these stories, but it’s a classical storytelling technique, en media res.
This issue promises a surprise twist, an old villain in a new guise. I don’t want to spoil the big surprise.
Featuring: Human Torch and Thing Release: February 11, 1965 Cover: May 1965 12 cents Edited with reckless abandon by: Stan Lee Written with daring bravado by: Larry Ivie Drawn with brash impetuosity by: Bob Powell Inked with reckless vigor by: M. Demeo Lettered with a soggy penpoint by: S. Rosen 12 pages
Dr. Strange gets a small box on the cover to acknowledge his story.
Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the publication of Fantastic Four #1. Wish I could have timed my posts to have something better than this Human/Torch Thing story to celebrate with. So it goes. Happy birthday, Foursome!
Art by Alex Ross, inspired by Jack Kirby.
Lots to unpack from the credits page.
We’ve already met Mr. Demeo (Mike Esposito), as he also picked up inking on Iron Man this month.
Larry Ivie is a new name to us. He is an occasional comics writer and artist, and perhaps best known as a comics fan.
The blog, Professor H’s Wayback Machine, recently did a tribute series to Ivie’s work on his self-published fanzine, Heroes & Monsters.
This is the last we’ll see of Ivie for some time, but he’ll do occasional Marvel work here and there over the next couple decades.
Also unusual in the credits is a comic Stan Lee takes no writing credit on. This isn’t the first time, but it’s been a rare occurrence, and will become less rare. Stan still gets his name first in the credits somehow.
What we would today call editing is certainly a contribution that Stan makes to every one of these books, and not one to be taken lightly. The issues arise on the comics where he worked as an editor but credited himself as a writer.
Things are heating up in the Fantastic Four book, and there won’t be much space for solo adventures. So far, with only a few exceptions, Fantastic Four adventures have fit into a single issue, where one could easily imagine these Human Torch stories fitting in between the issues. But, as is the general trend these titles are taking, Fantastic Four stories are going to get more involved, with cliffhanger endings which lead us right into the next issue.
To that end, we’re going to knock out the next few Human Torch/Thing stories presently, getting us a little ahead with them. We’ll eventually revisit all these comics and read the Dr. Strange stories.
Thus subjecting myself and you to three of these in a row.
Featuring: Spider-Man Release: February 11, 1965 Cover: May 1965 12 cents Mighty script by: Stan Lee Powerful art by: Steve Ditko A lotta lettering by: S. Rosen 20 pages
I declared last month’s cover the best we’ve yet seen. Two months earlier, I’d declared it that cover. I really don’t want to keep doing that, but man, look at that crazy cover. It brings to mind Ditko’s roots in weird horror tales, and captures some of the madness of his Dr. Strange work.
The comic more than lives up to the cover.
The opening splash is also excellent. It shows Spider-Man haunted by the same ghost images of his villains, but makes it clear that’s a psychiatrist’s office, and it’s Spidey in the chair. And from the look on the doctor’s face, not about to receive a favorable diagnosis regarding his mental stability.
Aunt May is still struggling with the bills, and Peter plans to make more money taking pictures of Spider-Man to help out. Remember the theme of responsibility. Most often, it’s assumed his responsibility is to do good as Spider-Man, but he also has a responsibility to his aunt.
Featuring: Captain America Release: February 12, 1965 Cover: May 1965 12 cents By: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Inking: Chic Stone Lettering: S. Rosen 10 pages
As with the last twoissues, this is closely based on a story from Captain America Comics #1. As with the last two issues, Joe Simon is not credited.
We at this point are well versed in the Red Skull stories of the 1940s and 50s. We are now primed to see the modern take on the Red Skull, beginning with this retelling of his first adventure.
There are significant changes, many with the effect to sanitize the story, make it less violent and more kid-friendly. For example, in this version the Red Skull is not a killer. The plot of the original was all about him murdering people.
I’ll note the shared story beats common to the stories.
The story begins with Private Rogers and Mascot Barnes escorting Major Croy. They warn him it’s not safe to be alone, but he dismisses them any way.
The Red Skull attacks Major Croy.
Red Skull’s henchmen loot a bank.
Captain America and Bucky track down the Red Skull, but the Skull escapes them.
Mr. Maxon is observing a test of his new plane. Private Rogers is present. When the plane crashes, likely due to sabotage, Maxon expresses concern, but not for the lives lost, which upsets Rogers.
Red Skull attacks a General, and then is revealed to be Mr. Maxon.
With that corresponding outline, there are heavy differences.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: February 11, 1965 Cover: May 1965 12 cents Story by Marvel’s merriest marcher: Stan Lee Art by Marvel’s most amiable artist: Don Heck Inking by Marvel’s dizziest delineator: Mickey Demeo Lettering by Marvel’s persnippiest pen-pusher: Sam Rosen 12 pages
We just spent several weeks reading Red Skull stories to prepare for this, and it’s an Iron Man story. What gives.
But I see Red Skull on the cover. Ah, flipping ahead, there are two stories in this comic. The second story is about Captain America and the Red Skull. Maybe we’ll get there tomorrow.
There’s a new name in the credits. Who is Mickey Demeo? Well, his real Name is Mike Esposito. He’s been working in comics since leaving the army in the late 1940s, and is best known for his decades of collaboration with Ross Andru. I know him best as an inker, but he was often the main penciller on his earlier work. He and Ross Andru started small publishers together in the 1950s, including Mikeross Publications, and MR Publications, which published Mr. Universe. Esposito and Ross had a decade-long collaboration on the character of Wonder Woman, which helped give a definitive and iconic look to the character. Together with writer Bob Kanigher, they co-created the original Suicide Squad and the Metal Men. Esposito will become a significant inker on Amazing Spider-Man, for a time in collaboration with Andru.
Why the alias? He probably doesn’t want DC to know he’s doing Marvel work. And it’s not just this title. He’s also inking this month’s Human Torch and Avengers adventures.
Here is a sampling of some early pencil work by Esposito.
Men’s Adventures #6 (Marvel, 1951)
Weird Adventures #3 (PL Publishing, 1951)
Girl Comics #8 (Marvel, 1951)
Blazing Sixguns #15 (Super Comics, 1963)
And here is some of his inking work in collaboration with Ross Andru.
Mr. Universe #2 (MR Publications, 1951)
All-American Men of War #6 (DC, 1953)
Get Lost #1 (Mikeross Publications, 1954)
Wonder Woman #58 (DC, 1958)
Brave and the Bold #25 (DC, 1959)
Showcase #37 (DC, 1962)
On to Iron Man. In this issue, Iron Man fights Iron Man!
Really, the new Iron man fights the old Iron Man.
That is, somebody steals Tony Stark’s new armor. So Tony has to put on his old armor to fight him.
No credits given. The GCD credits Don Rico and John Romita.
With a big sigh of relief, we come to the last Red Skull story from the pre-Marvel era. By my count he made 13 appearances, and we’ve read 11 of them, all to get ready for his triumphant return in 1965. That was more than I meant to read, but there was a particular reason for each choice.
Captain America and Red Skull, now a card-carrying Communist, battle one final time.
No credits are given. The GCD attributes the story to Don Rico and John Romita, except the first panel which it attributes to Mort Lawrence.
It is 1953, 4 years since the final Captain America story, which itself brought and end to the company’s entire line of superhero books, the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner sagas having ended a little sooner.
Marvel’s only nod to the superhero genre in the time since is their science fiction hero, Marvel Boy, whose series lasted 6 issues.
They’re ready to try again. Now generally branded as “Atlas Comics”, the company that had been known as “Timely” and would be best known as “Marvel” offers this superhero revival, bringing back their 3 most successful superheroes of the 40s: Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America.
All three return in this very issue. We read the Sub-Mariner story previously. Spinning out of this Young Men series, all three will soon get their own titles as well. Sub-Mariner’s return will last 10 issues, while Human Torch and Captain America each get three issues, before again being consigned to oblivion for another decade.
We read several issues of the Captain America revival to prepare to read Captain America’s lasting return in 1964. Those posts met with the sharpest criticism in the comments section I have yet received. I was called naive, arrogant, ignorant about comics… The internet can be a cruel place sometimes.
No credits are given, except for Dr. Jean Thompson, the psychiatrist whose name assures parents this comic is okay for kids to read. Something I’m not even convinced about.
We saw her name before when we got to this time period in our Sub-Mariner reading. I don’t know a lot about her, and the internet isn’t telling me much. In attempting to search for information about her, my own blog was one of the top hits. And that was just me saying I don’t know much.
It’s 1949. Kids don’t read superhero comics anymore. They want horror comics now. Marvel tries to split the middle with Captain America. The title changes its name from Captain America Comics to Captain America’s Weird Tales. It opens with a horror-tinged Captain America story, and then continues as a pure horror anthology: “The Frozen Ghost!”; “The Thing in the Swamps!”; “The Tomb of Terror”.
In his last appearance, Red Skull died. He died in almost every appearance, then his next appearance showed how he actually survived. Not this time. This issue opens with the Red Skull dead. And in Hell.
He will drag Captain America down to Hell with him. Sorry, the “Lower Region”. I forgot this comic has been approved for children by a psychiatrist. It’s also referred to as the “Flaming Pits”. But never H-E-Double Hockey Sticks.
This is the first post-WWII appearance of the Red Skull. According to 1960s continuity, Captain America was frozen in a block of ice prior to war’s end, and Bucky was killed. Per 1940s continuity, they both survived the war and went on to fight crime on the homefront. So something already needs reconciling well before we throw Red Skull into the mix.
The GCD credits the story to Otto Binder, Al Gabriele, and Vince Alascia.
Mostly a miscellaneous story we won’t dwell on. Three things stand out.
First, we note all clues about the identity of the Red Skull. He’s taken to using more German phrases than ever before. “Himmel”, “Donnervetter”. He refers to Captain America and Bucky as “American scum”. So perhaps this is a German villain, and not George Maxon.
Captain America and Bucky unmask him and recognize him as the “real” Red Skull they’ve fought before. This also implicitly acknowledges there may be “fake” Red Skulls out there.
