Comic Books – Page 37 – Coke & Comics

Sgt. Fury #10

On to Okinawa!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: July 9, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (the ol’ three-striper himself)
Illustrated by: Dick Ayers ( the ol’ high-flyin’ corporal)
Inked by: Geo. Bell
Lettered by: S. Rosen
22 pages

A feature of this comic has been a desire to send the Howlers to every theater of the war. They are based in England, but have already fought in Germany, Italy, Africa… now they’re off to Japan. Does it make any actual sense that a single squadron would have such geographically disparate missions? I don’t think we’re supposed to worry about it.

Captain Sawyer describes Okinawa as Japanese-occupied. An odd phrasing. Japan had conquered it over 60 years earlier. At some point, it’s just part of Japan. At the time the comic was published, Okinawa was occupied by America, but has since been returned to Japan. It remains part of Japan to this day.

Captain Sawyer and the other characters refer to the Japanese as “Japs”. Today, this is generally recognized as a racial slur that was prevalent among 1940s Americans. Having the characters use such language is likely historically accurate.

Avengers #8

Kang, the Conqueror!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: July 9, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (our answer to Victor Hugo!)
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby (our answer to Rembrandt!)
Inked by: Dick Ayers (our answer to Automation!)
Lettered by: Sam Rosen (our answer to Artie Simek!)
21 pages

This is more like it.

If you look to Amazing Spider-Man, you’ll see that Lee and Ditko introduced 6 super-villains in 7 issues (Chameleon, Vulture, Tinkerer, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Lizard), and the pace hasn’t slowed down by issue 16. By contrast, over 7 issues Avengers introduced the Space Phantom and Zemo.

So it’s good that we’re getting a new villain at all. More than that, it’s good that this villain is plausibly a threat to the Avengers. That’s what they should be about, after all. Threats so great no single hero can stand against them. It’s also great this is an independent menace. Too much of the series was focused on internal squabbles or villains whose sole goal was to defeat the Avengers.

Kang is actually here to conquer the world. He’s tough enough that it’s going to take a team of superheroes to stop him.

Thank god Rick Jones is there for the Pentagon top priority meeting.

Technically speaking, Kang’s perhaps not a new villain. But close enough. While we’re being technical, Zemo was perhaps introduced in Sgt. Fury.

Of more personal significance, this is the oldest Avengers comic I actually own. I have a complete run of Avengers comics starting with issue 31 and going until I stopped collecting them in 2007. And then I have a handful of older issues, starting with this one.

X-Men #7

The Return of the Blob

Featuring: X-Men
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written with all the spell-binding skill of: Stan Lee
Drawn with all the titanic talent of: Jack Kirby
Inked with all the vibrant verve of: Chic Stone
Lettered with all the words spelled right by: Art Simek
22 pages

The time has come for the next chapter in the history of the X-Men. The series began with the premise that the X-Men were students of an unusual school. We saw two issues back that they passed their final exam. Now, it’s graduation day.

We just saw Johnny celebrate his spring break. And we are almost a year (in publication time) away from Peter’s graduation. It’s possible the publication dates poorly reflect when this story is set within the Marvel Universe, but it’s also possible this unique private school does things its own way, and has a much earlier graduation date than the regular schools attended by Peter Parker and Johnny Storm.

It’s odd that Iceman is graduating with the rest given that he’s a couple years younger than them. Maybe he’s gifted. Or maybe it’s just a really weird school.

Tales to Astonish #60, Story B

The Incredible Hulk

Featuring: Hulk
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: October 1964
12 cents
Written by: Incredible Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Incredible Steve Ditko
Inked by: Incredible Geo. Bell
Lettered by: Inedibile S. Rosen
10 pages

Hulk was the first character to ignomiously get his title cancelled; he’s also the first character to get his own title back.

Well, sort of. Originally, he starred in a series called The Incredible Hulk, dedicated entirely to him. That’s a lot of pages to fill for a character whose creators seemed to have no idea what to do with him.

Now he gets 10 pages in the back of Tales to Astonish, a title he will be sharing with Giant-Man and Wasp, taking the place of Wasp’s solo features.

“Can a man with green skin and a petulant personality find true happiness in today’s status-seeking society?”

See, for as long as we’ve been reading, Marvel has had distribution issues which have artificially limited the number of titles they can produce in a month. They are ready to start featuring more of their characters, but that will require characters to share titles.

Hulk went about 18 months without his own series, but he never really disappeared. He’s been a frequent guest star and antagonist in many a title. He’s remained a fixture of the Marvel Universe, even without his own comic.

Last issue was a feature-length story featuring both Giant-Man and Hulk. That was the subtle lead-in to the new title-sharing status. Soon we’ll see a feature-length Iron Man story which co-stars Captain America. We’ll see where that will lead.

Tales to Astonish #60

The Beasts of Berlin!

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: October 1964
12 cents
Excitingly written by: Stan Lee
Exquisitely drawn by: Dick Ayers
Extravagantly inked by: Paul Reinman
Emotionally lettered by: Art Simek
14 pages

The cover hints at a significant change to the title, but we’ll save discussion of that for the next post.

We begin with Giant-Man throwing a temper tantrum and kicking out his fan club. Wasp complains he’s scaring way their fans. She uses the phrase, “our fans”, but all the signs say “Giant-Man”, never “Wasp”.

This series is weird about secret identities in multiple ways. They sometimes act like they have secret identities that are important to protect. Other times, they seem pretty nonchalant about it. For example, Wasp calls him “Hank” in front of the fan club.

Fantastic Four Annual 2, Story C

The Final Victory of Dr. Doom!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
A Stan Lee story spectacular!
A Jack Kirby illustrative idyll!
A Chic Stone delineation delight!
A Sam Rosen lettering landmark!
25 pages

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Fantastic Four Annual 2	Fantastic Four Annual	Fantastic Four Annual 3

Never will this mass of teeming humanity ever forget that Doctor Doom once walked among them!

It’s interesting that this is the final story in this issue. It almost seems backwards. This is the full-length Fantastic Four story. That would usually go up front. The first story was a 12-page story which didn’t feature the Fantastic Four at all. That would usually be the back-up. But the 12 page story was better. So Stan put it first.

It’s still weird to me that this is the final thing in the comic, after the reprint and all the bonus material. This is the cover feature, after all.

How is it that we saw Dr. Doom alive in the previous story when clearly he was floating somewhere in space? Sure enough, a ship randomly rescued him… again. This time, it was Rama-Tut.

The story at least acknowledges that Fantastic Four #23 should have been the last we saw of Dr. Doom. It shows us what happened immediately afterwards. Dr. Doom was trapped in space, running out of oxygen reserves and falling toward Jupiter when his unlikely rescue occurred.

Rama-Tut notes this can’t have happened by chance. I’m inclined to agree.

Fantastic Four Annual 2

The Fantastic Origin of Dr. Doom!

Featuring: Dr. Doom
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
Earth-shaking script by: Stan Lee
Breath-taking illustration by: Jack Kirby
Epoch-making delineation by: Chic Stone
No-faking lettering by: S. Rosen
12 pages

We get another 25 cent annual for 72 pages. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual we recently covered was a better deal. That was 72 pages of all new material, which is really quite the bargain for 25 cents. This issue reaches the page count by reprinting Fantastic Four #5. Now, if you’d never read the first appearance of Dr. Doom, and were having trouble finding it, that would make this just as good a deal.

The first page

Confusing opening. It seems to show Dr. Doom in a castle. Yet, we saw Dr. Doom get lost in space in Fantastic Four #23. Of course, he also got lost in space in issue 6 only to be miraculously rescued by the Ovoids. But the odds of something like that happening twice are too improbable to consider. After all, space is big. Perhaps this story is meant to be set before Doom fell into outer space. Because I was sure we’d seen the last of him.

This is the best drawing of Dr. Doom we’ve yet seen. At least, that’s my take. I’d like to see if I can break down what’s leading my instincts to that conclusion.

Journey Into Mystery #108, Story B

Trapped by the Trolls!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Fantastically written by: Stan Lee
Faithfully drawn by: Jack Kirby
Fabulously inked by: Vince Colletta
Finally lettered by: Art Simek
5 pages

The Tales of Asgard features have recently spotlighted Balder and Heimdall before him. Now we are back to tales of a young Thor.

This is a pretty simple tale in which Thor battles Trolls to free their captives.

Journey Into Mystery #108

At the Mercy of Loki, Prince of Evil!

Featuring: Thor
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, the idol of millions!
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the toast of the town!
Inked by: Chic Stone, the man of the hour!
Lettered by Art Simek, the people’s choice!
18 pages

Stan Lee grants himself the tagline that will eventually get applied (usually self-applied) frequently to Ben Grimm: “the idol of millions”.

We get an offbeat opening sequence. Maybe it’s cool. I find it stretches credibility, though I confess a difficulty expressing what doesn’t in Thor stories. Thor appears to go mad, striking the ground with his hammer to create an earthquake. This shaking threw a truck off the ground a few blocks away, just high enough to not hit a boy. I find it hard to believe Thor could be that precise, and that nobody else was injured. Thor claims there was only some damaged property, which could be paid for out of the Avengers emergency fund.

The notable event in this issue is the first meeting of Thor and Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange had just barely defeated Baron Mordo and was left weakened by the battle. Strange fights Mordo pretty often. The last battle we saw was a few months ago and didn’t seem to leave Strange this weakened. There is likely some untold battle between Strange and Mordo that precedes this story.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1, Story C

How Stan Lee and Steve Ditko Create Spider-Man!

Featuring: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Release: June 11, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
By: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
3 pages

Wonderful opening page with the creators, particularly that first panel with Stan and all the characters.

This story is an interesting little artifact. It pokes fun at the two creators and their relationship. Ditko drew the story, seemingly in good humor. This suggests their relationship had not yet fully deteriorated.

Within 2 years, Ditko would leave Marvel over bitter conflict with Stan. He had been refusing to speak to Stan long before he left the series. There are many with more expertise who can give you the behind-the-scenes details, though plenty remain uncertain or debated.