Reading the Marvel Universe – Page 30

Strange Tales #129, Story B

Tiboro! The Tyrant of the Sixth Dimension!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee, and his magic typewriter.
Script by: Don Rico, and his mystic fountain pen.
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko, and his miraculous lead pencil.
Lettered by: Sam Rosen, and his melancholy penpoint.
10 pages

Previous	#300!	Next
Strange Tales #129	Reading order	Fantastic Four #35
Strange Tales #129	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #130

Welcome to the 300th Marvel Age story! We’re almost 1% finished!

I think the periods that end each credit above are the first periods we have ever seen. Stan Lee holds to a pretty strict exclamation point-only policy. But then, Stan Lee didn’t write this.

For the second time this month, and the second time in our entire Marvel Age reading, Stan Lee claims no story credit for the issue. His name still comes first, but he takes credit for editing. The only other time we’ve seen this is with Tales to Astonish #64, published just a week earlier, and scripted by Leon Lazarus.

Rumor is that publisher Martin Goodman was concerned of the power Lee held by being the sole writer on these increasingly successful titles, and instructed Lee to diversify the writing staff. However, neither Rico nor Lazarus became regular writers. So if that was Goodman’s intent, he was not successful.

We’ve met Don Rico twice before, though he used the alias of N. Korok, when he worked on Tales of Suspense #52–53 and helped introduce Black Widow. The first time we saw him work with Stan, Stan credited himself with “story” and Rico with “plot”. I don’t know the difference either.

This is Rico’s final scripting assignment for Marvel, a company he’s worked for off and on for 25 years at this point. It’s pretty close to his last comics work. He’d basically already left comics behind for prose writing at this point. A couple miscellaneous pieces in the 70s, including the art for a short Captain America story.

Don Rico passed away in 1985 at the age of 72.

Strange Tales #129

The Terrible Trio!

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee (as if you didn’t know!)
Pencilling by: Dick Ayers (as if anyone cares!)
Inking by: Frankie Ray (as if it matters)
Lettering by: Art Simek (as if things aren’t bad enough!)
12 pages

Previous	#299	Next
Amazing Spider-Man #21	Reading order	Strange Tales #129, Story B
Strange Tales #128, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #129, Story B

Dr. Doom’s loser henchmen return, and Lee is still convinced that’s more interesting to spotlight than whatever Dr. Strange is up to this issue. At least Stan acknowledges Dr. Strange’s existence with a caption on the cover.

The loser henchmen now have a name. They are the Terrible Trio. They even have a cool logo design, where their name appears to be shaking.

It will be 15 years before a writer thinks they’re worth bringing back.

Frank Giacoia returns as inker. We met him last issue, where he used the pen name “Frank Ray”. Now he’s settled into the more informal “Frankie Ray”, which he will be better known as.

Amazing Spider-Man #21

Where Flies the Beetle…!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Deliciously written by: Stan Lee
Deliriously illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Delightfully lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#298	Next
Sgt. Fury #14	Reading order	Strange Tales #129
Amazing Spider-Man #20	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #22

What a beautiful cover. One of my favorites yet. Definitely my favorite Spider-Man cover so far. I like the way Ditko contorts Spider-Man in the air. It’s never straightforward, and decades of artists have tried to imitate his many posings. It’s just such a nice rendering of Spider-Man, who’s always at his best when at least somewhat upside down.

Ditko’s got the Beetle lurking off in the corner, just to show there is a villain. He keeps the focus on the actually visually interesting characters.

And then the opening splash page is basically an alternative cover, this one showing Spider-Man directly in combat with the Beetle, again with Spidey’s body flying through the air in his inimitable style.

This is one of the most underrated Spider-Man stories of all time. You’ll easily notice my Best We’ve Read page has more than its share of Spider-Man stories, as they are simply head and shoulders above all the other Marvel comics of this era. The highest rated Spidey stories won’t surprise people who love Spider-Man stories. I’ve spent a lot of time reading people’s opinions on Spider-Man stories, looking at lists of the best Spider-Man stories. His origin and the Sinister Six story, those are everybody’s favorite. While you may hear less of it, for those in the know, the End of Spider-Man story is spoken of with sufficient reverence. As is his unmasking by Dr. Octopus and first battles against Doc Ock, Vulture, and Electro. I’ve heard people cite the Scorpion battle and even the Green Goblin battle as their favorite stories.

But I never hear anybody talk about how great Spider-Man’s first battle against the Beetle is. Let’s correct that.

Sgt. Fury #14

The Blitzkrieg Squad of Baron Strucker!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Written with the explosive power of a live grenade by: Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee
Drawn with the savage impact of a block-buster by: Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers
Inked with the smashing force of a Sherman tank by: Geo. Bell
Lettered with a brand new bottle of India ink by: Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#297	Next
Tales to Astonish #64	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #21
Sgt. Fury #13	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #15

We’ve met Baron Strucker twice before. Fury’s only recurring foe at this point. But now he’s got his own team of commandos backing him up, the Blitzkrieg Squad.

The idea of the Blitzkrieg Squad is that each is specifically chosen to be a match for a commando. The brawler matches Dugan; the charmer, Manelli; the musician, Gabe; the mechanic, Izzy; the horseman, Reb; the aristrocrat, Percy.

I was a bit confused by the word “Junker” in the context and had to look it up. It refers to a Prussian noble, not somebody who trades in scraps.

Tales to Astonish #64

When Attuma Strikes!

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: November 3, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Edited by smilin’ Stan Lee
Written by laughin’ Leon Lazarus
Pencilled by capricious Carl Burgos
Inked by peerless Paul Reinman
Lettered by sparkling Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#296	Next
X-Men #9	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #14
Tales to Astonish #63, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #64, Story B

You’re correct, reader, that we have not finished Tales to Astonish #63 yet. We will get there. Hulk is involved in one big story, while Giant-Man and Wasp have shorter adventures which take place weaved around their Avengers adventures. It’s a tricky thing to negotiate. We’re not going to finish this comic right now either. We’ll come back to the Hulk story another day.

We get something new here. Leon Lazarus is not a name we’ve seen before. It honestly sounds a little made up. An alliterative name like that often turns out to be an alias in these stories. Especially with a biblical last name like Lazarus, a word common in superhero stories to describe effects that raise the dead (e.g. the Lazarus Pit used by Batman’s foe Ra’s Al Ghul).

And Stan Lee claims no writing credit. He’s been the sole credited writer on everything for the last year or so. And even when there were other credited scripters, Stan Lee claimed credit for the “story” or “plot” or such. This is the very first time in any Marvel Age story that Stan did not claim story credit.

Of course, Stan’s name still goes first in the credits, as the editor.

So who is Leon Lazarus? What is his real name? Why did he decide to start writing for Marvel now?

X-Men #9

Enter, The Avengers!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: November 3, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Savagely written by: Stan Lee
Supremely drawn by: Jack Kirby
Superbly inked by: Chic Stone
Stoically lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#295	Next
Avengers #12	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #64
X-Men #8	X-Men	X-Men #10

The cover promises the return of Professor X. He left the team in issue 7, leaving Cyclops in charge. We haven’t seen him since, except for a brief appearance in issue 8 where he and Cyclops have a telepathic chat. Anyway, now it’s issue 9 and we get the long-awaited return of Professor X.

Also, the X-Men meet the Avengers!

Of course, they fight.

Avengers #12

This Hostage Earth!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Written in the Marvel manner by smilin’ Stan Lee
Illustrated in the Marvel tradition by dazzlin’ Don Heck
Delineated in the Marvel style by darlin’ Dick Ayers
Lettered in the nick of time by swingin’ Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#294	Next
Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B	Reading order	X-Men #9
Avengers #11	Avengers	Avengers #13

Avengers. Mole Man. Let’s check it out.

Mole Man is plotting to conquer the world. Ants are the first to notice his schemes, and they warn Giant-Man who warns the Avengers who… don’t take the ants seriously.

Iron Man is rocking those roller skates!

The moral of the story is to take warnings from ants seriously.

Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B

The Coming of Loki!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: November 3, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Majestically written by: Stan Lee
Magnificently drawn by: Jack Kirby
Masterfully inked by: Vince Colletta
Magnanimously lettered by: Artie Simek
5 pages

Previous	#293	Next
Journey Into Mystery #112	Reading order	Avengers #12
Journey Into Mystery #112	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #113

We see this story described as the start of a new biography in-depth. There won’t be that much depth. What’s meant is that we have had sequences of this series devoted to Heimdall and Balder respectively. It’s now Loki’s turn to take the spotlight for the next few issues.

This story is set when Thor is a young child, and the universe as well is young. Odin is solidifying his rule and Asgard is at war with Jotunheim. Jotunheim is a land of giants and Laufey is their king. Odin seeks to end Laufey’s rule.

We have before met Frost Giants, Storm Giants, Rime Giants, and Mountain Giants. The inhabitants of Jotunheim are here just referred to as giants. Later comic stories will suggest Laufey is actually a Frost Giant, but he looks nothing like Ymir.

Odin is wielding what appears to be the uru hammer he would later give to Thor.

Journey Into Mystery #112

The Mighty Thor Battles the Incredible Hulk!

Featuring: Thor
Release: November 3, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
A Stan Lee-Jack Kirby Marvel Masterwork!
Inking by: Chic Stone
Lettering by: S. Rosen
16 pages

Previous	#292	Next
Avengers #11	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #111, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B

Lee and Kirby seem to share top billing in the credits (Lee’s name first, of course) without breaking down who did what.

It’s interesting that they wanted Thor to battle the Hulk, but rather than have Thor battle the Hulk, they had Thor tell a story set in the past. Perhaps Hulk is too busy with the ongoing Leader Saga to be able to appear in Thor’s book. Stan is perhaps becoming aware his fans expect continuity and resorting to tricks not to break it.

Thor tells children a story when he sees them arguing over who is stronger: Thor or Hulk. Superhero fans have asked such questions for decades, and Stan had likely received more than a few letters asking the question. As he’s done before, he puts the fans’ queries–and the fans themselves– directly into the story.

I love the Hulk/Thor signs the kids made, and just how passionate and angry they all seem about this important question.

Thor’s tale is set in the middle of Avengers #3, expanding the story told then. Recall the Avengers battled Hulk and Sub-Mariner in Gibraltar.

Avengers #11

Spider-Man!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: October 8, 1964
Cover: December 1964
12 cents
Spectacular story by: Stan Lee
Incomparable illustrations by: Don Heck
Dazzling delineation by: Chic Stone
Lachrymose lettering by: Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#291	Next
Tales of Suspense #62, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #112
Avengers #10	Avengers	Avengers #12

Don Heck is still the artist, but this time with inks by Chic Stone. I think it’s the first time we’ve seen the combo. Stone is easily my favorite Kirby inker so far; their pairing has that very classic pop art feel. Paired with Heck, they do a passable job, certainly better than the last two issues with Heck/Ayers.

But nobody, not even Kirby, can get Spider-Man right. The cover would seem to prove me a liar, as it’s Kirby’s best take on Spider-Man yet. But that’s likely because it’s mostly Ditko. Nick Caputo examines the question of who drew what on the cover on his blog Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae.

I think Heck has been doing fine work on Iron Man. Avengers is a bit harder because it’s got so many characters. And we’ve reached the point where Stan is “writing” everything, which means he’s mostly relying on the artists to come up with the stories themselves. I think Heck is a good artist but just struggled with the weight of it all. It doesn’t help that he’s being constantly compared to Kirby and Ditko in this era.