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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Featuring: Captain America Release: November 10, 1964 Cover: February 1965 12 cents Pow! script: Stan Lee Wham! art: Jack Kirby Zowie! inking: Chic Stone Ulp! lettering: Art Simek 10 pages
The title brings to mind the classic 1954 film, Riot in Cell Block 11. Perhaps an intentional homage?
These opening credits left me with some fascinating questions. “Pow! Wham!” is forever associated with the medium of comics and the superhero genre, an association devotees of both often bemoan. People rightfully want to make clear that comics is a broad medium and not just superheroes and silliness. Others want to argue that the superhero genre is not children’s stuff, despite the fact that it evidently is.
I am not certain when this association between these sound effects and comics first took place. I believe the 1966 Batman television series really cemented it in the wider public consciousness. These onomatopoeic effects go back to the earliest days of the medium and we’ve seen plenty of sound effects in our reading. What is interesting here is that they are presented as a gag which presupposes the association of these words and superheroes, as well as the choice of words. “Pow” and “Wham”. These seem the sound effects most associated with superheroes (perhaps along with Biff! and Bam!), though I can’t say we’ve seen them any more than other sound effects in our reading.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: November 10, 1964 Cover: February 1965 12 cents Brashly written by: Stan Lee Boldly drawn by: Don Heck Brazenly inked by: Dick Ayers Bashfully lettered by: S. Rosen 12 pages
Now that the issue is dual-featured, with each feature of similar importance, they need to think of different ways to highlight two pictures on the cover. We’ve seen the Iron Man picture embedded in the Captain America picture, while consuming a large chunk of the real estate, forming the main art of the Cap picture into an ‘L’. We’ve seen 2 separate pictures placed onto the mat at odd angles like postcards dropped on a canvas. The most conventional format will be a split-screen, either horizontal or vertical. This one is basically a horizontal split, but with a slanted line. It feels like the Iron Man portion wastes the portion of the image where it has the space. The Cap portion has extra space on the left and puts Cap himself there. Iron Man is squeezed into the small space on the left, and the extra space on the right is devoted to landscape.
Apparently Marvel had received more than 500 requests for the origin of the Mandarin.
If you look to the Best we’ve read page, it will become obvious the origin stories tend to be my favorite comics. At present, I see a full quarter of the list are origin stories, including the top 3 entries. Conversely, almost every major origin we’ve read is represented. (Sorry to Ant-Man, Thor, and Watcher.) Therefore I’m excited whenever we get a new origin story… unless it’s Mandarin’s story.
Featuring: Captain America Release: October 8, 1964 Cover: January 1965 12 cents Stan Lee writer par excellence! Jack Kirby illustrator without peer! Chic Stone delineator extaordinaire! Artie Simek letterer– what else? 10 pages
Captain America goes to Vietnam and fights a sumo wrestler. I usually associate sumo wrestling with Japan, and suspect that Stan and Jack just haven’t thought too hard about the differences between Vietnam and Japan. However, culture does spread in our modern world, and I can’t confirm Vietnam didn’t have any sumo wrestlers in the 1960s, so I’m going to give them a pass.
Captain America is fighting the Commies. This brings to mind his very brief 1954 return as “Captain America… Commie Smasher!” Of course, those stories are hard to reconcile with the modern Marvel Age continuity in which Captain America was frozen in ice from 1945 to 1963. How could he then have been fighting Commies in 1954?
Featuring: Iron Man Release: October 8, 1964 Cover: January 1965 12 cents Story by: Stan Lee because we wanted the best! Art by: Don Heck because we wanted the finest! Inking by: Dick Ayers because we wanted the tops! Lettering by: S. Rosen because we wanted to keep him busy! 12 pages
The cover boasts that Tony Stark will die at the hands of the Mandarin. Covers often exaggerate or outright fabricate such things. This caption is closer to true than usual, though.
We are informed the Mandarin returns by overwhelming popular demand. I was not given a vote. He remains my least favorite Marvel villain.
We meet Inspector Flint, investigating the disappearance of Tony Stark. I spent some mental cycles trying to decide if he was the unnamed inspector we met last issue. He resembles that inspector, and it makes sense he would still be on the case. However, since he introduces himself to Happy and Pepper, that implies they’ve never met. So I assume he is a different inspector.
A journalist overhears Flint talking to Happy and Pepper, so the papers reveal that Iron Man is top suspect in Stark disappearance. Clearly, Iron Man is the only suspect. Either Stark is on vacation like Iron Man claimed, or Iron Man is lying. So if there is a criminal case, Iron Man is at the center of it. Or, Iron Man is telling the truth, and there is no criminal case.
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: October 8, 1864 Cover: January 1965 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee– unchallenged master of the dramatic word! Drawn by: Steve Ditko– unquestioned innovator of the occult illustration! Lettered by: Artie Simek– unabashed purveyor of the captivating caption! 10 pages
Dr. Strange gets more cover real estate than usual.
Recall that after last issue’s epic battle with Dormammu, Dr. Strange was rewarded with a more powerful amulet and a new cape. The narrator here notes the amulet and new powers of levitation. This seems to imply the cape itself bestows the power of levitation. Dr. Strange confirms this at the end of the story.
A man comes to Dr. Strange seeking help. He had become the disciple of a magician known as the Demon and wishes to leave the Demon’s service. The Demon summons him back before Dr. Strange can help.
