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.
Thing seems overly concerned about the Trio’s escape. This is another example of that trope where characters talk about the villains as though they’re a bigger threat than they are.
Dorrie mentions recently meeting Peter in the current issue of Amazing Spider-Man, an example of the tighter continuity on display. However, it’s so jarring to go from the Johnny/Dorrie dialogue in that excellent comic to the dialogue in this terribly mediocre one. Among other differences, the relationship drama was the story there. Everything tied together nicely. Here it’s an aside, as usual. A single page to hit the same notes of relationship drama, then off to the super-villain battle that has nothing to do with it.
Anyways, my mother had once suggested I find at least one good thing about each issue. I’ve got two for this story. One, I like the sound effects on the penultimate page.
Then I appreciate how they entirely gloss over the ending on the final page. Page 11 shows this train hurtling toward Ben and Johnny, and then it skips ahead half hour. Ben and Johnny are fine and the villains are tied up. They give us one panel to (sort of) show Ben stopping the train, and don’t bother to show the fight with the villains. The artist knows loser villains when he sees them. “I’ll spare ya the rest of the details,” says Ben.
Rating: ★★½, 41/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
You can find this story in Marvel Masterworks: Human Torch vol. 2 or The Human Torch & The Thing: Strange Tales – The Complete Collection. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Handsome Harry Phillips
- Bull Brogin
- Yogi Dakor
- Thing
- Human Torch/Johnny Storm
- Dorrie Evans
Story notes:
- Perils of Pauline reference.
- References to Amazing Spider-Man #21, Fantastic Four #23, and Strange Tales #122.
- Human Torch recaps powers of Trio, but leaves out that Dakor is flame-proof.
- Dakor’s abilities described as “Oriental magic tricks”.
- Letters page notes Bob Powell will be the celebrity artist next issue. Notes he used to do fantasy comics for Marvel and has recently been working in the mens magazines side of the company.
- Letter page notes Ben and Johnny will meet the Beatles next issue.
| 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 |
