Featuring: Spider-Man Release: September 8, 1966 Cover: December 1966 12 cents Stan (The Man) Lee, writer John (Ring-a-ding) Romita, artist Artie (stout-hearted) Simek, letterer 20 pages
Aunt May had been trying to set up Peter with Anna Watson’s niece since he was in high school. Her matchmaking finally paid off, and Peter met Mary Jane Watson at the end of last issue.
She was not quite as ugly as he’d feared.
Dinner is going well, but there are other things going on that will affect Peter’s life. For example, the Rhino is breaking out of prison. They took him out easily with some smoke gas last issue. But maybe they ran out of smoke gas?
Featuring: Spider-Man Release: July 7, 1966 Cover: October 1966 12 cents Stan Lee, writer John Romita, artist M. Demeo, inker Art Simek, letterer 20 pages
I realize now– we never had anything in common! It’s just that she was the first girl I ever thought i loved!
One of the great things Ditko did was come up with a seemingly endless stream of memorable and enduring villains for Spider-Man to fight. A good many were animal-themed: the Chameleon, the Vulture, Dr. Octopus, the Lizard, the Scorpion, and the lion-themed Kraven the Hunter.
Romita needs to score with a bold new villain in that vein. The Rhino suffices.
For much of the Ditko run, Aunt May had been trying to set Peter up with Aunt Anna’s niece, Mary Jane Watson. Peter never made time for that date, and we’ve still never even seen Mary Jane’s face. Now we learn Mary Jane is moving out of Aunt Anna’s to get her own place.
A lot of teenagers in that neighborhood living with elderly aunts. I wonder how long she’d lived across the street from Peter without him ever even glimpsing her.
The Trap is Sprung Featuring: Daredevil Release: August 2, 1966 Cover: October 1966 12 cents Spellbinding script: Stan Lee Phenominal pencilling; Gene Colan Dynamic delineation: Fearless Frank * Darlin’ Dick * Wild Bill Laudatory lettering: Artie Simek Bombastic bird-watching: Irving Forbush 20 pages
In this court– presided over by the Owl– I make my own laws!
I’m a little confused about who the inker is. GCD claims Esposito, who we see credited in the reprint below by his standard pen name, Mickey Demeo. The GCD also claims the original comic has this credit. UHBMCC claims that the original comic credits Giacoia. Earth’s Mightiest Blog has a scan of what looks like the original credits, and it’s Giacoia.
Looking at various collections on my shelves, the Epic Collection and Marvel Masterworks volumes credit Frank Giacoia; but the Essential Daredevil credits Esposito.
Here’s the original art for the issue, which has Giacoia, though you can see it appears to be a last minute change over a whited-out name.
Note about pencilling that John Romita is too busy polishing off the Amazing Spider-Man Annual. Though he only does the layouts for that comic.
In fact, Colan turns out to not just be filling in. As of this issue, he’ll be the regular penciler on Daredevil for the next several years, freeing Romita to focus on Spider-Man.
Featuring: Thor Release: November 3, 1966 Cover: January 1967 12 cents A proud phantasmagoria of pageantry, presented by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Delineated by Vince Colletta Lettered by Artie Simek 16 pages
I did but provide the time– the setting– But, only in the heart can be found the final enchanted ingredient– men call love!
Let’s reflect on the relationship between Jane, Don, and Thor. To understand this love triangle, we first need to understand the relationship between Don and Thor. And we don’t.
We reflected on the nature of their relationship back in issue 129. It seems Don is Thor and Thor is Don. They have two bodies, but one mind, one set of thoughts, and one heart, one set of feelings.
There is plenty of evidence to contradict that interpretation, but that is how they are usually written. Don is Thor and Thor is Don. Don is mortal and Thor is immortal. Thor is ancient, older than humanity, and had a life long before Don. And Don presumably had a life before Thor, before he found that cane in the mountain. Though we have learned very little about that life, only that he had studied medicine and become a world-renowned surgeon and robotics expert. We’ve seen no glimpses of his past life, nor met any relatives. But presumably he has these things. But now he is Thor. Mind, heart, soul.
In fact, Thor and Don seem closer than Hulk and Banner. Who definitely seem to to be two distinct characters with opinions about the other, who share only some thoughts and feelings.
Featuring: Thor Release: October 4, 1966 Cover: December 1966 12 cents A Stan Lee * Jack Kirby feature fantasy! Delineation by: Vincent Colletta Lettering by: Artie Simek 16 pages
“The universe is vast, beloved– and doth contain worlds without limit! One such world shall someday be home for the Knights of Wundagore! Then mayhap a new star shall burn more brightly!” “And when it does, we two will know the reason why!”
It will be later in the issue before anybody names this new villain. The title and cover suggest his name is the Super-Beast. So that is what we will call him. Though the next issue blurb last issue had referred to him as the Man-Beast.
Super-Beast’s thing is that he has undergone a million years of evolution. He’s a mix not just of man and wolf, but of where man and wolf will be in a million years.
So he knows future karate and generally has knowledge of future combat. He knows science that won’t be discovered by humanity for tens of thousands of years.
But does any of that make sense? Is knowledge an evolutionary or genetic trait?
Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: September 1, 1966 Cover: November 1966 12 cents A Stan Lee * Jack Kirby pictorial presentation Delineated by: Vincent Colletta Lettered by: Artie Simek 5 pages
In this land once lived an evil race who dared defy regal Odin himself! So monumental was Odin’s wrath, that he laid waste to the countryside, so that nothing here could live!
We get a clean beginning to a new arc. The cleanest break between stories in a while, but I’m still just reading these Tales of Asgard stories alongside the main Thor adventures without regard to their flow.
Thor and his three warrior friends ride to Nastrond. Here there once lived “an evil race” who “dared defy Odin”. So Odin laid waste the countryside so that nothing could live there. This is referred to as Odin’s kingly wrath.
Perhaps it’s worth reflecting on how righteous Odin really is here. Or how wise. Thor does not take this time to reflect. He just seems rather impressed by what to me seems like Odin’s utter madness.
Featuring: Thor Release: August 2, 1966 Cover: October 1966 12 cents Star-studded script: Stan Lee Planet-pounding pencilling: Jack Kirby Real Rigellian rendering: Vince Colletta Lots of little lettering: Artie Simek 16 pages
Every part of this planet upon which we stand is verily a part of Ego! He is everywhere– he is everything! He is a living world!
I’d like to say I own this comic, but really I own some fraction of this comic, as a lot of pages have been ripped out of my copy. I’m sure I didn’t know that when I bought it. I’m not too picky about condition. I look for “readable” copies… but readable includes having all the pages.
Wonder what I paid for it. I have no idea because I have tens of thousands of these things. Not even sure where I bought it. Probably at some comic convention with a couple hundred other comics I thought would help me complete the Marvel Universe so that one day I could read through all of them in order. Presumably it was pretty cheap– that’s what I was always looking for.
I spoke at length about how cool I thought it was when Ditko introduced a being that was also a universe. So of course I also think it’s cool when Kirby introduces a being who is also a planet. Not as cool as being a universe, of course. But still cool.
Thor is also impressed, and you figure this is a guy who’s been around and seen some stuff. He says that the planet developed a face right in front of them and then they heard it speak.
Now, even if a planet could speak, there’s presumably no way it could transmit that voice across space. Unless the substance of this Black Galaxy is really different from our universe. Or unless the planet is broadcasting its speech through some other means than sound, some form of transverse wave.
Reminder of where we are. Tana Nile has conquered Earth via a Space Lock. The Space Lock was controlled from Rigel, so Thor went there to free Earth. The Rigellians agreed to free Earth if Thor dealt with the menace of the Black Galaxy. So here is Thor, accompanied by a Recorder, confronting Ego, the living planet.
So! Thou wouldst trifle with Volstagg? Know you that my very belly is more than a match for a dozen such as thee!
It’s been a minute. We were in the middle of the Harokin/Warlock’s Eye saga. I’ve decided not to worry about the flow of the Tales of Asgard feature, and just read them as back-ups to the Thor comics, as they were published. So because we paused Thor’s story in the main stories, we paused here.
But now it’s been 9 months and we need to remember things. Harokin has used the Warlock’s Eye to conquer Muspelheim. Thor looks enough like Harokin that he thinks he can disguise himself as Harokin and do some subterfuge.
Ay! The gladness in his heart doth make mine own regal soul rejoice! Too long hath he been brother to sorrow! Too long hath grim duty o’ershadowed his days! Yet, a feeling of unease lies within my heart! I fear that happiness may still be denied to the so-richly-deserving, most noble Thor!
Thor’s comic has become one ongoing saga to the point where it’s hard to figure out where to cut. We obviously did cut after the last issue, which basically ended the Hercules/Pluto saga. But here we are picking up right where that left off, with Thor and Hercules returning from the Netherworld to Olympus.
We’re just going to plow through the next 6 issues of Thor, getting a bit ahead in time of the rest of the Marvel Universe. There are probably 3 distinct arcs among them, but they all just flow together. Really, the main plot of this issue has been building for a bit now. Jane has had a strange roommate named Tana Nile, who’s up to some stuff. It’s been in the background, but now comes to the foreground. And Jane’s encounter with Tana Nile will be the springboard for the next two arcs.
Of course the other springboard is Thor’s decision to marry Jane, even though a god and a mortal may not marry. Thor is ready to surrender his immortality for this.
