art simek – Page 19 – Coke & Comics

Avengers #7

Their Darkest Hour!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Magnificently written by: Stan Lee
Majestically illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Masterfully inked by: Chic Stone
Meticulously lettered by: Art Simek
22 pages

In Tales of Suspense #56, Tony Stark very briefly flirted with giving up his Iron Man identity. He now faces a board of inquiry for his failure to answer an Avengers call. At that very moment, Odin is rendering judgment on Enchantress and Executioner for their part in the events of Journey Into Mystery #103. These events show the ever-tightening interconnectedness of the series.

Recall that Thor’s title went over a dozen issues without referencing or being referenced by any other series. There was no evidence it was set in the same world as that of the other heroes. Now, they are rather intertwined.

But continuity brings continuity errors, even when a single writer is nominally writing every title. The inquiry is tricky to reconcile with the details of Tales of Suspense #56 in a few ways. Thor charges Iron Man with ignoring a call. However, the Avengers didn’t really know how to contact him and never reached him. They talked to Mr. Stark’s secretary. She was able to talk to Mr. Stark, but never (as far as anyone knows) Iron Man. It would be like somebody who doesn’t know my phone number charging me with not answering my phone they didn’t call.

Secondly, they were trying to contact Iron Man to ask him to look into the Unicorn. Within a couple hours of that failed call, Iron Man did indeed find, battle, and defeat the Unicorn. So they attempted to contact Iron Man, didn’t know how to, never reached him, and thus it was, say, 2 hours between their attempt at contact and his completing the mission they sought to assign him. That hardly seems worth an inquiry.

There was no mention of this coming inquiry in the Iron Man comic. In fact, at the time, the Avengers all seemed to agree that Iron Man was in his rights to live his own life.

Journey Into Mystery #107, Story B

Balder Must Die!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written and drawn by the prize-winning team of: Stan (The Man) Lee and Jack (King) Kirby
Inked by: Vince Colletta
Lettering: Art Simek
5 pages

For several months now, Stan has used all kind of creative license in the credits, applying clever nicknames to everybody. Two months ago in Fantastic Four #28, Jack was referred to as “The King”. Now, we get the credits that will resonate through the decades and become basically the official nicknames of the famous duo: “Stan (The Man) Lee and Jack (King) Kirby”.

This might be the first time they’ve ever shown up. Certainly that I’ve come across. Caveat that I’m reading these Marvel stories in reprints, so miss many house ads and letters pages, which are likely sources of the nicknames. This is definitely the first time we’ve seen both “The Man” and “King” within an issue’s credits.

This is the second story starring Balder, depicted here in what looks to be a Disney movie. Loki is jealous of the favoritism Odin shows to Balder, second only to his love for Thor. Loki decides to kill Balder. The only snag is the gift of invulnerability Odin had bestowed upon Balder last issue.

Journey Into Mystery #107

When the Grey Gargoyle Strikes!

Featuring: Thor
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, who needs the money
Drawn by: Jack Kirby, who enjoys the practice
Inked by: Chic Stone, who loves the publicity
Lettered by: Art Simek, whoever he is!
18 pages

We get a significant new addition to the canon of Marvel villains with the Grey Gargoyle. He’s got a pretty cool hook; he turns people to stone. In whatever early comics I first saw the character in, I didn’t fully appreciate the name. I got the alliteration and that gargoyles are often rendered in stone. But there’s a little more to it that I think later artists would fail to capture. We see in this initial image of the character that Kirby really has gone out of his way to make it so he can look like a gargoyle in the right pose.

It’s a particularly good opening splash page, and that’s before we even get to the light poetry of the narration rhyming: “small” with “all”.

Tales of Suspense #56, Story B

The Watcher’s Sacrifice!

Featuring: Watcher
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script + art: Larry Lieber
Inking: Geo. Bell
Lettering: Art Simek
5 pages

This story makes me cringe a bit.

There have always been off-color jokes made about the character of the Watcher, suggesting a certain voyeurism to his character. After all, he watches. There seem to be no limits to what we can or will watch. Personal privacy is not a particular concern of his.

I have always taken such comments as jest and not a serious critique of the character of the Watcher, who, after all, is an impossibly advanced cosmic being, indistinguishable to us from a god.

But then we come to this story. Where he falls in love with a woman he is watching.

Amazing Spider-Man #15

Kraven the Hunter!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (because we couldn’t afford Mickey Spillane)
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko (because Picasso was out of town)
Lettered by: Art Simek (because his name fits this space)
22 pages

I feel like the golden era of Ditko coming up with cool Spider-Man villains may be over. At least Kraven is more interesting than Green Goblin. Like Green Goblin, it’s generally agreed the best story for each is the one where they die.

I will give Green Goblin and Kraven credit for one thing… they’re different from the other villains. They’re both unique, for better or worse.

But, while one form of Goblin or another was the villain or a background threat for the first four Spider-Man films, we’re seven films in without so much as a hint of Kraven. Guy’s gotta be a little insulted.

Kraven’s motive is different from the other villains we’ve met. He’s not interested in money, power or revenge. His goal is sport. His namesake is not an animal like many of Spider-Man’s villains, but his outfit does suggest a lion motif.

The story begins with the return of Spider-Man’s first super-villain foe: the Chameleon, who we learn is an old friend of Kraven the Hunter.

While Chameleon’s mask has the same basic idea as before, it’s been cleaned up and altered. This new look will endure for 60 years.

Strange Tales #123, Story B

The Challenge of Loki!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan (Miracle Man) Lee
Illustrated by: Steve (Marvel Man) Ditko
Inked by: George (Mystical Man) Bell
Lettered by: Art (Magical Man) Simek
9 pages

This is the most cover real estate Dr. Strange has yet gotten. A full vertical half of the page. Really moving up in the world.

Stan’s “clever credits” aren’t entirely original this time. He refers to himself as Miracle Man… but that was already a name he himself gave to a Fantastic Four villain. Marvelman is the British superhero who is not actionably copied from Captain Marvel.

For the entirety of the series, as well as of Amazing Spider-Man, Ditko has done all his own art. For the best. For the next three issues, George Roussos will be inking Ditko on Dr. Strange. It is a sad sight to see.

Stan the narrator often speaks directly to the audience, and he often apologizes to them. I haven’t taken note of any apologies prior to this, but it almost seems like he’s trying to apologize that Thor looks different from normal. Because Ditko’s style isn’t Kirby’s.

Tales to Astonish #58

The Coming of… Colossus

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written completely by: Stan Lee
Illustrated neatly by: Dick Ayers
Inked discreetly by: P. Reinman
Lettered sweetly by: Art Simek
16 pages

Wasp notes it’s skiing season. This note is very important for chronologists. I myself haven’t paid close attention to seasons, but experts in this field think very hard about the seasons, and how they relate to the school years of Peter Parker and Johnny Storm. The Official Marvel Index to the Avengers notes this story takes place in February, likely with references like the “skiing season” quote in mind.

It’s now been two issues since Hank bought that engagement ring, but he hasn’t mentioned it again. The relationship drama is now centered around the amount of time he spends in his lab, to the neglect of his girlfriend. She complains he has a test tube instead of a heart.

Journey Into Mystery #106, Story B

The Brave

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written with passion by: Stan Lee
Drawn with pageantry by: Jack Kirby
Inked with power by: Vince Colletta
Lettered with pride by: Art Simek
5 pages

We recently met Vince Colletta over in Daredevil. This issue begins Vince Colletta’s long relationship with Thor, spanning almost a decade. He will be the regular inker on “Tales of Asgard” from here on out, and soon graduate to the main title. He will be the inker for over 60 consecutive issues and remain a frequent inker on the title thereafter.

Contrasting his work with, say, Chic Stone, we see more hatchings to represent shadow and shape than we have been seeing, yet less crispness. The features are often softer and less defined. I’ve seen it described as “atmospheric”.

The next two chapters of “Tales of Asgard” will focus on Balder. Let’s review his history.

Journey Into Mystery #106

The Thunder God Strikes Back!

Featuring: Thor
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written fairly well by: Stan Lee
Drawn not too badly by: Jack Kirby
Inked kinda nice by: Chic Stone
Lettered pretty fair by: Art Simek
18 pages

This issue picks up less than 60 seconds after the last issue ended. Cobra has stolen Thor’s hammer with a machine and Thor is about to revert to Don Blake.

I can’t believe we have another 18 pages of Thor fighting Cobra and Mr. Hyde.

This idea of spreading a story over multiple issues is becoming a thing. We made it through over a year of stories without it ever happening. Not only were stories resolved in an issue, but they were usually resolved within a dozen pages, leaving room for other stories. It takes a hefty 36 pages to conclude this battle. The famous origin of Spider-Man took only 11.

The first hint of change was the Fantastic Four battle with Dr. Doom taking place over Fantastic Four #16–17. But even that was really two distinct stories; the first just ended with Doom’s escape, so they had another Doom story right after. Amazing Spider-Man #11–12 is a similar flavor; each issue tells a complete story, but Dr. Octopus remains the villain across the issues. We’ve had the one big story, the Hulk story in Fantastic Four #25–26, which itself tied into plot threads from Avengers #2-5. But that was epic enough to justify its length. Giant-Man and Wasp inaugurated the pointless two-parter with their battle against the Human Top. Thor’s title has gone all in on the idea, as his battles with both Mr. Hyde and Tomorrow Man took two issues for no particular reason. Iron Man recently followed suit with his battle against Mandarin, also stretched over two issues.

The multi-part story will soon become the rule rather than the exception, including two giant upcoming epics. These multi-part arcs make deciding on a reading order difficult. In general, I’ve been trying to go month by month, but I’d also like to keep these multi-part stories together, which is going to require some shifting around.

Journey Into Mystery #105, Story B

When Heimdall Failed!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: April 2, 1964
Cover: June 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Geo Bell
Lettering: Art Simek
5 pages

Recall that last issue, we learned the origin of Heimdall. This issue we get another Heimdall tale, before the spotlight shifts to Balder starting next issue.

Nedra hatches a plot with Brimer, King of the Storm Giants, to invade Asgard, even under Heimdall’s watch. Nothing can escape his sight or hearing, but the air creatures known as the Vanna can be neither seen nor heard.

Nonetheless, Heimdall senses the approaching Vanna and lashes out. He misses and is uncertain whether to trust his own instincts.