Trapped by the Trolls!
Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Fantastically written by: Stan Lee
Faithfully drawn by: Jack Kirby
Fabulously inked by: Vince Colletta
Finally lettered by: Art Simek
5 pages
The Tales of Asgard features have recently spotlighted Balder and Heimdall before him. Now we are back to tales of a young Thor.
This is a pretty simple tale in which Thor battles Trolls to free their captives.
Continue reading “Journey Into Mystery #108, Story B”At the Mercy of Loki, Prince of Evil!
Featuring: Thor
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, the idol of millions!
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the toast of the town!
Inked by: Chic Stone, the man of the hour!
Lettered by Art Simek, the people’s choice!
18 pages
Stan Lee grants himself the tagline that will eventually get applied (usually self-applied) frequently to Ben Grimm: “the idol of millions”.
We get an offbeat opening sequence. Maybe it’s cool. I find it stretches credibility, though I confess a difficulty expressing what doesn’t in Thor stories. Thor appears to go mad, striking the ground with his hammer to create an earthquake. This shaking threw a truck off the ground a few blocks away, just high enough to not hit a boy. I find it hard to believe Thor could be that precise, and that nobody else was injured. Thor claims there was only some damaged property, which could be paid for out of the Avengers emergency fund.
The notable event in this issue is the first meeting of Thor and Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange had just barely defeated Baron Mordo and was left weakened by the battle. Strange fights Mordo pretty often. The last battle we saw was a few months ago and didn’t seem to leave Strange this weakened. There is likely some untold battle between Strange and Mordo that precedes this story.
Continue reading “Journey Into Mystery #108”The Dreaded Diablo!
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: June 6, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (A rather nice writer)
Drawn by: Jack Kirby (A quite noteworthy artist)
Inked by: Chic Stone (A somewhat nifty inker)
Lettered by: Art Simek (An occasionally neat letterer)
22 pages
On vacation in Transylvania, the Fantastic Four awaken Diablo, an evil alchemist sealed in his crypt 100 years earlier.
Diablo gives Thing a potion which turns him into a prettier (?) version of himself, which leads to Thing betraying the Fantastic Four to join Diablo. Diablo proceeds to make himself wealthy by selling a variety of miracle potions to the world.
Paste-Pot Pete
Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Darlin’ Dick Ayers
Inked by: Peerless P. Reinman
Lettered by: Adorable Art Simek
14 pages
Starting with last issue, Thing and Human Torch are costars in this space, though last issue still described Thing as a guest star. Now Thing goes right in the title: “The Human Torch and The Thing Team Up to Battle The Menace of… Paste-Pot Pete.” Of course, Human Torch still gets top billing. This was his title first after all.
Paste-Pot Pete gets a new look this issue, a step toward becoming a more serious foe. He’s clean-shaven. He’s got on a real battle suit, almost like armor, from which he… well, from which he still just shoots paste.
Continue reading “Strange Tales #124”The Watcher’s Power!
Featuring: Watcher
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Story plot by: Stan Lee
Script + Art by: Larry Lieber
Inking by: Geo. Bell
Lettering by: Art Simek
5 pages
Larry Lieber celebrated his birthday last week. 89 years young. I think he is the only still-living creator we have encountered thus far. The Marvel superheroes of this era have become a cornerstore of our culture, but we have few remaining connections to those who helped make them. The most notable of those connections is Larry Lieber, younger brother of the late Stan Lieber, better known as Stan Lee.
Space pirates set to attack a world run afoul of the Watcher. Like the last would-be attacker to do so, they think the Watcher won’t be a problem, due to his oath. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t read the fine print of the oath.
Continue reading “Tales of Suspense #57, Story B”Enter: The Hulk
Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: September 1965
12 cents
Rapidly written by: Stan Lee
Dashingly drawn by: Dick Ayers
Instantly inked by: P. Reinman
Lazily lettered by: Art Simek
18 pages
Art Simek’s lettering is referred to as “lazy”. Indeed, he seems to have forgotten Paul Reinman’s name, crediting him as R. Reinman, rather than the usual P. Reinman.
This is Ayers’ first time drawing the Hulk. In fact, it’s the first time anybody but Kirby or Ditko has drawn the Hulk.
It’s clear that prior to this point, Hulk is not yet the character modern readers (or TV viewers or moviegoers) have come to know. Steve Ditko will take over the art/plotting duties on Hulk’s new ongoing series, and often gets the credit for inventing Hulk as we know him. But it seems to me all the groundwork is laid right here by Lee and Ayers. This issue introduces a more recognizable version of Hulk.
For several months, Hulk has been bouncing title to title (Avengers, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man) ever since his own series got cancelled a year earlier. This guest appearance in Giant-Man’s comic is his final bounce, and a transition into the return of his ongoing solo adventures in this very title. This is why they cancelled Wasp’s solo adventure backups, to make room for Hulk’s return. And this time, Hulk’s series will endure for a long time.
Besides being the lead-in to his new series, this is a significant issue for Hulk. We learn his full name for the first time: Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. This explains why Stan sometimes called him Bruce and sometimes Bob. I had assumed Stan just got careless with details.
Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #59”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.
Continue reading “Avengers #7”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.
Continue reading “Journey Into Mystery #107, Story B”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”.
Continue reading “Journey Into Mystery #107”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.
Continue reading “Tales of Suspense #56, Story B”
