Featuring: Watcher Release: November 12, 1963 Cover: February 1964 12 cents Story plot: Stan Lee Script + art: Larry Lieber Inking: S. Brodsky Lettering: Art Simek 5 pages
The Watcher tells a tale of the distant future, the 21st century.
Wilbur Weems is a shy space pilot, teased by everybody for his general wimpiness. Having no friends or family or much of anything, he volunteers for an apparent suicide mission to investigate a cosmic dust cloud.
Featuring: Spider-Man Release: November 12, 1963 Cover: February 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Illustrated by: Steve Ditko Lettered by: Art Simek 22 pages
We’ve had some great superhero battles in these pages. Put Spider-Man’s wits and abilities to the test against great foes. We get a new foe this issue.
But this issue also gets to the core of what Spider-Man is really about: balance.
His first appearance ended with the famous phrase about responsibility. That suggested he had a responsibility to use his powers to stop criminals and such. But this comic underscores other responsibilities. His aunt is sick and he has a responsibility to her. He also has financial responsibilities. He’s also a student, responsible for his studies. But what of his social responsibilities? What does he owe the kids in his class toward attempting to be friends with them? What about responsibilities to his romantic life? He’s also a photojournalist, and has a responsibility to journalistic integrity. He has a lot of responsibilities. How to balance them all? That’s the main theme of this series, and this issue is the best microcosm yet.
In fact, Stan’s opening hype seems pretty accurate to me for once. I’ll go ahead and call that my review.
There’s a lot going on in this issue, as my preamble may have implied. Let’s dive in.
Featuring: Human Torch Release: November 12, 1964 Cover: February, 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Illustrated by: Dick Ayers Lettered by: Art Simek 14 pages
Hey, look. Dr. Strange has become popular enough that the cover mentions his name in a little text box.
Johnny plans to “streak to the prison”. That could easily be misinterpreted.
The Eel was released from prison having served his sentence. Let’s think that through. He stole Project X. I’m certain that would qualify as felony theft. Even with good behavior, that should carry a minimum 10 months in prison. That is to say, Johnny should have been able to finish a school year in the time the Eel should have been in prison. It’s not exactly clear how old Johnny is, but I’d taken him to be 17 and a senior in high school. Too much younger and you really have to wonder what Reed was doing taking him into space in a stolen experimental spacecraft. They were explicit that one new school year had begun between the start of the Fantastic Four series and the start of this series. And we know he has a driver’s license. I also take Spider-Man to be a senior in high school, though they’re not explicit about that either.
