Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: February 10, 1966 Cover: May 1966 12 cents Edited with percipacity by: Stan Lee Written with precocity by: Roy Thomas Plotted and illustrated with profundity by: Steve Ditko Lettered with the windows closed by: Artie Simek 10 pages
How dare you make a request of the great Tazza! In the name of Satannish the Supreme, you shall join the other unmoving forms in my hallowed halls…
We are in what I see as the spinning-the-wheels phase. We had an extremely tense and fast-paced adventure that took us from issues 130-141. Then it slowed down. Mordo was defeated. Dormammu was humbled. Loose plot threads included servants of Mordo’s to deal with, and this woman who had helped Strange, who was now a prisoner of Dormammu. We’ve spent the last couple issues dealing with Mordo’s servants and now we’ll go look for this unnamed woman.
Dormammu was beaten with yet another vow to not move against Strange. But there’s a loophole if you read the fine print. Dormammu agreed not to attack Strange on Earth. But if the good Doctor travels to another dimension…
Let’s talk about your costume! Those red longjohns break me up– but I liked your old yellow duds better! … I mean they matched your new yellow streak!
This might be the first time we learn the true identity of Frankie Ray, really Frank Giacoia. For a lot of these people, the aliases are about not sabotaging regular gigs with Marvel’s competition. Frank Giacoia was a regular DC artist at the time, and hadn’t necessarily wanted them knowing he was freelancing for Marvel. But at some point it becomes clear, or his Marvel gig becomes the more regular gig, and it just stops mattering. Though by this point Marvel fans might know him best as Frank or Frankie Ray and not recognize the name Frank Giacoia.
Just like they might be confused if a comic were credited to Stanley Lieber or Jacob Kurtzberg.
That’s a great cover by Romita and Giacoia. The cityscape is detailed but the lack of color keeps it subtly in the background, leaving the focus on the two colorful characters. This is our first chance to see Spider-Man as rendered by John Romita. He captures that sense of agility that Ditko creates, and you can feel the motion of the cover, even without the helpful motion lines.
We’ve talked a bit about the tension in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man. Lee and Ditko aren’t getting along and Ditko is looking out the door. Lee is well aware of this, but has a huge problem. Spider-Man is his best comic, indelibly associated with Steve Ditko. You can’t just throw anybody on the book. Jack Kirby is Stan’s go-to artist when he needs a good one, but Jack had drawn Spider-Man a couple times by this point, and it was never right. And Jack’s style– while perfect for Fantastic Four– just wasn’t Spider-Man. Nobody was Steve Ditko.
We talked in the last issue about John Romita, who recently passed away. He’s been on Daredevil since Wally Wood left, following a succession of legendary talent from Bill Everett to Joe Orlando. And Romita has been more than up to the task of making his own mark on Daredevil.
But John Romita is not famous for drawing Daredevil. And while he excelled at the romance comics he had been drawing, that’s not really what made him a household name amongst fans. His step into legendary status will come with his next assignment, and this issue will serve as his audition for that assignment.
So, how well can John Romita draw Spider-Man? Let’s find out.
Featuring: Thor Release: May 3, 1966 Cover: July 1966 12 cents Stan the Man Lee, Writer Jack King Kirby, artist Vince the Prince Colletta, delineator Artie Pussycat Simek, letterer 16 pages
” Let there be no further battle! Only the weakling seeks to prove his strength at every turn!” “Thy words have wisdom, Thor– even as thy limbs have power enow to make Hercules pause! Henceforth, I shall call thee friend!” “And I thee!” “What riotous revels we shall enjoy together! What battles we shall share, at each other’s side!” “Alas, Olympian– revels are not for such as me– And, my hammer swings only for justice– never for the thrill of battle alone!” “But, what good then to be a god?” “Thy careless query, Hercules, is far more profound than you suspect!”
Stan the Man Lee. Jack King Kirby. Every issue Stan’s had new nicknames for the creative team. We’ve seen this particular set of nicknames before. And we’ll see it again. These are the nicknames that will stick for Stan and Jack. The Man and The King.
The issue’s title is “Thunder in the Netherworld”. Seems like a missed opportunity to call it “Thunder Down Under”.
Hercules had stupidly signed a contract saying he’d rule the Netherworld and let Pluto free. Hercules thought it was a movie deal. Zeus is enforcing the contract. Hercules’ only way out is for a champion to fight in his stead, to challenge Pluto and the armies of the dead to win Hercules’ freedom.
Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: April 5, 1966 Cover: June 1966 12 cents Fabulously written by… Stan Lee Fantastically drawn by… Jack Kirby Fastidiously inked by… Vince Colletta Finally lettered by… Artie Simek 5 pages
Yet, the Lord of Asgard must first be a monarch– and then a father!
Clean story breaks are hard to find. The Odinsword Saga seems to be over. It bled into stories about the prophecies of Ragnarok. Which brings us here. For his role to be in Ragnarok, Loki is to be punished.
I don’t know if I approve morally of punishing someone for what he might do in the future.
I have received plaudits and accolades from the highest and mightiest of mortals, yet, the words you have spoken shall gladden my heart for as long as memory endures!
Thor and Hercules have beaten back Pluto in Los Angeles, but Pluto escaped, and still has Hercules’ signed contract, which will condemn Hercules to rule the Netherworld in his place. Thor has returned to New York.
People usually credit the turnaround in the Thor stories to Kirby taking more control and bringing in his interest in mythology. But Stan also pulls his weight. I actually have to make a hard choice to get a pull quote out of the issue. I found at least four good options. The first I considered was the most humorous, where Thor shouts to the New York crowd: “The endless prattle of thy voices proves wearisome to mine ears!” Stan seems to have Thor’s Shakespeare-lite dialogue down now.
This unnamed taxi driver is a favorite character of mine. Thor’s sentimental words to him are what I chose for the pull quote above. The cabbie had been a soldier, and thus Thor finds a kindred spirit. He’d fought in World War II, and been wounded in Anzio, Italy, which would have been in 1944.
Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: February 3, 1966 Cover: April 1966 12 cents Script: Stan Lee Pencilling: Jack Kirby Delineation: Vince Colletta Lettering: Artie Simek 5 pages
In the name of the omnipotent Odin– in the name of eternal Asgard– by the power of my hammer– for the glory of our cause– onwarrrrd– to victory!
The Odinsword Saga might be over now. Unclear. The story never seemed to be going anywhere and in the end it didn’t go anywhere. The whole thing was a ruse by Odin, who felt his warriors needed a bit of adventure.
So why was the Odinsword cracked if there was no enemy? Was it really cracked? Had it just always been cracked? We’ll never know. We’re moving on.
Goliath! I like the sound of that! That’s what I’ll call myself from now on– Goliath!!
Today… Hank Pym will be infamous for having taken on too many superhero identities… but this isn’t new. This was a pretty early feature of the character. In under 5 years, he’s on 3, and sort of 4, identities.
When we met him, he wasn’t a superhero at all, just a scientist named Dr. Henry Pym. A year or so later he jumped on the superhero bandwagon as Ant-Man. Another year down and Lee decided the public wanted more powerful superheroes, so Ant-Man became Giant-Man. Those changes all somewhat made sense. But now… he’s no longer Giant-Man… he’s Goliath. That change seems gratutitous.
With the new name comes a new status quo. But he’s had a lot of status quos already. We attempted to recount in the final issue of his ongoing series, Tales to Astonish #69. The rules just keep changing. He drinks a liquid or takes a pill or uses his mind. And he can only chage size every so often or hold the new size for so often or…
Anyways, now he can grow to 25 feet and only 25 feet and remain that way for exactly 15 minutes, no more, no less.
We’ve met one other Goliath, the biblical one, in Avengers #10.
How does he get the new name anyway? It’s a bit weird. We basically learn it’s happening from the cover and title.
We are getting ahead of ourselves. The story begins with Hank Pym contacting the Avengers to help him find the Wasp. We’d last seen her attempting to escape from Attuma. Of course, they don’t know who Dr. Pym is. Because of secret identites.
Now, as secret identities go… Wasp’s costume often didn’t cover her face… she often called Giant-Man Henry or Hank in the presence of others… Giant-Man’s lab was a well known location where his fan club hung out… the kids Jan read sci/stories to knew she was the Wasp… Hank sometimes did experiments in his own house and one day he accidentally turned giant and came bursting out of his house…
Featuring: Avengers Release: February 10, 1966 Cover: April 1966 12 cents Mad, mixed-up story by Stan Lee Ickie, insane illustrations by Don Heck Daffy, dizzy delineation by Frankie Ray Loony, lampoony lettering by Artie Simek 20 pages
Only a fool– or a liar– says he’s never afraid, Wanda!
A lot of plot threads to pick up on from last issue. Namor headed to New York (though we’ve already seen how that plays out in the pages of Tales to Astonish). Dr. Pym busy with research on ship. Other Avengers captured in attempt to rescue Wasp. Attuma engaging them in trial combat to impress men, as the sea poured in. Hawkeye in a coma attempting to remember his password. A mysterious figure in the shadows. Wasp has escaped Atttuma but her fate is unknown.
The password thing is quite funny. People forget their passwords at work and need to call IT support to get it reset. No such backup here. Hawkeye must hook himself up to a fancy memory-jogging machine.
But the number he couldn’t remember was 1313. How hard is that? It’s not like the password was something actually secure like _b9<Jgu_X^TZDS.
Featuring: Avengers Release: January 11, 1966 Cover: March 1966 12 cents Incredible script by: Stan Lee Inconceivable art by: Don Heck Indescribable inking by: Frank Ray Indelible lettering by: Artie Simek 20 pages
He endures so much– to hold the Avengers together! And yet– none can help him! He walks– alone!
A recap. Giant-Man and the Wasp left the Avengers in Avengers #16. Then in Tales to Astonish #69, they agreed it was time to retire from superheroing and work on their relationship. And presumably on Pym’s scientific interests as well. Flash forward to Tales to Astonish #77 and Hank’s experiments involve drilling into the ocean to learn the secrets of life. These experiments are wreaking havoc on Namor’s domain. This leads to conflict. Namor breaks their equipment and then decides to head to New York. In a nonsensical plot decision, Jan decides to become the Wasp once more to race Namor across the ocean to New York. But she’s the size of a wasp, and can presumably fly at about the speed of a wasp. She obviously can’t cross an ocean. But she tries anyway.
Unsurprisingly, we haven’t heard from her since. Surprisingly, we will hear from her again.
I’d like to start thinking about something as we read the next several Avengers comics. At some point very soon, the Fantastic Four are going to fight a massive global threat, one the Avengers probably should have helped them with. The Avengers do not show up to help, which implies the Avengers are busy. So let’s be on the lookout for where the Avengers might be at the time that they don’t notice a very noticeable world-ending threat.
