bill everett – Coke ⊕ Comics

Tales to Astonish #89

The Prince and the Power!

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: December 8, 1966
Cover: March 1967
12 cents
Story by Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art by Wild Bill Everett
Lettering by Adorable Art Simek
12 pages

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Tales to Astonish #88	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #89, Story B
Tales to Astonish #88, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #89, Story B

I? I am Prince of the Realm! I am Atlantis! Thus, here do I stand!

Recall that passing aliens accidentally dropped a robot on Earth, which landed in the ocean. Attuma has taken control and turned it into a weapon against the Sub-Mariner. I think that’s literally all that happened last issue.

This issue Namor actually fights the robot.

My life belongs to the people– to the Realm Eternal! I do what I must– I cannot do less!

Tales to Astonish #88

A Stranger Strikes from Space!

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: November 3, 1966
Cover: February 1967
12 cents
Written by: Stan the Man Lee
Illustrated by: Wild Bill Everett
Lettered by: Swingin’ Sammy Rosen
12 pages

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Ghost Rider #1	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #89
Tales to Astonish #87, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #88, Story B

There must be no new battle till our fighting strength has been restored! Else, the death knell of fair Atlantis may be at hand!

We read the second half of this issue some time ago. It’s a thing that happens. Namor and Hulk share a title. When there are ongoing stories, I try to group a few issues together, looking for decent pause points within the series. But what happens when a good pause point for Namor isn’t a good pause point for Hulk?

Well, I make the reluctant decision to read an issue ahead for one of the characters. Even though that means picking up this comic, flipping to the middle, putting it down, then later picking it up again and reading from the beginning. Almost certainly what nobody reading this comic in 1966 did.

Ah well. I try to balance a lot of things when choosing the reading order and some things have to give.

Strange Tales #152, Story B

Into the Dimension of Death!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: October 11, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
Truly hath Stan Lee authored yon awesome epic–
Verily hath Bill Everett such scenes depicted–
And, finally didst Artie Simek the lettering incribe!
10 pages

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Strange Tales #152	Reading order	Strange Tales #153
Strange Tales #152	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #153

I sense– a female!

I’d say this issue picks up where the last issue left off, but nothing happened last issue. Except that Clea was captured by Umar after a recap of the last 40 issues.

Everett’s depiction of Dark Dimension is fine, maybe even good. Maybe I’m just in a bad mood since Ditko left and am being unfair to Everett. I do appreciate Everett for his work on Sub-Mariner, Venus, and Daredevil… just not here.

Strange Tales #151, Story B

Umar Strikes!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: September 8, 1966
Cover: December 1966
12 cents
Script by Stan Lee, defender of the faith!
Art by Bill Everett, keeper of the flame!
Lettering by Artie Simek, printer of the word!
10 pages

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Strange Tales #151	Reading order	Strange Tales #152
Strange Tales #151	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #152

By the Demons of Darkness! By the oath I now speak! Umar commands– reveal what I seek!

At the end of last issue, we briefly met Dormammu’s sister Umar.

Given how weird and cool Dormammu looked, it’s disappointing to see his sister look just like a human woman. You can try to explain it off as these beings having amorphous forms or such. But it mostly seems like a failure of creativity and design.

PRELUDE: Marvel Mystery Comics #17

Fighting Side by Side!

Featuring: Human Torch and Sub-Mariner
Release: January 13, 1941
Cover: March 1941
10 cents
By Carl Burgos & Bill Everett
26 pages

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Human Torch #2	PRELUDE	Marvel Mystery Comics #31
Fantastic Four #56	Reading order	Fantastic Four Annual 4

“Are you ready to fight for Uncle Sam under any conditions?”
“You know I am!”

We’ve now seen Namor and the Human Torch battle twice. But between those two encounters, they were sometimes on the same side. This is the story of their first team-up. Their first meeting since that first epic battle.

Usually, this title features a Human Torch story and a Sub-Mariner story. This issue combines them into a single double-length feature that both creators worked on together.

It’s not clear to me precisely which creator did what.

What unites them? Why, patriotism and love for America, of course.

Tales to Astonish #87

Moment of Truth!

Featuring: Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner
Release: October 11, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
Story: Stan (The Man) Lee
Illustration: Wild Bill Everett
Lettering: Adorable Artie Simek
12 pages

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Tales to Astonish #86, Story B	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #87, Story B
Tales to Astonish #86, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #87, Story B

Rise, my lady! Let your head be lifted– avert not your eyes! From this moment forth–by imperial decree– the Lady Dorma may never again kneel in the presence of her liege! She stall stand at my side–with all due honor– as one who shall someday be princess of the realm! –As one who is truly a peer! And, know you, my lady– whatever befalls– the gratitude– the trust– and the heart of your prince shall be yours– while Atlantis endures!

Big day for Bill Everett, creator of the Sub-Mariner. He had half-returned to his creation, supplying finishes to other artists’ pencils. But starting this issue, he becomes the regular artist on the character who in any world with sensible laws would have belonged to him all along.

We’ve been following not quite a story, but let’s call it a sequence of events that has propelled us from issue 77 to here. Across 11 issues, Namor has had a lot of misadventures unified by the scheming of Krang, and his kidnapping of Dorma, which Namor mistook for Dorma’s betrayal. It finally comes to and end, and we can put Namor’s arc down for a while.

Krang and Dorma have been captured by the military. Krang’s serum has worn off, revealing their blue skin, and leaving them unable to breathe on land. Namor comes to them, but the military has a trap for him. Because they blame Namor for Krang’s flooding of Manhattan.

Tales to Astonish #86

The Wrath of Warlord Krang!

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: September 1, 1966
Cover: December 1966
12 cents
Story by Smilin’ Stan Lee
Pencilling by Merry Jerry Grandenetti
Inking by Wild Bill Everett
Lettering by Adorable Artie Simek
12 pages

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Tales to Astonish #85, Story B	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #86, Story B
Tales to Astonish #85, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #86, Story B

But, not even a prince of the blood can possess patience without limit!

Grandenetti is a new name to us, and really to me as well. This is one of very few Marvel works; we’ll see him again on Sgt. Fury in the near future. He got his start assisting and ghosting for Will Eisner on The Spirit and has been working comics at DC since the early 1950s, focused on war comics, and has lately started to do some side work for Warren, Charlton, Tower, and apparently Marvel at least once, sometimes ghosting for Joe Orlando. Here’s a sampling of his art.

Boy Meets Girl #2, Lev-Gleason, 1950
Western Comics #27, DC, 1951
All-American Men of War #127, DC, 1952
House of Mystery #8, DC 1952
The Brave and the Bold #1, DC, 1955
Strange Adventures #63, DC, 1955
Our Fighting Forces #62, DC, 1961
Our Army at War #115, DC, 1962

Tales to Astonish #85

–And One Shall Die

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: August 2, 1966
Cover: November 1966
12 cents
Script written by: Stan Lee
Drawings pencilled by: Gene Colan
Inking rendered by: Bill Everett
Panels lettered by: Artie Simek
Confusion compounded by: Irving Forbush
12 pages

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Amazing Spider-Man Annual 3	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #85, Story B
Tales to Astonish #84, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #85, Story B

“Who is it, Phil?”
“We’ll probably never know! From the looks of things, I’d say he was pretty much beyond recognition!”

Colan has been the regular penciller on Namor’s adventures of late. Bill Everett is the creator of Namor, and this is his second time working as Colan’s inker on the series.

Where were we? The head of the ruined Secret Empire had tricked an amnesiac Namor into being his pawn, until a blast from Krang’s ship sent Namor into the ocean, where he regained his memory. We pick up with Krang flying away, thinking he has killed Namor.

Dorma has been with Krang for a while now. Originally she had agreed to marry him in exchange for saving Namor’s life. Namor doesn’t know this and is mad at Dorma for betraying him. Krang keeps trying to kill Namor anyway, and Dorma keeps staying with him, so it’s all a bit confusing.

Also confusing that Number One blames Hulk for the destruction of the Secret Empire, when the Hulk had nothing to do with it. It was a combination of internal strife and infiltration by Gabe Jones of SHIELD that took them down.

Tales to Astonish #84, Story B

Rampage in the City!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: June 30, 1966
Cover: October 1966
10 pages
Script… Stan (The Man) Lee
Art… Almost the whole blamed bullpen
Lettering… Artie (Smarty) Simek
Therapy… Honest Irving Forbush
10 pages

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Tales to Astonish #84	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #85
Tales to Astonish #84	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #85

Can a green-skinned introvert, with anti-social tendencies, find happiness and fulfillment in a modern materialistic society?

I leave it to your eagle eyes to determine who drew what in this issue. Some artwork may or may not be due to Bill Everett, Jerry Grandenetti, Gene Colan, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers, John Tartaglione, Mike Esposito, Sol Brodsky, or others.

Can a green-skinned introvert, with anti-social tendencies, find happiness and fulfillment in a modern materialistic society?

We’d seen a similar question posed at the beginning of Hulk’s current series in issue 60.

Can a man with green skin and a petulant personality find true happiness in today’s status-seeking society?

In this issue’s Namor story, we learned Hulk was in the city. And this story is conveniently titled “Rampage in the City”.

Hulk thinks saving Betty from Boomerang means people won’t hate him anymore. Good luck with that.

Hulk used to be an Avenger, so he goes to New York to ask them to help him find Betty.

Strange Tales #150, Story B

The Conquest of Kaluu!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: August 9, 1966
Cover: November 1966
12 cents
Gloriously edited by Stan Lee
Graniloquently scripted by Roy Thomas
Gorgeously drawn by Wild Bill Everett
Grudgingly lettered by Artie Simek
10 pages

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Strange Tales #149, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #81
Strange Tales #150	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #151

It is the Sacred Griffin– the beast appointed by the priests of the Babylonian god Marduk to stand eternal vigil over the mystic text! It has ever been written in the Words of Flame that he who defeats the fearsome sentinel… is the destined possessor of the book!

Dr. Strange gets the cover again. Seems like he and Nick Fury will be trading off who gets featured.

We’re skipping the Nick Fury half of this comic to finish off the Kaluu arc.

O’Neill had been the writer for the last few issues, but Thomas fills in for this one. His scripting is described as “graniloquent”. Looks like Stan will return to the title next issue.

As you can see from the list down the page, Thomas is all in on the invocations.

So far, the Kaluu story has been terrible. Will Thomas turn it around?

Four issues into the battle, and Dr. Strange and Kaluu still haven’t met. So if we get that far, it will be a step up.

We’d heard Ancient One whine for several issues now about how powerful Kaluu is. But now Kaluu seems to fear that he will lose if his foes get any time to plan.