Featuring: Captain America Release: January 11, 1966 Cover: April 1966 12 cents Script: Smilin’ Stan Lee Art: Jazzy Johnny Romita Lettering: Adorable Artie Simek 10 pages
Is this my destiny? To have been given a second chance at life– only to lose everything I ever held dear? First, it was Bucky, the greatest sidekick a man ever had! Then, those many years ago, I can still remember her– promising to wait– no matter how long it might be-! Now– when I thought I had found her reborn– I’ve lost her again! And perhaps this time– it will be– forever!
For a story that’s introducing a pretty woman to Cap’s world, the late John Romita seems like the perfect artist. Though the woman is barely in this comic.
In fact, we’ve seen John Romita’s work on Captain America before way back in the 1950s, in his early days as an artist.
Romita won’t be returning to Cap regularly. He’s just filling in for Kirby here. He’s already the regular artist on Daredevil and may be taking over another title soon.
Recall where we left off. This Agent of SHIELD may be the younger sister of Cap’s WWII sweetheart. We don’t know her name. She has Inferno 42 and is protecting it from Batroc, but doesn’t realize it’s cracked and set to destroy New York within half hour. Cap and Batroc have teamed up to save the city.
Featuring: Captain America Release: December 9, 1965 Cover: March 1966 12 cents Stan Lee, script Jack Kirby, layout Dick Ayers, pencil J. Tartaglione, inks Artie Simek, lettering Irving Forbush, cheerleader 10 pages
But, there was one other! Our lives touched for only a short time– but I’ve never forgotten her! I can still remember our final date– when she whispered to me thru trembling lips… “I’ll wait till you return, Steve! No matter how long– no matter what happens– I’ll wait for you, my darling…!”
We read this issue’s Iron Man story a little while ago, in which Happy had turned into a Freak. We saved this story to make sure it tied into to the issue of Strange Tales that referenced it.
It was a tricky call for reading order, as I don’t like to separate issues, so I’d prefer to have read this story with the Iron Man story, and continuity-wise, the issue of Strange Tales we’re tying into doesn’t fit in where we left off with the Iron Man story. But I just couldn’t find a good way to juggle all the things I’m juggling to assemble a reading order.
This is a good comic with lots going on to talk about. I had to make a checklist for myself to ensure I covered the 10 most important points.
Though we’d taken a pause in reading Cap’s story, there is no break between the beginning of this story and the end of the last. As we open, Cap is hurtling toward the sea after the defeat of the Sleepers.
Except last seen, he had a working parachute. Sometime between the issues, his parachute seems to have failed, so we get a dramatic opening.
We cut to some shadowy figures observing a test of Inferno 42. Nick Fury was aware of this item and had sent an agent to retrieve it. We learned this in Strange Tales #142. Also in that story, Fixer referred to a mysterious organization that was his benefactor, known as Them. Is that who these shadowy figures are?
Back to Cap, we get a great moment. The sailors are in awe of him. One had idolized him as a child.
I have a notion in my head of who these characters are, formed from reading decades of comics beyond these. Cap inspiring awe in those around him is part of my basic image of Cap. But it’s not necessarily something we’ve seen a lot of in these early comics. We did see examples in Cap’s return in Avengers #4. But it’s not yet that common, so every such example is notable, as together they will form the basis for that aspect of Cap’s character.
Featuring: Captain America Release: November 11, 1965 Cover: February 1966 12 cents Blazing story: Stan Lee Burning layouts: Jack Kirby Blistering artwork: George Tuska Burnt-out lettering: Artie Simek 10 pages
Nazism, and all the evil it stood for, are dead! They must never live again!
Solid cover design.
This arc opened pretty strong. Red Skull vowed that his revenge would come 20 years after the day of his death on “Der Tag” when the Sleepers awakened. And the Sleepers turned out to be giant robots that combined together to make an even bigger robot. Solid premise. But hasn’t done much with it. We met one robot, then another. In the finale, we meet the third.
Featuring: Captain America Release: October 12, 1965 Cover: January 1966 12 cents Spellbinding script by Stan Lee! Spectacular layouts by Jack Kirby! Sensational pencilling and scintillating delineation by George Tuska! Stereophonic lettering by A. Simek! 10 pages
I’ve seen the First Sleeper– and this is the Second! What can the Third be like??
Part 2 of a 3-part saga. 20 years to the day since the death of the Red Skull amidst the fall of Berlin in World War II. Red Skull’s revenge is 3 giant robots that will awaken and destroy the world. Last issue, the first one awoke. This issue… the second.
This one flies! Even though the story’s title is ironically, “Where Walks the Sleeper”.
And the two Sleepers join up to form an even bigger robot!
Featuring: Captain America Release: September 9, 1965 Cover: December 1966 12 cents Stan Lee, sultan of script! Jack Kirby, lord of layout! George Tuska, archduke of art! Sam Rosen, tired of lettering! 10 pages
You’re too late! You can’t… threaten me… now! There are three sleepers… and… when they awake… the Third Reich will rise again!
The story’s title is, “The Sleeper Shall Awake!”
Coincidentally the exact thing my cat says to me every morning when she wants breakfast.
While I would prefer to read whole comics at once, we read the first half of the issue a little bit earlier, because the Captain America and Iron Man stories of this issue align differently with the Avengers series.
This marks a turning point in Captain America’s adventures, as we’d spent the last several issues focused on Captain America’s adventures in World War II, which don’t create any editorial headaches regarding continuity with Cap’s appearances in Avengers. But now Stan claims readers have demanded modern Cap stories.
So we jump back to the present and see Cap relating the Greymoor Castle saga of last issue to the Avengers. They even answer some plot questions about the story.
Bewilderingly, Hawkeye did not know Bucky was dead.
And then is quite insensitive about it. “It happened more than 20 years ago!” Two notes. It was less than 20 years. Captain America slept for most of those.
Featuring: Avengers Release: December 9, 1965 Cover: February 1966 12 cents Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: Don Heck Inker: Dick Ayers Letterer: Sam Rosen 20 pages
The blind fools! They do not realize that Doom cares nothing for them! He merely plays a role for purposes of his own! Truly, he is evil incarnate! If only the simple peasants could see it!
The Avengers fight Dr. Doom!
For maybe the first time, unless you count Avengers #1½–published in 1999 but set before Avengers #2–as canon: the untold first meeting of the Avengers and Dr. Doom.
Either way, it’s the first time any of these Avengers have met Dr. Doom.
Dr. Doom decides to trap the Avengers. Basically just because. His motivation shifts slightly over the course of the issue. At first, it’s because humiliating the Avengers will inspire fear in the Fantastic Four. Then it’s to take them prisoner and use them as bait for the Fantastic Four.
Featuring: Avengers Release: November 11, 1965 Cover: January 1966 12 cents Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: Don Heck Inker: Dick Ayers Letterer: Artie Simek 20 pages
Let us each meet our fate with valor– and heaven bless you all!
When we left off, Ravonna had rejected Kang’s offer of marriage, so he’s now sending his armies to invade her kingdom.
This treatment of Kang makes more sense to me than his previous appearances, and it better conveys his title of “…the Conqueror”. That he commands a legion of troops ready to invade kingdoms. His last attempt to conquer the 20th century involved sending a robot Spider-Man against the Avengers. Invading with an army just makes more sense to me.
The crown is still yours by my leave only! ‘Tis Kang who is the power here! Though countless worlds have fallen before my banner, yours have I spared… but only because of love for you!
Serendipitous timing. We get to see a major battle between Kang and the Avengers just in time for Kang to make his big screen debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania this Friday, portrayed by Jonathan Majors. We had met Jonathan Majors as Kang before in the Loki series.
This story is particularly notable for introducing Kang’s great love, the Princess Ravonna. She was portrayed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the Loki series.
John Romita is a new name in the modern Marvel reading, but we’d seen him before in our looks back, as he was the Captain America artist in the 1950s. We’ll be seeing more of him, and have more to say soon.
Sherigail we recall is an alias for for Morrie Kuramoto. We haven’t seen him in a while, with Rosen and Simek dividing up most lettering between them. He married Gail Masuoka in 1955, and they had a daughter Sheri– hence the pen name. As a young adult, Morrie had seen his possessions confiscated and his family sent into prison camps by the US government for having Japanese ancestry. He was able to enlist in the military to escape imprisonment. He worked as a letterer after the war, and continued to do irregular lettering work until his death in 1985.
Featuring: Marvels Release: December 14, 1993 Cover: February 1994 $5.95 Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Alex Ross Letterers: Starkings w/ John Gaushell Editor: Marcus McLaurin Assitant editor: Spencer Lamm Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco Cover design & logo: Joe Kaufman Interior design: Comicraft 45 pages
The real story was the people who’d been scared too long. Who’d been wound tight by talk of mutant menaces and hidden conspiracies and shadows under the bed.
I’ve mentioned before I want to frame our reading around the Marvels miniseries from the 1990s. That hasn’t really been obvious yet. We read Marvels #0, which retold a few pages from Marvel Comics #1. And we read Marvels #1, which paralleled 1940s Marvel comics. But our reading is concentrated in the 1960s. Finally, we get to Marvels #2, which parallels the 1960s Marvel stories, ranging from Avengers #6 (May 1964), the 191st entry in our reading, through Tales of Suspense #69 (June 1965), the 404th entry in our reading. Quite the range. We are reading it after completing the Iron Man story from Tales of Suspense #72, because we’d first needed to tie up some continuity ends.
We’ve hinted before at the theme of this comic, and I’d like to just discuss it up front. The two centerpiece stories are the wedding of Reed and Sue in Fantastic Four Annual 3, and the attack on the X-Men by the Sentinels in X-Men #14. The writer Kurt Busiek had noted in his own Marvel Universe research what we also found in our reading here, that these events must occur on nearly consecutive days. That’s not obvious from any comic, but does follow from a close reading of the many interconnected comics. And the two stories make for quite the juxtaposition.
The contrast between these two arcs becomes the central tension of this issue. The Fantastic Four wedding is the celebrity event of the century. The press covered it, crowds of fans gathered, famous people like Tony Stark and Millie the Model attended. The Fantastic Four are super-powered heroes and beloved by the public.
The X-Men are also super-powered heroes. But where the Fantastic Four gained their powers from cosmic radiation, the powers of the X-Men are innate, based on an accident of birth, perhaps from radiation their parents had been exposed to. The “Children of the Atom”. And that difference is big enough that the same public who cheered on the wedding of the FF members would listen with interest and nods of approval as Bolivar Trask went on the airwaves to declare mutants a menace and announce he’d created robot-hunting Sentinels to hunt and kill the X-Men.
We read the Heroes & Legends retelling of the wedding, which focused on this very tension in the form of a child, who was a huge fan of the Fantastic Four, but afraid of the X-Men. He learned better by issue’s end.
Here, the arc will play out within Phil Sheldon, the photojournalist who specialises in shots of the people he’s dubbed the Marvels. A person who idolizes heroes like the Fantastic Four and Avengers, but fears mutants like the X-Men.
It’s entirely irrational, just like all forms of bigotry.
That’s enough belaboring of themes. Let’s dive into the story. As we do, we’ll try to draw the parallels between what’s happening on the page and our reading.
I’ll note that the title is called “Monsters”, which brings to my mind Thing and Hulk. The latter doesn’t appear, and the former is a minor player at best.
It’s 20 years after the events of Marvels #1. Phil Sheldon is now an established freelance photojournalist happily married with two kids. We see hm doing freelance work for Barney Bushkin at the Daily Globe. The shadows on the page somewhat obscure Phil’s eyepatch, a lifelong injury sustained last issue by getting too close to a superhero battle.
We remember meeting Barney in Amazing Spider-Man #27. He’s nicer than Jonah, but asked too many questions for Peter’s tastes.
I was chosen to be– keeper of the flame! But now– the torch has– gone out!
Captain America is certain there is somebody behind Power Man. Since he knows nothing about Power Man, I’m not sure where that certainty comes from.
The Avengers have been ordered to disband by the city. That’s enough for most of the team, but not for Captain America. He thinks they stand for something bigger than obeying laws.
This leads the Avengers to fight amongst themselves. They do this a lot. But this time, the fight dissolves the team.
