captain america – Page 9 – Coke ⊕ Comics

Avengers #6

Masters of Evil!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written by the inspired typewriter of: Stan Lee
Drawn by the enchanted pencil of: Jack Kirby
Inked by the gifted brush of: Chic Stone
Lettered by the scratch pen of: S. Rosen
23 pages

As if it wasn’t hard enough trying to figure out how to fit the Avengers’ solo adventures around this title, issue 5 ended with an urgent call from the Teen Brigade to go on a mission unrelated to the Lava Men adventure they just had, which itself was unrelated to the Hulk adventure that started that issue. Leaving almost no space for solo adventures.

Here, the narration informs us they are still on the way to New York to respond to the urgent call, but needed to refuel in Chicago.

Between New York and Chicago, Iron Man and Giant-Man have gotten new costumes, and Wasp has a new hairdo and headpiece.

Captain America meanwhile has new glove magnets and miniature transistors installed in his shield that allow him to control its motion.

Iron Man designed the shield transistors. He is apparently an engineering genius on par with Tony Stark, the man nobody has ever seen him with, despite being Stark’s bodyguard.

And then Thor gives Captain America his mail. Wait? What? I thought this was a refueling stop in Chicago. Where did they get the mail? Where are they?

Not many details in the scene. Some equipment makes it look like a lab. Cap is sitting on a chair, so they seem to not be on a plane or at a refueling station.

POSTLUDE: Marvels #1

A Time of Marvels

Featuring: Marvels
Release: November 9, 1993
Cover: January 1994
$5.95
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Alex Ross
Letters: Starkings w\ John Gauhsell
Editor: Marcus McLaurin
Assistant editor: Spencer Lamm
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco
Cover design & logo: Joe Kaufman
Interior Design: Comicraft
45 pages

Previous		Next
Human Torch #5	PRELUDE
Fantastic Four #27	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #8
Marvels #0	Marvels	Marvels #2

When this is over, I’d said. When would that be? It would blow over. The world wouldn’t stay like this. It couldn’t. Could it?

The 4 (or so) issues comprising this series are pretty close to being the best comics I have ever read. They inspire the journey we are taking here, where we read through the entire Marvel Universe starting in 1961, and I want them to frame the journey we are taking.

Through a man named Phil Sheldon, an “ordinary” photojournalist, we see a holistic view of all these many interconnected stories of Marvels, cohesing into a single narrative, leading us to understand that this world is not our own, and helping us imagine what it might be like to live in that world.

The tagline reads: “Experience the Marvel Universe from a whole new perspective– yours.”

We read Marvels #0 pretty early in the project, right after meeting the original Human Torch, who we introduced after meeting the new Human Torch.

Marvels #1 deals with Marvel’s Golden Age, stories from the 1930s and 1940s. We are reading it now in our reading order because we have met enough Golden Age heroes to justify it. Really, it comes down to the big three: Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America. But our reading about characters like Angel, Electro and Black Widow will also help us appreciate the details.

And if there’s one word that can describe this comic, it’s “detailed”. Sitting in a hotel room in Dresden with the intent of doing a deep dive into this issue, I have the original comic in my hand, but also the recent annotated edition which can serve as a guide. Plus some Golden Age and other reference material.

With all that in front of me, I would like to look very closely at this comic; consider those details, and try to do so without losing sight of the powerful emotional journey in front of us, one that will seem very familiar in the year 2020.

I think I’ve already gushed at sufficient length over the creators Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross in our recent Astro City discussion, so we’ll jump right into the story.

A Time of Marvels

The bystanders had seen the stories in the paper– seen them, chuckled and dismissed them. But it’s one thing to read about the impossible– and another to look it in the face.

The story opens in 1939 with reporters talking about the tensions in Europe. Phil Sheldon is an ambitious photojournalist looking for an assignment overseas. His fellow reporter–resembling a young J. Jonah Jameson down to a well-placed shadow beneath the nose where Jameson’s mustache will eventually be–muses that one day he will be the one running the Bugle. Phil is off to cover a press conference with a scientist who he expects to be a crackpot, one Phineas T. Horton.

Avengers #5

The Invasion of the Lava Men!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: March 3, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
An epic tale told with high drama and heroic dignity by: Stan Lee
Illustrated with deep sincerity and dazzling beauty by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Paul Reinman
Lettered by: S. Rosen
23 pages

Rick Jones gets his name on the cover and on the opening page alongside the book’s actual stars. He i fact is given billing over Giant-Man and Wasp in both places. His placement suggests he comes with Captain America, as though they are partners.

This tale is getting closer to what I feel like a traditional Avengers tale should be. There should be some menace to the world, a threat so great that no single hero can stand against it. Mostly so far, they’ve just fought Hulk over and over again. And he just wants to be left alone.

In this issue, the Lava Men invade Earth. When last we met them, they were referred to as Lava People; not sure how the unneeded gendering crept in.

Almost what I’m looking for. Only two problems. The first is that the Lava Men/People invaded before and Thor stopped them all by himself. So it’s not clear they’re an Avengers-worthy threat. The second is that in addition to fighting the Lava Men, the Avengers also all attack Hulk again. They really should just give the guy a break. This is now their fifth battle with the Hulk, and they all end in a stalemate.

Fantastic Four #26

The Avengers Take Over!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: February 11, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
Unforgettably written in the grand manner by: Stan Lee
Powerfully drawn in the heroic manner by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: George Bell
Lettered by: Art Simek
23 pages

Thing stands alone no longer.

The Avengers and Fantastic Four team up to battle the Hulk. If there’s a better issue that serves as a microcosm for what the Marvel Universe is all about, I don’t know what it is.

I think this is perhaps the best comic cover we have yet come across. It’s very atypical of the Kirby covers in a number of ways. Likely stemming from having to cram an atypical number of characters in. But we see the full figure of each character, each taking up a small amount of cover real estate. He usually likes characters on his covers to be bigger. He also shows less concern about perspective than usual, since we see neither the floor nor any overlapping characters. He allows the action to be basically 2-dimensional and each character to be small, while overlapping none of the characters. He wants us to be able to see each character and their pose clearly. I’m reminded more than anything of posing action figures.

The whole of the scene with its 11 characters still fills a small amount of the cover. Kirby gives a lot of top real estate to word balloons. He could have zoomed in more if he wanted to. He didn’t. He wanted what is probably the widest cover shot we’ve seen yet.

This concludes a two-part Fantastic Four story, the best Fantastic Four story yet, but it’s also part of a bigger saga. It’s been building since Hulk quit the Avengers in Avengers #2, carried over into the Avengers’ battles with Hulk and Namor in Avengers #3 and #4 and will have an epilogue in Avengers #5, where the Avengers have one last encounter with Hulk, at least for now.

Still, it doesn’t really end there. Events at the end of Avengers #5 lead directly into issue 6, which itself ties in with Sgt. Fury #8. And the Hulk’s story continues, with the toll these events have taken on him leading indirectly to his upcoming battles with Spider-Man and Giant-Man. These two issues are at the center of a giant interconnected web of stories, which revolve around Hulk being (justifiably) upset with how the world’s been treating him.

It’s all part of the long build-up to Hulk finally getting his solo adventures again. He was the first superhero of the new Marvel Age to have his title cancelled and will be the first to be revived.

Fantastic Four #25

The Hulk vs. The Thing

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: January 10, 1964
Cover: April 1964
12 cents
Sensational story by: Stan Lee
Astonishing art by: Jack Kirby
Incredible inking by: G. Bell
Lighthearted lettering by: S. Rosen
22 pages

I have no idea why it took us so long to get to something like this. It seems like such an obvious superhero story to me: a good old-fashioned slugfest. Take two very strong characters and just have them duke it out. Thing and Hulk are perfect for a brawl. They met before, but it wasn’t a brawl. There was a mystery and a Commie plot and all this stuff. This time, the rest of the team is quickly taken out of contention. And it’s up to Ben Grimm to hold his own against the Hulk.

Worth the wait.

We get some preamble. Hulk has returned to New Mexico with the Avengers in pursuit. Unbeknownst to them, he turned around suddenly and went to New York to find them. He read in the paper that Captain America had replaced him and thought Rick had betrayed him. He is off to finally destroy the Avengers. Of course, Rick never betrayed him. And the Avengers only replaced him because he quit.

Avengers #4

Captain America Joins… The Avengers!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: January 3, 1964
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Gloriously written by: Stan Lee
Grandly illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Gallantly lettered by: Art Simek
23 pages

No inker is given in the credits for some reason. The GCD suggests the inker is George Roussos, who has been doing a lot of inking lately under the pseudonym George Bell. I don’t think we’ve yet seen a single comic where Kirby has done his own finishes. Probably because he’s drawing a half dozen comics each month.

There’s something that troubles me about these credits, and it’s the type of thing that makes Stan Lee a controversial character to this day. Look to the acknowledgement on this first page. Stan notes that Jack drew the original Captain America comics. That’s true and good to point out. But that massively understates Kirby’s contribution. Kirby and Simon created Captain America. The box should say. “Jack Kirby is one of the creators of Captain America.” Now, this may have been mere thoughtlessness on Stan’s part. Kirby used to draw Captain America and now is drawing him again; Stan used to write Captain America and now is writing him again. That may be the only point he wanted to make, and perhaps no other thoughts occurred to him. But the phrasing seems careful, and reflects the longtime legal stance of the many companies that have owned Marvel, that people don’t create characters, companies do. You can read an article from Brian Cronin on a piece Stan Lee had written in 1947 crediting publisher Martin Goodman with the idea for Captain America. The piece is basically fictional. Joe Simon came up with the character independently, and Kirby helped him flesh out the details. Stan’s failure to credit them for that goes back a long ways.

PRELUDE: Captain America #78, Story D

The Hour of Doom

Featuring: Captain America
Release: May 19, 1954
Cover: September 1954
10 cents
By: John Romita
6 pages

We bring Captain America’s very short 1950s revival to a close with the final story of the final issue. We read the first story of this issue, where Captain America fought Electro. We skipped the terrible racist second story and we skipped a Human Torch story and a prose story.

This might be the best Captain America story of the era, but it’s a low bar to clear.

The story concerns Chuck Blayne, a television pundit who has become very influential amongst children. Captain America does not like what he has to say, even comparing his words to Hitler’s.

Blayne’s plans seems subtle and insidious, to influence the hearts and minds of America’s youth. Then he goes and plants a bomb at the UN. So much for subtlety.

PRELUDE: Captain America #78

His Touch is Death!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: May 19, 1954
Cover: September 1954
10 cents
By: John Romita
6 pages

Well, that didn’t last long. After getting his old series back with issue 76, it’s cancelled with issue 78. Something about “Captain America… Commie Smasher!” didn’t resonate with audiences the way anti-Nazi propaganda had a decade earlier.

Captain America fights Electro. Not to be confused with the Spider-Man villain who will be introduced a decade later. Or the robotic superhero introduced 15 years earlier. (Of course, the only reason we are reading this story is to cover our bases and meet all the Electros.)

The opening splash has a lot of detail. The sign in the background was at first confusing, but makes sense within the story. That appears to be a fireman checking out the battle.

PRELUDE: Captain America #76

The Betrayers

Featuring: Captain America
Release: January 18, 1954
Cover: May 1954
10 cents
6 pages

Credits aren’t evident. My copy of the Marvel Masterworks claims John Romita is the artist, but I don’t think that’s correct. The GCD offers a different interpretation, citing the same Marvel Masterworks volume I am looking at. Perhaps they have a newer edition. I am anyways assured the GCD credits are correct by no less an expert than Michael Vassallo, and that this story is the work of Bill Benulis and Jack Abel, not John Romita. It is possible Romita touched up some of the faces.

It’s 1954. The publisher once known as Timely is now known as Atlas. It will eventually be best known as Marvel.

We last checked in with Captain America in 1948, when an injured Bucky was replaced as Cap’s partner by Betsy Ross, the Golden Girl. Let’s briefly review his publishing history in the interim.

Bucky recovered in issue 71 for a couple more adventures. Captain America Comics continued until issue 73, published in 1949. Golden Girl remained his occasional partner until the end.

With issue 74, the series changed its name to Captain America’s Weird Tales. We saw one final battle between Captain America and Red Skull along with a handful of horror short stories. This was the end of Marvel’s time publishing superhero comics. For the next several years, they would focus on romance, humor, horror, crime, and western tales. The final Sub-Mariner story had been published 4 months earlier, with the final Human Torch and Blonde Phantom stories 3 months before that.

Captain America’s Weird Tales #75 (1949) did not feature Captain America at all. His name adorned the comic’s cover, but he was nowhere to be found amongst the horror stories within. With that, the series ended. A somewhat ignoble end to the comic career of America’s favorite superhero.

Jump forward to August 1953. Young Men #24 gave us the return of Captain America, Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner. We already reviewed that issue’s Sub-Mariner story. In that issue, we learned Steve Rogers had retired from being Captain America, but was still teaching at the Lee School, except it now seems to be a college. Bucky was now a college student, though he didn’t look any older. The Red Skull’s return convinces Captain America and Bucky to come out of retirement.

I plan to do a survey of Red Skull’s history separately, so am purposely not covering that story in any more detail now.

We turn now to Captain America #76. The numbering picks up where Captain America’s Weird Tales left off, but Captain America reclaims the book’s interior.

For 3 issues.

PRELUDE: Captain America Comics #66

Golden Girl!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: March 1, 1948
Cover: April 1948
10 cents
12 pages

I don’t see any credits in the issue, so I’ll refer you to the GCD for their take on attribution.

Captain America and Bucky are tracking a villain named Lavender and catch up to her during an ambergris heist.

I did not know anything about ambergris before reading this comic. Apparently, it is fecal matter occasionally released by sperm whales who have digested squid. It was used for centuries to make perfume and is extremely valuable. It has been illegal to buy or sell in America for about 50 years now, but apparently was not illegal in 1948. Hence, Lavender plans to steal some.