Featuring: Thor Release: August 4, 1964 Cover: October 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee, the monarch of the Marvel Age, at the pinnacle of his power! Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the prince of pageantry, at the height of his titanic talent! Inked by: Chic Stone, the dean of line design, at the peak of his prowess! Lettered by: S. Rosen, the sultan of spelling, at the little table in his studio! 18 pages
I don’t know what to make of these Thor stories since Kirby returned to the title. The art is certainly improved. This is very iconic Kirby, especially with Stone on inks. Everything very melodramatic, especially the posing.
And it’s cool that Thor meets Magneto. The battle between them starts off pretty well. Again, Kirby on that dramatic action depiction.
But the weaknesses of the story increasingly detract as the issue goes on. That battle which had been going well then moves to the now familiar trope where Thor loses his hammer and becomes Dr. Blake mid-battle, luckily just out of view of the villain. How did he lose it? He dropped it, then forgot about it.
After 60 seconds, the hammer turns into a walking stick. Sometimes that is what happens, and sometimes it is not.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: July 9, 1964 Cover: October 1964 Written by: Stan Lee, the man with the talented typewriter! Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the man with the power-packed pencil! Inked by: Chic Stone, the man with the panoramic paint-brush! Lettered by: S. Rosen, the man with the leaky lettering pen! 21 pages
I’d like to reflect back to Fantastic Four #11. Things were revealed there which are contrary to my general impression of these characters. Some key facts were that Reed and Ben had served in World War II. Prior to the war, they had both finished college. Further, he and Sue were sweethearts prior to the war.
We did a lot of math about what that meant, math I’m sure Stan Lee never did. But he must have had some sense of what he was saying. He had been a sergeant himself in World War II. He must have known that claiming Reed and Ben served in the same war he did made them about his age. He similarly knew that it was quite odd to have a sweetheart for 20 years and still not be married. He must have known these things.
The one thing I suspect he didn’t think about was that Johnny was in high school. This necessarily put a gap of almost twenty years in age between brother and sister. I have a friend whose brother is 30 years older than he, so I know this is possible. But I really don’t think Stan intended it.
Stan certainly gives the impression in the stories that Reed has let Sue stay single too long, but I assume he intends to mean she should have been married by 23 and she’s now like 26 or something. But that’s inconsistent with the World War II facts, which suggests she’s pushing 40 and still unmarried, but with at least two suitors.
Either way, Johnny is in high school. And whether his sister is ten or twenty years older than he, she is definitely much older and seems to be his guardian. There has been no mention of parents.
Featuring: X-Men Release: July 2, 1964 Cover: September 1964 12 cents Written with all the spell-binding skill of: Stan Lee Drawn with all the titanic talent of: Jack Kirby Inked with all the vibrant verve of: Chic Stone Lettered with all the words spelled right by: Art Simek 22 pages
The time has come for the next chapter in the history of the X-Men. The series began with the premise that the X-Men were students of an unusual school. We saw two issues back that they passed their final exam. Now, it’s graduation day.
We just saw Johnny celebrate his spring break. And we are almost a year (in publication time) away from Peter’s graduation. It’s possible the publication dates poorly reflect when this story is set within the Marvel Universe, but it’s also possible this unique private school does things its own way, and has a much earlier graduation date than the regular schools attended by Peter Parker and Johnny Storm.
It’s odd that Iceman is graduating with the rest given that he’s a couple years younger than them. Maybe he’s gifted. Or maybe it’s just a really weird school.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: July 2, 1964 Cover: 1964 25 cents A Stan Lee story spectacular! A Jack Kirby illustrative idyll! A Chic Stone delineation delight! A Sam Rosen lettering landmark! 25 pages
Never will this mass of teeming humanity ever forget that Doctor Doom once walked among them!
It’s interesting that this is the final story in this issue. It almost seems backwards. This is the full-length Fantastic Four story. That would usually go up front. The first story was a 12-page story which didn’t feature the Fantastic Four at all. That would usually be the back-up. But the 12 page story was better. So Stan put it first.
It’s still weird to me that this is the final thing in the comic, after the reprint and all the bonus material. This is the cover feature, after all.
How is it that we saw Dr. Doom alive in the previous story when clearly he was floating somewhere in space? Sure enough, a ship randomly rescued him… again. This time, it was Rama-Tut.
The story at least acknowledges that Fantastic Four #23 should have been the last we saw of Dr. Doom. It shows us what happened immediately afterwards. Dr. Doom was trapped in space, running out of oxygen reserves and falling toward Jupiter when his unlikely rescue occurred.
Rama-Tut notes this can’t have happened by chance. I’m inclined to agree.
Featuring: Dr. Doom Release: July 2, 1964 Cover: 1964 25 cents Earth-shaking script by: Stan Lee Breath-taking illustration by: Jack Kirby Epoch-making delineation by: Chic Stone No-faking lettering by: S. Rosen 12 pages
We get another 25 cent annual for 72 pages. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual we recently covered was a better deal. That was 72 pages of all new material, which is really quite the bargain for 25 cents. This issue reaches the page count by reprinting Fantastic Four #5. Now, if you’d never read the first appearance of Dr. Doom, and were having trouble finding it, that would make this just as good a deal.
The first page
Confusing opening. It seems to show Dr. Doom in a castle. Yet, we saw Dr. Doom get lost in space in Fantastic Four #23. Of course, he also got lost in space in issue 6 only to be miraculously rescued by the Ovoids. But the odds of something like that happening twice are too improbable to consider. After all, space is big. Perhaps this story is meant to be set before Doom fell into outer space. Because I was sure we’d seen the last of him.
This is the best drawing of Dr. Doom we’ve yet seen. At least, that’s my take. I’d like to see if I can break down what’s leading my instincts to that conclusion.
Featuring: Thor Release: July 2, 1964 Cover: September 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee, the idol of millions! Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the toast of the town! Inked by: Chic Stone, the man of the hour! Lettered by Art Simek, the people’s choice! 18 pages
Stan Lee grants himself the tagline that will eventually get applied (usually self-applied) frequently to Ben Grimm: “the idol of millions”.
We get an offbeat opening sequence. Maybe it’s cool. I find it stretches credibility, though I confess a difficulty expressing what doesn’t in Thor stories. Thor appears to go mad, striking the ground with his hammer to create an earthquake. This shaking threw a truck off the ground a few blocks away, just high enough to not hit a boy. I find it hard to believe Thor could be that precise, and that nobody else was injured. Thor claims there was only some damaged property, which could be paid for out of the Avengers emergency fund.
The notable event in this issue is the first meeting of Thor and Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange had just barely defeated Baron Mordo and was left weakened by the battle. Strange fights Mordo pretty often. The last battle we saw was a few months ago and didn’t seem to leave Strange this weakened. There is likely some untold battle between Strange and Mordo that precedes this story.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: June 6, 1964 Cover: September 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee (A rather nice writer) Drawn by: Jack Kirby (A quite noteworthy artist) Inked by: Chic Stone (A somewhat nifty inker) Lettered by: Art Simek (An occasionally neat letterer) 22 pages
On vacation in Transylvania, the Fantastic Four awaken Diablo, an evil alchemist sealed in his crypt 100 years earlier.
Diablo gives Thing a potion which turns him into a prettier (?) version of himself, which leads to Thing betraying the Fantastic Four to join Diablo. Diablo proceeds to make himself wealthy by selling a variety of miracle potions to the world.
Featuring: Avengers Release: June 9, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Magnificently written by: Stan Lee Majestically illustrated by: Jack Kirby Masterfully inked by: Chic Stone Meticulously lettered by: Art Simek 22 pages
In Tales of Suspense #56, Tony Stark very briefly flirted with giving up his Iron Man identity. He now faces a board of inquiry for his failure to answer an Avengers call. At that very moment, Odin is rendering judgment on Enchantress and Executioner for their part in the events of Journey Into Mystery #103. These events show the ever-tightening interconnectedness of the series.
Recall that Thor’s title went over a dozen issues without referencing or being referenced by any other series. There was no evidence it was set in the same world as that of the other heroes. Now, they are rather intertwined.
But continuity brings continuity errors, even when a single writer is nominally writing every title. The inquiry is tricky to reconcile with the details of Tales of Suspense #56 in a few ways. Thor charges Iron Man with ignoring a call. However, the Avengers didn’t really know how to contact him and never reached him. They talked to Mr. Stark’s secretary. She was able to talk to Mr. Stark, but never (as far as anyone knows) Iron Man. It would be like somebody who doesn’t know my phone number charging me with not answering my phone they didn’t call.
Secondly, they were trying to contact Iron Man to ask him to look into the Unicorn. Within a couple hours of that failed call, Iron Man did indeed find, battle, and defeat the Unicorn. So they attempted to contact Iron Man, didn’t know how to, never reached him, and thus it was, say, 2 hours between their attempt at contact and his completing the mission they sought to assign him. That hardly seems worth an inquiry.
There was no mention of this coming inquiry in the Iron Man comic. In fact, at the time, the Avengers all seemed to agree that Iron Man was in his rights to live his own life.
Featuring: Thor Release: June 2, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee, who needs the money Drawn by: Jack Kirby, who enjoys the practice Inked by: Chic Stone, who loves the publicity Lettered by: Art Simek, whoever he is! 18 pages
We get a significant new addition to the canon of Marvel villains with the Grey Gargoyle. He’s got a pretty cool hook; he turns people to stone. In whatever early comics I first saw the character in, I didn’t fully appreciate the name. I got the alliteration and that gargoyles are often rendered in stone. But there’s a little more to it that I think later artists would fail to capture. We see in this initial image of the character that Kirby really has gone out of his way to make it so he can look like a gargoyle in the right pose.
It’s a particularly good opening splash page, and that’s before we even get to the light poetry of the narration rhyming: “small” with “all”.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: May 12, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Written with a dash of greatness by: Stan Lee Drawn with a hint of glory by: Jack Kirby Inked with a touch of drama by: Chic Stone Lettered with a bottle of India ink by: S. Rosen 22 pages
This is pretty easily my favorite cover so far. Years before I’d ever read the issue, I’d been enthralled by the cover. It seems to promise so much potential. What started on Yancy Street? Important enough to attract the attention of the Watcher.
Beyond my fascination with the ominous mood the cover suggests, there really hasn’t been a cover at all like this yet in our reading. First of all, it’s definitely the first Fantastic Four cover without a hint of a villain. The closest other example is Fantastic Four #13, which only shows Red Ghost’s hand. The mood of the characters is entirely different from the norm. Usually they’re mid-battle or primed for battle, with only a couple exceptions, notably FF#13 again. Now, they seem nervous, uncertain, hesitant. Moods that have never made it onto a cover. Reed is holding Sue’s hand. Ben looks uneasy. Johnny is nervously looking around.
Behind them all, the visage of the Watcher lurking ominously with glimpses of the cosmos behind him.
And yet. And yet. While almost everything about the visuals of the cover suggest this serious tone, we must also look to the street sign. Yancy Street. That creates an association which is far from serious. Since we first learned of the Yancy Street Gang back in issue 6, they have been comic relief, existing to knock Thing down a peg, to keep him humble. There is then some irony on the cover. Perhaps the super-serious tone is not meant to be taken quite so seriously.
Will the story live up to the incredible cover? As with most great works of this era, parts of it do and parts of it do not. In particular, the revelation of just what was happening on Yancy Street proves somewhat disappointing.
The first page seems almost a continuation of the cover, the Fantastic Four walking down Yancy Street, uncertain quite what they are looking for. Yet, the ominous tone of the cover is mixed with a certain wackiness as Thing steps in gum and somebody hurls lettuce at Mr. Fantastic. They are indeed on Yancy Street.
The first 5 pages of this comic are a quirky mix of foreboding and humor and relationship drama. The Fantastic Four get attacked by unseen members of the Yancy Street Gang. Reed bewilderingly concludes that a super-villain must be behind the Gang.
