Featuring: Thor Release: June 30, 1966 Cover: 1966 25 cents Scripted in solemn splendor by: Stan Lee Illustrated in idealistic imagery by: Jack Kirby Delineated in delicious delicacy by: Vince Colletta Lettered in living luminescence by: Sam Rosen Unaffected by the unabashed utterances of Irving Forbush 30 pages
Would that I, too, might share the coming glory of clashing combat! But alas, it may not be! Imperial Odin must only be judge! To the young belongs the glory! Yet, well do I remember those hallowed days of yore… when the bludgeoning blade of Odin did strike with the fury of a thousand storms! ‘Twas then the summer of my life… when tall and straight as oak stood Odin! And now, though minstrels still sing of Odin’s feats… while campfires flicker…thy father has reached the twilight of his years… ‘Tis for the young to seize the torch of gallantry, and hold it high! Thus has it ever been! Thus shall it ever be! Even the aging lion must one day allow the eager cub to lead the hunt!
The Tournament of Titans is declared. Warriors from every land are summoned.
Featuring: Thor Release: June 1, 1965 Cover: August 1965 12 cents Who but Stan Lee could have written this tale? Who but Jack Kirby could have drawn it? Who but Vince Colletta could have inked it? Who but Artie Simek could be called Artie Simek? 16 pages
Interesting grid layout for the cover. Haven’t seen too many of those from Kirby. I’m guessing that’s because something went very wrong here. As all four cover panels are just taken from the interior art.
Either Kirby didn’t finish a cover or his cover was rejected. This looks like somebody scrambling at the last minute to get something, anything on the cover before the book got printed.
This is the June issue of Thor. We’ve read almost consecutively since January and are now 3 months ahead of the rest of our reading. We’re going to pause after this issue, despite the inconclusiveness of the ending. We need to check in on our other heroes. Because we’re mostly in March with our reading, I don’t want to worry too much about June things right now. Like, let’s not focus on the fact that “Marvel Comics Group” has apparently become “Marvel Pop Art Productions”. We’ll reflect on that when we reach June properly.
For now, a recap. Loki has helped an evil and unnamed hunter locate the Temple of Darkness, which housed the Destroyer, a mindless being imbued with the power of Odin who would one day defend Earth in its hour of need. The Destroyer took the hunter’s mind, and has awakened too early, and thinks Thor is who it’s meant to destroy.
It’s already destroyed his hammer.
But Thor really just wants to bring his bag of Norn Stones to Odin to prove Loki cheated in the Trial of the Gods. All-wise, all-seeing Odin is not aware of these Stones because he’s currently taking a nap.
Loki likes to torment Thor, but is afraid his latest scheme will result in Thor’s death. He doesn’t mind Thor being dead, but fears the punishment of Odin if he is blamed. He has thus attempted to wake Odin and save Thor, but was thrown in prison for it.
Whew. That’s where we left off.
Oh, and the Destroyer was moments away from killing Thor, and still is.
We just met the Thor villain, the Destroyer. It seems a good time to look back to Marvel’s original Destroyer, an early Stan Lee co-creation from 1941.
He is introduced in Mystic Comics #6. You may recall we’ve already read the story from Mystic Comics #4 which introduced the original Black Widow.
In our normal 1965 reading, we just saw Thor take his part in the Vietnam War. Marvel was willing to take a clear stand in a conflict. The Vietnam War is a much more controversial one amongst Americans, and Lee’s take in that story was entirely in line with US policy.
This story takes a clear stance against the Nazis, something historically less controversial, but that was not at the time well-aligned with US policy. And US opinion on the war in Europe was far from homogeneous when this was released in July 1941.
Stan describes a war between democracy and dictatorship, and the Destroyer is a hero who will specifically destroy the Nazi hordes.
Germany is then criticized for a lack of press freedom, claiming only German official propaganda is released, and that the truth is being hidden.
Featuring: Thor Release: May 4, 1965 Cover: July 1965 12 cents A story steeped in splendor by: Stan Lee Artwork bathed in beauty by: Jack Kirby Inking dipped in drama by: Vince Colletta Lettering couched in clichés by: Artie Simek 16 pages
We are now 2 months ahead of everything else in our Thor reading because it’s all just flowing together. Thor still hasn’t returned to Asgard with the Norn Stones that will prove Loki cheated in the Trial of the Gods.
He is still flying with Kim, whose entire family was recently killed by her Communist brother.
In the early (generally awful) Thor stories (#83-100), the villains were pretty lame. Loki was the only real stand-out. A couple others, like Radioactive Man, had potential. When Kirby became the primary artist and the stories started to improve, we got some better villains: Executioner, Enchantress, and Grey Gargoyle.
Now that the series is kicking into high gear, we are getting great villains. We recently met Absorbing Man and now get introduced to the Destroyer.
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
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.
The Human Torch/The Flaming Fury Strikes Back!! Release: July 10, 1962 Cover: October 1962 12 cents Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber Penciler: Jack Kirby Inker: Dick Ayers 13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1. I don’t see any credits within the issue. The collection’s table of contents gives the credits I list above.
In his first solo outing, Human Torch must battle the Destroyer in Glenville, while preserving his secret identity…
Wait? What?
He wasn’t that concerned about his secret identity when he flamed on in front of his mechanic friend… Or talked to his friends about his Fantastic Four problems… Or went to Congress to get awards and his photo taken… Or when he decided his costume didn’t need a mask. (Yes, I realize Superman thinks the same)
