Avengers #19

The Coming of… The Swordsman!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: June 8, 1965
Cover: August 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Don Heck
Inker: Dick Ayers
Letterer: Artie Simek
20 pages

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Tales of Suspense #71, Story BReading orderAvengers #20
Avengers #18AvengersAvengers #20

There must be no surrender!

“Marvel Pop Art Productions”? This phrase started appearing on covers these last couple months. The letters page explains that fans object to these magazines being called comics, perhaps as that implies they are humorous and juvenile. So Stan is going to start calling them “pop art books”. I started reading these things about 25 years later and heard they were called comics, so I’m not sure this rebranding will stick.

Swordsman tries to join the Avengers but is rebuffed after a fight.

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Tales of Suspense #71

What Price Victory?

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: August 10, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
A study in splendor by Stan Lee, writer!
A muse of majesty by Don Heck, artist!
A glimmer of glory by Wally Wood, inker!
A nice lettering job by Art Simek, bon vivant!
12 pages

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Tales of Suspense #70, Story BReading orderTales of Suspense #71, Story B
Tales of Suspense #70, Story BTales of SuspenseTales of Suspense #71, Story B

My heart must remain as cold as the armor I wear– forever!

Wally Wood on inks. He’s just about done with Marvel, so this will be a rare treat.

He teams up with Kirby for an excellent cover. Iron Man getting a solid Kirbyesque punch in. With Happy dead or dying in the background.

We haven’t seen Wood on Heck before. I think the team works really well.

Last issue featured Happy’s apparent death. So now Iron Man isn’t just fighting Titanium Man for national pride. Now it’s personal.

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Tales of Suspense #69

If I Must Die, Let It Be With Honor!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: June 8, 1965
Cover: September 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee, the idol of Millions!
Art by: Don Heck, the toast of two continents!
Inking by: V. Colletta, the pride of the bullpen!
Lettering by: Sam Rosen, the last angry letterer!
12 pages

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X-Men #16Reading orderTales of Suspense #69, Story B
Tales of Suspense #68, Story BTales of SuspenseTales of Suspense #69, Story B

But, Iron Man must accept the challenge! It’s a matter of national pride… of prestige!

There are many stories I consider iconic. And, usually, who knows how this impression forms. Decades of reading comics and talking about comics has given me a sense of some stories that stand out.

I think of this as an iconic story and I know exactly why I think that. Very early in my Marvel reading, I also collected Marvel cards. The 1990 set had a set of famous battles. This was one of the chosen battles.

We’ve seen one famous battle (per that card deck) before, the Hulk/Thing fight from Fantastic Four #2526. And are currently in the middle of another, the “Nick Fury vs. Hydra” battle begun in Strange Tales #135.

Of course, Titanium Man has one other claim to fame. Paul McCartney selected him alongside Magneto as villains to write a song about. (He also references Crimson Dynamo.)

The MCP wants Iron Man to attend the wedding in the middle of the events of this issue. I don’t see why it can’t just be before this issue. Maybe I’m missing some subtlety. As the issue opens, he’s spent weeks working on this sub-miniature reverser. He could have taken a brief break to attend a wedding.

Continuity does get complicated here though. Avengers #20 is concurrent to Tales of Suspense #70. Avengers #19 takes place in the middle of the Hydra Saga, yet Tony Stark’s life gets complicated starting now, so issue 69 or before is the best chance for his appearances in Strange Tales, including his appearances after the Hydra saga. And of course Iron Man shares a comic with Cap. As Nick Fury does with Dr. Strange, the latter of which we are months behind on reading.

For a reading order, we’ll read the Iron Man/Cap stories, then the Avengers stories, then the Dr. Strange/Nick Fury stories. But we’ll talk about what must be concurrent and what must fit where as we go.

Titanium Man is the Soviet answer to Iron Man. He issues a public challenge to prove Soviet superiority. Titanium is more powerful than Iron, so his armor is more powerful, but also slower and bulkier.

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Avengers #18

When the Commissar Commands!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: May 11, 1965
Cover: July 1965
12 cents
Slyly written by: Stan Lee
Smoothly drawn by: Don Heck
Suavely inked by: Dick Ayers
Superbly lettered by: Artie Simek
Stoically read by: You (if you’ll ever turn the page…!)
20 pages

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Sgt. Fury #20Reading orderFantastic Four #41
Avengers #17AvengersAvengers #19

I thought our purpose was to battle crime! Why need we concern ourselves with international affairs?

Of all the stories in the early Marvel Universe, these Cold War stories are the worst across the board. The very worst are the Cold War stories set in Asia, as they tend to mix in racism with the blatant US government pro-war propaganda.

It’s awful because they are aimed at children, with the seeming intent to indoctrinate them into supporting the war in Vietnam or whatever else.

If you remove all the ways they are plainly awful jingoistic racist propaganda, they still tend to be pretty awful narratively. The closest thing to an exception is the recent Thor story, which did have an actual narrative about a conflict between brothers and a family divided because one brother joined the Viet Cong.

But maybe this story where the Avengers invade an Asian nation at random to battle their Communist leader and overthrow the government will be the exception.

Spoiler. It won’t be.

This story is interesting because it’s both forgettable and forgotten… at least mostly forgotten for about 55 years… until 2019 when someone decided it should be one of the foundational cornerstones of the entire history of the Marvel Universe.

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Tales of Suspense #68

If a Man Be Mad!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: May 11, 1965
Cover August 1965
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee (who hasn’t slept since!)
Written by: Al Hartley (who could never sleep!)
Art by: Don Heck (who was under sedation!)
Inked by: Mickey Demeo (who couldn’t have visitors!)
Lettered by: Sam Rosen (who knows!)
12 pages

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Tales of Suspense #67, Story BReading orderTales of Suspense #68, Story B
Tales of Suspense #67, Story BTales of SuspenseTales of Suspense #68, Story B

This is the third Al Hartley story we’ve read. He wrote last month’s Giant-Man finale and drew a Thor story way back. He is a Marvel regular, just normally on the humor titles this blog hasn’t focused on.

We can still count on one hand the number of stories Stan hasn’t claimed writing credit on. But he gets his name at the top of the credits anyway.

From the title page, this almost seems like the same story as last issue. Last issue, Count Nefaria took over Iron Man’s dreams to make him fight visions of his enemies. Now it looks like Iron Man is seeing visions again. Turn the page, and we learn Count Nefaria is involved again.

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Tales of Suspense #67

Where Walk the Villains!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: April 8, 1965
Cover: July 1965
12 cents
Written by our roguish writer: Stan Lee
Pencilled by our prankish penciller: Don Heck
Inked by our impish inker: Mickey Demeo
Lettered by our other letter: S. Rosen
12 pages

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Tales of Suspense #66, Story BReading orderTales of Suspense #67, Story B
Tales of Suspense #66, Story BTales of SuspenseTales of Suspense #67, Story B

The drama from last issue continues. Happy has quit; Pepper is sad; she blames Iron Man.

Count Nefaria of the Maggia returns, but with a new gimmick and identity. He now calls himself the Master of Dreams. Perhaps also Dream-Maker or Dream-Master; Stan can’t decide from one page to the next. He controls Iron Man’s dreams and sends old foes against him; if Iron Man dies in the dream, he will die.

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Tales of Suspense #66

If I Fail, a World is Lost!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: March 11, 1965
Cover: June 1965
12 cents
Written in the Marvel tradition of greatness by Stan Lee
Illustrated in the Marvel tradition of grandeur by Don Heck
Inked in the Marvel tradition of drama by Mickey Demeo
Lettered in the coziest corner of the room by Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Sgt. Fury #18Reading orderTales of Suspense #66, Story B
Tales of Suspense #65, Story BTales of SuspenseTales of Suspense #66, Story B

Stark is never around when you want him!

Due to circumstance, I lost the write-up for this particular story I had completed. I’m not a big fan of the Iron Man stories, and I was just unenthusiastic about writing this entry again. Please excuse me if I do a poorer job than usual. I just kind of want to get through this one.

In particular, I feel like I’d previously worked out where Attuma ranks in a particular metric, and I’m not sure I care to recompute it; I’ll just go off the top of my head and let somebody correct me if I’m wrong. Iron Man is the third distinct hero Attuma has fought, after facing the Fantastic Four and Giant-Man and the Wasp. I think that might be a record?

We have to define ‘distinct’ a bit carefully. I think fighting a hero and the team that hero is on should only count as one: Sandman fought both the solo Human Torch and the Fantastic Four; Loki fought both Thor and the Avengers.

With that caveat, Attuma is only the second villain to fight three distinct heroes. The first being Chameleon, who has faced Spider-Man, Iron Man (along with the Avengers), and Hulk.

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Avengers #17

Four Against the Minotaur!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: April 8, 1965
Cover: June 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee (Who else?)
Art by: Don Heck (Why not?)
Inked by: Dick Ayers
Lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

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Tales to Astonish #69, Story BReading orderSgt. Fury #18
Avengers #16AvengersAvengers #18

Here it is, the first outing of the New Avengers. How will they measure up to the old team? Lots of differences. In terms of power level, we’ve traded in a god and a man in a powerful suit of iron armor for a guy with a bow and arrows and a guy who runs fast. In terms of character strength, we’ve traded in four people who sustained their own features for 3 years now for three who have only been side characters. In terms of ethics, we’ve traded in four superheroes for three characters who were super-villains a month ago. Two members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and one lovesick Soviet stooge.

The opening tag refers to the team as the New Avengers, which is what I have always called them. Similarly if you hear me refer to the New X-Men, I probably mean the 1975 team.

It also lets us know the Avengers have begun the search for the Hulk. I’m not convinced they look very hard at all.

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Avengers #15

Now, By My Hand, Shall Die a Villain!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: February 11, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Layouts: Jack Kirby
Pencilling: Don Heck
Inking: Mickey Demeo
Lettering: Artie Simek
20 pages

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Fantastic Four #38Reading orderAvengers #16
Avengers #14AvengersAvengers #16

For several issues, Avengers had become a Lee/Heck production and was much the worse for it. Last issue had everybody working at Marvel pitch in. Now, Kirby is on hand with the layouts. Recall, we’re basically talking positioning of characters, but with that comes the storytelling, and this story is a cut above the last several issues. That’s likely Kirby’s hand. He’s been the missing ingredient. He’s back to do layouts for two issues, and they’ll be two of the best Avengers stories of the era.

Ordering is funny, as continuity is getting tight. Everybody is embroiled in multi-issue arcs, stories are flowing into each other; Avengers is always tricky continuity because it needs to be fit around the solo titles; and there’s a wedding any day now.

That’s why we already skipped ahead 5 months in our X-Men reading and are so far behind in our Dr. Strange and Hulk reading. Trying to fit it all together. This is the February issue of Avengers. We’re already mostly on to March, but about to read the January Thor. I think it all makes sense. This issue for significant reasons plainly takes place after the July issue of X-Men.

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Tales of Suspense #65

When Titans Clash!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: February 11, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
Story by Marvel’s merriest marcher: Stan Lee
Art by Marvel’s most amiable artist: Don Heck
Inking by Marvel’s dizziest delineator: Mickey Demeo
Lettering by Marvel’s persnippiest pen-pusher: Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Young Men #27, Story BPrelude
Sgt. Fury #16Reading orderTales of Suspense #65, Story B
Tales of Suspense #64, Story BTales of SuspenseTales of Suspense #65, Story B

We just spent several weeks reading Red Skull stories to prepare for this, and it’s an Iron Man story. What gives.

But I see Red Skull on the cover. Ah, flipping ahead, there are two stories in this comic. The second story is about Captain America and the Red Skull. Maybe we’ll get there tomorrow.

There’s a new name in the credits. Who is Mickey Demeo? Well, his real Name is Mike Esposito. He’s been working in comics since leaving the army in the late 1940s, and is best known for his decades of collaboration with Ross Andru. I know him best as an inker, but he was often the main penciller on his earlier work. He and Ross Andru started small publishers together in the 1950s, including Mikeross Publications, and MR Publications, which published Mr. Universe. Esposito and Ross had a decade-long collaboration on the character of Wonder Woman, which helped give a definitive and iconic look to the character. Together with writer Bob Kanigher, they co-created the original Suicide Squad and the Metal Men. Esposito will become a significant inker on Amazing Spider-Man, for a time in collaboration with Andru.

Why the alias? He probably doesn’t want DC to know he’s doing Marvel work. And it’s not just this title. He’s also inking this month’s Human Torch and Avengers adventures.

Here is a sampling of some early pencil work by Esposito.

  • Men’s Adventures #6 (Marvel, 1951)
  • Weird Adventures #3 (PL Publishing, 1951)
  • Girl Comics #8 (Marvel, 1951)
  • Blazing Sixguns #15 (Super Comics, 1963)

And here is some of his inking work in collaboration with Ross Andru.

  • Mr. Universe #2 (MR Publications, 1951)
  • All-American Men of War #6 (DC, 1953)
  • Get Lost #1 (Mikeross Publications, 1954)
  • Wonder Woman #58 (DC, 1958)
  • Brave and the Bold #25 (DC, 1959)
  • Showcase #37 (DC, 1962)

On to Iron Man. In this issue, Iron Man fights Iron Man!

Really, the new Iron man fights the old Iron Man.

That is, somebody steals Tony Stark’s new armor. So Tony has to put on his old armor to fight him.

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