dr. henry pym – Page 2 – Coke ⊕ Comics

Tales to Astonish #65

Presenting the New Giant-Man

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Illustrator: Bob Powell
Inked by: Don Heck
Lettering by: Sherigail
12 pages

Previous	#313	Next
Fantastic Four #36	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #66
Tales to Astonish #64, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #65, Story B

The cover boasts of a new Giant-Man. They just mean a new costume, one which will not prove enduring. The corner box has already been updated with the new look.

We met Bob Powell in Strange Tales #130. He’s taking over two titles this month.

We met Sherigail the letterer once before in issue 55. Various websites, including Marvel’s official site, misattribute the lettering of Sherigail. Nel Yomtov had been kind enough to reach out and let me know that Sherigail is a pseudonym for Morrie Kuramoto.

We’re getting ahead with the Giant-Man/Wasp stories and behind with the Hulk stories in this title. We’ll catch up to the Hulk stories eventually.

Fantastic Four #36

The Frightful Four!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Proudly produced by: Smilin’ Stan Lee and Jolly Jack Kirby
Inked by: Chic Stone
Lettered by: Artie Simek
21 pages

Previous	#312	Next
Avengers #14	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #65
Fantastic Four #35	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #37

The main credits are shared between Stan and Jack without specifying who did what.

Fantastic Four has been one of the best of these Marvel superhero titles since the start, but it’s regarded as one of the best comic series ever, which hasn’t yet been obvious. The series gets better at some point. It can be hard to pinpoint the exact point of transition. We noted issue 29 when Kirby started using photo collages as a step toward greatness. The introduction of the Frightful Four in this issue also suggests we are well down the path. Particularly the mysterious Madam Medusa.

Sue and Reed announced their engagement last issue. They’ve now made a public announcement, and the press is excited, underscoring their celebrity status. There will be a big engagement party this issue.

Also, I think Sue’s gotten a haircut. Her hair definitely seems shorter.

Avengers #14

Even Avengers Can Die!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: January 12, 1965
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Plot and editing by: Stan Lee
Script by: Paul Laiken and Larry Lieber
Layouts by: Jack Kirby
Pencils by: Don Heck
Inking by: Chic Stone
Lettering by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#311	Next
Avengers #13	Reading order	Fantastic Four #36
Avengers #13	Avengers	Avengers #15

That’s quite the credits listing. Sounds like they were running out of time to get this done and called in every hand they could to meet a deadline. That’s also how this story reads.

Larry Lieber had long since left superheroes behind to focus on comics like Rawhide Kid, but he pitches in.

Paul Laiken is a new name to us. This is the only superhero story he’ll ever be involved in writing. I literally think they recruited everybody in the building at the time to help get this one done. It seems like he’ll be best known for his work on the Marvel humor magazine which is totally not a Mad rip-off, Crazy.

Tales to Astonish #64

When Attuma Strikes!

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: November 3, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Edited by smilin’ Stan Lee
Written by laughin’ Leon Lazarus
Pencilled by capricious Carl Burgos
Inked by peerless Paul Reinman
Lettered by sparkling Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#296	Next
X-Men #9	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #14
Tales to Astonish #63, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #64, Story B

You’re correct, reader, that we have not finished Tales to Astonish #63 yet. We will get there. Hulk is involved in one big story, while Giant-Man and Wasp have shorter adventures which take place weaved around their Avengers adventures. It’s a tricky thing to negotiate. We’re not going to finish this comic right now either. We’ll come back to the Hulk story another day.

We get something new here. Leon Lazarus is not a name we’ve seen before. It honestly sounds a little made up. An alliterative name like that often turns out to be an alias in these stories. Especially with a biblical last name like Lazarus, a word common in superhero stories to describe effects that raise the dead (e.g. the Lazarus Pit used by Batman’s foe Ra’s Al Ghul).

And Stan Lee claims no writing credit. He’s been the sole credited writer on everything for the last year or so. And even when there were other credited scripters, Stan Lee claimed credit for the “story” or “plot” or such. This is the very first time in any Marvel Age story that Stan did not claim story credit.

Of course, Stan’s name still goes first in the credits, as the editor.

So who is Leon Lazarus? What is his real name? Why did he decide to start writing for Marvel now?

Avengers #12

This Hostage Earth!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Written in the Marvel manner by smilin’ Stan Lee
Illustrated in the Marvel tradition by dazzlin’ Don Heck
Delineated in the Marvel style by darlin’ Dick Ayers
Lettered in the nick of time by swingin’ Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#294	Next
Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B	Reading order	X-Men #9
Avengers #11	Avengers	Avengers #13

Avengers. Mole Man. Let’s check it out.

Mole Man is plotting to conquer the world. Ants are the first to notice his schemes, and they warn Giant-Man who warns the Avengers who… don’t take the ants seriously.

Iron Man is rocking those roller skates!

The moral of the story is to take warnings from ants seriously.

Avengers #11

Spider-Man!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: October 8, 1964
Cover: December 1964
12 cents
Spectacular story by: Stan Lee
Incomparable illustrations by: Don Heck
Dazzling delineation by: Chic Stone
Lachrymose lettering by: Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#291	Next
Tales of Suspense #62, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #112
Avengers #10	Avengers	Avengers #12

Don Heck is still the artist, but this time with inks by Chic Stone. I think it’s the first time we’ve seen the combo. Stone is easily my favorite Kirby inker so far; their pairing has that very classic pop art feel. Paired with Heck, they do a passable job, certainly better than the last two issues with Heck/Ayers.

But nobody, not even Kirby, can get Spider-Man right. The cover would seem to prove me a liar, as it’s Kirby’s best take on Spider-Man yet. But that’s likely because it’s mostly Ditko. Nick Caputo examines the question of who drew what on the cover on his blog Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae.

I think Heck has been doing fine work on Iron Man. Avengers is a bit harder because it’s got so many characters. And we’ve reached the point where Stan is “writing” everything, which means he’s mostly relying on the artists to come up with the stories themselves. I think Heck is a good artist but just struggled with the weight of it all. It doesn’t help that he’s being constantly compared to Kirby and Ditko in this era.

Tales to Astonish #63

The Gangsters and the Giant!

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: October 1, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Sensationally superb story by: Stan Lee
Absolutely adorable art by: Carl Burgos
Incredibly imaginative inking by: Chic Stone
Logically lovable lettering by: S. Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#281	Next
Daredevil #5	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #20
Tales to Astonish #62, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #63, Story B

Giant-Man was the clumsiest superhero, but he’s been working really hard to improve that image, learning to shrink and grow really fast while practicing gymnastics.

Tales to Astonish #62

Giant-Man Versus the Wonderful Wasp!

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: September 1, 1964
Cover: December 1964
12 cents
Written–as if you couldn’t guess by now–by smilin’ Stan Lee!
Drawn–and here’s a little twist for you–by capricious Carlos Burgos!
Inked–as if he knew what he was doing–by devestatin’ Dickie Ayers
Lettered–as though each syllable is a gem–by amenable Artie Simek
12 pages

Previous	#267	Next
Tales to Astonish #61, Story B	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #62, Story B
Tales to Astonish #61, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #62, Story B

The cover is vertically split between the two stories. This will be a common format for these shared titles. Hulk’s story comes first on the cover, but the issue opens with the Giant-Man and the Wasp tale.

Don’t think we’ve ever seen Dick Ayers referred to as Dickie before. Carlos Burgos is normally Carl Burgos, who we recall is the creator of the original Human Torch. He’s already shown up once in the Marvel Age to draw a story with the new Human Torch. Art sometimes does go by Artie.

Giant-Man has found a way to make plants grow, as well as humans. It’s a little confusing, as he was able to shrink a chair before he shrank himself. His original goal for the technology was to revolutionize shipping. Originally, it was a liquid he pored on something (an object or his skin) to make it shrink. Then he got it into pill form. Lately, he’s been able to use his cybernetic helmet to make both himself and the Wasp change size with his thoughts. His plant growth serum comes in the form of a spray. He thinks he can use it to help with agriculture and solve world hunger.

Tales to Astonish #61

Now Walks the Android

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: August 4, 1964
Cover: November 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (He’s getting to be a habit)
And then the credits get complicated.
14 pages

Previous	#265	Next
Amazing Spider-Man #19	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #61, Story B
Tales to Astonish #60, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #61, Story B

We get a new logo for the shared title. Giant-Man never got a logo before. Tales to Astonish had remained the logo despite his starring role. The new logo somewhat cramped to fit all the names. “Giant-Man” is spread across two lines and has to share its text box with “and the Incredible”. No mention of Wasp in the logo. The cover real estate is split about equally between the two stories, with Hulk’s story up top. The cover box is similar to last issue, just rearranged a bit to put Hulk on top.

Somebody’s muscling in on your territory, Giant-Man.

The first page has Stan Lee’s credit, then some typed text pasted over the rest of the credit box. It explains that Ayers is on vacation, they had hired a new artist to fill in, but circumstances altered the plan, and Ditko and Roussos stepped in last minute to draw the issue.

As with most things Stan Lee says, that text box contains partial truths and partial falsehoods. Last issue, they had announced the artist would be Dick Rockwell. Rockwell had been working in comics since 1949. He did a little work for Marvel at the time.

Avengers #9

The coming of the… Wonder Man!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: August 11, 1964
Cover: October 1964
12 cents
Sensationally written by: Stan Lee
Superbly illustrated by: Don Heck
Selectively inked by: Dick Ayers
Sufficienty lettered by: Art Simek
21 pages

Previous	#256	Next
Tales of Suspense #59, Story B	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #11
Avengers #8	Avengers	Avengers #10

To ring in the new year, we get the debut of a promising new character with a solid design aesthetic: Wonder Man.

I have questioned characters whose logos are just letters, but at least the “W” here is nicely stylized.

That title is probably the last time he is ever referred to as “the Wonder Man”.