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Strange Tales #138

Sometime the Good Guys Lose!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: August 10, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, sultan of script!
Laid out by: Jack Kirby, master of melodrama!
Drawn by: Johnny Severin, archduke of art!
Lettered by: S. Rosen, prince of penmanship!
12 pages

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Strange Tales #137, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #138, Story B
Strange Tales #137, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #138, Story B

And knock off that “Colonel” jazz, Mister! I keep thinkin’ ya mean someone else!

Nick Fury gets the cover again, even though the Dr. Strange story is one of the single greatest issues of all time.

Last issue, we watched three SHIELD agents sacrifice their lives in an attempt to find Hydra’s Betatron Bomb. Nick reflects on that as he realizes they are just moments too late to prevent the launch. And Hydra can now hold the world hostage.

Even Hydra has an org chart in every presentation.

Tony Stark has a secret invention which can help, but before he shows it to Fury, Hydra attacks the Stark plant. Tony is able to save himself, but not Fury, who is captured by Hydra.

Strange Tales #137

The Prize is… Earth!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: July 8, 1965
Cover: October 1965
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Layouts: J. Kirby
Art: J. Severin
Lettering: Art Simek
12 pages

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Strange Tales #136, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #137, Story B
Strange Tales #136, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #137, Story B

Well, we can’t just stand here cryin’ in our soup, like kids! That won’t bring those joes back! We gotta make sure they didn’t cash in their chips for nothin’!

It’s a pretty big deal that Severin is given the cover. Even when Stan’s used different interior artists, he’s wanted Kirby on the cover. Heck’s been the regular artist on Iron Man since day 1, but Kirby’s almost always done the covers. All but one, so far. Kirby got all the Giant-Man covers, whether it was Heck or Ayers on art. But the artist base is starting to expand. Colan’s been doing the Sub-Mariner covers, and now Severin gets a SHIELD cover.

We get something new with the credits. The art attempts to integrate them into the story. Rather than a separate box, they show up on a computer screen at SHIELD HQ.

We see the “Q” scene as Nick Fury gets his fancy gadgeted clothing. The dialogue is pretty rote at this point. “Why are you giving me an ordinary hat?” “Ho ho, it just looks like an ordinary hat…”

I think the hat is cool because it seems like it might actually work. There’s nothing too fancy going on in their diagram. A hat whose brim works like a periscope to allow you to see what’s going on behind you.

I’m not sure I would want to wear a suit made of explosive fabric.

Fantastic Four Annual 3

Bedlam at the Baxter Building!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: July 1, 1965
Cover: 1965
25 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Vince Colletta
Lettered by: Artie Simek
23 pages

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	POSTLUDE	Marvel: Heroes & Legends #1
Journey Into Mystery #123, Story B	Reading order	X-Men #14
Fantastic Four Annual 2, Story C	Fantastic Four Annual	Fantastic Four Annual 4

I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss your bride!

It’s the wedding of the century. Today’s the day. Half the Marvels have been invited! And the rest of them are turning up anyway!

This issue represents by far the largest gathering of heroes and villains yet, forever binding these disparate characters into a universe.

This issue represents the idea that there is no status quo, that these characters are at their best when they change and grow. Forward momentum is an essential ingredient to storytelling. Genuine, non-illusionary, change.

This is the most significant moment in the early Marvel Universe.

I think I’d have come up with a better title than “Bedlam at the Baxter Building”.

I wish Chic Stone or Joe Sinnott had been the inker. A few months too late to have Stone and one month too early to have Sinnott. Also, Colletta is uniquely suited to a long special issue with many characters because he’s famously expedient.

I appreciate that the headline takes for granted the public knows who Reed and Sue are without the need for surnames or superhero identities. The cover does the same for its audience.

Pretty cool this worked out to be the 400th story in our reading order. Currently on track to also have the 500th story be a particularly special issue of Fantastic Four as well. When we read Avengers #1, it was the 100th story, but then I went and retroactively mucked with the ordering.

Sgt. Fury Annual 1

Commission in Korea!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: July 1, 1965
Cover: 1965
25 cents
Story: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art: Darlin’ Dick Ayers
Inking: Frisky Frankie Ray
Lettering: Artful Artie Simek
15 pages

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Tales to Astonish #76	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #120
	Sgt. Fury Annual	Sgt. Fury Annual 2

They have been shown, in the only way they understand, that free men can always strike back!

We check in with Sgt. Fury during the Korean War. The Commandos are sent on a secret mission across the 38th Parallel. Based on a cursory knowledge of the war, the massive American presence combined with a reticence to cross the 38th Parallel would place this story in July-August 1950.

The remaining Commandos all survived WWII and re-enlisted when the Korean War broke out. All of them have attained at least the rank of Sergeant, but they still seem to be in the same formation with the same personnel from 1943.

The narrator reminds us that the US are the good guys, who play by the agreed-upon rules of war. Unlike those Reds.