Featuring: Daredevil Release: January 4, 1966 Cover: March 1966 12 cents Story: Stan Lee Pencilling: John Romita Inking: Frankie Ray Lettering: Artie Simek 20 pages
The kids are growing up. After two issues with Kirby layouts, Lee is ready to let Romita stand on his own feet and draw the comic from scratch, which likely means a lot of the plotting for this issue is also owed to Romita. Frank Giacoia is brought in to finish.
This will wrap up the Ka-Zar saga. Bit of a recap of the key points. Ka-Zar and the Plunderer are brothers. Ka-Zar’s original name was Kevin Plunder. Their father Lord Plunder had been an explorer who discovered a Vibrating Ore with strange and powerful properties. The secret of the mound lies in having the completed medallion that he gave half of to each son.
Plunderer has brought Ka-Zar and Daredevil to his castle in England, and called the local authorities on them, taking advantage of his nobility to accuse them of murder.
Someday I’m gonna marry this adorable gal… but I’ve got to wait until she gets this career idea out of her system!
No credits are given. This was a production error as the title usually includes credits. Pencils are by Stan Goldberg with inks by Frank Giacoia and Joe Giella. The script is by a young man named Roy Thomas.
It seems like Millie’s dreams have come true when she, Tony, and Chili are sent to Paris by Mr. Hanover to model for Jacques D’eau, the most famous fashion designer in the world.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Relase: September 9, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee, Army Vet! Pencilled by Dick Ayers, Air Force Vet! Inked by Frank Ray, Air Force Vet! Lettered by S. Rosen, Teacher’s Pet! 20 pages
Stan and Dick want to take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thanks and well done to the countless wonderful guys and gals who did so much under the banner of the U.S.O., to keep up the morale of lonely Allied fighting men, both near and far from home! We’ll never forget ’em!
Happy Sam orders the Howlers on a furlough back to the States, including Percy and Hans.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: August 10, 1965 Cover: 12 cents Stirring story by: Stan Lee Powerful pencilling by: Dick Ayers Bold brushwork by: Frank Ray Lilting lettering by: Artie Simek 20 pages
Years from now, when our grandchildren tell stories of those who came before them, I rawther suspect that the exploits of Percy Pinkerton will be those that endure the longest!
I always have a general concern about Marvel’s depiction of Asian people during this era, which comes into play when the Commandos encounter the Japanese army on the Burma Road. I’m more on the fence about it than usual here.
The Commandos use racial slurs to refer to the Japanese, and the Japanese officers are depicted attempting to commit horrible atrocities. However, the language likely accurately (if tamely) reflects language soldiers of the time used. And the Japanese military really is responsible for countless atrocities during World War II, many far more horrific than the accusations here. There are certainly ethnic stereotypes in place, but it’s very similar to how the German soldiers are depicted.
The Commandos are sent to rescue Sister Theresa and a group of children who had been living at her mission. The Japanese had burned the mission and are seeking to kill the nun and children.
We must find and train at least three special agents… the best!
We’re breaking my normal format for posts beyond the fact that this is plainly not a Marvel comic.
Normally, we read one story at a time, but I want to read the entire issue in one go. It consists of several shorter stories by different creative teams that add up to one larger story, all overseen by Wally Wood.
The issue has no credits, though sometimes artist signatures are visible. I have this in a collection, which credits the writers and artists involved when known. One or two names may be lost to history.
One of the disagreements between Wood and Lee was Lee taking the writer’s credit when Wood felt he was doing most of the writing. But this comic doesn’t credit anybody. In fact, most comics of the era don’t credit their creative teams. Lee was ahead of his time in trying to credit everybody. He just claimed a lot of credit for himself as well. Perhaps to Wood it was more about credit in the form of compensation than his name appearing in a box.
A couple notable differences from what we’ve been reading. First, the publisher is Tower Comics, a brand new publisher. Second, the price is 25 cents rather than 12 cents. Marvel prices its Annual comics at 25 cents, but its normal comics at 12 cents.
For 12 cents, Marvel comics give you 20-22 pages of content. The Annuals tend to be 70-72 pages for 25 cents, but with a lot of that dedicated to reprint material. This give you 60 pages of story for 25 cents.
Across the decades, comic prices had not changed much. Marvel Comics were 10 cents in 1939 and 10 cents in 1961 and 12 cents in 1965. They were very averse to raising the price, and had instead steadily decreased the page count over the years.
Thus, the page count of this comic is more reminiscent of 1940s comics than of its contemporary competitors. The idea that the individual stories all tie loosely together isn’t novel either, as 1940s Justice Society stories from DC had a similar structure, one Marvel imitated in the later 1940s with its All-Winners Squad.
We learn from the cover that THUNDER is an acronym. (Note for this blog, we’re not often including the “.”s in acronynms. I’m just too lazy to repeatedly type out S.H.I.E.L.D., finding it easier to type SHIELD.)
THUNDER: The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.
I can’t believe the “T” stands for “The”.
This title is a mix of superhero and spy adventure, with the acronym name likely inspired by “The Man from UNCLE”, and of course, the aforementioned SHIELD.
The concept was created by Len Brown and Wally Wood, who had previously co-created the science fiction trading card series, Mars Attacks.
Why are we reading this anyway? Because I wanted to see what Wally Wood got up to when he left Marvel. I think it will illuminate some discussions.
We’ll read through each story at a time, noting the title, creative team, and page count as we go. So don’t just stop when you get to the character lists. More stories to come below.
Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD Release: November 11, 1965 Cover: February 1966 12 cents Rapturously written by: Stan Lee Resplendently drawn by: Jack Kirby Rollickingly inked by: Frank Ray Reluctantly lettered by: Sam Rosen 12 pages
If he’s what ya say, he’s the most dangerous guy in the world!
Jack Kirby returns to full pencils after several issues of laying out the series for various artists, with Frank Giacoia on inks. The difference is noticeable, though I did quite appreciate John Severin’s take on these characters.
They do what is to my mind a very weird thing. The 7-part Hydra Saga is really 6.5 parts. As it’s over by page 7 of this story. They then just begin their next saga mid-issue. It’s a bit obnoxious. I’d like to keep the arcs together to best appreciate them, but Stan seems to want to end everything on cliffhangers now, so the arcs aren’t well-defined.
They’ll head-scratchingly do the same thing next month with Fantastic Four.
We will take a break after this issue. We’ll have started the first few pages of the Mentallo/Fixer Saga, and we’ll return to it one day.
First up, the half-issue Hydra finale. The organization was defeated, but Imperial Hydra, in his true identity as Arnold Brown, is about to destroy the place, killing everybody.
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
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.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos Release: May 11, 1965 Cover: July 1965 12 cents Smashing script: Stan Lee Awesome art: Dick Ayers Inspired inking: Frank Ray Luscious lettering: Artie Simek 20 pages
Mister, when it comes to being tough, us Commandos invented the word!! And we don’t need a ravin’ Fuehrer to remind us how good we are!! All we gotta do is pick up a history book!! Mebbe we don’t push our weight around like you Nazis do! But, mebbe it’s because we know we don’t haveta! We got all the muscle we need– when we need it! And the dictator don’t live who can push us around!! Waddaya think of us “inferior races” now? Answer me, ya creep!! And then answer all the innocent people, all over the world, that ya been tramplin’ on–!!
We just saw an eye-patched Colonel Fury take over the international spy agency, SHIELD in the 1960s. Let’s head back to the 1940s to see the adventures of Sgt. Fury with two good eyes.
The credits on these Sgt. Fury books have usually emphasized the creators’ status as former military. “Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee”, “Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers”, “Ex-Corp. Frank Ray”. In fact, I think they’ve done that in every one of the first 19 issues of this series, but seem to be done with the practice now. I wonder why. They’re not phasing it out; they’ll just never mention the military service of the creators again.
We see the return of Baron Strucker’s Blitzkrieg Squad, introduced in issue 14, the Nazi counterparts to the Howling Commandos.
That truck seems to have a target on it.
Unless somebody has a better explanation, I’m going to suggest the logo is the RAF roundel, simply miscolored here, and not indicative of the Target corporation. The Turkish Air Force roundels look like the Target logo, but no British ones that I can find.
A bit of poking fun at themselves here. Fury’s rival Bull McGiveney claims all Fury knows how to do is rip up shirts.
A torn chest-revealing shirt is basically Fury’s uniform.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: April 8, 1965 Cover: June 1965 12 cents You’ll relive the torment of warfare in this script by Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee You’ll see the blaze of battle in this artwork by Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers You’ll feel the drama of conflict in this inking by Ex-Corp. Frank Ray You’ll hear the sounds of attack in this lettering by exquisite S. Rosen 20 pages
Let’s remind ourselves of the dramatic final page of the previous issue.
This story picks up where that left off. Lady Pamela Hawley died in a bombing raid before Nick could propose to her. Now we see him trying to deal with his pain and frustration. Will revenge bring him catharsis?
After Nick is working the Howlers too hard, Captain Sawyer orders a furlough. They decide to take their “furlough” in occupied Holland and track down the Squadron behind Pam’s death.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: March 11, 1965 Cover: June 1965 12 cents Splendiforious story by: Stan Lee Delectable drawings by: Jack Kirby Deliciious Delineation by: Frank Ray Laconic lettering by: Artie Simek 20 pages
I don’t normally post things on Sundays, so I had planned this for Monday. But today is April 10, 2022. And it just seemed too fitting not to post this today, in honor of the introduction of Dr. Doom, April 10, 1962. Here’s the post we did on his introduction almost 3 years ago.
So, happy birthday to the greatest comic book villain of all time. Let’s celebrate by reading his first truly great battle against the Fantastic Four, still one of the greatest Dr. Doom stories ever.
Just don’t mention his age to him. He’ll probably kill you. He can be a bit vain.
After a battle with the Frightful Four, the Fantastic Four were caught in a Q-bomb explosion and left for dead in the middle of the ocean. When we last saw them, it appeared as though Ben was turning human again.
To me, that’s a good excuse to jump straight to the next issue where they are getting dragged out of the water.
But we didn’t do that. We read another 35 comics in between the two. Why? Well, a lot was happening all at once. While they were still at sea, the Frightful Four showed up in Thor’s comic during the Trial of the Gods. That’s a whole thing. That tied into this Daredevil/Sub-Mariner battle as well as to this milestone Avengers issue where a new team of Avengers formed. That spun out of an X-Men story which happened before Human Torch showed up in the pages of X-Men. It’s tightly connected.
Obviously, the FF couldn’t be at sea that many days without the submarine finding them. They need water at some point. But it could have taken a bit of time to get back to their headquarters. And all the other superhero adventures must have elapsed in that time.
Frank Giacoia is the credited inker (under the pen name Frank Ray), but Wally Wood was brought in to ink Daredevil specifically, to ensure consistency with Daredevil’s look across the books.
