frank giacoia

Fantastic Four #39

A Blind Man Shall Lead Them!

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

Previous	#367	Next
Amazing Spider-Man #25	Reading order	Fantastic Four #40
Fantastic Four #38	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #40

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.

Tales of Suspense #68, Story B

The Sentinel and the Spy!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: May 11, 1965
Cover August 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Frank Ray
Letterer: Sam Rosen
10 pages

Previous	#359	Next
Tales of Suspense #68	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #25
Tales of Suspense #68	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #69

The story’s title, “The Sentinel and the Spy”, seems to refer to Captain America’s nickname, “The Sentinel of Liberty”. It’s not clear to me how established that nickname is at this point. It’s been associated with the character since his first appearance in 1941, as the Sentinels of Liberty was the name of his fan club.

At the end of last issue, Cap still seemed to be brainwashed, but he’s snapped out of it by the opening splash page.

Tales to Astonish #67, Story B

Where Strides the Behemoth

Featuring: Hulk
Release: February 4, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
Script by Stan Lee, who created [sic] the Hulk!
Art by Steve Ditko, who adopted the Hulk!
Inking by Frankie Ray, who fears the Hulk!
Lettering by Art Simek, who looks like the Hulk!
10 pages

Previous	#353	Next
Tales to Astonish #67	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #68
Tales to Astonish #67	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #68

Hulk remains in the unnamed “iron curtain nation”. We will learn this nation borders Mongolia.

We see an impressive battle with the Soviet military. Hulk’s been fighting the US military since issue 1, but this is the first real all-out battle between Hulk and a bunch of tanks.

Journey Into Mystery #115

The Vengeance of the Thunder God

Featuring: Thor
Release: February 4, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee the sage of the Marvel Age!
Penciling by: Jack Kirby the rage of the Marvel Age!
Inking by: Frankie Ray for his wage in the Marvel Age!
Lettering by: Artie Simek from his cage in the Marvel Age!
16 pages

Previous	#337	Next
Journey Into Mystery #114, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #115, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #114, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #115, Story B

Recall last issue Thor and Absorbing Man were locked in battle when Balder transported Thor away to Asgard because Loki had imprisoned Jane Foster.

I noted that starting just about last issue, the Thor title is finally getting good. In the old stories, Mr. Hyde or Cobra would kidnap Jane and Thor would fight them.

Admittedly the plot of this issue is that Loki kidnaps Jane and Thor fights him. But it’s good.

At least Loki imprisoning Jane makes sense, as Loki is well aware of Thor’s secret identity– which makes one question the value of the secret identity. Mr. Hyde would just pick the right victim by chance.

Admittedly the plot of next issue is that Enchantress and Executioner kidnap Jane, but I still maintain these stories are getting better.

Sgt. Fury #16

A Fortress in the Desert Stands!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: January 12, 1965
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Written with machine gun power by Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee
Drawn with howitzer impact by Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers
Inked with rifle-fire sharpness by Ex-Corp. Frank Ray
Lettered with bloodshot eyes by Artie Simek Civilian 1st Class
20 pages

Previous	#321	Next
Amazing Spider-Man #23	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #17
Sgt. Fury #15	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #17

The cover is striking because of the dominant yellow. We haven’t yet seen a cover with such a coloring scheme, but they’ll become more common, and they’ll always catch my eye. This particular color evokes the intense heat of the desert.

Hans Rooten takes his new place as squad mascot. He’s even got a uniform to indicate his “mascot” status. He’s written far more sensibly than, say, Rick Jones is in Avengers. He is allowed to train with the Commandos, but not on dangerous maneuvers, and he doesn’t go on missions, whereas the Avengers take Rick to fight most any super-villain.

The only not-particularly sensible thing is why they continue to let Hans believe his father is a traitor. Now that he’s safely in England, there’s surely no harm in telling the kid his father is a heroic Allied double agent. But these were his father’s wishes, so the child will go on thinking himself to be basically an orphan, with the Howlers the only family he has left.

This page is from the original comic, found online.

Hans has already figured out the character of Sgt. Fury: “He is yelling at me! That means he likes me!”

Hans wants to be a Howler when he grows up. Nick hopes that when he grows up, there won’t be any need for Howlers.

Tales of Suspense #64, Story B

Among Us, Wreckers Dwell!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: January 12, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Illustrator: Jack Kirby
Delineator: Frank Ray
Letterer: S. Rosen
10 pages

Previous	#317	Next
	Prelude	Captain America Comics #1, Story C
Tales of Suspense #64	Reading order	Strange Tales #131
Tales of Suspense #64	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #65

This is an extremely close retelling of the second story from Captain America Comics #1, which we covered back when Captain America first returned in Avengers #4.

The original story is most notable for being Captain America’s first case and for introducing Betty Ross.

I see I didn’t go into great detail on the plot in that post, writing this:

The story of the comic doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. I can’t begin to try to explain it and I’m not sure it’s worth considering all the many ways in which it makes no sense. Suffice it to say they stop the bad guys.

We’ll delve deeper here.

Last issue was a close retelling of the first story from Captain America Comics #1, which was the story of Captain America’s origin. Next issue will be a retelling of Captain America’s first battle against Red Skull from the same issue. It makes sense why one might want to revisit those two stories. And then there’s this one.

The original stories are by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Joe Simon’s name should probably have been in the credits of this comic, as it’s based so closely on his original story. The plot owes more to Simon than many of the comics Stan Lee claims “plot” credit on owe to Stan.

My issue with the original is that I didn’t really understand what Sando and Omar brought to the scheme. There were Nazi saboteurs in America successfully blowing things up. Why have a member of your crew go onstage and warn people about the attacks in advance by pretending to be psychic? The comic didn’t really try to explain.

Let’s compare the new one to the original. The first thing we will notice is the new one fits into very regular grid patterns that make it easy to crop out groups of panels. The original felt bound by no such structure, so the croppings will all be imperfect.

Looking to the opening splash pages, the crystal ball image is very close. The changes fit Kirby’s more dramatized style and generally make a more modern splash page. Omar is a little less freakish in the new one. The biggest loss is Sando, whose fingers had an unusual positioning in the original, almost suggesting his role as puppeteer. Kirby opted for a more standard-for-Kirby dramatized positioning.

The modern comic claims to be “introducing” Sando and Omar. This seems blatantly false, as they were obviously introduced 25 years earlier.

Tales to Astonish #66

The Menace of Madam Macabre

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: January 5, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Story: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art: Beamin’ Bobby Powell
Inking: Friendly Frankie Ray
Lettering: Sunny ol’ Sherigail
12 pages

Previous	#314 *(≈ 100 𝜋)**	Next
	Prelude	Marvel Comics #1, Story F
Tales to Astonish #65	Reading order	X-Men #10
Tales to Astonish #65, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #66, Story B

The Giant-Man tale is hogging most of the cover real estate.

Wasp doesn’t seem to be recognized as a co-lead for the second issue in a row. This is just described as a Giant-Man story. The covers have long since omitted her name.

Yes, we are falling farther and farther behind in our Hulk reading.

As before, it’s not actually a new Giant-Man. He just has a new hat.

Madam Macabre is an evil analogue to Giant-Man, with the power to make things shrink or grow. Not knowing she is evil, Giant-Man considers partnering with her, until he learns she thinks they can rule the world together.

Tales of Suspense #63, Story B

The Origin of Captain America!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Illustrator: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Frank Ray
Lettered by: Art Simek
10 pages

Previous	#309	Next
Tales of Suspense #63	Reading order	Avengers #13
Tales of Suspense #63	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #64

Rather than trying to tell a new Captain America story, this comic will retell the origin of Captain America. Subsequent adventures will recap his earliest issues and others will be new stories set in World War II.

I can only guess what’s going on here. One, you can imagine Kirby would like a bit of a break from drawing 5 stories a month, and it may be easier on him to retell old tales. Or, perhaps he is looking back on those tales now that he has grown as an artist and is looking to revisit them and tell them better.

I also suspect that Stan is starting to notice how much his readers care about the intercontinuity of the titles, something he probably doesn’t want to think about at all. Telling Captain America stories set in the past saves him the trouble of worrying that they line up with current Avengers comics.

I tend to find the best thing to do with these retellings is just go in depth and try to spot any differences from previous tellings, particularly the original story in Captain America Comics #1 (1941).

Strange Tales #129

The Terrible Trio!

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee (as if you didn’t know!)
Pencilling by: Dick Ayers (as if anyone cares!)
Inking by: Frankie Ray (as if it matters)
Lettering by: Art Simek (as if things aren’t bad enough!)
12 pages

Previous	#299	Next
Amazing Spider-Man #21	Reading order	Strange Tales #129, Story B
Strange Tales #128, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #129, Story B

Dr. Doom’s loser henchmen return, and Lee is still convinced that’s more interesting to spotlight than whatever Dr. Strange is up to this issue. At least Stan acknowledges Dr. Strange’s existence with a caption on the cover.

The loser henchmen now have a name. They are the Terrible Trio. They even have a cool logo design, where their name appears to be shaking.

It will be 15 years before a writer thinks they’re worth bringing back.

Frank Giacoia returns as inker. We met him last issue, where he used the pen name “Frank Ray”. Now he’s settled into the more informal “Frankie Ray”, which he will be better known as.

Strange Tales #128

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: October 8, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Monumental story by: Stan Lee
Magnificent pencilling by: Dick Ayers
Masterful inking by: Frank Ray
Melancholy lettering by: Artie Simek
12 pages

Previous	#285	Next
Fantastic Four #34	Reading order	Strange Tales #128, Story B
Strange Tales #127, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #128, Story B

I appreciate that Simek has come up with logos for Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Some wooshes over Quicksilver’s name. Some frayed edges for the Scarlet Witch.

We see a new name in the credits. Frank Ray is the inker. Frank Ray is a pen name for Frank Giacoia. He wil become a frequent Marvel inker, initially under the name Frank Ray or Frankie Ray.