hercules – Coke & Comics

Thor #130

Thunder in the Netherworld!

Featuring: Thor
Release: May 3, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Stan the Man Lee, Writer
Jack King Kirby, artist
Vince the Prince Colletta, delineator
Artie Pussycat Simek, letterer
16 pages

Previous	#503	Next
Thor #129, Story B	Reading order	Thor #130, Story B
Thor #129, Story B	Thor	Thor #130, Story B

” Let there be no further battle! Only the weakling seeks to prove his strength at every turn!”
“Thy words have wisdom, Thor– even as thy limbs have power enow to make Hercules pause! Henceforth, I shall call thee friend!”
“And I thee!”
“What riotous revels we shall enjoy together! What battles we shall share, at each other’s side!”
“Alas, Olympian– revels are not for such as me– And, my hammer swings only for justice– never for the thrill of battle alone!”
“But, what good then to be a god?”
“Thy careless query, Hercules, is far more profound than you suspect!”

Stan the Man Lee. Jack King Kirby. Every issue Stan’s had new nicknames for the creative team. We’ve seen this particular set of nicknames before. And we’ll see it again. These are the nicknames that will stick for Stan and Jack. The Man and The King.

The issue’s title is “Thunder in the Netherworld”. Seems like a missed opportunity to call it “Thunder Down Under”.

Hercules had stupidly signed a contract saying he’d rule the Netherworld and let Pluto free. Hercules thought it was a movie deal. Zeus is enforcing the contract. Hercules’ only way out is for a champion to fight in his stead, to challenge Pluto and the armies of the dead to win Hercules’ freedom.

Thor is that champion.

Thor #129

The Verdict of Zeus!

Featuring: Thor
Release: April 5, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, writer
Jack Kirby, penciller
Vince Colletta, inker
Artie Simek, letterer
16 pages

Previous	#501	Next
Thor #128, Story B	Reading order	Thor #129, Story B
Thor #128, Story B	Thor	Thor #129, Story B

I have received plaudits and accolades from the highest and mightiest of mortals, yet, the words you have spoken shall gladden my heart for as long as memory endures!

Thor and Hercules have beaten back Pluto in Los Angeles, but Pluto escaped, and still has Hercules’ signed contract, which will condemn Hercules to rule the Netherworld in his place. Thor has returned to New York.

People usually credit the turnaround in the Thor stories to Kirby taking more control and bringing in his interest in mythology. But Stan also pulls his weight. I actually have to make a hard choice to get a pull quote out of the issue. I found at least four good options. The first I considered was the most humorous, where Thor shouts to the New York crowd: “The endless prattle of thy voices proves wearisome to mine ears!” Stan seems to have Thor’s Shakespeare-lite dialogue down now.

This unnamed taxi driver is a favorite character of mine. Thor’s sentimental words to him are what I chose for the pull quote above. The cabbie had been a soldier, and thus Thor finds a kindred spirit. He’d fought in World War II, and been wounded in Anzio, Italy, which would have been in 1944.

Thor #128

The Power of Pluto!

Featuring: Thor
Release: March 3, 1966
Cover: May 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, writer
Jack Kirby, penciller
Vince Colletta, inker
Artie Simek, letterer
16 pages

Previous	#499	Next
Thor #127, Story B	Reading order	Thor #128, Story B
Thor #127, Story B	Thor	Thor #128, Story B

Let silence reign! The God of Thunder doth take his rest!! By order of Imperial Odin!

After the battle with Siedring, the wise and mighty Odin has issued an imperial decree: Thor needs a nap.

I like to imagine the herald yelling extremely loudly about how Thor needs his rest.

Most artists who need to draw a bed just draw a bed. But this is Jack Frigging Kirby. And that’s the bed of Thor.

Tales to Astonish #79, Story B

The Titan and the Torment!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: February 3, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Hulkish story by: Stan Lee
Hulkable layouts by: Jack Kirby
Hulking artwork by: Bill Everett
Hulksome lettering by: Artie Simek
10 pages

Previous	#491	Next
Tales to Astonish #79	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #80
Tales to Astonish #79	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #80

Even he cannot suspect that Bruce Banner’s gamma rays have miraculously given Hulk the power to grow stronger, rather than weaker, so long as his rage keeps mounting!

As Richard recently pointed out in the comments, this is a great cover of Hulk battling Hercules, courtesy of Kirby and Everett. I fear the issue itself won’t quite live up to the image.

There is some pretty tight continuity on display. When we last saw Hercules, he and a casting agent had left New York bound for Los Angeles. Here we see them on a train from New York to LA. We’ll next see them arriving in LA in Thor #128. The casting agent doesn’t know this is the real Hercules. He’s been cast to play Hercules, so the agent assumes he’s method acting.

Note how little time there has been to breathe in these stories. Hulk’s battle with the Leader led right into his battles in the future, which have led right into his battle with Dr. Zaxon. There’s been no room to breathe. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger. Not so much one long story, as a bunch of story threads that don’t respect issue boundaries.

Thor #126

Whom the Gods Would Destroy!

Featuring: Thor
Release: January 4, 1966
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee the literary lion!
Jack Kirby the pencilling pussycat!
V. Colletta the delineating dragon!
Artie Simek the lettering looks it!
16 pages

Previous	#465	Next
Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B	Reading order	Thor #126, Story B
	Thor	Thor #126, Story B

“By the cloven hooves of Pan!! What doth it take to defeat the Son of Odin!??!” “A stronger arm! A stouter heart! A nobler soul! And none doth Hercules possess, thou blabbering, blustering, boastful buffoon!”

This is the first issue of Thor. It’s also the 126th issue of Thor.

Which is a little confusing. Last month (well, last week for us), we read Journey Into Mystery #125, which starred Thor, as it has for the last 40+ issues. Now the comic will just be called Thor.

Why not call it Thor #1?

For complicated and probably shady legal and financial reasons, they found it more sensible to keep the numbering of the old magazine.

Thor’s name has been prominent on cover going back to issue 104. But it’s no longer “Journey Into Mystery with the Mighty Thor”. It’s just: “The Mighty Thor”. The official title as seen in the indicia is simply “Thor”.

Starting a new superhero title that keeps the numbering of the horror title will become a common practice… though not soon. We’ll talk more at the end of this post about Marvel’s history of naming comics. Let’s get into the comic, starting with the title.

Journey Into Mystery #125

When Meet the Immortals!

Featuring: Thor
Release: December 2, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Bombastically written by: Stan Lee
Brilliantly drawn by: Jack Kirby
Beautifully inked by: Vince Colletta
Bashfully lettered by: Artie Simek
16 pages

Previous	#463	Next
Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #125, Story B

But even a Thunder God has the right to love!

We come to Thor’s final adventure in Journey Into Mystery, the series concluding after 125 issues. We’ll see next month what they have instead. Such a finale would be a good time for an overview of the series as a whole, but I gave a summary to celebrate the 100th issue, so I’ll just point to that. It may even spoil what’s coming next month.

“By the bristling beard of Odin,” Thor exclaims. We’ll start hearing that oath a lot. Have we heard it before? I failed to note it if we did.

Thor’s battle with the Demon concludes pretty readily and Thor takes the final Norn Stone to return to Odin.

Journey Into Mystery #124

The Grandeur and the Glory!

Featuring: Thor
Release: November 4, 1965
Cover: January 1966
12 cents
Story by: Stan (The Man) Lee
Pencilling by: Jack (King) Kirby
Delineation by: Vince (the Prince) Colletta
Lettering by: Artie (Sugar Lips) Simek
16 pages

Previous	#461	Next
Daredevil #14	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #123, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #124, Story B

“Those arms of his can crush concrete! And yet!–“
“He’s holdin’ that kid as gently as if she was made outta egg-shells.”

Stan has a different nickname for the creators every issue it seems. But this is not the first time he’s referred to himself as “The Man” and to Jack as “King”, and these nicknames are the ones that will stick with them across the decades. Despite its rhyming qualities, “Vince the Prince” will not stick. I have no comment on the prevalence of this nickname for Artie.

The newsstand is selling the latest issue of Strange Tales, emphasizing what I’ve noted before: just how great a month for comics this is, perhaps the best in Marvel’s history.

Thor is reading a newspaper which is reporting on the Demon. As we’ve noted, there are no really clear stopping points in Thor’s saga anymore. Most ongoing threads resolved last issue, except last issue also began this Demon story, which is still just getting started; Thor and the Demon will finally meet in this issue’s final panels. That story involves a Vietnamese Witch Doctor finding a Norn Stone, so ultimately still traces back to the Trial of the Gods from issue 116 and Thor’s battle with the Viet Cong in issue 117. Jane remains in the hospital from smoke inhalation after being kidnapped by Harris Hobbs, as we saw in issue 122. While the Demon saga will resolve itself next issue, this issue, as the cover notes, also introduces Hercules to the mix, and a story which will continue on. The last year of Thor tales have covered a very short span of time.

PRELUDE: Young Allies #16, Story B

Battle of the Giants!

Featuring: Tommy Tyme
Release: May 16, 1945
Cover: Summer 1945
10 cents
5 pages

Previous		Next
Daring Mystery Comics #5, Story H	PRELUDE	Venus #5
Daredevil #9	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery Annual 1

Geez! Am I dumb! Here am I wishin’ for sumpin’ right in me mits! Let’s go Clock! I’m gittin’ me a ringside seat!

That loin cloth better hold; this is a children’s comic.

No credits are visible. The GCD credits the art to Charles Nicholas and Al Bellman.

We’ve read two appearances of Marvel’s first characters named Hercules. We then sort of met the “real” Hercules in his reincarnated form as Marvel Boy. But now we meet the actual Hercules of myth.

I admit to trepidation when learning that his introduction was in Young Allies, and I was so relieved to learn I didn’t actually have to read the Young Allies story. Give me Tommy Tyme any day. Tempted to give extra points to this story for not being Young Allies.

This story adapts a famous Hercules legend, the defeat of Antaeus the Giant. In the classic story, Hercules’ labours were in the service of Eurytheus in penance for killing his own wife and children. On his quest to find golden apples, Hercules battled Antaeus. The comic leaves out these details and just shows the battle.

We sort of met Tommy Tyme once before. I’d wanted to see the original Marvel versions of Merlin and the Black Knight, though had been reluctant to bother to read the issue. So we talked about it here.

I’ve apparently since grown less picky about what Marvel stories to read. Little Hercules. Tommy Tyme. It’s all one big soup.

Tommy Tyme stories tend to have a similar structure. His “wonderful Clock of Ages” takes him back to some famous time and place to meet some famous people, like Robin Hood or Benjamin Franklin. Think of the series as a precursor to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

PRELUDE: USA Comics #7, Story C

Marvel Boy

Featuring: Marvel Boy
Release: December 30, 1942
Cover: February 1943
10 cents
7 pages

Previous		Next
Daring Mystery Comics #6	PRELUDE	Young Allies #16, Story B
Daredevil #9	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery Annual 1

The only wrecks in this subway will be Nazis– not trains!

We read about Marvel’s original Marvel Boy from 1940, and now we jump ahead almost 3 years. Online sources differ as to whether this is the character’s second appearance, or the first appearance of a new character with the same superhero name.

There is textual evidence to support and refute both positions.

I have my own opinion, but let’s read the issue and consider the evidence.

To remind us of the previous Marvel Boy for comparison: Hercules was a master of the Egyptian art of reincarnation and a staunch defender of America and its ideals. When he died, his soul went to Valhalla, which is presided over by Jupiter. When Hercules realized the threat Hitler posed to America, he had himself reincarnated as young Martin Burns. Martin Burns was a very strong baby, and on his 14th birthday, he learned his true identity and purpose, and was given a name and costume to enable him to battle Germany spies and saboteurs: Marvel Boy.

Hypothesis A: These are the same character.
Hypothesis B: These are different characters.

Examine the evidence.

PRELUDE: Daring Mystery Comics #6

Introducing– Marvel Boy

Featuring: Marvel Boy
Release: June 15, 1940
Cover: September 1940
10 cents
10 pages

Previous		Next
Daring Mystery Comics #5, Story H	PRELUDE	USA Comics #7, Story C
Daredevil #9	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery Annual 1

Do not be sad, for I do not really leave you– I shall be back– when America needs me the most–

Well, that’s an unfortunately racist cover from Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.

When we met Marvel Girl in X-Men #1, we took the excuse to meet Marvel Boy from 1950. That was actually not Marvel’s first character named Marvel Boy, and perhaps we should have met the other(s) then. We didn’t.

We’ll read about him/them now due to his/their connections to Hercules. (Join me in the next post to see why I seem so confused about singular vs. plural pronouns.)

This Marvel Boy is a creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, before the same team created Captain America, and before Jack Kirby and various collaborators would go on to create… a lot of famous superheroes.

I think there is a case to be made this might be Kirby’s first superhero co-creation, which makes Marvel Boy quite notable in itself. Moreso because you can see elements that made their way into Captain America, including the basic mask shape, the boots and gloves, using Hitler as an enemy.

Two notes against that point. Kirby had previously co-created with Martin Burstein the feature “Mercury in the 20th Century”. This was about the classic god Mercury. Not precisely a superhero, but if Thor counts, perhaps he should too. (We’ll probably read that Mercury story in the near future when we are ready to meet Pluto.)

That same issue introduced Jack Kirby’s science fiction hero Comet Pierce. In the Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers mold. Again, not exactly a superhero.

Marvel Boy is Kirby’s first standard superhero co-creation.

Except the second note is I have no idea who created Marvel Boy. Harry Mendryk explains the creation of this issue as follows on the Kirby Museum blog. He credits Joe Simon with the initial 3 pages which introduce the character and lay out his origin, and then Kirby with the rest. It’s thus quite possible that Joe Simon created the character on his own, and then gave the partially completed issue to Kirby to finish.

Often, history doesn’t tell us with much certainty what the division of labor going into an issue was. So I usually find it easiest to credit the writers and artists of a character’s inaugural issue as co-creators. By my normal intentionally naive standards, I would say Marvel Boy was a co-creation of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

But there is probably room for disagreement and assertion this was a Joe Simon creation.

The character only lasts one issue, though there is a sort-of revival 3 years later we will consider in the next post.

I’ve expressed before my opinion that initials are generally the worst logo for a superhero uniform. Imagine that chest with a better logo, like say a star. And imagine he wore pants. Now lose the cape and add some little wings to the cap. You’re getting closer to a good superhero design.