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Fantastic Four #26

The Avengers Take Over!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: February 11, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
Unforgettably written in the grand manner by: Stan Lee
Powerfully drawn in the heroic manner by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: George Bell
Lettered by: Art Simek
23 pages

Thing stands alone no longer.

The Avengers and Fantastic Four team up to battle the Hulk. If there’s a better issue that serves as a microcosm for what the Marvel Universe is all about, I don’t know what it is.

I think this is perhaps the best comic cover we have yet come across. It’s very atypical of the Kirby covers in a number of ways. Likely stemming from having to cram an atypical number of characters in. But we see the full figure of each character, each taking up a small amount of cover real estate. He usually likes characters on his covers to be bigger. He also shows less concern about perspective than usual, since we see neither the floor nor any overlapping characters. He allows the action to be basically 2-dimensional and each character to be small, while overlapping none of the characters. He wants us to be able to see each character and their pose clearly. I’m reminded more than anything of posing action figures.

The whole of the scene with its 11 characters still fills a small amount of the cover. Kirby gives a lot of top real estate to word balloons. He could have zoomed in more if he wanted to. He didn’t. He wanted what is probably the widest cover shot we’ve seen yet.

This concludes a two-part Fantastic Four story, the best Fantastic Four story yet, but it’s also part of a bigger saga. It’s been building since Hulk quit the Avengers in Avengers #2, carried over into the Avengers’ battles with Hulk and Namor in Avengers #3 and #4 and will have an epilogue in Avengers #5, where the Avengers have one last encounter with Hulk, at least for now.

Still, it doesn’t really end there. Events at the end of Avengers #5 lead directly into issue 6, which itself ties in with Sgt. Fury #8. And the Hulk’s story continues, with the toll these events have taken on him leading indirectly to his upcoming battles with Spider-Man and Giant-Man. These two issues are at the center of a giant interconnected web of stories, which revolve around Hulk being (justifiably) upset with how the world’s been treating him.

It’s all part of the long build-up to Hulk finally getting his solo adventures again. He was the first superhero of the new Marvel Age to have his title cancelled and will be the first to be revived.

Fantastic Four #25

The Hulk vs. The Thing

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: January 10, 1964
Cover: April 1964
12 cents
Sensational story by: Stan Lee
Astonishing art by: Jack Kirby
Incredible inking by: G. Bell
Lighthearted lettering by: S. Rosen
22 pages

I have no idea why it took us so long to get to something like this. It seems like such an obvious superhero story to me: a good old-fashioned slugfest. Take two very strong characters and just have them duke it out. Thing and Hulk are perfect for a brawl. They met before, but it wasn’t a brawl. There was a mystery and a Commie plot and all this stuff. This time, the rest of the team is quickly taken out of contention. And it’s up to Ben Grimm to hold his own against the Hulk.

Worth the wait.

We get some preamble. Hulk has returned to New Mexico with the Avengers in pursuit. Unbeknownst to them, he turned around suddenly and went to New York to find them. He read in the paper that Captain America had replaced him and thought Rick had betrayed him. He is off to finally destroy the Avengers. Of course, Rick never betrayed him. And the Avengers only replaced him because he quit.

Avengers #4

Captain America Joins… The Avengers!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: January 3, 1964
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Gloriously written by: Stan Lee
Grandly illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Gallantly lettered by: Art Simek
23 pages

No inker is given in the credits for some reason. The GCD suggests the inker is George Roussos, who has been doing a lot of inking lately under the pseudonym George Bell. I don’t think we’ve yet seen a single comic where Kirby has done his own finishes. Probably because he’s drawing a half dozen comics each month.

There’s something that troubles me about these credits, and it’s the type of thing that makes Stan Lee a controversial character to this day. Look to the acknowledgement on this first page. Stan notes that Jack drew the original Captain America comics. That’s true and good to point out. But that massively understates Kirby’s contribution. Kirby and Simon created Captain America. The box should say. “Jack Kirby is one of the creators of Captain America.” Now, this may have been mere thoughtlessness on Stan’s part. Kirby used to draw Captain America and now is drawing him again; Stan used to write Captain America and now is writing him again. That may be the only point he wanted to make, and perhaps no other thoughts occurred to him. But the phrasing seems careful, and reflects the longtime legal stance of the many companies that have owned Marvel, that people don’t create characters, companies do. You can read an article from Brian Cronin on a piece Stan Lee had written in 1947 crediting publisher Martin Goodman with the idea for Captain America. The piece is basically fictional. Joe Simon came up with the character independently, and Kirby helped him flesh out the details. Stan’s failure to credit them for that goes back a long ways.

Journey Into Mystery #101

The Return of Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man!

Featuring: Thor
Release: December 2, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: G. Bell
Lettered by: S. Rosen
13 pages

We are one week late reading this comic because it begins a two-part battle against Tomorrow Man. How this comic fits in with Thor’s appearances in Avengers is pretty complicated, and we’ll be addressing that in a later post.

I’ll remind readers that the Avengers really do have some urgent business to get back to. Both Hulk and Namor remain at large. It should also be noted that Giant-Man recently fractured his ankle, but seems better now.

Jack Kirby is back and here to stay. Perhaps he’ll be able to turn around what up to this point has been one of the worst comics. Perhaps not, as he was there for the earliest issues of Thor and they were still of low quality. But Stan Lee was also farming out the writing to a variety of people. Now, for the first time, Stan and Jack will be the team on this book, just like on Fantastic Four and Sgt. Fury. They’ve also reached the point in their working relationship where their “coplotting” of the stories likely involves Stan less and less. Kirby will be taking greater control of the storytelling going forward. We’ll see how it goes.

Now that Lee is scripting, there is a detectable difference in Thor’s speech patterns. Under other writers, he had slowly evolved from talking like he was Don to talking like he was Thor. Now, there’s a certain haughty regality to the language. Words like “naught”.

Tales of Suspense #51

The Sinister Scarecrow

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: December 9, 1963
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan (When does he sleep?) Lee
Illustrated by: Don (When does he eat?) Heck
Lettered by: Art (When will he learn to spell?) Simek
13 pages

Stan notes we are probably wondering how a Scarecrow can cause Iron Man any trouble. I was wondering exactly that, Stan. In fact, I often wonder why most of Iron Man’s villains cause him any trouble. This issue will not answer the question. Iron Man strikes me as far more powerful than you make him out to be.

We get a somewhat interesting origin for a super-villain. It begins with Iron Man making a joke that he’s glad the performer is not a criminal, which inspires the performer to be a criminal. All he needs now is to steal a Scarecrow costume from a costume shop and some trained crows from a colleague.

Those who engage in humor know it to be an art form not free from consequence; we maintain that the rewards, though subtle, are worth the risk.

Tales of Suspense #50

The Hands of the Mandarin!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: November 12, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Don Heck
Lettered by: Ray Holloway
13 pages

So there’s this idea of an archfoe. Not every superhero needs one, but most have one. For Superman, it’s Lex Luthor. Batman has an extensive rogues gallery, but Joker stands out amongst them as his archfoe. We have not yet met Green Goblin, but many consider him Spider-Man’s archfoe. That’s likely why he was the villain in the first Spider-Man film. Those people, including the filmmakers, are wrong. We have met Spider-Man’s archfoe. It’s Dr. Octopus.

Thor has fought Loki in almost every issue. Magneto showed up in X-Men #1 and will be showing up a lot more. The Fantastic Four have fought Dr. Doom in a full quarter of their issues.

For Human Torch, it seems to be the Wizard. For Ant-Man/Giant-Man, it’s a little less clear. I tend to point to Egghead, others to the Human Top.

In this issue, Iron Man meets the Mandarin. He’ll be showing up again in a few issues. And conventional wisdom suggests Mandarin is Iron Man’s archfoe. I have no idea why conventional wisdom suggests that. I just don’t understand and never have.

Mandarin is a “yellow peril” villain, part of a long tradition of villains, with the most eminent one being Fu Manchu. Within Marvel, they had the Yellow Claw back in the 1950s. We’ll visit his old stories when he reemerges in the modern era. Today, by modern standards, this tradition of villains is considered racist. They are stereotypes of Asian people, which feed and draw from the prejudice that many Americans feel toward the people of various Asian countries. This prejudice is rooted partly in government propaganda, going back to the war against Japan, and continuing with the Cold War against Communist China, with this xenophobia enduring to the present day.

The Avengers #3

Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: November 5, 1963
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: P. Reinman
25 pages

We see a new cover box. Acknowledges that Hank is now Giant-Man and that Wasp exists.

Welcome to a special Mothers Day post. What makes this a Mothers Day post? Well, today is Mothers Day. Also, my mother likes the Sub-Mariner, and this is the issue where the Avengers meet Sub-Mariner.

Sub-Mariner doesn’t show up until page 15, but still gets the issue titled after him. Good for him.

In the first issue, Loki tricked the Avengers into attacking the Hulk.

In the second issue, Space Phantom tricked the Avengers into attacking the Hulk.

This issue, the Avengers just decide to attack the Hulk.

Tales of Suspense #49

The New Iron Man Meets The Angel!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: October 8, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Inked by: P. Reinman
18 pages

Paul Reinman on inks. It’s not often Ditko gets an inker. He usually does his own finishes. His first Iron Man story had Don Heck doing “refinement”. I think that’s the only other time we’ve seen anybody else finishing Ditko. Paul Reinman has been inking the X-Men comics, so he may be here to help keep their faces on-model.

Once again, that weird note at the beginning; we’ve seen something similar in every crossover. Stan thanks the editors of X-Men for letting the characters appear. You are the editor, Stan. But there may be legal reasons for this. Martin Goodman played all types of crazy games with shell companies and such to save a buck here and there.

The idea is it’s all one continuity, one universe. That’s why we read these comics together. But we don’t know that any character is part of that continuity until they cross over. At first, crossovers were sparse. It was a while before there was any hint Iron Man and Thor might be in this world. Crossovers have become increasingly common. After only two issues of X-Men, we learn they are a part of this world. The main story is a battle between Iron Man and Angel, but all the X-Men and Avengers will also show up.

Tales of Suspense #48

The Mysterious Mr. Doll!

Featuring: Iron Man
Relese: September 10, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
18 pages

Iron Man gets a new look.

Steve Ditko is the artist on this issue. Jack Kirby drew the cover. Covers were often completed first. Most internet sites claim Ditko designed the new armor, but it might have been Kirby. These questions have been the subject of decades of debates and lawsuits. I do not know what is true, though I have my guesses.

I do know this new armor is better than the old one. I also know Ditko is responsible for the quality storytelling in the interior.

I also know that Mr. Doll looks much more like a Kirby villain than a Ditko villain. Simple color scheme. Weird headgear. All seems trademark Kirby.

Also, he has a dumb name. The GCD informs me Mr. Doll was supposed to be named Mr. Pain. That’s slightly better, I guess.

The Avengers #2

The Space Phantom

Featuring: Avengers
Release: September 3, 1963
Cover: November 1963
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Paul Reinman
22 pages

Cover box of the second issue matches the first. Wasp is still left out. Ant-Man has not yet been updated to Giant-Man.

Now that Ant-Man is Giant-Man, his strength is at least vaguely in the same class as the rest of his male teammates. The giant-formula has not been shared with his partner, the Wasp. And will not be any time soon.

Thor comments on Hulk’s outfit. We saw a similar exchange in Avengers #1½.