jack kirby – Page 16 – Coke & Comics

Fantastic Four Annual 2, Story C

The Final Victory of Dr. Doom!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
A Stan Lee story spectacular!
A Jack Kirby illustrative idyll!
A Chic Stone delineation delight!
A Sam Rosen lettering landmark!
25 pages

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Fantastic Four Annual 2	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #60
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Never will this mass of teeming humanity ever forget that Doctor Doom once walked among them!

It’s interesting that this is the final story in this issue. It almost seems backwards. This is the full-length Fantastic Four story. That would usually go up front. The first story was a 12-page story which didn’t feature the Fantastic Four at all. That would usually be the back-up. But the 12 page story was better. So Stan put it first.

It’s still weird to me that this is the final thing in the comic, after the reprint and all the bonus material. This is the cover feature, after all.

How is it that we saw Dr. Doom alive in the previous story when clearly he was floating somewhere in space? Sure enough, a ship randomly rescued him… again. This time, it was Rama-Tut.

The story at least acknowledges that Fantastic Four #23 should have been the last we saw of Dr. Doom. It shows us what happened immediately afterwards. Dr. Doom was trapped in space, running out of oxygen reserves and falling toward Jupiter when his unlikely rescue occurred.

Rama-Tut notes this can’t have happened by chance. I’m inclined to agree.

Fantastic Four Annual 2

The Fantastic Origin of Dr. Doom!

Featuring: Dr. Doom
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
Earth-shaking script by: Stan Lee
Breath-taking illustration by: Jack Kirby
Epoch-making delineation by: Chic Stone
No-faking lettering by: S. Rosen
12 pages

We get another 25 cent annual for 72 pages. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual we recently covered was a better deal. That was 72 pages of all new material, which is really quite the bargain for 25 cents. This issue reaches the page count by reprinting Fantastic Four #5. Now, if you’d never read the first appearance of Dr. Doom, and were having trouble finding it, that would make this just as good a deal.

The first page

Confusing opening. It seems to show Dr. Doom in a castle. Yet, we saw Dr. Doom get lost in space in Fantastic Four #23. Of course, he also got lost in space in issue 6 only to be miraculously rescued by the Ovoids. But the odds of something like that happening twice are too improbable to consider. After all, space is big. Perhaps this story is meant to be set before Doom fell into outer space. Because I was sure we’d seen the last of him.

This is the best drawing of Dr. Doom we’ve yet seen. At least, that’s my take. I’d like to see if I can break down what’s leading my instincts to that conclusion.

Journey Into Mystery #108, Story B

Trapped by the Trolls!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Fantastically written by: Stan Lee
Faithfully drawn by: Jack Kirby
Fabulously inked by: Vince Colletta
Finally lettered by: Art Simek
5 pages

The Tales of Asgard features have recently spotlighted Balder and Heimdall before him. Now we are back to tales of a young Thor.

This is a pretty simple tale in which Thor battles Trolls to free their captives.

Journey Into Mystery #108

At the Mercy of Loki, Prince of Evil!

Featuring: Thor
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, the idol of millions!
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the toast of the town!
Inked by: Chic Stone, the man of the hour!
Lettered by Art Simek, the people’s choice!
18 pages

Stan Lee grants himself the tagline that will eventually get applied (usually self-applied) frequently to Ben Grimm: “the idol of millions”.

We get an offbeat opening sequence. Maybe it’s cool. I find it stretches credibility, though I confess a difficulty expressing what doesn’t in Thor stories. Thor appears to go mad, striking the ground with his hammer to create an earthquake. This shaking threw a truck off the ground a few blocks away, just high enough to not hit a boy. I find it hard to believe Thor could be that precise, and that nobody else was injured. Thor claims there was only some damaged property, which could be paid for out of the Avengers emergency fund.

The notable event in this issue is the first meeting of Thor and Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange had just barely defeated Baron Mordo and was left weakened by the battle. Strange fights Mordo pretty often. The last battle we saw was a few months ago and didn’t seem to leave Strange this weakened. There is likely some untold battle between Strange and Mordo that precedes this story.

Fantastic Four #30

The Dreaded Diablo!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: June 6, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (A rather nice writer)
Drawn by: Jack Kirby (A quite noteworthy artist)
Inked by: Chic Stone (A somewhat nifty inker)
Lettered by: Art Simek (An occasionally neat letterer)
22 pages

On vacation in Transylvania, the Fantastic Four awaken Diablo, an evil alchemist sealed in his crypt 100 years earlier.

Diablo gives Thing a potion which turns him into a prettier (?) version of himself, which leads to Thing betraying the Fantastic Four to join Diablo. Diablo proceeds to make himself wealthy by selling a variety of miracle potions to the world.

Avengers #7

Their Darkest Hour!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Magnificently written by: Stan Lee
Majestically illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Masterfully inked by: Chic Stone
Meticulously lettered by: Art Simek
22 pages

In Tales of Suspense #56, Tony Stark very briefly flirted with giving up his Iron Man identity. He now faces a board of inquiry for his failure to answer an Avengers call. At that very moment, Odin is rendering judgment on Enchantress and Executioner for their part in the events of Journey Into Mystery #103. These events show the ever-tightening interconnectedness of the series.

Recall that Thor’s title went over a dozen issues without referencing or being referenced by any other series. There was no evidence it was set in the same world as that of the other heroes. Now, they are rather intertwined.

But continuity brings continuity errors, even when a single writer is nominally writing every title. The inquiry is tricky to reconcile with the details of Tales of Suspense #56 in a few ways. Thor charges Iron Man with ignoring a call. However, the Avengers didn’t really know how to contact him and never reached him. They talked to Mr. Stark’s secretary. She was able to talk to Mr. Stark, but never (as far as anyone knows) Iron Man. It would be like somebody who doesn’t know my phone number charging me with not answering my phone they didn’t call.

Secondly, they were trying to contact Iron Man to ask him to look into the Unicorn. Within a couple hours of that failed call, Iron Man did indeed find, battle, and defeat the Unicorn. So they attempted to contact Iron Man, didn’t know how to, never reached him, and thus it was, say, 2 hours between their attempt at contact and his completing the mission they sought to assign him. That hardly seems worth an inquiry.

There was no mention of this coming inquiry in the Iron Man comic. In fact, at the time, the Avengers all seemed to agree that Iron Man was in his rights to live his own life.

Journey Into Mystery #107, Story B

Balder Must Die!

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written and drawn by the prize-winning team of: Stan (The Man) Lee and Jack (King) Kirby
Inked by: Vince Colletta
Lettering: Art Simek
5 pages

For several months now, Stan has used all kind of creative license in the credits, applying clever nicknames to everybody. Two months ago in Fantastic Four #28, Jack was referred to as “The King”. Now, we get the credits that will resonate through the decades and become basically the official nicknames of the famous duo: “Stan (The Man) Lee and Jack (King) Kirby”.

This might be the first time they’ve ever shown up. Certainly that I’ve come across. Caveat that I’m reading these Marvel stories in reprints, so miss many house ads and letters pages, which are likely sources of the nicknames. This is definitely the first time we’ve seen both “The Man” and “King” within an issue’s credits.

This is the second story starring Balder, depicted here in what looks to be a Disney movie. Loki is jealous of the favoritism Odin shows to Balder, second only to his love for Thor. Loki decides to kill Balder. The only snag is the gift of invulnerability Odin had bestowed upon Balder last issue.

Journey Into Mystery #107

When the Grey Gargoyle Strikes!

Featuring: Thor
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, who needs the money
Drawn by: Jack Kirby, who enjoys the practice
Inked by: Chic Stone, who loves the publicity
Lettered by: Art Simek, whoever he is!
18 pages

We get a significant new addition to the canon of Marvel villains with the Grey Gargoyle. He’s got a pretty cool hook; he turns people to stone. In whatever early comics I first saw the character in, I didn’t fully appreciate the name. I got the alliteration and that gargoyles are often rendered in stone. But there’s a little more to it that I think later artists would fail to capture. We see in this initial image of the character that Kirby really has gone out of his way to make it so he can look like a gargoyle in the right pose.

It’s a particularly good opening splash page, and that’s before we even get to the light poetry of the narration rhyming: “small” with “all”.

Fantastic Four #29

It Started on Yancy Street!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written with a dash of greatness by: Stan Lee
Drawn with a hint of glory by: Jack Kirby
Inked with a touch of drama by: Chic Stone
Lettered with a bottle of India ink by: S. Rosen
22 pages

This is pretty easily my favorite cover so far. Years before I’d ever read the issue, I’d been enthralled by the cover. It seems to promise so much potential. What started on Yancy Street? Important enough to attract the attention of the Watcher.

Beyond my fascination with the ominous mood the cover suggests, there really hasn’t been a cover at all like this yet in our reading. First of all, it’s definitely the first Fantastic Four cover without a hint of a villain. The closest other example is Fantastic Four #13, which only shows Red Ghost’s hand. The mood of the characters is entirely different from the norm. Usually they’re mid-battle or primed for battle, with only a couple exceptions, notably FF#13 again. Now, they seem nervous, uncertain, hesitant. Moods that have never made it onto a cover. Reed is holding Sue’s hand. Ben looks uneasy. Johnny is nervously looking around.

Behind them all, the visage of the Watcher lurking ominously with glimpses of the cosmos behind him.

And yet. And yet. While almost everything about the visuals of the cover suggest this serious tone, we must also look to the street sign. Yancy Street. That creates an association which is far from serious. Since we first learned of the Yancy Street Gang back in issue 6, they have been comic relief, existing to knock Thing down a peg, to keep him humble. There is then some irony on the cover. Perhaps the super-serious tone is not meant to be taken quite so seriously.

Will the story live up to the incredible cover? As with most great works of this era, parts of it do and parts of it do not. In particular, the revelation of just what was happening on Yancy Street proves somewhat disappointing.

The first page seems almost a continuation of the cover, the Fantastic Four walking down Yancy Street, uncertain quite what they are looking for. Yet, the ominous tone of the cover is mixed with a certain wackiness as Thing steps in gum and somebody hurls lettuce at Mr. Fantastic. They are indeed on Yancy Street.

The first 5 pages of this comic are a quirky mix of foreboding and humor and relationship drama. The Fantastic Four get attacked by unseen members of the Yancy Street Gang. Reed bewilderingly concludes that a super-villain must be behind the Gang.

X-Men #6

Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written: With the flair of Stan Lee
Drawn: With the air of Jack Kirby
Inked: With the care of Chic Stone
Lettered: On a dare by S. Rosen
22 pages

Once again, we see that Namor and Hulk are the binding that holds this nascent Marvel Universe together. Most of the heroes haven’t met each other, but they’ve almost all met Hulk or Namor. (Daredevil hasn’t met either yet, but we’ve only read two issues; he’ll meet Namor soon.)

My confusion about what to call Magneto’s group remains. It’s becoming clearer that “Evil Mutants” is how Xavier and the narrator refer to them. It’s less clear what they would call themselves. They were called the “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” on the cover, and in the title, of their first appearance; however, that name has never shown up in-story.