Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp Release: September 3, 1963 Cover: December 1963 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Illustrated by: Jack Kirby Rendered by: Steve Ditko 23 pages
Kirby and Ditko is a rare and special combination. I think this is now the 4th time we’ve seen the combo.
Giant-Man gets a costume change, though less dramatic than the Iron Man one we just saw. Since he’s no longer Ant-Man, the ant logo is vestigial. He thus drops it in favor of some vertical stripes that resembles suspenders.
We get a major new villain, Human Top. For many characters, it’s obvious who their arch-nemesis is. Thor has Loki, the X-Men, Magneto. For Dr. Pym, it’s less clear. I had suggested it was Egghead, but a friend argued it was the Human Top. Both are contenders.
We learn Dave Cannon was born with super speed and the ability to whirl really fast like a top. This makes him a mutant as Professor X explained the term. Though this comic does not use that word.
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.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: September 10, 1963 Cover: December 1963 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: George Bell 22 pages
The cover tells me not to dare reveal Hate-Monger’s identity. I fear that I am going to have to do just that. Spoilers ahead.
This is George Roussos’ first time on Fantastic Four and the effects are noticeable. He makes less effort than the other inkers to smooth out Kirby, and if anything only emphasizes the sharp angles of the faces, creating a more exaggerated style. The first page is meant to show the FF looking angry and hate-filled, so perhaps is not the ideal introduction to his take on the characters.
The first page lets me know this will be the most unusual, thought-provoking tale I will read this season. Often, Stan uses hyperbole in these opening pages. But I think the ending (yes, the one I plan to spoil; you are warned) more than lives up to Stan’s promises.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: September 3, 1963 Cover: November 1963 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: G. Bell 22 pages
The cover lets us know that one Commando will fight no more after this mission. Comic covers of the time are full of exaggerated dramatic assertions. This is not one of those.
George Roussos is fast becoming one of the more regular inkers, using the pseudonym George Bell. This is his first time on Sgt. Fury. Dick Ayers handled the inking for the first 3 issues.
The opening page is a good test for me to see if I’ve been paying attention. Last issue offered the name of each character on the opening page. This time the question is whether I can identify each Commando to fill out my character section below. Sgt. Fury and Dum-Dum are distinctive, and I know them well from many later comics. Gabe Jones is clear, the only black man on the team. Fortunately, Dino Manelli is combing his hair; that comb is a signature; recall he’s a famous Hollywood actor. The scraggly guy is Izzy Cohen. That leaves the two blonde guys to not mix up, and I had to peek at the previous issue. I think the green hat is meant to be distinctive for Rebel Ralston, making the other one Junior Juniper. Junior is freckled, but that’s not obvious in this picture.
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.
Featuring: Avengers Release: September 29, 1999 Cover: October 1999 250 cents Written by: Roger Stern (filling in for Stan Lee) Art by: Bruce Timm (filling in for Jack Kirby) 24 pages
The cover promised us a mystery villain, but I feel like the opening page spoils the surprise a bit by putting his name in the title. Even if I missed that clue, the villain would be revealed by page 3. Spoiler: It’s Doctor Doom.
Sorry, Tom. Nobody can really replace Irving Forbush.
Roger Stern is a nerd who grew up reading and obsessing over these same comics we have been reading, so the comic of course slides perfectly neatly into our continuity. It references stories we’ve recently read, and has all the characters right where they should be in their various arcs.
Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: September 3, 1963 Cover: November 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: Don Heck 5 pages
In this same issue, we saw Thor’s lackluster battle against Cobra. There is also a prose story taken from an old issue of Uncanny Tales, and a new Larry Lieber sci/fi tale. And then this. The second installment of the “Tales of Asgard” series.
We get more detail on a battle spoken of in the previous issue. We see Odin’s great war against Ymir and the Ice Giants. A simple enough tale, but told with a bold forcefulness. This is a better use of Kirby’s talents than a lot of what he has been doing of late.
Featuring: X-Men Release: September 3, 1963 Cover: November 1963 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: Paul Reinman 22 pages
For the second issue in a row, the cover reads, “In the sensational Fantastic Four style”. They are really trying to hype the tenuous similarity to Fantastic Four. The cover box also matches the previous issue, so it seems like the standard one. Odd that they chose an image which only highlights 3 of the X-Men. At least they don’t fit in everybody but the one woman, like the Avengers cover box.
Professor X has warned the X-Men that people will distrust them. But when I look at the last couple issues, evidence of that is lacking. The military seemed very grateful to the X-Men last issue. This issue, a gaggle of girls want to kiss Angel; Jean needs to shove them away. The construction workers seem grateful to Cyclops and Iceman for saving them. Xavier has contacts at the FBI, who are willing to lend him a special jet and seemingly clear the White House lawn to allow the X-Men to tackle this new threat their way. It’s weird.
What is a mutant? There are lots of super-powered beings running around now. I’ve already lost count. Very few have been described as mutants. Just Tad, Merlin, Namor, the X-Men, and Magneto. Xavier suspects the Vanisher is a mutant, but is not sure. It’s obvious that the Vanisher has “X-tra” powers. Professor X adds a bit of clarity to the question. He suggests that mutants are people born with their extra powers. So people who gain their powers from cosmic rays, gamma bombs, or radioactive spider bites would not be mutants.
Featuring: Human Torch Release: August 8, 1963 Cover: November 1963 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: Dick Ayers 18 pages
Why did we choose now to review the origin of Captain America? Because Captain America is returning. “From out of the Golden Age of Comics”, the cover says. Not sure if we’ve yet seen that term in our reading. The era we are reading has been dubbed the Marvel Age.
Weird that he’d choose the Antique Auto Show of Glenville, Long Island to make his return after a decade-long absence.
Captain America and Human Torch get into a fight. Superheroes often do that when they meet.
Featuring: Captain America Release: December 20, 1940 Cover: March 1941 10 cents By: Joe Simon and Jack Kirby 8 pages
Here he comes. (Here comes the Captain)
Ladies and Gentleman! (Here comes the Captain)
The moment you’ve been waiting for! (Here comes the Captain)
The pride of Camp Lehigh! (Here comes the Captain)
Steve Rogers!
The 1940s had more Marvel superheroes than I could name. We’ve looked at some of the miscellaneous ones like the Angel. Some would be brought back for small roles by later writers. Many would lend their name to later characters. Despite the vast numbers of them, there is a “big three”. We’ve discussed two of them at length.
Jim Hammond, the Human Torch, would lend his name, likeness, and powers to a new character, Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four. Namor the Sub-Mariner would return in the pages of Fantastic Four, often as an adversary.
There is a third big one we have left out until now. But it’s time.
I’m not certain that what we are looking at up above isn’t the best comic book cover ever. To appreciate it, you must look at the date of release. December 20, 1940. It was completed prior to that date; thus, it was completed over a year before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. America’s official position toward the wars of Europe and Asia at the time was neutrality, as codified in various neutrality acts based by Congress over the previous 5 years. And yet, here was a hero garbed in the American flag punching Adolf Hitler in the face.
Jack Kirby is obviously a name we’ve seen a lot in our reading, as he created the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Avengers, etcetera. Before that, he defined the romance genre within comics. And long before that, he created Captain America. Born Jacob Kurtzburg, the son of Austrian-Jewish immigrants, he was 23 when Captain America #1 reached the stands. Two and a half years later, he would join the US Army and go fight Hitler’s forces in Europe himself.
Joe Simon, born Hymie Simon, was a few years older than Kirby, also the son of immigrants, of Russian-Jewish heritage. He joined the Coast Guard for the war and spent the war years in America. Simon and Kirby would be partners for 15 years and together shape American comics as we know them.
