joe orlando – Coke & Comics

Tales to Astonish #61

Now Walks the Android

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: August 4, 1964
Cover: November 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee (He’s getting to be a habit)
And then the credits get complicated.
14 pages

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Amazing Spider-Man #19	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #61, Story B
Tales to Astonish #60, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #61, Story B

We get a new logo for the shared title. Giant-Man never got a logo before. Tales to Astonish had remained the logo despite his starring role. The new logo somewhat cramped to fit all the names. “Giant-Man” is spread across two lines and has to share its text box with “and the Incredible”. No mention of Wasp in the logo. The cover real estate is split about equally between the two stories, with Hulk’s story up top. The cover box is similar to last issue, just rearranged a bit to put Hulk on top.

Somebody’s muscling in on your territory, Giant-Man.

The first page has Stan Lee’s credit, then some typed text pasted over the rest of the credit box. It explains that Ayers is on vacation, they had hired a new artist to fill in, but circumstances altered the plan, and Ditko and Roussos stepped in last minute to draw the issue.

As with most things Stan Lee says, that text box contains partial truths and partial falsehoods. Last issue, they had announced the artist would be Dick Rockwell. Rockwell had been working in comics since 1949. He did a little work for Marvel at the time.

Daredevil #4

Killgrave, the Unbelievable Purple Man!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: August 4, 1964
Cover: October 1964
12 cents
Sensational story by: Stan Lee
Awe-inspiring art by: Joe Orlando
Infallible inking by: Vince Colletta
Lots of lettering by: S. Rosen
22 pages

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Journey Into Mystery #109, Story B	Reading Order	Tales of Suspense #59
Daredevil #3	Daredevil	Daredevil #5

Daredevil still has that stupid hood sack thing to keep his civilian clothes. They had somehow taken a bad costume and made it even worse.

Fortunately, he’ll realize early in the issue that it’s impractical to the point of imbecilic and we’ll be rid of it.

This issue introduces Purple Man, who has the power to sap people’s wills and make them responsive to his commands. Only Daredevil seems resistant to his influence.

Daredevil #3

The Owl, Ominous Overlord of Crime!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written with raw realism by: Stan Lee
Illustrated with daring drama by: Joe Orlando
Inked with actual artistry by: Vince Colletta
Lettered with Perfect Precision by: S. Rosen
22 pages

Some like him and some hate him, but so far he’s the easiest inker to spot. None of the other inkers we are following do the crosshatching like Colletta.

Last issue, Orlando and Colletta gave us an unusual amount of background detail for the period. This issue gives less, as is the style of the time, likely induced by deadline pressure.

All that said, we get some good visuals from the art team, notably a trippy opening panel with a lot of eyes.

Last issue, Daredevil borrowed a villain from Spider-Man. He now gets his first super-villain of his own, the Owl. The Owl is the worst kind of super-villain: a Wall Street investor, described as a ruthless financial wizard. Also, he can fly and likes to trap his enemies in giant bird cages. Typical Wall Street guy.

Daredevil #2

The Evil Menace of Electro!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: April 2, 1964
Cover: June 1964
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Joe Orlando
Inking: Vince Colletta
Lettering: S. Rosen
22 pages

The credits have two names that are new to us. Last issue was drawn by Bill Everett, who did an excellent job, but apparently also missed his deadline by a wide margin. Whatever happened, he was not invited back.

The artist is now Joe Orlando, who has been working in comics since the early ’50s, including occasional freelance work for Marvel. This is his first superhero work, previously drawing horror, western, and war comics, most notably for EC Comics. He worked in the comics field for many decades as artist, writer, and editor, most of that time with DC comics. As far as I can tell, this short stint on Daredevil is the last work he’ll ever do at Marvel.

Here’s a peek at some of the work he’d been doing in the previous 13 years.

Vault of Horror #9 (1951), Battle #47 (1956), Classics Illustrated #147 (1958), Mad #44 (1959)

Vince Colletta had been working as an artist for Marvel for about a decade, primarily on romance comics. He had recently moved toward inking. He will soon become a regular inker over Jack Kirby, and begin a very long run inking Thor. I believe this is also his first ever superhero work.

His work is not always loved by critics or his colleagues. He has a reputation for choosing professionalism over artistry. I see no evidence of this or any other flaw in this particular comic. I will caveat that I haven’t always the best eye for art, nor any particular talent for separating the contributions of the penciler from the inker when I look upon a page.

Here’s a sampling of his prior work.