Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD Release: October 12, 1965 Cover: January 1966 12 pages Senses-shattering story by: Stan Lee Power-packed presentation by: Jack Kirby Drama-drenched drawing by: Don Heck Dreamy-designed delineation by: Joe Sinnott Booboo-bulging balloons by: Sam Rosen 12 pages
Mankind cannot live in fear of Hydra! In the name of SHIELD… in the name of universal freedom… I cannot fail!
Kirby. Heck. Sinnott. That’s a lot of artists to draw 12 pages of comic. (A heck of a lot.)
“Booboo-bulging balloons” took a bit of deciphering. I think Stan’s claiming the letterer makes a lot of mistakes. The word balloons are bulging fit to burst with mistakes.
Hydra could have served as a looming background threat for some time to come. But they decided it was time to settle it up. This is part 6 of the “Hydra Saga”. SHIELD agents are swarming Hydra’s headquarters for the final battle.
Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD Release: September 9, 1965 Cover: December 1965 12 cents Sensationally written by: Stan Lee Spectacularly laid-out by: Jack Kirby Superbly illustrated by: Joe Sinnott Silently lettered by: Artie Simek 12 pages
You know that no insurance company would give a policy to a SHIELD man! There’s only one thing we won’t die of– and that’s old age!
I think you can tell at a glance my copy of this comic has seen better days.
The cover’s an interesting gimmick. It’s mostly just the first page of the issue, but then it has Dr. Strange holding the page. The caption tells us, “Amost everybody reads SHIELD!”
The Dr. Strange figure is drawn by Marie Severin, sister of John Severin, who drew the last couple issues of SHIELD. She’s been doing staff work at Marvel, but will soon enough be chosen to draw Dr. Strange herself.
You kind of get the sense that they didn’t have a cover at all, and this got thrown together by staff. But they get a nice test run for Ms. Severin on the Doctor.
The story opens with Nick Fury in outer space being pursued by…err… that… thing.
Ah, he’s being subjected to some virtual reality thing designed to pry from his mind the secrets of Stark’s new weapon, the, err, braino-saur.
Featuring: Captain America Release: August 10, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents Written with the passion of Stan Lee Laid-out with the power of Jack Kirby Pencilled with the punch of George Tuska Inked with the prowess of Joe Sinnott Lettered with the penpoint of Sam Rosen 10 pages
In a war, Bucky, many people suffer! It isn’t necessary to be in the armed forces.. to be a casualty!
Because this Greymoor Castle story is a 3-part saga, we’ve gotten a little ahead in Cap reading. This comic premieres the same day as Fantastic Four #44. They share an inker, Joe Sinnott. This is an important development, and I have a lot to say about Joe Sinnott. But I’m going to save it for when we get to FF#44. Stay tuned.
The FF comic will feature Sinnott properly inking Kirby. While Kirby did the layouts for this issue, the art is really Tuska/Sinnott.
It’s time now for the conclusion of this tale. Dr. Rawlings has betrayed his country to the Nazis. His sister Celia is opposed to this.
When the Nazis try to kill Celia, Rawlings at last turns against them.
Featuring: Everybody Release: August 21, 1996 Cover: October 1996 $2.95 Scintillating script by Stan Lee Prurient plot by Fabian Nicieza Pulse-pounding pencils by Sal Buscema, John Buscema, John Romita, Sr., Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, Marie Severin & Ron Frenz Incredible inks by Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott, Terry Austin, Bill Reinhold, Marie Severin & Al Milgrom Kaleidoscopic colors by John Kalisz (with perfect page one and colossal cover coloring by Paul Becton) Lascivious letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft/ad Effervescent edits by Matt Idelson Aching assistant edits by Paul Tutrone Evil editing-in-chiefing by Bob Harras Very special thanks to: Mariano Nicieza, Darren Auck, Scott Koblish, Gil Kane, The Raiders, and the many terrific talents of the Mighty Marvel Bullpen Based on Fantastic Four Annual #3 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby 48 pages
Just between us, Alicia– I’ve been ready ever since I met the man!
I’m not trying to include too many POSTLUDE entries, but don’t have a clear standard for when I do. Having a copy of the comic in my living room as opposed to in storage somewhere is a good motivator. Plus, I actively used this comic as a reference when making my Fantastic Four Annual post, in deciding who might have been present at the wedding but off-panel.
Heroes & Legends is a loving retelling of the wedding of Sue and Reed from 1996, by continuity nerd Fabian Nicieza with a rotating cast of classic artists and a script by Stan Lee.
We know Steve Ditko very well by this point. We’ve seen some early work of John Romita, but he’s just about to join our regular cast of artists. Gene Colan just started drawing Namor’s adventures. Marie Severin has been working behind the scenes, and we’ll see her artwork soon enough. We’ve already seen some artwork of her brother John. John and Sal Buscema will be shaking things up eventually, and Ron Frenz in the more distant future. We’ll see Tom Palmer soon enough. We’ve briefly met Joe Sinnott a couple times, but he’s just about to become a regular. I’d bemoaned he wasn’t the original inker on the annual. It came out just one month too early. The other inkers will be coming along later.
This tells the same story as the Fantastic Four Annual, but with over twice as many pages.
In a short while, we’ll also read Marvels #2, which includes yet another take on this wedding to contrast with these two takes.
We’ll compare the new comic to the original and note the artist on the new comic. The original art is all by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta. As noted above, for everything but the first page, John Kalisz did the colors in the new one.
The opening page deliberately mirrors the original.
New art by Sal Buscema & Tom Palmer with colors by Paul Becton
The big addition is a kid named Mark, a superhero fan who gets separated from his father in the commotion, and targeted by villains and saved by heroes. He serves as the centerpiece for this retelling.
Featuring: X-Men Release: July 1, 1965 Cover: September 1965 12 cents Story by smilin’ Stan Lee Layouts by jolly Jack Kirby Penciling by Jay Gavin Inking by Joe Sinnott Lettering by Swingin’ Sam Rosen 20 pages
We are jumping a bit ahead with X-Men, as issues 11-13 all take place the same day, but the comic is bi-monthly. In general, we are still in March 1965, which is when X-Men #11 was released.
Last issue sort of introduced the Juggernaut. We mostly saw him in shadow and marveled at how easily he broke through the X-Men’s defenses. He was revealed in the last panel. Most of the issue had been about Xavier’s youth. Now, we meet Juggernaut properly.
We also had the legendary Alex Toth on art, as Kirby is moving off X-Men. Kirby has often been the go-to guy for getting series started, but then usually soon handed off the reins. Fantastic Four is the only series he’s really stuck with so far. Though he’ll do a decent stretch on Captain America, and his recent return to Thor is for the long haul.
Let’s look at the credits. Jay Gavin is a new name, and not even a real one. Jay and Gavin are the names of the sons of Werner Roth, our new artist. Werner Roth is not quite the legend that Alex Toth is. He is probably most notable for this stint on X-Men, where he is unfortunately stuck being “the guy that followed Kirby”. He got started in comics later than many peers, already 30 or so before working regularly. He’s already 44 at this point as he takes the reins on X-Men. He died tragically young at the age of 52, never quite having set the world of comics on fire.
Featuring: Thor Release: July 2, 1963 Cover: September 1963 12 cents Story plot: Stan Lee Script: R. Berns Art: Joe Sinnott 13 pages
Merlin, again. Soon, we’ll meet the new Black Knight, and this will lead us to look back on the great Black Knight stories of the 1950s, which prominently feature Merlin. He was a heroic figure in those stories.
Surprised England was so willing to let so important a piece of their history go.
In our Marvel Age reading, we first met Merlin in Tales of Suspense #27, there to give a corrupt magician his just rewards. In Incredible Hulk #5, we learn he had once banished the evil Tyrannus beneath the earth. Then, Strange Tales #108 told a tale of King Arthur’s court, where Merlin clashed with Sir Mogard. It is not clear whether any of these are meant to tie together.
I’ve harped on this a few times now, but a lot of these weaker comics really fail to tie all their threads together, as compared with how Ditko tells the Spider-Man stories, where each story has a singular flow that juggles and intertwines its threads. Here, we get 3 pages of Thor rescuing a bus and it leading to drama with Jane. Then we move on completely to the Merlin story, which has nothing to do with any of that. They only have 13 pages to fill, but still seem to need to pad the story. Thor and Merlin finally meet on page 9.
Featuring: Thor Release: June 4, 1963 Cover: August 1963 12 cents Story plot: Stan Lee Script: R. Berns Art: Joe Sinnott 13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.
In going through the results of a recent poll on favorite Marvel/DC characters, my friend Brian Cronin talked about the idea of a “MARVEL science” degrees for his entry on Beast. He notes that Beast is a MARVEL scientist, and
Marvel Universe science is a lot more diverse than regular science. You see, Hank eventually gained a PhD (done while the rest of the X-Men were vainly trying to complete their GEDs) in biophysics and genetics. However, he achieved these PhDs in MARVEL science, so this made him an expert in engineering, medicine, time travel (yes, time travel), etc. It is like how one of the most highly-developed robots of all time, Ultron, was built by Hank Pym, a biologist. It is because Hank is a MARVEL biologist. Very different than normal biology. It’s like “How would you best describe a cell membrane? Also, how would you build a device that could negate Magneto’s powers?” All in the same class!!!! And MARVEL scientists always have multiple doctorates by the time they’re 22. It’s a rule.
Now, we’ve seen a pretty clear counterexample to that. Dr. Pym turned down a request for help from Wasp’s father because it was outside his area of specialty. He claimed he was only an expert in “molecular cell transition” (i.e. making people shrink) and “cell specialization” (i.e. making people grow wings). As of where we are in our reading, he has not yet built any robots.
Dr. Don Blake is a surgeon and a very good one. Surgery is a hard thing to master. It takes a lot of time to study. It’s a demanding job, always being on call. He’s also always on call as a superhero.
Yet somehow he built an android in his spare time.
Featuring: Thor Release: May 2, 1963 Cover: July 1963 12 cents Plot: Stan Lee Script: R. Berns Art: J. Sinnott 13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Thor vol. 1.
Robert Bernstein has become a more frequent scripter of late. And Joe Sinnott has basically become the regular Thor penciller over Kirby, who only returns to the title intermittently. In general, Sinnott will not do a lot of full art for Marvel. But he spends decades as one of their most reliable finishers.
I think the above cover reference is the first time I’ve seen them use the phrase “Marvel Age of Comics”. But as I’m often reading reprints, I may be missing some internal notes. Anyways, that’s what I’ve been calling these tales, differentiating them from the comics the company published in decades prior, the “Marvel Age”. Now, the cover suggests they are just ushering it in. I’ve been describing comics thusly going back to Fantastic Four #1 two years earlier. Before the word “Marvel” was really anywhere to be seen. When there was just a discreet “MC” on the covers. This is part of a new marketing push. A similar phrase will show up on other covers and in house ads over the next month or so.
Still no particular evidence Thor ties in with any of these other stories. Not until the Avengers form. And again, we see everybody acting like Thor is the only superhero out there. When a missile loses control, everyone on earth seems to agree Thor must be tracked down. Nobody seems to consider contacting Iron Man or the Fantastic Four.
Maybe people are also trying to reach Iron Man, and we just don’t see it.
In their first encounter, Loki hypnotized Thor pretty easily. This time he has a much more convoluted plot. He manipulates a complicated series of events to ultimately get Thor to turn his head so his hammer hits him in the chromosomatic gland. And getting hit in that particular gland hard enough changes one from good to evil. Of course, Odin resolves the situation by hitting him again in the same spot.
Featuring: Thor Release: March 5, 1963 Cover: May 1963 12 cents Plot: Stan Lee Script: R. Berns Art: Joe Sinnott 13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.
The somewhat awkward title of this story underscores they haven’t yet decided that Thor’s magic hammer should have a name.
I look forward to the first battle with Loki where he doesn’t steal Thor’s magic hammer.
Now, the title also sounds pretty ominous. For we know that if Loki were to steal Thor’s magic hammer, the thunder god would be helpless within 60 seconds. Indeed, that is what happened in both of Thor’s previousencounters with Loki, both of which involved Loki stealing his magic hammer.
Featuring: Thor Release: February 5, 1963 Cover: April 1963 12 cents Plot: Stan Lee Script: Larry Lieber Art: Joe Sinnott 13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.
Joe Sinnott is best known as an inker. We’ve seen him twice so far in that capacity, inking Kirby for the introductions of Thor and Dr. Doom, respectively. This is the first time we see him as the primary artist.
This event was teased already because I chose to read the last Fantastic Four slightly out of chronological order and because I accidentally read the last Strange Tales out of chronological order.
Spiffy!
But this is one of three comics released February 5 to sport the spiffy new Marvel logo. The others are Tales to Astonish and Patsy Walker. We are not currently including the Patsy Walker stories in our Marvel reading, not until she becomes more intertwined with the superheroes than she currently is.
There’s a lot going on that will become a feature of Marvel covers for years. The first is that there’s a little box with the picture of the lead character. Now, Journey Into Mystery is still an anthology title. There are two other scifi/fantasy tales within this very issue. But Thor is the star, now. And that little box makes that clear.
Then we get the price, 12 cents. That’s been the price of all the comics since Fantastic Four #3 raised the price from 10 cents. Usually, the price has been in a circle somewhere on the cover. Now it’s in this new logo box.
And then the phrase “Marvel Comics Group”. Previously, there had been the letters “MC” in a little box on the covers.
