johnny storm – Page 3 – Coke & Comics

Fantastic Four #38

Defeated by the Frightful Four!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: February 11, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Illustrator: Jack Kirby
Inker: Chic Stone
Letterer: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#332	Next
X-Men #13	Reading order	Avengers #15
Fantastic Four #37	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #39

My sincerest apologies, faithful readers. Been a few weeks now since we covered the epic battle between the X-Men and the unstoppable Juggernaut. That’s life nonsense getting in the way of my priorities. Let’s pick up our reading with the Fantastic Four.

I’ve teased for years now that at some point this title goes from “good” to “transcendentally great”. The precise transition point is unclear and I’ve repeatedly noted some key issues that seemed to step up the quality. I feel like that transcendentally great era is now here. I could maybe hear an argument it begins with issue 44, but I feel like it’s here now.

We’ll talk about 44 when we get there, as there is a notable change that issue. This issue also represents a change. This is Chic Stone’s final issue of Fantastic Four.

Stone has inked the last 10 issues of Fantastic Four, and it’s now hard to remember the title without him. Prior, it had been Roussos or Ayers, and the difference is just night and day. The only standout prior to Stone was the couple issues inked by Joe Sinnott. (Hint, hint.)

The art popped under Stone. He highlighted the melodrama Kirby was infusing the stories with. He didn’t soften the exaggerations of Kirby’s faces or poses. He outlined them; he leaned in to just how over the top–and larger than life– Kirby wanted this all to be. And you see this across titles, just as evidently in the Thor stories, for example. The action and tension and emotion and drama are all just illustrated to the max under the Kirby/Stone collaboration. It will be sad to see him go.

This isn’t goodbye forever to Stone. He did a couple other titles this month we’re yet to read, and he has the odd cover or fill-in issue still to come. But here we bid goodbye to his work on Fantastic Four.

X-Men #13

Where Walks the Juggernaut!

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

Previous	#331	Next
X-Men #12	Reading order	Fantastic Four #38
X-Men #12	X-Men	X-Men #14

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.

Strange Tales #134

The Challenge of… The Watcher!

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: April 8, 1965
Cover: July 1965
12 cents
Soul-stirring script by: Stan Lee
Breath-taking art by: Bob Powell
Eye-popping inking by: Wallace Wood
Heart-rending lettering by: Artie Simek
12 pages

Previous	#328	Next
Strange Tales #133	Reading order	X-Men #11
Strange Tales #133, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #134, Story B

All good things must come to an end. And so must this.

Hulk’s series only lasted 6 issues. But then he started showing up all over the place. Avengers, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, and finally he got his own series back, this time to last for over 50 years and counting.

The Wasp had a back-up feature in Tales to Astonish behind the main feature she shared with Giant-Man. It started with her narrating science fiction tales, but then she started going on her own adventures. They were short-lived; she was the second character to lose a series.

The Watcher had a back-up feature behind the Iron Man stories in Tales of Suspense. It started with him narrating science fiction tales, but then he started going on his own adventures. They were short-lived; he was the third character to lose a series.

This month, two long-running features get cancelled. We’ll talk about the other in due course. (We’re reading this one a little early to get the Fantastic Four chronology in line.)

For the moment, let’s reflect on the history of Strange Tales…

Strange Tales #133

The Terrible Toys!

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: March 11, 1965
Cover: June 1965
12 cents
Written in the magnificent Stan Lee tradition!
Illustrated in the majestic Bob Powell manner!
Inked in the magiloquent Mick Demeo style!
Lettered in the mortgaged Sam Rosen home!
12 pages

Previous		Next
Strange Tales #132	Reading order	Strange Tales #134
Strange Tales #132, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #133, Story B

Due to the tightness of forthcoming FF chronology, we are reading ahead a bit in these Human Torch stories. Since Dr. Strange is still involved in a big saga, we are still holding off on reading Dr. Strange stories.

Dr. Strange at last gets half of the cover, but Kirby’s work here doesn’t quite do justice to the tale Ditko is spinning inside.

Stan notes the story will start in the middle. That is unusual for one of these stories, but it’s a classical storytelling technique, en media res.

This issue promises a surprise twist, an old villain in a new guise. I don’t want to spoil the big surprise.

Strange Tales #132

The Sinister Space Trap!

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: February 11, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
Edited with reckless abandon by: Stan Lee
Written with daring bravado by: Larry Ivie
Drawn with brash impetuosity by: Bob Powell
Inked with reckless vigor by: M. Demeo
Lettered with a soggy penpoint by: S. Rosen
12 pages

Previous		Next
Amazing Spider-Man #24	Reading order	Strange Tales #133
Strange Tales #131, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #132, Story B

Dr. Strange gets a small box on the cover to acknowledge his story.

Yesterday was the 60th anniversary of the publication of Fantastic Four #1. Wish I could have timed my posts to have something better than this Human/Torch Thing story to celebrate with. So it goes. Happy birthday, Foursome!

Art by Alex Ross, inspired by Jack Kirby.

Lots to unpack from the credits page.

We’ve already met Mr. Demeo (Mike Esposito), as he also picked up inking on Iron Man this month.

Larry Ivie is a new name to us. He is an occasional comics writer and artist, and perhaps best known as a comics fan.

The blog, Professor H’s Wayback Machine, recently did a tribute series to Ivie’s work on his self-published fanzine, Heroes & Monsters.

This is the last we’ll see of Ivie for some time, but he’ll do occasional Marvel work here and there over the next couple decades.

Also unusual in the credits is a comic Stan Lee takes no writing credit on. This isn’t the first time, but it’s been a rare occurrence, and will become less rare. Stan still gets his name first in the credits somehow.

What we would today call editing is certainly a contribution that Stan makes to every one of these books, and not one to be taken lightly. The issues arise on the comics where he worked as an editor but credited himself as a writer.

Things are heating up in the Fantastic Four book, and there won’t be much space for solo adventures. So far, with only a few exceptions, Fantastic Four adventures have fit into a single issue, where one could easily imagine these Human Torch stories fitting in between the issues. But, as is the general trend these titles are taking, Fantastic Four stories are going to get more involved, with cliffhanger endings which lead us right into the next issue.

To that end, we’re going to knock out the next few Human Torch/Thing stories presently, getting us a little ahead with them. We’ll eventually revisit all these comics and read the Dr. Strange stories.

Thus subjecting myself and you to three of these in a row.

But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel…

Fantastic Four #37

Behold! A Distant Star!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: January 12, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Written by Marvel’s inimitable Stan Lee!
Drawn by Marvel’s unmatchable Jack Kirby!
Inked by Marvel’s impeccable Chic Stone!
Lettered by Marvel’s unbearable Artie Simek!
20 pages

Previous	#319	Next
Strange Tales #131	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #23
Fantastic Four #36	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #38

We haven’t seen a cover quite like this one yet. The FF are far in the background, their drawings somewhat ill-defined. They appear to be on an alien planet, stepping out of a landing module. Closer to the foreground are two ominous, perhaps alien, figures. We only see the lower part of their bodies from the back. So they’re the focus but not the focus. The actual foreground is some type of rock wall, and we’re just viewing the action through a hole in that rock. The rock becomes a background to the issue’s title logo; the artwork up to this point has almost entirely avoided interfering with that logo. And we have a cool title, with a very classical sci/fi feel. “Behold! A Distant Star!”

Wedding preparations are continually running through the background of these stories now. Two issues back, Sue and Reed got engaged. Last issue was the engagement party. Now it’s time for the rehearsal dinner. In typical FF style, they’ll just make a quick jaunt to the far side of the galaxy.

Ben and Johnny are trying on their tuxedos. Reed’s new invention accidentally destroys Johnny’s tuxedo. Presumably it’s cheaper to buy two tuxedos than to try to make one from unstable molecules.

Strange Tales #131

The Bouncing Ball of Doom!

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: January 12, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan (Prolific) Lee
Illustrations by: Bob (Terrific) Powell
Delineation by: Dick (Specific) Ayers
Lettering by: S. (Hieroglyphic) Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#318	Next
Tales of Suspense #64, Story B	Reading order	Fantastic Four #37
Strange Tales #130, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #131, Story B
Captain America Comics #1, Story C	Prelude

Continuing through the Human Torch stories in Strange Tales while saving the Dr. Strange stories for much later.

Why is the story titled the “Bouncing Ball of Doom”? Because the Thinker’s plan involves a bouncing ball.

Huh.

How many Human Torch stories do we still have to read?

I must emphasize that the Dr. Strange story is one of the single greatest Marvel stories of all time, yet the Bouncing Ball of Doom is what gets spotlighted on the cover.

Fantastic Four #36

The Frightful Four!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Proudly produced by: Smilin’ Stan Lee and Jolly Jack Kirby
Inked by: Chic Stone
Lettered by: Artie Simek
21 pages

Previous	#312	Next
Avengers #14	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #65
Fantastic Four #35	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #37

The main credits are shared between Stan and Jack without specifying who did what.

Fantastic Four has been one of the best of these Marvel superhero titles since the start, but it’s regarded as one of the best comic series ever, which hasn’t yet been obvious. The series gets better at some point. It can be hard to pinpoint the exact point of transition. We noted issue 29 when Kirby started using photo collages as a step toward greatness. The introduction of the Frightful Four in this issue also suggests we are well down the path. Particularly the mysterious Madam Medusa.

Sue and Reed announced their engagement last issue. They’ve now made a public announcement, and the press is excited, underscoring their celebrity status. There will be a big engagement party this issue.

Also, I think Sue’s gotten a haircut. Her hair definitely seems shorter.

Avengers #13

The Castle of Count Nefaria

Featuring: Avengers
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Rather exceptional story by: Stan Lee
Somewhat distinctive art by: Don Heck
Fairly compelling inking by: Dick Ayers
Moderately clear lettering by: Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#310	Next
Tales of Suspense #63, Story B	Reading order	Avengers #14
Avengers #12	Avengers	Avengers #14

The cover is pretty off for a Kirby composition. I’m pretty sure Count Nefaria is supposed to be manipulating the controls, but he looks passed out to me.

Solid opening splash page of the Avengers looking furtive near the wanted ad.

The story opens with Iron Man and Thor stopping a fur robbery. Honestly, that seems somewhat beneath them; I’d be more comfortable with such crimes being left to conventional authorities or more down-to-earth vigilantes.

Up to this point, there was no evidence the Avengers were proactively seeking out any types of crimes to stop. They responded to two global threats–the Lava Men and Kang. They occasionally seek out the Hulk to fight, but usually just wait for a villain to attack them. Villains in these stories tend to be much more proactive. But now we learn the Avengers have been actively fighting crime for a while now.

This story introduces the Maggia, an organized criminal organization, perhaps inspired by real-life Mafia.

Strange Tales #130

Meet the Beatles!

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Story by Swingin’ Stan Lee
Art by Bouncin’ Bob Powell
Inking by Chucklin’ Chic Stone
Lettering by Sizzlin’ Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#307	Next
Amazing Spider-Man #122	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #63
Strange Tales #129, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #130, Story B

Dr. Strange finally gets the cover almost to himself… but we won’t be reading his story. As we’ve discussed, the plan is to take a break from Dr. Strange, but keep reading the Human Torch/Thing stories. The Dr. Strange stories have mostly been happy to be single short episodes that fit in 10 pages. The only exception has been the 2-part battle against Dormammu. But even that epic was only 20 pages, the length of a normal Fantastic Four or Spider-Man story. Not one to make incremental change, Ditko decided he needs 170 pages and 17 months to tell the next story.

I’ve made no secret that I’ve found these last 30 issues of Human Torch stories to be almost entirely worthless. Putting Ben and Johnny in Beatles wigs is probably the single most worthwhile thing that has happened yet. Especially since Johnny is wearing the wig over his flaming head. The fact that it’s not burning means it must be made from unstable molecules.

Stan Lee made a big deal last issue and in recent letters’ pages about the exciting new artist for this series. That artist is Bob Powell. Powell will be the Human Torch/Thing artist for as long as this series has left. He will not be turning the quality of stories around. Powell is another returning artist from back when, having worked in comics since the 1930s, occasionally doing some Marvel work. He’ll also be taking over the Giant-Man title this month… and not turn the quality around on that one either. He’ll have the honor of putting Marvel’s two worst series to bed.