Strange Tales #139

The Brave Die Hard!

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

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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.

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Strange Tales #138

Sometime the Good Guys Lose!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: August 10, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, sultan of script!
Laid out by: Jack Kirby, master of melodrama!
Drawn by: Johnny Severin, archduke of art!
Lettered by: S. Rosen, prince of penmanship!
12 pages

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And knock off that “Colonel” jazz, Mister! I keep thinkin’ ya mean someone else!

Nick Fury gets the cover again, even though the Dr. Strange story is one of the single greatest issues of all time.

Last issue, we watched three SHIELD agents sacrifice their lives in an attempt to find Hydra’s Betatron Bomb. Nick reflects on that as he realizes they are just moments too late to prevent the launch. And Hydra can now hold the world hostage.

Even Hydra has an org chart in every presentation.

Tony Stark has a secret invention which can help, but before he shows it to Fury, Hydra attacks the Stark plant. Tony is able to save himself, but not Fury, who is captured by Hydra.

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Strange Tales #137

The Prize is… Earth!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: July 8, 1965
Cover: October 1965
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Layouts: J. Kirby
Art: J. Severin
Lettering: Art Simek
12 pages

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Well, we can’t just stand here cryin’ in our soup, like kids! That won’t bring those joes back! We gotta make sure they didn’t cash in their chips for nothin’!

It’s a pretty big deal that Severin is given the cover. Even when Stan’s used different interior artists, he’s wanted Kirby on the cover. Heck’s been the regular artist on Iron Man since day 1, but Kirby’s almost always done the covers. All but one, so far. Kirby got all the Giant-Man covers, whether it was Heck or Ayers on art. But the artist base is starting to expand. Colan’s been doing the Sub-Mariner covers, and now Severin gets a SHIELD cover.

We get something new with the credits. The art attempts to integrate them into the story. Rather than a separate box, they show up on a computer screen at SHIELD HQ.

We see the “Q” scene as Nick Fury gets his fancy gadgeted clothing. The dialogue is pretty rote at this point. “Why are you giving me an ordinary hat?” “Ho ho, it just looks like an ordinary hat…”

I think the hat is cool because it seems like it might actually work. There’s nothing too fancy going on in their diagram. A hat whose brim works like a periscope to allow you to see what’s going on behind you.

I’m not sure I would want to wear a suit made of explosive fabric.

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