magneto – Coke & Comics

X-Men #18

If Iceman Should Fail–!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: January 4, 1966
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
A fair story by: Stan Lee
Adequate art by: Jay Gavin
Tolerable inking by: Dick Ayers
The world’s greatest lettering by: Artie Simek (Marvel’s birthday boy of the month)
20 pages

Previous	#470	Next
X-Men #17	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #35
X-Men #17	X-Men	X-Men #19

The final X-Man– the youngest– and weakest of them all! He dares to challenge me!!!

The joke in the credits is a reversal. Usually, Artie is the punchline. Here, everyone else is.

Art Simek was born January 1916. He turned 50 the month this comic was released. He would unfortunately pass away too young at age 59.

The birthday note gives us a bit of insight into production. Stan knew when this comic would be released to give the birthday wish. The comic is cover-dated March 1966, and was likely prepared a few months prior to January 1966, but Stan knew it would go on sale in January.

As Lee brings in more and more new (to Marvel not the industry) artists, we see a similar pattern. At first he doesn’t trust their storytelling abilities, though he trusts their draftsmanship. So Kirby does layouts for the comic, and the artist fills in the art. That has happened with Werner Roth for the last several issues. Kirby laid out the story. Roth filled in the art. Now Stan is ready to give Roth a proper go, laying out the story himself. Stan is still the credited writer, so it’s at least plausible he’s giving Roth guidance on what the story is about.

Roth had the setup. Magneto had defeated the X-Men and put them unconscious in a balloon headed to space, where they would suffocate and die. Why not just kill them? This inefficient deathtrap is a villain cliché, but not all that common a one in these stories. It was common in the cliffhangers for serial films of the 1940s, including the superhero films. And it will be very common for the cliffhanger endings of a TV series which debuts this month.

X-Men #17

…And None Shall Survive!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: December 12, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Layouts: J. Kirby
Pencils: Jay Gavin
Inks: Dick Ayers
Lettering: A. Simek
20 pages

Previous	#469	Next
Sgt. Fury #27	Reading order	X-Men #18
X-Men #16	X-Men	X-Men #18

Somehow, when I’m high in the sky this way, I feel there is no danger I cannot face– no problem I cannot solve– no enemy I cannot defeat!! Everything seems clean– and pure– and right! The way it ought to be! The way it must be one day, if man is ever to fulfill his promise– his glorious destiny!

I quite like the red glow of the cover. The cover warns me not to spoil the ending, but, well, I’m gonna do that anyway. Be warned.

Thoughts on the reading order. When books are published is a key factor, as is the order in which characters appear, as are story-arcs. What I’m not considering closely is the calendar date within the stories, as I don’t often know. We paused our X-Men reading because the Sentinels story ended and the next one was about to begin. This gave us a chance to catch up on other titles.

But this story begins the same day as the Sentinels story ended. Similarly, the X-Men had fought the Stranger and Juggernaut on the same day, with a short gap of time while the X-Men were injured between these momentous days.

In particular, it must now be within a couple days of Reed and Sue’s wedding, while most of our stories have jumped forward a bit more from that day.

While it’s been more than a year since the Stranger story was published, it’s only been a few weeks for the X-Men.

X-Men #11

The Triumph of Magneto!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: March 4, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
X-traordinary script by: Stan lee
X-travagant art by: Jack Kirby
X-ceptional inking by: Chic Stone
X-emplory lettering by: Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous		Next
Strange Tales #134	Reading order	X-Men #12
X-Men #10	X-Men	X-Men #12

The basic tension of the series is that every mutant that comes along, Magneto wants to recruit them to be evil. And Professor X wants to recruit them to be not evil. General agreement that no third option is acceptable; every mutant must join either the X-Men or Evil Mutants. When Blob tried to do neither, the X-Men attacked him and tried to mindwipe him. The only fine print there is the word “mutant”. Occasionally, someone such as Ka-Zar turns out to not be a mutant, in which case they are not obligated to join either team.

Now we meet a man who describes himself as a Stranger. He is very powerful. Is he a mutant? If so, they must recruit.

Missing Wandavision? Read some comics

The stories that inspired the show

Sigh. This time last week I would have been tuning in to the latest episode of Wandavision. Alas, it has come to an end. Where to get my fill of Wanda and Vision now? Well, the answer is obvious. Comics!

I loved Wandavision very much. I spent the past several weeks pulling out comics from my boxes that Wandavision brought to mind. My nightstand has been a stack of Vision and Scarlet Witch comics constantly on the verge of tipping over. I thought it would be fun to share what I’ve been reading and more.

I’d like to give you an overview of the history of Vision and Scarlet Witch in the comics, point out some of the stories which seemed like direct influences on Wandavision, and make some recommendations of what you can read if you are craving more of Wanda and Vision.

The history of these characters can actually be quite convoluted. I’m not inclined to spare you any details.

HOWEVER, we will not be attempting to understand Wanda’s powers today. That… will have to wait for another day.

Due to its length, this post is broken into 5 pages:

Origins: The introduction of Wanda and Vision. (1939-70)
Love story: Wanda and Vision meet, fall in love, and get married. (1970-75)
Family: Wanda and Vision deal with their extended family, buy a house in the suburbs, and grow their family. (1976-86)
Things fall apart: Wanda and Vision find there is no happily ever after. Plus: Jimmy Woo, Monica Rambeau, and SWORD. (1989-2017)
Reading recommendations: Comics suggested for fans of Wandavision.

Pages: 12345

Journey Into Mystery #109

When Magneto Strikes!

Featuring: Thor
Release: August 4, 1964
Cover: October 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, the monarch of the Marvel Age, at the pinnacle of his power!
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the prince of pageantry, at the height of his titanic talent!
Inked by: Chic Stone, the dean of line design, at the peak of his prowess!
Lettered by: S. Rosen, the sultan of spelling, at the little table in his studio!
18 pages

I don’t know what to make of these Thor stories since Kirby returned to the title. The art is certainly improved. This is very iconic Kirby, especially with Stone on inks. Everything very melodramatic, especially the posing.

And it’s cool that Thor meets Magneto. The battle between them starts off pretty well. Again, Kirby on that dramatic action depiction.

But the weaknesses of the story increasingly detract as the issue goes on. That battle which had been going well then moves to the now familiar trope where Thor loses his hammer and becomes Dr. Blake mid-battle, luckily just out of view of the villain. How did he lose it? He dropped it, then forgot about it.

After 60 seconds, the hammer turns into a walking stick. Sometimes that is what happens, and sometimes it is not.

X-Men #7

The Return of the Blob

Featuring: X-Men
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written with all the spell-binding skill of: Stan Lee
Drawn with all the titanic talent of: Jack Kirby
Inked with all the vibrant verve of: Chic Stone
Lettered with all the words spelled right by: Art Simek
22 pages

The time has come for the next chapter in the history of the X-Men. The series began with the premise that the X-Men were students of an unusual school. We saw two issues back that they passed their final exam. Now, it’s graduation day.

We just saw Johnny celebrate his spring break. And we are almost a year (in publication time) away from Peter’s graduation. It’s possible the publication dates poorly reflect when this story is set within the Marvel Universe, but it’s also possible this unique private school does things its own way, and has a much earlier graduation date than the regular schools attended by Peter Parker and Johnny Storm.

It’s odd that Iceman is graduating with the rest given that he’s a couple years younger than them. Maybe he’s gifted. Or maybe it’s just a really weird school.

X-Men #6

Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written: With the flair of Stan Lee
Drawn: With the air of Jack Kirby
Inked: With the care of Chic Stone
Lettered: On a dare by S. Rosen
22 pages

Once again, we see that Namor and Hulk are the binding that holds this nascent Marvel Universe together. Most of the heroes haven’t met each other, but they’ve almost all met Hulk or Namor. (Daredevil hasn’t met either yet, but we’ve only read two issues; he’ll meet Namor soon.)

My confusion about what to call Magneto’s group remains. It’s becoming clearer that “Evil Mutants” is how Xavier and the narrator refer to them. It’s less clear what they would call themselves. They were called the “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” on the cover, and in the title, of their first appearance; however, that name has never shown up in-story.

X-Men #5

Trapped: One X-Man!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: March 3, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
Spell-binding story by: Stan Lee
Dazzling drawing by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Paul Reinman
Lettering: S. Rosen
24 pages

They’ve redesigned the cover box to make room for Beast.

The story begins right where the last issue left off, but then has a bit of time jump mid-story. It opens with a strange piece of narration. The narrator tells us Professor X “seemed” to lose his powers. Interesting phrasing. Why not just say Professor X lost his powers? Unless you know something about this issue’s twist ending I don’t.

I would warn you that spoilers follow, but I would argue the opening page narration has already spoiled the whole story.

X-Men #4

The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: January 3, 1964
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Sensational script by: Stan Lee
Dynamic drawings by: Jack Kirby
Imaginative inking by: Paul Reinman
Legible lettering by: Art Simek
23 pages

The Scarlet Witch seems to be wearing green on the cover.

Pedantic notice. The title of this comic is “The X-Men”. After 3 issues, I decided I was tired of typing that. It’s easier to just call it “X-Men”. I will be doing that from now on. Same for “The Avengers”. I’d already been doing that for “The Amazing Spider-Man” without really thinking it through.

I should be paying more attention to the taglines. They are dubbed “X-Men: The most unusual teen-agers of all time!” Last issue had the same subheading. In #2, it was “the strangest super-heroes of all time. The covers of the first two issues dubbed them the “strangest super-heroes of all”.

I feel it should be pointed out that we’ve already met some pretty darn unusual teenagers, notably Human Torch and Spider-Man. So the tagline may be somewhat hyperbolic.

This issue introduces the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Not what I would name my group of mutants. And it’s not clear who, if anybody, named them that. The cover of the comic and the title of the comic call the group that, but the group is not named within the story.

Professor X calls them “evil mutants”, but he has often referred to “evil mutants”. I could never tell if he was speaking generically, or specifically referring to Magneto’s group. I still can’t.

Designation issues aside, introducing a team of villains to battle the X-Men is a good idea, since they themselves are a team. It’s hard to show a team always fighting against a single individual, even though that’s mostly what the Fantastic Four have done. It’s a bit surprising they are yet to come up with a team of villains for them. They’ve come close. Red Ghost had his Super Apes, and that was now four, er, members who could each match one member of the FF. But I have trouble counting that as a team since they are apes. Dr. Doom recruited the Terrible Trio, so again we had 4 people, each meant to face off with one FF member; but that was not so much a team of super-villains as it was Doom and three henchmen.

Twelfth Day of Classic Comics Christmas

Dr. Doom and Magneto

See my initial post for the context. Suffice to say that I will be sharing my entries to the Classic Comics Forum tradition, “Twelve Days of Classic Comics Christmas“. This is a cross-post of my twelfth entry, representing #1 on my list of favorite comic book Crossovers.

Today is the final day. Thank you for reading along.

1. Dr. Doom and Magneto
“A World for the Winning”
from Super-Villain Team-Up #14 (Marvel, 1977)

by Bill Mantlo, Bob Hall, Don Perlin, and Duffy Vohland

[This isn’t quite a complete story; it concludes in the Champions, but the contest I’m playing along with was specifically not about teams, so we’re focusing on the first chapter. All that said…] this was a clear #1 for me.

These are my favorite super-villains. And Dr. Doom has conquered the world. Like, it’s over. He’s won. His only enemy left is boredom. And out of that boredom, he gives Magneto a chance, a small chance, to free the world.

This story would get reused and reworked for Marvel Graphic Novel #27, “Emperor Doom”, also by Bob Hall. And the bare premise of a super-villain in psychic control of an entire world has shown up here and there, since. Most recently in Tom King’s Batman.

But this is the one. Doom’s finest hour. The best story for Marvel’s best villain.