Tag: marvel universe

Journey Into Mystery #86

On the Trail of the Tomorrow Man!
Featuring: Thor
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.

There’s a pretty significant milestone here. Relatively full credits are given at the bottom of the first page. Many comics we’ve read had no credits at all. Others bore a signature here or there. The Fantastic Four have featured the signatures of Stan and Jack fairly prominently. For the first time, we see explicit credit given to Lieber and Ayers, along with a breakdown of who did what. Online sources were generally clear Lee and been doing the plotting on Thor (though it’s likely Kirby also deserves credit) and leaving the scripting to Lieber. The table of contents of the Marvel Masterworks edition simply refers to Lee and Lieber as writers. Fantastic Four #9 debuts the same day and also features similarly robust credits. We’ll cover that shortly.

Finally some credit to Dick Ayers

I’ve been noting the main credits above–writers and artists–as best I can, drawing from the credits given in the collection I’ve been reading or from online sources. I’m not trying to be a definitive source for credits, so have not been giving full credits myself. I don’t mention above the lettering of Artie Simek or the coloring of Stan Goldberg. I mean no disservice to their talents; it’s just not the focus of this blog. (Notably, I am often looking at these reprint editions, not the originals, and they have often been recolored… so I am anyway in no position to speak intelligently to Goldberg’s coloring).

Continue reading “Journey Into Mystery #86”

Fantastic Four #8

Prisoners of the Puppet Master!/The Hands of the Puppet Maker/The Lady and the Monster!/Face-to-face with the Puppet Master!/Death of a puppet!
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: August 9, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
23 pages

I read this issue in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1. The comic has the signatures of Lee and Kirby. The collection lists Ayers as the inker.

We begin now the second year of adventures of the Fantastic Four.

Well, he did tell them to call him Thing…

I’ve found it weird the whole series that they always refer to him as ‘Thing’ instead of ‘Ben’. In later comics, they will mostly call him Ben. The writers seemed to have noticed it’s odd as they make a thing of it here. Sue calls him Ben, and he complains about how it’s only ‘Ben’ when they want something.

Continue reading “Fantastic Four #8”

Strange Tales #102

Prisoner of the Wizard/Wizard’s Wiles!
Release: August 9, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages

This is better than the previous Human Torch story. It at least introduces a notable villain. And Wizard is a pretty cool character.

But, man, that secret identity thing remains a rough plot point. First, the ultra-genius Wizard needs a convoluted plan to find the Torch because nobody knows his secret identity. And then, Wizard douses Torch’s flames to defeat him, but only on his body… leaving a flaming head. Why?

Continue reading “Strange Tales #102”

Tales to Astonish #37

Trapped by the Protecter!/Face-to-face with the Protecter!
Release: August 2, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man vol. 1. I took the credits above from the collection. I see no credits within the story itself.

I guess people can hear him now

In his first outing, a difficulty Ant-Man had was that nobody could hear him in ant-size. They haven’t specifically addressed how he overcame that, but he clearly has. Perhaps speakers are built into his helmet.

Again, we see Ant-Man as the most active superhero, using his ants to patrol so he can find his way to crime scenes and help investigate. This will become an increasingly common practice for people in this world, but nobody else is really doing it yet.

Who just rents a jewelry store on a whim?

As part of a trap, Henry Pym rents a jewelry store. That doesn’t sound cheap, suggesting a certain affluence on Dr. Pym’s part. It seems like it would have been easier to have his ants stake out other jewelry stores.

This story introduces the evil Protecter, who is extorting jewelers by threatening to destroy their merchandise with a disintegrating ray. The story has a lot of beat similarity to the Human Torch tale we recently read. There is a villain, and it ends with an unmasking of the villain, who turns out to be the only other character the story bothered to name. We also learn other secrets of the villain, like in this case he didn’t really have a disintegrating ray. He just created a flash and quickly (and entirely implausibly) gathered up gems and sprinkled sand. (How long is that flash? This is a guy in a big mechanized suit– how fast is he?)

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #37”

PRELUDE: Journey Into Mystery #47, Story B

It Hides Under the Ground!
Release: February 25, 1957
Cover: June 1957
10 cents
Credits: Carl Wessler and Syd Shores
4 pages

The story offers no credits. I took the above from the Grand Comics Database.

We just met Odin in Journey Into Mystery #85. That was his Marvel Age introduction. But of course the company had been publishing all sorts of fantasy tales for decades, often drawing from mythology. The CMRO reckons Odin’s introduction into its “expanded order” as Adventures Into Terror #26. I fear I have not read that issue.

I will give us a glimpse of an old Odin story, from 5 years earlier in the same Journey Into Mystery series.

This tale follows a pretty standard format. There is a less-than-reputable lead engaging in immoral activity, and a fantastic twist which serves him justice, often an ironic form of justice.

Continue reading “PRELUDE: Journey Into Mystery #47, Story B”

Journey Into Mystery #85

Trapped by Loki, the God of Mischief!/The Vengeance of Loki!/
Release: August 2, 1962
Cover: October 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1. The credits above come from the collection. I see no credits within the comic itself.

This is a pretty exciting story for me. I like the character of Thor, but what excites me most is the mythological world surrounding him. The first 2 issues told of a man in Thor’s body battling aliens and Commies. Now we finally get to Asgard.

“Beyond our segment of time and space, there exists Asgard, the citadel of the Norse gods, which is connected to earth by a rainbow bridge called the Bifrost!”

Continue reading “Journey Into Mystery #85”

Tales to Astonish #36

The Challenge of Comrade X!
Featuring: Ant-Man
Release: July 10, 1962
Cover: October 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages

Some time has passed since the previous issue, which ended with Henry Pym pondering: “Will I ever be forced to become Ant-Man again?”

Turns out, it didn’t take much forcing. He immediately began positioning himself to find and stop crime, and has made a name for himself, trusted by the police and public.

The FF stories used a similar gap. Had their first tale tell of their first adventure, but jumped forward for their second tale, to where their heroism had already become routine and they had gained public acceptance.

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #36”

Our cast so far

We highlight here the characters we have met. We’ll note in parentheses when the character was introduced, when we met them in our Marvel Age reading if they’re older characters, when notable aliases were introduced, and when they were killed. If no other death issue is given, they were killed/destroyed/lost in their first appearance.

The easiest way to find all appearances of a given character we have covered is to follow the tags within the post.

The original stars

These are the major characters and groups who star or will star in their own stories from the earliest days of the Marvel Age, the ones we are trying to track.

Breakout characters

These characters/groups were introduced as side characters in other books, but have gone on to be featured in their own stories and become stars.

Major villains

Major supporting characters

Other major characters

Notable Groups and Races

Intro of group and when each character joined or was introduced as a group member

Middling villains

Somewhere between my major villains and my minor villains

Minor villains

Less significant villains. Henchmen, non-recurring characters, etc.

Other characters of some note

Minor characters who have appeared, of at least some note.

Animals

Incredible Hulk #3

Banished to Outer Space/The Origin of the Hulk!/The Ringmaster
Featuring: Hulk
Release: July 3, 1962
Cover: September 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
24 pages

I read this story in Incredible Hulk Omnibus vol. 1, which notes Dick Ayers is the inker. He is uncredited within the issue itself.

There are perhaps three distinct stories here, but we’ll treat them in one entry.

Banished to Outer Space

The first story concerns General Ross’ ‘Plan H’ to banish the Hulk into space in a rocket. This story perhaps inspired a modern story where Hulk was banished into space and landed on what became known as Planet Hulk, by Greg Pak and Carlos Pagulayan. Planet Hulk was adapted into an animated movie, and it partly formed the basis of the film Thor: Ragnarok.

This story picks up right where the previous one left off, the very same night. Hulk is trapped safely away in the underwater cell they built. The decision to let Hulk free requires some stupidity on Rick’s part. He is tricked by General Ross, but his actions are absurd and merely serve the plot.

Continue reading “Incredible Hulk #3”

Journey Into Mystery #84

The Mighty Thor vs. the Executioner
Release: July 3, 1962
Cover: September 1962
12 cents
Credits: Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
13 pages

I read this comic in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1. The issue doesn’t seem to have formal credits, but the first page has the signatures of Kirby and Ayers. The collection’s table of contents notes Stan Lee and Larry Lieber are the writers.

Correction: “Only my hammer and I…”

There’s a revolution in the country of San Diablo (mi español es muy rusty, but I think that translates to “Saint Devil”, which suggests the requirements for sainthood have really loosened). A pro-communist dictator has seized power, but is engaged in civil war with a democratic faction. The dictator is called the Executioner because he executes a lot of people. Dr. Don Blake travels on a medical expedition to help out in San Diablo. The Executioner interferes as he wants the people weak and subservient. But, well… Thor.

Continue reading “Journey Into Mystery #84”