new costume – Coke & Comics

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written completely by: Stan Lee
Illustrated neatly by: Dick Ayers
Inked discreetly by: P. Reinman
Lettered sweetly by: Art Simek
16 pages

Wasp notes it’s skiing season. This note is very important for chronologists. I myself haven’t paid close attention to seasons, but experts in this field think very hard about the seasons, and how they relate to the school years of Peter Parker and Johnny Storm. The Official Marvel Index to the Avengers notes this story takes place in February, likely with references like the “skiing season” quote in mind.

It’s now been two issues since Hank bought that engagement ring, but he hasn’t mentioned it again. The relationship drama is now centered around the amount of time he spends in his lab, to the neglect of his girlfriend. She complains he has a test tube instead of a heart.

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: September 3, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Rendered by: Steve Ditko
23 pages

Kirby and Ditko is a rare and special combination. I think this is now the 4th time we’ve seen the combo.

Giant-Man gets a costume change, though less dramatic than the Iron Man one we just saw. Since he’s no longer Ant-Man, the ant logo is vestigial. He thus drops it in favor of some vertical stripes that resembles suspenders.

We get a major new villain, Human Top. For many characters, it’s obvious who their arch-nemesis is. Thor has Loki, the X-Men, Magneto. For Dr. Pym, it’s less clear. I had suggested it was Egghead, but a friend argued it was the Human Top. Both are contenders.

We learn Dave Cannon was born with super speed and the ability to whirl really fast like a top. This makes him a mutant as Professor X explained the term. Though this comic does not use that word.

Tag: new costume

Tales to Astonish #58

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