I was chosen to be– keeper of the flame! But now– the torch has– gone out!
Captain America is certain there is somebody behind Power Man. Since he knows nothing about Power Man, I’m not sure where that certainty comes from.
The Avengers have been ordered to disband by the city. That’s enough for most of the team, but not for Captain America. He thinks they stand for something bigger than obeying laws.
This leads the Avengers to fight amongst themselves. They do this a lot. But this time, the fight dissolves the team.
Preeeeeesenting… The Clown, and his Masters of Menace!
Featuring: Spider-Man Release: December 10, 1964 Cover: March 1965 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Illustrated by: Steve Ditko Lettered by: Artie Simek 20 pages
Yes, I counted the ‘e’s closely in the title. We strive for accuracy here at Coke & Comics.
I appreciate that Spider-Man doesn’t really appear on the cover. Just the spider signal and his shadow, as the bad guys stand in awe.
I assume you all have the same confusion about the first page as I do. As usual, I blame Stan. Ditko’s drawings are eerily consistent across issues. The two trapeze artists and human cannonball are just as depicted the last time Spider-Man fought the Circus of Crime in Amazing Spider-Man #16.
But Stan had the human cannonball refer to himself as the Great Gambino. When we first met the Circus of Crime in Incredible Hulk #3, the human cannonball was named, sensibly, the Human Cannonball. Lee is basically back to that, referring to him as “the man called Cannonball”. He refers to the two trapeze artists as the Great Gambinos, which I suspect was Ditko’s intention all along. I’m going to claim Cannonball to be the same character we’ve met three times now, and just call his name in issue 16 a typo. He is not the Great Gambino; the trapeze artists are.
Ditko’s Clown is clearly modeled off the clown Kirby drew in Incredible Hulk #3, and doesn’t look particularly like any of the clowns in issue 16. He looks so much like Kirby’s clown that I’m going to declare them the same character. CMRO agrees, though also thinks he was one of the clowns in issue 16. There are a lot of clowns in that issue; one could be him, just with different make-up.
Princess Python is clearly new, and will be the most popular of these villains, making a name for herself entirely separate from the Circus of Crime, for example finding a home with the Serpent Society. She is notably Spider-Man’s first female super-villain and one of very few female super-villains we’ve met at all.
Featuring: Spider-Man Release: June 9, 1964 Cover: September 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee, master of the spoken word Illustrated by: Steve Ditko, dean of dramatic drawings Lettered by: S. Rosen, sultan of sparkling spelling 22 pages
Let me start by wishing a happy birthday to Steve Ditko, who would have been 93 today had he not passed away in 2018.
Ditko has created a number of new villains for this series, while maintaining a generally pretty high quality (Green Goblin excepted). The team has only once borrowed a villain so far, when Spider-Man fought Dr. Doom in issue 5. This is the second time borrowing a villain, but they dig deeper, bringing back Ringmaster from Incredible Hulk #3 two years earlier. We’ve read over 200 comics since we last met Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime.
Aunt May still insists Peter accept a blind date with Mary Jane Watson. Peter makes the reasonable protestation that he has a girlfriend. May notes they are not engaged. Does May just not like Betty for some reason? On the other hand, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a date. Peter could just offer to hang out with Mrs. Watson’s niece as a favor to Aunt May. I feel like they could compromise here.
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.
