sam rosen – Coke ⊕ Comics

Tales of Suspense #87, Story B

Wanted: Captain America!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: December 8, 1966
Cover: March 1967
12 cents
Editing: Stan Lee
Script: Roy Thomas
Drawn by: Jack Sparling
Inked by: Joe Sinnott
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
Subway swept by: Honest Irv
10 pages

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Tales of Suspense #87	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #88
Tales of Suspense #87	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #88

You may have had hours of practice… but I’ve had years!

That’s quite a surprising line-up of creators. Lee and Kirby have been handling Captain America thus far. Kirby took a couple issues off last year, with fill-ins by Ayers or Romita. And Kirby isn’t done with the book, but it will be a few issues until we see him again, with Gil Kane taking over. Lee is only taking this one issue off.

Thomas is Lee’s standard backup at this point, so his name isn’t that surprising. Joe Sinnott is our favorite inker these days, so it’s good to see him.

But who is Jack Sparling? That’s a new name to us. He’s one of those guys that’s worked in comics since the 1940s, seemingly at every company but Marvel. This is his first Marvel work and he won’t become a regular.

Here’s a sampling of his work.

The Yorktown Younger Set, Calling All Girls #3, Parents’ Magazine Press, 1942
Hap Hopper, Sparkler Comics v2 #10, United Feature Syndicate, 1942
Nyoka the Jungle Girl, Master Comics #50, Fawcett, 1944
Claire Voyant, Keen Teens, M.E., 1945
Lovers Lane #2, Lev-Gleason, 1949
Texas Rangers, Action Comics #140, DC, 1950
Kid Lochinvar, Great Lover Romances #1, Toby, 1951
Warfront #1, Harvey, 1951
Masked Raider #1, Charlton, 1955
The Sword and the Dragon, Four Color #1118, Dell, 1960
Adventures into the Unknown #121, ACG, 1961
Immortal Man, Strange Adventures #177, DC, 1965

He’s at this time a fixture of DC’s horror books, while still drawing romance, war, or other comics for companies like Harvey and Dell.

Avengers #36

The Ultroids Attack!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: November 10, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
Edited by: Stan (The Man) Lee
Scripted by: Roy (The Boy) Thomas
Drawn by: Don (The One) Heck
Lettered by: Sam (The Sham) Rosen
20 pages

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Sgt. Fury #39	Reading order	Avengers #37
Avengers #35	Avengers	Avengers #37

It was with a feeling of eagerness… almost of exhilaration… that I donned my crimson costume once again…

Stan the Man is by far Stan’s most common nickname at this point. I think this is our first time seeing Roy the Boy. I appreciate the rhyming scheme they have going on here, except… Don and One don’t rhyme. Maybe they do in the same way as eye and symmetry.

Who was the mystery figure who confronted Captain America at the end of last issue? It turns out to be the Scarlet Witch.

Or does it?

X-Men #29

When Titans Clash!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: December 8, 1966
Cover: February 1967
12 cents
Stan Lee… editor
Roy Thomas… scripter
Werner Roth… artist
John Tartaglione… inker
Sam Rosen… letterer
Irving Forbush… skating instructor
20 pages

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Amazing Spider-Man #46	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #39
X-Men #28	X-Men	X-Men #30

Funny… it took an inhuman, emotionless thing like the Super-Adaptoid… to make me realize the true value of the emotion called… friendship!

We haven’t seen many seasons yet in our years of Marvel reading. But now it’s clearly winter. We’ll think at the end of the post about what that means for our continuity.

Jean is in town for the weekend from college. Going off to college seemed like a way of sidelining her from the series, but she’s managed to miss very few adventures.

We learn Warren is recovering from his accident.

And see Scott standing alone and aloof off to the side while his teammates enjoy themselves.

Amazing Spider-Man #46

The Sinister Shocker!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: December 8, 1966
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
A Stan Lee John Romita Spideriffic spectacular!
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
20 pages

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Daredevil #25	Reading order	X-Men #29
Amazing Spider-Man #45	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #47

I almost made a king-sized jackass out of myself! How could I have thought a teen-aged nobody like Parker could actually be Spider-Man!

Can Romita fill Ditko’s shoes on this title? Ditko created a number of iconic villains. Romita will have to do the same if he wants to compare. He’s already created the Rhino.

Now we meet the most shocking villain yet… the Shocker.

Tales to Astonish #89, Story B

…Then, There Shall Come a Stranger!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: December 8, 1966
Cover: March 1967
12 cents
Handled with Hulktitude by Stan (The Man) Lee and Gil (Sugar) Kane
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
10 pages

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Tales to Astonish #89	Reading order	Daredevil #25
Tales to Astonish #89	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #90

For, it is my intention to cleanse the Earth… to purify this tortured planet… in the only way possible… Civilization… as you know it… must be obliterated! The works of man… indeed, man himself, must be all but wiped out! Only then… with the planet scourged clean… scourged of the seeds of evil… can a new day dawn! Then, these humans who have survived the coming holocaust, shall build a better world… under my command! But I sense your thought! You are concerned about the fate of the millions who must perish! That can be of no concern to me! Human life means nothing to the Stranger! If all the solar system must be destroyed to bring peace to the universe, I would not shed a single tear at its passing! For I am the Stranger! I walk ever alone!

Boomerang is dead. Bruce Banner lies unconscious.

The Stranger had previously collected Magneto and Toad for his zoo. Has he come for the Hulk? Not for his zoo, apparently.

Tales to Astonish #88

A Stranger Strikes from Space!

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: November 3, 1966
Cover: February 1967
12 cents
Written by: Stan the Man Lee
Illustrated by: Wild Bill Everett
Lettered by: Swingin’ Sammy Rosen
12 pages

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Ghost Rider #1	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #89
Tales to Astonish #87, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #88, Story B

There must be no new battle till our fighting strength has been restored! Else, the death knell of fair Atlantis may be at hand!

We read the second half of this issue some time ago. It’s a thing that happens. Namor and Hulk share a title. When there are ongoing stories, I try to group a few issues together, looking for decent pause points within the series. But what happens when a good pause point for Namor isn’t a good pause point for Hulk?

Well, I make the reluctant decision to read an issue ahead for one of the characters. Even though that means picking up this comic, flipping to the middle, putting it down, then later picking it up again and reading from the beginning. Almost certainly what nobody reading this comic in 1966 did.

Ah well. I try to balance a lot of things when choosing the reading order and some things have to give.

Daredevil #24

The Mystery of the Midnight Stalker!

Release: November 3, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
A Stan Lee * Gene Colan contemporary classic!
Inked by: Frank Giacoia
Lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

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Amazing Spider-Man #45	Reading order	X-Men #28
Daredevil #23	Daredevil	Daredevil #25

His costume is skin tight!

Starting this issue, Colan gets a credit like Romita got last month, and like Kirby and Ditko had been getting. Rather than just crediting him with art, the entire story is credited to the combo of Stan and Gene. This implicitly acknowledges Colan’s contributions to the writing. While still putting Stan’s name first.

On continuity, we haven’t travelled far into the future. Daredevil escaped Owl’s island while the Rhino was first being tried, and got into his tiff with the Tri-Man very soon after. That ended with him trapped in Europe with no money. And he’s still stuck. So this isn’t long after Amazing Spider-Man #43, perhaps still before Amazing Spider-Man Annual 3.

Amazing Spider-Man #45

Spidey Smashes Out!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: November 10, 1966
Cover: February 1967
12 cents
A Stan (The Man) Lee — John (Ring-a-ding) Romita adventure in agonizing action
Lettering – Sam Rosen
Web-untangling – Irv Forbush
20 pages

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Amazing Spider-Man #44	Reading order	Daredevil #24
Amazing Spider-Man #44	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #46

When your two arms were helpless against me before, what did you expect to accomplish now?

In this story, Spider-Man fights the Lizard again. With one arm tied in front of his back.

Romita gets the same credit Stan had been giving Ditko and Kirby. Rather then merely crediting him with illustration, Lee gives them each co-credit for creating the entire story, acknowledging that Romita is doing much of the writing.

Amazing Spider-Man #44

Where Crawls the Lizard!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: October 11, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
Story: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Illustration: Jazzy John Romita
Lettering: Swingin’ Sam Rosen
Luggage: Honest Irving Forbush
20 pages

Previous	#638	Next
Sgt. Fury #37	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #45
Amazing Spider-Man #43	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #45

Ditko and Lee created a number of great villains for Spider-Man: Chameleon, Vulture, Tinkerer, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Lizard, Living Brain, Electro, Big Man and the Enforcers, Mysterio, Green Goblin, Kraven the Hunter, Scorpion, the Spider Slayer, Molten Man, the Cat, Looter, Robot Master, a Guy Named Joe…

A temptation when writing a Spider-Man story is to have the premise: “Spider-Man fights _ again.”

Which is the worst idea for a Spider-Man story. In fact, two of Ditko’s weakest issues, written after he had basically given up on the series, involve Spider-Man fighting Kraven or Molten Man again.

That’s not to say these villains shouldn’t return. They should. But their return needs to tell a different story with them or move their own story forward.

That’s the big question. Is this story advancing the saga of this villain or bringing it in circles?

Dr. Octopus fought Spider-Man. When they fought again, it led to the death of Betty Brant’s brother and Spider-Man being unmasked. The villain returned but it was a new story. When they fought again, Dr. Octopus assembled six of Spider-Man’s most sinister foes to battle him. Again, a different story. Finally, they had their greatest battle with Dr. Octopus in the guise of the Master Planner. I heaped plenty of praise on that saga at the time. But suffice it to say, I think there was more of a premise to that story than “Spider-Man fights Dr. Octopus again.”

Spider-Man fought the Lizard, but then learned he was a good man Dr. Connors transformed by his own science experiments.

We saw that man again, cured of his Lizard ways, now acting as a scientific advisor to Spider-Man. We saw him again last issue in a similar capacity, advising against the Rhino. That time he idly wondered if the powers of the Lizard could be used against the Rhino. Spider-Man convinced him that thinking is dangerous.

So as we read stories where Spider-Man fights a classic villain again, I have a couple thought questions. Is the story moving the villain’s story forward? Is it telling a new story with the villain? Is there more to the premise than “Spider-Man fights _ again”?

I’m not objecting per se to Spider-Man fighting the Lizard again. Romita is an artist with a distinctive style from Ditko, so it’s fun to see his take on Ditko’s villains.

And the story will be good because Romita’s art is good and because he’ll do a good job with the side characters and soap opera. But will the story be good?

Sgt. Fury #37

In the Desert… To Die!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: October 11, 1966
Cover: December 1966
12 cents
Editor: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Scripter: Rascally Roy Thomas
Artist: Darlin’ Dick Ayers
Inker: Jivey John Tartaglione
Letterer: Sandy Sammy Rosen
Technical advisor in charge of parachuting: Jovial Johnny Hayes, ex-para-trooper, Marvel’s swingin’ circulation manager.
20 pages

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X-Men #27	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #44
Sgt. Fury #36	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #38

Now, like the blamed fly-boys always say… Geronimo!

A credit to Johnny Hayes, a name we don’t see often. We did recently see his name because a Bullpen Bulletin made it a point to name some of the behind the scenes staff. Here he gets credit for offering some consulting based on his days parachuting in the military.

I’m going to say that Thomas is really finding his footing on this title. Under Kirby this had been one of Marvel’s best comics, but it fell quickly to mediocrity when he left, with thin cookie cutter plots.

Stan Lee had remained the writer, but in practice as he was “writing” 20 titles every month, most of the storytelling was left to Ayers, who wasn’t up to it. We’re 9 issues into Thomas’ run, who likely is providing more plotting and scripting guidance to Ayers. Thomas had a slow start, but more and more, the comic feels like somebody is writing it.