sam rosen – Page 11 – Coke & Comics

Daredevil #6

The Fellowship of Fear!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: December 3, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Written with the fabulously flawless fantasy of… Stan Lee
Illustrated in the magnificently modern manner of… Wally Wood
Lettered in the screamingly sophisticated style of… Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#302	Next
Fantastic Four #35	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #113
Daredevil #5	Daredevil	Daredevil #7

A neat effect that’s unique to Daredevil is the little logo box. For the first few issues, it was just his logo in the top corner of the first page, not so different from what we see in other titles. Then the next couple issues added a close up of Daredevil’s face to the logo. Now Wood is varying the theme, showing a mini-picture of Daredevil leaping into action over the logo. We’ll get a new logo picture next issue.

I’d like to talk about super-villains vs. super-villain henchmen. Most of the villains we’ve met like to be in charge. They are their own boss and plan their own crimes. They sometimes team up, but then fight over who is in charge. Occasionally, independently minded super-villains can form a team and have someone be in charge, as with the Masters of Evil, led by Zemo.

The Enforcers are different. We met them when they were working for Big Man. Then later Green Goblin, then later Sandman. They don’t try to be top villains. They are for hire, and work for the big super-villains. Dr. Doom had a similar gang, the Terrible Trio. They’ve tried to strike it on their own as their own bosses, with limited success.

Of course, the Evil Mutants serve Magneto. He’s the big super-villain they take orders from.

Understand the two tiers of the super-villain hierarchy?

In this issue, we see Ox for the first time apart from his fellow Enforcers. But he’s still doing what he does, hiring himself out to super-villains. In this case he works for Mr. Fear.

Eel does something unique here. He was a super-villain in his own right, with his own plans and his own base of operations. He twice fought the Human Torch. But now he’s a henchman, working for the bigger super-villain, Mr. Fear. It’s something of a demotion for the Eel.

Strange Tales #129, Story B

Tiboro! The Tyrant of the Sixth Dimension!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee, and his magic typewriter.
Script by: Don Rico, and his mystic fountain pen.
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko, and his miraculous lead pencil.
Lettered by: Sam Rosen, and his melancholy penpoint.
10 pages

Previous	#300!	Next
Strange Tales #129	Reading order	Fantastic Four #35
Strange Tales #129	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #130

Welcome to the 300th Marvel Age story! We’re almost 1% finished!

I think the periods that end each credit above are the first periods we have ever seen. Stan Lee holds to a pretty strict exclamation point-only policy. But then, Stan Lee didn’t write this.

For the second time this month, and the second time in our entire Marvel Age reading, Stan Lee claims no story credit for the issue. His name still comes first, but he takes credit for editing. The only other time we’ve seen this is with Tales to Astonish #64, published just a week earlier, and scripted by Leon Lazarus.

Rumor is that publisher Martin Goodman was concerned of the power Lee held by being the sole writer on these increasingly successful titles, and instructed Lee to diversify the writing staff. However, neither Rico nor Lazarus became regular writers. So if that was Goodman’s intent, he was not successful.

We’ve met Don Rico twice before, though he used the alias of N. Korok, when he worked on Tales of Suspense #52–53 and helped introduce Black Widow. The first time we saw him work with Stan, Stan credited himself with “story” and Rico with “plot”. I don’t know the difference either.

This is Rico’s final scripting assignment for Marvel, a company he’s worked for off and on for 25 years at this point. It’s pretty close to his last comics work. He’d basically already left comics behind for prose writing at this point. A couple miscellaneous pieces in the 70s, including the art for a short Captain America story.

Don Rico passed away in 1985 at the age of 72.

Amazing Spider-Man #21

Where Flies the Beetle…!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Deliciously written by: Stan Lee
Deliriously illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Delightfully lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#298	Next
Sgt. Fury #14	Reading order	Strange Tales #129
Amazing Spider-Man #20	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #22

What a beautiful cover. One of my favorites yet. Definitely my favorite Spider-Man cover so far. I like the way Ditko contorts Spider-Man in the air. It’s never straightforward, and decades of artists have tried to imitate his many posings. It’s just such a nice rendering of Spider-Man, who’s always at his best when at least somewhat upside down.

Ditko’s got the Beetle lurking off in the corner, just to show there is a villain. He keeps the focus on the actually visually interesting characters.

And then the opening splash page is basically an alternative cover, this one showing Spider-Man directly in combat with the Beetle, again with Spidey’s body flying through the air in his inimitable style.

This is one of the most underrated Spider-Man stories of all time. You’ll easily notice my Best We’ve Read page has more than its share of Spider-Man stories, as they are simply head and shoulders above all the other Marvel comics of this era. The highest rated Spidey stories won’t surprise people who love Spider-Man stories. I’ve spent a lot of time reading people’s opinions on Spider-Man stories, looking at lists of the best Spider-Man stories. His origin and the Sinister Six story, those are everybody’s favorite. While you may hear less of it, for those in the know, the End of Spider-Man story is spoken of with sufficient reverence. As is his unmasking by Dr. Octopus and first battles against Doc Ock, Vulture, and Electro. I’ve heard people cite the Scorpion battle and even the Green Goblin battle as their favorite stories.

But I never hear anybody talk about how great Spider-Man’s first battle against the Beetle is. Let’s correct that.

Tales to Astonish #64

When Attuma Strikes!

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: November 3, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Edited by smilin’ Stan Lee
Written by laughin’ Leon Lazarus
Pencilled by capricious Carl Burgos
Inked by peerless Paul Reinman
Lettered by sparkling Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#296	Next
X-Men #9	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #14
Tales to Astonish #63, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #64, Story B

You’re correct, reader, that we have not finished Tales to Astonish #63 yet. We will get there. Hulk is involved in one big story, while Giant-Man and Wasp have shorter adventures which take place weaved around their Avengers adventures. It’s a tricky thing to negotiate. We’re not going to finish this comic right now either. We’ll come back to the Hulk story another day.

We get something new here. Leon Lazarus is not a name we’ve seen before. It honestly sounds a little made up. An alliterative name like that often turns out to be an alias in these stories. Especially with a biblical last name like Lazarus, a word common in superhero stories to describe effects that raise the dead (e.g. the Lazarus Pit used by Batman’s foe Ra’s Al Ghul).

And Stan Lee claims no writing credit. He’s been the sole credited writer on everything for the last year or so. And even when there were other credited scripters, Stan Lee claimed credit for the “story” or “plot” or such. This is the very first time in any Marvel Age story that Stan did not claim story credit.

Of course, Stan’s name still goes first in the credits, as the editor.

So who is Leon Lazarus? What is his real name? Why did he decide to start writing for Marvel now?

X-Men #9

Enter, The Avengers!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: November 3, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Savagely written by: Stan Lee
Supremely drawn by: Jack Kirby
Superbly inked by: Chic Stone
Stoically lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#295	Next
Avengers #12	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #64
X-Men #8	X-Men	X-Men #10

The cover promises the return of Professor X. He left the team in issue 7, leaving Cyclops in charge. We haven’t seen him since, except for a brief appearance in issue 8 where he and Cyclops have a telepathic chat. Anyway, now it’s issue 9 and we get the long-awaited return of Professor X.

Also, the X-Men meet the Avengers!

Of course, they fight.

Avengers #12

This Hostage Earth!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Written in the Marvel manner by smilin’ Stan Lee
Illustrated in the Marvel tradition by dazzlin’ Don Heck
Delineated in the Marvel style by darlin’ Dick Ayers
Lettered in the nick of time by swingin’ Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#294	Next
Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B	Reading order	X-Men #9
Avengers #11	Avengers	Avengers #13

Avengers. Mole Man. Let’s check it out.

Mole Man is plotting to conquer the world. Ants are the first to notice his schemes, and they warn Giant-Man who warns the Avengers who… don’t take the ants seriously.

Iron Man is rocking those roller skates!

The moral of the story is to take warnings from ants seriously.

Journey Into Mystery #112

The Mighty Thor Battles the Incredible Hulk!

Featuring: Thor
Release: November 3, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
A Stan Lee-Jack Kirby Marvel Masterwork!
Inking by: Chic Stone
Lettering by: S. Rosen
16 pages

Previous	#292	Next
Avengers #11	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B
Journey Into Mystery #111, Story B	Journey Into Mystery	Journey Into Mystery #112, Story B

Lee and Kirby seem to share top billing in the credits (Lee’s name first, of course) without breaking down who did what.

It’s interesting that they wanted Thor to battle the Hulk, but rather than have Thor battle the Hulk, they had Thor tell a story set in the past. Perhaps Hulk is too busy with the ongoing Leader Saga to be able to appear in Thor’s book. Stan is perhaps becoming aware his fans expect continuity and resorting to tricks not to break it.

Thor tells children a story when he sees them arguing over who is stronger: Thor or Hulk. Superhero fans have asked such questions for decades, and Stan had likely received more than a few letters asking the question. As he’s done before, he puts the fans’ queries–and the fans themselves– directly into the story.

I love the Hulk/Thor signs the kids made, and just how passionate and angry they all seem about this important question.

Thor’s tale is set in the middle of Avengers #3, expanding the story told then. Recall the Avengers battled Hulk and Sub-Mariner in Gibraltar.

Avengers #11

Spider-Man!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: October 8, 1964
Cover: December 1964
12 cents
Spectacular story by: Stan Lee
Incomparable illustrations by: Don Heck
Dazzling delineation by: Chic Stone
Lachrymose lettering by: Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#291	Next
Tales of Suspense #62, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #112
Avengers #10	Avengers	Avengers #12

Don Heck is still the artist, but this time with inks by Chic Stone. I think it’s the first time we’ve seen the combo. Stone is easily my favorite Kirby inker so far; their pairing has that very classic pop art feel. Paired with Heck, they do a passable job, certainly better than the last two issues with Heck/Ayers.

But nobody, not even Kirby, can get Spider-Man right. The cover would seem to prove me a liar, as it’s Kirby’s best take on Spider-Man yet. But that’s likely because it’s mostly Ditko. Nick Caputo examines the question of who drew what on the cover on his blog Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae.

I think Heck has been doing fine work on Iron Man. Avengers is a bit harder because it’s got so many characters. And we’ve reached the point where Stan is “writing” everything, which means he’s mostly relying on the artists to come up with the stories themselves. I think Heck is a good artist but just struggled with the weight of it all. It doesn’t help that he’s being constantly compared to Kirby and Ditko in this era.

Tales of Suspense #62

The Origin of the Mandarin!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Brashly written by: Stan Lee
Boldly drawn by: Don Heck
Brazenly inked by: Dick Ayers
Bashfully lettered by: S. Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#289	Next
Tales of Suspense #61, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #62, Story B
Tales of Suspense #61, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #62, Story B

Now that the issue is dual-featured, with each feature of similar importance, they need to think of different ways to highlight two pictures on the cover. We’ve seen the Iron Man picture embedded in the Captain America picture, while consuming a large chunk of the real estate, forming the main art of the Cap picture into an ‘L’. We’ve seen 2 separate pictures placed onto the mat at odd angles like postcards dropped on a canvas. The most conventional format will be a split-screen, either horizontal or vertical. This one is basically a horizontal split, but with a slanted line. It feels like the Iron Man portion wastes the portion of the image where it has the space. The Cap portion has extra space on the left and puts Cap himself there. Iron Man is squeezed into the small space on the left, and the extra space on the right is devoted to landscape.

Apparently Marvel had received more than 500 requests for the origin of the Mandarin.

If you look to the Best we’ve read page, it will become obvious the origin stories tend to be my favorite comics. At present, I see a full quarter of the list are origin stories, including the top 3 entries. Conversely, almost every major origin we’ve read is represented. (Sorry to Ant-Man, Thor, and Watcher.) Therefore I’m excited whenever we get a new origin story… unless it’s Mandarin’s story.

Tales of Suspense #61

The Death of Tony Stark!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: October 8, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee because we wanted the best!
Art by: Don Heck because we wanted the finest!
Inking by: Dick Ayers because we wanted the tops!
Lettering by: S. Rosen because we wanted to keep him busy!
12 pages

Previous	#287	Next
Strange Tales #128, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #61, Story B
Tales of Suspense #60, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #61, Story B

The cover boasts that Tony Stark will die at the hands of the Mandarin. Covers often exaggerate or outright fabricate such things. This caption is closer to true than usual, though.

We are informed the Mandarin returns by overwhelming popular demand. I was not given a vote. He remains my least favorite Marvel villain.

We meet Inspector Flint, investigating the disappearance of Tony Stark. I spent some mental cycles trying to decide if he was the unnamed inspector we met last issue. He resembles that inspector, and it makes sense he would still be on the case. However, since he introduces himself to Happy and Pepper, that implies they’ve never met. So I assume he is a different inspector.

A journalist overhears Flint talking to Happy and Pepper, so the papers reveal that Iron Man is top suspect in Stark disappearance. Clearly, Iron Man is the only suspect. Either Stark is on vacation like Iron Man claimed, or Iron Man is lying. So if there is a criminal case, Iron Man is at the center of it. Or, Iron Man is telling the truth, and there is no criminal case.