Featuring: Spider-Man Release: June 11, 1964 Cover: 1964 25 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Steve Ditko Lettered by: S. Rosen 41 pages
It’s 1964. You’re young. You don’t have a lot of money. But you know some math. Most comics cost 12 cents. This one costs 25. You could get two comics for that price! But wait… those two comics between them would only net you 42-46 story pages. This one promises 72 pages! 72 big pages, at that.
Indeed, this first story is 41 pages, enough to give you your money’s worth. But there’re over 30 pages of bonus features as well!
Plus, most of those comics will give you one super-villain, two at most. This cover promises a sinister six villains for your hard-earned quarter.
If you’re not yet sold to drop two bits, the first page should do it. Aunt May and Betty Brant have been captured by the Sinister Six, and Spider-Man has lost his powers! Now that’s a story!
Featuring: Dr. Strange Release: June 9, 1964 Cover: September 1964 12 cents Written inside a haunted house by: Stan Lee Illustrated inside a gypsy’s tent by: Steve Ditko Inked inside a hidden cave by: Geo. Bell Lettered inside… because it was raining outside by: S. Rosen 9 pages
Dr. Strange gets more than his usual amount of cover real estate. Some 15% of the page devoted to his story. Enough to actually depict the story within. The second time that’s happened. Strange’s day will come.
For the second of three issues, we have to put up with George Roussos finishing Ditko’s art. There’s a payoff that makes it all worth it, though. When Ditko resumes the full art duties in two issues, he’ll give us 20 of the best comics ever made.
The first page asks, “Can you guess the identity of the Lady from Nowhere??” This puts me in a bind I’ve been in before. The issue reveals her identity on the final page. I’m not a fan of spoilers and don’t want to spoil things for you. That said, this comic is over 55 years old, so it’s not like you haven’t had ample time to read it.
Even if I don’t spoil the ending in my write-up, I do like to give a listing of all the characters in this issue afterward, which would reveal who the Lady is. Tell you what. I’ll give you some hints and see if you can guess before we reach the character listing below. This is her second Marvel Age appearance, after the Iron Man story in Tales of Suspense #44. (Clicking the link will probably give away the answer.)
We’d actually already met her in one of our PRELUDE posts, when we read Venus #1. It’s not absolutely clear how or if these three versions of the character are related.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: June 9, 1964 Cover: September 1964 12 cents Written by: Smiling Stan Lee Illustrated by: Sparkling Don Heck Lettered by: Sterling S. Rosen 18 pages
Interestingly, this is the first Iron Man cover not drawn by Kirby. In fact, it’s the first major cover of the era not drawn or partially drawn by Kirby or Ditko. In general, Ditko has been drawing the covers of his books, and Kirby has been drawing the covers of his own and everybody else’s. For example, Kirby has drawn very few Giant-Man stories, but has drawn every cover. Since covers were often drawn before the issue, Kirby often had a hand in the creation of the new villains, by virtue of being the first to actually draw them. But not Hawkeye. Hawkeye may be the first major character we’ve met not in any way attributable to Kirby or Ditko. He seems to be entirely the creation of Stan Lee and Don Heck.
For example, Kirby is generally not credited as a creator of Black Widow, but he was involved at the beginning, having drawn her first cover appearance. Same story for Daredevil. I see none of his fingerprints on Hawkeye, but may be unaware of some behind-the-scenes work.
When we met Daredevil, I declared our cast of original stars complete. That was an admittedly arbitrary cut-off. I could have waited just a few months and claimed Hawkeye completes the package.
I said what I said because Hawkeye is not of our stars. At least not yet. He is a just a new super-villain, one of many. Like Black Widow. Like Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch…
See the Our Cast So Far page to see how I’m breaking out the characters.
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.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: June 9, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Sensational story by: Ex-Sgt. Stan Lee! Awe-inspiring art by: Ex-Corp. Dick Ayers! Inked by: Geo. Bell Lettered by: S. Rosen 22 pages
Nick Fury is always on his best behavior when on a date with Pam. Unfortunately, their lovely evening is brought to a halt when Fury’s Howlers splash mud on him. He starts to lose his temper, only to be scolded by Pam, who is more impressed by Percy’s gentlemanliness. Fury then gets a scolding from the Captain for the muddy uniform. This remains the funniest title.
The Howlers’ mission is to sneak into Berlin and capture Hitler. Seems easy enough until Fury is recognized by Baron Strucker.
Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp Release: June 2, 1964 Cover: September 1965 12 cents By: Stan Lee, Dick Ayers, Paul Reinman, S. Rosen 5 pages
Wasp’s solo adventures were cancelled, so there is a 5-page void. Starting next issue, Hulk will get half the pages. This issue, the void gets filled with an “About” section. We recently saw a similar feature for Iron Man.
I don’t own this comic, and the digital versions of Tales to Astonish #59 exclude this section for some reason. Which makes it a hard story to track down. It was reprinted in Marvel Tales #13.
While the story title claims we will learn about Hank and Jan, it’s almost entirely about Hank. Wasp is just not treated with sufficient dignity. When she is mentioned, it’s only in the context of talking about Hank. The comic mentions her air gun, but focuses on the fact that Hank invented it. The comic dedicates more space to talking about their headquarters.
The comic mostly walks through what we know about Giant-Man. I think the only new details are that Captain America taught him karate and the precise weight he can press: 2000 pounds.
Featuring: Daredevil Release: June 2, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Written with raw realism by: Stan Lee Illustrated with daring drama by: Joe Orlando Inked with actual artistry by: Vince Colletta Lettered with Perfect Precision by: S. Rosen 22 pages
Some like him and some hate him, but so far he’s the easiest inker to spot. None of the other inkers we are following do the crosshatching like Colletta.
Last issue, Orlando and Colletta gave us an unusual amount of background detail for the period. This issue gives less, as is the style of the time, likely induced by deadline pressure.
All that said, we get some good visuals from the art team, notably a trippy opening panel with a lot of eyes.
Last issue, Daredevil borrowed a villain from Spider-Man. He now gets his first super-villain of his own, the Owl. The Owl is the worst kind of super-villain: a Wall Street investor, described as a ruthless financial wizard. Also, he can fly and likes to trap his enemies in giant bird cages. Typical Wall Street guy.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: May 12, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Written with consummate skill by: Stan Lee Illustrated with blazing drama by: Don Heck Lettered with bloodshot eyes by: S. Rosen 18 pages
The time of the science fiction short stories has ended, allowing this comic to devote a full 18 pages to telling Iron Man’s story. I’m sure that making it longer was the missing ingredient in making it good.
This issue, Iron Man battles the Unicorn. I’m undecided if that name conjures a powerful Soviet menace. It doesn’t sound like something a tough bad guy would call themself, but then I wouldn’t want to have to fight a unicorn.
The character arc of the issue is that Tony Stark decides to give up being Iron Man and live a normal life. He then feels guilty when Happy is injured by the Unicorn because he had neglected his responsibilities.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: May 12, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Written with a dash of greatness by: Stan Lee Drawn with a hint of glory by: Jack Kirby Inked with a touch of drama by: Chic Stone Lettered with a bottle of India ink by: S. Rosen 22 pages
This is pretty easily my favorite cover so far. Years before I’d ever read the issue, I’d been enthralled by the cover. It seems to promise so much potential. What started on Yancy Street? Important enough to attract the attention of the Watcher.
Beyond my fascination with the ominous mood the cover suggests, there really hasn’t been a cover at all like this yet in our reading. First of all, it’s definitely the first Fantastic Four cover without a hint of a villain. The closest other example is Fantastic Four #13, which only shows Red Ghost’s hand. The mood of the characters is entirely different from the norm. Usually they’re mid-battle or primed for battle, with only a couple exceptions, notably FF#13 again. Now, they seem nervous, uncertain, hesitant. Moods that have never made it onto a cover. Reed is holding Sue’s hand. Ben looks uneasy. Johnny is nervously looking around.
Behind them all, the visage of the Watcher lurking ominously with glimpses of the cosmos behind him.
And yet. And yet. While almost everything about the visuals of the cover suggest this serious tone, we must also look to the street sign. Yancy Street. That creates an association which is far from serious. Since we first learned of the Yancy Street Gang back in issue 6, they have been comic relief, existing to knock Thing down a peg, to keep him humble. There is then some irony on the cover. Perhaps the super-serious tone is not meant to be taken quite so seriously.
Will the story live up to the incredible cover? As with most great works of this era, parts of it do and parts of it do not. In particular, the revelation of just what was happening on Yancy Street proves somewhat disappointing.
The first page seems almost a continuation of the cover, the Fantastic Four walking down Yancy Street, uncertain quite what they are looking for. Yet, the ominous tone of the cover is mixed with a certain wackiness as Thing steps in gum and somebody hurls lettuce at Mr. Fantastic. They are indeed on Yancy Street.
The first 5 pages of this comic are a quirky mix of foreboding and humor and relationship drama. The Fantastic Four get attacked by unseen members of the Yancy Street Gang. Reed bewilderingly concludes that a super-villain must be behind the Gang.
Featuring: Human Torch Release: May 12, 1964 Cover: August 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee (‘Nuff Said) Illustrated by: Carl Burgos (Who was the first to draw the Torch way back in the Golden Age of comics!) Inked by: Darlin’ Dick Ayers Lettered by: Smilin’ Sam Rosen 14 pages
Check out the split cover. That’s about to come into vogue. Equal cover real estate for both Human Torch and Dr. Strange. The idea won’t take off right away in this title, but we’ll soon see the split cover all over the place as more and more superheroes share titles.
There’s even a certain symmetry to the halves of the cover, what with the respective guest star boxes.
I find myself with an unusually large amount of things to say about the first page. Strap in.
“Nuff Said”. I’ve now read almost 3 years of Marvel comics without seeing that phrase. Now, I’m usually reading reprints, and thus missing ads and letter pages, where that phrase is more likely to show up. Brian Cronin notes Nuff Said first appeared in the letters page of Fantastic Four #19, almost a year earlier. I missed it. This is the first time I’ve seen it show up in the credits of a story or anywhere within a story. It is now recognized as one of Stan’s signature catch phrases.
Carl Burgos is the artist. That’s pretty cool. Because Burgos created the original Human Torch 25 years earlier; Johnny Storm borrowed his name, look, and powers. However, the credits don’t quite let us know that. Similar to Avengers #4, they acknowledge some contribution from Burgos without attributing the character to him. They call him the “first to draw the Torch”. He was the first to draw and write the character, and the entire concept is his. Marvel just bought his work. From a modern eye, this is irksome for a couple reasons. First, the language may be careful for legal reasons, as these companies like to make clear that the company created these characters and no people were involved. It also feeds into the notion that Stan has taken too much credit for himself over the years, allowing himself to get recognized as the creator of many characters, while often failing to acknowledge the actual creators. If you polled people today and asked who created the Human Torch, Stan Lee’s name would likely come up far more often than Carl Burgos’. Misleading credits like this do not help with that.
