sam rosen – Page 16 – Coke ⊕ Comics

Tales of Suspense #57

Hawkeye, the Marksman!

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.

Amazing Spider-Man #16

Duel with Daredevil

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.

Sgt. Fury #9

Mission: Capture Adolf Hitler!

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.

Tales to Astonish #59, Story B

Let’s learn about Hank and Jan…

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.

Daredevil #3

The Owl, Ominous Overlord of Crime!

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.

Tales of Suspense #56

The Uncanny Unicorn!

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.

Fantastic Four #29

It Started on Yancy Street!

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.

Strange Tales #123

The Birth of the Beetle!

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.

X-Men #6

Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written: With the flair of Stan Lee
Drawn: With the air of Jack Kirby
Inked: With the care of Chic Stone
Lettered: On a dare by S. Rosen
22 pages

Once again, we see that Namor and Hulk are the binding that holds this nascent Marvel Universe together. Most of the heroes haven’t met each other, but they’ve almost all met Hulk or Namor. (Daredevil hasn’t met either yet, but we’ve only read two issues; he’ll meet Namor soon.)

My confusion about what to call Magneto’s group remains. It’s becoming clearer that “Evil Mutants” is how Xavier and the narrator refer to them. It’s less clear what they would call themselves. They were called the “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” on the cover, and in the title, of their first appearance; however, that name has never shown up in-story.

Tales to Astonish #58, Story B

The Magician and the Maiden!

Featuring: Wasp
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script and art: Larry Lieber
Lettering: S. Rosen
7 pages

The Magician escaped prison, so Wasp has to take his picture off her weird trophy wall of super-villains she has defeated. Considering the rate at which these villains seem to get out of prison, she must have to update that wall a lot.

Do we recognize all the villains on the wall? I see: Egghead, Black Knight, Magician, Human Top, the Creature from Kosmos, Porcupine. There are two pictures we can’t see. The wall is missing Cyclops, Trago, Living Eraser, El Toro, and Colossus. It’s possible we just can’t see the entire wall and those photos are off to the side. It’s also possible she was unable to get a picture of some of them. The Living Eraser lives in another dimension, so getting a photo may be hard.

Concerned for her safety, Hank phones Wasp to suggest she go to the lab. The lab is publicly known to be the headquarters of Giant-Man. I would argue that is the least safe place. What about his house in New Jersey? He apparently somehow has a secret identity.

Wasp refuses, as there is a new line of Wasp-themed fashion debuting at Benson’s department store.