sam rosen – Page 5 – Coke & Comics

Daredevil #12

Sightless, in a Savage Land!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: November 4, 1965
Cover: January 1966
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Layouts: Jack Kirby
Lettering: Sam Rosen
.. and introducing: the matchless artistic wizardry of Marvel’s newest, and most eagerly-awaited, illustrator… the inimitable John Romita!
20 pages

Previous	#458	Next
Sgt. Fury #26	Reading order	Daredevil #13
Daredevil #11	Daredevil	Daredevil #13

Ka-Zar have you, Zabu… Need no other! You are wisest… bravest… swiftest of all!

John Romita’s arrival is greeted enthusiastically by Stan. Kirby does layouts, as is common when welcoming new artists, as Stan doesn’t yet trust their storytelling chops (or his own).

Daredevil has a lack stability with revolving doors of legendary superstar artists. Bill Everett only made it one issue because he struggled with deadlines. Joe Orlando left after 3 issues because he got angry with Stan. Wally Wood left after 5 issues because he got angry with Stan. Good luck, John.

We’ve seen John Romita before in our “Prelude” posts. He was a regular artist on Captain America’s short-lived 1950s revival. His art has improved a lot in the intervening 10 years. He found his niche with the romance genre, and then left comics for a successful career in advertising. He draws good-looking people, in a way that artists like Kirby and Ditko don’t. Stan talked him into coming back to comics.

We talked about Romita’s career when we read Captain America #78. This is his new regular gig as a main artist at Marvel, but we’d seen him before providing finishes for Don Heck in Avengers #23, released 3 months earlier.

The story picks up where last issue left off, with Matt leaving Nelson & Murdock. The characters have lots of thoughts. Matt is leaving to let Foggy and Karen be together. Karen is sad because she loves Matt. Foggy thinks Matt is his best friend, but is happy that Karen can now be his. Matt doesn’t recognize that Karen loves him; he thinks her affection is just pity for a blind man. Matt books an ocean cruise to the other side of the world.

Tales of Suspense #76

Here Lies Hidden… The Unspeakable Ultimo!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: January 1, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Tenderly written by: Stan Lee
Lovingly pencilled by: Adam Austin
Gently delineated by: Gary Michaels
Finally lettered by: Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#456	Next
Tales of Suspense #75	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #26
Tales of Suspense #75, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #76, Story B

Look at you! Bedraggled and red-eyed! Too much celebrating last night, eh? I always said you were nothing but a playboy!

Marvel has given up on the idea of clean story breaks, which makes reading tricky when I’d like to put the stories together. This is part 3 of the Happy-as-The-Freak arc, but also part 1 of the Ultimo arc. Essentially they seem to want to end every issue on a cliffhanger, so they begin the next story now. I can’t just keep reading Iron Man. We already are getting ahead of the Captain America stories he shares the title with, because I need to align those with the SHIELD arc. And there’s a whole Marvel Universe to check in with. Which means I need to either break last issue with the Freak saga unresolved, or break after this issue with the Ultimo saga unresolved. The Freak saga resolves in about 2 pages, but the Ultimo saga really only takes up the last 2 pages. The ongoing Senator Byrd subplot dominates the middle bit. I don’t know. We’re reading this now, then we’ll take a break. And see what happens with Ultimo at a later date.

Where were we. The experimental treatment on Happy turned him into a Freak. Iron Man had a thing that might save Happy, at risk to himself.

Well, it worked.

This was all a fallout from the Titanium Man battle. That’s when Happy was injured saving Iron Man, and revealed he knew (or suspected) Tony’s secret. This is their first chance to talk since then.

Tales of Suspense #75

The Fury of… The Freak!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: December 9, 1965
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Titanically written by: Stan Lee
Tremendously drawn by: Adam Austin
Tumultuously inked by: Gary Michaels
Timorously lettered by: Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#455	Next
Tales of Suspense #74, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #76
Tales of Suspense #74, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #75, Story B

He’s got to learn that Iron Man cannot work only for him, when the entire nation might benefit by his powers!

Happy Hogan has been turned into a Freak. A depowered Iron Man is in pursuit.

The Freak takes an interest in Pepper.

Senator Byrd has been a thorn in Iron Man’s side. Not a villain, but a nuisance. Does he have a point though? Should the powers of Iron Man benefit the entire nation, and not be controlled by a single corporation?

Tales of Suspense #72, Story B

The Sleeper Shall Awake!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: September 9, 1965
Cover: December 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, sultan of script!
Jack Kirby, lord of layout!
George Tuska, archduke of art!
Sam Rosen, tired of lettering!
10 pages

Previous	#450	Next
Captain Atom #78	INTERLUDE
Amazing Spider-Man #33	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #73
Tales of Suspense #72	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #73

You’re too late! You can’t… threaten me… now! There are three sleepers… and… when they awake… the Third Reich will rise again!

The story’s title is, “The Sleeper Shall Awake!”

Coincidentally the exact thing my cat says to me every morning when she wants breakfast.

While I would prefer to read whole comics at once, we read the first half of the issue a little bit earlier, because the Captain America and Iron Man stories of this issue align differently with the Avengers series.

This marks a turning point in Captain America’s adventures, as we’d spent the last several issues focused on Captain America’s adventures in World War II, which don’t create any editorial headaches regarding continuity with Cap’s appearances in Avengers. But now Stan claims readers have demanded modern Cap stories.

So we jump back to the present and see Cap relating the Greymoor Castle saga of last issue to the Avengers. They even answer some plot questions about the story.

Bewilderingly, Hawkeye did not know Bucky was dead.

And then is quite insensitive about it. “It happened more than 20 years ago!” Two notes. It was less than 20 years. Captain America slept for most of those.

Amazing Spider-Man #31

If This Be My Destiny…!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: September 9, 1965
Cover: December 1965
12 cents
Masterful script by: Stan Lee
Magificent artwork by: Steve Ditko
Mellifluous lettering by: Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#447	Next
Fantastic Four #47	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #32
Amazing Spider-Man #30	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #32

He’s just like his father… cheerful, enthusiastic, and bright! He’s been like a son to me all these years! And, he was so happy, that I didn’t have the heart to spoil it… by telling him… how very ill I’ve been feeling…!

The cover is a clever idea, using the spider logo to get multiple images onto the page. I feel like it wastes the idea with its choice of images, all fairly similar and bland, shots of the action from this issue that could easily have been conveyed in a single image (see the first page below). A better use of that format would have been to have some variety amongst the 6 panels. A shot of kids from Peter’s college, a shot of Aunt May, a shot of Jameson and Foswell, etc… would have made for a much more interesting cover and better use of the gimmick.

For the previous 5 issues, Stan had given Steve plotting credit, but left that off this time. Perhaps by accident. The credit will be back next issue and for the rest of Ditko’s run.

This story begins a 3-part saga we’ll refer to as “The Master Planner Saga”. (Some people–at least one person–simply call the whole saga by this issue’s title instead.) Up until now, the series has almost been entirely single issue stories. The first proper 2-parter was the Crime-Master saga in #26–27. And we connected #17–19 for thematic parallels and some running motifs about May’s health and Peter’s self-confidence (motifs which will come into play heavily again), but they were really 3 loosely connected standalone issues. This is plainly a 3-part story with each chapter ending with a cliffhanger leaving the major plot threads unresolved

This can be read as the story that brings the saga of Spider-Man to its conclusion, the final chapter. It’s also the best story in the history of Marvel Comics.

Fantastic Four #44

The Gentleman’s Name is Gorgon!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: August 10, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
Dreamed up by: Stan Lee
Sketched down by: Jack Kirby
Inked in by: Joe Sinnott
Lettered around by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#443	Next
Avengers #25	Reading order	Fantastic Four #45
Fantastic Four #43	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #45

I’ve had enough of this domestic bliss bit! Hanging around here is like being on the set of Ozzie and Harriet!

“The world’s greatest comic magazine!” That’s what is says on the cover. Despite being a comic not as good as the company’s own Dr. Strange or Spider-Man stories. But it’s always been one of Marvel’s best comics and has gotten continually better. We’ve noted assorted leaps forward in quality, such as in issues 13, 29, 35, 36, 38, 39… At some point, we enter into the great era of Fantastic Four. And if we weren’t there already, we’re definitely there now.

One missing ingredient was Joe Sinnott on inks. Often cited as Kirby’s best inker. He’s not entirely new, as he inked the introduction of Dr. Doom back in issue 5. He’d also been the regular artist on Thor for a bit, but did a pretty terrible job. He later recalled in interviews that he hadn’t realized at the time anybody expected these comics to be good. He took the Thor assignment as a job to churn out some disposable work. He seems to take this Fantastic Four assignment more seriously.

Why are Joe’s inks special?

Avengers #25

Enter… Dr. Doom!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: December 9, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciller: Don Heck
Inker: Dick Ayers
Letterer: Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#442	Next
Sgt. Fury #25	Reading order	Fantastic Four #44
Avengers #24	Avengers	Avengers #26

The blind fools! They do not realize that Doom cares nothing for them! He merely plays a role for purposes of his own! Truly, he is evil incarnate! If only the simple peasants could see it!

The Avengers fight Dr. Doom!

For maybe the first time, unless you count Avengers #1½–published in 1999 but set before Avengers #2–as canon: the untold first meeting of the Avengers and Dr. Doom.

Either way, it’s the first time any of these Avengers have met Dr. Doom.

Dr. Doom decides to trap the Avengers. Basically just because. His motivation shifts slightly over the course of the issue. At first, it’s because humiliating the Avengers will inspire fear in the Fantastic Four. Then it’s to take them prisoner and use them as bait for the Fantastic Four.

Sgt. Fury #25

Every Man My Enemy!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: October 12, 1965
Cover: December 1965
12 cents
Written in rage by: Stan Lee
Pencilled in panic by: Dick Ayers
Delineated in despair by: John Tartaglione
Lettered in the office by: Sam Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#441	Next
Avengers #24	Reading order	Avengers #25
Sgt. Fury #24	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #26

They seek a simple Nazi spy… an impersonator… nothing more! Little do they dream that they have the Fuehrer’s most dangerous agent in their midst! How they would tremble if they knew their foe is actually– the Red Skull!

Evocative cover not in Kirby’s usual mold for Sgt. Fury covers. Brings to mind the war comics covers of Joe Kubert, which this title owes many a debt to.

This is the first time we’ve seen John Tartaglione. He’s worked for Marvel on and off since the 1950s, with most of his work being in the romance genre. He’s going to become Ayers’ regular inker on this title for the next couple years.

Here’s an early example of his inking, over Pierce Rice from Marvel’s Amazing Detective Cases #6 (1951), and a contemporaneous example from Patsy Walker #124 (1965), over Al Hartley’s pencils.

Here are two examples of his pencil art, from Young Men #11 (1951) and True Secrets #13 (1952), both from Marvel.

Recall last issue, the Howlers were on furlough in America when they got urgent orders to return to Europe, with sealed instructions to be opened on the plane. Dum Dum was wounded and so remained in America. And Hans has gone to live with the Ralstons until the war ends.

Sgt. Fury #24

When the Howlers Hit the Home Front!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Relase: September 9, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, Army Vet!
Pencilled by Dick Ayers, Air Force Vet!
Inked by Frank Ray, Air Force Vet!
Lettered by S. Rosen, Teacher’s Pet!
20 pages

Previous	#438	Next
	INTERLUDE	Modeling with Millie #44
Sgt. Fury #23	Reading order	Avengers #23
Sgt. Fury #23	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #25

Stan and Dick want to take this opportunity to give a heartfelt thanks and well done to the countless wonderful guys and gals who did so much under the banner of the U.S.O., to keep up the morale of lonely Allied fighting men, both near and far from home! We’ll never forget ’em!

Happy Sam orders the Howlers on a furlough back to the States, including Percy and Hans.

Daredevil #11

A Time to Unmask!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: October 5, 1965
Cover: December 1965
12 cents
Writer: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Penciller: Bubbly Bobby Powell
Inker: Wonderful Wally Wood
Letterer: Swingin’ Sammy Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#435	Next
	INTERLUDE	THUNDER Agents #1
Daredevil #10	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #30
Daredevil #10	Daredevil	Daredevil #12

Wally Wood wrote part one of this two-parter just for a lark! But now it’s up to sly ol’ Stan to put all the pieces together and make it come out right in the end! Can he do it? See for yourself!

This really is goodbye for Wally Wood. He was heavily involved with 4 issues of Daredevil, then partially involved with 3 more. Now he’s just on inks, making no claim to having written this story in any part. After this job, he’s out the door.

Bob Powell provides the main art.

The narration box is again important. Stan is speaking in his normal salesman voice, but it barely conceals the behind-the-scenes drama of Wood writing the first half of this tale and then resigning.

I’m guessing Wood left before making a cover, as the cover is just a repurposed interior panel.

Here’s a good rundown from the Marvel in the Silver Age blog about Wally Wood’s career and time with Marvel and on Daredevil.

We’re left with one of those “What If” scenarios. What if Wood and Lee had gotten along better? Then Wood was probably going to be the one to revive Sub-Mariner instead of Colan. We got a taste of Wood’s Sub-Mariner in Daredevil #7.

I want to take a peek at Tower Comics to see what Wood is up to next. We’ll see he’s cocreated the superhero/espionage team the THUNDER Agents. Maybe he could have brought ideas like that to Marvel. Who knows what he and Lee could have come up with if they’d been able to work together.