Strange Tales #138

Sometime the Good Guys Lose!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: August 10, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, sultan of script!
Laid out by: Jack Kirby, master of melodrama!
Drawn by: Johnny Severin, archduke of art!
Lettered by: S. Rosen, prince of penmanship!
12 pages

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And knock off that “Colonel” jazz, Mister! I keep thinkin’ ya mean someone else!

Nick Fury gets the cover again, even though the Dr. Strange story is one of the single greatest issues of all time.

Last issue, we watched three SHIELD agents sacrifice their lives in an attempt to find Hydra’s Betatron Bomb. Nick reflects on that as he realizes they are just moments too late to prevent the launch. And Hydra can now hold the world hostage.

Even Hydra has an org chart in every presentation.

Tony Stark has a secret invention which can help, but before he shows it to Fury, Hydra attacks the Stark plant. Tony is able to save himself, but not Fury, who is captured by Hydra.

Continue reading “Strange Tales #138”

Strange Tales #135, Story B

Eternity Beckons!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: May 4, 1965
Cover: August 1965
12 cents
Written and edited by Marvel’s mystical madman: Stan Lee
Plotted and illustrated by fandom’s favorite fiend: Steve Ditko
Lettered and bordered by comicdom’s cuddlesome conjurer: Sam Rosen
10 pages

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By the Seven Rings of Raggadorr… By Cyttorak’s Crimson Bands! I send thee through the unseen door… go thou where my spell commands!

This is a big issue for Strange Tales, as Nick Fury takes over the lead feature. This was the issue that introduced SHIELD and Hydra. But in the backup feature, Dr. Strange’s saga is still barreling along. Anybody picking up the title for the first time to check out the new Nick Fury stories will find themselves smack in the middle of a long Dr. Strange story.

Notice Ditko gets credited with the plotting. He’s plotted every Dr. Strange story, but now he’s getting credit. Proper credit is at the heart of his conflicts with Stan Lee.

We enter into a new status quo for the story. Mordo continues his pursuit of Strange, but Strange is no longer just on the run. He has a goal now, to find Eternity.

He seeks out a former disciple of the Ancient One, Sir Baskerville.

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Strange Tales #133, Story B

A Nameless Land, A Nameless Time!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: March 11, 1965
Cover: June 1965
12 cents
Strange is this script by: Stan Lee!
Awesome is this art by: Steve Ditko!
Lilting is this lettering by: S. Rosen!
10 pages

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For I have truly gained the greatest power of all… that which is the fountainhead of all other power… I have gained the gift of knowledge!

Dormammu and Mordo have teamed up. The Ancient One is comatose. He keeps ominously referring to Eternity. Last issue ended with Dormammu possessing Mordo to destroy Dr. Strange, and Dr. Strange died.

I expect this to be a short issue.

Wait. Maybe I should read the first panel better. Dormammu claims Dr. Strange still lives. Strange summoned all his remaining power to transport himself to another dimension.

I’ve claimed repeatedly this is a great story arc. I think there’s some excellent melodrama throughout and some cool ideas coming, but it’s also a perfect showcase for what Ditko’s Dr. Strange is best known for: these bizarre almost formless dimensions that defy description or visualization, yet somehow rendered on our page.

More than that, what Ditko seems to be depicting in these first three panels is the transition from one strange dimension to another.

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Tales of Suspense #71, Story B

When You Lie Down with Dogs…!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: August 10, 1965
Cover: November 1965
12 cents
Written with the passion of Stan Lee
Laid-out with the power of Jack Kirby
Pencilled with the punch of George Tuska
Inked with the prowess of Joe Sinnott
Lettered with the penpoint of Sam Rosen
10 pages

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In a war, Bucky, many people suffer! It isn’t necessary to be in the armed forces.. to be a casualty!

Because this Greymoor Castle story is a 3-part saga, we’ve gotten a little ahead in Cap reading. This comic premieres the same day as Fantastic Four #44. They share an inker, Joe Sinnott. This is an important development, and I have a lot to say about Joe Sinnott. But I’m going to save it for when we get to FF#44. Stay tuned.

The FF comic will feature Sinnott properly inking Kirby. While Kirby did the layouts for this issue, the art is really Tuska/Sinnott.

It’s time now for the conclusion of this tale. Dr. Rawlings has betrayed his country to the Nazis. His sister Celia is opposed to this.

When the Nazis try to kill Celia, Rawlings at last turns against them.

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Tales of Suspense #70, Story B

If This Be Treason!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: July 8, 1965
Cover: October 1965
12 cents
Story by Stan Lee
Layouts by Jack Kirby
Lettering by S. Rosen
Art by George Tuska
10 pages

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My own nation has refused to recognize my talents! But the Nazis are willing to pay me handsomely for my help!

We get a new artist, George Tuska. “One of the giants from the golden age of comics”, says Lee. As with most new artists, Lee still needs Kirby to lay out the story for them.

Tuska has worked in the industry since 1939, and became well known in the 1950s for his stellar work on crime comics. His first work with Marvel was in 1949. Lately, he’s been focused on newspaper strips, having taken over Buck Rogers in 1959. Here’s a sampling of his earlier work.

  • Zanzibar the Magician, Mystery Men Comics #1, Fox, 1939
  • Tom Barry of the Royal Mounted, Wonderworld Comics #4, Fox, 1939
  • Cosmic Carson, Science Comics #1, Fox, 1940
  • Shark Brodie, Fight Comics #1, Fiction House, 1940
  • 64 Pages of New Captain Marvel Adventures #2, Fawcett, 1941
  • Uncle Sam Quarterly #3, Quality, 1942
  • Crime Does Not Pay #48, Lev Gleason, 1946
  • Casey – Crime Photographer #1, Marvel, 1949
  • My Love #2, Marvel, 1949
  • Strange Tales #1, Marvel, 1951
  • Kid Colt Outlaw #18, Marvel, 1952
  • War Adventures #1, Marvel, 1952

And here’s an example of his work on Buck Rogers.

Back to Captain America now. They Greymoor Castle saga continues.

Continue reading “Tales of Suspense #70, Story B”

Tales of Suspense #70

Fight On! For a World is Watching!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: July 8, 1965
Cover: October 1965
12 cents
Story: Scribbled and scrawled by: Stan Lee
Illustration: Doodled and dawdled by: Don Heck
Delineation: Battered and blotted by: Mickey Demeo
Lettering: Mumbled and jumbled by: Sam Rosen
12 pages

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That tone in her voice… I never heard it before!! It’s like she really cares! No matter what happens to me now… that makes it all worth it!

Here we go. Forget the space race. The real question is who can build the better fighting suit of armor. America of the Soviet Union. It’s on!

We get a recap that just samples panels from last issue.

Iron Man’s armor is more than capable of standing against Titanium Man’s onslaught. It’s Tony Stark’s heart that may be unable to take the strain.

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Tales of Suspense #69

If I Must Die, Let It Be With Honor!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: June 8, 1965
Cover: September 1965
12 cents
Story by: Stan Lee, the idol of Millions!
Art by: Don Heck, the toast of two continents!
Inking by: V. Colletta, the pride of the bullpen!
Lettering by: Sam Rosen, the last angry letterer!
12 pages

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But, Iron Man must accept the challenge! It’s a matter of national pride… of prestige!

There are many stories I consider iconic. And, usually, who knows how this impression forms. Decades of reading comics and talking about comics has given me a sense of some stories that stand out.

I think of this as an iconic story and I know exactly why I think that. Very early in my Marvel reading, I also collected Marvel cards. The 1990 set had a set of famous battles. This was one of the chosen battles.

We’ve seen one famous battle (per that card deck) before, the Hulk/Thing fight from Fantastic Four #2526. And are currently in the middle of another, the “Nick Fury vs. Hydra” battle begun in Strange Tales #135.

Of course, Titanium Man has one other claim to fame. Paul McCartney selected him alongside Magneto as villains to write a song about. (He also references Crimson Dynamo.)

The MCP wants Iron Man to attend the wedding in the middle of the events of this issue. I don’t see why it can’t just be before this issue. Maybe I’m missing some subtlety. As the issue opens, he’s spent weeks working on this sub-miniature reverser. He could have taken a brief break to attend a wedding.

Continuity does get complicated here though. Avengers #20 is concurrent to Tales of Suspense #70. Avengers #19 takes place in the middle of the Hydra Saga, yet Tony Stark’s life gets complicated starting now, so issue 69 or before is the best chance for his appearances in Strange Tales, including his appearances after the Hydra saga. And of course Iron Man shares a comic with Cap. As Nick Fury does with Dr. Strange, the latter of which we are months behind on reading.

For a reading order, we’ll read the Iron Man/Cap stories, then the Avengers stories, then the Dr. Strange/Nick Fury stories. But we’ll talk about what must be concurrent and what must fit where as we go.

Titanium Man is the Soviet answer to Iron Man. He issues a public challenge to prove Soviet superiority. Titanium is more powerful than Iron, so his armor is more powerful, but also slower and bulkier.

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Tales to Astonish #76

Uneasy Hangs the Head…

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: November 4, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Pencilling: Adam Austin
Delineation: Vince Colletta
Lettering: Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Where Namor was Prince of the Blood, Krang would have been tyrant! Where Namor ruled by divine right, Krang would have ruled by terror!

The ruler of Atlantis by birthright is again on the throne. Yay for monarchy.

The story was almost over as this issue began. Dorma saved. Krang defeated. It’s been a 7-part arc, but it’s over by page 5 of this issue.

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Tales to Astonish #75

The End of the Quest!

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: October 5, 1965
Cover: January 1866
12 cents
Story by: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Pencilling by: Admirable Adam Austin
Delineation by : Valorous Vince Colletta
Lettering by: Sagacious Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Though I hold life most dear to me, I shall show how a Prince faces death!

It turns out abandoning the quest was the way to complete the quest.

Per Neptune: Every attribute of a Prince is yours… courage, strength, honest… and, most important of all… a heart which can love… a soul which can sacrifice!

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Tales to Astonish #74, Story B

The Wisdom of the Watcher!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: September 2, 1965
Cover: December 1965
12 cents
Dreamed up by: Stan Lee!
Designed by: Jack Kirby!
Drawn by: Bob Powell!
Delineated by: Mickey Demeo!
Doodled by: S. Rosen
10 pages

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I am the Watcher! That is enough! That answers all!

Tales of Suspense #60 was released in September 1964, a full year earlier. That began Marvel’s first extended saga. The threat of the Leader has united the disparate threads and arcs from that issue until this one. At the time, Marvel stories were self-contained things. Just a few years earlier, they tended to fit into under 10 pages. The full-issue 20-page long Fantastic Four epics stood out in their length. Since then we’ve had the occasional 2-part arc, often two standalone issues that tie together. Because Dr. Octopus or Dr. Doom hadn’t quite been defeated in the previous issue.

This month, Dr. Strange begins a proper 2-part arc against Dormammu. About 4 months after the debut of Tales of Suspense #60, Thor’s title followed suit. Journey Into Mystery #114 moved away from discrete stories to a series of interconnected threads, which we are still untangling 6 issues later and nowhere near done with. Three months later, Dr. Strange’s story (also by Ditko) would follow suit, beginning a 17-part saga we are almost ready to sit down to read.

Thor and Dr. Strange have the benefit of a consistent creative team. Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Vince Colletta have brought consistency to Thor, just as Lee and Ditko have with Dr. Strange.

This saga opened with a variety of artists attempting the impossible task of inking Ditko before Kirby took over again briefly, before moving to the current state where Kirby does the layouts for another artist to fill in with art. Too many artists across these 15 issues. No consistency of anything.

Let’s review the story so far. It began with an unnamed spy stealing a robotic suit of armor Banner had designed for the military. Hulk dealt with the robot, but found himself a prisoner of General Ross. Meanwhile, Major Talbot joined the base with the express intention of learning Banner’s secrets, and also possibly stealing Betty’s heart. Then Chameleon attacks the base, working for the mysterious Leader, whose face we don’t see. We learn the spy from the previous issues had also been an agent of the Leader. See how the loose connections work? We finally meet the Leader, and learn he is also a victim of a Gamma-based accident, which gave him green skin and a powerful mind. He has created something called the Humanoid, which he sends against the Hulk. Rick reveals Hulk’s secret to the President to clear Bruce’s name. When Banner is conducting his next military experiment, more Humanoids attack. In the wake of the battle, he finds himself a prisoner aboard a Soviet sub and taken behind the Red Curtain. His adventures there don’t have much to do with the Leader, but it spins directly out of and into confrontations with the Leader. There’s always a cliffhanger to tie the arcs together. Hulk breaks free of the Soviets and ends up in Mongolia. And soon becomes a prisoner of the Leader. The military raid the Leader’s complex and shoot and kill Banner. By transforming into Hulk and staying that way, Hulk is able to stay alive. But then the military raid Hulk’s lab and he has no choice but to turn to the Leader for help. This time, Hulk willingly joins the Leader. The Leader sends Hulk to the planet of the Watcher to steal the Ultimate Machine. But first he will have to battle the most powerful creature in the galaxy.

Whew. That’s almost a story. Let’s see how it all ends.

Hulk is famous for battling monsters. But he hasn’t had much of a chance to yet in his career, usually facing off against the US military. Here we go. Finally. A Hulk-sized foe for the Hulk.

The Watcher relocates their battle to a barren land. While this might seem like an act of interference from one forbidden to interfere, there’s an explanation…

Continue reading “Tales to Astonish #74, Story B”