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Fantastic Four #52

The Black Panther!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Script by: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art by: Jolly Jackie Kirby
Inking by: Gentleman Joe Sinnott
Lettering by: Hammy Sammy Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#531	Next
Daredevil #18	Reading order	Fantastic Four #53
Fantastic Four #51	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #53

The time has come for the Black Panther to stalk once more!

I’m going to repeat something I’ve been saying for the last year’s worth of Fantastic Four stories: just how impressive this moment in time is. What they accomplish in four consecutive stories arcs is unparalleled in comics history. Unprecedented and unequalled. To introduce the Inhumans, then have that story bleed into introducing Galactus and the Silver Surfer, then have that story bleed into the seminal “This Man This Monster”, to then immediately follow that up with the introduction of the Black Panther. Next issue will introduce the villainous Klaw and tell the origin of the Black Panther.

That’s a run of 10 incredibles issues. This run was preceded by the famous wedding, which was preceded by an epic three-part battle with the Frightful Four, which was preceded by one of their most iconic battles against Dr. Doom over the previous two issues…

The comic has been on fire with a sustained level of quality no other comic series has ever reached.

It can’t last forever. Fantastic Four #54 is a solid but ultimately forgettable comic. Though the stretch of stories that follow is also excellent, on par with anything except this incredible 10-issue stretch.

Let’s dive into the story without further hyperbolic build-up, and then we’ll take some time at the end to reflect on this new character we’ve just met, the Black Panther.

Daredevil #18

There Shall Come a Gladiator!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: May 5, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Story by: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art by: Jazzy Johnny Romita
Inks by: Fearless Frank Giacoia
Lettering by: Swingin’ Sammy Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#530	Next
Marvels #3	POSTLUDE
X-Men #23	Reading order	Fantastic Four #52
Daredevil #17	Daredevil	Daredevil #19

Karen is about 99% convinced that I’m really Daredevil! But, she still hasn’t said she’ll marry me!

Next to the credits, we learn Stan had scripted 7 pages before taking a vacation, and that Denny O’Neil finished the script.

We met Dennis O’Neil on the final two issues Ditko’s Dr. Strange, his first comics work. He won’t be at Marvel long. He’ll go on to pretty good things at the Distinguished Competition.

Foggy enters a costume shop featuring various superheroes and villains. Recall how we saw a lot of superhero sculptures from Wally Wood to show off his takes on the characters; this is Romita’s chance to show he’s qualified for a variety of titles. Unfortunately Wood left before trying his hand at other Marvel characters.

Romita will be with Marvel for the rest of his days, and have generally more positive things to say about Stan and their relationship than the artists we’ve been seeing up until now. And Romita will get plenty of chances in the future to draw the characters he’s depicting here.

Avengers #31

Never Bug a Giant!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: June 9, 1966
Cover: August 1966
12 cents
Story: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art: Dazzlin’ Don Heck
Lettering: Adorable Artie Simek
Bugle calls: Honest Irving Forbush
20 pages

Previous	#523	Next
Avengers #30	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #30
Avengers #30	Avengers	Avengers #32

Soon, my limbs shall be swifter than ever before– while your hex power once again shall dazzle and defeat your enemies! All we need is patience, my sister– and an unaltering faith!

The Avengers are off to South America to save Goliath. And presumably will be here when Galactus attacks.

Hawkeye now likes Captain America, but still dislikes orders. As do I, Hawkeye. As do I.

Wasp recalls how they all used to share the command. It’s the first time they’ve really addressed this change. The original team had rotating chairs. The new team had Captain America as permanent leader. Given this, Hawkeye’s annoyance was understandable.

Avengers #30

Frenzy in a Far-Off Land!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: May 10, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee: Writer
Don Heck: Artist
Frank Giacoia: Inker
Sam Rosen: Letterer
Irving Forbush: Arbitrator
20 pages

Previous	#522	Next
Amazing Spider-Man #38	Reading order	Avengers #31
Avengers #29	Avengers	Avengers #31

But, the past is over now! The past is dead! You are the master no longer! I’m free of you… at last!

We just saw Galactus appear in the middle of New York. There to devour the Earth. The Avengers have a mansion in the middle of New York. Why didn’t they help out?

Well, maybe they were away. Where? Surely not just elsewhere in New York fighting Black Widow. Maybe off wherever the Collector’s castle is? Or in the middle of the Atlantic fighting Attuma? Or perhaps they were in the “Far-Off Land”, as the title suggests. It seems likely they were quite far away.

Now, the Avengers won’t make it to the titular Far-Off Land this issue, but next issue.

And Marvels will claim this is where the Avengers were when Galactus attacked. Which is good enough for me.

Amazing Spider-Man #38

Just a Guy Named Joe!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Written and edited by Stan Lee
Plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko
Lettered, unfettered by Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#521	Next
Strange Tales #146, Story B	Reading order	Avengers #30
Amazing Spider-Man #37	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #39

Goodbye, Steve!

We come at last to the final Steve Ditko Spider-Man story. We just saw the final Steve Ditko Dr. Strange story. One thing they have in common is awful covers. My best guess is Ditko had resigned before turning in a cover for either. So like the Dr. Strange cover, this cover is cut and paste from Ditko’s artwork within the issue.

Here are the interior panels the cover cribs from:

I’ve been pretty clear that the saga of the Amazing Spider-Man as told by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is basically my favorite story ever. I won’t belabor why any further than I have in the posts on the last 37 issues.

I’d also been pretty clear that I thought that story ended extremely well with issue 33. And that these last 5 issues represent a step down in quality, and a story that no longer seems to be going anywhere in particular.

I find it unfortunate that that was not Ditko’s final issue of Spider-Man. As the man says, it’s better to burn out than to fade away. I wish he’d gone out at the top of his game.

That excellent climax of the Spider-Man saga came out the same month as the excellent climax of the Dr. Strange saga in Strange Tales #141. Both series then went at the same time into a phase I’ve described as “spinning their wheels”. Where any of the next 4 months of issues could have been removed with minimal consequence. Ditko had one more great Dr. Strange story in him, a final confrontation between Dormammu and Eternity.

Does he have one more great Spider-Man story in him?

It’s worth nothing that the last several issues have not been bad and they have their charms. Despite the small number, this phase can actually be broken into two subphases. Issues 34-35 pit Spider-Man against returning foes, Kraven and Molten Man respectively. Some minimal advancement to the romantic supblots surrounded by action that is well told, but not adding much to Spider-Man’s previous encounters with these villains.

Issues 36-38 take a different tactic. They all introduce new villains, none of whom will become the iconic villains that the rest of the series had introduced. But all are interesting in their own right, and all have stories that center around them. Spider-Man becomes almost a secondary character, as we get to know the Looter and the Robot Master.

And they’re actually good comics, taken on their own terms, and not compared to the expectation of Spider-Man comics we’d developed over the previous 4 years of stories. Just offbeat tales about some offbeat characters who run into Spider-Man, tales that function more as satire than drama.

This falls into that mold. The story, Ditko’s final Spider-Man story, isn’t really about Spider-Man. It’s about this guy named Joe.

Strange Tales #146, Story B

The End– At Last!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Edited by the enchanter– Stan Lee
Penciled + inked by the prestidigitator– Steve Ditko
Scripted by the sorcerer– Dennis O’Neil
Lettered by the letterer– Artie Simek
10 pages

Previous	#520	Next
Strange Tales #146	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #38
Strange Tales #146	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #147

Human eyes have never witnessed such a struggle!

We recently described Fantastic Four #50 as the most disappointing cover yet. This may top it. Again, just compare the cover of the issue to the first page of the issue and see the contrast.

This is sad because it’s Ditko’s last Dr. Strange story, and because Dr. Strange has been snubbed from the covers of Strange Tales for the entire run. Even more insulting because the spotlight was instead given to the inferior Human Torch stories. The one time Dr. Strange was finally given the cover spotlight, Kirby, not Ditko, was assigned to draw it.

So here we are, Ditko’s final issue of one of the greatest superhero runs in history and finally we seemingly get our very first Ditko Dr. Strange cover. Except it’s a lie.

That is a Ditko Dr. Strange but it’s been badly cut and pasted from interior art. Resized, flipped around, generally mangled. The Eternity image is also cut and paste from the interior.

I don’t believe Ditko actually made this cover, though it’s generally credited to him. I think someone else made the cover, assembling bits of interior art by Ditko.

I hate it.

The issue is good. This first page is closer to what the cover should look like.

I’d given a lot of hype to this extended saga, which I’m calling “The Eternity Saga”. And I think the first 12 issues are unimpeachable. From #130-141, the action flows crisply to a climax, ending with the final defeat of Mordo and Dr. Strange and Dormammu in something of a stalemate after Strange’s humbling of Dormammu. The story then completely lost momentum as Dr. Strange dealt with Mordo’s underlings and searched for the woman who had helped him, facing some unrelated threats along the way. The last 4 issues have been solid comics, but don’t help make the case that we have a great 17-part saga. We have a great 12-part saga, then 4 more issues, then this conclusion.

Let’s see how Ditko brings this home. And this will be bringing it home. With this story, Ditko bids goodbye to Marvel for the foreseeable future and to the character of Dr. Strange forever.

Stan seems utterly indifferent to the importance of the moment. In addition to the sloppy cover, Stan has junior writer Dennis O’Neil onboard for his second Dr. Strange story and one of his earliest comics, period. It doesn’t matter too much who the writer is, as Ditko does most of the writing anyway. O’Neil will stay on the title a few more issues, but soon enough move to DC, where he will go on to great things.

Strange Tales #146

When the Unliving Strike!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: April 12, 1966
Cover: July 1966
12 cents
Far-fetched script by Stan Lee
Fantastic layouts by Jack Kirby
Fabulous pencilling by Don Heck
Fanciful inking by Mickey Demeo
Freehand lettering by Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#519	Next
Fantastic Four #51	Reading order	Strange Tales #146, Story B
Strange Tales #145, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #146, Story B

We’re dealin’ with an outfit that can turn out artificial men to do any kinda job… just like Marvel can grind out comic books!

The word of late has been Them. Them financed the Fixer. Them sent a chemical android to attack Nick Fury and Captain America. Them consists of several brilliant scientists.

Spinning right out of the Captain America adventure, Nick Fury has traced that android to this swampland.

In a bit of bravado, and a wink at the other titles, Fury notes that SHIELD agents aren’t superheroes. They don’t always win.

Fantastic Four #51

This Man… This Monster!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: March 10, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciller: Jack Kirby
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Letterer: Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#518	Next
Fantastic Four #50	Reading order	Strange Tales #146
Fantastic Four #50	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #52

He paid the full price– and, he paid it– like a man!

After introducing the Inhumans, and then introducing the Silver Surfer and Galactus in perhaps the best and most iconic FF story ever immediately after, you’d think Stan and Jack would want a break from the iconic stories that will be remembered for decades to come.

But this is perhaps the most iconic issue of Fantastic Four ever. It’s perhaps the best Fantastic Four comic ever. It might be the best comic Stan and Jack ever made.

It might be the best comic anybody ever made.

The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine indeed.

I won’t ruin this image with my clumsy words. You can just appreciate the opening page for yourself. I just suggest that you take a minute with it.

This picks up from last issue in a couple ways. Alicia and the Silver Surfer grew close during the events, enough to make Thing jealous and wander off morosely. There were even newspaper headlines about Thing being seen wandering the streets feeling sad. We saw a mysterious man reading those headlines. We didn’t learn his name, but we learned he intends to destroy the Fantastic Four.

Fantastic Four #50

The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: February 10, 1966
Cover: May 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Lettering: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#517	Next
Fantastic Four #49	Reading order	Fantastic Four #51
Fantastic Four #49	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #51

Master! For the first time I realize the dread enormity of what you plan to do! You must not tamper with other worlds! You cannot destroy the entire human race!

Would you hesitate to tread upon an ant hill? These creatures are of no consequence to Galactus!

These are not ants, Master! They think… they feel… they have even created the primitive civilization which we see all about us!

Master! Say we may leave this world! My heart grieves at battling one with whom I shared… a universe!

You speak of me as though I am a monster! Do not the humans themselves slay the lesser beasts for food… for sustenance? Galactus does no less!

Galactus is not evil! He is above good.. or evil! He does what he must… for he is Galactus!

Emulate the Watcher! Stand and observe! Try to fathom the cataclysmic forces which have been unleashed! For you shall never see their like again!

Long have I cherished the stumbling, bumbling, but always aspiring human race!

Consider the courage they display! Though they are still in their infancy, you must not disdain them! Did not your race… and mine… evolve from such humble beginnings? Do they not possess the seed of grandeur within their frail, human frames?

And at last I perceive the glint of glory within the race of man! Be ever worthy of that glory, humans… be ever mindful of your promise of greatness! …For it shall one day lift you beyond the stars.. or bury you within the ruins of war!! The choice is yours!!

Generally, my plan is to pick a single quote from each issue to open these posts. I cheated last issue and am doing so again this issue. Too many great quotes. Also too many great images.

This isn’t the worst cover we’ve seen, but it is the most disappointing. Compare it to the awesome first page.

That’s a cool image. But the cover? No Galactus? The FF just as floating heads? Just a shot of the Silver Surfer. With the corner of the cover devoted to Johnny at college? What?

Notice they seem to have gotten the coloring of Galactus basically right now. Purple over red, wearing pants. Still bare arms, but that’s fine. Third time’s the charm. Here’s how it looks in the digital version with modern coloring.

I think the conclusion of the Galactus saga is excellent, but the structuring of this issue is again weird. To appreciate that, I’d like to peek ahead a few pages.

Recall where we were. Galactus is about to destroy the entire world in order to convert its resources into energy to feed himself. His herald has been convinced by Alicia that human life matters, so Silver Surfer has decided for the first time in countless eons to defy his master. Meanwhile, the Human Torch has journeyed across the universe to the giant space station that is Galactus’ home, to find the one weapon that may yet save them.

With all that to wrap up ahead of us, this is page 15.

We meet Coach Thorpe, who is very concerned his college football team is performing poorly. And his star quarterback is giving him attitude.

I cannot even begin to explain the surreality of the contrast between the first and fifteenth page of this comic.

Maybe it will make sense as we go on.

It won’t.

Fantastic Four #49

If This Be Doomsday!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: January 1, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Written in the masterful manner of Stan Lee
Illustrated in the magnificent mode of Jack Kirby
Inked in the majestic mood of Joe Sinnott
Lettered in the nick of time by S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#516	Next
Fantastic Four #48	Reading order	Fantastic Four #50
Fantastic Four #48	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #50

Of what import are brief, nameless lives… to Galactus??

It is not my intention to injure any living being! But… I must replenish my energy! If petty creatures are wiped out when I drain a planet, it is regrettable… but unavoidable!

I am supreme unto myself… I am Galactus!

This planet contains the energies to sustain me! I shall absorb it at will… as I have for ages in countless galaxies throughout the cosmos!

Destroy is merely a word! We simply change things! We change elements into energy… the energy which sustains Galactus! For it is only he that matters!

No! No! We all matter! Every living being… every bird and beast… this is our world! Ours!

Perhaps we are not as powerful as your Galactus… but we have hearts… we have souls… we live… breathe… feel! Can’t you see that?? Are you as blind as I?

Never have I heard such words… sensed such courage… or known this strange feeling… this new emotion…! There is a word some races use… a word I have never understood… until now! At last I know… beauty!

But look! Look at the city below you! Look at the people! Each of them is entitled to life… to happiness… each of them is… human!

All I need do is link these two igniters… and all the seas of Earth shall be transformed into purest energy… enough energy to sustain me until I find the next such planet somewhere in the endless cosmos!

Trust me! Banish fear from your heart! You shall travel by time space distortion! We must force open the very fabric of time itself! Let it be done… now! You are traveling back… far, far back… into the center of infinity!

There’s always a chance, darling… so long as we’re alive!

Perhaps for the first time within memory… I have found something worth protecting!

This is the middle chapter of the Galactus saga. In many cases, the middle chapter of a saga is the weakest. But the odd structuring of the story makes this the best issue. The first issue was beset by having to finish off the Inhuamns saga before getting started. The last issue will oddly finish halfway through and then become about college football.

Making this the only chapter that dedicates 20 pages to being about Galactus.

I have a book collecting some Jack Kirby Collector magazines, which includes some pencils for this issue. Comparing Kirby’s pencils with the finished artwork can help us understand what Joe Sinnott brings to the table with his finishes.

Let’s dive in and I’ll make some comments as we go.

That’s one hell of a first page.