stan lee – Page 53 – Coke & Comics

Tales to Astonish #39

The Vengeance of the Scarlet Beetle!
Featuring: Ant-Man
Release: October 2, 1962
Cover: January 1963
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
10 pages

I read this comic in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man vol. 1.

Jack Kirby is a pretty great artist. But he’s also churning out a lot of comics, drawing all 4 of Marvel’s superhero comics to premiere this month. He seems to put most of his energy into making Fantastic Four as good as he can, and treating the others as after-thoughts. But this comic shows plenty of splashes of greatness, beginning with the cool perspective of the first panel, and continuing with Kirby’s depictions of a war with a variety of insects.

People are pretty quick to call superheroes cowards…

Journey Into Mystery #87

Prisoner of the Reds!
Featuring: Thor
Release: October 2, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
10 pages

It seems overly sanctimonious to sit here almost 60 years later and dismiss comics like this as propaganda, though it’s evident that’s what it is. Thor, God of Thunder, refers to a Soviet stronghold as a “citadel of evil” and calls upon Odin to smite it. No, it’s a military facility, just like the ones the US has. And the Russian citizens depicted are sympathetic to America and its cause of freedom. That part at least allows it to rise above the propaganda comics of the ’40s, as it demonizes the enemy’s government and military, but not its people.

Why does Thor need Odin’s help to summon a storm?

But really it’s just a story of its time. Stan and Jack are looking for enemies. Twenty years earlier, during the last wave of superhero comics, the Nazis made convenient targets. In 1962, the Soviets seem a natural extension. I think it was a scary time in America, with nuclear war a barely understood but terrifyingly likely reality. Moreover, it’s October of 1962. This comic reached the shelves just 2 weeks before the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Tales to Astonish #38

Betrayed by the Ants!!
Featuring: Ant-Man
Release: September 11, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Scrtipt: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
10 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man vol. 1.

Johnny Dee is credited with the letters. I believe this is a pen name for Jon D’Agostino.

We open with a meeting of organized crime, who have been stymied by Ant-Man… I must pause here and reflect. We’ve seen Ant-Man triumph over villains so far by tying their shoelaces together and blowing dust in their face with a fan. We’ve seen Ant-Man almost defeated by a box and a vacuum cleaner. I have trouble believing he is so much of a threat that criminals haven’t dared pull a robbery in weeks. And if Ant-Man is this much of a threat, what will these same criminals do when–any moment now–the streets start filling up with costumed vigilantes, many much bigger than an ant?

Strange Tales #103

Prisoner of the 5th Dimension!/Trapped in Another World!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: September 11, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1.

Once again, we see Stan is giving full credits for the art team, including the letterer Art Simek. Stan credits himself with the plot, but I’ll add some notes based on my general understanding of the usual working relationship; they details of this have been debated by lawyers and historians for decades, so take my musings as those of a non-expert relating what he’s heard. It was very common that Kirby also usually made significant plot contributions, despite the lack of annotation in the credits. The general working arrangement would be that Stan and Jack would talk out ideas together in loose terms, then Kirby would go draw the comic, which includes most of the storytelling details, and then the script and final inks would be filled in after. The busier Stan got, the looser those initial planning conversations were, and the more plotting work was left to Kirby when he was drawing the comic.

Seems like a perfect setup for a Scooby Doo mystery…

Fantastic Four #9

The End of the Fantastic Four!/Sub-Mariner Gives the Orders!/The Fury of Mr. Fantastic/The Flame of Battle/Vengeace is Ours!
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
23 pages

I read this comic in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1.

As with the Thor story which premiered the same day, this features full credits. In fact, the credits are more complete than the Thor story, as they spotlight the lettering of Artie Simek. The coloring of Stan Goldberg is still omitted, and anyways lost in the reproductions I am looking at.

This is a pretty famous story. For decades to come, when people refer to how Stan Lee changed superheroes, they’ll point to things like Spider-Man being unpopular or the Fantastic Four having money problems. But for 8 issues, the FF seemed pretty wealthy. Here, we learn Reed lost all his money in a stock market crash, and the FF are bankrupt and having to sell everything and disband. They even sell the pogo plane!

Incredible Hulk #4, Story B

The Gladiator from Outer Space!
Featuring: Hulk
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
10 pages

Hulk and Bruce are listed as two different characters…

I read this story in Incredible Hulk Omnibus vol. 1. I derived the inker from this volume, whereas Lee and Kirby had signed the original. Other comics this month got more complete credits, but not this one.

Is this the 5th alien invasion in recent months? Spoiler… no. It’s a Cold War story. Mongu is a Commie villain, just like Gargoyle, Executioner, Destroyer, or the spies that attacked Ant-Man. The Soviets disguised themselves as space aliens as part of an elaborate trap for the Hulk. It went about as well as you might expect for them.

Hardly a fitting challenge for the Hulk-brawn/Bruce-brain combo

There’s not much worth noting in this story. Its main feature is giving us a chance to see the Professor Hulk status quo introduced in the first half of the issue in action.

Incredible Hulk #4

The Monster and the Machine!
Featuring: Hulk
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
14 pages

I read this issue in Incredible Hulk Omnibus vol. 1. The volume lists Ayers as the inker.

This is the 4th issue and 3rd status quo for the Hulk. At first, Bruce Banner turned into the evil Hulk at night and human again during the day. Then, he was always Hulk, but under the mental control of Rick Jones so long as Rick was awake. Now, he has the power to transform back and forth between human and Hulk with a machine, and he retains his human brain in Hulk form. A “Professor Hulk” if you will.

Hope the family is appreciative when Hulk saves them…

Journey Into Mystery #86

On the Trail of the Tomorrow Man!
Featuring: Thor
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor vol. 1.

There’s a pretty significant milestone here. Relatively full credits are given at the bottom of the first page. Many comics we’ve read had no credits at all. Others bore a signature here or there. The Fantastic Four have featured the signatures of Stan and Jack fairly prominently. For the first time, we see explicit credit given to Lieber and Ayers, along with a breakdown of who did what. Online sources were generally clear Lee and been doing the plotting on Thor (though it’s likely Kirby also deserves credit) and leaving the scripting to Lieber. The table of contents of the Marvel Masterworks edition simply refers to Lee and Lieber as writers. Fantastic Four #9 debuts the same day and also features similarly robust credits. We’ll cover that shortly.

I’ve been noting the main credits above–writers and artists–as best I can, drawing from the credits given in the collection I’ve been reading or from online sources. I’m not trying to be a definitive source for credits, so have not been giving full credits myself. I don’t mention above the lettering of Artie Simek or the coloring of Stan Goldberg. I mean no disservice to their talents; it’s just not the focus of this blog. (Notably, I am often looking at these reprint editions, not the originals, and they have often been recolored… so I am anyway in no position to speak intelligently to Goldberg’s coloring).

Fantastic Four #8

Prisoners of the Puppet Master!/The Hands of the Puppet Maker/The Lady and the Monster!/Face-to-face with the Puppet Master!/Death of a puppet!
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: August 9, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
23 pages

I read this issue in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1. The comic has the signatures of Lee and Kirby. The collection lists Ayers as the inker.

We begin now the second year of adventures of the Fantastic Four.

Well, he did tell them to call him Thing…

I’ve found it weird the whole series that they always refer to him as ‘Thing’ instead of ‘Ben’. In later comics, they will mostly call him Ben. The writers seemed to have noticed it’s odd as they make a thing of it here. Sue calls him Ben, and he complains about how it’s only ‘Ben’ when they want something.

Strange Tales #102

Prisoner of the Wizard/Wizard’s Wiles!
Release: August 9, 1962
Cover: November 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages

This is better than the previous Human Torch story. It at least introduces a notable villain. And Wizard is a pretty cool character.

But, man, that secret identity thing remains a rough plot point. First, the ultra-genius Wizard needs a convoluted plan to find the Torch because nobody knows his secret identity. And then, Wizard douses Torch’s flames to defeat him, but only on his body… leaving a flaming head. Why?