steve ditko – Page 5 – Coke & Comics

Tales to Astonish #64, Story B

The Horde of Humanoids!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: November 3, 1964
Cover: February 1964
12 cents
Written with the sparkling skill of Stan Lee!
Drawn with the peerless power of Steve Ditko!
Inked with the classic clarity of George Bell!
Lettered with the TV set on by: Artie Simek
10 pages

Previous	#349	Next
Tales to Astonish #63, Story B	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #65, Story B
Tales to Astonish #64	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #65

Recall we read the Giant-Man/Wasp story in this issue a while back, but we’ve saved the Hulk stories for a big push.

Interesting that Stan refers to this as “the only super-hero soap opera”. I feel like that phrase with epitomize Marvel comics for decades to come.

I think it’s time to bid farewell to George Roussos, one of the most prominent inkers of our early reading, always under the pseudonym George Bell (oft abbreviated to Geo. Bell). We’ve read almost 50 stories with his inks, including Fantastic Four, Sgt. Fury, Iron Man, Thor, Human Torch, Giant-Man/Wasp, and Hulk stories. He’s off to do other work. He’ll return to Marvel in the 1970s and become one of Marvel’s most prominent colorists. He’s also been coloring much of the work we’ve been reading, but I’ve read most of his stories in recolored reprints, so miss out.

We open with Banner in jail, suspected of treason. He is taking tranquilizer pills to keep himself from transforming. Remember, it’s now strain that triggers the transformation.

Tales to Astonish #63, Story B

A Titan Rides the Train!

Featuring: Hulk
Release: October 1, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Only Stan Lee could have written this monumental masterpiece!
Only Steve Ditko could have drawn these powerful panels!
Only Geo. Bell could have inked this sensational saga!
Only S. Rosen would have lettered his name S. Rosen!
10 pages

Previous	#348	Next
Journey Into Mystery #119, Story B	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #64, Story B
Tales to Astonish #63	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #64

We’re nominally on the March books, but we just got up to June with Thor comics and July with X-Men, and now we need to go back to October of 1964 for Hulk stories.

We read the first story of this issue a while back. We’ve been skipping the Hulk stories because they are so intertwined with each other. Hulk is in the middle of a saga that really began in issue 60. We’re going to try to do the whole saga in something like three chunks.

Let’s review the story so far.

Dr. Bruce Banner is a weapons builder on a military base who is frequently absent. General Thunderbolt Ross has little patience for Banner and is uspet his daughter Betty seems so fond of the “weakling”. Of course, Bruce is also the Hulk. He recently decided that strain was the trigger of his uncontrollable changes into a monster with its own personality.

Dr. Banner has built a robotic suit, but a spy has stolen it. Hulk fights the spy in the robot suit. After a couple encounters, the robot is tossed into a bottomless pit.

Major Glen Talbot has been hired as the chief of security, with a particular remit to look into Dr. Banner’s strange behavior and any connection between Banner and the Hulk. He also seems fond of Betty, and the General would much prefer his daughter choose someone like the Major.

Hulk finds himself captured by the military. Rick has been spending time with Captain America and the Avengers, but still feels a debt to the Hulk. He returns to the New Mexico military base and helps Dr. Banner escape the military. This was likely before the Avengers’ battle with Immortus.

We learn the spy was working for someone named the Leader, whose face we do not see. Since the spy failed, the Leader dispatches the Chameleon to investigate what happened. When the Hulk foils Chameleon’s plans, Leader decides to get personally involved. He has just perfected a creation called the Humanoid.

And that’s where we left off.

Amazing Spider-Man #24

Spider-Man Goes Mad!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: February 11, 1965
Cover: May 1965
12 cents
Mighty script by: Stan Lee
Powerful art by: Steve Ditko
A lotta lettering by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous		Next
Tales of Suspense #65, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #132
Amazing Spider-Man #23	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #25

I declared last month’s cover the best we’ve yet seen. Two months earlier, I’d declared it that cover. I really don’t want to keep doing that, but man, look at that crazy cover. It brings to mind Ditko’s roots in weird horror tales, and captures some of the madness of his Dr. Strange work.

The comic more than lives up to the cover.

The opening splash is also excellent. It shows Spider-Man haunted by the same ghost images of his villains, but makes it clear that’s a psychiatrist’s office, and it’s Spidey in the chair. And from the look on the doctor’s face, not about to receive a favorable diagnosis regarding his mental stability.

Aunt May is still struggling with the bills, and Peter plans to make more money taking pictures of Spider-Man to help out. Remember the theme of responsibility. Most often, it’s assumed his responsibility is to do good as Spider-Man, but he also has a responsibility to his aunt.

Amazing Spider-Man #23

The Goblin and the Gangsters

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: January 12, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Written in the spell-binding style of Stan Lee
Illustrated in the magnificent manner of Steve Ditko
Lettered in the frenzied fashion of Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#320	Next
Fantastic Four #37	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #16
Amazing Spider-Man #22	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #24

Maybe I should start writing down a list of my favorite covers (I do like lists). Early on, there weren’t many, so I was confident when we came across a great one, I could call it my favorite cover yet. Now I’m beginning to wonder. This is a great cover. Is it the best cover yet? Maybe.

I appreciate the Green Goblin on this cover. And only on this cover. Outside of this cover, he’s a lame villain. For evidence, let’s look inside the comic.

Green Goblin is trying to set himself up as a local crimelord. By the time I was reading comics, local crimelords were guys like the Kingpin, who looked the part better to my mind. I suspect Marlon Brando’s Godfather left an indelible impression of what a crimelord should look like to me and to many, but this predates that by several years. Still… they can do better. Lucky Lobo has a much better “crimelord” look.

The previous kingpin had been Frederick Foswell, the Big Man. He looked the part better. Coincidentally, Foswell returns, having been released from prison. He was the leader of every mob in town, behind numerous crimes, yet he was released after less than a year and given his old job back.

Amazing Spider-Man #22

Preeeeeesenting… The Clown, and his Masters of Menace!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: March 1965
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Lettered by: Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#306	Next
Sgt. Fury #15	Reading order	Strange Tales #130
Amazing Spider-Man #21	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #23

Yes, I counted the ‘e’s closely in the title. We strive for accuracy here at Coke & Comics.

I appreciate that Spider-Man doesn’t really appear on the cover. Just the spider signal and his shadow, as the bad guys stand in awe.

I assume you all have the same confusion about the first page as I do. As usual, I blame Stan. Ditko’s drawings are eerily consistent across issues. The two trapeze artists and human cannonball are just as depicted the last time Spider-Man fought the Circus of Crime in Amazing Spider-Man #16.

But Stan had the human cannonball refer to himself as the Great Gambino. When we first met the Circus of Crime in Incredible Hulk #3, the human cannonball was named, sensibly, the Human Cannonball. Lee is basically back to that, referring to him as “the man called Cannonball”. He refers to the two trapeze artists as the Great Gambinos, which I suspect was Ditko’s intention all along. I’m going to claim Cannonball to be the same character we’ve met three times now, and just call his name in issue 16 a typo. He is not the Great Gambino; the trapeze artists are.

Ditko’s Clown is clearly modeled off the clown Kirby drew in Incredible Hulk #3, and doesn’t look particularly like any of the clowns in issue 16. He looks so much like Kirby’s clown that I’m going to declare them the same character. CMRO agrees, though also thinks he was one of the clowns in issue 16. There are a lot of clowns in that issue; one could be him, just with different make-up.

Princess Python is clearly new, and will be the most popular of these villains, making a name for herself entirely separate from the Circus of Crime, for example finding a home with the Serpent Society. She is notably Spider-Man’s first female super-villain and one of very few female super-villains we’ve met at all.

Sgt. Fury #15

Too Small to Fight, Too Young to Die!

Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos
Release: December 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Dick Ayers
Inker: Steve Ditko
Letterer: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#305	Next
Journey Into Mystery #113, Story B	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #22
Sgt. Fury #14	Sgt. Fury	Sgt. Fury #16

This is pretty exciting. Ditko inking Ayers. Definitely the first time we’ve seen that. And the opposite of the roles I most associate each artist with. It’s mostly not obvious to my untrained eye that Ditko is the inker, but I think I see him shining through on some of the faces, particularly Captain Sawyer and some of the ladies.

George Roussos had been the regular inker up to this point, under the pseudonym George Bell. It looks like last month marked the end of his regular Marvel work for now. He will return in a couple years and eventually become a staff colorist at Marvel.

Roussos has likely been coloring many of the comics we’ve read as well, but I don’t often have colorist credits in front of me, and am anyway often reading these stories in recolored reprints. So I’ve certainly failed to appreciate his coloring contributions.

We’ll see Roussos once more in the near future, because we still haven’t read the Hulk story from last month. And then we’ll see him again, eventually.

The idea of these 15 issues has been to take the Commandos to every theatre of the war– Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, England, Japan, Africa… Holland was due.

Strange Tales #129, Story B

Tiboro! The Tyrant of the Sixth Dimension!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee, and his magic typewriter.
Script by: Don Rico, and his mystic fountain pen.
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko, and his miraculous lead pencil.
Lettered by: Sam Rosen, and his melancholy penpoint.
10 pages

Previous	#300!	Next
Strange Tales #129	Reading order	Fantastic Four #35
Strange Tales #129	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #130

Welcome to the 300th Marvel Age story! We’re almost 1% finished!

I think the periods that end each credit above are the first periods we have ever seen. Stan Lee holds to a pretty strict exclamation point-only policy. But then, Stan Lee didn’t write this.

For the second time this month, and the second time in our entire Marvel Age reading, Stan Lee claims no story credit for the issue. His name still comes first, but he takes credit for editing. The only other time we’ve seen this is with Tales to Astonish #64, published just a week earlier, and scripted by Leon Lazarus.

Rumor is that publisher Martin Goodman was concerned of the power Lee held by being the sole writer on these increasingly successful titles, and instructed Lee to diversify the writing staff. However, neither Rico nor Lazarus became regular writers. So if that was Goodman’s intent, he was not successful.

We’ve met Don Rico twice before, though he used the alias of N. Korok, when he worked on Tales of Suspense #52–53 and helped introduce Black Widow. The first time we saw him work with Stan, Stan credited himself with “story” and Rico with “plot”. I don’t know the difference either.

This is Rico’s final scripting assignment for Marvel, a company he’s worked for off and on for 25 years at this point. It’s pretty close to his last comics work. He’d basically already left comics behind for prose writing at this point. A couple miscellaneous pieces in the 70s, including the art for a short Captain America story.

Don Rico passed away in 1985 at the age of 72.

Amazing Spider-Man #21

Where Flies the Beetle…!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: November 10, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Deliciously written by: Stan Lee
Deliriously illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Delightfully lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#298	Next
Sgt. Fury #14	Reading order	Strange Tales #129
Amazing Spider-Man #20	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #22

What a beautiful cover. One of my favorites yet. Definitely my favorite Spider-Man cover so far. I like the way Ditko contorts Spider-Man in the air. It’s never straightforward, and decades of artists have tried to imitate his many posings. It’s just such a nice rendering of Spider-Man, who’s always at his best when at least somewhat upside down.

Ditko’s got the Beetle lurking off in the corner, just to show there is a villain. He keeps the focus on the actually visually interesting characters.

And then the opening splash page is basically an alternative cover, this one showing Spider-Man directly in combat with the Beetle, again with Spidey’s body flying through the air in his inimitable style.

This is one of the most underrated Spider-Man stories of all time. You’ll easily notice my Best We’ve Read page has more than its share of Spider-Man stories, as they are simply head and shoulders above all the other Marvel comics of this era. The highest rated Spidey stories won’t surprise people who love Spider-Man stories. I’ve spent a lot of time reading people’s opinions on Spider-Man stories, looking at lists of the best Spider-Man stories. His origin and the Sinister Six story, those are everybody’s favorite. While you may hear less of it, for those in the know, the End of Spider-Man story is spoken of with sufficient reverence. As is his unmasking by Dr. Octopus and first battles against Doc Ock, Vulture, and Electro. I’ve heard people cite the Scorpion battle and even the Green Goblin battle as their favorite stories.

But I never hear anybody talk about how great Spider-Man’s first battle against the Beetle is. Let’s correct that.

Strange Tales #128, Story B

The Demon’s Disciple!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: October 8, 1864
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee– unchallenged master of the dramatic word!
Drawn by: Steve Ditko– unquestioned innovator of the occult illustration!
Lettered by: Artie Simek– unabashed purveyor of the captivating caption!
10 pages

Previous	#286	Next
Strange Tales #128	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #61
Strange Tales #128	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #129

Dr. Strange gets more cover real estate than usual.

Recall that after last issue’s epic battle with Dormammu, Dr. Strange was rewarded with a more powerful amulet and a new cape. The narrator here notes the amulet and new powers of levitation. This seems to imply the cape itself bestows the power of levitation. Dr. Strange confirms this at the end of the story.

A man comes to Dr. Strange seeking help. He had become the disciple of a magician known as the Demon and wishes to leave the Demon’s service. The Demon summons him back before Dr. Strange can help.

Amazing Spider-Man #20

The Coming of the Scorpion!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: October 8, 1964
Cover: January 1965
12 cents
Illustrated by: Steve Ditko
Written by: Stan Lee
Lettered by: S. Rosen
20 pages

Previous	#282	Next
Tales to Astonish #63	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #13
Amazing Spider-Man #19	Amazing Spider-Man	Amazing Spider-Man #21

I find the credits interesting. I know that eventually Stan and Steve will fall out over a number of problems, including Stan not giving Steve proper credit for his role in the book. I don’t know where they are at this moment in time. Not long ago, we read the Amazing Spider-Man Annual in which Ditko illustrated a story that poked fun at their working relationship. It seemed in good humor and implied to me a mostly positive working relationship.

The credits for this issue also seem to be in good humor. But Ditko has no involvement with the credits. They’d be added after he turns in the art. They are all Stan and Sam. Perhaps Steve appreciated the humor… or perhaps he did not. I have no way of knowing.

“Many readers have asked why Stan’s name is always first on the credits! And so, big-hearted Lee agreed to put Stevey’s name first this time! How about that?!!”

“…But we still have a feeling that sneaky Stan put something over on us!”

In a similar vein, the letters page notes that Steve is drawing 40 pages a month and “still finds time to argue with Stan for a few hours each week”. Again, seems good-humored on Stan’s part, at least.