The Human Torch In the Clutches of the Puppet Master!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: October 8, 1963
Cover: January 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Dick Ayers
Inked by : Geo. Bell
13 pages
Can’t say I care much for the Ayers/Roussos team on art. Not sure what they’re doing in their rendering of the Thing.
Stan gives an acknowledgement this issue that the story is inspired by an idea from Tommy and Jimmy Goodkind. These were the children of a friend of Stan’s, who lived in his neighborhood.
Continue reading “Strange Tales #116”The origin of Dr. Strange
Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: September 10, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Steve Ditko
8 pages
We learn the origin of Dr. Strange, one of the greatest superhero origins ever. Probably the second-greatest. It will thus be only the second Marvel Age story I give the (presumably) coveted 5-star rating.
A brilliant surgeon cared only for wealth and fame. When an accident damaged his hands, his desperate quest to be able to operate again led him to seek out a mystic healer. There he learned of the nature of black magic and the threat to the world posed by Mordo. He spent years studying under the Ancient One to become a master of black magic.
The Sandman Strikes!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: September 10, 1963
Cover: December 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Dick Ayers
13 pages
Stan really doesn’t know what he has. Strange Tales #115 includes one of Marvel’s all-time greatest stories, yet the cover shows not a hint of that. It focuses entirely on a mediocre Human Torch tale.
We get another villain crossover. We haven’t seen too many yet. Dr. Doom has shown up in the pages of Spider-Man. That’s pretty much the only one unless you want to count Loki showing up in the Avengers.
But now, Spider-Man’s foe Sandman will menace the Human Torch. Spider-Man himself might pop in to say hello. (Actually, he’ll pop in to express that he’s upset Human Torch took on his villain.)
Continue reading “Strange Tales #115”The Return of the Omnipotent Baron Mordo!
Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: August 8, 1963
Cover: November 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Steve Ditko
5 pages
After a 2-issue hiatus, we see the return of Dr. Strange, Master of Black Magic! A note explains he returned because of enthusiastic fan response in the letters.
A thing that bothered me the last time I read through Dr. Strange stories is that, in contrast to the Spider-Man stories, less villains are being introduced. In his third appearance, he is fighting Mordo for the second time. In a couple issues, he’ll again fight Nightmare. In contrast, Spider-Man comics are introducing great villains in each issue.
I have come to terms with this, though. It gives the series a less episodic feel than the Spider-Man comics. Dr. Strange really does have a couple of key adversaries most of the series will be dedicated to, and thus feels like a more cohesive saga.
Continue reading “Strange Tales #114, Story B”Captain America
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: August 8, 1963
Cover: November 1963
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Dick Ayers
18 pages
Why did we choose now to review the origin of Captain America? Because Captain America is returning. “From out of the Golden Age of Comics”, the cover says. Not sure if we’ve yet seen that term in our reading. The era we are reading has been dubbed the Marvel Age.
Weird that he’d choose the Antique Auto Show of Glenville, Long Island to make his return after a decade-long absence.
Captain America and Human Torch get into a fight. Superheroes often do that when they meet.
Continue reading “Strange Tales #114”The Coming of the Plantman!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: July 9, 1963
Cover: October 1963
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script: Joe Carter
Art: Dick Ayers
13 pages
Once again, Superman creator Jerry Siegel takes on a Human Torch script under the pen name Joe Carter. His scripts seem a cut above what we are used to from Human Torch stories, but it’s a pretty low bar.
We have seen Johnny on many dates both in this title and the pages of Fantastic Four. It’s been a different girl each time. But this issue seems different. He has a date with Doris Evans, and he describes himself as her “flame”. Puns aside, this suggests something more serious than his usual dalliances. Perhaps it is because Dorrie plays a little hard to get. She is willing to go out with Johnny, but seems to dislike his Human Torch persona. She’s clearly dating him despite his celebrity. The fact that she is given a full name is another hint this one is special.
Continue reading “Strange Tales #113”On the Trail of the Amazing Spider-Man!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: June 11, 1963
Cover: 1963
25 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Steve Ditko
18 pages
Jack Kirby drew the cover for Spider-Man’s very first appearance. Besides that, this will be his first chance to draw the web-slinger. Fortunately, Spider-Man’s own Steve Ditko is on hand providing finishes to help keep the character on-model.
Nonetheless, they forgot his chest logo on the cover. I find it very weird to look at. And Kirby keeps drawing Spider-Man with his legs really awkwardly spread.
This is our first “annual”. Mostly we’re reading monthly or bi-monthly comics. But ongoing series occasionally fit in one special issue per year they call an “annual”. This is Strange Tales annual 2, so it’s obviously not the first, but it’s the first since Strange Tales became a regular superhero feature. The first Fantastic Four annual will also be debuting shortly.
This issue is more than double the usual price at 25 cents, coming in at 72 pages. Normally, an issue of Strange Tales is about 23 story pages, featuring 3 stories, a Human Torch tale and two others. Soon, Dr. Strange will start regularly sharing the book. This annual features a whopping 11 stories. However, all except this Human Torch story are reprints of older stories. The previous annual was entirely reprints.
This is the first full story dedicated to Spider-Man and Human Torch meeting. They’ve met twice before, but only briefly, in Amazing Spider-Man #1 and #3. I’m excited as I consider this one of Marvel’s great superhero friendships.
Continue reading “Strange Tales Annual 2”The Living Bomb!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: June 11, 1963
Cover: September 1963
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script: Joe Carter
Art: Dick Ayers
13 pages
Script is by Joe Carter. Carter… Hmmm… I’ve read a lot of comics, but not sure I know the name. Let’s google. Ah, it’s a pen name. No biggie. So is “Stan Lee”. His real name is apparently Jerry Siegel. Ah, apparently he wrote some comics under his own name. Let’s check his bibliography and see if anything sounds familiar.
This seems to be his first Marvel work, but he’d done some stuff for DC (and probably wants to hide that he’s freelancing for Marvel). Often collaborated with Joe Shuster. He co-created Dr. Occult. That’s cool. Oh, and Slam Bradley. I like Slam. And some new members for the Legion of Superheroes like Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad. That’s quite the resume for this “Jerry Siegel” fella. Almost seems like slumming to work on a lowly Human Torch story for a creator of Slam Bradley. You’d think he’d be rolling in dough from royalties for all the characters he helped create for DC. He created a bunch more characters too, but I think those are the most notable ones.
Face-to-face with the Magic of Baron Mordo!
Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: May 9, 1963
Cover: August 1963
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
5 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange vol. 1.
Another Dr. Strange story. Again a mere 5 pages. Again no hint on the cover that this tale is within. The cover focuses entirely on Human Torch and the Asbestos Man. The issue also contains a short text story, a sci/fi tale about a computer taking over the world, and this at the end.
The final panel this time lets us know Dr. Strange will not be returning next issue, but rather in “a future issue”. That’s likely Marvel hedging their bets, waiting to see sales numbers or look at letters and fan response before committing to more Dr. Strange stories.
Dr. Strange doesn’t show up until page 3. When we get a better shot of that cool window we discussed last issue. Well, not the same window, as that was on a door. But the same pattern.
That said, this issue is setting up for future tales: Dr. Strange now has an archnemesis. As Loki is to Thor, Mordo will be to Dr. Strange. Because the fan response will be strong and the character will return. Might even get his own movies one day.
Continue reading “Strange Tales #111, Story C”Dr. Strange Master of Black Magic!
Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: April 9, 1963
Cover: July 1963
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
5 pages
The cover focuses on the epic battle between Human Torch and the team of Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete. It makes no mention of any backup stories, not the space adventure that follows it, nor this story shoved into the back.
It’s only 5 pages long. Just like the sci/fi tale that preceded it. A story of a bad man with a problem who encounters some mystical force and gets his comeuppance– recall for example the stories we’ve read with Odin, Merlin, or Medusa.
It seems like not really one of our superhero stories; it’s just like these weird tales that have populated these anthologies for years, and have continued to populate the end of these anthologies which all now begin with a superhero story.
Now, one of those weird tales did grow into something more in the superhero era. The Man in the Ant Hill used his shrinking formula again–now with a costume and a superhero name–to become Ant-Man.
There is one thing differentiates this story about a mystic from other weird tales. A small note at the end that tells us this character will return.
Seems fitting. After all, the comic is Strange Tales. What is so strange about Human Torch stories? Dr. Strange, Master of Black Magic, seems a much more natural fit to headline such a comic.
Some argue that Dr. Strange is not a superhero, that he comes from a different archetype, an older one. The wizard; or the mage. But Stan Lee describes him as a “super-hero” right there on page 1. So that’s good enough for me to call the character a superhero.
Dr. Strange is the creation of Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, but really probably almost entirely Steve Ditko. Let’s see what we’ve got in his inaugural appearance.
Cool gloves. Mustache. Amulet. A cool design on the door window. Astral projection. Some unfortunate Asian stereotypes. The evil Nightmare from the dimension of dreams.
Continue reading “Strange Tales #110, Story C”
