sub-mariners – Coke & Comics

Fantastic Four Annual 3

Bedlam at the Baxter Building!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: July 1, 1965
Cover: 1965
25 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inked by: Vince Colletta
Lettered by: Artie Simek
23 pages

Previous	#400!	Next
	POSTLUDE	Marvel: Heroes & Legends #1
Journey Into Mystery #123, Story B	Reading order	X-Men #14
Fantastic Four Annual 2, Story C	Fantastic Four Annual	Fantastic Four Annual 4

I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss your bride!

It’s the wedding of the century. Today’s the day. Half the Marvels have been invited! And the rest of them are turning up anyway!

This issue represents by far the largest gathering of heroes and villains yet, forever binding these disparate characters into a universe.

This issue represents the idea that there is no status quo, that these characters are at their best when they change and grow. Forward momentum is an essential ingredient to storytelling. Genuine, non-illusionary, change.

This is the most significant moment in the early Marvel Universe.

I think I’d have come up with a better title than “Bedlam at the Baxter Building”.

I wish Chic Stone or Joe Sinnott had been the inker. A few months too late to have Stone and one month too early to have Sinnott. Also, Colletta is uniquely suited to a long special issue with many characters because he’s famously expedient.

I appreciate that the headline takes for granted the public knows who Reed and Sue are without the need for surnames or superhero identities. The cover does the same for its audience.

Pretty cool this worked out to be the 400th story in our reading order. Currently on track to also have the 500th story be a particularly special issue of Fantastic Four as well. When we read Avengers #1, it was the 100th story, but then I went and retroactively mucked with the ordering.

Tales to Astonish #72

A Prince There Was!

Featuring: Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner
Release: July 1, 1965
Cover: October 1965
12 cents
Written in majesty by: Stan Lee
Drawn in grandeur by: Adam Austin
Inked in splendor by: Vince Colletta
Lettered in the suburbs by: S. Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#383	Next
Tales to Astonish #71, Story B	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #72, Story B
Tales to Astonish #71, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #72, Story B

A Prince of the Blood must be true to his duty… though the sorrow in his breast be more than he can endure!

Once again, Namor gets to dominate the cover. Only the slightest mention that this is also Hulk’s comic.

To be completely honest, stories with a repetitive format get a bit dull to discuss. I can only make fun of how identical the plots are in so many different ways. Last issue, Namor defeated the creature guarding a clue on his quest, found the clue, went to the next spot, found a creature guarding the next clue. To be continued. Guess the plot of this issue?

Meanwhile, the Krang/Dorma drama continues. We get a new development there as he banishes her to the realm of the Faceless Ones for rejecting him.

Daredevil #7

In Mortal Combat with… Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: Daredevil
Release: February 4, 1965
Cover: April 1965
12 cents
Written by the master of the spoken word: Stan Lee
Drawn by the master of the printed picture: Wally Wood
Lettered by the monster of the blurb balloon: Artie Simek
20 pages

Previous	#339	Next
Journey Into Mystery #115, Story B	Reading order	Journey Into Mystery #116
Daredevil #6	Daredevil	Daredevil #8

Interviewed in London about 7 years back, Stan Lee was asked what his favorite story he ever wrote was. At first he claimed they were all his favorites. But after a moment’s reflection, he began to describe a comic he wrote where Daredevil and Sub-Mariner fought. His description contained some inaccuracies; he was 92 at the time and never renowned for his memory. Yet his description of the ending was pretty much spot on.

And in the end the Sub-Mariner went… back to the ocean and he left Daredevil kind of lying exhausted on the sand, and he said something like, “You were a noble competitor…” I enjoyed the way I think I made them both seem heroic, even though they were fighting each other.
Stan Lee, London Film and Comic Con, 2014

Stan Lee wrote hundreds of superhero comics and in many interviews could barely keep any two characters straight. Yet somehow he spoke with a nostalgic fondness about a single moment at the end of this particular story 50 years later, a single page that he did seem to remember rather clearly.

This is Wally Wood’s third issue of Daredevil. Wood is an artist and storyteller on par with Kirby and Ditko, but won’t be at Marvel long enough to leave the same mark on the characters they did. His greatest contribution to the nascent Marvel Universe will be this issue.

Let’s start with the obvious. Right from the cover, we see Daredevil has a new costume. It’s not really that different from a penciler’s perspective than the one he wore last issue. It’s mostly the color scheme that’s changed. The costume is all red now. Fitting for a devil.

And somehow it makes all the difference in the world. From the worst Marvel costume to an iconic look that will be forever associated with the character. This is the look of Daredevil that endures.

Wood puts more detail into the world than either Kirby or Ditko. We’ve never seen Atlantis quite like this in Kirby’s rendering. Kirby drew beautiful and bold and bizarre shapes in Atlantis, but Wood makes it feel full, like there’s a real city there fading into the background. His cityscapes of New York will be equally impressive.

Namor gets an impressive array of titles.

In next month’s Avengers, which we have already read, Namor turns down a request to join the Avengers because he has vowed to conquer the surface world. This story must take place shortly after that encounter, despite being published earlier.

Tales to Astonish #64

When Attuma Strikes!

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: November 3, 1964
Cover: February 1965
12 cents
Edited by smilin’ Stan Lee
Written by laughin’ Leon Lazarus
Pencilled by capricious Carl Burgos
Inked by peerless Paul Reinman
Lettered by sparkling Sam Rosen
12 pages

Previous	#296	Next
X-Men #9	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #14
Tales to Astonish #63, Story B	Tales to Astonish	Tales to Astonish #64, Story B

You’re correct, reader, that we have not finished Tales to Astonish #63 yet. We will get there. Hulk is involved in one big story, while Giant-Man and Wasp have shorter adventures which take place weaved around their Avengers adventures. It’s a tricky thing to negotiate. We’re not going to finish this comic right now either. We’ll come back to the Hulk story another day.

We get something new here. Leon Lazarus is not a name we’ve seen before. It honestly sounds a little made up. An alliterative name like that often turns out to be an alias in these stories. Especially with a biblical last name like Lazarus, a word common in superhero stories to describe effects that raise the dead (e.g. the Lazarus Pit used by Batman’s foe Ra’s Al Ghul).

And Stan Lee claims no writing credit. He’s been the sole credited writer on everything for the last year or so. And even when there were other credited scripters, Stan Lee claimed credit for the “story” or “plot” or such. This is the very first time in any Marvel Age story that Stan did not claim story credit.

Of course, Stan’s name still goes first in the credits, as the editor.

So who is Leon Lazarus? What is his real name? Why did he decide to start writing for Marvel now?

Fantastic Four #33

Side-by-side with Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: September 8, 1964
Cover: December 1964
12 cents
Script: Smilin’ S. Lee
Art: Jolly Jack Kirby
Inks: Chucklin’ Chic Stone
Lettering: Amiable Art Simek
20 pages

Previous	#272	Next
Sgt. Fury #12	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #60
Fantastic Four #32	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #34

Kirby has used these photo collages a few times now, but this is the first cover that combines art with photographs in a cool collage.

This is the first time Stan’s name has ever been abbreviated in the credits: “S. Lee”. I’m guessing the letterer just ran out of room.

Namor is again the king of Atlantis (the exact same month Aquaman is first named king of Atlantis at the Distinguished Competition). Namor has the most fickle people. They moved the entire kingdom once so he couldn’t find them because of his affection for Sue. But I guess that’s all forgotten now.

The story is that Dorma betrayed Namor because he scorned her love, so she helped Attuma’s armies gain entry to Atlantis so Attuma could seize the throne. Women, eh?

X-Men #6

Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: X-Men
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written: With the flair of Stan Lee
Drawn: With the air of Jack Kirby
Inked: With the care of Chic Stone
Lettered: On a dare by S. Rosen
22 pages

Once again, we see that Namor and Hulk are the binding that holds this nascent Marvel Universe together. Most of the heroes haven’t met each other, but they’ve almost all met Hulk or Namor. (Daredevil hasn’t met either yet, but we’ve only read two issues; he’ll meet Namor soon.)

My confusion about what to call Magneto’s group remains. It’s becoming clearer that “Evil Mutants” is how Xavier and the narrator refer to them. It’s less clear what they would call themselves. They were called the “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” on the cover, and in the title, of their first appearance; however, that name has never shown up in-story.

PRELUDE: Human Torch #5

The Human Torch Battles the Sub-Mariner as the World Faces Destruction!

Featuring: Human Torch
Release: October 8, 1941
Cover: Fall 1941
10 cents
60 pages (!)

The comic gives no credits. I’ll point you to the GCD, which notes work from Carl Burgos, Bill Everett, Jack D’Arcy, Hank Chapman, Mike Roy, Harry Sahle and George Kapitan. That’s… a lot of names. I will make no attempt to untangle who did what.

Counting to 5

Let’s get the confusing part out of the way. We are looking at Human Torch #5, with a cover date of Fall 1941.

The previous issue of Human Torch was… Human Torch #5, with a cover date of Summer 1941. Why? I have no idea. I think somebody counted wrong.

Fantastic Four #27

The Search for Sub-Mariner!

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: March 10, 1964
Cover: June 1964
12 cents
Author and illustrator extraordinary: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inked by: Geo. Bell
Lettered by: S. Rosen
23 pages

The opening of this story is somewhat different from the norm. A little… sexier.

To make the opening image more amusing, we learn it’s not an actual projection of Sue, but rather a projection of what happens to be on Reed’s mind at the moment. Sexy Sue, apparently.

We then get the issue’s big news. Reed is planning to go buy a ring in order to ask Sue to marry him. Giant-Man recently bought a ring for the same reason, but chickened out. Let’s see if Reed can do any better.

PRELUDE: Marvel Mystery Comics #7, Story C

The surface world will feel Namor’s vengeful wrath.

Featuring: Sub-Mariner
Release: March 20, 1940
Cover: May 1940
10 cents
Credits: Bill Everett
10 pages

While The Human Torch stories have been very episodic, the Sub-Mariner stories have formed one continuing saga. Thus there’s no way to jump into them without feeling like we’re missing something. Nonetheless, I’m not looking to review every Golden Age Sub-Mariner story here. Just a couple to give us some context for the Marvel Age stories we are reading.

In this blog, we last saw Namor beginning a war against the surface world for crimes against his people. He’s cooled off and befriended Policewoman Betty Dean. He grew concerned about the war ravaging the surface world, and decided to take part. Sometimes, he seemed sympathetic to the Allied cause and sometimes merely to the cause of peace. He decided to try his hand at being a superhero, to convince the surface world of his good intentions.

He made a deal with the police commissioner to do some good works, but the commissioner still insisted he stand trial for his crimes. The jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Well, the electric chair did not kill him… it just made him angry. So his war against the surface will begin anew. That’s where this issue opens.

Namor informs his Emperor of his plans to destroy the entire continent after conquering New York. The Emperor offers the entire Sub-Mariner army, but Namor says he can handle it himself for now, as his vendetta is personal.

The relationship between Namor and the Emperor still isn’t clear. If Namor is a Prince, there must be some…

PRELUDE: Marvel Comics #1, Story C

The Sub-Mariner
Credits: Bill Everett
12 pages

I read this comic in Marvel Masterpieces Golden Age Marvel Comics vol. 1. My copy of the book is filled with printing errors: pages missing or repeated; and, the copy seems off. The colors and inks seem pretty blurred, compared to scans I’m finding online. The coloring wasn’t great in those days to begin with, so it’s hard to tell without seeing the comic what it actually looks like, as reproductions vary widely. It’s particularly tricky as Everett wanted to make the undersea scenes murky.

This story is the beginning of a serial and doesn’t reach a satisfying conclusion in and of itself. It concerns Namor of the race of Sub-Mariners, recently come of age. He learns from his mother Fen of the ravages done to their people by the experiments of the surface dwellers, (who the comic refers to as the “white men”) and leads a crusade against the surface. His first step is to destroy a lighthouse. We’ll have to tune in next issue to see more.

The surface world will never recover from the destruction of the lighthouse; they may as well surrender now.

It begins in a familiar fashion, from the viewpoints of ordinary sailors, leaving the Sub-Mariner as a mystery in the background. Namor will become the point-of-view character soon, but first we learn who he is in snatches, as the humans do. An undersea diver notices oddities, like evidence that somebody had recently been there, even though they are the only ship in the area. It’s a mystery to investigate, a deadly one as it will turn out. It’s a technique we’ve seen frequently in superhero films (plus many a movie before them). Famously, when Batman first dons the suit in Batman Begins, the movie shifts its point-of-view to that of criminals. They only know something strange is happening, that they see out of the corner of their eye and hear above them– and that their numbers are thinning. This comic gives us a similar scene with divers.