Featuring: X-Men Release: November 3, 1964 Cover: January 1965 12 cents Savagely written by: Stan Lee Supremely drawn by: Jack Kirby Superbly inked by: Chic Stone Stoically lettered by: S. Rosen 20 pages
The cover promises the return of Professor X. He left the team in issue 7, leaving Cyclops in charge. We haven’t seen him since, except for a brief appearance in issue 8 where he and Cyclops have a telepathic chat. Anyway, now it’s issue 9 and we get the long-awaited return of Professor X.
Featuring: Thor Release: November 3, 1963 Cover: January 1964 12 cents A Stan Lee-Jack Kirby Marvel Masterwork! Inking by: Chic Stone Lettering by: S. Rosen 16 pages
Lee and Kirby seem to share top billing in the credits (Lee’s name first, of course) without breaking down who did what.
It’s interesting that they wanted Thor to battle the Hulk, but rather than have Thor battle the Hulk, they had Thor tell a story set in the past. Perhaps Hulk is too busy with the ongoing Leader Saga to be able to appear in Thor’s book. Stan is perhaps becoming aware his fans expect continuity and resorting to tricks not to break it.
Thor tells children a story when he sees them arguing over who is stronger: Thor or Hulk. Superhero fans have asked such questions for decades, and Stan had likely received more than a few letters asking the question. As he’s done before, he puts the fans’ queries–and the fans themselves– directly into the story.
I love the Hulk/Thor signs the kids made, and just how passionate and angry they all seem about this important question.
Thor’s tale is set in the middle of Avengers #3, expanding the story told then. Recall the Avengers battled Hulk and Sub-Mariner in Gibraltar.
Featuring: Avengers Release: October 8, 1964 Cover: December 1964 12 cents Spectacular story by: Stan Lee Incomparable illustrations by: Don Heck Dazzling delineation by: Chic Stone Lachrymose lettering by: Sam Rosen 20 pages
Don Heck is still the artist, but this time with inks by Chic Stone. I think it’s the first time we’ve seen the combo. Stone is easily my favorite Kirby inker so far; their pairing has that very classic pop art feel. Paired with Heck, they do a passable job, certainly better than the last two issues with Heck/Ayers.
But nobody, not even Kirby, can get Spider-Man right. The cover would seem to prove me a liar, as it’s Kirby’s best take on Spider-Man yet. But that’s likely because it’s mostly Ditko. Nick Caputo examines the question of who drew what on the cover on his blog Marvel Mysteries and Comics Minutiae.
I think Heck has been doing fine work on Iron Man. Avengers is a bit harder because it’s got so many characters. And we’ve reached the point where Stan is “writing” everything, which means he’s mostly relying on the artists to come up with the stories themselves. I think Heck is a good artist but just struggled with the weight of it all. It doesn’t help that he’s being constantly compared to Kirby and Ditko in this era.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: July 9, 1964 Cover: October 1964 12 cents Every word you are about to read was written by ol’ faithful Stan Lee, one of the world’s most prolific script writers! Every drawing you are about to marvel at, was created by Don Heck, one of America’s most promising illustrators! Every bit of inking you are about to savor was done by Dick Ayers, one of the industry’s most painstaking artists! Every sentence you are about to scan was hand-printed by Sam Rosen, one of Marvel’s most perspicuous letterers! 18 pages
The story begins with Iron Man battling a shark. That’s cool.
This story will guest star Captain America. Remember in Strange Tales #123 when Thing was a guest star, and then he was sharing title billing by issue 124? Or how Hulk was a guest star in Tales to Astonish #59, and then had his own regular feature in Tales to Astonish #60? I don’t know why I’m bringing those up.
Kraven and Chameleon return to America after their most recent deportations. Iron Man catches Kraven sneaking ashore, but Chameleon gets away.
I really appreciate the battle between Iron Man and Kraven. So often in superhero comics, they exaggerate the threat the villain poses against the hero. This has been a particularly pernicious problem with heroes as powerful as Thor and Iron Man, who tend to outclass their villains. It is thus rather refreshing to see the battle between Iron Man and Kraven resolved within 3 panels, as it should be.
Featuring: Spider-Man Release: June 9, 1964 Cover: September 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee, master of the spoken word Illustrated by: Steve Ditko, dean of dramatic drawings Lettered by: S. Rosen, sultan of sparkling spelling 22 pages
Let me start by wishing a happy birthday to Steve Ditko, who would have been 93 today had he not passed away in 2018.
Ditko has created a number of new villains for this series, while maintaining a generally pretty high quality (Green Goblin excepted). The team has only once borrowed a villain so far, when Spider-Man fought Dr. Doom in issue 5. This is the second time borrowing a villain, but they dig deeper, bringing back Ringmaster from Incredible Hulk #3 two years earlier. We’ve read over 200 comics since we last met Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime.
Aunt May still insists Peter accept a blind date with Mary Jane Watson. Peter makes the reasonable protestation that he has a girlfriend. May notes they are not engaged. Does May just not like Betty for some reason? On the other hand, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a date. Peter could just offer to hang out with Mrs. Watson’s niece as a favor to Aunt May. I feel like they could compromise here.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: April 9, 1964 Cover: July 1964 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee (The leader!) Drawn by: Jack Kirby (The king!) Inked by: Chic Stone (The master!) Lettered by: Art Simek (The letterer!) 22 pages
Stan’s been doing “clever credits” for a while now, giving all sorts of nicknames to the creators. This one happens to be Kirby’s most famous nickname. He is generally known today as Jack “King” Kirby. This is the first time we’ve seen the “king” nickname in our reading. Can’t confirm whether it’s been used anywhere else before. This project began 20 years into Jack’s rather prolific career.
We turn now to the story, where the Fantastic Four and X-Men meet for the first time. (Well, Human Torch and Iceman had already met…)
We begin with a statue of Thing that has been sculpted by the brilliant Alicia, working by touch alone.
Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp Release: April 2, 1964 Cover: July 1964 12 cents Brilliantly written by good ol’ Stan Lee Bashfully drawn by loveable ol’ Dick Ayers Boldly inked by faithful ol’ Paul Reinman Bravely lettered by fearless ol’ S. Rosen 16 pages
We’re throwing two issues of Tales to Astonish together because the Avengers’ series only leaves so much space for Giant-Man/Wasp adventures and because Wasp’s hairdo is difficult to reconcile with Avengers continuity.
Last issue, Hank was ready to propose. He’d even bought a ring. But then he got insecure and doubted that Wasp really loved him. By the end of the issue, he seemed more confident in Jan’s love. But I still don’t see a ring on her finger and there’s no mention of it this issue.
Wasp gets a new addition to her arsenal: a stinger. It’s a compressed air gun. She’d previously had a weapon she referred to as a stinger, but it was just a pin she held. In issue 46, they refer to it as though it’s a regular part of the arsenal. She’d picked up a pin the previous issue. In the backup story of this issue, which takes place before this story, she’ll also pick up a random pin and refer to it as her sting.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: September 10, 1963 Cover: December 1963 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: George Bell 22 pages
The cover tells me not to dare reveal Hate-Monger’s identity. I fear that I am going to have to do just that. Spoilers ahead.
This is George Roussos’ first time on Fantastic Four and the effects are noticeable. He makes less effort than the other inkers to smooth out Kirby, and if anything only emphasizes the sharp angles of the faces, creating a more exaggerated style. The first page is meant to show the FF looking angry and hate-filled, so perhaps is not the ideal introduction to his take on the characters.
The first page lets me know this will be the most unusual, thought-provoking tale I will read this season. Often, Stan uses hyperbole in these opening pages. But I think the ending (yes, the one I plan to spoil; you are warned) more than lives up to Stan’s promises.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: July 2, 1963 Cover: 1963 25 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inking: Steve Ditko 6 pages
This is a very odd story. Something of a remake. It takes pages 2-4 of the second story from Amazing Spider-Man #1 and redraws them, expanding the story to 6 pages. This time, drawn by Kirby and inked by Ditko.
I don’t know why. The opening editor’s note claims it’s because fans demanded it, but Stan Lee always claimed that fans demanded everything. In the original, each member takes one go at Spidey. This time, each gets two.
Sue has a different haircut and each artist renders her invisibility differently. Ditko makes her shape clearer. In contrast, it’s Kirby who more clearly renders Johnny’s outline when he’s aflame.
Rather than offer any commentary of possible general interest to a story we’ve already talked about, I’m going to focus on the academic, and just give a full comparison of the stories. Some dialogue is copied, some slightly changed, some original. Some panels are new, while others closely match original panels. All seem redrawn from scratch.
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.
I think Ditko poses Spidey a little more organically.
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.
