tales of suspense – Coke & Comics

Tales of Suspense #78, Story B

Them!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: March 10, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Wondrous words by: Stan Lee
Awesome art by: Jack Kirby
Incredible inking by: Frank Giacoia
Lop-sided lettering by: Artie Simek
10 pages

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Tales of Suspense #78	Reading order	Fantastic Four #48
Tales of Suspense #78	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #79

…the world will soon tremble before the power of– Them!

In Captain America’s recent battle with Batroc, Batroc was working for some secret cabal. In the pages of Strange Tales, we learned the Fixer was working for some secret cabal called Them. They had some plot involving miniature brains. I don’t know if these two cabals are connected.

Nick Fury confronts Captain America at Avengers HQ. This is their first meeting in the present. Captain America refers to him as “Sarge”, but it’s Colonel Fury now. They reference fighting together, presumably referring to Sgt. Fury #13. That is the only prior meeting we know of.

When Fury notes Cap hasn’t aged much, Cap says Fury seems pretty well-preserved himself. Is this just a compliment? Or a first hint that Fury uses some form of special formula to keep himself young. They last met 20 years ago. Fury could have been in his ’20s then and ’40s now.

Tales of Suspense #78

Crescendo!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: March 10, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Spectacular story by Stan Lee
Pace-setting pencilling by Gene Colan
Indescribable inking by Gary Michaels
Lonesome lettering by Artie Simek
12 pages

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Tales of Suspense #77, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #78, Story B
Tales of Suspense #77, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #78, Story B

Ultimo, who never really lived– is now truly dead!

Stark factories are closed because Senator Byrd has cancelled the Defense contracts. Tony Stark is missing because Iron Man is in Asia battling Ultimo, the android creation of the Mandarin.

We get a cool time lapse splash page. Ditko often did these time lapse panels in his Spider-Man stories.

Of course, the flip side of all these splash pages and large panels is we get fewer panels to tell the story.

Tales of Suspense #77, Story B

If a Hostage Should Die!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: February 10, 1966
Cover: May 1966
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Layouts: Jack Kirby
Penciling: John Romita
Inking: Frank Ray
Lettering: Sam Rosen
Kibitzing: Irving Forbush
10 pages

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Tales of Suspense #77	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #78
Tales of Suspense #77	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #78

Oh, Cap… Cap… will this war never end? Will we never be able to lead normal lives? How can we speak of love… when the world is in flames… when I don’t even know your name!

With famed romance artist John Romita on pencils, we will learn the story of the “girl from Cap’s past”. There’s going to be some confusion here. A lot of confusion, in fact. So let’s review what we know.

Two issues ago, Cap encountered a female SHIELD agent who reminded him of an old flame. This SHIELD agent has an older sister who once dated a man named Steve Rogers.

We see the final parting of Cap and this woman in his memory. We’ll recall it here for reference.

Not a lot of details about this woman to go off, but enough that this issue will find a dozen ways to contradict them.

A documentary about Cap’s role in the liberation of Paris stirs up Cap’s memories. He notes it’s been over 20 years. He lost her that day and never learned what became of her, if she survived the war or not.

“That lightning and thunder… it’s like the angry roar of the past… trying to capture me again!”

Tales of Suspense #77

Ultimo Lives!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: February 10, 1966
Cover: May 1966
12 cents
Homerically written by: Stan Lee
Heroically pencilled by: Adam Austin
Historically inked by: Gary Michaels
Hysterically lettered by: Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Strange Tales #145, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #77, Story B
Tales of Suspense #76, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #77, Story B

This is a grave moment in hour nation’s history! A time for patriotism… for dedication to the cause of freedom! There must be no special privileges for self-seeking opportunists like Stark, who flout their country’s laws!

Adam Austin has long since been unmasked as Gene Colan, but he is going back and forth between the two aliases. It’s worth noting that his art seems to improve each month.

Gary Michaels is a pseudonym for Jack Abel. He’s been working with Colan on this series off and on for a few issues now.

When we left off, Tony Stark was a prisoner of the Mandarin and Ultimo is rising. Confusingly, we’ve also seen Tony Stark filling in as the head of SHIELD since then. It’s hard to balance all the things one might want to in a reading order, and sometimes the chronology has to give. Stark’s appearances with SHIELD must take place either before or after this adventure. It’s hard because Tony’s just been pretty busy, and I like to keep the reading order relatively close to publication date.

Mandarin had thrown Stark’s attache case out the window, not realizing it contained the Iron Man armor. What can Stark do without his armor?

Mandarin kidnapped Stark from America to Asia via teleportation. Stark at the time had been in Senator Byrd’s car on the way to Congress to testify about the identity of Iron Man.

Tales of Suspense #76, Story B

The Gladiator, the Girl, and the Glory!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: January 11, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Script: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Art: Jazzy Johnny Romita
Lettering: Adorable Artie Simek
10 pages

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Tales of Suspense #75, Story B	Reading order	Tales to Astonish #75, Story B
Tales of Suspense #76	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #77

Is this my destiny? To have been given a second chance at life– only to lose everything I ever held dear? First, it was Bucky, the greatest sidekick a man ever had! Then, those many years ago, I can still remember her– promising to wait– no matter how long it might be-! Now– when I thought I had found her reborn– I’ve lost her again! And perhaps this time– it will be– forever!

For a story that’s introducing a pretty woman to Cap’s world, the late John Romita seems like the perfect artist. Though the woman is barely in this comic.

In fact, we’ve seen John Romita’s work on Captain America before way back in the 1950s, in his early days as an artist.

Romita won’t be returning to Cap regularly. He’s just filling in for Kirby here. He’s already the regular artist on Daredevil and may be taking over another title soon.

Recall where we left off. This Agent of SHIELD may be the younger sister of Cap’s WWII sweetheart. We don’t know her name. She has Inferno 42 and is protecting it from Batroc, but doesn’t realize it’s cracked and set to destroy New York within half hour. Cap and Batroc have teamed up to save the city.

Tales of Suspense #75, Story B

30 Minutes to Live!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: December 9, 1965
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Stan Lee, script
Jack Kirby, layout
Dick Ayers, pencil
J. Tartaglione, inks
Artie Simek, lettering
Irving Forbush, cheerleader
10 pages

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Strange Tales #143, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #76, Story B
Tales of Suspense #75	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #76

But, there was one other! Our lives touched for only a short time– but I’ve never forgotten her! I can still remember our final date– when she whispered to me thru trembling lips… “I’ll wait till you return, Steve! No matter how long– no matter what happens– I’ll wait for you, my darling…!”

We read this issue’s Iron Man story a little while ago, in which Happy had turned into a Freak. We saved this story to make sure it tied into to the issue of Strange Tales that referenced it.

It was a tricky call for reading order, as I don’t like to separate issues, so I’d prefer to have read this story with the Iron Man story, and continuity-wise, the issue of Strange Tales we’re tying into doesn’t fit in where we left off with the Iron Man story. But I just couldn’t find a good way to juggle all the things I’m juggling to assemble a reading order.

This is a good comic with lots going on to talk about. I had to make a checklist for myself to ensure I covered the 10 most important points.

Though we’d taken a pause in reading Cap’s story, there is no break between the beginning of this story and the end of the last. As we open, Cap is hurtling toward the sea after the defeat of the Sleepers.

Except last seen, he had a working parachute. Sometime between the issues, his parachute seems to have failed, so we get a dramatic opening.

We cut to some shadowy figures observing a test of Inferno 42. Nick Fury was aware of this item and had sent an agent to retrieve it. We learned this in Strange Tales #142. Also in that story, Fixer referred to a mysterious organization that was his benefactor, known as Them. Is that who these shadowy figures are?

Back to Cap, we get a great moment. The sailors are in awe of him. One had idolized him as a child.

I have a notion in my head of who these characters are, formed from reading decades of comics beyond these. Cap inspiring awe in those around him is part of my basic image of Cap. But it’s not necessarily something we’ve seen a lot of in these early comics. We did see examples in Cap’s return in Avengers #4. But it’s not yet that common, so every such example is notable, as together they will form the basis for that aspect of Cap’s character.

Tales of Suspense #76

Here Lies Hidden… The Unspeakable Ultimo!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: January 1, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Tenderly written by: Stan Lee
Lovingly pencilled by: Adam Austin
Gently delineated by: Gary Michaels
Finally lettered by: Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Tales of Suspense #75	Reading order	Sgt. Fury #26
Tales of Suspense #75, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #76, Story B

Look at you! Bedraggled and red-eyed! Too much celebrating last night, eh? I always said you were nothing but a playboy!

Marvel has given up on the idea of clean story breaks, which makes reading tricky when I’d like to put the stories together. This is part 3 of the Happy-as-The-Freak arc, but also part 1 of the Ultimo arc. Essentially they seem to want to end every issue on a cliffhanger, so they begin the next story now. I can’t just keep reading Iron Man. We already are getting ahead of the Captain America stories he shares the title with, because I need to align those with the SHIELD arc. And there’s a whole Marvel Universe to check in with. Which means I need to either break last issue with the Freak saga unresolved, or break after this issue with the Ultimo saga unresolved. The Freak saga resolves in about 2 pages, but the Ultimo saga really only takes up the last 2 pages. The ongoing Senator Byrd subplot dominates the middle bit. I don’t know. We’re reading this now, then we’ll take a break. And see what happens with Ultimo at a later date.

Where were we. The experimental treatment on Happy turned him into a Freak. Iron Man had a thing that might save Happy, at risk to himself.

Well, it worked.

This was all a fallout from the Titanium Man battle. That’s when Happy was injured saving Iron Man, and revealed he knew (or suspected) Tony’s secret. This is their first chance to talk since then.

Tales of Suspense #75

The Fury of… The Freak!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: December 9, 1965
Cover: March 1966
12 cents
Titanically written by: Stan Lee
Tremendously drawn by: Adam Austin
Tumultuously inked by: Gary Michaels
Timorously lettered by: Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Tales of Suspense #74, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #76
Tales of Suspense #74, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #75, Story B

He’s got to learn that Iron Man cannot work only for him, when the entire nation might benefit by his powers!

Happy Hogan has been turned into a Freak. A depowered Iron Man is in pursuit.

The Freak takes an interest in Pepper.

Senator Byrd has been a thorn in Iron Man’s side. Not a villain, but a nuisance. Does he have a point though? Should the powers of Iron Man benefit the entire nation, and not be controlled by a single corporation?

Tales of Suspense #74, Story B

The Final Sleep!

Featuring: Captain America
Release: November 11, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Blazing story: Stan Lee
Burning layouts: Jack Kirby
Blistering artwork: George Tuska
Burnt-out lettering: Artie Simek
10 pages

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Tales of Suspense #74	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #75
Tales of Suspense #74	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #75

Nazism, and all the evil it stood for, are dead! They must never live again!

Solid cover design.

This arc opened pretty strong. Red Skull vowed that his revenge would come 20 years after the day of his death on “Der Tag” when the Sleepers awakened. And the Sleepers turned out to be giant robots that combined together to make an even bigger robot. Solid premise. But hasn’t done much with it. We met one robot, then another. In the finale, we meet the third.

This is the brain, shaped like Red Skull’s head.

Tales of Suspense #74

If This Guilt Be Mine–!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: November 11, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Story: As only the fabulous Stan Lee can tell it!
Art: As only the fantastic Adam Austin can draw it!
Inking: As only the flamboyant Gary Michaels can delineate it!
Lettering: As only the frantic Artie Simek can scribble it!
12 pages

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Tales of Suspense #73, Story B	Reading order	Tales of Suspense #74, Story B
Tales of Suspense #73, Story B	Tales of Suspense	Tales of Suspense #74, Story B

Somehow– I feel as though my whole world is crashing down around me–!

Jack Abel returns under the Gary Michaels pseudonym. He’ll be the regular inker for a period of time.

Recall Happy had been badly injured during the battle with Titanium Man in issue 71, and last issue he was kidnapped from his hospital by the Black Knight. Iron Man rescued Happy and the Black Knight fell to his death, but now Iron Man is out of power.

To add a bizarre but strangely common wrinkle to the relationships, Pepper now decides she loves Iron Man and hates Tony. It used to be the other way around. Tony loves Pepper but can’t be with her because he has a bad heart, so he’s been intentionally cruel. Happy loves Pepper, but Pepper couldn’t love him back because of Tony, but now she’s over Tony and in love with Iron Man.