thor – Page 9 – Coke & Comics

Journey Into Mystery #108

At the Mercy of Loki, Prince of Evil!

Featuring: Thor
Release: July 2, 1964
Cover: September 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, the idol of millions!
Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, the toast of the town!
Inked by: Chic Stone, the man of the hour!
Lettered by Art Simek, the people’s choice!
18 pages

Stan Lee grants himself the tagline that will eventually get applied (usually self-applied) frequently to Ben Grimm: “the idol of millions”.

We get an offbeat opening sequence. Maybe it’s cool. I find it stretches credibility, though I confess a difficulty expressing what doesn’t in Thor stories. Thor appears to go mad, striking the ground with his hammer to create an earthquake. This shaking threw a truck off the ground a few blocks away, just high enough to not hit a boy. I find it hard to believe Thor could be that precise, and that nobody else was injured. Thor claims there was only some damaged property, which could be paid for out of the Avengers emergency fund.

The notable event in this issue is the first meeting of Thor and Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange had just barely defeated Baron Mordo and was left weakened by the battle. Strange fights Mordo pretty often. The last battle we saw was a few months ago and didn’t seem to leave Strange this weakened. There is likely some untold battle between Strange and Mordo that precedes this story.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1, Story B

The Secrets of Spider-Man!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: June 11, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
By: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
9ish pages

Confession time, here’s what I got. I haven’t decided the best way to break up issues with a lot of bonus content like this. My posts don’t cover entire issues, but stories within them. So what is a “story”?

This issue has 3 comic-sequence-like features: the main feature of 41 pages we just covered; a 9-numbered-page sequence we are covering now; and, a 3-page sequence I’ll cover in the subsequent post.

After the main feature, there is a 14-page gallery of all Spider-Man’s villains from the first 15 issues of the series: the Burglar, Chameleon, the Vulture, the terrible Tinkerer, Dr. Octopus, Sandman, Doctor Doom, the Lizard, the Living Brain, Electro, the Enforcers and the Big Man, Mysterio, the Green Goblin, and Kraven the Hunter. That’s quite the collection of villains for only 15 issues. All original except Dr. Doom. No other series can match.

That brings us to the featurette which is the main subject of this post: “The Secrets of Spider-Man!” This isn’t a narrative story, but it is told in standard comic panel format. We get a recap of the origin of Spider-Man followed by a detailed analysis of his powers and web shooters.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual 1

The Sinister Six!

Featuring: Spider-Man
Release: June 11, 1964
Cover: 1964
25 cents
Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Steve Ditko
Lettered by: S. Rosen
41 pages

It’s 1964. You’re young. You don’t have a lot of money. But you know some math. Most comics cost 12 cents. This one costs 25. You could get two comics for that price! But wait… those two comics between them would only net you 42-46 story pages. This one promises 72 pages! 72 big pages, at that.

Indeed, this first story is 41 pages, enough to give you your money’s worth. But there’re over 30 pages of bonus features as well!

Plus, most of those comics will give you one super-villain, two at most. This cover promises a sinister six villains for your hard-earned quarter.

If you’re not yet sold to drop two bits, the first page should do it. Aunt May and Betty Brant have been captured by the Sinister Six, and Spider-Man has lost his powers! Now that’s a story!

Tales to Astonish #59

Enter: The Hulk

Featuring: Giant-Man and Wasp
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: September 1965
12 cents
Rapidly written by: Stan Lee
Dashingly drawn by: Dick Ayers
Instantly inked by: P. Reinman
Lazily lettered by: Art Simek
18 pages

Art Simek’s lettering is referred to as “lazy”. Indeed, he seems to have forgotten Paul Reinman’s name, crediting him as R. Reinman, rather than the usual P. Reinman.

This is Ayers’ first time drawing the Hulk. In fact, it’s the first time anybody but Kirby or Ditko has drawn the Hulk.

It’s clear that prior to this point, Hulk is not yet the character modern readers (or TV viewers or moviegoers) have come to know. Steve Ditko will take over the art/plotting duties on Hulk’s new ongoing series, and often gets the credit for inventing Hulk as we know him. But it seems to me all the groundwork is laid right here by Lee and Ayers. This issue introduces a more recognizable version of Hulk.

For several months, Hulk has been bouncing title to title (Avengers, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man) ever since his own series got cancelled a year earlier. This guest appearance in Giant-Man’s comic is his final bounce, and a transition into the return of his ongoing solo adventures in this very title. This is why they cancelled Wasp’s solo adventure backups, to make room for Hulk’s return. And this time, Hulk’s series will endure for a long time.

They refer to Hulk as the “Jolly Green Giant”. Think they took that name off a mascot for canned vegetables.

Besides being the lead-in to his new series, this is a significant issue for Hulk. We learn his full name for the first time: Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. This explains why Stan sometimes called him Bruce and sometimes Bob. I had assumed Stan just got careless with details.

Avengers #7

Their Darkest Hour!

Featuring: Avengers
Release: June 9, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Magnificently written by: Stan Lee
Majestically illustrated by: Jack Kirby
Masterfully inked by: Chic Stone
Meticulously lettered by: Art Simek
22 pages

In Tales of Suspense #56, Tony Stark very briefly flirted with giving up his Iron Man identity. He now faces a board of inquiry for his failure to answer an Avengers call. At that very moment, Odin is rendering judgment on Enchantress and Executioner for their part in the events of Journey Into Mystery #103. These events show the ever-tightening interconnectedness of the series.

Recall that Thor’s title went over a dozen issues without referencing or being referenced by any other series. There was no evidence it was set in the same world as that of the other heroes. Now, they are rather intertwined.

But continuity brings continuity errors, even when a single writer is nominally writing every title. The inquiry is tricky to reconcile with the details of Tales of Suspense #56 in a few ways. Thor charges Iron Man with ignoring a call. However, the Avengers didn’t really know how to contact him and never reached him. They talked to Mr. Stark’s secretary. She was able to talk to Mr. Stark, but never (as far as anyone knows) Iron Man. It would be like somebody who doesn’t know my phone number charging me with not answering my phone they didn’t call.

Secondly, they were trying to contact Iron Man to ask him to look into the Unicorn. Within a couple hours of that failed call, Iron Man did indeed find, battle, and defeat the Unicorn. So they attempted to contact Iron Man, didn’t know how to, never reached him, and thus it was, say, 2 hours between their attempt at contact and his completing the mission they sought to assign him. That hardly seems worth an inquiry.

There was no mention of this coming inquiry in the Iron Man comic. In fact, at the time, the Avengers all seemed to agree that Iron Man was in his rights to live his own life.

Journey Into Mystery #107

When the Grey Gargoyle Strikes!

Featuring: Thor
Release: June 2, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan Lee, who needs the money
Drawn by: Jack Kirby, who enjoys the practice
Inked by: Chic Stone, who loves the publicity
Lettered by: Art Simek, whoever he is!
18 pages

We get a significant new addition to the canon of Marvel villains with the Grey Gargoyle. He’s got a pretty cool hook; he turns people to stone. In whatever early comics I first saw the character in, I didn’t fully appreciate the name. I got the alliteration and that gargoyles are often rendered in stone. But there’s a little more to it that I think later artists would fail to capture. We see in this initial image of the character that Kirby really has gone out of his way to make it so he can look like a gargoyle in the right pose.

It’s a particularly good opening splash page, and that’s before we even get to the light poetry of the narration rhyming: “small” with “all”.

Tales of Suspense #56

The Uncanny Unicorn!

Featuring: Iron Man
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written with consummate skill by: Stan Lee
Illustrated with blazing drama by: Don Heck
Lettered with bloodshot eyes by: S. Rosen
18 pages

The time of the science fiction short stories has ended, allowing this comic to devote a full 18 pages to telling Iron Man’s story. I’m sure that making it longer was the missing ingredient in making it good.

This issue, Iron Man battles the Unicorn. I’m undecided if that name conjures a powerful Soviet menace. It doesn’t sound like something a tough bad guy would call themself, but then I wouldn’t want to have to fight a unicorn.

The character arc of the issue is that Tony Stark decides to give up being Iron Man and live a normal life. He then feels guilty when Happy is injured by the Unicorn because he had neglected his responsibilities.

Strange Tales #123, Story B

The Challenge of Loki!

Featuring: Dr. Strange
Release: May 12, 1964
Cover: August 1964
12 cents
Written by: Stan (Miracle Man) Lee
Illustrated by: Steve (Marvel Man) Ditko
Inked by: George (Mystical Man) Bell
Lettered by: Art (Magical Man) Simek
9 pages

This is the most cover real estate Dr. Strange has yet gotten. A full vertical half of the page. Really moving up in the world.

Stan’s “clever credits” aren’t entirely original this time. He refers to himself as Miracle Man… but that was already a name he himself gave to a Fantastic Four villain. Marvelman is the British superhero who is not actionably copied from Captain Marvel.

For the entirety of the series, as well as of Amazing Spider-Man, Ditko has done all his own art. For the best. For the next three issues, George Roussos will be inking Ditko on Dr. Strange. It is a sad sight to see.

Stan the narrator often speaks directly to the audience, and he often apologizes to them. I haven’t taken note of any apologies prior to this, but it almost seems like he’s trying to apologize that Thor looks different from normal. Because Ditko’s style isn’t Kirby’s.

Journey Into Mystery #106, Story B

The Brave

Featuring: Tales of Asgard
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written with passion by: Stan Lee
Drawn with pageantry by: Jack Kirby
Inked with power by: Vince Colletta
Lettered with pride by: Art Simek
5 pages

We recently met Vince Colletta over in Daredevil. This issue begins Vince Colletta’s long relationship with Thor, spanning almost a decade. He will be the regular inker on “Tales of Asgard” from here on out, and soon graduate to the main title. He will be the inker for over 60 consecutive issues and remain a frequent inker on the title thereafter.

Contrasting his work with, say, Chic Stone, we see more hatchings to represent shadow and shape than we have been seeing, yet less crispness. The features are often softer and less defined. I’ve seen it described as “atmospheric”.

The next two chapters of “Tales of Asgard” will focus on Balder. Let’s review his history.

Journey Into Mystery #106

The Thunder God Strikes Back!

Featuring: Thor
Release: May 5, 1964
Cover: July 1964
12 cents
Written fairly well by: Stan Lee
Drawn not too badly by: Jack Kirby
Inked kinda nice by: Chic Stone
Lettered pretty fair by: Art Simek
18 pages

This issue picks up less than 60 seconds after the last issue ended. Cobra has stolen Thor’s hammer with a machine and Thor is about to revert to Don Blake.

I can’t believe we have another 18 pages of Thor fighting Cobra and Mr. Hyde.

This idea of spreading a story over multiple issues is becoming a thing. We made it through over a year of stories without it ever happening. Not only were stories resolved in an issue, but they were usually resolved within a dozen pages, leaving room for other stories. It takes a hefty 36 pages to conclude this battle. The famous origin of Spider-Man took only 11.

The first hint of change was the Fantastic Four battle with Dr. Doom taking place over Fantastic Four #16–17. But even that was really two distinct stories; the first just ended with Doom’s escape, so they had another Doom story right after. Amazing Spider-Man #11–12 is a similar flavor; each issue tells a complete story, but Dr. Octopus remains the villain across the issues. We’ve had the one big story, the Hulk story in Fantastic Four #25–26, which itself tied into plot threads from Avengers #2-5. But that was epic enough to justify its length. Giant-Man and Wasp inaugurated the pointless two-parter with their battle against the Human Top. Thor’s title has gone all in on the idea, as his battles with both Mr. Hyde and Tomorrow Man took two issues for no particular reason. Iron Man recently followed suit with his battle against Mandarin, also stretched over two issues.

The multi-part story will soon become the rule rather than the exception, including two giant upcoming epics. These multi-part arcs make deciding on a reading order difficult. In general, I’ve been trying to go month by month, but I’d also like to keep these multi-part stories together, which is going to require some shifting around.