Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: January 4, 1966 Cover: March 1966 12 cents Script: Stan Lee Art: Jack Kirby Inking: V. Colletta Lettering: Artie Simek 5 pages
Thy mission is ended! The danger you have been seeking is here– in the City of the Golden Spires! Return then at once– to Asgard!
Thor and his crew sail to find an unknown foe, but keep facing random dangers. At present, Loki has been captured by Queen Ula of Thryheim, and Thor has come to save him.
Ula wants Thor to be her King. If he agrees, she will release Loki. Else, she will kill his crew.
It’s important to note that Ula had nothing to do with cracking the Odinsword. She is not the unknown foe they are searching for, just a woman who wants to marry Thor.
Featuring: Thor Release: January 4, 1966 Cover: March 1966 12 cents Stan Lee the literary lion! Jack Kirby the pencilling pussycat! V. Colletta the delineating dragon! Artie Simek the lettering looks it! 16 pages
“By the cloven hooves of Pan!! What doth it take to defeat the Son of Odin!??!” “A stronger arm! A stouter heart! A nobler soul! And none doth Hercules possess, thou blabbering, blustering, boastful buffoon!”
This is the first issue of Thor. It’s also the 126th issue of Thor.
Which is a little confusing. Last month (well, last week for us), we read Journey Into Mystery #125, which starred Thor, as it has for the last 40+ issues. Now the comic will just be called Thor.
Why not call it Thor #1?
For complicated and probably shady legal and financial reasons, they found it more sensible to keep the numbering of the old magazine.
Thor’s name has been prominent on cover going back to issue 104. But it’s no longer “Journey Into Mystery with the Mighty Thor”. It’s just: “The Mighty Thor”. The official title as seen in the indicia is simply “Thor”.
Starting a new superhero title that keeps the numbering of the horror title will become a common practice… though not soon. We’ll talk more at the end of this post about Marvel’s history of naming comics. Let’s get into the comic, starting with the title.
Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: December 2, 1965 Cover: February 1966 12 cents None but Marvel’s Stan Lee could tell such a tale! None but Marvel’s Jack Kirby could draw such a tale! None but Marvel’s Vince Colletta could ink such a tale! None but Marvel’s Artie Simek could be such a pussycat! 5 pages
We come to Thor’s final adventure in Journey Into Mystery, the series concluding after 125 issues. We’ll see next month what they have instead. Such a finale would be a good time for an overview of the series as a whole, but I gave a summary to celebrate the 100th issue, so I’ll just point to that. It may even spoil what’s coming next month.
“By the bristling beard of Odin,” Thor exclaims. We’ll start hearing that oath a lot. Have we heard it before? I failed to note it if we did.
Thor’s battle with the Demon concludes pretty readily and Thor takes the final Norn Stone to return to Odin.
Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: November 4, 1965 Cover: January 1966 12 cents How gallant, this script by: Stan Lee How glorious, this artwork by: Jack Kirby How gracious, this inking by: Vince Colletta How come? This lettering by: Artie Simek 5 pages
Is it not passing strange that the Grim One– the taker of countless lives in battle–should be so eager to protect the single life of Balder?
Ah, the Odinsword Saga. I made the decision not to read the whole thing at once, but that means we need to remind ourselves where we left off. In theory, the impetus for the Saga is that an unknown enemy has cracked the Odinsword, and Thor is leading a voyage to find the culprit. Along the way, Loki schemes to kill Thor, and the voyage encounters obstacles unrelated to the main quest. They just resolved one, involving a Dragon and Balder blowing a Horn. This issue introduces another such obstacle.
Featuring: Thor Release: November 4, 1965 Cover: January 1966 12 cents Story by: Stan (The Man) Lee Pencilling by: Jack (King) Kirby Delineation by: Vince (the Prince) Colletta Lettering by: Artie (Sugar Lips) Simek 16 pages
“Those arms of his can crush concrete! And yet!–“ “He’s holdin’ that kid as gently as if she was made outta egg-shells.”
Stan has a different nickname for the creators every issue it seems. But this is not the first time he’s referred to himself as “The Man” and to Jack as “King”, and these nicknames are the ones that will stick with them across the decades. Despite its rhyming qualities, “Vince the Prince” will not stick. I have no comment on the prevalence of this nickname for Artie.
The newsstand is selling the latest issue of Strange Tales, emphasizing what I’ve noted before: just how great a month for comics this is, perhaps the best in Marvel’s history.
Thor is reading a newspaper which is reporting on the Demon. As we’ve noted, there are no really clear stopping points in Thor’s saga anymore. Most ongoing threads resolved last issue, except last issue also began this Demon story, which is still just getting started; Thor and the Demon will finally meet in this issue’s final panels. That story involves a Vietnamese Witch Doctor finding a Norn Stone, so ultimately still traces back to the Trial of the Gods from issue 116 and Thor’s battle with the Viet Cong in issue 117. Jane remains in the hospital from smoke inhalation after being kidnapped by Harris Hobbs, as we saw in issue 122. While the Demon saga will resolve itself next issue, this issue, as the cover notes, also introduces Hercules to the mix, and a story which will continue on. The last year of Thor tales have covered a very short span of time.
Featuring: Iron Man Release: June 8, 1965 Cover: September 1965 12 cents Story by: Stan Lee, the idol of Millions! Art by: Don Heck, the toast of two continents! Inking by: V. Colletta, the pride of the bullpen! Lettering by: Sam Rosen, the last angry letterer! 12 pages
But, Iron Man must accept the challenge! It’s a matter of national pride… of prestige!
There are many stories I consider iconic. And, usually, who knows how this impression forms. Decades of reading comics and talking about comics has given me a sense of some stories that stand out.
I think of this as an iconic story and I know exactly why I think that. Very early in my Marvel reading, I also collected Marvel cards. The 1990 set had a set of famous battles. This was one of the chosen battles.
We’ve seen one famous battle (per that card deck) before, the Hulk/Thing fight from Fantastic Four #25–26. And are currently in the middle of another, the “Nick Fury vs. Hydra” battle begun in Strange Tales #135.
Of course, Titanium Man has one other claim to fame. Paul McCartney selected him alongside Magneto as villains to write a song about. (He also references Crimson Dynamo.)
The MCP wants Iron Man to attend the wedding in the middle of the events of this issue. I don’t see why it can’t just be before this issue. Maybe I’m missing some subtlety. As the issue opens, he’s spent weeks working on this sub-miniature reverser. He could have taken a brief break to attend a wedding.
Continuity does get complicated here though. Avengers #20 is concurrent to Tales of Suspense #70. Avengers #19 takes place in the middle of the Hydra Saga, yet Tony Stark’s life gets complicated starting now, so issue 69 or before is the best chance for his appearances in Strange Tales, including his appearances after the Hydra saga. And of course Iron Man shares a comic with Cap. As Nick Fury does with Dr. Strange, the latter of which we are months behind on reading.
For a reading order, we’ll read the Iron Man/Cap stories, then the Avengers stories, then the Dr. Strange/Nick Fury stories. But we’ll talk about what must be concurrent and what must fit where as we go.
Titanium Man is the Soviet answer to Iron Man. He issues a public challenge to prove Soviet superiority. Titanium is more powerful than Iron, so his armor is more powerful, but also slower and bulkier.
Featuring: X-Men Release: September 2, 1965 Cover: November 1965 12 cents Stan Lee, D.S. (Doctor of Story) Jack Kirby, D.L. (Dean of Layout) Jay Gavin, M.A. (Master of Art) V. Colletta, B.I. (Bachelor of Inking) Artie Simek, T.O.L. (Tired of Lettering) 20 pages
The world must be shocked! The danger was never greater! We’ve been so busy worrying about cold wars, hot wars, atom bombs and the like, that we’ve overlooked the greatest menace of all! Mutants walk among us! Hidden! Unknown! Waiting–! –Waiting for their moment to strike! They are mankind’s most deadly enemy! For only they have the actual power to conquer the human race! Even as we speak, they are out there– scheming, plotting, planning– thinking we don’t suspect! But– there is still time to smash them! If we strike now!
We just read the wedding of Reed and Sue, followed by a retelling of the story form 1996. The retelling focused on a child named Mark caught up in the chaos. A child wearing a Fantastic Four t-shirt who idolized the superheroes, but was afraid of the X-Men, because they were mutants.
We’ll soon read Marvels #2, which will focus on this central dichotomy. The inspiration for Marvels #2 came from Kurt Busiek looking at the same continuity we are now. The X-Men attended a wedding, all seeming in good shape. But we know that the X-Men battled the Stranger and Juggernaut in a single day, and then were badly injured for a period of time. We further know, because Human Torch helped the X-Men battle Juggernaut, that the wedding had not yet occurred. As we read the coming issues, we will see the X-Men’s adventures leave them little space for a wedding after this issue.
The X-Men must attend the wedding within the pages of this issue. This issue affords them only a space of a couple days between getting their bandages removed and getting captured by the Sentinels. Thus we know very tightly when the wedding occurred.
The wedding was a big media circus. Celebrities like Tony Stark and Millie the Model were in attendance. The Fantastic Four fan club was outside cheering. It was front page news.
The Fantastic Four are celebrities and people love them.
On the days surrounding the wedding, Trask would go on the radio to talk about the mutant menace. And the public listened and took him seriously, and was sympathetic with his plan to create mutant-hunting robots to destroy the mutant scourge.
It’s a very strange dichotomy. The Fantastic Four gained their powers through cosmic accident. The X-Men were born with theirs, perhaps because their parents had been exposed to nuclear radiation. The “Children of the Atom”. That difference seems so insignificant, and yet, this is exactly how bigotry works.
We’ll explore this dichotomy further when we get to Marvels #2.
These continuity considerations and thematic contrast are why we’re reading this X-Men arc now, two months early. The FF wedding issue was released the same day as X-Men #13, which noted the wedding was “soon”. X-Men has been published bi-monthly, which doesn’t help. But we see on the cover that X-Men is now monthly, so we’ll have less alignment trouble in the future.
The issue opens with the X-Men recovering from the injuries left by the Juggernaut.
We see Professor X remind Beast not to think of “normal” humans as inferior. Probably they should find better language than to refer to one group of people as “normal”.
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
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.
Featuring: Tales of Asgard Release: October 5, 1965 Cover: December 1965 12 cents Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: JacK Kirby Inker: Vince Colletta Letterer: Artie Simek 5 pages
I’ve lost track of how many issues we’ve been caught in this storm headed for these deadly Pillars, which turn out to be the claws of the Utgard Dragon. But we finally seem to resolve that.
