Featuring: Wasp
Release: February 4, 1964
Cover: May 1964
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script and art: Larry Lieber
Inking: George Bell
Lettering: Sherigail
5 pages
This is the first lettering we’ve seen attributed to “Sherigail”, a pseudonym for Morrie Kuramoto. The name is a combination of both his wife and daughter’s names.
I originally attributed the lettering to Ray Holloway. Thanks to Nel Yomtov for the correction.
I recognize that “gypsy” is an outdated and offensive word, but it’s in the title of the comic, and it’s how the comic describes the strange alien visitor.
Though the era of weird tales is ending, through the Wasp’s stories we get two more in this title.
Wasp narrates the tale of Gorko, whom she describes as a gypsy. This is a standard “comeuppance” tale. Gorko turns out to be from the 9th Galaxy, where he takes Radzik to an interplanetary zoo.
I think the idea is that Wasp’s stories are of her own creation, and so don’t describe actual events in the Marvel Universe. It should thus be considered a coincidence that Radzik shares a surname with Gorilla Man.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆, 37/100
Significance: ★★☆☆☆
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Ant-Man/Giant-Man vol. 2.
You can find the story in Ant-Man/Giant-Man Epic Collection vol. 1: The Man in the Ant Hill or Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Wasp/Jan van Dyne
- Dr. Henry Pym
- Gorko
- Baron Radzik
Story notes:
- Gorko can turn lead into gold.
#170 story in reading order
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