November 1963: Ant-Man Becomes Giant Man!

Tales to Astonish #49

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A vicious alien being nicknamed The Eraser (because he can erase people) is kidnapping atomic scientists and teleporting them to Dimension Z. Dr. Henry Pym, not only a really good looking professor but also one of the three top atomic scientists in the world, is monkeying around with his growth serum and has just about perfected the antithesis of his shrinking pill. Despite the danger of breaking up his “The Two Smallest Heroes on the Planet” act with The Wasp, Pym has decided he’ll get more respect if villains can actually see him. The first experiment is not what you’d call a success and his house is destroyed. Not to worry though, as this is the Marvel Universe. Just as he’s nearing the perfect dosage, he’s escorted to Dimension Z to discover that the bosses there are hungry for atomic power and have kidnapped the other two brilliant scientists. Yo-yo-ing between Gigantism and Teensyism, Hank Pym (with an assist from The Wasp) crushes the dastardly scheme and zips back to Dimension A (?) with geniuses intact. 

PE: It’s in the pages of Tales to Astonish #49 that we finally learn that there are 26 dimensions and Henry Pym has just been transported to the last one on the list (unless there are also numbered dimensions as well): Dimension Z!

JS: Funny. I feel like I've been in Dimension ZZZZZZ! 

PE: What’s more amazing than a scientist who can grow large or small with a single pill? The same scientist can also rebuild his house in just a couple of comic panels! Pym’s house is destroyed when he becomes “Gianter-Man” on the first page of the story but, miraculously, he’s back to conducting tests in that same house by the second page.

JS: I think the contractor used unstable molecules...

PE: I’m staying tuned just to see if Janet can keep from blundering and calling Hank “Giant-Man” when he’s actually “Ant-Man” and vice versa. We’ve been told (endlessly) that, despite his “shrinkage,” Ant-Man retains all the power of his normal sized body when he’s The World’s Smallest Hero. Evidently, that adage does not hold true when Pym becomes Giant-Man, as he seems to have Giant-Man strength. My head hurts just keeping up with all this science.

PE: You’ve all been breathlessly awaiting this issue, thinking that the quality of the stories would grow proportionately with Hank Pym’s new alter ego. Ummm…

JS: And if gi(ANT) man isn't enough to excite you, we've got the menace of The Eraser! It sure feels like they've had to come up with 100+ horrible characters to end up with a handful that deserve to stick around.

PE: Incredibly enough, Bill Mantlo would resurrect the fourth-tier Eraser 13 years later in Marvel Two-In-One #15, where the newly-christened Living Eraser would battle The Thing and Morbius, the Living Vampire. Just goes to show you that even the lousy villains get a second chance.

Strange Tales #114

The Human Torch

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"The Human Torch Meets Captain America"

The Torch is busy practicing in the yard with Invisible Girl when his pals show up to tell him that Captain America is back and plans to make an appearance at the antique auto show in town today! At the show, crooks steal an antique car. Johnny goes after them, but Captain America appears on the scene, unhappy that the Torch has interfered. As usual, the citizens of Glenville laud the new hero and ignore Johnny Storm. Even Doris Evans, Johnny's girlfriend, thinks the red, white and blue hero is dreamy. After Captain America helps the car thieves escape from prison, the Torch chases them, and they reveal that Cap planned the robbery. Cap and the Torch fight, but eventually Johnny gets the upper hand and unmasks Cap, revealing him to be The Acrobat (see Strange Tales 106). Johnny wistfully reads an old Captain America comic book and wonders what ever happened to his boyhood hero.

Jack: An editor's note says that this story was a test to see if readers want Captain America to return.

JS: It was clearly done to sell books. I wonder how many readers were disappointed like me when they realized they had been hoodwinked. I should have known better, considering it was, in fact, a Human Torch tale.

PE: Well, actually, you should have known better because you know Marvel history and what's about to happen in a couple months. 

Jack: On the cover, it refers to the Golden Age of Comics and the Marvel Age--when were those terms first used? 

Jack: Captain America is obviously an impostor from early in the story.

JS: You're in luck, Peter's an authority on imposter Captain America's.

Jack: Dick Ayers takes a month off and lets Kirby draw Cap again.

Dr. Strange

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"The Return of the Omnipotent Baron Mordo"

Dr. Strange returns for his third story after a two-issue hiatus, in response to readers' "enthusiastic mail." Sir Clive Bentley calls Dr Strange from London, requesting help. The master of the mystic arts responds, only to be trapped by Baron Mordo's candle, which gives off a paralyzing vapor. Strange uses his mental powers to summon a nearby girl to Bentley's castle; she arrives and snuffs out the candle before its flame dies and ends the magician's life.

Strange and Mordo's spirit selves battle until Mordo disappears. The story ends as Strange consults with The Ancient One in Tibet and anticipates Mordo's next attack.

JS: One of the things I like about Dr. Strange is that he doesn't necessarily look like a hero. He almost has a Snidely Whiplash look.

Jack: Dr. Strange will need another adversary if this is to continue—stories two and three are basically the same.

JS: Yeah, although this one mostly happened in reality, and not just the astral plane, where Baron Mordo's bad hair really stands out.

Jack: This is one of Ditko's more boring art jobs--three of five pages are nine equal panels and not much happens.

The Avengers #2

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The Space Phantom can assume any human vessel he desires (forcing the real person into a limbo until the alien takes another form). The vessels he desires at the moment are the newly formed super-group The Avengers. One by one, The Wasp, Hulk, Giant-Man, and Iron Man are possessed by the crafty creature and forced to do battle with one another. It’s only when Space Phantom attempts to overtake Thor, who is a God not a human, that The Avengers are able to send The Phantom into his own limbo. The fighting takes a toll on the group though and The Hulk decides he’s better off a solo act (with no book to go to though). The remaining heroes ponder what may be in store for them in the near future now that the green goliath is roaming the free world without a leash. They’ll find out very quickly.

PE: Like the episode before it, “The Avengers Battle The Space Phantom” is a casebook of tedious writing and lazy art. The Space Phantom is a villain with a potentially deadly power: he can transform himself into anyone. So, what does he do? He hatches a plan to morph into each member of the super-team for the sole purpose of initiating arguments. There has to be a quicker way of conquering earth. Kirby's art looks like photo-shop or one of those Marvel cartoons of the 1960s. The backgrounds are barely filled in.

JS: Yawn! Okay, so at least we got the freakiest looking villain since old Longface himself (The Wizard). But Ye Ole Space Phantom has a Wolverine hairstyle, decades before it would become all the rage. 

PE: Can The Wasp come off as more vacuous? Her constant comments like “Hmmm, he might be dangerous but he’s a hunk” or “I’d sure like to get to know that dreamy Thor better” make the Kirby/Lee team appear a bit, oh I don’t know, immature.

JS: What's with Thor pissing and moaning about The Hulk's shorts? 

PE: More in-team fighting from The House of Ideas. Iron Man calls Thor “Long Hair.” Hulk calls Giant Man stupid. The Wasp calls Thor adorable. Hulk calls Iron Man “rustpot.” How long before the novelty of bickering superheroes who come together in the end for the betterment of mankind wears thin for Stan Lee? 

JS: Ah, just two issues in, and it's one big happy family.
 

PE: The Space Phantom must thank his lucky stars when Rick Jones shows up to give him a brief bio on their history together.Of course, Rick must have sunstroke as he tells The Hulk that when he's on holiday he's Don Blake rather than Bruce Banner. Damn that Deadline Doom!

PE: Iron Man’s “chest plate accessory compartment” which houses a plethora of “expandable” devices continues to amaze me. We’ve only seen the beginning of it over in our coverage of Tales of Suspense. Here, Stark is able to hook up a huge hammer to his armor, one which ostensibly can fold up into a nice handkerchief size and be stored away for future use. Anyone out there seen a diagram of the full contents of Tony Stark’s “CPAC”? And say it ain’t so that Iron Man can unfurl a fully-stocked bar complete with stools but his suit will rust instantly if rained on!

Tales of Suspense #47

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The army is having problems with Stark Industries' new tanks: they seem to be melting. Though the military may suspect that Tony Stark is just another American businessman (ie taking billions of dollars and skimming off the top while using low-grade materials), we know differently, don't we, True Believers? Yes, the truth is that one of Stark's disgraced competitors, Bruno Horgan, has stumbled on the secret of iron-melting! Iron Man must reveal The Melter and stop his nasty hobby before Stark Industries is ruined. But what can Iron Man do when his newest foe has the power to melt his toughest iron suit? A bit of "rabbit up my sleeve" finally defeats The Melter but he escapes down a sewer hole. Is he drowned or will he resurface some day?

PE: As with most of this month's Marvel villains (or any month's, for that matter), we get a lot of head-scratching before Stan christens our villain The Melter. I'd have opted for The Iron Melter. Wasn't taken yet.

JS: Mister Melty? Melty Melter? 

PE: Although this art job is credited to Steve Ditko and Don Heck, I don't see a trace of Ditko here. What's the story?

PE: Department of "Marvel time really does move differently, doesn't it?" Iron Man's suit of iron is susceptible to The Melter's rays so Tony Stark takes time in the middle of all the action to redesign his armor in aluminum! That must take hours to do in real life!

JS: Stark's a bright guy... so how is it he had to have part of his suit melted to realize that this was a risk? Um, duh! Then again, this is the same braniac who's running to plug into a 110v outlet every 20 minutes. You think he'd invest some time in developing a battery pack of sorts.

PE: Even after a year's worth of stories and what I'd like to think of as a pretty good suspension of disbelief quota, I laugh every time I see Iron Man, in his clunky yellow suit, running down a corridor. I'm no scientist but that ain't gonna happen, folks.

JS: The way the suit moves, you wouldn't assume it was made of iron, but then it wouldn't have been susceptible to the Meltimator. 

PE: Just as Ant-Man has his "Ah, I've landed on a comfortable carpet of ants after my rubber-banded journey" dialogue that runs in each issue, so we have to put up with Iron Man's foes constantly saying "Ah, Iron Man, I'd heard you worked for Tony Stark and here you are in his factory/office/bed!"

JS: It's a good thing, too, since folks don't seem to have any trouble getting to the rich socialite.

PE: Spoiler Alert! The Melter didn't go down the drain to his doom but lived to fight another day. In fact, he'll pop up in another title in just a few months. He had the usual life of a third tier villain, a few starring roles here and there, and was eventually offed by a bad guy with the unwieldy name of Scourge of the Underworld (in Avengers #263). None of his fellow third-tiers attended the funeral nor did Stark Industries send flowers.

Fantastic Four #20

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An atomic testing accident transforms mild-mannered Owen Reece into the deadly Molecule Man, a man who can control molecules! Tipped off to the new villain by The Watcher, the Four return to their Baxter Building base to find...no Baxter Building! In a wild coincidence, the fortress has been stolen by The Molecule Man. The Fantastic Four find they have their hands full with this new menace as he can turn anything into a deadly weapon. Luckily, Reed stumbles on The Molecule's Achilles' Heel: he can only alter inorganic molecules! After a ferocious battle, MM is defeated by the FF and carted away by The Watcher.

PE: Legend has it that Stan and Jack threw darts at a board and "Molecule Man" won over the other choices Mr. Molecule, The Mad Molecule, and simply The Molecule. A man who controls molecules would naturally be known universe-wide as The Molecule Man.

JS: What is it with Stan and Jack continually introducing super-villains with unlimited powers? And yet despite their ability to do basically anything, the FF once again saves the day within 22 pages (thanks to that fancy plaster coating disguise).

PE: It's never explained why Mr. Molecular has to use a wand like some whacked-out magician. If his body is the conductor, why a wand?

JS: Seriously? Johnny has to ask Reed what a molecule is? And this kid has his own comic book? Even Peter knows what molecules are...

PE: I know that Stan was simply trying to educate his younger readers by having Johnny Storm ask Reed Richards the definition of molecules but it makes the fiery hero come off as a bit of a dimwit. Having said that...I'd have appreciated a fuller explanation of how The Four managed to foil Mr. Molec's scheme by having Alicia cover them in plaster. 

PE: I would argue with The Watcher when he asserts he's not interfering with the human race by capturing MM and imprisoning him somewhere because the FF had already won the battle. No matter that the bad guy was probably still dangerous. I'd say "interference."

JS: The Watcher is looking rather jaundiced in the Masterworks edition. Funny how they go out of their way to talk about not getting involved in human affairs as they get involved in human affairs.

PE: This was the one and only appearance of this incarnation of The Molecule Man. Years after he's dispatched in our rousing climax, The Molecule Man creates an artificial man he adopts as his son. On his dying day he transfers his molecular power to that son, who becomes Molecule Man II and fights The Thing to avenge his father's death (Ben has a little help from The Man-Thing in that battle, which took place in the premiere issue of Marvel Two-In-One).

PE: Mark Gruenwald would one day create The Official Handbook of The Marvel Universe and write Captain America for ten years, but in 1963 he was the ten year-old secretary of The Fantastic Four Fan Club in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He also edited the comic fanzine, Omniverse. He died (at age 43) of a heart attack in 1996. Also in the Fantastic 4 Fan Page, we get a letter from none other than 15 year-old George R. Martin, who would grow up to become writer George R. R. Martin. Among Martin's many accomplishments is the multi-volume Wild Cards, a paperback series very much influenced by X-Men and other Marvel heroes. 

Amazing Spider-Man #6


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A man-sized lizard is terrorizing the Everglades. A challenge from J. Jonah Jameson sends Spider-Man to Florida to get to the bottom of what may just be an urban legend. Once there, Spidey finds The Lizard is anything but myth. But beneath the gruff exterior of the giant reptile lies a kind scientist named Curtis Connors. The renowned professor was working on a serum to grow new limbs by experimenting on reptiles. Not only does the professor want to help mankind but he’d like to grow a replacement for his missing right arm. The formula works but it comes with unfortunate side effects. Not only does the scientist take on the guise of a human lizard, he’s slowly but surely losing his human mind. Luckily for Dr. Connors, Spider-Man also happens to be Peter Parker, science major and very quickly the ace teenager has concocted an antidote. The professor is restored to human form and Spider-Man promises to keep Connors’ secret between the two of them.

PE: A new kind of Marvel villain: the sympathetic bad guy. Curt Connors only wants to be whole again. He doesn’t want to rule the world or destroy mankind. His Hulk-like other half certainly does, but we know that the doctor is a good guy and we root for Spider-Man to find a cure for him. It’s another fabulous origin tale for what would become an iconic Marvel super-villain. The notion that a scientist would use the DNA from reptiles to regenerate human tissue is not a prepostrous one, even 50 years later (it’s akin to the theory that motored Jurassic Park). I’m not a scientist but the idea seems rational.

JS: Everyone's freaked out by a talking Lizard man, but no one questions the fact that he wears a lab coat and purple pants. 

PE: I don’t think it’s spoiling much to reveal that The Lizard will return several times throughout the title in the next fifty years. The monster would get more and more vicious with every appearance, with the professor’s will evaporating each time, culminating in last year’s appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #631. The beast’s savagery hits an all time high (or low, depending who you talk to) when he attacks and devours his son Billy! Not a storyline you’d see developing in the Marvel Age of 1963.

JS: The Lizard was always my favorite Spider-Man villain—I always wanted the Mego doll. I even like him with his early look - the frog-like face. I do think it's kind of silly that when Doc Connors reverts to human form, he's missing the arm again. 

PE: It’s too bad Sam Raimi never got to use The Lizard in one of his Spider-Man films. He was grooming Curt Connors (who had been transplanted to Peter’s college) for a future appearance it seems but the Raimi reign ended before the professor (and actor Dylan Baker) could have his day in the sun. Word on the street is that The Lizard will be featured in the newly re-booted franchise. The Amazing Spider-Man is due in May 2012.

X-Men #2

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The newly formed teenage gang of superheroes faces their deadliest foe yet: a mutant named The Vanisher who can...vanish. When The Vanisher steals top secret files and blackmails our government, The X-Men step in to save the day. But in the end, Professor X must reveal his secret super power to end the threat and return the files to the American government.
 

PE: I hope that the formula of this strip begins to vary soon. The novelty of watching The X-Men members train in their danger room was interesting in the first issue but a bit repetitive by the second. The in-fighting we have to endure has been done to death two years after the first issue of Fantastic Four.

JS: There were a few surprises—like when Jean places the Angel's admirers atop a movie theater marquee! And when Professor X 'projects' a mental image on the wall!


PE: Most of the Marvel comics characters didn't face their iconic foe until several issues into their run. The X-Men had the unenviable dilemma of unveiling its greatest villain in the first issue. Nowhere to go but down (aka Thor and Human Torch rejected bad guys like The Vanisher).

JS: The Vanisher wins the award for dumbest looking super villain yet.


PE: I'm still not sure why The Vanisher made a big deal of popping into the Pentagon to announce he would be ripping off top secret files in a couple days. Why not just steal them right then and there. A character in the strip actually asks the same pertinent question but Stan Lee's not around to give an answer.

Journey Into Mystery #98

“Challenged By The Human Cobra”

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All-father Odin has this advice for his son: forget Jane Foster, but it is something the Thunder God cannot do. To get away from his troubles, Don Blake takes a spontaneous trip to India, where he overhears that Professor Shecktor, an old teacher of his, is dying from the bite of a king cobra. Speeding to his friend’s side, Blake is told by Shecktor, before he dies, that his assistant an ex-con named Klaus, had freed the cobra they had been studying (and Shecktor had secretly been exposing to radiation), which then bit them both. Klaus gave himself, but not Shecktor, the anti-venom, to make it look like an accident. As a result of the radiation, Klaus has developed the speed, strength, and cunning of a king cobra, with human intelligence to boot, and is calling himself the Cobra. Thor sets out to avenge his friend’s death, following the trail of the Cobra to a chemical plant in the U.S., where the reptilian creature demands the plant’s resources to create a subservient race of snakey creatures. The Thunder God finds the Cobra and seems to gain the upper hand in the battle, but loses him in the fog of venomous “cobra gas”. Ironically, when the Cobra breaks into a doctor’s office to steal some supplies, it is none other than that of a certain Dr. Andrews, who recently employed a nurse named … Foster (what a small world!). Andrew’s cowardice in the face of danger convinces Jane that it was a mistake to leave Don Blake and she manages to alert a passing by Thor to her need for help. Thor saves his beloved Jane, but in the confusion, the Cobra again escapes.

This month, “Tales Of Asgard” relates the tale of Odin’s battle against the Ice Giants, including their fearful leader, Ymir, called King Laufey in the recent Thor movie.

JB: Here’s yet another villain created by radioactivity; well at least it wasn’t Loki or the Reds. Let me see, what radioactive animal do I want to be bitten by, to get some super powers? Still, the Cobra is a decent foe, soon to team up with Mr. Hyde.

JB: Don Heck does an interesting job with the art, with some different angles, and proportions, including a perky-looking Jane Foster.

JS: Stan couldn't stand to leave Lame Don Blake on his own for a single issue, so we get Jane Foster back by this issue's conclusion.

JS: I guess it was a bit early in the Marvel tenure for Jane Foster to go out the way of Gwen Stacy. I'm curious if anyone else had such a flash forward

JS: I thought a tale of Odin fighting Ice Giants would be a surefire winner, however the Tales from Asgard installment in this issue left me wanting.

Also this month

Kid Colt Outlaw #113

Millie the Model #117

Modeling with Millie #27

Patsy Walker #111

Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos #4

Two-Gun Kid #66

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

Fury and his Commandos are charged with sneaking into Berlin and "rescuing" a radio broadcaster named Lord Ha-Ha in "Lord Ha-Ha's Last Laugh" (Sgt Fury #4). The reason to make the trek is two-fold: Lord Ha-Ha is Berlin's equivalent of Tokyo Rose and to bring him back to England would be a morale booster to the troops. He also happens to be the son of Peter Hawley, who has lots of friends in high places. Hawley, who thinks his son has been brainwashed, wants the man whisked out of Germany pronto. Aided by the underground, Fury and his men disguise themselves as a circus troop but when they reach Ha-Ha, he's a bit reluctant to go.

Saving a train from a robbery by Bull Barton, Kid Colt comes to the attention of territorial governor McDonald Morgan, who promises a full pardon if the Kid will put his gun down for a full month. Getting there is not easy as Colt wanders from incident to incident where his six-shooters would come in handy. Just when he thinks he's out of it, they drag him back in! Worst of all, he has to deal with "The Revenge of Bull Barton" (Kid Colt Outlaw #113).

It's "Revenge" month at the Marvel Western Round-Up. Matt Hawk aka Two-Gun Kid finds himself "Trapped By Ringo's Raiders" (Two-Gun Kid #66). Years ago, Two-Gun broke up a bank robbery by Jace Ringo and Ringo has never really forgiven him for it. Well, Jace is out of jail and Two-Gun finds that the pokey didn't really make the robber see the error of his ways. He's planning his next heist while still behind bars. Luckily, the town of Tombstone has their very own guardian angel.

September 1963: Avengers! X-Men!

X-Men #1

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In Westchester, New York, Professor Charles Xavier is training 5 young students with mutant abilities to use their skills for the power of good. Beast, an agile yet hulking brute; Angel, a winged teen; Iceman, the antithesis to FF's Johnny Storm, and team leader Cyclops, with his optic blast. The boys welcome newcomer Jean Grey, aka Marvel Girl, to the fold just in time to face their soon-to-be arch nemesis, Magneto, master of magnetism.

JS: Ice Man, who looks more like a snowman (and appropriately dons button eyes and a carrot nose at one point), didn't start out with his chiseled look he would become famous for. But what really stands out is, in an effort to make him look like part of the team, they give him the blue and gold booties to wear.




PE: It's tough to read this initial effort without thinking about where the road takes these characters. It's a solid story save all the "sometimes even superheroes don't get along" in-fighting that, thanks to Fantastic Four, I've had up to here. A lot of solid dialogue here as well. This is not your average Marvel superhero comic book. It's got a message to deliver (one that flies right in the face of the usual Stan/Jack "can't trust them stinkin' commies" diatribe), one that I'm not sure was really absorbed by its target audience.

JS: While Scott (here 'Slim') Summers (aka Cyclops) would ultimately go on to connect with Jean Grey, in this premiere issue all the boys (except Bobby Drake the snowman) express an interest in the lone female member of the team, and you might think that wealthy socialite Warren Worthington the Third would stand the greatest chance, at least until his huge wings, concealed within his sharp business suit, come out.

PE: My favorite bit of dialogue is Professor Xavier's near-slip when he's talking about the "evil mutants." What do you suppose he nearly said?

JS: It's interesting to note that this first appearance of our young heroes ends with them earning the respect of the military. I'll be anxious to see how quickly the tables will turn, and the mutants are vilified by society.


PE: I've never read these particular comics, as X-Men was never my cup of tea (even when it took off in the mid-70s) but I enjoyed the first two films and I'm looking forward to having the blanks filled in for me.

Journey Into Mystery 96

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“Defying the Magic of Mad Merlin”

The crypt of the ancient Merlin has been discovered in England and is subsequently transported to the New York Museum to be studied. Don Blake isn’t especially interested when he and Jane hear this on the radio. Little does he know that soon . . .

The next day at the New York Museum a team of scientists are baffled at how perfectly Merlin has been preserved. Conveniently they leave the tomb alone to discuss the mystery and, therefore, don’t see Merlin “wake up.” Actually the occupant of the tomb is a mutant, possessing powers such as telepathy, levitation, and teleportation -- which to the ancient peoples of King Arthur’s time, seemed like pure magic.

Merlin’s plan was to fake his own death and to be awoken from his self-imposed comatose state when the air from the opening of his tomb would revive him. His intention is to show the world his “magic” and to become the real power behind the 1963 government. Merlin sets his plot in motion by changing the course of an experimental missile at Cape D’Or. After Thor interferes and puts it back on course, Merlin, perceiving Thor as a threat to his plan, appears at the White House and challenges Thor to a battle.

Ironically it is Loki who tips off the Thunder God to the fact that it is Merlin who set the missile awry. Thor wastes no time in appearing at the White House to take Merlin up on his challenge. Neither a missile of the Washington monument or bringing to life the statue of Abraham Lincoln can stop Thor. He changes into Don Blake gambling that Merlin will believe that it is only one of endless forms Thor can transform into. Convinced that his own sorcery is no match for the Thunder God’s power, Merlin agrees to return to his crypt and put himself into a coma for another thousand years.

JS: The scraping of the bottom of the villain barrel continues, as Merlin is brought out of Arthurian times. If they keep it up, Thor may soon be relegated to also-ran status alongside Torchy and the Ant-Man.

JB: Merlin is one of those fascinating characters of history about whom you wonder, well did he exist or not???? Actually he is a fictional character based on a number of historical and legendary figures. He first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “Historia of Regum Brittannie” in the early 1100’s.

JS: Wow. JFK actually makes a full panel appearance in this issue. And sadly, that's the highlight.

JB: This Thor story is a lot of fun, although Merlin suffers a similar defeat as villains such as Loki and Sandu before him. Next month marks some important changes in the development of Thor. Stay tuned!

Avengers 1

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Trapped on The Isle of Silence, evil Loki hatches a plan to lure his half-brother Thor back to Asgard to do battle but actually starts the engine that becomes the world's greatest super-group, The Avengers! When Loki manipulates The Hulk to do some major damage, the green-Skinned Goliath is blamed once again by his human tormentors, Rick Jones smells a rat and sends an SOS to The Fantastic Four. Loki intercepts the plea and sends it to Don Blake. The lame doc isn't the only alter ego to get the message. Iron Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp all hear Rick Jones' call to arms and come to help pronto.

Meanwhile, hiding out from the authorities, The Incredible Hulk is disguised as Mechano, the circus clown robot in a traveling three-ring. Once the super-heroes gather at the circus, a battle royale ensues. Each superhero tries to talk sense into The Hulk (by first trying to beat his brains in and then insisting they're "only trying to help" the big lug), but he's not buying what they're selling.

Up in Asgard, Thor has his hands full with the scheming Loki who throws killing vines, silent trolls, and erupting volcanoes at the Thunder God but the Mighty one at last emerges triumphant and heads back to earth, Loki in tow, to explain his half-brother's treachery to his comrades. The five heroes decide to join forces to combat evil (and bad villain names) as The Avengers!

PE: I'm not sure I understand Loki's plan. He wants to lure the Thunder God back to Asgard to fight him so he has the half-wit Hulk accidentally destroy a train trestle so that Thor will hunt down the Green Goliath?

JS: Who'd have thought that Rick Jones' Teen Brigade would be the instigating force behind the creation of The Avengers.

PE: How did The Hulk manage to pass himself off as a robot to his circus bosses? And where did they "find" him? I need answers now.

JS: This reads a bit like every other Thor story with an overabundance of cameo appearances. It's all a bit contrived to get all the characters into the same room at the end and declare themselves 'The Avengers.'

PE: Carrying over the inanity of the Ant-Man strip, a "lone ant" notifies Ant-Man of a really strong robot working at his circus: "Bzzzz, Wow, there's a big green clown carrying a cage of elephants and tigers... bzzzz. Is this our guy? Roger!" Ant-Man then has millions of ants dig directly beneath Hulk/Mechano so that the big clown will sink! These are fast-acting ants.

PE: As with The Fantastic Four, we're given a very weak first issue compared to what we know will transpire in years to come. Ludicrous events, reconstituted dialog, and weak heroes (Ant-Man and The Wasp?) saddle a ho-hum storyline and so-so artwork by The King. In my opinion, The Avengers' "Golden Age" is several years off, when Roy Thomas rescues the book from mediocrity and infuses it with a life and character. That's for another day's blog though.


Tales to Astonish 47

Our Story

Taking a night off after busting up a diamond robbery, Henry Pym and Janet Van Dyne aka The Astonishing Ant-Man and the equally Wondrous Wasp, take in a hot-blowing trumpet man known as Traco. After the show however, Traco decides his pay is for the birds, man, and robs the theater manager. The tiny terrors take the musician down to the ground with a nasty sting from The Wasp. The manager promises not to press charges as long as the now-unhip blow-master takes a ride on a silver bird to India and stays pat. Not such a good idea since India is home to The Great Ghazandi, a world-famous horn-blower and sorcerer who can hypnotize a cobra with one blow of his trumpet. Ghazandi teaches Traco all he knows and the humiliated trumpet man heads back to the US with an evil plan: he'll blow his way to a radio appearance (you know what I mean) and hypnotize all of New York, leaving the populace helpless while he loots and pillages. This sounds like a job for The Fantastic Four. But they're busy with The Super Skrull so the job will have to get done by the two smallest heroes in the Marvel Universe. Good luck with that.

PE: Two of Ant-Man's flying ants now have names: Korr and his faithful brother Foss (after Ron Foss?). Wouldn't the rest feel slighted? Or will Zupp, Norr, and Blupp be introduced next issue?

JS: Ladies and Gentemen, the Zanti Misfits!

PE: Holy coincidence! Henry and Janet are told the story of the great Ghazandi, a "mystic and scholar of ancient phenomena" at the beginning of our adventure and, wouldn't you know it, the thieving trumpeter, Trago, happens to seek out the very same mystic after being banished to India. Zounds! The Marvel Universe was very small in 1963. And, while I'm on the subject of The Great Ghazandi: I never imagined a trumpet to have a hypnotizing effect on anything, let alone a king cobra.

JS: What's with Don Heck's art in this issue? Granted, I'm reading the Ant-Man B&W Essentials, but this had the look and feel of those DC Mystery Books you're always raving about.

PE: Writer H. E. Huntley's dialogue is on the money for 1959, ding-dong daddy-O, but really gone fat cat by 1963. It's hard to believe the generation before mine actually talked like this, yo.

JS: Dude just wants to swing...

PE: Another dastardly, powerful villain done in by wasp stings and the itchiness brought on by ant-bites. When the Marvel heroes got together for a beer on weekends, were these two even invited?

JS: See The Avengers (elsewhere this month)!

PE: Another dreadful Ant-Man story to throw on the fire and keep you warm during a cold winter night. A bit better (but definitely lacking in the original story department) was "The Smiling Gods." Unfortunately, the professors here at the University don't have the time or space to discuss the back-up stories in Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales to Astonish. By this time, Strange has gone to a superhero double-feature (and the other two titles will soon follow) and so the science fiction shorts, once a good chunk of Marvel's output, see their heyday coming to a close (only to see a resurrection by Marvel in the early 1970s). But I still read these 5-pagers now and then when they look interesting. Stan Lee and Larry Lieber provide what little story there is to "The Smiling Gods" but it's Lieber's and Matt Fox's striking art that stands out in this long-forgotten piece. Fox contributed 11 fine covers to the Weird Tales pulp in the 1940s and worked his magic on plenty of pre-code horror strips for Marvel. His art looks a lot like that of Basil Wolverton's and, equally, must have been an influence on more than a few underground artists teething on mainstream comics in the early 1960s. Why the hell not give the main strip to Fox? Was his style so radical that kiddies would have been put off by it? Maybe so. Lieber and Fox would team up again this month in Tales of Suspense with the even more Wolverton-esque "I Come From Far Centaurus."

Tales of Suspense 45

Our Story

After a mishap at a racetrack, Tony Stark is pulled from burning rubble by one Howard "Happy" Hogan, a former boxer turned Good Samaritan. Out of gratitude, Stark offers the job of chauffeur to Hogan. Happy happily accepts. Later, Stark, as Iron Man, discovers Professor Shapanka attempting a robbery from the Stark Vault. He lets the professor go but banishes him from the Stark facility. The professor vows revenge via his experimental immortality serum, which allows Shapanka to transform himself into a giant icicle.

PE: Professor Shapanka proposes ice-suspended life just months before Marvel's most famous popsicle is thawed out in Avengers #4.

JS: An issue that can't get here fast enough, in my opinion.

PE: A peculiar story this. Most of its running time is taken up with introductions of "Happy" Hogan and "Pepper" Potts, a rundown of Iron Man's abilities, and the explanation of the Nutty Professor's experiments. There's also several panels devoted to "Just wait until I get my frozen mitts on Anthony Stark. I can just picture it now!" imaginary action. Not much room for the real action. In fact, Frost is dispatched via a handy dandy "miniature furnace" affixed to Iron Man's belt. Psshew, that was close!

JS: Lest we go a month without another classic character revelation! I do hope that they ditch the rocket roller skates...

PE: Iron Man's Rogue Gallery of Crappy Fourth Tier villains continues with Jack Frost (who narrowly misses being dubbed "The Walking Snowman" by a terrified passerby). Prison must not have reformed Shapanka as more than a decade later he'd return to menace Iron Man with a new suit and moniker (Blizzard, Iron Man #86, May 1976).Three years later (in Iron Man #123), he joined forces with two other lower-tier bad guys, The Melter and Whiplash (whose stock only went up slightly with a screen appearance in Iron Man 2) and has been seen here and there since. I don't see Jack/Blizzard lighting up silver screens any time soon.

JS: Are we sure that's not Bobby Drake of the X-Men moonlighting as Jack Frost?

PE: I must admit to being confused. Is "Kitty" from Page 8 in reality "Pepper" or are these two separate characters? I assume the hard-working R. Berns may not have had a proofreader looking over his shoulder.

JS: Until now...

Fantastic Four 18

Our Story

On the home planet of the fifth quadrant of the Andromeda galaxy (aka Skrull Central), a nefarious plot has been hatched: another plan to take over Earth by the Skrulls. This time, one of their scientists has devised the perfect weapon: a Super-Skrull, a creature able to ape the powers of all Four Fantastics. The Super-Skrull plants himself atop the Baxter Building and takes on the Four one at a time, beating back the best the heroes can give him. Only after Reed detects a power ray beam emanating from that aforementioned quadrant does the team take the upper hand, delivering the final blow with... a well-placed foot from The Invisible Girl.

PE: Not a lot to talk about here. Uninspired story, rehashing several of the FF story lines from previous issues. Team bickers, does some shopping, villain shows up, villain gets the upper hand, villain is dispatched. The only difference here is the silly way the Super-Skrull is defeated: Sue Storm trips the Skrull and the alien tumbles into a well-placed crater. If there's one thing to take from this issue, it's that Kirby (and Ayers) are getting better on this strip. The recognizable traits that make this title one of the Marvel milestones are starting to show up a little more often. Now if we can only mesh story with art.

JS: Our boy Reed goes full Plastic Man this issue, turning into a sledge hammer at one point.

PE: Sue's hairdo threatens to take over any panel it appears in.

JS: One thing that stands out for me in these early issues is how stupid the Skrulls look. They eventually look a lot cooler than they do in their initial FF appearances.

PE: On the fan page, letter writer Paul Weinstein of Portsmouth, Ohio asks who came up with the bright idea of featuring the title characters in the little box in the left hand corner of the cover. Our Fan Page editor (Stan?) fesses up that it was Steve Ditko's brainstorm. There's also a rave from Ronn Foss, editor of the re-titled Alter Ego-Comicollector.

PE: This is as good a place as any in this blog to mention that, while in London, I picked up Grant Morrison's personal history of the superhero, Supergods (Jonathon Cape). While the "history" is pretty much a rehash of everything you've read before (I'll presume you know your stuff if you're reading this blog) -- DC royally screwed Siegel and Schuster, Bob Kane was a glory-grabber, Prof. Wertham was the devil, etc -- Morrison's theories and opinions on the long-underwear wearers is amusing and insightful. Truly, a few of the passages have made me stop and reconsider my stance on some of these early strips. Obviously that stance does not include Ant-Man and The Torch, I'm afraid. Good read.

Fantastic Four Annual #1

Our Story

The first family of the Marvel Universe is not surprisingly the first to have their own king -sized Annual. And unlike what I think would become the norm, this wasn't chock full-o-reprints. The main story features our pal and Sue Storm's boy-toy Namor the Sub-Mariner, who's finally found his way home. We also get a re-telling (not straight reprint, mind you) of the meeting between the FF and Spider-Man from the first issue of web-head's magazine. Last but not least there's a rogue's gallery with those the FF crossed paths with over the course of their first year and a half.

JS: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this issue features our first ever two-page spread. Gotta fill those 72 pages somehow...

JS: I had to look twice to confirm this was Reed in bed and not Sue expecting Namor to burst in through the window.

JS: While we get an origin of the Sub-Mariner out of the epic tale (Homo Mermanus, anyone?), there's nothing that makes this particularly worthy of the additional page count.

PE: Just when I thought Kirby and Ayers' rendition of The Thing was starting to get better (in the monthly title) ... one step up and two steps back!

The Amazing Spider-Man 4

Our Story

Things are not going Spider-Man’s way these days thanks to J. Jonah Jameson. The Daily Bugle’s surly publisher has all of the city’s residents seeing the wall-crawler in a different light. That includes criminals, smart enough to use Spidey’s bad rep against him. Into this tangled web happens the latest super-villain in town: The Sandman, aka Flint Marko, who can break down his body into particles of sand or make himself hard as rock. Seems Marko happened into the same kind of accident as Bruce Banner (escape from prison leads to atomic-testing beach!). Spider-Man’s first run-in with Sandman doesn’t go well as his Spidey-mask is ripped and, fearing his secret identity might be discovered, he has to make a quit exit stage right.

Humiliation mounts as Peter Parker finds he has to learn how to mend his costume on his own, has to break dates with pretty Liz due to superhero schedule conflicts, and can’t get advance money from JJJ so he can perfect his webbing formula. Tough times for arachnids only get tougher when The Sandman coincidentally decides to hide out in the very high school of one Peter Parker. Bizarrely, the Sandman’s only demand for a principal held hostage is to be given a diploma. Luckily, before it gets real ugly (the principal is detailing New York’s AIMS testing), Spider-Man to the rescue, armed with…a vacuum cleaner.

PE: Though The Sandman remains to this day one of Spider-Man’s great villains, that sketchy origin spells Stan falling back on old habits. We’ve got a heck of a lot of victims of nuclear, gamma, atomic, neuron bomb testing running around the same city. Are there any normal human beings left?

JS: No, and once again his initial powers are described in such a way that he's darn near invincible.

PE: The Sandman/Flint Marko character became part of the nail in the coffin of the Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man trilogy. Raimi (though more than likely the studio) fell victim to the same disease as the Batman franchise – too many crooks in the kitchen. Spider-Man 3 featured Sandman, Venom and the new Green Goblin, leaving no time for a good story.

JS: For my money, The Sandman is one of the sillier villains in the Marvel Universe.

PE: Our first look at Betty Brant, who hopefully does not do shooters with Jane Foster on a Friday night. And our first hint at a high school crush: Liz.

JS: It seems like Ditko put extra effort into making Liz stand out in every panel she was featured in.

PE: Sandman is so dangerous he’s dispatched with a vacuum cleaner? Let me establish an early rule: Flint can’t regroup his molecules unless he’s got room to do it.

JS: Unsung highlight of the issue—catching JJJ with his pants down.

PE: We hear from Paul Moslander on the letters page. Moslander edited and published the early comics fanzine, Jeddak, which saw work by future comics pro, Mike Friedrich.

Strange Tales 112

Our Story

"The Living Bomb"

The Torch shows off for the people of Glenville but they respond with dirty looks, due to the smear campaign being waged by TV commentator Ted Braddock. Meanwhile, aquarium caretaker Leopold Stryke fancies himself The Eel. He steals a bag marked "Project X," which turns out to contain a miniature radioactive atomic pile. Johnny saves the day by flying high above the Earth and absorbing the full force of the atomic explosion. He is saved from death by one of Reed Richards's new machines, and "the nation goes wild in a spontaneous demonstration of happiness and relief."

Jack Seabrook: This stellar script was penned by future World Series hero Joe Carter.

JS: Somehow I doubt that.

Jack Seabrook: Braddock's complaint that the Torch is a publicity hog seems pretty accurate, based on Johnny's behavior.

JS: How is it there seems to be no end of this flaming dreck? At least the kids reading Strange Tales back then got the benefit from the back-up stories, that almost assuredly had to be better than these, right?

Jack Seabrook: Dick Ayers continues to do his best Kirby impression, including some panels of heads floating in the air.

JS: To me it still feels like he's doing his best Chester Gould...

Also this month

Kid Colt Outlaw #112

Millie the Model #116

Modeling with Millie #25

Patsy Walker #109

Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos #3

Two-Gun Kid #65

SOME HIGHLIGHTS

The people of Eagle Pass have double trouble in their midst: Kid Colt Outlaw and the thief named Bennington Brown, whose other vocation happens to be hypnotism. Brown spends his idle time robbing stagecoaches and banks with the local sheriff powerless to stop him. Only Kid Colt and his uncanny knack of shooting people in the shoulder, feet, finger or, in this case the gun barrel (anywhere but a major artery) can defeat the villain in a showdown. I've read dozens of Marvel westerns so far for the Marvel University and can safely say this is the worst yet. Jack Keller's roller-coaster art jobs (veering from fabulous to forgettable) hit an all-time low with "The Unbeatable Mr. Brown" (Kid Colt Outlaw #112). I'd be insulting if I said the characters in this little drama look as though they've stepped from the pages of Archie and Jughead but then I wouldn't know which side I'd be insulting.

Matt Hawk is called to Fort Henry to defend an officer accused of selling the Fort's medicine for profit. Hawk gets the man off but he's so enraged he vows revenge on the Fort, selling weapons to the Indians as long as they attack. But he saves the best for last, giving the chief a vial of 19th-Century steroids and transforming him into a Native American Hulk. The Indians storm Fort Henry but the giant is knocked to his knees by the Two-Gun Kid's fighting prowess. There's a good story hiding in some silly dialog and laughable scenes (this comic taught me that a man can smother the explosion from seven sticks of dynamite with his body!). The art (by Dick Ayers) has an unfinished look to it. "Nothing Can Save Fort Henry" (Two-Gun Kid #65) is a mildly-entertaining western but that's about all.

In September 1963, Marvel's best-written comic does not involve teenage spiders or gods of thunder, but rather a band of World War II heroes. Reading an issue of Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos, at times, is tantamount to reading a novel. The dialog balloons threaten to white out entire panels (something like the comic version of a Howard Hawks film) but in this case that's a good thing. Involving plot lines, interesting characters, adult themes, these elements and more make Sgt Fury a genuinely fascinating experiment by Kirby and Lee. The art here is top-notch as well. Jack Kirby's pencils are brought to vivid life by Dick Ayers' inking (if I didn't know better, I'd have guessed that Alex Toth had a hand in the inking). "Midnight on Massacre Mountain" (Sgt Fury #3) is three storylines thrown together: 1/ The Howlers must take a beach in England: 2/ Mission accomplished, they go into a pub to blow off steam; 3/ Once out of jail, they're onto another suicide mission (where Fury meets up with our only "stretch" of credulity: Reed Richards) when they're given the assignment of taking Massacre Mountain. There's the added danger of a spy in their midst who somehow gets advance word to the Nazis on Fury's every move. There are a few things to quibble about (the Nazis don't say much German besides "Mach Schnell" and one character remarks that heroes in World War II movies will cast pretty boys like Tony Curtis - years before Curtis came to Hollywood) but overall this is solid storytelling. Something about World War II brought out the best in the comic writers as was evident in Fury's newsstand rival, the equally compelling and intelligently-written Sgt Rock, a series running in DC's Our Army at War and a character that Fury is very obviously patterned after.


JS: I noticed that in an ad in The Avengers for Sgt Fury, they likened it to a team book a la The Fantastic Four. Particularly interesting in that here we are, almost 50 years later segregating it from the superhero titles of the day.