July 1963

(Continued from June 1963)

TALES TO ASTONISH  45
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

Review  (coming soon)


FANTASTIC FOUR  16
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

Review  (coming soon)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  3
cover by STEVE DITKO

Spider-Man's NUMBER ONE ARCH ENEMY makes his debut RIGHT HERE!!!  Don't let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise. We're talking dangerously criminally INSANE here, people.


JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY  94
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"THOR AND LOKI ATTACK THE HUMAN RACE!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Loki uses his magic to cause Thor's hammer to hit his head, turning him evil. Thor frees Loki, and the two terrorize Earth until the other Asgardians arrange for another blow to the head to reverse the change."

The above story description reminds me of the scene in SUPERMAN III where Supes turns evil, and when he finds a woman on top of the Statue of Liberty who appears to be committing suicide, he says to her, "I hope you don't expect me to save you because I don't DO that sort of thing anymore."

After one month off, JOE SINNOTT returns on full art, his 3rd of 5 episodes.  Jack Kirby (undoubtedly!) supplies the story, Robert Bernstein the dialogue.  Loki is increasingly becoming a regular in this feature, having appeared in 5 out of the first 12 episodes so far.

Among other things, this month, Jack Kirby did his 3rd (of 3) episodes of full pencils on IRON MAN in TALES OF SUSPENSE #43-- "Kala, Queen of the Netherworld".  He also did SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #2, "Seven Doomed Men!"  Incredibly, he was gonna get EVEN busier in just another 2 months!!
    (1-30-2014)


TALES OF SUSPENSE  43
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

Review  (coming soon)


STRANGE TALES  110
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"THE WIZARD AND PASTE-POT PETE!"

Synopsis:
Johnny practices in his obstacle course, then thinks back on his adventures with The Wizard & Paste-Pot Pete.  By a wild coincidence (?), Pete breaks The Wizard out of jail and the two join forces.  They frame Johnny as a spy, but their partnership is strained by Wiz's megalomania.  "I'm a partner, not a servant, you know!" says Pete.

Indexer notes:
More humor than usual in this episode.  3rd appearance of The Wizard; previous app. in STRANGE TALES #102 & 105 (November 1962 & February 1963).  2nd appearance of Pete; previous app. in STRANGE TALES #104 (January 1963).  1st time they teamed up in what would become pretty much a lifelong partnership!  Wizard returns in STRANGE TALES #118 (March 1964).  Pete has a 2-panel cameo in THE AVENGERS #6 (July 1964), then returns in STRANGE TALES #124 (September 1964).

"DR. STRANGE MASTER OF BLACK MAGIC!"

Synopsis:
A man haunted by a recurring dream of a hooded figure in chains calls on Dr. Strange for help.  Strange decides to help by entering the man's dreams.  After mentally travelling to the Himalayas to seek advice from his mentor, The Ancient One, Strange enters the dream dimension and confronts Nightmare-- his "ancient foe".  Realizing Strange may stumble on his own guilt, the man tries to shoot Strange, but thanks to The Ancient One, Strange's amulet freezes the man in his tracks.  After Strange returns safely, the man confesses to having ruined several men in business, and knows he must confess his guilt to the police.  "It will be the only way you can ever sleep again.", says the mystic.  (All this in 5 pages!)

Indexer notes:
Episode #1.  1st appearance of Dr. Strange, Wong, The Ancient One & Nightmare.  It's clear there's a lot of history between Strange & Nightmare, and that Strange has been "in business" helping people for some time before this story.  Dr. Strange resembles Vincent Price, who played a magician in the Roger Corman-Edgar Allan Poe film, THE RAVEN (1963).

    (indexed 8-17-07)


(Continued in August 1963)

All Text (C) Henry R. Kujawa
Artwork (C) Marvel Comics
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa