December 1966

(Continued from November 1966)

STRANGE TALES  151
cover by Jack Kirby & Jim Steranko

"OVERKILL!"

HYDRA allows Fury to land in Karnopolis safely, to lull SHIELD into a false sense of security.  But Fury knows all pretense is off, as the ruins are deserted-- except for a a squad of robots!  Captured & stripped of his gadget-laden clothes, Fury faces the new Supreme Hydra, who tells him of his plans to use the Overkill Horn to detonate all stockpiles of nuclear weapons worldwide, while HYDRA waits in fallout shelters, to emerge as the new rulers of the planet.  Meanwhile, Dugan, upset by Fury's order to launch an H-Missile to destroy HYDRA's weapon (and Fury as well), tries to save his buddy, but is stopped when Gabe shoots him in the shoulder.  Fury manages to escape with a HYDRA jet, not realizing it was a ruse-- as the Overkill Horn is onboard the plane he's flying!  As Sitwell prepares to destroy the aircraft, Fury realizes its radio isn't working...

JACK KIRBY supplies story & layouts, and the new guy, JIM STERANKO, makes his debut doing pencils & inks.  After John Severin, Joe Sinnott, Don Heck, Howard Purcell, more Don Heck, Ogden Whitney & John Buscema, they FINALLY found somebody interested in sticking around on the pencils.  Ye "editor", who's done such a LOUSY job maintaining any kind of steady creative team on this series (apart from its uncredited writer, Kirby), continues to do dialogue while shamelessly continuing to steal credit & pay for writing the story!

Part 2 of 9.  The "new" Supreme Hydra reveals that he had previously "masqueraded" as The Grand Imperator of "THEM" (A.I.M.), and that Supreme Hydra is his "true" identity, the first indication that he had been the real behind-the-scenes architect of HYDRA all along.  The plot to cause nuclear fallout while those responsible sit it out underground is similar to that in the Matt Helm film THE SILENCERS (1966).  Jim Steranko's 1st work for Marvel.

“UMAR STRIKES!"

Umar uses the "Lamp Of Lucifer" to learn of events during her long imprisonment.  She is stunned to learn her brother was defeated by Dr. Strange, and though she & Dormammu hated each other, she still vows to avenge him.  Back in NYC, Strange conjures "wealth without measure" so Wong need never again concern him with money matters.  To lure Strange into a trap, Umar casts Clea into a void between dimensions.  No sooner does he sense her danger, then Strange as well is hurled into another dimension as well...

BILL EVERETT supplies story & FULL art, while ye "editor" returns after a long absence to do dialogue-- and it's a NOTICEABLE improvement over Thomas & O'Neil!!  But as usual, on every book he "contributes" to he winds up grabbing credit ANDS PAY for the full writing job.  Downright criminal.  Part 5 of 22; Part 1 of Umar sequence.  Several flashback panels based closely on Steve Ditko panels (redrawn by Everett).
     (4-27-2014)


FANTASTIC FOUR  57
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"ENTER... DR. DOOM!"

Sandman manages to escape from jail, but his partners remain behind bars.  Elsewhere, the Silver Surfer, continuing to explore his own "prison", runs across the absolute ruler of a tiny Baltic country, with a thing for armor suits and vast arrays of hi-tech equipment.  And falls victim to same.  Suddenly, the F.F.'s arch-enemy is walking around with power generated by GALACTUS.  That can't be good.

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and JOE SINNOTT does absolutely dazzling inks.  This story formed the basis for about HALF of the 2nd live-action F.F. feature film, though certain elements of that were so badly translated, it hardly seems worth the effort.  Part 1 of 4.
     (4-27-2014)


TALES TO ASTONISH  86
cover by Gene Colan & Bill Everett

"THE WRATH OF WARLORD KRANG"

SUB-MARINER's arch-enemy goes on a rampage in New York, while Namor tries to track him down.  JERRY GRANDENETTI fills in for the departed Gene Colan, supplying story & art, while ye "editor" does dialogue, and Bill Everett does inks on his own character for the 2nd month in a row.

"THE BIRTH OF THE HULK-KILLER!"

Ross's men find a hidden lair belonging to the late, departed Leader, and foolishly awaken an android, hoping it'll take out The HULK for them.  But it goes on a rampage, becoming more of a menace than Greenskin!  At least, until Hulk shows up...  JOHN BUSCEMA supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue & Mike Esposito does inks.  Another one of the most powerful HULK episodes ever done, as the long storyline JACK KIRBY set in place so long before works its way toward a colossal climax!
    (4-27-2014)


GIL KANE returns!

High over Manhattan, moments before total annihilation, Bruce Banner recognizes HIS OWN handiwork and manages to adjust the settings on the ORION missile, and in doing so, saves Manhattan from complete destruction.  He then turns back into the Hulk and survives when he hits the ground!

But the army STUPIDLY believes that the Hulk tried to destroy Manhattan with the missle.  What a pack of IDIOTS!  It gets worse when they uncover a warehouse belonging to the now-dead "Leader", and discover one of his androids that got left behind.  They manage to activate it, hoping it can stop The Hulk.  INSTEAD, it goes on a destructive rampage, making it far more dangerous than The Hulk ever was!

But before long, "The Hulk-Killer" runs across The Hulk (or vice-versa), and engage in all-out combat-- with the army hoping they'll destroy each other.

You know, John Buscema really did some of his BEST work I've ever seen on these 3 episodes.  It seems a shame that somehow, he didn't do ANY of the covers!  They were alternating between HULK and SUB-MARINER, and Buscema's 1st episode had a Bill Everett cover, while his 3rd had one by Gil Kane.  Crazy.

Buscema's 3rd episode is almost non-stop action.  After almost being killed, Hulk turns back into Bruce Banner-- AT LAST removing all doubt as to the truth of his double-identity.  And BANNER comes up with a way to stop the Hulk-Killer.  Setting up an aparatus, he turns back into the Hulk, and using the device, manages to DESTROY the "indestructible" android, thus, saving New York City TWICE in one day!  The Hulk IS A HERO!!!

I see these episodes as the culmination and CONCLUSION of the "big story" started by Jack Kirby way back in HULK #1, continued by Steve Ditko and ASTONISH and then picked up by Kirby again 8 issues later.  Just as Jim Steranko's initial spate of NICK FURY episodes was "finishing off" the big epic that Kirby started on that series, so did Buscema do the same here. This would have been a PERFECT place to end the series.

BUT IT WAS NOT TO BE.

It looks to me like John Buscema didn't do too much work for Marvel early-on.  I'm guessing he was still working for other publishers around this time, and seeing what might happen.

I think it's worth noting that for Buscema's first 4 episodes (each a half-issue's worth of pages), he worked with "ye editor" on the 1st, Jack Kirby on the 2nd (STRANGE TALES #150), and "ye editor" again on the 3rd & 4th.  And the HULK episodes seem to have been generated on pure momentum leftover from Kirby's already-ongoing storyline.

After that, Buscema DOESN'T stick around.  Instead, GIL KANE steps in, doing 4 of the UGLIEST pieces of work I have ever seen from him.  Oh, sure, the storytelling is POWERFUL and EXCITING-- this was the period when he was consciously, DELIBERATELY trying to channel the power of Jack Kirby and incorporate it into his own work.  (His 4 episodes of CAPTAIN AMERICA in SUSPENSE were done about the same time.)

But from the first couple pages, Kane takes the new situation set up by the end of the Hulk-Killer story-- and totally JETISONS it in favor of continuing the Hulk as a "Fugitive".  Even Dr. Richard Kimble eventually was able to stop running.  NOT Bruce Banner.  It's ENDLESS MISERY for him.  What the HELL's the point?  It's no wonder that once Kirby left the series, the whole thing went to hell.

Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, John Buscema VANISHED from Marvel for a bit.  When he turned up again 5 months later, it was in THE AVENGERS #41 (Jun'67), which was written by ROY THOMAS.  After the hell "ye editor" gave Buscema over his 1st HULK episode, I have no doubt that Buscema was happy to be working with a writer to actually WANTED to write-- and supplied him with more than a one-sentence springboard to work with.

Thomas & Buscema would wind up doing a HELL of a lot of comics together!!!!!
    (12-10-13)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  43
cover by JOHN ROMITA

TALES OF SUSPENSE  84
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"THE OTHER IRON MAN"

Tony Stark finally appears before the Senate Investigation Committee, and has a heart attack on the spot.  When the facts of his health problem comes out, for the first time, Senator Byrd actually shows some sign of sympathy for the man who's clearly been putting his own life at risk to supply the Defense Department with so much.  The investigation is put off until later... But as Stark lies in a hospital bed, newspapers begin speculating about WHY nobody's seen IRON MAN lately?  Until, the armored hero begins making random public appearances.  Well, it turns out that Happy Hogan is wearing the suit, to throw off suspicion.  Not as good an idea as it might seem, as right then, The Mandarin decided to use his long-ranger scanners & matter teleportation device to repeat an earlier crime-- and KIDNAPS "Iron Man", not realizing, he's got the wrong guy!  Uh oh...

GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Frank Giacoia does inks.  Part 1 of 3.

"THE SUPER-ADAPTOID"

After being examined briefly by The Avengers, the last A.I.M. android takes on elements of all their forms, becoming a one-man super-villain team, bent on taking out CAPTAIN AMERICA.  JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Frank Giacoia does inks.  Part 3 of 3.  At this point, pretty much all the loose strands of the Hydra epic are tied up, and the remainder of the story is focused entirely in the main feature in STRANGE TALES.  And what a wild ride it's gonna be!!!
     (4-27-2014)


THOR  135
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta

"THE MADDENING MENACE OF THE SUPER-BEAST!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Thor and the New Men defeat the Man-Beast. The High Evolutionary takes the spaceship part of Wundagore to the stars."

I can think of at least 2 different DOCTOR WHO stories where part of a large structure turned out to be a spaceship at the climax of the story.  Oddly enough, The High Evolutionary's story would continue in, of all places, THE HULK series in TALES TO ASTONISH, early in the Marie Severin run.

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue and Vince "not again!" Colletta does inks.  Part 2 of 2.

"THE FIERY BREATH OF FAFNIR!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Thor and companions fight Fafnir to find Volstagg."

That about says it.  JACK KIRBY supplies story & art for this latest instalment of "Tales Of Asgard".  Ye "editor" does dialogue and Vince "what the hell IS this?" Colletta does inks.  Part 2 of 3.
    (4-22-2014)


THE AVENGERS  35
cover by DON HECK  (w/ Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia)

"THE LIGHT THAT FAILED"

The team takes down The Living Lazer, a tough fight all the way (if memory serves).  Presumably, DON HECK supplies story & FULL art (and his inks are genuinely FRIGHTFUL here), while Roy Thomas, eager to make a name for himself and no doubt happy to be taking on Marvel's "answer" to the Justice Society of America, takes over from "ye editor" doing dialogue to finish out this story-in-progress.  Roy really begins to make his mark NEXT time, taking over supplying the stories from Don Heck.  The absence of any more Jack Kirby covers shows the book's creative side was definitely in transition here.  I've never read any articles or interviews which talk about what I described above here, but I find it logical to deduct that this is exactly what was going on.
    (4-27-2014)


SGT. FURY & HIS HOWLING DESERTERS  37
cover by DICK AYERS
"IN THE DESERT  ...TO DIE!"

DICK AYERS supplies story & art, Roy Thomas does dialogue, and John Tartaglione does inks.

I forgot-- from the previous month...
SGT. FURY ANNUAL  2

"A DAY OF THUNDER"

This story chronicles the D-DAY invasion of Normandy, France.  I guess it would make a good companion piece to sitting down to watch the epic 3-hour feature film, "THE LONGEST DAY".  DICK AYERS supplies story & art, Roy Thomas does dialogue and John Tartaglione does inks.

In the back, they reprint "THE MAN FOR THE JOB", the 1st NICK FURY episode from STRANGE TALES #135 (Aug'65), which explains why, when they later started reprinting the entire series, they SKIPPED this episode.  Does Marvel's way of doing reprints back then bother anybody else like it does me?  You really need a scorecard to keep track of what's being reprinted where.  They also reprint "THE CRACKDOWN OF CAPTAIN FLINT" from SGT. FURY #11 (Oct'64), apparently completely at random.
     (4-27-2014)


DAREDEVIL  23
cover by John Romita & Frank Giacoia

"DD GOES WILD!"

Hornhead takes on The Gladiator & The Masked Marauder, wrapping up the story started the previous issue.  GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Frank Giacoia does inks.  Part 2 of 2.
     (4-27-2014)


X-MEN  27
cover by Werner Roth & Dick Ayers

"RE-ENTER: THE MIMIC"

No matter how I look at it, The Mimic was one of the lamest, and worst-written bad guys in X-MEN history.  Roy Thomas supplies story & dialogue, Werner Roth does pencils, and Dick Ayers does inks.  This issue features guest-appearances by Quicksilver, The Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Man.
     (4-27-2014)

(Continued in January 1967)

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

November 1966

(Continued from October 1966)

STRANGE TALES  150
cover by BILL EVERETT

"HYDRA LIVES!"

The 3rd act of the massive "Hydra Trilogy" (my name for it) begins with a literal BANG.

Synopsis:
Fury subjects himself to a highly-dangerous test in order to prove that an atomic missile can be detonated long-distance by a sonic weapon-- which SHIELD believes HYDRA has their hands on.  While both he & Dugan are recovering from injuries, he looks into a mysterious Mexican millionaire, "Don Cabellero", who, on the urging of an undercover SHIELD man, invites Fury to a grand party he's holding in the ancient ruins of Karnopolis, in the Sahara Desert.  Caballero is merely a disguise for the new Supreme Hydra, who knew the man who made the suggestion was a spy all along.  Senator Dudley, who earlier appeared to know nothing about HYDRA, later turns out to have helped Fury in setting up the meeting.  After surprising Sitwell with the news that he is going, Fury then puts Sitwell in command while he's gone.  Just then, a sonic boom shakes the HQ, as the "Overkill Horn" is being tested.

Part 1 of 9.  1st appearance of the "new" Supreme Hydra, later revealed to have been its real leader all along, behind-the-scenes.  In this episode, Jasper Sitwell is a dead ringer for Roy Thomas!

JACK KIRBY supplies story & layouts, JOHN BUSCEMA actually ERASED the layouts before he did his pencils ("I can't work this way!", he said), and Frank Giacoia does inks.  After goofing off for 2 months, ye "editor" finally returns to fill in the word balloons (while still claiming the whole idea was his-- what a sleazebag).

"THE CONQUEST OF KALUU!"

Synopsis:
Kaluu realizes the 2 burning candles indicate his enemies have escaped into the past.  A shield prevents him from blowing them out.  Strange & his mentor travel back to ancient Babylonia, where The Ancient One must once again defeat a griffin to obtain The Book Of The Vishanti.  Just before Kaluu can extinguish the Flames of the Faltine, Strange returns to the present with the mystic book.  When Kaluu attempts to freeze Strange permanently in suspended animation, the book itself hurls the spell back at him, ending 5 centuries of questing for vengeance.  The Ancient One hurls Kaluu into Limbo "till the end of time".  Meanwhile, in The Dark Dimension, Clea grows fearful, as the absence of The Dread Dormammu has allowed The Mindless Ones to break free of his prison.  But before they can destroy all in their path, another former prisoner of The Dread One is released-- Umar The Unrelenting-- Dormammu's sister!  His mantle of supremacy passes to her, and she vows his deeds shall pale beside hers.

Part 4 of 22.  1st appearance of Umar.  Candles used in time-travel previously used in STRANGE TALES #124 (September 1964).  Due to the growing use of "soap-opera" format, Kaluu's story runs straight into Umar's without a break between episodes. It seems quite ironic that Kaluu was described as being more powerful than Strange & his mentor together, yet with this episode he vanished, never to return; while Umar became a long-running villain still appearing to this day.

BILL EVERETT supplies story & full art, while Roy Thomas does dialogue.
    (4-21-2014)


FANTASTIC FOUR  56
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"KLAW, THE MURDEROUS MASTER OF SOUND!"

Johnny & Wyatt have hooked up with Lockjaw, whose dimensional-hopping power they hope may allow them to get inside the "Negative Zone" barrier surrounding the city of the Inhumans and free Crystal, as well as the rest of its inhabitants.  Meanwhile, Reed & Ben find themselves trapped by another impenetrable barrier-- this one created out of pure sound waves, generated by KLAW, The Black Panther's arch-enemy, who has actually been transformed into a being of pure sound!  As he threatens Sue, Reed manages to find a way to have Ben break thru the barrier, and once he recovers, he goes on to tackle the baddie.  This issue contains one of my favorite exchanges of dialogue in the entire series...

"If you think that nutty oversized KAZOO is gonna stop me--!"
"It HAS to stop you! It can stop a herd of BUFFALO! It can fell the tallest REDWOOD! It's the concentrated, solidified, converted energy of pure SOUND!"
"Yeah? I'll try'n REMEMBER that-- while I'm CLOBBERIN' ya!"

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art; ye "editor" does dialogue; and JOE SINNOTT does the usual stunning ink job.  This episode was actually picked for the pilot of the 1967 Hanna-Barbera FANTASTIC FOUR cartoon show (although it wound up getting run midway thru the season).
     (4-21-2014)


FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL  4
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"THE TORCH THAT WAS!"

That twelve-time loser, The Mad Thinker, in his unrelenting determination to bring down Reed Richards (professional and intellectual jealousy, no doubt), has built a thinking computer with a serious case of low-self-esteem named "Quasimodo" (you can imagine why).  He's also located the original HUMAN TORCH, who's been deactivated since the early 1950s, and done his best to re-program him to follow his orders and attack and kill The F.F.  Taking a break from their journies (as Lockjaw has taken Johnny & Wyatt everywhere but the Hidden Land-- including, The Baxter Building), Johnny finds himself in a one-on-one knock-down drag-out with his earlier counterpart.  It all ends tragically, as the android Torch is "killed" once again (and despite his big brain, Reed doesn't even suggest he might be able to fix the guy), The Thinker escapes scot free (a serious recurring problem in the Marvel Universe), and Quasimodo is left behind to suffer in solitude.

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and JOE SINNOTT knocks yer eyes out with his inks.  I've read there was some behind-the-scenes drama going on involving this story, as the Torch's creator, Carl Burgos, was apparently really angry at publisher Martin Goodman for "stealing" his creation.  This raised the possibility that doing a story about the android Torch may have been on the orders of Goodman-- or the "editor"-- in the first place.  In any case, it does seem an example of the kind of contempt shown by certain people in charge for stories and characters that came out before FF #1.
    (4-21-2014)


TALES TO ASTONISH  85
cover by Jack Kirby & Bill Everett

This particular issue featured the return to Marvel of John Buscema.

One of the funniest things I ever saw in HULK (if you think about it) was... Rick Jones needs to get to NYC, doesn't have cash, so takes a job driving a guy's car from Florida to NYC.  Upon arrival, he finds The Hulk.  Moments later, down in Florida, the FEDS break into the home of the guy who hired Rick-- who's a Commie spy.  But before they haul his RED A** outta there, he activates a radio device... and up in NYC, the trunk of the car opens, and a ROBOT, stored inside the trunk, EXPANDS to its full size, CRUSHING the entire car as it does under its weight.

Now... HOW the hell did it do that, when the car was able to supports its weight when the entire machine was INSIDE the trunk? It's just one of those things you're not supposed to think about.

The robot's function, oddly enough, is mostly to act as a local guidance-system jamming device.  Hmm.  At that moment, the army is testing Bruce Banner's ORION MISSILE (remember that thing???).  Just before Hulk destroys the robot, it diverts the ORION's course, sending it straight for Manhattan!   With only minutes before it obliterates the entire city, HULK leaps ito the air to stop it.

Only... once he grabs it in mid-air, he FORGET why he jumped.  And then... he turns back into Bruce Banner.  So you've got this skinny little scientist holding on for dear life to a speeding missle, moments before it's about to wipe out a major city.  NOW WHAT?

I just wrote the above sypnopsis WITHOUT looking up the comic.  Ain't that something?  This was John Buscema's very 1st work for Marvel in the 60's.  I'm presuming that-- possibly-- Jack Kirby at least DESCRIBED to his editor where the story was going.  (The robot-in-the-trunk thing sounds like the kind of goofy stunt Kirby would pull and make you BELIEVE it.)

What bugs me is, according to various interviews, it seems "ye editor" was NOT THRILLED with Buscema's work on this episode.  Not thrilled to the point where, to "teach him the Marvel Method", he assigned Buscema to do the next NICK FURY episode in STRANGE TALES #150.  The one that started the 3rd act of the 3-act "HYDRA" epic.

Buscema was so put off and offended by this assignment, that he ERASED all of Kirby's layouts before re-pencilling everything from scratch, his own way.  I'm guessing only the panel breakdowns and possibly story notes were left.  "Ye editor" was MORE pleased with this, and allegedly liked Buscema's 2nd & 3rd HULK episodes much more.  But Buscema only did 3, and NEVER worked on the series again after that.
    (12-9-13)

"--AND ONE SHALL DIE!"

SUB-MARINER, with his memory restored, ignores the radio-orders of The Secret Empire's sole surviving member, "Number One", who is forced to set a bomb to kill the Hulk himself.  But as some uncanny fate seems to lead Greenskin to his hiding place, the baddie accidentally catches his robe in a slamming door, and is BLOWN TO BITS.  Hulk barely notices.  And so, another would-be power-mad baddie bites the dust, in total anonymity.  GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and-- incredibly-- BILL EVERETT returns to the character he created decades before, but only doing inks.  OH, the ignominity of it!!

"THE MISSILE AND THE MONSTER!"

As HULK is on the loose in NYC, Rick Jones takes a job driving a car to the city from Florida, unaware a Commie spy has hired him.  For, in the trunk is a robot, which, on activation, sends a tracking signal to a missile being tested by the Army.  Ironically, it's a design of Bruce Banner's!  Rick, finding his friend, directs him to stop the missile, but on reaching it, he abruptly turns back into Bruce Banner, who finds himself clinging helplessly to the side of a missile speeding to destroy all of Manhattan.  YIKES!

JOHN BUSCEMA returns to Marvel after many years, and this was his 1st assignment-- finishing off the storyline JACK KIRBY had spent so many months working on.  Ye "editor", who did dialogue (while claiming credit AND PAY for the story) said he was so disappointed with Buscema's work (J.B. did NOT want to have to write stories himself, from scratch), and assigned him to do STRANGE TALES #150 immediately after this, allegedly, to pick up on how Kirby laid out "his" stories.  YEAH RIGHT.  John Tartaglione did inks.  Oh well, at least he didn't murder Buscema's pencils.  Part 1 of 3.
    (4-21-2014)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  42
cover by JOHN ROMITA

TALES OF SUSPENSE  83
cover by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia

"VICTORY!"

Shellhead DEFEATS the collossal menace of The Titanium Man, shaming him in front of all the world.  Escaping in disgrace, the power in his suit gives out just as he reaches the Soviet submarine, which dives before rescuing him, as there is no room for failure in their world.  GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Frank Giacoia does inks.  Part 3 of 3.

"ENTER... THE TUMBLER!"

A new acrobatic baddie decides to invade Avengers Mansion and take on CAPTAIN AMERICA, not realizing he's actually fighting The Adaptoid android instead, who's impersonating Cap.  He wins, but then the real Cap gets loose and clobbers him without much effort.  Pretending to be deactivated, the android ponders its next move.  JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Dick Ayers does inks.  Part 2 of 3.
     (4-21-2014)


THOR  134
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta

"THE PEOPLE-BREEDERS!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Thor returns to earth and finds Jane Foster at the High Evolutionary's Wundagore."

The above barely scratches the surface.  Let's see, in the early days, THOR's adventures rotated between sci-fi, Commies, and "Loki".  Slowly, the Cold War has been faded out of most Marvels.  And since JIM #124 (Jan'66), Loki's been in cold storage-- literally!  So, the sci-fi continues.

In this case, we get to see a tribute to H.G. Wells' "THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU", the story about a scientist who removed himself from civilization so that he could focus on his research into genetics without interference.  But here, we see a variation on that theme unlike anything Wells might have dreamed of!  Instead of a a remote island in the Pacific, we have a futuristic laboratory built on the peak of a mountain somewhere in the Alps.  This reminds me of when Harry Allan Towers decided to do a remake of Agatha Christie's "TEN LITTLE INDIANS".  The original film version with Louis Hayward was set on an island.  The remake with Hugh O'Brien was set on a mountain-top!  That was released in June 1965, only a little over a year before this comic.

The scientist in this case has taken to calling himself "The High Evolutionary", and looks like he stepped out of a UFO.  His creations-- animals advanced artificially via a ray machine (quite like the one seen in THE OUTER LIMITS episode "The Sixth Finger" (1963), with Edward Mulhare as the scientist, and David McCallum as the subject of his experiment) are referred to as "The New-Men".  And like "Maria" in "THE SOUND OF MUSIC" (1965), Jane Foster has been recruited to act as a teacher for these intelligent creatures.

Of course, into any such story there's a problem, and in this case, it's "The Man-Beast", an advanced wolf who somehow has decided living in harmony with his fellow creatures is not something he's interested in.

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Vince "This is some crazy S***!" Colletta does inks.  Part 1 of 2.

"WHEN SPEAKS THE DRAGON!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Thor and companions inspect Nastrond for Odin. Volstagg wanders off and finds Fafnir."

This would be a great issue for someone to come in on.  Both the lead and back-up features begin new stories.  In this case, it's Part 1 of 3 or a new "Tales Of Asgard" storyline.  At the moment, however, I still don't have the original of this in my collection.  I only have the lead story in MARVEL SPECTACULAR #5 (Jan'75), and the back-up in TALES OF ASGARD #1 (1984-- why the 2nd issue of that book wasn't number #2 is beyond me.)

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Vince "This just gets screwier all the time" Colletta does inks.
    (4-20-2014)


THE AVENGERS  34
cover by DON HECK

"THE LIVING LASER!"

The team tackles a new menace, one far more deadly and dangerous than usual.  Making it worse is, the guy has developed an obsession with The Wasp, and wants her to be his, no matter what.  DON HECK supplies story & full art, while ye "editor" does dialogue & takes credit & pay for the full story.  As Don Heck also did the cover, it would appear HE created The Living Laser all on his own.  The costume would seem to corroborate this, as it looks nothing like anything Jack Kirby would have come up with!  Part 1 of 2.
    (4-21-2014)


SGT. FURY & HIS HOWLING SQUADRON  36
cover by DICK AYERS
"MY BROTHER, MY ENEMY!"

DICK AYERS supplies story & art, Roy Thomas does dialogue & John Tartaglione does inks.
     (4-21-2014)


DAREDEVIL  22
cover by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia

"THE TRI-MAN LIVES!"

The Masked Marauder & The Gladiator return and sic an android on D.D.  GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Frank Giacoia & Dick Ayers do inks (I guess Frank blew another deadline).  Part 1 of 2.
     (4-21-2014)


X-MEN  26
cover by Werner Roth & Dick Ayers

"HOLOCAUST!"

The team defeats Kukulcan.  Roy Thomas supplies story & dialogue, Werner Roth does pencils and Dick Ayers does inks.  Part 2 of 2.
     (4-21-2014)

(Continued in December 1966)

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

October 1966

(Continued from September 1966)

STRANGE TALES  149
cover by Jack Kirby & Don Heck

"THE END OF A.I.M.!"

NICK FURY out-foxes the bad guys, and SHIELD manages to take down the minions of Advanced Idea Mechanics, while proving to the government higher-ups that FURY is the ONLY man for the job.  Count Bornag Royale returns to A.I.M.'s hide-out, only to have it blown up with him in it by his own boss.  And while this is going on, some red-robed members of The Secret Empire, on the run from their own troubles, hitch a ride from one of their own-- who turns out to be the long-missing Gabe Jones, UNDERCOVER, who's been BUMPING OFF bad guys systematically!  On returning to SHIELD HQ, notes are exchanged, and Fury feels it's not a coincidence that several different secret spy outfits are running around at the SAME time.  Before long, an explosion only confirms what Fury suspected-- both A.I.M. and The Secret Empire were parts of "Them", and "Them" are really HYDRA-- who were not really defeated as earlier believed.

JACK KIRBY supplies story & layouts; Denny O'Neil fills in on dialogue; and OGDEN WHITNEY fills in on pencils & inks.  It's part 4 of 4-- but it's really the end of the 2ND ACT of a 3-ACT epic.  And the really big showdown is about to begin soon!!!

"IF KALUU SHOULD TRIUMPH"

BILL EVERETT supplying story & full art while Denny O'Neil almost kills it with his dialogue.  Part 3 of this 22-part DR. STRANGE epic.
    (4-10-2014)


FANTASTIC FOUR  55
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"WHEN STRIKES THE SILVER SURFER!"

Our newbie board-ridin' alien has circled the globe, getting his bearings on his new home.  He's not sure he likes what he's found.  He seeks out the person who first helped him gain insight into mankind having real potential... Alicia.  Just at the point where her steady, Ben, tired of watching his pal Reed and his still-new wife Sue get all googoo-eyed at each other, has decided to split to go spend time with his own sweetie.  Natcherly, on seeing her with "ANOTHER MAN", he comes to the wrong conclusion.  Result?  BIG fight, LOTS of property destruction, and the like.

While this is going on, Johnny & Wyatt, somewhere in Tibet, find an entire tribe of natives fleeing from some "monster", and while camping out, it approaches them in the darkness...

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and JOE SINNOTT does the cleanest, slickest inks ever seen this side of the galaxy!!!
     (4-10-2014)


TALES TO ASTONISH  84
cover by Gene Colan & Dick Ayers

"LIKE A BEAST AT BAY!"

Number One of The Secret Empire, which has collapsed partly due to the efforts of Gabe Jones, has found the amnesia-suffering SUB-MARINER and set him out to find and kill The Hulk-- who happens to be in NYC.  Namor, wearing an overcoat so as not to attract attention (heh) slips into a movie theatre to try and clear his head.  Someone happens to notice he's not wearing shoes-- or pants-- and Namor FLEES the theatre.  While in flight, he's spotted by the still-at-large Warlord Krang, who shoots him with a ray-blast, inadvertently restoring Namor's memory!  GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Dick Ayers does inks.

"RAMPAGE IN THE CITY!"

The HULK decides he's had enough of being on the run, and decides to go in search of The Avengers, in NYC.  While there, he realizes he's too conspicious, and so steals a hat & coat from a "big men's" clothing store.  He then sneaks into a movie theatre to get away from the cops (hey, haven't we seen this before), and witnesses a disturbance, as some other guy in an overcoat is running out the side door.  Whatta ya know-- all this build-up to a SUB-MARINER/HULK fight, and Namor misses the guy he's looking for without even knowing it.  Next, he sees a newsreel of the army's VERY-recent battle against Boomerang (who was working for The Secret Empire).  Soon, cops chase Hulk into the subway, where he trips, falls, then winds up saving a speeding train from crashing.  He escapes, but wonders-- what's next?

A very good question, as this was JACK KIRBY's final episode of the series, supplying story & layouts, and seems to be playing his swan song at least partly for laughs.  Ye "editor" did the dialogue (MUCH funnier than usual, to go with the story).  Bill Everett pencilled the first 2 pages, Jerry Grandenetti the rest, while Mike Esposito, Sol Brodsky & John Tartaglione did the inks.  Oh, and while they were at it, one page from the SUB-MARINER story was repeated, with different dialogue, by Colan & Ayers.  Doesn't this look like it was a last-minute desperate race to beat a deadline?
    (4-10-2014)

Earlier comments:

"The Secret Empire" story spills over into the SUB-MARINER series.  This means there were 5 SEPARATE series where the events were inter-connected, all due to Jack Kirby's writing.  What a guy!  (Kirby filled in on 2 consecutive episodes of SUB-MARINER, during which he introduced "Number One"-- seen here.)

Following the 3-part "T-Gun" story, THIS was the next episode of THE HULK I ever read.  As it happens, this was the FINAL episode written by JACK KIRBY.

It was also in the tradition of a few comics Marvel did in the early 40's, where they had MULTIPLE artists working on different pages. I'm not sure if Bill Everett did anything on this, but apparently a big chunk of it was one of the FEW jobs ever done for Marvel by JERRY GRANDENETTI (who started out as an assistant to Will Eisner on THE SPIRIT, then developed a VERY bizarre style of his own).  Also in the mix is ONE page by Gene Colan & Dick Ayers, actually copied from the SUB-MARINER episode earlier in the same issue, only with the dialogue & narration changed!

This is one of my favorite HULK episodes, mainly because it's so FUNNY!  The "dumb" HULK was in full swing here, but for once, "ye editor" got it right by playing the whole damned thing FOR LAUGHS.

If you note the credits, not only does the "editor" AS USUAL make it look like HE wrote it, he actually manages to AVOID crediting ANY of the artists involved at all!!!

Further, this is IN NO WAY "Beginning a new chapter".  The fact is, the "big story" started by Jack Kirby back in HULK #1, continued by Steve Ditko when the series resumed in ASTONISH, and then picked up again by Kirby after the 8 Ditko episodes, would finally reach its CLIMAX only 3 more episodes down the line.

My vote for the FUNNIEST Hulk page from the actual series (as opposed to a NBE parody).  Anybody else would smash the plate-glass window... but not our boy genius, here!

Screwy thing about this issue... here's the back-story.

Warlord Krang kidnapped Lady Dorma, trying to force he into becoming his bride.  Namor, pig-headed idiot he was, felt she had "betrayed" him, and went on a rampage against his own people.  Then he chased after Krang, who, trying to "impress" Dorma by committing murder, attacked Iron Man.  IM sent Krang running... Namor, who was on the verge of catching Krang, got SO pissed off at what he saw, he spent 3 ENTIRE episodes trying to beat the crap out of Iron Man.  (Somebody needs to teach that idiot a lesson.)  The last part of that 3-part sequence was written by JACK KIRBY (with dialogue by Roy Thomas, who did MUCH better than he did on ANY other comic he wrote in the whole of the 60's-- I guess Kirby inspired him.)

So Kirby did a 2nd episode, in which Namor fought Krang, but wound up with amnesia at the end.  Number One took advantage of it, saying he was Namor's friend, and sent him out to find-- AND KILL-- The Hulk.  (This idea of the villain convincing a hero with amnesia that they're friends would later be reused by John Romita in ASM #55-56.)

So, HULK and SUBBY are both in ASTONISH, they're both in NYC, it looks like we're gonna see a big fight... NOPE.

Instead, Hulk sneaks into a movie theatre, watches a newsreel about what went on at Ross' base in the southwest (showing events not seen elsewhere in the story).  And there's a disturbance, because SUBBY was hiding in the theatre, watching the same newsreel, until someone spotted him, and he fled... NEVER knowing his target was in the same theatre.  So, big build-up... but no fight.  Readers would have to wait for ASTONISH #100 (2 years later) for that.
    (12-8-13)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL  3
cover by John Romita & Mike Esposito

Instead, while he's in NYC, Hulk gets into a fight with SPIDER-MAN.  Seems The Avengers, for no damn reason, suddenly discuss the idea that Spidey might make good Avenger material, contact him, and as a "test", send him out to capture The Hulk, who's been spotted in the area.

The springboard for this situation MAY well have come from the "editor".  (As I said-- "for no damn reason".  That sounds like "ye editor" to me!)  The story itself was WRITTEN by John Romita, with art by Don Heck & Mike Esposito.
    (12-8-13)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  41
cover by John Romita & Mike Esposito

TALES OF SUSPENSE  82
cover by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia

"BY FORCE OF ARMS!"

IRON MAN battles the Titanium Man in the nation's capitol!  It's neck-and-neck, until the Commie BASTARD sees Pepper in the watching crowd, and threatens her LIFE if Shellhead doesn't surrender.  GENE COLAN supplies story and AWESOME art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Frank Giacoia begins his run on the series as inker.  It was absolutely unforgivable when this was reprinted in IRON MAN ANNUAL #2, and the book ended on a cliffhanger!  Part 2 of 3.

"THE MADDENING MYSTERY OF THE INCONCEIVABLE ADAPTOID!"

CAPTAIN AMERICA finds himself suffering from some inexplicable hallucinations.  Meanwhile, a SHIELD mop-up team finds Count Bornag Royale still just barely alive in the wreckage of A.I.M.'s mountain hideout, rambling about some "secret weapon" that's been unleashed.  In Avengers' Mansion, CAP succumbs to sleep, while the A.I.M. android who's been causing him visions changes form and takes on his image!  JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue (and, I suspect, came up with the overly-wordy title), and Frank Giacoia does inks.  Part 1 of 3.
     (4-10-2014)


THOR  133
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta

"BEHOLD... THE LIVING PLANET!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Thor wins over Ego, the Living Planet and gets Earth's freedom from the colonizers. Jane wanders into the New Men and is offered a job as a teacher in Wundagore."

One wild, eye-popping story.  The thing I mainly remember this for was that the inks were MUCH better, far more impressive-looking, than usual.  In light of the army of assistants that Vince Colletta used over the years, this brings up the question... WHO inked this?  Vince, on a better day than usual, or one of his assistants, who gave more of a damn than he did himself?  It also appears the story MAY have been cut short rather abruptly at the end, as if it was originally intended to go on longer than it did.  Hmm...  (Part 3 of 3.)

JACK KIRBY supplies mind-blowing story & retinal-shattering visages; ye "editor" fills word balloons; and Vince "This S***just keeps getting crazier by the issue!" Colletta does inks.

"VALHALLA!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Harokin rides the Black Stallion of Doom to Valhalla."

We don't get to see much of Valhalla so much as the last ride heading toward it.  Oh well.  JACK KIRBY supplies story & art on this latest installment of "Tales Of Asgard".  Ye "editor" does dialogue, while Vince "pall bearer" Colletta does inks.  (Part 5 of 5.)
    (4-10-14)


THE AVENGERS  33
cover by DON HECK

"TO SMASH A SERPENT!"

The team takes down The Sons Of The Serpent.  DON HECK supplies story & FULL art, ye "editor" does dialogue.  It's not bad, but, really, a sharper, slicker, cleaner inker would have done wonders for this thing.
    (4-10-2014)


SGT. FURY & HIS HOWLING KRAUT-KILLERS  35
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"BERLIN BREAKOUT!"

DICK AYERS supplies story & art, Roy Thomas does dialogue & John Tartaglione does inks.
     (4-10-2014)


DAREDEVIL  21
cover by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia

"THE TRAP IS SPRUNG!"

The Owl has it out with Hornhead in his volcanic island retreat.  Essentially an issue-long free-for all.  GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and in an obvious case of a BLOWN deadline (hey, that's two in the same month!) , Frank Giacoia, Bill Everett & Dick Ayers all do inks, the latter 2 no doubt picking up the slack for the former.  I guess taking on IRON MAN was just too much for Giacoia?  Anyway, it may not read so good, but at least with Gene it LOOKS nice.
     (4-10-2014)


X-MEN  25
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"THE POWER AND THE PENDANT!"

The team face a baddie named "El Tigre" who's into South American archeology & mythology, who turns into a figure called "Kukulcan".  There's seems some confusion about this on the cover, as the original Werner Roth cover with El Tigre was replaced with a Jack Kirby cover with Kukulcan, yet, the cover caption still reads "El Tigre".  Hmm.  It would seem that Jack Kirby came up with this issue's villain.  Roy Thomas supplies story & dialogue, Werner Toth the pencils, and Dick Ayers the inks.  Part 1 of 2.

     (4-10-2014)

(Continued in November 1966)

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

September 1966

(Continued from August 1966)

STRANGE TALES  148
cover by BILL EVERETT

"DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR!"

Synopsis:
Dugan is desperate and shattered when he thinks Fury is killed in a fire-bombing attack by A.I.M., only to discover it was a Life Model Decoy that got "killed".  But the A.I.M. prisoners he wanted interrogated were killed, which frustrates Fury-- who, along with Dum Dum & Jasper, realize their movements are under video-surveillance by the enemy!  Meanwhile, Count Royale and his A.I.M. cohorts are amazed at how advanced & convincing SHIELD's L.M.D.s are, far more advanced than their own chemical androids, and determine to steal one.  Fury gets angrier by the minute, and chews out a scientist testing a "tri-di-roentgen hand gun" (capable of making any object transparent), and Jasper, who blew a hole in the ceiling of his cabin trying to find a security gap.  Fury realizes he's stepped on a lot of V.I.P.'s toes, but determines he'll play this game his own way.  While Fury submits to a "trial", at which Jasper gives the most damning "evidence", a squad of A.I.M. men break into SHIELD's underground base to steal an L.M.D.  Just as Royale realizes Fury knew about the surveillance cameras, Fury stuns the crowd by shattering a viewport and leaping thru it to his apparent death!  But he parachutes to safety, and is met on the ground by Dugan-- ready to take on A.I.M....

Indexer notes:
Part 4 of 5.  2nd Jack Kirby-dialogued Marvel Comic of the 1960's.  The pen-radio Fury uses is similar to the one regularly used by agents on THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. tv series.  This is the 2nd time Fury smashed a glass viewport on the Heli-Carrier, the 1st time being in STRANGE TALES #135 (August 1965).
     (8-7-2007)

"DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR!"

As the forces of Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.), who, it turns out, are in fact a part of "Them" (whoever they are) continue their efforts to discredit-- and kill-- NICK FURY, the SHIELD ramrod and his men strike back in their own way.  JACK KIRBY supplies story, layouts &, for once, HIS OWN DAMN DIALOGUE (although thanks to the credits, it made it seem like this was the only time he did the story, instead of having written every single episode up to this point).  Don Heck does pencils AND inks, making this one of the roughest-looking installments yet.  This is a tragedy, as, to me, Don Heck's best feature is his visual storytelling, the one thing he wasn't able to do here, and his worst is his inks.  The NICK FURY series deserved far better than this, but thanks to the way the work was distributed, the entire JACK KIRBY run of the series has often been dismissed in comparison to the later episodes, which, while flashier, were nowhere near as well-written.
     (4-8-2014)

"THE ORIGIN OF THE ANCIENT ONE"

Synopsis:
The Ancient One tells Strange of events far in the past that took place in Kamar-Taj, "a hidden land high in the Himalayas".  Both he & Kaluu were born there, but while Strange's mentor wanted to use magic only for the benfit of the people, Kaluu dreamed of making Kamar-Taj the center of a vast empire.  Via magical "psychic hypnosis", Kaluu slowly gained control over his own people, imprisoned his once-friend, and invaded, conquered & enslaved neighboring lands.  As conquerors, his own people became lazy, fat & indulgent, with no care for the welfare of others.  Finally striking back with magic, The Ancient One inadvertently hurt his own people more than Kaluu, as pestilence & disease overran the country.  Kaluu fled to another dimension "beyond the edge of the universe", while The Ancient One, unable to help his own people, left Kamar-Taj, swearing to use his magic to help others.  Kaluu vowed to return & wreak vengeance "if it takes a thousand years".  And now, after all that time, he approaches...

Indexer notes:
Part 2 of 22.  Before its corruption, Kamar-Taj was remarkably similar to Shangri-La in the film LOST HORIZON (1937).  This is fitting, considering Dr. Strange's resemblance to the film's star, Ronald Colman.
     (8-7-2007)

"THE ORIGIN OF THE ANCIENT ONE"

In retrospect, it annoys the hell out of me that BILL EVERETT was writing this series UNCREDITED while a no-talent hack like Denny O'Neil pretty much murdered Everett's stories with his over-written, dull-as-dirt dialogue.  At least Everett's FULL ART looked nice, but if the thing becomes so difficult to read, it drags the whole work down.
    (4-8-2014)


FANTASTIC FOUR  54
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"WHOSOEVER FINDS THE EVIL EYE!"

The Black Panther gives Johnny & Wyatt a bizarre flying vehicle as a gift, which they use to head for The Inhumans' city.  En route, they discover, in the desert of Northern Africa, a long-buried tomb containing an ancient English knight of the middle ages, "Prester John", who arises from a highly-advanced piece of equipment that's kept him in suspended animation.  He has a device which can used as a weapon known as "The Evil Eye", which Johnny believes may be able to break thru the "Negative Zone" surrounding The Inhumans' city, and in a fit, makes off with it, not realizing it's accidentally been set to self-destruct!

Apparently Prester John was yet another character intended to have his own series, but, like The Inhumans and The Black Panther, was introduced in this book instead.  But unlike the others, he vanished without a trace after this one episode, giving one the feeling that an intended multi-parter was somehow cut off in mid-story.  In fact, Prester John did not appear again until THE DEFENDERS #11 (Dec'73), at the very end of the long, meandering "Avengers-Defenders Clash", which centered around a quest for The Evil Eye.  Crazy.

JACK KIRBY supplies characters, story & art; ye "editor" does dialogue, and JOE SINNOTT continues to do absolutely stunning inks.
     (4-8-2014)


TALES TO ASTONISH  83
cover by Jack Kirby & Bill Everett

"THE SUB-MARINER STRIKES!"

Namor catches up with Warlord Krang, and the two have it out, super-powered muscle-bound strength versus high-tech weaponry.  (I ask, does that seem fair?)  Meanwhile, "Number One" of The Secret Empire observes the battle from a discreet distance, until Namor is hit by some kind of energy ray that knocks him right out of the sky.  On awakening, he's lost all memory of who he is (OH NO, not the "amnesia" card!!!), and the red-robed rotten egg wastes no time telling him he's got a mission-- find, and kill, The HULK!  Can you say, "crossover"??

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, once again filling in for Gene Colan, who caught the flu the month before, while ye "editor" does dialogue & Dick Ayers does inks.  One of the strangest things about this episode is that Kirby completely disregarded the "flagship" Krang had been racing around in for months now, and gave him an entirely different one (while the dialogue "explains" it had the ability to re-configure itself-- OH REALLY?????).

"LESS THAN MONSTER, MORE THAN MAN"

Betty Ross slowly coming to terms with the fact that her boyfriend is really THE HULK, who, by this time, has become SO dumb, SO stupid, SO lacking in mental capacity (hey, this could go on for awhile), that simply trying to communicate with him has become increasingly difficult.  But, by story's end, he's sent Boomerang packing, and returned Betty to her father, who STILL sees the Hulk as a menace to be destroyed.  While this is going on, one by one, the leaders of The Secret Empire are being bumped off by "Number Nine", who apparently wants to become the new "Number One".

JACK KIRBY supplies story & layouts, ye "editor" does dialogue, and BILL EVERETT does his final turn on pencils & inks.  These are a blast, I can only imagine how much better they might have been if Kirby had been allowed to write his own dialogue.  You've got inter-related plot-lines running thru 5 different series at the same time now!!  And some people actually think Kirby never wrote any of his own stories until he started the "Fourth World".
    (4-8-2014)

MARVEL SUPER-HEROES  38

There's a couple of slight differences in the faces between the original and the early-70's reprint.  Which raises the question, is the reprint showing the art BEFORE it was altered on the original?  It turns out that kind of thing happened quite a lot.

That could be a John Romita or Marie Severin face on the original, trying to make Ross look less like a stark raving madman.

MORE deceptive credits.  When it says "Script", it doesn't say that "script" was written AFTER the story and art were already turned in.  As usual at this point, JACK KIRBY wrote this story!

Meanwhile, the reprint quality is so bad, much of Bill Everett's fine line-work is getting blurry and lost.

The mystery of Number Nine continues.  Apparently, he's just bumped off Numbers 2-8 (not counting 5, who was bumped off the previous month).

The crazy thing is... to find out what the HELL is going on... you won't find out reading the next month's ASTONISH issue.  No!  Instead-- you have to read STRANGE TALES!!!

(That sneaky Kirby...)
    (12-7-13)


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN  40
cover by John Romita & Mike Esposito

TALES OF SUSPENSE  81
cover by Gene Colan & Jack Abel

"THE RETURN OF THE TITANIUM MAN!"

As Tony Stark flies to Washington, DC, to face the Senate sub-committee, who have demanded he turn over the secrets of Iron Man's armor to the military (why this should INCLUDE revealing Iron Man's secret identity is completely beyond me), behind the Iron Curtain, those ROTTEN, EVIL COMMIE BASTARDS have decided to give Shellhead's big green counterpart a 2nd chance.  Somehow, he's become bigger than before, though his armor is sleeker (an evolution that follows the tradition of Iron Man's armor), and, loading him into an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, they fire him at Washington.  High above the city, the two MEET!  As one might expect, "to be continued".  GENE COLAN supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and JACK ABEL does his final inks on the series (awwww).  It always bugs me when they change the creative line-up in the middle of a story.  Ever notice Gene really has a thing for "giant-size" bad guys?

"THE RED SKULL SUPREME!"

The ultimate Nazi has gotten his hands on THE COSMIC CUBE, and there's nothing, NOTHING, I say, that can stop him!!!  BWA-HAHAHA!!!!  ...except, maybe, his own over-inflated ego and arrogance and hatred and (hey, this could go on for awhile).  CAPTAIN AMERICA has to tackle the guy one-on-one, and manages to use trickery as well as strength & prowess to turn things around.  As the tiny island they're on disintegrates just like the one at the end of "The Mysterious Island", The Cube gets lost in the ocean, and The Skull, searching for it, sinks to the bottom due to the heavy suit of armor he fashioned for himself.  "OOPS!!!"  Of course, we know he'll return... eventually.  JACK KIRBY supplies story & art, ye "editor" does dialogue, and Frank Giacoia does fabulous inks.  (There's probaby some Joe Giella in there as well, which makes me wish I'd been taking more notes when I re-read these things.)
     (4-8-2014)

"THE RED SKULL SUPREME!"

Synopsis:
Cap fights a seemingly-hopeless battle against The Skull, who, armed with The Cosmic Cube, can do anything he wishes merely by thinking it!  The Skull envisions instantly making everyone on the planet his slaves-- turning every able-bodied man into a fighting machine-- creating "new, invincible weapons-- in endless number, with matchless power"-- and eventually leaving Earth to create an intergalactic empire, extending to "the furthest reaches of space".  Cap only turns the tables by pretending to grovel, and becoming the Skull's servant.  Mad with power, The Skull envisions a new group of "knights of the round table", and fashions a suit of armor made of solid gold.  At which point Cap wrestles with him, trying to knock the Cube from his grip.  At his thought, the island they're on breaks up and sinks into the ocean.  Cap knocks the Cube into the water, and The Skull dives in after it-- before he realizes what he's done, as the weight of the armor drags him down to the bottom.  The Cube becomes buried in the deep, as Cap hopes it will be lost forever.

Indexer notes:
Part 3 of 3.  The Red Skull would return, with the Cosmic Cube, in TALES OF SUSPENSE #89 (May 1967).
     (2007)


THOR  132
cover by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta

"RIGEL: WHERE GODS MAY FEAR TO TREAD!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Thor, battling to Rigel, is diverted by the menace of Ego."

Remember when this series started, and Jack Kirby would alternate between science-fiction, red menace and Asgardian stories?  Well, Commies may have reduced in frequency, but for the first time in quite awhile, THOR is definitely tackling a sci-fi menace.  And I mean, REALLY "sci-fi"-- as he's out in deep space, trying to stop an alien race from claiming the entire planet Earth as their own.  And while he's at it, it turns out they're facing a menace of their own, which-- how convenient-- THOR may turn out to be the only one who can save THEM!

And meanwhile, even as the plot-line for "Tana Nile" and the Colonizers was introduced while the previous story was still going on (in classic "soap-opera" tradition), the NEXT storyline begins to work its way in while this one is going strong.

JACK KIRBY supplies mind-boggling story & eye-popping art; ye "editor" fills word balloons, and Vince "You've got to be F***ing kidding me!" Colletta does inks.

"THE DARK HORSE OF DEATH!"

from the GCD: "Synopsis: Thor and companions rest after defeating Harokin's Hordes. Harokin, mortally wounded, waits for the Black Stallion of Doom."

Harokin, who bears such a strong physical resemblance to Thor (except for the hair color), is dying, and although he was their enemy, Thor and his companions honor him as a great warrior.

JACK KIRBY supplies story & art on this latest instalment of "Tales Of Asgard".  Ye "editor" does dialogue, and Vince "I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse" Colletta does inks.
    (4-6-2014)


THE AVENGERS  32
cover by DON HECK

"THE SIGN OF THE SERPENT!"

This introduces a whole new group of baddies, The Sons Of The Serpent.  Like the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazi Party, their thing is inciting RACE HATRED among people.  One of their victims is Bill Foster, a scientist who's helping Hank Pym try to "fix" his problem of being stuck at ten feet tall.  Foster, years later, would become BLACK GOLIATH!

DON HECK supplies story & FULL art, while ye "editor" does dialogue.  As Jack Kirby was no longer doing the covers, I have to wonder who came up with this story originally.  I also have to wonder, did Don Heck return to inking his own pencils because he needed the work, and wanted to do it, or because Frank Giacoia was becoming TOO over-extended elsewhere?  (The fact that Giacoia BLEW a deadline the very next month would suggest that could have been a factor.)  This is the point where I started to lose interest in this book, as I've never been that crazy about Heck's inks, especially on a superhero series.  He did okay on IRON MAN, but here, it's some of the ROUGHEST, CRUDEST, UGLIEST inks I've ever seen in all of 60's Marvel.  I'm sure I would have enjoyed these issues more if they'd at least had a more "polished" look.
    (4-8-2014)


SGT. FURY & HIS HOWLING RECRUITS  34
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott
"THE ORIGIN OF THE HOWLERS!"

Roy Thomas & Dick Ayers supply story & art, though who did how much of what is up for debate.  John Tartaglione supplies the bullets --err, inks.
     (4-8-2014)


DAREDEVIL  20
cover by Gene Colan & Frank Giacoia

"THE VERDICT IS:  DEATH!"

Matt Murdock is kidnapped by D.D.'s old enemy, The Owl, and taken to an island where he's to take part in a mock trial of the judge who sentenced the guy to prison.  Gee, doesn't ANYBODY actually serve believable jail terms in the Marvel Universe?  In what must stretch credibility totally beyond any hope of belief, he sneaks off and returns as hornhead, and somehow, NOBODY figures out they're the SAME guy.  Right!

D.D. begins a whole new era here (WHAT, ANOTHER ONE?).  It seems John Romita was off doing this year's SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL and a "fill-in" was needed.  YEAH, RIGHT.  In comes GENE COLAN, supplying story & art on his first of COUNTLESS issues of this book, that became his "signature" character!!!  Ye "editor" does dialogue, while Frank Giacoia does inks.  From here on out, D.D. became a series far more known for its gorgeous, stunning, spectacular and moody artwork, and less for its writing.  At least Gene tended to have a sense of humor.  Let's face it-- DAREDEVIL works best when he's Marvel's answer to THE FLASH, not BATMAN, as far as the tone of the stories, and the sheer wackiness of the bad guys goes.
     (4-8-2014)


X-MEN  24
cover by Werner Roth & Dick Ayers

"THE PLAGUE OF THE LOCUST!"

Jean Grey has been yanked out of Xavier's school by her parents, and sent to a "normal" college (does this actually make any sense at all?).  And meanwhile, yet another misguided scientist turns supervillain, in a rather disappointing episode.  Oh well, can't win 'em all.  Roy Thomas supplies story, Werner Roth the pretty pictures, and Dick Ayers does inks.  It may be dull, but at least it looks nice.
     (4-8-2014)

(Continued in October 1966)

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