Cover Cavalcade

 

August is Second-Tier Villain Month!

This 1963 cover is by Jack Kirby.

History of the Marvel Universes: November 1963--Part 2

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #98


As this issue opens, Thor is throwing a temper tantrum because Odin has forbidden him to marry a mortal. What’s more, Jane has quit her job with Dr. Blake and gotten a job with another Doctor.

But the Thunder God’s personal problems take a back seat when the Cobra arrives in New York. A villain who got enhanced speed and agility when bitten by a radioactive cobra, the Cobra tries to take over a chemical factory. He intends to produce enough “cobra serum” to create an army of loyal snake-men.

This leads to a running battle with Thor. Eventually, Cobra takes Jane and her new boss hostage. Jane’s boss turns out to be a craven coward, which convinces Jane to return to her job with Donald Blake.

But, of course, that doesn’t happen until Thor rescues her from Cobra. Cobra himself escapes, but he’ll be back before too long.

It’s a pretty good issue. Cobra is probably too underpowered to really present Thor with a serious enough threat, but he’s visually interesting and will make for a solid if usually second-string addition to the Marvel Universe.

The real treat in this issue is the “Tales of Asgard” back-up feature. This time around, we see Odin battle some Frost Giants. It’s the sort of uber-powered battle scene that Jack Kirby excels at and his design for the Frost Giants is downright awesome. A few panels of Odin flying into battle on a chariot pulled by winged horses only adds that much more awesomeness to the whole thing.

TALES OF SUSPENSE #47


You know, over the years, Marvel Comics really has developed a large stable of reasonably interesting second-string villains who can be plugged into a story as needed. In Journey into Mystery, we’re introduced to one of these guys: The Cobra.

Now, in Tales of Suspense, we meet the Melter, an embittered former business rival of Tony Stark’s who invents a ray gun capable of instantly melting iron.

This, of course, is a weapon that works pretty well against Iron Man. But, after one disastrous encounter with the Melter, Tony rebuilds his armor out of a tough aluminum alloy. The Melter flees in panic when his weapon fails to work.

Interestingly, the Melter escapes—just as the Cobra escapes Thor. It’s a good month for stopping evil plans, but a bad month for actually catching the bad guys.

Steve Ditko did the fun art work and there’s some funny banter between Happy and Pepper. Iron Man still isn’t as good as it will be, but it’s slowly getting there.

TALES TO ASTONISH #49



Henry Pym takes another step forward as a viable character when he finally realizes he can use his reducing/enlarging formulae to become Giant-Man as well as Ant-Man.



It’s a new power that comes in handy when he (and some other scientists) are kidnapped into another dimension by cranky aliens who want the humans to make atomic weapons. The Wasp (who secretly tagged along when Pym was snatched) helps Hank get loose and he uses his new Giant-Man ability to make mincemeat of the alien military. He and Wasp get hold of the dimension-hopping device used to kidnap everyone and use it to get themselves and the other hostages back to Earth.



Jack Kirby has some fun with the battle scenes (including a King Kong homage when Giant-Man stands atop a tower to fight alien aircraft), while the banter between Hank and Janet is actually quite clever. I like one line when Hank replies to Janet’s statement that she loves him: “Honey, you’re just in love with the idea of being in love.”



“Even when you call me Honey,” she replies, “you make it sound so… medicinal!!!”



Not Nobel Prize-winning dialogue, perhaps, but it succeeds in giving the protagonists some personality. As I’ve said before, this series will never come close to the level of quality we’re finding in FF and Spider Man, but it still—from time to time--does okay for itself.



Next week, we’ll finish up November 1963 with a look at the Avengers and the X-Men.

History of the Marvel Universe: October 1963, part 2

TALES OF SUSPENSE #46


A Communist scientist—the world’s foremost expert on electricity—creates a powered suit he calls the Crimson Dynamo. Sneaking into the U.S., he begins a campaign of sabotage against Stark Industries.



Things get so bad that Tony is soon worried about bankruptcy and the government begins to suspect him of sabotaging his own factories. But eventually, Iron Man and the Dynamo confront each other. The Russian is defeated and Tony clears his name.


Iron Man continues to have pacing problems. Once again, a large percentage of this relatively short story is spent setting up the story and introducing the villain. Consequently, his encounter with Iron Man is fairly short, with Tony winning far too easily. Oh, well—the Dynamo (with someone else wearing the suit) will eventually be more of a challenge.


There is a nice twist at the end of the story. After defeating the Dynamo, Tony gets him to defect by playing him an intercepted radio message about the Russian being assassinated by the Commies after his mission is over. At first, this seems too much of a dues ex machina, but then it turns out that Tony faked the message. Devious of you, Tony, but kinda cool all the same.



TALES TO ASTONISH #48


Henry Pym seems to run into an awful lot of disgruntled scientists.


This time around, it’s a disgruntled Defense Department researcher who feels the battle suit he designed is unappreciated. The suit is modeled on the porcupine and bristles with quills that are actually a variety of different weapons.


Using this suit, the self-styled Porcupine robs a bank. Ant Man tracks him down, but gets captured and is nearly drowned in a bathtub before the Wasp rescues him. They then defeat the Porcupine by clogging his weaponry with liquid cement. The villain gets away at the end, but the heroes are safe (and they presumably recover the loot from the bank job—though writer H.E. Huntley seems to have forgotten about that).


The Porcupine is a pretty good idea for a villain—though he can’t help but look a little silly. As is typical of many Ant Man stories, this one is good but not really memorable or exceptional in any way.


But things will be looking…. UP… for Henry Pym in the next issue.


STRANGE TALES #113



This story gives us the first appearance of Dorrie Evans—Johnny’s first-ever regular girl friend. She’ll never be an important part of the Marvel Universe, but she’ll pop up from time to time both here and in the FF for a little while.


Johnny and Dorrie’s first date actually manages to set up a potentially interesting relationship. Dorrie likes Johnny despite his being the Human Torch—all that flaming on actually annoys her. For his part, Johnny is both pleased to be liked for himself and a little bothered that he can’t use his powers to show off for her like he does with other girls.


Oh, yes, there’s also a supervillain. The Plantman has a ray that increases the intelligence and mobility of plants, allowing him to command them to assist in committing crimes. After framing Dorrie’s father for a burglary, though, he moves on to thoughts of world conquest—figuring that plants far outnumber us mere humans.


But Johnny manages to get the best of him, using a fire ball to dry out the plants that are attacking him and forcing all that vegetation to realize that Plantman is just getting them in trouble. The plants turn on the bad guy and wreck his ray gun.


Interestingly, Plantman himself manages to make a getaway after the plants all revert to normal. This is a good month for villains who need to escape—Doctor Doom, Porcupine and now Plantman all manage to do so.


That’s it for October 1963, bringing the second full year of the modern Marvel universe to an end. We now have three groups of heroes active (the FF, the Avengers and the X-Men), with the Avengers all maintaining their solo careers as well. Spider Man is well-established and has already added several important members to his rogue’s gallery. I’ve long since lost count of how many times Earth has been invaded by aliens and we’ve been introduced to two or three subterranean and one sub-atomic civilizations. Just about everyone has had a chance to do some time traveling and the FF has been to the moon and to another planet.


The Marvel Universe is really starting to fill up, but before another year goes by, we’ll see yet another important hero—a blind lawyer in a brightly colored costume—join the pantheon. The Hulk will get his own series again. Kirby and Ditko will continue to produce absolutely astounding visuals and nifty-keen fight scenes.


But we’ll still be taking it in one month at a time. In November 1963, the FF and the X-Men will each encounter a new villain, while Dr. Strange fights an old enemy; a “possessive” alien will cause some internal strife among the Avengers; Ant Man will expand his powers; yet another new villain will give Iron Man a hot time; Spider Man will meet a one-armed scientist who will prove to be both a good friend and a dangerous enemy; Thor will continue to have girl friend troubles; and the Human Torch will meet a certain Living Legend from World War II... or will he?

History of the Marvel Universe: September 1963, part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #18

The Skrulls, still annoyed that the Fantastic Four defeated them back in FF #2, make another attempt to destroy the group and conquer the Earth. This time, they send the Super Skrull, a being able to duplicate and amplify all the FF’s powers.


At first, he seems capable of whipping the good guys quite handily. But Reed deduces that Super Skrull must be getting extra power beamed to him from his home planet. Once that power is jammed, it’s the Super Skrull who goes down in defeat.


This is a fun, action-oriented issue. The Skrulls are going to become one of the major alien threats in the Marvel Universe—certainly, their creepy visual design and shape-changing powers make them more memorable than most of the countless other alien races that keep invading us. The Super Skrull himself will, of course, be back to fight again as well.


I should also mention that Sue continues to pull her weight in the action scenes, using her invisibility to good affect. We’re not too many issues away from when her powers finally get amped up with the ability to generate force fields, but in the meantime she’s continuing to do a pretty good job.


TALES TO ASTONISH #47


An American jazz musician traveling in India learns the secret of using music to hypnotize both men and animals. Returning to New York City, he plans to use his powers to hypnotize the populace while he steals them blind.


Fortunately, Ant Man’s cybernetic helmet makes him immune to the music and he foils the plot by destroying the bad guy’s trumpet.


This one is a bit dull, taking far too much time to set up the situation and explain the not-terribly-interesting villain. There’s a nice bit of characterization, though, when Janet talks Hank into taking her to a jazz club. It turns out she’s a fan of jazz, while poor stick-in-the-mud Hank has no idea who Count Basie is. But by the end of the story, he’s learning to appreciate her taste in music.

TALES OF SUSPENCE #45


Iron Man finally gets some regular supporting cast members—something the book has been lacking so far. Happy Hogan is a perpetually grouchy ex-boxer who saves Tony’s life and gets a job as chauffer/bodyguard. Pepper Potts is Tony’s secretary and is (of course) hoping to one day marry the boss.


They are both likable characters. Happy falls for Pepper right off, but she’s initially annoyed with him. This antagonistic relationship (they eventually fall in love and marry) gives some much-needed personality to the book.


Of course, this issue takes so long to introduce us to Happy and Pepper that there’s not much time for the super villain. An embittered scientist (there are a lot of those scattered around the Marvel Universe) invents a freeze ray and ice suit combination and goes on a crime spree. Iron Man defeats him fairly easily by putting together a miniature furnace from components he keeps in his armor.


This makes several issues in a row in which Iron Man hasn’t had to work up much of a sweat in beating the bad guys. But he’s got a better quality of bad guy coming up in future issues.

One other interesting thing—Tony Stark keeps playing up the fact that Iron Man is a good friend who happens to hang around Stark Industries a lot, explaining why the hero is always nearby when trouble breaks out. We haven’t yet reached the point at which Tony comes up with the rather obvious idea of stating that Iron Man is an employee.

Next week, we’ll see what Thor, the Human Torch and Spider Man are up to.

History of the Marvel Universe: August 1963, part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #17


This one picks up right where the previous issue left off, with the FF and Ant Man returning to normal size after their adventure in a sub-atomic world. Hank takes off while Reed and the others begin a search for Doctor Doom.

But their arch-enemy manages to find them first. He kidnaps Alicia, then (while based in a large airship) attempts to bring the United States to its knees by disrupting electrical power across the nation.


He also rings his ship in disintegrator beams tuned to the molecular structures of the FF. But Reed has a way to deal with that—he develops a formula to turn the Thing back into Ben Grimm (thus altering his molecular structure) long enough for Ben to sneak aboard the airship and wreck its defenses.


The story plods along a little at first, taking quite a few pages to set up the main plot. But once our heroes are aboard the airship, we get some nifty action stuff. This includes Sue using her invisibility to go one-on-one with Doom for a couple of pages. I’ve claimed in previous reviews that Sue was too underpowered to be of much use in the early issues of the FF—that she really wasn’t that effective until she got her force field powers. But reading through these early stories again is making me change my mind. It did take Stan and Jack a little while to figure out how to use her, but by now she’s getting her share of awesome moments in pretty much every issue.


Other strong points include the scene in which Reed races to develop the formula needed to get Ben aboard the ship; a nice moment in which Ben admits he trusts Reed with his life; and Ben’s almost-panicked response when he first learns that Alicia is in trouble.


Anyway, it all ends with Alicia safe and Doom defeated. Doom leaps to his apparent death out of the ship rather than admit his defeat, but this is a guy who has survived being thrown into deep space and shrunk down to sub-atomic size. I think we can safely assume he’ll survive a simple thing like plunging 20,000 feet to the ground.

TALES TO ASTONISH #46


Hank and Janet take a vacation to the Greek islands, but a hero’s work is never done. They run into a giant Cyclops that’s been kidnapping sailors.


It soon turns out that the Cyclops is a giant robot, being used by yet another race of invading aliens. Using a flying ant as a mount (the first time he employs that trick, I believe), Ant Man flies into the robot through its mouth. Fiddling with the circuits, he gains control of the Cyclops and turns it against the aliens. So much for THAT problem.


Aside from the over-used “invading aliens” trope, this is a fun little story. Don Heck’s art work looks a little stiff (as it often does), but his Cyclops is kinda creepy looking and the action is effectively choreographed.


TALES OF SUSPENSE #44


While helping an archeologist friend in Egypt, Tony Stark encounters an ancient mummy who’s not quite dead yet. The guy actually turns out to be a sorcerer who put himself into suspended animation for 2000 years to escape his enemies. Using a magic spell, he brings Tony back in time, intending to force him to use modern science to help defeat Cleopatra’s army and take over the country.


But Tony changes into Iron Man and gets away. He then drives off an invading Roman army and saves the beautiful Cleopatra. After this, he helps defeat the time-traveling villain.


Don Heck is the artist on this issue as well and he does some fun visuals when Iron Man fights off the Romans. (I can’t help but wonder, though. Isn’t Tony messing up the proper flow of history?) Tony gets his props as a ladies man as well, turning down an offer to marry Cleopatra before using a magic charm to return to the present.


Like the previous issue, the action scenes are marred a little by the fact that Iron Man has such an easy time winning. The nifty visuals make up for this, though. And next issue, Iron Man will finally get something his book has been sorely lacking—a cast of regular supporting characters.


Next week, we’ll finish up August with a peek at Thor, the Human Torch and Dr. Strange.

History of the Marvel Universe: July 1963, part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #16

The last time we saw Dr. Doom, he was hit by a shrinking ray and apparently shrunk down into nothingness. Now we find out he entered a sub-atomic world and managed to set himself up as ruler, imprisoning the rightful king.


Now he’s using his scientific skills to toy with the Fantastic Four, shrinking each of them down (then enlarging them again) at random moments. Unaware at first of who is behind all this, Reed calls on Ant Man for assistance. One thing leads to another and the FF (and Ant Man) soon find themselves also reduced in size yet again, prisoners of Doom on the subatomic world.


There’s several strong points to the story. It’s fun to see the Fantastic Four once again interacting with another Marvel hero. Lee and Kirby have fun with scale—the FF is shrunk down to enter the subatomic world, then shrunk again so that Doom and his guards are relative giants. This leads to a fun fight scene in which a tiny Fantastic Four is beating up some “giant” guards. Later, Sue gets yet another moment of glory in which she comes up with the idea for how to escape a death trap. These last few issues, she’s been doing pretty good.


There’s an interesting character moment for Ben during the story. At one point, Reed figures out a way to turn Ben human again, but Ben’s no longer sure he wants that. His girl, Alicia, likes him as the Thing and he may now be content with his lot in life.


At the climax, Doom’s power in the tiny world is broken and he enlarges himself to normal size to escape. So next issue, his latest battle with the Fantastic Four will continue.


TALES TO ASTONISH #45


The evil scientist Egghead is back to take revenge on Ant Man. He captures the Wasp in order to lure Ant Man into a trap involving—among other things—an anteater.


It’s not a bad story, though Egghead is still visually uninteresting and doesn’t really come close to being as cool as, say, Doctor Doom. Ant Man continues to suffer from a lack of interesting villains.


TALES OF SUSPENSE #43


Tony Stark and a couple of his employees are kidnapped and taken to the underground empire of Kala, Queen of the Netherworld. This subterranean civilization, all that remains of ancient Atlantis, is planning an invasion of the surface world to reclaim it for themselves.


They want to force Tony to come up with a way to transport their super-weapons to the surface, threatening to kill the other hostages unless he cooperates. In a situation parallel to Iron Man’s origin, Tony pretends to help long enough to build an Iron Man suit.


This leads to a pretty good fight scene, though Iron Man’s victory over Kala’s super weapons seems a little too effortless to be truly satisfying. Also, this issue highlights the lack of regular supporting characters—the hostages are pretty much just nameless Red Shirts.


But, as usual, Jack Kirby comes up with some neato character and gadget designs to populate the underworld city. Well, actually, the device Iron Man uses to dig back to the surface is a rare case of a Kirby illustration looking silly—it basically looks like a pair of oversized hedge-clippers rather than some sort of cool piece of super technology.


Oh, well, some of these problems will be solved soon. Regular supporting characters will join the cast in a few months and Iron Man will gradually become much more visually appealing.


Next week, we’ll finish up July as we see what Thor, Spider Man and the Human Torch are up to. Also, we’ll meet yet another addition to the Marvel pantheon of heroes.

History of the Marvel Universe, June 1963, part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #15


This issue introduces us to the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android, a pair of villains who will become regular members of the FF’s Rogue’s Gallery.


The Thinker’s shtick is pretty much just being really, really smart. As a precursor to taking over New York City, he figures out a way to manipulate the FF into temporarily breaking up, then uses a power outage to gain entrance into the Baxter Building. Once there, he equips a small army of gangsters with advanced weaponry invented by Reed. He also uses Reed’s notes on DNA research to create the powerful (and visually cool) Awesome Android.



In a nice series of vignettes that manages to generate some real emotion without getting too corny, Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny all soon realize they miss each other. But when they return to New York and get back together, they find themselves locked out of their own headquarters. In yet another fun Jack Kirby action sequence, the four heroes have to work together to bust into the building and defeat the Thinker, the Android and the ray-gun-wielding mobsters. It’s all very well-choreographed—each of the four (even Sue) is given something useful to do. And, of course, the Thinker meets his final defeat because it turns out that Reed Richards is even smarter than he is.


TALES TO ASTONISH #44


Hank’s got a girlfriend!!! Hank’s got a girlfriend!!!!!


We actually get some back story on Henry Pym in this issue, with a flashback that tells us he was once married to a girl named Maria. Maria was from Eastern Europe and she had defected to America. But soon after she and Hank are married, Communist agents kidnap and kill her.


Back in the present, Hank is feeling lonely and missing his wife. He also realizes he’s had too many close calls and needs a partner to back him up while he’s fighting the bad guys.


Well, as luck would have it, he soon meets Janet Van Dyne, who reminds him of Maria AND is anxious to avenge the recent murder of her father by an alien being.


So Hank implants tiny wings in her shoulder blades that will sprout whenever she uses the shrinking gas. And thus the Wasp is added to the pantheon of Marvel heroes. She and Ant Man team up to whip the murderous alien.


Janet’s addition to the cast is a step up for the Ant Man stories. Hank had gone far too long without a supporting cast and Janet proves to be a nice fit for him. The two are soon falling in love with each other, with Janet’s free-spiritedness providing a nice balance for Hank’s more staid personality. The two really never grow into strong enough characters to make their solo stories as memorable as those we see in the Fantastic Four or Spider Man, but they do eventually become an important and engaging part of the Marvel Universe as members of the Avengers.


Next week, we’ll finish up June 1963 with a look at what Thor, Iron Man and the Human Torch are up to.

History of the Marvel Universe--May 1963, part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #14

The FF return from their trip to the moon to enormous public acclaim (which include Reed Richards being grabbed and stretched in numerous directions at once by adoring female fans). But they only have a short time to rest before trouble strikes again.


The Puppet Master, who had supposedly fallen to his death after his initial battle with the FF, turns out to be still alive after all. He gains mental control over the Sub-Mariner and forces Namor to kidnap Sue Storm.

Reed, Johnny and Ben, unaware that Namor is not responsible for his own actions, mount a rescue operation. Ben brings his gal Alicia along because he can’t stand to see her cry when he stops by to say goodbye.

That’s a bit of a stretch—bringing a blind woman with no superpowers along on an undersea mission to fight the Sub-Mariner seems to be a mildly unwise plan. But what the hey—she does seem to stay out of the way.


Anyway, it all leads to a typically nifty Jack Kirby fight scene, with Namor using a variety of weird sea creatures in his attempt to defeat the FF. In the end, the Puppet Master once again meets with an apparent doom, freeing Namor from his control and bringing the fight to an end.


Sue gets yet another chance to act indecisive about whether she loves Reed or Namor and, sadly, doesn’t get to take an active part in any of the action. It can also be argued that Lee and Kirby are in danger of overusing Namor—this is at least his fourth appearance in just 14 issues.


But Kirby’s imaginative layouts and fight choreography carries the plot along nicely, while Ben Grimm continues to mature as a truly likeable character. Nitpicking aside, it is another good, strong issue.


AMAZING SPIDER MAN #2

Spidey wastes no time at all in adding yet another member to his Rogue’s Gallery. The Vulture shows up in this issue, swooping down out of the sky (or up out of the sewer through a man-hole) to swipe money and jewels from bank messengers. In a very well-plotted story, Spider Man uses his powers, his brains and his skill as a budding scientist to catch the villain.

In this issue, Peter Parker also gets the idea of making money as a photographer, getting shots of Spider Man in action. J. Jonah Jameson is still editorializing against Spider Man, so Peter figures it would be “a kick” to earn money off of him. (Jameson, by the way, is presented in this issue as being the editor of Now Magazine rather than the Daily Bugle. It’ll be a few issues before we learn he runs a newspaper as well as a magazine.) It’s made clear in this issue that grumpy old triple-J is going to be a regular supporting character and a regular foil for our hero.

The second story contained in this issue is a bit weaker. Spidey tangles with an eccentric old man who runs a fix-it shop. Except, of course, he’s not just an eccentric old man—he’s the Terrible Tinkerer, an alien who is spying on humanity in preparation for yet another invasion from outer space. It’s an okay story—most importantly, it again shows Spider Man thinking out his tactics during a fight as well as throwing punches.

But the whole invading aliens bit doesn’t seem to be a good thematic fit for Spider Man. It’s not a bad story—it just doesn’t seem to quite belong.


TALES TO ASTONISH #43:

A scientist, bitter about having just lost his job because of his advanced age, invents a ray gun that can rapidly age (or de-age) any living thing. Ant Man tries to stop him and gets zapped into old age. But when the bad guy accidentally ages his own grandson, he realizes the error of his ways. Everyone gets zapped back to normal.


This is a just plain dull story. The action is uninteresting and Don Heck’s art work is, frankly, equally uninteresting. (Heck can be quite good on occasion, but he lacked Kirby’s ability to make weak scripts look cool.)


But things will look up next issue, when Hank Pym gets himself a new partner and another hero (or, rather, heroine) will be added to the Marvel Pantheon.


Next week, we’ll take a look to see what Thor, Iron Man and the Human Torch are up to.

History of the Marvel Universe, April 1963: Part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #13

This has always been one of my favorite comic books stories—it’s full of extraordinarily imaginative visuals of spacecraft, alien cities, strange creatures and sci-fi gadgetry, all drawn by Jack Kirby at his prime as an artist.


It’s got a strong story as well. Reed’s developed a rocket fuel that will get the FF to the moon ahead of the Russians. At the same time, though, Ivan Kragoff (Russia’s top rocket scientist) is also getting ready to launch his own rocket. And he has a secondary plan as well—to expose himself and the three trained apes he’s using for a crew to cosmic rays, thus gaining superpowers just as the Fantastic Four did.


That part of the plan works. Kragoff gains the power to turn intangible, while his apes respectively gain the powers of super-strength, shape-changing and magnetic manipulation. Thus the Red Ghost and his Super Apes enter the FF’s growing rogue’s gallery.


The two rockets land in the “mysterious blue area” of the moon, which turns out to be the ruins of an ancient alien city—still equipped with an atmosphere. From here, the story turns into a duel between the American and the Russian super-beings to see who gets to claim the moon.


There are a number of elements to the story that deserve mention:

a) I’ve already mentioned the cool visuals. This issue is great fun to simply look at.
b) The action scenes are done very well. Both Reed and Kragoff make use of the alien technology scattered about the city, adding to the variety of superpowers that already exist amongst all the characters. It all makes for some wonderful fight scenes.
c) Ben has pretty much finished morphing into the gruff but humorous guy that makes him so appealing. His sense of humor is on display all through the story (stuffing Reed into a test tube when Reed suggests going to the moon without the others; using one-liners like “If that means we gotta use our brains, then the Torch better stay behind”). He also openly expresses concern for Reed at one point when it looks like Reed’s in danger. He’s obviously reached a point where he does feel like one of family.
d)Sue gets to use her invisibility usefully at one point—AND she gets to use her brains and escape on her own after being captured.
e) We are introduced to the Watcher—the incredibly powerful alien who is just supposed to observe everything without ever interfering. He’s a great concept for a character and he will, of course, be popping up again in the future.
f) The origin of the alien city is never explained, but leaving it a mystery works really well in a dramatic sense. It won’t be for many years (in an issue of the Avengers, I believe) until we find out that that it was built millennia ago by the Kree, an alien race that we haven’t yet met at this point in Marvel history.

TALES TO ASTONISH #40

Through a radioactive accident, a radio announcer gains the power to use his voice to control others—everyone believes everything he says completely and without question. To test this power, he turns the populace of the city against Ant Man, turning the tiny hero into a fugitive. (Ant Man’s cybernetic helmet keeps him immune from the voice power.)


Ant Man eventually gets the better of the villain by infecting him with laryngitis. This rather unusual tactic—and the fact that the bad guy doesn’t wear a costume (he wears a top hat and an old-fashioned frock coat), make this story kinda interesting. But once again, Ant Man remains adequate at best.


TALES OF SUSPENSE #40


Gee whiz, mental control of populations is popular this month. While Ant Man is battling this threat in his home town, the city of Granville is being mind-controlled by an alien robot Neanderthal.


But before we get to that, we get a few pages providing us with some background details for Iron Man’s ongoing series. We get a reminder that Tony Stark is a brilliant inventor and we’re told he has to wear his chest plate all the time to keep his injured heart beating, plugging the plate in to a wall socket from time to time to keep it powered.


We also get a few pages showing us that Iron Man has done some super-heroing between issues, so he’s already known to the general public. This was the same thing that was done with Ant Man after his debut issue. The Fantastic Four also became famous between their first and second issues. I suppose it was just the most convenient way to establish the characters’ place in the Marvel Universe in order to get on with the stories. It works perfectly well in terms of sound story construction, so it was in retrospect a good idea.

Also, when Tony’s armor scares a little kid at one point, he decides to paint it gold and hopefully make it less scary. The original clunky design stays around for the time being, though.

Any way, after all this is out of the way, Iron Man investigates Granville, whose citizens have built a wall around their town and cut themselves off from the rest of the country. Tunneling into the place, Iron Man finds a mind-controlled mob ruled over by Gargantus, a giant Neanderthal with a hypnotic gaze. But Gargantus turns out to be a robot, sent here by yet another set of aliens bent on world conquest. What is it that makes Earth so valuable, anyways? It seems like every single alien race out there wants to subjugate us!!! Though many of the individual stories involving alien conquest are good, it is a trope that Marvel was in serious danger of over-using in these early years.


Next week, we’ll take a look at Thor and the Human Torch to finish up April 1963.

History of the Marvel Universe: March 1963, part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #12


In the first of two crossovers to appear in modern Marvel Comics this month, the FF are asked by General “Thunderbolt” Ross to come west and help catch whomever is sabotaging a new anti-missile defense system. Ross is convinced the Hulk is the saboteur.


Reed and the others fly west. At the army base, they meet Bruce Banner, who is convinced the Hulk is innocent. (Gee, how can he be so sure?)


The real bad guy—a Communist agent who’s using a big robot to replicate the Hulk’s strength—kidnaps Rick Jones to force the Hulk to attack the FF.


This leads to a really nifty fight scene, in which the Hulk seems about ready to clean the Fantastic Four’s collective clock before the real villain is revealed to all. As is typical whenever Jack Kirby is providing the art, the battle is beautifully choreographed with all the participants making good use of their respective powers. Even the setting for the action is pretty cool—starting in an underground tunnel, then bursting out into an ancient ghost town.


Anyway, the enemy agent is soon captured and the Hulk’s innocence is established. In the meantime, we get our first glimpse of the updated Fantasti-Car. The oversized bathtub is gone, replaced by the super-cool futuristic design we’re all more used to seeing. (In fact, Reed acknowledges in a line of dialogue that they had gotten many letters of complaint about the “flying bathtub” design and that Johnny had redesigned it in response to that.)


Also, unless I missed a previous reference, the FF’s HQ is identified as the Baxter Building for the first time.


All-in-all, a great issue. It’s fun to finally see the Marvel characters from different books begin to interact with each other. The Hulk/FF fight this time was fairly brief, but there’ll be a Thing/Hulk rematch in 1964 that will give us one of the coolest fights of all time.

HULK #6

Steve Ditko takes over as artist for this last issue of the Hulk’s original run. This time, he fights an alien called the Metal Master, who can mentally control all metal--moving it about, reshaping it and melting it.

This pretty much lets him take on the army in his attempt to conquer the Earth. He even manages to knock the Hulk out, who is then picked up by the army and tossed into a concrete bunker for safe-keeping.

But no one yet really appreciates just how strong the Hulk is and he bashes his way free. In the meantime, Rick has formed a ham radio network of teenagers called “The Teen Brigade,” which helps the Hulk come up with a plan to defeat the Metal Master. We’ll see more of the Teen Brigade in the future, mostly in issues of The Avengers.

It’s a pretty good story. Ditko’s artwork is jarringly different in style from Kirby, but he is also a skilled storyteller and the book is still fun to look at.

The story also continues to build on the Hulk’s inherently tragic situation. His changes back and forth from Hulk to Banner are portrayed as increasingly painful and difficult, while several of the plot elements highlight just how alienated the Hulk feels about always being hunted.

The whole flaw in this is still the fact that Banner is now controlling his transformations, using a machine to turn himself back into the Hulk when needed. Also, though the Hulk dislikes that “milksop” Banner, he willingly turns human again because he doesn’t want to “always be hunted—feared.” But giving Banner/Hulk this much control over the changes remains a mistake. All the elements for a great character are there, but won’t fully gel until the transformations become completely involuntary.

But that won’t be for awhile yet. The Hulk disappears from the newsstands for awhile after this issue. He’ll return again, though, helping to form the Avengers in about six months, then eventually going on to a more successful run in his own series about a year after that/

TALES TO ASTONISH #41


Earth scientists are being kidnapped by Kulla, a tyrant from another dimension, and forced to work building an “electro-death ray” so he can subdue his rebellious people.


Hank Pym is among those kidnapped. But kidnapping a superhero is rarely a good idea. He shrinks down, finds the right frequency for talking to inter-dimensional ants, then goes on the offensive.

This one is actually a lot of fun—artist Don Heck's designs for the various aliens and strange insects are pretty cool and the action flows nicely. There’s a great line of dialogue from when Ant Man is hiding in a guard’s shoe” “Whew! This guy must never wash his socks!”


As is usual, Ant Man still isn’t hitting the same heights of great storytelling we’re seeing in the Fantastic Four (and will also see in Spider Man this month), but it’s still a well-done little story.


March 1963 was a busy month for Marvel and it’ll take us a few weeks to work through everything. Next time, we’ll take a look at what Thor and the Human Torch are doing. Then, in two weeks, we’ll see the return of Spider Man and the premiere of Iron Man.

The History of Marvel Comics: February 1963, part 1

FANTASTIC FOUR #11

No earth-shaking villains this time around—just a really annoying alien and then some time answering the mail.


The first half of the book covers the first visit to our planet by the Impossible Man, the indestructible, shape-changing alien from the planet Poppup. Irresponsible and just looking for a good time, Impy doesn’t really threaten the Earth more than he just gets on everyone’s nerves.


The story is a nice change of pace from the murderous villains the FF has been facing. The visual humor is done well and the ending is kinda cute. It’s still fun to read after more than four decades and it introduces a character who will on occasion return get on everyone’s nerves yet again.


The second half of this issue gives us our first look at Willy Lumpkin, the FF’s mailman. Structured around answering the mail, we’re given a little more background information on Reed and Ben (they were college roommates and both served in World War II—Ben as a pilot and Reed in the OSS). In addition, they answer some mail criticizing poor Sue’s part in the group. The criticism at the time actually did have some merit—it isn’t until Sue’s power is amped up to include invisible force fields that she can take a more aggressive role in the fight scenes and the stories in general.



But, by golly, Reed is gonna defend the woman he loves, coming up with the bizarrely interesting argument that Abe Lincoln said he owed his success to his mother, so Sue must be vital to the FF. Yeah, okay, Reed, whatever. Let’s just get to work figuring out she can make force fields, shall we?




TALES TO ASTONISH #40


Ant Man battles a guy using a giant magnet and knock-out gas to hijack armored cars. There’s a visually fun sequence in which Ant Man gets trapped inside a truck’s engine, but this is overall typically average stuff. I’m starting to feel guilty in my little reviews of Ant-Man’s stories—they really are perfectly fine for what they are. They’re just not that notable.


Next time, we’ll see Thor round up some gangsters, while Johnny Storm discovers he now has an arch-enemy.

History of the Marvel Universe: January 1963: part 2

Tales to Astonish #39

A bug, mutated into a super intelligent being by radiation, uses some of Hank Pym’s gas to make himself human-sized. Then, using telepathy to control all the nearby insects (except the ants, who remain loyal to Hank), he attempts to conquer mankind.

Ant Man and his ants do battle with the insect hordes. Then the tiny hero has it out with the big bug in a running battle through a toy store. Finally, the bug is captured, shrunk back down, then cured of his mutation to become just a normal bug again.

Gee whiz, Ant Man really, really needs a better quality of villain. But Kirby’s visuals are fun as usual and the concept of a smart mutant bug is interesting enough to carry the story along.

Journey into Mystery #88

Loki learns about Thor’s double identity and then escapes from Asgard. He then uses trickery to separate Thor from his hammer, causing the Thunder God to revert to Donald Blake.



Then Loki goes on a mischievous rampage though New York, doing stuff like turning all the vehicles into ice cream. Fortunately, Blake out-tricks him. Getting his hammer back and turning back into Thor, he then captures Loki after outsmarting him yet again.



It’s a good issue on several levels. First, it builds a little more on the Marvel version of Norse mythology, gradually building up the rich background that will allow future Thor stories to drip with imagination and powerful storytelling. Second, it’s nice to see Thor using his brains as well as his brawn throughout the issue.



Strange Tales #104

There’s no denying it. “Paste Pot Pete” is a silly name for a villain. And his costume (a stereotypical artist’s beret and coveralls) doesn’t help much.

It’s certainly an accurate name, though. Pete uses his specially designed gun (connected via a hose to a pot-full of “ammunition” that he hauls around with him) to shoot streams of thick paste. He uses the sticky stuff to do things like prevent a cop from drawing his gun by glopping together the cop’s hand and holster.

Eventually, Pete will adapt the less silly name of “Trapster,” get a better costume, use slightly more sophisticated weaponry and become a regular member of the Frightful Four. For the moment, though, he’s robbing banks and stealing experimental army missiles in and around Glenville.

Sadly, Pete’s gimmick isn’t really strong enough to carry even this short story. The Human Torch actually has quite a bit of trouble stopping him when there’s really no logical reason he couldn’t have caught the villain in just a page or two. But it takes him the whole thirteen pages to chase Pete out of Glenville and recover all the stolen loot. One of Jack Kirby’s many strengths as an artist is his ability to choreograph fun action scenes, but he’s just not up to his usual heights this time around. The fact that Paste Pot Pete just isn’t powerful enough to believably give Johnny a real challenge is probably to blame.

That’s it for January 1963. February will see the first appearance of the aptly named Impossible Man (as well as the ear-wiggling mailman Willie Lumpkin); Ant Man will go up against a truck hijacker; Thor will have more trouble than he should against a common gangster; and the Human Torch will have a rematch against the Wizard.

History of the Marvel Universe--December 1962, part 1

Fantastic Four #9

Well, it seems that economic hard times are hitting everyone—even the Fantastic Four. Reed Richards has unwisely invested the money he makes on patents and inventions in the stock market and now they’re all broke, forced to sell their skyscraper headquarters and all their equipment.

Fortunately, they soon get an offer to come to Hollywood and make a movie for (cue Dr. Evil voice) ONE MILLION DOLLARS. In a hilarious panel, the four hitchhike out to Hollywood.

Of course, the movie thing turns out to be a plot of the Submariner, who leads the three male FF members into different traps so he can get a chance to propose to Sue. But the FF manages to get the best of him. Defeated, Namor honors his agreement to finance the movie (using a fortune in sunken treasure to do so). The film is, of course, a huge hit and the Fantastic Four regains their financial footing.

Some of the story elements are undeniably dated and silly, but it’s still a good issue. Stan Lee’s efforts to inject real-world problems into the lives of his heroes makes for some effective bits of character development, as the group decides to stick together despite their troubles. And it’s fun to see Reed—so smart at the science stuff—screw up financially.

In terms of the action stuff, a sequence in which Reed has to fight a giant Cyclops is yet another classic Kirby fight scene—full of imaginative and entertaining visuals.

We also see Ben’s relationship with Alicia continuing to humanize him. Sue gets a little annoying when she reminds us that she’s still torn between Reed and Namor. (“He—He’s so masterful. So confident!”), but she’ll get over that eventually, so we’ll forgive her.




Tales to Astonish #38

The local mob, going broke because of Ant Man’s activities, hire a discredited scientist known as Egghead to destroy the hero. Egghead’s plan is to figure out how to himself talk to ants and get them to betray their “master.”

But the ants prove to be loyal-- Ant Man avoids a trap and helps capture a squad of mob hitmen. Egghead gets away, but ends up living in a flophouse muttering about how ants had outsmarted him.

It’s another average issue—good but not exceptional. Egghead, though, will return before long. He’ll pretty much be the closest thing to an archenemy Hank Pym will have. This highlights a problem with the series that I’ve mentioned before. To a large extent, a hero is only as good as his villains. While the FF gets to fight Dr. Doom, Namor and other cool villains, Ant Man is pitted against a pudgy mad scientist with a dumb plan and hordes of Red Shirt mobsters and spies.

Still, he’s only five issues away from getting a cute partner and less than a year away from joining the Avengers, so things will look up for Mr. Pym eventually.

Next time, we’ll finish December 1962 with a look at what Thor and the Human Torch are doing with their free time.

History of the Marvel Universe--November 1962, part 1

Fantastic Four #8

Gee whiz, the Puppet Master is one creepy looking guy.

He’s got a creepy M.O. as well, using radioactive clay to make puppets of real people, who he is then able to mentally control via the puppet.

This is really Ben Grimm’s issue. He meets the love of his life---Alicia Masters, the blind step-daughter of the Puppet Master—and takes yet another major step to leaving aside his bitterness and accepting life as the Thing.

In the meantime, there lots of mental control; lots of breaking free from mental control; and lots of good action as the FF deals with a mass prison escape; all leading up to the Puppet Master falling to his (presumed) death. He’ll be back, though. The Puppet Master will prove to be a fun enough creation to call for an occasional return appearance.

Hulk #4

When we last saw Hulk and his only friend, teenager Rick Jones, we weren’t certain if big guy would ever again turn back into Bruce Banner. But we need not have worried, as Rick manages to use some some of Bruce’s hidden equipment to turn him human once again. In fact, the situation really changes as Bruce briefly retains his own personality and intelligence when he becomes the Hulk once again. But the Hulk’s more savage personality reasserts itself in time for him to fight Mongu, the Gladiator from Outer Space.

Mongu turns out to be a robot operated by a Communist soldier as part of a plot to capture the Hulk for study behind the Iron Curtain. That proves to be a really bad idea.

By the end of this issue, Bruce is able to use machinery to turn into the Hulk as needed, then back to a human being again. It seems that Lee and Kirby are still playing around with the character, not yet sure what works best as they try out different things. The Hulk, at this point, is still very much a work-in-progress.



Tales to Astonish #37

The Protector, clad in a mechanical suit to amplify his suit and wielding an apparent disintegrator pistol, is forcing local merchants to cough up protection money. Ant Man looks into things and, despite at one point being vacuumed up by the bad guy, manages to put a stop to the racket.

There’s really not much to say about this issue (a situation that will probably reoccur when we cover future Ant Man stories). The Ant Man is a perfectly good character and the stories are entertaining, but this comic simply isn’t reaching the same level of originality and character development that we are seeing in the Fantastic Four (and will soon see in Spider Man). I don’t want to sound like I’m dumping on the story or the character---it’s still good stuff. Just not truly great stuff.

Next week, we’ll visit with Thor and the Human Torch to finish up November 1962.

History of the Marvel Universe--October 1962, part 1

Fantastic Four #7

In this issue, the FF are kidnapped and taken to a doomed planet about to be hit by an asteroid. Reed is asked to come up with a way to save the five billion inhabitants.

There’s some nice moments of interaction between the main characters here—most notably in that Ben Grimm is still growing less overtly bitter (though he still remains perpetually grouchy) and he’s starting to show his sense of humor. Kirby’s layouts are typically fun; the plot unfolds logically; and Reed’s solution to the problem at hand is actually very clever.

In a way, though, this issue is just filler as we await yet another major addition to the cast of the Fantastic Four. Because it will be in issue #8 that Ben Grimm will find himself a girlfriend.

Tales to Astonish #36

As this issue begins, Ant Man is helping the police to open a bank safe in which two would-be robbers have been trapped. We discover that between issues, Ant Man has been helping out the cops and the Feds quite a bit, mysteriously showing up whenever he’s needed.

He’s got ants all over the city alerting him to trouble via his cybernetic helmet. He then shrinks down, stuffs himself into a miniature catapult and shoots himself to wherever in the city he needs to be. A bunch of ants wait for him at his landing point, cushioning his fall with their bodies.

It’s odd how we as individual readers react at different levels of willingness to suspend disbelief. I’ve got no problem with shrink gas and electronic communications with ants, but that catapult gets on my nerves. I don’t think I can even explain why—it just does. Oh, well, before too many issues go by, it’ll be phased out.

Anyway, the main plot involves Communist agents trying to lure Ant Man into a trap. Not a bad story, but not really that memorable either. Though the Ant Man stories will continue to be entertaining for what they are, the lack of memorable or challenging villains will continue to be a flaw in the series for quite a while.

Next week, we’ll finish off October 1962 with a look at what Thor is doing to keep busy, and we’ll also follow along with a member of the Fantastic Four on his first solo adventure.

History of the Marvel Universe--September 1962 (Part 1)

FANTASTIC FOUR #6

Doctor Doom certainly doesn’t waste any time. Just one issue after his evil plans were foiled by the Fantastic Four, he comes up with yet another evil plan. This one focuses pretty much on simple revenge as he seeks to kill the FF.


To do so, he contacts the Sub-Mariner and talks him into helping with a speech reminding Namor about how the surface people are responsible for driving the Atlanteans from their home. Namor won’t agree to hurt Sue, for whom he still has the hots, but he does agree to help off everyone else.


Doom’s wonderfully evil plan consists of towing the FF’s entire skyscraper headquarters (not yet referred to as the Baxter Building) into space using magnetic force, double-crossing Namor in the process. But it doesn’t pay to tick off the Sub Mariner and Doom ends up clinging to a stray meteor, being dragged away into outer space.


It’s another strong and satisfying issue—the sequences in which the FF makes several attempts to board Doom’s space plane from the now space-traveling skyscraper are particularly fun, both visually and in terms of story construction. Namor has the most fun, though, getting to save the day as he proves he’s just a bit more of a hero than he is a villain.


We also get a few more tidbits about the Fantastic Four. There’s a more detailed cutaway view of their headquarters than we saw a few issues earlier. We also hear the term “unstable molecules” for the first time as Reed explains how their uniforms can stretch/burn/turn invisible along with them. Those handy unstable molecules will pretty much become standard costume material for much of the Marvel superhero population.


TALES TO ASTONISH #35

Henry Pym, who invented his shrinking formula eight issues earlier, finally decides to try that formula out a second time.

This time, he makes a costume first (made of unstable molecules, of course) and equips himself with a helmet that allows him to communicate with ants via electronic impulses.


In the meantime, the government asks him to invent an anti-radiation gas for use in case of nuclear war. This results in a gang of Communist agents raiding Pym’s lab, taking his assistants hostage as they gather up the notes for the formula.


Pym shrinks down and asks some ants for help. Soon, the commie agents are being swarmed by the insects, who also plug up the barrels of their guns with honey.


Thus, another superhero officially enters the Marvel Universe. Ant-Man doesn’t have the same level of appeal as the Fantastic Four—mostly because Hank Pym hasn’t yet been given much personality. All the same, it’s a well-written if simple story with Jack Kirby art work. What more can one ask for?


Next week, we’ll take a look at what Thor and the Hulk were busy doing in September of 1962.

The History of the Marvel Universe--January 1962

FANTASTIC FOUR #2




When we were introduced to our heroes in the first issue, there was a sequence in which they were inadvertently scaring the snot out of innocent bystanders, who had no idea who the oddly-powered foursome was. But as the second issue opens, the FF are now world-famous, known to everyone. It’s fun to presume they’ve perhaps held a press conference and spent some time doing disaster relief or catching bank robbers.




But the threat level goes up when four shape-changing aliens impersonate them while committing a variety of crimes. Soon, the world is scared of them once more and the army tosses them into specially designed prison cells.




In a nifty scene, all four must individually use their powers and their brains to make an escape. They track down the aliens and capture them. The aliens turn out to be advance scouts for an invasion fleet. So the FF turn the tables by pretending to be the aliens and bluffing the invasion fleet into fleeing our galaxy.




Those aliens would be back, though. This is the first appearance of the Skrulls, the war-like and creepy-looking villains who will become a fixture of the Marvel Universe.




Once again, Jack Kirby gets to show off his talent for designing bizarrely fun creatures. Not only are the Skrulls (when in their natural form) a great design, but Kirby also goes to town drawing the bizarre monsters they turn into during their final tussle with the FF.




There’s also some nice bits of characterization involving the Thing—one scene in which, overwhelmed by bitterness, he has to be restrained from going on a senseless rampage. Then another in which he briefly turns back into Ben Grimm, only to become the Thing again almost before he has time to realize he’s back to normal. All this is building up to a sort of emotional epiphany he’ll have in issue #5.




There’s a plot-hole at the end—Reed hypnotizes the captured Skrulls into thinking they are just cows and leaves them peacefully grazing in a pasture. I love that, but only three of the four Skrulls are there at the end. Reed says the fourth Skrull is heading back to his home world with the invasion fleet, but that doesn’t make sense in context to how events unfolded. Somehow, Stan and Jack lost track of one of the Skrulls when they wrote this tale.




But it all turns out for the good. Seven or eight years later, writer Roy Thomas would use this plot hole as a key part of his multi-part Avengers epic, “The Kree-Skrull War.” But it’ll be some time before we get to that. For now, let’s move on to the introduction of yet another super hero.




TALES TO ASTONISH #27



Tales to Astonish was one of several science-fiction anthology books that Marvel was publishing at the time. The cover story in this issue—“The Man in the Ant Hill”—is about a scientist named Henry Pym. Pym creates a serum that shrinks him down to the size of an ant.



The serum works faster and better than Pym expects and he ends up too tiny to reach the growth serum. He’s attacked by ants and ends up dodging the insects through the tunnels of their ant hill. Finally, with the help of one ant who has instinctively aids him, he is able to escape the ant hill and reach the growth serum. The story ends when he vows to set aside his dangerous experiments.




But he’d go back on this vow before long. The story was popular with readers and Stan Lee soon decided to bring Henry Pym back as a regular character. Before 1962 ends, we’ll see the scientist don a costume and shrink back down again to fight crime as the astonishing Ant Man.



But for now, the Fantastic Four would remain the only active super heroes on the block. When we return to look at March 1962, we’ll see how they fare against the Miracle Man.