Silver Surfer #1
This is the fifth month in a row that Marvel has started new comic series, and they've left the best till last. Here are the new comics:
April 1968: (1) Hulk, (2) Captain America
May 1968: (3) Iron Man, (4) Sub-Mariner, (5) Captain Marvel
June 1968: (6) Nick Fury, (7) Doctor Strange
July 1968: (8) Spectacular Spider-Man
August 1968: (9) Silver Surfer
The comics had different success, based on the length of time they continued. Maybe that isn't the best way to rate success. The Silver Surfer was one of the most successful comics of the late 1960's (and in my opinion the best), but it was cancelled after only 18 issues. This is because Stan Lee replaced Martin Goodman as Marvel's publisher, and he no longer had time to write comics. The Silver Surfer was a special character to him, and he didn't want to entrust the series to anyone else. Nobody else could be found who was worthy to step into his shoes, until Steve Englehart arrived, almost 20 years later.
The Silver Surfer comic was originally printed in a different format to the other Marvel comics. Instead of being a 20-page comic, the standard length for Marvel, the main story is 38 pages, and there's a backup story about the Watcher that's 13 pages long. This led to the comic costing 25 cents each month, instead of the usual 12 cents.
Title: The Origin of the Silver Surfer!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Buscema
Villain: Galactus, Doctor Doom (flashback)
Regulars: Shalla Bal
Guests: John Jameson, Reed Richards (flashback), Ben Grimm (flashback), Susan Storm (flashback), Hulk (flashback)
The Fantastic Four is called "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" every month, but this comic is even better. I know I use the word masterpiece too often, but in this case it's well deserved. It's a masterpiece.
This story takes place shortly after this month's Fantastic Four #77.
The story opens with the Silver Surfer saving an astronaut when his capsule sinks into the sea far from the planned landing point. The astronaut is John Jameson, J. Jonah Jameson's son. The Silver Surfer carries him back to the ship that should have picked him up, but the sailors mistake his intentions and fire rockets at him. He flies round the world, and wherever he goes he's attacked.
He thinks back to his meetings with the Fantastic Four (Fantastic Four #48), Doctor Doom (Fantastic Four #57) and the Hulk (Tales To Astonish #92). Then he remembers the planet the came from, Zenn-La, where he was known as Norrin Radd. It was a highly advanced planet whose people had become lazy because there was nothing they couldn't do. When Galactus attacked them they had no weapons with which to defend themselves, and worse still, they had no will to fight. Norrin alone challenged Galactus in a small space ship. When he realised he had no chance, he offered to serve Galactus in exchange for his planet being spared. Galactus turned Norrin Radd into the Silver Surfer and made him his herald (more of a location scout) to find new planets for him to eat. After many other planets he went to the Earth, where he defied Galactus and was exiled to the Earth.
What's so special about the Silver Surfer? As a character he captured the imagination of comic book readers, first in the pages of the Fantastic Four, then in his own series. His brooding nature and his pacifist philosophy made him well loved. Apart from that, surfboards are cool. He wasn't accurately portrayed in the second Fantastic Four film. He still has the promise to become Marvel's biggest hero.
Title: The Wonder of the Watcher!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan
The last time the Watcher had his own series was as a five-page backup story in Tales Of Suspense, from issue #49 to #58. The new series is a welcome upgrade.
This issue contains an origin story, which is an extended retelling of the story in Tales Of Suspense #53. The Watcher's race (whatever they were called before they were Watchers) help the inhabitants of the planet Prosilicus by giving them atomic power to solve all their problems. As soon as the Watchers leave, the Prosilicans start a nuclear war which destroys their planet. This persuades the non-Watchers to become Watchers and let all planets develop by themselves.
Fantastic Four #77
Title: Shall Earth endure?
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Galactus, Psycho-Man
Regulars: Crystal
Guests: Silver Surfer
Stan Lee has slipped up with his Latin. It's probably a long time since he went to school. It should be "Nil nisi optimum", which means "Nothing but the best".
The Fantastic Four battle the Psycho-Man in the micro-world. Or is it the micro-verse? They defeat him, then reveal to him that Galactus is threatening the Earth, which would destroy his universe as well. The Psycho-Man sends them back.
In the meantime, the Silver Surfer has offered his services to Galactus in order to save the Earth. He's allowed to roam space, and he finds a meteor that hits a dead planet, unleashing enough energy to bathe a solar system. This is an alternative snack for Galactus, so he spares the Earth. Before leaving, Galactus imprisons the Silver Surfer on the Earth once more, so that he always knows where to find him.
Daredevil #43
Title: In Combat with Captain America!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Jester (flashback)
Regulars: Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, Debbie Harris
Guests: Captain America
Karen Page quits her job because she says she can't bear to be close to Matt Murdock any more. Matt fears for her safety if she remains in his life, so he's nasty to her to make her leave faster. Now he's in an uneasy mood, not knowing what to do.
While hunting for the Jester he hears about a thief who has stolen radioactive vials. Daredevil easily catches him, but the radiation has an unexpected effect on him. It makes him become mean and reckless.
Captain America is in Madison Garden putting on a show. He'll face any challenger in the ring. Daredevil takes up the challenge, but it isn't just about sport. He wants to destroy Captain America. The battle is evenly matched, but when the effects of the radiation begin to wear off Daredevil realises what he's doing and flees.
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #3
Title: Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill!
Writer: Jim Steranko
Artist: Jim Steranko
Villain: Mycroft, Nazis
It's a double page splash page which doesn't quite slot together. As much as I dislike double page drawings in comics, I have to admit that Jim Steranko is a brilliant artist.
Nick Fury travels to Scotland after receiving an urgent call from a World War Two buddy, Ken Astor. When he arrives in Castle Ravenlock, Ken has been killed by a mysterious hell hound that prowls at night. Nick Fury is invited to take part in a seance with three other psychic investigators.
After new attacks Nick Fury discovers that one of the investigators, Mycroft, is a German Nazi who took refuge in Scotland after the Second World War. He has been killing people who discover his underground base, blaming the deaths on a mystic beast.
Jim Steranko is the best artist at Marvel. Nobody else even comes close!
Doctor Strange #171
Title: In the Shadow of Death!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Tom Palmer
Villain: Dormammu
Regulars: Ancient One (flashback), Wong, Clea, Victoria Bentley
Since there is no active threat, Doctor Strange turns his attention to retrieving Clea from the dimension where the Ancient One hid her in Strange Tales #155. He says that the Ancient One told him he can only retrieve her with the help of a female mystic. I don't remember the Ancient One saying that. It sounds like Roy Thomas just needs an excuse to get Victoria Bentley into the story. Shame on you, Roy!
Listen to the description of Clea that Doctor Strange gives Victoria Bentley. She was a queen whose dimension was conquered by Dormammu? That's also new information. I consider it a blunder by Roy Thomas. In later issues we read that Clea was born in Dormammu's dimension.
Together with Victoria Bentley, Doctor Strange travels into another dimension to find Clea. Due to her lack of experience in the mystic arts, Victoria falls into a trap. Doctor Strange finds her, being guarded by a creature with a mystic sword and shield. The creature is about to defeat Doctor Strange, when its master arrives: Dormammu.
This is the first comic drawn by Tom Palmer. It wasn't only his first comic for Marvel, it was his first comic ever. In an interview in 2005 he said, "I walked in the door and pencilled an issue of Doctor Strange, the first job I ever pencilled. At the time, I thought I did a good job, but really it was a stinker. It wasn't up to par". He went back two weeks later to get the next issue, and they said they were getting someone else to pencil it, but he could ink it if he wanted to. He'd never done any inking before, but he accepted and it became his main job at Marvel for many years.
Was his art really so bad? Tom Palmer was obviously trying to imitate Steve Ditko, and he did a reasonable job, in my opinion.
Look at this picture of Dormammu. It has dramatic flair. Tom Palmer is no Gene Colan, but I've seen worse. And don't forget that this was his first ever comic. He would only have got better.
But speaking of Gene Colan, that's exactly the person who will take over the art from next issue onwards. Gene Colan and Tom Palmer formed a long relationship as artist and inker, and Tom was the inker that Gene most liked to work with.
And let's not forget the Crazy Credits. They say that Artie Simek's lettering is delirious. That's not the way I see it. It looks very restrained and conservatively crafted to me.
Iron Man #4
Title: Unconquered is the Unicorn!
Writer: Archie Goodwin
Artist: Johnny Craig
Villain: Freak (Happy Hogan), Unicorn
Regulars: Happy Hogan, Pepper Hogan
Tony Stark successfully turns Happy Hogan back into his normal self. Happy's wife Pepper doesn't know what happened to change him into the Freak, but she blames Tony.
The Unicorn, last seen in X-Man #23, has returned to Russia. Scientists bombard him with new rays which will greatly increase his strength, but shorten his life. After his treatment the Unicorn destroys the laboratory and goes to America to seek a cure for his shortened life. He kidnaps all the participants at a scientific congress, hoping one of them can help him. Tony Stark is also present. While the Unicorn is distracted he puts on his Iron Man armour.
Iron Man wins the fight, but he offers to help save the Unicorn's life. The Unicorn refuses and plummets to his death.
Sub-Mariner #4
Title: Who strikes for Atlantis?
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Villain: Attuma
Regulars: Dorma, Vashti, Warlord Seth
The people of Atlantis are once more homeless and wandering the seas looking for a place to build a new kingdom. Attuma, who we last saw in Tales To Astonish #91, uses the opportunity to attack and enslave them. Namor is also captured by one of Attuma's scouts and carried to Attuma, but he was only feigning unconsciousness. He breaks free and challenges Attuma to a duel.
It ought to be a fair fight, but Attuma's armour is powered by a mighty machine, making him invincible. One of Attuma's disgruntled servants frees Dorma, who turns off the machine. Namor quickly wins the duel.
Namor doesn't know that Dorma aided him, believing she has perished, so he leaves the Atlanteans and makes his way towards the surface world.
Captain Marvel #4
Title: The Alien and the Amphibian!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Sub-Mariner, Super-Skrull (flashback)
Regulars: Yon-Rogg, Una, Carol Danvers
This story takes place immediately after this month's Sub-Mariner #4.
The newspapers are calling Captain Marvel a hero, but he knows that he is a Kree soldier who might one day be ordered to destroy the human race.
Captain Marvel is called to the army base in his assumed identity as Dr. Walt Lawson. A new rocket, the Argos III, is being tested. It's being fired into space, where it will release deadly bacteria, because the army wants to know how the bacteria will be affected by cosmic rays. That's a weird experiment.
Yon-Rogg knocks the rocket off course and causes it to fall into the sea near the coast of New York. He tells Mar-Vell that he wants to unleash the bacteria on New York, and nobody should be allowed to prevent it.
The Sub-Mariner hears a warning about the bacteria, so he decides to bring the rocket safely to the surface. Captain Marvel prevents this by attacking him, but he's impressed by Sub-Mariner's nobility in wanting to save the surface people who have always been his enemies. Captain Marvel doesn't want Yon-Rogg to think he's a traitor, so he fights with Sub-Mariner, but deliberately loses. The rocket and its contents are destroyed before it can harm anyone.
The Incredible Hulk #106
Title: Above the Earth a Titan rages!
Writer: Archie Goodwin & Roy Thomas
Artist: Herb Trimpe
Villain: Beast-Man (Missing Link), Yuri Brevloy
Regulars: General Ross, Major Talbot, Rick Jones, Betty Ross
Guests: Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones
This comic is mixed up. Archie Goodwin and Roy Thomas have written half each. In the second half a new character called Yuri Brevloy is introduced, but Nick Fury acts as if he's well known.
Someone must have agreed with me that Missing Link was a silly name for the monster, because he's called the Beast-Man in this comic. Nobody can understand his language, so both names are just nicknames used by the general public, not his real name.
Nobody except Stan Lee, that is. He understands every language on Earth. He understands every language in the universe. Even if you speak gibberish, he'll translate it into perfect English.
The Beast-Man still tries to kill Bruce Banner, even though he's no longer the Hulk. When he grips Bruce's arm the radiation makes him turn back into the Hulk, and the battle continues.
Nick Fury asks General Ross to stand down so that he can deal with the Beast-Man and the Hulk wrecking New York. The general grudgingly complies. Then a flying saucer appears and lifts the battling monsters with a levitation ray. Nick Fury says that only Yuri Brevlov could do something like that. Well, I could name half a dozen super-villains from Doctor Doom to the Mandarin, but I don't want to argue with Nick Fury. He was right anyway.
The fight is continued in the flying saucer, until the Man-Beast is finally killed in an explosion. The Hulk falls to Earth, where he rescues a young child from burning wreckage. Colonel Yuri Brevlov doesn't want to harm the child, but his duty is to kill the Hulk, so he prepares to fire.
Captain America #104
Title: Slave of the Skull!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Red Skull, Exiles (General Ching, Iron Hand Hauptmann, Cadavus, Gruning,Krushki, Baldini)
Regulars: Sharon Carter
Guests: Nick Fury
Captain America is back at SHIELD, where he has to test the LMDs. If you've forgotten that LMD stands for Life Model Decoy, go to the back of the class.
The Red Skull reveals to Captain America that he has a nuclear tape on the back of his neck, with which he can cause him pain at the touch of a button. If Captain America removes the tape a hydrogen bomb will be detonated in Washington DC. A naive question: why doesn't the Red Skull detonate this bomb anyway, in order to cause panic in America?
The Red Skull calls Captain America back to his island, where he has to face the leading Exiles. They're generic villains, and I won't repeat their names here. You can read the list above. Captain America has no difficulty defeating them, but the Red Skull crushes him by using the nuclear tape against him.
In the meantime, SHIELD has found and defused the hydrogen bomb. He sends a SHIELD squad led by Sharon Carter to rescue Captain America. Sharon removes the nuclear tape.
Amazing Spider-Man #63
Title: Wings in the Night!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Romita
Villain: Vulture, new Vulture, Kraven (flashback)
Regulars: Captain Stacy, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Norman Osborn
Do you remember how the Vulture was dying in Amazing Spider-Man #48, so he gave his wings to his cellmate Blackie Drago? He recovered, and he started a fire before he escaped from prison. Everyone assumed that he perished in the flames. The Vulture rescues Blackie Drago from prison, but not to do him a favour. He wants to defeat him in public, so that the world can see who the real Vulture is.
Spider-Man interrupts the fight, and the Vulture (the original one) attacks him instead. Spider-Man has to rescue a child from a building. That's the second time a child has been saved this month. See Hulk #106. This leaves him weakened for his battle with the Vulture.
Thor #155
Title: Now ends the Universe!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Loki, Norn Queen, Mangog
Regulars: Odin, Sif, Balder, Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg
Guests: Ego, Recorder
In many of the instalments of "Tales of Asgard", which took place in the distant past, there was talk of Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods. Now it's happening in the present day. The Mangog wishes to unleash Ragnarok and destroy the universe by unsheathing the Odinsword. This is to get revenge on Odin for destroying his people. Before they died, the strength of all the billions of warriors were gathered into Mangog alone.
Loki has taken Odin's place on the throne during the Odinsleep, and he doesn't suspect how great the crisis is. All he's interested in is killing Thor.
Balder wants to join in the fight against the Mangog, but the Norn Queen won't let him leave her. She wakes undead warriors to hold him back.
Sif has recovered after her hospital rest. Together with Thor she travels to Asgard to do battle. Thor gives her the task of guarding Odin while he sleeps.
Everyone who faces the Mangog as he approaches Asgard is easily defeated. Finally it's Thor's turn.
X-Men #47
Title: The Warlock wears three faces!
Writer: Gary Friedrich
Artist: Werner Roth
X-Men: Beast, Iceman, Cyclops (vision), Angel (vision), Marvel Girl (vision)
Villain: Warlock
Regulars: Vera, Zelda
Professor X is dead, and the X-Men have been ordered to split up by Agent Duncan of the FBI, whatever his first name is. Hank McCoy and Bobby Drake remain in New York. They can't leave, that's where their girlfriends live.
In X-Men #30 Professor X put Warlock into a deep sleep that would last a hundred years. Time flies. Now he's in Greenwich Village posing as a hypnotist called Maha Yogi. He's not just putting on a show, he's putting a hidden trigger into the minds of the audience to become his slaves whenever he summons them. Hank and Bobby recognise his voice, so they do battle and defeat him while their girlfriends patiently wait outside.
So what does Stan Lee have to say in the Crazy Credits? The scripting is superb. The layouts are lavish. The pencilling is peerless. The inking is illustrious. That's all true. But what does he have to say about the lettering? It's legible. Really? Is that all that he has to say about the hard work that Artie Simek has put into the comic?
This issue contains an Iceman featurette, in which Bobby Drake explains to the readers how his powers work. It's so inaccurate that I've declared it non-canon. Arnold Drake should be ashamed of himself for not reading the old issues before picking up his pen to write.
In these panels Bobby – misspelt Bobbie – says he had the form of a snowman before he joined the X-Men. No. He had this snowy form up to X-Men #8. And it wasn't Professor X who helped him gain an ice form, it was Cyclops as acting leader while Professor X was absent.
Here's the proof, from the pages of X-Men #8.
It's embarrassing. Marvel has been printing super-hero comics for less than 10 years, but the writers are already losing track of what went before.
The Avengers #55
Title: Mayhem over Manhattan!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Avengers: Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp, Black Panther
Villain: Crimson Cowl / Ultron-5, Masters of Evil (Klaw, Whirlwind, Melter, Radioactive Man)
Regulars: Jarvis
Guests: Black Knight
At the end of the last issue the Crimson Cowl was unmasked and we saw he was only a robot. Then a second Crimson Cowl stepped forward, claiming to be the real Crimson Cowl. He was Jarvis, the Avengers' butler, or more accurately Tony Stark's butler.
Now we find that it was all a ruse. Jarvis was hypnotised into claiming he was the Crimson Cowl. The robot itself is the real Crimson Cowl, and he calls himself Ultron-5.
Ultron-5. whose name I'll shorten to Ultron for reasons that'll become obvious in future issues, says he'll hold America to ransom by hovering over the Empire State Building with a hydrogen bomb. In order to gain revenge on the Avengers he has sealed them inside the outer casing of the bomb.
Jarvis escapes and alerts the Black Knight to the danger. He says that he only betrayed the Avengers to the Masters of Evil because he had no money to pay for his mother's medical bills, and he expected the Avengers to win anyway. Come on, Jarvis, your boss is one of the world's richest men! I'm sure Tony Stark would have handed over a few thousand dollars without blinking.
The Black Knight frees the Avengers, and the Masters of Evil flee. But who is the robot, and why does he/it want revenge on the Avengers?
Other comics published this month:
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Annual #4 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Millie the Model #161 (Stan Lee, Stan Goldberg)
Rawhide Kid #65 (Larry Lieber, Larry Lieber)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #57 (Gary Friedrich, Tom Sutton)
Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders #5 (Arnold Drake, Dick Ayers)
Not Brand Echh #9 (Roy Thomas, Marie Severin)
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