A few days ago someone asked me why I don't write a complete review of each Marvel comic that I read, including a full plot summary. That's a good question that I have difficulty answering. Partly it's laziness. If I wanted to do these brilliant comics justice I would be sitting for hours writing about them every day. Partly it's because I don't think it's necessary. Anyone who wants plot summaries can find them in the Marvel Database. For instance, click here for a plot description of Fantastic Four #10. The database isn't easy to navigate, but the information is all there if you look hard enough.
Apart from statistics about the writers, artists and titles I'll only write about the story itself to point out things that I've noticed. I shan't repeat anything that's already available elsewhere. In my Marvel Years posts you'll only find my own thoughts. I hope that answers the question.
Fantastic Four #10
Title(s): The Return of Doctor Doom
Back from the Dead
The End of Mr. Fantastic
No Place to Turn
The Real Doctor Doom
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Doctor Doom
Regulars: Alicia Masters, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
This is a single story split into five parts that have been given individual titles. What's most amazing about the story is the way Stan Lee breaks the third wall in pages 5 to 8. Or is it the fourth wall? I get confused sometimes. Here's the whole sequence.
This is the first time that Stan Lee features Jack Kirby and himself in a comic. We don't see their faces throughout the story. Notice the subtle ironies in their conversation. In the introductory box Stan says that he and Jack are in the middle of writing a Fantastic Four story, but they were interrupted after the first few pages. Jack is struggling to invent a new fictional villain for the comic, but Stan says that the public expects villains like Doctor Doom, talking about him like a real life character. Jack answers that they "came up with him", so is he fictional after all?
Jack Kirby subtly inserts advertisements for all of the other Marvel heroes into the first picture, Thor, Ant-Man and the Hulk.
In walks Doctor Doom. So he is real after all. Stan wants to know how he returned from space so he can write about it.
Doctor Doom carries on with a carrot and stick approach. He offers Stan and Jack a new story, but he threatens their lives if they don't do as he requests.
Stan has to call Mr. Fantastic to his office to discuss a new story. So Stan invents fictional stories about the real world characters in the Fantastic Four? Mr. Fantastic is already involved with creating stories, as we see in the second panel.
The Thing is already annoyed with Jack Kirby for not making him look more handsome.
Stan and Jack bravely tell Doctor Doom he has no chance against the Fantastic Four. He continues to argue with them.
And Doctor Doom gives them more orders.
By this point Stan and Jack are starting to have doubts whether the Fantastic Four will be victorious. They have no way of knowing. After all, they don't invent the stories, they just report what's happened. Except when the stories aren't true. There's such a mixture of truth and fiction within the virtual reality of the comic that it's difficult to know which is which. Maybe a psychoanalyst can say something about Stan being threatened by his own characters.
The Human Torch says that he's developed yet another power in this comic. "I can concentrate my flame so much that it burns without heat". That's very dubious science. Even if he means that he can fire a finger of flame so narrow that the heat can barely be felt around it it's still infeasible.
In case you're wondering, this is how Doctor Doom was rescued after being lost in space in Fantastic Four #6. It's another example of dubious science. The "speeding meteor" must have been very fast indeed if it carried him to another planet within a few months. That's even assuming that the "beings from another galaxy" were visiting our galaxy.
The Incredible Hulk #5
Title: Beauty and the Beast
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Tyrannus
Regulars: General Ross, Betty Ross, Rick Jones
This comic contains two short stories. The first is 11 pages long, the second 13 pages.
As in the last comic, Bruce Banner can only turn into the Hulk and back with the help of a machine. There's no accidental change as a result of being angry. In this comic it's said in the text that the Hulk travels great distances by jumping, but there are pictures that show him flying in curves that couldn't possibly be the result of a jump. I suspect that this was a mistake in Jack Kirby's drawings, or at the very least a lack of communication between Stan and Jack.
This is the comic's splash page. I consider it the first example of Jack Kirby's brilliance since I started reading the comics in November 1961. It's untypical for Marvel art in the 1960's. In DC Comics it was usual for the splash page to be a full page preview of something that happened later in the story. Think of it as a comics version of a film trailer. In Marvel Comics the splash page is simply the first page of the story. This page is a DC style splash page, but it's made even better by the insets, the titles and the overall layout.
Tyrannus is the ruler of an underground kingdom whose inhabitants decided to follow him after he fell into the Earth. Haven't we had that story before? Yes, that's what happened to the Mole Man in Fantastic Four #1. There are differences in the time frames. The Mole Man entered a tunnel that led to the Earth's core relatively recently, probably in the last ten years. Tyrannus is a sorcerer who was banished underground by Merlin more than a thousand years ago.
There's also a difference in the appearance of the inhabitants. Here's a picture of the Mole Man's servants in Fantastic Four #1.
At this time the Mole Man and Tyrannus have never met. They're seen together in future comics.
Title: The Hordes of General Fang
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: General Fang
Regulars: General Ross, Rick Jones
Marvel Comics are set in real locations in America, but locations in foreign countries are often fictional. In this story the Hulk and Rick Jones visit the country Llahsu, which is supposedly adjacent to China. China is a big country, so without further information Llahsu could be anywhere. Possibly Stan Lee is referring to the Chinese occupation of Nepal.
General Fang is a vicious leader who's compared to Genghis Khan. When news is broadcast about his army attacking the peaceful country Llahsu Bruce Banner decides to fly there to defeat him. He can only change to the Hulk in his laboratory in America, so he has to change first and then catch a plane as the Hulk. He relies on a thick coat, a scarf and a hat to hide his green face. Was airport security in the 1960's really so lax that you didn't have to show your face before boarding an international flight?
Here's another new power that the Hulk has. When he exerts himself his body temperature becomes very high, enough to melt ice. Does he still have this power today? I need to ask a fan of recent Marvel comics. I can't remember this happening again in Stan Lee's Marvel Years.
Tales to Astonish #39
Title: The Vengeance of the Scarlet Beetle
Writer: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: The Scarlet Beetle
The Scarlet Beetle is a normal insect that receives great intelligence as a result of atomic tests. He steals Ant-Man's enlarging spray to make himself large enough to attack humanity. This leaves Ant-Man trapped in miniature size. Stan Lee doubtlessly intended the Scarlet Beetle to be a throwaway character who would only appear once, but other writers brought him back several times over the next 50 years.
The issue also contains two short anthology stories.
Journey into Mystery #88
Title: The Vengeance of Loki
Writer: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
Artist: Jack Kirby
Regulars: Jane Foster, Odin, Heimdall
Villain: Loki
This issue also contains two short anthology stories.
Strange Tales #104
Title: The Human Torch meets Paste-Pot Pete
Writer: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Paste-Pot Pete
Here's another DC style splash page drawn by Jack Kirby.
Paste-Pot Pete later changes his name to the Trapster and joins the Frightful Four, frequent enemies of the Fantastic Four.
This issue also contains two short anthology stories.
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