From this month on Daredevil and X-Men, which used to be bi-monthly comics appearing in alternating months, are printed monthly. This settles Marvel's output of nine super-hero comics per month for the next two years.
This month is also notable for the first story written by a new Marvel employee, Roy Thomas, who was 24 at the time. After only eight days working at DC he decided that he would rather work for Marvel. His first assignment went largely unnoticed as a story in Modelling With Millie #44. Next month (January 1966) he wrote his first super-hero script, the Iron Man story in Tales of Suspense #73. Roy said in a later interview that Stan Lee had to rewrite about half of the script, but he didn't need to worry about it. He went on to become Marvel's biggest writer after Stan Lee himself.
Halfway through the month Stan Lee decided to change the company's name back from Marvel Pop Art Productions to Marvel Comics Group. On this month's Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page Stan Lee printed this apology:
Fantastic Four #45
Title: Among us hide the Inhumans
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Sandman, Trapster
Guests: Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Lockjaw, Dragon Man
After the introduction of the second Inhuman, Gorgon, last month, we meet other members of the same race. They're living in New York, but hidden from society.
Johnny Storm rings his girlfriend Doris Evans on the phone. She dumps him. We don't see her again until Fantastic Four #134. Johnny goes out for a walk and discovers a young woman called Crystal with powers to create wind and fire. (Her powers are described in greater detail in upcoming issues). She's accompanied by a giant dog called Lockjaw. Crystal trusts Johnny and takes him back to where she lives. They meet two other characters called Karnak and Triton. Karnak can destroy any object by detecting the weakest point to strike with a karate chop. Triton's powers aren't described yet. Gorgon returns with Medusa and attacks Johnny, because he recognises him as an enemy. Johnny calls the remaining members of the Fantastic Four for assistance. At this point Black Bolt, the leader of the Inhumans, arrives.
I know that the Crazy Credits are trying to belittle Artie Simek's capabilities, but if you stop to think for a moment it's correct. Artie's lettering is inevitable, because it's the final step in the creative process.
Amazing Spider-Man #31
Title: If this be my destiny!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Steve Ditko
Villain: gang members
Regulars: Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Frederick Foswell, Ned Leeds, Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy
Spider-Man has two battles with a gang that works for someone called the Master Planner. The second fight is the result of a tip off by Patch, the alter-ego of Frederick Foswell.
At the same time Aunt May's health has deteriorated, and she has to go into hospital.
This issue follows three important days in Peter Parker's life: his registration at Empire State University and his first two days.
Registration is chaotic, as I still remember from my own first days at university.
On the first day of college we meet Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy, destined to become Peter Parker's two closest friends.
But the first impression is bad.
Nevertheless, Gwen Stacy feels attracted to Peter Parker from the beginning. He's the only boy she's met who has never given her a tumble. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean in 1960's American slang, but I'd definitely tumble with her.
Not Peter! He has no time for tumbling, so Gwen swears revenge!
Once more the Crazy Credits have educated me. I had to look up mellifluous in the dictionary. It's not even an insult! Sam Rosen can be happy.
Strange Tales #139
Title: The brave die hard!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Joe Sinnott
Villain: Hydra
Regulars: Dum Dum Dugan, Gabriel Jones
Guests: Tony Stark
The cover claims that almost everybody reads SHIELD. I doubt Doctor Strange is one of the readers. He's too busy battling Dormammu and Baron Mordo.
Nick Fury is still being held captive by Hydra, who are trying to discover SHIELD's secrets by brainwashing him. He's assisted in his escape by Agent G, the daughter of the Supreme Hydra.
Tony Stark has invented a device called a Brainosaur, a device that can be launched into space to disable Hydra's orbiting Betatron Bomb. If it works. There's been no time to test it. On the other hand, SHIELD has beaten Hydra in the competition to pick the corniest name for an orbiting satellite.
The Crazy Credits tell us that while everyone else is overtly skilled Artie Simek works in silence. That's wonderful! Doesn't Stan Lee know that silence is golden?
Title: Beware! Dormammu is watching!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Steve Ditko
Villain: Dormammu, Baron Mordo
Regulars: Ancient One, Clea (unnamed)
This is the tenth part of the Doctor Strange-Dormammu-Baron Mordo epic. It's the final showdown between Doctor Strange and Baron Mordo. Despite Mordo's greater power, Doctor Strange's skill enables him to defeat him. Frustrated with Mordo's incompetence, Dormammu enters the battle himself.
The Crazy Credits tell us that Artie Simek isn't just silent, he's also stoical. What a wonderful man! He was a valuable asset to the bullpen.
Tales to Astonish #74
Title: When fails the Quest!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan (as Adam Austin)
Villain: Krang
Regulars: Dorma, Vashti (unnamed)
Prince Namor battles the Faceless Ones to free Lady Dorma, while Krang suppresses the rebellion in Atlantis.
Sam Rosen's caligraphy is cataclysmic? Oh come on! Now the Crazy Credits are exaggerating!
Title: The Wisdom of the Watcher!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Bob Powell
Villain: Leader
Guests: Watcher
The Hulk fights the alien from another world to win the Ultimate Machine while the Watcher watches. What else would a Watcher do? After winning the battle the Hulk returns to the Leader on Earth. By putting the Ultimate Machine on his head he's given all the knowledge in the universe, but it's too much for his brain to hold and he falls dead.
The Crazy Credits are unfair! They say Sam Rosen doodles. No he doesn't! He produces page after page of concise lettering.
Tales of Suspense #72
Title: Hoorah for the Conquering Hero!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Don Heck
Villain: Mad Thinker
Regulars: Pepper Potts
Iron Man returns from defeating the Titanium Man, and he's universally acclaimed as a hero. He can't rejoice because he's worried about Happy Hogan's medical state.
The Mad Thinker, last seen briefly in the chaotic story in Fantastic Four Annual #3, captures Tony Stark in order to demand Iron Man's identity from him. Couldn't a man of his intellect have worked it out for himself? When he returns from the battle he finds out that the American government, in particular Senator Byrd, also wants to know who Iron Man is.
Title: The Sleeper shall awake!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: George Tuska
Villain: Red Skull, Nazis
Guests: Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch
From this issue on present day stories of Captain America are told. Nevertheless, there's a link to his adventures in World War Two. When Captain America defeated the Red Skull at the end of the war he boasted that three "Sleepers" had been hidden that would be awakened after exactly 20 years. They would bring the Third Reich back.
This is the first Sleeper. I have to ask a naive question. If the Red Skull could invent such powerful robots in 1945 why didn't he use them immediately to stop Hitler losing the war?
The Crazy Credits say that Sam Rosen is tired of lettering. That's the same thing that was said about Artie Simek in X-Men #14. It must be a problem common to all letterers.
Journey into Mystery #123
Title: While a universe trembles!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Loki, Absorbing Man, Demon
Regulars: Odin
Thor travels to Asgard with the reporter Harris Hobbs and witnesses the attack of the Absorbing Man. He wants to join in the fight, but Odin handles everything himself.
Meanwhile on Earth a witch doctor finds the norn stone that Thor dropped in Journey Into Mystery #120. The witch doctor gains mighty powers and calls himself the Demon. That's hardly an imaginative name. I suppose all the cool names were already taken. It must be difficult for Stan Lee to dream up half a dozen new villain names every month.
If there's one thing I can say with absolute certainty, it's that Artie Simek's speech bubbles aren't confusing, whatever the Crazy Credits try to tell us. Artie's lettering is the epitome of clarity and legibility.
Title: The Jaws of the Dragon!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Gods: Odin, Thor, Balder, Hogun, Volstagg
The quest continues to find the one responsible for damaging the Odinsword. Back in Asgard Odin sees visions of the impending Ragnarok.
The Avengers #23
Title: Once an Avenger
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Don Heck
Avengers: Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch
Villain: Kang
At the end of the last issue Captain America announced that he was leaving the Avengers. Kang has wanted to attack the Avengers for some time, but he thinks that now is the best time. Honestly, I don't understand why he's had to wait. He lives in the 30th Century, so he could easily pick any time from his vantage point in the future.
While Steve Rogers aka Captain America is working in Upstate New York as a boxing trainer Kang captures the remaining three Avengers and transports them into his own time. He fights with them as sport to impress the woman he wants to marry, Princess Ravonna.
Now here's where it gets crazy. Captain America hears that the Avengers have disappeared, so he shouts out a challenge that Kang hears a thousand years later. It looks like Kang was monitoring the 20th Century Avengers mansion in real time. But how did Captain America know that Kang was responsible? He used the Avengers' Recreater (sic) that displays images from the recent past. Stan says that this gadget was used in the past, but he's forgotten what issue it was. I can help him out. Iron Man never used a device like that. However, it looks like the Time Reversal Ray that we saw in Journey Into Mystery #105. That device was invented by the villainous Mr. Hyde, but it's possible that Thor took the device and gave it to the Avengers after defeating him.
The Crazy Credits tell us that Ray Holloway aka Sherigail is a lilting letterer. Does that mean he sings while he works? His life must be good. Unlike the other letterers, Ray has never been attacked in the credits box.
X-Men #15
Title: Prisoners of the Mysterious Master Mold!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Werner Roth (as Jay Gavin)
X-Men: Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl
Villain: Sentinels
Regulars: Professor X
The battle against the Sentinels continues. They tell their creator that they intend to protect mankind by enslaving it.
The Beast is captured by the Sentinels. He's examined by a psycho-probe (TM) which makes him tell his origin story.
Yet again the Crazy Credits have told us that Artie Simek is tired of lettering. Everyone gets tired of doing his job if he's constantly told he's not doing it right.
Daredevil #11
Title: A Time to Unmask!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Bob Powell
Villain: Organizer (Abner Jonas), Cat Man, Ape Man, Frog Man, Bird Man
Regulars: Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, Debbie Harris
Daredevil continues his fight against the mysterious Organizer and his costumed accomplices who want to use corruption and murder to put candidates of the Reform Party into power.
At the end of the story Matt Murdock announces that he wants to leave the law firm to spend time travelling the world.
Other comics published this month:
Millie the Model #133 (Stan Lee, Stan Goldberg)
Modelling with Millie #44 (Roy Thomas, Stan Goldberg)
Patsy Walker #124 (Al Hartley, Al Hartley)
Patsy and Hedy #103 (Al Hartley, Al Hartley)
Rawhide Kid #49 (Larry Lieber, Larry Lieber)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #25 (Stan Lee, Dick Ayers)
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