Fantastic Four #63
Title: Blastaar, the Living Bomb-Burst
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Sandman, Blastaar
Regulars: Crystal, Triton
Blastaar, who escaped from the Negative Zone last issue, has teamed up with the Sandman. Blastaar is in a hurry to conquer the world, but Sandman is more interested in battling the Fantastic Four first. In their fight the Fantastic Four are aided by Crystal and Triton.
The Thing does a long run up to his battle cry: "Just in case you lost your wrist watch or something, I'm gonna show you what time it is. It's clobbering time".
By the way, this is one of Jack Kirby's best cover pictures yet. I love it! I can see why Stan Lee called him the King.
Amazing Spider-Man #49
Title: From the Depths of Defeat!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Romita
Villain: Vulture, Kraven
Regulars: Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Frederick Foswell
Look at Sam Rosen's beautiful lettering on the splash page. It shows how magnificently he can work when Stan Lee unleashes him.
Kraven sees news about the Vulture on television and is jealous that the Vulture is being called the city's biggest menace. He's determined to defeat the Vulture, so he goes into the city to fight him. Most of this issue is taken up by Kraven and the Vulture fighting one another while Peter Parker is lying in bed.
Eventually Peter thinks he's strong enough, and he challenges the two criminals, who are still fighting. He wins the fight, mostly because they get in one another's way.
My mother used to read my comics when I was a child. Maybe it was because she was checking that I was reading suitable material, maybe it was because she enjoyed them herself. I suspect the latter. One thing I remember is that she always laughed when she read the word "Meanwhile". It's a word hardly ever used in normal, everyday speech, but it's one of the most common words in Marvel's text boxes.
J. Jonah Jameson is his usual grumpy self...
but Aunt May calls him sweet and the dearest soul. She might be a loving Aunt, but she's a terrible judge of character.
Strange Tales #157
Title: Crisis!
Writer: Jim Steranko
Artist: Jim Steranko
Villain: Hydra, Supreme Hydra (Baron Von Strucker)
Regulars: Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jasper Sitwell, Laura Brown
Nick Fury faces dozens of Hydra agents, before finally facing Baron Von Strucker himself.
Meanwhile, Jasper Sitwell, Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones are still of the opinion that Nick Fury died in the explosion on the heli-carrier. They're trying to find a way to prevent the Death Spore killing all life on Earth.
A warning to my readers: don't look at Jim Steranko's art while under the influence of LSD.
The Crazy Credits say that Sam Rosen is overworked. I've noticed that Artie Simek has been doing less lettering for the last three months. The two should learn to balance their workload.
Title: The End of the Ancient One!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Marie Severin
Villain: Zom, Living Tribunal
Regulars: Ancient One
The Ancient One sacrifices his life so that he can bequeath his power to Doctor Strange. Before dying he gives one last piece of advice: Doctor Strange should remove Zom's forelock. That's a good idea, because it's an awful fashion statement. However, there are other results. Removing the forelock summons a much stronger being than Zom, the Living Tribunal.
The Living Tribunal effortlessly banishes Zom, then says that the Earth has to be destroyed.
So let me get this straight... Zom was summoned to chase away Umar. Then the Living Tribunal was summoned to remove Zom. Now the Living Tribunal wants to destroy everything. It sounds like a case of out of the frying pan into the fire, followed by out of the fire into the blast furnace.
The Ancient One really is dead, but don't worry, he'll come back eventually. There's a saying that "In Marvel comics nobody stays dead except for Bucky Barnes and Uncle Ben". Since that saying was invented Bucky Barnes has returned from the dead, so we need to revise it. At least Ben Parker is dead, until the day that he rises again as a criminal mastermind or a fire-breathing demon.
Tales of Suspense #90
Title: The Golden Ghost!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Melter
The Melter is forcing Tony Stark to build him a smaller version of his melting gun, or whatever it's called. Obviously, Tony is able to work fast under pressure, because he manages to build the gun within a couple of hours, complete with a hidden booby trap.
Tony Stark's new armour has been badly damaged by the Melter, so he puts on his old golden suit to do battle.
Title: And men shall call him traitor!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gil Kane
Villain: Red Skull
The last story showed Captain America trapped between walls that are sliding together. Now the Red Skull puts laser beams overhead to stop him climbing out.
Then he leaves. It isn't just the overconfidence of a Bond villain who never remains to see his enemy die. It's because the Red Skull is sensitive and can't stand to see blood. I would never have imagined it!
Guess what? Captain America escapes at the last moment. He hitches a ride on the Red Skull's flying vessel.
The Red Skull picks up a square mile of New York City, preparing to drop it and kill everyone inside. I suppose he can just about bring himself to do that, as long as he doesn't have to see people die close up. Captain America promises to serve the Red Skull if New York City is spared. A public broadcast is made, and everyone believes he's a traitor.
I just have one question. Anyone could put on a costume and say he's a servant of the Red Skull, so how do people know it's the real Captain America in the broadcast?
The Crazy Credits say that Artie Simek is in the lonely grip of lethargy. Somehow I doubt it. His lettering is always fresh and dynamic, leaping out of the page.
Tales to Astonish #92
Title: It walks like a man!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Dan Adkins
Villain: It
Regulars: Dorma
Marvel has hired a new artist this month, Dan Adkins. He'll go on to draw a lot of comics for Marvel over the next few years.
Prince Namor sees a submarine dropping radioactive waste on the sea bed. His natural inclination is to attack the surface world to prevent this happening again, but Lady Dorma persuades him to talk to the surface world first.
Either Lady Dorma has no feeling for distance, or the people of Atlantis can swim incredibly fast. Moments passed, and in this time Namor carried the radioactive waste barrel thousands of leagues, followed by Dorma. A league is 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers). She didn't say how many thousand leagues he's just swum, but it must have been at least 2000 leagues. That means that they've just travelled 7000 miles in moments. The Atlantic Ocean is only 3500 miles wide, so where did Namor swim?
Dumping radioactive waste always has consequences. It may be out of sight and forgotten, but it remains where it is. The humans who dumped the waste on the sea bed have enraged Namor. When Namor dumps the waste into the forbidden cave of darkness he wakes an ancient creature called It. Just It. Stan Lee must have run out of corny monster names this month.
Just as Namor engages It in battle a submarine fires missiles at them.
On a positive note, I've never seen Artie Simek praised as highly as this month. Special praise is heaped upon him as the letterer without whom this comic would never have existed. I've always known he's indispensable, but now Stan Lee has finally realised it? Maybe the new artist Dan Adkins whispered a word in his ear.
Title: Turning Point!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Marie Severin
Villain: Silver Surfer
Regulars: General Ross, Major Talbot, Betty Ross, Rick Jones
I can't figure out what the turning point is, unless it's referring to the whole world being told that Bruce Banner is the Hulk.
After this information is revealed on television Bruce Banner is a fugitive. He rents a cheap room and builds a little gamma ray machine. He says that it will either remove the gamma particles from his blood, making him forever human, or it will make him turn into the Hulk permanently. The machine turns him into the Hulk, but we don't yet know whether the change is permanent. If it is, that could be the turning point the title mentions.
The Hulk sees a flying saucer overhead and tries to stop it. He was mistaken. It's not a flying saucer, it's a flying surfboard. He's just made an enemy of the Silver Surfer.
Thor #141
Title: The Wrath of Replicus
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Slugger Sykes, Chuda, Replicus
A New York mobster called Slugger Sykes buys a robot from a man called Chuda. At least, it looks like a robot. Chuda insists it's a replica. This robot – I mean replica! – is just as strong as Thor.
Chuda reveals that he wants to introduce lots of these replicas into America to create chaos. Slugger Sykes is angry. He says that even though he's a gangster he still loves his country enough that he doesn't want to see it destroyed. He wrecks Chuda's machine, killing himself in the explosion, and the replica collapses.
Title: Alibar and the Forty Demons!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Gods: Thor, Fandrel, Hogun, Volstagg
Thor and the Warriors Three enter Mogul's palace. Mogul sends a warrior called Alibar to clallenge the intruders.
The Avengers #41
Title: Let sleeping dragons lie!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Avengers: Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch
Villain: Diablo, Dragon Man
Regulars: Black Widow, Hercules, Bill Foster
I admit it. I don't like the silly title. It wasn't Roy Thomas' best. What I do like is the alliteration in the Crazy Credits, which must have come from Stan Lee himself.
"Stan Lee majestically moguls over a Roy Thomas - John Buscema masterpiece of matchless Marvel magnificence".
I couldn't have put it better myself. What I don't like is that Stan says Artie Simek was dragging his feet. I'm sure he was working quickly and accurately, as always.
Goliath is taking time away from the Avengers to work on one of his pet projects. Pun intended. He's acquired the Dragon Man, last seen in Fantastic Four #47, who is now in a comatose state. What he doesn't reckon with is that Diablo, Dragon Man's creator, knows where Dragon Man is and wants him back. We last saw Diablo in the chaos of Fantastic Four Annual #3, and before that in Fantastic Four #35.
Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch join in the fight. (Captain America is still absent). They are not powerful enough to defeat the now revived Dragon Man.
Roy Thomas and Stan Lee share a few words in the text boxes. Roy reminds forgetful people that the Black Widow is currently in the far east as a double agent for SHIELD. Stan Lee is evidently one of those who needed the reminder.
Things don't go well for the Black Widow. The Communists know she's a double agent and put her into the Psychotron, a device that gives people nightmares.
X-Men #33
Title: Into the Crimson Cosmos!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Werner Roth
X-Men: Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl
Villain: Juggernaut, Xorak/Outcast
Regulars: Professor X
Guests: Ancient One, Doctor Strange
The X-Men realise that they have no chance of defeating the Juggernaut while Professor X is comatose, so they use the Mental Wave Amplifier (MFA) to speak to him even while he's unconscious. He tells them a story about the Ancient One visiting the cave of Cyttorak while he was a young man and defeating the gem's guardian, the demon Xorak.
The X-Men use Cerbero to locate the Ancient One. And here I was thinking it could only detect mutants. Silly me! They try to make contact with the Ancient One – so Cerbero is also a two-wave radio? – but the Ancient One can't reply because he's dead. You read all about his death in this month's Strange Tales #157. Doctor Strange answers on his behalf. Two people should go to the cave of Cyttorak, enter the gem and fetch the prototype of the gem to use as a weapon against the Juggernaut. Okay... so Cyclops chooses Marvel Girl as his partner, and Doctor Strange sends the two of them to the cave before returning to Stonehenge.
In the cave Cyclops and Marvel Girl enter the gem with this spell that Doctor Strange has taught them. It's interesting to hear about Dormammu's twin. Assuming that this refers to Umar, we already know that she's Dormammu's sister, but this is the first time we've heard that she's his twin sister.
Inside the gem they find and retrieve the prototype gem. They take it to their team mates, who're in the middle of a fight with the Juggernaut. When it's held close to him he feels weaker, so he takes hold of it and begins to shake. Then he disappears. Cyclops assumes that the Juggernaut has been transported to the Crimson Cosmos. That's logical.
However, while the X-Men were fighting the Juggernaut members of Factor Three came to the school and carried away Professor X.
Here's a slight error. "Note of temerity" is incorrect. The Beast means "lack of temerity". Did Sam Rosen slip up when he was lettering. The Crazy Credits have already told us that he doesn't know how to spell Cyttorak.
Daredevil #29
Title: Unmasked!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: The Boss
Regulars: Foggy Nelson, Karen Page
Oh boy! Matt Murdock really needs a psychiatrist. He wants to propose to Karen Page, but he doesn't know whether to do it as himself or as his invented personality Mike.
Here's an example of Gene Colan's artwork. Are you starting to understand why I like him so much?
On the way to propose Daredevil climbs up the building at 625 Madison Avenue, and look who's working late. It's none other than Stan Lee himself. It's a shame Daredevil is in such a hurry. He could have given Stan some ideas for his next story.
Since the Masked Marauder's death last issue his gang have been taken over by another gangster called the Boss. The Boss? That's it? Yes, it looks like Stan Lee has a mental block and can't invent any good names this month. Maybe he's caught the flu off Spider-Man. He should spend a few days in bed and let Roy Thomas take over the writing chores.
The Boss's gang has kidnapped Karen Page, because notes written by the Masked Marauder before his death suggest that she knows who Daredevil is. Daredevil defeats them, but he realises that the closer he gets to Karen the more danger she'll be in. He changes his mind about proposing.
The splash page has not one but two examples of Stan Lee's alliterations:
"Daredevil is captured by the heinous hirelings of the heartless hood they call the Boss". That's only half true. Read the story yourself to find out what happens.
The story is "garnished with greatness and glazed with glory".
Other comics published this month:
Millie the Model #150 (Dennis O'Neil, Bill Williams)
Modelling with Millie #54 (Gary Friedrich, Bill Williams)
Rawhide Kid #58 (Gary Friedrich, Larry Lieber)
Ghost Rider #3 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #43 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
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