Marvel Years 07.11 - November 1967

This is another big month for Marvel. There are two annuals this month, namely Fantastic Four Annual #5 and Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4. Officially they aren't called annuals, their name has been changed to king-size specials, but since they're published in an approximate yearly rhythm I'll stick to the word annuals.

I've had a little habit in my reviews of annuals. If the story in the annual takes place before the regular monthly comic I put my review at the beginning of the month's post, if it takes place after the regular monthly comic I put my review at the end of the month's post. That system doesn't work this month. The notes say that the story in Fantastic Four Annual #5 takes place between panels 3 and 4 on page 9 of Fantastic Four #68. Oh well.

In past years the annuals had a new story bundled with one or two reprints of older stories. This year all the annuals promise "not a single reprint". The Fantastic Four annual contains two stories, one about the Fantastic Four themselves and one solo adventure of the Silver Surfer.

Fantastic Four Annual #5

Title: Divide and Conquer!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Villain: Psycho-Man

Regulars: Alicia Masters, Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Lockjaw

Guests: Black Panther

Traditionally, the Fantastic Four annuals have been used to feature highlights in the lives of Marvel's number one super-family. For instance, Fantastic Four Annual #3 was the wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm. Here's another major milestone.

Yes, Susan Richards is pregnant. There will soon be the pitter patter of tiny feet in the Baxter Building. But will the baby be normal? If he's born invisible like his mother they'll never be able to find him. If he's born with stretching powers like his father he'll be able to escape through the bars of his baby cot.

Now for the rest of the story. A villain called the Psycho-Man has a device that can control emotions. By pressing a button he can create Doubt, Fear or Hate. His device only has a small range, affecting those standing in front of him. He's trying to build a more powerful device that will affect the whole world at once.

Psycho-Man comes from a micro-world that's located within an atom. This world is almost full, so he's looking for a larger world for his people. He decides to grow in size and take over the surface world. There's something wrong with this. Instead of moving to the overcrowded full sized world, couldn't his people just colonise the next atom? And the next? There are countless billions of atoms on Earth, so there's no shortage of space.

Later writers realised this was a problem, so an explanation was created in the post-canon era.

The Psycho-Man's base is on a seemingly uninhabited island which has been purchased by the Black Panther. Maybe he plans to build hotels for wealthy Wakandans who want to take a summer vacation? The royal family of the Inhumans are also living on this island as squatters. It's a small world.

Whatever else might or might not happen, the Thing gets a chance to yell his battle cry: It's clobbering time!

The combined force of the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans and Black Panther defeat the Psycho-Man. Not all the Fantastic Four. Now that Susan Richards is pregnant there's a good excuse for her to stay at home and rest, catching up on the soap opera reruns on daytime TV.

The annual also contains a few full page posters, in which Jack Kirby shows what he can do. These pictures are too good to be looked at in a small format. Please click on them to enlarge them. You can do that with every picture on my page, but these deserve it like no others.


These are all six members of the royal family of the Inhumans. It's excellent artwork by Jack King Kirby.

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Title: The Peerless Power of the Silver Surfer

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Villain: Quasimodo

Do you remember Quasimodo from Fantastic Four Annual #4? He was a sentient computer program written by the Mad Thinker. At the end of the story the Thinker fled and left his laboratory deserted. Quasimodo cried out in desperation, expecting to die when the power ran out. Luckily, the Thinker must have paid his electricity bill in advance, because a year later Quasimodo is still screaming for help. The only one who hears him is the Silver Surfer.

The Silver Surfer recognises Quasimodo as a living being with the right to be freed from the computer. He gives Quasimodo a body, thinking he would be grateful, but Quasimodo finds himself ugly. He attacks the Silver Surfer. After fighting in the city streets the Silver Surfer considers Quasimodo unworthy of being alive and turns him into a gargoyle on a clock tower.

This is obviously a trial run for a Silver Surfer comic. The feedback from the fans must have been positive, because the Silver Surfer's own series will start seven months from now.

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Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4

Title: The Web and the Flame!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Larry Lieber

Villain: Wizard, Mysterio

Regulars: J. Jonah Jameson

Ever since the first years of Marvel Comics it's been a recurring theme that Spider-Man and the Human Torch don't like one another. There's too much teenage male testosterone for them to be able to shake hands and be pals. The usual pattern when they meet is that they fight first and talk later. When they cool down they realise that they're both on the same side, but the truce is only temporary.

This annual contains a 41-page story, the longest meeting between Spider-Man and the Human Torch so far. It starts with Spider-Man seeing the Human Torch attack an armoured vehicle on the streets of New York. Thinking he's turned bad, they fight. It takes a while for Spider-Man to realise that the Human Torch was starring in a film, and he's just ruined the scene.

Language and idioms have changed since 1967. The newspaper seller tells his female customer that anyone can pull a boner. If I said that to a woman today I'd get my face slapped.

A few days later there are newspaper advertisements declaring that a film studio wants to make a movie with Spider-Man and the Human Torch. Peter Parker packs his toothbrush and heads to Hollywood. What he doesn't know is that it's a trap set by the Wizard and Mysterio, who want the two of them to fight to the death. The Wizard impersonates the Human Torch, attacks Spider-Man and flies away. This leads to a second, bigger fight between the two heroes.

Eventually they figure out they've been set up. It takes a while.

The Wizard was last briefly seen in Fantastic Four #57.

Mysterio was last seen in Amazing Spider-Man #24.

The annual also contains a few pages of posters and featurettes about Spider-Man's powers.

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Fantastic Four #68

Title: His Mission: Destroy the Fantastic Four!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Villain: Mad Thinker

Regulars: Alicia Masters, Crystal

Alicia is having to spend some time in hospital after being forced to help the scientists in the Beehive over the last few issues. The Thing is wallowing in self-pity again. He's worried that if Alicia's eyesight is ever cured she'll see how ugly he is.

Reed Richards is still working on a cure. He's asked Dr. Santini, a world-renowned chemist, to help him find a cure and turn the Thing back into Ben Grimm permanently. However, before he can travel to the Baxter Building Dr. Santini is kidnapped by a mystery man. Spoiler alert! It's the Mad Thinker. He disguises himself as Dr. Santini and takes his place in the Baxter Building assisting Reed Richards. Instead of curing the Thing, the ray makes him have murderous intentions towards everyone around him, starting with Reed Richards.

The Crazy Credits tell us that Forbush supplied the frenzy. Really! It's time for Stan Lee to consider that Irving Forbush is becoming a liability in the Marvel Bullpen.

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Amazing Spider-Man #54

Title: The Tentacles and the Trap!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Romita

Villain: Doctor Octopus

Regulars: Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, J. Jonah Jameson, Betty Brant, Joe Robertson

Peter Parker's life is about to get a lot more complicated. Doctor Octopus applies to become a lodger in the house where Aunt May lives with Anna Watson. She already met him in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and considered him to be a perfect gentleman, so she's quick to accept him.

By the way, the splash page is beautiful artwork by John Romita, don't you think?

Peter Parker is shocked when he walks in and sees the two of them together.

He waits for an opportunity when he knows that his aunt is out. Then he breaks into the house as Spider-Man. Aunt May comes home unexpectedly and thinks that her pleasant lodger is being attacked by the evil Spider-Man. She faints and falls into a coma, as shown on the front cover.

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The Avengers #46

Title: The Agony and the Anthill!

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema

Avengers: Captain America, Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hercules

Villain: Whirlwind (formerly Human Top)

Regulars: Black Widow

The Avengers Mansion is attacked by Whirlwind, the super-villain formerly known as the Human Top. He was last seen in Fantastic Four Annual #3, and before that in Tales To Astonish #69. His intention is to get revenge on Goliath and the Wasp for defeating him in the past. He shrinks them with a reducing ray. He overhears that the're not wearing their ant communicators, so he throws them into an anthill. They're attacked by the red ants who don't recognise them as friendly. While they're trapped Whirlwind plants a bomb which will explode in 10 minutes.

In the meantime Captain America and Quicksilver return. Whirlwind can't defeat them, so he flees, relying on his bomb to finish them off. Goliath and the Wasp escape from the anthill and tell Quicksilver to take the bomb as far away as possible.

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Strange Tales #162

Title: So evil, the night!

Writer: Jim Steranko
Artist: Jim Steranko

Villain: Yellow Claw

Regulars: Jimmy Woo, Countess Valentina

Guests: Captain America

Johnny Woo uses SHIELD's ESP machine to locate the Yellow Claw. He's in Chinatown. Nick Fury goes there and easily defeats a few of the Yellow Claw's henchmen. He disguises himself as one of them and goes to the Yellow Claw's lair, but he's recognised. He falls through a trapdoor into a deep well where a giant octopus is waiting for him.

I've shortened Countess Valentina's name this issue. Even the poor abused letterer Sam Rosen gets her name wrong. Her correct name is Valentina Allegro de Fontaine, but he spells her last name Fountaine.

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Title: From the Never-World comes Nebulos!

Writer: Jim Lawrence
Artist: Dan Adkins

Villain: Baron Mordo, Nebulos

Regulars: Victoria Bentley

Nebulos sends Doctor Strange back to Earth, giving him his staff as a weapon against Baron Mordo. It's a defensive weapon that absorbs every spell Mordo uses against him. After defeating him, Doctor Strange goes to Stonehenge to check the Living Tribunal's hourglass. The task of removing from the Earth the mystic energy unleashed by Zom has been completed in time. Doctor Strange attempts to use the staff to send the hourglass away, but Nebulos calls him back and takes the staff from his hand.

As they stand together the Living Tribunal approaches.

As in the last issue, Dan Adkins has copied several pieces of Steve Ditko's art, making only slight changes.

Page 3 Panel 3 is copied from Strange Tales #132 page 9 panel 6.

Page 4 panel 2 is copied from Strange Tales #139 page 4 panel 3.

Page 4 panel 4 is copied from Strange Tales #139 page 9 panel 1.

Page 5 panel 3 is copied from Strange Tales #135 page 10 panel 2.

There may be other copies that I haven't noticed so far. It's interesting that he's only copied images of Baron Mordo, as if he has problems drawing this one character.

The Crazy Credits say that Irving Forbush loused up the comic. Stan Lee should pay more attention to what he's doing.

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Tales of Suspense #95

Title: If a man be stone!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan

Villain: Grey Gargoyle

Guests: Jasper Sitwell

It's revealed that the mystery man who forced his way into Tony Stark's factory last month is the SHIELD agent Jasper Sitwell. He's been assigned toprotect Tony Stark. That's the official story, anyway. My suspicion is that Nick Fury got fed up of Jasper talking non-stop, so he sent him as far away as he could.

I hoped that Jasper Sitwell's awful SHIELD slogan would have been forgotten by now. There's a German proverb that says "Weeds don't die".

The Grey Gargoyle has great power, but he wants to live forever. He thinks that if he steals Thor's hammer he can find a way to immortality. Strange idea. He attacks Tony Stark's factory, because he thinks that Stark weaponry will help him defeat Thor.

The Grey Gargoyle touches Iron Man and turns him into stone. He doesn't want him to revive, so he prepares to throw him off the rooftop to shatter him.

We last saw the Grey Gargoyle in the merry mayhem of Fantastic Four Annual #3. Before then it was way back in Journey Into Mystery #113.

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Title: A time to die, a time to live!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Regulars: Agent 13

Guests: Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan

Steve Rogers invites Agent 13 to dinner. He says he wants to propose to her, but she tells him he mustn't. Her duty to SHIELD prevents her having a private life. He gives up his identity as Captain America, hoping she will do the same.

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Tales to Astonish #97

Title: The Sovereign and the Savages

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Werner Roth

Villain: Plunderer

Regulars: Dorma, Vashti

Guests: X-Men (Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl) (flashback), Ka-Zar (flashback)

Prince Namor frees himself from the Plunderer with the assistance of Swamp Men who are rebelling against him. He saves their leader, which leads to him being treated as a hero. He rests with them before resuming his hunt for the Plunderer.

Unknown to Namor the people of Atlantis have been observing him with remote cameras. It looks like he has allied himself with the surface people, so he's banished from Atlantis.

Knowing that Namor is still on Skull Island, the Plunderer sails towards Atlantis, planning to destroy it.

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Title: The Legions of the Living Lightning

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Marie Severin

Villain: Living Lightning

Regulars: General Ross, Major Talbot, Rick Jones

The Hulk accidentally collides with a low flying plane when he's jumping. He saves the pilot from the wreckage. The pilot says that he works for an organisation called the Living Lightning and that the Hulk would be welcome to join them.

In the meantime we find out that the Living Lightning is an evil military organisation that Major Talbot is investigating. Talbot is captured, and the Hulk recognises him as an enemy. The leader of the Living Lightning asks the Hulk to destroy a nearby air base.

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Thor #146

Title: If the thunder be gone!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Villain: Circus of Crime (Ringmaster, Princess Python, Clown, Cannonball, Great Gambinos)

Regulars: Odin, Sif, Balder, Jane Foster

Thor appears in his first circus performance, not realising that the circus is a criminal troupe. He's advertised as being the real Thor, but the audience doesn't believe it, they just think he's a very good imitation. Jane Foster is in the audience.

After the show the circus troupe enters a museum to steal a bull made of solid gold. Thor is hypnotised so that he willingly takes part in the theft, carrying the bull out. Gunfire from security guards makes Thor snap out of his trance. He has to decide whether to let himself be arrested or flee.

Sif and Balder observe Thor's plight from Asgard and wonder whether they should help him.

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Title: The Origin of the Incomparable Inhumans!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby

Inhumans: Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton (all cameos)

A new series begins about the Inhumans. The first story reveals that the Inhumans were already an advanced race in the days of Earth's cavemen. Randac, the leader of the Inhumans, wants to test the Terrogen Mist on himself to see if it will advance his evolution.

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X-Men #38

From this issue onwards the X-Men comic is divided into two stories. The first is the ongoing adventures of the X-Men. The shorter second story takes place in the past, before X-Men #1, telling us how the group came to be formed.

Title: The Sinister Shadow of Doomsday!

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Don Heck

X-Men: Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl

Villain: Factor Three (Mutant Master, Changeling, Blob, Vanisher)

Regulars: Professor X

The X-Men escape from Factor Three's lair by stealing two of their flying vessels. They return to America within minutes.

Angel, Beast and Marvel Girl fly to East Germany to the diplomatic summit where Factor Three has planted a bomb. They encounter Blob and the Vanisher. They defeat them, but then they're arrested by security guards.

Cyclops and Iceman fly to the American missile base which has been rigged to fire nuclear missiles at Russia. The military personnel don't take their warning seriously, so they attempt to destroy all the missiles at the base.

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Title: A man called X

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Werner Roth

X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops

Professor X lives alone in a large building in Westchester. On television he sees a report about a young man firing eye blasts to destroy an air conditioning unit falling from a crane. The public is in an uproar, calling him a mutant.

Professor X flies to Washington to discuss this case. His mental powers help him to be let into high security buildings. He asks to be accepted as a government adviser for mutants. Agent Fred Duncan promises to share whatever information he has on mutants with Professor X.

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Daredevil #34

Title: To squash a Beetle!

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan

Villain: Beetle

Regulars: Foggy Nelson, Karen Page

Daredevil is defeated by the Beetle and his henchmen when he challenges them in the ghost town. Instead of killing him, the Beetle decides to take him to Expo 67 to unmask him in public. Daredevil pretends to be asleep in the van so that he can rest and regain his strength. He doesn't break free until he's on stage at the Expo.

Daredevil finally defeats the Beetle, so maybe he's in his league after all.

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Other comics published this month:

Millie the Model #155 (Stan Lee, Stan Goldberg)
Kid Colt Outlaw #137 (Ron Whyte, Dick Ayers)
Two-Gun Kid #90 (Denny O'Neil, Ogden Whitney)
Ghost Rider #7 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #48 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Not Brand Echh #4 (Stan Lee, Gene Colan)