Fantastic Four #71
Title: And so it ends
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Mad Thinker
Regulars: Crystal
The Mad Thinker is the villain this issue, but we don't actually see him. He's relaxing in prison while his android attacks the Fantastic Four.
The Thing doesn't just hit the android, he yells his battle cry at him: it's clobbering time!
The Fantastic Four are unable to defeat the android, even with the Thing's help. Reed Richards pushes him through the door into the Negative Zone and slams the door behind him.
As a result of the fight and the threat to his pregnant wife, Reed says that he and Susan are quitting the Fantastic Four.
Amazing Spider-Man #57
Title: The Coming of Ka-Zar!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: John Romita
Villain: Ka-Zar
Regulars: Aunt May, Captain Stacy, Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, J. Jonah Jameson, John Jameson
Spider-Man is swinging around the city, not knowing who he is or where he lives. Ka-Zar arrives in New York to visit his lawyer. We all know who that is, don't we? Nelson and Murdock must be in first place in the telephone book to get so many prestigious clients. J. Jonah Jameson visits Ka-Zar in his hotel and tells him that Spider-Man is a dangerous menace. Ka-Zar agrees to capture Spider-Man and deliver him to the authorities.
At the end of the fight, which Ka-Zar wins because Spider-Man's web fluid has run out, Spider-Man falls into a pond. Ka-Zar pulls him out and finds him seemingly dead.
The Avengers #49
Title: Mine is the Power!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Avengers: Hawkeye, Goliath, Wasp, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Hercules
Villain: Magneto, Toad, Typhon
The Avengers continue to soar from one triumph to another, challenging the Fantastic Four's claim to be "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" (TM). Steve Englehart claims that Roy Thomas' 70 issue stint as author (Avengers #35 to #104) were the best comics ever written. Even though I'm biased in Stan Lee's favour, there are arguments to support his claim. Roy needed a few issues to warm up, but I think that from Avengers #47 onwards his comics reached epic greatness. I've always said that Roy Thomas was so good because he imitated Stan Lee's style.
Avengers #49 tells two stories in parallel. Hercules is investigating the reason for Olympus being deserted. In this issue he finds the reason. The Titan called Typhon has extinguished the Promethean Flame, which caused all of the Olympian Gods to disappear.
Here's witty repartee between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas in the footnote boxes. Roy boasts of his research of Greek mythology, and Stan grudgingly agrees with him. I can't help feeling that the two writers had a connection like none of the others in the Marvel bullpen.
After this we return to Magneto. In Avengers #47 he captured Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, and now he shows them his new island headquarters. They no longer resist him because they realise that he's too powerful for them. Magneto recognises that Quicksilver is bitter against the human race, so he makes plans to manipulate him. He goes to the United Nations and asks for his island to be recognised as a sovereign nation, a refuge for mutants. He also demands a veto right on the United Nations Security Council. When his request is refused the security guards fire at him. He redirects a bullet to graze the Scarlet Witch's head. This infuriates Quicksilver, and he says he will join Magneto.
We also find out that the strain on Goliath's body prevents him growing again. In future he can only become Ant-Man.
In the Crazy Credits it seems like Stan Lee has forgotten Artie Simek's name. How could he ever forget the name of Marvel's greatest letterer?
Strange Tales #165
Title: Behold the Savage Sky!
Writer: Jim Steranko
Artist: Jim Steranko
Villain: Yellow Claw
Regulars: Dum Dum Dugan
Dum Dum Dugan leads a SHIELD force against the Yellow Claw's floating fortress. This forces the Yellow Claw to flee, but he's still dangerous. Nick Fury tries to prevent his escape, but he's knocked unconscious.
Is there anyone who doesn't like Jim Steranko's artwork?
Title: The Mystic and the Machine!
Writer: Jim Lawrence
Artist: Dan Adkins
Villain: Yandroth
Regulars: Victoria Bentley
Doctor Strange continues his mismatched battle against the alien scientist Yandroth. They repeatedly underestimate one another, not understanding one another's power. When Doctor Strange thinks he has finally won, Yandroth presents his greatest weapon. Voltorr – remember his name! – is a giant robot with enough electric power to knock planets out of their orbit.
The Crazy Credits say that Al Kurzrok does his lettering behind closed doors. He probably needs quiet to work when Stan Lee and Irving Forbush are fighting.
Tales of Suspense #98
The cover promises a battle between Captain America and the Black Panther, but don't get your hopes up. There's only a brief skirmish that lasts less than a page, in which the Black Panther tests if the person who has come to his island is really Captain America. More comes below.
Title: The Warrior and the Whip!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Big M, Whiplash
Guests: Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jasper Sitwell
Iron Man has to face Whiplash without any transistor power. All he can do is dodge the whip. He gains a small respite by using a battery-powered image reproducer to confuse Whiplash. This only postpones the inevitable. Big M orders Whiplash to stop wasting time and finish off Iron Man.
Jasper Sitwell is surrounded by women who all claim to be Tony Stark's girlfriend. They ask to be led to Iron Man, because they think he's the only one who can tell him where Tony is. When Jasper tells them that Iron Man is missing as well, one of the women becomes suspicious.
Title: The Claws of the Panther!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Baron Zemo
Regulars: Agent 13
Guests: Black Panther
Captain America arrives in Wakanda and helps the Black Panther fight against the mercenaries attacking his kingdom. They're defeated by the overwhelming numbers, but they're not finished off because Agent 13 intervenes, disguised as Irma Kruhl. She says that she must be taken to the mysterious leader immediately.
So who is the mysterious leader? Artie Simek is so excited about it that he drops his letters. He forgot to write "NAME" or "TELL YOU" in the Black Panther's speech bubble. I hope Stan Lee didn't notice, or he'll never stop attacking Artful Artie. Give the man a break! One mistake in eight years is nothing! How many mistakes has Stan made by referring to the wrong issues in footnotes?
Eventually the two heroes face the leader. It's Baron Zemo, who seemingly died in Avengers #15.
Tales to Astonish #100
Title: Let there be battle!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Marie Severin
Villain: Puppet Master
Regulars: General Ross, Major Talbot, Betty Ross, Rick Jones
The hundredth issue of Tales To Astonish is a big issue in more ways than one. Until now it's contained two stories each month, a 12-page Sub-Mariner story and a 10-page Hulk story. In this issue the two stories are combined in a 22-page epic in which they battle one another. And who writes the story? Stan Lee!
Prince Namor is still considered a traitor by his people, so he's resting in an Atlantean outpost planning his next move. He observes the Hulk falling to the ground in his battle against the Living Lightning group last issue. He decides to team up with the Hulk again, as he once tried in Avengers #3.
This plan might have succeeded, except the Puppet Master is planning revenge on Sub-Mariner, who defeated him in Fantastic Four #14 and Tales To Astonish #79. The Puppet Master takes control of the Hulk and makes him attack Sub-Mariner.
We last saw the Puppet Master in X-Men #27. He's been all over the place!
After a long battle in Miami Sub-Mariner defeats the Hulk by luring him into the water, his native element. A tidal wave destroys the Puppet Master's island base, seemingly killing him. The Hulk turns back into Bruce Banner, whose body is washed onto the shore.
Thor #149
Title: When falls a hero!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Villain: Loki, Wrecker
Regulars: Odin, Sif, Balder
Thor continues to fight against the Wrecker, but he's no match for him now that Odin has taken away his powers and his hammer is just an over-sized paperweight.
Balder and Sif beg Odin to intervene, but Odin can't look at Earth because Loki has stolen his magical globe. Odin should get a replacement. Just about every arch-villain on Earth has a globe that can watch anything, including the Mandarin and the Puppet Master. It's standard issue for homicidal megalomaniacs.
Balder and Sif travel to the realm of the Norn Queen, because they (correctly) suspect that it's where Loki is hiding.
In a possible error, the Wrecker seems to be too knowledgeable about Thor's plight. He knows that Thor has lost his immortal powers. I'm sure apologists can think up an explanation, such as he picked this up from listening to Loki, but I've never been a friend of desperate solutions to explain errors in comics. No one is perfect, not even Stan Lee. Well, he's almost perfect. Let's say he's 99.9% perfect.
Title: Silence or Death!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inhumans: Agon, Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon, Karnak, Crystal, Maximus
This is a tale from Black Bolt's youth. It's his 19th birthday. He's lived all his life in isolation, in a soundproof chamber, but now he's allowed to leave. He meets his cousins Gorgon, Karnak, Medusa and seven-year-old Crystal. Medusa and Crystal are sisters, but it's not stated how Gorgon and Karnak fit into the family tree. They're probably second cousins of Medusa, and maybe even second cousins of one another. (P.S. I've read their details in the Marvel database, but whether or not I accept it depends on whether the information stems from Marvel's canon years).
Black Bolt's younger brother Maximus also comes to greet Black Bolt. He provokes him, trying to make him scream again.
X-Men #41
Title: Now strikes the Sub-Human!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Don Heck
X-Men: Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl
Villain: Grotesk
Regulars: Professor X, Vera, Zelda
The Beast and Iceman, in their secret identities as Hank McCoy and Bobby Drake, are riding round the city with their girlfriends Vera and Zelda. Their subway train is blocked by a primitive being who flees when they attack him. In a flash back we're told that he's the only survivor of a mighty subterranean race. He used to be intelligent, but he's become a primitive due to atomic tests being carried out. The creature was sad because he was alone below the surface, so he's emerged from below the ground. I don't know why he was alone, because he must have bumped in to Tyrannus or the Mole Man.
Professor X has secret plans which he only confides in Marvel Girl. He sends the other four X-Men to investigate the creature, who has now taken on the name Grotesk. Angel and Iceman return to the school to ask for more help, leaving Cyclops and the Beast to face Grotesk alone.
Title: The Living Diamond!
Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Werner Roth
X-Men: Professor X, Cyclops
Villain: Jack O'Diamonds / Living Diamond
Jack O'Diamonds and Scott Summers flee from Professor X. Scott suspects that Jack wants to do something bad, so he slips away and goes back to Professor X. Jack exposes himself to more radiation in a cyclotron building, and his whole body turns into diamonds. He now calls himself the Living Diamond.
The Crazy Credits tell us that Sam Rosen has supplied better letters. Maybe he has. I'll leave it for other Marvel fans to decide.
Daredevil #37
Title: Don't look now, but it's Dr. Doom!
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Gene Colan
Villain: Doctor Doom, Galactus (flashback)
Guests: Reed Richards (flashback), Ben Grimm (flashback), Johnny Storm (flashback)
Doctor Doom easily defeats the exhausted Daredevil. After knocking him unconscious he takes him back to the Latverian Embassy in his limousine. Daredevil tries to escape, but he has no chance against the superior power and intellect of Doctor Doom.
Doctor Doom places Daredevil and himself into identical glass cylinders. He says that they will be transferred into one another's bodies via a body-transferal ray. I admit that this is an astounding invention, but why does he need it? In Fantastic Four #10 we saw how he learnt the ability to swap bodies by mental will alone. He did this with Reed Richards.
There are two possible explanations:
a) Doctor Doom partially lost his memory after being knocked out of the sky by Galactus in Fantastic Four #60.
b) Stan Lee forgot about Fantastic Four #10 after spending too many sleepless nights working in the bullpen.
I recognised this (possible) error as soon as I read the story in my hazy youth in 1968. That deserves a No-Prize, doesn't it? Maybe my No-Prize is still gathering dust in the basement of the Marvel offices, waiting for me to pick it up.
Other comics published this month:
Millie the Model #157 (Stan Lee, Stan Goldberg)
Rawhide Kid #62 (Denny O'Neil, Paul Reinman)
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #51 (Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers)
Not Brand Echh #6 (Stan Lee, Jack Kirby)
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