Post by Rob Allen on Jun 6, 2014 18:06:41 GMT -5
Due to other commitments (I try to take one day at a time but sometimes a bunch of them gang up on me), I never got to do the last three months in either the 50-year or 40-year threads here or back on CBR, so I'm going to start this one by catching up with what I was buying 50 years ago:
March 1964
My first all-Marvel month since my very first comic, last September!
Spider-Man #13 by Lee/Ditko, introducing Mysterio, master of illusions. He makes Spidey think he's going nuts. They could have called him "the Gaslighter" but kids probably wouldn't have gotten the reference. Not sure if anybody but film buffs would get the reference today.
Fantastic Four #27 by Lee/Kirby/Roussos, with a Kirby/Stone cover. Sub-Mariner kidnaps Sue, who might have gone with him willingly if he'd asked. Dr. Strange helps get her back. Not sure why he's green on the cover.
Tales to Astonish #56 - this is the cover I mentioned a few months back - a size-changing character shown at multiple sizes, just like the Atom cover from December. This issue is a bit of a throwback - still close to the original logo (TOS and JIM had changed their logos to feature Iron Man and Thor, respectively), it has a superhero story and a fantasy story, and a text story instead of a letters page. This must have been one of the last text stories in a Marvel comic. The cover is by Kirby and either Stone or Brodsky; the Giant-Man & Wasp story is by Lee/Ayers and features an undistinguished villain who appeared again in a backup story two months later and has not been seen since; and the fantasy story, framed as a yarn that Jan tells Hank over dinner, is by Lee/Lieber/Reinman.
I definitely remember seeing the covers of Flash #144, JLA #27 and Mystery in Space #91 in house ads.
April 1964
Back to DC:
Hawkman #2 - cover by Murphy Anderson and 2 stories by Fox & Anderson, one dealing with an "extradimensional world" that is never seen again, and the other has Hawkman testing the newly-rediscovered wings of Icarus and in the process encountering some bazooka-wielding bandits who he then subdues.
Superboy Annual #1 - a Swan/Klein cover and seven reprint stories - Binder/Sikela (Red Kryptonite gives Superboy a hallucination), Binder/Swan/Kaye (Superboy visits London and discovers that he had been there before as Superbaby), Binder/Papp (Kryptonite forces Superboy to keep his eyes closed or anything he sees turns to diamond. Krypto leads him to the sea where the salt water cures him), Binder/Sikela (Superboy reminisces about how he learned to fly), Bernstein/Sikela (Clark wins a free haircut from the Smallville barber and has to come up with a plausible reason why he can't get his hair cut), Binder/Swan/Fischetti (Superboy meets another super-powered teenage boy on the asteroid Juno but has to leave because his presence removes the other boy's powers), and Siegel/Papp (Krypto has several adventures in outer space).
Acquired later: Fantastic Four #28 - the FF vs. the X-Men, instigated by the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master, by Lee/Kirby/Stone with a Kirby/Brodsky cover.
May 1964
Avengers #6 - introducing Zemo (not yet called Baron) and his Masters of Evil, by Lee/Kirby/Stone. with a Kirby/Stone cover. This is the last issue with the Hulk's face included in the top-corner box; he does not appear. Zemo was simultaneously featured in Sgt.Fury #8, where he's called Dr. Zemo. The two comics came out on the same day. After dealing with the Hulk and then finding Cap, Stan & Jack figured that the Avengers needed a nemesis, and since the Avengers were a group of individual heroes thrown together, why not create a villain team the same way?
June 1964 - end of second grade for me.
Batman #165 - an Infantino/Giella cover illustrating a Fox/Moldoff/Giella story about a man who mutates himself to the point where he isn't human anymore. Also, a Herron/Moldoff/Giella story about a young policewoman who works with Batman and has a crush on Bruce Wayne. She returns in the next issue but is never seen again.
Blue Beetle #1 - Charlton re-enters the superhero market with an update of the old Fox hero, by Gill/Fraccio/Tallarico with a Fraccio/McLaughlin cover. Egyptologist Dan Garrett is transformed by an ancient scarab and deals with a giant living mummy. This comic was so bad that I didn't buy another Charlton for at least eight years.
Fantastic Four #30 - the debut of Diablo by Lee/Kirby/Stone, with a Kirby/Stone cover. A Transylvanian alchemist seems to be able to turn Ben back to normal.
Acquired later:
Hawkman #3 - Two Fox/Anderson stories and an Anderson cover.
Marvel Tales Annual #1 - took a long time for me to find an affordable copy of this. A Kirby/Brodsky cover except for the Spider-Man figure by Ditko, and reprints of: Spidey's debut from AF #15 by Lee/Ditko, chapter 1 from Hulk #1 by Lee/Kirby/Reinman, Ant-Man's debut from TTA #35 by Lee/Lieber/Kirby/Ayers, 2 pages of his transformation to Giant-Man from TTA #49 by Lee/Kirby/Heck, six pages from Sgt. Fury #1 by Lee/Kirby/Ayers, Iron Man's origin from TOS# 39 by Lee/Lieber/Heck, four pages of the creation of his red & gold armor from TOS #48 by Lee/Ditko/Ayers, Thor's origin from JIM #83 by Lee/Lieber/Kirby/Ayers, and two pages of photos of the bullpen: Stan Lee, Martin Goodman, Johnny Hayes, Dick Ayers, Sol Brodsky, Vince Colletta, Stan Goldberg, Al Hartley, Don Heck, Jack Keller, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber, Joe Orlando, Paul Reinman, Sam Rosen, Artie Simek, Chic Stone, Flo Steinberg, Nancy Murphy and Debbie Ackerman. This was like a preliminary version of "Origins of Marvel Comics".
Strange Tales #124 - The Thing joins the Torch's strip permanently. A split cover, Ayers doing the Torch/Thing portion and two panels copied from the Dr. Strange story by Ditko/Roussos below. The Torch and the Thing, by Lee/Ayers/Reinman, are attacked by Paste-Pot Pete in his last solo outing before joining the Frightful Four, and in a bizarre Lee/Ditko/Roussos story, Dr. Strange finds Cleopatra in New York and manages to send her back to her own time.
Tales of Suspense #57 - the debut of Hawkeye, and the third appearance of the Black Widow, by Lee/Heck with a cover composed of figures from the story. Natasha is still in her black-hair-black-dress-and-fur-stole period. Clint Barton starts out to be a superhero but is lured to the other side by a glamourous Russian spy.
March 1964
My first all-Marvel month since my very first comic, last September!
Spider-Man #13 by Lee/Ditko, introducing Mysterio, master of illusions. He makes Spidey think he's going nuts. They could have called him "the Gaslighter" but kids probably wouldn't have gotten the reference. Not sure if anybody but film buffs would get the reference today.
Fantastic Four #27 by Lee/Kirby/Roussos, with a Kirby/Stone cover. Sub-Mariner kidnaps Sue, who might have gone with him willingly if he'd asked. Dr. Strange helps get her back. Not sure why he's green on the cover.
Tales to Astonish #56 - this is the cover I mentioned a few months back - a size-changing character shown at multiple sizes, just like the Atom cover from December. This issue is a bit of a throwback - still close to the original logo (TOS and JIM had changed their logos to feature Iron Man and Thor, respectively), it has a superhero story and a fantasy story, and a text story instead of a letters page. This must have been one of the last text stories in a Marvel comic. The cover is by Kirby and either Stone or Brodsky; the Giant-Man & Wasp story is by Lee/Ayers and features an undistinguished villain who appeared again in a backup story two months later and has not been seen since; and the fantasy story, framed as a yarn that Jan tells Hank over dinner, is by Lee/Lieber/Reinman.
I definitely remember seeing the covers of Flash #144, JLA #27 and Mystery in Space #91 in house ads.
April 1964
Back to DC:
Hawkman #2 - cover by Murphy Anderson and 2 stories by Fox & Anderson, one dealing with an "extradimensional world" that is never seen again, and the other has Hawkman testing the newly-rediscovered wings of Icarus and in the process encountering some bazooka-wielding bandits who he then subdues.
Superboy Annual #1 - a Swan/Klein cover and seven reprint stories - Binder/Sikela (Red Kryptonite gives Superboy a hallucination), Binder/Swan/Kaye (Superboy visits London and discovers that he had been there before as Superbaby), Binder/Papp (Kryptonite forces Superboy to keep his eyes closed or anything he sees turns to diamond. Krypto leads him to the sea where the salt water cures him), Binder/Sikela (Superboy reminisces about how he learned to fly), Bernstein/Sikela (Clark wins a free haircut from the Smallville barber and has to come up with a plausible reason why he can't get his hair cut), Binder/Swan/Fischetti (Superboy meets another super-powered teenage boy on the asteroid Juno but has to leave because his presence removes the other boy's powers), and Siegel/Papp (Krypto has several adventures in outer space).
Acquired later: Fantastic Four #28 - the FF vs. the X-Men, instigated by the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master, by Lee/Kirby/Stone with a Kirby/Brodsky cover.
May 1964
Avengers #6 - introducing Zemo (not yet called Baron) and his Masters of Evil, by Lee/Kirby/Stone. with a Kirby/Stone cover. This is the last issue with the Hulk's face included in the top-corner box; he does not appear. Zemo was simultaneously featured in Sgt.Fury #8, where he's called Dr. Zemo. The two comics came out on the same day. After dealing with the Hulk and then finding Cap, Stan & Jack figured that the Avengers needed a nemesis, and since the Avengers were a group of individual heroes thrown together, why not create a villain team the same way?
June 1964 - end of second grade for me.
Batman #165 - an Infantino/Giella cover illustrating a Fox/Moldoff/Giella story about a man who mutates himself to the point where he isn't human anymore. Also, a Herron/Moldoff/Giella story about a young policewoman who works with Batman and has a crush on Bruce Wayne. She returns in the next issue but is never seen again.
Blue Beetle #1 - Charlton re-enters the superhero market with an update of the old Fox hero, by Gill/Fraccio/Tallarico with a Fraccio/McLaughlin cover. Egyptologist Dan Garrett is transformed by an ancient scarab and deals with a giant living mummy. This comic was so bad that I didn't buy another Charlton for at least eight years.
Fantastic Four #30 - the debut of Diablo by Lee/Kirby/Stone, with a Kirby/Stone cover. A Transylvanian alchemist seems to be able to turn Ben back to normal.
Acquired later:
Hawkman #3 - Two Fox/Anderson stories and an Anderson cover.
Marvel Tales Annual #1 - took a long time for me to find an affordable copy of this. A Kirby/Brodsky cover except for the Spider-Man figure by Ditko, and reprints of: Spidey's debut from AF #15 by Lee/Ditko, chapter 1 from Hulk #1 by Lee/Kirby/Reinman, Ant-Man's debut from TTA #35 by Lee/Lieber/Kirby/Ayers, 2 pages of his transformation to Giant-Man from TTA #49 by Lee/Kirby/Heck, six pages from Sgt. Fury #1 by Lee/Kirby/Ayers, Iron Man's origin from TOS# 39 by Lee/Lieber/Heck, four pages of the creation of his red & gold armor from TOS #48 by Lee/Ditko/Ayers, Thor's origin from JIM #83 by Lee/Lieber/Kirby/Ayers, and two pages of photos of the bullpen: Stan Lee, Martin Goodman, Johnny Hayes, Dick Ayers, Sol Brodsky, Vince Colletta, Stan Goldberg, Al Hartley, Don Heck, Jack Keller, Jack Kirby, Larry Lieber, Joe Orlando, Paul Reinman, Sam Rosen, Artie Simek, Chic Stone, Flo Steinberg, Nancy Murphy and Debbie Ackerman. This was like a preliminary version of "Origins of Marvel Comics".
Strange Tales #124 - The Thing joins the Torch's strip permanently. A split cover, Ayers doing the Torch/Thing portion and two panels copied from the Dr. Strange story by Ditko/Roussos below. The Torch and the Thing, by Lee/Ayers/Reinman, are attacked by Paste-Pot Pete in his last solo outing before joining the Frightful Four, and in a bizarre Lee/Ditko/Roussos story, Dr. Strange finds Cleopatra in New York and manages to send her back to her own time.
Tales of Suspense #57 - the debut of Hawkeye, and the third appearance of the Black Widow, by Lee/Heck with a cover composed of figures from the story. Natasha is still in her black-hair-black-dress-and-fur-stole period. Clint Barton starts out to be a superhero but is lured to the other side by a glamourous Russian spy.
