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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 15, 2015 12:00:24 GMT -5
Strange Tales #108Story Title: “The Painter of a Thousand Perils” Cover Date: May, 1963 CoverScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek CreditsScript: Stan Lee (plot); Robert Bernstein [as R. Berns] (script) Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Terry Szenics Synopsis: A counterfeiter caught by the Human Torch finds magic paints and uses them to escape from prison and strike back at the Torch. The Torch realizes what is happening and uses the magic paints to fool the Painter and defeat him. Character Appearances: Human Torch [Johnny Storm]; Painter [Wilhelm Van Vile] (introduction); "Scar" Tobin; Scar's Gang [Nick; Sam; Eddie]; Mister Fantastic (image); Invisible Girl (image); Thing (image); Wizard (flashback); Zemu (flashback) Comments: If you ever wondered what it would have been like if and evil version of Bob Ross found a set of magical painting supplies and turned to super-villainy in the Marvel Universe, then this is the comic for you! I’m going to yet again point the finger at Bernstein as the main culprit behind this ridiculous issue. The issue isn’t bad because of the hokey plot and goofy villain (Many Marvel and DC comics of this period feature these things yet are still charming and entertaining) it’s bad because it has these traits while at the same time insulting the readership. In Van Vile we have a villain we are to believe is so imbecilic, even taking into account the tenuous world of comic book common sense and logic, that he attempts to pass off a recreation of the Mona Lisa (!) as the original...which leads to his first strike as an art forger. Did the Louvre misplace the Mona Lisa in 1963? Having failed at art forgery, he moves on to counterfeiting and proceeds to screw himself, again, by leaving out Abe Lincoln’s iconic sideburns on his phony five-dollar bills. This is a level of stupidity that can’t merely be passed off as carelessness, as the Human Torch himself seems to think. He even went on to screw up details on giant fire hydrants and left off the “4” symbols on the FF’s costumes. My theory is that he was a performance artist mocking the super-villain community with their lame plots and transparent schemes. It’s the only possible explanation because, technically, Strange Tales wasn’t supposed to be humor mag. Sheesh. Art wise this is a solid effort by Kirby and Ayers, but it does look a bit rushed to my eye compared to some of their recent work. I really wouldn’t blame them if they did rush through this stinker. Character Development: Another huge problem with this issue was the out-of-character take on Johnny Storm. It was almost as if he was being written as a generic adult crime-fighter. The final panels has him utter the following; “Yes Van Vile, you will soon sit like this in a state penitentiary cell…a forlorn portrait in misery who framed himself with a slight assist from a humble artist in crime-fighting who signs himself…the Human Torch!” Can you imagine Stan having him say something like that around the Thing in FF? Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 3/3. Unfortunately, this is yet another bad issue of Strange Tales with not much to recommend it as a story, or historically, save for the fact that it’s a solid Kirby issue. On the bright side…one more issue until Lee/Ditko kick off the Doctor Strange saga!
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 16, 2015 2:27:19 GMT -5
I actually like the Painter of a Thousand Perils. When i was a kid, this was the first solo Human Torch story I ever read, in issue #8 of his mid 70s reprint title. I still have it. Great fun.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 16, 2015 19:47:33 GMT -5
It's not a bad concept in and of itself, but it's a bit fanciful for what Marvel was attempting to do. I see stuff like this is a remnant of an early time in comics, even by Marvel's 1963 standards. I try to base my personal ratings on a scale that takes into account the best examples, the cream of the crop if you will, of Marvel Age stories that exemplify a more "sophisticated" and inventive level of storytelling: "This Man, This Monster," "The Galactus Trilogy," and "The Master Planner Saga" being examples of 60's Marvel at its absolute finest. Compared to those gems, a story like this reads like it was written in 1943.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 17, 2015 20:22:33 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #41 Story Title: “The Stronghold of Dr. Strange!” Cover Date: May, 1963 CoverScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Jack Kirby Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek CreditsScript: Stan Lee (plot); Robert Bernstein [as R Berns] Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Marty Epp Synopsis: An imprisoned criminal scientist takes control of Iron Man in order to free himself. He threatens to blow up the world unless he is made world ruler. Iron Man stops him by shorting out his power and is helped by the villain's conscience-stricken daughter. Character Appearances: Iron Man [Tony Stark]; Doctor Strange [Carlo Strange] (introduction); Carla Strange (introduction); Nikita Khrushchev (cameo) Comments: This is a fascinating issues for the very obvious reason that it features a quasi-Dr. Strange prototype. About the only similarity this villain has to the soon to be introduced Master of the Mystic arts is the name, but the cloak he wears is strikingly similar to the basic design of the now classic Cloak of Levitation. The issue itself is a bit odd, as it spends almost half of the story updating the reader as to who Tony Stark is professionally and his career as Iron Man. It was par for the course to treat each issue like some ones first in this era, more so than in later ones, but I get the feeling that they might have been treading water a bit since they realized that there wasn’t much to the rather shallow world-domination plot. There was an attempt to humanize Strange by giving him an innocent daughter that he loved and did all his evil deeds for (in Carla Strange) but it was so rushed, given the short length of the story, not to mentioned seemingly tacked on and forced, that it had little impact on me as a reader. One bit I liked was when Iron Man magnetically levitated several cars and spun them around in the air while he was entertaining the children’s hospital kids. The fact that he was saved in the end when Carla Strange threw him a flash light, allowing him to re-power his depleted armor with two D Cell batteries, wasn’t one of his finer moments. Once again, this issue is of interest mainly for the Kirby art. I’m starting to like the Kirby/Ayers team more and more. I’m glad that Ayers would go on to take on art duties on Sgt. Fury, but at the same time I would have much preferred him doing the inks for Kirby more, at least until we get to the great Joe Sinnott, rather than Vince Colletta or even Chic Stone. Character Development: We get a little peak into the charitable side of Tony Stark as we witness him donate $100,000 to a children’s hospital and even entertain the kids by making a personal appearance as Iron Man. Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 5/6. This issue is the very definition of “average” so that’s the score it gets. It gets a slightly above average importance score for the proto-Dr. Strange villain.
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Post by Rob Allen on Sept 18, 2015 13:11:35 GMT -5
When Steve Ditko came in with a story for a proposed backup feature in Strange Tales, he named the hero "Mr. Strange". Stan thought that was too similar to Mr. Fantastic, so he changed it to "Dr. Strange". Sometime after that, Stan remembered (or someone reminded him about) the villain in this story. Carlo Strange was that forgettable. I don't think he ever appeared again.
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 18, 2015 13:19:37 GMT -5
Carlo Strange was that forgettable. I don't think he ever appeared again. Iron Man: The Iron Age #1 (1998). Nobody ever disappears forever at Marvel...
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Post by The Cheat on Sept 18, 2015 17:06:33 GMT -5
Nobody ever disappears forever at Marvel... Not while Kurt Busiek's around anyway
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Post by tingramretro on Sept 19, 2015 1:10:22 GMT -5
Nobody ever disappears forever at Marvel... Not while Kurt Busiek's around anyway And God (and Humus Sapien) bless him for it.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Oct 7, 2015 20:48:31 GMT -5
Tales to Astonish #43 Story Title: “The Mad Master of Time!” Cover Date: May, 1963 CoverScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Sol Brodsky Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek CreditsScript: Stan Lee (plot); Larry Lieber (script) Pencils: Don Heck Inks: Don Heck Colors: Unknown Letters: Ray Holloway Synopsis: A scientist forced to retire makes a device to artificially age others and holds the city hostage. Ant-Man can't stop him, but when he accidentally ages his own grandson he repents and reverses the damage. Character Appearances: Ant-Man [Henry Pym]; Time-Master [Elias Weems] (introduction, origin); Tommy Weems Comments: While the tale was a bit silly (as most early Ant-Man stories are) I couldn’t help liking it. The story was more profound than it intended, touching on age discrimination and the effects it has on society. Now that we have laws against this sort of thing, we’ll probably never see another distraught geriatric go on a rampage in the Marvel Universe because of age discrimination, but I can more than accept that loss when taking into account the societal gains. Character Development: Pym remains fairly stagnant as a character. Thankfully, this will start to change in a big way with the historically important introduction of a new character in the next issue… Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 6/4. I give this story an above average score for its touching, non-one-dimensional angle. Nothing historically significant is introduced (no major villains for instance) so it gets a below average historical score.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Oct 7, 2015 20:55:12 GMT -5
Sorry for the long gap between reviews. Pesky life and distractions. (By distractions I'm mainly talking about the fact that I finally started playing Skyrim a month ago...what I feared happened...)
We're slowly getting to the really good stuff, so my enthusiasm is picking up. Regardless, this is a project that, no matter the distractions, I'm eager to see to the end.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Dec 3, 2015 12:32:16 GMT -5
Well, that was one hell of a hiatus. I had some life issues come up as they are wont to do. I plan on getting back into my review thread soon. I've only read the next month's worth of issues, thankfully.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Dec 6, 2015 0:31:15 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #15Story Title: “The Fantastic Four Battle the Mad Thinker and His Awesome Android” Cover Date: June, 1963 CreditsScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek Cover Art: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers Synopsis: The Mad Thinker has summoned gang leaders to try to become the king of New-York. To achieve his goal, he must defeat the Fantastic Four. So he makes sure they are all offered interesting opportunities. While they disband, the Thinker uses the Baxter Building to build his Awesome Android. Character Appearances: The Fantastic Four [Mr. Fantastic [Reed Richards]; the Invisible Girl [Sue Storm]; the Thing [Ben Grimm]; the Human Torch [Johnny Storm]]; the Mad Thinker (introduction); the Thinker's Awesome Android (origin); Alicia Masters; Cousin Bones (introduction); Fatal Finnegan (introduction); Willie Lumpkin; Peggy; Shorty Comments: The Mad Thinker is an interesting villain, though his use of calculations and the manipulation of tiny events to bring about desired results is a bit hard to swallow. A lot of his “calculations” seem more like precognition to me. How exactly do his computers track and monitor all of the various routines of everything from hot dog vendor’s to escaped organ grinder monkey’s? Still, I like the fact that he basically won the first part of his fight with the FF by orchestrating to have them each leave their headquarters to take up new professions. The one aspect of this that I had a hard time buying was Reed slumming it by working for an Electronics firm. Why would he need to do this or want to do this? It’s already been established that he funds the FF through patents on his inventions. Sue being enamored with being an actress and the Thing having fun as a wrestler makes sense, as does the Torch’s desire to help out a relative by performing in his circus. The issue makes it seem like all this occurred over the course of a few days, if that, though you’d think it would take longer for them to progress in their new careers as the comic showed. Hey, gotta love that old-school compression! The Thinker manages to get inside the FF’s headquarters after a meteor crash’s in the Hudson river and causes a power outage. It’s amusing to me that in the 60’s, taking into account how Stan and Jack have Reed inventing simple life forms and starships, that they never thought of having him build a generator for the FF’s headquarters just in case of a power outage. The juxtaposition of high-tech devices and super-science with the common concerns and limitations of early 60’s real-world technology is still a bit of a problem for Stan and Jack to reconcile at this point. Character Development: We get to see Sue taking a bit of me time to get her hair done and rushing out with curlers in her hair when Reed fires the FF flair. This scene, with stereotypical effete French hairstylist ta boot, is still about the most complex example of Sue’s characterization that we get at this point. That said, Stan and Jack make it a point to show that Sue is a useful member of the group by having her be the one to ultimately defeat The Awesome Android by pressing his deactivation switch. Even more impressively, she’s the one that comes up with the way to dispel the vertigo gas that the Thinker uses against them by suggesting that they use Reed’s pliable body as a makeshift fan. We also get another funny Thing vs The Yancy Street Gang scene. Some modern readers might find these scenes quaint, but they never fail to make me smile. The idea of a pack of young smart-asses that always succeed and pissing the Thing off by playing pranks on him is the kind of thing that made Marvel so much fun. Case in point: Personal Rating: 7. A bit of a wacky issue, but I enjoyed it overall. It’s a stretch to make gangsters and interesting foil on any level for the FF, but the introduction of the Thinker and his Awesome Android more than made up for this. Historical Rating: 8. The Thinker, and his Android, will become classic additions to the FF’s ever growing rogue’s gallery.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Dec 10, 2015 3:25:39 GMT -5
Journey Into Mystery #93
Story Title: “Radio-Active Man!” Cover Date: June, 1963 CreditsScript: Stan Lee (plot); R. Berns (script) Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek (cover); Ray Holloway (interiors) Cover Art: Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers Synopsis: While on a medical mission to India, Dr. Blake becomes Thor to repel a Chinese attack. In order to fight Thor, a Chinese scientist irradiates himself to gain great power. He fights Thor in New York, and nearly defeats him, but Thor blows him back to China, creating a nuclear explosion. Character Appearances: Thor [Doctor Donald Blake]; the Radio-Active Man [Chen Lu] (introduction, origin); Jane Foster; General Fu (introduction); Chairman Mao Zedong (cameo) Comments: The introduction of Radioactive Man is clearly the saving grace of yet another Evil Commie’s vs universal goodness plot. Obviously it was in vogue to paint communism as one-dimensionally evil during this period, but it’s still jarring. It’s not surprising that these feelings were held by the creators, it’s the frequency that this plot device was used that’s surprising. It’s almost as if they were covering their backsides just in case a composite Wertham/McCarthy appeared to terrorize the comics industry. It’s interesting to see how in demand Don Blake was as a surgeon in these early issues; how many other NYC doctors with private practices in the early 60’s got to lead medical expeditions to exotic foreign lands with such frequency? Not many, I’d wager. The initial encounter between the Radioactive Man and Thor was interesting, seeing as how RM’s force fields repelled Thor’s hammer and Thor seemed to be unable to harm him. How Radioactive Man hypnotizes Thor is anyone’s guess and seems to have been inserted to set up the dramatic ending where Blake has to recover Thor’s hammer (He finds it by looking at one of those omnipresent view screens that all scientists seem to have in the comics. He’s able to see it clearly at the bottom of the Hudson!). All this made the ridiculously rushed ending, where Thor creates a tornado, sending him back to China to explode dramatically, all the more underwhelming. I think they were doing the best they could given the limited space, but it’s abundantly clear that Thor’s stories require a full, book-length, commitment to work. The Kirby/Ayers team did a great job this issue. I enjoyed the action scenes at the beginning, particularly seeing Thor catch a missile with one hand and hurling several chained tanks through the air. I’m still going to blame Bern’s for the overall mediocrity, though. The upcoming Lee/Kirby issues are just too good not to. Character Development: Still no developments with the Blake/Foster romance or their individual personalities. Personal Rating: 5. This is a very average issue with the only point of interest being the introduction of fairly important new villain. Historical Rating: 7. The Radioactive Man would go on to be an important part of Thor’s, and the Avenger’s, ever growing rogues gallery.
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 10, 2015 9:13:48 GMT -5
That issue has a bit of a "torn from the headlines" vibe, as there were in fact numerous border incidents between China and India at the time.
Cei-U! I summon the historical context!
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Post by Nowhere Man on Dec 10, 2015 9:43:03 GMT -5
I was thinking that that was probably the case. I wonder if this issue is removed from the Chinese version of this particular volume of Thor's Marvel Masterworks?
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