AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #10

“The Enforcers!”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
Letters: Sam Rosen

IN A NUTSHELL
When the city is terrorized by the Big Man and the Enforcers, Spider-Man springs into action. Betty Brant is threatened by the Enforcers, but refuses to tell Peter why. Peter spreads the word that he knows the Big Man’s secret identity, with the intended outcome that he is hauled in by the criminals. As Spidey, he fights the Enforcers, but the Big Man gets away. Despite Peter’s suspicions that J. Jonah Jameson is the Big Man, the villain is revealed to be a lowly newspaper columnist. Peter still does not understand what’s going on with Betty.

WHAT’S HOT
ADJECTIVES. This month, Marvel begins the grand tradition of qualifying the creators’ names with colorful adjectives. Here, “Smiling Stan Lee, Swinging Steve Ditko & Sparkling Sam Rosen” provide the latest and greatest stupendous episode of Spider-Man. And so the fun begins!

PALS? Flash tries to warn Peter to be careful around the Enforcers, and Peter suspects he’s “really got a heart somewhere under that thick skin!” Do I sense a bro-mance brewing?

TEAMWORK. When Spider-Man gives the “spider signal,” the police take it seriously. It’s good to know that where it most counts, Jameson’s character assassination of Spider-Man is falling on deaf ears. Also, it’s noted in this issue that there are “countless examples of brilliant police work.” At last!

SPUNK. I love it when Spidey is lassoed by the Enforcers and delivered to the Big Man and says, basically, “Oh, good! Now that I’ve got you all together…” with no concern that he’s been brought there against his will. He’s the poster child for Eternal Optimism.

LEFTOVERS. Spidey constructs a giant spider dummy from “leftover webbing.” How much of this stuff can he hide up his sleeves?

WHAT’S NOT
HYPERBOLE. I’ve recently finished my Awards for 1961-1963, but I have to remember this Author’s Boast for next year’s awards: “We feel it only fair to warn you…once you have savored the thrills and surprises which only SPIDER-MAN can provide…you may find it difficult to ever again be satisfied by lesser magazines!” Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough, immediately after: “With this classic tale, the Marvel Age of comics reaches a NEW PLATEAU OF GREATNESS!!” However, the Big Man and his gang are just a bunch of thugs with no real superpowers. Having a hard time reconciling this with “the new plateau of greatness!!”

PROMISES, PROMISES… The cover also promises us that we will learn why Jameson really hates Spider-Man. I eagerly looked forward to this revelation, but ended up disappointed. Jameson sits in an office dreaming up ways to make money, cheat his employees and deceive the public. Anyone smart enough to rise to his level of power knows that even the most obscure superhero has more integrity than he does. I already assume Jameson considers himself inferior, in comparison with Spider-Man. What I want to know is WHY? What drives him? And can he change?

DOUBLE STANDARD? After Peter gives blood, the doctor advises him to “take it easy for a few days.” However, immediately after her mysterious operation, Aunt May leaves the hospital and goes gallivanting on a trip to Florida! Huh?? Well, wait! Maybe there’s a good explanation…

WHAT IF… when Aunt May got a transfusion of Peter’s spider-enhanced blood, she was instilled with superpowers and became…Spider-Aunt? That would be cool! No?

THE SECRET IS SUPREME. Peter could turn into Spider-Man and take care of business but he defers, not wanting to reveal his secret identity. It makes for good drama, but sometimes I wonder if these secretive superheroes need to get their priorities straight. When somebody gets killed due to their insistence upon secrecy, I wonder which incarnation they’ll use to attend the funeral.

THE SECRET…IS A DUD. When all is said and done, turns out Jameson is not the Big Man–no, it’s weasly little columnist, Frederick Foswell. Who is found out and carted off to jail. A nice job is done in building up suspicion that Jameson may be the tall guy in the strange mask. The Big Man may not be the greatest super-villain ever, but with his odd looks and command of the crime syndicate, Marvel could get more mpg’s out of him by letting the mystery linger, at least for another few issues.

STRANGE TALES #118

“The Man Who Became the Torch!”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Dick Ayers
Letters: Sam Rosen

IN A NUTSHELL
The wizard breaks out of prison, disguises himself as Torch, and kidnaps both the real Torch, and sister Sue. Now he is free to perfect his anti-gravity device! Held captive within a giant billboard advertisement high above the streets of NYC, Torch finagles a way to give the fiery “4” signal, bringing Reed and Thing to the rescue. Torch faces off against the Wizard, who escapes by turning up his anti-gravity device full throttle. But it gets stuck, and the Wizard floats off into the upper atmosphere…never to be heard from again?

WHAT’S HOT
WEASEL WORD. When the Wizard dons his Torch disguise, he brags that he can now imitate almost anything the real Torch can do. I’ve read enough weasel words in Marvel comics to know when a door is being left open.

ART. Nice job how the real Johnny looks so handsome but the fake Johnny looks maniacal.

HERO BOAST. “My near-nova flame can melt anything…except a chick’s cold heart!” How bold! And yet so sad…

SCIENCE. A device that completely nullifies gravity could end up being extremely useful in the Marvel Universe. Of course…

WHAT’S NOT
SCIENCE. In the wrong hands, a device that completely nullifies gravity can be absolutely terrifying! Not to worry, though. The Wizard had this device in his hands, and where is he now? Somewhere beyond the atmosphere…

QUESTIONABLE READING MATERIAL. The prison library has books about the art of disguise? Is this really the best way to stock a prison library? Where is this volume shelved? Midway between The Alchemist’s Guide to Better Bomb Building and Safe-Cracking for Dummies?

DISGUISE. To escape prison, the Wizard covers his beard with melted crayons. Yuck. Why not just shave?

VILLAIN BOAST. “How easy this is for a man of my genius!” Yes, the Wizard actually says this. Of course, this comes from a man who would rather smear melted crayons over his face than shave, so I question his “genius.”

POWER. “And power! Undreamed-of power! Supreme power!” Hey! Do you think the Wizard wants to be powerful?

“LI’L.” Johnny calls his buddies “Li’l friends.” Unless you’re Abner, or a pint-sized toddler in a tiara, nobody likes to be called “Li’l.” Least of all, teenage boys.

CAPTAIN KANGAROO. Johnny dreams of being “the Captain Kangaroo of the teenage set!” I’m not even sure what this means, but it’s a disturbing image…

PUSHY EDITOR. Usually, an editor’s note appears in a caption at the top or the bottom of a panel. But here, the editor reminds us of Torch’s last encounter with the Wizard right in the middle of the Wizard’s word balloon. I’m tellin’ ya! These villains, they don’t get no respect!

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Shouldn’t Johnny have figured out that when something arrives in the mail that seems to be too good to be true, it probably is? Has he learned nothing from the Fantastic Four’s last run-in with Mole Man?

“The Possessed!”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Steve Ditko
Letters: Sam Rosen

IN A NUTSHELL
Testing their ability to control humans, creatures from another dimension possess Bavarian villagers. Strange engages in a staring contest with the chief invader, breaking the spell and sending the aliens back to their own dimension.

WHAT’S HOT
LANGUAGE. In the credits, the creators of this story describe themselves as “Magical…mystical…mysterious.” Inside, we are treated to adjectives like bewitched, ethereal, shadowy, supernatural. When “A voice which is not quite a voice” issues a strange command, I’m thinking… this sounds more like poetry than comic books! Yet, even creatures from a distant dimension choose to express derision with the ever-popular “Bah!”

THE WORLD’S END. Recently saw the sci-fi comedy The World’s End, and find startling similarities. Well, except for the Brits on a quest to get completely sloshed. But both have beings from another dimension, possessed townspeople, a wise old-timer, and a conquering hero. Strange’s staring contest, ending with the alien exclaiming “No more! I can bear no more!” could easily be compared to the climactic scene in The World’s End. (WARNING: Spoilers at the link AND NSFW!)

WHAT’S NOT
LANGUAGE. On the cover, the Doctor Strange story is called simply “The Possessed,” but on the splash, this is expanded to “Dr. Strange Dares to Probe the Uncanny Secret of…the Possessed!” Kind of a long title for an eight page story. But it does make nice use of another one of those Doctor Strange-type adjectives…uncanny…

FANTASTIC FOUR #24

“The Infant Terrible!”
Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: George Bell
Letters: Sam Rosen

New York City is visited by an alien whose behavior is so strange, Reed deduces it is merely a child. Thugs who apprehend and manipulate the child alien to steal an armored truck soon discover the infant terrible doesn’t share their worldly values; he turns cash into pigs, diamonds into bird eggs. Frustrated by the humans, the alien lashes out, capturing Thing, Torch and Invisible Girl in an impenetrable bubble. But Mr. Fantastic stays behind to contact the parents, who arrive in the nick of time, and take the child home.

IMAGINATION
This tale is a real exercise in literary fancy, envisioning how an immature child with a lot of power but no sense of right and wrong might wreak havoc on the earth. Giant soldiers, ice cream sodas and ships in a bottle–what kind of wacky stuff is going on here? On the splash, we’re informed that “This yarn breaks all the rules!” and while I don’t see an unparalleled degree of creativity, it certainly stretches the imagination. Bravo for concept!

SCIENCE, PART I
Reed not only deduces that the creature is an infant, but also that it is an alien from outer space. What if it had been from a civilization deep in the center of the earth? Or from an alternate time or dimension? But then, I guess it didn’t take too much brainpower to figure this one out: the creature is, after all, GREEN.

SCIENCE, PART II
Reed is “the master of science,” but doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that radio beams would take decades or centuries to travel into outer space. He’s counting on his message hitting its intended target before day’s end. Of course, Reed’s radio beams are ultra sonic, which sounds like the equivalent of “super-duper” radio beams. However “ultra sonic” is probably best translated as “VERY LOUD,” so maybe those alien parents HEARD his message rather that by picking it up on their transistor radio. I don’t know. Comic book physics are a little beyond me….

In addition, to make this work, we need to allow for a few more assumptions: 1) that the alien parents are already in the neighborhood, looking for their lost child, when they pick up Reed’s message, and 2) that they can travel faster than the speed of light, in order to reach earth in less than one day.

Oh, yes! One more thing. Reed’s message must have contained a photograph of the alien child. Either that, or the parents speak English as a second language.

PHILOSOPHY
Reed finishes by saying “I’ve always thought that evil and ignorance go hand in hand.” Sure, it’s another one of those heavy-handed smarty-pants moments from Reed Richards, but at least he tempers it with “I gambled it would be so.” So Mr. Smarty-Pants admits that even though he feels certain that evil and ignorance go hand in hand, you can’t always depend on it. Good thing his gamble paid off and these aliens happen to be the friendly kind!

TALES OF SUSPENSE #51

“The Sinister Scarecrow!”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Don Heck
Letters: Art Simek

IN A NUTSHELL
Circus contortionist the Uncanny Umberto disguises himself as the Scarecrow, and breaks into Tony Stark’s apartment to steals top secret plans. Extorting money from Stark, he escapes to Cuba with the suitcase of cash and the stolen plans. Iron Man tracks him down on a Cuban gunboat, which he sinks, along with the military servants of “the bearded one.” The scarecrow gets away.

In other news, Pepper sabotages Tony’s date with hot Veronica Vogue. Rather than scrap Broadway tickets, Tony suggests…Pepper and Happy attend together!

WHAT’S HOT
WHAT’S IN A NAME? It’s not enough to be “The Uncanny Umberto,” this guy also takes on the moniker “The Scarecrow”? What do you imagine his real name is? Jim Smith? (With sincerest apologies to any Jim Smiths out there…)

PUNCHLINE. Only recently, in the last half-dozen issues, have we seen Creator Qualifiers like “Marvelously Written by Stan Lee” and “Tenderly Drawn by Jack Kirby,” but I believe this is the first time we see the letterer being the punchline of the joke.

HAPPY PAL. Happy proves himself a true friend to Tony, willing to go after a costumed intruder, not once, but twice.

WHAT’S NOT
CROWS. Okay, I know it’s supposed to be cool that the Scarecrow has trained birds to help with his criminal mischief, but for me, these are entirely too reminiscent of the little animals that so readily assist Disney’s Cinderella.

EVEREADY? The Scarecrow gets away because Iron Man’s transistors are almost drained of power. I’m starting to sense that Iron Man’s battery life will be entirely dependent upon the needs of the plotline (sort of like the fluctuating lifespan capabilities of Torch’s flame).

“The Primitive!”
Script: Stan Lee
Plot & Art: Larry Lieber
Inks: George Bell
Letters: Sam Rosen

In the second story, Tales of the Watcher, we find ourselves in the 21st century, where one brother sells used “aero-cars” while the other searches for intelligent life in outer space. I don’t know which I find more incredible–the blatant anti-war message that human civilization peaks with the invention of a bomb that makes war “too horrible even to think of,” or the fact that by this time we should all be driving around in “areo-cars.”

X-MEN #4

“The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!”
Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Paul Reinman
Letters: Art Simek

IN A NUTSHELL
While Mastermind and Toad quarrel with Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver, Magneto takes control of a freight ship, which is then used to capture a small South American town. The X-Men travel to Santo Marco and attack Magneto and his team. Professor X is injured in a blast, no longer able to read minds. Magneto sets up an atomic bomb, but Quicksilver disagrees with his plan to blow up the entire nation, and disarms the bomb just before the evil mutants escape.

WHAT’S HOT
NOT SO EVIL. Magneto saved the Scarlet Witch from an angry mob, and now she feels she owes him something. Quicksilver stays with Magneto, only because he is loyal to his sister. Though both are “evil” mutants, they operate from noble sentiments, not always on board with Magneto’s tyrannical plans. I sense that Quicksilver’s disarming of the nuclear bomb is only the beginning of dissension in the ranks.

HANK. Beast is Hank McCoy, and Giant-Man is Hank Pym. Was Hank really such a popular name in the 60’s that TWO Marvel superheroes have this same name?

WHAT’S NOT
PRACTICE. I’ve only read a few of these X-Men stories so far, but it seems they always begin with a practice session in the Danger Room, where each X-Man gets to show off his powers. I know this helps to develop their personalities, and show their skills, and perhaps the comic-reading boys of the 1960’s liked this kind of thing, but I’m finding it a bit tiresome. Let’s get on with the story already!

GLUTTONY. Look at the size of that ice cream soda Bobby is sipping away at on the bottom of page 9! Is there any particular reason why he needs to overindulge to that extent? Wouldn’t “self-control” be a defining characteristic of a noble X-Man? Or, are we simply showing here that Bobby is a growing teenage boy with a bottomless pit of a stomach?

TALES TO ASTONISH #53

“Trapped By the Porcupine!”
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Dick Ayers
Letters: Sam Rosen

IN A NUTSHELL
The Porcupine causes Giant-Man to break his ankle. While Giant-Man recuperates, Porcupine infiltrates his fan club. When the club visits their hero, dressed as villains, Porcupine emits a powerful sleeping gas. Though he can’t capture Giant-Man, he takes Wasp prisoner. She escapes, unaware that Porcupine is tracking her to Pym’s home. Porcupine and Giant-Man fight, and the villain hopes to steal Giant-Man’s growth capsules, but mistakenly takes an overdose of shrinking capsules, reducing himself to the size of a microbe.

WHAT’S HOT
GOOD GUYS. Whenever Marvel wants to show their heroes in a philanthropic light, it’s a sure bet they’ll be entertaining orphans.

CONCERN. “In a paroxysm of white hot fury,” Giant-Man vows to find his little partner. Though Hank’s always been reluctant to voice his feelings to Jan directly, it’s obvious he secretly cares very much about her. In this story, it’s nice to hear him finally speak his heart, even though it is in a moment of emotional stress that he’ll probably try to explain away later. But Jan knows how he really feels…and so do we.

WHAT’S NOT
UNADVISABLE. Okay…a club where fans dress up as villains…perhaps not really such a good idea…

INSANITY. Porcupine thinks “a few days of solitude” will bring the Wasp “to the brink of madness.” What?? Wow…really? A few days of solitude is what I would call a retreat…a vacation.

CHEER. “Giant-Man! Giant-Man! Rah-Rah-Rah! Giant-Man! Giant-Man! Sis-Boom-Bah!” I’ll let that cheer speak for itself as to why it made its way on to my “Not Hot” list.

The Wonderful Wasp Tells a Tale
“When Wakes the Colossus!”
Plot: Stan Lee
Script & Pencils: Larry Lieber
Inks: Don Heck
Letters: Ray Holloway

IN A NUTSHELL
Evil warlord Mingo keeps his superstitious subjects in line by threatening that if they disobey, an oversized statue will come to life and kill them. When the people have had enough of Mingo’s tyranny, the statue does come to life–but it leaves the people alone and destroys Mingo’s palace.

WHAT’S HOT
HONESTY. The evil Mingo gloats, “Never has an oppressor been so safe from those whom he tyrannizes!” No points for being an oppressive tyrant, but you’ve got to admire his transparent honesty.

BEAUTY. Wasp pretties herself up for her community service work with “those handsome ex-G.I.’s.” She’s a little bit patriotic…and a little bit vain. Hmmmm…maybe more than a little bit vain. But then, if I were as pretty as the Wasp, I’d also be vain!

WHAT’S NOT
BUG-EYED. All the humanoids in this “alien world far out in space” (except for Mingo, who looks vaguely Asian) have really large, oddly-shaped eyes.

LIES. The moral of this story is: Mortals may be evil, but supernatural entities are not! Huh? Since when? Sure, the ex-G.I.’s will more than understand the “evil mortals” aspect, but what’s all this hooey about supernatural entities being nothing but goody-goody? I’ve seen enough movies and read enough comic books to know that that’s not always the case. I’m not buying it. Are the ex-G.I.’s likely to buy it? Or, perhaps their minds will be so clouded by Wasp’s beauty, they’ll believe anything she says!

THE REAL STORY
The real story here is not within Wasp’s tale, but in the way she tells it. It’s not about good and evil, it’s about men and women. Jan asks Hank if he’d like to hear her story, and he replies, “I know better than to try and stop you, kid!” So, we get the impression he doesn’t really want to hear the story, but then he says “Shoot!” And I don’t think he meant, “Shoot! Now I’ve got to listen to her stupid story.” It sounds more like, “Sure! Go ahead!”

But then, when she’s done, Jan discovers Hank hasn’t listened to a word she said! Jan gets mad, and Hank is baffled, scratching his head. The whole thing is played for laughs, but is really dealing with a very serious issue.

Hank doesn’t take Jan as seriously as he should. Is he still thinking of her as a child? Or does his 1964 self now consider her “a gal”? Which means, in his mind, he now only has to take her a little more seriously than a child.

Open Letter to Hank: Hey, Hank! Who’s been at your side, through thick and thin? Who’s willing to follow you to the ends of the earth? And while you stay home and play with your test tubes, who’s doing community service with war veterans? Don’t underestimate the Wasp! You’ve got a good thing going, and if you don’t wise up, one day you’re likely to wake up and find your little Wasp has wrapped another superhero around her little finger and is walking down the aisle to become Mrs. Thor!

I know that’s not going to happen, but I firmly believe that if Janet Van Dyne got the idea into her head, she could make Blake/Thor forget the drab Jane Foster with a mere blink of her pretty eyelashes. Of course, if that happened, Pym could easily ensnare the impressionable Jane Foster by popping a growth pill and going into his Giant-Man routine (I doubt Jane would be much impressed by Ant-Man…).

So there! All’s fair in love and war. But I don’t think anybody would really be happy with any of these developments.