Journey Into Mystery #89

Cover Date: February 1963

Plot Overview: Thug Thatcher escapes from the police after being arrested for selling faulty steel. During his escape, he is shot in the shoulder. Thatcher's henchmen abduct Don Blake to fix him up. Blake plays along and removes the bullet from Thatcher. With the help of Odin, he becomes Thor and makes short work of Thatcher's men.

Thatcher escapes and uses Jane Foster as a hostage until Thor can rescue her. Thatcher again escapes to a construction site where a faulty girder causes Thatcher to be captured.


My Take: This issue was not very good. The story was coherent but the art was just brutal in spots. It feels like Kirby drew a few panels and then handed it over to someone else for the rest of the issue. The panel with Odin in it is just brutal and looks like a 7 year old drew it. This is where you can see how Lee and Kirby doing everything has an adverse effect on the product. The story didn't feel well thought out and the art was really uneven.

And again we come to Thor's villains. I really hate Thor fighting mobsters and Communists. It's a bad match for the kind of hero he is. You end up with these contrived situations to keep Thor from just running over these guys like he should. That's why he needs super villains. Loki isn't a match for Thor physically but Loki can outsmart Thor in most situations. That's better than the constant hostage taking that puts Thor on the shelf briefly.

Also this issue is the second time where Blake has changed to Thor in front of people and none of the bad guys have really caught on that maybe Blake and Thor are the same guy. Thatcher noticed a bond between the two but that's as close as it's come.

Anyways, I really disliked this issue. The story wasn't interesting or fun. The art was average to bad. We're also like 7 issues into this series and the character development just isn't happening. I'm not really enjoying the Thor book too much at this point.

I'll give this * out of *****

Notes: There was nothing of note for this issue.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #105

Tales to Astonish #40

Cover Date: February 1963

Plot Overview: The Ant-Man is called in by a man named Howard Mitchell. Someone has been hijacking his armored truck shipments of money and he wants it to stop. Ant-Man tells him to announce another shipment. Ant-Man will go along with the shipment and catch the hijacker.

The day arrives but Ant-Man suddenly becomes ill. He leaves the scene to find a doctor so the truck goes on without him. They come across a broken down truck along their path when suddenly a giant magnet pulls them into the truck. Gas knocks them out and a man called the Hijacker appears.

Just then Ant-Man pops out and reveals he was faking the sickness. The Hijacker chases Ant-Man into the engine of the truck. Ant-Man manages to pull the mask off of the Hijacker and he falls victim to his own gas. The police arrive to find that Howard Mitchell is the Hijacker. He reveals that his company was losing money and that he came up with this scam to make it back. The issue ends with the police saying that even when the Ant-Man fails he still wins.

My Take: This was a pretty ridiculous issue and further showed why Ant-Man doesn't work by himself. The battle with the bad guy just felt contrived and I didn't realize the gas was still in play when Ant-Man pulled his mask off. I just did not care for this issue at all. The Hijacker as the name was silly. It wasn't original and reeked of one shot.

The art was really good for this issue though. That was the one redeeming quality to the whole thing. It was top notch for what I've seen in these issues so far. The amount of detail to the characters was really good. Kirby did a really great job on this issue.

I'd give this issue *1/2 out of *****

Notes: There was nothing of note with this issue.

Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #89

Fantastic Four #11

Cover Date: February 1963

Plot Overview: The Impossible Man from Poppup arrives on Earth. He asks a bunch of homeless guys if he can share their food and they inform him that he needs money. They also tell him that he needs to go to a bank. So the Impossible Man heads to a bank and helps himself to all the money he wants. The police try to stop him but he can change to whatever he wants. The police inform the Fantastic Four of the alien.

The FF arrive on the scene and find the Impossible Man is enjoying a meal. He explains that the people of Poppup can instantly evolve into whatever they want. He's come to Earth for a vacation because he grew bored with Poppup. The Thing has enough of talking and tries to strike the Impossible Man but gets a bunch of thorns in his fist. The FF attack but the Impossible Man easily evades them and heads out to the streets.

It dawns on the Impossible Man that he can do whatever he wants because he's the strongest creature on this planet. He proceeds to steal a cab. The FF manage to stop the car as the military arrives. The Impossible Man turns into a bomb and Reed tosses him into the atmosphere. Impossible Man explodes and flies back down to Earth. The Torch uses his flames to create a hypnotic pattern and causes the Impossible Man to crash to the Earth. The FF check on him and the Impossible Man is delighted to know that they really care about him. He plans to stay on the Earth forever.

Reed comes up with a final plan. He convinces everyone to just ignore the Impossible Man. Citizens are confused but listen and ignore various antics from the Impossible Man. He finally grows bored and leaves Earth looking for a new planet of fun.

The second story of the issue features the Fantastic Four answering fan mail. They recap Ben and Reed going through college and WWII together. They also recap the FF origin and the many contributions that Sue has made to the team. This story ends with a surprise party for Sue. The editors note explains that this story was a visual way for them to answer several fan questions.

My Take: This was much better than the last issue. The Impossible Man story was a typical heroes overcoming a trickster villain. It was a solid effort to the story. The second story was okay for what it was. It was a different take on addressing the fans but I would've rather just had a longer story with the Impossible Man or a second story with some action.

There were some nice bits of continuity in here though. Sue and Reed have a brief moment over Namor. Sue is unsure of who she's really in love with. They've brought that up numerous times over the first 11 issues and it's nice to see a character arc in this era of comics. Reading DC Comics around this time is like getting a giant reset button every issue.

The art was pretty good as always.

This issue was solid. My only real complaint with it was the second story just felt like filler and a waste. It did feature some character development. I'm just being picky I think. A much better effort than the last issue though. Issue 12 features the Hulk!

I'd give this *** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Impossible Man and Willie Lumpkin. The Impossible Man will be a villain for the Fantastic Four into the modern day. He'll bother a variety of other heroes throughout the decades to. He's not a major villain or anything though. He's strictly a C lister that provides some fun issues here and there. I always look forward to and enjoy the Impossible Man showing up in a comic. Willie Lumpkin is the mailman for the Fantastic Four. He'll make appearances here and there over the years as a supporting character.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #40

Strange Tales #104

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Johnny Storm is at the bank when Paste-Pot Pete enters the scene to rob the bank. Storm can't turn into the Human Torch because it will expose his secret identity. Pete makes his escape and Storm uses his flames to have a fake Human Torch chase him. Pete escapes on a motorcycle until Storm can finally become the Human Torch.

Pete arrives on a military base and uses his paste to subdue the guards. He steals a top secret missile and plots to sell it to the highest bidding nation. The Human Torch arrives and makes several failed attempts at stopping Pete's truck and the stolen missile. Storm flames expire and Pete glues him to a missile. The missile accidently fires with Storm still attached. Storm regains his flames and manages to escape the missile.

The Torch melts the truck around Pete and ruins his tank with his flames. Pete has one last shot and uses it to grab on to a plane. The Torch runs to the radio tower and warns the plane that Pete has attached himself to the wing. Pete bails out as the plane turns around.

Pete climbs aboard a getaway boat and escapes into the fog. The government thanks the Human Torch for his help and he wonders if Pete will return as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: Paste-Pot Pete as presented in this issue is completely ridiculous. He is the worst excesses of Silver Age super villain creation. I would actually have expected him to show up in a DC book the way he's presented. He comes across like a Batman villain from that era.

The art was really poor in this issue. It felt really rushed and there were no real backgrounds to speak of. Considering the art in some of the other issues from this month it was easily the worst issue to come out.

The story was typical for an anthology title. Quick paced and a lot of action. It works even if Pete is really lame as a villain. The Human Torch is actually working really well as a solo character. I have to admit that I'm surprised by that. I always thought that he needed the other members of the Fantastic Four to play off of to be interesting. I do hope that the Thing starts to show up a little more in this title though. I like the way the two interact with each other.

Back to the story. It was very typical of the early 60s. Bad guy wants to sell top secret military plans to the Communists and the hero foils him. I don't think Paste-Pot Pete was right for this story in that regard though. It was a little ridiculous seeing a guy break into a military base using only glue. They did sort of reference how ridiculous it seemed in the issue but it was still pretty ridiculous to me. Even with Pete's flaws it was still a fairly fun little read and I only rolled my eyes a handful of times.

I'd give this ** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of Paste-Pot Pete. He'll eventually assume the identity of the Trapster and become an iconic C list super villain. Okay, I might be exaggerating there slightly. For me, the Trapster is the poster child for your C or D list Marvel villain. His primary targets as a villain are the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. He'll have a stint in the Frightful Four and the Sinister Six. He's also appeared on several of the Marvel cartoons.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #11

Incredible Hulk #5

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: The first story starts with Thunderbolt Ross showing footage of the Hulk to Bruce Banner and Rick Jones. It's up to Banner to rid the world of the Hulk menace. Betty secretly pines for Bruce after he leaves. The scene shifts to the underworld where Tryannus is plotting his revenge on the surface world. He was banished by Merlin but has stayed alive by using the Fountain of Youth that Ponce De Leon was searching for. He's also using the technology of an underground race of creatures that he's enslaved.

Bruce and Rick return to the Ross house to find that Betty is with Tyrannus. Tyrannus is claiming to be an archaeologist and has asked Betty to show him some nearby caves. Betty hopes this will make Bruce jealous. Tyrannus eventually takes Betty hostage and Bruce returns as the Hulk.

Tyrannus uses gas to capture the Hulk and Rick. Tyrannus then has the Hulk fight a giant robot in a gladiator style fight. Bruce loses control and goes on a rampage. He destroys the robot and goes after Tyrannus. Tyrannus uses Betty to delay the Hulk and then stuns him with a ray gun. Tyrannus makes the Hulk do many tasks in his service but grows bored with it. He decides to have the Hulk killed. Just then, Rick manages to rescue Betty and together they free the Hulk. The Hulk smashes the main pillars to Tyrannus's kingdom just like Sampson and Tyrannus is trapped in the underworld. The story ends with the Hulk thinking that humans should be scared of him.

The second story starts off with Thunderbolt Ross using a special missile to freeze the Hulk. The Hulk's body heat quickly melts the ice and he escapes. The Hulk becomes Banner again and he realizes that it's becoming harder to become Banner again. The scene shifts to Asia where General Fang is conquering many towns.

The news reaches Banner and Rick and Banner decides to intervene as the Hulk. They arrive after some issues on a plane and the Hulk disguises himself as the Abominable Snowman to scare the soldiers. He reeks havoc on the army of General Fang and news returns to Fang. He uses the 3D image of a dragon to lure Hulk into a cage. With the Hulk captured Fang decides to move on to the next town. Rick releases the Hulk from the prison and the Hulk makes short work of Fang's army. Fang tries to flee but the Hulk easily captures him. The Hulk drops Fang in enemy territory and then heads back to America. The Hulk mentions that he has no intention of going anywhere.

My Take: This is the first issue in awhile where they didn't try to shake things up and I think this issue was better for it. I like how Banner is slowly losing control of the Hulk in that form. It makes sense and you wonder every time he changes if this is the time where the Hulk takes over. The art has also gotten really good. The Hulk really stands out among the other characters for Marvel right now. Mostly because he's green but the art just feels different for this book.

I really liked the first story. It was a quick read and I thought Tyrannus was your typical Silver Age super villain. He had a fairly original history and he was a good foil for the Hulk. The second story I wasn't as fond of. They've gone the hero taking out a Communist army 3 or 4 times already and I get bored by it everytime. I would rather the hero struggle more like he did in the first story. I don't like the stories where they just roll over regular human beings as much.

As I mentioned earlier, the book seems to have a defined direction and it really helped the stories. It seemed like up until this point that I was getting a different direction every issue. It was really dragging down the quality of the stories.

I'm not a big Hulk fan. I've read some issues here and there but I've never really gone out of my way to read Hulk titles. With that said, the Hulk has the most well defined and developed cast of supporting characters and it's really made the book more enjoyable. He has a lot of regular people to play off of and I think that's really developed Bruce Banner as a character compared to Donald Blake or Henry Pym. I'll be kind of sad to see the book go after issue #6.

I'd give this **3/4 out of *****

Notes: This issue is the first appearance of Tryannus. He'll pop up here and there over the years to bother the Hulk or the Avengers. He never becomes a major villain or anything though. This is the second to last issue of the Hulk. The series is going to be cancelled with issue #6 in March.

Next Issue: Strange Tales #104

Journey Into Mystery #88

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Loki wanders Asgard planning his revenge on Thor. Loki spies on Thor from afar and learns his secret identity of Don Blake. Loki sneaks to Earth and puts Jane Foster under a spell and then challenges Thor to a battle. They meet in Center Park to do battle. Thor throws his Hammer and just then Jane Foster arrives. Loki turns a tree into a tiger and Thor is forced to battle the tiger instead of grabbing the Hammer.

Loki puts a force field around the Hammer and Thor reverts back to Don Blake. Loki declares his victory and then wanders the world playing various pranks. He turns people blank and also turns a city into candy. Meanwhile, Don Blake devises a plan to get his Hammer back.

The newspapers declare that Thor vows to defeat Loki so Loki goes to check up on the Hammer. When he arrives, Thor is waiting for him. Loki drops the barrier and suddenly Blake grabs the Hammer. He reveals that it was just a dummy that he was hiding behind. Blake becomes Thor and Loki turns into a pigeon to try and escape. Thor grabs a bags of peanuts because if there's one thing pigeons love it's peanuts! Loki reveals himself and Thor captures him. Thor returns Loki to Asgard and Odin hopes that Loki never surpasses Thor in power as the issue ends.

My Take: This was a quick little read. I thought the overall concept was better than Loki's original appearance. You got to see him as more of a trickster and I feel like he outsmarted Thor in a more plausible way this time. The sad part is, I think Loki is now a more developed character than Thor is. Thor to me is still a bland one dimensional character.

I really liked the art to this issue. It seemed really colorful compared to some of the other books around it. There also seemed to be a ton of detail added to the backgrounds. Asgard is really a nice addition art wise as it's an excuse to add as much color as possible to the book. Asgard also really sets this book apart from the other Marvel titles.

I have to complain again though, the splash page is a real waste. This was a 13 page story and yet again an entire page was wasted on a splash teaser for the other 12 pages. I really wish they would make that page part of the story or just start with a standard page. I want more story.

I did enjoy this story a lot. I've said it a lot lately but it remains true. This wasn't an all-time classic or a game changer in anyway. It was just a fun little read that filled 10 minutes of my life. I enjoyed it for the fun little adventure that it was. Stan Lee really seems to be getting the pacing down for this shorter anthology stories at this point.

Overall I'd give this **1/2 out of *****

Notes: There wasn't anything too notable in this issue.

Next Issue: Incredible Hulk #5

Tales to Astonish #39

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Henry Pym decides to investigate strange signals he's been receiving from the ants. He heads into the sewers and finds a large gathering of bugs. The Scarlet Beetle is making a speech about how bugs should conquer mankind. He's been effected by radiation and given human intelligence. Pym intervenes but is defeated by the sheer number of bugs. The Scarlet Beetle takes his enlarging gas and becomes the size of a human.

The Scarlet Beetle uses his army of bugs to reek havoc on the population of the city. Meanwhile the ants rescue Pym. Pym heads to the surface and uses his ants to defeat the bug army of the Scarlet Beetle. Pym and the Beetle face off and end up in a toy store. Pym used a toy lance to break the gas canisters on the Beetle and he returns to normal size. Pym then uses his scientific knowledge to rob the Beetle of his human intelligence. The issue ends with regular people wondering where Ant-Man was when they needed him.

My Take: I would say this issue was delightfully ridiculous. The Scarlet Beetle was a great villain for a one shot. His plot was great and the scenes really worked for some reason. The police being unable to use their guns due to a bee attack was great. This is the first issue where I felt that Ant-Man kind of worked as a solo concept. It felt like the Scarlet Beetle was a suitable villain for him. The situations presented were also unique to Ant-Man.

The art to this issue was pretty solid. The story was also a really quick read. This was a very nice issue to cleanse the palette after how awful Fantastic Four #10 was. Nothing in this issue was ground breaking but then who needed it? Sometimes a short little romp with no consequences can be fun especially in this anthology titles.

I'd give this *** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Scarlet Beetle. I'm pretty sure he never appears again.

Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #88

Fantastic Four #10

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby make their Marvel Universe debut here. They're working on a story for the Fantastic Four when Dr. Doom makes his return. He forces them to call Reed Richards so that he can ambush him. Reed arrives and Doom successfully captures him.

Doom explains to Reed that after their last encounter he encountered a superior race of aliens. Doom shows off his newest trick and switches bodies with Reed. The rest of the FF arrive and Doom as Reed has the FF capture Reed as Doom. The Torch and Thing offer some ideas but Doom has the best idea. They put Reed in this tube prison. After the FF leave, Doom reveals that Reed will run out of oxygen in about an hour.

Back at the Baxter Building the other members of the FF discover zoo animals that have been shrunk to a tiny size. They confront Doom Reed about if he's the one that stole them from the zoo. Doom Reed explains that he wants to shrink the FF to increase their powers. The FF are excited by this idea and Doom Reed reveals that he's going to shrink them into nothingness.

Reed Doom manages to escape and arrives at the apartment of Alicia Masters. Sue also happens to be there and KOs Reed Doom. Alicia senses an inner good in Doom. The Torch and Thing arrive. Reed Doom pleads with them and Thing hesitates. They decide to take him back to Doom Reed. During the encounter the Torch and Thing sense something off about Doom Reed.

The Torch creates a mirage and Doom Reed reveals himself. He loses his mental control and they switch back to their real bodies. Doom tries to fight them off but wanders into the reducing ray. Doom shrinks into nothing. Reed finds it to be a fitting end as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: Boy, this issue was a real mess. Dr. Doom spent a whole page explaining this ridiculous idea to the other members of the Fantastic Four. And honestly, who would believe that? This is a case where the characters were dumbed down in order for the villain to get one over on them. Dr. Doom's idea wouldn't even make sense to a lay person as he said at the time. And you would think he could've just said they had to shrink down to go do something for the U.S. government or something like that.

I just didn't like this issue at all. It was too complicated, the logic gaps were hard to overlook and it just came off poorly. It was also a fairly boring issue as it felt like people sat around talking for the entire issue.

I can't really think of anything about this issue that I enjoyed. It took me forever to read because I kept getting bored with it. This was easily the least enjoyable issue I've read thus far during this project. On the bright side of things, the Impossible Man makes his first appearance in Fantastic Four #11. He's one of my favorite villains.

A quick side note to all of this, they really need to get some new villains in there. I think Dr. Doom and Namor combined have appeared in 5 out of the 10 issues so far. I know that they're the main bad guys but I get tired of seeing the same antagonists over and over again. Hopefully starting with issue #11 that starts to improve.

I'd give this 3/4* out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in a Marvel comic.

Next Issue: Tales To Astonish #39