Fantastic Four #12

Cover Date: March 1963 Plot Overview: The U.S. military mistakes the Thing for the Hulk and tries to capture him. A higher up calls off the attack and apologizes to the Thing. The Thing returns to the Baxter Building just in time for Thunderbolt Ross to arrive. Ross wants the Fantastic Four to...

Strange Tales #105

Cover Date: February 1963 Plot Overview: The Wizard becomes a model prisoner so that he can get access to the hospital wing. He uses several chemicals to eat a hole through his cell wall which allows him to escape. The Wizard challenges the Human Torch to a rematch. Johnny Storm sees the challenge...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

Strange Tales #103

Cover Date: December 1962 Plot Overview: Johnny Storm investigates a series of houses sinking into a swamp. The houses are being built here because swamp land is cheap. An old man continually warns the workers about swamp demons. The Torch returns at night and sees the old man and two aliens use...

Journey Into Mystery #87

Cover Date: December 1962 Plot Overview: Several American scientists have shocked the world by defecting to the Communist side of the world. Dr. Don Blake reads about this in the newspaper and devises a plan. He approaches the U.S. government and proposes that he pretend to do a special project...

Tales to Astonish #38

Cover Date: December 1962 Plot Overview: Several underworld types get together and complain that the Ant-Man has made the city unsafe for crime. They decide they need brains, not brawn to defeat the Ant-Man. As they chat the scene changes to a man named Egghead being fired by the government. They...

Fantastic Four #9

Cover Date: December 1962 Plot Overview: The Fantastic Four are bankrupt. Reed Richards invested a vast amount of their money into the stock market but the market crashed. Reed has decided to sell all of their equipment to pay off their creditors. They get into a big argument and the Thing briefly...

Strange Tales #102

Cover Date: November 1962 Plot Overview: The Wizard watches a newsreel of the Human Torch defeating the Destroyer from the previous issue. He decides that he's going to use his powers to defeat the Human Torch. He uses a machine and pretends to be captured and draws the Human Torch out to save him....

Incredible Hulk #4

Cover Date: November 1962 Plot Overview: Betty Ross details how she met Bruce Banner and how he was involved in the gamma bomb explosion. She recounts how the Hulk first showed up around then too. She realizes that there's a connection between Rick Jones and both Banner and the Hulk. She goes to...

Journey Into Mystery #86

Cover Date: November 1962 Plot Overview: The future was become a peaceful place except for one man. He is a scientist named Zarrko. He's built a time machine and heads back to the past to find a destructive weapon to conquer the future with. Meanwhile in 1962, Thor is helping the U.S. military...

Tales to Astonish #37

Cover Date: November 1962 Plot Overview: Ant-Man responds to a police call. He arrives at a local jeweler and learns that a man calling himself the Protector has been shaking down the local jewelers. He has a disintegration ray that he'll use to destroy the jewels and maybe even the jewelers themselves....

Fantastic Four #8

Cover Date: November 1962 Plot Overview: The Thing decides to leave the Fantastic Four after Reed won't let him into the lab. Sue follows him and tries to convince him to return. As they're talking they see a man climbing the bridge and preparing to jump. Reed and the Torch save the day. The scene...

Strange Tales #101

Cover Date: October 1962 Plot Overview: A local amusement park has received several threats in the mail by a man calling himself the Destroyer. Several attempts at sabotage are made but the Human Torch makes the save each and every time. The Destroyer finally challenges the Human Torch to a battle....

Journey Into Mystery #85

Cover Date: October 1962 Plot Overview: Loki manages to escape his imprisonment in a tree on Asgard and comes to Earth in search of Thor. Loki arrives on Earth and uses his magic to draw Thor out of hiding. Loki challenges him to a battle in the air. As Thor follows, Loki uses his magic to hypnotize...

Tales to Astonish #36

Cover Date: October 1962 Plot Overview: The Communists have called upon Comrade X to capture Ant-Man so that they can learn the secrets of his ability to shrink. They want to use it so they can invade other countries undetected. Meanwhile in the United States a woman has arrived at the police...

Fantastic Four #7

Cover Date: October 1962 Plot Overview: Planet X is being menaced by a runaway asteroid. Kurrgo sends one of the only two rockets they have to Earth to fetch the Fantastic Four. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four are arguing about attending a very important dinner in D.C. Sue, Johnny and Thing all seem...

Incredible Hulk #3

Cover Date: September 1962 Plot Overview: The issue begins with Hulk locked in the secret cave room that they discovered previously. Rick heads off to get some sleep but gets picked up by the military. General Ross meets with Rick and tells him that they need the Hulk to test a rocket. Rick mulls...

Journey Into Mystery #84

Cover Date: September 1962 Plot Overview: We start off with a recap of the last issue. The Kronans actually appear red in this issue instead of the greenish yellow they actually were. We come to present day as Dr. Don Blake and his nurse Jane Foster are making rounds. Blake is in love with Foster...

Tales to Astonish #35

Cover Date: September 1962 Plot Overview: We start with a recap of the events of Tales to Astonish #27. Then we join Pym in the present as he decides to remake the formula. He feels that maybe one day mankind will be ready for the serum. He also makes an electronic helmet to communicate with ants...

Fantastic Four #6

Cover Date: September 1962 Plot Overview: Sue arrives at the Baxter Building and finds the other members of the FF. There's been no sign of Dr. Doom since they battled him last issue. They go through some fan mail and then the scene shifts to the sea. Namor is out swimming with the fish of the...