Journey Into Mystery #83

Cover Date: August 1962

Plot Overview: The Stone Men from Saturn land on Earth. They demonstrate their great power and superior technology and plot to take over the planet. A local fisherman spots them and reports this back at town. Dr. Don Blake overhears this story and decides to investigate for himself.

The next day he comes across the Stone Men and takes refuge in a cave. Blake discovers another exit but a large boulder is blocking it. He finds a secret room holding an ancient cane. He tries to use the cane to move the boulder but has no luck. In a moment of anger he strikes the boulder with the cane.

Suddenly he becomes the Mighty Thor. He escapes the cave and reviews the powers of Thor and what he can do with his Hammer. He discovers that if he stops holding the hammer he once again becomes Dr. Don Blake.

Meanwhile the U.S. military make a failed attempt at fighting the Stone Men from Saturn. Thor arrives shortly afterwards and overpowers the Stone Men. They trap Thor in a cage but he easily breaks out of it. As a last resort the Stone Men call upon a robot to attack Thor. Thor smashes it with his Hammer and the Stone Men retreat from Earth. Thor becomes Dr. Don Blake and escapes the scene.

My Take: It was nice to see a book with a battle in it. I've been waiting for two issues to see the Hulk fight something. The art for this issue was great. As far as Marvel books at the time go this one probably looks the best.

Thor is really weird at this point. He's very mired in the conventions of how superheroes worked at the time. He has to have weaknesses and a secret identity and it really doesn't work for the character. This issue also read like a manual on Thor and his powers and that was a mixed bag. You come out of the issue with a good idea of what he can do but at the same time it was a little boring. Dr. Don Blake is also fairly bland as a character.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of Thor. The concept of Thor takes some time to evolve. Right now, when Blake is Thor he still talks like Blake. Eventually Thor will develop his accent but it takes a few issues. Thor of course has a secret identity as Dr. Don Blake. He has the weakness that he'll change back to Blake if he's away from the Hammer for too long. Another interesting point. Mjolnir is just called the Hammer of Thor in this issue. It'll be interesting to see when it becomes known as Mjolnir.

Thor becomes the main feature for Journey Into Mystery from this point on. He doesn't take up the whole issue so his stories are only 12 or 13 pages at this point. Journey Into Mystery will become the Mighty Thor with issue #126.

The Stone Men of Saturn made their first appearance here. They eventually become known as the Kronans. They won't ever be a big part of the Marvel Universe. Korg from Planet Hulk and World War Hulk is probably the most famous Kronan character.

Next Issue: Amazing Fantasy #15

Incredible Hulk #2

Cover Date: July 1962

Plot Overview: The Hulk happens upon a random town but Rick manages to divert his attention at the last moment. The origin of the Hulk is recapped.

Strange aliens have arrived at earth. They are the Toad Men and they want to capture the smartest man on Earth to determine how advanced mankind is. Meanwhile Banner and Rick head to a cave in the desert. He's come up with a door system that should hold the Hulk in the cave at night with the help of Rick.

Just then the Toad Men strike and capture them. They eject Rick and then move to the darkside of the Earth. Banner changes into the Hulk and he makes short work of the Toad Men. The Hulk is impressed with the ship and thinks that he'll use it to destroy the human race. Back on Earth, the U.S. military spots the ship and shoots it down. They find the wreckage and Banner emerges. General Ross has him arrested for attacking Earth.

The Toad Men avoid detection and signal the fleet to attack. The Toad Men leader reveals himself to the human race. He announces that they've used their amazing magnetic powers to pull the moon towards Earth. The moon will slowly destroy the world as it gets closer. Meanwhile night falls and Banner becomes the Hulk.

The Hulk breaks out of his cell and fights his way through the military. He comes across General Ross' home and abducts Betty. The military tries to stop him but ultimately fail. The Hulk takes Betty to Banner's lab. Rick arrives shortly afterwards and tries to convince the Hulk to fight the Toad Men. The Hulk attacks Rick but the sun rising saves Rick. Banner is updated on the situation and uses the Gamma Ray Gun and it reacts to the magnetic power of the Toad Men and tosses them far from Earth. The moon also resumes it's orbit.

The issue ends with General Ross expressing the belief that Banner and the Hulk are connected. The last panel of the issue has Rick locking the Hulk in the cave for the night.

My Take: I didn't really care for this issue that much. I don't like the early format of Banner ultimately solving the conflict in the book while the Hulk doesn't really fight a villain. I also didn't really care for the Gamma Ray Gun suddenly just existing and being the solution to the Toad Men threat. I also didn't care for the Toad Men as villains. They were just lame and bad foils for the Hulk.

There were some positives to this issue. I think the green Hulk works much better than the gray Hulk with how limited the colors were at the time. He was at least consistent this time. The characters continue to interact well with each other. I think the characters have developed more in 2 issues than the Fantastic Four have in 5 issues.

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

Notes: The Hulk becomes green in this issue. That's really it. The Toad Men are pretty obscure as far as the Marvel Universe goes. I'm not sure if they actually appear in another issue of any comic. If they do, it's cameo appearances here and there. They're still sticking to the Hulk appearing at nightfall.

Next Issue: Journey Into Mystery #83

Fantastic Four #5

Cover Date: July 1962

Plot Overview: The Human Torch and Thing argue as the issue starts. Suddenly a net covers the FF's HQ and a man announces himself as Dr. Doom. Reed recognizes the voice and recalls going to college with Doom and how he was horribly disfigured in a lab accident.

Doom demands Sue as a hostage and she has no choice but to agree. The other members of the FF eventually turn themselves over. Doom wants them to travel back into the past and obtain the jewels of Blackbeard. Reed, Torch and Thing have no choice but to accept.

In the past they disguise themselves as pirates and are quickly drugged and conscripted onto a pirate ship as part of the crew. The Thing wakes up and the FF begin a battle with the crew. After seeing the Torch in action the pirates decide to end the battle. Just as the battle ends another ship approaches. The Thing leads a successful attack on the ship and the pirates celebrate thing as Blackbeard. Reed figures out that the Thing is really Blackbeard and that the treasure chest they found is what they've been looking for. They decide to replace the jewels with junk to double cross Dr. Doom.

Thing decides to stay because he's accepted and a leader in this time period. Reed and the Torch argue but Thing has them tied up by the crew. Just as this happens a tornado hits the ship and the FF regroup on an island. Thing admits he was being foolish and they find the chest. Just then Dr. Doom recalls them to the present. He eagerly checks the chest and realizes he's been double crossed.

The Thing attacks Dr. Doom and smashes him to pieces revealing a robot. The real Dr. Doom announces that he's going to drain the room of oxygen to end the FF. Doom is so busy that he forgets that Sue Storm is in the room. She sabotages the machine and then releases the other members of the FF. Dr. Doom makes his escape in a jetpack and the Torch makes an unsuccessful attempt at capturing him. The Torch is dismayed that Dr. Doom and Namor are both loose in the world. Reed says that they'll defend the world against future threats from Doom and Namor as the issue ends.

My Take: I'm not really a fan of time travel storylines. Okay, I take that back. I'm not really a fan of time travel storylines that aren't Back to the Future. I will give this issue a little credit. I did like that the Thing became Blackbeard. I thought that was a nice touch and a little unexpected on my part. The art was good in this issue. The Thing actually looked pretty good for the first time ever.

Speaking of the Thing. He got the bulk of the character development in this issue. He's starting to shift from an angry out of control monster into more of a man trying to cope with being an outcast of society.

What else can you really say about this issue. It's a very important historical issue as Dr. Doom is one of the key villains in the Marvel Universe. He's barely in the issue though.

I didn't dislike the story that much. I just found the last issue to be much stronger and I think I was just expecting more from an early Doom appearace.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of Dr. Doom. His concept hasn't really been thought out at all in this issue. He's really a mad scientist with an interest in black magic that stays in a creepy castle. It takes a few years for the Dr. Doom you know from the current comics to really take shape. Johnny Storm was also reading the first issue of the Incredible Hulk at the beginning. He made fun of the Thing for looking like the Hulk to start their argument. How's that for advertising?

Next Issue: Incredible Hulk #2

Incredible Hulk #1

Cover Date: May 1962

Plot Overview: Dr. Bruce Banner and the U.S. military are preparing to test his creation the gamma bomb. General Ross and his daughter Betty stop by and Ross makes his disdain for Banner known. Right before the bomb is about to go off, a teenager appears in the testing area. Banner rushes out and grabs the teenager. He tosses him into a trench but is caught by the explosion and takes a full blast of gamma radiation.

Banner comes to at the base and the teenager introduces himself as Rick Jones. The military decides to detain them for awhile. Nightfall comes and Banner turns into a monster. The monster breaks through the wall and heads off into the desert. One of the military men call him the Hulk during the search and he has been named. The Hulk makes his way to Banner's house and finds a spy named Igor searching for Banner's gamma radiation notes. The Hulk dispatches the spy and then becomes Banner as the sun rises.

The military arrive and arrest the spy. Betty Ross stops in and offers to help and comfort Banner. Banner sends her off and tells Rick that he's going to turn into the monster again when night returns.

We switch scenes to Igor as he sends a secret message to Russia. The message eventually reaches the Gargoyle, who heads for America. The Gargoyle begins his search for the Hulk. At the same time Banner and Rick are heading out into the desert when Banner again becomes the Hulk.

The Hulk stumbles upon the home of General Ross and his daughter Betty. Betty passes out when she sees the Hulk. The Gargoyle then arrives and shots the Hulk and Rick with a mind control weapon. He returns to Russia with them and is surprised to see that the Hulk has become Bruce Banner. He figures out the secret and approaches them later in their jail cell. Banner figures out that he can cure the Gargoyle's deformity with radiation. The procedure is a success and the Gargoyle helps them escape. The Gargoyle destroys the base he's on as Banner and Rick escape in a rocket.

My Take: I was really enjoying this issue until the last few pages. I would've enjoyed the Hulk fighting the Gargoyle more than the whole capture and take to Russia thing. Banner curing the Gargoyle was a nice little twist in there.

The first 18 pages of this book were really good though. The horror aspect of the Hulk in this issue was great. He's not a raging "Hulk Smash" guy. He's more of an arrogant and vain creature that hates weakness. He's not really actively trying to hurt people. He just considers them to be ants and treats them accordingly.

The character development in this book was really good. The Fantastic Four just started getting the character relationships down after 4 issues and this book came out of the gate with it. Banner, Jones, Betty and General Ross all have decently developed personalities and they all have unique relationships with Banner. On top of that, the Hulk has a really strong supporting cast right out of the gate.

The negatives to this issue are that whoever was responsible for the coloring couldn't figure out the gray Hulk. His shape was constantly changing and he was even green at one point. It was so bad that they decided to make the Hulk green in issue two.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Hulk, Rick Jones, Betty Ross, Thunderbolt Ross and the first Gargoyle. As you noticed from the plot recap, the Hulk's transformation isn't triggered by emotion. It's triggered by the night. The Hulk is also fairly intelligent in this appearance. The Hulk was of course gray in this issue but is quickly changed to green due to issues they were having with the coloring.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #5

Fantastic Four #4

Cover Date: May 1962

Plot Overview: The issue starts off by recapping the Human Torch leaving the team. Reed blames the Thing for driving him off. They decide to search for the Human Torch and split up in the Fantasticar. Reed and Sue seach with little success but the Thing finds the Torch easily. The Torch has been working on cars in a garage. They get into a fight as a result and the Torch escapes when the Thing turns back into Ben Grimm for a brief time.

The Torch heads to the bad side of town and spends the night at a flop house. He finds a Namor the Sub-Mariner comic and begins to read it. Some of the other guests comment that one of the guys there is as strong as Namor. The man is suffering from amnesia and they proceed to provoke him into a confrontation. The men threaten to beat his memory back into him. The Torch breaks it up and says they should figure out what he looks like first. He uses his flame powers to shave the man and reveals that it's Namor.

The Torch grabs Namor and drops him into the ocean. The water restores Namor's memory and he decides to head back to his Undersea Kingdom. Namor finds that his kingdom has been destroyed by nuclear testing and that his people have moved on. He vows revenge and heads back to the surface. He informs the Torch that he's going to destroy mankind.

The Torch signals the FF and informs them of what's happening. Meanwhile Namor uses his special horn to awaken the sea monster Giganto. Giganto attacks the city and easily fights off the FF's first assault. The Thing heads to a local military depot and grabs an atomic bomb. He climbs into Giganto while he sleeps and uses the bomb to take him out.

Sue uses the distraction to steal the horn from Namor but he easily captures her. She becomes visible and Namor instantly falls in love. He makes an offer. Sue can marry him and he won't destroy the human race. Reed, Thing and the Torch try to attack but he easily fights them off. Sue agrees to marry him to save mankind. The Torch has one last trick up his sleeve and creates a giant tornado that casts Namor and Giganto back into the sea. The horn is lost at sea. The issue ends with the FF pledging to defend the world against future threats from Namor.

My Take: What can you say. This is an iconic issue of the Fantastic Four. It introduces one of the most important characters in the entire series and establishes a subplot that is still going on to this day. The characters are also starting to develop a little more. The Thing made what could be considered his first wisecrack at the end of the issue. He's also coming across less like an out of control monster and just more as a very violent and grumpy kind of guy. I hope they move past Thing being the main source of division within the team though. The art is also a huge step up from the first two issues. It looks much more polished than the first issue.

I don't have a lot of negatives to say. The Fantastic Four haven't really fought a villain in the typical superhero way. They've mostly found solutions to the issue at hand and then catch the bad guy at the end. I'm really enjoying seeing how the Fantastic Four are developing as characters and as a comic book though.

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

Notes: This issue reintroduces Namor to the Marvel Universe. He's more of a straight up villain at this point than the anti-hero he was in the 40s. For those interested in the Namor vs. Aquaman talks, Namor predates Aquaman by 2 years in case you were wondering. This is the first time the city was referred to as New York. It was Central City in the first issue and wasn't referred to as anything for issues two and three. This is also the first time that Johnny Storm uses his trademark "Flame On" phrase to turn into the Human Torch.

Next Issue: Incredible Hulk #1

Fantastic Four #3

Cover Date: March 1962

Plot Overview: The issue opens with the Fantastic Four taking in a magic show. The magician calls himself the Miracle Man and uses his powers to show up the Fantastic Four. Reed Richards refers to him as an unbeatable opponent. The scene shifts to the Miracle Man planning to take over the world.

The Fantastic Four use their new Fantasticar to return to their new headquarters. Sue has also made them uniforms. Johnny decides to watch tv and turns it on just in time to see the Miracle Man bring the giant statue of a monster to life.

The FF spring into action and split up to cover more ground. Reed happens across MM first but gets knocked out with a brick. The scene changes to a military base where MM and the monster are in the process of stealing an atomic tank. The Human Torch arrives and destroys the monster with his flames. Then MM takes the Human Torch out with a special foam. The Thing wants a rematch but MM causes the ground to swallow the Thing.

MM leaves on his newly stolen atomic tank and Sue climbs aboard while invisible. The remaining FF members bicker until the Human Torch takes off. The origin of the FF get retold in this time frame.

MM stops and Sue is found out by a dog. MM realizes it's her and proceeds to hypnotize her and has her signal the remaining members of the FF. Reed and the Thing arrive and MM attacks them with a machine gun. The Thing steps between MM and Reed and acts as a shield until the gun is out of ammo. MM decides to flee as the Human Torch arrives.

The Human Torch acts quickly and uses his flames to blind MM. Reed then reveals that the Miracle Man really has no powers. He was using mass hypnosis to make them believe those things were happening. Reed regards the Miracle Man as no longer being a threat. The Human Torch decides that he's leaving the Fantastic Four for good. He's tried of the arguing and being bossed around. The issue ends with the Human Torch flying off and Reed hoping that he won't attack the FF in the future.

My Take: This book is very much a product of it's time. A very gimmicky villain that really would have no use in today's comics. Other than that, I really enjoyed this issue. It was a fun little romp of a book. There was a little character development, there was some decent action and the Fantastic Four were challenged this time around. The art is also rapidly improving as the issues go on.

On the downside, I'm getting tired of a page of every issue being devoted to retelling the origin of the Fantastic Four. It's really unneeded if you ask me. Again, that's a product of the time this was written in.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Miracle Man. This is also the first appearance of the Fantasticar and the FF costumes. The Fantastic Four also now have a headquarters but it's not the Baxter Building that everyone is familiar with. It's more of an apartment building with all of their gear.

The Human Torch appearance changed in this issue. He looks more like the modern Human Torch that you see today. Sue tried putting a mask on the Thing but he fairly quickly took it off. Most of the interactions between the FF members involved an argument of some kind. Reed even comments on it and wonders what's wrong with them.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #4

Tales to Astonish #27

Cover Date: January 1962

Plot Overview: Scientist Henry Pym has discovered a serum that can shrink items and an antidote that returns them to normal size. Pym tries the serum on himself and panics as he realizes he's left the antidote on a window sill.

Pym retreats to the backyard where a group of ants attack. He takes refuge in an ant hill but falls down a hole into honey. He is saved by a lone ant but the attackers from before return. Pym uses fire and his knowledge of judo to fight off his attackers.

Pym makes his way back to his house where he sees the antidote. The ant that saved his life earlier returns and they work together to get up to the antidote. Pym uses it and returns to normal. Pym promptly destroys the serum and tells his peers that from now on he'll be sticking to practical projects. The story notes that he never stepped on an ant hill for the rest of his life.

My Take: This wasn't really a superhero story, more of a sci-fi horror story. It was also only 8 pages. It was more of a throwaway story. It's really only significant because Pym eventually becomes an important part of the Marvel universe.

The story itself is forgettable and mediocre. Though I did enjoy Pym randomly breaking out judo to fight off an ant.

I'd give this one a *1/2 out of *****.

Notes: This is the first appearance of Henry Pym who later becomes Ant-Man, Giant-Man, etc. The interesting thing about this issue is that it's really just a throwaway story in an anthology title. It was written as being a one shot deal. Pym doesn't reappear until issue 35 of this same title. Lee claims that the issue sold really well and he thought it would be fun to make a superhero out of him.

Another note about these anthology titles. Marvel was actually distributed by DC until 1969. As a result they were very limited to how many titles they were allowed to release every month. As their superhero line became more popular they took over these anthology books and pushed the western and sci-fi stories out. Fantastic Four, Avengers, Spider-Man, Daredevil and X-Men are the only non-anthology superhero titles that Marvel will put out for quite awhile. Once 1969-1970 hits you'll see an explosion of titles from Marvel as everyone gets their own book.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #3