Dr. Haydn

Certainly, things were picking up in the late 70s. I kinda liked the Wolfman-Pollard retro Spider-man (Pollard did a great Faux Ditko), and Roger Stern's brief Hulk run. I resumed picking up X-men early in the Claremont-Byrne-Austin run. I regret missing DC's resurgence during those years: DC was less good than Marvel about putting out trade paperbacks and omnibus editions back in the day.

'Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,' as they say? “These guys do the heavy work,” said Lee. “They come up with the ideas, they do the writing, they do the drawing and I say, ‘I think maybe you ought to change that word, or maybe his arm should be this way instead of that way,’ and I get the credit for this thing. How can you do better than that?” – Stan Lee, 2010

I learned to read from comic books beginning in 1969 (mainly Gold Key and Harvey, with a bit of Charlton thrown in). When I got into superhero comics in 1973, it was a bad time, quality-wise, for both DC and Marvel, by and large. (Some of the more interesting work I sampled was Gerber's Defenders, and Englehart's Captain Marvel and Dr. Strange. I discovered Howard the Duck later, getting a bunch of back issues on the cheap at the local comics shop.) Marvel's Silver Age reprints, despite their occasional shortcomings and predicable plotlines, were often a better read. The 80s were much better: Miller's Daredevil, Stern's Avengers, Claremont's X-titles. And the British Invasion revitalized DC. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing was a revelation, as was Neil Gaiman's Sandman.

The solider that replaced Dino Manelli (George Stonewell) was a stand-in for real-life American N*zi Party founder George Rockwell. Rather pointed satire for 1964! I tend to think this was Kirby's idea (Lee would have had some understandable misgivings about running afoul of the Comics Code Authority). Still, both Stan and Jack no doubt experienced prejudice as members of the Jewish community, so it makes sense that they would tackle bigotry in an overt manner in this title. It's a pity that Rockwell never experienced the (albeit minor) epiphany that his fictional double did on the final page.

The best children's literature, I think, can be read profitably by people of all ages. (Huckleberry Finn, The Velveteen Rabbit, Treasure Island, etc.) However, maybe the comic book genre is the wrong place to look for great children's literature.

Matt Fox inking is always a treat for me--he adds a quirky touch to Lieber's pencils.

Wikipedia lists a couple of dozen Watchers. "And there are many others, but they haven't been discovered..."

Hmm...so when and why did Stan later decide that there should be "only one watcher"?

Here's a 1956 inventory Western filler that looks like Kuramoto's lettering. Also, it's an early Lee-Ditko collaboration.

A bit of minutiae here (with thanks to Nick Caputo): Sherigail was a pseudonym for long-time letterer and production guru Morrie Kuramoto. (Sheri and Gail were his wife and daughter, if memory serves.) Kuramoto did a fair amount of uncredited lettering for Atlas Comics prior to the 1957 implosion. I believe this is the first work he had done for Stan Lee since that year, likely a sign that Marvel finally had the resources to hire a few people after a number of years as a bare-bones operation. He would work mainly in production for Marvel (with an occasional lettering assignment, mainly covers) until his death in 1985.

According to Mark Evanier: In early 1969, the Kirbys moved west. The main reason was daughter Lisa's asthma and her need to live in a drier climate [than in New York State]. But Jack had another reason. ... Kirby had hopes that being close to Hollywood might bring him entry to the movie business. ... Film seemed like the next logical outlet for his creativity. ...

What have we here? Looks like Lee-Ditko (almost!) on the sign (panels 4 and 5).

Probably a good time for me to re-read The Glory Boat!

Sure, I'll buy that! If I could give you a no-prize, I would!

Stan was playing footloose and fancy free with this page. I'm not sure exactly how one can "sound" five foot four. I guess Matt can figure out someone's height by calculating how high off the ground the voice is coming from? Still, Matt should know to adjust for stiletto heels versus flats. Also, I would add 2 or 3 inches for Karen's hairdo.

Panel 6: why is Foggy pointing to the door of the Nelson/Murdock law firm to show Matt their names? Foggy knows Matt can't see! n't see!

Thanks for the link! Holloway did a boatload of uncredited work for Timely/Atlas/Marvel prior to 1962, left Marvel just after letterers started getting credits there, and did a considerable amount of uncredited work for DC afterward. (He got one or two credits in the short-lived Inferior Five parody comic in 1967-68). He was in the same league as Simek, the Rosen brothers, Saladino, and Schnapp, to my eyes, but his contributions to Silver Age (and early Bronze Age) comics went largely unrecognized due to circumstances of time and place.

There will be a villain named Spencer Smythe (of Spider-Slayer fame) in Spider-man in early 1965. Any relation to the hero of this tale? (I see a possible retcon opportunity here!)

Ray Holloway lettering. His work largely disappears from Marvel in mid-1963. I wonder if this was an older inventory story that was published to fill up the page count?

FF had flashes of brilliance early on, but #39 was the beginning of one of the best runs in comic book history, a run of sustained brilliance until #67. Imagine if New Gods had been given that much time to find itself!

Notice the cover blurb specifies "The REAL" Captain America. Was this a variant cover?

Any thoughts on Tom B's theory that the Rabble Rouser was originally supposed to be the Hate Monger (from the 1963 FF story), and Stan changed his mind late in the process? R.R.'s cheesy mustache does look like a last-minute add-on. Incidentally, what's with all these Marvel heroes "going wild"? According to a hasty online search, Captain America, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, and Prince Namor, the Sub-mariner would later do the same thing. (There may have been others that I missed.)

Ya think?!

Something seems a little off with this cover--the townspeople look huge compared to the buildings.

If Stan had credited himself with "delightful dialogue" rather than "sensational -script," there would be far less pushback today, I think--plus it's a more accurate term for what his role was in these stories.