Stan, Jack, and Steve - The 1960's (1961) The Castaway Strikes Back 1 1

[Prince Namor]

 

ANATOMY OF A STORY - Part Three

Fast Forward 4 1/2 years later, in Two Gun Kid #57 (Dec 1960), Stan gives Jack a story he titles 'He Wore a Tin Star'. In it, like Annie Oakley's #6's story 'Man with a Badge', and Frontier Western #2's 'Man with a Star', we have a story about a newly elected sheriff who is a stickler for the letter of the law, who eventually proves to the town that his way of doing things, warrants the best results.

The dialogue is different, but the story appears to be the same. 

[Prince Namor]

ANATOMY OF A STORY - Part Five

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Which brings us to February of 1961 (2 months later) in GunSmoke Western #64, Stan gives Jack a story he AGAIN calls 'He Wore a Tin Star', but THIS story repeats the story from Frontier Western #1's 'The Badge of the Deputy' (Feb 1956), even repeating the same dialogue early in the story - where the two outlaws plan to have one pose as the newly hired deputy to double cross the sheriff while robbing the bank. The deputized outlaw has a change of heart when he sees the bravery of the sheriff. 

Stan was mixing and matching story ideas and titles to make people think these were new stories, when really they just kept repeating the same ones. No wonder the westerns weren't selling. 

Cover and Interior art by Jack Kirby, inks by D. Ayers. 

 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

It had to be a relief for Jack to work on the monster books, and be left alone. Sometimes Jack did some pretty interesting stuff for this limited genre, and other times you could tell he was kinda having a go at it and playing around. Such is Journey Into Mystery #68's 'Spragg!' The two part, 13 page story, cover and pencils by Jack Kirby with D. Ayers inks. 

Part One

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Journey Into Mystery #68's 'Spragg!' The two part, 13 page story, cover and pencils by Jack Kirby with D. Ayers inks. 

Part Two

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

So once we come to the understanding that Stan Lee lied about providing plot, and then Larry his brother providing -script for Jack Kirby on the monster stories*, we can look at a story like this in Strange Tales #84 as more solid proof of just how much of the Marvel Silver Age, was Jack's doing. Kirby provides the cover, and the two part 13 page story of 'Magneto' (D. Ayers inks). A restless drifter strong man who gets shot into space, gets bombarded by radio-active anti-matter and comes back to earth with the power of magnetism! 

Part ONE:

 

*By a) reading Larry Lieber's first credited -script in JIM #90, 2 years later and realizing THAT IS his first -script and b) that Stan signed ANYTHING he had even the slightest hand in - Neither of which can be attributed to the monster stories by Kirby. You can also add c) Kirby had been doing these alien/monster/mutant stories before he came back to Marvel and d) Stan Lee did NOT do any of these type of stories previously. 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Strange Tales #84 Kirby provides the cover, and the two part 13 page story of 'Magneto' (D. Ayers inks). 

Here's the other thing... the dialogue is perfect in these stories. The idea that Kirby couldn't write his own dialogue is absurd. 

Part TWO:

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Goom, who was carted off by his parents in TOS #15, apparently left a son behind in his cave, named Googam! Tales of Suspense #17. Kirby provides the cover, and the two part 13 page story (D. Ayers inks). 

Part ONE:

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Goom, who was carted off by his parents in TOS #15, apparently left a son behind in his cave, named Googam! In Tales of Suspense #17, Kirby provides the cover, and the pencils of the two part 13 page story (D. Ayers inks). 

At the end of the story, we see written underneath it: WILL Googam return?? What dear reader, do YOU think??

Usually Stan would write his name for something like this... is it Jack who wrote it here?

Part TWO:

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Kirby is tiring of these stories - even his unmatched imagination can only hold up so much to this extremely limited genre. Here he uses a Ditko page padding technique by making a useless splash page to start the story off. He uses splash's for all of these, but this one is especially sparse. 

Tales to Astonish #19. Kirby provides the cover, and the two part 13 page story (D. Ayers inks). 

Part ONE:

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Kirby bringing the idea of a 'mind probe' to his stories... and a great ending to the story!

Tales to Astonish #19. Kirby provides the cover, and the two part 13 page story (D. Ayers inks). 

Part TWO:

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

In February, Steve Ditko did pencils and inks for the final 5 page story in Journey Into Mystery #68. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Writer unknown. NOT written by Stan Lee. 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

In February, Steve Ditko did pencils and inks for the final 5 page story in Strange Tales #84. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Writer unknown. NOT written by Stan Lee. 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

In February, Steve Ditko did pencils and inks for the final 5 page story in Tales to Astonish #19. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Writer unknown. NOT written by Stan Lee. 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

In February, Steve Ditko did pencils and inks for the final 5 page story in Tales of Suspense #17. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Writer unknown. NOT written by Stan Lee. 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

In February, Steve Ditko also continued to do work for Charlton. Even as late as this, unlike what we've been led to believe, he was seen as just another freelancer, and NOT a part of some dynamic duo of artists that Stan Lee was creating magic with. That was getting ready to change, but for some entirely different reasons. 

Anyway, Ditko did two 5 page Captain Atom stories for Charlton in Space Adventures #39. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Written by Joe Gill. Ditko's interior art is used for the cover. 

Story ONE:

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Ditko did two 5 page Captain Atom stories for Charlton in Space Adventures #39. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Written by Joe Gill. Ditko's interior art is used for the cover. 

Story TWO:

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

ALSO in Space Adventures #39 was Captain Atom story drawn by Rocco "Rocke" Mastroserio... not sure how that went over with Sturdy Steve, but he'd only do two more stories before Charlton shelved the character for 4 years...

 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Ditko also did a 5 page story for Charlton in Space War #10. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Written by Joe Gill. Ditko's interior art is used for the cover. 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Ditko also did a 5 page story for Charlton in Unusual Tales #27. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Written by Joe Gill. Ditko's interior art is used for the cover. 

[Prince Namor]

ON NEWSSTANDS FEBRUARY 1961

Ditko also did a 6 page story for Prize's in Black Magic #47, which would finally end 2 issues later. 

Penciled and inked by Steve Ditko. Possibly Written by Joe Gill. Possibly a Joe Simon cover. 

Story was originally prepared for Charlton. Looks a heck of a lot better on the paper Prize used. 

Prize was struggling greatly, but would hold on for another two years with a really erratic publishing schedule, sometimes going as long as two months without any publications to the newsstand and never really having more than one or two a month when they did. They went out of business in early 1963, selling their romance titles to DC. They'd continue to publish Joe Simon's Sick and humor magazines throughout most of the 60's. 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Prince Namor