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Stan, Jack, and Steve - The 1960's (1961) The Castaway Strikes Back
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Started by Prince Namor,

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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ANATOMY OF A STORY...

One of the reasons Stan Lee wasn't signing his name to some of these stories, was that he was reusing concepts from other people's stories. The previous Ditko story 'The Ape Man' has it's origins from this Robert Q. Sale story, 'Gorilla Man' from Men's Adventure Comics #26 (March 1954), especially the 'twist' ending. 

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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ANATOMY OF A STORY

Another way for us to know that Stan wasn't writing these stories is (other than he wasn't signing them) - he was always quick to take credit for a 'story', but this one was re-used 8 years later in Tower of Shadows #2 (Nov. 1969) and Gary Friedrich would take credit for it! (Stan was the Editor)... no WAY, Stan would've let someone take writing credit for something he'd done...

(John Buscema art)

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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ON NEWSSTANDS MARCH 1961

Many hardcore Marvel fans (what some call Marvel 'Zombies') believe that without the Marvel Universe starting, comic books would've faded into nothing. But in actuality, they'd already begun to permanently secure their place in the cultural makeup of American society. DC Comics was creating a world that people were very familiar with and people THAT they were familiar with sometimes ended showing up in some of the stories!

Here President Kennedy shows up at Lois and Superman's wedding!

Kurt Schaffeberger art, Jerry Siegel story.

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Prince Namor

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ON NEWSSTANDS MARCH 1961

And more of that proof was in the March 1961 release of the Jerry Bails and Roy Thomas' Alter Ego #1 fanzine. There'd been fanzines throughout the history of comics, but this was one of the first that would feature 'insider' information. Jerry Bails had been in contact with Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox since 1953, and was (what he would find to be) one of may rabid fans of not only the current excitement of new super hero comics, but also the Golden Age of Superhero Comics. 

With his friend Roy Thomas (brought together after Thomas also contacted DC Comics about back issues), they put out Alter Ego #1 in March of 1961.

It's pretty crude obviously, but here it is in its entirety. The excitement of Silver Age Comic Book Fandom, months before FF #1 ever hit the stands. 

Part ONE:

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gunsmokin

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On 11/24/2022 at 7:44 AM, Prince Namor said:

ON NEWSSTANDS MARCH 1961

Alter Ego #1 (March of 1961)

Roy Thomas' Not Brand Ecch-ish take on the JLA (No, Marvel Zombies, Stan Lee did NOT create the idea of superhero parodies. Google: Superduperman)

Part THREE:

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Many of the issues of AE 1 were without the first BLA story due to the mimeograph running of juice in a matter of speaking.

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Prince Namor

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On 11/24/2022 at 12:45 PM, gunsmokin said:

Many of the issues of AE 1 were without the first BLA story due to the mimeograph running of juice in a matter of speaking.

Thank you! It's amazing how easy it would be to put something like this together now... back then it was a huge project, that for the average person would be time consuming AND expensive! Not to mention mishaps like that!

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gunsmokin

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On 11/24/2022 at 12:07 PM, Prince Namor said:

Thank you! It's amazing how easy it would be to put something like this together now... back then it was a huge project, that for the average person would be time consuming AND expensive! Not to mention mishaps like that!

I used to have the 1st and 2nd printings of AE 1. Someone offered a LOT of money and away they went.

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Prince Namor

Prince Namor

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ON NEWSSTANDS APRIL 1961

For April, Marvel would release 10 titles to the newsstand (Wait, not 8???)

Stan Lee would 'write' 5 of the titles for the month. It's interesting because Jack Kirby seems to be trying to pull away from Stan... he stops doing Kid Colt Outlaw, Two Gun Kid gets canceled, and other than a 5 page filler in GunSmoke Western, he has just the Rawhide Kid with Lee. For the mont Marvel is divided... the 5 Stan Lee titles, of which only Millie the Model seems to be selling ok vs the 5 Jack Kirby titles, 4 of which we know make up the best sellers that Marvel has at the time...

 

Kid Colt Outlaw #99 - Two stories with Jack Keller (18 pages) and one 5 pager with Don Heck

Kathy #11 - with Stan Goldberg art

Millie the Model #103 - with Stan Goldberg art

Life with Millie #11 - with Stan Goldberg art

Patsy Walker #95 - with Al Hartley art 

 

 

The other 5 were:

Amazing Adventures #2

Tales to Astonish #21 

Tales of Suspense #19 

Journey Into Mystery #69

Strange Tales #86 

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Prince Namor

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ON NEWSSTANDS APRIL 1961

For April, Jack Kirby would do the cover (inked by Sol Brodsky), and two stories, the 13 page, 2 part lead story, followed by his 5 page second installment of Dr. Droom (all inked by D. Ayers). 

For Dr. Droom, it appears Kirby is trying to ease in the idea of a superhero at Marvel without being too conspicuous. Of course, the FF would change that, but he'd do the same thing with Ant-Man, and the Hulk...

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Prince Namor

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ANATOMY OF A STORY

In the first panel of the Dr. Droom story, the into blurb mentions that Droom has the 'skills of a yogi'... the previous year, in Kirby's 'Sky Masters' newspaper strip, he had a story line about the Yogi Space Program. A Yogi is someone who practices yoga - on an advanced level, sannyasin - the renouncement of all possessions... Jack probably had been reading about this and the use of meditation in Indian religions - again incorporating these ideas into his work.

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