[profh0011]

I thought I'd take an example from one of the guys at the CAPTAIN COMICS board and start a "personal" review thread.This should cover one issue per day, barring interruptions.  This is gonna have to be without images, because I don't use Photobucket.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83  /  Aug

[narfstar]

Are you insinuating that writers would ever swipe stories the way artists swiped scenes 

[Drahken]

... This is gonna have to be without images, because I don't use Photobucket.
...

There are many image hosts besides photobucket. Personally, I like imgur.com. You don't need an account to upload, and you can transload images directly from other websites. Tinypic.com is also a decent one that I've used before, which likewise requires no acct.

[profh0011]

Thanks, I may look into it at some point.  Too many technical things going on right now to make it worth it.

[profh0011]

A brief interruption here... thanks to a member at the MASTERWORKS board, "DiBricazar", I just saw the following for the very 1st time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mFx7_-eEYo

And here's the 2nd half!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZwyzH6BAYI


Until recently, I had no idea just how similar the 1966 Grantray-Lawrence cartoons were to the 1968-70 Krantz Films cartoons. Both suffer from terrible lack of budgets, and pitifully-limited animation. But both utilize very recoznizable artwork (in the case of SPIDER-MAN, that of Gray Morrow, who did the storyboards for all the later episodes), and, FANTASTIC "production" music.

In the case of this THOR episode, it sounds as if the entire story has been scored with "Capitol" library tracks from the late 1950's. This SAME music was also used in such shows as THE UNTOUCHABLES, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE FUGITIVE, and the 1968-70 SPIDER-MAN (but not, notably, the 1967-68 SPIDER-MAN).

In fact, I recognize these tracks as having been used in "Cloud City of Gold".

These are all tracks credited to William Loose, Emil Cadkin and Jack Cookerly.

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #84  /  Sep'62
cover by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

"THE MIGHTY THOR VS. THE EXECUTIONER"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: Dr. Blake joins a medical mission to a South American country wracked with civil war. The leader of the communist faction

[Captain Audio]

I ran across a very old comic with Thor as the main charactor, and using the body of an earthly human.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=16579
In the story foreign spies are trying to invade a south american country to seize its mines.
The style of the story reminds me of eps of the Superman TV series. The human counterpart of Thor has a fiesty girlfriend much like Lois Lane, always getting into trouble.

[profh0011]

WOW!!  I re-posted your message (including the link) in the THOR thread of my KIRBY LAND Facebook group!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1420447508202699/

[profh0011]

WEIRD COMICS #1 (Apr'40)
cover by George Tuska

[THE ORIGIN OF THOR]
In Valhalla, home of the Norse gods, Thor, God Of Thunder, feels the people of Earth no longer have a need of him. But he decides to invest his power in a mortal! Down on Earth, rich socialite Grant Farrel feels dejected when his girl, Glenda, keeps knocking him for not being "adventurous", and winds up abandoning him at a party for another man. He goes home and actually contemplates ending it all (over a woman as worthless as that??), when he's suddenly confronted by THOR. Boy, talk about your out-of-left-field non-sequiturs. It's like when THE SHADOW saved that guy from killing himself on that bridge, except here, Grant doesn't become THOR's assistant, he BECOMES a new incarnation of THOR himself!

Glenda it seems has inadvertenly fallen in with foreign spies, and it's up to the new THOR to save her. Gee, didn't we see almost this exact scneario play out-- over and over and over again-- between SUPERMAN and that horrible shrew Lois Lane? It's like what "Miss Bowers" (Maggie Smith) said in "DEATH ON THE NILE". "It's been my experience men are least drawn to women who treat them well."

THOR tracks the spies (who've now abducted Glenda) to South America, and single-handedly uses his magic hammer to take out an entire tank squadron. He then (apparently) allows himself, in his mortal form, to be captured, so locate his girl. "What are YOU doing here?" she asks as she unties him. "I decided I needed a little adventure." he replies. But before long, THOR saves men from a collapsing mine, and Glenda is suddenly enamored of this incredible figure.

By story's end, as expected, she's now telling Grant she's met this fantastic guy that HE will NEVER be like. Only Grant walks off, apparently no longer caring WHAT she thinks of him. WAY TO GO! That's better than Clark Kent ever did in the old days (even if the "Clark" the world saw was nothing more than a convenient lie-- he & Lois had a really SICK "relationship" no matter how you look at it). "But Grant has more important things to think of than the whim of a girl.", the narrator says, as we see Grant, holding THOR's hammer. Cool.

In the early days of Marvel's THOR, it appeared that Dr. Don Blake "became" THOR. As the series progressed, with the progressive introduction of more and more Asgardian elements, it seemed he WAS Thor. But some readers asked, if Don Blake became Thor, then what happened to the REAL Thor? Where's the original? While we eventually found that Don Blake was merely a creation of Odin to teach his son humility, those earlier questions seem more related to this 1940 series! While Billy Batson & Captain Marvel were 2 completely separate people who changed places, here, the new Thor is a protoge of the original, who sits back in Valhalla, passing on his power and guidance.

Interesting "variations on a theme", I'd say!

WEIRD COMICS was published by Victor Fox, and ran 20 issues. The title seems a continuation of the infamous pulp magazine, which was known for its racy covers, and often featured the work of writer Robert E. Howard, creator of CONAN. Sadly, it appears the feature only ran 5 episodes, in issues #1-5, before being replaced by an entirely different feature named "Dynamite Thor", which ran only 2 episodes!

[profh0011]

"fiesty girlfriend much like Lois Lane, always getting into trouble"

feisty 
1. (of a person, typically one who is relatively small or weak) lively, determined, and courageous.


"Billie Young" on NIGHT COURT was feisty. "Lois Lane" in the Siegel-Shuster comics was a total B****!

[Captain Audio]

"fiesty girlfriend much like Lois Lane, always getting into trouble"

feisty 
1. (of a person, typically one who is relatively small or weak) lively, determined, and courageous.


"Billie Young" on NIGHT COURT was feisty. "Lois Lane" in the Siegel-Shuster comics was a total B****!

I was thinking more of the original Superman TV series Lois Lane. Noel Neil was more feisty and less B****y
Than other Loises or Loi as the case may be.

[profh0011]

Yeah, I'll go along with that.

It's probably like comparing Billie Young & Christine Sullivan...   

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #85  /  Oct'62
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"TRAPPED BY LOKI, THE GOD OF MISCHIEF!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: Loki escapes from his prison in Asgard and comes to Earth to get revenge on Thor. The trickster hypnotizes him to help make mischief, but Thor

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #86  /  Nov'62
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"ON THE TRAIL OF THE TOMORROW MAN!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: Zarrko of the year 2262 goes back in time and steals a cobalt bomb in 1962, but Thor chases him forward in time and defeats him."

JACK KIRBY continues on with Larry Lieber & Dick Ayers on dialogue & inks. The variety in story subject matter continues, as we once again swing into science-fiction, introducing a super-scientist and time-traveller from the future, 11 MONTHS before one turned up in FANTASTIC FOUR #19 (Oct'63).

I imagine the name "Zarrko" was inspired by "Dr. Hans Zarkov", the scientist-hero from FLASH GORDON. Although the series initially took place in the modern-day (the 1930's & 40's), I've read that at some point-- somehow-- it jumped forward into the far future, to make it more "sci-fi" in nature and even more similar to BUCK ROGERS than it had been when it started (as a deliberate "answer" to the other series).

I never noticed it before, but in the 7 initial THOR episodes that Jack Kirby wrote & illustrated, he rotated between sci-fi, Commies, and Asgardian menaces (Loki), giving the series a nice range while keeping it from being too repetitive. These stories are a lot of fun!
   (1-22-2014)

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #87  /  Dec'62
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"PRISONER OF THE REDS!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: In order to solve the mystery of a rash of defecting American scientists, Dr. Blake uses himself as bait and is abducted by communists. He is imprisoned with the other missing scientists, but is able to transform into Thor and free them all."

JACK KIRBY continues cycling themes like clockwork, and this issue we're back on DIRTY COMMIES again! I sometimes wonder if this world will ever put a stop to CRIMINAL elements either being in control of governments, or BACKING them behind the scenes, all for their own personal profit? (Ironically, Russia seems to be cleaning up its act these days on that score, while America is in worse shape than ever.)

Larry Lieber & Dick Ayers continue on dialogue & inks. This is the first episode not to be broken down into smaller chapters with separate titles.
   (1-23-2014)

[Captain Audio]

The USA has always aired its dirty linen, unfortunately this leads to a lot of wild speculation passed off as fact and much reading between the lines when theres really nothing there, the later is a normal drawback of a free press if the editors are more interested in sales than in truth they'll print practically anything, and the state of modern day journalism is a sad joke.
As for Russia, last I heard it was a long way from being cleaned up.

The only modern day Communist regimes where the people can get a square meal are still around because they are becoming less strictly communist as time goes by. Others like North Korea are totalitarian pestholes who's population depends on the goodwill of relatives in South Korea to avoid famine.
Cuba is still a wild card, but I suspect major reforms are likely in the near future.

If Thor were around these days I suspect NK would be at the top of his (blank) list.

Long ago I mentioned finding an old comic story with a character named "Doctor Strange". I don't think Marvel copied that character, but the similarities are very noticable. The old Doctor Strange was also a student of the occult living in a secluded apartment in a major city, using his arcane knowledge to combat supernatural enemies.
Otherwise he was nothing like the handsome urbane Dr Strange of the Marvel comics.

When creating a character the creator can draw on long buried memories of stories he may have read  without realizing it at all.

As for plots I vaguely remember a quote of a philosopher saying that there were only so many possible plots and a certain Greek playwright had already discovered them all.

[profh0011]

The last year, I got so involved finding out about politics, signing petitions, writing letters to my congressmen, etc.... but things in my own life are still stressful enough, that last month, I made a concerted effort to UNSUBSCRIBE from every political list I'd somehow goitten on, and shut myself off from "the world" again, because it's just TOO F***ed up, and I figure, hey, in my own tiny way, I've done my part.  For now.  (Which is probably more than most do!)

I hadn't heard about an earlier Dr. Strange, but it wouldn't surprise me.  Jules Feiffer in his book THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES talked about one artist (it may have been Fred Guardineer) who drew "dozens of magacians, all of whom looked like Mandrake, and all of whom had a brown assistant NOT named Lothar."  (I find that last bit hilarious.)

Several comics fans have pointed out to me there were a lot of similarities between Ditko's DR. STRANGE and Kirby's DR. DROOM (who was later re-named DR. DRUID, an improvement if you ask me).  The similarities pointed out to me stood out, not so much because I thought Ditko swiped Kirby, but because I thought it sounded liek both swiped from Lee Falk's MANDRAKE.  In turn, MANDRAKE's origin itself seems ot have borrowed elements from Frank Capra's film version of LOST HORIZON, and beginning with the origin story, Dr. Strange started to look less like Vincent Price (THE RAVEN) and more like Ronald Colman (LOST HORIZON).

This means, "The Ancient One", who may (or may not) have been based on "The High Lama", was based not on a Asian guy, but a Belgian one-- played by a Jewish actor.  (Sam Jaffee) 

I think it's fun to see how different creators work with the same elements.

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #88  /  Jan'63
cover by Jack Kirby & Steve Ditko

"THE VENGEANCE OF LOKI!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: Loki discovers Thor

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #89  /  Feb'63
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers
Now that's what you call a pin-up cover. Makes me wonder if this might not have been sitting around for 6 months, and was done FIRST, as a presentation piece.

"THE THUNDER GOD AND THE THUG!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: A gangster wounded in an escape has his men kidnap Dr. Blake to operate on his gunshot wound. Blake transforms himself into Thor and brings the gang to justice, as well as rescuing Jane."

That's funny. The plot description here reminds me a lot of a 5th-season GET SMART story, "Physician Impossible". Max wounds a notorious gangster who escapes & vows vengeance. While picking his wife up from the hospital shortly after she had the twins, Max & 99 are both kidnapped by the gangster's men, mistaking them for a doctor & nurse, because he needs to have that bullet Max put in him removed. The gangster was played by Henry Cordon, who earlier had been THE MONKEES' landlord, and later became the 2nd voice of Fred Flintstone. While near-delerious, he planned what he was gonna to when he got his hands on Max... "I know-- I'll drop him from a plane-- in front of a train! No-- that's too GOOD for him! I know, I'll... uhhhhhhh."

JACK KIRBY breaks his string here, so far he'd been rotating between sci-fi, cold war & Asgard, and this should have been a sci-fi story. Oh well! This was also the last of 7 consecutive episodes with Kirby doing story & art, with Larry Lieber doing dialogue. It was also Dick Ayers' 6th episode on inks. Next issue, Kirby & Ayers must have been busy elsewhere, as only Lieber returned.

Although, the more I learn about how things REALLY went on at Marvel around that time, I wouldn't be surprised if Kirby wasn't supplying the stories ANYWAY, as, apparently, he did on the first year (at least) of IRON MAN.

Just checked... as it happens, the SAME 6 months Kirby, Lieber & Ayers worked on THOR, they were also doing ANT-MAN in TALES TO ASTONISH. For the Mar'63 episodes, both Kirby & Ayers left both features! DON HECK took over ANT-MAN (with Kirby presumably still supplying stories), while Joe Sinnott took over THOR (ditto). I know from all evidence that Don Heck became a decent writer on IRON MAN starting with TALES OF SUSPENSE #50, but the stories have a very different feel to them before that, which suggests he wasn't pressured to write until then. Also, Joe Sinnott is one guy I've never heard even a hint about his having done writing, which may "explain" exactly WHY he stopped pencilling for Marvel around that point, even though he had always done full art before, and occasionally done pencils which others would ink later.

IRON MAN started in the Mar'63 issue of TALES OF SUSPENSE, and since Kirby was so involved in the creation of that series, and pencilled 3 episodes in addition to supplying Robert Bernstein & Don Heck with stories, it seems a good bet it was IRON MAN that took Kirby away from THOR at this point.

SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS debuted with the May'63 issues 2 months later, which stretched Kirby's resources even further. Looks like he barely had time to do those 3 IRON MAN episodes before diving in full-blast with the war book.
   (1-25-2014)

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #90 / Mar'63
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"TRAPPED BY THE CARBON-COPY MAN!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: The heir to the throne of a race of shape-shifting aliens leads an attack on Earth as his rite of passage. The aliens replace officials in New York and disrupt the government, but Thor discovers their plan and defeats them."

I was expecting "sci-fi" last time, but the "gangster" story pushed it back a month. THIS is the first of 9 stories (not consecutive) NOT pencilled by Jack Kirby, and a run that most Marvel fans tend to totally diss EVEN MORE than the early THOR stories that were pencilled by Kirby. I guess I can see the point, but I think some people just set the bar too high and expect every single issue to be top-top-notch.

AL HARTLEY, known mostly for humor & romance, does his only episode of THOR. I'm afraid I know very little about his work, except that the ONE episode of IRON MAN where he filled in writing dialogue, his stuff was FUNNIER than Stan Lee's!! Larry Lieber did the dialogue here, and as usual, it's "serviceable", but nothing to brag about.

This leaves us with the eternal question... WHO REALLY wrote this story??? I know what it says in the credits, and that's why I totally discount the credits. It seems to me this was still a bit early for the period where ALL the artists were expected to do their own stories, and while it's possible Al Hartley wrote this, the sci-fi elements suggest to me that JACK KIRBY, who did ALL the covers, was still hanging around supplying other people with stories. Presumably he passed them on to his "editor", who passed them to the artists, and TOOK CREDIT AND PAY for them.

The theme of shape-shifting aliens replacing public officials is a popular one in science-fiction. On DOCTOR WHO alone, I've seen it done in "Spearhead From Space", "Terror Of The Zygons", "The Android Invasion", "The Androids Of Tara", "Ressurection Of The Daleks", and more recently, "Aliens Of London". There was also a LOST IN SPACE story that used the idea, "Target Earth".

As I said earlier, it seems about this time, Kirby was launching IRON MAN, coming up with the entire concept, design, characters, stories, and pencilling 3 full episodes, even though, oddly enough, the 1st one published wound up being illustrated by Don Heck.
(1-26-2014)

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #91 (Apr'63)
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"SANDU, MASTER OF THE SUPERNATURAL!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: Loki gives a greedy carnival mystic magical powers in order to use him to attack Thor. Thor is overcome in their first battle, but with the help of Odin and his belt of strength he defeats Loki's pawn."

Although the initial rotation of sci-fi, cold war & Asgard has been jettisoned, Loki once again returns 3 issues after his last appearance. This guy just can't stop messing with his foster brother, using dupes to carry out his schemes by granting them magic powers (a long-running theme in the series).

This is the 1st of 5 episodes illustrated by JOE SINNOTT, who did full art. Robert Bernstein replaces Larry Lieber on dialogue (as he ALSO did this same month on IRON MAN!). Legend has it JACK KIRBY was really the one supplying Bernstein with the stories, not the "editor" (as listed fraudulantly in the credits & pay stubs). The only question is, did Kirby pass on the stories direct to Bernstein, or THRU said "editor"? If the latter, it becomes easy to see how eventually CUTTING OUT a second writer from the process smoothed the production line (so to speak). Kirby & Ayers continue to do their usual wonderful work on the covers.
   (1-27-2014)

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #92 (May'63)
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"THE DAY LOKI STOLE THOR'S MAGIC HAMMER"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: Loki magically diverts Thor's hammer to free himself from his chains. Thor returns to Asgard to find the hammer, and Loki tries to kill him with magical traps, but Thor overcomes them all to find his hammer and catch Loki."

Well, now the series is falling into a rut-- or simply narrowing the field a bit too much. This is the 2nd episode in a row to feature Loki and his endless vendetta against his adoptive brother.

As last time, apparently Jack Kirby supplied the story, Robert Bernstein the dialogue (and possibly fleshed out the story full-script, it's impossible to say), while JOE SINNOTT provided full art.

The cover appears to be by Kirby & Dick Ayers-- except, the figure of Loki also appeared on a "Masterworks" pin-up page, which suggests it may have been a piece of art reused here and compositted by the production department. Nick Caputo suggests the possibility of Jack Kirby inks, and while I believe the Thor figure was inked by Ayers, there's a good chance the figure of Loki (done separately) was all Kirby.

The SAME month this story appeared, the story I believe was the first IRON MAN story actually produced-- "THE STRONGHOLD OF DOCTOR STRANGE"-- appeared in TALES OF SUSPENSE #41, from Jack Kirby, Robert Bernstein & Dick Ayers. (The villain of that story, I believe, was originally intended to be The Yellow Claw, returning from the late-50's. I'm guessing the "editor" nixed it because he wanted to distance the new "Marvel" from the old one.
   (1-28-2014)

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #93 (Jun'63)
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"THE MYSTERIOUS RADIO-ACTIVE MAN!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: While on a medical mission to India, Dr. Blake becomes Thor to repel a Chinese attack. In order to fight Thor, a Chinese scientist irradiates himself to gain great power. He fights Thor in New York, and nearly defeats him, but Thor blows him back to China, creating a nuclear explosion."

After 3 issues, JACK KIRBY returns to doing pencils in addition to writing the story, and predictably, the quality jumps UP substantially. This time we have a mix of "cold war" AND "sci-fi", with a new and dangerous super-villain being created who will, sometime later, be THOR's contribution to "THE MASTERS OF EVIL". Once more, Robert Bernstein does dialogue (hard to picture him doing more with Kirby on both story AND art) while Dick Ayers remains the perrennial inker.

Jack Kirby also returned to pencil this month's ANT-MAN story in TALES TO ASTONISH #44, "The Creature From Kosmos", the one that not only fleshed out Hank Pym's background more but also introduced Janet Van Dyne-- THE WASP! On the other hand, Don Heck had his 2nd episode of pencilling IRON MAN published this month, in TALES OF SUSPENSE #42.

After my still-recent experience of re-reading ALL my 60's Marvel in chronological sequence, I find that works best, as it gives one a more complete sense of how all these various books were slowly coming together and evolving, between Kirby, Ayers, Heck & Ditko (and sometimes others) all getting involved.

(WHAT the heck is it with all these titles with the word "Mysterious!!!" in them? I'd bet that's the "editor"'s hand at work, it seems like his kind of "excess".)
   (1-29-2014)

[festerb4]

Kirby wrote Thor as well as drew it? And here I always thought it was written by Frank Bacon and Kit Marlowe! Either way, it shows you can't trust the credits on those stories.

[profh0011]

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #94 (Jul'63)
cover by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers

"THOR AND LOKI ATTACK THE HUMAN RACE!"
from the GCD: "Synopsis: Loki uses his magic to cause Thor's hammer to hit his head, turning him evil. Thor frees Loki, and the two terrorize Earth until the other Asgardians arrange for another blow to the head to reverse the change."

The above story description reminds me of the scene in SUPERMAN III where Supes turns evil, and when he finds a woman on top of the Statue of Liberty who appears to be committing suicide, he says to her, "I hope you don't expect me to save you because I don't DO that sort of thing anymore."

After one month off, JOE SINNOTT returns on full art, his 3rd of 5 episodes. Jack Kirby (undoubtedly!) supplies the story, Robert Bernstein the dialogue. Loki is increasingly becoming a regular in this feature, having appeared in 5 out of the first 12 episodes so far.

Among other things, this month, Jack Kirby did his 3rd (of 3) episodes of full pencils on IRON MAN in TALES OF SUSPENSE #43-- "Kala, Queen of the Netherworld". He also did SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS #2, "Seven Doomed Men!" Incredibly, he was gonna get EVEN busier in just another 2 months!!
   (1-30-2014)