Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities IRON MAN

Not IRON MAN but somewhat related... HEY! how come this guy doesn't get a HAIRCUT?

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/thor/JIM%20083.jpg


We've ALL, of course, read about the Stone Men From Saturn in all those books about Norse Mythology...


(this one took about 4 HOURS to clean up)

I'm a fan of Goodwin's Iron Man, but I must warn you: in my opinion, Goodwin's IM is like Englehart's Avengers, in the sense that the writing had to consistently rise above weak art. So don't be disappointed if you find yourself underwhelmed on first read.

I know the great Johnny Craig (and I do think he deserves "the great" in front of him) did a few issues but this was at the tail-end of his career. And then George Tuska did some as well, but I've heard some criticisms over Tuska's art here too. I guess I'll see for myself shortly!

I'm trying to remember what issues of Iron Man (in his solo comic) I've read before, or where I came back in. I actually think the first few years of the solo comic will be relatively new for me (with some one-off exceptions).

IIRC, this one-shot (in an age where one-shots, and #1s in general, were heavily looked down upon - see the renaming of titles, including the three ex-anthologies in question; the cancel/restart-from-where-we-left of cycle of Captain Mar-Vell, etc) was born out of a scheduling cock-up. The decision to split TTA, ToS & ST was a last-minute decision, and they had half-length Iron Man & Subby stories ready to go. Rather than opening the new series with them, they did the IM/SM one-shot to burn them off before they gave them #1s.

[And my understanding is that Cap got ToS because he'd been around longer, even if IM had ToS first.]

You know, I've never heard that story before! Very interesting! Editorially, Marvel was all over the map in the early 70's, and this kind of shows that was the case by the end of the Silver Age too.

"my understanding is that Cap got ToS because he'd been around longer, even if IM had ToS first"

That could be... but they went the other way with Subby & Hulk. Maybe they didn't wanna have 2 HULK #1's within the same decade?

I still shake my head when I think that CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 was the middle of either a 2 or 3-part story (take yer pick).

It also got screwy that you had DR. STRANGE #169... and a few years later, STRANGE TALES #169.

Well, I suppose the other possibility is that Cap & Hulk were picked to continue the anthology numberings because they could jump straight into full-length stories with them; whereas they needed the IM/SM one-shot to get rid of a couple of half-length stories.

No screwier than the current Incredible Hulk(s) numbering.

I'm mostly surprised that neither Iron Man nor Sub-Mariner got stuck with opening with a #2 (to continue the numbering of IM/SM).

Speaking of screwy numbering, I admit it took me a long time to figure out the chronological order of the various Warlock stories in the 70's. Marvel was just all over the map!

Now that you mention it 'Boot, I'm surprised as well that neither Iron Man nor Subby got stuck with #2 as their premiere issue.

When you look at all the #1's that came out, you see "PREMIERE ISSUE" plastered across the cover; in the stories those months there are house-ads galore, and this was when Marvel was cutting back on house-ads. They were really worried no one would want a #1 and doing everything they could to get readers to check it out.

Dead right. Marvel came up with 3 "SHOWCASE" books, but sabotaged the idea thru too much product, lack or time & laziness. Instead of giving each new series 1, 2 or 3 issues as a try-out, they threw up their hands and figured it was easier to let Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, Ant-Man keep going. 2 of those eventually "graduated" to new books, but the 3rd one fell to pieces, perhaps because Herb Trimpe had not figured on doing more than 3 issues of Ant-Man. (Even so, it SHOULD have been a completely self-contained 3-parter, not a never-ending soap...)

As for Warlock, after 2 PREMIEREs, you had 8 issues of WARLOCK, then 3 issues of INCREDULOUS HULK, then STRANGE TALES #178-181 (which was where it got really stupid!!). Starlin did a 7-part story to start with. It should either have been in 7 issues of STRANGE TALES, or the 1st instalment should have been in WARLOCK #9 (rather than "Part 5").

At least CAPTAIN MARVEL's numbering was consistent, despite 2 cancellations. I still think CM #1 should have been the beginning of a new story, not part 2, or was it part 3. (But then, after what was effectively an 18-PART "origin" story, they NEVER shuld have had that stupid cliffhanger. That's just cheap selling tactics...)

In our LAST installment...
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20A02.jpg

Our story continues...


http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/suspense/TOS%20093.jpg

"In the final issue of the 3-parter, Dan Adkins (then doing the Sub-Mariner) inks his pencils and it’s a very different effect."

If memory serves, once again, someone (Adkins) was filling in for Frank Giacoia (ANOTHER BLOWN DEADLINE!) and as a result, Adkins was not looking his best.

D'ja ever notice Gene really has a thing for drawing "giant" characters? Maybe HE should have drawn a "Giant-Man and the Wasp" series!


http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/suspense/TOS%20095.jpg
"I admit when I was a kid I didn’t like Sitwell at all."

I got a kick out of Sitwell from his 1st appearance. When I got ahold of the complete run of NICK FURY, I found he really became an important member of the cast who contributed a LOT to the organization, in his own unique way. However, that's NOT what I see going on in IRON MAN. Jack Kirby (and later Jim Steranko) made Jasper look like he just graduated from Marine Corps boot camp. YOUNG, crewcut, eager-beaver... and more words than anyone with more sense would ever use in their life. It was years before I read that-- apparently-- Jack Kirby based Jasper on Bullpen newcomer ROY THOMAS. Tribute? Parody? Both? The thing is, despite himself, Jasper was GOOD. There's a moment at the end of the A.I.M. storyline where (as far as I can tell!!) TONY STARK is shaking his hand congratulating him for a job well done. At the time, Fury had left SITWELL in charge of the Heli-Carrier! A group of army types & senators were shocked by this, but damn if he didn't do the job, as Fury KNEW he would. (Although I feel Stark & Fury were based on Errol Flynn & Ralph Meeker, respectively, you could also see them as SHIELD's counterparts of Lee & Kirby-- with Sitwell their Thomas.)


But then you get to IRON MAN. Gene Colan draw Jasper noticeably YOUNGER than Jack, Don, Ogden, John or Jim ever did. And Stan seems to have FORGOTTEN that he & Tony met in that earlier SHIELD episode. (I know nothing in the dialogue specifically said it was Tony, but looking at the art, WHO ELSE could it have been?) And he seems a lot DUMBER in this series.

There's one moment that stands out, where IM is laying on the ground helpless, and Jasper decides to take off his face-mask to try to save his life. And as he continues talking outloud to himself, he actually says, "Even though it's against DIRECT orders..." I'm sorry, NO. Jasper would NEVER disobey a direct order! He too straight-shooting for that.


"the idea of Romita actually plotting out the stories for Buscema and Kane is just incredible"

From what I've been hearing, Romita was supplying Buscema with full plots, with Kane, it was more of a collaboration. Kane LIKED the idea of "Marvel Method", which, the way it'd always been described, was like a 50-50 thing. It's just that, on the issues of Spidey he did, the credits didn't really let you know who was doing the other 50%.


"Your above comments about Arnold Drake’s treatment by Jack Miller goes along with everything I ever heard about Miller. Miller had all the bad qualities of Mort & Julie, but none of the creative genius. By all accounts he was a bastard, but one who could be extremely productive (even if they weren’t DC’s best)."

That's interesting, because apart from the DEADMAN incident, I know nothing about Jack Miller at all. I just think it's criminal, in an industry where original creators rearely seem to hang around on "their own" books too long, that Arnold should have been kicked off after only 2 issues (and originally, only got credit and pay for 1!).


By the way...
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/spider-man/ASM%20055.jpg
...here's a subtle little "cross-over" with IRON MAN. When DOC OCK steals The Nullifier, instead of laying low, he decides to (in Spidey's words) "flaunt" his power-- by heading straight to Stark Industries! When he arrives, he mentions how he's looking forward to taking on Iron Man. Stan's narration reminds us that he can't-- because at that moment, on the other side of the plant, Iron Man is lying on the ground, helpless, because of his fight with The Grey Gargoyle! (This was the very 1st issue of ASM I ever owned.)


http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/suspense/TOS%20097.jpg
"I really like that this story takes place on an illegal gambling boat on international waters. Very Raymond Chandler-esque!"

I forgot, the Robert Mitchum version of FAREWELL MY LOVELY, the climax takes place on a gambling boat. I really wanted to like that movie, but it was just too damn downbeat and depressing. Of the 3 versions on film so far, my favorite has actually become-- no kidding-- THE FALCON TAKES OVER, with George Sanders' "Gaylord Falcon" filling in for Philip Marlowe.


"One of the best parts of this story, and probably one of the most frustrating for new readers who prepared to pick-up Iron Man’s solo adventures, is the story doesn’t end! Rather than a complete ending, a huge game-changer is thrown in, as AIM appears and attacks the Maggia, creating a huge super-villain organization war! I had forgotten all about this ending and was pleasantly shocked by it! And so, while Iron Man leaves Suspense, he’s in the midst of major trouble and on the verge of death!"

I just think of it as a 5-part story...

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/suspense/TOS%20099.jpg
"I’m a huge fan of Archie Goodwin and I’m looking forward to reading what is to come. Archie was a tremendous writer, an incredible editor and by all accounts, one of the best people ever in comics."

And one of the nicest. I met him years back and got him to sign my favorite story of his, "Death's Dark Angel" from VAMPIRELLA #12. I also showed him some of my work, and was quite surprised when he made note of the accurate "pro wrestling" moves I'd included in a fight. turns out he was a fan of pro wrestling! Of all the editors in the biz, he's the ONE I most would have liked to have worked for (or with). I've always heard he felt an editor's job was to get the best people on a project... and then get out of their way!

At Marvel, IRON MAN seems to be the only series he ever stayed on for a good long haul. The thing is, it's the one thing he did for Marvel I've never been very impressed with. Don't know if it's George Tuska's art, or maybe the fact that most of his run I've still never read. But of the issues I have gotten ahold of, they seem "okay" at best. Still, considering some of Marvel's output, that ain't bad.


"one-shot Iron Man / Sub-Mariner special, re-teaming the two once again after their very recent melee"

Not so much of a team-up as a "split" book, hmm?
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/Misc/IrMSubM1.jpg


And then there's...
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20001.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20001%20inks.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20001%20p01.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20001%20p08.jpg

Look at those PRECISION lines!! Ironically, I think Craig's inks clash with Colan's style, though not as much as they did with Frank Springer's on the one issue of NICK FURY they did together. (Springer is really the ONLY guy who should ever ink Springer. And vice-versa.) It reminds me, in a different way, of Heck-Stone. Nice combo, but not "right" somehow.

Craig's linework reminds me of when Mike Esposito started, only SHARPER. Or maybe more like Bill Everett's! Except Everett was able to somehow bring more "mood" to Colan's work when he inked him. As it turned out, Craig was MUCH better on Tuska than he was on Colan, whose art just screams for more "mood".


Ironic that Gene Colan's final issue (of an UNBROKEN RUN!) was IRON MAN #1. Replacing him with Johnny Craig in #2 must have seemed like "bait-and-switch". But at least, when they switched artists, in this case, they did it BETWEEN stories. It's ending a 5-parter in IM #1 that bugs me...


"I know the great Johnny Craig (and I do think he deserves "the great" in front of him) did a few issues but this was at the tail-end of his career. And then George Tuska did some as well, but I've heard some criticisms over Tuska's art here too. I guess I'll see for myself shortly!"

I have yet to see any of Craig's solo IM stories. My understanding is, it was felt his pencilling style wasn't working on the series. George Tuska had been drifting around Marvel ever since that WATCHER story, and he finally found a home. Whoever thought of havinbg Craig INK Tuska, it was genius. I first encountered Tuska's work several years later, just before he began getting a string of bad inkers (mostly Esposito & Colletta). When I first saw Tuska-Craig-- only about a decade ago!-- I was BLOWN AWAY. Craig has to rank as one of the BEST inkers ever for Tuska. The only other inkers I liked teamed with him this much were Jack Abel and Billy Graham. (HERO FOR HIRE-- there was a book those 2 guys were born to do, and do together. Too bad it only lasted about 2 years.)

For some solo Johnny Craig art, go to...

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/

TITLES

CHAMBER OF DARKNESS

# 5

Interiors

page 7

I read once that during the Kefauver Committee hearings that pretty much led to the end of EC Comics and the creation of the Comics Code, several creators & executives from other comic book companies, when during their attempts to throw EC under the bus and showcase how different they were, were incredibly harsh on the art of Johnny Craig, basically making him the scapegoat for the most lurid artwork. Which is ironic, because at EC Comics, he was considered one of the more "clean" artists there, usually being very restrained in his show of gore. This is of course, notwithstanding his legendary cover for Crime SuspenStories #22.

The guys who did this were none other than Milton Caniff, Walt Kelly and Joseph Musial (of King Features Syndicate). When you read the transcripts, it's actually quite cruel and unfair. This caused Craig to leave comics entirely for advertising. Craig would do quite well in advertising.

Though he occassionally got some work, it was really Archie Goodwin who brought Craig back to comics full-time, bringing him to Marvel.

I thought you might like this, just posted at the Kirby Yahoo group...


THOSE DAMNED, DIRTY COMMIES!!


"As I showed there are at least two instances where Reagan said there was
no blacklist. Further the very executives who signed the Waldorf letter didn't
term it a "blacklist" for legal reasons."


I read what Reagan said. More, I LIKED what Reagan said. DAMN, he was good.


Myself, I'm of the opinion that Russian Communists (Bolsheviks) posed a VERY
REAL THREAT not only to this country but to the future of all mankind-- and that
includes Russians.


The NAZIS were terrified of these people! Think about that one.


The problem, in this country, was, HOW do you fight something so sneaky and
insidious?


And how do you do it without some politically corrupt and ambitious types using
the "fight against Communism" to further their own self-serving ends?


That's really the problem we had back in the 50's. It's not that there weren't
Communists-- THERE WERE! It's not that they weren't really dangerous-- THEY
WERE!! It's the methods used were corrupt, illegal, immoral, and a lot of
INNOCENT people got caught in their wheels.


A lot of younger comics readers who have NO IDEA tend to dismiss or make fun of
the whole anti-Communist slant a lot of early-60's Marvels-- especially one of
my very favorite Marvel series-- IRON MAN-- had. I don't. I LOVE those stories.


Before WW2 even started, Jack Kirby put Adolph Hitler on the cover of CAPTAIN
AMERICA COMICS #1. In the 60's, Kruschev and Castro turned up in Jack's stories.
If he were around and still working over the last 20 years, I'm sure he would
have had TODAY's international troube-makers turn up in his stories.


Why are current Americans so often afraid to be confrontational with foreign
troublemakers? Is it because they're IN CAHOOTS with them?

This cracks me up! I posted the above, NOT EVEN KNOWING there was a post about 50's witch-hunts right above it. That was anti-comics, mine was anti-Commies.


If you haven't seen it, check out Amicus Films' TALES FROM THE CRYPT. I jokingly call it the "Johnny Craig" movie, since some of HIS stories went into the making of the film. It's possibly the most deadly-serious and INTENSE of the Amicus "anthology" horror films, and has an amazing cast including Joan Collins, Ian Hendry, Peter Cushing, Richard Greene, Patrick Magee, Geoffrey Bayldon, and RALPH RICHARDSON as The Crypt Keeper! Be warned-- it's NOT a "fun" movie. But that's part of its charm...

the JOHNNY CRAIG era!!!


http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20002.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20003.jpg
http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20004.jpg


Well, that didn't last long... and I've never read any of these! (yet)

Just had to pass this on, one of the COOLEST covers I've ever seen by DON HECK!

http://www.comics.org/issue/205078/cover/4/?style=default

So I at long last grabbed a huge pile of Iron Man’s solo series to keep my Iron Man rereading project going, knowing it will take me many months to get through it all (considering I have a ton of current comics to read each week, plus a huge stack of trades I’ve amassed).

Iron Man / Namor the Sub-Mariner #1 – In my search for the old Iron Man issues, I realized, I couldn’t remember where we keep the Iron Man / Namor one-shot filed. It must be under Namor or Tales to Astonish because it wasn’t with Suspense or Iron Man; though it includes part of the Maggia story, it actually wraps up that portion while the AIM portion spills into Iron Man #1—causing a very confusing way to launch a new series. Such was how things were done at Marvel in 1968 where the breezy under-staffed methods of the early Silver Age were really out of date.

Iron Man #1 – The premiere issue of Iron Man starts off with a huge bang, continuing the Maggia / AIM story from Suspense and the one-shot, though with really only the AIM portion still a part. In that sense, it almost reads as a one-off story, though it clearly might leave some readers confused. By this time, AIM had become major villains for both Nick Fury and Captain America, and MODOK already had his awesome Kirby introduction in Cap’s series. Here, the now MODOK-less AIM returned, and this time with a new leader, Mordius, who would be only a one-off villain. The story is pretty basic Iron Man fare, and does a good job introducing readers to the series. What sets it apart is writer Archie Goodwin clearly has a knack for dialogue and helping use the narrative boxes to pace the reader through the story. It reads very well.

Gene Colan’s artwork is amazing as always; what is incredible is after that amazing great Iron Man run in Suspense, Gene is only on Iron Man for the first issue of his solo series; this is actually his final issue of his amazing run! Almost as if the first issue was a teaser to draw in readers and the subsequent issues were a bait & switch (if you were buying Iron Man for the art). Gene would do a quick stop at Captain Marvel before moving on to Dr. Strange, doing some other things along the way (Tales of the Watcher back-up in Silver Surfer, Medua in Marvel Super-Heroes, etc.), all the while still doing Daredevil. I’ve been praising Colan’s work throughout my review process, so giving a long-winded salute to it once more would be repetitive; I can only say I’ve always believed his work on Iron Man was “the OTHER great run” in Iron Man history. Having just now reread the entire thing, in my opinion, Colan’s Iron Man is the greatest run on Iron Man artwise ever, and perhaps Colan’s greatest work.

Johnny Craig inks Colan here as he did at the end of Suspense and comes on as penciler too next issue; in Craig’s Iron Man, there will always be a hint of Gene Colan in the way he draws Iron Man—the large circles on the belt and the bolts & gadgets on the armor itself.

Of note in the first issue is that the mysterious woman who appeared in the final Suspense issues finally gets her name: Whitney Frost, who will (as most of us know) become a HUGE part of the Iron Man mythos over the years. Whitney getting named made me realize I don’t think I’ve ever read #1 of Iron Man before. I had no idea she appeared right away after Pepper & Happy exited the series. We also learn in this issue the big surprise: Whitney is the Big M of the Maggia (unless we learned that in the Iron Man/Namor one-shot, I can’t remember). Whitney thus assumes a role once used by the Black Widow in Iron Man, as a sexy, seductive nemesis for Tony, albeit in a much firmer way than the Widow, who would appear and then leave. Whitney will be a recurring part of the cast issue in and issue out, and that also makes her assume the role of the now gone Pepper Potts as well. She is a great character, and the way she is introduced is very well done—it builds very slowly over a long period of issues. Here, Stilwell “rescues” her, and she takes the opportunity to thank him in a loving way that is in actuality, pure seduction to gain the secrets of Stark Industries.

Letter’s Page: Sock it to Shellhead! – one of the greatest letter’s page titles of all times debuts in #1, “Sock it to Shellhead!”. Only perhaps “Rappin’ with Cap” comes close to pure awesomeness; Lash even started a thread on Legion World about how awesome “Sock it to Shellhead!” is as a title. It would last for YEARS and YEARS.

Iron Man #2 – the great Johnny Craig takes over from Gene Colan with #2 after inking Gene’s pencils on the series for several issues. After reveling in Gene’s beautiful work, I have to admit, it’s a bit of a letdown right off. Having read ahead a few issues, I know that eventually Craig’s art will look a lot more appealing, but at the beginning, it doesn’t seem to have the same excitement. This isn’t to say Craig is a bad artist—we’ve already spoken in this thread about how great of a legend Johnny Craig is in the comics industry, stemming back from his EC days.

The story itself is okay but nothing to write home to Mom about. Archie Goodwin does a great job doing a one-off story with a bit of heart & soul, but the problem is it feels like material we’ve already seen. In fact, it reminds me quite a bit of the gold-armored Iron Man vs. Dr. Strange story from the very beginning of Iron Man’s series: evil scientist is jealous of Tony Stark and therefore plans to destroy Iron Man; daughter objects; love of daughter overcomes petty jealousy and scientist tries to change. Only this time, things are much more traditional and take on a Frankenstein-esque approach: he creates a massive robot to battle Iron Man, it loses control and threatens his daughter and only then he intervenes and dies in the process.

Again Jasper Stillwell plays an important role in the story. I’m finding him less annoying but he’s still not a favorite. With only the barest hints of Whitney Frost, he’s basically the entire supporting cast now and I’m eagerly waiting for more additions.

Iron Man #3 – Archie & crew must have sensed the need for more supporting players as well because in #3, Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan return for one issue, and in the process, Happy becomes the Freak again to battle Tony. What this sets up is a somewhat annoying precedent: for a number of years, anytime Happy Hogan returned to check in on Tony, he would become the Freak and battle Iron Man. Much like Curt Conners would always become the Lizard every time he appeared (which was not the case in the Ditko days of Spidey).

Seeing Happy & Pepper again is a treat though. They are now married and in the letter’s page, just to be clear to the readers, Stan lays out that Tony did not fire them, they retired from the hectic life of Stark Industries and Happy has a job somewhere else (which I’m sure we never will learn as they will both one day return to work for Tony).

The reasoning for their return is very well done. Iron Man sees a major problem occur at a rocket launch site and pitches in to help save the workers, in the process draining his power. This scene is very well done, as it shows Tony doing something other than battling super-villains, which is always necessary for superheroes, particularly in a strip like Iron Man. It also showcases other workers being very heroic: very well done by Goodwin & Craig. Tony returns to his factory to recharge but has pushed himself too far…his armor is just not strong enough to recharge all the way and thus he becomes reclusive. Happy, knowing Tony is Iron Man, comes to help him and it’s exactly what Tony needs, as he’s basically helpless. Happy is then able to make Tony new Iron Man armor under Tony’s direction. It is a sequence that really plays up the friendship of the characters and I liked it quite a bit. Subsequently, Happy becomes the Freak, but Tony is able to save him by issue’s end.

Great, great story.

Iron Man #4 – By the 4th issue of the solo series, Johnny Craig has begun to hit his stride: his Iron Man has a Colan influence while his layouts are a mix of Don Heck-type panels and the traditional EC style. I liked this issue quite a bit, and a lot of that were the dynamic fight scenes and the backgrounds: Tony attends a science conference, in a nice change of setting, and then battles the Unicorn in the snow. Comic book sequences in snow covered mountains are pretty rare and when they are done, sometimes a great artist can use it to good effect: that is done here.

Ironically, just as he’s hitting his stride, Johnny Craig will go back to being the inker only next issue, as George Tuska arrives as new penciler, starting his long run on Iron Man.

The Unicorn returns for his second battle with Iron Man. Since his first a few years earlier he showed up in an X-Men story where many forgotten villains gathered to battle them, ultimately making them fall into “B-Grade” status. Here, Goodwin tries to amp up the Unicorn again. I have a feeling this is a recurring theme for the Unicorn: he started out as a great villain, then quickly dropped to B-grade, they try to amp him up again, he’ll drop again and eventually become purely c-level. That is too bad because his original appearance is rather good. I noted then he was the heir to the Crimson Dynamo-type enemy position for Iron Man (the Communist Iron Man); this was prior to the Titanium Man’s first appearance. Now, we learn he has an added health condition caused by his armor and tests done to make him stronger—in away, he is more like Tony Stark than ever! His problems mirror Tony’s heart condition while his powers mirror Iron Man. Based on the first two Unicorn stories in Iron Man’s series, I think he’s a really great addition to the Iron Man rogues gallery. A shame it’s not the case anymore…I’d like to see him make a comeback (if he’s even still alive?).

PS - just seeing your last comments now Prof, somehow I missed them. I'll get to them shortly!

"IRON MAN AND SUB-MARINER #1 -- I realized, I couldn’t remember where we keep the Iron Man / Namor one-shot filed."


Hmm. Unless you have TWO copies of it, it should either be filed under "Iron Man" or "Sub-Mariner". I think I have my SUSPENSE issues filed with IRON MAN, not CAP. I suppose the one-shot is also with the IM's, probably because until the last 10 years, I had very few issues of SUB-MARINER.


"causing a very confusing way to launch a new series."

Apparently, in this case it had less to do with the staff or the timing of the issue numbers (funny how the two split books split up around the #100 mark). From what I hear, Martin Goodman had worked a deal with a different distrubutor, and wanted to expand IMMEDIATELY. never mind little details like being short-staffed. This, I guess, is why IRON MAN, SUB-MARINER, CAPTAIN AMERICA, HULK and even the brand-new CAPTAIN MARVEL all were awarded their own titles IN MID-STORY. At least DR. STRANGE got to wrap up a 22-issue sequence (22!!!) and NICK FURY ended with an one-shot epilogue story (of sorts). You can tell how sudden some of this was, as MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #13 announces the conclusion of the 3-part CAPTAIN MARVEL story in the next issue. Instead, it was in CAPTAIN MARVEL #1. Had Goodman waited about 6 months on that character, the whole SERIES might have started with CM #1, which would have made a lot more sense.

I'm reminded of IRON FIST... IF started in MARVEL PREMIERE, and had a rather loose "origin" sequence that weaved in and out of 8 issues, with 4 writers and 3 pencillers (not including the side-appearance in DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU SPECIAL #1). The series was supposed to continue in a B&W magazine, IRON FIST #1, but that was cancelled at the last moment, so the story it would have contained (with Frank McLaughlin's 2nd IF story) instead was published in DEADLY HANDS #10. IF then continued in PREMIERE, with an entirely new team (Claremont & Broderick). After a one-off story (and a team-up also drawn by Broderick in DEADLY HANDS), they started another LONG storyline. The 2nd episode of it, Broderick was replaced with Byrne, and the NEXT episode-- part 3-- aappeared in the color IRON FIST #1. A "first" issue-- with "part 3" of an 8-parter. GEE, THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE!!!


Anyway, in addition to getting my hands on MOST of the SUSPENSE run, I also managed to get both IRON MAN AND SUB-MARINER #1 and IRON MAN #1. I don't think I even realized at the time (the late 70's) that IM #1 was Gene's last issue. What a place to STOP.

I'm STILL missing most of those SUB-MARINERs, so the long storyline Roy Thomas spewed out is still mostly an unknown factor to me. They have finally been reprinted in recent years, but I can't afford any of those NOW...


Gene's art is amazing... even though I don't think he's as good a "writer" as Don Heck. And Johnny Craig is amazing-- even though he's NOT a good match for every penciller. He's not really that good with either Gene (on IRON MAN) or Frank Springer (one issue of NICK FURY), as his fine, sharp lines seem a total clash of styles. Solo, he's great (hope you've checked out the CHAMBER OF DARKNESS H.P. Lovecraft story I posted). And over George Tuska... WOW!!!


I think my introduction to Whitney Frost was during the MESS that followed Gerry Conway's brief stint as Editor. I don't recall everything about that period, except that Bill Mantlo finally went from perrennial fill-in writer to getting a regular series, and George Tuska, after a leave of absence, came back for what proved to be his 3RD and FINAL run of IRON MAN. Whitney returned during that time (I think) and I had to play mental catch-up, as I had never read ANY of her earlier stories before!! I knew she was some kind of reformed villain, and got romantically involved with Tony Stark (and knew his secret identity). Things were going swimingly... until newcomers David Michelinie & Bob Layton pulled some kind of behind-the-scenes stunt and had Mantlo KICKED off the book he'd put in so much hard work on, just so they could take it over. SURE, they did great work-- but even to this day, I still don't like how they got on the book. And so typical of a "new team", the very first thing they did was completely derail whatever Mantlo had been building. Count Nefaria returned, appeared to DIE, and Whitney blamed Tony for it-- and returned to crime, swearing to kill Tony over it. WHAT THE F***!!!


It's interesting to see how IRON MAN, briefly, went into one-issue stories, just as NICK FURY did. CAP continued with multi-parters (at least for the next several months), as did DR. STRANGE. HULK is another series I'm not sure of. CAPTAIN MARVEL had mostly one-offs, but the overall "main story" about his being a spy on Earth, and the horrible soap-opera with Colonel Yon-Rogg dragged on hopelessly for the bulkl of the run.


Interesting comments about The Unicorn. Maybe we can "blame" Roy Thomas for appropriating him for his "losers squad" story in X-MEN for the guy's perpetual 2nd-rater status? I recently read somewhere that Roy apparently didn't want to create many new villains, preferring to work with the ones already in place. Maybe that stresses how much of a "fanboy" he always is?


I've still never seen the issues Johnny Craig pencilled. The next issue I happened to pick up as a back-issue-- at random-- featured THE CRUSHER.

Wow, remind me to come back here if I ever decide to read the Iron Fist stories in order! That sounds incredibly confusing! Marvel was just so all over the map editorially in the 1970’s!

I did check it out when you posted it and it’s a fantastic story. So many greats did quick stories in Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows, which I’ve never read. I love that you’ve put so much good stuff up at the Silver Age Marvel Comics site! You can see how this story was right up Johnny Craig’s alley.

I remember when I reread all the Thor’s last year, that Thor went into single issue stories right at the close of Kirby’s run. In the Bullpen Bulletins page, Stan announced that this was something they were going to try to get back to company-wide; I wonder if Iron Man, Fury and others started out earlier than Thor? Either way, it was a disaster. It very shortly changed and they went back to continuing, long-running stories (or at least a mix of length). Stan even admitted it was a mistake a few issues later in the Bullpen Bulletins. The problem was that they were trying to go back to the structure of the early Silver Age, but the story-telling style had changed so much by then. In 1962, things went slower, more time was taken to introduce things and you just got more per issue so it felt like a full story; in 1968, things were moving much more quickly, there were better action sequences and so the story often felt “squeezed”. There was no introduction and the end was in like 2 pages. You can see that here with Iron Man’s, and with Thor, such as the Crypto-Man story, it’s the same thing.

Another bonehead thing they did, sometime in 1970 or 1971, was increase the page count for all the titles and raise the prices. I’m pretty sure that only lasted one month and Stan once again admitted it was a mistake in the Bullpen Bulletins. When I get to that later in my rereading project, I’ll be curious as to how long it lasted (I remember with Thor it was the Durok the Demolisher / Silver Surfer story while Loki was in control of Asgard, #194 or #195).

Interesting post! I agree that the Communists were a very real threat in the 1950’s and 1960’s to the western world and the US in particular. Anyone with any knowledge of world history should know that. There is a tendency among young people (people my age truthfully) to laugh off the Communist threat as this big made-up thing which is a very misinformed perspective. The McCarthy Era was horrible—yes, absolutely, but only because of the way in which McCarthy and his cohorts attacked US citizens unfairly. This doesn’t mean Communists weren’t a threat then.

Of course, there is a tendency among young people to say capitalism is a failed system, etc, etc.. I don’t buy it. Capitalism is still the best system the world has ever seen; if another better one comes along that will be great. Communism, in my mind, is a failed experiment. It is a noble idea, for sure, and the many times I’ve read the Communist Manifesto, I’ve been repeatedly impressed by Marx’s ideas. The only problem, as history has proven, is the steps to get there simply cannot be accomplished by human beings. But, let’s not get too political.

Personally, I love a little international Commie-bashing in my 60’s comics. I love some terrorist bashing these days as well. Modern comics would be in bad taste if, say, random world leaders were getting punched out by super-heroes. But I don’t think it would be too much to see Bin Laden get knocked out—there is no arguing that is an evil bastard on par with Hitler.

Iron Man #5 – George Tuska steps on as new penciler of Iron Man, beginning his long association with the character, as Johnny Craig goes back to being inker for the series. Archie Goodwin is still the writer and overall, the three seem to work well together. I know there are many people who are not fans of Tuska’s work; to be perfectly honest, I’m not as familiar with it as I am many other artists. I think it will be my rereading of Iron Man that will help me judge his work—in his early issues, I think he does a pretty solid job. On the one hand, the series maintains his pretty look; on the other hand, after both Colan and Craig, Tuska’s work so far just doesn’t seem as exciting. I’m hoping that changes. I’m not quite sure exactly why I’m feeling that way yet.

The story in #5 is something that is really offbeat! Within, Tony is teleported forward to the 24th Century where he is put on trial for the crimes one of his creations has done over the centuries even though he has not created it yet; if he can defeat it, he can go free. This is a pure science-fiction story, time travel and all, and it really sticks out from the Iron Man stories of the last few years; if anything, it fits more in the Jack Kirby / Golden Armor early era of Iron Man more than anything, when the story was a pure sci-fi strip with monsters and offbeat adventures.

Despite the different change of pace, it’s actually a pretty solid story! It reminds me a bit of Len Wein’s Thor stories of the 1970’s—science-fiction with a twist.

Iron Man #6 – The Crusher returns in #6, a menace from the latter part of the Tales of Suspense issues. I was surprised he returned, as I did not realize the Crusher would be a recurring menace. I’m wondering if he’ll be back. The Crusher is from Cuba at a time when Castro was loathed in the United States, and that is played up once again here. An interesting aspect is that the Crusher seeks out some Cuban commie-spies stationed right in Florida and it’s done in such a way that’s not a surprise at all; Cuba spies in Florida? Even today with the huge Cuba population in Florida it seems far-fetched!

Tuska & Craig continue to do a good job for Goodwin’s story. Here we begin to get some more subplot focus back after many single issue stories where it was limited (this is very welcome from me). Janice Cord, the daughter from #2, remains a part of the series, as Tony continues to send her flowers, either out of feelings for her or guilt of what happened to her father. I’m very curious where this is going as I don’t know much about Janice. The Whitney Frost subplot is coming to a head as she is under pressure from her Maggia subordinates to get the secrets to Stark Industries; she ends up getting caught in the battle, causing Jasper Sitwell to try to intervene and Iron Man getting him out of harm’s way by knocking him out when he refuses. Thus, Jasper is very embarrassed in front of Whitney and now mad at Iron Man. We also see for the first time Whitney is not totally heartless as she feels guilty for playing Jasper. What’s really interesting is that thus far, Whitney and Tony Stark have yet to meet! I believe the following story will bring this to a head.

Elsewhere in the Marvel U
During these months, the Mandarin would reappear, but in the Hulk’s comic! The Mandarin, being Iron Man’s biggest nemesis would sometimes battle other heroes; but because of his A-Level status, these fights would have to be bigger than usual, like when Magneto, the Red Skull or Dr. Doom would battle someone else. Oftentimes, however, they would not be (I have not read the Hulk / Mandarin story so I’m curious). The Mandarin had actually appeared once already since his last Iron Man battle, showing up in the first Avengers Annual a few months earlier, assembling a team of villains to battle them.

By now, Marvel had launched most of the big series they intended to (which I listed earlier in this thread). I know from Bullpen Bulletins and scuttlebutt that they wanted to do a Dr. Doom title, a Ka-Zar title and others. At some point, when sales for some of their other titles were going down (leading to the cancellation or change to reprints for Nick Fury, Dr. Strange, Silver Surfer, X-Men and others), they would decide to go back to the anthology route.

Bullpen Bulletins
Stan announces in the Bullpen Bulletins that two new writers are joining Marvel, one of whom is Arnold Drake. Previously, there was of course Stan, then Roy, then Gary Friedrich and Archie Goodwin. I’m not sure who the next one is? Is it Gerry Conway? I know he’s coming (but not yet), and then Marv Wolfman. Later the next wave will be Englehardt, Gerber, etc. I think Len Wein doesn’t come until around then too, but I can’t remember.

IRON FIST, despite itself, has long been a favorite subject (and occasional whipping boy-- heh) of mine. The early run isn't nearly as confusing as MASTER OF KUNG FU (I doubt anything is). You've got the first 8 episodes, which comprise one long "origin" sequence. I'd drop the "Master Plan of Fu Manchu" appearance in the middle of that, in between the Larry Hama & Arvell Jones issues. The 2nd Frank McLaughlin story, I'd drop in right after that. There's 3 Pat Broderick stories-- the Sons of the Tiger team-up being one of them, and then John Byrne comes in. (I remember thinking the inks were terrible-- but in retrospect, I see the inker had an uphill battle against John Byrne's work, which hadn't really gotten there yet.)

It was only when I assembled my own index that I realized that Frank McLaughlin-- creator of Charlton's JUDOMASTER-- was probably all set to take over the series from Larry Hama (co-creator of SAMURAI, alias YOUNG MASTER, which ran in Warren's EERIE and from a tiny publisher years later), but when the B&W IRON FIST #1 was cancelled, he probably went on to something else. I find myself wishing he'd spent more time pencilling than inking, which took up the bulk of his later career. I think he murdered Dick Dillin on JLA-- but he really worked well with Carmine Infantino on FLASH and DANGER TRAIL.


From some letters pages, it seems it was felt Johnny Craig "didn't work out" on IRON MAN. Looking back, I'm NOT sure what that means. Stan could be so vague. Was it his pencils weren't dynamic enough, or his "storytelling"? I know from the movie TALES FROM THE CRYPT (if nowhere else) that Craig WROTE or co-wrote much of his EC Comics output. But Stan Lee seemed to have a very fixed idea of what he wanted and expected from his "pencillers".

By comparison, George Tuska apparently had NO trouble working "Marvel Method", either supplying most of the plot, or working more 50-50 with later writers. He hit the ground running on IRON MAN like a runaway express train, and Johnny Craig's inks were a PERFECT match, much more than some later inkers like Mike Esposito or Vince Colletta, who he kept being saddled with over and over. Early letters often complained about Tuska being "too cartoony" after Gene Colan. Maybe... all the same, with really good inks, those early are some of the best stuff I've ever seen from him, outside of HERO FOR HIRE.


Legend has it Martin Goodman insisted on complete-in-one-issue stories, which obviously didn't work well when you got to having 4 panels to a page instead of 6 or 9. It was definitely Goodman's idea to expand the entire line to 25c double-size issues. As he hoped, DC followed suit to compete... but only TWO months later, he dropped back to regular size issues for 20c. DC took at least 6 months to react, and wound up LOSING a lot of sales in the process. It was nothing but "dirty pool", and it caused a lot of editorial and creative chaos in the process. Check out what happened in CAPTAIN AMERICA at that time to see chaos incarnate, as the material slated for a double-sized issue was split into 2, etc... I doubt the double-sized thing would have worked in the long run, as they didn't have the staff for it, and I NEVER like books that mix "new" and "reprint" material in the same package. One way or the other, it always feels like a "rip-off".

"it fits more in the Jack Kirby / Golden Armor early era of Iron Man more than anything, when the story was a pure sci-fi strip with monsters and offbeat adventures"

I'm reminded of the "Kala" and "Cleopatra" stories.


"I did not realize the Crusher would be a recurring menace."

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/ironman/IM%20006.jpg

I know it was somewhat of a shock to me when I picked up IRON MAN #6 (sometime in the 80's, I think) as he sure SEEMED to meet a "final" doom at the end of his first appearance. In the meantime (and I was only just reminded of this a few days ago), a 2ND "Crusher" appeared in an early-70's DAREDEVIL story (it was Tony Isabella's 1st issue of what proved to be a rather short run for him), and I must have read that long before reading the REAL Crusher's return.

http://www.comics.org/issue/28344/cover/4/?style=default

Crusher's return boils down to a simple (and simple-minded) REVENGE plot, one of countless "grudge matches" seen in the late 60's (and far, far beyond). Iron Man did THIS to him, he's gonna do it BACK! I recall it didn't work, but the details escape me. The most memorable part of the story (which I've read twice, many years apart) was that, once he got deep enough into the Earth, the power of the weapon IM used wore off, and he found himself in Tyrannus' underground kingdom (or was it The Mole Man's-- or Kala's?). By the time he climbed back to the surface, he was REALLY pissed. You'd think he would have made a b-line for Castro, to tell "El Presidente" who was in charge now, but then Marvel history would have gone differently from the "real" world (heh).


"I’m very curious where this is going as I don’t know much about Janice."

I WON'T TELL. As it happens, my very first exposure to her was in what turned out to be her last appearance in the series.

MANY years later I started picking up the odd early-Tuska issue here and there. Thery were WAY too pricey for my tastes, but fortunately my local comics shop, the owner said he hadn't gotten around to "updating" prices in a long time. I was paying between $10.00 and $20.00 for each issue, which seems outragous to me, considering it's Tuska IRON MAN, and Kirby-Sinnott FANTASTIC FOUR tended to go for around $20.00 a copy. But I've seen Tuska IRON MAN issues going for $80.00 apiece at conventions-- which to me is just INSANE! I figured out the reason for this was, MANY of the stories in Archie Goodwin's run had multiple sequels years and decades later-- and Archie's run, until recently, had NEVER BEEN REPRINTED! That, plus the general low quality of Marvel reprints over the decades, is what I feel pushed prices of the originals into insane areas.

Anyway, this was one of things I wanted to correct by doing a comprehensive "re-reading project", which would allow me to read all these stories in the order they came out, which I wasn't able to do before.


"showing up in the first Avengers Annual a few months earlier, assembling a team of villains to battle them"

http://www.samcci.nostromo.no/avengers/AV%20A01.jpg

I hope you re-read AVENGERS ANNUAL #1 before moving on to Mandarin's further IM adventures-- it would only make sense. Between Mandarin being the main villain, and Don Heck on pencils, it continues a tradition of sorts. Unfortunately, EVERY other villain in that issue is reduced to 2nd-rater status, as Roy Thomas pays tribute to Gardner Fox's time-worn habit of splitting the team up into smaller teams to face each villain separately. EACH one of the villains gets beaten way too quickly and easily, and it serves to diminish their status as "major" villains.

Ultimo, especially-- who goes down the same way he did the first time, only quicker! I believe it was in Roy's story that it was first hinted that The Mandarin did NOT create him, but FOUND him. It may make more sense than the original explanation, but it does contradict it.


It seems to me there was a long stretch where no new writers came along. I'd guess the next new one was Gerry Conway, who did seem to arrive before the bulk of the "70's" writers.

Before him, though, JACK KIRBY finally got a few actual writing credits, just months before he left for DC. (I also posted a COMPLETE Kirby-written story at the SA Marvel site. It's the one in CHAMBER OF DARKNESS #5 just before the Johnny Craig story!) Jack had been writing his own stories since the late 1930's, but Stan wanted him kept as busy as possible pencilling (and of course, doing "layouts"-- PLOTTING the stories-- FOR Stan).

Maybe somebody here can help me. I'm trying to post links for EVERY issue of THE AVENGERS (from #1-100) that Iron Man appeared in. I've got #1-16, Annual #1, 51, Annual #2, 58, 63, 66-67, 70, 76, 79-80, 82, 87-88, 92-96, 98-100. Have I missed any? (Sure, I could LOOK IT UP in the ESSENTIAL books, but why not let someone else have some "fun"?)

http://www.chronologyproject.com/ironman.htm says he's in (in one form or another): Avengers v1 #1-10, #12-16, #21-22, #26, #32, #38-39, #45, #51-52, #58, #60, #66-67, #69-71, #76-77, #79-82, #86-88 and #93-100; plus Annual 1.

Thanks. I took a look at that site... and while I can appreciate the work that must have gone into it, it's not the easiest thing for a casual fan (or even a long-term one) to "read", and cramming all that "continuity" in from decades later seems kind of obsessive. (But then, I'm focusing on the 60's, for the most part.)

I had to dig out AVENGERS #11 to see what was up... whatta ya know, Marvel DID need a real editor back then. Iron Man is missing from the issue, because he was off in CHINA tracking down The Mandarin. BUT-- he's still on the cover!

Since the SA Marvel site is mostly about covers, that's enough for me to include a link to that issue on the IM page... (heh)