Marvel Read-Through: A Decade of Marvel
Editor’s Note: I started this blog in part to keep me occupied while unemployed but I’ve actually ended up working full time since the end of September. I used some of this money to get a Marvel Unlimited subscription which gave me a three-month period waiting for new issues to be posted where I was only reading old comics for this blog. It’s been three months and I will resume reading new issues weekly, but I’m still committed to this journey.
One of the most confusing parts of comics is following a character’s individual arc across multiple different titles. Between solo books, group books, team-ups, cameos, and more, it is nearly impossible to catch every appearance of a character you follow if you don’t read every issue of every title. Interestingly, this is also one of my favorite things about comics. I get to read my favorite characters’ in their own solo books, in the group books if they are a member, and every now and then I get a fun surprise appearance. While most of the 1960s solo adventures post-origin stories are quite inconsequential, I decided to check in on some of the major heroes’ solo books to close out the decade. There were some important moments that I’m glad I read, and some that just didn’t seem to matter, but it was a nice taste of how the solo books were going on during this era.
I started by checking out the first Titanium Man story-arc in Iron Man history. It was a fun read, and very quick since Tony was sharing his book with Cap at the time and they each only got half an issue every month. While Iron Man is a real A-lister now, it’s easy to see here why he wasn’t one of Marvel’s top grabs for a long time despite being a prominent part of the comic universe. There’s not much to say about the issues I read since they were very standard Silver Age comics. As a fan I liked them, but there isn’t much that stands out negatively or positively. The art and writing were up to par, but nothing stood out to me overall. My main takeaway is that Tony, Pepper, and Happy were in some weird love triangle, a fact I was never aware of.
I followed Iron Man with some Captain America stories. The return of Red Skull was nice. Having been absent since the 1950s, bringing back Cap’s arch-nemesis was a great creative decision, and including the creation of the Cosmic Cube and Skull’s original obsession with it was also fun to read. The most important thing to happen in these comics was the first appearance of Falcon and his eventual role as Captain America’s sidekick. After Iron Man and Cap were given their own books, something I was very happy to finally get to since they both deserve the spotlight and longer, more fleshed-out stories, Cap was given a new sidekick who goes on to be a pretty big C-list hero, Sam Wilson aka Falcon. A few issues later, Cap recruits him as an official sidekick and even the book’s cover read “Captain America and the Falcon” for quite a while. The full-length issues really allowed Falcon to grow into the hero he is and keep the fight against Red Skull and MODOK relevant to the story. I was actually taken by surprise that Falcon didn’t have wings on his original costume, and it was green instead of his classic white and red color scheme. I enjoyed reading these issues, and they felt important to the universe since they introduced Falcon, A.I.M., MODOK, the Cosmic Cube, and reintroduced Red Skull and his rivalry with Captain America.
Marvel Cosmic is one of the things that got me into this universe in the first place. I’m talking post-2004 Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning cosmic stories. After reading some of my dad’s original Nova comics from the 1970s, I fell in love with the character and I have checked out some of his 2000s adventures. While Marvel Cosmic wasn’t really prevalent until Jim Starlin fleshed it out in the 1990s, it still has a presence in the comics as early as the 1960s, so I decided to check out Stan Lee and John Buscema’s Silver Surfer.
I was a little confused when the first issue went well past the usual 20–22 pages, and I soon learned that the Surfer’s first solo title was actually all giant-size magazines, something that I think benefitted this title. The extended flashback telling of the Silver Surfer’s origin in issue #1, interspersed with the character contemplating humanity in the present was the deepest and most introspective comic I’ve read yet on this journey. I loved it. It was philosophical. While issue #3, which I read next, had more of a classic good-vs.-evil story with the introduction of Mephisto, it still commented on the human condition with Mephisto feeding off the bad of humanity. I remember once reading that Marvel tried to stay out of religion in its stories, but Mephisto is not subtle at all as a proxy for Satan, although his love of the bad parts of humanity made for an interesting foil to the Surfer’s pure good soul. One thing about this series I was disappointed with is that the Silver Surfer is trapped on Earth. I’m used to him travelling the cosmos in modern comics, and it seemed like the character was stunted by being solely on Earth. The fantastic, thoughtful writing made up for this though. As is usual with earlier comics, the art here is a highlight since it deviates from the standard. Buscema’s interpretation of space and the cosmos was mesmerizing to look at. It was abstract but also easily understandable as an exploration of the furthest reaches of space. Silver Surfer contains some of the most interesting art at this point in Marvel’s history.
Continuing my exploration of the early days of Marvel Cosmic, I checked out the original Captain Marvel’s first appearances. Honestly, I know next to nothing about Mar-Vell other than the fact that he existed, accidentally gave Carol Danvers her powers, and died of cancer. I was excited to get into a completely new character for me. These issues were fine. They felt very derivative of superhero comics and didn’t seem to bing anything new to the table. I liked the expansion of Kree mythology and seeing Carol before she gets her powers was cool I guess. I jumped ahead to Captain Marvel #16–17 to see Rick Jones become the human version of Mar-Vell. This was an interesting development for both characters, and I liked that it followed up on Rick after he quits as Captain America’s sidekick. Based on these two issues, I’m excited to see Mar-Vell return and interact with the Avengers in the Kree-Skrull War. Also his new outfit (seen below) was pretty cool.
I wanted this post to focus on solo books, but since X-Men did not follow up on Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as I expected, I read a couple of Avengers issues just to see them rejoin the team ahead of the Kree-Skrull War. It was a fairly inconsequential arc; other than having the two mutants back as Avengers, nothing of importance happened. It was also just fine. I enjoyed reading it but it is not a standout moment for Marvel.
Returning to solo books, I checked in on the Man Without Fear. I know Daredevil is pretty much inessential reading until Frank Miller takes over writing duties in the 80s, but I love the character so I read two issues that deal with his secret identity: #25 and #57. The first issue was when Matt Murdock invents the lie that he has a twin brother, Mike. This is ridiculous, but it is a staple of Golden and Silver Age secret identity lies. It’s so silly it makes Tony claiming Iron Man is his bodyguard look believable. But it’s a part of Daredevil history and I’m glad I checked it out. The second issue was a standard superhero romp until the last page when Matt reveals to Karen that he is Daredevil. This must have been pretty shocking at the time since most superheroes had yet to reveal their identities even to those closest to them. While it doesn’t have an impact on the overall universe, I enjoyed reading these milestones of Marvel and Daredevil history.
On the topic of secret identities, it was a few months ago in Origins Part 2 that I wrote about Thor and Donald Blake, the doctor who finds Mjolnir and gains the ability to transform into the God of Thunder. I have finally reached the point where the true origin of Thor is revealed: to teach him a lesson in humility, Odin sent him to Earth in the form of Donald Blake and stripped him of his memory. It was all revealed to Thor over the course of one issue, but I would have liked it to be a little longer in a two-part arc. It felt rushed at the end when Odin reveals the truth and then we just get the last three panels as seen above, but I am so happy to finally have Thor be the Thor I know, and not the alternate form of an Earthling. I think this was such a great creative decision on Stan Lee’s part since it makes Thor different from the other heroes. He isn’t a man with powers and a secret identity, he is an Asgardian through and through; his real identity is Thor. The storytelling was rushed, but the creative direction for the character is superb.
My last character to check up on was the Hulk. I read the origins of his two greatest foes, the Leader and Abomination, and I witnessed Rick Jones give away his secret identity. Overall, the few issues I read here were short and sweet, since it was a shared book with Ant-Man and then Namor after all. Hulk is a much more interesting character than I previously thought. Bruce Banner’s struggles with the rage monster inside of him are compelling to read, and the addition of some worthy villains was a nice touch to keep things interesting. I have to mention the art. The first few issues, drawn by the great Steve Ditko and inked by George Bell, looked different than most of what I’ve seen. It felt like a mixture of 60s comic book art and the 60s Spider-Man cartoon, which was still three years away from premiering. I don’t know if it was the line work or the colors and I’m not saying this is a bad thing, just an observation I had. The issue drawn by Ditko and John Romita, Sr. retained a bit of this strange effect but by the time Gil Kane was drawing the book it was gone.
And that’s it! I’ve read through the 60s at Marvel. I knew I would like it from a historical and fan perspective, but I was surprised that I really enjoyed it just as well-written and drawn comic books. I’m excited to see the 70s lean towards heavier themes since the Silver Age is known to be quite silly at times, but for the most part the 60s was an excellent decade for Marvel comics.
Issues Read:
Iron Man portions of Tales of Suspense #69–71
Captain America portions of Tales of Suspense #79–81
Captain America #117–119, #133
Silver Surfer #1, #3
Marvel Super-Heroes #12–13
Captain Marvel #1, #16–17
Avengers #75–76
Daredevil #25, #57
Thor #159
Hulk portions of Tales to Astonish #60–63, #77, #90–91
Favorite issue: Silver Surfer #1 was like nothing else that has come before. Easy choice.
