Stan Lee 100

Stan Lee was born 100 years ago on this date.  

Remembering the man and his life (December 28, 1992 to November 12, 2018), with a group of Marvel Comics that he wrote...

...that were one hundred issues!

Strange Tales #100 (September, 1962)

The first of the Stan Lee 100 issues, with a cover drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Steve Ditko (names that would always be there to help Stan Lee reach his heights).

Though there were a few Marvel super heroes at this time, this anthology book was still odd horror tales, with stories plotted by Stan, and likely written by Larry Leiber, with art by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck.

This issue was reprinted in the Marvel: June 1962 Omnibus (2021).

The next issue of Strange Tales would see half the book taken over by the Fantastic Four's Human Torch, with Doctor Strange and Nick Fury to follow in years to come.

Journey Into Mystery #100 (January, 1964)

Here begins a run of stories that Stan Lee would be better known for, this one featuring Thor, the god of thunder!

Under a cover by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky, with interior work by Don Heck, Thor faced off against Mr. Hyde (who debuted in the previous issue).  While successful against Mr. Hyde, Jane Foster did not impress Thor's father, Odin, and thus Odin would not allow Thor to marry the young nurse Thor was infatuated with.

This tale has been reprinted many times, including in Thor's first Marvel Masterworks, and his first Epic Collection.

Tales To Astonish #100 (February, 1968)

This issue features a battle royal between the two characters, Hulk and the Sub-Mariner, that shared the title.

With a cover by Marie Severin and Dan Adkins (who also did the inside, with a little inking assistance from Roger Brand), the two heroes often branded villains battled (though it was the fault of neither...the Hulk was being controlled by the Fantastic Four villain, the Puppet Master).

Among other places, this story was reprinted in the third Hulk Marvel Masterwork and in the third Hulk Epic Collection (and would fit in a second Sub-Mariner Epic Collection whenever Marvel makes one).

Captain America #100 (April, 1968)

Here, Stan Lee returns to a character he had worked on since World War II (as Captain America took over the Tales To Suspense title that he had shared with Iron Man).

Jack Kirby supplied the cover (with inks by Syd Shores and Joe Sinnott), with interiors by Kirby and Shores, where Cap, Black Panther and Agent 13 (Sharon Carter) battle who they think is Baron Zemo in Wakanda, defeating the man, with Cap suggesting to Black Panther to join the Avengers as his replacement (which he would).  The issue also features a bit on Steve Rogers' origin, and his meeting with the Avengers.

This issue was reprinted in Captain America's second Marvel Masterwork as well as in his second Epic Collection (and a few other places).

Fantastic Four #100 (July, 1970)

Stan Lee's great triumphant issue 100, where he had written all the previous issues of as well, along with Jack Kirby.

Here, with Kirby inked by Joe Sinnott, the Fantastic Four, along with Inhuman Crystal (who was a part of the team), battled all the FF foes...sort of.  The Mad Thinker and Puppet Master had made android duplicates of the villains, and set them against the five heroes, in an epic tale, celebrating 100 issues with the same writer/artist.

This issue would be reprinted in the tenth Fantastic Four Marvel Masterwork, as well as in their sixth Epic Collection.

Amazing Spider-Man #100 (September, 1971)

Another Stan Lee triumph, as he had written all of the issues previously, though here, he had a few artists working with him over the decades, including Steve Ditko and John Romita.

Under a cover by John Romita and Frank Giacoia, with interiors by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia (and backgrounds by Tony Mortellaro), Peter Parker struggled with his spider powers (nothing new), faced hallucinations of his old foes (new and old), and, by the end, ended up with six arms (totally new).  Hey, Stan could always put Peter through his paces, and an anniversary issue was no exception!

This issue was reprinted in the eleventh Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Masterwork, and in the sixth Epic Collection of that series.

Truly, a touch of the career that was Stan Lee's, and a nice look at the overall history he created, on this, what would have been his 100th birthday.

Excelsior!

 

Detective Comics Centennial 100 and 200

Starting a celebration of every 100 issues of Detective Comics, where Batman began back in May, 1939.

This time, looking back at his first and second 100 issues, with Detective Comics #100 and #200.

Detective Comics 100

The first of these special issues was Detective Comics #100 (June, 1945) with a cover by Dick Sprang.

This issue features the main story of "The Crow's Net Mystery", by Don Cameron, Jack Burnley and Charles Paris, where Batman and Robin raid a fence's hideout to find two smugglers, one of whom shoots the other to escape.  Trailing the murderer to the Crow's Nest, the Dynamic Duo encounter mystery writer Reginald Scofield lives.  Batman deduces that this is where the smugglers operated from, and finds Scofield's butler to be their leader, which all gives Scofield a new idea for a story!

Other features in this issue include Air Wave, Three-Ring Binks, Slam Bradley and the Boy Commandos!

Detective Comics 200

J. Winslow Mortimer was the artist who rode the radio waves to give readers the cover of Detective Comics #200 (October, 1953).

Here, Batman and Robin had the Batmobile tuned to "Radio Station C-R-I-M-E" in a story that had no identified writer, but with art by Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris.  This time around, criminals in Gotham were being aided by a radio station that broadcasted the locations of the police, allowing them to commit crimes.  The Dynamic Duo tracked down the mobile radio station after an attempted plane hijacking and parking structure hideout, finding the leader, who got the information by lip reading conversations at the Gotham City Police Department.

The other features in this issue included Roy Raymond TV Detective, the original Robotman and Pow-Wow Smith. 

Both Detective Comics stories featured the Batman and Robin of Earth-2 (basically, the Batman who was a member of the Justice Society of America, instead of the Justice League of America, with a grown up Robin joining the JSA much later, having never appeared in All-Star Comics during the original 57 issue run).

You'll notice that these issues don't quite come out at the same time as Superman's Action Comics #100 and #200, and the rates of growth and their variations between Action and Detective are covered here!


Come back as the countdown to Detective Comics #1000 continues...

Action Comics Centennial 100 and 200

Starting a celebration of every 100 issues of Action Comics, where Superman began back in June, 1938.

This time, looking back at his first and second 100 issues, with Action Comics #100 and #200.

Action Comics 100

The first of these special issues was Action Comics #100 (September, 1946) with a cover by Wayne Boring and Ed Dobrotka.

This issue features the main story of "The Sleuth Who Never Failed" by Alvin Schwartz and Ira Yarbrough, where Inspector Hawkins from Scotland Yard comes to America to find out Superman's secret identity...following around Clark Kent for a time, but eventually giving up on Kent as Superman's alter ego, after a myriad of super-tricks, and one not so obvious, that of finding Clark's will, where Superman is named as a beneficiary!

This issue is unique as this is the only one that features the original, Golden Age Earth-2 Superman as the star, and also has many other features, such as the Hayfoot Henry, Congo Bill (who later got a magic ring and merged with Congorilla), the Vigilante (the Seven Soldiers of Victory member) and Zatara (Zatanna's father).

Action Comics 200

J. Winslow Mortimer provided the cover for the next centennial issue of Action Comics, which was #200 (January,1955).

Here, Superman faced the "Tests Of A Warrior" by no credited writer, and artists Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye.  Superman helps the son of Indian Chief Hun-Sha, who is being forced to pass tribal tests by the evil medicine man, Morwatha, until Superman can expose his treachery.

This is a story of the Silver Age Superman of Earth-1, and with shrinking page counts, only has two other adventures, that of future Space Planeteer, Tommy Tomorrow, and jungle explorer, Congo Bill (who 48 issues later becomes Congorilla).

Come back as the countdown to Action Comics #1000 continues...

Happy 100th Birthday Jack Kirby

Sadly, Jack Kirby (born August 28, 1917, died February 6, 1994) is no longer with us.

But, a few of his friends wanted to celebrate...

...folks like Captain America and the Fantastic Four.....

....Bombast and Captain Glory....

....Machine Man and Devil Dinosaur (Moon Boy too!).... 

...to the Eternals and Black Panther....

...Kamandi, the Last Boy On Earth! and Etrigan, the Demon....

....the Sandman (and all sorts of things on the edge of dreams) and the Manhunter....

....the Dingbats of Danger Street and Atlas....

...OMAC, the One Man Army Corps and our fighting forces of the Losers... 








....the New Gods and Mr. Miracle (finding a whole Fourth World).... 

...to whole teams of heroes like the Avengers and the X-Men....

...including Avenger members like Thor and the Hulk....

...to Green Arrow and the Challengers of the Unknown....

...to the Boy Commandos and the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion....

....to Manhunter and the Sandman again (for the first time)....

...even this rare cover for a hundredth issue of Comic Reader, covering a few of DC's characters.....


...and so much more....

....this is why Jack Kirby is and forever shall be the King!

Jack Kirby 100 Amazing Heroes

As what would be Jack Kirby's 100th birthday approaches, a quick look back at Amazing Heroes #100, from August 1, 1986, featuring a cover drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Steve Rude.

Kirby, surrounded by the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion in the inset, and an action shot below, with Captain Victory, the Fantastic Four (Invisible Girl, Mr. Fantastic, Thing and the Human Torch), Thor, Darkseid, Mr. Miracle, Captain America and Bucky and the Silver Surfer....some of the King's best known creations at the time.

Included in the issue: A few comic creators thoughts/pictures on Jack Kirby (including Scott Shaw! and Michael T. Gilbert), Greg Potter going through Jack Kirby's comic career, Mark Evanier interviewing Jack and Roz Kirby, Richard Howell looking at 10 Jack Kirby stories, Greg Theakston looking at Kirby's art and R. A. Jones giving his overview of Jack Kirby's work.

Worth looking at, as it gives an overview of the King's work, while he was still producing more, and has the benefit of he and his wife commenting on it.

Also worth mentioning, Amazing Heroes #47 from May 15, 1984, that has Amazing Heroes' only other Kirby cover....with a focus on Jack Kirby's return to DC (and the New Gods) in the 1980s.  Ironic....that as the New Gods returned, so was Star Wars (see the upper left-hand corner)....

....and may "the Source" be with you if you know of the similarities between Star Wars and the New Gods (ultimate evil leader of the bad guys, who regularly tortures and kills his followers, secretly being the father of the most notable fighter on the good guys' side, a mystical power that surrounds us all and the most adept can use, including the old man who trains the secret son....).

Tarzan's DC 100 Pagers

Over the decades, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan has worked at many comic book companies like Dell, Gold Key, Marvel, Dark Horse....but some of the greatest were at DC Comics.

Tarzan had issues at DC Comics from April, 1972 to February, 1977 (issues of Tarzan #207 to #258, continuing the numbering from the Gold Key/Western series), many of them with covers by comic book legend, Joe Kubert.  A few of the more highly looked for were a run from Tarzan #230 (April-May, 1974) to Tarzan #235 (February-March, 1975), with stories of Tarzan and more, all collected in 100 pages square bound specials!

Let's take a look at them!

Tarzan #230

April-May, 1974 brought us a 6 page Joe Kubert Tarzan story later titled "The Rescue Of The Fawn", a Korak (son of Tarzan) story by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert with inks by Russ Heath entitled "Leap Into Death", an article from the Washington Post about Edgar Rice Burroughs and "How I Wrote Tarzan Books", a run of panels from the Tarzan newspaper strips by Russ Manning, a reprint of Bomba the Jungle Boy #4 (March-April, 1968) by George Kashdan and Jack Sparling (with the title hero renamed Simba for the story), a Congo Bill story from Action Comics #145 (June, 1950) entitled "Mystery Of The Stolen Bell" by George Kashdan and Ed Smalle, the introduction of Bobo from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #4 (July-August, 1952) with "Meet Detective Chimp" by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, and a new Carson of Venus story by Mike Kaluta called "Into The Noobolian Valley" to round out the issue.

Tarzan #231

The cover date of June-July, 1974 saw Joe Kubert start the adaptation of Burroughs' "Tarzan and The Lion Man", Congo Bill faces "Safaris For Sale" reprinted from Action Comics #174 (November, 1952) by Jack Miller and Ed Smalle, Russ Manning newspaper reprints with Tarzan facing "The Deadly Dangers Of Pal-Ul-Don", another reprint from Bomba the Jungle Boy #3 (January-February, 1968) by George Kashdan and Jack Sparling entitled "My Enemy, The Jungle" with Bomba as Simba again, "The Return Of The Detective Chimp" from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #6 (November-December, 1952) with another adventure of Bobo by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, and Korak in a new story called "The Ancient Awakes" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.

Tarzan #232

August-September, 1974 sees the second part of adaptation of "Tarzan and The Lion Man" by Joe Kubert, a two page article about "Manimals" by Allan Asherman, another Congo Bill story featuring "The Man Who Wanted To Die A Hero" from Action Comics #190 (March, 1954) by Ed Smalle, another run of Russ Manning newspaper stories with "Tarzan and the Monkey Men" (with Jane renamed Gail...), Tarzan's Animal Facts about dinosaurs, Tarzan's Animal Encyclopedia and "Life Spans About Animals", Detective Chimp dealing with "The Case Of The Runaway Ostrich" from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #13 (January-February, 1954) by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, Tarzan's Animal Facts with Hungary as a Bear, Tarzan's Jungle Album, Rex the Wonder Dog in "African Man Hunt" from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #13 (January-February, 1954) by Robert Kanigher, Gil Kane and Sy Barry, a Tarzan's Animal Encyclopedia about woodchucks, Tarzan drawn by Philipino Artists of Alex Nino, Nestor Redondo and Alfredo Alcala, and a new Korak story with "The Pit Of Darkness" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.

Tarzan #233

The third part of "Tarzan and the Lion Man" adaptation by Joe Kubert leads of October-November, 1974 issue of DC's Tarzan.  Tarzan's Animal Facts let you know which animal has the loudest voice, Tarzan faces "The Land Time Forgot" by Russ Manning from newspaper Tarzan strips, with Jane being called Gail in these stories, Tarzan's Jungle Album has a photo of Tarzan actor Johnny Weismuller (from 1932), a reprint of "I Tracked The Beast Of Montrouge Forest" by Leonard Starr from My Greatest Adventure #2 (March-April, 1955), Rex learns "The Secret Of The Golden Crocodile" in this reprint from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #34 (July-August, 1957) by Bob Haney, Gil Kane and Bernard Sachs, Tarzan's Animal Facts focus on the American lion, "Detective Bobo, Chimp-Napped" spells trouble for the Detective Chimp in this reprint from Adventures Of Rex The Wonder Dog #20 (March-April, 1955) by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Sy Barry, Congo Bill deals with "The School For Hunters" from Action Comics #199 (December, 1954) by Jack Miller and Ed Smalle, and Korak faces "The Star Of Death" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.  

Tarzan #234

The end of the "Tarzan and the Lion Man" adaptation by Joe Kubert is the first story in Tarzan's December-January, 1974/1975 issue.  Detective Chimp starts off the reprints with "A Whistle For Bobo" from Adventures of Rex The Wonder Dog #27 (May-June, 1956) by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Congo Bill facing "The Man-Eater Of Mandalo" from Action Comics #176 (January, 1953) by Jon Smalle, "I Was A Jungle Ringmaster" from My Greatest Adventure #5 (September-October, 1955) by John Prentice, a Russ Manning newspaper strip run featuring the "Thunder Lizard" and Jane being renamed Trudy and turned into a brunette, "I Was A Prisoner In A Human Zoo" from My Greatest Adventure #14 (March-April, 1957) by Ruben Moreira, and Korak facing "White Death" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Nino.

Tarzan #235

Joe Kubert gives us the story of "The Magic Herb" to lead off Tarzan's February-March, 1975 collection.  A photo of Maureen O'Sullivan - "the most famous Jane of all" as Tarzan's movie mate, Congo Bill deals with "The Mail Order Hunter" from Action Comics #189 (February, 1954) by Jon Smalle, "Bobo's New York Adventure" is the Detective Chimp feature from Adventures of Rex The Wonder Dog #35 (September-October, 1957) by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, "I Shoot With A Camera" from My Greatest Adventure #4 (July-August, 1955), a run of Russ Manning newspaper strips featuring "The Mahagga", and the first photo of Johnny Weismuller as Tarzan rounds out this last 100 page Tarzan.

After this, Tarzan went back to a regular sized comic in April, 1975, with an extra large Tarzan #238 in June, 1975.....

.....and, Tarzan is still swinging after all these years!

Best of all, you can find the Joe Kubert stories of the issues above in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan The Joe Kubert Years #3 from June, 2006 by Dark Horse (volume contains the Joe Kubert stories from Tarzan #225 to #235).  Would that DC would reprint Congo Bill and Detective Chimp! 

Happy 100th Julie Schwartz!

Happy 100th Julie Schwartz!

If former DC editor Julie Schwartz were still with us, he would be 100 today.


The gang at DC interrupted a continuing story of Superman vs. Lex Luthor to give Julie this present of Superman #411 (September, 1985) back in the day....

Julie Schwartz gave us so much back in the day...coming up with the idea to have a "new" Flash with a scientific background, police scientist Barry Allen in Showcase #4 (September-October, 1956 with writer Robert Kanigher - who would have been 100 yesterday - and artist Carmine Infantino)...and that led to Showcase issue updates for Green Lantern and Atom, and Brave and the Bold issue updates for Hawkman and the Justice League of America!

Julie even stepped in to help his beloved comic characters one in a while....as in Flash #179 (May, 1968 by Cary Bates and Ross Andru), wherein Barry Allen ended up at the DC offices on what would later be known as "Earth-Prime" where Barry was only thought of as a comic book character...and enlisted the help of Julie to get home in "The Flash - Fact or Fiction?".

There are so many more facts on Julius "Julie" Schwartz than what can fit here, so I leave you with a quote of his which inspires why I write...

"Take something you love, tell people about it, bring together people who share your love, and help make it better. Ultimately, you'll have more of whatever you love for yourself and the world."