Remembering Artist Marie Severin

Remembering artist Marie Severin on her birthday (August 21, 1929 - August 29, 2018) with something a little strange..

...her Strange Tales covers featuring Doctor Strange, including the introduction of the Living Tribunal!

Strange Tales #154 and #156 (March and May, 1967)

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Strange Tales #158 and #160 (July and September, 1967)

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Monster Kirby Taboo

In that nebulous time between Captain America being frozen in the ocean and his revival in the Avengers, there were monsters roaming the Marvel Universe.

One of those menaces to Earth humans that they had to face without costumed heroes was Taboo, and here is his story.

Strange Tales #75 (June, 1960)

"Taboo! The Thing From The Murky Swamp!" first appeared in this story by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers (under a cover by Kirby and Steve Ditko). Taboo was an alien who crashed into the Amazon jungle, where he waited until he was found by author Lewis Conrad.  Taboo explained to Conrad that he needed Earth's knowledge so he could return home.  Conrad helped convince the United Nations to help, and presented Earth's knowledge to him.  With this information, Taboo revealed he was really an advanced scout for an invasion, and that the knowledge would help his people conquer Earth.  But, as he left Earth, a hydrogen bomb secreted in the records exploded, stopping Taboo from reuniting with his people.

But, that was not all for Taboo!

  

Strange Tales #77 (October, 1960)

Stan Lee, Larry Leiber, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers brought back the monster with "The Return Of Taboo!".  Taboo reformed after the hydrogen bomb explosion, and went on a bit of a rampage all over New York, especially menacing Officer Dan and his wife, Susan.  Then, even worse, more alien ships approached.  It was more of Taboo's race, but, far from being an invading force, they were benevolent aliens, who were appalled by Taboo's actions, taking him into custody and repairing the damage he did to Earth.

Still, Earth wasn't about to see the last of Taboo.

Taboo would return, usually in tandem with other monstrous menaces, such as the time he was part of a group of monsters the Avengers' villain, the Collector, had kept in a flashback tale from Marvel Monsters On The Prowl #1 (December, 2005) to being one of the monsters duplicated by Xemnu (like Groot, the Blip and Goom) in Hulk Annual #5 (November, 1976).

Saluting The Puppet Master

Today is World Puppetry Day, so, it is time to give a little love to the Fantastic Four villain, the Puppet Master, a somewhat tragic villain, or at least he became as his story unfolded.

Puppet Master premiered in Fantastic Four #8 (November, 1962) in a story by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, where the villain used a special radioactive clay to control the minds of others, all the while caring for his blind stepdaughter, Alicia Masters.

Strange Tales

Puppet Master did menace the Fantastic Four again, using Namor against them, but then worked against the Human Torch and the Thing, later in conjunction with the Mad Thinker, as part of deadly duo, turning the two friends against each other to further his own nefarious plans. 

 

Tales To Astonish and Marvel Team-Up

Puppet Master also worked against the Sub-Mariner early in his career, making Namor seem more violent than he really was.  But, the Puppet Master, real name Philip Masters, had regrets, as he had split with the Mad Thinker, and tried to undo the damage he had done as he was the one who blinded his own stepdaughter, Alicia.

Marvel Two-In-One

Still, the Puppet Master would fall back on his old ways, using his skills to put other heroes against the Fantastic Four, or even having to deal with the Thing for help around Christmas as the Puppet Master came to see his stepdaughter for the holiday.

Back to Fantastic

Sadly, Philip Masters couldn't escape his evil ways, returning again and again to face the Fantastic Four, while he did evidence concern for Alicia.

Strange Tales Of Dan Adkins

Remembering artist Dan Adkins (March 15, 1937 - May 3, 2013) on his birthday with something a little strange..

...the covers he drew for Strange Tales featuring Doctor Strange (which was every other cover as the Doc alternated covers with his co-star, Nick Fury)!

Strange Tales #160 and #162 (September and November, 1967)

Strange Tales #164 and #166 (January and March, 1968)

Strange Tales #168 and Doctor Strange #169 (May and June, 1968)

Strange Tales would split, with Doctor Strange continuing the numbering of Strange Tales, with Nick Fury, Agent Of SHIELD getting a number one!

Strange Tales of the Frightful Four

The Frightful Four were a collection of villains that first faced the Fantastic Four on Reed and Sue's engagement in Fantastic Four #36 (March, 1965, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby).  

But, most of these villains had appeared before in Strange Tales, which featured the Human Torch in solo tales (and later, partnered with the Thing)!

Wizard

The first of these foes to appear (in Strange Tales #102, November, 1962 in "The Prisoner of the Wizard" by writers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and artist Jack Kirby) was the super-genius Wizard, who gained fame as a chess champion and escape artist (abandoning his real name of Bentley Wittman to make "the Wizard" his legal name.  Worried that the Fantastic Four would steal his fame, the Wizard tries to ruin the Torch's name by impersonating Johnny and committing crimes in his name...and Johnny is saved with a little help from his sister Sue (the Invisible Girl).

The Wizard returns in Strange Tales #105 (February, 1963 in "The Return of the Wizard" by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby), again with Strange Tales #110 (July, 1963 in "The Human Torch vs. the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete!" by Stan Lee, H. E. Huntley and Dick Ayers), a quick cameo in Strange Tales #112 (September, 1963 in "The Threat of the Living Bomb" by Stan Lee, Jerry Siegel (as Joe Carter) and Dick Ayers) though the villain of the issue was the Eel, and in Strange Tales #118 (March, 1964, in "The Man Who Became the Torch" by Stan Lee and Dick Ayers), with the Wizard using anti-gravity discs against the Human Torch...a device he didn't quite control, and thus floated away from the Human Torch (not quite under his own control...)

Trapster

Trapster was originally called Paste-Pot Pete, and was a villain who first menaced the Human Torch in Strange Tales #104 (January, 1963 in "The Human Torch Meets Paste-Pot Pete" by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby).  Peter Petruski tried to use his paste-gun to rob banks, and ran afoul of the Human Torch...and Paste-Pot Pete then tried to move up in the criminal world, taking a U.S. Army missile to sell to the Soviets, but that backfired, with Paste-Pot Pete sticking himself to an airplane wing and escaping to sea.

Paste-Pot Pete returned in Strange Tales #110 (July, 1963 in "The Human Torch vs. the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete!" by Stan Lee, H. E. Huntley and Dick Ayers), wherein the two villains paired up to face off against the Human Torch, but Pete didn't like being bossed by the Wizard, and the two were captured and sent to jail.  Pete then quickly helped the Avengers in Avengers #6 (July, 1964), providing the Avengers with a solvent to dissolve Baron Zemo's Adhesive-X during a battle with the Masters of Evil, which must have been enough to get Pete out of prison.  Pete didn't learn his lesson, returning with new weapons to face the Human Torch and the Thing in Strange Tales #124 (September, 1964 in "Paste-Pot Pete" by Stan Lee and Dick Ayers), where Pete causes trouble for the Thing and the Human Torch....

Sandman

Sandman started off as a Spider-Man foe in Amazing Spider-Man #4 (September, 1963 in "Nothing Can Stop the Sandman" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko), with Flint Marko breaking out of prison, and being exposed to radiation which turned him into the man of living sand, the Sandman (though being defeated by Spider-Man...and a vacuum cleaner!).

Sandman soon broke free, and faced the Human Torch in Strange Tales #115 (December, 1963, in "The Sandman Strikes" by Stan Lee and Dick Ayers), where the Human Torch defeats the Sandman with a sprinkler system while Spider-Man waits!


Sandman then teams up with five other Spider-Man foes like Kraven, the Vulture and Electro to form the Sinister Six in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (October, 1964 in "The Sinister Six" by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, proving that the Sandman was willing to be a team player...).

Sandman returned again in Amazing Spider-Man #18 and #19 (November and December, 1964 in "The End of Spider-Man" and "Spidey Strikes Back" both by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko), wherein Spider-Man eventually defeats Sandman (with the Human Torch watching in the last issue).     

Medusa

Medusa first appeared in Fantastic Four #36, never making an appearance in Strange Tales, but had a bit of history before that...mostly with her somewhat strange family, the Inhumans!

Medusa was there when Maximus made Black Bolt unleash the power of his voice (which was quite destructive) in Thor #149 (February, 1968 in the flashback tale "Silence Or Death" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby), when the Inhumans moved their city in What If? #30 (December, 1981 in "Moving Day" by Peter Gillis and Ron Wilson), and then in the Inhumans Special #1 (April, 1990 in "Remembrances of Revolutions Past" by Lou Mougin and Richard Howell) wherein Maximus caused Medusa's amnesia, and she ended up in Europe as a thief, and met the Frightful Four.

The Frightful Four continued on to menace the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #38 (May, 1965, with Paste-Pot Pete changing his name to the Trapster), a brief detour in Journey Into Mystery #116 (May, 1965), and a final battle royal where the Frightful Four turn the Thing against his own teammates in Fantastic Four #41-43 (August to October, 1965), and the Trapster and Sandman being abandoned by Medusa in favor of the Inhumans in Fantastic Four #45 (December, 1965).

Medusa confronted the Frightful Four one last time in Marvel Super-Heroes #15 (July, 1968) and Fantastic Four #94 (January, 1970) (though both the Wizard and the Sandman made individual runs at the Fantastic Four before this point. both with new and improved uniforms)...

...at which point, the Frightful Four realized that they'd need a new fourth member...

After a brief battle with Spider-Man and the Human Torch in Marvel Team-Up #2 (May, 1972), they then reunited and tried to add super-strong Thundra in Fantastic Four #129 (December, 1972)...

...then began a long search for a fourth member, which included characters like the Brute, Electro and the Klaw among others, and the tales of the Frightful Four get stranger!

Hail Hydra Comics

"Hail, HYDRA! Immortal HYDRA! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb, and two more shall take its place! We serve none but the Master—as the world shall soon serve us! Hail HYDRA!" was the oath taken by Hydra agents in Strange Tales #135 (August, 1965) as the villainous organization was established as the foes of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which stood for the Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division, at least at the time) and it's new director, Col. Nick Fury, himself a decorated veteran of World War II where he served as Sgt. Nick Fury....in Sgt. Fury (then later Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos, which followed his WW II adventures....)  

S.H.I.E.L.D. also appeared first in this issue, which was written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby...but Hydra has a history both before that issue (in a stand alone tale in Atlas Comics' Menace #10 (March, 1954) where it was only a reference to an organization by a scientist in the tale "Half Man, Half...?" with art by Robert Q. Sale...but it was only a mention, and Stan and Jack created the green and yellow uniforms and the philosophy of the group...

...still, you can see the reach of Hydra extends even past its own beginnings!

Hydra vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.

Hydra was the main foe of the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury for their entire run as half the feature of Strange Tales (from issue #135 to #168) as Nick and his team shared the book with the master of mystic arts, Doctor Strange.

The team then went to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for 18 issues from June, 1968 to March, 1971.

All these tales can be found in Marvel Masterworks:Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 has Strange Tales #135-153 (and Tales of Suspense #78 and Fantastic Four #21 which relate, and Tales of Suspense features stories on A.I.M. as well, which is a branch of Hydra at the time and Nick fighting them with Captain America, and the Fantastic Four story is a pre-S.H.I.E.L.D. appearance which brought Nick Fury from World War II to "modern times" and they faced the Hate-Monger).    

Marvel Masterworks:Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 has tales from Strange Tales #154-168 and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1-3 with story and art by Jim Steranko (and dialogue in early issues by Roy Thomas) and has battles against A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics); the Yellow Claw; as well as revealing the Supreme Hydra (who has ties to Nick's time in WW II as Sgt. Fury) and Nick's first fight with Scorpio!  
Marvel Masterworks:Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 has the stories from Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #4-15, Avengers #72 and Marvel Spotlight #31 (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #16-18 were reprints of Hydra battles from Strange Tales) and finishes Nick's battle against Scorpio as well as another battle with the Hate-Monger.

Still, this didn't end the Marvel Universe's battles with the forces of Hydra, as their coda implied...they came back else where many times.  A few of their other more important appearances include...

Hydra vs. Captain America

Hydra faced Captain America in a famous storyline by Stan Lee and Jim Steranko in Captain America #110, 111, and 113 (February-May, 1969).  These stories also feature a battle between Captain America and the Hulk, Hulk's young helper, Rick Jones taking on the identity of Bucky for a time (something hinted at all the way back when Cap was found in Avengers #4), and the introduction of Madame Hydra (who later became the Viper and worked with the Silver Samurai) and established Nick Fury, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra as supporting characters for future Captain America stories (as Nick's own book was cancelled a little while after these stories came out...).

These stories can also be found in the Captain America Omnibus #1 and in Marvel Visionaries: Jim Steranko which also has some of the better Strange Tales issues....and you can get just the Jim Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. tales in S.H.I.E.L.D. By Steranko: The Complete Collection which has all Jim's work on S.H.I.E.L.D. from Strange Tales and the Nick Fury book...as well as some later work from other reprints!

Hydra vs. the Hulk

Hydra faced the Hulk in the Incredible Hulk #132 (October, 1970) in a story by Roy Thomas with art by Herb Trimpe and John Severin, wherein the evil organization convinced Hulk's helper, Jim Wilson, into trying to capture the Hulk.

It didn't work out so well for Hydra (and they tried to attack him again in Incredible Hulk #154, August, 1972 by Archie Goodwin and Herb Trimpe, with the help of Spider-Man foe, the Chameleon, shrinking the Hulk, who got some help himself from Hank Pym....the Ant-Man!).  Oddly, Hulk usually spent more time fighting the army (with General Thunderbolt Ross and Major Glenn Talbot) or S.H.I.E.L.D. itself than Hydra...

Hydra vs. Captain America II

Hydra faced Captain America, his new partner the Falcon (Sam Wilson, who changed from his orange and green costume to a red and white one in the first issue of this run), and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new Femme Force (a group of female agents including Agent 13/Sharon Carter and Nick Fury's lady love, the Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, who had first appeared back in Strange Tales) with a run in Captain America #144-148 (December, 1971 to April, 1972).

The stories by Gary Friedrich and art by John Romita, Gil Kane and Sal Buscema also reenforced the idea of Hydra as factions, with a few Spider-Man villains (they had ties to organized crime...) being revealed as agents of Hydra (and tying a major Captain America foe as Supreme Hydra as well....a scene one kept waiting for in the Captain America: Winter Soldier movie...).

Hydra vs. the monsters

Hydra faced off against the Cat (Greer Grant Nelson), and severely injured the young heroine...so much so that her mentor, Dr. Joanne Tumulo, revealed her own history as a member of the ancient race of cat people and changed Greer into the were-woman Tigra.

As Tigra, Greer helped defeat this group of Hydra with the help of the Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July, 1974, by Tony Isabella and Don Perlin).  Tigra had a brief solo feature in Marvel Chillers #3-7, and worked with Spider-Man, the Thing and the rest of the Fantastic Four here and there, and eventually joined the Avengers (briefly on the east coast, and was a founder of the West Coast Avengers offshoot).

Hydra vs. Daredevil and Black Widow

From Daredevil #120-123 (April-July, 1975) by Tony Isabella and Bob Brown, Hydra worked on the west coast, facing off against Daredevil (who had stopped Hydra from crashing the wedding of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four Annual #3) and the Black Widow (as well as the Contessa Val, Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan of S.H.I.E.L.D....who were also going to recruit Daredevil's friend, Foggy Nelson as an agent!).

Another Supreme Hydra is revealed (...yet another Spider-Man crimelord, different from the previous one mentioned earlier), as well as a few other villains (Daredevil foes like  el Jaguar and Blackwing, and Spider-Man/Cat foe the Man-Killer from the Cat's last appearance in Marvel Team-Up #8 were revealed to be Hydra agents, connecting a few disconnected storylines....).

Hydra vs. the Thing and Shang-Chi

Hydra's hordes attacked martial artist (and son of Fu Manchu) Shang-Chi and the Thing in England in Marvel Two-In-One #29 (July, 1977 by Marv Wolfman and Ron Wilson) as the two attempted to rescue scientist Dr. Kort.  This was part of a larger story from Marvel-Two-In-One #26-34, which started with the Thing helping Nick Fury against super powered Hydra agents Mentallo and the Fixer (who premiered back in Strange Tales), led to them pulling cyborg Deathlok from the future (and the Hydra agents taking control of his mind to have him kill the President), a quick detour with the Sub-Mariner, the work with Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu, a meeting with Spider-Woman (who was recently rescued from Hydra by Nick Fury) and battles against a mystery menace and help from the rest of the Fantastic Four, mostly the Invisible Girl, and a past mystic named Modred...all to help free Deathlok.  Deathlok, traitorous agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., plots against the United States and Hydra...sound familiar?

Hydra vs. the Invaders

Hydra had a history that reached all the way back to World War II.

In a group led by Baron Strucker (a Nazi foe of Sgt. Fury's who first appeared in Sgt. Fury #5 in January, 1964) in Marvel Universe #1-3 (June-August 1998 by Roger Stern and Steve Epting), Hydra faced the World War II superheroes the Invaders (Captain America, the android Human Torch, Namor the Sub-Mariner and the Whizzer) as well as detailing a little of Hydra and the baron's past (like his battle with Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders in Captain Savage #2-4, March-July, 1968).

Hydra did indeed have a history stretching back to World War II!

Hydra vs Sub-Mariner

Why didn't the Sub-Mariner remember Hydra...well, he had lost his memory sometime in the 1950s, and had become a homeless man wandering New York, and before Johnny Storm (the Fantastic Four's Human Torch) found him, Namor encountered the hordes of Hydra and the Fixer (Paul Norbert Ebersol)..in Thunderbolts -1 (July, 1997) by Kurt Busiek and Steve Epting.  The Fixer joins Hydra at this time (before his first appearance back in Strange Tales #141), and a little of the history of Baron Zemo is detailed as well, and sets up all the villainy that Hydra and its agents start.  It IS all connected!  Hydra has appeared in many more places in the Marvel Universe, and one never knows when they will show up again!

Hope you enjoyed Hydra's greatest hits, and the how the heroes of the Marvel Universe hit them back!