70 Years of Marvel - 1962

1962 saw the expansion of Marvel's new superhero line, with the introduction of the never-quite-not-lame-no-matter-which-identity-he's-using-this-week Hank Pym, seen here getting his arse kicked by a man who's only power is baldness (see also Lex Luthor, Wilson Fisk, Iain Duncan Smith, among others).

'62 also saw the arrival of the Hulk, Thor, and Spider-Man, the pillars of the Marvel Universe, as well as the return of the Sub-Mariner, albeit as a bad guy who would pester the FF fir the next couple of years.

In the real world, 1962 saw us dodge nuclear apocalypse, during two weeks in October known to history as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Elsewhere, the military siezed power in Burma, sparking a new socialist paradise which has thrived ever since, according to the Burmese Tourist Board.

At the movies, a plethora of all-time classics were making their first appearance: Lawrence of Arabia; To Kill A Mockingbird; Cape Fear; How The West Was Won; Dr No; The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; Samson vs. the Vampire Women; need I go on? On the small screen, Z-Cars made its first appearance, whilst Roger Moore was polishing his halo as the Saint. Elvis was top of the music charts, and the Beatles were releasing their first single. Good times.

The Coming Of The Avengers!

Avengers #1, September 1963
(By Lee, Kirby, and Dick Ayers)

So, what do you do when you've got a whole raft of superheroes kicking arse and taking names on a regular basis? Team them up, that's what! Taking a leaf from the Distinguished Competition, Stan and Jack decided to take their new generation of superheroes, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, and the Hulk, and shove them in a book together. Interesting to note that they chose not to crowbar Spider-Man into the title, establishing his outsider credentials early on.

But, you might ask, what mighty threat to bring together four of the most exciting heroes of the Marvel Universe together, along with Hank Pym? None other than Thor's evil step-brother, Loki, engaging in that well-known supervillain plot, "Hey, let's you and him fight!" Banished to a remote island for his latest scheme, Loki decides to use the Hulk to destroy Thor


Loki swiftly frames the green goliath, making it appear he attacked a railway line, almost causing a disaster. When news of this hits the papers, teen sidekick, Rick Jones, decides to enlist the Fantastic Four to help his big pal. But...


(Donald Blake is, as longtime readers know, the secret identity of the Mighty Thor!)

Thor races off to find the Hulk. However, Loki's cleverly guided radio transmission has gone awry.


Before you know it, every spare hero in New York has descended on the southwest United States, and a potential team-up is in the offing. Fortunately, Loki can always count on Thor being a jackass.


And where is the real Hulk? Glad you asked.


Apparently, the owners of the circus, in a world which constantly doubts the existence of the Hulk, are readily prepared to believe that a giant green robot with superstrength just happened to wander into town, and have swiftly hired "Mechano" to entertain the masses. Putting his stronger allies to shame, Ant-Man decides to take down the Hulk single-handedly, with only an army of ants to help him.


Needless to say, 10 million ants are no match for an angry Hulk, so the capture plan rapidly goes wonky. Iron Man decides to have a go, but...


Meanwhile, in a leap of comic book logic, Thor has fathomed that Loki is behind his trip to New Mexico, and has gone to confront him, not realising that this is part of Loki's plan.


That Loki's a cunning one, right enough, though why he didn't just post Thor a letter inviting him to come and visit him, I'm not sure. Anyway, to no-one's real surprise, Thor beats up the trolls, grabs up his brother, and returns to Earth, just in time to stop Iron Man and the Hulk beating seven bells out of each other. Shame.

As the heroes are about to go their seperate ways, Ant-Man makes the speech the readers have been waiting 22 pages to hear:


So there you have it. Loki's cunning ruse, intended to destroy his brother, ends up bringing about his own downfall, and giving Thor some new pals to play with. That there, folks, is hubris. Can't beat a good bit of hubris.

The Creature From Kosmos!

Tales To Astonish #44, June 1963
(By Lee, H.E. Huntley, Kirby, and Heck)

You may think that in the sixties, the Marvel Bullpen chose to focus all their efforts on their burgeoning line of superhero comics. You'd be wrong. Come with me, reader, as we witness the first appearance of the winsome Wasp!


Lonely widowed scientist-turned-superhero.


Mysterious visitor, and a beautiful girl!


Unpure thoughts!


"My dad's dead! Must find new daddy-figure!"


Thank god this was the 60s, or we'd really be worried for Janet.


Having rashly blown his secret identity, I wonder what old Hank'll if she says no.


* Insert your own cheap gag here.


Watch out for those giant scissors, Janet!


Boy, 60s women really went for those stuffy scientist-types, didn't they? Was Marvel Comics sponsored by NASA?


"My wife's dead! Must find new, strangely similar, wife!"


Aw, how sweet. I bet they live happily ever after!

The Voice Of Doom!

Tales To Astonish #42, April 1963
(by Lee, Lieber and Heck)

Not all super-villains are motivated by an insane desire to conquer the world, or by the need to seek revenge on the nearest hero to hand. Some, like today's villain, are spurred on by arrogance. Come meet The Voice!

His tale begins as he arrives in New York, armed with a dangerous soap-box, and proceeds to demonstrate his hypnotic voice.


And the origin of The Voice's powers? Our old friend radiation, transmitted into a struggling radio announcer's throat from a nearby atomic laboratory, giving him the power to convince anyone of anything. Some power, huh? Bet if you had such abilities, you'd use them to, say, have yourself declared Emperor of the World or something, right? Not our boy, though...


So, anyway, in a world populated by such titans as Thor, the Hulk, and Iron Man, the Voice decides to prove his mettle by picking a fight with the guy who makes himself very small and talks to insects.


With a go-getter attitude like that, it's no wonder this fellow, wouldn't be seen again for over twenty years. So, the good people of New York quickly form a lynch-mob, to hunt Ant-Man down. Unfortunately, he can make himself small, so they can't find him, but in the process of fleeing, Ant-Man loses his trusty cyber-helmet thing, which was the only reason that the Voice couldn't hypnotise him in the first place. D'oh.


You cad, sir! However can the Ant-Man get out of this calamity?

Answer: he can't. At least, not without help.


Not yet thwarted, the Voice decides to get himself some tv coverage, showing up at a news studio to make a broadcast to the world. Finally he's wising up, and can use his powers to conquer the world, right?

Wrong.


Yes, he's still determined to fix that pesky Ant-Man once and for all. Fortunately, this is America, and, unable to think of any other way to beat him, Hank Pym makes a quick stop at the Quik-Stop and picks gets himself a gun.


No sooner has the Voice retracted his statement, then he starts to lose his voice, and Ant-Man reveals that he's exposed him to a virus which causes laryngitis. Poor old Voice tries again to turn people against Ant-Man, but with his voice all croaky, no-one falls for it, and he's run out of town on a rail. And good riddance!

The Man In The Ant Hill

Tales To Astonish #27, January 1962
(Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby)

I was going to skip over this as being more of a monster book than a superhero one, but Henry Pym wanted me to remind you that, barely a month after Reed Richards and his pals were exposed to cosmic rays, he was following in their footsteps, albeit without a costume, any supervillains, or any of the other trappings of what we would recognise as modern superhero comics. I did try to tell him that, really, this is just one of a million monster books of the 50s and 60s, and that he should just wait his turn, but he was very insistent. And you don't argue with Hank Pym...


Anyway, enough with the cheap shots, let's get on with the adventures of Hank Pym before he became a wifebeater. Our tales begins in Pym's laboratory, where our hero has just devised a serum which shrinks stuff.

Pym has being working on his formula for months, ever since he was dissed by his scientist pals.


Take a look at that last panel. Anyone really surprised that Pym turns out to be a bit of a nut-job? So, having perfected his shrink-serum, Pym tries it out on a chair. When the chair doesn't die, our Hank skips the whole "testing on animals" stage of his research, and moves straight on to the "testing on myself" stage.


See what I mean? Unstable at best, pure nuts at worst. Ah well, moving on, the shrunken Dr Pym barely has time to panic about his current state, before the residents of a nearby ant-hill, hearing his alarmed cries, decide to make a meal of him. Rather than, as you or I might do, running back into my now-oversize laboratory and hiding, Hank decides instead to hid in the ant-hill.

By some miracle, Pym stumbles across an unused match, and lights it, setting a fire in order to burn out those pesky formicidae. Good thing shrunken scientists are immune to fire and smoke, eh?

With the nest aflame, Hank makes a run for it, but...


Oh my! However will our hero get out of this life-threatening situation? By the fine art of judo, how else?


Go, Hank, go! Dr Pym makes it back to his laboratory, aided by a for-no-apparent-reason friendly ant, and manages to restore himself to full size. Is this the start of a new career for Doctor Pym, Scientific Adventurer?


Oh. Ah well, we'll see. Meantime, I guess Pym's scientist friends will feel somewhat vindicated for their earlier mocking. This being a scary science book, presumably those self-same scientists will be food for Spragg the Living Hill soon enough.