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5 (0) 4 (4) 3 (32) 2 (44) 1 (33) 2.2 starsAverage score of 118 user reviews
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The Sinister Scarecrow 0
This month we see Iron Man battle it out with Scarecrow, a performer who decides he's had enough of pandering to his audience and decides instead to use his talents to become a really good burglar. This is fine, except, his reasoning for choosing the guise of a scarecrow is a little beyond me. There's some justification in amongst it all that links the performer's nimbleness to that of a scarecrows? But that makes as much as sense as a flying shark. So what we're left with is something of a half...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Black Knight Strikes 0
Giant Man and The Wasp find themselves in all sort of trouble when they battle it out with a disgruntled foe with a love for flying horses and silly knight costumes. Okay, so if we're going to start combining animals like The Black Knight does here, why not a bear-lion, or a flying shark? Yeah, those are pretty dumb ideas, but so is a vengeful knight on a airborne horse. Not only this but half the fight takes place in a carnival of sorts, and all sorts of hilariously not-funny hijinks takes plac...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Hands Of The Mandarin 0
So after the stunningly good looking redesign and overhaul of Iron Man and his comic last month, this time around we see Stark veteran at this point Don Heck take back the reigns as chief artist, and the result is unsurprisingly more moody and harsher than Ditko's. The story too is a little more understated and serial, which too often has been the staple of this series, and not to great effect. This month we have the Mandarin—a oriental sorcerer of sorts that uses magic rings to do crazy things ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Captain America Joins the Avengers 0
So back in November of last year, Stan and company decided to dip their toe in the Golden Age waters once again so to speak, and gave classic superheroCaptain America something of a fake trial run in Strange Tales #114. Comic fans rejoiced, and pretty much the rest of what would become of The Avengers would be shaped as such. And I think they were right in doing so; not only was that particular issue of Strange Tales one of the very few that didn't stink, but seeing the Cap back in action (even ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Slave Of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man! 0
Thor ditches the melodrama this month as the stunning climax of part 1's cliffhanger comes to a full on action-packed close. Okay so, I'm making it sound better than it actually is; simply because much like the issue before it, the action on display here is incredibly dull and simplistic. From silly elaborations on the supposed utopian 23rd century, to the usual Journey into Mystery Thor can do anything deus ex machina, this second part which I was actually optimistic about, fails to keep the tr...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Return Of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man! 0
A story very much of two halves this month as Thor continues his brooding over his beloved Jane Foster, and then has his powers cut in half by his father as punishment for disobeying his command to forget about her. Lo and behold however that Loki, mischievous as ever, somehow goes into the future and connects with Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man (you know, from two years ago) and convinces him to get revenge on Thor. And that he does; and the whole thing ends on a cliffhanger. It's alright, I guess, a...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Infant Terrible 0
Oh dear. Remember when I expressed concerns over where the attention was being given back at the Marvel house of ideas? Well it's quite obvious now thatThe Fantastic Four were being put on the back-burner at this point seemingly because they had already made the company a lot of money and attention, and so, naturally they wanted to try make something similar out of their other stars. Sure, we got The Amazing Spider-Man out of this, but seeing a once consistently great series sink to such lows as...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Torch Goes Wild! 0
Remember Ant-Man when he faced off against The Voice of Doom? Or maybe when The Fantastic Four went head to head with The Hate Monger? Well this month we see poor rejected Johnny Storm up against a similar foe who rouses the mobs of civilians against him. And just after the FF have went on vacation without him; his girlfriends dumps him; he gets kicked off the football team and all the newspapers want to talk about is the sensational Spider-Man. Sheesh! Between Parker and Storm, these superhero ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants 0
An exhilaratingly action-packed issue for the X-Men this month as they come face to face with their arch nemesis, Magneto and his newly formedBrotherhood of Evil Mutants. Slowly but surely chipping away the broad corners, Lee and Kirby continue to develop the X-Men mythos away from your standardised superhero group tact and more towards what they would become known for. The heroes are still kind of undefined at this stage, but it's still early days, and progress is definitely being shown.What's ...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Enforcers 0
The drama continues on head-first this month as Peter finds himself battling against some criminal goons working for mastermind Big Man (who to an extent foreshadows Kingpin thematically) as they wreak havoc on the civilians and businesses of New York. All this while Aunt May rests it up in Florida—well, at least poor Pete doesn't have to worry about that for a while at least. What really takes the forefront this issue round however is the surprisingly complex relationship that is budding betwee...
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The Man Who Became The Torch! 0
It's comic book cliche time everybody as The Wizard breaks out of prison again and invents a bunch of crazy gadgets that just about every other villain might have or may in the future use. We've got anti-gravity, we've got super disguises made in fractions of time; there's even take TV cameras that actually render humans unconscious. Okay, so that last one is a little out there, but really doesn't do much to help the story become any less trivial. On the flipside we have another Doctor Strange t...
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The Man Called Electro 0
A highly significant, influential and most of all, well-told story this month as Peter Parker finds himself struggling against the tides of his double life. As if being a superhero isn't taxing enough (hey, ask that Human Torch chump why don't you?), imagine having to balance it out with the pressures of high-school, unrequited love, sick relatives, hospital bills, ademanding boss and your kick-ass costume getting wet. Well, that's the life of Spider-Man, and while it had been well conceived dur...
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The Master Plan Of Doctor Doom! 0
Holy teleporter and solar beams, Reed Richards, it's time you stepped down as the leader of the Fantastic Four! Sick of being bossed around, the other three members take it upon themselves this month to voting on a new leader, only they can't because they all end up voting for themselves. Funny stuff; but not as funny as Doctor Doom's latest series of traps and wacky hijinks that dominates the majority of the Four's adventure. To be fair, every odd Doctor Doom appearance is usually pretty silly,...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Return Of The Eel! 0
So I only read Strange Tales #112 about 3 weeks ago, but already I can't seem to remember just who this Eel guy is. Oh right, yeah, I gave that comic2.5/10, maybe that has something to do with it? Nevertheless, all confusion aside regarding why everyone is making a big deal out of someone I can't even remember coming back, this latest issue of Strange Tales is innocuous enough to get by, but once again I suspect will be one not readily remembered down the line. In it The Eel plans to steal riche...
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Beware the Blob 0
Still in their youth, the X-Men go through quite a few conundrums and changes to personality here—some which will be neglected, and others which will be further developed and refined down the line. What's most interesting about this issue however is that the story's antagonist is only created or viewed as such simply because Professor X (who, by the way, now seemingly has a crush on Marvel Girl just like almost every other bumbling fool who gets within her radius) did a nosey and tried to get an...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Return of the Mole Man 0
Remember that time when Mr. Fantastic went and got all worked up because some readers suggested that Sue Storm was a waste of a place on The Fantastic Four and that she was basically useless as a superhero? Well, despite giving a big lecture on exactly how Invisible Girl was so great, this month we get a glimpse of a more empowered (at least, in the ostensible sense), more developed and rounded Sue Storm soon on her way to being the powerhouse hero that she would soon become. Aside from her usua...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Avengers Meet Sub-Mariner 0
In the spirit of the original Hulk series which we thankfully saw the last of near the start of 1963, this latest outing for Marvel's supergroup The Avengers sees the heroes battle it out with yet another carnation of Hulk that transforms back and forth between monster and human almost uncontrollably—though without any apparent trigger. And as if that isn't enough, we also get the re-appearance of Namor, this time outside of a Fantastic Four mag—the only time this has happened to date with the e...
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The Master Plan Of Mr. Hyde! 1
Odin is all "hell no!" this month as he reverts his decision made previous issue to consider making Jane Foster an immortal. All this because she covered Thor's hammer with a blanket or something thus buying Mr. Hyde some time to escape. Oh well, better luck next time. Same goes for Mr. Hyde too who despite capturing Blake and Foster, bringing them back to his castle and thenattempting to steal a submarine (why exactly we will never know), still manages to fudge things up with Thor and run (or s...
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The Mysterious Mister Hyde! 0
Boy, for a Norse God, Thor sure does like the nurses. He even goes so far as to raise his hammer to his father. He apologises, of course, but still gets a blast of lightning to the crotch. There goes the family. On the other side of existence however, his beloved Jane Foster (who is portrayed here as much more attractive by Don Heck) is harassed by a deranged criminal called Dr. Hyde who seeks revenge for Blake rejecting his job application, or something. Okay, so, it's hokey. But it's Journey i...
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The New Iron Man Meets The Angel! 0
Iron Man goes sky-high this month as he finds himself at the mercy of The Angel who has been affected by a Nuclear Blast caused by Stark which—you guessed it—causes the X-Man to turn evil. I know, I know; I was rolling my eyes during the first few pages of setup too. I thought it was going to be one ofthose issues. Surprisingly (or not, if you look at the credits) however, Lee, Ditko and Reinman do a terrific job of selling the story itself which although having that terribly rough premise, actu...
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The Terrible Threat Of The Living Brain 0
It's a super special teenage issue this month as we see Parker slug it out with school rival Flash Thompson and even Johnny Storm gets a few pages to stretch out his talents with the wall-crawler. Not only this but we also get a rampaging computer "thinking machine" of sorts that goes berserk when someone accidentally bumps into it. Must be that time of the month. Sorry.But yeah, a bit of a jam-packed issue with lots of little tid-bits but no real meat to any of the stories with the exception of...
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The Clutches Of The Puppet Master! 0
The Puppet Master is back for the third time this month, only this time he only has eyes for one half of the Fantastic Four. Taking control of Torch and sending him to Alicia's apartment to lay down the Johnny Storm charm in an attempt to makeThing go berserk and start laying it into the poor little guy. Long story short; it works, and the pretty much the following ten pages are just Thing and Torch going at it unaware that one of them is being controlled (badly) by The Puppet Master. Much like ...
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Showdown With The Human Top! 0
Continuing on from where we left off back in 1963, we kick off the new year with part two of The Human Top, and while it's not quite as terrible as the first issue, it's still just as unremarkable. Of course this time the main difference is that Giant Man approaches his speedy foe from a different angle and takes him down by other means. The conclusion is fair enough—the police trap Human Top by placing fences around a small area of the city, effectively giving him nowhere to run to. The problem...
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The Human Top! 0
Despite over a year of continuity building, much of this latest issue of Astonish is ridden with what is either ret-conning or simple forgetfulness. First we have The Wasp claiming to be in the superhero gig for the sole purpose of bagging Pym when it was really to get some catharsis over her father's death during her induction issue. Over it already, huh? Then we also have the issue of Pym's ants coming back, this time seemingly only being able to communicate with pictures rather than words tha...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Mysterious Mr. Doll 0
Having taken the reigns at least temporarily from Tales of Suspense's chief artist Don Heck, Steve Ditko in his second issue here redesigns Heck's original creation and gives him more spark, more punch and a greater ability to emote. It's the main reason that this issue (in which Ditko is seemingly given much greater control than his last) reads so well—it bounces off the page and yet seems to exist in its own fantastical, deranged and secluded world. Pitting Iron Man up against his toughest foe...
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The Hate Monger 0
One of the few issues of Fantastic Four not to be inked by Dick Ayers in over a year, this latest issue tries to break from the mould a bit thus far established by previous issues and the result is a little less than stellar. While obviously stemming from good intentions, the majority of the Four's adventure this month which deals with hatred, bigotry and injustice, is a little too plain-faced and simplistic to significantly deal with the themes at hand. Of course, this was a good fifty years ag...
1 out of 2 found this review helpful. -
The Sandman Strikes! 0
This month sees the return of two Marvel celebrities of sorts in the form of Spider-Man's foe The Sandman, and the mysterious Dr. Strange who finally gets some sort of origin story. Part one which is penned by Lee and Ayers comes off like your typical Torch story; there's a villain (a much less engaged Sandman) and Johnny gets all heated about proving how hot he is, and he goes and manages to prove everyone wrong by being the Hero of the Day, and then he reminds us how great he is, and, yeah. On...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Return Of The Vulture 0
Stan opts to close out the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man with a blurb along the lines that nothing about Spider-Man was ever or will ever be typical, and for once he's not waxing hyperbole. Issue 7, which sees the return of The Vulture (who apparently was something of a massive hit for readers back in the day) by popular demand is pretty much the definition of a-typical. While Lee and Ditko sometimes rely on breaking the mold too much to the point where storytelling suffers here (much of Sp...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Avengers Battle the Space Phantom 0
You know, it's a comic book cliché, but I'm a sucker for these doppelgänger stories that pit the heroes of our books against each other. I guess it forces the true dynamics of a team and their relationships with each other into play—much like it did when Dr. Doom managed to take the form of Mr. Fantastic a while back now. This latest example is something of a guilty pleasure of mines in that it's ridiculous and just as surreal as Doom's exploits, but does so with a whole cast of characters and u...
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The Birth Of Giant-Man! 0
So after 14 issues, finally a decision is made that a guy with the sole power ofbeing like an ant is, really isn't the best thing to build a superhero around. Fair enough, they stuck with it for much longer than anyone could have imagined at the time, but hey—enough is enough, guys. So what do they do with the Pym character then? Psshhh, I dunno? Make him awesome big; that's what. Obvious choice, really. Maybe too obvious. But all of this aside, regardless of whether Pym is big or small this mon...
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Iron Man Battles The Mysterious Melter! 0
It's a superstar showdown this month as we get three Marvel titans teaming up to breathe life into the tin-can gladiator Iron Man. While the pairing of Ditko and Heck gives Suspense a familiar but notably more striking look, the same cannot be said unfortunately for the writing from Lee which essentially boils down to the same someone is attacking Tony Stark's weapons plot that we've read ad infinitum. The result is an inoffensive outing for Iron Man which pits him against the forgettable Melter...
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Challenged By The Human Cobra! 0
Despite Sinnott making quite the impression two issues prior, then Kirby doing the same just last month, this time around the Journey into Mystery series is once again passed around to another artist, this time in the form of Don Heck. Under his guise as well as Lee's usual pen, Don Blake finds himself all angst and fury at the opening of this issue as it draws on the cliffhanger ending of the previous issue involving his beloved Jane Foster. For Blake and Thor, it's a nice change of pace and ad...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Face-To-Face With The Lizard 0
When it comes to Stan Lee and his knack for creating new villains every month, you can usually be sure that it's either going to be a commie, alien, disgruntled scientist or low-life criminal mad-man. Kudos must be given then for his creation of The Lizard, who although ostensibly just as ridiculous as some of his more exotic creations, possesses perhaps the most human and sympathetic backstory of all to date. Sure, he's a scientist, and sure he inadvertently causes himself to become a monster b...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
No One Can Stop the Vanisher 0
A solid improvement over their mediocre debut 2 months prior, this issue sees the green cadets of Professor X tackle a much less renowned foe by the name of The Vanisher. And three guesses as to what power this guy possess? Yeah, that's right; he can vanish, but not like The Invisible Girl—more like teleportation, instantaneously from one place to another. Simple concept, sure, but Lee does well to keep it as such and not use it to place the action inside laborious back-and-forths that tend to d...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Mysterious Molecule Man! 0
Hey, remember that weird Watcher guy from issue 13 that lived on the moon? Well, he's back and he's brought some bad news; there's a menace on the loose who has accidentally stumbled on the ability to control molecules in any manner he desires—that is, unless they are "living" organic molecules, or something like that. Starting off strong by developing Lee's new favourite villainy motive of being under-appreciated in a giant corporation and then being let go, the Four's adventure slowly but sure...
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The Human Torch Meets... Captain America 0
Captain America kind of makes his fitting debut appearance in the Silver Age of Marvel this month in the pages of Johnny Storm's solo mag Strange Tales as he turns out to be quite different from his Golden Age version of himself. Well, that is, until you get to the end and you find out the shocking truth. And well, yeah, it is kinda cool in a way. Not only that but the entire story reads well and gives Cap some nice action segments that are great to look at and skim through as they whiz past. Of...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Ant-Man And The Wasp Defy The Porcupine! 0
Despite "Defying the porcupine" sounding a little like something you shouldn't do when you're growing up as a young boy, this latest issue of Tales to Astonish is a little less amusing than you might think. Revolving around a villain who somehow sees the porcupine as nature's finest creation in terms of survival, much of the story is half-baked and dumbfounding. Sure, the guy is dressed as a porcupine, but he hardly ever even utilises his suit to act like one. Unless, of course, there are any fl...
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The Crimson Dynamo 0
More Red Under The Bed this month as Tony Stark and Iron Man go head to head with the Iron Curtain's best bet, The Crimson Dynamo. Coming off the heels of a genuinely exciting and revelatory issue, the follow up here is decidedly dull. Instead of creating strife from within, we once again get some terrorist plot or something where some spy uses electricity to Fuck Shit Up. And that he does—only, it's pretty lame and by the time Iron Man cunningly tricks the villain into joining the great Red Whi...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Lava Man 0
So after last month with Sinnott's rather striking breakout as the artist in Journey into Mystery, this month we see Marvel playing it more on the safe side and offering something SUPER SPECIAL as Lee and Kirby join forces to try and rescue the flailing series from its agony. The result is unexpectedly strong; especially for one featuring an antagonist that goes by the moniker Lava Man. Yet, despite the appearance of yet another Villain of the Month, much of this issue rather strikingly revolves...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Prisoners of the Pharoah! 0
Stan goes mad with time travel, hieroglyphics, paradoxes and all sorts of science fiction this month as The Fantastic Four go back in time to try and recover an ancient vial presumed to have a radioactive cure for blindness. What they don't count on however is that they'd already been beaten to the chase by a mad scientist from the year 3000 who, sick of his utopian civilisation, opted to travel back in time to rule and conquer all for a bit of fun. Sure, it's a bit silly, but it's also a lot of...
0 out of 1 found this review helpful.
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