Marathon 40:
Man, I'm really starting to burn out from going through these so fast. But then I try to imagine how the heck Kirby drew this many pages this fast, when I'm having trouble reading them this quickly. Good thing I'm close to catching up.

JIM 110: Every Hand Against Him. Hyde + Cobra + Loki = Fun! How exactly did Loki escape to earth again? Stan doesn't even bother to tell us. It's entertaining how Loki mundanely bails Hyde and Cobra out of jail rather than transporting them out or something equally magical. Hyde apparently is unable or unwilling to return to Calvin Zabo form…and the cops let the Cobra wear his costume in jail? The MU clearly needs the Vault and some competent correctional facilities, pronto. top of p. 3 is a nice Kirby triad, with Thor transforming to Blake. The two end panels are in similar poses, left leg extended, to complete the symmetry. p. 3: Jane's getting awfully intimate with Don. At least Loki goes so far as to beef up the admittedly dismal powers of Hyde and Cobra….though doubling Cobra's powers still doesn't give you much. p. 4 last panel: since when does Loki bother to obey Odin's edicts on anything when the old man isn't looking? last panel of p. 6: I love the villains and Jane driving off in a taxi, of all things, while Thor stands looking on helplessly. p. 8: first panel: what a great Angry Odin! p. 15: check out the anguish on Thor's face, 3rd panel. It's pretty tacky and disappointing to pull the "time stands still" gambit (and a similar one will be used in the Avengers), and feels like a cheat.
TOA The Defeat of Odin: A very odd story; it's clear that Odin engineers his own defeat, and this almost feels like an event in search of a meaning, since the proferred justification is awfully thin.

XM 8: Unus the Untouchable. Kind of a Blob retread, though at least Unus makes for some interesting group dynamics. p. 3: The Scott and Jean soap opera heats up. p. 5: The crowd is instinctively filled with hatred, even when the Beast is being heroic; Stan is starting to tumble to what the hook of this book should be rather than just another superhero team. p. 6: The notion of going spelunking in a wheelchair just is so ludicrous you have to love it. p. 7: Hunting Lucifer? Prof. X is certainly giving us (and probably Scott) the wrong impression, that's for sure. One has to ask whether the Beast going from mutant would-be hero to professional wrestler is really much of an improvement. I like how Unus' first reaction on seeing a bank robbery is to try to get some of that cash for himself; it tells you everything you need to know about his character. p. 15: Angel actually proves himself to be useful for a change. Hank's plan is a good one, but it's a bit manipulative of him not to explain it (cf. Reed Richards pulling the same tactic to try to get blind obedience from the other members of the FF a little bit before). I'm left with one question: If Unus can't control his untouchability, how is it that he's still on the ground?

TTA 62: Giant Man vs. the Wasp. Where the heck did this lab complex come from, and who paid for it? It's kind of surprising no one has figured out Hank's secret identity before, with him inviting his fan club into his home and all, but a second story man catches on and makes the great move of swiping the costume. Since it took Hank a long time to get the hang of moving as Giant Man, it's entertaining to see the less agile crook try it. p. 6: I like how the plant just keeps growing as a menace in the background, and you know it will soon figure into the plot. p. 11: The cross section of the ant city is an odd little extra touch, but entertaining. The last panel features Hank wiping out the crook's memory…which seems like pretty unethical science and a fairly dubious action for a hero to undertake (though Prof. X also doesn't seem to have much of a conscience about it either).
Hulk vs. Chameleon. p. 2 we get our first hint at The Leader, who apparently was behind the spy in the last story, and it wasn't just the usual standard-issue Communist plot. Like the Mandarin, The Leader seems to have his own motivations that aren't doctrinaire or beholden to another government. p. 3: It's pretty amusing to see the Chameleon/Ross think he can give orders to the Hulk. Ditko's Hulk is deep in Boris Karloff mode again here. p.5: Betty inadvertently helps foil the Chameleon's plot to steal Bruce's atomic secrets, but in the process also manages to implicate Bruce himself as a spy; it's a fairly complex and dense plot that works quite well to draw in the reader. p. 8: My diagnosis is ADD, frankly.

Av 10: The Avengers Break Up/Immortus. Finally, the end of volume 1; I've never much like the Avengers, and the early issues are tough slogging indeed. Things will get interesting later as Hank loses his marbles and the Vision raises issues about what it means to be human, but issues 1-10 are not my cup of tea at all. This issue in particular raises a lot of questions in my mind: Why is Rick Jones hanging around, and why is Iron Man thinking Rick should have some kind of Avengers Uniform!? Why not just paint a target on him and be done with it? Why is Cap so possessive of Rick, if he doesn't want Rick to be a new Bucky, or his sidekick? Or did Stan forget what the thread of this plot was altogether? p. 4: Someone knows who Immortus is….but who? The Enchantress? Why would she know? Is he Kang/Rama-Tut/Doom again? Might he as well be? p. 6 Do you think Don Heck has ever seen the Tower of London or has any photo references of it? If so, why did he draw this thing instead? Why does Cap trust Immortus' word without proof? Why is Cap accusing them of not wanting Rick to be an Avenger when he was the one who objected? p. 13: Why does this Hercules look so different from the one that shows up later on the Thor? p. 20: If the Enchantress can send things back a few days at will, why doesn't she just keep doing it over and over again Groundhog Day style until they get it right? See, I have lots of questions, but no answers.

SF 12: When a Howler Turns Traitor: Lots of foreshadowing of the supposed treason here, with Axis Sally and jokes about Dino going over the hill. The last panel of p. 4, Fury looks totally psycho. p. 16: It's not clear to me why Fury doesn't tell the others about his plan; he's told them similar plans before. Why would they need to be convincing while they're shooting at the Nazis? It's not exactly Hogan's Heroes when Fury ends up in a Nazi POW camp….and he doesn't stick around long, either. Pretty good action issue, but too many holes in the main plot for it to be a classic.

ST 127: Human Torch story ---I'm taking this one out of order in order to follow it up with ASM 19. The Mystery Villain strikes. As if it's much of a mystery to the reader…. Once again, Johnny and Ben are chafing at Reed's leadership, and Reed is a total jerk about it. And once again, they fall for a scam that appeals to their gigantic egos. I expect that they answer Nigerian emails in their spare time. Being trapped in a high speed car is a serious fix for Ben, but you'd think Johnny could just fly out of it. Once again, Reed demands instant, blind obedience from them. Give him a suit of armor and a green cloak with a hood and he could take over Latveria.

ASM 19: I love the into on page 2, cautioning the reader to be comfy and relaxed, and to be able to read without interruptions. Classic Stan ballyhoo there. p. 4: Clearly this comes after ST 127, per the footnote, but why is Johnny so exhausted? Granted he did the near-nova heat business, but he rides back from Utah to Manhattan, so he should have had plenty of time to rest back up. Although I'm sure it wasn't the intent, Reed's little scheme in ST 127 pretty much backfires, since it's his determination to teach the Torch a lesson that almost gets Johnny killed. And where is Reed to make sure Johnny's OK? Hm, perhaps he's shopping for armor.

In any event, the Enforcers, having been left in the lurch by the Goblin now decide it's a better idea to team up with the Sandman. Is Spidey's little song "All hail the Spider, a hardy breed is he tra la la la la" an original? I thought it might be a parody but Google is not showing me anything that he might have been taking off from. Given that, it's pretty bizarre. p. 13 and the cover offer some great swinging Spidey poses that will be mercilessly lifted for the cartoon series shortly. p. 15-16 offer a wide variety of shapes for Sandy, making it look almost like a Dr. Strange story. p. 19: Once again, not learning from ASM 17, the Torch and Spidey get in each others' ways and make a total hash of the big moment, letting the Sandman get away. p. 20: But it's all right, because the Sandman just surrenders to the police, apparently sick of dealing with these two teenagers. It seems awfully easy a resolution, but there didn't seem to be any vacuum cleaners around anyway. p. 21: Betty's jealousy scheme totally blows up in her face, as so many of these ploys do in this time period. You really see Stan's issues with females in stark vividness in these books. p. 22: JJJ would be livid to hear people think that he and Spidey were in cahoots; it's a missed opportunity to not see him blow a gasket over this. Terrific teaser of [the Gobin's secret ID] having Peter tailed, just when Pete thinks everything is going his way.

FF 33: On the Side of the Sub-Mariner. Attuma makes his first appearance, with a photo collage cover from Kirby, as well as some of the interior art. Subby is apparently still mooning over Sue, at least that's how I read his dismissiveness of Dorma. And of course, Dorma does the only rational thing she knows: betraying him to his worst enemy. Overreact much? p. 13: Namor goes all Winston S. Churchill, giving Stan a great opportunity to orate. p. 15: Sue's force field is proving increasingly handy, destroying the subsonic gun. The whole issue is pretty clever in helping Namor out without appearing to do so. One has to wonder, what would have happened had he known? Would he have turned on them? Rejected their help? Accepted it grudgingly but feel insulted (cf. Dormammu over in ST 127 this very month) .

TOS 60: Iron Man Wanted for Murder. Happy proves he's not a punch-drunk dope as he starts to get pretty suspicious of IM's motives. p. 7: The Widow is darned right: Hawkeye is a total dope for love. Witness what their dialogue boils down to:
Hawkeye: I can't commit treason!
Widow: No, no, international peace!
Hawkeye: Oh, well, then all right, I'll steal the plans and give them to you and whoever it is that backs you. That's good enough for me! How bout a smooch?
p.10: Interestingly, Natasha finds out the KGB has a limit to its patience. We also meet Sergei Amkov, who apparently is played by Robert Shaw.
Cap Battles the Assassins. Nice fakeout with the ersatz Cap at the beginning. But if they're supposed to take Cap alive, how is it that they're assassins? p. 3: Rick is in NY here and in the Avengers, but in the Southwest in the Hulk stories, and it's already been observed that Stan's not paying much attention to Rick's chronology. Just stick him in wherever. Stan must have had a sense Rick was popular to put him in three different books this month, though one wonders if that was something borne out by the letters they got? The shield's powers are just getting zanier and zanier, and now it can leap off Cap's arm and whack people upside the head. When did Zemo get eye slits?

ST 127 Dr. Strange. Duel with the Dread Dormammu. Ditko really shows his talent in pacing, suspense and structure here. Last issue, we were at the brink of a duel, but then it's broken off here as Dormammu insists Doc is no challenge, giving Clea the opportunity to give Doc some insight. In particular, Doc learns about Dormammu's barrier, protecting the denizens of his dimension from the Mindless Ones, pointing out that as nasty as he is, Dormammu's not all bad either. Once we finally get to the duel, each of pages 6 and 7 ends with a panel cutting away from the fight, pulling the reader to turn the page, and giving the story a fine forward propulsion. Dormammu makes his vow not to invade earth…but Doc wasn't quite careful enough and didn't say anything about not being attacked himself. Doc gets a nice reward of his now familiar cloak (though it's not specified yet as being of levitation) and an even more powerful amulet, though the one he already had was pretty sweet (kicked Mordo around with it, anyway).

Other than ASM 19 and the Dr. Strange finale, not too good a month in all.