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It's so rare these days for us to get dialogue by anyone other than Lee, I completely forgot that he probably didn't write that "prayer" line. But he left it in as Editor.

Count the hands and look at their placement. Is she fondling herself?

That's hysterical. I don't know how I missed dad's comment there, I think I just looked at those illos too quickly because I don't find romance comics very interesting. What would have been great is if the artist had added motion lines to show how fast the guy was moving his hands over her.

"There can be no second chance for a follower of Dormammu!" - Dormammu

Having been given a second chance by Dormammu last issue, Mordo is determined to make the most of it. (One assumes there can be no third chance for a follower of Dormammu.) There's not much of a plot this month - it's just a cat-and-mouse game, and not all that interesting. The art saves it, thanks to Ditko's inks. Compared to the average Kirby story, there seems to be much more minute detail filling the panels. This is partly a function of this unique strip and partly because of the exotic locale. The architecture is certainly a draw.




The splash was even better this month. Mordormammu towers over a map and a tiny Strange, symbolizing the way in which they hound him wherever he goes. I'm reminded of the scenes in Casablanca and Raiders of the Lost Ark where a moving line describes a route through various cities on a map of the Eastern Hemisphere. Though in this case, it's the "sheer hatred of Mordo which fans out like a living, destructive force!" (which Strange can sense)





Mordo makes himself comfortable in the Master's maison.




I love these illos where Mordo uses his head.






To say nothing of some really nice closeups of Strange. This must be the first Strange Tale in which he never wears his cloak, even on the splash.

He's not hitting on some Oriental hottie here - it's just the way I cropped the illo. It would make a great pick-up line, though.

This is the third consecutive issue where Stephen uses his fists to good advantage, after never having done so before. I wonder if this was an editorial decision by Lee to inject some physical action into the strip, or whether it was Ditko's idea to begin including it. I especially appreciate it when Strange hits one guy while using the other hand to cast a spell at another in the same illo. You gotta figure that takes concentration.

I think he bears a slight resemblance to Stan here.

____________________________________________________'Nuff said!!!



________________________________________________I even like these colorful Ditko characters.___________________



Was that Sen-Yu who slipped Strange his plane ticket on page 5?

"I shall fight to the very end - and after, if Hoggoth wills!" Is Hoggoth Stephen's god??

Maybe not. Later in the story, he takes name-dropping to a new level. It sounds like he's "casting about" desperately for anyone that comes to mind! "By the omnipotent Oshtur! By the hoary hosts of Hoggoth! In the name of the eternal Vishanti!...Simon says!"

________________I like the visual perspective here.



It seemed sort of incongruous for Strange to don a disguise while in ethereal form. Also, he used the Illusory Duplicate spell just like last issue. Although he added the power of hypnotism to each of the illusions this time, I'd like to see a different spell next month, as well as more of a plot.

If Dormammu had chosen to also enlist Doctor Strange's other major enemy, we might have had...

_________________Nightmare at 20,000 Feet!_______________________

Does anyone own the Tales of Suspense issues with "Tales of the Watcher", and if so, do you know whether the Watcher ever makes any other references to "prayer" or "God"? That would be really fascinating if it turned out that Ivie was only continuing a characterization that had already been established. Even if there was only one such throwaway line in TotW, that would be cool from the standpoint of consistent characterization.

If I hadn't been negative six at the time, I would've written to Stan asking whether the Watcher had compiled empirical evidence of the efficacy of prayer, to Odin or some other God(s), or whether he was merely voicing a personal faith. I'll bet Stan would've printed such a letter and offered a funny response which evaded the issue.

"Well, we asked him for ya, 'VF', but he said he couldn't answer us, on the grounds that he's only supposed to watch and not to influence us mortals. But between you and me, we're hoping he can put in a good word for the Bullpen Gang!"

Almost a week without any Marathon talk. As I go into withdrawal, I cling to the deserparate hope of a Storytime Family appearance in the next few days.

There's not much I want to say about the Torch/Thing story. I wonder what sales were like. I guess the only way Marvel could know which anthology features were driving sales was from fan mail. But then why all the Giant-Man letters printed on the TtA letters page compared to relatively few Hulk letters? Non-representative samples?

I wonder if the T'nT feature was tanking with readers or whether Stan already preferred S.H.I.E.L.D. even before that. Were readers writing: "Love the FF, hate Strange Tales Torch and Thing"?

I now notice the irony of showing a cloaked Dr. Strange on the cover when he wears plainclothes throughout the story.

I think Powell's talents were being wasted on the two series that were on their last legs (not that I'd put him on any of the other superhero mags - put him on a horror mag).

The best thing about this story is that these are the best Mad Thinker illos yet devised.




On the top half of this page, the Thinker starts small in the bottom of the first panel (not scanned) and "rises" higher and higher through these second, third, and fourth panels across the page.




____________________________________________This panel is stunning.



Powell constantly chanes the visual perspective during this two-page Thinker interlude.




This panel? Genius.



How about his posture in the second panel here?




Here he looks like Lon Chaney as the Wolf Man.




The Thinker isn't the only one to benefit at Powell's hands. I wish Kirby would give us Torch illos like these.













I also like the first few panels of the story. Here are two cops from the splash.




I'm impressed by just how wet Powell and Ayers are able to make these illos look. Surprisingly evocative.




Looking forward to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Tales of Suspense and The Avengers are competing for my least favorite Marvel books now. As Bric said, the layouts in Iron Man aren't that great, and Heck is severely diminished by not inking his own pencils. Also, the stories lack interest now that the Death of Stark is over. As for Captain America, I'm not sure I like the recent change in setting. It feels out of place amongst the rest of the SA Marvel continuity. Now we have only Avengers for "current" Cap. And that mag hasn't been the same after #9 or #10. Cap deserves better. I'm looking forward to him facing an actual supervillian (does Zemo even count?).

Even though the story this month is boring, there's some good art because Kirby provides nonstop action in fully half the story, and the action poses are great.













There were some odds moments, though. The Masterworks coloring is shoddy. I'm really looking forward to a new rerestored edition.







Also, Cap has no pupils on the splash. Maybe it's that way in the original floppy, I don't know.

The underside of the shield is uncolored throughout the issue. It used to be colored gray. It looks kind of odd now.

Here's a weird illo - if Bucky were to stand up straight, it looks like he'd be taller than Cap!




Here's a better Bucky.




We get some more comedy with Private Rogers and Sarge.




In this illo of Agent 13, I was all set for her to remove her mask and stand revealed as an old crone - a reversal of Agent R!




There's nothing worth saying about the story for me. I know both Tales of Suspense features are going to improve, I'm just getting a little impatient for it.

Two full weeks without the Storytime Family, and I'm supposed to feel able to then get out of bed and go to work?

Cruel and unusual punishment.

All I can say is I hope they're enjoying their quality time together. But they should learn to think about others once in a while, and post a round of Hulk or Spidey interviews.

"Throw me a frickin' bone here."