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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 Painter of a Thousand Perils! 0
Man alive, this issue does not shut up. And I thought Lieber was bad with his obtuse plot developments—new guy Bernstein is all about that exposition! All set-up and flash-backstory, this month sees the Human Torch up against The Painter of a Thousand Perils—an artist who (you guessed it) can make scenes come to life as he paints it, really fast with paints and brushes he found from Egyptian ruins. Sounds like a certain Fantastic Four issue, right? Yup, it's that story again, only with a much le...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Master of Flame Versus the Monarch of the Sea!! 0
The fans demanded it, and now Marvel deliver!—Kinda. Considering the past two issues, the amazing cover art and premise, this one is big letdown. Much like the weakest of these Strange Tales issues, and the general whole of Tales to Astonish, the problem here is the large focus on bizarre uses and implementations of our hero and villain's powers. I gotta admit, Torch going "supernova" and diving leagues into the sea is pretty cool, but the rest is pretty throwaway. Far from THE BIG ONE that Stan...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Threat of the Torrid Twosome! 0
Well whadya know? Two decent Strange Tales comics in a row! Not only do we finally get treated to an explanation as to why Johnny thinks he's being inconspicuous (he's a gullible dumb-ass, basically), but we get to see a little more internal strife from the Four. Sure, this isn't the first time Johnny's left in a huff and gruff, but this time he teams up with a world class acrobat! Yup, it's pretty silly, but in an endearing way at least—it doesn't pander and try to make the story any bigger tha...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Return of the Wizard! 0
Coming off from the bizarre Paste-Pot Pete, things could (surely) only get better for poor little Johnny, and thankfully, they do—a whole lot. Drawing on the villain which so far has given Torch his only real challenge, this time we see The Wizard strike back as he excapes prison in a cunning feat which prompts the terrific line “Not for nothing am I called the wizard!”… yeah, way to be modest!Modesty, however, is none of The Wizard’s concern. I mean, when a guy lays traps for his foes seemingly...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Human Torch Meets Paste-Pot Pete 0
An issue so bad, with a villain so completely mundane that I’m going to name my Worst Villain end of year award after poor old Paste Pot Pete. And you know, a lot of people will claim that Pete’s debut here is so bad that it’s good; but it isn’t. It’s so bad that it could have been good, but then they took it even further and it became even worse than bad. Between the basic concept that a guy could somehow utilize paste the way that Pete does (gripping onto passing planes, stopping missiles &...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Prisoner of the 5th Dimension! 0
Man, Johnny sure likes to be made people’s prisoner these days. Last month it was The Wizard, then the Puppet Master and now this week it’s… The Fifth Dimension! Okay, so it sounds cooler, but it isn’t. If there is one thing slightly amusing about the whole affair though, it’s hillbilly Jim who warns everyone of Swamp Demons. Of course, numerous plot twists ensue and not everyone is who they claim to be, but none of it really makes any sense, nor do you really care enough to will it to. A throwa...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Prisoner of the Wizard! 0
Oh here we go again! This month it’s the classic tale of brains vs. brawns as Torch squares off against The Wizard, who, I guess got his nickname because being smart means you’re obviously an aficionado of the black arts. No, but really, it’s probably because he invents crazy nonsensical stuff like chairs made of air. He’s a freakin’ Wizard for crying out loud, and he’s out to take on his biggest challenge yet; to defeat Johnny Storm…! Uh, what? Okay so maybe The Wizard has gone a little coo-coo...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Human Torch 0
It’s an invasion of superheroes! Yet another anthology series gets made-over and starts placing a superhero in its cover story, this time it’s with an already established character—that of The Human Torch. This is fine, and I’m sure Stan thought this would appease his teenage readers by presenting Johnny as something more than a sidekick, but there’s a reason Spider-Man was created, and that was because Johnny always suited being around his companions more than being on his own.Here in his solo ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Day Loki Stole Thor's Magic Hammer 0
The cover of this one prompts us to believe that we're going to get another Loki invading Earth story, but Lee decides instead to set much of the story in Asgard seemingly for the purpose of allowing Thor to make lots of hammers out of stone and tree trunks like it was nothing. Scripted by Bernstein, this version of Loki comes off as a lot more sinister than his previous somewhat campy incarnations, which is fine, but perhaps a little overdone. Much like the rest of the script in fact, which stu...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Sandu, Master of the Supernatural 0
So we're nine issues into the Mighty Thor series, and already we've seen 3 appearances of his younger, bothersome brother Loki. This might be seen as problematic were it not for the fact that the God of Mischief is one of the very few villains that Thor has went up against thus far that hasn't been utterly forgettable. This time however Loki (thankfully) doesn't manage to escape Odin and Asgard once more and instead uses his mental prowess to empower a mental magician by amping up his powers ten...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Trapped by the Carbon Copy Man! 0
With Jack Kirby out of the picture (har) this month for Journey into Mystery, we instead have Al Hartley who imbues a naturalist tone to the issue. While it works to a certain degree for his human characters, many of the moresupernatural elements lack the oomph of Kirby's more eccentric stylising. It's a neat little break from the norm, but jarring at the same time.Much more on form this time around is the writing from Lee and Lieber who manage to craft one of the best opening six pages yet with...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Thunder God and the Thug 0
As is become standard now, every second issue of Journey into Mystery seems to pitting the Asgard God against silly little insignificant mortals who bring out the silliness in him. This time Lee and Lieber try to attach a more tangible threat to Thor, or more specifically Don Blake, by getting Jane Foster involved. It works to a certain extent, but never capitalised on and with Foster still unaware of Blake’s secret identity (even though everytime he changes into Thor, nobody seems to catch on—”...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Vengeance of Loki 0
A much more engrossing and fitting outing for Thor’s favourite annoying sibling (something which is explicitly mentioned now) this week, though one that is still dabbling in the absurd. On the plus side, we get to see more of Asgard, Odin and Heimdall’s Bifrost (someone’s been doing their research!); the magic that seems to bind the pages together during these sections is truly awesome. What’s not quite as strong however is when Loki decides to be mischievous and turns everyone’s cars and such i...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Prisoner of the Reds! 0
Marvel really liked their trends back in 1962, huh? Out are the aliens, still in are the Reds, and now there’s this endless stream of their biggest superheroes being prisoners of something or another. Fine, but leaving Journey into Mystery to dabble in trends instead of pushing things like it has done the past few months is a little more than disappointing. With that said however, for an issue built around commies (again) the outing isn’t flat out terrible. In fact, it can be fun at times, and s...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
On The Trail of the Tomorrow Man 0
The fantastic world of Thor meets science-fiction this month as our Asgardian prince battles it out with a madman from a utopian future who—having to access to weapons, and presumably the materials of which are needed to build them(?)—sets out to steal a nuclear warhead from the Americans in 1962. Okay, sure, I buy it… but more because I’m a sucker for science-fiction. And you know what? Mashing it in here with Thor instead of the Fantastic Four actually works wonders for both the plot and the c...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Trapped by Loki, The God of Mischief 0
While still sitting in some murky waters, Journey into Mystery improves once again this week, this time providing our Norse God with some trouble in the form of his pain in the neck brother (though this relation is never acknowledged here) Loki. It’s the third book in three months, making it the fastest published title at the time, and being penned by Stan’s younger brother, it has a definite fresh feel to it despite seemingly being rushed out.With that said, there are still problems abound in t...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Mighty Thor Vs. The Executioner 0
I guess these Stop the Evil Commie stories resonated a lot more back in ‘62 than they do now. I don’t know, most of them reek of absent-mindedness and cheap exploitation of America’s paranoia. Nevertheless, when dealing with comics, one must expect a certain level of, erm, politcal investment. Especially with the CCA overlooking everything like, well, A Nasty Red!And so we are brought to Thor’s second story, just one month later (you have to wonderwhy, considering The Hulk and later on, Spider-M...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Mighty Thor! 0
Coincidences run amok in Journey into Mystery as we are introduced to the The Mighty Thor! Okay, so it isn’t really Thor, it’s just some guy with a lame leg who inherits the powers of Thor… oh, and his dashing looks too. Being set up straight from the get-go as a Superman type, only hailing from Asgard and wearing a helmet, Marvel go in an unprecedented direction in presenting a mythological God as a superhero. Again, it can’t be said that it’s actually Thor himself but shh!Oh and lo and behold,...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Metal Master! 0
Changing up the formula once again, The Hulk as we know him gets his swan song here in amongst the mighty metal master and a new crime-fighting superpower...the teen brigade.You know, if it wasn't for the whole super teenagers with a bizarre thirst for law and order, this bookend issue for the original Hulk wouldn't be so bad. Sure, Banner goes through another version of his green self (this time it leaves his own head on top of this hulking body amongst other weird amalgamations), and the Metal...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Beauty and the Beast! 0
In what is probably the worst Hulk issue yet, this month we see the new switch on/switch off Hulk battle it out with a maniac who lives at the centre of the Earth, can see anything and project himself anywhere as an image, and yet feels compelled to take down The Hulk just because. And what’s with all these villains taking up refuge in the centre of the Earth? I know, I know; it was 1963 and back then this seemed like a pretty cool, mildly entertaining concept… fair enough. But we’ve seen it too...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Monster and the Machine! 0
Something of an improvement this time around with the Hulk wisely being split into two (har) segments now instead of his “epic” 24 page runtime. While Lee and Kirby have by now established that nothing is destined to stay the same from issue to issue in this series, for once they get something right, and change the tedious story-length that made the first three issues a bit of a drag to read all the way through.In sticking to “changing anything we like” style however, in this episode we discover...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Banished to Outer Space! 0
Hulk literally flies(!) onto shelves this month with an astoundingly bland thump. You think, maybe Lee and Kirby would let The Hulk stay as he is for maybe a few issues before dumping the entire concept and beginning anew (almost.) From being the Hulk exclusively at night to now permanent and with the ability to fly (which will be changed to a super… very accurate form of leaping) it seems no surprise that fans couldn’t connect with the lumbering madman who—though penned as having a split person...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Terror of the Toad Men! 0
Despite being an issue often mocked by fans, I found this one to be an improvement over issue 1. Sure, the central villains are evil toad men… sure… but central to this outing’s appeal for me is a mixture of Steve Ditko’s only appearance in the series as Hulk’s inker making for a much more striking issue visually, and of course the whacky antics of seeing Hulk kick toad ass in space. It’s ridiculous really, but somehow Lee pulls it off to be a decent issue despite its obtuse plotting.For full re...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Coming of the Hulk 0
Another first for the medium (as far as I can see) in that Lee not only devotes an entire book to a single monster, but puts him in the role of protagonist up against someone else who wants to destroy and terrorize and all that evil stuff. What’s most interesting about this is that despite only being a handful of issues into their Superhero Rebirth titleFantastic Four, Lee and Kirby are already reconstructing what it means to be a hero. As an origin story, it’s bit tighter than the Four’s debut,...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Duel to the Death with the Vulture 0
Still on a bi-monthly production schedule, The Amazing Spider-Man is back after a 2 month break, this time to battle it off against two deadly foes; The Vulture andThe Tinkerer. First things first, what's most interesting about this issue is that Lee and Ditko opt to make Spidey's first serious villains (well, at least the vulture, anyway) the complete opposite of Pete in that they are old, cantankerous, selfish men. Sure, Vulture takes on the form of something other than a human and uses device...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Spider-Man Versus the Chameleon 0
Out with the old and in with the new for 1963! Upon the huge success of Spider-Man featured in the now defunct Amazing (adult) Fantasy series, Marvel cashes in and sends the same creative team to make comic book history. Providing a neat little backstory for those who may have missed Peter’s debut around seven months prior,Amazing Spider-Man #1 mixes the pathos of the original’s origin story with an action-packed narrative that pits Spider-Man against a foe who can transform himself to look like...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Spider-Man! 1
Conceived long before his debut, Spider-Man was Marvel’s last ditch hope at somehow reviving the flailing Amazing Fantasy series, switching up a ton of things, the least of which certainly not Spider-Man and Peter Parker himself. It was a risk that a few people outside of Lee and Ditko’s office had hope for, yet, somehow miraculously, the public put their hatred of spiders to the back of their minds and Spider-Man was an instant hit.Like Stan has gone over a thousand times already however, most ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Merciless Puppet Master. 0
Utilising 13 issues of solid continuity, this month we see the return of The Puppet Master and The Sub-Mariner under the control of that manic control freak. First things first though, and that's the nice touch added here that links the previous issue to this one; coming off directly from the Four's flight back from the moon, #14 adds to the previous issue's story of the space race, and then seamlessly moves to our usual Fantastic Four Melodrama section before setting up the action. As a whole, ...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Fantastic Four Versus the Red Ghost! 0
A surprisingly dull episode for the Fantastic Four this time around, when Reed Richards precedes our own history and lands on the moon in 1963. This makes me wonder, if, by the time I read up to modern day Fantastic Four issues, references to this will ever be made. Surely not, as that would put these events during, say, 1998 on the sliding timeline. Oh you got to the moon in '98, eh Richards? Nice.Nevertheless, all presumptions aside, going to the moon was a big thing in '63 and to be fair Stan...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Incredible Hulk 0
The Marvelverse just got a little smaller this month as The Fantastic Four somehow manage to get themselves on the wrong end of everyone's favourite big green guy,Hulk. I mean, that's what defines him really, ain't it? You see the Hulk, you think "man, that's guy's green." then you realise, "he's quite strong too, huh?" According to military however, The Thing looks just like Hulk, so much so that they try to capture him resulting is myriad of panels devoted to soldiers being mauled. Sound famil...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Impossible Man! 0
Man oh man, talk about drama! Well, despite the fact that I wasn't able to read the letters pages from the previous couple of issues, it's well known that Sue didn't initially go down with a select group of readers. It's something of a sidenote here in part 1's A Day With The Fantastic Four segment, but damn it's funny, and pretty innovative for a comic book of its kind. Also strong during this part is Sue and Reed's romance which is hinted at again, plus nice touches again with Ben and Johnny w...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Return of Doctor Doom! 0
Another stellar tale starring the Fantastic Four, this time seeing them up against Dr. Doom, and themselves (in a way), with a little help from Stan and Jack themselves! Featuring heedless fourth wall breaking (which, admittedly, I’ve always been a sucker for ever since seeing Gremlins 2 as a kid and being like “Hulk Hogan’s in the cinema!”) that introduces the writers within their own story is kind of crazy, but kind of cool at the same time. It happens just at the point where Mr. Fantastic con...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The End of the Fantastic Four! 0
This one is something of a Hulk. On the one hand you have a pretty intelligent, character-driven premise based on human flaws and everyday troubles of paying the bills. Then on the other you have this terribly overly fantastical plot of the God of the Sea (or whatever Namor is) buying a film studio (presumably with magic fish money) and using it to kill off his four nemesis one by one in a series of unbelievably elaborate action sequences. Of course, in the end Namor gets to walk off into the oc...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
Prisoner of the Puppet Master! 0
Though not the best the series has seen thus far, this month’s outing for theFour is an important one—perhaps more than any other since their debut—in that it makes do on its promise to deliver human characters as well as superheroes and villains. Of course, this most blatantly comes into play with everyone’s favouritefreak, Ben Grimm, but also kind of sweet is the interplay between the other three and Ben that hammers home their already tangible chemistry.Providing our source of antagonistic fo...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
It Came From The Skies! 0
Now I like invasion stories just as much as the next guy, but seriously, I’m beginning to loose count of how many visits Earth has had from strange aliens over the past few months. It’s a bit of a relief then that much of this issue, although not quite as strong as #4 and 6, serves as a neat little stand-alone story that blends some cool sci-fi concepts with some genuinely interesting “antagonists.”Sure, the whole plot boils down to one big Deus Ex Machina yet again, but it’s not without its cha...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
Captives of the Deadly Duo! 0
So it’s getting to the point now where I actively look forward to getting around to the nextFantastic Four issue. In comparison with just about everything else Marvel was putting out around this time, the FF are single, fairly consistent beacon of hope. What’s best about this though is that after this issue, the Four would be printed monthly rather than bi-monthly. So now we get twice the thrills, and boy is this one a good way to start!Pairing up the series’ most dastardly villains thus far, pu...
1 out of 1 found this review helpful. -
The Coming of the... Sub-Mariner! 0
Drawing a thin line connecting Marvel’s Golden Age with their current age, Lee and Kirby break down more walls and expand the space between their borders once more by infusing backstory from decades prior into its weaving. So not only do we have characters that exist within our real world New York who share a less than perfect relationship with each other that develops over time, but we can look forward to seeing villains and other backing characters in more than just a single issue. Again, it’s...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful. -
The Menace of the Miracle Man! 0
So this is finally where Lee and Kirby throw their gloves down and quit pretending that these guys (and gal!) weren’t anything but Superheroes. Showered with an assortment of gifts, the Four are given their famous costumes (which the Thing promptly rids himself of), their Fantasti-Car and of course we’re treated to a great drawing of their HQ.So an important issue for sure, but one that still finds itself lacking in the story-telling department. Aside from the gradual development of the characte...
0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
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