Contemporary readers might be surprised to realize that five of the 14 titles Marvel Comics published in June 1963 were aimed at girls.
The publisher also had eight superhero titles on the newsstands that month, as well as two westerns. Issue 60’s mystery man revamp of Two-Gun Kid qualified it as both a western and a superhero title. In issue 65’s Nothing Can Save Fort Henry, he’s fighting Roaring Bear, an Apache warrior who’s gained superhuman strength from a potion.
Inevitably, Marvel’s two super-teens meet and team up in the second and final Strange Tales Annual. The Human Torch was flying solo in a Strange Tales feature at the time.
And shades of J. Jonah Jameson, a TV host starts a public campaign against the Human Torch in Strange Tales 112. The new superhero Dr. Strange had disappeared from that issue, by the way. Editor Stan Lee was waiting to see if reader reaction warranted the continuation of the feature.
The Fantastic Four frequently fought examples of a time-tested theme in superhero comics — the mirror-image antagonist.
As early as their second issue, the FF faced the Skrulls, extraterrestrial enemies who could disguise themselves as the heroes and imitate their powers through alien technology. And in the 18th issue, the Skrulls returned with a twist — they’d given one of their number actual superpowers identical to the FF’s, the “All-Powerful Super-Skrull.”
In Tale to Astonish 47, Ant-Man and the Wasp faced the supernatural music of Trago, a villain who’d learned his trumpet playing in Tibet (always the go-to geographical location for acquiring superpowers in comic books). Evil musicians never really worked for me, somehow. Nevertheless, the story is surprisingly touching, featuring the heroic sacrifice of Korr, an ant as faithful as any dog.
The best bits of Amazing Spider-Man 4 are, for me, the various delightful quotidian touches that pepper the story.
Spidey has to flee the scene when would-be burglars accuse him of harassment and call for the cops. The frustrated superhero must sew up his own torn mask. Aunt May insists he carry his umbrella. Spidey very satisfyingly webs crotchety old J. Jonah Jameson’s posterior to his office chair.
Spider-Man’s climactic battle with the Sandman occurs, coincidentally, at the high school he attends, drawing Peter Parker’s personal soap opera and superheroic mission even closer together.
“These fight sequences by Ditko are great because he knows how to draw almost an overwhelming sense of chaos and anxiety for the hero,” observed comics historian Alex Grand. “Great sense of flow and movement. His work is pertinent and unique to the flow of comic history.”
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