Just as cruelty was punished in Marvel’s short fantasy stories, kindness, and decency were always rewarded.
In Tales of Suspense 23 (Nov. 1961), writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko give us the tale of an aging couple — bookstore owners who’ve just retired — who are vacationing in the Florida Everglades. They have enjoyed their life together, and only regret that it is nearing its end.
Renting a boat to explore, they encounter a gigantic, vaguely reptilian alien being — just the kind of monster that could be found attacking Earth roughly twice a month in that era’s Marvel comics. But this one is stuck in the bog, and slowly sinking. It asks for their help.
“Wha – What are you?” they ask.
“What does it matter who I am?” it replies. “All that matters is that I am slowly sinking … If you do not help me, I shall soon perish! You must help me!”
“Do we dare?” the man says. “We know nothing about him! He may be dangerous — may be a monster! And yet — we can’t just stand by and let any living creature suffer!”
“We’ve got to help him, John!” says the woman. “And pray we are doing the right thing!”
Swallowing their fears, they enable the alien to reach vines he can use to pull himself free.
The couple has a bad moment when the creature easily lifts their boat with one hand. But he explains that he’d finished repairs on his spaceship when he got caught in the swamp and vows to reward them for their kindness even as he leaves Earth.
The couple finds they are somehow young again, although they can’t remember anything that’s happened.
“When I lifted their boat, I splashed a few drops of bog water on them!” the alien thinks as he rockets away. “Little did they dream it was from ‘the Fountain of Youth!’ It takes their memory from them, but restores their lost years!”
The story can be seen as a science fictional twist on the parable of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. While traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho, a Jewish man is attacked and left half-dead by robbers. Although his people ignore him, a passing Samaritan — a traditional enemy of his people — is moved by compassion. He helps the injured man, taking him to an inn and paying the innkeeper to feed and care for him.
The couple’s being bookstore owners is not an irrelevant detail. It signals to the reader that they are likely to be enlightened humanitarians.
That same theme would make it into a Marvel Western a year later. In Kid Colt Outlaw 107 (Nov. 1962), the gunfighter defends a giant stranded alien and is fatally wounded by a stray bullet for his trouble. The grateful alien resurrects him.
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