Marvel Monster Mayhem!!!

Hey there loyal followers of SAS! I, Jubilant Jeff V, am pleased to welcome you to MARVEL MONSTER MAYHEM! Before Marvel hit it big in 1961 with Fantastic Four #1, The Merry Marvel Bullpen was churning out a plethora of monster comics under titles that all of comicdom would one day come to not only know, but ADORE! So, as any Merry Marvel Marcher might guess, the three main men behind these offbeat Silver Age Sensations were none other than Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko and the titles that they wrote for were: "Tales of Suspense" (this is the title that would see the introduction of The Invincible Iron Man in issue #39), "Journey into Mystery" (this is the title that would see the introduction of The Mighty Thor in issue #83), "Tales to Astonish" (this is the title that would see the introduction of The Astonishing Ant-Man in issue #27) and Strange Tales (this is the title that would see the introduction of Dr. Strange in issue #110). But before these heroes graced the covers and pages of their respective titles, comicdom was treated to what I feel is like a mini sci-fi film series of monsters, mayhem, and lessons! Let's start with the first of these wonderful little sci-fi vignettes that I was lucky enough to read compliments of beleatednerd.com.

 

So this tale features story by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko. Now, of all the silver age art that I have had the privilege to view ( art penciled by the likes of Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino, Don Heck, Gil Kane, Dick Ayers, Herb Trimpe, Gene Colan) there is truly no art that can match the simplistic beauty and style of Steve Ditko. Ditko's art just feels like poetry in motion and has a quality that makes the reader feel transported into the story itself. 

 

Now "The" Collection unfortunately does not yet feature any authentic Ditko art, as I have only had the privilege of enjoying the Ditko style via digital comics so far, but this is a problem that will be remedied come Christmas time :D Here's a quick peek at Jubilant Jeff V's Silver Age Christmas List, in no particular order:  

1. Tales of Suspense #48 (featuring art by Steve Ditko, one of few early Iron Man's drawn by Ditko) 

 

2. Tales of Suspense #55 

 

3. Fantastic Four #28 

 

4. X-Men #12 

 

5. Amazing Spider-Man #34 (Tops on my list bc this would be my VERY first Ditko Spider-Man issue!)

 

Ok, side trip over, back to the show! How bout that Ditko artwork in Tales of Suspense #23! Ditko makes me even want to see more of an elderly couple traveling through a swamp to meet a swamp creature, that's how BRILLIANT his artwork truly is. Now, with Stan penning the stories for these monster tales, there is no way that there would not be some heart felt moments and maybe a lesson or two mixed in here or there. It is this wonderful union of short and sweet story telling, story telling with a purpose accompanied by art that tells a story all by itself, that truly made the Marvel Method work. 

 

Needless to say, I am now keeping my eyes open for some Marvel monster tales to add to "The" Collection because these issues are a wonderful change of pace and make me feel like I am sitting in a movie theater watching a Universal monster movie and watching Boris Karloff absolutely light up the screen with that eerie monster movie feeling that I feel is unique to him alone!