Ditko's Hulk!

Often overlooked is Steve Ditko's contribution to early stories featuring The Incredible Hulk. Ditko drew the sixth and final issue of the Hulk's first series featuring the menace of the alien Metal Master. 

And during that short but important time when the Hulk was being co-starred in a host of magazines to keep his profile high, Ditko took on old Jadejaws in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. 

But most significantly, when the Hulk was given a new series in the pages of Tales to Astonish, it was Ditko who was tapped as the penciller. He was inked by George Roussos, Dick Ayers and Vince Colletta on the series. This was at that point in time when it was not yet public knowledge that Bruce Banner was also the Hulk. 

Ditko stayed with the series through the first eight installments of Tales to Astonish. As expected, Jack Kirby supplied the covers for the Ditko issues. Kirby also stepped in and took over the series when Ditko left. Ditko was the first artist to draw the Hulk's arch nemesis The Leader. 

Below are the covers. 

 Rip Off

Ditko's Iron Man!

Iron Man is credited to Stan Lee and Don Heck. Heck along with Jack Kirby and later Gene Colan all had hefty runs on the character. But a crucial but brief tenure on the series was held down by Steve Ditko. Ditko debuted on the Tales of Suspense series under a Kirby cover when Shellhead confronted the weird menace of Mr. Doll. 

To combat Doll's strange voodoo-like curse, Iron Man adopted a new sleeker armor. Designed by Ditko, this red and gold armor became the standard look of the character for many decades with various small changes over time.

In the next issue Ditko drew a story in which Iron Man battles a deluded Angel. This battle is strangely even as clearly Marvel thought they might have a future star in the high-flying X-Man. 

 

Marvel was getting excellent at cross-promotion of its comics, using every series as a chance to suggest another character to a potential reader. Paul Reinman inked both issues of Tales of Suspense that featured Ditko's art. And just like that, Ditko was gone, but not forgotten. 

Rip Off

Fin Fang Foom Day!

Jack "King" Kirby was born on this date in 1917. It's almost impossible to overstate his influence on the modern comic book. Kirby in tandem with Joe Simon was a force in the Golden Age co-creating such features as Captain America, Boy Commandos, Newsboy Legion, among others. Later the duo brought out Fighting American and Boy's Ranch. Teaming with Stan Lee, Kirby was instrumental in empowering Marvel Comics with his work on Fantastic Four. He left Marvel to create "The Fourth World" at DC and later moved into independent comics and animation. Today I want to remember one of my favorite Kirby creations -- Fin Fang Foom. 

He is without doubt Marvel's greatest monster. A product of the Cold War, Fin Fang Foom was a weapon, a sleeping mythical behemoth roused to defeat the Communist Chinese by the hero but then put down again when the deed was accomplished. Stan, Jack and Dick created a legend intentionally, and they created a monster that has stood the test of time, both in the story proper and in the greater memory of fandom.

It's hard to pin down why Fin Fang Foom is better than all the rest. But maybe it's the voice. The fact that he can talk and somewhat eloquently is maybe one reason. In the original story as he's surging forward at the hero, he constantly bellows threats as he advances assaulting the confidence on all levels. He is unstoppable and completely lethal. Talking was something none of the movie monsters could do. It gave a leering evil to Fin Fang Foom that they are missing. He almost becomes a blend of the classic giant monster and the more insidious yellow peril like Fu Manchu.

Whatever the reason for his success, Fin Fang Foom was first published in Strange Tales #89 and then reprinted in Fantasy Masterpieces #2 (that's where I first encountered him). Later the story was reprinted again in Where Monsters Dwell and even years later in Monster Masterworks, an early Marvel trade.

Fin Fang Foom was folded into the Marvel Universe properly when he met up with and battled IT The Living Colossus in Astonishing Tales. Later his story was blended with the origin of Iron Man's arch nemesis the Mandarin. He also was linked in Thor to the Midgard Serpent.

I learned putting together this post that he's even mixed it up with Iron Man in the movie-universe though in a comics story. These days too he's been shrunk to human size and works in a Chinese resturant -- Arrrgggh. (And you have to ask why fewer folks read comics these days.)


Whatever becomes of him though, whatever indignity he's forced to endure, I know that ultimately the unstoppable force that is Fin Fang Foom will prevail.

Fin Fang Foom remains my all-time favorite monster. Though modern interpretations insist on finding ironic twists, his original awesomeness seems able to penetrate the snark and still come across as menacing despite all attempts to make him a mere joke, a snide old-fashioned reference to a time when comics were considered only child's play. Fin Fang Foom remains greater than the disparate sum of his many parts.

And finally, there's this. 

Here is that splash page as reworked by Jim (Priest) Owsley, and with John Tartaglione inking over "King" Kirby's pencils. This version of the tale appeared in Crazy magazine.


I was planning to link out to the story, but some of it seems to have gone away into the internet mists. Fortunately, I saved it to my computer a while back and here it is in its entirety. I have little to say about this gem, but that even the mighty fall victim to satire. It's a hoot!

Foom Off