Editor's Note: The following piece is an expanded version of Pierre's article "The Four Fantastic Phases of Silver Age Marvel" which features in the Sept 2000 issue of that excellent publication Comic Book Marketplace, also known as CBM. Without the constraints of the printed medium, we're able to present this fuller version. You might like to compare the two! - Nick
Author's Note: Regular visitors to this site will be familiar with the four phases of Silver Age Marvel's development described here, as they continue to serve as the theoretical basis of this writer's collaboration with Gregorio Montejo in our In-depth Reviews column. I first dreamed up the idea of dividing Silver Age Marvel's development into four phases in the early '90s, just before the completion of the original of this article around 1994. - Pierre
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Part I: The Early, Formative Years
Measured against its impact over the last thirty years, Silver Age Marvel remains the single most important group of comics published by any company in that period. Although Silver Age DC reopened the market to super-heroes in the mid-fifties and led the way in certain innovations, it wasn't until Marvel recreated the image of the super-hero in a new mold that solidified the position of the costumed adventurer as the dominant element in modern comics, sweeping aside such older genres as romance, horror, western and war comics that still existed in abundance in the early sixties. In looking more closely at the development of Silver Age Marvel, an observer can see a certain progression of storytelling complexity as the company, helmed by editor Stan Lee, moved from an early determination to try something new, to a growing consciousness that it had stumbled onto something bursting with potential. This whole Silver Age period can be broken down roughly into four phases: 1) the Early, Formative Years; 2) the Years of Consolidation; 3) the later, Grandiose Years and 4) the Twilight Years. |
19) Lee's new approach to super-heroes came together at last in X-Men # 1 (Sept 1963), a book consciously produced with the goal of creating a whole group of heroes alienated from society. In fact, the X-Men were only the tip of the iceberg, as it was hinted from the first that there existed a whole sub-culture of people called mutants, or homo superior as they styled themselves, who believed themselves to be the next stage of human development destined to supplant homo sapiens. At first, the X-men (teenagers Cyclops, Beast, Marvel Girl, Ice-Man and Angel, led by their mysterious leader, the wheelchair bound Professor X), appeared to be accepted by homo sapiens, but as the series would progress, it became increasingly apparent that they were regarded with fear and suspicion by the human race. Indeed, the whole strip seemed isolated, of occupying its own separate corner of the growing Marvel universe. With the X-Men, Lee and Kirby had created something unique in comics, a group of super-heroes who hadn't banded together to fight crime necessarily or even evil in general, but to seek out and help fellow mutants adjust to their powers and society. In the process, they hoped to also protect humanity and the reputation of mutants from the unscrupulous machinations of such men as Magneto, the most powerful of the evil mutants. Magneto (who also debuted in this first issue) is not your run-of-the-mill super-villain. As a matter of fact, to some he may not be a villain at all. His avowed purpose in life is to end the suffering of his fellow mutants at the hands of humans by conquering the world and making humans his subordinates. The whole-set up of the series becomes all the more interesting as we see Magneto and Professor X vie for the position of being the one to define the role of the mutant in society at large. Here, Lee and Kirby could explore the ultimate alienation of the hero as a whole group of them must live in seclusion simply in order to protect themselves from those they're working to save. |
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20) Although the lead story in Journey Into Mystery # 97 (Oct 1963) featured a full-length Lee and Kirby masterpiece entitled “The Mighty Thor Battles - The Lava Man!” - it was the first installment of a new back-up series that makes this issue memorable. Bringing up the rear behind a five page SF yarn typical for Marvel's mystery titles, was “Tales of Asgard! Home of the Mighty Norse Gods.” Appearing only a few months after the debut of Dr. Strange in Strange Tales # 110, the Tales of Asgard feature may have been part of a scheme by Lee to eventually phase out all of the weird stories from the mystery titles in favor of the increasingly popular super-hero format. By doing it with back-up features to the main stories, Lee was simply following a tried and true formula for comics, a formula then in full flower at the competition. Eventually however, the back-up story would die a quiet death at Marvel where the full length story (which would often continue from issue to issue, with no end in sight!) would come to dominate the storytelling style. But where other back-up features such as Dr. Strange would come to share their host books equally with their original features (and eventually spin off into titles of their own), the Tales of Asgard strip would continue in its five page niche in the back of Journey Into Mystery (and later when the title became simply The Mighty Thor) almost to the end of the 1960s (when it was briefly supplanted by an Inhumans back-up). It was in the Tales of Asgard feature that readers had their first taste, their earliest inkling of the cosmic scope, the universe-spanning grandeur that would come to dominate Marvel's books later in the decade. Matching the larger-than-life scope of the series, were the huge, quarter page panels with which Kirby laid out Tales of Asgard that, in the beginning, concerned itself not with the characters readers of the lead stories had become familiar with, but with the
origin of the gods and of the cosmos itself! Here was depicted Surtur, the fire demon, Yggdrassil, the world tree, the legendary Frost Giants, and the concept of Ragnarok.
Eventually, Lee and Kirby would move the timeframe of the stories closer to the present (say within a million years or so!) when they chose to tell the readers of the early years of Thor and Loki. As the series progressed, it would move somewhat into the present with a grown-up Thor adventuring across the fantastic kingdoms that dotted the Asgardian landscape in fellowship with such grand companions as Fandral the Dashing, Hogun the Grim and Volstagg the Voluminous!
By then, inker Vince Colletta, hailed by some as the most able to convey the mythic, legendary feel of Kirby's stories (and castigated by others for butchering Kirby's vision) would become permanently associated with the look of the series. It was here too, that Lee seemed first to realize the dramatic potential of the Thor strip in general. Perhaps compelled by Kirby's vaulting images, Lee began to alter his scripting style to lend the dignity required by these larger-than-life stories. Consequently, with its jumble of quasi-Old English cum Elizabethan dialogue, the Thor strip moved from simple super-hero vs super-villain slugfest to a regular succession of menaces so far beyond such mundane contests that it became an acquired taste for some comics fans!
21) An event that would prove momentous for the nascent Marvel universe occurred with the quasi-crossover of Strange Tales # 114 (Nov 1963). There was more irony than substance in this issue when Lee and Kirby rescued Captain America from many years in comic book limbo to battle the present-day Human Torch. It would turn out that this particular Captain America was an imposter (actually an old Torch villain called the Acrobat) while the Human Torch is himself merely a retooled version of the original 1940s character. But regardless of the nature of the combatants, Kirby treated readers to page after page of colorful thrills and spills as the Torch tries to fight someone he assumes is the real Captain America. Finally, as the Torch relaxes at home reading old Captain America comics, Lee offers readers the possibility of bringing back the real Captain America if they demand it which, as history shows, they did. Reader demand also figured in the latest installment of the Dr. Strange strip in the back of the book, wherein Lee and Ditko continued to exercise their fertile imaginations as the good doctor tries to ward off the evil intentions of Baron Mordo. But would the Doc prove to be a long-term prospect in the ever-expanding Marvel Universe? Would he ever actually appear on the cover of Strange Tales? Would Lee and Ditko ever get around to providing their new character with an origin?
22) The questions were answered and the tables were turned with Strange Tales # 115 (Dec 1963) when the generally lackluster Torch strip was eclipsed by its upstart co-feature, Dr. Strange. Here at last, Lee and Ditko get around to giving Strange an origin story. And although the lack of one seemed to add to the aura of mystery surrounding the character, it didn't hurt a bit as we discover that Dr. Strange was indeed a real physician who, because of an auto accident, lost the use of his hands for delicate operations. Vain, bitter and unfeeling, he refused to have anything more to do with medicine and became an alcoholic drifter. At last, at the end of his rope, he decides to visit the Ancient One with the hope that he might be able to restore the use of his hands. Instead, he learns the ways of magic and becomes the Ancient One's disciple while along the way defeating the designs of the evil Baron Mordo. Throughout, it's Ditko's cool pencils and inks that give the strip its atmosphere. Who can ever forget the panels showing Dr. Strange, down on his luck, his face unshaven and haggard; the Ancient One's lair clinging precariously to its cliffside perch or the overall gloom and strangeness of the interior of the Ancient One's temple? Compared to all this, the Torch strip, still drawn by Dick Ayers (a more than capable penciler who had the misfortune of being in the same book as Ditko), was pretty nowhere, even with the pairing of the Torch with the Sandman and a guest appearance by Spider-Man. Oh, and as you will have noticed, Dr. Strange still hadn't been anywhere near the cover, even in this, his origin ish! He'd have to wait until # 117 to even get mentioned on the cover, and until # 118 before he was given a small sliver of a visual under the main Torch action!
23) Nothing ever stayed the same at Marvel. Whether it was the debut of new strips and characters, the discontinuation of books, bad guys that behaved like good guys or good guys who behaved like bad guys, characters dying or just simple costume changes ... which is what happens in Tales of Suspense # 48 (Dec 1963). A costume change that is. Or to be more specific, a retooling of Iron Man's armor. Already seriously out of date, even as armored figures went, let alone as a dashing super-hero in the atomic age, in the case of Iron Man's armor, change was very much justified! Okay, so Tony Stark had a good excuse for the gray, robot-like armor he came up with in his first appearance (he'd been a prisoner of the Viet Cong after all!), and painting it yellow in Tales of Suspense # 40 was a step in the right direction (if still far from adequate), but if Tony was going to run with the big boys and wanted to be considered a major league super-hero, some serious alterations would have to be made. And this issue is where they were made, as Tony (with an assist by Ditko) designed himself a new, streamlined suit of armor that would prove to be so iconic as to remain virtually unchanged for the next thirty years! "See the NEW Iron Man!" screamed a blurb on the cover pointing to the red and gold figure of Iron Man crashing through a door. In a wonderful and ingenius sequence, Ditko (in a reasonable and almost believable fashion) not only shows the reader just how Iron Man's armor has been refashioned, but exactly how he puts it on! (It's all done with magnets see, which draw the various pieces together; the outfit practically dresses Tony by itself!) By comparison, Iron Man's fight with the sinister Mr. Doll (hmmm ... just how sinister can a guy be with a name like that?! - Ed.) is a let-down, especially when the reader is asked to believe that Iron Man is able to remodel the features of the villain's voodoo-like doll from that of himself to Mr. Doll with the use of a hand-held laser beam, from across the length of a room! They sure don't make comics like this any more!
24) Tales of Suspense # 49 (Jan 1964) is a good example of an early Marvel book that falls on the borderline of the formative years and the years of consolidation, displaying elements of both eras. One of the earmarks of the years of consolidation was the use of crossovers, in which Lee would have characters from different books guest star in books not their own. Here, Iron Man hosts his first crossover as the X-Men guest star. Common in the early, formative years, an element of whimsy and playfulness in this issue surrounds a plot involving the testing of a nuclear device on Long Island that in the upcoming grandiose years, would never be treated in such a cavalier fashion. Caught in the blast, the Angel, a member of the X-Men, has his personality changed for the worse, thus creating a convenient excuse for Lee and Ditko to have Shellhead and the Angel battle it out. Although Ditko's art here is serviceable, it's not helped by Paul Reinman's uninspired inks. It's the cover by Kirby that's the true artistic standout here; highlighted by a brilliant graded pink backdrop that manages to contrast sharply against both the red and gold of Iron Man's armor and the Angel's blue and yellow costume. Kirby's simple layout emerges as one of early Marvel's most impressive illustrations. (I couldn't agree more. This one was always going to make "Cover of the Week" sooner or later! - Ed.)
...more reviews in Part II, The Years of Consolidation
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