Arctic Ink Comics Review

The second issue of the newly introduced X-Men doesn’t stray too far from the path set by the first one , with the exception that it seemingly reels back in whatever suggestion there was of deeper themes or messages. This story doesn’t really even hint at any political angles or metaphors, but instead focuses on further showcasing the titular characters, now with a rare in-action appearance by Professor  Charles Xavier himself.  Improvement? X-Men #2: "No One Can Stop the Vanisher!" Writers: Stan Lee Artists: Jack Kirby & Paul Reinman Editor: Stan Lee Publication Date: September 3, 1963 Cover Date: November 1963 Art by Jack Kirby and Paul Reinman. © Marvel Comics. The first few pages of the book cover the group racing to the school summoned by a telepathic message from Xavier. This sequence is used to display their various abilities, in a format that’s certainly more natural and engaging than the awkward "test" from the first issue ....

Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko tagged in to draw Iron Man with issue #47 of Tales of Suspense , and issue #48 continues with the proven Stan and Steve creative team. This story is notable particularly as the debut of Iron Man's iconic red-and-gold suit, designed by Ditko to be a more expressive, dynamic look than the chunky old armor, which itself had already been redesigned in issue #40. The new Iron Man! Tales of Suspense #48: "The New Iron Man Battles... The Mysterious Mr. Doll!" Writers: Stan Lee Artists: Steve Ditko Editor: Stan Lee Publication Date: September 10, 1963 Cover Date: December 1963 Art by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky. © Marvel Comics. If the previous three Iron Man stories were a trilogy of finding the story structure and narrative elements that would make the series work, this issue certainly seems like a surgical approach to fixing what's wrong with the protagonist himself. The armor is just one of the improvements Stan ...

As Marvel established its brand over the 60s and 70s, complex characters became their brand, defined by its opposition to the clean ideals presented by DC Comics , the standard-setter at the time. Characters like Namor and Spider-Man were great early examples of dynamic creations that diverged from the concept of evil villain or infallible hero. Others like the Lizard would eventually be iconic antagonists with built-in moral complexity. The theme writes itself: a decent person is turned into a monster, and destroying the monster would destroy the person. Surprisingly, even with that setup, the introduction of the Lizard in 1963 all but ignored the moral and thematic depth the character could have displayed. The Amazing Spider-Man #6: "Face-to-Face with... the Lizard!" Writers: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Artists: Steve Ditko Editor: Stan Lee Publication Date: August 8, 1963 Cover Date: November 1963 Art by Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Stan Goldberg ...

The debut issue of what would eventually become one of Marvel 's flagship titles (with uncountable spinoffs) is an interesting case of a story that feels both ahead of its time and a relic of a bygone era. Even though the deeper socio-cultural commentary attributed to the X-Men only really started to happen later, there's something uniquely interesting about a setup where the villain is essentially the same as the heroes, just ideologically opposed. The storytelling in this first magazine, however, is more reminiscent of early 60s' anthology romps than it is of the more conscious commentary of the Bronze Age and beyond. The new Fantastic Four! X-Men #1 Writers: Stan Lee Artists: Jack Kirby & Paul Reinman Editor: Stan Lee Publication Date: July 2, 1963 Cover Date: September 1963 Art by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky. © Marvel Comics. There are conflicting accounts (even between series creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby ) about how much of the themat...

By the summer of 1963, the Marvel creative team had had the time to not only gather feedback on the Iron Man stories published so far , but also learn from the successes of other series. Without being too familiar with the Fantastic Four comics, I can only presume that as the longest-running reliable seller, a lot of the learnings would have come from that direction. But my personal experience with the Amazing Spider-Man , whose bread and butter was human drama and relatability , leads me to believe that the first few adventures of the wisecracking web-slinger were starting to shape into something of a template for what makes a character work. That's why, I'd argue, we started to see the emergence of recurring supporting characters, engaging villains, and moments of struggle for the main hero in the Iron Man stories featured in Tales of Suspense around this time. The character was hardly interesting in its conception, but starting with #45, you can watch the creative team fig...