Third-rate heroes like The Atom only deserve third-rate villains like Chronos the Time Thief, who debuts in Atom #3 (Aug 1962). Naturally, Chronos’ schtick is all about time, and in this story, I think literally every panel has him using the word “time” in his dialog, to the point of utter ridiculousness. Chronos is visually […]
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As DC did before with its teen heroes Superboy and Robin in the 1940s, Marvel attempted to spin the Human Torch out into solo adventures in Strange Tales #101 (July 1962). The story itself is pretty forgettable, but they do establish a few facts: Johnny Storm is still in high school and is (somehow) still […]
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Thor gains a supporting cast member in his next adventure in Journey into Mystery #84 (July 1962): Jane Nelson (not Foster, yet). Jane is Dr. Donald Blake’s sweet, easily-smitten girl who doesn’t have much to do, keeping in that early 1960s Marvel tradition of very poorly written female characters (looking at you, Sue Storm). Donald […]
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The Incredible Hulk #3 (July 1962) is an opportunity for the creative team behind the Hulk to completely change the “rules” around the Hulk, presumably for better story-telling. Rick Jones is tricked by General “Thunderbolt” Ross into luring the Hulk into a military rocket that is shot into space. While traveling up into space, the […]
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It’s been a couple years since we saw the Kryptonite Kid, that menace from another world who’s evil for apparently no other reason that he enjoys it. In Superboy #99 (July 1962), he returns, and I guess “Kid Mxyzptlk” is not paying attention, because this time Superboy needs to be saved by Pete Ross – […]
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The Legion of Super-Heroes started as a one-off Superboy story back in 1958, but they slowly grew in popularity and were featured many times in Superboy, Supergirl, and even Superman stories through the early 1960s. Starting in Adventure Comics #300 (July 1962), they replace “Tales of the Bizarro World” as the back-up feature to Superboy […]
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It’s that time again – that time when DC wants to give one of their newer heroes a readership boost by adding them to the Justice League, just like they added Green Arrow in 1961. In Justice League of America #14 (July 1962), the entire team (including Batman and Superman in absentia) votes unanimously for […]
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In Action Comics #292 (July 1962), Luthor is given center stage in a Superman story. He pretends he’s gone insane, and then tricks a guard to escape from prison. He then blasts off from Earth using a rocket with “radium powered motors” to escape into space. When did he figure all this out? His star […]
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Hank Pym returns in Tales to Astonish #35 (June 1962) as an official superhero: Ant Man! This time around the scientist has invented a now-recognizable superhero suit, a cybernetic helmet and some powers beyond “shrinking to the size of an ant”. However, at the same time, the government has given Dr. Pym an assignment: Invent […]
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In Fantastic Four #6 (June 1962), while we get some light-hearted ribbing of the Thing by Johnny Storm about his Yancy Street Gang hate mail, we also get a nice cross-section view of the finally-named Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four headquarters. This headquarters “cutout” far out-classes the old cross-section view of the Bat-Cave from 1942. […]
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