Peerless Power of Comics!

In June of 1964 the first Amazing Spider-Man Annual arrived on newsstands. For fans of the character it was a real treat, featuring an extra-long 41 page story by Lee and Ditko, followed by 31 pages of special features.        The Circus comes to town!  Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 1, June, 1964. Steve Ditko cover art, Artie Simek letters, Stan Goldberg colors. The same team, with the exception of Sam Rosen providing the interior lettering, is responsible for the interior story, with Stan Lee co-plotting and writing the dialogue. With it's multi-colored logo and simple but effective design the first Spider-Man Annual offered a world of excitement. Priced at 25 cents the comic was a bargain, featuring a total of 72 pages of interior story/art and only three pages of advertising (inside front cover, inside back cover and back cover). I noticed this while checking info for the upcoming Taschen book (check out the link below. The Yancy Street Gang: "Meticulous"...

In the Summer of 1964 Marvel produced it's first compilation of super-hero reprints, reviving the name of a long running title:  Originally beginning as Marvel Comics, Martin Goodman's first foray into comic books in 1939, the title changed to Marvel Mystery Comics with its second issue, featuring the original Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, the Angel, Vision and other characters until issue # 92, June 1949. In the following issue  Marvel Mystery Comics  became  Marvel Tales , reflecting the change in content to horror/mystery and running until issue # 157, August 1957. Fred Kida cover art to the final issue, Image from the Grand Comic Book Database.  Seven years later, either Editor Stan Lee or Publisher Martin Goodman decided to revive the name once again, using the same logo design, and returning the title to its superhero roots. Just three years earlier Fantastic Four # 1 proved a success, and costumed characters began taking over the monster-anthology titles. ...

For many the name Carl Hubbell brings to mind the famous New York Giants pitcher of the 1930's and 1940's; for those of us who specialize in the study of comic books, Carl Hubbell's name may also be familiar. As a child of the 1960's, I knew his name primarily as an inker over Dick Ayers pencils on Sgt. Fury . It wasn't until many years later that I discovered Hubbell had been a writer, artist and inker dating back to the 1940's, working for outfits including MLJ ( Archie,  "Steel Sterling", "Scarlet Avenger" and "Sgt. Boyle' - whose name clearly lacked a hard-edged grit when compared to four-color compatriots Sgt. ROCK, Sgt. FURY, Capt. STORM or Capt. SAVAGE, to name a few); St. John, working for Norman Mauer and Joe Kubert on the humor title Whack ; and a prolific run at Lev Gleason on Crime Does Not Pay and features "Sniffer and Iron Jaw" and "the  Little Wise Guys" in Boy Comics and   the original Daredevil . ...