TFMSR 028: Marvel Annuals, Part 3: 1966-67 …

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1966 marks the low point of the “Golden Age” of Marvel Annuals as far as I’m concerned. Gone were any special features that made the first Fantastic Four and Spider-Man Annuals so great. A welcome addition was a black and white/gray-tone introduction page for each Annual on their inside front covers, but for the most part the 1966 Annuals consisted of one new story—ranging anywhere from 19 to 30 pages—and a new cover. The rest was all reprint.

By 1966, Marvel had more features and more staff. Stan Lee had persuaded both John Romita and Gene Colan to come over from DC Comics’ romance line; Romita took over Daredevil with issue #12, released in November of 1965 … within seven months or so, he’d take over Amazing Spider-Man from the departing Steve Ditko in May of 1966, quickly becoming a major Marvel talent. Gene Colan “masqueraded” as “Adam Austin” when he first drew the new Sub-Mariner feature in Tales to Astonish, starting with issue #70, released in May 1965; he’d soon be drawing Daredevil when Romita moved over to Spidey. And in another year or so, John Buscema would become another Marvel workhorse with his work on Avengers, starting on issue #41, released in May 1967. That may explain why the 1967 and 1968 Marvel Annuals were all all-new material, with many more cooks in the kitchen—for once in a good way—including writers Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich.

And while 1966 did bring more Annuals than ever before—seven of them, in fact, the most ever in the swinging sixties—a lot of those books’ page count featured reprints. This was also the year the books ceased using the word “Annual” in any form on the covers and instead became “King-Size Specials,” except for Millie the Model … she was “Queen-Size.” (As for me, I’m sticking with calling them Annuals, except when referring to their actual titles. Sue me.)

The 1966 Annual Season started with Millie the Model Queen-Size Special #5, which was released on June 9, 1966. I don’t own the Millie and Patsy and Hedy Annuals, so I can’t speak for their contents. I will mention that I was 11 years old on that very day, however, and my present from Uncle Stan was Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos King-Size Special #2, which was also released on June 9. It featured the 24-page story, “ A Day of Thunder,” with Fury and the Howlers embroiled in the decisive World War II battle known as D-Day. This story was written by Roy Thomas, who had joined the Marvel staff in 1965, and drawn by Dick Ayers, the regular—and pretty much only—Sgt. Fury artist at the time, who had a run on the series that rivaled Jack Kirby’s run on Fantastic Four, with pencils starting with issue #8 and continuing to issue #120, the last original story. (It should also be noted that there were a lot of reprint issues in that run; from about issue #82 through #120, just about every other issue was a reprint of an earlier one.) SF Annual #2 was rounded out by reprints of Sgt. Fury #11 (“The Crackdown of Captain Flint”), and “The Origin of S.H.I.E.L.D.” from Strange Tales #135.

The 1966 Marvel Annuals continued on June 30, with the release of Marvel Super-Heroes King-Size Special #1, which was an all-reprint affair, including Daredevil #1, Avengers #2, a story from Marvel Mystery Comics #8—from the Golden Age of Comics—featuring Sub-Mariner battling the Human Torch, and Stan Lee’s first published story, a two-page text piece from Captain America #3 (again from the Golden Age), titled “Captain America Foils the Traitor’s Revenge.” I’m not sure what inspired this new Annual; Marvel and DC jointly own the trademark on the word “superhero”—and derivations thereof—but I’m uncertain if it dates back as far as 1966. Maybe it was just Martin Goodman telling Stan Lee to get that title in print somehow, somewhere, just so they could call it their own. It would eventually become the new title of Fantasy Masterpieces, a 25-cent reprint title that included a lot of Golden Age Cap, Torch, and Subby reprints; when it introduced Marvel’s Captain Marvel in October 1967, the book debuted the new title and it continued as a kind of try-out book through issue #20, after which it became a reprint title.

The Mighty Thor King-Size Special #2 was also released on June 30. This book contained the longest story of any 1966 Marvel Annual, the 30-page “If Asgard Fails …”, another bravura book-length blockbuster drawn by Jack Kirby (and unfortunately inked by Vince Colletta, although Colletta on Thor is somewhat more tolerable than on Fantastic Four.) The book was rounded out by reprints from Journey Into Mystery # 96 (“Defying the Magic of … Mad Merlin!”) and #103 (“Menaced by the Enchantress and the Executioner!”). On a more personal note, we somehow missed this book when it first appeared—or probably didn’t appear—on our local newsstand. I remember being overly excited and yelling for my poor brother—who once again probably thought I was being beaten up or kidnapped—when I found a coverless copy in a used bookstore in Atlantic City, NJ while we were on vacation. That copy—sans cover—was the only one we had for a number of years.

The Marvel Annuals took off the month of July in 1966, but came roaring back on August 2nd, with the release of the summer’s big two (for me, at least): Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Special #3 (which appeared between issues #41 and 42 of Spidey’s regular title, very early in John Romita’s run), and Fantastic Four King-Size Special #4. The Spidey Annual featured a 21-page story, “ … To Become an Avenger!”, in which ol’ Webhead tried to join up with the super-team, much like he tried to force the Fantastic Four to get all new uniforms with a “5” emblazoned on the front. The story was written by Stan Lee, and drawn by John Romita (still getting his feet wet with Spidey) and Don Heck. This book also reprinted Amazing Spider-Man #s 11 and 12, featuring “Turning Point … The Return of Doctor Octopus,” and “Unmasked by Doctor Octopus,” Spidey’s first two-parter.

Obligatory Lockjaw appreciation art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott.

Fantastic Four King-Size Special #4 (released between issues #56 and 57 of the monthly title) finished out the summer of ’66 with a story featuring the original Human Torch. This was kind of a giant F-U to Torch creator Carl Burgos, who at the time was making some noise about suing Marvel for the copyright on the original character, which debuted in the very first Timely Comics publication, Marvel Comics #1 in 1939. The 19-page story—“The Torch That Was!”—is by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with Joe Sinnott making his inking debut in a Marvel Annual. The story also introduced Quasimodo, a kind of living computer, who would also feature in the FF’s 1967 Annual.

One interesting side-note to the 1966 Annuals: They’re a bit schizophrenic, cover-wise. The earlier ones—Millie, Thor, and Marvel Super-Heroes—all have a box with “1966” on it, and no other cover date. Their corner boxes read “More Pages! More Thrills,” with Millie replacing those thrills with “More Glamor!” And to add to the mystery, both the Thor and Marvel Super-Heroes books are 64 pages, not the traditional 72 page-count (I’m guessing probably the case with Millie, too). The later releases, Spider-Man and the FF, both have the traditional “72 Big Pages!” corner box, but have also added a month (November) to the box, thus telling the news agent how long the book should be displayed. I’m not sure if Marvel’s sales department (if such a thing existed in 1966) dictated this or if distributors complained that just marking a book “1966” wasn’t good enough, but someone rethought the cover nomenclature in between the June and August releases. Oh, and those FF and Spidey Annuals are indeed back to Marvel’s traditional 72-page size.

There was one more late addition to the 1966 Marvel Annuals that appeared on the stands on December 2: Patsy Walker’s Fashion Parade Special Queen-Size Annual #1. I’m not sure why this straggler showed up into the holiday season (maybe Patsy was always late for everything), and while I don’t own this book, it looks to me like a collection of hair styles and fashion designs, with a cover that touts: “Over 200 Heavenly Hair Styles!” and “More Than 250 Fabulous Fashions!” I’m sure it was a relatively cheap Christmas present for some lucky Patsy Walker fan though.

Here’s a breakdown of the 1966 Marvel Annuals:

1964 ANNUALS (“KING-SIZE SPECIAL”)	RELEASE DATE	ORDER
Millie the Model Queen-Size Special #5	June 9, 1966	N/A
Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos King-Size Special #2	June 9, 1966	SF #32 & 33
Marvel Super-Heroes King Size Special #1	June 30, 1966	N/A
The Mighty Thor King-Size Special #2	June 30, 1966	JIM #131 &132
Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Special #3	Aug. 2, 1966	ASM #41 & 42
Fantastic Four King-Size Special #4	Aug. 2, 1966	FF #56 & 57
Patsy Walker’s Fashion Parade Special Queen-Size Annual #1	Dec. 2, 1966	N/A

1967’s Annual Season saw two big changes: Gone from all the covers was a blurb—which appeared in 1962 through 1966’s Annual releases either across the top of the book or in the corner boxes—touting those aforementioned “72 Big Pages!” That’s because all the Marvel Annuals from 1967 and 1968 very quietly shrank to just 64 pages. Evidently Stan Lee—or Martin Goodman—didn’t feel the need to headline “Now With Fewer Pages Than Ever Before!” on the covers. But minus those extra eight pages, the Annuals became light enough to be—as the covers’ corner boxes screamed instead—“ALL NEW! NOT A SINGLE REPRINT!”

1967 started with the usual suspect … Millie. Millie the Model Queen-Size Special #6 was released on June 1, along with Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos King-Size Special #3, which updated the Howlers to present-day action (at the time) with the story “Viet Nam: The Valor and the Victory,” written by Gary Friedrich (who would write most of Fury’s war-time adventures from here on in), and drawn—as usual—by Dick Ayers. This was a 43-page epic, followed by a ten-page “Shell-Shocked Scrap-Book” featuring pin-ups of the various Howler cast members. There was also a one-page “Bombastic Bullpen Bio Dept.” featuring biographies of Ayers and Friedrich.

Next up in the summer of ’67 was the first-ever Daredevil King-Size Special #1, released on June 29th, which puts it smack-dab in between DD’s regular issues #34 and 35. If, as the story goes, Martin Goodman told Stan Lee he wanted another character like Spider-Man back in 1963, this Annual unfortunately proves it. The 39-page main story is a rehash of Spider-Man Annual #1’s epic super-villain team-up, this time called, “Electro’s Emissaries of Evil!”, and very precisely points out how lame DD’s villains were. Just look at this line-up: Electro, the Matador, Leap-Frog, the Gladiator, and Stilt-Man (they couldn’t even muster a “Sinister Six” … more like a “Freakshow Five”). While Gene “The Dean” Colan does his best as the regular DD artist to dress up this sow into a silk purse, it’s almost impossible with Stan the Man’s weak and derivative script. Other features in this “All-New!” Annual include a two-page “Inside Daredevil” feature that is fortunately not literal; a two-page feature, “An Explanation,” trying to explain the deep hole Stan had dug himself into by introducing Matt Murdock’s “twin brother,” Mike, into the ongoing storyline; a one-page “Blueprint for An All-Purpose Billy Club” explanation of DD’s wonderful weapon; and “At the Stroke of Midnight,” yet another “funny” tale on how Stan and Gene create a DD story, something which had become a Marvel Annual staple by this point. Hmmm … could it be that Stan liked seeing himself drawn into his comics?

Also new to Annual Season was Avengers King-Size Special #1, which was released on July 11, 1967, between Avengers #44 and 45. This 49-page epic was titled “The Monstrous Master Plan of the Mandarin!” … “The biggest continuous epic ever, in this, The Marvel Age of Comics!” It was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Don Heck, the former artist on the Avengers regular title; John Buscema had taken over the title with issue #41. The issue also included five pages of pin-ups, including newbie Avenger Hercules, the Avengers women (Black Widow, the Wasp, and the Scarlet Witch), a two-page cutaway view of Avengers Mansion (courtesy Tony Stark, no doubt), and a lovely Avengers then and now piece by Heck, whose Avengers work is very underrated in my humble opinion. There was also another “Bombastic Bullpen Bio Dept.” page, this time featuring biographies of Don Heck and Roy Thomas.

Finally on August 1st, the “Big Two”—the Annuals we were waiting for, or at least I was—were released. Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Special #4 lies between ASM #s 52 and 53, and features the 41-page story, “The Web and the Flame,” which showcases the ongoing friendship/rivalry of the Human Torch and Spidey as they venture to Hollywood. Stan rather cruelly keeps the artist—his brother Larry Lieber—off the credits at the beginning of the story, only to unveil it rather unceremoniously in the middle of a pin-up on the final pages of the Annual. Lieber worked year-round on both Spider-Man Annuals #4 and 5, in between his Marvel Western comics chores. This Annual also includes a two-page “What the Well-Dressed Spider-Man Will Wear!” feature along with a two-page “Spidey’s Greatest Talent” one, which focuses on his ability to stick to stuff (ewww …). There’s also 13 pages of pin-ups and other special features (including one on Spidey’s strength), some of which appear to be at least pencilled by John Romita.

Fantastic Four King-Size Special #5 falls between FF #s 67 and 68, and was a rather audacious issue, focusing more on the huge supporting cast of characters of the ongoing FF saga, including the Inhumans, Black Panther, and Silver Surfer. The 30-page lead story, “ Divide – – and Conquer!”, contains the announcement of Sue Storm’s pregnancy and then has Thing and Torch go off and have an adventure with the Inhumans and the Black Panther, as they battle one of Jack Kirby’s most ornate villains, Psycho-Man. There are ten pages of pin-ups, including one each for the Inhumans and a great two-page FF one, in which Stan did some much needed Kirby ass-kissing (“Jack … you’re still the greatest! – -Sentimental Stan” reads a billboard in the background), the ubiquitous three-page “This Is A Plot?” humorous story featuring a plotting session between Stan and Jack (yes, again), and to round out the issue, a 12-page Silver Surfer solo story, “The Peerless Power of the Silver Surfer!”, featuring Quasimodo, still hanging around since 1966’s FF Annual #4. All of this is, of course, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, inked by Joe Sinnott, and it’s one of my all-time favorite Marvel Annuals.

It must have been an incredible day to walk into my local newsstand and discover both the Spidey and FF Annuals waiting for me. I hope I brought enough money … that was 50 cents for the two of them, not to mention whatever else came out that day!

Here’s the breakdown on the 1967 Annuals …

1967 ANNUALS (“KING SIZE SPECIAL!”)	RELEASE DATE	ORDER
Millie the Model Queen-Size Special #6	June 1, 1967	N/A
Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos King-Size Special #3	June 1, 1967	SF #45 & 46
Daredevil King-Size Special #1	June 29, 1967	DD #34 & 35
Avengers King-Size Special #1	July 11, 1967	AV #44 & 45
Amazing Spider-Man King-Size Special #4	Aug. 1, 1967	ASM #52 & 53
Fantastic Four King-Size Special #5	Aug. 1, 1967	FF #67 & 68

Next time: The Golden Age of Marvel Annuals in the 1960s comes to an abrupt end with the 1968 editions, also sporting brand new stories … “Twice as many pages! Twice as many thrills!” It’s our final look back at Annual Season!