Captain America the Bull Fighter: Action and impact in Tales of Suspense #59

Since I'm using my copy of Essential Captain America Vol. 1 as reference material here, I won't be able to cover the Iron Man half of this issue. It's a half-assed, half-hearted effort in the Back Issue Diving tradition!

While Doctor Strange and Star Wars: Rogue One are both still on the horizon, I'd say the dust has settled on the "big" comics movies for 2016. Warner Bros. made two valiant efforts in the form of Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad, but the clear winner in terms of quality blockbuster entertainment has got to be, hands down, Captain America: Civil War.

(You can let me know how wrong I am in the comments section, DC-heads!)

Captain America and Iron Man are a couple of interesting characters when contrasted. In the case of Steve Rogers, you have a paragon of virtue, whose greatest strength is also his greatest weakness: his lack of ability to compromise. With Tony Stark, you've got a man of great vanity who, to his credit, is quite capable of changing his mind and finding a middle ground in any dispute. That's what I like about the Marvel films so much; Steve is a rock, while Tony is water, shifting shapes to fit his environment.

But that has diddly squat to do with the issue I'm spotlighting today, so maybe I should move on from this digression . . .

Tales of Suspense #59 is a famous first from the dawn of the "Marvel age of comics". Just one issue prior, Cap and Iron Man met in mortal combat and this issue sees the two as allies; albeit in two separate monthly strips. In 1964, desperate business dealings had left Martin Goodman's publishing house with limited distribution in the comic book market, so a Stark-like compromise had to be made. Rather than two monthly series, they'd have to go the anthology route and combine the two into one magazine. Other examples include Hulk and Giant Man in Tales to Astonish, as well as Doctor Strange and Nick Fury sharing Strange Tales.

Cap's first solo outing in this new era is a brief, punchy little pot boiler where a local mobster named Bull believes Captain America to be the weakest link of the Avengers. He and his goons storm Tony Stark's mansion, where Cap has made his home, and attempt to take him down, only to be trounced by Cap's slick acrobatics and hand to hand skills. (The indestructible vibranium shield doesn't hurt, either.)

Cap's humble nature shines through on the last page. He assures the gang of criminals that they're "lucky only I was here. If the other Avengers had been around, somebody could've been hurt!"

The scripting is by Stan Lee, and it's the usual bombast you'd come to expect if you've read literally anything by him. Cap is plagued, but never defeated, bu self-doubt as he adjusts to the brave new world of the sixties after being on ice since WWII. Bull is a doofus and possible prototype for future mob-influenced Marvel characters like Hammerhead over in Amazing Spider-Man.

The art is laid out by Jack "The King" Kirby, but finished and inked by Chic Stone. Kirby's dynamism is on full display here, as this was the period in his career when he made the transition from an artist of relief to an artist of impact. Stone's finishes give a rounded quality to the physiques of the figures, and in a few panels you'd swear you were looking at Don Heck artwork.

The fight scene between Cap and Bull's gang, which makes up most of the issue, is another classic Kirby production. Kriby fight scenes are always wonderfully choreographed, and even artists working today could do a lot worse than to look back on his Cap stuff. These fight scenes would become a staple in he and Lee's run of Cap stories, eventually becoming so visually striking and fun to follow that Lee would abandon his usual overblown captions just to let them breathe. Half a century later, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely would do the same thing in Batman & Robin.

(If I have one pet peeve in superhero comics, it's when a character has a stack of word balloons next to their head while punching out a baddie. The timing never makes sense to me.)

Like I mentioned above, I don't have the Iron Man story contained in the other half of this issue on hand, but you can safely assume it involved either a)Tony fighting the commies or b)someone trying to take over Stark Industries. Well, the cover blurb says the Black Knight is going to show up, but don't believe everything you read. Thanks for reading!

Twitter: @ChrisBComics
E-Mail: backissuechris@gmail.com

You leave when I want you to stay: A short lived Thor comic by Langridge and Samnee

He's the hunk of thunder, the himbo with arms akimbo, the mighty Thor! Marvel's version of the mythological deity had risen to prominence over the last several years, thanks to being front and center in a few Marvel crossover events, as well as starring in two successful films and aiding the Avengers in two more. This might be the biggest the son of Odin has been in out pop culture lexicon since Dawson from Adventures in Babysitting.

Unfortunately, Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee's magnificent Thor: The Mighty Avenger series just missed the mark.

Yes, Ragnarok came waaay too soon for this fantastic comic book collaboration. Langridge was hot off The Muppet Show comic and Samnee was a new name for me. I was drawn in by his clean line work and simple character designs that looked prepped for animation.

Nearly a year before Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth played Jane Foster and Thor on the big screen, Langridge gave us a story about Thor as an outlier, tossed out of his home in Asgard by Odin and left to wander the streets until fate intervenes and he ends up rescuing a woman from Mr. Hyde and crossing paths with Foster. Thor has a lot of baggage to deal with, but Jane is really the star of this series.

The way I describe this series when I recommend it is, "imagine the usual Superman adventures, but viewed from Lois Lane's perspective." Rereading this series in its entirety recently, I'd say I still agree with myself. (And if we can get along, why can't you, America?) Jane Foster's plight as a working woman just trying to make ends meet and be taken seriously in her field give her a nice foundation as a character.

As the series progresses, Jane finds herself getting sucked into Thor's shenanigans more and more. The epic scale of Thor's power means stories can take place all over the globe, and the creative team uses this to their advantage, having Thor bump into all kinds of guest stars like Namor and Iron Man. This is also kind of a "Thor: Year One" kind of series, so these encounters are treated like the first of their kind and the usual misunderstandings and fisticuffs ensue.

Thor's struggle to regain his lost memories and recall why he was banished to Earth are the main plot through the series. You probably know who's responsible for at least some of Thor's plight, but if you need a clue: it rhymes with Pokey. I really began to feel for the big lug over the course of the eight issues that comprise the series. He is dejected and often wistful, using his bravado in battle to mask an inner loneliness.

Chris Samnee wasn't on my radar back when this series started, but he's one of my favorites now. His work with Mark Waid on Daredevil was pure genius, month in and month out, and now they're tearing it up on Black Widow together. I have to throw him some kudos, because it's his covers that got me into this series in the first place, and even if the story doesn't blow you away, this is a damn fine comic book, just from a visual storytelling outlook.

Due to what I have to assume were low sales, Thor: The Mighty Avenger was canned after only eight issues and a Free Comic Book Day special. A sequel series about Captain America in a similar vein was in the works, but was quickly scrapped and reduced to a measly one-shot called Captain America: The Fighting Avenger. But hey, what we got here was damn good and if nothing else, showed us the potential for great "All-Ages" comics.

Thanks for reading! And if you ever find yourself on the other end of the Bifrost, you can contact me on Twitter @ChrisBComics.