Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1967-05-01 00:05:10 |
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Marvel Super Heroes #14
Issue(s): Marvel Super Heroes #14
Cover Date: May 68
Title: "The reprehensible riddle of the sorcerer"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
Ross Andru - Penciler
Bill Everett - Inker
Review/plot:
Stan Lee has no shame in telling us on the opening page for this issue that it was originally designed as a fill-in for an issue for which John Romita was running late but eventually pulled through. This was also a try-out issue for Ross Andru.
It's very clearly a fill-in story, with Spider-Man compelled to travel to New Orleans (during Mardi Gras, because it's always Mardi Gras in New Orleans in the Marvel Universe) to fight the golem-like Synthetic Man (also Hollow Man)...
...by a man named as the Sorcerer, who's in it just for the notoriety.
The Sorcerer's origin is that he had a natural aptitude for ESP but since seeking out the Ancient One and Dr. Strange for training would take too long, he instead he took the easy route and spent a lifetime traveling the world learning mystic abilities from various cultures.
Spider-Man never learns why he's been brought to this fight, and he doesn't even beat the golem. Instead, the Sorcerer is killed by a short-circuit when the mailman rings his doorbell.
Holy crap! My doorbell uses a battery, but i've disabled it just to be safe. The mailman can knock.
Brief appearances by Peter's doctor, his roomate Harry, and Gwen and Mary Jane.
Quality Rating: C-
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: Per the Marvel Index, this takes place between Amazing Spider-Man #49-50. I wonder if it it was the landmark issue #50 that John Romita was running behind deadline on.
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
| Previous: Uncanny X-Men #32-33 | Up: Main 1967 / Box 3 / Silver Age | Next: Fantastic Four #64 |
Comments
Gwen's outfit seems to be painted on.
The Sorcerer's origin does lend credence to Dr. Strange being active before the Marvel Age actually got going.
The Hollow Man is called that once in a thought balloon in MSH#14; when the story was first reprinted in Marvel Treasury Edition #1, the balloon was relettered to say Synthetic Man. Too bad neither villain here ever got seen again(as far as I know).
The mailman is bringing a letter addressed to Spider-Man...
I sort of wonder if this mailman and Willie Lumpkin should just get together into their own hero team. That would be interesting...and probably really slow and have problems with government funding but this could be a means to get said money.
I remember reading this and enjoying it as different from the average Spider-Man story. I also liked that Marvel Super-Heroes was going to be done in a way that resembled DC's Showcase.
This is Ross Andru's first work on Spider-Man. A truly underappreciated, undervalued comic book.
I just wanted to call attention to Bill Everett's inks on this story because he's so often overlooked. His style on the Sorcerer's origin here bears a noticeable resemblance to his work on Doctor Strange. Check out these 1966-1967 issues of Strange Tales for comparison.
Sorry to double post but I just realized that the link I just posted above has Bill Everett's pencils and inks only in some of the scans. The first four are definitely Bill Everett's but the remaining scans appear to have Marie Severin's pencils and inks from later issues interspersed among them.
