STRANGE TALES #136 Marvel Comics, 1965

My copy of Strange Tales #136 is beat to hell. If you enlarge the cover image (above) you can see all the creases and even a couple of staples holding the damn thing together. This comic has existed on Earth longer than I have, and it looks like it spent half that time on the bottom of a bird cage or as a saddle blanket for a camel or something. My point is, this comic is falling apart, and I love it all the more because of its decrepit state.

Seriously, look at that cover. How could you not love a comic with a Kirby/Severin cover like that? “Hydra’s Mission: DESTROY S.H.I.E.L.D.!” Wait, isn’t that pretty much always Hydra’s mission? Sure, but this is only the second Nick Fury story in Strange Tales, so we have to give them a break.

In true Marvel style, we get a little bit of hyperbole on the cover: “If you can find a greater mag than this, let us know – we’ll buy it ourselves!” Nowadays that kind of unabashed breaking-the-internet-in-half hype is met with shrugs by fans who have been pounded into a desensitized state by years of empty promises. I mean, there’s only so many times that you can believe that this re-launch of Alpha Flight is going to blow…you… AWAY! But in 1965 this sort of shameless yet tongue-in-cheek marketing theatrics was still fresh and sort of charming. And you know what? At least Marvel backed that shit up in the 60’s – they really DID put out the greatest “mags” and Strange Tales #136 is a good example of how they rolled back in the day.

"If comics today were this intense they would have to have seizure warnings on the covers."

Each issue of Strange Tales featured not one, but TWO pulse-pounding stories that would shatter your senses and physically blow you out of your seat! If comics today were this intense they would have to have seizure warnings on the covers. In #136 we get a classic Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. story wherein ol’ Nick turns the tables on those crummy Hydra bums PLUS a psychedelic saga of Dr. Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, wherein a lot of sinister, trippy shit happens. With this level of radness, I’m surprised child mortality rates weren’t higher during the 60’s.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. story, written by Stan Lee with breakdowns by Kirby and finished art by John Severin, goes through what must be a typical day in the life of Nick Fury. While he’s strolling along a street in New York City (natch), Nick is being stalked by a HYDRA hit squad. Spotting the creeps, Nick stops in a barber shop for a shave – a barber shop staffed by undercover S.H.IE.L.D. agents, that is! After the hit squad is disposed of, Nick and his boys set an elaborate trap for HYDRA which involves adhesive paste, electrified walls, and Marlon Brando and a stick of butter. I know, sounds gross, doesn’t it?

I may be wrong, but I think this comic is one of the first HYDRA appearances, firmly establishing HYDRA as a more garish version of SPECTRE from the Bond movies. Failure is punishable by death in this serpent-motif underworld organization, and absolute fanatical loyalty is demanded. Remind you of anybody?

Oh, and HYDRA members must work the phrase “Hail Hydra” into a conversation whenever possible. I mean, if somebody sneezes, it’s “Hail Hydra!”

The comic switches gears and heads off into Timothy Leary-land with a Dr. Strange adventure written by Stan Lee with art by the rightfully revered Steve Ditko. In this tale, Baron Mordo’s agents hunt Dr. Strange as he travels the globe, secretly visiting mystics and sorcerers for the key to Eternity – the only thing that can save his comatose master, The Ancient One.

Ditko’s art really makes the story, striking a tone between noir intrigue and cosmic surrelia. The scenes of Dr. Strange dodging Mordo’s minions and skulking about are exotic and shadowy, striking just the right tone. Then, when Dr. Strange travels to a demonic otherworld, shit gets weird in a way that can only be described by uttering one word: “Ditko.”

Stan Lee’s florid dialogue and operatic storyline compliments Ditko’s artwork perfectly in this comic. Kirby is King, but Ditko is also largely responsible for writing the grammar that composes the visual language of the Marvel Universe. Ditko fucking rules.

Dr. Strange is sucked into a bizarre world where a nameless demon hypnotizes his prey with googly eyes, then transforms them into soul masks and grafts them to these giant totem pole things. He almost catches Dr. Strange – almost. In the end, Dr. Strange schools the demon and Goes Nuclear, destroying the entire dimension. That’s what happens when you screw with Dr. Strange.

Who else was drawing stuff like this in the 60’s? No, I’ll answer for you: nobody.