Whether by accident or design, Marvel’s mid-1960s dual hero titles were subtly thematic.
You had Tales of Suspense featuring Iron Man and Captain America, two out-and-out superheroes. You had Tales to Astonish featuring the Hulk and the Submariner, two super-antiheroes. And finally, you had Strange Tales featuring Dr. Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., two characters on the periphery of the superhero world.
Fury and Strange were thematically similar and yet opposite. Both operated in secret to protect humanity, but one employed magic, while the other utilized super-science.
Both stories in Strange Tales 145 (June 1966) further develop that very contrast. Artist Steve Ditko is nearing the end of his run with Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, and 1960s Marvel. Dialogued by Denny O’Neil, To Catch a Magician! Features a descendant of Rasputin who wields both technological and magical means in his quest for power. Finding he is no match for Strange’s sorcery, Mr. Rasputin simply shoots him.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. story opens with an arresting Jack Kirby/Don Heck image of Nick Fury with the top of his head popped open like a lid. It’s a Life Model Decoy, of course.
This Stan Lee-penned story continues the secret agency’s fight with The Druid, a super villain who uses mysticism as a cover to disguise his super-tech weapons. At the time, the tale’s ludicrous title — Lo! The Eggs Shall Hatch! — suggested to me that Stan was running out of ideas for them.
But Lee had to keep coming up with titles because, by 1966, Marvel characters were increasingly popular and being recognized as such on college campuses and in the national news.
So why, you may well wonder, did such popular characters have to double up in the same magazine? That was because publisher Martin Goodman had made a colossal mistake, one that had forced him into a 1957 distribution deal with DC-owned Independent News. The catch was that Marvel’s titles would be limited to eight per month.
Beginning in 1964, with demand for Marvel obviously exceeding supply, that number was grudgingly increased, little by little. Nevertheless, Marvel’s popular superheroes were forced to bunk together until 1968.
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