PART FIVE Of 'ON The SCENE' - THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN AMERICA...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Just when you thought I'd forgotten, I confound your low expectations of me by presenting Part Five of our (very) occasional series, On The SCENE Presents SUPER HEROES.  This was a 1966 U.S. mag with articles (reprinted from other sources by the same publisher) about various silver-screen serials and movies of popular comicbook 'long underwear' characters.  This time around it's the ol' shield-slinger, CAPTAIN AMERICA himself - except he never had a shield in his 1944 live-action outing.  However, let's not get ahead of ourselves - you can read the full scoop in its proper order below.

See you in Part Six - whenever that might be!

The TITANICALLY TALENTED TEAM-UP Of KIRBY & AYERS...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

No, your eyes aren't deceiving you - NAMOR really is wearing red trunks in the above page from The FANTASTIC FOUR #6.  That's the colour he wore when he was revived in FF #4 back in the early 1960s.  He'd obviously turned them in for a green pair by the time issue #9 was published, and (until recent softcover MASTERWORKS and OMNIBUS editions) most subsequent reprintings of his first two appearances recoloured his trunks green. 

However, that's not what this post is about.  I wanted to show just how good an inker the recently deceased DICK AYERS was by showcasing a couple of pages of JACK KIRBY art he'd worked on.  Originally, JOE SINNOTT had started to ink FF #6, but for some reason couldn't continue after a few panels and the job was passed to Dick (though the Sinnott panels were left in).

Anyway, look at panel 5 in the above page - it looks as good as a WALLY WOOD inked panel, which means that it's very good indeed.  Kirby was firing on all cylinders at this time in his career, and Dick was right alongside him.  Brilliant page - I love it.

The page below comes from The AVENGERS #8, a story I first read when it was reprinted in a British weekly periodical called TERRIFIC back in 1967.  Aside from the memories it conjures up of my childhood, it's as fine an example of '60s storytelling and comicbook artistry that you're ever likely to see.

Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers - not only a class act, but a difficult one to follow, I'm sure you'll agree!