Miracles of the teen-age!

 

The Mighty World of Marvel #5

Week ending 4th November 1972

Issue five bears another specially created cover from the pencil of Jim Starlin with added inks from the brush of Joe Sinnott. A very functional cover it is too, less so for its accuracy. The Hulk smashes out of a  capsule in space to dynamic effect although in the story this happens in a desert bound setting. We are also informed that there'll be "more, more, more awesome action" with Spider-man and the fabulous Fantastic Four! Starlin's Thing is one of my favourite versions and would have love him to have drawn more of the FF in action. His cover version doesn't match up with early Jack Kirby FF but I would buy this comic just because the cover has Jim's Thing on it rather than if it had a more accurately 1963 drawn Jack's Thing. The cover mentions that "starting this issue more colour pages!" Which is true, two more than issue 4 but one of those colour pages is used as the new letter page, more on that later.

"Banished to outer space" is the title of the Hulk strip, where we find an imprisoned Hulk during one of his night transformations in the secret underground desert hideaway created by Bruce Banner and Rick Jones with the help of funds and equipment, I imagine stolen from military/science funding operations in a case of black ops accounting! General "Thunderbolt" Ross should have employed an accountant instead of some of his soldiers. Even with all that it's a miracle what a "milksop" scientist and a teenager can do by building an underground/underwater prison cell with a steel ramrod enforced door all by themselves! Ross may not be as stupid or as blind as you might think, as he tricks the teenager into luring the Hulk into entering a space rocket (in fact a missile) under the false intention that only the Hulk, with his strength could pilot it, in the interests of national security. In reality, this is just a way to get the rampaging Hulk off planet. This idea became the plot of the epic "Planet Hulk" storyline many decades later. Let it be said that there isn't such thing as an original idea, but Stan definitely got there first. Rick Jones shows more of his incredible talents when later on in this story he manages to sneak into the control centre and find the correct controls to return the missile back to earth, although he does also manage to cause a "radioactive feedback shook" between himself and the Hulk in the space missile, so less of a miracle and more like a Stan Lee plot line. This story, originally from The Incredible Hulk #3, shows a change in tack for the Hulk, he can now become the green monster during the day and is puppet like controlled by Rick, due to the earlier accident they shared. How long that will last we'll have to keep reading and see.

The first set of colour pages come with a Human Torch Pin-Up Page by Jack Kirby, originally from the Fantastic Four #3, and more wastefully, a Mighty Marvel mailbag, where the majority of the page is taken up with black and white text. But this is an important first in Marvel UK history, so I'll forgive it this time. The first letter is by Christopher Thompson from Wembley Park in Middlesex, who is greatly impressed with the first edition. So was I. The second letter came from Geoff Peck from London who got straight on with gushing praise and hoped that they won't run out of ideas. The House of ideas running out of ideas? Never Geoff, never! Our third letter and first to be printed from a girl, came from Josie King, a resident of Macclesfield, Cheshire, who absolutely loved Spider-man (don't we all Josie, don't we all) but also felt sorry for him being an orphan and not having any proper friends. She also was the first person with a printed letter in the UK to end their letter with the immortal line "Make Mine Marvel!" She does acknowledge that this is commonplace in the US, added to show ones appreciation. The final letter on this inaugurational mail bag goes to another girl, Jill Kendricks from Chelsea who wonders why people in Marvel stories are so afraid of our heroes? The editor (still at this point is Pippa M Melling,) offers this reply, "For better or worse, Jill, it's just human nature that we fear whatever we don't understand." Fifty years later that still stands true. 

It's often wondered if early Marvel UK letter pages were filled with made up letters, I hope that in this case it's an urban myth. Two girls getting their letters printed in what is properly seen as a "boys" comic is unusual but I like to believe that Marvel comics are for everyone! A female editor is going to enjoy printing letters from female readers as much as boys, if not may be slightly more.

This weeks action in Spider-man comes in the form of highflying duels with the Vulture! Even though the Vulture is Spider-man's second super villain, after the Chameleon, it feels like a game changer. It a proper "duel to the death" this time. Spider-man has to use all his skills, strength and agility to over come the Vulture. Which he does to amazing effect. But this story showcases how important Peter Parker is to the webbed hero's success. 

It's Peter Parker the teen genius who designs a utility belt to store extra web fluid cartridges as well as a camera that he hopes to buy with the money he earns from selling pictures to the daily bugle. He suspects that the Vulture flys using magnetic power, so he develops an "anti-magnetic inverter" to bring down his enemy. This weeks tale is vastly more up beat than last weeks and probably more than the weeks to come, with Peter earning enough money to pay Aunt May's rent for a whole a full year, treat her to the latest kitchen appliance and may be a new miniature camera for his utility belt too. I wonder how much did Jameson pay for those pictures of the Vulture? I think in the future Jonah might be a little less extravagant with his payments.

Stan makes sends another message informing us it's been a month since the first issue, in which time Marvel has become a household name across the nation. And that the flood of letters have made him feel like we've been pals for years. He promises to print as much of our "masterful missives" in Mail Bag letter page. All that together with more hints to the "Mystery Gift" and a teaser about a Marvel Club- FOOM! I look as puzzled as the Thing with clue 5 "It rhymes with toaster!" It's got to be flying rainbow coloured bread bin that transforms into a toaster! Or am I missing something here? But I stop thinking about that to marvel at another issue of MWOM without a missing coupon shaped hole as Sue Storm smiles at me! 

   

As promised last week the Fantastic Four encounter the "Menace of the Miracle Man". A typical 60's Lee/Kirby villain whose's special powers are that he can do anything that Jack Kirby can imagine. Is he the first mutant in Marvel, or an alien, or a clever trickster, we aren't given any clue in the half of this story, so we'll have to read next week conclusion for those answers? 

What we do get to see is Sue Storm showing off her latest design, a uniform that will become an iconic standard for all FF members. I totally agree with the Thing about the helmet, it's not very chic, although it does return in Fantastic Four issue 297 to cover Ben's injured face, but only manages to last to the next issue before it's binned again. We also get to witness the Fantasicar and how this bathtub splits into four to aid our heroes in the task of searching for the Miracle Man. Worth noting this week among the most strangest of phenomenal scenes is the Miracle Man knocking Mr. Fantastic out with a brick! A rubber band man is KO's by a single brick? Now that's a miracle! 

The back page ends this weeks mighty mag with a full colour action spread, we see a younger looking Reed Richards with grey temples, Kirby starts to draw him more like a dashing hero and less like an old scientist. Most fans use the reasoning that Reed is using his rubber/stretching powers to make the wrinkles from his face disappear, and that the greying temples are beyond this ability. Vanity in a middle aged  man is a concept I completely understand, but I too, could never be bothered with Grecian 2000, way too much hassle. The final action sequence goes to our hotheaded, teenage hero, Johnny Storm! He leaps from a hovering quarter of a Fantasticar to battle  the Miracle Man's menacing monster!  Next week we'll all learn how that ends and also what is Miracle Man's "startling" secret?

Make Mine Marvel!

The first cross over!

The Mighty World of Marvel #4

Week ending 28th October 1972

This issue brings back memories, not from 1972 but from 1986 and onwards. Great memories of shopping trips to Manchester, either when I caught a lift in my brothers car or by train on solo journeys. I would love taking these trips in my middle teens to buy clothes, CDs or videos from the shops around the Manchester Arndale Centre. Or hunting new and rare American comic imports that I couldn't get from my local newsagents in my home town of Chorley, from a fantastic comic shop called Odyssey 7, sited in the University Precinct above Oxford Road not far from the Arndale. But the highlight of these trips was Paramount Books on Shudehill,  just outside of the Arndale centre. It was a treasure trove of second hand comics and magazines at amazing prices. I Could buy loads of old Marvel UK comics at around 15p each if my memory serves me well. I filled out my collection with old comics from the age when I was too young to seriously start collecting.This comic came from one of those trips. I believe it's still there. I really must take a trip down memory line were the hunt for great comics meant leg work not inflated prices on the internet and pop in there again. 

But on to issue 4. This is my favourite cover so far, not counting issues one's classic cover by John Buscema. This weeks cover looks stunning as the Fantastic Four try to stop Spider-man in what is more of an audition and less of a "Battle" even if the cover headline suggests otherwise. I guess that "Spider-man auditions for the Fantastic Four!" doesn't have the same pulling power for kids in the 70's. Its beautifully drawn by Jim Starlin with inks by Joe Sinnott. Starlin perfectly manages to cover every inch of space with heroes and action. The lower left of the cover shows that the Hulk is "Wanted for treason!" but this is another piece of hyperbole as its more Doctor Banner who is threatened with treason.

This weeks Hulk tale continues where last week finished with a dazed and confused Bruce Banner is found in the crashed wreckage of the alien Toad Men spacecraft from the concluding half of the US Incredible Hulk #2 story "The terror of the Toad Men!". Its new title "Bruce Banner, wanted for treason!" would have been the sub title of part 3 of that story but editors for this UK edition change it to "Part 1" and then parts 4 and 5 were renumbered 2 and 3. General Ross shows his typical 60's paranoia over the unexplained by ignoring the obvious and accusing Banner of being a traitor to America in a McCarthy "Commie witch hunt" kind of way. Strangely enough its Banner who defeats the Toad Mens invasion plans not the Hulk, but this doesn't squash Ross's suspicions.

We have another Pin Up Page showing Mr. Fantastic about to be shot by an unknown gun man in what I imagine was an early Jack Kirby bonus page from the US editions, possibly from the Fantastic Four annual number one, although I have no proof of that, recoloured and text edited for the UK edition. Next to that page was a message from Stan Lee, his second to the British readers. Telling us to "Hold everything gang!" as the British Bullpen had received "mountains of magnificent missives"  from MWOMs British readers and soon they would start printing a letter page in the comics "halcyon halls!" of Marvel. In the mean time Stan name checked some of the early letter writers. Five female names were among them, which is quite a lot for what in the 70's would be seen as a boys comic, were they from mothers or sister of very young readers or did Marvel's 1972 readership include girls? I really hope it did! 

The Fantastic Four story concluded the Skrull story from FF#2 with half titled "The Fantastic Four fight back!" The British version corrected numerous mistakes by Jack Kirby, by roughly drawing in an extra Skrull here and there that "The King" had left out in the original US version. In that version Stan added the line "fourth one...on his way to another galaxy", which was used as a plot starting point by Roy Thomas in the Avengers epic Kree/Skrull war. In the UK version the line "We're content to have been of service to our country and the world" was added to help cover over the missing/returning Skrull. The hypnotised Skrull cows also made more plot appearances in the Fantastic Four Annual #17 from 1983 by John Byrne and the Grant Morrison and Mark Miller written Skrull Kill Krew series from 1995. Tales of terror that come from drinking Skrull/cow milk or eating Skrull beef, enough to make you a vegan.

          

The unknown artist had to draw the fourth Skrull in shadow or at least the back of his head in any scene with the other three Skrulls together. A very rough cow can also be seen grazing under the tree in the meadow to complete the alien crew. On a different note Kirby draws Reed Richards as an older scientist, who would rather use sci-fi guns, than the super-hero adventure we'll come to know.

The centre spread this week is again taken up by the "Mystery Gift" as Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl tells us that even the Fantastic Four want a "Mighty Marvel Mystery Gift"! Clue #4 is "Careful! It might look down on you!" Is it a flying seagull that looks like a rainbow coloured bread bin? Properly not, you can't fold them! This week in my copy the coupon collecting vandal as you can see has left another window onto the Fantastic Four strip, the young reader or at least a family member leaves rougher edges where the coupon, bearing the face of Mr. Fantastic, would have been, but it could been a lot worse. 

Finally in this issue Spider-man meets the Fantastic Four for the first time! This landmark encounter would be copied millions of times in the future with heroes meeting heroes and having them mistake one persons intentions for the wrong reasons, causing them to start a fight that would end as quickly as it started. Steve Ditko's generic rendition of the Fantastic Four is slightly off putting but the first time that I read this tale I had no problems with it what so ever. I guess my 52 year old self needs to chill a little and enjoy the fun. This story also marks the first time Spider-man fights a "super villain", as Spider crosses paths with the Chameleon! The master of disguise plots to steal military plans, with the intension of selling them to Iron Curtain countries. He nearly does if not for Spider-Man webbing shut the hatch of a "black lighting" marked  submarine. Years later we'll find out that the Chameleon was Russian all along, so his profession was properly started as a spy and not a criminal mastermind. Strangely in this issue the Chameleon sends Spider-man a message that only his spider-sense can pick up. Where he learns how to do that is never explained. I'm not sure if that plot devise is ever used again, which is for the best.  

 

More Pin Up Pages appear, one just before the Spider-man strip and one straight after that strips ends. The first is a preview of the Fantastic Four's next adventure were it showcases their new "colourful" costumes and the "amazing" "Fantasti-car"! Blue pyjama onesies and a flying bathtub if you haven't already guessed. It also mentions the "Madding Menace of the Miracle Man!" Sadly not the Alan Moore penned Marvel Man! The rear cover sports an incorrectly grey coloured Vulture attacking Spider-man in a daring mid-air battle! Another advert for next weeks story were Spider-man battles with the Vulture for the first time. It all happens next week in the Mighty World of Marvel! 

Make Mine Marvel!

  

 

Of Aliens and Astronauts.

The Mighty World of Marvel No.3

Week Ending 21st October 1972

 

The third issue of "Britain's biggest action comics weekly!" hits the news stands with a cover created by a Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott collaboration of Spider-man taking on two low life criminal scum (with absolutely no connection to the inside story what so ever) in a good half of this weeks front page, while the Fantastic Four and Hulk make do with two quarter sized panels. It kind of looks like Spidey is "zapping" one thug's gun with a ray and not his webbing! With typical British comic style text is plastered all over with the intension of grabbing young readers five pence pocket money with offers of "Free! Fantastic fun stickers for you inside!" More hints about your "Free extra Mystery Gift!" and the fact that inside you'd be greeted by "The world's greatest superheroes!" Sadly my second-hand copy contained no fun stickers, but there was another clue to the "mystery gift" and the inside did indeed contain the greatest superheroes the world has ever known! (Well apart from all the other great heroes that in the future I'd come to love too.)

The Hulk story "The terror of the Toad men" starts off with a Frankenstein's monster looking Hulk in a murky swamp during the night. The style looks incredibly like Steve Ditko, but Jack Kirby signature is on this panel. After doing my research I found to my pleasure Steve did indeed ink over Jack's pencils. This tale, at the start of the Hulks life, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby with intensions that the creature was a  mix of Frankenstein's monster, a werewolf and Mr. Hyde from classic horror tropes, in as much as with his looks, his night time changes and his darker alter-ego at odds with  the Bruce Banner Dr Jekyll ego. Green swamp monsters, monster by night and weird antagonists, did this inspire the creators of Disney+'s latest special "Werewolf by Night"? (Spoilers! You'll know if you know.)

 

 The mixture of science, horror and 60's paranoia is completed with the villains of the piece, the alien invaders -the Toad Men! We won't find out till many years later, in issue number 11 of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe from 1983, that the Toad Men's race are called Tribbitite. I imagine that young readers never really questioned their name at the time because they do have the appearance of toad like men but you must admit it was a little strange. They aren't green either although you wouldn't have guessed from these Marvel UK prints, their skin colour was orange in the original US version, which contrasted well with the Hulk's new green skin, a change from grey due to issues with the American printers finding it hard getting a constant shade of grey! 

This week we get an inside look into Peter Parker's house and the Baxter Building care of Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby respectively, originally from Amazing Spider-man Annual #1 1964 and Fantastic Four Annual #1 1963. Cut aways were a steadfast of British comic, especially in the Eagle, so these two pages would have been welcomed by British readers.

 

Two of the full colour page this issue sported pin ups, the first, a teaser for next weeks Spider-man adventure, was a recoloured Amazing Spider-man number 1 cover by Kirby with Ditko's inks, while the second was a Jack Kirby Mole Man pin up originally from the same FF annual as the Baxter Building cut away.

This weeks second story is the first part of the Fantastic Four issue 2 adventure where we "meet the Skrulls from outer space!" in what will be the start of a very "Secret Invasion". Their aim is to discredit the FF who they see as a threat to their invasion plans. Strange hoe a race of billions decide to send an invasion force for just four Skrulls to take over the Earth! Okay they might be just a primary task force but still. 

The Skrulls predate the Toad Men by eight months, you would see that Kirby started to draw aliens better in those months, in this tale he hasn't quite got the classic look down to what we all know and love. Let's be fair they are shapeshifters. The FF don't wear their blue traditional costumes yet but their faces and names are well known to the general public, even the Skrulls name them as the famous Fantastic Four. Although they use the word "Famol's", which I'm not sure if that's an original US spelling error or a poor British correction mistake. May be it's a Skrull praise I've never heard of! 

The centre pages of my copy has been vandalised again by a 1970s youth who desperately wanted "the worlds greatest free gift offer" by cutting out another coupon. This weeks clue to the mystery gift "you can fold it, roll it, or hide behind it!" My guess of a rainbow coloured bread bin has gone right out the window now! 

Spider-man's story is part two of last weeks adventure as he performs the truly amazing feat of rescuing Astronaut John Jameson from a crashing space capsule. This story sets up J. Jonah Jameson as Peter/Spider-man's antagonist as well as inducting his son John to the cast. The inter timing of this story is incredible as from disaster to Spider-man rushing home to find his costume, then back to Space Flight Control Centre to pick up a guidance unit,  then off to catch a plane to reach the falling capsule, while then finally fit the guidance module in mid fall is nothing short of impossible! But our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man gets no credit after completing those unbelievable tasks, in fact all he receives is a bitter editorial from J. Jonah Jameson in the Daily Bugle accusing him of sabotaging the space mission and endangering his son's life. The loudest voice is nearly always heard the most and believed by many and so in this case the Bugle reading public, the FBI and even Peter's dear old Aunt May starts to believe Jameson's "Public Menace" rhetoric. How can poor old Peter change all that? Find out next week in the pages of The Mighty World of Marvel issue 4!

Make Mine Marvel.

 

The Gargoyle, the Mole and the teenager.

The Mighty world of Marvel No.2

Week ending 14th October 1972.

 The latest Marvel masterpiece arrived with what looked like new stories for Hulk and the Fantastic Four but what is actually the second parts of the original US comics Hulk issue 1 and The Fantastic Four issue 1 respectively. You could almost imagine that in 1961 Stan Lee -the forward thinking editor, had planned those US issues with the hope that the origin first-half of those issues would be reused in Mighty World of Marvel No.1 and then the second-half action adventure tales would set up the direction of those stories following from issue 2 onwards. The action packed cover by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott boasts "The world's greatest superheroes!" in "Britains all action weekly!" With a header box enticing young readers to pick up this edition with an offer of a three amazing Spider-Man T-shirt transfer! No doubt less of them survived to this day than last weeks free Hulk transfers!

Pippa M Melling, the UK editor does cover over the "Part 3" of the original page with a handy "what's going on?" information-box right at the top of the page, that kind of says that this story is the second half of the origin but in my opinion this story changes very quickly from an origin story to what quickly becomes the Hulk against the Reds/Commies propaganda/paranoia story that becomes the norm for many early Marvel tales of the 60's, especially early Hulk tales. Not really sure how well this sits with a young British readership in the early 70's. To me today I'm fine with it, it was of its time and the story feels quaint. I wonder if with Russia and Putin's current stand against Ukraine and the rest of the world is colouring perception of how acceptable these story lines feel to me today? Is it a  case of history repeating itself? Strangely at one point the cured Gargoyle address a portrait of the "Soviet" Leader, quite possibly Nikita Khrushchev, but in the British version he bears a moustache and the partly obscured title "Big Brother" was added to cover up his identity/ use graffiti to ridicule him/ or as a George Orwell 1984 in-joke for the British literary educated readership. If this comic was made today would Putin's image be inserted in a satirical comment on current affairs? 

The Fantastic four story, like the Hulk's is the second half of their origin issue, but like the Hulk's it too makes a key change from last weeks story direction. This part showcases the strengths and weaknesses of early Stan Lee/Jack Kirby work. A clever mystery story with science fiction beats mixed with great Kirby Monsters and ideas. The weakness comes from the villain of the piece. I can't really see the Mole Man making an appearance in the MCU anytime soon, at least not in this 60's version. 60's villains are kind of lame even though I carry a very strong nostalgic love for them.   

The Mole Man's motivation are laid out clearly but how he manages to accomplish his objectives are not clearly defined. Do the gigantic creatures bore out the tunnels that enable him to reach his nuclear power station targets or does he employ machinery for those tasks? All in all a splendid story that I've read in so many different comic that have always been enjoyable, this version only had very minor adjustments made to the story flow and only one "Ben Grimm bitter Reed comment" removed that really doesn't effect the story one bit. I love the final page were heroes defeat the Mole Man, escape from a "mad nightmare" of "roaring, running, snarling" "army of underground gargoyles" and then wonder if they've seen the last of the Mole Man? Like the Hulk's villain -the Gargoyle, in his story, of course they haven't! But what really stops the Mole Man from finishing what he started? Was it the lack of pages left in the original comic? 

My copy of issue 2 has the wonderful novelty of second coupon for the Mystery Gift offer not being cut out. So I don't get a window onto the Fantastic Four strip. I must thank the previous owner who resisted temptation and may be bought two copies? The clues for the Mysterious Gift now included "It's as colourful as a rainbow!" I'm guessing a rainbow coloured bread bin! 

The remaining interior colour pages sported "Pin up pages".  The Jack Kirby Thing pin up from the FF issue 2 US comic, the Hulk pin up was the cover for the Hulk's US comic number 1with a re-coloured grey Hulk to a green Hulk and the FF pin up was the cover of the Fantastic Four number 2 as a teaser for the next MWOM issue, all three with added text. The Spider-man pin up presented on the back page was the original unused Steve Ditko cover from Amazing Fantasy number 15 that wasn't approved over the legendary Jack Kirby classic.

The final story in our second issue is Spider-man from The Amazing Spider-man issue 1, or at least a third of it. This humble tale retells our teenage hero's origin, as if we'd forgot last weeks story, but with its fill of teenage angst, the full spectrum of high school life, supporting an elderly family member, holding down a job, the works. More's to come for this tale, so we'll have to wait seven days to find out how it develops. I feel Spider-man gets the smallest share of the comic but that won't last as he's born to be a massive star. 

Make Mine Marvel.