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!
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