The Octopus and the Sub-Mariner in a pea green boat.

 The Mighty World of Marvel #7

Week Ending 18th November 1972

These covers get better and better as the weeks go by and this week's issue is a belter! Centre stage is the Hulk "battling for his life" as Rick Jones operates a Gamma Ray Projector in an effort to return Bruce Banner to normal. This is an example of early Jim Starlin drawing Rick Jones, a character he would return to many, many times in his classic Captain Marvel run. In fact his fourth art work for Marvel was the co-pencils on The Avengers vol 1 issue 107, release dated 10th October 1972, where Rick Jones, as Bucky, made a flashback appearance. Starlin's first ever strip, "You show me your dream and I'll show you mine!" was a back up strip in Journey into Mystery vol 2 issue 1, released dated 25th July 1972. These early MWOM covers must have been among some of his first Marvel work, but don't they look amazing! I'm lead to believe that the late great Dan Adkins did the inks on this cover, I see no reason to see otherwise. 

The Hulk strip this week is "The monster and the machine!" in which Rick Jones employs an early version of a Gamma Ray Projector to change  the green giant back to his Bruce Banner alter ego. Within four American issues Stan Lee changes the Hulk from a Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde style, to a Rick Jones mind controlled monster/super hero, then on to Banner controlled Hulk. I'm not sure Stan had in mind what he really wanted with this character. 

Betty Ross plays the love struck girl in this tale. In deep thought she is very suspicious of Rick Jones and Bruce Banner's relationship as well as the teenager and the Hulk's relationship. It seems so obvious that Banner is the Hulk to everyone surely, but the young girl and her General father seem to be totally blind to this possibility. Does love make you blind or does a Stan Lee plot device like hiding something in plan sight seem too obvious?

 This story is not only a first for the Gamma Ray Projector but also it's a first time for the classic Hulk "Thunderclap". A technique that the She-Hulk would use many times in her Disney+ TV show She-Hulk Attorney-at-law. Stan and Jack thought of it first! "WHOOMPH!"

Last week I mentioned in my blog that Jack Kirby seemed to be drawing the Hulk flying instead of leaping. This week those impression come to a head as Kirby makes every panel of a leaping Hulk look like he is flying with magnificent ease. He changes direction in mid air, hovers behind a jeep before plucking Rick Jones from his seat, then rise upwards into the sky. Stan Lee makes multiple strong points that the Hulk is "propelled by his prodigious leap", "performing a feat which no other living human could have accomplished", " the most powerful pair of legs on Earth again catapult the Hulk", "he seems to be flying" and "like a human catapult". It must have been an uncomfortable day in the Marvel office with them two, but I'm glad Lee won that argument. The Hulk should never fly, he's no Super-man. I love the uncontrolled flightpath that super leaping gives.

Even though Kirby drawing the flying version of the Hulk isn't to my tastes, I love this three panel strip, where the King draws the Hulk pursuing the under guard Rich Jones by showing the Hulk's reflection in the jeeps rear view mirror! Very stylish!

The Gamma Ray Projector does indeed work and we get to see the first version of the Mr. Fixit/Professor Hulk persona. This 60's version of those personas feels good, Its one of my favourite versions, just the right amount of anger and intelligence for the green Goliath. 

During the Hulk strip you get a brief respite with a single feature on "Peter Parker's Classmates" originally from the Amazing Spider-man Annual #1 from 1964 drawn by Steve Ditko with text by Lee. This the first UK appearance of Professor Warren, the future the Jackal. I would've preferred this feature to have been in full colour instead of the  colour hogging Mail Bag page. Speaking of which...

Thomas Browne writes that he finds the Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Hulk more frightening that the sci-fi Toad Men and he wants more "hard hitting action." Pete Sheppard from Manchester laughs at Skrull cows. Janet MacPherson from Edinburgh says that the Thing is a "Super Guy." Karl Holman from Lincoln is reeling from the impact of the first few issues. While Gary Smith  having seen nothing like MWOM in British comics asks what are the individual contribution of Lee, Kirby and Ditko, to which the editor answers what every full time Marvel fan must know. 

This weeks Spider-man tale is the first appearance of Doctor Octopus. Where as in previous MWOM stories the villains come fully formed, in this story we get to read the Doctor's origin as real time events and get to sympathise with his condition. I think that Doc Ock is possibly my favourite Spider-Man villain with the Lizard and the Vulture coming a close joint seconds. The character worked well in any decade, in the movies Spider-man 2 was my favourite super-hero movie until the MCU started and only Michael Keaton's Vulture has beaten that version as a better example of a movie Spider-man villain. Otto Octavios is a very human villain, driven by his scientific quest for knowledge, the atomic genius creates a set of remote arms that aid in his handling of radioactive materials, but ultimately this tunnel vision leads him towards an accidental path of bitter evil intent. Due to an explosion of radiative volatile chemicals he suffers brain damage which also gains him the ability to control his robotic arms with his mind, that atomic blast also welds the mechanical marvels to his body. Yes the name Doctor Octopus is silly by modern standards but to my 70's child ears I never had a problem with it. But I do love that scene in Spider-man No way home, when Peter, MJ and Ned laugh at Doc Ock's name.    

This story is the first half of Amazing Spider-man issue 3 were the Human Torch makes a guest appearance in the second half, which won't see print till next week, so to cover that up on the pea green coloured UK version the blurb box on that splash page is replaced with a flash text box that states "The world's most HUMAN fantasy adventurer battles the Earth's most INhuman menace!"sharp words concerning Doc Ock may be, but I think the editor couldn't get the Human Torch out of their heads. I've put both versions next to each other so you can "spot the difference." 

I absolutely love these two Steve Ditko panels of Doctor Octopus fighting Spider-man, they're iconic. When I think of them two battling I see those Ditko  images of a struggling Spider-man with his arms and legs pinned by Otto's robotic pincers while the mad scientist in his lab overalls gloats about his nuclear born strength. It's a classic! Doc Ock defeats our young hero by the end of this half, but will Spidey bounce back next issue? May be the Human Torch can tell us.

Johnny Storm does offer us a clue to what will be on the Mystery Gift (it's a colour poster by the way), in the form of an anagram. If you can unscramble the letters of "ISX EURSP EEHSOR!" you won't need to wait till next week to find out. I wonder if it's an anagram of who ever has been cutting out the coupons in my copies? I wish the Torch would tell me that!

While the Torch is giving us a clue in the centre spread he's gone AWOL in the Fantastic Four strip so his team mates go in search of him in all the places that a teenager might be, mainly to comic effect. The Thing is the first to actually locate the teenage fire bug as Johnny welds an engine gasket with his own flame on a racing hot rod. Ben Grimm rips open the workshop by tearing out a wall. Naked flames, damaged walls and barrels of gasoline , that's a health and safety nightmare! 

Johnny flys off in an adolescent fit and then does what every teenager would do, brood a little, then read some comics. While engrossed in some classic mags he is force to intervene in a fight with a group of men and a mysterious stranger with incredible strength. But I wonder who it could be?

If you haven't already guessed yet I'll give you some more clues, he's plays a massive part in the latest MCU movie,  Wakanda Forever, he smells a bit fishy and has tiny wings on his feet! 
 

Yeah you've guessed it, Its Namor, the Sub-Mariner! Stan Lee was very subtle with those title and sub titles. Johnny does a fantastic job on trimming back Namor's beard and hair with his flame like a Turkish barber but the Atlantean must get someone else to do his eyebrows, they're immaculate! 

Find out next week if it is the legendary 1940's hero, if he recovers from his amnesia and if I've had a chance to watch the Sub-Mariner making his first movie appearance in Wakanda Forever. (I really must book some tickets!) Find out all that and more (and if I think the movie is any good,) next week. Till then...

Make Mine Marvel.