The crazy world of continuity.

The Mighty World of Marvel #14

Week Ending 6th January 1973

Happy New Year! Back in 1973 British readers were welcomed into the new year with the latest issue of the Mighty World of Marvel with an eye catching cover that focused on the Hulk's clash with the Bruce Banner created robot that featured in the Hulk strip of that issue. I'm kind of surprised that Spider-man's encounter with Doctor Doom wasn't used as surely that would have been more historic. The FF and the web-slinger do feature in two plain panels at the bottom of the cover. I feel that those choices were made due to a lack of time, not because of the Christmas holiday period, these comics would be put together weeks maybe even months in advance. I think the lack of time comes from the unknown order of some features. The Spider-man/Lizard story was swapped with the Spidey/Doctor Doom story, which in the planning stages might have also lead to changes in covers and editorial policy but more on that later. Jim Starlin drew this covers layout, leaving Al Milgrom to finish the pencil work, possibly a sign that this cover was a last minute job but also that kind of artwork "team-up" could happen if one artist had other "more important" work to do, so maybe that wasn't entirely the case. Joe Sinnott completed the cover by laying down the inks.   

 The Hulk strip starts off with flash back of the Banner's robot gloating at victory over the emerald giant  who is hanging on a cliffs edge, worrying about his impending transformation back into the weak doctor. It continues with the Hulk falling down said cliff to escape and cover up his change back to human. The robot controlling mysterious spy soon discovers an abandoned cave full of scientific equipment. Stan Lee covers this incredibly fortunate discovery by explaining that Banner had many caves which he used as research labs! Amazing that the army sent many search parties out across the desert looking for the Hulk but never found any of these caves! The skill level of General Ross's troops are really poor for an elite platoon. I don't think the start of this story was continuity error,  Stan and Steve Ditko play fast and lose with the plot just for the sake of ease, unlike their work on Spider-man and Dr. Strange in which they showed a lot of care, love and attention. But in this case I strongly believe it was an intended flashback.

I'm not saying Stan and Steve didn't care about the Hulk's series (Tales to Astonish, a US comic where the Hulk shared with Giant-man and the Wasp,) they certainly laid down the ground rules for Hulk tales for many years to come, both good and bad. I never loved the Hulk that much when I was a kid, to much "Hulk smash!" monster of the month battle, week in week out. I could relate to Marvel's other heroes better. I only really took pride in reading the Hulk when John Byrne and later Peter David wrote it. But in saying that as a kid I used to imagine loads of stories about the green man-monster battling against and along side my favourite characters. So it must have rubbed off on me, now as a 53 year old man "Hulk smash" is kind of cool, I get nostalgic and love these old stories. One of the main stays of Hulk though the 60's, 70's and early 80's was the love triangle between Bruce/Hulk, Betty and Major Glenn Talbot. This story marks the first appearance of Bruce's rival. The style of this series characters changes slightly too, Major Talbot arrives with Clark Gable looks, Betty Ross gets a new hair cut to match her dreamy looks, even Bruce gets more of a Cary Grant in glasses look. 

Well the story rolls along with Banner creating a robot detector then confronting it as the Hulk, only to be overcome by a missile blast, Talbot informs General Ross he's found an unconscious Hulk, so the army arrive with some unbreakable chains designed by someone called Tony Stark (Who? Marvel UK readers aren't quite there yet.) and as the green brute strains against against his bondage his body tires and pulse rate slows ending in a cliff hanger for next week. 

Guy Lawley does the unthinkable in this weeks Mighty Marvel Mail Bag, he mentions Power Comics! Now I've mentioned them in previous blogs but I think no-one noticed as does anyone really read this blog, so I think I got away with it! Guy does say that MWOM's presentation is a vast improvement, which may or may not be true. Jenny Andrews, Sylvia Thurne and Chrissie Birch, three girls all from Liverpool all want to join a Marvel fan club, which wouldn't have been possible at the time, if only there were like minded Friends Of Ol' Marvel who they could join in such a club! Ronald Snell is puzzled, "does Ben Grimm ever change back to his human form" to which I would have replied "only if the plot demanded it in the early stories, but that's why I'm not an editor. Two more quick letters, Ben Addison from London has never read in all his comics any stories as unique as Marvel stories and Sam Wilkinson has enough Birmingham mates that own Hulk "transferred" t-shirts to form a football team!

This adapted splash page from The Amazing Spider-man Annual #1(US) from September 1964 forms teaser advert for issue 16 where get to witness "The Vulture's return!"

Spider-man is "Marked for destruction by Doctor Doom!" in this weeks tale of teenage troubles. The FF's fearsome foe isn't the chief problem for Spidey. No Peter's main problems are his bolshie boss Jonah Jameson and being the butt of high school high jinks that border on bulling. The editors of MWOM have their own troubles too, continuity troubles! As I mentioned two weeks ago (Swamp spawned might and deadly duos ,) this story should have been printed before "Face to face with the Lizard" tale from issue 12 of MWOM, but this was swapped with the Lizard's tale as the FF and Doom had only just meet in MWOM #9 and after two stories (in America anyway, Fantastic Four #5 and #6) there would be four more stories before his next encounter with the FF (FF#10 US) and another six after that (FF#16-17), then he'd appear in Amazing Spider-man #5. What with the stories in MWOM sometimes taking two or three weeks to print one American story, this would mean some twenty to thirty weeks before this Spider-man v Doctor Doom would fit into continuity. Which definitely wouldn't work as Peter Parkers cast of characters would have changed dramatically in that time and feel very unhinged with this story.

    

The editors thought of a plan! Continuity wise in Fantastic Four #17 Doctor Doom falls to his...er...doom, while escaping the FF from his "Flying Fortress" into a cloud bank, only to dodge his fate with the aid of a jet pack (well yeah of course he would), as retold in Amazing Spider-man #5, as seen in colour above. But in last weeks FF he escapes from the Sub-mariner clutches by clinging to a passing asteroid in space, hence no clouds. These two escapes are stitched together to make a plausible explanation, well apart from the clouds (enough with the clouds already, this is Marvel, there are more stranger things on heaven and earth than even Stan Lee has thought of). Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko's panels actually work quite well together. A genius fix apart from the ticking continuity time bomb when the FF stories in MWOM catch up and Doom explains again how he escapes from his outer space dilemma. 

You've got to love Stan and Steve for their weird but wonderful plot helping concepts. Doom uses his Spider Wave Transmitter to communicate with Spider-man, (does that use the World Wide Web? Sorry I couldn't resist, too many awful Christmas cracker jokes this festive season!) a Spider Detector to locate Spider-man even in his civilian clothes and "fast acting sleeping gas" to render a Spider-man costume wearing Flash Thompson unconscious. Who says that it wasn't the "Marvel age of ideas"? I'm pretty sure we don't see any of those again, although sleeping gas is pretty standard issue for a supervillain. 

Spider(Flash Thompson)-man is held to ransom as to entrap the Fantastic Four, but what will the real Spider-man do about that? Find out next week!

FOOM day is coming! So says this marvellous centre spread. To arrive on the 10th of February explains Stan straight from his hot seat. He must be cold this time of year to be sitting on the Human (chair) Torch, either that or he's testing out his latest asbestos pants. The girls in the letter page from Liverpool should have been directed to this centre page spread but that would have been too many clues, too soon?

Two more feature pages, the first another "Fantastic Four's Hall of infamy" (from Fantastic Four Annual #1 US) showcasing the Miracle Man. Not the Alan Moore classic Warriors character originally know as Marvelman but the FF villain from issue 5. I did treat myself to the Miracleman Omnibus from Marvel this Christmas as a reward for all the hard work I put into these blogs. "Over payment" I hear you say? Humbug sir! If you can't treat yourself once in a while, when no-one else will, what's the point of Christmas? Oh for giving to loved ones, well there is that too. Anyway it's a fantastic Omnibus that I might do a review on if I can find the time. Meanwhile back in 1972, the invisible Hulk! Invisible but not for long if you connect all the dots. Luckily my copy is untouched so the incredible green one will have to stay invisible.

Lee and Kirby channel the film "The day the earth stood still!" from 1951,  some 11 years before this story was written. "Prisoners of Kurrgo, master of Planet X" might have literally only just been read by proud recipients of the Marvel Annual 1973 at Christmas. As I mentioned in my blog It's a Marvellous world, last week this may well have caused frustration amongst young Marvelite readers. Kurrgo, the master of Planet X, want to capture the Fantastic Four as part of a as yet unknown scheme. To do this he sends his "Gort" like (Gort was the name of the servant robot from the classic 1951 film, in this Fantastic Four story the robot is never named but is often referred to as Kurrgo's Robot when mentioned in the Handbook of the Marvel Universe or any of the many online Marvel reference websites.) robot to Earth to cause an outbreak worldwide hatred which sends our hero fleeing an angry mob.

They make their get away in the trusty Fantastic-Car, but are persuaded by a mysterious flying saucer. Mr Fantasic has thought of everything, incase a passenger falls out each seat in the Fantastic Car is equipped with special seat belts and even foot restraints! Rollercoasters designers take note, your feet go everywhere in some rides.

Eventually the Fantastic-Car lands on the Baxter Building where our heroes are confronted by the mighty metal behemoth with a message from his master Kurrgo! You'll have to come back next week to find out what that message is all about, or sneak a peak at the Mighty World of Marvel issue 15, or read the full story in the 1973 Marvel Annual, the choice is yours. It'll make more sense of my rambling if you do read any of them. But either way I'd like to have you back here next week for more of the same. 

See you in seven!

Make Mine Marvel!