Big Man, little Humanoids, miniature Doom!

 Week Ending 24th February 1973

British Marvelites now had two weeklies to enjoy. Did readers remain loyal to MWOM or were they enticed into swapping Marvel for Spider-man? How many were lucky enough to get both? Side by side on the newsstand makes a difficult choice. The number of heroes gracing MWOM's cover makes it a tempting purchase. I've always preferred the MWOM logo to be in red and blue colours, that may not be a deal clincher to many but still, I'm a nerd so it does have some appeal to me. While with the SMCW the offer of a free gift creates more allure. The artwork, even though its quite basic and simple looking is bright and attractive. SMCW does also offer a complete Spider-man story which probably swings it for me, even though I love variety. Can't I just have both? 

  

The Mighty World of Marvel #21

Jim Starlin penciled the basic outlay for this cover with Al Milgrom finishing off the pencil work and Mike Esposito completing the whole process by adding the inks. Two Doctor Dooms wasn't factually correct but it represents the Fantastic Four story from inside of the comic quite well.    

The incredible Hulk "Back from the dead!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Mike Esposito

Originally printed in Tales to Astonish #68

Cover date June 1965

(Published March 1965)

Major Glen Talbot fails to notice Banner changing into the Hulk yet again right at the beginning of this story, as they both fall to their doom. Sometimes I think that Talbot is the worst head of security the US Air Force has ever had in its service. The Hulk rescues the Major in mid-fall who also fails to notice this as he blacks out! At no point in the story does he wonder how he survived or how Banner too survived and returned to the US. Even after reporting Banner to the President of the USA he doesn't become suspicious in any way that Banner and the Hulk are one and the same. 

Jack Kirby returns to drawing the Hulk in this issue and starts a long run on the title. Even though Kirby created the look for the Hulk and his iconic artworks still used to this day on merchandise, his version of the Hulk from this period doesn't feel right. Kirby's first run on Hulk before Steve Ditko took over was great, but I've really go used to Ditko over the past weeks. May be it's Mike Esposito's inks that are putting me off the artwork. Then again give me some more weeks with the Kirby/Esposito and I might change my mind.

 Last week I mentioned the geography of the Marvel UK world, with Bodavia surrounding Mongolia to the North and South (Bodavia being the fictional name for both Russia and China in Marvel UK world, it's a long story see FOOM Day cometh!) this week I have a little problem with the points of the compass. The Hulk is said to head "West" on his way back to the United States, which from Mongolia must be towards Europe and then over the Atlantic. But as it says in the second text box of the second panel shown above, "Even the broad Pacific itself poses no problem." Yeah I get it, from Mongolia across the Pacific would be the quickest route but isn't that east? I'll just take my "No-prize" and place it along side my others in my trophy cabinet.  

There seems to have been a reset with this weeks story, Banner is back in the US and the President orders Major Talbot to escort him back to Astra Isle to complete the testing of the "Absorbatron", which was interrupted by the Leader and his army of Humanoids, just before Banner was kidnapped by Bodavian soldiers back in  issue 17 and issue 18. This time it's the Leader and his army of miniature Humanoids who invade the island in a quest to steal the "Absorbaton"! Is it me or is the Hulk story stuck in a time loop? The Leaders plan is to use microscopic Humanoids to sneak on to the island, (I'm doing it too, this time looping plot must be catching!) then enlarge them when the time is right.

Another thing about the miniature Humanoids, they remind me of Kang's Growing Man robot, (who and what? Keep reading these blogs and eventually we'll get to them,) may be Kang stole the technology from the leader. But the internet says that an extra-dimensional race called the Kosmosians created the Growing Man  robot for Kang so may be not.

Daredevil "Vengeance for a champion!"

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Bill Everett
Inker: Bill Everett, Steve Ditko and Sol Brodsky

Originally printed in Daredevil #1 
Cover date April 1964
(Published February 1964)










The second part of Daredevil's origin story uses the cover from the American issue with the man without fear leaping over a handful of thugs, with a fresh story title and new text boxes. This image has already been used last week for the opening splash page minus the thugs. After a brief re-cap of last weeks events Daredevil finally meets the sinister Fixer and his henchmen.

The Fixer and his associates seem to come straight out of an old black and white gangster movie. This might date the whole story a bit but I rather like it. Bill Everett draws each scene with style and Lee peppers the dialogue with racketeer, cigar chewing dialogue. It's really a stylish comic strip. 

The Fixer says he has an alibi for the murder of Battling Murdock but Daredevils super sensitive hearing acts like a lie detector making him the prime suspect for arranging the hit. Slade confesses to murder as he pushes DD out of a high window to his death. Thanks to a flag pole and DD's incredible acrobatic skill DD survives. The thugs make their escape with DD in pursuit. Cornering them in a subway station the gangsters split, Daredevil chases the Fixer who has a heart attack. As a very young kid I always felt that the Fixer's death was very dark, this story didn't pull any punches. Using a subway train as a free ride DD catches up this Slade and tricks him into confessing the whole thing to the police.


Justice is served, with a dash of "just desserts". This origin story has been retold by Roy Thomas/Gene Colan, Roger McKenzie/Frank Miller and even Frank Miller by himself but this Stan Lee and Bill Everett version is by far the best! I love the final panel with Matt Murdock facing the sun from the window, hoping his father can now rest in peace, as a shadow is cast on the wall behind him in the outline of Daredevil. Perfect!

This weeks colour centre spread features another Stan Lee Sounds Off! Sadly missing from last weeks MWOM but present in SMCW's first issue. The British version of Stan's Soap Box never had the mature feel that the American counterpart had. Where Stan would discuss high brow topics. In Britain we got him sounding off about the Marvel UK range of comics, teases for merchandise and big plugs for FOOM! Still they did repeat some of the Soap Box pieces in later British comics. Stan Lee Sounds Off! was great at making you feel like you were part of a big family. Between Stan and the advert for FOOM Mister Fantastic questions what would go into that "awe-inspiring empty space?" I think I kind of remember what the answer is but I won't say here, we'll find out together next week. But this kind of page filler has the cheap taste of "here's a page that you can fill in", "draw your own hero page", or something along those lines, were the editors have a page to fill but no ideas to fill it. Don't worry it isn't that, or at least I think it isn't 

I wasn't sure last week if I should continue with reviewing the mail bag sections of these weeklies, as it would take up to much time now that I've got two comics a week to look at. But I felt that there still might be some interest in them, as it gives a feel of why Marvel UK comics are the same but different to their US counterparts and I could always dump them later on. Boy, am I glad I did continue doing them. In last weeks blog I mentioned a young correspondent, Gary Hosty, who through a Facebook page (Marvel UK Comics,) saw a post for my blog and read it. Gary, now at the age of 62 but still a 12 year old at heart, still wants to see a Hulk/Thing slugfest. Proof if anyone is interested that reading Marvel Comics keeps you young and the letters from these early comics weren't made up by the editors.

So may be Larry, Graham or Stuart from this weeks Mighty Marvel Mailbag maybe reading this blog and recall writing in. American student, Larry Weiss, who attends the University of Leeds, has been living and breathing Marvel comics for ten years but now is hooked on the Mighty World of Marvel with its wide variety of of Marvel characters. Graham Rankin from Northants comments that MWOM is a "royal comic" compared to other scrappy superheroes comics. Finally Stuart Lavender from Walsall questions how can a ten-foot that can hold the Hulk withstand an explosion from an atomic bomb? Marvel's reply was to send their "enchanting editor" Pippa Melling round to the Atomic Energy Authority to answer that question, what she learned was it is believed that a ten foot thick concrete wall below the surface of the earth would be able to withstand an atomic blast, providing it did not hit directly in the area. So that kind of clears it up...if you believe them. It's kind of cool that Pippa gets a name check, apart from the copyright panel and the odd mention in Stan Lee Sounds Off column many readers wouldn't know who she was.  

Fantastic Four "The end of Mr. Fantastic?"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Dave Ayers

Originally printed in Fantastic Four #10

Cover date January 1963

(Published date October 1962)

The second part of "The return of Doctor Doom" starts off with three members of the FF attacking Doctor Doom, who unknown to them is in fact their friend and leader, Mister Fantastic, while the real Doctor Doom, in the body of Mister Fantastic, gloats them on. This comes ten issues into the Fantastic Four's first year of publication, I think that Stan and Jack have got into their stride of the comic and have a pretty good idea of what direction they want the book and its characters to go in, but this story seems to have been put together in a panic, with so many ideas thrown in, with many mostly just for laughs.

One of the weirdest things that spoils this story is how Kirby draws Reed Richards once Dr. Doom has possessed his body. Did none of Reed's teammates think what's wrong with his face? Or why does he look like a pantomime villain? Yeah I get it's more for the readers benefit and maybe meant more as a symbolic repetition of a possessed Reed Richards, but it spoils the story for me.

Another thing while we're on a moan, why would the rest of the FF accept imprisoning Doom in his own plexiglass prison, wouldn't he know the best way to escape it? Ben, Reeds supposed best friend, who's known him since their college days, doesn't question him on that, but does worry about how dangerous it might be for Doom.

Stretching credibility like Mr. Fantastic's limbs the three gullible members of the FF discover a menagerie of miniature animals running escaping from Reeds lab, there's even a headline on Ben's newspaper reading "zoo animals missing". They over look the fact that Reed has stolen for his 'reducing ray" experiment, because of the most flimsy story that by shrinking Ben, Sue and Johnny to a smaller size will increase their powers. Thank goodness Richards does escape the plexiglass prison and convince his teammates that Doom has switched bodies with him. These three dummies couldn't figure their way out of a paper bag, going by this weeks story!  

Once Doctor Doom is exposed as behind all the wrong doings, he and Reed return to their own bodies, simply because Doom relaxes his mental control over the process. Imagine if he'd done that when Reed was in his plexiglass prison he would have detained himself. I've always thought that Doom used an extravagant machine to perform the body swap, possibly built into his body armour. I could have sworn that John Byrne reused it in another Fantastic Four story, but I can't find out where. 

Doom falls victim to his own "reducing ray" which shrinks him to such a size he disappears into nothingness, when in fact he slips through the space between molecules into a Microverse as we'll discover later when Doom returns. Did you really think we've seen the last of Doom? Hey Microverse, that sounds like a great idea. Although I wouldn't call it the Microverse, that sounds like it would create copyright problems for me. I'd call it a Quantum Realm, that concept would make an amazing movie! I must write it down before someone steals it. Speaking of theft, although it isn't mentioned in this story Doom didn't invent the "reducing ray", he stole the idea from Otto Kronsteig (also known as Captain Axis,) a nazis scientist who fled Germany at the end of World War 2 to find refuge in Latveria, where he worked as an assistant to Doctor Doom. But that's a story for another time.  

Instead of a Mighty Marvel Pin-Up this week we get a colour in puzzle page. Colour in the spaces that have dots in them to reveal a Marvel super-star. Can you guess who that might be? Easy yeah? Even Ben, Sue and Johnny could do that without the help of Reed Richards! 

May be editors were worried about readers abandoning MWOM for Spider-man Comics Weekly so they printed a little form for you to cut out and give to your newsagent to reserve a copy. It's interesting to note that they used the short form of "Marvel" to represent the Mighty World of Marvel instead of MWOM. Either way I'm sure "Mr Newsagent" knew what they meant.

"More excitement from Mighty Marvel" with this full page colour in house advertisement for Spider-man Comics Weekly on the back cover. The perfect scenario was you filled the reserve form for MWOM, then finished the comic, looked at the back page, then went to the newsagents handed over the form but with that image in your mind you picked up the latest copy of SMCW too. 

Spider-man Comics Weekly #2

This cover is the first Marvel UK to re use the original American cover, all be it with a back ground colour change from light green to yellow and the inclusion of a panel from the Mighty Thor strip. So credits must go to Steve Ditko for the top half and Jack Kirby for the bottom panel. The yellow back ground does look more eye catching on bland British newsstands. Notice how the cover bodger has added more shadow to the Enforcers and given them speech balloons in the British version. The larger shadows are very fitting with the bright light yellow back ground and the balloon text looks great, giving a dramatic feel, even though the "We each have a deadly super power!" line isn't accurate as they are just highly skilled humans. But it is the dum Ox saying it so may be that's in character too. I really like this cover. The topper headline reads "Free: Inside! Your fabulous Spider-man tracer plane!" This weeks free gift was a cardboard plane in the shape of a spider. Like last weeks free gift I don't own one nor have I ever seen one in real life. I guess many were played to death with and eventually lost. 

Spider-man "The Enforcers!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Steve Ditko

Inker: Steve Ditko

Originally printed in The Amazing Spier-man #10

Cover date March 1964

(Published December 1963)

This story is the first appearance of the Big Man a mysterious gangster with his hard men Enforcers. In Typical early Spider-man style the opening splash page is a fictitious teaser with Stan boasting "With this classic tale, the Marvel age of comics reaches a new plateau of greatness!!" I'm not sure about that but it is a very enjoyable tale.

Crime boss Big Man wears a white china stage mask over a hood and a fedora hat to hide his identity, he's the brains of the gang, working out elaborate plans but leaving his crime syndicate and the Enforcers to do the hard grafting. Fancy Dan is a diminutive judo expert, who doesn't let his size get in the way of his fighting skills. Could be a bit of "little man syndrome" at play here, he feels capable of taking on Spider-Man in a fight. Power house Ox is the next Enforcer, he's too dum to feel pain, he may be slow but he puts a lot of muscle behind every punch. Finally we have Montana an expert rope man who can do the most amazing things with his lasso. They're a strange mix of characters but there's something quite appealing about them as villains. As Spider-man rogues they generally don't get used a lot, but they are better for that. Less is definitely more.

As the story focuses on Peter's personal life we get to see Aunt May as she recovers from her operation. Liz Allen and Flash Thomson call in the hospital to visit her. This is kind of unusual for these characters but it does lead you to believe Liz is very caring, with may be a fondness for Peter. Flash on the other hand plays it the hard man by suggesting he only came to keep Liz company. That may be so but I feel there was a slow but intended plot line to make Flash more of a likeable character. Possibly as a reaction to Peter coming out of his shell and his standing up to Flash, like the time he agreed to fight Flash in the boxing ring back in MWOM #18 . Aunt May's doctor asks Peter to give some blood to help his Aunt recover but Peter becomes worried how his spider irradiated blood might affect the old lady. Liz and Flash are concerned when he refuses the donation, this gives Peter a change of heart so he does gives her the blood transfusion. This story was written in 1963 were little was publicly known about blood transfusion safety, in fact its only been in the last 30 years since the identification of the human immunodeficiency virus [ HIV] and hepatitis C virus [ HCV] have made blood screening vastly important. But in this story Peter does mention that his blood is screened and checks out OK, so I assume that some checks were made back in the 60's. Another thing which as far as I know is never mentioned in the comics, but I wonder given Aunt May's incredible ability to recover from so many heart conditions and health problems and her apparent slow aging, does the radioactive spider blood give her improved healing powers? The amazing Aunt-May indeed.

The Enforcers confront Betty Brant about a loan she holds payment on, for reasons she won't tell Peter why. A mystery for another time. Peter sets up a trap for the Big Man by telling everyone he knows his real identity. Even Flash tells Peter that doing so is very dangerous. Peter is captured which eventually leads to Spider-Man defeating the Enforcers but the Big Man makes his escape. Throughout this story red herrings are dropped to make Spider-man and the reader believe that Jonah Jameson is the Big Man. Spider-man goes to the cigar chewing publisher's office to confront him, only to be surprised that the police are already there to arrest the Big Man. But it's not Jameson who they want to arrest, it's Frederick Foswell, the Daily Bugle's crime reporter, who uses padded suits and special built up shoes to disguise his size and height, which where discovered by the police in his car that they saw speeding away from the garage that the police had seen Spider-man fighting the Big Man's gang. It's always the quiet ones!

In this story Stan and Steve add a classic scene where we find out why Jameson hates Spider-man so much. Jonah is always thwarted, embarrassed and frustrated by Spider-man but the real reason is one of envy, even though he's a millionaire with high public standing he is jealous of how brave, powerful and unselfish Spider-man is. May be Spider-man shouldn't give JJJ so much of a hard time.  

SMCW colour inside pages (again this week they aren't located in the centre spread,) are used as house adverts. The first half to promote a "spectacular surprise gift" coming to SMCW as Spider-man visits the Marvel Comics London office. Not got a clue what it might be, but without trying to sound cynical I can't see it being all that spectacular, but I could be wrong. On the second half of the spread a house advert for the current issue of MWOM featuring the Fantastic Four's latest adventure and another FOOM form for the readers to fill out! Not quite the full page that Spider-man got in MWOM but still.

The Web and the Hammer is the name of the Spider-man Comics Weekly letter page. Many might not feel that it's a good title for a letter page, but I really love it. The logo looks good and it does what is says...kind of...with it being a web of information about readers thoughts and readers banging with the hammers on their typewriters. OK internet references mixed with antique typewriters doesn't work, but I've got nostalgic love for it anyway. A letter page after only a week is good, especially has there was no email in 1973, but obviously these letters were addressed to MWOM Mighty Mailbag, with content about Spider-man and Thor, making them relevant.

Stephen Bruff from Dunstable gets the honour of having the first letter to be printed in SMCW. He loves the heroes in MWOM but wants to see the Sub-Mariner and Thor. Well he got his wish. Paul Ware from Yorkshire is bothered by why J. Jonah Jameson hates Spider-man so much. See this weeks "The Enforcers" story for his reasons. Neil Farley from Middlesbrough writes that he cancelled his two regular comics delivery in exchange for MWOM. He doesn't mention what were the names of those two comics and I wonder did he beg for SMCW to be added to the delivery? E. Anaman from London, is that a spelling mistake? Should the second "a" really be a "t"? Anyway E. thinks that Peter should have go a spider's ability to create spider webs organically like a real spider. He must be a fan of the Toby Maguire Spider-man films. Plymouth's Stephen Morgan wonders why no-one can see the half Peter/half Spidey spider sense, the editor points out that "sturdy" Steve Ditko draws it like that as a symbolic reference to the fact that Spider-man's spider sense has detected something. But mostly it looks amazing on the page.

 We get a "Posters 'n' patches"  full page advert in SMCW this week. It's the kind of thing you'd regularly see in American comics in the 70's. I'm not sure British kids would love the content of the posters and patches with stars like "Mike" (that's Michael to you and me,) Jackson, Dave Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Alice Cooper and Olivia Newton-John featuring on the posters. May be I was too young to fully appreciate early 70's pop culture. They all seen to be very American orientated, although there is a Slade poster so may be I should "Cum on and feel the noise" and I see a Smilie patch decades before Acid raves re used them or before Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons dripped blood on one.

The mighty Thor "Vs the Executioner"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Dick Ayers

Originally printed in Journey into Mystery #84

Cover date September 1962

(Published in July 1962)

 

This week the mighty Thor confronts the Executioner, no not the Asgardian warrior but a tin pot dictator of a Central American country. Bodavia (Russia to you and me,) is supplying weapons to the Executioner to maintain his hold on San Diablo, a fictitious country in the Marvel Universe. Doctor Don Blake and his nurse Jane, later to be fully named Jane Foster, go to the country as part of a Red Cross humanitarian aid party. When the ship carrying Doctors and nurses with medical supplies gets attacked by Bodavian backed San Diablo planes Blake changes quickly into Thor. 

You can easily spot the changes from the hammer and sickle to the British reader friendly lightning bolt. The usual changes in text are also made to hide any Russian/Communist reference too.

Thor battles tanks and ground troops but when Jane gets captured Thor changes back into the lame doctor, so that he can also be captured aiding in him getting closer to the Executioner. Blake is lined up against a wall ready for the firing squad. With perfect timing in a blinding flash he transforms into the god of thunder, over powers the Executioners men to rescue Jane. The greedy Executioner flees with bags full of money and gold to be gunned down by San Diablo's freedom fighters. And so ends this weeks tale, with promise of next weeks adventure will feature Loki, God of Evil. So till next time.

See you in seven.

Make Mine Marvel!