Mischief makers.

Week Ending 3rd March 1973

A little bit of tiding up from last weeks blog, I mentioned that I was surprised to find out that Doctor Doom had used a technique developed by the alien race called the Ovoids to swap bodies with Mr. Fantastic as seen in MWOM #20 and #21 , as I believed he had used a machine instead. Also I could have sworn that John Byrne had reused the concept again in another FF story but couldn't recall in which story. Paul Lynch quite rightly pointed out (via Facebook group UK Marvel in the Seventies,) that in Fantastic Four #260 (When titans clash) Doctor Doom did indeed use the same technique to escape death when his armour fused during a battle with Tyros or Terrax the tamer as he's sometimes known. This plot was never explained in that issue but later revealed in  #287 (Prisoner of the flesh) and #288 (Full circle). The story from #260 never saw print in a Marvel UK comic, but strangely enough the stories from #287 and #288 did appear in Secret Wars II #68 and #69 a Marvel UK comic from October 1986, (we've got a long way to go with these Marvel UK reviews to get up to those comics.) which are the issues that I remember reading! So a big thanks to Paul and a "Power of the Beesting" No-prize is yours.  

The Mighty World of Marvel #22

Another Jim Starlin layout that Al Milgrom finished off the pencil artwork and Mike Esposito completed the cover by adding the inks. The headline banner give away what was to be a surprise hinted at last week, "Marvel Mini-Poster!" As the Hulk was the main feature of this cover he gets a slightly "over-wordy" text panel, stating "At last the incredible Hulk..face to face with the murderous mind force of the Leader!" adding that it was a contest of "brawn against brain in the battle of of the century!" Let's find out if it was.

The Incredible Hulk "Trapped in the lair of the Leader!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Mike Esposito 

Originally published in Tales to Astonish #69

Cover date July 1965

(Published in April 1965)

Well was it the battle of the century? Well no, not really, The Leader only confronted the Hulk in around 10 panels and most of those they were obscured by smoke, so the battle of brawn and brain never materialised. The story seemed to be retreading over the same ideas, "Banner is a traitor," "the Leader wants to steal Banner's latest creation," "Rick Jones has to keep Banners secret" and "Major Talbot is a dick!" As the Hulk stories had to share billing with another hero in Tales to Astonish (at this point it was Giant-man and the Wasp, later it would be the Sub-Mariner.) the story lengths would only be 10 pages long. The short punchy tales should have lead to tighter plots, but instead we get a period of repeated plots. I kind of think that at the time Stan and his artists were more interested in other heroes and less on the Hulk. In the final panels the Hulk is shot at through a wall of smoke, then seconds later Banner is found injured, hardly breathing. In the cliffhanging final panel he's declared dead! You can bet next issue will have him recover before you know it and the whole routine starts again. You were almost shouting at the page to get a move on! The sooner everyone knew Banner was the Hulk the better it would be. But don't worry things would improve soon.

A third of this weeks Mighty Marvel Mail Bag is taken up by a note from the Marvel Bullpen, thanking all the thousands who sent in cards or letters about MWOM and the new companion comic Spider-man Comics Weekly. "Keep them coming" they add. Ian MacDonald from Clydebank did just that, saying that he has been reading the original Marvel mags for years and would love to see Daredevil in MWOM. Well he got his wish. Phil Castlefields from Shrewsbury writes in congratulating Marvel on an impressive first issue of MWOM, that he hopes will "spread the mighty Marvel word across the country", to "help people realise that this is a true art form!" The final letter in this weeks Mail Bag comes from A. Moseley from Hebburn-On-Tyne who has bought 40 back issue of MWOM number 1 so that he could use the Hulk transfers to decorate his racing teams t-shirts and overalls. The car he and his friends are building is going to be called "THE INCREDIBLE HULK" and they intend to drive the car at the Santa Pod drag way. He hoped they would win the "best dressed team competition. They intend to add a large poster of the Hulk to the car and have the name of the car down each side. I wonder what quarter mile time did they get? Did anyone remember them at Santa Pod in 1973/74? 

Daredevil "The evil menace of Electro!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Joe Orlando

Inker: Vince Colletta

Originally published in Daredevil #2

Cover date June 1964

(Published in April 1964)

"The origin of Daredevil!" story has been my favourite strip in Marvel UK in the last two weeks. I can quite easily describe it as a tour de force from Stan Lee and Bill Everett. It was a high bar that other strips from MWOM and SMCW couldn't reach, even though in many cases those strips were brilliant, Daredevil was absolutely amazing. Could this weeks Daredevil live up to those dizzy heights? Well even from the first page I can tell the answer is no! Well where to start? The first thing that I notice was the look of the artwork. Joe Orlando and Vince Colletta are capable artists, Orlando is well known for his work on EC comics, DC comics and Marvel, while Colletta worked with Kirby for many years at Marvel and later DC but neither don't suit this strip. Lets just put Colletta quickly to one side for a minute, Colletta does have a reputation taking short cuts with his inking, either rubbing out the pencilers detailed work or blacking over it with ink. But you can't over look that he's also got a reputation for being efficient, and always hitting the deadlines. Some types of comic stories like the romantic style of noble Asgardians really suits him, I really love his work with Jack Kirby on Thor, but I've seen evidence that some of Kirby's artwork was even better before Colletta had inked it. But I don't feel that's the case with this strip. I feel the original art that came from Orlando didn't quite live up to what followed before. When Everett drew Matt Murdock you could tell he was a blind man. Take a look at Matt on the splash page above, he doesn't look anything remotely like the character from the last two weeks. Dark glasses do not make him a blind man. He's jovial without any sadness, or darkness that comes with the brooding vigilante. Yeah I know DD does spit wisecracks from time to time but there should always be a sad, deeper side to his character. Gene Colan draws him like that, Frank Miller does too. Murdock doesn't look like a well educated lawyer, in Orlando's artwork he looks like a yuppie moron. The posing Daredevil looks contemptible and not noble. As for Electro his less of an evil menace and more of a gurning fool. 

Electro is an unusual guest villain, in Marvel UK time he had only just appeared a week ago in Spider-man, in the US there had only been five months between his first appearance, that ended with his imprisonment and this story. I'm blaming Stan for this one, did he break out of prison, was he released? How soon does he set up a grand theft auto gang? His character just doesn't feel the same. I don't feel that Orlando read that issue of the Amazing Spider-man or Daredevil #1 for that matter, Foggy Nelson and Karen Page look nothing like they did last week. The Thing makes a guest appearance this week too, with the plot devise that the FF need a lawyer to give their lease for the Baxter Building a going over. Again I doubt that Orlando has ever seen a Fantastic Four comic. By far the worst interpretation of Ben Grimm I can ever recall seeing. 

I don't want to fill this blog with aversion to Joe Orlando, I never want to be thought of as a hate monger. This strip doesn't suit him or may be he never felt interested in the comic. Orlando is well known for humour and horror strips, at least in this story he got to stretch his artistic legs with a gag scene at Electro's garage chop shop. In itself that looked the best part of the strip.

The garage fight scene is fun but even that does get a little out of hand as Daredevil stops an oncoming truck with an engine catapulted from a car tyre. Far fetched is putting it mildly. Again I wonder should that one be levelled at Stan's writing. 

As DD busts the gang their leader looks to try other lines of criminal profit, when he hears on the news that the Fantastic Four will be out of town for a day or two. Electro thinks there's got to be lots of secrets in the Baxter Building he can sell to a hostel nation. As fate would have it Matt Murdock is on his way to go over the buildings lease details, leading to a clash of hero and villain. Electro renders Daredevil unconscious and plans to dispose of the body by sending him into space inside of the FF's own rocket, as you do! To be continued next week. 

 

One last thing about this weeks DD strip, it reveals the new Fantasti-Car. This Mark II version will make its premier appearance in the Fantastic Four story "The Incredible Hulk" in just two weeks time. This story was published 15 months after after this one in the US. But here Marvel UK readers get to view it for the first time.

As it was spoiled on the front cover, the free gift you was invited to guess at last issue is a Marvel Mini-poster! Well it's better than a blank panel like the one we was teased about last week. The first mini-poster is the Incredible Hulk! As a kid in the early 70's I would love it, but my boring grumpy old man self in 2023 feels a little deflated with it. I do miss that 70's kid. Sharing the centre pages is an in house advert for Spider-man Comics Weekly #3, showcasing the return of Doctor Octopus. Steve Ditko drew this panel as it originally was part of the cover for the Amazing Spider-man #11. Also this page finishes with an advert for FOOM!

 Here's the cover of Amazing Spider-man #11, it's pretty much the same but with slight changes to back ground colours and the colour of Doc Ocks pants. Although is it me, or does it look like Doc Ock has lost his glasses? Why would they do that?  Without them he looks like a cross between Herman Monster and Elvis!

Another Fantastic Four's Hall of Infamy that previews next weeks guest antagonist, the Impossible Man. Drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Sol Brodsky this is another feature originally from the Fantastic Four Annual #1 cover dated September 1963. It's a weird likeness of Impy but for a shapeshifter what is normal? 

"Somebody wake up the artist!" It's a find the error puzzle page. Ive no idea who drew it, I imagine that this feature was made especially for Marvel UK. What I do know is I got up to counting twenty different mistakes, then give up. Did I miss any?

The Fantastic Four "A visit with the Fantastic Four"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Dick Ayers

Originally published in Fantastic Four #11

Cover date February 1963

(Published in November 1962)

It may be fair to say that some of the strips lately haven't filled me with joy, that may come from in 2023 I know what great stuff is coming. I don't mean to sound down on the current batch of strips,  readers in the 60's (when these tales were originally created probably got a massive kick out of them and so did 70's kids too. May be I'm being too critical. I should chill out a bit. How here's a story to relax with. Full of charm and humour. Above the title of this strip Stan informs us that it's a "Special bonus to our readers!" "The type of story most requested by your letters and post cards," well that would be a massive battle royal between the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, the Sub-Mariner and the incredible Hulk. Errr, am I being an old grump again, it's not that. Instead we get a pleasant look into the civilian life of our four heroes. You kind of imagine this story would be a page filler in an annual but no this was featured first before the main story, that we'll see in full next week.

 

The Fantastic Four pop to the shops to pick up the latest copy of "Mighty Marvel", by that they probably mean "The Mighty World of Marvel" but the letter bodger couldn't fit that into the gap in the speech balloon left by the removal of the words "Fantastic Four". Stan and Jack have really gone meta, with the FF buying their own comic to read stories about themselves. Have a closer look at the kid with his copy, shouting "I've just got the latest copy and my letter's on the fan page!" In the US version it was the Fantastic Four Fan Page, but the British version we get to see the Mighty Marvel Mail Bag page. Nice touch.

If you zoom in on the police officer next to Ben you'll see he was reading a magazine with the logo of the Fantastic Four. In the Marvel UK version you got what looks like the Mighty World of Marvel logo. 

The cue for the shop is to big so the foursome give it a miss, I imagine Reed Richards has made a future viewer gismo that can connect to the future internet from 2023 so they'll check out my blog to find out what happened in the MWOM and what I thought about it. Four kids are roll playing their heroes as the FF pass by. After a quick "play safe kids" the FF head home. Was that scene written so that readers wouldn't copy any of the dangerous feats that the FF do everyday. 

 

We get the first appearance  of Willie Lumpkin, the post man to the Baxter Building, with his incredible wiggling ears! I should say it was Willie's first Silver Age appearance, as he had made regular appearances during the Golden Age in his own syndicated comic strip by Stan Lee and legendary artist Dan DeCarlo (know for Sabrina the teenage witch, Josie and the Pussycats for Archie Comics and Millie the model for Marvel Comics).

The plot goes that Willie Pumpkin has delivered a sack full of fan mail to the FF, with questions from fans. So as a way to explain Ben and Reeds friendship we get Reed and Ben breaking the fourth wall by explaining directly to the readers how they meet at college, creating a friendship that would last, only to be put on hold after their graduation as they in their separate ways fought in World War 2. Ben as a fighter pilot and Reed as a freedom fighter in France working for the O.S.S. That's the Office of Strategic Services, a wartime intelligence agency the predecessor to the C.I.A. In the 1960's that war wasn't that far gone, but in the 1970's it was almost three decades later, making Ben and Reed in their 50's. A stretch in credibility but not as bad as when the 1980's and 1990's came. Thank goodness for Marvel's sliding timescale! It's a mine field, as a kid in the 70's I didn't care and now I still don't care. Why let trivial things like timescale get in the way of a good story? That kind of thing has always been easy to suspend my disbelieve for. James Bond has always been in his 40s so why can't Reed and Ben?

At one point during the letter opening session Sue becomes up set with a number letters from correspondents who feel that she doesn't contribute enough to the team, even some who suggest that the FF would be better without her. To which Reed points to a bust of Abraham Lincoln and paraphrase him by saying "All that he was--all that he ever hoped to be--he owed to her." The actual quote attributed to Lincoln is "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." Reed also points out that Sue has many times more than aided them in their adventures. I feel that Stan was addressing points made in genuine letters and maybe he felt that his writing of her character had played some outdated tunes. He was guilty of having her input trivialised and at times nothing more than a damsel in distress. It was the 60's when this story was written, women's lib was starting to grow in the 70's, those antiquated concepts would fade away, times they were a changing. May be Stan Lee and the Marvel Revolution was part of that change. The Lincoln quote did paint her as a mother/house wife figure but to my mind she was the First Lady of Marvel and so much more than a stereotype. 

An alarm goes off in the vehicle workshops, its coming from the Xantha saucer, (the Skrull looking space ship recovered from Kurrgo the ruler of Planet X,) where we find Sue's brother Johnny with a gigantic surprise birthday cake for Sue. She's so choked up, declaring herself to be speechless, to which the Thing says "First time I ever heard a female admit a thing like that!" Well that feminism revolution might take a bit longer.

Jack Kirby delights many an adolescent Marvelite with this attractive pin-up of the beautiful Invisible Girl. Originally printed in the Fantastic Four Annual #2 from 1963 but here it graces the back page or may be some kids bed room wall.

Spider-man Comics Weekly #3

Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom now have to produce another cover every week, it's no wonder they've started doing them with Starlin on layouts and Milgrom finishing of the pencil work. Mike Esposito helps out by inking the final artwork. Jim or Al gives Betty a very short mini skirt in the cover, that's something that was completely out of character for her. As far as I can recall Steve Ditko would never dress any of his female characters wearing one. Thor, God of Thunder clashes with Loki, God of Evil in one fifth of the cover, Marvel UK was very happy to include all the guest content have their bit of cover fame. I don't know if Starlin or Milgrom drew it, the style does look slightly different from the Spider-man/Doctor Octopus part but I wouldn't like to say either way.

Spider-man "Turning point"

 

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Steve Ditko

Inker: Steve Ditko

Originally published in the Amazing Spider-man #11

Cover date April 1964

(Published in January 1964)

It's a really great splash page from Ditko, suggesting Betty Brant is pretty angry with Spider-man, to which this impression may hold some truth to that feeling. I love the menacing shadow of Doctor Octopus in typical Ditko style. Stan Lee teases us with text a box that ups the anticipation by asking us to see; "diabolical Doctor Octopus, more dangerous than ever before"; "the secret of Betty Brant...revealed"; "Spider-man's greatest victory...and his most bitter disappointment!" With an opening page like that the rest of the story has to be great! 

Doctor Octopus has served his full prison sentence! There's got to be problems with the American justice system, not only did Electro get out of prison in no time at all but so has Doc Ock! In Britain it's weeks between incarceration and release, in America its months, it could just be Marvel's sliding timescale again, but either way super villains do tend to get very short sentences! Which is great from us action hungry readers, less so for the American general public!

 

Spider-man argues against Doc Oaks release with the Municipal prison warden, to no avail. So Peter develops a transistorised tracking device to keep an eye of the villainous Doctor. Basing it on a spider we get the first view of a Spider Tracker which appears regularly in Spider-man stories, though in those stories Spider-man can use his spider-sense to follow the signal. In this story he has a small portable receiver to trace the signal.  

Peter's girlfriend, Betty Brant, looking like a gangsters mole, picks up Doctor Octopus when he is released from prison. We find out that she is working for Blackie Gaxton a gangster who serving time in prison, as favour to her brother, Bennett Brant, who owes a large debt to Gaxton so works as his lawyer. Gaxton wants to hire Doc Ock to spring him.

Doc Ock does indeed break Gaxton out of a Philadelphia prison. Soon Gaxton, his gang, Doctor Octopus, Bennett and Betty meet on a ship that the crook plans to flee the country on. Bennett has fulfilled his part of their bargain and want to be freed from his debt, Otto Octavius has also fulfilled his part and wants paying and Spider-man who has followed his spider-tracker arrives at the dock side, which leads to a confrontation with our hero and the villains. Bennett gets shot by Gaxton in a struggle with Spider-man. The police arrive too, leading to a boat chase, but Doc Ock escapes once the boat with himself and the web-slinger crashes.

With Blackie Gaxton and his gang arrested by the police and Betty's innocents in the whole affair admitted by Gaxton everything seems to to be wrapped up except for Octavius escape and Betty' deep sorrow with the loss of her brother. 

Peter tries his best to comfort Betty as she explains that Bennett was too headstrong and got involved with bad company. In shock she had blamed Spider-man for causing her brothers death but she later admitted that it wasn't Spider-mans fault, that he was only trying to help. But Spider-man still reminds her of it and she never wants to see him again. 

It's a great story with lots of ideas and plot lines that have been brewing nicely and also sets things up for future issues. I did notice that Ditko seems to have rushed some panels towards the end, see the last panel as Peter walks off into the night with the spectre of Spider-man above him, but some of the human drama scenes are beautifully crafted. Was it because of a looming deadline, or did Ditko enjoy drawing people and not drawing webbing on costumes as much. Still it's the best story of this week by far.

Yet again the colour pages in SMCW aren't in the centrefold, why this occurs is anyones guess, it's always in the centrefold in MWOM. Another surprise free gift give away is advertised, with readers asked to collect coupons for eight weeks, much like the poster give away in early MWOM. As with that give away the reader would be teased every week with a clue to what the surprise is. This weeks clue no.1 is "It's a real swinger!" Now knowing what the gift was from the first ten issues of MWOM, this clue could well be a poster of Spider-man, either that or it's a pet monkey! You might notice that the image of the first page is slightly curved. As regular readers of this blog may recall apart from the comic covers, which are scans of my own copies, all the other scans are taken from digital copies due to speed and ease. But my digital copy of SMCW#3 had the coupon removed before scanning, which doesn't show you what the coupon look like. My physical copy is thankfully fully intact. As for the curved page, there's no way I'm going to crease my copy for anyone! The opposite page carries a half page in house advert for MWOM #23 by showing a scene from that issues Hulk story, with the lower half an advert for FOOM.   

The Mighty Thor "Trapped by Loki, the God of Evil!"

Writer: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Dick Ayers

Originally printed in Journey into Mystery #85

Cover date October 1962

(Published in August 1962)

After the first tale Stan Lee gives the mighty Thor a subtle change in direction, were in that first Thor retained the mental id of Doctor Donald Blake, while the second tale Thor could be said to form more of a personality. Here in this story more of that comes to the surface as the writer notices that Thor and his Asgardian heritage brings a wonderful amount of plot to play with. I say writer, as no credits were listed on either British or American versions many would assume that Stan Lee was the sole writer, but no, Marvel.fandom.com states that Stan's younger brother, Larry Lieber co-wrote this story. As the title predicts we get see for the first time an Asgardian God other than Thor, Loki the God of Mischief. This is his first Silver Age appearance as Loki did appear in the Timely comic Venus #6 from August 1949, in a story where Venus the Greek/Roman Goddess of love, who works at a beauty magazine, gets involved in an adventure in which Loki turns up as the Lord of Hades! The writer plays fast and loose with mythology. Stan was the editor on that comic and probably was responsible for that Olympian and Norse mix. 

The God of Mischief has been imprisoned in a tree for punishment to some unknown crime and can only be released if an inhabitant of Asgard weeps for him. Loki says that for centuries he has been imposing his will on the tree, an exaggeration as some thirteen years have passed since he was last seen in the Venus comic! God of lies too may be. Loki commands a leaf from the tree to fall into the eye of a passing Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost. Who looks nothing like Idris Elba from the MCU films, nor anything like later versions drawn by Kirby. With Heimdalls tears Loki is released and plans to seek revenge on his half brother Thor.

We get to see Asgard in its glory as Loki takes the Bifrost to Earth, but where is Heimdall now? Well may be he was trying to get that leave out of his eye while looking for a tissue to dry his watering eyes. On Earth Loki confronts Thor after creating mayhem to flush the God of thunder out. Which leads me to question as does Donald Blake or Thor conscious inhabit the body of Thor as in one scene when Loki reveals himself Thor seems to recognise him, but as the scene unfolds on the next page a thought balloon from Thor seems to only recall the Loki myth from legend not as someone he knows. There is a good chance that this is part of a long plot that sees Thor recovering his memories from the past that have been hidden by Odin when he decided that it was time Thor learned humility by surrendering his hammer and sending him to Earth in the mortal guise of a crippled Donald Blake, stripping him of his memory. Loki's appearance might just have been the catalyst to recover them.  

Loki leads Thor on a merry dance around New York with tricks and traps.

Eventually Thor over comes the God of mischief and sends him back to Asgard on the back of his hammer to face punishment from Odin and the other Norse Gods. I must take it that at this time Thor has fully covered his memories as he knows the direction of Asgard and that Mjolnir can travel Earth to Asgard and back in just under a minute. 

In the Web and the Hammer this week Mark Tipping from Burley says that these comics are MARVEL-ous but has one question, what happens to Spider-mans webs after he's spun them? With Mark being concerned that the city would be cluttered up with them. Very green Mark is. John McNeill from Castleford in Yorkshire writes that Spider-man is the greatest. The time when Spider-man fought the Lizard left him shaking! Finally Peter Brole from Cardiff after reading the Mighty World of Marvel immediately put in for a regular order. He also wishes he was bitten by a radioactive spider but knowing the chances of that happening he properly is best sticking to reading history and science at school.  

After last weeks advert for posters and patches which I thought was more aimed at American teenagers, this weeks unproductive titled "Thro'way posters" comes with a more UK friendly fair, with Bowie, Elton John, Marc Bolan and Rod Stewart joining British bands like Slade, Lindisfarne and Mott the Hoople on the advert. A 70's rock festival am sure you'll agree.

The back page is used to preview next weeks Spider-man Comics Weekly as Spider-man is unmasked by Doc Ock! That must come as a shock to Betty Brant and Jonah Jameson. It's pretty shocking for Peter too! While Thor will encounter the mysterious Tomorrow Man! 

This weeks round up of Marvel UK may have felt like there's not a lot worth reading from my point of view, but in truth warts and all there's lots to love. Comics like life, feels better if you don't take them too seriously. Seriously this weeks I've had a ball. Same again next week? Yeah why not, I better start early there's lots to read.

See you in seven.

Make Mine Marvel.