The edge of heaven!

 Week Ending 4th August 1973

Tales of confusion, tales of Gods, stories of adventure, stories of real life. Myth, legends and romance. How much can two comics hold? Lets find out.

The Mighty World of Marvel #44

"The Hulk goes berserk! And only Rick Jones can stop him!" It's an intriguing tag line, but it won't grab a kids attention as well as the image of a rampaging Hulk smashing through a wall to be confronted by a worried Rick Jones. This appears to be created specially for the UK by Jim Starlin and Mike Esposito!

The Incredible Hulk "Rick Jones Vs. the Hulk!"

Writer: Roy Thomas, Tony Isabella

Artist: Gil Kane, Al Milgrom

Inker: Dan Adkins

Originally published in Captain Marvel #21

Cover date August 1970

(Published in April 1970)

One of the problems that has regularly been levelled at Marvel UK and it's weekly publishing schedule is that it eats up the American material at a very fast rate, approximately two US monthly stories every month, in early 1973 it was eight US Hulk stories every month in the pages of MWOM, due to Tales to Astonish having the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner sharing the title at 11 pages per story. Soon MWOM would start printing Hulk stories from his solo comic, but still Marvel UK was five years behind the US so at the current rate of reproduction it would approximately take one year and eight months to catch up! Thank goodness that DareDevil would return to MWOM in January 1974 to slow the Hulk down to two US stories every month. Yeah I understand that some months have five weeks worth of Hulk stories so the maths isn't right but it's easier to see the point I and many other readers have made. Marvel knew about this problem and tried many ways of suppressing it, like making new stories by UK creators, pausing the strip for a while, reprinting the strip for a second time, printing a story from another US title that guest starred the hero or taking another story from another title and changing the artwork to create another fresh story. Apeslayer anyone? Marvel UK in a couple of weeks pause the Hulk story and print five stories that guest-starred the Hulk, we'll get to those real soon.

Those stories were important as they introduce new characters to Marvel UK that the readers were crying out for. To get to that point the last Tales to Astonish 11 page Hulk story and a 20 page Incredible Hulk  story needed to be finished off, leaving 12 pages to fill in the mean time. In all honesty if they hadn't printed "Heaven is a very small place!" in MWOM #42 there wouldn't be a problem, but I love that story so I can't complain about that. The gap was filled with a re-working of "Here comes the Hulk!" from Captain Marvel #21, originally written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane. The page count was cut down from 20 pages to 12. This was masterminded by US based Marvel UK editor Tony Isabella who made changes to Thomas's script and plot, removing Captain Marvel completely including the Mar-Vell/Rick Jones shared identity concept and some impressive Hulk/Captain Marvel fight scenes. Al Milgrom was the art bodger for this story, replacing Captain Marvel's face on the opening splash page with Rick Jones' face instead. On the last page the Captain was replaced by Doctor Weller.  

As well as some small panels that had to be removed or adapted Milgrom had to draw a complete page featuring the Hulk running amok. Some might say that Captain Britain number one featured the first Marvel story made especially for the UK, others would name the Apeslayer saga from the Planet of the Apes UK comic (#23-#30) that used War of the Worlds strips with apes drawn over the antagonists as the first. But they would all be wrong, "Rick Jones Vs. the Hulk!" was the first. In all honesty Tony and Al did a pretty good job. Tony kept a lot of Roy's plot including the student protests against Doctor Weller's government funded atomic experiments, the Hulk's anger at the protesters and Rick standing up to an angry Hulk at the end of the story. Al's artwork didn't quite match up with Kane's which did jar the story slightly. To the right you can see Milgrom's full page, while below a recognisable Gil Kane panel.

Unlike the afore mentioned Hulk story "Heaven is a very small place!"which saw a full reprint in chronological order in MWOM, the Captain Marvel story "Here comes the Hulk!" was strangely omitted from the Captain Marvel run in The Titans when it came to its turn. In fact Marvel UK readers had to wait until September 2004 for the complete unedited story to see print in the pages of The Mighty World of Marvel volume 3 issue 20, which was great because you got to see the full Gil Kane art. Doctor Weller would return in "Big monster on campus!" printed in MWOM #312-#313 (20th September 1978 and 27th September 1987,) and also re-printed in Spider-man #585-#586 (23rd May 1984 and 30th May 1984,) although the references to this story and Captain Marvel did feel strange. 

I think it's safe to say, if you haven't already guessed that one of the stories that will be printed instead of a Hulk story will be The Avengers. You really can't help but be aware of it with all the teasers they keep dropping. Here's another one in this week's MWOM proclaiming "coming your way in The Mighty World of Marvel #46: the wonderful Wasp and the astonishing Ant-man!" We've meet Ant-man in the Fantastic Four strip starting in MWOM #32 soon we'll meet his beautiful partner Janet Van Dyne also known as the Wasp, together in the super group sensation, The Avengers! 

Appearing in MWOM and SMCW this week the answers and winners of the second Marvel Football competition from MWOM #38 and SMCW #19 some six weeks ago. There's far too many prizes and winners to list so you'll have to zoom in on the image to see if you can spot yourself. But I can give you the answers. 1) Spider-man's webbing melts into nothing after a few hours. 2) Thor's profession as Don Blake is a Doctor. 3) Bobby Charlton had 106 England caps before he retired. 4) Celtic were the first British team to win the European cup and lastly 5) The Hammers is the nickname for West Ham! Give yourself a Power of the Beesting No-Prize if you got all those right. If you thought that Manchester United was the first British football team to win the European Cup you definitely aren't a football fan, but you most probably are a Man U fan and should spend less time watching them and more time reading comics for the sake of your mental health.

The Mighty Marvel Mailbag

A message from the Bullpen starts off the letter page with a run down of this weeks contents, followed by a teaser for the Avengers, who if you haven't yet guessed "are coming!" The rest of the page and this weeks mailbag is taken up with a single letter from P. Buczko from Saltburn-by-sea in Yorkshire who explains that even though he reads some DC comics Marvel is the best. His reasoning for this is that Marvel heroes in general aren't as powerful as DC heroes, so Marvel villains don't need to be all-powerful, just cleverer. He then goes on to give a potted history of Marvel UK creation, as well finding a reason for Bruce Banners trousers staying mostly intact when he changes into the Hulk, who'd have thought it's not just for common decency. Then towards the end he ponders why the Thing and the Hulk don't have beards? It's quite an entertaining letter, better than some tiny letters that have been published. More letters in The Web and the Hammer in Spider-man Comics Weekly soon.

The Incredible Hulk "Where walk the Immortals!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Marie Severin

Inker: Frank Giacoia

Originally published in Tales to Astonish #101

Cover date March 1968

(Published in December1967)

This would be the last Hulk story in Tales to Astonish as both the Hulk and Sub-Mariner would get their own titles, like many characters who shared titles at that time due to Marvel Comics no longer being under a contracted publishing deal with DC Comics Marvel was able to publish more titles thus creating a massive growth at the company. Although Marie Severin was well known for many styles of comics, including comedy strips, I always think of her as a great sword and sorcery artist, especially her work on Kull the Conqueror, so she suits this Hulk/Asguardain tale really well.

The original opening page from "Where walk. the Immortals!" was removed from the British edition as it found Bruce Banner washed up on the shore where the Sub-Mariner had left him, as seen last issue because it would have made no sense continuing from the previous story "Rick Jones Vs. the Hulk!" In all honesty that stories opening page makes no sense following on from last weeks "Let there be battle!" but I imagine that the editors would think that readers would have forgotten about that continuity jump after a week, but less so in the same comic. I'm willing to bet future letter pages say different. Loki the God of Mischief transports the Hulk to Asgard for reasons, at least to Marvel UK continuity, that Thor is battling the Grey Gargoyle on Earth (see this weeks Thor strip in SMCW #25,) so Loki hopes the distraction of a rampaging green monster on Asgard would give the All Father something else to think about rather than his son's plight. The Hulk first comes across Heimdall only to easily over come the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. 

Next the Hulk is confronted by Hogan the grim, the voluminous Volstagg and the dashing Fandral, collectively known as the Warriors Three, this is their first appearance in Marvel UK continuity as there original US first appearances have yet to be printed in UK Thor stories. After a brief skirmish they aid the green beast, as they believe he has been bewitched by some evil, against the oncoming charge of Asgardian soldiers. 

As the battle fizzles out Loki tries to goading them into returning to violence but suspecting that the God of Mischief maybe behind the Hulk's appearance they set off on a quest to find Oldar, the Oracle. Much to Loki's displeasure, so as the Hulk follows the Warriors Three as they leap over a bottomless chasm Loki casts an incantation that transforms the powerful Hulk into his weak alter-ego Bruce Banner, leaving the confused scientist plunging to his doom in a real cliff hanger! Will he survive? Find out next issue where it will be Hulk-inued!

The Fantastic Four "The outcasts of New York!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Dick Ayers

Originally published in The Fantastic Four #20

Cover date November 1963

(Published in August 1963)

This opening splash page is taken from the cover of the Fantastic Four #20 by Jack Kirby but with inks by George Roussos, but it does fit into continuity from the end of last weeks cliff hanger really well. The Molecule Man is seemingly unstoppable, leaving the Fantastic Four to retreat making them look like cowards. Holding New York as hostage under a glass cage formed from the very air he demands that the FF are brought to him as his prisoners. Aided by the most unusual of allies, a member of the Yancy Street gang, they are taken to Alicia Masters to hide and plan.

Alicia summons the Molecule Man to her studio with a Four-Flare, to present him with a tribute in the shape of a life-size statue of the Fantastic Four. He tries to rearrange the molecules of the statue to his liking but the feed back over powers him due to the fact that it wasn't a solid clay statue but the disguised FF and he couldn't manipulate organic matter. The Watcher returns to detain the Molecule Man for save keeping, announcing that he could not interfere in the battle with the Molecule man but can take the menace away. The Watcher has a lot of loop-holes in his oath of non-interference!

 The inside back page runs its usual in house advert for this weeks Spider-man Comics Weekly informing us that Spidey swings into action against the legions of the Master Planner, Thor must battle the Grey Gargoyle and there's a bonus strip, Tales of Asgard! Stories of ancient myth and legend from the home of the Norse Gods. 

The Thing also asks the question "Do you sincerely want to be rich?" as a teaser to the upcoming pocket money competition in next week MWOM and SMCW comics.

You've probably noticed that this weeks inside back page features a green wash colour on the black and white print. I believe it's a one off. This weeks Spider-man Comics Weekly doesn't feature a red version on its inside back page. 

 Finally in this weeks Mighty World of Marvel the back page features a "Maze Page" for readers to help out the Fantastic Four who have been trapped in a sinister space warp by the despicable Doctor Doom. I think the space warp has effected some FF members more than others, it seems to have changed Johnny's hair from blonde to brown.

  

Spider-man Comics Weekly #25

This weeks cover uses the cover from Marvel Tales volume 2 #24 cover dated January 1970 by Steve Ditko. Marvel Tales volume two would reprint stories and featured heavily Spider-man stories. Later issues would reuse old covers but earlier issues had artists reimagining covers. What I believed happened with Marvel Tales #24 was the opening splash page of the original comic, Amazing Spider-man #31 was used as the cover and the original cover of ASM #31 was used a the opening splash page, just like it appears in the Marvel UK comic. The UK version re-colours the Master Planner's gang uniforms from dark and light purple to orange and yellow. The insert panel by Jack Kirby with inks by Chic Stone, of Thor confronting the Grey Gargoyle is taken from this weeks opening splash page.

Spider-man "If this be my destiny...!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Steve Ditko

Inker: Steve Ditko

Originally published in the Amazing Spider-man #31

Cover date December 1965

(Published in September 1965)

As you can see this splash opening page features the artwork for the original cover with the eight legged Spider image possibly foreshadowing another character known for their eight limbs. This story may not at first seem like a classic but it does have a healthy amount of Spidey action and Peter Parker's daily life, most noticeable is Aunt May's poor health and Peter's first days in college. 

This story marks the first appearances of Harry Osborn, who during this story becomes friends with Flash Thompson and seems to have a dislike for Peter, even though Flash seems to want to be more friendly with Peter. With Liz Allen seemly leaving the cast of Spider-man for a time and Betty Brant becoming more romantically involved with Ned Leeds, room for a new love interest was required. Ditko and Lee must have forgotten about MaryJane Watson, so new girl Gwen Stacy is brought in to fulfil that role. Gwen had come from Standard High school where she was friends with Harry. During this story Peter is very distracted by Aunt May's health, needing money to pay for her medical bill, he gives the impression to his new classmates of being a snob even when the very beautiful Gwen tries to get very friendly with him. Peter you are a fool, but I understand his reasons. 

The last page leaves plenty to look forward to next week with the identity of the Master Planner teased and Aunt May's doctors worried about her medical results. This story arc is building and worth sticking with.

The Web and the Hammer

A message from the Bullpen talks about this weeks SMCW contents and also teases us about next week too. It ends with mention of the Avengers coming soon to the Mighty World of Marvel and suggests that the readers reserve a copy of MWOM issue 46. 

This weeks readers letters starts with one from James Donnelly from Forest Hill, who has read every single one of SMCW but would like to see the Hulk battle Thor. That will happen sooner than later, see the above teaser. Eric McNaughton from County Durham wonders why DareDevil has one D on his costume but in MWOM has been seen with two. He remembers the old POW and Fantastic annuals for years ago with fondness. Gary Price from Tottenham can't wait till Spider-man gets to grips with the Kingpin, again like Eric before, he won't have to wait long to find out. Rober Dixon (could that be a miss-print and it should be Robert?) from Bramley thinks that the opening splash page in SMCW #12 of J. Jonah Jameson smiling looked like the Hulk with a crew cut! I'm not completely sure I agree but I get his point.

Andrew Bridgeton from London wonders what would happen if Spidey's webbing was to snap while he is suspended from it. I imagine gravity would take over. William Kingsley from Tunbridge Wells asks what's Spider-man's costume made of, what would happen to the Sandman if is sand particles were scattered and who made Thor's hammer? Strong elasticated material, he can slowly re-assemble himself and Thor hammer is a tale for another day. Steven Hayes from Manchester wants DareDevil to have a dog! I see why but I, like the editor think it's a silly idea. Brett Fallis from Essex says even though Spider-man stories sometimes have sad endings for Spider-man he thinks they're great especially the Sinister Six story. I totally agree with you there Brett. Finally from Kevin Easterly from Gloucester asks why not have one complete Spider-man tale every week. Isn't that what they already have? I would miss Thor if he was removed. 

The Mighty Thor "When the Grey Gargoyle strikes!" 

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Chic Stone

Originally published in Journey into Mystery #107

Cover date August 1964

(Published in June 1964)

Thor's adventures are really taking off with Jack Kirby in the pencil seat and Chic Stone adding the inks. there's lots to like and Jack's creativity is crusing with new characters and concepts, of which the Grey Gargoyle is one of the best. More on him later. this weeks story starts with Jane Foster nearly catching Don Blake changing into Thor in his office. Quick thinking Thor tells the young nurse that he seeks Blake after hearing that he betrayed him to Mister Hyde and Cobra last week. Jane defends the Doctor even though last week she wasn't as supportive, finishing with she loves Blake. This news sends the Thunder God into high flying ecstasy.

The Grey Gargoyle leaves an airplane with all the passengers turned to stone, in a scene that would find itself at home on Fringe the TV series. Young French chemist Paul Duval had created a formula that could turn organic matter to solid stone but its effect on him is he turns to stone but with full movement. His own touch can turn any matter into stone. Setting off in a career as a super criminal he intends to steal Thor's power of immortality, by laying clues of petrified stone victims. To be continued next week as another story takes up the pages that Thor would have had this week.

Tales of Asgard "Home of the mighty Norse Gods!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: George Roussos

Originally published in Journey into Mystery #97

Cover date October 1963

(Published in August 1963)

Tales of Asgard was a series that run alongside the Thor in Journey into Mystery, retelling the history of Asgard and Norse legend. Made up of short tales starting with the creation of Nordic legends. Viking Norsemen whose Gods that represented good were called Aesir, who fought the totally evil frost giants in a place that was surrounded by fire to the south and mist to the north. Their story begins with Surtur the Demon of fire who waited for the end of their world. After countless centuries strange forms of life magically appeared above the Well of Life, changing their shape into the Frost Giants, with Ymir the strongest of them all. 

 Another form of life that appeared, a gigantic magic cow! The Magic cow roamed the frozen wastes until one day it found a being who rose out off the frozen ice. His name was Buri the first God of the Aesir. Buri took a wife and they had a son named Borr. Borr would also wed and have three sons, the oldest Odin would slay the last of the ice giants and bring about the first triumph of good over evil. Strangely enough in Marvel comics the Frost Giants would return, proving that you can't keep a good baddie down.

Odin and his two brothers would turn their attention to Earth, they set up a magic ring around the planet and a magic tree Yggdrasill grew and spread it's branches over the Earth to protect it while waiting for the coming of man! Funny how Jack drew the trees roots in the shape of Northern America, I know it's symbolic but that's how most readers would see the Earth, granted maybe without the giant tree. I love these tales, maybe more than the Thor stories that had been running so far in SMCW. They short and sweet, they look really great and cleverly mix legend with Marvel adventures. Blooming lovely.

Finally for this weeks blog the inside back page of SMCW that advertises this weeks Mighty World of Marvel with the Hulk on the rampage again and the Fantastic Four facing their final battle with the Molecule Man. All-action, all-adventure and all-excitement in issue 44.

Plus your chance to once again join Marvel's ultimate fan club, FOOM!

This weeks comics seem to pack more than their fair share of action, adventure and excitement than two comics can contain for one week. Time for a rest, but I won't, 'cause it's time to read more comics. Back next week...

See you in seven.

Make Mine Marvel.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown of victory.

 Week Ending 28th July 1973

With this weeks magnificent Marvel mags we see three significant changes that may at first have gone unnoticed by readers in 1973 who just wanted to inhale action in the Marvel tradition. The first was the lack of colour in both Mighty World of Marvel and Spider-man Comics Weekly. From the start MWOM #1 had only five pages of colour (this included the front and back covers), twenty four  pages of black and white with a green tint, leaving the other eleven pages just black and white. By issue 2 this had increased to seven full colour pages with twenty two pages of black and white with a green tint out of the forty. With the debut of Spider-man Comics Weekly the full colour page count dropped to four pages, the front and back covers and the centre spread but an increase of twenty eight black and with colour tints, SMCW with red tints and MWOM with the usual green tints. MWOM #32 and SMCW #13 would be the last weeklies in 1973 to have a colour inside spread. Last weeks issues had only sixteen black and white with colour tints. Now all the interior pages would be black and white. A sign of economical problems in 1973, the stock market crash in that year was a major reason for the recession that the world was to suffer. The only brightness in 1973 was Marvel comics.

The second change was the inclusion of page titles. It was a strange idea, every page of strip would have its own headline. I always tried to read each headline before I read the page of strip but that got so distracting that I would give up. I also tried to read the headlines first before reading the strip, then later I tried reading them after finishing the strip, but they just didn't work for me. It's not easy to make up a title, just look at some of them I've made for this blog, never mind for every page of strip. Although who ever did them did find some cracking titles as well as some that were less so. The third on the list of changes was a full length Hulk story instead of two shorter Hulk stories. Previous Hulk strips, due to their original twin story book format from Tales to Astonish had given the plot little space to breathe. Now in keeping with the Spider-man strip in SMCW the Hulk had a chance to grow. But this meant that the strip would get too far ahead of the rest of Marvel UK. It also lead to problems with catching up with its US counter part. 

The Mighty World of Marvel #43

 This was an adapted version of the cover from Tales to Astonish #100 by Marie Severin and inks by Dan Adkins. The shortening of the main panel to fit the lower Fantastic Four panel required the moving of the Sub-Mariner's position, which to my mind made for a more dynamic cover when comparing it with the original. Noble Namor has taken the high ground while the Hulk leaps upwards to smash him from that height. In the Tales to Astonish cover Namor looks uncomfortable, almost as if they were trying to squeeze him into shot. The lower FF panel was made up of two panels from the FF's story taken from next weeks issue, one featuring the Molecule Man attacking the Thing with lightning bolts, the other was an reversed image of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl. The Human Torch was added to mate up the two panels. Jack Kirby's artwork was inked by Dick Ayers.       

The Incredible Hulk "Let there be battle!"  

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Marie Severin

Inker: Dan Adkins

Originally published in Tales to Astonish #100

Cover date February 1968

(Published in November 1967)

The Sub-Mariner is watching the Hulk trapped in an earthquake of his own making, as a text box points out at the end of last weeks second strip "Heaven is a very small place!" But it didn't happen that way. The landfall that we see the Hulk caught in happen at the end of last weeks first Hulk tale "When the monster wakes!" when the Living Lightning's base was destroyed by the Hulk throwing a heavy plant machine at an atomic pile, that set of an explosion. To match with the Hulk's second strip the Hulk was drawn walking away, where in the US version the Hulk is seen trapped.

The Sub-Mariner remarks what a great ally the Hulk would be which makes sense as he has yet to meet him, however in the US continuity they have already meet in The Avengers issues 3 and 4 that Marvel UK readers have yet to read, although they won't have to wait that long for those treats. As the Sub-Mariner leaves to find the Hulk he's shot at by the crew of an experimental hydrofoil. Unknown to Namor those crew members were under the control of the Puppet Master. 

We've seen the Puppet Master try to take control of Namor before, in MWOM #28 and #29 but their paths had also crossed in the Sub-Mariner's own comic strip in Tales to Astonish #78-80 which Marvel UK readers haven't yet read. They will get their chance to see those strips in around two and a half years time in The Titans #9 (20th December 1975.) to issue 11 (3rd January 1976.). Knowing all that makes more sense of the Puppet Master's desire for revenge. Marie Severin draws the Puppet Master similar to the Gene Colan's version seen in ToA #78-80 which looks completely different to the Kirby version Marvel UK readers had come to know. I like both Severin and Colan's artwork dearly but Kirby's version is King to me.

The Puppet Master decides that the perfect weapon to use against the Atlantean Prince is a rampaging Hulk. So using his unique skills he carves an effigy of the green goliath so that with his powers he can pitch the two anti-heroes at each other. That battle takes place half way between the New Mexico desert and the Kingdom of Atlantis in the city of Miami. It's great that Marvel set their adventures in real places, not like DC that have made up cities for each super-hero. Real locations raise the tension levels creating a more engaging story.

 

It's the clash of titans you want to see, the Hulk looks mightier on the land but the Sub-Mariner in the sea is just as powerful leaving them looking evenly matched. It's possible that the mind control of the Puppet Master is weakening the Hulk effectiveness as his mind fights that control, giving Namor an advantage allowing him to press his supremacy. Stan is very clever, knowing that there are fans of both heroes who would't want to see their favourite defeated he manipulates a stand off that a tidal wave, caused by the onslaught of the two heavy weights, smashes the secret island headquarters of the Puppet Master, leaving him a victim of his own devious plan. The tale ends after the unconscious body of Bruce Banner is washed up on the shore, not far away from a Hulk like "puppet slowly sinks beneath the surf. The final dying vestige of a madman's master plan!" A classic from Mister Lee and Miss Severin. 

"Hold on...for just one more week" to find the all important answers to the second football competition that ran in MWOM #38 and SMCW #19 as well as who won what.

This advert as well as the one featured below was also shown in this weeks SMCW.

If you had any thing that you were bored with and was in need of something you couldn't get your hands on look no further than Marvel's very own Swap Shop! Three years before Noel Edmonds would pull on his multi-coloured jumper and host the early morning Saturday TV show. Marvel' swap shop was great but I felt that some people wanted more than they were prepared to give. 

The Mighty Marvel Mailbag

This weeks mailbag page starts off with "A message from the Bullpen" in which the editor asks the readers what they think about this weeks adventures. Then they go on to tease us about next weeks comic as well as the week after that where there'll be a big surprise coming, in the shape of the Avengers. It's not so much of a surprise when they keep telling us, but that's how it works, keep people coming back for more. 

On with the first letter, Tracey Summers from Surrey wonders why the Thing can't leap like the Hulk? It's all a matter of power-to-weight ratio. Barry Whalen from Essex wants to see Marvel heroes fighting dinosaurs, wait till you see Ka-Zar and the Savage Land Barry. Michael Veitch from Manchester thinks he's spotted a mistake in the Fantastic Four story from  MWOM #31, if Mister Fantastic has rendered his equipment useless why on page 32 are the Mad Thinkers men able to use their Vibra-guns? Well Michael the editor admits you're right, but didn't that happen before Willie Lumpkin had pressed the button at four o'clock? So you're both wrong. Mark Cole from Kettering in Northants asks a pile of questions. So let's go, number one, What is stronger Cosmic Rays or Gamma Rays? They're different things and both equally dangerous in different ways. Number two, do you think that Gamma Rays also create evil minds in people as well a super powers, like the Leader and the Hulk? I say no, powers just make people do crazy things that they wouldn't normally do, but not necessary make them evil. I couldn't say the Hulk is evil just misunderstood. Number three, he thinks the guest star in issue 32 will be Giant Man (Ant man,) is he right, the answer is yes! Number four, looking back at the letter page of issue 25 a Marvel game was mentioned, any more news? They're working on it, so that's a no then. Number five, could you put the X-men in to one of the weeklies? They would like to and could do. (Spoiler: They do in September.) So finally question number six, he agrees with Vincent Harris whose letter that was printing in issue 15 said he was feed up of reading silly little letters. Who else supports them? I do! 

Two more to go, letters that is, not silly little letters. Tommy Manning from Kirby in Merseyside asks why the "Hulk" did you do it? The "it" was printing two Hulk stories a week and getting rid of DareDevil! I'm on Tommy's side with this one, I don't mind the Hulk, in fact I quite enjoy his adventures, but I miss DareDevil. The Hulk is getting too far ahead of the other stories and the triple triumph of the Hulk, DareDevil and the Fantastic Four are what make MWOM marvellous. The final word if this Mighty Marvel Mailbag goes to Stephen Smith from the Isle of White, he's been an American Marvel collector for years and he's happy to see The Mighty World of Marvel on sale in Britain, but where have the American editions gone? 

  

An advert for issue 46 of the Mighty World of Marvel, which will be the premiere of the Avengers. So the cover from Tales to Suspense #39 was used to give Marvel UK readers the heads up on one of the Avengers members-Iron Man, telling us his secret identity and how a millionaire playboy and world-famous inventor created a suit of armour to save his life after injury to his heart. Jack Kirby drew the classic cover with Don heck the original co-creator of Iron Man adding the inks. 

The Fantastic Four "The Mysterious Molecule Man!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Dick Ayers

Originally published in The Fantastic Four #20

Cover date November 1963

(Published in August 1963)

This fantastic tale starts of with the Fantastic Four examining a meteorite to find what looks like a dehydrated acorn inside the meteorites shell. Mister Fantastic get very excited when he says that this discovery proves organic life must exist in outer space. Has he forgotten the Skrulls, Kurrgo, the Watcher and the Impossible Man? Does Stan forget what he wrote months ago? Probably! Although within a handful of pages the Watcher makes a reappearance by sending a fireball to transport the four heroes to his home on the moon to warn them about the universal peril of the super-human threat called the Molecule Man. Reed's slip up and the reappearance of the Watcher makes me think more and more that Kirby plotted the book while at times Lee added the text afterwards in a lazy manner. Stan Lee was great but at time's he took his eye off the ball. It's only the twentieth FF story, I feel he brought his A game later when he realised how successful it was becoming as readers would spot and point out continuity errors. 

The Molecule Man was a disgruntled lab technician working for Acme Atomics Corp. when an accident occurred while he was fixing an atomic devise. It would be later told that this  accident had poked a pinhole into the universe of a child Beyonder and the energy from that universe empowered him. He was gifted with power to control over inorganic matter through the focusing point of a wand. Again later we would learn that the use of the wand and his inability to control organic matter was a limiting factor that he unconsciously placed upon himself due to his own low self esteem. 

The Molecule Man runs amok in New York where the Fantastic Four must face his incredible powers if they are going to save the Universe. Concluded next week, don't miss it.

Two full length thrillers and two sensational super-stars feature in this weeks Spider-man Comics Weekly as advertised in the inside back page of MWOM as well as the weekly FOOM advert. More on Spider-man Comic Weekly issue 24 coming right up.

Spider-man Comics Weekly #24

Rather than use the cover of the Amazing Spider-man #30, which in all honesty is very dark and bland or get a newly created cover, the cover of this weeks SMCW used panels from "The claws of the Cat!" story with artwork by Steve Ditko. The bottom right panel featuring Thor in combat with Mister Hyde and the Cobra was taken from the cover of Journey into Mystery #106 drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Chic Stone. It does on the whole look very action packed, an eye catcher on the newsagents shelves.

 

Spider-man "The claws of the Cat!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Steve Ditko

Inker: Steve Ditko

Originally published in the Amazing Spider-man #30

Cover date November 1965

(Published in August 1965)

I know what some of you keen Marvel fans and followers of this are saying if in SMCW #22 we had a Spider-man story from Amazing Spider-man issue 28, then followed last week in SMCW #23 a story from the Amazing Spider-man Annual issue 2, so why have we missed out the story from Amazing Spider-man issue 29?  

The answer lies in a mystery that has only been partly solved. The missing story was entitled "Never step on a Scorpion!" Written by Stan Lee with Steve Ditko plotting the story and adding the art. The original comic was published in July 1965 with the cover dated October 1965. Marvel comics in the US hold the photostats of every comic they produce so that they can be reprinted if need be. They would regularly reprint old material in new comics to maximise sales and value from old stock. One such reprint comic was Marvel Tales which reprinted Spider-man's back catalogue. In 1984 when it came to the turn of "Never step on a Scorpion!" to be printed the photostat copies couldn't be found. The editors of Marvel Tales did manage to get hold of a decent copy of ASM #29 and with the help of Owen McCarrion, a Canadian advertiser by profession and a writer and artist of the old Marvel Fun 'N' Games mag, who was able to make fresh photostat copies. Which in itself had problems, two stats had to be made at two settings one for the art and another for the lettering.The detail of this was written in an article in the letter page of Marvel Tales #168, the issue in which the missing story was reprinted. To the left I have clipped that article from my own copy of that issue.

Where had the photostats gone? Well between ASM #29 in 1965 and the Marvel Tales reprint in 1984 that story had never seen print. Except it did in Britain in1968! Pow comics an imprint of Odhams Press produced a number of comics in the late 60's in the UK. As well as British produced strips American strips were used to fill out the content with the likes of Bat Man strips rubbing shoulders with Spider-man, the Avengers, Thor, the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, the X-men and Nick Fury, in titles like Pow!, Fantastic and Terrific. Pow! printed loads of Spider-man tales and in Pow! and Wham! issue 74 cover dated 15th June 1968 "Never step on a Scorpion" appeared, even taking prime spot on the cover. Did those photostats go missing after they had been used by Odhams Press? Or where they miss placed by Marvel when they were returned? Who can say, I don't know if copies would be sent of the photostats to the UK or if the original ones were sent to be returned later? I guess we'll never know.

Like I mentioned I do own a copy of Marvel Tales #168 which I had a flick through to get a look at the story. It of course featured the return of Spider-man villain the Scorpion, who was seeking revenge on J. Jonah Jameson for having made him become the Scorpion. It's a tight plotted story that has important plot points that will play out in future stories. One of which is the return of Ned Leeds from Europe. He comforts Betty Brant after the shock of witnessing Spider-man battling the villain as he trashed Jameson's office. As you would expect Spidey defeats the vile villain in the end. Also at the end Aunt May has a dizzy spell and faints, a sign of her deteriorating health.

 

But on to this weeks tale, which doesn't feel as important as the missing Scorpion tale but it's packed with lots of Peter Parker's life plot. Betty is still feeling ill after the events from "Never step on a Scorpion!" Aunt May as another dizzy spell. J. Jonah Jameson has his safe broken into at his apartment by the criminal known as the Cat! So he offers a reward for the capture of the thief, then later regrets it knowing that Spider-man might apprehend the thief and claim the reward. Peter meets Liz Allen who is hiding from Flash Thompson, so Peter delays Flash to give Liz a chance to slip away. Betty tells Peter that Ned Leeds wants to marry her, which sends Peter storming out of the room before she can tell him she hasn't said yes yet because she still loves Peter. 

It's not all soap opera, Spider-man sets out to capture the Cat but also has to deal with a new criminal gang run by a mysterious leader known only as the Master Planner. Spidey eventually corners the Cat, with Jameson watching it live on TV in a state of worry. Much to Jameson's relief it's the police who apprehend thief, saving him face by not having to give Spider-man the reward money. 

The story ends with an iconic symbolic panel showing Spider-man keeping Betty and Peter apart as a down in the dumps Peter walks away with the weight of the world on his shoulders. As a kid, teenager or a young adult I could always sympathise with this kind of story. Spider-man always felt more real than other comic super-heroes I could name.

Here we get a Marvel masterwork pin-up by Jack Kirby from the King-size Special issue 3, cover dated January 1971. No idea who the inker was, it could have been Chic Stone or possibly Jack inked it himself.

The Web and the Hammer

Like MWOM's letter page "A message from the Bullpen" was featured that reviewed the contents of the current issue and then give a preview of next weeks up coming treats for Spider-man and Thor. It also made mention of MWOM saying that you should keep an eye on future issues by teasing two words...The Avengers! 

On to the letters Patrick O'Donoghue from Harlesden wants to see more of the Tinkerer, the Living Brain, the Lizard and Doctor Doom. Robert Farley from Slough thinks he's some kind of poet, I'll let you decide that, read his letter. Christopher Miles from Whittingham wonders if Mysterio's robots seen in SMCW #10 were based on the X-men? Yes they were and if he'd gone 50 years into the future and read my blog he would know why. Edward McReynolds from County Antrim has spotted a mistake in the Spider-man strip from SMCW #11 were Flash calls Liz Allen's Dad Mr. Brant. 

 Raoul de Bunsen from Fareham thinks the Sinister Six story was a humdinger! But he would like to see some old favourites like the Juggernaut, Iron Man, the Black Knight, the Hangman, the X-men and the Avengers. Those haven't yet appeared in Marvel UK comics, I think that Raoul may have been a Power comics reader. Like Raoul, Christopher Nash from Stourbridge loves the Sinister Six story, you've both got excellent tastes. Neil Hooper from Bournemouth has read in a book called "365 things to know!" that Tuesday is named after Tyr the Norse God of war, Wednesday is named after Woden (he doesn't say but Woden is another name for Odin,) and Thursday is named after Thor. Olaf Huattum from Newtownabbey in Northern Island (I've corrected the spelling from the comic as it was printed Newtownably,) thinks Marvel should let Spider-man and Thor get beaten once. They sometimes do but they always bounce back. David Green from London thinks that heroes and villains use the same lines far too often. Finally Christopher Scott from Yorkshire is puzzled, if Spider-man or Peter Parker were to write a letter to Marvel, how would they answer to it? The editor's reply is "By post." I'll leave that there.

The Mighty Thor "The Thunder God strikes back!"

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Chic Stone

Originally published in Journey into Mystery #106

Cover date July 1964

(Published in May 1964)

Continuing from last weeks Thor tale, the diabolical duo of Mister Hyde and the Cobra have separated the Thunder God from his enchanted hammer, leaving him with sixty seconds to defeat the two charlatans. Well in the mighty Marvel manner you would expect he causes a distraction by ripping up the floor under the two fiends feet, giving him time to seek sanctuary in a panicking crowd. As all that had been going on the heavy plant machine that the Cobra had used to take the magic mallet from the Thunder God had processed the weapon like it would with any masonry removed from a building site, leaving the now changed can inside the complex inner workings of the machine. Unable to find the missing God, Hyde and Cobra turn their attention to Don Blake who says he will lead them to Thor but only if they recover his cane from the machine that had held Thor's Hammer. This trick works and after the Cobra is unable to reach the stick Hyde takes the direct route, smashing the machine to present the cane to Blake who quickly limps into the crowd to change back into Thor. The two fiends are pretty dumb to be fooled by the same person for the second time. Plus the Doctor moves quickly for a lame man.

After a short battle Thor manages to subdue The Cobra and hand him over to the police, leaving Hyde to make his escape through the crowds by changing into his alter-ego Doctor Zabo, in much the same way Thor had before. Zabo follows the Thunder God until they reach a quiet part of the city, where he can change into his darker ego. Kirby draws this scene beautifully in three very simple but effective panels. Thus bringing to a head in a winer takes all smack down between madman and God. 

I almost feel sorry for American Marvel fans with their small, multi-coloured comic books, when you see Kirby's big and bold panels in their purest form, I can't help but think that Marvel UK's black and white larger size formats were made for the King's masterpieces. 

Thor sees off Mister Hyde with victory over the second villain in one strip, but heavy is the head that wears the winged helmet, once he returns, as Don Blake, to his office he's accused of betraying Thor to ensure its own safety by Jane Foster. Even thought he had used the same trick last week and was hail brave, news of his trick to retrieve his cane this week has labelled him a coward. "Thus even in victory, I find defeat! Is loneliness and sorrow the price I must pay for being--Thor, the God of Thunder?" laments a depressed Don Blake.

Spider-man Comics Weekly returns the gesture given by MWOM by having an advert for this weeks Mighty World of Marvel #43 where the ever Incredible Hulk battles the mighty Sub-Mariner and the Fantastic Four must face a new fiend. 

With Thor, Spider-man, the Hulk and in a way the Sub-Mariner ending their tales this week with sadness in victory it makes me think that Olaf Huattum, from this weeks The Web and the Hammer letter page got his wish. But isn't that the Marvel way, light and darkness. The highs feel better because our heroes have felt the lows. Much like real life really. That's what makes Marvel great. I wouldn't stop reading them, even in my Autumn years. They truly are MAGNIFICENT!  

See you in seven.

Make Mine Marvel!