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!