Heart of glass!

 Week Ending 12th October 1974

The Mighty World of Marvel #106

This Herb Trimpe drawn Sandman verses the Hulk cover is pretty much the same as the original cover from the Incredible Hulk #138.

The Incredible Hulk “The Sandman regrets!”

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artist: Herb Trimpe

Inker: Mike Esposito

Originally published in The Incredible Hulk #138

Cover date April 1971

(Published in January 1971)

It's a nice opening page to this Hulk second half, with panels four, five and six from page eleven of last week's strip with new dialogue added as a catch-up. The fourth panel uses a "cleaned up" Hulk from the opening splash page again from last week, with the dripping water removed from his head. I'm thinking this week's title is a play on the Cole Potter song "Miss Otis Regrets." It's about the lynching of a society woman after she murders her unfaithful lover, originally sung by Douglas Byng. How it fits in with Betty Ross and the Sandman I'm not sure, it seems very tenuous. Can anyone think of a smarter reason? 

For fans of Hulk rampaging action this story is full of it, but a hospital is no place for it, so from part of Bruce Banner's subconscious mind the Hulk allows the fight to move away from the building. Also alerted to the fracas General Ross mobilises a specially built helicopter with a toughened cage that grabs both Sandman and the Hulk, but it wasn't designed to hold both a raging monster and a supervillain at the same time, so the pair are released over the sea away from any populated areas. Sand and water don't mix and Sandman finds it difficult to turn himself into solid concrete instead he ends up like wet cement. The Hulk whisks up the ocean into a whirlpool pulling the sandy fiend apart.

General Ross returns to the hospital to check on the well fair of his daughter. As the doctor is unable to give the worried father a coherent answer Ross pushes past him, saying that not even the hulk could keep him from the side of his own flesh and blood, but he soon discovers that she isn't flesh and blood any more as the radiation from the Sandman's blood transfusion has transformed her into a statue of unmoving glass. Thomas and Trimpe weave a wonderful tale that might stretch scientific credibility to the limit but still they are incredible cracking reads. I just hope that Betty doesn't crack till next week. 

Bullpen Bulletin

This week's Bullpen Bulletin welcomes us to "the wonderful world of Marvel Madness" once again. The first Item offers a "wave goodbye" and "a pat on the back with a hello" as it points out that Tony Isabella's work load, editing close to a dozen black-and-white Marvel magazines, and scripting a few US mags as well as editing FOOM, has meant that he had to give up editing the UK weeklies. They add that his name has been removed from the credit box on the Bullpen page from this week and last, however it is still there. The next Item suggests that due to the response to Gene Colan's artwork on Daredevil they decided to let him continue drawing that strip so that John Romita could concentrate on Spider-man. That may have been relevant in 1966 but less so eight years later. Are they trying to make UK readers believe that these stories are brand new. A good majority of Marvel fans who have read the US imports, knew they were old stories. In a Special to the Mighty World of Marvel the editor discusses the Hulk's affliction that as his mind dwindles his body grows and he doesn't like it. "Spawned by gamma-ray bomb of his own invention, Bruce Banner is one of the few heroes cursed with the guilt of his own creation." The Leader is the opposite, his mental capacity grows, matching the genius of Reed Richards and Doctor Doom. Marvel normally roots for the brains to win but in this case they back the Hulk in next week's issue as the Leader will return. That Item was a sneaky little plug. I'll look at the two other items and Stan's Soapbox in the Bullpen pages from Spider-man Comics Weekly and the Avengers weekly later in this blog.

The Mighty Marvel Mailbag

The first letter this week comes from Western Australia, written by Russell and Richard Ayres. The pair never saw their first letter in print but their pen pal, Russell Edwards spotted it in SMCW #51, it goes on to mention that not all of Australia get SMCW or the Avengers weekly, even though they get MWOM. And some readers think that the UK had patchy distribution. Mary McNally from County Mayo thinks that Marvel comics are brilliant but only manages to read them after her brother has finished with them. Mark Hull another Australian, this time from Brisbane, wants to start his own Marvel fan club as there are no more FOOM kits left. John Sperring from Hertfordshire asks why can't the Thing leap like the Hulk and how far can he leap? Also why is MWOM always late and how can Daredevil read when the book is smooth? I've always question DD's reading abilities too. N. Hunter from Yorkshire is mad that Marvel doesn't completely answer questions from readers, so N. offers to answer any questions sent to them. Ian Abrahams from Cornwall thinks that people who dislike the Hulk are "nutty"! He wants to see a new mag with the Hulk, the Defenders and Conan in it, while the X-Men replace the Hulk in MWOM.

The second page of letters to the Mighty Marvel Mailbag only has one letter on it as half of the page is taken up with an Airfix advert for their construction kits, featuring a selection of record breakers, including Supermarine S.6B, a British Airways Concorde, the Cutty Sark which set a time record for sailing from London to Australia in its day, HMS Manxman one of the fastest ships in the Royal Navy and a Republic F-84F Thunderstreak. The one letter comes from Mark Dunsford from Surrey, who has only just started collecting Marvel mags but he thinks they're great. He's not happy with the American slang that features in the strips. To which the editor replies with this, "some Marvelites write and take us to task for altering the original text. Which means that they complain about us carrying out such goodwill editorial operations as re-lettering (yes, you guessed it! "thru" to "through". What do we do? You could say that we compromise by re-lettering some of such Americanisms and letting others stand as they are." Personally I say keep them for authenticity (will some exceptions in the spelling of none slang words like "color" and "colour"). It's up to school teachers to correct our English and comics to make reading enjoyable.

 

Daredevil “On the wings of a bird!”

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Gene Colan

Inker: Frank Giacoia, Dick Ayers and Bill Everett

Originally published in Daredevil #21

Cover date October 1966

(Published in August 1966)

Originally the Owl only wanted to gain revenge on Judge Lewis but with Daredevil's intervention the Owl has other plans as he see DD's death as his prime objective and to achieve that he unleashes his giant owl robot against our hero. We get some great action art from Colan who has quickly made the Daredevil strip his own. However the strangest plot twist happens next, even though I took that this story was set somewhere in the New York state area, which isn't known for its seismic activity, but a volcano starts to erupt, causing panic. 

The Owl flees, thinking Daredevil will perish on the out of control robotic owl, but Daredevil manages to gain control of the machine by shifting his weight. The Island starts to break up causing the Owl's to also flee. With his super-senses, athletic prowess and a good bit of comic book magic DD pilots the iron bird so that it swoops down and he can grab Judge Lewis. The judge worries about Matt Murdock but DD offers a little white lie saying that he put him on a motor launch heading towards the mainland. 

The Fantastic Four “The revolt of the Silver Surfer!”

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Joe Sinnott 

Originally published in The Fantastic Four #49

Cover date April 1966

(Published in January 1966)

The opening splash page is a paste-up of the full Silver Surfer figure taken from the cover of Fantastic Four  #55, cover dated October 1966, published July 1966 and the portraits of the Silver Surfer and Alicia Masters from the second panel of the fifth page of that very same issue, which explains why Alicia is shown with darker hair than her other appearances in this current strip.

British Marvel readers will have to wait till the 30th November 1974 for issue 113 of MWOM for that particular story. Here in this issue the Surfer is very glib about his master taking the energy he needs to survive at the cost of Earth and humanity, but Alicia courageously put forward the reasons why Earth should endure. Are some of the emotional barriers that Galactus had placed on Norrin Radd starting to weaken? 

Meanwhile Galactus links the two ignitors that active the deadly energy convertor, but it fails to roar into operation as The Thing, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl take the fight to the Destroyer of Worlds by trashing his machine.

The Watcher sends the Human Torch away on a solo mission through a "Time-Space Distortion" to the home of Galactus to recover a device that will defeat the gargantuan alien foe. The artwork is stunning, an impossible construct that engages the minds of comic readers for decades, proving that Jack Kirby is the King of comics.

 Galactus has the power to oppose them but instead calls forth a strange half-robot, half- alive being called the Punisher. Another piece of Kirby's mind made real by the pencil in his hand. Again inspiring young readers, decades later many like John Byrne would copy and pay homage to these beautiful designs.  
 

The pint-sized Punisher takes on the three earth bound FF members with its repetitive pummelling of Ben and Reed. It's only for the quick thinking of Sue and her invisible force-field that saves them from a quick defeat. Galactus recalls his servant as its intervention has given him time to repair his energy convertor. Things are looking bleak but for elsewhere in the city Alicia Masters is getting through to the Silver Surfer, awakening the compassion that had be hidden inside of him, that he should stand against his master and fight for something that's worth protecting. The Watcher ponders about this new development, without meaning to, could the Surfer bring about the destruction of Earth? We'll have to find out next week, when "the Silver Surfer battles Galactus!"

Spider-man Comics Weekly #87

Sal Buscema drew this exclusive UK cover. Sal should have done more covers for the British editions, he does a smart version of Spider-man, much better than some of Ron Wilson's rushed efforts. My only real complaint is the falling girl gets lost in the cover which kind of makes Spidey's reaction seem at first view a little pointless. Still a good effort. 

Spider-man “Beware...the Lizard!”

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: John Romita Sr and John Buscema

Inker: Jim Mooney

Originally published in the Amazing Spider-man #73

Cover date June 1969

(Published in March 1969)

The last panel from last week's final Spider-man page is blown up to make this opening splash page,  with a credit box and a new title that foreshadows the coming of an old Spider-man villain. Spider-man battles Man-mountain Marko as the thug locates the stolen tablet. To make his get away Marko holds the Shocker's ex-girlfriend out of the window in a scene that the front cover had already foreshadowed the outcome. 

Marko makes his clean get-away leading us to discover the identity of his boss. Silvermane will become a classic Spider-man villain. An old fashioned mob-boss from the mafia family group collectively call Maggia. The Maggia were not a monolithic organisation, instead it has consisted of many independent "families". Avengers weekly readers would have already seen the Count Nefaria Maggia family in Avengers weekly #10. Silvermane is the aging leader of New York mob family, very much in the Italian Mafia mould.

Silvermane's hold over his organisation starts to show cracks as Cesare Cicero takes it upon himself to go behind Silvermane's back by getting the Kingpins one time aide, Wilson, to decipher the worth and meaning of the tablet. Later Cicero calls in some favours and gets part of the Maggia long reaching family to kidnap Doctor Curt Conners in hope that he can decipher the text. Long time Spider-man readers know that it might not have been a great idea as Conner's alter-ego is the Spider-man villain the Lizard, last seen in SMCW #39. Next week "all bedlam breaks loose!"

Bullpen Bulletin

As mentioned in the MWOM Bullpen page Tony Isabella has stepped down from his roll as associated editor for the British weeklies but he still had his name on the credits on that page. On this page his credit is missing. In a Special to Spider-man Comics Weekly the editor points out that it isn't a struggle to fill them with features and strips, but rather the mind-racking decision that arises when lack of space means features have to be left out! Which brings them to the conclusion that certain heroes deserve to be put in the spotlight once in a while. So next week they'll present the Mighty Thor in a sixteen page adventure featuring Kang the Conqueror and the Growing Man. Stan uses his Soapbox to change the image of comics being just for kids. To demonstrate that he points out that many newspapermen, disc jockeys, college students, musicians, sports stars, and other assorted full-grown adult types been so fanatically tuned-in to the wondrous world of Marvel! And he should know as Stan's had just finished a whirlwind tour of college campuses at the time of writing his column. In his closing words he thanks the readers because together with Marvel, these feckless little "Funny Books" have been transformed into one of today's most widely-hailed art forms. The final two Items and a Special to the Avengers weekly will be discussed in that mags' Bullpen Bulletin.

The Web and the Hammer

Nicholas Kitchen from Derby is a fourteen year old who has only just started reading Marvel comics mainly because previously it used to carve a great hunk out of his pocket money. I guess at fourteen he started to get more pocket money. David Wilkinson from Portsmouth has the Journey into Mystery Annual  #1 from 1965 and want's to know how much it's worth.  The editor tells him that a comic convention will be the best place to find out its value. John Field from Ireland, a SMCW for 12 months and to him Mysterio is the greatest super-villain. Mick Timbrell from Bournemouth asks what happened to Flash Thompson? Mick wants to see him come back so Peter and Flash can settle their argument once and for all. Norman Dickson from Liverpool thinks that the Avengers weekly is the best comic but Master of Kung Fu spoils it. He asks how does Spider-man see through his mask?  The simple answer is the eye pieces are semi-transparent material. 

James Smith from Fife wants to see a fight between Spider-man and Daredevil as they are very similar because of their acrobatic crime-fighting abilities and both have super-senses. Dennis Lovell from Cleethropes asks for more information about the X-Men. Andrew Stephen RFO from Sussex writes for the fifth time to Marvel, but those previous letters never got printed. He doesn't like the Hulk, calling him a stupid Un-Marvelite lump of jelly. He's not a fan of Reed Richards and Sue Storm either, as he thinks that the FF would be better if Sue had never married Reed. He's also disappointed with Foggy Nelson, who hasn't enough sense to know that if Karen did loved him she would not like him being Daredevil because of the potential danger to his life. 

The lower half of this letter page advertises Meccano with a mini comic strip called Micky Meccano makes a new friend.

Iron Man “In mortal combat with Captain America!”

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Don Heck

Inker: Don Heck

Originally published in Tales of Suspense #58

Cover date October 1964

(Published in July 1964)

The battle between Iron Man and Captain America continues after the Chameleon disguised as Cap had tricked the armoured Avenger into the clash of friends last issue. To be honest the whole story ends abruptly as Giant Man (this story is obviously set before Henry Pym takes on the Goliath identity,) and the Wasp turns up and capture the Chameleon, revealing that he was behind it all. On the whole it's been a lame story and I wouldn't have blamed you for skipping it. 

The Mighty Thor “If this hammer be mine!”

Writer: Stan Lee

Artist: Jack Kirby

Inker: Vince Colletta

Originally published in The Mighty Thor #139

Cover date April 1967

(Published in February 1967)

After last week's Lee and Kirby "get-out-of-the plot-hole" fix having Thor remain as Thor even without his hammer we find that Ulik holding Thor's Mjolnir and another hammer identical to it, apparently made by Orikal. How Ulik can handle the original is a mystery, I guess that Lee and Kirby just forgot that only he who is worthy can lift Mjolnir. Thor battles the giant troll as his mighty mallet returns to his hand. Beaten Ulik threatens to increase the fires that imprison Orikal, but Thor destroys the control panel and so liberates the powerful being. Without Orikal's aid the troll armies are easily defeated and Asgard is safe once more. It's a standard Thor tale but still enjoyable nevertheless, even with those plot hiccups.    

Airfix has another half page advert titled The Victors featuring constructions kits based on famous wartime victories, with HMS Belfast, the Havilland Mosquito, a set of Paratroopers, HMS Victory and the Republic F-48F Thunderstreak all featured. 

Next to that ad Spider-man introduces the Hallowed Ranks of Marvel, because of the amount of readers who don't know what they mean. For those of you who still don't here they are, so pay attention. 

R.F.O. Real Frantic One- A buyer of at least three Marvel mags a month.

T.T.B. Titanic True Believer- A divinely-inspired 'No-Prize' winner.

Q. N.S. Quite 'Nuff Sayer- A fortunate frantic one who's had a letter printed.

K.O.F. Keeper Of the Flame- One who recruits a newcomer to Marvel's rollickin' ranks.

P.M.M. Permanent Marvelite Maximus- Anyone possessing all four of the other titles.

F.F.F. Fearless Front-Facer- An honorary title bestowed for devotion to Marvel above and beyond the call of duty.

Tales of the Watcher "The Watcher's power!"

Writer: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber

Artist: Larry Lieber

Inker: George Roussos

Originally published in Tales of Suspense #57

Cover date September 1964

(Published in June 1964)

A nice three page filler sees the Watcher observing Rajaks Space Pirates as they plan to attack a rich planet, knowing that the Watcher will not interfere. Unknowingly to them they have targeted the Watcher's home world, giving him a legitimate reason to oppose them without breaking his vow to never interfere in matters on other planets. The Watcher dispatches them to another world with ease.  

Avengers Weekly #56

My Cover of the Week, originally from the Avengers #45 (US edition,) drawn by John Buscema and inked by Vince Colletta. The UK version does see a slight change in colours from an all green Super-Adaptoid to a green with nearly blue gloved version. As a British Marvel reader I'm so used to seeing the strips in black and white so it's always a bit of a surprise when I see how certain characters looked in colour. I had always thought that the Super-Adaptoid's colour scheme matched Captain America, Iron Man and Giant-Man's red, white, blue with gold. Most of the time I'm happily surprised, with the green Super-Adaptoid I definitely wasn't. I didn't like the Iron Fist "clear font" on the top headline banner while the rest of it was in "solid blue" and you might spot the second-hand bought price tag sticker. I think the backing glue will rip the cover if I try to remove it. Twenty-five pence what a bargain!  

Iron Fist “Citadel on the edge of vengeance”

Writer: Doug Moench

Artist: Larry Hama

Inker: Dick Giordano

Originally published in Marvel Premiere #17

Cover date September 1974

(Published in June 1974)

For the third story running a new writer takes over the writing chores on the Iron Fist strip, which might lead to some problems for the story structure, if not for Roy Thomas, the original writer of the first story and co-writer of the second, remaining as the strip editor, keeping the strip on a smooth course. It also helps that Len Wein, the co-writer of the second story is a fantastic writer and that Doug Moench, regular writer on Master of Kung Fu and this week's strip, is also a fantastic writer. The face of Harold Meachum looms behind the towering skyscraper that bears his initial in this symbolic opening splash page.

Iron Fist enters a seemingly average tower block with only his own attire causing strange looks from the public going about their daily business. But after taking the lift to the twentieth floor things take a turn for the more dramatic. Danny recalls the fateful day when Harold Meachum murdered his Father. In truth this scene over the last three Iron Fist stories has started to get a little repetitive, a little like the shooting of Thomas Wayne and his wife in every Batman film. I suppose it is quite necessary to the plot, especially with this particular story, so I'll let it go for now.  Meachum, having ten years to prepare for this moment, has kitted out the top floors of his building with all manner of deadly traps. From lethal spikes that punch through corridor wall, automatic machine guns mounted on pylons that raise out of the floor, doorways that have coruscating ribbons of destructive energy, an explosive stairway, a room full of armed hit men, another room with acid sprinklers that lead to a doorways to a fatal fall. But Iron Fist navigates his way through them all, even the acid shower, which I have to take a second to think about, his bear chest, arms and legs must have taken the brunt of the pain and his costume only seems slightly damaged. Maybe he uses the power of his chi to heal the pain. He's getting closer to his quarry, but we'll have to wait till next week to find the conclusion. 

Assemble!

Goodness me won't someone stick to a letter page title! My OCD can't take much more of this. To be fair it has been called the "Avengers Readers Assemble" for a number of times but that wouldn't fit on this half page mailbag so the "Assemble" title was the easiest choice. This page's only letter comes from Shad Mehmet KOF, RFO, QNS from London, who describes the inclusion of Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu as incredible and amazing. He saw Spider-man Comics Weekly get a third strip and thought "heck! Is this going to happen to the Avengers?" But it's safe to say he's been positive about the new line-up. He points out that all the previous strips in the British Marvel mags have come from the 1960's, but MOKF is right up-to-date although that does lead to a slight problem as he also points out that at the time of writing his letter, Master of Kung-Fu has reached issue five in America, while in UK, week ending 20th April it has reached the second instalment. He calculated that by the last week of June the British strip will have caught up to the US strip. He ask the question "So what will you do then?" The very comic his letter got printed in gave him the answer. That's not all of the letters this week, readers would have to "flip to page 23 for more."

The Avengers “Blitzkrieg in Central Park!”

Writer: Roy Thomas

Artist: Don Heck

Inker: Vince Colletta

Originally published in The Avengers #45

Cover date October 1967

(Published in August 1967)

Continuity wise this week's Avengers tale should have been "The Monstrous Master Plan of the Mandarin!" from the first (US) Avengers annual, cover dated September 1967, published July 1967. I honestly don't think that it ever got a UK printing and I can't imagine any reason why. It featured the return of Thor and Iron Man to the ranks of the Avengers as they battled against the Mandarin as well as a version of the Masters of Evil. It would have been fine reprinting it in the weekly mag. 

It was written by trustworthy Roy Thomas, Don Heck returned as penciller, which meant at the time that John Buscema was given the task of drawing the monthly adventures of the Assemblers that we've enjoyed over the last month or so. Heck comes back with the regular artwork this week and it really does make you think that Buscema's is the greatest ever artist on the Avengers. I don't want to put a "downer" on this strip but Heck's artwork is both dull and confusing. But here's the story details, the Avengers, including Iron Man and Thor, attend "Avengers Day" in Central Park. A celebration held to honour the Avengers' ongoing heroic efforts. Watching the event is the Super-Adaptoid who is lurking in the crowd, disguised as a human, awaiting for a moment to attack his intended target, Captain America. Who is the last Avenger to arrive. When he does the fireworks start as the Super-Adaptoid strikes. The Blitzkrieg in Central Park continues next week.

Bullpen Bulletin

The third version of the Bullpen Bulletin this week opens with an Item about Tony Isabella's replacement as associated editor for these British weeklies, it names Len Wein as the best possible candidate. Which would have been true, but also he might have wrote that editorial. The next Item reveals that the latest strip to join the line up in the Avengers weekly,  Iron Fist, has become an unquestioned hit if the amount of mail received is believed as most of it favourable. It suggests that "all you need are sensational stories, fantastic art-work, superb characterisation, and knock out plots - not to mention the most daringly dramatic concept in years!" Finally for this week's Bulletin a Special to the Avengers weekly, "Thy cries have arisen and we have answered! Thy clarion calls - and we obey! Thy shouts do beseech us and we respond! Ne'er let it be said that the desire of Marveldom Assembled has ever been ignored" is how the editor puts it as their way of telling the reader that they have been demanding the "Origin of Doctor Strange" and so next week that's just what they'll get. Not that six years ago the re-telling of his origin just happened to be retold in the original US mag that followed this week's Doctor Strange story the month before.  

More Letters

The second part of the Avengers mailbag comes after the Avengers strip and I do wonder why they didn't have both halves on one page, the only explanation is that the Airfix page long advert won't have fitted on a single page with the Frog Hawker Hunter FGA-9 model advert. Anyway Craig Gannon from Lancashire doesn't mince his words when he calls Shang-Chi trash. N. Moss from Stoke-on-Trent is more positive about the Master of Kung Ku when he describes the feature as "Marvellous". He knows a bit about Kung Fu, giving the readers a potted history of the martial arts, beginning 4000 years ago, when China's ferocious leader, Emperor Huang Di, started searching for a way of training his army. With that brand of fighting he and his heirs ruled supreme over China for twelve centuries. After 2000 years the art of Kung-Fu was forgotten, except by the monks of the Shaolin temple. He stresses the point that Kung-Fu is not a child's game, but rather an art which takes years of study and practice to master, with the fact that real Kung-Fu Masters always avoid fights. Finally just to balance the MOKF lovers and haters in a Yin/Yang way Andy Bell QNS from Harrogate in Yorkshire says that making MOKF the cover star and the first strip in the comic has ruined the mag.

Doctor Strange “Exile!”

Writer: Denny O'Neil

Artist: Dan Adkins

Inker: Dan Adkins

Originally published in Strange Tales #168

Cover date May 1968

(Published in February 1968)

What a difference a good writer and artist make. I wasn't thrilled with the Doctor Strange tale from two week's ago but Denny O'Neil and Dan Adkins have steadied the ship, rescuing this mini epic and bringing it to a nice conclusion. The artwork probably saves it the most as the plot's conclusion does seem a little easy. But even that can be forgiven. 

This beautiful page showing Victoria Bentley fleeing from a terrifying dinosaur in the Dream Dimension is wonderful, a nice mix of full page splash and an insert panel. It would be a grail page for me. Dan Adkins is an underrated artist in my opinion and I would love that page in a frame on my wall at Beesting Manor. The original cover artwork by Adkins sold for $31,200 at auction last September, that's £23,777. The owner will look at offers from over $64,000, that's around £48,775, no small change.

Doctor Strange confronts Yandroth as he tries to pull his gun on the sorcerer as the Doctor's cloak tightens around the fiend. Withdrawing his psychic support from his cloak so that he can help Victoria, Yandroth falters and falls to his death. Finally safe the Ancient One pulls Strange and Victoria from out of the dimension of dreams into the real world. Ending with a promise to re-tell the origin of Doctor Strange in next week's issue.  
 

Readers would have seen this advert for the 1975 Annuals already in the weeklies, but never as bold, or as bright, or as beautiful as this full colour back page advert. With eleven weeks to go till Christmas many young Marvelytes must have been beside themselves with excitement at the possibility that they could be a receiver of one or more of these dazzling hardback annuals. If you fancy reliving the glory of these fabulous looking three you'll have to wait till Christmas too! Hint, hint. Till then there's loads more of the British Marvel mags to feast your eyes on, starting with next week. Till then.... 

See you in seven.

Make Mine Marvel.