Thursday 4 December 2014

Forty years ago this month - December 1974.

On this very day, thirty four years ago, I encountered my first-ever dinosaur skeleton, in London's Natural History Museum.

This is of no interest to anyone but me.

Slightly more interesting to others is what was happening on this very day in 1974. A day on which it may have been possible to walk into a newsagent's and buy - not a dinosaur - but all the Marvel comics below...

Avengers #130, Titanic Three

It's East vs West as the Avengers mistakenly tangle with the Titanic Trio or whatever it is they were called.
Conan the Barbarian #45

That's an oddly glum-looking monster Conan finds himself up against. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not in need of counselling by the time the story's over.
Daredevil #116, the Owl

The Owl's back.
Fantastic Four #153, Mahkizmo

"We can't stop him from exploding!" They don't write dialogue like that anymore.

But is it true? Was it, "The mightiest FF saga ever"?

And was Mahkizmo the worst name ever for a villain?
Incredible Hulk #182, Hammer and Anvil

Hammer and Anvil make their first appearance.
Amazing Spider-Man #139, The Grizzly

I'm the only person alive who seems to like the Grizzly. In fact, if I was to be a super-villain, he'd be near the top of my list of ones I'd choose to be. I mean, come on, who doesn't want to dress up as a bear?

Sheffield City Museum has a bear. It's a polar bear. It's stuffed. Within that museum, there are no dinosaurs.
Thor #230

Good Lord. It's a Thor story that I've actually read from this era.

Strangely though, I don't have a clue what happens in it.
X-Men #91, Magneto

Only months to go now before the New X-Men make their debuts.
Captain America and the Falcon #180, Nomad

I must confess that I struggle to see the whole Nomad thing as a good idea. Admittedly, that might just be because of how bad his outfit was.

9 comments:

londonlee said...

I had that Captain America. I remember it being very good, post-Watergate Cap quits his old identity out of disillusionment with the government.

There was a good bit at the end where the baddie escapes because Cap/Nomad trips up on his cape and then rips it off in anger. I always think of that when they do the "No capes!" bit in The Incredibles

Kid said...

I had the Thor comic when it first came out and obtained a replacement for it many moons ago. Strangely, it doesn't seem all that long ago since I first read it. Forty years, eh? Wow!

Anonymous said...

Do you ever wonder if Conan would eventually get sick and tired of the monsters all the time, like Samuel L. Jackson did with the snakes on a plane in the, er movie, SNAKES ON A PLANE?
"Crom, I'm sick and tired of these #*!$"&@^?<@#^@! monsters all the time!"
mp

Anonymous said...

Was issue 153 the mightiest FF saga ever? I'm going to go with no, Steve.

-sean

John Pitt said...

I don't understand why, at this time when all the other titles were flourishing, that Marvel were STILL only putting out reprints in ( argueably ) one of their best titles ( X-Men )!
Just WHO had the writers' block?

The Prowler said...

In my opinion, humble though it may be, I think the Daredevil (and Black Widow) cover would have been a bit cooler if you actually would have seen Owl's back. The now classic pose where the villain dominates the cover and the heroes recoil in terror and obvious defeat.

Hammer and Anvil. The first multiracial pairing that came to mind was Cosby/Culp in I Spy. After a brief, and non-inclusive, memory search I came up with Huck and Finn from a Twain novel that was first published in .......wait for it......England!!!! They would run the famous scam of selling Jim and then Huck would help him to run away. I think they used this in a TV show?

In America, youths could walk into a local convenience story, dip into their pockets and pull out a quarter for a comic book. One coin, one purchase. Was there such a thing as an 8p coin? If not, does anyone remember what combination of coins one would use?

(It don't mean a thing if it aint got that swing).

Gey Blabby said...

There wasn't an 8p coin, so since it was after decimalisation by this point, the easiest way to pay would be to just hand over your 10p and get 2p back.
Or use a combination of 5p (old shilling), 2&1/2p (old sixpence or 'tanner') and a halfpenny. Mind you, that's from memory, so I could be completely wrong. I must admit I preferred the old currency before Decimal Day.

Steve W. said...

Every day, I thank God that we no longer have pre-decimal currency. I couldn't make any sense of it at all.

All we need do now is introduce decimal clocks and I'll be in paradise.

Dougie said...

I only ever owned the Cap/Nomad issue and that was second-hand in the mid-80s. I loved that story arc.
In typical Roy Thomas style- the monster in the Conan story fathered( yecch!)a doomed minstrel -who was also the brother of a wizard from an early Howard tale. Kontinuity Krazy.