Sunday 31 January 2016

January 31st, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

On this week in 1976, ABBA went to Number One on the UK singles chart, with Mamma Mia.

I can think of no link between this fact and the comics Marvel UK were bestowing upon us in that very same week.

I can, however, say that I hated Mamma Mia the movie.

On the other hand, I loved Muriel's Wedding.

On the other hand, I've never seen Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

I haven't seen ABBA: The Movie in at least twenty years but I remember Lou Carpenter being in it, so it must have been good.

Thus concludes my review of movies that wield ABBA songs like Obi Wan Kenobi wields his lightsabre.

Anyway, Marvel UK in this week of exactly forty years ago.

Were our heroes calling out, "S.O.S."?

Or were their foes instead meeting their Waterloo?

Marvel UK, Avengers #124, Red Wolf

To be honest, despite what it says on the cover, I don't remember demanding the return of Iron Fist. But I would have done if it'd occurred to me, as I was always partial to his adventures.

Then again, I was always partial to Shang-Chi's adventures as well.

Shang-Chi? Iron Fist? How could I possibly be forced to choose between them?

As for the main story, I'm not altogether sure just what a wolf is going to do against the combined might of the Vision, Iron Man, Thor and Captain America. I think Red Wolf might be being a bit over-ambitious there.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #155

The story's clearly the Dr Strange/Flash Thompson/Vietnam one but I have a feeling that this cover is a reworking of one originally done for a story that featured the Red Skull.

Marvel UK, Planer of the Apes #67, Conquest

What a rather belting cover. I seem to remember including it in my post listing what I thought were the twelve best Planet of the Apes covers.

In other news: for a moment, I got all over-excited there. I misread the cover blurb as saying, "Apeslayer gone berserk!" You can't help feeling Conquest of the Planet of the Apes would have ended dramatically differently if Apeslayer had been around.

Mighty World of Marvel #174, Hulk vs Harpy

That's a very strange portrayal of the Bi-Beast. In fact, other than him having two faces, it bears no resemblance to him at all.

More excitingly, I think there were now only two weeks to go before my Mighty World of Marvel drought finally ended and my local newsagent started stocking it again.

Marvel UK, Titans #15, Nick Fury

I assume the, "Them," in question are the organisation otherwise known as AIM?

I seem to recall that robot turning up in the pages of Captain America as well. It might have looked a bit silly but it clearly knew how to cause trouble.

Marvel UK, The Super-Heroes #48, Bloodstone

I think I may have read this Bloodstone tale in the back of The Rampaging Hulk comic of which I was a big fan.

Marvel UK, Dracula Lives #67

The family drama runs deep in the pages of Dracula Lives.

8 comments:

Paul R said...

I remember this being a bad week at the newsagents. I only managed to get the Avengers, MWOM and the Superheroes.
I must admit I was glad to see Iron Fist back, if I remember it was the first time I saw Pat Brodericks art and it was just before Byrnes beautiful run on the series. So definitely, a welcome return of the character.
Hated the cover to MWOM, was that early Ron Wilson?
The Superheroes was a glorious issue with great Starlin/Sinnott artwork and I always had a soft spot for the short-lived Bloodstone character.

Anonymous said...

I liked Bloodstone as well. I thought the idea of an immortal cave-man going around hunting monsters with a rifle is actually pretty cool. I never did understand why they killed him off.
M.P.

Steve W. said...

Paul, you were lucky. Of those seven comics, I only had the Planet of the Apes one.

I'm not sure who did the MWOM cover. It could be Ron Wilson but I couldn't swear to it.

I was never sure how I felt about Bloodstone. To me, he felt like a cross between Dr Strange and Doc Savage. I was never sure if that was a good thing or not.

pete doree said...

Iron Fist wore a mask, Shang-Chi didn't. Iron Fist was cooler.
The defense rests.
Same argument goes for Red Wolf vs. Wyatt Wingfoot.
Mind you, Bloodstone was great and he didn't wear a mask...

Anonymous said...

But the Daughters of the Dragon were cooler than both Iron Fist and Shang Chi, Pete, so I reckon the jury's out on your mask theory.
(And don't get me started on Red Wolf - the issue I read was a strong contender for worst Marvel ever)

Steve - not only would Conquest of the Planet of the Apes have ended differently, it would surely have been much improved by the presence of a berserk Apeslayer
Mind you, that could be said of pretty much any film...

-sean

Anonymous said...

I think Downton Abbey could sure be improved by a berserk Apeslayer, Sean!
M.P.

Steve W. said...

I'm starting to think that everything could be improved by a berserk Apeslayer.

Anonymous said...

Well M.P., while I reckon a berserk Apeslayer (renamed Poshnobslayer?) is just what Downton Abbey needs, its still probably not enough to make that rubbish watchable.

-sean