Sunday 24 April 2016

April 24th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

It's been a very strange and depressing year so far. Virtually everyone famous in the whole world has died, often with no warning.

There are times when you're glad there's a place called The Past where all your showbusiness idols were still alive and you could, every week, read about the adventures of people for whom death was never more than a temporary setback.

Marvel UK, Avengers #136, Brain-Child

It's a salutary warning to us all to never trust evil children who have gigantic heads, flying chairs and super-powers.

It's a warning I shall make sure to heed at all times.

Marvel UK, Planet of the Apes #79

That's a very dramatic cover.

I can say nothing else about it, as I don't have a clue what happens on the inside.

I suspect it might be yet more of the Jason and Alexander saga but I refuse to be quoted on that.

Marvel UK, Dracula Lives #79

Dracula's still causing trouble in the New World.

Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #167, the Smasher

The Disruptor gives a masterclass in how to conduct a political campaign.

Interesting to see that Ghost Rider manages to be in two Marvel UK mags this week.

In fact, wasn't he in The Titans as well? Good grief! He was practically ubiquitous.
Mighty World of Marvel #186, Hulk vs Black Bolt

Hooray! It's the Hulk vs Black Bolt. I loved this tale when I was a youngster.

Marvel UK, The Titans #27, Fantastic Four in Latveria

Even more hooray! For no noticeable reason, the FF move to The Titans and we get Jack Kirby's tribute to The Prisoner, as our heroes find themselves being guests of Dr Doom.

Even more excitingly, this means I only have to wait one more week for The Titans to return permanently to my local newsagents. Soon, I'll be getting four Marvel UK comics a week!

Truly, this was the golden age of Marvel UK.

At least, in my house, it was.

11 comments:

Dougie said...

That's the second villain called Brainchild that Roy Thomas created. The first was a Savage Land Mutate in the X-Men. He also gave us Brain Drain and Brainwave Jr.
The Conan story this week is drawn by Buckler & Chan- who also drew Claw the Unconquered.
Has Colan/Thomas Captain Marvel not started in POTA yet? And aren't the Inhumans in the FF strip as well as Hulk ( but 4 or 5 years apart)?
Yet another Titans I missed - the most irregular order I ever had. The X-Men migrate to MWOM next week, I think.

Anonymous said...

Jack Kirby was into The Prisoner, Steve, so its kind of ironic that after resigning from Marvel he found himself back there.

Where he ended up doing some work on a proposed Prisoner comic. Theres a few surviving pages at
www.theredcircle.com/blog/2009/11/15/jkirby-tprsnr/
Slighty disappointed Number Two doesn't have a moustache and toupee, but all the same, I'm sure it would have been good if his version of 2001 is any indication.

-sean

Steve W. said...

Dougie, I think the Colan Captain Marvel started in POTA, sometime around the middle of 1975, before moving to The Titans, with issue #1 of that mag. I think that the X-Men do indeed move to MWOM next week.

Thanks for the link, Sean.

Steve W. said...

Given the constraints of The Prisoner's basic concept (he's permanently stuck in one place), you do wonder how long it would have been before Kirby got bored with it and had Number 6 go off on some wild adventure somewhere, with bizarre characters in tow.

Anonymous said...

Steve, I'm sure the Prisoner riding a giant grasshopper or skateboarding into a scene out of Nova Express or Diamond Dogs would have been great.

I think it shows a basic lack of forethought at Marvel in the 70s that they didn't get the licence so Jack could have followed 2001 with his take on Clockwork Orange. That would really have been something too.

-sean

Anonymous said...

Yes, Dracula was the worst thing to hit Boston since pinball and syphilis.

On another note, the Disruptor's political tactics have become routine here in the states, and most candidates now employ super-powered goons for crowd control.

It has been a sad year for losing great musicians.
M.P.

Anonymous said...

Ghost Rider joins The Titans in #31 - another four weeks yet. That POTA cover is indeed from the continuing Jason & Alexander epic but the scene on the cover doesn't appear inside - it occurs next week...D'OH !!

Steve W. said...

Thanks for the info, Colin. :)

Anonymous said...

I was glad when the FF moved to the Titans as they finally got cover status, however you'd have thought Marvel would've made it a clean break. It seems a bit harsh having to buy two comics to follow their story, although that was no doubt the marketing plan.

DW

Steve W. said...

I did wonder if the FF were still in MWOM this week. I assume it's the conclusion of their second visit to the Inhumans' Great Refuge, as I don't recall reading the first part of their trip to Latveria?

Anonymous said...

I checked online and it appears that the X-men moved into MWOM (spoiler alert) the following week. Its possible that Marvel simply stuffed up the timing. Actually it's quite likely.

DW