Thursday 30 March 2017

March 30th, 1977 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

I've spent half of today with my arm down a drain, trying to unblock it. That's the glamorous kind of lifestyle I dreamt of when I was a boy.

But what else did I dream of?

I dreamt of having super-powers.

And what of these things that men call, "Super-powers?" Do they bring happiness and contentment into their possessor's life?

There's only one way to find out - and that's to flush our minds down the drain that is the Temporal Vortex, watch it go round and round in circles, and see what the past has to offer us.

Captain Britain #25, Captain America and the Red Skull

The Red Skull's still out to destroy us all.

Only another thirty seven weeks of this story to go.

At this rate, Tony Blair'll be Prime Minister before the Skull finally gets round to killing James Callaghan.

Mighty World of Marvel #235, Hulk and Planet of the Apes

It's the return of the dreaded split covers, as Doc Samson continues his attempt to recruit the Hulk for his psychiatric purposes, while Battle for the Planet of the Apes...

...Hold on a minute.

What's this?

Will miracles never cease?

The Red Skull's battle with Britain might be showing no signs of ending but, from the looks of it, Marvel's Battle for the Planet of the Apes is finally over. No doubt there'll be street parties all over Ape City.

My razor-sharp senses tell me, from the cover's speech balloons, that we may be blessed with the return of Jason and Alexander.

Super Spider-Man and the Titans #216, Hammerhead and Dr Octopus

The preparations for Aunt May's wedding are clearly going swimmingly.

Still, they always say a bad rehearsal means a good wedding.

Marvel UK, Fury #3

Fury may have been a flop but, fair play to it, it had easily the best covers of any Marvel UK weekly - not to mention a nifty way with alliteration.

12 comments:

Dougie said...

Now I think that might be the MWOM with the cutaway diagram of Titan. Not last week.

Anonymous said...

The adaptation of "Battle" was finally over but the Planet Of The Apes stories continued till June, alternating between Jason & Alexander and the aquatic Freedom Reaver adventures - both arcs ended on a cliffhanger as the U.S. POTA magazine was abruptly cancelled.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve - I'm digging the Stuka cover! (reminds me of my uncle's stories about shooting down a Stuka on the Murmansk Run.) Stories weren't really memorable though?

Anonymous said...

My mom told me her dad had a buddy who was on one of the ships on the Murmansk Run. He told my Grampa about it later. I don't know the details, but I guess it got pretty horrible. He was haunted by it.

M.P.

Anonymous said...

Charlie, Fury was reprints of really terrible - and forgettable - old Marvel war comics.
Sounds like you might well like Johnny Red though, the rather excellent 70s series - originally in Battle, currently in print from Titan - about a fighter pilot on the Russian front. Same writer as Roy of the Rovers, no less.

-sean

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Sean, i just read a couple Roy's this past week in the only Tiger Annual I own from 1962! was Roy published in other Annuals as well? (Sorry if I sound like a neophyte to the world of Annuals, lol.) I will seek out Johnny Red! eBay (Amazon?) here i come! Tally Ho! Th Thanks for the tip!

Charlie Horse 47 said...

if you liked Foyle's War, there's an episode involving sailors sunk in the Murmansk Run.

Joe S. Walker said...

Did Fury ever reprint the story where Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders dressed up as women?

Steve W. said...

I only wish I could tell, you Joe. Sadly my knowledge of Captain Savage is virtually non-existent.

Steve W. said...

As is my knowledge of the contents of, "Fury."

Anonymous said...

Achtung Charlie - haven't read the current revived Johnny Red comic by Garth Ennis, so I can't say whether thats a better bet than the old reprints. Guess it depends how much you want that authentic 70s war comic vibe.

Btw Roy of the Rovers got his own weekly title and annuals in the 70s.
(I remember reading plenty of US war comics like Enemy Ace, the Losers and all that, but did you have football comics?
Obviously with American football being such a baffling game there'd be no demand for imports here, but no one seems to discuss them on the internet either...)

-sean

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

My kid brother use to read Roy Of The Rovers while I was on Spider-Man. I would have a sneaky read of his conics. If RotR would have been published as 20-page long monthlies rather than 2-page long weekly comic strips, it would have made an awesome mag. When I think about how much character development his teammates got in those 2-page strips and think what Stan Lee could have done over 20 pages, well....