Simple.
I'll just write "1972" on everything from now on. That way I'll never be out of date.
1972 was a big year for me. It was the year I started reading American comics and it was the year Mighty World of Marvel hit the newsagents of this sceptred isle. Does all this specialness mean a change in circumstance for our Marvel heroes as they enter 1972, leading to an era of peace and goodwill to all?
Somehow I have a suspicion it doesn't.
Writer Roy Thomas is still on his King Kong trip as Spidey and Ka-Zar tangle with Kraven the Hunter and Gog the space monster.
The Fantastic Four find themselves up against not only Steve Does Comics favourite - Diablo - but also their old team-mate Crystal.
On top of that, the Thing gets to visit another version of Earth, where he finds revoltin' developments haven't been quite the same as they are round our way.
The Kree/Skrull War rumbles on as Neal Adams and Roy Thomas drag the Inhumans into it.
I think this is the one where we get to see how Maximus went mad.
Captain America comes up against Hydra and it doesn't seem to be a happy new year for Sharon Carter who looks like she's out to keep up with Lady Dorma and beat Gwen Stacy to an early grave.
Women. They can be so competitive!
It's unlucky for some, as Conan the Barbarian #13 sees the Cimmerian Clobberer up against a Spider-God.
Spider-God, Spider-God, does whatever a spider... er...
It's that rarity, a Daredevil story from this era that I actually remember.
If I'm right, poor old Natasha's, accused of bumping off some super-villain or other. Was it the Scorpion or Mr Hyde or was it both?
Whatever the truth of the matter, I suspect that, as so often in my own life, exploding robots might've been involved.
The Hulk thwarts the Leader's Invasion of the Body Snatchers plot.
I think this is the one with the back-up tale where the Hulk finds himself in a town that's just a mirage, and thus proves a Hulk story can be great without him doing any smashing.
I do sometimes wonder if I should just pretend Iron Man doesn't exist, as he has yet another issue I recall not one thing about.
That aside, I do love the way Gil Kane's drawn Iron Man on the cover.
Like a much-pressed moderator on the Asgard Forum, Thor's still having trouble with the trolls.
My razor sharp wits tell me he's about to launch into that epic quest to find the Well at the Edge of the World.
Verily, I love this era of Thor.
i was born a little later in May in '72, and really like comics from this decade. enjoyed the Kree-Skrull War for the fist time this year-
ReplyDeleteI own the collected Kree-Skrull War and found it to be as good as an epic could be in those days before the invention of the limited series. What's really surprising is how good it is despite Roy Thomas using it to clear up loose ends from other Marvel stories (I assume from cancelled books), such as the Inhumans, who fit in quite nicely.
ReplyDeleteAnd Clea actually looks sexy on the cover of FF (Is that John Romita's cover?). Jack could draw a beautiful woman, but not a sexy one!
Even as a young lad I noticed how being evil somehow made female characters more willing to do battle in lingerie!
Bill, the Grand Comics database says the FF cover's pencilled by John Buscema and inked by John Romita and John Verpoorten, although, by the look of it, I suspect Buscema probably just did the layout and Romita did the bulk of the work over the top of it.
ReplyDeleteThe interior artwork's by Buscema and Mooney, and I have to say Buscema made Crystal look even better inside the comic than she did on the cover.