But will it prove to be as special for our favourite Marvel heroes?
Clearly not. It's only just started and Spidey's already fed up of it all.
The Avengers take on the Sentinels in a story-line that ultimately leads to the marriage of Crystal and Quicksilver. Boo, those Sentinels have a lot to answer for.
First Spidey cops out and now Cap and Falc fall out. Is there to be no end to the discord this month can generate?
A monster. A temple. A damsel in distress. There must be times when Conan feels he's living through groundhog day.
I always liked Mr Fear. But then I'm a sucker for any villain with a skull face.
Is this the one that retells the FF's origin?
I seem to recall this cover being reproduced in one of Marvel UK's 1970s annuals, with Agatha Harkness added.
It's another of my faves as the Hulk finds himself up against a would-be Nazi superman.
Is this what Iron Man's reduced to? Struggling to survive an encounter with a refugee from the Circus of Crime? Clearly the Invincible Iron Man is feeling distinctly vincible lately.
Is this the one where Ego Prime creates a new race of gods as part of some baffling Odin master plan?
Knowing the usual quality of Odin's master plans, it's a miracle the entire universe didn't end up destroyed.
FF #126 did indeed retell the Foursome's origin. Can't say I ever saw the cover in a British Annual with ol' Agatha attached 'though. I bought this issue on Oct 6th, 1972 - the day before MWOM #2 went on sale.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great mix of covers! I love the "boxed in" cover design Marvel used during this period.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Andrew
ComicsBronzeAge.com
I must admit, when putting the post together, I was surprised to see the boxes were still being used on some covers. I'd always assumed they were a much shorter-lived experiment than they actually were.
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting for the Falcon to get his wings. Or was this the case of the cover artist not keeping up with character changes? At least he's not in that awful green number that he started out in.
ReplyDeleteNever mind, I just looked it up: Falc got his wings in issue 171 (I think from the Black Panther). In my comic book buying days I never saw him without wings; I always assumed that's how he started. I mean, his name was the Falcon, right?
ReplyDeleteThat issue of Captain America was the first in a run scripted by Steve Englehart, a run that in my mind is the only lot of CA still worth re-reading, or that still holds up, regardless of how dated some of it may seem (NB I quit reading CA after about #205 after Jack Kirby came back).
ReplyDeleteAnd that issue of Spider-Man was about the second penned by Gerry Conway, who certainly breathed new life into the title...who'd know the death of Gwen Stacy was less than a year away?
cheers
B Smith
Also that issue of the Avengers was the first time I was exposed to the artwork of Rick Buckler - and in my opinion he's never really matched the quality of that short run of issues (Deathlok strips notwithstanding). Then again, I was 12 years old at the time - I'd have bought all of these even if they were pencilled by Don Heck and inked by Vince Colletta (I'd probably buy them *these* days if they were pencilled by Heck and inked by Colletta).
And wasn't this the month that the Bullpen Bulletins page announced that Stan was stepping up as Publisher while Roy T was appointed Editor-in-Chief? Young and clueless as I was (and still am, just ask anybody), even I could sense that things were changing at Marvel.
oops - somehow that didn't quite all come out as it was supposed to....but you get the gist, I think :-)
ReplyDeleteB Smith
Nice DD cover, will have to pick this one up.
ReplyDelete(Always a sucker for beautifully rendered or classic Silver/Bronze covers, regardless of story..)
BTW Steve, there have been two new episodes of Dr Who you haven't reviewed.....shake a leg, man!
ReplyDeleteB Smith
B, I've hated the first two eps of this season so much I really don't want to review them, as it gives me no pleasure to just sit there moaning about things. Tomorrow I'll see about whether I can pluck up the will to review them but can make no promises.
ReplyDelete