Oddly, there was no sign of either Slade or Wizzard on that chart.
How the Wombles must have laughed evilly at their triumph over the other two acts, suddenly confident that it would be they who'd dominate the pre-Christmas charts from now on, while Slade and Wizzard's efforts would sink into permanent obscurity.
But were our favourite Marvel heroes enjoying a similar sense of triumph on this very day of forty years ago?
And, if so, was it justified?
It's certainly a triumph for the Avengers, who've actually managed to make the cover of their own mag.
And that means I actually know what the tale inside is.
It's the one with Magneto. And Quicksilver. And the Scarlet Witch. Few people would have guessed that from the cover but I have the observational and deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes, who I so closely resemble.
Eight issues in and still Marvel's adaptation of the original movie rumbles on.
A cover that I believe was originally drawn by Neal Adams before John Romita decided he could improve it and got stuck into it by redrawing great big chunks of it.
I'd love to see what the original version looked like, to discover what was so wrong with it, that the Jazzy one felt he had to save it.
It's the arrival of the Prowler; the only super-doer who thought you could become a super-villain by using your window cleaning equipment as weaponry.
Despite this, I always had a soft spot for him.
You do wonder how many of Dr Doom's schemes can go disastrously wrong before he finally notices he's not infallible.
I've got a letter in that issue of POTA. Who wants my autograph? (And I've got that Wombles song - but I never talk about it.)
ReplyDeleteAnd I was reading that issue a few days ago on the Hunter's POTA website including your letter, Kid. After 3 weeks of reading POTA, disaster - No.8 never came into the newsagent where it was on order - I don't know why we just didn't get a replacement copy from WH Smith's. It still irks me that I didn't get this issue especially as I had every single issue of boring bloody Apeslayer. This was also the time I was forced to miss the class Christmas party due to illness so no POTA and no party :(
ReplyDeleteI wish I could claim to have such memories of Christmas 1974 but I don't think I have any. Was Quatermass and the Pit on TV on Christmas Eve that year? If so, I recall that.
ReplyDeleteSteve, I know that the final episodes of 'Steptoe & Son' and 'Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads' were shown at Christmas 1974. I forgot to say in my comment that the cover of POTA (and inside) features a scene that's not in the film - if I had owned this comic I'd have wondered where that scene was when I finally got to see the film in 1977.
ReplyDeleteColin, is that the scene with the paper plane? I always feel like, "Where's the paper plane?" whenever I see the movie.
ReplyDeleteSteve, the paper plane scene is in the movie as far as I remember - I meant the scene on that POTA No.8 cover where they are escaping and meet some gorillas who want to take Taylor and Nova back with them but Zira and Cornelius tell them that they (Taylor and Nova) are diseased and mustn't be touched - that scene isn't in the film.
ReplyDeleteWasn't Electro an electrician? I love that Spider-Man's baddies had such mundane jobs, though window cleaner is pushing it a bit
ReplyDeleteIt pays the bills!
ReplyDelete(The best things in life are free but you can save them for the birds and bees).
One of my favourite early John Buscema covers, that Avengers one. I forgot that Quicksilver originally had a green costume.
ReplyDeleteI agree: that Avengers cover is magnificent. I also like the Prowler cover. That was also the third and final Drac Lies I would read for many a year: too dark and brutal!
ReplyDeleteChecked BBC Genome: no sign of Q and the Pit on Xmas Eve. But my earliest memories of it probably come from around the same time. I'm guessing around Nov/ early Dec but I'll check on another day.
I've never heard of BBC Genome before but I just had a quick look - how fascinating !!! - I'm off for a more detailed look :)
ReplyDelete