Sunday 4 January 2015

January 4th, 1975 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Good grief! 1975's upon us already and it only seems like five minutes ago that it was 1974.

But will this wild leap into the future bring any unexpected changes to what Marvel UK are publishing on this weekend of that year?

There's only one way to find out.

Marvel UK, The Avengers #68

I'm assuming this is the story where the Collector manages to get Thor to fight the other Avengers. I don't recall how he does it but, let's be honest, it doesn't take a lot to get Marvel heroes to fight each other.

I don't think I had this issue when I was a child. Who would have thought that 1975 would have begun with such heart-rending deprivation?
Marvel UK, Planet of the Apes #11

Marvel's adaptation of the original movie finally reaches its climax.

The cover does raise the obvious question. Were comics and Aleister Crowley books the only places in the Twentieth Century where you could still find people using the word, "Lo?"
Spider-Man Comics Weekly, #99, the Chameleon

Hooray, the Chameleon's back.

Was this his first appearance in Spidey's strip since issue #1? I'm struggling to think of any appearances in between. If so, it does seem amazing that it took so long.

I seem to recall that this is the story where Spidey virtually tells the whole world that he's Peter Parker and yet everyone seems to be too dim to notice.
Marvel UK, Dracula Lives #11

Quick! Call for the Park Ranger!  Dracula's after someone's pickanick basket.
Mighty World of Marvel #118, Hulk

The Hulk's still up against Ancient Egyptian naughtiness.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The scariest thing about the Spider-Man story is Harry's attempt at facial hair. Combined with the weirdest hairstyle in comics, the combination is truly creepy.And this was before he took drugs - Al

Anonymous said...

That issue of POTA is indeed the final part of the movie adaptation but for me it was a confusing disappointment - the Statue of Liberty is shown lying down with a close-up of the head and shoulders and not like in the film's dramatic finale. Anyway, at the age of eight I didn't know what the Statue of Liberty actually was or its' significance to the ending of the story. Luckily the POTA weekly had lots of info about the apes movies so I was fully up to speed by the time the adaptation of "Beneath" began in POTA #35.

Anonymous said...

At least they had enough sense not to put the statue of liberty on the cover. I could never understand why it was on the film poster, although obviously someone somewhere thought it was a good idea to give away the twist ending of the film before anyone even made it into the cinema.

-sean

Anonymous said...

I don't think the Statue of Liberty ever appeared on the original 1968 movie poster. I've seen one which definitely doesn't feature it, unless there were others of course. Perhaps more modern POTA movie posters does include the statue because the twist ending is now so famous anyway.

Anonymous said...

Just checked, Colin, and it seems you are correct. The poster I was thinking of was for an early 70s rerelease. Don't I feel like an eejit.
Looks like you really made a monkey out of me (sorry, couldn't resist that)

-sean

B Smith said...

I think Charles Fort used "Lo" a bit too (the title of his 1941 book).

Oh, and Adrian Mole's magnum opus was to be entitled "Lo! The Flat Hills of My Homeland"

The Prowler said...

Again, I find myself drawn to the 7 and 8 p prices. Was there a coin that would buy a set amount of comics? Here, when comics were 20 or 25 cents, a buck would get either 5 or 4 comics. When prices jumped to 35 cents, you could buy two and walk home with the change or try to find a nickel somewhere. But at 35 cents, you would always have change. And change is not another comic. It felt right to have comics and no money on the walk home. When you had money in your pocket, you always felt there was one more comic just out of reach, tantalizing in its uncontainable ness!!!

(Bob, you've been missing a lot of work lately.
Missing work? No, I haven't been missing work).

Steve W. said...

Prowler, the coins available at the time were; half a pence, 1 pence, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, and 50 pence. I'm not sure but it might still have been possible to use pre-decimal sixpence coins, as they weren't phased out until a while after decimalisation. Therefore, you'd either have to use a combination of smaller coins to buy comics, or use a larger one and get change.

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

It's the Chameleon's tnird appearance. The one you've forgotten is ASM #15 or SMCW #7: the first appearance of Kraven the Hunter.

Steve W. said...

You're right, Dangermash. I'd totally forgotten about his appearance in that tale and the friendship between him and Kraven.