Pages

▼

Sunday, 28 February 2016

February 28th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

It's been a very exciting week for us all, with the UK selecting its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Tragically, my unspoken demand for the job to be given to William Shatner went unheeded.

I can only look to find solace by reminiscing as to what our favourite comic company was giving us in this week of exactly forty years ago.

Marvel UK, Avengers #128, Daredevil

That's a very odd cover, which looks like it's cobbled together from a bunch of totally unrelated images.

Most of them look to have been drawn by John Buscema but the Black Panther certainly doesn't. He looks like he might be the work of Marie Severin but don't quote me on that.

Marvel UK, Planet of the Apes #71

Hooray! I remember the map of the Black Panther's hidden kingdom. I was especially taken by it revealing the location of the valley where all the dinosaurs live.

I do always wonder why maps of the UK never show where all the dinosaurs live. It's very inconvenient for me.
Marvel UK, Dracula Lives #71

Dracula's being overly theatrical again.

Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #159, the Gibbon

It's the news I've been praying for! I can save 75p on a Sea-Monkeys kit!

But, back in the 1970s, surely they must have only cost about 50p in the first place?

In other news, I've always had a soft spot for the Gibbon, even if he was inherently hopeless.

Mighty World of Marvel #178, Hulk vs Abomination and Rhino

On their letters pages, Marvel UK were in the habit of including panels from stories they'd not yet reprinted. Because of that, I spent many a long month anticipating the Abomination/Rhino team-up. How could our favourite behemoth possibly hope to survive such a partnership?

Quite easily, as it turned out.

But I'm sure I don't need to tell you how excited I was when I finally got the chance to read it.

Marvel UK, The Titans #19, Sub-Mariner

I never had this issue but I've read that Sub-Mariner tale somewhere online. Wasn't it written and drawn by Bill Everett?

14 comments:

  1. dangermash28 February 2016 at 20:31

    Never mind what the panther looks like on the cover of The Avengers. What is he doing in the cover of Planet Of The Apes? Is it the work of that awful artist from The Invaders whose name I can't remember?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aggy28 February 2016 at 20:34

    "I do always wonder why maps of the UK never show where all the dinosaurs live. It's very inconvenient for me."

    Me too. I completely fed up of going for a walk in a beautiful valley and suddenly having to run for my life when a pack of raptors appear. Get on that Ordanence Survey

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dougie28 February 2016 at 20:54

    The Gibbon definitely appears in the 2nd season of the Spidey tv show that exists entirely in my head.
    I think the Cobalt Man is the X-villain in that issue of the Titans. You're probably right about Bill Everett. I feel the same way about him as Danger mash does about Frank Robbins.

    ReplyDelete
  4. dangermash28 February 2016 at 21:37

    Frank Robbins - yes that's the one. Cheers Dougie.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous28 February 2016 at 22:05

    I had not been informed that there were dinosaurs in the jungle kingdom of Wakanda! What else have people been keeping from me?
    M.P.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous28 February 2016 at 22:51

    MP - The vibranium mound?
    You definitely missed out - the issue of Jungle Action with the pterodactyl is a true classic.

    Steve, assuming that was the map of Wakanda originally in Jungle Action, I don't recall it actually mentioning dinosaurs. The lair of white gorillas yes, but dinosaurs no...
    Also, I seem to remember that it had an Atlantic coastline - that must have made it tricky for Wakanda to stay hidden for so long!

    Best map ever -
    www.comicbookcartography.posthaven.com/the-world-of-kamandi-map-jack-kirby/
    I use it to find my way around all the time.

    -sean


    ReplyDelete
  7. Steve W.28 February 2016 at 23:39

    I must confess that I've now tried Googling the map of Wakanda and I can't find a version of it that has the domain of the dinosaurs on it. It seems that the Wakandan map-makers are as negligent as the British map-makers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous28 February 2016 at 23:50

    I knew about that vibranium mound.
    I'm not totally stupid!
    M.P.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous29 February 2016 at 00:08

    Oops.
    Apologies if you took that the wrong way MP. No offence intended.

    -sean

    ReplyDelete
  10. TC29 February 2016 at 00:28

    That Avengers cover appears to be an unaltered reproduction of Avengers #82 (November 1970). Pencils by John Buscema, inks by Tom Palmer.

    It's very likely that Marie Severin did the layout, which Buscema closely followed. IIRC, Roy Thomas credited Severin when it was reprinted in a Marvel Masterworks edition.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous29 February 2016 at 01:17

    I was just kidding, Sean!
    Not at all offended. I enjoy this post and hope that my feeble attempts at humor aren't misinterpreted by you folks across the pond. Cheers!
    M.P.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Paul R29 February 2016 at 13:42

    I loved that Avengers comic this week with 2 illustrated strips by John Buscema and an Iron Fist story by John Byrne. Well worth the cover price. Childhood heaven.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Unknown1 March 2016 at 22:37

    Maybe you are getting a bit mixed up with Ka-Zars Savage Land map as that had dinosaurs in it and he appeared in POTA ( I seem to recall a map appearing in Savage tales in the 70s of the Savage Land). I must be one of the few folk in the UK that loved Fran Robins art :(

    ReplyDelete
  14. Steve W.2 March 2016 at 08:36

    I really liked Frank Robbins' work on The Shadow. He always seemed perfectly suited to it. I must confess I didn't like his work on more conventional or modern super-heroes.

    ReplyDelete