My in-depth research tells me there was nothing interesting happening in the real world. So, clearly, those mags were going to have to fill the void that reality had consequently left in my youthful life.
Spider-Man's still having problems with Stegron and the Lizard. The FF are still having problems with Thundra and the Frightful Four. The Avengers are still having problems with the Collector and his bats of doom, and Captain Britain is still having trouble with werewolves and vampires.
I think I can safely say it's a week of very little change for Marvel UK's second oldest title.
I'd totally forgotten that the Spidey tale takes place at Christmas. Judging by that cover, it doesn't seem to be a time of good will to all men. Once again, the Festive Season has let me down.
Then again, that's what happens when you insist on having it in the middle of August.
Meanwhile, the Hulk's still taking his time getting over the death of Jarella.
To be honest, when you look at how bad his memory normally is, it's a miracle he even remembers her.
Speaking of feats of memory, I recall the Silver Surfer/Dracula death-match as being moderately controversial at the time, as not all readers liked the idea of Dracula encountering regular Marvel super-doers.
Like a badly designed submarine, Marvel UK's first stab at doing a war comic sinks beneath the waves, never to be seen again.
But what does this mean? Where can Nicholas and his men possibly take refuge?
Surely Marvel UK know their readers can't survive without a weekly dose of his adventures?
At the end of that Spider-Man tale, Spidey is out in the snow looking for Stegron. In the end he gives up and doesn't see an unconscious, half frozen Stegron slide down the icy slope into the water to meet his apparent end. So I remembered this was a winter's tale. There will be plenty of others though where you remember the time if year and I don't.
ReplyDeleteThe energy on these Spider-Man covers has definitely stepped up since the landscape format was abandoned. MWOM covers, though, are pig ugly. Those old double-feature American comics like Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, etc knew how to make a striking split cover, but Marvel UK struggle with them.
I really hated the split covers. At the time, I think I felt like they were some sort of a curse on my life. I may have taken it all a bit too seriously.
ReplyDeleteSteve, my memory about that Captain Britain story is hazy, but a couple of weeks back you assured me it was about a werewolf vampire.
ReplyDeleteBut now you seem to be saying it was about werewolves and vampires after all...
Love that final Fury cover blurb - like theres any danger the comic will be charged with depth, right?
-sean
Steve - would you know if Fury and his crew were topless inside that sub? Also would you know if they were firing MGs at the walls of the sub?
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, though not profound, if I wanted to get a copy of this Fury, what would it run me in the UK? Cant find any on ebay in the USA.
I have a sentimental attachment to that issue of Amazing Spider-man because it was one of the first I owned as a kid. The story wasn't the greatest (re-animated dinosaur skeletons) but I always did like the Lizard. I figured it was the end of Stegron when he slid into the icy water, but he would return! Apparently he merely went into suspended animation, like our turtles do when they go under the mud of ponds and rivers in winter. You just can't keep a good reptile down.
ReplyDeleteM.P.
Uk comics rarely go for more than a few quid. That's $5 or so in US money. Although ebay will always have a few chancers putting silly money on issues.
ReplyDeleteThat said they also come up for sale rarely as most comics shops won't touch them due to the lack of a market (exceptions being key issues of British only comics 2000AD).
You might try 30thcenturycomics.co.uk as they have a good range
i was just checking on ebay and, since we were exploring Sgt Fury, you can get issue from the mid-1960s through the 1970s for like $1 - $3, all day long. Lots of the 70s stuff is not exactly collectible, despite what Overstreet Price Guide advisers advise, lol.
ReplyDeleteIts the internet, Charlie. Its the same with old records - lots of stuff that was fairly desirable but hard to find suddenly became easier to get hold of just by clicking online so collector-type prices fell.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile the cost of real super rarities has gone through the roof.
I suppose its all basic supply and demand...
-sean
The only Fury story I remember was the one guest starring Captain America. Was that during this original run, or after it merged? I do recall some really nice Kirby art on that one. I think I had both Spidey and MWOM this week. The folks must have felt generous in the last week of the school holidays.
ReplyDeleteCharlie
I suspect the real-life issues of Fury may prove a crushing let down, in 2017.
DW
I assume Sgt Fury and his team of stealthless commandos will be scuttling back to MWOM next week (BECAUSE WE DEMANDED IT!) I have been collecting as many of the Marvel UK titles from this era as I can and starting to realise what a pain it is to follow the various characters as they move from title to title. I feel the need for one of those FBI movie walls with all the pictures and notes connected by webs of red string in order to keep track, I think the FF may have been the worst offenders.
ReplyDeleteFury ended without even an "IMPORTANT NEWS FOR ALL READERS - See inside!" Perhaps sales figures indicated there weren't that many readers and they didn't consider the comic important.
ReplyDelete..."there was nothing interesting happening in the real world"...speak for yourself, Steve, because Wednesday, August 31st 1977 was MY VERY FIRST DAY in secondary school as a young whippersnapper aged 11. But all these comics were WEEK ENDING 31st August so it's next week's post that actually features the comics that went on sale the same day as I was putting on my school uniform for the first time :)
ReplyDeleteIt's weird, Colin. I could find no mention of you starting secondary school on Wikipedia's list of major world events for that week. No wonder they say we should never trust it.
ReplyDeleteTimothy, you assume right when it comes to Nick's subsequent fate. For those of us who were delighted to see him and his men depart MWOM after their first stint there, their return was a crushing blow to our sanity.
Sean, I can only apologise for my vampire/werewolf vagueness.
Sean - you are right... The first rule of economics, which seems to escape 90% of the folks I mingle with, is "supply and demand."
ReplyDeleteI did read a really cool article a few years ago about goods that increased in value b/c of the internet b/c the supply was small and suddenly via the internet "everyone had to have one" instead of just the locals. Unlike my valuable crop of Marvel Werewolf and Vampire and Mummy comics from the 70s, lol.