Sunday 3 September 2017

Fifty years ago this month - September 1967.

This is the voice of the Mysterons.

Oh, alright, I admit it, it's not. But you could be forgiven for thinking it was - because this month in 1967 saw the debut of that battler of Martian sabotage Captain Scarlet. How we gasped as he drove his car backwards, hung around in his flying base and survived explosions that would reduce the rest of us to atoms.

Not only that but that month also saw the first appearance of The Prisoner.

This coincidence could explain why it is that, as a young child, I always had trouble distinguishing between the two shows. Granted, as one show starred real people and the other starred puppets, mixing them up took quite some doing but that's the kind of man I am.

Elsewhere in the world, Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to driving on the right. While, in Britain, the BBC launched Radio One, Radio Two, Radio Three and Radio Four, meaning British broadcasting would never be the same again and that The Move's Flowers in the Rain would feature in every documentary about the history of British radio from that point on.

Avengers #44

John Buscema gets to draw more people than he possibly could ever have wanted to, as the Avengers continue their battle with the Red Guardian and his friends.

Fantastic Four #66

It looks like a certain cosmic powered super-doer is about to burst out of his cocoon and startle the world.

Strange Tales #160, Dr Strange

I must confess I never found Baron Mordo overly interesting. He seemed very mundane indeed when compared to the likes of Dormammu, Nightmare and Eternity.

Tales of Suspense #93, Iron Man vs Titanium Man

Titanium Man returns, thanks to a villain who seemed to be the Vietnamese equivalent of the Hulk's Gargoyle.

Tales to Astonish #95, the Hulk and the High Evolutionary

It's one of my favourite pre-Trimpe Hulk tales, as our hero finds himself stuck in a spaceship full of angry New Men.

I think this was the first time I ever encountered the High Evolutionary. What an enigmatic figure he cut, even if he never seemed to learn from his mistakes.

I must say, though, that the declaration of, "Go Go Go Hulk!" on the cover seems quite bizarre. Truly the 1960s were a law unto themselves.

X-Men #36

I really don't have a clue what's going on here but, from the villain's name, I'm assuming that Meccano wasn't a thing in America.

Daredevil #32, the Cobra and Mr Hyde

I suspect that Daredevil may still be blind in this tale. I also suspect he won't be for much longer.

Thor #144

I think this may be the story in which Thor is battling two of the Enchanters Three while Odin tackles the third.

I recall the Living Talisman being involved as well but struggle to recall what he actually did.

Amazing Spider-Man #52

Forget the deaths of Gwen and George Stacy. From what I can remember, this issue sees the first significant Spider-Man related death since Uncle Ben, as Fred Foswell meets his maker. He may have started out as a heel but he died a hero.

17 comments:

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve - I just read that 60,000 in Frankfurt are being evacuated b/c of a British WW2 UXB. You think Nick Fury could defuse it? He single-handedly ended WWII, you know! Perhaps a new career as "Nick Fury UXB!" instead of heading up SHIELD? What do you think?

Steve W. said...

Is that true? What kind of a bomb is it? They found four unexploded WW2 bombs in the centre of Sheffield last year and all they did was cordon off the street in question while they dealt with them. I'm starting to worry now that they should have been a bit less laissez faire about it.

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

Does the death of Bennet Brant in. ASM #11 not count as significant given that it made Betty hate Spider-Man?

Even if it does count, though, Foswell's death was far better written.

Steve W. said...

Poor old Bennett. I'd totally forgotten about him. Come to think of it, I don't even recall how he died. Was Dr Octopus involved in some way?

Anonymous said...

That was an unexploded WW2 bomb in Frankfurt was it? I just assumed it was the latest government strategy to get round the stalemate in brexit negotiations.

I'm surprised you didn't make the obvious joke about Secrets of the Beehive possibly being about 60s hairstyles Steve, but perhaps you were too busy contemplating the awesomeness of FF 66 to take the piss.

-sean

Anonymous said...

PS Correction - that should be What Lurks Behind the Beehive? obviously.
Don't know how I got it mixed up with Secrets of the Beehive (I don't even like that record much)

-sean

Anonymous said...

What lurks inside Medusa' beehive?
GO GO GO HULK! reflects that it was the swingin' far-out Sixties and Stan was getting into the act.

M.P.

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

Doc Ock was around but it was Spidey grappling with an armed Blackie Gaxton, a shot going off and Bennet stepping in front of his sister to save her.

dangermash aka The Artistic Actuary said...

Oh, and "A World He Never Made" on the cover of that Hulk comic was reused as a title in Silver Surfer #10.

Anonymous said...

Howard the Duck springs to mind too dangermash.
Pretty sure it was also used in other comics; maybe not quite as much as Lo, There Shall Be An Ending, but not too far off.

-sean

pete doree said...

' A World He never made'? Pish & Tosh. Try and count how many times a super-villain said to a super-hero: ' That will avail you naught '. It's in the hundreds.

Anonymous said...

When Strikes the Bronze Age of Blogs, eh?

-sean

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve - Was it not just a posting or two ago where there were 3 Steranko covers (Cap America, Shield, and...)? Now there are none?

Hey - Wasn't that an oft-used title "And, then there was one / there were none?"

Also, ever since I worked for Reuters I always check their www site for the latest news. That's where I saw the headlines on evacuating 60,000 out of Frankfurt for the UXB this weekend. A good German friend of mine who develops real estate tells me that they still look at the photos of US and British bombing runs from WW 2 and they can tell where there are UXBs by missing explosions in the photo.

If only Nick Fury were here, he'd fix all this!

Charlie Horse 47 said...

I think "Go Go" was thing.

We had Go Go girls...

We had the Go Go Whitesox (Chicago Baseball Team where the Disco Demolition occurred)...

We had Go Go Gophers on TV (I think on the Tennessee Tuxedo show. Familiar with TT in the UK?)

We had "Go Speed Racer Goooooo..." (Familiar with Speed Racer in the UK?)

Go Go Go Hulk, indeed!

TC said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
TC said...

I *think* the Go-Go Gophers began as a segment in the Underdog show, but maybe they later were included in the Tennessee Tuxedo show. Most of the Total Television cartoons (Tennessee, Underdog, Commander McBragg, The Hunter) and Jay Ward cartoons (Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Peabody) were later rerun in various mix-and-match packages.

Go-Go girls often wore go-go boots. And they worked as go-go dancers in nightclubs.

DC comics in 1966 had a checkerboard pattern across the top of the covers, and ads reminded fans to "look for the go-go checks!"

IIRC, the theme song for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series in the 1990's said, "Go, go, Power Rangers!" The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Go Go Gophers was indeed with Underdog. Ahhh... Sweet Polly Purebread... breakin' hearts everywhere...