Still, if Music was proving to be a dangerous pursuit, what about Super-Heroism? Was it too proving to be a lethal activity for the stars of our favourite weekly comics?
As if he didn't have enough on his plate, Spidey has to tangle with both Will o' the Wisp and the all-new, improved Spider-Slayer.
Not only that but he has to do it on ice as well. Is there no obstacle that life won't put in his way?
Meanwhile, as in the preceding issues, the Avengers are battling Zodiac, while Captain Britain's trying to smash the Slaymaster.
But there is one big change this issue.
Because the Fantastic Four are out and Thor is back!
Not that he has time to celebrate - because, no sooner has he returned than the long-haired hammer-thrower finds himself up against Ulik the Unstoppable, who he no doubt stops.
The Hulk is still battling the Absorbing Man on that building site.
I've never read this tale but, from dim memories of having seen its plot summarised elsewhere, I've a feeling it may bear similarities to a Doctor Who novel I once read, called The Space Age.
Whether this possible resemblance is coincidental, I couldn't say.
But, speaking of people who fight alien invaders, I believe this issue's back-up story may involve the FF's first encounter with those pesky Skrulls, which is the first Fantastic Four tale I ever read.
For some reason, when I read that epic for the first time, as an eight year old, I was convinced the Thing had three nostrils.
Why I thought this, I have no idea.
Hooray! A brand new comic hits the newsstands of Britain, as the Defenders and Nova arrive to punch as many villains in the face as possible.
I have a suspicion that, in this issue, it may be that furry felon from far-off worlds Xemnu whose face they'd like to rearrange.
Come to think of it, he doesn't really have a face to rearrange.
The FF Skrulls story, it that the one where they are thwarted, changed into cows and live on a farm at the end? Stan and Jack clearly had a good supply of drugs back in the day.
ReplyDeleteThat's the one. They also fool the Skrulls into thinking the Earth's defended by giant monsters, by showing them panels from old Marvel monster comics. It's a sort of twisted genius.
ReplyDeleteHere you go, Steve - you can finally read that FF story at www.bronzeageofblogs.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-fantastic-four-in-rock-around-the-cosmos.html
ReplyDeleteSo when you wrote about the Complete FF a few weeks back and were all mysterious about some other title that was Rampage?
Don't I feel stupid now commenting about the monthly revival of Savage Sword of Conan...
-sean
Good point about The Space Age by the underrated Steve Lyons.The Shaper of Worlds was introduced in this 50s FF story. I've long suspected the 50s never ended in the UK.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, Absorbing Man had a costume in the Hulk story but went back to the prison uniform trousers in later appearances.
Sean - Steve did mean the Savage Sword Of Conan monthly so no need to feel stupid :)
ReplyDeleteSean, tragically, that FF page no longer seems to be on Pete's blog.
ReplyDeleteDougie, thanks for confirming that I wasn't going mad by thinking there was a parallel between the FF and Dr Who tales.
Colin and Sean, I have to admit I don't remember whether it was Rampage or Savage Sword of Conan I was referring to. So either option is equally viable.
Looking at the un-Marvel-like masthead on that Rampage comic, Marvel UK seem to still be trying to grab the attention of those kids that were into war comics. Have they not learned their lesson from Fury?
ReplyDeleteMaybe theres something wrong with the link, Steve, because I just had a look and that story is still there. Maybe click on the FF tag (it'll turn up the second part too)
ReplyDeleteI believe the first issue of Savage Sword came out in November 77, so surely Rampage was the next new title after the Complete FF...?
-sean
Like Dangermash, I've always thought the Rampage masthead looked more like a UK war comic than something from Marvel. For some reason the corner heads were given name-tags from No.22 onwards...but why ?
ReplyDeleteI can't recall the exact wording of Steve's former post but he was DEFINITELY referring to Savage Sword Of Conan !
Never thought about the Rampage logo much, but looking at it now it has got that 'boys adventure comic' or war title look. I assume that was some UK editorial input, any idea who is credited with coming up with the name?
ReplyDeleteSadly, I don't have a clue who designed the Rampage logo. Larry Leiber was doing a fair bit of work on Marvel UK comics at the time, creating covers and writing Captain Britain. Ron Wilson was also doing work for the imprint as well. Whether either of them had any hand in its design, I have no idea. As regards its style, I can only assume the company still held out hopes that they could sell more copies of a mag if it looked more British than their established comics did. I fear this was a forlorn hope.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to see how Marvel UK would have done had they not gone down the Dez Skinn route a couple of years later.
ReplyDeleteFunny... from a US perspective, where I was lucky to receive the DC Thomson Annuals as a kid, I dig the Rampage logo and the logos of the Annuals. Ah well, perhaps whatever is foreign has more cache, like US news announcers with UK accents.
ReplyDeleteTim, when you get down to basics, was Skinn's Marvel UK really that much of a different beast?
ReplyDeleteIn interviews, he's talked about making sense of the readership by aiming the weeklies at kids while the monthlies were more for teenagers and up... but that was already beginning at this point, with Savage Sword about to start up. Seems to me the Complete FF and Rampage - which became a monthly, of course - were already tilting toward a slightly older target audience than, say, MWOM.
I'm not trying to knock Skinn - he deserves a lot of credit for commissioning original material, especially when you consider who he used.
That was his main innovation, although I understand the original idea for Fury involved new material, so it seems like an idea that was already in the air...
-sean
You know, it looks really odd to see the Hulk with a chain wrapped around his neck in a strangle hold. I'm wondering if this was against Code back in the day, b/c it really strikes me as rather "violent" compared to what I remember reading (assuming I remember what I read).
ReplyDeleteWas Hulk strangled in the comic, too, or was this perhaps a UK cover and thus we would not have experienced the strangle in the USA?
I don't remember if Crusher tried to strangle the Hulk in the story itself but I do remember Hammer and Anvil trying to strangle the Hulk with their chain when he first met them.
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, Hulkie's neck proved to be tougher than their chain.