And that means it's time for me to once more leap into my time car and drive headlong into the world as it was forty years ago for Marvel's less celebrated titles.
And I'm starting to see why they were less celebrated. Normally, a month produces a whole bunch of issues that are worthy of scrutiny but I have to say that December 1977 seems to have been a cursed cover date, as that month's Marvel publications provided very slim pickings indeed. Out of all of them, I really couldn't find any covers that screamed out at me as being worthy of inclusion.
But I'm nothing if not determined to fill a web page with meaningless words, and so, bravely undeterred, I've decided to post the following six covers as being slightly above the others when it comes to matters of intrigue.
I don't care what it says in that blurb; those depths don't look at all dark to me.
Regardless, given that the early Rampaging Hulk tales took place in the period straight after the scrapping of the Hulk's first Silver Age comic, I think this might technically be the first ever meeting of our hero and the Sub-Mariner.
I'm struggling to recall exactly what happens in it, other than that they have a fight, but I do vaguely recall the Krylorians in some way being responsible for the clash.
For an alien race who had marginally less credibility than the Ferengi, the Krylorians did manage to cause a remarkable amount of trouble.
I've posted this as a reminder that, although we all think of Marvel as the home of super-heroes, the 1970s was also the era of licensed properties for the company.
Admittedly, in this case, it wasn't the era of the Flintstones for long, as the title only lasted for nine issues before disappearing from the spinner racks.
Not that I'm shallow but I can never see the phrase, "Arabian Nights," without thinking of the Banana Splits TV show and shouting, "Size of an elephant!"
I'm sure, however, that this comic did its best to put me - and people like me - right.
Admittedly, putting a man the size of an elephant on the front cover probably wouldn't have helped.
Am I to take it that, in this issue, Howard decides to retire from being a duck?
How peculiar.
And how unlikely.
Marvel give us yet another of their literary adaptations.
To be honest, I always get the Prisoner of Zenda mixed up with The Man in the Iron Mask and don't know where one ends and the other one starts.
Hooray! Marvel Premiere gives us the adventures of the Torpedo!
For some reason, I know who the Torpedo is. Why I know who he is, I have no idea. Did I once read one of his adventures?
If so, I don't have a clue where.
Anyway, with that cover, Al Milgrom gives us his best Steve Ditko impression.
The Krylorians always made me think of Umpa-Lumpas whose faces were made of seaweed. The Rampaging Hulk tales were interesting to look at and the painted covers were awesome but the stories just plain sucked.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Torpedo turn up in Star Wars weekly or later maybe in UK Marvel Team Up?
ReplyDeleteYou would have commented on the Human Toroedo in the middle of 1975 and once again in 1976 in the pages of Daredevil.
ReplyDeleteToo lazy to check exactly which month but in one of them I gave a potted history of the character. Go and look it up. I bet it was average :D
Anyway long story short he was a Defender for a day before joining Rom in the early to mid issues of that series. Spoiler: The Dire Wrathes eventually killed him somewhere around issue 50 from memory.
That's probably what Timothy is thinking about above as those issues were reprinted in Star Wars weekly in the UK. Where my lifelong fixation with all things Rom began. (Never forgove the parents for not getting me the toy).
I fear the Rom toy would have been a huge disappointment. No elbows or knees and some very odd proportions compared to the comic version.
DeleteBlimey, the genie on that cover of Arabian Nights looks awful familiar!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZCdEYb9x9w
If it's a coincidence that the Disney version looks so similar, it's a mighty big one.
The genie looks like Shazzan.
ReplyDeleteHoward was mutated by Dr Bong. When I was at school, The Island of Dr Bong was one of two HTD comics I adapted for an audio script. I recorded it reel to reel with my pals and our English teacher, Mrs Fenton, let us play it in class. I didn't actually know what a bong was until about 5 or 6 years later.
Timothy and Aggy, thanks for the Torpedo info. Come to think of it, him having appeared in Daredevil does vaguely ring a bell. Tragically, I don't think I ever read the Star Wars issues that featured ROM.
ReplyDeleteWarren and Dougie, I suspect that all three of the genies in question were probably based on earlier Hollywood portrayals of genies, although I don't know which would have been the first film that depicted a genie as looking like that.
I wasn't totally sure if Torpedo was in Daredevil beforehand either, Steve; thought maybe I was getting him mixed up with Paladin, who also featured in an issue of Marvel Premiere after appearing in DD around the same time.
ReplyDeleteUsing the same failed approach twice in a row seems very late 70s Marvel.
Of all the comics that I remembered fondly, Howard the Duck has to be the one that most disappointed on a recent (attempted) reread. Obviously they all come across differently when you're middle aged, but usually I find theres still something to connect with and I can see what I liked about them.
But Gene Colan aside, Howard turned out to have been terrible.
-sean
Wow! I never read any of these nor know anything about them.
ReplyDeleteBUT! I do have a bucket load of Marvel's Classic Illustrated and can't even give them away to neighbor kids, on Craigs List, etc.
Hey UK Gents- Charlie needs help! I joined my wife to watch an episode of Broad Church on Netflix (Yes, we have to run the subtitles in English to understand what they are saying.)
Anyhow, there is an episode in Season 3 where two ladies have a disagreement and Lady A tells Lady B, "Well dear, like they say in America, F*** Y** Petal" and proceeds to extend the middle finger and show it to Lady B.
My first question is, "Which of all that is uniquely American?" The words, the finger, both? Also, they've used the word Petal a few times now. My second question is "What is a petal?"
CH-47 thanks you in advance!!!
Sean, I do agree that the passage of time hasn't been kind to Howard.
ReplyDeleteCharlie, I don't think there's anything uniquely American about either the phrase or the gesture. As far as I'm aware, "Petal," is just a term of endearment, like, "Sweetheart," or, "Pumpkin." However, if said in a suitably hostile sentence, it can become an expression of contempt for the person who's being addressed.
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ReplyDeleteMy guess would be that the 1940 version of The Thief of Baghdad influenced the depiction of genies in later movies and cartoons.
ReplyDelete"F--- You" and the middle finger are common gestures of contempt in the US, but I have no idea if they are uniquely American. And I never heard "petal" used as a term of endearment or insult before today.
Ahoy Charlies - I would say the finger is American; the tradition in the UK is to use two fingers, to "flick the Vs" as they say.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the words go, Steve is right about "petal" but I'd add that its a very north English term; so with "F--- You" being about as universal an expression as you'll ever hear, I think what you're dealing with is an ironic comment based on perceived notions of American brashness and British reserve.
Which, in typically British fashion, are completely at odds with reality - Americans are generally very polite and well mannered whereas the Brits are often quite full of themselves. Uh, no offence to anyone intended.
-sean
Ahoy Steve!
ReplyDeleteAhoy All!
Thanks for the insights. I do hope I don't irritate anyone by going off subject with my eternal inquiries into the world of the UK. But hey, the UK is like the world's biggest rock star to the USA. If you have a UK accent in the USA, you're automatically the smartest person in the room!
Well, as we were watching another episode of Broad Church last night, my French wife (she's been in Chicago land for 28 years now. Ouch!) wondered if persons in the UK had difficulties understanding themselves on the television at times? This DI "Alec Hardy" on Broad CHurch has a healthy accent at times and it's funny how what we hear, and what the subtitles say, are totally different, lol!
My most aggravating show was always X FIles b/c Inspector Mulder mumbled so dang much!
From the Arabian Knights cartoon, I still regularly use the amended insult."Brain of an Ant"
ReplyDeleteTorpedo certainly featured in DD around the time Uri Geller also featrued (looked it up issue 126)
And in line with my liking odd heroes was a favorite for a short time, along with Bloodstone, jack Of heart etc.
Unfortunately those comics went with my parents tidy up of my bedroom....
Huh, not having seen it, I just looked up Broadchurch online - for some reason I had it in my head it was set up north, but apparently its in Dorset... do they say "petal" in Dorset?
ReplyDeleteCharlies - do you have difficulty with all British accents? Surely they don't have subtitles for Captain Picard on US tv?
-sean
See! The captain of the ship has that uk accent!
ReplyDeleteWe turned on subtitles for all shows to read what we can't hear because it's fashionable to mumble now. But for UK shows, and I know several people who do this, we use the subtitles because we can't understand at times, though we hear just fine lol.
I guess DI Hardy is from Scotland and I play soccer with a couple guys from Scotland. They can be challenging to understand when they get excited and start yelling, lol. One time we actually stopped a game when One started yelling because we didn't understand a thing and we were concerned. Two peoples seperated by a common language indeed! Lol!
But but surely Captain Jean Luc Picard has a strong French accent, what with him being a dyed-in-the-wool Frenchman from France.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, British people don't have trouble understanding each other, although some of the stronger accents can be a challenge. Generally, people with the more impenetrable accents don't get onto television though. To British ears, the accents on Broadchurch are very very mild.
Sean, I have to say, as a northerner, that nearly everyone in Broadchurch sounds northern to me. They all sound like northerners trying not to sound like northerners, and failing.
Ant Master, when it comes to the loss of comics collections, parents have a lot to answer for.
I didnt pick up a french accent from Picard. He sounded like Sean Connery to me. Maybe my ears are messed up?
ReplyDeleteWell, here in the USA you can hear differences in dialect too. But only in the deep south is it perhaps a little difficult to understand. And boy do you feel stupid asking them to repeat themselves 49 times.