Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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Summer is upon us!
Or, at least it was in May 1982.
That was when, it would appear, Marvel UK launched its unique range of summer specials upon us.
And what specials they were!
I don't know much about its contents, but I do know we get a free poster of our favourite space outlaws.
Sadly, nothing on the cover relates to that tale in any way, shape or form.
...only to discover that someone's duplicated him.
And the duplicate is actively hostile!
I do believe this one contains material from Fantastic Four #155-157 in which Doctor Doom drags the Silver Surfer into his latest scheme by convincing him that a Latverian woman is actually Shalla Bal.
And so it is that we get a Dracula summer special.
Sadly, I can shine no light upon what actually happens in it.
I'm sure, though, that there'll be plenty at stake.
But forget all those. Let's face it, this is the one you came here for, as Worzel Gummidge gets his first - and last - Marvel UK summer special.
I don't have a clue what's in it but it promises us 48 pages of fun for scarecrow fans and you can't demand any more than that.
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15 comments:
FF cover is lovely though prefer the more lithe Johnny Buscema Surfer look.
A 38-page epic with a Spider-Man on the cover swiped from the inside (and cover) of ASM #38!
That WAS Shalla Bal in that FF story though, wasn't it Steve?
It was all the other way round, with her being convinced she was a Latverian woman, no?
To my eye, that Dracula cover looks like the work of John Higgins.
Odd that Marvel UK would have splashed out on a painted original, when they presumably had access to quite a few from US Drac and Vampire Tales magazines. Especially as its not that great (and the terrible logo and typography would have killed off any atmosphere it might have had).
-sean
I don't remember, Sean. I just recall that there was some sort of identity mix-up involving Shalla Bal.
Steve, iirc Dr Doom found a Latverian woman who resembled Shalla Bal - don't ask me how he knew what she looked like - and convinced her she was the real Shalla Bal, but then she found out she wasn't... only it turned out she was actually Shalla Bal after all, and she carried on believing she was just some Latverian woman.
Something like that anyway.
Whatever, the Surfer got a cob on about it (did I get that right?) and moaned a lot.
-sean
That was a bad F.F. comic. Not their finest hour.
As far as Worzel Gummidge goes, I've said it before and I'll say it again: an animated scarecrow is terrifying. It goes against all laws of nature and God.
What were they trying to do, entertain children in the U.K. or scare the living $#!t outta them?
I don't care if he does look like Noddy Holder. Maybe that makes it worse.
Then again, we Americans had H.R. Puffinstuff, which was deeply disturbing to me as a child.
Ronald McDonald too. But they started phasing him out after that John Wayne Gacy business.
M.P.
MP Im with you… between Catweazle amd Worzel some things are just culturally different.
By this point I'd lost all interest in Marvel UK so I don't remember any of these Summer Specials but I love the Dracula cover and I must disagree with Sean about the "terrible logo and typography".
By coincidence BBC Radio 4-Extra recently broadcast a two-part adaptation of Bram Stoker's original novel which was very faithful but the American character, Quincey Morris, was dropped for some reason. Maybe the BBC budget couldn't stretch to one more actor?
Hulk’s sharpened chompers are kinda weirding me out.
b.t.
Thanks for all your comments. I'd say my favourite cover from those above is the Silver Surfer/FF one. The special that I'd most want to read would be the Spider-Man one.
Did anyone else find Worzel Gummidge removing and swapping his own head(s) really unsettling and creepy?
Dave, to my knowledge, I never saw a single episode of the show. However, I'm sure that, had I seen it as a small child, I would have been perturbed by that.
Then again, I was terrified by Rupert the Bear.
I feel I need to do a post about Rupert the Bear and its traumatising effect on me.
The only person I remember being traumatised by Rupert The Bear was my maths teacher, Mr. Dobb. He would wear checked trousers and we would all to the theme music behind his back. When he turned round we'd all stop. Then he'd turn back tont(e blackboard and we'd start again. I like to think we'd have done the same thing in the staff room if we were fellow teachers.
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