Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Rumour has it that, fifty years ago this week, big things were afoot in the world of Marvel UK
But what were they and shall we encounter them in this post?
It won't. But we'll come to that later.
In our first tale, the Hulk's in the Himalayas but becomes Puny Banner just in time to be menaced by a local bandit chief. It all climaxes with Bruce and Glenn Talbot, seemingly, plunging to their doom.
Elsewhere, in his sensational origin tale, Matt Murdock saves a blind man from a radioactive lorry but is blinded by it and gains super-senses. Can he use those senses to avenge his boxer father's death at the hands of The Fixer?
I suspect he can, even though, despite the cover hype, this tale only seems to have four pages devoted to it.
Even more elsewhere, Doctor Doom returns from space and drops in on Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He then goes on to swap bodies with Mr Fantastic.
But what a terrible plan. Just think how much damage he could have done if he'd swapped bodies with Stan Lee, instead.
And this is the reason for Spider-Man's absence from Marvel UK's flagship title.
It's because he now has a mag of his own.
And what a mag it is. Not only bringing us an entire Spidey story every week but also regaling us with a Thor one, as well.
Not only that but we get a free Spider-Man mask, to boot!
Granted, it's just a red paper bag with eye holes cut in it but who cares about that?
Well, I did, for a start. I thought it was rubbish, even at the age of eight.
Anyway, inside this book, Electro decides to bust some criminals out of jail so they can help him with his latest crime spree.
The truth of FOOM is, at last, revealed!
And in Norway, a lame doctor bumps into an alien invasion, finds a stick in a cave, hits it on a rock, and things will never be the same again...
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24 comments:
Ah, the origin of Daredevil. Along with Matt Murdoch being blinded, his old man's death and the Fixer, were Marvel UK able to fit Elektra, Stick, the Chaste and the Hand into the four pages too, Steve?
Good to see from that MWOM cover that young Judo Jim Starlin had finally got the hang of drawing the Hulk and the Thing.
-sean
Something I've never noticed before - Daredevil's left-handed! This is confirmed by DD # 191, and the cover of the Daredevils! (recent SDC posts).
A theme of jumping out of circles, whether they be hoops or paper, seems to be shared on the two covers. Just stating the obvious.
Phillip
Phillip, if I remember right, in the issue where DD pretends to be Thor - in order to lure Mr Hyde and the Cobra out into the open - he suddenly realises he's holding the hammer in his left hand and that that could give away the fact that he's not the real Thor.
Sean, bizarrely, Elektra was totally edited out of the story. I can only assume Marvel UK had decided she must be a communist and, therefore, needed excising from the tale.
Steve - Yes, strange that Mike's hand preference gives away that he isn't Thor, not the giant pair of shades he's wearing on his face!
Phillip
February 17th 1973 was my 7th birthday so today is my 57th birthday :)
-Colin
Happy birthday, you pld rascal!
M.P.
...uh, that was supposed to be "old rascal." Bad typing!
That's it. I'm callin' it a day.
M.P.
Oh thank Odin it was a typo. I thought ‘pld’ might be Internet Abbreviation Slang for ‘plaid’ — and maybe ‘you plaid rascal’ was like saying ‘you Scottish scamp’ or something.
Anyhow, Happy Birthday, Colin.
b.t.
Happy birthday, Colin.
Happy birthday from me too, Colin - on this very windy morning! Hope you have a nice meal - or some other treat - to celebrate.
Phillip
Happy Heinz Colin.
I'm surprised DD devoured in MWOM in the same week SMCW started. I thought it soldiered on for a bit with just Hulk and FF in it and vaguely remember some letters in SMCW asking for a DD strip in MWOW. Maybe DD lasted a few issues and was then dropped for a while?
I think your right Dangermash, MWOM dropped DD around issue 33 and in its place featured 2 Hulk tales each week . I had forgotten about that, I can't remember when DD restarted in MWOM again though.
Happy birthday Colin have a great day.
Just checked my small stash of early MWOM issues. It looks like DD returned in issue 69
Happy Birthday CJ! Will you indulge in a PIms and a Pie? Or perhaps cake and ice cream? Regardless, enjoy the day! Doesn’t happen very often!
Only once a year, Charlie! Many thanks for all the birthday greetings :)
Happy Birthday Colin! Hope you had a good day, and indulged yourself a bit. A bit of good food, a bit of good reading, a bit of good music...
Happy belated Birthday, Colin. May every year extend on you in grace.
Sean-
I kinda liked how Starlin did the texture of the Thing's hide, as well as his Hulk. Always dug it when an artist would present the Hulk like a savage, deadly monster.
Almost anyone did it better than Our Pal Sal.
-Killdumpster
Dunno Kd - this is a definite improvement on his previous MWOM covers but I always thought Judo Jimbo drew the Thing's rocks too small, even as late as that Marvel Two-In-One annual with Thanos.
DW, good luck tomorrow. Unaccustomed as I am to wanting a West Ham win - probably almost as much as they are to actually winning - do the right thing and beat Spurs.
-sean
Oh, that reminds me - belated birthday greetings, Colin.
-sean
DW- Work your West Ham magic tomorrow buddy! Sooooo sick of hearing about the sad sack Hotspurs. Btw… what was a Hotspur again? I used to love the DCThompson Hotspur annual for xmas!
Sir Henry Percy, A.K.A. "Hotspur"! An English knight who fought in the Hundred Years War and against the Scots (which might make him less than popular with some around here).
I'm a history nerd, and it was a very interesting period, the 14th century.
In another words, it was a horrible time to be alive.
And very hard to stay that way.
Percy was nicknamed Hotspur because he rode his horse real fast. Ah, the English. They are nothing if not literal.
Sean's comment made me think about the Thing. Do his, ah, "rocks" as Sean so inelegantly put it, change over time? Well, yeah, Ben Grimm has mutated on occasion, turning back into his former granular state from the early days, and later becoming bigger, stronger, and rather pointy, for some reason. But during his usual state, does the plate structure on his hide change and look different?
I'd say it does. That would explain why he's never drawn exactly the same way. The plates shift. Like on Earth.
Also, every time he gets hit real hard, chips fly off. Particularly in the Kirby days. That would suggest to me that his hide not only changes but regenerates. Like normal skin, I guess.
My own hide has changed some since I got middle-aged.
M.P.
Yeah, everyone knows the Thing changes over time, M.P. - thats obvious from how he looked different in the early issues of the FF. Starlin still drew his rocks too small though.
Anon (Charlie?) re: DC Thompson's Hotspur. Thats from Dundee, not Tottenham. A completely different thing.
Also, I have to say that was a bit of a nerve wracking Arsenal game earlier. But never mind, they seem to have got over their recent wobble by the end of it. All's well etc etc.
-sean
Wait a minute… This is Charlie by the way. There is more than one kind of Hotspur in the United Kingdom? You guys are telling me that a Tottenham Hotspur is not the same kind of Hotspur in context of the Christmas animals are used to read 50 years ago? Is Charlie learning that a Hotspur is not necessarily a Hotspur?
This is really interesting. I mean a Chicago bull in context of the basketball team is the same as a red bull in the context of the drink. A bull is a bull Even though one is from Chicago and one is from Salzburg Austria.
Christmas annuals i used to read…. Regarding a Hotspur.
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