Thursday 23 May 2024

May 25th 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon
***

If you were a man looking to be startled, this week in 1974, the top of the UK singles chart was not the place for you. It was, after all, still dominated by the Rubettes' glam rock classic Sugar Baby Love.

You might, however, find more joy atop the UK album chart.

For, there, you would find that, at long last, the Carpenters had been dislodged - and dislodged by the not-at-all-likely figure of Rick Wakeman, fluid-fingered flaunter of capes, who had achieved dominance over all who lived, with his LP Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

Is it a good album?

That I cannot say, as I've never heard it but it had better feature a serious dose of dimetrodons or there'll be trouble.

The Mighty World of Marvel #86, Hulk vs Night-Crawler

Not requiring dimetrodons of any kind is the Hulk who's been sent to a dimension ruled by the Undying Ones, monstrous fiends who want to take over our world.

After a brief contretemps, the leaf-coloured lump-inflicter and the Night-Crawler both decide to take on the villains and it all leads to the captive Dr Strange being liberated, thanks to an act of self-sacrifice by Babs Norriss.

Also getting away from familiar surroundings is Matt Murdock. Determined to avoid his secretary, he does what any boss would in such circumstances and takes a round-the-world cruise.

And, wouldn't you know it, barely has the ship set sail than it's hijacked by pirates led by the Plunderer.

With true comic book logic, this can only lead to an encounter with Ka-Zar.

But just what is the jungle lord's connection with the Plunderer and how does it connect with his childhood?

And, finally, this issue, the  Frightful Four are back!

However, I think they may be on the brink of becoming the Frightful Five, as I do believe this is the tale in which the Thing quits his usual team and then gets brainwashed into joining its criminal counterpart.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #67, Jailbreak

Shock follows shock as Spider-Man helps a bunch of convicts escape the local jail!

Or does he?

Is he just out to trick them - and save their hostage George Stacy while hes at it?

Next, I do believe Iron Man concludes his battle with the evil Mr Doll by using his chest plate's search light to somehow remould the villain's Iron Man doll into something resembling his foe.

Thor, meanwhile, miffed at Tana Nile claiming she owns the planet Earth, sets off to her homeworld of Rigel - and is determined to reach it, even if he has to fight every step of the way to get there.

The Avengers #36, Shang-Chi vs the Man-Thing

If that cover wouldn't convince you to buy this comic, I reckon nothing could.

It's true. We get the clash of the martial arts titans we all wanted, as Shang-Chi finds himself up against the Man-Thing!

And, from what I can recall, it doesn't go at all well for our hero because he ends up getting stuck in the monster and carried around the swamp like a wally until he's rescued by a man who looks suspiciously like David Carradine.

Elsewhere, in between bouts of trying to woo the lovely Janet van Dyne, kill Goliath and defeat the Avengers, the Living Laser's now trying to overthrow the government of a South American country!

You have to hand it to him, he may fail at everything he does but he doesn't lack ambition.

And I do believe that, in Dr Strange's strip, we get the origin of the Ancient One which seems to involve a long-ago conflict with this issue's villain of the month Kaluu.

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

‘Fluid-fingered flaunter’….’leaf-colored lump-inflictor’…

Making sure we get our weekly allotment of alliteration, I see. Allow me to apply an appropriate amount of appreciative applause :)

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Charlie been following SDC a good while now and he still sees no obvious synergy in grouping someone like Kung Foo and Avengers in the same book. Really… Charlie doesn’t get it. It’s like Charlie enjoys hot dogs and Charlie enjoys chocolate cake but he wouldn’t mix them in the blender together.

Anonymous said...

Its a cultural difference, Charlie. You grew up with comics that were based on particular characters - sometimes with related back up features - and anthologies that were themed (war, romance, mystery).

Domestic British comics were pretty much all anthology titles, some of which were themed but many weren't.
So if you got, say, the IPC weekly Valiant in 1974 you'd be reading series as different as the Steel Claw, Robot Archie, Yellowknife of the Yard - about a Sioux geezer in London working for the cops (!) - Captain Hurricane, Leo Baxendale's Swots and the Blots, and no doubt something about football that I can't remember just now.
A couple of years earlier it included Star Trek stories, and in the
60s even reprinted Asterix the Gaul.

That kind of variety was normal. In comparison, the Marvel reprint titles all seemed to feature pretty similar stuff.
I suppose Shang-a-lang Chi was an outlier, but the series still seemed of a piece with the Avengers because... well, Marvel. Even when their stuff was notionally in a different genre it still all came across as fairly super-heroey.
A bit less so later in '74 with Planet of the Apes and Dracula Lives maybe. But only a bit.

-sean

Anonymous said...

Fair enough Sean. I do indeed see your point. Growing up with the UK’s DC Thomson xmas annuals, we did notice there is/was an incredible breadth of stories on offer from humor to adventure and we certainly came to expect that.

Colin Jones said...

And the Planet Of The Apes weekly in late '74 was MY introduction to Marvel!

Anonymous said...

I said the same thing last week Charlie. I grew up on UK weekly comics and yet Avengers and Shang Chi makes no sense to me. Of course, the David Carradine TV show was enormously popular at the time and I get making hay while the sun shines…

DW

dangermash said...

I'm with Charlie. Stick Shang Chinin a comic with Planet,Of The Apes, Conan, Dracula, Star Wars, whatever.

At risk of sounding like a 1970s letter writer, comolement Avengers and Doctor Strange with X-Men. Or put Captain America in MWOM and move Daredevil over.

Anonymous said...

What makes a good blend? With a theme, 'Savage Action' started well - The Punisher, Moon Knight, Dominic Fortune, Night Raven - mostly enigmatic, dark avengers. Yet MWOM also worked well with contrasting characters - Hulk, Daredevil & Captain Marvel (albeit Fury was crap!) 3 different levels of power? Hulk - v.powerful, Cap M - middling powerful, DD - not powerful, but agile & a skilled combatant? Or, 3 characters, all with good inking? Hulk - Ernie Chan, Cap M - Terry Austin, DD - Tom Palmer? When Captain Marvel was replaced by The Fantastic Four, the blend deteriorated (although I liked the FF in The Complete Fantastic Four!) Marvel Superheroes Monthly started very well, with Jim Shooter's Avengers, the Old X-Men vs the Avengers, & the Champions(?) - I forget. 3 super teams! Starting the 1979 Marvel Rev, certain comics had wildly diverse titles (Marvel Comic having the Hulk & Skull the Slayer, for example.) Then, when sales dropped...titles were canned & leftovers would form a new comic. Strangely, eventually having 3 leading titles in one comic - Spidey, Hulk & FF - didn't feel right, for me. The big characters - Spidey, Hulk - are better balanced out with a least one 'left field' character.

Phillip

Colin Jones said...

Nobody on SDC remembers Savage Action, Phil - we'd all stopped reading Marvel UK by then!

Colin Jones said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

"Remember 'Savage Action' - the dark avengers, the enigmatic soldiers of fortune? No? That's okay - because I'm talking to those that do!"

A little Jason Donovan choc ad quip!

Colin - So all my time reviewing 'Savage Action' on SDC fell on deaf ears, then? Sigh...Besides, Sean, Matthew, & DW read 'The Daredevils', which came AFTER 'Savage Action'! The treacherous tides & currents of comic reading can take readers in any direction!

Charlie - Today it's that cheese-chasing thing in Gloucestershire that you follow, every year!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

"Stick Shang Chi in a comic with Planet of the Apes, Conan, Dracula..."

Thats what Dez Skinn did during the Marvel revolution, dangermash!
Great minds and all that, eh?

-sean

Colin Jones said...

Phillip, I feel guilty now but rest assured I was reading your reviews even if I hadn't bought the comic they were referring to (which happened plenty of times) - you were reviewing the stories IN the comics and that was the main thing after all!

dangermash said...

That's a low blow, Sean 😂

Anonymous said...

Don't feel guilty, Colin! (I've had some issues, this afternoon, and shouldn't be so touchy!) I suppose in an anthology, like 'Savage Action', even if people haven't read the entire comic, they'll have separately read some of the titles, in U.S. editions. Matthew & Sean both followed Moon Knight, for example. Sean also knows Dominic Fortune, Night Raven, and Blade (& pretty much every other story I discussed!) Moreover, Charlie followed up on Moon Knight vs Bushman, in a facsimile edition of Moon knight # 1, and seemed to enjoy it every bit as much as I did!

Phillip

Steve W. said...

Don't worry, Phillip. I read your reviews and I'm sure other people did as well.

Anonymous said...

Cheers, Steve!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Phillip - why did stop your reviews?

Anonymous said...

Anon - I ran out of comics, going forward. I still have comics prior to the ones I reviewed (but I discovered SDC too late to post reviews of those!)

Phillip

dangermash said...

I'm so excited.

The missus is out for the evening at her best mate's daughter's wedding reception and I'm at home with the telly to myself. And at 9pm I get to watch The Fly. The original, not the Jeff Goldblum version. And I've just seen that there's an introduction at the beginning by Caroline Munro!!

Fingers crossed the intro is a repeat from the 1980s and not something recorded recently.

Anonymous said...

dangermash - It's Cellar Club!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Sounds like an exciting Friday night, dangermash - have a good one. And apologies for the Dez thing, which was probably uncalled for (sometimes I just can't help myself).

Steve, I was going to make a crack about 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' not needing dimetrodons as surely there'd be enough dinosaurs just with Rick Wakeman and his band.
But you know, that seemed unfair given that I haven't actually heard any of his solo records, so I thought I'd give 'Journey...' a try (yes, its an exciting Friday night at my place too).

I shall report back with my findings later.

-sean

Colin Jones said...

Phillip, when I said we'd all stopped reading Marvel UK I should have said we'd stopped reading the WEEKLIES because even I continued to buy the monthlies and pocket-books until well into 1981.

Colin Jones said...

Michael Gove and Andrea Leadsom are standing down at the election - two more rats leaving the sinking ship. I heard the vile Iain Duncan-Smith insist that "this election won't be another 1997" but the actions of his fellow MPs in quitting before they are sacked suggests otherwise.

Apologies for mentioning the election but somebody's got to!

Matthew McKinnon said...

It was something recorded recently.
She’s doing a regular slot on Talking Pictures introducing old horror movies.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the Fly, I didn't finish it, but Andre was Felix, from the second Timothy Dalton Bond film. He was about 30 years younger, but his voice gives him away!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Philip

Yes, Al Hedison. Best know (in DW land) from Voyage to the bottom of the sea.

DW

Anonymous said...

Fun fact: Lu Sun looks even more ‘suspiciously like David Carradine’ in the UK AVENGERS 36 printing of the story. In the almost simultaneously published MASTER OR KUNG FU 19, someone slapped a droopy moustache on him to disguise the likeness. Since Carradine and Warner Bros Television didn’t sue Marvel, that hastily-drawn moustache must have fooled everyone.

b.t.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Charlie enjoys so many UK sports:


Gloucester Cheese Rolling in May (no fatalities yet!)

Hedge Laying (Regional then National)

Bog Snorkeling in August

Conkers in October

Pie Eating in December (Savory, not fruit)

Anonymous said...

Charlie - What about wife-carrying?

Phillip

Anonymous said...

DM- did you enjoy The Fly?!

Anonymous said...

Phillip… Charlie is old-fashioned. He liked the “drag the wife by the hair” contest waaaay more than wife carrying!

dangermash said...

Oh, The Fly is quality.

It also makes a nice easy fancy dress costume. Just wear a labcoat, keep one hand in your pocket, put a towel over your head, drink through a straw and don't talk to anybody all evening. If you have the sort of friends who won't try to whip off the towel, you don't even need to make a mask or a fly leg glove.

The big downer, though, was that it was introduced by an older, more mature Caroline Munro than I was hoping for.

Anonymous said...

With Vincent Price in, I expected deadpan humour. But, disappointingly, it was played completely straight.

Some stiff's trouser leg was rolled up, revealing his gashed calf. Had his calf sock- suspenders, with Vincent Price giving the viewer a sidelong glance, that scene would have been absolutely hilarious! I was disappointed. Equally funny would have been bicycle clips on the stiff's trousers.

I suppose, Andre typing out memos to his wife, along with emphatic pointing gestures (oh, and knocking to indicate yes & no), was rather entertaining.

Charlie would have liked it, as everyone had French names!

Phillip

Anonymous said...

Rishi Sunak's announced he's bringing back National Service. It's the most pitiful & pathetic UK election campaign since records began. What other 1970s far right crap can you dredge up, from the bottom of the barrel? Bring back Borstels - a short, sharp shock? Are the Tories going to reincarnate Enoch Powell, too, like a Frankenstein's monster?

Phillip

Colin Jones said...

According to The Guardian this election was going to be the nastiest and dirtiest election ever but so far it's been a crashing bore. The "national service" idea just shows how panic-stricken the Tories are.

Anonymous said...

Charlie is still waiting for YouTube footage of today’s cheese chasing contest! For the time being he is still content to watch last years’s races on YouTube.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the World Black Pudding Throwing Championship in September, Charlie, when Lancastrians mark their historic 15th century victory over the Yorkies.

Steve, I checked out Rick Wakeman's 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', and can now answer your question about whether the album is any good. No it isn't.
Admittedly I was always going to be put off by Wakeman being a member of Yes. But he also had a history as a session player - I believe that's him on Bowie's Space Oddity - so I was hoping that maybe he'd have gone for populism, and a sort of 'War of the Worlds' type prog-lite kitsch that could have some entertainment value.

But its even worse than the words 'recorded in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra and The English Chamber Choir, and narrated by David Hemmings' on the cover suggest.
The first six or seven minutes consist of the most ridiculously bombastic orchestral fanfares and whatnot you could possibly imagine, leading into a truly dreadful middle of the road rock song tarted up with pointless keyboard noodling. I then fast forwarded a bit - to a sequence with some uptight unfunky funk of the type that English prog acts seemed keen on in the 70s (don't ask me why) played on a clavinet while David Hemmings prattled on, backed by a choir - and then gave up.

So I'm afraid I can't let you know if there were any dimetrodons on the record. But if there were, I've little doubt they sounded terrible.

-sean

Steve W. said...

Sean, you definitely deserve some sort of award for services to music criticism. I think even Rick Wakeman speaks disparagingly of the project.

Colin Jones said...

Rick Wakeman supports the Tories but people like him are supposed to be rock'n'roll and anti-establishment.

Colin Jones said...

Mind you, the Tories themselves pretend to be anti-establishment nowadays!!!

Anonymous said...

In the 70s rock stars were successful young entrepreneurs who made a lot of money, so it's hardly surprising quite a few would be Tories, Colin.

Steve, I looked up 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' on the wiki, and apparently Wakeman put out a sequel - 'Return to the Centre of the Earth' - in 1999. Clearly he wasn't disparaging enough about the project.

-sean

Colin Jones said...

Even most of the comments on GB News hate Sunak's national service idea.

Steve W. said...

Sean, thinking about it, it might be Return to the Centre of the Earth that I've heard him being disparaging about.

Colin, it did strike me, looking at Twitter, last night, that I couldn't see anyone supporting the idea. Even the far-right loons that infest the place weren't rushing forward to support it - and they'll usually rush forward to support anything.

Anonymous said...


No one seems to have mentioned it, but the MOKF feature in Avengers came out almost the same time as MOKF#19 in the US.
Spirit of 64

Steve W. said...

Indeed. You can see why they started having to alternate Shang-Chi's strip with Iron Fist's in order to avoid running out of material.