Tuesday 1 October 2024

Fifty years ago today - October 1974.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon
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Rain is currently falling wherever I look but just who was raining on our heroes' parades, fifty years ago?

Avengers #128, Necrodamus

Thanks to Agatha Harkness wanting to test our heroine's newfound magic powers, the Scarlet Witch finds herself locked in her bedroom and confronting the terrifying menace of Necrodamus.

It seems I once reviewed this issue.

And that you can read that review, right here.

Conan the Barbarian #43, Red Sonja

Red Sonja is back - and on her back - as our favourite tomb raiders discover a mysterious tower in the middle of nowhere and must endure a pair of sorcerers with filthy designs on their bodies.

It turns out I once reviewed this one, as well.

And you can read my review of it, here.

Captain America and the Falcon #178

On the other hand, you can't read my review of this issue anywhere - because I've never read it and have no idea what happens within, beyond the villain Lucifer showing up.

However, I do know its cover has strong hints of the one for the Smasher story-line from 1973's Amazing Spider-Man #116.

Daredevil and the Black Widow #114, Man-Thing

DD confronts the menace of Death-Stalker and the Gladiator in the wilds of the Everglades.

It all has something to do with the search for missing scientist Ted Sallis and a certain formula he was working on when he disappeared...

As it happens, I remember first reading this one in the Mighty World of Marvel 1977 annual.

And you can read my review of that book, right here.

Fantastic Four #151, Thundra

It can only be trouble for our heroes - especially Benjamin J Grimm - when Mahkizmo arrives from his other-dimensional world, looking to take Thundra back with him.

Hulk #180, the Wendigo

The Wendigo's back!

And, unless my memory fails me, that can only mean a certain future X-Man is about to make his debut.

In other news, the Hulk's in Canada and lured to a cave occupied by a man and woman who want to transfer the curse of the Wendigo onto him.

I can't help feeling that might be a terrible idea.

Assuming, that is, that they ever have the chance to fulfil it.

Amazing Spider-Man #137, Green Goblin

Harry Osborn's still being the Green Goblin - and has attached a bomb to Peter Parker's nearest and dearest.

But just which of his acquaintances is his nearest and dearest?

And can he get there in time to do anything about it?

Thor #228

I genuinely know nothing at all about this issue but my razor-sharp senses tell me Ego may be involved.

X-Men #90, Professor X is dead

"Not a Hoax! Not a dream! Not an imaginary tale!"

I could be wrong but doesn't it turn out that it is a hoax and Professor X is really alive and well and has decided to hide in the basement for the next five years?

You can't blame him. We've all done it.

But because even that might not be enough to keep the demanding reader happy, we're also treated to a second tale. One called Why Won't They Believe Me? and brought to us by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Seasoned Marvel enthusiasts may not be startled to discover it's the one about the man who accidentally uncovers an alien plot to take over the planet Earth.

Then tries to warn everybody.

And then discovers he's the alien and has been suffering from  amnesia!

And that he's just thwarted his own invasion attempt!

Is this the most reprinted Lee/Ditko sci-fi short ever created?

OMAC #1
That's all our favourite Marvel heroes covered.

But what of the superstars of the company's biggest rival? What were a random sampling of them up to in comics which bore the selfsame cover date?

Jack Kirby's latest creation makes his debut, as OMAC flings his way into our lives.

I remember little of this tale but I do know it involves the man we know as Buddy Blank becoming OMAC.

And that there's a woman in a box who's literally gone to pieces.

And that she might be called Lila.

Supergirl #10, Prez

OMAC's book may be making its first appearance but Supergirl's is busy departing the stage.

That said, it does bow out with style, as the Maid of Might encounters America's first teen president!

And I do believe she has to save the politician from multiple assassination attempts.

I also believe she succeeds, even through the tactic of using her X-ray vision in a way that X-ray vision couldn't possibly be used.

There's also a backup adventure in which a mad scientist creates a male clone of Supergirl, then uses him to rob banks!

And my review of this issue resides here.

Superboy #204, Legion of Super-Heroes

What's this? The Legion of Super-Heroes discover they possess a photo of a member no one can remember?

One who became a Legionnaire by outdoing Superboy?

How can this be possible?

it can be possible thanks to the wonders of time travel and future technology.

After that, we get a tale of high strangeness, as Brainiac is so lusty for Supergirl that he creates a robot replica of her.

But he does it in his sleep, which means he's totally unaware he's done it and thinks she's the real deal.

Fortunately, the real Supergirl shows up to sort it all out and totally fail to notice how weird the situation is.

My review of this issue may be found here.

Adventure Comics #435, the Spectre

The creepy crime crusher's supporting cast expands very slightly, as we meet Earl Crawford, a bespectacled reporter who's convinced that a supernatural force is dispatching the city's criminals.

Could he be right?

And can hard-nosed detective Jim Corrigan help him get to the truth?

Elsewhere, Aquaman has to contend with the latest scheme by the Black Manta who's putting Atlantean farmers to sleep with his mystery gas and then stealing their crops.

Action Comics #440

Nick Cardy produces another phenomenal cover - and it's for a tale in which villains try to convince Superman his dead parents think he's a failure, in order to demoralise him into abandoning his fight with crime.

Needless to say, that tactic fails, thanks to them making a simple but fatal error.

In our second tale of the issue, in a back alley, somewhere, the Green Arrow encounters a stray dog with strange powers and a talent for thwarting crimes.

Can it be?

Can it be that that dog can be none other than Krypto the Superdog?

I do believe I reviewed this issue here.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe I have all of these Marvels except HULK 180. I remember seeing copies of it going for 50 bucks or so sometime in the 90s and passed on it — I still wouldn’t pay 50 bucks for it today, even though it sells for as much as several thousand dollars now.

That’s some very nice “Leg Art” by Bob Oksner on that SUPERGIRL cover. Kirby’s “Leg Art” cover for OMAC #1, on the other hand …. YIKES.

b.t.

Steve W. said...

Thanks, Bt. :)

I can report that, this month, I had no Marvels.

I had 9 DCs:

Lois Lane #137
Ghosts #31
Kamandi #22
The Witching Hour #47
House of Secrets #124
Action Comics #440
Weird War Tales #30
Adventure Comics #435
Superboy #204.

And I had 2 Charltons:

Midnight Tales #9
Haunted #18.

Anonymous said...

Luis Dominguez’ cover for WEIRD WAR TALES 30 is excellent and the color is especially striking. Joe Staton’s HAUNTED 18 cover is also very eye-catching.

I didn’t buy this issue of KAMANDI (or the next) at the time, though I do remember seeing it in the spinner rack. I was totally digging Kirby’s 60s-era stuff being reprinted in MARVEL SPECTACULAR, MARVEL’s GREATEST and MARVEL DOUBLE FEATURE but I wasn’t quite sure if I really liked Kirby’s “new” work or not. Nowadays, the Red Baron / Inspector Zeel / Seaway stories are some of my very favorite Kamandi issues.

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Based on a suggestion by Sean at this very site a few months, or perhaps many months, ago Charlie did check out ONAC from his public library.

IT IS CERTAINLY WORTH A LOOK! I THINK THERE WERE MAYBE 10 ISSUES ALTOGETHER?

Anonymous said...

Well its obvious what the best comic was this month. The startling look at the world that (still probably) is coming that was OMAC #1!
"Where does humanity stop and technology begin? We don't know Lila"
What a brilliant series that was. Clearly too awesome for any of the issues to be reviewed by Steve...

b.t., I loved Kirby's new work back then. He got Kirbier and Kirbier over time - what was there not to like about that?
The next best comic that October after OMAC was Kamandi #22, with Teela the dolphin, and the return of Ben Boxer, Renzi and Steve.

-sean

Redartz said...

Ah, October. My favorite month; and October brought some good books back in 1974. That Conan issue was a great one; it being part one of a fine two issue tale. Was this Buscema's first rendering of Red Sonja?
Avengers, Hulk, FF and Spidey all good too. My, Gil Kane covers were certainly in evidence that month, were they not? The Daredevil cover is sharp, and the Avengers cover shows evidence of Romita inks...
On the DC side, Aparo continues his macabre mastery on the Spectre. And speaking of macabre, I found that OMAC cover pretty unsettling (and the insides as well). Like b.t., I was getting Klassic Kirby exposure from the reprints, and did find them preferable to his then-current output. Granted, some of that is due to the inks- Joe Sinnott, Chic Stone and even Vince Colletta seemed to give a more polished look than either D. Bruce Berry or Mike Royer (no disrespect to either of those gentlemen), to this reader at least.

Colin Jones said...

Two back-to-back classics in Tesco this morning - Pure (Lightning Seeds) and Fresh (Kool & The Gang)...

Pure and simple just for you...

Anonymous said...

sean, when I was 13 I thought Kirby’s newer art looked too stylized, kinda chunky and crude — and D. Bruce Berry’s inks didn’t slick up Kirby’s pencils as well as Royer had been able to do.

But gradually I began to appreciate his 70s-era stuff. And like I said before, I love that whole Seaway arc to pieces now, with Teela and Ahab and the Red Baron etc. I’ve even come to appreciate Berry’s inks — sure, he’s not as good as Royer, but close enough.

b.t.

Anonymous said...

I’ve never really warmed up to OMAC though, sorry to say. It’s better than his work on JUSTICE INC and KUNG FU FIGHTER so by default I can’t say it’s his “worst” DC book. But everything else — KAMANDI, THE DEMON, THE LOSERS all the Fourth World titles — I rate higher.

b.t.

Steve W. said...

Colin, yesterday, the indoor Moor Market in Sheffield had Black Betty playing on its PA, which struck me as unusually raucous for a shopping environment.

Red and Bt, I've always like Royer's inks on Kirby. I think they were the main reason my juvenile self preferred Kirby's 1970s art to his 1960s output.