Thursday, 13 March 2025

March 15th, 1975 - 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
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Change was not to be found atop the UK singles chart, this week in 1975.

And that meant good news for those who like songs to be spoken, rather than sung.

And that's because If by Telly Savalas was still ruling the roost.

Change, was, however, being visited upon that week's British LP chart, with Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti entering at Number One.

Following that thrilling summation of the mid-1970s music world, let us see just what our favourite weeklies are offering us.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #109, the Black Widow

They're offering us the Black Widow in a brand new costume when Madame Natasha goes full-on Emma Peel and decides to celebrate by tackling her male counterpart.

Meanwhile, in China, Iron Man's got plenty on his plate, thanks to having been abducted by the Mandarin and having to tackle the towering terror of Ultimo.

And not only that. Back in America, Senator Byrd's shut down Tony Stark's factory, having decided the billionaire's in contempt of Congress by not showing up to an official hearing.

On the streets of New York, Thor's battling a Destroyer reanimated by the spirit of Sif.

The good news is Odin's finally seen sense and restored the thunder god to full power.

The bad news is that's likely to do him a fat load of good against the Destroyer.

Marvel UK, Avengers #78, old vs new

From that cover, I do suspect we're encountering the first part of the story in which the
Avengers return to the present day, after their trip to the 1940s. 
Only to discover they're now in a timeline in which the original team have wiped out all other super-doers, on behalf of a mystery benefactor called the Scarlet Centurion!

And it's double trouble for them because, this week, they're also in action against Ymir and Surtur, thanks to having received an invite from Dr Strange to help him tackle the antipodal giants.

I do believe this tale redraws the Vision as Thor, in order to avoid confusing UK readers who've not yet been introduced to the amazing android.

Sadly I'm not totally sure just what Shang-Chi's up to this time round.

I'm sure, though, that it'll involve assassins.

And Fu Manchu.

And philosophising.

Marvel UK, Dracula Lives #21, Blade

Blade gets his first cover appearance.

And, as we can tell, he's confronting the king of the vampires on a cruise ship.

Elsewhere in the world of monsters, Jack Russell's captured by someone called Swami Rihva and put on show in his travelling circus.

Then, Frankenstein's Monster is cheated of his revenge against the last living Frankenstein.

And, finally, this issue, George Alec Effinger and Billy Graham present a one-off thriller in which the best athletes of Westfield Heights High School are struck down by an unknown illness.

This is, of course, reprinted from the pages of 1972's Journey into Mystery #2 and I'm going to guess the mystery "illness" is none other than vampirism.

Marvel UK, Planet of the Apes #21, Evolution Nightmare

I do believe we're set to discover, within, the latest instalment of the thriller in which an injured gorilla and human must team up if they're to survive the harsh environment in which they find themselves.

That's followed by an interview with Dan Striepeke, head of 20th Century-Fox's Make-up Department, about his role in the making of the Apes movies.

And that's followed by Marvel's adaptation of Theodore Sturgeon's Killdozer in which a humble earth-mover gets ideas above its station and goes on a homicidal rampage across an obscure island.

Mighty World of Marvel #128, Hulk and Jarella

I could be wrong but I suspect Jarella doesn't really die in this tale. 
Sadly, I don't think her would-be assassin is quite so fortunate as her.

Elsewhere, Daredevil's still blind and still having to thwart the threat of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

And I do believe the Fantastic Four finally win their tussle with the Cosmically-Powered Dr Doom, by tricking him into flying into the invisible barrier that prevents the Silver Surfer from leaving this planet.

The Super-Heroes #2, Silver Surfer, origin

As we can see, we're offered yet more of the origin of the Silver Surfer. How we shall gasp, as he saves his world from Galactus, only to become the herald of that very being.

And the X-Men must confront Magneto for the first time, thanks to him having taken over the missile base he took over last week.

Marvel UK, Savage Sword of Conan #2

Conan looking a bit ineffectual on that cover.

Thankfully, he's far more potent inside the book where he leads a group of humans in a rebellion against their ape-like masters.

Kull's also up to something but I'm not too sure what.

I do, however, know the story's called To Kill a King. So, from that, I shall assume someone's out to kill him or that he's out to kill someone else who happens to be a king.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looking at Spidey, Mike Oldfield's 'Shadow on the Wall' springs to mind. Of course, that cover idea's an old chestnut - but used more effectively here than say, on Marvel T-in-O # 91, with the Sphinx. In Emma Peel's final outing, when the audience finally met her referenced but not seen husband, he looked exactly like Steed. Does Natasha have a secret Spidey-lookalike husband, too? Neither MJ not the Black Cat would be pleased.

That monster on POTA needs a chiropractor!

Galactus from the 1977 card game ( but not as good! )

Phillip

Colin Jones said...

This week's Savage Sword Of Conan was my first ever Conan comic and my introduction to the world of REH.

Conan is captured by the Beast-Men and taken to their underground city where he starts a rebellion among the human slaves so the plot is basically Planet Of The Apes meets Spartacus.

Colin Jones said...

Obviously that means "Lair Of The Beast-Men" wasn't adapted from any of REH's stories.

Anonymous said...

Were these "beast-men" related to Thak, from Rogues in the House?
Conan regarded hm as a man, albeit a very powerful, ugly hairy one.
When REH wrote that, he probably assumed any pre-human hominids to be reflexively savage.
Like us!

My favorite line from that story is when Murilo and Conan, finding themselves trapped and at the mercy of a horrible, diabolical monster, ask Nobonidus what it was, he said simply, "That would be Thak."

Indeed it was.

Jesus, from the way we've been behaving, there's no hope for any ape in Africa.

M.P.

Anonymous said...

Buscema’s AVENGERS cover is just rippling with macho energy. That SUPER-HEROES cover looks pretty good for a cut-and-paste composite job. And I said a few weeks ago that the wild PLANET OF THE APES cover is much more exciting than the interior art and the story it illustrates. I still think that’s the case.

A few fun “new” tunes on Billboard’s Hot 100 for this week in 1975 :

#87 : “Autobahn” by Kraftwerk

#84 : “Young Americans” by David Bowie

And The Doobies hit #1 with “Black Water”

b.t.

Anonymous said...

Fellas! I just watched the lunar eclipse!
It was...pretty good.
To quote Leonard Nimoy from that episode of the Simpsons:
"The cosmic ballet goes on."

...Uh, okay, just lemme grab my coat and hat here...yep, 'scuse me...pardon me...

M.P.

Steve W. said...

MP, sadly, it was too cloudy, round here, to see the lunar eclipse. Every time there's a lunar eclipse, it's cloudy, round here. Every time the Northern Lights are supposed to be visible, it's cloudy. Every time there's a meteor shower, it's cloudy. Every time there's a comet, it's cloudy. Every time there's a solar eclipse, it's cloudy. It's like the world's water vapour is conspiring against me.

Anonymous said...

Astute readers now know that Charlie fawns ober Spidey 86 and Avengers KS #2.

Spidey 86 was the first comic book Charlie remembers consciously buying off a spinner rack when he was around eight years old. His grandmother was treating him At the local drugstore.

Avengers king size No. 2, simply caused Charlie’s head to explode when he saw the cover on a house ad in some random marvel comic.

It took a few years, but Charlie eventually bought this from Richard Alf who always had an advertisement in marvel for back issues. FYI, that richard Alf was a cofounder of the San Diego comic convention, the mother of all conventions.

Anyhow… Charlie is now concerned and frantic after reading BT‘s comments above that the cover is not originally drawn but a series of copy and paste?

Anonymous said...

Charlie:
Fret not — I was referring to the Galactus / Silver Surfer cover being a composite of two other Kirby /Sinnott images. As far as I know, the Old Avengers Vs. New Avengers brawl is just as Buscema drew it for AVENGERS ANNUAL 2.

b.t.

Anonymous said...

I guess the workers have arrived at Stonehenge to start preparation for the time change for British Summer Time. Sounds like a delicate but interesting job.

Anonymous said...

The schedule of human sacrifices to The Elder Gods may have to be updated.

M.P.