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I'm not sure anyone would label December 1975 a vintage year for movies but it did see the release of such never-to-be-forgotten offerings as The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, Emmanuelle 2, The Man Who Would Be King, Carry On Behind, Breakheart Pass, The Hindenburg and Hustle.
I do believe I've not seen any of them. Not even Carry On Behind. Therefore, I shall leave it to others to pass judgement upon the status of any of those films in relation to the firmament of cinema history.
Covers that feature their star standing atop a pile of his foes tend to be reserved for barbarians, especially those of the Conan variety but, not to be outdone by the likes of them, Adam Warlock goes for that epic trope!
Exactly what happens inside, I'm not too sure but I do believe it to be the penultimate episode of his war with his future self.
Weird Wonder Tales brings us an Ed Hannigan cover we'll never forget, when The Totem strikes!
Which does raise the obvious question of who'd win a fight between The Totem and Tomazooma the living totem.
Personally, judging by that cover, I'd go for The Totem.
But, until we get the answer to that fateful question, I can tell you that, in this issue's lead story, the titular tower of timber terrifies two convicts into a state of shock - and then goes on a rampage through a reservation and its nearby town!
After that, we encounter Taboo! The Thing from the Murky Swamp!
And then we must survive a story called The Great Disappointment which I am sure will not live down to its title.
Especially as it involves a Soviet expedition to the moon, which ends with the cosmonauts being eaten by it!
And it seems American scientists knew all along that the moon is alive. And that's why they allowed the Soviets to get there first.
What a bunch of so-and-so's.
Needless to say, all these melodramas are reprints from Marvel's pre-Fantastic Four era.
Marvel Spotlight brought us the adventures of the Son of Satan.
And, now, Marvel Premiere brings us the adventures of his sister!
And it would appear this issue's main adventure involves our anti-heroine preventing someone called Dansker from destroying the world, in his attempts to escape from Satan.
Meanwhile, the backup strip is a reprint of her first-ever appearance, as sourced from 1973's Vampire Tales #2.
It's the only issue of the Inhumans' mag I ever owned.
But what an issue, as our idols must do battle with a bunch of ancient giant robots from space, which emerge from the ground and insist on swallowing members of their race.
Marvel has already given us its senses-shattering adaptation of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.
And, now, it brings us its take on his earlier 7th Voyage.
As we all know, this involves a Cyclops, a Roc, a dragon and a living skeleton.
Not to mention an evil sorcerer, a beautiful princess and a sad genie.
Satana may have landed a starring role in Marvel Premiere but her brother only goes and bags himself an entire comic of his very own.
And in what style he launches it, as he pays yet another visit to Hell.
Only to discover it's not the happy and contented place it normally is.
And I close with a rare visit to Spidey Super Stories, as the web-headed wonder encounters Shanna the She-Devil who's dressed slightly more modestly than usual.
Beyond that, I can say little, other than that the pair encounter a villain called the Trapper.
From that name - and the presence of Shanna - I'm going to assume he's been poured from the same mould as Kraven the Hunter.
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5 comments:
Of those movies, I’ve only ever seen THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING, many years ago, and remember thinking it was pretty good. I’ve always been curious about SHERLOCK HOLMES’ SHORTER BROTHER but have never quite managed to take it for a spin. One of these days, maybe.
Is this the issue of WARLOCK where Thanos DOESN’T physically fight The Magus, despite what the cover seems to promise? I enjoyed the series very much at the time, but the individual issues all rend to blur together in my memory.
b.t.
That should be ‘Sherlock’s SMARTER Brother’…..
b.t.
Prowler, living in a small town and not the hub of civilisation, did not get these movies till much, MUCH, later... Prowler remembers The Apple And Dumpling Gang and Jaws. Prowler went with all the cousins to see Jaws on Christmas Day!!!
Prowler is pushing PUBLISH... NOW!!!
Prowler, Jaws finally arrived in MY local cinema in the summer of 1976, a whole year after it's original release in the USA.
The golden age of the Carry On films had definitely passed by the time Carry On Behind came out and they were reduced to hiring Windsor Davies because none of the Carry On regulars could be bothered anymore. The plot involves an archeological dig at a caravan site or something and obviously much hilarity ensues.
Interested to see The Electric Company on the cover of that Spidey book. A little research tells me this…
‘Marvel Comics and the children's television show The Electric Company had a significant collaboration in the 1970s involving live-action segments and a tie-in comic book series called Spidey Super Stories.
The TV Show Segments
Format: The segments featured the first live-action version of Spider-Man, played by puppeteer and dancer Danny Seagren.
Educational Goal: To encourage young viewers to read, this Spider-Man did not speak out loud but communicated using word balloons, similar to a comic book panel.
Characters: The cast of The Electric Company played the roles of various characters and petty criminals in these short skits, with another cast member (notably Morgan Freeman as Easy Reader, among other roles) serving as a narrator.
Style: The segments used interspersed comic book panels in lieu of special effects due to budget limitations. Viewers were often addressed as "true believers," a nod to Stan Lee's writing style.
The Spidey Super Stories Comic Book
Following the character's success on the show, Marvel Comics launched the Spidey Super Stories comic in 1974.
Target Audience: Aimed at younger readers, the series featured simplified stories and art.
Crossovers: In an unusual twist, the comics featured Spider-Man and his classic villains mingling with characters from The Electric Company, such as Easy Reader and Fargo North, Decoder.
Guest Stars: The series also included guest appearances from other major Marvel heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and Doctor Strange, and even notable villains like the Green Goblin and Thanos.’
Weird.
The only one of those movies I’ve seen is Man Who Would Be King, which I came to quite late and was expecting to really like but somehow didn’t. I’m still a bit puzzled by that.
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