Marvel In The UK

[MacNimon]

Issues 6-10 of MWOM from November/December 1972...

Issue 6 was my first introduction to the world of Marvel, when my cousin let me read his copy. He then gave me a few of his back issues before I set up an order with my newsagent a few weeks later...these early covers really bring back the memories for me

[Stephen Morgan]

...these early covers really bring back the memories for me

As they do for me it's the furthest I've seen back for many a year, but..........

I actually missed the first year of Mighty World of Marvel!!!!!!!!!

I don't know why, I was getting pocket money and doing little odd jobs, and getting £7.50 dole, I could easily have afforded to get them, but I just had no interest in getting them, until..... November 1973 I was out with some friends, they were clothes shopping, and we caught a train from Newport to Cardiff, this was quite a big thing for me back then, and by this time I was working in my first job. On Newport station I spotted the latest copy of Avengers Weekly in WH Smiths, no. 7 I think it was, I'll know when I see the cover, so I picked it up remembering the strips from way back with American Marvel and the days of Fantastic and Terrific. So I started getting the title weekly, aware by this time that I'd missed out on quite a few weeklies.
One afternoon while browsing through Newport market I espied a stall selling back issues of comics, this became my opportunity to fill in some of the back issues that I'd missed, and so for the best part of 1974 and 1975 I enjoyed picking up piles of them, and getting a good collection of American titles in the process, while still getting all the latest titles. I remember one hot summer's afternoon in 1975 sitting out in the hot sunshine becoming enthralled in the saga of The Vision in The Avengers weekly, and for the next six or seven years became a major fan of Marvel, but by 1982 many of the titles had caught up or gone monthly, and for some reason the newsagent I had been geting them from regularly started winding down his business and the titles were getting harder to get.
I still have all my old comics, I've said here many times they're in the attic at my parents house, I'd like to be able to find the time to go through them again, it would be a massive job, but I know I'd enjoy it, in the meantime I'm enjoying slowly going through some discs that were sent me a little while ago, for me at the moment that's the next best thing, so I'm currently enjoying the saga of The Avengers and The X-Men, and taking it gently too.

[MacNimon]

Was this the one, Stephen?



It'll be a week or two before we reach The Avengers, but what I remember most about those early issues is the fancy glossy covers which seemed like a big deal when everything else was printed on plain old-fashioned newsprint! The glossy covers became commonplace a few months later though once Marvel adopted that style for all their titles.

The covers for MWOM 11-15, Dec 1972/Jan 1973

[MacNimon]

And here are the next 4 issues, which you could really say was the end of Phase One in Marvel's attempt to crack the UK. The line-up in the title was about to change with the following issue, and they were about to double their output with a title which is still running today (although it has been relaunched a couple of times losing its original numbering)

[Stephen Morgan]

Was this the one, Stephen?

NO!! It was actually no. 6. I've just been looking online for it (Google search is a wonderful thing when you need it) The one with Wonder Man on the cover. My memory's not at fault, I did buy it in November '73, it was a week or two old when I eventually got it. Now I think of it it was the glossy cover that attracted me to it, and the one reason I'd ignored the previous comics was the rather faded, drab looking newsprint covers. They became much more attractive when they all went glossy.

Incidentally, were you ever a member of FOOM! ?

[MacNimon]

NO!! It was actually no. 6. I've just been looking online for it (Google search is a wonderful thing when you need it) The one with Wonder Man on the cover. My memory's not at fault, I did buy it in November '73, it was a week or two old when I eventually got it. Now I think of it it was the glossy cover that attracted me to it, and the one reason I'd ignored the previous comics was the rather faded, drab looking newsprint covers. They became much more attractive when they all went glossy.

Incidentally, were you ever a member of FOOM! ?

No, Stephen, I wasn't. I remember desperately wanting to join, but my parents thought it was "a lot of nonsense and a waste of money", so that was that! It remained largely a mystery to me in those days, like a secret society where I was on the outside trying to see in

Covers from February 17th - April 7th, 1973

Daredevil replaced Spider-Man, who got his own spin-off title, in issue 20 of MWOM. Spider-Man Comics Weekly featured a full-length Spider-Man tale, with shorter Thor strips as back-up.

Many of these covers bring back memories for me, particularly the ones with Daredevil on them in his original red and yellow costume. Also the Fantastic Four cover with The Red Ghost is one that has stuck in my head since that time. I clearly remember being gripped by the Hulk story unfolding throughout this sequence of MWOM issues...not that I was aware of it at that time, it was by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, but it had Bruce Banner apparently being killed but the Hulk was still alive...instead of trying to kill the Hulk as usual they had to try to keep him alive to save Banner. A pretty simple story by todays standards, but gripping stuff for an 8-year old in those days!

The 3rd issue of SMCW was the first one I ever saw. Local newsagents always seemed to be late on picking up on new comics, rarely getting them from the first issue (even when they were ordered). This was a problem which continued throughout the 70s

[Stephen Morgan]

That first Daredevil cover just sent a shiver down my spine when I saw it. It's so long since I saw that one, but seeing it there then took me right back.

[MacNimon]

I know what you mean. That's how I feel about many of these early covers, until recently I haven't seen them for almost 40 years.

[MacNimon]

The next 4 weeks of MWOM & SMCW...

[Stuart Wallis]

I was under the doctor with a touch of the FOOM once...

Mysterio! He was my favourite villain on the old Spiderman cartoons that ITV used to show 30-odd years ago - all that vanishing in a puff of smoke, and a head that wasn't a head; spooky and great at the same time.

[MacNimon]

Covers from April 14th-7th June 1973

MWOM issues 28-35 and SMCW issues 9-16

[MacNimon]

Covers dated from June 14th - July 28th, 1973

MWOM issues 36-43, SMCW issues 17-24

You'll notice that MWOM changed the cover logo with issue 38, adding a 'starring the Incredible Hulk' byline which would remain (along with others) for practically the comics entire run. At this point in time MWOM had done away with a third character and were currently running a Hulk double bill backed up by the Fantastic Four. This line-up began back in issue 29 (which must have been the 'exciting news for Hulk fans' banner on the cover of issue 28 - posted yesterday) and ran for several months. Not to worry though, that didn't mean there would be a shortage of characters appearing in the titles for long...as you'll see in the next post.MWOM would soon be taken over by a whole bunch of new characters for several issues, preceding the lauch of a third weekly title which was in the works at this time.

[MacNimon]

Covers dated August 4th - Sept 15th, 1973.

MWOM issues 44-50, SMCW issues 25-31

Issue 46 of MWOM would see the title put the regular solo adventures of the Hulk on hold for a few weeks. Not that this meant that the character would be missing from the pages, but rather they used it as an opportunity to introduce the Avengers, a series in which the Hulk was initially an important character. These few issues were used as something of a preview, as (although it hadn't been announced at this point) Marvel's third UK title, The Avengers, was being planned for release in just a few weeks time, coinciding with MWOM issue 51.

[MacNimon]

Covers from 22nd September - 13th October, 1973

MWOM 51-54, SMCW 32-35, and Avengers issues 1-4

Marvel's UK output was obviously deemed to be a success (something which couldn't be guaranteed simply because much of the material had already been reprinted several years earlier - however this didn't seem to affect sales in the slightest), because at the start of September 1973, they expanded their UK line to 3 titles. Not only did they add a new title, but it was also a new publishing format. The Avengers had glossy covers, with the interiors being all b&w artwork (the 'spot colouring was also being phased out of theother two titles by this time). Each issue of The Avengers featured a full-length Avengers story, initially by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (later replaced by Don Heck) with Lee and Steve Ditko's Doctor Strange appearing in the back-up slot. MWOM reverted to starring the Hulk and the Fantastic Four, also introducing the X-Men around this time.

[Stuart Wallis]

Marvel's UK output was obviously deemed to be a success (something which couldn't be guaranteed simply because much of the material had already been reprinted several years earlier - however this didn't seem to affect sales in the slightest)

Quite! I'm fairly sure we've seen the cover to Avengers #4, or something like it - already.

[MacNimon]

Covers dated October 20th - November 24th, 1973

MWOM 55-60, SMCW 36-41, Avengers 5-10

[Stephen Morgan]

A few more shivers down the spine moments there, especially that last Avengers one. Don't know about the unexpected final panel, it was breathtaking enough as it was.
The Incerdible Hulk one with The Mandarin is a good one too, funnily enough I was thinking only last night about that character.
There are more than one or two classic covers there, especially the Spiderman/Lizard cover, and that Kraven the Hunter one, those "deadly blast rays" appear to be coming out of his nipples.

[Stuart Wallis]

I've known a couple of women like that...

[MacNimon]

[Stuart Wallis]

How precognitive is the cover of Avengers#11!

[MacNimon]

[Stuart Wallis]

The Brute, eh? A period Marvel monster if ever there was one!

[MacNimon]

Both MWOM and SMCW changed to the same glossy cover format as The Avengers at this time, with issues 67 and 48 respectively

[Stuart Wallis]

Grey Hulk, Green Hulk, Red Hulk, and now Orange Hulk! "Jaffa Cake Smash!"

Definately like that Egyptian-looking Sandman costume.

[Alex]

There's some lovely stuff here Kenny, thanks for doing all of this. I have to say I'm disappointed in "The Lizard" though - everyone else gets cool names, but his is just rubbish...

Out of interest, was 5p considered expensive back then? As in, what else could you buy for that sort of money? It's just that I look at comics now, and okay they're printed on better paper and the colouring looks amazing these days, but they still seem really overpriced to me.