Week Ending

Mighty World of Marvel #6 It's winter in 1972 and Netflix won't start it's UK streaming service for another 40 years, but all is not lost because a trip to your local newsagent will furnish you with the satisfyingly analogue sixth issue of MWOM. And what does the newsprint bound herald of superhero goodness have in store for us...? Well the (still Rick Jones controlled) Hulk is facing-off with the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime. As lame as these criminal travelling entertainers might be, I have a bit of a soft spot for them as they featured in some of the later issues of MWOM I had as a kid. Though there is no denying that they are pretty rubbish here, with the Ringmaster's troupe being a fairly anonymous bunch of henchmen. The Circus of Crime are taken down with ease by the Hulk (despite the hindering control of Rick Jones) and a pair of proto X-Files FBI agents. Our protagonists leave the scene when the army arrive by means of one of the Hulk's prod

Mighty World of Marvel #5 Or the one where everyone gets new powers, gadgets, gizmos or outfits in their third outing. Reading these early tales all together, it is hard not to see a bit of a formula to the original issues. It was probably more organic than it feels when presented side by side but not necessarily a bad thing for any of the characters. As is now normal, the Hulk kicks of the issue with a story that feels like Stan and Jack may have had different ideas about what was going on. General Ross has a plan to banish Hulk to outer space, roping the unwitting (or witless) Rick Jones in as an accessory. Needless to say, the plan backfires with an even angrier Hulk returning to Earth. A Fantastic Four style cosmic ray shower preventing the daytime transformation back into Bruce Banner. Worse still, the new improved Hulk 2.0 seems to be under the control of the boy-idiot Jones. As promised last week, MWOM now has a letters page. My slightly less than charitable natu

Mighty World of Marvel #4 This week's issue of MWOM is notable for a couple of reasons, firstly; the cover art actually reflects the action in one of this week's stories, and secondly; someone at Marvel was given the keys to the art supplies cupboard and was not going to let the opportunity of unfettered access to a large stock of Zip-A-Tone pass them by... First out of the gate we have the conclusion of Hulk's battle with the Toadmen. Bruce Banner finds himself imprisoned for careless driving of a spaceship, and the equally awkward charge of treason. The Toadmen themselves are causing havoc while endlessly banging on about their magnetic technology and a plot to crash the moon into the Earth. Needless to say Hulk escapes jail, his transformation at this point still triggered by the sun going down rather than irritation at his wrongful arrest. The alien scheme is undone in a fashion reminiscent of an old Flash Gordon serial or a particularly poor episode of The Ou

Mighty World of Marvel #3 Let us transport ourselves back to October 1972 by means of TV show flashback, cue slightly vacant gaze and wibbly-wobbly fade-out... So, the third issue of MWOM has arrived in British newsagents, with a cover that, other than characters, has no relation to content, but what content it was. Origin stories dispensed with, we are now into reprints of our heroes' respective second issues, and we get to find out how Stan Lee handles the challenge of the tricky sophomore story. The answer would seem to be "Spaceships!" "Aliens!" "Alien spaceships!". The Hulk is facing the Terror of The Toad Men and looking a little more traditionally Hulky, courtesy of Steve Ditko inks on Jack Kirby's pencils. As protagonists go, the Toad Men are as rubbish as you would expect and a little too pleased with/obsessed by their magnetic technology. While The Hulk is looking more like his modern self (and now officially green) he is stil

Mighty World of Marvel #2 Well after the fanfare and excitement of last week's premiere issue, this week's edition shows up some of the weaknesses of the anthology format. Nice cover though. We begin with the second part of the reprint of The Incredible Hulk #1; having been dosed with gamma rays, teamed up with the annoying Rick Jones and gone on his first rampage (one of these things is much worse than the others) Dr Bruce Banner struggles to come to terms with his Jekyll and Hyde situation. Luckily a character called the Gargoyle has plans afoot to distract him from his introspection. One thing of note in this UK reprint, seems to be the avoidance of any reference to Soviets, Communists or Russia. I'm not sure if the original US story is the same or this was an editorial decision for the UK. Anyway, no sooner is the plot laid out, than it is wrapped up in a fashion that would make the producers of the Lost and Game of Thrones finales blush, with Banner curin