Week Ending Dec. 23, 1972
Mighty World of Marvel #12
We have reached a dozen issues of Marvel UK's flagship comic, I had intended to give a respectful shout out to the original owner of my copy, a young Mr or Miss Waids, whose name and house number has been recorded for posterity in biro upon the cover by a long forgotten newsagent. However, as the little brat saw fit to cut a random panel out of this week's Hulk strip, he or she can get stuffed.
Has the wanton vandalism of the demon-spawn of the Waids household ruined this week's installment of the Hulk's adventure? In short; no. This story was in trouble long before the ravages of a scissor-happy child of 70s Britain got their hands on it.
Continuing the reprint of Incredible Hulk #6, which was to be the last issue of the green goliath's original eponymous title, given how none of the preceding stories have managed anything like consistency or a greater hook than the Jekyll and Hyde set-up, this is not much of a surprise. I'd love to say this story takes the Hulk out on a high but that really isn't the case. The Metal Master is defeated by the Hulk's rarely highlighted skill at making cosplay props, when he hoodwinks the alien antagonist with a cardboard and plastic bazooka painted to look like metal. And to think we were disappointed when a green Lou Ferrigno fought a fake grizzly bear.
We should be reading a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #5, in which Spidey takes on Dr Doom, but for some reason we skip straight to ASM#6, possibly because between last week's FF story and their following one, it was felt Latverian despots were over-represented. Still, at this point we don't have enough continuity to worry about mixing up whole stories, and the change is harmless. Peter and his spandex alter ego are whisked off to the Florida everglades to deal with the threat of the Lizard. Which is news to me, as I'd assumed that like most of Spider-Man's enemies, the scaled Dr Conners was a NYC resident.
No sooner have the Fantastic Four taken on their first two decent opponents, than they are faced with their combined powers. Yes, the Mole-Man and the Miracle-Man team up. I lie, it is Dr Doom and Namor the Submariner who get all tag-team on the FF. How different comic-book history might have been had Stan Lee ran with my suggestion?
In the few pages allotted to our super team, we get some plotting from the villains and the weird revelation that both Sue and Namor keep photos of each other. The Submariner arrives at the Baxter Building just as Sue's secret crush is uncovered by her teammates. If this doesn't end with her kidnap, I will be extremely surprised.
We have reached a dozen issues of Marvel UK's flagship comic, I had intended to give a respectful shout out to the original owner of my copy, a young Mr or Miss Waids, whose name and house number has been recorded for posterity in biro upon the cover by a long forgotten newsagent. However, as the little brat saw fit to cut a random panel out of this week's Hulk strip, he or she can get stuffed.
Has the wanton vandalism of the demon-spawn of the Waids household ruined this week's installment of the Hulk's adventure? In short; no. This story was in trouble long before the ravages of a scissor-happy child of 70s Britain got their hands on it.
Continuing the reprint of Incredible Hulk #6, which was to be the last issue of the green goliath's original eponymous title, given how none of the preceding stories have managed anything like consistency or a greater hook than the Jekyll and Hyde set-up, this is not much of a surprise. I'd love to say this story takes the Hulk out on a high but that really isn't the case. The Metal Master is defeated by the Hulk's rarely highlighted skill at making cosplay props, when he hoodwinks the alien antagonist with a cardboard and plastic bazooka painted to look like metal. And to think we were disappointed when a green Lou Ferrigno fought a fake grizzly bear.
We should be reading a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #5, in which Spidey takes on Dr Doom, but for some reason we skip straight to ASM#6, possibly because between last week's FF story and their following one, it was felt Latverian despots were over-represented. Still, at this point we don't have enough continuity to worry about mixing up whole stories, and the change is harmless. Peter and his spandex alter ego are whisked off to the Florida everglades to deal with the threat of the Lizard. Which is news to me, as I'd assumed that like most of Spider-Man's enemies, the scaled Dr Conners was a NYC resident.
No sooner have the Fantastic Four taken on their first two decent opponents, than they are faced with their combined powers. Yes, the Mole-Man and the Miracle-Man team up. I lie, it is Dr Doom and Namor the Submariner who get all tag-team on the FF. How different comic-book history might have been had Stan Lee ran with my suggestion?
In the few pages allotted to our super team, we get some plotting from the villains and the weird revelation that both Sue and Namor keep photos of each other. The Submariner arrives at the Baxter Building just as Sue's secret crush is uncovered by her teammates. If this doesn't end with her kidnap, I will be extremely surprised.
Comments
Post a Comment