Week Ending Feb. 3, 1973

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Mighty World of Marvel #18


Issue 18 of MWOM offers up another cracking cover, even if the reproduction is a bit ropey and the added Spider-Man panel seems like an afterthought. It is the contents that are important though, so what does our five pence get us this week...?


It gets us the mighty figure of the Hulk fighting the Leader's Humanoid Horde, with Dick Ayers' inks adding much needed weight to Ditko's bandy-limbed pencils. A side effect of which is that everyone looks angry or sad, but it is a price worth paying. The Hulk's struggle is cut short by his now customary transformation back to Banner due to exertion or excitement, and it not long before he is captured by evil Bodavian forces lurking offshore in their submarine. Bodavia appears to be a clumsy edit for Russia, I had no idea that 1970s Britain was considered so sensitive about these matters. Anyway Bruce is spirited away to a Bodavian forced labour camp, where it takes his a shocking length of time to remember he is the Hulk, and he really doesn't need to put up with this kind of treatment.


We have an early contender for worst plot of the week, and frankly Spider-Man would have walked it if I didn't know what the Fantastic Four had in store. A giant super intelligent robot is brought to Peter Parker's school for a poorly thought out show and tell. To further complicate matters, Peter's teacher seeks to restore class discipline with an impromptu boxing match between Peter Parker and Flash Thompson. I for one would be very interested in seeing this school's Ofsted report.


Which brings us to the jewel in the crown: The Fantastic Four are bankrupt due to Reed losing their fortune on the stock exchange, the Submariner sees this as his opportunity for revenge by going into the movie production business and setting up his own studio. The FF accept his anonymous offer of a movie deal and hitchhike to Los Angeles in full uniform.

That is genuinely the plot of this issue. I have nothing amusing to add to it.

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