Week Ending October 13, 1973

 

As a kid in the 70s I would read all the Marvel weeklies cover to cover, multiple times before the next issues came out, plus 2000AD, my mate's copy of the Beano and any of the numerous, short-lived British comics that were available on any given week. Now, as an adult, during a pandemic with a limited number of social activities I can actually indulge in, I struggle to make the time to read three titles. So much for progress.

Mighty World of Marvel #54

Ron Wilson and Frank Giacoia give us a cover that is arguably more attractive than the one that adorned the original US story. Maybe one day the comic collecting mainstream will wake up to some of the hidden gems among these UK reprints and middle-aged Brits across the land will be able to retire on the contents of their lofts.

The Incredible Hulk: Above The Earth.. A Titan Rages! Reprinting The Incredible Hulk #106

There was clearly a lot going on in the bullpen when this story was originally knocked-up, Stan edits as Archie Goodwin scripts the first ten pages, Roy Thomas takes care of the second ten, Marie Severin provides breakdowns for Herb Trimpe on pencils and George Tuska's inks. Was Stan using this issue as some kind of try-out to see what would work for the title? Hulk had suffered a consistently volatile creative lineup, maybe it was an effort to throw everything at it and see what sticks. As we can't be far from starting Herb Trimpe's long run on the character, who is to say it didn't bear some fruit? As for the story, we get the continuing Missing Link romp, with some added Nick Fury. This is Fury's second Marvel UK appearance, and we get him in his full eyepatch and SHIELD glory with thankfully little exposition. We are also treated to a Soviet Nick Fury analogue, complete with his own helicarrier. It's an enjoyable story, Trimpe's art has a slightly cartoonish look, emphasised by bold inks, it will be interesting watching his work on the title evolve.

The Fantastic Four: And A Child Shall Slay Them! Reprinting The Fantastic Four #24

Last week I remarked how Stan seemed to be indulging his interest in 1950s science fiction movies with the first half of this story, the second half makes me realise how much Steven Spielberg must have shared that interest when he made E.T. Reed solves the problem of the superpowered alien child by calling its parents (nobody likes a grass Reed) and the infant is whisked away moments before it can end life on Earth with the mother of all tantrums. The artwork on this story is painful to look at, with just enough Kirby showing through to make you wonder what could have been, while George Roussos obscures Kirby's background technology, makes the Thing look like the contents of a builder's skip and gives Sue as many hairstyles as there are panels.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #35

Good use of the 1971 reprint Marvel Tales #30 cover rather than the ASM original here. They are both fine covers, but this Marie Severin/Sal Buscema effort just edges it for me.

The Amazing Spider-Man: The Horns of The Rhino! Reprinting The Amazing Spider-Man #41

Just a few weeks ago I mused that while Marvel UK had got away with presenting the Rhino's second appearance as his first in the pages of MWOM, how the hell were they going to pull the reverse off when it came to his first appearance in SMCW? Well, the answer to that little conundrum is.... easily. With little more than the addition of the word 'again' to a speech balloon, the Rhino is back for the first time. This appearance sees his Soviet connections shown a little more explicitly, with his mission to capture J. Jonah Jameson's astronaut son. John Romita seems to making less of an effort to ape the style of Ditko now, though that might just be the effect of Mike Esposito's inks, no bad thing though. This issue also sees the introduction of that unsung forerunner to the Spider-Mobile, Peter's two-stroke motorcycle. It may not be able to climb walls, but it does have a personalised number plate.

The Mighty Thor: If This Be My Final Battleground Reprinting Journey Into Mystery #115

Here we have the second part of Thor's showdown with the Absorbing Man, so it is pretty much all action and we get to see Creel's powers presented in their more traditional fashion, complete with him absorbing the properties of helium and floating off into space. It really isn't an Absorbing Man story unless he gets shot in the foot with his own power. Our tale ends with Thor returning to Asgard to face Odin and the Trial of The Gods.

Tales of Asgard: Heimdall Guardian of The Mystic Rainbow Bridge! Reprinting Journey Into Mystery #104

The earlier Tales of Asgard were delightfully visually driven, using Kirby's wonderful art to tell simple mythic tales, this week it is all a bit exposition and speech balloon heavy. Still a very enjoyable diversion though.

The Avengers #4

The figure of Thor may look simple, with an impressive economy of lines, but that is a complicated pose to draw and make all the proportions look perfect. Add in the Kirby-hands a go go on the bad guys and you have yourself an amazing cover.

The Avengers: Their Darkest Hour! Reprinting The Avengers #7

After what felt like some rushed, churned out early Avengers stories, this week's tale has the appearance of its creators spending a little more time on their craft. Stan appears to be making the effort to add depth to the team dynamic, rather than cobble together a cash cow, and Jack's art looks like he may have had a bit less on his plate when he was drawing this issue. Our story opens with Iron Man receiving a one week suspension for failing to answer an Avengers alarm. This is also an Iron Man who has already lost his pointy faceplate, how short-lived was that armour? While this takes place on Earth, Kirby pulls off a beautiful cinematic segue to a similar scene in Asgard as Odin banishes the Enchantress and Executioner to Midgard, where they waste no time in teaming up with Baron Zemo. While this is occurring, Captain America is employing a group of muscular men from the local gym to try to beat him up. If this weren't strange enough, he then gets very upset when Rick Jones dresses up in a Bucky costume that Cap just happens to have in his wardrobe. Did he have this when he was frozen in ice? Did he have it made after he was thawed out? So many unanswered questions that I am happy to have remain so. After a weird encounter with the Executioner who is impersonating one of Zemo's henchman, Cap makes his way to South America to track down his arch-enemy. This gives the Enchantress the chance to live up to her name and beguile Thor, convincing him via spells that the Avengers are his foes. This sets up a very impressive fight between the thunder god and his teammates. Despite the 'Thor ex machina' disposal of the bad guys at the end, it is a marked improvement in Avengers storytelling, leaving me eager for next week's issue.

Dr. Strange: The Return of The Omnipotent Baron Mordo! Reprinting Strange Tales #114

This story is the last of the first take on Dr Strange before he would experience something of a soft-reboot with his origin (we have already had this in Avengers weekly #1) while it still leans into the early horror story  look, it is a little softer visually, with Ditko presenting the real world with a spooky coat of paint rather than the full-on otherworldliness of the preceding stories, a short page filler that does little but highlight Stan's misunderstanding of the word 'omnipotent'.