Week Ending October 6, 1973

 

There was, and is nothing like that feeling of going into a newsagent and seeing the new issues of your favourite weeklies on the shelves, though I'm sure the kids of today have similar feelings about their favourite YouTuber dropping a new video, and heroin addicts have some pretty strong opinions about their dealer getting a supply of particularly good gear. But look at those covers, this would have been a hell of a week to be a Marvel UK fan.

Mighty World of Marvel #53

This Ron Wilson/Mike Esposito cover is not as good as the original Marie Severin/Frank Giacoia classic that was used for the original US story, I am not going to claim it is, because I am not an idiot. However, I am going to say it was the right call for 1973 Britain, sometimes a bit of excitement trumps high-art. 

The Incredible Hulk: This Monster Unleashed! Reprinting The Incredible Hulk #105

Messy UK continuity aside, the Hulk had been becoming a far more cohesive character recently, sure it still felt like nobody knew what to do with him or even cared much, but there was some progression. Well, that's all out of the window this week as Bill Everett and Roy Thomas take over scripting duties for what amounts to a King Kong vs Godzilla tale. The Hulk is in New York and taking on the threat of the Missing Link, a creature with the most unnecessarily complicated origin ever, frozen primitive man is resurrected and transformed by nuclear weapons test and becomes crystalline, radioactive monster who is passed by Communist China to possibly Russia, who use him as a weapon against the west. The two behemoths battle it out across New York with pencils by Marie Severin and the heavy inking of George Tuska. 

The Fantastic Four: The Infant Terrible! Reprinting The Fantastic Four #24

We hop back an issue or two in FF canon, so Stan can indulge in some literary allusion while channeling pulp monster movie vibes. A powerful but childlike alien being is on the loose and the Fantastic Four have to break off a public relations gig in order to handle the problem. It feels like a charmless re-run of the Impossible Man story, and nobody involved is putting in their best work.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #34

While not as iconic as last week's issue, this cover is still a belter. John Romita and Mike Esposito create an image that must have tempted the sweaty palms of a lot of young British comic fans.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Spidey Saves The Day! Reprinting The Amazing Spider-Man #40

Here it is, Spider-Man's (first) final showdown with the Green Goblin. Given the time taken to build this storyline, you would think that Stan could have come up with a more dramatic title. What is impressive though is the bold choice to have our hero captured and bound to a chair for most of the story, with Peter and Norman Osborn engaged in a battle of wits. Feels like a Spider-Man episode written by Quentin Tarantino. I am still loving John Romita's work, but can't help thinking that the bottled, character-driven nature of the tale would really have played to Ditko's strengths. Spider-Man faces down the threat of the Goblin plus the risk of having his secret identity revealed, and even manages to give Osborn the gift of amnesia. I am totally sure that Norman won't be any kind of danger in the future.

The Mighty Thor: The Vengeance of The Thunder God Reprinting Journey Into Mystery #115

After breaking away from his fight with the Absorbing Man, Thor returns to Asgard to give his little brother a slap for being a pain in the arse. The squabbling siblings disturb Odin, who reacts like a dad who works shifts, telling Thor he must face the Trial of The Gods. Jane Foster faints on cue. While totally prepared to take his parental discipline, Thor asks for 48 hours to return Jane to Earth and deal with the problem of the Absorbing Man. Surprisingly, instead of giving his son a thick ear, Odin agrees and once more the game is afoot.

Tales of Asgard: Death Comes to Thor! Reprinting Journey Into Mystery #102

Another short, but enjoyable story of the young thunder god, as he finally becomes worthy to lift his father's hammer. This is despite an early hint from some fortune-tellers that he may die before it happens. This turns out to be as misleading as a Sunday paper horoscope. The Lady Sif is held prisoner by Hela goddess of death, in a rage Thor snatches up Mjolnir (somehow not noticing this is despite his earlier concerns) and rides to the rescue, eventually offering up his own life in exchange. A deal that Hela declines, but Thor gets the girl and the magic mallet, not a bad day's work. The usual fun stuff from Stan and Jack, only slightly marred by the inks of Paul Reinman and some very unsubtle Zipatone shading.

The Avengers #3

After some nitpicking over the last couple of weeks about how the Avengers seemed a little dated compared to its older UK stablemates, this cover looked shockingly modern. It turns out that there is a good reason for this as it is taken from a 1971 reprint of the 1964 interior story. A smart choice, and I think Sal Buscema's first UK cover, though a can't be bothered to check that.

The Avengers: Meet The Masters of Evil! Reprinting The Avengers #6

The revived Captain America continues to cement himself as a major player in the new Marvel universe, though at this point relying on moping about his dead sidekick Bucky rather than his man-out-of-time shtick as his main hook. At the same time, the man responsible for Bucky's death, Baron Zemo, comes out of Nazi retirement in South America after hearing that his star-spangled enemy still lives. Say what you like about Zemo, but he is a great piece of character design. That purple hood with a fur collar and matching boots? That is a fierce look. After a quick recap of Zemo's origin, which cleverly gives the impression he has always existed in the Marvel universe, despite this being his first appearance, the Baron quickly assembles the first iteration of the Masters of Evil. While Zemo himself might be Rupaul levels of fabulous, his team are slightly less A-list, with the Black Knight, Radioactive Man and the Melter taking the fight to Earth's mightiest heroes. Aside from his superpowered chums, Zemo's plan mostly involves the super-adhesive responsible for his permanently masked face, needless to say this goes about as well as you would expect. A weirdly cheesey Saturday morning cartoon ending wraps the whole thing up. Art by Jack Kirby and Chic Stone has improved exponentially over the earlier issues, just a shame that whoever was looking after the Zipatone for this black and white reprint seems to have discovered recreational drugs at about the same time.

Dr. Strange: Face to Face With The Magic of Baron Mordo! Reprinting Strange Tales #111

Another early tale of the proto-Dr Strange, Stan and Steve deliver more quasi-horror as Strange fights off the threat to his mystical guru from Baron Mordo (this week seems particularly Baron-centric, don't see any for ages, then two in one issue) the battle takes place exclusively between their astral forms, giving Ditko free reign to strut his spooky stuff. While the art is recognisably Ditko, I have to admire how different it is from his more grounded superhero work, like a classical musician segueing seemlessly into interpretive jazz.