Week Ending December 29, 1973

Christmas 1973, I don't know what you were up to, but I suspect I had spent the last two weeks playing with my Lone Ranger action figure at night, having discovered that A: Father Christmas was not real, and B: my parents were not particularly inventive when it came to hiding presents.

Mighty World of Marvel #65

Ron Wilson and Mike Esposito give us a fairly direct reworking of the Herb Trimp/Dan Adkins original cover. Apart that is from the strange stylistic decision to have the Sandman recently returned from Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.

The Incredible Hulk: Where Fall The Shifting Sands? Reprinting The Incredible Hulk #113

Fresh from one of his surprisingly frequent adventures in space, Bruce Banner hurtles back to Earth in a badly pressurised spaceship. Rather than, ooh I dunno, adjusting the pressure, our genius scientist exposes himself to the gamma-driven engines of said spaceship. As a result, it is the Hulk who crash lands in the desert, oddly close to his favourite missile base and conveniently timed to blunder into the plans of the Sandman. Here is a case of Stan not really keeping a grip on characters, Sandy is in his Frightful Four style outfit (is it ever explained where this came from?) and not talking or acting like the Spider-Man foe we are familiar with. Hulk and the Sandman fight before teaming up to steal an experimental missile from the army. It is an odd story that does little else but put Hulk back in the desert and in conflict with the military, as Hulk stories don't need much more than this, you have to wonder why the need was felt to stray from the formula in the first place.

The Fantastic Four: Divide--and Conquer! Reprinting Fantastic Four Annual #2

Now Dr Doom has been given new depths, will the quality of his schemes improve to match? In short... no. A fake party at the Latverian embassy and some drugged pina coladas seems to be as much as the world's greatest evil genius can muster. That said, we get some beautiful Jack Kirby/Chic Stone artwork to enjoy as Doom endeavours to set the FF against one another. We also see a strange example of Stan not following what Jack has drawn as the Fantastic Four face off in a corridor, the visuals clearly have Sue attacking Reed while Stan's text claims that he is Johnny, only to have to perform literary contortions in the next panel to explain Johnny attacking Ben. The team quickly discover Dr Doom is behind all this strife and we are promised a showdown next week.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #46

John Romita supplies another, surprisingly intimate, hero in peril cover. Steve Ditko laid some great foundations for Spider-Man, but Romita built one hell of a ground floor and main lobby. 

The Amazing Spider-Man: To Die A Hero! Reprinting The Amazing Spider-Man #52

This is a great story, Spider-Man interacting with Peter Parker's supporting cast, the Kingpin absolutely Kingpining the hell out of it, heroic sacrifice, redemption, death. This really has it all. Spider-Man might not have been my favourite character when I was a kid, but reading these stories in the weekly format really gives an impression that Spidey's adventures are moving forward in real time, we were incredibly lucky in the UK to experience it this way, even if it was in black and white.

The Mighty Thor: The Power! The Passion! The Pride! Reprinting Journey into Mystery #121

Stan Lee goes full Stan Lee with the title, Jack Kirby demonstrates his mastery of comic book fight choreography and Vince Colleta runs to keep up. I have mentioned before that the mere appearance of the Absorbing Man in any story is a surefire way to guarantee my interest, this one is no exception. Wait until the similarly themed Wrecker and Wrecking Crew turn up eventually, I will be able to drop all pretence of a rational and balenced review.

The Avengers #15

Ron Wilson and possibly John Tartaglione provide an alternative to the original Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers cover, adding little but some unpleasant racist overtones. Thankfully times have moved on and so can we.

The Avengers: When The General Commands! Reprinting The Avengers #18

American readers, cease your confusion. This was 1973, a time when it was a widely held belief that British readers were stupid, uneducated dolts who would not know the meaning of the word 'Commissar', so spoiling the flow of a perfectly good title by jamming the word 'General' in it was a necessary sacrifice. My hopes for better Avengers stories along with the new line up, face a major set back as Stan decides to dedicate this issue to smashing communism and saying "freedom" a lot. Once again Don Heck matches the quality of the plot beat for beat. 

Dr. Strange: Duel With The Dread Dormammu! Reprinting Strange Tales #127

When Steve Ditko was drawing Spider-Man, he would have the fights drag on (enjoyably) for pages, he does the same here with magic. Dr Strange is up against Dormammu and Ditko has been hitting the mushrooms hard. We also get our first glimpse of the mindless ones, a character design that has all the elements of being rubbish, but under Ditko's pen they look genuinely menacing. Rather than the usual Strange win via trickery, Stan and Steve go a different route by having Dormammu's life saved by Dr Strange, setting up a debt of honour, it is a nice little touch. For his troubles, Strange is rewarded with a natty new cloak and the Eye of Agamotto by the Ancient One. I hope this signifies a new direction for the master of the mystic arts.