Week Ending January 5, 1974

Marvel UK had a strong finish to 1973, but I suspect things got a bit out of hand at the office Christmas party though, because their comics for the first week of 1974 appear to be what you would get if the technology existed to print a hangover.

Mighty World of Marvel #66

Here we have the 'treat' of an edited and shortened version of the US original by Herb Trimpe and Dan Adkins, with the added bonus of the Sandman continuing to rock his shortlived go-go dancer look. 

The Incredible Hulk: At Last I Will Have My Revenge! Reprinting The Incredible Hulk #114

In a break from my usual practice of a loose, stream of consciousness style review, I won't be making any effort to explain what happens in this story, mainly because a lot of it is missing. Marvel UK would often delete a panel or even a page as a space saving exercise, most of the time you would hardly notice. However, here they make the bold choice to completely remove pages 15, 16 and 18 of the original story. The effect was jarring enough that I actually had to look for signs of the pages being physically removed from my particular copy of MWOM. 

The Fantastic Four: The Final Victory of Dr. Doom! Reprinting Fantastic Four Annual #2

The Fantastic Four annual #2 must have been a weird read, you had the origin of Dr Doom, giving a one dimensional bad guy some real depth and menace, then you had this story which once again reduces him to little more than a punchline in a suit of armour. On the plus side, there is the sturdy linework of Chic Stone on Kirby's pencils to enjoy, even if the ending is in defiance of all common sense.

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #47

For the second time this week we get a gentle reworking of a US original cover, Romita and Esposito's art is mostly unchanged except for the villain once again having his costume colours tweaked. 

The Amazing Spider-Man: Enter: Dr. Octopus Reprinting The Amazing Spider-Man #53

In what feels like an almost deliberate response to the last couple of weeks brilliant and more weighty episodes, this week sees a return to a far more lighthearted crime caper. Dr Octopus is back from the dead (obviously, but I had actually forgotten that we were actually meant to believe he was dead) which is revealed in flashback panels that Romita either directly swipes or recreates in his Ditko homage style. Ock attempts to steal some science MacGuffin, putting him on a collision course with Spider-Man who is attending a science exposition as Peter Parker along with Gwen Stacy. The events of this issue are little more than a set up to reintroduce Dr Octopus for a mustache-twirling plot to come, hey, they can't all be classics.

The Mighty Thor: The Final Battle! Reprinting Journey into Mystery #121

Continuing from last week, Thor battles the Absorbing Man, we open with the cover art of Journey into Mystery #121 pressed into service as a beautiful splash page. Which makes the Colleta inked panels following all the more disappointing. However, I must give a shout-out to the nameless Marvel worker who handled the Letraset tone work on this story, who used the technique of scratching the tone away to create shape and detail. It is a nice touch and shows what can be done with these black and white reprints when a bit of effort is applied, bravo 1970s Marvel drone, bravo. The Thor/Absorbing Man tussle takes up the entire strip and is still not concluded by the last panel, but we do get to see a mysterious hooded figure who is apparently holding Jane Foster, if not completely against her will, certainly with dubious intent.

The Avengers #16

Ron Wilson and Klaus Janson give us our only original cover of the week. It is not bad at all, certainly more dynamic than the original, even if the background Avengers are a collection of half-hearted wonky limbs. 

The Avengers: The Coming of The Swordsman! Reprinting The Avengers #19

An enemy from Hawkeye's past emerges to threaten the new Avengers, to be honest it doesn't bode well that one of the lamest bad guys ever makes a surprisingly good fist of taking down the Earth's mightiest heroes mk2. What is even more disturbing is that two thirds of the remaining team members seem to weigh up the idea of letting Captain America die as they jockey for the potential leadership vacancy. It seems to me that Stan was trying to set up a similar dysfunctional dynamic to the one that had been so successful for the Fantastic Four, it just comes off as weird here though.

Dr. Strange: The Demon's Disciple! Reprinting Strange Tales #128

Although I hadn't realised it in previous stories, this will be the first appearance of Dr Strange's classic 'look', I had assumed that it was a gradual artistic evolution that led from Strange's early outfits to his more recognisable style rather than the gifting by the Ancient One of his cloak of levitation and trademark amulet, but here we are and it is very welcome. As for this week's story, it's more of the same X Files episode meets protracted mystical battle, but Steve Ditko is back on top form after a fallow few issues, weirdness abounds and Dr Strange triumphs.

P. S. It is worthy of note that this week will be the last to feature non-glossy covers for Marvel UK. When I started reading the weeklies in 1975, the glossy covers were all I knew and I strongly associated them with Marvel UK being a quality product. It was a surprise to me in later years to discover that they did not start that way and reading through them all over the last year or so has given me a slightly different view of the early non glossy covers, along with a strange retroactive nostalgia. I am almost sad to see them go but excited to greet their shiny replacements.