Week Ending March 30, 1974

1974, Britain: skateboards are not due to hit our shores for a few years, we are a nation in need of a craze, something that could replicate the thrills and danger of the last playground phenomenon 'Clackers'. As luck would have it, the recently deceased Bruce Lee was back from the dead and on our cinema screens in Enter The Dragon. Keen to cash in on the zeitgeist, Marvel UK were quick to give up some prime comic real estate to the martial arts fad, because as hard as it might be for millennial MCU fans to grasp, superheroes were really not cutting through in the UK comic landscape. For young British fans of the Avengers, this may have been our first experience of the malevolent power of market forces, it would not be our last.

Mighty World of Marvel #78

More Glob-based goodness from Ron Wilson and Frank Giacoia/Mike Esposito. We also get a fainting damsel in an outfit entirely inappropriate for swamp exploration. 

The Incredible Hulk: A Tale of Two Monsters! Reprinting The Incredible Hulk #121

In the second half of our Glob story, Roy Thomas continues to pile on the pathos that will eventually become a staple of Hulk's ongoing series. While the new boy is definitely not straying far from Stan's footprints here, the writing does have the air of someone who isn't trying to churn out multiple titles in a month. After what feels like quite a drawn out King Kong set up, the Hulk and Glob engage in a weirdly short conflict before the Glob is dissolved in the Army's booby trapped swamp, leaving the Hulk with the vague feeling of a lost kindred spirit.

Daredevil: Against The Organisation! Reprinting Daredevil #10

More of the Wally Wood penned Daredevil adventure, I have to say that the set up of DD investigating the crossover of organised crime and local politics is a very logical fit for a character whose secret identity is a defence lawyer. It is a shame that Wood's team of bad guys are not as plausible, but compared to previous stories, this is a very solid outing. A shame then that it ends with a sour note from Stan at the end, claiming Wally has got the urge to write out of his system and Stan will have to pick up the pieces. Not a very gratifying look.

The Fantastic Four: The War of The Super-Teams! Reprinting Fantastic Four #36

The Frightful Four are making a pretty good fist of invading the Baxter Building and neutralising the other 'F' based quartet. Not a bad showing for a team of B and C-list villains. The battle ends in a draw with team Frightful making good their escape, but it leaves them set up as worthy antagonists for our heroes. The Kirby/Stone artwork on this story continues to look uncharacteristically 'off', particularly in the case of Sue, who often appears to have been retouched or inserted as an afterthought. 

Spider-Man Comics Weekly #59

Ahh, cover speach balloons that have very little to do with the actual contents of the story, you don't get much more 70s than that. Luckily, the weird looking Spider-Man drawn by Ron Wilson with help from Mike Esposito/John Tartagalione provides ample distraction.

The Amazing Spider-Man: O, Bitter Victory! Reprinting Amazing Spider-Man #60

Misery has always been Spider-Man's copilot, and Stan really starts to lean into that trope here. Still groggy from his tussle with the Kingpin, Peter makes his way to Gwen's house to check on her recently brainwashed father. This does not go to plan, as Captain Stacy attacks Parker and tells his daughter that Peter started the altercation. Worse still, Stacy informs the Kingpin that our teenage hero is nosing around. Peter's apartment is turned over by Fisk's goons and his roommate Harry is threatened. Things could only get worse if Peter managed to get photos of Captain Stacy breaking into the police records department and then sold them to the Bugle. Which he does, because he's an idiot.

Iron Man: For The Life of Cleopatra! Reprinting Tales of Suspense #44

Remember how in Avengers: Endgame the directors used the tired and overused trope of time-travel to craft an enjoyable romp through the history of the MCU? Well, this is not that. This isn't even a weak 1960s Dr Who episode, erased by the a BBC that didn't foresee the advent of home video.

The Mighty Thor: If Asgard Should Fall! Reprinting Thor #127

Thor is back in Asgard, taking on Seidring The Merciless who is pumped-up on the Odin Power. This is one of those stories where while Thor is in his dad's bad books again, he lays everything on the line to prove himself once more worthy. Rather terrifyingly, the 'everything' in question this time seems to include the genuine threat to unsheath the Odin Sword and end all life in the cosmos. Some fathers are really hard to impress.

Six Strange Words

It is bonus story time again in SMCW, a snappy little three pager, in which a nameless protagonist's car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Lucky for our stranded driver, he stumbles upon an old hut. Unluckily, it is occupied by an old sorcerer and our guy has clearly never read any stories like this before he starts giving the little old fella a hard time. Cue Twilight Zone theme. There are no credits on this story, so if anyone has any information about it, that would me most helpful.

The Avengers #28

The Avengers might be able to guarantee a billion dollar movie in the 21st century, but back in 1974's Britain, kung-fu was king and the Earth's mightiest heroes could not even hang on to their own six pence weekly. A situation illustrated without subtlety by Ron Wilson, Frank Giacoia and Mike Esposito on this week's cover. 

Shang-chi Master of Kung Fu Reprinting Special Marvel Edition #15 

Blimey, straight into it. Marvel UK are not even pretending that the Avengers aren't second fiddle in their own title now. Cards on the table, I would not have been interested in a martial arts strip back in the day, especially one the sidelined the superhero stories I was keen on. That said, my tastes are a little more eclectic now, and the chance to read about a new character that had only had his US debut a few short months previously, seems a lot more attractive now. It is quite a change of pace and style, Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom serve up a densely packed and stylistically fresh story. This was something very different from the 60s fare we have been working our way through. While it still looks good today, there is no escaping some pretty grim racism, weirdly all coming from the 'good guys'. Sadly, this has the unintended effect of making it look like a realistic period piece. The end result is something that feels both more modern than the strips it shares a comic with and yet more of its time. 

The Avengers: Never Bug A Giant! Reprinting The Avengers #31

It is a real shame that the Avengers are hovering in the relegation zone, because they are finally getting their act together. Hawkeye is now a team player and Cap has stopped being a complete arse. Looks like Stan has wised up to the fact that artificial conflict won't work for a team that aren't actually a family. The stories are still a bit daft though, with Goliath continuing to play silly buggers with South American flavoured mole men. Don Heck's art is even growing on me a bit. 

Dr. Strange: The Pincers of Power! Reprinting Strange Tales #140

The battle between Dr Strange and Dormammu moves into another dimension and takes on something of a WWE/MMA feel as Strange and Dormammu tool up with bizarre mystical pincers on the back of their hands. Ditko then treats us to several pages of combat with these strange weapons, for which he has clearly created a style of fighting and rules for. Once again, Steve has changed his art style for this episode, it is a little sparse and rushed but the fight is well choreographed, sadly it ends prematurely with Strange shot in the back by the treacherous Baron Mordo...