Friday 25 April 2014

POWER RECORDS PRESENTS : THE FANTASTIC FOUR - "THE WAY IT BEGAN!"...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Around the mid '70s, either in the countdown to me leaving school or not too long after having started work, I bought a book and record set advertised in the pages of the British MARVEL weeklies.  Power Records Presents - "The WAY IT BEGAN!", which was a reprint of The FANTASTIC FOUR #126 with an audio dramatization on a 7 inch 45 RPM single of the comic's content.  I'd bought #126 back in October 6th 1972, but no longer had it, so I jumped at the chance to own it again in some form (I now have several copies of  the mag).


The text was abridged and altered in some places for the reprint, but it was a great idea to give the comic a little 'life' by having actors (or perhaps just one actor doing different voices and either speeding them up or slowing them down) perform the parts of the various characters - and, in the main do them just as readers had doubtless imagined them to sound like.  At least, I certainly thought so!  (The MOLE MAN in particular was spot on.)


So here's what the reprint and record looked like, and if you're interested in hearing how the single sounded, click on the links at the bottom of the post.  Happy listening!




21 comments:

John Pitt said...

I got a couple of POTA power records comics - Escape and Battle, but I didn't know they did Marvel mainstream. I wonder if the record is on YouTube...

Kid said...

Why wonder, JP? I'd included the links to them. You're clearly didn't read right down to the end of the post. Tsk tsk. Take 100 lines - Must try harder.

John Pitt said...

I am reading these today on my mobile ,not the laptop and for some reason where your links are all I get these days is a big empty space - even if I switch over to your web version. So I didn't know where the links would take me? Anyway , I shot over to YouTube & found it - PLUS The Incredible Hulk at Bay! ( which is where I have been for the last hour !)

david_b said...

Loved these as a kid.. I only had the CA&F comic.., would have liked to have had the FF and Spidey's record. Will listen on youtube someday soon.

It's pretty funny to look at the 'edited dialog' in the word balloons.

You'd think someone could have done a less-amateurish job..

Kid said...

Well, seeing as you've brought a note, I'll let you off with the lines, JP. And you get a gold star for visiting the blog from your mobile - that's what I call devotion.

******

It would probably have required more work, DB. I get the impression that some colour film of the pages was altered for the purpose, instead of relettering b&w proofs and having them recoloured. Must've been done out-of-house.

John Pitt said...

Can't get the Jim Reeves links on it either - if you remember I told you once before. The fault's at my end, don't know why it won't show some of your links - just a big empty green space!
Anyway, also found loads more power records on YouTube -Spidey, Cap, Supes, Batman - all thanks to this post!

Kid said...

Proves this blog's good for something, eh, JP?

John Pitt said...

Even more power records - Conan, WW, Man-Thing. What a day!!

Kid said...

Can you record them from YouTube, JP?

John Pitt said...

Yep, but only the sound. For anyone who's interested in these comics there were 41 different titles published. Go to GCD, search under publishers for Peter Pan and click on Peter Pan for the full list. Then click on gallery for each title for the covers.
There is also an excellent blog called power record.blogspot, where many of the issues are shown in full, page by page.

Kid said...

Thanks, JP - I'll check it out.

John Pitt said...

And add Dracula & Frankenstein (Marvel) to the list of records on YouTube.

Kid said...

Ta, JP.

John Pitt said...

What I ended up doing, as there were so many vids, is to put them all in a YouTube playlist, so that I can watch & listen at the same time.

Kid said...

Good thinking, Batboy. Er, I mean JP.

Tony K said...

Enjoyed listening to these, Kid. Ace dramatic voices. A younger me would've imagined this is how they sounded. Great stuff :)

Kid said...

Same here, TK, I thought the voices were excellent and sounded just as I imagined. With one exception perhaps, that being Sue, who sounded a bit shrill. In fact, it sounded to me like a man's voice speeded-up, and it made me wonder if it was the same person doing all the voices.

Tony K said...

Just listened to it again... yes, I get what you mean about Sue's voice sounding a tad shrill. It does. Not sure if it's the same person doing all the voices though... but an interesting idea, and quite possible for a skilled voice actor. Either way kid, listening to these provided a refreshing blast from the past. Good of you to share these here, and on Moonbase :)

Kid said...

If you'd like a CD, just give me your address, TK. I won't publish it so no one else will see it, and it won't be used for any other purpose.

Tony K said...

That really is kind of you, Kid, and very much appreciated. But... and you'll probably find this odd I suppose... but I don't actually have a CD player anymore. The one in my old banger of a car gave up the ghost a long time ago, and not being a car proud person, I never bothered getting it fixed. The past few years I've found Youtube fills the CD gap, letting me listen to music (and watch videos), mostly old stuff I enjoyed in the past. Thank you though, it's a very considerate thought... you're a gentleman! :)

Kid said...

No bother, TK - you know it's here on the blog anyway, whenever you want to listen to it.



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