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| Cover by JOHN BUSCEMA. Copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Just over 38 years ago, on September 30th, 1972, The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #1 (cover-dated October 7th) burst onto newsagents' counters all over Britain. I hadn't seen the STAN LEE-voiced TV ad (although I did later), so it came as a surprise when I spotted the comic on a wall-rack outside a newsagent's along from Glasgow's famous BARROWLAND market (aka The BARRAS), where I and my parents were heading on that particular Saturday morning.
I couldn't talk my folks into buying it for me on the way in, but I'd managed to wear them down into submission by the time we made our way out an hour or so later. We were soon ensconced in the cosy confines of a comfy cafe, and it was with great joy that I pored through its contents over a glass of cola and reacquainted myself with the pals I'd first met in the pulsating pages of ODHAMS' POWER COMICS, way back in what even then seemed like the dim and distant days of the '60s. Suddenly, life was exciting again.
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| Art by JACK KIRBY |
DEZ SKINN once revealed that Stan had told him the comic's original title was going to be The WONDERFUL World of Marvel (after the Disney TV show of almost the same name), but thankfully 'twas not to be. Besides, MIGHTY and MARVEL go so well together it seems the obvious choice, so I'm amazed that any other name was even considered.
40 pages, some in full-colour (the rest with green 'spot' colour), for only 5p - containing the origins of The INCREDIBLE HULK, The (FABULOUS) FANTASTIC FOUR and The AMAZING SPIDER-MAN - plus a Hulk iron-on transfer (below) - Wow! I wish they still produced comics like that today!
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| Art by JACK KIRBY |
Well, in a sense - they do! I still buy MWOM today, although it's now published monthly, has 76 full-colour pages and costs £2.95. The Mighty World of Marvel - I hope it's still around in another 38 years. In fact, I hope I'm still around also.
