CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: MARVEL TALES - OF THE RATHER 'TALL' VARIETY...

Monday, 23 April 2012

MARVEL TALES - OF THE RATHER 'TALL' VARIETY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Continuing our look at Marvel reprint titles from the '60s, this time up is MARVEL TALES #1 from 1964. Unfortunately, the cover claim of six 'uncut' origin tales was a bit of a porky as The HULK and Sgt. FURY stories only had the first 6 pages of each strip. There was also a 2-page extract from TALES To ASTONISH #49, featuring HENRY PYM's evolution from ANT-MAN to GIANT-MAN, plus a 4-page taste of millionaire playboy TONY STARK donning his brand-new IRON MAN armour from TALES Of SUSPENSE #48.

The issue also contained a 2-page spread of some of the gang from the Merry Marvel Bullpen, including STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, VINCE COLLETTA, DON HECK, SAM ROSEN and ARTIE SIMEK. The splash page of each tale had a blurb detailing where they had first appeared, but someone clearly wasn't paying attention on THOR's origin - it's listed as having been originally printed in JOURNEY Into MYSTERY #38 instead of #83.

Below are the first pages of the six main stories.

Incidentally, the above page's blurb is misleading - the final page was cropped to allow for an extra 'wrap-up' caption. As far as mixed reprint books go, we had to wait 47 years 'til Marvel got it right with MARVEL FIRSTS: The 1960s. Still, better late than never, eh?

2 comments:

baab said...: What a comic.
I was talking to my kids the other night,did I mention I have twin boys aged 8 (not identical,I could not have coped wi that craziness)
anyway,I have been trying to get my finger out on a wee project and the conversation turned to origins,which my kids love of course.
And I just realised how many pages it took Marvel to introduce its characters,I think on average it was like 3 pages and then on with the adventure.
I pondered on that for a while as I stared at my origin story which was already at 28 pages ..ha!; 24 April 2012 at 00:00
Kid said...: They didn't waste any space, did they? Pacing was the thing. Comics are too slow nowadays. 20 pages and nothing much happens.; 24 April 2012 at 00:46

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

(Although, if you don't allow copying on your own site, then you really shouldn't be copying from others, should you?)

And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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Please also note that this blog is not sponsored by, affiliated with, or connected to, any organisation, business, or group, and is wholly independent.