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| Art by John Buscema |
40 years ago, on September
30th, 1972, The MIGHTY WORLD Of
MARVEL #1 (cover dated October 7th) burst onto newsagents' counters
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 out-
side 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.
side 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.
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| Art by Jack Kirby |
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| Art by Jack Kirby |
I couldn't talk my folks
into buying it for me on the
way in, but I'd managed to
wear them down into submis-
sion by the time we made our
into buying it for me on the
way in, but I'd managed to
wear them down into submis-
sion 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
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.
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.
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.
choice, so I'm amazed that any other name was even considered.
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| Art by Jack Kirby |
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| Art by Jack Kirby |
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 (left) - Wow!
I wish they still produced
comics like that today!
containing the origins of The
INCREDIBLE HULK, The
(FABULOUS) FANTASTIC
FOUR and The AMAZING
SPIDER-MAN - plus a Hulk
iron-on transfer (left) - Wow!
I wish they still produced
comics like that today!
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.
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 40 years. In fact, I hope I'm still around also.
another 40 years. In fact, I hope I'm still around also.
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| Art by Steve Ditko |
Hopefully, you won't mind me resurrecting a post from two years ago -
but (with a little revision) it was perfect for the purpose of celebrating the
but (with a little revision) it was perfect for the purpose of celebrating the
debut of MWOM back in 1972. And, to be honest, I simply couldn't think
of saying it any better than I did a couple of years back. I wish I could relive
those Autumnal days from so long ago when I was a mere thirteen year old
boy, but, in a way, I can. Whenever I look at those pulse-pounding pages
in the very first issue of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL, I'm
once more back in the heady days of the sensational '70s.
once more back in the heady days of the sensational '70s.
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| Art by Steve Ditko |
Incidentally, you may be interested to know that, despite a later
issue's claims to the contrary in response to a reader's enquiry, page
seven was edited out of SPIDER-MAN's origin. The opening caption
of page eight was amended to cover this, and so unobtrusively was it
done that the story's flow remained largely unaffected by the cut.
oh my,
ReplyDeleteI have some serious holes in my memory!
I have no recollection of that cover to number 1.
So I went to the comicvine website to see if maybe I started on a later issue.....the first cover i recognised was no 6,then,20,27,48,49...then all the rest are very familiar to me,including a lot of really bad covers that i intentionally had forgotten about.
So I thought where else could i have accessed the origins of the ff spidey and the hulk all in the one sitting....maybe in an Alan Class book,but i dont think all three had been in one issue...
In 72 I was 8 nearly 9 years old,and I definitely owned almost every issue of mwom(until the later amalgamations and content lost me.)And I definitely was hooked by Marvel after reading number 1.
So I then looked at the Titans covers and I remembered and owned all of them and the further amalgamations.....
I have to return to the comicvine though,those covers i did recognise were pulling at me something rotten.
And wasn't that MWOM cover a belter - by John Buscema no less. Classic!
ReplyDeleteIt will always be a matter of regret to me that I never had a, "Green-skinned monster T-shirt transfer."
ReplyDeleteSteve, I have the answer. Print out a copy of the transfer from my blog and trot along to your nearest tattooist with it. Then you can sport a permanent version of it on your chest forever. Problem solved. Am I brilliant or what?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of having it tattooed on my face.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the cover brings back the smell of that transfer! 5p was quite steep but then Fantastic also had 40 pages and only a colour cover, and that was 9d. And it ended four years earlier, in autum 68. Four years? That's nothing, but it seemed like a long, long gap at the time! The success of MWOM in 72-75 showed that British kids had finally caught up with the Marvel heroes, unlike the cool kids who could say "Oh yeah, I read those stories when I was 7!"
ReplyDeleteYou're right, NP - that four year gap between 'Power' and 'Marvel' seemed like an eternity at the time, even 'though TV21 had featured some Marvel strips in the intervening years. Although I had read two-thirds of the contents of MWOM before and remembered them, I was not overly familiar with the stories to the point of not being able to enjoy them again as (almost) new. It was a case of part introduction and part reacquaintance, you might say. That's why, today, I have two sets of memories from two different times for some strips. When I look at 'Kurrgo, Master of Planet X' in Wham!, for example, I have one set of memories - and when I look at the same story in MWOM, I have another, which includes remembering seeing the tale in Wham! That's almost incomprehensible, but it's a difficult idea to convey.
ReplyDeleteGood to see these early MWOM for the first time (for me) as I didn't buy it until planet of the apes merged into it. I now see I could have caught up with all the wham/smash/pow reprints that I missed in 67! On the subject of reprints, for sheer value, I don't think the pocket book digests could be bettered.
ReplyDeleteThe Pocket Books were good, but some of the early stories were 'abridged', which spoiled things for me.
ReplyDelete