SPIDER-MAN - MADE IN BRITAIN...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

In September 1973 the second MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL Annual (for 1974) went on sale.  Still just called Marvel Annual (it wouldn't gain the full title of the weekly comic which spawned it until '77), it sported a cover by renowned British artist GEOFF CAMPION, who'd drawn many a strip in a bevy of U.K. weeklies over the years. (The SPELLBINDER in LION being perhaps the one with which he is most associated - certainly in my mind anyway.)

FLEETWAY/IPC published Marvel U.K.'s first couple of annuals on their behalf, so it was entirely natural to use a Fleetway/IPC artist to produce the covers.  As to why Geoff Campion in particular was chosen in the second annual's instance (apart from his obvious skill) is anybody's guess.  Perhaps he was just in the office that morning, but he certainly turned in a colourful piece of art - one which resonates with me to this day.

True, perhaps he didn't quite capture the essential 'spidery' nature of PETER PARKER's alter-ego, (not even JACK KIRBY could do that), but it's still a nice piece.  More a ROMITA Spidey than a DITKO one perhaps, but still an extremely effective illustration.  I recall the day I first saw this annual, as well as the one on which I bought it a few weeks later, but nothing of note happened to justify an account of them in this post.  Apart from the annual itself of course, the cover of which I now freely share with you here.

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Update: (September 29th 2012.)  Believe it or not, some joker in America currently has this 'rare' annual up for sale at £432.87, plus £23.53 for postage and packing. Astoundingly, the postal amount alone is far more than the book is actually worth - or usually sells for in this country.  Some people sure have a brass neck, don't ya think?    

BEHOLD THE FAR HORIZONS - I WOULD IF I COULD...

You're looking at the view that could once be enjoyed from my bedroom window of the home I lived in from the mid-'60s until the early '70s.  The first picture was taken 16 years to the very day after my family had left the house, by arrangement with the then-current tenant with whom we'd exchanged residences so many years before.  Although not evident in the above pic, on a clear day one could see purple hills above the line of trees on the far horizon, but I captured them on film on a subsequent visit a few weeks later.

In the second scene, taken three years on (with the consent of new tenants), amenity housing for the elderly stands on the site of the field where the neighbourhood kids (and myself) once played in previous years.  A sign of the times I suppose, but I can't help lamenting the fact that our horizons are narrowing with every new building crammed into any space that once offered a welcome oasis of greenery amidst the concrete structures of our sprawling towns and cities.

Looks as if the living conditions of places like MEGA-CITY ONE might be a reality sooner than we thought.

Click to enlarge

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And, just in case you're wondering, below is a close up of the view, taken a few weeks after the one at the top of the page.  See them thar hills.

 

The final photo is me three years later, with replacements of some of the toys I owned when I lived in the house.