GREAT COVER - SHAME ABOUT THE INSIDES...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

When Marvel 'officially' established itself in the U.K. with The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL in 1972, they had a good-looking product on their hands that readers responded to.  40 pages, 6 of them in full-colour, the remainder in spot-colour and/or Zipatone (as it was called in America, Letratone in Britain) - and all for only 5 pence.  With issue #5, the full-colour pages increased to 8 per issue, which lasted until #19, with only 4 in #20 from then on.

Over the course of the first year, the spot-colour decreased as the use of Zipatone became more prevalent, until, eventually, the interiors of Marvel's U.K. weeklies became distinctly grey.  Issue #42 was the last one to feature green spot-hues, and when the comic was awarded a glossy cover with number 67, the contents became little more than a muddy mess.  This wasn't confined to just MWOM, but was also a blight on SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY and The AVENGERS.  (Although, truth to tell, as the first British weekly Marvel comic to sport a glossy cover from issue #1, The Avengers had always been cursed with that affliction.)

SMCW, launched in February '73, only ever had 4 full-colour pages, the remainder featuring red and orange spot-colour - and Zipatone - until issue #23, which was the very last one to feature the crimson and amber hues.  With number 24, the comic became all-grey (apart from the full-colour matte paper covers), but although the tones were a bit overwhelming, the art, for the most part, was still discernible.  However, with issue #48, everything changed - and all for the worse. The comic was also given a glossy cover and, overnight, became one monumental murky morass of dark grey and pitch-black blotches.  This deplorable situation lasted for months, and I'm amazed it was allowed to continue for as long as it did.

Theoretically, it shouldn't have been a problem.  After all, as far as I can ascertain, the tones were applied to the pages by the same team responsible for Marvel's black and white U.S. magazines - and they turned out fine.  It seems obvious, therefore, that the problem was a direct result of the cheap printing process utilised by the British printers responsible for producing Marvel's U.K. weekly output.  For far too long a period, British Marvels were an unattractive and unappealing alternative to the much more popular, cleanly printed (by comparison) IPC and D.C. THOMSON periodicals with which they had to share newsagents' shelves.  It was surely only the unswerving loyalty of devoted Marvel fans that enabled 'The House of Ideas' to turn any kind of profit.  (Here's an idea - get your printing sorted out, you thickos!)

Perhaps you think I exaggerate?  Take a look at the pages illustrating this post (especially the second Spider-Man one) and you'll see how bad it really was.  In fact, it wasn't just the tones that were awful - so was the reproduction.  Look at the Spidey splash-page - his webbing is practically invisible.  Thankfully, things eventually improved.

******

BEST LAID PLANS DEPT: When I first posted this, I thought I was being original. However, I've just been browsing on STEVE DOES COMICS blog and noticed that ol' Stevie-boy had already touched on this subject (and this very comic) some time ago.  What's more, I'd even left a comment on it, yet I had absolutely no recollection of previously reading Steve's post when I came to write my own.  Spooky, eh?  Has such a thing ever happened to you?  

YIPPEEE! PART FIVE Of The MISSING LINK...

Copyright REBELLION

When I was a much younger kid than I am now, people (usually teachers) often told me that I had a 'great' imagination.  Thing is, it wasn't intended as a compliment, and carried with it the strong suggestion that I was tethered to reality by only the most gossamer and fastly-fraying thread.  Huh!  What do teachers know?  (I should've called down my alien allies from the planet XRILLFON to sort them out, but they were busy.)

It seems to me, looking at the opening panel of the above artwork, that GEORGE LAZENBY as JAMES BOND is looking out at us from the left-hand side of the page.  And isn't that the Saintly ROGER MOORE as SIMON TEMPLAR assisting a woman out of the car on the right?  Or am I just imagining it?  What's that?  You don't think it's meant to be them?  All I can say then, is that it's a much more interesting place in my world than it seems to be in yours.

And here's me being generous to you by presenting the next episode of The MISSING LINK, as drawn by LUIS BERMEJO, for your reading pleasure.  It wouldn't have hurt you to agree with me, now, would it?   Pah!  (Don't panic - it's only mock-indignation for comic effect.  You're allowed to disagree with me if you want to.)

Interestingly, I remember sitting in the 2000 A.D. offices one day in the mid-'80s and looking through the ODHAMS PRESS bound file copies of the first 50 issues of FANTASTIC (whence comes the saga of The Missing Link).  When my eyes fell upon the pages, above, I made the same observation about the first panel to ol' THARGY's team of droids.  (I also speculated on whether Bermejo used publicity photos from Bond movie ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, as I felt that the girl in the pic faintly resembled DIANNA RIGG.)

Let me see now, that would have included STEVE MacMANUS, SIMON GELLER, ROBIN SMITH and art assistant PAUL AILEY.  (Paul had worked on the old POWER COMICS, which is why he had these two red-bound volumes in the bookshelf behind his desk.)  If I remember correctly, Robin Smith agreed that there was a similarity and also thought it possible that the artist had used photographic reference.

What do the rest of you think?