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| Image copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Well, it does exist, but there's only one single copy, so the title isn't too much of a cheat. (Did grab ya though, huh?) British comics readers of a certain age will remember the DOUBLE DOUBLE COMICS from the 1960s that used to be on sale in newsagents. They consisted of unsold, random, de-covered issues that were bound together four at a time by distributors THORPE & PORTER, and given a new cover that very often had little or nothing to do with the contents. (Apart from featuring one of the interior heroes - and I'm not even sure if that was guaranteed on all occasions.)
The mags were comprised mainly of DC issues, hence titles like SUPERMAN DOUBLE DOUBLE COMICS, ACTION COMICS DOUBLE DOUBLE COMICS, and so on. How-ever, occasionally the odd MARVEL mag found itself included, squeezed 'self-consciously' between a JLA tale and a BLACKHAWK adventure. Essentially, they were 'pot luck' comics, because these omnibus mags (with the same covers) could sometimes contain a completely different mix to one another. One thing they certainly were, though, was value for money, as four mags for the price of two was not to be sneezed at.
A good few years back, I happened to have a spare copy each of The MIGHTY THOR #s 242-245, which were surplus to requirements. (I had upgraded to better condition copies.) So I took off the covers, glued the issues together, trimmed them, then cut out the story blurbs from three of the covers and stuck them onto the one I had chosen to adorn my self-produced 'Double Double Comic'. The result wasn't too bad at all, if I say so myself. I recently scanned the 'composite' cover and printed it onto card, finally replacing the 'patchwork' one I had originally made, lo, those many years ago. That's the completed product above, though I now wish I'd added a small Marvel logo to the space above the Thor pic on the top-left.
And just think - it's the only one of its kind in existence!
I remember finding a double-double JLA comic amongst a job-lot of comics I bought about five years ago, and being totally baffled by it. It was only through the wonders of the internet that I discovered what the story behind it was. If only I'd known of their existence during my childhood but, if they were ever sold in Sheffield, I never stumbled across them.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they were snapped up because they were such good value for money. I often wonder if that's also the explanation for alleged 'spotty distribution' of American titles and why so many people never seemed to see them. Simply put, they disappeared off the shelves the minute discerning readers or collectors spotted them. (Well, it's a theory.)
ReplyDeleteI've got two 'official' Double-Double Comics - must put them on the blog some day.