CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: PART TWO OF HOWARD THE DUCK COVER & SPLASH PAGE GALLERY...

Sunday, 4 May 2014

PART TWO OF HOWARD THE DUCK COVER & SPLASH PAGE GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

American readers of this blog could be forgiven for wondering if the MARVEL covers featured are from 'real' U.S. Marvel mags or British reprints for U.K. buyers. After all, the banner says Marvel All-Colour Comics, not Marvel Comics Group, and are priced in pence, not cents. Honestly though, these mags were printed on the exact same presses as the ones sold in the States.

What happened is that the mags for America and Canada were printed first, the cover plates then adjusted and the issues for sale in Britain run off. Marvel U.K. sold weekly black and white mags at that time, so the Marvel Comics Group line was replaced with Marvel All- Colour Comics to underscore the difference to anyone who wasn't already aware of it. That apart, they're exactly the same as the American versions in every way, including the indicia.

Now that I've explained that (in case you didn't already know), you can relax and enjoy the second part of our HOWARD The DUCK cover gallery, secure in the knowledge that it contains the 'real deal' - not second-rate forgeries. Only the best for you, fellow frantic fans. And I've even thrown in the '77 Annual.

8 comments:

Unknown said...: Ahhhh memories I forgot just how many of these books I bought, have a soft spot for the "Cookie Creature" issue - will need to look out a few of these in bargain bins (amazingly you still see them now and then for 50p) - Were there ever any figures for the number of issue of comics Marvel on average sent to the UK, I would assume they shipped a fair few to justify stopping the presses to change the word "colour" and adding UK pence on the masthead (before they simply got stamped "T&P" with UK pence (or old pennies) - I must have missed the King Size annual as don't recall seeing that at all; 4 May 2014 at 11:23
Kid said...: There must be a record somewhere, McScotty, of how many numbers were shipped over, but I wouldn't know where to start to find out. As you say, it must've been significant to bother changing the price, etc.

Incidentally, this wasn't a new thing; early '60s Marvel comics had the same thing done to them. The month was removed from the cover and the price was changed to 9d - even the fact that T&P were the distributors in Britain was added to the indicia. Also, I actually have two different versions of some mid or late '60s Marvel mags - one with the cents price and the T&P stamp, and the other with 10d printed on the cover. (Although I think at this stage the indicia remained unaltered - I'll have to check.); 4 May 2014 at 11:50
Anonymous said...: I remember well "The Thief of Bagmom" being advertised but I don't recall if I saw the advert in a UK comic or a U.S. one - Paul said he didn't remember the King-Size Annual and I'm not sure if they were ever on sale here, the Treasury Editions definitely were but I never saw any of those King-Size Annuals and I never owned one.; 4 May 2014 at 14:07
Kid said...: They were certainly on sale in this country, CJ, 'cos that's one of two original copies I bought in 1977 from my local R.S. McColl's.; 4 May 2014 at 14:22
joecab said...: Hey, I own the original to that splash page of Howard #12! It's gawjiss.; 30 September 2014 at 20:36
Kid said...: Lucky man - I'm sure we're all jealous.; 30 September 2014 at 21:28
joecab said...: Here's a photo of it: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByzjSK1IYAAcNqg.png; 1 October 2014 at 00:30
Kid said...: Lovely stuff. An original Gene Colan - well done. (Green with envy.); 1 October 2014 at 00:43

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.