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.













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8 comments:

  1. Unknown4 May 2014 at 11:23

    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

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  2. Kid4 May 2014 at 11:50

    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.)

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  3. Anonymous4 May 2014 at 14:07

    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.

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  4. Kid4 May 2014 at 14:22

    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.

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  5. joecab30 September 2014 at 20:36

    Hey, I own the original to that splash page of Howard #12! It's gawjiss.

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  6. Kid30 September 2014 at 21:28

    Lucky man - I'm sure we're all jealous.

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  7. joecab1 October 2014 at 00:30

    Here's a photo of it: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByzjSK1IYAAcNqg.png

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  8. Kid1 October 2014 at 00:43

    Lovely stuff. An original Gene Colan - well done. (Green with envy.)

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