Saturday 30 August 2014

PART FOUR OF BIG BEN - THE THING COVER & IMAGE GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Alas, DONALD DOGFLY makes his last two appearances in this latest The THING Is BIG BEN Cover & Image Gallery.  Drawn by HUNT EMERSON, I don't think Donald has appeared anywhere since.  It would be interesting to learn who currently owns the copyright, as it would be nice if Hunt could revive the character.

Looking back, the comic wasn't too bad, but the name was a bit naff and the masthead wasn't exactly eye-catching or memorable.  It's interesting to speculate as to whether the mag would've enjoyed greater success if it had been called something else - like, I dunno - POWERHOUSE, or something along those lines.

Now there's an idea!  See if you can come up with some good names for U.K. MARVEL mags that might've resonated better with the readers.  Go on - you know where the comments section is!












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6 comments:

  1. John Pitt30 August 2014 at 22:50

    I wasn't keen on Blockbuster as a title for a marvel comic, perhaps simply calling it "Thor " would have been better for its lifespan? I don't think I could improve on any other titles.

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  2. Kid31 August 2014 at 18:25

    I'm not sure I even remember Blockbuster, JP. Any more details?

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  3. John Pitt31 August 2014 at 18:28

    You probably blinked and missed it in 1980 - a short- lived monthly around the same time as Madhouse. It featured Iron Fist, Inhumans and Omega, but by far the best issue was the winter special starring Thor( should have been the main star from the start!) with a beautiful hand-painted cover.

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  4. Kid31 August 2014 at 18:28

    I looked it up, JP, and 'though I seem to remember seeing Omega in b&w, I don't recall the actual comic. Having said that, it wouldn't surprise me to find it lurking in my collection somewhere.

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  5. John Pitt4 September 2014 at 13:50

    With regard to this comic, I find it a sad one, as it reminds me of a time in Marvel UK's history when all their comics and mags were merging into nothing. Bleak years were ahead. The only Marvel titles were licensed ones, 2000 AD had morphed into something I didn't understand ( apart from Dredd ), so I turnedy my attention towards Viz and all the "Viz-alikes" ( excellently covered by Two-Headed Boy and Lee Turnock on their blogs!! ). Yeah, I know some of them were pretty dire, but I collected 'em anyway. After all, a comic collector's got to get his "fix" somewhere, hasn't he?

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  6. Kid4 September 2014 at 14:09

    Indeed he has, JP - which is why I was buying Scream! and Eagle and various Marvel comics and Christmas issues of The Beano, Dandy, Beezer and Topper. I never really got into Viz and its many clones.

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