"A RAGING FURY!" 'POT LUCK' MARVEL COVER GALLERY - PART THREE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Are you all ready for some more?  (And no, the title doesn't refer to CAPTAIN HURRICANE's 'eppies'!)  Here are the covers of more British MARVEL weeklies from the late 1970s and early '80s, all from my own collection at the back of a cupboard.  FURY was an odd one, an attempt by Marvel to produce a comic more in line with traditional weeklies that were the staple of IPC and D.C. THOMSON.  I no longer remember how many issues it survived for before being merged with another title (MWOM), but not many I'd guess.  

MARVEL COMIC was the revamped The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL, redesigned by editor-in-chief DEZ SKINN to resemble comics like VALIANT, LION, and a whole host of other weeklies by rival companies.  I'm not quite sure why, because most (if not all) of those comics had fallen by the wayside by the time this title was unleashed, but the strips were resized in the same way as the Marvel reprints in WHAM!, SMASH!, and POW! were back in the '60s.

I recall buying the new 'first' issue on the way into Glasgow to see SUPERMAN The MOVIE (for the second or third time), and me and a friend each having a fish tea in The BLUE LAGOON, across from Glasgow's Central Station.  Come to think of it, I also got the SPIDER-MAN COMIC that same day.  (These are my original copies by the way, not replacements.)

Anyway, in a magnificent display of self-restraint, I'll spare you further memories of the other comics in this post and let you ponder on your own personal reminiscences associated with these Marvellous titles. Why not tell your fellow Crivvies all about them in our cataclysmic comments section?!  Speaking of which, we seem to have lost some of our regulars since I did away with the 'anonymous' option (in order to avoid loads of abuse I was receiving).  If only those former (and very welcome) commenters would create a Google account, then we could all once again enjoy their sparkling words of wit, wisdom and wonder.  How about it, guys? 

"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" PART TWO Of 'POT LUCK' MARVEL COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

It was a good idea - in theory at least.  However, early issues of the weekly British AVENGERS comic were marred by shoddy printing, which rendered what should've been subtle tones of grey as hideous muddy blacks.  Looking back at these issues now, I wonder why MARVEL took so long to get the problem rectified.  The ODHAMS PRESS presentations of the same tales from a few years before had been vastly superior.

That said, the comics still have a nostalgic appeal that's hard to resist - for those who bought them back in the day anyway.  Here then, are a few more random covers of comics recovered from the depths of my cupboard, protected by cardboard folders for many a long year.  I've featured some of them before on this blog, but they were probably scanned from spare copies which I store in a different place.

I won't bore you with my personal reminiscences of every individual ish, but I remember taking Avengers #28 up to a pal's house one night to show him, and then watching an episode of The SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN in his living room.  Ah, it only seems like last week, yet I was still a mere schoolboy with eternity stretched out in front of me.  Nowadays, sadly, I realise that nothing lasts forever - not even 'forever'.  But enough of this gloom and despondency - let's just enjoy looking back on yesterday - ironically, it's all we of a certain age really have to look forward to.  (And if that's not ironic, then nothing is!)