MY-O-MY! MAGNIFICENT MIGHTY MARVEL MADNESS CURRENTLY OR SOON-TO-BE ON SALE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS.  Note the 'Jack Kirby' -style Giant-Man hand

For all you Merry Marvel Maniacs, the good news is that #1 of AVENGERS UNIVERSE goes on sale on June 19th, in a big 100 page super special debut issue.  I'll certainly be buying it - what about you?  And on July 3rd, The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL relaunches with the first issue of volume five - again, in a 100 page mega-huge ish.  MWOM has been running for around eleven years, which means that PANINI's incarnation of the title has outlived any previous Marvel U.K. version, including the original weekly comic from the '70s.

Makes sense with a Guardians movie due out, but I always found them pretty underwhelming

Sharp-eyed readers may've noticed I had a letter published in #61 (last month), which was an edited reworking of one I'd first had printed way back in 1977 in #226 (volume one).  However, I felt that the subject was still relevant and I wanted to write it the way it should have been written way back in '77.  Unfortunately, in rephrasing the first line, I inadvertently left in a word I'd meant to delete, describing Marvel as "...the world's largest and most popular comic publishing company in the world", instead of "...the largest and most popular comics publishing company in the world".  I'll try again in another 37 years.

H'mm, I dunno - the middle character seems a little small to me.  And Giant-Man doesn't
seem too much of a giant in relation to the supposedly small-statured Wolverine

I still buy the mag regularly, but DAREDEVIL is the only strip I actually bother reading as it's an absolutely gripping story at the moment.  While flicking through the rest of this month's ish (above), I was dismayed to see a couple of examples of what appeared to be same-sex kissing (I'm unfamiliar with the characters involved) and can only thank my lucky stars that I grew up in an age when these kind of subversive and one-sided attempts at brainwashing youngsters didn't exist.  (Feel free to disagree.)

Anyway, here are a few other Mighty Marvel Mags currently on sale.  I don't buy all of them myself, but you can feel entirely free to do so.  (No, I'm not on commission.)

"PROPHECY!" FAVOURITE COMICS Of The PAST - PART TWENTY-NINE...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

I'm sure I meant to do a post on this ish of DAREDEVIL a while ago and thought I actually had, but I can't find it anywhere on the blog.  Therefore, there's a chance I'm repeating myself here, but this is a comic that's worth it.  I bought this ish in Portsmouth in 1985 and recognised it as a classic from the off!  Great story (by DENNY O'NEIL at his finest) and great art (by DAVID MAZZUCCHELLI), it's an object lesson on how comicbooks should be done.  The plot weaves an incident from the past into the present and is done with such consummate skill that it seems not the slightest bit far-fetched. 

Whenever I look at this comic I can't help but think of my bedsit in Shearer Road in Fratton and a big plate of egg & chips in EVE'S CAFE at the bottom of Albert Road in Southsea.  In fact, I think I'll revisit yesteryear by pouring myself a large glass of milk and re-reading this classic tale one more time.  You must excuse me, but the past beckons and I can never resist its call.

If you don't already have this one in your collection, you really should track down a copy on eBay right away.