POT LUCK MARVEL POCKET BOOK COVER GALLERY... (Updated)

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

A fresh and frozen thin coating of snow adorns the streets outside my window as I type - ah, lovely.  I sometimes wish it could be Winter forever, so clean and white does everything seem in all its frost-framed finery.  Sorry, I'm being entirely self-indulgent, as the current state of the weather has absolutely nothing to do with this post.  (Unless I wanted to make a bad pun about it being a 'chiller' of a day.)

Contrary to what some Crivvies might think, I don't, alas, possess every British MARVEL comic ever published.  I probably had most of them way back when, but that's no longer the case.  Take the Marvel Pocket Books from the early '80s - I bought a good many of them at the time (with the exception of YOUNG ROMANCE, which I don't recall ever seeing), but sometimes they just weren't in the shops.

This meant I'd start collecting a particular title, but then have to give up on it because it just seemed to disappear from the shelves after several issues.  Case in point: there were 28 issues of CHILLER PB, but I only possess the first eight of them.  And when it comes to the CONAN one, I only have the first two (now three - yippee).  Did I once have more and give them away for some reason?  To tell the truth, I can now no longer recall with absolute certainty, but it's a possibility.

With STAR HEROES (not shown), I didn't buy the mag until it started reprinting early X-MEN tales in its tenth issue, changing its name shortly after.  Likewise, I probably purchased the early SPIDER-MAN PBs, but the only ones I have now are a few with LEE/DITKO tales.  I'd almost certainly have bought the first ish, but if I continued with it, I suspect I later gave away any which didn't contain reprints of the earliest stories.  (Now added #1, 7, & 8.)

But what's all that to you?  Do you care?  Of course not!  All you want is to see the pretty piccies - and who can blame you?  So here's a hodgepodge of covers from an assortment of whatever Pocket Books I don't have complete sets of.  There's bound to be something you'll like.  I'll get around to showing you the FANTASTIC FOUR and the X-MEN ones reasonably soon - promise.  (And a promise made is a debt unpaid.)

2022: Finally acquired #3 - over 40 years since it was published.  Result!

Acquired this and the preceding two issues just a few days after publishing
this post, so here they are for your enjoyment, frantic ones

I bought this one in Southsea/Portsmouth in 1981 - and more than likely the other three also.
That probably explains why I don't have any issues after #12 - they were nowhere to be seen
in shops back home

PART TWO Of The CRUNCH COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd

Here we are with the second instalment of DCT's 'paper' for boys, launched in January 1979 and merging with The HOTSPUR after a mere 54 issues.  Having shown you the strip content in part one, there's no need to repeat myself so I'll restrict the pics to the front and back covers - unless, of course, there's something that absolutely cries out to be seen.

Have you any memories of this comic from 36 years ago?  What was your favourite strip?  Did you buy the combined Hotspur & Crunch or simply jump ship at that point?  Feel free to share your reminiscences in our comments section.