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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS |
As I gad about the streets of Glasgow, spreading joy and merriment among all those I encounter, I'm often asked "What's your next blog post going to be about, Kid, O wisest and kindest of men?" Truth to tell, although I do sometimes plan my posts ahead, most of the time they're spontaneous, which is a nicer way of saying I just make them up as I go along. This is one such instance, where I decided - off the top of my head - to show you the covers of the first four AVENGERS King-Size Specials. (And they're all mine too.) Enjoy!
Incidentally, I first read the story in the above comic when it was reprinted in the last few issues of FANTASTIC back in 1968.
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| Don't blame me for this one - the cover's bound this way on the comic |
18 comments:
I had #1 and #4, and Giant-Size Avengers #5, which reprinted King Size Special #1.
#1 read like a typical Justice League issue. That was OK with me, though. I was more of a DC fan anyway.
Ah, it was always Marvel for me, TC. I never really dug the JLA - too bland for my tastes.
These are some of the most precious comics in my collection. Nice to see them.
Rip Off
Yeah, they're beauties, RJ. I wish Marvel still did King-Size Specials today - there was just something about them.
Hi Kid,
Out of interest, who were the cover artists? Issues 2, 3, & 4 look like big John Buscema's handiwork, whereas I can only guess who did 1.
You're right about 2-4, JC. Number 1 is credited to John Buscema and John Romita Sr. So JR would've inked it and perhaps even revised some bits.
Kid, were the King Size Specials and annuals (American) easily available because I never saw any on sale.
Can't speak for Wales, CJ, but they seemed fairly available in Scotland when I were a lad.
Lucky you, Kid. I never even saw any regular American Marvels till I went on a school day-trip to Bristol Zoo in July 1976. But soon after they started appearing sporadically in my local WH Smith's - the annuals/King Size specials remained permanently absent unfortunately.
DC Comics appeared to be more readily available in my local shops in the '60s, CJ, but that could've been down to the Marvels being more popular and consequently selling quicker before I saw them. However, I started to see more Marvels around 1967 onwards, and among them were the 68 page Marvel Collectors' Item Classics and Marvel Tales, etc. In the early '70s ('72-'73), I started noticing the King-Size Specials, some of which were a couple of years old, but appearing in the newsagents' spinner-racks brand-new. They may have been lying in a warehouse somewhere, as they used to come over to the U.K. as ballast in ships. (I'm sure you knew that.)
Yup, there's no denying it - you had a deprived childhood as far as comics were concerned.
Kid, I only knew that comics were used as ballast thanks to you - which you revealed a couple of years ago. I had previously been unaware of that fascinating fact !
This ol' blog's good for something then, eh? Good to know, CJ.
It surprises me that #1 is credited to Buscema and Romita - my first thought was that it was a Don Heck cover. The faces down the left hand side and especially the Scarlet Witch figure all look like Heck to me.
Anyway...Buscema's cover for #2 is a classic - I'm sure I bought a tatty old copy of that one at a comic mart at the City Halls in Candleriggs around 1994ish.
Who knows for sure, DS - perhaps Heck inked it or did touch-ups? Having said that, only the Living Laser face looks a little Heck-ish - the rest look like Buscema to me. Anyone else got any ideas?
The villains' faces, especially the Enchantress, look kind of Heck-ish to me.
Eye of the beholder, TC - it looks pure Buscema to me. And look at Power Man - definitely JB.
It's a strange one alright - Goliath looks like a Buscema drawing but Hercules and Scarlet Witch look like Heck. Wonder if it was pasted together from different pieces of art lying around the Bullpen that day?
If anything, I think it's probably more a case of 'touch-ups' on the art by different hands, DS. It's unlikely that it would've looked so 'composed' if it had been pasted together.
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