Saturday, 23 September 2017

A TALE WHICH MIGHT NOT ASTONISH YOU, BUT I THINK IT'S INTERESTING...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

See the above cover of TALES To ASTONISH #89?  Good - now forget about it for a moment and cop a gander at its predecessor below, TTA #88.  My original copy of this comic was bought sometime back in the '60s.  I no longer recall with any certainty whether I acquired it before or after I'd read the SUB-MARINER tale when it was reprinted in TERRIFIC, but I suspect it was before.  If so, it would have been one of those rare occasions when an American MARVEL mag was available in Britain not too long after it was published.

I know I read the follow-up to Subby's adventure in Terrific, and I'd have read it again when it was reprinted in one of the Marvel UK weeklies in the mid-'70s, but I never owned the original issue.  I've got a reprint of it in one of my HULK MASTERWORKS volumes, but I've always hankered after owning the original US ish so that it could join my replacement copy of TTA #88, which I obtained more years ago than I'm capable of remembering.

Well, now I've got it!  The above comic arrived today, and it'll soon be keeping company with its companion in my filing cabinet.  Another quest completed, wherein I secured the subsequent issue of a comic I first bought around 50 years ago!  And, if memory serves, I think I also own TTA #87 (which I likewise originally had back in the '60s, and replaced many, many years ago), so that's 3 in a row for me.  (Actually, memory doesn't serve, because, upon checking, I don't have #87 after all - except as a reprint in a Masterworks volume.  Ah, well - maybe one day.)  

Yes, trivial I know, but to me, it's a significant accomplishment!  If you have any memories relating to either of these mighty mags, fellow Crivvies, feel free to share them in the comments section.  And remember the cry - Make Mine Marvel!

FABULOUS FLASHBACKS: 40TH ANNIVERSARY Of RAMPAGE #1...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

October 12th 1977 - that's the day RAMPAGE #1 went on sale.  The weekly Rampage that is, not the monthly magazine that surfaced sometime after its namesake's demise.  The one you're now looking at lasted for 34 issues and featured The DYNAMIC DEFENDERS and The Man Called NOVA.  At one time I owned them all, but now only have the first 3 or 4.  You have to hand it to MARVEL UK - they were continually unleashing new mags on British Marvelites in an attempt to see what would stick, but aside from SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY (in all its various incarnations), nothing seemed to last for long. 

In just under 3 weeks, it'll be 40 years since I bought this comic (yup, this is the actual one I purchased back then), but the moment seems as fresh as the touch of a gentle summer breeze upon my face, and I find it hard to believe that such a length of time has elapsed, so quickly has it flown by.

Anyway, that's enough of my nostalgic introspection - now it's time for yours as you peruse these pulsating pages and re-acquaint yourselves with yesteryear.  If you bought this comic back in the day, let's hear all about it in the comments section.