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| The issue used, copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Many moons ago, I bought via auction a first edition softcover of Origins Of Marvel Comics and noticed that its three Doctor Strange strips weren't reprinted in their correct sequential order. His origin story was presented before his debut story, which followed the intro to the subsequent story, which didn't appear until after the Epilogue instead of before. In short, someone royally screwed up. The proper sequence of strips and intros was corrected for the second printing onwards, so I guess that was the one I had as I don't recall ever noticing anything untoward about the Doctor Strange section of the book at the time.
For some reason, I didn't keep my earliest copies (gave them to friends perhaps), but bought a fourth edition from a bookshop in Glasgow circa the late '70s, which is the one that Stan Lee autographed for me (along with a passel of other books) when I met him in 1991. He was 69 at the time (coming up for 70), which scares the hell out of me as that means he was only around a couple of years older than I am now. (Where did my life go?!) However, there was another error in the 1974 incarnation of Origins, which I just learned about after buying the 50th Anniversary deluxe edition only recently, and it's as follows.
In the Spidey section, the back-up, more contemporary strip, was supposed to be an Electro story, but one featuring The Shocker was used instead. The title was "Rocked By The Shocker!", so presumably someone thought this was the intended Electro tale and this is the one that was published. When the mistake was discovered (after printing), was the wrong tale removed for future editions and the correct one substituted? No, the text of Stan's intro to the tale was rewritten (presumably by Stan) and the original intended strip appeared in a later Spidey reprint book in the Fireside series, devoted to individual heroes.
The 50th Anniversary deluxe edition corrects the running order of the Doctor Strange stories (mentioning it in the indicia), but not the introductory exposition to the Spidey story, retaining the reference to the non-utilised strip. This decision confused me, as I thought I'd have noticed this glaring error before now, having re-read my '70s edition several times over the years, but when I checked, I saw that the text had been rewritten for the second edition and all subsequent ones. Cop a gander at what the first printing said, just in case there are any Marvel malcontents or incredulous Crivvies out there who steadfastly refuse to believe me...
In the episode that follows, you'll meet his gorgeous, star-crossed girlfriend, Gwendolyn, as well as the bolt-hurling Electro---just one of the countless colorful supervillains our dauntless hero dares defy. You'll also see the now-classic "Spidey in the Laundromat" episode, as well as some evidence of Marvel's typical nontoken treatment of its many black characters.
The amended version reads...
In the episode that follows, you'll meet his gorgeous, star-crossed girlfriend, Gwendolyn, as well as the anti-social Shocker---just one of the countless colorful supervillains our dauntless hero dares defy. You'll also see the now classic "Jameson Loses His Cool" episode, as well as some evidence of Marvel's typically untypical exotically exaggerated action scenes.
Like I say, I was previously unaware of this change until recently, which just goes to show you're never too old to learn something new.
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| The issue that should've been used |
Update: It sometimes takes my memory a while to warm up - could be hours, days, or weeks, but eventually, recollections pop to the surface, seemingly out of nowhere. Upon reflection, I think I actually did have a 1st printing of Origins, which had an autographed photo of Stan Lee I'd affixed to the inside front cover, supplied by Marvel UK from a stash Stan had signed for them when he was over in Britain promoting the book. I parted with it in part payment for a copy of J.I.M. #83, though I didn't have the comic for long as I inadvertently damaged it. When I got around to ordering another copy of Origins, it was the 2nd printing I received, wherein the errors mentioned above had been amended.
