MIGHTY MARVEL COVER GALLERY - FINAL PART (TWENTY-THREE)...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Alas, alack, Crivs!  Rend your garments and shed a tear, for we've now reached the end of our sequential run of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL cover galleries.  From now on, any MWOM covers featured here may tend to jump around a bit, but there's bound to be something to appeal to the discerning Marvelite.  So despair not, o seekers of the truth and bearers of the flame eternal.  (My, that 'How to write like STAN LEE' correspondence course certainly comes in handy.)

Anyway, that's enough purple prose from me - now it's time to look at the pictures.

MONSTER FUN ANNUAL - MINI COVER GALLERY...

Copyright REBELLION

Way back in 1976 and '77, I bought the MONSTER FUN Annuals for '77 & '78, but for some curious reason never bought the one for '79.  I say curious because I always try to buy at least the first three issues of any new comic or Annual, so how the third MF book escaped my clutches I can't quite say.  I recently remedied that when I managed to obtain one 36 years down the line, so here they are in a mini cover gallery, along with the Annual for 1984 for good measure.  Hope you enjoy them.

SMASH! COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Copyright REBELLION

In February of 1966, a brand-new weekly periodical landed on newsagents' counters all across the country: SMASH! was a companion comic to WHAM!, LEO BAXENDALE's proposed 'Super BEANO', which at that time was just under two years old.  Both comics were published by ODHAMS PRESS, but by the time 1969 rolled around, Odhams had been subsumed by IPC MAGAZINES Ltd., who then relaunched Smash! (the only surviving POWER COMIC out of five) as a more 'traditional' comic in the style of popular weeklies VALIANT and LION.

The revamped comic, launched in March of 1969, survived for around two years, and if not for a printers strike lasting several weeks in 1970, would doubtless have produced more than the 95 issues actually published.  In fact, it seems likely that the strike was the cause of regular readers drifting away, thereby curtailing the comic's potential lifespan and hastening its 'takeover' by Valiant in April of '71.

Here then, is the first in a series of cover galleries showcasing 'new' Smash! in all its glory. I hope that those who lived through the period will find this tantalising glimpse of a vanished periodical from their past extremely welcome.  If you have any particular memories associated with these issues, feel free to share them in the comments section.

And don't forget to come back for Part Two!

PENULTIMATE PART (TWENTY-TWO) Of MIGHTY MARVEL COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

Only one more instalment to go, frantic ones, 'til the first 66 issues of The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL in this cataclysmic cover gallery series is complete.  What'll I do then?  Well, as mentioned in a previous post, I'll run the few glossy covered MWOMs (and SMCWs) in my collection, and I still have complete sets of The SUPER-HEROES, CAPTAIN BRITAIN, COMPLETE FANTASTIC FOUR, BIG BEN, and various other comics which I can share with you all.  And, if nothing else, I can still bore you with rambling reminiscences of my childhood, old bits of furniture, and utterly self-indulgent exercises in neurotic nostalgia.  So, don't despair - there's plenty of life in the old blog yet.

Hey, what are you doing?  Get down off that cliff - you'll hurt yourself.  Whaddya mean, that's the idea?  I thought you liked this blog?

Dear me, some people are just never satisfied.  Tsk.

SMASHING IDEA FOR A COVER GALLERY?

Copyright REBELLION

What do BOB HOPE, JOHN LOWE, and the first issue of the revamped SMASH! comic from 1969 have in common?  The answer is that around 29 and a half years ago, on October 13th, 1984, I met Bob Hope, saw John Lowe make history by scoring the first televised 9 dart finish, and re-acquired the first issue of the 'new' Smash! I'd first bought in March of 1969, then sold to a classmate a few days later.  (For that tale, click here.  Go on, I'll wait for you.)

On that memorable day in 1984, I was in Edinburgh to attend the legendary Mr. Hope's evening show at The Playhouse, and stopped in at a comics shop in the late afternoon to have a bit of a browse.  There was a box containing 72 issues of the 95-issue run of the new Smash!, so I bought them all on the spot.  I took #1 away with me, plus two '50s movie mags which Bob autographed that evening, along with a couple of LP covers from recordings of his old radio broadcasts that I'd brought from home.  (In case you were wondering, I was sitting in a bar having a soft drink before the show and watched Big John score his 9-dart finish on the pub telly.)

As for those remaining issues of Smash!, I arranged to pick them up from the dealer when he attended a Glasgow comic mart the next week, I believe.  (Incidentally, that mart was the one at which 2000 A.D. offered me freelance work as a lettering artist.)  If so, I seem to recall that the dealer forgot to bring the comics with him, which means I either got them at a subsequent mart, or through the post at intervals.  (Of course, I could be misremembering after all this time and perhaps it was a later mart the dealer told me he'd be attending anyway.)

I've picked up 21 of the missing 22 issues over the intervening years and, yesterday, obtained the absent ish (second-last one) from Amazon, and am currently wishing my life away until it safely arrives.  It's taken me practically 30 years to complete the set since I re-acquired that first issue in Edinburgh on that day in October of 1984, but you know what?  It only seems like a few years ago at the very most.

So hands up if you'd like to see a cover gallery of the revamped Smash!?  Better yet, why not let me know in the comments section.  You know how I look forward to hearing from you.

SHIVER WHEN YOU'RE SHAKEN TO...

Image copyright relevant owner

Okay, I'll admit that a Christmas scene is a little out of season (though snow's still a possibility given the recent weather), but I simply had to display this stunning piece of colour cover artwork on the 1976 SHIVER & SHAKE Annual (on sale towards the end of '75), which I received only this very afternoon.  ROBERT NIXON (perhaps the only artist who could've taken over KEN REID's FRANKIE STEIN) at his absolute best, I'm sure you'll agree!

There are a few contemporary cartoonists who'd be wise to take note - this is how it should be done!

******

(And yes, you're right, the title of this post makes no sense at all.  What can I say?  You can't win 'em all.)

PART TWENTY-ONE Of MIGHTY MARVEL COVER GALLERY...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Not only am I running out of MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL comic covers in an unbroken sequence, I'm also running out of things to say about them.  Can you believe that there are only seven more paper-covered issues to go before we get through the complete set and the mag goes glossy on us?  Unfortunately, I only have a few glossy-covered MWOMs in my collection, so future posts in this series will be limited in number.

Look at the ad for the Marvel Annual in issue #59.  I remember seeing this book in a shop on a walk into Hamilton one day (in Blantyre, I think) in July or August of 1973.  I think it was probably July, because I was actually quite surprised to see it on sale so early.  A few weeks later (if that), I bought it from a shop in the old village quarter of my town one Saturday, but apart from the GEOFF CAMPION cover, I wasn't as enthralled by the Annual as I'd been with its predecessor the year before.

Anyway, if you've got any memories of any comics here and you feel like sharing them with your fellow Crivvies, you know where the comments section is.  Go on - give us a peek into your past.

1974 MARVEL U.K. POSTERS...

Copyright MARVEL COMICS

Back in September 1973, MARVEL U.K. (as it eventually came to be known) launched their third British weekly title - The AVENGERS.  The first issue contained a free gift of four mini-transfers, which, small as they were, featured absolutely amazing artwork by Spanish artist LOPEZ ESPI.  I remember being so impressed by them that I wrote to Marvel, suggesting that they release these masterpieces as posters, and guess what?  They did!  I'd love to take credit for giving them the idea, but I doubt I was the only reader who wrote to them on the matter.  (Nah, scrap that - it was all down to me.)

For some odd reason, I never actually got around to sending away for them when they became available, something I now regret.  However, thanks to a generous contributor, I can now feature these amazing six posters to show you all what you missed if you weren't around in 1974.  And thanks to regular Crivvie McSCOTTY for motivating me into tracking down some half-decent copies of these collectors' items to share with you.

Click on images to enlarge, then click again for optimum size.

  

Below, the ad for the six posters above.

Below, a CONAN poster by the same artist, but

not included in the set above.

Copyright MARVEL COMICS and CPI

Below, the cover of AVENGERS #1, which included four

mini-transfers featuring artwork used on the above posters.

And here's another version of each of the original

six posters for you.  Am I good to you, or what?