Remembrance of Things Marvel

Last time, when talking about the black-and white Power Comics of the Sixties, I discussed the strips that made me a Marvel Fan: Thor, Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. In this post, I want to examine some publications that kept the Power flame alive as that decade turned.
My most potent memories of the Fantastic Four revolve around this softcover book:

 
 I associate it most vividly with a sunny afternoon in our garden, with the dusty ivy on the garden wall. It was bought in a shop on Argyle Street, near the Station Park in Stonehouse, in the late Sixties. It may have been when my granny was still alive or it may have been after a visit to Stonehouse Hospital- I attended clinics as a little kid because I didn't walk properly until I was about five years old and still walk on my instep to this day.


The colours inside were wild. Dr. Doom's regalia rivals the Sixth Doctor's for a mish-mash of clashing hues and the FF uniforms are a tomato red. But what an introduction! The legendary This Man This Monster, The Way it Began and The Peril and The Power. Aside from Doom himself, the stories featured The Negative Zone, the Black Panther, Klaw and the Silver Surfer. I was particularly fascinated with a cameo by the Inhumans and scanned newsagents avidly for any covers where they appeared.

 This FF annual soon followed. As a small boy, I envied people in the Grampian tv region ( which is where I live now) for Sunday screenings of the "popular television series". The first two stories dated from early 1964: The Master Plan of Doctor Doom which introduced the Terrible Trio and The Return of the Mole Man. The latter sticks in my mind because I'd never heard of Hoboken before-and actually visited it one wet Saturday in 1995! 

The most memorable story was The Replacement in which Crystal joins the team: Kirby at his peak, in my book. Does anyone know what the fourth story is? I thought it might be The Infant Terrible, but can't recall. A second b/w FF album was comprised of three parts of the Skrull Slaver/Gangster planet storyline from the autumn of 1969.

A fourth World Distributors album found its way to me on a winter's evening in 1969. Last month, I bought a very good quality replacement copy from the QMU comic mart in Glasgow. You can't tell from the scan, but despite what the cover blurb says, it doesn't feature the Hulk, Sub-Mariner or Spider-Man. It's not unlike a Double Double comic: a random assortment of Marvel Tales from the early and late 60s.


And Fear Shall Follow:  This would have been, I think, my second exposure to Mar-Vell and it introduces the Aakon as the Kree's mortal enemies (not the Skrulls) Although this is the boring spaceman-spy iteration, Don Heck is probably at his peak for dynamism and design.  I was struck by the Kirby-esque rhythms of Arnold Drake's dialogue-"Your luck NEVER deserts you, Captain! But ...it was my command that brought this GLORIOUS moment!" Also, the Aakon use very few pronouns. How alien!
The Magic of Mad Merlin: a Golden Age-style early tale of Thor. This version of Merlin returned to bedevil the X-Men as The Warlock and later as the Maha Yogi. The vagaries of British comics ensured I'd actually read that Warlock story in Fantastic first. Alan Davis also used his image in the first issue of The Daredevils.
(Iron Man) In Mortal Combat with Captain America: Happy Hogan models the Sixth Doctor's wardrobe here too.  A bit of a snoozer by Don Heck but it does feature Kraven and the Chameleon from Spider-man and the original Avengers.

The Enchantress and The Executioner: This is more like it- vistas of Asgard and the far future plus the introduction of a pair of iconic Marvel villains. Kirby's Enchantress reminds me of Ursula Andress.

In the early 70s, I read a friend's copy of this Marvel softcover. Like the second FF album, this one was in black and white. It featured Thor's second battle with the Destroyer, an Inhumans short with Triton; The Hulk vs. Sub-Mariner; Steve Rogers giving up his Captain America identity (again); and Iron Man vs. Whiplash. These were all '68/69 stories and despite the lack of colour, a superior package in the eyes of young Doug.


In the near future, I'll look at a couple of Bronze Age Marvel UK annuals; Alan Moore's Captain Britain; the Spider-Woman motion comic and the mighty Avengers movie!


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