Here it is, in the 2010s. When I was a small child, it was owned by the Simpsons, I think and by 1976 by the Cringans, but I can't remember right now if someone else had it, in between. In any case, I had a standing order here for MWOM, SMCW, the Avengers, POTA, The Titans and Captain Britain. From 1975 through to the end of the decade, my brother and I also bought SSOC, the Super-Heroes, Rampage, Star Wars Weekly and Dr. Who Weekly in Strathaven. Apart from the very occasional 45 rpm single, any money we got at all went on UK weeklies and monthlies, when they appeared.
Of course, since I not only had vague memories of the Power comics of the 60s but was also a semi-regular consumer of the occasional, lurid "American Comic", I was an example of the core readership of the original MWOM. It represented the chance to follow all the major stars of the Marvel Universe from their very beginnings.
When Spider-Man span off (* groan*) into his own title, we were offered the opportunity to subscribe to the hugely exotic and beguiling Foom magazine ( which has just recently been revived, I gather) direct from NYC. MWOM really cemented my allegiance to Marvel , after years of dabbling in primary school with comics starring Batman and Robin, the Legion of Super-Heroes and the Justice League of America.
The subsequent years saw a fairly stable trio of features in Hulk, DD and the FF, although the Sightless Swashbuckler never grabbed me until the legendary Frank Miller era of the early 80s. The beautiful Starlin paper covers and the internal spot colours of the original MWOM were replaced by glossy covers, murky black and white printing and globs of Letratone (or something), obliterating the pencils.
Despite the King's work on Thor, the weekly Spider-Man was always a bit of a snoozer. The grindcore adventures of Shang-Chi and the mysticism of Dr. Strange made the Avengers weekly more alluring and outré. Meanwhile, the interiors of MWOM settled into a bombastic blend of Trimpe, Colan and Kirby - with sidesteps into features like the original Defenders by the 150th issue.
By 1976, however, the burgeoning UK Marvel titles began their inevitable amalgamation in wintry economic conditions.
In 1977, the seemingly-interminable adaptation of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes ( my first Apes movie) was of much less interest to me than the Kozmic epic that was Starlin's Captain Marvel.
Toward the end of my secondary schooling, the Marvel Revolution of 1978 saw a rebranding of the title as a grab-bag featuring the Gulacy MOKF strip, Skull the Slayer, Godzilla and other gonzo 70s series. I was less interested in the weekly titles and more in the monthlies, especially during the ascendance of the Claremont/Cockrum/Byrne X-Men.
The following year, 1979, saw MWOM became a more traditional super-hero title again in its monthly incarnation as Marvel Superheroes. It was a title I followed semi-regularly, catching up on Shooter Avengers issues that hadn't been distributed here - and the Drake/Thomas/Adams era of the original X-Men.
As I began university in the early 1980s, the Moore Davis CB strip migrated from the Daredevils magazine to the resurrected monthly MWOM. I followed the Captain into his own monthly in the first months of 1985...
...and didn't pick up MWOM regularly until I began to buy them for my classroom, in 2011! ( the example above is from 2014) The magazine is a hefty one and it's proved popular ( and more durable- less likely to fall apart) with numerous students. Checking their suitability for the BGE, I particularly enjoyed the Waid Daredevil and Allred Silver Surfer series.
I find comics are great for encouraging reluctant readers and when I first left Elgin, a year ago, the kids were more concerned about me taking the comics with me, rather than my actual departure. I could never have imagined so long ago, in the village shop, that MWOM would still play such a part in my adult, working life.
Coming soon: more Big Finish, West Coast Avengers and other shenanigans
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It was a different world 45 years ago. We had a comics industry in this country for a start, and optimism reigned supreme. I sometimes wonder if optimism is only something that young people have, experience having driven it out of most older folk. Ah, MWOM - now THERE was a comic.
ReplyDeleteI think older people can have cautious optimism.
ReplyDeleteOne of the boys in my registration class/tutor group is worried about Trump & nuclear war. It's very sad.