My plans to match last year's blog post output are being met today but the library is closed tomorrow; I won't have access to a computer until the end of the week and the first week of the new decade's new year. I'm just back from a busy, long weekend in Glasgow but I'll talk a bit more about that next time.
In the previous post, I was pondering nostalgia and the past and of course, the first thing I did on Christmas Day was read three Marvel UK annuals from just over four decades ago. I nearly have the full set now, from the period of Xmas 1974 to Xmas 1979- just missing the 1976 Marvel annual from the autumn of 1975 and the 1978 Hulk annual, from 1977.
I know exactly where and when I first saw the Fantastic Four 1979 annual: in Lewis's in Argyle Street on the afternoon of Saturday 23rd December, 1978. I must've decided I was too old for it but I vividly remember the splash page of "The Torch That Was". It had never been reprinted in MWOM during the spring of 1975 ( and no GA strips about Cap appeared until the launch of the Titans in the October of '75- maybe that was why we skipped the android Torch's revival).
The story is a detour during Johnny Storm's quest for the Inhumans and it has a follow-up in the following year's Psycho-Man annual when Quasimodo the Living Computer gets a Charles Laughton-esque body thanks to the beneficence of the Silver Surfer.
I was a bit disappointed when I finally read the FF Special in the mid- 80s; the Original Torch is a bland, robotic stooge in the story.
The other feature is the summer of 1976 FF Special "And then...the Invaders" by Thomas and Buscema. This is of course a beautifully-drawn time-travel story where we see Zemo's distinctive hood become affixed . Namor also lusts after Susan Richards in a typically Thomas time-paradox. This story, if it had been reprinted, would have appeared in MWOM circa the summer of 1978, so both stories were a bonus to the UK Marvelite that Xmas. As I say, I can't think why I passed on it ,other than adolescent self-consciousness.
Next was the 1979 Incredible Hulk annual. If I glanced at this in 1978, the reprint of the Friedrich/ Severin "A Refuge Divided" would've discouraged me. The debut of the band of Evil Inhumans had first appeared in MWOM in November 1973. Although I liked Timberius et al, I wouldn't have been that keen to read it again. Coincidentally, I also bought the Twomorrows book on Marie Severin, so I might talk about that in the future.
The second feature was a Kraft/Giffen Defenders story featuring Namor, the Red Guardian and the Presence. Nighthawk and Hellcat play a major part in the adventure and I was quite keen on that line-up in 1976-77. But not enough to buy this annual at the time.
Funnily enough, while the Hulk annual didn't really grab me, the 1979 Spider-Man annual was slightly ( and surprisingly) more interesting. Again, the lead feature was one that hadn't been reprinted (circa 1974) in the UK.
Like "The Parents of Peter Parker" in the '78 annual, this is a bland tale by Stan and Larry Lieber. What's clever about "The Web and the Flame" is that Peter and Johnny's antics in Hollywood are part of a scheme by two villains who specialised in illusions and stage magic: Mysterio and the Wizard. In fact, the pair tend to make a more harmonious team than the squabbling, bratty heroes. Of course, Namor tried a similar ploy with the FF in days of yore. The execution is all a bit hackneyed; their giant mechanical gorilla prop looks like a cast-off from the first Black Panther/Klaw clash.
Other reprint features included the hepcat charm of "The Coffee Bean Barn" and a double-page spread of Spidey's Favourite Foes, including Romita's Rhino and the Blackie Drago Vulture. It transpires that I hadn't quite rejected nostalgia, after all.
To my surprise, Marvel wasn't represented among the best new comics for Xmas 2019. For my money, they were Superman Smashes the Klan, Far Sector and Batman Universe by Brian Bendis. But for more nostalgia, I won't blog about the very entertaining BBC radio presentations of Thunderball, Goldfinger, and Moonraker over the Xmas week; in a future post, I'll probably talk about the 1949 Batman and Robin serial. Have a very happy Hogmanay.
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