Hey, Kids! Comics from 50 Years Ago!
March 1 & 5, 1970
Groovy Age Splash Page of the Week
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| Tom Sutton (who would have been 83 this week) from Monster Hunters #3, September 1975 |
Question of the Week: Can You Remember Your Earliest Marvel Comics?
Why is Ol' Groove focusing the question on Marvels? Well, mostly because I can't remember my earliest DC, Charlton, Harvey, Gold Key, Dell, or Charlton comics because I didn't necessarily buy those for myself--'cause those companies put out a lot of "kiddie" books. Also, when I did start buying my own comics off the spinner rack, they were mostly Archie and DC comics because of my love for the Batman TV show and the DC and Archie cartoon shows that filled my Saturday mornings. Sooooo… discovering Marvel was a big deal for Li'l Groove. I bet it was a big deal for a lot of you Groove-ophiles, as well!
I'm doing my first ten Marvels because...I can actually remember them! I can honestly remember going to the ol' King Kwik just outside my Cincinnati subdivision and pulling these mags from their place in the spinner rack. To be clear, I'm not counting comics other people bought me, or comics I got in trade from the other kids in the neighborhood. These are Marvels I chose myself, fresh off the spinner rack.
10) Captain America #127, April 1970 (Yep, last week's list of comics from 50 Years Ago inspired this QotW!)
9) Avengers #73, December 1969
8) Amazing Spider-Man #79, September 1969
7) Incredible Hulk #121, August 1969
6) Fantastic Four #92, August 1969
5) X-Men #60, July 1969
4) Daredevil #52, March 1969
3) Sub-Mariner #7, August 1968
2) Not Brand Echh! #10, July 1968
1) Captain Marvel #6, July 1968
Do you remember your the earliest Marvel mags you picked out for yourself, Groove-ophile? It doesn't have to be ten. It can be more or less, whatever you can remember or would like to share, but please share your memories in the comments, okay? Pax!
Looks like Harvey unloaded all their books this week. Perhaps they had an arrangement with Charlton, sort of like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones releasing singles on alternate weeks.
ReplyDelete- Neil
My first Marvel comic was Avengers no. 67 with Ultron as the villain. It actually belonged to one of my older brothers, and in 1969 I was too young to read, but that didn't stop me from looking at the pictures! In a number of their comics that I perused the storytelling was quite clear, even to a four year old! Years later it was fun to rediscover what some of these early memories were from.
ReplyDeleteAvengers no. 67 has cover art by Sal Buscema and inside artwork by Barry Smith. Script by Roy Thomas.
Gene Poole
That's a great comic! I didn't get to see it until it was reprinted in Marvel Super Action in 1980 or so! 1969 was when I started picking up superhero comics, too. I started first grade in 1969 and was learning to read--comics made me WANT to read and I was quickly top reader in my class. Roy and Stan and Mom are to thank for getting me started on the road to a great education!
DeleteThe last cover in your current post is my favourite, Groove! The first fourteen issues of the Witching Hour were edited by Joe Orlando & he rallied some amazing talent in those: Alex Toth, Nick Cardy, Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Jeff Jones, Mike Kaluta, Al Williamson, & so many more.
ReplyDelete#9 has a great Neal Adams cover, some evocative Toth framing sequence pages, & the cover story drawn by Jose Delbo is, in my opinion, his career best. It takes place in feudal China & is called "The Last Straw." The other stories were also quite good, particularly the last one with its Shangri-La vibe, called "Trumpet Perilous."
Regards,
Chris A.
A DC "who's who" of top talent! Those covers really did jump out!
DeleteI was lucky enough to get my Witching Hour # 9 signed by Mr Delbo at a convention several years ago.
DeleteMy first Marvel comic book? Captain America #100. Cap, in his own mag, at last! My dad bought it for me. I was five years old. Ianni's News Stand on Olden Avenue in Trenton, New Jersey!
ReplyDeleteI was 27 issues behind you, but man, Cap was a great comic to start with, wasn't it?
DeleteInteresting that Daredevil 65 has an allegedly dead Karen Page on the cover a full three years before Gwen Stacy died in the Amazing Spider-man 121.
ReplyDeleteA warmup act?
- Neil
Of course, the first BIG death of a comics female was Raven in the 1940s "Terry and the Pirates" strip by Milt Caniff. It made a huge impact on readers nationwide. Very moving.
I don't think anyone was entertaining the notion of killing Gwen at that point (Captain Stacy was still kicking around), but Marvel was less than a year away from actually killing off another super-hero's long-time love interest. Anyone remember who it was?
DeleteDORMAAAAAA!!!!!!
DeleteForbush Man? ;)
DeleteThat would be Subby's girlfriend Lady Dorma in Sub-Mariner no. 37.
DeleteGene Poole
Dorma is correct! Forbush Man is immortal, lol!
ReplyDeleteMan, you picked some great comics to start off with, Groove! Especially love that "Brechh", what a fun book that was.
ReplyDeleteI started a little before you; second grade in 1967. A neighbor kid introduced me to comics, and after beginning with Casper, Richie Rich and Superman, I tried Marvels. The first was Amazing Spider-Man 52, with the Kingpin. It seemed head-and-shoulders above anything else I'd read, and prompted a love for Spidey that lasts to this day.
A few other Marvels I picked up as a 'beginner': Spider-Man Annual 5, Fantastic Four Annual 6, Not Brand Echh 5, Fantasy Masterpieces 11.
For some reason I never explored beyond Spiderman and the FF until some years later. I'd abandoned superhero comics until another friend hooked me in middle school, but that's another story...
Spidey 52, "To Die a Hero"-----loved that one!
Delete- Neil
Most of those books I'd later discover as reprints! So cool!
DeleteWow, this is a tough one. I wracked my brain and I came up with the following. I remember my first comics were Superman and Batman because that's what was sold at my local supermarket. What great ones, too-the Ra's al Ghul saga, the "weaker Superman who shares his powers with a kid with a lynx" run...great stuff. I begged my Mom to take me to a newsstand on Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles and I took my saved-up allowance and bought my first Marvels! Here goes:
ReplyDeleteAvengers 101 (a great tale by Harlan Ellison, Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler about a man who might unwittingly destroy the universe!)
Captain America 153 (the beginning of the 50's Cap story line, left off with a cliffhanger that took me forever to find!)
Daredevil 89 (Daredevil vs Electro by Colan! The Black Widow as well!)
Incredible Hulk 153 (the Hulk on trial! Matt Murdock for the defense!)
Iron Man 48 (My six year old mind was fascinated by the idea of his armor melting)
Sub-Mariner 51 (my first look at Everett in the modern era-his 70's run is still my favorite Namor version)
Thor 201 (Pluto, Odin, Hela, Tana Nile, Ego, what else could a kid need?)
Thanks for the trip down Groovy Lane! I still think it is my favorite era.
Best,
John
I was heavily into Marvel when the mags you name came out, and I can so vividly remember getting most of them off the rack. While each of 'em is excellent, Avengers 101 and Cap 153 are special faves!
DeleteThe first Marvel I bought was Doctor Strange #5 in 1974, the conclusion of the Silver Dagger saga. Scripted by Steve Englehart, pencilled by Frank Brunner, & inked by Dick Giordano, it remains a classic.
ReplyDeleteIn 1983 Marvel reprinted these five issues on Baxter paper & it looked better than ever (though Wrightson's wraparound cover was not one of his better efforts).
These Brunner issues, along with his work in the 1975 Doctor Strange treasury edition, remain some of his very best work in comics.
Regards,
Chris A.
Wow, you started out on the real deal! While I have an all-encompassing love for Doc Strange by Ditko, Colan, Rogers, and PMS, Brunner will always be my fave Doc artist. I even got to shake his hand and tell him so!
DeleteSadly I can never truly recall my first comics from DC ,Marvel , Archie etc partially due to it being so long ago now and also the fact I had an older brother who along with his pals collected US comics so I would read these. Also in the UK, US comics were reprinted quite extensively in our weekly and some monthly comics (prior to Marvel UK) so these confuse the situation for me. But US Marvel comics I do recall picking up early on in my “career” as a comic geek are:
ReplyDeleteCaptain America 121 – The Man Brute
Spider Man 81 – The Chameleon
Avengers 70 – Squadron Supreme
Silver Surfer 12 - The Abomination
Sgt Fury 70 (cant recall to much about it though)
Most of these were released in the US around 1969 but as UK distribution was patchy I would have probably gotten these early in 1970 (although we certainly got some US comics in Scotland at least, quite quickly after they were published in the US) . I can still recall picking up the above Silver Surfer , Spidey and Captain America comics in Glasgow on shopping trips with my mum and dad. I still have my original copies of the Surfer and Capt America comics (though the Silver Surfer book is falling apart from re reading it so often).
I also think the quality of most (not all) comics dropped around 1976, not just because I was maybe getting older, but the artists, writers that made these books so good were getting if not old, were certainly running out of ideas (Kirby?) and not producing their best work. In addition new writers artists were just breaking into the industry and most needed time to develop their styles, But still some great books were produced after this time (for a few years at least) –I also think it was a mistake moving Peter Parker out of college.
I agree about Peter Parker, and it seems the recent films want him younger still, even in high school. Why not?
DeleteGene Poole
I don't recall what my first Marvel was. The first 5 comics added to my collection were DCs that I picked up at a 7-11 type store in Houston in 1965. There my 9 year old brain came up with the idea of collecting comics. Fast forward 54 years later and I'm still at it. I didn't like Marvel at first with its continued stories and ongoing subplots. But boy did I come around a few years later. And, of course, Jack Kirby made me a Marvelite. I have to comment of FF # 100. When my teenaged comic geek eyes spied it at the 7 - 11 in 1970, my heart skipped a beat. It was the first comic of the Marvel Age to reach that number. Although it really wasn't Stan and Jack at the peak of their talents as advertised inside, it was a great romp through many of the villains of the past provided via the Puppet Master and Mad Thinker. I kept turning the pages to see who would appear next. Some were only around for a panel or two but added greatly to the story. What Stan and Jack were able to tell in 19 pages, with super inker Joe Sinnott along for the ride, proves what great storytellers they were. To this day I periodically pick up that issue in the FF Masterwork and read it again to experience that same thrill from 50 years ago. Also that Spidey 86 introduced the new Emma Peel influenced Black Widow before she launched into.her ultimately unsuccessful series in Amazing Adventures. Sorry for the verbosity. Your new format lends itself to long-windedness on my part
ReplyDelete