4-15-20: NOTE - In refreshing this post, I inadvertently chose cover images in the "on sale" category at Mike's. All other links in this post point to the original direction originally intended. Thanks for your understanding.
Doug: Welcome back to the new stuff, friends! Karen got us off to a nice start yesterday with her review of the recently-released Inhumans tpb. Today it's a well-worn drill, but one that always takes us back to the Bronze Age for some nice recollections. If you make the jump here, you'll land on Mike's Amazing World of Comics and those books that were cover-dated February 1978. A click on the date below will bump you over to the Comic Book Database where you can find some other details. Thanks for playing!
13 comments:
I never knew Marvel had a "Man From Atlantis" comic - so did he ever meet Prince Namor ?
Boy, was there even a #2?
I think by November (when this book hit the racks) that show's brief blaze of popularity was already guttering.
Am I right that there are a lot of darned good covers out there for this month? The Dr Strange cover, in fact, is faaaar better looking than its cover copy potentially reveals it to be. Stygro the Living Star-?? Sounds like an old Lee/Kirby dash-off in a Where Monsters Dwell reprint. . .
Really like the FF#191 cover (Perez)-- man, that was a long, tough stretch in that book, plot-wise. A solid extended soap-opera that culminated in the rather unsatisfying 200th issue, with Reed's "final" defeat of Doom. But there was month after month of the team being broken up with no real resolution in sight. Of course, even by '78 the "4 No More" hand had been played several times over the years, and even this heart-on-the-sleeve high-schooler had grown plenty cynical about that kind of never-gonna-happen manipulation. . .
HB
Fourteen books for me that month. Memorable stories were the aforementioned FF, plus the Avengers. The X-Men continued to be must-read, and I can recall liking the Showcase with Power Girl (a fan of the JSA revival) - although I couldn't tell you anything about the story now. I was sad to see the Teen Titans get canceled, but let's face it - the art and stories in the short-lived revival were pretty poor. The Englehart/Rogers/Austin Dark Knight was in full swing and excellent! Peter Parker was a must-buy for me each month as well. No DD in February, but I also always bought that title.
The rack presence of the Archie and Richie Rich titles continues to amaze. If you're counting, be thorough, as I noticed in both cases there are a bunch and then further down the page there are several more. Wow.
Doug
HB - Any Dr Strange with a cover by Gene Colan is always going to be a bit disappointing with someone else drawing the inside, but actually that issue of Dr Strange was quite good. Tom Sutton was very underrated.
And Roger Stern made a pretty good start as writer, considering he had to fix the book after the post-Englehart wobble.
Otherwise.... the mighty Marvel team-up of Claremont and Byrne seems to have been one of the few signs of life in a US comic biz at a low ebb.
Kamandi without Kirby - oh dear.
-sean
HB, there were a total of 7 issues of Marvel's Man from Atlantis. And no, as far as I know, he never met Namor - I don't think it was set in the Marvel Universe.
Anyway, I bought almost none of the offerings from the big 2 this month off of the spinner rack; the only one I recall having is that issue of Super Friends. This was when I was deep into my Archie/funny animal phase, and while the covers don't ring too many bells, I'm pretty certain I had a few of that month's Archie offerings as well as the Disney Ducks.
Some of the stuff I picked up on the cheap a few years later included Freedom Fighters, Karate Kid (which do indeed have February written on the cover, although according to Mike's their publication date was January), Metal Men, Mr. Miracle (one of those underrated issues by Englehart and Rogers) and Showcase (don't remember much of the story either, Doug, but I do recall the artist was Joe Staton).
I wish I had bought that month's issue of Spidey Super Stories, for that Star Wars spoof cover alone - with Moondragon as the stand-in for Leia. Also, the villain in that month's issue of Life with Archie was none other than Dr. Doom!
And this month's Richie Rich count: 11.
Wow! What a great month for comics that was.
I remember seeing that "Man From Atlantis" comic on the spinner rack at the Top Banana convenience store. I didn't buy it, but for some reason it made an impression because I remember it so vividly.
Comics I do remember for sure buying that month are Amazing Spider-Man #177, Batman Family #16, Captain America #218, Freedom Fighters #12, Godzilla #7, The Human Fly #6, Marvel Team-Up #66, Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #15, Power Man #49, Spidey Super Stores #31, and Teen Titans #53.
I may have also picked up Aquaman #60, and Avengers #168, but I can't for sure on those two.
I had an eclectic taste in comics back then.
The only books I bought faithfully on a month basis were the Spider-Man related titles. A year or two after this I became a regular monthly reader of Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Daredevil, and The Avengers.
I like the Flintstones covers this month. Possible Conan riff on Flintstones #3 with Fred the Barbarian, and a nice gathering of Hanna Barbera characters on the Christmas Party special. I've never read a Flintstones comic, but I see the special issue has Mark Evanier writing and Scott Shaw inking.
Fun Star Wars theme on the cover of Madhouse #111.
That Amazing Spider-Man issue is part of a good 5-part Green Goblin story. That Marvel Team-Up Murderworld story is a good one, from the Claremont/Byrne era of MTU. My 6 year old self loved that Spidey Super Stories Star Wars parody issue:
http://www.dcindexes.com/features/comic.php?comicid=59279
Looks like I tallied about 18 that month. Notably: that classic Detective by Englehart/ Rogers, Cerebus 2 (an early dive into the indies for me), and that great X-Men issue ( "Major Maple Leaf" always makes for a dynamite cover image).
Edo- you beat me to the punch on "Dr.Doom"s appearance in Life with Archie. He might be able to handle Betty, but I think Jughead woild give him trouble...
I don't remember having any of these back in 1978, but I was definitely reading comics back then, so I probably had a few...Spidey, Supes, and Batman most likely. That "laughing fish" issue of Detective is a classic.
Mike Wilson
Eleven years old and I picked up about eight of these at the corner drug store (probably with some Big Daddy Sour Apple gum). That Iron Man with Midas was one of my favorites. I really liked that cover. I didn't know the Guardsman, Jack of Hearts, Jean De Wolff, Madame Masque and others until that arc. Bill Mantlo wrote that run, and despite his quirks I kind of liked it, even when Madam Masque and Iron Man kissed while in costume and armor. That still brings a chuckle, must have been like knocking two pans together. A lot of Marvel purchased that month, but sorry I missed Mr. Miracle. That Invaders with the Scarlet Scarab was another one I have fond memories of, but I should never have reread it recently. It was a bit off. Definitely cannot always go home again.
The only thing I ever had from this month was the issue of Eerie, which I read the heck out of!
A few years ago in the midst of a purge prior to moving I sent my handful of issues of Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella to a friend who collects them.
My golden age. I was in eighth grade. I had a paper route. I had after-school activities on one day a week and CCD classes at night on another. After the after-school band practice, I would walk to my grandparents house, via Kitteredge's Variety Store. They had a large magazine rack with comics on the bottom. After CCD, I would run down to Magee's Variety where there was a spinner rack. This particular month I chose Action, Amazing (my first purchase; I'd been reading Russ Hodge's subscription copies, Thanks Russ!), Aquaman, Avengers, Batman, Batman Family, Challengers (long missing form my collection; I loved this short run! With Swamp Thing, Deadman, and Rip Hunter!), Brave & the Bold, Detective (near perfection!), Flash, GL/GA, JLA (first post-Englehart, so disappointing), MTU (Captain Britain? YES!), Mister Miracle, Shade, Showcase (Power Girl! At Last!), PPTSS (I liked Razorback. So there.),S-LSH (I still love the incorporation of logos of other titles on the cover!), Superman, Titans, and Wonder Woman. Still evocative, still enjoyable!
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