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: Here's your monthly dose of Spinner Rack nostalgia, kids. This time around the date might be a bit early for our average reader, although I know we have some regular commenters who were in full buying mode by this time. Whatever the case, please make your way to Mike's Amazing World of Comics to find the books cover-dated July 1974, and then make your way back here for some fun. The date below jumps you over to the Comic Book Database for additional information.
Doug, the link you provided shows the comics on sale in, rather than cover dated, July 1974. Here's a link to the July '74 cover dated comics. Either way, it's before my time, so I did not buy any of these - although I did read a number of them later.
ReplyDeleteAs in many previous months, I find some of the covers to the Charlton books quite striking, such as that lovely painted cover on Haunted #17. Also, the cover to Just Married #101 caught my eye - which seems to be the problem. Weren't the romance books supposed to be geared toward female readers? Because that bikini-clad blonde and the words "He turns me on!" in big letters right next to her seems to be aimed at grabbing the attention of the teenage boys browsing the spinner racks...
July '74 was definitely before the Richie Rich wave crested - only 6 titles this month.
Edo beat me to it - these are cover dated October and November 1974 and went ON SALE in July. I didn't even discover Marvel comics till November '74 but I know several of these covers from their UK reprints - Defenders, FF, the two Incredible Hulks and the two Tomb Of Draculas (Tombs Of Dracula ?). Talking of the cover dates - the three month gap between the on sale date and the cover date was always a bit confusing especially when a Christmas-themed issue had a March cover date !
ReplyDeleteEdo- thanks for that link. Both these months featured a bunch of winners!
ReplyDeleteDoug- guess I'm one of those commenters you mentioned in 'full buying mode'. Indeed, the books featured today came out right as I started buying/collecting. Amazing Spider-Man 134 was the first book I actually waited for (when I started, 130 through 133 were on the stand; 134 wasn't out yet). I sampled a bunch of titles that month, especially the Giant-Size titles. Hulk, Defenders, Conan, Man-Thing, Marvel 2-in-1: I was like a kid at a buffet. And the enthusiasm I felt at the time still colors many of these books with a warm glow of fondness even today...
Interesting month.., I feverously kept my attention glued to the 'Secret Empire' saga in Cap's mag.., and with my family (temporarily) moving to Florida, I had missed 175 for at least a decade, until I finally bought a reader copy in college. For years I went from Cap's struggle to his 'Captain America Must Die' issue, without ever reading the climax issue.
ReplyDeleteIt was great seeing Mantis in MarVell's issue, and of course one of the coolest Thanos chapters breaking loose in Avengers 125. It was otherwise a fantastic month for Zuvembies.
Classic Defenders cover, and the Frightful Four yet AGAIN attack the FF.
Oddest issue this month for me was Giant-Sized Spiderman with Dracula. I bought it immediately, yet the story was bland and uneventful, and to top it all off, Spidey and Dracula actually never have any scenes together. Bizarre.
Incidentally, that 3-month cover date lag mentioned by Colin and Edo was a blessing. If you were just starting out on a title, it gave you the possibility of grabbing three issues consecutively (if your spinner rack was generous and not picked-over), and thus helping avoid getting stuck in the middle of an ongoing story...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction, guys. When I was setting this up a couple of weeks ago I noticed a discrepancy between Mike's and the Comic Book Database. I think I confused myself in the midst of working through things.
ReplyDeleteSo, I will leave this comment space and correct the main page -- hopefully things run smoothly from here.
Doug
Fixed. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteDoug
It was a good month for me. I had the Spectre Adventure Comics issue, the Defenders, Ghostly Haunts, Kamandi, Midnight Tales, Legion of Super-Heroes, Weird War Tales, Witching Hour and Yang. A few Charlton Comics in there. Being a lover of the plucky underdog, I always had a lot of affection for Charlton Comics. The Midnight Tales issue was especially charming.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the discrepancy between the cover dates and when they actually went on sale always throws me a bit when I visit Mike's site -- I have vivid memories of buying several of these issues on my way home from school (8th grade), so these must have hit the spinner racks in April or May, right? Whatever, it's still way cool to see all these gems together, really takes me back....
ReplyDeleteOne funny thing, it reminds me of what a hardcore Marvel snob I was back then. I bought most of these Marvels with my lunch money and weekly allowance (except for the Western and Horror reprint books) and pretty much REFUSED to buy DC's, Charltons, etc. I would occasionally buy a Batman comic if Jim Aparo drew it, and I always got Swamp Thing (hard to resist Wrightson and Redondo) -- but whenever I did I still felt disloyal to Stan! Don't think I ever bought a single Gold Key comic at the time (neat covers but the insides always looked super-bland to my 13-year-old eyes). I missed out on some cool stuff -- for instance, that Weird War Tales has a GREAT Frank Robbins story in it. Sometime later, as my comics addiction got stronger, I'd pick up things like Rima and the occasional Charllton when I was desperate for a fix and already had all the Marvels on the rack. Strangely, the one exception to my "Nothing But Marvel" rule was the now much-maligned Atlas books -- it was such a cool thing to be buying an entirely new line of comics from the very start. Plus, the fact that the trade dress on the covers LOOKED so much like Marvel's probably helped :)
This was one of those months where the dastardly distribution doldrums hit and I missed a goodly number of Marvel titles -like David, I had been reading the Secret Empire saga and was awaiting the conclusion and completely missed this issue! I got the next one and was sitting there, wondering, "Wha hoppen?" Took years before I got the back issue. I also missed the Giant-Size issues this month, the Defenders, War of the Worlds..But I did get 13 books back in the day, including Captain Marvel, the companion Avengers issue, Hulk as Judas and Warlock as Jesus story, all the Marvel reprint titles, and my sole DC, Superboy and the Legion of Super-heroes. So despite some snags, not a bad month!
ReplyDeleteThis was around the time I really fell hard for comics...sigh...
Yeah, I was only 2 years old in 1974, so I wasn't getting any of these off the rack! I've read quite a few since, though. Some cool Marvel stuff already mentioned: Avengers/Captain Marvel x-over with Thanos; second appearance of Punisher--and first of Tarantula--in Amazing; that Giant-Size Spidey guest starring Dracula, where--as David B mentioned--they don't even meet, unless you count Peter Parker bumping into Drac and saying "excuse me"; MTU #23 was kind of a companion to that Giant-Size issue, with Torchy teaming up with Iceman against Equinox, after lending Spidey an FF plane so he could go out to the cruise ship where Dracula was;
ReplyDeleteNot a lot of DC standouts: Karen mentioned the Legion, and Adventure featured Mike Fleisher's Spectre...I have the Wrath of the Spectre reprints of those Fleisher stories, but I've never actually read them; I guess I should get around to it one of these days!
Mike Wilson
I was just starting out at this point (about to turn 8 years old). The first comic I really remember owning came out the previous month (FF #147).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I remember having: Amazing Spider-Man #134; Marvel Spectacular #8; and Thor #225. I must have had a bunch of the kids' comics too but none of the covers strike my memory.
Evan
...might...be...a...bit...early...for...our...average...reader...
ReplyDeleteThanks. Thanks a lot Doug. ;-)
I was 12 and in full Marvel snob/zuvembie mode for about a year at this point. Many great memories. I was so stoked that Marvel could do no wrong by me. I actually thought the Tarantula was a cool villain (?)
I was also naive to the notion of collecting and preserving comics at this point. So I would cut pictures from covers that I liked and tape them to my closet doors. Dumb, I know, but I can remember distinctly thinking how cool I thought that Captain Marvel - Thanos pic was with the words YOU DIE! in the middle.
Tom
Tom- your creativity with the cover cutouts wasn't naivete, just good fun! I cut up books and glued them all over my school notebooks, walls, and anything else available. And we won't mention the Marvel Value Stamps I cut. Oh wait, I just did...Anyway, comics were cheap enough you could cut one up for decoration, and buy one to keep for another quarter. We're they really once so inexpensive?
ReplyDeleteThanks Redartz. And since you didn't mention it, I also cut out the Marvel Value Stamps. I sent away for the album to store them in but it never came. Bummer.
ReplyDeleteA while back I found what must be a little earring box that my mom gave me to store them in until my album (never) arrived. They fit perfectly in there. Still got all 100 of 'em.
Tom
Tom- that's too bad your book never showed up, but very cool you have the box with the stamps! Kind of like a time capsule. If you were so inclined, you might find an empty album on ebay. I actually completed the set and filled the album. Traded it for back issue credit at a convention some years back, got a few nice books...
ReplyDeleteThis month fell before I really started buying comics on my own and after a group of comics gifted to me, though I have collected a number of these as back issues over the years. Somehow that Lil Jinx issue was floating around our house though. I forgot that title even existed.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Value Stamps, I never cut them out, but I did pick up a number 1 issue of Iron Man really cheaply because it was missing the stamp. 25 years later even that damaged copy has probably increased in value.