1975: COMIC MEDIA NEWS ISSUE 21

From July/ August 1975: COMIC MEDIA NEWS issue 21.

This is the (mostly bad, by the sounds of it) news that British comics fandom was waking up to 42 years ago this month...

1975: VALIANT RELAUNCH ISSUE

From 1975: Relaunch alert!  VALIANT gets a last-ditch reboot as sales drop through the floor.

It doesn't even rate a mention on the cover (it's one of the other 'two exciting new stories' starting this issue) but this is the first appearance of tough cop ONE-EYED JACK, the DIRTY HARRY-alike recently returned to the streets in a new collected edition from Rebellion.  Readers of the EAGLE in the 1980s will remember the curiously-dated cop as well.

The relaunch, under the watch of John Wagner, was a creative success but couldn't reverse falling sales.  The weekly, launched back in 1962, folded into BATTLE the following October after 730 issues... taking OEJ with it.

VALIANT (not to be confused, of course, with VICTOR or VALOUR) was no stranger to mergers itself, having been IPC's go-to title for closures for two decades.  Sharing the masthead, at one time or another, were KNOCKOUT (1963), SMASH (1971), TV21 (1971), LION (1974) and VULCAN (1976).

Spin-offs included the usual annuals, specials and the VALIANT PICTURE LIBRARY (an in-name-only spin-off) launched in the summer of 1963.

1975: MARVEL MOVIE PREMIERE: THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT ADAPTATION

From 1975: Marvel's adaptation of the Nazis, submarines and dinosaurs movie THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, starring Doug McClure.

This dumb-but-fun 1975 update of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel (two more movie adaptations followed... all are available on disc) was shot in the UK by Amicus Productions and released by AiP.

Thanks to what seemed like frequent outings on the BBC, this was a key part of my TV viewing when I was growing up.  So I was delighted to gett he chance to see it again.  It's not great... but it is great fun.

I hadn't been aware - until I found this copy - that Marvel New York had published a magazine tie-in.  This must rank amongst their earliest movie adaptations.

1975: JAMES BOND IN THE DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU ISSUE 13 (MARVEL COMICS)

From May 1975: Roger Moore's JAMES BOND grabs the cover action in THE DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU issue 12. 

As far as I know, this was the first time that 007 graced the front cover of a Marvel mag (albeit published under the Curtis banner)... but certainly not the last.

This (no doubt) Eon unauthorised outing was to accompany a lengthy article about martial arts in the Bond movies. There was no 007 strip material.  

Bond did get two authorised outings in Marvel Comics during Moore's tenure with both FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981) and OCTOPUSSY (1983) getting adaptations. 

The former boasted art by Howard Chaykin and appeared as a one-shot magazine and two issue limited series. It was one of the adaptations that appeared as the third feature in the UK's RETURN OF THE JEDI weekly several years later. 

OCTOPUSSY was adapted by the British team of Steve Moore and Paul Neary. I picked up a copy of the UK hardback annual yesterday and the colouring really is terrible. It looks more worthy of a World Distributors annual than a Marvel publication. It appeared in the States as an issue of MARVEL SUPER SPECIAL with no comic book version and no British run in a regular comic. 

1975: MAD MAGAZINE UK SPOOFS DOCTOR WHO

From September 1975: MAD UK does DOCTOR WHO.

Doctor Ooh, Script by Geoff Rowley and art by Steve Parkhouse. 

1975: UNKNOWN WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION Issue 1 (Marvel)

From January 1975 (so it would have been on sale during the last few months of the previous year): the launch issue of Marvel's American black & white mag UNKNOWN WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION.

These mags were shipped across the Atlantic (and subject to the sane erratic distribution) alongside the colour books and were another reason why the first few years of the British Bullpen focused strictly on traditional weeklies rather than rolling out a variety of frequencies and formats to see which performed best. 

But they also supplied useful reprint fodder for the early hard-to-fill British SF outings PLANET OF THE APES and STAR WARS WEEKLY. The formulas, and licensing restrictions (no BATTLESTAR GALACTICA or STAR TREK in SWW) often left much of the Marvel inventory off limits and occasionally (usually through mergers) created some tenuous combinations (scare-fare in POTA or Conan in FUTURE TENSE) just to keep the pages filled and the presses rolling.

Canny Marvel management made their lives easier (and their margins fatter) by quietly making each issue of STAR WARS WEEKLY eight pages lighter, for the same cover price, as its easier to fill contemporaries. The US magazines proved a useful source of filler whilst Marvel New York ratcheted up their SF offering (allowing Marvel UK to publish FUTURE TENSE in 1980-81: essential a compendium of SWW supporting features belatedly anchored by STAR TREK's return to a British weekly after a five year 'away mission').

Six issues of UNKNOWN WORLDS shipped on a bimonthly schedule during 1974 with a further one-shot the following year. This first issue consisted of a lot of non-Marvel commissions that had originally appeared in other magazines or fanzines. The amount of new material increased for the remainder of the run. Adaptations of literary work was often accompanied by interviews with their authors. 

1975: STAR TREK in MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES ANNUAL 1 (Marvel)

From 1975: Forget the Bullpen's post TMP venture into the TREKverse... This is (unless you know different) the first time that STAR TREK appeared on the cover of a Marvel publication. 

MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES, published under the Curtis Magazines masthead, was another interation of the FAMOUS MONSTERS formula. Although this claims to be an annual (essential a regular magazine but with a bolstered page count rather than the hardback stocking stuffer that Brits know and love), the small print inside reveals its actually the ninth issue of the regular mag. 

There's no comic strips inside but there is, as the cover announces, a new Nimoy interview. 

The production standards seem painfully old fashioned and this type of magazine would soon be overtaken by the likes of STARLOG, STARBURST and the next generation of genre titles. 

1975: MARVEL UK CHECKLIST

 

From May 1975: That week's Mighty Marvel current attractions, courtesy of the British Bullpen.  

This rundown appeared in THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN weekly issue 9, dated 3 May. 

1975: PLANET OF THE APES BEHIND-THE-SCENES ARTICLE (Marvel UK)

From 1975: A text-heavy behind-the-scenes article from MARVEL UK's PLANET OF THE APES weekly issue 43 (cover-dated 16 August 1975).  

I'd guess this was ported across from one of the issues of the US black & white POTA magazine, which was pitched at a slightly older audience than the UK weekly (although the contents were fairly identical).

It's hard to imagine that any British publication aimed at younger readers would ever contemplate running something like this today... it would be much shorter and much more superficial. 

1975: PLANET OF THE APES and STAR TREK ACTION FIGURES ADVERT

From 1975: More Palitoy goodness... PLANET OF THE APES and STAR TREK action figures.

This striking ad appeared in THE AVENGERS AND THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (phew!) issue 95, 12 July 1975.  

This was the first combined issue, Savage Sword having floundered after only eighteen issues. 

The two franchises are currently crossing over again, courtesy of a new limited series from IDW and Boom. 

1975: MAN THING'S DEBUT IN DRACULA LIVES House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1975: A MARVEL UK House Ad teasing the British premiere of Man Thing (snigger) in the pages of DRACULA LIVES.  

I've not followed ol' MT's UK career particularly closely but I am aware that he popped-up (possibly in the same material again-and-again... as was the M-UK way) in DRACULA LIVES, PLANET OF THE APES (incorporating Dracula Lives), JOURNEY INTO NIGHTMARE (one of the published-under-license Marvel scare-fare monthlies from Portman), CHILLER POCKET BOOK and SAVAGE ACTION.  Did I miss any? 

This appeared in December 1975. 

1975: STAN LEE PROMOTES THE TITANS (Marvel UK)

From 1975: Smooth, sophisticated, Seventies super-salesman Stan Lee cranks-up the MARVEL UK hype machine to announce the impending launch of a new weekly!  

Such announcements (along with anything that hinted at a new look, format change, relaunch or free gift) were also most welcome and, in those pre-internet days, usually the first hint that something new was about to land on the shelves of the local newsagent.

Stan was, of course, hawking the new TITANS weekly, which used the new fangled landscape technology to cram two US pages side-by-side on one A4 page.  

The checklist below includes Marvel's adaptation of ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, which includes a whole pre-title sequence which isn't in the film version (and may... or may not... have been filmed). 

1975: GIANT SUPERHERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG House Ad (Marvel UK)

From late 1975: another, more traditionally dimensioned, MARVEL UK House Ad for the 1975 edition of the GIANT SUPERHERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG Treasury Edition. 

1975: GIANT SUPERHERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG House Ad (Marvel UK)

From December 1975: a landscape-format Marvel UK House Ad for imported cents-to-pence copies of the GIANT SUPERHERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG Treasury Edition.  

The ultimate stocking stuffer....

1975: SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN US Toy Advert (Kenner)

From late 1975 (and just in time for the Giftmas giving season): a US comic book advert for the range of SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN toys from Kenner.

It seemed to be obligitory to either have one of these red-suited cyborgs yourself... or have a friend that did.  They were ubiquitous during the early years of the Star Age.  

1975: SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY House Ad (Marvel UK)

From August 1975: A MARVEL UK House Ad for SPIDER-MAN COMICS WEEKLY and a tease for the following week's issue with the chance to win iconic Seventies bikes Chopper and Commando.  Yeah.

1975: PLANET OF THE APES LIVE-ACTION STUNT SHOW (Marvel UK)

From the Summer of 1975: a not-to-be-missed chance to see the touring PLANET OF THE APES stunt show as it romped its way around various outdoor shows and summer events.

Did anyone see it?  I have a mental image of a few pissed-off guys being made to ride around in hot-and-sweaty gorilla masks for the entertainment of undemanding under tens...

I wonder if more people saw the live POTA show or the underrated DOC SAVAGE movie....?

1975: MARVEL UK CHECKLIST

From April/ May 1975: a Mighty MARVEL UK CHECKLIST of their six weeklies currently in print.  

This appeared in the weeklies cover-dated 3 May 1975.  

And, to fill a pesky gap, a small add for PLANET OF THE APES. 

1975: MARVEL UK House Ad

From late 1975: A MARVEL UK House Ad for Stan Lee's book (precursor to today's trade paperback compilations) SONS OF ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS, as well as Marvel's 1976 calender (with original art marking the United States bicentennial year). 

Both could be yours for only £6.10... so get your orders into room 106 now!

1975: PLANET OF THE APES House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1975: A generic MARVEL UK House Ad (with a cheerful-looking Ape) for the PLANET OF THE APES weekly.