It's hard enough for me to reconcile the fact that many of my favourite comics were first published 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, so you can imagine just how jarring it is when you realise that some of those comics first appeared on sale 50 years ago, as is the case with the UK’s “Avengers” weekly comic which hit the newsagents shelves week ending 22 September 1973. This was the third weekly title to be published by what would become Marvel UK and was the first to feature a US style glossy cover along with a drop in the page count from 40 to 32 black and white pages. The comic itself was relatively successful and featured many characters that shared the Avengers title, most notably “Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu” from issue 28 (March 1974). With issue 95 the Avengers merged with the short lived “Savage Sword of Conan“ weekly comic and with issue 148 (July 1976) the Avengers title itself ceased publication when it merged with the "Mighty World of Marvel" (issue 199).
Just a few weeks prior to being launched into their own title the Avengers had appeared in issues 46,47 and 48 of the “Mighty World of Marvel” (covers shown at bottom of page) which covered the teams origin story. This meant that the first issue of the new British weekly comic started with the Lee/Kirby classic tale “Captain America joins the Avengers” from the fourth issue of the US Avengers comic which may have been confusing to new readers who might not have heard of the Avengers or read their origin tale in the MWOM prior to purchasing the new weekly title.
The Avengers were joined by the excellent Lee/Ditko Dr Strange strip starting with his origin tale from "Strange Tales" # 115.
As was the norm with most British comics the first few issues were accompanied by a free gift. The first issue of the Avengers came with a set of 4 small, but beautifully illustrated stickers featuring various Marvel characters. These stickers (2 shown above) were painted by Lopez Espi and were eventually released as series of 6 poster.
Avengers Weekly issue 2.
With issue 2 readers were promised “The greatest gift ever offered” what we were presented with was a rather different affair, a flat cardboard gun! (picture from E-bay)
Above.The first (Marvel UK) appearance of the Avengers from the "Mighty World of Marvel" issues 46, 47 and 48.
Above: The Avengers and Dr Strange appeared in UK comics long before the fist issue of the "Avengers" weekly in September 1973. In particular, both charaters appeared in the Odhams title "Terrific" from 1967.
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I no longer have The Avengers Wonder Weapon, but I have several issues, including the first four. (Got the transfers too.) In fact, I have every comic shown on this page. Ah, what can I say, but those were the days. Shame about the murky greys in the UK glossy-covered weeklies, they should have been so much better.
ReplyDeleteI have a few issues of the Avengers weekly including the first 5 issues and around half a dozen others. I used my stickers on a school book and binned my "Wonder Weapon" not long after i bought it . Yeah the greys were awful in many of those early Don Heck Avengers ( and others) strips
ReplyDeleteI didn't discover Marvel comics until November 1974 but I didn't start reading the Avengers until after the merger with Savage Sword Of Conan. Those stickers look nice but the cardboard gun is even crappier than the cardboard mask and cardboard boomerang in Captain Britain #1 and #2.
ReplyDeleteThe cardboard gun was a common free gift in British comics from a few years previous to this . The Avengers gun was very similar to the free gun given away in the mid 1960's in the first issue of Pow! Yeah they werent great Colin.
ReplyDeleteI adorned my Comic Checklist notebook #2 with the transfers (Hulk, Thor, Spidey and Daredevil) and have it in the drawer next to me as I type this. Fifty years ago! I can't fathom how the years have gone.
ReplyDeleteThat's excellent Ian, sadly as soon as I left school I binned my history book where I had added my transfers. Those 50 years seem to have passed at lightening speed.
ReplyDeleteHi, Paul. Sadly, I didn't have Avengers #1. My first issue of the mag was #9 where our team encounter the Mole Man. And it was that issue that started me collecting comics, as opposed to reading them a couple of times and throwing them away. The presence of a glossy cover felt so special to me that I couldn't dispose of it with a clear conscience. Thus did my comic collecting era begin.
ReplyDeleteHi Steve, I remember being way too excited for a 13 year old when I read in MWOM, that not only was a new comic coming out but that it would also have a glossy cover. The reduction in the page count wasn't great but I agree it did feel special.If they had added colour I may have exploded!
ReplyDeleteWe be old. That's what my daughter would say. It's been fifty-five years (more or less) since my first Avengers comic. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteLol sadly that's very true Rip. My first Avengers comic was about 55 years ago as well reprinted in the Alan Class comic "Creepy Worlds"
ReplyDeleteHey McScotty, my blog just restarted. please replace the old link with my new one: https://cartoonistramblings.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteHi Pete, I have updated the link
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