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Thursday, December 21, 2023

The first Christmas: Mighty World of Marvel #13 - Stan Lee sounds off!

In the UK Christmas editions of most comics usually contained festive themed stories and a snow-covered logo, this wasn’t quite the case with the first Christmas edition of the “Mighty World of Marvel” #13 ( week ending 30 December 1972 - cover by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott) which was more muted with only the cover banner proclaiming that there was “a special bullpen Christmas greeting” inside. Regardless of the lack of a snow filled cover my 12-year-old self was pretty excited anticipating what the “special” greeting would be, perhaps a new weekly Marvel comic. Sadly, it wasn’t news of new comic, that would appear a few short months later instead the message was to inform readers that there was a 128 page "Marvel" annual on sale (which we were already aware of with it already being Christmas week).
On the plus side this issue did feature 2 nicely illustrated Christmas themed illos of the Human Torch and The Thing to accompany Stans message.
Above the 1972 " Marvel" annual (cover from Marvel Wiki). The above cover was based on a Jack Kirby panel from "Incredible Hulk" #2 and was painted by James E McConnell. Strangely, the annual not only contained tales of the Hulk, Spider-Man and the FF, who were all featured in the weekly MWOM comic, but it also featured Conan the Barbarian a character that had not yet been introduced to UK readers.
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10 comments:

  1. KidDecember 22, 2023 at 1:13 AM

    Actually, it WAS a 'Marvel UK' Annual, McS, but it was published by Fleetway on Marvel's behalf because Marvel (which was part of Magazine Management Ltd, as was Marvel US) didn't yet have the set-up to produce and distribute Annuals. What's more, the name 'Marvel UK' wasn't coined until a few years later, and then it was retroactively used to refer to the early weeklies. Strangely, most of the superhero strips in the Annual had already been published (or were just about to be) in the weeklies, so there was a bit of repetition going on. There's an article in the Annual which hints that MWOM's title was going to be The Wonderful World Of Marvel, a fact that Dez Skinn confirmed a number of years later. It was probably the uncertainty of exactly which title to go for which accounts for it being called simply Marvel Annual.

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  2. McSCOTTYDecember 22, 2023 at 1:20 AM

    Thanks for that Kid, I thought it was a Fleetway book that was planned before MWOM was published, I'll take that last line out.. Yeah I know it wasn't Marvel UK yet I just used that term as a form of shorthand to note it was a UK comic etc . I seem to remember reading somewhere that "Wonderful World of Marvel" was to be the title, glad it wasn't.

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  3. Colin JonesDecember 22, 2023 at 1:38 PM

    I think Kid mentioned on Crivens that Conan had appeared in the first Marvel annual (which was a big revelation for me) but I can't recall what the Conan story was called - an early one drawn by Barry Smith I assume?

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  4. McSCOTTYDecember 23, 2023 at 12:40 AM

    Thanks Kid. I never bought any UK Marvel annual but I may pick this one up if I see it now.

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  5. Colin JonesDecember 24, 2023 at 1:24 PM

    Merry Christmas, Paul :)

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  6. McSCOTTYDecember 24, 2023 at 1:32 PM

    Same too you and your Colin.

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  7. baggseyDecember 27, 2023 at 5:08 PM

    Wishing you a belated "Merry Christmas!" Paul, and a Happy New Year! That cover of the first Marvel annual in the UK brings back memories of fifty years ago. It is a iconic cover, despite being a painted swipe of a panel from Increbible Hulk #2. I'd never heard of James E McConnell, but he was certainly a major talent.

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  8. McSCOTTYJanuary 1, 2024 at 12:59 AM

    Apologies for the delayed reply Ian I've been busy travelling visiting family. I hope you had a great Christmas and all the best to you and yours for 2024.

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