Favourite Comics: Avengers - #96 - The most expensive comic (I ) ever purchased - Neal Adams

As I mentioned in my last post the Avengers "Skrull - Kree wars" storyline (Avengers #89-97) is one of my all-time favourite story arcs. Although I read most of these strips in the mid 1970's when it was reprinted in the UK's "Mighty World of Marvel and Avengers" comic I always wanted to pick up the original US comics, especially the Neal Adams issues. I managed part of this quest when I picked up #94 in 1979, however it wouldn't be until 1982 until I tracked down my second Avengers US comic (#96) in Glasgow’s (legendary) AKA Books and Comics. Despite finally finding this issue (never an easy task in early 1980s Glasgow) it took me a few hours to eventually decide on purchasing the comic as at £15 (around $19 today) it was (and still is) the most expensive comic I have ever bought. Below are some of my favourite pages from this comic which was the first issue to feature the modern Avengers logo, enjoy.

Above: The only picture I can find of the (rough) location of the original AKA Books and Comics (ground floor) in the now demolished Virginia Galleries in Glasgow. AKA was the place that future comic book giants like Grant Morrison, Mark Miller and Frank Quitely (Vincient Deighan) would meet. ( Picture from "Glasgow Live")

Favourite comics: Avengers #94 - Neal Adams, John Buscema, Tom Palmer & Roy Thomas

Without doubt one of my all-time favourite comic series is Marvels “Kree–Skrull War" which was published over 9 issues of the Avengers (#89-97) from June 1971 to March 1972. However, it would not be until June 1976 when I first became aware of this comic classic when I purchased the UK “Avengers” weekly comic #148 which reprinted the first part of “Avengers” # 93 ("This Beachhead Earth"). Sadly, I had missed the the first part of the Kree-Skrull War series as I had cancelled my UK Avengers subscription some months earlier. The US "Avengers" #94 (cover above by Neal Adams) is not the best issue in this excellent series (it’s still a belter) but it was the first US issue of this story arc (and the first US Avenger back issue) that I purchased in 1979 from Glasgow’s “Listen” record store for around £1.25p. The story arc, which was written by Roy Thomas, featured art from some of comics’ all-time greats including Sal Buscema, Tom Palmer, John Buscema, and Neal Adams. This issue alone features the triple talents of Tom Palmer (inks) John Buscema and Neal Adams - Enjoy.

Above: UK Avengers # 148 – this was the last issue of the comic which then merged with the Mighty World of Marvel from #199 and continued the Avenger series .

Next up: Avengers #96 where Neal Adams ramps up the art to a ridiculous degree. This was the first back-issue I felt I had to save up to purchase (from AKA comics in Glasgow around 1982) .I am ignoring #95 (for now) as I have not yet managed to purchase this issue (but it’s on my radar)!

Favourite Comics - Sub-Mariner #35 - Part 2

As noted in my previous post featuring the first part of this tale (Sub-Mariner #34) from 1971, it would be a further 3 years before I would manage to track down this issue and finally read the conclusion to this epic story. My discovery of this issue occurred when I was accompanying my dad on a work trip to Perth (the original city in Scotland not the "new" one in Australia) . While waiting for my dad to complete his business I visited a local newsagent and was looking through their rather bland US comics collection which consisted of “cartoon” based comics (Porky Pig, Archie, Popeye, Richie Rich etc). Possibly noticing that I wasn’t interested in any of these comics the owner asked if I liked superhero comics and presented me with a bag that contained around 10 old US superhero titles that were his sons who no longer wanted them. Many of the comics were pretty tatty but a couple were in good condition ( this issue and Action 415) both of which he gave me for free (well I purchased a Picnic chocolate bar and a newspaper). Unfortunately I parted company with both of these comics at some point and only picked up another copy of Sub-Mariner #35 around 1984/5 in AKA Books and Comics (a legendary and sadly missed Glasgow comic shop).

In the story itself, as Namor, Hulk, and the Silver Surfer track down the experimental weather device (from #34) the United Nations contact the Avengers for assistance in stopping the trio. As is the norm with these types of stories the teams battle each other. As the battles rage between the trio and the Avengers, Namor's scientists fix the device's errors thereby nullifying its use as a weapon of destruction. The Avengers and United Nations then realise that the three were only trying to prevent a global disaster and not use the device to take over the world. The fighting stops and the Hulk and Surfer depart, disbanding the short-lived super team “Titans Three”. In the pages below you can see Sal Buscema’s art start to develop and evolve into the style he is best known for.

Both Sub-Mariner #34 & #35 (and Thor #193) were reprinted in “Marvel Tales - featuring Silver Surfer” ” (solo series) #1 in May 2020, well worth tracking down.

Favourite comics: Avengers issue 88 – better late than never!

I first read the above story “The Summons of Psyklop” when it appeared in the Mighty World of Marvel (issue 123) comic back in February 1975. Due to the popularity of the Hulk at this time and with old Greenskin being the headline act in MWOM this story was presented in the UK as a Hulk strip when of course it had originally appeared in Avengers issue 88 some 4 years earlier in 1971. Ever since I read this story it has remained a firm favourite of mine and as such, I have been on the lookout for a copy of Avengers 88…..last week after a mere 47 years I eventually found a nice copy for £5!

The story was scripted by Roy Thomas from an 1,800-word synopsis by SF writer Harlan Ellison which would span Avenger issue 88 (the aforementioned “The Summons of Psyklop”) and the Incredible Hulk issue 140 (“The Brute… that shouted love.. at the heart of the Atom!”) another favourite comic of mine. Of course, when I first read this strip, it was the wonderfully exciting art of Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney that attracted me as to be honest I wasn’t aware of Harlan Ellison’s work as a SF Writer at that time.

The story itself was best summed up in the original Marvel checklist at the time as “A monster from beyond time and space – the final caging of the Hulk and the eeriest war of the Worlds this side of H. P. Lovecraft! Like weird! All I can add to this is that 15-year-old me loved the excitement of Sal’s art, the action, the daft villain, that ruddy massive monster statue and of course that creepy slug. Rereading this comic some 46 years later I was for an all to brief moment in time reverted to my 15-year-old former self, and that slug still got to me! Below are some of my favourite pages from a time when comics could be exciting, fun and a bit daft and yet still be taken (kinda) seriously:

And as for part two of this Harlan Ellison classic story arc, well that's a comic that will no doubt appear in another of my ramblings at some point.

My Famous Firsts: Avengers issue 86

This comic was not only my first US Avengers comic but it was also the first time I had “meet” the Squadron Sinister who I had absolutely no idea were meant to be a pastiche / tribute? to the Justice League of America, so for an 11/12 year old it was quite an exciting comic to have with so many characters to read about. Unfortunately, like many things from my distant childhood the memory of picking this issue up are for the most part lost to me with my recall being limited to seeing this comic on a spinner rack on a trip with my parents and brother to our then home town (a town we were shortly to leave) around March/April 1971.

The above illo (from issue 85 ) shows a more detailed picture of some of the Squadron members. So above are Lady Lark (Black Canary), Hawkeye (Green Arrow), Tom Thumb (possibly meant to be the Atom?) and American Eagle (Hawkman) .Other characters like Doctor Spectrum (Green Lantern) , Nighthawk (Batman), Hyperion (Superman) and the Whizzer (The Flash) also appear in this tale at some point.

This issue, "Brain-Child to the Dark Tower came...!" while not being “rocket science” is quite a confusing tale to recount as it spans at least 3 issues (84,85 and 86) with different versions of the Squadron characters from different dimensions/worlds being involved so it is probably best to try to summarise the story with the pages below drawn by the wonderful Sal Buscema (story by Roy Thomas). But basically the baddy in this tale “Brain -Child” is a child genius (Arnold) that had been working with the Squadron but he is bitter at the world because he's not accepted due to his deformity and as a result he deicides he is going to destroy it. It takes the combined powers of the Avengers and the Squadron to fight past his tricks and traps and put a stop to him and in the end he is reverted to a normal child with no memory of his “ big-headed” past. Looking back with adult eyes this reads more like a tale that I would associate with DCs JLA , which was perhaps Roy’s intention.

I lost my original copy of Avengers issue 86 many years ago but I found this replacement copy in the back issue section of a Brighton comic shop (Dave's) on a recent holiday weekend trip. As soon as I saw the cover I was immediately taken back to the time I first saw that image of American Eagle (I though he was pretty cool back then) . It was a great bargain as I got the comic and a wee trip back "home" all for a measly £4.

Favourite comics and geek thrills - Avengers 106

It’s strange that while we experience many thousands of events across our life, we can only truly recall a handful of these with any real clarity. Some of these memories might be significant “firsts” such as our first day at school, our first date, first house or car etc. while other memories on the face of it may sound surprisingly trivial. However, whilst I can now only barely recall my first day at school or indeed my first date with any real clarity it seems to me that those “trivial” memories are becoming more significant to me the older I get. An example of this is the memory that was triggered by the above comic, Avenger issue 106 “A traitor stalks amongst us” I saw this comic recently for sale in City Centre Comic in Glasgow a few months before the Covid lockdown took hold and within seconds of seeing it I was transported back to the summer of 1973 and to a family break we had in the seaside town of Arbroath, a holiday that I had all but forgotten that we had taken until that very moment. The reasons this comics “trivial” memory is important to me is because on our arrival in Arbroath the weather took a turn for the worse and it poured with rain for the entire time (4 days) we were there. Now Arbroath is a nice enough seaside town but when your 13 years old and stuck in a fixed mobile home with nothing to do then 4 days can seem like 4 weeks. It was on the second rain-soaked day of our holiday that my brother came to the rescue as he found a shop that sold US comics and bought me this very comic. Of course at the time I was geeked out at the comic itself as I opened it up and saw that great Rich Buckler splash page with the Vision draped over a chair brooding and in deep self-refection before being interrupted by the arrival of Captain America. The Vision informs Cap that the other Avengers have gone off to search for Quicksilver while he has a wee sulk to himself.

Just then Rick Jones appears in a fury about how the Avengers made him stay behind during their battle against the Sentinels and shows that he is now again linked to Captain Marvel. This was a big geeky thrill for me as I think this was the first time I had seen this version of Captain Marvel.

Then when Rick clashes his steel wristbands together it causes suppressed memories to resurface in Cap's mind to a battle against Hydra, with Rick as Cap's partner under the Bucky guise. I loved this part of the story as the artist drawing the flashback sequences changed from Rich Buckler’s (then) modern style to George Tuska’s more traditional style ( and for me one of his best ever art jobs) giving it that air of nostalgia and realism (and another “geek thrill” for me).

Meanwhile, Iron Man, Black Panther, Hawkeye, and the Scarlet Witch search New York City for any trace of Quicksilver. However, they all seem to go mad one at a time and attack each other but are soon stopped when their true foe reveals himself as the Space Phantom who has returned, and this time he has teamed up with the Grim Reaper.

That’s the great thing about “trivial” things like comics that can reignite some half forgotten memory of a family holiday of 48 years ago and to the kind act of my brother (now no longer with us) going out and getting soaked to buy me a comic to cheer me up. I also now recall that later that week we both went back to that shop and bought a few other US comics but that may be for another post.