Marvel UK 1985-86 Part 2 - Marvel UK enters the Secret Wars!

In 1984 Marvel US released Secret Wars. It was a tie in for a great line of toys from Mattel. The toys were ultimately a commercial failure, and nowhere near as popular as Kenner's Superpowers line of DC Heroes who Mattel were trying to emulate. The Secret Wars toys are still highly sought after by collectors, and the line holds the distinction of crafting the first ever Wolverine figure. 

Marvel decided to release a tie-in comic in the US where all the heroes and villains were transported to Battleworld to do, ahem, battle. A simple premise that created one of the most remembered series in comic book history. Whereas the toyline was a failure, the comic was a smash! Written by Jim Shooter and drawn by Mike Zeck it still elicits fond recollections from collectors today. 

Marvel UK, whose superhero line was entering its twilight period made the wise decision to chronicle this story in a fortnightly comic. (It later became weekly). 

The first issue screamed 'pick me up' with that exquisite cover by Mike Zeck and also came with some free transfers pictured above plus a great illustrated backing board on which to place the transfers. 

Lust like sister comic the Transformers, SW used a combination of black and white and colour pages. It also used back-up strips as was the format at the time for the company's fortnightlies/weeklies. 

In this case it was John Byrne's popular Alpha Flight and the Iceman mini-series. 

Iceman may not have been the most inspired choice (even though I quite liked the strip back in the day), the decision to include the strip may have been prompted by the characters visibility through the very popular Spider-man and his Amazing Friends cartoon that aired in 1983 on BBC1. This cartoon was a gateway drug for many kids into the world of Marvel comics. 

Early issues continued the trend of giving readers free gifts with a variety of circular foam stickers that were almost impossible to remove without damaging the cover of the comic. Here's SW #9 with the free mounted Enchantress sticker. It's a gorgeous cover with the superior shiny logo from the toy line that the UK version tended to favour in the early days.

Here is some of the resultant damage from the removal of said puffy stickers!

ARRRGH!!

Marvel UK's Secret Wars title had a different flavour from the US comic book it reprinted no question. One of the great things about it was a feature called 'Secret Artist' which featured full page caricatures of Marvel's shining lights. Some of these were fantastic, if not a little creepy. 

Now, I haven't a clue who this talented guy is but these caricatures are magic! Here's a sampling...

Here's another one of Hawkeye...

And finally a f&*(ed up version of Mr. Fantastic!!!

Special thanks to Ulysses Klaw for supplying those..

The fortnightly black and white editions eventually became weekly and full colour and the Iceman back-up strip made way for a spanking new strip called Zoids. This strip which featured great art and story and some of Grant Morrison's earliest professional work. 

The first Secret Wars was a classic, no doubt, it was really Doctor Doom's story. A man with the testicular fortitude to take on a God.

Issue #32 started the reprints of the much maligned sequel Secret Wars 2. #32 came with a free poster of US Secret Wars #1.

 The weekly often had cut and pasted different issues together and were often under pressure to fit a 22 page story (back up strips were gone at this stage) with a 24 page mag, while also including a classifieds section, their regular War Office introduction section and an ad or two. It was a precarious balance. They even went to the measures of enlarging panels and featuring them as covers. 

  Secret Wars 2 was an over ambitious attempt by Jim Shooter to bring the god-like entity, Beyonder, to Earth. It featured an abundance of navel gazing and existential questioning that often bordered on inanity.

 Still. if you didn't take it too seriously it was quite a fun read. Some of Shooter's musings on the media and 80's consumerism were a little heavy handed but humorous also. I got a kick out of it. Some of the crossover issues were excellent however. 

 Here is an example of an innovative UK cover design that takes a panel and puts an interesting twist on it. 

 All of the US tie ins were reprinted with the exception of the ROM and Micronauts issues licensing reasons. 

 All in all, the Secret Wars comic clocked up a respectable 80 issues, with a reprint of Avengers #266 serving as the epilogue was reprinted in Spider-man and Zoids. Then it was all over... The UK office turned its back on superheroes until Oct 1990 when the Complete Spider-Man hit the shelves. It was the end of an era and apart from the odd Iron Man back-up strip in Transformers or Power Pack strip in Thundercats, there were sporadic appearances of superheroes elsewhere, such as the rare summer special etc. 

 In late '86 Marvel released Panini's Secret Wars sticker album. I'll never understand the timing of this release as the Secret Wars title was finished two months later. Nobody really collected it as the Secret Wars toy line had died an ignominious death, with toys selling for 50p in Woolworths and other stores. But man, what an album and collection it is!!!! Here's a pic and you can judge for yourself. It featured a gorgeous Ron Frenz cover and was infinitely superior to the US version which had no connection to the actual mini-series.

Daredevil and Kingpin Attempt.

It's not often I try and draw Daredevil, but I was fairly pleased with the way this turned out, however I really need to work on my buildings...

Man of Steel #1 1986

John Byrne is the king of the revamp. His revitalisation of the Fantastic Four is still revered after all these years and stands as a milestone in Marvel's history. In 1985 DC had plans to revamp their Superman franchise and who better to go to than Byrne.

With Man of Steel Byrne successfully scraped off the barnacles from Kal-el's space shuttle. There would be no more Krypto, Fortress of Solitude, Superboy, Supergirl, Superhorse etc. At least for a while.

Byrne reintroduced Ma and Pa Kent back into the mythos. This to me was a great move. It made Superman more human having two parents who he worried about and asked for guidance etc.

It also provided added avenues for plot development as Ma and Pa Kent had lives of their own wihich based the series in reality and added many subplots over the years, such as Pa's heart attack during the Funeral for a Fiend storyline, for example.

They were down-to-earth, hard-working country folk who provided Clark Kent with a rock solid moral grounding. They served to ground many of the more fantastical plot elements often providing comic relief.

Lana Lang was no longer the glamorous newscaster in Metropolis but the pretty, lovelorn girl who got left behind.

All these elements added much needed depth and realism to the Superman mythos. Lex Luthor became a currupt, manipulative business man often staying out of jail by legal manipulation, while remaining a philanthropist in the eyes of most Metropolitans.

Man of Steel #1 sets the stage perfectly for the reboot. We see an updated Krypton which looks incredibly sterile and bereft of warmth. It looks suitably 'alien' moreso than the previous incarnation of Kryton. This planet looked interesting and is one of the depictions that people most remember about the first issue.

From the first page you realise that this is very much a stylistic diversion from the original origin, while actually not altering anything.

Jor-el and his missus are presented as cold unemotional, but highly rational beings, unlike their previous incarnation.

After the space shuttle is sent to Earth we see Clark being a glory hog for the Smallville High football team, basking in the adulation of his classmates.

Pa Kent decides to take him for a drive and reprimands him telling him, that he should never make other people feel small by using his great abilities.

It becomes clear from these exchanges that the Kent's were largely responsible for moulding Clark's humanity and this provides a decent and plausible reason why Superman never became a fascist, self serving overlord.


It is this moral compass which Byrne expertly conveys through this and the following issues.

Pa Kent tells Clark about his origins as he shows him the craft that brought him to earth. Clark suddenly feels weak and Pa thinks it's because of the shock of learning his origins. The weakness stems from some kryptonite that was attached to the shuttle. We then see a sinister shilouette who stands intriguingly in the background. We would not learn for many issues who this is

Clark stops a plane from crashing in Metropolis and meets Lois Lane for the first time and is immediately smitten. We are then treated to the most plausible explanation of Clark Kent's disguise yet as Pa explains that if he stoops a little and slicks his hair back he looks like a different person, plus Pa's old hand-me-down glasses change the shape of his face. Byrne is masterful at this stuff.

Clark meets Lois for the first time.

All in all, this is a pacey, well plotted issue which sets the tone for the rest of the mni-series, while not as groundbreaking as Batman: Year One for example in terms of it's approach it is nonetheless a classic of the genre and an example of an almost perfect superhero comic.

Byrne's Clark/Superman is most certainly modeled after Christopher Reeve as you can probably tell from the profile from the left and clearly deviates from the Jose Luis Garcia Lopez version used on merchandise and Curt Swan's classic version. I think this is a good move, only because the the first two Superman films were pretty similar in tone to this mini-series.

This series marked the end of the Silver Age hangover for Superman which had relegated the book to being fodder for 10-12 year olds for many years and made it a book more relevant to the era it was published in.

The last page of #1 features one of my favourite Superman images as Clark leaves the farmhouse resplendent in his new costume to fly out into the world. It is an image that captures the optimism and wholesomeness of the Superman legend.

Batman Versus Wolverine by John Byrne

Here's a recent commision from John Byrne featuring Batman standing over a defeated and battered Wolverine. I think Batman would have bitten off more than he could chew with the killing machine that is Logan. But it's a nice drawing nonetheless.

Early Alan Davis Hulk Pin-Up, 1981

Here is an early Alan Davis pin-up from the UK fanzine, Ogre, from 1981. It can clearly be seen from this pic the fantastic promise the young Alan Davis possessed. Davis is one of the few artists today that continually astounds me as he just gets better and better with the passing of time. Shortly after this early work, Davis would secure regular work with the Marvel UK branch, culminating in his celebrated run on Captain Britain with writer Alan Moore.

Thor: A Recent Attempt

Quite pleased how this Thor drawing turned out after. However the cape looks very messed up...

G1 Bumblebee

Managed to snag this carded G1 Bumblebee from ebay for £4 plus plus £5.40 shipping from China. I'm not sure if it's a reissue or the original - but it's a pretty nice one to come by. An old favourite from my childhood. I'm not an action figure collector or anything but it's great having this old classic back in my possession and the memories that come with it.

Classic Page from the Untold Legend of the Batman #2 1981.

The Untold Legend of the Batman has to be mentioned as one of the great Batman stories. Although a lot of details of Batman's origin have been invalidated by Miller's Year One reboot, it still remains my favourite retelling of the Dark Knight's origin. There's some wonderful scenes in it such as Batman's first hostile encounters with Gordon, and their eventually budding friendship, Barbara Gordon's infatuation with Batman and Batman's first outing in a Robin suit! For a 3-parter it sure packs a lot in. It also contains on of my favourite Batman pages. A Batman pushed to the limits slaps a gun-toting assailant senseless - showing that even a great man like Batman can be stretched to limit. The storytelling prowess of the Great Jim Aparo is evident in this page - even without words it's crystal clear whats happening and the sense of explosive anger is conveyed perfectly. Aparo was still at the top of his game here.

John Romita JR's cover to Superman #32

My God, this is just awful. That's not entirely true, it just looks awful for Superman. The face looks gaunt and the eyes are completely wrong. This is J.R. Jr.'s 'stock' face these days. The legs are far too skinny and the slumped forward running pose is more suited to the Flash than Superman.The 'S' symbol looks completely off. Klaus Janson's inks look fine and are not as gritty as usual. I really liked this team on Thor 15 years ago, but that was 15 years ago and J.R Jr.s style has become even more formulaic since then.
   Actually, all in all, this is a fine drawing but it just goes to show that Superman is dead as regards the square-jawed symbol of truth,justice and the American way that rocketed to Earth in 1938. I hope it was worth it DC for the quick cash grab that was the New 52.

Silver Surfer and Galactus - A Recent Attempt...

Iron Man Vs. Doctor Doom - A Recent Attempt!