Marvel Time Warp

FANTASTIC FOUR — Issue no. 199, July 1978 / I started reading all of these Marvel comic books with their January 1978 issues, and that happened to be a particularly fun jumping-on point for FANTASTIC FOUR. The book was approaching its 200th issue in early 1978. That’d be a big deal for any comic book, but it’s an especially big deal for the comic book that is ground zero for the modern Marvel universe. This final issue before big no. 200 hits the ground running. Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four’s greatest foe, has captured the team, and he’s about to steal all of their super powers and transfer them to his recently-revealed adult son. Doom has also captured Alicia, friend of the Four (and girlfriend of the Four’s Thing). Alicia is a sculptor, and Doom is forcing her to create a statue of him. Book: Fantastic Four Issue No.: 199 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “The Son of Doctor Doom!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy I started reading all of the...

MARVEL PREVIEW — Issue no. 15, July 1978 / The “A” story in this issue of MARVEL PREVIEW magazine (which, as you might recall, is a black-and-white book aimed at older readers than Marvel’s standard color comic books of the 1970s) features Star-Lord. Star-Lord is pretty famous these days as a character in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but this ’70s version of him is more of a solo hero. Star-Lord’s partner in this story is “Ship,” his sentient space ship. We find out Ship’s backstory here, and it’s pretty wild. Before Ship was a space ship, she was a star. Not a movie star, but an actual star like the sun with planets and whatnot. But the star version of Ship was destroyed in some interplanetary war by some dudes with some kind of star-destroying bomb. Some time later Ship managed to recreate herself as a sentient space ship and join up with Star-Lord. Book: Marvel Preview Issue No.: 15 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “A Matter of Necessity!” Cover Price: ...

PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN — Issue no. 23, July 1978 / This issue of PETER PARKER, THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN almost plays like an issue of MARVEL TEAM-UP. Moon Knight (who at this point was kind of like Marvel’s Batman) is trying to track down the mysterious leader of the organized crime group known as the Maggia (which I am sure is not supposed to remind anybody of the Mafia). Both Moon Knight and the bad guys refer to that leader as “Big M.” Spider-Man is really just kind of along for the ride on Moon Knight’s mission. But aside from the main TEAM-UP-type story, there are a few panels dedicated to some prominent PETER PARKER supporting characters, including Hector Ayala (alter ego of the superhero White Tiger), Mary Jane Watson, and Betty Brant Leeds. Book: Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Issue No.: 23 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “Guess Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy This issue of Pe...

STAR WARS — Issue no. 16, July 1978 / A guest artist. A standalone story. That’s right folks, looks like we got us a STAR WARS fill-in issue. Despite a promise on the cover, this book doesn’t even feature Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, or any of the other main STAR WARS characters (other than in a one-page flashback). It does, however, feature Han Solo’s SEVEN SAMURAI-inspired friends from an earlier STAR WARS comic book story arc. The titular hunter here is a dude named Valance. He really hates robots. After he hears about Luke Skywalker, who is wanted by the Empire and who destroyed the Death Star with the help of droids, Valance decides he’ll hunt down Skywalker and those droids. But Valance misunderstands his intel. He thinks he can get to Skywalker through Jaxxon (who you might recall looks like a giant green rabbit). But Jaxxon, despite having worked with Han Solo and Chewbacca, doesn’t know Skywalker. He’s pals with a different farm boy, Jimm, AKA the Starkiller Kid. M...