Marvel Time Warp

CAPTAIN AMERICA — Issue no. 227, August 1978 / Sometimes the setup is better than the payoff. And that’s OK! The setup here, established in the previous issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, is that the Red Skull (he’s a Nazi super-villain who has been hounding Captain America since the Second World War) has somehow turned all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents aboard a helicarrier into an army of Red Skulls (or at least stooges who look like the original Red Skull). That is admittedly a fun setup. Book: Captain America Issue No.: 227 Published: August 8, 1978 Title: “This Deadly Gauntlet!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy Sometimes the setup is better than the payoff. And that’s OK! The setup here, established in the previous issue of Captain America , is that the Red Skull (he’s a Nazi super-villain who has been hounding Captain America since the Second World War) has somehow turned all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents aboard a helicarrier into an army of Red Skulls...

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN — Issue no. 186, August 1978 / One of the fun things about reading all the comic books Marvel published in 1978, basically in order, is being in on the continuity in-jokes. If you’re reading HOWARD THE DUCK and there’s an editor’s note that refers to the (then) current issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, you’ve either read that issue of CAP, or you will read it soon. So imagine my surprise when an editor’s note in this issue of Amazing Spider-Man mentioned “MAYHEM IN MANHATTAN… the Spidey novel.” I was vaguely aware there was a Spider-Man novel published in the 1970s, but I didn’t know it came out in 1978. And I certainly didn’t know it was an in-continuity story! All that is to say, my reading of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN no. 186 was interrupted by me going out to eBay to look for an affordable copy of a 45-year-old Spider-Man paperback. Book: The Amazing Spider-Man Issue No.: 186 Published: August 8, 1978 Title: “Chaos Is — the Chameleon!” Cover Price: ...

MARVEL CLASSICS COMICS — Issue no. 35, August 1978 / Welcome to another post about another issue of TALES FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN! Actually, this is a post about issue no. 35 of MARVEL CLASSICS COMICS. But any time I see a new movie or book about Robin Hood or King Arthur or whatever, I imagine somebody with a booming announcer voice saying “TALES FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN!” Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Disney basically built a whole film catalog making animated movies about famous public domain characters. And I suspect this Marvel adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND owes a little to Disney’s 1951 ALICE film. But just a little — nothing that Disney could sue Marvel over, of course. (Disney wouldn’t have any reason to sue Marvel now since they’re part of the same mega-corporation. That wasn’t the case in 1978, though.) Book: Marvel Classics Comics Issue No.: 35 Published: August 8, 1978 Title: “Alice in Wonderland” Cover Pr...