Marvel Time Warp

THE UNCANNY X-MEN — Issue no. 115, August 1978 / The bad guy at the start of this book is Sauron the dinosaur man (he looks like a pterosaur). On top of being a dinosaur man, Sauron can drain the life force of humans and other animals, and he can bend the will of people just by looking into their eyes. And if all of that isn’t enough, Sauron is a Jekyll-and-Hyde type. His alter ego, Karl Lykos, is a good guy. Sauron and the rest of the X-Men are hanging out in the Savage Land, Marvel’s lost-world-with-dinosaurs hidden in Antarctica. Fans of Marvel comics might know that you can’t spend much time in the Savage Land without running into Ka-Zar the jungle guy and his awesome saber-toothed tiger Zabu. Book: The Uncanny X-Men Issue No.: 115 Published: August 15, 1978 Title: “Visions of Death!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Digital scan The bad guy at the start of this book is Sauron the dinosaur man (he looks like a pterosaur). On top of being a dinosaur man, Sauron ca...

CONAN THE BARBARIAN — Issue no. 92, August 1978 / A problem with reading all of the Marvel comic books from 1978 is that, after a few hundred books, I sometimes forget which books I’ve read. When I saw the cover of this issue, hyping “The Thing in the Crypt” and featuring an illustration of Conan fighting a giant skeleton, I was thinking, “didn’t I read this one already?” I checked my Marvel Time Warp spreadsheet (like I said, it’s a big reading list I’m keeping up with) and did a search of my old articles and didn’t find any specific listing for “thing in the crypt.” But I did find “Cavern of the Giant-Kings,” and... Book: Conan the Barbarian Issue No.: 92 Published: August 15, 1978 Title: “The Thing in the Crypt!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy A problem with reading all of the Marvel comic books from 1978 is that, after a few hundred books, I sometimes forget which books I’ve read. When I saw the cover of this issue, hyping “The Thing in ...

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...

THE SILVER SURFER Graphic Novel — August 1978 / When I first started MARVEL TIME WARP, my approach was to just read the comic books and not do any additional research. So if there was some context that wasn’t in the books themselves, I wouldn’t know about it. This approach went by the wayside pretty quickly, probably when I started trying to figure out how “real” the stuntman character the Human Fly was. I realized that, aside from having fun reading fun comic books, MARVEL TIME WARP was an opportunity for me to do a deep-ish dive into a very specific period of comic book history. And that’s its own kind of fun. Book: The Silver Surfer Graphic Novel Published: August 8, 1978 Title: “The Silver Surfer” Cover Price: $4.95 Format: Digital scan When I first started Marvel Time Warp , my approach was to just read the comic books and not do any additional research. So if there was some context that wasn’t in the books themselves, I wouldn’t know about it. This a...

YOGI BEAR — Issue no. 7, August 1978 / At this point I’ve covered several of Marvel’s licensed Hanna-Barbera comics of the late 1970s. And I think I might have been approaching these books unfairly. Since the Hanna-Barbera characters (including Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, and Yogi Bear, the star of this book) originated in the TV animation world, I’ve been comparing the comic books to the cartoons. And I do have a soft spot for Hanna-Barbera cartoons, especially SCOOBY-DOO WHERE ARE YOU! and JONNY QUEST. (Young Mister Quest, unfortunately, didn’t have a Marvel comic book.) But it probably makes more sense to compare these books to other comics based on cartoon characters. Book: Yogi Bear Issue No.: 7 Published: August 8, 1978 Title: “The Business Typhoon!” (plus another story) Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Digital scan At this point I’ve covered several of Marvel’s licensed Hanna-Barbera comics of the late 1970s. And I think I might have been approaching thes...

Treasuries, digests, Power Records, and X-Men! / When I started MARVEL TIME WARP two years ago, I didn’t really have any expectations. I was pretty sure it’d be fun to read a bunch of old comic books I’d missed out on when I was a kid. And I thought it might be fun to write about those old comics. Turns out reading old Marvel comics and writing about old Marvel comics are both, indeed, fun things to do. Years ago I had gotten rid of my large-ish comic book collection, that consisted mostly of books from the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s. I’d originally planned to just read digital/online versions of comics for MARVEL TIME WARP. But then I bought a few original copies of comic books on my TIME WARP reading list, and I realized that it’s more fun to read old comic books the old-fashioned way. So I started collecting comic books again... When I started Marvel Time Warp two years ago, I didn’t really have any expectations. I was pretty sure it’d be fun to read a bunch of ...

MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS — Issue no. 80, August 1978 / This Fantastic Four story (MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS was a Fantastic Four reprint book) features the Inhumans. At this point, I’ve written almost 300 (!) MARVEL TIME WARP posts, so I had to do a search to see if I’d previously covered any Inhumans appearances. It looks like I’ve only encountered them (so far) in another 1978 reprint book, MARVEL SUPER-HEROES (that one reprints Hulk stories). The setup here is the Human Torch (AKA Johnny Storm) flies to the Inhumans’ secret land to get his girlfriend Crystal (she’s an Inhuman) to come back to the States with him. The Torch doesn’t fly commercial or on one of the Fantastic Four’s cool rocket planes... Book: Marvel’s Greatest Comics Issue No.: 80 Published: August 8, 1978 Title: “The Torch Goes Wild!” (reprint of Fantastic Four no. 99) Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy This Fantastic Four story ( Marvel’s Greatest Comics was a Fantastic Four r...

RED SONJA — Issue no. 12, August 1978 / The thing about comic books, and it’s an obvious thing that I still manage to forget sometimes, is that everything matters. I always think of myself as a “story first” guy when it comes to comics. But even a comic book like WATCHMEN, with writer Alan Moore’s groundbreaking and exciting plotting and characters, wouldn’t be the same without Dave Gibbons’ artwork. Aside from penciling and inking WATCHMEN, Dave Gibbons also did the lettering for that book. Which makes him a triple threat, kind of like RED SONJA quadruple threat Frank Thorne (pencils, inks, letters, and colors!). Despite my usual prioritizing of story over art, Thorne’s RED SONJA artwork is one of my absolute favorite things from all the 1978 Marvel books I’ve read so far. Book: Red Sonja Issue No.: 12 Published: August 8, 1978 Title: “Ashes and Emblems!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy The thing about comic books, and it’s an obvious thing ...

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE — Issue no. 45, August 1978 / I haven’t been a huge fan of Marvel’s 1978 iteration of Captain Marvel (that’s the dude Captain Marvel — not Carol Danvers and not the original “Shazam!” dude Captain Marvel). He’s not a terrible character or anything, he’s just kind of a square. But Captain Marvel’s square-ness plays well against the Thing (that’s Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four, not the alien monster from the John Carpenter THING horror movie). In the late-’70s, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE was Marvel’s monthly Thing team-up book. The Thing, of course, has a personality that’s big and boisterous enough to match his giant, rock-like body. There’s another Thing in this story, but he’s an imposter. (Which actually is kind of like the Carpenter THING movie, but that’s neither here nor there.) Something about this bogus Thing sets off Captain Marvel’s sixth sense. Given what I know about this Captain Book: Marvel Two-in-One Issue No.: 45 Published: August 1, 1978 ...

THE TOMB OF DRACULA — Issue no. 67, August 1978 / My introduction to Marvel’s Dracula of 1978 wasn’t promising. The setup — Dracula goes to hell and faces off with Satan — is incredible. But the actual story is boring — it’s mostly just Satan talking (and talking and talking). But the story ends with Satan taking away Dracula’s vampire powers and making him into a regular human. The issues of TOMB OF DRACULA I’ve read since then have been a lot of fun. This one is no exception, though there is a lot going on here, including some apparent callbacks to past issues I haven’t read. Dracula is in New York City looking for his daughter, Lilith. He needs a vampire to turn him back into a vampire (Dracula is not thrilled being a regular human Joe). And, since he’s a snob, Dracula won’t accept a turning from anyone other than his own flesh-and-blood. Book: The Tomb of Dracula Issue No.: 67 Published: August 1, 1978 Title: “At Long Last — Lilith!” Cover Price: 35¢...

THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN — Issue no. 34, August 1978 / Since I’ve started collecting Marvel books from 1978, I’ve picked up a few of Marvel’s magazines. As you might recall, these “magazines” differ from “comic books” (which, yes, are also technically magazines) as they are slightly larger, contain more pages, and are printed in black-and-white instead of color. I have picked up several SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN issues, along with a couple issues of MARVEL PREMIERE and an issue of HULK! (which was printed in color — I am pretty sure it got the color treatment because of the popular-at-the-time INCREDIBLE HULK TV show). These magazines are really fun to read. They’re not treasury-size, but just being a little bigger than the standard comics of the day really lets the art (and lettering!) shine. Book: The Savage Sword of Conan Issue No.: 34 Published: August 1, 1978 Title: “Lair of the Ice Worm” Cover Price: $1 Format: Original paper copy Since I’ve started col...

TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE ANNUAL — Issue no. 2, August 1978 / As the name implies, a Marvel annual is a special published-once-per-year comic book. Generally, at least in the late 1970s, Marvel annuals were oversized affairs (48 pages of story and ads, instead of the usual 32). And there was no publishing info on the annual other than the year (1978 in this case). So when it comes to figuring out what month an annual was released, it can be tricky. The ever-useful Fandom.com Marvel wiki has this TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE annual listed as an August release. But, judging by some of the ads in this issue, I was guessing it was released later in the year. Since I love to play comic book history detective, I started comparing the ads (and the house hype page, “Bullpen Bulletins”) from this TARZAN... Book: Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle Annual Issue No.: 2 Published: August 1, 1978 (more likely October 1978, see below) Title: “Day of the Death-Dancers!” Cover Price: 60...

THE SPIDER-WOMAN — Issue no. 8, August 1978 / Issue no. 8 opens IN MEDIA RES, with Spider-Woman being held at gunpoint in a cabin in Oregon. I had to check the previous issue to make sure I didn’t forget some cliffhanger. This story eventually gets around to explaining the situation. Spider-Woman had rescued a guy who was trying to kill himself, only for him to tie her up and drag her to Oregon (I am assuming the suicide attempt happened in Los Angeles). He finally explains to Spider-Woman (and to us) that he was cursed for cowardliness during the American Revolutionary War and is now doomed to walk the earth forever unless he can find someone who truly cares for him. Basically, he needs to be loved to die. It’s macabre and a bit... Book: The Spider-Woman Issue No.: 8 Published: August 1, 1978 Titles: “The Man Who Could Not Die!” and “The Suit!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Original paper copy This book continues to perplex me, y’all. Issue no. 8 opens in m...

MARVEL SUPER-HEROES — Issue no. 76, August 1978 / I started working on this issue of MARVEL TIME WARP over the weekend. I threw out my back (ouch!) on Saturday and I wasn’t feeling great. So I considered doing a fill-in issue of my own. But I got a ways down that road and realized the fill-in issue was going to be more work than a regular MARVEL TIME WARP post. So I changed gears and took a look at MARVEL SUPER-HEROES no. 76. The first thing I noticed about this book is it looks great. Herb Trimpe penciled this issue, Sal Buscema inked it, and Sam Rosen lettered it, and that is a rock-solid Hulk team. Plus I was lucky to find a good-quality digital scan of the book, so I got to see Nel Yomtov’s original coloring work (as opposed to a re-colored digital reprint). Book: Marvel Super-Heroes Issue No.: 76 Published: August 1, 1978 Title: “The Rhino Says No!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Digital scan I started working on this issue of Marvel Time Warp over the we...