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...

THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN — Issue no. 115, July 1978 / The penciler of this issue of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN gets the biggest credit on the opening splash page — “And introducing the pulse-pounding penciling of… John Romita Jr.! Marvel marches on!” I’m familiar with Romita Jr. from his work on the early 1980s UNCANNY X-MEN book — Romita took over penciling duties on that series after Paul Smith left, around issue no. 175. As I’ve mentioned before, that X-MEN run is probably my favorite comic book run ever, so I’ll always have a soft spot for anybody who worked on it. I’m assuming that, based on the “introducing” credit, IRON MAN is the first book that John Romita Jr. was the regular penciler on (an assumption backed up by Wikipedia). Book: The Invincible Iron Man Issue No.: 115 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “Betrayal!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Digital scan The penciler of this issue of Invincible Iron Man gets the biggest credit on the opening splash page — “And in...

WHAT IF? — Issue no. 11, January 1978 / Last time I looked at a cheeky but (I think) canon Marvel comic book story that featured a guest appearance by real-life Marvel honcho Stan Lee. This WHAT IF story (since it is a WHAT IF story, it is definitely not canon) features a super-powered Stan Lee leading the Fantastic Four, with the rest of the team being other real-life Marvel staff members, including Marvel VP Sol Brodsky, Marvel secretary Flo Steinberg, and Marvel artist/writer Jack “King” Kirby. To make the whole affair even more meta, Jack Kirby doesn’t just appear as a character in this story, he also wrote and drew the story. Marvel Time Warp no. 275 Book: What If? Issue No.: 11 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “What If the Fantastic Four Were the Original Marvel Bullpen?” Cover Price: 60¢ Format: Digital scan Last time I looked at a cheeky but (I think) canon Marvel comic book story that featured a guest appearance by real-life Marvel honcho Stan Lee. ...

MARVEL TEAM-UP — Issue no. 74, January 1978 / Sometimes the events involved in the creation of a piece of fiction are more interesting than the piece of fiction itself. I suspect that might be the case with this issue of MARVEL TEAM-UP, where Spider-Man teams up with the cast of the TV show SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (AKA the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players) to defeat super-villain Silver Samurai. My guess is Marvel founder Stan Lee (or maybe EIC Jim Shooter, or maybe Chris Claremont, who wrote this story) was a fan of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, which had been around for three years or so in 1978, and Lee or Shooter or Claremont or whoever managed to get permission from NBC to feature the SNL cast (which included Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Bill Murray at the time) in a Marvel comic book. Marvel Time Warp no. 274 Book: Marvel Team-Up Issue No.: 74 Published: July 25, 1978 Title: “Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night!” Cover Price: 35¢ Format: Digital scan ...