If I were forced to pick just one Marvel comic book as my all-time favorite, this might the one. Fantasy Masterpieces began as a sumptuous reprint book filled with monster and mystery tales from Marvel's Atlas days. It eventually became Marvel Super-Heroes and functioned as a defacto showcase for Marvel with characters like Captain Marvel, Medusa, Ka-Zar, and even Doctor Doom getting try outs. But then that changed and Marvel kicked off a program of reprints which allowed this budding fan to enjoy the earliest days of Marvel, to read the stories which were the foundation of the universe I adored at the time.
The debut issues of both The Avengers and The Uncanny X-Men were reprinted in the vaunted Marvel Tales Annual #2 several years before, so fans who had found that delightful issue had waited a while for the follow ups.
The Avengers #2 had come the next year in the debut issue of a book called Marvel Super-Heroes, also an annual.
The second issue of The X-Men features one of their weirdest villains, The Vanisher who has a snake-like motif to his costume but none in his name or any other aspect of his powers or demeanor. He is a baddie, confronted by the stalwart mutant teens and their wheel-chair bound mentor on the very lawn of the White House itself.
The third issue of The Avengers is in my opinion the single greatest comic book Marvel has ever published. The characters are utterly compelling, the plot moves at mach speed, and the battle between the Sub-Mariner, the former Avenger the Hulk and the Assemblers on a deserted island fortress is epic. Lee and Kirby were at their best with action popping faster than the eye (or Jack's nimble hands) could capture.
Take all this this and put it under a striking Marie Severin and John Romita cover and you have a package which at the time was rare and downright exciting. In these days of massive reprints readily available, it's perhaps hard to remember how thrilling getting hold of these old tales could be, but for a Marvel fan wanting to see it all (when it was actually quite possible) this one is a milestone. Truly for once the hype was right -- "one pulse-pounding mag" indeed!
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I would find it hard to disagree with your assessment here. I remember buying many of these titles fresh off the rack when they were originally published and being thrilled with every story, reprint or new. The early days of the "Marvel Universe" was a very special thing.
ReplyDeleteThose early reprint comics were like getting annuals every month, there was a really special feeling...for a while and then it of course became all too commonplace. But the early days...Wow!
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I've been meaning to track this one down for a while - purely on the strength of the cover as I didn't know what the contents were.
ReplyDeleteGlad to give you a glimpse inside one of my favorite single comics! The cover is a true humdinger, and I'm surprised it's not been the subject of an homage to my knowledge. Would love to know of one.
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