Sunday, April 02, 2017

This week in 1967: POW! No.12

As you were good enough to play along with my Pow! "mirror comic" April Fool, here's a few pages from the issue of the comic that was on sale exactly 50 years ago in 1967. 

 The front cover highlights the SHIELD story inside (a reprint from Stange Tales No.140) but the cover image isn't a direct reprint of Jack Kirby's Strange Tales cover. It's actually a recreation for some reason, and lacking the skill of the original in places. (See here to compare it: 
http://www.reececomics.com/enlarged/STRANGE_TALES_140_9_0.jpg)

 Odhams had a few covers redrawn like that, and I can only guess that they hadn't received a black and white copy from America and perhaps had someone trace a blow up of the actual American comic instead.

 Pow's other Marvel strip was of course Spider-Man, with this issue of Pow! reprinting more of Amazing Spider-Man No.6 (which they serialised over three weeks). Script: Stan Lee, Art: Steve Ditko.
One of the Pow! strip I enjoyed the most was Kicks, drawn by Graham Allen...
A first glance at The Group might lead some to think it's Leo Baxendale artwork, but it's Mike Brown doing a great imitation of Leo's style...

There were four weekly Power Comics by this time, and the fifth (and final) one was to be added a week later. Here's the advert announcing Terrific, and I'll cover that comic next weekend. 
On the back page, Ken Reid only had a half page that week for his Dare-A-Day-Davy strip but he certainly packed a lot into it. The rest of the page was taken up with an advert for the very tasty Wiz ice cream lolly. They were delicious! 
I always felt that Pow! improved as it went on. These early issues were enjoyable but it wasn't until strips such as The Cloak and Experiment X were added that it started to find its identity. The 'Power Comics' always had a bit of a 'rough and ready' aspect to them though; robust stories and (sometimes) sloppy editorial design, but that was part of their appeal! They were an important part of children's pop culture in the sixties and I'm glad I was there to appreciate them.
at

2 comments:

  1. Robert CarnegieSunday, 2 April 2017 at 20:59:00 BST

    The advert text for "Terrific" sounds like Stan Lee wrote it in the Mighty ?marvel Manner! That, or someone who had just been reading whole lot of Stan Lee.

    The panel at the end of in the Spider-Man page, which I think isn't an original break in the story, has something of the same tone, as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lew StringerSunday, 2 April 2017 at 22:07:00 BST

    Yes, they used to mimic Stan Lee's patter because it sounded cool.

    ReplyDelete

Comments need to be verified before publication so don't worry if your comments don't appear immediately. It just means I'm not at my computer!