Are you ready to travel back in time to 1973? Prepare yourself for nostalgia overload as the team from Spider-Man 1967 headed by Jonathan Helm embark on a spectacular expedition back to the Seventies, delving into the history of early issues of Britain’s fondly-remembered Spider-Man Comics Weekly – and a much-teased free gift!
We’re very grateful for their permission to reprint their latest Spider-Man UK thread, distilled from Twitter, an account normally devoted to charting the history of the Spider-Man animated cartoon series; with some extra information thrown in thanks to archivists such as Rob Kirby and Lew Stringer.
Imagery was sourced from a variety of places, including, with permission to use the images here, cartoonist Lew Stringer‘s much-valued if no longer updated Blimey! blog, and the Spider-Man 1967 Twitter. (The overall © remains, of course, with Marvel).
Please note, this article covers the titles published in the UK, for the British market. We’re aware some Marvel US titles were imported with “pence” prices, but they were printed overseas.
The first issue of Marvel UK‘s Spider-Man Comics Weekly went on sale in British newsagents on February 10th 1973, cover dated February 17th 1973. (Lew Stringer explains the mysteries of historic British comic cover dates here). The back-up strip was “The Mighty Thor”.
The new comic, packaged by an editorial team in New York, reprinted US-published Marvel stories which involved creating new cover images and some internal artwork too. The “Spider-Man” strip picked up where The Mighty World of Marvel had left off, with a reprint of The Amazing Spider-Man Issue #9.
The first issue of Spider-Man Comics Weekly came with a free Spider-Man mask, which was essentially just a paper bag…
Issue 1 included a message from Stan Lee and an invitation to join F.O.O.M. (Friends Of Ol’ Marvel) for “a measly 50p”, offering Marvel Comics’ newly-launched, self-produced fan magazine, which ran for 22 quarterly issues, from February 1973 until autumn 1978, initially designed and edited by comic book writer-artist Jim Steranko.
Spider-Man Comics Weekly was largely black-and-white, with red spot-colour added to the artwork, similar in format to Mighty World of Marvel.
The second issue of Spider-Man Comics Weekly came with a free “Spider-Man Tracer Plane”, which was a cardboard toy which could be propelled by an elastic band.
This issue also included the first teaser – one of many – regarding a future Surprise Gift – but what could it be?!?
No. 3 featured more clues about the SPECTACULAR surprise gift. To get it, readers had to collect eight different coupons over the next two months.
This issue’s clue: “IT’S A REAL SWINGER!”
The Mighty World of Marvel launched in 1972 with a promotional campaign for a free poster, which could be redeemed by cutting out and sending in coupons which appeared in the first ten issues. The 1972 MWOM coupon scheme had been successful, so the campaign was repeated the following year in the pages of Spider-Man Comics Weekly.
No. 4 featured another coupon and a further clue about the forthcoming, fabulous gift: “IT’S TAKEN FROM REAL LIFE!”
Issue 5 featured yet another clue about the free mystery gift, which was coming CLOSER and CLOSER and CLOSER! This issue’s clue: “WHAT’S BETTER THAN A DRAWING?”
This house ad for Spider-Man Comics Weekly No. 6 appeared in the Mighty World of Marvel. The secret of the free mystery gift was about to be revealed at last!
Issue 6 revealed the meaning of a previous clue to the surprise gift – “What’s better than a drawing?
A PHOTOGRAPH!
No. 7 revealed the MOST shocking revelation yet about the FREE SURPRISE GIFT. The previous clue, “It’s taken from real life”, referred to a ‘REAL-LIFE PHOTOGRAPH of one your favourite Marvel characters!’
But who will it be?!?
No. 8 reveals that the mysterious free gift is ‘A REAL SWINGER’ because it features none other than your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man! But the mystery about the free photo gift is still only partially solved! (Give me strength…)
In his “Sounds Off” column, Marvel boss Stan Lee himself teased, “You know your free gift is a ‘for real’ photograph of your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, but did you ever ask yourself what KIND of photograph? You’ll learn the amazing answer in the next issue!”
Before you find out what the photograph looks like, here’s some more interesting snippets about the early issues of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, and some cover art, too…
In No. 9, the artwork in the “Sinister Six” reprint was altered due to concerns that UK readers might not recognise some of the guest stars from the US comic, since many had not yet featured in Mighty World of Marvel, although, of course, older readers would know them from the Odhams comics. Consequently, Doctor Strange was substituted with the Thing, a familiar character from The Mighty World of Marvel. and Giant Man and the Wasp were replaced with Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Girl. Captain America was substituted with Major Talbot, Iron Man was replaced by a night watchman, and a panel showing the X-Men was replaced with a new image of Peter Parker.
In No. 10, the artwork depicting Spider-Man’s confrontation with robotic duplicates of the X-Men was also altered in the UK reprint. Instead of Cyclops, the Beast, and Angel, Spider-Man faced bizarre new creations instead. It’s unusual that they went to such lengths to alter the artwork for UK readers, but the changes were remarkably well executed.
The original art for early issues of Spider-Man Comics Weekly has surfaced in recent years, often on Heritage Auctions.
But let’s close out with a look at that mysterious “spectacular” free gift, revealed in all its glory in Spider-Man Comics Weekly No. 11, shall we? This is it! A full-colour photographic poster of Spider-Man. Measuring 18” x 26”, the poster was printed by H.P. Dorey & Company Limited and Magazine Management London Ltd., the registered company name for Marvel UK.
Did you collect all those tokens? Do you still have a copy proudly hanging in a wall? Let us know, below! We’d love to hear from you.
To Be Continued…
• Check out A Potted History of British Spider-Man Comics Part One here
• Marvel UK in Print: Captain Britain, Death’s Head, Doctor Who and more – A Quick Guide
WEB LINKS
• Follow Spider-Man 1967 on Twitter
• The Comic Book Price Guide: Spider-Man Comics Weekly
No. 1 cover dated 17th February 1973 – No. 666, cover dated 14th December 1985 NB there is no #428!
Rob Kirby’s blog about his much-anticipated, decades in the making book, From Cents to Pence, charting the history of Marvel UK, and Rob’s other projects | Search for Spider-Man Comics Weekly-related posts
No longer updated but a fantastic resource about British comics compiled by Lew Stringer | Search for Spider-Man Comics Weekly-related posts
A great resource for British pop culture history, including Marvel UK, compiled by Jon Carpenter | Search for Spider-Man Comics Weekly-related posts
Dick Ayers (28th April 1924 – 4th May 2014) is lauded as a mainstay of the Marvel Age of Heroes that began at the dawn of the Silver Age. He recounted his remarkable life and career in his three-volume autobiographical graphic novel, The Dick Ayers Story: An Illustrated Autobiography, published in 2005 by the Mecca Comics Group. Copies aren’t easy to find.
Fast, reliable, and gifted, Ayers’ inking touch can be found on virtually every key Marvel superhero character, including the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the Human Torch, Giant-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, and others. At the insistence of Marvel editor Stan Lee, inker Dick Ayers was often teamed with penciler Jack Kirby, and their work together served as the template for the Marvel house style.
In addition to his work on early Marvel UK covers, Ayers is also celebrated for his own dynamic brand of penciling, especially in the mystery, war, and Western genres. Among his most fondly remembered stories are those showcasing the Ghost Rider, Rawhide Kid, the Two-Gun Kid, El Diablo, Jonah Hex, Sgt. Fury, the Unknown Soldier, and the Haunted Tank.
Over the decades, Ayers worked for many comic book publishers, including ME, Atlas/Marvel, DC, Charlton, Tower, and Warren.
• Dick Ayers Obituary – The Comics Journal
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes News, Features
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Great article, love seeing the exclusive UK covers, contents and other oddities.