Last month I was lucky enough to be given another large box full of (mostly) Marvel comics from the 60s, 70s and early 80s by my incredibly kind uncle Jim. There was a great mixture of titles again, a load of Dr Strange, a bound collection of the DC title The Spectre who I always liked, Miracle Man and a load of very old Fantastic Four comics; none of which I’ve picked out to show you here!
Instead my friends, feast your eyes on Marvel Spotlight On Star-Lord, yup the one from The Guardians of The Galaxy film*, Peter Quill.
In fact while we’re on the subject how about the Guardians Of The Galaxy themselves? in the first issue of their own series (February ’75), featuring precisely none of the characters from the film.
It does however feature some rather unsubtle chick-ogling.
There is also the beautifully designed cover of Dazzler. She was a nightclub singer, was overly girly, had the ability to light up, craved romance, but really, really rocked the one-piece look**. I do love that cover though, it’s cleverly done.
Best of all though, certainly on today’s cursory trawl, was Not Brand Echh. There are a whole load of them here dating back to the late 60’s and they are a ‘funny’ title (to use the jargon of the day) and seem to have been set up to rival Mad Magazine. They hit more targets than they miss and what strikes me is just how much work must have been sunk into each busy issue. I could do a whole series of posts just on Not Brand Echh, but what really caught my eyes were:
An appearance by the Beatles in full Sgt Pepper regalia:
A story in which Medusa (here, Medoozy) falls for Bob Dilly and Bingo Starr… (click on the pix to read them properly):
And the crowning glory of all, Sgt. Fury’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (again you’ll need to click to read properly):
Complete with skit lyrics, which feature hair-curling^ verses about ‘nips’ and ‘krauts’, mostly about socking it to them, ‘A splendid blast is guaranteed for all’.
I do rather like Thing’s message here though, something pretty timely for us all:
661 Down (still)
*which I REALLY enjoyed.
**check out the cleavage separation – it looks like the band have broken up and they’ve both embarked on solo careers.
^by my lily-livered limey 21st century standards.