Wednesday 2 May 2012

1981: CAPTAIN AMERICA WEEKLY - PART ONE

In February 1981, Marvel UK launched their most patriotic British periodical to date: CAPTAIN AMERICA.  Hmmm.

Published in what we call the "Skinn II" format, CA retained the almost-newsprint-quality non-glossy covers and black and white interiors but didn't partake in Dez Skinn's old habit of reformatting the existing US pages of age to squeeze more panels per-page and more strips per-issue.

Captain America is one of those rare comics which actually got better over its run.  The line-up of strips benefited from two mergers and the glossy covers (and new glossy centre-spreads) returned from issue 37.

The initial four strip line-up offered two must-reads (contemporary Cap. Am. and Iron Man reprints) alongside two make-weights: The Defenders (ex of RAMPAGE) and Dazzler.  Really.

The demise of MARVEL ACTION added Thor and The Fantastic Four, allowing The Defenders to bow out and squeezing all the other strips to increase the overall line-up from four to five.

Bigger changes accompanied the merger of MARVEL SUPER ADVENTURES.  Daredevil joined the line-up and glossy covers reinstated (coinciding with Spider-man relaunching as SPIDER-MAN TV COMIC to capitalise on the live-action TV show and the opportunity to publish glossy stills from the show as well as new-launch SCOOBY DOO).

The Captain's final months were obviously being used to test the popularity of Thor with the Thunder God being prominently featured and securing several cover slots, including the final issue.  Marvel management must have already been looking ahead to their 1983 launches and the coming of the colour weeklies.

Unfortunately, I'm missing several issues (including the first.  Doh!) so this isn't a complete run of covers. But it's pretty comprehensive.


ISSUE 2
March 1981

ISSUE 5
25 March 1981

ISSUE 6
1 April 1981

ISSUE 7
8 April 1981

ISSUE 8
15 April 1981

ISSUE 9
22 April 1981

ISSUE 10
29 April 1981

ISSUE 11
6 May 1981

- Best - Cover - Ever - 

ISSUE 13
20 May 1981

The cover price rises a penny to 15p. And then drops back to 14p the following week.  Issue 13: unlucky for some!

ISSUE 14
27 May 1981

ISSUE 15
3 June 1981

ISSUE 16
10 June 1981

ISSUE 17
17 June 1981

ISSUE 18
24 June 1981

ISSUE 19
1 July 1981

ISSUE 20
8 July 1981

ISSUE 21
15 July 1981

MARVEL ACTION merges (don't be misled by the masthead which implies that it's the reverse situation), adding Thor and the Fantastic Four.  The Defenders fail to make the cut.

The cover splash may boast "The best of two comics for the price of one" but that's not entirely true, the price sneaks up a penny to 15p!

ISSUE 22
22 July 1981

ISSUE 23
29 July 1981

ISSUE 24
5 August 1981

ISSUE 25
12 August 1981

ISSUE 26
19 August 1981

ISSUE 27
26 August 1981

ISSUE 28
2 September 1981

ISSUE 29
8 September 1981

ISSUE 30
16 September 1981

This is the last issue to officially incorporate MARVEL ACTION.

ISSUE 31
23 September 1981

ISSUE 32
30 September 1981

ISSUE 33
7 October 1981

ISSUE 34
14 October 1981

HOUSE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE RELAUNCH
14 October 1981

ISSUE 35
21 October 1981

MARVEL SUPER ADVENTURE merger announcement.

ISSUE 36
28 October 1981

Last old-format issue.

-TO BE CONTINUED - 

3 comments:

  1. Hi, I have just got hold of the First Issue of this comic, it took me ages to find out exactly what it was.

    Im totally new to comics, is this a particularly valuable item?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi
    Could you advise please. I have been given a number of comics that were originally my Dads. Mum would like to sell them but we dont know where to take them and how much too ask? Would appreciate any help.
    We have the 2nd issue of Captain America as above.
    Many thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Dan and Sue

    I'm not here to place values on any comics but have a look on eBay to see how much copies are being bought for (pay less attention to what people are asking for... it doesn't mean anyone's willing to pay the asking price!).

    There's not much - other than nostalgia - to distinguish the British run of CAPTAIN AMERICA so I doubt they would command very much. First issues are generally of more interest but - ironically - usually had a far higher print run than subsequent issues... which makes them less rare!

    ReplyDelete

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