STARLOGGED - GEEK MEDIA AGAIN: 1981: MARVEL SUPERHEROES

Thursday, 30 May 2013

1981: MARVEL SUPERHEROES - PART THREE (Marvel UK)

I didn't have much to say about the 1980 run of MARVEL SUPERHEROES issues... but things got MUCH more interesting the next year!

The strip line-up (The Avengers, The (Original) X-Men and The Champions) remained static through the first part of the year but the September issue (on sale in August) marked a major turning point for Marvel UK (and - to a lesser extent - the whole Marvel U): the arrival of the new (and overhauled) CAPTAIN BRITAIN.

The character had been left to drift around the Marvel line since the (swift) demise of his own weekly way back in 1977. A run of new stories in SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND CAPTAIN BRITAIN weekly made way for a reprint of his US debut, a two-part story from MARVEL TEAM-UP.

Back in the UK, Dez Skinn made him a supporting character in the UK-originated Dark Knight supporting feature in HULK COMIC (the only one of the UK created strips to survive until the title's cancellation). Several one-shot specials also reprinted selected material from the weekly as well as the TEAM-UP story.

But Marvel Superheroes marked the beginning of his revival, and an extended run of strips that jumped about from MSM to THE DAREDEVILS onto THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL before graduating (again) to his own title.

The other big innovation of the year was the introduction of the INSIDE COMICS text feature, often penned by a certain Alan Moore, that added a fanzine sensibility to the Marvel monthlies and belatedly recognised that readers might also be fans.

ISSUE 369

January 1981

ISSUE 370

February 1981

ISSUE 371

March 1981

Issue 371's editorial announcing Marvel UK's refresh of the monthlies (the "new direction"), notably the imminent launch of the Inside Comics text feature, a nod to comics fandom rather than casual readers.

The 1/2 page advert for the POCKET BOOKS line was also fairly rare by this point. Marvel gave them less and less plugs in the weeklies and monthlies, possibly because they knew they were living on borrowed time.