1979: TV HEROES SUMMER SPECIAL (Marvel UK)

Here's a relative rarity from the Skinn era of Marvel UK: the TV HEROES SUMMER SPECIAL, released as one of the eight initial offerings in the summer of 1979.

The TVH one-shot was, like several of the specials published that year, intended as a pilot to test the feasibility of an ongoing incarnation.  The MAD-inspired FRANTIC made the cut, as did (later in the year) the STAR HEROES and MARVEL SUPERHEROES winter specials.

TVH was unusual as it was an attempt to launch a TV-based companion to Dez Skinn's own STARBURST (which Marvel, of course, acquired when they acquired Skinn's services).  Unlike Starburst, TVH was not a rousing success and the idea was never heard from again.

The one-shot was a text-based affair with articles on a number of TV shows.  The colour was cover although the interior was black & white on cheap paper, a format that did little to enhance the reproduction of stills.

Skinn has later said that he was looking at establishing a raft of new launches with "heroes" in the title.