Friday 7 November 2014

1982: SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (Marvel UK)


Another early Eighties (possibly 1982*) MARVEL UK annual: SPIDER-MAN.

I got this as a birthday gift from our local Martin's the newsagent way-back-when... and I loved it.  I was a big fan of the live-action TV show (which ITV had finally got around to airing from September 1981) and this contained stills and an episode guide to the show.  This was - quite possibly - the first episode guide I was ever exposed to.

Strip-wise, this contained the double-length 'Vengeance is mine... Sayeth the sword!' reprinted from the second (1980) PETER PARKER THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL.  

It also contained one of those 'Secrets of Spider-man' pieces which pop up every so often.  

* M-UK/ Grandreams, annoyingly, didn't put dates anywhere on their annuals around this period. 

2 comments:

  1. ITV showed the Spider-Man series ? - I never knew that before !! Perhaps it was never shown in my ITV region as I'm sure I 'd have noticed. In 1979 I saw the Spider-Man 'movie' at the cinema which was 2 episodes of the TV show stuck together or something. Of course the TV series showed Spidey as he would have really looked with ill-fitting costume etc rather than the unrealistic CGI-fest of the current movies lol.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Colin

      Good question. I always assumed that the SPIDER-MAN live-action show had been networked across the ITV network but it's entirely possible that some regions opted-out. It definitely aired in the Anglia TV region.

      Marvel UK changed the name of the Spidey weekly to SUPER SPIDER-MAN TV COMIC from October 1981 to capitalize on the belated arrival of the show. The glossy covers (accompanied by glossy centre spreads for the first time) returned (for the first time since January 1979) in order to showcase stills from the show. They dropped the TV connection a year later suggesting the show had long-since vanished from the schedules.

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