1976: DRACULA LIVES House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1976: A MARVEL UK House Ad for DRACULA LIVES (currently featuring The Legion of Monsters).

This appeared in early February. 

1975: MAN THING'S DEBUT IN DRACULA LIVES House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1975: A MARVEL UK House Ad teasing the British premiere of Man Thing (snigger) in the pages of DRACULA LIVES.  

I've not followed ol' MT's UK career particularly closely but I am aware that he popped-up (possibly in the same material again-and-again... as was the M-UK way) in DRACULA LIVES, PLANET OF THE APES (incorporating Dracula Lives), JOURNEY INTO NIGHTMARE (one of the published-under-license Marvel scare-fare monthlies from Portman), CHILLER POCKET BOOK and SAVAGE ACTION.  Did I miss any? 

This appeared in December 1975. 

1974: PLANET OF THE APES and DRACULA LIVES Launch Ads (Marvel UK)

 

It was forty years ago this week...  Here are some MARVEL UK House Ads for their two October 1974 new weeklies: PLANET OF THE APES and DRACULA LIVES.  

1974: PLANET OF THE APES and DRACULA LIVES Launch (Marvel UK)

 

Regular reader Colin Jones (Hi Colin... and thanks!) tipped me off yesterday that it was 40 years ago this very week that MARVEL UK launched these two iconic new weeklies: PLANET OF THE APES and DRACULA LIVES.  

Not only are these both stonking reads but they were also landmark issues for the Annex of Ideas:

• These were the fourth and fifth (following THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL, SPIDER-MAN and THE AVENGERS) weeklies launched in the UK.
• They were the first of the British weeklies to feature contemporary, made-the-same-decade, strips as the main attraction.  THE AVENGERS weekly had already, riding the martial arts craze, included Masters of Kung Fu and and Iron Fist.  The tight turnaround between the two sides of the operation created scheduling problems later (hello Apeslayer!).
• Both of them were a departure from Marvel's usual super-powered stable.  Marvel UK's next experiment, SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN, in March 1975, didn't fare so well. 
• POTA was the first time that Marvel had adapted a screen property.  The POTA TV show (which mustered more enthusiasm in the UK and other international markets than it did on CBS in the States) premiered around the same time and, although Marvel didn't have the strip rights, they could benefit from the free marketing.  
• Horror was also something new for the Annex of Ideas.  The black & white format, and larger pages, actually benefited the strips and gave them a Hammer noir atmosphere.  Surprisingly, the contents didn't seem to ever generate any negative publicity in the British press.  Something that, maybe, IPC's nervous management should have noted when they got cold feet over SCREAM a decade later.  
• This was the first time that British Marvel had launched two new titles simultaneously and, as such, marked a significant expansion for the small operation. 
• For the record, DRACULA LIVES clocked up a run of 87 issues before merging with its stable (coffin?) mate.  POTA eventually ran for 123 issues before folding into THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL (allowing Marvel to burn-off the last of the licensed strips). 
• DRACULA LIVES, without benefit of a merger, became DRACULA LIVES FEATURING THE LEGION OF MONSTERS from issue 60 with, MWOM style, the interlopers given prominent billing on the masthead. 

I've covered POTA in several previous posts (including cover galleries and the "missing" prelude to ESCAPE FROM THE POTA) and I've always planned to do more with DL once I've unboxed my collection from storage.

This is also an appropriate place to mention that Titan Books have a new hardback overview of the whole saga in shops now (not to be confused with their excellent art book devoted to the two recent revivals).  I've not had a chance to study the text in detail (so much scanning... so little time) but it looks a highly agreeable addition to anyone's bookshelves and, probably, the most significant new tome on the saga (except for the excellent SIMEON SCROLLS fanzine and the two Hasslein volumes) since the 2001 book boom.  

1977: THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL and DRACULA LIVES (Marvel UK)

 

The end of PLANET OF THE APES the previous week left the way clear for THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL to, belatedly, add Tomb of Dracula reprints to the line-up.  The strip had, despite the DRACULA LIVES masthead continuing to appear post-merger of the POTA weekly, been absent from the British line-up for months. 

So, issue 247 (cover-dated 22 June 1977) included this two-page text feature refresher before picking up the action...

1977: DRACULA LIVES IN MWOM (Marvel UK)

DRACULA LIVES! Again.  

The Prince of Darkness was temporarily laid to rest following the demise of PLANET OF THE APES AND DRACULA LIVES when only the movie tie-in made the immediate leap into the pages of THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL.

However, with the last of the US Apes strips exhausted (and the license running out), Tomb of Dracula reprints were belatedly used to plug the gap.

Here's a House Ad from MWOM 15 June 1977 announcing his imminent resurrection. 

1975: DRACULA LIVES SPECIAL EDITION (World Distributors)

Here's another obscure items from the MARVEL UK vaults: THE DRACULA LIVES SPECIAL EDITION, published by those purveyors of shoddy hardbacks (although this is an A4 softcover with black & white interiors) World Distributors.

There's scant information inside so dating this one-shot is a little tricky.  The two reprinted strips, Night of the Stalker and Let It Bleed, hail from 1974 so this likely appeared mid-seventies, probably alongside the regular DRACULA LIVES weekly (1974-76).

I have the run of DL but I've not had a chance to check to see if this received any plugs, which would help narrow down the publication date more.

The copy I have has loose interior pages and a quick bit of Googling uncovers a retailer selling another copy (for more than double what I paid) who also notes loose pages so I assume the binding quality wasn't stellar.

Front Cover

Back Cover

1979: DRACULA IN MARVEL COMIC HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

Here's another MARVEL COMIC House Ad (from May 1979) from Marvel UK.

DRACULA LIVES! had, of course, been the title of the British horror weekly, of a few years earlier, that reprinted (in glorious black & white) TOMB OF DRACULA alongside a smorgasbord of seventies supernatural scares (Werewolf By Night, Ghost Rider, Legion of Monsters etc.).

Much more MARVEL COMIC coming soon....

1982: DRACULA SUMMER SPECIAL (Marvel UK)

It's Halloween!  So all my posts today have a supernatural persuasion.

First up is Marvel UK's 1982 DRACULA SUMMER SPECIAL.  It was US reprints wrapped in this rather striking new cover, recycled as the centre-spread glossy poster.  

PLANET OF THE APES - MARVEL UK IN-HOUSE ADVERTS

Here's a selection of PLANET OF THE APES related In-house adverts, related to the weekly, collected from across Marvel UK's other titles.

Many also promote the launched-the-same-week DRACULA LIVES which, eventually, merged with POTA.

Also included are several adverts from POTA itself flogging other Apes-related merchandise.

This is almost certainly NOT a comprehensive selection of what was published and Slow Robot expects to unearth more in the future as he continues to wade through the teetering pile of Marvel's seventies masterpieces.

LAUNCH AD

26 October 1974

LAUNCH ADVERT

26 October 1974

HOUSE AD

2 November 1974

HOUSE AD

9 November 1974

HOUSE AD

7 December 1974

HOUSE AD

28 December 1974

HOUSE AD

18 January 1975

HOUSE AD

1 February 1975

HOUSE AD

15 March 1975

HOUSE AD

5 APRIL 1975

HOUSE AD

7 June 1975

HOUSE AD

14 June 1975

HOUSE AD

21 June 1975

19 July 1975

26 July 1975

2 August 1976

2 August 1976

HOUSE AD

5 September 1975

HOUSE AD

13 September 1975

HOUSE AD

27 September 1975

HOUSE AD

8 November 1975

HOUSE AD

22 November 1975

HOUSE AD

3 January 1976

POTA action figures from Palitoy

POTA ISSUE 45

30 August 1975

TV photo offer.

POTA ISSUE 52

8 October 1975

POTA belts offer

POTA ISSUE 72

6 March 1976

POTA fan Club.

POTA ISSUE 74

20 March 1976

POTA Super 8mm home movies.

1976: PLANET OF THE APES (Marvel UK) - Part Five

This is it true believers!  The final few months of Marvel UK's solo PLANET OF THE APES weekly.  These final 23 issues saw the adaptation of the fifth Apes movie and the addition of Conan (after a lengthy run in THE AVENGERS weekly) as back-up strip.

Marvel continued to reprint the remaining POTA strips from the states in the pages of THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL.

Ape shall not kill ape.  But shall ape kill man?

ISSUE 100

15 September 1976

ISSUE 101

22 September 1976

ISSUE 102

29 September 1976

ISSUE 103

6 October 1976

ISSUE 104

13 October 1976

ISSUE 105

20 October 1976

ISSUE 106

27 October 1976

ISSUE 107

2 November 1976

ISSUE 108

10 November 1976

Marvel's adaptation of the fifth (and final) POTA film, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, begins this issue.

ISSUE 109

17 November 1976

ISSUE 110

24 November 1976

ISSUE 111

1 December 1976

ISSUE 112

8 December 1976

ISSUE 113

15 December 1976

Conan The Barbarian reprints begin this issue.

ISSUE 114

22 December 1976

ISSUE 115

29 December 1976

ISSUE 116

5 January 1977

ISSUE 117

12 January 1977

ISSUE 118

19 January 1977

ISSUE 119

26 January 1977

ISSUE 121

9 February 1977

ISSUE 122

16 February 1977

ISSUE 123

23 February 1977

Final issue. Merges with THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL.