Monday, July 8, 2019

Captain Marvel: The Newton edition


This is the cover to Newton Comics' Captain Marvel [#NN]:


The cover originally appeared on Marvel Comics' Marvel's Space-Born Superhero! Captain Marvel #4:


This cover was also on a Newton Comics poster and in-house advertisements/pinups. It was later printed on the cover Page Publications' Captain Marvel #2.

The story contents are as follows:

The Alien and the Amphibian!, originally published in Marvel's Space-Born Superhero! Captain Marvel #4, August 1968
The Mark of the Metazoid, originally published in Marvel's Space-Born Superhero! Captain Marvel #5, September 1968
In the Path of Solam!, originally published in Marvel's Space-Born Superhero! Captain Marvel 6, October 1968
War Below The Waves!, originally published in The Defenders #7, August 1973
[...If Atlantis Should Fall!], originally published in The Defenders #8, September 1973

This is the splash page to The Alien and the Amphibian!:


Note the indicia includes the full title Marvel's Space-Born Superhero! Captain Marvel whereas the front cover only contains the shortened Captain Marvel. In contrast, Page Publications' Captain Marvel #2 includes the full title on the cover and the shortened title in the indicia. The Page Publications issue omits the splash page. Note also the crudely cropped and pasted indicia, typical of Newton Comics in this period. The Copyright 1975 date is misleading.

The Newton Comics reprint of the Alien and the Amphibian! is complete but the pages are out sequence. This is page 11:


Note the handwritten advisory on the bottom of the page to See Page 20:


Page 20 should be page 12, but for some reason it was printed out sequence. In this instance the error was noted.

Another curious amendment occurs on page 9:


The text box in the second panel advises *See Sub-Mariner #4 for details!--squeezed-for-space Stan. However, the text box in the Page Publications reprint advises squeezed-for-time:


Presumably the Page Publications printing is the legitimate version. Clearly the Newton editor was having none of this post-Einstein space=time nonsense.

The Mark of the Metazoid and In the Path of Solam! are reprinted without any notable editorial interference.

War Below the Waves! is also reprinted intact. However, the splash page to ...If Atlantis Should Fall! is omitted. Thus, War Below the Waves! is presented as a single 33-page story. Here's the missing splash page as per the Page Publications printing in The Defenders #3:


This splash page was omitted in favour of a redundant in-house Captain Marvel advertisement/filler page:


This issue includes two more in-house advertisements/fillers:


This is from the cover of Marvel Comics' Dracula Lives! #10. It was also included in other Newton comics such as Newton Triple Action #NN[2].

This issue also includes the following The Mighty Thor filler:


This is from the cover of Marvel Comics' Thor #129. This was used as a poster in Dracula #9 and The Fantastic Four #5, and as a filler/pinup in Newton Team-Up Special #NN[5]. The Verdict of Zeus! had previously been reprinted in Newton Team-Up #2.

This issue was advertised in the Sunday Observer 27 March 1977 and 3 April 1977:


As per Set D issues in my dating schema this issue appears to have been published March 1977.

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