The Avengers #2: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' The Avengers #2 was published 19 July 1975:

This cover originally appeared on Marvel Comics' The Avengers #2:

The story contents are as follows:

The Avengers Battle... the Space Phantom, originally published in The Avengers #2, November 1963 

Now Walks The Android, originally published in Tales to Astonish #61, November 1964

The first story is presented in this edition without any notable editorial interference, apart from the erasure of the page numbers. 

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Now Walks The Android. This is presented as a 14-page story, as per the original printing in Tales to Astonish #61. However, the third page of the original story is omitted and in its place is the third page from the story Captured At Last! - the Hulk story sharing space with Now Walks The Android in Tales to Astonish #61!

If you don't believe me, here's a photo of the two-page spread in this issue:

Captured At Last! was reprinted by Newton in The Incredible Hulk #3. You will no doubt be relieved to hear that the story is presented intact in that issue, and does not contain page 3 from Now Walks The Android.

The poster in this issue advertises the forthcoming Conan the Barbarian series:

This poster was also included in Planet of the Apes #5.

This issue includes inhouse advertisements for two other Newton issues designated as On Sale Now: The Fantastic Four #2 and Dracula #1. The Fantastic Four #2 was published 12 July 1975, and Dracula #1 appears to have been delayed until 26 July 1975.

The contest on the rear cover has an expiry date 4 August 1975.

The Mighty Thor in Super Giant #8 and #12

Following the appearance of The Mighty Thor in Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #6, the feature next appeared in an Australian edition a good 10 or so years later in KG Murray's Super Giant series. Thor was cover-featured on Super Giant #8 and #12.

This is the cover to Super Giant #8:

It is rather crudely modified, with elements rearranged in the frame, from the original art on Thor #144:

The Thor content is as follows:

--And, Soon Shall Come: The Enchanters!, originally published in Thor #143, August 1967

This Battleground Earth!, originally published in Thor #144, September 1967

Abandoned on Earth!, originally published in Thor #145, October 1967

The first two stories are reprinted in full. Only the first six pages of Abandoned on Earth! are reprinted in this volume, and the sixth page is butchered. This is a scan from the original issue:

And this is the same page as it appears in Super Giant #8:

I see no reason why the original final panel could not have been included with the abrupt END advisory as per the penultimate panel. Clearly, advertising Red Wolf was a pressing concern at the time.

Thor was also featured on the cover of Super Giant #12:

The cover image originally appeared on Thor #200:

The Thor story in this issue is titled If This Be Death..! and runs for 39 pages.

It is in fact two stories combined - If this Be Death..!, originally published in Thor #199, May 1972 and Beware! If This Be... Ragnarok!, originally published in Thor #200, June 1972.

Three pages have been culled from If This Be Death..! reducing the total page count from the original running total of 42 pages.

Here are the three missing pages:

These three pages comprise a 'meanwhile, back at the ranch...'-type sequence, signposted by a text box at the bottom of page 7:

Given the sequence is omitted in Super Giant #12, it makes sense for the text box to be erased:

However, the editors neglected to follow through on erasing the references to the preceding episode on the next page, which results in the exclamation "--A Battle--For a GOD!" being followed up incongruously with "But now, that scarcely matters--":

There are other significant modifications to the original story. Firstly, the title Beware! If This Be...Ragnarok! has been deleted from the top of the splash page:

And secondly, the art has been extended on the right hand side of the final panel on the last page in lieu of the Next Issue box in the original issue - its beginning is visible as a vertical 'crease' mark above and to the right of the text captions:

The Mighty Thor would be published in Australia shortly after this in Newton Comics as a short-lived self-titled series, an Annual and various one-shots, as well as a backup series in The Amazing Spider-Man. Longer running series would subsequently be published by Yaffa/Page Publications and Federal Comics.

Thanks to Mark Cannon for providing some scans in preparation of this post.

A Visit With The Fantastic Four in Australia

As readers and collectors of Australian editions of vintage US comics we are rather accustomed to odd or inexplicable editorial decisions. Whether it's alternative covers to issues or modified contents,  benign intervention or careless butchery, it's part and parcel of our experience and obsession. 

However, there is one story which has been subjected to such a range of modifications that it warrants special attention. 

When I indexed Newton Comics' Planet of the Apes Annual #1 I noted the bizarre situation in which the splash page to the Fantastic Four story A Visit With The Fantastic Four became the splash page to The Hulk vs. The Thing:

Let's inspect this a little more closely:

Now let's compare it to the printing in Essential Fantastic Four #1 (Third edition, First printing 2008):

The differences are fairly obvious: The Newton edition omits some of the creator credits, and the job code is also omitted.

This story was first published in Australia in Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #4 in 1963. Take a close look at the splash page in this edition:

On first blush it appears to be a rather faithful reproduction of the version in Essential Fantastic Four, apart from the missing job code and the page number. One might even observe that the linework is distinctly clearer than both the Essential and the Newton editions.

But if you read the text you'll see that the lingo has been altered. Johnny Storm's "I told ya..." has become " I told you...", and the civilian's "Say, fella..." becomes "Say, fellows...". 

Heh. What can I say...? After all, it was the tail end of the Menzies era... And if the singular "fella" needs to be changed to the plural "fellows" to maintain decorum, well, sacrifices have to be made. You'd think it was the ABC newsreader of 1963 editing this comic! Never mind they didn't deem it necessary to correct "standing on line" to "standing in line"! 

If all of that isn't enough to have you running earnestly to your battered original copy of Fantastic Four #11, get a load of this printing in Yaffa/Page Publications' Fantastic Four #200-201:

The title text box has been crudely transplanted atop the first two tiers of the fourth page of the story, in the process eliminating not only the third tier of the page, but wholly omitting the second and third pages, and the splash page image!

I can't think of any other single page reprinted in Australia which has been subjected to as many instances of grievous adulteration.

And after all this, what does the original page look like?

Well, here's an online a scan of the page from Fantastic Four #11:

And while we're at it, here's a few more scans of the page from various editions, beginning with Fantastic Four Annual #3:

And here's a  grey-scale printing of the Fantastic Four Annual #3 version as it appears in Les Daniels' Comix: A History of Comic Books in America:

If you find the muddy grey tones pukey then it might be best to look away as I present to you the version published in the UK in The Mighty World of Marvel #22:

And if you need some Alka Seltzer, this might settle you down a tad:

I'm not sure of the source of this printing - I found it online - but it does a reasonable job of representing the original colours, albeit brighter and cleaner on glossy paper. Initially I assumed it to be from a Marvel Masterworks edition. Then I received a photo of the page from Marvel Masterworks #6, October 1988:

It's arguably more attractive with the new colour scheme, but it cannot claim archive standard fidelity to the source material.

(And to add insult to injury... When Yaffa/Page Publications published The Hulk vs. The Thing in Fantastic Four [Vol. 3] #1, they also managed to omit the original splash page, just as  Newton Comics did in Planet of the Apes Annual #1 - but, unlike Newton, they did not bother to surgically transplant the splash page from A Visit With The Fantastic Four.)

This is just a sampling of the available reprints of this story. The GCD lists a number of US printings and I'm sure there's plenty of international editions. It would be funny if this page was subjected to similar treatment in other international editions. If anyone would like to send me scans I'll gladly post them below.

Thanks to Mark Cannon and Mark Muller for providing some of the scans above.

The strange tale of Strange Tales #4

This is the cover to Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #4:

The cover is illustrated by Australian artist Maurice Bramley. It appears to be loosely based on the following two images from The Impossible Man in Fantastic Four #11:

This issue reprints both main features in Fantastic Four #11 - A Visit With The Fantastic Four and The Impossible Man - and the pin-up page:

In essence, Strange Tales #4 is a local edition of Fantastic Four #11.

This issue was published c.July 1963. Horwitz reprinted this issue c.September 1965 - again as  Strange Tales #4 - under a new Bramley cover:

This cover image is a montage based on two panels in the Avengers origin story The Coming of The Avengers!, which Horwitz had published c.January 1965 in The Avengers #1:

 

However, the contents of the two editions of Strange Tales #4 are not quite identical. Each issue contains a single-page illustrated feature by Bramley. Strange Tales #4 (1963) includes Stranger Still:

and Strange Tales #4 (1965) includes Goblins:

Strange Tales #4 (1965) was intended to be Strange Tales #7, but Horwitz got their wires crossed in recycling Strange Tales #4 (1963) and the issue number stuck. 

It is not only the last issue in the series, but appears to be the final Marvel super hero issue by Horwitz, which included a single Daredevil issue and the aforementioned Avengers #1. Indeed it appears other Marvel properties published by Horwitz such as Sgt. Fury and Battle Action also terminated around this time. 

The Champions: The complete Yaffa cover gallery

Here's a cover gallery of my complete series of The Champions published by Yaffa/Page Publications:

 #1, published c.May 1978

#2, published c.May 1979

#3, published c.March 1980

 #4, published c.May 1980

#5, published c.March 1981

 #6, published c.July 1981

 #NN, published c.May 1982

The first two issues are regular sized editions. The rest are digest-sized.

The dates for the six numbered issues are all based on newsagency date markings. It is possible some are published one month earlier than indicated - or even one month later - hence the circa qualification.

The final unnumbered issue is a digest-sized reprint of The Champions #1. It was likely published 1982, but it's possible it was published later.

The Champions #6 is the final issue in the series and completes the reprinting of the 17 US issues of The Champions.

Each issue reprinted three US issues. If you do the math you will realise that the final issue must be 'short' one issue. It is indeed - and to make up the page count, this issue features the 'missing' Shall I Call Thee Master? from the Yaffa Super-Villain Team-Up series. 

It is possible there are retitled unnumbered editions of some of these issues, but I have not seen any.

Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #6: The Mighty Thor and the Journey Into Mystery #88 connection

The Mighty Thor appeared in three eponymous Australian comics series via three different publishers between 1975 and 1986. However, before he had his own series, Thor was published by two other Australian publishers, and the first of these was in 1963 in an anthology series titled Strange Tales.

This is a scan of my rather tired copy Horwitz Publications' Strange Tales #6:

The cover is illustrated by Australian artist Maurice Bramley, swiped from the splash page of the first story:

The Vengeance of Loki! originally appeared in Marvel Comics' Journey Into Mystery #88:

It appears that Bramley was privy to this cover as the lightning from Loki's hand is incorporated into his own cover illustration.

The contents are as follows:

The Vengeance of Loki!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #88, January 1963

Behind Locked Doors!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #88, January 1963

Long Live The Queen!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #88, January 1963

As you can see, all three features hail from Journey Into Mystery #88, which accounts for all the comics features in that issue. In other words, Horwitz's Strange Tales #6 is effectively an Australian edition of Journey Into Mystery #88.

It is also interesting to note that all three features would eventually be published again in Australia in The Mighty Thor #2 via Yaffa/Page Publications c.March 1978

The issue ends with a one-page feature titled Pirates, signed by Bramley:

Two of the advertisements in this issue indicate the date September 1963.