Monsters Unleashed #NN[4]: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' Monsters Unleashed #NN[4] was published c.March-April 1977:

The cover is a Newton contrivance based on images from the story Demon of Slaughter Mansion!

The story contents are as follows:

The Invisible Man, originally published in Masters of Terror #2, September 1975

The Man Who Cried Werewolf!, originally published in Masters of Terror #2, September 1975

Monsters From The Sea, originally published in Monsters Unleashed Annual #1, 1975

Dig Me No Grave!, originally published in Masters of Terror #2, September 1975

Birthright!, originally published in Monsters Unleashed Annual #1, 1975

Terror Toons, originally published in Masters of Terror #2, September 1975

The Music of Erich Zann!, originally published in Masters of Terror #2, September 1975

His Own Kind!, originally published in Haunt of Horror #1, May 1974
[Pickman's Model], originally published in Masters of Terror #2, September 1975

The Last Man!, originally published in Haunt of Horror #1, May 1974

Lifeboat!, originally published in Monsters Unleashed Annual #1, 1975

To Love, Honor, Cherish... ...'Til Death, originally published in Monsters Unleashed Annual #1, 1975

Thunderbird, originally published in Monsters Unleashed Annual #1, 1975

All the stories attributed above to Masters of Terror #2 were previously published in other comics, and you can identify these by following the links to the GCD entries. However , there is a reason I have nominated Masters of Terror #2 as the original source. Consider the example of The Invisible Man, which was originally published in Supernatural Thrillers #2. Here's a scan of the splash page:

This is the version reprinted in Australia c.May 1978 in Page Publications' Supernatural Thrillers #1:

However, the version published in Newton's Monsters Unleashed #NN[4] has been modified thus:

This is the version published in Masters of Terror #2:

Consider also this two-page spread:

The splash page on the left is from His Own Kind!. This is the only page of this story in this issue. The page on the right is the second page of Pickman's Model. The rest of this story is included in this issue. I can confirm that this version of Pickman's Model is the version published in Masters of Terror #2. This version has greyscale shading, and black caption boxes similar to The Invisible Man.

I haven't confirmed any other such modifications to the other reprints in Masters of Terror #2, but based on these two samples, I am assuming they are most likely related to this source rather than the original printings. Consider also that Terror Toons is exclusive to Masters of Terror #2.

Similarly, many of the other stories were published in Monsters Unleashed Annual #1, which itself reprinted stories from previous issues of Monsters Unleashed. It may be for this reason that To Love, Honor, Cherish... ...'Til Death was reprinted twice by Newton - the previous time was in Monsters Unleashed #1.

This issue contains a number of single-page pinup/filler pages:

The Invincible Iron Man: 

This is from the cover of Marvel Comics' The Invincible Iron Man #8 and I expect it was earmarked as a Newton Comics Iron Man cover. It appeared on the cover of Page Publications' The Invincible Iron Man #3. 

The Silver Surfer: 

This had been published previously by Newton on the cover of The Silver Surfer #6.

The Mighty Thor:

 This is from the cover of Marvel Comics' Thor #129 and had previously been pressed into service as a Newton poster in Dracula #9.

The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu:

This is from the cover of Marvel Comics' The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #13 and was likely intended as a cover in the Newton series.

Dracula: 

This had previously been published on the cover of Newton's Dracula #4.

The inner and rear covers have non-comics advertisements as per my designated Set C of issues published February/March 1977.

The indicia title is Monsters Unleashed (without the exclamation mark) and does not include a Newton Comics date - it probably belongs in the white space after the Marvel copyright date. The indicia advises The issue is distributed by Gordon & Gotch. 

The Incredible Hulk #12: The Newton edition

Newton Comics' The Incredible Hulk #12 was published 6 December 1975:

The cover originally appeared on Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk #109:

The Newton cover was also used as a poster in The Mighty Thor #2:

The story contents are as follows:

The Monster and the Man-Beast!, originally published in The Incredible Hulk #109, November 1968

Battle for the Palace of the Gods! [Part 1], originally published in Man-Thing #1, January 1974

The Monster and the Man-Beast! does not appear to have been subjected to any undue editorial modification. Interestingly the Yaffa printing of this story in The Incredible Hulk #5 has a modified splash page - the caption which references the Last Ish has been omitted as the previous story is included in the issue and is thus redundant. 

Battle for the Palace of the Gods is a 19-page story. The first 8 pages are reprinted in this instalment. They appear to be intact without any editorial modification.

This is the poster in this issue:

This image was previously published by Newton Comics on the cover of Conan the Barbarian #7. Note the reference to The Fantastic Four Annual - presumably this was inserted at the last minute as there are no other in-house advertisements for Newton comics in this issue. It was announced in the letter column in the previous issue - the same letter column is printed in this issue 

This issue includes the Tarzan Book Offer:

The contest in this issue expired 19 January 1976, two weeks after the expiry date of the contest in the previous issue. This suggests a publication date of 6 December 1975. This date is confirmed by two advertisements in the Sunday Observer dated 7 December 1975:

This issue also includes a t-shirt offer.

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.

The Mighty Thor #2: The Newton edition

This is the cover to Newton Comics' The Mighty Thor #2:

It originally appeared on the cover of Marvel Comics' Journey Into Mystery #101:

Note the misspelling of Zarrko on the Newton cover.

The story contents are as follows:

The Return of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #101, February 1964

Slave of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man!, originally published in Journey Into Mystery #102, March 1964

The Return of Zarrko, the Tomorrow Man appears to have been reproduced faithfully in the Newton edition. I have compared it to an online scan of the issue, which appears to be from a Marvel Masterworks printing, and apart from omitting the original page numbers and a negligible couple of centimetres cropped from the bottom of the splash page, the only significant editing is the change in the text box in the final panel from the original Next Issue to Part 2.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the printing of Slave of Zarrko, The Tomorrow Man. This instalment is one of the most egregious examples of Newton's tampering with the material.  This is page 2 of the story as it appears in Journey Into Mystery #102:

This is page 2 of the Newton edition:

This page originally appeared on page 2 of the story "Death" Comes to Thor! from the Tales of Asgard backup feature in Journey into Mystery #102. It is inserted into Slave of Zarrko to maintain the page count at the expense of the recap page, which was deemed redundant in the Newton edition given it recapped events of the preceding story. To add insult to injury, the following page contains, in part, the rest of the recap:

Whilst the rationale for omitting the recap is understandable, the solution is a crude and ineffective surgical procedure, and I'm left to wonder what the young intrepid reader in 1976 made of all this. 

The poster in this issue is Hulk and Ka-Zar:

This originally appeared on the cover of Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk #109, and was also published as the cover to Newton Comics' The Incredible Hulk #12:

There are two in-house advertisements for Newton comics in this issue:

The Fantastic Four #14 and Conan the Barbarian #12 are cover-dated February 1976, as is The Mighty Thor #2. The expiry date for the contest is 21 February 1976, one week after the expiry date for the contest in The Mighty Thor #1. Presumably The Mighty Thor #2 was published very early February 1976 - 7 February is the first Saturday in 1976 - but this is just guesswork, and I'm conscious that reading competition expiry dates and publications dates is a fraught exercise in this particular period of Newton Comics.

This issue was advertised in-house:

This is scanned from The Incredible Hulk #15.

This would be the final issue in the series. The Mighty Thor would appear in subsequent Newton comics, including The Mighty Thor Giant 100 Page Annual in March 1977. 

The Mighty Thor #1: The Newton edition

This is the cover to Newton Comics' The Mighty Thor #1:

It is modified from the original cover art to Marvel Comics' Journey Into Mystery #100:

The story contents are as follows:

The Mysterious Mister Hyde!, originally published in Journey into Mystery #99, December 1963

The Master Plan of Mr. Hyde!, originally published in Journey into Mystery #100, January 1964

The splash page to The Mysterious Mister Hyde! (or, the Mighty Thor! Battles... "The Mysterious Mister Hyde!") has been cropped at the bottom, omitting the page number and the job number X-512:

The significant modification to the story occurs on the final page:

The original story ended with a text box in the bottom panel which has been omitted in favour of a brief End Part One advisory:

This panel is scanned from page 236 of my copy of Marvel Masterworks The Mighty Thor from Journey Into Mystery Nos. 83-100, second printing December 1999.

The splash page to The Master Plan of Mr. Hyde has been similarly altered - and I don't mean as per the previous owner of my copy : 

The text box in the original page referred to "Last issue..." - scan courtesy of my Marvel Masterworks:

The poster in this issue is The Incredible Hulk from the cover to Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk #107:

This poster was also included in Newton Comics' Captain America #3 and The Invincible Iron Man #1, and the image was also used on the cover of Newton Comics' The Incredible Hulk #10. Indeed, the white patch alongside the H on the poster is where Newton placed their A Great Marvel Collector Classic stamp:

This issue includes in-house advertisements for two other Newton comics:

Newton's Giant Team-Up Annual #1 and Captain America #3 are both cover-dated December 1975.

The Mighty Thor #1 was announced in the December 1975 subscription page, and was scheduled for publication 3 January 1976. The expiry date for the contest in this issue is 14 February 1976. It appears this issue was published either on schedule or shortly thereafter.

The Mighty Thor #1 was advertised in other Newton issues:

There would be one more issue in this series.