Thirty-nine years ago this weekend, a comic fan was born!

On the 30^th September 1972, the last Saturday of the month, the first issue of The Mighty World of Marvel was released upon an unsuspecting public. It was a momentous occasion, birthing a generation of Marvel readers and making at least one comic fan for life.

My original copy of this life-changing comic was lost many moons ago, but fortune smiled upon me when I won a reasonably priced copy on eBay earlier this month. I’d been tempted a number of times, but it was the realisation that the date of original publication meant that I would be able to perform some kind of voodoo magic by reading this particular comic exactly 39 years since I first held it my eager hands, and in my childhood home too, that I placed a decisive bid. Perhaps a rift in the space/time continuum would open up and transport me back to 1972 to meet my seven year old self.

So yesterday, on the hottest day on record for October, I settled down with Mighty World of Marvel no. 1 and a Fab lolly.........

.........and though no rift in the space/time continuum opened up, it was a rewarding experience.

I have likely read the three stories featuring The Hulk, Fantastic Four and Spider-Man many times since in other formats, but nothing compares to the experience of where and how I first encountered these iconic characters. On pulpy newsprint paper in black & white (and green!), at a larger size than the original printed pages, the crude - but exciting - storytelling of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko is completely enthralling. There is a primacy to these initial appearances - designed to capture the imagination of children - that reinforced why I still read comics despite the accumulation of years of cynical exploitation. Yes, the plot holes are apparent to my 46 year old self, but they would not have mattered to me at 7. That kid in 1972 just wanted more.

For the princely sum of 5p, I got the first 10 pages of The Hulk #1, a Fantastic Four pin-up, the first 13 pages of Fantastic Four #1, a Special Message from Stan Lee and the chance to win a mystery free gift, and the whole of Spider-Man’s origin from Amazing Fantasy #15.

I would also have got a free iron-on Hulk T-shirt transfer, but I sadly no longer recall what I did with that. I imagine it was dutifully ironed on and subsequently washed off by mum.

Buy The Mighty World of Marvel #1 at My Comic Shop

Kool Kirby Avengers Kovers!

I never really got Jack Kirby during my early exposure to his art - reprinted in various Marvel UK titles - but just as The Avengers returned to UK distribution, Jack Kirby returned to Marvel and produced four covers for the team that I have some very fond memories of. There were nine in total, but only four were pure Kirby, the others featuring layouts by Al Milgrom, and one with some minor alterations by John Romita.

The first was #148 (cover date June 1976) and featured The Avengers getting their collective arses kicked by Marvel's stand-in Justice League of America, the Squadron Supreme. It is a classic example of Kirby's use of three planes to convey depth; the foreground with Golden Archer, Tom Thumb and The Amphibian looking at the middle-ground, with the focus on Hyperion holding a defeated Thor aloft while standing atop a crumpled mess of Avengers, and in the background, cheering him on, Cap'n Hawk, Doctor Spectrum and Lady Lark. It is a perfect example of an artist controlling the viewer's eye through composition, further enhanced by a very limited colour palette, predominant with the three primaries and a dash of the secondary's, against a stark white base. It was inked by Mike Esposito.

The second cover was #151 (cover date September 1976), and is a classic 'the old order changeth' image, inked by Dan Adkins.

Kirby uses pretty much the same composition here, the assembled Avengers candidates in the foreground looking at Captain America in the middle-ground, with Thor and Iron Man slightly behind him in the background. Again, the three primaries, red, yellow and blue are predominant, while the foreground characters are blocked out in a grey tone that emphasises the importance of the three primary characters against a white base.

Note the way that Thor and Iron Man are staring out, straight at you, the reader, challenging you to guess at the new line-up. How could you resist?

Issue #152, again inked by Dan Adkins, features the new line-up plus a surprise addition.The surprise addition of Wonder Man, along with the villain Black Talon, is, in this case, the focus of the foreground, while The Vision is in the solid middle-ground and The Wasp, The Scarlet Witch, Iron Man and Captain America are in the background. The Vision's placement is well judged, considering his importance to the story of Wonder Man.

The cover is dominated by the colour green, - one of the secondary colours - in the costumes of The Vision and Wonder Man, and the background. The Black Talon's costume has also had some red added to the blue, creating almost a purple hue in contrast to the strong blue that Captain America is wearing (highlighting his villainy).

The three-toned green background, while it doesn't allow the central image to 'pop', does create an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, suitable for a story involving a man dressed as a chicken raising a fallen 'hero' from the dead.

Last, but by no means least, is #157, either inked by Adkins or Joe Sinnott. This is probably my favourite of all four.

Again, Kirby uses the three planes, but they are much closer in relationship this time. He also brings the foreground up close and tight, featuring the fallen figures of Captain America and Iron Man,
 with the middle-ground taken up by the imposing lower third of the issue's mystery villain.

The remaining Avengers, The Vision, The Scarlet Witch and
Yellowjacket are scattered around in the background, The Vision's leg (and Wanda's arm) entering the middle-ground, and anchoring the imposing figure coloured in greys.

It is the predominant use of grey, on the legs of the Black Knight (Oops! Spoliers!), and in the slightly grey toned Captain America (against a cool blue base) that adds to the prevailing sense of menace. Who is this villain, and how did he defeat all The Avengers?

As I mentioned earlier, I never got Jack Kirby when I was younger, but these four covers alone were enough to fire my imagination and taught me to appreciate what made Kirby one of the best, if not the best, super-hero cover artists of all time.

Buy these comics at My Comic Shop