Marvel Multi Mags - The Original Comic Books in a Bag

FANTASTIC FOUR, SPIDER-MAN, FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER & THOR

BACK TO BACK IN AN

AUGUST 1975 MARVEL MULTI-MAGS

FANTASTIC FOUR #161

MARVEL TEAM-UP #36

MIGHTY THOR #238

In spite of the hugely successful comeback of the superhero genre in the early 1960s, the comic book industry had a fundamental problem: its traditional sales points were fading away. Small stores that had carried comic books for decades were pushed out of business by larger stores and supermarkets, and newsagents started to view the low cover prices and therefore tiny profit margins comics had to offer as a nuisance.

Comic book publishers needed to open up new sales opportunities and tap into a new customer base. One place these potential buyers could be found was the growing number of supermarkets and chain stores. But in order to be able to sell comic books at these venues, the product would have to be adjusted - such as packaging several comic books together in a transparent plastic bag.

Pioneered by DC Comics (who came up with the Comicpac concept in 1961), this resulted in a higher price per unit on sale, which made the whole business of stocking them much more worthwhile for the seller. At the same time the product blended in with most other goods sold at supermarkets, which were also conveniently packaged.

DC's Comicpacs were a success - so much so that other publishers quickly started to copy the concept. Marvel produced a series of Marvel Multi-Mags in 1968/69, but only fully embraced selling multiple comic books packaged in a sealed plastic bag at supermarkets, large grocery stores or gas stations as of the early 1970s.

It didn't really matter that buying these three comic books in a comicpack for say 89¢ (rather than from a newsagent for 90¢ in that case) clearly presented no real bargain - it was the opportunity and convenience to pick up a few comics at the same time parents and adults did their general shopping. Neatly packaged, it almost became an entirely different class of commodity.

The comic books contained in this specific MARVEL MULTI-MAGS are all from the August 1975 cover date run, which meant that they were actually on sale at newsagents in May 1975 - although there could be quite a delay in terms of actual availability of MARVEL MULTI-MAGS at some sales points, resulting in some Multi-Mags on display containing "semi-recent books (typically about nine months old)" (Brevoort, 2007). Considering the packaging and distribution process, this doesn't really seem too surprising.

No titles had permanent slots in the MARVEL MULTI-MAGS, but issues of Fantastic Four and Thor would show up in a reliably regular way, and Marvel Team-Up could be found quite often too. But even with these fairly regular titles there was never any guarantee of an uninterrupted flow of consecutive issues - and therefore a distinct possibility of missing out on a part of the storyline, since the continuity of the Marvel Universe of the 1970s was such that plots and storylines usually evolved over more than one issue.

This didn't exactly make the MULTI-MAGS an ideal way of getting your Marvel comic book fix. On the other hand, this was a common fate of the average comic book reader in the 1970s, whether their comic books came packaged in a plastic bag or as single issues from a display or spinner rack. Back in those days, an uninterrupted supply of specific titles was, quite simply, not guaranteed. Not worrying too much about possible gaps in storylines wasn't really a big thing - besides, you would usually get a recap of "what happened so far" on the first page.

So all in all it simply was a part of being a comic book fan in the 1970s - as were the monthly Bullpen Bulletins (which were the responsibility of the editor-in-chief) and the in-house advertising.

In August 1975, the Bullpen Bulletin was still on its way through the alphabet as far as its title was concerned, arriving at the letter E - which resulted in the typically alliterative and somewhat nonsensical title "An Endearing Ensemble of Editorial Errata for your Enjoyment, Edification, and Enlightenment!".

The headline item of Stan Lee's Soapbox column was the planned sequel to the massively successful Origins of Marvel Comics. Besides musings as to the title of said book, Stan "the Man" also managed to mention that he had been invited to talk at five colleges on five consecutive days. All of this exposure to academia did not, however, prevent Lee from misspelling Monty Python as "Monte", along with an obvious typo ("in case you've wondering") in the last sentence of his ramblings...

In-house ad from Conan #53

As for the actual Bullpen Bulletins' various ITEM! bullet points, they were - as usual - mostly concerned with new and changing assignments of various writers, artists, and editors (such as Archie Goodwin now overseeing Marvel's range of black and white magazines).

A big push was also given to the up and coming adaptation of The Wizard of Oz - an unlikely subject matter for the House of Ideas, but one that readers would be hearing a lot about over the next few months. There weren't too many in-house ads that month, but the full-page plug for the Hulk Treasury Edition #5 certainly was an attention grabber.

FANTASTIC FOUR #161

August 1975
(monthly)
On Sale: 27 May 1975

Editor - Roy Thomas
Cover - Rich Buckler (pencils) & Joe Sinnott (inks)

"All The World Wars At Once!" (18 pages)
Story - Roy Thomas
Pencils - Rich Buckler (layouts/breakdowns), Joe Sinnott (finished art)
Inks - Joe Sinnott
Lettering - Joe Rosen
Colouring - Glynis Wein

STORY OVERVIEW - This story continues from Fantastic Four #160 and is part 2 of 4. Events take place in three parallel worlds: The world of the Fantastic Four (the planet Earth we know), an Alternate Earth ("Earth-A"), and an "Earth of the 5th Dimension". The special twist is that certain parallels to the Fantastic Four of our world exist on Earth-A (where Reed Richards is actually the Thing) whilst the Human Torch (of our Earth) is helping out in the 5th Dimension. Chaos and confusion reign as three worlds move towards all-out war...

The concept of "parallel earths" was introduced to comic books by Gardner F. Fox in his famous "Flash of Two Worlds" story (Flash #123) in September 1961, and DC has made extensive (and sometimes even excessive) use of its "multiverse" ever since.

Marvel, on the other hand, rarely explored parallel realities with characters that are the same yet different, so this foray of the Fantastic Four is something of an exception - and it is probably no coincidence that Roy Thomas was at the helm of this storyline, given his well-known soft spot for DC's history.

And Thomas handles it well, providing a clear plot which leaves little room for confusion (although to be on the safe side, he and Rich Buckler would "sketch it out" for readers in two charts in the next story segment, in Fantastic Four #162).

In addition, Buckler provides clear visual clues for readers to distinguish e.g. which Thing is which, as the "Earth-A" Thing wears brown pants (in contrast to Ben Grimm's famous blue ones) and also sports a torn shirt (which would even make the visual differentiation possible with later black and white reprints).

Roy Thomas had first scripted a story for Marvel's First Family in Fantastic Four #119 (February 1972) before becoming the title's regular writer from September 1972 to April 1973 (Fantastic Four #126-133) and April 1975 to April 1977 (Fantastic Four #157-181).

His tenure was appreciated and lauded by fans (as the letters page from this issue also clearly shows). Thomas was always at his best when he felt connected to what he was writing, and the Fantastic Four were no exception.

"Much as I loved the character Spider-Man, what I wanted to do was Fantastic Four." (Roy Thomas in Cooke, 1998)

Arguably Roy Thomas returned the Fantastic Four to their roots whilst at the same time refining their family dynamics and individual characterization.

Roy Thomas

As a result, the stories gained a complexity that FF lore had somewhat lacked for some time. And in this issue specifically, Thomas also put on display some of his special wit; clearly aware of how untypically close he was taking this story to DC tropes, he inserts not one but two little tongue-in-cheek digs which can also be seen as signalling "don't take me too seriously on this one". The first is an exposition box that reads "While, back on Earth-I (Oooops! Wrong Comic-Mag...)", and the second is a line of dialogue where the ever-lovin' Thing states "... while we head for New York. That is what ya call it here, ain't it -- nuthin' phony like Bigville or Cosmopolis?".

Clearly, Roy Thomas was enjoying himself.

And so could the readers. At face value, Fantastic Four #161 would seem to be a less than ideal issue to find in a MARVEL MULTI-MAGS, given that it contains part 2 of a four-part story arc, but that was the magic of Marvel Comics in the 1960s and 1970s - you could still get lucky and enjoy a fast paced and entertaining single issue without ever seeing any of what went on before or after. And Fantastic Four #161 is exactly that kind of comic book.

Currently available data regarding Marvel's MULTI-MAGS from 1975 is extremely limited to say the least, making it impossible to say for certain whether readers would be able to follow this four part adventure in full through MULTI-MAGS purchases. But with a little bit of luck, readers had certainly been able to pick up the subsequent issue, Fantastic Four #162.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #36

August 1975
(monthly)
On Sale: 27 May 1975

Editor - Len Wein
Cover - Ron Wilson (pencils) & Mike Esposito (inks)

"Once Upon A Time, In A Castle..." (17 pages)
Story - Gerry Conway
Pencils - Sal Buscema
Inks - Vince Colletta
Lettering - Charlotte J[etter]
Colouring - Al Wenzel

STORY OVERVIEW - As Spider-Man foils a bank robbery he is mysteriously taken out by a beam from out of nowhere - and when he regains consciousness, he finds himself strapped to what looks like an operating table in a dungeon. Stranger still, right next to him, the friendly webslinger sees the Frankenstein Monster, caught up in the very same predicament. Both, it turns out, are prisoners of Baron Ludwig von Shtupf. A self-professed "Monster Maker" (albeit without any direct link to the Frankensteins), he plans to fuse their characteristics in order to create an army of superhuman monsters...

Spider-Man had been Marvel's signature super-hero and flagship character since the late 1960s, but in spite of his popularity and ability to generate consistently high and rising sales both of his own title Amazing Spider-Man and on the merchandise front, he still only appeared as starring character in one title until December 1971 - when Marvel Team-Up #1 went on sale with a March 1972 cover date.

The title was an instant success, and generally featured Spider-Man with a rotating cast of "guest stars" (of the 150 issues published between March 1972 and February 1985, only 11 did not feature Spidey). Initially, this formula produced a rather formulaic series, featuring a string of unconnected and done-in-one-issue stories.

"Either Spider-Man or that issue's guest-star would encounter a menace and then by sheer chance cross paths with another hero who would lend a hand. The title's guest-stars were an equal mix of A-list characters whose presence was likely to increase sales and fledgling heroes being given exposure in the hopes of launching them into stardom but who for the most part continued to languish in obscurity." (Miller, 2010)

Frankenstein's Monster definitely was an unsual choice, but not the first of Marvel's horror genre characters to feature in Marvel Team-Up, as Spider-Man had previously already teamed-up with Werewolf by Night (MTU #12, August 1973), Ghost Rider (MTU #15, November 1973), Brother Voodoo (MTU #24, August 1974), and even Son of Satan (MTU #32, April 1975).

The truly unusual aspect of Spider-Man pairing up with Frankenstein's Monster was the timing, as the latter was about to have its (bi-monthly) title cancelled after the September 1975 cover date production run - and the conclusion of this two-part story in Marvel Team-Up #37 would indeed coincide with the last issue of Frankenstein Monster. It seems reasonable to assume that having the Monster appear alongside Marvel's most popular character was an editorial decision and attempt to boost the fledgling character, but by the time Marvel Team-Up #36 and #37 hit the news stands it was already beyond saving.

Writer Gerry Conway, penciller Sal Buscema and inker Vince Colletta had no previous experience with Marvel's Frankenstein Monster prior to Marvel Team-Up #36, and the story spread out over this and the next issue is completely removed from the characters and events in Frankenstein Monster.

However, a brief recap of the origin of the Monster is featured that refers to specific events (such as the fight with Dracula) and characters (e.g. Ralph Caccone). This would have worked as a nice shot in the arm for Frankenstein Monster, but the lack of any explicit editorial cross-reference to specific issues or even the title as such would seem to be a strong indication that the cancellation of the Monster's own title became known to the editorial team whilst it was preparing the issue.

Bringing together Viktor Frankenstein's creation and your friendly neighbourhood webslinger in a meaningful way was an almost impossible task - and the mere idea of such an encounter had caused Frankenstein Monster's original artist Mike Ploog to quit the title in mid-1973.

"They wanted to bring Frankenstein up to the 20th century, and have him battle in the streets of New York with Spider-Man, and I just couldn't do that. (...) That's when I left Frankenstein." (Cooke, 2001)

Gerry Conway tried to pull it off by having the encounter take place in Eastern Europe rather than the East Side, but the result (his final two scripts for Marvel Team-Up) still comes across as an essentially whacky story that requires utter and complete suspension of both disbelief and common sense.

However, once those switches are all set to the "off" position, Conway's yarn actually makes for some rather entertaining reading, further helped along by mostly solid pencils provided by Sal Buscema (his brother John had drawn the Monster for Frankenstein Monster #7-9 and the black and white Monsters Unleashed #2, #4-5).

The task of inking Buscema's pencils fell to Vince "Vinnie" Colletta, one of the most prolific and at the same time most controversial inkers the comic book industry has ever seen. He could be extremely fast with his work and was any editor's go-to-inker when a title was running late (Bryant Jr., 2010). The downside to this was the fact that Colletta would often cut corners by erasing details or even major elements in the pencil artwork, thus simplifying the pencil artwork and ultimately his work. It helped to meet deadlines and avoid having to pay hefty printer's fines, but not all artists (and even editors) were too happy with his approach (Contino, 2005).

Coletta's inking on Marvel Team-Up #36 generally looks a good average, whereas he would do a terrible job on Bucema's artwork in the conclusion of the story in Marvel Team-Up #37.

Sal Buscema
(*1936)

But Buscema (who is somewhat famously alleged to have once remarked that "pencilling is work, inking is a pleasure") was far too much of a professional (and a gentleman) to publicly voice explicit criticism. In reply to an interviewer stating that he didn't like Vince Colletta's inks on Sal Buscema's work, he replied

"Well... yeah. [laughter] I did complain, not about Vinny Colletta, but just in general if I was unhappy with an inker, I would voice my opinion from time to time. Not vociferously, because I'm affecting a guy's livelihood and I don't want to do that (...) For me, the priority is that the man is earning a living. I'm sure he's doing the best that he can do, that's fine. Let's leave it alone." (Sal Buscema in Amash, 2010)

Marvel Team-Up suffered a few systemic problems, as the letters pages would often clearly show. Whilst readers liked the team-up formula, they seemed to increasingly feel that the stories weren't too original (given the recurring misunderstandings between the good guys and resulting in-fights) and were asking for more continuous plots rather than the "done in one issue" stories (a wish granted in the case of Marvel Team-Up #36 and #37). And there was always the question of if and how the events portrayed in Marvel Team-Up fitted into the general Spider-Man continuity. These points would remain a challenge for the writers, but they also made Marvel Team-Up issues ideal for the MULTI-MAGS.

As mentioned, readers would - with a bit of luck - be able to pick up the conclusion to this story in a MULTI-MAGS the following month. Horror characters hardly ever showed up in a MULTI-MAGS, and Marvel Team-Up #36 and #37 were indeed the only occasion to catch up with the Frankenstein Monster.

MIGHTY THOR #238

August 1975
(monthly)
On Sale: 13 May 1975

Editor - Len wein
Cover - Gil Kane (pencils) & Al Milgrom (inks)

"Night Of The Troll!" (18 pages)

Story - Gerry Conway
Pencils - John Buscema (layouts), Joe Sinnott (finished art)
Inks - Joe Sinnott
Lettering - John Costanza
Colouring - Don Warfield

STORY OVERVIEW - Thor has surrendered to the Rock Troll Ulik in order to save the life of Jane Foster. With her as his hostage, Ulik "persuades" Thor to help him enact revenge on Geirrodur, the Troll King. The group goes underground, and after Thor dispatches a Sea Demon he takes out Zotarr, the King's Guardian, whose shattered helmet reveals a robotic face. Jane Foster has freed herself and single-handedly captures Geirrodur with his own spear. Elsewhere, Odin (as Orrin and under self-imposed amnesia) uses his strength to break up a fight between picketing grape pickers and ruffians hired to beat them up.

Thor #238 was the final instalment of Gerry Conway's lengthy run on the title, covering issues #193-238 over a span of four years. The editor's position would change hands too after this issue, but Roy Thomas would have to step down from both writing and editing Thor after a mere two issues due to work overload - and after Marv Wolfman acted as a stop gap, Len Wein would be back as editor as of Thor #242 (December 1975).

By mid 1975, Marvel was seriously over-extending itself, and editors (who themselves often worked in revolving door mode) were frantically shuffling around writers, pencillers and inkers in order to not fall too far behind on everything. With hindsight, comic book historians would note that this was a period when Marvel was beginning to seriously mess up its line of titles due to an ever-increasing and therefore almost impossible production line.

"If we even talked about an idea for a book it immediately had to go onto a schedule and be out a few months later." (Roy Thomas in Howe, 2012).

As more and more titles struggled to reach their sales points on time, pencillers and inkers found themselves under enormous pressure.

One attempt to counter this was to have artists such as John Buscema only do layouts and breakdowns, leaving the artwork to be finished by whoever was inking - as is the case for Thor #238. Marvel was clearly down to the wire, with what seemed like an endless list of projects and not really enough creative talent to go around and make it happen.

But at least Thor #238 wasn't an issue to suffer from this, as legendary inker (and excellent penciller in his own right) Joe Sinnott did a perfect job in bringing John Buscema's not-quite-finished pencils to life, resulting in the dynamic artwork that readers had come to enjoy and expect from Thor in the mid-1970s.

Sinnott enjoyed a long career at Marvel, where he started back in 1950 when it was still known as Atlas- Whilst perhaps best known for his inking of Jack Kirby's pencils on the Fantastic Four, more importantly in this case is the fact that he also inked Thor's induction into the fold of Marvel's superheroes from Journey Into Mystery #83 (August 1962). In other words: Joe Sinnott knew his Thor.

Accordingly, he pumped the dynamics of John Buscema's breakdowns and layout pencilling to the max with his inking, and the result is pure Thunder God action as he takes his trusted hammer from one fight to the next.

This mesh of a flowing story and a visual explosion resulted in nothing less than a perfect example of how 1970s comic books could be a treasure trove of entertainment - even if letterer John Costanza, a seasoned professional of his trade, misspellt "pretentious" and nobody else noticed before it all went to the printers...

Thor was a title that featured regularly in Marvel's MULTI-MAGS, and the issues provided great entertainment and high quality creative work virtually all the time. So thankfully readers would - with a bit of luck - be able to pick up the conclusion to this story in a MULTI-MAGS the following month. However, that yarn would not be titled "Odinsong" at all... if you looked in the right places, it was more than obvious that Marvel was having the hardest of times trying to keep everything together.

FURTHER READING ON THE THOUGHT BALLOON

The Frankenstein Monster's own title was cancelled after 18 issues the same month that Marvel Team-Up #37 hit the newsagent stands; you can read more about Marvel's Monster of Frankenstein title here.

Back in 2010 I took a comparative look at two issues of Fantastic Four separated by no less than 33 years of real time: #186 and #580. While a lot of change has since been wrought on Marvel's first family (including cancellation of the title for a year in 2015), you can see the differences between a 1977 and 2010 comic book here.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

AMASH Jim (2010) Sal Buscema - Comics' Fast & Furious Artist, TwoMorrows Publishing

BRYANT JR. Robert L. (2010) The Thin Black Line: Perspectives on Vince Colletta, TwoMorrows Publishing

CONTINO Jennifer M. (2005) "Englehart, Isabella, Wein & Luke Cage: An Essential Interview", The Pulse, online at comicon.com (5 July 2005) [retrieved from web.archive.org]

COOKE Jon B. (1998) "Stan the Man & Roy the Boy: A Conversation Between Stan Lee and Roy Thomas", in Comic Book Artist #2, Summer 1998

COOKE Jon B. (2001) "Son of Stan: Roy's Years of Horror", Comic Book Artist # 13, Two Morrows Publishing

HOWE Sean (2012) Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, Harper Collins

MILLER Jonathan (2010) " Spider-Man and Company: The Wide World of Marvel Team-Up", in Back Issue #44, TwoMorrows

uploaded to the web 25 October 2024