The Shed

And What I Found Within

Okay, first up. Thanks for not unsubscribing due to my inactivity on here.

One of the first panels I found inside the comics seemed eerily relevant.

Just a brief explanation for that. I had to make an emergency trip to London to attend someone in a serious condition in hospital. Despite wearing a mask on the flight and the London Underground system, I have finally succumbed to the dreaded Lurgy known as COVID-19, after successfully evading it for the past four years.

As I’m now isolating in what was once my bedroom at my dad’s house, I find myself with nothing else to do but take iPhone snapshots between coughing fits, of stuff I found in the old shed at the bottom of the garden, the last time I visited.

First up, some of my favourite comics from 51 years ago. Incredibly, the box I’d put them in was an old photocopier paper box, not exactly archival standard, but I don’t think the damage has been too severe considering the different temperatures, and seasons these relics have been subjected to.

There’s a little bit of a warp in the middle on some of the comics, due to the fact that I’d left the free gifts inside, but I’m glad I kept them. I also must have been thinking ahead because I have duplicate issues of numbers one, and two.

I was wondering… why don’t I remember wearing the Free Spider-Man Mask mentioned on the cover?… and then I discovered this lurking inside the pages of issue one. Let’s face it - it’s a paper bag with eye holes!

As this is issue number #2 it becomes obvious that these do not match the sequential order of the American issues, and that’s because The Mighty World of Marvel first featured those early stories before Spider-Man Comics Weekly came into being.

The free gift inside this one was a little more impressive, and bulkier, which is the reason for the crease in the middle of the comic. I’m surprised the elastic band didn’t disintegrate, they usually do in time.

Apart from issue #2, and a bit of Ditko on #5, most of the covers have seemingly been drawn specifically for the British market, and not by any artist I recognize. (Stop Press… Ed Hillyer says it was Jim Starlin. Well, that’s a nice bit of intel). Thanks, Ed!

At this point the ‘S’ of Spider-Man, on the masthead goes wonky for some reason or other.

The interiors were black and white with tone, and some of the pages featured spot colour.

Though the alignment of the separations left much to be desired, not that this bothered me one iota at the time. Then there were the back page teaser ads…

The ‘S’ is still wonky!

Some of these issues seem a bit heavy on the black ink, and it’s smudged a bit, either that or it was delivered to the house inside a newspaper, and the ink rubbed off. The telltale ‘7’ in pencil means these were definitely delivered. That was our house number.

This really looks kinda grubby, like it came down the chimney!

You’d have thought someone would have fixed that wonky ‘S’ by now!

Anyhow… it’s a post!

There are far more of these Marvel UK comics in the box if anyone is interested in seeing more, including Captain Britain. Just let me know. I’m stuck in this room for a bit!