The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2005 - 2006: Where Monsters Dwell #28, May 1974 - Monsters on the Prowl #28, June 1974

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I'm on a bit of a reprint series kick with my reading right now. There's so many truly great stories out there that would be completely inaccessible were it not for series like these two mid-70s Marvels.

I've been revamping the collection, yet again, as I decided that any comics that are my age or older really deserve to be kept in my basement, rather than out in the storage collection that currently resides in the garage. These two were part of the relocated bunch, so I gave them a read. I think that for most the draw would be the more prominent lead features, often having a big-name artist attached. But I have to say I was most impressed by the sometimes pre-Code reprints that filled out the issues. In particular the story "They're Driving Me Crazy" stood out to me, the second feature in Monsters on the Prowl. What's more interesting to me is that these are stories where this is the only reprint they've ever received.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1604: Where Monsters Dwell #31, October 1974

I can't remember where I read it. It might have been Ronin Ro's Tales to Astonish, a chronicle of the fraught history of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Marvel Comics. In the mid-70s, Marvel decided to capitalize on all of the old stories that they owned, all of the original artwork that they owned, and put out reprint series that didn't pay out to the original artists on the stories. This is a murky part of comics history, and is told differently by everyone who was involved, but I have to think that, given the nature of corporate and capitalist thinking, that Ro's account is pretty close to the truth. So I feel slightly guilty when I'm reading a series like this one, as I know that, in part at least, it was a way to squeeze more money out of artists who had already been well-squeezed. Recall, at this time, Kirby had left Marvel and was getting his New Gods stuff up and running at DC. Reprint series like this one were likely a part of the problem.

That said, the series does offer reprints of stories that might not actually have been reprinted elsewhere. According to its GCD entry, none of the stories reprinted herein have been reprinted elsewhere, meaning that this comic is one of two places that the story is available. And the other places (comics) are older, and likely more expensive. As much as I wish the production of the comic hadn't been so mercenary, and so detrimental to the artists involved, I'm glad to have it, because the stories are pretty cool.

Kirby's story is good, but really a very basic alien invasion plot, similar to many of the older Marvel sci-fi tales. The other stories, though, are 1950s reprints, and definitely have that aesthetic. My favourite was definitely "Fifty-Fifty!," originally from 1953, in which a put-upon husband takes the splitting of property to Solomon levels when he divorces his gold digger wife. Perhaps I need to take a closer look at old Marvel horror properties. Though it'll likely be through reprint series like this one, rather than the originals.

I'm enjoying these random bits and pieces from my Marvel collection. I hope you are too.

"Yes, I do, Ricky! So I'm taking the top half...of you!"