2016 Comic Challenge 145 Planet of the Apes & Dracula Lives #90 UK release

TITLE-Planet of the Apes and Dracula Lives #90

PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

I had heard of various UK b/w weeklies that reprinted and even published new stories featuring all kinds of stuff Marvel had the rights to over the years. But I had never seen or heard of a title that combined Planet of the Apes with Marvel's take on Dracula.

 Under the cover there is this nice pin up on the inside front cover. It is signed in the bottom right corner but I have no idea who it is.

 I am guessing this lead off story is reprinted from the Marvel Planet of the Apes magazine.Doug Moench handles the story chores. And the always great Mike Ploog does the art duties. There is 7 pages of Ploog's gorgeous artwork. And these 7 pages just confirmed that I need to track down more issues of the POTA magazine from Marvel.

 Dracula Lives has been reprinted,but slightly censored,in the Essential Tomb of Dracula trades. I have read the color comic,but never this B/W magazine.This 8 pager has Doctor Sun and even Blade,looking nothing like he does now.The late Gene Colon and Tom Palmer get the art credits. And Marv Wolfman,who also wrote the color comic,gets the writing credit. It is not a bad little story. I wish there was more. But I can understand that with this being a weekly title they gave you short pieces of more stories.

Third is the Man Thing story NIGHT OF THE LAUGHING DEAD!!This was originally in the color Man-Thing series.And was even made into a Power Record read-along record.The late Steve Gerber wrote the story. And Mike Ploog is once again doing the art. IIRC this story was 2 issues of the comic. So getting only 6 pages is kind of a rip. I still can't hate on a comic that got CCA approved,and made into a read along record for young kids,would have this sequence.

Yep a circus clown wanders out into Man-Thing's part of the Everglades. And the clown commits suicide.

Kazar is not only the last comic in the title,but also has the most pages with 10 pages.The final page is on the inside back cover. Never been a Kazar fan. No clue what this is reprinted from.I am guessing made from some of the Kazar stuff in the Astonishing Tales magazine. Gerry Conway is the writer. And John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala are the artists. The art is nice,but the story is blah.

One of the things that really stood out to me in this comic is how few ads there is.In the 33 pages there is 2 ads. Yeah 2 ads.

I remember having a few Corgi diecast cars. But never knew there was a Kojak's Buick model.

I really have no clue what this is. If anyone remembers this product or knows more about it please contact me here on the blog.

Outside of the Kazar story,this was a good read. Good to great artwork. And I like the format of getting a mixture of genres.

Planet of the Apes and Dracula Lives #90 gets a Buy.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 051 Essential Marvel 2 in 1 volume 1

TITLE-Essential Marvel 2 in 1 Presents the Thing Volume 1
AUTHOR-Roy Thomas,Bill Mantlo,Steve Gerber and others
FORMAT-Trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-$12

Back when I was a pre-teen the library in Moss Point had a comic book trade. You traded one issue for 1 issue. I would get any comic I could for free. So I would have stuff to trade. Quickly I became a fan of Marvel 2 in 1. Which was a monthly team up series. Most issues have the Thing teaming up with another hero or team of heroes.

When Instocktrades opened the above pictured trade was in my first order. I hadn't read these early issues of 2 in 1 in over 20 years. After reading 4 or 5 issues I was hooked again. And have been slowly building a complete reading set.

This trade reprints,in black and white,issues 1-20,22-25 and annual #1 of 2 in  1. Issue 21 isn't reprinted in here. Because it has Thing teaming up with Doc Savage. When the issue came out Marvel had the comic publishing rights to Doc Savage.  Since then they have lost the rights. The trade also reprints the following.
Marvel Feature 11 and 12-This is where 2 in 1 started. And until I got this trade I had never read them.
Marvel Team Up #47-Which had the same premise as this title. But instead of the Thing it was Spiderman teaming up with another hero each issue.
Fantastic Four Annual #11

One thing I realized is while lots of the time the artwork is average,the stories are normally really good. Steve Gerber,who is one of my favorite comic writers,has a nice long run in this trade. And so does Bill Mantlo.

As for stand out issues in this trade you got...

The two Marvel Feature issues. The first of which has Thing teaming with Hulk and the other has Thing tagging up with Iron Man.

Issue #1 Thing finds out about Man-Thing. And travels down to the Everglades "Cause there can only be one hero with thing in their name!" Yeah I know it is goofy. But Gerber wrote it and Gil Kane drew it.

Issue #7 Where Thing meets up with longtime Defenders member Valkyrie. She is my favorite female Marvel superhero. And one  I wish was used more often.

Issue #8 A X-mas issue. Thing teams up with the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider. And they fight the old Fantastic Four villain the Miracle Man.

Issue #14 Thing teams up with the Son of Satan and they fight a twister loaded with ghosts.

And the final issue in this trade,Issue #25. Where Thing and Iron Fist team up.

Sometimes the stories are a bit cliche. And the art rarely raises above average. But a combination of nostalgia,good writing and the oddball team ups makes me love this title.

Essential Marvel 2 in 1 volume 1 gets a 4.00 outta 5.