The magazine format did not fall under the purview of the comics industry's self-censorshipComics Code Authority, allowing the titles to feature stronger content than mainstream color comic books, such as moderate profanity, partial nudity, and more graphic violence. In addition to original content, many issues included reprinted material, including a number of horror stories from Marvel's 1950s predecessorAtlas Comics that originally were published before the 1954 introduction of the Comics Code.
WriterDoug Moench contributed heavily to the magazines, including to the entire runs ofPlanet of the Apes,Rampaging Hulk, andDoc Savage, while also writing for virtually every other title in the line. The magazines featured fully painted covers by illustrators includingEarl Norem,Bob Larkin,Ken Barr,Luis Dominguez,Neal Adams,Frank Brunner,Boris Vallejo, andJoe Jusko. Marvel production managerSol Brodsky, who in 1970 had helped launch the short-livedSkywald Publications line of black-and-white horror magazines before returning to Marvel, served as production manager here as well.[1]
Initially, the only company brand on the magazines was the "three C's"Curtis Circulation Company logo[2] (Curtis being Marvel's distributor and an affiliated company). The Marvel Comics brand and logo did not always appear on the cover or in the indicia; the only obvious relation to Marvel being the publisher's name,Magazine Management, a name that the four-color comics stopped using in 1973 but was retained for the black-and-white magazines.[3] Nonetheless, Marvel characters appeared regularly in the magazine line, and many of the magazine titles were featured in the four-color comics' house advertisements. The Curtis imprint was reduced to "CC" in 1975.
In 1971, attempting to compete in a market dominated byWarren Publishing and smaller publishers likeEerie Publications andSkywald Publications, the company launchedSavage Tales, which debuted in the spring — and was immediately canceled.Roy Thomas, a Marvel writer-editor who became the company's editor-in-chief in 1972, recalled that:
...there were several things that led toSavage Tales being canceled after that first issue. [Publisher]Martin Goodman had never really wanted to do a non-Code comic, probably because he didn't want any trouble with the [Comics Magazine Association of America] over it. Nor did he really want to get into magazine-format comics; and [Marvel editor-in-chief]Stan [Lee] really did. So Goodman looked for an excuse to cancel it.[5]
Although Goodman had soldMagazine Management in 1968, he remained as the publisher. But Goodman left in 1972, the same year the company's new owners revived the magazine line. In addition to revivingSavage Tales, now with a new lineup of content, Magazine Management released the new titlesDracula Lives!,Vampire Tales, andMonsters Unleashed, as well asMonster Madness, a humorousfumetti magazine (all published under theMarvel Monster Group brand);Tales of the Zombie; the prose digestHaunt of Horror; and the satirical-comics magazineCrazy.
Editor Wolfman said, "We used to farm the books out toHarry Chester Studios [sic] and whatever they pasted up, they pasted up. I formed the first production staff, hired the first layout people, paste-up people."[6]
By late 1974, Magazine Management was flooding the black-and-white comics magazine market with 11 ongoing titles.Al Hewetson, editor of rival comics-magazine publisherSkywald Publications, which went defunct in 1975, blamed his company's demise on
...Marvel's distributor. Our issues were selling well, and some sold out. Such returns as we received were shipped overseas, mainly to England, where they sold out completely... When Marvel entered the game with countless [black-and-white horror] titles gutting [sic] the newsstand, their distributor was so powerful they denied Skywald access to all but the very largest newsstands, so our presence was minimal and fans and readers simply couldn'tfind us. ... [We] had a business lunch with our distributor in the fall of '74 and we were given very specific information about the state of affairs on the newsstands — which had nothing to do with Warren's or Skywald’s solid readership base.[7]
Despite this victory, in 1975 the Marvel magazine line was revamped. All the horror titles were canceled (although several would then get an all-reprint, extra-thick "Annual" #1).The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu,Planet of the Apes,Savage Sword of Conan, andCrazy continued, and quite a few new titles were announced, promoted, and listed in the regular subscription ads, but almost none were released as ongoing publications.Marvel Super Action andMarvel Movie Premiere became one-shots, whileSherlock Holmes andStar-Lord surfaced in theMarvel Preview anthology. Some of the material intended for a self-titled magazine for themartial-arts superheroIron Fist, whose four-color feature was at this time still appearing under theMarvel Premiere title, saw the light of publishing day inThe Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10.Masters of Terror andDoc Savage did manage two and eight issues respectively. The line would never again consist at one time of more titles than could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
1977 saw the debut ofRampaging Hulk (which later changed its title toThe Hulk!, which ran through 1981).
Starting with 1981 cover dates, the line bore the nameMarvel Magazine Group on such new titles as theHoward the Duck magazine as well as on such surviving titles asSavage Sword of Conan — the longest-lived magazine title, which lasted 235 issues through 1995.
Upon the line's demise, former editor Wolfman asserted that "Marvel never gave their full commitment to it, that was the problem. No one wanted to commit themselves to the staff."[6]
Savage Tales (1971, 1973–1975) — starred such sword-and-sorcery characters as Conan, Kull, andJohn Jakes' barbarian creation, Brak.[8] Edited by Stan Lee (issue #1) Roy Thomas (#2–6), Gerry Conway (#7–11), Marv Wolfman (#11), and Archie Goodwin (#11).
Monster Madness, the first title in the Marvel Monster Group, presented black-and-white stills with humorous word balloons added by Stan Lee. The title ran three issues, from 1972-1973.[9] Goodman had published a similar magazine,Monsters Unlimited, in the 1960s, and Magazine Management later released one issue of a political satire magazine in the same format,The Wit and Wisdom of Watergate, although that magazine had no apparent connection to Marvel Comics.[10]
Haunt of Horror (1973, 1974–1975) — originally published for two issues in 1973 as a prose digest with some spot and full-page illustrations, edited by Gerry Conway. The title was revived with a new #1 in 1974 in the black and white comics magazine format.[12] The magazine version was edited by Roy Thomas (issues #1 & 2), Marv Wolfman (#2–4), Jenny Blake Isabella (#3 & 4), David Anthony Kraft (#5), and Don McGregor (#5).
Dracula Lives (1973–1975) — published 13 issues and oneSuper Annual.[13] Running concurrently with the longer-running Marvel comicTomb of Dracula, the continuities of the two titles occasionally overlapped, with storylines weaving between the two. Most of the time, however, the stories inDracula Lives! were stand-alone tales. The title published Dracula stories by various creative teams, including a serialized adaptation of the originalBram Stoker novel, in 10- to 12-page installments written by Thomas and drawn byDick Giordano.[14]
The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (1974–1977) — published in response to the mid-1970s "Chopsocky" movie craze, this series ran for 33 issues and one special.[18] Edited by Roy Thomas (issues #1 & 2), Jenny Blake Isabella (#3–6), Don McGregor (#7, 8, 10, 11, 16), David Anthony Kraft (#9 & 10), Archie Goodwin (#12–15, 18–25), and John Warner (#26–33).[19]
Monsters of the Movies (1974–1975) — covering classic and contemporary horror movies,Monsters of the Movies included interviews, articles and photo features. The magazine was an attempt to cash in on the success ofWarren'sFamous Monsters of Filmland (Another similar title with a similar goal wasMonsters Unleashed.) TheMonsters of the Movies staff was roughly composed of halffreelancing West Coast horror fans, and half members of the Marvel bullpen located on the East Coast. The West Coast editor was short story author and popular culture historianJim Harmon.[20] Over time, tensions developed between the West Coast and East Coast staff cliques, a factor that may have contributed to the series ending after just nine issues. A postmortem by assistant editorRalph Macchio, appeared the following year in the pages ofMarvel Preview #8: The Legion of Monsters (1976) (one of Marvel's final stabs at launching a magazine starring horror characters), and seemed to blame the West Coasters for the failure, and left ill feelings among them in its wake, especially as Macchio was not even on Marvel's staff during the events he described.[21]
Planet of the Apes (1974–1977) — published 29 issues[22] with adaptations of all five then-extantApes movies, plus original stories set in the Ape Universe, and articles about the making of the movies and the short-livedTV series. Edited by Roy Thomas, Jenny Blake Isabella, Marv Wolfman, and Don McGregor. Marvel reprinted in color the first two film adaptations in the newsstand-distributed comic bookAdventures On The Planet Of The Apes over eleven issues in 1975. Stories from the magazine were also reprinted in England byMarvel UK in a weekly title of 123 issues from 1974–1977.
The Savage Sword of Conan (1974–1980; 1980–1995) — Published 235 issues[23] but did not have the Marvel name on its cover until 1980, where it continued to have it until the title's cancellation in 1995.
Doc Savage (1975–1977) — eight issues featuring the "Man of Bronze" were published from 1975–1977.[24] Edited by Marv Wolfman (issues #1 & 2), Archie Goodwin (#2–4), and John Warner (#5–8).
Gothic Tales of Love (1975) — likeThe Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu,Gothic Tales of Love, which published three issues in 1975,[25] was a prose magazine with some spot illustrations; it did not contain any comics. Each issue featured three "book-length thrillers" by contemporaryGothic romance writers.
Kull and the Barbarians (1975) — edited by Roy Thomas, three issues were published of the sword-and-sorcery title starring theRobert E. Howard heroKull of Atlantis.[26] The storyline, which involved Kull going on a quest to regain his lost kingdom, picked up from the cancelled Marvel titleKull the Conqueror. (After the cancellation ofKull and the Barbarians, the storyline was picked up again in the Marvel titleKull the Destroyer.)
Marvel Preview (1975–1980)/Bizarre Adventures (1980–1983) — a showcase book, notable for publishing first and/or early appearances of Marvel characters likeBlade (issue #3),Star-Lord (#4),Dominic Fortune (#2),Satana (#7), and many more.[27] Issue #3 contained the Blade story that originally was going to be inVampire Tales #12, had that title not been cancelled. It also featured the first teaming of the celebratedX-Men creative trio of writerChris Claremont, pencillerJohn Byrne, and inkerTerry Austin (in issue #11, featuringStar-Lord.) After 24 issues the name was changed toBizarre Adventures and published for ten more issues before folding in 1983.[28] Edited by Roy Thomas (issue #1, 9, & 19), Marv Wolfman (#2 & 3), Archie Goodwin (#4–6), John Warner (#5–8, 10, 11, & 14), Ralph Macchio (#8, 10–19, & 21–24), Roger Slifer (#12), David Anthony Kraft (#13),Rick Marschall (#14–18), Mark Gruenwald (#19), and Roger Stern (#20), Lynn Graeme (#20–24).
Masters of Terror (1975) — published black-and-white reprints of stories from early 1970s Marvel horror and suspense titles. The title lasted two issues[29] and was edited by Jenny Blake Isabella.
The Rampaging Hulk (1977–1978)/The Hulk! (1978–1981) — edited for its first nine issues[31] by John Warner (issues #1–4), Roger Slifer (#5–7), and David Anthony Kraft (#8 & 9); then continued with issue #10 asThe Hulk![32] (in "MarvelColor"), and then became an official Marvel title for its last three issues. AsThe Hulk! (from 1978–1981), it was edited by David Anthony Kraft (#10), Rick Marschall (#11–18), and Lynn Graeme (#19–27). Backups features included "Bloodstone", "Man-Thing", and "Shanna the She-Devil".
The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu (Summer 1975) — martial-arts magazine with no comic book elements.[34] Instead,The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu contained instructional features by comics illustrator/martial artistFrank McLaughlin, and a reprinted discussion of the filmEnter the Dragon originally published in three parts inThe Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. The magazine carried no advertising. EditorJohn Warner explained in the magazine's editorial page thatThe Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu was a test release for an all-articles companion toDeadly Hands.[35]
Marvel Movie Premiere (1975) — edited by Marv Wolfman, Archie Goodwin, and John Warner,Marvel Movie Premiere featured Wolfman andSonny Trinidad's adaptation of the 1975 movieThe Land That Time Forgot.[37][38]
Marvel Super Action (1976) — edited by Archie Goodwin, featuring thePunisher on the cover, the second appearance ofHoward Chaykin'sDominic Fortune, Bobbi Morse's first appearance as a costumed heroine, here called the Huntress but soon rechristenedMockingbird, andDoug Moench andMike Ploog's first "Weirdworld" story. The last, according to the editorial, was pulled from inventory when the magazine was reduced from an ongoing series to an advertising-free one-shot. Marvel revived this title for an all-reprint color-comics series in 1977. It reprintedCaptain America stories in the first 13 issues, thenAvengers stories for the rest of its 37-issue run.[39]
^Welles, Chris (February 10, 1969)."Post-Mortem".New York Magazine. pp. 32–36. RetrievedAugust 5, 2011.
^The "three C's" logo was also used for some of Magazine Management publisherMartin Goodman's men's humor cartoon magazines such asBest Cartoons,Cartoons & Gags,Cartoon Laughs,Popular Cartoons, andPopular Jokes during the 1970s. Most of these magazines contained single-panel cartoons, but many of them also contained short "Pussycat" stories byJim Mooney and others. Other so-called Curtis magazines included theSensuous Streaker one-shot andNostalgia Illustrated, which lasted for nearly a year. None of these magazines were advertised in Marvel comic books.
^Saffel, Steve (2007). "A Not-So-Spectacular Experiment".Spider-Man the Icon: The Life and Times of a Pop Culture Phenomenon. London, United Kingdom:Titan Books. p. 31.ISBN978-1-84576-324-4.
^Roy Thomas interview,Alter Ego #81 (October 2008), p. 21
^DeAngelo, Daniel (July 2018). "Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: A History of Marvel'sThe Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Magazine".Back Issue! (105). Raleigh, North Carolina:TwoMorrows Publishing:28–35.
^"Marvel Bullpen Bulletins," Marvel comics cover-dated December 1974.
^Kracalik, Al. "Monsters of the Movies: The True Story – How to Make a Monster Magazine... Or Maybe Not!"Scary Monster Magazine No. 36 (Sept. 2000), pp.18–23.
^Friedt, Stephan (July 2016). "Marvel at the Movies: The House of Ideas' Hollywood Adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s".Back Issue! (89). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing:59–60.
