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Mike Washburn
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Joined: 22 November 2024
Location: Canada
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Posted: 23 November 2024 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

John, did you know about the Wolverine story 'At the Sign of the Lion' published in Marvel Comic #335 (UK) in 1979? It was written by Jo Duffy, penciled by Ken Landgraf, and inked by George Pérez.

Given its fascinating history and your roots in the UK, I thought you might find it particularly interesting.

https://gocollect.com/blog/x-men-133-vs-marvel-uk-335-which- is-wolverines-first-solo-story

Cheers.







Edited by Mike Washburn on 23 November 2024 at 8:59pm
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 23 November 2024 at 8:59pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply
Oops! I got a 404 error.
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Mike Washburn
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Joined: 22 November 2024
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Posted: 23 November 2024 at 9:01pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply
Try again. :) 

There was something wrong with the hyperlink formatting when I added it. The link to the article has been updated.


Edited by Mike Washburn on 23 November 2024 at 9:45pm
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James Woodcock
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Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: 24 November 2024 at 1:45am | IP Logged | 4 post reply
I bought this comic @ release, & think I still have it somewhere.
It’s been getting quite a bit of attention recently as it seems people have
realised the story was published in this comic first (a bit like some of the
Star Wars stories inStar Wars Weekly).
@ the time, I didn’t realise this was the case, in fact, I didn’t realise until it
blew up this year.
It’s a fun little ditty.
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Mike Washburn
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Posted: 24 November 2024 at 3:19am | IP Logged | 5 post reply
Yeah, I played a role in connecting the dots, doing the research, and sharing information about this story, which had flown under the radar for 45 years.

In the UK, those lucky enough to get a copy of the book—which had very low sales—likely assumed it was just another reprinted story. Meanwhile, people in the US knew nothing about it, as it was never distributed there. However, the story was eventually reprinted in the US in 1980 as part of a Treasury Edition.

I spoke with Dez Skinn, the Marvel UK editor at the time, who shared an interesting anecdote. For Marvel Comic #335, original backup stories were included because the intended content was lost during delivery. Apparently, the motorcycle courier transporting the pages to the printer accidentally dropped them off the back of his bike.

Another noteworthy detail is that both Dez Skinn and Ken Landgraf (the penciler) mentioned this story was a 'tryout' for George Pérez, marking his first inking job. As I understand it, newer artists were typically assigned shorter stories to showcase their skills before being entrusted with larger projects. John would have more insight into this process.

This UK comic is highly collectible and very rare, particularly in high grades. They were printed with very low quality newsprint as you probably know.

If you have a copy, I’d recommend handling it with great care—you might be holding a very special book for many reasons! :)


Edited by Mike Washburn on 24 November 2024 at 2:19pm
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Jason Scott
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Posted: 24 November 2024 at 10:36am | IP Logged | 6 post reply
Huh. How fascinating! This actually was the first story I ever read with Wolverine in it, back when I was a kid. I never realised it was such a big deal or so little known by other readers as this article makes out. (Wish I still had the original issue now.)

Though I liked the artwork, and Logans cowboy hat look, I wasn't particularly enamoured of the character after this, and it would be many many year laters that I would properly discover the 'New' X-men and read the classic JB issues.

As a kid who didn't really know any better, I probably had a bit of a resistance to the newer X-men, as the only ones I'd read at that time were the UK reprints of the early Stan Lee Jack Kirby issues.

But how startling it is to discover how unique this story was. (Though it now seems rather obvious in retrospect.) I somehow always assumed that everybody had read this back then as I had.
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Craig Earl
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Joined: 13 July 2019
Location: United Kingdom
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Posted: 24 November 2024 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply
Ah, memories.

Marvel UK were based in my hometown of Sevenoaks, Kent from 1976 to 1979, right across the road from the newsagent where my sister worked (who also used to buy the Spider-Man Weekly for me).

Fun fact: Neil Tennant (of Pet Shop Boys fame) was the Editor for Marvel UK for a few years in the 1970's.
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