*Marvel: By coincidence, a lot of the Marvel new stock this week features various heroes’ encounters with the Hulk — ‘Let’s All Gang Up On The Hulk!’, so to speak. We lead off with Journey Into Mystery #112, one of the scarcer early Thor appearances, at least here in the Old Country, an oddball ‘untold tale’ flashing back to the events of Avengers #3. Intervening in a dispute between fans of the Hulk and Thor, the Thunder God himself responds to the question of who’s stronger by narrating an extended ‘Director’s Cut’ of the previous skirmish between himself and old Jade-Jaws in said Avengers issue. Apparently intended to ‘big up’ the profile of the Hulk – who was at that point homeless, a wandering villain without his own series – this ‘extended remix’ story is superbly told by Lee and Kirby, and in the back, ‘Tales of Asgard’ relates the origin of Loki, now of course more significant than ever. Only lightly distributed in the UK for unknown reasons, this is scarcer here than its contemporaries, although this specific copy is a pence stamped mid-grade copy. It’s nice and flat, with great cover colour and some gloss, and only minor wear at the edges and spine and tight, firm staples. Nice off-white pages; some minor corner blunting. It’s a shame there is a felt-tip ‘6’ marked across the ‘R’ in the logo (see scan); otherwise a higher grade would have been awarded.
PICTURED: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #112 VG+ p £225 SOLD