Sunday 27 September 2009

70 Years of Marvel - 1966


By 1966, everyone who was everyone in the Marvel Universe had their own title. Even headliners of previously-cancelled books, like the Hulk, or remnants of the golden age, like Namor, were being given the chance to co-pilot a book - in this case, Tales to Astonish, which had starred Ant-Man, until Stan saw sense and put a couple of remotely ineresting characters into the book instead.

1966 would also see the first appearance of the Silver Surfer, herald to Galactus, and of the Mimic, another sometime hero / occasional villain. The Black Panther battled the Fantastic Four in his hidden kingdom of Wakanda.

Outside of comics, Rhodesia was becoming independent of British rule, after a fashion. Nigeria was in the midst of civil war. Oh, and England won the World Cup. Guess which one of these three events is constantly harped on about by the British press, and which ones have been quietly forgotten.

On the small screek, American geekdom was born with the birth of Star Trek, while superhero fans could watch the not-yet-a-cult-classic Batman show. Meanwhile, the world of children's movies was impoverished, with the death of Walt Disney; the Disney empire would, however, continue to grow.

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