One of my all-time favourite covers gets showcased in this great full page ad for Marvel Treasury Special from late 1974. The toothy grin on the Hulk is perhaps a little out of character, but otherwise big John Buscema has done a great job. I well remember this being advertised in Marvel UK comics at the same time, though I never saw a copy thanks to the always spotty distribution of these tabloid comics.
The book itself is one of the better ones, featuring some solid gold reprints, including the fabulous second Hulk/Thing bust-up from Fantastic Four #25 and 26. There’s also a beautiful Gene Colan drawn, Bill Everett inked Black Widow tale—and that’s an artistic pairing for the ages. Two later Grab-bags appeared in the regular Marvel Treasury Edition title.
This ad hails from Master of Kung Fu #25 if you want to track it down.
Image ©2012 Marvel Characters, Inc
Yup, wonderful cover, and like you, I never saw a copy. Mind, I never liked the clunky Treasury size.
Ooh, I thought the treasury size was absolutely fantastic when I was a kid — it was just a shame we never saw the bleedin’ things! The first one I ever saw — I think — was Marvel Treasury Edition #11 with the Fantastic Four. I remember seeing it in a newsagents and racing home as fast as could to ask my Mum if I could borrow 50p to buy it. 50p was a huge sum for a comic back then! Luckily, I got the cash and the book.
I was in grade nine, and did get a copy. I was an FF fan for years at that point, and was thrilled with the two-issue early battle with the Hulk.
And, at fourteen years, I was old enough to appreciate certain wonderful aspects of the Black Widow artwork.
$1.50 was a lot for a comic then, but the treasury packages felt worth it, especially as I had a big paper route. Seven months later Vancouver’s first Comicshop opened, and the money got serious.
You’re not wrong: when I started working and earning a wage, I went mad with my comics order!