Marvel Spectacular #6 [1974]

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Thor reprints continue this issue with “The Maddening Menace of the Man-Beast” from THOR #135 [1966]. The battle against the hyper-evolved wolf in Wundagore, the home of the High Evolutionary, continues, with a lot of weird creatures and big battles until Thor finally prevails.

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At the end of the story, the High Evolutionary explains his background and leaves the world with his creations. This was one of those characters that I have to assume Kirby had deeper plans for that he never got around to. He’s a nice character design and there’s a lot of unrealized potential in the concept.

One page, a look at what Odin is up to in Asgard, is edited out of the story, bringing it down to 15 pages.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #121 [1965] is the source for the 5-page “Maelstrom”, continuing the “Tales of Asgard” quest storyline as the ship of Asgardians approaches the Pillars of Utgard. The second page splash is a classic image, the original art was featured in a recent KIRBY COLLECTOR. These back-ups are great showcase pieces for Kirby’s art, with a lot of powerful images coming fast in the five pages he had each month.

Colletta inks both stories and the cover.

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