March 2008 - Since writing this guide 18 months ago I have noticed that free gifts are becoming increasingly scarce and thus I have have updated the pricing. I have also now realised that the Foom poster previously listed actually comes with the FOOM Membership pack - I have therefore added a the foom Poster to 1973 and also added the membership kit that includes the poster (note the membership kit came with one of the Foom mags and the lower the better - it all came in the hulk envelope.

This brings me to the free poster given away with a set of coupons you had to collect from MWOM 1 to 9 and stick them in a cut out of issue 10 or 11. This is a different poster from the FOOM one and is very very hard to get.

Many of us grew up reading and collecting UK Marvel comics. Until 1972 most Marvel comics had been printed in the USA and shipped over here. They were A5 size and smaller than the Beano and Dandy at that time. In 1972 Stan Lee and the Marvel Comics Group released the first UK printed version in A4 size. The comic was entitled the Mighty World of Marvel and starred the Hulk, it also had the origin of Spider-man at the rear. In February 1973 Marvel released a second comic - Spiderman Comics Weekly.

The aim of this review is to list the UK comics from 1972 to 1976 together with their free gifts and my idea of prices in fine condition. Fine condition is generally used by comic collectors and would be of collectable quality - without any obvious damage and with only a small amount of handling wear - comics in better condition - ie Very Fine would command a slightly better price. PLEASE NOTE - check on all issues that the coupons are still intact and there are no missing poster / mini poster pages - this does devalue the comic - equally so will a damaged / used gift - you should be able to ascertain this easily enough.

 I have not added a picture as this would not upload into the guide for some reason - but look out for my website coming soon !!!

I have also listed in rank order of the level of difficulty to get - each issue with the free gift in a list at the end - this is only my opinion though !!

1972

Mighty World of Marvel No 1 - Gift - Hulk Transfer - Price Guide - £80-100 with gift / £20-40 without gift

Mighty World of Marvel No 2 - Gift - Spiderman Transfer - Price Guide - £60-90 with gift / £7.50-15 without gift

Mighty World of Marvel No 3 - Gift - 12 stickers - Price Guide - £60-80 with gift / £2-5 without gift

Poster - free gift with coupons collected from the first 10 issues - Gift only - £100

1973

Spiderman Comics Weekly No 1 - Gift - Spiderman Mask - Price Guide - £100-130 with gift / £25-40 without gift

Spiderman Comics Weekly No 2 - Gift - Tracer Plane - Price Guide - £150-200 with gift / £5-10 without gift

Avengers No 1 - Gift - Transfers - Price Guide - £90-100 with gift / £7.50-20 without gift

Avengers No 2 - Gift - Wonder Weapon (blue gun) - £60-90 with gift (depending on cond of gun) / £2.50-5 without gift

Foom Membership kit / foom poster and Foom # 1 magazine - £75-100

Foom poster on its own - £20-40

1974

Planet of the Apes No 1 - Gift - Free colour poster (attached) - £20-30 with gift / £5-10 without gift

Dracula Lives No 1 - Gift - Free colour poster (attached) - £15-25 with gift / £5-10 without gift

1975

The Savage Sword of Conan No 1 - Gift - Free colour poster (attached) - £5-10 with gift / £2-5 without gift

The Superheroes No 1 - Gift - Free colour poster (attached) - £5-10 with gift / £2-5 without gift

The Titans No 1 - Gift - Free colour poster (attached) - £5-10 with gift / £2-5 without gift

1976

Captain Britain No 1 - Gift - Cpt Britain Mask - £10-15 with gift / £3-6 without gift

Captain Britain No 2 - Gift - Boomerang - £10-15 with gift / £1-3 without gift

Captain Britain No 24 - Gift - Tracer Plane - £15-20 with gift / £1-2 without gift

Spiderman Comics Weekly No 158 - Gift - Free colour poster (attached) - £3-5 with gift / £1 without gift

Spiderman Comics Weekly No 161 - Gift - Stickers - £3-5 with gift / £1 without gift

In my next guide I will cover the free gifts from 1977 including Rampage, Fantastic Four, Star Wars, 2000AD and so on. Also please remember that there were also special issues called FOOM (Friends of Ole Marvel) - you had to join and it came quarterly.

Difficulty of obtaining gifts.

1. Tracer plane - Spiderman No 2

2. MWOM poster - free gift

3. Spiderman Mask - Spiderman No 1

4. FOOM membership Kit / poster / # 1 Foom Mag

5. Spiderman Transfer - Mighty World of Marvel No 2

6. Transfers - Avengers No 1

7. Hulk Transfer - Mighty World of Marvel No 1

8. Plane - Captain Britain No 24

9. Wonder Weapon - Avengers No 2

10. Stickers - Mighty World of Marvel No 3

11. Planet of the Apes Poster.

Followed by - Dracula poster, Superheroes poster, Savage Sword of Conan poster, Spiderman Stickers issue 161, Spiderman poster issue 158, Cpt Britain No1 and then No 2.

Anyway I hope this is of some use to someone out there.

Good luck !!! 

Simon