In the late 70's Marvel signed a deal with Pocket Books to put out a series of original novels featuring Marvel characters. The first was The Amazing Spider-Man in Mayhem In Manhattan. It was co-written by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman, and was actually introduced as part of the continuity of the ASM series (the events in the novel were referenced in an issue of ASM at the time).

It's a good book, and fits in well with the late 70's era of The Amazing Spider-Man.





After that, there were 10 more novels released, featuring The Hulk (2), The Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, another Spider-Man novel, The Avengers, and one with both Spider-Man and The Hulk.

I read the Fantastic Four novel in the 80's, but I don't remember much about it, or if it made the regular continuity or not. It was written by Marv Wolfman, so I'm sure it was good.

I just ordered the Iron Man book off of ebay...




So does anyone else here have any of these novels?

I keep an eye out for those and all comic book novels whenever I go to used book stores, but I never find them cheap.

I've got that Spider-man book (in excellent condition, too! ). I also have an Avengers book that predates these, having been published in 1967 (it's a 50-cent book). Here's the cover:



I guess DC did this too? I have a Challengers of the Unknown paperback from 1977.

Ironic they are pricey now, since I recall them being so ubiquitous at the time. Bookstores, grocery and drugstore book racks...they all stocked them.

As a kid, I tended to look at these the way serious book fans look at tie-in novelizations. Sequential art was the "true" art form for these characters and this was kind of a gimmicky bastardization meant to con the more pretentious fans out there out of more money for a lesser package (no art only words).

I see it a lot differently now, though part of that is helped by nostalgia for seeing those so often during the breezier fun days of adolescence. Shame they always go for a premium as they might be a lot of fun to read...and collect.

Reason they are pricey is because they are hard to find in NM. Some of them have artwork inside from Romita, Steranko, and other top stars from the era. I've been trying to get some of them when I go to shows and antique stores.

Yeah, my copies are beat to hell. I just ordered a new, cleaner copy of Mayhem in Manhattan for $11, shipped.

Some sellers are asking for $25 or so for good copies, but they don't seem to sell very quickly at that price. The one I got looks to be in the VF to VF+ range. My existing copy would be considered VG at best.

That just gives me an excuse to re-read Mayhem in Manhattan.

So now I'll have 6 of the 11 books from that series.

I don’t think I read any of these, but the Iron Man cover might be familiar.