Strange #99
Strange #99 marks a genuine turning point in French Marvel publishing history: beginning with this very issue, Éditions Lug formally rebranded the magazine as 'Le Journal de Spider-Man,' a subtitle it would carry for the next 150 numbers (through #248), cementing Spider-Man's status as the undisputed flagship character of the French Marvel line. The issue also delivers French readers their first encounter with the origin of the Gibbon — a Bronze Age character created by Stan Lee in what proved to be his final original scripting work on Amazing Spider-Man before issue #400 — making it a cross-Atlantic document of a transitional creative moment at Marvel. Collected alongside a pivotal Iron Man confrontation featuring the second Guardsman and a Daredevil/Black Widow chapter set in San Francisco, the anthology captures the full breadth of the early-to-mid Bronze Age Marvel universe as filtered through Lug's editorial lens.
In the 1978 issue "...alors vint Bulldozer !", Peter Parker arrives on the West Coast to interview Daredevil and the Black Widow for his newspaper, only to find himself caught in a high-stakes heist when Bulldozer strikes, stealing sensitive documents entrusted to Daredevil for safekeeping. With the help of the Black Widow and the ever-resourceful Spider-Man, Daredevil races to recover the stolen files and bring down the elusive Ramrod. Written by Steve Gerber and illustrated by Don Heck, with inks by Sal Trapani and colors by George Roussos, this issue features a cover by Jean Frisano.
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Éditions Lug was a Lyon-based publishing house founded by Auguste Vistel and operated by his daughter Claude Vistel, who secured the French rights to Marvel's characters through the Transworld Features syndicate. Strange launched in January 1970 as a small-format bicolor magazine before expanding to full-color large format with issue #10; painted covers by Jean Frisano followed from #25. Throughout its run, Lug's in-house retouching studio systematically softened American artwork — erasing bladed weapons, toning down violence, and removing sound-effect lettering — to satisfy France's national commission on youth publications, a practice that drew persistent criticism from purist readers but kept the magazine on newsstands for nearly three decades.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published March 1978 by Éditions Lug (Lyon, France); issue #99 of a run that lasted from January 1970 to March 1998 across 335 issues.
- Starting with this issue, Strange adopted the official subtitle 'Le Journal de Spider-Man' (The Spider-Man Journal), a branding it kept through issue #248.
- Story 1: French reprint of Daredevil #103 (September 1973), 'Then Came Ramrod!' — script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Don Heck, inks by Sal Trapani; features Daredevil, the Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), and a crossover appearance by Spider-Man in San Francisco.
- Story 2: French reprint of Iron Man #97 (April 1977), 'Showdown With the Guardsman!' — plot by Gerry Conway, script by Bill Mantlo, art by George Tuska and Don Perlin; features Tony Stark, Jasper Sitwell, and Michael O'Brien as the second Guardsman, with the first narrative hint that Krissy Longfellow conceals a secret identity.
- Story 3: French reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #110 (July 1972), 'The Birth of the Gibbon!' — script by Stan Lee (his last original ASM story before issue #400), pencils and inks by John Romita Sr.; presents the first appearance and origin of Martin Blank, the Gibbon, with cameos by Gwen Stacy, Harry Osborn, Flash Thompson, and Kraven the Hunter.
- The Gibbon's debut arc establishes him as a tragic outcast manipulated by Kraven the Hunter after Spider-Man inadvertently humiliates him — a character study rooted in themes of social rejection unusual for the era.
- As with all Lug-era Strange issues, the reprinted American artwork was processed through Lug's internal retouching studio, which routinely altered or removed violent imagery and sound-effect lettering to comply with French youth publishing regulations.
- Strange #99 was later collected in Lug's bound album Recueil #33, which gathered issues #98 through #100.
Cast · 40 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Peter Parker arrive sur la côte ouest pour interviewer Dedevil et la Veuve Noire pour le quotidien. Bulldozer attaque et vole des papiers qui ont été confiés à Daredevil pour qu’il les garde en sécurité. L'Araignée, Daredevil et la Veuve Noire récupèrent les papiers et arrêtent Ramrod.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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