Marvel Treasury Edition (1974) 25

With the 2022 Winter Olympics starting today, hosted by Beijing, China; it’s only appropriate we present Spider-Man vs. the Hulk at the 1980 Winter Olympics held at Lake Placid, NY, 42 years ago.

The Olympic games can be traced back to competitions held in 776 in Olympia, Greece. Representatives from city-states and kingdoms were selected to participate in athletic and combat sports.

As the Romans came to power, the Greek-sponsored event fell out of favor. It wasn’t until 1821 interest was renewed after the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire. Greek-Romanian philanthropist Evangelos Zappas sponsored the first Olympic Games in 1859, held in Athens.

He also funded restoration on Panathenaic Stadium. It housed the 1870 and 1875 Olympics. No attendance records exist for the 1875 event, but 30,000 are said to have attended the 1870 contests.

The International Olympic Committee was formed and the first Olympics under their auspices was held in 1896. The success of the games became the foundation for the current popularity of both the summer and winter Olympics.

The Olympics currently feature over 21,000 competitors representing 207 nations.

Marvel Treasury Edition (1974) 25

The most expensive Summer Games were hosted by Beijing in 2008, costing an estimated $40-$44 billion. The most expensive Winter Games were held by Sochi in 2014 costing an estimated $51 billion.

How much Marvel’s 25^th Treasury Edition cost or recouped is unknown. Probably less than the created carnage caused by the Mole Man and Kala who unleash the “outcasts” at the 1980 Olympics. Olympians team with Spider-Man and the Hulk to stop the chaos.

What makes the book even more than a novelty – in addition to its size, a monstrous 10”x14” worthy of hosting the Olympics and Marvel’s two power houses – is it presents a new story. Most Treasury editions, beyond Howard the Duck and Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles, consisted of reprint material. Even the Howard the Duck had just one original story.

Marvel’s 1976 Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag used new framing material provided by Roger Stern to set up reprints of Marvel Team-Up issue six, The Avengers 58, Tales to Astonish 93 and Daredevil 86.

Maybe the most memorable piece of Olympic lore from the 1980 Winter Olympics was U.S.A.’s upset of the Soviet Union in the hockey competition.