Power to the People

The decade that brought us disco, Watergate and leisure suits wasn’t a complete waste of time.

That same decade also brought us Star Wars, Megos: The Worlds Greatest Superheroes, and any number of new characters from both Marvel and DC. The 70s also brought these heroes to life. Or, Power Records did. Or at least their voices.

An imprint of Peter Pan Records, Power Records served up vinyl platters of adventures straight from the comic books and, later, new stories to thrill over.

The parent company began in 1940 as Synthetic Plastic Company pandering to the youth market with music. Later they formed Peter Pan Records and became known for book-and-record sets.

Peter Pan would license popular trends like G.I. Joe and television shows offering recorded stories complete with voice actors like the old radio shows. The difference being the stories would were accompanied by an illustrated booklet to follow along with.

Peter Pan turned its attention to comic books as their popularity grew. Under Power Records, Spider-Man: Mark of the Man-Wolf (PR 10) was released as a 45 RPM complete with abridged 20-page comic book adapting Amazing Spider-Man (1962) issues 124 and 125.

It would later be re-released on a long playing (LP) 33 1/3 with three other Marvel comic book adaptations.

They would include The Incredible Hulk: The Hulk at Bay (PR 12) from Incredible Hulk (1968) issue 171; Captain America and the Falcon: A Phoenix Shall Arise (PR 12) adapting Captain America (1968) 168; and The Fantastic Four: The Way it Began (PR 13) from Fantastic Four (1961) 126.

Power Records 14 through 17 would celebrate Marvel’s monster mags. The Monster of Frankenstein, Dracula Terror in the Snow, The Man-Thing: Night of the Laughing Dead and The Curse of the Werewolf were adapted stories from each of the titles.

Marvel also retained the rights to the Planet of the Apes franchise, first publishing the movie adaptations in a black and white magazine, then colored versions in comic book format. Four of the five films were used by Power Records: Planet of the Apes: Planet of the Apes (PR 18), Planet of the Apes: Escape From the Planet of the Apes (PR 19), Planet of the Apes: Beneath the Planet of the Apes (PR 20), and Planet of the Apes: Battle for the Planet of the Apes (PR 21).

For PR 24, Power Records and Marvel would release Spider-Man: Invasion of the Dragon Men, an original adventure. 

It was a theme DC Comics would use for its subsequent offerings.

Batman: Stacked Cards (PR 27) was DC’s first outing followed by Superman: Alien Creatures (PR 28). Robin Meets Man-Bat (PR 30) followed.

All were original stories. Each was done either by Neal Adams or he and Dick Giordano’s art house Continuity Associates.

DC also released Superman The Man from Krypton and City Under Siege, PR 32 and 33 respectively. The last outing would be Wonder Woman: The Secret of the Magic Tiara (PR 35).

Marvel’s was Conan the Barbarian: The Crawler in the Mists (PR 31).

Extended Plays, or EPs, also existed. These were usually offered without booklets.

These may seem a bit outdated when multi-million dollar movies adapting these same characters are available to anyone with a cellphone, but they do capture the technology of the time straining to keep up with entertainment desires.

For a taste of the past, click below.