Iron Man, Thor Marvel 1966 Cartoon Show Themes Coming To Vinyl

Released in 1966, Marvel Super Heroes is the granddaddy of today's Marvel Studios entertainment.

Not only was this the first series ever based on Marvel characters, but its animation was created using xerography—meaning that images were photocopied from the comic books themselves and manipulated to appear fully animated. Only the show’s music, composed by Jack “Jack” Orbont, was entirely original. It’s true that “If You Know, You Know” is among the company’s decades of projects, adaptations, and spinoffs, and its themes have been burned into the minds of certain generations of fans before being largely lost to history.

In celebration of Marvel’s 85th anniversary, Disney Music Group has officially released Urbont’s soundtrack to “The Marvel Super Heroes,” most of it for the first time ever. And it’s all coming to vinyl: After releasing a series of 7-inch records on July 12 with “Merry Marvel Marching Society,” DMG and Hollywood Records released “Captain America” on August 9, and “Iron Man” is set to drop on September 6. Featuring remastered audio recordings and packaging artwork faithful to the comic books by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck that inspired the show, the collection offers fans a nostalgic collection that harkens back to one of the first times the company’s heroes leapt off the printed page.

With the exception of a few limited VHS releases of the show, some scattered bonus material and a few European DVD releases, the best way to hear any of the music has been on songs and albums by the hip-hop artists who sampled it, like Ghostface Killah and MF Doom. Given the complicated legal history of Marvel merchandising — not to mention the age of the material — Disney Music Group’s chief marketing and product management officer, Paolo DaCosta, says figuring out the rights was a years-long process. “It took us a minute to get our paperwork together,” DaCosta says. diverse“These things take time, the restoration, the remastering, all the technical approvals, we needed to make sure we were all ready.”

After working as a composer for off-Broadway shows in the late 1950s and 1960s, one of Orbont’s first television assignments was on “Marvel Super Heroes.” Still alive but not actively working (his music can still be heard on the daytime soap opera “General Hospital”), the composer teamed up with DMG to obtain the original recordings for remastering. “Working with Jack and his team was great,” DaCosta said. “Our production team said they talked to him just a couple weeks ago and he said, ‘Hey, I still have some other pieces, maybe I can send them to you.’ So as more come in, we’re trying to see if there’s an expanded version of one of the songs that we can put out.”

“We really focused on the theme songs,” he continued. “But in talking to Jack, we discovered that there were different or additional tracks that were used in the shows that weren’t necessarily part of the opening theme song sequence. That’s something we’re exploring as well.”

The syndicated TV series ran from September to December 1966, and followed the debut of the Merry Marvel Marching Society, a fan club launched in 1964. Membership was $1 and included a welcome letter, membership card, notebook, poster, certificate and a 7-inch record of “The Voices of Marvel,” which featured humorous conversations between comic book director Stan Lee, artist Jack Kirby and other Marvel staff members. “It's just a great story in terms of the fan club in 1964, and what Stan and then Jack Kirby started and how it all evolved — and the vinyl records. [records] “Members are used to getting a piece of their package,” DaCosta noted.

“We wanted to be very respectful of the look and feel of the ’60s, and some of the phrases that the members used, which we incorporated into the sleeves and some of the packaging.” In proof of their commitment to period imagery, DaCosta said they actually took inspiration from the artwork from the 1967 “Scream Along With Marvel” flexi disc for the back cover of an upcoming 12-inch record featuring all six themes.

After “Iron Man,” DMG will release “The Incredible Hulk” on October 4; “The Mighty Thor” on November 1; and “Submarine” on November 15, for a total of six 7-inch releases. Then, on November 29, the company will release the 12-inch for Record Store Day. (There’s no indication yet if it will re-release “Marvel Sounds.”) All feature remastered and remixed audio that offers new clarity without sacrificing the texture and sound of the original recordings. “Part of the mystery and magic and wonder is that you go to YouTube and you hear the original versions that are tied to the episodes. The sound quality is modern. So it was important for us to try to improve on that,” DaCosta said.

Because the rights to the show itself are still complicated, DaCosta couldn’t confirm that the soundtrack release was a precursor to a remaster of Marvel’s Super Heroes for Disney+, or even physical media. But he suggested that the sales and popularity of those recordings could motivate the company to work on that later. “Disney+, as they always do, is looking for additional content that makes sense,” he said. “Marvel and its team are geniuses at weaving in all the right touchpoints with fans.”

By starting this initial series, Marvel may have inadvertently awakened a contingent of fans who not only want more material as they get it, but also know its history chapter by chapter to determine what else to release. This includes not only Power Records’ early 1970s comic books like The Amazing Spider-Man: Mark of the Wolf Man and Invasion of the Dragon Men, but also 1980s cartoons like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and The Incredible Hulk. The late Johnny Douglas composed the music for those latter shows, along with mainstays from that decade, Transformers and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero; perhaps his themes for those shows weren’t far off?

“Obviously we’re just starting this campaign, but as we get to this point, we’re already talking and seeing what the additional content could be,” DaCosta revealed. “I’ve been asked, ‘What does Spider-Man sound like? The theme song was written by other people, so what are the details there?’ That’s all being investigated and explored right now, and hopefully that and more will come together.”