tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62633003657988034592024-03-19T02:42:42.012+00:00Steve Does ComicsComic Book blatherings from the backyard of nostalgia.Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.comBlogger1861125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-83951395074654407532024-03-17T16:54:00.000+00:002024-03-17T16:54:26.523+00:002000 AD - February 1986.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span></i> possess zero doubt that February 1986 saw those of a superstitious persuasion anticipating nothing but disaster.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>The 9th of that month was, after all, the moment when </span>Halley's Comet reached its perihelion. Also known as its closest point to the sun. Previous sightings of that body had coincided with such disasters as William the Conqueror smashing up a small town near Hastings. Serious stuff, indeed.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As far as I'm aware, this time, global catastrophe never appeared - although Su Pollard did almost reach Number One on the UK singles chart, with <i>Starting Together</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">She was, however, kept off the top spot by Billy Ocean's <i>When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going</i> which spent the entire month in a position of chart supremacy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The British album chart was similarly becalmed, with the pinnacle being held for all of February by Dire Straits' <i>Brothers in Arms</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><div>When it came to film news, it was a highly significant month; as it was there and then that a combination of John Lasseter and Steve Jobs founded Pixar.</div><div><br /></div></span>Meanwhile, movies released in that period included <i>9½ Weeks</i>, <i>The Hitcher</i>, <i>House</i>, <i>Pretty in Pink</i> and <i>Hannah and Her Sisters</i>. Of those, I suspect that <i>House</i> will be my pick.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">But what of the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/2000AD" target="_blank">galaxy's greatest comic</a>?</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Being a space alien, Tharg was, presumably, busy keeping a close eye on the comet but, inside the comic he edited, we were being treated to our usual supply of Halo Jones, Strontium Dog, Sláine, Ace Trucking Co and, of course, Judge Dredd whose current storyline was a thing called <i>The Secret Diary of Adrian Cockroach</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">As you can tell, I don't have a lot to say about any of that stuff but it all sounds solid enough and, somehow, gave us a cover with singing chickens on it.<br /></span><div><span><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1ykVJ6Ns8LtDL85P_SOk8U82UDTSWbW4V6pXt6jP1C6pZwkQth0cnsTx_aKkBiooKctXgAvx_BPwzv4QXhWjHYpBEiJgropYyK14e7EqHA_UnsbfUAfzuNN9jpzXzjZokhjRQTdku3iPC6sxf8koiT3CZr8A8I9sj95Qn2xrgd1839J2GQiOx7dQ1QEv/s483/145770.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD Prog 455" border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1ykVJ6Ns8LtDL85P_SOk8U82UDTSWbW4V6pXt6jP1C6pZwkQth0cnsTx_aKkBiooKctXgAvx_BPwzv4QXhWjHYpBEiJgropYyK14e7EqHA_UnsbfUAfzuNN9jpzXzjZokhjRQTdku3iPC6sxf8koiT3CZr8A8I9sj95Qn2xrgd1839J2GQiOx7dQ1QEv/s16000/145770.jpg" title="2000 AD Prog 455" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQq63Qxh14XqTbm021Cnqi3TYovjaawjPojuTi68Xm3iehgQE5uX5vh9b92k-lKRrU12Mj7ESqA3Pehctlka0Bezi6H7BZcfU1U8otjkoaSwcfN2LYTY7pV4AKr6Gt1z4__5EUVpC9bF57FN460G0qkinHMtY7uYuaDIn0IivTj3Da6Z4pApCe3P-ivHkd/s498/145771.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD Prog 456" border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQq63Qxh14XqTbm021Cnqi3TYovjaawjPojuTi68Xm3iehgQE5uX5vh9b92k-lKRrU12Mj7ESqA3Pehctlka0Bezi6H7BZcfU1U8otjkoaSwcfN2LYTY7pV4AKr6Gt1z4__5EUVpC9bF57FN460G0qkinHMtY7uYuaDIn0IivTj3Da6Z4pApCe3P-ivHkd/s16000/145771.jpg" title="2000 AD Prog 456" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZS2prGZ0ZvOdUfxUuhaCTtU4rkUWvP0LX7w_cuwVPM6ccDnna7jknktAxjn09kD7t3AAvJyN_CJuuPwqq2QfUJyLEjsu6At-E-mNGT7yAtW9EsJ6RphcxDt0Zj0g5Ukp4vnODQat9H9Krg3LYq2KYMfnXuNEAhEBQy-Ld8qsW2Tyk4Ikt5e3s2gpIbTk/s483/145772.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD Prog 457, Ace Garp" border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZS2prGZ0ZvOdUfxUuhaCTtU4rkUWvP0LX7w_cuwVPM6ccDnna7jknktAxjn09kD7t3AAvJyN_CJuuPwqq2QfUJyLEjsu6At-E-mNGT7yAtW9EsJ6RphcxDt0Zj0g5Ukp4vnODQat9H9Krg3LYq2KYMfnXuNEAhEBQy-Ld8qsW2Tyk4Ikt5e3s2gpIbTk/s16000/145772.jpg" title="2000 AD Prog 457, Ace Garp" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8wUFlNAKY6FsdzDlNPbKkHkpYINfcg4KNKgXpaOFEJqwZT98JuWtdhe0AiYRQYwnWnF1zHwwjmWMajaAubSTE3ootQTN8_0W_aS_zl_HT5Hp1S8TA-tmTTcllvBM11MZU-i2Wh_3th6Su2woUFLvTjf43cS7dyS0UbmunhOr2GbVIWTzJn-GvL9L6zg2/s489/145773.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD Prog 458, Judge Dredd" border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8wUFlNAKY6FsdzDlNPbKkHkpYINfcg4KNKgXpaOFEJqwZT98JuWtdhe0AiYRQYwnWnF1zHwwjmWMajaAubSTE3ootQTN8_0W_aS_zl_HT5Hp1S8TA-tmTTcllvBM11MZU-i2Wh_3th6Su2woUFLvTjf43cS7dyS0UbmunhOr2GbVIWTzJn-GvL9L6zg2/s16000/145773.jpg" title="2000 AD Prog 458, Judge Dredd" /></a></div></div></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-91849974079266123642024-03-14T17:51:00.001+00:002024-03-14T17:51:45.509+00:00March 16th, 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></i>s I stand haughtily atop the tallest buildings South Yorkshire can offer, and observe the witless follies of personkind, people often ask me, "Stevie-Pops, what was the first single you ever bought?"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And I can sensationally reveal the answer is one that could cause even the gods themselves to crumble.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Because that record was no less than </span><i>Billy Don't Be a Hero </i>by Nottingham's finest Paper Lace.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Such was that record's impact upon me that, even to this day, I refuse to be a hero.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And I like to feel my act of buying that record is what helped propel it to Number One on the UK singles chart exactly fifty years ago this week.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">One band, however who've never known the joy of me buying one of their singles is the Carpenters.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Not that they needed care, seeing as how their greatest hits package was still reigning supreme on the UK album chart.<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #76, Hulk vs Maximus" border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtL72YxLmr1SyG9uonizC0bsVo2roE9-NtbsK-ul6B_NluHG-xAr1oLE-X-H9bomGBL7-zs9Ou2Vw54MkSh0aw8q-EzQYID_zTVN5Ift7acBel2JDODxa2P-Pl5tgnXgT3Fo8T-I4I1Dv4FVUQic4x7wLQfejoypV-RNGqjEX0Kf9t3buloG5tcScwwtzN/w295-h400/318935.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #76, Hulk vs Maximus" width="295" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The world can only tremble, as the Hulk joins forces with Maximus the Mad in order to swat Thunderbolt Ross's planes like flies.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Still, fear ye not, Humanity. I'm sure it won't be long before the jade Juggernaut recognises his mistake and turns against his new allies.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Elsewhere, the man without fear's trying to stop the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Sub-Mariner" target="_blank">Sub-Mariner's </a>wrecking spree in the streets of New York.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You might think our hero must stand no chance against such power-packed opposition but you've not reckoned with his face. His face that has developed the tactic of repeatedly smashing itself into Subby's fists until the Atlantean's forced to get bored and go home.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a novel strategy but it might just work </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, finally this issue, the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four</a> conclude their latest clash with Diablo by watching him and Dragon Man crash through ice and disappear beneath the waters of a lake we can only assume to be bottomless.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I do believe this tale concludes with Reed and Sue taking a trip up ESU's Lover's Lane, where they finally decide to tie the knot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Let's face it, it's probably easy for Sue to tie a knot with Reed, what with him being made of elastic.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Avengers #26, the Swordsman" border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIFxK4WaVcbk6kD4ibFC_ADI6Lq7ynnkOQJ2gVpBva2jqiCLAQ8RSV98rqz7Rh-1T4o1RWuPg2MuyotBGrmuXVxPh7zbmyaWq-A-sJHSSOz-t1ioGb-R5FyeGQKYFLJC-vpIs4XBq3q7aGAxf4eiEp15ODQGVBPpFIkEZAvv_dQ4Pn708jePP3f1GsSDb7/w301-h400/521618.jpg" title="The Avengers #26, the Swordsman" width="301" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Those who often despair at my inability to recall what <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange </a>is up to in this comic need not despair about that, this week.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Instead, they need despair at the fact I can't recall what the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">Avengers</a> are up to.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I do know the Swordsman, Power Man and Black Widow are involved. And I have a nagging feeling a scientist with a new invention may also feature.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Judging by that cover, it seems the villains have decided to give themselves the moniker of, "The Terrible Trio," and I'm sure their next clash with the Avengers will reveal just how terrible they truly are.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"But what of Dr Strange?" I hear you ask.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Indeed. That's what I ask too.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, when I ask myself, I get no answer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I am going to assume, though, that Eternity, Baron Mordo and Dormammu are involved.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #57, Mary Jane dances" border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlE_4e17ngL64il3H9onHnWEOze2-zNm96xAI-VcbUqmm5BFnH8-jb1k06bYSgFW687RCIxpw3HF9TKz_Zya5oZJtLE01tq7SPZ65OS-YPycTUF1JEfF2YzvsEjW2YwQoEPGgXZTaJsNnqSwurKOZktd9HVL6SXgB2vS9xsLAVS5ZlYhwfHfxVAcj5aH13/w305-h400/859588.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #57, Mary Jane dances" width="305" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a sight that does my soul good, as Mary Jane Watson gets to dance on the front cover.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, things aren't working out so happily for her inside the book, as it turns out her brand new job, taking customers' photos at a club, is really a front for one of those brainwashing organisations that are becoming such a nuisance these days.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Apparently, Spider-Man also does stuff, this issue but I only read his comic to see what Mary Jane's up to.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After that, we're supplied with a one-page feature called <i>A Day at the Daily Bugle</i> created and presented by the dynamite team of Lee, Lieber and Romita.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Deep below the Earth's surface, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Tony</a></span><span><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank"> </a></span><span><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Stark's</a> been kidnapped by Kala queen of a buried kingdom.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, her plans to conquer our realm collapse when it turns out she can't visit the surface world without ageing dramatically.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Far too busy scrapping to worry about any of that are </span><span><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hercules" target="_blank">Hercules</a> who're still tussling over the heart of Jane Foster.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, it's not good news for the thunder god, as useless plonker Odin decides it's a great time to halve his son's superpowers, causing that son to right royally lose to his opponent.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>And, to compound it all, </span><span>Odin decides to give his own superpowers to the not-at-all trustworthy Seidring.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>We conclude with a two-page feature which reveals just what </span><span>Spider-Man would look like if drawn by artists belonging to other publishers.</span></span></div></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-41132186645446375222024-03-12T17:31:00.000+00:002024-03-12T17:31:41.158+00:00The Marvel Lucky Bag - March 1984.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></i> veritable smorgasbord of celluloid greeted those who attended the picture houses of the world in March 1984.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was, it turns out, a month which saw the release of such never-to-be-forgottens as <i>Romancing the Stone</i>,</span> <span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Greystoke</i>, <i>Police Academy</i>, <i>Splash</i>, <i>The Hotel New Hampshire</i>, <i>Children of the Corn</i>, <i>Against All Odds</i>, <i>Repo Man</i> and <i>This is Spinal Tap</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I would say the last of those movies stands out to me as being the one that stands out to me but other offerings may stand out for others. Film appreciation being, as it is, a subjective matter.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Doctor Strange Classics Starring Doctor Strange #1" border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="800" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1RELMDpCwl4Qn76YfEapJmC3Np2-dKhUAIvGEfDNd1WOBqmxGwsJaItE3OiWg8q2lKRX_leiEzw7vc51OwofkStsKXJun_qmxVLSp4s71uuwhqDWMCzNf-gw8ZyxRAiDWPOkdpc5VdV8a9JRThBYV0njTnYdyFlhHqYX9gngo6XFdDPkeQ4t6mw6sIuN/w400-h305/21532.jpg" title="Doctor Strange Classics Starring Doctor Strange #1" width="400" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">A brand new comic hits our spinner racks, selling tales that are, admittedly, not of the newly-minted variety.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, thanks to this mag, we can read reprints of occult action sourced from <i>Strange Tales</i> #130-132.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is, of course, the run of <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> stories in which Dormammu increases Baron Mordo's powers, leading to a quest to discover the secret of Eternity.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Regular readers will know that I have no need of this book, as I have an eerily photographic recall of Dr Strange stories from this era.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Hercules #1" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji573WT8_qCv6tSuT0MrxRCrfezG68OvMaZBmIIN82MwZU83QDkwABU7HlnhPYamdHew_d4FBjQnoGifTd0THoL3YvI-biJUvFsPCKViaoiLDNaFYuum7XQBqO090o2BXLxJtNQ9dXPostRw2h6jl3A8yGxHo-9IfjcCWcFgW-YGwmAbV50B4WTKdMqEKL/w266-h400/22741.jpg" title="Hercules #1" width="266" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I think we've all been desperate for a new </span><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hercules" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Hercules</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> comic, following the awesomeness of his previous solo outings.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sad to say, I possess little knowledge of this book but a little bird has whispered in my ear that it all kicks off when Zeus starts killing the other gods.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In fairness, from what I can remember of Greek mythology, that does seem like a fairly Zeus thing to do.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He'll probably eat a few of them, while he's at it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Micronauts #57" border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOreoAz1LY8hlO73NEUoCuntpBWoQtjc8prbm-N81M7AaVsZyEtjd27k7_mz9DUck3bYiJ2TQNw6K__hsOJBwFmMbZBpXD7BIHVv0KZMOsqPOB4CuOgyXn4_qEj8PvAKAvBOMwNsEWImf_WJn8f6gHYFJn-KXTv_nd6kvhOPWu26jNpQJpKj3M7S3jupGh/w265-h400/24542.jpg" title="Micronauts #57" width="265" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Time and again I find myself drawn to the Micronauts in this feature.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Admittedly, it's usually down to the covers - and this one's no exception, even if I don't really know what's going on on it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Inside, we get a 45-page epic by creator of that cover Butch Guice and writer Bill Mantlo. That epic is titled <i>The World of Never-Summer!</i> and that's all I know of it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Moon Knight #36" border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE7LptnU-gimDsMQtRcNm6A0go5-TnkZD5I-9Iy9IC1G8lmNmubvVVvL6YDgBsIssiG88mpgNnbnq37vpRmZxRkET5LIiCuyfVXKAMW5zJsx2ksRV9L4cSvgXMwShRYIBsRb_MrI_EC9FWdmuE9yhiAXt4s2dbJ7SfAY2YuPcArCcMfmEOfs4k3DrOSyJA/w260-h400/24685.jpg" title="Moon Knight #36" width="260" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Do I spot a team-up with Dr Strange?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Potentially.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">All I know about this issue is the master of mystic arts is, indeed, contained within.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But is he there as friend or foe?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Marvel Fanfare #13" border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7-JNR511YKsT2bP4Q0bn9E-256GpM6y0M4Ja0V3R7IC9_LYswVR3xVUS9jWg6LOu8xUzU_8qBsKWF8g234wM9pHht2hufAdwb4Z3cYTWqg36eBMZCa-roflZ7boNRsAGefIBUCgRNcfkm5A_iNqDLiIxgnHKIBYWnJxhUHd0ca6iFiEbhIMf7usiuEQky/w259-h400/25182.jpg" title="Marvel Fanfare #13" width="259" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's not easy to tell from that cover but the star of this month's issue is the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Black%20Widow" target="_blank">Black Widow</a> who's got it all on her plate when Damon Dran sends out a lookalike to take her place.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Can our heroine alert SHIELD before it's too late?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We also get a tale of the Warriors Three in which someone called Idunn asks the Asgardian adventurers to locate her husband Bragi.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Marvel Team-Up #139" border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbbbsXmi4n_aphdWH4yWFCLVY431b83fFWoihb6GKUcobHhn1vKaWoSh2LB-ClreJ6R2bPhyphenhyphenmMb9hM3Up6vxodiGtez6tKl9J_XMRL70T7UgaZ1wkaChx6ZJjQ-f-H0IPs3DhUdnSbOVG-Hh-7yH9hWpj6nKslOMXBgrvtRM_TSwhj9LDbrOhrq_38a9RL/w261-h400/25858.jpg" title="Marvel Team-Up #139" width="261" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I admit it. I picked this one purely because of the weirdness of the cover.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I couldn't really pick it because of what happens inside it because I don't know what happens inside it, other than the involvement of the characters displayed right here.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Spider-Man and Daredevil Special Edition #1" border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4gGSv4prVscfc9ltydO_cQdEerOSRLI8QteUUK7jfRXYPDRav-YMwx90vjM2jXts-ij2rPPFJO4RZ0jZAu4VgM4cw-1YmmyFMVo6fPWyH432VYFgbhjbcPSggUsxMjNR1069ZNmEada1rN9sCBJbLAndR0bTzDIOE14LSOgiIk6NwVBng-ZvdwTnJhWl/w259-h400/75382.jpg" width="259" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's another reprint book, as we're allowed to, once more, read the saga from <i>Spectacular</i> <i>Spider-Man</i> #27-28 in which <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Daredevil</a> helps the blind <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">wall-crawler</a> tackle the Masked Marauder who's threatening to annihilate the whole city!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero #21" border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7q7MRO7CGpWHf5DB2sxynGSe5dlCegL0Es8lP1FjQyXUL0v8bnFdw9CRGEpkStptZdyGCUAeNcCl3MmdxadCO_MWo3dVfVxHUJEgbOdAElYlnYu71jIxdRTfSe5IELLZR2aeXLOWmWR5PX6wFVuy_Fjo6sVWqXSrEjhd8cnXLrFG2htqmgo39f6jnKvEe/w260-h400/95092.jpg" title="G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero #21" width="260" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The man who Britons know as Action Man has to leap into peril when Storm Shadow captures Scarlett and brings her to Destro's Castle, as a present for Cobra Commander.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">During the rescue, we discover she's related to Snake-Eyes, based on both of them having the same tattoo.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I may be imagining things but I'm sure that's exactly the same plot as appeared the last time I covered a GI Joe comic in this slot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The A-Team #1, Marvel Comics" border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj854r7CDNBUGJD6NydINKmGo_4etHGdKLcmrfOTemJVUQ2jUp3zcS0bv1A5ecn3hCLwUom6ncOa2Af-Tmu6wSJ8nJNYGn8BppCciM_17qMPYwnCmDfb5oLxv6kbOWI6ulrKcNgH-0gGWwY0u3TPpgfsJJf8Gc6g0Wx-FxZsfO7w6VWuKTc-uTITQVs_-l9/w263-h400/869897.jpg" title="The A-Team #1, Marvel Comics" width="263" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">But forget all that! This is what we came here for!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 1980s arrive with a vengeance as TV's hottest team gets its own Marvel mag! And I pity the fool who doesn't buy it!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">After all that hype, I must confess I know nothing of what happens in this one but I do know it's brought to us by Jim Salicrup and Marie Severin.</span>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-41751790394056168222024-03-10T17:17:00.000+00:002024-03-10T17:17:08.212+00:00Forty years ago today - March 1984.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">C</span></i>an it be the time, yet again, to find out </span><span style="font-family: arial;">what Marvel's big hitters were up to in comics which bore a cover date of exactly forty years ago?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Too right it can!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fantastic Four #264" border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJhxG-t35cxpPQOlIhBXNTzs8EmyiOTNcdyqT0impWD8kZLKZyfbMpq3knzyDZKnK6yATGjfFzKq_mQ5b9BIQI-YuUKk644u8W68kMwVVVb3j1kyYmCNhmqP2PE0NCYOwtQFZYsQ3_O-p_YqiDGsQ8WTlrBlIftbQ93bftKWCDkpbJLYeCLoN3-Tdi92o/w259-h400/22130.jpg" title="Fantastic Four #264" width="259" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's the team-up some said could - and should - never happen. The Mole Man combines his forces with the Thing and Human Torch to thwart Neal Adams' eccentric plan to heat up the Earth's core in order to make the world grow bigger.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, to do that, they're going to have to get past Neal's deadly army of androids!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Spectacular Spider-Man #88" border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfieJs4dGv2R6djRDjCPm-EjZXiKhOYAhiuJ-zoAyiXyx2LCUonQxLlPDEpzGGmqlAWVrwl87HK5hixcUq1SzFZxWR-bHFp_j329Y4grwg-Yjt5gEddaN7gxaQCVZKFFjphU01Mfh6NwWJR8aufOdonXVgHpp7OpAIe5q7vXviPzAPEuIvcz08JQGo6whY/w261-h400/765662.jpg" title="The Spectacular Spider-Man #88" width="261" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">When Mr Hyde, yet again, decides to inflict revenge upon the Cobra for "betraying" him, it's up to Spider-Man to prevent the transmogrifying terror achieving his goal.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But just how easy can that be when the Black Cat's attempts to assist our hero only succeed in hampering him?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Daredevil #204" border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ6JXCKICHrr6JBeqFCYuUInJRTKqhofZRgf-CscF7Q0Dm-ZxZWt81dXXJ0F_z_FR80101tJZq1rUlVdi6zCBg_4Kd8-Nv_m13dcqQX8Lb4MCxEjQQ9bp9T7oMf1pmaOniCUeQ-I2CxoLFSdMyg5TrWLQGiDHeXagbo7P7wUXqA_OEmSjzd07DJK0sgwDE/w264-h400/789213.jpg" title="Daredevil #204" width="264" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's bad news for everyone when cut-price Tarzan clone Micah Synn's back in town and as charmless as ever.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the good news is he might not be around for long because his aristocratic family in England wants rid of its black sheep - and have even gone so far as to hire a daft hitman called Crossbow to eradicate him from their bloodline.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Most people would probably leave him to it. But not Daredevil. He has principles of the kind that people like me lack.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Conan the Barbarian #156" border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggm9GpXdylV9o2BOHqcDpmHUAGdxerULFdUxacOabLUaLTISynS9niWpCYM4n9EbasM1eYOkm6aT7YUWnqg0LDHUzCOWgJGhomcbcanw7Daxoya5gl-vMwGXhfZn_Bxi37OKqPikLtJGLsoKKAqAsWS1lJwz_-BEi55p4ApuMFlsM5hUQG5SuVBYEIkdOi/w254-h400/791823.jpg" title="Conan the Barbarian #156" width="254" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">One day, while blundering around in his usual style, Conan decides to stop off at a mansion, looking to get out of the rain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, its owner's as unreliable as everyone else the barbarian ever meets and tries to feed Conan to his monstrous, flesh-eating brother.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I would accuse this tale of being influenced by the Jim Starlin Hulk story that featured a people-eating brother but this one's written by Michael Fleisher whose work for Atlas Comics adequately revealed his love for all things cannibalistic.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Thor #341" border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhCvCieNziYblv6N_1t5IMgXVgQNxVnGnsfgIHXIsfB98VDTCuAOqNLZKeZH7O-YREuiWIT8AIlSDYR4im2QsDeZJo0Ew-aLkXEUZbHjy-SeAOd5dsoQoaPrMm171tRYaiyrTYWw5BIYAV99D3Oc7JHa5qKJXLTl0OquzzULSkegcLCoFAP_dfHAdqBEQ/w260-h400/810179.jpg" title="Thor #341" width="260" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Now that Thor no longer has access to his Don Blake persona, the thunder god gets SHIELD to fix him up with a brand new secret identity. That of Sigurd Jarlson who looks like Thor, sounds like Thor and even has a Scandinavian name. So, that's guaranteed to fool everyone, then.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not that he manages to maintain a pretence of normalcy for long because, no sooner has he applied for a job on a construction site, than stroppy dragon Fafnir shows up, looking to plant one on him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Captain America #291, the Tumbler" border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJn4oav7AOOxAHA_U3m_0Ewy4tIUnpdIa4m1mBEqtw1KB7vPjVeMACjedyBgwmQ6LypUerC2hbEeLj3TEjBO1Ke12N-akMa5u74SdcRJa956Kx-s9-GULqndKFEa4yi18ujJ6dEtoZSy4P06qtyI4mUPjdf3-ZBt8jAu1YFB1ZFMiKTbjbyuvHmixnMJp/w260-h400/812511.jpg" title="Captain America #291, the Tumbler" width="260" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">There can't be many people who were desperately hoping the Tumbler would make a comeback.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And he doesn't.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because he's dead.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">His brother, however, is after the insurance money and, once he adopts the Tumbler's mantle and teams up with Cap, the pair unearth a life insurance scam that's been ripping-off the nation's super-villains for years.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iron Man #180, the Mandarin" border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKcAbmlpDs3P-lzzIpE3ve-SY7WFlPGOEkx6H1RvJlmi0mYq3cMsqa5BiUwrTbZVWGJ1Ne_VZ6QKk-5DE8ClMW1ubANZAjDWg4tCDTgnhuBKxHnRYDpSvDpQtRMzVYR_mNHuBcF785LaO1P6YhOH3-eZrxiB5fqF0qObqzQRT97xOwmTF_loUf5BWOU8Y/w256-h400/812518.jpg" title="Iron Man #180, the Mandarin" width="256" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Who can the mystery, ringed wrongdoer on the cover be? Who!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Blow me down with a feather if it's not the Mandarin and, as so often in the past, he's out to avenge himself for his many defeats at the hands of Iron Man.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, he's totally unaware that he's up against a brand new Shellhead who still hasn't fully got the hang of his armour yet.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Avengers #241, Morgan Le Fey" border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCTItEQ4DiW2UntvMUYTO1uhXGIxVHGtqitJiDVxBPs6VDDJcvw9zIdFs8tdh8aXUaFVVCIfcteVGpOuM5MgjodwV_E7op1o64ernh_j6zT0PenqOUrfAGStIBJtKzfNOUaDJxbEjGIvwABbrZ8SyF4IpLTTsoEx-7aUacqQKMUeNm2Ze9KjsNpqCQxIK/w261-h400/850003.jpg" title="The Avengers #241, Morgan Le Fey" width="261" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">As far as I can remember, Morgan le Fay's trying to enter our universe by possessing the comatose body of Spider-Woman.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, the Avengers aren't going to let that happen.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And neither are Dr Strange and the Shroud.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">With all that lot against her, you might think it's a hopeless cause for the sinister sorceress but she didn't get where she is today by not being an optimist.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Admittedly, where she is today is trapped in a barren dimension in the middle of nowhere. So, it just shows where positive thinking gets you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that's the <i>Steve Does Comics</i> Tip of the Week. Never be positive.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Uncanny X-Men #179, the wedding of Kitty Pryde" border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzC7Vh7wj2KTGAFEDqzWCn6_tyCI4dQMy20Vn7hA9KOjWT23z1ySRYqF0Zu2-vXwxZMhligcsYWuICEVeWk8NaQSGO7i17ng707gD4SfY_EZTfA-LcTmIg1y82O2m1NGZQEaP9wmkpQabyaZNF1SMXFxwoyT4ppnufU3LlJiMkDRDoAjLmgvPYaVkKYYBK/w259-h400/858827.jpg" title="The Uncanny X-Men #179, the wedding of Kitty Pryde" width="259" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Also, never get married.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At least, not if the wedding's going to be held in a sewer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's all getting unsavoury beneath the streets of New York when Callisto and the Morlocks try to hold Kitty to her promise to marry Caliban.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As you'd expect, the mighty X-Men set out to put a stop to that kind of thing but, to their astonishment, Kitty insists on honouring her commitment.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a storyline you can't help feeling one should draw a veil over.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In more ways than one </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Amazing Spider-Man #250, the Hobgoblin" border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg03VzIAC8ElkX86dbJoB2ABrRLjSehTHt5JH4t_3x5m5m2Efr82LxQWK-WQQKSshmVd2avDopF4KeZZqkiV9sPRlLKjkFE5NPgAj83eg9LukP0mcVjEv8sXdHcmxOY81IlG7C5kRgHM4G99uzoCkWigqrzKlNUs_du1Il34sN66XpmObzAvolvQY6Vg6Ug/w263-h400/1091298.jpg" title="The Amazing Spider-Man #250, the Hobgoblin" width="263" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">With his spider-sense out of commission, and the victims of Hobgoblin's blackmail in no mood to help him, the web-slinger decides to use technological means to track down the villain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But has Hobby discovered the truth about our hero's true identity, among Norman Osborn's documents?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Incredible Hulk #293" border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPkrMNS2Nvo5wQAdlJbWlen669Qz2r9nm_EgVubchOKgIqwmc8izQKo2pyGspXXKiungf7H5bFYqL9LfsR9rVLvCiFMPwZWQMNDA0Kk2q3qqY6bgtw8ihVjM1X-i6-MnCzq9EJfxyh_ygq0uIooqs_7ZojhVMXqb8lLD6yivT1QBCDedVJlxLqgHv9V3MF/w259-h400/1179710.jpg" title="The Incredible Hulk #293" width="259" /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Upon returning to the United States, following his trip to Mexico, Bruce Banner's rudely interrupted by someone trying to murder him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>After all these years of being the Hulk, y</span><span>ou'd have thought he'd be used to it, by now. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">But, this time, it's different. The would-be killer's a man whose entire home town was destroyed by the Hulk.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not only does Bruce try to get all charges against the man dropped, he also single-handedly rebuilds the town for him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Isn't that lovely? How nice to finish the post with a happy ending.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You see, Michael Fleisher? It doesn't all have to be nastiness.</span><span style="font-family: courier;"> 😀</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-4044434766392290002024-03-07T17:05:00.000+00:002024-03-07T17:05:50.347+00:00March 9th, 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span></i> only know Howard Keel for three things.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first is being in <i>Dynasty</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second is singing <i>Bless Yore Beautiful Hide</i> - although I've no idea just whose beautiful hide he was blessing or whether he even <i>was</i> a legally ordained minister with the power to bless beautiful hides.</div><div><br /></div><div>And the third is him being terrorised by giant plants that want to eat him.</div><div><br /></div><div>And guess what? March 9th, 1974 was the night on which I first encountered the third of those events because it was on that very evening that BBC One broadcast the film the world can only know as<i> The Day of the Triffids</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>What with the channel having, earlier, broadcast the <i>Doctor Who</i> adventure <i>Death to the Daleks</i>, there was clearly, that evening, no shortage of things to keep us gripping our chair arms in sheer, white-knuckled, fear.</div><div><br /></div><div>By strange coincidence, the first ever <i>Doctor Who</i> companion Carole Ann Ford was also in <i>Day of the Triffids</i> and was, as far as I can remember, machine-gunned to death, while being menaced by vegetables.</div><div><br /></div><div>At least, her character was. I'm fairly sure the actress herself is still alive and well and that no performers were machine-gunned to death during the making of that film.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the real world, the week saw Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath resign, succeeded by Labour's Harold Wilson who'd already run the UK from 1964 to 1970 and fancied another crack at it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div>Within days of that, the miners' strike was over.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, the day after that, the Three-Day Week was over.</div><div><br /></div><div>That was good news for all who loved coal and full-length weeks but it was also a good spell for Alvin Stardust because, over on the UK singles chart, his latest offering <i>Jealous Mind </i>hit the top spot.</div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Meanwhile, on the British album chart, the Carpenters' Singles <i>1969-1973</i> reclaimed the summit it had previously surrendered to Slade's</span> <span><i>Old New Borrowed and Blue</i>.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Obviously, any sane man loves anything which bears Alvin Stardust's name but there were other singles on that chart and, of those, these are the ones I dug:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><i>Devil Gate Drive</i> - Suzi Quatro</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>The Air That I Breathe - </i>the Hollies</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Jet - </i>Paul McCartney and Wings</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div><i>Candle in the Wind - </i>Elton John</div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><div><i>The Man Who Sold the World - </i>Lulu</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>After the Goldrush - </i>Prelude</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Dance With the Devil - </i>Cozy Powell</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>My Coo-Ca-Choo - </i>Alvin Stardust</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Living for the City - </i>Stevie Wonder</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Teenage Rampage - </i>the Sweet</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Ma-Ma-Belle - </i>Electric Light Orchestra</div></div><div><br /></div><div>and</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>The Show Must Go On - </i>Leo Sayer.</div></div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Should one wish to further investigate the issues raised in this post, that week's UK singles chart lives <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19740303/7501/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And the accompanying LP chart dwells <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19740303/7502/" target="_blank">within</a>.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lBFo2Np7KcUb2tLXQ6aoAUe93hf7VjoDt9MWE9ZnwkbvDUqKS2fhrJrI6PJDW3rgpLejDvO-aKsRQLMuTSJEgJZ5FxHmJ_h7Q5d7ZeKp1DvR9UyB9Y8Vf-FwdsZGZ3d8PfqnS3-xBFX5_6CjYkZxCLhrh31AMng6GRLB9kA14gL0Ww6wY27hJQHw5b9S/s531/521617.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Avengers #25, Goliath is back" border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lBFo2Np7KcUb2tLXQ6aoAUe93hf7VjoDt9MWE9ZnwkbvDUqKS2fhrJrI6PJDW3rgpLejDvO-aKsRQLMuTSJEgJZ5FxHmJ_h7Q5d7ZeKp1DvR9UyB9Y8Vf-FwdsZGZ3d8PfqnS3-xBFX5_6CjYkZxCLhrh31AMng6GRLB9kA14gL0Ww6wY27hJQHw5b9S/w301-h400/521617.jpg" title="The Avengers #25, Goliath is back" width="301" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Can it be?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Can Marvel's tallest hero be back in <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">the fold</a>?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Yes, he can.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And it's just as well. For, it seems a brand new villain's about to make his debut.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That villain is the Collector and I do believe he's dragged the team into things by trying to add the winsome Wasp to his menagerie.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But can Hank and the gang stop him without putting a strain on the hero that will cause him to stay stuck forever at giant size?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Elsewhere, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange </a>wants to know the secret of Eternity and decides that some sort of mind meld with the Ancient One should do the trick.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, Baron Mordo seems to have plans that may just scupper the whole thing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibe09hndjp2mqqwJ6-qSOSu1nRRbdZG1zz_d4Q4nbQXlFCrSoxvZ9zFe0aFRRT8qBmn4W_0Xajlc_H7Z6CIhYCfX1Yhtt3lrHsgIluwN-Pj5h_eTiDEY49P94lOpANrdi16kyJwJSQVCxBM9bo0NvqUrpaQBYkWWt9eIF3sWCKfxDAPgNQKyBQOMQ_YHHT/s535/859589.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #56" border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibe09hndjp2mqqwJ6-qSOSu1nRRbdZG1zz_d4Q4nbQXlFCrSoxvZ9zFe0aFRRT8qBmn4W_0Xajlc_H7Z6CIhYCfX1Yhtt3lrHsgIluwN-Pj5h_eTiDEY49P94lOpANrdi16kyJwJSQVCxBM9bo0NvqUrpaQBYkWWt9eIF3sWCKfxDAPgNQKyBQOMQ_YHHT/w299-h400/859589.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #56" width="299" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">From what I can remember, this is the issue in which Peter Parker visits the police - including Captain Stacy - and clears <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a> of having kidnapped him. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Far more important, of course, is that Mary Jane gets a job comprised of dancing on tables and taking photos.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It can mean just one thing. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That we're about to meet the schemings of a man the world would know only as the Brainwasher if it had ever heard of him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Things get possibly subterranean for <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Iron Man</a> when Tony Stark and colleagues find themselves pulled into an underground city, to be confronted by its queen who tells him she'll execute them all unless he builds a machine which will allow her to invade the surface world.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, above ground, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hercules" target="_blank">Hercules</a> are scrapping in the streets of New York, for the attention of Jane Foster.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But what's this? I do believe this issue also contains a full-page ad for the imminent arrival of a brand-new star in the Avengers' comic! Who can he be? And what can be his gimmick?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dW5ymadi-m-kCY01KTYxSmMH12UpIxUEPrDpZ7vA_cOiMWVgAMQZ-PkFTbskMwcaQa6Xu55Oy7nEgR4bpviQko1k2nTQLz-CJs9NfU7jNMCmH6EvdrbgGk06GIimbwhokZDZDnzre3790dLGEnPHspTdTTHH1fB9tpf-stDDy4t7RqfUMnofzjrv22tN/s541/863574.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #75" border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dW5ymadi-m-kCY01KTYxSmMH12UpIxUEPrDpZ7vA_cOiMWVgAMQZ-PkFTbskMwcaQa6Xu55Oy7nEgR4bpviQko1k2nTQLz-CJs9NfU7jNMCmH6EvdrbgGk06GIimbwhokZDZDnzre3790dLGEnPHspTdTTHH1fB9tpf-stDDy4t7RqfUMnofzjrv22tN/w296-h400/863574.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #75" width="296" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Somewhere in Central America, the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk's</a> still caught in the crossfire between Thunderbolt Ross and the Evil Inhumans.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the pages of <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank"><i>Daredevil</i></a>, the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Sub-Mariner" target="_blank">Sub-Mariner</a> shows up at Franklin and Murdock's legal practice, looking to sue the entire human race.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When that plan falls through, he decides to earn himself his day in court by getting arrested for smashing up New York.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This can only bring him into conflict with the man without fear who turns out to be the man without a hope, as Subby promptly batters him from pillar to post.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And we finish off with one of my <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four</a> faves, as Diablo escapes his dungeon and decides the best way to take over the world is by unleashing a man-made dragon upon the denizens of Empire State University.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-41024620498678641602024-03-05T16:44:00.001+00:002024-03-05T16:47:04.238+00:00The Marvel Lucky Bag - March 1974.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">M</span></i>arch 1974 wasn't a great month for movies but it did see the release of three films few could ever forget. They were </span><span>John Carpenter's <i>Dark Star</i>, <i>The Great Gatsby</i></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> and the equally great </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><i>Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla</i>.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Of those three, I would have to select the first as my <i>Steve Does Comics Pick of the Month</i>. After all, it's not every film that has a killer beachball in it, and I can't help feeling the other two would have been greatly enlivened by the addition of one.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNJl1NrUAFOJyb-zRbvXA4jYcjDz2uRpFqvGY1b8KGrPBDAg7AU9PSKA6tMVr_qkqrqaj1RrQPFqy-YPS7NBaP1xiWHarAPzx1fPh-SzsURe9BuOTvmLnNsAqghhxxbarfVTEeqZF94-jDY9LftuU-CLMw1G3gjDnv4bO4zKTH4w-6EisBy317ps9629i/s600/18836.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Amazing Adventures #23, Killraven" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNJl1NrUAFOJyb-zRbvXA4jYcjDz2uRpFqvGY1b8KGrPBDAg7AU9PSKA6tMVr_qkqrqaj1RrQPFqy-YPS7NBaP1xiWHarAPzx1fPh-SzsURe9BuOTvmLnNsAqghhxxbarfVTEeqZF94-jDY9LftuU-CLMw1G3gjDnv4bO4zKTH4w-6EisBy317ps9629i/w266-h400/18836.jpg" title="Amazing Adventures #23, Killraven" width="266" /></span></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The post-apocalyptic antagonism continues when the Martians capture <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Killraven" target="_blank">Killraven</a>, looking to achieve a propaganda coup by broadcasting his death to every human slave, thus destroying their will to resist.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's assuming they have any will to resist, which isn't a thing I can remember their human slaves ever displaying.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I do believe this is the first issue to feature the deadly menace of the High Overlord.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJqZr2HCHpNj4LH91FTm_BVWGvUvahQ_I1bIdcUQTWAE8M2N3o30yB3r5m4K3bYCPCdoP5jR9zR02INuxkghAV9kqBonr0UAbO4yKKUXDESv4yTVp63em4BnfLaFYhX3SCdZyRIbblynS1cH9CC6jb35hE5zfGvknYbi1yzeGQHuaV8u-plAgMkdvMLBr/s593/22316.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Frankenstein #9, Dracula" border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJqZr2HCHpNj4LH91FTm_BVWGvUvahQ_I1bIdcUQTWAE8M2N3o30yB3r5m4K3bYCPCdoP5jR9zR02INuxkghAV9kqBonr0UAbO4yKKUXDESv4yTVp63em4BnfLaFYhX3SCdZyRIbblynS1cH9CC6jb35hE5zfGvknYbi1yzeGQHuaV8u-plAgMkdvMLBr/w270-h400/22316.jpg" title="Frankenstein #9, Dracula" width="270" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's like a horror fan's dream come true, as we finally get an answer to the age-old question of who'd win a fight between <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dracula" target="_blank">Dracula</a> and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Frankenstein" target="_blank">Frankenstein's Monster</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, to the surprise of some of us, it would appear the Monster would!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, while he's successful in giving Drac a great big stake through the heart, the downside is he also has to destroy someone called Carmen, thanks to his foe having turned her into a vampire.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this month's backup strip, we find <i>Seeing Eye</i>, a yarn reprinted from <i>Uncanny Tales</i> #22 in which a crook hatches a plan to steal a wealthy man's guide dog in exchange for a ransom.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, wouldn't you know it? That guide dog only turns out to be a retired werewolf!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenKvguQ6nSSSHborhnKTdXCr323DZ3aIPu6Rrldde3CnMtP86af0vIUL6fVD9d7rg-mPPNGvcRNPCiqK2iJ29QjTUdc0jpCCfZ0u9tPeNISa-rgNLo6Ttrr1pxTE4J8QKRrdAeFnBs9wKHsQ9bkDz9ulAjsTCf_kA-xMzugjYlsx8rcr7xXj9kFY9EdJ0/s598/25493.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Marvel Spotlight #14, The Son of Satan" border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenKvguQ6nSSSHborhnKTdXCr323DZ3aIPu6Rrldde3CnMtP86af0vIUL6fVD9d7rg-mPPNGvcRNPCiqK2iJ29QjTUdc0jpCCfZ0u9tPeNISa-rgNLo6Ttrr1pxTE4J8QKRrdAeFnBs9wKHsQ9bkDz9ulAjsTCf_kA-xMzugjYlsx8rcr7xXj9kFY9EdJ0/w268-h400/25493.jpg" title="Marvel Spotlight #14, The Son of Satan" width="268" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Son%20of%20Satan" target="_blank">Son of Satan</a> takes a break from pestering his dad, in order to pester a haunted university.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But it turns out it's no ghost that's causing the trouble. It's the ice-demon Ikthon. Can a man powered by Hellfire survive in a land that knows only numbing cold?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgQhW1UB4Eya9wJiW6VDRnm5sqvF4gKU1DOgbMz-x7Dibw9iogXDwmQY3YqFFUl8Apn2NQDbU-7j8d3_MFfctm5nO5fuPj1OeS9qSyMqQYYFYgDeb0Funfo9SPvPQQ4Nz1FG9-o6UGNR5lEw_vbDYCqw9h-6_964bdBtMV0xFqGu6obrOsUnIPLSuX0y-/s540/29459.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Tales of the Zombie #4" border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgQhW1UB4Eya9wJiW6VDRnm5sqvF4gKU1DOgbMz-x7Dibw9iogXDwmQY3YqFFUl8Apn2NQDbU-7j8d3_MFfctm5nO5fuPj1OeS9qSyMqQYYFYgDeb0Funfo9SPvPQQ4Nz1FG9-o6UGNR5lEw_vbDYCqw9h-6_964bdBtMV0xFqGu6obrOsUnIPLSuX0y-/w296-h400/29459.jpg" title="Tales of the Zombie #4" width="296" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Issue #4 of the magazine that will not die kicks off with <i>The Law and Phillip Bliss! (Part 1)</i> wherein someone called Katanya tries to kill the Zombie and throw him in the sea.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Next, we get <i>James Bond Meets Baron Samedi</i>, as brought to us by the talents of </span>Don McGregor <span>and </span>Pablo Marcos. I've not read it but, given its subject matter, I'm going to assume it ties in with the events of <i>Live and Let Die</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Then there's such fare as <i>The Drums of Doom!</i></span></span>, <span style="font-family: arial;"><span><i>Neo Witch Craft</i>, <i>Courtship by Voodoo</i></span></span>, <span><i style="font-family: arial;">Nightfilth Rising</i></span> <span><span style="font-family: arial;">and</span></span> <span><i style="font-family: arial;">The Four Daughters of Satan</i></span> <span><span style="font-family: arial;">before we return to our main </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">feature with</span> <i style="font-family: arial;">Dead Man's Judgment!</i> <i style="font-family: arial;">The Law and Phillip Bliss -- Part II</i><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4caV8XYbevtrPQ0szixfZkDa1QRpxE4cI6xZEb5m8cEAkewQbUNqa8dy7w6V3yV7ZjPx3AA4zQZKflAiB2hFSuSjOL2x2-n41BBFAjCgknt_ICr6SWpOhoH_UnRtSmSOz_hvsDCu8uhYZobY-XsqCmob2xHcuBDCalJz7OIAwAERBVSRefxhiGor20FMN/s594/30463.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Werewolf by Night #15, Dracula" border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4caV8XYbevtrPQ0szixfZkDa1QRpxE4cI6xZEb5m8cEAkewQbUNqa8dy7w6V3yV7ZjPx3AA4zQZKflAiB2hFSuSjOL2x2-n41BBFAjCgknt_ICr6SWpOhoH_UnRtSmSOz_hvsDCu8uhYZobY-XsqCmob2xHcuBDCalJz7OIAwAERBVSRefxhiGor20FMN/w269-h400/30463.jpg" title="Werewolf by Night #15, Dracula" width="269" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Marvel's making Dracula earn his pay, this month. Not only does he have to fight Frankenstein's Monster, he also has to tussle with <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Werewolf%20by%20Night" target="_blank">Russell</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this terrifying yarn, we learn how Baron Russoff became a Werewolf and brought the curse of lycanthropy down upon his family.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This all, ultimately, leads to Drac attacking Jack and Topaz in an attempt to retrieve a mystic tome that once belonged to the Baron.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIpeWwj54OTl_RD4n1brcs3EU2xvP7Zq3YRbyI5P6GMsgfdrA9tyQp011pwTL2Fdk994g3CwFdEen8NSbe-plaUe561k9hbpqeEKafG4QI-ecFbcyzG9YYJ02tzti6UiBW_kZobQNenjmwRKrX_IK9Va1AUSB6G5qFL8AWw6K8vMyl7zPPeewzvRBhC4bg/s586/1068510.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Tomb of Dracula #18, Werewolf by Night" border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIpeWwj54OTl_RD4n1brcs3EU2xvP7Zq3YRbyI5P6GMsgfdrA9tyQp011pwTL2Fdk994g3CwFdEen8NSbe-plaUe561k9hbpqeEKafG4QI-ecFbcyzG9YYJ02tzti6UiBW_kZobQNenjmwRKrX_IK9Va1AUSB6G5qFL8AWw6K8vMyl7zPPeewzvRBhC4bg/w273-h400/1068510.jpg" title="Tomb of Dracula #18, Werewolf by Night" width="273" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">And if we want to know how we reached the events of the book above, all we have to do is read this book.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>In it, </span>Jack and Topaz visit Transylvania to investigate Jack's past and, inevitably, that leads to them entering Castle Dracula...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kuyL-EACD7h_I1az-FwKkouRfVj9zqT-7OD-PNd8Z80R4JbDY7IwKQgmtcly9-zzCzSBsx0T4-vURp9kA4N9e5eSZAhXZYJU03skiSHljaykTWsRdLO6kkU22p5n_1TY3a38tYU4mPtOER-4tz0OulE1yh8g8ecv9vwynoHxhw2RjO4I1YMp-Sq1fOzw/s611/1501513.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Sub-Mariner #69, Spider-Man" border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="400" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kuyL-EACD7h_I1az-FwKkouRfVj9zqT-7OD-PNd8Z80R4JbDY7IwKQgmtcly9-zzCzSBsx0T4-vURp9kA4N9e5eSZAhXZYJU03skiSHljaykTWsRdLO6kkU22p5n_1TY3a38tYU4mPtOER-4tz0OulE1yh8g8ecv9vwynoHxhw2RjO4I1YMp-Sq1fOzw/w272-h417/1501513.jpg" title="Sub-Mariner #69, Spider-Man" width="272" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Someone at Marvel's clearly decided we can't have too many crossovers, this month. And so it is that the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Sub-Mariner" target="_blank">Sub-Mariner</a> must battle <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a> in an epic clash that...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">...lasts for about three panels before both parties lose interest in fighting and go their separate ways.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Given that the title is mere issues away from cancellation, I can only assume Spidey was added purely to provide a boost to sales.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In reality, the main thrust of the story deals with Subby having a rematch with the man called Force.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>There are also further developments in the drama of </span>Zephyrland. Developments which, if I remember rightly, lead to <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> being called in to help liberate the beleaguered kingdom.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEDLzWWEidHsELQmx3OEgLEOnpV0xCbBt6uO1LDp018hB9hFqDor1JonYVeAOGICqJdW0zWAMRGozUq6gZ8_hhyqKKUNOzlUFBP_JVIdxXq_cOEsTTcFXt0xASgBu3bT6Q1X6ddto5kJV3xAPm31KYuBfjHkDXhg0WZJ5vNrc3txnCZc_Fvd21LS0zNlS/s597/1574854.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Where Monsters Dwell #27, Grogg" border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEDLzWWEidHsELQmx3OEgLEOnpV0xCbBt6uO1LDp018hB9hFqDor1JonYVeAOGICqJdW0zWAMRGozUq6gZ8_hhyqKKUNOzlUFBP_JVIdxXq_cOEsTTcFXt0xASgBu3bT6Q1X6ddto5kJV3xAPm31KYuBfjHkDXhg0WZJ5vNrc3txnCZc_Fvd21LS0zNlS/w268-h400/1574854.jpg" title="Where Monsters Dwell #27, Grogg" width="268" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>I do love a good monster comic, and the comic that loves monsters even more than I do tells us what happens when </span>nuclear tests performed by a captive scientist awaken the ancient dragon Grogg.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, it turns out, the scientist knew Grogg existed and disturbed him on purpose in order to create a distraction that would allow him to escape.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this issue's second tale, explorers land on an alien planet, only to be attacked by monstrous animals.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Finally, thinking it seems like a good idea, they kill the biggest monster of the lot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Only to discover it was really a robot that had been put there to hold the other animals in check.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, now, those other animals are completely out of control!</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-23834714264798491902024-03-03T17:06:00.000+00:002024-03-03T17:06:48.574+00:00Fifty years ago today - March 1974.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">L</span></i>egion are the men who've claimed to be able to foresee the future but only <i>Steve Does Comics</i> can foresee the past.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5huUvkE3yGA/UxTQ1ZsK-hI/AAAAAAAAFTM/PvY7nlF37VQ/s1600/19120.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Avengers #121, Zodiac" border="0" height="405" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5huUvkE3yGA/UxTQ1ZsK-hI/AAAAAAAAFTM/PvY7nlF37VQ/w287-h405/19120.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Avengers #121, Zodiac" width="287" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">It's a case of fully mind the bullocks, as Taurus captures </span><a href="http://stevedoescomics.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Avengers" style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">the Avengers</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> in the least likely trap of all time - a shed with space travel capabilities.</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, at last, we discover the answer to the mystery that's been haunting us all for months, when we discover that Taurus is, in fact, Cornelius Van Lunt!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Ac1cryFkyI/UxTQ1wq5XEI/AAAAAAAAFTY/GGDxOc3gvrc/s1600/20024.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Conan the Barbarian #36" border="0" height="416" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Ac1cryFkyI/UxTQ1wq5XEI/AAAAAAAAFTY/GGDxOc3gvrc/w282-h416/20024.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Conan the Barbarian #36" width="282" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" />From what I can gather, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Conan" target="_blank">Conan</a> returns to Aghrapur and saves King Yildiz from a golem made of stone.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DvP-5oMrfnQ/UxTQ179XfTI/AAAAAAAAFTQ/LSRC_BQsfI0/s1600/20373.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Captain America and the Falcon #171, Black Panther" border="0" height="428" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DvP-5oMrfnQ/UxTQ179XfTI/AAAAAAAAFTQ/LSRC_BQsfI0/w286-h428/20373.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Captain America and the Falcon #171, Black Panther" width="286" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" />It's a jam-packed comic, this month.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Not only is <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Captain%20America" target="_blank">Cap</a> busted out of prison by the unfortunately-named Sanitation Unit but t</span>he Falcon and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Black%20Panther" target="_blank">Panther</a> rescue Leila from Stoneface!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then <span>Falc finds out </span>about Cap's murder charge - just in time for Moonstone to show up and give them both a bashing!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MlqpEqHA06w/UxTQ20I905I/AAAAAAAAFTg/_YqlR7xD5fA/s1600/20839.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Daredevil and the Black Widow #108, The Beetle" border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MlqpEqHA06w/UxTQ20I905I/AAAAAAAAFTg/_YqlR7xD5fA/s1600/20839.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Daredevil and the Black Widow #108, The Beetle" width="270" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" />This can't be good news. Foggy Nelson's been shot while </span>investigating something called the Black Spectre!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">DD</a> abandons wherever it is he is and returns to New York to do something about it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Moondragon, meanwhile, says farewell to our hero and departs for the stars.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's easy to knock her but there's not many women who can say goodbye to a man and then depart for the stars.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q217uHH7azI/UxTQ3bt3O4I/AAAAAAAAFTo/0oswm-p3MzA/s1600/22010.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Fantastic Four #144, Dr Doom, The Seeker" border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q217uHH7azI/UxTQ3bt3O4I/AAAAAAAAFTo/0oswm-p3MzA/s1600/22010.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Fantastic Four #144, Dr Doom, The Seeker" width="271" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white;">I've no recollection of what happens in this one but I do know Darkoth the Death Demon's in it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Judging by that cover, it would seem someone called the Seeker's also in it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Based on his appearance, I'm assuming he's not the Seeker who showed up, in pursuit of the Inhumans, in <i>Fantastic Four</i> #46 but is, instead, a new Seeker.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V5tkSjz_6k8/UxTQ6c0sbTI/AAAAAAAAFUE/QH70j-i2ihs/s1600/23020.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Incredible Hulk #173, Cobalt Man" border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V5tkSjz_6k8/UxTQ6c0sbTI/AAAAAAAAFUE/QH70j-i2ihs/s1600/23020.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Incredible Hulk #173, Cobalt Man" width="265" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">The Cobalt Man makes his return and celebrates it by going completely mad.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Not to fear. If there's anyone can punch some sanity into a man, it's the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk</a>.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" />I would love to know, though, just why the decision was made by Marvel to replace his Iron Man style armour with what looks suspiciously like an American footballer's outfit.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-do0LZ_DnLX8/UxTQ4nusCPI/AAAAAAAAFT0/ponBTfanFkc/s1600/27976.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Amazing Spider-Man #130, Hammerhead" border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-do0LZ_DnLX8/UxTQ4nusCPI/AAAAAAAAFT0/ponBTfanFkc/s1600/27976.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Amazing Spider-Man #130, Hammerhead" width="266" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">The world's most block-headed villain makes his debut - and he's in league with the Jackal!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">More importantly, this is the issue in which the Spider-Mobile makes <i>its</i> block-headed debut.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">And so cool is it that it doesn't need to be in league with anyone.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-48_BB_3zXFE/UxTR_sGTsbI/AAAAAAAAFUM/ierHg6zWzKo/s1600/29765.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Thor #221, Hercules" border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-48_BB_3zXFE/UxTR_sGTsbI/AAAAAAAAFUM/ierHg6zWzKo/s1600/29765.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Thor #221, Hercules" width="261" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I don't think I've ever read this one but my razor-sharp senses tell me <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hercules" target="_blank">Hercules</a> is back.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaVEjzkJuU224qlbvboY4td1s9ZfTaXbSX1-NS6MwsLZ77dpUmr-17HYJ8myCsq2jBNYFSSTZ68D75FmGWEa8jdI6Pr2zhv82OnzUqJclYWZg9ft-Xzd9aJm6uF2jMpdSe8a5ASgV4PGVeqO4lvq9UfQAezF18hNDjQWP5cUyAL-cVPKcB_NWvPMoSpvO/s606/15594.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Superman #273" border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaVEjzkJuU224qlbvboY4td1s9ZfTaXbSX1-NS6MwsLZ77dpUmr-17HYJ8myCsq2jBNYFSSTZ68D75FmGWEa8jdI6Pr2zhv82OnzUqJclYWZg9ft-Xzd9aJm6uF2jMpdSe8a5ASgV4PGVeqO4lvq9UfQAezF18hNDjQWP5cUyAL-cVPKcB_NWvPMoSpvO/w264-h400/15594.jpg" title="Superman #273" width="264" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></i>hat's Marvel's output dealt with but we should never forget that, somewhere across New York, lurks the base of its deadliest enemy. An enemy that just loves to churn out comic books.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And what shall we find in a random sampling of DC's offerings which bear that month's date upon them?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When a scientist somehow gets a magic eye implanted in the middle of his forehead, he sets out to do good deeds in exchange for the adoration of the public.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But it soon turns out there's a price to pay for such a power.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, unless <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Superman" target="_blank">Superman</a> can put a stop to that man's relentless do-gooding, it's the planet Earth that'll have to pay it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But that's not all. In the book's second tale, Superman loses his sight, until he realises his condition's purely psychosomatic and connected to a commitment he's made to entertain a group of blind children.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAU39Xm1VkgyU2tv6jR_ZTndzEKfsyY4Q1ZmMFgrzMW3Ej3JmbcOTaDnx51yEv_rAmu6zgMrYt4vx8RihF-xuNeYItY63mjjJFDtPLqQEgU58WYTh0ihpraG1g2MRAqUgoBd0GADAYNMYg496IkHBo3D_FvQhjEpWYecC2LG8jNHuhq7eHb0z0vII_d7g/s576/3965.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Brave and the Bold #111, Batman and the Joker" border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="400" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCAU39Xm1VkgyU2tv6jR_ZTndzEKfsyY4Q1ZmMFgrzMW3Ej3JmbcOTaDnx51yEv_rAmu6zgMrYt4vx8RihF-xuNeYItY63mjjJFDtPLqQEgU58WYTh0ihpraG1g2MRAqUgoBd0GADAYNMYg496IkHBo3D_FvQhjEpWYecC2LG8jNHuhq7eHb0z0vII_d7g/w263-h379/3965.jpg" title="The Brave and the Bold #111, Batman and the Joker" width="263" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Can it be? The <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Batman" target="_blank">caped crusader</a>? And the clown prince of crime? In league with each other? And at odds with Gotham City's finest custodians of justice?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Too right it can.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or I assume it can, as I'm not totally sure I've read this tale or how such an unholy alliance can have come to be.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj7sri-aOYfC5IGB3XD0ya_pgOcPN2eMiCUtS-dhFj8Zt23kcRGtS0xALfC1dfeM5mqgMBydCWHNdmP9chBopCURqRSQMMA1lG6AM_jDE4TOCX3c_ypLeR-DYA4ARMypUgptNurybwVm22Mfu5xh8l_uJ01MA9GqlPOl9wSiHlT7ohmO_SGAM5GKCSW_Y/s602/11921.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Phantom Stranger #29" border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggj7sri-aOYfC5IGB3XD0ya_pgOcPN2eMiCUtS-dhFj8Zt23kcRGtS0xALfC1dfeM5mqgMBydCWHNdmP9chBopCURqRSQMMA1lG6AM_jDE4TOCX3c_ypLeR-DYA4ARMypUgptNurybwVm22Mfu5xh8l_uJ01MA9GqlPOl9wSiHlT7ohmO_SGAM5GKCSW_Y/w266-h400/11921.jpg" title="The Phantom Stranger #29" width="266" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Luis Dominguez gives us, surely, the most disturbing </span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Phantom%20Stranger" target="_blank">Phantom Stranger</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;"> cover ever, as the trilby-toting tormentor of night-dark souls encounters </span><i style="font-family: arial;">The Devil Dolls of Dr. Z</i><span style="font-family: arial;">!</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">While, in the backup strip, the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Frankenstein" target="_blank">Spawn of Frankenstein</a> would appear to be up against a snake god!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrllRoZ0hLlItNHK6GM3OIRfFi0q5sLAVlnkx35qLm8kMl6cT0E_axy9cZAK5CncTcPLOfXO81WfUI9IyTyfumCoUXi2vhybdGeBdkgBqV6imiN5Iosxf_QeK56CmbjBf1zsdvHlE_OAffvqBiZHpKR5VzFB2Wt0GfgJZvpwD1md6BZ0_Bu-XaENcSkQX/s591/12107.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Prez #4, Dracula" border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrllRoZ0hLlItNHK6GM3OIRfFi0q5sLAVlnkx35qLm8kMl6cT0E_axy9cZAK5CncTcPLOfXO81WfUI9IyTyfumCoUXi2vhybdGeBdkgBqV6imiN5Iosxf_QeK56CmbjBf1zsdvHlE_OAffvqBiZHpKR5VzFB2Wt0GfgJZvpwD1md6BZ0_Bu-XaENcSkQX/w271-h400/12107.jpg" title="Prez #4, Dracula" width="271" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">You can say what you like about <i><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Prez" target="_blank">Prez</a></i> but it's a comic whose covers know how to make me grab it from a spinner rack.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In a dark remake of <i>The Mouse That Roared</i>, the United States accidentally finds itself at war with Transylvania.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that means the nation's first teenage president's going to have to survive an encounter with <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dracula" target="_blank">Dracula</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But a very different version of that fiend to the one we're used to.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_2En4ohoKBaYc1ecf3zOCOkykG9RwI1w5oe16g01SZjVkNeLpUDe5FBzUk9GM6TOBFv-5WMghuFQhAcafIVl6q8o96U40dFTsquLW3yD7G1QlO9xQdkzQYmsL7Da2-YP7O8YQsxIISB2TwfCt6hVVNTR1oHP0wHPO3DjfAnGJ2JXvNTJa2-HpEdO6zly/s583/17808.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Wonder Woman #210" border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_2En4ohoKBaYc1ecf3zOCOkykG9RwI1w5oe16g01SZjVkNeLpUDe5FBzUk9GM6TOBFv-5WMghuFQhAcafIVl6q8o96U40dFTsquLW3yD7G1QlO9xQdkzQYmsL7Da2-YP7O8YQsxIISB2TwfCt6hVVNTR1oHP0wHPO3DjfAnGJ2JXvNTJa2-HpEdO6zly/w275-h400/17808.jpg" title="Wonder Woman #210" width="275" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I can remember little of this issue but I know we get two adventures; one which bears the title <i>The Golden Women and the White Star</i> and one which carries the name <i>The Shrinking Formula</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I do recall that, in the latter tale, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Wonder%20Woman" target="_blank">our heroine</a> must defeat a villain while being no bigger than an ant.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, she's still more than up to the task.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-39862797129893656682024-02-29T17:14:00.000+00:002024-02-29T17:14:09.435+00:00March 2nd, 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">F</span></i>ifty years ago this week saw no change at the peak of the UK singles chart, with Suzi Quatro's party-pleasing <i>Devil Gate Drive</i> retaining its stranglehold on the Number One slot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, it was a different kettle of rock on the accompanying album chart which saw Slade's <i>Old, New, Borrowed and Blue</i> usurp the Carpenters' greatest hits to seize the crown therein.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFx-bQDz-LOGhRjI_Qbgoy0jtsJvx0JBje_6PJY0wntDRWkvzjgrvm220RJYsTV2-E_cUjkXZgOTlHNHCjaNxFPxPG8x6-6uuVjdC5Z84dLU4TZvAHdgGb4aVxw4V4AnhsRVW6He2bNxYr_MjzrBk33hQ4EVblPKJPQjhEUKRvIe2vJ6cioAkHCJOPsIKA/s546/318933.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #74, Hulk vs Maximus" border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFx-bQDz-LOGhRjI_Qbgoy0jtsJvx0JBje_6PJY0wntDRWkvzjgrvm220RJYsTV2-E_cUjkXZgOTlHNHCjaNxFPxPG8x6-6uuVjdC5Z84dLU4TZvAHdgGb4aVxw4V4AnhsRVW6He2bNxYr_MjzrBk33hQ4EVblPKJPQjhEUKRvIe2vJ6cioAkHCJOPsIKA/w293-h400/318933.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #74, Hulk vs Maximus" width="293" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk's</a> still in Central America and still battling the evil Inhumans but, even with <i>their</i> abilities, it's hard to see how they can hope to defeat the puce-panted powerhouse.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But perhaps they won't have to.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When General Ross and his men show up to peacekeep the place to smithereens, it's surely not going to take much work for Maximus to trick our hero into joining forces with him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, in a bid to cure his blindness, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Matt Murdock's</a> visiting a European state ruled by one of his old college friends.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But that college friend is a ruthless dictator and the required eye surgeon promptly dies in a revolt.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the watery depths, the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four</a> are still helping the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Sub-Mariner" target="_blank">Sub-Mariner </a>overcome an invasion attempt by Attuma's hordes - without letting Subby know they're even there.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0hd3C_ozMkomOrNEGO0wTERKH0tU7E7HdCtb-cqRDqnj-UzbZ627SfzWxc_FnegdHvoSjN0v8tYnDIwwp7Xfdj1MgK2ucTx8MwMOGjI-x-gcw9OnQodY_gTnaQM7e43aik88JWXnyk7qeCxXTuRyUX3U1xo0AWyoVRH-zmjroHN8-KpVtpvw2bnkUGPL/s529/521616.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Avengers #24. Attuma" border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="400" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz0hd3C_ozMkomOrNEGO0wTERKH0tU7E7HdCtb-cqRDqnj-UzbZ627SfzWxc_FnegdHvoSjN0v8tYnDIwwp7Xfdj1MgK2ucTx8MwMOGjI-x-gcw9OnQodY_gTnaQM7e43aik88JWXnyk7qeCxXTuRyUX3U1xo0AWyoVRH-zmjroHN8-KpVtpvw2bnkUGPL/w297-h392/521616.jpg" title="The Avengers #24. Attuma" width="297" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Speaking of underwater trouble, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Captain%20America" target="_blank">Cap</a>, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are also in a fight to the death with Attuma.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And Hawkeye can't help them because he's stuck in New York, delayed by the inconvenience of having to battle the Beetle who, for some reason, has decided to single-handedly invade the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">Avengers</a> Mansion!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tragically, my knowledge of what occurs in this week's <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> tale is as limited as it so often is.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTT8-dPCrAWNlxD4YGRXwqFWS2doHqoA_r82Tec4tBKj0dg_RJZsIFIhLk-g5fsCcivVNFVyCqgqbvmCYEwnt4JGEp0yW-Pyi8vmG9Z43k52xmUEofnjM5DxicNqHpU-l8nPMRAYNH0-iH0xWWSZzvfQKjYxVaFdPhcVHCzTZw-mDTm3g86quAxN0PGPJ/s541/859565.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #55, the Spider-Slayer" border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="400" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTT8-dPCrAWNlxD4YGRXwqFWS2doHqoA_r82Tec4tBKj0dg_RJZsIFIhLk-g5fsCcivVNFVyCqgqbvmCYEwnt4JGEp0yW-Pyi8vmG9Z43k52xmUEofnjM5DxicNqHpU-l8nPMRAYNH0-iH0xWWSZzvfQKjYxVaFdPhcVHCzTZw-mDTm3g86quAxN0PGPJ/w299-h404/859565.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #55, the Spider-Slayer" width="299" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span>The second Spider-Slayer launches its deadly attack and gives <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spidey</a> a run for his money until the webby wonder realises the robot's attracted to anything spidery and, thus, lures it back to its creator's lab where the multiple spiders kept there for research purposes cause it to explode like the blundering oaf it is.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In Iron Man's strip, communist spy the Actor steals Tony Stark's latest plans <i>and</i> discovers Iron Man's secret identity!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Iron Man</a> wastes no time in tricking that spy's overlords into murdering him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">With Odin miffed at <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> for having revealed his secret identity to Jane Foster, the thunder god returns to Earth, looking to be reunited with his beloved.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Only to find her hitting the town, with <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hercules" target="_blank">Hercules</a>!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Infuriated by such shenanigans, Thor quickly comes to blows with the Olympian but how long can it be before Odin puts a spoke in the works?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And we finish the book with a Tale of Asgard in which Balder saves the ship he's on, by blowing a horn which causes the total destruction of the attacking Dragon of Utgard.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-79999703364999210032024-02-27T16:30:00.001+00:002024-03-18T16:45:39.776+00:00Speak Your Brain! Part 73. Your favourite Star Trek shows.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; float: left; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 4px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="640" height="204" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h204/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="border: none; padding: 0px;" title="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/tumisu-148124/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Tumisu</a><br />from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Pixabay</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>H</i></span>ow exciting! I've just realised it's one of those special Februaries! The ones that have 29 days in them!</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not that that makes any difference to this site. After all, today is the 27th and would, therefore, have occurred even in a non-leap-year.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Still, perhaps it's what's playing on your mind. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">And perhaps it's not. It doesn't matter. As long as you have something on your mind, then we're all set to go, as</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> today sees the return of</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Speak%20Your%20Brain" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: arial; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">the feature</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> they're all talking about. The one in which the first person to comment gets to choose the day's topic for debate.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Therefore, I shall offer no guidance as to what that might be and shall merely step back, recede behind this handily placed pair of curtains and let you The Reader take the microphone.</div></span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-74330705201086928492024-02-25T17:14:00.000+00:002024-02-25T17:14:12.880+00:00February 1984 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">F</span></i>ebruary 1984 was a disastrous time for those who like to do things by halves, because it was the month in which </span>Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson announced that after, an unlucky for some, 13 years, the UK halfpenny was to be scrapped. Personally, it's a trauma so huge that I've never got over it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><br /></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div>It was, however, a great time for those who liked gold.</div><div><br /></div><div>Or indeed silver or, even, bronze, as it was the month in which the Winter Olympics kicked off in Sarajevo. Mere days after that opening ceremony, Britain found triumph, thanks to ice dancers Torvill and Dean.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the then Soviet Union, triumph was also visiting Konstantin Chernenko who succeeded the newly deceased Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of that land's Communist Party.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Upon the UK singles chart, it will surprise few familiar with 1980s music to discover Frankie Goes to Hollywood's irresistible juggernaut <i>Relax</i> greeted the new month at Number One.</div><div><br /></div><div>But even that couldn't stay on top forever and, so, by February's end, it had been supplanted by the Teutonic tunefulness of Nena and her <i>99 Red Balloons</i>.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Meanwhile, on the accompanying album chart, February launched with the Eurythmics' <i>Touch</i> hogging pole position before being replaced by Simple Minds' <i>Sparkle in the Rain</i> which then had to make way for the Thompson Twins' <i>Into the Gap</i>. </div></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #9, Cloak and Dagger" border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIUicC84JTOwxY8W_TgrKdxDQzHfNMUbOUB0Kul_3SmRNe5rf8IoFmKfjf47vOJSfUF76_N6ClyuB0htTwUM4qIjGG3fxY5Ie1r7yOmZTZ_sVKWWazeiF3Y5L_4ZrOEW0kxOpEStcCNq8rg23KsygwAREs-0iolaV9gnDLmxA1ZtXOe5Jl4jHdWbW0pYB/w293-h400/24613.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #9, Cloak and Dagger" width="293" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Cloak and Dagger's strip makes its <i><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Mighty%20World%20of%20Marvel" target="_blank">Mighty World of Marvel</a></i> debut when the contrasting couple ask someone called Father Delgado for sanctuary in his church.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Someone else who might appreciate sanctuary are <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Captain%20Britain" target="_blank">Captain Britain</a> and his allies. Luna, Betsy and friends are done over by the Beetles while the good captain visits Jim Jaspers' lair - only to find the villain has become all but unstoppable.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In his strip, Night Raven must tackle <i>The Haunting of Don Salvatore Vischetti</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And in Daredevil's strip... ...well, there is no <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Daredevil</a> strip. Despite the comic being called <i>Mighty World of Marvel Featuring the Daredevils</i>, poor old Hornhead isn't able to get into a comic that's 50% named in his honour.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Doctor Who Magazine #85, Peter Davison and Janet Fielding" border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="498" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQ06RRh6QvOcvlpjIQA6JjaWWgYu6KrfPYhV4-SSqjviIBYBvpT-WvnpakOZjlvjqjGSvjK6-Yv4iOreR4Hbizf7Eide2JdqtRiw2xylO4fIasKxzyLZcYIclhK4YUFGYe-x6txWAt4eTTRMCQXPP6t6NpQ1ZYKA1tVnYJeSzwTn2UBJV-BFAWbI4wuBR/w291-h387/851370-85.jpg" title="Doctor Who Magazine #85, Peter Davison and Janet Fielding" width="291" /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The mag that's bigger on the inside than the outside gives us a preview of the undersea drama the world will come to know as <i>Warriors of the Deep</i> in which the Silurians team up with the Sea Devils in a bid to destroy humanity.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But that's not all because this issue also gives us a preview of <i>The Awakening</i> and <i>Frontios</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As well as that, there's a review of 20th anniversary episode <i>The Five Doctors</i>, a comic strip called <i>Skywatch-7</i> and an interview with Leela actor Louise Jameson.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Savage Sword of Conan #76, marvel UK" border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="400" height="402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4BVxWYStcAZ13U6wkFuMRu75Qitbhfg8ddqTJO8O9RHvmIGngrSJbSH0NWQgs-M5KJqB3drzvJno1ynx8C-P_jcj1yQFIkj9qSSDbpaCWwXn0Pf0g_hVXD1ryhUeKQTsZ8Z5gzrdlp-MGXVMh3Pbn_sjpZuxf-ITXEnz22JRXGsoMDDZeWK4zIvBf5WH/w291-h402/1377706.jpg" title="The Savage Sword of Conan #76, marvel UK" width="291" /></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I can tell you little of what transpires within this one but I do know it centres around a 40-page tale called <i>Lady of the Silver Snows</i> which is brought to us by the not-so-barbaric team of Chris Claremont and Val Mayerik.</span><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VPqYDo2rpUX_YYsl4_A34Kdd-EdQFk0ZKP7JiPUDHQQ3TaKcQ1ArCPvqSTWQECvFkJxASgXO1ov62iwdrOwq60EanaSg6k7RrI9wTMFO7iE3_XyXAmKgksKNwkyXwqBXjLb08AnhzEyGmljY_YoC6SgWXQLu61Gw9Nbc9OVbrrEoGTaqSsC-Xkee46Eb/s856/4343.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Starburst #66, Strange Invaders" border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="600" height="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VPqYDo2rpUX_YYsl4_A34Kdd-EdQFk0ZKP7JiPUDHQQ3TaKcQ1ArCPvqSTWQECvFkJxASgXO1ov62iwdrOwq60EanaSg6k7RrI9wTMFO7iE3_XyXAmKgksKNwkyXwqBXjLb08AnhzEyGmljY_YoC6SgWXQLu61Gw9Nbc9OVbrrEoGTaqSsC-Xkee46Eb/w289-h413/4343.jpg" title="Starburst #66, Strange Invaders" width="289" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The nation's favourite sci-fi mag proves its foresight by previewing the upcoming alien invasion television mini-series <i>V</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Also, Irving Kershner discusses his directorial work on <i>The Empire Strikes Back</i> and <i>Never Say Never Again</i></span>, we're given an interview with special effects wizard Douglas Trumbull, and columnist Barry Forshaw presents a thinkpiece about video censorship.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-16517405467325803222024-02-22T16:53:00.001+00:002024-02-22T18:32:51.943+00:00February 23rd 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span></i>f I were to declaim, to you, the words, "Come alive! Come alive!" you'd know exactly what I was saying to you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'd be saying, "Come alive!"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But where would I be saying it?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Why, down at </span><i>Devil Gate Drive</i>, of course.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For, verily, it was that very song which was topping the UK singles chart, this week in 1974. And that was good news for Suzi Quatro who was the woman responsible for it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Over on the British album chart, there was no change from the week before, with the Carpenters' <i>The Singles 1969-1973</i> still ruling the roost.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD_pma2oCJCXtNiYtMdzY4WYcrSQRGGJCBVPeUl04WfXW_HCv3KjNWst5UxAIaBQWYxUiJZEQlvPuhos6ClJOIXx4R1D_zwCfiAN8Rk25b4ugJkqpnSxn6KzdOEYd6U4-dcdzLfogFRLK2UUqDEO4s1R3lKLVtgCjYE8FmukltQ1KsSVgePW1DjbHiM2w/s536/521615.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Avengers #23, Attuma" border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUD_pma2oCJCXtNiYtMdzY4WYcrSQRGGJCBVPeUl04WfXW_HCv3KjNWst5UxAIaBQWYxUiJZEQlvPuhos6ClJOIXx4R1D_zwCfiAN8Rk25b4ugJkqpnSxn6KzdOEYd6U4-dcdzLfogFRLK2UUqDEO4s1R3lKLVtgCjYE8FmukltQ1KsSVgePW1DjbHiM2w/w299-h400/521615.jpg" title="The Avengers #23, Attuma" width="299" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">But none of the above truly matters.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is what matters.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That here is the issue where I began regularly reading the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">Avengers</a>' weekly comic, rather than just seeing the occasional edition of it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And what a way to start that era, with that rascally rogue Attuma kidnapping the winsome Wasp, as she flies across the ocean, looking to warn the world of a potential attack by the Sub-Mariner.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, such an affront forces the world's most powerful heroes to get involved.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And involved they get by quickly getting stomped all over by the villain.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I do believe that, in his strip, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> is still battling a Baron Mordo whose power is being boosted by that of the dread Dormammu.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, unfortunately for the villain, Dormammu's becoming increasingly distracted by events in his own dimension.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_koWZA1gJ5RHA_F1-S0kasv2LECIjPEmqS6QPHvo7ICSlFerzQU8JNYIla_dzLoFJ2gBt0CY1AfpG_eoXi3S7sjARLh5AlFZlAmRCicOnfp_grs9QY5CeLhfFCJ-O9jhFjgdb7wPiyDJnja7p-2Rs548xb03p_I9I9wRqN43wSJ1JxVMPLpfLW-dwZeg/s562/863575.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #73" border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="400" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_koWZA1gJ5RHA_F1-S0kasv2LECIjPEmqS6QPHvo7ICSlFerzQU8JNYIla_dzLoFJ2gBt0CY1AfpG_eoXi3S7sjARLh5AlFZlAmRCicOnfp_grs9QY5CeLhfFCJ-O9jhFjgdb7wPiyDJnja7p-2Rs548xb03p_I9I9wRqN43wSJ1JxVMPLpfLW-dwZeg/w298-h418/863575.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #73" width="298" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Unless I miss my Gamma-loving guess, the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk</a> finds himself in a Central American republic where the locals reside beneath the hypnotic spell of a giant robot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that's not the only shock for our hero because it turns out that robot's a mere lackey.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And it's under the control of none other than Maximus the Mad!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Elsewhere, it seems like good news for <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Matt Murdock</a> because one his old friends is now supreme ruler of a European country and invites the blind lawyer over for an operation to restore his sight.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, once there, it doesn't take Matt long to realise his friend is a ruthless dictator - and has an army of robot knights!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And even more elsewhere, Attuma's proving to be a busy lad, this week, because not only must he contend with the Avengers, he's also got to foil the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Sub-Mariner" target="_blank">Sub-Mariner</a> who - whether he knows it or not - is being aided and abetted by the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bCyCbHU9O87y3CVFgEVSaX5CqsH9Lm7GwlD7TTic6EPI-zw5LpoThtN1h_k0r8-tAErBkcUz2Kc1V9LEjo7c6IoTEpd3zM24Xln6JOeUzA816Rp9Oq6a1vxKGMcX1-GtBbExwHpxq9qd1CagcC0rKHAXUCHtaNSwEcDjkxYq55Ozo6lFFqnXJOQUzYQI/s545/869248.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #54, the Spider-Slayer" border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bCyCbHU9O87y3CVFgEVSaX5CqsH9Lm7GwlD7TTic6EPI-zw5LpoThtN1h_k0r8-tAErBkcUz2Kc1V9LEjo7c6IoTEpd3zM24Xln6JOeUzA816Rp9Oq6a1vxKGMcX1-GtBbExwHpxq9qd1CagcC0rKHAXUCHtaNSwEcDjkxYq55Ozo6lFFqnXJOQUzYQI/w294-h400/869248.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #54, the Spider-Slayer" width="294" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">From that cover, I think we can deduce the Spider-Slayer is back - and deadlier than ever!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Clearly, this is bad news for everyone's favourite <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">web-spinner</a> who's only just regained his memory after his near-death experience with Ka-Zar.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Iron Man</a>, meanwhile, finds himself <i>Trapped by the Mad Barbarian.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Based on Marvel UK's previous form, I'm going to assume the Mad Barbarian was called the Red Barbarian in the original US comic and has had his name changed to avoid offending whoever it is who'd be offended. I'm also going to suspect his home country's been renamed, "Bodavia."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It all involves a commie scheme to send malevolent master of disguise The Actor to steal the plans for Tony Stark's latest weapon. I think we can all assume Tony's not going to stand for that kind of malarkey.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, almost finally, for this issue, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> fights the Demon to recover a Norn Stone.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But is the thunder god ready for the wrath he's about to face from Odin for revealing his secret identity to Jane Foster?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And the issue closes with a two-page map of Asgard to make sure we won't get lost the next time we visit it.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-88712589942120453872024-02-20T16:43:00.001+00:002024-02-26T16:13:29.308+00:00Speak Your Brain! Part 72. Of Hype and Disenchantment.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; float: left; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 4px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="640" height="204" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h204/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="border: none; padding: 0px;" title="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/tumisu-148124/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Tumisu</a><br />from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Pixabay</a></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>H</i></span>ark!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Can you hear it?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the trees? In the babbling brooks? In the air around us and upon the breeze?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Why, no. You can't.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's because there's nothing to hear.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Wherever we traipse in the unending forest that is the internet, there lurks nothing but dread and silence.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But why?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Because there is not yet anything </span>to say.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, with any luck, there soon shall be.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>And that's because, at the centre of that forest, we've stumbled, once more, upon</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Speak%20Your%20Brain" style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">the feature</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> that even the squirrels themselves have learnt to fear. The one in which I keep quiet and whoever finds this site gets to decide the day's topic for debate.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That debate could be about anything that tickles your fancy or peels your potatoes.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><div><br /></div><div>Therefore, hesitate ye not, brave wanderer and announce that topic in the comments section below.</div></span></span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-80477675625892720412024-02-18T16:36:00.000+00:002024-02-18T16:36:08.733+00:002000 AD - January 1986.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">***</span></i></div></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">S</span></i>ome seekers of global unity may dream of hands across the water but, in January 1986, it was a case of hands beneath the sea, as the UK and France announced plans to construct a tunnel beneath the English Channel. One which would allow people to get on a train in one of those countries and ride it all the way to the heart of the other.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />And it wasn't the only display of European partnership underway at the time. It was, after all, the month in which Spain and Portugal joined the European Community which would go on to become the European Union.<br /><br />Not so happily for the human race, January also saw disaster when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up only 73 seconds after launch, killing its entire crew of seven astronauts.<br /><br />Over on the UK singles chart, the month was dominated by just two songs. Firstly, the Pet Shop Boys' <i>West End Girls</i> and then a-ha's <i>The Sun Always Shines on TV</i>.<br /><br />The album chart, meanwhile, was initially topped by <i>Now That's What I Call Music! 6</i> before even that had to make way for the unstoppable behemoth that was Dire Straits' <i>Brothers in Arms</i> which had already been on the chart for 35 weeks at that point.<br /><br />But what of the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/2000AD" target="_blank">Galaxy's greatest comic</a>? What was it up to as that year began its long hard trek towards the following Christmas?</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was up to <i>The Ballad of Halo Jones, Sláine, Ace Trucking Co, Judge Dredd </i>and<i> Strontium Dog</i>. The observant witness will have noticed that no new strips seem to have appeared during that period.<br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsnROCt5zM6zgnc6o9YDirgXZmSgObVrG-4YUIR0qX4qAyIe-qqX20Q0yjer0KkYTz8eRL-6RluGVMcn5_Mk9Bs-ZuoM6U1FHSbLzSOybST1ud7hwxnKwZdgyEisAA_NclYlBMBYedMgZ12W5dbEk2-lTiZZYiR7cPQ17-gfdkbcy6VvON6FlGrpQlh-Q/s480/145766.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD #451, Halo Jones" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsnROCt5zM6zgnc6o9YDirgXZmSgObVrG-4YUIR0qX4qAyIe-qqX20Q0yjer0KkYTz8eRL-6RluGVMcn5_Mk9Bs-ZuoM6U1FHSbLzSOybST1ud7hwxnKwZdgyEisAA_NclYlBMBYedMgZ12W5dbEk2-lTiZZYiR7cPQ17-gfdkbcy6VvON6FlGrpQlh-Q/s16000/145766.jpg" title="2000 AD #451, Halo Jones" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvazBvdDqukuvdaFm4L2E9MIYC82VErHS1qu7H-QoTTbl63FIyt6__WfPWAM_3gr6CbyVGtldlpQDsqxpda8Kb7mpUeQ6vWrwZNhyphenhyphen4EJ4j8jExQeF5V5EZ0f0W9lJY8RCUI36P7XBzofsI1tMWFiOBKRKrzTPcCZXJszcfOb4GvEpQe8W7AeWTHilMmwP/s481/145767.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD #452, Judge Dredd" border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvazBvdDqukuvdaFm4L2E9MIYC82VErHS1qu7H-QoTTbl63FIyt6__WfPWAM_3gr6CbyVGtldlpQDsqxpda8Kb7mpUeQ6vWrwZNhyphenhyphen4EJ4j8jExQeF5V5EZ0f0W9lJY8RCUI36P7XBzofsI1tMWFiOBKRKrzTPcCZXJszcfOb4GvEpQe8W7AeWTHilMmwP/s16000/145767.jpg" title="2000 AD #452, Judge Dredd" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_38nhUgpDROt73RRefYEf1QOf71DPPAs7UVTNgr-kr4dM9TCiulJrcdCBLvMsLmbJ7e4wz3NDEqM_fAZQBEe_EbzeM1jm5IMhW19nMyrctn_WPMSSmYtLslq3-YSkxtphTNhe7m-0yMT5-FMQ4UtimQdiO0WQ-vSzhDKl0aLVb2Ho3FBKY-HDtkNd6O3/s491/145768.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD #453" border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_38nhUgpDROt73RRefYEf1QOf71DPPAs7UVTNgr-kr4dM9TCiulJrcdCBLvMsLmbJ7e4wz3NDEqM_fAZQBEe_EbzeM1jm5IMhW19nMyrctn_WPMSSmYtLslq3-YSkxtphTNhe7m-0yMT5-FMQ4UtimQdiO0WQ-vSzhDKl0aLVb2Ho3FBKY-HDtkNd6O3/s16000/145768.jpg" title="2000 AD #453" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuMtwsQZ6DBT1T1ASNOxjE3sh5QuwjzF33XMnenoSmDulS0XOYKzN-oPaViAPtdjW6dJYoPXOFQ4tk6z-nVS27Z49zSpEoctSbsWfTdc2FhMbA04SIGJUYpCf4oFhgFpcFi-Dwg8mJ23lSZAZ_7nfSy2W837dgjSjr7gQgmeFLtCj9LnRGZxamJPjiQQW/s491/145769.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2000 AD #454, Judge Dredd" border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuMtwsQZ6DBT1T1ASNOxjE3sh5QuwjzF33XMnenoSmDulS0XOYKzN-oPaViAPtdjW6dJYoPXOFQ4tk6z-nVS27Z49zSpEoctSbsWfTdc2FhMbA04SIGJUYpCf4oFhgFpcFi-Dwg8mJ23lSZAZ_7nfSy2W837dgjSjr7gQgmeFLtCj9LnRGZxamJPjiQQW/s16000/145769.jpg" title="2000 AD #454, Judge Dredd" /></a></div></div></div></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-49178335543421241072024-02-15T16:36:00.000+00:002024-02-15T16:36:39.934+00:00February 16th 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></i>s has been previously mentioned in this site's comments section, this week in 1974 saw the launch of a TV phenomenon.</div><div><br /></div><div>That phenomenon was <i>Bagpuss</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Produced by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate's <i>Smallfilms</i> company, only 13 episodes were ever made of the show that featured the adventures of a stuffed cloth cat but that didn't prevent it from becoming a low-key national treasure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Having said that, I don't think I've ever seen a single episode of it but I have heard it spoken of in hushed whispers wherever men meet to speak in hushed whispers.</div><div><br /></div><div>Two days after that launch, the world of football witnessed a major event of its own, as Birmingham City centre-forward Bob Latchford became Britain's most expensive player, thanks to a £350,000 move to Everton.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>There were no signs of change atop the UK singles and album charts, that week, with Mud's <i>Tiger Feet</i> and the Carpenters' <i>Singles 1969-1973</i> maintaining a stranglehold on their respective Number One spots.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>I do, of course, love <i>Tiger Feet</i> but other tracks I approved of on that singles chart were:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Devil Gate Drive</i> - Suzi Quatro</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>The Man Who Sold the World</i> - Lulu</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Dance With the Devil</i> - Cozy Powell</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>The Show Must Go On</i> - Leo Sayer</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div><i>How Come?</i> - Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Living for the City - Stevie Wonder</i></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Jealous Mind</i> - Alvin Stardust</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>My Coo-Ca-Choo</i> - Alvin Stardust</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>The Air that I Breathe</i> - the Hollies</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>After the Goldrush</i> - Prelude</div></div><div><br /></div><div>and</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i>Lamplight</i> - David Essex.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Should one wish to scrutinise the situation in more depth, that week's singles chart may be perused <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19740210/7501/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>While the corresponding album chart resides <a href="https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart/19740210/7502/" target="_blank">within</a>.</div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWP4u24VyTCX1YPsfFU57sXHwiQ-pZOHtuXlNmtkpiirq_IeudGRGaGRXFH7vHtlUGt5XB5r76rO-7jr5gDuzBSONMyOFXXQA5SOqK9lMKxqKFsZ-A-mG5Ujq-aLpXRDoq72jAeS7i8RrzJCY1mR7MUHh7uWlg3JA_5AbRpOqC1w6444riFaPnyPpe8KO/s539/521614.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Avengers #22, Dr Doom" border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWP4u24VyTCX1YPsfFU57sXHwiQ-pZOHtuXlNmtkpiirq_IeudGRGaGRXFH7vHtlUGt5XB5r76rO-7jr5gDuzBSONMyOFXXQA5SOqK9lMKxqKFsZ-A-mG5Ujq-aLpXRDoq72jAeS7i8RrzJCY1mR7MUHh7uWlg3JA_5AbRpOqC1w6444riFaPnyPpe8KO/w296-h400/521614.jpg" title="The Avengers #22, Dr Doom" width="296" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The team's new lineup gets its toughest test yet when Victor Von Doom decides that, before he next tackles the Fantastic Four, he first needs to strike fear into their hearts - and concludes that the best way of doing that is by</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> defeating the </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">Avengers</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, even with home advantage on his side, that proves to be harder than it sounds.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Something else that's harder than it sounds is describing what happens in this week's <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> tale. Other than being able to disclose that he must face Dormammu, I dwell within total ignorance upon the matter.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_azFJXo293ONVGGmsSQv9SXXf_rLtiMkVsyvo6RzEFGBaRQSXQBcw930WGEl3gYSfrbhFa66HxRykTHIlqZ9tT5qNGEp06ug5_IY-Db_3W-0nsc_j3te8i-TLwhIJlD-JeTgJ7jSZfbGdASSJrzwpabRzKwyuRAf47fu4Cisxi7p8gOYm3LjeaDH-pPJ/s534/859597.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #53, Ka-Zar" border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi_azFJXo293ONVGGmsSQv9SXXf_rLtiMkVsyvo6RzEFGBaRQSXQBcw930WGEl3gYSfrbhFa66HxRykTHIlqZ9tT5qNGEp06ug5_IY-Db_3W-0nsc_j3te8i-TLwhIJlD-JeTgJ7jSZfbGdASSJrzwpabRzKwyuRAf47fu4Cisxi7p8gOYm3LjeaDH-pPJ/w300-h400/859597.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #53, Ka-Zar" width="300" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Can it be?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Can <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a> be dead?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">No.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It can't.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not that we'll find that out until next week.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For now, we'll have to settle for a titanic tussle between man-spider and jungle lord that'll have our hero feeling distinctly waterlogged.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, in <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Iron Man's</a> strip, things are getting wierd.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In fact, they're getting Dr Wierd, as a villain originally called Dr Strange gets renamed by <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Marvel%20UK%2050%20years%20ago%20this%20week" target="_blank">Marvel UK</a> to prevent readers becoming confused.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now they're just left to be confused by why the villain can't spell his own surname correctly.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't remember much of his plan but I do know it's foiled when his own daughter gives Iron Man a couple of torch batteries with which he can regain his vigour and unleash his full might.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, witch doctor turned super-villain, the Demon is still rampaging around Asia - but the masked malcontent hasn't counted on <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> showing up.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Possibly more significantly, things are stirring in Olympus, with <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hercules" target="_blank">Hercules</a> being sent to Earth, by Zeus, for reasons I don't recall.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2KoNZsFCv2EjVdCvpQEP1XW56KHdmtiY4H-6QDS4WNb9FvmLLnefHozLVRWTSCarh1M5gl1cgDoGr4aCie8z-RiVY33z4Ad2vrB9XdafokUFFyEfm6fG5fEKESj08IOkWD228ULOpmrm3mvwaFykNlBcwDGIZfzmCrfMb90SUcNDQE_lL80HxP85FQCW/s545/973755.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #72, Hulk vs Sub-Mariner" border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2KoNZsFCv2EjVdCvpQEP1XW56KHdmtiY4H-6QDS4WNb9FvmLLnefHozLVRWTSCarh1M5gl1cgDoGr4aCie8z-RiVY33z4Ad2vrB9XdafokUFFyEfm6fG5fEKESj08IOkWD228ULOpmrm3mvwaFykNlBcwDGIZfzmCrfMb90SUcNDQE_lL80HxP85FQCW/w294-h400/973755.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #72, Hulk vs Sub-Mariner" width="294" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>The <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk's</a> epic battle with the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Sub-Mariner" target="_blank">Sub-Mariner</a> continues apace. And even the danger of innocent bystanders being killed isn't putting an end to hostilities!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back on dry land, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Daredevil</a> concludes his first-ever tussle with the Stiltman, by shrinking him down to the size of an atom.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, in another part of New York, Gregory Gideon continues to throw his wealth at the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four</a>, in his attempts to defeat them</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, with Dr Doom's time machine now lurking in the Baxter Building, as a trap, it looks like he just might succeed.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But could an innocent child's devotion to decency be enough to melt the heart of even the frostiest of tycoons?</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-43900495497084471412024-02-13T16:40:00.000+00:002024-02-13T16:40:39.511+00:00The Marvel Lucky Bag - February 1984.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">F</span></i>ilms to treasure for the rest of your life were notably absent in February 1984 but the month did see the release of both </span><i>Blame It On Rio </i>and <i>Footloose</i>, neither which are within a million miles of being movies I actually like but they are, at least, films I've actually heard of.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSGrDwiTKuA36_0HScIB89j69BY0YH0rRfbpM5VLh92oD8MJHZlWpCqumU3KB-cU3rytgAtsN05tJXVj7v-bCXLYUn127sSpcdqM27LO3-DVP0iQMlr5td1zDfLOAZEb0s16AR1E8AbK8vGmG6lJGglXdJ8QfTezHPIpb9EqkiN3wDmMkpRk7NZioR7fj/s618/21393.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Defenders #128" border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSGrDwiTKuA36_0HScIB89j69BY0YH0rRfbpM5VLh92oD8MJHZlWpCqumU3KB-cU3rytgAtsN05tJXVj7v-bCXLYUn127sSpcdqM27LO3-DVP0iQMlr5td1zDfLOAZEb0s16AR1E8AbK8vGmG6lJGglXdJ8QfTezHPIpb9EqkiN3wDmMkpRk7NZioR7fj/w259-h400/21393.jpg" title="The Defenders #128" width="259" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In all honesty, this month's Marvel B-Listers don't look much more promising than those movies but I'm nothing if not an optimist. So, let's see what we can find amidst them that might tickle our fancy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And I cannot deny that I've picked this one purely because of the strangeness of its cover. What's going on? Why are they all just stood around, like that? What can it all portend?</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That, I cannot say. All I know of the tale within is that it's titled <i>Assault on the Empire!</i> and has a character called Cloud in it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVz8Nc0dVcGXIxXuPsgFg0S0VxKCtmCCR39QZ9FYwrdy9yJQsCtDQNHJwxacycgOdkJqh46kFjIWZrU_hDQH4vSUihHqmtU3NYMZEOmGoF7wxZpwR6MnalS2DPrpnf5v2gp4DWACQ7bZcCHEOF4pT1X5RpgAD56pVAl4SRmIQITmgsD74mUn-iDsaGBo3/s799/21704.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Elektra Saga #1" border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="799" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnVz8Nc0dVcGXIxXuPsgFg0S0VxKCtmCCR39QZ9FYwrdy9yJQsCtDQNHJwxacycgOdkJqh46kFjIWZrU_hDQH4vSUihHqmtU3NYMZEOmGoF7wxZpwR6MnalS2DPrpnf5v2gp4DWACQ7bZcCHEOF4pT1X5RpgAD56pVAl4SRmIQITmgsD74mUn-iDsaGBo3/w400-h305/21704.jpg" title="The Elektra Saga #1" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Possibly the least attractive cover in the history of comics tells us we've the chance to reacquaint ourselves with Elektra's appearances in the pages of <i><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Daredevil</a></i>, thanks to the medium of reprints.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7eESJlE3-Vv0mwaS4-CXQB1bLakw7gITIwm9v9yapV2C3Wz9FyJFk_YszhpAMdFEyhA8b2ZK0odg4XOzpftBHVp88tHDVY9bkAd8ozm0Hreyap484YJ1wfSSdrWyNZE7DOPLx8Ql41-y9OFDD0_BEHXm_cPVThm1TPgU8m_kVAxBFwJ4h3U-vf6Kz2AF/s530/21741.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Epic Illustrated #22" border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7eESJlE3-Vv0mwaS4-CXQB1bLakw7gITIwm9v9yapV2C3Wz9FyJFk_YszhpAMdFEyhA8b2ZK0odg4XOzpftBHVp88tHDVY9bkAd8ozm0Hreyap484YJ1wfSSdrWyNZE7DOPLx8Ql41-y9OFDD0_BEHXm_cPVThm1TPgU8m_kVAxBFwJ4h3U-vf6Kz2AF/w303-h400/21741.jpg" title="Epic Illustrated #22" width="303" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I've not included an issue of <i>Epic Illustrated</i> in ages. So, what does this one offer us?<br /><br />It offers us <i>Wizard's Masque</i>, <i>Dispositio: Chapter III,</i> <i>The Scroll</i>, <i>Frankenstein</i>, <i>Terror in Paradise</i>, <i>Conan the Calendar,</i> <i>The Legend</i>, <i>The Dance, Reunion</i>, <i>The Monster</i> and <i>The Hero</i>, as brought to us by the likes of Jim Starlin, John Bolton, Bernie Wrightson, Charles Vess and Bill Sienkiewicz, among many others of redoubtable talent.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kNMrA2M8TFBwbJCfg5eEU914AU6RuvYzdIx0x01ENIePNMcwxbzCS1Wd0bhBx5kREv-6eLGN4TKdADKS0nmfPG-bS6jlvSB_FOrzJHv6oZTwC9UKkHxMw7qw5v0pW_5J_Tz3z69bw5v_JjCx7Hd80QUbsrBdzddZLgJ5aoabdFKxVOiV9pvnaK0kdHhv/s622/27014.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Rom #51, Starshine" border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kNMrA2M8TFBwbJCfg5eEU914AU6RuvYzdIx0x01ENIePNMcwxbzCS1Wd0bhBx5kREv-6eLGN4TKdADKS0nmfPG-bS6jlvSB_FOrzJHv6oZTwC9UKkHxMw7qw5v0pW_5J_Tz3z69bw5v_JjCx7Hd80QUbsrBdzddZLgJ5aoabdFKxVOiV9pvnaK0kdHhv/w258-h400/27014.jpg" title="Rom #51, Starshine" width="258" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Judging by that cover, it looks like plenty of people are in for a whole heap of trouble.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And our hero clearly agrees because, when the media show up to broadcast a symbolic funeral for the town of Clairton, Rom decides it's a great opportunity to warn the world of the threat the Dire Wraiths pose to us all.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMhLGBTlPookBy0Cw329wUtwp_GD-yjFYXQqeNzu-pOFfuD1dP4nL6YpqBnJLDwUAe5DJCjR8hUlYBAoR_LxsmV4QwisRpyUJ-lSkZ-Iw7vyzHykP2AlauzOSl-id6486hwGytIokkmmyaLNd9Xs6FbV1SBkVne7OPxZAaJfyA4ZDezhIDr7NII3cEn0k/s616/86846.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #13" border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMhLGBTlPookBy0Cw329wUtwp_GD-yjFYXQqeNzu-pOFfuD1dP4nL6YpqBnJLDwUAe5DJCjR8hUlYBAoR_LxsmV4QwisRpyUJ-lSkZ-Iw7vyzHykP2AlauzOSl-id6486hwGytIokkmmyaLNd9Xs6FbV1SBkVne7OPxZAaJfyA4ZDezhIDr7NII3cEn0k/w260-h400/86846.jpg" title="The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #13" width="260" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">My motto is, "Never turn down a chance for morbidity," and, clearly, someone at Marvel agrees with me because this month's edition tells us all we need to know about characters who are either dead or inactive; from Air-Walker to Man-Wolf.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS1PdaZFUtmZ7mzw0rFITfCa5HqgZTCWmcB0LGKKYeChFKXTHiyKYGRj8yrvRe5jZKgnYYE1N4VIpMPq1Dr5L5rnUW-CDE7lWsv5nebMbFXZDg2Y0W8prfGI0OwloSUKfsUaEUDsqzS4ZuMunGLIqZZRNicD1YA0snRg5J0_r4sJF9W2tdHmvO8lcmr_7/s611/836716.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Tales of Asgard #1" border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitS1PdaZFUtmZ7mzw0rFITfCa5HqgZTCWmcB0LGKKYeChFKXTHiyKYGRj8yrvRe5jZKgnYYE1N4VIpMPq1Dr5L5rnUW-CDE7lWsv5nebMbFXZDg2Y0W8prfGI0OwloSUKfsUaEUDsqzS4ZuMunGLIqZZRNicD1YA0snRg5J0_r4sJF9W2tdHmvO8lcmr_7/w261-h400/836716.jpg" title="Tales of Asgard #1" width="261" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">A brand new mag gives us lots of old stories, as a whole heap of Lee/Kirby <i>Tales of Asgard</i> reprints get its very own comic.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-b1xqO23wKVfK8I7-K5HygiNJ1KYU_nmNOFRW8sGsyBC4nyyM1cwthDeXCBKZQaaxkZALBuIkwhBbYO7BNfcNgBJ2Vi2gSgFtH683Z5bUqTZ_wp90fJZpOBoTkAs19_Tyxvb8XjiFbuJ-47JvLlZpWeiSgr_vD8HY7RV_V9lJJrem1BBNGbwOpnx89ci/s612/1312622.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The X-Men and the Micronauts #2" border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-b1xqO23wKVfK8I7-K5HygiNJ1KYU_nmNOFRW8sGsyBC4nyyM1cwthDeXCBKZQaaxkZALBuIkwhBbYO7BNfcNgBJ2Vi2gSgFtH683Z5bUqTZ_wp90fJZpOBoTkAs19_Tyxvb8XjiFbuJ-47JvLlZpWeiSgr_vD8HY7RV_V9lJJrem1BBNGbwOpnx89ci/w261-h400/1312622.jpg" title="The X-Men and the Micronauts #2" width="261" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/X-Men" target="_blank">The X-Men's</a> unlikely crossover with the Micronauts continues, as Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo and Butch Guice spin a yarn they call <i>Into the Abyss!</i></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbY0MQSN_dZKbtyTSc1zIqIQ4HOhJnfqKjNDXxenI3zva_2NH6DpHjQLYiZZbLGkIrKo5zJU4oqc03U4RkoESocJ-dZowxtMrspYGbbDJN3lD3N-quu7oZPpvCnBSpBM9kosk5G-9wRbpTYeVj7jrk4TcvHcV5j9To4LocLqoEo9Ac7tZsE0p3C3wamWJx/s617/1372491.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="What If? #43" border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbY0MQSN_dZKbtyTSc1zIqIQ4HOhJnfqKjNDXxenI3zva_2NH6DpHjQLYiZZbLGkIrKo5zJU4oqc03U4RkoESocJ-dZowxtMrspYGbbDJN3lD3N-quu7oZPpvCnBSpBM9kosk5G-9wRbpTYeVj7jrk4TcvHcV5j9To4LocLqoEo9Ac7tZsE0p3C3wamWJx/w259-h400/1372491.jpg" title="What If? #43" width="259" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Marvel does like to give us tales in which <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Conan" target="_blank">Conan</a> finds himself in the modern age. In this one, he becomes a gang leader, although I've no doubt he'll be one with a moral code.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm assuming this is the adventure in which he gets into a fight with Captain America and makes short work of him?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the issue's second tale; according to the <a href="https://www.comics.org/issue/1036647/" target="_blank">GCD</a>, Phoenix, the Silver Surfer and Dr Strange return to the destroyed universe.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm not sure what they do about it from that point on. I can only hope they use their vast power to un-destroy it.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-13509473501030394002024-02-11T17:03:00.000+00:002024-02-11T17:03:49.510+00:00Forty years ago today - February 1984.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span></i> wise man once said, "Time, time, time. See what has become of me."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That man was Paul Simon and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I've no idea what he meant by it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, I do have an idea about something else.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that idea is that I now need to strip to the waist and wrestle so violently with Time that it runs backward and I can, at last, see just what was going on in the Marvel comics which bore the never-to-be-forgotten cover date of February 1974.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fantastic Four #263" border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqaD3n8vxF-GrgmfJ_xKo2MKdlUtd2ni-2b3jJ6ZbAS_TzrF2s8DVIFXWMWqYzwHJtqsgUhS8QPRDLEnTLxUrdSP7vbvrUhD-02CZilX8cuw-mRM5RDcp8fP6RdaVJR1PqkpBu1NfeWiF30noka6DnQmA0XTobhXp1qeITZZQb_z57zjbqMGT5Uq6Jzz5/w260-h400/22129.jpg" title="Fantastic Four #263" width="260" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A totally bizarre story meets our eyes, in which the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four</a> must defeat legendary comic book artist Neal Adams who's kidnapped the Human Torch so he can use the hero's power, to agitate</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> the Earth's core and accelerate our planet's expansion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Granted, the villain isn't named in the story as Neal Adams. Instead, he's called Alden Maas but even I can spot that's an anagram.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Regardless, at the tale's climax, we discover the Mole Man isn't best pleased by nefarious Neal's plan.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And I think we can assume that can only be bad news for the plucky penciller.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Incredible Hulk #292, Dragon Man" border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8a_nPMRsM-pJC8yG1jxogCKqRgH7sQkFX-lORMthsZpwy0JACHrQ73YLOGRlQE6d3UNT8WmlDKOXV6xqzoeSrCCYPG1CAgXGrWnHE7cNUbFtq3hb96_vXYYQ4CIwNCoWRFl0uOV0DHYuwq4NhNTLxwNk6euqfSoNe06HNCSUc5AfsT6atfG01dZLEHKT/w264-h400/23139.jpg" title="The Incredible Hulk #292, Dragon Man" width="264" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's time for a revenge match, as Bruce Banner visits the circus - only to discover it's the Circus of Crime!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Spotting Bruce in the audience, the Ringmaster sets his latest recruit the Dragon Man on him but that's clearly not going to stop the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk</a> from wrecking the hypnotic huckster's latest money-making scheme.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iron Man #179, Radioactive Man" border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-mIJTlzZwlusJspBI3A5vDJA_tBVDxDTKj5816sCQ6ygR1ucFlccrbCfQv501kytcxZ-sP2LfWlSU53uGPHJj4KKVhnkcQ5Zt8_kDJ9TDc8YzNIt_kCZwBXBgx0XsdBY286fVXekiB51u3t9PdFOzEaSMRsoxJenbvrfZOkhPpmKSq_dfWqN7ZuEoviw/w269-h400/23587.jpg" title="Iron Man #179, Radioactive Man" width="269" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Still working as a hero for hire, Rhodey takes a job in Hong Kong, trying to discover what ruined a load of film stock.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And it turns out the Radioactive Man destroyed it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As far as I can remember the glowy scientist has no interest in the film stock and is on another mission altogether.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, that doesn't prevent the villain and the armour-clad <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">hero</a> from clashing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Amazing Spider-Man #249, Kingpin and the Hobgoblin" border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFfJgIosFWI18EEeg9d71iyGPYS-cLzLpMU2IKQZc8kqbeWqFPY6gxto2m4QmDwRvfTZL87PWyvsyyWy0sXnre6X4Cj870UEOR3qrBeTkfzTsOPgoDKrq9hVK7tOE_7UyHS8g2DX8ZzUtFu9bnBt9Eexf6koQM7DUJ6LAgHgF1F-YCsMBKmZB5hzj_jQkh/w258-h400/28095.jpg" title="The Amazing Spider-Man #249, Kingpin and the Hobgoblin" width="258" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spidey</a> gains an unlikely ally when the Hobgoblin decides to show up at an exclusive club, many of whose members he's attempting to blackmail.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately for the villain, the Kingpin also happens to be a member of the club and decides to help our hero in his battle with the flying felon.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Spectacular Spider-Man #87, the Black Cat" border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfnnEnNQ-_GRLP6B6SJvnhuezUqbAg8_ZEutscDIDaetJHllUGLXMf2OH_80zxaqzawqgops-ysiVBI9b8RHJa6fFne0U6IhrHhQPsNWBcGScEiokzF2udCCghkR86UNwQFveaCGq6VlsreUYlwqqtTNOxZZ33K1NAKy7t_QBzDxUeL1YL8gUCPrOMKBUS/w261-h400/28391.jpg" title="The Spectacular Spider-Man #87, the Black Cat" width="261" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">In his other mag, Spidey displays an epic gift for terrible judgement when he decides to reveal his true identity to the Black Cat, even though she's clearly not a full shilling.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unfortunately for the wallcrawler, it turns out she doesn't fancy Peter Parker, only Spider-Man, meaning he's going to have to keep his mask on at all times if she's to avoid having a psychiatric meltdown in his presence.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Uncanny X-Men #178" border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitP9SemlJFo5clULAI-9vqXFS-DCQJ_aUFX8XK1hlw90aeAcwvAhx8AnIhruB5Vn66LReksGG7ABvqUY9G4RgUgBQB-3ovT3ToXmQLpUXrN6f26i9YVoVthbSpsFcXYcqhydwAS5Xg6zfdJy57smCzjPdQPFVrWbZhmPTjm1E4hVCl3o-3-oVqDsYtqY10/w261-h400/31134.jpg" title="The Uncanny X-Men #178" width="261" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a veritable nightmare for the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/X-Men" target="_blank">X-Men</a> when Mystique breaks into their HQ in an attempt to liberate Rogue from their clutches.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Only for her to discover her "daughter" doesn't want to be liberated.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Beneath the streets of New York, the Morlocks are also up to things. Things which I suspect can't be good things.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Conan the Barbarian #155" border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LnTDgsC4cWTK8R1UJkg1kFVC7sVjzok2MWoTHgC2e1KCeiIihtH_2meQ3FQfUGcR7-LAFAszrqY-gnqPOyf14BOY34BvEVeNZExtEU46JpHz39Vt9Vfs9LTKendiPQ4mkQQFwFkNPCNuLOdxhGYAaC3sb6fjNC_EGw4QplnvV9ZGcjURVVDB4xqmDvYq/w259-h400/785911.jpg" title="Conan the Barbarian #155" width="259" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">From what I can remember, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Conan" target="_blank">Conan</a> rides into yet another town and finds himself up against yet another sorcerer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The good news for him, this time, is the sorcerer's a bit of an amateur and easily defeated - even with a demon on his side.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Daredevil #203" border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjDReKmoPRs9YFA5xkCKnSCCjqmjIQ1DxfQavoaZ5AHHXOxLaTwqjUSw6tPpSigDVGHrkvsfDVcxfzvh9kTKhfe3j_BNOK4n0SwBgZw4oe8AhC2_fyDoCP-n5H5fnuLMLR2BaAzYCTEdfkd_0z0EGIerNRGkMrz02dnRTHMsBLFi8nsFL9nMBX4FKeZtUH/w261-h400/789212.jpg" title="Daredevil #203" width="261" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's not one of <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Daredevil's</a> finer tales, as the man without fear finds himself battling an annoying stage magician who loves to commit crimes.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This leads to him re-encountering one of the gang who used to taunt Matt Murdock by calling him, "Daredevil," when he was a kid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Off the top of my head, I can't remember if it's the villain or his victim who's our star's former tormentor.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I do remember, though, that the villain's lumbered with the rather unfortunate sobriquet of, "The Trump."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Also, for no good reason, Matt has a mental meltdown about it all.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, sadly, not one that's actually interesting.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Thor #340" border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIq8JpRlaM2JARYdoWpe7F67m5kE3ZIhE8TX3P7Msh-qNHhtB0SKAWL5dQuYbkiNQE41QbG7got8jDqblXJumDu62X3z2ldxIMv3ozA4uHmO362HZ4udLIcEyiLgXnVbfM3RFAUCXE1cESX30GwfrHzSvuJu-gJaBs1xKhhpBNpuklV9uZmBgmovrzR2f8/w260-h400/803211.jpg" title="Thor #340" width="260" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's the cosmos-crunching conclusion to the Beta Ray Bill saga, as that character, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> and Sif finally encounter the demons from another dimension who've been wiping out Bill's people.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, those scoundrels don't last long when confronted by that power trio, and the day is soon won.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not only that but, afterwards, Odin gives Bill a civilian secret identity that's fit to rival Don Blake himself.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Avengers #240, Spider-Woman" border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3qAf9st4X19fhfPy-8HTuXxJXkJhLmizSufca2C7OaiNOPRg4wJqLTqj-4w1y5vprg7sUijzLN04YiU2U9CwPv_3vrhLsY8ncWkkR9_FcRoPr39lukmsREJVkKc8Lkk-ie9o2GgKf87vOOrLPjvBUW9Ftq3A6hpdyeku4NNOgE3kXJUrh6odrB5urr6D/w260-h400/859242.jpg" title="The Avengers #240, Spider-Woman" width="260" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I suspect loose ends from other comics are being tied up in this one when the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">Avengers</a> must go to the aid of <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Woman" target="_blank">Spider-Woman</a> whose body's in a hospital bed, thanks to her spirit being trapped on the astral plane.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As you might expect, the gang lacks the skills needed to help her but, fortunately, they know how to contact Dr Strange who certainly can do something about it all.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In further news, it's only in the last few days that I've discovered Spider-Woman's alter-ego Jessica Drew isn't named in honour of TV detectives Jessica Fletcher and Nancy Drew.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Captain America #290, Mother Night" border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9FomekFs4W0a8rGtqdVX7Gz7VdKAEBt7rTLITT-5IjhcW3z3sGGaujNU6-HiW0T-WkXhXPlOhnFwYimnly0i8FTTeexklAxhNRry14ZMT3D0V2mqbDoWarHgv-1wpWqYMF0jAy1DiutMhotSSD7QGBKMREWnYhlLu8YYjm_T-isJYoCnCzmVoJL4RTQbo/w264-h400/1181791.jpg" title="Captain America #290, Mother Night" width="264" /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Captain%20America" target="_blank">Cap's</a> friends are tormented by a series of nightmares, there's only one person can be responsible.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mother Superior - the daughter of the Red Skull!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that's the limit of what I remember about this one.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And about her.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-36664385315944431712024-02-08T16:46:00.001+00:002024-02-14T14:03:15.379+00:00February 9th 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </span></i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: times;">***</span></i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">E</span></i>ven as I type these fateful words, snow is falling all around me but, like a trooper, I shall plough on and see what lies hidden in the drifts of the roadside ditch that humankind knows as History.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Avengers #21" border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaJ1NFuw87X2Ms0ZfcFLzuLjqo2jn7SiLBsPclQGR0WcOFH0eCjA0pblVbsTmhTq3IHbBa-ysbAXrZgsmp2sXI1riJPYFB8n09QJoo_7Dnz0fYmRGpc9448v3s5eY6loqdVFGE_oyw61Nivb5qvRyZB4Y_qK1X487goE83bFqNCilg8I-CNH5haYha_zYY/w299-h400/521613.jpg" title="The Avengers #21" width="299" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's one I've never read but that cover's making me wish I had.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It would seem our <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">heroes</a> ally themselves with Princess Ravonna in an attempt to stave off an invasion by Kang the Conquerer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But what's this? It seems the inveterate loser Kang is somehow victorious?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, his troops soon put a stop to that because they then rebel and he's forced to seek the assistance of the people he's just been fighting.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's all well and good but what's <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> up to?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, it's a question I'm incapable of answering.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Which is as it should be, bearing in mind the cover says he's facing unknown danger.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #52, Ka-Zar and Zabu" border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGcrmoRvx_wR6s4gqWx7X9WyWbCpAIdZ182aqnv8OwNe-DqiW5-GV1aqqN3kTk1nEA84EkI3S2OumAdYP3WcIa63nH9C-lgneYg_X7XgPBBmluF422IodAFKLHbMPFW58XAyTpLaYkvDOHecw1LcVLjng4Gq73SHYCYPLB5QDFgpktMcP0aDgsWm5tpylX/w304-h400/859599.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #52, Ka-Zar and Zabu" width="304" /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spidey's</a> still suffering from amnesia - but there's one man who can't forget.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And neither can he forgive.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That man is J Jonah Jameson and, when <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Ka-Zar" target="_blank">Ka-Zar</a> arrives in New York, the publisher does his best to convince the jungle lord to bring the webbed wonder to justice.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This is, I detect, a noticeably similar storyline to the one which first introduced Kraven the Hunter to the comics readers of this world.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In <i>his</i> adventure, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Iron Man's</a> still having to deal with the seemingly prehistoric peril of Gargantus.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Happily, Shellhead quickly realises his foe's a robot and uses the transistor-powered might of his magnets to tear the machine to pieces, prompting its alien creators to abandon their plans for invasion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, finally, this issue, having returned to Midgard, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> reveals his secret identity to Jane Foster.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But he has no time dwell upon the decision, as he must zoom off to Asia to confront the freshly-spawned menace of the Demon.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #71, Hulk vs Sub-Mariner" border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fwrZZSKT7kqKiyG8M4KhDFlGkiybu4EDBl_tYzQihac53F1ZSaAkssV_EjWVRVTrYnmsnpCzHzm7yfELe4wXDHcHvi2s0FFcIiLkYyYD-zlkrjPxkjYPDfxMcjTrmxI3ZNQEu0pAy58tdleJc7wvS7xFJBC9Mge2pvnRqtJHcAdzjkkyrnRXlw9_nBPA/w295-h400/892157.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #71, Hulk vs Sub-Mariner" width="295" /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's the most epic clash of them all, as the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk</a> and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Sub-Mariner" target="_blank">Subby</a> come blow to blow when the Avenging Son thinks there's something going on between Bruce Banner and Lady Dorma.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, there's no such hanky been pankied but try telling that to Captain Hair-Trigger.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Back on dry land, the stultifying Stiltman makes his awe-inspiring debut when Nelson and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Murdock</a> find themselves hired by a disgruntled scientist who says his boss has stolen his invention.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And this week's issue is completed when cash-stacked globalist Gregory Gideon makes a bet that his limitless wealth can succeed where the world's super-villains have failed - and defeat the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, to do it, he even acquires Dr Doom's time machine which has just been left lying around in its castle.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-4329596816347240062024-02-06T17:03:00.004+00:002024-02-10T17:51:05.470+00:00The Marvel Lucky Bag - February 1974.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></i></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">D</span></i>o you love wearing terrible outfits that make your friends curl up with embarrassment?</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">If so, you were in paradise in February 1974. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It was, after all, the month in which the world first met the sartorial sensation that is <i>Zardoz</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And it wasn't the only memorable flick to grace our screens, that February.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">We also found our first chance to see <i>Blazing Saddles</i> and Amicus' portmanteau horror <i>From Beyond the Grave</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Granted, I'm struggling to remember just which one that latter movie was, as, for me, all Amicus portmanteaus tend to blur into one.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fear #20, Morbius the living vampire" border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJNuLtFoJftLrVrxXVPmThm-iN07AeUtUoAeDMbawTXUnWREzqQtp5AV9okG4PcCS91zL2-Y8D7c9Fya8Q8BLzlfDjXVWObVkyYV2mwzBnKzNFORORsUhCyZPu3tVvt2Ulu_EYi_gOEdiuJJuCMVRcra0HvekxLXLby76E9MyERewdZD84tKPLD1wCh2UP/w268-h400/22277.jpg" title="Fear #20, Morbius the living vampire" width="268" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Adventure Into Fear</i> gains a brand new star, as Morbius the living vampire gets his very own strip.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I can reveal little of what happens in this tale but I do know it's brought to us by Mike Friedrich and Paul Gulacy and that it features plenty of flashbacks.</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But Morby isn't alone. We're also supplied with a reprint </span><span style="font-family: arial;">called <i>Midnight in the Wax Museum!</i> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">which sprang from the minds of Jack Oleck and Richard Doxsee.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Power Man #17" border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCbfWLkyQeG44uay5tWodLWPZDRdfi_BdS1SQ6p-2AmvkLC1vdsmyaxZFCQaz8djmgVbh46b6ocS1-61OM2V2fJKDnNxMOlMJzr9LAM7EJY_0aEk4CEI8_PzuGSv2eO8-7mdQBa-Alu4KJigTCjh3_CzRIhSlscuFY8INuh_Fvtr7ZT0dG1NN6NfuT1ef/w268-h400/26478.jpg" title="Power Man #17" width="268" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's bad news for Charlie 47 because <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Luke%20Cage" target="_blank">Luke Cage</a>: Hero for Hire is no more!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Instead, he's now Luke Cage: Power Man! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Of course, that might not prove such good news for a certain super-villain who already has that name but I'm sure that's a problem which can be dealt with in a future issue.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">As for what's dealt with in this issue, that is a matter I can shed no light upon.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Savage Tales #3, Conan the Barbarian" border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKo7zRJplOTspze0FB1WBVQVsBu-WD7ZsARF1lQqphAdFoTfM5dzFN8ohyCbxm7An5-BiDp3DxFlkIn1hevPhMS4ITRFT6h94MMjACHGgGSQvFVKaqZeKtvXfOPsJaz3LPlZnjGnuM2NN7yluEQJ1sH_aEBggVkqzUcsTNIGNow-MHxDMGXPWJLihbMCJ2/w295-h400/27195.jpg" title="Savage Tales #3, Conan the Barbarian" width="295" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm including this one purely because the front cover's painted by John Romita and it's not every day you get to see <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Conan" target="_blank">Conan</a> painted by the Jazzy one.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Inside, there's <i>The Lurker From the Catacombs</i> which, as I'm sure you already know, is Part 2 of Thomas and Smith's legendary retelling of <i>Red Nails</i>. It's the section in which Conan and Valeria get themselves hired to defend Olmec's half of the citadel from the other half of the citadel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">We're also granted the spectacle of <i>The Crimson Bell, The Fury of the Femizons</i> and three pages of Margaret Brundage's <i>Weird Tales</i> illustrations for <i>Red Nails</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But what is this madness? We then get Part 3 of Thomas and Smith's adaptation of the tale, in which evil's defeated, queens are slaughtered and Conan and Valeria set off to find new treasures to steal.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It does seem strange that Marvel would use up the final two parts in one sitting, rather than saving the conclusion for the next issue.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Special Marvel Edition #16, Shang-Chi vs Midnight." border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0q7onEbhiIMlpo1pNyV7YjK7FJZZdiXngjbNGXIIQxCRRwREsv_bs-ZrqYxI-b_AoeAwju9lYsLmcwQxw4q9pkh2DWsgjT8ovUazKXAzvkkoq65sAgz3Cnu_iLcCAaBaCIJM2LKawPBXxK6Q9Dnbt9CWBrE0QAmoMOE4c9YCz_f-bX2czzgr_2lbAtKQf/w266-h400/27749.jpg" title="Special Marvel Edition #16, Shang-Chi vs Midnight." width="266" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's another Englehart/Starlin classic, as, sent by Fu Manchu to kill <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Shang-Chi" target="_blank">our hero</a>, Midnight makes his debut and his departure all in one tale, thanks to a battle on a construction site. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Frankly, anyone who doesn't love this issue doesn't love fights in construction sites. I would even start to suspect they probably don't even like fights in car parks.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Vampire Tales #3, Morbius the living vampire" border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeynOz0_4NOP-naDM7WAEcPTPLB-a9ZWYAC2MyPifnh65uBoPAsfAOr3icQO5ZPnJKSVxnXDL3MCkP7yNc1e-9xwLb9DMkTEvVyXXlsMKraiSJevQyfTPd0T7hPnYAVPGXnEYX_jv64mx_KLxlmi8WGrevRqmxxCp8YyoaXDrTOrx_igXPz7Xng6YOBtzQ/w297-h400/30284.jpg" title="Vampire Tales #3, Morbius the living vampire" width="297" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Someone at Marvel clearly has faith in the selling power of Morbius, because, not content with dominating <i>Adventure Into Fear</i>, he also bags a starring role in <i>Vampire Tales</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Or does he?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Despite him bossing the front cover, this issue's lead story's actually <i>The Kiss of Death</i> starring Satana, in which a preacher ungallantly tries to have our anti-heroine killed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">We also encounter such tales as <i>The Collection</i>, <i>Don't Try to Outsmart the Devil!</i>, <i>Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Satana</i>, <i>Bat's Belfry</i> and - at last - we get to Morbius' tale, a thing called <i>Demon Fire!</i></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's brought to us by Don McGregor, Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson but, tragically, I can shed no light upon what actually happens in it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Worlds Unknown #5, the Black Destroyer" border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivWqI_TqLoftjC8u1wVbtOCEw_CIyqMtI0nxitVA0tSzyvnupoYVDS23C66RtdJBiQEt9biicyQ1GLzzX7StSP_kXhKGqiOR2l1cPVb_GMSN5IYofzq0zCPw3i8CQ8Kz0LoJl8e_pW-pRWEghv3vQxI-0lyNFit2i7Bdg8gYaQ5jMA10pxUTcxx3hgwbCl/w266-h400/30912.jpg" title="Worlds Unknown #5, the Black Destroyer" width="266" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a comic only a fool wouldn't want, as Marvel's <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Worlds%20Unknown" target="_blank">premier sci-fi mag</a> produces its adaptation of A E van Vogt's <i>The Black Destroyer</i> in which an alien gets aboard a spaceship and proceeds to bump off the crew, one by one. I can't help feeling that plot seems familiar from somewhere...</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But we don't only get that. There's also <i>They Wait in the Shadows!</i> A tale reprinted from 1956's <i>Journey into Unknown Worlds</i> #47.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Defenders #12, Xemnu the Titan" border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_FrHhW8PzIjwLtRgqU3LCd2g7kFQ7c0DyuvcCsKcRs8yjCybjUkrb51fhx-yIZ_RN_D-qerb8xg3htZAlm0wiSuMEiShkmDN_PcZiS0oWVntGgzWXc8wbAdp0GhxQDiIFuX2y6V6Mle3zBzdX_VT4YcIlCVb4hfXrP5xVZ7-97TOyuX_-yzodF5BTJugY/w268-h400/1083862.jpg" title="The Defenders #12, Xemnu the Titan" width="268" /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Now the world's greatest <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Defenders" target="_blank">non-team </a>are in trouble. That's thanks to the return of Xemnu the Titan who's inconveniently taken over a small town!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">On the plus side, this would appear to be the issue in which Valkyrie first acquires her sword Dragonfang.</span></div></div></div></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-78946666359299252442024-02-04T16:51:00.002+00:002024-02-04T16:51:53.238+00:00Fifty years ago today - February 1974.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>F</i></span>ollow me, Reader, as I roll up my trouser legs and paddle in the shallows of history.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1mEmCbNglzw/UvJ-Z1vvMYI/AAAAAAAAFOQ/uPe5bqjS4L4/s1600/amazing+spider-man+129+punisher.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Amazing Spider-Man #129, the Punisher" border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1mEmCbNglzw/UvJ-Z1vvMYI/AAAAAAAAFOQ/uPe5bqjS4L4/s1600/amazing+spider-man+129+punisher.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Amazing Spider-Man #129, the Punisher" width="267" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Everyone's favourite psychotic gunman makes his debut, as the Jackal convinces the Punisher to try and kill everyone's favourite wall-crawler.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Believing <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spidey</a> killed both Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn, the vengeance-happy vigilante's only too willing to oblige.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLwnK6w4aCk/UvJ-Z3qIPgI/AAAAAAAAFOc/nsOvLidHu1A/s1600/avengers+120+zodiac.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Avengers #120, Zodiac" border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLwnK6w4aCk/UvJ-Z3qIPgI/AAAAAAAAFOc/nsOvLidHu1A/s1600/avengers+120+zodiac.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Avengers #120, Zodiac" width="272" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Zodiac are back - and giving the </span><a href="http://stevedoescomics.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Avengers" style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Avengers</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> far more trouble than they should be.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I do believe this is the one in which the villains have a gun designed to kill anyone of a certain star sign. Though how it knows people's star signs is anyone's guess.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Regardless, thanks to New York's polluted skies, it has to be set up on the roof of a skyscraper where everyone, including the Avengers, can see it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">And that can only lead to a scrap.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mxq4zZSLa9U/UvJ-aEXG7YI/AAAAAAAAFOU/yidTgz5OSHo/s1600/captain+america+170+falcon.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Captain America and the Falcon #170" border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mxq4zZSLa9U/UvJ-aEXG7YI/AAAAAAAAFOU/yidTgz5OSHo/s1600/captain+america+170+falcon.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Captain America and the Falcon #170" width="270" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">Is there any hope for <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Captain%20America" target="_blank">our hero</a>?</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">It would appear not, as he's accused of murdering the Tumbler and is then stopped by Moonstone, the real killer who's out to discredit America's idol.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">I do believe Leila's also in sensational solo action, this month.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif">When I say, "action," I, of course, mean getting kidnapped and having to be rescued.</span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TFPoMyYFIx0/UvJ-a_rVXhI/AAAAAAAAFOo/tAmSqtsKT10/s1600/conan+barbarian+35.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Conan the Barbarian #35, Kara-Shera" border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TFPoMyYFIx0/UvJ-a_rVXhI/AAAAAAAAFOo/tAmSqtsKT10/s1600/conan+barbarian+35.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Conan the Barbarian #35, Kara-Shera" width="258" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I know nothing of the contents of this one, other than that it takes place to the west of Khitai. So, would that be Japan?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nBRZHmquBeo/UvJ-b7N3d9I/AAAAAAAAFOw/FQUTBSCntjk/s1600/fantastic+four+143+dr+doom.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Fantastic Four #143, Dr Doom" border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nBRZHmquBeo/UvJ-b7N3d9I/AAAAAAAAFOw/FQUTBSCntjk/s1600/fantastic+four+143+dr+doom.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Fantastic Four #143, Dr Doom" width="262" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">My memories of this are vague. I'm going to guess Darkoth the death demon is in it. And, possibly, the Silver Surfer. But don't quote me on any of that.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I am, however, sure Dr Doom's in it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--SJh6WpzgfU/UvJ-cR6p_EI/AAAAAAAAFO4/rMEmz02JGhc/s1600/incredible+hulk+172+juggernaut.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Incredible Hulk #172, the Juggernaut" border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--SJh6WpzgfU/UvJ-cR6p_EI/AAAAAAAAFO4/rMEmz02JGhc/s1600/incredible+hulk+172+juggernaut.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Incredible Hulk #172, the Juggernaut" width="267" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now the Hulkbuster Base is in trouble - because it has not one but two powerhouses to contend with!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">It's true! The <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk</a> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">and Juggernaut have teamed up - and nothing can stop them! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Nothing, that is, except Professor X who shows up at the right time to thwart his ever-malevolent stepbrother.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qpnPxIXcwzw/UvJ-c73ZqVI/AAAAAAAAFO8/rKcNri97ahE/s1600/iron+man+66+thor+iron+man.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Iron Man #66, Thor" border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qpnPxIXcwzw/UvJ-c73ZqVI/AAAAAAAAFO8/rKcNri97ahE/s1600/iron+man+66+thor+iron+man.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Iron Man #66, Thor" width="263" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I've never read this one but I really don't fancy </span><a href="http://stevedoescomics.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Iron%20Man" style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Iron Man</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">'s chances.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qi8t0H9PqYU/UvJ-dIYtQ1I/AAAAAAAAFPE/W2VLCuezDdU/s1600/thor+220+mercurio.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="Thor #220, Avalon" border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qi8t0H9PqYU/UvJ-dIYtQ1I/AAAAAAAAFPE/W2VLCuezDdU/s1600/thor+220+mercurio.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="Thor #220, Avalon" width="266" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor</a> and his mates face overwhelming odds when it comes to thwarting the gigantic Masters of the Black Stars.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">But are things as they seem?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">And are the planets they rule as full of vitality as one might think?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eRqOwrcEuwQ/UvJ-dg6GknI/AAAAAAAAFPQ/knjEnxwwypM/s1600/x-men+86+blob+vanisher.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="X-Men #86, the Blob and the Vanisher" border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eRqOwrcEuwQ/UvJ-dg6GknI/AAAAAAAAFPQ/knjEnxwwypM/s1600/x-men+86+blob+vanisher.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; padding: 4px;" title="X-Men #86, the Blob and the Vanisher" width="263" /></a></div><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">I do believe there are just eight issues to go before the New </span><a href="http://stevedoescomics.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/X-Men" style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">X-Men</a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> make their debut!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">But who needs that sort of rubbish when quality villains like the Blob and Vanisher are back?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">Not only that but, rather oddly, there's a backup strip which has nothing to do with the X-Men at all and is, instead, a thriller called <i>The Spirit of Swami River</i>, as brought to us by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueHoMXIdyMNRjnS3Y1BIkh_9Aa38WWO-WLAkjeb4FxxQzSB2TOExdZkqhYa06eq2mmAH_Q7CmdP8Q00gAUgL_Fpc_aJ4A4GXHgXzUx1GjB9K_OeOUkAaQiazkFaiQ4RnZ77j1fjodpWkH0rNfpE4retaLyJb80TTMAO6OEhn4pEBPtvQU9PUGDyP4nsbJ/s597/1643.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Adventure Comics #431, the Spectre returns" border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueHoMXIdyMNRjnS3Y1BIkh_9Aa38WWO-WLAkjeb4FxxQzSB2TOExdZkqhYa06eq2mmAH_Q7CmdP8Q00gAUgL_Fpc_aJ4A4GXHgXzUx1GjB9K_OeOUkAaQiazkFaiQ4RnZ77j1fjodpWkH0rNfpE4retaLyJb80TTMAO6OEhn4pEBPtvQU9PUGDyP4nsbJ/w268-h400/1643.jpg" title="Adventure Comics #431, the Spectre returns" width="268" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>T</i></span>hat's Marvel's output looked at but we should never forget that, when it comes to comics, there are other fish in the sea.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And few fish come bigger than DC. Therefore, let us sample a random snatch of what that company was offering in its books which bore the cover date of February.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A moment that shall never be forgotten, for as long as humanity might survive, has reached us, as Jim Aparo and Michael Fleisher revive the company's very own dead detective when the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spectre" target="_blank">Spectre</a> returns from wherever he's been, to wreak havoc upon the criminals of the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">if I remember correctly, in this tale, he melts one villain and reduces another to a skeleton. Is it any wonder I loved this strip, as a lad?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But that's not all we get. After all, we're also provided with a backup tale which asks the ever-pertinent question, "<i>Is a Snerl Human?</i>"</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDul8fXgyP0go_DzXAEZjDhvmkaOLrp-ocstIaKDzxCzxIYT7gjv8FqwRwZJAOppBINU5AARaC7apL3X3SWp0MaDPKTIGpv_8b5R-Ac_z-7q5KHBzCjmUhyphenhypheneWbx-FFXHdl3aP8o5PjOS2HGtGZfJcOFLjcAjn0tK6MsqKJASULV_IBXfDUgfTZrbXh04o/s596/2716.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Batman #254, Man-Bat is back" border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrDul8fXgyP0go_DzXAEZjDhvmkaOLrp-ocstIaKDzxCzxIYT7gjv8FqwRwZJAOppBINU5AARaC7apL3X3SWp0MaDPKTIGpv_8b5R-Ac_z-7q5KHBzCjmUhyphenhypheneWbx-FFXHdl3aP8o5PjOS2HGtGZfJcOFLjcAjn0tK6MsqKJASULV_IBXfDUgfTZrbXh04o/w269-h400/2716.jpg" title="Batman #254, Man-Bat is back" width="269" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">If there's anything I've never been able to say no to it's <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/DC%20100%20pages" target="_blank">100 pages</a> of <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Batman" target="_blank">Batman</a> action.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Therefore, I'm going to say nothing but yes as we get the senses-shattering return of Man-Bat in the first story I ever read that features him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It all happens when a spate of robberies spurs the mixed-up scientist to abandon retirement and tackle the miscreants.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Following that tale, Batman and Robin must track down The Witch, a mysterious figure to blame for the murder of Erik Dorne and the theft of his manuscript.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Then, a private detective attempts to join the prestigious Bullet Hole Club - even if he has to get himself shot to do it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After that, a new villain announces his presence by stealing the Batmobile, Bat-a-Rang and Bat-Boat. But why would anyone do such a thing?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, Luke Graham needs Robin to help prove his paper about the Chinese iron industry wasn't plagiarised.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, in an imaginary tale by Alfred, the second Batman and Robin must battle the Son of the Joker.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, finally, a veteran of Gotham City Police Department has his day made when the caped crusader suggests he be put in charge of the Bat-Signal.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxg1V_K3O7Q120IrYCHyJqqCK9GWAgt9efO8OMJVLb4_r1ROHHmlhQMenzkMzawB6eV_uYItY4sUtPIgXeIIakE-cpPGL5zVNvs62k57tIkgvBKdbYw91SCh2-GPRZObH0aatsaCdwqMzBoJ2YZEIn56b4ZqHXj8bKuq0vhRsh0L1poApoDISfEqbruW7/s595/12692.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Secret Origins #6, Legion of Super-Heroes, Blackhawk" border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxg1V_K3O7Q120IrYCHyJqqCK9GWAgt9efO8OMJVLb4_r1ROHHmlhQMenzkMzawB6eV_uYItY4sUtPIgXeIIakE-cpPGL5zVNvs62k57tIkgvBKdbYw91SCh2-GPRZObH0aatsaCdwqMzBoJ2YZEIn56b4ZqHXj8bKuq0vhRsh0L1poApoDISfEqbruW7/w269-h400/12692.jpg" title="Secret Origins #6, Legion of Super-Heroes, Blackhawk" width="269" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It's a vital issue for all true lovers of DC comics, as we're treated to the awesome origin of the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Legion%20of%20Super-Heroes" target="_blank">Legion of Super-Heroes</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I don't remember too much about it but, apparently, three super-youths rescue billionaire R J Brande who promptly bankrolls them in the formation of a brand new crime-fighting team the universe will never see the likes of again.</span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I have even less recall of the origin of Blackhawk and, to be honest, I don't even have that much recall of the character himself.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, if the <a href="https://www.comics.org/issue/27062/" target="_blank">Grand Comics Database</a> is to be believed, it all takes place in Poland and involves Nazis.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxv70D_iL7rUpUib5WbRpLZbiYsOQM_wL6adJJjLxwQyh6jUgleOHClzTsd4E_7SSgMhQ2RSAdwUNvPxMAhln4xk_qZ8sXQw4VjAJ51HzQg-cT1tjwyVS1TxPQObCYGfWxXpmJIPQTISVGdBs2SN_XO07pOkLSyPXB7JMGmbxbLhzoeLCEpQGLkCoZVgSu/s601/15234.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Superboy #200, The Legionnaire Bride of Starfinger" border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxv70D_iL7rUpUib5WbRpLZbiYsOQM_wL6adJJjLxwQyh6jUgleOHClzTsd4E_7SSgMhQ2RSAdwUNvPxMAhln4xk_qZ8sXQw4VjAJ51HzQg-cT1tjwyVS1TxPQObCYGfWxXpmJIPQTISVGdBs2SN_XO07pOkLSyPXB7JMGmbxbLhzoeLCEpQGLkCoZVgSu/w266-h400/15234.jpg" title="Superboy #200, The Legionnaire Bride of Starfinger" width="266" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Superboy's <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Superboy" target="_blank">mag</a> hits its 200th issue. And does so in style, as the now powerless Bouncing Boy and the distinctly under-powered Duo Damsel decide to marry.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, before you can even utter the words, "Holy gatecrashers!" that foul fiend Starfinger appears and abducts her! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">If I remember right, it was a dispute about ownership of a splash page in this issue which led to Dave Cockrum quitting the strip and defecting to <i>The X-Men</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4Na6uTZluFjnWwpa0mPov0Zhs4NAKACZ-03da3ajT2iR2dw2NgI_CGqtEH3ve5Er6ZNUBZ24e9MFih0qsu507CkiFK-KKu4_DnIr0qOTNAEKwuJcPJHt-8EZNqkFr40uZgaUZAOO-U3QlXlxSSui-DvAVAIifRirAKLZTCRnFgLQlojNkOWpuv0vyQAt/s600/15593.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Superman #272, 100 pages, Circe" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh4Na6uTZluFjnWwpa0mPov0Zhs4NAKACZ-03da3ajT2iR2dw2NgI_CGqtEH3ve5Er6ZNUBZ24e9MFih0qsu507CkiFK-KKu4_DnIr0qOTNAEKwuJcPJHt-8EZNqkFr40uZgaUZAOO-U3QlXlxSSui-DvAVAIifRirAKLZTCRnFgLQlojNkOWpuv0vyQAt/w266-h400/15593.jpg" title="Superman #272, 100 pages, Circe" width="266" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Superman" target="_blank">Superman</a> gets the 100 pages that such a legend deserves - and does so with a special that carries a theme of magic.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">In our first tale, unalloyed annoyance erupts when Mr Mxyztplk returns. I think we can all guess just how the man of steel dispatches that particular nuisance.</span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, Supes and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Jimmy%20Olsen" target="_blank">Jimmy Olsen</a> must contend with <i>The Demons from Pandora's Box!</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">After that, our hero attends <i>The Magicians' Convention!</i> where he must get to the heart of a prestidigitational crime.</span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Following that, we're presented with <i>The Other Side of the World!</i> in which <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Zatanna" target="_blank">Zatanna</a> and the Green Lantern venture to the land of Ys where a warlock may hold the key to Zatara's fate!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's followed by <i>The Enchanted Mountain</i>! a tale of which I can claim to possess no recollection.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And we conclude the book with a yarn the world knows as <i>Beauty and the Super-Beast!</i> in which Kal-El stands helpless before the sorcerous might of Circe and her ability to turn men into beasts.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or does he? I'm fairly certain the "witch" turns out to be Saturn Girl and she's doing it all with the aid of her shape-shifting pet Proteus in a plot to fool <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Lois%20Lane" target="_blank">Lois Lane</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or, possibly, the Superman Revenge Squad.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or perhaps someone else.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-19782277845585247102024-02-01T16:41:00.000+00:002024-02-01T16:41:21.015+00:00February 2nd 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">C</span></i>hange was not an option atop the UK singles chart, this week in 1974.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that's because Mud were still at Number One with their Chinnichap-penned classic <i>Tiger Feet</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Change was, however, available on the accompanying LP chart, as <i>The Singles 1969-1973</i> by the Carpenters jumped 19 places to claim the tippermost of the toppermost of the uppermost poppermost.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQa194GSBKuFaeemunszgayEJRUiJDIYRBOJUldNcpL_PBuPb7eot7149ymMMZYj1WJZ8NNe6embspIktt_QjjH0dp6fBxrVHeri4g9a8L5xdoVKWKtslbLjXlLADrYZmsUEqIh15xJI9sSfmhAwsZFjfwUyARTVXg8mz3JxrsYoukzKzy3WculSgVydt/s532/521612.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Avengers #20, Kang the Conqueror" border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQa194GSBKuFaeemunszgayEJRUiJDIYRBOJUldNcpL_PBuPb7eot7149ymMMZYj1WJZ8NNe6embspIktt_QjjH0dp6fBxrVHeri4g9a8L5xdoVKWKtslbLjXlLADrYZmsUEqIh15xJI9sSfmhAwsZFjfwUyARTVXg8mz3JxrsYoukzKzy3WculSgVydt/w301-h400/521612.jpg" title="The Avengers #20, Kang the Conqueror" width="301" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">From his home in the future, Kang notices Steve Rogers is no longer an <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">Avenger</a> and takes advantage of the situation by capturing the team's three remaining members.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Needless to say, the guardian of truth, justice and the American way can't tolerate such an outrage and rushes to their rescue - but succeeds only in succumbing to defeat. What a catastrophe!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, in <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> Land, Baron Mordo's back - and this time, he's got Dormammu on his side! How can even the mystical master of the mystical arts possibly hope to titanically triumph against such a putrid pairing?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4hWnnqnHIWli-DRCoU9Q0WhFalxCxBZDYb6hRFxr2GBBoAfezDWZJwB5cZSHDrbB2c_pKrrgC5gpSAd7iTLItrxQK00Q83T1z9MR9SQb7TW1AeMrkhNFmKvKiL44Z9pHhkmCEPDWf2YaRpQoaIWh7by9mHOF658L2ZqCqg1GfV3_cBpBhMxmy0utgXOe/s528/859600.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #51" border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge4hWnnqnHIWli-DRCoU9Q0WhFalxCxBZDYb6hRFxr2GBBoAfezDWZJwB5cZSHDrbB2c_pKrrgC5gpSAd7iTLItrxQK00Q83T1z9MR9SQb7TW1AeMrkhNFmKvKiL44Z9pHhkmCEPDWf2YaRpQoaIWh7by9mHOF658L2ZqCqg1GfV3_cBpBhMxmy0utgXOe/w303-h400/859600.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #51" width="303" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">His mind fogged by amnesia, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a> helps Doc Ock steal some Top Secret government blueprints. Can the human arachnid regain his senses before he's forever branded a criminal?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">More to the point, can he do it before Colonel John Jameson and the military put a bullet in his head?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But Spidey's problems are almost nothing when compared to those of Tony Stark who, in his second mission as <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Iron Man</a>, must defeat a giant hypno-robo-Neanderthal from space that's taken an entire town hostage as a prelude to invasion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor's</a> still in Asgard and still stood around, watching Odin thwart the attack of both the Absorbing Man and Loki.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX9OmOulR7nRkpjZJZLlDbyEXUX_86jk3oeTycKHi_tr0eHgbBaQZMKvnDS17SQOF28JS142qXrF3yKoz8YnX9Kg_3nFk6SzzPXld_V7haoBBJwOpGgfHslkUgpiiRlidQ2vh1q-O1_1UERW_NCksi2Hc4Lgtjexbj3ljWnf4VOuvoOelAMNNtg-4VDOH/s543/892156.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #70, the Leader vs the Hulk" border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="400" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX9OmOulR7nRkpjZJZLlDbyEXUX_86jk3oeTycKHi_tr0eHgbBaQZMKvnDS17SQOF28JS142qXrF3yKoz8YnX9Kg_3nFk6SzzPXld_V7haoBBJwOpGgfHslkUgpiiRlidQ2vh1q-O1_1UERW_NCksi2Hc4Lgtjexbj3ljWnf4VOuvoOelAMNNtg-4VDOH/w302-h409/892156.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #70, the Leader vs the Hulk" width="302" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">But even Iron Man's problems are mere trifles compared to those of Bruce Banner.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That's because the Leader's got his hands on two of America's finest nukes and has launched them at one of America's finest enemies.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Bruce manages to shoot down one of those missiles but he's going to have to stop the other one the old-fashioned way, by turning into the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk</a> and beating it up.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fortunately, there's no one beats up missiles better than the Hulk does</span><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, we get the conclusion of <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Daredevil's</a> origin, as brought to us by Stan Lee and Gene Colan.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, finally, the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">FF</a> must vince the Invincible Man who may or not be the father of Sue and Johnny Storm but may also have to make the greatest sacrifice of all, in order to protect our heroes from the treachery of the Skrulls.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-39071868763215026942024-01-30T16:38:00.001+00:002024-02-19T16:47:47.910+00:00Speak Your Brain! Part 71. Which long-gone toy, book or comic torments you?<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-color: white; color: black; float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 4px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="640" height="204" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h204/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="border: none; padding: 0px;" title="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/tumisu-148124/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Tumisu</a><br />from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Pixabay</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">I</span></i>f it's true that everyone loves a mystery, then all of us are in luck. That's because a mystery is just what we've got.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">And that mystery is what on Earth are we all talking about?</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">That, I cannot say because it's time to be exposed, once more, to </span><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Speak%20Your%20Brain" style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">the feature</a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> in which I keep quiet and whomsoever reads this blog gets to decide today's topic for debate.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: courier; font-size: 16px;"><div style="font-family: arial;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: arial;">Or at least the first person to comment below does.</div><div style="font-family: arial;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: arial;">Therefore, don't be careless and don't be late. Get that question posted and let loose the dogs of jaw.</div></span></span></div></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-55799445376946823692024-01-28T17:18:00.000+00:002024-01-28T17:18:11.745+00:00Where it all began! TV21 #98.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNTSEQoqgIxXzKvBv4Yj__eVOpn0bHPmohu6irAGvFhhJJTZLMHv_PQyJeiRuTJ9sLPk5Ahk1ZT-RC0fTXM413v62Gfca7DLRtOk2AXUxcf7pSYJ2vSOvUNlasQ-DSHm5SsTnvVl2-Vp8mwn6FVChWdp9pxn1709FZUI26RS0sdc5otLQIMev5tiwDn2P/s611/cover.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="TV21 #98, Star Trek cover" border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="465" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNTSEQoqgIxXzKvBv4Yj__eVOpn0bHPmohu6irAGvFhhJJTZLMHv_PQyJeiRuTJ9sLPk5Ahk1ZT-RC0fTXM413v62Gfca7DLRtOk2AXUxcf7pSYJ2vSOvUNlasQ-DSHm5SsTnvVl2-Vp8mwn6FVChWdp9pxn1709FZUI26RS0sdc5otLQIMev5tiwDn2P/w305-h400/cover.png" title="TV21 #98, Star Trek cover" width="305" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">I'</span></i>ve never had even one moment's doubt where I first encountered the magical world of DC comics.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>And that was in</span> Adam West's <i>Batman</i> TV show.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How I thrilled, in the late 1960s, as, each week, the cowled crusader would face a larger-than-life foe and defeat him with the aid of the boy wonder and a level of irony so overwhelming it's a miracle I never managed to notice it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But what about my first taste of Marvel Comics?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That was always a bit vague.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I knew that, in early 1972, I'd acquired a copy of the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/2010/12/amazing-spider-man-annual-1969-sinister.html" target="_blank">1969 <i>Amazing Spider-Man Annual</i></a> from the Rag and Tag market in Sheffield and that it was the first Marvel mag I'd ever owned.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But there was more to the story than that.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because I knew for a fact that I'd encountered a Marvel super-hero even earlier.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And that hero was the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Silver%20Surfer" target="_blank">Silver Surfer.</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But just where had I met him? And, if not in the pages of a Marvel comic, then how?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLSVj4c6kTdLlm5C2gnMloD9_zX7TXhck-cNqjGMUA8RiCXFwZ7bna_5g8xRUzvaRC4BiBKliun7yx3kzQf0PQMRSs4p8SHlXtbtM-AieKo_H5QgJCeEv9htP7djd5raNBYjS7n1QhjqtsHNdpgcM9UfwSFVIkh6e2ByMrQviUXh6fCEDihlmhhDLzJzQP/s605/silver%20surfer%20cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Silver Surfer #12, the Abomination" border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLSVj4c6kTdLlm5C2gnMloD9_zX7TXhck-cNqjGMUA8RiCXFwZ7bna_5g8xRUzvaRC4BiBKliun7yx3kzQf0PQMRSs4p8SHlXtbtM-AieKo_H5QgJCeEv9htP7djd5raNBYjS7n1QhjqtsHNdpgcM9UfwSFVIkh6e2ByMrQviUXh6fCEDihlmhhDLzJzQP/w265-h400/silver%20surfer%20cover.jpg" title="Silver Surfer #12, the Abomination" width="265" /></a></div>All I knew was that, long before the launch of <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Marvel%20UK%2050%20years%20ago%20this%20week" target="_blank">Marvel UK</a>, I'd read a British comic which featured the pewter powerhouse battling the Abomination in the streets of a city.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But where could I have read it?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In my mind, it had always been in the pages of <i><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/TV%2021" target="_blank">TV21</a></i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But that made no sense. After all, everyone knew one thing. That <i>TV21</i> had been created for just one purpose, to spin yarns based on the stars of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's puppet shows and if there's one thing I've always known for sure, it's that Norrin Radd is no man's puppet. Surely, then, my memory must have been faulty.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, no. Once I got the Internet and could do research that had formerly been beyond the realms of human capability, it quickly became clear there was indeed a time when that publication had lost its license to print Anderson-related material and had, therefore, switched to a far more random assortment of strips. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">This meant that, by August 1971, it was giving us such gems as <i>The Tuffs of Terror Island, Forward From the Back Streets, Clancy Clott the Magician's Mate, Wheels Moran, Homer the Happy Ghost, Cap'n Stardust, The Menace of the Black Museum</i> and <i>Ringo Rides Again</i>.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">More than that, it was also sharing with us the adventures of Captain James T Kirk and friends in a strip dedicated to <i>Star Trek.</i></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, more importantly than even that, it was proffering up reprints of the adventures of Galactus' former herald.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Gadzooks! I'd been right for all those years! My first-ever brush with Marvel Comics was indeed in a mag that had been launched to cash in on the popularity of <i>Stingray</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But, in just which issue of that book had I encountered the Surfer and that battle?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, that wasn't an easy answer to discover.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But I persisted with the search.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>And, at last, after nearly two decades of access to the internet, I can </span><span>share the exciting news that I've tracked down the issue in question. And it was in <i>TV21</i> #98 (August 7th, 1971) that Zenn-La's fi</span>nest met the gamma-spawned gargoyle on the streets of London, got clobbered by him, recovered, had a winge about it, clobbered him back and then had a sorcerer return him to where he'd come from. All in the space of just two pages.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Such conciseness was not inherited from Marvel.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Instead, in a masterpiece of cut-and-pasted compression even Dez Skinn would have envied, the clash was condensed heavily by cramming as many panels into each page as possible and removing all superfluous images.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And so, behold, printed below, a comparison between one page of that tale as I first encountered it, and how American readers had experienced the conflict, just one a year previously.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
<table border="0"><tbody><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6xyYffBk2DloZDbHKSon6X1RrHCl-u00JdvTIaQgPJY2fOICkdtpqu-Y1ojRdnMdS0kvtZOhQ-qfNKAvA2JgWPVT9AfnPFE2prZMz-iuIAbxmw07P9X4kk3GnB44g713FtqmMCO6qkrh8kCjx8OMAHv79hc-2FxLqfYU4U4go6A0NIEfnIZ3jLQEZFyR/s611/surfer%20v%20abby.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="TV21 #98, Silver Surfer vs the Abomination" border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="466" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6xyYffBk2DloZDbHKSon6X1RrHCl-u00JdvTIaQgPJY2fOICkdtpqu-Y1ojRdnMdS0kvtZOhQ-qfNKAvA2JgWPVT9AfnPFE2prZMz-iuIAbxmw07P9X4kk3GnB44g713FtqmMCO6qkrh8kCjx8OMAHv79hc-2FxLqfYU4U4go6A0NIEfnIZ3jLQEZFyR/w305-h400/surfer%20v%20abby.png" title="TV21 #98, Silver Surfer vs the Abomination" width="305" /></a></div></td><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8bdm0T9cnoTuOpQixlvoPXu5nitjp5tI5I5sOQqBlo5Z7JNPondKO43IbFoatkG7Wp1jrvAB3Cv0bgF2jyRoEhvws9-bmg3OtpwmZfobURpQLKU3q1pADr_iWPvbgehFDeZDqnnP0o3RBaLMMfiVkvwMb3SR86YldjWeKci2jERlNFAjGC4RZK73ePKfc/s611/silver%20surfer%20original.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Silver Surfer #12, the Abomination" border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="409" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8bdm0T9cnoTuOpQixlvoPXu5nitjp5tI5I5sOQqBlo5Z7JNPondKO43IbFoatkG7Wp1jrvAB3Cv0bgF2jyRoEhvws9-bmg3OtpwmZfobURpQLKU3q1pADr_iWPvbgehFDeZDqnnP0o3RBaLMMfiVkvwMb3SR86YldjWeKci2jERlNFAjGC4RZK73ePKfc/w268-h400/silver%20surfer%20original.jpg" title="Silver Surfer #12, the Abomination" width="268" /></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But wait! There's more!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And a strange level of moreness it is indeed.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">For, it turns out that not only does the comic feature the Silver Surfer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It also features <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a>!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">In this case, it focuses on a Peter Parker who's about to launch a fight with Dr Octopus that will bring the tragic demise of Captain George Stacy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It seems odd that, although I've always remembered seeing the Surfer's yarn in this book, I've never had any recollection of Spidey's. I can only conclude the former character must have made more impact upon me than did the latter.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Regardless, here for comparison is that issue's first page of that Spider-Man tale - which was also granted just two pages per week. And, yet again, it's a masterclass in how to pack the maximum number of panels into a tight space.<span><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: arial;"><table border="0"><tbody><tr><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBsBvLf-dCXKJSWDpaR7wsJggto6JyzY8bgrZ8dLLBpjyQQMxcSAiIBEtnJ9lBfH1f6-eC5qOJWtxpxnlDVAvZHPnrOWy5OzaZ3bGzfLsrV_F6MucJeaO2n34bMU6czhJAw7Jenz4gdzItAyDuwK0sKIChx1Hn4Jsiqf54KQ7pqOCM0Tsm-QxDW9TgbWf-/s612/spider-man.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="TV21 #98, Spider-Man" border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="467" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBsBvLf-dCXKJSWDpaR7wsJggto6JyzY8bgrZ8dLLBpjyQQMxcSAiIBEtnJ9lBfH1f6-eC5qOJWtxpxnlDVAvZHPnrOWy5OzaZ3bGzfLsrV_F6MucJeaO2n34bMU6czhJAw7Jenz4gdzItAyDuwK0sKIChx1Hn4Jsiqf54KQ7pqOCM0Tsm-QxDW9TgbWf-/w305-h400/spider-man.png" title="TV21 #98, Spider-Man" width="305" /></a></div></td><td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_k3QS3PXRxRrxnYtXwa1NZ9jACi7Q3s-eQ-zDQQX9D_rtS8iX9UMEtxBqYF_4BF8xqq52Kcr0uveqTJsn6zLYWQN1MOY7v1RzOoAwCWMr6Yh_wzeq1lJbEH7Ir4Iu8qjz3y5puNknQ0gjRGEDBsWNjSamIzDjhHVkpfRZJwgimLm2ibXG5TPrZq1-4ULE/s612/spider-man%20original.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="398" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_k3QS3PXRxRrxnYtXwa1NZ9jACi7Q3s-eQ-zDQQX9D_rtS8iX9UMEtxBqYF_4BF8xqq52Kcr0uveqTJsn6zLYWQN1MOY7v1RzOoAwCWMr6Yh_wzeq1lJbEH7Ir4Iu8qjz3y5puNknQ0gjRGEDBsWNjSamIzDjhHVkpfRZJwgimLm2ibXG5TPrZq1-4ULE/w260-h400/spider-man%20original.jpg" width="260" /></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sadly, </span><i style="font-family: arial;">TV21</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> was to last for just seven more issues before merging with </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Valiant,</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> and the Surfer and Spider-Man would have to wait for the launch of Marvel's very <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/2022/10/october-7th-1972-marvel-uk-50-years-ago.html" target="_blank">own official UK imprint</a>, just over a year later, to once more have a British outlet that might show off their talents.</span></div></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-26045428120890699382024-01-25T16:32:00.001+00:002024-01-25T16:33:33.254+00:00January 26th 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">D</span></i>o you know what's neat?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Tiger Feet!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How do I happen to know this?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Because Mud told me.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">An introduction of such quality can only mean one thing. This was the week in 1974 when that band hit the summit of the UK singles chart with the melange of Retro and Glam which spawned the smash hit about possessing the paws of a stripey feline.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">To this day, I still don't have a clue what the song's actually about but who am I to doubt the wisdom of the band that Showaddywaddy could only dream of becoming?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Over on the accompanying album chart, Perry Como was being far less cryptic as he sailed serenely to the top of the mountain with his LP <i>And I Love You So</i>. I must confess I've never heard that LP but, given his reputation, I'm going to assume it's a relaxing listen from start to finish.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2SIm2rKTfsd4HzLtCUyW1RUlNlSSFFOGfnt66_E0xzvaOJr-Pi9jJD062V_BavqKZlvLbBBkkf78jFIIs6R2OYasSNYx8AXAK0YA2CmL6L8UsQq7QgoEZkUvXDiVt9nT7n1JcBGVHPyHsT_pZyYskXHCDtB7rSEwwOjFo_qI8A4eYMXuagABq467DdzO/s540/319009.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #50, Dr Octopus, Iron Man" border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2SIm2rKTfsd4HzLtCUyW1RUlNlSSFFOGfnt66_E0xzvaOJr-Pi9jJD062V_BavqKZlvLbBBkkf78jFIIs6R2OYasSNYx8AXAK0YA2CmL6L8UsQq7QgoEZkUvXDiVt9nT7n1JcBGVHPyHsT_pZyYskXHCDtB7rSEwwOjFo_qI8A4eYMXuagABq467DdzO/w296-h400/319009.jpg" title="Spider-Man Comics Weekly #50, Dr Octopus, Iron Man" width="296" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Can it be true? Has <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Spider-Man" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a> become a criminal and joined forces with the most tentacular terror known to man?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sort of, because he's lost his memory and the villain's convinced him they're partners in infamy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not only that. He's sent him off to steal some top-secret military blueprints.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, even with his memory absent, our hero's starting to have doubts that he could ever be friends with such a reprobate.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, in his strip, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Thor" target="_blank">Thor's</a> as much use as a marshmallow hammer, as he stands around watching while Odin defeats the Absorbing Man by sending him and Loki flying off into space.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But the thunder god may soon be needed back on Midgard because, there, a witch doctor finds one of the Norn Stones that have been nothing but trouble lately, and promptly gains super-powers before renaming himself The Demon.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But hold on to your hats, armour lovers! A historic moment has been reached. The comic that's always only ever had two strips (unless you count <i>Tales of Asgard</i>) has suddenly gained a third!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">That strip is <i><a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Iron%20Man" target="_blank">Iron Man</a></i> and we're about to discover just how the Avengers star came to be, when arms dealer Tony Stark gets some shrapnel in the heart and is taken prisoner by a Vietcong warlord who wants him to design weapons for <i>him</i>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And, of course, there's yet another chance to <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/2010/12/at-last-hero-like-no-other.html" target="_blank">design a hero or villain</a> of our choosing in a contest that could see us nabbing one of those fancy colour TVs I oftimes hear speak of.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFXjclZn8b3mPKLkEng6-T8VAVNENGjuF9mz1-aHMh0okmYKbPRmcgkLkYkduTwvLGNeM3PDaQYfE9vc46mF1ORg6VD76H7W4mOqAv3mG2LDeeNmx69wwwL3wn3-UwzU5yMJGV2FvOxi3a-2f7g0p1r8egx1wZdW1yOE24bvgUHrNlVBovgfmIYmpHow1/s532/521611.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Avengers #19, Captain America vs Power Man" border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFXjclZn8b3mPKLkEng6-T8VAVNENGjuF9mz1-aHMh0okmYKbPRmcgkLkYkduTwvLGNeM3PDaQYfE9vc46mF1ORg6VD76H7W4mOqAv3mG2LDeeNmx69wwwL3wn3-UwzU5yMJGV2FvOxi3a-2f7g0p1r8egx1wZdW1yOE24bvgUHrNlVBovgfmIYmpHow1/w301-h400/521611.jpg" title="The Avengers #19, Captain America vs Power Man" width="301" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Disbanded by the local council, Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are out of work until they get jobs at a circus.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Ringmaster's circus!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">However, the hypnotic heel tells the police they've tried to steal from him, forcing the trio to go on the run. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meanwhile, Captain America's out to bring the Enchantress and Power Man to justice. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This all leads to the defeat of the villains and the council reversing its previous decision. Thus letting the team reform.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Only for Cap to declare that he's quitting <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Avengers" target="_blank">the band</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Elsewhere, judging by that cover blurb, it would seem Mordo is the hunter and <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Strange" target="_blank">Dr Strange</a> is the hunted. Which can't be good news for either humanity or the master of the mystic arts.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQBUgODC7Jkrh13xh_6Ho8QWDAOmGvdnFw2id3mjuIn5w3ab6hUuA5sDH7MYazNSy5zJiNP84aAVN_ysKb6D7fEhdTW_efKsGHFdmDKpAAPEJRwvJgwIXqsOCaMQZd7jvydCW4idd5VNIKC6uerK7TvuLMvQt7IxjmuMOqxOTJOJNd83CJL-EZB1iOhO7/s532/892154.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #69, Daredevil is back" border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDQBUgODC7Jkrh13xh_6Ho8QWDAOmGvdnFw2id3mjuIn5w3ab6hUuA5sDH7MYazNSy5zJiNP84aAVN_ysKb6D7fEhdTW_efKsGHFdmDKpAAPEJRwvJgwIXqsOCaMQZd7jvydCW4idd5VNIKC6uerK7TvuLMvQt7IxjmuMOqxOTJOJNd83CJL-EZB1iOhO7/w301-h400/892154.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #69, Daredevil is back" width="301" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">But it's not just Spidey's book that's gained a strip. As that frontage makes clear, <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Daredevil" target="_blank">Daredevil</a> returns to the imprint's flagship title, restoring what I suspect many will see as its classic lineup!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">But will he live long enough to enjoy his resurrection?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">After all, in the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Hulk" target="_blank">Hulk's</a> strip, the Leader's just fired a nuclear missile at Russia in a bid to start World War 3.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Only the Hulk can stop it but, first, he must defeat the villain's indefatigable Super Humanoid.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fortunately, a handy volcano offers a solution to that problem.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, we're re-treated to the origin of the man without fear but, this time, as told by Stan Lee and Gene Colan in the pages of <i>Daredevil</i> #53.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Finally, we get the arrival of a brand new super-villain when Sue and Johnny Storm's dad turns himself into the Invincible Man! A foe blessed with the powers of the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Fantastic%20Four" target="_blank">Fantastic Four</a> themselves!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Or does he?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Two of this issue's three yarns feature villains trapped in volcanoes. I can see no significance to this fact but feel I should mention it.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-65435508253250711532024-01-23T16:18:00.001+00:002024-01-29T17:20:27.888+00:00Speak Your Brain! Part 70. Design your super-hero costume!<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: courier;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="background-color: white; color: black; float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; padding: 4px;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="clear: left; color: #cc0000; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="640" height="204" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEi8KYEF8nI/YQAm21EtkJI/AAAAAAAAQY8/GHHtWMXq_P0C55cB5i6F9fe48-k0F7FLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h204/megaphone-911858_640.png" style="border: none; padding: 0px;" title="The Steve Does Comics Megaphone" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/tumisu-148124/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Tumisu</a><br />from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=911858" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;">Pixabay</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>A</i></span>s I type these words, many of us have been battered by storms with names like Isha and Jocelyn but is that what the blogosphere wishes to discuss?</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">That, I cannot say. As, for once, I have no say in the site's subject matter.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">And that claim can only signal one thing.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">That it's time to revive <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Speak%20Your%20Brain" style="color: #cc0000; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">the feature</a> in which you The Reader get to decide just what should and shouldn't be the day's topic for debate.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px;">So broad is the spectrum of this site that that topic could be almost anything. From the grandiose to the trivial. The ludicrous to the sublime. Therefore, whatever it is you wish the <i>Steve Does Comics </i>True Believers to pontificate upon, post it in the comments section below and we shall discover just what the massed herd has to say about it.</div></span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6263300365798803459.post-19897111030302641492024-01-21T16:36:00.000+00:002024-01-21T16:36:08.341+00:00January 1984 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.<div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of <a href="https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16173334&fan_landing=true" target="_blank">Patreon</a>. </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>***</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">M</span></i>any artists have suffered for their art but few have gone as far as setting their own hair on fire.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Michael Jackson did.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">He did it in January 1984, by accident, while making an advert for Pepsi. Happily, the singer and the soft drink both survived the experience.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Another man making the news was </span><span>Steve Jobs who, that month, launched his Macintosh personal computer in the United States.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Meanwhile, in the world of finance, t</span><span>he <i>FTSE 100 Index </i>was launched on the London Stock Exchange to let us know just how our investments were performing.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><br /></div><div>However well that might be, they probably weren't doing as well as the following set of songs because each of them topped the UK singles chart, that January.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first to manage it was the Flying Pickets' <i>Only You</i> which was then replaced by Paul McCartney's <i>Pipes of Peace</i>. But, then, a veritable juggernaut was unleashed, as Frankie Goes to Hollywood's <i>Relax</i> stormed to the top of the listings, thanks to the BBC's banning of it. Which just goes to show that banning things doesn't work. </div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Over on the accompanying LP chart, the month kicked off with <i>Now That's What I Call Music</i> bossing things before it was dethroned by Paul Young's <i>No Parlez.</i> However, <i>Now</i> fought back to reclaim the top spot before it was once more deposed. This time, by Michael Jackon's <i>Thriller</i> which then had to finish the month by being overtaken by the Eurythmics' <i>Touch</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqAB8ZW3z71dkNY5jIThnQKQGNjZ_aW4jyqVPUDPCcINVm98TSafWnqUXlOhpDNOgB2naXQHrbTe7U_Hnkz9oKuCSeT1bC_61_j13OcU-ZB_Ms0K-wpgtfp07mWrfCjd-VkYd0i-9q2GN_IZX101NEasOfPcdt6_1qUq1jRojCE8N-_g0Xv4cgdFTDKmi/s535/1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Mighty World of Marvel #8, Captain Britain and Wolverine" border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxqAB8ZW3z71dkNY5jIThnQKQGNjZ_aW4jyqVPUDPCcINVm98TSafWnqUXlOhpDNOgB2naXQHrbTe7U_Hnkz9oKuCSeT1bC_61_j13OcU-ZB_Ms0K-wpgtfp07mWrfCjd-VkYd0i-9q2GN_IZX101NEasOfPcdt6_1qUq1jRojCE8N-_g0Xv4cgdFTDKmi/w299-h400/1.jpg" title="The Mighty World of Marvel #8, Captain Britain and Wolverine" width="299" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">For some reason, there's no issue of <i>Starburst</i>, this time round. Therefore, we only have three monthlies attempting to part us from our pocket money. I have, however, no doubt they'll be more than up to the task.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">We're in Japan where Wolverine has a final showdown with Shingen. Not only that but Mariko and he are all set to marry which, of course, leads them to send a suitable invitation to the <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/X-Men" target="_blank">X-Men</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Back in the UK, Jim Jaspers' Beetles are digging around in the rubble of Braddock Manor when they unwittingly free the Fury. The daft fools.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aggravated by Jim having turned the country into a living nightmare, the Vixen decides it's time to assassinate him but that plan soon goes belly-up.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Next, there's a two-page tale called <i>Zip Rodgers, Hero of the Universe</i> supplied to us by the talents of Dave Howard and </span><span>Paul Loney.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And we close with the finale of the Night-Raven tale the world knows as <i>Quiet Town</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIF1wdoqFUmaR2AJG2o3L_FlzYvOeRFropixSvGzPhhopCzHj9zFzrCEczcY98wQy3bNe5MBk8kkzB_5cjvRAMVgnkG6awAWXgPozv-AlvwBV0F-pvLWST9-NXCTX6bot727X82C1tTf5GP0g4MWb7VXAbc-RUlmiEzacOrr_yYlOcsfmmgf3eRR7ds3l/s663/2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Doctor Who Magazine #84, Peter Cushing" border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="498" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsIF1wdoqFUmaR2AJG2o3L_FlzYvOeRFropixSvGzPhhopCzHj9zFzrCEczcY98wQy3bNe5MBk8kkzB_5cjvRAMVgnkG6awAWXgPozv-AlvwBV0F-pvLWST9-NXCTX6bot727X82C1tTf5GP0g4MWb7VXAbc-RUlmiEzacOrr_yYlOcsfmmgf3eRR7ds3l/w300-h400/2.jpg" title="Doctor Who Magazine #84, Peter Cushing" width="300" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">At last, the greatest <a href="https://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/search/label/Dr%20Who" target="_blank">Doctor Who</a> of them all - Peter Cushing - gets the acclaim that's always been his by right, as the magazine dedicated to time-travelling phone boxes takes a good long hard look at the two Amicus films of the 1960s!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>But there's more. We also get news of a week-long <i>Doctor Who</i> </span>festival in Newcastle, a new comic strip called<span> <i>The Moderator</i> and a look back at the Tom Baker adventure <i>The Ribos Operation</i> which I think was the story which first introduced Romana to the show.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1XbjSEYeCUMbBmsAy5Y3KNs-78r75rSSRXtiBM8yyKPJk4ocSpONkjuUcxOEWed4DnLmKKoD8mpbOLZNK9ooPxXhsUEpip-fnDOUFDDSVT8OkK8nEf_6wLPv4YVKRUhEpfFdnASmGJGjeWCo_0byCEC32N_k3oPyt20-6WE8z7aSQIn6W3LrMy1IEM8f/s545/3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="The Savage Sword of Conan #75, Marvel UK" border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="400" height="407" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1XbjSEYeCUMbBmsAy5Y3KNs-78r75rSSRXtiBM8yyKPJk4ocSpONkjuUcxOEWed4DnLmKKoD8mpbOLZNK9ooPxXhsUEpip-fnDOUFDDSVT8OkK8nEf_6wLPv4YVKRUhEpfFdnASmGJGjeWCo_0byCEC32N_k3oPyt20-6WE8z7aSQIn6W3LrMy1IEM8f/w299-h407/3.jpg" title="The Savage Sword of Conan #75, Marvel UK" width="299" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>All I know about this month's lead tale is it's a 43-page epic called <i>Dominion of the Bat!</i> </span>and is conferred upon us by the ever-vigorous Michael Fleisher and John Buscema.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I note the thing on the cover seems to be a pterosaur, rather than a bat, and can only conclude the paleontologically-challenged Hyborians are guilty of a case of mistaken monster identity.</span></div>Steve W.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09191442559702617745noreply@blogger.com25