October 19th 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Sad, sweet dreamer. It's just one of those things you put down to experience.

How many times have I uttered those immortal words?

Thinking about it, probably never. However, I feel like I should have, as they seem packed to the gills with the kind of wisdom that only I can impart.

And those words were serving the band Sweet Sensation well, this week in 1974, as the song from whose chorus they're drawn hit the top of the UK singles chart.

Hitting the top of the UK album chart was, on the other hand, Rod Stewart who smashed straight in at Number One with his brand new LP Smiler, a record I've never heard of in my whole life. Looking at its Wikipedia listing, I can't say I recognise any of the tracks on it and I also have to say that Smiler is a terrible name for an album.

Having said that, it entered the listings at Number One. So, I can only assume the failing must all be on my part.

You wouldn't know it from that cover image but this issue sees the start of the tale in which the Leader decides to pit mental projections of the Hulk's deadliest foes against him in an attempt to give the brute a lethal heart attack.

Amazingly, despite the villain's reputation as a scoundrel of the highest order, Glenn Talbot and Thunderbolt Ross agree to help him with this.

Fortunately, Jim Wilson is on hand to provide the voice of common sense and sabotage.

The Hulk may be having to contend with many foes but Daredevil has plenty of them on his plate too.

That's because he's forced to battle the Tri-Man who's three different criminals merged into one. 

It can only mean the Gladiator and Masked Marauder have hatched their latest plan and it's all being done in a bid to gain control of the Maggia.

Or Hydra.

Or AIM.

Or the Kingpin's mob.

Or someone.

And I do believe the Fantastic Four have found the climax of their first encounter with Galactus. One which sees the Human Torch return to Earth with the Ultimate Nullifier, thus putting the wind up the big space galoot and leading to a pledge from him to never threaten our planet again.

Our pal Sal gives us his second consecutive Spider-Man Comics Weekly cover while, inside, the hero's at odds with the police, the Maggia have the Terrible Tablet, the Maggia have Curt Connors, and the Maggia have Connors' wife and son.

Can things possibly get worse?

I suspect they will.

Thor, meanwhile, must thwart the intentions of the Growing Man, an android which belongs to Kang the Conqueror and insists on getting bigger every time you hit him.

Some of us might think the solution to that problem is to stop hitting him.

But that solution would never occur to any self-respecting Marvel hero. Therefore, how can even the god of thunder hope to defeat such a foe?

I suspect he'll probably pull a brand-new super-power out of his backside, like he always does whenever his familiar powers turn out not to be of any use.

The sharp-eyed will have noticed there's no sign of Iron Man in this week's issues. Can it be curtains for the canned clobberer of criminals, counterfeits, catastrophisers, communists and counter-insurgent co-conspirators?

Iron Fist is still invading Harold Meachum's office and still encountering the myriad deadly booby traps you'd expect when doing such a thing.

But, even if he gets past all of those obstacles, can he survive an encounter with the man they call Triple Iron?

And just who is this mystery ninja who keeps appearing and disappearing?

Elsewhere, the Avengers conclude their Central Park tussle with the Super-Adaptoid, by the straightforward tactic of all ganging up on him.

And we end with a retelling of Dr Strange's origin, as recounted by Roy Thomas and Dan Adkins.

But, before we depart the scene, I should add that I do suspect this week's Marvel UK books contain ads for two new comics which will be appearing in our newsagents, next week.

But what are they?

And will we like them?

Speak Your Brain! Part 89.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

There are some things in this life that are simply inevitable.

And one of them is the return of this feature which, like Old Man River, just keeps rolling along.

But does that mean today's subject for debate is rivers?

It's possible.

But, then again, it could be absolutely anything because that is the nature of this feature. Until someone suggests a topic, in the comments section below, it's anyone's guess what the discussion will be.

Therefore, feel free to suggest that topic and we shall see just what unfurls....

The Marvel Lucky Bag - October 1984.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

It may have seemed October 1984 was going to be a quiet month for cinema-goers, seeing, as it did, the release of such non-blockbusting fare as Comfort and Joy, Give My Regards to Broad Street and Paris, Texas.

But it was not to be so.

For, that month also experienced the unleashing of a film called The Terminator - and things would never be the same again.

Then again, even that probably seemed like non-blockbusting fare at the time.

A brand new superstar is born, as Crash Ryan hits us in the chops with the first issue of his brand new comic.

Frankly, I've no idea who he is, where he's from or what he's about but I'm going to make a guess he's unrelated to both Crash Corrigan and Crash Bandicoot.

In this story, it would appear he stumbles upon a fight between the United Airmen and the Doom Forces. 

I'm going to assume the Doom Forces are the bad guys.

And I'm going to assume he's not one of them.

And I'm going to assume that, having found the fight, he joins in with it, as it would be a pitiful tale of heroism if he doesn't.

At last, American Marvel has had the sense to launch a comic dedicated to the universe's greatest hero!

And it features the Fourth Doctor!

And Beep the Meep!

The astute reader will have guessed that this means the book features reprints from the UK's Doctor Who Weekly.

And that means plenty of John Wagner, Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons. Not to mention Steve Moore and Paul Neary.

But what's this?

Another new book?

And one I've never heard of?

I've so not heard of it that I don't even know what it involves, other than that the story within is called Indian Spring and is the work of Steve Perry, Tom Yeates and Cara Sherman.

Refusing to be left out of the excitement, the Micronauts are also blessed with the launch of a brand new book.

And it's another one whose contents I know little of but I do know the tale within is called Shadow of the Makers! and is the handiwork of Peter Gillis and Kelley Jones.

Amidst the launching of all these new books, there is, though, a title that's hit its last-ever issue.

And it's one I still couldn't claim to have gained any comprehension of.

However, the internet informs me the Archer brothers race their flying space rigs around the world, with the winner becoming the first human space trucker!

Will this bring them into contact with Ace Garp?

I cannot say.

I can merely dream.

And it's another new venture when Marvel brings us its adaptation of the film we're all talking about.

I should know what this one entails, having seen the movie.

However, I've not seen it since the 1980s and always get it mixed up with Starman.

Does it involve a teenager using his video game skills to become a pilot in a space war?

If so, I'm going to assume he does a bang-up job of it.

Barry Smith is well and truly back at Marvel.

And so is Machine Man!

Having said that, the breakdowns for this are carried out by Happy Herb Trimpe.

In the far-off year of 2020, our hero's reactivated by a group of young rebels.

However,  robots are now an everyday part of life and, for reasons that escape me, arms dealer Sunset Bains sends killer robots after Machiney who's forced to flee, along with the rebels.

Another battler whose comic's hit the end of the road is Ka-Zar who marks the termination of his title by paying front-cover homage to Nick Fury.

However, I can shed little light upon the interior of this one.

It would appear, though, to involve a trip to the Land of Cancelled Heroes.

Methinks one detects hints of satire.

Iron Man gets his seventh annual and must celebrate it by confronting the new Goliath, formerly known as Power Man.

Fed up of his endless failures in other guises, the villain's recruited Doctor Malus to give him growing powers.

Clearly, this does him the world of good because he actually defeats the armoured Avenger.

Sadly for him, Wonder Man and Hawkeye then show up to assist the comic's star.

And that's the end of the new Goliath's golden spell.

It's a fair while since I last featured the Defenders in this slot but who could ignore that Frank Cirocco cover?

More to the point, can we resist the story within?

That's hard for me to say. All I know of it is it's delivered by Peter Gillis and Don Perlin and I must, therefore, leave it to others to decide whether it sounds like the sort of thing that might float their boat.

Speaking of covers, Bill Sienkiewicz gives us one we're never likely to forget.

And he also give us the art inside.

From what I understand, our heroes must battle the Demon Bear. A conflict which seems to lead to Danielle Moonstar's parents returning from the dead.

October 12th 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

This week in 1974, UK democracy finally got its bum in gear, as Britain, at last, managed to elect a government. That was all thanks to Harold Wilson's Labour Party winning the nation's second general election of the year, to become the new government with a walloping great three-seat majority in the Commons.

This meant Wilson had now won four of the five elections he'd contested as party leader.

The pinnacle of British politics may have hit fever pitch but on the UK singles chart, the pinnacle was noticeably more genteel; claimed, as it was, by John Denver with his only solo British hit Annie's Song.

More youthful activities were afoot on the LP chart, thanks to the Bay City Rollers smashing straight in at Number One with their latest album Rollin', thus toppling Mike Oldfield from the perch he'd occupied for several weeks.

I, of course, have no beef with Annie's Song but other tracks I approved of on that chart were:

Sad Sweet Dreamer - Sweet Sensation

Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas

I've Got the Music in Me - the Kiki Dee Band

Pinball - Brian Protheroe

When Will I See You Again? - the Three Degrees

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? - Jimmy Ruffin

Gonna Make You a Star - David Essex

and

Gotta See Jane - R Dean Taylor.

Should you wish to investigate the matter in greater depth, that very singles chart can be found here.

While the accompanying album chart resides within.

The Sandman's still rampaging around that hospital and still carrying out his plan to turn himself back into sand by conducting a full blood swap with Betty Ross.

Can the Hulk stop him in time?

And if he can't, just what will be the fate of poor Betty?

I do believe Daredevil finally defeats the Owl, foils his plot to kill a judge and brings the hooting mad mischief-maker's gigantic robot owl to justice.

Speaking of things that came crashing to Earth, I do suspect Alicia's finally managed to convince the Silver Surfer that he should get on his board and go smash Galactus' gob in.

However, will it be enough?

And will he be in time to save the FF from the whirling arms of the space giant's odd little robot?

As we can all see, Man-Mountain Marko's thrown the Shocker's girlfriend out of a window, as a distraction to enable him to steal the tablet that causes nothing but trouble wherever it goes.

But what's this? Marko's boss Silvermane has kidnapped Curt Connors to work on decrypting the tablet?

Does the fool not know Connors is also the Lizard and turns into that cold-blooded causer of chaos, calamity and concern during times of cornucopian conflict?

Thinking about it, he doesn't.

Elsewhere, Iron Man's completing his battle with Captain America, having been fooled into thinking Cap's the Chameleon in disguise.

I can't help feeling that, when the heroes discover they've been suckered, it's going to be bad news for the malevolent quick-change flannel-merchant.

Thor, meanwhile, is still on his quest to retrieve his stolen hammer.

And that's taken him to the land of the trolls. 

And that's led him to another fight with Ulik - and a determination to liberate the captive alien Orikal.

For once, not hanging round waiting for an assassin to show up and murder him, Iron Fist decides to invade the office block of his deadly enemy Harold Meachum.

But it's no easy task. Like any office block, it's packed with self-firing machine guns, exploding staircases, acid sprinklers, disintegrating door frames, precipitous plunges and hired thugs!

When it comes to the Avengers, the Super-Adaptoid is back!

And I think this might be the first tale I ever read that features him.

From the depths of my memory, I recall that it sees the return of Dashing Don Heck to the strip, and a battle in central Park. One which sees Hercules become an actual ever-loving real-life official Avenger.

And he didn't even have to defeat the Hulk to do it.

Which I'm sure is not at all aggravating news to Spider-Man.

But it's time for us to celebrate because, unless I hopelessly misread the situation, Dr Strange finally manages to rescue Victoria Bentley from the clutches of Yandroth: Scientist Supreme!

And he only needs the Ancient One's help to do it.

Forty years ago today - October 1984.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Our Marvel heroes have never hesitated before flinging themselves into the fray. Therefore, I shall hesitate me not to do likewise.

The action's still in England, and Thor and Roger continue to have trouble with Malekith and his fairy friends.

Our adventurers manage to rescue the captive Lorelei but completely fail to prevent the villain from opening the Casket of Ancient Winters and, as far as I can make out, that somehow clears the way for Surtur and his army to invade the planet Earth!

The Norns, meanwhile, give Balder a pep talk that could transform his life.

In a fun-packed diversion, John Byrne gives us a tale which reveals that, before the foundation of the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards foiled an attempt at world conquest by the hostile alien Gormuu.

Lovers of Silver Age comics will, of course, instantly detect a homage to the monster comics Marvel was churning out before The Fantastic Four came along to set the company on the route to super-heroic triumph.

But that's not all because, trying to find a cure for Reed's recent memory losses, he and the gang visit the home of his late parents - only to discover his father had a Dr Doom style time machine in his lab!

It's a moment of note, as Barry Smith returns to the strip he briefly graced in the 1960s.

Granted, the improvement in his drawing skills, in the intervening years, means he graces it a lot more than he did back then.

Contained within, Storm meets Forge for the first time and they hang around in his apartment, discussing her history and loss of mutant powers. A loss caused by the very gun he himself created.

But because a super-hero comic can't be made up entirely of talking, I do believe that, while that's going on, Rogue is in sensational solo action against the Dire Wraiths.

And she's doing all her talking with her fists.

It's chaos on the streets of New York, as the resurrected cyborg that is Silvermane seeks to reclaim part of his stolen soul from Dagger.

And that means Cloak, Spidey and the Black Cat have to try and stop him.

And it's even more chaos on the streets of New York, as Spider-Man, SHIELD, the NYPD, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil, the Avengers and anyone else who happens to be in the vicinity, show up to try and stop the Hulk's latest mindless rampage.

However, none of them succeed - until Dr Strange tries a noticeably more intelligent tactic than the others have.

However, that solution sees the green gargoyle exiled to an alien world.

One from which he may never be able to return.

We're used to receiving retellings of Cap's origin but, this issue, we get a retelling of the Red Skull's.

And it's basically the same as the ones we've had before, just a bit more long-winded.

Regardless, in this issue, both Mother Superior and Baron Zemo discover the rapidly ageing Nazi has no regard for them. And I can't help feeling that fact will prove to be his downfall.

A villain whose name I forget but is half Eternal and half Deviant is out to absorb the power of the Eternals' Uni-Mind into himself, in order to make himself all-powerful.

Needless to say, the small coterie of Avengers who happen to be present are not going to let that happen.

More tedium ensues as Micah Synn and his gang abduct Becky Blake and Vanessa Fisk, planning to sacrifice them to their greedy jungle god.

Luckily for them, Daredevil's on the scene to save them.

But possibly not so luckily for Vanessa who is killed in the subsequent scrap.

Then again, it turns out it is lucky for her because it's not really Vanessa who's killed. It's a lookalike hired by the Kingpin to protect the real Vanessa.

Which is good news for Vanessa but not for the lookalike; Heidi DeVoto.

However, the death of Heidi leaves the Kingpin feeling miffed and, so, he agrees to team up with DD in a bid to bring down Synn.

I don't know about this. I can't help feeling Kingie could easily bring down Synn without any help at all from Daredevil.

A bizarre tale in which the one-armed Fafnir falls in love with a girl he and Conan have rescued from locals who are convinced she's a witch.

In a plot twist few would have seen coming, she really does turn out not to be a witch.

She is, however, some sort of moss creature who has to kill people in order to survive in open sunshine.

But can the revelation of this fact really be enough to get in the way of her and Fafnir's romance?

That cut-price Kraven, the Puma, has been hired by the Kingpin's lackey the Rose to kill Spider-Man.

Needless to say, Kingie's not at all pleased about a hit being arranged without his permission.

But that might be the least of the corpulent crimelord's concerns as, by the end of it all, the Rose has agreed to ally himself with the Hobgoblin!

But even all of that pales into insignificance beside the true drama of the issue.

Which is that Mary Jane reveals that she knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

And that she's always known he's Spider-Man!!!

Vibro's still causing trouble and Rhodey's still out to stop him.

And he does stop him.

He also discovers the source of the headaches which have been plaguing him lately.

And it turns out to be that his helmet isn't set up right, having been designed for Tony Stark to wear.

Sounds like a good day, all round, for him.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - October 1974.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

It must have seemed like nothing but fear was waiting to greet those who foolishly entered a cinema in October 1974.

It was, after all, a month which saw the release of those never to be forgotten nightmares The House on Skull Mountain, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, It's Alive, The Cars That Ate Paris and Phantom of the Paradise.

For those who wanted less uncanny fare, it also saw the unveiling of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Benji, Airport 1975, The Odessa File, Stardust and The Four Musketeers.

The whole world wants to know which is my favourite of those and I can safely say I don't have a clue. I've only seen It's Alive, Airport 1975, Stardust and The Four Musketeers and am struggling to formulate a judgement about any of them. I do, however, suspect that Airport 1975 was not my favourite.

68 pages of giant werewolf action await us, as the tormented lycanthrope bumps into the Frankenstein Monster who's travelled to California to meet someone called Danton Vayla.

Meanwhile, Vayla's Brotherhood of Baal has kidnapped Lissa Russell and plans to sacrifice her, for some reason I'm not aware of.

But, of course, that can only lead to a scrap between the two monsters, with the only winner being the reader!

Following that, we encounter a trio of Silver Age reprints bearing such titles as Mind Over Matter, The Ape Man and The Werewolf of Wilmach!

And it's going to take 68 pages to contain the sheer drama when Spider-Man and Shang-Chi must combine their forces to prevent Fu Manchu from using the Empire State Building for nefarious purposes.

Having said that, it only takes thirty pages for them to do so.

And that means we then get a reprint of the tale in which Spider-Man must audition for the Avengers by trying to capture the Hulk on their behalf.

Judging by that cover, The Joy of Sex Man finds himself in a nightmare when he's surrounded by monkeys wherever he looks.

It's true. Marvel's latest mag hits its second issue with the second instalment of its adaption of the movie we all love.

But that's not all. Within these pages, we also find Part Two of Terror on the Planet of the Apes, as brought to us by Mike Ploog and Doug Moench.

And there are text articles too, dealing with such themes as The City of the Apes, Simian Genesis and Michael Wilson: the "Other" Apes Writer.

How can Luke Cage manage to call himself Power Man when there's already a Power Man in the Marvel universe?

Presumably, by the same method whereby there are about eight different characters called the Destroyer in the Marvel universe.

However, the other Power Man thinks otherwise - and that means Luke's going to have to fight him for the title.

It's the clash that had to happen because I the reader demanded it. Marvel's living vampire comes up against Marvel's other living vampire when Morbius meets Blade!

Sadly, I've never read this one and can shed no illumination upon its contents but suspect that both men are still very much alive and well at the end of it all.

Regardless, that's then followed by a Joe Maneely  reprint the world can only refer to as The Two-Faced Man.

I've not the slightest idea what happens in this one but that cover certainly makes it look dramatic.

Apparently, it features characters blessed with such names as Ezekial Tork, Maybelle Tork and Dawg.

Not content with having numerous other comics devoted to him, everyone's favourite webhead gets yet another title devoted to him.

This time, it's aimed at younger readers and tells us just how the ordinary everyday Peter Parker became the hero we all know and respect.

But that's not all because, in this issue, he gets to meet the Spoiler, Electro, the Vulture and, erm... ...Duane.

A brand new hero gallops into our spinner racks and into our hearts!

Granted, he's not that new because the main story's a reprint from 1967.

School teacher Carter Slade's on his way to a new job when he encounters a gang attacking a family. Attempting to stop them, he's almost killed but is saved when a man called Flaming Star, believing him to be a  promised white warrior, gives him some stardust that enables him to become the Night Rider.

Gives him some, "stardust," you say?

The issue's backup tale is a reprint from 1957, doesn't seem to feature either Night Rider or stardust and is called The Walking Target!

My knowledge of this one is limited but it would appear the Defenders - with the help of the Son of Satan - must thwart Asmodeus and Satannish.

Elsewhere, a 1954 reprint sees the Sub-Mariner tackle the mystery of people who disappear when they fall into the sea.

The 1950s Black Knight, meanwhile, has an adventure which seems to involve Arthur Pendragon.

And Dr Strange goes Beyond the Purple Veil, thanks to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

The magazine that daren't go out in daylight brings us such epics as Where Is Gallows Bend and What the Hell Am I Doing There?, Sip the Sweet Poison, Bats and Agents of the Night Road, as created by those undead luminaries of distinction Doug Moench, Howard Chaykin, Paul Gulacy, Billy Graham, Don McGregor and Tom Sutton.

The cover, meanwhile, is painted by someone credited as JAD.

October 5th 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Martial arts mayhem was still ruling unsurpassed in Britain, this week in 1974, with Carl Douglas' Kung Fu Fighting retaining the singles chart pinnacle it had claimed seven days earlier.

However, there was change - of a sort - atop the corresponding LP listings, thanks to Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells having now snatched pole position from his own Hergest Ridge. Clearly, there was no stopping the lad.

It's like a flashback to the early days of the venture, with Jim Starlin giving us a MWOM cover. Although, admittedly, this time, it wasn't drawn specifically for the comic.

Inside, I do believe Hulkie's crashed back to Earth, following his outer space adventure and is about to have another run-in with the Sandman who, in his urge to find a cure for being made of glass, decides to invade a hospital and force Betty Ross to give him a quick and total blood swap.

I can't see the jade one taking this lying down.

Meanwhile, the man without fear has been sentenced to death by the Owl - as has a judge - and this leads to the feathery fiend unveiling his greatest weapon yet - a giant robot owl that looks like it weighs more than a planet and would struggle to get off the ground even if gravity had never been invented.

The Fantastic Four are still having their first ever meeting with Galactus. And I do suspect Alicia is having her first ever meeting with the Silver Surfer.

But can she convince him of the innate goodness of humanity?

Judging by his whingeing about the awfulness of humanity in his later solo series, seemingly not.

This week's cover does somewhat oversell the threat Man-Mountain Marko poses to Spider-Man.

Still, at least he does pose a threat to the Shocker's girlfriend.

And that's bad news for us all because she's the latest custodian of that pesky ancient tablet the whole world seems to want. Latest to want it is Marko's employer Silvermane, ageing head of the Maggia.

Next, it's a tale never to be forgotten, as the Chameleon decides to trick Iron Man into fighting Captain America, for reasons I can't recall.

To do this, he, of course, shows up at Tony Stark's factory, claiming he's Cap and has been given a good beating by the Chameleon who's now posing as the star-spangled superstar.

Possibly the most disappointing aspect of this tale is the sight of Iron Man knocking Kraven the Hunter out with one punch, making Spider-Man's numerous epic labours to defeat the villain look a bit pathetic.

Thor, meanwhile, pays a visit to the trolls' homeland in a bid to retrieve his stolen hammer.

And, there, he encounters the mysterious captive alien Orikal and releases him from his flame-lined prison.

Iron Fist claims the front cover and reiterates his legendary ability to beat up pavements, as he must confront the menace of the Scythe.

In total contrast to what we've been getting from Shang-Chi's strip, he's an assassin, sent to kill our hero.

Elsewhere, the stars of the comic are still behind the Iron Curtain and still trying to liberate the Black Widow from her former communist overlords.

But for that to happen, Captain America must overcome her husband the Red Guardian, a man designed to be equal to him in every way.

Needless to say, he doesn't turn out to be equal to him in every way.

Not that it does Cap much good, as he's soon captured by others.

And what of the doctor of strangeness?

He's still trying to recoup Victoria Bentley from the clutches of Scientist Supreme Yandroth who's now resorted to inflicting monsters from his id on his opponent.