Speak Your Brain! Part 104.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Who am I?

Where am I?

What's happening?

I'm at a lacuna.

A lacuna of non-commitalness created by the wait for the return of the greatest feature the internet has ever seen.

The one in which the first person to post in the comments section below gets to decide the topic du jour.

But what shall that topic be?

I cannot say.

Only you can.

Therefore, feel free to post it and get this site swinging into a level of action never before surpassed in human history.

2000 AD - May 1987.

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

***

As temperatures in the UK soar ever upwards, let us soar, instead, to the cinemas of May 1987 and see just what treats await us within them.

Those treats are these: American Ninja 2, Creepshow 2, The Gate, Ishtar, Personal Services and Beverly Hills Cop II.

I think the only one of those I've ever seen is The Gate. Therefore, I shall list that as my Film of the Month.

And what of sport?

It was the month in which Vienna's Prater Stadium saw Porto best Bayern Munich 2–1 to win that team's first-ever European Cup.

Also flying high - but then landing - was 18-year-old West German Mathias Rust who managed to dodge Soviet air defences, and land his plane in Moscow's Red Square before being arrested for the feat. Fortunately, he was released from custody in August 1988.

When it came to the UK singles chart, May launched with Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now reigning supreme before they were, thankfully, stopped by Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me).

On the adjacent album chart, the month arrived with Curiosity Killed the Cat's Keep Your Distance on top before that was dislodged by Swing Out Sister's It's Better to Travel which was then dethroned by Simple Minds' Live in the City of Light.

Fab. But what of the Galaxy's greatest comic?

It was an exciting time for all lovers of high culture because the publication was celebrating its tenth birthday. And it did that by giving us such old warhorses as Anderson PSI Division, Rogue Trooper, Judge Dredd, Nemesis, Strontium Dog and Tharg's Future-Shocks.

We did, however, get one newish feature, in the form of Prog 253's one-page strip that bore the title Tales from Mega-City One.

June 21st, 1975 - 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. 

***

Little of interest happened, this week in 1975. Therefore, I shall launch straight into my look at the activities and antics of Marvel's mightiest heroes, as they seek to fill, with thrills, spills and heroics, the pages of the UK's favourite comics.

The Prowler makes his not-necessarily senses-shattering return, meaning Spidey faces a battle to reach the airport, before Gwen can use it to take her to England and out of his life forever.

But it's bad news for Iron Man too because the Melter's built himself a new melting gun, used it to escape from prison and is now demanding Tony Stark create an even better one for him.

Next, we take a journey into mystery when it finally dawns on the thunder god that he can't be the real Thor if he's really Don Blake who only got the powers of Thor because he found a magic stick in a cave.

Cue a reprint of Thor's first appearance in the Marvel universe, back when he battled the invading Stone Men.

And cue our hero trying to make sense of it all.

I think we can all see there's a huge development in the pages of the comic's main strip.

But, before that, John Buscema draws a tale in which Shang-Chi decides to invade his father's secret lair.

Following that, with the other Avengers busy elsewhere - and the Black Widow kidnapped by Egghead, the Puppet Master and Mad Thinker - Hawkeye sees no choice but to swallow Hank Pym's growth serum and become the new Goliath!

And then there's a treat for us all, as Barry Smith descends upon Dr Strange's strip, to pencil a tale in which, after narrowly avoiding being run over by a truck, the sorcerer supreme finds himself in a strange reality where nothing makes sense.

I remember acquiring this issue in a city centre stationers that had a subterranean tunnel which linked it to the biggest toy shop in Europe.

I can't help feeling all stationers should have a tunnel linking them to the biggest toy shop in Europe.

As should all houses.

I know what doesn't have a tunnel linking it to a toy shop.

And that's Hydra's HQ.

If it did, they'd all probably act a lot nicer.

As it is, they still have the Hulk running loose in that HQ - and he's got the help of Ant-Man!

But what of the Chameleon?

And, at the story's end, has he, as seems likely, managed to squish Bruce Banner beneath his evil shoe?

Following that, Daredevil's still battling the Exterminator's Ani-Men but, holy smoke, he gets zapped by their T-Ray and flung out-of-sync with the rest of humanity. He does, at least, find himself in the company of Debbie Harris and other earlier victims of that ray.

Elsewhere, the Fantastic Four are not only facing Ronan the Accuser on the streets of New York, they're defeating him!

You might think that's all their current problems over and done with.

But is it?

After all, while that's going on, Alicia's abducted from her apartment, by a man of mystery.

As far as I can make out, Dracula's in nostalgic mood and thinking back to a time when a man told him about the existence of a pool of blood that can confer immortality upon those who drink from it.

Meanwhile, Jack Russell's still a prisoner of the wizard Taboo and his lovely daughter Topaz.

And Frankenstein's Monster's also up to something but I can't say exactly what.

I suspect the pig creature he fought last week will be looking for revenge.

That cover can only mean one thing.

We've finally reached the start of Marvel's adaptation of Beneath the Planet of the Apes, as presented by Alfredo Alcala and Doug Moench.

It, of course, features yet another astronaut landing in the simian wonderland and setting out to discover just what's happened to his predecessors.

Speaking of people who arrived from outer space, Adam Warlock's experiencing Count-Down for Counter-Earth! which, I think, involves him deciding to go on the rampage and destroy that planet.

But the other big news we need to hear is that this issue sees the launch of Marvel's adaptation of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, thanks to Len Wein and George Tuska!

Conan and Elric continue an encounter that sees them call a truce, so they can travel to the sunken city of Yagala and battle the combined might of people called Xiombarg, Prince Gaynor, Kulan-Gath and Terhali.

Elsewhere, Thongor's vanished from the comic, to be replaced by none other than that puritan purifier Solomon Kane who finds himself in an adaptation of Robert E Howard's Skulls in the Stars.

It's a turning point in the life of the Beach Boy from space, as he meets the Inhumans and it all goes so well that the experience leads him to set out to destroy the entire human race.

How odd that both he and the equally cosmic Adam Warlock should decide to destroy their adopted planets in the same week.

As for the X-Men, they and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants are both trying to recruit the Stranger - only for him to reveal he's an alien and then abduct Magneto and the Toad!

Speak Your Brain! Part 103. Board games and reprints.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Can it be true?

Can the year really be nearing its halfway point, so soon after it started?

Why, yes, it can.

But we may, at least, take solace in the fact that, while time trundles relentlessly onward, some things never change.

And one of those is that the second half of a month brings the return of a feature possessed of an immutability that could defy the gods themselves.

It is, of course, the one in which the first person to comment below gets to decide just what the day's topic for debate shall be.

Such a thing is never predictable and, therefore, I can only sit with bated breath and wait to discover just what that topic shall be.

Atlas/Seaboard June 1975.

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

***

The Greek Titan Atlas was, famously, strong enough to hold up the sky but can Atlas the comic company even succeed in preventing the roof from falling in on it?

Given the short-lived nature of Atlas's books, it's a bit of a shock but Vicki's managed to achieve a third issue.

And it's not even the final one!

Inside, we encounter such classic material as Company Loves Misery, Lamping Along Together, Let's Get in Shape for Summer!, Weanie Meanie and The Vicki Fun Page! Mostly reprinted from the 1960s pages of Tippy Teen and Teen-In.

Once more does Tiger-Man leap into the fray!

And he does so in a tale which features the Blue Leopard who, in the absence of any other information, I shall assume to be the villain of the piece.

The final issue of Police Action smashes us in the face with Sam Lomax in ...One Hot Dog With Murder, Please! and Luke Malone in something called ...Rock and Robbery.

But Sam and Luke; will we ever see their like again?

Police Action may have died but nothing can kill Phoenix. Not even the Devil, Yetis or the Loch Ness Monster, all of whom turn up in this unlikely tale set in the Himalayas.

But our hero doesn't get this issue all to himself.

Instead, he has to share it with a backup strip starring brand-new crime-fighter the Dark Avenger who must thwart the plans of the Rat Pack!

Atlas finally gets a martial arts hero of its own. Albeit one who looks like he was designed by Frank Robbins.

I can shed no light upon the contents of this one, not even whether it's any good or not but I can reveal it's brought to us by the talents of Ed Fedory and Jim Craig and that, despite appearances, Fearless Frank seems to have had no involvement in this mag.

Tragically, this seems to be the only issue of the book that will ever appear.

I can share little insight into the contents of this one either, but it stars a character called Adam Lucard and is the handiwork of Gary Friedrich and Frank Thorne.

This comic too will only last for one issue before being terminally staked through its heart.

But back to hardier fare, as the Destructor hits his third issue, and a confrontation with the Huntress who's been hired by the mob, to bump him off.

And it looks like she might just do it!

Ironjaw already has his own book but it seems that's not enough to contain awesomeness on his scale. And so he finds himself being granted a second vehicle for his talents.

The first tale of the issue, which stars the man himself, is called The Mountain of Mutants and, to the shock of no one, contain mutants.

That's followed by a yarn in which a 1970s decathlete is catapulted into a barbaric age, 2,000 years in the future.

Sensationally, this is another book which will survive for just one issue before folding.

June 14th, 1975 - 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. 

***

These days, we're so used to proceedings in the UK Parliament being televised, it's easy to forget there was a time when we didn't know what such things looked or even sounded like.

But that changed, this week in 1975, when the nation reeled with shock as the House of Commons was broadcast on radio for the first time ever and we got to hear the full panoply of our elected representatives' magnificent array of farmyard impressions.

Elsewhere, after a referendum, and seven years of military rule, modern-day Greece was created via the establishment of The Hellenic Republic.

When it came to music, the UK charts were still being dominated by the sound of Whispering Grass, thanks to sitcom stars Windsor Davies and Don Estelle.

While, on the associated album listings, the pinnacle was, yet again being held by The Best of the Stylistics.

I, of course, revere Whispering Grass; mostly because I remember hearing it on the radio while reading that Barry Smith drawn Dr Strange story based on The Shadow Over Innsmouth. A concurrence which lent the line, "Why tell them all the Old Things? They're buried under the snow," a strangely Lovecraftian tone I shall never forget.

But there were other tracks I approved of on that Hit Parade and amongst them were:

I'm Not in Love - 10 CC

Listen to What the Man Said - Wings

Disco Queen - Hot Chocolate

Autobahn - Kraftwerk

Israelites - Desmond Dekker

Imagine Me, Imagine You - Fox

Lovin' You - Minnie Riperton

Stand by Me - John Lennon

Hurt So Good - Susan Cadogan

and

Honey - Bobby Goldsboro.

Should you wish to investigate the matter further, that week's UK singles chart can be found here.

Whilst the parallel album chart resides within.

Can it be?

The Hulk? Up against his deadliest opponent yet?

The Chameleon?

Yes, it can!

Granted, his peril's somewhat embiggened by the fact that our battling brute has been emsmallened by Hank Pym's shrinking serum, thanks to his attempt to return to Jarella's world.

And that can only mean a confrontation with the giant rats of Hydra!

Daredevil, meanwhile, is still fighting the Ani-Men who, thanks to the Exterminator's T-Ray, have sent Foggy's girlfriend Debbie Harris out of temporal sync with the rest of us!

And the Fantastic Four discover there's a price to pay for wrecking a Kree Sentry.

And that's getting a visit from Ronan the Accuser!

From the looks of it, Spider-Man and Iceman are taking a break from hitting each other, for long enough to put a halt to the malignly manipulative machinations of Sam Bullit.

Which is just as well, as the putrid politician is about to rub out poor old Joe Robertson!

Elsewhere, Iron Man and Pepper Potts are in the process of trying to escape from the Mole Man's underground world.

And I do suspect that Thor's one-sided struggle with Mangog finally comes to a halt, as Odin wakes up and easily magics the monster out of existence.

Dr Strange may make the cover but the issue kicks off with Shang-Chi who's fighting a bunch of Si-Fan assassins in an Egyptian pyramid, in an attempt to get his hands on some magic rubies before his own sister and Fu Manchu can get them.

Next, the Black Panther manages to survive the challenge of the Man-Ape when the villain contrives to get himself crushed beneath a stone idol.

And I do suspect that, no sooner has he returned home from his last adventure, than Dr Strange finds himself having to battle - himself!

I am somewhat curious as to why that man on the cover goes out at night shooting bats. Is bat-hunting a popular pastime?

When it comes to what occurs within the book, my knowledge of the Dracula tale is fuzzy but I think he may be having flashbacks to his earlier years as a vampire.

The Werewolf by Night, meanwhile, is about to encounter the maddening menace of Taboo and his lovely daughter Topaz.

And there's a shock in store for us all because Brother Voodoo's demonstrated his awesome magical powers by vanishing before our eyes and being replaced by the return of the strip that belongs to Frankenstein's Monster who finds himself up against a pig-headed fiend!

From that cover, I do believe we've reached the pulse-pounding conclusion of Kingdom on an Island of the Apes in which General Gorodon discovers King Arthur's island and leads a small army against it.

However, Derek quickly defeats Gorodon and then marries Lady Andrea.

I'm hoping Lady Andrea isn't an ape.

Not that I have anything against apes. I'm just not sure it's a healthy sign if you want to marry one.

After that, we get Al Satian and Heather Johnson recounting their experiences on location during filming of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.

But hold on.

Al Satian?

Is that really his/her name?

And Adam Warlock finds himself caught up in The Day of the Prophet!

History is made, as two of Fantasy's greatest heroes bump into each other when Conan must confront Elric!

From what I can recall, Zukala is also, somehow, present and in need of assistance in his conflict with evil sorcerer Kulan Gath.

Elsewhere, Thongor is up to something but I don't know just what.

For reasons that are completely beyond me, Mephisto's demanded the Silver Surfer attack SHIELD's HQ!

But what our hero doesn't know is that within that building is Shalla-Bal - and his attack on that complex could lead to her death!

Elsewhere, in a shock to absolutely no one, the X-Men find themselves up against the power of Magneto!

But what is new is that a stranger's arrived in town.

And that stranger is called The Stranger.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - June 1985.

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

***

A wise man once said, "Hooray for Hollywood!"

But was that location giving us much to cheer about as 1985 hit its summer months?

It would be impertinent of me to pass judgement but I do know June saw the unleashing of such memorable fare as The Goonies, Prizzi's Honor, D.A.R.Y.L., Cocoon, Return to Oz, Pale Rider and St Elmo's Fire.

I will, of course, do my customary job of rushing to the defence of Return to Oz and nominate that as my Film of the Month. I am aware that others may have other ideas.

I assumed the Vulture was dead but it seems he's still alive and out to wreak vengeance upon the criminal gang known as the Vulturions, for stealing his costume design.

Has it really taken this long for the Thing to come up against the Rhino?

If it has, I'm sure our rocky hero will make short work of the thick-skinned thug.

Especially as that thick-skinned thug is being mind-controlled by the Miracle Man.

It's a comic whose title I keep misreading as The Secateurs but I am equally clueless when it comes to the contents of this, its first issue, other than knowing the story within is titled Upheaval! and brought to us by Bill Mantlo and Mark Texeira.

And it's another book whose contents I know nothing of. Is that the Scorpion on the cover? If so, he seems to have been raiding the steroid cupboard.

Apparently, Rick Jones is also in this issue.

It's a sensational first issue for the man who's had a few of those in his time.

From what I can make out, Marc Spector's out to end his career as Moon Knight but is forced, by Egyptian priests, to abandon his plan and de-abandon the role.

And, while they're at it, they give him some magic weapons and a new costume.

And another nocturnally-active thwarter of evil gets his own book when the Gargoyle gargoyles his way into our hearts.

I could thrill you with news of what he gets up to, this issue but I don't know what he gets up to.

I do know, though, that we're treated to his origin. Not that I know what his origin is.

The fourth issue of the comic which shares a title with everyone's favourite Disney movie arrives to deliver an adventure in which a plot is hatched to overthrow someone who claims to be Dr Doom, and seize control of Latveria.

 As far as I can make out, nothing comes of that and it all ends with the Dazzler and the Beast breaking off their relationship.

Chris Claremont and John Bolton bring us a tale of which I know nothing.

I am quite struck by Bolton's cover for it, though.

And it's another one about whose contents I remain profoundly ignorant.

I can, however, reveal the story within is called Hostages and is the handiwork of Alan Zelenetz and Chris Warner.