Atlas/Seaboard August 1975.

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

***

As we saw last month, we've entered a period in which Atlas/Seaboard is visibly receding from every shop that sells comics.

However, Chip and Martin Goodman are clearly not men to go down without a fight.

And so, this month, the venture brings us four more books to feast our eyes and minds upon.

Who could forget this issue?

Not me.

Not only does it carry articles about The Thing, Flash Gordon, Lon Chaney Jr and dinosaur-packed lost worlds, it also shares an exclusive eye-witness account of an encounter with the Loch Ness monster, in which the writer claims to have literally stepped on part of the beast, by accident.

To be honest, even as an eleven-year-old, I was sceptical of this claim.

You have to hand it to Vicki. She's survived where more ambitious Atlas protagonists have failed.

However, now even she meets her doom, as her fourth and final issue hits our spinner racks and does so with a bunch of tales reprinted from late 1960s Tower Comics' Tippy Teen issues.

"The World's Most Exciting Magazine!" smashes into the buffers with its second issue but does, at least, do so in style, thanks to a dramatic Neal Adams cover and interior action that everyone who's read it seems to have a fondness for.

Inside this not-so-death-defying issue, Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson spin a yarn in which feuding samurais encounter trouble with giant spiders.

We also discover eight pages of The Kromag Saga which I'm struggling to recall the details of. I think it might be a Ka-Zar type thing.

Then there's action from Tough Cop. I think that might be a law-enforcement type thing.

Then there's an article about The Towering Inferno.

And we round the issue off with Town Tamer and A Job Well Done. Both of which stories, I have no recollection.

Doom is piled upon doom because the Destructor too has met his Waterloo.

His fourth and final outing sees Gerry Conway and Steve Ditko produce a thriller the world can only know as Doomsday -- Minus One. Exactly what it entails, I'm struggling to remember but it looks to involve cave action with someone called The Outcasts!

The Grand Comics Database informs me our hero gains energy powers in this story.

This is good.

Energy is useful.

August 16th, 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. 

***

I'll tell you who was happy, this week in 1975.

The Stylistics.

And why wouldn't they be? Not only did they ascend to the top of the UK singles chart, with their smash hit 45 I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love), they also seized the pinnacle of the corresponding album rankings, thanks to their LP The Best of The Stylistics!

Can Marvel UK even hope to rival that level of awesomeness?

Here's where we found out.

Can it be? Is the Green Goblin going to suffer death by strangulation at the hands of Spider-Man, as that cover implies?

More importantly, can Harry Osborn survive the bucketful off tablets he's crammed inside himself in a bid to deal with MJ's treatment of him?

I do believe history may be being made in the pages of Iron Man, as this may be the week in which SHIELD's greatest-ever agent Jasper Sitwell makes his knee-trembling first appearance in the strip.

In other news, that tale also sees the return of the Grey Gargoyle who's out to cause chaos at Tony Stark's factory.

And, to wrap it all up, Thor's about to get himself a dose of Galactus' origin!

Thanks to the Avengers, Conan hits the 100th issue landmark his own mag could only have dreamt of.

And I do believe he celebrates the feat by having a fight with a giant killer toad-monster near a pair of black monoliths.

In more modern times, the Avengers are in their mansion and having a one-sided scrap with Ultron who the conflicted Vision has rebuilt from indestructible metal!

And I do suspect Shang-Chi's having to tackle a gang of hungry panthers while armed with nothing deadlier than a stone ear he's grabbed off a statue.

I do believe the Defenders are still attempting to prevent the Dread Dormammu from breaking through the barrier that separates his dimension from Tom Fagan's Halloween parties!

It can only mean it's time for guest appearances by various members of Marvel's creative staff, including Roy and Jeannie Thomas!

And things are looking bad for Daredevil. Not only is he accused of killing the Jester's real-life alter-ego but the villain himself then helps the police arrest him for the murder!

And it all goes wrong for the Fantastic Four when Reed Richards decides to recruit a world-renowned scientist to help him cure the Thing.

But that scientist isn't so renowned that Reed is capable of spotting that he's actually the Mad Thinker in disguise!

I do wonder if wooden bullets would survive being fired from a gun.

It's like all those murder mysteries where someone's been shot and the cops can't find the bullet and then it turns out it's because the bullet was made of ice and melted in the wound. Could a bullet made of ice actually survive being blasted from a gun?

Only Steve Does Comics asks these questions because only Steve Does Comics doesn't have a clue.

More to the point, Drac has serious problems to deal with, thanks to him having been captured by the brain in a jar that is Dr Sun!

Jack Russell, meanwhile, must survive the attentions of a moving statue that's been sent to capture him.

And the Living Mummy is doing something or other.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes hurtles towards its fatalistic conclusion and I deduce, from that cover, that this is the issue in which Taylor and Brent are made to fight each other, to the death, by their mind-controlling mutant captors.

I do have to say I'm more impressed by the mutants in this comic than I am by the ones in the movie. The ones in the movie look barely mutated, while these ones really do look like people who've just pulled their faces off.

We then encounter an article called Finding the Future on the Fox Ranch which reports on the multi-faceted production of Beneath.

And it's bad news for Captain Marvel because not only is Yon-Rogg still trying to steal his girlfriend, the sinister Sentry's sprung back to life on the military base where the Kree warrior's landed himself a job by pretending to be dead rocket scientist Walt Lawson!

The cover creates the impression that the Silver Surfer's, "Deadliest battle ever!" involves him tangling with both Doc Savage and the X-Men.

I can officially confirm he's battling with neither of them when you open the comic.

On the other hand, I suspect the hapless Shalla-Bal manages to get herself shot and has to be sent back to Zenn-La, by the Surfer, giving him, no doubt, much excuse to stand on the front of his surfboard and float around bemoaning his lot in life.

Doc Savage, meanwhile, is still encountering The Doom on Thunder Isle!

And the X-Men are still in the Savage Land and having their first encounter with a man called Ka-Zar.

Apparently, this issue tells us how to actually pronounce his name.

But what's this? 

It took me the first 40 years of my life to learn to call him Kay-Zah instead of Kuh-ZAH.

Now it turns out I have to pronounce it, Kay-Sar!

The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1985.

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

***

Movies. Movies Movies. What were they up to in August, 1985?

They were being released.

That's the kind of thing they do.

And these are those that what was being released:

Fright Night, Weird Science, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, The Bride, The Return of the Living Dead, Year of the Dragon, Godzilla 1985, Teen Wolf and American Ninja.

I have to admit it, that is probably the most 1985 list of films I've ever seen in my entire life.

Of them, I'm going to go for Return of the Living Dead as my favourite - even though I've not seen it since the 1980s - as I don't think much of the others, other than Godzilla 1985 which I remember being quite good, unless I'm mixing it up with another Godzilla film, which, given how many of them there are, is quite possible.

And now. Comics. Comics Comics.

The Defenders is still going strong after all these thousands of years and is doing so by doing something.

You may get the feeling I don't have a clue what happens in this one.

And you'd be right, other than that the tale's called Fun and is brought to us by Peter Gillis and Luke McDonnell, with a front cover by Frank Cirocco.

And what can Alien Legion be up to?

I've no idea but it's a tale that's called Rude Awakening despite not being the work of either Steve Rude or Bob Awakening.

Part 2 of Secret Wars Part II smacks us between the eyeballs with yet more action when the Beyonder begins to experience life as a human being but finds it difficult to adjust.

So, he asks Spider-Man for guidance on how to succeed as a person. Let's be honest, that's the last individual you should go to for such advice.

He then turns the office of Luke Cage, and Iron Fist into solid gold!

It's that comic I keep picking for this slot purely because of Bill Sienkiewicz covers.

As for what happens within, it would seem Shadowcat uses Illyana's Soulsword to transform her back into a human being, after her having been the Darkchilde.

And, of course, the Beyonder's hanging around, as well.

As far as I'm aware, there's no sign of the Beyonder here but there is plenty of the Micronauts who are trying to breach a space wall.

What's this? Back from the comic book graveyard? The Rawhide Kid rides again?

And it's not even a bunch of reprints? It's all-new magic, as the ageing cowpoke visits Laramie to place a rose on the grave of someone or other but then encounters a railroad crew who mock him for wearing  false teeth?

And it all happens thanks to the talents of Bill Mantlo and Herb Trimpe?

Someone who still has his teeth, and is returning purely through the medium of reprints, is Captain Marvel.

And he's doing it with mountains of Jim Starlin goodness. Therefore, it would be churlish to complain about it not being fresh material.

And another new mag hits us with old stuff, as Elfquest presents 21 pages recycled from WaRP Graphics' 1979 ElfQuest #1.

Forty years ago today - August 1985.

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

***

What magnificent and life-changing wonders await us in the following publications?

Schemes are both afoot and ahead, as the Enchantress' sister bewitches Thor with her magic - and then decides to turn her charms on Loki as well!

Meanwhile, on Earth, Beta Ray Bill and Sif tackle a gang of criminals whose mysterious leader is none other than Titanium Man!

Fortunately, when his gang discover he's a communist - and not a good old-fashioned all-American patriotic capitalist thief like they are - they turn on him!

And it's a living nightmare for the Fantastic Four who must contend with the awesome menace of Psycho-Man's new sidekick Malice.

Only to discover she's actually a cunningly disguised Sue Richards, out to get revenge for every slight the rest of the team have ever committed against her.

And, as you can imagine, that's quite a few slights.

Especially in Reed's case.

All those years of haughtily declaring, "Silence, Sue!" had to come back to punish him at some point.

I'm struggling to recall just what happens in this one but I do know the X-Men are growing resentful at having Magneto as their new ally; and that the Beyonder's hanging around, for reasons that aren't altogether clear.

Can it be?

Can Spider-Man be coming into conflict with the Wasp over a labour dispute?

It sort of can when he investigates a brownstone that's been firebombed and it seems a business she's a director of is to blame.

Not only that but our hero comes to blows with Paladin over it, not knowing he's the Wasp's boyfriend.

On an alien world, the Hulk and his strange little companions decide to rescue a mysterious alien woman who's being abducted by space ruffians. 

But are they right in assuming she's the innocent party?

A brand new villain called the Armadillo attacks the Avengers Mansion, in a bid to steal the body of giant-sized super-villain Goliath.

However, Cap's there to stop him.

And it turns out hes not a villain at all. He's been strong-armed into doing it by Dr Malus who's treating his sick wife and will cease that treatment if the Armadillo doesn't do what he wants him to.

Needless to say, the star-spangled sentimentalist isn't going to put up with that sort of unethical behaviour from a member of the medical profession and he marks Dr Malus' cards for him.

But, then, the Beyonder decides Captain America is so great that he's going to become him!

It's a bit of a rest and recuperation issue, with everyone feeling down about the state of the Savage Land, following Terminus' attack on it, and then heading off to watch Spider-Man beat up Firelord.

Apart from that, Captain Marvel's still in a far-flung galaxy and attempting to escape Nebula's space pirates who want her to attack a planet occupied by the Skrulls.

Daredevil takes an excursion to the city of canals to deal with the mob who robbed Heather Glenn's apartment and did it straight after she committed suicide.

Needless to say, despite various death traps, and Italian cliches, our hero is ultimately triumphant.

In a story some of us find confusing, Conan, Tetra and her father seek the other half of a treasure map held by a man called Keiv, deep in Pictish territory.

Only for them to discover the other half of that map has been carved on the chest of a man called Delmurio.

Who're the good guys in this story, who're the bad guys and who's on whose side, are all things I'd struggle to tell you.

As far as I can remember, Spider-Man spends the entire issue chasing a minor offender all around the streets of New York, with, no doubt, hilarious consequences.

That's a very generic cover by John Byrne. I'm going to assume it was drawn before anyone knew what was going to be in the issue.

Regardless, this book contains major trouble for both Shellheads.

Not only does Rhodey have to battle the Beyonder-created Thundersword, Tony Stark has a new crisis on his hands when Bethany Cabe reappears - only to be kidnapped while she's on the phone to him!

Maybe it's me but I'm convinced this is the 85th time she's been kidnapped while on the phone to him. Why they let her anywhere near phones is beyond me.

August 9th, 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. 

***

You can't accuse the British public of not being cosmopolitan. After all, this week in 1975, it fully embraced the genuine and authentic sound of the Caribbean by propelling Totally Tropical's Barbados to the very peak of the UK singles chart.

Over on the album rankings, things were as they had been the week before, with the Carpenters ruling the roost, thanks to their latest LP Horizon.

I must confess Barbados isn't one of my favourite reggae tracks of all time. However, tracks I did approve of on that week's chart included:

Give a Little Love - the Bay City Rollers

If You Think You Know how To Love Me - Smokie

Jive Talkin' - the Bee Gees

The Last Farewell - Roger Whittaker

Misty - Ray Stevens

Fame - David Bowie

That's the Way (I Like It) - KC and The Sunshine Band

and

I'm Not In Love - 10cc.

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

While its accompanying LP chart dwells within.

As for me, it's August 1975!

I'm on holiday - in Blackpool!

Quatermass and Tarzan are on TV!

Comics by a brand new publisher called Atlas are everywhere!

Ray Stevens' cover of Misty is on the sound system in the big Woolworths by the Tower!

Spaceships of Ezekiel by Josef F Blumrich is for sale in the smaller Woolworths that's not by the Tower - and proving that it is possible to write a boring book about ancient astronauts!

Elsewhere, in the window of Ripleys' Believe It Or Not, a giant tap floats in mid-air, as an endless stream of water flows from it.

Those are delights enough for any man. What can even Marvel UK possibly hope to add to them?

Spider-Man's campaign against drug abuse continues.

But, because things are never easy for him, he also has to contend with the return of the Green Goblin!

Elsewhere, Iron Man succeeds in defeating Titanium Man and then guides Half-Face away from the path of Communist evil!

And I do believe that Thor somehow manages to defeat Galactus and convinces Ego to let a load of space refugees live on him.

Despite what's claimed on the cover blurb, I have a strong suspicion that, this week, Conan is, in fact, on his way to inadvertently encounter a big frog monster at some standing stones while the siege of Makkalet continues without him.

Meanwhile, someone's turning the Avengers Mansion defences against its inhabitants. Who can that someone be?

And just where has the Vision vanished to?

And why has Ultron just smashed his way up through the floorboards while claiming to be indestructible?

Meanwhile, after several weeks' absence, Shang-Chi's returned to this comic and is confronting Razor-Fist, the man with two huge blades where his hands should be. A set-up which does seem a trifle impractical when it comes to performing day-to-day tasks.

Thrills are piled upon spills when the Defenders travel to Rutland, Vermont, to prevent a cult from unleashing Dormammu upon our world!

After that, I think we may be getting the story in which the Jester "murders" himself and lumbers Daredevil with the blame for the death!

And I believe we reach the conclusion of the Fantastic Four's first encounter with Psycho-Man. Although - as far as I can remember - of that quartet, only the Thing and Human Torch show up for the fight.

Fortunately, the Black Panther and Inhumans are also on hand to help introduce the villain to the five knuckles of justice.

When Brent refuses to help the human mutants battle the apes, his captors use threats against Nova to make him cooperate. And now we get the reveal of just what those captors truly look like!

But the big news is that, The Day of the Triffids having been wrapped up, a brand new series is launched. One in which, sent to Earth to infiltrate humanity on behalf of his Kree masters, Marvel's Captain Marvel makes his space-hopping UK debut!

I remember reading this issue on a bench somewhere near Lewis's department store. As a child, I thought Lewis's department stores were owned by Jerry Lewis. Reader, to the shock of everyone, it turned out I was wrong.

Dracula's got his work cut out for him because he must put up with people firing wooden bullets at him, from a helicopter - and must brace himself for The Coming of Doctor Sun!

Jack Russell's got problems too because not only is his sister worried that she's also going to become a werewolf upon her eighteenth birthday, there are also schemes afoot from Baron Thunder who wants to set a stone monster on our hero.

And, now that Marvel have run out of Frankenstein stories, it's time for him to be replaced, in the comic, by the Living Mummy.

Quite what that character gets up to, this week, I'm not sure but I'm assuming we're going to get some sort of origin tale for him.

It's not just Planet of the Apes that's debuting a new strip, this week. So is The Super-Heroes - and it does so when Doc Savage shows up!

But, first, someone called Yarro Gort is helping to prop up a dictatorship but Shalla-Bal gets injured and the Surfer's forced to send her back to Zenn-La, without him.

Next, the aforementioned man of bronze encounters The Doom on Thunder Isle!

And the X-Men visit the Antarctic, for reasons I'm not totally sure about, where they encounter a man called Ka-Zar.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1975.

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

***

August 1975 didn't see the release of a million films of note or distinction but it did witness the unleashing of Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Land That Time Forgot and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, all of which are memorable in their own sweet way.

As for which is best, I'm tempted to nominate The Land That Time Forgot as my Movie of the Month - purely because I'll watch anything that has monsters and Doug McClure in it - but I must confess that Picnic at Hanging Rock is clearly a classier film and has Neighbours' Mrs Mangel in it, and the presence of that icon alone is enough to make any film a classic in my books.

History is made, as Marvel's answer to Batman arrives and takes the chance to cause trouble when he's hired, by The Committee, to capture everyone's favourite werewolf!

We all like to see super-villains team up before turning against and betraying each other.

And, now, we've got the chance to see it every two months, as a brand new book arrives to set our spinner racks a-spin.

It looks like Subby has his work more than cut out for him when he has to deal with not only Dr Doom but also Attuma and Tiger Shark! Not to mention the diabolical Dr Dorcas!

And another new title hits our shelves, with the arrival of Skull the Slayer!

I'm not totally sure why we need another battler of dinosaurs, when the company already has Ka-Zar to fill that role but here he is.

In this phenomenal first issue, military type Jim Scully and friends get lost in the Bermuda Triangle and find themselves in a bizarre realm populated by prehistoric monsters and futuristic aliens.

At least, I think he does. That's how I remember it, anyway.

I can predict this book will run for a sensational eight issues.

Speaking of men fighting dinosaurs, everybody's favourite barbarian gets to do just that when he gets to show a T-rex who's boss, thanks to the Machiavellian malarkey of yet another sinister sorcerer. I think this may be the story that introduced me to the word, "ziggurat."

Not only that but we get a look at The Gods of the Hyborian Age, Part II: Crom and Mitra: Gods to Swear By.

Then, there's Lin Carter's The King Is Dead - Part IV of Chronicles of the Sword: An Informal History of Sword-and-Sorcery Fiction.

That's followed by Robert E Howard's cheery Lines Written in the Realization That I Must Die.

And we finish off with Roy Thomas' adaptation of REH's essay The Hyborian Age, Chapter 1: The Pre-Cataclysmic Age.

But, of course, the real reason for buying this issue is Boris Vallejo's never-to-be-forgotten cover.

It's a day out for Adam Warlock that we'll never forget, as he finds himself on a world populated entirely by clowns.

Clowns who bear a strange resemblance to our favourite comics creators, as Jim Starlin decides to bite the hand that needs him.

The Invaders get their very own mag and immediately start as they mean to go on, by smashing it to the Nazis.

To do that, they head for Berlin, in search of a villain called Brain Drain!

I do believe this is the first appearance of Marvel's Scarecrow.

I know little of the character and I know less of this story but I do know he likes to pop out of a painting and he does just that, this month, in order to battle an evil cult.

This, however, is the last issue of Dead of Night, which means he'll have to pop out of any future paintings somewhere else.

You've seen the film. You've read the books. Now experience the magazine when Marvel gives us its take on the Man of Bronze and entices us in with a Roger Kastel cover.

In this issue's 52-page main story, Doc and we encounter The Doom on Thunder Isle!

And There's a look at George Pal: The Man Who Shot Doc Savage!