September 22nd, 1976 - 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. 

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Marvel UK.

What craziness is it up to now?

John Romita's short run on the Fantastic Four reaches its dramatic conclusion with victory over the "monster" that's been rampaging through the streets of New York.

But that's nothing compared to the nightmare to come, as the Thing's been left in a high-tech chair in the Baxter Building with no one around to make sure it doesn't kill him!

When it comes to Captain America, still with Red Skull's nuclear tape attached to the back of his neck, the star-spangled Frisbee flinger's forced to return to Exile Island and combat the ageing war criminals after whom it's named. But not to worry. SHIELD is working on a way to help him.

Speaking of SHIELD; in his own strip, Nick Fury's still fighting Baron Strucker.

And Strucker has a Satan-Claw!

But who cares about that? Nick's got a face-changing gizmo. And that's a lot more use in a fight, it appears.

Subby's got plenty on his plate when Captain Barracuda sneaks into a naval base and steals its Sonic Magno-Directoid.

I have no idea what that is but have no doubt it's a thing you wouldn't want a man called Captain Barracuda to get his hands on. Frankly, I wouldn't even want Captain Haddock to get his hands on it.

And the Ghost Rider has more on his plate than even that when he discovers he's going to have to take on the whole of Zodiac. Frankly, given how useless he is in most of his fights, I don't fancy his chances.

Hooray! The Kree/Skrull War reaches the Great Refuge and I believe we're given the reason why Maximus went mad!

Needless to say, it's all the fault of that bounder Black Bolt!

But, before that, we have the spectacle of the Hulk vs the Devastator who I remember being some sort of Russian spy in a suit of armour and causing trouble on Gamma Base.

But, of course, no armour's going to protect him for long from the incredible one.

As far as I can make out, Conan's still stuck in the tale that humanity can only know as The Dweller in the Pool!

And there are more Hollywood woes for Daredevil when the Stilt-Man arrives in Tinseltown and disguises himself as the Stunt-Master, in a bid to catch our hero unawares!

From memory, I think his plan involves him attaching his stilts to the side of his motorbike and pretending they're super-fancy rockets intended to make the thing jump further.

Sadly, my knowledge of this week's issue is limited but, from that cover, I think it's safe to assume the reprint of Marvel's adaptation of the first Apes movie has reached the point at which Taylor gets caught in a net and blurts out his iconic line.

I'm also going to assume that we get the conclusion of Derek Zane's latest adventure.

I do know for certain that, after last week's absence, the Man-Thing is back and that ruthless businessman F. A. Schist has entered La Hacienda, in a bid to prevent the muck monster from inflicting damage upon its valuable Fountain of Youth!

And I'm going to guess that Ka-Zar and Tongah are having to assist the Zebra-Men who've been captured and imprisoned by a wrong 'un called Zaurai.

The tension's so taut that you could cut it with a knife and it would slap you in the face, like an over-tightened rubber band, as the Jackal attaches a spy device to Peter Parker's arm and declares it can't be removed without blowing his arm off!

Needless to say, Petey removes it without blowing his arm off and then polishes off the Grizzly too, for good measure.

Will the Jackal never learn that he'll never get one over on our hero?

When it comes to Thor, Loki has control of Asgard - thanks to now possessing the Odin-Ring - and he intends to marry Sif!

Thor's not big on that idea and neither is Sif but, then, to keep the thunder god out of the way, Loki creates Durok the Destroyer and sets him off rampaging away on Midgard!

Elsewhere, Tony Stark finally overcomes the cheeky LMD that's taken his place - but at the cost of a heart attack that may just claim his life!

Meanwhile, the Invaders live up to their name and invade a small part of Germany, in a bid to prevent the villainous Brain Drain from doing whatever it is he's planning to do. However, on their way there, they're attacked by three Teutonic warrior gods!

And Spider-Man and the Human Torch must team-up when the Frightful Four launch their latest bid to take over the Baxter Building. Unfortunately, the cloddish quartet then open the gateway to the Negative Zone and suddenly have to deal with Annihilus trying to enter our world and take it over!

Speak Your Brain! Part 134.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

If speech is free, this is a feature that, like Elsa the lioness, was born free.

Personally, I always preferred Clarence the cross-eyed lion and Flipper the friendly dolphin but that's a whole other topic.

But, speaking of topics, that's just what we're here for tonight, as it's one of those evenings in which you - not I - get to decide just what we must discuss.

Many and varied have been the subjects tackled on Speak Your Brain over the years and I have no doubt that many and varied will be the ones discussed in the years to come.

What I do have doubts about is just what today's theme shall be.

But that's as it should be, as only you can end those doubts. Therefore, whatever it is your heart burns to know, say, hear, contemplate or discuss, make sure to bring our attention to it in the comments section below.

2000 AD - August 1988.

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

***

Thinking about it, I'm fairly certain that every cinema I'd been in as a child was no longer standing, by August 1988, with Sheffield's Gaumont and ABC having recently gone the same way as the Classic, Rex and Odeon cinemas.

Still, that's not to say that picture houses didn't exist anywhere.

And that was good news because films were still being released and still needed somewhere to be shown.

Thus it was that the month saw the unleashing of such box office behemoths as The Last Temptation of Christ, Mac and Me, Young Guns, Married to the Mob, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, Crossing Delancey, The Thin Blue Line and a remake of The Blob.

Of those films, I think the only one I've seen is the remake of The Blob which I don't remember anything about, apart from not liking it. I am, therefore, going to take a total stab in the dark and assume that Married to the Mob is the best of that bunch. I have no idea if it really is but that, regardless, is my verdict.

When it comes to music, I'm on firmer ground.

And I do know there was only one song in town, that August and it was the noticeably high-pitched The Only Way Is Up by Yazz and The Plastic Population which spent the whole month at Number One in the UK, meaning that, despite its title, it had no way to go but sideways.

On the accompanying album chart, August kicked off with Now That's What I Call Music! 12 hogging top spot before it was dethroned by that queen of Neighbours, Kylie Minogue, with her eponymous album of the same name.

And what of the galaxy's greatest comic?

As we might perhaps expect, it was serving up a diet of Nemesis the Warlock, Sláine, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Tharg's Future-Shocks, Tribal Memories, Hap Hazzard and Strontium Dog.

But Prog 589 also saw the return of Grant Morrison's Zenith in a tale snappily titled Phase II/Prologue: Down Under.

But what's this? The front of that issue boasts that it contains more colour, more pages and more thrill-power than ever before! Can this be true?

While I can pass no judgement as to just how much thrill-power it possesses, I can confirm that it does indeed contain more pages, featuring, as it does, 36 of the things, instead of the usual 32. Truly, 2000 AD is destined to take over the universe!

September 15th, 1976 - 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 1976 saw the end of an era for the people of China, thanks to the death of Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong who died in Beijing, following a series of heart attacks.

I can declare that I recall that event well.

But how well shall I recall the events portrayed within the following comics?

John Romita continues to fill the vacancy left by Jack Kirby and does it in style by managing to portray Sue Richards as a woman of style, glamour, dynamism, resourcefulness and initiative. An achievement that few before him have ever seemed to want to attempt.

I suspect an unconscious Crystal was meant to be on the cover but was somehow omitted. Otherwise, I'm not sure who the "She" is that the Torch is referring to.

When it comes to Subby, the avenging son continues to battle Karthon for possession of the Serpent Crown, before Captain Barracuda captures both men while attempting to steal a nuclear weapon!

Nick Fury has problems of his own when Baron Strucker attacks him with the dreaded Satan Claw!

Lumbered with having a nuclear explosive implanted in the back of his neck, Captain America returns to Exile Island in a bid to confront the Red Skull but is going to have to deal with those cheeky Exiles first.

And the Ghost Rider continues to have trouble with Dude Jensen's new incarnation as the Satan-powered Roulette

But what's this? Planet of the Apes becomes that rarity, a Marvel UK mag that reaches a hundredth issue?

Given that the book was launched to cash in on a craze, it can only be viewed as a major achievement.

As for this landmark issue's contents, it seems that Derek Zane has to ...Beware, Dr Cassius!

Not that I know who Dr Cassius is.

Following that, we encounter a multi-page Glossary of the Planet of the Apes which tells us everything we could ever want to know about the characters and places of that famous franchise.

Then, Ka-Zar must endure Terror in Tordon-Na! which I'm assuming means that some people in the Savage Land are still out to sacrifice him.

And we conclude the issue with the latest instalment of the reprint of Marvel's adaptation of the original Planet of the Apes movie.

But this can't be right. Where's Dracula and where's the Man-Thing? Has all trace of Dracula Lives now vanished from the comic that now bears its name?

A deadly new villain makes his debut.

But one who never gets any respect from anyone.

Regardless, he's out to get his revenge on J Jonah Jameson for some slight or other, and it's up to everyone's favourite Spider-Man to save the Parejo puffing publisher from a perp even more pugnacious than himself.

But does the fuzzy felon have a secret ally?

And is that ally the Jackal?

Finally realising that killing death is a stupid thing to do, Odin revives Hela but, happily, Sif’s on hand to touch the goddess of death with her love for the thunder god.

The Invaders must prevent Master Man and his Nazis from destroying a British battleship carrying Winston Churchill.

Elsewhere, the Thing battles a fire demon but he does, at least, have help from the mysterious Scarecrow.

And Tony Stark and Madame Masque infiltrate Stark Industries - only to encounter that rogue Life Model Decoy which is now dressed as Iron Man!

There's only one thing for it. Our hero's going to have to dust off his original armour and fight it to the death.

It's what few of us have ever demanded, as Thunderbolt Ross gets his own version of the Spider-Slayer!

Not that it does him any good, as the Hulk quickly makes scrap metal of it.

The Avengers, meanwhile, split into two teams. One of which ventures into space, in pursuit of the Super-Skrull, while the other visits the Great Refuge, in a bid to liberate it from Maximus.

Conan finds himself up against the Dweller in the Pool which he soon feeds to killer vegetation.

And Daredevil manages to rescue Karen Page from the clutches of Brother Brimstone then exposes the villain's true identity just before the local tar pits dispose of the wrongdoer, for good.

Speak Your Brain! Part 133. Moving house, and recollections of 1977.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

1980s pop sensations the Tom Tom Club once demanded of me - and possibly of other people - "What are words worth?"

Well, we're about to find out because it's the return of the feature that depends entirely upon the existence of words.

And that's the feature in which you, the reader, get to decide just what shall be the day's topic for debate.

I don't think I need to tell you how far-ranging, wide-ranging and upwards and downwards ranging that debate might be.

Therefore, whatever it is you need to hear mankind's opinion about, make sure to register it in the comments section below, before the time has passed and the world moved on.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - September 1986.

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

***

It is time, once more, for me to cast a beady eye across the cinemas of the world, in order to ascertain just what was filling them exactly forty years ago.

And what was filling them was Restless Natives, Blue Velvet, The Name of the Rose, Crocodile Dundee, Half Moon Street, Avenging Force and 'night, Mother.

Of those, I've only seen Blue Velvet, The Name of the Rose and Crocodile Dundee. I'm going to assume The Name of the Rose was the best, although it's so long since I saw it that I can't remember if it was any good or not.

A brand-new graphic novel hits our lives - and our newsagents - when J. M. DeMatteis and Dan Green bring us a story so awesome that it can only be described by two words: Into Shamballa.

Granted, I don't know what actually happens in it but I do know that it's 62 pages long and features first appearances for someone called Maya and someone called the Lords of Shamballa!

But what's this?

We've reached the last-ever issue of Marvel's Star Wars comic?

What can be the explanation for such a cancellation?

Have the people of the world grown tired of the Wars that are Starred?

I have no idea but I do know the Alliance wages its last battle against the Tofs and that it's brought to us by Jo Duffy and Cynthia Martin.

Doc Strange isn't the only one who's landed himself a graphic novel. So has Daredevil, and 63 pages of Miller/Sienkiewicz drama await us when the Kingpin kidnaps a psychologist's wife, in a bid to force the man into helping the voluminous villain's own infirm spouse!

Excitement bubbles over with the arrival of a brand-new limited series containing The Evil Dr Frankenbeans and Cornered in which the Madballs are accidentally created after falling into RUIN Labs' toxic pond. And, then, Colonel Corn, a corncob mutated by that selfsame pond, kidnaps some children as part of his bid to take over the world!

All I can say is it sounds like a life-changing experience.

Web of Spider-Man gets its second-ever annual. One in which Warlock of the non-Adam variety visits New York and causes all sorts of TV-related chaos. I just hope he and the Impossible Man never encounter each other. I don't think the world's ready for that kind of anarchy.

The backup tale, meanwhile, is a thing called You're Lying, Peter Parker! A tale of which I know nothing.

You can never have enough X-Men comics in your life.

And - just to prove it - a new one has appeared.

But it's one that's got me confused. It appears to relate the tale of how the New X-Men were formed when the old ones were captured by Krakoa the Living Island, forcing Professor X to recruit a new team to rescue them.

However, it seems not to be a reprint; drawn, as it is, by John Bolton but with contributions from Dave Cockrum.

It all sounds a rum thing to me, and that's for sure.

Yet another of Spidey's books is demanding to know where the star of the show is.

At least there doesn't seem to be any mystery about where Peter Parker is because, in this one, he tells Mary Jane just how he got back from Appalachia.

But that's the end of his good news because he's later pushed in front of a subway train by an assailant who shall later be revealed to be Venom!

It's not just Star Wars that's about to shake off this mortal coil. Howard the Duck's mag has also hit its final issue.

And it does so with a 30-page epic in which we get to discover just how its star won $10 million and then blew the lot.

September 8th, 1976 - 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. 

***

September 8th, 1976, was a night of note for all comedy fans, with BBC One showing both Carry On Up the Khyber and the first-ever episode of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.

In the real world, however, the week's events were dominated by flying machines, for good or ill.

It was the week in which Viking 2 landed at Utopia Planitia on Mars and snapped its first close-up colour photos of the planet's surface.

Soviet Air Force pilot Lt Viktor Belenko landed a MiG-25 fighter jet on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō and requested political asylum in the United States.

More darkly, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules belonging to the Venezuelan Air Force crashed in the Azores, killing all 68 occupants.

When it came to the UK singles chart, ABBA were still ruling supreme, thanks to their smash hit Dancing Queen, while the Beach Boys retained command of the neighbouring LP chart with their 20 Golden Greats.

Dancing Queen is, of course, a timeless classic and, even after all these decades, I can indeed still feel the beat from the tambourine but there were other tracks I also approved of on that week's Hit Parade. And among them were:

You Should Be Dancing - the Bee Gees

The Killing of Georgie - Rod Stewart

Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Heaven is in the Back Seat of My Cadillac - Hot Chocolate

and

Sailing {1976} - Rod Stewart.

Should one wish to study the matter in greater detail, that week's UK singles chart may be found here.

And its adjacent album rankings dwell within.

It looks like it's all up for the human race - and for the Fantastic Four and Subby - when Magneto takes command of the Atlantean invasion of New York!

And he has Sue and Dorma hostage!

Still, there's always hope when Reed Richards is around.

Especially as he's built a weapon that could trap the villain in his own magnetic field!

Meanwhile, in his own strip, Subby battles Karthon the Quester for ownership of the Serpent Crown.

Elsewhere, Nick Fury escapes Baron Strucker’s Alpha-Ray execution machine, and the forces of SHIELD rush to locate a bomb that contains spores which threaten all mankind!

And it's big trouble for Captain America who - thanks to the Red Skull - has a tiny but mighty explosive device attached to the back of his neck!

Meanwhile, Ghost Rider battles the demonic Roulette while trying to rescue Roxanne Simpson from a burning building.

It's the story that had to happen! Conan goes to war with vegetation!

But, first, in the Hulk's strip, Glenn Talbot explodes!

Then, no sooner have the Avengers defeated the Mandroids than Triton asks them for help in combating the latest scheme of Maximus the Mad.

When it comes to Conan, not only does the barbarian have to thwart the ambitions of vegetables, he must also deal with the monstrous Pthassiass which, despite its name, isn't some sort of disease but is, instead, a giant monster living in a pool!

Daredevil's investigation into Brother Brimstone’s activities leads him to a design for an experimental exoskeleton, and a possible confrontation at a bunch of tar pits.

It would appear a brand-new tale has arrived on the Planet of the Apes, when Derek Zane returns to continue his search for the missing astronauts from the first movie.

This leads to an alliance with a chimpanzee version of Robin Hood.

But hold on. Is it my imagination or hasn't this tale already been published in this book?

Still, if that's a letdown, there are always the adventures of Ka-Zar to keep us thrilled and, this week, he, Zabu and Illyana escape the Temple of Ilak-Aron. However, I'm sure that won't be the end of their problems with that cult.

The Man-Thing, meanwhile, has troubles of his own when a frightened girl flings water from the Fountain of Youth at him. Just what consequences will that have for such a creature?

Dracula then presents us with a Lieber, Lee and Heck short story in which a sailor investigates a plea for help, in the form of a written message from a mysterious island.

But is the sender of that message as human as one might imagine?

Finally, the latest instalment of Marvel's adaptation of the first Apes movie sees Taylor manage to prove his intelligence to Dr Zira!

Hooray! It's the Mindworm!

Everyone else hates the Mindworm!

But I love the Mindworm!

And we get to see Peter Parker and Flash Thompson share a flat!

I don't know what more a human being could demand of a Spider-Man tale.

In Thor's strip, the thunder god's about to be killed by Hela when Odin steps in and kills her, thus bringing an end to death.

But is that the good news it might initially seem to be?

When it comes to the Invaders, the gang discovers a Nazi scientist has created the evil Master Man by using stolen Super-Soldier research.

A short story then reveals the origin of the Inhumans, featuring a guest appearance by a surprisingly friendly Sentry.

And the Thing gets involved in the activities of a haunted painting of a Scarecrow.

Tony Stark, meanwhile, is once more in the clutches of the villainous Midas and is developing a plan for overcoming the rogue LMD that's taken his place.