Forty years ago today - July 1986.

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

***

You know what I was doing on this date in 1986?

I've no idea but let's pretend I was reading these comics.

Thor's found Balder, living in a floating castle with three beauteous maidens who turn out to be malevolent trolls manipulating his senses.

Needless to say, a punch-up between the two gods can only be moments away.

But I do recall both heroes being worryingly happy to kill trolls in this one. Which seems somewhat out of character for them.

It's the clash that had to happen when the Fantastic Four meet Adolf Hitler!

Granted, they've already met him, back in his Hatemonger days but, now, they get a crack at his younger self.

Anyway, it turns out it's all an illusion and they've been in the present all along and that, contrary to earlier reports, Reed Richards is still very much alive.

Well, that was all a waste of 75 cents.

And there's yet more illusions in this one, as Rachel Summers keeps dreaming that Wolverine's out to kill her. 

Good gravy! Are we to experience no reality, this month?

Despite now being powerless, the Black Cat manages to thwart the plans of some bad guy or other and, so, Sabretooth sets out to gain revenge on his behalf.

But the Walmart Wolverine hasn't counted on the presence of Spider-Man!

Just about everybody on the planet is now fighting the brainless Hulk - and getting nowhere with it.

As a result, the heroes decide they have no choice but to kill him.

As they've not even managed to slow him down at any point, it's a bit hard to see how they think they're going to achieve that.

Not that it matters because it turns out that being separated from each other has left both the monster and Bruce Banner dangerously unstable and the pair of them are going to die of their own accord if they're not reunited!

Captain America's finally got wind of the existence of Scourge the vigilante assassin who's been wiping out minor super-villains.

But can even the wing-headed wonder succeed where an entire bar filled with super-villains can't?

The Avengers manage to free themselves from Kang's trap - with the help of Ravonna - and Immortus reveals he's been controlling the 31st Century tyrant all along. 

The drama continues when Matt helps Karen Page overcome her drug addiction and a frustrated Kingpin recruits a patriotically deranged super-soldier to murder the man without fear.

From what I can recall, Conan and his army set out to kill a king who sent them off to die. And there's nothing going to stop the barbarian from getting what he wants.

Then again, he has an army, a demon and a monster on his side. So, perhaps his victory isn't that surprising.

Peter Parker's a man in a quandary. Torn, as he is, between his friendship for Flash Thompson and his enmity for Flash's alter-ego the Hobgoblin.

But his mind's quickly made up for him when Scourge breaks into the prison where Flash is being held - looking to kill him for being the Hobgoblin - and Spidey knows at once that he must save his friend.

I struggle to recall what happens in this one but I'm going to assume Tony Stark's out to get back at AIM for tricking him into launching their killer death-satellite for them.

Maybe there's an island involved in somewhere like South America.

Maybe there isn't.

July 7th, 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. 

***

What was occurring in this week of exactly fifty years ago?

This was occurring.

The UK's legendary heat wave peaked with a temperature of 35.9 °C (96.6 °F) in Cheltenham.

Possibly not connected with that was that, suddenly, you couldn't move for punk bands. Not only did the Clash play their first gig, opening for the Sex Pistols in Sheffield, but the Damned played their first gig too, opening for the Sex Pistols in London.

Elsewhere, but perhaps not as anarchically, David Steel was elected leader of the UK's Liberal Party.

And, on the UK singles chart, the Real Thing held onto their Number One spot, thanks to You to Me Are Everything.

While the accompanying album chart saw a brand new Number One, thanks to Rod Stewart's A Night on the Town.

Just two issues of The Avengers to go before the book's cancellation but there's still no rest for Conan the Barbarian, as he encounters yet another Lovecraftian horror from beyond the other side of sanity, thanks to a drama titled ...In the Dark Valley Waits...Death!

Thanks to H Warren Craddock and his fixation on alien threats, the Avengers find themselves caught up in a Trial of Terror!

And Shang-Chi must endure a ...Death Duel with Darkstrider!

Jason, Alexander, Malagueña and oddball inventor Lightsmith find a perfect hiding place - inside a nostril on Mount Rushmore.

Brutus the gorilla, meanwhile, is preparing an attack on the base of the Inheritors!

Back in the present day world, Dracula destroys Doctor Sun and regains his full powers but that's not enough for Blade who demands the vampire help him find the fiend who killed his mother.

And, then, it's time to strap ourselves in as we encounter a tale we'll never forget when the Man-Thing is blundering around in the swamp and encounters the corpse of a suicidal clown...

And Ka-Zar's search for the missing Zabu leads him to a city whose fanatical cult has enslaved its own people!

It's a landmark issue, all right, as the Punisher makes his shoot-first-ask-questions-later debut.

And I believe that means the Jackal also makes his first appearance.

But what's this? A brand new strip has materialised in the mag?

It certainly has because none other than Moon Knight himself tries to stop someone called the Conquer-Lord from assassinating the mayor of somewhere or other!

When it comes to the mag's old stagers, Iron Man has double trouble on his hands when the Red Ghost revives the Unicorn and ups his power levels in a bid to destroy our hero.

Thor travels to the World Beyond, in search of Odin who continues to engage in combat with the mysterious Infinity.

Meanwhile, Bashful Benjy visits an Arizona ghost town where he bumps into the Son of Satan and they discover they must battle the ghost of the town's founder.

And Dr Strange confronts the Ancient One - and the masked Dr Strange - while Baron Mordo gains control of the Aged Genghis!

The Hulk's latest Canadian adventure continues, as a young woman bids to save her brother by transferring the curse of the Wendigo onto the brute, via the use of magic.

However, not all goes to plan when a certain claw-possessing troublemaker of Canadian origin appears in the final panel, and comic book history will never be the same again!

Back in New York, it would appear that Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson set out to assess the sanity of the imprisoned Gladiator who, inevitably, sets out to escape!

And I do believe the X-Men are prisoners of Magneto. A fact that leads to an escape bid by the Angel which leads to him bumping into an island inhabited by the mysterious Red Raven!

A brand new villain appears in the life of the Fantastic Four, as the Monocle sets out to start World War III by killing delegates at the United Nations.

And he's going to use his deadly camera to do it!

Subby has problems of his own when Doctor Dorcas transforms Olympic swimmer Todd Arliss into the villainous Tiger Shark. A foe who quickly defeats a weakened Namor before abducting Lady Dorma. Surely the most abducted woman in history. Even ahead of Sue Storm.

In the jungles of Wakanda, Captain America joins forces with the Black Panther to try and thwart Baron Zemo's latest - satellite based - wheeze.

Nick Fury leads SHIELD to its latest victory over Hydra.

And the Ghost Rider races to save Roxanne Simpson from Snake Dance's deadly ritual.

I suppose Lady Dorma can take some comfort from the fact that she might be Marvel's most abducted female but at least she's not as prone to being sacrificed as Roxanne is.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - July 1976.

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

***

It's July 1976 and there's a record-breaking heatwave going on.

I know; I'll take refuge in a cinema. It's always cold in cinemas. Just like it's always cold in any hotel room I find myself in.

But what shall I see in that cinema?

I may see one of the following, as they're all films released in that very month. Cannonball, Gus, The Opening of Misty Beethoven, The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars & Motor Kings, A*P*E and St. Ives. I'm sorry. Are these actual real films? They all sound like they were created by a random name generator.

Fortunately, there were some films with sensible titles released that month. Films I've heard of. Films that actually turn up on TV. And amongst those were At the Earth's Core, Futureworld and Squirm.

I must confess to never having seen Squirm, as it seems like the sort of film I wouldn't enjoy watching, but I have seen Futureworld and At the Earth's Core and, of course, approve of them both.

Of the pair, I think I shall nominate Futureworld as my Steve Does Comics Film of the Month, simply because I feel it's an unfairly dismissed movie and someone has to speak up for it at some point.

No bear is safe with Red Sonja around!

Not even the ones that are gods.

Not when she spots the chance to pick up a financial reward from the people of a nearby town.

It's great news for all lovers of Erich von Däniken when a brand new book hits our lives and Jack Kirby delivers his take on the Ancient Astronaut theory and reveals that Earth isn't only the domain of humans but is also the playground of Eternals and Deviants, and that giant space gods are coming back to, literally, stand in judgement on us all!

People may be aware I'm not the greatest Invaders fan - especially with it being blessed by the quirky art of Frank Robbins - but how can I ignore this issue when it features what I assume to be the first appearance of none other than Baron Blood himself?

And I've never been a huge fan of Deathlok either but I must confess that's an eye-catching cover by Rich Buckler who's clearly decided to demonstrate he can be Jim Steranko as well as Jack Kirby.

As for the story, it would appear that our hero fights and defeats the first Luther Manning clone!

Following that, he runs into someone called Godwulf. An event that causes people to think our protagonist is dead!

Deathlok may not be dead but this comic is, as I have to announce this would appear to be the last issue of the current run of Astonishing Tales.

The Thing battles the Basilisk in the Savage Land before they get teleported to New York where Spider-Man shows up and joins the fight against the villain who's getting ready to destroy the city.

Spider-Man appearing in the Thing's team-up book does, of course, open up the way for a neat idea. Which is for the Thing to appear, simultaneously, in Spider-Man's team-up book!

And that means yet more battling with the baffling Basilisk!

I was never into the Black Panther/Ku Klux Klan story line but even I must admit that's a dramatic cover by Rowdy Rich Buckler.

From what I can gather, inside this epic, Monica Lynne's mother tells her about a Klan attack during the Reconstruction era and, for some reason, the singer re-imagines it with the Panther involved.

Satana gets to hog this month's Marvel Preview - and does so thanks to a tale in which four sorcerers trap her in an hallucination that causes her to think she's a fully-human woman called Judith Camber.

For some reason, every time I proofread this post, I misread that as, "Judith Chalmers," which, for British readers, would give the story a whole other vibe.

Elsewhere, the mag also gives us The Sword in the Star!: Stave 2: Witchworld!

I have no idea what happens in that one.

And Daredevil celebrates his fourth-ever annual by getting into a scrap with the Black Panther and Sub-Mariner during a drama I remember being reprinted in one of the Marvel UK annuals.

Sadly, I recall little of the tale itself, other than extortion being involved and it being called The Name of the Game is... Death!

Fifty years ago today - July 1976.

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

***

Hooray!

It's July!

Already!

And we all know what's significant about that month!

It's the first month of the year!

And that means it's the one in which we all rush out and buy ourselves a brand new calendar!

And what better one to buy, here in 1976, than the one that Marvel Comics has issued to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the United States of Statesland declaring independence from the United Britain of Kingdoms!

And what a publication it is, packed solid with images of our favourite heroes - and Toro - as, month by month, it takes us through significant moments in both the history of the War of Independence and the history of Marvel and its creators.

Granted, there are some strangenesses, such as its depiction of Conan and the Black Panther leading the revolutionary charge. I'm not totally sure just when either of them became American.

But the good news for those with fond memories of that calendar is that, once again, it can be yours - and in pristine condition because Marvel has reissued it to celebrate that nation's 250th birthday and the calendar's 50th - and that brand-new version of it is available from all good retailers, including the likes of eBay and Amazon.

So, that in mind, let's see just what that calendar tells us awaits us in this the month of July.

And, now, the regular stuff.

Isn't this the story in which our favourite team are having all kinds of trouble with Orka the human killer whale until Thor turns up and flattens him before revealing he normally doesn't hit his foes as hard as he could, for fear of hurting them?

Given the threat posed to him by most of his opponents, I find this claim very hard to believe.

Regardless, it starts to raise doubts in the thunder god's mind as to whether he's slumming it by hanging around with mere mortals.

As far as I can make out, June 1976 saw the launch of legendary ITV children's drama serial The Feathered Serpent, starring Patrick Troughton and Diane Keen as the world's most Anglo-Saxon Aztecs.

Meanwhile, Conan's comic that's cover-dated a mere month later shocks us all with its reference to the fiends of the Feathered Serpent.

How can this be mere coincidence?

Apparently, it can be.

As for what happens in it, it would appear our hero establishes himself as the Feargal Sharkey of his generation by saving a village from an evil wizard who's dumping toxic waste in its river.

I've not read this one but the internet informs me that someone called Professor Harding breaks his ties with the Elites and decides to help Cap and Falc do something or other.

Meanwhile, someone called Malcolm orders the activation of the Big Daddy Madbomb.

I do believe this is at least the second time Daredevil's been wrongly accused of murdering the Jester.

And I suspect the villain's ploy will be no more successful this time than it was the first.

As that cover makes clear, It's the one in which Galactus is using the Destroyer as a herald.

More urgently, golden gorilla Gorr's taken the gang to Counter-Earth where they have to quickly prepare for the arrival of the planet-eater himself. 

"The most unexpected barbarian of all!" declares the front cover!

I suspect that's because no one's ever heard of him.

But it would appear that this issue's Conan wannabe is someone called Kronak which is almost an anagram of Arkon and I can shed no more light upon him than that.

The Blood Brothers are back and that's all I know of this one - other than that it's brought to us by Archie Goodwin and George Tuska.

Aunt May's weak heart survives yet another incident that'd inflict total cardiac arrest upon the healthiest of people.

But, meanwhile, it would seem the currently spectral Hammerhead manages to trick Dr Octopus into returning him to the world of the solid!

Nope. No idea what occurs in this issue - but it does look like Thor's finally developed the sense to give Odin the slap he's been asking for ever since he first appeared in the strip.

June 30th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

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

***

The longest day of the year has come and gone and, as the sun sinks lower in the sky, let us sink lower into the past and discover just what delights awaited us, within our local newsagents, this very week in 1976.

Neal Adams arrives on the Avengers' strip, even as their comic approaches its twilight days. It seems that even the power of Nifty Neal won't be enough to save it.

I do believe Conan's having an encounter with mystery minstrel Laza-Lanti who has problems with a demon from a place called Dark Valley.

And it's bad news for the Avengers, even beyond the impending cancellation of their book, because populist politician H Warren Craddock has launched an anti-alien commission and demanded the team hand Captain Marvel over to it!

Far more importantly than even that, I suspect, is that this is the issue in which we see the Vision wearing a casual sweater whilst playing a game of chess.

As for Shang-Chi, he's defending a mysterious circus from the Warlords of the Web.

Whoever that might be.

That's a very dramatic cover by Larking Bob Larkin. So dramatic, in fact, that I remember being motivated to whip out my sketchpad and copy it, as a youth.

But, inside, I do believe we may have reached the unforgettable phenomenon of Jason and Alexander taking refuge in a secret hideout inside one of the heads of Mount Rushmore.

Elsewhere, it seems that Blade and Dracula have teamed up against Doctor Sun, although Blade is quickly captured by the fiend, after being distracted by the vampire who murdered his mother.

In the Man-Thing's strip, we finally reach the end of the Foolkiller saga.

And I think Ka-Zar sets off in search of Zabu who he thought was dead but now thinks is alive.

But what's this? Despite the cover's confident claim, it doesn't look like Captain Marvel appears in this issue at all. Will we never get to see the conclusion of his battle with Thanos and the Cosmic Cube?

And does this mean the good captain changed his hair colour for nothing?

The fake Vulture's still causing trouble for our hero who has to begin the issue by trying to survive a fall from a great height.

But is that villain really the Vulture?

And just how does he tie in with a noticeably-similar looking professor at Peter Parker's university?

After that, no matter what the cover tells us, the Mighty Thor is, of course, in the grip of Infinity. Not Eternity.

Or, at least, Odin is, as he continues to battle a mysterious foe from who knows where.

Back on Earth, the Thing and Power Man must intervene when a scientist's useless experiment unleashes a 300-foot tall monster that's determined to flatten New York!

I suspect that Iron Man's still up against the menace of the Night Phantom.

And Dr Strange continues to have lookalike issues at the Dance of the Red Death.

But can it be?

Can our friendly neighbourhood Hulk be back in Canada?

Yes, he can.

And things are about to get inconvenient for him when the sister of the man who became the Wendigo decides to transfer the creature's curse onto him!

Following that, we discover the breath-taking origin of Nighthawk and see him frame Daredevil for a crime he has not committed!

The X-Men are, once more, up against the menace of Magneto who, as always, quickly gains the upper hand against them.

And that's not the only X action we get, because we're also treated to the Werner Roth drawn feature that tells us all we need to know about Cyclops and his powers.

Including the shocking revelation that his eye blasts don't give off heat!

The cover may trumpet that the Frightful Four are back, but the much bigger news is that Agatha Harkness arrives when the FF go looking for a baby-sitter and find one with abilities that are rare in that profession.

Next, we encounter the first appearance of Tiger Shark in the Sub-Mariner's life, as an ex-Olympic swimmer decides to trust the evil Dr Dorcas to restore his swimming abilities.

Elsewhere, Captain America survives an ambush before answering the Black Panther’s call to help defend Wakanda from mysterious invaders. I would not be surprised if Baron Zemo is about to raise his masked head.

Nick Fury, as you'd expect, prevents Hydra’s Overkill Horn from triggering global nuclear destruction.

The Ghost Rider survives a deadly fall before rushing back to the rodeo, in order to confront the evil Snake Dance.

And poor old Roxanne Simpson may, yet again, be in danger of getting sacrificed. I swear to God I've never encountered any human being who's as sacrifice-prone as she is.

Speak Your Brain! Part 128.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

It's clearly a very special month because, despite there only being 30 days in it, we've, somehow, managed to squeeze in three Speak Your Brains.

"But, Steverino," I hear you cry. "How are those who are new to this site meant to know what that even means?"

This is what it means.

It means it's the feature in which you - and only you - get to decide the topic of the day.

That topic could be about what's new or about what's old or about whatever the word is for something that's in between being old and new.

Therefore, feel free to make use of the comments section below, to register that topic. And then we shall discover just what the world makes of it.

The DC Lucky Bag - June 1976.

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

***

Plans are of no use to a man like me. Like all men of destiny, I rely on random happenstance to guide me.

Therefore, let's see what appears when I spin the Steve Does Comic Wheel of Fate and see upon which DC comics that bear this month's cover date its untutored arrow settles.

Many times, as a child, did I see Jonah Hex comics on the spinner racks.

And many times did I see house ads for his book.

And, yet, strangely, in all that time, never once did I actually get round to buying an issue of his comic.

I suspect the lure of the Phantom Stranger, Spectre and Weird War Tales, sitting there, beside him, on those racks, always diverted my attention away from the gun-slinger.

Regardless, I do know that, in this thrilling epic, our hero's forced to contend with a rival bounty hunter who keeps stealing his captives, in order to claim the reward money for himself.

But forget all that. Whatever else happens, this is the big event of the month, when a brand new mag descends upon our favourite retailers.

And does so by creating a team consisting of DC's greatest villains - and Captain Boomerang.

Surely, no hero nor group of heroes, could hope to stand against such a gargantuan gaggle of gallivantingly galevolent galoots.

And it all happens when one of Manhunter's clones brings them all together under the auspices of a mysterious but wealthy benefactor.

But who could that benefactor be?

Could it be Lex Luthor?

Or Darkseid?

Because, let's face it, who else is it going to be?

But enough of such concerns. Karate Kid hits his second, thrilling issue. And, no doubt, hits a few wrongdoers, as well.

In fact, he probably hits Major Disaster who launches some sort of attack on the United Nations!

I don't know who he is but I'm not sure I'm impressed by any villain who wants to be known as Major Disaster.

Then again, maybe he's the mystery man behind the Secret Society of Super-Villains?

Jack Kirby may be long-gone but the last boy on Earth just keeps on lasting, thanks to the efforts of Gerry Conway and Chic Stone.

Which is a matter of curiosity to me, as I don't think I've ever seen anything pencilled by Stone. I know him purely as an inker.

As for what occurs within, it seems the trouble-finding teen seeks out someone called Mogul who may be to blame for recent attacks on him.

I've never read this one - and that cover does have a real Silver Age throwback feel to it - but I can sensationally reveal that the League is making some kind of effort to stop a bunch of natural disasters that turn out not to be so natural.

In fact, so not-natural are they that they're part of a plan to destroy the team!

It's the meeting that had to happen, as the Joker and Superman's arch-nemesis co-star in a tale called Luthor-- You're Driving Me Sane!

Not that I know what happens in it, beyond that it features a bunch of people called the Mountebank Malefactors.

From that name, I shall assume they are bad guys.

And that they are well-heeled.