2000 AD - September 1988.

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

***

It does strike me the number of times random strangers in the street demand to know just how I achieve my stunning levels of fitness.

And, of course, it's because I'm still in training for the Olympics, knowing, as I do that, one day, if I keep plugging away at it, I'm bound to get selected.

People who have already managed to get selected are the people who took part in the 1988 Seoul Olympics which, as I'm sure you're aware, began in September of 1988.

And they weren't the only ones with reason to get sports fever. So could the ones with a taste for snowbound sports because, in that selfsame month, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 1994 Winter Games to Lillehammer.

Good news was also to be found by those whose ambition was to go even higher than Olympic high jumpers. And that was that NASA resumed its Space Shuttle flights which had been grounded since the Challenger disaster.

And the world's cinemas?

Just what was managing to fill them with punters that month?

They were mostly being filled with punters eager to watch The Deceivers, Eight Men Out, Rocket Gibraltar, Moon Over Parador, Running on Empty, The Beast, Doin' Time on Planet Earth, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Bird, Gorillas in the Mist and Dead Ringers. All of which was fortunate because it was the month in which those films came out.

I'm fairly certain that, of those offerings, the only one I've seen is Gorillas in the Mist. Therefore, I shall declare it to be the Steve Does Comics Film of the Month.

Come to think of it, not only have I not seen any of the others. I've never even heard of most of them.

What I have heard of is Phil Collins, and part of the reason for that is that September 1988 began with him at Number One on the UK singles chart, thanks to his latest smash Groovy Kind of Love. However, even the mighty Phil couldn't stay at the top forever. And so, before the month was out, his track had been dislodged by the re-release of the Hollies' He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother which I have a feeling reappeared thanks to inclusion in an advert.

Needing no such aid to hit the top was Kylie Minogue who managed to rule the UK album chart with her self-titled LP. However, that was then deposed by Various Artists' Hot City Nights which itself then had to make way for Bon Jovi's New Jersey.

But what of the galaxy's greatest comic?

As regular readers may have expected, it was still serving up a familiar diet of Judge Dredd, Nemesis the Warlock, Tharg's Time Twisters, Zenith, Tharg's Future-Shocks and Sláine.

However, Prog 590 saw the launch of new Judge Dredd series The Mean Machine which was, as far as I can make out, created by reprinting the character's Daily Star newspaper strip.

But that's not all that was novel. Prog 591 saw the debut of Moon Runners, as brought to us by Steve Parkhouse, Alan McKenzie and Massimo Belardinelli.

And there's another matter we need to recognise because September also saw the launch of a brand-new comic from the same publishers as 2000 AD.

And that was Crisis. 

I'm not going to cover that each month, as such an effort might cut into the time available for my Olympic training but I shall at least feature the first issue here.

I must confess it's not a book I could claim to be overly knowledgeable about but it seems issue #1 featured two strips: Third World War and New Statesmen, brought to us by such talents as Pat Mills, Carlos Ezquerra, John Smith and Jim Baikie.

Despite struggling to achieve strong sales, the mag managed to last for 63 issues, switching to a monthly schedule from issue #50, was often politically aware and featured early work by the likes of Garth Ennis, Mark Millar, John McCrea and Grant Morrison.

Also, it appears to have been owned by Robert Maxwell before his not at all suspicious demise.

October 13th, 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. 

***

I think we all remember the joke that went, "Mississippi is a very long word but can you spell it?"

And we never needed that joke more than we did, this week in 1976.

That's because seizing the top spot on the UK singles chart was none other than Mississippi by Pussycat. How well I remember the video that went with that one.

But what of the accompanying album chart?

Its pinnacle was still being gripped by ABBA's Greatest Hits, being, as it was, sixteen years before their Gold album would arrive to destroy all challengers.

I must confess I'm not totally convinced that Mississippi is an all-time classic but there were songs I approved of more on that week's Hit Parade. And among them were:

Dancing Queen - ABBA

Sailing {1976} - Rod Stewart

Blinded by the Light - Manfred Mann's Earth Band

The Rubberband Man - the Detroit Spinners

Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry

The Killing of Georgie - Rod Stewart

Couldn't Get It Right - Climax Blues Band

The Tears of a Clown {1976} - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading

Benny and the Jets - Elton John

and

Without You {1976} by Nilsson.

If you've personally been affected by the above content, that week's UK singles chart can be found here.

While the adjoining LP chart dwells within.

But now for bigger news because it was a more than momentous week for comic fans in this very land, as Marvel UK launched its second-ever super-hero (Apeslayer having been its first) with the debut of a comic that would no doubt fill our souls with swelling patriotic pride.

And it was in full colour!

Apart from the bits that weren't.

This is it! A hero like no other - apart from Spider-Man and Nova - is here!

And he even gives us a free gift of a super-hero mask while he's at it!

Tragically, I never had that free gift because I never had issue #1 but the strip's written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Herb Trimpe. So, even with my absence, how could it not be a success, guaranteed to run and run?

As far as I can surmise, it all begins when posh boy Brian Braddock arrives at the Darkmoor Research Centre, for work purposes, just as it's attacked by Joshua Stragg who plans on capturing its nuclear scientists for use in his dodgy business ventures!

A hasty strategic withdrawal on a motorcycle sees Brian fall off a cliff!

Which might seem like the end for our not so plucky protagonist but, thanks to the intervention of Merlin the Magician is, in fact, only the beginning!

Following that, the Fantastic Four are in crisis, with Reed Richards trapped in the Negative Zone and headed for the fate he seems to be headed for every time he enters that realm.

And only the babysitter can save him!

And then we experience From Hell -- Fury! in which Nick of that surname meets new agents Sidney Levine and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, only for Captain America to reveal he's uncovered information about a mysterious past event known as, “The Big Blackout.”

Will man and ape ever learn to live together in peace and harmony?

Judging by the cover, I'm beginning to suspect they may not.

But I am always impressed by how easy humans in these comics find it to beat up gorillas. I'd like to see the writers and artists of these strips try to beat up a gorilla and see just how far they get with it.

Regardless, our focus this week is not on humans but on apes, as Caesar and Aldo explore the ruins of a city destroyed by nuclear conflict - and Aldo gets his hands on a rifle!

Far, far south of there - and in the present - Ka-Zar, Tongah and the Zebra People are still having trouble with Sheesa and her army of the dead!

Dracula introduces us to a shocking short titled The Monster in the Cellar in which a writer decides to compose a horror story in which a writer has a monster in his cellar.

Needless to say, it's not long before that story starts to come true for him.

And to finish the issue, Taylor's still on trial in Marvel's adaptation of the first Apes movie.

And that's when he discovers just what's happened to Landon.

We encounter another twist in the mission to rescue Glenn Talbot from the clutches of the Russians, when the man his rescuers think is Talbot declares himself to be Soviet agent Gregori Kronski!

I do believe the Avengers continue to battle the Skrull fleet in space.

Conan helps Princess Stefanya tackle the corrupt rulers of Phalkar.

And Daredevil tackles a corrupt sports syndicate by disguising himself as a boxer called Kid Gawaine.

Forget Captain Britain. Clearly determined to not be outdone by its neighbour to the north, France gets its very own super-doer when the Cyclone makes his first appearance but only hangs around for long enough to be defeated by a fan.

Thor's not had much luck against Durok the Destroyer either. Will the Silver Surfer fare any better?

Iron Man's probably still tangling with Midas in some way or other.

The Invaders, however, discover the three Norse gods they've been battling are aliens manipulated by Brain Drain. Freed from his control, those aliens choose death.

And The Power to Purge! sees Spidey and the Human Torch tackle Morbius the Living Vampire. During that confrontation, the vampire known as Jefferson Bolt dies.

But hold on. What's this?

The Fantastic Four are not only in Captain Britain's mag? They're also still in The Titans?

It's clearly madness but, no doubt, a cunning marketing ploy.

Anyway, Janus is destroyed in the Negative Zone and that leads to the FF's latest clash with Annihilus.

In Cap Goes Wild, the hero comes up against a Life Model Decoy designed to look like and discredit him.

Then, gasp as we encounter the origin of Black Bolt. His origin being that he was born.

In A World Against Me, Subby battles Naga for the Serpent Crown but accidentally kills a woman who's been impersonating Lady Dorma.

And the Ghost Rider's still fighting the awesome power of the One Man Zodiac, who doesn't last very long.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - October 1986.

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

***

Celluloid, what a gift it is to us.

And let us discover just what that gift was bestowing upon us in October 1986.

It was bestowing the following films because they were ones that were released in that very month: Children of a Lesser God, Tough Guys, The Color of Money, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Peggy Sue Got Married, Soul Man, Trick or Treat and The Mission.

And guess what?

That's right. I haven't seen a single one of them. I shall, therefore, take a wild punt at guessing that Tough Guys is the Steve Does Comics Movie of the Month.

Given that I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, that assessment may be completely incorrect.

And, if so, feel free to say so.

A dramatic cover tells us we're about to encounter a reprint of the Len Wein / Herb Trimpe epic that first introduced us to Wolverine!

And it all happens when a young woman tries to transfer the Wendigo's curse onto the Hulk!

But that's not all because we also find, within, At the Sign of the Lion - starring Wolvie and Hercules - and the text article Wolverine: The Evolution of a Character. I think we can guess what that's likely to be about.

But what's this?

In my local comic shop?

On its literal shelves?

A brand new Marvel universe has been created?

And Star Brand #1 is part of it?

Strangely, given its title, it's not a sequel to Not Brand Echh and, with Jim Shooter behind it, I have no doubt it cannot fail!

While riding his motorbike in the mountains, Ken Connell's given the Star Brand, a powerful weapon that looks like a tattoo.

As you'd expect, it grants him strength, toughness and the power of flight.

But he's then attacked by an alien who wants it for himself!

And that New Universe gives us another new title when Spitfire and the Troubleshooters make their dynamic debut.

Karl Swensen, inventor of the Man Amplified X-periment Armour, is killed by an agent of his employer.

However, a woman who I assume to be his daughter is suspicious that his death may not have been an accident, returns to his lab, dons that armour to bring his killer to justice, and a whole new era in comics is born!

I'm sure we all remember Alien Legion. Now it gets a graphic novel in the form of a 67-page adventure from Alan Zelenetz, Carl Potts and Frank Cirocco. I have no idea what happens in it.

Scandalously not a part of the New Universe are the Hugga Bunch.

Thrillingly, that doesn't prevent them from getting a comic.

And what a comic it threatens to be when Stan Kay

and Warren Kremer bring us The Road to Riches and A King's Ransom.

This book is destined to last for six issues.

You can't keep a good man down. Even when he's made of plastic.

And only 12 inches tall.

And so it is that GI Joe gets another comic - and one in which Larry Hama and the almost inevitable Herb Trimpe do the duties.

A big moment has arrived because X-Factor - otherwise known as the Original X-Men - get their very first annual and fill it with forty pages of drama in which they visit Russia to give a talk about their mutant-hunting techniques.

And, while there, they manage to stop an evil mutant who's been experimenting on other mutants on behalf of the Russian state.

It's what we've all been praying for. Marvel's take on the Muppet-packed extravaganza in which a teenage girl wishes she could get rid of her baby brother, and David Bowie is only too glad to oblige.

Which is odd because I once wished I had a Porsche, and David Bowie did nothing about it.

Typical.

 

Iron Man grabs himself an eighth annual. One in which he discovers that something called Project Pegasus has a young boy in custody. One who can create anything he can imagine.

Needless to say, this can only lead to trouble.

Trouble so big that X-Factor too must get involved.

Meanwhile, the Incredible Hulk lands himself his 15th annual, with a cover by Mike Zeck and interiors by Sal Buscema.

However, all I know of this epic is that it's forty pages long and features both the Abomination and Tyrannus!

And yes, I've picked this one purely because it has a nice cover by Frank Cirocco.

Inside, it contains such yarns as A Camel's Curse, Monkey See, Monkey Die!, Facing the Tiger and Fossils, which are all new stories and distributed across the 52 pages that I have no doubt they fully deserve.

Forty years ago today - October 1986.

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

***

Let us see what is underway in a world in which all disputes can be settled via the medium of fisticuffs.

I know little of the contents of this one but I do know that Christopher Priest, John Buscema and Ernie Chan give us a story titled Resurrection.

One that manages to cram in the Council of the Seven, the Legion of Assassins and the Devourer of Souls.

It's a miracle Marvel didn't decide to make us pay double for all that lot.

As that cover makes clear, the Living Laser's back.

And now he's a creature of living energy!

And he blames Iron Man for it!

It's another issue I have little knowledge of.

However, I do know that's quite a boring cover.

I also know the tale inside is called Welcome to the Future! and sees our heroes restore Central City!

It all kicks off underwater when the Avengers and Alpha Flight join forces to attack Atlantis, in a bid to rescue Marrina from the clutches of Attuma!

Cap's not a happy man.

But then why should he be? He still feels bad about having killed a member of Ultimatum.

And there's also bad news for Flag-Smasher. Which is that Cap's decided to bring him in.

The good news for the un-American activities committer is the hero wants to bring him in alive.

Thinking about it, isn't it quite difficult to smash a flag? Wouldn't it make more sense to try to shred or burn it?

Trying to outdo the Fantastic Four in the boring covers stakes is this month's X-Men whose interior pages see the Marauders begin their Mutant Massacre.

While all this is going on, Malice possesses Dazzler, Nightcrawler's attacked by an angry mob and Magneto's offered membership of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle.

Thor and Judge Dredd Justice Peace try to save Jane Foster and the world by stopping Zaniac.

Rather more sedately, this issue sees Volstagg adopt two orphaned boys.

Plus, for people who like that kind of thing, there's even an appearance by Jack the Ripper - although only in flashback.

Sabretooth is gunning for revenge against Spider-Man for his last battering at the wall-crawler's hands.

However, it may all be about to go wrong for him because he's unaware that he's being stalked by the all-improved Black Cat.

What's this?

The Sandman?

Helping Spider-Man?

It's true. The granular grapplemonger assists the hero and Silver Sable in their struggle with the Sinister Syndicate.

But elsewhere, assuming him to be the Hobgoblin, Jack O' Lantern tries to bust Flash Thompson out of prison.

But the real Hobgoblin shows up and the inevitable fight breaks out!

A monochrome new era begins in the life of Marvel's best-selling monster when Bruce Banner's accidentally knocked into a nutrient bath and emerges from it as the Hulk.

But restored to his original grey colour!

What a clueless klutz the Man Without Fear is, as he accidentally prevents Mr Hyde from taking a formula designed to permanently transform him back into Calvin Zabo!

I suspect Daredevil will live to regret such an act.

And, probably, the Cobra will too.

October 6th, 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. 

***

If you were in a hurry, this week in 1976, you were likely to be happy indeed.

That's because it was the week that saw the introduction of British Rail's InterCity 125 high-speed train, initially serving London Paddington, Bristol and Cardiff. Obviously, it went nowhere near the north. Such a thing would have been madness.

When it came to the charts; for what seems like the millionth week running, the UK singles top spot was being held by ABBA's Dancing Queen.

But there was change atop the neighbouring album chart - and a surprising one for a man like me who always assumed the band were a bit niche - because leaping seven places in a mighty bound to seize the Number One slot was Stupidity by Dr Feelgood.

But here's a thing. On October 6th, BBC One was broadcasting legendary children's series Fingerbobs. The show that introduced me to the word "scampi."

As we all recall, the Bob Harris-esque presenter was always introduced by a name that was never totally clear and might have been Boffy but might not have been.

However, thanks to a fit of investigative journalism that Woodward and Bernstein would envy, I've discovered his real name was Rick Jones.

And that's the kind of place the 1970s was. We had Peter Parker in charge of the railways and Rick Jones in charge of the Fingerbobs.

As with last issue, I possess little knowledge of our main strip which, this week, goes by the title of Trek to a City of Ashes!

I'm going to assume it involves a visit to whatever's left of either New York or Los Angeles, following the ape uprising.

Following that, Ka-Zar and Tongah are still trying to rescue the captive Zebra-Men while the villainous Sheesa is still deploying her army of the dead against them.

In the Man-Thing's strip, Manny and F A Schist continue to be ensnared in the affairs of La Hacienda and its Fountain of Youth.

But none of that matters.

All that matters is that, this week, Dracula tells us the story of Sporr! The Thing That Could Not Die! in which a scientist moves into Frankenstein's castle and creates a gigantic amoeba that promptly smashes its way out of his lab and onto a route that will take it straight towards the nearest torch-wielding villagers!

And I do believe the latest instalment of Marvel's adaptation of the first Apes movie sees Taylor on trial for the crime of speaking.

That cover can only mean the Gremlin's back!

But what of his father? Has the Gargoyle ever returned from the dead?

These are things I need to know.

In this week's thrilling Hulkisode, Bruce Banner, Thunderbolt Ross and a bunch of SHIELD agents invade Siberia, in a bid to rescue Glenn Talbot from the clutches of the aforementioned villain.

The Avengers, on the other hand, are zooming around in space and attacking the Skrull fleet while the far more important Rick Jones is headed for an encounter with the Kree Supreme Intelligence.

Conan exposes the demonic origins of Phalkar’s ruler Unos and, somehow, this all leads to a happy ending for Stefanya. Hooray!

And the Stilt-Man's still giving Daredevil problems in Hollywood.

It never fails. Every time Mysterio shows up, Spidey starts to doubt his sanity. You'd think he'd have realised by now that it's all done with trickery.

Regardless, this issue, our hero's plagued by visions of his worst enemies and of Gwen Stacy.

And it's all caused by a former cellmate of the late special effects genius, who's now adopted the deceased villain's alter-ego.

Thor's not having much success against Durok the Destroyer. A fact that prompts Balder and Karnilla to visit a mountaintop and seek the help of the Silver Surfer.

After many weeks of scheming, plotting and adventuring, Iron Man finally defeats Midas.

But, almost inevitably, the strain on his new heart fair threatens to kill him.

Behind enemy lines, the Invaders battle Norse gods who turn out to be aliens controlled by the Nazi scientist Brain Drain.

And Spider-Man and the Torch must battle Morbius after the fiend creates another vampire by the name of Jefferson Bolt.

It's that bizarre FF story Stan Lee Frankensteined together from unpublished art by Jack Kirby and newly drawn panels by John Buscema.

It'd be nice to say it's a ploy that works but reading it is a somewhat jarring experience.

In other news, Captain America battles Batroc, the Swordsman and Living Laser in a bid to defuse a seismo-bomb hidden in Manhattan. It all leads him to recognise that his all-action lifestyle could lead to the death of Sharon Carter.

Deep in the past, the Inhumans discover their extraordinary abilities came from a Kree experiment to genetically enhance primitive humans.

Namor chases after Karthon who delivers the Serpent Crown to someone called Naga.

And it all leads to the death of Lady Dorma!

And the Ghost Rider battles the One Man Zodiac, a former member of that gang who's sold his soul to a demon in exchange for the powers of every member of that gang.

Hold on. What powers?

Wouldn't it make more sense to sell your soul for the powers of every member of the Squadron Supreme?

The Marvel Lucky Bag - October 1976.

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

***

All moving pictures contain pictures but not all moving pictures are moving.

And shall we be moved by the films that were released this month in 1976?

That depends on how we feel about such offerings as Marathon Man, Alex & the Gypsy, A Matter of Time, Burnt Offerings, Car Wash, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and Carry On England.

I must confess to only having seen Marathon Man and Carry On England, which are, of course, remarkably similar films investigating similar themes. However, tempted as I am to claim that Carry On England is the superior of the pair, sanity obliges me to declare Marathon Man to be my Steve Does Comics Film of the Month.

However, given that I know so little of the other movies, visitors to this site are free to express alternative viewpoints.

This is the sort of thing I want to see in my local newsagents, as Marvel gives us its adaptation of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island.

I can announce that I've never read the book but I have seen the film and that's enough to make me intrigued by the comic.

Between them, Jules Verne, Otto Binder and E. R. Cruz build a 48-page tale in which a bunch of people from the United States' Civil War end up on a strange island with giant crabs, giant chickens, giant bees, giant octopuses, the woman who did Anita Pallenberg's speaking for her in Barbarella, and Captain Nemo.

Granted, I don't know for a fact that any of that stuff's in the book or in the comic but it's in the movie and we all know that movies are always the real version of things.

I've no idea what The Red Badge of Courage is but those people on the cover look like they could be in Mysterious Island and, whatever it is, it gets its very own adaptation, courtesy of Irwin Shapiro, Stephen Crane and, again, E. R. Cruz.

After giving us its take on Dracula, for several years, Marvel finally gives us its take on Dracula.

But, this time, it's Bram Stoker's Dracula. The book made famous by Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Bram Stoker, Naunerle Farr and Nestor Redondo are the people responsible for this and I'm going to guess it tells the tale of a Transylvanian count who decides to move to Whitby and hang out there with all the Goths.

Can it be true?

Has it really taken all this time for Dr Strange to get an annual of his very own?

Yes it can when Marv Wolfman and Craig Russell supply us with the 35-page adventure ..And There Will Be Worlds Anew! in which something happens but I don't know what.

It's the team-up that probably no one saw coming, as Bashful Benjy unites with the company's latest team.

And it all happens when, in 1942, the heroes battle a horde of super-powered Nazis out to recover a canister of vibranium that I'm assuming could change the course of the war!

Dr Strange may have an annual but Howard the Duck has a Treasury Edition.

And does so with such offerings as Five Villains in Search of a Plot!, The Duck and the Defenders, The Way It All Began!, Frog Death!, Hellcow! and Howard the Barbarian.

Needless to say, most of this material's reprinted from other sources.

However, there is some new content in that lot.

And the Sorcerer Supreme's not the only one blessed with an annual - because Marvel Team-Up's also landed one. One in which Spidey and the X-Men are attending a secret summit about man-made mutation, when their plane's brought down by a bunch of researchers transformed into Hindu gods!

It's not a first issue but it is, as far as I'm aware, a first appearance for Howard Chaykin's Monark Starstalker, in which the interplanetary bounty hunter's tracked a deadly criminal to the world of New Canaan and tries to bump off his quarry.

I do recall this being one of the few comics I didn't get along with in my childhood.

At last, we're going to get the answer to the question, "Who'd win a fight between Iron Fist and Shang-Chi?"

And it happens when the pair are are separately lured into the London sewers by messages from Fu Manchu.

But because even that might not be enough for lovers of martial arts mayhem, we also encounter Rip Off at the O.K. Box Office, an article by none other than dauntless Don McGregor.

And truly our cup is spilling over because there's also the presence of the Sons of the Tiger epic Flesh of My Flesh!

The Champions never do much to attract my attention and I don't know if this issue's any different.

However, I do know Rampage stops by the Champions' office - looking to deliver a message about the Black Widow - but his exo-skeleton explodes!

And then a press conference by the Angel's gatecrashed by the Griffin, Titanium Man and Crimson Dynamo!