The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1976.

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

***

Cinema!

What a magnificent art form it is!

And just how magnificent was it in August 1976?

It was this magnificent!

The month saw the release of such gems as Obsession, The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West, The Return of a Man Called Horse, The Great Texas Dynamite Chase, The Gumball Rally, Gator and The Shootist.

Come to think of it, I don't recall ever having seen even one of those films.

I shall, therefore, assume the best of them to be The Shootist, simply because it has a serious title and, as we all know, serious films must be better than other films or they wouldn't be allowed to make them.

But what's this?

An adaptation of Anna Sewell's classic novel?

By Marvel Comics?

I'd assumed Black Beauty was one of these things - like Follyfoot - that was only famous in Britain. How little I knew.

I also know little of the plot of the original novel. Regardless, Naunerle Farr and Rudy Nebres give us their take on the timeless tale of equine 'eroics.

Tom Sawyer also receives the Marvel treatment when Irwin Shapiro and E. R. Cruz remind us of the adventures of Mark Twain's famously youthful character.

After all that classic fare, normal Marvel business is resumed with Woodgod making his debut in a tale that some may find a little pretentious but I remember being very much taken with, as a youth.

And it all happens when Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen reveal that a strange being, created by two scientists, so perturbs the local townsfolk that they break into the lab that spawned him and accidentally unleash an experimental nerve gas that wipes out the whole community!

It's back to the adaptations.

But will Herman Melville's legendarily unreadable novel prove to be any more user-friendly in its comic book form?

I'm sure that Irwin Shapiro and Alex Niño will do their best to make it so.

And still the great literature keeps coming. I'm starting to doubt that all these publications really did come out at once and am starting to suspect the Grand Comics Database has misled me on the matter.

Regardless, John Fago and E. R. Cruz perform the honours in this one, as Lemuel Gulliver has trouble knowing just what size he needs to be to fit in with the modern world.

Dauntless Don McGregor and fearless Frank Robbins lend us a tale that I'm struggling to recall in detail but I do, at least, recall reviewing it, right here.

From memory, I think my main complaint was that it doesn't contain enough words on every page to satisfy the true Don McGregor aficionado.

Issue #2 of Jack Kirby's latest project arrives - and things start to kick up a gear when Ikaris opens a resurrection chamber and revives the long-sleeping Ajak.

 But just what are they going to do about the Celestial Arishem who, it's announced, will stand on a plinth for fifty years before deciding whether Earth lives or dies?

But, hold on. Right now, as I write this deathless prose, it's exactly fifty years later!

That means he's about to make his decision, Right now!

My memories of this one are limited but I do recall that we get to meet The Man Who Created the Black Widow.

Black Goliath has his work cut out when the man it always takes Daredevil at least six pages to stop shows up and his Z-Ray causes the disappearance of our hero, Celia Jackson and Keith!

Good God, no. Not Keith!

Fifty years ago today - August 1976.

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

***

Let's have some more nostalgia.

It's a, "Spectacular 150th anniversary special!"

It's amazing to think it means that, with this issue, the Avengers had been around for a hundred and fifty years. At the time, it must have seemed like barely more than ten.

It's just a shame the cover tells us nothing of what happens inside such a landmark publication.

But it doesn't need to.

Because, by crikey, I can tell us!

I can sensationally reveal that many are the comings and goings within the ranks of the Avengers, with Captain America taking over the leadership and Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch all rejoining.

However, because this is a team and not a legion, departing the gang are Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp.

All I know about this month's Cimmerian scramblings is that the battling barbarian battles the fearsome fury of the fang-flinging Feathered Serpent.

It can only be down to fate that Captain America celebrates his two hundredth issue in the year of his homeland's two hundredth birthday.

And it's bad news for that nation's enemies, wherever they may lurk, as Cap puts a stop to both the Elite and William Taurey while the Falcon destroys the Big Daddy Madbomb in Philadelphia!

Things are not looking good for everyone's favourite crime-fighter when the Jester pulls off the unlikely feat of faking a Presidential newscast in which Gerald Ford tells the public to kill all superheroes!

Logically, such an event would cross-over into all other Marvel super-hero comics, this month, but, to my knowledge, it doesn't.

It's building up to the fight we've all been waiting for - Galactus vs the High Evolutionary.

But, before that, the Fantastic Four try to find a planet to sacrifice, so that Galactus won't eat Counter-Earth.

But, surely, this quest is doomed.

After all, what kind of world would volunteer to be eaten?

Jarella's back!

And that's pretty much all I recollect of this epic.

However, the Internet informs me that this month's villain of the month is the God of the Mountain. A name that rings no bells, either for or with me.

Iron Man's still having trouble with the Blood Brothers.

But not to worry, because Daredevil takes a break from trying to avoid being killed by the public, and turns up to help out.

Apparently, the Controller's also in this tale.

I can only assume this all connects with Thanos in some manner.

Spidey remains at odds with Doc Ock and Hammerhead. The latter of whom is, clearly, no longer a phantom.

These are thrilling times for me because this issue was my first-ever exposure to the New X-Men!

I didn't have a clue who these people were or what was going on in it but I knew at once that I loved them in a way that I could never love the original X-Men.

That aside, it's a landmark 100th issue and the new gang find themselves having to fight the old one on a satellite, with a damaged space shuttle being the only way out of there.

One that lacks the shielding needed to exclude the deadly radiation that only space can inflict upon you.

Determined not to be left behind by the Avengers, Captain America and X-Men, yet another Marvel hero celebrates a landmark issue.

And it's his 250th!

Not that he has much to celebrate. I think this is the third time Mangog's been on the loose - and the third time he's tried to draw the Odinsword!

You'd think he'd have come up with another plan by now. Like getting his hands on the Cosmic Cube or the Infinity Gauntlet or both or something.

But, hold on. What would happen if someone with the Cosmic Cube got into a fight with someone who had the Infinity Gauntlet? Who'd win? And why has no one ever asked this question before?

July 28th, 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 gave the world a stark warning of the dangers of warm, undisturbed water in a large building when delegates attending an American Legion convention at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia began falling ill with a form of pneumonia.

This would come to be identified as the first outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and caused the deaths of 29 people.

In the UK, the Dangerous Wild Animals Act was passed and required the possession of a licence for those wishing to keep potentially perilous animals in captivity. This Act is, of course, often brought up as a potential explanation whenever people report spotting big black cats in the British countryside. The claim being that its introduction caused owners of such animals to release them into the wild in a bid to avoid the crackdown.

It's excitement all round, as Marvel UK's flagship title hits the two-hundredth issue mark!

I'm fuzzy as to whether the Hulk's still in Canada but what I am certain of is that we now encounter Crackajack Jackson for the first time.

And that means we also encounter his son.

That's the one who's chained to another prisoner in a double act that's not going well, thanks to them both being violent and anti-social racists.

Still, not to worry. A weird space alien soon shows up and gives them super-strength to thank them for shooting it.

Meanwhile, a quartet of Avengers visit a farm but soon find themselves attacked by a bunch of cows who decide to turn into the Fantastic Four!

What is this madness and what can it all lead to?

Conan continues to battle a living statue made of pebbles. It seems unstoppable until he discovers it doesn't like having solvents thrown at it.

I do believe the Stuntman's in the process of falling out with a movie producer. Which could lead to trouble for Daredevil who's in Hollywood, looking to reunite with Karen Page.

And I believe the sensational Alex Harvey turns up, this week, for an interview about his life, times and - I would assume - comic books.

I have cause to think that Jason and Alexander have finally moved on from defending Abraham Lincoln's nostrils and may well now be confronted by the Demons of the Psychedrome!

Not that I can remember what they are.

Which is odd, as you'd think that demons of a psychedrome would lodge themselves well and truly in your memory.

But there's a shock for us The Reader because, from out of nowhere, the Son of Satan appears in this comic and heads straight towards The Gateway to Hell.

I would assume this is the tale of just how he came to be and of how he gained possession of his magical trident!

Following that, the Man-Thing's still having problems with that pesky dead clown who insists upon telling everyone his life story.

And, then, Ka-Zar continues to have issues with someone called Tomas who hunts to please his father but becomes furious when that selfsame father proclaims his brother Gregor to be the new chief.

Chief of what, I fail to recall but I shall assume it all means that murder is in the air.

But The Son of Satan isn't the only strip turning up from out of nowhere. Even more unexpectedly, the issue closes with a reprint of the first few pages of Marvel's original adaptation of the first Planet of the Apes movie!

I remember this one. It's the one in which Spider-Man keeps trying to prevent the Molten Man from finding a cure for his condition - even though it's clearly in everyone's interests for the Molten Man to find a cure for his condition.

Elsewhere, Moon Knight battles the Conquer-Lord, on a giant chessboard!

Iron Man continues to have trouble with the Unicorn and Red Ghost.

Dr Strange, having freed Eternity from the clutches of Nightmare, gets the galactic galoot to recreate the Earth which he'd managed to destroy while dreaming.

And, somewhere far far away, Odin, possessed by Infinity, attacks Thor! Is it curtains for the long-suffering thunder god?

History's made when the FF do their best to make sure Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first men on the moon - seemingly having forgotten that they themselves have already been to the moon and back on several occasions and have been to the Andromeda Galaxy and have Kurrgo's captured flying saucer on their roof, which would have got Neil and Buzz to their destination in record time.

Rather more terrestrially, the Sub-Mariner's on the hunt for the villain Destiny who, I suspect, has decided to run for the Presidency of the United States - and on a populist platform!

Also untrustworthy is the Supreme Hydra who's successfully disguised himself as a SHIELD agent and is quickly winning the trust of Nick Fury.

Captain America and the Black Panther continue to battle Baron Zemo in Wakanda but make the shocking discovery that he's not the real Zemo!

And, in the Ghost Rider's strip, we discover the shocking origin of the Witch-Woman! Readers will not be surprised to discover that Satanic rituals were involved.

Speak Your Brain! Part 130.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

What is  man without opinion?

I have no idea but I do know what this post is without an opinion.

And that's a post that cannot boast that it's the greatest feature on the internet.

That's because, as every sane man, woman, animal and plant knows, the greatest feature on the internet is the one on which you The Reader get to post a topic in the comments section below and we all get to share our opinions upon it.

Therefore, be sure to make use of that comments section and we shall discover just how opinionated we really are.

The DC Lucky Bag - July 1976.

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

***

For well over a century, people have been arguing about which is best? AC or DC?

Well, DC, of course.

After all, it gave us the random selection of comics below!

And you don't get more random than this, as the company gives us its take on the Three Musketeers and Robin Hood.

I'd assumed this was going to be an all-reprint mag but it seems it's not.

At least not when it comes to the Three Musketeers. For, herewithin, Denny O'Neil and Jorge Moliterni give us that legendary quartet in a drama titled A Monster Met on the Road to Calais.

When it comes to everyone's favourite outlaw, Bob Haney and Joe Kubert give us The Battle of the Kites! in which Robin hunts a dangerous boar - only to discover it's a trap set by Prince John!

And, then, Bob Haney and Ross Andru tell us of how a lone knight, returning from the Crusades, became the legendary Robin Hood.

Those two Sherwoodian adventures are,  as you might suspect, recycled from the 1950s.

Despite me only ever having encountered one issue of it in the wild, the Metal Men's comic still seems to be going strong.

And this month sees the mechanical marvels visit Venice to retrieve the blackmail money that Doc decided to hide when he was feeling unstable.

However, because he still suffers from amnesia, the man doesn't recall that he left someone called Chemo in charge of guarding it!

But can it be? Can our favourite heroes be about to beat up a bunch of dumb animals?

There's only one way to find out.

And that's to read this comic.

And, when we do, we learn it's a book in which a number of League members have gone missing, including Superman!

Fortunately, Supergirl shows up to help out.

Why, it's the only issue of Swamp Thing I ever owned.

Thrill, as Ruth Monroe and Edward Holland attempt to find a cure for the Swamp Thing.

Gasp, as they actually succeed!

And get tense, as the villainous Sabre tries to bump off our hero before he can enjoy his regained humanity.

Who wouldn't want a DC Limited Collectors' Edition in their lives?

We all would.

Which is good news because the latest one gives us the chance to fill our head with Batman when the cowled crusader gets involved in such reprinted action as Castle With Wall-to-Wall Danger!, Trade Marks of Crime!, The Deep-Sea Diver Mystery! and Paint a Picture of Peril!

But we also encounter brand new short features, such as Batman's New Home and A Key to the Batman's New Home.

Clearly, whatever Batman can do, DC's finest villains can replicate.

And so it is that we encounter The Secret Life of the Catwoman, The Master of Mirrors! and The Ghost of Jor-El! Not to mention Wonder Woman and the Cheetah!

When it comes to new material, we stumble upon  Wanted, a two-page feature containing character profiles of 18 different super-criminals.

And there's a short history of the battles between Dr Light and various members of the Justice League.

July 21st, 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. 

***

Many were the things that happened, this week in 1976.

For instance, Jimmy Carter was nominated for President at the Democratic National Convention in New York.

Elsewhere, Albert Spaggiari and his gang broke into the vault of the Société Generale Bank in Nice.

The 1976 Olympics began in Montreal and 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci made history by gaining the first of seven perfect scores.

East Timor became the 27th province of Indonesia.

Viking 1 successfully landed on Mars.

American criminal Gary Gilmore -  whose eyes would later be immortalised in song by the Adverts - was arrested for murdering two men in Utah.

And, of course, the world was introduced to the first of a series of articles in The Times which demonstrated that a number of paintings attributed to Samuel Palmer were, in fact, the work of master forger Tom Keating.

When it came to the record industry, the week's UK Number One spot was grabbed by Elton John and Kiki Dee's Don't Go Breaking My Heart.

While the accompanying LP rankings belonged to the Beach Boys' 20 Golden Greats.

But, holy historians, Batman! Doing these weekly posts is starting to resemble watching one of those time-lapse videos on YouTube that depict the decline of the Roman Empire via the medium of maps.

And that's because, fifty years ago this week, Marvel UK now found itself down to publishing just four comics a week. Could this nightmare mean the end was nigh for our favourite reprint imprint?

I do believe I detect a Larry Lieber cover. Is this the first one he's ever done for Marvel UK?

When it comes to the comic's innards, I'm certain that Jason and Alexander are still having some sort of battle for control of Abraham Lincoln's nostril, at Mount Rushmore.

When it comes to the world of the undead, the not-at-all-Kolchak-inspired investigative reporter Paul Butterworth continues to assist Quincy Harker and friends in seeing off Dracula.

Man-Thing's still being mithered by a ghostly clown determined that everyone should know which events drove him to suicide in a swamp. 

And in another swamp in another continent, Ka-Zar's up against someone who hunts things purely to impress his father - but who gets miffed that his dad prefers his other son.

History's made, as The Avengers comic merges with MWOM and gives me my very first taste of Neal Adams' stint on the Kree/Skrull War when Ant-Man endeavours to survive a journey through the inner workings of the Vision!

But, before that, what of the cover star?

The Wendigo's sister's managed to knock out both the Hulk and Wolverine and is aiming to transfer the Wendigo curse to Bruce Banner!

Fortunately, her friend Georges decides to foil that plan by transferring the Wendigo curse onto himself!

And I suspect that this issue features a Marc Bolan interview in which the king of Glam discusses his love of Marvel comics.

But it's not just the Avengers who've made the switch to this publication. So has Conan and, having rescued someone called Stefanya, he must now confront the stone monster that mankind knows as Shokkoth.

The lawyer that mankind knows as Matt Murdock, meanwhile, has left New York and travelled to Hollywood, in search of Karen Page. I can only suspect a clash with that town's motorbike riding robber the Stunt-Master is brewing.

It's one of the least likely story lines in the history of great literature, as Dr Octopus decides to marry Aunt May in an attempt to get his hands on her nuclear power plant!

Heaven only knows what Steve Ditko would have made of it all.

In other news, Moon Knight tries to stop someone called Conquer-Lord from assassinating the mayor of somewhere or other but someone called Marlene is captured during the fight.

Far far away from there, the Silent One leads Thor to Hela who tries to kill our hero by ageing him to death!

Fortunately for the universe, that selfsame Silent One gives his life to save the thunder god. I'm fairly certain this is the same plot summary I gave last week. I can only assume this whole process took a fair amount of time.

Either that or, last week, I was wrong.

When it comes to Iron Man, I do believe he remains in conflict with the Red Ghost who's revived and powered-up the Unicorn.

And Dr Strange enters the Dimension of Dreams where he defeats Nightmare and releases Eternity from the vesper-packed villain's vituperous clutches. It seems that Nightmare had caused Eternity to dream the end of our world but Strange and the Ancient One soon put that right.

And look at that. It's another Larry Lieber cover.

Within this magnificent mag, the Fantastic Four take on a creature from space. One that bears no resemblance whatsoever to the Creature from the Black Lagoon. You have to say that, by this point, Jolly Jack was making no attempt at all to disguise his sources.

Even more excitingly, this was an issue that I, somehow, found myself possessing two copies of, meaning I was free to colour-in one of them with my coloured pencils. If Marvel UK had had any sense, they'd have marketed their comics as colouring books and used the monochrome as a selling point.

Far away from the sea, and in the middle of Wakanda, the disguised Sharon Carter sabotages Baron Zemo’s homicidal satellite and helps Captain America and the Black Panther escape the villain's schemings.

But, back to things aquatic because Prince Namor defeats Tiger Shark and reclaims the throne of Atlantis!

And, in the Ghost Rider's strip, Roxanne Simpson's saved by a blood transfusion and antivenom supplied by Linda Littletrees who's then transformed into the Witch-Woman and sets out to kill Ghostie!

Speak Your Brain! Part 129. Pens and your thoughts on them!

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

A famous advertising campaign once claimed that it's good to talk.

And that may be true.

But what's even better is typing.

Why, there are days when I can barely even stop typing.

I'm like a literal typing machine.

But what should I type?

And, for that matter, what should any of us type?

That's what we're about to find out because, bang on cue, it's the awe-inspiring return of the feature in which you - and only you - get to decide just what is to be discussed.

Therefore, feel free to make use of the comments section below, to begin that discussion.

And then, no doubt, shall our typing fingers begin to fly.