Tuesday, 28 April 2026

Speak Your Brain! Part 123.

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

The Steve Does Comics Megaphone
Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Speke is a well-known suburb of Liverpool.

However, Steve Does Comics has no suburbs. So bustling is it that it has been officially designated 100% Central Business District.

And that business is chat. 

For it is not Speke of Liverpool that concerns us tonight.

Rather, it is Speak, of the, "Your brain," variety.

This can only mean one thing.

That we're witnessing the return of the feature in which you - not I - must decide the topic for debate.

And that can only be done by posting it in the comments section below.

Therefore, make haste to do so before the opportunity has passed.

Sunday, 26 April 2026

The DC Lucky Bag - April 1976.

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

It's here!

As seen on TV! mentioned on this site, mere weeks ago, the launch of a brand new feature in which I take a look at a random selection of DC comics which boasted this month as their cover date.

What magical treats await us from the company that Marvel could never quite kill?

Karate Kid #1

You've thrilled to his adventures with the Legion of Super-Heroes. Now thrill to his adventures without them, as the man so good they named a totally unrelated movie franchise after him abandons the two elements that gave him a reason to exist - the Legion of Super-Heroes and the future - and
 trails Nemesis Kid to the 20th Century before deciding to stay there.

How long can it be before he's bumping into Shang-Chi, Iron Fist and the Sons of the Tiger?

Quite a long while, I suspect, but I could be wrong.

1st Issue Special #13, New-Gods

The magnificently unpredictable 1st Issue Special brings us the Return of the New Gods in which Orion fights Kalibak, and the New Gods are attacked by Parademons on New Genesis.

Meanwhile, Orion visits Earth, in search of Darkseid - but finds just Kalibak and Granny Goodness!

Swamp Thing #22

It's not the most memorable cover for a man who's had plenty of memorable covers.

And, in truth, I know little of this one's insides, beyond them being labelled The Solomon Plague and being the handiwork of both David Michelinie and Nestor Redondo.

Freedom Fighters #1

This month, Marvel brought us the distinctly retro Liberty Legion and, clearly not to be outdone, DC offers us The Freedom Fighters who move from Earth-X to Earth-1, in order to fight crime.

It would appear the Silver Ghost turns Doll Man, Black Condor and Phantom Lady into statues - and Phantom Lady begins to turn into a real phantom!

Four Star Spectacular #1

And yet another new mag enters our lives.

This time, being one devoted to reprints.

Within it, two Xelthunians secretly replace Ma and Pa Kent, to carry out a secret mission, without knowing the duo are Superboy's foster parents.

Then, Wonder Woman takes someone called Bobby to a zoo where they discover one of the lions can speak, which takes our heroine and Steve Trevor to Cairo for an entanglement with spies.

Speaking of the ancient land of Kemet, when Hawkgirl's teleported out of a museum, Hawkman traces the radiation to the Egyptian lair of the Criminal Alliance of the World!

And, at the annual meeting of The Liar's Club, Jay Garrick relates the unlikely tale of the Flash and his battle with sand!

DC Super Stars #1, Teen Titans

And what's this?

Another reprint mag makes its debut when DC Super-Stars brings us Monster Bait and Skis of Death! Both reprinted from the 1960s.

But that's not all.

We're also treated to a brand new feature. One known as Introducing the Teen Titans.

Batman's Detective Comics #458

Drama smashes us in the eyeballs when we have to survive a thriller titled The Real Batman Dies Next!

As far as I can recall, someone's killed while dressed as Batman, leading our hero to try and find the killer.

I think tattoos may be involved.

As if that wasn't enough, we also encounter Man-Bat in Peal of the Devil-Bell!

Thursday, 23 April 2026

April 24th, 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
***

It was starting to look like nothing could dislodge the Brotherhood of Man from the top of the UK singles chart, this week in 1976, as their Eurovision-winning ditty Save Your Kisses for Me continued to see off all challenges - even that of ABBA's Fernando!

But there was change atop the corresponding LP chart, as a new record smashed straight in at Number One, in the form of Presence by Led Zeppelin.

Marvel UK, Avengers #136, Brain-Child

That cover is a salutary warning to us all to never trust evil children who have gigantic heads, flying chairs and super-powers.

It's a warning I shall make sure to heed at all times.

When it comes to Conan, I do believe the scrapping Cimmerian finds himself up against The Fiend from the Forgotten City.

It certainly is forgotten. I have no memory of it at all. Nor of the tale that contains it.

Then, the Avengers are on an alternate Earth and having to battle Brain-Child in the thriller that Watchmen could only dream of being.

Back on our own world, Iron Fist is gone from the mag but Shang-Chi returns.

And does so in an adventure in which the master of the martial arts finds himself on a boat leaving Marseilles, with various other passengers, including a mysterious blind woman.

And, in World War One, the Phantom Eagle must prevent German airships from attacking the United States!

Marvel UK, Planet of the Apes #79

As far as I'm aware, in Ape City, while Jason and Alexander are off somewhere else, Brutus kills an ape called Xavier and the locals immediately assume he must have been killed by rebellious humans.

I suspect this can only lead to trouble for everyone.

In Ka-Zar's strip, Maa-Gor the ape-man has a spot of luck when he wanders into some mist and emerges from it, transformed into a super-intelligent being who instantly demonstrates his smarts by recruiting the services of the man called El Tigre!

And Venomm's snakes are on the brink of killing the Black Panther, before Taku talks their master out of it, with a philosophical debate about the value of revolutions.

Marvel UK, Dracula Lives #79

Dracula's still causing trouble in the New World, while a horror writer promises his editor that he's going to get an interview with an actual vampire.

But what's this?

There's no Werewolf by Night in this issue?

Instead, we get the first appearance of the Ghost Rider?

And that means we get his origin.

And that means stunts, pacts and Satan.

And the Man-Thing finds himself in a strange world in which warriors from different eras must fight each other, for reasons that are not altogether clear.

Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #167, the Smasher

It's the big one for all lovers of politics because, at last, the true identity of the Disruptor is revealed!

And it turns out he's exactly who we all thought he was.

Elsewhere, Umar the Unstoppable attacks Dr Strange, and Dormammu emerges from a big crack in the ground, planning to attack our lovely planet.

That's followed by a tale called Iron Man and Iron Man! I'm going to assume that's another of those tales in which the armoured Avenger must fight an inferior version of himself.

Well, there may be two Iron Men but Marvel's most inescapable character, right now, is the Ghost Rider who, this week, manages to be in not one but three Marvel UK books. He turns up in this one, courtesy of a team-up with the Thing and a tale called Christmas Eve Panic! In which I'm assuming the pair are still trying to bring a halt to the latest activities of the Miracle Man.

Meanwhile, Thor and Loki have switched bodies and, with his usual genius, Odin, unaware of this fact, banishes our hero to the realm of Mephisto!

But the bigger news is that Jack Kirby is gone from the strip and Neal Adams has arrived.

Mighty World of Marvel #186, Hulk vs Black Bolt

As that cover makes clear, the Hulk is back in the Great Refuge. However, the Inhumans have built a rocket to take them to Counter-Earth where, for some reason, they think they'll be happier.

But the Hulk?

And a space rocket?

In the same story?

With his reputation?

I think we all know how that's going to go.

And what drama hits us when it comes to the man without fear. Not only does he defeat Death's Head but, at the denouement, our hero reveals to Karen Page that he is, in fact, Matt Murdock.

Thank God that decision will never come back to haunt him.

And then we get even more of the Inhumans, as the Fantastic Four and their Himalayan allies derail Maximus the Mad and his plan to control everybody's minds.

But, hold on. Something odd is about to happen...

Marvel UK, The Titans #27, Fantastic Four in Latveria

...and it does because, no sooner have they left the Great Refuge than the FF find themselves simultaneously teleported into The Titans where they'll have to deal with Dr Doom and his recreation of the Prisoner TV show!

More importantly, this issue also marks the return of this book to my local newsagents, meaning I'll miss none of the FF's adventures!

After that, the Super-Skrull tricks the Thing into a potential fight with Captain Marvel, as we discover just who that villain's employer is.

Captain America, meanwhile, has a big PR problem when the leader of a gang of crooks takes to wearing a replica of his costume during heists, thus causing everyone to think the hero's gone bad!

Subby manages to prevent a war between Atlantis and the surface world but it leads to his people thinking he's dead.

And, in Nick Fury's strip, the authorities still seem not to have realised that AIM and Them are the same organisation.

Tuesday, 21 April 2026

Speak Your Brain! Part 122. Favourite super-characters.

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

The Steve Does Comics Megaphone
Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

A man far wiser than I once said, "Happiness. Happiness. The greatest gift that I possess."

All I can assume is he didn't possess a Chopper bike.

Nothing could be a better gift than that.

However, there is something I do possess.

And that's ignorance.

For, if blessed are the ignorant, I have been amply gifted by the gods, as I don't have the slightest notion what we're going to be talking about tonight.

That's because it's the mind-melting return of the feature in which you - not I - must decide the topic for debate.

Therefore, make sure to suggest that topic in the comments section before. And soon we shall see just how tickled I am.

Sunday, 19 April 2026

2000 AD - March 1988.

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

Who could stop Kylie Minogue in March of 1988?

No one, it seemed, as she sat proud at the top of the UK singles chart, thanks to her smash hit I Should Be So Lucky.

But then it turned out that someone could stop her. And it was in the not totally expected form of Aswad, most famous for one of their members having been in the 1970s children's TV show Here Come the Double Deckers. Now grown up, he and his mates dethroned Kylie, thanks to their single Don't Turn Around. it seemed that only the power of reggae could defeat the antipodean superstar.

On the accompanying album chart, the month arrived with Introducing the Hardline According to ... Terence Trent D'Arby on top before that was displaced by Morrissey's Viva Hate.

But even hate must give way to the soothing charms of music.

And, so, Mozzer was quickly vanquished, as the month drew to a close, by Now That's What I Call Music! 11.

In the real world of food, the month saw the first McDonald's restaurant open in a country run by a Communist party, when one was launched in Belgrade, later to be followed by one in Budapest.

And it seemed Communism was under siege everywhere because Bratislava saw the Candle Demonstration - the 1980s' first mass protest against the government of Czechoslovakia.

When it came to the cinemas, it was a month that saw the release of a whole slew of thrilling new movies, including but not restricted to Doom Asylum, Babette's Feast, Pulse, Masquerade, Vice Versa, D.O.A., Little Nikita, Police Academy 5, Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw, Biloxi Blues and Beetlejuice.

March also saw the unleashing of Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman which turned out to have nothing to do with the earlier film of the same name from the same director.

Obviously, I'm going to vote for Beetlejuice as Film of the Month, from that list.

And what of the galaxy's greatest comic?

It was, as so often, offering us a diet of old favourites Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper, Judge Dredd, Tharg's Future-Shocks, A.B.C. Warriors and Nemesis the Warlock.

But it also saw the arrival of new strip in the shape of Tyranny Rex by John Smith and Steve Dillon which followed the adventures of the last survivor of her species of reptilian humanoids, turned mercenary.

And Steve Dillon also presided over the return of  Hap Hazzard.

interesting to note that not one of this month's issues features Judge Dredd on its cover. I wonder when was the last time that had happened?

2000 AD #564, Spycatcher

2000 AD #565, Durham Red

2000 AD #566

2000 AD #567, The Big Wet

Thursday, 16 April 2026

April 17th, 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's this that stands before us?

Is it the Veil of History?

Let us sweep it aside and discover just what it conceals!

Marvel UK, Avengers #135, Squadron Supreme

It's a dramatic cover that promises broken teeth all round but, before we get to that epic clash, we must visit Conan the barbarian.

And it's bad news for the brawler, as he's been tied to a stake and is about to be fed to a giant crocodile that's been terrorising a seaside town for years.

Of course, it's even worse news for the crocodile because it means it's about to get totalled by Conan the barbarian.

Then, the Avengers get to fight the Squadron Supreme.

Or, at least, some of them, before they manage to convince those some of them that they too are good guys and that the Squadron's world is in mortal peril!

And Iron Fist and Radion manage to inflict yet more damage on the Post Office Tower before the neon-fingered knucklemeister manages to transform his foe back into a normal human being.

Mighty World of Marvel #185, Hulk vs Inhumans

As we can all see from that cover, the Hulk's having a return match with the Inhumans. I do particularly like the way he takes out Quicksilver by tapping him with his fingertips.

Except, as far as I'm aware, the Inhumans are nowhere in sight in the Hulk's strip.

Instead, he's still battling the Cobalt Man who explodes at the tale's climax, joining a healthy list of characters who've experienced an unscheduled violent self-disassembly event during encounters with the Hulk.

In no mood to fly apart is Daredevil who's just worked out that Death's Head is none other than Karen Page's dad!

And the Fantastic Four are prisoners of Maximus the Mad - and the pesky tyrant has plans to gain control of all humankind!

Marvel UK, Planet of the Apes #78

Now our heroes are in trouble because the giant brains have escaped!

Even if they do look like giant maggots.

Anyway, it would appear it's curtains for those giant brains, as Jason, Alexander and their allies set about trashing their subterranean base.

Next, Shanna and Ka-Zar defeat the Red Wizard who turns out not to be a Wizard at all and has been using technology to fake having magic powers. Not to mention using robot dinosaurs. Methinks a nod towards The Wizard of Oz is occurring.

After that, the Black Panther discovers that All Our Past Decades Have Seen Revolutions!

More importantly, Venomm makes a bid to break out of jail.

And it appears it's going to be successful!

Marvel UK, Dracula Lives #78

Iron Fist is in England. Dracula is in America. It's like some sort of super-powered foreign exchange programme.

Exactly what Drac's up to in the States, I'm not at all clear about but I suspect he may have arrived in search of - not paradise - but Dr Sun.

Elsewhere, as agreed, Moon Knight delivers Jack Russell to the Committee but then has a change of heart and helps his captive thwart the evil organisation.

And the Man-Thing's up to something or other in a tale called The Survivors!

Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes #166, the Disruptor

Politics comes to the Spider-World, as the Disruptor shows us all how to do democracy the direct way and Mary Jane reveals she votes for candidates purely on the grounds of how dishy they are.

Definitely not dishy is Umar the Unstoppable who decides to attack Dr Strange, while Mother Earth is warning Clea about something or other.

I do believe this week's double-page pin-up features the Man-Thing vs the Werewolf by Night

In a rather more technological vein, Iron Man's still battling the Mandarin, in an episode ominously titled Unmasked!

And, in the Thing's strip the Miracle Man is back and again causing trouble for Wyatt Wingfoot's tribe. With opposition on that level, it looks like the help of a Ghost Rider shall be required.

And, when it comes to Thor's strip, our hero manages to convince his friends that Loki has swapped bodies with him and has to be stopped. However, Neal Adams doesn't appear to have arrived yet.

Marvel UK, The Titans #26, Sub-Mariner

Subby makes the cover but our lead tale is one in which the X-Men are having trouble with the Mutant-Master.

And even the villain's lackey, the Changeling, is starting to have doubts about the wisdom of his plan to destroy the planet Earth.

Following that, as the cover makes clear, Subby's having problems with the Plunderer.

Captain America's up to something with an agent in a communist land and, while he's at it, has time to help destroy that land's brand new secret death-ray thing.

After that, we encounter a short tale in which a pre-X-Men Charles Xavier travels to Washington, in a bid to convince the FBI that not all mutants are bad.

And Captain Marvel's assailed by a number of his old foes.

Including Rick Jones!

But it turns out to be a trick by the Super Skrull, on behalf of his mysterious boss.

But who could that boss be?

Who?

Tuesday, 14 April 2026

The Marvel Lucky Bag - April 1986.

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

Cinemas!

What films were making their debuts within them, during this month in 1986?

These films were: Critters, A Room With a View, Absolute Beginners, Wise Guys and 8 Million Ways to Die.

Of those, I've seen the whole of Critters and some of Absolute Beginners and, Reader, I can declare Critters to be the better of those two features.

I pass no judgement upon the other films.

Eternals #7

The Eternals revival is still going and I've no idea what happens in this issue.

However, I do know the Arctic may be a location.

Droids #1

We all love to see a brand new comic send our local spinner racks into a spin, and that means we'll, no doubt, be thrilled to find Droids appearing there.

My razor-sharp senses tells me it's some sort of spin-off from Star Wars and that, this issue, on the planet Dodz, our beloved robots help unseat a greedy governor.

Despite the popularity of Star Wars, I do believe this mag will last for just eight issues.

Dreadstar #24

Having already lasted three times that long, Dreadstar hits its 24th edition - and does so with someone called Monalo defeating someone called Willow and taking her prisoner.

However, this series only has two more issues left in it.

Doctor Strange #76

Displaying far more staying power is Dr Strange who hits the 
76th issue of his current book - and does so by talking on Iuriale who's a siren, despite looking suspiciously like a gorgon on that cover.

Assuming, of course, that that's her and not someone else entirely.

But it would appear this mag has just five more issues left in it.

The Thing #34, the Sphinx

Clearly, the death of the Sphinx was nothing but a mere inconvenience to the villain, as he's back again!

Squadron Supreme #8, Hyperion vs Hyperion

I know little of this adventure but I do know Evil Hyperion is killed by Good Hyperion!

The Punisher #4

I anticipate plenty of action, as the Punisher tries to put a stop to the Trust and their army of Punisher clones!

Holy Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, Batman! Shades of DC's early 1970s Manhunter revival!

Web of Spider-Man #13

I couldn't claim it's a sight we've never seen before when an article in the Daily Bugle sends Spider-Man over the edge and he sets off on a revenge mission against its publisher.

Moonshadow #7

And I know nothing of events in this one. Other than that the tale within is titled Counterpane and brought to us by J. M. DeMatteis and Jon J. Muth