May 22nd, 1976 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

I'm sure that football football football is all that's ever on our minds, round here, and it was even more on our minds, this week in 1976, when Liverpool won the UEFA Cup for the second time, thanks to a 4–3 aggregate victory over Club Brugge.

In a far more high-class vein, the Royal Charter was granted to the Chartered Society of Designers.

Granted, I've no idea what that actually means but I'm sure it's very fancy.

Speaking of being fancy, I do always wonder where super-heroes get those big hoops from, for each other to jump through. I have never yet encountered a shop that sells them.

But I do believe the Fantastic Four are about to get a shock when Sue decides to buy a house in the woods and it turns out to be booby-trapped up to the eyeballs!

Elsewhere, the Red Skull tries to steal America's latest nuclear submarine but, not for the first - and certainly not the last - time, causes his own death.

Speaking of blundering villains, the drones of AIM make a major goof when they steal what they think is a SHIELD LMD - only for it turn out to be Nick Fury!

The Sub-Mariner's about to encounter both Plant Man and Triton in a tale I have no doubt will be packed to the gunwales with drama.

It's a great week for fans of the Ghost Rider, as he doesn't only appear in this week's Dracula Lives. He also has a strip in this book.

And, this week, after an encounter with a bike gang, Johnny Blaze tells the story of how he became the flame-headed fright dispenser.

It's a striking cover, all right but, before we find out what's to do with the Avengers, Conan lands himself in a yarn called the Night of the Gargoyle.

But, now, hold onto your hats, pilgrim because it's the start of what was, at the time, the greatest super-hero epic of them all, as everyone's favourite Kree captain makes the mistake of using the most over-powered hairdryer in history.

And it all begins because he's giving off dangerous levels of radiation the Avengers need to set about draining, pronto.

Meanwhile, I do believe Shang-Chi and his friends have gone to the island of the assassin Mordillo, looking to bring an end to his murderous activities.

As that cover makes clear, there's plenty at stake for Dracula who, having gone to the lair of Dr Sun, must now survive a fight with the villain's blade-wielding lackey Juno.

In the Ghost Rider's strip, Daimon Hellstrom's still preparing to exorcise Linda Littletrees while Johnny Blaze must face the power of the Witch -Woman.

But forget about Kree/Skrull Wars, this is the big news of the month because I do believe the Man-Thing gets a Rick Jones of his very own when he encounters Richard Rory!

I'm sure that Alaric and Graymalkin are still splashing about on that big boat of theirs.

And, for what feels like the 300th week running, Ka-Zar's battling the malevolent machinations of Maa-Gor and El Tigre.

But the Black Panther finally brings an end to the Killmonger saga when he thwarts the homicidal plans of that malcontent's girlfriend and her leopards.

Despite what's claimed on the cover, I do believe that, inside the book, Adam Warlock and the Hulk are getting on like a house on fire, after encountering each other on Counter-Earth.

But tension's running high in Daredevil's strip when Crime-Wave sends the assassin known as Torpedo to kill Willie Lincoln for knowing too much.

And the X-Men are still in combat with Frankenstein's Monster but may have a solution at hand, thanks to its problem dealing with extreme cold.

And, in a separate strip, we discover the ocular origin of that team's man of action Cyclops.

But this is it, the tale that left me traumatised forever, as we get not just the death of Gwen Stacy but, also, the death of the Green Goblin.

In Dr Strange's strip, a crisis point's been reached, as Dormammu decides to liberate himself from the centre of the Earth and, once again, menace mankind.

Iron Man's still up against the power of the Controller.

And it looks like he might be all set to control Iron Man!

It looks like an even bigger clash of the titans is on the books because, upon discovering a French inventor's been kidnapped by Dr Doom, Thor decides it's time to pay a visit to Latveria and teach the maniacal monarch a lesson.

And, lastly, the Thing and Black Widow are in joint action when they attempt to prevent Agamemnon's terrorist organisation from detonating a giant nuclear bomb that will devastate the western world.

Speak Your Brain! Part 124.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Who can know what lurks in the hearts of men?

Apparently, the Shadow can.

Sadly, he's not on speaking terms with me. Not since I pointed out to him that the weed of crime does not bear bitter fruit. That, in fact, it bears no fruit at all, as it's purely metaphorical and has no independently recognised horticultural validity.

Sadly, Lamont Cranston takes no subject more seriously than that of gardening and he left in a sulk.

And he took his wheelbarrow with him.

Fortunately, I'm not going to need him - nor his wheelbarrow - to tell me what lurks in my readers' hearts because, with any luck, they're about to tell me.

It can only mean one thing.

The jaw-dropping return of the feature in which our visitors get to reveal what's in their hearts.

And they do it in the comments section below.

Therefore, if you have something to get off your chest, be sure to make use of that facility. And I shall oversee subsequent events, from my eyrie on the 51st floor of a skyscraper that, officially, only has one storey.

The DC Lucky Bag - May 1976.

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

***

To be honest, not a lot leaps out at me from DC's comics bearing the cover date of May 1976.

However, the ones below seem more noteworthy than some.

Can it be? Can Hawkman now have the ability to fling his lower arms at everyone?

It surely can when a malfunction in the League's new teleport merges him, the Flash and an alien called the Dharlu into one being!

As for the popularity of this mag, the GCD informs me that this month's sales statement puts the average number of copies sold during the preceding 12 months at 166,000, and that the number reported for the issue nearest the filing date is 173,117.

And it seems Hawkman's not the only one losing body parts, because, now, Superman's joined in.

I know few details of what's occurring inside but it seems the man of steel must face several of his greatest foes, thanks to Xviar's master plan, in The Double-or-Nothing Life of Superman!

Not that I know who Xviar is.

I can report the average circulation for this comic is 644,000, with the most recent recorded issue coming in at 578,311.

Can it be curtains for the world's fastest human?

It seems so because the Mirror Master's used his mesmerising looking glasses to make the hero think he's a crook.

Thus, the Flash commits several robberies before someone called Dexter Myles shows him he's wrong to believe in his own light-fingered nature.

In red-hot back-up action, the Green Lantern's chasing the Ravagers who attempt to destroy the sun of another world but Greenie soon foils them by using a spaceship's nuclear reactors to ramp up the fusion activity of that sun.

When it comes sales, circulation is reported at an average of 169,000 per issue, with the most recent recorded issue achieving a figure of 166,866.

I know little of this one, other than that the adventure it contains is called Tarzan and the Champion: Conclusion which, to the shock of perhaps no one, seems to have been adapted from Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan and the Champion.

Sadly, I have no sales data to report.

Possibly, sales data is difficult to collect in the jungle.

We all like a special.

And this is a special.

Gasp as giant super-powered insects invade the Earth and it starts to look like even Superman can't stop them!

That's followed by the Green Lantern who, in an attempt to dodge a marriage proposal, creates a menace which then goes on a rampage!

That's followed by something called The Big House of Monsters!

And all of these tales are reprinted from the 1960s.

Meanwhile, the mag finishes off with a drama called The Marvel Family Reaches Eternity, as reprinted from the distant days of 1946.

However, that's not all we encounter, because, within this book, is also contained a two-page article called What Were the Dinosaurs?

And our answer is provided by none other than E. Nelson Bridwell himself.

It's another one I know little of.

But I do know its 18-page thriller is called Welcome Back to Life... Steve Trevor! and is brought to us by Martin Pasko and José Delbo.

I can shed no light upon whether the shock does indeed kill Wonder Woman.

May 15th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

It's been a tumultuous week in politics for Britain and may well be followed by another one.

But things were fairly tumultuous, this week in 1976, with Jeremy Thorpe being forced to resign as leader of the Liberal Party, over allegations of his possible involvement in a plot to murder his former boyfriend.

And Keir Starmer thinks he has problems.

But what's this?

A, "Special bombastic action issue!"?

And also an ordeal?

I suppose that means I have to make this post a special bombastic action post.

And an ordeal.

I feel I can achieve one of those things better than the other.

Speaking of which, Conan's having trouble with deadly plants, especially one that creates a perfect replica of his current girlfriend.

Needless to say, that plant's not going to live for long.

Elsewhere, the Black Panther finishes telling the Avengers his origin tale. One in which AIM is trying to steal Wakanda's precious - and potentially dangerous - vibranium!

Then, Shang-Chi and friends set out to stymie the plans of top assassin Mordillo. An endeavour that necessitates the defusing of a bomb at Tower Bridge!

This is it! The big one! The one in which the Green Goblin abducts the lovely Gwendolyne and shocks the world by causing her demise!

Iron Man's strip's clearly never going to match that for epoch-making melodrama but it does, at least, set us up for a meeting between Shellhead and the Controller.

Next, Thor finally gets his own body back from Loki by tricking the villain into changing into Don Blake. An act that breaks his body-swap spell.

Then, the Thing and Black Widow must join forces to tackle a terrorist group led by a man called Agamemnon but only succeed in getting captured by them.

And Clea tries to get her father to help her and Dr Strange thwart Dormammu's plan to rudely burst out of the Earth's core.

Larking Bob Larkin gives us a cover of appeal when Marvel's Planet of the Apes strip gives us its take on the Captain Nemo legend, as an orangutan uses his submarine to sink other people's ships. I don't know about you but, to me, this sounds like a job for Alaric and Graymalkin.

Erik Killmonger may have bitten the dust but there's still the matter of his girlfriend who wants to avenge her lover's death, by bumping off the Black Panther!

And Ka-Zar continues to oppose the interminable schemes of Maa-Gor and El Tigre and now has to face a gang of resurrected ape-men!

Not content with this week's Avengers being a, Special Bombastic Action Issue, Marvel UK has decided to make this week's MWOM a Special All-Action Issue. Now I'm starting to wonder whether I should have made this a Bombastic Action post or just an All-Action post.

I do believe the Hulk is still on Counter-Earth and still fighting the minions of the Man-Beast - and that the Recorder's showed up in a bid to liberate Warlock from the clutches of President Man-Beast!

On the real Earth, Daredevil has a new threat to deal with, as the man called Crime-Wave is bringing fear and consternation to the streets of New York.

And it is, I'm sure, the highlight of all our childhoods, as the X-Men find themselves up against the unparalleled menace of Frankenstein's Monster!

I do believe the Fantastic Four have reached the end of their stay in Latveria, as Dr Doom refuses to fight them, in case it damages his precious ornaments.

Shock piles upon shock, as, alarmed by the sight of the villain trapping Manhattan in a big bubble, Captain America agrees to serve the Red Skull!

And we encounter yet more of the origin of the Sub-Mariner when we reach the part in which the Human Torch discovers him in a homeless shelter and restores his memory by dumping him in the ocean.

Elsewhere, AIM break into SHIELD's HQ, looking to steal an LMD while Nick Fury is under scrutiny from his superiors over his ability to do the job.

And Captain Marvel defeats the Super-Skrull before visiting the Avengers Mansion, in search of reinforcements for his upcoming struggle with Thanos.

It can't be a good sign for Dracula that he's reduced to secondary-feature status on the front of his own comic. Some might take it as a sign that his book's days are numbered.

Still, he's getting plenty to do inside the thing, as he recovers from his recent weakness, agrees to give an interview to Harold H Harold and then pays a visit to Dr Sun who's out to steal his powers.

In the Ghost Rider's strip, Daimon Hellstrom shows up, looking to perform an exorcism on the Satan-possessed Linda Littletrees.

And the Man-Thing, Howard the Duck, Korrek, Dakimh and Jennifer Kale are up to something in a tale whose plot probably defies description.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - May 1986.

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

***

Cinemas.

What places of magic they be.

Why, within them, you can experience a veritable smorgasbord of experiences you couldn't possibly get at home.

And the non-domestic smorgasbord presented to us in May 1986 included the release of such morsels as Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, No Retreat, No Surrender, Short Circuit, Top Gun, Crawlspace, Poltergeist II, Saving Grace and Blue City.

I must confess I've not heard of most of those films and have only seen Short Circuit and Poltergeist II. I shall, therefore, feel compelled to vote for Poltergeist II as my Movie of the Month.

I suspect others may disagree with me.

A brand new graphic novel enters our life when Marada the She-Wolf experiences the Chris Claremont and John Bolton created thriller in which something or other happens.

But wait.

What's this?

This is made up of stories that originally appeared in 1982's Epic Illustrated?

But, surely, that makes this a trade paperback? Not a graphic novel?

Regardless, the Grand Comics Database informs me the Marada series was conceived as a bunch of Red Sonja tales but had to be modified when Marvel lost the license to use the character.

However, no one's going to care about that.

We're all too busy reading the sensational new comic that's hit our local spinner racks, as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe get their very own comic and Prince Adam demonstrates he does indeed have the power!

However, I know nothing of this opening issue, other than that its contents are titled The Coming of Hordak!

I shall, therefore, assume it deals with Hordak, and his arrival.

Shockingly, as far as I can ascertain, this book will only last for thirteen issues.

And He-Man's not the only one making a Marvel debut, this month.

So is the all-new Ms Marvel when Sharon Ventura's transformed into the second incarnation of the heroine.

Alpha Flight have had their own monthly mag and, now, they bag their first annual, only to find their mansion possessed by the spirit of someone called Gilded Lily who, with the help of Diablo, is after a physical body to inhabit.

And that can only mean one thing.

That she kidnaps Aurora, for exactly that purpose!

But what drama greets us now?

After 20 issues, the latest Micronauts comic hits its final issue!

Does this mean we must abandon all hope of ever getting the Micronauts/He-Man crossover for which we were all so desperately longing?

That would appear to be the case.

As for what happens in this one, I have few clues, other than that it's called Worldhome! and delivered by the minds and fingers of Peter Gillis and Kelley Jones.

Arthur Adams and Bill Sienkiewicz produce a striking cover when Wolfsbane, Cypher, Magik, Karma, Cannonball and Magma join the Hellions.

Meanwhile, Magneto learns about Empath's attack on Tom and Sharon and decides to bring the team home.

A decision that causes Emma Frost to call the police on him.

Which seems a strange decision. Are the police really likely to be able to stop Magneto doing anything?

Also, she's never really struck me as being a, "Calling the police," kind of woman.

I know little of Balder's latest adventure, other than that he rescues Karnilla - and discovers he's been chosen as ruler of Asgard, as seen in Thor's comic, this month.

And, as our hero gets killed in that book, it's perhaps no shock that this proves to be the last appearance of his own mini-series.

Forty years ago today - May 1986.

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

***

It's time to take yet another sentimental journey, back to a time and place where most of life's problems could be solved by punching them.

Hawkeye and Mockingbird are keeping Goliath prisoner but then have to put up with a judge forcing them to release him.

At which point, the voluminous villain does what you'd expect him to do and sets out to kill the duo.

Fortunately, Iron Man's on hand to help foil that plan.

Has there ever been a greater moment of melodrama in the entire history of the human race?

I think not.

After all, not only does Spider-Man rescue Sha Shan from the clutches of the Hobgoblin, he also discovers the true identity of the fiend.

And it only goes and turns out that he's Flash Thompson!

I do believe Conan and his army are betrayed by their current employer King Maddoc. 

And I suspect that means King Maddoc isn't going to be king for much longer.

You could cut the intensity with a fork, as Daredevil's nursed back to health by Sister Maggie, Karen Page shows up in New York City and Ben Urich is successfully frightened into not publishing an exposé on the Kingpin.

But what's this? All of that pales into insignificance next to Matt discovering Sister Maggie is his mother?

It all gets wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey when it turns out that, thanks to his time-travelling shenanigans, there are now multiple Kangs in the universe.

But one of them is determined to make sure that, from now on, there'll only one of him.

A man called William Cross is freed from police custody by a gang called Death-Throws but is unable to pay for their rescue operation.

So, the gang decides to extract payment by using him as bait in a trap to capture Hawkeye.

But even more tension abounds on the human interest front, as Cap's girlfriend Bernie moves out to attend a distant law school.

It wouldn't be a Bruce and Betty wedding if there wasn't at least one incident.

And this wedding's incident is that Thunderbolt Ross shows up and shoots Rick Jones!

Needless to say, the fact that the world's greatest singer is lying in a pool of his own blood on the floor, in front of them, isn't enough to dissuade the bride and groom from getting on with tying the knot.

There's a lesson to be learnt by us all when a small-time thief breaks into Peter Parker's flat, steals his Spider-Man costume and then gets himself into a whole heap of trouble by wearing it - including having to single-handedly take on a criminal gang, under pressure from a demanding cop.

Lady Deathstrike turns herself into a cyborg and sets off to kill Wolverine.

Needless to say, it'll take more than that to stop the canny Canuck.

Now the FF are in trouble - when they find themselves caught up in a power struggle between Blastaar and Annihilus.

And it seems the quartet's subsequent triumph is at the cost of Reed Richards' life!

In some ways, it's a good day for Balder.

In others, it isn't.

For instance, it's decided that he shall be the next ruler of Asgard.

On the other, Kurse shows up at the ceremony and kills him.

May 8th, 1976 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

This week in 1976 saw disaster hit the Friuli area of Italy when an earthquake struck, killing more than 900 people and leaving another 100,000 homeless.

Things were lighter in Britain with Liverpool winning their ninth Football League title, thanks to a 3–1 away win over already-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers.

And what of the UK singles chart?

At last, the Brotherhood of Man had been toppled from the pinnacle!

And what an irony that it should be by ABBA, the band they modelled themselves so closely upon. The sensational Swedes managed it with their latest platter that shattered Fernando.

The Scandinavians were also triumphant on the accompanying LP chart, thanks to their Greatest Hits album seizing the top spot.

Fernando is, of course, a classic but there were other tracks I also liked on that week's Hit Parade. Amongst them were:

S-S-S-Single Bed - Fox

All by Myself - Eric Carmen

Girls Girls Girls - Sailor

Arms of Mary - Sutherland Brothers and Quiver

I'm Mandy Fly Me - 10cc

Fool to Cry - the Rolling Stones

Hey Jude {1976} - the Beatles

Devil Woman - Cliff Richard

Blueberry Hill {1976} - Fats Domino

and

Show Me the Way - Peter Frampton.

Should one wish to further pursue the issues raised in this post, that singles chart can be found here.

While the corresponding album chart dwells within.

I know little of this week's Conan adventure, other than that the cover says he's in the Garden of Death.

I can only assume this means he must battle killer vegetables.

I have no doubt he defeats them.

Also as revealed on the cover, the Black Panther tells his origin story to the Avengers. And who would have guessed the forces of AIM were involved?

Meanwhile, Shang-Chi finds himself up against a robot created by someone called Mordillo.

And the Phantom Eagle's still doing something or other in World War One.

Unless I miss my guess, we've reached the return of the Tom Sutton pencilled saga set on a huge ship. And, this time, it encounters another huge ship. But, even more dramatically, it has to survive an encounter with a giant sea-monster!

Ka-Zar's still up against El Tigre and a super-intelligent Maa-Gor who continue to plan their takeover of the planet.

And I do believe we reach the senses-shattering conclusion of the Black Panther's battle with Killmonger, as a child comes to the rescue and some of us feel cheated that it wasn't the Panther who caused the villain's downfall.

Spider-Man wraps up his fight with the Hulk but, more importantly, this tale introduces me to the word, "Geodesic."

And to think they say comics aren't educational.

Thor's still trapped in Mephisto's realm, while Loki, in the thunder god's body, only goes and threatens the United Nations.

Iron Man's managed to convince everyone that one of SHIELD's LMDs is Tony Stark, in order to help protect his secret identity. But Jasper Sitwell's not bothered about that. He's more concerned over the disappearance of his beloved Whitney Frost.

Dr Strange is in the Dark Dimension, trying to put an end to Umar's latest plans. But, perhaps, more significantly, Clea discovers who her real father is!

And the Thing has plenty to worry about, with the mighty Thor under the spell of the Puppet Master and out to kill the other members of the Fantastic Four!

It looks like a lucky break for horror writer Harold Harold Harold who's promised his editor he can get an interview with a vampire and, wouldn't you know it, he then stumbles across a weakened Dracula. It seems Harold³ might just achieve his goal.

In a swampier vein, I believe the Man-Thing, Korrek and Howard the Duck are confronted by a bunch of unkillable demons before Dakimh the Enchanter gets involved.

And I think the Ghost Rider's heading towards an encounter with a mysterious exorcist called Daimon Hellstrom.

As that cover makes clear, the Hulk's managed to land on Counter-Earth, thanks to having been put on board the Inhumans' rocket.

And his arrival on that planet has attracted the attention of none other than the President of its United States!

Following that, Daredevil's promised Karen he's going to quit super-heroing but immediately has to change his mind when the Stunt-Master turns up at a parade he's attending and tries to kill him.

Meanwhile, the X-Men team up with a number of their own enemies to take on the Mutant Master who turns out to not be a mutant at all but a monster from outer space!

And we finish the tale with our heroes all getting brand new costumes, designed by Jean!

After that, we encounter a Roy Thomas/Werner Roth short which reveals the origin of Cyclops.

The Fantastic Four are still trapped in Latveria.

And now they have to bring a halt to a gang of rampaging robots, as Stan Lee's words and Jack Kirby's pictures start to increasingly deviate from each other.

On an island, somewhere, Captain America must face a Bucky furious with him for leaving him to die.

But is it Bucky?

Or is it all a plot by that bounder the Red Skull?

I suspect the Sub-Mariner's discovering more about his origins.

Nick Fury and his agents of SHIELD are doing something or other.

But hold the front pages!

The world's in serious trouble!

Because Rick Jones has been captured by Thanos!

Thankfully, the superstar singing sensation may be about to get some help - and exposition - from two men called Eros and Mentor.