Forty years ago today. June 1971.

They always say, "Never cast a clout till May be out." I don't have a clue what that means but May's most definitely out and it's time to see what clouts our favourite Marvel heroes were casting in June of exactly forty years ago.

I read this one a few years back, in the Essential Conan collection but I'm not totally sure what happens in it. I can say though that Conan clearly comes up against a giant bat and it's obvious from the cover that Barry Smith's art's getting better and better with every issue.

Another Spidey classic as our hero comes up against the Green Goblin while flatmate Harry Osborn battles (not very hard) with drugs. How can our hero defeat the Green Goblin without the dastardly villain revealing his true identity? Personally I'd just snap his neck and incinerate the body but that's probably why I'm not a super-hero.

I remember reading this, most likely in the pages of Spider-Man Comics Weekly, but have no recollection of what actually happens in it. The cover feels a bit too jam-packed to me, especially with the red and blue of Spider-Man and Captain America's costumes blending into each other, and the Falcon suffering the even worse indignity of blending in with a bunch of girders.

I really do wish Daredevil tales of this era were more memorable. I must've read this one but have no memory of it at all. The cover looks to have been drawn by Sal Buscema and isn't one of his best but he always did a nice Sub-Mariner.

Not for the first time in his career The Thing turns against his partners.

The Hulk has his first ever encounter with Jarella - and wedding bells are beckoning. But will it bring ever-lasting happiness for our green skinned love lummox? I think we all know the answer to that one.

Iron Man with his arm in a sling and about to be killed by mere hoods with mere bullets? Has our metal clad mangler ever seemed more weak, feeble and useless than he does on this cover?

Hela decides its time for Thor to die and goes to look for him. I think this issue or the one after was the first time we ever saw her without her mask. She was drawn by John Buscema, so she looked very nice. Appearances though can be deceiving.

I've no idea what happens in this one but it's not looking too good for our atomic adventurers.

The Kree/Skrull war gets its overture as Sal Buscema gives us an all-time classic image that thankfully completely misrepresents what happens inside. I have it on good authority that Marvel would never dare kill off their greatest Kree-ation.