Forty years ago today. August 1971.

It's August, the month so good it shares its name with a special kind of nobility and dignity.

So, does this mean Marvel's heroes have followed suit and developed  an August mindset? Or, going back exactly forty years, do we find them still getting into a scrap at every possible opportunity?

I think we can all guess the answer to that one.

In a distinctly atypical issue, instead of battling the usual super-villains, everyone's favourite Spider-Man tackles a prison riot and goes on TV.

This issue has an extremely odd splash page that still baffles me to this very day.

One of those tales I have no more than the vaguest of memories of but it's clear from the cover that Captain America and the Falcon take on the menace of the Gray/Grey Gargoyle. The Gargoyle was one of my favourite minor foes, even if I never can remember how to spell his name.

I like to think Cap gets turned to stone at one point - or there doesn't seem to be any reason for the Gargoyle to be there.

I seem to recall that Conan does his usual grave robbing routine in this issue and disturbs more than he bargained for.

No doubt he gets away with it but I wouldn't be surprised If some double-crossing rat isn't so lucky.

It's the man without fear vs the man without trousers.

I'm lost now. Is this before or after Daredevil moved to San Francisco? I'm assuming it's before.

Either way, I liked the Man-Bull. He was nasty.

We've entered that fuzzy few months where my knowledge of what was going on in the world of the Fantastic Four grows vaguer than normal. This is obviously the first appearance of the Over-Mind, a villain I know far less about than I probably should.

Iron Man continues his tradition of coming across as feeble and futile on his covers.

Loki's up to no good. Is this the one where he claims the throne of Asgard, tries to get his leg over with Sif and creates the Demolisher?

I always liked the Demolisher. Was he ever seen again after this story?

I hope so, if only because he smashed the Surfer's board. I was never a fan of the Surfer. I liked to see him suffer.

Trouble was, suffering gave him even more motivation to complain about everything.

I know nothing about this issue whatsoever. Was "Lucifer" a pseudonym for a more well-known villain? Or am I barking up completely the wrong X-tree?

At last, a comic I know plenty about. Steve Does Comics' favourite semi-Asgardian makes her second-ever appearance, as women's libber and campaigner Samantha Parrington adopts the Valkyrie mantle to give that notorious male chauvinist pig the Hulk a lesson in feminism. One he, needless to say, completely fails to learn.

How could anyone not love a comic with a cover like that?

The Prelude to the Kree/Skrull War continues as the Avengers find themselves at either the North or South Pole, battling Ronan, the Sentry and their own member Goliath, with Captain Marvel, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch held captive while Hank Pym and the Wondrous Wasp find everything getting a bit hairy.