2000 AD - January 1978.

Hooray, I've reached my favourite ever year!

That year is 1978.

I associate 1978 with Saturday afternoon wrestling, the Wonder Woman TV show and I Am Your Automatic Lover by Dee D. Jackson.

None of these things give me any reason to like 1978.

On top of that, checking Wikipedia tells me that January 1978 seemed to be a month of nothing but global misery.

And yet, despite all this, still it manages to be my favourite every year.

I don't have a clue why. Just as I don't have a clue why I prefer Pickled Onion Monster Munch to Roast Beef Monster Munch.

It seems that some preferences simply defy logic.

What else defies logic?

Outer Space does.

And that sounds like a perfect cue for Dan Dare and his chums.

Clearly inspired by Christmas having been but days ago, Dan's up against a man with a crucifixion fetish.

But more thrillingly than that, there's the chance to win a Star Wars LP!

I've no idea what this Star Wars LP could be, Was it John Williams' original soundtrack?

Or had the mighty Meco followed up his legendary hit single by launching an entire album of discofied Star Wars tunes?

I'd like to think that, whatever it was, it featured Carrie Fisher singing that song from the Star Wars Holiday Special.

Tragically, I suspect that it doesn't.

It's an exciting time for us all, as Magneto makes his senses-shattering debut in the pages of 2000 AD.

The Internet tells me this issue also sees the start of a strip called The Visible Man.

I recall there having once been a strip about a man with transparent skin, meaning we could see his bones, internal organs and nervous system in every panel. I'm assuming he was the Visible Man.

Leaving aside that it's a gruesome concept for a strip, you have to feel sorry for the artist who had to draw an entire nervous system in every panel.

Dan Dare's still having to deal with the Planet of the Magneto People.

I am getting the feeling, from these covers, that this wasn't the fastest-progressing story of all time. In fact, the combined effect of the covers is to give the impression of his ship being stuck in some sort of space lacuna.

I must confess that, "Space lacuna," is a phrase I never expected to use in my lifetime.

Mostly because I don't know what it means,

And Dan Dare's still dealing with the Magneto People.

In other news, I have no memory at all of the Supernova game. I'm going to have to Google it to see if I can find any pictures of it.

...

I have now Googled it.

Having done so, it seems it was a Top Trumps style game, involving pictures of spaceships.

While the concept of a 2000 AD Top Trumps game rings a bell for me, I must confess that, having seen the cards online, I have no recollection of them at all.