Marvel UK's Savage Sword of Conan, Take 2.

What a strange time 1977 was. It was a time in which Marvel UK appeared to be approaching death at full speed, with its roster reduced to just two comics, thanks to poor sales and plunging profits.

But then, just as it hit its lowest ebb, it bounced back like a super-charged yo-yo, launching The Complete Fantastic Four and Rampage within a month of each other.

And then, the month after that second title was introduced, it did it again. This time launching not a weekly title but its first ever monthly mag.

That mag was Savage Sword of Conan which was a familiar title indeed to the handful of people who'd bought the weekly comic of that name two years earlier, before its cancellation after just eighteen issues.

But Conan's not a man to go down without a fight and, despite that failure, Marvel UK refused to give up on the hyperactive Hyborian.

And so it was that November 1977 saw the start of his second bid for British stardom.

On the face of it, it was a strange move, as the new book was virtually indistinguishable from its US forebear which, judging by the number of issues I had of it, was readily available in Britain. Still, it must have been a good idea because, unlike every other Marvel UK book that had been launched since 1975, it was actually a success, lasting for a walloping ninety three issues and eight years.

Not only that but it signalled the start of a new direction for the company and led to them creating a whole bunch of monthly titles to supplement their weekly staples.

The first issue of the original US magazine - and the first Conan comic I ever owned - was issue #4 which reprinted John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala's take on Robert E Howard's Shadows in the Moonlight. So, how strangely ironic it was that the UK mag featured that very tale in its first issue. Why it was in issue #1 and not #4, I have no idea. Perhaps the good people at Marvel UK just liked the cover?

As for me, I can't say too much about the UK mag, as I only ever had one issue of it, which was issue #20 from 1979.

By that point, its similarity to the US book had been reduced by it adopting a cover layout that noticeably resembled Dez Skinn's Starburst magazine, a change which I assume Skinn himself was responsible for.

As for the insides, I remember the Conan tale featuring art by Pablo Marcos, which was a bit of a disappointment to me after being used to the likes of Buscema and Alcala.

The Red Sonja tale in that issue was drawn by Dick Giordano, which might be the only work I ever saw him produce for Marvel. I vaguely recall the Sonj working her way through a crypt or some such and having to see off various threats along the way, including something that resembled Pan.

Sadly, I've no memory at all of the Solomon Kane story. In fact, my knowledge of Solomon Kane comes entirely from that James Purefoy movie of a few years ago. The one that I remember so well that I thought it starred Hugh Jackman, up until I Googled it five seconds ago.

Anyway, there you have it. From a sea of failure, Marvel UK suddenly found a success and a whole new direction for the company, proving that barbarism can have its upside.

This is why, to this day, I insist on wearing nothing but a loin cloth, smiting my foes and drinking nothing but mead.

No wonder I lost my job at the bank.

October 26th, 1977 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

As the nights draw in and Halloween approaches, it's time once more to put a pumpkin on our heads, climb onto our Broomstick of Nostalgia, leap off the roof and, as we plunge into the bowels of Hell, see what our favourite comics company was up to in this week of forty years ago.

Speaking of Hell, Baccara were at Number One on the UK singles chart, with Yes Sir, I Can Boogie.

Spidey's still up against Will o' the Wisp. The Avengers are still up against Zodiac, Captain Britain's still up against Slaymaster, and Thor is still up against Ulik.

In other words, it's no change from last week.

But perhaps one thing does change.

I would assume, from the cover, that this is the issue in which Will o' the Wisp pops his clogs while Jonas Harrow watches on.

Did we ever learn just what Harrow was up to and why he was so keen on creating super-villains only to send them off to pointlessly meet their doom on their first mission?

Leaving aside the recklessness with human life such a methodology involved, it did seem a somewhat inefficient approach to scientific villainy.

I really don't have a clue what that thing is the Defenders are fighting but it doesn't look like it's the greatest monster ever in the history of literature.

I believe this issue reprints Defenders #1, in which the Undying Ones are involved in a plot to sacrifice the Sub-Mariner.

I do wonder why Marvel UK didn't use the original cover which is a lot classier than this one.

But who cares about that? All that matters is that, with this issue, we get a free Stratocruiser to add to the Concorde and Jumbo Jet they'd already given us in recent weeks!

Just where were Marvel UK getting all these model planes from?

It's a gorilla with a sea mine where its head should be. Suddenly the creature on the front of Rampage is starting to look a whole lot more impressive.

It would appear that this issue's back-up tale features the famous Skrull Cow Manoeuvre that men have spoken of in hushed whispers ever since.

It's yet another cover where the Hulk's on the rampage.

I believe this issue may be the start of his first encounter with Dr Druid.

Of this week's back-up strips, I know nothing.

The puzzling world of Superman #271.

I have a suspicion this post's going to elicit fewer responses than any other in this site's history and arouse even less interest than that - because I'm going to try and use it to solve a mystery that's haunted me for over forty years.

And that's, "What on Earth is Brainiac on about in issue #271 of Superman?"

His plan is simple enough. In an attempt to send our hero mad, he's decided to destroy Metropolis.

Needless to say, thanks to Brainiac being incredibly stupid for a man with a super-computer for a brain, Supes soon foils his scheme and sends him flying off into space, on an outward journey from which the man of steel claims he'll never return.

Somehow, I can't help feeling the Kryptonian clobberer is being a little optimistic in that assessment.

However, there's a bigger mystery at work than just why our hero's so complacent in the face of evil.

For some reason, all the way through the tale, Brainiac insists on referring to Superman by a string of extremely odd nicknames that, on the face of it, make no sense.

However, one of those nicknames appears to refer to the county of Kent in jolly old England. This suggests the nicknames are references to Superman's other identity of Clark Kent and that they may therefore be Brainiac's way of letting his opponent know that he knows his secret identity.

Superman seems totally unfazed by this, either failing to recognise the significance of the nicknames or being already aware that Brainiac knows his secret identity and not caring about it. You see? There he is, being complacent in the presence of evil again.

Anyway, in my quest to finally discover just what Brainiac's nicknames mean, I thought I'd list the aliases he uses for Superman in this issue and see if anyone knows who or what they refer to.

And here they are:

"Old red-and-blue." (this may just be a description of his costume but I'm not sure)

"Old cigarette smoke."

"Old father of modern gardening."

"Old county in southeast England." (presumably Kent)

"Old Ohio college town."

"Old Paleolithic cavern."

"Old star of stage and screen."

"Old canvas painter."

"Old British duke."

"Old 19th Century jurist."

"Old writer of science fiction." (possibly Arthur C Clarke?)

As you can see, I've already performed veritable miracles by coming up with possible explanations for three of them but do you have any ideas for who or what the other nicknames might be referencing?

Don't forget, a free Steve Does Comics No-Prize goes to anyone who can come up with any likely answers.

October 19th, 1977 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

As Colin Jones recently pointed out; forty years ago this week, Bing Crosby died after completing a round of golf. Following on from the recent deaths of Elvis Presley and Marc Bolan, it was clearly not a good time to be a global singing sensation.

Still, if Music was proving to be a dangerous pursuit, what about Super-Heroism? Was it too proving to be a lethal activity for the stars of our favourite weekly comics?

As if he didn't have enough on his plate, Spidey has to tangle with both Will o' the Wisp and the all-new, improved Spider-Slayer.

Not only that but he has to do it on ice as well. Is there no obstacle that life won't put in his way?

Meanwhile, as in the preceding issues, the Avengers are battling Zodiac, while Captain Britain's trying to smash the Slaymaster.

But there is one big change this issue.

Because the Fantastic Four are out and Thor is back!

Not that he has time to celebrate - because, no sooner has he returned than the long-haired hammer-thrower finds himself up against Ulik the Unstoppable, who he no doubt stops.

The Hulk is still battling the Absorbing Man on that building site.

I've never read this tale but, from dim memories of having seen its plot summarised elsewhere, I've a feeling it may bear similarities to a Doctor Who novel I once read, called The Space Age.

Whether this possible resemblance is coincidental, I couldn't say.

But, speaking of people who fight alien invaders, I believe this issue's back-up story may involve the FF's first encounter with those pesky Skrulls, which is the first Fantastic Four tale I ever read.

For some reason, when I read that epic for the first time, as an eight year old, I was convinced the Thing had three nostrils.

Why I thought this, I have no idea.

Hooray! A brand new comic hits the newsstands of Britain, as the Defenders and Nova arrive to punch as many villains in the face as possible.

I have a suspicion that, in this issue, it may be that furry felon from far-off worlds Xemnu whose face they'd like to rearrange.

Come to think of it, he doesn't really have a face to rearrange.

Rampage!

Unless my maths fail me, this week is the fortieth anniversary of the launch of the comic that let us know Marvel UK meant business when it came to fighting back against the nightmarish forces of  falling sales and dwindling market share.

Why?

Because, hot on the heels of The Complete Fantastic Four, the company launched Rampage which replicated that other comic's formula of reprinting an entire issue of a team title each week.

In this case, that title was The Defenders.

Unlike the FF, the self-declared non-team had no ancient stories to use as back-up tales and so, in this comic, the subsidiary strip was provided by the man called Nova, which meant that one thing was for sure.

We were going to be getting an awful lot of art by Sal Buscema in the months to come.

As with The Complete Fantastic Four, I had very few issues of Rampage.

In fact, I think I may have had just one - issue #10 - which wrapped up the Evil Eye Saga.

Such a thing must have been more than a little confusing for new readers, as the comic hadn't bothered reprinting the Evil Eye Saga itself - thanks to it already having been published in Spider-Man's book - meaning this mag jumped straight from the epic's prologue to its epilogue, with nothing in between.

As for me, my lack of issues of this new title didn't matter in the slightest, as I had a great big pile of the original Defenders comics.

Thinking about it, this may have been the first great flaw with the comic's concept. Unlike the Fantastic Four, it seemed to be ridiculously easy to get hold of Defenders comics. You seemed to be able to get them everywhere, which can't exactly have created massive demand for the UK reprints.

The other flaw, of course, was that, as with The Complete Fantastic Four, it was madness to reprint an entire monthly comic every week, meaning that, if successful, it would have quickly caught up with the source material and be rendered no longer viable.

Fortunately, Marvel UK avoided that problem by scrapping the comic after just thirty four issues.

Unlike other cancellations, however, this turned out not to be a retreat so much as a change of tactics and, after that last fateful issue, Rampage switched from being Marvel UK's latest weekly mag to being their latest monthly.

But that venture is a story for another day. All that mattered right now was that the company was suddenly publishing a massive four titles a week, which might not have seemed that great but it was at least a turn around from the recent story of cancellations and mergers and gave hope that the company's future wasn't, after all, one of imminent and inevitable extinction.

Of course, what really matters with any comic isn't the contents. It's the free gift that comes with it. And, true to recent form, Marvel UK decided to give away a model plane with issue #1.

At least this time it wasn't a Boeing.

It was a Concorde.

What a Concorde has to do with the Defenders or Nova, I have no idea but I'm sure it was a wonderful thing to behold.

2000 AD - September 1979.

Once more reality has let me down. Not only can my internet searches supply me with no information about the contents of the galaxy's greatest comic in September 1979 but I can't unearth anything at all interesting that happened in the real world that month either.

Obviously, when I say, "interesting," I mean interesting to me. For instance, lots of people were killing each other that month because there are lots of people killing each other every month and I suppose that's sort of interesting if you like that kind of thing but, in terms of subjects I'd actually want to discuss on a comics blog, there was nothing.

So, let's take a look at the covers and see if there's anything on them that leaps out at me that's in need of discussion.

No there isn't. I mean, seriously, it's dreadful. Where are the cover blurbs that'd give me something to talk about? It's like they gave no thought to the needs of bloggers when they made these comics.

Reality. No wonder they say it's an educational place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there.

Anyway, all I have to say is that my favourite cover of the batch is the one that features the individual who's going on about Khaos. I don't have a clue who he is - other than that he's in the ABC Warriors' strip - but he looks a lively sort who enjoys his work, and that, at least, I can admire.

October 12th, 1977 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

What a strangely uninspiring seven days was the week that led up to this date, forty years ago. There seemed to be little of note on the television that day and the charts yielded no great changes from the week before.

Thank the comic book gods, therefore, that I had something in my life that was guaranteed to excite me.

That thing was Marvel UK.

And, in just a few days' time, it'd give me even more to get excited about.

But that historic event would have to wait.

For now, we were given the awesome offerings below.

Unless I miss my ever-loving guess, Will o' the Wisp makes his senses-shattering debut this issue.

I don't know. He was a bit of a sad case, wasn't he? Much as I sympathised with his plight, I'm not sure he particularly grabbed me.

Elsewhere, the FF are battling Omega, while the Avengers are battling Zodiac, and Captain Britain is dealing with Slaymaster.

Not content with trying to thwart Omega in the back of Spider-Man's comic, in their own mighty mag, Marvel's first family is trying to get the better of Dragon Man.

I do believe Gregory Gideon makes his return in this tale. I know not, though, whether he returns as a good guy or a bad guy.

The last time I saw him in their strip, he'd finished the tale by becoming a reformed man. Did that reformation stick, or has he returned once more to his villainous ways?

Daredevil finds himself up against Electro, a fight that should, logically, last all of about five seconds, though I suspect Hornhead will somehow manage to come out on top.

I've always loved Electro's outfit. It's one of my favourite super-villain costumes. Frankly, any costume that's got lightning bolts on it, I like.

Meanwhile, the Hulk finds himself up against the Absorbing Man.

As their battle takes place on a building site and Bruce is wearing a hard hat on that cover, I'm assuming his new job is on that very site. I do however stand to be corrected.

But it's common sense. Let's face it, if you're a man who's prone to turning into a homicidal monster at times of stress, it makes perfect sense to get a job in a notoriously hazardous location like a building site. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

Forty years ago today - October 1977.

There's only ten minutes to go before the Horror Channel shows the original version of The Fly. Can I possibly get this post done in ten minutes, so I don't miss a second of that 1950s masterpiece?

I don't know but I do know I wouldn't have wanted to miss a single panel of the Marvel comics that I could still just about find on my local spinner racks forty years ago this month if I looked hard enough.

The Lethal Legion are back, which I think was a group-therapy club for all those people who couldn't get into the Masters of Evil.

But just who do those mysterious hands in the foreground belong to?

Are they the dexterous digits of the Scarlet Witch?

It's all getting a bit strange in the world of Conan. Just why is he so determined to defend a floating eye?

To be honest, I don't get excited by floating eyes. I get excited by floating mouths like the Galaxy Master.

Are floating eyes and mouths all Marvel ever gave us? I don't remember them ever giving us floating hands, feet or ears.

Cap's still blind. Beyond that, I can say little of this issue.

Not only is Klaw back but so is the Molecule Man, a villain I had no memory of when I read this tale originally, even though I must have seen his first appearance when it was published in the Mighty World of Marvel a mere four-or-so years earlier.

Anyway, regardless, I could tell at once that he was a wrong 'un and found him aesthetically displeasing. Needless to say, I was delighted to see him defeated.

Although I'd previously known of his existence, this is the first story I ever read that actually featured the Bi-Beast.

I know nothing of his history after this tale. Was he ever seen again?

I like to think he was, even though, as he had two somewhat one-track minds, I'm not sure just what could have been done with him, story wise.

Marvel were clearly determined to get the most out of Jack Of Hearts in this period. Not long after his battle with the Hulk, he's tangling with Iron Man.

Seemingly, the powers-that-be felt he had some potential as a super-doer.

From what I can remember of him, they may have been mistaken.

The Molten Man is back, which is good news for all fans of his fiery ways and intense personal drama.

Is this the tale where we discover he's the half-brother of Liz Allen, or were we already told that in a prior appearance?

Try as I might, I can't get excited by the thought of Spidey vs Medusa. I remember their first battle not exactly being thrilling and, as Medusa was an established good guy by this point, I assume their current fight was due to a misunderstanding and was therefore short-lived.

What on Earth is that thing Thor's fighting? It looks ridiculous.

I can't help feeling readers must have been a bit bored with Loki by this point.

Hooray! It's the battle everyone with any sense in the 1970s wanted to see. It's Dave Cockrum's X-Men vs Dave Cockrum's Legion of Super-Heroes, even if Marvel couldn't legally admit to it.

As a fan of both strips, it was inevitable that I'd love this story.

October 5th, 1977 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Eat your heart out, Huggy Bear. You might think you're cool but, in this week of 1977, it was David Soul who was king of the pop charts, as the TV cop turned singer sat proudly atop the UK hit parade with his platter Silver Lady which, as has already been declared on this blog, was easily his best single.

Amongst the other records on that week's chart, we could find I Remember Elvis Presley by Danny Mirror at Number Eight. I do have to say that being able to remember Elvis Presley less than two months after his death was hardly a major feat, so why he felt the need to boast about it to the whole world is anyone's guess.

Well, we might all remember Elvis Presley but do we remember the contents of the Marvel UK mags that were hitting our doormats that week?

There's only one way to find out.

Hooray! The Spider-Slayer's back!

Said no one ever.

Wasn't this one in the habit of falling over on ice and getting crushed by statues? Poor old JJJ, when will he ever learn?

Interesting to see that our hero refers to it as the, "Spider-Killer," in this image. I wonder if that's because there's also mention of the Slay-Master, and the editor didn't want to overuse the word, "Slay," on one cover?

From what I can remember, the Slay-Master was a Bullseye type character with a silly car that would have made it impossible for him to go for a drive without instantly being spotted and arrested. Generally speaking, if you're an assassin, it's best not to draw attention to yourself.

Elsewhere, the FF are still up against Omega, despite having their own comic, while the Avengers are still battling against Zodiac, even though Zodiac shouldn't have been able to last more than five minutes against the Avengers.

Speaking of the FF, in the main story, they're now facing the deadly danger of the Dragon Man, while the back-up strip reprints their first ever meeting with the Mole Man.

But who cares about that when there's a free Boeing Clipper model to be had?

This is the second consecutive issue to give away a toy Boeing plane. Did Marvel have some sort of promotional deal with the company, or something?

The Hulk's finally stopped his post-Jarella rampage and is up against the Absorbing Man, a villain who should always beat the Hulk but, thanks to his total lack of smarts, still manages to lose to him every time.

That's right. The Absorbing Man isn't smart enough to beat the Hulk. Let's all just imagine how stupid a man has to be for that to be the case.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - October 1977.

It's the first Tuesday of the month - and that can only mean one thing.

It's time for me to look at an almost random sample of what was happening in the less high-profile Marvel titles of forty years ago.

The Eternals get the first and last annual of their original run.

I don't have a clue what's going on but, to be honest, only The Reject doesn't look totally half-hearted about the prospect of having a scrap.

It's the team-up that had to happen, as Marvel Comics' two greatest stuntmen (apart from the Stunt-Master) team up to do whatever it is they're teaming up to do.

To be honest, in what way the Hell-powered Ghost Rider'll need the help of the distinctly non-super-powered Human Fly, I have no idea.

Hooray! It's the return of Zzzax who I've always had a soft spot for!

But, seeing as Zzzax can give the Hulk a run for his money, I can only assume Luke Cage doesn't actually manage to survive the encounter.

Like the Eternals, Tarzan gets his first annual. He, however, had several more in this era, which is surprising, as I've always associated him with DC rather than Marvel.

I do worry about the number of apes Tarzan's been pictured killing over the years. Doesn't he know they're an endangered species? You do wonder why the authorities haven't arrested him yet.

Come to think of it, how can it be legal for him to carry that knife around?

And, for that matter, did he have a permit to kill that leopard he made his underpants from?

Just to join in the fun, Thor has an annual too!

I don't have a clue what happens in this one but I assume, from the cover blurb, that this is part of the Korvac Saga.

Not that I know what the Korvac Saga is but I've heard talk of it, in hushed whispers and therefore assume it must have been a big thing.

Step aside, Sue Storm, the Invisible Man is unleashed upon the world!

Isn't there an adaptation of this tale that features a cover by Jim Steranko? Is it the same adaptation as this but with a different cover or is it a different adaptation altogether?

I do recall a version of the tale appearing in Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes comic. Was it this version? Was it that version? Was it another version? Who can know?

If anyone ever tells you that reading comics stunts your learning, slap them over the head with this; Marvel's very own adaptation of Homer's Iliad.

To be honest, how he found time to write it, with Bart and Lisa playing up all the time, is beyond me.

I must confess I've only included this cover because the beastie on it is clearly the monster from the classic 1950s movie Night of the Demon, easily one of the greatest horror films ever made. It's the film that taught me never to accept a piece of paper from a strange man.

With his third issue, Godzilla well and truly enters the Marvel Universe, as he encounters The Champions.

To be honest, apart from Hercules, it's hard to see what any of them can do to Godzilla, other than annoy him.

Fifty years ago this month - October 1967.

October 1967 was a month for unlikely goings-on on both sides of the Atlantic.

In Britain, Harold Wilson won a libel action against The Move after they depicted him nude in promotional material for their single Flowers in the Rain. I am highly disappointed that Tony Blackburn has never mentioned this on the myriad occasions when he's talked about playing the record at the launch of Radio One.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forests of America, Roger Pattison and Robert Gimlin were shooting their legendary Bigfoot film that's intrigued, puzzled and bamboozled mankind ever since. Was it a man in a suit? Was it a mystery beast? Was it just Roy Wood trying to hide from Harold Wilson's lawyers? Somehow, I suspect we shall never know.

What we shall know is what the heroes of Marvel were up to in the mags whose covers bore the name of that very month.

How will we know that?

Because they are here...

I think this tale was the first time I ever encountered the Super-Adaptoid.

With his gift for adaptoiding superly, how massively powerful he seemed.

How little I knew at the time what a total loser he'd been in his previous appearances.

I think this might have been the first time I ever encountered the Beetle.

Unlike the Super-Adaptoid, I knew at once that he wasn't what you'd call a top-drawer villain.

Admittedly, the fact he was turning up in an issue of Daredevil kind of gave that fact away.

I do believe this adventure involves our hero being held captive at Montreal's Expo 67 which concluded in this very month of that year.

The man who'll become known as Warlock emerges from his cocoon to pass judgement on the few people he's ever met, before flying off into Outer Space.

Doc Ock is back. I know it says so on the cover but that doesn't stop me saying he is.

I do believe this is the start of the epic in which everyone's favourite tentacle twirler becomes Aunt May's lodger.

Did I read this tale in the pages of Captain Britain? I'm not totally sure.

Nor am I sure what happens in it.

In fact, I don't have a clue what happens in it.

I do believe this issue sees only the second ever appearance of MODOK.

I just hope he doesn't let his new-found fame make him big-headed.

Hooray! Thor's helped save Asgard from the Enchanters Three!

Needless to say, this somehow leads to Odin stripping him of his powers and exiling him on Earth. What a great dad he is.

It's one of the few X-Men issues from the 1960s that I actually like, as our heroes take on the mysterious Factor Three in a story that I think may have been drawn by Ross Andru.

Does that mean The X-Men was the first strip he ever drew for Marvel? All the other Marvel work I've ever seen by him was from the 1970s, at the earliest.

Is that the Plunderer I spy? Does his presence mean Ka-Zar's going to put in an appearance too?

Then again, if that's Skull Island, where's King Kong?