Forty years ago today - November 1977.

Pray for me, Dear Reader, for I am currently watching a film called Super Shark. It features a giant shark that can both fly and walk on land. A walking tank has just showed up to fight it. I can safely say that that tank is the stupidest thing I have ever seen and I doubt it'd even be able to take out a broken-down bubble car.

Clearly, confronted by such madness, I've no recourse but to flee into the depths of the internet and see what our favourite Marvel heroes were up to back in the days when we only had to worry about one cinematic shark and it only took three drunks in a boat to stop it.

The Whizzer there, possibly the one Avenger who has the least to fear from a falling building - what with him being best able to run away from it - seems to be the one most negative about his own survival chances. The older generation, sometimes I despair of them.

Meanwhile, Count Nefaria continues to pursue his nefarious plan to do whatever it is he's nefariously planning to do.

It looks like it's another day at the office for the world's best loved barbarian.

It looks like Jack Kirby's return to the strip is over.

It also looks like we might be getting yet another retelling of Cap's origin and history. Did any Marvel hero ever get their origin and history retold more than Cap did? It seemed to happen every other issue.

And he never could make up his mind what the scientist who created him was called.

I love how the picture clearly depicts Daredevil thinking, "Help! Help! I'm in trouble here!" and the speech balloon's saying completely the opposite.

As for the villain, I don't have a clue who The Smasher is. The name rings a bell. Had he turned up before with a different costume? Or had there previously been another villain of the same name?

Interesting to see that the cinema's displaying a poster for The Deep, an adaptation of which Marvel had out at the same time as this issue was on the spinner racks.

That bounder the Molecule Man has taken control of Reed Richards. How can he possibly be stopped now?

Come to think of it, how can he be stopped now? I genuinely don't remember how his scheme was thwarted. Was the Impossible Man involved?

Hooray! Not only do we get the Hulk's long awaited rematch with the Circus of Crime but we get a Jim Starlin cover as well.

No one drew the Hulk quite like Starlin did.

Well, admittedly, Steve Ditko sort of did but in a slightly more cartoony way.

I seem to remember this story being quite confusing to me, as the Hulk befriends the honest members of the Circus of Crime. Just why did the Ringmaster want to recruit honest people to the Circus of Crime? Wouldn't that go against the whole concept of it?

I've no idea what happens in this one but I suspect that Midas and Madam Masque may be involved.

Speaking of masks, I do always wonder just how Iron Man's face plate manages to display his facial expressions like that.

As if one homicidal maniac with a gun wasn't enough, now The Punisher shows up as well. Spidey never had these problems in the 1960s.

I vaguely remember Brother Power and Sister Sun. Didn't they launch some sort of cult or other? I think I've mentioned in the past that I've often considered launching a cult of my own. I do feel I should be worshipped by all who meet me.

The last time I encountered the Destroyer, he was serving as a herald of Galactus in The Fantastic Four. Is that still the case in this issue or had the Big G got bored of him by this stage?

Come to think of it, the last time I'd encountered Galactus, he'd been turned into a being of pure thought, by the High Evolutionary. This would suggest he no longer needed the Destroyer. This would suggest someone else is operating him. But whom? Whom?