Far from lasting just a minute, the show has now lasted for fifty years - with exactly the same presenter at the helm from then until now. Bearing in mind that the guilty man - Nicholas Parsons - wasn't in the first flush of youth even in 1967, it does seem quite astonishing that he should still be going strong in the role even now.
But, of course, this revelation means that I shall have to tackle the subject of what our favourite Marvel heroes were up to fifty years ago, in one minute, without hesitation, repetition or deviation.
Can I do it?
Can I?
Obviously not, as I've just repeated and deviated in one go.
Rargh! These things are far harder than Kenneth Williams ever made them seem.
Don Heck and Frank Giacoia give us what feels to me like a very un-Avengers kind of cover.
I suspect the story within is the one in which Magneto and the Toad return to Earth, after escaping the clutches of the Stranger and proceed to try and re-recruit the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, causing a chain of events that will lead to the creation of the all-new, all-improved, all-heroic Black Knight.
Is this the one where the Trapster disguises himself as Daredevil in order to gain access to the Fantastic Four headquarters?
A full two issues before Doctor Doom decides to disguise himself as Daredevil in an attempt to gain access to the Fantastic Four headquarters?
Obviously you expect comic book plots to get recycled but you expect a slightly bigger gap between recyclings than two issues.
You also expect Dr Doom to be able to come up with a classier plan than the Trapster can.
The Thing's still on the rampage.
Oh well, at least he's not disguised himself as Daredevil in order to gain access to the Fantastic Four's headquarters.
It's a classic cover, as Doc Ock continues to be the worst lodger ever and Spider-Man tries to do something about it.
I don't have a clue what's going on in the Nick Fury tale but, apparently, the back-up strip features Dr Strange having problems with the Living Tribunal. I think an attempt at rescuing Victoria Bentley from some dread realm might be involved.
I assume this wasn't the same dread realm that Barbara Norris was trapped in. Women did have a remarkable knack of getting trapped in dread realms when Dr Strange was around.
Is this the one where Captain America's revealed his secret identity to the world, and now everyone's out to kill him?
I do believe that, in this tale, thanks the activities of the Plunderer, the hated surface dwellers drop depth charges on Atlantis, causing yet another war between that kingdom and the planet's air breathers.
Loki decides to take advantage of Thor's reduced powers, by giving him a good old lesson in fisticuffs - and inadvertently causes the creation of The Wrecker while he's at it.
I'm not totally sure what Odin's up to on that cover.
I take it the Mutant-Master is still causing trouble.
Did he ever return after this tale? I have no recollection of him ever even being mentioned again. Surely even a malevolent space octopus deserves a second story at some point.
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Avengers #47 began a story arc that included a crossover with the X-Men. Yeah, Magneto and Toad returned to Earth, and tried to get Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to join the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
Dane Whitman was the nephew of the villain Black Knight, who had fought the Avengers as a member of Zemo's Masters of Evil. He was also a descendant of the original Black Knight, who was a Zorro-type hero in Arthurian times. After Dane became the superhero Black Knight, I think there was a story where the Avengers fought him, thinking he was his bad guy uncle.
Suspense #96 continued the arc in which Cap unmasked and retired, and became a target for assassins and hit men right and left.
The Iron Man story had him knocked unconscious while fighting the Gray Gargoyle. To be continued next issue.
Here's something odd: Avengers #47 has a footnote saying that the Stranger recaptured Magneto in X-Men #18, but in fact he didn't. Professor X sent a mental message drawing the Stranger back to earth, but as soon as he was in the offing Magneto fled and that was it as far as the X-Men were concerned.
Also, this story begins with the Toad saying, "You'll free us, master! The faithful Toad has faith in you!" Considering that Magneto got away last time by stealing a spaceship and kicking the Toad down off its entry ladder as he went, his faith was remarkably ill-placed.
TC, thanks for the Iron Man, Avengers and Cap clarification.
Joe, I did always wonder why the Toad and Magneto hung around together. It was hard to see what use the Toad was to Magneto and it's hard to see why it didn't occur to the Toad to get himself a better job.
The Toad finally did get fed up with Magneto's constant bullying, as we will see when you get to Avengers #53.
BTW, Captain America resigned from the Avengers in #47, which presumably tied in with his intended retirement in Suspense #95 and #96.
The Nick Fury story in Strange Tales is about the Yellow Claw acquiring the Ultimate Annihilator from AIM, and reveals that Suwan was in league with Johnny Woo, Steve.
Steranko was starting to make his mark, albeit with some regrettable use of dodgy "yellow peril" stereotypes.
-sean
Call me a grumpy fossil - the comics shown would, in these modern times, be considered archaic, plodding and pedestrian...but I'd take any one of them rather than entire runs of anything printed by the Big Two these days.
I'm inclined to agree, modern comics are probably better by most metrics but nostalgia is a cruel mistress.
TC and Sean, thanks for the Avengers/Cap/Fury info.
B and Timothy, my knowledge of modern comics is fairly limited but they're clearly aimed at an older age group than the Silver Age comics were, which means that they lack the appeal to my inner child that older comics have.
Not a great set of covers this month, to be honest, Steve.
Avengers cover is non-Avengerish as you say. Trapster in a flying pea pod?! FF look like they've all been on the Pyms (sic). Cap dropping like a stone - at least on Avengers #21 he was flattened out to increase air resistance. A dissenting voice but I've never liked that ASM cover - the reflections use the normal colour palette so don't look like reflections. And we've had Doc Ock for the last two months. X-Men cover looks like last roll of the dice before cancellation. Loki throwing a punch that will feel like a gentle slap to Thor.
The best cover by a mile is Sub Mariner. I do like a good monochromatic cover.
I agree. The Subby cover is the best, although I do also love the Spider-Man one.
Don't forget that Thor only has a fraction of his normal strength in this tale, so Loki is able to give him a good pummeling.
I guess we have a quorum!
I agree that the covers aren't very motivating this month. Kirby's TOS almost looks like a parody. It reminds me of something I would have seen in "Not Brand Yechh!"
Hard to believe that in 3 more issues he would krank out Captain America 100 to 109 which in my mind is perhaps the most extraordinary art of his career. (Look at the raw power on Cap 108! If I was Paste Pot Pete, I would find a new career!)
Steranko's cover, as always, gets two thumbs up from CH-47. Hard to believe he would then follow Kirby with some of Caps most iconic covers: 110, 111, 113
Regarding modern comics... I could suggest Harley Quinn (not Suicide Squad, just Harley Quinn). I've been buying it the last few months and it's quite amusing and well told. Also it feels like a steal at only $2.99 because it seems to have a lot of pages as well as decent art and a decent story line.
FYI - per the inflation calculator, $3.00 today is less than $.50 in 1970. SO, it's not too terribly out of line with what we were paying back in the day.
Cheers All.
I'm a regular listener of Radio 4 including 'Just A Minute' - Nicholas Parsons is 94 years old !!
Colin, I think Nicholas is having a battle with Vera Lynn to see who can have the longest ever career in showbusiness.
Charlie, thanks for the Harley Quinn suggestion.
Dangermash, not to be an awful print pedant but the Sub-Mariner cover is technically a duotone, usually beloved by printers as a way of saving set-up time and ink, though unless the rear cover and internal cover is the same we can assume the choice was purely artistic.
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