January 18th, 1978 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

On this night in 1978, BBC One was broadcasting the Richard Attenborough produced movie Whistle Down the Wind, starring Hayley Mills. I remember it as being a charming excursion that taught us we could all be Jesus, if we only put our minds to it.

Granted, it did mean that, about five years later, we had to put up with a Nick Heyward song of the same name entering the charts. It's a song which I remember hating. The fact that I could hate such an inoffensive thing proved to me that I couldn't be Jesus if I put my mind to it.

Needless to say, having these two conflicting messages spinning around in my head has left me all of a quandary. A quandary I can only escape by burying my mind in the product that my favourite comics company published in the seven days that led up to that evening.

Is this the one in which Magneto tries to get up to some mischief or other at the United Nations and ends up being turned into a baby by some, no doubt unlikely, means?

I do recall that sensational development causing all kinds of trouble for Moira MacTaggert, later down the line.

You do wonder just what Namor would get up to without his periodic attempts to conquer the surface world, usually with a vast army of dozens.

Having said that, if the cover's to be believed, this time, he doesn't bother with the army. He just uses Sue Richards instead.

I don't like to be negative but I really don't see how having Sue Richards on his side is going to make a massive difference to his plans to conquer the world. Let's be honest, she generally wasn't that much use in a fight, her main purpose in life being to get held hostage.

But, regardless, please tell me that that big whale-monster thing shows up. The one with the arms and legs. The one that attacked New York in Subby's first appearance in the FF's comic.

Was it called Monstro or something?

I don't know what it was meant to be but I liked the cut of its jib.

Yes, totally unarmed police-type people, do what atom bombs, gods and galactic tyrants have all failed to do. Destroy the Hulk before he revives. I mean, how difficult can it be?

Having said that, from my dim and distant memories, I'm not convinced that the pictured scene actually happens in the tale. My memory of it is that Hulkie basically just gets mad and tears the Quintronic Man apart, limb by limb.

On other matters, why on Earth does the Quintronic Man have a face? Just what purpose was it supposed to serve? There is so much about this cover that doesn't make sense.

It's that rarity, a Paul Gulacy Spider-Man cover.

Admittedly, when I say it's a rarity, I don't know for sure that it is. For all I know, he may have gone on to draw thousands of Spidey covers. But, still, I'm pretty sure this is the only Spider cover I ever saw from him.

But how could anyone not love Paul Gulacy? He didn't produce a huge amount of work but what he did he always did with style.

I am struggling, though, to work out which are the Avengers and Captain America tales that are promoted on the cover.

The claim that the Scarlet Witch is in, "Mystic combat," does make me wonder if it's the story in which she battles with a chair, after Agatha Harkness agrees to tutor her in witchcraft.

As for the Cap tale, it rings no bells. I have tried Googling, "Captain America, Town of Terror," but, for some reason, that brings up nothing but zillions of photos of Disney's Hollywood Towers - and I fail to see the connection.