Fifty years ago this month - April 1968.

April of 1968 was a big month for more people than you can shake a stick at.

For a start, it was a big one for those of us who have ten fingers and not twelve, as it was the month in which five and ten pence coins were introduced in the run-up to Decimalisation. Soon would the nightmare curse of Old Money be eradicated from our society.

It was also a big month for Arizonans who like to cross bodies of water without getting their feet wet, as London Bridge was sold to American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch who rebuilt it in that very state. Popular mythology has it that he thought he was buying Tower Bridge and only discovered his mistake after it was too late. However, there appears to be nothing to back up that particular piece of mythology.

It was also a big month for people who don't like to be shot by gorillas, as it was the month in which Planet of the Apes was released.

It was an even bigger month for those who don't like songs with lots of words in them, as La La La by Massiel won the Eurovision Song Contest, for Spain, in London.

It was also a big month for May Parker, as her favourite musical Hair opened on Broadway.

But what about people who loved comics that bore that cover date? Did they have grounds for excitement too?

Too right they did - because, freed from its previous distribution deal, the House of Ideas had been able to launch two brand-new super-hero comics upon the world.

Hooray! Goliath gets his powers back.

Even more thrillingly, Thor and Iron Man make their senses-shattering return to the comic, if only for one issue.

If I remember rightly, it has something to do with the Collector gaining control of Thor and making him do bad things, including beating up Iron Man.

I don't recall what the Collector's actual plan was but I suspect it might have had something to do with collecting things.

Cap gets his own mag at last, as the Marvel Explosion gets into full swing.

I say that but, as far as I can make out, the company actually produced less titles this month than they had the month before.

Still, in a major shock, this issue retells Captain America's origin.

Well, you can't blame them. It must be all of three issues since they last retold it.

From the depths of Daredevil history, the Unholy Three return, although I prefer to know them as, "The Ani-Men."

I seem to recall that, this time, the perpetual stooges are working for a criminal mastermind who owns a gun that can send people out of sync with everyone else, which must play havoc with your social life.

But does the Unholy Three's return mean that this is the issue in which we get the return of Debbie Harris? Or had she already been back for a while by this point?

The Daredevil/Doc Doom body-swap drama gets its epilogue, as, thanks to their own stupidity, the FF find themselves tangling with not only DD but also Thor and Spider-Man. If only Marvel heroes were in the habit of actually talking to each other.

Clearly determined to not be outdone by Captain America, the Hulk also gets his own comic.

In this one, he comes up against the High Evolutionary who's created a new Wundagore in space, in order to continue his previously disastrous genetic experiments.

Needless to say, it all goes just as wrong this time round as it did last time. You do get the feeling he's a man who never learns from experience.

Mary Jane gets her first ever cover appearance.

And what a thrilling appearance it is, as she becomes an unknowing employee of the Kingpin and causes all kinds of trouble with her brainwashing camera.

Others may be getting their own comic this month but Nick Fury is going to have to wait a little while longer.

Interesting to see Clay Quartemain on the cover. I really did hate him.

I suspect this might be the one in which, in order to help Thor, Sif does a deal with Karnilla and takes possession of the Destroyer, in order to dispatch the Wrecker but then finds she can't prevent her new body from attacking Thor.

In retrospect, unleashing an unstoppable destructive force upon the planet Earth wasn't the best thought-out rescue plan of all time.

A very dramatic John Buscema cover hints that we're heading towards an Avengers/X-Men crossover, as Magneto turns up at Professor X's funeral, in order to initiate all kinds of mischief.

More interestingly for me, the issue also features that back-up feature in which Cyclops explains his powers and we're officially told that, despite appearances, his eye blasts give off no heat.