Tuesday 10 July 2018

The Marvel Lucky Bag - July 1978.

Once more a second Tuesday of a month has come around. And that can only mean it's time for me to find out what mischief the less high-profile Marvel mags that bore the cover date of exactly forty years ago were getting up to.

To be honest, they weren't getting up to much. Even the ones I've selected for this post aren't exactly screaming, "Buy me," in my direction.

Captain Marvel #57, Thor

I genuinely have no idea what happens in this one, other than that Thor shows up.

Is it all caused by a misunderstanding? Has one of them turned evil? How does the captain fare against a thunder god?

Sadly, I can furnish no answers.

Marvel Treasury Edition #17, the Incredible Hulk

I think we all love a good treasury edition - and this looks to be a great treasury edition, featuring, as it does, the Hulk's first encounter with the Glob, his battle with Draxon the dictator, his first meeting with Havok and Lorna Dane and his first trip to Counter-Earth.

If anyone wouldn't want all that in one comic, I can only despair at the insanity that must be gripping their soul.

Nova #20

This story would appear to feature a robot version of Sherlock Holmes; a character I vaguely remember from when I used to read the strip.

But I am intrigued that Nova would appear to have just found the dead body of his father but his only thought is keeping his identity secret from his own brother, rather than being at all bothered by the more pressing matter of his father's demise.

Those super-heroes, they know how to have their priorities straight.

Savage Sword of Conan #31

I do believe that's a Howard Chaykin cover, which is not a thing you see every day on the front of a Conan mag.

Spider-Woman #4, the Hangman

I possess no memory of Brother Grimm but I do think I recall the Hangman originally being a villain in the pages of Werewolf by Night.

Needless to say, I'm highly impressed that I actually remember something which happened in Werewolf by Night, a comic whose sheer forgettableness I've often celebrated in the past.

Marvel Comics Man From Atlantis #6

This all looks a lot more exciting than the TV show which spawned it, although it's hard not to suspect we're about to see a tale that owes more than a little to The Land that Time Forgot.

Yogi Bear #5, jelly mine

Yogi and Boo Boo discover a jam mine.

But, hold on. Wasn't that the plot of a Goodies episode? What fruit flavoured lunacy is this?

15 comments:

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Hi, just back from holidays!

I recently learned that "were" is the only word from old English used in contemporary English and it means man. Werewolf = man wolf. Is that blog -worthy Steve???

Steve W. said...

Charlie, I do believe I've mentioned in the past the strangeness of Marvel always billing Tigra as a, "Werewoman," and that it doesn't mean what Marvel writers seemed to think it meant. However, I am impressed by the revelation that it's the only Old English word that's in current contemporary usage.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

I only think it to be true because I like reading Beowulf and chatting up scholars on it and Old English. Gosh how many comic renditions of Beowulf have there been?

Killdumpster said...

There were actually two "Brothers" Grimm. If I remember correctly their mother was some kind of witch that animated a couple of mannequins with the souls of her sons. Mostly their powers were magic based. Thought they were kinda cool & weirdly goofy.

Killdumpster said...

Spiderwoman would defeat one, then the next one would turn up somewhere else. She thought they were the same guy till she found out there were two of them. Like I said, they were cool but goofy. Their favorite weapons were exploding eggs. They flew around on a trapeze bar hanging on a big crescent moon.

Steve W. said...

Killdumpster, that is truly bizarre.

Killdumpster said...

Now that I think about it, the trapeze bar may have hung from a five-point star. Ugh. My poor aged,damaged brain cells.

Killdumpster said...

Steve-

They then were members of the Shroud's Nightshift, along with your favorite punching bag Jack Russell. Lol.

Killdumpster said...

Got a Man from Atlantis story for you guys. My Aunt was a model/actress that was an continuing extra for the tv show "Dallas". She became really good friends with Patrick Duffy. My littlest sister went to California to get plastic surgery for a clef lip, and my aunt and Patrick took my sister out all day & night post-op to lift her spirits.

She told Duffy about how I was such a big fan of the show that I made my mom sew me swim-trunks identical to his.

He sent me an autographed photo that stated "Keep your head above water." I was older by then and mad my sister made me out to be a stupid fan boy.

Charlie Horse 47 said...

Steve! Quick question! Who is "Blip" for a U.K. (I assume) cartoon character? An English man about 60 ish had named a cat Blip, who I met last week on vacation (I met the cat, not the man). Thanks!

Steve W. said...

Charlie, I don't have a clue who Blip is. I know the Space Ghost had a pet monkey called Blip but he wasn't a British character.

There were two characters, called Bleep and Booster, who used to feature in a children's show called Blue Peter when I was a kid. From what I can remember, they were a pair of cartoon aliens who had all sorts of adventures in space. Whether that was who he was thinking of, I don't know.

Dave S said...

True fact: that Savage Sword cover has a spelling mistake- it was supposed to say Fiends of the Flame Knife, not 'friends'.

Pick of that bunch for me is the Nova cover, it would be the one most likely to intrigue me enough to buy the comic (looks like a Carmine Infantino cover as well, which is rarely a bad thing).

Incidentally, my Auto-Correct wanted to change that name to 'Canine Infantile', which I find strangely intriguing.

Steve W. said...

I do like, "Friends of the Flame Knife." It has a certain cosiness to it.

Aggy said...

Not sure how it ties into a cat. Unless the cat was about 10 years old. Blips was a childrens cartoon show in the mid-2000s.

It was created by the guy behind Rosie & Jim. (Don't ask). And starred Patrica Routledge (aka Hyacinth Bucket) (Don't ask).

Steve W. said...

Thanks for the Blips info, Aggy. I must confess it's a show I was previously completely unaware of.