The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1968.

Once more a first Tuesday of the month has imposed itself upon us and thus must I inspect what the less high-profile comics published by Marvel in the late 1960s were up to.

I do believe that, in this tale, Strange and Victoria Bentley are in a deadly dimension, on the hunt for Clea but have to contend with Dormammu if they want her back again.

There may be nothing unique about Dormammu showing up in a Clea-related tale, or in Strange having to venture to another realm to rescue a damsel but I've a suspicion this may be the only comic I've ever read that was pencilled by Tom Palmer.

I'm fairly certain this is the last Gene Colan issue before Don Heck takes over the reins.

But can it be true? Can Captain Marvel really hope to take on the Sub-Mariner and live?

I wouldn't have thought so. You'd expect Subby to totally flatten him. I can only assume Namor is having an off-day if his foe survives this encounter.

My memories of this tale are vague but I suspect that, as always, Marvy has to fight to protect the Earthmen while making it look like he's trying to get them all killed, while Yon-Rogg and the ever-maudlin Una watch on from their home in orbit.

It's a legendary Steranko cover to a comic whose interior I've never seen.

I gather, from other sources, that the tale within is a tribute to The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Admittedly, the cover does somewhat give that away but it's nice to have it confirmed.

I've never read an issue of Not Brand Echh but do recall pages from it frequently showing up as filler in Marvel UK comics. From that, I'm aware that Marie Severin's skills as a cartoonist are put to good use in the book.

It's the comic that had to happen! After two years of turning up in other people's comics and complaining about each and everything he's encountered, the Silver Surfer finally gets the chance to turn up in his own comic and complain about each and everything he encounters.

You can't get round it, Norrin Radd's a major buzzkill but at least we have a load of great John Buscema art to make up for it.

And that's not the only thing we have - because this issue also features a Gene Colan drawn origin for the Watcher which gives us a valuable warning about the dangers of interfering in other people's planets.

This is why I have never interfered in the affairs of another planet and probably never will.

I don't know what's going on in this tale but Attuma is clearly up to no good.

What matters is it's yet another comic in which John Buscema gets to work his magic. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but Buscema's run on this strip is my favourite work by him.