March 28th, 1979 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

On this day in 1979, British politics was flung into chaos, as James Callaghan's embattled Labour government lost a motion of no-confidence by one vote, forcing a General Election. He might have seen off the Red Skull in 1976 but, clearly, the memories of his fellow MPs were short.

And, if things were in turmoil in Parliament, it seems there was also kerfuffle on the roads, as BBC Two's Money Programme was covering the nightmare prospect of the £1 gallon.

I assume they were talking about petrol, not wine.

Then again, if Britain thought it had it bad this week, things were threatening to get positively apocalyptical in the US, as Three Mile Island decided it fancied having a crack at destroying half of Pennsylvania.

With all this going on, we were clearly all going to be in need of a great big dose of escapism.

And we knew just where to get it.

We're back to the photo covers - and this one's a wraparound, with the front of that beastie's head appearing on the comic's rear.

As for the contents, I do believe that Luke and Leia are captured by, "Furry snow stompers." I don't have a clue what that means but they don't sound very threatening.

No doubt, facing greater peril are the Micronauts in Daytona Beach, while Adam Warlock tackles a bunch of clowns in the tale that notoriously attacks everyone working at Marvel who isn't called Jim Starlin.

I have to say that's a far better cover than we're used to getting from post-Revolution Marvel UK.

Judging by that blurb, it would seem the X-Men are featured in some way.

As they currently have their own strip in Rampage Monthly, I assume that, here, they're merely guesting in someone else's story. But, in whose, I cannot even begin to fathom. If I remember right, the strips in this book are Godzilla, Conan, Dracula, Skull the Slayer, Daredevil and Shang-Chi. I'm struggling to work out which of those the X-Men could possibly be guest-starring in.

For some reason, this issue gives us a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #119, in which our hero travels to Canada and tangles with the Hulk.

Given what happens in this week's Hulk Comic, I wonder if the choice of a Canada based tale is mere coincidence?

I would assume it's not.

I do believe this cover was drawn by Walt Simonson.

Was it created especially for this book? Its simplicity would suggest so. I must concede that getting Walt to produce a cover is quite a coup for the title.

Admittedly, it's not actually a good cover but it is, at least, a bad cover done by a good artist.

When it comes to the interior, our hero finds himself having to foil child kidnappers on a cruise ship.

When I say, "Child kidnappers," I do, of course, mean kidnappers of children, not kidnappers who are children.

I do believe that, in these early tales, our hero, in his human form, is merely referred to as, "Banner." Presumably, no one at Marvel UK could decide whether to call him Bruce or David.

Obviously, if I was writing these tales, I'd solve the problem by calling him Bob, like Stan Lee did, all the way through Fantastic Four #25.

Elsewhere, The Protector attacks Ant-Man, with a water pistol, forcing the tiny wonder into a desperate battle to avoid falling into a sewer. I think I'm starting to see why Ant-Man's strip never really took off.

Nick Fury and SHIELD are in South America, battling to keep a despot in power for the forces of freedom.

Reprints of The Eternals start this week, even though I've no recollection of them ever appearing in this mag.

Captain Britain and the Black Knight are getting to know each other, by trying to smash each other's teeth in.

Like Ant-Man, Night-Raven's tackling a protection racket. Unlike Ant-Man, he doesn't have to worry about being washed down a sewer by a water pistol.

And, finally, the Hulk is still in Canada and tackling the senses-shattering menace of the Mimic.