The Marvel Lucky Bag - May 1969.

The UK singles chart in May 1969 was not a place to go if you liked variety.

When I say, "Variety," I mean, of course, a high rate of change, not Variety acts.

Then again, it wasn't a good place to go for Variety acts either because the entire month was dominated by The Beatles whose Get Back refused to relinquish its grip on the top spot and duly saw off challenges from Fleetwood Mac, Herman's Hermits and Mary Hopkin to retain its position.

Things were a bit livelier on the LP chart, with the Number One slot being held by The Best of the Seekers, On the Threshold of a Dream by the Moody Blues and then Nashville Skyline by Bob Dylan, in that order.

Apparently, On the Threshold of a Dream was the first UK chart-topper for the Moodies and their first US Top 20 entry. Clearly, they were becoming more popular by the second.

But you know who wasn't becoming popular?

That's right.

The stars of this month's Marvel Lucky Bag for 1969.

That doesn't mean we didn't love them.

And it doesn't mean I won't be taking a look at them.

I don't know what happens in this one. All I know is Marvy seems to be fighting an android.

Is it my imagination or did he fight an android in virtually every issue of his comic in the 1960s?

It's nothing but trouble for Dr Strange, as Nightmare kidnaps Eternity - on New Year's Eve!

I vaguely remember this one, although my main memory of it is of Eternity lying around not doing anything much.

I think this story introduced me to the word, "Archetypal."

Then again, that could be a totally different story I'm thinking of.

I am, however, almost certain that Tom Wolfe puts in a guest appearance in this one.

Barry Smith does his best Jim Steranko, on the cover.

Inside, Nick Fury's arrested for being an enemy agent.

Needless to say, it's not long before he's escaped custody and is out to clear his name.

Unfortunately, that sets up a sequence of events which leads to him being arrested for murder.

Some days, you can't catch a break.

Is this the one where Dorma pops her clogs? From the cover, I'm assuming it is.

I also believe this is the climax to the Serpent Crown Saga which I could claim to remember well but the truth is the only part of it I recall is the issue which featured The Thing.

So successful was Millie the Model for Marvel that even her rival Chili was granted a comic of her own. And here's where it started.

Thinking about it, I do wonder how big a part the Chili/Millie rivalry played in how Stan dealt with the MJ/Gwen rivalry in Spider-Man.

Then again, it might have been the other way round.

Then again, there might not have been any influence either way.