July 18th, 1979 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

At a pinch, how long do you reckon it'd take you to run a mile?

I don't like to boast but I figure that, with the right wind behind me, I could do it in not much more than a day and a half.

However, in this week of 1979, there was a man running it even faster than that.

That man was Sebastian Coe who set a new world record for the distance by completing it in 3 minutes, 48.95 seconds. It was part of blitz that saw him break all three middle distance world records in just 41 days and become the first man to hold them all simultaneously.

But what about that other great athletic activity - dancing? It was the week when Chicago's Disco Demolition Night publicity stunt went horribly amok at Comiskey Park, forcing the White Sox to forfeit their game against the Detroit Tigers, thanks to damage done to the field by an explosion and rioting fans. That is what happens when you arouse the wrath of Disco.

And if the world thought it was all up for the art form, it thought too soon because, in Britain, while Replicas by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army had just clinched the Number One spot on the LP chart, just behind it, at Number Two, was the album which bore the title The Best Disco Album in the World. I just hope Disco Duck was on it or there was no way it deserved to call itself that.

Baron Tagge's out for revenge against Darth Vader for blinding him - and it somehow involves Tattooine. And that means it involves Luke Skywalker.

Meanwhile, Adam Warlock's about to wrap up his battle with the Star-Thief and it's in this very issue that he discovers he's now bigger than the solar system which spawned him.

The Hulk and his mutant friends finally bring justice to the mad scientist who's to blame for them all being there.

After months of being a totally pointless addition to the Black Knight's strip, Captain Britain finally gets to do something when he comes up against the physical incarnation of death and his lovely horsie.

Speaking of death, it's a historic day for Ant-Man when he encounters Janet van Dyne for the first time and keeps remarking on how much she resembles his dead wife. I'm not sure that's going to turn out to be the healthiest relationship. Also, she's a schoolgirl.

Elsewhere, Ikaris pays a visit to the pseudo-Greek gods of the Eternals' universe.

Night-Raven finally polishes off the Tongs.

And the Watcher asks, "What if Rick Jones had become the Hulk?" I'm not massively up on the world of modern comics but hasn't Rick Jones since gone on to do exactly that?

Anyway, in this version of events, Rickhulk has the temper of the original Hulk but speaks entirely in Stan Lee style teen-speak, chiding Thunderbolt Ross's army for being square cats and, like, totally Nowheresville, man.

I don't know what else happens in this issue but I do know Ms Marvel's having her second encounter with the Scorpion, on top of trying to find out why she keeps having blackouts.

Meanwhile, at the behest of AIM, mad scientist the Destructor's out to succeed where the Scorpion's so obviously failing.

Daredevil tackles the Masked Marauder and his men while Spidey, still blind, battles to prevent the Marauder's Bombdroid visiting mayhem upon New York.

For anyone having trouble imagining what a bombdroid looks like, it's basically a big, metal, flying bird.