September 26th, 1979 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Am I the only one who can't hear Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper without automatically singing the Police's Message in a Bottle over the top of it?

I must have been doing that quite a lot, this week in 1979, because that was when the latter record claimed the Number One spot on the British singles chart. I must confess I was never a huge fan of the Police but it was a bearable track which caused me no actual mental or physical harm.

Rather more excitingly for me, the top slot on the album chart that week was taken by the musical titans that were Boney M, thanks to their LP Oceans of Fantasy.

In fairness, the singles from it were not amongst their finest but that clearly didn't do the album's sales any harm.

I am intrigued, however, to discover it contained a cover of the Beatles' Two of Us. This I have to take a listen to on YouTube, especially bearing in mind there were four of them.

While the nation was grooving to all that Teutonic dance goodness, BBC Two, in this night of that week, was giving us far more sedate fare, as it broadcast the 71st Waterloo Crown Green Bowling Handicap, apparently, the most prestigious competition in the game.

Despite its name, the contest took place in Blackpool, not in London's Waterloo Station which was, famously, the site of Napoleon's ultimate defeat. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about the contest is it was introduced by future Oscar winner Colin Welland.

If crown green bowls wasn't enough excitement for us, over on BBC One, slightly earlier, we were treated to the Star Trek episode in which William Shatner's charged with causing the death of a missing officer, through cowardice.

But who needed TV? If we lived in the south, we were probably all too busy consumerising, thanks to the opening of the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre, then the largest indoor shopping complex in Britain. Milton Keynes was, notoriously, where they later filmed Superman IV because of its incredible resemblance to New York.

At the time, Milton Keynes had a rule that said nothing could be built that was taller than the town's tallest tree.

Are they sure it bore an incredible resemblance to New York?

I don't have a clue what's occurring in this week's Star Wars tale but I do know this is the first time I've ever seen Outer Space be described as, "Savage." It's definitely put me off going there.

Elsewhere in that savage wilderness, I've no doubt the Guardians of the Galaxy are still on the planet whose religious leaders want to sacrifice Nikki.

I have a vague memory this leads to her canoodling with Vance Astro. To which, all I can say is, "Urgh."

Of Star-Lord and the Watcher's whereabouts, I know not.

The Hulk and Cap are still bringing justice to the Corporation.

The Eternals send Olympia's forgotten hero to thwart the Deviant missile attack on the Celestials' mother ship.

Merlin's still trying to bring Captain Britain back from the dead.

Ant-Man and the Wasp are busy sorting out the Porcupine - but not before the prickly villain tries to drown our hero in a bathtub!

Nick Fury's probably up to something or other.

I do believe this is the one in which Spidey's officially cleared of the various crimes he's long been suspected of but the Chameleon tries to mess everything up for him again, until Flash Thompson proves to be the voice of reason.

The rest of this comic's contents are a mystery to me.

I am intrigued, though, as to why Spider-Man has to stop a charging rhino, in order to clear his name. Just what kind of criminal justice system do they have in America?