Fifty years ago this month - December 1969.

December 1969 was a good month for all lovers of the anomalous because it was when we saw the release of possibly the most anomalous James Bond movie of them all; On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Not only did we get an Australian Bond who was never seen again and even talked directly to the camera but we got our hero operating outside the purview of British Intelligence, and an ending which I won't give away in case there's a single person left in the world who's never seen it.

Diana Rigg was, of course, present, as was Joanna Lumley. With Honor Blackman having already appeared in Goldfinger, it means Linda Thorson's the only Avengers girl to have never appeared in a Bond movie.

Then again, she's still alive. There's hope for her yet.

And, also, this argument depends upon me ignoring the existence of Uma Thurman.

Elsewhere, the month also saw the holding of the first draft lottery in the United States since World War II, courtesy of the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet made its first passenger flight, carrying 191 people, mostly reporters and photographers, from Seattle to New York, and the Rolling Stones released their album Let It Bleed.

Let it Bleed is, of course, most known to me because it was the title of a Don Heck drawn Marvel Dracula story about a huge heart living in a shed, like a malevolent version of How's Jack Hargreaves.

I'm not sure there's much shed action in any of the following comics.

Hooray! The Avenger take on the Invaders, though Frank Robbins is nowhere to be seen.

Neither are Toro and Bucky, as far as I remember. Namor, to my knowledge, never had a youthful sidekick, which seemed a little unfair on him.

I do think it's odd the way the Invaders automatically assume the Avengers are Nazis, based on no evidence at all. Still, they get their just deserts and Roy Thomas's test run for the team is completed with their utter and total defeat.

Thinking about it, it's not an auspicious start for them, is it?

I am intrigued, though, that it's labelled, "The Final Battle," when it isn't the final battle for either team, nor is it the final battle of World War Two, nor is it the final battle in the contest between Kang and the Grandmaster. So exactly why is it labelled, "The Final Battle?"

My memories of this one are vague. Doesn't Cap become a college lecturer for some reason and then AIM or Hydra try to kidnap a scientist by pretending to be protesting students?

It does make me think, did any Marvel hero ever go to a university campus, in those days, without a student protest breaking out?

I really have no recollection of this tale at all. Is this Torpedo the same Torpedo who turned up later in Marvel comics or is he a totally different one?

I think this issue is the conclusion to the tale, in which the rest of the FF turn up to help the Thing thwart the Skrulls' racket.

I'm struggling to remember how the FF actually manage to get there, bearing in mind it's set in another galaxy. Do they use Kurrgo's flying saucer which has been sitting on their roof, seemingly forgotten about, since issue #7?

No one with any sense can ever resist a scrap between the Hulk and the Thing, even though I've a feeling this is the first time the FF have met the Hulk in the pages of his own mag. If that's true, it does seem amazing that it took so long for it to happen.

Anyway, what matters is that Bruce Banner comes up with half a cure for him being the Hulk and sets off to the Baxter Building to share it with Reed Richards who's independently come up with the other half.

Needless to say, it's not long before the obligatory punch-up breaks out.

I've a feeling Lucifer gives some random bloke super-powers so he can defeat Iron Man, on his behalf.

Granted, I'm not totally sure who Lucifer actually is or why he's so determined to beat Iron Man.

It's the story we never thought we'd see; the death of Peter Parker.

Admittedly, we were right to think we'd never see it because we don't. In retrospect, it does seem remarkable that the Prowler's debut has managed to be spread over two issues, bearing in mind how totally outclassed by Spidey he is.

But who cares? It's a pleasing story and you can't help feeling sorry for poor Hobie and his window cleaning frustrations.

I genuinely have no memory of this story at all, and I know for a fact that I've read it.

I gather the Wrecker makes his senses-shattering return. Apart from that, I'm clueless.

But that's a very intriguing cover. It looks like someone's got a Jack Kirby image and done fairly major amounts of redrawing over it.

I don't think I've ever read this one but I would assume Magneto and the X-Men are still in the Savage Land.

I'm willing to bet the blurb is lying and that Magneto doesn't triumph.