January 9th, 1980 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

Have you ever felt swindled?

I know I have.

I felt swindled on this very evening in 1980 when BBC Two was showing the 1940s cinema serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.

Despite its title, Flash Gordon at no point in it conquers the Universe. How was I going to ever overcome such disappointment?

I wasn't.

I still haven't.

Still, at least I could take solace in the pages of that week's Marvel UK output.

That cover may hint at excitement but the truth is that, inside, Luke's complaining that he feels bored since he destroyed the Death Star and now has no one to kill.

Charlie-27 certainly has someone to kill. Granted, it's just a computer because, for some reason, it's attacking him and endangering Vance Astro. Can the Jovial Jovian stop it in time?

Of Deathlok's affairs, I know nothing this week but I do know our tale of the Watcher covers events when another planet's about to smash into the Earth.

Needless to say, everyone's convinced we're all going to die - except for one man who has faith that God will save us all.

And then it turns out it's not a planet. It's an alien spaceship, here on a mission of friendship and we're not going to die.

At this point, the man starts telling everyone else off for not having faith, like he did, and they all agree that he was right and they should have listened to him, even though he wasn't right and there was no reason at all to listen to him.

The Hulk and Goldbug are in the Andes, meeting the enigmatic "They" for the first time.

Still trapped at insect size, Ant-Man and the Wasp have to survive an attack by an angry kitten.

When you write sentences like that, you suddenly realise why Ant-Man's strip never took off.

The Black Knight and Captain Britain are about to set off in search of King Arthur.

Loki decides to recruit the Silver Surfer, in order to get him to fight Thor.

And, now that the Red Rajah's been defeated, the Defenders reel with shock as Dr Strange announces he's quitting the gang.

Not only that but so are Luke Cage and the Red Guardian!

How can the non-team possibly survive such a threat to their existence?

It's good news for Charlie, as the Doctor finally makes the front cover of his own comic.

My information about this week's contents is sketchy but who cares about that? All that matters is we have a chance to win one of those horizontal Kodak cameras which took terrible pictures and were all the rage in the very early 1980s.

Devoid of his super-powers, Spidey's trailing the man who killed Uncle Ben, all the way back to Aunt May's old house. Can our hero possibly stop him, without his special abilities?

Elsewhere, Iron Man's up against the Super-Adaptoid in his brand new - and far more exciting - incarnation as the skeletal Cyborg.

Of the other strips featured in this issue, I can say nothing.