Forty years ago today - June 1980.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.

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It is time, once more, for us to plunge down the plughole of History and discover what delights may be found in the U-Bend of Nostalgia.

After messing around, doing pretty much nothing for the last two issues, the Avengers finally decide to invade the psychiatric institution that's holding the Wasp, Ant-Man and Yellowjacket captive...

...only to discover they're up against the Taskmaster, a strangely annoying villain who knows how to counter the fighting style of any hero.

I suspect that won't do him much good when Thor hits him over the head with his hammer.

Conan's still in the city of the little people and having trouble with electricity, in his attempts to smash the king in the face.

Needless to say, no level of voltage has been invented that can stop Hyboria's finest.

This story revolves around a set of fake ears.

It's panic-stations-a-go-go, as Captain Barracuda gets his hands on Namor's magnificent trumpet and insists on blowing it, in order to unleash giant sea monsters upon New York.

I believe he does this to create a distraction while he robs the city's banks.

Needless to say, the Sub-Mariner can't allow that kind of misdemeanor to go unpunished and, so, teams up with the Fantastic Four to put a stop to it.

Determined to find a suitable place for Jarella's people to dwell, the Hulk takes on the Gardener who's determined to maintain the exclusivity of the only habitable area left on the whole planet.

The Gardener may have the Power Cosmic - and a soul gem - but even that's not enough to thwart the will of the Hulk.

If I remember right, the Titanium Man's trying to get back in the good books of his former Soviet masters and has, inevitably, decided the best way to do that is to beat up Iron Man.

As always, the titanium terror proves woefully inadequate for the task.

The Black Cat's still being a nuisance and stealing stuff, left, right and centre.

Anyway, it turns out she's a demented Spider-Man fan who's constructed a shrine to him, in her home.

It's the return of the early Spider-Man foe who, possibly, very few people even remembered before he reappeared in this tale.

Despite having retired from his short-lived career of crime, he, I think, responds to the death of his son, by going on a homicidal rampage that only the nation's favourite shield-slinger can stop.

Quite how he stops it, I don't recall.

Do you remember when Stan Lee would leave speech balloons blank on a page and leave it to you The Reader to decide what should be in them?

Well, here's your chance to do something similar because, instead of me saying what happens in this issue, I'm going to invite you to do it.

This, of course, has nothing to do with me not having a clue what's going on in it.

From what I can remember, a man who isn't Thor but is Thor gets into a duel to the death with some bloke or other, over some woman, while Thor and Odin watch. And it's all a flashback.

Or something.

The Hellfire Club's only gone and done it. Its messing about with Jean Grey's mind has unleashed the Dark Phoenix - and now the whole universe is in danger.

I hope they learn their lesson from all this.

I know I have.

Spidey gets dragged into the schemes and intrigues of the Fashion Industry, as the woman known as Belladonna sets out to gain her revenge upon a designer who's in the habit of stealing other designers' ideas.