June 18th, 1980 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

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

***

Do you ever feel like crying?

Don McLean did.

He felt like it in June 1980.

He felt it so much that an entire nation could do nothing but sympathise and propel his track of that name to the very top of the UK singles chart in this very week, forty years ago, giving the smooth-larynxed songster his second British Number one, eight years after his track Vincent had also hit the pinnacle.

But what of the mags put out in that period by Marvel's UK offshoot? Was whatever they were up to enough to reduce us to tears?

The Fourth Doctor's still up against the Time Witch, and Brimo notices her power is draining.

Franky, I don't have a clue who Brimo is.

This tale features a character called Sharon Davies. I'm assuming she's not the Sharon Davies who won a swimming silver medal in the 1980 Olympics and went on to become a well-known British TV presenter.

In the latest adventures of the Daleks, the Emperor's triumphed over his challenger Zeg and, now, the tin-covered tyrants are conducting experiments in time travel. The universe can only tremble at such a revelation.

We get a tale reprinted from Chamber of Darkness #1 in which a scientist travels back to Medieval times, only to find himself getting laughed at.

And we finish off with an Alan Moore tale in which a junior Cyberleader's feeling poorly.

I know little of this issue's contents but it seems the Hulk's still battling the Gardener.

Meanwhile, the Frightful Four's plot to invade the Baxter Building, by getting the Trapster to pretend he's Spider-Man, is still in full swing.

Apparently, Spider-Woman's fighting a knight who's adrift in time, which must be quite an annoyance to him.

I think things are still going off on Hoth.

And Man-Wolf's still having adventures in Space.

We're also given A Martian Odyssey: Part One, reprinted from the first issue of Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction. I can say nothing of what transpires within this tale.

And, lastly, this week's tale of the Watcher is The Things From Dimension X, a Lee/Heck masterpiece in which the sculptures on Mount Rushmore come to life and thwart an alien invasion.

Had Stan and Don had a bit too much to drink that day?

Hot on the heels of rescuing a homicidal maniac from the Germans in the last story, the Howling Commandos are now in the process of liberating a captured British scientist from them this issue.

Someone else who might feel like he needs a good rescuing is Wulf the Briton who's seen-off the challenge of Rome's greatest gladiator.

But now there are lions loose on the streets!

Having said that, Wulf doesn't seem to care. He's too busy looking for Flavius Maximus.

Not that I actually know who Flavius Maximus is.

I'm assuming he's the local bad guy.

I've no doubt he'll soon be feeling the sharp end of Wulf's blade.

Elsewhere, ROM's in the process of foiling a bank robbery.

And Kull's seeing off an airborne attack on Atlantis in a tale drawn by Alfredo Alcala and reprinted from Kull the Destroyer #18.

On top of all this, you could win eight televisions!