December 24th, 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. 

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There's no one quite like Grandma.

I know that because a nightmarish gang of children waylaid me and told me so.

Then they kept on telling me, over and over again, for three nightmarish minutes until I could never hope to forget.

When did they tell me this?

1980.

That's right, it was forty years ago this week that St Winifred's School Choir secured the coveted UK Christmas Number One, by seeing-off various John Lennon songs, with their paean to grandmothers everywhere.

Clearly, music lovers were going to have to take refuge in the UK album chart instead.

Over there, things were far safer, as ABBA's Super Trouper retained the top spot it had been hogging for months; again, doing so by seeing off the challenge of John Lennon.

ITV, meanwhile, was in the process of seeing-off the challenge of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer whose animated special they aired for the final time until its return to their shores in 2020. Forty years without showing a Christmas classic? Are these people barbarians?

But, hold on a minute. What's that I said? "Christmas?" But doesn't that mean there must be annuals?

All I know about this one is it costs £1.95 and has Spider-Man in it.

I'm assuming, from the cover, the Green Goblin's also there.

And, looking at that cover, I wonder if it's the Harry Osborn drug story in which Gobby deprives our hero of his power to cling to walls?

I do believe this one reprints Marvel's adaptation of the movie. Which will, I'm sure, be a Christmas morning thrill for anyone who's not already encountered it in the regular mag.

The Fantastic Four haven't been able to carry a Marvel UK mag in years but, every Yuletide, they still get their own annual.

This time, they give us a reprint of the team's first-ever meeting with the X-Men - the one in which the Puppet Master and Mad Thinker team-up to perplex both teams and trick them into fighting each other.

It also features the FF vs Madrox the Multiple Man, from back in the days when Medusa was a member.

As if that wasn't enough, we also get a text story that involves the FF venturing into space to carry out a rescue mission of someone or other.

Perhaps most intriguingly, the book features an inner-cover splash page of the Avengers facing up to a decidedly Cosmic-looking Red Skull, as drawn by Gene Colan, which is an image I've never seen before and am hard-pressed to guess for which occasion it would have been created.

In this one, we're given the X-Men's very earliest appearance, the one in which they have to thwart Magneto's attempts to lay hands on America's nuclear missiles.

Ms Marvel teams-up with the Vision to prevent radioactive cargo from doing radioactive-cargo-type stuff, though why people in the Marvel universe fear radiation, when all it ever seems to do is give them super-powers, I've no idea.

We also get that story in which the statue of the Black Knight, from the Defenders, shows up at the Avengers Mansion and starts fighting the residents. Exactly why it does that, I can't recall.

The Hulk may have to share his weekly book with Spider-Man but that doesn't stop him getting his own annual.

Sadly, from that cover, it clear it's the adventures of the TV incarnation we're being treated to, rather than his comic book equivalent.

It's the big one. Electro, a man who's never managed to beat either Spider-Man or Daredevil, decides it's a great idea to try and fight them both at once.

I think I can see a flaw in his thinking

Having said that, this time, he does have Blizzard on his side...

As if that weren't enough on the webster's plate; in solo action, he's having trouble with Belladonna's attempt to gas him and the new Prowler to death.

It looks like ROM's still battling the nightmare menace of Serpentyne.

And, if the cover's to be believed, someone else has to endure the horror of the thing on the roof.

At this time of year, it's probably Rudolph. You don't mess with Rudolph.

This is the second mention of Rudolph in this post. You can tell it's that time of the year again.

The crew of the Enterprise are having their first encounter with the big thing in space that used to be a Voyager probe. You guessed it; Marvel's adaptation of the slow-motion picture is rolling right along.

The Micronauts are still battling to prevent Plantman from taking over a flower shop.

Seriously.

There's a strange strip about an astronaut who finds himself on a John Carter type world where no one seems to have a warm welcome for him.

To wrap it all up, Adam Warlock's finally remembered who he is and decides to teach Rhodan the super-rat a valuable lesson.

There's a giant, in a triceratops hat, blundering around the prehistoric realm, looking for dinosaurs to chin. 

Obviously, this is a job for Devil Dinosaur.

In a slightly later epoch, Conan's still trying to defeat a nearby tribe of vampires.

In a much more modern epoch, Dr Strange is on an even stranger world and finally reunited with Clea. But will either of them live long enough to celebrate?

King Arthur finally sees through the mystery knight who's staying in his castle, and orders him to leave. However, the knight responds by kidnapping Guinevere.

I'm very proud of myself that I managed to spell Guinevere right without having to Google it.

And, last but not least, this week's tale of Asgard sees Heimdall in sensational solo action, as he manages to fail to spot a fairy sneaking into the mystical realm. Will Odin forgive him?

Judging by all the strips it contains, this is a packed comic.

But what it's packed with, I couldn't say, other than it seems Ant-Man's now also being crammed into its pages. Just how many super-heroes can you fit into one book? It looks like we're about to find out.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, it's a certain magical time of year, and a certain magical night, that makes me want to put on those Slade and Wizzard classics and sing along with them until I'm dizzy.

So, I shall wish you a merry Christmas or whatever festival or holiday it is that you do or don't celebrate, and I hope that, whatever it is, you have a good one.