The truth is out there and, this week in 1980, it was out in Suffolk, as that area experienced the dread event known as the Rendlesham Forest Incident when the sighting of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge led to the most celebrated UFO occurrence in Britain.
But not everyone was looking to the skies that week. Some of us were looking to our TVs.
That's because this night of that year was, quite predictably, New Year's Eve, and music lovers were celebrating the junction of 1980 and '81 by watching The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC Two.
The show, oft-touted as Top of the Pops for grown-ups, flung us into the new year, with a package of highlights from its most recent series.
Among acts featured were the Specials, Cozy Powell, Toyah, ZZ Top, the Selecter, Brand X, the Damned, the Roches, PIL, John Cooper Clarke, April Wine, the Skids, Yellow Magic Orchestra and the Talking Heads, all introduced by Anne Nightingale who, 40 years later, appears to still be working for BBC youth station Radio 1, despite now being 80.
I have some dim memory that Anne was present for at least part of the recording of Abbey Road and how appropriate, then, that, over on BBC One, that channel was showing the movie known to the world as Birth of the Beatles, a film I think I've still never seen.
Perhaps its greatest claim to greatness is that it starred John Altman as George Harrison.
Altman, of course, went on to greater notoriety as living nightmare Nasty Nick Cotton in the BBC's endless drearython Eastenders.
It's Innuendo Central, as She-Hulk tackles the Man-Thing. I assume this means she's still hanging around La Hacienda and teaching the people who live there a thing or two.
Clutch your swords tightly because Kull's up against some sort of giant iguana.
That is all I can reveal about this issue.
Kull thinks he's got problems? He doesn't know he's born, because Conan's still battling a tribe of vampires.
Not quite so anciently, King Arthur's banned his mystery guest from his castle but the bounder's taken off with Guinevere, so the king and Merlin set off to bring her back.
But, to do that, they'll have to get past a huge dragon.
Devil Dinosaur gets the better of the giant in the triceratops hat who's been beating up dinosaurs, but Moon-Boy convinces the titular T-Rex to let the giant live, in a climax that makes no sense at all.
Dr Strange, meanwhile, is in another dimension and trying to rescue Wong from that realm's very own sorcerer supreme.
Spider-Man and Ms Marvel unite to confront the stabby menace of Dr Strange's old nemesis Silver Dagger.
This is all I know of this issue.
The Enterprise makes its first contact with the vast but enigmatic space object that's been causing nothing but consternation wherever it goes.
The Micronauts scrape the bottom of the Adventure Barrel when they take on a lorry driver and a petty thief.
In other news, an Earth astronaut continues his John Carter style adventuring on an alien world, only to discover it was all a dream.
Or was it?
Poor old Adam Warlock, meanwhile, has disappeared without trace, with the book now streamlining itself down to just three strips.
Just three strips in one weekly comic? It's like a return to Marvel UK's glory days.
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28 comments:
Nothing much to say about these so I'll just wish all you regulars a happy 2021 and thank Steve for his ongoing tireless efforts to resurrect and preserve history and then get back to what is a large glass of tia maria with ice cream rather than ice as the coolant. Closest I can get to the dream team of Baileys and mint vienetta.
Where's the beef? Answer: it's here! This week, several long running stories, in UK weeklies, reach triumphant, or tragic, conclusions - to coincide with the year's end!
A highlight in 'Forces in Combat' #34 is ROM & Serpentyne's final battle. Whilst in Kull, Ridondo the minstrel gets rescued - finally! More conclusions are reached in 'Spider-man & Hulk Weekly' #408, in which Belladonna gets her comeuppance - at long last. Elsewhere, She-Hulk dukes it out with the Man-Thing! Nor does 'Team-up' # 16 disappoint, as Dr.Strange, Spidey & Ms.Marvel's clash with Silver Dagger comes to its ultimate end!
Let's get started. 'Forces in Combat' # 34.
Common themes? Both Kull & ROM battle reptiles. Last week, we left Kull rescuing Ridondo, who's being menaced by a serpent (seemingly), in the dungeon of a weird city. So why does the cover show Kull fighting a giant crested lizard, rather than a serpent? Aren't the writer & the artist communicating? Deliberate mistakes grab the attention of know alls - it turns out there is a giant crested lizard as well as a serpent! By the way, Kull clearly has Rudy Nebres doing the art chores - that got your attention, didn't it Sean?
The more Kull hacks at the serpent, the more Ridondo screams. Kull's mystery lady works out what's going on, and kicks over the fiery cauldron thingy that two hooded ones are messing with, and tells Kull to stop hacking, whereupon Ridondo's spirit leaves the serpent & returns to his body! Unfortunately, Ridondo appears dead, and the hooded ones run off, before Kull can kill them. The chief magician finds Kull & the mystery lady, and offers to bring Ridondo back to life. He also introduces Kull & his lady to a weird couple, named Norra & Gar-nak (actually, the hooded ones). This is like in 'Hart to Hart', when Jonathan & Jennifer meet another perfect couple, but who are "baddies"! Prior to this, the giant pair of eyes (see last week) gave this couple & their acolytes a vision, in which a giant crested lizard eats a chicken drum-stick! The page count ends with Norra leading Kull's mystery lady off to "freshen up", whilst her male pal & the chief magician want to talk to Kull about something important.
ROM is fighting his own reptile - Serpentyne - who covets ROM's neutralizer (which ROM doesn't have, anyway), and the sole right to revenge on the Dire Wraiths. The battle goes back & forth, Serpentyne tries to drown ROM, but the Spaceknight turns on his rocket pods, heating up the water, to Serpentyne's chagrin! I bet Ms.Marvel wishes she had that option, when Grotesk holds her underwater! Anyway, eventually, it's a tragic end, as Serpentyne is caught on his own petard, and finally comes to his senses, as he's dying - ROM empathizes, as he, too, is the last of his race! Next week, it's ROM's last 'Forces in Combat' story. Daft really - ROM's the comic's mainstay!
In Machine Man, the alliteration count's higher than ever before - and with Machine Man, that's saying something! Gears Garvin's making Machine Man a new face, because he looks like the Phantom of the Opera. At the same time, a new villain - Jack O'Lantern - is introduced. Jack goes around on a flying platform, like the Green Goblin or the Wizard, but it's called a pogo platform, and can also bounce! His weird costume is also a battle-suit, and he's training some goons - perhaps a bit like a low-budget Taskmaster. Sounds like a dud! I think this is Machine Man's final story, when it gets going - it seems, what with ROM nearing the end, too, that the rats are leaving the sinking ship!
Chamber of Horrors is better than usual. It starts with Gene Colan (apparently a tape recorder nut) addressing the reader, whilst sketching the story. The tale's about a misfit, who goes round causing accidents and disasters, the sounds of which he tapes. In the end, he's getting weird, unknown noises on the tapes, which turn out to be sounds of his own death, in front of a train, which happens in the future. Inspired by Dickens's famous horror short story, 'The Signal Man'? Probably not - there's hardly any parallel.
Fury is rubbish - 4 pages, and that's all it deserves. We watch Fury jump off his bike, and slow himself down on the sides of the gorge, then jump on to a passing 'plane! Like I said - garbage!
Phillip
'Team-up' # 16.
A good issue for Ms.Marvel fans - Carol appears twice in it! In Ms.Marvel's own title, it's a battle to the finish with Grotesk. Ms.Marvel's combat skills are overcoming Grotesk's superior strength, until Grotesk swings Carol around by her costume's scarf. This week, She-Hulk, too, has problems being swung around by her hair, so maybe it's a vulnerability that needs addressing! Hair was used as a weapon in Robert Browning's horrible poem, 'Porphyria's Lover' - but let's not get into that! The page count ends with Grotesk holding Carol underwater, unable to break his grip, whilst her psychiatrist boyfriend looks on in horror! A lot of help he is!
In Morbius, 'Lord I' & Morbius are attacked by a large gang of barbarians & androids. Morbius holds them off, whilst 'Lord I' finds a way into the rocket ship, that will return them to Earth.
Last week, in the Spidey & Dr.Strange team up, the 'Witch Queen of New Orleans' backstabbed Dr.Strange. But it wasn't her fault - she was "mystically enslaved" to Silver Dagger's will! Spidey & Ms.Marvel keep punching Silver Dagger, to distract him, so he can't cast any spells - well, it's an idea! You've heard of Dark Phoenix; you've heard of Dark Storm - well Dr.Strange has to face off against Dark Clea! What's more, Clea's mother is Dormammu's sister! If Dr.Strange ever marries Clea, imagine the seating plan at the wedding! Anyway, the 'Witch Queen of New Orleans' stabs Silver Dagger (she was just pretending to be under his control) in the back - literally, not metaphorically - and Clea returns to normal, and they all live happily ever after - no, Dr.Strange has some terrible presentiment... Just out of curiosity, stabbing a villain named Silver Dagger, in the back with a dagger, is that irony - or just coincidence? You decide!
Ant-man is just Scott Lang learning his powers, and how to control ants, whilst the reader learns that security guards have names of their own. Chris Claremont did this, so now it appears in every title! Ant-man wants to free his daughter from Dr.Sondheim's operating room.
Phillip
'Spider-man & Hulk Weekly' # 408
Bill Mantlo gets 2 stories - Hulk & Daredevil. Hulk first. The page count begins with Doc Samson using a tree trunk as a battering ram against the Hulk. Sasquatch tried this, and he's stronger than Doc Samson - so, needless to say, it doesn't work. Siren, the winged changeling woman, breaks up the fight, telling the pair their friends are in danger. Woodgod's beaten to a pulp, but Siren arrives in the nick of time, with Hulk & Samson, telling Leoninus the jig's up, as she knows he poisoned the centaur! Woodgod goes for Leoninus, whilst Doc Samson & the Hulk adopt that "I've got your back" pose, made famous by the covers of Daredevil # 123 & Thor # 316, defending against the two most dangerous evil chaqngelings - Leoninus's "heavies" - Elephantine, & black panther changeling!
In Daredevil, DD will easily beat the Gladiator & the Beetle, two foes who individually fought him to a standstill, in the past. This reminds me of Spidey easily beating Stegron & the Lizard, despite the Lizard being his toughest foe, in the Ditko era - but I digress! I read this Daredevil story in the 1979 Mighty World of Marvel Annual, and it looks much, much better in colour. Klaus Janson inks Sal's pencils, and Janson always looks much better in colour. Still, it's a good story.
In She-Hulk, it's a battle with the Man-Thing. She-Hulk can't hurt Ted Sallis, as her fists just sink into him, whilst he can throw her by her hair. Eventually, Man-Thing collapses, due to emotional overload. The She-Hulk feels cheated of her victory, as she couldn't lay a glove on him - so to speak. Richard Rory turns up again, discussing his land deal & the Hacienda, whilst Jen Walters gives a knowing glance to the reader!
Spider-man gets 14 pages - far more than any other title. Marie Severin & Bruce Patterson are still on the art chores. Characters are reading newspapers, the headlines of which are gags at the expense of Chaykin, Austin, Wiacek & Abel. Spidey thinks Belladonna is Desiree Vaughn-Pope, but actually it's her sister, Narda Ravanna. Narda plays Spidey & Roderick Kingsley off against each other. Meanwhile, the new Prowler, whom Narda double-crossed, corners her, and she plays for time. Spidey arrives in the nick of time, and rescues Narda, but her goons attack him. Spidey defeats them all, and leaves Narda & the goons, gift wrapped in webbing, and calls Sergeant Snider!
I thought Spider-man & Hulk's letters page was all fake, but this week it prints a letter that really slags off the comic. Did they just make this up to balance things out?
I'm not wishing you all a Happy New Year yet, as I'm giving M.P. the chance to do it first, in a suitably cool manner!
Phillip
My comic book highlights of 1980:
1.) Marvel Superheroes Monthly - Jim Shooter's first run on the Avengers beat anything else.
2.) X-Men - The Dark Phoenix Saga
3.) Savage Action - If US comics were a single malt, British comics were a blend - and this was a great blend of characters.
4.) Marvel digest pocket books - Spidey #2, #4 & #5 - 52 pages at a low price, and they fitted perfectly into your little hands!
5.) Thor # 296 & # 299 - Odin sacrificed an eye to access the well of knowledge, leading to an exploration of Wagner's Ring Saga - excellent Pollard covers.
6.) Marvel Two-in-One # 64 - The Thing & the Stingray - the Perez art seemed really cool at the time - the Serpent Crown was a mini-epic.
7.) Avengers # 196 - The Taskmaster - the Avengers' quality had dropped since Jim Shooter left, but the Perez art seemed really cool at the time - see above - particularly Taskmaster using multiple strikes. Perez cut his teeth in 'Deadly Hands of Kung Fu' - and this pedigree shows!
8.) The Byrne cap would be high up, but I read it in 1981, not 1980!
Phillip
Wow! It's hard to believe the Rendlesham Forest Incident was 40 years ago! However, I can easily believe the arse-end of Marvel UK, as evidenced by these comics, was 40 years ago. It's all a bit painful really.
Anyway, I hope you have a great New Year, Steve, and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2021.
Thanks, Dangermash. :)
Phillip, thanks for yet another mighty summary.
I had that Mighty World of Marvel annual too. I was eating a turkey while reading it for the first time. It's amazing the things that lodge in one's mind.
After all these years, I still don't know what ROM's Neutralizer actually is.
My 1980s highlight was definitely reading the New X-Men reprints in Rampage.
Cerebus, I can't wait till I get round to summarising what each week's issues of Muppet Babies and My Little Pony are up to.
To all of you, a Happy New Year and may it be less "eventful" than 2020.
Thanks, Steve! Happy New Year to you, too!
Phillip
Steve thanks for a your dedication and efforts this year!
You've writing has brought me a lot of laughter during an otherwise not-so-humorous year.
Hope you can one day join us at C2E2 in Chicago!
Well, as I sit here on a cold, snowy evening... and take in a few minutes of TV... will it be Peaky Binders, Doc Martin, or Murder in Paradise... Seems funny that they are all UK productions, lol.
Wow, that "Whistle Test" offered quite a lineup. I'd have watched, had the US networks been inclined to broadcast it.
Best wishes to all here at Steve's house for a safer, happier New Year!
I wish you a very happy new year, Steve, and all my fellow followers of Steve Does Comics.
Thanks guys, and you too Steve, for making this a cool place to hang around in.
I think 2021 might well surprise us, only this time maybe in a good way.
"Hope is the thing with feathers."
-Emily Dickinson, 1861
Cheers!
M.P.
Thanks, MP, Red and Charlie, and a happy new year to you too.
Happy new year everyone.
And congrats to British readers on finally getting their Brexit - thanks for the entertainment over the last 4+ years (which I fully expect to continue for some time to come ;).
The remarkable thing about the covers here is how uninviting they are, despite three of them using Michael Golden artwork. That takes some seriously poor design work.
Hard to believe a supposedly professional publisher would go with those exploding captions - like the ones above all the title logos (except Future Tense) - and that terrible letraset lettering.
-sean
Yeah, Rudy Nebres was - and so far as I know still is - brilliant, Phillip.
I don't actually need much convincing to pick up an old Marvel Kull comic, as between the Severins, Mike Ploog, various Filipinos and John Bolton the character was pretty well served by Marvel (at least by artists).
But all the same, that Forces In Combat cover still somehow manages to be fairly unappealing.
-sean
Steve, when you have a moment, is there any chance you could delete my last comment? It seems a bit redundant now (I know, I know, I should get into the 21st century and use an account, so I could do it myself in future).
Thanks
-sean
Speaking of Rudy Nebres, when Joe Orlando and Carmine Infantino went to the Philippines in '71 scouting for artistic talent (or so it says in Wikipedia) they found a gold mine.
We all know the names. I got a theory that as kids, these guys grew up reading comics that G.I.'s left laying around. Like so many of the kids in post-war U.K. were transported from their sometimes dismal situation by American rock and blues and went on to become great artists themselves, these kids in post-war Philippines (which was utterly ravaged) found inspiration in American comics. There probably wasn't much else to grab a kid's imagination.
There almost seems to be a commonality between the different styles of these Filipino artists, but I can't put my finger on it.
Maybe it was more realistic and less exaggerated, I dunno. And darkly moody, maybe?
Whatever it was, it was employed to devastating effect in comics like Moore's Swamp Thing.
M.P.
MP - given you mentioned Brits and R&B...
I was watching German TV and there was a cool interview with Bill Wyman of The Stones. He says he got his inspiration listening to the USA's Armed Forces Radio Network in West Germany (AFN!) when he was stationed in the RAF in Germany in late 50s. Little Richard, et al. is what AFN was playing.
I'm surprised the generals, as Odin-like as they were, didn't prohibit the broadcasting of the R&B! I remember as an officer we were trained to be on the lookout for soldiers who parted their hair in the middle and / or drank Grape Nehi!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1444990595613153
MP - same here! I always found the artists from the Philippines to draw their figures more fleshy, muscular in a Michael Angelo sort of way.
Steve - FWIW I had to submit my comments a few times before they would go through.
I got this warning box that said, "Please be advised that due to Brexit negotiations goods entering or leaving the UK may be subject to increased tariffs beginning 1 January 2021."
Bloody hell mate... what does this mean to Ole Charlie???!!!
Do I have to pay a tax to play in the SDC sandbox now???
Yes, Charlie, I'm afraid that, from now on, you're going to have to show your passport and visa whenever you want to read a post.
I blame the late Hugo Chavez, Charlie.
Fortunately I hear your president will stop the Venezuelan-backed steal before the inauguration, so this brilliant Anglo-American trade deal that Boris Johnson's government has been negotiating should still happen and sort the situation out for you.
-sean
Even from the grave he bedevils us.
M.P.
Sean - no disagreement - the covers are weak. Michael Golden had two modes - outstanding (e.g. ROM vs Jack of Hearts) & poor (e.g. an awful Brotherhood of Evil Mutants vs Avengers story I remember.) In fact, it was like two Michael Goldens existed, separately! Kull attacking Barney the Purple Dinosaur is probably the best of the covers!
You could have also passed comment on Team up advertising Fantastic Four, when it isn't in the comic!
Just as I've started writing these comments, the blog has updated, so it's all now redundant! So comments on Nebres, et al, are all now...for another time!
Phillip
No worries Phillip - I now know the FF weren't in that Team-Up! (Yep, some of us are sad enough to keep up with the comments even after a new post appears)
-sean
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