January 14th, 1981 - 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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You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one because this week in 1981 saw John Lennon hit the top of the UK singles chart, thanks to his venerable track Imagine.

But what was that at Number Two?

Why, it was Adam and his cheeky Ants with Ant Music. Could a new musical phenom be about to assert itself upon this brave new decade?

Not on the UK album chart, it couldn't, as, yet again, ABBA were still sitting pretty, thanks to their seemingly invulnerable LP Super Trouper.

Moon-Boy and Devil Dinosaur find themselves up against hostile aliens - and it's not going well.

Dr Strange is still trying to rescue Wong and Clea from another dimension's sorcerer supreme.

King Arthur's battling to rescue Guinevere from the Prince of Darkness - and chops the blighter's head off, which you would have thought should mean mission accomplished but I have a feeling it won't be.

Conan's in the Vale of Lost Women and having to rescue one of them. Whether he gives the other lost women a map and directions to the bus stop, I have no idea.

And, finally, in this week's tale of Asgard, a youthful Thor's getting bashed about by a youthful giant, thanks to his reckless over-reliance on his youthful hammer.

That is why I never place too much faith in my hammer.

I rely on my Black & Decker Workmate.

Thor would get into so much less trouble if he took a Black & Decker Workmate with him into battle.

Mere days ago, I was talking about the Smuggler appearing in Spidey's American book. And here is in his British one.

Not only that but it looks like the Hulk's scrap with Thor, that I talked about in Sunday's post, is also reprinted here.

Rather less topically, Daredevil's still trying to prevent the Beetle and Gladiator from gaining control of a train.

ROM would appear to be fighting the American airforce on a rather appealing cover that, nonetheless, probably needs to give us a closer view of the battling 'bot.

That is all I know of this issue and its contents.

Mr Spock discovers V'ger's looking for the answer to life, the universe and everything.

Biotron's up against the Molecule Man, who's a noticeable step up from the quality of foe the Micronauts have been confronting lately.

On Counter-Earth, Warlock argues with the High Evolutionary about whether the planet should be destroyed, before going on to fight an evil pigeon.

The Man-Wolf is clearly sending his best agents on these missions.

The Fantastic Four must contend with those dreaded space Vikings at the North Pole. You know, there are times when writing these posts starts to feel like Groundhog Day.

Elsewhere, we find out what would have happened had Aunt May gained spider powers.

And the real Spider-Man teams up with the Black Widow in a story that may or may not be the one in which she's lost her memory and thinks she's a schoolteacher.