May 6th, 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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There aren't many things in this world that revolutionise the way we consume media.

And the videodisc certainly didn't.

However, on this night in 1981, BBC One's The Risk Business was looking at the device's impending launch and asking if it was really going to catch on.

It didn't.

Straight after that, Sportsnight was looking forward to something that certainly had caught on.

And that was the FA Cup. For we were mere days away from the competition's 100th final, contested by Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. My awesome mastery of maths tells me that means this year's final will be the 140th. 

When it came to music, the UK singles chart had a brand new Number One. And that was Adam and the Ants' highwaymantastic Stand and Deliver.

There was also good news for the band when it came to the British album chart, as Kings of the Wild Frontier still held sway on that listing.

What's that, Marvel UK? It's weeks since you last launched a new comic? So, It must be time for another one?

But this one's a book with a difference. In a stunning volte-face from the days when Dez was in charge, this publication contains just two strips; Daredevil and The Black Panther.

And it's not just any old adventure for Wakanda's finest. It's the start of Jack Kirby's King's Solomon's Frog, the tale that outraged me as a youth, after I'd become accustomed to Don McGregor's vision of the character.

But the issue's main tale deals with the first-ever clash between Daredevil and the Jester, an encounter Marvel UK had first reprinted in the mid-1970s. 

I do wish I'd known this book existed, at the time. With its concentration on just two strips, it would have given me hope for the future of Marvel's weeklies.

Spidey and the Daughters of the Dragon combine to battle that bloke whose name I can never remember. The one who's, basically, an evil Iron Fist.

In his own strip, the web-spinner's set to trade blows with the Sub-Mariner who's busy wrecking surface-dwellers' vessels and blathering on about war, as always.

In the Hulk's strip, I would assume Bruce Banner's still trying to get to the bottom of what's going on with The Presence and Dr Phobos in Siberia.

It's the least likely super battle ever, as the Dazzler tackles Dr Doom.

Apparently, Doom's out to steal the Latverian Crown Jewels from where they're on display at the United Nations.

I do have to say it, if Doomy loses to the Dazzler, it really is time for him to hang up his cloak.

The star of the book, meanwhile, has been chained to the front of an oil tanker, by Mr Hyde and Batroc who've decided to use him as a hostage in their extortion plot against New York.

Elsewhere, Iron Man's taking on a zillion-and-one super-villains in Justin Hammer's secret base.

And the Defenders are back from Asgard and about to engage with the return of Lunatik.

Baron Karza's back!

But he only seems to have two legs. Didn't he have four, at one point?

Wasn't he some sort of cross between Darth Vader and a horse?

We also get adventures for Conan and the Star Trek gang but I don't know what adventures.

It's the one where the Fantastic Four must stop a giant robot, thus tying-up loose ends from that cancelled giant robot comic whose title escapes me.

Meanwhile, the Watcher's still asking what would have happened had Dr Strange become a disciple of Dormammu.

And Thor's up to something but I don't know what. Whether he's disposed of the Grey Gargoyle's space pirates yet is a thing I can neither confirm nor deny.

It's a Paul Gulacy cover which, dare one suggest, isn't amongst his best work?

Amongst this month's savage actioning, we get adventures for Blade, the Black Widow and the Punisher.

We also get the arrival of a column called Inside Comics which sounds intriguing. No doubt, by the time we've finished reading it, we'll have far greater knowledge of the art form and be all set, ready to forge a career in the industry we all love.

Not too long after the mag's Tom Baker dedicated issue, we get one devoted to his predecessor and the Unit years.

And I'm not sure I can say much beyond that.

Blow me down with a feather because this issue also includes the Inside Comics column.

We also get news, reviews and a comic mart, not to mention a distinctive Howard Chaykin cover.

This month's main story appears to be the Treasure of Trancos which the cover declares to be one of the most famous Conan epics ever. I must confess I've never heard of it. I'm not sure if the fault is mine or the story's.

Regardless, this, like Savage Action, boasts of being one of Marvel's New Direction monthlies. I am intrigued by this description, even though I don't know what it means.

Thanks to Judo Jim Starlin, the Avengers, Warlock and Captain Marvel take on the forces of Thanos - in outer space!

We also get more of that Inside Comics column.

Luke and Leia are on some planet or other, being menaced by a huge, shaggy beast.

Killraven's still in the Herb Trimpe era and about to have trouble with someone called The Warlord. Is that the man with the metal arm and the bionic eye?

This would appear to be the story in which Killraven dumps the Zardoz look and adopts the outfit we more usually associate him with.

And it's exciting times for all fans of Ray Harryhausen, as we get pretty much the whole of Clash of the Titans adapted in just two pages of artwork. It has to be the most efficient comic book adaptation of all time.

Frantic tackles Benson and Apocalypse Now, as well as, seemingly, Australia.

You just can't get away from Thanos, this month. Not only is he taking on the Avengers in Marvel Superheroes, he's also tackling the Thing and Spider-Man in Rampage. He must be the hardest-working villain in the cosmos.

And, as if to prove it, the Titanic fiend's out to extinguish the sun, as a gift to Death.

I predict he will fail in this ambition.

In the X-Men's strip, believing his mutant charges to be dead, Professor X looks back to the events which led to him creating the group in the first place.

It's a dramatic cover for Britain's leading sci-fi mag, as Starburst reviews the head-exploding excitement of Scanners.

Margot Kidder provides an allegedly controversial interview.

And we get a history of the Bond flicks, a look at Popeye the Movie and The Bride of Frankenstein.

Unless I miss my ever-loving guess, this issue, we get the first-ever meeting between the Hulk and Hercules, after the Hulk interferes with the train on which Herc's riding.

I do remember that the tale takes place during the middle of the multi-part Thor epic in which Hercules is tricked into taking up residence in Hades, by Pluto who's disguised as a film producer, and that Herc's on the train because he's en route to that fateful meeting.

Seeing as Hercules guested in both Thor and the Hulk books at the same time, I do wonder if Stan was considering giving the Olympian his own series and was using the strips of existing Marvel stars to establish him with readers?

I don't know much about the contents of this one but I do believe Man-Thing's up against the Foolkiller.

On second thoughts, that seems like it'd be quite a one-sided fight. Therefore, I'll assume it's more likely that it's Richard Rory who's up against the Foolkiller.

Barry Smith takes a rest, as Gil and Roy deliver Conan vs the Gods of Bal-Sagoth, a tale which sees Conan and Fafnir fight a bunch of demons, on an island, then do a runner when its volcano erupts.

If I were Conan, I'd sue that travel agent.

It's just occurred to me; is the existence of this book the reason Savage Sword of Conan no longer claims to be Britain's Number One Sword and Sorcery comic? After all, it might not be good marketing for Marvel to imply this one is second-best.

That cover tells me we've reached the story in which the Silver Surfer decides to unify mankind...

...by becoming a threat to it.

I'm not convinced this is the greatest plan of all time.

Fortunately, the Fantastic Four and the Watcher are here to sort it all out.

Not to mention the Sonic Shark Missile.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for us, we get an epic clash between the FF, Thor, Spider-Man and Daredevil when the team becomes convinced Daredevil's actually Dr Doom in disguise!

Spider-Man faces his least deadly threat yet, as the Enforcers return.

If I remember right, the Enforcers and Sandman have abducted the Human Torch - and only Spidey can save him.

I can offer no specifics about the contents of this issue but have no doubts at all that heartbreak is everywhere to be found.

It's all go for Iron Man, as he finds himself trapped in the lair of the Mandarin.

I'm fairly certain this is his first encounter with the ring-happy Fu Manchu wannabe who's so confident of victory that he can't even be bothered to get up out of his chair to achieve it.

Elsewhere, Thor takes on the menace of the Carbon-Copy Man and, for some reason, the book prints the first page of the story twice.

Is this a mistake by the publishers? Or is it a clever joke based on the fact the villain of the piece is called the Carbon-Copy Man?

And will we ever know the answer to that question?

The X-Men graduate from Professor X's academy but they have little time to celebrate, as Cyclops announces he's quitting, and the Blob is back to do whatever it is he's out to do.

Not only that but, in the issue's other tale, the gang have to tackle Unus the untouchable.

I'm pretty sure both these adventures end with the villain of the piece retiring from his career in crime and deciding he'd rather just go back to everyday life, which is quite an unusual way to end a super-hero battle and one I approve of.