The Marvel Lucky Bag - May 1971.

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

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You know what? There are days when all I do, from dawn to dusk, is rise up out of the floor, manically playing my pipe organ.

And, fortunately, I'm not alone because the Abominable Dr Phibes likes to do the same thing.

And the time when he first started liking to do it was May 1971.

For that was the month in which the movie which bore his name was first unleashed upon cinemas.

That May also saw the release of Escape from the Planet of the Apes, a film which I always feel is terribly underrated.

Then again, I always feel Battle for the Planet of the Apes is underrated too. To this day, I've never understood the hate for it.

Over on the UK singles chart, the month was initially dominated by Dave and Ansel Collins' Double Barrel but that was almost instantly deposed by Dawn's Knock Three Times which spent the rest of the month at Number One.

I'm pretty sure there's an issue of Amazing Spider-Man in which Aunt May declares her love for the works of Tony Orlando and Dawn. So, I'm sure she'll have been delighted by that development.

The UK album chart, meanwhile, kicked off with the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers in top spot - and it looked like it was going to be there for the whole month but, just at the very end of May, it was dethroned by Paul and Linda McCartney's exercise in delirious creativity that the world knows as Ram.

Maximus is causing trouble but I'm not sure what kind of trouble, as I've never read this one.

I'm assuming, though, that it ultimately leads into the events of the Kree/Skrull War.

The Black Widow also has trouble in her life but, yet again, I don't know of what nature.

I do know we get to see the first appearance of Eddie.

No, I don't have a clue who Eddie is.

It's the comic which leaves you in no doubt that Moomba's here!

Not that you could fail to notice, judging by that cover.

What's going on is an explorer discovers that a bunch of wooden statues are an advance guard of aliens, led by the dreaded Moomba.

Fortunately, magic saves the day and the Earth is rescued.

In this month's other story, a neglected comic book artist has a chance to achieve fame and fortune.

But, of course, there's a catch...

It's here! The first issue of the magazine no lover of loincloths would go without, as Savage Tales #1 hits the spinner racks!

First, we get Barry Smith's adaptation of The Frost Giant's Daughter.

Then there's The Fury of the Femizons which I think is a Lee/Romita tale about a warrior woman who discovers love conquers all.

Next, we get what I believe to be the first-ever appearance of the Man-Thing.

After that, there's Black Brother!

I don't have a clue what that's about - and, with a title like that, the mind boggles - but it's, apparently, the only ever appearance by the character.

Anyway, it's brought to us by the epic team of Denny O'Neil, Gene Colan and Bill Everett.

And we finish off with Night of the Looter in which a Mary Jane Watson lookalike turns up in the Savage Land, looking to steal Ka-Zar's Vibranium, with the aid of a tank and her majestic rack.

This is the Big One, and a pivotal moment in the history of comics.

Not only does Namor get his "marriage" to Llyra instantly annulled but the foul machinations of Attuma get Lady Dorma killed. Can comic books get any more tragic?

It's the only monster ever to be named after an Albanian king, as Zog returns to life.

Personally, I didn't even know he'd been ill.

In fact, Zog turns out to be harmless. This we discover after a scientist decides to free him from the block of ice he's trapped in, in order to show people they're foolish to be afraid of him.

I have to say that's one hell of a risk that scientist was willing to take with everybody else's lives.

After that, an art thief pays a high price for his criminality, in a tale called The Painting.

Next, a space explorer sells the seeds of an alien plant - only to discover they're in the habit of spawning monsters!

And, lastly but not leastly, we get the tale of a man who needs money for his brother's medical bills and, so, agrees to be a guinea pig for a scientist who wants to test out a shrinking ray.

I think we can spot that one's not going to end happily.

In our main story, when he's killed by lightning, explorers discover African witch doctor Bombu is actually an alien.

Next, a man adjusts his TV and finds it's now showing live footage of a battle between two sets of aliens on another world.

Except it isn't. It's actually a fight between two sets of ants, right outside his window.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that doesn't sound like the greatest story of all time.

After that, a man convinces his wife to use magic to become young again.

Having done so, she promptly takes advantage of her regained youth, by running off with another man.

Finally, a scientist sets out to discover if his time machine sends things into the past or into the future.

The problem is that, when he reaches his destination, he can't tell which of those it is, as the primitive wasteland he encounters could be either.