The Marvel Lucky Bag - October 1981.

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

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October 1981 was no time to be faint-hearted.

For, horror undreamt of was about to enter your life, thanks to the release of Sam Raimi's low-budget classic The Evil Dead. How we gasped as a man with a chainsaw took on the nightmare threat of a stroppy tree and more.

But it wasn't the only important release of limited budget, that month. The world's less discriminating cinemas also saw the release of Galaxy of Terror which may not be as celebrated as The Evil Dead but it did employ a man called James Cameron as its production designer and second-unit director. And there are those who claim his later film Aliens owed more than a little to the contents of that movie.

But, also, appropriately, with it being October, the month saw the release of Halloween II,  which was nice news for people who like that kind of thing.

The Fantastic Four get their 16th annual - and it's a surprise for some of us to see it comes courtesy of the pencils of Steve Ditko who not only draws the cover but also the solitary tale contained within.

The Ed Hannigan written epic features someone called Dragon Lord.

And if that's not dragony enough for you, it also contains Dragon Man and the Dragon Riders.

Sadly, it doesn't contain any Fin Fang Foom.

And I don't actually know who Dragon Lord is.

I'm assuming he can control dragons.

But not Fin Fang Foom.

Gasp as this year's Marvel Team-Up annual gives us the return of the Purple Man!

I don't have a clue what occurs in this one but it would appear it takes the combined might of Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Power Man and Daredevil to stop him.

And it's yet another annual. This time, for Marvel Two-in-One, as the Thing and newcomer American Eagle must prevent Klaw from stealing Vibranium from the Savage Land.

And, apparently, Ka-Zar and Wyatt Wingfoot get dragged into it all, as well!

It's bad news for Dragon Lord because Dragonslayer launches its first issue, which sets out to adapt the movie of the same name.

I don't know if I've ever seen Dragonslayer. Looking at its summary on Wikipedia, nothing about it sounds familiar.

We've had plenty of annuals, so far, this post but we've now got an ever-loving 100th issue to celebrate.

And that's from The Defenders.

Over the course of 38 pages, our team who aren't a team must battle multiple incarnations of Satan, in order to prevent him from unleashing Hell on Earth.

And, not to be left behind, Conan also has an annual that's freebooting its way around Hyboria.

It's another 38-page epic but I don't have an inkling of what happens in it.

I do know, though, that the villain of the piece is called Barlonius.

Hold the front page because we've got the launch of Marvel's adaptation of For Your Eyes Only, one of the few Bond films I can't remember ever having seen.

Therefore, the plot of the movie escapes me.

I'm assuming it involves a fancy car, a megalomaniac who wants to rule the world, an unlikely gadget, a bad girl who turns good, an extravagant base and a deadly but unlikely henchperson.

Whatever it's about, it's brought to us by the licensed-to-thrill team of Larry Hama and Howard Chaykin.

Not to be outdone by all those whippersnappers, Captain America, too, has an annual.

It would appear to feature a battle to the death with the Constrictor and is also 38 pages long but that's literally all I can say about it.

Other than it's the handiwork of David Michelinie and Gene Colan.

And it includes an ad for Hostess fruit pies which is called The Hulk vs. The Phoomie Goonies.

The Phoomie Goonies. Marvellous.