The Marvel Lucky Bag - November 1971.

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

***

Various were the things of interest which lurked within our cinemas in November 1971.

For instance, if we handed over our money, we could watch the likes of I, Monster, Fiddler on the Roof or even Black Beauty.

Oddity of the month had to be Who Killed Mary What's 'Er Name? which, Wikipedia informs me, is a Red Buttons movie concerning the murder of a prostitute. Dismayed by police indifference, a local resident decides to conduct his own investigation.

However, the big film news for some of us is the month saw the release of Steven Spielberg's Duel, a drama that so impressed TV bosses they gave it a cinematic release and it later had the honour of forming the backbone of an entire episode of The Incredible Hulk.

Who can forget Dennis Weaver's epic battle with a homicidal juggernaut?

I can't.

And I haven't.

Over on the UK singles chart, while all that was going on, an equally historic event was transpiring, as Slade scored the first of their six Number Ones, thanks to the violin-heavy foot-stomper the world knows as Coz I Luv You.

I must confess that if there's one single in all existence I'd choose to be stranded on a desert island with it'd be Coz I Luv You with its mixture of the menacing and the naive, and a mood that somehow feels like a thing from before the dawn of history but also like the heralding of an imminent new age.

So mighty was that single that it held the Number One slot for the whole month. Things were far more volatile on the British album chart, however, with three different LPs claiming the top spot, that November.

First up was Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story, followed by Top of The Pops Volume 20, and, finally, Four Symbols by Led Zeppelin, an album of which I cannot claim to have ever heard.

I have, at least, heard of all the comics below.

Can anything stop the threat of Gorilla-Man?

The scientist responsible certainly hopes not, for he plans to swap his brain with that of a great ape so he can use its strength to conduct a crime spree.

In our second tale, a man survives a meeting with Medusa, thanks to being blind.

Next, an ageing space pilot's mocked for his slow ship but, when an alien armada approaches our world, he's the only one not moving too fast to see it.

After that one, a married couple receive a free TV from Plutonian invaders out to hypnotise us all. Happily, the plot's foiled when a grumpy landlord removes the aerial.

Next, Martians visit Earth to find out whether humans are a threat to them. They question a man and discover he's devoid of greed, hatred and deceit. Thus, the aliens leave, a happy bunch - completely unaware they've been talking to a psychiatric patient.

But wait. What's this? We finish the issue with the return of the fiend who started it all, as Gorilla-Man makes his senses-shattering comeback?

Iron Man gets only his second-ever annual - and a fight with the Crusher who I remember being some sort of Cuban wrestler and tyrant of ever-increasing mass.

Then again, I could be remembering totally wrongly.

Marvel Spotlight makes its first appearance, and Red Wolf makes his reappearance.

Or does he?

It seems that, despite looking identical to him and also having a lupine sidekick, this is not the Red Wolf who'd previously turned up in the Avengers' comic.

Iron Man may have had just two annuals, so far but Nick Fury's managed to clock up seven!

This one reprints issues #29 and #30 of his regular mag, in which Baron Strucker's out to destroy the town of Cherbeaux.

Fury fights Strucker to a stalemate and the Nazi agrees to spare the town but then, because he's evil, goes on to destroy it, regardless.

And the X-Men get their second annual.

In it, the team defeat Colosso in a training exercise but Scott's jealous of Warren's relationship with Jean, while Professor X frets over his inability to walk.

And, as if that wasn't enough to worry about, Count Nefaria then captures our heroes and places a crystalline dome over Washington!

But I know what everyone's really asking.

And that's, "What's mmmMillie the Model up to?"

Well, she's having her tenth annual. Take that, Nick Fury.

And she's doing it via a whole string of reprints from the 1960s.

But hold on a minute!

So popular is mmmMillie that she actually has two annuals out at the same time!

Is there no stopping the wwwoman?

I must confess I'm only including this one because it mentions Woodstock on the cover.

As well as It Happened at Woodstock! we get Jilted! With a Boy's Arms Around Me! I Stand in Sally's Shadow! and A Teen-Ager Can Also Hate! from the likes of Gary Friedrich, Gray Morrow, Stan Lee, Don Heck, Al Hartley, Jack Kirby and Suzan.

I suspect Suzan may be Stan Lee but cannot officially confirm it.

Eagle-eyed readers will notice something new.

Yes, this comic's priced at eight pence and not the usual one shilling. Truly, the Marvel Age of Decimalisation has arrived.

This isn't an annual but it does feature a massive 52 pages, meaning it takes a whole heap of story-telling to fill it.

And it gets that heap.

Subby's searching for his father but stumbles across a ship dumping radioactive waste near a lighthouse. With a tip-off from the lighthouse keeper, the avenging son shows up in Boston seeking out Stephen Tuval of the Black Sea People's royal family. Tuval then ambushes some flower children Namor's befriended, and drains them of their youth, before Subby puts a stop to his antics.

Meanwhile, Llyra's decided to ally herself with Tiger Shark.