The Marvel Lucky Bag - March 1972.

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

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I don't have a clue what they were putting in Hollywood's coffee in March 1972 but, whatever it was, it clearly worked.

It was, after all, a month that saw the release of such imperishable movies as Tales from the Crypt, Silent Running, What's Up, Doc?, Godzilla vs Gigan, The Godfather, Slaughterhouse-Five, Fist of Fury and The Concert for Bangladesh.

Granted, not all of those films were made by Hollywood but I'm too lazy to point out which ones weren't.

In fairness, I think it's obvious which ones weren't.

Over on the UK singles chart, that month, there was no stopping Harry Nilsson who spent the entire month at Number One with his legendary cover of Badfinger's Without You, fending off the likes of the New Seekers, Don McLean and Gilbert O'Sullivan, in the process.

Over on the British album chart, things were more volatile, with no fewer than three LPs claiming the top spot.

Those LPs were Neil Young's Harvest, Paul Simon's Paul Simon and Lindisfarne's Fog on the Tyne.

As a youth, it never struck me that Lindisfarne were a big albums band but it just goes to show how much I know.

And what do I know of the less popular comics Marvel published which bore a March 1972 cover date?

I know there weren't that many of them. Despite perceived wisdom insisting the recent switch to a thicker format and back again established Marvel as the biggest comics company in America, it produced surprisingly few books that month.

These, though, are what I feel are the pick of the Marvel makeweights.

The Inhumans disappear from the pages of Amazing Adventures and, in their place, appears a Beast!

Yes, it's true. Hank McCoy leaves the X-Men, to take a job at the Brand Corporation and, somehow, manages to turn himself into a furry monster.

Will the ex X-Man overcome this unfortunate turn of events?

And will he be able to thwart whatever evil lurks at that corporation, while he's at it?

And why's he grey on that cover, and not blue?

Move over, John Carter. It's Gullivar Jones' turn to conquer Mars!

From what I remember, isn't he a cop who gets waylaid by a sick man on a flying carpet on a one-way trip to the red planet?

Whatever the explanation, those Martian bad guys don't stand a chance with him around.

But that's not all, because this issue features two tales.

The second being The Impossible Tunnel in which Robert Saunders sets out to dig a tunnel from North America to Europe.

However, in the process, he discovers an underground civilization then destroys his tunnel to protect that realm from the people of the surface world.

It's another early adventure for the Defenders, as they visit Rutland, Vermont, to prevent a cult from bringing Dormammu into our dimension.

We're all excited about his reappearance, of course, but the real news is we get a guest appearance from Roy and Jeanie Thomas!

And there's more! Despite the main tale being 28 pages long, there's also a Sub-Mariner reprint called The Hidden World.

What it's about, I couldn't say.

Maybe it features that civilisation that bloke found with his tunnel.

Who can know?

It's time for yet more blubbing and regretting, as My Love continues its romantic flingings.

This time, we're offered such tales as As Time Goes By!, Loyalty... or Love!, Puppet on a String! and Formula for Love!

Far too many of those yarns have the word, "Love," in their title for my tastes. It is good, though, to see there's a story that can only be dedicated to Sandie Shaw.

Holy haddocks! Namor's lost his memory - thanks to the trauma of losing his dad - and doesn't know who he is.

Fortunately, he's got a friend who's all too willing to help him out.

That friend is Dr Doom.

What could possibly go wrong?

And how does it involve MODOK, AIM and a Cosmic Cube?

And why do I keep misreading Doomsmasque as, "Doomsquatch?"

I'd pay good movie to see a film called Doomsquatch.