Forty years ago today - May 1982.

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

***

Once more, the past has caught up with us.

But isn't it time we caught up with the past?

I don't know what that means, either, but it sounds like it means something, and that's all that matters.

Matt Murdock's refusing to accept Elektra's really dead, and demands her corpse be dug up, so he can prove she isn't.

Except she is. So, he doesn't achieve anything, apart from convincing everyone around him that he's gone mad.

Which he probably has.

I believe the Punisher is also in this tale but is in jail.

It's great news for all Guardians of the Galaxy fans, as Rocket Raccoon makes his debut - in a tale that can only be described as, "unique."

Back on Earth, Betty Ross meets Bereet, for the first time, and pleads with her to save Rick Jones who's brilliantly zapped himself with a load of Gamma rays.

Iron Man's battling a super-intelligent teenager who has no social skills but does have a telepathic mother.

It's another odd tale. One in which Iron Man doesn't seem to have any great reluctance to let people see him without his mask on.

Elektra may be gone but Electro isn't.

And, this time, he's unbeatable!

Until Spidey decides to make himself a new costume from rubber.

Alternatively, he could have just thrown a bucket of water over the villain, like I'm going to keep suggesting until he finally does it.

Can it be true?

Can the Phoenix really be back from the dead?

No, it can't. It's just Kitty Pryde using Nightcrawler's image-generating thingy to terrorise hostile Shi'Ars who own the spaceship they're on.

And it's yet another odd one. A tale in which our hero meets a bunch of motorcycle stuntmen and they all have to team up to fight a giant android that turns out to be the handiwork of the Thinker who's filled a small town with robot replicas of great minds from history.

Terrax is back!

I don't recall what his plan is but it can only cause trouble for the members of our favourite super-team.

Conan meets a beautiful young witch who freely admits to having killed a man. But, because he can't say no to a pretty face, he decides to rescue her from the vengeful wrath of aggrieved locals.

Fortunately, the pair don't have to fight alone, thanks to the help of a friendly snake goddess.

Speaking of odd tales, an actor in a horror film that's being shot in the vicinity of Dr Don Blake, gets accidentally zapped by electricity, and transforms into the unstoppable monster he was playing in the film. Now, Thor has to prevent him from killing his co-stars.

Moondragon abducts the Avengers and recruits them to help halt a war that's broken out on the planet she's currently ruling.

However, as far as I can remember, it turns out Moonie's the one who's been using her mental powers to compel them to have a war, in the first place.

I'm guessing that someone's ordering spiders to murder people - and Spider-Man's the only one who can stop him.