May 12th 1982 - Marvel UK, 40 years ago this week.

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

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I feel like this site's been making reference for centuries to Nicole and her Eurovision winner A Little Peace but, at last, it all pays off, as I can report that, this week in 1982, the teenaged Teutonic tunester hit Number One on the UK singles chart.

In doing so, she knocked Paul and Stevie off the top spot. An act for which some may or may not be grateful.

Not that Macca needed to care because he was still at Number One on the British album chart thanks to Tug of War which was successfully keeping Madness at bay.

Among the tracks I approve of on that week's singles chart are:

Ebony and Ivory - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

Only You - Yazoo.

Island of Lost Souls - Blondie.

View from A Bridge - Kim Wilde.

The Look of Love -  ABC.

Suspicious Minds - Candi Staton.

The Telephone Always Rings - The Fun Boy Three.

Urgent - Foreigner.

and

My Camera Never Lies - Bucks Fizz.

For those who wish to investigate the matter further, the said singles chart may be found by clicking here.

While that week's album chart resides right here.

Get ready for a shock because I actually have a cover for issue #12 of Scooby-Doo and his TV Friends!

And it's all thanks to Onboarder, otherwise known as Mark, who's supplied me with it and other images from the book. I think he can only be described as a true Keeper of the Flame.

And so it is that I know we can win a fancy-looking York radio cassette recorder by finding kites that have been hidden in an image. That recorder has so many knobs and dials on it that it's hard to imagine what they can all be for.

There's also a text adventure for Huckleberry Hound. And Scooby shows us how to do a card trick.

Is that Pluto on the cover? If it is, he seems to have grown remarkably.

Then again, the Stranger seems to have shrunk by a comparable degree. Has everyone been messing about with one of Hank Pym's serums?

Assuming, of course, he is the Stranger and not that other character who looks virtually identical to him.

Elsewhere, we get an interview with Lou Ferrigno.

And there's still time for us to win a Hulk-Trike.

Sadly, I can impart no more information about the contents of this week's issue.

The Black Cat's back - and promising to go straight, in order to gain Spidey's love.

The only problem is that her idea of going straight is going straight to where the city's most valuable treasures are and stealing them. Mostly from the mob.

It all ends in tragedy when she chooses to drown, rather than become a reformed character.

Or does she?

Is it pure coincidence that the Black Cat and Elektra were both appearing in Marvel comics around the same time? Both morally compromised romantic foils for heroes with super-senses? Both inherently doomed?