October 1982 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.

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

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As you know, one of the most popular features on this site is when I declare it to be the fortieth anniversary of the introduction of the compact disc. I must have done it at least a dozen times and have no doubt I'll be doing it on even more occasions to come. Surely, no piece of technology can have been introduced to the world on quite so many separate occasions.

However, it's alright owning a compact disc but, at some point, you need to have something to play it on. And the good news is that in October 1981 we did have something to play it on because Sony was, at that very moment, launching the first consumer compact disc player.

That was brand spanking new but something far older was also making the news.

That was the Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII, which famously sank in 1545. It was making headlines all of a sudden because what was left of it was raised from the Solent, in a big metal cradle that some of us can never forget.

Rather more sombrely, it was also the month of the Luzhniki Stadium disaster during a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, at which 66 people died in a crush.

Also in Eastern Europe, the Polish government banned the Solidarity trade union after having already suspended it in December 1981. Who could have known, back then, the sequence of events that act would lead to?

On the UK singles chart, October began with Musical Youth's Pass the Dutchie at Number One but, by the second half of the month, that had been dethroned by Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? the song that had introduced Culture Club to the world and made gender-bending quite the fashionable pursuit.

Slightly less pretty than Culture Club were Dire Straits but they didn't care. The compact disc player had been introduced and now nothing could stop them.

Thus it was that they spent the bulk of that month at Number One on the UK album chart, thanks to their new LP Love Over Gold. However, the juggernaut that was Fame soon reasserted itself, as Kids from Fame by the Kids from Fame reclaimed the top spot as the month reached its ending.

From what that cover's claiming, it seems the Avengers must face an assault on a Mind Cage!

Or perhaps they're the ones doing the assaulting.

Is this the story in which the Wasp discovers a psychiatric hospital's secretly a front for the Taskmaster's operation? And is this the Taskmaster's first appearance?

What isn't making its first appearance is the mag's insistence that I tell it the Fruit Gum Secret.

I refuse to tell it.

We're also presented with a four-page gallery of Spider-Man's Most Famous Foes.

Meanwhile, in his strip, Iron Fist's been framed by Chaka for the murder of assistant DA Bill Hao. Meaning Misty and Colleen must try and clear his name.

Finally, Night Raven gets four pages of, no doubt, thrilling adventure from Alan Moore and Mick Austin.

What a delightful cover. I do believe it references Black Orchid which, as we all know, was the last Doctor Who "Historical" to not feature any aliens.

Apart from the Doctor and Nyssa, of course.

There's also a look back at Curse of Peladon and Genesis of the Daleks, as well as an interview with the show's script editor Eric Saward.

For those who demand there be comic strips in their Marvel mags, we're presented with the latest installment of the tale the world knows as Stars Fell On Stockbridge.

That was Doctor Who but what of his stablemates Blake's 7?

Tragically, I can only share that the magazine devoted to them is still going. The exact contents of this month's publication are difficult to unearth, however.

I do believe Marvel Madhouse hits its last-ever issue.

And does so by introducing Howard the Duck to the Incredible Cookie Creature.

It's an intense cover, and no mistaking.

Slightly undermined by yet another demand to know if we know about fruit gums.

Still, at least Luke's the colour of a fruit gum on that cover. So, I suppose that's appropriate.

From what I can gather, in this issue's main tale - Pariah - we can read of the torment in Luke's mind.

It's probably his lack of fruit gums that's setting him off.

Elsewhere, Rom's still battling the Dire Wraiths.

And we conclude the issue with a tale entitled I Saw a Martian, as brought to us by Lee and  Ditko.

Perhaps to no one's surprise, Marvel UK's longest-running monthly makes the most of the new Arnie movie, in order to drive up sales.

To be honest, that's all I can say, as I'm otherwise uncertain as to the contents of this month's issue.

Unless I miss my ever-loving guess, the X-Men are having their climactic battle with the Hellfire Club. The one which finally unleashes the full force of the Dark Phoenix.

When it comes to the Thing's strip, I do believe Benjy's teaming up with Triton and Stingray to thwart the schemes of the Serpent Squad, as regards the Serpent Crown.

As if that's not enough for any reader, we also get a history of comics, written by Frank Plowright.

And, for some reason, we get Steve Ditko pin-ups of the Enforcers and Kraven the Hunter.

Monster Monthly hits its penultimate issue.

And does so by also trying to cash in on the Arnie Conan movie.

But man cannot live by Conan alone. And, so, we get a look at Hammer's Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, and there's a poster for The Mummy's Ghost, a film I cannot claim to have ever heard of. 

We also get an installment from Marvel's Frankenstein strip, as brought to us by Doug Moench and Val Mayerik.

Elsewhere, Steve Moore looks at Chinese mythological beings and there's a profile of actor Tod Slaughter.

Starburst hits its fiftieth issue - and does so by reviewing Blade Runner, Poltergeist and The Thing.

I do remember The Thing getting terrible reviews upon first release. Will Starburst get it just as wrong as all the other critics did?

There's also a look back at some of the films whose impending production's been heralded in previous issues of Starburst but which never went on to see the light of day.