Speak Your Brain! Part 47. If you could go back in time...

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

I've no idea how but this month seems to contain an endless parade of Tuesdays.

But that's good news for all lovers of free speech, as it means we get even more of the feature that's so big the internet can barely keep a lid on it.

That feature is, of course, the one in which the first person to comment gets to decide what the topic of the day might be, 

Might it be arts, carts, cards, cars, marts, Mars, bars, darts, smarts, parts, films, flans, plans, books, bagels, cooks, nooks, crooks, ducks, drakes, pixies, rocks, socks, blocks, music, mucous, fairy tales, fairy lights, Fairy Liquid, fairy cakes, Eccles cakes, myth, moths, maths, magic, tragedy, comedy, dromedaries, murder, larders, Ladas, mystery, mayhem, molluscs, Moorcock, May Day, mangoes, bongos, drongoes, bingo, Ringo, Pingu, Ringu, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Doris Day, Marvin Gaye, Marvin the paranoid android, Brookside Close, Ramsay Street, Coronation Street, Albert Square, Scarlet Street, Dead End Street, chickenpox, the Equinox, parallelograms, rhomboids, androids, asteroids, The Good Life, the Next Life, pomegranates, raisins, grapes, currants, blackcurrants, figs, waves, granite, marble, marbles, maples, staples, fables, stables, sofas, eggs, pegs, legs, dregs, moons and supermoons, Supertramp, Supertrams, streetcars, desires, sodas, sausages, eggs, whisky, broth, Bath, baths, Garth Marenghi, Garth Brooks, Garth Crooks, Bruno Brookes, Bruno Mars, Mars Bars, wine bars, flip-flops, flim-flam, flapjacks, backpacks, see-saws, jigsaws, dominoes, draft excluders, blockheads, blackheads, dunderheads, deadheads, webheads, flowerpots, flour bags, shower bags, shower heads, mop heads, Deadheads, Bill and Ben, Ben and Jerry, Margo and Jerry, Tom and Jerry, flour pots, bread bins, bin bags, body bags, body horror, shoddy horror, doggy bags, bean bags, handbags, glad rags, silk, milk, mink, coal sacks, cola, cocoa, dodos, Dido, Soho, Solo, silos, windows, day-glo, Hey ho, sago, winnebago, bagels, eagles, beagles, seagulls, glue, Gloy, Oi, Joy, Bostik, pancakes, Eccles cakes, Bakewell Tarts, Fabulous Wealthy Tarts, Mr Kipling, Rudyard Kipling, pizzas, pastas, pastors, baking soda, sci-fi, Wi-Fi, Hi-Fi, sewage, saunas, suet, Tomorrow People, yesterday's men, Forever People, Party People, purple people-eaters, Blobs, Globs, slobs, snobs, Sheila Steafel, steeples, Silurians, Sontarans, Sea Devils, sins, suns, sans, sense, sludge, slumps, sumps, pumps, sunshine, slime, soup, sandwiches, servants, Sultanas, Santana, Sultans, grapes, grappling, grippling and sandcastles?

It might be but that would be one huge debate.

Still, until you - or someone very like you - comments below, we're not going to know just what that topic will be.

Monster of Frankenstein #1.

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

***

This very evening, the British TV channel known as Legend is showing Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, mere nights after it showed Bride of Frankenstein.

Truly, this surfeit of Modern Prometheusness can only be a cue for me to look at another stab at bringing the monster to life.

And, this time, it's one from fifty years ago.

It's strange to think that when I first saw the Universal take on the tale, that film was only forty years old but seemed far more ancient then than this take does now - even though this take is, at present, fifty years old. What madness is this?

The take is, of course, Marvel Comics' Monster of Frankenstein #1, a natural bedfellow for the company's early 1970s Dracula and Werewolf comics. Several years ago, I reviewed issue #15 of this series but have reason to believe the first issue's a very different beast to that book.

Rather peculiarly, we begin with sea captain Robert Walton IV and his quest to find the monster. Why he's seeking it, we aren't told, only that his great-grandfather had also encountered it. Presumably, his great-grandfather being the sea captain of the same surname from the original novel.

This Walton clearly has an unerring sense of direction because no sooner have we met him than he's found his quarry, encased in a block of ice in the Arctic where it, presumably, resides beside the blocks of ice that hold the Thing From Another World and Captain America.

No sooner have the vaguely rebellious crew got the ice cube aboard than Walton starts to explain its back-story to the cabin boy. 

From this narration, we learn of the monster's creation by Victor Frankenstein and of how the scientist, having created it, instantly decided to destroy it.

Needless to say, the creature didn't greet that plan with good grace and proceeded to murder Victor's brother and frame an innocent for the deed, causing her execution.

Deciding cowardice is the better part of valour, Victor flees to the mountains but the monster catches up with him and, now confronting him, is about to reveal what it's been up to since he last encountered it.

But that's where our flashback must end, as Walton's ship is suddenly gripped by the mighty fists of a storm that threatens to sink it and its crew.

At this point, the vaguely rebellious crew becomes determinedly rebellious and demands to throw the creature overboard.

But unbeknown to them all, even as they clash, in the ship's lower quarters, the storm's turmoil has shifted the block of ice too close to an open fire and, now, that ice is starting to melt...

As we all know, the original novel's a classic but how does this interpretation stand up?

It's OK but it does suffer from the decision to tell the tale of the monster's creation in flashback.

Granted, that's what the original novel does but there's a reason no one ever makes a Frankenstein movie that's faithful to the book. Thanks to this decision, it means neither the scientist nor his creation feel like they're the tale's protagonist and we never really get to know them or their motivations. Despite the comic being set at sea, this lends a distinctly dry feel to proceedings.

It also seems, at times, as though story elements have gone missing. For instance, we're told of the murder of Victor's brother William and the subsequent trial of Justine Moritz for the slaying but, apart from a single panel, early on, we've never been introduced to these characters, giving them an air of the shoe-horned.

Mike Ploog's artwork is suitably Ploogy and he admirably captures the sense of being storm-tossed, although this story is the first time it's ever struck me just how similar to Herb Trimpe's his style could be at times.

Meanwhile, Mike Gary Friedrich's script is, in all honesty, unremarkable. His dialogue often dominated by attempts to plaster over gaps and cracks in the visual story-telling.

So, overall, it's an unexceptional comic about which I don't have a lot to say.

I will comment, however, that its cliffhanger does make me want to read the next issue. So, I suppose that, in that sense, the comic's succeeded in doing its job.

January 27th, 1973 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

This week in 1973 brought a mix of violence and peace to the world.

The former was delivered when George Foreman took on Joe Frazier and won the heavyweight world boxing championship. A triumph that led to a lengthy career as a grill salesman.

The latter came with the end of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, thanks to the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. Granted, it wasn't much of a peace, seeing as the war continued for a further two years without American involvement.

I can pass no judgement on who did or didn't win that war but I do know that, elsewhere, there was triumph for the Sweet who kicked Little Jimmy Osmond off the top of the UK singles chart, thanks to their blockbuster hit Blockbuster. 

While, on the British album chart, victory arrived for their fellow Glam Rockers Slade whose album Slayed? reclaimed the top spot from the neither glamorous nor rocky Gilbert O'Sullivan.

The Hulk's still up against the Leader's horde of Humanoids.

Whether he's still having that fight with them on top of that train, I couldn't say but I can say the Chameleon's still involved in it all, in some way.

Back in New York, Spider-Man's in the heat of battle with the Vulture who's invaded the Daily Bugle's printing presses.

And the Puppet Master continues his quest to infiltrate the Fantastic Four by getting his stepdaughter to dress up as Sue Storm.

As far as I can recall, the FF manage to completely fail to notice that not only is she not Sue but that she also happens to be blind.

Even more mysteriously, we also get a one-page promo for FOOM.

But what can this mysterious FOOM even be?

And will MWOM try to milk the mystery for as long as it did with the early issues' multi-part poster?

Speak Your Brain! Part 46. Which films have you seen the most?

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

There's only one day of the week named after a pagan war god!

And that's Tuesday!

Does that mean today's red-hot topic of debate is to be that of pagan war gods?

I've no idea.

No one has. You see, right now, not one person on this planet knows just what's going to happen next.

That next might be the arts, carts, cards, cars, marts, Mars, bars, darts, smarts, parts, films, flans, plans, books, bagels, cooks, nooks, crooks, ducks, drakes, pixies, rocks, socks, blocks, music, mucous, fairy tales, fairy lights, Fairy Liquid, fairy cakes, Eccles cakes, myth, moths, maths, magic, tragedy, comedy, dromedaries, murder, larders, Ladas, mystery, mayhem, molluscs, Moorcock, May Day, mangoes, bongos, drongoes, bingo, Ringo, Pingu, Ringu, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Doris Day, Marvin Gaye, Marvin the paranoid android, Brookside Close, Ramsay Street, Coronation Street, Albert Square, Scarlet Street, Dead End Street, chickenpox, the Equinox, parallelograms, rhomboids, androids, asteroids, The Good Life, the Next Life, pomegranates, raisins, grapes, currants, blackcurrants, figs, waves, granite, marble, marbles, maples, staples, fables, stables, sofas, eggs, pegs, legs, dregs, moons and supermoons, Supertramp, Supertrams, streetcars, desires, sodas, sausages, eggs, whisky, broth, Bath, baths, Garth Marenghi, Garth Brooks, Garth Crooks, Bruno Brookes, Bruno Mars, Mars Bars, wine bars, flip-flops, flim-flam, flapjacks, backpacks, see-saws, jigsaws, dominoes, draft excluders, blockheads, blackheads, dunderheads, deadheads, webheads, flowerpots, flour bags, shower bags, shower heads, mop heads, Deadheads, Bill and Ben, Ben and Jerry, Margo and Jerry, Tom and Jerry, flour pots, bread bins, bin bags, body bags, body horror, shoddy horror, doggy bags, bean bags, handbags, glad rags, silk, milk, mink, coal sacks, cola, cocoa, dodos, Dido, Soho, Solo, silos, windows, day-glo, glue, Gloy, Oi, Joy, Bostik, pancakes, Eccles cakes, Bakewell Tarts, Fabulous Wealthy Tarts, Mr Kipling, Rudyard Kipling, pizzas, pastas, pastors, baking soda, sci-fi, Wi-Fi, Hi-Fi, sewage, saunas, suet, Tomorrow People, yesterday's men, Forever People, Party People, purple people-eaters, Blobs, Globs, slobs, snobs, Sheila Steafel, steeples, Silurians, Sontarans, Sea Devils, sins, suns, sans, sense, sludge, slumps, sumps, pumps, sunshine, slime, soup, sandwiches, servants, Sultanas, Santana, Sultans, grapes, grappling, grippling or sandcastles.

Or something even better than that. That's because it's the senses-shattering return of the feature where the topic du jour is decided by you, the always-eclectic reader.

Therefore, feel free to scroll downwards, downwards, ever downwards and suggest a topic in the comments section below. From that point on, we'll see in just what direction the winds of fate deem fit to blow us.

The Marvel Annual for 1972/1973. At last, a mystery solved!

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

***

The autumn of 1972 was a momentous time in the life of any UK comics fan.

One reason for that was the launch of The Mighty World of Marvel, a brand-new periodical which introduced us to the wonders of the House of Ideas.

But the second reason was the arrival of an annual we'd all be getting in our stockings that Christmas.

Granted, if we did find it in our stockings, we'd struggle to get our legs into them, as it was a sizeable beast, cramming a whole multitude of Marvel reprints into its 100-plus pages.

Who'd created those interior tales was no mystery at all. As any fool knew, they were brought to us by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Jack Kirby, Barry Smith and Steve Ditko.

But, in truth, there was one enigma. A mystery that could foil the wit of Sherlock Holmes, Jessica Fletcher, Father Dowling, Nancy Drew, both Hardy Boys, Velma, Shaggy, Freddie, Daphne, Scrappy and Scooby, all combined.

And that was the question of who painted its fabby cover?

Clearly, it was based on a panel from The Incredible Hulk #2, in which the green goliath battled the terrifying Toadmen.

However, that picture was by Jack Kirby, and this new one clearly wasn't.

For many a year, I've assumed the artist to be perhaps Mediterranean. This was based entirely on the uniforms of the soldiers, especially their helmets which, to my eagle eyes, didn't have a British or American look to them.

Thus it was that I wondered if the artist was Rafael López Espí, the man who produced a seemingly infinite amount of material for Marvel's reprinted output in Spain. In Britain, his greatest claim to fame was having painted the legendarily magnificent posters one could, for a spell, buy from the back covers of the company's UK mags.

However, it seems I was wrong to suspect that.

For, verily, at last, I seem to have an answer.

Or, at least, the Albion British Comics Database does - by naming the artist as James E McConnell, a man who also contributed covers to the likes of Super Detective Library, Thriller Picture Library, Cowboy Picture Library, Look and Learn, Lion and Ranger, as well as Hurricane annuals.

According to Wikipedia, McConnell was born in 1903 and died in 1995 and, over the years, painted more than 1000 covers and frontispieces.

As if that wasn't enough, he also contributed artwork to the American Roll of Honour in the American Chapel of St Paul's Cathedral, London.

I can't find any sign of him having done any other super-hero work - or of him ever having worked again for Marvel. So, it seems his presence on that annual's cover was a unique honour for us all indeed and, thus, an event to be treasured.

January 20th, 1973 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

This week in 1973 was a good one for two men who would be king.

Or at least President.

It was, after all, the week in which Ferdinand Marcos became President for Life of the Philippines, while Richard Nixon was sworn in for a second term as President of the United States.

I can exclusively reveal that, despite whatever ambitions they may have had, neither of them went on to spend the rest of their lives as President.

When it came to music, Little Jimmy Osmond's Long-Haired Lover from Liverpool was still at Number One on the UK singles chart.

But perhaps more intriguingly, the Number Two and Three slots were taken by the Sweet's Blockbuster and David Bowie's The Jean Genie, giving us a battle to see which of two singles using the same riff could triumph over the other. My money's on the Sweet because their record had a siren on it and you can't go wrong with a siren.

Over on the UK album chart, there was no question about who'd triumph because, that week, Back to Front by Gilbert O'Sullivan ascended to the top of the pile, even toppling the mighty Slade, in the process.

I do believe we get the tale in which the Hulk fights one of the Leader's indestructible humanoids, atop a speeding train. Somehow, this all leads to Bruce Banner being charged with treason.

I also believe the Chameleon's involved in it all but I fail to recall in what way.

And, while that's going on, Spider-Man finds himself battling the Vulture who's escaped from jail and gone on yet another crime spree. I think this might be the tale that sees the feathery fiend invade the Daily Bugle's printing presses.

In another part of New York, the Fantastic Four are having their first-ever encounter with the Puppet Master who's concocted a deadly plan involving his stepdaughter and her remarkable resemblance to Sue Storm...

Speak Your Brain! Part 45. Comic book value for money.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Like an unwelcome house guest, winter refuses to go away.

And so do I.

And so does the feature that's taken the world by storm.

It can only mean the return of the slot in which the first person to comment gets to choose the topic of the day!

But what could that be?

It could be  arts, carts, cards, cars, marts, Mars, darts, smarts, parts, films, flans, plans, books, bagels, cooks, nooks, crooks, ducks, drakes, pixies, rocks, socks, blocks, music, mucous, fairy tales, fairy lights, Fairy Liquid, fairy cakes, Eccles cakes, myth, moths, maths, magic, tragedy, comedy, dromedaries, murder, larders, Ladas, mystery, mayhem, molluscs, Moorcock, May Day, mangoes, bongos, drongoes, bingo, Ringo, Pingu, Ringu, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Doris Day, Marvin Gaye, Marvin the paranoid android, Brookside Close, Ramsay Street, Coronation Street, Albert Square, Scarlet Street, Dead End Street, chickenpox, the Equinox, parallelograms, rhomboids, androids, asteroids, The Good Life, the Next Life, pomegranates, raisins, grapes, currants, blackcurrants, figs, waves, granite, marble, marbles, maples, staples, fables, stables, sofas, eggs, pegs, legs, dregs, moons and supermoons, Supertramp, Supertrams, streetcars, desires, sodas, sausages, eggs, whisky, broth, Bath, baths, Garth Marenghi, Garth Brooks, Garth Crooks, Bruno Brookes, Bruno Mars, Mars Bars, wine bars, flip-flops, flim-flam, flapjacks, backpacks, see-saws, jigsaws, dominoes, draft excluders, blockheads, blackheads, dunderheads, deadheads, webheads, flowerpots, Bill and Ben, Ben and Jerry, Margo and Jerry, Tom and Jerry, flour pots, bread bins, bin bags, body bags, body horror, shoddy horror, doggy bags, bean bags, handbags, glad rags, silk, milk, mink, coal sacks, cola, cocoa, dodos, Dido, Soho, Solo, silos, windows, day-glo, glue, Gloy, Oi, Joy, Bostik, pancakes, Eccles cakes, Bakewell Tarts, Fabulous Wealthy Tarts, Mr Kipling, Rudyard Kipling, pizzas, pastas, pastors, baking soda, sci-fi, Wi-Fi, Hi-Fi, sewage, saunas, suet, Tomorrow People, yesterday's men, Forever People, Party People, purple people-eaters, Blobs, Globs, slobs, snobs, Sheila Steafel, steeples, Silurians, Sontarans, Sea Devils, sins, suns, sans, sense, sludge, slumps, sumps, pumps, sunshine, slime, soup, sandwiches, servants, Sultanas, Santana, Sultans, grapes, grappling, grippling or sandcastles.

Then again, it might be something so totally unrelated to any of the above that its arrival fair takes the breath away.

Remember, only you The Reader can decide.

2000 AD - December 1984.

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

***

It was well worth a trip to your local cinema in December 1984 because it was a month which saw the unveiling of a whole slew of memorable films. Films such as Beverly Hills Cop, 2010, City Heat, The Cotton Club, Dune, 1984, A Passage to India and, that Jeff-Bridges-led alternative to ET, Starman.

But, of course, the month's biggest cinematic event was the unleashing of the masterpiece that is Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. Never having seen it, I don't know if it's any good or not but its title rhymes, and that's good enough for me.

Over on the UK singles chart, just two songs ruled the roost. December began with Frankie Goes to Hollywood's The Power of Love at Number One but even they had to make way for the arrival of Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? which would not only top that year's festive chart but would go on to become the UK's biggest-selling single of all time - at least, for a spell.

Over on the British album chart, only one LP ruled the roost, that month.

And that LP was The Hits Album by the ever-prolific Various Artists. Coming at it from a position of total ignorance, I'm going to assume the record was a compilation album that featured a bunch of hits.

But that's enough of that. What was the galaxy's greatest comic doing, during that month, to compete with such showbusiness majesty?

It was serving up a menu of Tharg's Future-Shocks, Nemesis the Warlock, Judge Dredd in battle with vampires, Ace Trucking Co and The Hell Trekkers, while the Stainless Steel Rat was still attempting to become President.

Interestingly, it would appear that, in his strip, Nemesis was up against the ABC Warriors, which is not a clash I would have ever expected to see. I like to think that, next month, we'll get to see him taking on Bill Savage.

January 13th, 1973 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

There was no separating Little Jimmy Osmond from the top of the UK singles chart, this week in 1973, as his Long Haired Lover from Liverpool held on to its crown for a fourth consecutive week.

Over on the UK album chart, the nostalgia-baiting compilation LPs that had been dominating things of late had to make way, as Slade smashed their way to the top of the pile, thanks to their mighty record Slayed? Could nothing stop the boys from Wolverhampton?

No, it couldn't.

Not yet.

I may not be a huge fan of Little Jimmy Osmond but these are the tracks on that week's UK singles chart that I do approve of:

Crazy Horses - the Osmonds

C Moon - Wings

You're so Vain - Carly Simon

Gudbuy T'Jane - Slade

Nights in White Satin - the Moody Blues

Happy Xmas (war Is Over) - John and Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir

Blockbuster - the Sweet

Crocodile Rock - Elton John

Papa Was a Rollin' Stone - the Temptations

and

Leader of The Pack {1972} - the Shangri-Las.

Should you wish to pursue that week's UK singles chart any further, it may be found here.

While the corresponding album chart dwells right here.

Jim Starlin's joined by John Romita in the cover-drawing department when Marvel's most popular hero meets its most nefarious villain.

But that's not all.

After all, the Hulk must battle the Chameleon, thanks to the Leader having sent the master of disguise to Gamma Base to discover just what happened to his previous agent.

What happened was that Bruce Banner defeated both he and the robot he was inhabiting.

And, in the issue's third tale, the Fantastic Four are still having trouble with Kurrgo, while his Planet X faces total destruction.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - January 1983.

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

***

Brace yourself, tiger, because it's time, yet again, to see what a random selection of Marvel's lower-profile titles has to offer us.

Can it be true?

Can Ka-Zar really be dead?

And has his starring role in the book really been taken forever by Shanna the She-Devil?

Well, of course it can't be true. He'll be back next issue. But at least we get a wraparound cover out of it.

Craig Russell gives us the month's most striking cover when Xandu the sorcerer takes control of the Scarlet Witch.

And it looks like it's bad news for everyone's favourite wall-crawler.

Because Conan doesn't have enough Marvel comics dedicated to him, he gets yet another one.

And this one reprints Roy Thomas and Barry Smith's classic adaptation of Red Nails, one of the most sumptuous comic book stories ever committed to paper.

Everyone wants a No-Prize but does everyone want a comic that's dedicated to them?

We're about to find out, as Marvel's latest venture hits the spinner racks.

Thanks to its 30 pages, we get a reminder of the worst blunders in Marvel history, including the accidental renaming of Peter Parker to Peter Palmer, Doc Ock calling Spider-Man, "Superman," and Betty Ross getting mixed up with Betty Brant.

I'm assuming Bruce Banner being referred to as Bob Banner for the entirety of a Fantastic Four story will also get a mention but I cannot confirm for certain that it does.

And another new venture makes its debut, as we're granted a string of one-page profiles of Marvel characters whose names begin with the letter, "A."

If Asbestos Man isn't among them, I shall be furious.

It's the one we've all been waiting for!

Marvel produces its adaptation of The Life of Pope John Paul II, a 64-page epic from the minds of Steven Grant and John Tartaglione!

Let's see how Marvel's newest super-team's getting on.

It seems Wolf's been humiliated in a race and must redeem himself against Monique Areadite.

Meanwhile, Honcho's on a top-secret mission to Cairo, while Cowboy and Georgianna flirt with each other, to the dismay of Wrench.

Frankly, I've no idea who any of these people are.

But I certainly have an idea who Indiana Jones is.

And, soon, the bad guys of the world will too, as the avenging archaeologist gets his very own monthly mag.

Will it go on to replicate the success of the company's Star Wars comic?

Not really but it will last for 34 issues, which is more than enough time in which to unearth every mystery artefact on Earth, I should imagine.

Forty years ago today - January 1983.

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

***

What's this monstrous nightmare that stands before me?

It's a brand new year.

But, exactly forty years ago, we were also facing a brand new year.

Even though it's now a brand old year.

Now Conan's in trouble. He's going to have to fight a minotaur!

Admittedly, it's not the first time he's had to fight one and I suspect he's going to be just as successful against this one as he has been against all the others.

Anyway, it seems he has to slay it in order to rescue someone called Theta, from a thing called the Devourer of Women.

I would assume the woman on the cover is Theta who has yet to be devoured.

Mike Zeck's cover looks suspiciously like a tribute to Neal Adams' cover for Detective Comics #395.

And does that mean the story within bears any relation to that Batman yarn?

I suspect not, as this one involves Cap trying to rescue his childhood friend from Baron Zemo and Arnim Zola before they can ruin his personal life.

We also get a backup tale in which the Falcon's being haunted by memories of his old Snap Wilson persona.

Things start to get weird as The Hand try to bring Elektra back from the dead for reasons that aren't altogether clear to me.

Regardless, it all forces Daredevil to forge an unlikely alliance with the Kingpin, as he seeks to prevent her revival and to defeat The Hand once and for all.

As you've no doubt guessed, having Bruce Banner's brain has allowed the Hulk to take his place amongst Earth's most popular heroes.

But what's this? The Leader's not happy about it?

But what can the skyscraper-headed heel do?

The not very interesting storyline about Shellhead fighting human chess pieces continues and it turns out the true villain behind it all is ruthless industrialist Obadiah Stane.

More importantly, Tony Stark's so stressed out by life's everyday frustrations that he's decided to hit the bottle again.

Definitely not so importantly, the Melter reappears.

With his new, improved melting gun!

And is promptly flattened by our hero.

The Tarantula's still a giant spider. Will o' the Wisp's still refusing to listen to reason. The Brand Corporation's still being the Brand Corporation.

Peter Parker finally grows tired of sending Debbie Whitman mad and decides to reverse the process by confirming to her that he really is Spider-Man. An act that instantly restores her sanity and causes her to promptly leave the strip, almost like the writers and editors of the book are desperate to get rid of her.

It's a very odd story in which Odin and the Norse Gods have to take refuge in Don Blake's flat when Loki and Tyr show up in Asgard, leaving it to Thor to despatch the villains and defeat the Midgard Serpent while his allies do nothing.

With its ridiculously useless gods and its overly-powerful Thor, you can't help feeling this one was knocked up in about five minutes.

Hooray! The Fantastic Four finally defeat Gladiator by making him doubt his powers.

But, before they do that, they also have to deal with a bunch of Skrulls masquerading as the X-Men.

Fortunately, Spider-Man and Captain America happen to be on hand to provide assistance.

Speaking of the X-Men, they're having space-born problems of their own, as the Brood continue to cause chaos, thanks to the eggs the space fiends have implanted in our maternity-bound mutants.

Barely five minutes after getting super-powers, the new Captain Marvel joins the Avengers.

But one man not celebrating is Hank Pym who's still in prison and trying to make sense of his life, with the aid of a psychiatrist that he doesn't realise is working for his love rival Tony Stark.

January 6th, 1973 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

If you've ever felt an urgent need to trade with the rest of Europe, this week in 1973 was your kind of week, as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Denmark all entered the European Economic Community, to usher in a new era of peaceful cooperation with Europe that would never end.

The Hulk would appear to still be battling that spy-controlled robot he was battling last week.

Elsewhere, Spider-Man's enduring his first-ever encounter with Dr Doom.

If I remember correctly, Doom kidnaps Flash Thompson, assuming him to be Spider-Man - meaning the real Spidey must go and rescue his high school nemesis.

Even more elsewhere, the Fantastic Four discover themselves becoming instantly unpopular with the populace. What can be behind this shocking turn of events?

Kurrgo can - and his giant robot, as the quartet are about to find themselves whisked away to a planet facing imminent asteroid doom in a scenario not at all reminiscent of This Island Earth.

But what's this, upon the very toppermost of the uppermost of the cover? Reference to a thing called FOOM? Whatever can that be?

And just how is it going to affect our lives?