Fifty years ago today - June 1973.

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

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It's time to tangle with the forces of time and see just what the past has to offer us rIght now.

Hooray! The Lion-God shows up!

Forget the likes of Thor and Odin. If I was going to be a god, this is the kind of god I'd want to be.

Then again, as far as I can remember, Mantis defeats him by dazzling him with her dancing skills, allowing him to be punched in the bracket, which suggests he's not the brightest deity in the pantheon.

I've never read this issue and don't have a clue what happens in it.

I'm, therefore, going to predict there's a sorcerer, treasure, magic, and a wench in need of rescuing. The word, "Crom!" will be uttered at some point and Conan may be out to steal something.

I do know for a fact that Gil Kane's back on the artwork.

And that it appears to feature the first appearance of Khitai.

Oh God, he's at it again. Cap's doubting his sanity once more!

Expect plenty of mithering about Bucky and World War Two.

I'm also going to predict there'll be a recap of his origin. Steve Rogers is, after all, the man who put the Cap into recap.

Also, expect Dr Faustus to show up because his presence is the one thing I know for certain about the contents of this yarn.

DD hits the big ton and does it in style by returning to San Francisco and granting an impromptu interview to Rolling Stone magazine.

Meanwhile, the world goes mad when Angar the Screamer makes his literally senses-shattering debut.

Looking at the cover, I don't have a clue what's going on in this one.

All I know is it features the return of Gregory Gideon and Dragon Man. So, it clearly has plenty occurring.

Are there no depths the Hulk won't sink to?

Well, in this one, he sinks to the depths of the ocean and encounters the not-at-all-Nemo-like Captain Omen!

Needless to say, it's not long before our hero's spearheading a rebellion against the submersible scoundrel's autocratic rule.

Looks like Iron Man's about to find himself in a grave situation.

Firebrand shows up. That's all I know about this issue.

This is it! The big one! Spidey's back from Canada, and the Green Goblin's back from amnesia. That means one of Spidey's closest friends is about to die!

But who can it be?

Who?

Looking at that cover, my money's on Randy Robertson.

Here it comes. One of my least favourite Thor tales of the era. It's always been hard for me to accept that the whole of Asgard, including Odin, could be captured by a bunch of ants with ray guns.

But it's happened! And Thor has to put it right!

For that matter, ants with ray guns don't even feel like they belong in the same universe as Asgard.

I've genuinely not the slightest what happens in this issue but it's clear Tyrannus is back.

And he's got a huge robot on his side!

I hope it has a happier ending than Mogol did.

That's Marvel's big hitters wrapped up.

But what about a random sampling of DC comics that happen to bear the same cover date?

Hooray! I had this one!

Those are words you'll be seeing a lot in the rest of this post.

Ghosts #15 hits us with The Ghost That Wouldn't Die, A Phantom in the Alamo, Who Dares Cheat the Dead? and Hand from the Grave, brought to us by the pencils of Buddy Gernale, Sam Glanzman, Alfredo Alcala and Rico Rival.

And, remember, every single one of those tales is true.

Hooray! I had this one too! In fact, it might be the first issue of Kamandi I ever read.

Kamandi and Flower are captured by Sultin and his fellow lions and taken to a wildlife sanctuary.

However, it's not all good news because two naughty pumas try to kill Flower!

The Justice League gets one hundred pages of action, mostly involving a queen bee and the Injustice Society of the World.

However, in sensational solo spills, the Sandman must protect a  scientist who's discovered a way to extract magnesium from the sea. Heaven only knows what his sister Death will make of it all.

And, finally, the JLA fights the Royal Flush Gang.

Hooray! I had this one!

As far as I can remember, Supergirl loses her powers, then finds herself in an alien dimension ruled by Satan's brother.

Fortunately, she soon motivates the locals to rise up and overthrow him.

And, of course, along the way, she gets her powers back.

Hooray! I had this one too!

In our main tale, Smallville's in trouble when a local radio station uses its Rock and Roll broadcasts to generate thunderballs that are wrecking the town.

Fortunately, Superboy and his blind friend - who might be called Don Blake - are on hand to thwart them.

But, of course, what really matters is the back-up tale in which ERG-1 auditions to join the Legion of Super-Heroes but is rejected by them until he reveals his greatest power of them all.

Sadly, it's a power whose only ever use causes his death.

This means we've endured the demise of Gwen Stacy and ERG-1 in the same month. I feel like we're going to need psycho-therapy after all this.

No, I never had this one. In fact, up until now, I didn't even know of its existence.

Regardless, inside, as thousands of people flock to the opening of brand-new theme park Superman Land, Lex Luthor sets up a Kryptonite trap for our hero.

We also discover how a comic book's created.

We also get the origin of Superman, as drawn by Carmine Infantino, a text article about Metropolis. a rogue's gallery and a whole lot more, crammed into just 68 pages.