The Marvel Lucky Bag - June 1973.

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

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You couldn't accuse June 1973 of short-changing you when you entered a cinema.

It was, after all, a month that saw the release of such masterpieces as Cannibal Girls, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Legend of Hell House, Shaft in Africa and Live and Let Die. Who wouldn't want to hand over their money for those tickets?

Granted, not all those films, or even most of them, are that great but who cares about that? Just look at their titles.

The Cat's comic meets its demise and does so with her meeting the Man-Bull.

Come to think of it, in her second issue, she met the Owl, suggesting her comic was a dumping ground for old Daredevil villains.

Then again, her first issue was drawn by former DD artist Wally Wood. Just what was behind Marvel's determination to link the two comics at every opportunity?

As well as the Cat's latest adventure, we also, for some reason, get a reprint of the Linda Fite/Werner Roth X-Men five-pager about Marvel Girl and her powers.

Gil Kane gives us, perhaps, the most Gil Kane cover of all time.

Other than that, all I can say about this comic is the story within is an adaptation of Lester Dent's Monsters.

And all I know about this one is that Luke Cage finds himself up against a man called Mr Death.

A brand new mag hits us in the eyeballs, as Monsters Unleashed is indeed unleashed.

And it unleashes The Man Who Cried Werewolf!, The Thing In the Freezer, Vampire Tale, Skulls In the Stars, Portrait of the Werewolf As A Young Man: The Odyssey of Larry Talbot,  One Foot in the Grave, The Fake! and World of Warlocks! Around half of which are elderly reprints.

The Cat's mag may have reached its doom but Shanna's is still going strong.

Admittedly, it's not that strong, as next month will see its demise as well.

Still, it's here, for now, and, other than Mandrill being in this tale, I can offer little in the way of a plot description.

It's one of my Ka-Zar faves, as, despite the presence of Gog, the jungle lord manages to liberate the super-soldier serum from Gemini.

But then, Professor Victor Conrad drinks it and finds himself transformed into the villainous Victorius.

It's another one whose contents I've little memory of but I do know that Snakedance and Linda Littletrees are involved.

As far as I can recall, Dr Hydro's transformed a bunch of surface dwellers into amphibians and, doubtless, intends to use them for malicious maraudings.

Fortunately, Subby and Nita are on hand to thwart his ghastly plans.