Forty years ago today - July 1983.

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

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Let us leap from the cliffs of Nostalgia and see what treats we bang our heads on when we land upon the beckoning shores below.

Daredevil teams up with Wolverine, in an attempt to prevent Bullseye being smuggled out of the country but soon finds himself repulsed by his new ally's eagerness to butcher his foes.

Things are getting so bad for Tony Stark - thanks to his drunkenness - that Rhodey tries to get Captain America to have a word with him.

Unfortunately, he might not live long enough to receive that pep talk, as Firebrand is back and has set fire to the building Stark's currently discombobulated himself inside.

From what I can remember, the Mad Thinker's still in jail and reached the conclusion that Spider-Man must have a special sense which warns him of danger.

Having decided this is the key to making his own predictions more accurate, the villain telepathically sets one of his androids on the hero, in an attempt to study him in action and learn his secret.

I do believe this is the one in which J Jonah Jameson goes completely mad and, in order to show Marla he still has the reporting instincts of his youth, investigates corruption down on the docks.

Needless to say, every man and his dog tries to kill him, along the way. Needless to say, Spider-Man secretly helps him out whenever he needs it.

I'm assuming this story was inspired by the Daredevil yarn, from not too long ago, in which Foggy Nelson went off to investigate New York's criminal underworld.

Not, of course, that I would ever accuse Spider-Man in this era of borrowing ideas from Daredevil.

Viper's captured Cap and Nomad and has a balloon-based plan to spread the Bubonic Plague across America!

Fortunately, the dynamic duo have an unlikely ally in the Constrictor who doesn't fancy living in a world ravaged by the Black Death.

It's good news for all X-Men fans, as Rogue joins the team!

It's not such good news for everyone else, as no one in the gang wants her near them - especially Ms Marvel who just wants to knock her block off.

Sadly, for them all, they're overruled by Professor X and, so, an X-Man she becomes.

Meanwhile, Storm's descent into darkness continues...

Can it be? Can Dracula have turned Sif into a vampire? And can the lord of the undead be a match for Thor, now that he has the blood of an Asgardian goddess in his veins?

Here's where we find out, although I must report that, even with the blood of an Asgardian in his veins Drac's still not a match for Thor, and the story does basically nothing with Sif having become a vampire.

Much as I love John Buscema, that's not one of the best covers he's ever produced.

Inside, the barbarian stumbles across a town where a plague keeps turning people into trees.

And it's not long before Conan himself becomes distinctly deciduous! However, I must confess I can't remember just how he turns himself back into a person again.

By all sorts of Reed Richards style scientific gobbledygook, the Fantastic Four escape death in the Negative Jone and inflict the fate upon Annihilus that he would have had befall upon them.

Sadly, it's not in time for Alicia who's had a good knocking about from the villain. And, meanwhile, just what's happened to Franklin?

It's a cross-over with this month's Fantastic Four, as the world's mightiest super-team battles to penetrate an energy-neutralising force field that's been flung up around the Baxter Building, by Annihilus.

They finally succeed in their efforts but it's an attempt that leaves the Vision in a seemingly lifeless heap.

Still out to rebuild his life as a scientist, Bruce Banner sets about constructing a new lab for Stark Industries but, unknown to anyone, one of the brand new parts contains Zzzax - and only the Hulk can stop him!