December 1st 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. 

***

All fans of Papua New Guinea were, no doubt, delighted, this week in 1973, as it was the week in which those islands achieved self-government, having previously been run by Australia. 

I must confess that, before writing this post, I was not aware Papua New Guinea had ever been ruled by the land of Kylie. I can only assume it must have been some sort of holdover from World War II.

What's this? A brand new Vulture? Who even wears a hat on his head? Can it be true?

Yes, it can! 

Apparently, the original version's managed to die in prison but, fortunately for all lovers of criminality, his cellmate Blackie Drago's been available to take his place.

Now what can stop that flying felon from defeating Spider-Man and becoming master of New York's airspace?

Not Spider-Man, that's for sure. It turns out the wall-crawler has a cold and promptly gets flattened by the feathery fiend, despite that fiend being rubbish by the standards of Spider-Man foes.

Thor, meanwhile, is still battling the Destroyer, Odin’s still asleep and Loki’s still trying to help the thunder god.

But can anyone possibly help our hero against such a deadly foe?

And will he even need it?

I've never read this story but what does instantly strike me is that its title must have provided inspiration for the later yarn Even An Android Can Cry. A fact of which I was previously ignorant. Truly, writing this blog is an educational experience worthy of the planet Earth's finest universities.

Apparently, the Wasp is on the verge of death - and only one surgeon can save her.

And it's not Don Blake.

Good grief, it's not even Dr Strange!

Amazingly, there's a third surgeon on the planet!

However, it turns out that, not only is he a whizz with a scalpel, he's also a space alien!

I can only assume this will fling endless trouble and obstacles in the path of the Wasp's recovery.

As for what Doctor Strange is up to in his own strip, I'm not totally sure but I do know the adventure's called The World Beyond and features the return of Nightmare.

Excitement is untrammelled because, for me, this is where the Hulk’s great era kicks off.

In this epic adventure, the Green galoot encounters the awesome power of Ka-Zar and his sabre–toothed tiger. 

I must confess that, when I read this, as a kid, it was the first time I'd ever encountered Ka-Zar and, because of that, I was under the impression he must be almost as strong as the Hulk.

Little did I know that he's just some bloke who shouts things.

But who cares about that? We’ve got the Savage land. We've got prehistoric monsters. We've got angry Marsh Men, and a giant robot called Umbu. Surely, no human being could ever demand more from a story.

 And it's not just the Hulk who's giving us classic fare, because the Fantastic Four are having their introductory scrap with the diabolical, chemical, chaos-causing criminality of a man the world knows only as Diablo.

What's his real name and why is a Medieval alchemist wearing a super-villain costume?

I've no idea but I do know he's managed the not altogether difficult feat of turning the Thing against his teammates.

Surely, it can only be a matter of instants before times are clobberinged and flames are on.

Speak Your Brain! Part 68. Favourite and least favourite films of the year.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

It's not always easy to think of worthwhile introductions to posts but, as always, I'm not going to let that put me off.

Instead, I'm going to say it's the final Tuesday of this very month we've been living through - and that can only mean one thing.

That I've run out of things to talk about and must disinter, from its hole in the ground, the feature that dare not speak its name. Mostly because it's too busy speaking its brain.

It's the slot in which the first person to comment gets to decide the topic of the day. That topic could involve almost any activity known to man - or even not known to man.

Therefore, have no hesitation in grabbing your typewriter, putting a new ribbon in it, warming up your typing fingers and commenting below.

And wherever it is the conversation takes us, I'll meet it when it gets there.

November 1983 - 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. 

***

If there was one thing you could rely on in the 1980s, it was that the next near-miss with a global nuclear holocaust was no more than weeks away.

And so it was that, in November 1983, Soviet officials misinterpreted NATO's Able Archer 83 exercise as a nuclear first strike!

Fortunately, sense prevailed and this would turn out to be the last nuclear scare of the Cold War.

Fittingly, it was also the month in which the United States' ABC channel aired the TV movie The Day After which supplied a fictionalised prediction of just what it would be like to survive a nuclear war.

Not quite going nuclear, that month, was the Turkish part of Cyprus which declared independence. Wikipedia didn't bother to tell me who it declared independence from. So, I shall assume it was from Turkey.

Elsewhere, Dad's Army star John Le Mesurier died, aged 71.

Elsewhere, following fertility treatment, 31-year-old Janet Walton gave birth to six daughters at once. A feat which made them the world's first all-female surviving sextuplets.

Over on the UK singles chart, the month began with Billy Joel's Uptown Girl at Number One and it ended with Billy Joel's Uptown Girl at Number One. In between those two dates, Billy Joel's Uptown Girl was Number One.

The British album chart was not quite so static, with Culture Club's Colour by Numbers initially seizing the throne before being given the boot by Duran Duran's Seven and The Ragged Tiger.

Captain Britain and the Special Executive continue to battle the Fury and - hooray - manage to bury it in rubble!

But have they - and we - really seen the last of the relentless killer of heroes?

Only time will tell but we can know that, in our second strip of the issue, Night Raven finds himself in a Quiet Town.

And, rounding off the book, the Kingpin sends his wife to New York to hire Nelson and Murdock so he can turn state’s evidence against East Coast crime bosses.

Sadly, for his plan, she's captured by the mob, who're looking to use her to lure him back to the city, so they can kill him.

It's a thrilling issue because the magazine dedicated to the world's greatest time traveller brings us news of the shock discovery of previously lost episodes.

That's followed by a look back at the William Hartnell adventure The Gunfighters.

There's also, as the cover can tell us, an interview with John Levene of Sgt Benton fame.

And there's a look forward to the imminent arrival of the 6th Doctor Colin Baker who's going to be inheriting the role from Peter Davison.

Doctor Doom's castle's still causing trouble for the X-Men. Inside it, the captive mutants are placed in deadly traps from which there's only one way of escape.

Needless to say, every single one of them manages to find that way.

Meanwhile, Havok, Polaris, Iceman and Banshee are battling their way through Murderworld, in a bid to rescue their teammates' friends and relatives.

In our second tale, Wolverine's in Japan but his latest girlfriend's horrified when she sees him in full-on berserker mode.

Conan's hired by beautiful twins to rob a bloke who lives on an island in the Vilayet Sea.

Needless to say, it all escalates quickly and Conan kills him. Then, on the way home, the twins are eaten by a sea monster.

As if that's not excitement enough for us, we're supplied with a backup strip the world knows as Demon in the Dark as relayed to us by the redoubtable pairing of Michael Fleisher and Alfredo Alcala.

The Nation's top sci-fi mag interviews Pamela Stephenson about her role in Superman III. 

Production designer Stephen Grimes talks about his work on Krull.

Anthony Perkins talks about Psycho.

And Michael Medved talks about his love of bad movies - and about Channel 4's upcoming season of the worst films of all time.

I do recall that season including such gems as Plan 9 From Outer Space, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Wild Women of Wongo, They Saved Hitler's Brain and Godzilla vs the Smog Monster.

November 24th, 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. 

***

In the absence of anything too thrilling having happened in the real world, this week in 1973, let's dive straight in to investigating just what Marvel UK was up to at the time.

If the Avengers thought they had problems before, now - judging by that cover - they're going to have to endure the full horror of a Rick Wakeman concert!

It's not one I've read but I do know Maggia boss Count Nefaria moves his castle to New Jersey and invites our heroes to attend its grand opening.

He then goes and ruins the big day by creating duplicates of them in an attempt to take over the country!

As for the whereabouts of Dr Strange, I can cast little light upon what he's up to but I do know he's in a tale they call Witchcraft in the Wax Museum  and that, whatever that witchcraft may be, it's all caused by the sinister spell-slinging of Baron Mordo.

But what's this on the cover? The boast that I'll gasp in amazement at the most unexpected final panel I've ever seen?

If it doesn't involve the Statue of Liberty protruding from a beach, I'll be highly disappointed.

Unless my memory fails me, this is the one in which Kraven the Hunter gatecrashes Flash Thompson's Vietnam party, in search of Norman Osborn who he thinks holds the key to finding the Green Goblin who he's decided owes him money or something.

Happily, Spidey's on hand to put a quick halt to such party-pooping anarchy.

And I do believe that, this week, Thor's still battling against the Destroyer. And, with Odin experiencing one of his heroic power naps, it appears there's no one who can help the thunder god.

Well, apart from Loki who, I seem to recall, decides it might be best to assist him before Odin wakes up and realises the trouble his less-favoured son's been causing.

Thanks to the plotting and scheming of Maximus, Hulky-Baby finds himself in the Great Refuge and confronting the power and majesty of Black Bolt.

Despite the fisticuffs, it all ends with everyone as friends and the monarch offering to let the purple-panted powerhouse remain in his hidden kingdom. However, the Hulk rejects the offer because that's the kind of monster he is,

Meanwhile, on the moon, the Fantastic Four conclude their latest tussle with the Mad Ghost and his super-apes.

Speak Your Brain! Part 67. Collecting things and Nu-Who vs Old Who.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Long are the nights now. And short are the days.

Cold are the mornings and biting are the evenings.

Thus it is the wise man takes refuge in his home, surrounds himself with the spectre-banishing miracle of electric light, and allows himself to be warmed by the feverish activities of the internet.

But just what feverish activities are to be visited upon us, this Tuesday twilight?

That, even Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and Old Mother Shipton between them could not predict. For, hearken, it is that time once more when the reader himself must make that decision.

Therefore, pick up your pen and scribble, within the comments section below, the topic you wish to see discussed by those who enter the dread portals of this website and we shall see what drama unfolds.

2000 AD - October 1985.

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

***

If there was one guaranteed way to have a hit in the 1980s, it was to release a track called The Power of Love. Frankie Goes to Hollywood managed it, Huey Lews and the News managed it and, in October 1985, Jennifer Rush managed it. In fact, she managed it to such a degree that her single of that title spent the entire month at Number One on the UK chart.

Over on the accompanying album chart, things were massively more volatile, with no less than four LPs hitting the top spot, that month. Those Number Ones were Madonna's Like a Virgin,

Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, George Benson's Love Songs and Simple Minds' Once Upon A Time.

While all that was transpiring, in the cinemas of the world, celluloid lovers were thrilling to such treats as Re-Animator, I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later, and Commando.

I must confess Re-Animator is the only one of those I've seen. I don't know if it counts as a great film but it does manage the seemingly impossible feat of making a film based on an HP Lovecraft story watchable, and that's an achievement few have replicated.

But what of the galaxy's greatest comic? Just what was that achieving, as the year entered the early evening of its soul?

It was achieving the continued publication of Nemesis, Robo-Hunter, Judge Dredd, Mean Team and Tharg's Future-Shocks. The keen-eyed reader will have spotted that none of these are new strips. Clearly, Tharg was working on the principle that there's nothing more comforting to readers than familiarity.

November 17th, 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 there's one thing in life we can all be certain of, it's that a sitcom starring nothing but old-age pensioners can't possibly last for more than a short stint. After all, how long can it be before the entire cast are dead?

But how wrong we would be in thinking that, because this week in 1973 saw the launch of a sitcom about the retired that would run for a walloping 37 years, and 31 series.

You'd better believe it. It was in this week that BBC One's Last of the Summer Wine began its first series, following a premiere in the January 4th edition of Comedy Playhouse. So long-surviving was the show that, sometimes, it's a shock to discover it's not still going.

Over on the UK singles chart, there was a brand new Number One. It was by Gary Glitter. And it was called I Love You Love Me Love.

Moving swiftly on, the accompanying album chart saw the roost still being ruled by David Bowie with his oddly unhyphenated LP Pin Ups.

And it's arrived! The most important week in the history of the human race!

After all, this is the week in which I decide to collect comics, rather than just throwing them away.

And which adventures are we treated to on the event of this momentous circumstance?

As we can see from that cover, the Hulk's still up against the Evil Inhumans whose leader Maximus is attempting to get his hands on an ancient power source that can grant him control over the Great Refuge - again.

But, despite what the cover claims, the Fantastic Four are not in combat with the X-Men. That duel was all done and dusted with last week.

Instead, the cosmic quartet are confronting the ephemeral return of the Red Ghost - or the Mad Ghost as he's always called in the UK books.

I don't recall too much of what happens in that tale but I'm pretty sure it starts on Yancy Street and ends up on the moon, with the Watcher, as always, getting involved in things.

It's bad news for Spidey. Barely has he had time to recover from thwarting the Lizard than a whole new menace hits town.

And that menace is the Shocker, a small-time crook who's built himself a super-powered suit, while in prison, and is determined to make the most of it.

Sadly, that crook has not taken into account his one weakness.

His thumbs.

Meanwhile, drama hits a whole new level in the Thor strip, as the thunder god finds himself in a Vietnamese jungle and having to face the unstoppable might of the Destroyer, thanks to a foolish hunter having accidentally activated the enchanted robot.

With his hammer chopped in half by the menace, how can even our hero possibly survive?

And this is it, the comic whose glossy cover was the thing that convinced me the time had come to spare all future comics the dustbin.

In fairness, despite its vital importance in mankind's story, I don't recall too much about the main tale. I seem to remember the Mad Ghost and Mole Man are in it and that they, sort of, team up.

Stan Lee wrote this tale, so I'm going to assume that one of those villains kidnaps the Wasp, and the rest of her team have to go and rescue her.

I'm also going to assume the bad guys fall out and the good guys win.

I possess much stronger memories of the Dr Strange tale. The sorcerer supreme steps in when a TV station decides to conduct a live broadcast from a haunted house. Holy shades of Ghostwatch, Batman!

This time, no nation is traumatised but it is true to say that dark forces are at play and the supernatural surgeon has to overcome a house that's literally alive.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - November 1983.

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

***

The cinemas of November 1983 weren't exactly rocking with hits. In fact, as far as I can make out, the most famous films to be released that month were The Osterman Weekend and Amityville 3-D.

I have seen the Osterman Weekend but have never seen Amityville 3-D.

In fact, so greatly have I not seen it that, before writing this post, I wasn't even aware there was an Amityville 3-D. I have faith, though, that if I chose to watch it, it would be at least as good as all the other 3-D films I've ever seen.

Iron Man lands his sixth annual, despite having been around for far more than six years.

And he does so by teaming up with a bunch of Eternals, as they seek to escape the Deviants. The rascals being out to exploit their foes' immortal energies for, no doubt, nefarious purposes.

Marvel gives us its adaptation of the film they're all talking about, when the power and majesty of Krull hits our spinner racks. It's all thanks to the opening installment of a two-part mini-series the world will, surely, never forget.

I'm not an expert on American geography and climate but I've never imagined Dallas as being particularly Christmassy.

But, clearly, I've been wrong for all these years because that's where mankind's favourite webhead is going to be spending his festive period.

Sadly, I can reveal nothing much about what happens in this book but I do know the tale it contains is only sixteen pages long.

Still, I'm sure it's plenty enough pages for the Kingpin to cause trouble in.

Don Blake's alter ego may have been dumped from his own monthly book but that doesn't prevent him from getting his own annual.

As a result, we're treated to forty pages of adventures set during the thunder god's adolescence.

And I'm sure we're all glad to hear the Golden Apples put in an appearance.

Cap's sidekick is sidekick no more!

It's true. The Falcon gets his chance to shine in a four-part mini-series.

Sadly, I know nothing of its contents, other than they include such characters as Lucia Calderon, Miguel Martinez, Mr Salvatore, Nemesis and Sgt Tork.

And, of course, Redwing.

And another new title makes its entrance.

This time, it's destined to last for just one issue before disappearing from our lives.

I genuinely have no idea what happens in this one, other than that it features Spider-Man and Dr Octopus. Just what happens in it that couldn't have happened in one of Spidey's regular books, I cannot say.

Speaking of Spidey's many books, here comes another, as Peter Porker makes its sensational first appearance.

It would appear to also be its sensational last appearance.

Apparently, in this one, Captain America and Spider-Ham investigate a saboteur destroying a video arcade but find themselves having to fight the Hulk Bunny.

This issue also features a strip called Goose Rider. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, I'm going to assume that's a send-up of Ghost Rider.

Hooray! We get to celebrate the reign of Gentleman Jim Shooter!

There's also news of Larry Hama, Al Milgrom and Carl Potts. Not to mention features entitled Golden Age Greats Revisited and A Tale of Two Artists.

The universe's shiniest space knight is granted his second-ever annual but, sadly, I can relate no information about the insides of this mighty tome, other than that the Dire Wraiths are there, which I suspect will be a shock to no one.

It is, however, forty pages long and contains no reprints.

Forty years ago today - November 1983.

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

***

OK, Nostalgia, let's see what you've got in store for us.

It's 1983 and Captain America and the man once known as Deathlok battle the man still known as Deathlok, thanks to the wonders of time travel, comic book plotting and cloning.

Mission accomplished, the man now once more known as Deathlok returns to his rightful home in the dystopian future.

But, in one of his fits of duty-bound impetuousness, Cap decides to go with him!

For reasons I can't recall, Doctor Doom decides to get into a scrap with the Cosmic-Powered Tyros who, before that, was having fun knocking the Fantastic Four around - and Doom, seemingly, comes a croppper.

However, none of our characters have bargained with the Latverian monarch's power to swap bodies.

Tyros, meanwhile, is stopped by the Silver Surfer.

Feeling much better, these days, the Black Cat's released from hospital.

But new problems surface for Spidey when a bereaved mother kidnaps a mayoral candidate's baby.

Needless to say, the public-spirited arachno-hominid joins a city-wide manhunt for the absent sprog.

A brand new character makes his first appearance.

And what an impact he's going to have on the life of everyone's favourite thunder god.

It all begins when Nick Fury asks Thor to investigate an alien ship that's heading for Earth. However, on board that ship is Beta Ray Bill who defeats our hero, picks up his hammer and is promptly whisked off to Asgard, by Odin who thinks he's summoning Thor!

What's this? The Phoenix? Back from the dead and out to kill our beloved mutants?

Well, no. It turns out she's an illusion, created by Mastermind, and that the person the X-Men are really fighting is Cyclops.

Still, it all ends happily, with everyone being friends again and Cyke marrying Jean Grey lookalike Maddie Pryor.

Despite the impression this cover may give, Moondragon isn't back.

However, the Sisterhood of Ishtar is and Rhodey visits them, seeking an energy source to enable the development of his new business venture.

Meanwhile, an ever-more drunk Tony Stark's now living on the streets.

All I recollect of this one is that, inside a secret research facility, Spider-Man helps the Avengers fight an unholy alliance of the Rhino, Electro, Moonstone and Blackout. I'm assuming the good guys win but I don't recall just how.

Michael Golden creates a striking cover, as the savage Cimmerian's tricked into wielding a soul-stealing sword. Every use of which brings him closer to his doom.

However, the woman who fooled him into using it has fallen in love with him and sacrifices herself to save him.

It's an odd story in which nothing happens and each of our main characters creates a fantasy in his or her head about how they'd really like their life to be.

It looks like it's bad news for Bullsye.

And it is, as he and the man without fear go toe to toe in a ring that Battling Murdock once fought in.

It's in this tale we first discover that that man once wrestled under the guise of the Red Devil, thus inspiring Matt Murdock's later choice of a secret identity.

I do believe the Hulk comes to blows with the Abomination who's more or less working for MODOK and may or may not have abducted Bruce Banner's latest lab assistant.

November 10th, 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. 

***

At last, the nation's fish were safe!

It's true. This week in 1973 was the one in which the Second Cod War between the United Kingdom and Iceland ended. Who won? Who lost? I've no idea.

But how long could it be before there'd be a Third Cod War?

Only time would tell.

Over on the UK singles chart, there were also celebrations. This time, for David Cassidy who was still at Number One with his double-A side Daydreamer/Puppy Song.

And the British album chart was similarly becalmed, with David Bowie's Pin Ups still at Number One.

That David Cassidy single may not have been my favourite ever but the following 45s were ones that I did approve of on that week's UK listing:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John

Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra

Photograph - Ringo Starr

Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan

My Friend Stan - Slade

Nutbush City Limits - Ike and Tina Turner

My Coo-Ca-Choo - Alvin Stardust

Lamplight - David Essex

and

Amoureuse - Kiki Dee.

Should you wish to study the matter in more depth, that week's UK singles chart can be found here.

While the parallel album chart dwells here.

Can it be? The webbed wonder having to fight the Lizard, with one arm in a sling?

Yes, it can.

And not only are those odds stacked against our hero but the villain has a whole host of reptiles on his side, as well!

But how ironic that Spidey has to tackle the villain while only supplied with one arm when, in a future tale, he'll have to fight the fiend while lumbered with six of the things. And that the Lizard, himself, tends to oscillate between possessing two arms and one.

I do believe this is the adventure in which Stan Lee challenges us to fill in several blank dialogue balloons. I must confess that, after all these years, I've still not got round to doing it.

Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Loki's won the Trial of the Gods, by using enchanted Norn Stones, which leads Thor to intervene in a certain East Asian conflict. Someone has to pay for the god of mischief's duplicity. And it's going to be the Viet Cong!

Spider-Man's busy, this week. Not only does he have to thwart the Lizard, it would appear he's going to have to defeat the entirety of the Avengers, as well!

But is he the real Spider-Man?

Or is he, instead, a robot version of the crime fighter, sent back in time by Kang in his latest attempt to get one up on the team?

I can shed little light upon this week's Dr Strange adventure but, according to the cover, death awaits him beyond the purple veil, which sounds like bad news.

Fresh from annihilating the Mandarin's fortress, the Hulk encounters the Inhumans. And that means we too encounter them for the first time, thanks to them not having yet turned up in the Fantastic Four's reprints.

However, these aren't the nice Inhumans. The ones who maintain a rigidly hierarchical society, keep slaves and marry their own relatives. No. These are the evil ones, banished by order of Black Bolt. And, as we all know, any encounter with the Hulk quickly turns into a fight with the Hulk.

The Fantastic Four, meanwhile, are concluding their scrap with the X-Men which is rapidly turning into a team-up, as the fact that the Mad Thinker and Puppet Master are the true villains of the piece becomes apparent.

And even a subterranean base and a big android can't shield that duo for long from two teams of super-heroes.