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.
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!
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.
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37 comments:
“… the nice Inhumans. The ones who maintain a rigidly hierarchical society, keep slaves and marry their own relatives.”
LOL quote of the week!
b.t.
Is the Hulk story reprinting Hulk King Size #1 with that iconic Steranko cover? I don’t recall which inhuman Inhumans Hulk smashes in that story mostly because the inside art sucks in comparison to the sizzle created by that cover and I was despondent.
I mean, I had mail ordered that comic from Richard Alf in California, co-founder of San Diego Comic Con, around 1975, because of the house ad alone which Id seen years earlier in 196?.
Charlz.
Same with Avengers King Size#2. The cover is iconic and often shows up on lists of Big John B’s greatest covers. But the interior art falls fall short of the cover’s sizzle. Such a bait and switch.
Charlz - Getting it out of his system!
Its good to see Steve is open minded, and not judgemental about cultural differences, b.t.
Not sure about approving of Alvin Stardust though. Thats going a bit too far.
Steve, plucky little Iceland won all three Cod Wars (the third started a couple of years later, in late '75 and lasted til the following summer). Basically, the Americans told the Brits each time that they had to back down, because Iceland threatened to leave NATO if they didn't get their way.
At least there was a happy ending for the nation's fish by the 21st century, when - as noted statesman Jacob Rees-Mogg pointed out - thanks to Brexit they were definitely British fish.
-sean
I think this is the tale that appeared in Hulk Annual 1 ( spread out over issues 58 to 60?) The Sterankno cover didn't appear until MWOM issue 129 though but was used for a different story
Steve, to your list I'll add:
Top Of The World - Carpenters
Monster Mash - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett & The Crypt Kickers
Ballroom Blitz - The Sweet
But I agree with your choice of Kiki Dee's Amoureuse, containing the enigmatic lyric...
"I feel the rainfall of another planet..."
On the subject of fish - there's a YouTube politics channel I follow called Maximilien Robespierre (presented by an Irishman living in Italy who comments on British politics, go figure!) and one of yesterday's videos concerned Scottish fishermen complaining that Brexiteers had lied to them about the benefits of leaving the EU - who'd have thunk it?!?
Charlie thinks Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground is the best song on either the US or UK charts this week. But I always was a motown dude.
I've been watching Top Of The Pops from October 19th 1978 (on iplayer) which was presented by Peter Powell and included Showaddywaddy, Buzzcocks, The Jam, Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger a mere youth at 35) and Boney M's 'Rasputin' at #2. John Travolta was featured twice, singing 'Sandy" at #4 and 'Summer Nights' at #1.
Tell me more
Tell me more
'Cause he sounds like a drag...
Any of you going online and voting for Puteketeke?
?
In some ways Alvin Stardust, the person, is more interesting than most of his songs. Bernard Jewery became Shane Fenton, in Shane Fenton and the Fentones, after the real Shane Fenton (actually Johhny Theakston) died aged 17. Then years later, Shane Fenton (Bernard Jewery) became Alvin Stardust, after Peter Shelley (record producer) wrote and recorded, as Alvin Stardust, the My Coo Ca Choo single (obviously leveraging Bowie's then successful Ziggy Stardust character) but didn't want to perform publicly.
Alvin Stardust (Shane Fenton ((Bernard Jewery))) mimed to Shelley's My Coo Ca Choo single, on Top of the Pops, before co-writing and performing further singles and albums, including the number one single Jealous Mind (written by Peter Shelley).
Alvin (Shane ((Bernard))) then married Liza Goddard and found God.
That's show business...
DW
DW - Mad Men's Don Draper also adopted a deceased man's identity, as did Liam Kincaid, in Earth Final Conflict.
Phillip
So Alvin was no relation to Ziggy then, DW?
-sean
I reckon had Bowie succumbed to the white powder the two maybe have merged.
Also, apparently Alan Moore was writing a 12 issue bio-graphic about Alvin, to have been illustrated by Herb Trimpe, but it was abandoned around the time Alan fell out with DC Thompson over the the rights to his Jackie stories.
DW
* this post may contain factual inaccuracies.
Please vote for Puteketeke!
David Jones (David Bowie ((Ziggy Stardust (((Aladdin Sane ((((Thin White Duke))))) merging with anyone would have needlessly complicated things, DW.
On that subject, Robert Fripp & Brian Eno's 'No Pussyfooting' lp came out this week in '73. So at least there was something worth listening to.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNbJ36kz6wQ
(Unfortunately on Youtube you have to listen to both sides of the album broken up into seperate tracks)
-sean
I see West Ham won yesterday.
Who saw that coming, eh? Probably not even Alan Moore.
Or Puteketeke (whatever that is).
-sean
Please vote for Putekteke online. It’s time those Kiwis have one of their elections highjacked!!!
Didn't they just have an election in New Zealand? I thought the nutters already won, Anon.
Or are we talking actual kiwis? You know, the flightless birds? What are they voting for?
-sean
Please go to birdoftheyear.org.nz and vote for Puteketeke! The planet will thank you.
OK, OK, I've just voted for Puteketeke - at least I think I did, as the voting was a bit confusing.
Charlie just learned that Mr Fantastic Reed Richards must will himself to not be all rubbery and stretched out which would be his default state. I never knew that. Hence you could not successfully stab him while he is sleeping. Isn’t that interesting?
Steve and other Yorksters (?) Heaven 17 is playing 2 shows in a few weeks in Sheffield, not just 1. Double your pleasure, double your fun!
Charlie, so Mr. Fantastic is all rubbery and stretched out when he's asleep? How unpleasant for Sue.
What if he needs an operation and he's under anaesthetic?
Steve and Phillip are Yorkshiremen, Charlie, not Yorksters.
The "new" "Beatles" song 'Now And Then' has reached #1 on the UK singles chart and sets a new record for longest gap between #1 hits - 'The Ballad Of John & Yoko' was the 17th Beatles' UK chart-topper in 1969 and 54 years later 'Now And Then' is officially the 18th even though it's not a proper Beatles song in my opinion but hey what do I know. Elvis Presley still holds the record for most UK chart-toppers at 21.
If nobody else casts a vote for Puteketeke shall we count mine as the official Steve Does Comics collective vote?
Colin, perhaps with Reed being all rubbery and stretchy - and generally being able to contort himself - there were some ah, shall we say, compensations for Sue while they were awake?
Er, anyway...
'Yorksters' sounds like a contraction of 'Yorkshire hipster'. Which seems kinda appropriate for a cheeky Northern post-modern cultural philosopher and commentator like our Steve Who Does Comics. And maybe Phillip too. I like it. Very good, Charlie.
-sean
SEAN, COLIN - Charlie is always happy to bridge cultures! Makes him warm all over!
In a way I would be surprised if "The Yorkster" was not used for local bands, names of meat pies, a serial winning conker...
SEAN - I do agree with you that Reed could have provided "comfort" to Sue given his abilities. However, given Reed seemed a tad on the conservative side, and as we know from Lee and Byrne, Sue was rather vapid, liked Namor, her inner beast was to dress like... (however one refers to "Malice" in FF 281)... I suspect Plastic Man would have been her preference??? He was a fun loving dude!
Oh lordie... I just had this image of Reed and Sue around the dinner table and in through the kitchen window comes not the Frightful Four but Plastic Man... or at least part of him.
EHLP?
Charlie just bought Strange Tales #178 (page-for-page repro $3.99 at LCBS).
It was a decent book! Seems Charlie is over his 50-year-old phobia of lots of words and drawings of trolls and Starlin's art in general, LOL.
Is it worth reading the next several (?) issues of this? I assume WARLOCK eventually fights the MAGUS which, from ST 178 seems to be himself?
Charlie - it's absolutely required reading!!!
Phillip
Charlie, Judo Jim Stalin bit a sweet spot with his Warlock run, where he'd developed his work during his first major series, Captain Marvel, and got better but still had something to prove before his stuff became more formulaic in the 80s. Its pretty good.
No less an authority than Yorkster Steve once did a post on this very blog rating the last part of the Magus storyline as the best single issue of the 70s. When it wasn't Marvel Spotlight #12 featuring the Son of Satan presumably (;
(Only kidding Steve - I freely admit to claiming at different times that both that Warlock series and the Englehart-era Dr Strange are the best Marvel run of the 70s)
Anyway, I reckon if you enjoyed ST #178 you'll like the rest. Not sure how much back issues cost now that Adam W is a film star in GOTG 3, but its been reprinted loads.
Including the Omnibus... you gave up on the idea of getting that then?
-sean
*hit a sweet spot
Stupid spellcheck. Why does it 'correct' words that actually exist, and aren't a mistake?
Admittedly 'Stalin' rather Starlin was me though, not spellcheck.
Btw Charlie, you might not want to look for Steve's piece on the Magus conclusion, as there are spoilers.
-sean
As it happens, I would definitely read a comic by Stalin.
But unfortunately I don't think he ever produced any.
-sean
SEAN, PHILLIP, Thanks for the reco on Warlock!
I checked out the various library on-line catalogues and it turns out it is available and I have put it on reserve!
And I shan't read Yorkster Steve's review!
Regarding buying the Omnibus, Charlie assessed his share of book shelf space in the household and it won't support one more thing unless I throw out the stuff I've started collecting after moving in with the new missus which would include Gainsbourg-Bardot 45 rpms, souvenirs of travels, books, books about comics, comics, stuff I've been holding onto for this Xmas's "white elephant" gift exchange... (You guys have the same expression for deliberately gifting odd, useless stuff to others at a party?)
So, Warlock will have to wait. But it is still only $75 new on Amazon which means what...? Kids don't read books anymore? Idk... Warlock has to be sooo far removed from the average comic reading kid's mind at this time?
Omnibus editions aren't aimed at kids, Charlie, so I don't know how that says anything about their reading habits. My guess would be that plenty of them know who Warlock is because of the Marvel films (probably more than did in the 70s, when Warlock was a fairly esoteric title that didn't last long).
-sean
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