December 15th 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. 

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No one loves science more than the owner of this website does.

Thus it is that I'm thrilled to report it was this week in 1973 that Brian Josephson shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for his theoretical predictions of the properties of a supercurrent through a tunnel barrier. In particular, those phenomena which are generally known as the Josephson effects.

Not only that but Geoffrey Wilkinson and Ernst Otto Fischer won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for their pioneering work, performed independently, on the chemistry of the organometallic sandwich compounds.

Much as I love sandwiches, I'm perfectly happy to settle for them being kept in shops. I see no reason why they need entire compounds to store them in.

Over on the UK singles chart, the battle for Christmas supremacy reached overdrive, as Glam Rock gargantuans Slade smashed their way straight onto the Hit Parade at Number One, with their classic party-pleaser Merry Xmas, Everybody. Off the top of my head, I do believe it was their sixth Number One. Though, sadly, and surprisingly, it also turned out to be their last.

Over on the accompanying LP chart, events were dominated by far less rowdy fare, as David Cassidy's Dreams Are Nothin' More Than Wishes climbed serenely to the pinnacle.

It's another Marvel masterpiece, as the aliens who created Umbu - the robot the Hulk destroyed, last week - visit Earth to find out just what kind of a being could stop their unstoppable creation.

They then make the mistake of taking him back home, where he can be recruited in a plot to destroy the Galaxy Master, a shouty, floating mouth who wants to rule the universe.

And, as we all know, if there's anyone who's never seen a gob he didn't want to punch, it's the Hulk.

But, after that tale, there's a shock.

And that's because this issue doesn't contain a Fantastic Four story.

Instead, it contains the true tale of the origin of Dr Doom, in which we learn how he started out as a poor young Romany boy, lost his mum, lost his dad, invented hair restorer, turned mud into gold, invented the bomb-proof caravan, blew himself up and ended up seizing the much-coveted throne of Latveria.

It's issue #13 and it's unlucky for some.

Those Some being fans of Iron Man, Giant-Man and Thor who all announce they're leaving the team they created.

Strangely, the cover blurb totally ignores the existence of the winsome Wasp who's also leaving. But how will the team ever survive without her?

Simple. It'll survive by recruiting a trio of well-known criminals.

Dr Strange, meanwhile, stars in a tale called Mordo Must Not Catch Me!

And I'm going to guess, from that title, that Baron Mordo's involved.

And it's another classic, as Peter Parker decides he shall no longer be Spider-Man.

At least, not until he sees a man who looks like Uncle Ben being put upon by robbers and, so, feels he has no choice but to intervene.

Not only does this story contain that historical event but I do believe it may very well be the first issue of any Marvel comic to feature the mountainous menace of the Kingpin.

Elsewhere, Thor visits the steel mills of Pittsburgh, to repair the hammer damaged, last week, by the Destroyer.

However, the thunder god's worries have only just begun, as he soon discovers Jane Foster's gone missing. 

And I do believe this is one of those very rare occasions when Marvel UK continuity stacks up because, at one point, he tries to contact the Avengers for help - only to discover that nearly all of them have quit and been replaced by new-fangled newcomers he doesn't like.