Forty years ago today - December 1983.

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

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One of the stars of this week's comic book cavalcade is travelling forward in time.

We, however, will only be heading in one direction.

And that's towards yesteryear.

Cap flings himself into the far-flung future of 1993, to find a world where all super-heroes have been bumped off and a cyborg called Hellinger is planning to wipe out what's left of humankind.

Needless to say, it only takes America's greatest hero about twenty minutes to track down and stop the villain.

With a massive amount of aid from Deathlok, of course.

With Daredevil's activities severely hindered by his recent injuries, the Black Widow decides to chip in and help out when he wants to track down the mystery man who tried to assassinate Foggy Nelson.

I seem to remember the hero doing a lot of whining, about being useless, in this one.

Oh my God! Now what are we going to do? Someone's kidnapped Reed Richards, with the aid of an outer space beam!

Needless to say, the rest of the gang waste no time in looking for him; even seeking aid from the Watcher, along the way.

But, when they find their missing leader, it turns out he's been put on trial for saving the life of Galactus. An act that's directly led to the destruction of the Skrull homeworld.

With no doubt at all that Richards did it, it seems to be an open-and-shut case.

Surely, his execution can't now be prevented.

I've not one millimetre of recollection about what happens in this one but I gather the instoppable menace that is the Frog-Man is involved.

I do, however, recall what happens in this book.

Because yet another fight breaks out between Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin.

And, now, the villain's got super-strength!

But the good news is our hero doesn't have to fight alone, as he now has the Black Cat on his side.

Or is that good news? Because all she manages to do is get in the way.

Now that Beta Ray Bill has Thor's hammer - and his powers - there's a pressing need to decide which of them is most deserving of that hammer and those powers.

Thus it is that Odin sets up a contest between them to decide just who is the noblest warrior of them all.

And, quelle horreur, the sheep-faced alien wins it!

Hooray! Romance is in the air, as MODOK transforms SHIELD agent Katherine Waynesboro into a female version of himself and, inevitably, they fall in love with each other.

Or do they? It's not long before they're at each other's throats and trying to kill each other.

Out of work since Obadiah Stane's takeover of the Stark business empire, Rhodey decides to hire himself out as a bodyguard to the rich and powerful.

But that brings him into direct conflict with the awesome foe that is the Flying Tiger.

Luke Cage and Iron Fist put in a guest appearance, thanks to their ability to give Rhodey advice on how to become a hero for hire.

Tony Stark, meanwhile, is making some kind of move towards drying out.

The Vision finally awakes from his coma.

But that's where the good news ends, as, thanks to a link-up with Titan's controlling super-computer ISAAC, he's now smarter and more powerful than ever.

And determined to make full use of his new abilities, whether other people like it or not.

Some of us thought we'd never live to see Conan riding along on the back of a giant dragonfly but we were wrong.

All I remember of this one is the barbarian meets a woman with the unlikely name of Alhambra and she has wings. What she does with those wings and for what purpose, I cannot say.

It's a departure from the norm, as the issue mostly dwells on Cyclops and his wife taking a boat trip. One on which they find themselves attacked by a giant octopus.

Elsewhere, beneath the streets of New York, Callisto's moving pieces into place in her bid to gain vengeance upon Storm for deposing her as leader of the Morlocks.