March 30th 1974 - 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. 

***

Have you ever wanted your own private army?

If you so, you'll have to put some effort into it to get a bigger one than Qin Shi Huang the first emperor of China 

Admittedly, his was made of terracotta and buried with him and, therefore, may not have been much use in an actual fight.

But who cares about that? Not archaeologists. Not this week in 1974 because that's when members of that profession first impressed the world by unearthing it near Xi'an in the province of Shaanxi.

But an almost equally momentous event was taking place at around the same time.

You guessed it. March 30th saw BBC One screen The Day the Earth Caught Fire, a film I still, to this day, always get mixed up with When Worlds Collide.

i suppose the easy way to remember which is which is that the former movie stars the then editor of The Daily Express who quickly demonstrates that he's no actor.

Can it be? Is the webby wonder going to bring George Stacy to justice for stealing things while brainwashed?

He is if he has his way - but, quelle horreur, doing that might prevent him having his way with Gwen. Just which way-having will win out? Only the bitter twists and turns of a superhero's life can decide.

Speaking of which, Iron Man's still trapped in the distant past and assisting Cleopatra in her efforts to defeat malevolent chancer Hatap, AKA the Mad Pharoah.

Strangely enough, the 1980s BBC drama serial about the multitude of Cleopatras never once mentioned this incident. And that's, no doubt, why it failed to win the hearts of the nation.

In the present - and in Asgard - a weakened Thor must defeat an ex-lickspittle of Odin who's got his hands on that ruler's superpowers and is determined to abuse them.

Our hero succeeds but will even that act of heroism make Odin stop acting like a demented tyrant at him?

And the issue signs off with a venerable Syd Shores drawn tale in which a thug demands a sorcerer reveals the six words which will allow him to fling men into limbo.

This can only mean trouble for someone and - inevitably - that someone is himself.

Hold on to your nunchucks because a seismic shift has arrived at Marvel UK, as Shang-Chi, master of kung fu, takes over as headline act in the Avengers' book.

And he doesn't do it with much style, managing to commit murder, right off the bat.

Fortunately, he soon recognises the error of his ways and sets out to punch his own dad in the gob.

When it comes to the Avengers; as far as I'm aware, Goliath's still in a hidden city in the Andes and still fighting its inhabitants.

Elsewhere, in the world of Dr Strange, Dormammu challenges our hero to a battle for  mastery of Earth!

And, to do it, their only weapon must be...

...The Pincers Of Power!

Judging by that cover, the Hulk remains in the Everglades and is out to rescue Betty Ross from the clutches of the Glob.

But how can even the Hulk defeat a foe so squishy that you can't land a good blow on him?

And does he even need to?

Over in New York, the man without fear continues to face the Organization's coterie of animal-themed crooks, as they seek to prevent Foggy Nelson from becoming DA.

Or are they seeking to enable him to become DA? I'm struggling to recall.

In the Baxter Building, the first family of super-doers is in a life-or-death contretemps with the Frightful Four.

Is this the one that climaxes with the evil FF literally nuking the good FF?

If so, I think we can safely say that's a bunch of bad guys who don't believe in doing things by half.