April 6th 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. 

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What happened on the 6th of April, 1974?

Napoleon only went and surrendered, that's all!

Granted, he did it in song. But, as we all know, surrendering in song is the best way to do it.

You have, no doubt, already guessed that that night saw Swedish pop sensations ABBA win the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest with their bouncy - possibly Wizzard influenced - track Waterloo. An achievement that would propel them to global superstardom.

And they did it in Brighton, England.

Before you feel sorry for Napoleon, remember that he may have surrendered but at least he wasn't finding it hard to die.

Terry Jacks was. 

 

It's true. This was the very week in which his single Seasons in the Sun climbed to the summit of the British Hit Parade and spawned a parody in every schoolyard in Britain.

On the accompanying album chart, there was no change at the top, as the Carpenters' compilation The Singles 1969-1973 retained its Number One crown.

And things weren't only happening in the world of music. It was, it turns out, the week in which Stephen King's first novel Carrie hit our shops.

In the world of politics, Britain's Local Government Act 1972 came into force, creating such new counties as South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, and the West Midlands, amongst many others, creating a situation in which the historic counties and the new counties somehow simultaneously existed.

It's a thrilling moment for me because, having missed last week's issue, this was my first encounter with Shang-Chi.

And what an encounter it is, as, having murdered an innocent man, our master of the martial arts goes looking for Fu Manchu to have it out with him.

That leads to a confrontation with a giant gorilla, and a sumo wrestler called Tak, before the villain of the piece finally puts in an appearance.

If I didn't love Jim Starlin's work before this issue, I certainly did after it and remember copying that cover image of Shang-Chi, with my trusty pencil and sketchpad. Whisper it quietly but it's where I first learnt how to draw toes.

Elsewhere, I think the Avengers are still in that hidden city in the Andes and still making a meal and a half of thwarting whatever its inhabitants are up to. I seem to recall a big flame and metal tentacles being involved.

To finish off this issue, Dormammu consigns Mordo to the Dimension of Demons and is then defeated in combat by Dr Strange. In a sulk, the villain banishes Clea to a place where Strange can never find her, and the sorcerer returns home to an inconvenient bomb planted by Mordo's lackeys. 

Our hero's spider-sense, clearly on the blink on that cover.

Inside, the anthropoid arachnid's still dealing with the problem of George Stacy's brainwashing and the Kingpin's plan to do whatever it is he's up to.

Not to mention Gwen's disapprobation of Peter Parker for his role in getting her father's crime exposed to the world.

In Iron Man's latest epic, we get to meet two brand new characters, as Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts each make their debut.

In retrospect, it does seem surprising it took this long for any supporting characters to appear in the strip.

However, the Grand Comics Database informs us that Pepper is bafflingly renamed Kitty, at one point in this tale. 

In between all this, our ferrous-themed fiend-fighter has to deal with the icy menace of the man they call Jack Frost.

As the cover declares, this week, Thor is up against the power of Pluto which does give me visions of him fighting Mickey Mouse's dog.

But, no, it's an even deadlier Pluto - and one who's not even a planet. It's a confrontation caused by Thor's quest to liberate Hercules from the Hades-binding contract the Olympian oaf  has been daft enough to sign without reading, in what seems to be a satire upon the workings of Hollywood.

And we finish off with a three-page tale titled The Fatal Words! in which a man tries talking to his dog and his cat.

Now, there's a cover that could make the tightest of tightwads part with every penny he has in the world.

Unhappy with his current career as a hounded fugitive and feared monster, Bruce Banner takes a quiet five minutes to conceive a formula that could cure him of being the Hulk but, to make it work, he's going to need the help of the smartest man in New York.

And that leads him to the Baxter Building and a clash with none other than the Fantastic Four.

But will they cure him or kill him?

More to the point, will he kill them?

Daredevil, meanwhile, is, as so often, of late, caught up in the Organization's attempt to pervert the election of a new District Attorney for the Big Apple.