June 1st 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. 

***

This week in 1974 saw no change atop the UK singles hit list, with the Rubettes' Sugar Baby Love retaining its Number One status.

However, it was a case of normal service being resumed as soon as possible on the corresponding LP chart, with Rick Wakeman's reign at the summit being ended after just one week, thanks to the Carpenters' Singles 1969-1973 regaining the top spot it had ceded to him just the week before.

Holy smoke. It was starting to look like nothing could keep the silky-smooth siblings of soft-centred song away from the peak of the charts.

It's another all-time classic, as the Hulk meets the mighty Mogol, a dynamic strongman sent to the surface world to recruit our hero for the benefit of Tyrannus.

But is he friend?

Or is he foe?

And what is his shocking secret?

Meanwhile, I do believe Daredevil's currently blind, in the Savage Land and having his first encounter with a wannabe Tarzan called Ka-Zar.

But is he friend?

Or is he foe?

And what is his shocking secret?

Finally, I suspect the Thing has joined forces with the Frightful Four and now wants nothing but to destroy his former colleagues.

Well, at least we know if he's a friend or a foe.

But what's this? It seems that this week's back cover offers us the chance to win a fishing rod by the simple act of recognising the silhouettes of various boats from history. One of them is the Titanic and one of them is a Viking longboat.

Doing this feature has made me realise I only seemed to get every other issue of The Avengers during this period.

And thus it is that here's another one I didn't have.

However, I do know Shang-Chi's still in the Everglades and still hanging around with both the Man-Thing and a David Carradine clone. 

However, he's also hanging around with a couple of assassins who want to kill him.

That's assuming the Man-Thing doesn't kill them first.

I'm fairly certain the Avengers are, at last, putting a stop to the schemes of the Living Laser, especially the one that involves him taking over a South American country.

And Doctor Strange is up against the might of Kaluu.

Unless I miss my guess; this week, we get Part One of the thriller in which Mysterio abducts Spidey and convinces him he's trapped inside a model of a funfair, after being reduced to the size of a true arachnid.

Meanwhile, Iron Man must deal with his mightiest foe yet, the Scarecrow whose super-power is...

...crows!

Yes. He's a normal man with three pet crows. How can even a genius wrapped from head to toe in armour and equipped with repulsor rays, jet boots and roller skates hope to stop such an opponent?

Clearly, he can't.

And that's bad news for Tony Stark because the villain wants to steal some of his top-secret plans and sell them to Fidel Castro.

Elsewhere, space awesomeness awaits us because, as far as I'm aware, Thor's battled his way to Rigel or thereabouts but now must prepare himself for an encounter with Ego the living planet!

And we finish with a yarn called Super-Hero Daydreams, a Marie Severin spoof from the pages of Not Brand Echh. In its three pages, it tackles the subject of what it would be like if we could transform ourselves into our favourite Marvel heroes at will.

The keen-eyed reader will have noticed that this week's cover claims Iron Man is battling the murderous Mandarin.

He isn't.

Speak Your Brain! Part 79. Giveaways.

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

***

There's plenty of excitement in dear old Blighty, right now, with a general election campaign well and truly underway.

But is that what's on the minds of those who visit this venerable site?

I cannot say.

Not because I'm banned from doing so by the mysterious They who, if you believe some, are behind every conspiracy on the planet - but because I don't know what's on visitors' minds.

But I soon will.

You guessed it. This evening sees the cosmos-crunching return of the feature in which the first person to comment gets to choose the subject for debate. It could cover any field of human endeavour - or even non human endeavour. Or even non-human non-endeavour.

Whatever it is, post it below and we shall see just which way the winds of chat blow us.

May 1984 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.

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

***

This month in 1984 found it all kicking off in the Soviet Union.

For one thing, that nation announced it would boycott the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, in retaliation for the 1980 American boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

For another, it experienced the Severomorsk Disaster in which a Naval Base explosion destroyed two-thirds of all the missiles stockpiled for the Soviets' Northern Fleet. The blast also caused the deaths of hundreds of technicians and was believed to be the worst disaster the Soviet Navy had suffered since World War II.

Rather less dramatically, the one-dollar coin was introduced in Australia, Liverpool beat Roma 5–2 on penalties in the final of the European Cup, and London's Thames Flood Barrier was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

But there was bad news from the world of showbusiness when legendary UK comedian Eric Morecambe died from a heart attack at the age of 58, having collapsed on stage at the Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, the previous day.

On the UK singles chart, two acts ruled the roost, that May.

The first was Duran Duran with The Reflex and the second was Wham! who succeeded them at the top, thanks to their catchy pop ditty Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.

Over on the accompanying album chart, the month kicked off with Now That's What I Call Music 2 in charge before that was dethroned by none other than Bob Marley's Legend which is still in the UK Top 40, a full four decades later.

It's all tension for Cloak and Dagger as they star in True Confessions, a tale which I believe begins with the unconscious Dagger being rushed to hospital.

Elsewhere, the Jim Jaspers saga comes to a close, as fresh from killing Jaspers, the Fury returns to our world - only for Captain UK to finally finish the thing off by tearing it to pieces.

Not quite so elsewhere, Night Raven stars in a tale Marvel knows as When in Rome...

And we conclude with a two-page showcase story called The Living Planet by Anthony Smith. Does this yarn involve Ego? That, I cannot recall.

Joy reigns unfettered across the land, as a brand new Doctor arrives!

And he does it in style by trying to strangle his companion to death in his first scene!

Still, I'm sure things'll get better from this point on and he'll go on to be everybody's favourite Doctor. After all, he's called Baker and that has to be a good omen.

Aside from a look at that, there's an interview with Lalla Ward who played the second Romana and there's a retrospective on The Time Warrior, the serial which first introduced the potato-headed Sontarans to us all.

For those who demand even more from a magazine, we're treated to a new strip called The Shape Shifter which I suspect stars the brand new Doctor.

And there's a look at the depictions of the future that the show has given us over the years.

Strap yourself in for adventure when Conan returns to the land of Ophir where a coup d'état has taken place.

Not only that but the government's been overthrown.

Someone called the Iron Maidens now rule in conjunction with someone called Balthis but they're both conspiring against each other. Can Conan decide which side to assist?

And will it just happen to be the one that has a beautiful queen in its ranks?

We also, in this issue, are treated to a three-page portfolio by Pablo Marcos.

You can probably guess, from that cover, that, this month, Stephen King talks about possessed-car-on-the-rampage movie Christine.

But that's not all because the magazine also reviews the movie

There's a report on a Belgian film festival, David Cronenburg talks about Videodrome and we take a look ahead to the new Tarzan movie known to us all as Greystoke. Disappointingly, Tarzan at no point in that movie shouts out, "I HAVE THE POWER OF GREYSTOKE!!!"

Clearly, that man has no class.

May 25th 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. 

***

If you were a man looking to be startled, this week in 1974, the top of the UK singles chart was not the place for you. It was, after all, still dominated by the Rubettes' glam rock classic Sugar Baby Love.

You might, however, find more joy atop the UK album chart.

For, there, you would find that, at long last, the Carpenters had been dislodged - and dislodged by the not-at-all-likely figure of Rick Wakeman, fluid-fingered flaunter of capes, who had achieved dominance over all who lived, with his LP Journey to the Centre of the Earth.

Is it a good album?

That I cannot say, as I've never heard it but it had better feature a serious dose of dimetrodons or there'll be trouble.

Not requiring dimetrodons of any kind is the Hulk who's been sent to a dimension ruled by the Undying Ones, monstrous fiends who want to take over our world.

After a brief contretemps, the leaf-coloured lump-inflicter and the Night-Crawler both decide to take on the villains and it all leads to the captive Dr Strange being liberated, thanks to an act of self-sacrifice by Babs Norriss.

Also getting away from familiar surroundings is Matt Murdock. Determined to avoid his secretary, he does what any boss would in such circumstances and takes a round-the-world cruise.

And, wouldn't you know it, barely has the ship set sail than it's hijacked by pirates led by the Plunderer.

With true comic book logic, this can only lead to an encounter with Ka-Zar.

But just what is the jungle lord's connection with the Plunderer and how does it connect with his childhood?

And, finally, this issue, the  Frightful Four are back!

However, I think they may be on the brink of becoming the Frightful Five, as I do believe this is the tale in which the Thing quits his usual team and then gets brainwashed into joining its criminal counterpart.

Shock follows shock as Spider-Man helps a bunch of convicts escape the local jail!

Or does he?

Is he just out to trick them - and save their hostage George Stacy while hes at it?

Next, I do believe Iron Man concludes his battle with the evil Mr Doll by using his chest plate's search light to somehow remould the villain's Iron Man doll into something resembling his foe.

Thor, meanwhile, miffed at Tana Nile claiming she owns the planet Earth, sets off to her homeworld of Rigel - and is determined to reach it, even if he has to fight every step of the way to get there.

If that cover wouldn't convince you to buy this comic, I reckon nothing could.

It's true. We get the clash of the martial arts titans we all wanted, as Shang-Chi finds himself up against the Man-Thing!

And, from what I can recall, it doesn't go at all well for our hero because he ends up getting stuck in the monster and carried around the swamp like a wally until he's rescued by a man who looks suspiciously like David Carradine.

Elsewhere, in between bouts of trying to woo the lovely Janet van Dyne, kill Goliath and defeat the Avengers, the Living Laser's now trying to overthrow the government of a South American country!

You have to hand it to him, he may fail at everything he does but he doesn't lack ambition.

And I do believe that, in Dr Strange's strip, we get the origin of the Ancient One which seems to involve a long-ago conflict with this issue's villain of the month Kaluu.

Speak Your Brain! Part 78. Bad cover versions and storylines that died.

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

***

Look!

Up in the sky!

Is it a bird?

Is it a plane?

Is it a stray UAP looking to get included in a Pentagon investigation?

No. It's the sky. It's very popular and there's a lot of it about.

And you know what else there's a lot of?

This feature. Now in its 78th instalment and going strong.

"But, surely," you may declare, "Surely, by now, every topic that could possibly spring from the mind of a sane man has been covered!"

But has it?

I posit that, contrary to mainstream scientific thought, there are even more than 77 things in the world - and here's where we find out if it's true because what gets talked about on here today depends on what you post in the enclosed comments section.

Therefore, whatever subject it is you want to discuss, jot it down below and we'll see just where the conversation takes us.

2000 AD - April 1986.

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

***

I think we all remember where we were when it was announced that war was finally over between Britain and the Netherlands.

Then again, we might not.

Bizarrely, wherever we were, that war ended in April 1986 when the two nations signed a peace treaty which brought to an end the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years War.

I must confess I've never heard of it and have never been haunted by it but it was, apparently, one of the longest wars in human history. Therefore, I'm sure the cessation of it was a great weight off all our minds.

But for every good thing that happens in this world, a bad thing must occur.

And, that April, we had to endure the Chernobyl Disaster in which a reactor at Pripyat, Ukraine, exploded, killing over 4,000 people. Fallout was most concentrated in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia with at least 350,000 people having to be evacuated.

Clearly, with that going on, we were going to have to seek refuge in our cinemas. And, if we did, we'd encounter Critters, A Room with a View and Absolute Beginners which were all released that month. I must confess that Critters is the only one of those I've ever seen. I shall, therefore, nominate it as my pick of the bunch.

Absolute Beginners, of course, featured plenty of music, thanks to the likes of David Bowie and Ray Davies but a thing which featured even more music was the UK singles chart, and the month kicked off with Cliff Richard and the Young Ones at its summit, thanks to their re-recording of Cliff's 1950s' classic Living Doll.

But even Cliff can't reign forever and, before the month was through, he'd been deposed by George Michael with A Different Corner.

Over on the accompanying album chart, April 1986 was dominated by just two records. The first being Hits 4 by those ubiquitous Various Artists who couldn't be kept off the charts, and then Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music's Street Life - 20 Great Hits.

But what of the galaxy's greatest comic, while all this tumult was going on? 

In fact, it was a significant moment in the history of the publication because I do believe that Prog 466 was the last issue of the comic I ever read. Given its significance, I would claim to have strong recollections of everything that occurred within it but, to be honest, apart from the front cover, I've no memory of it at all.

That aside, the strips we could find in the book during that spell were the usual suspects of The Ballad of Halo Jones, Tharg's Future-Shocks, Ace Trucking Co, Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog.

May 18th 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. 

***

People, take my advice. If you really love them, don't think twice.

I think we all know from where those imperishable words originate - and what their significance is.

Of course. They come from that all-time classic track Sugar Baby Love by none other than the Rubettes and the reason for me quoting it is that, this week in 1974, it hit the top of the UK singles chart, proving, yet again, that Glam was still far from being in its grave.

Also very much still with us were the Carpenters who were ruling the roost on the British album chart, thanks to their compilation The Singles 1969-1973 which seemed to have been at Number One since the dawn of time 

Things get serious for Shang-Chi who finds himself on the Island of Lightning Death.

I don't recall too much about this one but I do know he's up against his dad again and that Paul Gulacy's art is getting more Sterankoesque by the second.

Back in the United States, the Avengers continue their tussle with the Living Laser who's busy destroying buildings in what I can only assume is his latest attempt to gain the love of the Wondrous Wasp.

Sturdy Steve Ditko may have quit the strip but Dr Strange continues his war on evil, as the sorcering sawbones discovers that from the nameless nowhere comes Kaluu!

Presumably, not related to Baloo from The Jungle Book.

And there are related problems for the Hulk.

Fresh from his "victory" over the Absorbing Man, the brute finds himself teleported, by a cult, into the realm of the Undying Ones and the monstrous Night-Crawler who has nothing to do with the character  of the same name from the X-Men.

But can our hero rescue the trapped Dr Strange?

And how does a woman called Barbara Norriss fit into it all?

Meanwhile, in the more everyday confines of New York, the powerless Fantastic Four conclude their latest battle with Dr Doom, thanks to the assistance of Daredevil.

What's this? The webbed wonder, trapped in a prison? Charged with something or other?

Can he possibly escape?

And, while he's at it, can he prevent all the other prisoners from escaping?

And, while he's at that, can he prevent them from killing George Stacy?

Too right he can.

Next, Iron Man must face the menace of Mr Doll who, bearing no resemblance at all to the Puppet Master, can control people, via the use of his Voodoo-style dolls.

Such is the menace from this menace that it forces Shellhead to develop a brand new suit of armour, as designed by Steely Steve Ditko.

On a far larger scale than that, Jane Foster's flatmate with the widescreen face declares that she now owns the planet Earth.

Not convinced that she does - let's  face it, she doesn't even own the apartment she lives in - Thor heads into the depths of space to do something about it.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - May 1984.

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

***

There was a time when every single one of the world's biggest grossing movies was made by either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg.

Except for one.

Which was made by both of them.

That film was Raiders of the Lost Ark and, given its success, it could only be a question of time before it got a sequel.

And, in May 1984, a sequel is what it got when Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom whipped its way into our cinemas.

Except, Wikipedia informs me that it's actually a prequel.

Off the top of my head, I'm struggling to remember much of what happened in it but I'm going to assume it's the one with the big rolling ball, the roller coaster ride in a cave and the annoying child.

Also, every time I see the title Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the Sisters of Mercy song Temple of Love starts playing in my head.

And I declare that to be a good thing.

It's tragedy for all lovers of great art, as the A-Team's comic reaches its demise after just three issues. Was it always intended to last for just three outings or had it suffered from disappointing sales?

That I cannot know and I pity the fool who would dare to even speculate upon such a subject.

 However, what I do know is that stuff happens in this comic.

And I also know that I don't know what that stuff is.

I'm sure, though, that much unlikely derring-doing is bound to be involved.

Can that cover be true? Can Marvel's greatest comic devoted to a non-team now be little more than an X-Men spin-off?

It would appear not to be, as the internet informs me that, in addition to the Angel, Iceman and Beast, the comic does still feature the Valkyrie.

It also features a character called the Walrus - as well as Leap-Frog and Frogman for any who've ever wondered if those two amphibious villains have ever been seen together at the same time.

Tragically, I can unleash no information upon just what the plot entails.

It may be 1984 but some of us can't get enough of that Lee/Kirby magic.

And so it is that a brand new set of reprints enters our lives, with its one and only issue.

In it, we get a 41-page epic, thanks to the Sub-Mariner acting totally out of character, losing his rag and declaring war upon the human race.

This tale was, of course, first presented to us in the pages of Fantastic Four Annual #1, way back in 1963.

But that's not all. We also get a bunch of Fantastic Four pin-ups drawn by none other than John Byrne.

Prepare to mourn because it turns out the A-Team's book isn't the only publication hitting its doom this month.

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe also bows out. 

In this case, it does so with a look at the weapons, gadgets and hardware used by our favourite characters, including such treats as Ant-Man's helmet, Hawkeye's Skymobile and the Book of the Vishanti!

But who cares about any of that?

There's only one thing matters, right now!

And this is it, as Marvel's biggest event to date enters our lives and boggles our brains!

It all kicks off when the company's greatest heroes and heels find themselves abducted, in order that they can fight each other on behalf of a character called The Beyonder.

Will any of our best-loved characters survive the encounter?

Too right, they will.

We know that because each and every one of them returns from it, in the pages of their own mags, this very month.

It's a long time since I looked at Marvel Team-Up in this slot but how could I continue to ignore it when its cover gives us such a good view of Spidey's brand new suit?

Inside, Daredevil and the Black Widow seek to gather the evidence needed to clear a boy wrongly accused of murder.

Spider-Man joins in the fun but ends up at odds with Hornhead who's had to make a deal with the Kingpin in order to solve the crime.

And here's another title I've tended to overlook.

But that cover asks so many questions that I can no longer neglect it.

Tragically, for humanity, I can shed no light upon what happens in this one but, given the Thing's disappearance from the pages of The Fantastic Four, I can only conclude that its circumstances tie in with the events of The Secret Wars.

Forty years ago today - May 1984.

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

***

I cannot deny it. I was one of the few people in Britain who missed the Northern Lights, this weekend.

But why should a man of my quality care about that when there are even greater spectacles to be witnessed in this world?

And when nearly all of them can be found in the pages of forty year old comics?

It's a turning point in the existence of Tony Stark, as his equally homeless girlfriend dies giving birth during a blizzard, leading the one-time entrepreneur to finally resolve to get his life on track.

Rhodey, meanwhile, returns from the Secret Wars, to get on with his everyday job of super-heroing.

And Iron Man's not the only one back from that event. So is Spider-Man and, thanks to it, he's sporting a brand new costume that's not just a suit but an alien symbiote.

And that means it has all sorts of special abilities, including the power to think for itself.

But is that really as good a thing as some might assume?

Someone who knows nothing of all this is the Black Cat who, now that she's got her very own set of super-powers, goes in search of the web-spinner.

The only problem is that, thanks to the Secret Wars, he's nowhere to be found.

The X-Men are back from the Secret Wars - and find themselves deposited in Japan where a giant reptile's happily fulfilling stereotypes about the behaviour of vacationing monsters in Japan, and blundering around, flattening cities.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, a man called Senator Kelly is pushing for the creation of a Mutant Control Act.

Tedious Tarzan knock-off Micah Synn is back and being recruited by the Kingpin to serve his sinister purposes.

However, the English jungle lord annoys the hoodlum by not being nice enough to women, and thus it is that Kingy decides to let Daredevil give him a good beating.

While a pregnant Invisible Woman battles for her life, in hospital, Alicia tells the She-Hulk about the time Sue had to single-handedly battle a villain called Karisma who was controlling the Thing and trying to get him to kill the ocularly frustrating heroine.

The X-Men aren't the only ones having to deal with a giant, city-wrecking reptile, this month because Thor's, yet again, facing the seemingly invulnerable menace of Fafnir.

And his sole ally is the elderly viking Eilif whose only ambition is to die in battle.

The Hulk's also back from the Secret Wars.

But it seems he got the fuzzy end of the lollipop, as he's returned with a broken leg and a serious anger-management problem.

Then again, he has plenty to be angry about, thanks to returning villain the Boomerang having abducted his girlfriend.

And it gets worse because, once that crisis is dealt with, Banner discovers former crimelord Max Hammer's been using the scientist's brand-new gamma cure to heal the sick.

That might have been good news but it turns out the cure possesses an alarming tendency to turn its recipients into raging monsters!

The Avengers too are freshly back from the Secret Wars.

However, they're immediately confronted with the problem that they've got too many members.

Fortunately, a solution's quickly concocted which involves splitting the team into two and sending one half off to live on the East Coast while the rest remain in New York.

The sharp-eyed observer will have guessed that, this month, Conan finds himself up against a female werewolf.

However, the barbarian is not one of those sharp-eyed observers and thinks she's a sweet, innocent girl who lots of rough men keep wanting to kill for no good reason.

Naturally, this leads him to want to protect her.

Naturally, this puts everyone, including himself, in deadly peril.

All I remember about this one is that Baron Zemo, the Red Skull and Mother Superior are in it.

Also, by some means I don't recall, Nomad gets himself bashed about a bit.

May 11th 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. 

***

If it's true that, as Paul Young once told me, everything must change, there was little evidence of that atop the UK single and album charts of exactly fifty years ago, with ABBA's Waterloo and the Carpenters' The Singles 1969-1973 retaining their respective holds on their respective Number One slots.

Obviously, one is a lover of all things ABBA but other tracks I approved of on that week's UK Hit Parade chart were:

Sugar Baby Love - the Rubettes

Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks

Everyday - Slade

This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us - Sparks

Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley and his Comets

I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - Genesis

There's a Ghost in My House - R. Dean Taylor

Emma - Hot Chocolate

I Can't Stand the Rain - Ann Peebles

America - David Essex

Judy Teen - Cockney Rebel

and

W.O.L.D. - Harry Chapin.

Should you wish to investigate such matters in greater depth, that week's UK singles chart may be found here.

While its parallel album chart resides within.

Interesting to note that the Wombles have two singles in the Top 40.

Quality stuff.

It's the Hulk's toughest battle yet, as he has to combat the copycat criminality of the Absorbing Man!

And, as far as I can remember, he doesn't do much of a job of combating it, as Absorby wins the fight...

...only to lose the battle with gravity when he discovers that trying to hold up a mountain, using the absorbed strength of an unconscious Bruce Banner, is what some might call a, "tactical error."

Lovers of Daredevil will be devastated to discover his strip is once more absent from this comic.

But they'll be delighted to discover it's because he's present in the Fantastic Four's strip!

You guessed it, tiger, it's the one in which, after being nuked by the Frightful Four, the team have lost their super-powers, and Doctor Doom takes advantage of it by seizing control of the Baxter Building.

Fortunately, Daredevil's on hand to assist the heroes in their quest to remove their armour-clad squatter.

That's a noticeably dynamic cover from Ron Wilson.

Inside, Jim Starlin may have departed the strip but we don't have too much to complain about because Paul Gulacy takes his place, as Shang-Chi finally agrees to assist Sir Denis Nayland Smith in his war against his own father.

That's Shang-Chi's father. Not Sir Denis Nayland Smith's. Waging war on Sir Denis' father would be a total waste of time when there's a Fu Manchu to be stopped.

Elsewhere, the Avengers find themselves up against the Living Laser who you wouldn't have thought would be much of a challenge for them but, no doubt, they'll make a right old Horlicks of trying to thwart him.

But what's this? He's decided the best way to make the Wasp fall in love with him is to kill her boyfriend? That well known way of winning over a woman?

Having said that, didn't Yellowjacket win her over by claiming to have killed her boyfriend?

And it worked for him.

Meanwhile, it's all kicking off and bowing out in Dr Strange's strip when Dormammu and Eternity decide to have a punch-up in what I think may be Steve Ditko's last story on the strip.

Can the universe survive such a clash?

And can the strip survive such a departure?

Can it be? Has the Vulture finally defeated Spider-Man?

Not as far as I can remember but he does flee the scene, leaving Spider-Man to spend some valuable, "Me Time," being unconscious.

Meanwhile, the Melter's still causing trouble at Tony Stark's factory - and it seems our hero's helpless to stop him.

However, the villain hasn't counted on one thing. Iron Man's ability to whip up some armour that's so aluminium that the Melter's gun is incapable of harming it.

And, finally, Thor's still battling to rescue Hercules from Hades!

And, at last, he finally manages it!

But, now, it looks like he's going to have to rescue Jane Foster who's having all sorts of problems with her flatmate from space.