The Marvel Lucky Bag - June 1974.

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

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Just what treasures greeted us as we entered out local fleapit in June 1974?

No less than these treasures: Herbie Rides Again, The Parallax View, Chinatown, The Terminal Man and The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat.

Intriguingly, there was also a thriller which bore the enigmatic title of W and starred Twiggy. I must confess I've no idea what that one's about.

Of all those films, I think I've only ever seen Herbie Rides Again. Therefore, fate has left me no option but to declare that to be the Steve Does Comics official Film of the Month, although I suspect others may argue with me on that score.

Neal Adams gives us another stylish cover, although I do have to say his Shang-Chi has a strong Gil Kane vibe about him.

Inside, we get such tales as The Shaolin Priest of Laurel Canyon, The Dragon's Vengeance, The Dragon Has Entered! and, most importantly of all, The Origin of Shang-Chi as brought to us by Samurai Steve Englehart and Judo Jim Starlin themselves.

There's also a look at What Makes the Martial Arts Work? and Lee's Life. The latter being written by Denny O'Neil under the not at all unlikely pen name of Wan Chang O'Shaugnessy. Genuinely. That's the name he uses. I'm saying nothing.

Dr Strange gets yet another chance to prove he can carry a series of his own, with the launch of his brand new book.

And it starts in a memorable vein, thanks to the first-ever appearance of Silver Dagger who invades the Sanctum Sanctorum, stabs our hero in the back, helps himself to the Eye of Agamotto and imprisons Clea.

Things are looking grim - but, then, Strange is pulled into the Orb of Agamotto where he meets a talking caterpillar.

A brand new title hits our afterlives, although it's destined to have only one issue.

But who cares about longevity when we can have 52 pages of Dracula-related frolics?

Inside, we encounter Night of the She-Demon!, Keeping Track of Drac!, Have You Ever Seen a Huge, Black Vampire? and The Village Graveyard. The final two tales being 1950s reprints and the first being a yarn which features Lilith daughter of Dracula!

Because you can never have enough giant-size comics, we're also treated to another new title destined to last for just one outing.

And this one also has a vampire in it!

And  a werewolf!

It would seem, from that cover, that the fiendishly fanged pair are destined to team up against everyone's favourite wall-crawler. How can even he hope to survive such an attack?

Successfully, I suspect.

And there's also a string of single-page pin-ups of Spider-Man's deadliest foes, as first presented in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 and drawn by no lesser man than Sturdy Steve Ditko.

Yes, it's that one. The concluding part of the yarn in which deceased clown Darrel re-enacts  his life story, via the medium of our main cast, and Manny has to fight a trio of weirdos to save the ennui-stricken entertainer's soul.

Judging by that cover, everyone's favourite hero for hire has to tackle a villain called Cottonmouth.

I must admit that, if I didn't know a cottonmouth was a type of deadly snake, I wouldn't find the name a very menacing one for a villain. It'd have as much impact as Wool Fingers or Nylon Toes.

It's time for all Ray Harryhausen fans to celebrate, as Marvel brings us its deathless adaptation of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, as related by Len Wein and George Tuska.

Who can forget the thrills as the sea-loving adventurer tackles six-armed goddesses, bat-things, centaurs and Tom Baker?

Not me. That's for sure.

Just how much terror can a company pack into just 36 pages?

We're about to find out!

In our first tale, a vampire sleeps for years after gorging on the victims of a nuclear war. When he awakens, however, he must confront the reality that there are no humans left and only robots remain.

In our second, a wealthy miser pretends to be dead - only to then discover that he really is dead!

In our third, a thief steals a ruby dedicated to the god of rain. With grim inevitability, he's then followed around by heavy rainfall until he returns the gem.

And, in our fourth, a genie is released when a man opens his bottle but because the man doesn't stake his claim to the creature, the genie has no master and responds by enslaving the whole world!

And another new mag hits our spinner racks!

I possess little information about the contents of this one but I do know it includes a Roy Thomas and Barry Smith chiller in which a man becomes a movie star after striking a deal with a makeup artist. However, that man doesn't realise he's traded his soul for fame.

It is, of course, reprinted from 1970's Tower of Shadows #5.