July 20th 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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I remember that the legendary chat show host Michael Parkinson would often claim that a guest needed no introduction. That's good because there are some posts that require no introduction.

And this is one of them.

Even though I've just introduced it.

If that cover's to be believed, it looks like bad news for the Hulk.

Or is it?

After all, the military and Iron Man merely want to reintegrate the brute with Bruce Banner, so that he'll stop trying to hunt down and kill that scientist.

Bearing in mind that killing Banner would kill himself, such preventative action has to be a good thing for both parties.

Meanwhile, long-term readers will be delighted to know Daredevil returns to the pages of the book he's made his home.

And he does so by having an encounter with Spider-Man, while the Masked Marauder blunders around New York, robbing places, left, right and centre, with the awesome power of his telescopic van tube that serves the same purpose as a ladder but, in a stroke of genius, cost millions more.

And, finally, the Fantastic Four are about to enter a startling new era when Madame Medusa reappears - only to be pursued by both Dragon Man and a heavy-footed heel she calls Gorgon!

And it's a big moment in the life of Spider-Man too. The world's mightiest super-team have concluded that they need another member - and the webbed wonder could be it.

To prove them right, all he has to do is defeat the Hulk and drag him back to the Avengers Mansion - as a helpless prisoner.

I can't help feeling that might be a slightly over-ambitious audition piece.

Anyway, before he can overcome the Hulk, the wall-crawler has to first overcome his urge to beat up the Avengers. And, knowing how hot-headed he is, I can't help feeling that might be asking a bit much.

It's not just Daredevil who's making a comeback, this week. So is Iron Man who's again having trouble with the Black Widow.

To redeem herself in the eyes of her communist overlords, she steals Tony Stark's brand new anti-gravity device and only goes and uses it to attack Fort Knox!

Thor, meanwhile, is told the origin of the High Evolutionary and gets to watch when the demented Darwinian's base takes flight and shoots off into space, in search of a new home among the stars.

I do believe that, having survived the latest assassination attempts upon him, everyone's favourite martial artist infiltrates Fu Manchu's lair and beats up a bunch of the villain's lackeys before said villain flees in a helicopter.

Hawkeye, meanwhile, is upset about his girlfriend the Black Widow committing yet more espionage. A situation which somehow leads him into the clutches of the Mad Thinker who's allied himself with someone called Hammerhead.

This is, of course, in the pages of The Avengers.

But I'm going to assume he's not the same Hammerhead who will go on to give Spider-Man and Doc Ock numerous headaches over the years. Mostly because he looks nothing like him and just seems to be a man with an anvil strapped to his noggin.

Having said that, I could be wrong about that.

And, finally, Dr Strange also has a serious problem on his hands because Umar is now out to flatten New York.

However, she might yet be stopped by the intervention of someone called Zom.

And I do believe that Stonehenge puts in an appearance!