August 10th 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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As we all know, the Marvel comics of this period were filled with all kinds of shenanigans in the White House, with Captain America, Daredevil, the Hulk and even Adam Warlock being drawn into political machinations related to that place and that office.

However, things were also happening in the real world. For, this was a week which saw the scandal-hit Richard Nixon announce his resignation as President.

Almost immediately, this was followed by Vice President Gerald Ford taking his place to become the 38th president of the United States.

On the UK singles chart, George McCrae's Rock Your Baby was still sitting pretty at Number One. While, on the corresponding LP chart, the roost was being well and truly ruled by Paul McCartney and Wings' Band on the Run.

Rock Your Baby is a pleasing song but other tracks I approved of on that week's singles chart were:

Band on the Run - Paul McCartney and Wings

Rock the Boat - Hues Corporation

If You Go Away - Terry Jacks

Bangin' Man - Slade

Wall Street Shuffle - 10 C.C.

Beach Baby - First Class

Mr Soft - Cockney Rebel

One Man Band - Leo Sayer

and

Ring Ring - ABBA.

Should one wish to examine the matter in greater depth, that week's UK singles chart may be found here.

While the UK album chart resides right within.

It's the team-up we've all been gagging for, as the master of kung fu meets the master of sarcastic self-pity.

It all happens when each of them encounters a gang of thieves who seem to be working for the other hero. A hero whom each hero believes to be a murderer.

In fairness to Spider-Man, Shang-Chi is a murderer.

Needless to say, this brings them into conflict and, needless to say, this soon leads to them into uniting against the real villain of it all. None other than Fu Manchu himself!

The Avengers are still battling the Sub-Mariner who's managed to get his hands on the Cosmic Cube. Inevitably, the underwater menace is even more useless at using the thing than everybody else has been, and soon loses it...

...Only for it to end up in possession of the Mole Man who turns out to be even more useless at using it than Subby was.

And the issue concludes with Dr Strange having to endure yet another comeback by Baron Mordo.

But what's this on the back cover? A house ad for the first Spider-Man Marvel Treasury Edition? What kind of a fool wouldn't want a thing like that?

We enter the second part of the epic in which the Kingpin takes advantage of confusion caused by a student demo, to steal an ancient and mysterious tablet from a display case in ESU.

But what's going on with the cover? The sharp-eyed observer will spot at once that it's actually the frontispiece of Iron Man #45, altered to make it look like a Spider-Man cover. What next? redrawing Killraven panels to make them look like Planet of the Apes?

In our second tale of the issue, we get the concluding part of the Angel's battle with Iron Man in which the armoured Avenger relies on the Angel's innate sense of goodness showing through at a time of crisis.

And, after that, we find a landmark treat indeed when we're supplied with Thor's first ever clash with Hercules. The one in which the thunder god inadvertently finds himself in the land of Hellenistic deities and in conflict with the son of Zeus.

With the two combatants evenly matched, can nothing bring an end to their pointless brawling?

I do believe the Hulk concludes his tussle with the forces of Hydra, agrees to hand the injured Jim Wilson over to Thunderbolt Ross and then stows away on a ship which'll take him to Europe and the land of Draxon the dictator.

Just who is this tyrant?

And how does a local legend involve the Hulk?

Next, I believe, is the conclusion of the Daredevil/Spider-Man encounter in which the duo must stop hitting each other for long enough to hit the Masked Marauder.

Easier said than done when he has a blinding ray and an airship.

Also, when they just like hitting each other so much more.

And, finally, the Fantastic Four are still having their first ever run-in with the Inhumans, including the walking enigma we know only as Black Bolt.

As far as I'm aware, Ka-Zar doesn't appear anywhere in this issue, despite the cover's proud boast that he does.