August 24th 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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Who needs Jurassic Park?

Not our Stone Age ancestors.

They did, after all, have to share the world with dinosaurs, every single day of their life.

I know this because, during the evening of August 24th, 1974, BBC One thrilled the nation by showing legendary Hammer flick One Million Years BC.

Granted, some may claim it's not the most historically - or even prehistorically - accurate movie of all time but what kind of madman cares about that? It has allosaurusussusses. It has pterodactyls. It has cannibal cavemen, Raquel Welch and Martine Beswick. It even has constant shouts of, "Akita!"

I still, to this day, don't have a clue what, "Akita," is supposed to mean but, as every other word uttered by every character in that film is, "Akita," it must mean something impressive.

As Marvel UK's flagship title hits its 99th issue, we find the Hulk still in Europe and being declared a golem, as he takes the fight to the tyrannical fiend Draxon the Dictator. But how can even he hope to triumph against the dictator's new super-weapon?

On a smaller but no less deadly scale, Foggy Nelson must combat the Gladiator, having set up a fight with the menace in an attempt to convince Karen Page that he's Daredevil.

Fortunately for the lovestruck lawyer, the real DD's on the scene to deal with the buzzsaw-brandishing bad boy of binding, bobbin-threading and general couturier-related activity.

But that only serves to even more convince Karen that Foggy is The Man Without Fear.

And, probably worse, it convinces the Gladiator that he is.

Finally, the Fantastic Four come face to face with the Seeker who, if my memory doesn't betray me, tells them the gene-shattering history of the Inhumans, a secret race of people with superpowers, who've always lived alongside us.

After an intense battle, Spidey finally defeats the Kingpin and steals the mysterious tablet from him, only to discover the police are out to shoot him.

This, inevitably, leads our hero to end the tale by declaring that, if people insist on viewing him as a menace, then, from this point on, he'll become one!

Meanwhile, Iron Man's still in the Mandarin's castle, out to punish him for wrecking Tony Stark's missiles. However, the villain has the upper hand and it seems the iron clad ironclad is truly doomed.

Elsewhere, the Destroyer's still loose in the middle of Asgard's Olympics and causing nothing but trouble. All of it thanks to Loki and his latest plan to take over the realm eternal.

I do believe this issue contains the conclusion of Spider-Man's first encounter with Shang-Chi, thanks to a Fu Manchu scheme to use a transmitter built into the Empire State Building to take over everyone's minds.

Needless to say, that vile plan fails and Spidey parts company with the master of Kung Fu, baffled that he's found himself battling a fictional character.

Elsewhere, Diablo's back, sporting a brand new look and, for reasons I can't recall, he gets the newly-revived Dragon Man to knock out and abduct Goliath. 

I can only feel this must be bad news for humanity.

And for Goliath.

As for Dr Strange, I do believe the sorcerer supreme closes out the issue by losing a fight with Baron Mordo but is then reunited with Victoria Bentley who must have the most English name of any fictional character ever.