The Marvel Lucky Bag - August 1974.

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

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Famous film releases were rarer than snakes' whiskers in August 1974 but there were two offerings unleashed upon the public that even I've heard of.

Those movies were Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and The Longest Yard.

Tragically for all lovers of succinct film critique, I've never seen them and don't even have any clear idea as to what they're about.

I shall, therefore, leave it to others to decide upon the worthiness or otherwise of that particular brace of movies.

Forget Steve Austin, there's a whole new kind of cyborg in town - and he's called Deathlok!

It's true. Luther Manning makes his senses-shattering debut. One in which we discover his old army friend Major Simon Ryker is the one responsible for his current condition.

However, it seems Luther isn't alone in this. After all, it turns out that Ryker's also a cyborg!

The world's mightiest super-team gets the Giant-Size treatment when the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver make the startling discovery that their father's none other than, Golden Age thwarter of Nazis, the Whizzer - and that they have a radioactive brother!

News like that can only bring a family together.

Provided Nuklo doesn't kill everyone with his own unique brand of radiation!

And provided the Whizzer doesn't die from a heart attack.

Shang-Chi vs the Man-Thing isn't the most obvious clash in the history of Marvel comics but a man has to begin his integration into the Marvel Universe somewhere. And why not in the swamps of Florida?

However, stalked by Fu Manchu's assassins, our hero has good reason to be grateful for the encounter because the beast ultimately kills the miscreants on his behalf.

Who doesn't want a giant-sized Man-Thing?

We all want a giant-sized Man-Thing!

And, at last, we've got one, as the muck monster meets the Glob.

Although, judging by that cover, he's a very different Glob to the one we encountered in those old Hulk comics.

And that's not all because we're also treated to a trio of Lee/Ditko/Kirby reprints which bear such deathless titles as Ice-Monster Cometh!, I Was the Invisible Man! and Goom! The Thing from Planet X!

I'm assuming that's not the same Planet X from which Kurrgo hails.

As DC comics could tell you, you can never have too many apes on the front of a book.

And we've got plenty here, adorning a cover that will go on to become a free poster included with issue #1 of Marvel UK's upcoming Planet of the Apes comic.

But that's the future. What of this issue?

It launches with Doug Moench and Mike Ploog's first adventure for Jason and Alexander.

Then, we get Gary Gerani's  overview of the movie series, an interview with Rod Serling, an article about the movies' use of prosthetics, and finish off with a George Tuska drawn adaptation of the original film.

Truly, it is apetastic.

No mere 20 page comic can contain the awesomeness of Conan. And that's why, this month, the battling barbarian gets his own black and white mag.

And what a start it is, with our hero facing the Curse of the Undead-Man and the return of Red Sonja.

Then, Sonja's in sensational solo action, when she encounters King Ghannif who wants to make her a fully utilised cog in his harem.

Next, there's a three-page look at Conan's Women Warriors.

Then, Gil Kane's Blackmark receives 15 pages all to himself.

Next, brings the four-page Kull article An Atlantean in Aquilonia.

And we complete the issue with a reprint of Thomas and Smith's take on The Frost Giant's Daughter.

I'm sure we're all aware there's a celebrated genre of spooky romance novel covers which involve diaphanous heroines fleeing creepy old houses.

And, this month, Tomb of Dracula #23 offers its own take on that genre.

Inside, Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan serve up a treat when the king of vampires confronts a spirit which haunts Dunwick Castle, and encounters a shock ending seemingly lifted from the movie The Legend of Hell House.

Someone at Marvel clearly likes the Man-Thing, because he's in his third comic of the month.

Granted, this one is his own monthly book. So, it seems fair enough for him to be in it.

I do believe this is the one in which the subtly named F A Schist tries to find the Fountain of Youth and soon discovers that such a course of action was a major strategic life error.

I'm not totally sure which story's contained within this book but I think it may be the one in which Jack Russell gets his hands on a ring which allows him to retain his own mind when he transforms into the werewolf.

Needless to say, this allows him to perform heroics but - the daft sausage - he's lost the ring by the issue's end, which means he has to go back to being a mindless animal in future adventures.