Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
Who's gone martial arts crazy?
The whole country's gone martial arts crazy!
I know that because it's September 21st, 1974 and the Number One slot on the UK singles chart has only gone and been nabbed by none other than Carl Douglas, with his monster smash hit that's proving to be a wow everywhere from K'un Lun to Cleethorpes. That hit is, of course, Kung Fu Fighting.
Who can be surprised by its success? It was, after all, as fast as lightning.
And it was a little bit frightening.
Over on the accompanying album chart, Mike Oldfield was still ensconced in the top spot he'd claimed the week before with his latest LP Hergest Ridge.
Someone probably not as happy as Mike Oldfield was UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson who, this week, unable to secure a majority in the House of Commons, announced there'd be a second general election of the year. This time, to be held on October 10th.
With John Romita gone off to draw Spider-Man, a brand new artist starts on Daredevil's feature, as Gene Colan pencils it for the first time. And does so just in time to herald the return of the omnipotent Owl.
As far as I can recall, the Owl's kidnapped a judge and intends to put him on trial, with Matt Murdock the unwilling lawyer for the defence, and the villain's own lackeys as a jury.
But we complete the issue with the failure of Maximus the Mad's plan to annihilate all humanity, and him reacting as any reasonable man would by sealing his own people off from the outside world in a giant indestructible dome.
But not in time to prevent the Fantastic Four fleeing back to civilisation - and straight into the arms of another crisis, as a man on a surfboard starts flying towards the Earth, and the streets of New York fill with panic-stricken locals.
Needless to say, this guarantees the subsequent intervention of Spider-Man.
But, first, he has to avoid getting into arguments with Gwen and Flash. Which, given his impetuous nature, proves far more difficult than it should be.
Elsewhere, in Iron Man's strip, a brand new super-hero makes his debut, as a circus bowman is inspired to become Hawkeye!
Sadly, for him, his attempts to be a hero quickly go awry. At which point, he displays his versatility by becoming a super-villain, with the prodding and encouragement of the mysterious Black Widow.
Meanwhile, in a realm far above our heads and slightly beyond our imaginations, the naughty Rock Trolls have stolen Thor's hammer, thanks to the assistance of a mysterious but powerful prisoner called Orikal.
With Shang-Chi on sabbatical, the Avengers get their first appearance on the cover of their own mag in 25 issues.
And what a cover it is, as the gang battle an imaginary Hydra.
It's all part of their attempt to rescue the Black Widow from the Reds.
But to do that, they're going to have to overcome both a machine that makes its victims hallucinate and the Red Guardian.
Iron Fist, meanwhile, is still going through his origin. One which includes him having to defeat an android in the Himalayas. How an isolated monastery in the Himalayas got its hands on a android is never, to my knowledge, explained.
And what of Dr Strange?
He's still out to liberate Victoria Bentley from the clutches of mad alien scientist Yandroth.
But to do that, he's first going to have to overcome a massive robot that looks like it was designed by someone who really really likes designing massive robots but hasn't seen a picture of a robot since 1937.
Posts
30 comments:
Next week's cover:
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Avengers_(UK)_Vol_1_54?file=Avengers_%28UK%29_Vol_1_54.jpg
is the classic Dr.Strange pic from the superheroes card game:
https://retromash.com/galleries/marvel-super-heroes-card-game/
I'll get my coat...
Phillip
Fun facts: “Kung Fu Fighting” was originally supposed to be the “B” side of a single, became a surprise smash hit, and eventually sold ELEVEN MILLION RECORDS world-wide. To capitalize on his success, Carl Douglas put it out on an album titled KUNG FU FIGHTING AND OTHER LOVE SONGS.
Here in the US, Barry White topped the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1974, with “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe”.
Astonishingly, K’un Lun Robot’s single “Watch Me Shoot A Dagger Out Of My Palm” didn’t chart ANYWHERE.
b.t.
What drove the Kung Fu fad? I mean Kato Green Hornet and Billy Jack were mid-late 60s. Bruce Lee had a few movies…. But let’s assume these are symptoms not causes per se. Where did the interest in martial arts come from? Simply a fad like those little rubber Troll dolls?
Yes, just a passing fad - and don't forget the Kung Fu TV series starring David Carradine.
And Hong Kong Phooey - number one super guy!
Wasnt the Kung Fu craze initiated by the popularity of Asian martial arts films in the 1960s /70s elements of which were picked up in the west in films and TV (007, the Avengers etc). And you can't underestimate the impact of the legendary Bruce Lee.
Freeview's got a new channel, called 'Rewind TV' (93). I'm currently watching 'Arthur C Clarke's World of Strange Powers' (followed by Mysterious World! ) Its line up for the next few days is fantastic, including Dick Turpin, SPACE 1999, Monkey, & other gems!
Phillip
Arthur C Clarke's exceeds my recollections! It's not just the content (first episode - poltergeists); there are lots of "local colour" shots, from the 70s/early 80s.
Phillip
As regards martial arts, etc , as a little kid, seeing Kwai Chang Caine do fireman's lift throws, on baddies, looked incredible. Karate chops have been around way before then, though - didn't Spencer Tracy (?) start the craze in a very old film (Bad Day At Black Rock).
Phillip
Phillip, Colin, McScotty — I think you’re all correct. Interest in unarmed fighting arts had been growing for years in popular media. From Emma Peel to Kato to Captain Kirk to Joe Jitsu (sorry!!) — judo throws and karate chops were everywhere by the mid-to-late 60s. Martial arts films were already very popular in Asia when Warner Bros released FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH in the States in 1972, to unexpectedly huge box office success. That, and the high ratings on the KUNG FU TV series, and then Bruce Lee and ENTER THE DRAGON and the Kung Fu thing just snowballed and became a worldwide phenomenon.
b.t.
If UK readers are interested, there's a Radio 4 documentary about the 40th anniversary of THREADS on Saturday night at 8pm.
Anybody seen The Penguin yet?
It's actually pretty good.
M.P.
Uh, that comment was a bit of a trial balloon, apropos of nothing, because I've been having problems publishing anything here, but no worries.
It's just Google.
I did watch the first episode, and I think I'm gonna keep watching it. There's always been a lotta pathos in that character. How they got Colin Farrell to look like that is beyond me, but he's long since proven to be an amazing actor. He's good in this.
It's in the "The Batman" cinematic universe. I'm not surprised they took the most compelling character from that movie and built a series around him.
I gotta say though, I hated what they did with the Riddler.
I miss Frank Gorshin.
But hey! Clancy Brown is in it! I'll watch anything with the Kurgan.
He's always great.
Cheers!
M.P.
MP -
I saw an ad for Penguin on one of the late nights that roast Trump a Lump a Ding Dong. (Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, or Stephen Colbert) last night. But they said it was on HBO which threw me since Gotham was running on Netflix.
Honestly after watching that psychopath (sociopath?) Joker terrorizing Gotham show after ahow I think I got PTSD and haven’t any head space for another romp in the mental hay like that.
Is Penguin different?
Good morning from Chicago gentleman! Through the miracles of modern technology. I’m going to watch Lutontown play Sheffield Wednesday this morning!
MASH! Any history tidbits for me???!!!!
STEVE - I can only assume you are glued to your TV at this moment seeing as how you are from Sheffield!
Dumb question… But sort of serious… Is Sheffield United composed of all the other Sheffield football teams named for days of the week But for Sheffield Wednesday?
Help? Ive posted twice (i thought) but not seeing anything. CH
Charlie, your comments are now visible to the world. :)
Charlie, Sheffield United is composed of just one football team. The reason it's called United is because it was a combined football and cricket club when first formed.
It was created by the owners of Bramall Lane when Sheffield Wednesday vacated the stadium to play at a new ground at Hillsborough.
Sheffield Wednesday are so called because they originally used to play on Wednesdays, which was a half-day off for many people.
MP, I must confess to not having seen The Penguin. On a connected tangent, I recently discovered there are no penguins on Earth because the birds we routinely call penguins aren't really penguins, and the real penguins were hunted to extinction.
Colin, thanks for the Threads tip-off.
Phillip, thanks for the Rewind tip-off. It does look to be very much in the same kind of vein as TalkingPicturesTV.
I was just reading about a huge penguin chick in Melbourne named Pesto…
b.t.
Steve - This evening I watched Monkey, & Bust, on what looks like my new go-to channel!
M.P. - I haven't seen The Penguin either; but I recall an advert for it, weeks ago. These days, you never know if comics character ads are for film versions, Netflix, Disney - or what.
b.t. - In the UK, Penguins are a famous chocolate biscuit mothers used to place in kids' lunchboxes. A notorious fiasco arose, when one supermarket created a knock-off version of Penguin biscuits, entitled "Puffin" biscuits!
Phillip
Phillip, that reminds me that most people in the U.S. think of the Hydrox brand cookie as being a knockoff of the Oreo, whereas it’s actually the other way around — the Hydrox cookie came first.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of either, but if I had to choose, I prefer the taste of Oreos.
b.t.
Steve, I’m saddened to learn that “real” penguins are extinct.
b.t.
I recommend the Threads documentary to all UK readers and of course Threads was set in Sheffield! For our American friends, Threads was a one-off drama about nuclear war and its' grim aftermath. It has a reputation for being very traumatic but I must admit I wasn't traumatised after watching it, probably because I never had any illusions about nuclear war in the first place so it didn't show me anything I didn't already know.
Steve, I didn't know real penguins are extinct but I heard about a fossil penguin from around 35 million years ago which was six feet tall.
Phillip, I remember Monkey on BBC2 in the early '80s - a Japanese adventure series dubbed into English would never be broadcast on the BBC nowadays methinks! By the way, Penguin chocolate bars are still around so maybe mothers still put them in kids' lunchboxes!
The Autumnal Equinox occurs at 1:45 pm BST - the Summer is nearly over :(
Colin-
And right on schedule, my air conditioner/heater just went out.
No worries, my landlord will fix it, but it's computerized and I can't help but wonder if the Earth's tilt, the lunar eclipse, or recent storms on the sun causing the Aurora in Minnesota are responsible.
Somethin' happened.
I dunno if I buy this "extinct penguin business."
Perhaps the primordial, giant ancestors of penguins (alluded to in Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness) are gone but there are birds that we call penguins, and they yet abound.
M.P.
b.t. - The name "Hydrox" sounds like a chemical/industrial cleaning product. What was the advertising department thinking of? It certainly doesn't sound as appetizing as "Oreos" !
Colin - I remember Monkey from 1979, associating it with reading FF # 212 (as a chronological marker.) The 1979 broadcast date was confirmed, when watching the first episode, last night! I imagine the series was repeated, in subsequent years. An added "onion skin", is that Monkey is a Chinese story, done by Japanese tv/actors, dubbed into English!
Phillip
Phillip, after sending my comment it did occur to me that Monkey had possibly started in 1979!
MP, I don't need to have air-conditioning in my house as it rarely gets hot enough in the UK.
Haven't seen "Penguin" yet, but probably will. Don't know about extinct penguins either, but Phillip- your mention of a "puffin" triggered a memory! Back in school days of yore, they would periodically have 'book days' or sales where you could order books and pick them up at your school. One of them was "Puffin Books"; my parents probably got tired of me hounding them for book money. Did you folks have such sales ?
Redartz - Both Penguin & Puffin (for kids) books figure(d) prominently, over here. We had a 'book club', during my first year at high school, whereby you could order books & pick them up at school (sounds similar to yours.) Rather than the 'safe' recommended choices in the booklet, I ordered 'Conan & the Sword of Skelos' ( and got it too! ) It's a wonder I didn't get a severe dressing down. Maybe my English teacher was more liberal minded than she appeared!
Phillip
More news in the, "Penguins don't exist," scandal.
Apparently, penguins were a northern hemisphere family of birds which included the Great Auk.
When Europeans first ventured towards the Antarctic regions, they encountered similar looking black and white birds and because they resembled penguins, referred to them as such. However, they weren't penguins and were no more closely related to penguins than any other species of bird are.
Since then, the real penguins have become extinct, thanks to humans, but the southern hemisphere birds that resemble them still exist and are still wrongly referred to as penguins.
Post a Comment