The Marvel Lucky Bag - September 1984.

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

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It feels like you had to be a bit cultured to enter a cinema in September 1984.

It was, after all, a month which saw the release of both Amadeus and Carmen.

Fortunately, for those whose tastes weren't quite so high-brow, the month also saw the unleashing of The Brother from Another Planet and Irreconcilable Differences.

I must confess that I've never seen any of those four movies. My opinions on them are, therefore, completely without value.

The official Marvel news magazine is back to thrill us with all the latest goss on all the firm's latest happenings. 

Which means that, among other items, we're treated to an interview with Denny O'Neil, a look at Marvel's Coming Attractions and all the facts you need to know about brand-new book Questprobe.

Not only that but there's even info on how to submit your samples. 

I'm assuming that means your artwork and writing samples and not any other samples you may happen to have in your possession.

Marvel Fanfare heralds its return, with a cover that looks like it's doing all it can to channel as much Golden Age magic as is humanly possible.

What I do know is it gives us a World War Two yarn involving someone called Sky-Wolf, which the GCD tells me is in the style of Blackhawks.

That's followed by A Fable. Otherwise known as a ten-page Sub-Mariner tale from Bill Mantlo and Mike Mignola.

A stylish cover by Mike Kaluta introduces us to an issue in which Conan searches for Taurus, with the help of Dexitheus and his Black Dragons.

Following that, Prince Conn's headed for the gallows after supposedly murdering a wealthy merchant. However, just as he's about to hang, the prince vanishes and reappears in a forest!

What can it all mean?

I haven't the foggiest.

I admit it, I've included it for its Bill Sienkiewicz  cover.

But it turns out he also draws the insides, as well.

Thanks to Chris Claremont's script, Danielle Moonstar's fighting for her life in surgery while Warlock and Magus encounter the Starjammers in space.

Elsewhere, Magik starts to manifest armour.

And, as if we could ever forget, the Demon Bear attacks again. This time, transporting the New Mutants - and two others - to its own dimension!

All I can say is it's teleportier than the average bear.

It's the last-ever Marvel Team-Up Annual and the book bows out in the only way any good comic should - with heroes in turmoil, a giant snake and a man on a flying carpet!

Frankly, I don't have a clue what's going on but it seems Spidey and someone called Marrina have attracted the attentions of the Collector. The cosmic kleptomaniac wants to nab Spidey because of his alien costume, and Marrina because she's a Plodex.

I have no idea what a Plodex is.

Meanwhile, in the issue's second tale, Arthur Berman finds himself haunted by the violence super-heroes bring into people's lives.

It's the book that had to happen, as Marvel gives us Part One of its three-part adaptation of the movie the people in cinema queues are all talking about.

And David Michelinie and Butch Guice are the men bringing it to us.

The company which gave us comics devoted to the Micronauts and ROM bows to the inevitable and delivers unto our laps the Transformers who, as we all know, are robots in disguise.

I must confess that, despite having sat through many an advert dedicated to them, I'm no expert on the Transformers but my understanding is that, on the planet Cybertron, war has raged for far longer than is healthy, between the Autobots and the Decepticons.

But now, that war has arrived on Earth!

So, basically, the plot of Galactica 1980.

It's the mystery that's haunted many of our childhoods. Why do all super-heroes live in New York?

And does that mean there are no super-villains outside that city either?

Now, at last, we're going to get an answer because the West Coast bags its very own branch of the Avengers.

Will there be anyone for them to fight?

Or will the team's presence magically attract a whole bunch of trouble-makers to the region?

But, first, a team as to be assembled - and that task is left in the hands of Hawkeye.

Given his character, this news would make me suspect the team will, therefore, be made up entirely of the man himself and whatever half-dozen nubile young women want the job.