Fifty years ago today - October 1974.

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

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Rain is currently falling wherever I look but just who was raining on our heroes' parades, fifty years ago?

Thanks to Agatha Harkness wanting to test our heroine's newfound magic powers, the Scarlet Witch finds herself locked in her bedroom and confronting the terrifying menace of Necrodamus.

It seems I once reviewed this issue.

And that you can read that review, right here.

Red Sonja is back - and on her back - as our favourite tomb raiders discover a mysterious tower in the middle of nowhere and must endure a pair of sorcerers with filthy designs on their bodies.

It turns out I once reviewed this one, as well.

And you can read my review of it, here.

On the other hand, you can't read my review of this issue anywhere - because I've never read it and have no idea what happens within, beyond the villain Lucifer showing up.

However, I do know its cover has strong hints of the one for the Smasher story-line from 1973's Amazing Spider-Man #116.

DD confronts the menace of Death-Stalker and the Gladiator in the wilds of the Everglades.

It all has something to do with the search for missing scientist Ted Sallis and a certain formula he was working on when he disappeared...

As it happens, I remember first reading this one in the Mighty World of Marvel 1977 annual.

And you can read my review of that book, right here.

It can only be trouble for our heroes - especially Benjamin J Grimm - when Mahkizmo arrives from his other-dimensional world, looking to take Thundra back with him.

The Wendigo's back!

And, unless my memory fails me, that can only mean a certain future X-Man is about to make his debut.

In other news, the Hulk's in Canada and lured to a cave occupied by a man and woman who want to transfer the curse of the Wendigo onto him.

I can't help feeling that might be a terrible idea.

Assuming, that is, that they ever have the chance to fulfil it.

Harry Osborn's still being the Green Goblin - and has attached a bomb to Peter Parker's nearest and dearest.

But just which of his acquaintances is his nearest and dearest?

And can he get there in time to do anything about it?

I genuinely know nothing at all about this issue but my razor-sharp senses tell me Ego may be involved.

"Not a Hoax! Not a dream! Not an imaginary tale!"

I could be wrong but doesn't it turn out that it is a hoax and Professor X is really alive and well and has decided to hide in the basement for the next five years?

You can't blame him. We've all done it.

But because even that might not be enough to keep the demanding reader happy, we're also treated to a second tale. One called Why Won't They Believe Me? and brought to us by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Seasoned Marvel enthusiasts may not be startled to discover it's the one about the man who accidentally uncovers an alien plot to take over the planet Earth.

Then tries to warn everybody.

And then discovers he's the alien and has been suffering from  amnesia!

And that he's just thwarted his own invasion attempt!

Is this the most reprinted Lee/Ditko sci-fi short ever created?

That's all our favourite Marvel heroes covered.

But what of the superstars of the company's biggest rival? What were a random sampling of them up to in comics which bore the selfsame cover date?

Jack Kirby's latest creation makes his debut, as OMAC flings his way into our lives.

I remember little of this tale but I do know it involves the man we know as Buddy Blank becoming OMAC.

And that there's a woman in a box who's literally gone to pieces.

And that she might be called Lila.

OMAC's book may be making its first appearance but Supergirl's is busy departing the stage.

That said, it does bow out with style, as the Maid of Might encounters America's first teen president!

And I do believe she has to save the politician from multiple assassination attempts.

I also believe she succeeds, even through the tactic of using her X-ray vision in a way that X-ray vision couldn't possibly be used.

There's also a backup adventure in which a mad scientist creates a male clone of Supergirl, then uses him to rob banks!

And my review of this issue resides here.

What's this? The Legion of Super-Heroes discover they possess a photo of a member no one can remember?

One who became a Legionnaire by outdoing Superboy?

How can this be possible?

it can be possible thanks to the wonders of time travel and future technology.

After that, we get a tale of high strangeness, as Brainiac is so lusty for Supergirl that he creates a robot replica of her.

But he does it in his sleep, which means he's totally unaware he's done it and thinks she's the real deal.

Fortunately, the real Supergirl shows up to sort it all out and totally fail to notice how weird the situation is.

My review of this issue may be found here.

The creepy crime crusher's supporting cast expands very slightly, as we meet Earl Crawford, a bespectacled reporter who's convinced that a supernatural force is dispatching the city's criminals.

Could he be right?

And can hard-nosed detective Jim Corrigan help him get to the truth?

Elsewhere, Aquaman has to contend with the latest scheme by the Black Manta who's putting Atlantean farmers to sleep with his mystery gas and then stealing their crops.

Nick Cardy produces another phenomenal cover - and it's for a tale in which villains try to convince Superman his dead parents think he's a failure, in order to demoralise him into abandoning his fight with crime.

Needless to say, that tactic fails, thanks to them making a simple but fatal error.

In our second tale of the issue, in a back alley, somewhere, the Green Arrow encounters a stray dog with strange powers and a talent for thwarting crimes.

Can it be?

Can it be that that dog can be none other than Krypto the Superdog?

I do believe I reviewed this issue here.