The Marvel Lucky Bag - October 1984.

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

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It may have seemed October 1984 was going to be a quiet month for cinema-goers, seeing, as it did, the release of such non-blockbusting fare as Comfort and Joy, Give My Regards to Broad Street and Paris, Texas.

But it was not to be so.

For, that month also experienced the unleashing of a film called The Terminator - and things would never be the same again.

Then again, even that probably seemed like non-blockbusting fare at the time.

A brand new superstar is born, as Crash Ryan hits us in the chops with the first issue of his brand new comic.

Frankly, I've no idea who he is, where he's from or what he's about but I'm going to make a guess he's unrelated to both Crash Corrigan and Crash Bandicoot.

In this story, it would appear he stumbles upon a fight between the United Airmen and the Doom Forces. 

I'm going to assume the Doom Forces are the bad guys.

And I'm going to assume he's not one of them.

And I'm going to assume that, having found the fight, he joins in with it, as it would be a pitiful tale of heroism if he doesn't.

At last, American Marvel has had the sense to launch a comic dedicated to the universe's greatest hero!

And it features the Fourth Doctor!

And Beep the Meep!

The astute reader will have guessed that this means the book features reprints from the UK's Doctor Who Weekly.

And that means plenty of John Wagner, Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons. Not to mention Steve Moore and Paul Neary.

But what's this?

Another new book?

And one I've never heard of?

I've so not heard of it that I don't even know what it involves, other than that the story within is called Indian Spring and is the work of Steve Perry, Tom Yeates and Cara Sherman.

Refusing to be left out of the excitement, the Micronauts are also blessed with the launch of a brand new book.

And it's another one whose contents I know little of but I do know the tale within is called Shadow of the Makers! and is the handiwork of Peter Gillis and Kelley Jones.

Amidst the launching of all these new books, there is, though, a title that's hit its last-ever issue.

And it's one I still couldn't claim to have gained any comprehension of.

However, the internet informs me the Archer brothers race their flying space rigs around the world, with the winner becoming the first human space trucker!

Will this bring them into contact with Ace Garp?

I cannot say.

I can merely dream.

And it's another new venture when Marvel brings us its adaptation of the film we're all talking about.

I should know what this one entails, having seen the movie.

However, I've not seen it since the 1980s and always get it mixed up with Starman.

Does it involve a teenager using his video game skills to become a pilot in a space war?

If so, I'm going to assume he does a bang-up job of it.

Barry Smith is well and truly back at Marvel.

And so is Machine Man!

Having said that, the breakdowns for this are carried out by Happy Herb Trimpe.

In the far-off year of 2020, our hero's reactivated by a group of young rebels.

However,  robots are now an everyday part of life and, for reasons that escape me, arms dealer Sunset Bains sends killer robots after Machiney who's forced to flee, along with the rebels.

Another battler whose comic's hit the end of the road is Ka-Zar who marks the termination of his title by paying front-cover homage to Nick Fury.

However, I can shed little light upon the interior of this one.

It would appear, though, to involve a trip to the Land of Cancelled Heroes.

Methinks one detects hints of satire.

Iron Man gets his seventh annual and must celebrate it by confronting the new Goliath, formerly known as Power Man.

Fed up of his endless failures in other guises, the villain's recruited Doctor Malus to give him growing powers.

Clearly, this does him the world of good because he actually defeats the armoured Avenger.

Sadly for him, Wonder Man and Hawkeye then show up to assist the comic's star.

And that's the end of the new Goliath's golden spell.

It's a fair while since I last featured the Defenders in this slot but who could ignore that Frank Cirocco cover?

More to the point, can we resist the story within?

That's hard for me to say. All I know of it is it's delivered by Peter Gillis and Don Perlin and I must, therefore, leave it to others to decide whether it sounds like the sort of thing that might float their boat.

Speaking of covers, Bill Sienkiewicz gives us one we're never likely to forget.

And he also give us the art inside.

From what I understand, our heroes must battle the Demon Bear. A conflict which seems to lead to Danielle Moonstar's parents returning from the dead.