November 30th, 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

I think we all dig looking into our ancestry but, this week in 1974, we were literally digging up our ancestry when a female skeleton from the hominid species Australopithecus Afarensis was uncovered in the Awash Valley, Ethiopia and subsequently named Lucy.

How old was she?

Only 3.2 million years.

And, you know what? That's even older than the comics I'm about to discuss.

Gil Kane gives us yet another chance to look up people's nostrils, thanks to the cover for an issue in which Spider-Man must prevent the Human Torch from killing the Lizard before our hero can turn him back into good old Curt Connors.

Iron Man, meanwhile, must tackle the returning Hawkeye and Black Widow.

That may not be as easy as it sounds, because the Widow now has a fancy-pants costume and something approximating super-powers, thanks to her new outfit's ability to stick to walls and fire string and stings from it.

Tony Stark, meanwhile, is still mithering about his inability to tell Pepper his true feelings for her.

In New York, Thor, Sif and Balder defeat Magnir and Brona while, in Asgard, Odin must face the third and mightiest of those villains, the foul Forsung.

It's a veritable battle with time when Shang-Chi finds himself trapped in a giant hour-glass filled with spikes.

That won't hold him for long but things get far worse than that when the blundering oaf manages to kill his own girlfriend Sandra Chen, having been fooled into thinking she's the living embodiment of death.

The new Black Knight, meanwhile, is trying to recruit the Avengers to help liberate his castle from the clutches of Magneto.

But, first, he has to get them to stop attacking him!

And Dr Strange is trying to rescue Clea and Victoria Bentley from Dormammu in what I suspect to be Gene Colan's first work on the strip.

Poor old Gwen Stacy. First the Green Goblin wants to kill her and, now, so does Dracula.

But I jest. She is, of course, not Gwen Stacy.

Having said that, I don't have a clue who she is.

By the looks of it, though, she won't be around for long.

When it comes to werewolves by night, I do believe Andrea Timly's captured Jack Russell, in a bid to locate The Darkhold.

And Frankenstein's Monster expresses his frustration towards his creator, by killing the scientist and his wife!

After his recent misdemeanours, Taylor's put on trial by Dr Zaius.

And, despite the jury being made up of apes, it's very much a court of the kangaroo variety.

Thanks to that sentence, I now have the word "boomerang-utan" stuck in my head but have no idea how to use it in an actual functioning sentence.

In Ka-Zar's strip, not only has the Petrified Man become Garokk the Sun God, he's also gone insane and homicidal.

Fortunately, Ka-Zar's around to fling him into his own pool of immortality and kill him.

While, on Mars, Gullivar Jones is left to ask What Price Victory?

It took forever to happen but happen it finally has, as the Hulk gets to meet the diabolical Dr Doom when the Latverian tyrant decides Bruce Banner's just the kind of bomb scientist he needs, and the Hulk's just the kind of bomb delivery system he wants.

Meanwhile, the world thinks the brute is dead, thanks to Doom having blown up a Hulk-Bot in full view of everyone.

A terrifying new villain enters the life of Daredevil when the Leap-Frog makes his bouncy debut. How can even the man without fear hope to triumph when confronted by a man wearing flippers?

Even more significantly, Matt Murdock decides to tell Foggy and Karen that, despite what Spider-Man might think, he isn't Daredevil.

And that his never-before-mentioned twin brother is!

Yes, celebrate, humanity. Mike Murdock is about to enter the building.

Meanwhile, the Thing is in sensational solo action when he thinks the Silver Surfer's getting a bit too friendly with Alicia, and decides the solution to that problem is a knuckle sandwich.

That turns out not to be the solution to the problem.

Speak Your Brain! Part 93. Tea for you?

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Can it be?

Can another Tuesday be upon us?

Yes, it can.

And I think we all know what that means.

It means there are only three days to go until the weekend!

More importantly, it means the return of the

feature mankind may only speak of in the most hushed of whispers and the most whispered of hushes.

It's the one in which the first person to comment gets to decide today's subject for debate.

Even I - Dark Lord of this castle - know not what that might be. Therefore, whatever it is you wish to state, enquire, query or debate, type it below and we'll shall see just what a day like Tuesday can bestow upon us.

November 1984 - Marvel UK monthlies, 40 years ago this month.

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

***

If you ventured into your local recording studio, this month in 1984, you may have encountered history being made.

At least, you might if your local recording studio was in Notting Hill.

That's because it was the month in which thirty-five of Britain and Ireland's mightiest pop stars - and Marilyn - got together in one room to become Band Aid and record the song Do They Know It's Christmas? in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.

I do acknowledge that some of those stars, such as Jody Watley, were clearly neither British nor Irish.

Regardless, that track would go on to become the biggest-selling single in UK history and hit the Number One slot on more than one occasion.

Elsewhere, it was good news for all God-fearing females because the General Synod of the Church of England finally supported the ordination of women as deacons. Having said that, it still didn't agree to them becoming full-blown priests.

Also elsewhere, the British and French governments announced their intention to find private funding for the construction of a Channel Tunnel. The tunnel - which had been first proposed in 1802 - was projected to open in the early 1990s. A target which would actually be met.

Across the ocean, Ronald Reagan defeated Democrat hopeful Walter Mondale in the US Presidential Election. Reagan won 59% of the popular vote - the highest percentage since Richard Nixon in 1972 - and picked up 49 states in the Electoral College, with Mondale only securing his home state of Minnesota, and the District of Columbia.

When it came to the UK singles chart, November launched with Chaka Khan's I Feel For You holding sway before it was dethroned by Jim Diamond's I Should Have Known Better. While the accompanying album chart greeted the month with Frankie's Welcome to the Pleasuredome on top before that was replaced by Wham's Make It Big which then had to subside before the onslaught of The Hits Album by those pesky Various Artists who just couldn't stop having hits.

Colin Baker gets the rare pleasure of being allowed on the cover of the magazine dedicated to the show he's the star of.

While, inside, Eric Saward reveals just what a script editor does.

Some may express surprise to discover Doctor Who in this era has a script editor. 

But not me. I never doubted it for a second.

We also get Part Five of the comic strip The Voyager.

And we're treated to a preview of Vengeance on Varos and a look at the work of Ice Warriors' creator Brian Hayles.

It had to happen. With Conan the Destroyer rampaging through the cinemas of the world, Big Arnie makes the cover of Marvel UK's longest surviving monthly.

And he makes the inside too. Sort of. As the book gives us its adaptation of that very movie, as well as an interview with its star. And I do believe that adaptation is in colour!

But hold on. What's this? The mag seems to have merged with Mighty World of Marvel, which means we also encounter Night Raven, Magik and Showcase!

Starburst hits its 75th issue - and does so by looking at V, the television show which launched a million and one conspiracy theories about the world being ruled by reptile aliens disguised as people.

Less infamously, there's a look at the new fantasy adventure Streets of Fire, a film I've never heard of. While John Brosnan looks back at Tarzan films through the ages.

And, as if that wasn't enough for any reader, this issue also offers up reviews of The Company of Wolves and the aforementioned Conan the Destroyer.

November 23rd, 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

Oh is he more, too much more than a pretty face?

I don't think so.

Then again, perhaps I do think so.

He is, after all, still at Number One on the UK singles chart, with his latest smash Gonna Make You a Star.

I refer, of course, to David Essex who's discovered what it's like to rule supreme over the British music scene.

Also having a strong sense of what it's like to reign supreme is Elton John whose Greatest Hits album, has smashed straight in at Number One on the accompanying album chart.

It is, of course, November 1974.

The Lizard is back!

And so is the Human Torch, in a comic which bears a Gil Kane cover of mystery origins. Was it drawn specially for this issue or is it a reprint from somewhere else?

That, I don't know but I do remember asking that selfsame question in an ancient post you can find right here.

Meanwhile, Iron Man's still having to endure the Mandarin boring him to death with his origin story. and then trying to spin him to death with his sizeable wheel.

But maybe Shellhead's the lucky one because, when he's done that, the villain wants to start a global nuclear war, with him being the only winner.

Fortunately, the Chinese government have something to say about that sort of malarkey.

And say it, they do.

Elsewhere, it's triple trouble  for Thor, Balder and Sif when the Enchanters Three show up in New York.

And they've brought their Living Talisman with them!

Then again, let's be honest, there wouldn't be much point in them bringing their dead talisman with them.

It took me far too many years to realise that, on this cover, the Black Knight's flying vertically, with the Avengers falling towards the skyscrapers below, rather than him flying horizontally, with the Avengers floating behind him in a disorganised manner.

I did always wonder how Goliath and Hawkeye were managing to fly.

Elsewhere, Dr Strange and Victoria Bentley are in a bizarre world, in search of Clea, when who should show up but Dormammu!

And now, Strangey's going to have to go through him if he's to ensure the survival of those two women!

As for Shang-Chi, he's in Beijing, trying to protect Sandra Chen's scientist father from the Manchurian machinations of his own fiendish father.

Shangy does such a great job of it that, by the end of this issue, that scientist's dead and our hero's unconscious. 

From what I can make out, Taj and Rachel prevent Frank Drake from committing suicide and this enables him to join their cause which I'm sure he'll prove massively valuable to.

Elsewhere, Jack Russell's furry alter-ego finally wins his fight with Max Grant .

And Frankenstein's Monster avenges the death of the Bride of Frankenstein by killing his creator's wife.

We complete the issue with a short tale from 1953's Adventures Into Terror. It's called The Executioner and features Francis Tourneau's efforts to create a more efficient means of executing people.

Unfortunately for him, the French Revolution breaks out and he becomes the first victim of his own machine.

The machine the world knows as, "the guillotine."

The Hulk?

Defeated by a blonde?

It can only happen in the pages of They Shoot Hulks, Don't They? when the brute finds himself flung from the top of the Empire State Building.

Meanwhile, the man without fear's still in England and still trying to clear the name of Ka-Zar who's been framed by his evil brother the Plunderer.

And the Fantastic Four finally overcome the Wakandan traps set for them by the Black Panther and confront him, ready for him to reveal the dynamic truth about his origin.

From that cover, I think we can all assume this is the pulse-pounding issue in which Taylor finally proves to the apes that he can speak.

Not that that's likely to do him any good.

Especially as his first words to them are so abusive.

In Ka-Zar's strip, the Petrified Man becomes Garokk, the Sun God and thwarts Zaladane's attack on the Vala-Kuri. Obviously, the highlight of this issue is Garokk coming up against a T-Rex.

When it comes to Gullivar Jones, Wayne Boring takes over the art chores but will Wayne live down to his surname?

I suspect not, as  Gullivar and Chak the pterosaur man strive to survive while the lovely but hapless Meru is taken captive by someone or other.

Speak Your Brain! Part 92. The latest thing you’ve bought, discovered or subscribed to.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

What is that vile fiend I see through my window?

It's snow!

But is this a temporary abomination or is more of it on the way?

I've no idea.

But  perhaps that is good news, for there's nothing like uncertainty to warm the blood.

And uncertainty is what we have aplenty, as we're blessed by the return of the feature whose destiny none can know.

It's the one in which the first person to comment gets to decide just what the subject for debate shall be. Therefore, whatever it is you wish to state, enquire or query, type it below and we'll see just where that process takes us.

2000 AD - October 1986. Plus a vital message from the editor!

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

***

Before we begin today's breathless look at what Tharg and his gang were once up to, I have to make a pulse-pounding pronouncement that's bound to rock the world.

I'm sure you're not oblivious to the fact we've reached the 50th anniversary of the launch of Atlas/Seaboard Comics, the company that dared to take on the big boys and fail. Because of that and the fact I get the feeling we've entered an era of 2000 AD which none of us were actually reading, I'm planning for this to be the last time I look at the monthly doings of 2000 AD and that I'll replace the feature with one in which I'll, instead, look back at what Atlas/Seaboard was up to 50 years ago each month.

If people would rather I continue with the 2000 AD summaries instead, then I shall persist with them but, otherwise, I shall switch to doing the Atlas roundups.

That's what you're likely to find on this site, next month, but what was on in your local cinema in October 1986?

Children of a Lesser God, The Color of Money, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Peggy Sue Got Married, Soul Man and The Mission were what was on in your local cinema.

I must confess to never having seen any of them and can, therefore, pass no judgement upon their relative merits.

When it came to the UK singles chart, however, the month launched with Madonna's True Blue holding sway before being rudely toppled by the musical legend that was Nick Berry and his perma-popular dirge Every Loser Wins.

 
The associated album chart, however, saw no change at all in that spell, with Paul Simon's Graceland sitting prettiest of them all for the entire duration of October.

And what of that aforementioned comic? 

It was still giving us Strontium Dog, Sooner or Later, Tharg's Future-Shocks, Sláine, Judge Dredd, Ace Trucking Co and Metalzoic. I do believe that, in one of the issues, Judge Dredd finds himself up against the menace of a 50 Foot Woman.

I'm assuming that's a woman who's fifty foot tall. Not a woman who possesses fifty feet. I'm not sure anyone needs to possess fifty feet. Especially if they've only got two legs to attach them to.

November 16th, 1974 - Marvel UK, 50 years ago this week.

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

***

Clowns to the left of me? Jokers to the right?

Well, this week in 1974, one of those clowns was stood right in front of you, serving you burgers because it was the week in which McDonald's opened its first UK restaurant, in London's Woolwich neighbourhood.

Granted, I've no evidence that Ronald McDonald was, himself, actually serving customers in that venue but I shall assume he was, for purposes of having a memorable opening to this post.

Elsewhere, the radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico, was busy beaming an interstellar message at Messier 13 in the constellation of Hercules. For those breathlessly awaiting news as to whether it received a reply, that message won't reach its destination until sometime around the year 27,000 AD. So, don't build up your hopes.

That signal may have been aimed at a star but, on that week's UK singles chart, twinkly-eyed heartthrob David Essex was boasting he was gonna make you a star.

It's true. That very week, his song of that title hit the toppermost of the poppermost to give him his first British Number One.

While, over on the corresponding album chart, the Bay City Rollers were still riding higher than anyone, thanks to their LP Rollin'.

I'm impressed by how the Lizard always has a lab coat on, even in stories where Curt Connors is nowhere near a lab when he transforms into him.

Of course, in this story, he was near a lab when he transformed. Therefore, he does have an excuse.

But things are looking grim for Iron Man.

As if it's not bad enough for him that he's been captured by the Mandarin, he now has to endure the ring-happy windbag recounting a self-regarding and unlikely life story which incorporates everything from communist revolutions to dragons from outer space.

To finish off the issue, Thor wins his battle with the Super-Skrull.

But other matters are afoot when Odin sends Sif and Balder to find the three Evil Enchanters.

Roy Thomas' unique brand of social satire hits its peak when the Hulk finds himself entangled in the up-to-the-minute world of Radical Chic.

It's that one in which the verdant violence generator finds himself at a party in New York and, somehow, ends up having to fight the Valkyrie who's inhabiting the body of a young women's libber.

And, of course, Tom Wolfe turns up.

After that, if I'm not mistaken, Daredevil takes a flight to jollie olde Englande where Ka-Zar's been charged with murder.

Can it be true? Can the jungle lord really have turned into a bounder?

Or is his caddish brother behind it all?

And Daredevil's not the only one dropping in on foreign climes, because, upon accepting an invitation to visit a mysterious African kingdom, the Fantastic Four find themselves attacked by a man known only as the Black Panther!

I do believe I spot an Iron Fist cover that's been repurposed into a Shang-Chi one.

Inside, our issue begins with Quickliver and the Scarlet Witch falling into a trap set by Magneto who wants to re-enlist them into his battle against humanity.

That is, of course, an Avengers tale.

"Quickliver," was a typo but I like it. Therefore, I'm keeping it.

Next, Dr Strange teams up with Victoria Bentley in an attempt to find out where Clea is and rescue her from whatever fate it is she's enduring.

And, finally, Shang-Chi and Sandra Chen are on a flight when they're attacked by a whole planeful of assassins.

Needless to say, those assassins go the same way as do all assassins foolish enough to attack the master of kung fu.

I should point out, at this juncture, that I've recently become aware that, "kung fu," simply means any pastime which requires patience and skill to master. Which means Marvel could literally have launched a comic about a man who does nothing but flower arranging, every issue, and got away with calling it Master of Kung Fu.

Drac's back with a modified version of an old Neal Adams cover.

Inside, I do believe Frank Drake's still having problems with his vampiric girlfriend wanting to kill him. However, I suspect he quickly turns the tables on her.

Elsewhere, I suspect Jack Russell's hairy alter-ego's having problems with a bloke who's trying to strangle him to death for reasons I can't recall.

To be honest, I'm not sure I want to read the adventures of a werewolf who can be strangled to death by normal people. I do like my werewolves to have at least a modicum of super-strength.

And Frankenstein's Monster's in a romantic mood, as he forces his creator to build a mate for him.

However, as I'm sure you'd expect, it doesn't end happily for her.

I'm sure all music lovers remember Randy Hanzlick's classic song I'd Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me Than a Frontal Lobotomy.

Sadly, our hero's going to have to settle for the second of those options.

That is, unless he can escape captivity.

And he does.

And has a run around Ape City.

And is then recaptured.

In his strip, Ka-zar's getting to know the Petrified Man better, as he and he travel to the Savage land where a woman called Zaladane heads a cult devoted to the stone-faced sailor and is inciting her followers to wage war on other tribes in that realm.

Gullivar Jones, though, is still on Mars, now drawn by Ross Andru and having to contend with a giant red water-monster reptile thing.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - November 1984.

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

***

Hither, let us enter the cinemas of November 1984 and discover just what we can find inside them.

As we blunder along the corridors, amongst our findings are such well-known flicks as The Killing Fields, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Night of the Comet, Supergirl and, erm, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure.

I will bravely speak out and declare Night of the Comet to be my favourite of those films and I don't care if it was The Killing Fields that won all the awards.

The Avengers get their 13th annual but will it be unlucky for some? 

Sadly, I can't say, as I don't think I've ever read this tale, even though that cover looks highly familiar to me.

Anyway, it all seems to involve Hulk-Related shenanigans caused by the Fixer and Arnim Zola.

I can't shake off the feeling I've covered this comic before, somewhere, even though I can't work out just when and where that would have happened.

It's what we've all been praying for, when Kitty Pryde and Wolverine get a whole new book dedicated to them and them alone.

As far as I'm aware, Kitty goes to Japan to rescue her father from someone or other  - only to discover he's mixed up in dodgy doings with Japanese criminals!

I get a feeling this may prompt Wolvie to get involved.

Marvel's biggest project yet hits its seventh instalment, and does so by introducing us to the new Spider-Woman.

Meanwhile, the Wrecker and his allies show up and throw the body of the dead Wasp at our heroes.

And Dr Doom is sneaking around in Galactus' ship while She-Hulk is sneaking around in Dr Doom's base.

It's Annual Number Three for Rom who celebrates the occasion by saving a children's daycare centre from young Dire Wraiths.

Meanwhile, one of the Dire Wraiths is planning on marrying someone called Brandy who seems to be the woman on the left, on that cover.

Aunt May's criminal past catches up with her when she starts to receive love letters from an old flame.

And that's not all because that tale's followed by an adventure in which the Black Cat goes to great lengths to retrieve a wine carafe Spider-Man gave to her.

I know. Dramatic stuff indeed.

A brand new comic appears - and, almost inevitably, the cover's by Bill Sienkiewicz.

Other than that this strip stars someone called the Starriors, I know nothing of it but, apparently, it features characters called Hotshot, Crank, Cut-Up, Runabout, Nipper, Tinker, Thinktank and Motormouth.

From those names - and from that cover - I'm going to assume they're all robots.

And that they're from outer space.

My vast intellect tells me this may be an adaptation of the film of the same name.

If so, that can only mean our favourite puppets arrive in New York City, hoping to get their college show performed on Broadway.

They soon, however, discover the Big Apple is no paradise and, by the tale's end, they are all lying dead in a pool of their own blood.

The Epic imprint presents us with a brand new experience in life when something or other happens.

I don't know what it is but I know it's brought to us by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik.

This gives me some grounds for some optimism.

It's a double-sized issue.

And that can only mean we're getting double-sized entertainment.

The New Mutant girls are certainly hoping so. They are, after all, hosting a slumber party with their friends from Salem Centre. And I can tell you there's nothing I'd rather see in a super-hero comic than slumber parties.

Meanwhile, Warlock destroys Asteroid M, causing a series of events which lead to him being invited to join Professor X's school.

I must confess to not having the slightest idea what happens in this one.

But Tom DeFalco, Herb Trimpe and Barry Smith are still on board.

Like the Avengers, the Hulk's also landed himself a thirteenth annual.

My knowledge of this one is slight but I do know our hero's on an alien world where he meets and befriends a strange symbiotic being.

And that the Puffball Collective is involved.

Forty years ago today - November 1984.

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

***

Let us, once more, visit the past and see what secrets and wonders it contains.

Things are about to start getting serious, with Surtur and his legions all set to invade the planet Earth.

Or, at least, New York City which, in the Marvel Universe, is practically the same thing.

Still, at least there's time for Odin to tell Thor all about the time he and his brothers first encountered the giant fire demon, in days long gone.

But what's this? Roger's starting to get suspicious that Lorelei might not be the ordinary, everyday gal she claims to be?

Reed Richards' dad's time machine takes the gang back to the days of the Wild West.

Or does it?

How come there's hi-tech all over the place?

And just what do the locals know of Reed's missing father?

You know?

The scientific genius?

The one who was an expert at creating hi-tech?

And went missing after using his time machine to travel to the Wild West?

I remember this issue as being one long, non-stop fight, as Storm and Rogue must stave off the Dire Wraiths' siege of Forge's apartment - even though Storm no longer has her mutant powers and no one can be sure anyone is who they claim to be!

The reanimated cyborg corpse that is Silvermane is still on the rampage and still determined to reclaim a fragment of his missing soul from Dagger.

And it appears nothing can stop him. Not even Cloak, Dagger, Spidey, the Kingpin, the Answer and the Black Cat all working together!

But does, as it seems, the attempt cause the death of the Answer?

You have to hope so. He's quite annoying.

Thanks to Dr Strange, the green one finds himself on a baffling planet from which he can enter other worlds. Any one of which may prove a suitable home for him.

One of those worlds is a land inhabited by a giant child who views him as a doll for her to play with.

Needless to say, that's never going to provide him with the level of violence he's looking for.

And, so, he sets off to find an environment more suited to his unique temperament.

The aged Steve Rogers is still battling it out with the aged Red Skull who's eagerly looking forward to both their deaths.

But there may be a fate in store for the villain that's even worse than extinction because Baron Zemo and Mother Superior are not at all pleased with him, while the Falcon and Nomad have escaped the prison he put them in and are looking to introduce his jaw to their all-American fists.

It's a mighty and sensational crossover with Thor's book because, while the thunder god's own mag only tells us about Surtur's invasion of New York, this month's Avengers actually shows it!

It's true. The son of Odin unites with the Avengers and Fantastic Four to try and stop the big red thug and his big bad army from causing nothing but trouble wherever they go.

And I've got a feeling that might not be all. Because I do suspect that Beta Ray Bill may be about to make his senses-shattering comeback!

Daredevil and the Kingpin team up to bring down Micah Synn.

I'm not totally sure why Kingie needs Daredevil's help for that but there you go.

Meanwhile, Foggy Nelson is falling apart even faster than his relationship with Deborah Harris is.

It's a lesson for us all, as Conan takes under his wing, a clueless youth who tried to kill him in a failed revenge bid.

Together, the mismatched pair set off in search of a magic sword but - shock horror - the youth betrays him, the first chance he gets.

Needless to say, Conan doesn't waste any time in punishing him for that betrayal.

Thanks to a visit to the Baxter Building, Spidey finally discovers his costume from outer space is a living creature and not an item of apparel.

With Reed Richards' help he manages to get it off him. But that's not the end of his problems, as he still has to come to terms with Mary Jane knowing his secret identity and with having to allay the jealousy of the Black Cat.

And then there's the fact the Hobgoblin's decided to join forces with the Rose.

The Brothers Grimm make an unlikely return when Barton and Percival Grimes discover the villains' abandoned costumes and decide to use them to get rich and avenge themselves upon a local restaurant owner who once did something to annoy them.

Needless to say, Iron Man's on hand to tackle them.

Needless to say, because he's Rhodey and still hasn't got round to actually learning how to use the armour, he makes more of a meal of it than he should, and Tony Stark has to sort it out by the imaginative method of calling the police to deal with the wrongdoers.