December 28th, 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. 

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There was only one thing anyone with any sense would have wanted to watch on TV on December 28th, 1974.

And that was the first episode of the first Doctor Who serial to ever star Tom Baker, as he made his debut in the adventure an awestruck world could only refer to as Robot.

Having already played the villain in Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra and a murderous painter in Amicus' Vault of Horror, Baker would, of course, go on to become the longest serving Doctor and, also, British Telecom's voice of text.

Much as I love the Prowler, I'm not really convinced he justifies the cover's claim that he's, "The most dangerous super-villain Spidey has ever faced!" To be honest, I think that even Nazi Bee Man, or whatever he was called, was more dangerous.

Anyway, Spidey finally stops messing around and defeats his foe - only to discover he's just a teenager trying to make a better life for himself and his girlfriend. And this brings out our hero's forgiving streak.

Next, Iron Man is in Ireland, experiencing a curious tale which sees Count Nefaria generate dreams that force Shellhead to battle a whole bunch of his former foes, including the Robo-Hypno-Neanderthal!

Unfortunately, for Nefaria, in his attempt to gain victory, he turns the power up too high on his dream-making machine and it promptly explodes.

Across the Pond, Thor is still under the spell of the Ringmaster's hypnosis and lands himself in bother with the law when he helps the Circus of Crime steal a big Golden Bull.

The good news for the Avengers is they manage to overcome the evil Titan Typhon and restore Olympus to its former glory.

The bad news is this all convinces Hercules he needs to spend less time in the world of men and more time in the land of the gods.

And when I say, "more," I mean 100%.

This leaves the team with just three members - of which, only the Wasp has any actual super-powers.

Elsewhere, Shang-Chi's in a swamp and has to rescue his own father from a bunch of Nazis.

And prevent a nuclear war while he's at it.

Dr Strange, meanwhile, shows Clea the sights of New York, then accepts a dinner invitation from a man called Nekron who, amazingly, with a name like that, turns out to be a bad guy.

And he's working for Satannish!

That cover's giving me all kinds of flashbacks because I do know that, at some point, Marvel UK will turn it into a cut-out-and-mount diorama. One, that I, of course, will go on to cut out and mount.

In other news, having proven, via the medium of a doll, that ancient humans could talk, Taylor takes Dr Zaius hostage and gets him to agree that the cave they found it in will be be left undamaged.

Call me a cynic but I suspect it won't be long before the ape is merrily dynamiting it.

That's followed by a two-page biography of James Naughton, best known as Pete Burke in the Planet of the Apes TV show.

Next, Ka-Zar discovers that the two leaders of the warring factions in New Britannia know full well that World War Whatever is over and  have been keeping the news from their own people. 

And, finally, someone called Prince Rudolfo seeks to regain the throne of Latveria but Dr Doom crushes his rebellion.

However, the malevolent monarch of masked moody malice, misanthropy and menace has created a clone of himself.

A decision that I suspect shall come back to haunt him.

Well, this is a swizz. The Dracula story contained within this issue has nothing at all to do with the cover, which was created for a totally different tale.

Instead, we get a thriller in which the lord of the undead travels back in time, to the 19th Century, aiming to kill Abraham Van Helsing.

Fortunately, his intended victim's granddaughter has also travelled back in time and is available to put a stop to such shenanigans.

Jack Russell, meanwhile, is still involved in the tussle to find The Darkhold.

And, this time, he's up against the mesmerising menace of Marlene!

Frankenstein's Monster, on the other hand, has befriended a woman. However, no one seems to like her. To such a degree that they all want to kill her.

This brings out the creature's protective instincts.

But will it turn out everyone has good reason to want to kill her?

From that cover, I detect the first part of the epic in which, while making a movie, the Hulk runs into a bunch of aliens who also happen to be Egyptian deities.

Meanwhile, in New York, the Masked Marauder kidnaps Foggy, Karen and Matt, in an attempt to make them reveal Daredevil’s true identity. 

And, while that's happening, Spider-Man both takes on and takes down the Stilt-Man.

In the Fantastic Four's strip, Johnny Storm and Wyatt Wingfoot begin searching for the Inhumans but encounter, instead, Prester John and his Evil Eye.