December 6th, 1975 - 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. 

***

It's like a living nightmare. Of this week's comics, I only had Planet of the Apes.

Will I let that put me off talking about what was in the rest of them?

Of course I won't.

When it comes to the Inhumans, Black Bolt still has amnesia and is now in San Francisco, getting caught up in a civil rights protest.

Prince Namor defeats Warlord Krang, saves Lady Dorma and reclaims the throne of Atlantis.

Only for it to be hit by an earthquake.

Nick Fury has plenty on his hands when Hydra decides to set off a massive bomb!

It's World War Two and Captain America and Bucky must spend a night in Greymoor Castle. A place in which I believe German spies to be operating.

And tragedy strikes Captain Marvel, when his beloved Una dies.

But he barely has time to mourn her before a being called Zo decides to give him a whole new bunch of super-powers!

The Avengers are up against Arkon who still has the Scarlet Witch captive.

And, if that cover blurb's to believed, Conan's up against the Devil-Bats of Nergal!

From that, I can only assume, he's having to survive an adaptation of Robert E Howard's The Hand of Nergal.

Sadly, I am having trouble recalling just what that tale actually involves.

And Dr Strange is, at last, battling Shuma-Gorath who I think has just burst out of the Ancient One's brain!

Dracula, looking like he's about to hit the world's biggest chord on his piano - just before discovering he's forgotten to bring his piano.

But, inside, he has better things on his mind, as he must escape a room that's rapidly filling with water - and then try to find the statuette that everyone's been going on about for the past few issues.

And the Werewolf by Night?

It seems his search for a cure is about to lead him into conflict with a mild-mannered scientist who accidentally drinks a formula that turns him into a Mr Hyde knock-off called DePrayve.

Meanwhile, the Living Mummy and friends encounter a bunch of the Elementals' lackeys on the streets of Cairo.

This week's thrilling instalment of Escape from the Planet of the Apes is called When the Calliope Cries Death.

What that title has to do with Escape from the Planet of the Apes, I have no idea.

Then again, perhaps it means this is the week in which the chimps are introduced to Ricardo Montalban's circus.

In his strip, Ka-Zar bumps into both the Man-Thing and agents of AIM.

And I do believe it means we experience that weird gear shift in which the art switches from being by John Buscema to being by Neal Adams and back again, with Adams' artwork suffering from some of the heaviest, scratchiest, awkwardest, obscuringest, inking I've ever seen.

Meanwhile, the Black Panther confronts his would-be usurper Erik Killmonger, at a waterfall, and gets flung off it.

This is the issue in which we get to see Gog beat up a tyrannosaurus but, also, the one in which we get to see him drown in quicksand.

I can't help feeling that's not really a happy ending.

Still, the good news is that it, at least, foils Kraven's plan to do whatever it is he was planning to do.

Next, the Unicorn's out to wreck a science convention, for reasons that escape me. And that can only mean it's a job for Iron Man.

Following that, Thor and the Warriors Three are failing to stop Thermal Man's rampage around New York.

But, fortunately for mankind, the Communist party of China is about to come to the rescue!

With a great big bomb!

Don't look now but it's Aquon!

Half man.

Half fish.

Half witted.

And all hissy

Yes, the Captain Omen drama rolls on, as the Hulk's recruited by Omen's crew, in the hope he can help them overthrow the ageing tyrant.

But, first, there's Aquon to be dealt with.

And a room full of water.

Elsewhere, Daredevil's still trying to prevent Starr Saxon's robot from killing Biggie Benson.

And still making a terrible job of it.

Never mind. There are always other people around to sort that kind of mess out.

And the Fantastic Four shrink themselves down to sub-atomic size, as they search the Microverse for the Silver Surfer.

But we get an extra treat, this week, thanks to a short tale titled Spell of the Sea Witch in which a bank robber's flight from justice leads him to encounter the ghosts of pirates.

Or does it?

It looks like it might be curtains for Giant-Man when the Porcupine discovers where he lives!

But, then, the prickly pilchard does a Stilt-Man and accidentally shrinks himself to sub-atomic size!

Which does make me wonder if he bumps into the Silver Surfer while he's down there.

Elsewhere, the Cat and Spider-Man are battling the Man-Killer whose mind snaps when she discovers she's, unknowingly, been working for a bunch of men!

And the X-Men must overcome a Count Nefaria who's assembled a crack team of villains that includes such heavyweights as the Scarecrow, Plantman, the Eel and Porcupine!

Clearly, if you're a fan of the Porcupine, this is the issue for you.

Fifty years ago today - December 1975.

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

***

Did you know that, in December 1975, George and Kathleen Lutz moved into a new house in Amityville, New York?

I think you can guess what happened next.

But what happened in the Marvel comics which bore that month as their cover date?

George and Kathleen need to take a leaf out of Conan's book. He'd just hack the house to pieces.

But, right now, he has other matters on his mind, as he begins an adaptation of Robert E Howard's Queen of the Black Coast. The fateful drama in which he first encounters Bêlit!

Hooray! Death-Stalker's always been my favourite Daredevil foe!

Admittedly, that's not much of an achievement, as, until that villain showed up, Hornhead's arch-enemy had been the Stilt-Man.

I must confess to not knowing what's happening on the cover but I do know that, inside, the bounder tries to zap our hero, with a gun made from stolen mirrors!

As for, "The most startling character in the annals of Marveldom!" I'm going to assume he's the Sky-Walker. A man of whom I know nothing.

The Crusader's still causing trouble.

But what dainty little blasts he's firing from his hands there.

I seem to remember the Locust being a less than classic villain.

I also seem to remember not being able to remember much of what happens in this one; other than there being a traffic jam involved and that this is probably the issue in which Sal Buscema replaces Herb Trimpe as regular penciller on the book.

I'm assuming, from the setting, that that character who looks like the Sub-Mariner isn't really the Sub-Mariner?

Whoever he is, I've not read this one and know nothing of it, beyond Firebrand being involved.

It's the cover you thought you'd never see! Spider-Man threatening a rat!

More importantly, this issue sees the return of the Shocker who plunges an entire New York city block into darkness for reasons I don't recall.

Regardless, it means Peter Parker must abandon a party thrown by J Jonah Jameson - and leave MJ fuming.

And it's not just the Shocker who's about to return to Marvelville - because the arrival of the Servitor can, surely, mean only one thing.

That Zarrko: The Tomorrow Man can't be far behind!

I first read this tale in the 1977 Titans Annual. A review of which you can read by clicking on this very link.

As we can probably guess from the cover, that psinister psychiatrist Dr Faustus is back - and has hijacked a passenger jet, with the aid of his men and a woman called Karla!

It was in this story that I first discovered the American emergency number is 911 and not the 999 we use in our very own land of mists and crumpets.

This looks suspiciously like the issue before the one in which the Avengers must fight Kang in the American Wild West, thanks to a quest to find Hawkeye.

The concluding part of that tale was, of course, reprinted in Marvel UK's 1977 Avengers Annual, with great chunks excised to make it fit the page count.

And I do believe It may have been the first time I ever encountered Moondragon.

This one didn't appear in any 1977 Marvel UK annuals, as far as I'm aware.

That's not to say it didn't deserve to.

It is, of course, a tale which manages the unique feat of owing a debt to both Night of the Demon and the Star Trek episode in which Captain Kirk emerges from an obelisk, starts calling himself Kirok and takes to living with Native Americans from outer space.

Anyway, it all kicks off when Cyclops, upset over the death of Thunderbird, destroys an ancient monument and inadvertently unleashes a demonic - and unkillable - entity from another dimension!

That's Marvel's big hitters dealt with.

But we must never forget the presence of another company. One that rivals Marvel itself in size.

And, therefore, I propose we take a look at what a random selection of titles from that company - and bearing the same cover date - resemble.

Comicdom's latest barbarian is back, and I've included him purely for the strangeness of Ernie Chan's cover.

I know little of the contents of its insides but am aware that, when Claw and someone called Ghilkyn save someone called Cybilyth from someone who's doing sacrificing, the local sorcerer opens a rift to another dimension. One which allows a bunch of hostile giants to show up!

I'm assuming that was his intention.

If not, that was quite careless of him.

The always idiosyncratic 1st Issue Special gives us what would appear to be Dr Fate fighting the Sphinx which has now learnt to fly!

Beyond that, I can say nothing of the events that unfold within the pages of this comic. Other than that they would appear to take place in Boston which is a city I was not aware existed in the DC universe.

What's this?

The Joker?

About to fling Diana Prince off a bridge?

To her doom?

Oh. Apparently, not. It would appear she's Dinah Lance, real-world identity of the Black Canary.

And it would also appear the fiend has kidnapped her!

And that only her boyfriend the Green Arrow can save her!

Jack Kirby's departing for Marvel - and it's the last issue of Justice Inc.

But do both creator and creation go out with style?

Sadly, I cannot say, having never read this issue.

However, I'm sure there'll be plenty of action for the Avenger to fight his way through.

Jack Kirby's departing for Marvel - and it's the last issue of Omac but do both creator and creation go out with style?

I don't have a clue.

But I can say that, according to the GCD, in his headquarters, Skuba's "children" show Buddy his Chamber of Monsters.

I've no idea what any of that means.

To be honest, my knowledge of Dick Tracy comes entirely from having once watched the Warren Beatty/Madonna movie.

And I don't remember anything about it.

Fortunately, DC hands us an entire Limited Collectors' Edition to bring us up to speed.

The core of the book is a 59-page epic, reprinted from the mid-1940s, in which our hero encounters characters with such names as Flattop, Tess Truehart and Vitamin Flintheart.

We're also treated to a two-page Rogue's Galley and many a one-page featurette about the great man himself.

But what's this? Is there no 3D diorama?

In a DC Limited Collectors' Edition?

Who are these publishers? And what have they done with DC?

Night of the Demon!

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

***

It's coming!

It's in the trees!

I think you know what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about the never-to-be-forgotten chiller It's Coming and It's in the Trees!

Fortunately, it had another, even more magnificent, title than that.

And that title was Night of the Demon.

In fact, it had two other titles than that. For, it was known in the United States as Curse of the Demon. Presumably, for the benefit of those who might not be able to guess that a film called Night of the Demon is a horror movie.

But is it a horror movie? 

I'll come to that later.

1957's Night of the Demon is, of course, an adaptation of the M. R. James yarn Casting the Runes and involves sinister cult leader Julian Karswell. A man who's in the habit of bumping off his foes by secretly handing them a runic parchment that will lure a homicidal demon to them.

Unfortunately for Karswell, Dr John Holden, a big-shot American psychologist, is in town, determined to debunk him.

And he has the assistance of the niece of one of Karswell's victims!

And that can only mean one thing.

It's demoning time!

The protagonists are played by Dana Andrews and Peggy Cummins. One of them a brick wall  of determined scepticism. The other, all too convinced that dark forces have been unleashed upon the world.

Dana Andrews was that thing which seemed compulsory in British horror films of that era, an American guest boozer struggling to find good work in his home country. And Cummins was the star of Gun Crazy. Somehow, such is the nature of the film that Cummins' instinctive believer comes across as more rational than ultra-rationalist Andrews. Just as Mulder always seemed more in touch with reality than Scully ever did.

But the true star of the film is Niall MacGinnis as Karswell. An opponent willing to do whatever it takes to maintain his sway over his followers. But one who's never too busy to throw parties for the entertainment of local children.

And there's the genius of his characterisation. A masterful portrait in the use of bonhomie to disguise malicious intent. A man who'll welcome you into his home, with an air of relaxed generosity but who'll have you leaving that selfsame home in fear for your life.

As for whether it's a horror story, it seems director Jacques Tourneur wasn't so convinced, as he didn't want the titular demon to appear on screen, preferring a more ambiguous approach that would have left the audience unsure whether any actual supernatural events had truly occurred or whether such activities were all in the minds of the characters.

However, all was not harmonious. Co-producer Hal E Chester insisted that audiences would want to see an actual demon in a film whose title promised them one and, to his director's disgust, inserted one at key points in the film.

While I'm all in favour of ambiguity - my favourite horror film being The Innocents - I can't help feeling the oft-reviled Chester made the correct decision. Leaving aside that the demon has become an icon, appearing on record sleeves, book covers, posters and gifs, Tourneur - the man who directed The Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie and The Leopard Man - had already made several films that refused to commit themselves about the existence of the supernatural, and I can't help feeling there's a limit to how many times you can perform that trick before it becomes annoying affectation.

But what of the film itself?

It is, of course, a classic, vaguely overlooked at the time of its release but garnering critical appreciation, as the years have passed. A beautifully shot thing, making use of lighting, camera angles and sound to unfurl a truth that our world is only one brooding night away from the barrier between it and a whole other, malevolent, reality breaking down to reveal that what's really out there in the dark is what our childhood selves always feared was really out there in the dark.

And, when it comes to the cast, we should also acknowledge the presence of Brian Wilde - later to find comedy immortality as Foggy Dewhurst in Last of the Summer Wine and as Mr Barrowclough in Porridge - in his role of the doomed Rand Hobart, a man so traumatised by his dealings with Karswell that he's been left in a catatonic state that can only be escaped by hypnosis.

And we shouldn't forget Kate Bush who used an audio clip from the film at the start of her 1986 single Hounds of Love.

And we shouldn't forget me. After all, I'm the one talking about this film, and that must make me the most important one of them all.

Amazingly, from what I can determine, it seems I only first encountered it in 1980, which, for a venerable thriller, is remarkably late in my development. Surely, BBC Two must have shown it in the mid-1970s, during its famous Saturday night spooky double-bills. But, it seems it didn't.

But, however late in the day it first entered my life, it can never truly leave it, being easily one of my favourite three or four horror films of all time and one I must always watch whenever it turns up on TV.

Which it does a lot.

Almost as though it's as inescapable as its titular star himself.

November 29th, 1975 - 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. 

***

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

No. It's Steve Does Comics, which is neither real nor fantasy but, rather, inhabits a hinterland located exactly midway between those arbitrary poles.

More importantly, this week in 1975, Queen smashed their way to Number One on the UK singles chart, thanks to Bohemian Rhapsody forcing You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate to settle for second place.

I can forgive Queen for many things but how can I ever forgive them for keeping a sexy thing off the Number One slot?

When it came to the album chart, it was neither Queen nor Hot Chocolate who ruled the roost. It was Perry Como with his 40 Greatest Hits, although I'm willing to bet Perry Como never had 40 hits in Britain.

Hooray! After a couple of weeks' absence, The Avengers reappears in my local newsagents, meaning I actually get to read this issue.

And how impressed I am by the artwork of John Buscema and Tom Palmer.

More importantly, how struck I am by Arkon's resemblance to Conan, even if REH's battler never got to throw lighting bolts around!

Speaking of the Cimmerian; when it comes to his adventures, my knowledge of his comings and going, this issue, are vague but I remain convinced that sorcery will be involved.

And an attractive woman.

When it comes to Dr Strange, I do believe the spooky surgeon has problems with Shuma-Gorath trying to invade our Earth, via the mind of the Ancient One.

Or via his body.

Or via both.

Or something.

I never had this issue but, from that cover, I'm convinced it features the tale in which the Red Skull brainwashes Cap into trying to kill America's top general!

Elsewhere, in The Inhumans, the soft-hearted gang release Maximus from captivity - only for him to instantly rob Black Bolt of his memory and to seize control of the Great Refuge!

The Sub-Mariner, meanwhile, manages to rescue Lady Dorma from the Faceless Ones - and gets his hands on Neptune's Trident! Now can he use it to defeat Warlord Krang?

On land, Nick Fury's still battling whatever evil plan Hydra have come up with now.

And Captain Marvel's up against some dire menace or other.

The lord of all vampires is on a quest to find a missing statuette.

And it would appear he's about to get wet.

A, presumably, drier Jack Russell's still having trouble with Atlas, the Hollywood star who's miffed about having become disfigured.

And I have no doubt the Living Mummy's up to something thrilling, as well.

Now there's trouble for Zira and Cornelius, when their human hosts discover that, back in their own time, they were in the habit of experimenting on humans!

But this issue's even more thrilling news is that we see the arrival of two brand new strips!

Granted, the first one's not that new, as the adventures of Ka-Zar featured in the book's very earliest issues. But, now, the lord of the Savage Land is back with tales we have not yet read. 

And, that means were about to encounter his first encounter with the Everglades, Man-Thing and the forces of AIM!

As for the other new feature, that's none other than Don McGregor's Panther's Rage, an epic drama worthy of the finest works of Shakespeare himself, as T'Challa returns to Wakanda to discover murder and rebellion are on the menu!

We even get a map of Wakanda thrown in. And Shakespeare never gave us a map of anywhere.

Speaking of Kevin Plunder, Spidey's still messing about in the Savage Land. But, at least now, he has the king of the jungle on his side, in his quest to prevent Kraven from taking over the world, with the aid of his humongous great Gog!

Elsewhere, Iron Man must deal with the return of the Unicorn.

On live television!

Having finally reached the end of Galactus' life story, Thor's sent back to Earth, by Odin, to deal with the threat of the Thermal-Man, a malevolent robot whose rampage across New York, the Warriors Three have signally failed to halt.

As that cover makes clear, the Hulk continues to encounter Captain Omen and his undersea kingdom - and finds himself trapped on the seabed, with nothing but an oxygen helmet for company!

Meanwhile, the man without fear is trying to prevent Starr Saxon's robot from killing the incarcerated Biggie Benson.

And, in a bid to prevent Galactus from re-hiring the Silver Surfer, Reed Richards sends the pewter powerhouse into the sub-atomic realm we all know so well.

Hold on. Can it be? An Old X-Men story that actually looks interesting?

Admittedly, I only think that because the cover depicts them up against villains you wouldn't normally expect them to come up against.

In fact, that's one of the most random collections of super-criminals I've ever seen.

Apparently, it's all down to the machinations of Count Nefaria who's assembling a gang of lackeys and assumes the X-Men will be willing to join it.

Elsewhere, the Porcupine's out to revenge himself upon Giant-Man, having previously been thwarted by him in his Ant-Man days.

And the bounder drags the Giant-Man fan club into it!

But what's this? Marvel UK may have run out of Cat stories to use but that's not going to stop it.

No, it doesn't decide to redraw Killraven adventures as Cat tales. Instead, we're presented with a reprint of a Marvel Team-Up yarn in which she and Spider-Man must defeat a female assassin called the Man-Killer.

Speak Your Brain! Part 113.

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Once again, mystery, drama and intrigue descend upon the hallowed halls of Steve Does Comics, in much the same way that a dread mist descends upon every moor top in this land whenever there is a devil-hound on the prowl.

And that's because no man can know what is to happen next.

No one but one man.

Or possibly, one woman.

Or even one household pet.

Because whomsoever posts tonight's topic for debate, in the comments section below, can know.

Therefore, if you are that person, make sure to do just that and disperse those nightmarish mists of intrigue, in order to allow through the revealing rays of uncanny enlightenment.

November 1985 - 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. 

***

This month in 1985 was great news if you were an aircraft that was tired of flying round and round over the sea, looking for somewhere to land before your arms got tired.

And that's because it was the month in which the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was commissioned by the Queen Mother.

Elsewhere, in the UK, unemployment for September fell by nearly 70,000, bringing the total to less than 3,300,000.

When it came to board games, in an all-Soviet match, 22-year-old Garry Kasparov defeated Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest-ever undisputed World Chess Champion.

And there was epoch-making news for computers everywhere when the Microsoft Corporation unleashed the first United States release of Windows 1.0.

When it came to music, November launched with Jennifer Rush's The Power of Love still hogging the Number One spot on the UK singles chart. However, even Jennifer's cast iron lungs weren't enough to save her from an attack by Feargal Sharkey whose A Good Heart managed to depose it, before that track itself had to make way for Wham!'s I'm Your Man.

Things were decidedly more soothing on the accompanying album chart, with the month beginning with George Benson's Love Songs ruling the roost before that was gently dethroned by Sade's Promise which then had to make way for The Greatest Hits of 1985 by those always unstoppable Various Artists. 

After their recent jaunt to Africa, the good Captain and Meggan visit the far cooler climbs of the Russian wilderness in which they encounter legendary folkloric character Baba Yaga.

Up against far more metallic opposition is Abslom Daak who gets caught up in a tale the world knows as The Dalek Killers.

Elsewhere, Night-Raven finds himself in not one but two adventures. The first being Showdown and the second bearing the title Midsummer Madness.

And, then, as far as I can make out, Cap Brit's back for a five-page thriller called Playgrounds and Parasites! 

Jon Pertwee may be on the cover but, inside, the star of the show is 5th Doctor Peter Davison who grants the mag an interview!

And that's appropriate because this issue also contains a look back behind the scenes of his serial Resurrection of the Daleks.

We also encounter a look at some of the strange planets the Doctor's visited, uncover an interview with the show's Production Associate Angela Smith and visit a retrospective of the villains of the 1970s.

But all of this, I'm sure, pales into insignificance before the true highlight of the issue. 

Which is that we get the announcement of the winners of The Doctor Who Songwriting Competition!

If two young lads called Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty don't win it, there's no justice in the universe.

As we may have guessed, from that cover, the UK's Number One source for news of sci-fi, Fantasy and horror is, this month, carrying Interviews with various people involved in the making of Mad Max III.

And they're not the only ones, because we also stumble across a chat in which Ridley Scott talks about the creation of his film Legend.

Speaking of which, a man named Martin Asbury talks about visualising scripts for that film - and for Labyrinth and Greystoke.

For fancy people, there's a look back at Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast.

And there's a retrospective of The Man from Uncle.

But the issue closes with a feature upon which I can shed no light at all; The Filing Cabinet of Dr Sally Gary. Just how Expressionist that turns out to be, I cannot say.