The Marvel Lucky Bag - February 1975.

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

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Not too many films of note were released in February 1975 but the ones of perhaps the most interest were, I suspect, Shampoo, The Stepford Wives and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.

Tragically, of those three, I've only ever seen The Stepford Wives and that was so long ago that I can't recall if it was any good or not. I can, however, confirm that Jacques Brel is no longer alive and well and living in Paris.

It's the first issue of Savage Sword of Conan I ever read - and the first time I became aware of Marvel/Curtis' black and white range.

Not only do we get that classic cover by Boris Vallejo, we also discover a John Buscema/Alfredo Alcala adaptation of Robert E Howard's Shadows in the Moonlight in which our hero must, yet again, battle a giant man-ape. Not to mention pirates, and statues that come to life when the light of our only natural satellite settles upon them. Quite frankly, anyone who doesn't love this tale must be stark-raving mad.

And we don't only get that. We can also thrill to the latest adventure from Gil Kane's Blackmark and to three pages of Richard Corben's take on everyone's favourite barbarian.

And here's another big event because Adam Warlock is back and in the mega-capable hands of Jim Starlin.

I can only assume this is the issue in which we're first introduced to the threat of the Magus and his galaxy-wide religion.

But what does that have to do with Warlock?

And what can he do to stop it?

It looks like the Fantastic Four are faced with manifold mayhem when they must meet the maddening menace of Madrox the Multiple Man.

Apparently, this is his first appearance. Which is a surprise, as I'd always assumed he was originally an X-Men character.

I don't have the slightest clue what he's up to but it seems Professor X puts in an appearance. So, things are at least a little mutanty.

Speaking of which, that story's followed by a reprint of the gang's first encounter with the X-Men, as originally presented in 1964's Fantastic Four #28.

That's the one in which the Puppet Master and Mad Thinker use their abilities to pit the two teams against each other before totally messing the whole thing up.

Everyone who reads this site knows I must buy any comic that has a skeleton on the front of it. So much for DC's theory that it's gorillas that get books flying off the shelves.

Then again, if they had the sense to put gorilla skeletons on the covers, who knows how stratospheric their sales would become?

Contained within are four tales of terror and mystery.

In the first, following one practical joke too many, a man cuts off his brother's head. To me, this response seems an overreaction.

In the second, a diver kills an old man for his map of a sunken freighter filled with gold but gets his air hose disastrously snagged on his victim's corpse.

Next, a spinster ends up in Seventh Heaven after receiving a prank Valentine sent by a co-worker.

And, finally, a mobster drinks a serum of eternal life, and then falls into a pit of quicksand.

As you might suspect, all of these are reprinted from various 1950s comics.

Bashful Benjy makes a guest appearance in the mag dedicated to heroes who are all, sort of, making a guest appearance.

I know little of this one, other than the obvious. Which is that he and the Defenders must combat the Nameless Ones and the man they call Van Nyborg.

A brand new mag enters our lives.

And does so with a favourite tale from my childhood, as we're treated to Moench, Thomas and Niño's Man-Gods From Beyond the Stars.

Gasp, as space aliens arrive on Earth and interact with the local cave-people in an adventure targeted on the dedicated fan of Erich von Däniken.

And, if you don't believe that's who it's aimed at, we also get articles which bear such titles as Erich von Daniken: The Man Behind a Phenomenon, The Chariots of Erich von Daniken and Facts On "Danikenitis" -- The von Daniken Phenomenon.

There's also a text feature called The Books of the Gods.

And there's a short comic strip destined to appear in Marvel UK's Planet of the Apes. I refer to Good Lord! in which astronauts exploring a world of monsters manage to accidentally shoot and kill God.

Daimon Hellstrom continues his battle with everyday evil.

This time, a female student receives a strange tarot card. And that means it can only be a matter of time before Lucifer's offspring gets involved.

It's a bit of a shock to see this title getting the Giant-Size treatment.

But it does.

And does so with tales called The Gravesend Gorgon, The Monster of Hedgewood Moor!, The Lagoon Creature of Rising Sun, The Fountain, The Girl Who Couldn't Die!, The Borrowed Face!, From Out of the Past!, Gilt-Edged Gnomes and Next Stop Eternity!

Even more surprisingly, the vast majority of these tales appear to be new.

Even more surprisingly, one of them is credited to Dave Gibbons.

A more predictable candidate for Giant-Sizing greets us when the Avengers get their third stab at the format.

This appears to be Part Six of the Celestial Madonna Saga and features yet more of our heroes' tussle with the Legion of the Unliving in Immortus' Limbo Dimension.

Sadly, despite its name, there is not one instance of limbo dancing in sight. Personally, I want my money back.

And, because that's not enough for us, we also find the team's first encounter with the Space Phantom, as reprinted from 1963's Avengers #2.