April 5th, 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. 

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Comedy rocked our world, this week in 1975, when it saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail released in UK cinemas.

In the world of sport, Manchester United clinched promotion to the First Division, just one season after having been relegated from it.

You'd never know it from that cover but this issue features the second half of the tale in which our hero gets the Prowler to pretend to be him, so that Peter Parker and Spider-Man can be seen in the same place at the same time by the same people and, thus, dispel his friends' suspicion that Spider-Man and Peter are in reality the same person.

This is, of course, in the wake of Peter having, last week, declared himself to be Spider-Man.

But, despite that cover, I can confirm that, at no point in this tale is Gwen Stacy in any kind of danger.

Elsewhere, Iron Man's getting a good thumping from the Sub-Mariner. And, so, he locks himself in a room to buy himself time to recharge his batteries.

Meanwhile, feeling a bit rundown himself, Subby takes a dip in the ocean, in order to recharge his own batteries.

In no need of recharging any batteries at all is Thor, who's in Karnilla's house and having yet another punch-up with Ulik.

Gwen Stacy may be in no danger but Shalla-Bal certainly is.

And that's because it's time for Marvel UK to publish my favourite Silver Surfer story of them all, as the menacing Mephisto makes his diabolical debut and attempts to tempt the pewter powerhouse.

The X-Men, meanwhile, are having their first clash with the Blob who they try to recruit to their ranks and, when he spurns their offer, they wipe his memories.

Seems a bit extreme of them.

Are they sure they're the good guys?

I've no idea what's going on on this cover but it certainly looks striking.

Inside, his fight with Batroc successfully concluded, Iron Fist now has his first encounter with a woman called Misty Knight.

I do believe the Avengers conclude their run-in with the Scarlet Centurion and successfully put right the timeline that had seen them become a menace to humanity.

And Dr Strange must defeat a Nightmare who's made a terrific job of ruining everyone's New Year celebrations.

And what's this? More thrills from Marvel's greatest foiler of simians?

Too right it is!

This week, we discover yet more of his origin, as we see just how he came to be a gladiator in the apes' games and just how he escaped to become their greatest nemesis.

After that, there's even more cause for celebration because we encounter the UK debut of the Guardians of the Galaxy, as a bunch of highly modified humans - and Yondu - rise up to fight the rule of the evil alien Badoon.

And, finally, we blunder upon Lee and Ditko's The Secret of the Black Planet.

That's the one in which an escaped convict on another world decides to escape in a conveniently-placed rocket ship.

Only for it to turn out to be a living creature that he's only just gone and climbed into the mouth of!

I do believe this is the one in which the Hulk lifts up an entire cliff in one of the most memorable comic book panels of my childhood.

He is, of course, doing this because he's in conflict with Havok over Lorna Dane who he's mistaken for Jarella.

And Daredevil's still in Canada and fighting a Beetle who's determined to unmask him, thanks to the machinations of Stan Lee and Gene Colan.

Meanwhile, Reed Richards continues to be trapped in the Negative Zone and on collision course with a planet that's going to disintegrate him on contact.

Can no one save him?

I have a suspicion a certain aquatic Inhuman may be able to do just that.

And I do believe this may be the story which sees the finger-blasting debut of none other than Blastaar himself.

In a twist we never saw coming, the lord of vampires travels to America and has the misfortune to feed on a man who's a drug addict. Does this mean Dracula will now also become a drug addict?

Only time - and the rest of this story - will tell.

The werewolf by night continues to be on show in a carnival. Needless to say, fighting's broken out.

And, like Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster is in modern day New York.

But it's not drug addicts he has to worry about. No, he has to worry about street gangs!

It's the first Conan story I ever read, as Zukala and his transformational daughter make their first appearances, and our belligerent heads off to their castle to tackle them, having been promised a big fat reward by the local peasants.

Meanwhile, in the backup strip, I'm assured that Kull's arrogance sees the release of an ancient menace he's barely able to thwart.