May 24th, 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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A wise woman once told us all to stand by our man.

And that woman was Tammy Wynette whose classic song of that inference remained atop the UK singles chart as May 1975 was approaching its waning days.

There was change afoot, however, on the accompanying LP chart because it saw The Best of the Stylistics ascend to a summit it was, no doubt, determined to cling on to.

But forget all that. There's a brand new threat in town!

And that threat is Bullit, a politician standing on a hardline anti-crime platform who is, himself, a mobster!

Can Spider-Man thwart this bounder?

And, more importantly, can determined newspaperman Joe Robertson expose him for the fraud and thug he truly is?

Far away from that, I do believe Iron Man's in China and battling the Mandarin in a bid to rescue Happy Hogan from his clutches.

And, of course, Thor and his mates are still trying to thwart the unstoppable stroll of Mangog!

I think that cover's meant to tell us the Thing and his teammates are battling the Hulk at a local airport.

And not only them, because a bunch of other heroes have invited themselves along to join in.

It all leads to the brute being put on trial, with Matt Murdock defending him and Reed Richards called to give evidence.

But what's that gun Reed has in his hand when he turns up at the trial?

And is it really going to do what he says it will?

Such has been the level of crossovers, lately, that the Fantastic Four's strip has been absent for several weeks but, at last, it's back!

And it's Daredevil's strip that's now gone missing.

However, lovers of men without fear need not fear being without men without fear, as Hornhead appears in the FF's strip and brings along Thor and Spider-Man, due to the FF having convinced themselves he's really Doctor Doom in disguise!

A serious dose of poshness breaks out in the pages of Shang-Chi when the martial artist and friends head to Buckingham Palace for yet another fight with that bunch of phansigars, and an assignation with a secret corridor directly behind the Queen's throne...

But, in New York, it's a wedding to remember for Jan and Yellowjacket who claim their nuptials while the Circus of Crime demonstrates its smarts by attacking a building packed solid with people who can all fight better than it can.

And, finally, Dr Sanders and the Sub-Mariner are battling to prevent the Undying Ones from gaining access to our world.

They succeed.

But only at the cost of the sorcerer's freedom.

I do believe this is the one in which Doug Moench and Rico Rival transform Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court into a Planet of the Apes tale, thanks to a man inventing a time machine and setting off into the future, in a bid to retrieve the astronauts from the first Planet of the Apes movie.

This means, of course, the presence of ape knights in shining armour. Not to mention dragons, fair maidens and other Medieval such-likes.

To be honest, that summary is kind of making me miss Apeslayer.

After that, Adam Warlock comes down to Earth on Counter-Earth where he falls from the sky and is  found by a bunch of youths who decide to hide the unconscious man in a barn. Biblical influences are obvious but was Rascally Roy Thomas also inspired by classic British movie Whistle Down the Wind?

It's another of those rare issues of Dracula Lives I once owned.

Having said that, I'm not at all sure what happens in the Dracula tale.

However, I suspect he may be getting a good staking from Blade and friends.

Elsewhere, the werewolf by night has a punch-up with a bunch of beach-dwelling body-builders before bumping into the Hangman who wastes no time at all in getting on with the job of hanging him.

Elsewhere, Brother Voodoo's still learning how to be Brother Voodoo.

And it seems to involve our hero getting his hands on a magic amulet - and gaining a sidekick, into the bargain.

As we can probably guess, this issue sees the conclusion of Thomas and Smith's adaptation of Rogues in the House, with Conan having to take on a man-ape that likes to dress up as a priest.

That's followed by King Kull in action against The Night of the Red Slayers! A tale I can shed no light upon whatsoever.

The Surfer's still having a remarkable amount of trouble dealing with a man who only has one eye and no hands.

And is dead.

Admittedly, judging by that cover, if he didn't insist on firing his cosmic blasts at the ground, instead of at his foe, that might help.

The X-Men, meanwhile, are managing to get themselves into a scrap with both the Sub-Mariner and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. One that I have no doubt they will emerge from completely unscathed.