The Marvel Lucky Bag - May 1975.

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Movies! I love 'em!

Especially ones I've heard of.

And, this month in 1975, the filmic releases I've heard of included such gems as The Day of the Locust, The Eiger Sanction, French Connection II and Return of the Pink Panther.

Of those, the only one I can remember actually having seen is Return of the Pink Panther. Therefore, I shall go against all conventional wisdom, every Oscar nominations committee and all human reason and nominate that as my film of the month.

Conan's had his own monochrome mag for some time now and, at last, his perennial bridesmaid, Kull gets one too.

Shall it wow the world like the Cimmerian's book has?

That, I cannot say but I can announce it'll go on to last for just three issues before disappearing from our lives, which does suggest the US public may not be in the mood to take it to their hearts with mad abandon.

Inside, we find A King Comes Riding! from Roy Thomas, Ross Andru and Wally Wood, which sounds an intriguing combination.

There's also The Shadow Kingdom and The Valley of the Worm! Both of which - shockingly, for a first issue - are reprints.

There is, however, some new material, including King Kull: A Retrospective Review and Hail the Barbarians!

Forget Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. This is the one we've all been waiting for, as the greatest martial arts scrapper of them all - Roger Moore - hits the front cover of our favourite fighting mag.

And he hits the insides, as well, thanks to a 13-page Don McGregor review of The Man With the Golden Gun which he titles The Man with the Golden Gun Shoots Blanks!

I get the feeling that may not be a positive review.

I do have to say, though, that only Dauntless Don could stretch a review of that film out to thirteen pages.

Elsewhere, we encounter Shang-Chi in Blood of the Golden Dragon and the Sons of the Tiger in The Crack of the Whip!

And Kull isn't the only pulp hero to gain a first issue, because the savagest doctor of them all lands his own Giant-Size mag which largely consists of The Man of Bronze! as first published in 1972's Doc Savage #1.

That's followed by Master of the Red Death! reprinted from Doc Savage #2.

We also discover a 5-page article about the great man, delivered by Bob Sampson.

Tragically, but perhaps not to anyone's great surprise, this is the only issue ever published of this title.

As we, no doubt, know, the Sons of the Serpent are causing chaos on the streets of New York and, somehow, despite just being blokes with sticks, they manage to capture Dr Strange, Valkyrie, Yellowjacket and Nighthawk, as well as putting the Hulk out of action!

Arrgh! #3 hits our newsagents and I must confess I included it purely because of that Alfredo Alcala cover.

That's not to say the insides aren't also redoubtable but I don't know what they contain, other than that they're likely to be of a humorous bent and that not all of them are reprints.

The man who doesn't know how lucky he is to not have to face talking apes is back!

And he's in impending lumber because the more-than-miffed Martian Masters send the High Overlord to get him!

But hold on!

Drop everything!

History's being made before our very eyes when a whole new bunch of X-Men hit the scene and do so in a full-length thriller that sees the old, boring, team captured by a living island, and Professor X has to hastily construct a new group to rescue them!

And that's not all - because that epic's followed by reprints of the Werner Roth mini-strips in which we get to learn more about the abilities of Cyclops, Marvel Girl and Iceman.

I can't speak for anyone else but, to me, it all sounds worth 50 cents of anyone's money.

Can even the crown prince of Wakanda survive a fall from a pterosaur?

Yes, he can.

But can he also survive an assault by Salamander K'Ruel the human cactus?

I've no idea what this one involves but it's called A Book Burns in Citrusville! I shall, therefore, assume it's a warning about the dangers of setting fire to books and of the sort of people who do that sort of thing.

I possess no doubt the Man-Thing, as an avid reader of all things literary, takes immediate action to prevent such cultural vandalism and then helps the local kids build a new library.