Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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They always reckon that, in space, they can't hear you scream.
Who can't? And can you not text them?
Thankfully, there was no need for either screaming or texting in space, this week in 1975, because it was a month in which the American Apollo spacecraft and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft docked with each other in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the two nations. That meant the people on board could talk to each other, face to face, in a civilised manner that didn't involve either screaming or the use of thumbs.
And you know who was bound to be pleased by that?
The Bay City Rollers.
After all, it was the very week in which they were imploring us all to Give a Little Love in their song of that title, as it soared to Number One on the UK singles chart.
But also with outer space on their minds were Wings who reclaimed the pinnacle of the UK album rankings, thanks to their current release Venus and Mars.
It's a thrilling day for all British Marvel fans because Spidey's only gone and decided to travel to London in search of Gwen Stacy, in the hopes of convincing her to go back to New York with him!
Unfortunately, this brings the man we in Britain know as Spider-Geezer into conflict with a terrorist cell that's out to blow up Her Majesty's Big Ben!
Elsewhere, Iron Man muscles in on Batman's territory when he's dispatched to Vietnam to deal with mad scientist Half-Face. As far as I can recall, he turns out not to be mad at all.
But there's much bigger trouble in store for Thor when Tana Nile asks him to visit Rigel to beat up Galactus who's in danger of eating everything in her galaxy.
It kicks off with the Swordsman smashing through a billboard, on his way to fight Clint Barton in a bid to prove, once and for all, that he's his former apprentice's superior.
Except he isn't.
Because he's the Swordsman.
And he's nobody's superior.
Not even his apprentice.
Conan's still involved in the siege of Makkalet and I do suspect it's the issue in which he has to fight a bunch of skeletons in helmets.
And Dr Strange, meanwhile, is in a seaside town that worships a god called Sligguth.
And he soon discovers his magic doesn't work properly there!
The Hulk's well and truly back in Jarella Land, where he quickly rescues his girlfriend and leads her subjects to revolt against the evil Visis.
However, the villain's got one last trick up his sleeve - the ability to create another Hulk!
One that's stupid!
And therefore has a big advantage over a clever Hulk!
Elsewhere, the Jester gets himself hired by Richard Raleigh to take out his rival for the job of District Attorney - Foggy Nelson.
And the Fantastic Four go to The Beehive where Him's cocoon finally opens to reveal he in all his's declamatory glory.
Given the total lack of fighting skills, tactical nous, and intelligence of Jack Russell's hairy alter-ego, it's hard to see how a fight between him and Dracula could be anything other than a one-sided smackdown but, nonetheless, that tussle reaches its second issue.
And it does so with Jack discovering that Dracula killed one of his ancestors!
Meanwhile, Frankenstein's Monster is hanging around with a robot and getting increasingly frustrated by its inability to tell him just who he really is.
It's always a moment of excitement when Marvel UK decides to reprint one of the painted US Planet of the Apes covers instead of commissioning a new one. This one's by Earl Norem, I do believe.
Inside, Brent and Nova explore a tunnel which leads them to a huge cavern containing what seems to be a dead city!
On another world entirely, Adam Warlock finally manages to bump off the terror of Triax.
And I do believe the Counter-Earth version of Dr Doom puts in an appearance.
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1 comment:
I still haven’t listened to ‘Give A Little Love’, I really need to do that. I’m curious to see what a Bay City Rollers song that was a #1 hit in the UK but was never even released as a single here in the States sounds like.
Exciting developments on the Billboard Hot 100 half a century ago! After a full month at the top, that song whose title rhymes with ‘Dove And Sheep In Black Leather’ fell to #8, displaced by Paul McCartney and Wings’ ‘Listen To What The Man Said’. Elsewhere on the chart, ‘Dance With Me’ by Orleans debuted at #89, and ZZ Top’s cheeky ‘Tush’ entered at #79.
Comics-wise, the original publications of the Warlock vs Triax and Silver Surfer vs Overlord stories made an a big impression on me when I acquired them from the Neighbor Kid Who Didn’t ‘Em Anymore. And the Beehive / Cocoon / Him stories cemented my appreciation of the Lee/Kirby FF when they were being reprinted in MARVEL’S GREATEST COMICS. After that storyline, I looked forward to each new issue of MARVEL’S GREATEST as eagerly as any of Marvel’s “All New” titles — more than most, in fact.
b.t.
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