2000 AD - August 1987.

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

***

I think every single one of us was overwhelmed with excitement in August 1987.

How could we not be? It was the month in which Apple introduced Hypercard which, as we all know, was a precursor to the World Wide Web, meaning we were drawing ever-closer to the creation of Steve Does Comics!

Clearly not feeling the excitement was Rudolf Hess who was found dead in his Spandau Prison cell, at the age of 93. He was believed to have committed suicide by hanging and had been the last remaining prisoner there.

When it came to movies, more cinematic treats were released than a human could shake a stick at or that a stick could shake a human at. It was during that period that we first cast our eyes upon Stakeout, The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, Who's That Girl?, The Monster Squad, No Way Out, Dirty Dancing, The Garbage Pail Kids, The Fourth Protocol, Hamburger Hill and House II: The Second Story.

But, of course, the big news for all lovers of fine cinema was that it was a month which saw the unleashing of the big-screen version of Masters of the Universe, starring Dolph Lundgren as the man who has the power!

When it came to music, August entered our lives with Los Lobos at Number One on the UK singles chart, thanks to their cover of La Bamba. That was then dislodged by Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett's I Just Can't Stop Loving You which then had to subside before the absolute behemoth that was Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up.

Over on the associated album chart, the month began with Various Artists' Hits 6 on top before that had to make way for Def Leppard's Hysteria which was then vanquished by the return of Hits 6 to the top of the rankings.

As for 2000 AD, historic events were afoot  there too because, as far as I can make out, Prog 537 was officially released under the aegis of Fleetway Publications, after years of the title being credited to IPC, and I'm sure that will have made a huge difference to the contents. For instance, we now got Strontium Dog, D. R. & Quinch's Agony Page, Tales from Mega-City One, Judge Dredd, The Mean Team, Tharg's Future-Shocks and Nemesis.

Prog 535 saw the launch of Zenith, in an episode called Prologue: Ground Zero, as can be seen on the cover.

And Prog 537 saw the birth of a series called Universal Soldier, thanks to Alan McKenzie and Will Simpson.

September 20th, 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. 

***

Is there anything good that can be said about bad hotels?

Yes, there is. If not for them, we'd never have had John Cleese and Connie Booth's sitcom Fawlty Towers. And then where would we have been?

We'd have been watching a channel other than BBC Two.

But, as it was, we were watching BBC Two because it was this week in 1975 that saw the channel broadcast the first-ever episode of that show. 

This week's cover is not very useful to me, as regards revealing what occurs within this particular publication but I do believe Spidey's still inhabiting the tale in which he stops a prison riot and then talks about prison conditions, on a chat show.

And I think Iron Man's still on that Maggia gambling ship and still trying to survive his first encounter with Whiplash.

But, hooray! It looks like Thor finally defeats Pluto and his mutates on a far-flung future Earth!

Which means he can now get on with meeting Him.

Unless I miss my guess, this issue sees the conclusion of The Song of Red Sonja in which Conan and the Sonj get to fight a giant snake that used to be a diadem, before the Titian-tressed tormentor of fighting men goes her own way.

Following that, the Avengers are set up for the fight of their lives when taken to a distant tomorrow in which Kang has made a bet with the Grandmaster. A bet that requires the team must battle the Squadron Sinister if the Earth is to survive.

Dr Strange, on the other hand, is in Cornwall, looking for the undersea city of Kalumesh and has to confront the terror of Dagoth in a tale that I suspect has drawn as much inspiration from the Vincent Price movie City Under the Sea as it has from The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

The Hulk gets to visit Counter-Earth and encounters an alternate version of Bruce Banner who has a wife and kids.

But Hulkie, perhaps, has more to worry about on the original Earth where, in our hero's absence, Betty Ross is marrying Glenn Talbot!

Following that, the man without fear visits Vietnam, in a bid to entertain the troops, and meets a man called Willie Lincoln whose war wounds promptly send him blind.

That man then has to return to America where he falls foul of gangland bounder Biggie Benson who wants him dead.

And the Fantastic Four are still trying to put a stop to the Thing's latest rampage!

What's this? Drac shows up in London and somehow manages to gain diplomatic immunity?

Well, he might do but I doubt he's got immunity from the attacks of his own daughter Lilith who I think may be making her first appearance in this mag.

And, speaking of early appearances, we get one from Tigra, as she and the Werewolf by Night must take on the hordes of Hydra for reasons I'm not sure about.

And I do believe the Living Mummy's been sent to Egypt, by evil Elementals, to retrieve an ancient artefact that will, doubtless, make them all-powerful.

But it's an act that may bring the Living Mummy into conflict with none other than the Living Pharaoh!

Forget snakes on planes, Doug Moench and Tom Sutton are giving us apes on ships!

This week, while the orangutan elite are feasting to celebrate an impending peace deal with the gorillas, an assassin kills an orangutan. I can't help feeling this is all going to lead to plenty of sea-going melodrama.

And Sutton inks Gil Kane for this week's dose of Adam Warlock, as Him and Dr Doom find themselves in an adventure called Death Sting!

Captain Marvel, meanwhile, is still on Earth and battling the Super-Skrull.

Galactus is looking somewhat worried there. Just what can the Surfer be up to that could cause he and Mephisto such consternation?

He could be up to deciding to ask the Fantastic Four for their help in getting him off this planet.

And, because everyone in the Marvel universe has a short fuse, that, inevitably, leads to a scrap with the Human Torch.

Speaking of having a scrap, the X-Men continue to battle the Sentinels but are saved by the intervention of Professor X and the self-sacrifice of Dr Trask!

Speak Your Brain! Part 109. Nostalgia! Is it what it used to be?

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

***

Image by Tumisu
from Pixabay

Can you hear it?

That faint rustle in the hedgerow?

The delicate pitter-patter of tiny little feet that are not quite human and yet so much more than human?

It can only mean one thing. The return of the feature that has all but taken on a life of its own.

But that life is nothing without you because it's a feature in which only you can decide just what is to be discussed.

Therefore, feel free to post a topic of your choice and we shall discover down which long and winding pathway it takes us.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - September 1985.

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

***

Cinema. What a thing it is.

Granted, it wasn't too much of a thing in September 1985. After all, there weren't too many high-profile movies released that month but it did, at least, see the unveiling of such experiences as After Hours, Death of a Salesman, Plenty, Agnes of God and Invasion U.S.A.

Of those, After Hours is the only one I've ever seen, and that was so long ago that I have almost no recollection of it and tend to get it mixed up, in my mind, with Desperately Seeking Susan.

Meanwhile...

...Marvel Fanfare's back to thrill, delight and enchant us.

And, this month, its thrilling, delighting and enchanting us with a tale of something or other.

Whatever that something or other is, it clearly involves Dr Octopus, the Grey Gargoyle, Electro and the Sandman.

And, judging by that cover, I'm going to guess they're out to gang up on poor old Iron Man.

I'm also going to guess it's the Rhodey version of Iron Man they're ganging up on and not the Tony Stark one.

But what's this? We also receive seven pages of pin-ups of our favourite Marvel heroes?

How many times has the Squadron Supreme guest-starred in the comics of others?

But, now, at last, it has its very own vehicle. One in which the team decides it needs to seize control of the Government if it's to resolve all of humanity's problems. Which does, I must confess, seem like a Squadron Supreme kind of thing to do.

However, there's always one dissenter in any group and so strongly does Nighthawk disagree with the idea, that he goes right ahead and quits.

After just six, monthly, issues, Web of Spider-Man receives its first annual and plants our hero in a 37-page epic labelled Give Me a Hand, Future Max!

What all that involves, I've no idea but, apparently, this tale introduces us all to someone called Future Max. A feat for which I'm sure we're all grateful.

And, now, refusing to let Conan and Kull steal the limelight any longer, Solomon Kane gets his very own comic!

And it's another one about which I'm woefully ignorant. But I do know the story's called Red Shadows and is adapted from the story of the same name by Robert E Howard.

Secret Wars II hits its third issue - and does so with a dramatic cover which heralds a drama in which the Beyonder follows in the footsteps of the Fantastic Four's Infant Terrible and falls under the influence of a mob boss.

However, he goes far further with it than that juvenile alien did - by taking over the Kingpin's operations, the United States and then the whole world!

Anyway, he quickly gets bored with that and decides to have a chat with Daredevil instead.

Bret Blevins produces a cover you have to love, for an issue that presents us with such things as a French explorer getting lost in Africa, peasant resistance to Genghis Khan, a gypsy encountering Napoleonic forces, and barnstorming in the early days of aviation. On top of that, there's a multitude of pin-ups.

I've no knowledge of the contents of this one, other than to be able to reveal it's the brainchild of Alan Zelenetz and Chris Warner and is called A Madness of Dreams!

A brand-new hero enters our lives, as the perma-lucky Longshot leaps through a portal and arrives on Earth, with no memory of who he is or whence he originated.

Fortunately, he's befriended by the dog-like creature called Magog and a human survivalist called Eliot. 

If that cover's to be believed; this issue, the Defenders gain the assistance of Sgt Fury and his Howlin' Commandos.

However, I'm not sure that cover is to be believed and that it's not, instead, an illusion they find themselves encountering.

September 13th, 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. 

***

Do you know where I wish I was?

I wish I was here.

Which is good news  - and an incredible coincidence - because I am here.

And you know who else wishes I was here?

Pink Floyd. 

I know that because they said so, on September 12th, 1975, when they released their new LP of a similar name which was, I'm sure, destined to sell a billion-and-onety copies.

And that sounds like a good cue for me to talk about the charts.

And more specifically, the UK singles chart.

In fact, it was a week of little change because not only was Rod Stewart's Sailing still top of the main mast on that Hit Parade, he was also king of the waves on the accompanying album rankings, thanks to his latest vibrant vinyl Atlantic Crossing.

Sailing is, of course, a beautiful song beautifully sung but there other tracks I also approved of on that week's UK singles chart. Among them were:

Moonlighting - Leo Sayer

That's the Way (I Like It) - KC and the Sunshine Band

Pandora's Box - Procol Harum

Fame - David Bowie

If You Think You Know How To Love Me - Smokie

Do It Again - Steely Dan

and

Hold Me Close - David Essex.

Should one wish to investigate the matter further, that week's British singles chart can be found here.

While its parallel album listings dwell within.

Spidey must wish he was somewhere else, as a prison riot breaks out and it's Gil Kane up-the-nose-action-a-go-go.

The good news is it all gets him on television where he can tell the nation about the plight of prisoners and the urgent need for penal reform.

In other matters, Iron Man's trapped on a Maggia casino ship and having to survive an assault by the villain they call Whiplash.

And I do suspect Thor's still having far-flung-future fisticuffs with the fiendish forces of Pluto and is unknowingly heading towards an encounter with Him that'll go on to become Adam Warlock!

Despite that cover, the Avengers do not yet face the Squadron Sinister.

Instead, they're in hospital, visiting Tony Stark after another of his famous heart attacks, when they're accosted by Kang's Growing Man who's out to abduct the helpless arms dealer.

Needless to say, our idols are not going to let that sort of thing happen.

And, so, they all get abducted by the Growing Man!

But, before we reach that story, Conan experiences the second part of The Song of Red Sonja and gets to climb a big tower containing a sinister diadem.

Dr Strange, meanwhile, manages to see off the challenge of the Lovecraftian N'Gabthoth, and it's next stop Stonehenge!

As for the blurb at the top of the front cover, I'm not sure what the Hoardes of Hell are but I can only assume they do a Hell of a lot of hoarding.

It's all high-drama in Draculaville when the lord of the vampires encounters a vampire he can't control.

That vampire being the mysterious Gorna.

I do believe Jack Russell's alter-ego is still at Mallet Studios and combating two horror actors turned vampire.

But, this time, he has the aid of his next-door neighbour!

And the Living Mummy comes under the influence of evil Elementals.

Unless I miss my guess, it's the start of that Tom Sutton drawn tale where there's a bunch of apes living on a gigantic ship. I seem to recall it with fondness though my memories of it are vague.

However, it would appear that an orangutan's killed by a gorilla, causing everything to kick off.

Following that, Captain Marvel must fight the Super-Skrull whose plans are not at all clear to me. I do believe it's in this tale that we first discover the Kree and Skrulls are ancient and bitter enemies. I predict the phrase "Uni-Ray" will feature in this tale.

And, following that, after several weeks' absence, Adam Warlock is back to team up with Counter-Earth's Dr Doom when he encounters The Day of the Death Birds!

There's something very odd about this week's cover, and a great big Steve Does Comics No-Prize goes to the first person who points out what it is.

Admittedly, I'm about to give 50% of the answer away by saying that, within this issue, the Hulk and Rhino inadvertently travel to Counter-Earth where our hero encounters the High Evolutionary's New-Men.

Elsewhere, strangely mirroring our Spider-Man tale, Daredevil breaks out of prison and goes on national TV. In his case, however, he's disguised as the Jester, in order to lure the real villain out into the open.

And the FF are still having trouble with a rampaging Thing.

I can sensationally reveal that, no matter the impression given by this cover, the Silver Surfer is not teaming up with the X-Men to fight the Sentinels and Human Torch.

In fact, it would seem the Surfer's up against the diabolical peril of the Doomsday Man.

Elsewhere, the Brothers Link find themselves by This Badge Bedevilled!

It all happens when Damian Link tries to foil a robbery but he and his twin Joshua become linked by experimental rays which cause Damian to gain super-powers whenever Joshua's energy enters his body. This all sounds suspiciously like it involves that astrological terror the world knows as Gemini.

And, of course, the X-Men are still gamely battling the Sentinels.

Forty years ago today - September 1985.

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

***

Let us fling ourselves, once more, into the turgid maelstrom that is our days of yore.

Will this mad perfidy never end? Much to the horror of his friends - and Sif -  Lorelei's used her magic to take control of Thor's mind and get him to swear loyalty to Loki as ruler of Asgard!

Clearly, there's only one person who can do anything to sort this mess out.

And that's Lorelei's big sister; the Enchantress.

The FF aren't happy with Psycho-Man and his recent activities. And, so, they set off to Sub-Atomica to give him the smack in the gob he's been asking for.

The only problem is that, when they find him, he's about ten times their size!

It's a turn-up for the books when Arcade recruits Kitty and Colossus in a bid to prevent Dr Doom from killing him.

But is everything as it seems?

Given that it's Arcade - and Dr Doom is allegedly dead - I think we can take it for granted that nothing is as it seems.

Sadly, I can't recall in what way it isn't as it seems.

Also, robot replicas of the X-Men are involved.

Maybe a robot Dr Doom is also involved.

Maybe a robot Arcade is also involved.

Maybe a robot Kitty and Colossus are also involved.

Maybe I'm a robot too.

I'm too confused to remember.

A tale of non-start thrills concludes, as Spider-Man and the Wasp unite to bring justice to a bunch of criminals who've done something or other in relation to killing union leaders.

Paladin's there too but doesn't seem to be able to make up his mind whose side he's on or whether he's a good guy or a bad guy.

History's made, as Bruce Banner reappears after an absence from the strip of what seems like several billion years.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like he's going to live long enough to enjoy it.

As far as I can remember, on an alien world, he encounters a brilliant Earth scientist who's taken over the planet and keeps draining its inhabitants of all blood in an attempt to achieve immortality.

Needless to say, Bruce is having none of that nonsense.

And neither is Hulkie-Pops.

Cap takes a backseat when Nomad sets out to bring Madcap to justice. A bid that requires he first makes friends with the unhinged villain and, effectively, become his flatmate.

Deep in the depths of space, Nebula and her crew of pirates are causing so much trouble that the Avengers find themselves having to team up with the Skrulls in a bid to tackle them.

Matt Murdock's female friends are never anything but a burden to him. And, so, when Glorianna O'Breen is kidnapped by refugees from Deliverance, Daredevil and the Black Widow must enter the swamps of somewhere or other to get her back.

As far as I can remember, both DD and Widdy spend the entire issue complaining they don't know how to operate in a swamp and could be killed at any moment by absolutely anything and everything. Which, given their talents, seems a little unlikely.

It's yet more trouble for Conan when he and his friends are attacked by a gang of orphaned children who they, inevitably, then decide to help.

Somehow, this all climaxes with a bunch of people being hanged by someone for something.

Nothing but chaos can come of it when the Beyonder turns a skyscraper into solid gold, and the Kingpin decides he wants his share of it, while the authorities are determined to cover it up in an attempt to prevent the global price of gold from collapsing and causing a worldwide economic crisis.

Needless to say, only Spider-Man can prevent the rotund rapscallion from carrying out his epic heist.

Infamy piles upon infamy when Madame Masque returns and promptly allies herself with Obadiah Stane who's kidnapped Bethany Cabe and sent a big flying machine thing to kill Iron Man!

According to the cover, we also get the untold origin of Obadiah Stane but I have no memory of it. So, I must conclude it can't quite be up there with the origin of Dr Doom.

The Marvel Lucky Bag - September 1975.

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

***

September 1975 didn't exactly bombard us with movies of renown - or even of non-renown - but perhaps the two most memorable to surface were Dog Day Afternoon and Three Days of the Condor. I've never seen either film but I do remember Barry Norman reviewing Dog Day Afternoon, making me wonder if it's the first film I can recall watching him review.

But what of Marvel?

And its random marvels?

It's my favourite Killraven tale, as he and the gang enter an abandoned leisure complex, only to discover that Only the Computer Shows Me Any Respect.

In it, we learn that Hawk's dad liked to play-act as a Sherlock Holmes type figure and that Old Skull wants to hang around with cartoon animals.

All good things come to an end - and so it is that Panther's Rage reaches its nation-deciding climax when the Panther and Killmonger have an epic duel which will see one of them dead and the other saved by a child!

And the Black Panther's not the only one having trouble with dinosaurs, because Doug McClure can barely move for them when Marvel gives us its Darwin-bothering adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Land that Time Forgot.

Granted, it had already sort of given us that in the pages of Ka-Zar but, now, we can see a whole new take on the concept, thanks to Marv Wolfman and Sonny Trinidad.

Perhaps worthy of even more note is that this cover was created by Nick Cardy and it's the only example of his work I can remember ever seeing on the front of a Marvel publication. It's just a shame it's not one of his better covers.

Also in this issue, Lin Carter writes about stories which feature lost races, illustrated with stills from such movies as Spartacus and Gulliver's Travels.

But there's more because we also receive five pages of stills from the The Land that Time Forgot!

It's a mammoth-sized mountain of manic martial arts mayhem and misadventure, as the noble art of fisticuffs gets its own treasury-sized edition.

Needless to say, it's made up of reprints, mostly The Master Plan of Fu Manchu, that multi-part epic in which Shang-Chi, Iron Fist and the Sons of the Tiger must independently interfere in the villain's plan to destroy the United Nations. Each without any knowledge that the others are involved.

Captain Marvel gets his first ever giant-size book and it kicks off with a reprint of the thriller in which Rick Jones first becomes his sidekick!

And there's more.

We also encounter a reprint of the tale in which Cap and Rick set off in search of Bruce Banner, in the mistaken belief he may be able to separate them for good.

And, of course, that leads to a clash with Bruce's less reasonable alter-ego who turns out not to be half the scientist he is.

And another captain gets his first ever giant-size issue.

In this one, while Steve hangs around in the Avengers Mansion, costumed thugs break in, looking to steal any secrets or weapons it may contain!

In the next tale, Baron Zemo sends an army of assassins after Cap. Fortunately, for our hero, Rick Jones is around to help him.

Then, Cap must face The Strength of the Sumo!

Then, he must break up a prison riot.

And, then, we get a retelling of his origin.

Needless to say, all these masterpieces are brought to us by Lee and Kirby.

Ron Goulart, H. G. Wells and Dan Adkins bring us a warning of just what can go wrong when a man turns himself invisible.

That's followed by such classics as The Man Who Cried Werewolf!, Dig Me No Grave!, The Music of Erich Zann, Pickman's Model and The Roaches. All reprinted from a variety of now-defunct publications.

But no one cares about that.

Not when we've got The Legion of Monsters to keep us company.

In our first death-defying tale, Frankenstein's Monster attends a costume party but becomes inconveniently framed for murder!

Next, Manphibian finds itself in a drama labelled In Vengeance Crude!

That's followed by something called The Flies!

Which is followed by a partial adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula .

Tragically, as far as I can make out, despite the title of this magazine, there is no actual monster legioning going on.